Fate the Hunter

Early Arabic Hunting Poems

James E. Montgomery

• Publisher: NYU Press
• Year: 2024
• Print ISBN:
  9781479834259
• eBook ISBN:
  9781479834266
• Topic: Literatura
• Subtopic: Literatura de Oriente Medio

A rich anthology of pre-Islamic and early Islamic poetry on the beauties and perils of the hunt

In the poems of Fate the Hunter, many of them translated into English for the first time, trained cheetahs chase oryx, and goshawks glare from falconers' arms, while archers stalk their prey across the desert plains and mountain ravines of the Arabian peninsula. With this collection, James E. Montgomery, acclaimed translator of War Songs by ?Antarah ibn Shadd?d, offers a new edition and translation of twenty-six early works of hunting poetry, or ?ardiyy?t. Included here are poems by pre-Islamic poets such as Imru? al-Qays and al-Shanfar?, as well as poets from the Umayyad era such as al-Shamardal ibn Shar?k. The volume concludes with the earliest extant epistle about hunting, written by ?Abd al-?am?d al-K?tib, a master of Arabic prose.

Through the eyes of the poet, the hunter's pursuit of the quarry mirrors Fate's pursuit of both humans and nonhumans and highlights the ambiguity of the encounter. With breathtaking descriptions of falcons, gazelles, and saluki gazehounds, the poems in Fate the Hunter capture the drama and tension of the hunt while offering meditations on Fate, mortality, and death.

An English-only edition.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Halftitle
• Letter from the General Editor
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• Acknowledgments
• Foreword
• Introduction
• Map: The Tribes of Pre-Islamic Arabia
• Note on the Text
• Notes to the Introduction
• Fate the Hunter
• 1. Imruʾ al-Qays: Echoes of Love Lost
• 2. ʿAbīd ibn al-Abraṣ: That Mighty Hunter the Eagle
• 3. ʿAbīd ibn al-Abraṣ: The Seas of Poetry
• 4. Al-Muraqqish al-Akbar: When Vultures Enter the Tents
• 5. Al-Shanfarā: Like a Spleen-Dark Wolf
• 6. Ṣakhr al-Ghayy: The Workings of Fate
• 7. Labīd ibn Rabīʿah: In the Grip of the North Wind
• 8. Al-Muzarrid ibn Ḍirār: My Flood of Words
• 9. Abū Dhuʾayb: Fate the Hunter
• 10. Al-Ḥuṭayʾah: Slaughter Me, Father
• 11. Ḥumayd al-Arqaṭ: A Tall-Necked Horse
• 12. Ghaylān ibn Ḥurayth: A Hunter since Her Youth
• 13. Ghaylān ibn Ḥurayth: A Stipple-Cheeked Gos
• 14. Al-Shamardal ibn Sharīk: Her Assegai Beak
• 15. Al-Shamardal ibn Sharīk: His Dark Elation
• 16. Al-Shamardal ibn Sharīk: An Irate Stare
• 17. Al-Shamardal ibn Sharīk: A Dark Gos
• 18. Al-Shamardal ibn Sharīk: Like a Mill
• 19. Al-Shamardal ibn Sharīk: Clothes Ignite
• 20. Al-Shamardal ibn Sharīk: Like Two Rubies
• 21. Al-Shamardal ibn Sharīk: Dawn Shines Pink
• 22. Abū l-Najm al-ʿIjlī: Harried by the Jinn
• 23. Abū l-Najm al-ʿIjlī: Dyed Dark with Gore
• 24. Abū l-Najm al-ʿIjlī: Full of Bloodlust
• 25. Abū l-Najm al-ʿIjlī: Coils Scraping on Coils
• 26. Abū l-Najm al-ʿIjlī: The Hills Shimmered
• 27. ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd al-Kātib: To the Beat of the Drums
• Note to the English Translation
• Glossary
• Bibliography
• Further Reading
• Index
• About the NYUAD Research Institute
• About the Translator
• The Library of Arabic Literature