The Arabs during a thousand years or more produced one of the richest and most extensive literatures of the world, embracing fine poetry (of the fierce desert life equally with the sophistication of royal courts), belles lettres (learned essays, satires, de arte amoris), religious, mystical and philosophical writings, and huge compendia of history, biography and geography. For sixty years, the best account in English of this vast output has been, by universal consent, R. A. Nicholson's Literary History of the Arabs; its supremacy will long remain unchallenged. That it is a book full of erudition and high critical judgement goes without saying; its author is also a poet-translator of rare excellence.
This book is one of the most authentic book for the study of the history of literature of Arabs. The author's hard work deals in the particular with the study of the literary history of the Arabs- the era of Pagan, Per-Islamic Arabic.
Poetry, manners, religion, Prophet Muhammad's, teachings, Quranic literature, Umayyad literature, Abbasid developed literature, Baghdad as great centre of knowledge & literature, Orthodoxy, Free thinking, Mysticism, Europe under Arabs, Mongol invasion and downfall of the Arabs.
In short the book is the study of the Arabic literature from Pagan Arabia to recent historical times, this volume covers the whole of the Arab world, including the Arab empires in Europe.
Preface Introduction Ch. I Saba and Himyar 1 Ch. II The History and Legends of the Pagan Arabs 30 Ch. III Pre-Islamic Poetry, Manners, and Religion 71 Ch. IV The Prophet and the Koran 141 Ch. V The Orthodox Caliphate and the Umayyad Dynasty 181 Ch. VI The Caliphs of Baghdad 254 Ch. VII Poetry, Literature, and Science in the Abbasid Period 285 Ch. VIII Orthodoxy, Free-Thought, and Mysticism 365 Ch. IX The Arabs in Europe 405 Ch. X From the Mongol Invasion to the Present Day 442 Appendix 471 Bibliography 477 Index 487
Hardback. Dustjacket. Former library book with minimal stamping and markings.
