Irfan Arif Shahîd | |
|---|---|
عرفان عارف شهيد | |
| Born | Irfan Arif Kawar (1926-01-15)January 15, 1926 Nazareth,Mandatory Palestine (now Israel) |
| Died | November 9, 2016(2016-11-09) (aged 90) Washington, D.C., United States |
| Citizenship | American |
| Alma mater | St John's College, Oxford (BA) Princeton University (PhD) |
| Occupation | Professor |
Irfan Arif Shahîd (Arabic:عرفان عارف شهيدʿIrfān ʿĀrif Shahīd; January 15, 1926 – November 9, 2016),[1] also known asErfan Arif Kawar (عرفان عارف قعوارʿIrfān ʿĀrif Qaʿwār), was an American professor and scholar in the field ofOriental studies. Between 1982 and 2016, he was the Oman Professor of Arabic and Islamic Literature atGeorgetown University.[2] Shahîd also became a Fellow of theMedieval Academy of America in 2012.[3][4]
Shahîd was born inNazareth,Mandatory Palestine, to a family ofPalestinian Christians. He left in 1946 to attendSt John's College, Oxford, where he studiedclassics andGreco-Roman history under the renowned British historianA. N. Sherwin-White.[2]
He received his PhD fromPrinceton University in Arabic and Islamic Studies. His doctorate thesis was "Early Islam and Poetry" and his research was primarily focused on three major areas: the area where the Greco-Roman world, especially theByzantine Empire, meets theArabic andIslamic worlds in thelate antique andmedieval times;Islamic studies, particularly theQuran; andArabic literature, especiallyclassical and medieval Arabic poetry.[5]
