ISLAMIC ARTS

the literary, performing, and visual arts of the vast populations of the Middle East and elsewhere that adopted the Islamic faith from the 7th century onward. Islamic visual arts are decorative, colourful, and, in the case of religious art, nonrepresentational. The characteristic Islamic decoration is known as arabesque. Arabesque is an ornament or style that employs flower, foliage, or fruit motifs and sometimes animal and figural outlines or geometric patterns to produce an intricate design of interlaced, sometimes angular and sometimes curved, lines. This decoration is used on both architecture and objects. Ceramics, glass, metalwork, textiles, manuscript illustration, and woodwork have been of primary importance in Islamic culture. Pottery was the most important of the early Islamic decorative arts. Lustreware, the greatest Islamic contribution to ceramics, is pottery decorated by applying metallic compounds to the glazes that when fired become iridescent metallic films. Other outstanding objects produced during the period of the caliphates (AD 750 to the mid-11th century) are Egyptian bronzes and carved wood, stuccoes from Iraq, and carved ivories from Spain. In the Seljuq period (mid-11th to the mid-13th century) pottery, textiles, and glass continued to be important. In addition, utilitarian objects of bronze and brass were inlaid with silver and copper and intricately adorned. Manuscript illustration also became an important and greatly respected art. Miniature painting was the greatest and most characteristic art of Iran in the period following the Mongol invasions (122060). In Islam the written word is accorded a special status as the medium of divine revelation. Calligraphy therefore developed in a number of rich and complex ways using a variety of elegant scripts. The calligraphic arts were used not only in manuscripts but also as an important feature of architectural and other decoration. Islamic architecture finds its highest expression in the mosque and related religious buildings. Early Islamic religious architecture, exemplified by the Dome of the Rock (691) in Jerusalem and the Great Mosque (705) in Damascus, drew upon Christian architectural features such as domes, columnar arches, and mosaics but also included large courtyards for congregational prayer. Religious architecture came into its own in the period of the caliphates with the creation of the hypostyle mosque in Iraq and Egypt. A building with the roof resting on rows of columns, this mosque had a square or rectangular plan that was flexible in that it could be increased or decreased by adding or removing columns. In Seljuq and Safavid Iran a different mosque plan was used that consisted of four eyvans (vaulted halls) opening onto a central courtyard. These brick-built mosques also incorporated domes and decorated squinches. Persian architectural features spread to India, where they are found in the Pearl Mosque (1653) and the Taj Mahal (1645). Ottoman architecture, derived from Islamic and Byzantine traditions, is exemplified by the Selimiye Mosque (1575) at Edirne, Tur., with its great central dome and slender minarets. One of the greatest examples of secular Islamic architecture is the Alhambra (13th14th century) at Granada, Spain. Islamic literature is written in four main languages: Arabic, Persian, Turkish, and Urdu. Arabic is of overwhelming importance as the language of the revelation of Islam and of the Qur'an, which Muslims regard as the epitome of literary excellence. The basic elements of Arabic poetry, inherited from pre-Islamic models, are monorhyme (a scheme in which all the lines of a poem have the same end rhyme) and complicated metres (long and short syllables arranged into 16 basic metres). There are three main poetic genres in Arabic poetry. The ghazal, usually a love poem, is written in 5 to 12 monorhymed verses. The qasida consists of from 20 to more than 100 monorhymed verses and is used for the expression of formal and elaborate praise. The Persians used the genres, forms, and rules of Arabic poetry in their own language but elaborated on them. The Persians also developed a new genre, the masnavi, composed of a series of rhyming couplets, which they employed for epic poetry (a form not known to the Arabs), the most famous example being the Shah-nameh, or Book of Kings, by Ferdowsi (d. 1020). Persian literature in turn influenced both Urdu and Turkish literature, especially with regard to vocabulary and metres. Turkish literature also has a rich separate tradition of folk poetry. Islamic literature also includes literary, didactic, and popular prose. The literary form typifying Islamic prose is the maqamah, in which a relatively simple story is told in an elaborate and complicated manner, with many metaphors and puns and other plays on words. In the realm of popular literature, the best-known work is The Arabian Nights' Entertainment, a rich collection of fairy tales from different parts of the Muslim world. Islamic music is monophonic, devoid of harmony, and characterized by distinctive systems of rhythms and melodies, extensive ornamentation of the single melodic line, and virtuoso improvisation. Rhythms and melodies are organized in accordance with certain conventions or modes. Ornamentation of the melody is achieved by the use of microtonesi.e., tones that are not an exact number of half steps apart, such as the three-quarter toneand by the use of both smaller and larger intervals. Islamic music is usually performed by a small ensemblea singer and several instrumentalists who alternate solo vocal and instrumental passages. The melody is carried by the singer or instrumentalist, and rhythm is supplied by a percussion instrument, among which are frame drums, cymbals, and percussion sticks. Wind instruments include the zorna (an oboelike instrument), various flutes, a long trumpet, a horn, and double-piped single-reed instruments resembling clarinets. The stringed instruments, however, are the most favoured. The best known is the oud ('ud), a short-necked lute having four or five strings. Additionally there are trapezoid-shaped instruments: the santur, whose strings are hit with two thin sticks, and the qanun, which is plucked. Other stringed instruments include the violin and bowed lutes such as the kaman, kamanja, and rabab. the literary, performing, and visual arts of the vast populations of the Middle East and elsewhere that adopted the Islamic faith from the 7th century onward. These peoples have created such an immense variety of literatures, performing arts, visual arts, and music that it virtually defies any comprehensive definition. In the narrowest sense, the arts of the Islamic peoples might be said to include only those arising directly from the practice of Islam; more commonly, however, the term is extended to include all of the arts produced by Muslim peoples, whether connected with their religion or not. In this article, the subject includes the arts created in pre-Islamic times by Arabs and other peoples in Asia Minor and North Africa who eventually adopted the Islamic faith. On the other hand, arts produced in cultural areas that were only partially Muslim, such as South Asia, Southeast Asia, and Central Asia, are discussed primarily in articles on arts of those regions. Additional reading Literature James Kritzeck (comp.), Modern Islamic Literature: From 1800 to the Present (1970), is a useful anthology of poetry and prose from different parts of the Muslim world. (Arabic literature): Carl Brockelmann, Geschichte der arabischen Litteratur, 2nd ed. (194349, and suppl., 193742), is the standard reference work containing information about almost every Arabic writer from pre-Islamic to modern times. This work has been enlarged by Fuat Sezgin, Geschichte des arabischen Schrifttums (1967 ) , who has included many hitherto unknown books and manuscripts. R.A. Nicholson, A Literary History of the Arabs, 2nd ed. (1930, reprinted 1969), emphasizes poetry in the classical age; his Studies in Islamic Poetry (1921, reprinted 1963) contains the best analysis of al-Ma'arri's poetry. H.A.R. Gibb, Arabic Literature, 2nd rev. ed. (1963), is concise and informative; the German translation, Arabische Literaturgeschichte (1968), of Gibb's book has been enlarged by a section on modern Arabic literature by Jacob M. Landau and has an extensive bibliography on works of Islamic literature translated into western European languages. Gotthold Weil, Grundriss und System der altarabischen Metren (1958), is an introduction to Arabic prosody. Johann Feck, Arabiya: Untersuchungen zur arabischen Sprach- und Stilgeschichte (1950), is an indispensable study of the development of a High Arabic style. Gustave E. Von Grunebaum, Kritik und Dichtkunst: Studien zur arabischen Literaturgeschichte (1955), contains essays on Arabic literature especially of the 'Abbasid period. Von Grunebaum's Spirit of Islam as Shown in Its Literature, in his Islam: Essays on the Nature and Growth of a Cultural Tradition, 2nd ed. (1961, reprinted 1981), is an important essay mainly concerned with Hariri's Maqamat, and his Acculturation as a Theme in Contemporary Arab Literature, in Diogenes, 39: 84118 (1962), is a study on the problem of westernization in modern Arabic literature. 'Abdalqahir al-Jurjani, Die Geheimnisse der Wortkunst (Asrar al-balaga) . . . (1959), is a German translation by Hellmut Ritter of this classic on Arabic rhetoric. It is available also in the English translation, The Mysteries of Eloquence, ed. by Hellmut Ritter (1954). Adolf F. von Schack, Poesie und Kunst der Araber in Spanien und Sicilien, 2nd ed., 2 vol. (1877), though often superseded by modern research, remains a charming introduction to the culture and art of Moorish Spain. U.M. Daudpota, The Influence of Arabic Poetry on the Development of Persian Poetry (1934), attempts to show the formal influences of Arabic on early Persian poetry. Roger Allen, The Arabic Novel: An Historical and Critical Introduction (1982), covers 193880. Wolfhart Heinrichs, Arabische Dichtung und griechische Poetik (1969), is an important introduction to the literary criticism of classical Arabic literature.(Persian literature): Jan Rypka, History of Iranian Literature (1968; originally published in Czech, 1956), the standard work on Persian literature from its origins to the 20th century, includes folk literature and Tajik and Indo-Persian literature. See also Charles A. Storey, Persian Literature: A Bio-Bibliographical Survey, 2 vol. in 4 (197072). Edward G. Browne, A Literary History of Persia, 4 vol. (190224, reprinted 196978), is an informative classic. A.J. Arberry, Classical Persian Literature (1958, reprinted 1967), is a classic work by one of the most prolific translators of Arabic and Persian poetry into English. Antonino Pagliaro and Alessandro Bausani, Storia della letteratura Persiana (1960), contains many interesting and unusual viewpoints. Hermann Eth, Neupersische Literatur, and Theodor Nldeke, Das iranische Nationalepos, in Wilhelm Geiger and Ernst Kuhn (eds.), Grundriss der iranischen Philologie, vol. 2 (18961904, reprinted 1974), provides a masterly survey of classical Persian literature, including Indo-Persian. Fritz M. Meier (ed. and trans.), Die schne Mahsati, vol. 1 (1963), an immensely learned work centring around the poet Mahsati, deals with the development of the ruba'i and other forms of Persian poetry. Hellmut Ritter, ber die Bildersprache Nizamis (1927), is the classic work on the imagery in Nezami's poetry. Annemarie Schimmel, Stern und Blume (1984), deals with imagery in Persian poetry. Charles-H. de Fouchcour, La Description de la nature dans la posie lyrique persane du XIe sicle (1969), is a study of nature imagery in particular in early Persian poetry. Friedrich Ruckert, Grammatik, Poetik und Rhetorik der Perser, ed. by Wilhelm Pertsch (1874, reprinted 1966), a translation and commentary of a late Indo-Persian manual of rhetoric, is noted for its acute observations and amusing details. Finn Thiesen, A Manual of Classical Persian Prosody (1982), is an introduction to problems of Persian, as well as Turkish and Urdu, prosody.(Turkish literature): E.J.W. Gibb, A History of Ottoman Poetry, 6 vol. (190009, reprinted 195867), the classical study of the historical developments of Turkish literature from its beginnings to 1900, includes many translations of poems. Otto Spies, Die Trkische Prosa-literatur der Gegenwart (1943), deals with Turkish prose after the revolution. Music Bibliography of Asiatic Musics, in the Music Library Association, Notes, 2nd series, vol. 56 (194749), an extensive bibliography compiled by five scholars, includes an important section on Islamic music, with 592 references divided into categories dealing with music among Muslims in general, Arabic-speaking peoples, Turkic peoples, and Iranians and others. Henry George Farmer, A History of Arabian Music to the XIIIth Century (1929, reprinted 1967), is still regarded as a key historical study. His Music of Islam, in The New Oxford History of Music, vol. 1, pp. 42177 (1957, reprinted 1966), is a good concise survey, as is Peter Crossley-Holland, The Arabic World, in the Pelican History of Music, vol. 1, pp. 11836 (1960, reprinted 1978). Rodolphe von Erlanger (ed. and trans.), La Musique Arabe, 6 vol. (193059), includes French translations of the Arabic treatises by al-Farabi, Avicenna, Safi od-Din, and others (vol. 14) and devotes the last two volumes to an analytical study of contemporary Arabian music. Curt Sachs, The Rise of Music in the Ancient World, East and West (1943), has a large section on Arabic music in the context of an intercultural study. Mehdi Barkechli (ed.), La Musique traditionnelle de l'Iran (1963), gives a comprehensive musical transcription of the Radif (modal systems of the Iranian traditional music). Adnan Saygun, La Musique Turque, in the Encyclopdie de la Pliade, vol. 9, pp. 573617 (1960); and Alexis Chottin, Tableau de la musique marocaine (1939), discuss regional and local particularities and have useful bibliographies. Amnon Shiloah, Caractristiques de l'art vocal arabe au moyen-ge (1963), is an important essay on medieval Islamic vocal music, and his Theory of Music in Arabic Writings (c. 9001900) (1979), is an extensive analytical catalog of manuscripts and published sources on Arabic music. See also O. Wright, The Model System of Arab and Persian Music, A.D. 12501300 (1978), an analytical presentation of the system based on Persian and Arabic medieval treatises; Kurt Reinhard and Ursula Reinhard, Turquie (1969), a comprehensive presentation of Turkish music in its diverse aspects; and Ella Zonis, Classical Persian Music (1973), a comprehensive historical study. Dance and theatre The classic work on the shadow play in the Middle East is still Georg Jacob, Geschichte des Schattentheaters im Morgan- und Abendland, 2nd ed. (1925, reprinted 1972). Metin And, A History of Theatre and Popular Entertainment in Turkey (196364), is a perceptive, scholarly account of the Turkish theatre in all its manifestations, and his Pictorial History of Turkish Dancing (1976) is an excellent study on the subject. Christa Ursula Spuler, Das trkische Drama der Gegenwart (1968), treats in more detail 20th-century Turkish playwrights and theatrical literature. Nicholas N. Martinovich, The Turkish Theatre (1933, reprinted 1968); and Hellmut Ritter, Karags, 3 vol. (192453), comprise translations of Turkish shadow plays into English and German, respectively. Ignacz Kunos, Das trkische Volksschauspiel Orta ojnu (1908), is an introduction to the ortaoyunu popular shows, with samples translated into German.As for the Persian theatre and dance (mainly the latter), the most up-to-date book is Medjid Rezvani, Le Thtre et la danse en Iran (1962). Peter J. Chelkowski (ed.), Ta'ziyeh: Ritual and Drama in Iran (1979), is a collection of scholarly writings on the subject. Charles Virolleaud, Le Thtre persan, ou le drama de Kerbla (1950), is a good sampling of ta'ziyahs in French translation. The Arab theatre and dance (chiefly the former) are discussed in Jacob M. Landau, Studies in the Arab Theater and Cinema (1958), which also includes a detailed list of Arabic plays. Visual arts Among the numerous works dealing with Islamic art as a whole, only one can be recommended as having a text of considerable meritKatharina Otto-Dorn, Kunst des Islam (1964). An important, though partial, interpretation is found in Titus Burckhardt, Art of Islam: Language and Meaning (1976). Alexandre Papadopoulo, Islam and Muslim Art (1979, originally published in French, 1976), presents excellent photographic surveys. See also Milo Cleveland Beach, The Imperial Image: Paintings from the Mughal Court (1981). K.A.C. Creswell, A Bibliography of the Architecture, Arts and Crafts of Islam (1961), with a supplement covering 196072 (1973), is a good bibliographical source; current literature on Islamic art in all languages is surveyed in the Abstracta Islamica, published as an annual supplement to the Revue des tudes Islamiques in Paris. Textual information about the arts has never been properly gathered. For a typical text on painters, see Qadi Ahmad, Calligraphers and Painters, trans. from the Persian by Vladimir Minorsky (1959). The only lists of artists have been collected by Leo A. Mayer in several books, of which the most important are Islamic Metalworkers and Their Works (1959) and Islamic Architects and Their Works (1956). The vast majority of material on Islamic art is to be found in periodicals rather than in books. The three publications that have dealt or deal systematically with all aspects of Islamic art are Ars Islamica (irregular, 193451; reprinted in 16 vol., 1968), Ars Orientalis (irregular from 1954), and Kunst des Orients (annual from 1950). Articles are published in English, French, and German. Area surveys (Spain): Manuel Gmez-Moreno, El arte rabe espaol hasta los almohades y arte mozrabe (1951); and Leopoldo Torres Balbs, Arte almohade; arte nazar; arte mudjar (1949). (North Africa): There is no recent general work dealing with all the arts; for architecture the indispensable manual is that of Georges Marais, L'Architecture musulmane d'Occident (1955), which deals also with Spain. (Egypt): Dietrich Brandenburg, Islamische Baukunst in gypten (1966), is a convenient summary but does not supersede the exhaustive work of K.A.C. Creswell, Muslim Architecture of Egypt, 2 vol. (195259, reprinted 1979), going only up to the middle of the 14th century; and Louis Hautecoeur and Gaston Wiet, Les Mosques du Caire, 2 vol. (1932). A useful periodical is the Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt. (Palestine, Syria): There are no coherent works dealing with the whole area; Jean Sauvaget, Alep (1941), is a model (in French) of what can be done with a single city over the centuries; key journals are Syria (quarterly), Levant (annual), and Quarterly of the Department of Antiquities in Palestine (until 1950, when it was superseded in part by the annual publication of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan), and Annales Archologiques de Syrie (annual). (Iraq and upper Mesopotamia): The main archaeological source is still Friedrich Sarre and Ernst Herzfeld, Archologische Reise im Euphrat- und Tigris-Gebiet, 4 vol. (191120); a model of archaeological history is Robert M. Adams, Land Behind Baghdad (1965). The main journals are Sumer (annual) and Iraq (semiannual). (Anatolia): Esin Atil (ed.), Turkish Art (1980), covers all fields evenly and has a good bibliography; see also Yanni Petsopoulos (ed.), Tulips, Arabesques and Turbans: Decorative Arts from the Ottoman Empire (1982). Ekrem Akurgal (ed.), The Art and Architecture of Turkey (1980), is a historical treatment of major and minor arts. The principal journals are Anatolica (annual) and Anatolian Studies (annual). (Iran): Nothing has superseded Arthur Upham Pope and Phyllis Ackerman (eds.), A Survey of Persian Art from Prehistoric Times to the Present, 3rd ed. (1977 ). One may also consult Andr Godard, The Art of Iran (1965, originally published in French, 1962); and the chapters by Oleg Grabar in The Cambridge History of Iran, The Visual Arts, vol. 4, pp. 32963 (1975), and The Visual Arts, 10501350, vol. 5, pp. 62658 (1968). Important information is to be found in Hans E. Wulff, The Traditional Crafts of Persia (1966); and in several works by Arthur Upham Pope, such as Persian Architecture (1965). Periodicals of importance are the defunct Athar- Iran (193649), the Bulletin of the American Institute for Persian Art and Archaeology, and Iran (annual), the active journal of the British School. (India): Among several architectural surveys, Percy Brown, Indian Architecture, vol. 2, The Islamic Period, 6th ed. (1971), is the best. See also R. Nath, History of Sultanate Architecture (1978), and History of Mughal Architecture (1982); Wayne E. Begley, Myth of the Taj Mahal and a New Theory of Its Symbolic Meaning, The Art Bulletin, 61:737 (March 1979); and Elizabeth B. Moynihan, Paradise as a Garden (1979). Techniques (Architecture): John D. Hoag, Islamic Architecture (1976); George Michell (ed.), Architecture of the Islamic World: Its History and Social Meaning (1978); and Nader Ardalan and Laleh Bakhtiar, The Sense of Unity: The Sufi Tradition in Persian Architecture (1973, reprinted 1979). (Painting): Richard Ettinghausen, Arab Painting (1962); Basil Gray, Persian Painting from Miniatures of the XIIIXVI Centuries (1947); and Douglas E. Barrett and Basil Gray, Painting of India (1963, reissued 1978 as Indian Painting). See also Oleg Grabar, The Illustrations of the Maqamat (1984). (Metalwork): Eva Baer, Metalwork in Medieval Islamic Art (1983); Assadullah Souren Melikian-Chirvani, Islamic Metalwork from the Iranian World, 818th Centuries (1982); and James W. Allan, Islamic Metalwork: The Nuhad Es-Said Collection (1982). The field owes much to the work of the late D.S. Rice: Studies in Islamic Metalwork, Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, vol. 1416 (195257); Inlaid Brasses from the Workshop of Ahmad al-Dhaki al-Mawsili, Ars Orientalis, 2:283326 (1957); The Wade Cup in the Cleveland Museum of Art (1955); and Le Baptistre de Saint Louis (1951). See also Richard Ettinghausen, The Wade Cup . . . , Ars Orientalis, 2:327366 (1957). (Ceramics): The key studies are Arthur Lane, Early Islamic Pottery (1947, reprinted 1965), and Later Islamic Pottery, 2nd ed. (1971). (Carpets): Among scholarly studies on carpets are those of Kurt Erdmann, especially Oriental Carpets (1960, reissued 1976; originally published in German, 2nd ed., 1960), and Seven Hundred Years of Oriental Carpets (1970; originally published in German, 1966). (Ivories): John Beckwith, Caskets from Cordoba (1960), is a scholarly study of Moorish ivory work. In addition, see Ernst Khnel, Die islamischen Elfenbeinskulpturen, VIII.XIII. Jahrhundert (1971). Historical works (Early period): Most of the problems are summarized in Oleg Grabar, The Formation of Islamic Art (1973). For architecture the main books are K.A.C. Creswell, Early Muslim Architecture (vol. 1, 2nd ed., 1969; vol. 2, 1941; reissued 1979, 2 vol. in 3); R.W. Hamilton, Khirbat al-Mafjar (1959); and Jean Sauvaget, La Mosque omeyyade de Mdine (1947). (Middle period): On the Fatimids, see Richard Ettinghausen, Painting in the Fatimid Period, Ars Islamica, 9:112124 (1942). On the Seljuqs, for Iran, in addition to vol. 4 of The Cambridge History of Iran, see Richard Ettinghausen, Some Comments on Medieval Iranian Art, Artibus Asiae, 31:276300 (1969); for Syria and Egypt, one should consult Ernst Herzfeld, Damascus, Ars Islamica, vol. 912 (194251); and Jean Sauvaget et al., Les Monuments Ayyoubides de Damas, 4 vol. (193850); and for Anatolia, Kurt Erdmann, Das anatolische Karavansaray des 13 Jahrhunderts, 3 vol. (196176). Major monuments are discussed by Richard Ettinghausen in The Bobrinski Kettle, Gazette des Beaux-Arts, 24:193208 (1943); The Iconography of a Kashan Luster Plate, Ars Orientalis, 4:2564 (1961); The Flowering of Seljuq Art, Metropolitan Museum Journal, 3:113131 (1970); and Assadullah Souren Melikian-Chirvani (ed.), Le Roman de Varge et Golh (1970). Newer interpretations of the Alhambra are based on Frederick P. Bargebuhr, The Alhambra (1968; originally published in Spanish, 1966); see also Oleg Grabar, The Alhambra (1978). Esin Atil, Renaissance of Islam (1981), is a comprehensive study of Mamluk art; see also Saleh L. Mostafa, Kloster und Mausoleum des Farag ibn Barqq in Kairo (1968). For Mongol architecture, see Donald N. Wilber, The Architecture of Islamic Iran: The Il Khanid Period (1955, reprinted 1969); Lisa Golombek, The Timurid Shrine at Gazur Gah (1969); and various accounts in the annual Iran. For painting, see Ernst J. Grube, The Classical Style in Islamic Painting (1968), but especially the rich volume of Ivan Stchoukine, Les Peintures des manuscrits tmrides (1954); and M.S. Ipsiroglu, Painting and Culture of the Mongols (1966; originally published in German, 1965). See also Oleg Grabar and Sheila Blair, Epic Images and Contemporary History: The Illustrations of the Great Mongol Shahnama (1980). (Late period): For Ottoman architecture, Godfrey Goodwin, A History of Ottoman Architecture (1971); and Aptullah Kuran, The Mosque in Early Ottoman Architecture (1968), supersede all previous work. Painting is covered in Nurhan Atasoy and Filiz agman, Turkish Miniature Painting (1974). For ceramics, see Arthur Lane, The Ottoman Pottery of Isnik, Ars Orientalis, 2:247282 (1957). For Safavid architecture, see Donald N. Wilber, Persian Gardens and Garden Pavilions, 2nd ed. (1979); Renata Holod (ed.), Studies on Isfahan (1974); Eugenio Galdieri, Esfahan, 'Ali Qapu: An Architectural Survey (1979); Martin Bernard Dickson and Stuart C. Welch (eds.), The Houghton Shahnameh (1981); and Anthony Welch, Artists for the Shah: Late Sixteenth-Century Painting at the Imperial Court of Iran (1976). The most important publications on painting are both by Ivan Stchoukine, Les Peintures des manuscrits Safavis de 1502 1587 (1959), and Les Peintures des manuscrits de Shah 'Abbas Ier la fin des Safavis (1964). The principal work on India is Stuart C. Welch, The Art of Mughal India (1963, reprinted 1976). For contemporary architecture see Renata Holod (ed.), Architecture and Community (1983), and the quarterly journal Mimar, published in Singapore. Annemarie Schimmel Amnon Shiloah Jacob M. Landau Oleg Grabar Dance and theatre The performing arts have received comparatively little attention in the otherwise rich literature of the Islamic peoples. This is most probably a result of the suspicions entertained by some orthodox Muslim scholars concerning the propriety of the dance and the theatre. Because this applies particularly in relation to the vexing theological question of human portrayal and its connection with idolatry, the performing arts have traditionally been regarded by the faithful with more than usual caution. Even as late as the 19th and early 20th centuries, most research on the subject, in what may loosely be called the Islamic world, was carried out by Western scholars, chiefly from European nations; and only in the 20th century have indigenous scholars started publishing significant research on the subject. There are no known references to the dance or theatre in pre-Islamic Arabia, although nomad tribes were probably acquainted with the dance. The Islamic peoples themselves seem to have developed this particular art form less than they did music or architecture; and, in addition to medieval Isl am's cool attitude toward dance and theatre as art forms, it must be added that most women, leading a life of seclusion, could hardly be expected to play an active part in them. Nevertheless, there has been an active tradition of folk dance in most Islamic countries, in addition to dancing as an entertainment spectacle and, particularly in Persia, as an art form. A ritual dance was instituted in the Sufi mystical order of the Mawlawiyah (Mevleviyah) in Turkey. The dance, performed by dervishes (members of the mystical order), is considered to be a manifestation of mystical ecstasy rather than an entertainment or an expression of aesthetic urges. The theatre has not flourished as a major art under Islam, although as a form of popular entertainment, particularly in mime and shadow-puppet shows, it has persisted vigorously. Nevertheless, the theatre with live actors received support from the Ottomans in Turkey, and a live popular drama has been strong in Persia, where a passion play also took root. Otherwise, the theatrical record of Islam is meagre. Moreover, few neighbouring peoples had a well-developed theatre of their own; hence, outside stimulus was lacking, and the Islamic disapproval of idolatry was so intense that, when the shadow theatre evolved in the East in the late Middle Ages, the puppets were regularly punched with holes to show that they were lifeless. Nonetheless, drama has had some ties with religion, as in Iran and other areas where the Shi'ite branch of Islam is concentrated. Here a passion play developed, rooted in traumatic memories of the bloody warfare of Islam's early years. This was a local phenomenon, uninfluenced by Christian Europe, and, though stereotyped, it movingly reenacted Shi'ite martyrdom. A popular theatre, frequently including dance, evolved independently from about the 17th century in some Muslim countries. West European and, later, U.S. influences were largely the main factors in the development of an artistic theatre in the 19th and 20th centuries. But conservative Muslims have consistently disapproved of theatre, and in Saudi Arabia, for example, no native theatrical establishment exists. In such an atmosphere, women's parts were at first taken by men; later, Christian and Jewish women took the roles, and only in the 20th century have Muslim women participated. Types and social functions of dance and theatre The dance Folk dancing existed among medieval Islamic peoples; but such sources as exist are mainly concerned with artistic dance, which was performed chiefly at the caliph's palace by skilled women. The aristocracy was quick to imitate this patronage by providing similar performances, its members vying with one another on festive occasions. One of these dances, the kurrag (some times called kurra), developed into a song and dance festival held at the caliph's court. Since the latter part of the 19th century, the dancing profession has lost ground to the performance of U.S., Latin-American, and western European dances in cabarets. In a reaction that set in after World War II, fervent nationalists have tried to create native dance troupes, revive traditional motifs in costume and interpretation, and adapt tribal figures to modern settings. Few traditional dances have survived unchanged; among those that have are the dervish dances, performed mainly in Turkey. Islamic literatures Early Islamic literature With the coming of Islam the attitude of the Arabs toward poetry seems to have changed. The new Muslims, despite their long-standing admiration for powerful language, often shunned poetry as reminiscent of pagan ideals now overthrown. For the Qur'an, in surah 26:225 ff., condemned the poets who err in every valley, and say what they do not do. Only the perverse follow them! The Qur'an, as the uncreated word of God, was now considered the supreme manifestation of literary beauty. It became the basis and touchstone of almost every cultural and literary activity and attained a unique position in Arabic literature. Age of the caliphs It might be expected that a new and vigorous religion would stimulate a new religious literature to sing of its greatness and glory. This, however, was not the case. Maybe the once boastful poets felt, at least for a while, that they were nothing but humble servants of Allah. At any rate, no major poet was inspired by the birth and astonishingly rapid expansion of Islam. Only much later did poets claim that their work was the heritage of prophecy or draw upon a tradition that calls the tongues of the poets the keys of the treasures beneath the Divine Throne. The old, traditional literary models were still faithfully followed: a famous ode by Ka'b, the son of Zuhayr, is different from pre-Islamic poetry only insofar as it ends in praise of the Prophet, imploring his forgiveness, instead of eulogizing some Bedouin leader. Muhammad's rather mediocre eulogist, Hassan ibn Thabit (died c. 659), also slavishly repeated the traditional patterns (even including the praise of wine that had been such a common feature of pre-Islamic poetry at the court of al-Hirah, despite the fact that wine had been by then religiously prohibited). Religious themes are to be found in the khutbahs, or Friday sermons, which were delivered by governors of the provinces. In these khutbahs, however, political considerations frequently overshadow the religious and literary aspects. The qussas (storytellers), who interpreted verses from the Qur'an, attracted large audiences and may be regarded as the inventors of a popular religious prose. Their interpretations were highly fanciful, however, and hardly squared with the theologian's orthodoxy. The desire to preserve words of wisdom is best reflected in the sayings attributed to 'Ali, the fourth caliph (died 661). These, however, were written down, in superbly concise diction, only in the 10th century under the title Nahj al-balaghah (The Road of Eloquence), a work that is a masterpiece of the finest Arabic prose and that has inspired numerous commentaries and poetical variations in the various Islamic languages. Islamic literatures Nature and scope It would be almost impossible to make an exhaustive survey of Islamic literatures. There are so many works, of which hundreds of thousands are available only in manuscript, that even a very large team of scholars could scarcely master a single branch of the subject. Islamic literatures, moreover, exist over a vast geographical and linguistic area, for they were produced wherever the Muslims went, pushing out from their heartland in Arabia through the countries of the Near and Middle East as far as Spain, North Africa, and, eventually, West Africa. Iran (Persia) is a major centre of Islam, along with the neighbouring areas that came under Persian influence, including Turkey and the Turkic-speaking peoples of Central Asia. Many Indian vernaculars contain almost exclusively Islamic literary subjects; there is an Islamic content in the literature of Malaysia and in that of some East African languages, including Swahili. In many cases, however, the Islamic content proper is restricted to religious worksmystical treatises, books on Islamic law and its implementation, historical works praising the heroic deeds and miraculous adventures of earlier Muslim rulers and saints, or devotional works in honour of the prophet Muhammad. The vast majority of Arabic writings are scholarlythe same, indeed, is true of the other languages under discussion. There are superb, historically important translations made by medieval scholars from Greek into Arabic; historical works, both general and particular; a range of religiously inspired works; books on grammar and on stylistics, on ethics and on philosophy. All have helped to shape the spirit of Islamic literature in general, and it is often difficult to draw a line between such works of scholarship and works of literature in the narrower sense of that term. Even a strictly theological commentary can bring about a deeper understanding of some problem of aesthetics. A work of history composed in florid and artistic language would certainly be regarded by its author as a work of art as well as of scholarship, whereas the grammarian would be equally sure that his keen insights into the structure of Arabic grammar were of the utmost importance in preserving that literary beauty in which Arabs and non-Arabs alike took pride. In this treatment of Islamic literatures, however, the definition of literature is restricted to poetry and belles lettres, whether popular or courtly in inspiration. Other categories of writing will be dealt with briefly if these shed light on some peculiar problem of literature. The range of Islamic literatures Although Islamic literatures appear in such a wide range of languages and in so many different cultural environments, their unity Islamic literatures European and Colonial influences: emergence of Western forms The rise of nationalism For the Islamic countries, the 19th century marks the beginning of a new epoch. Napoleon's conquest of Egypt, as well as British colonialism, brought the Muslims into contact with a world whose technology was far in advance of their own. The West had experienced the ages of Renaissance, Reformation, and Enlightenment, whereas the once-flourishing Muslim civilization had for a long while been at a near stagnation point despite its remarkable artistic achievements. The introduction of Muslim intellectuals to Western literature and scholarshipthe Egyptian at-Tahtawi (died 1873), for example, studied in Franceushered in a new literary era the chief characteristic of which was to be more matter, less art. The literatures from this time onward are far less Islamic than those of the previous 1,000 years, but new intellectual experiences also led to the liberation of the whole creative impulse within the Islamic peoples (Kritzeck). The introduction of the printing press and the expansion of newspapers helped to shape a new literary style, more in line with the requirements of the modern times, when the patron prince has been replaced by a middle-class reading public (Badawi). Translations from Western languages provided writers with the model examples of genres previously unknown to them, including the novel, the short story, and dramatic literature. Of those authors whose books were translated, Guy de Maupassant, Sir Walter Scott, and Anton Chekhov have been most influential in the development of the novel and the novella. Important also was the ideological platform derived from Tolstoy, whose criticism of Western Christianity was gratefully adopted by writers from Egypt to Muslim India. Western influences can further be observed in the gradual discarding of the time-hallowed static (and turgid) style of both poetry and prose; in the tendency toward simplification of diction; and in the adaptation of syntax and vocabulary to meet the technical demands of emulating Western models. Contact with the West also encouraged a tendency toward retrospection. Writers concentrated their attention on their own country and particular heritage, such as the pharaoic myth of Egypt, the Indo-European roots of Iran, and the Central Asian past of Turkey. In short, there was an emphasis on differentiation, inevitably leading to the rise of nationalism, instead of an emphasis on the unifying spirit and heritage of Islam. Arab literatures Characteristically, therefore, given this situation, the heralds of Arab nationalism (as reflected in literature) were Christians. The historical novels of Jurji Zaydan (died 1914), a Lebanese living in Egypt, made a deep impression on younger writers by glorifying the lion-hearted national heroes of past times. Henceforth, the historical novel was to be a favourite genre in all Islamic countries, including Muslim India. The inherited tradition of the heroic or romantic epic and folktale was blended with novelistic techniques learned from Sir Walter Scott. Two writers in the front rank of Arab intellectuals were: Amir Shakib Arslan (died 1946), of Druze origin, and Muhammed Kurd 'Ali (died 1953), the founder of the Arab Academy of Damascus, each of whom, by encouraging a new degree of awareness, made an important contribution to the education of modern historians and men of letters. An inclination toward Romanticism can be detected in prose writing but not, surprisingly, in poetry; thus, the Egyptian al-Manfaluti (died 1924) poured out his feelings in a number of novels that touch on Islamic as well as national issues. Music The period of Islamic music begins with the advent of Islam in about 610. A new art emerged, elaborated both from pre-Islamic Arabian music and from important contributions by Persians, Byzantines, Turks, Berbers, and Moors. In this development the Arabian element acted as a catalyst, and, within a century, the new art was firmly established from Central Asia to the Atlantic. Such a fusion of musical styles succeeded because there were strong affinities between Arabian music and the music of the nations occupied by the expanding Arabic p