Society, Religion, and Poetry in Pre-Islamic Arabia

Society, Religion, and Poetry in Pre-Islamic Arabia PDF Author: Ibrahim A. Mumayiz
Publisher: Garant Publishers
ISBN: 9789044125122
Category : Arabian Peninsula
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
The growing diversity of our society means that we are increasingly confronted with foreign cultures and their art forms. The Western Canon has in recent years lost some of its monopoly in favor of influences from the Middle and Far East. This offers quite a few new perspectives, but for these cultures it is not always self-evident to find their way to a Western audience. The different language, the lack of familiarity with Arabic society, and several other cultural aspects hinder an easy access and interest. This is definitely the case for early-Arabic literature. One of the most important poetic works from pre-Islamic Arabia is The Mu'allaqat or 'The Hanging Poems.' These odes can be considered as the best poetic work in a tradition that spans six centuries (from the first to the sixth century AD). They describe in poetic form the early-Arabic life of the bedouin communities in great detail, and are widely read, praised, and studied in Arabic schools and universities. This book is devoted to making these odes accesible for a Western audience. The first part consists of seven essays that provide a thorough insight of the society in which these odes originated, with sharp critical analyses of the country; its overview of pre-Islamic Arabia, with an emphasis on the influence of Christianity; the Nabataeans, the reign of the fourth century Queen Mavia; and an analysis of the structure of pre-Islamic poetry. The second part consists of a poetic translation of The Mu'allaqat in English. (Series: Arabic Literature Unveiled, Vol. 1) [Subject: Arabic Studies, Sociology, Poetry, History, Literature]

Society, Religion, and Poetry in Pre-Islamic Arabia

Society, Religion, and Poetry in Pre-Islamic Arabia PDF Author: Ibrahim A. Mumayiz
Publisher: Garant Publishers
ISBN: 9789044125122
Category : Arabian Peninsula
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Get Book Here

Book Description
The growing diversity of our society means that we are increasingly confronted with foreign cultures and their art forms. The Western Canon has in recent years lost some of its monopoly in favor of influences from the Middle and Far East. This offers quite a few new perspectives, but for these cultures it is not always self-evident to find their way to a Western audience. The different language, the lack of familiarity with Arabic society, and several other cultural aspects hinder an easy access and interest. This is definitely the case for early-Arabic literature. One of the most important poetic works from pre-Islamic Arabia is The Mu'allaqat or 'The Hanging Poems.' These odes can be considered as the best poetic work in a tradition that spans six centuries (from the first to the sixth century AD). They describe in poetic form the early-Arabic life of the bedouin communities in great detail, and are widely read, praised, and studied in Arabic schools and universities. This book is devoted to making these odes accesible for a Western audience. The first part consists of seven essays that provide a thorough insight of the society in which these odes originated, with sharp critical analyses of the country; its overview of pre-Islamic Arabia, with an emphasis on the influence of Christianity; the Nabataeans, the reign of the fourth century Queen Mavia; and an analysis of the structure of pre-Islamic poetry. The second part consists of a poetic translation of The Mu'allaqat in English. (Series: Arabic Literature Unveiled, Vol. 1) [Subject: Arabic Studies, Sociology, Poetry, History, Literature]

Arabia and the Arabs

Arabia and the Arabs PDF Author: Robert G. Hoyland
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1134646348
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 340

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Book Description
Long before Muhammed preached the religion of Islam, the inhabitants of his native Arabia had played an important role in world history as both merchants and warriors Arabia and the Arabs provides the only up-to-date, one-volume survey of the region and its peoples, from prehistory to the coming of Islam Using a wide range of sources - inscriptions, poetry, histories, and archaeological evidence - Robert Hoyland explores the main cultural areas of Arabia, from ancient Sheba in the south, to the deserts and oases of the north. He then examines the major themes of *the economy *society *religion *art, architecture and artefacts *language and literature *Arabhood and Arabisation The volume is illustrated with more than 50 photographs, drawings and maps.

Arabic Oration: Art and Function

Arabic Oration: Art and Function PDF Author: Tahera Qutbuddin
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004395806
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 659

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Book Description
Winner of the 2021 Sheikh Zayed Book Award (category: Arab Culture in Other Languages) Browse a preview of Arabic Oration: Art and Fuction. In Arabic Oration: Art and Function, a narrative richly infused with illustrative texts and original translations, Tahera Qutbuddin presents a comprehensive theory of this preeminent genre in its foundational oral period, 7th-8th centuries AD. With speeches and sermons attributed to the Prophet Muḥammad, ʿAlī, other political and military leaders, and a number of prominent women, she assesses types of orations and themes, preservation and provenance, structure and style, orator-audience authority dynamics, and, with the shift from an oral to a highly literate culture, oration’s influence on the medieval chancery epistle. Probing the genre’s echoes in the contemporary Muslim world, she offers sensitive tools with which to decode speeches by mosque-imams and political leaders today.

Arabs and Empires Before Islam

Arabs and Empires Before Islam PDF Author: Greg Fisher
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 0199654522
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 609

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Book Description
Arabs and Empires before Islam collates nearly 250 translated extracts from an extensive array of ancient sources which, from a variety of different perspectives, illuminate the history of the Arabs before the emergence of Islam.

Radical Love

Radical Love PDF Author: Omid Safi
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 0300225814
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 335

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Book Description
This stunning collection showcases the love poetry and mystical teachings at the heart of the Islamic tradition in accurate and poetic original translations At a time when the association of Islam with violence dominates headlines, this beautiful collection offers us a chance to see a radically different face of the Islamic tradition. It traces a soaring, poetic, popular tradition that celebrates love for both humanity and the Divine as the ultimate path leading humanity back to God. Safi brings together for the first time the passages of the Qur'an sought by the Muslim sages, the mystical sayings of the Prophet, and the teachings of the path of "Divine love." Accurately and sensitively translated by leading scholar of Islam Omid Safi, the writings of Jalal al‑Din Rumi can now be read alongside passages by Kharaqani, 'Attar, Hafez of Shiraz, Abu Sa'id‑e Abi 'l‑Khayr, and other key Muslim mystics. For the millions of readers whose lives have been touched by Rumi's poetry, here is a chance to see the Arabic and Persian traditions that produced him.

Gale Researcher Guide for: Before Islam: Society and Culture in the Arabian Peninsula before Muhammad

Gale Researcher Guide for: Before Islam: Society and Culture in the Arabian Peninsula before Muhammad PDF Author: Jeanette M. Fregulia
Publisher: Gale, Cengage Learning
ISBN: 1535864990
Category : Study Aids
Languages : en
Pages : 11

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Book Description
Gale Researcher Guide for: Before Islam: Society and Culture in the Arabian Peninsula before Muhammad is selected from Gale's academic platform Gale Researcher. These study guides provide peer-reviewed articles that allow students early success in finding scholarly materials and to gain the confidence and vocabulary needed to pursue deeper research.

Desert Tracings

Desert Tracings PDF Author: Michael A. Sells
Publisher: Wesleyan University Press
ISBN: 9780819511584
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 92

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Book Description
A skillful translation of six classical odes of pre-Islamic Arabia.

The Mute Immortals Speak

The Mute Immortals Speak PDF Author: Suzanne Pinckney Stetkevych
Publisher: Cornell University Press
ISBN: 1501720171
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 355

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Book Description
A body of Bedouin oral poetry which was collected in the second or third Islamic century, the pre-Islamic qasidah, or ode, stands with the Qur'an as a twin foundation of Arabo-Islamic literary culture. Throughout the rich fifteen-hundred-year history of classical Arabic literature, the qasidah served as profane anti-text to the sacred text of the Qur'an. While recognizing the esteem in which Arabs have traditionally held this poetry of the pagan past, modern critics in both East and West have yet to formulate a poetics that would provide the means to analyze and evaluate the qasidah. Suzanne Pinckney Stetkevych here offers the first aesthetics appropriate for this orally composed Arabic verse, an aesthetics that is built on—and tested on—close readings of a number of the poems. Drawing on the insights of contemporary literary theory, anthropology, and the history of religions, Stetkevych maintains that the poetry of the qasidah is ritualized in both form and function. She brings to bear an extensive body of lore, legend, and myth as she interprets individual themes and images with references to rites of passage and rituals of sacrifice. Her English translations of the poems under discussion convey the power and beauty of the originals, as well as a sense of their complex intertextuality and distinctive lexicon. The Mute Immortals Speak will be important for students and scholars in the fields of Middle Eastern literatures, Islamic studies, folklore, oral literature, and literary theory, and by anthropologists, comparatists, historians of religion, and medievalists.

An Introduction to Arab Poeti

An Introduction to Arab Poeti PDF Author: Adonis
Publisher: Saqi
ISBN: 0863567371
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 78

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Book Description
Poetry is the quintessence of Arab culture. In this book, one of the foremost Arab poets reinterprets a rich and ancient heritage. He examines the oral tradition of pre-Islamic Arabian poetry, as well as the relationship between Arabic poetry and the Qur'an, and between poetry and thought. Adonis also assesses the challenges of modernism and the impact of western culture on the Arab poetic tradition. Stimulating in their originality, eloquent in their treatment of a wide range of poetry and criticism, these reflections open up fresh perspectives on one of the world's greatest - and least explored - literatures. 'The most intellectually stimulating of several Arab books of unique literary distinction in fine translations ... Translated with uncommon intelligence ... As important a cultural manifesto as any written today.' Edward Said, Independent on Sunday 'Adonis's only prose work available in English is this book. The loss is ours and it is massive, for Adonis is a writer like Neruda or Marquez.' Geoff Dyer, Independent 'Introduces the reader to a new way of interpreting all poetry, and to many marvellous words that do not have an English equivalent.' Arts Letter

Arabic Literary Salons in the Islamic Middle Ages

Arabic Literary Salons in the Islamic Middle Ages PDF Author: Samer M. Ali
Publisher: University of Notre Dame Pess
ISBN: 0268074976
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 312

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Book Description
Arabic literary salons emerged in ninth-century Iraq and, by the tenth, were flourishing in Baghdad and other urban centers. In an age before broadcast media and classroom education, salons were the primary source of entertainment and escape for middle- and upper-rank members of society, serving also as a space and means for educating the young. Although salons relied on a culture of oral performance from memory, scholars of Arabic literature have focused almost exclusively on the written dimensions of the tradition. That emphasis, argues Samer Ali, has neglected the interplay of oral and written, as well as of religious and secular knowledge in salon society, and the surprising ways in which these seemingly discrete categories blurred in the lived experience of participants. Looking at the period from 500 to 1250, and using methods from European medieval studies, folklore, and cultural anthropology, Ali interprets Arabic manuscripts in order to answer fundamental questions about literary salons as a social institution. He identifies salons not only as sites for socializing and educating, but as loci for performing literature and oral history; for creating and transmitting cultural identity; and for continually reinterpreting the past. A fascinating recovery of a key element of humanistic culture, Ali’s work will encourage a recasting of our understanding of verbal art, cultural memory, and daily life in medieval Arab culture.