The Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Centre (ALC) has published the eighth issue of its magazine, ‘Al-Markaz, Majallat al-Dirasat al-Arabiyya’ (The Centre: Journal of Arab Studies), in collaboration with Brill, an international academic publisher with a strong focus on Arabic language, literature, and cultural studies.

The journal covers a range of historical and critical topics, while also featuring book reviews. This semi-annual publication is available in print and digital formats. With this release, the magazine is marking its fourth anniversary, continuing its journey characterised by seriousness of purpose, clarity of vision, and a commitment to its enlightening role in supporting the Arabic language by publishing exceptional studies and research on Arabic language, literature, culture, history, and thought.

For the first time, the issue adopted an open-theme format, offering serious researchers from various disciplines the opportunity to participate. The call for papers for this issue generated significant interest from researchers and academics, highlighting the ALC’s success in galvanising scientific study in various fields related to the Arabic language, and filling a fundamental gap affecting the Arabic language in the academic arena.

This issue of the journal features five articles covering various fields of literature and humanities, including poetry, prose, history, and philosophy. Penned by researchers with diverse scientific backgrounds and nationalities, the articles were accompanied by reviews of three insightful recently published books.

The first article, titled ‘Between the structure of the dream and the form of the poem: A cognitive approach to Mahmoud Darwish’s poetry’, is written by Dr. Tamer Mohamed Abdelaziz, Assistant Professor at Minia University in Egypt. The study explores the relationship between the fragmented structure and the conceptual poetic form in two of Darwish’s poems, ‘In Jerusalem’ and ‘Mural’.

Dr. Ahmed Shair, Visiting Professor at Dublin University and faculty member at Damanhour University, wrote  the second article titled ‘Prophets of the Children of Israel, between popular memory and history: A reading of Arabic poetry in the Cairo Genizah papers at Cambridge University’. The study analyses a collection of poems that include references to the “prophets of the Children of Israel”, and uses them to reinterpret the cultural and social history of Jews in the Arab world.

The third article is written by Dr. Mohamed Homam, Professor of Rhetoric and Discourse Analysis at Ibn Zohr University in Morocco. Titled ‘The other in the thought of Abu Hayyan al-Tawhidi: Greek philosophy and philosophers as a model’, the study sheds light on al-Tawhidi’s (d. 414 AH/1023 AD) thought and literature, observing his tendency to combine authentic Arab and Greek cultures.

The fourth article is written by Dr. Rashad Hasanov, Visiting Researcher at Sultan Qaboos University. Titled ‘Romantic vision between Gibran Khalil Gibran and Hussein Javid: A comparative study’, the article examines the works of the famed authors Gibran Khalil Gibran from Lebanon and Huseyn Javid from Azerbaijan to understand their respective views on reality and frame the romantic dimensions in their respective work.

The fifth article by Dr. Ammar Ali Hassan, novelist, critic, and researcher in political sociology is titled ‘Life is stories: The narrative permeated in human existence’. It traces the manifestations of storytelling and narration in human experiences throughout history, focusing on the fields of journalism, medicine, the judiciary, and politics.

In this issue, ‘Al-Markaz, Majallat al-Dirasat al-Arabiyya’ continues on its enlightening journey, providing serious and influential content in various cultural fields, further strengthening the Arabic language and cultural heritage. As it moves forward with its successful mission to achieve the highest readership and download rates in Brill’s history, the journal asserts its position as the first Arabic-language magazine published by Brill, marking an unprecedented feat in the world of international publishing.

This achievement reflects the Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Centre’s advanced strategy, which aims to promote Arabic through internationally recognised academic publishing platforms, and integrate the language into the global research landscape. It also contributes to building bridges of cultural communication and knowledge exchange at the Arab and global levels, while proudly adhering to Arab linguistic identity, and maintaining openness to partnerships with international institutions.

The eighth issue of ‘Al-Markaz, Majallat al-Dirasat al-Arabiyya’ is available via the following link on Brill’s website