In January, Yale University Press will release a new translation of Advice for Callow Jurists and Gullible Mendicants on Befriending Emirs by Abd al-Wahhab ibn Ahmad ibn ‘Ali al-Sha‘rani, translated by Adam Sabra (University of California, Santa Barbara). The publisher’s description follows:

This mirror for princes sheds light on the relationship between spiritual and political authority in early modern Egypt

This guide to political behavior and expediency offers advice to Sufi shaykhs, or spiritual guides, on how to interact and negotiate with powerful secular officials, judges, and treasurers, or emirs. Translated into English for the first time, it is a unique account of the relationship between spiritual and political authority in late medieval / early modern Islamic society.