Library of Arabic Literature
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"He had no sense of how to humor men, And that’s a sin too great to be excused."
October 16, 2025 at 12:10 PM
"He had no sense of how to humor men, And that’s a sin too great to be excused."
"Ibn Ḥamdūn declaimed: I gave my soul to love . . .
And she answered on the spot: . . . and love ruled like a tyrant.
He continued: So I became a humble slave . . .
And she rejoined: . . . and followed where he went."
And she answered on the spot: . . . and love ruled like a tyrant.
He continued: So I became a humble slave . . .
And she rejoined: . . . and followed where he went."
September 7, 2025 at 12:10 PM
"Ibn Ḥamdūn declaimed: I gave my soul to love . . .
And she answered on the spot: . . . and love ruled like a tyrant.
He continued: So I became a humble slave . . .
And she rejoined: . . . and followed where he went."
And she answered on the spot: . . . and love ruled like a tyrant.
He continued: So I became a humble slave . . .
And she rejoined: . . . and followed where he went."
“The wise man is not someone who can discern good from evil, but rather someone who can tell the better of two evils.”
September 6, 2025 at 12:10 PM
“The wise man is not someone who can discern good from evil, but rather someone who can tell the better of two evils.”
"I thus declare: certain of our most eminent scholars have said that the woman is more honorable than the man, more imposing, nobler, more clem- ent, more virtuous, and more generous."
September 5, 2025 at 12:10 PM
"I thus declare: certain of our most eminent scholars have said that the woman is more honorable than the man, more imposing, nobler, more clem- ent, more virtuous, and more generous."
"Let this be a lesson to all who would take heed: Do not be seduced by the world. It will only dupe and deceive you."
September 4, 2025 at 12:10 PM
"Let this be a lesson to all who would take heed: Do not be seduced by the world. It will only dupe and deceive you."
"“Glory,” said she, “lies in change of location. If hopes could be attained through nobility of domicile, the sun would never leave its ovine station.”"
September 3, 2025 at 12:10 PM
"“Glory,” said she, “lies in change of location. If hopes could be attained through nobility of domicile, the sun would never leave its ovine station.”"
"Where are the folly of youth with its excesses so easily excused? Gone. Vanished. Now far away."
September 2, 2025 at 12:10 PM
"Where are the folly of youth with its excesses so easily excused? Gone. Vanished. Now far away."
"If you haven't seized what you've missed in life, go for it now and for as long as you can."
September 1, 2025 at 12:10 PM
"If you haven't seized what you've missed in life, go for it now and for as long as you can."
"Blamers of love, go easy; I can never replace my love of him."
August 31, 2025 at 12:10 PM
"Blamers of love, go easy; I can never replace my love of him."
"All people reveal their character when touched by hardship."
August 30, 2025 at 12:10 PM
"All people reveal their character when touched by hardship."
"He said, “Just think, wife—we’ve lived together a goodly span of time.” “That’s all I think of,” she replied. The Fāriyāq resumed his narrative. “I asked her, ‘Hatefully or gratefully?’ and she replied, ‘Half the latter and half the former.’"
August 29, 2025 at 12:10 PM
"He said, “Just think, wife—we’ve lived together a goodly span of time.” “That’s all I think of,” she replied. The Fāriyāq resumed his narrative. “I asked her, ‘Hatefully or gratefully?’ and she replied, ‘Half the latter and half the former.’"
"Worries besiege me in swelling numbers. As I lie awake, my heart bleeds for a reason: what use blaming lovers inflamed by passion?"
August 28, 2025 at 12:10 PM
"Worries besiege me in swelling numbers. As I lie awake, my heart bleeds for a reason: what use blaming lovers inflamed by passion?"
"Early, when the pink of dawn glows in the dark, I go hunting."
August 27, 2025 at 12:10 PM
"Early, when the pink of dawn glows in the dark, I go hunting."
"A sun, whose approach makes plain that the sun itself need not trouble to rise, You grow, despite your years, in brightness and in beauty as wine grows more delicate in its old age."
August 26, 2025 at 12:10 PM
"A sun, whose approach makes plain that the sun itself need not trouble to rise, You grow, despite your years, in brightness and in beauty as wine grows more delicate in its old age."
“Whenever her nightly phantom visits me my eyes are hurt, my tear ducts overflow,
with tears like pearls let loose—strung on a string, but now the string has let them down.”
with tears like pearls let loose—strung on a string, but now the string has let them down.”
August 25, 2025 at 12:10 PM
“Whenever her nightly phantom visits me my eyes are hurt, my tear ducts overflow,
with tears like pearls let loose—strung on a string, but now the string has let them down.”
with tears like pearls let loose—strung on a string, but now the string has let them down.”
"My heart is a valley that’s crawling with locusts; at night, they strip every shrub bare of its leaves. It’s as if I’m in a wooden ship tossed by a raging sea, swollen by the storm winds that drive the surging waves,"
August 24, 2025 at 12:10 PM
"My heart is a valley that’s crawling with locusts; at night, they strip every shrub bare of its leaves. It’s as if I’m in a wooden ship tossed by a raging sea, swollen by the storm winds that drive the surging waves,"
"Judge with the eye of rationality and judicious calculation, not that of passion and foolish, inconsequential speculation!"
August 23, 2025 at 12:10 PM
"Judge with the eye of rationality and judicious calculation, not that of passion and foolish, inconsequential speculation!"
"Nothing in existence can be still, not even for a single moment in time,"
August 22, 2025 at 12:10 PM
"Nothing in existence can be still, not even for a single moment in time,"
"Love is one of those things specific to the stage beyond the intellect"
August 21, 2025 at 12:10 PM
"Love is one of those things specific to the stage beyond the intellect"
“Whoever has love in his mind deserves to have a friend who shares his mind with him and doesn’t hold back his thoughts.”
August 20, 2025 at 12:10 PM
“Whoever has love in his mind deserves to have a friend who shares his mind with him and doesn’t hold back his thoughts.”
"Let them kill me—my deeds will live."
August 19, 2025 at 12:10 PM
"Let them kill me—my deeds will live."
"I’d rather have a slab of rock for a pillow than sleep on a soft carpet in a land of ignominy."
August 18, 2025 at 12:10 PM
"I’d rather have a slab of rock for a pillow than sleep on a soft carpet in a land of ignominy."
"While the verses it contains are like bricks in their stacking, and there are learned discussions free for the taking. Gaze on it well and peruse it truly and very soon you’ll find your stomach’s unruly!"
August 17, 2025 at 12:10 PM
"While the verses it contains are like bricks in their stacking, and there are learned discussions free for the taking. Gaze on it well and peruse it truly and very soon you’ll find your stomach’s unruly!"
"Friendship never prevented him from intervening when someone he cared for behaved badly or wronged anyone else."
August 16, 2025 at 12:10 PM
"Friendship never prevented him from intervening when someone he cared for behaved badly or wronged anyone else."
"I wander the palace, but I see no one, no one will answer my plaint, it would seem, I feel as though I’ve committed a sin, one I can repent of but can never redeem."
August 15, 2025 at 12:10 PM
"I wander the palace, but I see no one, no one will answer my plaint, it would seem, I feel as though I’ve committed a sin, one I can repent of but can never redeem."