Night & Horses & the Desert: An Anthology of Classical Arabic Literature Paperback – January 8, 2002

Very thorough as to the literature of the period and you get as much information as you would from a college course without the cost or exposure. A bargain at the price!

The editorial reviews (above) by Dr. Ali Houissa, Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies Librarian at Cornell, and by John Green of "Booklist" describe this volume very well. Thomas F. Ogara's customer review is also excellent; but this 460-page anthology and guidebook to a millennium of Arabic literature really deserves FIVE stars, not four. Because not everyone is interested in ANY literature from the Middle Ages, this may not rate as a five-star topic for some; but it is certainly a first-rate treatment. Americans like myself, from a country whose history is less than half as long as the period covered in this volume, may be much more interested in the increasingly-translated Arabic literature of the Modern Period (which coincides with the European settlement of America); but for those curious about the long Classical Period (6th-17th Centuries) of one of the great world civilizations, this is a superb introduction.Author Robert G. Irwin, Middle East Editor of "The Times Literary Supplement" and author of 14 books concerning Arabic literature, introduces us to dozens of writers and their major works from seven sub-periods of this medieval millennium. He also explains the system of Arabic names, which may include all of the following: kunya/nickname, laqab/honorific name, ism/given name, nasab/father's & grand-father's name, nisbah/name of geographical origin. This may result in a daunting string of appellations; but individuals are commonly known by just one part of the entire name. Irwin gives us the full name of each writer but with the familiar, short form of it in capital letters; for example: Abu'l Tayyib Ahmad ibn Husayn al-MUTANABBI. The title of the book, incidentally, is taken from the most famous line of this most famous Arab poet: "I am known to night and horses and the desert, to sword and lance, to parchment and pen." Irwin mentions, too, how the poet's literary boasting actually contributed to his death in 965 AD. Accosted by robbers during travel, al-Mutanabbi was about to flee when a servant quoted the verse to him. He turned to fight his assailants and lost the battle!Irwin likewise gives the full title of each literary work with transliterated Arabic words in italic print, followed by the English translation. (This review space does not permit italics in order to give an example.) He also explains multiple genres of this period: (1) qasida/ode, (2) madih/panegyric, (3) hijja/satire, (4) fakhr/boasting, (5) ritha/ lament, (6) wasf/description, (7) tardiyyat/hunting poems, (8) zuhdiyyat/ascetic poetry, (9) khamriyyat/wine-bibbing poems, (10) ikhwaniyyat/ letters between close friends, (11) mudhakarat/poems addressed to young boys, (12) manazarat/ debates about priority (e.g.: boys vs. girls, sheep-farmers vs, goat-farmers, speech vs. silence, summer vs. winter), and (13) khutab/liturgical oratory. He outlines the structure of the pre-eminent poetic form, the qasida, "a fairly long poem [10-80 lines] with a single rhyme and a single meter in hemistichs," as well as some of its meters and tropes. Irwin explains more than 130 arabic literary and cultural terms (transliterated and italicized) as he elucidates his large selection of literary passages that range from a few lines to several pages. The book lacks a glossary of these terms, but they are easily noted and clearly explained in the text."Night & Horses & the Desert," at a bargain price and by an expert on the subject, is a five-star introduction to a major world literature. Enjoy!

Very interesting book. compelling poetry and historical information.

Really a great look into the emergence and solidification of Islamic and pre-Islamic literature. I read this from cover to cover for a Islamic Lit course and loved almost every page. If you enjoy great stories, poetry, and philosophy or even are looking to expand your awareness of Middle Eastern history this is a read that will provide unhindered access to some of the most profound intellectual discovery and insight from all of time as well as an unfettered look into the background of one of the worlds most controversial regions.

We more books like this, for every literature and every language on the planet. My only complaint is that most of the translations are not his own, but are taken from various sources such as articles or even histories where the translations may or may not have been a centerpiece. That means that you're getting fragments of authors that may not be meritorious in their own right, but were meant to further the author's point in the original source.So basically he's pilfered a library-worth of already translated bits and pieces given them all back to you with historical context included, and what this means is that the most famous works and certain highly famous authors (such as Al-Mutenabby or Al-Farazdaq) aren't represented by more than a few lines of their own, while other authors, not as well known, are given pages and pages.

Delightful. Terrific selections and the insightful commentaries are not just helpful but written so deftly that they are a literary treat in their own right

Great read!

Il libro è arrivato nei tempi di consegna previsti e in ottime condizioni, considerando anche che la spedizione partiva dagli USA per raggiungere l'Italia.

Great reading.