SOURCE: Wormhoudt, Arthur. “The Blessing of Ishmael and Esau.” In The Blessing of Ishmael and Esau in the Diwan of Abu Tayyib ibn al Husain al Kindi al Mutanabbi, pp. 1-57. Oskaloosa, Iowa: William Penn College, 1992.

In the following excerpt, Wormhoudt explicates several of al-Mutanabbi's poems.

Ishmael and Esau both play important roles in the tradition of which the New Testament and the Quran are a part. Ishmael is mentioned several times in the Quran since he and his father Abraham are said to be the builders of the Ka'ba at Mecca. Esau is important to Arabic Christians since his name is spelled ‘Isu and the name of Jesus is spelled ‘Isa. The root ‘is’ can mean to wither and become gray. The former term is applied to crops, the latter to camels. The name of Abraham is often referred to in both the Quran and the New...