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[From:] Journal of Medieval Studies ([email protected])
[To:] Yusuf Al-Kaysani ([email protected])
[Date:] July 31, 2017
[Subject:] Submission confirmation for JMS-D-17-1066
Ms. Ref. No.: JMS-D-17-1066
Title: “The moon when I am lost in darkness”: Emotions of the Soul in Ancient Islamicate Literature
Journal of Medieval Studies
Dear Dr. Al-Kaysani,
Your submission entitled "“The moon when I am lost in darkness”: Emotions of the Soul in Ancient Islamicate Literature" has been received by the Journal of Medieval Studies. It has been assigned the manuscript number JMS-D-17-1066 and has been assigned to an Editor who will handle the double-blinded peer review process.
You may check on the progress of your paper by logging on to our online editorial system as an author. The URL is https://editorialsys.com/jms.
Thank you for submitting your work to this journal.
Journal of Medieval Studies Editorial Board
[From:] Journal of Medieval Studies ([email protected])
[To:] Yusuf Al-Kaysani ([email protected])
[Date:] September 1, 2017
[Subject:] Author Notification of Editor Decision for JMS-D-17-1066 - Revision request
Ms. Ref. No.: JMS-D-17-1066
Title: “The moon when I am lost in darkness”: Emotions of the Soul in Ancient Islamicate Literature
Journal of Medieval Studies
Dear Dr. Al-Kaysani,
Your paper has now been assessed by the assigned peer reviewers. Whilst the paper is basically acceptable for publication there are a number of points raised via the peer review process which we feel require clarification before we can proceed. I am appending the reviewer comments below for your attention.
I must stress that each comment should be considered and it would be very useful if you could detail, in a covering letter submitted together with your revised manuscript, how you have answered each point.
To submit a revision, please go to https://editorialsys.com/jms and login as an Author. You will find your submission record there.
Please return to the Journal of Medieval Studies within 45 days.
Sincerely,
James Copley, PhD
Editor-in-Chief
Journal of Medieval Studies
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COMMENTS OF REVIEWERS:
Reviewer #1:
Excellent overview of a niche - and thereby understudied - facet of Islamic literature! While I have come across various analyses of the soul from a philosopher’s point of view which obviously used philosophical texts, the examination of poetry specifically in this way has thus far been an untapped area. The author has skillfully woven together a compelling argument from the poetic evidence, exploring portrayals of the soul in a romantic way that argues for devotion towards others on the mortal plane, rather than devotion towards a spiritual being.
A minor suggestion - I felt section 3 could have benefited from further elaboration to strengthen the argument. The mention of the poet’s own mortality and the transience of human life - it seems like this is opening the door towards a discussion of love as a precursor to immortality?
Reviewer #2:
This may be a well-intentioned effort, but it is also a naïve presentation of a point of view that is not well-supported by evidence – it seems like this is veering towards being a polemic, rather than a scholarly article. Is the author bereft of romance in their own life that they are instead seeing declarations of love in poems where they do not exist? Or rather, I apologize - I should correct myself, for there is love there - but I disagree that it is between the poet and a secret subject of their writings. Beyond the argument for that love being directed towards man (I assume you mean ‘man’ in the general sense, as in a mortal being? Perhaps the word ‘mankind’, despite the obvious problems regarding misgendering, may be less confusing. Because the evidence for homosexual love here is sparse at best), I think the more obvious interpretation is that the object of their affection is their God. The lover-beloved model seems too simplistic here; does this not lend itself also to Augustine’s trinity theory?
Beyond that, the summary of the theoretical conceptualizations of the soul (lines 135-190) seems oversimplified. There are numerous works that I feel would be beneficial to cite there - for instance, Di Genova 2014 and Di Genova 2016 come to mind.
Lines 250-262: I am impatient with this vague assertion.
Line 311: I disagree.
I must admit that English is not my mother tongue and can be somewhat difficult for me - so while I believe this writing can technically be described as grammatically correct, I think some would also call it overly romantic and floral.
In general, the paper is overlong, very verbose, and contains unnecessary repetition. Too many pretentious words are used, as if wanting to hide the lack of substance behind pretty imagery.
I apologize that this review could not be more helpful; I would normally be happy to provide a line-by-line breakdown of suggestions I feel would greatly benefit this paper, but I have unfortunately (and uncharacteristically) left this review to the last minute due to some personal issues and simply do not have the time to elaborate further. However, I hope the comments I managed to find time to make will be enough to prompt a thorough revision of this work; perhaps a change in title, abstract, and content would suffice.
Reviewer #3:
A compelling paper. Well-written, the author truly has a way with words. I particularly enjoyed the framing of the evolution of different conceptualizations of the soul; the argument of the soul as a metaphor for romantic love and desire, for attaining fundamental intellects and rational principles contrasted against the irrationality of emotions and love was well laid out. Could be further bolstered by looking into Theron et al. 2010 and Rucka 2017? I think they too have explored theories of the duality of the soul within other contexts that perhaps could be applied to the author’s argument.
[From:] Journal of Medieval Studies ([email protected])
[To:] Yusuf Al-Kaysani ([email protected])
[Date:] September 15, 2017
[Subject:] Submission confirmation for Revised Manuscript - JMS-D-17-1066-R1
Ms. Ref. No.: JMS-D-17-1066-R1
Title: “The moon when I am lost in darkness”: Emotions of the Soul in Ancient Islamicate Literature
Journal of Medieval Studies
Dear Dr. Al-Kaysani,
Your revised manuscript was received for reconsideration for publication in the Journal of Medieval Studies. It will be returned to the previously assigned peer reviewers for their feedback.
You may check on the progress of your paper by logging on to our online editorial system as an author. The URL is https://editorialsys.com/jms.
Sincerely,
Journal of Medieval Studies Editorial Board
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📎 ATTACHED COVER LETTER - RESPONSE TO REVIEWERS (JMS-D-17-1066-R1 cover letter.docx):
To the editorial board of the Journal of Medieval Studies,
Thank you very much for obtaining feedback for my manuscript (reference #JMS-D-17-1066). Based on the reviewer feedback, I have revised and resubmitted the manuscript. My specific responses to the individual reviewers and their comments can be found below.
Response to Reviewer #1:
Thank you for your comments! Your suggestion that there was room to introduce the concept of immortality with regards to the soul was very perceptive. I have revised that section to include mention of the mortality/immortality paradox, and I agree that this strengthens my argument.
Response to Reviewer #2:
I am going to generously assume that the personal issues you referenced in your initial review impacted you significantly enough that they had a negative influence on your reading comprehension. That is the only conclusion I can draw as to how one may have so severely misinterpreted my initial manuscript. For that reason I will respond to some of your comments, but I have chosen not to take your suggestions (though that is a charitable interpretation of that term) into account when revising my paper.
First, regardless of the presence of romance in one’s life, I am shocked that a reader would not be able to discern that the romantic imagery used is unambiguously directed towards another man. And yes, I do mean ‘man’ - as in, another male. I can only assume you were looking through a heteronormative and Eurocentric lens, and quite frankly am shocked that you would mention the “evidence for homosexual love here is sparse at best” - may I direct you to Tayyib 2015, Prince-Bythewood 2014, and at the very least Smith & Jones 1999, to start educating yourself on this topic?
Furthermore, I do not feel further elaboration on conceptualizations of the soul were necessary - not only does this contradict your other comment about being “overlong”, but more importantly this is not an Introduction to Philosophy course. I did read the two citations you noted (for purely selfless and unbiased reasons, I’m sure) and have actually chosen to include one - though I am only referencing it in order to explicitly contradict its entire premise.
Regarding your comments about vague assertions and disagreeing with me - why, thank you so much kind reviewer, for those very insightful and helpful and not-at-all vague comments! I look forward to guessing what changes I should make to rectify them. Perhaps in cases like this, verbosity has its benefits.
Finally, to respond to your comment that “In general, the paper is overlong, very verbose, and contains unnecessary repetition.” - honestly, by this point? TL;DR.
Response to Reviewer #3:
Thank you for sharing those citations, they were indeed helpful! I have included numerous references to them throughout the revision.
I look forward to (some of) the reviews of this revised manuscript.
Warmest regards,
[author name redacted]
[From:] Journal of Medieval Studies ([email protected])
[To:] Yusuf Al-Kaysani ([email protected])
[Date:] September 25, 2017
[Subject:] Author Notification of Editor Decision for JMS-D-17-1066-R1 - Paper accepted
Ms. Ref. No.: JMS-D-17-1066-R1
Title: “The moon when I am lost in darkness”: Emotions of the Soul in Ancient Islamicate Literature
Journal of Medieval Studies
Dear Dr. Al-Kaysani,
I am pleased to confirm that your paper "“The moon when I am lost in darkness”: Emotions of the Soul in Ancient Islamicate Literature" has been accepted for publication in the Journal of Medieval Studies.
Comments from the Editor and Reviewers can be found below.
The Editorial Board will send you further details, including a journal publishing agreement form and page proofs of your article, in due course.
Thank you for submitting your work to this journal.
Sincerely,
James Copley, PhD
Editor-in-Chief
Journal of Medieval Studies
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COMMENTS OF REVIEWERS (AND EDITOR, if indicated):
Reviewer #1:
The revised section on the mortality/immortality paradox was a wonderful addition. I have no further comments to note, I think this paper is ready for publication.
Reviewer #2:
Thank you for your concerns about the personal issues I mentioned; I did not offer it as an excuse, but merely a reason that my review may not have been of the calibre I usually expect from myself. I would hope a fellow academic would be understanding of certain stressors we might face, such as an international move to a new institution, but no matter. I am pleased to say that those distractions have mostly resolved themselves and I can now devote my full attention to this revision.
I will not focus on the fact that you did not include my prior suggestions in your revision; in fact, perhaps it is for the best as now I am able to revisit the entire work in a relatively unaltered manner once again, which only serves to convince me that I did not misinterpret your initial manuscript so much as I simply do not agree with the points you made. In fact, perhaps it is you who has misinterpreted something that I had noted - namely, my comment about homosexual love. The idea that I read through a “heteronormative and Eurocentric lens” is quite amusing, and if you were to know me personally in the world beyond this correspondence you would know how wrong you are. I am well versed in the literature on queer studies and homoeroticism in ancient Arabic poetry; I was not born yesterday. My comment was referring to the lack of specific evidence actually being cited in your own paper. You are likely well aware that in general this field is full of more, shall we say, traditional interpretations? I was merely anticipating some critiques that you were likely to receive. Clearly your provision of those papers to me shows your awareness of them, so perhaps you should have cited them in the first place? That seems like a sin of omission.
That being said, I still feel this paper suffers from a lack of a truly compelling argument for the symbolism of the soul being directed in a romantic fashion towards a mortal rather than a spiritual subject. I do understand how authors may become locked into a certain interpretation however, and while normally I would enjoy taking the time and effort to convince you of the errors of your ways, I am afraid this is neither the time nor the place. This is generating a few ideas in my mind for a rebuttal paper, so perhaps that will be the arena where I will be able to convince you.
I am curious as to how closely you read the works I suggested in my original peer review, for your interpretation of Di Genova 2016 is clearly incorrect. Additionally, please note that you incorrectly spelled his last name - there is a space between Di and Genova. I am sure that was merely an oversight on your part.
And indeed, I suppose I have no choice but to concede to your point about verbosity sometimes being useful and that some of my original comments may have been vague. Now that I have more time for a thorough reading of this paper, I am happy to provide the following list of specific suggestions that I am sure will help to improve this paper:
Line 2: inserting a comma between clauses would help this sentence read more easily.
Line 5: citation needed.
Lines 8-9: your word choice here is somewhat ambiguous; might I suggest ‘incurable’ instead of ‘hopeless’?
Lines 13-16: how did you come to land on this definition of ‘destiny’? Please clarify.
Line 25: citation needed.
Line 27: citation needed.
Line 30: citation needed.
...
[NOTE: the reviewer’s comments have exceeded the word limit allowed in the automatic emails generated by the editorial system. Please log into the online editorial system to see the full reviewer submission,]
Reviewer #3:
Very good revisions, I think they clarified the points on emotionality/rationality quite well. Recommending this paper for publication.
Editors’ comments: Please note that while not all reviewers were in agreement, the editorial decision has been made to publish this work.
[From:] Yusuf Al-Kaysani ([email protected])
[To:] Journal of Medieval Studies ([email protected])
[Date:] September 25, 2017
[Subject:] Response to reviewer for JMS-D-17-1066-R1?
Hello Dr. Copley,
I am writing regarding my recently accepted manuscript, reference #JMS-D-17-1066-R1. I attempted to enter the editorial portal to submit comments back to the reviewers (or rather, one reviewer in particular) once again but it appears the portal has closed now that the paper’s status has changed to ‘accepted’. I need to submit a further response to Reviewer #2, would this be possible? I understand the need to maintain the blinding of your peer reviewers, of course - and I am not asking you to reveal their identity, but rather to facilitate sending a letter to them. The reviewer in question provided some feedback on my revised manuscript that I feel strongly requires a response.
Thank you for your time, I hope you will consider my request.
Warmest regards,
Yusuf Al-Kaysani, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of the Arts
Faculty of Humanities, Old Guard University
[From:] Journal of Medieval Studies ([email protected])
[To:] Yusuf Al-Kaysani ([email protected])
[Date:] September 26, 2017
[Subject:] Re: Response to reviewer for JMS-D-17-1066-R1?
Hello Dr. Al-Kaysani,
I must admit that I was quite surprised by your request - in my years of editing this journal, nobody has ever requested to continue correspondence with their peer reviewers following a successful editorial decision. While I appreciate the merit of vigorous academic debate, I am afraid I will have to deny your request. Our current policies do not allow for this, and were I to make an exception I feel it may set a bad precedent. If I may suggest directing your attentions towards finalizing the publishing agreement and proofs of your accepted article?
Congratulations on the successful submission of your work, I look forward to seeing it published soon.
Again, thank you for submitting your work to this journal.
Sincerely,
James Copley, PhD
Editor-in-Chief
Journal of Medieval Studies
[From:] Journal of Medieval Studies ([email protected])
[To:] Yusuf Al-Kaysani ([email protected])
[Date:] October 30, 2017
[Subject:] Online publication notice for JMS-D-17-1066-R1
Article Title: “The moon when I am lost in darkness”: Emotions of the Soul in Ancient Islamicate Literature
Journal Title: Journal of Medieval Studies
Author(s): Dr. Yusuf Al-Kaysani
Online publication complete: 30-OCT-2017
Dear Dr. Al-Kaysani,
The final corrections to your proof have been made. Further corrections cannot be made. Your article is now published online at: http://dx.doi.org/17.1066/j.medistud.2017.10.30
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