The fourth volume of Arabic Literature of Africa deals with the scholarly and literary production of authors from Mali, Senegal, Guinea, Niger, and Ghana, from earliest times to the present day. The work is arranged both regionally and chronologically, and writers are grouped within chapters according to ethnic, scholarly, or religious affiliations. A biography of each author is given where possible, before the list of his or her writings.
For each author is given a list of known writings, with details of existing manuscript copies, published editions and translations.
There are indexes of authors, titles, first lines of poetry, and a general index, as well as a bibliography of all works referred to in the volume. An initial overview and chapter introductions provide an outline history of Islamic learning in the region.