{"product_id":"brains-confounded-by-the-ode-ysuf-al-shirbn-9781479840212","title":"Brains Confounded by the Ode of Ab\u0026#363; Sh\u0026#257;d\u0026#363;f Expounded: Volume One","description":"\u003cp\u003eWitty, bawdy, and vicious, Yūsuf al-Shirbīnī's \u003ci\u003eBrains Confounded\u003c\/i\u003e pits the \"coarse\" rural masses against the \"refined\" urban population. In Volume One, al-Shirbīnī describes the three rural \"types\"--peasant cultivator, village man-of-religion, and rural dervish--offering anecdotes testifying to the ignorance, dirtiness, and criminality of each. In Volume Two, he presents a hilarious parody of the verse-and-commentary genre so beloved by scholars of his day, with a 47-line poem supposedly written by a peasant named Abū Shādūf, who charts the rise and fall of his fortunes. Wielding the scholarly tools of elite literature, al-Shirbīnī responds to the poem with derision and ridicule, dotting his satire with digressions into love, food, and flatulence. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eVolume Two of \u003ci\u003eBrains Confounded\u003c\/i\u003e is followed by \u003ci\u003eRisible Rhymes\u003c\/i\u003e, a concise text that includes a comic disquisition on \"rural\" verse, mocking the pretensions of uneducated poets from Egypt's countryside. \u003ci\u003eRisible Rhymes\u003c\/i\u003e also examines various kinds of puzzle poems, which were another popular genre of the day, and presents a debate between scholars over a line of verse by the fourth\/tenth-century poet al-Mutanabbī. Together, \u003ci\u003eBrains Confounded \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eRisible Rhymes\u003c\/i\u003e offer intriguing insight into the intellectual concerns of Ottoman Egypt, showcasing the intense preoccupation with wordplay, grammar, and stylistics and shedding light on the literature of the era. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAn English-only edition.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Yūsuf Al-Shirbīnī\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 1479840211\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781479840212\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e New York University Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 04\/09\/2019\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 320\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.10lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.20h x 5.50w x 0.90d","brand":"Y\u0026#363;suf Al-Shirb\u0026#299;n\u0026#299;","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":43985739645183,"sku":"9781479840212","price":16.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_aa99aaa9-ac08-4304-8f3d-8a55411190de.jpg?v=1683279279","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/brains-confounded-by-the-ode-ysuf-al-shirbn-9781479840212","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}