1014–1043: Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr on Christian Love for ʿAlī

Abstract

The medieval Iberian Muslim scholar Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr includes striking expressions of inter-religious amity in a chapter of his main literary anthology. Noteworthy among these are two stanzas in which a Christian poet proclaims his affection for ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib, the cousin and son-in-law of Muḥammad. These poems draw our attention to the transmediterranean quality of Arabic literary discourse, since they—like most of the chapter’s contents—originated in Iraq. They also highlight the hazy quality of medieval socio-religious boundaries and the potential of literary sources to expand our notions of how medieval Muslims expressed and debated their normative principles in writing.