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Classical Arabic literature : a library of Arabic literature anthology / selected and translated by Geert Jan van Gelder.

Van Pelt - Stapleton Seminar Room (523) PJ7694.E1 C53 2013
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Van Pelt Library PJ7694.E1 C53 2013
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Format:
Book
Contributor:
Gelder, G. J. H. van.
Series:
Library of Arabic literature
Language:
Arabic
English
Subjects (All):
Arabic literature--Translations into English.
Arabic literature.
Physical Description:
xxviii, 468 pages ; 23 cm.
Place of Publication:
New York : New York University Press, [2013]
Language Note:
Parallel Arabic text and English translation.
Summary:
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 or new readers. Book jacket.
Contents:
Verse 1
A Qasidah by 'Abid ibn al-Abras 2
A Qasidah by 'Alqamah ibn 'Abadah 4
A Qasidah by al-Muthaqqib al-'Abdi 8
An Elegy (Marthiyah) by al-Khansa' 12
Polemics in Verse: An Invective Qasidah by al-Akhtal and a Reply by Jarir 15
Love in the Desert: A Qasidah by Dhu 1-Rummah 21
An Umayyad Ghazal Poem, used as an Abbasid Song Text 27
An 'Udhri Ghazal attributed to Majnun Layla 29
An Umayyad Ghazal by 'Umar ibn Abi Rabi'ah 31
A Love Poem by Umrn Khalid 33
Anti-Arab, Pro-Iranian Lampoon (Hija') by Bashshar ibn Burd 34
A Modern (Muhdath) Ghazal Epigram by Abu Nuwas 37
A Ghazal by Abu Nuwas: On a Boy Called 'Ali 38
Two Wine Poems by Abu Nuwas 40
A Lampooning Epigram (Hijd') by Abu Nuwas 43
A Ghazal Poem by al-'Abbas ibn al-Ahnaf 44
Three Love Epigrams by 'Ulayyah bint al-Mahdl 46
A Poem of Asceticism (Zuhdiyyah) by Abu 1-Atahiyah 49
Ibn d-Rumi: On His Poetry 51
A Qasidah by Ibn al-Rumi: A Party at 'Abd al-Malik ibn Salih al-Hashimi's 53
A Panegyric Qasidah by al-Buhturi 58
A Victory Ode by al-Mutanabbi: The Qasidah on Sayf al-Dawlah's Recapture of the Fortress of al-Hadath 61
Nature Poetry: Two Epigrams by Ibn Khafajah 65
Stropbic Poem: A Muwashshahah by al-A'ma al-Tutili 67
An Anonymous Muwashshahah from Spain 69
There Descended to You: A Philosophical Allegory by Ibn Sina 73
Five Epigrams on Death and Belief, by Abu l-'Ala' al-Ma'arri 75
Mystical Ghazal: A Poem by Ibn al-Farid 79
A Mystical Zajal by al-Shushtari 83
Two Elegies on the Death of his Concubine, by Ibn Nubatah al-Misrl 85
A Zajal: An Elegy on the Elephant Marzuq 89
Rajaz 93
Early Rajaz 94
A Few Lines from the Poem of Proverbs by Abu l-'Atahiyah 95
A Few Lines from The Thousand-liner by Ibn Malik 96
Light Verse: A Domestic Disaster, by Abu 1-Hakam al Maghribi 97
"Didactic" Verse: From a Poem on How to Behave in Society, by Ibn Makanis 102
Prose 109
Examples of Early Rhymed Prose (Saj') 110
A Pre-Islamic Tale: The Princess on the Myrtle Leaf (Three Versions) 114
How the Queen of Sheba Became Queen 117
Two Stories from Meadows of Gold by al-Mas'udi 119
Lives of The Poets: al-Farazdaq Tells the Story of Imru' al-Qays and the Girls at the Pond 123
Bedouin Romance: The Unhappy Love Story of Qays and Lubna 127
A Parable: The Human Condition, or The Man in the Pit 166
Mirror for Princes (and Others): Passages from Right Conduct by Ibn al-Muqaffa' 168
Al-Jahiz on Flies and Other Things 176
Essayistic Prose: Al-Tawhidi on the Superiority of the Arabs 195
History as Literature: Al-Amin and al-Ma'mun, the Sons of Harun al-Rashid 208
Moral Tales and Parables: Passages from The Epistles of the Sincere Brethren 218
Prose Narrative: Four Stories by al-Tanukhi 225
The Isfahan Maqamah by Badi' al-Zaman al-Hamadhani 245
The Debate of Pen and Sword, by Ahmad Ibn Burd al-Asghar 248
A Visit to Heaven and Hell, by Abu l-'Ala' al-Ma'arri 255
Poetics: Ibn Rashiq on the Definition and Structure of Poetry 277
Literary Criticism: From The Secrets of Eloquence by 'Abd al-Qahir al-Jurjani 281
Popular Science: Two Chapters from the Encyclopedia of Animals by al-Damiri 297
A Section from an Adah Encyclopedia: The Chapter on Stinginess from The Precious and Refined in Every Genre and Kind by al-Ibshihi 305
A Fairytale: The Tale of the Forty Girls 318
Erotica: The Young Girl and the Dough Kneader, from The Old Man's Rejuvenation by al-Tifashi 333
Two Burlesque Stories from Brains Confounded by al-Shirbini 339
Lyrical Prose: A Visit to the Bath, by al-Haymi al-Kawkabani 345.
Notes:
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Verse -- Prose.
ISBN:
9780814770276
0814770274
9780814738269
0814738265
9780814745113
0814745113
9780814771204
0814771203
OCLC:
795181855

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