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Owl and the Nightingale, The

(Encyclopedia)Owl and the Nightingale, The, Middle English poem written probably by Nicholas de Guildford of Dorsetshire about the beginning of the 13th cent. Written in 2,000 lines of octosyllabic couplets, it des...

moon

(Encyclopedia)CE5 The moon: Near side CE5 The moon: Far side moon, natural satellite of a planet (see satellite, natural) or dwarf planet, in particular, the single natural satellite of the earth. It is no...

madrasa

(Encyclopedia)madrasa or madrassah, in Islamic countries, a school, historically usually one devoted to higher education in religious studies, but the term may refer to any school. Privately endowed, often by royal...

ISIS, in Iraqi and Syrian history

(Encyclopedia)ISIS, Islamic State in Iraq and Syria: see Islamic State. ...

Quetzalcoatl

(Encyclopedia)Quetzalcoatl kĕtˌsälkôätˈəl [key] [Nahuatl,=feathered serpent], ancient deity and legendary ruler of the Toltec in Mexico. The name is also that of a Toltec ruler, who is credited with the disc...

almanac

(Encyclopedia)almanac, originally, a calendar with notations of astronomical and other data. Almanacs have been known in simple form almost since the invention of writing, for they served to record religious feasts...

Farabi, al-

(Encyclopedia)Farabi, al- äl-färäˈbē [key], d. 950, Islamic philosopher. He studied in Baghdad and later flourished in Aleppo as a sufi mystic (see Sufism). He died in Damascus. Al-Farabi was the author of an ...

Qutb, Sayyid

(Encyclopedia)Qutb, Sayyid sīˈyĭd kŭˈtəb [key], 1906–66, Egyptian Islamist whose critique of modern civilization and Islam provides the theoretical underpinnings for many contemporary Islamic militants. Edu...

Khamenei, Ali

(Encyclopedia)Khamenei, Ali (Mohammad Ali Hoseyn Khamenei) mōhämädˈ älēˈ hōsānˈ khamānāēˈ [key], 1939–, Iranian religious and political leader, b. Mashhad. A Shiite Islamic cleric who was the son of...

Umayyad

(Encyclopedia)Umayyad o͞omäˈyäd [key], the first Islamic dynasty (661–750). Their reign witnessed the return to leadership roles of the pre-Islamic Arab elite, and the rejuvenation of tribal loyalties. The Ba...