This is a collection of one page stories brought together in one document available for free download. Each page/story corresponds with a day of the week, although the stories themselves have no connection with one another. The stories include moral lessons. Each story is fully voweled.
This website hosts many examples of poetry from the jahiliyyah period to the present in an attempt to create a comprehensive diwan of Arabic poetry. Some poems have an audio component. Users can browse poetry by time period, by audio file, by author's name, or by custom search. The website is also in English and there are many poems that have been translated into English, although some poems that are on the website in English are not on the website in Arabic and vice versa. Users can submit poetry to the website via a submission system.
Al Wzzan is a website aimed at analyzing Arabic poetry. Users can type any verse into the search field, and the website will identify it's meter, or "bahar." Arabic poetry traditionally falls within one of fifteen different meters. The site also provides sample stanzas of poetry to demonstrate how the programs works.
The Bedouins of ancient Arabia and Persia made poetry a conversational art form. Several poetic forms developed from the participatory nature of tribal poetry. Today in most Arabic cultures, you may still experience public storytelling and spontaneous poetry challenges in the streets. The art of turning a rhyme into sly verbal sparring is considered a mark of intelligence and a badge of honor. Students will learn about the origins and structure of Arabic Poetry.
This web site contains many short stories and texts in Arabic. Hundreds of writers from more than twenty different countries are currently participating in this project. To access the stories, the user chooses an author and then a text from among the titles that the author has provided for the site.
This page offers 186 different children's stories written in Arabic. Topics range from scientific matters such as how to build a telescope to literature and folktales, including Indian folktales. Stories must be viewed using Java and users must click on the link to view the resource and its title. Many contain images and other illustrations. The intended age level of the reader varies from story to story.
This course serves as an introduction to the pre-modern Islamic artistic traditions of the Mediterranean, Near East, and Central and South Asia. It surveys core Islamic beliefs, the basic characteristics of Islamic art and architecture, and art and architecture created under each dynasty and ruling party. Upon successful completion of this course, the student will be able to: identify the core beliefs of Islam, the major characteristics of Islamic art, and the major forms of Islamic architecture; identify major pre-modern Islamic works of art and monuments from the Middle East, Northern Africa, Spain, and South Asia; explain how the core beliefs of Islam contributed to the basic characteristics of Islamic art and architecture and the secular art works and architecture of the Islamic world; identify the succeeding dynasties that ruled the Islamic world; explain the important role that the patronage of art and architecture had played in definitions of kingship. (Art History 303)
This art history video discussion examines the "Mihrab" (prayer niche), 1354--55 (A.H. 755), just after the Ilkhanid period, Isfahan, Iran, polychrome glazed tiles, 135-1/16 x 113-11/16 inches / 343.1 x 288.7 cm (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York).
In this packet we look at works that span nearly a thousand yearsäóîfrom shortly after the foundation of Islam in the seventh century to the seventeenth century when the last two great Islamic empiresäóîthe Ottoman and the Safavidäóîhad reached their peak. Although the definition of Islamic art usually includes work made in Mughal India, it is beyond the scope of this packet. The works we will look at here come from as far west as Spain and as far east as Afghanistan.
This resource provides a variety of information and activities that teachers may like to use with their students to explore the Islamic Middle East collections at the V&A. It can be used to support learning in Maths and Art. Included in this resource are sections on:
Principles of Islamic art and design
Pre-visit activities
Activities to do in the museum
Activities to do back at school
Islamic art explores the geometric systems that depend upon the regular division of the circle and the study of Islamic art increases appreciation and understanding of geometry. The use of these geometric systems creates a harmony among Islamic decorative arts and architecture, which is consistent with the Islamic belief that all creation is harmoniously interrelated.
Approaching an abstract subject in a concrete way provides a means of extending maths into other curriculum areas. The context of the Museum expands and enriches students' appreciation of the application of geometry in a cultural context and develops the sense of different cultural identities. Students have the opportunity to become familiar with the relationship between geometry and design and this can give confidence to students who have never seen themselves as 'good at art'.
Nizar Qabbani is a famous Syrian contemporary poet. This website is dedicated to Nizar's literature. In the poetry and poems section, there are 510 poems about love, feminism, religion, and Arab nationalism. Many singers sang the poems of Nizar; this site includes twenty of these songs. Four works of prose by Nizar are included on the website, in addition to some pictures of Nizar and what people said about him. The website is entirely in Arabic.
Poets' Gate is a website that contains examples of Arabic poetry ranging from the jahiliyyah period to the present day in an attempt to create a comprehensive diwan (or compilation) of Arabic poetry. Poems are divided according to the time periods and poets. The site also provides biographic information about the poets and a full list of their poems.
This booklet is a collection of opinions of nearly 50 important poets from 25 countries in 5 continents on the best ways to present poetry to secondary school pupils. It is mainly intended for use in teacher training programmes, to bring to methods of teaching poetry two important dimensions: the creative perspective of poets themselves, as well as the perspective of different cultures regarding the reading and writing of poetry.
This course will introduce the student to the history of Central Eurasia and the Silk Road from 4500 B.C.E to the nineteenth century. The student will learn about the culture of the nomadic peoples of Central Eurasia as well as the development of the Silk Road. By the end of the course, the student will understand how the Silk Road influenced the development of nomadic societies in Central Eurasia as well as powerful empires in China, the Middle East, and Europe. Upon successful completion of this course, the student will be able to: identify and describe the emergence of early nomadic cultures in Central Eurasia; identify and describe the rise of silk production in China; identify and describe the various routes of the Silk Road; identify and describe the reasons for China's opening of the Silk Road in the second century; identify and describe Han China's political and commercial relationships with nomadic tribes in Central Eurasia; identify and describe the impact of the Hellenistic World and the Roman Empire on the Silk Road; describe and analyze the 'golden age' of the Silk Road; identify and describe the impact of the Mongol Empire on Silk Road cultures; identify and describe the transmission of art, religion, and technology via the Silk Road; analyze and describe the arrival of European traders and explorers seeking a 'new' silk route in the 1400s; identify and describe the 'Great Game' rivalry between China, Britain, and Russia in Central Eurasia in the nineteenth century; analyze and interpret primary source documents that elucidate political, economic, and cultural exchange along the Silk Road. (History 341)