Overview

In the 1820s, Rifa'a Rafi' al-Tahtawi, a young Muslim cleric, was a leading member of the first Egyptian educational mission to Paris, and meticulously chronicled his experiences with European culture over a period of five years. His seminal book Takhlis al-Ibriz fi Talkhis Bariz is one of the earliest and most influential records of the Muslim encounter with Enlightenment-era European thought, introducing ideas of modernity to his native land. In addition to its historical and literary value, al-Tahtawi's penetrating account offers invaluable insights into early conceptions of Europe and the 'Other'. His informative - and often humorous -- observations are as vibrant and relevant today as they were over 150 years ago. An irrefutable classic, this new edition of the first English translation is introduced and carefully annotated by a scholar fluent in the life, times and milieu of its narrator.

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9780863564079

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'A touchstone for thinking about the tangled relations between Islam and modernity ... the most amazing and entertaining curiosity.' Jewish Quarterly; 'An Imam in Paris lets us share the responses of a highly intelligent scholar ... Daniel L. Newman is to be congratulated on making the first translation into English of this remarkable book, and on supporting the text with a first-class introduction and with footnotes that are as full as one could wish. A first-class introduction ... remarkable.' Times Literary Supplement; '[A] fine translation ... extensively and meticulously notated.' The International History Review

A touchstone for thinking about the tangled relations between Islam and modernity ... the most amazing and entertaining curiosity.' Matthew J. Reisz, Jewish Quarterly 'An Imam in Paris lets us share the responses of a highly intelligent scholar ... Daniel L. Newman is to be congratulated on making the first translation into English of this remarkable book, and on supporting the text with a first-class introduction and with footnotes that are as full as one could wish. A first-class introduction ... remarkable.' TLS '[A] fine translation ... extensively and meticulously notated.' The International History Review

'A touchstone for thinking about the tangled relations between Islam and modernity ... the most amazing and entertaining curiosity.' Jewish Quarterly; 'An Imam in Paris lets us share the responses of a highly intelligent scholar ... Daniel L. Newman is to be congratulated on making the first translation into English of this remarkable book, and on supporting the text with a first-class introduction and with footnotes that are as full as one could wish. A first-class introduction ... remarkable.' Times Literary Supplement; '[A] fine translation ... extensively and meticulously notated.' The International History Review

Author Information

Daniel L. Newman holds the Chair of Arabic Studies at the University of Durham. His publications include The Sultan's Feast: A Fifteenth-Century Egyptian Cookbook, The Sultan's Sex Potions: Arab Aphrodisiacs in the Middle Ages, and Modern Arabic Short Stories: A Bilingual Reader (with Ronak Husni), all by Saqi Books.

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