Jamharat Ash'ar al-'Arab (Collection of Arab Poetry) - 2 volumes

A source of Arabic literature as well as a vast, rich record of the Arabs' heritage, lives, and ethics, this book introduces the people of pre-Islamic eras and Islam, in whose tongues the Qur'an was revealed, Arabic was derived from their language, evidence for the meanings of the Hadith and the Qur'an was drawn from their poetry, and morals and wisdom were attributed to them. This massive record encompasses all of the behaviors and experiences that can reflect the Arab's mind, environment, society, and customs. We encounter lovely praise that shakes the souls of those being praised, pride and glory, the glad and ecstatic poet, the sorrowful and heartbroken, and the lovelorn lover whose wounded heart started to resound.

Poetry is the Arabs' language, through which lineages were perpetuated and great actions were recognized, and this book is only a portion of this collection, containing manuscripts regarded to be origins of Arabic poetry in pre-Islamic periods and Islam.