Arabian Romantic: Poems on Bedouin Life and Love
Love poems from late nineteenth-century Arabia

Arabian Romantic
captures what it was like to live in central Arabia before the imposition of austere norms by the Wahhabi authorities in the early twentieth century: tales of robbery and hot pursuit; perilous desert crossings; scenes of exhaustion and chaos when water is raised from deep wells under harsh conditions; the distress of wounded and worn-out animals on the brink of perdition; once proud warriors who are at the mercy of their enemy on the field of battle. Such images lend poignancy to the suffering of the poet’s love-stricken heart, while also painting a vivid portrait of typical Bedouin life.

Ibn Sbayyil (ca. 1853–1933), a town dweller from the Najd region of the Arabian Peninsula, was a key figure in the Nabati poetic tradition. His poetry, which is still recited today, broke with the artifice of the preceding generation by combining inherited idiom and original touches reflecting his environment. Translated into English for the first time by Marcel Kurpershoek, Arabian Romantic will delight readers with a poetry that is direct, fluent, and expressive, and that has entertained Arabic speakers for over a century.

A bilingual Arabic-English edition.

"1131657881"
Arabian Romantic: Poems on Bedouin Life and Love
Love poems from late nineteenth-century Arabia

Arabian Romantic
captures what it was like to live in central Arabia before the imposition of austere norms by the Wahhabi authorities in the early twentieth century: tales of robbery and hot pursuit; perilous desert crossings; scenes of exhaustion and chaos when water is raised from deep wells under harsh conditions; the distress of wounded and worn-out animals on the brink of perdition; once proud warriors who are at the mercy of their enemy on the field of battle. Such images lend poignancy to the suffering of the poet’s love-stricken heart, while also painting a vivid portrait of typical Bedouin life.

Ibn Sbayyil (ca. 1853–1933), a town dweller from the Najd region of the Arabian Peninsula, was a key figure in the Nabati poetic tradition. His poetry, which is still recited today, broke with the artifice of the preceding generation by combining inherited idiom and original touches reflecting his environment. Translated into English for the first time by Marcel Kurpershoek, Arabian Romantic will delight readers with a poetry that is direct, fluent, and expressive, and that has entertained Arabic speakers for over a century.

A bilingual Arabic-English edition.

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Arabian Romantic: Poems on Bedouin Life and Love

Arabian Romantic: Poems on Bedouin Life and Love

by ?Abdallah ibn Sbayyil
Arabian Romantic: Poems on Bedouin Life and Love

Arabian Romantic: Poems on Bedouin Life and Love

by ?Abdallah ibn Sbayyil

Hardcover

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Overview

Love poems from late nineteenth-century Arabia

Arabian Romantic
captures what it was like to live in central Arabia before the imposition of austere norms by the Wahhabi authorities in the early twentieth century: tales of robbery and hot pursuit; perilous desert crossings; scenes of exhaustion and chaos when water is raised from deep wells under harsh conditions; the distress of wounded and worn-out animals on the brink of perdition; once proud warriors who are at the mercy of their enemy on the field of battle. Such images lend poignancy to the suffering of the poet’s love-stricken heart, while also painting a vivid portrait of typical Bedouin life.

Ibn Sbayyil (ca. 1853–1933), a town dweller from the Najd region of the Arabian Peninsula, was a key figure in the Nabati poetic tradition. His poetry, which is still recited today, broke with the artifice of the preceding generation by combining inherited idiom and original touches reflecting his environment. Translated into English for the first time by Marcel Kurpershoek, Arabian Romantic will delight readers with a poetry that is direct, fluent, and expressive, and that has entertained Arabic speakers for over a century.

A bilingual Arabic-English edition.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781479837663
Publisher: New York University Press
Publication date: 10/09/2018
Series: Library of Arabic Literature , #33
Pages: 256
Product dimensions: 6.30(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.50(d)

About the Author

ʿAbdallāh ibn Sbayyil (Author)
ʿAbdallāh ibn Sbayyil (d. 1352/1933) was a poet from the High Najd region in Central Arabia, in what is now Saudi Arabia.

Marcel Kurpershoek (Edited and Translated by)
Marcel Kurpershoek is a specialist in the oral traditions and poetry of Arabia. He is the author of the five-volume Oral Poetry and Narratives from Central Arabia, as well as several books on Middle Eastern history and culture. He served as Netherlands ambassador to Pakistan, Afghanistan, Turkey, and Poland, and as special envoy to Syria until 2015.

Table of Contents

Letter from the General Editor iii

Introduction xi

Map: Northern Central Arabia xxxiii

A Note on the Text xxxiv

Notes to the Introduction xxxvii

Arabian Romantic 1

1 God, You saved Job from his predicament 2

2 Why rejoice at their summering near our wells? 4

3 My eyes, where are the loved ones you hold so dear? 8

4 Zed, first you smiled, now you turn away from me 12

5 Come, messenger, fetch your mount 14

6 Moralizers! Do not put my heart to the test! 22

7 Yesterday I was in throes of tears and sobs 24

8 Darling, if I come, mind the enemy 28

9 Lord, people bow in worship to win Your favor 32

10 I beseech You, God, and You alone 36

11 The things of this world can't be gotten by mere tricks 40

12 I supplicate You to smooth my path, God 44

13 I can't blame a soul who abstains from food 46

14.1 Rider who sets out with nine hundred mounts (Fayhan ibn Ziriban) 52

14.2 Rider setting out on a Say'ar camel mount 54

15 If you drink to lift your spirits, connoisseur 62

16.1 Rider of camels at breakneck speed (Fayhan ibn Ziriban) 64

16.2 When clouds roll in, the rain starts with a drizzle 64

17.1 May God whiten the face of Tami Ibn Gidran (Mas'ud Al MasTid) 68

17.2 Riders of smooth, fast camels 68

18 Almighty God! My heart is pulled from its roots 72

19 Separation tore us apart and left me wistful with desire 76

20 God help me with this flood of tears 80

21 Servant of God, weigh your thoughts with care 82

22 My heart strains like a small herd of camels 86

23 First, the name of God in all of the worlds affairs 90

24 Dh'ar, in the full year that has passed today 98

25 I sing these verses, warbling on a high dune 102

26 Poor heart abandoned by its wits 104

27.1 Pity eyelids that do not close at night (Ibn Ziriban) 108

27.2 Camel rider with ten mounts chosen for speed 112

28 A sudden shock upset me, slashed my insides 118

29 My heart is being bent like a bow by a craftsman 122

30 Hey Sin'us, what is this leisurely pace! 126

31 Leave off, you players of love's game, leave off! 128

32 May it not rain on late-summer nights 130

33 My heart is wracked like the hearts of rustlers 134

34 My heart strains like camels driven hard by rustlers 138

35 Why, my eye, have you tortured me with love? 140

36 You are privy, God, to the deepest secrets 142

37 I climbed to the lookout, a peak marked by cairns 146

38 Blessed is the blasé heart-one that lacks for nothing 150

39 I groan like a warrior felled by a blade 154

40 As the camel train disappeared over the spur of Abanat 158

41 Hey what's-your-name, give me the stuff that revives me 162

42.1 I moan like a man whose leg is tied with Mishanit straps (Mutawwa' Nifi) 164

42.2 The Mutawwa' is all fakery and tawdry nonsense 164

42.3 I compose my verses to rhyme in ta' (Mutawwa' Nifi) 166

42.4 Mutawwa', may your deepest secret be exposed 166

42.5 What now, little fat-assed 'Abdallah (Mutawwa' Nifi) 166

42.6 Dghelib offered a price for Mutawwa's mortar (Mutawwa' Nifi) 168

42.7 Riders on camels, gray from grueling marches 168

42.8 When my mood is blue I call for Nurah (Mutawwa' Nifi) 168

42.9 Mutawwa'! What's all this sound and fury? 170

42.10 Hey crowing cock! You're all bluff and bluster (Mutawwa' Nifi) 170

42.11 I swear to God, we owe it to the door (Mutawwa' Nifi) 170

42.12 Too late! Why did one of us not get up 170

42.13 What a wonderful rain cloud, at the Lord's command (Mutawwa' Nifi) 170

42.14 Those flashes of lightning have set the sky ablaze 172

43.1 Hey, Ibn Sbayyil, things are out of kilter (Smer of the 'Utaybah tribe) 174

43.2 Smer, I will provide no comfort for your ranting 174

44 What joy, this message that quickened my eye (Mini' al-Gi'ud al-Sani') 176

45.1 May illness not touch you, full-bosomed beauty (Rbayyi' al-'Abd) 178

45.2 Why does this dumb blacksmith, out of his depth 178

46.1 Pay the protection money, bleary-eyed villager (Ibn Tha'li) 180

46.2 I'll chuck you a bone, you mangy mutt 180

Notes 183

Glossary 257

Bibliography 269

Index of Poems, Editions, and Manuscripts Used for this Edition 276

Index 285

About the NYU Abu Dhabi Institute 313

About the Typefaces 314

Titles Published by the Library of Arabic Literature 315

About the Editor-Translator 318

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