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OverviewAccounts of remarkable women at the world's most powerful court Consorts of the Caliphs is a seventh/thirteenth-century compilation of anecdotes about thirty-eight women who were consorts to those in power, most of them concubines of the early Abbasid caliphs and wives of latter-day caliphs and sultans. This slim but illuminating volume is one of the few surviving texts by the prolific Baghdadi scholar Ibn al-Sa'i, who chronicled the academic and political elites of his city in the final years of the Abbasid dynasty and the period following the cataclysmic Mongol invasion of 656/1258. In this work, Ibn al-Sa'i is keen to forge a connection between the munificent wives of his time and the storied lovers of the so-called golden age of Baghdad. Thus, from the earlier period, we find Harun al-Rashid pining for his brother’s beautiful slave, Ghadir, and the artistry of such musical and literary celebrities as Arib and Fadl, who bested the male poets and singers of their day. From times closer to Ibn al-Sa?i’s own, we meet women such as Banafsha, who endowed law colleges, had bridges built, and provisioned pilgrims bound for Mecca; slave women whose funeral services were led by caliphs; and noble Saljuq princesses from Afghanistan. Informed by the author’s own sources, his insider knowledge, and well-known literary materials, these singular biographical sketches bring the belletristic culture of the Baghdad court to life, particularly in the personal narratives and poetry of culture heroines otherwise lost to history. An English-only edition. Full Product DetailsAuthor: Ibn al-Sāʿī , Shawkat M. Toorawa , The Editors of the Library of Arabic Literature , Julia BrayPublisher: New York University Press Imprint: New York University Press Weight: 0.272kg ISBN: 9781479866793ISBN 10: 1479866792 Pages: 176 Publication Date: 05 September 2017 Audience: College/higher education , Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly Format: Paperback Publisher's Status: Active Availability: Manufactured on demand We will order this item for you from a manufactured on demand supplier. Table of ContentsLetter from the General Editor iiiAbbreviations xForeword xiPreface xvAcknowledgments xviIntroduction xviiiMaps xxviNote on the Edition xxxiNote on the Translation xxxivNotes to the Front Matter xlConsorts of the Caliphs 1?ammadah bint ?Isa 4Ghadir 6?Inan, daughter of ?Abd Allah 10Gha?i? 20Haylanah 22?Arib al-Ma?muniyyah 24Bid?ah al-Kabirah 32Buran 38Mu?nisah al-Ma?muniyyah 54Qurrat al-?Ayn 56Faridah 58Is?aq al-Andalusiyyah 60Fa?l al-Sha?irah al-Yamamiyyah 64Bunan 74Ma?bubah 76Nashib al-Mutawakkiliyyah 84Fa?imah 86Faridah 88Nabt 90Khallafah 94?irar 96Qa?r al-Nada 98Khamrah 100?I?mah Khatun 104Mah-i Mulk 106Khatun 108Banafsha al-Rumiyyah 110Sharaf Khatun al-Turkiyyah 114Saljuqi Khatun 116Shahan 120Dawlah 124?ayat Khatun 126Bab Jawhar 128Qabi?ah 130Sitt al-Nisa? 134Sarirah al-Ra?iqiyyah 138Khatun al-Safariyyah 140Khatun 142Zubaydah 144Notes 147The Abbasid Caliphs 154The Early Saljuqs 156Chronology of Women Featured in Consorts of the Caliphs 157Glossary of Names 159Glossary of Places 185Glossary of Realia 191Bibliography 196Further Reading 201Index of Qur?anic Verses 205Index of Arabic Verses 206Index 211About the NYU Abu Dhabi Institute 222About the Typefaces 223About the Editor and Translators 224ReviewsA collection of thirty-nine short, biographical entries offering delightful glimpses of moments in women's lives at the Abbasid courts. This edition of Ibn al-Sa'i's work, and its eminently readable translation, will pave the way for much needed studies of Arabic poetry written by women in the Abbasid period. -Reading Religion (AAR) A meticulously edited translation...The rich variety of experiences related here shakes our preconceived notions and can help towards a better understanding, not just of female slaves, but also of women generally in this period and environment. -Journal of Islamic Studies A rare and unusual book providing glimpses into the lives of influential Muslim women who often pulled the strings from behind the scene... Indispensable for the study of medieval Muslim culture and society. -The Muslim News A unique text... Offers the pleasure of reading about the highs and lows of women's often hidden lives at the Abbasid court. -Times Literary Supplement Yet another wonderful collaborative project of the Library of Arabic Literature... Clear from this volume's pages is that there was great appreciation of the original text and the entire process of editing and translating was a labor of love; the reader-specialist or non-specialist-reaps these fruits by getting to know another great text of Arabic classical literature. -Journal of the American Oriental Society Author InformationIbn al-Sāʿī (Author) Ibn al-Sāʿī (d. 674/1276) was a historian, law librarian, and prolific author from Baghdad. His considerable scholarly output included treatises on hadith, literary commentaries, histories of the caliphs, and biographical collections, though little has survived. Marina Warner (Foreword by) Marina Warner DBE is Professor of English and Creative Writing at Birkbeck College, University of London; a Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford; and a Fellow of the British Academy. Her book Stranger Magic: Charmed States and the Arabian Nights won the 2012 National Book Critics Circle Award for Criticism, as well as the 2013 Sheikh Zayed Book Award. Julia Bray (Introducer) Julia Bray became the Abdulaziz Saud AlBabtain Laudian Professor of Arabic at the University of Oxford and a fellow of St. John’s College in 2012, having previously taught at the universities of Manchester, Edinburgh, St Andrews and Paris 8-Vincennes—Saint-Denis. She writes on medieval to early modern Arabic literature, life-writing, and social history. She has contributed to the New Cambridge History of Islam (2010), to Essays in Arabic Literary Biography 1350-1850 (2009), and to cross-cultural studies such as Approaches to the Byzantine Family (2013) and edited Writing and Representation in Medieval Islam (2006). With Wen-chin Ouyang, she edits the monograph series Edinburgh Studies in Classical Arabic Literature. With Helen Blatherwick, she is editing a special issue of the journal Cultural History on the history of emotions in Arabic. Shawkat M. Toorawa (Translator) Shawkat M. Toorawa is Professor of Arabic literature in the Department of Near Eastern Languages & Civilizations at Yale University, where he teaches classical Arabic, the Arabic humanities, and literatures of the world. Tab Content 6Author Website:Countries AvailableAll regions |