WHEN EVENING FALLS, SURELY WAIT FOR ME

Discover the treasures of the Golden Age literature in Al-Andalus! This anthology is a unique journey to 11th-century Muslim Spain, where Arabic poetry reached its peak. Immerse yourself in the world of elegies, erotica, panegyrics, and satires that make up a multi-voiced story of an era of change.

• Original Arabic versions of the works
• Polish literary translations with commentary
• Representative selection of diverse works
• Poems by the most famous poets of this period
• The work of female poets bold and uncompromising
• Invitation to the world of literature born on the border of cultures and religions

In When Evening Falls, Surely Wait for Me, we present a selection of Arabic poetry from 11th-century Muslim Spain (Al-Andalus). The volume contains original Arabic versions of the works and Polish literary translations with commentary by Mateusz Wilk. The poetry of the Golden Age of Al-Andalus was born in an era of unrest after the collapse of the Caliphate of Córdoba, in times of struggle for power and the progressing Reconquista. We find in it not only numerous voices of disappointment and bitterness, but also descriptions of the splendor of the courts of the 11th-century emirs of Seville and other cities in the region. The poems collected here form a multi-voiced story of Muslim Spain in an era of transition from the shock of the fall of the Caliphate, through a relatively short burst of courtly culture, to the definitive end of the Golden Age.

The volume offers a representative selection of diverse works from that time: elegies intertwine with erotica, panegyrics with satires and metaphysical poetry. We find in it poems by the most famous poets of this period, such as Ibn Zaydun, Al-Mu?tamid or Ibn ?afaga, but also less known authors, including female poets, whose work bold, uncompromising, sometimes surprisingly direct still amazes with its intensity of expression. The anthology is an invitation to the world of literature born on the border of cultures and religions extremely diverse in terms of form and subject matter, and yet still alive and moving. We invite you to read!