A Note on the Text

Chapters in this book

1. Frontmatter i
2. Letter from the General Editor iii
3. Table of Contents vii
4. Foreword xiii
5. Introduction xx
6. Acknowledgments xlvi
7. A Note on the Text xlviii
8. Maps lviii
9. Map 1: The Tribes of Pre-Islamic Arabia [c. ad 600] lix
10. Map 2: The Topography of the Poetry of ʿAntarah lx
11. Notes to the Introduction lxi
12. Al-Aṣmaʿī’s Redaction
13. 1: Did poetry die? 3
14. 2: Damn the ruins! 17
15. 3: The Battle of ʿUrāʿir 21
16. 4: Your sorry ass 25
17. 5: Raqāshi is gone 29
18. 6: I know Death 33
19. 7: Blade-thin, war-spent 39
20. 8: The crow croaked 47
21. 9: Traced like tattoos 51
22. 10: The eyes of an ʿUsfān gazelle 55
23. 11: Shut up about my horse 59
24. 12: A cavalry charge 63
25. 13: Between Qaww and Qārah 67
26. 14: The hostage you offered up 71
27. 15: I planted my cold arrow 75
28. 16: Primed for battle 79
29. 17: Your last gasp is near! 83
30. 18: Jostled by horses 87
31. 19: I didn’t start this war 91
32. 20: That dung beetle, Jaʿd 95
33. 21: Who’ll side with you? 99
34. 22: Grasping at spears 103
35. 23: A panicked leader 107
36. 24: The antelopes sprinted right and left 113
37. 25: An enemy squadron attacked 119
38. 26: Jirwah is mine 125
39. 27: War ripped out Ghaṭafān’s spine 129
40. Two Qasidas from Ibn Maymūn’s Anthology
41. 28: The East Wind blew 135
42. 29: Between shock and grief 149
43. Poems from al-Baṭalyawsī’s Recension
44. 30: Why are you fat as camels’ humps? 159
45. 31: Spears adrip with gore 163
46. 32: The crow croaked 167
47. 33: Pay for my blood 173
48. 34: My horse Blaze 177
49. 35: My steeds live for War 183
50. 36: Death and Revenge 187
51. 37: Escape if you can 191
52. 38: At the Pass of Woe 195
53. 39: Man up, Ḥuṣayn! 199
54. 40: Death always finds a way 203
55. 41: In the forest of spears 207
56. 42: The Fates claim their due 211
57. 43: The Half-Blood 215
58. Poems from The Epic of ʿAntar
59. 44: Did ʿAblah’s brightness ignite your heart? 221
60. 45: The murky binge of battle 231
61. 46: The fire for you burns in my belly 235
62. 47: A sin ʿAblah can’t forgive 241
63. 48: I was betrayed 247
64. 49: ʿAblah’s wraith 251
65. 50: The birds are jittery 257
66. 51: That coward, Death 263
67. Appendix 1 269
68. Appendix 2 273
69. Appendix 3 283
70. Notes 305
71. Glossary 319
72. List of Place Names in the Poetry of ʿAntarah 331
73. Concordance of Principal Editions 332
74. Bibliography 336
75. Further Reading 341
76. Index 346
77. About the NYU Abu Dhabi Institute 353
78. About the Typefaces 354
79. Titles Published by the Library of Arabic Literature 355
80. About the Editor–Translators 358