Murder, Miracles, and More Misadventures in the Monastery: An Excerpt from al-Shābushtī’s The Book of Monasteries

Murder, Miracles, and More Misadventures in the Monastery: An Excerpt from al-Shābushtī’s The Book of Monasteries

Twenty-first-century readers of al-Shābushtī’s The Book of Monasteries will be suprised to learn that monasteries in the tenth century were more than just religious sites. Politically, they were important places of interaction between Abbasid elites and Christian communities. Practically, monasteries were sites for enjoying nature, mingling, partying, and sometimes having some not-so-innocent fun.  The poetry and stories in this work, excerpted …