Record Number: 33592

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Reading Experience:

Evidence:

'The first section of my own manuscript is copied out now and has given useful information, such as the date of the restoration and final ruin, in A.D. 1298, of al-'Urr by the Arabs. In the afternoon, before the sunset prayer, the Qadhi comes to locate for me names of places and tribes which no one in Europe would know. He sits, turning over with his delicate fingers the pages written by his grandfather and treasured above all the books they have [...] The Qadhi loves these hours. He has in him a pure passion for learning, a small flame with little enough to feed it, that burns for itself alone.'

Century:

1900-1945

Date:

8 Jan 1938

Country:

Yemen

Time

afternoon

Place:

city: Huraidha
county: Shibam, Hadhramaut

Type of Experience
(Reader):
 

silent aloud unknown
solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown

Type of Experience
(Listener):
 

solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown

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Reader / Listener / Reading Group:

Reader:

Ali Qadhi of Shibam

Age:

Adult (18-100+)

Gender:

Male

Date of Birth:

1 Jan

Socio-Economic Group:

Clergy (includes all denominations)
Qadhi (judge of Islamic law) of Huraidha

Occupation:

Judge and muslim cleric

Religion:

Islam (Sunni)

Country of Origin:

Yemen

Country of Experience:

Yemen

Listeners present if any:
e.g family, servants, friends

n/a

Additional Comments:

n/a

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Text Being Read:

Author:

Habib Ahmed

Title:

[untitled commonplace book]

Genre:

Other religious, Fiction, Essays / Criticism, History, Geography / Travel, Politics, Miscellany / Anthology, untitled commonplace book

Form of Text:

Manuscript: Codex, Arabic commonplace book

Publication Details

Arabic (Yemeni) 19th century scribal commonplace book drawing upon older texts

Provenance

borrowed (other)
Borrowed from the Mansab of Huraidha - ms compiled by his grandfather Habib Ahmed

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Source Information:

Record ID:

33592

Source:

Print

Author:

Freya Stark

Editor:

n/a

Title:

A Winter in Arabia: A Journey through Yemen

Place of Publication:

London

Date of Publication:

1972

Vol:

n/a

Page:

93

Additional Comments:

Pagination is from the 2011 IB Tauris edition. The book was first published by John Murray in London in 1972.

Citation:

Freya Stark, A Winter in Arabia: A Journey through Yemen, (London, 1972), p. 93, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=33592, accessed: 19 April 2024

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Additional Comments:

Dame Freya Madeline Stark (31 January 1893 - 9 May 1993) was a British explorer and travel writer. This manscript commonplace book was compiled by Habib Ahmed, grandfather of the Mansab (and the Qadhi) of Huraidha. Reading and copying of the manuscript started on 2 January 1938 in Huraidha in the Qu'aiti State of Hadhramaut, which was a British protectorate from 1858 until its abolition in 1967. Stark was copying the ms herself, while the Qadhi contributed footnotes explaining places and names. Sometimes the reading was shared and aloud, at other times, silent, but in company. See also record ID:33590