Here are excerpts from dozens of works–both renowned (The Qur’an, The Thousand and One Nights) and esoteric (Ibn Washshiyya’s “Book of Poisons”; a 10th-century poem in praise of asparagus)–all accompanied by Robert Irwin’s erudite commentaries that illuminate readers on the vanished world in which they were written.In Night & Horses & the Desert we encounter the dashing Byronic poetry of Imru’ al-Qays and a treatise on bibliomania by Al-Jahiz, possibly the only writer to have been killed by books. There’s a sorcerer’s manual from 11th century Spain and an allegory by the mysterious “Brethren of Purity,” in which animals argue their case against humanity. Encompassing piety and profanity, fables and philosophy, this volume is a thrilling and invaluabe introduction to one of the world’s great bodies of literature.

    The definitive one-volume Urdu text by Ghalib Lakhnavi and Abdullah Bilgrami appeared toward the end of the nineteenth century, but English translations of this text have always been censored and abridged-until now.In Musharraf Ali Farooqi's faithful rendition, "The Adventures of Amir Hamza" is captured with all its colorful action, ribaldry, and fantastic elements intact. Here is the spellbinding story of Amir Hamza, the adventurer who loves Mehr-Nigar, the daughter of the Persian emperor, Naushervan. Traveling to exotic lands in the service of his emperor, Amir Hamza defeats many enemies, loves many women, and converts hundreds of infidels to the True Faith of Islam before finding his way back to his first love. Guided by a Merlin-like clairvoyant called Buzurjmehr, protected by legendary prophets, and accompanied by his loyal friend, the ingenious trickster Amar Ayyar, Amir Hamza rides his devoted winged demon-steed, Ashqar, into combat against a marvelous array of opponents, from the deadly demon, Sufaid Dev, to his own rebellious sons.Appreciated as the seminal Islamic epic or enjoyed as a sweeping tale as rich and inventive as Homer's epic sagas, "The Adventures of Amir Hamza" is an extraordinary creation and a true literary treasure.

    You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.

    Who will be his next victim!?

    Known for his profound mystical wisdom combined with a sublime sensuousness, Hafiz was the supreme master of a poetic form known as the ghazal (pronounced "guzzle"), an ode or song consisting of rhymed couplets celebrating divine love. In this selection of his poems, wine and the intoxication it brings are the image that expresses this love in all its joyful abandon, painful longing, bewilderment, and surrender. Through ninety-five free-verse renditions, we gain entry into the mystical world of Hafiz's Winehouse, with its happy minstrels, its bewitching Winebringer, and its companions in drunken longing whose hearts cry out, "More wine!" Thomas Rain Crowe brings a new dimension to our growing appreciation of Hafiz and his wise drunkard's advice to the seekers of God: In this world of illusion, take nothing other than this cup of wine; In this playhouse, don't play any games but love.

    Torn away from the girl he wants to marry, he spends many bitter years in the grim island prison of the Chateau d'If. A fellow prisoner, the Abbe Faria, tells him the secret of the treasure hidden on the island of Monte Cristo. Now, if only he can escape from the fortress, he can become rich - and be revenged on the people who betrayed him all those years ago...The Count of Monte Cristo has been abridged and simplified by Beatrice Conway

    Pithy quatrains, ecstatic odes, and long rambles through the Mathnawi (including animal fables, jokes, and stories of human orneriness and innocence), all saturated with Rumi's deep teachings and images of his spiritual surrender.

    You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.

    Identifies the gods, goddesses, heroes, and monsters of Greek mythology, recounts the most famous stories, and briefly describes Greek history and culture.

    K. Narayan at his best, offering enchanting tales of human absurdity that are also skillfully woven parables infused with Hindu mysticism. A Tiger for Malgudi is told from the point of view of the tiger Raja, now old and toothless, who looks back on his life in the circus and in films, and on his dramatic bid to escape the brutish human world in a quest for freedom. The Man-Eater of Malgudi is the story of Nataraj, a mild-mannered printer who stands up to Vasu, a pugnacious taxidermist, when Vasu begins to covet the beloved temple elephant for his collection.For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

    This new poetic translation seeks to capture the nuances of meaning and the whole spirit of this poetry. It is not merely a selection but covers all the surviving poems and intelligible fragments, apart from the works of Pindar and Bacchylides, and includes a number of pieces not previously translated. The introduction gives a brief account of the poets, and explanatory notes on the texts can be found at the end.

    Sometimes you try and it’s just so boring and impenetrable that you can’t get through it. And then, even worse, sometimes you’re asked to take a test or write a paper about it. If that sounds familiar, then BookHacker was designed for you.BookHacker summaries strip away all the subtlety and stuffiness of literature’s classic works (100% “thou”-free guaranteed) and get right to the point. Taking away all the guess work, BookHacker presents the book's warm gooey center in a concise, logical and entertaining way. Just because literary classics can be dry and boring doesn't mean understanding them has to be.In Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird, BookHacker gets to the essence of what’s going down in Depression-era Maycomb, Alabama. Told through the eyes of Scout Finch, whose youthful idealism is being chipped away by the evils of her small, Southern town, BookHacker walks you through a fight for justice her father Atticus cannot win. It's his unerring dedication to protecting the innocent (and his badass sniper skills) that gives her hope."I'm not going to lie--I used this to get out of having to read the book for class and it worked" Steven, 10th grade

“BookHacker gave me exact details and plotting, EXACTLY everything I needed to get through a dry, tough book” Rebecca, college freshman 

“This was surprisingly cool and honest. Would I want my teachers to know I used it? No, but that's why it's worth buying." Andrew, 12th gradeBOOKHACKER BREAKDOWN:1. Executive Summary - This is the Who, What, Where, When, Why, How in 60 seconds or less.2. Plot - We do the reading so you don’t have to. The essential plot points of the story.3. Scenes - Every great story has a number of number of important moments that are crucial (read: "testable") to its understanding. These are those.4. Characters - If you can’t figure out what this section is about, you should probably be coloring.5. Analysis - Themes, symbolism, and all manner of insufferable literary nonsense.6. Quotes - All the intimacy of the book with none of the commitment.7. Popular Culture - Books have a way of finding their place in the cultural consciousness. You might want to know about that.8. Extras - Media, links and leftovers.

    Variant dialectic forms are given, together with variant forms found in the same dialect. Purely poetic words and words not common in prose are indicated, and references are given to the passages in which they occur. First published in 1894, this is a reprint of the fourth edition (Cambridge University Press, 1960).

    This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book.