Classical Arabic Literature

by Van Gelder, Geert Jan

• ISBN13: 9780814738269
• ISBN10: 0814738265
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2012-12-01
• Publisher: New York Univ Pr

Summary

A major achievement in the field of translation, this anthology presents a rich assortment of classical Arabic poems and literary prose, from pre-Islamic times until the 18th century, with short introductions to guide non-specialist students and informative endnotes and bibliography for advanced scholars. Like many pre-modern Arabic anthologies it aims at being both entertaining and informative. It ranges from the early Bedouin poems with their evocation of desert life to refined urban lyrical verse, from tender love poetry to sonorous eulogy or vicious lampoons, and from the heights of mystical rapture to the frivolity of comic verse. The prose contains anecdotes, entertaining or edifying tales and parables, a fairy-tale, a bawdy story, samples of literary criticism, and much more. With this anthology, distinguished Arabist Geert Jan van Gelder brings together well-known texts as well as less familiar pieces that will be new even to scholars in the field. Many recent studies and anthologies of Middle Eastern literatures are primarily interested in Islam and religious matters-an emphasis that leads to the common misconception that almost everything in the region was and is dominated by religion. Classical Arabic Literatureinstead brings to life the rich variety of pre-modern Arabic social and cultural life, where secular texts happily coexisted with religious ones. This masterful anthology, in English only, will introduce this vibrant literary heritage to a wide spectrum of new readers.

Author Biography

Geert Jan Van Gelder was Laudian Professor or Arabic at the University of Oxford from 1998 to 2012. He is the author of several books on classical Arabic literature, including Beyond the Line: Classical Arabic Literary Critics on the Coherence and Unity of the Poem and Of Dishes and Discourse: Classical Arabic Literary Representations of Food.

Table of Contents

Letter from the General Editor	p. iii
Acknowledgements	p. xi
Abbreviations	p. xii
Introduction	p. xiii
Notes to the Introduction	p. xxvi
Verse	p. 1
A Qasidah by æAbid ibn al-Abras	p. 2
A Qasidah by 'Alqamah ibn 'Abadah	p. 4
A Qasidah by al-Muthaqqib al-'Abdi	p. 8
An Elegy (Marthiyah) by al-Khansa'	p. 12
Polemics in Verse: An Invective Qasidah by al-Akhtal and a Reply by Jarir	p. 15
Love in the Desert: A Qasidah by Dhu 1-Rummah	p. 21
An Umayyad Ghazal Poem, used as an Abbasid Song Text	p. 27
An 'Udhri Ghazal attributed to Majnun Layla	p. 29
An Umayyad Ghazal by 'Umar ibn Abi Rabi'ah	p. 31
A Love Poem by Umrn Khalid	p. 33
Anti-Arab, Pro-Iranian Lampoon (Hija') by Bashshar ibn Burd	p. 34
A Modern (Muhdath) Ghazal Epigram by Abu Nuwas	p. 37
A Ghazal by Abu Nuwas: On a Boy Called 'Ali	p. 38
Two Wine Poems by Abu Nuwas	p. 40
A Lampooning Epigram (Hijd') by Abu Nuwas	p. 43
A Ghazal Poem by al-æAbbas ibn al-Ahnaf	p. 44
Three Love Epigrams by 'Ulayyah bint al-Mahdl	p. 46
A Poem of Asceticism (Zuhdiyyah) by Abu 1-Atahiyah	p. 49
Ibn d-Rumi: On His Poetry	p. 51
A Qasidah by Ibn al-Rumi: A Party at æAbd al-Malik ibn Salih al-Hashimi's	p. 53
A Panegyric Qasidah by al-Buhturi	p. 58
A Victory Ode by al-Mutanabbi: The Qasidah on Sayf al-Dawlah's Recapture of the Fortress of al-Hadath	p. 61
Nature Poetry: Two Epigrams by Ibn Khafajah	p. 65
Stropbic Poem: A Muwashshahah by al-A'ma al-Tutili	p. 67
An Anonymous Muwashshahah from Spain	p. 69
There Descended to You: A Philosophical Allegory by Ibn Sina	p. 73
Five Epigrams on Death and Belief, by Abu l-'Ala' al-Ma'arri	p. 75
Mystical Ghazal: A Poem by Ibn al-Farid	p. 79
A Mystical Zajal by al-Shushtari	p. 83
Two Elegies on the Death of his Concubine, by Ibn Nubatah al-Misrl	p. 85
A Zajal: An Elegy on the Elephant Marzuq	p. 89
Rajaz	p. 93
Early Rajaz	p. 94
A Few Lines from the Poem of Proverbs by Abu l-'Atahiyah	p. 95
A Few Lines from The Thousand-liner by Ibn Malik	p. 96
Light Verse: A Domestic Disaster, by Abu 1-Hakam al Maghribi	p. 97
"Didactic" Verse: From a Poem on How to Behave in Society, by Ibn Makanis	p. 102
Prose	p. 109
Examples of Early Rhymed Prose (SajÆ)	p. 110
A Pre-Islamic Tale: The Princess on the Myrtle Leaf (Three Versions)	p. 114
How the Queen of Sheba Became Queen	p. 117
Two Stories from Meadows of Gold by al-Mas'udi	p. 119
Lives of The Poets: al-Farazdaq Tells the Story of Imru' al-Qays and the Girls at the Pond	p. 123
Bedouin Romance: The Unhappy Love Story of Qays and Lubna	p. 127
A Parable: The Human Condition, or The Man in the Pit	p. 166
Mirror for Princes (and Others): Passages from Right Conduct by Ibn al-Muqaffa'	p. 168
Al-Jahiz on Flies and Other Things	p. 176
Essayistic Prose: Al-Tawhidi on the Superiority of the Arabs	p. 195
History as Literature: Al-Amin and al-Ma'mun, the Sons of Harun al-Rashid	p. 208
Moral Tales and Parables: Passages from The Epistles of the Sincere Brethren	p. 218
Prose Narrative: Four Stories by al-Tanukhi	p. 225
The Isfahan Maqamah by Badi' al-Zaman al-Hamadhani	p. 245
The Debate of Pen and Sword, by Ahmad Ibn Burd al-Asghar	p. 248
A Visit to Heaven and Hell, by Abu l-'Ala' al-Ma'arri	p. 255
Poetics: Ibn Rashiq on the Definition and Structure of Poetry	p. 277
Literary Criticism: From The Secrets of Eloquence by 'Abd al-Qahir al-Jurjani	p. 281
Popular Science: Two Chapters from the Encyclopedia of Animals by al-Damiri	p. 297
A Section from an Adah Encyclopedia: The Chapter on Stinginess from The Precious and Refined in Every Genre and Kind by al-Ibshihi	p. 305
A Fairytale: The Tale of the Forty Girls	p. 318
Erotica: The Young Girl and the Dough Kneader, from The Old Man's Rejuvenation by al-Tifashi
Two Burlesque Stories from Brains Confounded by al-Shirbini	p. 339
Lyrical Prose: A Visit to the Bath, by al-Haymi al-Kawkabani	p. 345
Notes	p. 352
Chronology	p. 426
Glossary of Names and Terms	p. 429
Bibliography	p. 432
Further Reading	p. 452
Index	p. 457
About the NYU Abu Dhabi Institute	p. 466
About the Typefaces	p. 467
About the Translator	p. 468
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