Love, death, fame : poetry and lore from the Emirati oral tradition Love, death, fame : poetry and lore from the Emirati oral tradition

**Poems and tales of a literary forefather of the United Arab Emirates** __Love, Death, Fame__ features the poetry of al-Māyidī ibn Ẓāhir, who has been embraced as the earliest poet in what would later become the United Arab Emirates. Although little is known about his life, he is the subject of a sizeable body of folk legend and is thought to have lived in the seventeenth century, in the area now called the Emirates. The tales included in __Love, Death, Fame__ portray him as a witty, resourceful, scruffy poet, at times combative and at times kindhearted. His poetry primarily features verses of wisdom and romance, with scenes of clouds and rain, desert migrations, seafaring, and pearl diving. Like __Arabian Romantic__ and __Arabian Satire,__ this collection is a prime example of Nabaṭī poetry, combining vernacular language of the Arabian Peninsula with archaic vocabulary and images dating to Arabic poetry’s very origins. Distinguished by Ibn Ẓāhir’s unique voice__, Love, Death, Fame__ offers a glimpse of what life was like four centuries ago in the region that is now the UAE.An English-only edition. Letter from the General Editor 3 Contents 9 Abbreviations 11 Foreword 13 Introduction 19 Map: Names of Places in the Poetry of Ibn Ẓāhir and the Narratives 54 Map: The Gulf Region and Oman in Ibn Ẓāhir’s Day 55 Note on the Text 56 Notes to the Introduction 67 Poems 89 1: Graybeard’s Song 89 2: Lightning’s Laughter 96 3: Agony of Love 99 4: Death and Revival 103 5: Wisdom Poem 109 6: Dance of the Zephyr 115 7: Don’t Be Hard on Friends 118 8: Rain Poem 121 9: Tears at the Court of Love 127 10: Torn to Shreds by Passion’s Agony 131 11: Glittering Mirage Led You Astray 137 12: Fatal Attraction 141 13: I Dared the Devil to Ride His Horse 145 14: She Left Me Baffled 148 15: Muzzleloader’s Ramrod 153 16: Intelligent Speech and Borders of the Land 157 17: Daughter’s Elegy 163 Narratives 169 18: Gift of Poetry 169 19: Ibn Ẓāhir’s Camel 173 20: Fishing and Pearl Diving 177 21: Guests and Riddles 184 22: Daughters of Ibn Ẓāhir 198 23: Search for a Grave 203 Notes 207 Bibliography 303 Further Reading 311 Index 313 About the NYU Abu Dhabi Institute 333 About the Abu Dhabi Poetry Academy 334 About the Translator 335 The Library of Arabic Literature 336 Poems and tales of a literary forefather of the United Arab Emirates Love, Death, Fame features the poetry of al-Māyidī ibn Ẓāhir, who has been embraced as the earliest poet in what would later become the United Arab Emirates. Although little is known about his life, he is the subject of a sizeable body of folk legend and is thought to have lived in the seventeenth century, in the area now called the Emirates. The tales included in Love, Death, Fame portray him as a witty, resourceful, scruffy poet, at times combative and at times kindhearted. His poetry primarily features verses of wisdom and romance, with scenes of clouds and rain, desert migrations, seafaring, and pearl diving. Like Arabian Romantic and Arabian Satire, this collection is a prime example of Nabaṭī poetry, combining vernacular language of the Arabian Peninsula with archaic vocabulary and images dating to Arabic poetry's very origins. Distinguished by Ibn Ẓāhir's unique voice , Love, Death, Fame offers a glimpse of what life was like four centuries ago in the region that is now the UAE. A bilingual Arabic-English edition. Poems and tales of a literary forefather of the United Arab Emirates Love, Death, Fame features the poetry of al-Māyidī ibn Ẓāhir, who has been embraced as the earliest poet in what would later become the United Arab Emirates. Although little is known about his life, he is the subject of a sizeable body of folk legend and is thought to have lived in the seventeenth century, in the area now called the Emirates. The tales included in Love, Death, Fame portray him as a witty, resourceful, scruffy poet, at times combative and at times kindhearted. His poetry primarily features verses of wisdom and romance, with scenes of clouds and rain, desert migrations, seafaring, and pearl diving. Like Arabian Romantic and Arabian Satire, this collection is a prime example of Nabaṭī poetry, combining vernacular language of the Arabian Peninsula with archaic vocabulary and images dating to Arabic poetry’s very origins. Distinguished by Ibn Ẓāhir’s unique voice , Love, Death, Fame offers a glimpse of what life was like four centuries ago in the region that is now the UAE. An English-only edition.