Beirut: The American University of Beirut (AUB) Press and the Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al-Nahyan Chair of Arabic and Islamic Studies at AUB collaborated to launch "Tu?fat al-Muluk fi al-Ta'bir," a newly edited 10th-century Arabic text on dream interpretation. The event featured an engaging conversation between Dr. Lina Jammal, co-editor of the new edition, and moderator Rawane Helou, a PhD candidate in the Department of Arabic and Near Eastern Languages at AUB.
According to National News Agency - Lebanon, the discussion opened with Helou inviting Dr. Jammal to share her journey of discovering the manuscript and its broader significance within Arabic intellectual history. Dr. Jammal highlighted that "Tu?fat al-Muluk" is a unique dream manual penned by a political figure, Abu Ahmad Khalaf al-Sijistani, the 10th-century Emir of Sistan, which sets it apart from works typically authored by religious scholars and mystics.
Dr. Jammal elaborated that the text serves as both a guide to dream symbolism and a lens into the political and social dynamics of its time. Al-Sijistani's interpretations offer insights into concerns such as authority, legitimacy, morality, and social order, with dream symbolism reflecting the stratified societal views of his era.
A key theme of the discussion was the interdisciplinary approach of the author. Al-Sijistani incorporated elements of medicine, astronomy, and mathematics into his interpretations, which Dr. Jammal described as a "defensive strategy" to legitimize dream interpretation as a systematic intellectual practice, distancing it from superstition.
Helou further steered the conversation towards the text's literary and cultural dimensions, with Dr. Jammal noting that dream interpretation manuals offer subtle commentaries on the societies that produced them. "Tu?fat al-Muluk" reflects on themes such as justice, piety, power, gender, and servitude, embedding social and political messages within a theologically accepted framework.
The session concluded with a Q and A session, where attendees inquired about links between classical dream texts and modern psychological theories. Dr. Jammal stressed the importance of respecting historical context, cautioning against applying contemporary ideas to premodern material. She also discussed the challenges of preparing the edition, including collating manuscript variants and reconstructing damaged passages, highlighting the significance of making such works accessible to modern readers.
"Tu?fat al-Muluk fi al-Ta'bir" is published by AUB Press as part of the Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al-Nahyan Series for Arabic and Islamic Texts, co-edited by Dr. Lina Jammal and Dr. Bilal Orfali, Sheikh Zayed Chair of Arabic and Islamic Studies at AUB. Their collaboration ensures scholarly rigor and clarity, combining expertise in Arabic manuscript tradition, Islamic intellectual history, and classical Arabic literature.
This publication marks the first critical edition of the text available to contemporary audiences, providing invaluable resources for understanding medieval Islamic dream interpretation. It contributes to the growing academic interest in dream literature as a field that bridges theology, politics, literature, and science.
Through this event, AUB Press and the Sheikh Zayed Chair reaffirm their commitment to promoting rigorous scholarship and reviving foundational texts from the Arab-Islamic heritage.