Bilal Orfali is a Lebanese scholar of

Arabic language Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

and

literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, poems. It includes both print and Electroni ...

. He currently serves as Sheikh Zayed Chair of Arabic and Islamic Studies at the

American University of Beirut The American University of Beirut (AUB; ) is a private, non-sectarian, and independent university chartered in New York with its main campus in Beirut, Lebanon. AUB is governed by a private, autonomous board of trustees and offers programs le ...

. He is considered an expert on Arabic prose and poetry, especially during the

10th century The 10th century was the period from 901 (represented by the Roman numerals CMI) through 1000 (M) in accordance with the Julian calendar, and the last century of the 1st millennium. In China, the Song dynasty was established, with most of C ...

.Faculty and Members
2011-2012, pg. 17.

Institute for Advanced Study The Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) is an independent center for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry located in Princeton, New Jersey. It has served as the academic home of internationally preeminent scholars, including Albert Ein ...

's official website.

Life

Orfali earned a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

and

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

from the American University of Beirut in 2000, 2001 and 2003 respectively. He then went on to earn a

Master of Philosophy A Master of Philosophy (MPhil or PhM; Latin ' or ') is a postgraduate degree. The name of the degree is most often abbreviated MPhil (or, at times, as PhM in other countries). MPhil are awarded to postgraduate students after completing at leas ...

in 2006 and a

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of Postgraduate education, graduate study and original resear ...

in 2009, both from

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

.Bilal Orfali
at the Department of Arabic and Near Eastern Languages, American University of Beirut's official site. Accessed February 23, 2013.Orfali, Bilal
at the Institute for Advanced Study's official site. Orfali is currently a professor of Arabic studies at AUB, while also having served as a visiting scholar at the prestigious

Princeton, New Jersey The Municipality of Princeton is a Borough (New Jersey), borough in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. It was established on January 1, 2013, through the consolidation of the Borough of Princeton, New Jersey, Borough of Princeton and Pri ...

from 2011 to 2012. He also serves as the director of the AUB's intensive CAMES summer program for Arabic language education.

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 is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

Edinburgh University Press Edinburgh University Press is a scholarly publisher of academic books and journals, based in Edinburgh, Scotland. History Edinburgh University Press was founded in the 1940s and became a wholly owned subsidiary of the University of Edinburgh ...

, 2009.

Articles

* *"A Sketch Map of Arabic Poetry Anthologies up to the Fall of Baghdad." ''Journal of Arabic Literature'', vol. 43, # 1, 2012. Pgs. 29–59.

Edited works

*''In the Shadow of Arabic: The Centrality of Language to Arabic Culture''.

Leiden Leiden ( ; ; in English language, English and Archaism, archaic Dutch language, Dutch also Leyden) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Nethe ...

Brill Publishers Brill Academic Publishers () is a Dutch international academic publisher of books, academic journals, and Bibliographic database, databases founded in 1683, making it one of the oldest publishing houses in the Netherlands. Founded in the South ...

, 2011. 1st ed., 572 pgs. *''Sufism, Black and White'', with Nada Saab. Leiden: Brill Publishers, 2012. 1st ed., 570 pgs. *''Texts and Studies on the Qurʾān'', with Gerhard Böwering and Devin J. Stewart. Leiden: Brill Publishers. ISSN 1567-2808

Original works

*''The Comfort of the Mystics'', with Gerhard Böwering. Leiden: Brill Publishers, 2013. 1st ed., 720 pgs.

Citations

External links

Resume
of Dr. Orfali at the American University of Beirut's official site. {{DEFAULTSORT:Orfali, Bilal Lebanese expatriates in the United States Lebanese writers Islamic studies scholars Literary critics of Arabic Living people Religion academics Year of birth missing (living people) Academic staff of the American University of Beirut Yale University alumni