Nabati poetry is the traditional poetry of the Arab tribes of Arabia and neighbouring areas. Though composed in an artistic variant of ordinary Bedouin speech, historically it is the descendant of the pre-Islamic Classical Arabic poetry of antiquity, and its modern exponents still compose in the traditional genres of boasting, praise, satire, elegy, advice and guidance, love and lyric poetry. Nowadays, there is also a thriving tradition of poetic comment on contemporary social and political issu...
Rise up nimbly and go on your strange journey to the ocean of meanings... In the mid-thirteenth century, in a dusty marketplace in Konya, Turkey, a city where Muslim, Christian, Hindu, and Buddhist travelers mingled, Jelaluddin Rumi, a popular philosopher and scholar, met Shams of Tabriz, a wandering dervish. Their meeting forever altered the course of Rumi's life and influenced the mystical evolution of the planet. The bond they formed was everlasting--a powerful transcendent friendship that...
The Iraqi poet Nazik al-Mala'ika was one of the most important Arab poets of the twentieth century. A pioneer of free verse poetry, over four decades, she transformed the landscape of modern Arabic literature and culture. Revolt Against the Sun presents a selection of Nazik alMala'ika's poetry in English for the first time. Bringing together poems from each of her published collections, it traces al-Mala'ika's transformation from a lyrical Romantic poet in the 1940s to a fervently committed Arab...
This collection of poems begins in Tehran, Iran, and ends in San Antonio, Texas, with plenty of stops along the way to observe people, places, and nature, and to gather stories. Saidi is a great storyteller, and his poems are rich with the lives of people he has met around the globe. Politically liberal, intellectually astute, emotionally powerful, and full of compassion, these are poems that resonate with a wide range of readers.
Distant Melodies. an Anthology of Poems by Shadab Vajdi
by Shadab Vajdi and Shaadaab Vajdai
What is political poetry? How does history become lived experience? What does it mean to bear witness through writing? Noor Hindi’s poems explore colonialism, religion, patriarchy and everything in between with sharp wit and innovative precision. Layered to reflect the intersections of her identity, while constantly interrogating this identity itself, her writing combines lyrical beauty with political urgency. This collection is ultimately a provocation―on trauma, on art, on what it takes to c...
Lighthouse for the Drowning (Lannan Translations Selection)
by Jawdat Fakhreddine
Presented bilingually, this first US publication of Jawdat Fakhreddine one of the major Lebanese names in modern Arabic poetry establishes a revolutionary dialogue between international, modernist values and the Arabic tradition. Fakhreddine's unique voice is a breakthrough for the poetic language of his generation an approach that presents poetry as a beacon, a lighthouse that both opposes and penetrates all forms of darkness. Stars: Stars of oursthat did not shine in the shroud of night,but...
The Divans of the Six Ancient Arabic Poets (Turath: The Arabic and Islamic Literary Tradition, #15)
by Wilhelm Ahlwardt
This collection of the Divans of Ennabiga, Antara, Tharafa, Zuhair, Alqama, and Imruulqais is a rare find. Among the earliest known writers of Arabic poetry, these authors are essential components of Arabic history and literature. This study, long out of print, is the acknowledged starting point for the study of these poets. Their Divans are presented in Arabic, along with a substantial introduction by Ahlwardt, a list of variant readings and corrections, considerations of discrepancies in the m...