{"product_id":"arabian-hero-9781479834167","title":"Arabian Hero","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe heroic deeds and words of a warrior poet of northern Arabia\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAn epic hero and a poet, the semi-legendary Shāyiʿ al-Amsaḥ was a prominent ancestor of the Shammar  tribal confederation that stretches across the Great Nafūd desert in the northern Arabian Peninsula. Shāyiʿ’s corpus of extant poems are preserved in narratives about his chivalrous exploits transmitted orally for centuries. In this volume, Marcel Kurpershoek vividly translates the deeds and verses of this  compelling poet, based on recordings of late-twentieth century reciters, a testament to Shāyiʿ’s  prominence as an embodiment of Bedouin virtue, courage, wiliness, and generosity.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBorn with one eye, Shāyiʿ presents himself as unattractive and unassuming, only to reveal a hero’s strength, sagacity, and wiliness. In a number of stories, he is shown hiding his identity, whether in  disguise as an impoverished Bedouin or on a camel deliberately made to look mangy and weak. In the  oral culture of the Bedouin, the epic cycle of Shāyiʿ al-Amsaḥ delights and instructs listeners through its  unmasking of false appearances and its revelation of the hero’s true character.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTranslated into English for the first time, these engaging tales and poems tell of dangerous desert travel, warlike exploits, chivalrous conduct and its opposite, feats of hospitality that defy belief, and convey  nuggets of wisdom from the Bedouin manual of survival, making this collection a colorful compendium of the manners and customs of the tribes of northern Arabia.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA bilingual Arabic-English edition.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Shāyiʿ al-Amsaḥ","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48272848093435,"sku":"9781479834167","price":30.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0779\/3917\/9771\/files\/CoreSourceHub_4e7dc2d0-f86f-4cd6-bab6-62141ab5f9b7.jpg?v=1770999437","url":"https:\/\/indiepubs.com\/products\/arabian-hero-9781479834167","provider":"IndiePubs","version":"1.0","type":"link"}