Fate the Hunter - (Library of Arabic Literature) (Paperback)

About the Book

"A rich anthology of pre-Islamic and eary 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 archer stalk their prey across desert plains and mountain ravines of the Arabian peninsula. With this collection, James E. Montgomery, acclaimed translator of War Songs by 'Antarah ibn Shaddad, offers a new edition and translation of twenty-six early works of hunting poetry, or tardiyyat. Included here are poems by pre-Islamic poets such as Imru' al-Qays and al-Shanfara, as well as poets from the Umayyad era such as al-Shamardal ibn Sharik. The volume concludes with the earliest extant epistle about hunting, written by 'Abd al-Hamid al-Katib, 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 teh hunt while offering meditations on Fate, mortality, and death"--

Book Synopsis

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 ʿAntarah ibn Shaddād, offers a new edition and translation of twenty-six early works of hunting poetry, or ṭardiyyāt. Included here are poems by pre-Islamic poets such as Imruʾ al-Qays and al-Shanfarā, as well as poets from the Umayyad era such as al-Shamardal ibn Sharīk. The volume concludes with the earliest extant epistle about hunting, written by ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd al-Kātib, 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.

Review Quotes

"The Workings of Fate, by Sakhr Al-Ghayy, translated by James Montgomery. This Arabic hunting poem is ideal for a grey day, recharging me with what Beckett calls 'the pitiless light of that which hope hides'. It's a list of animal deaths laid out like offerings before the death of a human."--Alice Oswald "The Guardian"

"Twenty-six muscular, animal-centered works . . . timeless poems of man and nature."-- "Esquire Middle East"