4to. xxiii, [1], 53 pp., of German text, 92 pp., of Arabic text, unopened copy, title in German and Arabic, translated & edited by J. Barth, original soft covers as published, cover slightly soiled with long tear on German cover without any loss, weak spine rubbed at extremities, otherwise copy clean inside & in very good condition, Mit Unterstutzung der Kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften in Wien Series, E. J. Brill, Leiden, first edition, 1902.

Synopsis

Abu Sa’id Umayr ibn Shiyaym (or Shyaym) al-Taghlibi al-Qutami was an Umayyad poet, who, like Muslim ibn al-Walid, was known as Sari al-Ghawani. Little is known about his life. According to ‘Abd al-Qahir al Jurjani’, he was a Christian who converted to Islam; al-Qutami remained Christian until the Abbasid period. His poetry consists of wasf, madih and ghazal; Ibn Sallam placed him in the second Tabaqa of poets, alongside the likes of Dhu al-Rumma, though he was in fact closer in inspiration to Jarir and similar to al-Akhtal in his Ghazal and Nasib. He drew inspiration from the desert roots of Arab culture to the exclusion of its new urban context. Notably there are a number of aphorisms in his poetry. [extracted from the Encyclopaedia of Arabic Literature, Volume 2]. COPAC lists only one copy at the University of London.