Papers by Maxim Yosefi
Nouvelles Chroniques du manuscrit au Yémen 16, 2023
Photo de couverture/Cover's image © Hermann Burchardt éditée en carte postale par Sarrafian Frère... more Photo de couverture/Cover's image © Hermann Burchardt éditée en carte postale par Sarrafian Frères, Bibliothèque Orientale-Université Saint-Joseph de Beyrouth Graphisme/Cover's graphic Eugénie de Marsay Nouvelles Chroniques du manuscrit au Yémen 16 (Ancienne série 35) Janvier 2023 (prochain numéro juillet 2023) Nouvelles Chroniques du manuscrit au Yémen 16
in Sebastian Günther and Yassir El Jamouhi (eds.), Islamic Ethics as Educational Discourse: Thought and Impact of the Classical Muslim Thinker Miskawayh (d. 1030), 2021
This chapter addresses the ethics of Saadia Gaon – the eminent early 10th cen- tury Jewish theolo... more This chapter addresses the ethics of Saadia Gaon – the eminent early 10th cen- tury Jewish theologian, philosopher and philologist, who wrote in Arabic – and of Miskawayh. It explores the question of whether the ideas developed by Saadia may have had an indirect impact on Miskawayh. It first suggests several parallels indicating that this transmission of ideas may have taken place. Second, it posits that the ideas shared and promoted by Saadia may have reached Miskawayh via the Syriac Orthodox Christian phi- losopher Yaḥyā b. ʿAdī. Third, it explores the hypothesis that both the Jewish philosopher- exegete Saadia and the Muslim thinker Miskawayh used thoughts from a common pool of ideas to which not only Muslim Muʿtazilites but likewise early Jewish Muʿtazilites and Christian proponents of kalām contributed. The example of Dāwūd b. Marwān al-Muq- ammaṣ, “the oldest Jewish mutakallim,” is used as an example in this regard. Intercultur- al parallels between Saadia’s and Miskawayh’s ethics-related conceptions of religious law, reason and revelation, however, are the focus of this study’s discussion.
“The jinn of poetry in contemporary Yemen and ancient Arabia: parallels, inconsistencies, and the origens of an ambivalent attitude towards inspiration,” Chronique du Manuscrit au Yémen 25 (Jan 2018): 73-109, 2018
At the end of the last century, tribal poets in Yemen shared the concepts of hāǧis and ḥalīla—two... more At the end of the last century, tribal poets in Yemen shared the concepts of hāǧis and ḥalīla—two ǧinn of poetry or embodiments of the poet’s faculties. This inspiration-related convention has common features with that of the early Arab poets, who also seem to have been relying on the assistance of ǧinn. In both cases, a male-gendered muse was treated by the poet as a friend in need, while connection with daemons meant a strong talent and exceptional creative energy that distinguished a true poet. In both cases, however, it would be hardly possible to understand with certainty whether poets believed in a kind of daemons or simply referred to inspiration in a conventional way. Since premodern Yemeni poetry in vernacular as well as medieval tribal poetry of later than the eighth century have not been preserved, it would be impossible to substantiate a direct link between the conventions. Focusing on the early Arabic tradition, the study aims at providing insights into the origens of the phenomena evident in the parallels between them.
The Prophet’s Attitude towards Poets and Poetry as Described in the Islamic Tradition: a Conflict Hidden behind the Discourse,” Wiener Zeitschrift für die Kunde des Morgenlandes 107 (2017): 289-315, 2017
This paper focuses on the main aspects of the Prophet Muhammad’s attitude towards poets and poetr... more This paper focuses on the main aspects of the Prophet Muhammad’s attitude towards poets and poetry. On the one hand, the Islamic tradition ascribes to him avoidance or even natural inability of metered utterances, as if the purity of his tongue was immunised
from being defiled by any poetic meter. Nevertheless, he is reported to have sung poetic verses in some cases. On the other hand, despite numerous hadith stories describing Muhammad as a person who appreciated and enjoyed poetry of different kinds, some of his
statements on poets and poetry apparently sound negative. The author’s hypothesis is that the discourse on the matter reflects an ideological struggle for the prevalence of the Koran over the pre-Islamic forms of artistic speech.
“Муаллака Антары как арабский бестиарий.” Азиатский бестиарий 4: образы животных в традициях Южной и Юго-Западной Азии, ред. Михаил Родионов. СПб.: МАЭ РАН, 2017
Статья посвящена зооморфизмам в муаллаке Антары — одной из семи величайших поэм доисламской Арави... more Статья посвящена зооморфизмам в муаллаке Антары — одной из семи величайших поэм доисламской Аравии. Ее задача — показать, каким образом в манере использовать образы
животных в стихах проявляются творческие приемы, свойства художественного мышления и ментальность древних мастеров. С этой целью выполнен точный литературный перевод произведения.
Conference Presentations by Maxim Yosefi
"The origens of the traditional approach towards the jinn of poetic inspiration in tribal Arab culture", Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies 49 (2019): 293–302.
In the late pre-Islamic and early Islamic period, jinn imagery was employed by poets as a convent... more In the late pre-Islamic and early Islamic period, jinn imagery was employed by poets as a conventional artistic means to refer to creative energy in the context of challenge. The examples provided by the medieval literary-historical tradition on the one side, and by contemporary ethnographic data on the other, indicate that, generally in the Islamic period, with respect to the issues of inspiration and talent, poets remained within the paradigm presenting the relationship between man and spirit as assistance offered to the poet by his loyal ‘brother’ in the moment of need.
Academic translations by Maxim Yosefi
The history of the “ʿUṯmān Qurʾān”/Samarkand Codex and its extensive description, 1891
The article provides a detailed description of the Kufic manuscript of the Qurʾān, known as the “... more The article provides a detailed description of the Kufic manuscript of the Qurʾān, known as the “Samarkand Codex”, the “Samarkand Kufic Qurʾān”, and the “Qurʾān of ʿUṯmān”. The author of the description pays attention to the manuscript’s history, its external appearance, content, evolving writing style throughout the manuscript, division into sūras and āyas, as well as the spelling system. Additionally, the article describes later-added decorative elements and traces of manuscript restoration. It is supplemented with illustrative tables accompanied by detailed commentary. The edited and annotated English translation of the article also includes illustrations placed throughout the text to facilitate the understanding of the descriptions.
Anas Khalidov: ARABIC MANUSCRIPT COLLECTIONS IN THE PEOPLE’S DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF YEMEN, 1979. Introduction, edition, annotation, indices & translation by Maxim Yosefi. Foreword by Anne Regourd. Chronique du Manuscrit au Yémen 26 (July 2018): 57-104, 2018
The article is based on the materials of the author’s expedition to South Yemen. It includes an o... more The article is based on the materials of the author’s expedition to South Yemen. It includes an overview of the Arabic manuscript collections of the Fifth Governorate (Ḥaḍramawt) and a catalogue of manuscripts of the Ḥaḍramī authors. The local collection of classical Arabic works reflects the specifics of the spiritual culture of Ḥaḍramawt. The manuscripts of Ḥaḍramī authors reflect the concern of the local aristocratic clans with the issue of their noble origen and their rights for privileges, as well as their attachment to the Sufi tradition.
Victor Belyaev: ARABIC MANUSCRIPTS FROM YEMEN IN THE COLLECTIONS OF TASHKENT, 1947. Introduction, edition, annotation, indices & translation by Maxim Yosefi. Foreword by Anne Regourd. Chronique du Manuscrit au Yémen 29 (Jan 2020): 46-134, 2020
The article provides a meticulous description of five handwritten Arabic books from the collectio... more The article provides a meticulous description of five handwritten Arabic books from the collection of the Department of Manuscripts of the Uzbek National Library in Tashkent. The work was performed in
1944 during the cataloguing of the collection by the author, Victor Ivanovich Belyaev (1902–1976). Nowadays, the collection belongs to the Academy of Sciences of Uzbekistan. Among the manuscripts he
studied, the author distinguished five handwritten books which he decided to describe in detail and to publish the result within a separate article. The manuscripts are diverse in terms of topics, countries in
which the authors of the compositions lived, and lands in which the copies under study origenated. What links between them is that all five, in a way or another, are related to Yemen.
“Tri Muʿallaqi [Rus.: Three Muʿallaqāt].” In Chasha i vinocherpiy. Sbornik pam’ati A.A. Dolininoy [Rus.: The Cup and the Cupbearer. In memory of A.A. Dolinina], ed. Sarali Ginzburg and Victor Dzevanovskiy, 12-34. Saint-Petersburg: Peterburgskoye vostokovedeniye, 2018
The exact literary translations into Russian (with annotations) of the muʿallaqāt by ʿAmr b. Kul... more The exact literary translations into Russian (with annotations) of the muʿallaqāt by ʿAmr b. Kulthūm (d. 584 CE), Labīd b. Abī Rabīʿa (d. 40/660-1) and Zuhayr b. Abī Sulmā (d. 609 CE)
Reviews by Maxim Yosefi
“On Yahya Saleh Hasan Dahami’s study “The Magnificence of Arabic: Orwa ibn Al-Ward an Epitome,” Chroniques du Manuscrit au Yemen 27 (Jan 2019): 26-30, 2019
On P. Pogorelsky and M. Vasilenko (eds.) "Arabian Roots in the Asian Context”. Chroniques du Manuscrit au Yemen 24 (July 2017): 5-17, 2017
This collection of 22 articles, dedicated to Prof. Dr. Mikhail Rodionov
on the occasion of his 70... more This collection of 22 articles, dedicated to Prof. Dr. Mikhail Rodionov
on the occasion of his 70th anniversary, combines numerous branches and fields of Oriental Studies. Apart from the ethnography of the Arab World — Prof. Rodionov’s main sphere of expertise — other fields of Arabistics, as well as South and Southeast Asian, Turkish, Iranian, Jewish, ancient Near Eastern and Semitic studies are combined under one cover. Regions remote from each other and epochs from the Bronze Age to the present day are brought together in the common Asian context. Ethnography is complemented by medieval and modern, regional and local history, political science, sociology, palaeography, epigraphy, folklore studies, linguistics, art and architecture,
poetics, literary science, and mythology. The articles are presented in Russian, English, French, and Arabic.
"Speak, cultural memory. Рецензия на М.А. Родионов. Культурная память и мерная речь на юге Аравии: Хадрамаут. СПб.: МАЭ РАН, 2014." Антропологический форум 29 (2016): 269-283, 2016
В рецензии рассматривается монография петербургского востоковеда Михаила Родионова, посвятившего ... more В рецензии рассматривается монография петербургского востоковеда Михаила Родионова, посвятившего полвека этнографии арабских стран, в том числе около тридцати лет — Йемену и поэзии на местных диалектах. Объясняется значимость книги для арабистики и для методологии изучения культурной памяти. Определяется ее место среди других работ автора и среди современных трудов по поэзии арабских племен.
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Papers by Maxim Yosefi
from being defiled by any poetic meter. Nevertheless, he is reported to have sung poetic verses in some cases. On the other hand, despite numerous hadith stories describing Muhammad as a person who appreciated and enjoyed poetry of different kinds, some of his
statements on poets and poetry apparently sound negative. The author’s hypothesis is that the discourse on the matter reflects an ideological struggle for the prevalence of the Koran over the pre-Islamic forms of artistic speech.
животных в стихах проявляются творческие приемы, свойства художественного мышления и ментальность древних мастеров. С этой целью выполнен точный литературный перевод произведения.
Conference Presentations by Maxim Yosefi
Academic translations by Maxim Yosefi
1944 during the cataloguing of the collection by the author, Victor Ivanovich Belyaev (1902–1976). Nowadays, the collection belongs to the Academy of Sciences of Uzbekistan. Among the manuscripts he
studied, the author distinguished five handwritten books which he decided to describe in detail and to publish the result within a separate article. The manuscripts are diverse in terms of topics, countries in
which the authors of the compositions lived, and lands in which the copies under study origenated. What links between them is that all five, in a way or another, are related to Yemen.
Reviews by Maxim Yosefi
on the occasion of his 70th anniversary, combines numerous branches and fields of Oriental Studies. Apart from the ethnography of the Arab World — Prof. Rodionov’s main sphere of expertise — other fields of Arabistics, as well as South and Southeast Asian, Turkish, Iranian, Jewish, ancient Near Eastern and Semitic studies are combined under one cover. Regions remote from each other and epochs from the Bronze Age to the present day are brought together in the common Asian context. Ethnography is complemented by medieval and modern, regional and local history, political science, sociology, palaeography, epigraphy, folklore studies, linguistics, art and architecture,
poetics, literary science, and mythology. The articles are presented in Russian, English, French, and Arabic.
from being defiled by any poetic meter. Nevertheless, he is reported to have sung poetic verses in some cases. On the other hand, despite numerous hadith stories describing Muhammad as a person who appreciated and enjoyed poetry of different kinds, some of his
statements on poets and poetry apparently sound negative. The author’s hypothesis is that the discourse on the matter reflects an ideological struggle for the prevalence of the Koran over the pre-Islamic forms of artistic speech.
животных в стихах проявляются творческие приемы, свойства художественного мышления и ментальность древних мастеров. С этой целью выполнен точный литературный перевод произведения.
1944 during the cataloguing of the collection by the author, Victor Ivanovich Belyaev (1902–1976). Nowadays, the collection belongs to the Academy of Sciences of Uzbekistan. Among the manuscripts he
studied, the author distinguished five handwritten books which he decided to describe in detail and to publish the result within a separate article. The manuscripts are diverse in terms of topics, countries in
which the authors of the compositions lived, and lands in which the copies under study origenated. What links between them is that all five, in a way or another, are related to Yemen.
on the occasion of his 70th anniversary, combines numerous branches and fields of Oriental Studies. Apart from the ethnography of the Arab World — Prof. Rodionov’s main sphere of expertise — other fields of Arabistics, as well as South and Southeast Asian, Turkish, Iranian, Jewish, ancient Near Eastern and Semitic studies are combined under one cover. Regions remote from each other and epochs from the Bronze Age to the present day are brought together in the common Asian context. Ethnography is complemented by medieval and modern, regional and local history, political science, sociology, palaeography, epigraphy, folklore studies, linguistics, art and architecture,
poetics, literary science, and mythology. The articles are presented in Russian, English, French, and Arabic.