Abu Nuwas : a genius of poetry / Philip F. Kennedy.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Kennedy, Philip F.

Series:

Makers of the Muslim world

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Abū Nuwās, approximately 756-approximately 810.

Abū Nuwās.

Poets, Arab--750-1258--Biography.

Poets, Arab.

Genre:

Biographies.

Physical Description:

xii, 145 pages ; 23 cm.

Place of Publication:

Oxford : Oneworld, [2005]

Summary:

Abu Nuwas (c. 756-813) was one of the greatest Arab poets of the classical period. In literary history he is remembered chiefly as the hard-drinking and eloquent composer of dissolute wine poems, from which he emerges as one of the most charismatic figures in world literature. Yet he was in fact an all-round poet and exerted a profound influence on Abbasid poetry more generally; he is one of a handful of individuals who can be deemed to stand at the very heart of Arabic literary culture. In the narrative tradition his impish persona appears in some stories of the Thousand and One Nights.

Abu Nuwas presents the entertaining life story of this legendary figure alongside accessible translations of some of his most important poems. With commentaries, a glossary and a guide to further reading, this book is the ideal introduction to a true genius of Arabic literature.

Contents:

1 "Dangling Locks and Babel Eyes" - A Biographical Sketch of Abu Nuwas (c. 757-814) 1

Background and origins 1

Education 3

Love for Janan 7

The Move to Baghdad 9

The "Modern" Poet 13

Sexuality 16

Character and Temperament 19

Prison 23

Sojourn in Egypt 25

Death and Afterlife 26

2 "Love, Wine, Sodomy...and the Lash" - The Lyric Poetry of Abu Nuwas 29

Erotic Poetry 29

Two Traditions of Love Poetry - A Sketch 30

A Digest of Idealized Love 32

Inching towards Frivolity and Lust 35

The Psychology of Master and Servant 37

Turning the Tables 40

Pandering (to) Satan 43

Fear of Women and Other Anxieties 47

Seduction and Rape 50

Writing (and) Letters 52

Christian Boys 54

Wine Poetry 57

Beloved Wine 59

Failed Cross-Wooing and an Orgy 61

Two Views of Time 64

"Whose are the Remnants...?" 65

Trumping the Theologian 67

Dialogue with a Jewish Taverner 68

Numinous Wine 71

Jonah Comes Out of the Whale 73

3 "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" - On Panegyric and Satire 79

The Panegyric 79

A. Formal and Sober 82

B. Less Formal and Less Sober 89

C. Occasional and Miscellaneous Eulogy 92

"Pens Dipped in Bitter Gall" - Satire 94

Bread and Bereavement 96

The Politics of State and al-Amin 97

Spite and Sacrilege 98

Tasteless Ja 'far the Barmecide 101

The Alchemist and Phony Genealogies 102

Isma'il ibn Abi Sahl 102

The Stolen Member 103

Quack Philosopher of Egypt 104

Onanist Job 104

A Prison Consultation 105

Servants and Singing Girls 105

Fatal Provocation? 106

4 Some Hunting Poems and a Game of Polo 109

A Saluki Hound 111

The Cheetah 114

Elegy for a Hound 116

The Polo Match 117

5 "Poetry for Mortals and the Dead" - On the Ascetic Poem and the Elegy 121

The Ascetic Poem 121

A Righteous Dowry 123

Man's Mortal Genealogy 124

The Danger of Empty Talk 125

Eloquent Simplicity 125

Sound and Meaning 127

The Permanent Ink of the Angels 128

The Elegy 129

For Harun al-Rashid (d. 809) 130

For Muhammad ibn Zubayda "al-Amin" (d. 813) 130

For the Barmecides 130

Fragment for His Son 131

For Waliba ibn al-Hubab 131

For a Sick Friend 132

For Himself 133

An Afterword - "Walk the Even Path with Me..." 135.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 139-141) and index.

ISBN:

1851683607

OCLC:

57638436