About SGALM - SGALM.org

Seminar for Graduate Arabic Literature and Manuscripts

SGALM is an independent academic initiative founded and directed by Dr. Ahmad Rafiq Eltahan, PhD in Arabic Literary Criticism (Cairo University, 2023), a published scholar and experienced manuscript researcher.

This seminar platform is designed to serve advanced students of Arabic literature, rhetoric, and manuscript studies—particularly graduate students (MA, PhD) and early-career researchers—through academically rigorous training and personalized mentorship.

SGALM offers:

Graduate-level seminars and workshops in Arabic rhetoric, pre-Islamic poetry, classical Arabic literature, and lexicography.
Research mentorship with a focus on methodology, textual analysis, and manuscript editing.
Selective and intensive instruction modeled after academic peer-review and scholarly rigor.

SGALM is not a commercial tutoring platform. It is a scholarly project rooted in the intellectual traditions of Arabic literary criticism and philology, adapted for today’s academic standards. The aim is not to “correct” your research for you, but to teach you how to become a more competent, independent, and critical scholar.

Dr. Eltahan previously worked at the Egyptian National Library’s Heritage Research Center, and contributed to the historical dictionary projects of the Arab Linguistic Academies in Cairo and Sharjah. He has published four books and several peer-reviewed research articles.

Dr Ahmad Rafiq El-Tahan

New York Public Liberary Google Scholar ORCID Personal Website

Academic and Professional Roles

Position / Title	Institution / Context
Former Researcher in Arabic Manuscripts	General Egyptian Book Organization – Center for Heritage Research
Lexical Editor and Researcher	Historical Dictionary of the Arabic Language – Union of Arab Scientific Academies
Unofficial Online Teaching Assistant (Graduate Supervision)	Independent collaboration with graduate students in Arabic literature and philosophy
Independent Researcher	Engaged in autonomous academic research across literary, manuscript, and philosophical domains

Field of Expertise	Description / Focus Period
Arabic Manuscript Studies	Arabic Philology — Textual Criticism and Critical Editing of Manuscripts, , and historical authentication of Arabic manuscripts.
Classical Arabic Literature (400–1100 CE)	Study of Arabic literary production from Late Antiquity to the early Islamic centuries.
Arabic Lexicography	Diachronic and semantic study of Arabic vocabulary and lexicon development.
Arabic Theories of Discourse (Naẓm Theory)	Analysis of structural and rhetorical theories within classical Arabic literary criticism.
Greek Philosophical Influence on Early Arabic Writing (ca. 800 CE)	Exploration of the impact of Greek philosophy on early Arabic texts and intellectual culture.
Philosophy of Science in Arabic Thought	Examination of scientific reasoning, method, and epistemology in Arabic intellectual history.
Normative Ethical Philosophy	Study of ethical agency, moral responsibility, and value theory in both classical and contemporary frameworks.

Lexicographic Researcher and Editor for the Historical Dictionary of Arabic

Invited position

Former Researcher at the Egyptian General Authority for the National Library and Archives, Center for Heritage Verification

Employment

Ph.D (Ancient Arabic Literature and Its Criticism)

Education

MA in Heritage Verification-Ancient Arabic Literature Manuscripts

Portfolio

Some projects

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My Published Manuscripts

Manuscript (1363 CE)

Jalwat al-Mudhākara fī Khalwat al-Muḥāḍara by al-Khalīl ibn Aybak al-Ṣafadī (d. 764 AH / 1363 CE)

Manuscript (1377 CE)

Jawāhir al-Kalām fī Funūn al-Murāsalāt wa-l-Mukātabāt wa-Laṭāʾif al-Ashʿār al-Rāʾiqāt by Sharaf al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad al-Zurʿī al-Shāfiʿī (d. 779 AH – 1377 CE)

Manuscript (1377 CE)

Kitāb al-Muntaqā min Kitāb al-Mujārāh wa-l-Mujāzāh by al-Khalīl ibn Aybak al-Ṣafadī (d. 764 AH / 1363 CE), selected by Sharaf al-Dīn Muḥammad al-Zurʿī (d. 779 AH / 1377 CE)

Dr Ahmad Rafiq El-Tahan

Academic and Professional Roles

Lexicographic Researcher and Editor for the Historical Dictionary of Arabic

Invited position

Ph.D (Ancient Arabic Literature and Its Criticism)

Education

Portfolio

Some projects

My Published Manuscripts

Manuscript (1363 CE)

Jalwat al-Mudhākara fī Khalwat al-Muḥāḍara by al-Khalīl ibn Aybak al-Ṣafadī (d. 764 AH / 1363 CE)

Manuscript (1377 CE)

Jawāhir al-Kalām fī Funūn al-Murāsalāt wa-l-Mukātabāt wa-Laṭāʾif al-Ashʿār al-Rāʾiqāt by Sharaf al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad al-Zurʿī al-Shāfiʿī (d. 779 AH – 1377 CE)

Manuscript (1377 CE)

Official Researcher in Arabic Manuscripts and Arabic Dictionary