The Literary Heritage of the Arabs

CONTENTS

PART I: THE PRE-ISLAMIC PERIOD (JAHILIYYA)

The Mu’allaqat

Ode of Imru al-Qais

Ka’b Bin Zuhair

Su’ád is gone

al-Aswad Bin Yafur

Ode from the Mufaddaliyat

Lament for My Brother

In the Heart of the Desert

Oh, That Youth’s Flower Anew Might Lift its Head

Katari of Mazin

To His Own Soul

‘Umar Ibn Abi Rabi’ah

Blame Me No More, O Comrades!

PART II: THE ISLAMIC AGE

The Holy Qur’an

Surah XIX: Mary

Surah LIX: Exile

Surah LXXXIX: The Dawn

Selected Sayings

Shaybani’s Siyar

The Islamic Law of Nations

PART III: THE UMMAYAD DYNASTY

Youth Departed but Often I Enjoyed It

Let all weep for al-Hajjáj

al-Farazdaq Visited the Folk of Hijaz

Abd al-Hamid al-Katib

The Art of Secretaryship

The Rabbit and the Elephant

The Prophet’s Mission

Bashshar Ibn Burd

Will No Emissary Be Found

PART IV: THE ABBASID DYNASTY

Rabia al-Adawiya

O My Joy and My Desire and My Refuge

Thou Scolder of Grape and Me

The Great Offence

Hurry, for the Beergardens are Blooming

Thus by the Camel He Loves

Abu’l Atahiya

Vanity: To Harun al-Rashid

Surely Shall Fate Disjoint the Proudest Nose

Virtue Cast an Eye at Me Coming

I Recall the Campsite at ‘Arafah

The Book of Proof: Concerning Asceticism

In Praise of the Caliph Mu’tasim

Bodies of Water Like Horses

Extracts from Uyun al-Akhbar

The Chess Champion

The Compromise

He Defends Himself

The Battle of Badr

The Book of the Cure of Souls

Three Qasidas

Ibn al-Mu’tazz

In Praise of Chess

We Shouted for Servants, but all Slept

The Repelling of Grief

The City and the Household

Pearl-Fishing

Character of the Caliph Muhtadi

Parting Has Just Taught Our Eyelids Separation

Shame Kept My Tears Away

How Glows Mine Heart

Naught Kills the Noble like Forgiveness

My Songs Gave Eyes to the Blind, Ears to the Deaf

Here is the Final Stretch

Abu Firas al-Hamdani

Thy Fiercest Foe is One Thou Dost Not Fight

Grief Amasses, Patience Scatters

Arabs and Non-Arabs

The Sufi Doctrine of Vision

The Assembly of Qazwin

Determination of the Length of Ramadan

The Epistle of Forgiveness

Letter to Abu Ahmad ‘Abd al-Salim Ibn al-Husain

From the Diwan

From the Lazumiyat

’Tis Said That Spirits Remove by Transmigration

In the Casket of the Hours

Thou Art Diseased in Understanding and Religion

Ibn Sina (Avicenna)

Concerning the Temporal Origin of the Soul

Epistle of the Soul

The Assembly of Hajr

The Assembly of Damascus

The Beginning of Guidance

The First Duty of Brotherhood

The Physical Sciences

Ibn Rushd (Averroes)

The Law Makes Philosophic Studies Obligatory

The Protection of Allah

Hayy Admires the Work of the Creator

Playing with Fire

A Description of the Mosque of the Apostle of God and of His Sacred Rawdah

The Wisdom of Virtue in the Word of Luqman

Whoso Knoweth Himself …

Selections from Tarjuman al-Ashwaq

Where Eyes Encounter Souls in Battle-Fray

Lo, From Behind the Veil Mysterious

How the Game of Chess was Invented

Ja’far and al-Rashid

PART V: AL-ANDALUS – ARAB SPAIN

Twice Times Then is Now

Ibn ‘Abd Rabbihi

Poem to Wallada

The Moon, The Stars, and a King

Abu’l Hasan Ali ibn Hisn

The Andalusian Fountains

Flowing Stream

The Incense Burner

The Girl with the Beauty-Spots

Ibn Sa’ad al-Khair

The Draw-well

Moon of Beauty

The Guardians

Ibn Maimon (Moses Maimonides)

Guide for the Perplexed

Concerning How it is Most Proper for Man to Conduct Himself in this World

Solomon ibn Gabirol

The Ethics of Solomon Gabirol

PART VI: THE AGE OF DEPRESSION

Across North Africa

Time of Meeting

Five Extracts from Muqaddimah

A Sign of Royal Authority

The Romance of Antar

Antar goes to Mecca

Prince Shas In Captivity

Antar Summoned From Mecca To Rescue Shas

‘Abla’s Treasure Restored

The Arabian Nights

The Tale of the Birds and Beasts and the Carpenter

The Story of the Envier and the Envied

Men in the Judgment of their Wives

Adventure of the Caliph Haroon al-Rusheed

PART VII: AL-NAHDA – RENAISSANCE OF ARABIC LITERATURE

Abd al-Rahman al-Kawakibi

The Virtues of the Arabs

From Act I of Majnun Layla

To a Late Composer

The Feast of Time

An Andalusian Exile

Elegy to Mustafa Kamil

The Arab Awakening

Ma’ruf al-Rusafi

Life and Love

Gibran Kahlil Gibran

From a Speech by Khalil the Heretic

Supplication: A Prayer

An Egyptian Childhood

From The Stream of Days

Drinking Song

Double Trouble

Ahmad al-Safi al-Najafi

Tewfiq al-Hakim

Song of Death

PART VIII: MODERN ARABIC LITERATURE

Abu al-Qasim al-Shabi

I Weep for Love

To the Tyrant

An Unnerving Sound

Jabra Ibrahim Jabra

A Stranger at the Fountain

‘Abd al-Wahhab al-Bayati

Apology for a Short Speech

Salah ‘Abd al-Sabur

The Tatars Attacked

Mahmoud Darwish

Pride and Fury

Promises from the Storm

Iram the Many-Columned

Beginning Speech

Badr Shakir al-Sayyab

A City Without Rain

The Deserted Well

Muhammad al-Fayturi

To Two Unknown Eyes

Sorrow of the Black City

Nazik al-Mala’ika

Five Hymns to Pain

Salma al-Khadra al-Jayyusi

Without Roots

In the Casbah

Scrapping Limits

A Prayer to the New Year

Bread, Hashish and Moonlight

The Wedding of My City

A Poet’s Treasure

This Is The Now

Notes on Authors

Acknowledgements

Notes on Editors