I gave an online talk to the `Inekas [Reflection] Study Group of scholars in Iran on a chapter of my book, Muhammad: Prophet of Peace amid the Clash of Empires.. They have kindly put it up at YouTube, so I am mirroring it here. YouTube provides a computer-generated transcript. I asked Open AI’s ChatGPT to […]
“Into this Universe:” Heidegger and FitzGerald’s The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám 1:29
One recurrent theme in the unconventional quatrains that were later gathered under the rubric of the The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám is surprise at having come into being unasked, and at being sentenced to non-being at the end of this bewildering life. This sentiment to my mind is a sign of medieval Persian secularism. The […]
Rumi and Shakespeare: On Forgiveness and Reconciliation
This essay first appeared at Renovatio, a humanities publication of Zaytuna College in Berkeley, Ca. Thanks to Hamza Yusuf and Safir Ahmad. NB the hyperlinks in the footnotes don’t work, but the numbers are accurate and notes are at the end. Jalaluddin Rumi (d. 1273) has sometimes been called “the Shakespeare of the East.” The […]
“With them the seed of Wisdom:” FitzGerald’s The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám 1:28
Quatrain no. 28 in the first edition of Edward FitzGerald’s The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám continues riffing on stanza 121 in the Bodleian manuscript. XXVIII. With them the Seed of Wisdom did I sow, And with my own hand labour’d it to grow : And this was all the Harvest that I reap’d- “I came […]
Was Volcano-Driven Climate Change partially Behind the Black Death?
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – How plague came to Europe around 1347 has long been debated by historians. Scientists have located the origin of the primary reservoir of the disease in today’s Kyrgyzstan, and it has long been thought somehow to have come west with the Mongol invasions of the fourteenth century. One colorful tale […]
Rate of Global Heating in the Arab World is Twice the Global Average
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The World Meteorological Organization has issued its annual report on the 22 countries of the Arab world, covering last year, and presents alarming conclusions about human-driven climate change in that region. 2024 was the hottest year on record in the Middle East, around 1º Celsius (1.8º F.) hotter than the […]
Several Countries to Boycott Eurovision Singing Contest over Israeli Participation
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The European Broadcasting Union declined o have a vote on whether Israel should be allowed to participate in next year’s Eurovision singing contest. Several European countries had argued that the country’s genocidal behavior in Gaza was grounds for excluding it from the competition. Russia used to participate in Eurovision, as […]
200 Luminaries from the Arts and Business World demand release of “Palestinian Mandela”
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Patrick Wintour at The Guardian reports that some 200 prominent literary, cultural and political figures have signed an open letter demanding the release from Israeli prison of Palestinian activist Marwan Barghouti. Barghouti 66, is widely thought to be one of the few figures who could unite the Palestinians and lead […]
Have we Reached Peak Fossil Fuels? Wind & Solar met all New Energy Demand in Q1-Q3 ’25
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Richard Black and other analysts at the Ember energy consultancy find that all new electricity demand in the first three quarters of 2025 was met by solar and wind, mainly solar. That statistic requires us to conclude that there was no growth in fossil fuels globally during that period. Ember […]
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