A Demon Spirit
Arabic Hunting Poems

Abū Nuwās (Author), James E. Montgomery (Edited and translated by)

9781479834129

Hardback, published 19 November 2024

472 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 3.5 cm, 0.953 kg

Verses on hunter and quarry from a giant of Arabic poetry
Arguably the greatest poet of the Arabic language, Abū Nuwās was renowned for his innovations in poetic genre and style and was a larger-than-life figure even among his contemporaries in Abbasid Baghdad. In A Demon Spirit, acclaimed translator and scholar James E. Montgomery renders this literary giant's hunting poetry, or ṭardiyyāt, translated for the first time in vivid English.
Abū Nuwās's poems radiate brilliance, ingenuity, and lyrical attentiveness to both nature and body. These hunting poems convey the crackling energy of ruthless predators and wily prey, the worryingly uncertain outcome of perilous pursuits, and the mythic perfection of warriors both human and animal—all the while overturning genre structures and power dynamics with unforgettable imagery expressed in smooth, natural language.
A bilingual Arabic-English edition.