Shawkat M. Toorawa, associate professor of Arabic and Islamic studies in the Department of Near Eastern Studies, has a leading role in developing a comprehensive new Library of Arabic Literature (LAL).

A long-term project of New York University Press and NYU Abu Dhabi (NYUAD), LAL will initially publish English translations of 35 of the great works of classical Arabic literature, in parallel-text format with Arabic and English on facing pages. The first volumes in the series are planned for publication in late 2011 or early 2012.

Some of the material under consideration has never been translated into English or has been poorly translated in the past, Toorawa said.

"These volumes will require a certain kind of scholar and background to do this," he said.

The LAL project's long-term aim is to create a major library of classical Arabic literature, producing definitive editions in modern English of little-known literary treasures for scholars, students and general readers. The series is patterned somewhat on such parallel-translation series as the I Tatti Renaissance Library and Loeb Classical Library, Toorawa noted.

"This is going to be transformative," he said. "Although a handful of Arabic works are available in translation, the Library of Arabic Literature will bring a whole swath of hitherto untranslated works to the attention of scholars."

The LAL will include books written prior to the 20th century, ranging from poetry, fiction and religion to philosophy, law, science and history, including single- and multivolume works and anthologies. A book on legal methodology is among the first group of titles under consideration, Toorawa said.

"Some translators have already contacted us," he said. "To give the work additional cache, we're going to ask internationally known scholars to write prefaces."

NYU Press intends to publish each title simultaneously in print and e-book formats, priced to ensure wide readership.

"A significant audience is people who read and are interested in other cultures -- not just scholars," Toorawa said.

An online forum will also provide samples of ongoing translations with the original Arabic texts. Translators will be invited to give public presentations on their work for the project, he said. A 26-member advisory board of scholars will help guide the project, which is funded by a grant from NYUAD's research center, the NYU Abu Dhabi Institute.

Toorawa's research interests include ninth- and 10th-century literary history, the Quran as literature, and modern literature. In 2004 he produced a critical edition and translation of Adonis' modern poetry collection, "A Time Between Ashes and Roses."

He is among an international roster of renowned scholars of Arabic literature and Islamic studies who will edit and translate for the series.

Toorawa and James E. Montgomery of Cambridge University are the series' executive editors; NYUAD faculty director Philip Kennedy is the general editor, and five other scholars will serve on an editorial board. The eight editors will select texts, commission and vet translations, review manuscripts and contribute their own work on selected volumes.

"Phil Kennedy asked us to pick one book to edit and translate ourselves," said Toorawa, who is considering translating a new edition of "The Brocade," a work on elegance and manners by al-Washshâ', who died in 937 A.D.

"It is a real privilege for me, and for Cornell, to be involved in such an exciting project, bringing classical Arabic literature to a wider audience," he said.