Desert Tracings: Six Classic Arabian Odes by 'Alqama, Shánfara, Labíd, 'Antara, Al-A'Sha, and Dhu Al-Rúmma

by Michael A. Sells

Book Overview

A skillful translation of six classical odes of pre-Islamic Arabia.

According to legend, the Bedouin tribes of pre-Islamic Arabia held poetry competitions during annual fairs near Mecca. The wining poems called Mu'allaq t, or Hanging Odes, were embroidered in gold on banners and suspended from the walls of Arabia's most sacred shrine, Ka'ba. Desert Tracings is a translation of six classical sixth to eighth century odes. Arabic codes...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0819511587
• ISBN13: 9780819511584
• Release Date: May 1989
• Publisher: Wesleyan University Press
• Length: 87 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 5.6" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

Excellent translation and editing of Arabic poetry

A lovely book if you want to have some understanding of the context of Classical Arabic of the Koran. Without Sells' notes, some of the trapping of pre-Islamic culture would be lost on the reader, the poems would be opaque. I highly recommend the book, the poems, and Prof. Sells' notes.

Evocative

Beautiful, the most lyric translation of the odes I have encountered