Love, Death, Fame: Poetry and Lore from the Emirati Oral Tradition

by al-Mayidi ibn ?ahir

Overview

Poems and tales of a literary forefather of the United Arab Emirates

Love, Death, Fame features the poetry of al-Māyidī ibn Ẓāhir, who has been embraced as the earliest poet in what would later become the United Arab Emirates. Although little is known about his life, he is the subject of a sizeable body of folk legend and is thought to have lived in the seventeenth century, in the area now called the Emirates. The tales included in Love, Death, Fame portray him as a witty, resourceful, scruffy poet, at times combative and at times kindhearted.

His poetry primarily features verses of wisdom and romance, with scenes of clouds and rain, desert migrations, seafaring, and pearl diving. Like Arabian Romantic and Arabian Satire, this collection is a prime example of Nabaṭī poetry, combining vernacular language of the Arabian Peninsula with archaic vocabulary and images dating to Arabic poetry’s very origins. Distinguished by Ibn Ẓāhir’s unique voice, Love, Death, Fame offers a glimpse of what life was like four centuries ago in the region that is now the UAE.

A bilingual Arabic-English edition.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781479806584
Publisher:	New York University Press
Publication date:	05/10/2022
Series:	Library of Arabic Literature , #67
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	4 MB

About the Author

al-Māyidī ibn Ẓāhir (Author)
Al-Māyidī ibn Ẓāhir (b. seventeenth century) is regarded as the earliest “Emirati” poet.

David F. Elmer (Foreword by)
David Elmer is the Eliot Professor of Greek Literature at Harvard Universityand author of The Poetics of Consent: Collective Decision Making and the Iliad.

Marcel Kurpershoek (Translator)
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

Abbreviations x

Introduction xi

Map: Names of Places in the Poetry of Ibn Zahir and the Narratives xxxix

Map: The Gulf Region and Oman in Ibn Zahir's Day xl

Note on the Text xli

Notes to the Introduction li

Poems 1

1 Graybeard's Song 3

2 Lightning's Laughter 13

3 Agony of Love 19

4 Death and Revival 27

5 Wisdom Poem 37

6 Dance of the Zephyr 47

7 Don't Be Hard on Friends 53

8 Rain Poem 59

9 Tears at the Court of Love 69

10 Torn to Shreds by Passion's Agony 77

11 Glittering Mirage Led You Astray 87

12 Fatal Attraction 95

13 I Dared the Devil to Ride His Horse 103

14 She Left Me Baffled 109

15 Muzzleloader's Ramrod 119

16 Intelligent Speech and Borders of the Land 127

17 Daughter's Elegy 139

Narratives 145

18 Gift of Poetry 146

19 Ibn Zahir's Camel 152

20 Fishing and Pearl Diving 160

21 Guests and Riddles 172

22 Daughters of Ibn Zahir 198

23 Search for a Grave 208

Notes 215

Bibliography 286

Further Reading 292

Index of Poems, Editions, and Manuscripts Used for this Edition 294

Index 299

About the NYU Abu Dhabi Institute 317

About the Abu Dhabi Poetry Academy 318

About the Typefaces 319

Titles Published by the Library of Arabic Literature 320

About the Editor-Translator 325