Night & Horses & the Desert: An Anthology of Classical Arabic Literature
This ambitious anthology presents a wide range of classical Arabic poetry and prose, covering the fifth to the 16th centuries from Afghanistan to Andalusia, Spain, in a single volume. The task is even more daunting owing to the difficulty of translating verse and prose obscure even to the 20th-century native Arabic speaker. The selections, arranged thematically, include very famous and lesser-known classical texts: representative texts and passages by Ibn Hazm on the etiquette of love, by Jahiz on love of books, by Maqqari on adventures and terrors of the sea, a shadow-play text by Ibn Daniyal, an ecological essay by the philosophical and mystical group Ikhwan al-Safa (Brethern of Purity), and more. Additionally, the obscure and somewhat peculiar selections include Ibn Marzuban on the superiority of dogs to men, Kushajim's poem on asparagus, and Ibn Washsiyya on "the art of poisons." Irwin's (The Middle East in the Middle Ages; The Arabian Nights: A Companion) introduction, commentaries, and notes provide, in addition to general historical background, a clear and concise interpretation of the context, symbolism, and meaning of the pieces selected. He also introduces the literary environments of the royal court (salon, mosque, bookshop, and desert) and provides short biographies of the authors and poets, caliphs, princesses, scribes, and mystics who created this literary legacy. No other single-volume anthology provides such extensive coverage. This rare and outstanding anthology is highly recommended for all literary collections.DAli Houissa, Cornell Univ., Ithaca, NYCopyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.