Current Position: Associate Professor

Education:
Ph.D, Middle East and Islamic Studies, University of Toronto, November 1993.
Dissertation: THE AGENTS AND FORCES THAT TOPPLED THE UMAYYAD CALIPHATE.
MA (Excellent) Arabic Literature, American University of Beirut, August 1970.
Thesis: Hayt al-Sahr f Shi ^cr Dh al-Rumma, in Arabic. (The Desert Life in the poetry of Dh al-Rumma).
BA Arabic Literature, American University of Beirut, June 1966.

Work Experience:
Associate Professor, Department of Arabic & NEL, American University of Beirut, October 2000-
Assistant Professor, Department of Arabic & NEL, American University of Beirut, October 1994- September 2000.
Instructor, Arabic Department, American University of Beirut, July-August 1975.
Teaching at the Arabic Department as Senior Graduate Assistant, American University of Beirut, October 1970- June 1971, October 1973-June 1975.
Teaching at the Arabic Department as Graduate Assistant, American University of Beirut, October 1969-June 1970.
Teaching Arabic, Ministry of Education, Kuwait, September 1968-June 1969.
Editorial Assistant to the Editor, Professor M.A.Ghl, Al-Abhth American University of Beirut, 1970-1971.
Co-founder/ Managing Director and teacher of AFL and EFL, ALEFBA Establishment and ALEFBA Language Center, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, P.O. Box.3336, 1976-1989.
Accredited legal translator, free-lance, Abu Dhabi, 1976-1989.

PUBLICATIONS (refereed):
A. Books:
1. Dh al-Rumma : Khulsat al-Tajriba al-Sahrwiyya, Beirut, Dr al- ^cIlm li-al-Malyn, 1998, pp. 256. ( This book is a study of the poet's life and poetry including extensive annotations on the poetry, and seven indexes. The book has been reviewed in Al- ^cArabiyyah, Journal of the American Association of Teachers of Arabic, (1998), 31:227-231.
2. The Revolution which Toppled the Umayyads neither Arab nor 'Abbsid, Leiden, E.J.Brill (Islamic History and Civilization, 50), 2003. xxxviii, 408 pp. [ISBN: 90 04 12994 4].

B. Articles:
1. "al-ramz al-Tawrt f al-juz" al-awwal min khumsiyyat Mudun al-Milh, al-Th, li- ^cAbd al-Rahmn Munf", Al-Abhth XXXXII (1994), 63-84. (A critical study of this outstanding novel, anchored in a restricted comparative milieu, detecting parallels between the novelist's creations and the Old Testament).
2. "A viewpoint of the Murji'a in the Umayyad period: evolution through application", Journal of Islamic Studies 8:1 (1997), 1-42. (A fresh view of this early Muslim religio-political sect; investigating and trying to untangle the naturally procreated web of misunderstanding sprouting from the mix between history and heresiography towards a clearer historical and theological understanding).
3. "The Arab population in Hursn during the Umayyad period- some demographic computations", Arabica XLVI(1999), 211-29. (In the context of the controversy over the demographic composition of the forces of the ^cAbbsid revolution, this is a quantitative study of the Arab population in the province of Khursn, applying principles of modern demographic studies to figures pertaining to the Umayyad period, and gleaned from primary medieval Arabic sources).
4. "Ab Muslim's conquest of Khursn- preliminaries and strategy in a confusing text in Akhbr al-Dawla al- ^cAbbsiyya", Journal of the American Oriental Society 120:3 (2000), 333-47. (Elucidating Ab Muslim's ingenious strategy which reflects the grass-roots nature of the ^cAbbsid revolution, this article is essentially anchored in a close textual and contextual analysis of an extremely confused and confusing, but vital, segment of the single most important source on that revolution).
5. The 'Battle of the Pass': two consequential readings", Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies 63:3 (2000), 340-55. (A close investigation of the source material on this crucial battle and the implications of modern interpretations thereof, as they bear on our understanding of the ^cAbbsid Revolution two decades later).
6. "Did Qahtabah b. Shabb al-T hail from Kfah?, Studia Islamica 92 (2001), 187-93. (An enquiry into the enigmatic origins of the foremost military hero of the ^cAbbsid revolution).
7. "Qfiyyat Ta'abbata Sharran al-Mufaddaliyya: thun'iyyat al-wasl wa al-sarm - namdhaj f al-naqd al-tatbq", Al-Abhth XLVIII-XLIX (2000-2001), 7-79. ( An extensive in-depth documentation and linguistic and literary analysis of this archetypal pre-Islamic Arabian ode).
8. "Poetry and identity in the Umayyad age," (Saleh Said Agha and Tarif Khalidi) Al-Abhth 50-1 (2002-3) pp. 55-120.
9. "Language as a component of Arab identity in Jahiz: the case of Ism'ls conversion to Arabhood," accepted for publication in the forthcoming "Proceedings of the conference on: l-Jahiz- A Humanist for Our Time".

C. Book Reviews :
1. Review of Ysuf Khulayf's Dh al Rumma Sh ^cir al-Hubb wa al-Sahr', in Al-Abhth, XXXII (1969) 3&4, pp.106-114.
2. Review of Muhammad Qasim Zaman's (1997) Religion and Politics under the Early ^cAbbsids - The Emergence of the Proto-Sunn Elite, in the International Journal of Middle East Studies, 31(1999) pp.127-128.

D. Abstracts:
Abstract of Ph.D. dissertation, "The Agents and Forces that Toppled the Umayyad Caliphate", in Middle East Studies Association BULLETIN, 29:1 (July 1995), p.p 28-29 (among the abstracts of the awarded dissertations in the Malcolm H.Kerr Dissertation Award Competition-1994).

PUBLICATIONS (non-refereed)
A. Indexing of Books
1. (Single, anonymous) indexing of: Anonymous, Akhbr al-Dawla al- ^cAbbsiyya wa fh Akhbr al- ^cAbbs wa Waladih, ed. A.A.al-Duri, and A.J. al-Muttalibi, Beirut, Dr al-Tal ^cah, 1971.
2. (Participation in the anonymous joint) indexing of: al-Himyar, Muhammad ibn ^cAbd al-Mun ^cim, al-Rawd al-Mi ^ctr f Khabar al-Aqtr, ed. Ihsan Abbas, Beirut, Librairie du Liban, 1975.
3. Qadi, W; Kassab, N; Agha, S; Bazzi, T., Indices, volume 5 of: al-Kutub, Fawt al-Wafayt, ed. Ihsan Abbas, Beirut, Dr Sdir, 1977.

B. Articles in Beirut Weeklies
1. "Khalil Hawi: mdh lam yaqul ^cala al-tilivizyn?" in al-Ahad, XVI (July 10, 1966) 792 .
2. "Lam yajru' ghayr Sadiq al-Azm ^cal al-i ^ctirf bi-shar ^ciyyat al-shahwa" (a review article of al-Azm's F al-Hubb wa al-Hubb al- ^cUdhr), in al-Nahr literary supplement, al-Mulhaq,9921 ( March 17, 1968).

C. Anonymous Works within Institutional Projects
1. (A contribution to) Palestine and the Arab-Israeli conflict An Annotated Bibliography, ed. W. Khalidi and J. Khadduri, Beirut-Kuwait, Institute for Palestine StudiesUniversity of Kuwait, 1974 (ack.p.xv).
2. (The main contribution to) Filastn: Trkhuh wa Qadiyyatuh (two pamphlets), Beirut, Institute for Palestine Studies, and Maqsid, (now in 5th ed. 1980, 1987).
3. (Contributions to) The Encycopaedia of Arabic poetry, sponsored by Khayyats Publishing House, Beirut, supervised by the late Professor Khalil Hawi, and Mutaa Safadi. I wrote the articles on: Ab Tammm, al-Sayyid al-Himyar, Tamm Ibn al- Mu ^cizz, Adb Ishq, and Khall al- Yzij. (Summer 1966). After publishing the first four volumes on pre-Islamic poetry, the project was disrupted!