Seven hundred and fifty years ago, this anthology of small masterpieces of renowned Moorish poets was compiled by Ibn Sa'id al-Andalusi, a native of Southern Spain. Its full title was The Pennants of the Champions and the Standards of the Distinguished. The selections were from poets born in Muslim Spain, North Africa and Sicily, the authors being classified according to their social status. The text of this anthology was printed and published in Madrid in 1942, and it has now been translated into rhymed English verses with an Introduction explaining the strict conventions of Arabic literature of the time, within which all these Moorish poets worked.
