‘Abbasid Poetry

Question 1

Umayyad power collapsed in —s in the face of
coalition of opposition movements (— battle.
The Umayyad caliph ——- was killed).

Answer 1

750
Zab
Marwan

Question 2

Main impetus for change came from ———,

with alliance of Arab settlers and Iranian mawali.

Answer 2

Khorasan

Question 3

Leadership provided by descendants of ‘—-,

uncle of the Prophet

Answer 3

Abbas

Question 4

——– sent to Khorasan, formed army and

marched westward and defeated Umayyads

Answer 4

Abu Muslim

Question 5

Change of leadership marked by shift of capital

from ——— to ———–.

Answer 5

Damascus

Baghdad

Question 6

——– was nominated the first

caliph (Amīr al-Mu’minīn) from the abbasids, —- ruler

Answer 6

Abu ’l-‘Abbas

weak

Question 7

Abu Muslim killed 754 CE, enabling ———- to consolidate authority of new
dynasty.

Answer 7

alManṣūr

Question 8

Baghdad was founded by?

Answer 8

alManṣūr

Question 9

Shift of centre of gravity from Damascus to

Baghdad leads to increase in ———- influence

Answer 9

Persian

Question 10

Increased trade (especially via -------), as far as
----- (by 850), also -----------, --------.

Answer 10

Basra
China
Southern Europe
Russia

Question 11

From Chinese prisoners taken at the Battle of
——— in 751 Muslims learn the art of ————: the mass production of paper
revolutionizes the transmission of knowledge
throughout the Islamic empire

Answer 11

Talas

papermaking

Question 12

‘Abbasid society best known to Westerners

through ————– fiction but rooted in contemporary society

Answer 12

Alf Layla wa-Layla (‘Arabian Nights’),

Question 13

————— (786-809 C.E.) contemporary
of Charlemagne, typifies height of ‘Abbasid
culture

Answer 13

Hārūn al-Rashīd

Question 14

Early ‘Abbasid period ‘—————-’ of classical

Arab civilisation

Answer 14

Golden Age

Question 15

Which culture drew on cultures of adjoining civilisations?

Answer 15

abbasid culture

Question 16

Practical requirements in abbasid culture included ——-,——–,——–,———- (e.g.
beginning and end of Ramadan, direction of
the qibla etc)

Answer 16

medicine
mathematics
geography
astronomy

Question 17

In abbasid culture, Translation movement into Arabic of works in ——,———-,——-,——–

Answer 17

Greek,
Syriac
Persian
Sanskrit

Question 18

830 CE caliph ——— founds Bayt alHikma (‘House of Wisdom’), a translation
institute placed under directorship of ———- (d. 873)

Answer 18

al-Ma’mūn

Hunayn ibn Isḥāq

Question 19

Death of Abu Muslim sparked off series of

‘————–’

Answer 19

peasant revolts

Question 20

——– revolt (black slaves) under ‘Ali ibn
Muhammad in southern Iraq, captured ——–
871 CE, came within 17 miles of Baghdad.
Rebellion suppressed and ‘Ali killed 883 CE

Answer 20

Zanj

Basra

Question 21

Political unity of Islamic Empire starts to crumble very
early:
– 756 CE, Umayyads in ——- break away from
‘Abbasids
– 868 CE ———— establishes himself as
independent ruler of Egypt, Syria and Palestine
– 930 CE ———– (Isma’ili sect) in Arabian peninsula,
sack Mecca
– 969 CE ——— (Isma’ilis) in North Africa capture
Cairo and make it capital of independent dynasty; 972
CE, foundation of al-Azhar
– ———- now new ‘centre of gravity’ to rival Baghdad.

Answer 21

Spain
Ahmad ibn Tulūn
Qarāmiṭa
Fatimids
Cairo

Question 22

———- flowering of classical Arabic poetry in

‘Abbasid period

Answer 22

Second

Question 23

Shift of capital to Baghdad 762 CE opens

door to ——— influences

Answer 23

Persian

Question 24

Abbasid Poetry marked by tensions:
– —- vs —— (shu‘ubiyya)
– ———– vs ———-

Answer 24

arab vs persian

traditional desert environment vs urban values

Question 25

Remains structurally ———— (eg metres

and rhyme).

Answer 25

conservative

Question 26

Increasing importance of ‘———–’ in abbasid poetry.

Answer 26

patronage

Question 27

What are the two schools in Abbasid poetry?

Answer 27

Neo-classical and modernist

Question 28

Which school is tradition oriented? give examples.

Answer 28

neo-classical school

Abu Tammam and al-Mutanabbi

Question 29

Which school turned away from the

rigid style of the Qasida? Give examples

Answer 29

modernist school
Most of them are half-Arabs or non-Arabs: : Abu
Nuwas, Bashshar b. Burd, Ibn al-Rumi,
Abu al-‘Atahiyya

Question 30

Who was the Caliph al-Mu’tasim

poet?

Answer 30

Abu tammam

Question 31

————– was very famous at the court

of the Hamdanid ruler of Aleppo Sayf alDawlah

Answer 31

Al-Mutanabbi

Question 32

Who joined the court of Harun alRashid and his son al-Amin?

Answer 32

Abu Nuwas

Question 33

Who had part persian distraction and was a blind poet? and from which school?

Answer 33

Bashshar b.Burd

modernist school

Question 34

Bashshar b.Burd’s poetry often express ——-
sentiments, drawing contrasts between
uncouth Arabs and Persians as heirs of
ancient civilization.

Answer 34

shu‘ubi

Question 35

Abū Nuwās (d. 810): half———, raised in
———-, Abū Nuwās is synonymous with classical
Arabic ——– poetry (khamriyya) and is widely
regarded as its greatest exponent. From which school is he?

Answer 35

Persian
Basra
wine
modernist school

Question 36

Abu Nuwas also displays an ——– attitude towards
the time–honoured conventions of the classical
————, frequently mocking the motifs of the
traditional nasīb.

Answer 36

iconoclastic

qasīda

Question 37

————(d. 965): generally regarded as one of the

greatest Arab poets of the classical era. From which school?

Answer 37

Al-Mutanabbī

neo-classical school

Question 38

His poetry is much admired for its ———-, ———– and ———–, though some find
objectionable his tendency towards extreme ——-or
self-glorification.

Answer 38

forcefulness
inventive imagery
technical virtuosity
fakhr

Question 39

Al-Mutannabi is synonymous with the court of his chief
patron, ———— (Syria), for whom he composed a
long series of panegyrics

Answer 39

Sayf al-Dawla

Question 40

Al Mutannabi:
– later associated with court of —— (Egypt)
– made enemies through his arrogance
– killed by ——— near Baghdad. (in keeping with his
motto: ‘live honourably or die heroically.’)

Answer 40

Kāfūr

brigands

Question 41

Who was the blind poet, rationalist, with

pessimistic outlook?

Answer 41

Al-Ma‘arri

Question 42

Al Ma’ arri was Best known for his ———–, a collection of ————- on the nature of —— and ———. His view of existence is epitomised in the
epitaph that al-Ma‘arri asked to be engraved on his
———-

Answer 42

Luzūmiyyāt
bleak meditations
life
human folly
tombstone

Question 43

What year did the Abbasid caliphate end?

Answer 43

1258

Question 44

The ‘Abbasid caliphate ended in 1258 with the
sacking of ———- by the ———- under the
command of ———-.

Answer 44

Baghdad
Mongols
Hulagu Khan