Ibn al-Sāʿī Consorts of the Caliphs (Paperback) Library of Arabic Literature

Description: Further DetailsTitle: Consorts of the CaliphsCondition: NewSubtitle: Women and the Court of BaghdadISBN-10: 1479866792EAN: 9781479866793ISBN: 9781479866793Publisher: New York University PressFormat: PaperbackRelease Date: 09/05/2017Description: Consorts of the Caliphs is a seventh/thirteenth-century compilation of anecdotes about thirty-eight women who were, as the title suggests, consorts to those in power, most of them concubines of the early Abbasid caliphs and wives of latter-day caliphs and sultans. This slim but illuminating volume is one of the few surviving texts by Ibn al-Sa'i (d. 674/1276). Ibn al-Sa'i was a prolific Baghdadi scholar who chronicled the academic and political elites of his city, and whose career straddled the final years of the Abbasid dynasty and the period following the cataclysmic Mongol invasion of 656/1258.In this work, Ibn al-Sa'i is keen to forge a connection between the munificent wives of his time and the storied lovers of the so-called golden age of Baghdad. Thus, from the earlier period, we find Harun al-Rashid pining for his brother’s beautiful slave, Ghadir, and the artistry of such musical and literary celebrities as 'Arib and Fadl, who bested the male poets and singers of their day. From times closer to Ibn al-Sa'i’s own—when Abbasid authority was trying to reassert itself and Baghdad was again a major center of intellectual and religious activity—we meet women such as Banafsha, who endowed law colleges, had bridges built, and provisioned pilgrims bound for Mecca; slave women whose funeral services were led by caliphs; and noble Saljuq princesses from Afghanistan.Informed by the author’s own sources, his insider knowledge, and well-known literary materials, these singular biographical sketches, though delivered episodically, bring the belletristic culture of the Baghdad court to life, particularly in the personal narratives and poetry of culture heroines otherwise lost to history.A bilingual Arabic-English edition.Language: EnglishCountry/Region of Manufacture: USItem Height: 229mmItem Length: 152mmItem Weight: 272gAuthor: Ibn al-SāʿīTranslator: The Editors of the Library of Arabic LiteratureContributor: Marina Warner (Foreword by), The Editors of the Library of Arabic Literature (Translated by), Julia Bray (Introduction by), Shawkat M. Toorawa (Edited by)Genre: HistoryBook Series: Library of Arabic LiteratureRelease Year: 2017 Missing Information?Please contact us if any details are missing and where possible we will add the information to our listing.

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