This book, originally a series of university lectures delivered over several years, traces the development of Arabic prose during the Abbasid era, spanning from 132 AH / 750 AD to 656 AH / 1258 AD. It begins with Ibn al-Muqaffa', who opened new horizons for prose, and moves through figures like Sahl ibn Harun, al-Jahiz, Ibn Qutaybah, Ibn al-Amid, Abu Hayyan al-Tawhidi, al-Hamadhani, and al-Hariri. It concludes with Abu al-Alaa al-Ma'arri, who embodied the full scope of Arab-Islamic culture and in whose hands prose writing evolved into a complex and ornate art form.

As these lectures were prepared for publication, they were revised to appeal not only to university students but also to general readers and specialists. The content was rewritten and expanded with additional scholarly material and texts suitable for a printed book. This teaching journey resulted in a rich collection of material on Abbasid literature, which has been studied using various modern literary methods—sometimes historical and chronological, other times artistic and integrative.

The course material is organized into eleven chapters:

• Chapter One: An introductory study on the political, social, and cultural life and its impact on the course of Abbasid prose.
• Chapter Two: Discusses the schools of artistic prose, particularly the schools of Tarsil (epistolary style) and Badi' (ornate style).
• Chapters Three and Four: Dedicated to the key figures of the Tarsil school, including Abdullah Ibn al-Muqaffa', Sahl ibn Harun, Ahmad ibn Yusuf, Amr ibn Mas'ada, Ibn al-Zayyat, al-Jahiz, Ibn Qutaybah, and al-Tawhidi.
• Chapter Five: Focuses on the prominent figures of the Badi' school, such as Ibn al-Amid, Badi' al-Zaman al-Hamadhani, Abu al-Alaa al-Ma'arri, and al-Hariri.
• The Final Six Chapters: Cover the various genres of Arabic prose: oral, written, short narratives, long narratives, and popular narratives.

The objectives of this book are:

• To connect literature with life in its various political and social states, as literature is the other face of life.
• To identify the schools of Abbasid prose, which crystallized into two: the Tarsil school and the Badi' school.
• To conduct a critical-historical study of the masters of Abbasid prose, outlining their literary personalities and their impact on the development of Arabic prose.
• To study the genres of Abbasid prose—oral, written, and various narratives—by analyzing exemplary texts that represent the spirit of the Abbasid era.

Book Details:

• Number of Pages: 296
• Year of Publication: 2025
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition: 4th
• Printing Color: Black & White
• Dimensions (cm): 17x24
• Weight (kg): 0.500
• Barcode: 9789957067915