Classical Poems by Arab Women

About the Book

Arab women poets have been writing since the earliest of times, yet for millennia, their diwans (collected poems) were kept in the shadows.

Spanning more than five thousand years, from the pre-Islamic to the Andalusian periods, Classical Poems by Arab Women presents rarely seen work by over sixty women writers who boldly refused to be silenced. From the sorrowful eulogies of Khansa to the gleeful scorn of Wallada bint al-Mustakfi, this collection offers a rich excursion into the vibrant, exclusively female worlds of pleasure, passion and pain, suppressed for centuries by religious and political bigotry.

With many poems shown here for the first time, this bespoke edition celebrates feminine wit and desire and pays homage to the significant contribution Arab women have made to the literary tradition.

About the Contributors

Abdullah al-Udhari was born in Taiz, Yemen, in 1941, and has lived in London since 1962. He studied classical Arab literature and Sabaean epigraphy at London University, where he also received a doctorate for his pioneering study, Jahili Poetry before Imru al-Qais [4000 BCE–500 CE], which established him as an authority on early Jahili literature. In 1974 he founded and edited TR, an Anglo-Arab literary and arts magazine. He is a literary historian, poet and storyteller, editor of Classical Poems by Arab Women (Saqi Books), and author of Voice Without Passport, The Arab Creation Myth, Victims of a Map, and Modern Poetry of the Arab World.

Reviews

‘This is some of the most beautiful poetry in the world … Timeless.’
Tracy Emin

‘The range of female poets from radically different eras is extraordinary, as is how fearlessly they speak about their desires’
Mona Eltahawy

‘A unique anthology that transcends love and liberation’
Moris Farhi

'An outspoken and controversial book that provides many moments for both enjoyment and reflection.'
Denys Johnston-Davies, Al-Ahram

'The very process of anthologizing the names of so many unfamiliar poets has provided a useful historical survey.'
Roger Allen, MESA Bulletin

'Al-Udhari's effort to clarify this subject really does fill a gap and contributes to a more balanced discussion that the works about women in the modern Arab world allow.'
Ohio State University, Folklore Bulletin

‘Vividly conveys the richness and diversity of a culture more closely related to our own than we realise.’
Prospect