Arabic Authors: A Manual of Arabian History and LiteratureArbuthnot, F. F.
History
Arabic Authors: A Manual of Arabian History and Literature
Arbuthnot, F. F.
Arabian Peninsula -- History; Arabic literature -- History and criticism
The Kalilah wa Dimnah.--'Early Ideas.'--'Persian Portraits,'--Origin
of the 'Arabian Nights.'--The Hazar Afsaneh, or Thousand Stories. Date
of the 'Nights.'--Its fables and apologues the oldest part of the
work.--Then certain stories--The latest tales.--Galland's
edition.--His biography.--His successors, sixteen in number, ending with
Payne and Burton.--The complete translations of these two last-named, in
thirteen and sixteen volumes respectively.--Brief analysis of Payne's
first nine, and of Burton's first ten volumes.--Short summary of
twelve stories; viz.: The tale of Aziz and Azizah; the tale of Kamar
Al-Zaman and the Lady Budur; Ala Aldin Abu Al-Shamat; Ali the Persian
and the Kurd sharper; the man of Al-Yaman and his six slave-girls; Abu
Al-Husn and his slave-girl Tawaddud; the rogueries of Dalilah the
Crafty and her daughter Zeynab the Trickstress; the adventures of
Quicksilver Ali of Cairo; Hasan of Busra and the king's daughter of
the Jinn; Ali Nur Al-din and Miriam the girdle-girl; Kamar Al-Zaman
and the jeweller's wife; Ma'aruf the cobbler and his wife
Fatimah.--Remarks on Payne's three extra volumes, entitled 'Tales from
the Arabic,' and on Burton's two first supplemental volumes.--Allusion
to Burton's third supplemental and to Payne's thirteenth
volume.--Burton's fourth, fifth, and sixth supplemental volumes.
--Summing-up of the number of stories contained in the above two
editions; from what manuscripts they were translated, and some final
remarks.--The Katha Sarit Sagara, a sort of Hindoo 'Arabian Nights'.
--Comparison of the two works.--Brief description of the Katha and its
contents.--Gunadhya and Somadeva.--Final remarks on the stories found
in the Katha.--Antar, a Bedouin romance.--Its partial translation.--Its
supposed author.--Brief description of the work, with some remarks upon
it.--Both the 'Arabian Nights' and Antar rather long.--The press in
England to-day.--Numerous writers of novels and story-books.--These
take the place of the 'Nights,' and satisfy the public, always in
search of something new, even if not true; something original, even if
not trustworthy.--Final remarks.
CHAPTER V.
ANECDOTES AND ANA.
In Persian literature the Gulistan, Negaristan, and Beharistan contain
many anecdotes.--In Arabic literature there are works of the same
kind.--'The Naphut-ul-Yaman,' or Breath of Yaman.--Six stories
translated from it.--The Merzuban namah, with newly translated
extracts from it.--Remarks on this work.--The Al-Mustatraf, or the
Gleaner or the Collector.--Two stories from it.--Two anecdotes taken
from the Sehr-ul-oyoon, or Magic of the Eyes.--A philosophic
discourse, translated from the Siraj-ul-Muluk, or Lamp of Kings.--The
Ilam en Nas, or Warnings for Men.--Eighteen stories from Ibn
Khallikan's Biographical Dictionary.--Seven anecdotes from various
sources.--Verses from the Arabic about the places where certain Arabs
wished to be buried.--Translation of the verses upon Alfred de
Musset's tomb in Paris.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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