Arabic poetry (Arabic:الشعر العربيash-shi‘r al-‘arabīyy) is one of the earliest forms ofArabic literature.Pre-Islamic Arabic poetry contains the bulk of the oldest poetic material in Arabic, butOld Arabic inscriptions reveal the art of poetry existed in Arabic writing in material as early as the 1st century BCE, withoral poetry likely being much older still.[1]
Arabic poetry is categorized into two main types, rhymed or measured, and prose, with the former greatly preceding the latter. The rhymed poetry falls within fifteen differentmeters collected and explained byal-Farahidi inThe Science of ‘Arud. Al-Akhfash, a student of al-Farahidi, later added one more meter to make them sixteen. The meters of the rhythmical poetry are known in Arabic as "seas" (buḥūr). The measuring unit of seas is known as "taf‘īlah," and every sea contains a certain number of taf'ilas which the poet has to observe in every verse (bayt) of the poem. The measuring procedure of a poem is very rigorous. Sometimes adding or removing a consonant or a vowel can shift thebayt from one meter to another. Also, in rhymed poetry, everybayt has to end with the same rhyme (qāfiyah) throughout the poem.
Al-Khalīl ibn ʿAḥmad al-Farāhīdī (711–786 CE) was the first Arab scholar to subject the prosody of Arabic poetry to a detailed phonological study. He failed to produce a coherent, integrated theory which satisfies the requirements of generality, adequacy, and simplicity; instead, he merely listed and categorized the primary data, thus producing a meticulously detailed but incredibly complex formulation which very few indeed are able to master and utilize.
Researchers and critics of Arabic poetry usually classify it in two categories: classical and modern poetry. Classical poetry was written before the Arabic renaissance (An-Nahḍah). Thus, all poetry that was written in the classical style is called "classical" or "traditional poetry" since it follows the traditional style and structure. It is also known as "vertical poetry" in reference to its vertical parallel structure of its two parts. Modern poetry, on the other hand, deviated from classical poetry in its content, style, structure, rhyme and topics.
One of the first major poets in the pre-Islamic era isImru' al-Qais, the last king of thekingdom of Kinda. Although most of the poetry of that era was not preserved, what remains is well regarded as among the finest Arabic poetry to date. In addition to the eloquence and artistic value, pre-Islamic poetry constitutes a major source for classical Arabic language both in grammar and vocabulary, and as a reliable historical record of the political and cultural life of the time.[2]
Poetry held an important position in pre-Islamic society with the poet orsha'ir filling the role ofhistorian,soothsayer andpropagandist. Words in praise of the tribe (qit'ah) and lampoons denigrating other tribes (hija') seem to have been some of the most popular forms of early poetry. Thesha'ir represented an individual tribe's prestige and importance in theArabian Peninsula, and mock battles in poetry orzajal would stand in lieu of real wars. 'Ukaz, a market town not far fromMecca, would play host to a regular poetry festival where the craft of thesha'irs would be exhibited.[2]
Alongside thesha'ir, and often as his poetic apprentice, was therawi or reciter.[3] The job of the rawi was to learn the poems by heart and to recite them with explanations and probably often with embellishments. This tradition allowed the transmission of these poetic works and the practice was later adopted by thehuffaz for their memorisation of theQur'an. At some periods there have been unbroken chains of illustrious poets, each one training arawi as a bard to promote his verse, and then to take over from them and continue the poetic tradition. For example, Tufayl trained 'Awas ibn Hajar, 'Awas trainedZuhayr, Zuhayr trained his sonKa`b, Ka`b trainedal-Hutay'ah, al-Hutay'ah trained Jamil Buthaynah and Jamil trainedKuthayyir `Azza.
Among the most famous poets of the pre-Islamic era areImru' al-Qais,Samaw'al ibn 'Adiya,al-Nabigha,Tarafa,Zuhayr bin Abi Sulma, andAntarah ibn Shaddad. Other poets, such asTa'abbata Sharran,al-Shanfara,Urwa ibn al-Ward, were known assu'luk or vagabond poets, much of whose works consisted of attacks on the rigidity of tribal life and praise of solitude.[4] Some of these attacks on the values of the clan and of the tribe were meant to be ironic, teasing the listeners only in order finally to endorse all that the members of the audience held most dear about their communal values and way of life. While such poets were identified closely with their own tribes, others, such asal-A'sha, were known for their wanderings in search of work from whoever needed poetry.
Some of the most reputable collections of these poems included theMu'allaqat (meaning "the hung poems", because they are traditionally thought to have been hung on or in theKaaba) and theMufaddaliyat (meaning "al-Mufaddal's examination" or "anthology"). The Mu'allaqat aimed to be the definitive source of the era's output with only a single example of the work of each of the so-called "seven renowned ones," although different versions differ in which "renowned ones" they chose. TheMufaddaliyat on the other hand contains a random collection of poetic material.
There are several characteristics that distinguish pre-Islamic poetry from the poetry of later times. One of these characteristics is that in pre-Islamic poetry more attention was given to the eloquence and the wording of the verse than to the poem as whole. This resulted in poems characterized by strong vocabulary and short ideas but with loosely connected verses. A second characteristic is the romantic or nostalgic prelude with which pre-Islamic poems would often start. In these preludes, a thematic unit called "nasib," the poet would remember his beloved and her deserted home and its ruins.[5] This concept in Arabic poetry is referred to as "al-woqouf `ala al-atlal" (الوقوف على الأطلال / standing by the ruins) because the poet would often start his poem by saying that he stood at the ruins of his beloved; it is a kind ofubi sunt.
It was the early poems' importance to Islamic scholarship which led to their preservation. Not only did the poems illuminate life in the early years of Islam and its antecedents but they would also prove the basis for the study oflinguistics of which the Qur'an was regarded as the pinnacle.[6] Many of the pre-Islamic forms of verse were retained and improved upon.[7]Naqa'id orflytings, where two poets exchange creative insults, were popular withal-Farazdaq andJarir swapping a great deal of invective. The tradition continued in a slightly modified form aszajal, in which two groups 'joust' in verse, and remains a common style inLebanon.
ArabicAndalusi poetry inal-Andalus, or Islamic Iberia (Islamic Spain), involved figures such asIbn Abd Rabbih (the author of theAl-ʿIqd al-Farīd),Ziryab,Ibn Zaydun,Wallada bint al-Mustakfi,Al-Mu'tamid ibn Abbad,Hafsa bint al-Hajj al-Rukuniyya,Ibn Tufail,Ibn Arabi,Ibn Quzman,Abu al-Baqa ar-Rundi, andIbn al-Khatib.[8]
The rise of poetry in Al-Andalus occurred in dialogue with thegolden age of Jewish culture in Spain. Most Jewish writers in al-Andalus—while incorporating elements such as rhyme, meter, and themes of classical Arabic poetry—created poetry inHebrew, butSamuel ibn Naghrillah,Joseph ibn Naghrela, andIbn Sahl al-Isra'ili wrote poetry in Arabic.[9]
Arabic poetry declined after the 13th century along with much of the literature due to the rise ofPersian andTurkish literature. Andalusi literature flowered for a little longer, but ended with the expulsion of the Arabs in 1492. The corpus suffered large-scale destruction by fire in 1499 whenCardinal Jimenez de Cisneros made a publicauto-da-fé inGranada, burning 1,025,000 Arabic volumes.[10]
Ghaylan ibn 'Uqbah (c. 696 – c. 735), nicknamedDhu ar-Rumma, is usually regarded as the last of the Pre-Islamic poets. His works had continued the themes and style of the pre-Islamic poets particularly eulogising the harsh but simple desert life, traditionally recited round a campfire. Although such themes continued and were returned to by many modern, urban poets, this poetic life was giving way to court poets. The more settled, comfortable and luxurious life inUmayyad courts led to a greater emphasis on theghazal or love poem. Chief amongst this new breed of poet wasAbu Nuwas.[11] Not only did Abu Nuwas spoof the traditional poetic form of theqasida and write many poems in praise of wine, his main occupation was the writing of ever more ribaldghazal many of them openlyhomosexual.[citation needed]
While Nuwas produced risqué but beautiful poems, many of which pushed to the limit what was acceptable under Islam, others produced more religiously themed poetry. It is said that Nuwas struck a bargain with his contemporary Abu al-Alahijah: Abu Nuwas would concentrate on wine and love poems whilst al-Alahijah would writehomilies. These homilies expressed views on religion, sin and the afterlife, but occasionally strayed into unorthodox territory. While the work of al-Alahijah was acceptable, others such as the poet Salih ibn 'Abd al-Quddus were executed forheresy.Waddah al-Yaman, now the national poet ofYemen, was also executed for his verse, but this was probably due to his over-familiarity with the wife of the caliphAl-Walid I.
Court poets were joined with court singers who simply performed works includedIbrahim al-Mawsili, his sonIshaq al-Mawsili and Ibrahim ibn al-Mahdi son of caliphal-Mahdi. Many stories about these early singers were retold in theKitab al-Aghani orBook of Songs byAbu al-Faraj al-Isfahani.
TheSufi tradition also produced poetry closely linked to religion. Sufism is amystical interpretation of Islam and it emphasised theallegorical nature of language and writing. Many of the works of Sufi poets appear to be simpleghazal orkhamriyyah. Under the guise of the love or wine poem they would contemplate the mortal flesh and attempt to achievetranscendence.Rabia al-Adawiyya, Abd Yazid al-Bistami andMansur al-Hallaj are some of the most significant Sufi poets, but the poetry and doctrine of al-Hallaj was eventually considered heretic for saying "I am the Truth," which came to be compared as literal incarnation. Al Hallaj wascrucified and later became known as a Martyr.
The caliph himself could take on the role of court poet withal-Walid II a notable example, but he was widely disliked for his immorality and was deposed after only a year.
An important doctrine of Arabic poetry from the start was its complexity, but during the period of court poetry this became an art form in itself known asbadi`. There were features such asmetaphor,pun, juxtaposing opposites and tricky theological allusions.Bashshar ibn Burd was instrumental in developing these complexities which later poets felt they had to surpass. Although not all writers enjoyed the baroque style, with argumentative letters on the matter being sent by Ibn Burd andIbn Miskawayh, the poetic brinkmanship ofbadi led to a certain formality in poetic art, with only the greatest poets' words shining through the complex structures and wordplay. This can make Arabic poetry even more difficult to translate than poetry from other languages, with much of a poet's skill often lost in translation.[12]
Already before the arrival of Islam, Arab Christians composed poetry with biblical or Christian topics, such asAdi ibn Zayd who wrote poetry on the creation narrative and other biblical or Christian motives.[13] According to the church historianSozomen, odes composed in Arabic celebrating the victory ofqueen Mavia over emperorValens may not only be the earliest account of oral Christian poetry but also the earliest account of Arabic poetry in general.[14]
Under Islamic rule, though forced to live with certain restrictions, Arab Christians such asAl-Akhtal al-Taghlibi orIbn al-Tilmidh continued to use Arabic for their poetry. However, these poets seldom addressed their personal Christian faith in their works.[15]
Other ethnicities under Arab rule adapted Arabic poetry over the coming centuries. In ninth century Spain,Paulus Alvarus complained that Christian youths preferred Arabic poetry to Latin works.[16]Hafs ibn Albar, who has been sometimes identified as Paulus' son, translated thepsalms into Arabic in rhyme form, using rajaz verses as it resembled the metre used by Christians in the iambic verse.[17] The translation and many other works enjoyed great popularity not only among Christians but also among Islamic and Jewish authors in Spain.[18]
Arabic poetry was also used forapologetics. As such, the eleventh century Andalusi abu 'qasim ibn Al-Hayyat, originally a Muslim theologian, wrote a poem in defence of his conversion to Christianity.[19]
The early eleventh-century bishopSulayman al-Ghazzi holds a unique place in the history of Arab Christian literature as author of the first diwan of Christian religious poetry in Arabic.[20] The collection consists of over 3,000 lines loosely structured in 97 qaṣīdas which deal with biblical, theological, ascetical, and personal themes such as the persecution Palestinian Christians suffered undercaliph al-Hakim.[21]
Another medieval Arabic love story wasHadith Bayad wa Riyad (The Story of Bayad and Riyad), a 13th-centuryArabic love story written inal-Andalus. 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 ofal-Andalus (vizier or minister), whose equally unnamed daughter, whose retinue includes Riyad, 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.
There were several elements ofcourtly love which were developed in Arabic poetry, 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 English), in his Arabic treatiseRisala fi'l-Ishq (Treatise on Love). The final element of courtly love, the concept of "love as desire never to be fulfilled," was also at times implicit in Arabic poetry.[22]
The 10th centuryEncyclopedia of the Brethren of Purity features a fictional anecdote 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 terrestrial sojourn."[23]
Many of the tales in theOne Thousand and One Nights are also love stories or involve romantic love as a central theme, including theframe story ofScheherazade, and many of thestories she narrates, such as "Aladdin," "Ali Baba," "The Ebony Horse" and "The Three Apples."
The genre of Arabicsatirical poetry was known ashija. Biting satirical poetry was dreaded for its power to immortalize its subjects in insulting ways, and could include sexual, scatological, and religiously profane material.[24] The only way to recover from a satirical insult delivered in poetry was to respond in kind, which meant naqa'id, or satirical duels involving exchanges of poems, were a distinctive part of early Arabic poetry.[25]
In a tribal context,hija was often used to mock the poet's enemies or the virtue of rival tribes. Court poets likeAbu Nuwas also employed satire, lampooning political figures like the vizierJa'far ibn Yahya. After leaving Egypt,al-Mutanabbi mocked theeunuch rulerAbu al-Misk Kafur with a satirical poem: "Till I met this eunuch, I always assumed that the head was the seat of wisdom, but when I looked into his intelligence, I discovered that all his wisdom resided in his testicles."[26]
In the 10th century, the writeral-Tha'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.[27] Another 10th-century poet,Jarir ibn Atiyah, satirized Farazdaq by using the term "Farazdaq-like" to describe an individual who was a "transgressor of the Shari'a".[28] Abu Nuwas, in the 9th century, once responded to an insult from Hashim bin Hudayj, a philosopher, by composing verses sarcastically praising his wisdom, then imploring him to use his knowledge to explain how the penis functions.[29]
Poetry in Arabic is traditionally grouped in adiwan or collection of poems. These can be arranged by poet, tribe, topic or the name of the compiler such as theAsma'iyyat ofal-Asma'i. Most poems did not have titles and they were usually named from their first lines. Sometimes they were arranged alphabetically by their rhymes. The role of the poet in Arabic developed in a similar way to poets elsewhere. The safe and easy patronage in royal courts was no longer available[when?] but a successful poet such asNizar Qabbani was able to set up his own publishing house.
A large proportion of all Arabic poetry is written using themonorhyme,Qasidah. This is simply the same rhyme used on every line of a poem. While this may seem a poorrhyme scheme for people used towestern literature it makes sense in a language like Arabic which has only threevowels which can be either long or short.
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.
Poetry analysis was also employed in other forms of medieval Arabic poetry from the 9th century, notably, for the first time, by theKufan grammarian Tha'lab (d. 904) in his collection of terms with examplesQawa'id al-shi'r (The Foundations of Poetry),[30] byQudama ibn Ja'far in theNaqd al-shi'r (Poetic Criticism), byal-Jahiz in theal-Bayan wa-'l-tabyin andal-Hayawan, and byAbdullah ibn al-Mu'tazz in hisKitab al-Badi.[31] There were four critic groupings: experts on ancient poetry, critics of new Arabic poets, Quranic scholars, and Aristotelian logicians.[30][32]
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?
Beginning in the 19th century, as part of what is now called "the Arab Renaissance" or "revival" (al-Nahda), some primarily Egyptian, Lebanese and Syrian writers and poetsRifa'a at-Tahtawi,Ahmad Faris al-Shidyaq,Butrus al-Bustani, andFrancis Marrash believed that writing must be renewed towards modern style and themes.[34][35][36] The blind poet Francis Marrash wrote inpoetic prose andprose poetry and can be considered the first modern Arabic writer.[37][38] Within and after the Arabic Renaissance appeared severalpoetry movements and groups.
The "Neoclassical" movement (different from the westernneoclassicism) advocated return to the purity of classical Arabic poetry and began in the turn of the 20th century to explore the possibility of developing the classical poetic forms. Some of these neoclassical poets were acquainted with western literature but mostly continued to write in classical forms.[39][40][41][42] One of the first proponents of this was the Egyptian poet and statesmanMahmoud Sami el-Baroudi. Other notable figures includeAhmad Shawqi (the most popular of them) andHafiz Ibrahim from Egypt,Jamil Sidqi al-Zahawi andMaruf al-Rusafi from Iraq, and the PalestinianIbrahim Tuqan.[35]
A common genre in much of the neoclassical poetry was the use of theqasida,[43] as well asghazal or love poem in praise of the poet's homeland. This was manifested either as anationalism for the newly emergingnation states of the region or in a wider sense as anArab nationalism emphasising the unity of all Arab people. The poems of praise (madih), and the lampoon (hija) also returned. Ahmad Shawqi produced several works praising the reforming Turkish leaderKemal Atatürk, but when Atatürk abolished thecaliphate, Shawqi was not slow in attacking him in verse. Political views in poetry were often more unwelcome in the 20th century than they had been in the 7th, and several poets faced censorship or, in the case of Abd al-Wahhab al-Bayyati, exile.
Poetry is the mirror of feeling, it stands above sophistry and delusion.
The "Romanticism" (partly coincident with westernneo-romanticism) was another Arab literary movement from the early 20th century, floureshed during the 1930s–1940s, that sought inspiration from French or Englishromantic poetry. Romantic poets, denouncing blind imitation of one-rhime system in classical poetry and its recurring themes, imaged individual experiences via powerful loveghasal and other genres.[45][46][47][33][48] The precursor to this style became the Lebanese-Egyptian poet and journalistKhalil Mutran, more in his critical works.[49][35]
Most famous part of Arab Romanticism or outstand movement related to it[50] is theMahjar ("émigré" school) that includes Arabic-language poets in the AmericasAmeen Rihani,Kahlil Gibran,Nasib Arida,Mikhail Naimy,Elia Abu Madi, Fawsi Maluf, Farhat, and al-Qarawi.[51][52][53][54] As their style example:[54]
Give me the fluite and sing! Forget all
that you and I have said
Talk is but dust in the air, so tell me of
your deeds.
The romantic movement also involved poets in every Arabian country:Abdel Rahman Shokry,Abbas Mahmoud al-Aqqad andIbrahim al-Mazini in Egypt,Omar Abu Risha in Syria,Elias Abu Shabaki andSalah Labaki in Lebanon,Abu al-Qasim al-Shabbi in Tunisia, andAl-Tijani Yusuf Bashir in Sudan.[45][46][55]
Besides them, in Cairo in 1932,Ahmed Zaki Abu Shadi formed the literary "Apollo Society" with the magazineApollo, that members were alsoIbrahim Nagi,Ali Mahmoud Taha, and mentioned Abu al-Qasim al-Shabbi. This grouping absorbed some elements ofliterary modernism andavant-garde.[56][57][58][59][55]
An example of modern poetry in classical Arabic style with themes ofPan-Arabism is the work ofAziz Pasha Abaza. He came fromAbaza family which produced notable Arabic literary figures including Ismail Pasha Abaza,Fekry Pasha Abaza, novelistTharwat Abaza, and Desouky Bek Abaza, among others.[60][61]
TheSymbolist school of poetry, close to Romanticism, was represented in the Arab world by the Lebanese poets Adib Mashar (1889–1928), Yusuf Ghusub (b. 1900) andSaid Akl, and also Bishr Faris in Egypt.[62][55] Ghusub with Akl, both, preached the use ofLatin script.[63] The mentioned above Romantic poetSalah Labaki was associated with them, aspecially in his critic works on the French literary theory.[55]
The development ofmodernist poetry also influenced poetry in Arabic. AfterWorld War II, there was a largely unsuccessful modernist movement[64][65] by several poets to write poems infree verse (shi'r hurr).[66][67][68][55][69] Thus, in 1947 the two Iraqi poets,Badr Shakir al-Sayyab andNazik al-Malaika initiated a break in the stanza form (bayt) for free verse.[70][71][72][73][55] The closer the Arab poets approached to Western poetry, the more anxious they became to look for new media, themes, techniques, metaphors and forms to liberate themselves from conventional poetry.[66]
More recently, poets such asJabra Ibrahim Jabra,Muhammad al-Maghut and Tawfiq Sayigh (d. 1971) have pushed the boundaries ofstylistic experimentation even further in favour ofprose poetry (qasidat al-nathr).[74][75][55]
Avantgardist type prose poetry already took place among some romantics, such asAbu al-Qasim al-Shabbi,[76][77] but became the trend withYusuf al-Khal andAdunis, who founded the magazineShi'r ("Poetry") inBeirut in 1957 under the influence of al-Shabbi's style and theApollo journal in whole.[78][79][55][80] Another avantgardist literary magazine in Beirut was the long-livedAl Adab (1953).[79][80] Adunis from 1968 published his own journalMawakif for literary innovations[55][81] as follows:
To a father who died, green as a cloud
with a sail on his face, I bow.
Between the years 1938–1948, theSurrealist Cairo-based anti-fascist artisticArt et Liberté group was active, under the leadership of the poetGeorges Henein. Shawqi's granddaughter, poetIkbal El-Alailly, was also a member. The work of these authors did not have a direct effect on Arabic poetry, because they wrote poems in European languages.[82]
Arabic language Surrealist experiments proper belong to Orkhan Muyassar (1911?–1965)[83] andAdunis in some his works.[84]
Poetry as a part ofcontemporary literature retains a very important status in the Arab world.[85] Besides that, poets of "commitment" (iltizam), among themAbd al-Wahhab Al-Bayati,Khalil Hawi, andMahmoud Darwish, played an important role in politics of the Arabian people along with an establishment of national states, revolutions, and the 1967Six-Day War.[86][87][88][89][55]
Iraqi poet Abd al-Wahhab Al-Bayati faced exile, due to his revolutionary ideas and advocacy for oppressed people, as in the following poem:
Why are we Lord?
Without a country, without love
We die
We die in terror
Why are we in exile?
Why are we lord?— Abd al-Wahhab Al-Bayati,Why Are We in Exile the Refugees Ask[90]
Mahmoud Darwish was regarded as the Palestinian national poet,[89] and his funeral was attended by thousands of mourners. And here is an instance of political poetry of another Palestinian,Tawfiq Ziad:
In Lydda, in Ramla, in the Galilee,
we shall remain
like a wall upon your chest, and in your throat
like a shard of glass
a cactus thorn,
and in your eyes
a sandstorm.— Tawfiq Ziad,Here We Will Stay[91]
The most widely read in the contemporary Middle East,[55] Syrian poetNizar Qabbani wrote during the 1950s and 1960s on social protest and politics, and even addressed less political themes in favour love poetry, but was regarded as a cultural icon and his poems provide the lyrics for many popular songs.[55]
From the 1970s, there is a neo-Sufi trend within Arab poets, including some far left-wing figures.[92]
Reality television poetry competitions likePrince of Poets andMillion's Poet exist to promote classical Arabic poetry and Nabati poetry respectively. Notable contestants in these competitions includeTamim al-Barghouti,Hissa Hilal, and Hisham al-Gakh.
%2c_Maqamat_al-Harari%2c_1237.jpg)
