Translated into English by Matti Moosa.

This book is an extensive survey of Syriac literature. In his capacity as a Syriac clergyman, the author was able to extensively examine hundreds of Syriac manuscripts throughout the Middle East, many of which did not survive World War I. While most Western accounts of Syriac literature end around the thirteenth century, Barsoum covers almost 2000 years of Syriac literature up to the writers of the early twentieth century.

Patriarch Ignatius Aphram Barsoum (1887-1957) was born in Iraq and studied many languages, including Syriac, Arabic, French, and Turkish. He taught at the Deir al-Za’faran monastery before being consecrated Bishop of Syria and eventually Patriarch of Antioch. Known as both a churchman and a scholar, he wrote several published works, including the present volume.

"Patriarch Barsoum, a renowned scholar in the field of Syriac Christianity and literature, demonstrates his historical and interpretive abilities in providing lucid, coherent, and well-exemplified materials that will assist the reader in exploring the wide and diverse field of Syriac literature and sciences." - Admer Gouryh, BMCC, The City University of New York

"The publication of an English translation of Patriarch Barsoum's al-Lu'lu' al-Manthur is a most welcome event, for this is a work which has long been recognized as an essential source of information for anyone with a serious interest in Syriac literature. . . . This is a work which has long been recognized as an essential source of information for anyone with a serious interest in Syriac literature." Sebastian P. Brock, University of Oxford

• Foreword by Cyril Aphrem Karim
• Translator's Introduction
• The Syriac Langauge
• The General Characteristics of Syriac Literature
• The Centers of Learning
• Syrian Libraries
• Syriac Calligraphy
• Morphology and Grammar
• General Rules of the Langauge and Dictionaries; Rhetoric and Poetry
• Themes of Syriac Poetry
• Categories of Syrian Poets
• Version of The Holy Bible
• The Diatessaron
• Syriac Orthography
• Commentaries On The Old and New Testament
• Apocryphal Writings
• Semi-Apocryphal Literature
• Church Rituals
• Theology
• The Pseudo-Works of Dionysius The Areopagite
• Ecclesiastical Apologetics
• Ecclesiastical Jurisprudence and Civil Law
• Ascetic Books
• Books of General History
• Private History
• Diverse Historical Tracts
• The Lives of Martyrs and Saints
• On Story Writing
• Philosophy
• The Science of Medicine
• On Natural Science
• The Science of Astronomy
• The Translation of Foreign Works