Chapters in this book

1. Frontmatter i
2. Contents v
3. Acknowledgements xv
4. Introduction xvi
5. PART I PRE-MODERN TEXTS
6. SECTION I POETRY
7. Mock-heroic
8. 1. The poet and the wolf 3
9. 2. A love and wine song 4
10. 3. Elegy for a drinking companion 5
11. Bedouin chivalry
12. 4. A Bedouin and his guest 7
13. Frivolous love
14. 5. A girl called Hind 9
15. Melancholy
16. 6. A rain cloud 10
17. Heretical verse
18. 7. Faith and unbelief 10
19. Elegies I
20. 8. A poetess mourns her brother 11
21. 9. Elegy for the celebrated vizier Nizam al-Mulk 11
22. 10. Elegy for a friend 11
23. Humour
24. 11. Grey hairs 12
25. Poets and their daughters
26. 12. A poet to his daughter 13
27. 13. A dying poet to his daughter 13
28. Elegies II
29. 14. Elegy for the fall of al-Andalus (Muslim Spain) 14
30. 15. Elegy for the vizier Ibn Baqiyya, killed then crucified in 978 15
31. Elegies III: humorous
32. 16. Elegy for a tomcat 16
33. 17. Elegy for an extracted molar tooth 17
34. Exile
35. 18. A poet dying in exile 18
36. Imagery
37. 19. A woman bathing 19
38. Poetic fragments by various poets
39. 20. On nature and natural objects 20
40. 21. On the joys and agonies of love 25
41. Seduction
42. 22. A poet defends his seduction of a young and innocent girl 28
43. SECTION II PROSE
44. Jahiz
45. 23. On authors and authorship 29
46. 24. Advice to public speakers I 29
47. 25. Advice to public speakers II 30
48. 26. The power of suggestion 30
49. Animal fables
50. 27. The lion, the wolf, the raven, the jackal and the camel 31
51. 28. The flea and the mosquito 32
52. Snappy answers
53. 29. Al-Ajwiba al-muskita 34
54. Heretics
55. 30. On Ibn al-Shalmaghani, his execution and a brief mention of his heretical views 36
56. 31. On Abu Talib al-Makki, the famous mystic 36
57. 32. Rival Qurʾans 36
58. 33. Last will and testament 37
59. Psychology
60. 34. The psychology of old age 38
61. 35. Education of the young (excerpts) 39
62. 36. Firasa (physiognomy) (excerpts) 40
63. Foreign lands
64. 37. England 43
65. 38. The land of the Franks 43
66. 39. Ireland 44
67. 40. A medieval Lilliput 44
68. 41. Emperor Frederick II (d. 1250) tricks his rivals 45
69. 42. Propaganda during the Third Crusade, 1190 46
70. 43. A Byzantine emperor’s finery 46
71. 44. Diplomacy: embassy of Queen Bertha, daughter of Lothar 47
72. Literary anecdotes
73. 45. A lesson in generosity 49
74. 46. A brilliant judge 50
75. 47. Poetic justice: revenge 51
76. 48. A clown at a caliph’s court 52
77. 49. A classic children’s story: Tanburi’s shoe 53
78. 50. Three real-life stories on the theme of ‘Ease following hardship’ 55
79. 51. Pre-Islamic Arabian lore 59
80. 52. What kings must avoid 60
81. Argument
82. 53. Theology as defined by a philosopher (excerpts) 61
83. 54. On marvels and oddities of nature (excerpts) 62
84. 55. Can a woman be a prophet? 63
85. 56. Paradise is a bore 64
86. 57. What is laughter? 65
87. 58. A division of existents 65
88. 59. A humorous exchange on the subject of miserliness 65
89. 60. An argument over date wine 66
90. 61. The symptoms of love 67
91. Sexuality
92. 62. Sexual manners 69
93. Reflections on history
94. 63. Civilisations and religious beliefs 70
95. 64. Were the ancients taller and longer lived than us? 72
96. 65. Dismissing a vizier 72
97. 66. Biographers 73
98. 67. Dynastic transitions 73
99. 68. The Mongol invasions 74
100. 69. The caliph ʿUthman and the First Civil War in Islamic history 75
101. 70. Arab history comes full circle 76
102. 71. Causes of the decline of states 77
103. 72. Military feudalism in Andalusia 77
104. 73. Religions and policies of ancient nations 78
105. 74. Are the conquests of Alexander the Great credible as reported? 78
106. History: direct witnesses
107. 75. The death of Saladin, 1193 (excerpts) 80
108. 76. Ibn Khaldun and Tamerlane: the great world historian meets the great world conqueror, 1401 (excerpts) 81
109. Society
110. 77. Arts and crafts in cities (excerpts) 84
111. Sufism (Islamic mysticism)
112. 78. Sufi sayings and stories 86
113. 79. Licit and illicit as colours: a Sufi view 88
114. 80. Sufi solitude (excerpts) 88
115. 81. How Satan enters the human heart (excerpts) 89
116. Proverbs and aphorisms
117. 82. Proverbs popular among the common people of Baghdad in the tenth century 91
118. Literary judgements
119. 83. The celebrated poet al-Farazdaq (d. 728) to a man who showed him his inferior verse 93
120. 84. The famous critic al-Asmaʿi (d. 828) on poetry 93
121. 85. On verse and prose 93
122. 86. The introduction to a famous literary anthology 94
123. 87. The famous poet Abu Tammam on his verse 94
124. 88. When can a simile be considered truly remarkable? [excerpts] 95
125. Reflections on the state
126. 89. The democratic city-state 96
127. 90. Inaugural address by the Umayyad caliph Yazid III, a ‘democratic’ caliph 97
128. Polemic
129. 91. Christian Arabic polemics against Islam 98
130. 92. Debates with Jews and Christians 99
131. Jesus
132. 93. Passages on Jesus in the Qurʾan Commentary (Tafsir) of Tabari 101
133. Wisdom literature
134. 94. A famous scholar describes how he spends his days 104
135. 95. Sayings of the Prophet Muhammad 104
136. 96. Sayings of ʿAli ibn Abi Talib 105
137. 97. Sundry wisdom sayings 106
138. PART II MODERN TEXTS
139. SECTION I POETRY
140. Political protest 111
141. 98. Three popular political songs 111
142. 99. Two poems 113
143. Heretics
144. 100. A poet’s heretical credo 116
145. Jesus
146. 101. Christ after the Crucifixion 117
147. Elegies
148. 102. Elegy for a woman (Scenes from a Baghdad alley) 120
149. 103. It’s time this heart withdrew 120
150. 104. To devotees of bullfighting 122
151. SECTION II PROSE
152. Popular historiography
153. 105. A Damascene barber records the life around him 123
154. 106. A child’s secret 125
155. 107. Three short stories by Zakariyya Tamir 128
156. Feminism
157. 108. A lecture given in Cairo in 1914 (excerpts) 131
158. 109. Two autobiographical accounts 132
159. Personal experience
160. 110. An Egyptian Muslim cleric defrocks (circa 1927) 134
161. 111. An encounter with George Bernard Shaw (circa 1910) 135
162. Humour
163. 112. The fat person 136
164. Jesus
165. 113. Christ: a modern Muslim view (excerpts) 138
166. Personal experiences of war
167. 114. Scenes from the First World War (Palestine) 139
168. 115. Scenes from the First World War (Lebanon) 139
169. 116. The Versailles Peace Conference (1919): an Arab perspective 140
170. 117. Two encounters with Anatole France (1844–1924) 141
171. Heretics
172. 118. Fanaticism 143
173. Foreign lands
174. 119. England in the 1840s 144
175. Political writings: editorials
176. 120. Who owns the ‘weapon’ of democracy? 150
177. 121. Hatred of America 151
178. 122. Modern Syria’s literary and national renaissance (excerpts) 153
179. 123. A Marxist analysis of the term ‘civilisation’ (excerpts) 154
180. Muslim law
181. 124. A modern Muslim jurist on punishments in Muslim sacred law (excerpts) 156
182. Aphorisms for our times
183. 125. Aphorisms for our times 158
184. Sources 160
185. Index of Authors 165