Contrariness in Classical Arabic Literature

Download or read book Contrariness in Classical Arabic Literature written by Abū Manṣūr al-Thaʿālibī and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2024-03-28 with total page 237 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In his Beautifying the Ugly and Uglifying the Beautiful (Taḥsīn al-qabīḥ wa-taqbīḥ al-ḥasan) the prolific anthologist al-Thaʿālibī (d. 429/1038) offers a thematically arranged selection of Arabic poems and prose anecdotes or sayings with contrary or paradoxical purport, such as praise of miserliness, boredom, sickness, and death, or condemnation of generosity, intelligence, youth, and music. The book is both entertaining and informative, giving insight in premodern Arab and Islamic culture. It contains a new edition of the Arabic text and a complete English translation (the first in any language) with extensive annotation, preceded by an introduction with the necessary background of the genre.