An Anthology of Arabic Literature: From the Classical to the Modern

ISBN-13: 9781474410786 / Angielski / Twarda / 2016 / 192 str.

Tarif Khalidi; Tarif Khalidi

Opis

Introducing readers to the extremely rich tradition of Arabic literature, this Anthology covers some of its major themes and concerns across the centuries, from its early beginnings to modern times. The texts chosen are a 'library of personal preferences' of a scholar who has spent half a century or more in the company of Arabic books, marking then translating those passages that seemed to him to capture some of its most memorable moments.
Reflecting the great diversity and unpredictability of Arabic literature as the carrier of a major world culture, both pre-modern and modern, the Anthology is divided thematically to highlight modern issues such as love, religion, the human self, human rights, freedom of expression, the environment, violence, secular thought, and feminism. The short, easy-to-read texts are accessible to non-specialists, providing an ideal entry point to this extraordinary literature.

Spis treści

Introduction; Acknowledgments; Part 1. Pre-Modern Texts; Section One. Poetry; Mock-heroic; 1. The Poet and the Wolf, Al-Buhturi (d.897); 2. A love and wine song, Tamim ibn al-Mu`izz al-Fatimi (10th cent); 3. Elegy for a drinking companion, `Abdullah ibn al-Mu`tazz (d.908); Bedouin chivalry; 4. A bedouin and his guest, Al-Hutay’ah (d.ca.661); Frivolous love; 5. A girl called Hind, `Umar ibn Abi Rabi`a (d.711); Melancholy; 6. A rain cloud, Abu al-`Ala’ al-Ma`arri (d.1057); Heretical verse; 7. Belief and Unbelief, Abu al-`Ala’ al-Ma`arri; Elegy: One; 8. A poetess mourns her brother, al-Fari`ah (d. ca. 800); 9. Elegy for the celebrated Wazir, Nizam al-Mulk (d.1092); Anonymous; 10. Elegy for a friend, Abu’l `Ala’ al-Ma`arri (d.1057); Humour; 11. Grey Hairs, Abu `Ali al-Hasan ibn `Abdullah (d.1001); Poets and their daughters; 12. A poet to his daughter; Anonymous; 13. A dying poet to his daughter, Abu Firas al-Hamdani, (d.968); Elegy: Two; 14. Elegy for the fall of al-Andalus (Muslim Spain), Abu’l Baqa’ al-Rundi (d.1285); 15. Elegy for the wazir Ibn Baqiyya, Abu’l Hasan al-Anbari (d. 10th cent.); Elegy: Humorous; 16. Elegy for a tom-cat, Ibn al-`Allaf (d.930); 17. Elegy for an extracted molar tooth, Al-Babi (d.?); Exile; 18. A poet dying in exile, Ibn Zurayq al-Baghdadi (d. 1029); Imagery; 19. A woman bathing, Abu Nuwas (d.814); Poetic fragments: One; 20. On nature and natural object by diverse poets; (i) The crescent moon; (ii) The new moon in daytime; (iii) The full moon behind clouds; (iv) The moon shining upon water; (v) The moon amidst stars; (vi) The stars; (vii)The Pleiades; (viii) Gemini; (ix) Mars; (x) Vega; (xi) Vega, Altair and Pisces; (xii) Ursa Major; (xiii) Pitch-black night; (xiv) Dawn; (xv) The rainbow; (xvi) Midday heat; (xvii) Extreme cold; (xviii) A day both bright and cloudy; (xix) Shadows cast by tree leaves; (xx) The rose and the daffodil; (xxi) Red Anemone; (xxii) Wallflower; (xxiii) The Judas tree; Poetic fragments: Two; 21. On the joys and agonies of love by diverse poets; Love and seduction; 22. A poet defends his seduction of a young and innocent girl; Bashshar ibn Burd (d.783); Section Two: Prose; Jahiz; 23. On authors and authorship; 24. Advice to public speakers (1); 25. Advice to public speakers (2); 26. The power of suggestion; Animal fables; 27. The lion, the wolf, the raven, the jackal and the camel, Ibn al-Muqaffa` (d.756) 28. The flea and the mosquito, Baha’ al-Din al-`Amili (d. 1621); Snappy Answers; 29. A Selection of Al-Ajuriba al-Muskita; Heretics; 30. On Ibn al-Shalmaghani, his execution and a brief mention of his heretical views, Abu’l Fida (d.1331); 31. The death of Abu Talib al-Makki, the famous mystic, Abu’l Fida; 32. Rival Qur’ans, Abu’l Husayn al-Haruni al-Zaydi (d.1030); 33. Last will and testament, Imam al-Haramayn al-Juwayni (d.1085); Psychology; 34. Psychology of Old Age, Fakhr al-din al-Razi (d.1209); 35. Education of the young, Ghazali (d.1111); 36. Firasa (physiognomy), Fakhr al-din al-Razi (d.1209); Foreign Lands; 37. England, Ibn Sa`id al-Maghribi (d.1286); 38. The Land of the Franks, Zakariyya ibn Muhammad al-Qazwini (d.1283); 39. Ireland, Qazwini; 40. A medieval Lilliput, Qazwini; 41. The Emperor Frederick II (d. 1250) tricks his rivals, Ibn Wasil (d.1298); 42. Propaganda during the Third Crusade, 1190, Abu Shama (d. 1268); 43. A Byzantine emperor’s finery, Al-Qadi al-Rashid ibn al-Zubayr (d. late 11th cent.); 44. Diplomacy: Embassy of Queen Bertha daughter of Lothar, Al-Qadi al-Rashid ibn al-Zubayr; Literary Anecdote; 45. A lesson in generosity, Ibn Khallikan (d.1282); 46. A brilliant judge Ibn `Asakir (d. 1175); 47. Poetic justice: revenge, Ghars al-Ni`mah al-Sabi (d.1087); 48. A clown at a Caliph’s court, Al-Sharishi (d.1222); 49. A classic children’s story: Tanburi’s shoe, Anonymous; 50. Three real-life stories on the theme of “Ease following hardship”, Ahmad ibn Yusuf Ibn al-Daya (d. ca. 942); 51. Pre-Islamic Arabian lore, Ibn Habib (d.859); 52. What kings must avoid, Ibn al-Tiqtaqa (d. after 1302); Argument; 53. Theology as defined by a philosopher, Farabi (d.950); 54. On marvels and oddities of nature (excerpts), Mas`udi (d.956); 55. Can a woman be a prophet?, Ibn Hazm (d.1064); 56. Paradise is a bore, Abu Hayyan al-Tawhidi (d. ca.1010); 57. What is laughter?, Abu Hayyan al-Tawhidi; 58. A division of existents, Abu Hayyan al-Tawhidi; 59. An humorous exchange on the subject of miserliness, Ibn Qutayba (d.889); 60. An argument over date wine, Al-Zajjaji (d.951); 61. The symptoms of love, Ibn Hazm (d.1064); Sexuality; 62. Sexual manners, Ghazali (d.1111); Reflections on history; 63. Civilizations and religious beliefs, Jahiz; 64. Were the ancients taller and longer-lived than us?, Mas`udi (d.956); 65. Dismissing a vizier, Ibn al-Athir (d.1232); 66. Biographers and biography, Al-Subki (d.1369); 67. Dynastic transitions, Ibn al-Athir (d. 1232); 68. The Mongol Invasions, Ibn al-Athir; 69. The Caliph `Uthman and the First Civil War in Islamic history, Ibn Khaldun (d.1404); 70. Arab history comes round full circle, Ibn Khaldun (d.1404); 71. Causes of the decline of states, Turtushi (d. 1126); 72. Military feudalism in Andalusia, Turtushi; 73. Religions and policies of ancient nations, Turtushi; 74. Are the conquests of Alexander the Great credible as reported?, Yaqut (d.1229); History: direct witness; 75. The death of Saladin, 1193, Abu Shama (d. 1268); 76. Ibn Khaldun and Tamerlane: The great world historian meets the great world conqueror, 1401, Ibn Khaldun (d.1406); Society; 77. Arts and crafts in cities (excerpts), Rasa’il Ikhwan al-Safa (“Epistles of the Pure Brethren”) (ca.10-11th cent.); Sufism (Islamic mysticism); 78. Sufi sayings and stories, Abu `Abd al-Rahman al-Sulami (d.1021); 79. Licit and illicit as colors: a Sufi view, Abu Talib al-Makki (d. 996); 80. Sufi solitude, Ghazali; 81. How Satan enters the human heart, Ghazali; Proverbs and aphorisms; 82. Proverbs popular among the common people of Baghdad in the tenth century, Al-Abi (d.1030); Literary judgments; 83. The celebrated poet al-Farazdaq (d.728) to a man who showed him his inferior verse, Abu Zayd al-Qurashi (d. early 10th cent); 84. The famous critic al-Asma`i (d. 828) on poetry, Al-Marzubani (d.994); 85. On verse and prose, Abu Hayyan al-Tawhidi (d. ca.1010); 86. The introduction to a famous literary anthology, Ibn Qutayba (d.889); 87. The famous poet Abu Tamman on his verse, Muhammad ibn Yahya al-Suli (d. 946); 88. When can a simile be considered truly remarkable?, `Abd al-Qahir al-Jurjani (d.1078); Reflections on the state; 89. The democratic city-state, Farabi (d. 950); 90. Inaugural address by the Umayyad caliph Yazid III, a “democratic” caliph, Ibn Hamdun; Polemic; 91. Christian Arabic Polemics against Islam, `Abd al-Masih al-Kindi, (ca. beginning of 10th cent.); 92. Debates with Jews and Christians, Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya (d. 1350); Jesus; 93. Passages on Jesus in the Qur’an Commentary (Tafsir) of Tabari (d. 923); (i) His birth; (ii) Jesus speaks in his cradle; (iii) The livelihood of Jesus; (iv) The Crucifixion of Jesus; (v) The death and ascension of Jesus; Wisdom Literature; 94. A famous scholar describes how he spends his days, Ibn `Abd al-Barr (d.1070); 95. Sayings of the Prophet Muhammad; 96. Sayings of `Ali ibn Abi Talib; 97. Sundry wisdom sayings; Part Two: Modern Texts; Section One; Political protest; 98. 3 popular political songs, Ahmad Fu’ad Najm (d. 2013); 99. Two poems, Muhammad al-Maghut (d. 2006); Heretics; 100. A poet’s heretical credo, Ma`ruf al-Rusafi (d. 1945); Jesus; 101. Christ after the Crucifixion, Badr Shakir al-Sayyab (d. 1964); Elegy; 102. Elegy for a woman, Nazik al-Mala’iki (d. 2007); 103. It’s time this heart withdraws, Ahlam Mistghanmi (b. 1953); 104. To devotees of bull fighting, Ahlam Mistghanmi; Section Two: Prose; Popular Historiography; 105. A Damascene barber records the life around him, Al-Budayri al-Hallaq (d. after 1762); Short Stories; 106. A child’s secret, Fu’ad al-Tikirli; 107. Three short stories, Zakariyya Tamir (b. 1931); Feminism; 108. Early modern feminism, May Ziadeh (d.1941); 109. Two autobiographical accounts, `Anbara Salam al-Khalidi (d.1986); Personal Experience; 110. An Egyptian Muslim cleric defrocks (ca. 1927), Ahmad Amin; 111. An encounter with George Bernard Shaw (ca.1910), Salama Musa (d. 1958); Humor; 112. The Fat Person, Sa`id Taqyiddin (d.1960); Jesus; 113. Christ: a modern Muslim view, `Abbas Mahmud al-`Aqqad, (d. 1964); Personal Experiences of War; 114. Scenes from the First World War (Palestine), Khalil al-Sakakini (1878-1953); 115. Scenes from the First World War (Lebanon), `Anbara Salam al-Khalidi (d. 1986), `Ajjaj Nuwayhid (d.1982), Yusuf al-Hakim (d. 1979); 116. The Versailles Peace Conference: An Arab perspective, Rustum Haidar (d.1940); 117. Two encounters with Anatole France, Rustum Haidar; Heretics; 118. Fanaticism, Ma`ruf al-Rusafi (d. 1945); Foreign lands; 119. England in the 1840s, Ahmad Faris al-Shidyaq (d.1887); (i) A village in Cambridgeshire; (ii) English social classes; (iii) Oxford and Cambridge; (iv) Praiseworthy English customs; (v) English marriage customs; (vi) English children’s upbringing; (vii) English Table-manners; (viii) English and French prostitutes; Political Writings: Editorials; 120. Who owns the “weapon” of democracy?, Joseph Samaha (d.2010); 121. Hatred of America, Joseph Samaha; 122. Modern Syria’s literary and national renaissance, Antun Saadeh (d. 1949); 123. A Marxist analysis of the term “Civilization”, Mahdi `Amil (d. 1987); Muslim Law; 124. A modern Muslim jurist on punishments in Muslim sacred law, `Abdullah al-`Alayli; Aphorisms for our times; 125. Aphorisms for our times, Ibrahim al-Kuni (b.1948); Sources; Index.