Seven Golden Odes of Arabia
Seven Golden Odes of Arabia

Author: Paul Smith

Publisher: CreateSpace

Published: 2014-12-09

Total Pages: 176

ISBN-13: 9781503344488

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SEVEN GOLDEN ODES OF ARABIA The Mu'allaqat Translations, Introduction Paul Smith The Mu'allaqat is the title of a group of seven long Arabic odes or qasidas that have come down from the time before Islam. Each is considered the best work of these pre-Islamic poets. The name means 'The Suspended Qasidas' or 'The Hanging Poems', the traditional explanation being that these poems were hung on or in the Kaaba at Mecca. These famous ancient Arabic qasidas are formed of three parts: they start, with a nostalgic opening in which the poet reflects on what has passed, known as nasib. A common concept is the pursuit of the poet of the caravan of his love; by the time he reaches their campsite they have already moved on. The second section is rahil (travel section) in which the poet contemplates the harshness of nature and life away from the tribe. Finally there is the message of the poem, which can take several forms: praise of the tribe, fakhr; satire about other tribes, hija; or some moral maxims, hikam. Included with each qasida of each poet is a brief biography plus a list of further reading. The correct rhyme-structure has been kept as well as the beauty and meaning of these powerfull poems. CONTENTS: The Introduction... The Mu'allaqat, The Qasida. The Poets... Imra'ul-Qays, Tarafa, Amru, Harith, Antara, Zuhair, Labid. Appendix... Kab's Qasida of the Mantle. Pages... 147. COMMENTS ON PAUL SMITH'S TRANSLATION OF HAFIZ'S 'DIVAN'. "It is not a joke... the English version of ALL the ghazals of Hafiz is a great feat and of paramount importance. I am astonished.." Dr. Mir Mohammad Taghavi (Dr. of Literature) Tehran. "Superb translations. 99% Hafiz 1% Paul Smith." Ali Akbar Shapurzman, translator of works in English into Persian and knower of Hafiz's Divan off by heart. "Smith has probably put together the greatest collection of literary facts and history concerning Hafiz." Daniel Ladinsky (Penguin Books author). Paul Smith is a poet, author and translator of many books of Sufi poets of the Persian, Arabic, Urdu, Turkish, Pashtu and other languages... including Hafiz, Sadi, Nizami, Rumi, 'Attar, Sana'i, Jahan Khatun, Obeyd Zakani, Nesimi, Kabir, Anvari, Ansari, Jami, Khayyam, Rudaki, Yunus Emre, Lalla Ded, Mu'in, Ghalib, Iqbal, Abu Nuwas and many others, as well as poetry, fiction, plays, biographies and 12 screenplays. www.newhumanitybooksbookheaven.com

Routledge Revivals: The Seven Odes (1957)
Routledge Revivals: The Seven Odes (1957)

Author: A. J. Arberry

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2018-10-24

Total Pages: 260

ISBN-13: 1315443996

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These seven poems, translated by A. J. Arberry in 1957, are the most famous survivors of a vast mass of poetry produced in the Arabian Desert in the sixth century. Arberry’s introduction explains to the reader what was known about the poems and how they came to be preserved and distributed over time. The epilogue particularly interrogates the authenticity of the poems and tracks how they have been transmitted over time. This work will be of interest to those studying Persian and Middle-Eastern literature and history.

The Mu'allaqat
The Mu'allaqat

Author: Paul Smith

Publisher: Independently Published

Published: 2020-08-22

Total Pages: 174

ISBN-13:

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THE MU'ALLAQAT: The Seven Golden Odes (Qasidas) of Arabia (Large Print & Large Format Edition) Translation & Introduction Paul Smith. The Mu'allaqat is the title of a group of seven long Arabic odes or qasidas that have come down from the time before Islam. Each is considered the best work of these pre-Islamic poets. The name means 'The Suspended Qasidas' or 'The Hanging Poems', the traditional explanation being that these poems were hung on or in the Kaaba at Mecca. These famous ancient Arabic qasidas are formed of three parts: they start, with a nostalgic opening in which the poet reflects on what has passed, known as nasib. A common concept is the pursuit of the poet of the caravan of his love; by the time he reaches their campsite they have already moved on. The second section is rahil (travel section) in which the poet contemplates the harshness of nature and life away from the tribe. Finally there is the message of the poem, which can take several forms: praise of the tribe, fakhr; satire about other tribes, hija; or some moral maxims, hikam. Included with each qasida of each poet is a brief biography plus a list of further reading. The correct rhyme-structure has been kept as well as the beauty and meaning of these powerful poems. Contents: The Mu'allaqat, The Qasida. The Poets... Imra'ul-Qays, Tarafa, Amru, Harith, Antara, Zuhair, Labid. Appendix... Kab's Qasida of the Mantle. Large Print (16pt) & Large Format (8" x 10") Edition. Pages... 173. Comments on Paul Smith's Translation of Hafiz's 'Divan'. "It is not a joke... the English version of all the ghazals of Hafiz is a great feat and of paramount importance. I am astonished.." Dr. Mir Mohammad Taghavi (Dr. of Literature) Tehran. "Superb translations. 99% Hafiz 1% Paul Smith." Ali Akbar Shapurzman, translator of works in English into Persian and knower of Hafiz's Divan off by heart. "Smith has probably put together the greatest collection of literary facts and history concerning Hafiz." Daniel Ladinsky (Penguin Books author). Paul Smith ( b. 1945) is a poet, author and translator of many books of Sufi poets of the Persian, Arabic, Urdu, Turkish, Pashtu and other languages... including Hafiz, Sadi, Nizami, Rumi, 'Attar, Sana'i, Jahan Khatun, Obeyd Zakani, Nesimi, Kabir, Anvari, Ansari, Jami, Khayyam, Rudaki, Yunus Emre, Lalla Ded, Mu'in, Ghalib, Iqbal, Abu Nuwas and many others, as well as poetry, fiction, plays, biographies and 12 screenplays.

The Map of Love
The Map of Love

Author: Ahdaf Soueif

Publisher: Anchor

Published: 2011-01-26

Total Pages: 563

ISBN-13: 0307783553

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Booker Prize Finalist Here is an extraordinary cross-cultural love story that unfurls across Egypt, England, and the United States over the course of a century. Isabel Parkman, a divorced American journalist, has fallen in love with a gifted and difficult Egyptian-American conductor. Shadowing her romance is the courtship of her great-grandparents Anna and Sharif nearly one hundred years before. In 1900 the recently widows Anna Winterbourne left England for Egypt, an outpost of the Empire roiling with political sentiment. She soon found herself enraptured by the real Egypt and in love with Sharif Pasha al-Baroudi, an Egyptian nationalist. When Isabel, in an attempt to discover the truth behind her heritage, reenacts Anna’s excursion to Egypt, the story of her great-grandparents unravels before her, revealing startling parallels for her own life. Combining the romance and intricate narrative of a nineteenth-century novel with a very modern sense of culture and politics—both sexual and international—Ahdaf Soueif has created a thoroughly seductive and mesmerizing tale.

Marvelous Things Overheard
Marvelous Things Overheard

Author: Ange Mlinko

Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Published: 2014-07-22

Total Pages: 105

ISBN-13: 1466876336

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A vibrant and eclectic collection from a stunningly mature young poet "The world—the time has come to say it, though the news will not be welcome to everyone—has no intention of abandoning enchantment altogether." Roberto Calasso's words in Literature and the Gods remind us that, in an age of reason, of mechanization, of alienation, of rote drudgery, we still seek out the transcendent, the marvelous. Ange Mlinko's luminous fourth collection is both a journey toward and the space of that very enchantment. Marvelous Things Overheard takes its title from a collection of ancient rumors about the lands of the Mediterranean. Mlinko, who lived at the American University of Beirut and traveled to Greece and Cyprus, has penned poems that seesaw between the life lived in those ancient and strife-torn places, and the life imagined through its literature: from The Greek Anthology to the Mu'allaqat. Throughout, Mlinko grapples with the passage of time on two levels: her own aging (alongside the growing up of her children) and the incontrovertible evidence of millennia of human habitation. This is an assured and revealing collection, one that readers will want to seek refuge in again and again.

Blood Feast
Blood Feast

Author: Malika Moustadraf

Publisher: Feminist Press at CUNY

Published: 2022-02-08

Total Pages: 85

ISBN-13: 195217709X

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A cult classic by Morocco’s foremost writer of life on the margins. Malika Moustadraf (1969–2006) is a feminist icon in contemporary Moroccan literature, celebrated for her stark interrogation of gender and sexuality in North Africa. Blood Feast is the complete collection of Moustadraf’s published short fiction: haunting, visceral stories by a master of the genre. A teenage girl suffers through a dystopian rite of passage​,​ a man with kidney disease makes desperate attempts to secure treatment​, and a mother schemes to ensure her daughter passes a virginity test. Delighting in vibrant sensory detail and rich slang, Moustadraf takes an unflinching look at the gendered body, social class, illness, double standards, and desire, as lived by a diverse cast of characters. Blood Feast is a sharp provocation to patriarchal power and a celebration of the life and genius of one of Morocco’s preeminent writers.