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PODCAST · religion

Chronicles of the Crescent

by Abdul Rahman Latif

This sorta-weekly podcast focuses on stories drawn from across Islamic civilization. The language of the birds series tells (often mystical) tales of avians in islamic lit. The Ramadan blitz was a podcast-a-day series in Ramadan 1440/2019. Blog: https://samosazen.wordpress.com/Insta: @arlatif24

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Episodes

  1. Language of the Birds: The Challenge of the Phoenix

    A tale from al-Tha'labi's collection of stories of the Prophets.

  2. Language of the Birds: To the Last Peak

    A story about a bird and the soul on a journey for true freedom by Ibn Sina/ Avicenna. Translation by Willard Trask and Henry Corbin.

  3. Language of the Birds: The Merchant's gift from India

    New mini-series on bird stories in the Islamic tradition! This episode is on a tale about a caged Parrot from the Masnavi of Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi

  4. Prophetic Patience

    A story of patience and loss from the seerah of the Prophet SAW with details from al-Tabarī's telling.

  5. The Discourse of Oman

    A story about getting lost at sea from al-Harirī's maqamāt! with thanks to Steinglass's masterful translations.

  6. Human Nonsense

    Tales from Ibn Khallikan and Al-Safadī's works showcasing the humanness of notables and the allure of comedy and curiosity.

  7. The Chest Beneath Suleymān's Tomb

    Stories from Tabirī's tafsir on the first part of verse 2:102 of the Qur'an. I used some wordings from the Oxford translation of the text.

  8. Pity for the Wretch

    An extract from the love story of Layla and Majnun as rendered by Nizamī (d. 1209 CE)

  9. The Black Snake

    A turkish folktale about a strange birth and its consequences

  10. Man v. Animal

    An extract from a story in the Epistles of the Ikhwan al-Safa. Background info from IEP.

  11. The White-Haired Boy

    A story from the Shahnameh of Ferdowsi and a brief introduction to the text.

  12. The Sons of the King, the Merchant, the Nobleman, and the Farmer

    A story from the famed Kalila wa dimna!

  13. A Camel in the Clouds

    A retelling of the story of the saint Ibrahim b. Adham (d.160-161 AH/ 777-778 CE)

  14. The Father of Orphans

    Tales of Imam Ali, in commemoration of his passing as a shaheed.

  15. A Thief on a Roof and a Wandering Holy Man

    A tale from Uyghur folklore! Our Uyghur brothers and sisters are being seriously oppressed. Check out saveuighur.org for ways to help.

  16. Tattooing the Hero of Qazvin

    A tale from Maulana Jalaluddin Rumi's Masnavi, as translated by Jawid Mojaddedi.

  17. Deli Dumrul and the Hunt for the Angel of Death

    A story from the Book of Dede Korkut! I used the black mask translation. Was first exposed to this text with Prof. Cemal Kafadar.

  18. Stuck on an Obelisk out in the Sea

    A story from Destan-e Amir Hamza/ the Hamzahnameh! I recommend Musharraf Ali Farooqi's translation. also this is such a cool project https://www.launchgood.com/campaign/the_modern_hamzanama_prize#!/

  19. A Duel of Brothers

    From the Malay Epic Hikayat Hang Tuah as translated by Muhammad Hajji Salleh. Drawing from scholarship of Nancy Nanney and Virginia Hooker. (and fair warning i use the words state and public anachronistically. my b)

  20. The Lion of Mali

    From SUNDIATA. AN EPIC OF OLD MALI by DJIBRILTAMSIR NIANE. TRANSLATED BY G.D. PICKETT. Sorry for messing up some pronunciations.

  21. The Demon and The Sage

    A story from the Marzubannameh of al-Warawinī (13th century CE). Indebted to the translation of Reuben Levy and James Kritzeck's anthologizing efforts. Correction: def came from older stories and there are other versions of the work too.

  22. The Sorcerer, the King, and the Boy

    Story from a Hadith of the Prophet about the heights of commitment to faith.

  23. The Book of the Dragon

    18th century Turkish epic with possible older origins and certain older antecedants about Imam Ali battling a dragon. My translation is often quite literal, and its late in the fasting day, so please forgive the repetition of words.

  24. Three Words

    A story from Zanzibar in the 19th century and a tale from al-Mas`udī's (d.345 AH/ 956 CE) history sharing a motif! The former was recorded by Bishop Edward Steere. Wording of the later based on Claud Field's translation.

  25. Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves

    Episode 6 of the Ramadan blitz! This one is a classic but the original version is obscured. (Pic is painting by Maxfield Parrish! credits to wikipediaa)

  26. The King who cut his finger

    This story is from my grandfather! Variants found in the recent موسوعة الرقائق والأدب and in Naestri Sastri's (d.1909 CE) Indian Tales.

  27. The Discourse of the Lion

    A tale from the the Maqāmāt of Badiuzzaman al-Hamdanī (d.485 AH/ 1008 CE). The original is quite literary arabic, so this is very boiled down and retold from memory.

  28. A Saintly Cat

    Third entry in the Ramadan Blitz! A different kind of story about a very Muslim cat, as curated by the late Professor Simon Digby.

  29. Sunset of the Third Day

    Second entry in the Ramadan Blitz. A story about Umar (RA), a killer, and two brothers who lost their father. From Diyāb al-Itlidī's Nawādir al-Khulafah.

  30. Adhan at Midnight

    First story in the Ramadan Blitz! A tale of justice from the Siyasetnameh of Nizam al-Mulk (d. 465 AH/1092 CE).

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ABOUT THIS SHOW

This sorta-weekly podcast focuses on stories drawn from across Islamic civilization. The language of the birds series tells (often mystical) tales of avians in islamic lit. The Ramadan blitz was a podcast-a-day series in Ramadan 1440/2019. Blog: https://samosazen.wordpress.com/Insta: @arlatif24

HOSTED BY

Abdul Rahman Latif

Frequently Asked Questions

How many episodes does Chronicles of the Crescent have?

Chronicles of the Crescent currently has 30 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.

What is Chronicles of the Crescent about?

This sorta-weekly podcast focuses on stories drawn from across Islamic civilization. The language of the birds series tells (often mystical) tales of avians in islamic lit. The Ramadan blitz was a podcast-a-day series in Ramadan 1440/2019. Blog: https://samosazen.wordpress.com/Insta: @arlatif24

How often does Chronicles of the Crescent release new episodes?

Chronicles of the Crescent has 30 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.

Where can I listen to Chronicles of the Crescent?

You can listen to Chronicles of the Crescent on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.

Who hosts Chronicles of the Crescent?

Chronicles of the Crescent is created and hosted by Abdul Rahman Latif.
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