Library of Arabic Literature المكتبة العربية

17/12/2024

"If we were to set out to recount in detail everything we caught sight of and heard tell, we would surely be suspected of exaggeration, or would babble on too long."

13/12/2024

Congrats to our Consulting Editor Tahera Qutbuddin! She's just won third-place win in this year's Sheikh Hamad Award for Arabic to English translation 🎉

والتفاهم الدولي، في 2024
فئة الترجمة من اللغة العربية إلى اللغة الإنكليزية
المركز الثالث: طاهرة قطب الدين (Tahera Qutbuddin)
عن ترجمة كتاب "نهج البلاغة"
للشريف الرضي.

11/12/2024

Lovely article from Aletihad--check it out here:

Translating works from Arabic into English is no easy task, especially when dealing with texts that span centuries.

09/12/2024

📚 Join us for the upcoming Library of Arabic Literature Book Club! This month's selected read is A Physician on the Nile, led by Tim Mackintosh-Smith. And here’s the exciting part—don’t miss the chance to get your book signed by the translator himself, Tim Mackintosh-Smith!

🔗 Register here: https://shorturl.at/BWYwo

📅 Date: December 16
⏰ Time: 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM
📍 Location: NYUAD Bookstore, A6 Building

We look forward to seeing you there!

05/12/2024

من لم يذق لم يعرف من لم يجرّب لم تنفعه تجربة غيره ومن لم يأكل لم يشبع بمحادثة من أكل ومن لم يشرب لم يرو عطشه.

Without tasting, there is no recognition; without your own experience, there is nothing to gain from someone else’s; discussing food with someone who has just eaten will never fill your stomach; and talking about drink with someone who has just drunk will not quench your thirst.

زبدة الحقائق/ دفاع عن التصوّف الفلسفيّ من تأليف عين القضاة وترجمة محمد رستم
Ayn al-Quḍāt, in his conclusion to The Essence of Reality, translated by Mohammed Rustom

02/12/2024

كل عام والإمارات بخير.

Library of Arabic Literature wishes you Happy UAE National Day.

🇦🇪 ❤️🖤🤍💚

29/11/2024

“If a dumb ox comes asking for your daughter’s hand, give him a kick and say, “Shoo!””

- Ḥmēdān al-Shwēʿir, Arabian Satire, translated by Marcel Kurpershoek

25/11/2024

فإذا أنت كالدخنة الطيّبة التي تُحرق ويستلذّ بعرفها وتحرّقها الناس

Don’t be like a stick of incense
that burns up while others enjoy its fragrance.

- Ibn al-Muqaffa', Kalilah and Dimnah: Fables of Virtue and Vice, translated by Fishbein and Montgomery
من كتاب كليلة ودمنة/ تأليف عبدالله بن المقفّع وترجمة مايكل فشبَيْن وجيمس مونتغمري

̇entwi̇sdom

22/11/2024

New Release! 📚 A Demon Spirit: Arabic Hunting Poems, by Abū Nuwās, translated by James E. Montgomery contains hunting poems which convey power relations of the hunt. Explore the work of one of the greatest Arabic poets, now available from the Library of Arabic Literature.

20/11/2024

The Library of Arabic Literature is now on Bluesky! Follow us at https://t.co/FPfXE02dZE for updates on new releases, our editors and translators, and their amazing books.

19/11/2024

أَفْلِحْ بِمَا شِئْتَ فَقَدْ يُبْلَغُ بالضَّعْفِ وَقَدْ يُخْدَعُ الْأَرِيبُ

No matter how hard you strive, success often stems from weakness

FATE THE HUNTER: Early Arabic Hunting Poems, translated by James E. Montgomery, is a collection of pre-Islamic and Umayyad poetry that captures the drama of the hunt while offering meditations on Fate, mortality, and death.

13/11/2024

"العلم هو الشجرة والعمل هو الثمرة."
“Knowledge is the tree; actions are the fruit.”

11/11/2024

تُضِيءُ الظَّلَامَ بِالعِشاءِ كَأَنَّهَا *** مَنَارَةُ مُمْسَى رَاهِبٍ مُتَبَتِّل

“She brightens the dark night like a monk’s solitary lamp,”

FATE THE HUNTER: Early Arabic Hunting Poems, translated by James E. Montgomery, is a collection of pre-Islamic and Umayyad poetry that captures the drama of the hunt while offering meditations on Fate, mortality, and death.

07/11/2024

New Release!📚 Arabian Hero: Oral Poetry and Narrative Lore from Northern Arabia by Shāyiʿ al-Amsaḥ, translated by Marcel Kurpershoek, explores the heroic deeds and words of the epic hero and poet, Shāyiʿ al-Amsaḥ. Now available from the Library of Arabic Literature.

01/11/2024

Join us for the upcoming LAL Book Club! This month's selected read is Two Arabic Travel Books, led by Tim Mackintosh-Smith. And here’s the exciting part—don’t miss the chance to get your book signed by the translator himself!

We’d love to have you with us! Register your interest here: https://shorturl.at/CcjGJ

31/10/2024

Did poetry die in its war with the poets?

28/10/2024

كن كيفما شئت ان الله ذو كرم *** وما عليك اذا اذنبت من باسِ

Be as you wish, for God is kind— No harm shall befall you if you sin.

- الساق على الساق تأليف أحمد فارس الشدياق وترجمة همفري ديفيز
- al-Shidyaq, LEG OVER LEG, translated by Humphrey Davies

25/10/2024

إِذَا أَنَا لَمْ أَرْكَبْ إِلَيْهَا مُخَاطِرًا *** وَأُعْظِمُ قَتْلًا دُونَهَا وَقِتالَا

فَهذَا حُسَامِي لم أَرِقَّ ذُبَابَهُ *** مَضَاءً وَهذَا ذَابِلي لم طالَا

If I don’t ride into danger for her, despising death, much less battle, why did I sharpen my sword, and why is my spear so long.

زبدة الحقائق/ دفاع عن التصوّف الفلسفيّ من تأليف عين القضاة وترجمة محمد رستم

Ayn al-Quḍāt, in his conclusion to The Essence of Reality, translated by Mohammed Rustom