A Literary History Of The Arabs

First Published in 2004. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

First published in 2004. This is an edited version of ‘A Literary History of the Arabs’, published in 1907 by the author to include more useful information and accuracies and is meant for students of Arabic

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Excerpt from A Literary History of the Arabs The term 'Literary History' may be interpreted in such different ways that an author who uses it is bound to explain at the outset what particular sense he has attached to it. When Mr. Fisher Unwin asked me to contribute a volume on the Arabs to this Series, I accepted his proposal with alacrity, not only because I welcomed the opportunity of making myself better acquainted with Arabic history and literature, but also and more especially in the hope that I might be able to compile a work which should serve as a general introduction to the subject, and which should neither be too popular for students nor too scientific for ordinary readers. Its precise character was determined partly by my own predilections and partly by the conditions of time and space under which it had to be produced. To write a critical account of Arabic literature was out of the question. Brockelmann's invaluable work, which contains over a thousand closely-printed pages, is confined to biography and bibliography, and does not deal with the historical development of ideas. This, however, seems to me the really vital aspect of literary history. It has been my chief aim to sketch in broad outlines what the Arabs thought, and to indicate as far as possible the influences which moulded their thought. I am well aware that the picture is sadly incomplete, that it is full of gaps and blanks admitting of no disguise or apology; but I hope that, taken as a whole, it is not unlike. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

A riveting, comprehensive history of the Arab peoples and tribes that explores the role of language as a cultural touchstone This kaleidoscopic book covers almost 3,000 years of Arab history and shines a light on the footloose Arab peoples and tribes who conquered lands and disseminated their language and culture over vast distances. Tracing this process to the origins of the Arabic language, rather than the advent of Islam, Tim Mackintosh-Smith begins his narrative more than a thousand years before Muhammad and focuses on how Arabic, both spoken and written, has functioned as a vital source of shared cultural identity over the millennia. Mackintosh-Smith reveals how linguistic developments--from pre-Islamic poetry to the growth of script, Muhammad's use of writing, and the later problems of printing Arabic--have helped and hindered the progress of Arab history, and investigates how, even in today's politically fractured post-Arab Spring environment, Arabic itself is still a source of unity and disunity.

This classic bestseller — the inspiration for the PBS series — is an "illuminating and even inspiring" portrait of medieval Spain that explores the golden age when Muslims, Jews, and Christians lived together in an atmosphere of tolerance (Los Angeles Times). This enthralling history, widely hailed as a revelation of a "lost" golden age, brings to vivid life the rich and thriving culture of medieval Spain, where for more than seven centuries Muslims, Jews, and Christians lived together in an atmosphere of tolerance, and where literature, science, and the arts flourished. "It is no exaggeration to say that what we presumptuously call 'Western' culture is owed in large measure to the Andalusian enlightenment...This book partly restores a world we have lost." —Christopher Hitchens, The Nation