The Genius of Invective: Ibn Zaydūn’s Letter Explained

A brilliant exposition of Arabic literary culture

In 11th-century Córdoba, the celebrated poet Ibn Zaydūn found himself jockeying for the affections of Wallādah, accomplished poet and free-spirited daughter of an Umayyad caliph. Looking to embarrass a rival suitor, Ibn Zaydūn mischievously wrote and publicized an eloquent, erudite, and searing rejection letter in Wallādah’s name, which went on to become one of the most widely read works of Arabic literature. His letter was so rich with historical references and sophisticated metaphors that it became a cultural touchstone among the literary elite. One could not belong in refined circles if one did not understand Ibn Zaydūn’s letter.

Three centuries later, the Egyptian litterateur Ibn Nubātah wrote a guide to this widely-admired text. In The Genius of Invective, a brilliant work of explication, Ibn Nubātah supplements Ibn Zaydūn’s complete letter with concise biographies of every figure referenced in it and glosses arcane Arabic terms. This wide-ranging volume offered readers a veritable encyclopedia of the key cultural and literary references that peppered Ibn Zaydūn’s famous letter.

As impressive in its own right as the remarkable letter that inspired it, The Genius of Invective is a peerless example of the breadth, depth, and complexity of the Arabic classical literary tradition.

A bilingual Arabic-English edition.

Ibn Nubātah (Author)
Ibn Nubātah (686-768/1287-1366) was an Egyptian litterateur, known for both his accomplished prose style and for his poetry.

Peter Webb (Edited and Translated by)
Peter Webb is a University Lecturer in Arabic Literature and Culture at Leiden University. He researches Arabic literature, cultural production, communal identity, and the history of the Hajj in the pre-modern Middle East. The origins and evolution of Arab identity were the subject of both his book Imagining the Arabs: Arab Identity and the Rise of Islam (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2016), and his first contribution to the Library of Arabic Literature: The Excellence of the Arabs (with James Montgomery and Sarah Savant). His recent publications, including The Genius of Invective and a critical edition and translation of al-Maqrīzī’s The Arab Thieves (Brill, 2019), are part of a larger project studying how Muslims memorialized, mythologized, and recounted the pre-Islamic past. His current research project is a wide-ranging reinvestigation of pre-Islamic poetry in its Arabian geographical and historical context. Prior to his academic career, Peter was a solicitor at Clifford Chance LLP.