PROF Stefan Sperl's Outputs (13)

Islamic Spirituality and the Visual Arts (2022)
Book Chapter
Sperl, S. (2022). Islamic Spirituality and the Visual Arts. In B. Lawrence, & V. Cornell (Eds.), The Wiley-Blackwell Companion to Islamic Spirituality (412-431). Wiley. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118533789.ch22

This chapter focuses on the example of an acclaimed Islamic artist of the present time, Dr Ahmed Moustafa (b. 1943). His ideas on the nature of the Arabic script as an art form are discussed and traced back to the classical Islamic intellectual tradi... Read More about Islamic Spirituality and the Visual Arts.

Stages of Ascent: Neoplatonic Affinities in Classical Arabic Poetry (2022)
Book Chapter
Sperl, S. (2022). Stages of Ascent: Neoplatonic Affinities in Classical Arabic Poetry. In S. Sperl, & Y. Dedes (Eds.), Faces of the Infinite: Neoplatonism and Poetry at the Confluence of Africa, Asia and Europe (93-130). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.5871/bacad/9780197267257.003.0003

This chapter argues that the Arabic poetic tradition possesses certain structural, thematic and prosodic features which were combined with the Qur’anic message in order to give expression to notions of the soul’s ascent which may be recognised as Neo... Read More about Stages of Ascent: Neoplatonic Affinities in Classical Arabic Poetry.

The Qurʾan and Arabic Poetry (2020)
Book Chapter
Sperl, S. (2020). The Qurʾan and Arabic Poetry. In M. Shah, & M. Abdel-Haleem (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Qur'anic Studies. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199698646.013.16

This chapter reviews recent scholarship on the interface between the Qur’an and Arabic Poetry, from pre-Islamic times to the modern period. It shows that Arabic poetry has for long been engaged in an inter-textual dialogue with the Qur’an which has t... Read More about The Qurʾan and Arabic Poetry.

"O City Set Up Thy Lament" - Poetic Responses to the Trauma of War (2013)
Book Chapter
Sperl, S. (2013). "O City Set Up Thy Lament" - Poetic Responses to the Trauma of War. In H. Kennedy (Ed.), War and Poetry in the Middle East (1-37). I.B. Taurus

'In the Rosebower every Leaf is a Page of Delicate Meaning': An Arabic Perspective on Three Ottoman Kasides (2013)
Book Chapter
Dedes, Y., & Sperl, S. (2013). 'In the Rosebower every Leaf is a Page of Delicate Meaning': An Arabic Perspective on Three Ottoman Kasides. In H. Aynur, M. Çakır, H. Koncu, S. S. Kuru, & A. E. Özyıldırım (Eds.), Kasîdeye Medhiye: Biçime, İşleve ve Muhtavaya Dair Tespitler (188-314). Klasik

Man's "hollow core": ethics and aesthetics in hadith literature and classical Arabic adab (2010)
Book Chapter
Sperl, S. (2010). Man's "hollow core": ethics and aesthetics in hadith literature and classical Arabic adab. In M. Shah (Ed.), The Hadith - Critical Concepts in Islamic Studies, Volume IV, Narrative, Context and Content (98-118). Routledge

Darkness Transformed into Light: Ibn al-Mu'tazz on the Pen (2009)
Book Chapter
Sperl, S. (2009). Darkness Transformed into Light: Ibn al-Mu'tazz on the Pen. In C. Allison, A. Joisten-Pruschke, & A. Wendtland (Eds.), From Daēna to Dîn : Religion, Kultur und Sprache in der iranischen Welt ; Festschrift für Philip Kreyenbroek zum 60. Geburtstag (457-464). Harrassowitz

Islamic Kingship and Arabic Panegyric Poetry in the Early Ninth Century (2009)
Book Chapter
Sperl, S. (2009). Islamic Kingship and Arabic Panegyric Poetry in the Early Ninth Century. In S. P. Stetkevych (Ed.), Early Islamic Poetry and Poetics (79-94). Ashgate

Empire and Magic in a Tuareg Novel: Ibrahim al-Kawni’s al-Khusuf (The Lunar Eclipse) (2005)
Book Chapter
Sperl, S. (2005). Empire and Magic in a Tuareg Novel: Ibrahim al-Kawni’s al-Khusuf (The Lunar Eclipse). In W.-C. Ouyang, & S. M. Hart (Eds.), A Companion to Magical Realism (237-246). Tamesis

Epic and Exile: Reflections on the Biography of the Prophet Muhammad (2004)
Book Chapter
Sperl, S. (2004). Epic and Exile: Reflections on the Biography of the Prophet Muhammad. In G. S. Yousof (Ed.), Reflections on Asian-European Epics. Asia-Europe Foundation

Reflections on the Biography of the Prophet Muhammad (2004)
Book Chapter
Sperl, S. (2004). Reflections on the Biography of the Prophet Muhammad. In G. Sarwar-Youof (Ed.), Reflections on Asian-European Epics (100-121). Asia Europe Foundation

In Celebration of Spring: A Poem by al-Sanawbari (2000)
Book Chapter
Sperl, S. (2000). In Celebration of Spring: A Poem by al-Sanawbari. In G. Hawting, J. Mojaddedi, & A. Samely (Eds.), Studies in Islamic and Middle Eastern texts and traditions in memory of Norman Calder (287-296). Oxford University Press

Qasida Form and Mystic Path in 13th Century Egypt (1996)
Book Chapter
Sperl, S. (1996). Qasida Form and Mystic Path in 13th Century Egypt. In S. Sperl, & C. Shackle (Eds.), Qasida poetry in Islamic Asia and Africa (65-82). Brill