War Songs. 'Antarah ibn Shaddad

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      WAR SONGS

      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. 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.

      WAR SONGS

      BY

      ʿANTARAH IBN SHADDĀD

      TRANSLATED BY

      JAMES E. MONTGOMERY

      WITH

      RICHARD SIEBURTH

      FOREWORD BY

      PETER COLE

      VOLUME EDITOR

      TAHERA QUTBUDDIN

      NEW YORK UNIVERSITY PRESS

       New York

      Copyright © 2018 by New York University

      All rights reserved

      Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

      Names: Antarah ibn Shaddad, active 6th century author. | Montgomery, James E. (James Edward), 1962– translator. | Sieburth, Richard, translator. | Qutbuddin, Tahera, editor. | Cole, Peter, 1957– author of foreword.

      Title: War songs / Antarah ibn Shaddad ; translated by James E. Montgomery with Richard Sieburth ; foreword by Peter Cole ; volume editor, Tahera Qutbuddin.

      Description: New York : New York University Press, 2018. | Includes bibliographical references and index.

      Identifiers: LCCN 2018011651 (print) | LCCN 2018013927 (ebook) | ISBN 9781479806553 (e-book) | ISBN 9781479829651 (e-book) | ISBN 9781479858798 (pbk. : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781479880904 (hardcover : alk. paper)

      Classification: LCC PJ7696.A53 (ebook) | LCC PJ7696.A53 A2 2018 (print) | DDC 892.7/11—dc23

      LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018011651

      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

       In memoriam Peter Heath (1949–2014)

       What is the difference between free and strict, literal translation? between free translation and outright adaptation?

      Very often, readability. Strict translation usually makes for stiff English, or forced and un-english rhythms. Outright adaptation is perfectly valid if it makes a good, modern poem. Occasionally, an adaptation will translate the spirit of the original to better use than any other method: at other times, it will falsify the original beyond measure. Much depends upon the translator (also upon the reader).

      PAUL BLACKBURN, “TRANSLATION (REPLIES TO A NEW YORK QUARTERLY QUESTIONNAIRE)” (1970)

      CONTENTS

       Letter from the General Editor

       About this Paperback

       Foreword

       Acknowledgments

       Introduction

       A Note on the Text

       Maps

       Map 1: The Tribes of Pre-Islamic Arabia [c. AD 600]

       Map 2: The Topography of the Poetry of ʿAntarah

       Notes to the Introduction

       AL-AṢMAʿĪ’S