Arabic Poems [Hardcover]

A bilingual anthology of poems from the sixth century to the present,Arabic Poemsis a one-of-a-kind showcase of a fascinating literary tradition.

The Arabic poetic legacy is as vast as it is deep, spanning a period of fifteen centuries in regions from Morocco to Iraq. Themes of love, nature, religion, and politics recur in works drawn from the pre-Islamic oral tradition through poems anticipating the recent Arab Spring.

Editor Marlé Hammond has selected more than fifty poems reflecting desire and longing of various kinds: for the beloved, for the divine, for the homeland, and for change and renewal. Poets include the legendary pre-Islamic warrior ‘Antara, medieval Andalusian poet Ibn Zaydun, the mystical poet Rabi‘a al-‘Adawiyya, and the influential Egyptian Romantic Ahmad Zaki Abu Shadi. Here too are literary giants of the past century: Khalil Jibran, author of the best-sellingThe Prophet;popular Syrian poet Nizar Qabbani; Palestinian feminist Fadwa Tuqan; Mahmoud Darwish, bard of occupation and exile; acclaimed iconoclast Adonis; and more. In their evocations of heroism, nostalgia, mysticism, grief, and passion, the poems gathered here transcend the limitations of time and place.Foreword
 
Imru’ al-Qays, “Mu’allaqa”
Labid, “Mu’allaqa”
‘Antara, “Mu’allaqa”
‘Antara, “Abla’s spirit”
Al-Shanfara, “L-Poem of the Arabs”
‘Abid, “I watched through the night”
‘Abid, “No thunder came”
Al-Khansa’, “Lament for a Brother”
Maysun, “Song of Maisuna”
Umar Ibn Abi Rabi’a, “Ah for the throes of a heart sorely wounded!”
Majnun Layla, “I last saw Laila”
Majnun Layla, “Laila I loved”
Rabi’a al’-Adawiyya, “Two ways I love Thee”
Abu Nuwas, “O lsW