Poetry in the Early Islamic and Umayyad Period

Question 1

The study of the Qur’an led to the
creation and the development of various
Qur’anic disciplines such as ———–,
———, ——–, ——– and —.

Answer 1

lexicography
biography
theology
philosophy
law

Question 2

Also the —– of the Qur’an,——– and —–

influenced the literature of this era.

Answer 2

tone
imagery
vocab

Question 3

The emergence of ————- parties like

kharijite parties and Shiite.

Answer 3

politico-religious

Question 4

It should be noticed that within a 100
years:
• The Arabs had conquered the
---------- empire, -------- and
---------------.
• Expelled the ---------- from -------

Answer 4

Sassanian
North Africa
Southern Spain
Byzantines
Syria

Question 5

Poetic tradition suffered———– decline

Answer 5

temporary

Question 6

Yet when leading Arab poets converted to ——–,

poetry regained its prestige.

Answer 6

Islam

Question 7

Leading Arabian poets during the life of the prophet

include:

Answer 7

Hassan bin Thabit and Ka’b bin Zuhayr

Question 8

The poets who lived in both pre-Islamic and Islamic

period are called ?

Answer 8

“mukhadramun”, singular:

“mukhadram”.

Question 9

For example one of the famous qasidas
by Ka’ab bin Zuhayr: is asn example of ——– Arabic qasidah. It has
three themes: what are they?

Answer 9

classical

nasib, rihla and madih

Question 10

During the reign of the Caliphs
poetry continue to flourish and
poets such as Hassan bin
Thabit in addition to hundreds
other poets wrote short and
long qasidas in praise of the
leaders and the ------- armies
who contributed to the
expansion of ------ and
conquered new lands.

Answer 10

Muslim

Islam

Question 11

Two genres of poetry prevailed during this time (Ummayad Period): what are they?

Answer 11

Ghazal

Naqa’id

Question 12

“Ghazal”

1. The —— school with main representative——– whose love poetry was daring, sensous and profane
2. The —- school with main representative ————- whose poetry was chaste pure and sublime.

Answer 12

Hijazi
‘Umar bin Abi rabi’a
‘Udhri
Jamil Buthayna and Qais Layla

Question 13

Naqa’id”, literary means “———–”, it is poetical
contests where, it is a form of poetry, —– or ——–
insults are exchanged.

Answer 13

contradictions
tribal
personal

Question 14

These poems usually coming in ——,

employing the same meter and rhyme. It belongs to the genre of —-

Answer 14

pairs

hija

Question 15

Yet we are told that “it was mainly
———– and ——– that
most eloquently expressed the spirit
of the age”

Answer 15

political poetry

love lyrics

Question 16

Several poets advocated ———, Shi’ite, Zubayrite

and Kharijites parties. Yet the most prominent were AlAkhtal, Jarir and al-Farazdaq.

Answer 16

Umayyad
Shi’ite
Zubayrite
Kharjites

AlAkhtal
Jarir
Al Farazdaq

Question 17

AlAkhtal, Jarir and al-Farazdaq’s naqa’id are
important to the study of ———– history of their
period.

Answer 17

political

Question 18

Al-Akhtal the panegyric poet of Abdul Malik, Jarir of

al-Hajjaj and al-Farazdaq also of ——– dynasty.

Answer 18

Umayyad

Question 19

Nevertheless, one of the best eulogies to ‘Ali bin alHusayn is attributed to ——–.

Answer 19

al-Farazdaq

Question 20

At-Tirimmah and ‘Imran bin Hittan expressed ——-

revolutionary and egalitarian beliefs

Answer 20

Kharijite

Question 21

Governed by ------ considerations,
the poetic form was simplified. Poetry
and music became inseparable as
shown by hundreds of examples by
the famous ---------by Abu
---------------.

Answer 21

musical
Kitab al-Aghani
al-Faraj al-Asfahani

Question 22

The case of —————–, known as
majnun Laila (Laila’s Madman). For after Laila
was married off to a man from another tribe,
Qays spent the rest of his life roaming the
wilderness, mourning his love. This is a part of —— love poetry.

Answer 22

Qays ibn al-Mulawwah

Udhri‘

Question 23

The story of ———– and Lubna. This is a part of —– love poetry.

Answer 23

Qays ibn Dharih

Udhri

Question 24

Perhaps the best known among them is ———–, known as Jamil Buthayna, whose love for Buthaina lasted all his life, until his death in ——–.

Answer 24

jamil ibn Maʿmar

Egypt

Question 25

In the cities of ——-, now flourishing with a
new wealth and great resurgence in the arts
of music and song, people knew well how to
enjoy life. Led by ʿ—————

Answer 25

Hijaz

Umar ibn Abi Rabiʿa.

Question 26

---------------- “the
lump of dough”
, famous Arab satirist and
panegyrist, died at -------.
Born in -----------, this poet was descended from the
tribe of ----------.

Answer 26

Tammām b. Ghalib (Abū Firās) al- Farazdaq
Basra
Yamāma
Tamīm

Question 27

Endowed with a prodigious memory and
precocious talent, Al Farazdaq seems very soon to have made himself known in his tribe by laudatory
compositions in the ———- style.

Answer 27

Bedouin

Question 28

Under ———–, al-Farazdaq became the official poet
of the caliph, as witness numerous panegyrics
dedicated to him and to his two sons. Under
———- he enjoyed the same favor. It was otherwise
on the accession of ——— (‘Umar Ibn ‘Abd al-
’Aziz), when al-Farazdaq was rather in the shade.

Answer 28

Walīd I
Sulaymān
‘Umar II

Question 29

Jarīr b. ‘Atiyya b. al-Khatafa b. Badr was
among the most important ——– -writers of
the Umayyad period and may be considered
one of the greatest Islamic-Arabic poets of
all time.

Answer 29

hijā’

Question 30

Jarir belonged to the ——- tribe. He began

his famous –long dispute with ———-, over the ————–

Answer 30

Tamīm
40
alFarazdaq
theft of a camel.

Question 31

After they had abused each other from a
distance for some time, Jarīr went to ‘—– and
met al-Farazdaq for the first time in ——–.
There were such scenes that the authorities
had to put a stop to the meetings—although
without any lasting success.

Answer 31

iraq

basra

Question 32

Jarīr began his public career by writing poems
in praise of an official of the governor of
—–, al-Hajjaj and wrote a series of qasīdas to
praise him.

Answer 32

iraq

Question 33

Afterwards, Jarīr was sent to ‘Abd al-Malik’s
court in ———. He was first rejected,
then graciously received by ‘Abd al-Malik.
But in the long run their relationship was
not particularly good, for the caliph
favoured the Taghlibī Christian ——–
(“al-Akhtal is the poet of the Umayyads!”)
who took al-Farazdaq’s part against Jarīr and
Jarīr’s relations with ‘Abd al-Malik’s
successor al-Walīd were even worse.

Answer 33

Damascus

al-Akhtal

Question 34

However he was on a rather better footing with
———- who, as a pious man, took no very passionate
interest in either eulogies or satires, and remained
courteously neutral. Nevertheless he does seem to
have preferred ——- to his rivals.

Answer 34

‘Umar II

Jarīr

Question 35

Finally, in old age Jarir retired to the ——– and he
died there when over eighty or a little later, shortly
after the death of his opponent al-Farazdaq.

Answer 35

Yamāma

Question 36

———- “the talkative”
, was the nickname of the
Arab poet Ghiyāth b. Ghawth b. al-Salt. He belonged
to the great tribe of the ——- of northern Syria,
which remained entirely ———

Answer 36

al- Akhtal
Tag̲h̲lib
Christian

Question 37

He remained a ———- all his life, and was unmoved
by the efforts of prominent members of the Umayyad
dynasty to convert him to Islam.

Answer 37

Christian

Question 38

All his life al-Akhtal followed the fortunes of the
reigning dynasty. During the reign of Mu‘āwiya, he
became embroiled in ——— affairs. He was the
close companion of ———-, whom he praised in
his panegyrics, and of other men of rank such as ——–. Under ‘Abd al-Malik, he actually became
official poet to the Caliph and he remained in the
service of the successors of ‘Abd al-Malik,
attacking all opponents of the dynasty in his poetry.

Answer 38

political
Yazīd I
alHajjaj

Question 39

The poet’s whole career was dominated by ——–
warfare with his contemporary, the poet Jarīr. In his
diatribes he was supported by the poet ———-
who, although a fellow Tamīmi like Jarīr, was in
antagonism with his fellow-tribesman. It is almost
impossible to dissociate here the accounts of these
three men. It is clear that in this sphere al-Akhtal
and Jarīr perpetuated the pre-Islamic tradition and
simply expressed the sentiments of their particular
group.

Answer 39

verbal

al-Farazdaq

Question 40

———, meaning “contradicting poems,
flytings”, pl. of naqida (from the verb naqada
“to destroy, undo, rebut, oppose”)

Answer 40

Naqā’id

Question 41

The genre reached its peak in the Umayyad period
with the naqā’id of ——–,——- and————,
which were popular with rulers and common
people, and remained so because of their highly
entertaining content and their ——– and ———-
skill.

Answer 41

al-Akhta
Jarir
Al- Farazdaw
poetic
linguistic

Question 42

Sometimes the poems are short but very
often they are long poems in qasīda form, with a
peculiar positioning of different themes: ———–,
———and ——- verse. They are rich in historical,
political and social allusions, but on the whole their
political significance is———- to their role as
entertainment.

Answer 42

amatory
praise
critical
second

Question 43

This they provide by means of funny
descriptions, powerful imagery, grotesque
exaggerations and gross obscenities; expressed in
a variety of styles of language ranging from the
——— to the ————. The
“rebutting” implied by the term naqīda does not
consist in a point-by-point refutation of the
opponent’s poem. Rather than defending himself
against slander and abuse, the replying poet
attacks in his turn.

Answer 43

elevated

simple near-colloquial