Bilal Orfali

Bilal Orfali, Ph.D. (2009), Yale University, is Sheikh Zayed Chair for Arabic and Islamic Studies at the American University of Beirut. He specializes in Arabic literature, Sufism, and Qurʾānic Studies. He co-edits al-Abhath Journal, al-Markaz: Majallat al-dirāsāt al-ʿArabiyya, Brill’s book series Texts and Studies on the Qur’an, and Handbooks on Islamic Mysticism. He is member of the editorial board of the Library of Arabic Literature at NYUAD, member of the scientific committee for the Abu Dhabi Center of Arabic Language, and serves on the advisory boards of many international Journals.

Orfali is the author and editor of more than twenty books on Arabic Studies. His recent publications include: Approaches to the Study of Pre-modern Arabic Anthologies (Brill, 2021), Light Upon Light (Brill, 2019), Insatiable Appetite: Food as Cultural Signifier in the Middle East and Beyond (Brill, 2019), The Anthologist’s Art (Brill, 2016), The Book of Noble Character (Brill, 2015), The Comfort of the Mystics (Brill, 2013), Sufism, Black and White (Brill, 2012), In the Shadow of Arabic (Brill, 2011).