The Penguin Anthology of Classical Arabic Literature

by Robert Irwin

  Columbia University Press: extracts from Memoirs of an Arab-Syrian Gentleman by Usamah ibn Munqidh, translated by Philip K. Hitti (1929); an extract from The Fihrist of Ibn al-Nadim, translated by Bayard Dodge (1970). Reprinted by permission of the publisher.

  Cornell University Press: ‘How I Met the Ghul’ by Ta’abbata Sharran from The Mute Immortals Speak: Pre-Islamic Poetry and the Poetics of Ritual by Suzanne Pinckey Stetkevych (1993). Reprinted by permission of the publisher.

  The C. W. Daniel Company: an extract from The Glory of the Perfumed Garden by Shaykh Nafzawi (Neville Spearman, 1975). Reprinted by permission of the publisher. East-West Publications: ‘The formidable champion’ (Anon.), translated by René Khawam, from The Subtle Ruse (1976).

  Edinburgh University Press: extracts by Diya al-Din ibn al-Athir and Abu Hamid al-Gharnati, translated by George Makdisi, from The Rise of Humanism in Classical Islam and the Christian West (1990); Ibn ‘Abd Rabbih’s description of a play, translated by Shmuel Moreh, from Live Theatre and Dramatic Literature in the Medieval Arabic World (1922). Reprinted by permission of the publisher.

  J. H. Fursi Co: verses by ‘Abd al-Rahman, Al-Mu’tadid and Wallada, translated by A. R. Nykl, from Hispano-Arabic Poetry and its Relations with the Old Provençal Troubadors (1946).

  Gazelle Book Services: lines from ‘The First Golden Ballad’, translated by Herbert Howarth and Ibrahim Shukrullah, from Images from the Arab World: Fragments of Arab Literature translated and paraphrased with variations and comments (1977). Garnet Publishing: ‘How many nights we passed drinking wine…’ by Ibn Zaidun, translated by Bernard Lewis, from TR, 1:2. (London: 1975; Reading: Ithaca Press, 1976); extracts by Al-Jahiz, translated by R. B. Serjeant, from The Book of Misers by Al-Jahiz (1997); an extract from ‘Al-Tanukhi’s Al-Faraj ba‘d al-shidda as a Literary Source’ by Julia Ashtiany, from Arabicus Felix: Essays in Honour of A. F. L. Beeston on his Eightieth Birthday, edited by Alan Jones (Ithaca Press, 1991); an extract by Al-Jahiz, translated by M. A. S. Abdel Haleem, from Chance or Creation (1995).

  Gee Tee Bee: an extract by The Ikhwan al Safa, translated and annotated by L. E. Goodman, from The Case of the Animals versus Man before the King of the Jinn (1978). ISBN: 0-917232-23-2; an extract from Ibn Tufayl’s Hayy ibn Yaqzan by Ibn Tufayl, introduction, notes, and translation by L. E. Goodman, fourth edition (1992). ISBN: 0-917232-30-5. Reprinted by permission of Gee Tee Bee, Los Angeles, CA. David R. Godine, Publisher: ‘When you come to Silves…’ and ‘The heart beats on…’ by Al-Mu’tamid, ‘Disparagers of love, now hear my song…’ by Ibn Quzman, ‘Four Poems to Ibn Zaydun’ by Wallada, ‘The Alhambra Inscription’ by Ibn Zamrak, and ‘With passion from this place…’ by Ibn Zaydun, translated by Christopher Middleton and Leticia Garza-Falcon, from Andalusian Poems (1993), ©1993 by Christopher Middleton and Leticia Garza-Falcon. Reprinted by permission of the publisher. HarperCollins Publishers: a poem by Kushajim, translated by A. J. Arberry, from Aspects of Islamic Civilization (George Allen & Unwin, 1964); Sura 12 ‘Yusuf’ or ‘Joseph’, verses 1-45, translated by A. J. Arberry, from The Koran Interpreted, volume 1 (George Allen & Unwin, 1955); Sura 24, verse 35, ‘the Light Verse’, Sura 26, ‘The Poets’, Sura 97, ‘Power’, Sura 113, ‘Daybreak’, translated by A. J. Arberry, from The Koran Interpreted, volume 2 (George Allen & Unwin, 1955); an extract from The Seven Odes by A. J. Arberry (George Allen & Unwin, 1957). Reprinted by permission of the publisher.

  HarperCollins Publishers Inc: ‘Portrait of a Parvenu’ by Badi al-Zaman al-Hamadani, translated by Bernard Lewis, from Islam: From the Prophet Muhammad to the Capture of Constantinople, volume 2 (Harper & Row, 1974), ©1974 by Bernard Lewis. Reprinted by permission of the publisher.

  David Higham Associates: Hajjaj’s speech, translated by Robert Payne, from The Holy Sword (Robert Hale, 1959). Reprinted by permission of David Higham Associates. Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies: ‘A Robe of Love’ by Ibn Khafajah, and ‘A Battle like a Wedding’ and ‘Banners Overhead’ by Ali ibn Musa ibn Sa’id, translated by James A. Bellamy and Patricia Owen Steiner, from The Banners of the Champions by Ibn Said al-Maghribi (University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1989). Reprinted by permission of the publisher.

  Kegan Paul International: poems by Akhtal, Antara, Buhturi, Farazdaq and Khansa, translated by Charles Greville Tuetey, from Classical Arabic Poetry: 162 Poems from Imrulkais to Ma‘arri (1985); lines by Abu al-Atahiya, ‘Drink a few more cups with me, my friends…’ (song), Yahya b. Khalid Barmak’s symposium on love, and ‘The Night Conversations of Mu’tamid’, translated by Paul Lunde and Caroline Stone, from The Meadows of Gold: The Abbasids by Mas‘udi (1989). Reprinted by permission of the publisher.

  Literature East & West: ‘Seven poems by ‘Abdallah Ibn Mu’tazz’, translated by Andras Hamori, from Literature East & West, volume 15 (1971).

  Luzac & Co: extracts by Ibn ‘Arabshah, translated by J. H. Sanders, from Tamerlane or Timur the Great Amir (1936); an extract by Ibn Nubata and poems by Sanawbari, translated by Adam Mez, re-translated by D. S. Margoliouth, from The Renaissance of Islam (1937); extracts by Ibn Hazm and verses by ‘Abbas ibn al-Ahnaf, translated by A. J. Arberry, from The Ring of the Dove (1953).

  Mamluk Studies Review: Elegy by Athir al-Din, translated by Th. Emil Homerin, from ‘Reflections on Poetry in the Mamluk Age’ in Mamluk Studies Review, 1 (1997).

  Reprinted by permission of the publisher.

  Seyyed Hossein Nasr: an extract by Ibn Sina, translated by Seyyed Hossein Nasr, from An Introduction to Islamic Cosmological Doctrines (Belknap Press, 1964).

  New York University Press: Jurjani’s Asrar al-Balagha, translated by Johann Christoph Bürgel, from The Feather of Simurgh (1988). Reprinted by permission of the publisher. W. W. Norton & Company: ‘The Tale of King Yunan and the Sage Duban’, translated by Husain Haddawy, from The Arabian Nights, copyright © 1990 by W. W. Norton & Company. Reprinted by permission of the publisher.

  Oneworld Publications: ‘Deliverance from Error’ by Al-Ghazali, translated by W. Montgomery Watt, from The Faith and Practice of al-Ghazali (1990). Reprinted by permission of the publisher.

  Oxford University: extracts by Walid, translated by Robert Hamilton, from Walid and His Friends: An Umayyad Tragedy, Oxford Studies in Islamic Art, volume 6 (Oxford University Press, 1988). Reprinted by permission of The Oriental Institute.

  Oxford University Press: verses and concluding kharja by Abu Bakr Ibn Zuhr, translated by H. A. R. Gibb, from Arabic Literature: An Introduction (1926); extracts by Miskawayh, translated by H. F. Amedroz and D. S. Margoliouth, from The Eclipse of the ‘Abbasid Caliphate, volume 5 (1920-21); extracts by Ma‘arri, translated by D. S. Margoliouth from The Letters of Abu ‘l’ Ala of Ma‘arrat al-Nu’man (1898); an extract by Ibn al-Khatib, translated by A. F. L. Beeston, from Samples of Arabic Prose in its Historical Development (1977). Reprinted by permission of the publisher.

  Penguin UK: ‘The Tale of Judar and his Brothers’, from Tales from the Thousand and One Nights, translated by N. J. Dawood (Penguin Classics, 1973), translation copyright © N. J. Dawood, 1954, 1973.

  Omar Pound: ‘Lament for five sons lost in a plague’ by Abu Dhu’ayb al-Hudhali, ‘Lament for a brother’ by Al-Khansa, ‘Shame kept my tears away…’, I was born to feel close to others’…’ and ‘Live where you will’ by Mutanabbi, and ‘Lord of the throne’ by Al-Tirimmah, translated by Omar Pound, from Arabic and Persian Poems (Fulcrum Press, 1970). Reprinted by permission of the author.

  Princeton University Press: extract from Epistle to the Secretaries by Abd al-Hamid, translated by Franz Rosenthal, from The Muqaddimah: An Introduction to History, volume 2 (Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1958), copyright © 1958 by Princeton University Press; an extract by Ibn Khaldun, translated by Franz Rosenthal, from The Muqaddimah: An Introduction to History, volume 3 (Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1967), copyright © 1967 by Princeton University Press. Reprinted by permission of Princeton University Press.

  Routledge & Kegan Paul: an extract from Kitab al-lmta, volume 2 by Taw
hidi, translated by Alan Sheridan, from Sexuality in Islam, translated by Abdelwahab Boudiba (1975).

  Reprinted by permission of the publisher.

  Royal Asiatic Society: extracts from Table Talk of a Mesopotamian Judge by Tanukhi, translated by D. S. Margoliouth (1922); ‘The Risalatu ’l-Ghufran’ by Ma‘arri, translated by R. A. Nicholson, from Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society (1900); an extract by Ibn Daniyal, translated by Paul Kahle, from ‘The Arabic Shadow Play in Egypt’ by Paul Kahle, in Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society (1940). Reprinted by permission of the publisher.

  Saqi Books: lines by Abu Nuwas, translated by Catherine Cobham, from An Introduction to Arab Poetics by Adonis (1990). Reprinted by permission of the publisher.

  Pieter Smoor: verses by Usamah ibn Munqidh, translated by Pieter Smoor, from Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenlandischen Gesellschaft, volume 138 (1988). Reprinted by permission of the publisher.

  Undena Publications: lines by Abbas ibn al-Ahnaf, translated by J. C. Burgel, from Society and the Sexes in Medieval Islam, edited by Afaf Lutfi al-Sayyid Marsot (1979). Reprinted by permission of the publisher.

  University of Calcutta: an extract by Tanukhi from Faraj ba‘d al-Shidda, translated by D. S. Margoliouth, from Lectures on Arabic Historians by D. S. Margoliouth (1930).

  University of California Press: extracts by Jahiz from the Kitab al-Hayawan from The Life and Works of Jahiz, edited and translated by Charles Pellat (1969); ‘The Falcon of Acre’ and ‘Christian Piety and Muslim Piety’ by Usamah ibn Munqidh, and ‘The Day of Conquest’ by Imad al-Din al Isfahani, by Francesco Gabrieli, from Arab Historians of the Crusades, edited and translated by E. J. Costello, copyright © 1969 Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd; extracts by Ibn Shuhayd, translated by James T. Monroe, from Risalat al-Tawabi wa’l-Zawabi: The Treatise of Familiar Spirits and Demons, University of California Publication in Near Eastern Studies, volume 13, copyright © 1970; poems by Ibn Hamdis and Ibn Quzman, translated by James T. Monroe, from Hispano-Arabic Poetry: A Student Anthology, copyright © 1974 The Regents of the University of California. Reprinted by permission of the publisher.

  University of Chicago Press: extracts from Kitab al-Muwashsha by Washsha, translated by Gustave E. von Grunebaum, from Medieval Islam, second edition (1953); a poem by Sanawbari, translated by Jaroslav Stetkevych, from The Zephyrs of Najd (1993). Reprinted by permission of the publisher.

  University of South Carolina Press: a poem by Ibn al-Farid, translated by Th. Emil Homerin, from From Arab Poet to Muslim Saint: Ibn al-Farid, His Verse and His Shrine (1994).

  Zeitschift fur Semitistik und verwandte Gebiete: an extract from ‘King Mutton, A curious Egyptian tale of the Mamluk period’ (Anon.), translated by J. Finkel, from Zeitschift fur Semitistik und verwandte Gebiete, 8 (1932).

  Every effort has been made to trace or contact all copyright holders. The publishers will be pleased to make good any omissions or rectify any mistakes brought to their attention at the earliest opportunity.

  ∗ Where a shortened form is used, full details of publications can be found in the Bibliography, pages xv-xviii.