Table of Contents

Preface; Chronology; 1. An essay on precedents and principles; 2. The contexts of the literary tradition; 3. The Qu'ran: sacred text and cultural yardstick; 4. Poetry; 5. belletristic prose and narrative; 6. Drama; 7. The critical tradition; Guide to further reading.

Promotional Information

An accessible introduction to the cultural tradition of literary texts in Arabic from the fifth century AD to the present day.

Reviews

' ... a hallmark in its particular field ... indispensable to anybody concerned with Arabic literature ... The Arabic Literary Heritage can be recommended to a general interest readership as well as to scholars of Arabic literature. The latter will be grateful to find a volume of encyclopaedic breadth, a real work of reference. For the former, it is the best and in fact only introduction to the history of Arabic literature that I could recommend'. Banifal 'Allen's imaginatively organized essays on the Qur'an, belles-lettres, poetry, drama and criticism are full of interest and represent a clean break with the mostly obsolete histories of the subject by Nicholson, Huart and Gibb.' The Times Literary Supplement