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A major translation achievement, 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. Both entertaining and informative, Classical Arabic Literature ranges from the early Bedouin poems with their evocation of desert life to refined urban lyrical verse, from tender love poetry to sonorous eulogy and vicious lampoon, and from the heights of mystical rapture to the frivolity of comic verse. Prose selections include 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 new even to scholars. Classical Arabic Literature reveals the rich variety of pre-modern Arabic social and cultural life, where secular texts flourished alongside religious ones. This masterful anthology introduces this vibrant literary heritage—including pieces translated into English for the first time—to a wide spectrum of new readers Classical Arabic Literature -- Frontmatter -- Letter from the General Editor -- Table of Contents -- Acknowledgements -- Abbreviations -- Introduction -- Notes to the Introduction -- Verse -- A Qaṣīdah by ʿAbīd ibn al-Abraṣ -- A Qaṣīdah by ʿAlqamah ibn ʿAbadah -- A Qaṣīdah by al-Muthaqqib al-ʿAbdī -- An Elegy (Marthiyah) by al-Khansāʾ -- Polemics in Verse: An Invective Qaṣīdah by al-Akhṭal and a Reply by Jarīr -- Love in the Desert: A Qaṣīdah by Dhū l-Rummah, “To Mayyah’s Two Abodes, a Greeting!” -- An Umayyad Ghazal Poem, Used as an Abbasid Song Text -- ʿUdhrī Ghazal: a poem attributed to Majnūn Laylā -- Umayyad Ghazal: A Poem by ʿUmar ibn Abī Rabīʿah -- A Love Poem by Umm Khālid -- Anti-Arab, Pro-Iranian Lampoon (Hijāʾ), by Bashshār ibn Burd -- A Muḥdath (“Modern”) Ghazal Epigram by Abū Nuwās -- A Ghazal by Abū Nuwās: On a Boy Called ʿAlī -- Two Wine Poems by Abū Nuwās -- A Lampooning Epigram (Hijāʾ) by Abū Nuwās -- A Ghazal Poem by al-ʿAbbās Ibn al-Aḥnaf -- Three Love Epigrams by ʿUlayyah bint al-Mahdī -- A Zuhdiyyah (“Poem of Asceticism”) by Abū l-ʿAtāhiyah -- Ibn al-Rūmī: On His Poetry -- A Qaṣīdah by Ibn al-Rūmī: A Party at ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Ṣāliḥ al-Hāshimī’s -- A Panegyric Qaṣīdah by al-Buḥturī -- A Victory Ode by al-Mutanabbī: The Qaṣīdah on Sayf al-Dawlah’s Recapture of the Fortress of al-Ḥadath in 343/954 -- Nature Poetry: Two Epigrams by Ibn Khafājah -- Strophic Poem: A Muwashshaḥah by al-Aʿmā al-Tuṭīlī -- An Anonymous Muwashshaḥah from Spain -- “There Descended to You”: A Philosophical Allegory by Ibn Sīnā -- Five Epigrams on Death and Belief, by Abū l-ʿAlāʾ al-Maʿarrī -- Mystical Ghazal: A Poem by Ibn al-Fāriḍ -- A Mystical Zajal by al-Shushtarī -- Two Elegies on the Death of his Concubine, by Ibn Nubātah al-Miṣrī -- A Zajal: An Elegy on the Elephant Marzūq -- Rajaz -- Prose -- Examples of Early Rhymed Prose (Sajʿ) -- A Pre-Islamic Tale: The Princess on the Myrtle Leaf (Three Versions) -- How the Queen of Sheba Became Queen -- Two Stories from al-Masʿūdī’s Meadows of Gold -- Lives of The Poets: al-Farazdaq Tells the Story of Imruʾ al-Qays and the Girls at the Pond -- Bedouin Romance: The Unhappy Love Story of Qays and Lubnā -- A Parable: The Human Condition, or The Man in the Pit -- Mirror for Princes (and Others): Passages from Ibn al-Muqaffaʿ’s Right Conduct -- Al-Jāḥiẓ on Flies and Other Things -- Essayistic Prose: Al-Tawḥīdī on the Superiority of the Arabs -- History as Literature: Al-Amīn and al-Maʾmūn, the Sons of Hārūn al-Rashīd -- Moral Tales and Parables: Passages from Rasāʾil Ikhwān al-Ṣafāʾ (The Epistles of the Sincere Brethren) -- Prose Narrative: Four Stories by al-Tanūkhī -- The Isfahan Maqāmah by Badīʿ al-Zamān al-Hamadhānī -- The Debate of Pen and Sword, by Aḥmad Ibn Burd al-Aṣghar -- A Visit to Heaven and Hell, by Abū l-ʿAlāʾ al-Maʿarrī -- Poetics: Ibn Rashīq on the Definition and Structure of Poetry -- Literary Criticism: From The Secrets of Eloquence by ʿAbd al-Qāhir al-Jurjānī -- Popular Science: Two Chapters from al-Damīrī’s Encyclopedia of Animals -- A Section from an Adab Encyclopedia: The Chapter on Stinginess fromThe Precious and Refined in Every Genre and Kind by al-Ibshīhī -- A Fairytale: The Tale of the Forty Girls -- Erotica: The Young Girl and the Dough Kneader, from al- Tīfāshī’s The Old Man’s Rejuvenation -- Two Burlesque Stories from Brains Confounded by al-Shirbīnī -- Lyrical Prose: A Visit to the Bath, by al-Ḥaymī al-Kawkabānī -- Notes -- Chronology -- Glossary of Names and Terms -- Bibliography -- Further Reading -- Index -- About the NYU Abu Dhabi Institute -- About the Typefaces -- About the Translator
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