Tarikh al-Adab al-Andalusi (Asr al-Tawaif wa al-Murabitin)
- Author died
- 1424 AH
- Editions
- Dar Al-Thaqafah
Tarikh al-Adab al-Andalusi (Asr al-Tawaif wa al-Murabitin) (History of Andalusian Literature: The Era of the Taifas and the Almoravids) is a critical and historical study of Andalusian literature by the Palestinian scholar Ihsan Abbas (1920–2003 CE / d. 1424 AH) . Published in Beirut in 1962, it forms the second installment in his series on Andalusian literary history, following his volume on the era of Cordovan supremacy (Asr Siyadat Qurtubah) .
Background and Sources
Ihsan Abbas completed the work in March 1962 while teaching at the American University of Beirut . In the book's foreword, he noted that the primary challenge in composing the study was accessing the literary sources for the Taifa and Almoravid periods, most of which were still unedited manuscripts . To compile primary materials, Abbas relied on manuscript reproductions provided by Fu'ad Sayyid, curator of manuscripts at Dar al-Kutub in Cairo, and Muhammad Rashad 'Abd al-Muttalib, secretary of the Institute of Arabic Manuscripts at the Arab League . He also received a reproduction of Ibn al-Abbar's continuation work, al-Dhayl wa-al-Takmila, from the British Museum through the historian Ahmad Abu Hakima .
Among primary texts, Ibn Bassam's monumental anthology Al-Dhakhira fi Mahasin Ahl al-Jazira served as the principal source shaping Abbas's conception of the literary landscape of the period .
Scope and Method
In contrast to his preceding volume on the Cordovan era—where he provided standalone biographical profiles of major poets—Abbas adjusted his methodology in this volume by refraining from dedicating separate biographical entries to individual authors, choosing instead to integrate discussions of writers within broader thematic and analytical chapters . His approach combines historical contextualization with literary criticism, substantiating analytical judgements through textual citations drawn directly from manuscript sources .
Abbas treats the Taifa period and the subsequent Almoravid rule as a continuous literary unit rather than dividing them into distinct eras; he argues that despite the political shift brought by the Almoravid conquest, Andalusian culture retained its dominance and absorbed the conquerors .
Structure and Contents
The work opens with historical introductory chapters examining the political fragmentation of al-Andalus following the collapse of the Umayyad Caliphate, the division of the peninsula among the various Taifa rulers, and the subsequent Almoravid intervention .
The core of the book analyzes the evolution of Andalusian literature across multiple dimensions:
- Literary evolution and poetic form: Studies the multiplication of literary centers across the Taifa principalities and examines formal developments, including the tension between classical Arabic models and modernizing tendencies (tariqat al-muhdathin) .
- Thematic development: Explores changing poetic themes, styles, and imagery under the patronage of rival Taifa courts .
- Strophic poetry: Dedicated sections analyze Andalusian strophic verse forms, specifically the muwashshah and the vernacular zajal .
- Prose: Distinct chapters cover various genres of Andalusian artistic and epistolary prose (durub al-nathr) produced during the era .
Publication History
The work was first published in Beirut in 1962 and saw subsequent printings, including a third edition issued by Dar al-Thaqafa in Beirut in 1981 .
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