Anthology of Arabic Literature, Culture and Thought From Pre-Islamic Times to the Present Bassam K. Frangieh

This book, the first comprehensive reader of Arabic literature from pre-Islamic times to the present, is an essential work for advanced students of the Arabic language. Presenting seventy works by seventy authors, it includes pre-Islamic poetry and prose; selections from the Qur'an; the Prophet Muhammad's last sermon; writings from the "Golden Age of the Arabs" in philosophy, mysticism, prose, and poetry; works from the neoclassical, modernist, and metaphorical schools; literature of the Arabs in Andalus, Spain; and discussions of cultural, literary, critical, and political movements of the present day. Each selection is followed by a vocabulary list, a list of idioms and notes, and a set of questions about the text. The book not only introduces students to the entire sweep of Arabic intellectual, political, and cultural thought but also gives examples of how this thought is expressed, offering important insights into the Arab mind.

Bassam K. Frangieh is professor of Arabic at Claremont-McKenna College.

"With its comprehensive coverage of the intellectual and literary Arab-Islamic heritage, this book will be very useful in advanced Arabic classes."