Arabic literature (Arabic:الأدب العربي /ALA-LC:al-Adab al-‘Arabī) is the writing, both asprose andpoetry, produced by writers in theArabic language. The Arabic word used for literature isAdab, which comes from a meaning ofetiquette, and which implies politeness, culture and enrichment.[1]
Arabic literature, primarily transmitted orally, began to be documented in written form in the 7th century, with only fragments of written Arabic appearing before then.
TheQur'an[2] would have the greatest lasting effect onArab culture and its literature. Arabic literature flourished during theIslamic Golden Age, but has remained vibrant to the present day, with poets and prose-writers across theArab world, as well as in theArab diaspora, achieving increasing success.[3]
Pre-Islamic Arabic poetry is referred to in traditional Arabic literature asal-shiʿr al-Jāhilī, "poetry from theJahiliyyah".[4] Inpre-Islamic Arabia, markets such asSouq Okaz, in addition toSouq Majanna [ar] andSouq Dhi al-Majāz [ar], were destinations for caravans from throughout the peninsula.[5] At these markets poetry was recited, and the dialect of theQuraysh, the tribe in control of Souq Okaz of Mecca, became predominant.[5]
As literature was transmitted orally and not written, prose represents little of what has been passed down.[5] The main forms were parables (المَثَلal-mathal), speeches (الخطابةal-khitāba), and stories (القِصَصal-qisas).[5]
The Qur'an is one of the most influential examples of Arabic literature
TheQur'an, the mainholy book ofIslam, had a significant influence on the Arabic language, and marked the beginning ofIslamic literature. Muslims believe it was transcribed in the Arabic dialect of theQuraysh, the tribe ofMuhammad.[5][7] As Islam spread, the Quran had the effect of unifying and standardizing Arabic.[5]
Not only is the Qur'an the first work of any significant length written in the language but it also has a far more complicated structure than the earlier literary works with its 114surah (chapters) which contain 6,236ayat (verses). It containsinjunctions,narratives,homilies,parables, direct addresses from God, instructions and even comments on how the Qu'ran will be received and understood. It is also admired for its layers of metaphor as well as its clarity, a feature which is mentioned inAn-Nahl, the 16th surah.
The 92Meccan suras, believed to have been revealed to Muhammad in Mecca before theHijra, deal primarily withʾuṣūl ad-dīn, or "the principles of religion", whereas the 22Medinan suras, believed to have been revealed to him after the Hijra, deal primarily withSharia and prescriptions of Islamic life.[5]
The wordqur'an comes from the Arabic root qaraʼa (قرأ), meaning "he read" or "he recited"; in early times the text was transmitted orally. The various tablets and scraps on which its suras were written were compiled underAbu Bakr (573-634), and first transcribed in unifiedmasahif, or copies of the Qur'an, underUthman (576–656).[5]
Although it contains elements of both prose and poetry, and therefore is closest toSaj orrhymed prose, the Qur'an is regarded as entirely apart from these classifications. The text is believed to bedivine revelation and is seen byMuslims as being eternal or 'uncreated'. This leads to the doctrine ofi'jaz or inimitability of the Qur'an which implies that nobody can copy the work's style.
Or do they say, “He has fabricated this ˹Quran˺!”? Say, ˹O Prophet,˺ “Produce ten fabricated sûrahs like it and seek help from whoever you can—other than Allah—if what you say is true!”
— 11:13
And if you are in doubt about what We have revealed to Our servant, then produce a sûrah like it and call your helpers other than
Allah, if what you say is true.
But if you do not - and you will never be able to - then fear the Fire, whose fuel is people and stones, prepared for the disbelievers.
— 2:23-24
Say, "If mankind and the jinn gathered in order to produce the like of this Qur’ān, they could not produce the like of it, even if they were to each other assistants."
— 17:88
This doctrine ofi'jaz possibly had a slight limiting effect on Arabic literature; proscribing exactly what could be written. Whilst Islam allows Muslims to write, read and recite poetry, the Qur'an states in the 26th sura (Ash-Shu'ara or The Poets) that poetry which is blasphemous, obscene, praiseworthy of sinful acts, or attempts to challenge the Qu'ran's content and form, is forbidden for Muslims.
And as to the poets, those who go astray follow them
Do you not see that they wander about bewildered in every valley? And that they say that which they do not do
Except those who believe and do good works and remember Allah much and defend themselves after they are oppressed; and they who act unjustly shall know to what final place of turning they shall turn back.
— 26:224-227
This may have exerted dominance over the pre-Islamic poets of the 6th century whose popularity may have vied with the Qur'an amongst the people. There was a marked lack of significant poets until the 8th century. One notable exception wasHassan ibn Thabit who wrote poems in praise ofMuhammad and was known as the "prophet's poet". Just as theBible has held an important place in the literature of other languages, The Qur'an is important to Arabic. It is the source of many ideas, allusions and quotes and its moral message informs many works.
Aside from the Qur'an thehadith or tradition of what Muhammed is supposed to have said and done are important literature. The entire body of these acts and words are calledsunnah or way and the ones regarded assahih or genuine of them are collected into hadith. Some of the most significant collections of hadith include those byMuslim ibn al-Hajjaj andMuhammad ibn Isma'il al-Bukhari.
The other important genre of work in Qur'anic study is thetafsir orcommentaries Arab writings relating to religion also includes manysermons and devotional pieces as well as the sayings ofAli which were collected in the 10th century asNahj al-Balaghah orThe Peak of Eloquence.
TheFirst Fitna, which created theShia–Sunni split over the rightfulcaliph, had a great impact on Arabic literature.[5] Whereas Arabic literature—along with Arab society—was greatly centralized in the time ofMuhammad and theRashidun, it became fractured at the beginning of the period of theUmayyad Caliphate, as power struggles led to tribalism.[5] Arabic literature at this time reverted to its state inal-Jahiliyyah, with markets such asKinasa nearKufa andMirbad [ar] nearBasra, where poetry in praise and admonishment of political parties and tribes was recited.[5] Poets and scholars found support and patronage under the Umayyads, but the literature of this period was limited in that it served the interests of parties and individuals, and as such was not a free art form.[5]
During the 19th century, a revival took place in Arabic literature, along with much of Arabic culture, and is referred to in Arabic as "al-Nahda", which means "the renaissance".[18] There was a strand ofneoclassicism in the Nahda, particularly among writers such asTahtawi,Shidyaq,Yaziji, andMuwaylihi, who believed in theiḥyāʾ "reanimation" of Arabic literary heritage and tradition.[19][20]
This resurgence of new writing in Arabic was confined mainly to cities inSyria,Egypt andLebanon until the 20th century, when it spread to other countries in the region. This cultural renaissance was not only felt within the Arab world, but also beyond, with a growing interest intranslating of Arabic works into European languages. Although the use of the Arabic language was revived, particularly in poetry, many of thetropes of the previous literature, which served to make it so ornate and complicated, were dropped.
Just as in the 8th century, when a movement to translateancient Greek and other literature had helped vitalise Arabic literature, another translation movement during this period would offer new ideas and material for Arabic literature. An early popular success wasThe Count of Monte Cristo, which spurred a host ofhistorical novels on similar Arabic subjects.Jurji Zaydan andNiqula Haddad were important writers of this genre.[20]
During theNahda, poets likeFrancis Marrash,Ahmad Shawqi andHafiz Ibrahim began to explore the possibility of developing the classical poetic forms.[21][22] Some of these neoclassical poets were acquainted with Western literature but mostly continued to write in classical forms, while others, denouncing blind imitation of classical poetry and its recurring themes,[23] sought inspiration from French or Englishromanticism.
The next generation of poets, the so-called Romantic poets, began to absorb the impact of developments in Western poetry to a far greater extent, and felt constrained byNeoclassical traditions which the previous generation had tried to uphold. TheMahjari poets were emigrants who mostly wrote in the Americas, but were similarly beginning to experiment further with the possibilities of Arabic poetry. This experimentation continued in the Middle East throughout the first half of the 20th century.[24]
Muhammad al-Kattani, founder of one of the first arabophone newspapers in Morocco, calledAt-Tā'ūn, and author of several poetry collections, was a leader of the Nahda in the Maghreb.[26][27]
Taha Hussein, referred to as the "Dean of Arabic Literature" (Arabic: عميد الأدب العربي).
Beginning in the late 19th century, the Arabic novel became one of the most important forms of expression in Arabic literature.[28] The rise of anefendiyya, an elite, secularist urban class with a Western education, gave way to new forms of literary expression: modern Arabic fiction.[20] This newbourgeois class ofliterati usedtheater from the 1850s, starting in Lebanon, and theprivate press from the 1860s and 1870s to spread its ideas, challenge traditionalists, and establish its position in a rapidly transforming society.[20]
The modern Arabic novel, particularly as a means of social critique and reform, has its roots in a deliberate departure from the traditionalist language and aesthetics of classicaladab for "less embellished but more entertaining narratives."[20] This direction began with translations from French and English, followed by social romances bySalīm al-Bustānī [ar] and other writers—particularly Christians.[20]Khalil al-Khuri's narrativeWay, Idhan Lastu bi-Ifranjī! (1859–1860) was an early example.[20]
The emotionalism of early 20th century writers such asMustafa Lutfi al-Manfaluti andKahlil Gibran, who wrote with heavymoralism andsentimentality, equated the novel as a literary form with imported Western ideas and "shallow sentimentalism."[20] Writers such asMuhammad Taimur [ar] ofAl-Madrasa al-Ḥadītha "the Modern School," calling for anadab qawmī "national literature," largely avoided the novel and experimented with short stories instead.[20][29]Mohammed Hussein Heikal's 1913 novelZaynab was a compromise, as it included heavy sentimentality but portrayed local personality and characters.[20]
Throughout the 20th century, Arabic writers in poetry, prose and theatre plays have reflected the changing political and social climate of the Arab world.Anti-colonial themes were prominent early in the 20th century, with writers continuing to explore the region's relationship with the West. Internal political upheaval has also been a challenge, with writers suffering censorship or persecution.
Theinterwar period featured writers such asTaha Hussein, author ofAl-Ayyām,Ibrahim al-Mazini,Abbas Mahmoud al-Aqqad, andTawfiq al-Hakim.[20] The acceptance of suffering in al-Hakim's 1934Awdat ar-rūḥ [ar], is exemplary of the disappointment that prevailed over the idealism of the new middle class.[20] As a result of increasingindustrialization andurbanization, binary struggles such as the "materialism of the West" against the "spiritualism of the East," "progressive individuals and a backward, ignorant society," and "a city-versus-countryside divide" were common themes in the literature of this period and since.[20]
There are many contemporary Arabic writers, such asMahmoud Saeed (Iraq) who wroteBin Barka Ally, andI Am The One Who Saw (Saddam City). Other contemporary writers includeSonallah Ibrahim andAbdul Rahman Munif, who were imprisoned by the government for their critical opinions. At the same time, others who had written works supporting or praising governments, were promoted to positions of authority within cultural bodies.Nonfiction writers and academics have also produced political polemics and criticisms aiming to re-shape Arabic politics. Some of the best known areTaha Hussein'sThe Future of Culture in Egypt, which was an important work ofEgyptian nationalism, and the works ofNawal el-Saadawi, who campaigned forwomen's rights. Tayeb Salih fromSudan andGhassan Kanafani fromPalestine are two other writers who explored identity in relationship to foreign and domestic powers, the former writing about colonial/post-colonial relationships, and the latter on the repercussions of the Palestinian struggle.
Mention no longer the driver on his night journey and the wide striding camels, and give up talk of morning dew and ruins. I no longer have any taste for love songs on dwellings which already went down in seas of [too many] odes. So, too, theghada, whose fire, fanned by the sighs of those enamored of it, cries out to the poets: "Alas for my burning!" If a steamer leaves with my friends on sea or land, why should I direct my complaints to the camels?
AfterWorld War II, there was a largely unsuccessful movement by several poets to write poems infree verse (shi'r hurr). Iraqi poetsBadr Shakir al-Sayyab andNazik Al-Malaika (1923–2007) are considered to be the originators of free verse in Arabic poetry. Most of these experiments were abandoned in favour ofprose poetry, of which the first examples in modern Arabic literature are to be found in the writings ofFrancis Marrash,[30] and of which two of the most influential proponents were Nazik al-Malaika andIman Mersal. The development ofmodernist poetry also influenced poetry in Arabic. More recently, poets such asAdunis have pushed the boundaries of stylistic experimentation even further.
Poetry retains a very important status in the Arab world.Mahmoud Darwish was regarded as the Palestinian national poet, and his funeral was attended by thousands of mourners. Syrian poetNizar Qabbani addressed less political themes, but was regarded as a cultural icon, and his poems provide the lyrics for many popular songs.
Two distinct trends can be found in thenahda period of revival. The first was a neo-classical movement which sought to rediscover the literary traditions of the past, and was influenced by traditional literary genres—such as themaqama—and works likeOne Thousand and One Nights. In contrast, a modernist movement began by translating Western modernist works—primarily novels—into Arabic.
In the 19th century, individual authors inSyria,Lebanon andEgypt created original works by imitating classical narrative genres:Ahmad Faris Shidyaq withLeg upon Leg (1855), Khalil Khoury withYes... so I am not a Frank (1859),Francis Marrash withThe Forest of Truth (1865),Salim al-Bustani withAt a Loss in the Levantine Gardens (1870), and Muhammad al-Muwaylihi withIsa ibn Hisham's Tale (1907).[33] This trend was furthered byJurji Zaydan (author of many historical novels),Khalil Gibran,Mikha'il Na'ima andMuhammad Husayn Haykal (author ofZaynab). Meanwhile, female writerZaynab Fawwaz's first novelḤusn al-'Awāqib aw Ghādah al-Zāhirah (The Happy Ending, 1899) was also influential.[34] According to the authors of theEncyclopedia of the Novel:
Almost each of the above [works] have been claimed as the first Arabic novel, which goes to suggest that the Arabic novel emerged from several rehearsals and multiple beginnings rather than from one single origin. Given that the very Arabic word "riwaya", which is now used exclusively in reference to the "novel", has traditionally conjured up a tangle of narrative genres [...], it might not be unfair to contend that the Arabic novel owes its early formation not only to the appropriation of the novel genre from Europe [...] but also, and more importantly, to the revival and transformation of traditional narrative genres in the wake ofNapoleon's 1798 expedition into Egypt and the Arab world's firsthand encounter with industrialized imperial Europe.[33]
A common theme in the modern Arabic novel is the study of family life with obvious resonances of the wider family of the Arabic world.[according to whom?] Many of the novels have been unable to avoid the politics and conflicts of the region with war often acting as background to intimate family dramas. The works ofNaguib Mahfuz depict life inCairo, and hisCairo Trilogy, describing the struggles of a modern Cairene family across three generations, won him aNobel prize for literature in 1988. He was the first Arabic writer to win the prize.
The musical plays of LebaneseMaroun Naccache from the mid-1800s are considered the birth of not onlytheatre in Lebanon, but also modern Arab theatre.[35] Modern Arabic drama began to be written in the 19th century chiefly in Egypt and mainly influenced and in imitation of French works. It was not until the 20th century that it began to develop a distinctly Arab flavour and be seen elsewhere. The most important Arab playwright wasTawfiq al-Hakim whose first play was a re-telling of the Qur'anic story of theSeven Sleepers and the second an epilogue for theThousand and One Nights. Other important dramatists of the region include Yusuf al-Ani fromIraq andSaadallah Wannous fromSyria.
A large proportion of Arabic literature before the 20th century is in the form of poetry, and even prose from this period is either filled with snippets of poetry or is in the form ofsaj' or rhymed prose. The themes of the poetry range from high-flown hymns of praise to bitter personal attacks and from religious and mystical ideas to poems on women and wine. An important feature of the poetry which would be applied to all of the literature was the idea that it must be pleasing to the ear. The poetry and much of the prose was written with the design that it would be spoken aloud and great care was taken to make all writing as mellifluous as possible.
The research into the life and times ofMuhammad, and determining the genuine parts of thesunnah, was an important early reason for scholarship in or about the Arabic language. It was also the reason for the collecting of pre-Islamic poetry; as some of these poets were close to the prophet—Labid meeting Muhammad and converting to Islam—and their writings illuminated the times when these events occurred. Muhammad also inspired the first Arabicbiographies, known as Al-Sirah Al-Nabawiyyah; the earliest was byWahb ibn Munabbih, butMuhammad ibn Ishaq wrote the best known. Whilst covering the life of the prophet they also told of the battles and events of early Islam and have numerous digressions on older biblical traditions.
Some of the earliest works studying the Arabic language were started in the name of Islam. Tradition has it that the caliphAli, after reading a copy of the Qur'an with errors in it, askedAbu al-Aswad al-Du'ali to write a work codifyingArabic grammar.Khalil ibn Ahmad would later writeKitab al-Ayn, the first dictionary of Arabic, along with works onprosody andmusic, and his pupilSibawayh would produce the most respected work of Arabic grammar known simply asal-Kitab orThe Book.
Other caliphs followed after'Abd al-Malik made Arabic the official language for the administration of the new empire, such asal-Ma'mun who set up theBayt al-Hikma inBaghdad for research and translations.Basrah andKufah were two other important seats of learning in the early Arab world, between which there was a strong rivalry.
The institutions set up mainly to investigate more fully the Islamic religion were invaluable in studying many other subjects. CaliphHisham ibn Abd al-Malik was instrumental in enriching the literature by instructing scholars to translate works into Arabic. The first was probablyAristotle's correspondence withAlexander the Great translated by Salm Abu al-'Ala'. From the east, and in a very different literary genre, the scholarAbdullah Ibn al-Muqaffa translated the animalfables of thePanchatantra. These translations would keep alive scholarship and learning, particularly that ofancient Greece, during theDark Ages in Europe and the works would often be first re-introduced to Europe from the Arabic versions.
More medieval cookbooks have survived into the present day written in Arabic than in any other language. Classical Arabic culinary literature is comprised not only of cookbooks, there are also many works of scholarship, and descriptions of contemporary foods can be found in fictional and legendary tales likeThe Thousand and One Nights.[36] Some of these texts predateIbn Sayyar al-Warraq'sKitab al-Tabikh, the earliest known book of medieval Arabic cuisine. ThePersian languageḴusraw ī Kawādān ud rēdak-ēw, translated into Arabic after the conquest of theSasanian Empire by Arab armies in the 7th century, was a guide to the sophisticated culinary and court culture of the time, written as a fictionalized narrative about an orphan descended from priestly roots who learns the ways ofKhosrow I's court.[37]
Early authors appear to have been familiar with the earlier works ofHippocrates,Rufus of Ephesus andGalen of Pergamum. Galen'sOn the Properties of Foodstuffs was translated into Arabic asKitab al-aghdiya and was cited by all contemporary medical writers in the Caliphate during the reign ofAbu Bakr al-Razi. Al-Razi was himself the author of an early text on foodManafi al-Aghdhiya wa Daf Madarriha (Book of the Benefits of Food, and Remedies against Its Harmful Effects). Interest in Galen's work was not limited only to Muslim scholars; Jewish scholarAbu Ya'qub Ishaḳ ibn Sulayman al-Isra'ili wroteBook on Foods (also in Arabic) in the same period. Rufus' originalGreek language work has not survived into the present day, and it is only known to us from its Arabic translation.[36]
In the late 9th centuryIbn al-Nadim, aBaghdadi bookseller, compiled a crucial work in the study of Arabic literature. TheKitab al-Fihrist is a catalogue of all books available for sale in Baghdad, and it gives an overview of the state of the literature at that time. Considering the growing importance of literature, in the following centeries such compilations of authors and their works would become a tradition, an important work in the 17th century beingTadhkar al-Jami lil-Athar by Husayn ibn Muhammad al- Abbasi al-Nabhani al-Halabi which contains the names of some 24,000 writers.[38]
One of the most common forms of literature during theAbbasid period was the compilation. These were collections of facts, ideas, instructive stories and poems on a single topic, and covers subjects as diverse as house and garden, women, gate-crashers, blind people, envy, animals and misers. These last three compilations were written byal-Jahiz, the acknowledged master of the form. These collections were important for anynadim, a companion to a ruler or noble whose role was often involved regaling the ruler with stories and information to entertain or advise.
A type of work closely allied to the collection was the manual in which writers likeibn Qutaybah offered instruction in subjects like etiquette, how to rule, how to be a bureaucrat and even how to write. Ibn Qutaybah also wrote one of the earliest histories of the Arabs, drawing together biblical stories, Arabicfolk tales and more historical events.
The subject of sex was frequently investigated in Arabic literature. Theghazal or love poem had a long history, being at times tender and chaste and at other times rather explicit. In theSufi tradition, the love poem would take on wider, mystical and religious importance. Sex manuals were also written such asThe Perfumed Garden,Ṭawq al-Ḥamāmah orThe Dove's Neckring byibn Hazm andNuzhat al-albab fi-ma la yujad fi kitab orDelight of Hearts Concerning What will Never Be Found in a Book byAhmad al-Tifashi. Countering such works are one likeRawdat al-muhibbin wa-nuzhat al-mushtaqin orMeadow of Lovers and Diversion of the Infatuated byibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah who advises on how to separate love and lust and avoid sin.
Aside from the earlybiographies of Muhammad, the first major biographer to weigh character rather than just producing a hymn of praise wasal-Baladhuri with hisKitab ansab al-ashraf orBook of the Genealogies of the Noble, a collection of biographies. Another important biographical dictionary was begun byibn Khallikan and expanded by al-Safadi and one of the first significantautobiographies wasKitab al-I'tibar which told ofUsamah ibn Munqidh and his experiences in fighting in theCrusades. This time period saw the emergence of the genre oftabaqat (biographical dictionaries or biographical compendia).[39]
Ibn Khurdadhbih, an official in thepostal service wrote one of the firsttravel books and the form remained a popular one in Arabic literature with books byibn Hawqal,ibn Fadlan, al-Istakhri,al-Muqaddasi,al-Idrisi and most famously the travels ofibn Battutah. These give a view of the many cultures of the widerIslamic world and also offerMuslim perspectives on the non-Muslim peoples on the edges of the empire. They also indicated just how great a trading power the Muslim peoples had become. These were often sprawling accounts that included details of bothgeography andhistory.
In themedieval Near East, Arabicdiaries were first being written from before the 10th century, though the medieval diary which most resembles the modern diary was that ofAbu Ali ibn al-Banna in the 11th century. His diary was the earliest to be arranged in order of date (ta'rikh in Arabic), very much like modern diaries.[40]
Literary criticism in Arabic literature often focused on religious texts, and the several long religious traditions ofhermeneutics and textualexegesis have had a profound influence on the study of secular texts. This was particularly the case for the literary traditions ofIslamic literature.
Literary criticism was also employed in other forms of medievalArabic poetry and literature from the 9th century, notably byAl-Jahiz in hisal-Bayan wa-'l-tabyin andal-Hayawan, and byAbdullah ibn al-Mu'tazz in hisKitab al-Badi.[41]
In theArab world, there was a great distinction betweenal-fus'ha (quality language) andal-ammiyyah (language of the common people). Not many writers would write works in thisal-ammiyyah or common language and it was felt that literature had to be improving, educational and with purpose rather than just entertainment. This did not stop the common role of thehakawati or story-teller who would retell the entertaining parts of more educational works or one of the many Arabicfables orfolk-tales, which were often not written down in many cases. Nevertheless, some of the earliestnovels, including the firstphilosophical novels, were written by Arabic authors.
The most famous example of Arabic fiction is theOne Thousand and One Nights (Arabian Nights). It is easily the best-known work of all Arabic literature, and still affects many of the ideas non-Arabs have aboutArabic culture. A good example of the lack of popular Arabic prose fiction is that the stories ofAladdin andAli Baba, usually regarded as part of theTales from One Thousand and One Nights, were not actually part of theTales. They were first included inFrench translation of theTales byAntoine Galland who heard them being told byMaroniteHanna Dyab and only existed in incomplete Arabic manuscripts before that. The other great character from Arabic literature,Sinbad, is from theTales.
TheOne Thousand and One Nights is usually placed in the genre ofArabic epic literature along with several other works. They are usually collections of short stories or episodes strung together into a long tale. The extant versions were mostly written down relatively late, after the 14th century, although many were undoubtedly collected earlier and many of the original stories are probably pre-Islamic. Types of stories in these collections includeanimal fables,proverbs, stories ofjihad or propagation of the faith, humorous tales, moral tales, tales about the wily con-man Ali Zaybaq, and tales about the pranksterJuha.
Maqama not only straddles the divide betweenprose andpoetry, being instead a form ofrhymed prose, it is also part-way between fiction and non-fiction. Over a series of short narratives, which are fictionalised versions of real-life situations, different ideas are contemplated. A good example of this is amaqama on musk, which purports to compare the feature of different perfumes but is in fact a work of political satire comparing several competing rulers.Maqama also makes use of the doctrine ofbadi or deliberately adding complexity to display the writer's dexterity with language.Al-Hamadhani is regarded as the originator ofmaqama; his work was taken up byAbu Muhammad al-Qasim al-Hariri, one of al-Hariri'smaqama being a study of al-Hamadhani's own work.Maqama was an exceptionally popular form of Arabic literature, one of the few forms which continued to be written during the decline of Arabic in the 17th and 18th centuries.
A famous example ofromanticArabic poetry isLayla and Majnun, dating back to theUmayyad era in the 7th century. It is atragic story of undyinglove.Layla and Majnun is considered part of theplatonic Love (Arabic: حب عذري) genre, so-called because the couple never marry or consummate their relationship, that is prominent in Arabic literature, though the literary motif is found throughout the world. Other famous Virgin Love stories includeQays and Lubna,Kuthair and Azza,Marwa and al-Majnun al-Faransi andAntara and Abla.
The 10th-centuryEncyclopedia of the Brethren of Purity features a fictionalanecdote of a "prince who strays from his palace during his wedding feast and, drunk, spends the night in a cemetery, confusing a corpse with his bride. The story is used as a gnostic parable of the soul'spre-existence and return from its terrestrialsojourn".[44]
Another medieval Arabic love story wasHadith Bayad wa Riyad (The Story of Bayad and Riyad), a 13th-centuryArabic love story. The main characters of the tale are Bayad, a merchant's son and a foreigner fromDamascus, and Riyad, a well-educated girl in the court of an unnamedHajib (vizier or minister) of 'Iraq which is referred to as the lady. TheHadith Bayad wa Riyad manuscript is believed to be the only illustrated manuscript known to have survived from more than eight centuries of Muslim and Arab presence in Spain.
Many of the tales in theOne Thousand and One Nights are also love stories or involve romantic love as a central theme. This includes theframe story ofScheherazade herself, and many of thestories she narrates, including "Aladdin", "The Ebony Horse", "The Three Apples", "Tale of Tàj al-Mulúk and the Princess Dunyà: The Lover and the Loved", "Adi bin Zayd and the Princess Hind", "Di'ibil al-Khuza'i With the Lady and Muslim bin al-Walid", "The Three Unfortunate Lovers", and others.
Several elements ofcourtly love were developed in Arabic literature, namely the notions of "love for love's sake" and "exaltation of the beloved lady" which have been traced back to Arabic literature of the 9th and 10th centuries. The notion of the "ennobling power" of love was developed in the early 11th century by thePersian psychologist andphilosopher,Ibn Sina (known as "Avicenna" in Europe), in his Arabic treatiseRisala fi'l-Ishq (A Treatise on Love). The final element of courtly love, the concept of "love as desire never to be fulfilled", was also at times implicit inArabic poetry.[45]
InArabic poetry, the genre ofsatirical poetry was known ashija. Satire was introduced into prose literature by the authoral-Jahiz in the 9th century. While dealing with serious topics in what are now known asanthropology, sociology andpsychology, he introduced a satirical approach, "based on the premise that, however serious the subject under review, it could be made more interesting and thus achieve greater effect, if only one leavened the lump of solemnity by the insertion of a few amusing anecdotes or by the throwing out of some witty or paradoxical observations."[49] He was well aware that, in treating of new themes in his prose works, he would have to employ a vocabulary of a nature more familiar inhija, satirical poetry. For example, in one of hiszoological works, he satirized the preference for longerhuman penis size, writing: "If the length of the penis were a sign of honor, then themule would belong to the (honorable tribe of)Quraysh". Another satirical story based on this preference was anArabian Nights tale called "Ali with the Large Member".[50]
In the 10th century, the writerTha'alibi recorded satirical poetry written by the poets As-Salami and Abu Dulaf, with As-Salami praising Abu Dulaf'swide breadth of knowledge and then mocking his ability in all these subjects, and with Abu Dulaf responding back and satirizing As-Salami in return.[51] An example of Arabicpolitical satire included another 10th-century poet Jarir satirizing Farazdaq as "a transgressor of theSharia" and later Arabic poets in turn using the term "Farazdaq-like" as a form of political satire.[52]
The terms "comedy" and "satire" became synonymous afterAristotle'sPoetics was translated into Arabic in themedieval Islamic world, where it was elaborated upon by Arabic writers andIslamic philosophers, such as Abu Bischr, his pupilal-Farabi,Avicenna, andAverroes. Due to cultural differences, they disassociated comedy fromGreek dramatic representation and instead identified it withArabic poetic themes and forms, such ashija (satirical poetry). They viewed comedy as simply the "art of reprehension", and made no reference to light and cheerful events, or troublous beginnings and happy endings, associated with classical Greek comedy. After theLatin translations of the 12th century, the term "comedy" thus gained a new semantic meaning inMedieval literature.[53]
Whilepuppet theatre andpassion plays were popular in themedieval Islamic world,[54] livetheatre anddrama has only been a visible part of Arabic literature in the modern era. There may have been a much longer theatrical tradition but it was probably not regarded as legitimate literature and mostly went unrecorded. There is an ancient tradition of public performance amongstShi'i Muslims of a play depicting the life and death ofal-Husayn at thebattle of Karbala in 680 CE. There are also several plays composed byShams al-din Muhammad ibn Daniyal in the 13th century when he mentions that older plays are getting stale and offers his new works as fresh material.
The most popular forms of theater in the medieval Islamic world were puppet theatre (which included hand puppets,shadow plays andmarionette productions) and livepassion plays known asta'ziya, where actors re-enact episodes fromMuslim history. In particular,Shia Islamicplays revolved around theshaheed (martyrdom) ofAli's sonsHasan ibn Ali andHusayn ibn Ali. Live secular plays were known asakhraja, recorded in medievaladab literature, though they were less common than puppetry andta'ziya theater.[54]
The ArabIslamic philosophers,Ibn Tufail (Abubacer)[56] andIbn al-Nafis, were pioneers of thephilosophical novel as they wrote the earliestnovels dealing withphilosophical fiction. Ibn Tufail wrote the first Arabic novelHayy ibn Yaqdhan (Philosophus Autodidactus) as a response toAl-Ghazali'sThe Incoherence of the Philosophers. This was followed byIbn al-Nafis who wrote a fictional narrativeTheologus Autodidactus as a response to Ibn Tufail'sPhilosophus Autodidactus. Both of these narratives hadprotagonists (Hayy inPhilosophus Autodidactus and Kamil inTheologus Autodidactus) who wereautodidactic individualsspontaneously generated in acave and living in seclusion on adesert island, both being the earliest examples of a desert island story. However, while Hayy lives alone on the desert island for most of the story inPhilosophus Autodidactus (until he meets acastaway named Absal), the story of Kamil extends beyond the desert island setting inTheologus Autodidactus (when castaways take him back to civilization with them), developing into the earliest knowncoming of age plot and eventually becoming the first example of ascience fiction novel.
Ibn al-Nafis described his bookTheologus Autodidactus as a defense of "the system of Islam and the Muslims' doctrines on the missions of Prophets, the religious laws, the resurrection of the body, and the transitoriness of the world." He presents rational arguments for bodilyresurrection and theimmortality of the humansoul, using both demonstrativereasoning and material from the hadith corpus to prove his case. Later Islamic scholars viewed this work as a response to themetaphysical claim of Avicenna and Ibn Tufail that bodily resurrection cannot be proven through reason, a view that was earlier criticized by al-Ghazali. Ibn al-Nafis' work was later translated into Latin and English asTheologus Autodidactus in the early 20th century.
Al-Risalah al-Kamiliyyah fil Sira al-Nabawiyyah (The Treatise of Kamil on the Prophet's Biography), known inEnglish asTheologus Autodidactus (which is a phonetic transliteration of the Greek name Θεολόγος Αὐτοδίδακτος, meaning self-taught theologian), written by theArab polymathIbn al-Nafis (1213–1288), is the earliest knownscience fiction novel. While also being an earlydesert island story andcoming of age story, the novel deals with various science fiction elements such asspontaneous generation,futurology,apocalyptic themes, theend of the world and doomsday,resurrection and theafterlife. Rather than giving supernatural or mythological explanations for these events, Ibn al-Nafis attempted to explain these plot elements using his own extensivescientific knowledge inanatomy, biology, physiology,astronomy, cosmology andgeology. His main purpose behind this science fiction work was to explainIslamic religious teachings in terms ofscience andphilosophy. For example, it was through this novel that Ibn al-Nafis introduces his scientific theory ofmetabolism, and he makes references to his own scientific discovery of thepulmonary circulation in order to explain bodily resurrection. The novel was later translated into English asTheologus Autodidactus in the early 20th century.
A number ofstories within theOne Thousand and One Nights (Arabian Nights) also feature science fiction elements. One example is "The Adventures of Bulukiya", where theprotagonist Bulukiya's quest for theherb of immortality leads him to explore the seas, journey to theGarden of Eden and toJahannam, and travel across thecosmos to different worlds much larger than his own world, anticipating elements ofgalactic science fiction;[64] along the way, he encounters societies ofjinns,[65]mermaids, talkingserpents, talkingtrees, and other forms of life.[64] In anotherArabian Nights tale, the protagonist Abdullah the Fisherman gains the ability to breathe underwater and discovers an underwatersubmarine society that is portrayed as an inverted reflection of society on land, in that the underwater society follows a form ofprimitive communism where concepts like money and clothing do not exist. OtherArabian Nights tales deal with lost ancient technologies, advanced ancient civilizations that went astray, and catastrophes which overwhelmed them.[66] "The City of Brass" features a group of travellers on anarchaeological expedition[67] across theSahara to find an ancient lost city and attempt to recover a brass vessel thatSolomon once used to trap ajinn,[68] and, along the way, encounter amummified queen,petrified inhabitants,[69] lifelikehumanoid robots andautomata, seductivemarionettes dancing without strings,[70] and a brass horsemanrobot who directs the party towards the ancient city. "The Ebony Horse" features a robot[71] in the form of a flying mechanical horse controlled using keys that could fly into outer space and towards the Sun, while the "Third Qalandar's Tale" also features a robot in the form of an uncannyboatman.[71] "The City of Brass" and "The Ebony Horse" can be considered early examples of proto-science fiction.
Other examples of early Arabic proto-science fiction includeal-Farabi'sOpinions of the residents of a splendid city about autopian society, and elements such as theflying carpet.
As in other languages, there is a growing number of literary works written in Arabic foryoung readers.[72][73] With this group of readers in mind, the Young Readers series of theNew York University Press'sLibrary of Arabic Literature (LAL) offers contemporary and even classical texts in its Weaving Words collection, like the tenth-century anthology of stories and anecdotesAl-Faraj Ba'd al-Shiddah (Deliverance Follows Adversity) by medieval writer Al-Muḥassin ibn ʿAlī al-Tanūkhī (327–84/939–94).[74][75]
In her 2011 essay "Arabic Children's Literature Today: Determining Factors and Tendencies" author and translator from Arabic to German Petra Dünges gave an overview of fiction written for Arab children since its beginnings in Egypt during the late 19th century, focussing on books published between 1990 and 2010. Judging from several modern illustrated books andmangas such asGold Ring (الذهب سوار) by Emirati writer Qays Sidqiyy (Sheikh Zayed Book Award 2010), she noted an increase in the variety of children's literature in the changing modern Arab society. Further, she noticed a growing demand for stories and adequate illustrations that take children as readers seriously. Finally, she ascertained that Arabic children's literature is an important contribution the development of Arab society, crucial to keeping Arab culture and the Arabic language alive.[76][77]
Marcia Lynx Qualey, editor-in-chief ofArabLit online magazine, has translated Arabic novels for young readers, such asThunderbirds by Palestinian writer Sonia Nimr.[78] Further, she has written on Arabic books for teens[79] and participated in academic forums.[80] She and other literary translators and consultants publish the website ArabKidLitNow!, promoting translated Arabic literature for children and young readers.[81]
Despite the historical and social conditions that contributed to an almost total eclipse of women's poetic expression in the literary record as maintained in Arabic culture from the pre-Islamic era through the nineteenth century, with a few significant exceptions, women poets writing in Arabic have made tremendous strides since the dawn of the twentieth century in presenting their poetic offerings in mainstream cultural forums, and contributing to a plethora of new and modern poetic currents in literary cultural throughout the Arab world.[82]
Whilst not playing a major attested part in Arabic literature for much of its history, women have had a continuing role. Women's literature in Arabic has been relatively little researched, and features relatively little in most Arabic-language education systems, meaning that its prominence and importance is probably generally underrated.[83]
the citation of women's poetry in the general medieval anthologies is sparse. The earliest anthologists either ignored women poets or made disparaging remarks about them ... In his introduction to theNuzhat al-Julasa, al-Suyuti refers to a large (at least six-volume) anthology--now lost--of 'ancient' women's poetry ... It would seem from this that women poets may have formed a more dynamic part of the poetic landscape, at least in the earliest classical period, than is generally believed.[84]
(The main modern anthology of medieval Arabic women's writing in English translation is that of Abdullah al-Udhari.)[85]
Pre-Islamic women's literature seems to have been limited to the genre ofmarathiya ('elegy').[86] The earliest poetesses wereal-Khansa andLayla al-Akhyaliyyah of the 7th century. Their concentration on theritha' or elegy suggests that this was a form deemed acceptable for women to work with. However, the love lyric was also an important genre of women's poetry. TheUmayyad and'Abbasid periods saw professional singing slave girls (qiyan, sing.quayna) who sang love songs and accompanied these with music; alongside panegyric and competitive verse-capping,qiyan also sang love-poetry (ghazal). In hisRisalat al-Qiyan (Epistle of the Singing-Girls), al-Jahiz (d. 255/868×69) reckoned that an accomplished singer might have a repertoire of 4,000 songs. Pre-eminent 'Abbasid singing-girls included:'Inan (paramour ofHarun al-Rashid, r. 786–809);Arib al-Ma'muniyya (concubine ofAl-Ma'mun, r. 813–17); andFadl Ashsha'ira (d. 871; concubine ofAl-Mutawakkil, r. 847–61). Meanwhile, Harun al-Rashid's half-sister‘Ulayya bint al-Mahdī (777-825) was also known for her poetic skills, as was the mystic and poet of BasraRabi'a al-'Adawiyya (d. 801).[87] Women also had an important role in pre-modern periods as patrons of the arts.[88]
Despite their lack of prominence among the literary elite, women still played an important part as characters in Arabic literature.Sirat al-amirah Dhat al-Himmah, for example, is anArabic epic with a female warrior, Fatima Dhat al-Himma, as protagonist,[89] andScheherazade is famous for cunningly telling stories in theOne Thousand and One Nights to save her life.
The Mamluk period saw the flourishing of the Sufi master and poet'A'isha al-Ba'uniyya (d. 1517), who was probably the Arabic-speaking world's most prolific female author before the twentieth century. Living in what is now Egypt and Syria, she came from theal-Ba'uni family, noted for its judges and scholars, and belonged to the 'Urmawi branch of theQadiriyya order. 'A'isha composed at least twelve books in prose and verse, which included over three hundred long mystical and religious poems.[87]
The earliest prominent female writer of the modern period during which the Arab cultural renaissance (Al-Nahda) took place isTáhirih (1820–52), from what is now Iran. She wrote fine Arabic and Persian poetry.[citation needed]
Women's literary salons and societies in the Arab world were also pioneered during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, initially byChristian Arab women, who tended to have more freedom and access to education than their female Muslim contemporaries in the Ottoman Empire.Maryana Marrash (1848−1919) started what is now believed to have been the first literary salon including women inAleppo. In 1912,May Ziadeh (1886–1941) also started a literary salon inCairo and in 1922,Mary 'Ajami (1888−1965) did the same inDamascus. These salons supported the emergence of women's literary and journalistic writing and publishing by growing exchange in the male-dominated world of Arabic literature.[90]
A quote by Clarissa Burt on modern Arabic poetry by female Arab authors:
Unlocked from the constraints of the traditional ode, several of these and other women have had long careers of poetry writing, entering into areas of expression of women's experience that had not been presented in print before. In many ways, this poetic work has gone hand in hand with the growth of critical discourse about women's role, status, and experience, and women's desires to be fully participating members of public society. [...] With few exceptions, critical reception in the Arab world of these and other women poets has been lukewarm at best, for the most part, often filled with criticism of their adherence or lack thereof to poetic principles that have been held as prescriptive in many schools of Arabic literary criticism.[91]
AlongsideMaryana Marrash, May Ziadeh, andMary 'Ajami, pioneering figures in women's writing in Arabic during this period areZaynab Fawwaz (modern Lebanon/Egypt, 1846–1914), who arguably wrote the first novel in Arabic and was the first woman to write a play in that language as well;[citation needed]Aisha Taymur (modern Turkey/Egypt, 1840–1902);Malak Hifni Nasif (under the pseudonym Bahithat al-Badiyya, Egypt 1886–1918);Anbara Salam Khalidy (modern Palestine/Lebanon, 1897–1988)Anbara Salam Khalidy (modern Palestine/Lebanon, 1897–1986) andSalma al-Malaika (Iraq, 1908–1953, under the pseudonym Umm Nizar).
Since the Second World War, Arabic women's poetry has become markedly more prominent.[91]Nazik Al-Malaika (Iraq/Egypt, 1923–2007) was the daughter ofSalma al-Kadhimiyya, who in her own right was a poet and a vanguard of the early nationalist movement. Al-Malaika, alongsideBadr Shakir al-Sayyab, can be considered the initiator of the Free Verse Movement in Arabic poetry. Al-Malaika's poetry is characterised by thematic variations and the use of imagery. She also wroteThe Case of Contemporary Poets which is considered a major contribution to Arab literary criticism.[92]
The poetry ofSaniya Salih (Syria, 1935–85) appeared in many well-known magazines of her time, particularlyShi’r andMawaqif, but remained in the shadow of work by her husband, the poetMuhammad al-Maghout. Her later poems often address her relationship with her two daughters, and many were written during her illness, as she died of cancer.[93]
Other Arab post-war poetesses includeZubayda Bashīr (Tunis, b. 1938);Ghada al-Samman (Syria, b. 1942), known not only for poetry, but also for short stories and novels,Su'ad al-Sabah (Kuwait, b.1942) andHamda Khamis (Bahrain, b. 1946), who is regarded as Bahrain's first female free-verse poet.
Women writers in the Arab world have unavoidably courted controversy.Layla Ba'albakki, for instance, was charged with obscenity and "endangering public morality" a few months after she published her collection of short stories titledTenderness to the Moon (1963). The Lebanese vice squad actually traveled to every bookstore, where the book was sold, to confiscate all remaining copies because of its erotic content.[citation needed]
InAlgeria, women's oral literature used in ceremonies calledBūqālah, also meaning ceramic pitcher, became a symbol of national identity and anti-colonialism during theWar of Independence in the 1950s and early 60s. These poems are usually four to ten lines inAlgerian Arabic, and cover topics ranging from everyday life, like love and work, to the political, like the struggle for independence. Since using Algerian Arabic as poetic language was considered an act of cultural resistance in itself at the time, these poems took on a revolutionary implication.[95]
Suffice to say although female Arab authors still risk controversy by discussing explicit themes or taboo topic in their works, it is a theme explored more explicitly and with more vigour due to greater outreach thanks to social media and more international awareness of Arab literature. More current Arab female writers includeHanan al-Shaykh,Salwa al-Neimi (writer, poet and journalist),Joumanna Haddad (journalist and poet),Assia Djebar.Ahdaf Soueif andYasmine El-Rashidi amongst others who confront less-talked about topics such as sex, prostitution, homosexuality and political censorship and prosecution within the Arab diaspora and also internationally in relation to Arab emigration.
Contemporary female Arab writers/poets/journalists alongside producing literature and non-fiction works often take on an activist role in their careers in order to highlight and improve the female condition in Arab society. This concept is embodied in female figures such asMona Eltahawy, who is an Egyptian columnist and international public speaker. She is best known for her unconventional comments on Arab and Muslim issues and her involvement in global feminism. In 2015, she released her bookHeadscarves and Hymens in which she argues the need for a sexual revolution in the Middle East.[96] Another writer from Egypt isBasma Abdel Aziz, who has published dystopian novels calledThe Queue orHere is a Body, as well as nonfiction based on her studies of oppression, torture and authoritarian language of the government in Egypt.[97]
Contemporary Arab women's literature has been strongly influenced by thediaspora of Arabic-speakers, who have produced writing not only in Arabic, but also in other languages, prominently English, French, Dutch and German. The Internet is also important in furthering the reach of literature produced in Arabic or Arabic-speaking regions:
It is among the younger generation of poets that the Internet has become a platform for mounting collections and sharing poetry. Some of these poets have their own websites, while others are included on ever growing web anthologies being posted by young Arab computer geeks dedicated to the construction of web archives for Arabic poetry and poetic history. Similarly, critical treatment of these women's poetry, while now well established in on-line resources and web-based sites for major paper publications throughout the Arab world, has yet to produce clearly defined critical means of articulating emerging values for poetry, for measuring the critical worth of some of these new productions, and for encouraging the production of Arab women's poetry which will have weight, depth, and acclaim comparable to the work of some of the major Arab male poets of our day.[98]
For multiple centuries, there has been a vibrant culture ofliterary criticism in the Arabic speaking world. The poetry festivals of the pre-Islamic period often pitched two poets against each other in a war of verse, in which one would be decided to be winner by the audience. Literary criticism also relates to theology, and gained official status with Islamic studíes of the Qur'an. Although nothing which might be termed 'literary criticism' in the modern sense, was applied to a work held to bei'jaz or inimitable and divinely inspired, textual analysis, calledijtihad and referring to independent reasoning, was permitted. This study allowed for a better understanding of the message and facilitated interpretation for practical use, all of which helped the development of a critical method important for later work on other literature. A clear distinction regularly drawn between works in literary language and popular works has meant that only part of the literature in Arabic was usually considered worthy of study and criticism.
Some of the first Arabicpoetry analysis areQawa'id al-shi'r orThe Foundations of Poetry byKufan grammarian Tha'lab (d. 904)[99] andNaqd al-shi'r orPoetic Criticism byQudamah ibn Ja'far. Other works continued the tradition of contrasting two poets in order to determine which one best follows the rule of classical poetic structure. Plagiarism also became a significant topic, exercising the critics' concerns. The works ofal-Mutanabbi were particularly studied with this concern. He was considered by many the greatest of all Arab poets, but his own arrogant self-regard for his abilities did not endear him to other writers and they looked for a source for his verse.[100] Just as there were collections of facts written about many different subjects, numerous collections detailing every possiblerhetorical figure used in literature emerged, as well as how to write guides.
Modern criticism first compared new works unfavourably with the classical ideals of the past, but these standards were soon rejected as too artificial. The adoption of the forms of Europeanromantic poetry dictated the introduction of corresponding critical standards.Taha Hussayn, himself well versed in European thought, would even dare to examine the Qur'an with modern critical analysis, in which he pointed out ideas and stories borrowed from pre-Islamic poetry.
An outstanding Sudanesescholar and literary critic with a long list of publications on poetry or other genres, and on Arabic language in general, wasAbdallah al-Tayyib (1921–2003). Arguably his most notable work isA Guide to Understanding Arabic Poetry, written over thirty-five years and published in four volumes of several thousand pages.[101]
Inal-Andalus, Arabic literary culture had a massive impact onJewish literary culture in the tenth to thirteenth centuries; this included the assimilation of features, genres, and stylistic devices of Arabic poetry as well as—influenced by theclassicizing Quranic language of classical Arabic poetry—the decision to write poetry in Hebrew and in a register rooted inBiblical Hebrew.[102]
Literature in Arabic has been influential outside theIslamic world. One of the first important translations of Arabic literature wasRobert of Ketton's translation of theQur'an in the twelfth century, but it would not be until the early eighteenth century that much of the diverse Arabic literature would be recognised in the West. This was mostly due toArabists, likeForster Fitzgerald Arbuthnot and his books such asArabic Authors: A Manual of Arabian History and Literature. The 1996Panizzi Lectures were on the "Introduction of Arabic Learning into England."[103][104]
Antoine Galland's French translation of theThousand and One Nights was the first major work in Arabic which found great success outside the Muslim world. Other significant translators wereFriedrich Rückert andRichard Burton, along with others working atFort William, India. Since at least the 19th century, Arabic and many works in other Western Asian languages fuelled a fascination inOrientalist thinking and artistic production in the West. Works of dubious 'foreign' morals were particularly popular, but even these were censored for content, such as homosexual references, which were not permitted inVictorian society. Most of the works chosen for translation helped reinforced the stereotypes of the audiences.[105][106] Compared to the variety and scope of literature written in Arabic, relatively few historical or modern Arabic works have been translated into other languages.
Since the mid-20th century, there has been an increase of translations of Arabic books into other languages, and Arabic authors began to receive a certain amount of acclaim. Egyptian writerNaguib Mahfouz had most of his works translated after he won the 1988Nobel Prize for Literature. Other writers, includingAbdul Rahman Munif andTayeb Salih have found critical acclaim by Western scholars, and bothAlaa Al Aswany'sThe Yacoubian Building andRajaa al-Sanea'sGirls of Riyadh attracted significant Western media attention in the first decade of the 21st century.
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^abTahera Qutbuddin, 'Women Poets', inMedieval Islamic Civilisation: An Encyclopedia, ed. by Josef W. Meri, 2 vols (New York: Routledge, 2006), II 866,"Archived copy"(PDF). Archived fromthe original(PDF) on 7 February 2014. Retrieved29 March 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link).
^D. Fairchild Ruggles, 'Women, Patrons', ed. by Josef W. Meri, 2 vols (New York: Routledge, 2006), II 863-65
^Remke Kruk,The Warrior Women of Islam: Female Empowerment in Arabic Popular Literature, Library of Middle East History, 54 (London: Tauris, 2014).
^abClarissa Burt, 'Arts: Poets and Poetry: Arab States', inEncyclopedia of Women and Islamic Cultures, ed. by Suad Joseph (Leiden: Brill, 2003-2007), V: 77-80 (p. 78).
^Slyomovics, S. (2014). Algerian Women's Buqalah Poetry: Oral Literature, Cultural Politics, and Anti-Colonial Resistance. Journal Of Arabic Literature, 45(2-3), 145-168.
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