Martino Diez
Pubblicazioni 2013-2011
2013
Articles in Journals
1.
Diez M (2013). Les antiquités gréco-romaines entre al-Makīn Ibn al-ʿAmīd et Ibn Ḫaldūn.
Notes pour une histoire de la tradition. STUDIA GRAECO-ARABICA, vol. 3, p. 121-140,
ISSN: 2239-012X
The Coptic Historian al-Makîn Jirjis ibn al-‘Amîd (1206 - after 1280) is the author of a universal history
known as al-Majmû‘ al-Mubârak (‘The blessed collection’). This work is divided into two parts: a section on
pre-Islamic history, still unpublished, and a summary of Islamic history, edited by Erpenius in 1625 and
completed by Claude Cahen. The article analyzes the two recensions of the first part of the Magmû‘ through
the comparison of three manuscripts, in particular as regards the sections on Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine
history. After discussing the particular version of the Testimonium Flavianum which can be found in the longer
recension of the Magmû‘, the article traces the fortune of al-Makîn in subsequent Islamic historiography,
especially al-Qalqashandî, al-Maqrîzî and Ibn Khaldûn.
2. Diez M (2013). Louis Massignon interprete della cultura arabo-islamica. HUMANITAS,
vol. n.s. LXVIII, p. 343-353, ISSN: 0018-7461
Louis Massignon endeavoured to know Islamic culture from within, through a form of “sacred hospitality”
which transcends the narrow limits of positivistic rationality to which he had been educated. Thanks to his
spiritual experience, marked indelibly by the visit of the Stranger in 1908, Massignon became interested in the
figures of saints and apotropaic mystics, but also poets and writers, such as al-Mutanabbî or al-Ma‘arrî. This
cultural interest was supported by an authentic passion for Arabic, understood as the archetype of Semitic
languages.
3. Diez M, Conte Maria Laura, Kilo Michel (2013). Une vie qui vaut trois centimes. OASIS,
vol. 18, p. 80-83, ISSN: 2037-1780
An interview with Michel Kilo, historic dissident of the Syrian regime, in exile in Paris since 2009. The civil
war in Syria, totalitarianism and democratic drive, the reform of institutions and the rise of sectarianism.
4. Diez M (2013). at-Tarîq al-wâqi‘î ilà al-mithâl al-a‘là. OASIS, vol. 18, p. 46, ISSN: 20371799
How to break the circle of violence in Syria? Under what conditions is reconciliation possible? Twentieth-century history
demonstrates that when two parties fight for years, a ‘counting of wrongs’ in the name of a purely retributive justice
becomes impossible. Each party has to renounce the legitimate claims it could put forward in order to be able to rebuild a
shared living on new foundations.
5. Diez M, Conte Maria Laura, Tawadros II (2013). Shahâda, lâhût wa salât: ahrâmât al-aqbât
ath-thalâth. OASIS, vol. 17, p. 44-47, ISSN: 2037-1799
Interview with H.H. Tawadros II, 118th Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the Predication of Saint Mark.
Testimony, theology and prayer are historically the three “Pyramids of the Coptic Church”. Among the
priorities of this Church in post-revolutionary Egypt there are pastoral care, ecumenism of charity and the
quest for equality of all citizens before the law.
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Book Reviews
6. Diez M (2013). Le fossé libéral entre hadîth et Coran. OASIS, vol. 18, p. 117, ISSN: 20371780
Book review of Gamâl al-Bannâ, L’Islam, la liberté, la laïcité et Le crime de la tribu des « Il nous a été
rapporté » (edited by Dominique Avon and Amin Elias with Abdellatif Idrissi), L’Harmattan, Paris 2013.
7. Diez M (2013). History of an “Accidental State”. OASIS, vol. 17, p. 118, ISSN: 2037-1799
Book review of Dirk Vandewalle, A History of Modern Libya. Second edition, Cambridge University Press,
New York 2012.
Translations in journals
8. Diez M (2013). L’eterno segreto dell’io. OASIS, vol. 18, p. 71-75, ISSN: Oasis (Ed.
Italiana)
Translation with introduction: Muhammad Iqbal, The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam, Sh.
Muhammad Ashraf Publisher & Bookseller, Lahore 1965, V Conference, pp. 124-127; VI Conference, pp.
178-180; VII Conference, pp. 195-198.
9. Diez M (2013). Il profitto? In misura del lavoro. OASIS, vol. 17, p. 70-74, ISSN: Oasis (Ed.
Italiana)
Translation with introduction: Târîkh Ibn Khaldûn al-musammà Kitâb al-‘Ibar, edited by ‘Âdil Ibn Sa‘d,
Volume I, Dâr al-Kutub al-‘ilmiyya, Bayrût 2010, Book One, Section 5, Chapter 1, pp. 300-301; Book One,
Section 3, Chapters 38.40.43, pp. 218-224 passim.
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2012
Monographies
Diez M (2012). Introduzione alla lingua araba.
Origini, storia, attualità. p. 1-206, MILANO:
Vita e pensiero, ISBN: 978-88-343-2321-2
An introduction to Arabic language. Book contents:
the Semitic languages and their main features, preIslamic Arabic and the language of the Qur’an, the
development of linguistic thought in Medieval culture,
the encounter with Western modernity, contemporary
dialects and their relation to Classical Arabic,
alphabet, calligraphies and dictionaries. This book
offers an updated presentation of the main theoretical
issues that are necessary to students of Arabic for an
effective learning.
Articles in Journals
10. Diez M, Conte Maria Laura, al-Ghannoushi Rashed (2012). Innamâ ad-dîmuqratiyya hiya
allatî takhtâr at-tafsîr as-sahîh li l-Qur’ân. OASIS, vol. 15, p. 41 /77-44/81, ISSN: 20371799
Interview with Rashed al-Ghannoushi, founder of the movement an-Nahda. Political Islam and Democracy, the
Tunisian Revolution, shari’a and the new Constitution in the words of a protagonist of the post-Ben Ali era.
11. Diez M (2012). Wandering around in Heaven between Satire and Doubt. OASIS, vol. 16, p.
101-105, ISSN: 2037-1799
The Epistle of Forgiveness, masterpiece of al-Ma‘arrî, can be read as a radical questioning of historical
religions. One half an Ismaili, al-Ma‘arrî witnesses to the corrosive strength of the bâtiniyya and at the same
time to the inability of this movement to construct a new concrete, universal faith.
Book Reviews
12. Diez M (2012). Les trois visages des barbus. OASIS, vol. 16, p. 113, ISSN: 2037-1780
Book review of Bernard Rougier (ed.), Qu’est-ce que le salafisme?, PUF, Paris 2008
13. Diez M (2012). Sharia with or without Islam?. OASIS, vol. 15, p. 111, ISSN: 2037-1799
Book review of Robert W. Hefner (ed.), Shari‘a Politics. Islamic Law and Society in the Modern World,
Indiana University Press, Bloomington (IN) 2011
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14. Diez M (2012). When the Sun Rises in the West. OASIS, vol. 15, p. 116-117, ISSN: 20371799
Book review of ʿAbd al-Wahid Pallavicini, A Sufi Master’s Message. In memoriam René Guénon, Fons Vitae,
Louisville (KY) 2010
Translations in journals
15. Diez M (2012). A Government without Religion for Religious Citizens. OASIS, vol. 16, p.
76-79, ISSN: 2037-1799
Translation with introduction: Muhammad Mahdî Shamseddine, Lubnân al-kiyân wa l-ma‘nà, Imam M.M.
Shamseddine Foundation for Dialogue, Beirut 2005, pp. 92-98.
16. Diez M (2012). Juste à devenir injuste. OASIS, vol. 15, p. 70-75, ISSN: 2037-1780
Translation with introduction: Muhammad Kâmil Husayn, Qarya zâlima, ed. Maktabat al-usra, al-Qâhira 1997,
pp. 67-79 passim (corresponding to the chapter about Caiaphas).
Chapters in volumes
17. Diez M (2012). L’amore per lei non perirà tra ciò che perisce. Il tema della fedeltà nella
poesia di Jamîl. In: (a cura di): G. Marengo, J. Prades López, G. Richi Alberti, Sufficit
gratia tua. Miscellanea in onore del Cardinal Angelo Scola per il suo settantesimo
compleanno. p. 189-205, VENEZIA:Marcianum Press, ISBN: 978-88-6512-095-8
The Arab poet Jamîl is one of the main representatives of the tradition of ‘Udhrî Love. He celebrates
passionate, yet unfulfilled and chaste desire for his beloved Buthayna, leading him to die the death of a martyr.
‘Udhrî love is not to be confused with subsequent theorizations of courtly love like the Kitâb al-Zahra by Ibn
Dâwûd.
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2011
Monographies
Diez M (2011). L’Epistola del Perdono. Il
viaggio nell’Aldilà. p. I-1-LIX-205, TORINO:
Einaudi, ISBN: 978-88-06-20735-9
The book presents the first full translation in any
Western Language of the first part of the Epistle of
Forgiveness by Abû l-‘Alâ’ al-Ma‘arrî (X-XI
century). The first part of the Epistle, relating a
journey in the afterlife, is the most important satiric
text of Classical Arabic Literature, while at the
same time presenting a distinct theatrical nature.
The Epistle is known for its linguistic intricacy: the
translation is therefore accompanied by a vast
apparatus of notes, short biographies of the poets
and litterateurs cited, and it is preceded by an
ample introduction, contextualizing al-Ma‘arrî in
his own time and focusing in particular on his
ambivalent relations to the Ismaili movement.
Articles in Journals
18. Diez M, Messarra Antoine (2011). La force d’un État ? Sa légitimité. OASIS, vol. 14, p. 97101, ISSN: 2037-1780
Interview with Antoine Messarra, member of the Lebanese Constitutional Council. The Arab revolutions and
the quest for freedom, the dangers of an endless protest, the stance of Lebanon and Lebanese… An appeal to
end the logic of blackmail.
19. Diez M (2011). Thawrât Shamâlî Afriqyâ: tahaddin li l-jamî‘. OASIS, vol. 13, p. 5-7, ISSN:
2037-1799
In the first euphoria of Arab revolutions, at the beginning of 2011, Middle East was perceived as a gigantic
tabula rasa where everything was possible. It is however important not to underestimate the unresolved
tension between Sunnis and Shiites, which has deep roots in the past and which will continue to play a major
role in the future.
Translations in journals
20. Diez M (2011). The Task of Critique or the Return of the Repressed. OASIS, vol. 14, p. 9295, ISSN: 2037-1799
Translation with introduction: Muhammad ‘Âbid al-Jâbrî, al-‘Aql al-siyâsî al-ʿarabî, Markaz Dirâsât al-Wahda
al-‘arabiyya, Bayrût 1990 (Fifth Edition), pp. 358-374 passim.
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Book Reviews
21. Diez M (2011). Mary, the Woman of Majesty and Beauty. OASIS, vol. 14, p. 108, ISSN:
2037-1799
Book review of Luigi Bressan, Maria nella devozione e nella pittura dell’Islam, Jaca Book, Milano 2011.
22. Diez M (2011). Saudi Arabia: History and Enigma. OASIS, vol. 13, p. 110, ISSN: 20371799
Book review of Madawi al-Rasheed, A History of Saudi Arabia, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2010
(second edition).
23. Diez M (2011). Within the Boundaries of the Shi'ite Crescent. OASIS, vol. 13, p. 109, ISSN:
2037-1799
Book review of Vali Nasr, The Shia Revival, Norton & Company, New York-London 2007.
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