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Tree of pearls, queen of Egypt / Jurji Zaydan ; translated from the Arabic by Samah Selim ; with an afterword by Roger Allen.

Van Pelt Library PJ7876.A9 S3813 2012
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Format:
Book
Author/Creator:
Zaydān, Jirjī, 1861-1914.
Contributor:
Selim, Samah.
Series:
Middle East literature in translation
Standardized Title:
Shajarat al-Durr. English
Language:
Arabic
English
Subjects (All):
Shajarat al-Durr, Sultana of Egypt, -1257--Fiction.
Shajarat al-Durr.
Zaydān, Jirjī, 1861-1914--Translations into English.
Zaydān, Jirjī.
Zaydān, Jirjī, 1861-1914.
Shajarat al-Durr, Sultana of Egypt, -1257.
Genre:
Historical fiction.
Fiction.
Physical Description:
xi, 224 pages ; 23 cm.
Place of Publication:
Syracuse : Syracuse University Press, 2012.
Summary:
Winner of the King Fahd Center for Middle East and Islamic Studies Translation of Arabic Literature Award
Shajar al-Durr, known as Tree of Pearls, was one of the most famous Arab queens and the only woman in the medieval Arab world to rule in her own name. Her narrative is one element of a much larger story of the unsettled political climate of thirteenth-century Egypt. In this eponymous novel, Zaydan charts the fall of the Ayyubid Dynasty and the rise of the Mamluk Dynasty through the adventures of Tree of Pearls and Rukn al-Din Baybars a young Mamluk commander who eventually triumphs as the ruler of Egypt, War, political intrigue, murder, and a female ruler who was born a slave combine for an irresistible story, while Zaydan's keen observations on royal politics and subverted gender roles offer readers a richly detailed glimpse of the cultural milieu of the time.
Tree of Pearls, originally published in 1914, is the last in a famous series of historical novels written by Zaydan, an accomplished historian whose books continue to be read widely in the Arab world today. Selim's fluid translation introduces an English audience to one of the Arab word's influential writers. Book jacket.
Contents:
The Ayyubid Dynasty: A Historical Summary 1
The Garden Isle 3
Rukn al-Din Baybars 10
An Amorous Interlude 14
'Izz al-Din Aybak 17
Good Tidings 20
Sallafa and Sahban 25
The Coronation 32
The Engagement 37
An Important Visitor 46
The Caliph's Messenger 51
The Caliph's Decree 54
An Unexpected Demand 59
Rukn al-Din and Tree of Pearls 64
A Secret Conversation 70
Shwaykar 76
Revenge 80
Another Messenger 85
Rukn al-Din and Sallafa 87
The Departure 92
Baghdad 94
The Palaces of Baghdad 96
Mu'ayyid al-Din Ibn al-Alqami 99
Uproar 105
Al-Musta'sim 110
Ahmad, Son of Al-Musta'sim 116
Shwaykar 119
The Dervish 125
A New Guest 131
The Message 135
Arrogance 138
The Accusation 141
A Father's Love 147
Shwaykar in the Women's Quarters 153
The Subterfuge 160
A Newcomer 164
The Tatars 170
Abid 174
Rukn al-Din and Sahban 177
An Important Message 180
The Meeting 182
At the Palace of the Crown 186
The Truth 191
Tree of Pearls and 'Izz al-Din 197
The Imam Ahmad's Palace 201
Discovery 209
Pandemonium 212.
ISBN:
9780815609995
081560999X
OCLC:
795164621

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