Lesson 7: Literature of the Classical Era

Question 1

Pre-Islamic Literature (Poetry)

Answer 1

• Before Islam, Arabic speaking populations were almost exclusively living in parts of the Arab Peninsula & poets were from:
  => Hijaz
  => Najd
  => Yemen
• Many poets were born before Islam and died during the Islamic period - changes not felt the same or visible in the same way in their poetry (hard to classify, periods being intertwined)

Question 2

Imru’ al-Qais & the Muallaka (late 5th-early 6th century)

Answer 2

• First known Arab poet/poem
  BUT
  since it is very structured & bears complex characteristics, we can tell that it is the result of a long poetic tradition (not the first of its kind)
• 80 verses long
  => lamenting on the ruins of a (probably fictitious) beloved
  => reflection on the continuous uprooting of nomadic life
  => touches on many topics including:
  Pride
  Animal descriptions and comparisons
  Hunting trips
  Love & praise of the (real) beloved woman
  => imagination not diversified, reflecting desert environment

Question 3

Common Characteristics of Pre-Islamic Poetry

Answer 3

1) Pre-Established Mandatory Forms
- verses follow specific forms equivalent to number of syllables of each verse in English/French
- 15 forms

2) Oral transmission
- compatible with unstable nomadic lifestyle because easily memorized and short form
- before learning paper making in 751, Arabs had only tree leaves and animal skins

3) Poet as Historian & Spokesman of the Tribe
- poetry = “mythology of the Arabs”
- poet = incarnated qualities of the tribe

4) No metaphysical or psychological introspection
- Arabs were generally pagan so did not belief in afterworld/afterlife
- poems only broached visible objects and real acts (in desert: visible <=> invisible worlds)

5) Multiple Topics in One Poem
- poem = chronicle of the tribe
- every one starts with lamenting on the ruins
- other topics: permanent uprooting, praise of tribe, critique of enemy, description of animals etc.

6) Weak Overall Structure
- composed in fragments over time
- because of multiplicity of topics
- order can be changed without changing meaning of poem

7) Poor imagination
- desertic, infertile imagination
- animals (major inspiration, most prevalent natural element because dependent on them in the desert for food, clothes, transportation etc.) - symbolized force, patience, love etc.

Question 4

Golden Era Literature (Poetry) Context

Answer 4

Islam brought “arabization” of people in Fertile Crescent and North Africa
Arabs no longer tribes confined to Peninsula - urban peoples living in large cities

Question 5

Common Characteristics of Golden Age Poetry

Answer 5

1) Forms Remained Unchanged except for one additional one
- now 16 forms
- until 20th century: open to experimentation

2) Written & Oral Transmission

3)More individual dimension
No longer chronicle of the tribe

4) Psychological Introspection & Philosophical Reflection

5) Fewer Topics in One Poem
Sometimes only one

6) Structured Poems
Switching order of verses no longer possible

7) Fertile Imagination
New images: flowers, perfumes, colors, rivers etc.

Question 6

Prose in Abbasid Era

Answer 6

• Facilitated by paper making process and urban lifestyle
• First Arabic Prose Text: Koran

Question 7

Ibn al Mouqaffa’ & Kalila wa Dimna (8th century)

Answer 7

• Kalila wa Dimna: first Arabic secular prose book
- Introduced word adab as literature (not just ethics)
- Dialogue between philosopher (Bagdaba) & king (Dabshaleem) about jungle life of hyenas Kalila and Dimna
Using jungle life to explain art of governing because Arabs had a state for first time in history

Ibn al Mouqaffa’
=> used fiction to dissimulâtes moral book (out of the mouths of animals)
=> disclaimed responsibility by claiming he only translated an Indian tale from Persian

Question 8

Al-Jahiz (late 8th- early 9th century)

Answer 8

• From Mu’tazila school of thought
• Style: “inaccessible simplicity” (hard to write, easy to understand)
• His writing made prose popular

Books:
1) Book of Eloquence & Exposition (first literary critique - analysis of poetry)
2) Book of Misers (observation & critique of human behavior - especially stingy people)
3) Book of Animals (observation & analysis of animal behavior)

Question 9

Al-Jahiz & Book of Animals: Important Characteristics

Answer 9

1) First attempt to classify animals (feline, canine…)

2) “Food chain concept”

3) First Theory of “Natural Selection” (1,000 years before Darwin)

4) “Animal sociability” (vs Aristotle: “humans are social animals”)

5) Intelligent Animal Behavior (snakes)

Question 10

Al-Maari & The Epistle of Forgiveness (late 10th - mid 11th century)

Answer 10

• Lost sight at 4
• Mu’tazila school of thought
  Practiced skepticism as a form of reason
  Family tragedies and political turmoil gave him sense of pessimism
• Questioned & examined everything except belief in God as creator
• Exposed his philosophy in his poetry and literary critique books

The Epistle of Forgiveness
- Author’s encounters in heaven and hell
- Seen as adaptation of Prophet’s Isra’ wa Mi’rage
- Believed to have inspired Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy