Arabic Literature to the End of the Umayyad Period

The History provides an invaluable source of reference of the intellectual, literary and religious heritage of the Arabic-speaking and Islamic world.

A. F. L. Beeston (Edited by), T. M. Johnstone (Edited by), R. B. Serjeant (Edited by), G. R. Smith (Edited by)

9780521240154, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 3 November 1983

568 pages
23.4 x 15.2 x 3.3 cm, 0.96 kg

Originally published in 1983, The Cambridge History of Arabic Literature was the first general survey of the field to have been published in English for over fifty years and the first attempted in such detail in a multi-volume form. The volumes of the History provide an invaluable source of reference and understanding of the intellectual, literary and religious heritage of the Arabic-speaking and Islamic world. This volume begins its coverage with the oral verse of the sixth century AD, and ends with the fall of the Umayyad dynasty two centuries later. Within this period fall major events: the life of the Prophet Muhammad, the founding of the Islamic religion, the great Arab Islamic conquests of territories outside the Arabian Peninsula, and their meeting, as overlords, with the Byzantine and Sasanian world. Contributors to this volume discuss an array of topics including the influences of Greeks, Persians and Syrians on early Arabic literature.

Editorial introduction
Maps
1. Background topics A. F. L. Beeston
2. Pre-Islamic poetry Abdulla el Tayib
3. Early Arabic prose R. B. Serjeant
4. The beginnings of Arabic prose literature: the epistolary genre J. D. Latham
5. The role of parallelism in Arabic prose A. F. L. Beeston
6. The Qur'an - I R. Paret
7. The Qur'an - II A. Jones
8. Qisas elements in the Qur'an H. T. Norris
9. Aspects of the Qur'an today Jacques Jomier
10. Hadith literature - I: the development of the science of Hadith Muhammad Abdul Rauf
11. Hadith literature - II: collection and transmission of Hadith Nabia Abbott
12. Shi'i Hadith E. Kohlberg
13. Narrative elements in the Hadith literature Sahair el Calamawy
14. European criticism of Hadith literature N. J. Coulson
15. The impact of the Qur'an and Hadith on medieval Arabic literature A. M. Zubaidi
16. The Maghazi literature J. M. B. Jones
17. The Sirah literature M. J. Kister
18. The poetry of the Sirah literature James T. Monroe
19. Fables and legends in pre-Islamic and early Islamic times H. T. Norris
20. Umayyad poetry Salma K. Jayyusi
21. Music and verse O. Wright
22. The Greek impact on Arabic literature L. E. Goodman
23. The Persian impact on Arabic literature C. E. Bosworth
24. The Syrian impact on Arabic literature R. Y. Ebied
Appendix J. D. Pearson
Glossary
List of sources
Index.

Subject Areas: Literary studies: classical, early & medieval [DSBB]