Oral Poetry and Narratives from Central Arabia, Volume 2 Story of a Desert Knight: The Legend of SlewihI? al-'AtI?awi and other 'Utaybah Heroes. An Edition with Translation and Introduction
The Story of a Desert Knight is the second volume of a trilogy entitled Oral Poetry and Narratives from Central Arabia. It is devoted to the narratives told about and the poems composed by Šlēwīhū al-‘Atūāwi and his brother Bxīt, both famous desert knights in the middle and second half of the nineteenth century. The principal source of this book is Šlēwīhū's great-grandson Xālid, a sheikh of the ‘Utaybah tribe.\ The introduction discusses inter alia the general characteristics of Bedouin oral...
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This volume presents in translation and transcription the oral text of narratives about and poems by Šlēwīḥ, one of Arabia's most famous nineteenth-century robber barons, recorded by Xālid, a sheikh of the ‘Utaybah tribe of Saudi Arabia and the great-grandson of Šlēwīḥ.
AcknowledgmentsNotation SymbolsIllustrationsIntroduction1Preface: the Poet and the Rawi3Bedouin Oral Culture10Transmission of Poetry10The Sheikhs of ar-Rugah and the Village Poet13Muhig al-Gannami15Entertainment in the Majlis18Tribal Raiding in the Past as a Subject of Today's Majlis Conversation20The 'Days of the Arabs'22The Heroic Character and the Anti-Hero25The Transmitter and the Performance Context28Xalid ibn Slewih28Sheikh and Desert Politician30In Xalid's Majlis40Xalid as a Majlis Performer47Recording with Xalid51The House of Slewih54Family Tree of Xalid ibn Slewih55The Tebah Tribe59Table of Tebah Tribes60Interpretation of the Text65The Story and the Poem65General Remarks on the Relation between Poem and Narrative74Slewih and History76Warfare and Raiding81Relations with Barga84The Desert Knight86Inverted Gazal and Backhanded Praise87Love Poetry91Poems by Sons of Slewih92Poems by Women of Duwi Atiyyah93With the Siyabin at ad-Dakhul: Reaching for the Past97This Edition and Other Editions105Language and Prosody110Language110Style and Prosody of the Poetry124Note on Transcription137Text and Translation141Slewih ibn Maiz al-Atawi142The Beginning of a Raid Commander's Career142The Desert Knight158A Face Marked by the Sun168The Battle of Talal178Raids, Warfare and Tribal Quarrels190Love Poetry208Two Verses of Wisdom216The Death of Slewih216Bxit ibn Maiz222A Dirge on His Mare222A Lower-Class Bedouin232Warfare with the Tribe of al-Bgum238Warfare with the Salawa Tribe252Bxit's Poetic Romancing with a Lady of the Bgum256Bxit's Verse in Praise of His Tribal Area264Other Members of the Family and Tribe266Ditties by Slewih's Sons (Fajir, Fari, Gaid)266Poem by Slewih's Daughter al-Ati274Ibn Slewih's Relation to the al-Barrag Family274Poems by Women Married into the Slewih Clan (Sarah, Hdayah)276Some Poems by Marsa al-Atawiyyah282Two Narratives by Ibn Nwayyir of as-Siyabin288Glossary317App. Examples of Scansion471App. Variant Readings of the Poems478App. Place Names499App. Sources of Reference509App. Map513
