Author: Omid Safi File Type: pdf This stunning collection showcases the love poetry and mystical teachings at the heart of the Islamic tradition in accurate and poetic original translations At a time when the association of Islam with violence dominates headlines, this beautiful collection offers us a chance to see a radically different face of the Islamic tradition. It traces a soaring, poetic, popular tradition that celebrates love for both humanity and the Divine as the ultimate path leading humanity back to God. Safi brings together for the first time the passages of the Quran sought by the Muslim sages, the mystical sayings of the Prophet, and the teachings of the path of Divine love. Accurately and sensitively translated by leading scholar of Islam Omid Safi, the writings of Jalal alDin Rumi can now be read alongside passages by Kharaqani, Attar, Hafez of Shiraz, Abu Saide Abi lKhayr, and other key Muslim mystics. For the millions of readers whose lives have been touched by Rumis poetry, here is a chance to see the Arabic and Persian traditions that produced him. **

Author: Thomas Fleming File Type: epub History tends to cast the early years of America in a glow of camaraderie, when there were, in fact, many conflicts between the Founding Fathersnone more important than the one between George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. Their disagreement centered on the highest, most original public office created by the Constitutional Convention the presidency. It also involved the nations foreign policy, the role of merchants and farmers in a republic, and the durability of the union. At its root were two sharply different visions of the nations future. Acclaimed historian Thomas Fleming examines how the differing characters and leadership styles of Washington and Jefferson shaped two opposing views of the presidencyand the nation. This clash profoundly influenced the next two centuries of Americas history and persists in the present day.**ReviewPraise for The Great Divide Named one of the best books of 2015 by Kirkus Reviews Historians often speak of the conflict between Jefferson and Hamilton. Tom Fleming rightly focuses on Jefferson and Washington, for it was in the nexus of their competing visions of the nations destiny that the United States truly took shape. In this superb book, Fleming compellingly captures the drama of this clash of titans, showing how its outcome made the difference between national ruin and prosperity.Edward G. Lengel, Director, Papers of George Washington and author of General George Washington, A Military Life George Washington and Thomas Jefferson were both tall Virginians who made curcial contributions to winning American independence. But they were otherwise polar opposites, with wildly diverging visions of their fledgling nations destiny. In The Great Divide, Thomas Fleming quarries a lifetimes study of Americas turbulent Founding Era to recount a character-clash waged against the backdrop of chronic domestic discord and overshadowed by blood-soaked revolution in France. The authors robust prose leaves no doubt where his own sympathies lie, but all readers of history will relish his gripping exploration of a conflict between realism and idealism that still resonates today.Stephen Brumwell, author of George Washington Gentleman Warrior and winner of the George Washington Book Prize Prolific historian Fleming delivers a vivid, opinionated history of this conflict.... Among historians, Jefferson s star has been falling for 50 years. Fleming s frank hostility puts him at the far end of the scale, but he makes a fascinating case that Jefferson s charismawhich peaked early with the Declaration of Independencewas accompanied by fanciful political beliefs that continue to exert a malign influence on the office of the presidency. Kirkus Reviews An absorbing book that will enlighten many and shock some.What Would the Founders Think? Library Journal, 3115 Lightly documented, this work is not a research volume, but its clean and snappy prose make for a readable synthesis. Booklist, starred review, 315 Fleming looks beyond the standard history of the founding and early years of the nation to detail the contrasts in the backgrounds and personalities of these men [Washington and Jefferson]A fascinating look at American history from the perspective of personal relationships and political ideals. Publishers Weekly, 31615 [An] impassioned defense of Washingtons presidency, and more entertaining for its interest in the pettiness and foibles of our oft-lionized founders. Roanoke Times, 3815 The Great Divide is a great vehicle forunderstanding the roots of conflicts that marked the country s beginning and persist in some form today. Internet Review of Books, 53016 A thoughtful book that [makes one] think much more of Washington s character and much less of Jefferson s. About the AuthorNo Bio No Bio

Author: B N Goswamy File Type: epub This magnificent, lavishly illustrated book by Indias most eminent and perceptive art historian, B.N. Goswamy, will open readers eyes to the wonders of Indian painting, and show them new ways of seeing and appreciating art. An illuminating introductory essay, A Layered World, explains the themes and emotions that inspired Indian painters, the values and influences that shaped their work, and the unique ways in which they depicted time and space. It describes, too, the characteristics of the different regional styles, the relationship between patrons and painters, the milieu in which they created their works, and the tools and techniques the painters used. The second part of this book consists of Close Encounters with 101 Great Works. Carefully selected by Prof. Goswamy and spanning nearly a thousand years, these works range from Jain manuscripts, and Rajasthani, Mughal, Pahari and Deccani miniatures, to Company School paintings. His description and analysis of these works unlock the treasures that lie within them and show us how to read each painting, as he points out its finest features, explains its visual vocabulary and symbolism, and recounts the story, legend or event that inspired it. Combining deep scholarship with great storytelling, this is a book of enduring value that will both educate and delight the reader. It is destined to become a classic.**ReviewWill provide 101 nights of captivating reading The text is wonderful [and] Goswamy weaves a brilliant analysis of each painting into a tale of personalities of painter and patron, time and place, and of emotional reaction evoked by thin layers of pigment. Each essay stands by itself, and the book can be opened anywhere and read with ease. - Libary JournalAbout the Author B. N. Goswamy is a leading historian on Indian art. He has taught at several universities in India and abroad, and curated major exhibitions of Indian art at the worlds leading museums.

Author: Kathy L. Gaca File Type: pdf This provocative work provides a radical reassessment of the emergence and nature of Christian sexual morality, the dominant moral paradigm in Western society since late antiquity. While many scholars, including Michel Foucault, have found the basis of early Christian sexual restrictions in Greek ethics and political philosophy, Kathy L. Gaca demonstrates on compelling new grounds that it is misguided to regard Greek ethics and political theorywith their proposed reforms of eroticism, the family, and civic orderas the foundation of Christian sexual austerity. Rather, in this thoroughly informed and wide-ranging study, Gaca shows that early Christian goals to eradicate fornication were derived from the sexual rules and poetic norms of the Septuagint, or Greek Bible, and that early Christian writers adapted these rules and norms in ways that reveal fascinating insights into the distinctive and largely non-philosophical character of Christian sexual morality. Writing with an authoritative command of both Greek philosophy and early Christian writings, Gaca investigates Plato, the Stoics, the Pythagoreans, Philo of Alexandria, the apostle Paul, and the patristic Christians Clement of Alexandria, Tatian, and Epiphanes, freshly elucidating their ideas on sexual reform with precision, depth, and originality. Early Christian writers, she demonstrates, transformed all that they borrowed from Greek ethics and political philosophy to launch innovative programs against fornication that were inimical to Greek cultural mores, popular and philosophical alike. The Septuagints mandate to worship the Lord alone among all gods led to a Christian program to revolutionize Gentile sexual practices, only for early Christians to find this virtually impossible to carry out without going to extremes of sexual renunciation. Knowledgeable and wide-ranging, this work of intellectual history and ethics cogently demonstrates why early Christian sexual restrictions took such repressive ascetic forms, and casts sobering light on what Christian sexual morality has meant for religious pluralism in Western culture, especially among women as its bearers. **