{"product_id":"the-sword-of-ambition-bureaucratic-rivalry-in-medieval-egypt-hardcover","title":"The Sword of Ambition: Bureaucratic Rivalry in Medieval Egypt - Hardcover","description":"\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eʿuthmān Al-Nābulusī\u003c\/b\u003e (Author), \u003cb\u003eLuke Yarbrough\u003c\/b\u003e (Editor), \u003cb\u003eLuke Yarbrough\u003c\/b\u003e (Translator)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Sword of Ambition \u003c\/i\u003ebelongs to a genre of religious polemic written for the rulers of Egypt and Syria between the twelfth and the fourteenth centuries. Unlike most medieval Muslim polemic, the concerns of this genre were more social and political than theological. Leaving no rhetorical stone unturned, the book's author, an unemployed Egyptian scholar and former bureaucrat named 'Uthman ibn Ibrahim al-Nabulusi (d. 660\/1262), poured his deep knowledge of history, law, and literature into the work. Now edited in full and translated for the first time, \u003ci\u003eThe Sword of Ambition\u003c\/i\u003e opens a new window onto the fascinating culture of elite rivalry in the late-medieval Islamic Middle East. It contains a wealth of little-known historical anecdotes, unusual religious opinions, obscure and witty poetry, and humorous cultural satire. Above all, it reveals that much of the inter-communal animosity of the era was conditioned by fierce competition for scarce resources that were increasingly mediated by an ideologically committed Sunni Muslim state. This insight reminds us that seemingly timeless and inevitable \"religious\" conflict must be considered in its broader historical perspective. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Sword of Ambition\u003c\/i\u003e is both the earliest and most eclectic of several independent works composed in medieval Egypt against the employment of Coptic and Jewish officials, and is vivid testimony to the gradual integration of Islamic scholarship and state administration that was well underway in its day. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eA bilingual Arabic-English edition.\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eʿUthmān ibn Ibrāhīm al-Nābulusī (Author) \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003eʿUthmān ibn Ibrāhīm al-Nābulusī \u003c\/b\u003e(d. 660\/1262), of Palestinian origin, was a leading Egyptian bureaucrat in the court of the Ayyubid sultans. In addition to his pivotal work, \u003ci\u003eThe Sword of Ambition\u003c\/i\u003e, he wrote several works on Egyptian administration and government, including \u003ci\u003eA Presentation of the Living, Eternal God's Work in Regulating the Fayyum\u003c\/i\u003e, the most extensive tax record that survives from the medieval Middle East. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eLuke Yarbrough (Edited and Translated by) \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003eLuke Yarbrough\u003c\/b\u003e is Assistant Professor in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at UCLA. His research is concerned with the history of the pre-modern Middle East and North Africa, including inter-communal relations, law and prescriptive discourses, Arabic historiography, the oral transmission of knowledge, and comparative history. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eSherman 'Abd al-Hakim Jackson (Foreword by) \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003eSherman Jackson\u003c\/b\u003e is King Faisal Chair in Islamic Thought and Culture and Professor of Religion and American Studies and Ethnicity at the University of Southern California. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 478\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 1.1 x 9.1 x 6.2 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e May 10, 2016\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42117877530759,"sku":"9781479889457","price":75.24,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0601\/2623\/2711\/files\/efb6ed64868e0becf5d7bbf7f10a2c7f.webp?v=1732528450","url":"https:\/\/booksby.splitshops.com\/products\/the-sword-of-ambition-bureaucratic-rivalry-in-medieval-egypt-hardcover","provider":"Books by splitShops","version":"1.0","type":"link"}