Tarikh al-Adab al-Andalusi (Asr Siyadat Qurtuba)

Tarikh al-Adab al-Andalusi: Asr Siyadat Qurtuba (History of Andalusian Literature: The Era of Cordoban Supremacy) is a study of Andalusian Arabic poetry and prose by the scholar Ihsan Abbas (d. 1424 AH / 2003 CE), examining literary production from the Muslim conquest of the Iberian Peninsula through the collapse of the Umayyad Caliphate of Cordoba Tarikh al-Adab al-Andalus…+1.

Composition and Scope

Ihsan Abbas completed the book at the University of Khartoum in December 1959 as the first installment in a multi-part series dedicated to the history and criticism of Andalusian literature Tarikh al-Adab al-Andalus…. The work investigates literary developments during the era of Cordoba's political hegemony, beginning with the governorship period when al-Andalus was an administrative dependency of Damascus (92–138 AH) Tarikh al-Adab al-Andalus…. It traces the independent Umayyad Emirate and Caliphate (138–399 AH), the de facto rule of the Amirid chamberlains under the caliph Hisham al-Mu'ayyad, and the subsequent civil strife (al-fitna al-barbariyya) along with attempts to restore Umayyad authority up to 418 AH, prior to the fragmentation into the Taifa kingdoms Tarikh al-Adab al-Andalus…+1.

Structure and Content

The volume encompasses both poetry and prose, giving detailed individual biographical and critical entries to renowned poets and literary figures Tarikh al-Adab al-Andalus…+1. Its poetic chapters address:

• The origins and historical evolution of Andalusian verse, evaluating early figures such as Ja'wana ibn al-Simma al-Kilabi Tarikh al-Adab al-Andalus….
• The major themes, forms, and aesthetic characteristics of the poetry of the era Tarikh al-Adab al-Andalus….
• Andalusian emulation of contemporary Eastern (mashriqi) Abbasid poets such as Bashshar ibn Burd, Abu Nuwas, Abu Tammam, and al-Buhturi Tarikh al-Adab al-Andalus….
• The generational classes of poets (tabaqat al-shu'ara) Tarikh al-Adab al-Andalus….

The book includes dedicated studies of figures such as Abu Marwan (d. 267 AH), Ahmad ibn Abd Rabbih, Ibn Darraj al-Qastalli, and Ibn Shuhayd al-Tashbihat min Ashar Ah…+1. It also gathers surviving poetic fragments of Ibn Hazm and presents the text of his epistle on the merits of al-Andalus, which Abbas extracted from al-Maqqari's Nafh al-Tib al-Irab an al-Hayra wa al…+1.

Method and Sources

Abbas sought to provide a systematic historical framework for a phase of Andalusian literary history that earlier modern scholars had often passed over cursorily Tarikh al-Adab al-Andalus…. He adhered strictly to primary texts and avoided speculative generalizations, relying heavily on newly published classical references and manuscript holdings gathered by the Institute of Arabic Manuscripts of the Arab League Tarikh al-Adab al-Andalus…. Among the key primary sources underpinning his analysis were al-Zubaydi's Tabaqat al-Nahwiyyin wa-l-Lughawiyyin, al-Humaydi's Jadhwat al-Muqtabis, and Ibn Sa'id al-Maghribi's al-Mughrib fi Hula al-Maghrib Tarikh al-Adab al-Andalus….

Publication History

The first edition of the work was published by Dar al-Thaqafa in Beirut in 1960 al-Durr al-Farid wa Bayt …+1. In 1969, Dar al-Thaqafa issued a second edition containing significant revisions and new poetic selections, which Abbas updated in light of fresh evidence uncovered during his 1966 critical edition of Ibn al-Kattani's Kitab al-Tashbihat min Ash'ar Ahl al-Andalus al-Irab an al-Hayra wa al…+1. A third edition was published by the same house in 1973 Ibn Hazm wa Mawqifuhu min….