Anthology of Arabic literature, culture, and thought from pre-Islamic times to the present

"This book - the first comprehensive reader of Arabic literature from pre-Islamic times to the present - is an essential work for advanced students of the Arabic language. Presenting seventy works by seventy authors, it includes: pre-Islamic poetry and prose; selections from the Qur'an; the Prophet Muhammad's last sermon; the powerful writing of Ali Ibn Abi Talib the fourth Islamic Caliph; writings from the Golden Age of the Arabs (A.D. 750-1258) in philosophy, mysticism, prose, and poetry; works from the neoclassical, modernist and metaphorical schools; literature of the Arabs in Andalus, Spain; discussions of cultural, literary, critical, and political movements of the present day; and vocabulary lists a list of idioms and notes, a set of questions about the text, and two glossaries."--BOOK JACKET.