The Destitute [Kitab al-Masakin]
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Translator
Yusuf Talal DeLorenzo
Description
When war broke out in Europe in August of 1914, the British rulers of Egypt commandeered everything the country produced to feed and clothe its troops, reducing the Egyptian working class to abject poverty, while the privileged classes took the war as an opportunity to make more profits than ever before. Food crops were replaced by cotton and fortunes were made by the wealthy.
However, no food was grown and the common people were subjected to starvation. By the end of the war in 1918 more people died in Egypt than were born. It was against this backdrop of human suffering that the author wrote this book.
The author Mustafa Sadiq al-Rafi'i was born in January of 1880 in Egypt to parents of Syrian descent. His father, Abd al-Razzaq al-Rafi'i was a learned man and maintained a sizeable personal library that would play an important part in the development of the author as a poet, critic, and respected literary figure in early twentieth century Egypt. His family was devoted to scholarship in the classical Islamic sciences, he was blessed with several generations of gifted offspring. Among all of these, however, Mustafa Sadiq would alone rise to prominence in the literary world.
The translator Yusuf Talal DeLorenzo is best known as a scholar of Islamic transactional law and an advisor on Shariah compliance issues to global financial institutions. He is also an experienced translator and has published several works from Arabic, Farsi and Urdu into English. Thus, in addition to his three volume, Compendium of Legal Opinions on the Operations of Islamic Banks, in English and Arabic, he has translated many classics.
Dr. DeLorenzo's edition and translation of Kitab al-Masakin (The Destitute) by Mustafa Sadiq al-Rafi'i brings us, for the first time, a careful edition of this almost forgotten work of early 20th century Arabic literature, along with an outstanding translation into English on facing pages. DeLorenzo's translation captures the essence of the meaning of the original text while giving the reader a flavor of al-Rafi'is literary style.
About the Contributor(s)
About the author
Mustafa Sadiq al-Rafii: Mustafa Sadiq al-Rafii rahimahullah (1880-1937 CE) was born in Qalyubiyya in the Egyptian Delta and became one of the most celebrated writers of the Arabic nahda (literary renaissance) without formal university education. Losing most of his hearing as a young man, he channeled his energies entirely into writing and self-study, developing a command of classical Arabic prose that drew comparisons to the great stylists of the Abbasid era. He spent most of his career employed as a clerk in the Egyptian national courts while writing prolifically on literary, social, and religious subjects. His early fame rested on his poetry, collected in Diwan al-Rafii, but he achieved lasting distinction through his prose: Tarikh Adab al-Arab (a history of Arabic literature), Wahy al-Qalam (three volumes of literary essays), and the devotional I'jaz al-Qur'an wa al-Balagha al-Nabawiyya (on the inimitability of the Qur'an). His Kitab al-Masakin (The Destitute) is a compassionate portrayal of poverty in Egyptian society. He passed away in Tanta, Egypt, in 1937.
About the translator
Yusuf Talal DeLorenzo: Yusuf Talal DeLorenzo hafidhahullah is an American scholar of Islamic law closely involved in the transactional implementation of modern Islamic finance. Based in the Washington, DC area, he has served as Chief Shariah Officer and Board Member at Shariah Capital, and has acted as Shariah advisor to over twenty global financial entities, including index providers, banks, mutual funds, real estate funds, leasing funds, institutional investors, home finance providers, alternative asset managers, and others. His career in Islamic scholarship and finance spans more than thirty years. He is the author of A Compendium of Legal Opinions on the Operations of Islamic Banks, a three-volume reference that became the standard reference for Islamic financial institutions as the first English-language compilation of fatawa issued by Shariah supervisory boards. He also wrote the introduction to Islamic Bonds (2003), the publication credited with introducing sukuk and transforming global Islamic capital markets. In addition to his work in finance, he has translated numerous classical Islamic texts into English, including works by al-Ghazali.
Specifications
EAN 13 / ISBN
9781906949228
Publisher
Turath Publishing
Author
Mustafa Sadiq al-Rafii
Pages
273
Translator
Yusuf Talal DeLorenzo
Size
W- | H- | D-
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