The Life and Times of Abu Tammam. Abu Bakr al-Suli

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      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

       About this Paperback

       Abbreviations

       Foreword

       Acknowledgments

       Introduction

       Note on the Text

       Notes to the Introduction

       AL-ṢŪLĪ’S EPISTLE TO ABŪ L-LAYTH MUZĀḤIM IBN FĀTIK

       THE LIFE AND TIMES