Basit

() or (), is a metre used in classical Arabic poetry. The word literally means "extended" or "spread out" in Arabic. Along with the , , and , it is one of the four most common metres used in pre-Islamic and classical Arabic poetry.

Form of the metre

The metrical form of the is often as follows (where "–" is a long syllable, "u" is a short syllable, and "x" is , i.e., a syllable which can be either long or short):

:, x – u – , x u – , – – u – , u u – ,

The mnemonic words () used by Arab prosodists to describe this metre are: ' ().

The metre is usually used in couplets of eight feet each.

Example

An example is the by al-Mutanabbi (915–965): “The poet reproaches Sayf al-Dawla” (king of Aleppo), a poem of 38 couplets, from which come the following well-known verses:

:, u – u – , u u – , – – u – , u u – ,
:, u – u – , – u – , – – u – , u u – ,

:
:
:
:
:

:
:

:
:

:
:

:
:

:
:

:If you see the lion’s fangs on display
:do not imagine for a moment that the lion is smiling.

:And a soul whose owner’s concern was my soul
:I have overtaken on a steed whose back was inviolable;

:His two hind legs in the galloping were one and his two forelegs were one,
:and his action was whatever my hand and my foot desired.

:And I have ridden with a blade between the two armies,
:until I struck while the wave of death was crashing round me.

:The horses and the night and the desert know me
:and the sword and the spear and the paper and the pen.

Variations

Although in the poem of al-Mutanabbi quoted above, the last foot of each half-verse is always , u u – , , other poets use the metre in the following form, where "uu" represents a biceps element, i.e. one where the two short syllables can optionally be replaced by one long one.
:, x – u – , x u – , – – u – , uu – ,

An example is the following drinking-song by Abu Nuwas which begins:

:

:
:
:, – – u – , – u – , – – u – , – – ,
:, u – u – , – u – , – – u – , – – ,

:"Censure me not, for censure but tempts me;
:cure me rather with the cause of my ill—"

The metre also exists in a trimeter form of which the half-verse is as follows:
:, x – u – , – u – , x – u – ,

There is also a catalectic trimeter form:
:, x – u – , – u – , x – – ,

Occasionally the first foot of each half-verse can be , – u u – , .

Very rarely (in less than 1% of lines) the third foot can be , u – u – , .

In a musical context

The term is also used in a musical context; in the '' Andalusi nubah'', or classical suites, of Morocco, each , or suite, is divided into five main movements (called ; plural: ) each of which uses a different rhythm, as follows:

# (, 6/4)
# (, 8/4)
# (, 8/4)
# (, 4/4)
# (, 3/4 or 6/8)

See also

* Arabic prosody
*Tawil
*Metron (poetry)

References

External links

A recitation in Arabic of al-Mutanabbi's lineRecitation of the Abu Nuwas poem
by Bashar Al-Roumi
Version of the Abu Nuwas poem sung to a lute

{{Authority control

Arabic and Central Asian poetics
Poetic rhythm
Arabic music
Arabic poetry
Arabic poetry forms