Compiled by Walaa Al-Salmi (March 2009) [last updated August 2014]
Guides
Literature Websites
Online Journals and Magazines
Other Websites
Useful Books in IUB Collections
GUIDES
Center for Islamic Sciences
This website promotes research and diffusion of knowledge on all aspects of Islam. It encourages creative exploration of Islamic thoughts in relation to the natural and human sciences, and critical integration of contemporary scholarship into the framework of traditional Islamic thought and learning. It also provides a glossary, book reviews, articles on poets organized chronologically, and an annotated bibliography.
Columbia University Libraries: Middle East and Islamic Studies
This website is an on-going compilation of electronic bibliographic resources and research materials on the Middle East and North Africa (in the broadest sense) available on the global Internet. The website provides on-line catalogs, bibliographies, electronic journals and news archives, electronic texts, images, and links to directories. Subject areas include literature on: biographical information, languages, cultures, music, religion, women studies, and ancient and medieval Middle East.
Cornell University: Middle East and Islamic Studies Collection
This website links to Arabic texts and English translations of classical and modern literature. It also links to outside resources on Arabic literature, including biographies and articles on specific authors and genres.
Emory Libraries: Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies Research Guide
This website provides useful research tools, such as periodicals list and useful websites on Arabic literature, linguistics, and theology.
Internet Islamic History SourceBook
This website provides online resources on the following: pre-Islamic Arab world, Mohammad and foundations, Islamic faith and theology, expansion and empire, the caliphates. Each section provides full text for prominant poetry and literature of that period.
Intute: Middle Eastern Studies
[Website updates ceased in 2011.] Web resources for the study of the Middle Eastern languages, literature, history, and culture. The website covers a wide range of subject areas in Middle Eastern Studies, such as literature, literature in translation, linguistics, poetry novels/short stories, and manuscripts.
Maktabah
This website provides lists of online Arabic sites on news, science, translations, books and libraries, universities, encyclopedias, research centers, countries and maps, and general online sites. This website is only available in Arabic.
MENALIB: Middle East Virtual Library
“The Middle East Virtual Library (MENALIB) is an information portal for Middle East and Islamic Studies. It provides access to online information and to digital records of printed and other offline media and thus supports the concept of a hybrid library for Middle East and Islamic Studies." The website’s main aim is to provide electronic resources, scholarly journals, virtual catalogues, databases for dissertations, and databases for conferences.
University of Utah: Middle East Studies Resources
Lists book sellers, departments, libraries, societies, and libraries in Middle Eastern Studies. This website is useful as a guide to different sites that provide Arabic literature.
Wikipedia: Arabic Poetry
This website provides an introduction to Arabic poetry. It describes different periods of Arabic poetry, their forms, and themes. The Arabic version on Wikipedia (http://ar.wikipedia.org) provides a comprehensive list of Arabic poets and their websites.
LITERATURE WEBSITES
Adab
This Arabic poetry website hosts 450 poems for 46 poets from the classical to the modern period. The Arabic version of the website provides a larger list of poets and poetry. It also breaks the modern Arabic poetry into regions. The English version of the website provides a list of poets with some of their poetry.
Arabian Nights Entertainments
Selections from the "Arabian Nights" in English (translated, selected, and edited by Andrew Lang from the French edition of Galland) provided by Project Gutenberg.
Kotobarabia (eBooks)
This website provides online Arabic books in many subject areas. The Arabic Literature section provides over 650 online books some of which are free. It also allows users to buy online versions of Arabic books for a minimal charge. This website is only available in Arabic.
Arabic Poems
This website organizes poetry according to period and type of poetry. It also provides profiles for the poets. This website is only available in Arabic.
Al-Bab
This website provides a collection of articles and outside links on a wide range of topics related to Middle East studies. In its literature section, it provides description of different eras in Arabic literature, and it lists Modern Arabic writers.
Global Arabic Encyclopedia
The website contains articles on Arabic literature in the following categories: poetry, theater, storytelling, scholarly articles, speeches, and humor. This online website provides limited access to about 4 thousand articles. Subscription to the full version is as low as 4 dollars a week. Further, the print version is at the reference section of the Wells Library, Bloomington. Call Number: AE10.55 .M39 1996
Gulf Poets
Works by popular poets from the Gulf region.
Al-Hakawati
"Hakawati" is the Arabic word for "storyteller." The content of this website covers the 22 Arab states, members of the Arab League. The content is arranged thematically in ten sections, each with several subsections. New entries are regularly added to the website. Topics include: stories/tales, poetry, states, cities/regions, histories/culture, and religions.
Jehat
This website is devoted to modern Arabic poetry. It provides personal profiles for poets and lists recent titles in Arabic literature.
Open access of Shia books in Arabic and English.
Al-Waraq: Virtual Arabic Library
This Arabic virtual library provides a comprehensive list of hundreds of online Arabic literary works. Its goal is to promote knowledge and encourage readers to study and educate themselves. The website also provides audio recordings of classical stories. This website is only available in Arabic.
ONLINE JOURNALS AND MAGAZINES
Anhar
Anhar is an online scholarly journal that covers poets from the Middle East. It includes sections on local poetry, short stories, literary articles, and interviews.
Arabic Sciences and Philosophy: A Historical Journal
This journal covers history of the Arabic sciences, mathematics, and philosophy in the world of Islam between the eighth and the eighteenth centuries in a cross-cultural context. The journal is available online through Indiana University's online full-text journal services.
British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies
This is a refereed academic journal published for the British Society for Middle Eastern Studies. Its coverage ranges between the modern social sciences and the more traditional disciplines associated with Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies. It provides articles on language, literature, history, politics, economics, anthropology, sociology, geography, and the religions and cultures of the region. The Journal is available online through Indiana University Online Full-text Journal services.
House of Poetry
The House of Poetry website (from the Palestinian Cultural Center) includes links to poets' biographies, Akwas magazine, al-Shuara magazine, news, and other publications.
Al-Jadid: A Review and Record of Arab Culture and Arts
The website provides articles on a variety of topics, including: arts; book reviews; essays and features; fiction; film; interviews; music and dance; poetry; and theatre.
Journal of Arabic and Islamic Studies
This online journal is refereed and academic covering in principle all aspects of Arabic and Islamic studies. It publishes articles on Arabic linguistics, culture, literature, poets, and religion.
Journal of Arabic Literature
The journal publishes literary, critical, and historical studies, as well as reviews and bibliographies, on a broad range of Arabic materials – classical and modern, written and oral, poetry and prose, literary and colloquial. The journal is available online through Indiana University's online full-text journal services.
Al-Kalimah
"The Word" (al-Kalimah) is an online journal that includes articles on poetry, narrative, criticism, book reviews, and literaryreports.
Middle Eastern Literatures (formerly, Arabic and Middle Eastern Literatures)
This journal promotes the academic study of all Middle Eastern literatures that address questions of study and interpretation of the literatures of the pre-Modern and Modern Middle East. Also, the journal publishes Special Issues focusing on a particular aspect of the literatures of the Middle East. It also provides regular bibliographies of books and articles. The journal is available online through Indiana University's online full-text journal services.
OTHER WEBSITES
Abu Dhabi Culture and Heritage
The Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage (ADACH) is in charge of preserving and promoting the culture and heritage of Abu Dhabi. This website also includes information about Arab cultural heritage in a broader context.
Middle East Institute
The institute promotes knowledge and understanding between Americans and Middle Easterners. MEI publishes a quarterly, The Middle East Journal. The Department of Languages and Regional Studies offers Arabic, Hebrew, Persian, and Turkish courses as well as seminars on the history, literature, and culture of the Middle East.
USEFUL BOOKS IN IUB COLLECTIONS
The Undergraduate's Companion to Arab Writers and Their Web Sites by Dona S. Straley (2004)
Not just for undergraduates, this printed guide (available in the Wells Library) contains information on approximately 150 Arab writers and their works covering the full history of Arabic literature.
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