THE LIFE AND TIMES
OF ABŪ TAMMĀM
LIBRARY OF ARABIC LITERATURE
EDITORIAL BOARD
GENERAL EDITOR
Philip F. Kennedy, New York University
EXECUTIVE EDITORS
James E. Montgomery, University of Cambridge
Shawkat M. Toorawa, Yale University
EDITORS
Sean Anthony, The Ohio State University
Julia Bray, University of Oxford
Michael Cooperson, University of California, Los Angeles
Joseph E. Lowry, University of Pennsylvania
Maurice Pomerantz, New York University Abu Dhabi
Tahera Qutbuddin, University of Chicago
Devin J. Stewart, Emory University
EDITORIAL DIRECTOR
Chip Rossetti
DIGITAL PRODUCTION MANAGER
Stuart Brown
ASSISTANT EDITOR
Lucie M. Taylor
FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM COORDINATOR
Amani Al-Zoubi
LETTER FROM THE GENERAL EDITOR
The Library of Arabic Literature makes available Arabic editions and English translations of significant works of Arabic literature, with an emphasis on the seventh to nineteenth centuries. The Library of Arabic Literature thus includes texts from the pre-Islamic era to the cusp of the modern period, and encompasses a wide range of genres, including poetry, poetics, fiction, religion, philosophy, law, science, travel writing, history, and historiography.
Books in the series are edited and translated by internationally recognized scholars. They are published as hardcovers in parallel-text format with Arabic and English on facing pages, as English-only paperbacks, and as downloadable Arabic editions. For some texts, the series also publishes separate scholarly editions with full critical apparatus.
The Library encourages scholars to produce authoritative Arabic editions, accompanied by modern, lucid English translations, with the ultimate goal of introducing Arabic’s rich literary heritage to a general audience of readers as well as to scholars and students.
The Library of Arabic Literature is supported by a grant from the New York University Abu Dhabi Institute and is published by NYU Press.
Philip F. Kennedy
General Editor, Library of Arabic Literature
ABOUT THIS PAPERBACK
This paperback edition differs in a few respects from its dual-language hardcover predecessor. Because of the compact trim size the pagination has changed, but paragraph numbering has been retained to facilitate cross-referencing with the hardcover. Material that referred to the Arabic edition has been updated to reflect the English-only format, and other material has been corrected and updated where appropriate. For information about the Arabic edition on which this English translation is based and about how the LAL Arabic text was established, readers are referred to the hardcover.
THE LIFE AND TIMES OF ABŪ TAMMĀM
BY
ABŪ BAKR MUḤAMMAD IBN YAḤYĀ L-ṢŪLĪ
PRECEDED BY
Al-Ṣūlī’s Epistle to
Abū l-Layth Muzāḥim ibn Fātik
TRANSLATED BY
BEATRICE GRUENDLER
FOREWORD BY
TERENCE CAVE
VOLUME EDITORS
JAMES E. MONTGOMERY
TAHERA QUTBUDDIN
| NEW YORK UNIVERSITY PRESSNew York |
NEW YORK UNIVERSITY PRESS
New York
Copyright © 2018 by New York University
All rights reserved
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Suli, Muhammad ibn Yahya, –approximately 947 author. | Gruendler, Beatrice, 1964– translator. | Montgomery, James E. (James Edward), 1962– editor. | Qutbuddin, Tahera editor. | Suli, Muhammad ibn Yahya, –approximately 947. Risalat Abi Bakr al-Suli ilba Muzahim ibn Fatik. English.
Title: The life and times of Abu Tammam : preceded by Al-Suli's Epistle to Abu l-Layth Muzaim ibn Fatik / by Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Yahya al-Suli ; translated by Beatrice Gruendler ; volume editors, James E. Montgomery, Tahera Qutbuddin.
Other titles: Akhbar Abi Tammam. English
Description: New York : New York University Press, 2018. | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2018012793 (print) | LCCN 2018018833 (ebook) | ISBN 9781479874699 (e-book) | ISBN 9781479897933 (e-book) | ISBN 9781479868025 (pbk. : alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Abu Tammam Habib ibn Aws al-Ta.i, active 808-842. | Poets, Arab—750-1258—Biography.
Classification: LCC PJ7701.6.T35 (ebook) | LCC PJ7701.6.T35 Z813 2018 (print) | DCC 892.7/134 [B] —dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018012793
New York University Press books are printed on acid-free paper, and their binding materials are chosen for strength and durability.
Series design and composition by Nicole Hayward
Typeset in Adobe Text
Manufactured in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
To my parentsWilfried and Lilo Gründlerwith love
CONTENTS
Letter from the General Editor