Pre-Islamic Poetry Flashcards
Pre-Islamic Poetry is over the period of ?
1400 years
Arabic Literary history is generally divided into
6 periods:
1) The Jahiliyyah, or pre-Islamic
2) The early Islamic and Umayyad
3) The Abbasid
4) The Hispano-Arabic in Muslim Spain
5) The post-Abbasid or PreModern/ Turkish Era
6) The modern Awakening
Since earliest times Arabs tended to
consider poetry the literary form — ———-.
par excellence
The vast body of poetry composed by
classical Arab poets is generally regarded
as one of the most important elements of
——— ———- heritage.
Arabic intellectual
In the context of Arabic poetry, the term
‘classical’ is conventionally applied to the period
extending from the early –th century C.E. to the
end of the ‘Abbasid caliphate (–th century C.E.).
6
13
By contrast, the later —————- period
tends to be characterised by ——– of the
classical models and a general lack of
————– and ———
medieval/Ottoman
imitation
innovation
creativity
The earliest extant examples of Arabic
poetry appear to date from the —— half of
the –th century C.E (though they weren’t
actually written down until the –th century
C.E.).
first
6
8
Although such poetry seems to have
emerged out of ———– it was clearly the
product of a long-established ——- ———-.
nothing
oral tradition
In pre-Islamic Arabia poetry was closely
linked to ?
the nature of tribal society
The poet was typically the -------------- of his clan, and his craft was a means of -------------------- of the clan’s ------- and ---------- in an otherwise ephemeral -----------.
spokesman preserving the collective memory deeds individuals environment
The role of tribal poet was therefore seen
as an ————one, as indicated in the
following well-known quote from a
medieval Arab critic: “They [the Arab
tribesmen of pre-Islamic times] used not to
wish each other joy but for three things:
the ————, the —————–, and the —————”
important
birth of a boy
coming to light of a poet
foaling of a noble mare.
Poets who went against the ——– of their tribes and
were considered ——–.
traditions
rogue
The word Su’luk refers to one
—————————. This resulted in those
poets revolting against their society. Their poetry talks
about their —-, ——-, ——— and their ————- to
others to match their chivalry and courage
being poor and living in hardship life pride bravery challenge
al-Shanfarā and Ta’abbata Sharran are?
rogue poets
Poetry was also seen as having a ————
power. Poets were often thought to be inspired
by their own ————–
supernatural
personal jinn
Owing to the nature of poetry and the poets’
inclinations to exaggerate all the time, poets are
referred to in the ———–: As for the poets, the
erring follow them. Have you not seen how
they stray in every valley, and how they say
that which they do not do?
Qur’ān
The 2 basic categories of
early Arabic poem are? Define each.
-qit‘a (‘piece’), short poem on single theme
- more complex qaṣīda (‘ode’), comprising a
number of thematic sections
the qaṣīda format was invented by
———————– (early 6th century C.E.), but
its most famous early exponent is ————–
Muhalhil ibn Rabī‘a
Muhalhil’s nephew, Imru-l-Qays.
The opening section, or ——–, in particular of
Imru-l-Qays’s Mu‘allaqa came to be regarded as
the model, or ——————–, which others
would follow.
nasīb
locus classicus
What is a qasida?
The qaṣīda is a highly conventionalised genre in
terms of structure, progression, recurrent
themes, motifs and tropes.
Qasida is typically arounf how many lines?
typically around 30 – 100 lines in length
each line in the qasida is divided into ———-.
hemistichs
The qasida adheres throughout to one of a fixed set of
——– metres (codified in the 8th century
C.E. by ——————)
syllabic
al-Khalīl ibn Aḥmad al Farahidi
Another structural characteristic of a qasida is ?
– monorhyme, i.e. each line ends in the same
rhyming element
the nasīb, or ——— ———–; characterised
by the poet’s ——— nostalgia for a past
love affair. Such nostalgia is usually prompted
by his encountering and describing the traces of
his beloved’s ———– encampment. (in preIslamic times nomadic Arabs would often form
brief romantic attachments but these would
always take ——— place to tribal loyalty
amatory prelude
melancholic
abandoned
second
the raḥīl, or ———–, an opportunity for the
poet to flaunt his descriptive powers by praising
the qualities of his ——– and describing the —————-
journey
horse
flora and fauna of the desert
All of the foregoing is typical (though not in
the case of Imru-l-Qays’s Mu‘allaqa) a prelude to
the poem’s ————– (al-gharaḍ al-ra’īsī)
main theme
There existed a set number of conventional themes,
many of which were connected with the poet’s role as
spokesman of his clan:
Madīḥ Hijā’ Rithā Fakhr Hikma waṣf
poetic description is?
wasf
eulogy, self-glorification, tribal pride is?
fakhr
lampoon, satire?
Hija
wisdom, homiletic meditations on life’s transitory
nature is?
hikma
panegyric, praise poetry is?
madih
elegy, lament is?
Rithā’
a line of poetry is?
bayt
a half-line or hemistich is?
shatr
the final letter of each line is?
Al-rawiy
