Bilal Orfali is a Lebanese scholar of Arabic language and literature. He currently serves as Sheikh Zayed Chair of Arabic and Islamic Studies at the American University of Beirut.^[1][2] He is considered an expert on Arabic prose and poetry, especially during the 10th century.^[3]

Life

Orfali earned a Bachelor of Science, Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts from the American University of Beirut in 2000, 2001 and 2003 respectively. He then went on to earn a Master of Philosophy in 2006 and a Doctor of Philosophy in 2009, both from Yale University.^[4][5] Orfali is currently a professor of Arabic studies at AUB, while also having served as a visiting scholar at the prestigious Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey from 2011 to 2012.^[3][5] He also serves as the director of the AUB's intensive CAMES summer program for Arabic language education.^[6]

Selected works

Abstracts

• "The Arabian Nights Encyclopedia," taken from Encyclopedias About Muslim Civilisations by Aptin Khanbaghi (ed), pgs. 25–26. Translated by Yasmeen Hanoosh. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2009.

Articles

• Orfali, Bilal (2009). "The Works of Abū Manṣūr al-Tha'ālibī (350-429/961-1039)". Journal of Arabic Literature. Leiden: Brill Publishers. 40 (3): 273–318. doi:10.1163/008523709X12554960674539. JSTOR 20720591.
• "A Sketch Map of Arabic Poetry Anthologies up to the Fall of Baghdad." Journal of Arabic Literature, vol. 43, # 1, 2012. Pgs. 29–59.^[7]

Edited works

• In the Shadow of Arabic: The Centrality of Language to Arabic Culture. Leiden: Brill Publishers, 2011. 1st ed., 572 pgs.^[8] ISBN 9789004215375
• Sufism, Black and White, with Nada Saab. Leiden: Brill Publishers, 2012. 1st ed., 570 pgs.^[9] ISBN 9789004216778
• Texts and Studies on the Qurʾān, with Gerhard Böwering and Devin J. Stewart. Leiden: Brill Publishers.^[10] ISSN 1567-2808

Original works

• The Comfort of the Mystics, with Gerhard Böwering. Leiden: Brill Publishers, 2013. 1st ed., 720 pgs.^[11] ISBN 9789004233614