XXVIII. Indices to the Diwan of Abu Tammam

Extract

It will probably be long before the dīwāns of the Arabic poets are fully utilized by compilers of Moslem history. Widely read in Eastern countries, they are rarely attractive to European taste, trained on quite different models. European editions, such as might be expected to make the most of the historical and archæological matter which they contain, are not in many cases likely to be attempted; and the Oriental editions, though sufficiently trustworthy in point of text, usually provide the historical student with little in the way of help. Guided by the example of Mr. Guest, who indexed Maḳrīzī for this Journal, the present writer hopes to make the access to some of these dīwāns rather easier, by furnishing them with indices of places, persons, and certain other matters. The first dīwān with which he will deal is that of the leader of the great Abbasid trio which consists of Abū Tammām, Buḥturī, and Mutanabbī.