6 research outputs found
<i>“The Intellect is the Essence of the Human”</i>: The Arabic Poem of the Intellect (<i>Qaṣīdat al-ʿAql</i>) by the Indian Fatimid-Ṭayyibī Dāʿī al-Muṭlaq Sayyidna Taher Saifuddin (1888–1965)
Get PDFThe 177-verse Arabic Poem of the Intellect (Qaṣīdat al-ʿAql) composed by the Indian Fatimid-Ṭayyibī Dāʿī al-Muṭlaq Sayyidna Taher Saifuddin (d. 1385/1965) breaks new ground in substance and form. In form, the poem creatively amalgamates the genres of qaṣīdah (poem), risālah (treatise), and waṣiyyah (testament) to produce an eloquent and innovative hybrid text. In content, it uniquely combines a philosophical exposition on Islamic theology and ethics with a road map to living a Pure Life. After an opening frame that provides a philosophical foundation, the poem’s three large thematic sections draw on the Qurʾan, the Prophet’s Hadith, and the sermons of Imam ʿAlī to describe principles of belief and approach, articles of character and deeds, and the grounding of both—abstract philosophy and concrete instructions—in love for and allegiance to the divine guides, the Imams and Dāʿīs, who are “God’s rope.” It has a gentle tone, preaching harmony between all people on earth, tranquility in one’s life, cheerfulness and positivity, and an atmosphere of love and caring. The closing section brings the poet directly into the frame of reference, stating that he, as the incumbent Dāʿī, is himself the manifestation of God’s rope in the current time, and those who follow his guidance will return to Paradise. The present article provides a window into Sayyidna Taher Saifuddin’s remarkable poem, translating and analyzing it against the backdrop of Fatimid and Ṭayyibī theological works and, briefly, the colonial and post-colonial fabric of early 20th century India, to explore a significant and largely unknown chapter of Arabic poetry
Tahmid: A literary genre? A study of the Arabic laudatory preamble with a focus on the Fatimid-Tayyibi tradition.
Get PDFThis thesis follows the emergence and development of Tahmid, the Arabic laudatory preamble, as a literary genre in the Arabic tradition: a genre that imaginatively presents the distinct worldview (weltanschauung) that its author embraces and a genre that not only features as a standard introduction for an infinite number of texts, but is also, in and of itself, a rich source of meaning. The dissertation proposes a literary approach for unearthing its depths of knowledge, termed the 'relational approach'. This approach identifies and focuses on the various relations and associations, highlighted and evoked by a Tahmid despite its usual conciseness, which are the source of its vitality. Drawing upon a broad range of samples, the study also delineates the common characteristics and trends of the Tahmid tradition as a whole, and focuses on its distinctiveness and significance in Fatimid-Tayyibi literature ('Fatimid-Tayyibi' refers to Ismili Musta'lian Tayyibi Shiites in Fatimid Egypt as well as their spiritual successors in Yemen and India, commonly known as the Da'udi Bohras). Following the introduction, the thesis is structured on a chronological basis in three parts. Section-I (chapters 1-3) traces the development of Tahmid from its origins to maturity as a distinct genre in Arabic prose. Section-II (chapter-4), building on the literary-history presented in the previous section, presents a methodology for the analysis of Tahmid and applies it to a selection of examples. Section-III (chapters 5-7) focuses on the unique characteristics of Fatimid-Tayyibi Tahmids and presents an analysis of a number of examples. The section ends with a case-study of a Tahmid in one of the Fatimid-Tayyibi Da'i Syedna Taher Saifuddin's (d. 1385/1965) risalahs. The question posited in the title of this thesis, 'is the Tahmid a literary genre?' is answered in the Conclusion. An appendix of Tahmids referred to in the thesis and illustrative samples, especially from the Fatimid-Tayyibi manuscripts, accompanies the dissertation in a separate volume
Los sermones de ‘Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib en la confluencia entre las enseñanzas islámicas del Corán y la ética cultural basada en las tradiciones orales sobre la naturaleza de la Arabia del siglo VII
Get PDFSermons attributed to ‘Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib (c. 600-661, first Shi‘a imam and fourth Sunni caliph) promoted core Qur’anic doctrine and ethics through an aesthetic steeped in the oral, nature-based, poetic culture of seventh-century Arabia. Using traditional Arabian metaphors of camels, watering holes, and pithy, rhythmic, orality-grounded cadences, ‘Ali urged his audience to worship the One God, follow the guidance of His prophet Muhammad, shun worldliness, perform good deeds, and prepare for the imminent hereafter. Through a close reading of his most celebrated discourses, this paper explores these teachings and their religious and cultural underpinnings.Los sermones atribuidos a ‘Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib (c. 600-661, primer imam chií y cuarto califa suní) fomentaron las doctrinas y la ética coránicas fundacionales mediante una estética oratoria, imbuida de la cultura poética oral basada en metáforas de la naturaleza, característica de la Arabia del siglo VII. ‘Ali utilizaba metáforas tradicionales de camellos y abrevaderos, junto con expresiones rítmicas y lacónicas llenas de cadencias de la oralidad, para instar a los oyentes a adorar al Dios único, seguir la dirección de su profeta Muhammad, rehuir las cosas mundanas, practicar las buenas obras y prepararse para la inminente vida en el más allá. A través de un análisis pormenorizado de sus discursos más célebres, este artículo explora dichas enseñanzas y sus bases religiosas y culturales
Occurrence of hypoxia in the wards of a teaching hospital
No full textObjective : Appearance of hypoxia in a patient may be an indicator of a serious medical condition that can have grave consequences. Clinical evaluation fails to detect majority of the patients of hypoxia, and therefore, it may remain unnoticed in the wards. We planned to assess the magnitude of hypoxia in different wards of our tertiary care hospital. Materials and Methods: We studied all the patients admitted in various medical and surgical wards during 1 week of study. Oxygen saturation (SpO 2 ) was measured with the help of a pulse oximeter in all the patients who remained admitted for at least 24 h. Hypoxia was diagnosed in a patient when he had SpO 2 less than 90%. Results: During the study period, 1167 patients were admitted in various wards of the hospital. Hypoxia was detected in 121 patients (10.36%). Among them, 7 (0.59%) patients were already having a diagnosis of respiratory failure, but were not on oxygen therapy while 5 (0.42%) patients were having SpO 2 less than 90% despite of oxygen therapy. In 109 (9.34%) patients, hypoxia was detected incidentally. Conclusion: Unnoticed hypoxia was detected in a significant number of the patients admitted in the wards of the hospital. Therefore, it is concluded that oxygen saturation measurements should be included with other vital parameters like pulse, temperature, and blood pressure, in the monitoring chart of all the admitted patients
International Nosocomial Infection Control Consortiu (INICC) report, data summary of 43 countries for 2007-2012. Device-associated module
No full textWe report the results of an International Nosocomial Infection Control Consortium (INICC) surveillance study from January 2007-December 2012 in 503 intensive care units (ICUs) in Latin America, Asia, Africa, and Europe. During the 6-year study using the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) U.S. National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) definitions for device-associated health care–associated infection (DA-HAI), we collected prospective data from 605,310 patients hospitalized in the INICC's ICUs for an aggregate of 3,338,396 days. Although device utilization in the INICC's ICUs was similar to that reported from ICUs in the U.S. in the CDC's NHSN, rates of device-associated nosocomial infection were higher in the ICUs of the INICC hospitals: the pooled rate of central line–associated bloodstream infection in the INICC's ICUs, 4.9 per 1,000 central line days, is nearly 5-fold higher than the 0.9 per 1,000 central line days reported from comparable U.S. ICUs. The overall rate of ventilator-associated pneumonia was also higher (16.8 vs 1.1 per 1,000 ventilator days) as was the rate of catheter-associated urinary tract infection (5.5 vs 1.3 per 1,000 catheter days). Frequencies of resistance of Pseudomonas isolates to amikacin (42.8% vs 10%) and imipenem (42.4% vs 26.1%) and Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates to ceftazidime (71.2% vs 28.8%) and imipenem (19.6% vs 12.8%) were also higher in the INICC's ICUs compared with the ICUs of the CDC's NHSN
