Back-cover text:
The Seven Hanging Odes (Al-Mu‘allaqat) is an anthology featuring some of the finest examples of pre-Islamic Arabic poetry. It comprises the mu‘allaqas of Imru’ al-Qays, Tarafa, Antara, Zuhayr ibn Abi Sulma, Labid, Amr ibn Kulthum, and al-Harith ibn Hilliza.
In his foreword to the book, the great poet and thinker Adonis writes:
“What is known as Jahili poetry is the poetry of a civilisation. It is borne along by the same waves that carry the poetry of all civilisations. Thus, Jahili poetry is at times rational and at times romantic; at times realistic and at times fantastical. It sometimes conforms to the conventions of life and sometimes defies them. At times it is docile, at times rebellious; at times wild, at times virtuous; at times logical, and at times unruly and imaginative. Jahili poetry is pluralistic. Any poetics of reading it must therefore inevitably entail a reconsideration of the history of poetry, poetic value, concepts, and the dimensions of tradition and innovation.”
Presenting the original Arabic texts alongside their Turkish translations on facing pages, The Seven Hanging Odes brings these masterpieces to Turkish readers in Mehmet Hakkı Suçin’s peerless translation.
"Dışarı çıktık birlikte yürüdük kumlarda
İzlerimizi siliyordu abiyesinin nakışlı etekleri
Kum tepeleri serpiştirilmiş bir düzlüğün içine daldık
Geride bıraktık kabilenin meydanlarını"
("We slipped away together and walked across the sands,
The embroidered hem of her abaya erasing our tracks.
We plunged into a plain scattered with dunes,
Leaving the tribe’s encampments far behind.")
—Imru’ al-Qays