The Mantle Odes

[T]he reader can learn much from Stetkevych's study . . . . * Speculum * Stetkevych provides an original translation and careful analysis of three landmark poems in Arabic Islamic literature . . . Recommended. * Choice *

Suzanne Pinckney Stetkevych is Professor of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures and Adjunct Professor of Comparative Literature at Indiana University, Bloomington. She is author of The Poetics of Islamic Legitimacy: Myth, Gender, and Ceremony in the Classical Arabic Ode (IUP, 2002).

Preface Acknowledgments Note on Translation and Transliteration List of Abbreviations 1. Ka'b ibn Zuhayr and the Mantle of the Prophet Introduction The Pre-Islamic Prototype 1. 'Alqamah's A Heart Turbulent with Passion: The Poem as Ransom Payment 2. Al-Nabighah's O Abode of Mayyah: Transgression and Redemption 3. Zuhayr ibn Abi Sulm's The Tribe Set Out: The Tacit Panegyric Pact The Pre-Islamic as Proto-Islamic Ka'b ibn Zuhayr's Su'ad Has Departed The Conversion Narrative The Conversion Ode Part 1: Lyric-Elegiac Prelude (Nasib) Part 2: Desert Journey (Rahil) Part 3: Praise (Madih) Mythogenesis: The Donation of the Mantle Conclusion Hassan ibn Thabit's At Taybah Lies a Trace 2. Al-Busiri and the Dream of the Mantle Introduction Poetic Genre Poetic Style: Classical and Post-Classical Badi' The Poet and His Times The Miracle and the Poem 'Umar ibn al-Farid's Was That Layl's Fire The Mantle Ode The Structure of al-Busiri's Burdah The Beginning of the Supplicatory Pattern: Parts 1-3 Part 1: Prophetic Nasib Part 2: Warning against the Desires of the Self Part 3: Praise of the Noble Messenger The Sirah-Derived Passages: Parts 4-8 Poeticization and Polemicization Part 4: The Birth of the Prophet Part 5: The Miracles of the Prophet Part 6: The Noble Qur'an Part 7: The Night Journey and Ascension Part 8: The Messenger's Jihad and Campaigns Completion of the Supplicatory Pattern: Parts 9-10 Part 9: Supplication and Plea for Intercession Part 10: Fervent Prayer and Petition Conclusion 3. Ahmad Shawqi and the Reweaving of the Mantle Introduction Ahmad Shawqi and the Nahdah Poetic Precedents Authorizing the Text: The Khedive, the Shaykh, and the Adib The Colonial Double Bind Shawqi's Nahj al-Burdah: The Thematic Structure Nahj al-Burdah Movement I: In the Path of al-BusiriParts 1-6 Part 1: Nasib: Complaint of Unrequited Love Part 2: Chiding the Unruly SoulWarning against Worldly Temptations Part 3: Repentance, Submission, and Supplication Part 4: Prophetic Praise Part 5: Sirah Themes: The Birth of the Prophet; The Night Journey and Ascension; The Miracle of the Cave Part 6: Metapoetic Recapitulation of Prophetic Praise Nahj al-Burdah Movement II: The Ihya' Project: Parts 7-12 Part 7: Polemic against Christianity Part 8: Defense/Praise of Jihad and the Prophet's Military Campaigns Part 9: The Shari'ah Part 10: The Glory of Baghdad Part 11: The Orthodox Caliphs Part 12: Benediction and Supplication Conclusion Umm Kulthum, al-Qaradawi, and Nahj al-Burdah Appendix of Arabic Texts Notes Works Cited Index