Elementary Arabic

ELEMENTARY ARABIC a series planned by FREDERIC DU PRE THORNTON. Originally published in 1909. PREFACE: THIS Reading Book is the second of three which were planned by the late Mr Thornton for his Arabic Series. The first, published in 1907, contains certain extracts from the Koran, a portion pp. 13 64 of Wrights Arabic Reading-Book, a grammatical analysis of the Koranic text, and a glossary the third, which I hope to bring out next year, will comprise the remainder of Wrights work, a glossary, and brief explanatory notes. The present volume is marked by some novel features. 1. The selected passages are taken from texts and many scripts which, so far as I know, have not hitherto been edited by any European scholar. 2. They have been chosen and arranged in chronological order with the purpose of illustrating the literary, social, and religious history of the Arabs. 3. Notes have been added at the foot of each page, partly to explain grammatical and linguistic difficulties, and partly to supply such literary and historical information as is indispensable. I will now state the various sources from which I have derived the nineteen extracts included in this book. I. The manners, customs, and beliefs of the Pre-Islamic Arabs. This passage is taken from the Mustatraf, an extensive anthology compiled by Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Khatib al- Abshihi, who died about 1450 A. D., and comprises the greater part of the fifty-ninth chapter Bulaq edition, 1268 A. H., vol. ii. pp. 9599. II. The war of Dahis and al Ghabra. This account of one of the most famous Pre-islamic wars occurs in the iqd al farid by Ibn abdi rabbihi of Cordova, who died in 940 A. D. Cairo edition, 1293A. H., vol. iii. p. 67, 1. 21 to p. 68, 1. 27. III. Arab knights. Also from the iqd vol. i, p. 44, 1. 11 to p. 45, last line. IV. Concerning poetry and poets. This passage consists of extracts from the forty-ninth section of the Muzhir ft uldm al lughaft, a well-known treatise on philology, by Jalal al din al Suytiti, who died in 1505 A. D. Bulaq edition, 1282 A. H., vol. ii. pp. 234245. V. Specimens of Arabian eloquence, wit, and wisdom. These are selected from the Kitdb al baydn wal tabai yun, a very interesting work on rhetoric by amr ibn Bahr al Jahiz, who died in 869 A. D. Cairo edition, 1313 A. H., vol. i. p. 175, 1. 5 to p. 192, 1. 14. VI. Early Moslem asceticism. Extracts from the same work, vol. ii. p. 86, 1. 9 to p. 91, 1. 22. VII. The meaning and derivation of Sufi. Two extracts from the Risdltih, al Qushai riyafi an important treatise on early Muharnmadan mysticism, by Abu 1 Qasim al Qushairi of Nishapur, who died in 1072 A. D. Cairo edition, 1318 A. H., p. 9, 11. 310, and p. 149, 11. 2435. VIII. Stories of Moslem saints. These are taken from the Leiden manuscript of the Hilytih al auliyd Cod. 311 Warn. by Abu Nuaim al Isfahan, who died in 1038 A. D. See the Leiden Catalogue, vol. v. p. 209. The anecdotes of Ibrahim ibn Adham occur in vol. i. f. 182 b and foil., while the story of Dhu 1...