Classical Arabic Stories

Short fiction was an immensely innovative art in the medieval Arab world, providing the perfect vehicle for transmitting dazzling images of life and experiences as early as pre-Islamic times. These works also speak to the urbanization of the Arab domain after Islam, mirroring the bustling life of the Muslim Arabs and Islamized Persians and reflecting the sure stamp of an urbanity that had settled very staunchly after big conquests. All the noises and voices of the Umayyads and Abbasids are here. One can taste the flavor of Abbasid food, witness the rise of slave girls and singers, and experience the pride of state. Reading these texts today illuminates the wide spectrum of early Arab life and suggests the influences and innovations that flourished so vibrantly in medieval Arab society. The only resource of its kind, Salma Khadra Jayyusi's "Classical Arabic Stories" selects from an impressive corpus, including excerpts from seven seminal works: Ibn Tufail's novel, "Hayy ibn Yaqzan"; "Kalila wa Dimna by Ibn al-Muqaffa"; "The Misers" by al-Jahiz; The Brethren of Purity's "The Protest of Animals Against Man"; "Al-Maqamat" (The Assemblies) by al-Hamadhani and al-Hariri; "Epistle of Forgiveness" by al-Ma'arri; and the epic romance, "Sayf Bin Dhi Yazan." Jayyusi organizes her anthology thematically, beginning with a presentation of pre-Islamic tales, stories of rulers and other notables, and thrilling narratives of danger and warfare. She follows with tales of love, religion, comedy, and the strange and the supernatural. Long assumed to be the lesser achievement when compared to Arabic literature's most celebrated genre-poetry-classical Arabic fiction, under Jayyusi's careful eye, finally receives a proper debut in English, demonstrating its unparalleled contribution to the evolution of medieval literature and its sophisticated representation of Arabic culture and life.

Salma Khadra Jayyusi is the author of the two-volume Trends and Movements in Modern Arabic Poetry and the editor of Modern Arabic Fiction: An Anthology; Modern Arabic Poetry: An Anthology; Anthology of Modern Palestinian Literature; The Legacy of Muslim Spain, and general editor of the award-winning The City in the Islamic World. The winner of the Sultan al-Owais Cultural and Scientific Achievement Prize, the Edward Said Award for Career Excellence, the award of the Olive Branch Organization in Lebanon for "Cultural Accomplishment," and the award of the Ministry of Higher Education in Riyadh for services to Arab civilization, she is the founder and director of PROTA, for the translation of choice selections from Arabic literature classical and modern, and East-West Nexus, dedicated to the study of Arabic civilization and cultural achievements.