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Arab women poets have been around since the earliest of times, yet their diwans (collected poems) were kept in the shadows.
Spanning more than 5000 years, from the pre-Islamic to the Andalusian periods, Classical Poems by Arab Women presents rarely seen work by over sixty women writers who boldly refused to be silenced. From sorrowful eulogies to gleeful scorn, this collection offers a rich excursion into the vibrant, exclusively female worlds of pleasure, passion and pain, suppressed for centuries by religious and political bigotry.
With poems in both English and Arabic, this bespoke gift edition celebrates feminine wit and desire, and pays homage to the significant contribution women have made to Arabic literary tradition.
‘This is some of the most beautiful poetry in the world … Timeless.’ Tracy Emin
‘Vividly conveys the richness and diversity of a culture more closely related to our own than we realise.’ Prospect
‘The range of female poets from radically different eras is extraordinary, as is how fearlessly they speak about their desires.’ Mona Eltahawy
'A unique anthology that transcends love and liberation' Moris Farhi
'Al-Udhari's effort to clarify this subject really does fill a gap and contributes to a more balanced discussion that the works about women in the modern Arab world allow.' Folklore Bulletin - Ohio State University
'The very process of anthologizing the names of so many unfamiliar poets has provided a useful historical survey.' Roger Allen (MESA Bulletin)
'An outspoken and controversial book that provides many moments for both enjoyment and reflection.' Denys Johnston-Davies (Al Ahram)
Abdullah al-Udhari was born in Taiz, Yemen, in 1941. He studied classical Arab literature and Sabaean epigraphy at London University, where he also received a doctorate for his pioneering study, Jahili Poetry before Imru al-Qais (4000 BCE–500 CE), which established him as an authority on early Jahili literature. A literary historian, poet and storyteller, he is also the author of Victims of a Map: A Bilingual Anthology of Arabic Poetry (by Saqi Books), Voice Without Passport, The Arab Creation Myth and Modern Poetry of the Arab World.
The Jahiliyya (4000 BCE - 622 CE)
The Islam Period (622 - 661)
The Umayyad Period (661 - 750)
The Abbasid Period (750 - 1258)
The Andalus Period (711 - 1492)