[Arab world]. [Islam]. - Lot 156

[Arab world]. [Islam]. ZOUHAYR, Kaab ibn. IMRUʾ AL-QAYS. Carmen panegyricum in Laudem Muhammedis. Item Amralkeisi Moallakah. Cum Scholiis, et versione Levini Warneri... Leiden, Nicolaus Moens, 1748. Small in-4 (4-24)-217-(13) pp. with engraved woodcuts and lettering. Stiff contemporary vellum, smooth spine, title and author handwritten in ink on spine (spine slightly soiled and a few marks on boards, a few spots and stains, some oxidation but a good copy). Fine vignette signed in etching, in black, with the large arms of the dedicatee, Guillaume Charles Henri Frison, prince d'Orange et Nassau, stathouder de Hollande, after the dedication. Rare. Bilingual Arabic-Latin edition of Zuhayr's poem in honor of Muhammad, in the version established by Levinus Warnerius, followed by La Muʿallaqa d'Imruʾ al-Qays in the original edition, accompanied by glosses by Gerard Joannes Lette. Kaʿb ibn Zuhayr (c. 609-662), son of the famous poet Zuhayr ibn Abī Sulmā, was himself a great Arab poet and a contemporary of the Prophet Muhammad. Initially opposed to Islam, he became the Prophet's enemy and was condemned to death. Later converted, he composed this poem in honor of Mohammed in order to obtain his forgiveness; the text is here edited by G. J. Lette. Stamps of the Jésuites de la Maison Saint-Louis de Jersey et de l'École Sainte-Geneviève (BDJ) on one endpaper and on the title page. Some handwritten annotations in Arabic throughout. Zenker, Bibliotheca Orientalis, 433.