A critical survey of the development and achievements of Arabic poetry over the last 150 years.

Cover -- modern arabic poetry -- Title -- Copyright -- Dedication -- CONTENTS -- Acknowledgments -- Note on Translation and Transliteration -- Introduction -- CHAPTER 1 The Politics and Poetics of the Modern Arab World -- CHAPTER 2 From Iltizām to Metapoetry: ʻAbd al-Wahhāb al-Bayātī -- CHAPTER 3 From Iltizām to the Arab Uprising: Aḥmad ʻAbd al-Muʻṭī Ḥijāzī -- CHAPTER 4 From Militant Iltizām to Humanist: Maḥmūd Darwīsh -- Conclusion: The Poets and Their Vocation in the Modern World -- Appendix: Interview with Aḥmad ʻAbd al-Muʻṭī Ḥijāzī -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index

An accessible introduction to Arabic literature from the fifth century to the present.

This work deals with "wasf" or description which is one of the salient characteristics of the "qasidah" (classical Arabic poetry) tradition. It examines descriptive passages in a selected group of Arabic "qasidah" from different ages, with the motifs of horses, and bees and honey-gathering.