Classical Arabic Stories: An Anthology

425 Pages·2010·2.96 MB·English

Classical Arabic Stories
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Classical Arabic Stories
an anthology
Edited and with an introduction
by Salma Khadra Jayyusi
columbia university press
new york
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Columbia University Press wishes to express its appreciation for assistance
given by The Pushkin Fund toward the cost of publishing this book.
Salma Khadra Jayyusi would like to extend her thanks to Dr. Ahmad al-Uthaim
for his kind support toward the preparation of this anthology.
Columbia University Press
Publishers Since 1893
New York Chichester, West Sussex
Copyright © 2010 Columbia University Press
All rights reserved
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Classical Arabic stories : an anthology / edited by Salma Khadra Jayyusi.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Translated from the Arabic.
ISBN 978-0-231-14922-8 (cloth : acid-free paper) — ISBN 978-0-231-52027-0
(electronic)
1. Arabic literature—Translations into English. I. Jayyusi, Salma Khadra. II. Title.
PJ7694.E1C56 2010
892.7’08—dc22
2009049504
Columbia University Press books are printed on permanent and durable acid-
free paper.
This book was printed on paper with recycled content.
Printed in the United States of America
c 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
References to Internet Web sites (URLs) were accurate at the time of writing.
Neither the author nor Columbia University Press is responsible for URLs that
may have expired or changed since the manuscript was prepared.
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To my father, Subhi al-Khadra, my first mentor and model, who, with keen
insight and a deep sense of duty, taught me from childhood how to love and
revere a heritage of great value, and how to inhabit two ages simultane-
ously—our brilliant classical age and our beleaguered modern one—and to
serve them both.
To him this book, that embodies his vision, with love and lasting gratitude.
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Contents
Preface and Acknowledgments xi
Introduction 1
I. Pre-Islamic Tales 37
1. The Sons of Nizar 39
2. The Priestess of the Banu Saʿd 42
3. Faithfulness and Sense of Honor 45
4. Al-Nuʿman’s Outfit 48
5. A Lowly Man Gains a Wife 51
6. A Charitable Gift 53
7. A Cunning Message 54
8. A Noble Wife 55
9. The Exile of al-Harith ibn Midad 56
10. The Story of the Cave Where Shaddad ibn ʿAad Was: How the
Adventurers Entered and What Happened to Them There 63
11. Luqman 67
II. Tales of Rulers and Other Notable Persons 71
12. ʿAmara the Faqih and ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Marwan 73
13. The Justice of ʿAdud al-Dawla 75
14. The Piety of ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAziz 77
15. A Further Story of ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAziz 79
16. The Chief of Police and Caliph al-Hadi 81
17. At Khosrow’s Court 83
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viii O contents
18. An Arab at Khosrow’s Court 85
19. I Take Refuge in Your Justice, Prince of the Faithful 86
20. Tricked She Was 92
21. Um Asya the Midwife and the Palace of Khumarawayh 94
22. Yazid and Habbaba 97
23. A Ruse of Muʿawiya 103
24. Caliph ʿUmar and the Soldier’s Wife 109
25. Al-Akhtal Imprisoned in a Church 111
26. A Miserly Governor 113
27. All Lies 114
28. Two Great Musicians 116
29. An Attendant of al-Hallaj Fasts for Fifteen Days 119
30. A Vizier Removes a Dessert Stain with Ink 121
31. How a Baghdadi Chief of Police Questioned Suspects 122
32. God Alone Be Thanked 127
33. Al-Hajjaj Orders the Torture of Azadmard 129
34. Iyas as Judge 131
35. The Wisdom of Judge Iyas 132
36. Why a Judge Pardoned a Fraudster 134
III. Tales of Danger and Warfare 137
37. Maʿn ibn Zaʾida and the Black Man 139
38. Al-Mansour’s Pride 141
39. With the Byzantines 143
40. Muslims at the Court of China 146
41. Greed and Treason 149
42. Consequences of Oppression 155
43. Avoiding a Conflict 157
44. The Byzantine Rulers and the Muslim Prisoners 158
45. From The Lion and the Diver 162
IV. Tales of Religion 165
46. The Tale of Kaʿb ibn Malek 167
47. The Tale of Jurayj the Worshipper: Showing How Attending to
Parents Has Priority Over Prayer 173
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contents O i
48. The Tale of the Crevice People, and of the Magician, the Monk, and
the Young Man 176
49. The Tale of the Leper, the Bald Man, and the Blind Man 179
50. Virtue and Divine Reward 182
51. A Vision of the Next World 184
V. Comic Tales: Tales of Juha 189
52. Juha as a Vehicle for Satire 191
53. The Comic Wit of Juha 194
54. Juha the Fool 200
55. The Logic of Juha 203
56. Juha the Judge 205
Other Comic Tales 207
57. Abu ʾl-Qasim’s Slippers 209
58. The Party Crashers 212
59. Me Too? 214
60. A Quick-Witted Prisoner 216
61. Al-Hajjaj and al-Muttalib 218
62. A Cunning Marriage Broker 219
63. Forgery on a Shaky Boat 220
64. A Tempting Wager 221
VI. Tales of the Strange or Supernatural 223
65. The Strangest Story 225
66. I Shall Never Eat Elephant Flesh 227
67. A Dream Come True 230
68. The Body Snatcher 233
69. The Old Tailor and His Untimely Call to Prayer 239
70. Crime and Punishment 244
71. An Unlucky Encounter 248
72. The Man and the Lark 251
73. Two Surrealist Stories from the Desert 252
74. The Story of Tamim al-Dari 253
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