Arabic literature and Pre-Islamic poetry

Question 1

What are the two types of pre-Islamic poems and what are the differences between them?

Answer 1

there are two types first type is Qit’ah which is a short piece less than 30 lines and it has only one theme, second type is Qasida longer than Qit’ah and more than one theme.

Question 2

Why is it said that the classical Arabic poetry cannot be translated without losing its essential quality? What is this essential quality?

Answer 2

so, when the poetry is translated, it won’t be able to translate the meter, the metrical scheme is the essential quality that will be lost when it’s translated.

Question 3

What are the three main thematic division of a pre Islamic qasida (ode)

Answer 3

• love prelude
• journey theme
• topic (main theme)

the love prelude and journey theme are just a introduction to the main topic in a q9eeda (poem) and the main topic can be md7 or mdee7 (self-praise) or fa5r or retha2 (satire)

Question 4

Who are the most famous Pre-Islamic Arab poets?

Answer 4

• the 7 poets who wrote the mua’llaqat
• Anatarah ibn shdad
• Imru’ al-Qays
• Ṭarafah ibn al-ʿAbd
• Zuhayr bin Abī Sulmá
• Amr ibn Kulthūm
• al-Harith b. Hilliza
• Labid bin abi Rabi’a

Question 5

What’s the difference between a normal book and an adab book?

Answer 5

Content and normal books is more about information than art.

Question 6

qafiyeh?

Answer 6

is the Rhymes and the letter at the end of the q9eeda (poem)

Question 7

wazn?

Answer 7

is the rhythm of the q9eeda (poem)

Question 8

what does poetry rely on?

Answer 8

• Poetry heavily relies on imagery and metaphors

Question 9

prose is ?

Answer 9

nathr; Prose consists of writing that does not have formal structure; like doesn’t follow rhymes, meter but rather style.

Question 10

Oral literature?

Answer 10

refers to poetry, proverbs, sermons, and legends

Question 11

what are proverbs?

Answer 11

Proverbs are mthl or sayings; al6yor 3la ashkalha t83

Question 12

when did arabic literature emerge?

Answer 12

Arabic literature emerged in the 6th century

Question 13

when did prose emerge?

Answer 13

Late 8th century was when prose emerged

Question 14

The pre-Islamic Period

Answer 14

(500-622)

Question 15

(622-661)?

Answer 15

The Early Islamic Period

Question 16

The Umayyad Period?

Answer 16

(661-750)

Question 17

(750-1258)

Answer 17

The Abbasid period

Question 18

(1258- 1800)

Answer 18

Post Abbasid period

Question 19

Hispano – Arabic period (711 – 1492);

Answer 19

Al-Andalus was ruled by the Muslims; hispano and Arabic period is European mixed with Arabs

Question 20

Classical Arabic poetry: 6th century (pre-Islamic era)……to…..

Answer 20

to the end of the 13th century (Abbasid caliphate)

Question 21

Metrical scheme?

Answer 21

which is ba7r al6weel, the metrical scheme came naturally to the poets.

Question 22

what makes a classical poem?

Answer 22

each line is divided into two and ends with the same syllable

Question 23

Characteristics of a qasidah (poem)?

Answer 23

epic qualities mean its long and talks about their adventures and their battles/ verse is divided into two halves (hemistich)/ meter (wazn) a set of syllabic meters “ahmad al-farahidi”, rhyme (qafiyeh) each line ends with the same rhyming element.

Question 24

what happened in the 7th century?

Answer 24

Quran had a great lasting effect on arabic culture and literature.

Question 25

islamic golden age?

Answer 25

8th-14th century was when arabic literature flourished and was written

Question 26

Classical Arabic poetry?

Answer 26

6th-13th century

Question 27

what are the types of addab (lit)?

Answer 27

1: oral lit: included poetry, proverbs, sermons, legends
2: prose: non poetic writing but has style and its nathr
3: poetry: is sh3r and heavily relies on imagery and metaphors: classical and modern.

Question 28

pre-islamic tribes only accepted poetry as

Answer 28

a form of artistic expression

Question 29

pre islamic poetry:

Answer 29

• Qassiadah: ode is long
• Qitah: monotheistic is short

both rhyme

Question 30

who is al Khalil ibn Ahmed farahidi?

Answer 30

he is the one who did the syllabic meter ( wazn ) thingy in the 8th century

Question 31

Prosodic?

Answer 31

the rhythm and pattaern of sound

Question 32

Metrical scheme?

Answer 32

• Scheme: the way something is arranged or organized
• Metre: The basic rhythmic structure of a verse or a line in verse. A metre is a consequence of feet, each foot being a specific sequence of syllable types
• Syllable: any one of the parts into which a word is naturally divided when it is pronounced.

Question 33

“They [the Arab tribesmen of pre-Islamic times] used not to wish each other joy but for three things: the birth of a boy, the coming to light of a poet, and the foaling of a noble mare.”

Answer 33

(Ibn Rashīq (d. 1065), Kitāb al-‘Umda fī maḥāsin al-shi‘r)

Question 34

Topics of a qaṣīda?

Answer 34

• Self-praise (fakhr): urself or someone u know
• Panegyric (madīḥ): praising someone else and Eulogy: someone we don’t know but is dead or alive
• Satire (hijā’) : joke or saying bad things
• Elegy or lament (rithā’) : dead
• Love (Ghazal) : someone we love
• wisdom (ḥikma)

Question 35

The Mu‘allaqāt
?

Answer 35

A collection of seven pre-Islamic qaṣīdas (albeit compiled in the 8th century C.E.) which were widely regarded as the best of their kind.

• 7 poets