The Arabic Literature of Nigeria to 1804: a Provisional Account

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Abstract
The purpose of this essay is to provide a convenient introduction to the Arabic literature composed in Nigeria and the immediately adjoining areas in the period before the commencement of the Fulani jihād. That far-reaching movement of political and religious reform, initiated in 1804 under the leadership of Shehu Usuman dan Fodio (in Arabic texts ‘ b. Fūdī, often surnamed Nur al-zamdn and Mujaddid al-isldm) clearly marks off the division between the early and the modern period in the Arabic literature of this area. As is well known, the standard bibliographical work of reference, Brockelmann's encyclopaedic Geschichte der arabischen Litteratur, however full its coverage of the writing of the Arabic-speaking world at large, represents only scantily the West African writers of Arabic.

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