This collection of the Divans of Ennabiga, Antara, Tharafa, Zuhair, Alqama, and Imruulqais is a rare find. Among the earliest known writers of Arabic poetry, these authors are essential components of Arabic history and literature. This study, long out of print, is the acknowledged starting point for the study of these poets. Their Divans are presented in Arabic, along with a substantial introduction by Ahlwardt, a list of variant readings and corrections, considerations of discrepancies in the manuscripts, and appendices of the fragments.

This collection of the works of ancient Arabic poets encompasses the original three volumes of the collection by Ahlwardt from 1902 and 1903. The substantial introductions and comments are in German while the works referenced appear in the original Arabic. The three volumes contain material from al Asma Iyyat of al Asmai, al Ajjah, az Zafayan, and Ruba ben al Ajjaj, poets of the pre-Islamic period. This title, bound into one volume for affordability, is increasingly difficult to acquire. The selections of the poems themselves are essential reading for any historian of Arabic poetry while the comments of the editor add interpretive value to the original material from the hands of the poets themselves.

This partial catalogue of one of the greatest Arabic-language collections in the world, housed in what in now the Berlin State Library, describes over 10,000 manuscripts in nine volumes.