Islamicist · Agrégé in Arabic · Intellectual history of the MaghrebIlyass Amharar

Translating a treatise of legal theory from the 6th/12th century means agreeing to render into French a technical language that has no modern equivalent, without impoverishing or betraying it. This work, carried out over several years from the manuscripts, has been recognised by several institutions.

The distinctions gathered here reward a method rather than a person: the patient establishment of the text, the annotated translation, and the refusal of shortcuts.

Sheikh Hamad Award for Translation

In December 2024, the international Sheikh Hamad Award for Translation (Doha) distinguished the French translation of the Nukat al-maḥṣūl fī ʿilm al-uṣūl of the qāḍī Abū Bakr Ibn al-ʿArabī, ex aequo with Professor Tahera Qutbuddin (Oxford).

Awards, fellowships and titles

Awards, fellowships and titles

2025

Naʿt al-Sharīf International Poetry Competition — second prize

IRCICA · Organisation of Islamic Cooperation · Municipality of Konya

A competition in five languages marking the 1500th anniversary of the Prophet's birth, under the patronage of the Turkish Presidency. Second prize in the French category.

2025

World Sīra Conference Prize

Tayba Centre, Kerala (India)

Awarded at the world conference devoted to the biography of the Prophet.

2025

Sheikh Zayed Book Award — long list

Abu Dhabi

Longlisted for one of the Arab world's foremost literary awards.

2024

Sheikh Hamad Award for Translation

Doha, Qatar

Awarded for the French translation of Abū Bakr Ibn al-ʿArabī's Nukat al-maḥṣūl.

2024

Ibn Khaldūn – Léopold Sédar Senghor Translation Prize — finalist

International Organisation of La Francophonie

Finalist for the Arabic-to-French translation prize.

2022

UMIFRE Islamic Studies Fellowship

CNRS

Research fellowship in Islamic studies from the French research institutes abroad network.

2021

International Mobility Grant

French Institute for the Near East (Ifpo)

Support for research on manuscripts held in the Near East.

2020

Postdoctoral Fellowship

Centre Jacques Berque, Rabat

Continuation of work on Ashʿarism in the Maghrib, following the 2019 doctoral fellowship.

2008

First Prize, “Lumières des Cités”

Normandy Region and the French State

A prize for final-year pupils from modest backgrounds, recognising academic results and civic commitment.

Certificate of the International Naat al-Sharif Poetry Competition — second prize, French category.
Certificate of the International Naat al-Sharif Poetry Competition — second prize, French category.
A scholarly conference: an audience of ulama.
A scholarly conference: an audience of ulama.

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