ARABIC LANGUAGE & LITERATURE
 

Ahiqar, Hakim min al-Sharq al-Adna al-Qadim
[Ahiqar, a Wise Man from the Ancient Near East]

Anis Frayha

A presentation, both in Aramaic and in the original Syriac, of the famous fables of Ahiqar, an Assyrian wise man. The original text is followed by an Arabic translation and a study of the fables, their origins, language, and relationships to stories in the Bible. The author goes on to show similarities between Ahiqar and Loqman, and analyzes the art of fable writing in East and West, as personified by Loqman and Aesop, tracing their origin to Ahiqar the Assyrian.

Arabic, with Aramaic and Syriac, 1962, 202 pages, soft cover, $6.

Al-Kawākeb al-Sā'irah bi-A'yān al-Mi'ah al-'Ashirah
[A Biographical Dictionary of Notable Men and Women in the Moslem World in the Sixteenth Century AD, by Najm al-Dīn al-Ghazzī]

Edited by Jibra'il S. Jabbur

No other people paid as much attention to recording the lives of their famous men as the Arabs. Consequently, they have a vast biographical literature. Perhaps of Persian origin, the genre became a favorite among the Arabs, especially in connection with the ‘Hadith’. It was later expanded to include various types of biographical writing. The present work is the third and last volume of a biographical dictionary of illustrious men in the tenth Moslem century (16th century AD).

Arabic, 1959, 396 pages, soft cover, $2.

From the Vineyards of Lebanon: Poems by Khalil Hawi and Nadeem Naimy

Translated with a preface and introduction by Fuad Said Haddad Translation from one language into another is always a difficult task, particularly with poetry, and the nature of the Arabic language makes such a task even harder. Professor Haddad has achieved this difficult task in translating into English the poems in this book. Khalil Hawi is accepted by critics as one of the leading poets of the Arab world and this translation opens a door on his writing for those who do not read Arabic. The book also aims to provide readers of English with a demonstration of new trends in Lebanese poetry, hence the two poems by Nadeem Naimy, here translated for the first time. The poems are printed with the English translation and Arabic original side by side. English with Arabic, 1991, 163 pages, soft cover, $8.

The Lebanese Prophets of New York

Nadeem Naimy The author, formerly a professor of Arabic at the American University of Beirut, presents in this volume a fresh reappraisal of the works of three prominent Lebanese writers who emigrated to the United States in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Amin Rihani, Gibran Kahlil Gibran and Mikhail Naimy played a prominent role in the Arabic literary renaissance movement. They also helped bridge the gap between East and West and were the patriarchal figures behind the Mahjr school of literature. They wrote in Arabic and later in English, and for the first time, enabled the western reader is able to appreciate Arab culture in his own tongue. Between them, the three ‘prophets’ of New York authored more than sixty books. English, 1985, 111 pages, index, bibliography, hardcover $8.

Studia Arabica et Islamica: Festchrift for Ihsan 'Abbas on his Sixtieth Birthday

Edited by Wadad Al-Qadi

Major academic contributions on the subjects of classical Arabic literature and Arab history were published in honor of the eminent Arab scholar Ihsan 'Abbas on the occasion of his sixtieth birthday. Fifty-six papers by distinguished scholars from many countries make up the volume.

English and Arabic (with German), 1981, 827 pages, hardcover, $50.

See also PHILOSOPHY