Arabian Romantic: Poems on Bedouin Life and Love
Robert W. Lebling
‘Abdallāh ibn Sbayyil. Trans. Marcel Kurpershoek.
NYU Press, 2020.
Ibn Sbayyil is a key figure in the tradition of Nabati poetry, rooted in classical Arabian culture shared by both Bedouin and the settled tribes of Central Najd, in the heart of today’s Saudi Arabia. A settler himself with close links to Bedouins, Ibn Sbayyil composed poetry at the turn of the 20th century that captured the flavor and emotions of Arabia’s nomadic population. His vibrant writings, capturing his own longing for Bedouin life, are still recited in Saudi Arabia today. As headman of the small Najdi town of Nifi, he encountered and befriended Bedouin tribesmen who spent part of each year in his village and departed with their camels and sheep with the arrival of rains, in search of greener lands. Skillfully translated, these poems are steeped in desert nostalgia. The work includes Ibn Sbayyil’s poetic responses to competing poets of his day as well as a rich selection of explanatory notes by the translator.
You may also be interested in...
Archeologist Breathes New Life Into Recently Abandoned 5,000-Year-Old City
Archeologist Rubina Raja pieces together Palmyra’s life story, from its Bronze Age beginnings to its place as a trading hub for the Roman Empire.
In the Aftermath of Rome's Collapse, These Communities Shaped the Mediterranean
Three regions of the post-Roman Mediterranean, from 400 CE to 1000 CE—the Latin West, Byzantium and the early Islamic world—are the focus of this work.
The Ebb and Flow of History on the Zambezi River
In tracing the past six centuries of history, historian Malyn Hewitt captures the cyclical rise and fall of the river and its people.