Library of Arabic Literature

In partnership w/@nyupress and @NYUADInstitute, we publish trailblazing translations of classical Arabic texts. Never miss a great read:

[Library of Arabic Literature @LibraryArabLit]

New Release! 📚 The Genius of Invective:
Ibn Zaydūn's Letter Explained, translated by Peter Webb, is an encyclopedic guide to one of the most widely read works of Arabic literature: an erudite and searing rejection letter by Ibn Zaydūn. Now available from LAL!

[Library of Arabic Literature @LibraryArabLit]

"They rejoice and say, “A year of fertility, auspiciousness, and peace.”"

[Library of Arabic Literature @LibraryArabLit]

"I yearn for the days of my youth too soon gone—how I blossomed, like a bud on a twig—how I long for their intoxications and venial sins, when our hearts were sprightly and full of vim and all our hopes opened before us."

[Library of Arabic Literature @LibraryArabLit]

"Diligent and expeditious, pens held at the ready:sent on a mission, count on them to perform."

[Library of Arabic Literature @LibraryArabLit]

"For in everything in the world of nature, there is something to be marveled at,"

[Library of Arabic Literature @LibraryArabLit]

"If adulthood arrives without common sense, abandon all hope: the case is lost."

[Library of Arabic Literature @LibraryArabLit]

"He who finds contentment free of greed will be relieved from toil,"

[Library of Arabic Literature @LibraryArabLit]

"The arrowheads of angry words may penetrate the flesh and be extracted but the arrowheads of words that penetrate the heart can never be extracted."

[Library of Arabic Literature @LibraryArabLit]

"If each according to his worth were given,your gift would be the World and all you therein seek!”

[Library of Arabic Literature @LibraryArabLit]

"In the breath of dawn, I crossed the dark with a twitchy gos greedy for the kill"

[Library of Arabic Literature @LibraryArabLit]

“Repent from passion’s way!” “No!” I said.“Not until old age stops me in my tracks.”

[Library of Arabic Literature @LibraryArabLit]

"Any treasure seeker with his own money ends up losing it in his quest."

[Library of Arabic Literature @LibraryArabLit]

"Bravery is of two sorts: before or against the wind; some ships sail a steady course, others lie still."

[Library of Arabic Literature @LibraryArabLit]

"Ease in this world is no more than distress in the next."

[Library of Arabic Literature @LibraryArabLit]

"I swear, if I took my afflictions to heart, I’d be dead already."

[Library of Arabic Literature @LibraryArabLit]

New Release!📚

The Turks and the Caliphal Army, translated by Robert G. Hoyland, is a defense of Abbasid military policy from al-Jāḥiẓ, a powerhouse of Arabic letters and the “father of Arabic prose”. Now available on the LAL website!

https://t.co/Nc76djzh5A

[Library of Arabic Literature @LibraryArabLit]

New Release!📚

The Turks and the Caliphal Army, translated by Robert G. Hoyland, is a defense of Abbasid military policy from al-Jāḥiẓ, a powerhouse of Arabic letters and the “father of Arabic prose”. Now available on the LAL website!

https://t.co/Nc76djzh5A

[Library of Arabic Literature @LibraryArabLit]

"With you I feel jealous of my eye and of myself and also of you, of where you are, of Time. If I tucked you inside my eyelids from now till Judgment Day, it still would not suffice."

[Library of Arabic Literature @LibraryArabLit]

"When the prey sees her chase, its soul whispers, “Death is here.”"

[Library of Arabic Literature @LibraryArabLit]

"We arranged the horses like beads on a string and to the beat of the drums and the chorus of shouts, a number of horseman charged and scattered them, sorting them according to their condition. The end was inevitable."

[Library of Arabic Literature @LibraryArabLit]

"Who will judge between me and destiny? It's tamed me at last with separation."