USD $125.00
Contrariness in Classical Arabic Literature
Beautifying the Ugly and Uglifying the Beautiful by Abū Manṣūr al-Thaʿālibī (d. 429/1038)
Series: - Brill Studies in Middle Eastern Literatures, Volume: 45
Author:
Editor / Translator:
In his Beautifying the Ugly and Uglifying the Beautiful (Taḥsīn al-qabīḥ wa-taqbīḥ al-ḥasan) the prolific anthologist al-Thaʿālibī (d. 429/1038) offers a thematically arranged selection of Arabic poems and prose anecdotes or sayings with contrary or paradoxical purport, such as praise of miserliness, boredom, sickness, and death, or condemnation of generosity, intelligence, youth, and music. The book is both entertaining and informative, giving insight in premodern Arab and Islamic culture. It contains a new edition of the Arabic text and a complete English translation (the first in any language) with extensive annotation, preceded by an introduction with the necessary background of the genre.
Geert Jan van Gelder (Ph.D. Leiden, 1982) retired in 2012 as Laudian Professor of Arabic (University of Oxford). His numerous publications on premodern Classical Arabic Literature include monographs, editions, translations, and many articles.
Arabists and students of Arabic and Islamic cultural history; non-Arabists interested in Middle Eastern literature, comparative literature, mediaeval history, and general cultural history.