Originally published in 1965, this is an introductory book for university students of Arabic literature. It begins with a substantial introduction in English by Professor Arberry on the development, nature, forms and rhythms of Arabic poetry. The main body of the book is an anthology of Arabic poems in the original, from the sixth century onwards, giving examples of the work of some thirty of the greatest Arab poets. Each poem has a literal English translation on the facing page; the notes, on points of language and style, are placed at the foot across the whole opening. Biographical notes on the poets are placed at the end of the book.
Cuneiform records made some three thousand years ago are the basis for this essay on the ideas of death and the afterlife and the story of the flood which were current among the ancient peoples of the
