Arabic Poems (Everyman's Library Pocket Poets Series) Hardcover – August 5, 2014

Excellent

One of the reasons I chose this book, was my interest in the great Islamic writers from Al-Andalus prior to the 10th century. It did not disappoint me in this regard. In addition, i came to understand how other writers illustrated their thoughts by using metaphors and symbolism in life's trials of love and capitulation. Abu-Al-quasim Al Shabbi from Tunisia, an early 20th century writer penned "The Will of Life," a poem about tyranny and oppression was one such writer whom intrigued my intellect. As such, I would suggest this collection of poems as a gateway to research and understand the many known Arabic writers which span both time and location.

Some translations are extremely bad. it's not clear who is the translator of each poem, you need to dig through the small font in the acknowledgements to figure out some of them. also the arrangement of the collection is not clear enough, you have to flip back and forth to figure out who wrote the poem. the font cannot be small enough.