"The evidence for the growth of anti-black prejudice comes in the main from two groups of sources. The first of these is literary, especially poetry and anecdote. Several Arabic poets, of the pre-Islamic and early Islamic periods, are described as "black" and are known collectively, to the literary tradition, as aghribat al-'Arab-"the crows of the Arabs."' Some of them-mostly preIslamic-were Arabs of swarthy complexion; others were of mixed Arab and African parentage. For the latter, and still more for the pure Africans, blackness was an affliction. In many verses and narratives, they are quoted as suffering from insult and discrimination, as showing resentment at this, and yet in some way as accepting the inferior status resulting from their African ancestry. One such was the poet Suhaym (d. 660), born a slave and of African origin. His name, obviously a nickname, might be translated as "little black man." In one poem he laments: 'If my color were pink, women would love me. But the lord has marred me with blackness.'"
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Historians from EnglandAcademics from the United StatesHistorians from the United StatesAcademics from the United KingdomNon-fiction authors from England
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Lewis, B. (1992). Race and slavery in the Middle East: An historical enquiry. New York: Oxford University Press. Chapter 4
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Bernard_Lewis
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Bernard Lewis
Bernard Lewis (31 May 1916 – 19 May 2018) was a British historian specializing in oriental studies.
42 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Bernard Lewis →
Related Quotes
"On 8 June 632, according to the traditional biography, the Prophet died after a short illness. He had achieved a grea…"
"You know the expression "My country, right or wrong." Well, these days, Americans are apt to think, "My country, wrong.""
"The attitude to black Africans remains on the whole negative. Some Muslim authors give balanced and factual accounts,…"
"The whole question of blackness was discussed in a special essay by Jahiz of Basra (ca. 776-869), one of the greatest…"
"As medieval Christian man could only conceive of religion in terms of a trinity, so his modern descendant can only co…"
"To the modern Western mind, it is not conceivable that men would fight and die in such numbers over mere differences …"
"The three major Middle Eastern religions are significantly different in their relations with the state and their atti…"
"In classical Arabic and in the other classical languages of Islam there are no pairs of terms corresponding to lay an…"
"For the Muslim, religion traditionally was not only universal but also central in the sense that it constituted the e…"
"The overwhelming majority of classical theologians, jurists, and traditionalists [i.e., specialists in the hadith] . …"