Record Number: 33597

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Reading Experience:

Evidence:

When I reached home I found a man with a qasida in praise of Harold in his hand. 'He has broken the horns of the wicked', it says. I wonder if this has any relationship with the Bible phrase: 'His horn shall be exalted?'

Century:

1900-1945

Date:

21 Feb 1938

Country:

Yemen

Time

n/a

Place:

city: Huraidha
county: Shibam, Hadhramaut

Type of Experience
(Reader):
 

silent aloud unknown
solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown

Type of Experience
(Listener):
 

solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown

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Reader / Listener / Reading Group:

Reader:

Freya Stark

Age:

Adult (18-100+)

Gender:

Female

Date of Birth:

31 Jan 1893

Socio-Economic Group:

Professional / academic / merchant / farmer

Occupation:

Travel writer

Religion:

Christian

Country of Origin:

England

Country of Experience:

Yemen

Listeners present if any:
e.g family, servants, friends

n/a

Additional Comments:

n/a

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Text Being Read:

Author:

Anon Anon

Title:

[Arabic qasida (praise poem) in praise of Harold Ingrams]

Genre:

Poetry

Form of Text:

Manuscript: Sheet

Publication Details

unknown Arabic qasida (praise poem) composed in early 1938

Provenance

unknown

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Source Information:

Record ID:

33597

Source:

Print

Author:

Freya Stark

Editor:

n/a

Title:

A Winter in Arabia: A Journey through Yemen

Place of Publication:

London

Date of Publication:

1972

Vol:

n/a

Page:

173

Additional Comments:

Pagination is from the 2011 IB Tauris edition. The book was first published by John Murray in London in 1972.

Citation:

Freya Stark, A Winter in Arabia: A Journey through Yemen, (London, 1972), p. 173, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=33597, accessed: 09 May 2025

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Additional Comments:

Dame Freya Madeline Stark (31 January 1893 - 9 May 1993) was a British explorer and travel writer. This reading of a 'qasida' took place in Huraidha (near Shibam) in the Qu'aiti State of Hadhramaut, which was a British protectorate from 1858 until its abolition in 1967. The Arabic praise poem refers to the British political agent for South Arabia, Harold Ingrams, who had brokered a peace deal between warring factions. The RAF was in the process of a bombing campaign to support the 'Ingrams Peace' at the time. See also ID:33595.