Education

1993 American University in Cairo, Egypt, CASA III Fellowship

1988 University of California, Los Angeles, Ph.D., Near Eastern Languages (Arabic)

1981–82 American University in Cairo, Egypt, CASA II Fellowship

1978–79 American University in Cairo, Egypt, CASA Fellowship

1978 University of California, Los Angeles, M.A., Near Eastern Languages (Semitics)

1971 Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, Ph.D., English

1963 Columbia University, New York, B.A.

Research

    • Ibn al-Muqaffaʿ, Kalīlah and Dimnah: Fables of Virtue and Vice. Edition of Arabic text; English translation with James E. Montgomery. New York University Press, 2021.

    • The Works of Ibn Wāḍiḥ al-Ya‘qubi, an English Translation (3 volumes). Co-editor with Matthew S. Gordon, Chase F. Robinson, and Everett K. Rowson. Translator of Vol. 1, pp. 29–60; Vol. 2, pp. 346–359; Vol. 3, pp. 597–701. Brill, 2018.

    • “Muslims, Jews, and Christians: How the Bible Was Translated into Arabic,” review of The Bible in Arabic: The Scriptures of the “People of the Book” in the Language of Islam, by Sidney H. Griffith. boundary 2, no. 42 (May 2012): 153–60.

    • The Unveiling of Secrets Kashf al-Asrar: The Visionary Autobiography of Ruzbihan al-Baqli (1128-1209 A.D.), by Firoozeh Papan-Matin, in collaboration with Michael Fishbein (Brill, 2006). — edition of Arabic text from manuscript.

    • Al-Qabisi, “Al-Risalah al-Mufassilah li-Ahwal al-Muta‘allimin wa Ahkam al-Mu‘allimin wa al-Muta‘allimin” (“A Treatise Detailing the Circumstances of Students and the Rules Governing Teachers and Students”), in Classical Foundations of Islamic Educational Thought, ed. Bradley J. Cook, Islamic Translation Series, Brigham Young University Press, 2011. — translation.

    • Ibn Jama‘ah, “Tadhkirat al-Sami‘ wa al-Mutakallim fi Adab al-‘Alim wa al-Muta‘allim” (“A Mem-orandum for Listeners and Lecturers: Rules of Conduct for the Learned and the Learning”), in Classical Foundations of Islamic Educational Thought, ed. Bradley J. Cook, Islamic Translation Series, Brigham Young University Press, 2011. — translation.

    • Ibn Sahnun, “Kitab Adab al-Mu‘allimin” (“Rules of Conduct for Teachers”), in Classical Foundations of Islamic Educational Thought, ed. Bradley J. Cook, Islamic Translation Series, Brigham Young University Press, 2011. — translation.

    • Review: Humanism, Culture, and Language in the Near East: Studies in Honor of Georg Krotkoff, in Al-‘Arabiyya (1998) 31:215–18.

    • The History of al-Tabari, Vol. VIII, The Triumph of Islam. Translation. State University of New York Press,1997.

    • A Reader of Classical Arabic Literature. Annotated and edited by S. A. Bonebakker and M. Fishbein. In series: Quaderni di Studi Arabi. Studi e testi, 1. Venice, Italy, 1995.

    • cAbd al-Rahman al-Jabarti’s History of Egypt. Edited by Thomas Philipp & Moshe Perlmann. Co-translator with Charles Wendell of Volume I, pp. 211–420. Franz Steiner Verlag, 1994.

    • The History of al-Tabari, Vol. XXXI, The War between Brothers. Translation. State University of New York Press, 1992.

    • Review: The History of al-Tabari , Vol. III, in Middle East Studies Association Bulletin, Vol. 26, No. 1 (July 1992), pp. 74–77.

    • The History of al-Tabari , Vol. XXI, The Victory of the Marwanids. Translation. State University of New York Press, 1990.

    • The Life of al-Mukhtār b. Abī ʿUbayd in Some Early Arabic Historians. Doctoral dissertation, UCLA, September 1988.

Experience

    • 2016 On recall Winter, Spring Quarter: Taught Koranic Arabic (Winter), Seminar in Arabic Historians (Spring).

    • 2012 On recall Spring Quarter to teach course in Koranic Arabic

    • 2009–18 Co-editor, The History of al-Ya‘qubi: Translate sections, revise existing translations and edit for publication. Publication 2018.

    • 2009– Retired from teaching.

    • 1988– Lecturer (Arabic)

    • 2009 Department of Near Eastern Languages & Cultures, UCLA: Taught elementary, intermediate, and advanced Modern Standard Arabic; Arabic media (in Arabic); elementary and advanced Spoken Egyptian Arabic; Koranic Arabic (introduction to the Arabic of the Koran and Hadith); Koran (in Arabic, with classical commentaries); Classical Arabic texts (in Arabic), modern Arabic literature (in Ara-bic), Classical Arabic literature in translation, Modern Arabic Literature (in transla-tion), Introduction to Near East (Medieval, Modern).

    • 1997– Undergraduate adviser

    • 2007 Department of Near Eastern Languages & Cultures, UCLA: Advised undergraduate students about choice of courses for all majors and minors in the department; helped plan the minors; did degree checks for graduating students.

    • 1979–88 Teaching Assistant/Associate, Department of Near Eastern Languages & Cultures, UCLA: Taught elementary and intermediate Modern Standard Arabic. Taught intensive sum-mer courses in Modern Standard Arabic.

    • 1984–85 Visiting Lecturer, Department of Religious Studies, UCSB, Santa Barbara: Taught elementary Modern Standard Arabic.

    • 1969–76 Assistant Professor, Department of English, UCSB, Santa Barbara: Taught courses in 19th and 20th century English literature