Classical Arabic Literature: A Library of Arabic Literature Anthology

Cover......Page 1
Table of Contents......Page 8
Letter from the General Editor......Page 4
Acknowledgements......Page 12
Abbreviations......Page 13
Introduction......Page 14
Notes to the Introduction......Page 27
Verse......Page 30
A Qasidah......Page 31
A Qasidah......Page 33
A Qasidah......Page 37
An Elegy (Marthiyah)......Page 41
Polemics in Verse: An Invective Qasidah......Page 44
Love in the Desert: A Qasidah......Page 50
An Umayyad Ghazal Poem, used as an Abbasid Song Text......Page 56
An 'Udhri Ghazal attributed to Majnun Layla......Page 58
An Umayyad Ghazal......Page 60
A Love Poem......Page 62
Anti-Arab, Pro-Iranian Lampoon (Hija')......Page 63
A Modern (Muhdath) Ghazal Epigram......Page 66
A Ghazal......Page 67
Two wine Poems......Page 69
A Lampooning Epigram (Hija')......Page 72
A Ghazal Poem......Page 73
Three Love Epigrams......Page 75
A Poem of Asceticism (Zuhdiyyah)......Page 78
Ibn al-Rumi: On His Poetry......Page 80
A Qasidah: A Party at 'Abd al-Malik ibn Salih al-Hashimi’s......Page 82
A Panegyric Qasidah......Page 87
A Victory Ode: The Qasidah on Sayf al-Dawlah’s Recapture of the Fortress of al-Hadath......Page 90
Nature Poetry: Two Epigrams......Page 94
Strophic Poem: A Muwashshahah......Page 96
An Anonymous Muwashshahah from Spain......Page 98
There Descended to You: A Philosophical Allegory......Page 102
Five Epigrams on Death and Belief......Page 104
Mystical Ghazal: A Poem......Page 108
A Mystical Zajal......Page 112
Two Elegies on the Death of his Concubine......Page 114
A Zajal: An Elegy on the Elephant Marzuq......Page 118
Rajaz......Page 122
Early Rajaz......Page 123
A Few Lines from the Poem of Proverbs......Page 124
A Few Lines from The Thousand-liner......Page 125
Light Verse: A Domestic Disaster......Page 126
“Didactic” Verse: From a Poem on How to Behave in Society......Page 131
Prose......Page 138
Examples of Early Rhymed Prose (Saj')......Page 139
A Pre-Islamic Tale: The Princess on the Myrtle Leaf (Three Versions)......Page 143
How the Queen of Sheba Became Queen......Page 146
Two Stories from Meadows of Gold......Page 148
Lives of The Poets: al-Farazdaq Tells the Story of Imru' al-Qays and the Girls at the Pond......Page 152
Bedouin Romance: The Unhappy Love Story of Qays and Lubna......Page 156
A Parable: The Human Condition, or The Man in the Pit......Page 195
Mirror for Princes (and Others): Passages from Right Conduct......Page 197
Al-Jahiz on Flies and Other Things......Page 205
Essayistic Prose: Al-Tawhidi on the Superiority of the Arabs......Page 224
History as Literature: Al-Amin and al-Ma'mun, the Sons of Harun al-Rashid......Page 237
Moral Tales and Parables: Passages from The Epistles of the Sincere Brethren......Page 247
Prose Narrative: Four Stories......Page 254
The Isfahan Maqamah......Page 274
The Debate of Pen and Sword......Page 277
A Visit to Heaven and Hell......Page 284
Poetics: Ibn Rashiq on the Definition and Structure of Poetry......Page 306
Literary Criticism: From The Secrets of Eloquence......Page 310
Popular Science: Two Chapters from the Encyclopedia of Animals......Page 326
A Section from an Adab Encyclopedia: The Chapter on Stinginess from The Precious and Refined in Every Genre and Kind......Page 334
A Fairytale: The Tale of the Forty Girls......Page 347
Erotica: The Young Girl and the Dough Kneader, from The Old Man’s Rejuvenation......Page 362
Two Burlesque Stories from Brains Confounded......Page 368
Lyrical Prose: A Visit to the Bath......Page 374
Notes......Page 381
Chronology......Page 455
K......Page 458
R......Page 459
Z......Page 460
Bibliography......Page 461
Further Reading......Page 481
A......Page 486
B......Page 487
H......Page 488
I......Page 489
J......Page 490
M......Page 491
Q......Page 492
T......Page 493
Z......Page 494
About the NYU Abu Dhabi Institute......Page 495
About the Typefaces......Page 496
About the Translator......Page 497