Chapters in this book

1. Frontmatter i
2. Contents v
3. Acknowledgements vii
4. Note on Transliterations, Translations and Dates viii
5. Introduction 1
6. 1 Knowledge and Cultural Dialectics 22
7. 2 Functions of Poetry in Medieval Arabic-Islamic Society 55
8. 3 Beginnings 90
9. 4 Fanfare of Controversy: Abū Tammām and al-Mutanabbī 130
10. 5 Against All Odds: The Making of a Tradition 166
11. Conclusion 200
12. APPENDIX I Accounts of Critics in Biographical Dictionaries 212
13. APPENDIX II Attributes of Critics in Biographical Dictionaries 220
14. APPENDIX III al-'Āmirī’s Classification of the Sciences 232
15. APPENDIX IV al-Ghazzālī’s Classification of the Sciences 233
16. APPENDIX V Ikhwān al-Ṣ afā’s Classification of the Sciences 234
17. APPENDIX VI Recognition of Literary Criticism in Non-critical Writings 237
18. Bibliography 243
19. Index 252