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Elias John Wilkinson Gibb (1857-1901) was a Scottish Orientalist who was born and educated in Glasgow. After studying Arabic and Persian, he developed an interest in Turkish language and literature, especially poetry, and in 1882 he published Ottoman Poems Translated into English Verse in the Original Forms. This was a forerunner to the six-volume classic presented here, A History of Ottoman Poetry, published in London between 1900 and 1909. Gibb died in London of scarlet fever at the age of 44, and only the first volume of his masterpiece appeared before his death. His family entrusted to his friend Edward Granville Browne (1862-1926), a distinguished Orientalist in his own right who had made a special study of Babism, the task of posthumously publishing the five remaining volumes. Browne characterized the work as "one of the most important, if not the most important, critical studies of any Muhammadan literature produced in Europe during the last half-century." The first volume contains a long and compelling introduction by Gibb on the entire subject, in which he argues that Ottoman poetry often rose and fell in tandem with Ottoman power. Gibb divides Ottoman poetry into two great schools, the Old or Asiatic (circa 1300-1859), which generally was characterized by its deference to Persian influences; and the New or European (from 1859 onward), which was influenced by French and other Western poetry. According to Gibb, the Old or Asiatic School went through a four periods: a formative period (1300-1450); a period (1450-1600) in which works were modeled after the Persian poet Jami; a period (1600-1700) dominated by the influences of Persian poets Urfi Shirazi and Saʼib Tabrizi; and a period of uncertainty that lasted until 1859. The European school that followed was inaugurated by Ibrahim Sinasi (1826-71), who in 1859 produced a small but momentous collection of French poetry translated into Turkish verse. The influence of the collection was far-reaching and eventually changed the course of Ottoman poetry. Gibb is known for his masterful translations that brilliantly render into English both the meaning and the form of Ottoman, Persian, and Arabic poetry. For almost a century after his death, a family trust financed the Gibb Memorial Series of editions and translations into English of Arabic, Persian, and Turkish texts.

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1902 edition. Excerpt: ...breaks away from his beloved Leyla and rushes back into the wilderness. Mejnun's madness being now shown to be beyond cure, Leyla's heart is broken; and in the autumn she dies, watched over by her now sorrowing mother. Zeyd proceeds to the desert, where he tells the sad news to Mejnun, and no sooner does the poor crazed lover realize the truth than he trembles all over and falls down as though smitten by a thunderbolt. Then he rises and cries upon death to take him and calls upon his soul to leave his body. Following Zeyd, he hastens to Leyla's tomb, and, when he sees this yet afar off, he falls upon his face and dragging himself along to it, clasps the stone as though it were his beloved herself. Here he wails and laments, addressing Leyla in the most piteous and tender terms: and then he turns back again to his mountains. But he can no longer remain quietly in the desert; he is ever coming and going between his retreat and Leyla's tomb. His little remaining strength gradually ebbs; and one day of storm he seeks his beloved's grave, and throwing himself upon it, with eyes closed and uplifted hands, he cries upon God to deliver him from his anguish and to re-unite him with his love. And that same moment he dies, all alone, with no one near save one or two of his faithful companions the wild beasts. For a whole year he lies there, guarded by his beasts who will let none approach. But at length the beasts go back into their deserts, and the people gather up the bones of Mejniin and bury them in the grave by those of Leyla. Some time after this, Zeyd, who had always been a faithful friend to the lovers, sees himself in a vision transported to Paradise, and there among the blessed he observes a youth and maiden seated together in loving...

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work.This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book.

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