Jamharat Ash'ar al-Arab ( ar, جمهرة أشعار العرب; ''The Gathering of the Arabs' Verses'') is an early Arabic poetry anthology by . The date of publication is unknown, and al-Qurashi is supposed by various scholars to have lived in the 8th, 9th or 10th centuries. It contains seven sections, each containing seven ''

qasida The qaṣīda (also spelled ''qaṣīdah''; is originally an Arabic word , plural ''qaṣā’id'', ; that was passed to some other languages such as fa, قصیده or , ''chakameh'', and tr, kaside) is an ancient Arabic word and form of writin ...

s''. The ''Jamharat Ash'ar al-Arab'' is one of five canonical primary sources of early

Arabic poetry Arabic poetry ( ar, الشعر العربي ''ash-shi‘ru al-‘Arabīyyu'') is the earliest form of Arabic literature. Present knowledge of poetry in Arabic dates from the 6th century, but oral poetry is believed to predate that. Arabic poetry ...

. The four others are ''

Mu'allaqat The Muʻallaqāt ( ar, المعلقات, ) is a group of seven long Arabic poems. The name means The Suspended Odes or The Hanging Poems, the traditional explanation being that these poems were hung in the Kaaba in Mecca, while scholars have also ...

'', ''

Hamasah The Hamasah (; ) is a genre of Arabic poetry that "recounts chivalrous exploits in the context of military glories and victories". The first work in this genre is Kitab al-Hamasah of Abu Tammam. Hamasah works List of popular Hamasah works: * ''Ha ...

'', ''

Mufaddaliyat The ''Mufaddaliyyat'' (Arabic: المفضليات / ALA-LC: ''al-Mufaḍḍaliyāt''), meaning "The Examination of al-Mufaḍḍal", is an anthology of ancient Arabic poems which derives its name from its author Mufaḍḍal al-Ḍabbī,

'' and the ''

Asma'iyyat The Aṣmaʿiyyāt ( ar, الأصمعيات) is a well-known early anthology of Arabic poetry by Al-Asma'i. The collection is considered one of the primary sources for early Arabic poetry along with the Jamharat Ash'ar al-Arab, Hamasah, Mu'allaqat ...

''.

Sections

The first section consists of the seven ''

''. The anthology is the first source to use the name ''Mu'allaqat''; earlier writers describe the poems simply as "the Seven." Al-Qurashi's choice of poems is somewhat idiosyncratic, as he includes

Al-Nabigha Al-Nābighah (), al-Nābighah al-Dhubiyānī, or Nābighah al-Dhubyānī; real name Ziyad ibn Muawiyah (); was one of the last Arabian poets of pre-Islamic times. "Al-Nabigha" means "genius or intelligent" in Arabic. His tribe, the Banu Dhubyan ...

and

Al-A'sha Al-A'sha ( ar, ٱلْأَعْشَىٰ) or Maymun Ibn Qays Al-A'sha (d.c. 570– 625) was an Arabic Jahiliyyah poet from Najd, Arabia. He traveled through Mesopotamia, Syria, Arabia and Ethiopia. He was nicknamed Al-A'sha which means "weak-sig ...

among the seven and excludes

Antarah ibn Shaddad Antarah ibn Shaddad al-Absi ( ar, عنترة بن شداد العبسي, ''ʿAntarah ibn Shaddād al-ʿAbsī''; AD 525–608), also known as ʿAntar, was a pre-Islamic Arab knight and poet, famous for both his poetry and his adventurous life ...

and Al-Harith. The second section is called "al-Mujamharat" ("the assembled"). It contains poems by ,

Adi ibn Zayd Adi ibn Zayd al-Ibadi al-Tamimi ( ar, عَدِيُّ بْنُ زَيْدٍ العِبَادِيُّ التَمِيمِيُ , ʿAdī ibn Zayd al-ʿIbādī al-Tamīmī) was a 6th-century Arab Christian poet from an Ibadi family of al-Hirah. He wa ...

, , , , , and Antarah ibn Shaddad. The third section is "al-Muntuqayat", "the chosen". Represented poets include

Abu Layla al-Muhalhel Abu Layla ʿUday ibn Rabīʿa ibn al-Ḥāriṯ at-Taḡlibiyy ( ar, أَبُو لَيْلَى عُدَيّ بْن رَبِيعَة بْن الْحَارِث التَّغْلِبِيّ; 443 – 531 CE), also known by the nicknames al-Muhalhil ...

Urwa ibn al-Ward 'Urwa ibn al-Ward al-'Abasi ( ar, عروة بن الورد; 540–607 CE) was a pre-Islamic Arabic ''su'luk'' poet. He was a member of the Banu Abs tribe. Life Little is known about his life, but he had a reputation for being "the most generous of ...

, and

Dorayd bin Al Soma Dorayd bin Al Summah or Duraid son of As-Simmah () was a pre-Islamic warrior, knight and poet of the Hawazin tribe. He was also the chief of the Banu Jusham bin Sa'd,Abi Hatem Sahl bin Muhammad Al-Sijistani. almueamirun walwasaya (in Arabic). p. 8 ...

. The fourth section, "al-Mudhahhabat" ("the gilded ones") consists solely of poetry from the

Banu Aws The Banū Aws ( ar, بنو أوس , "Sons of Aws") or simply Aws ( ar, أوس, also romanised as Aus) was one of the main Arab tribes of Medina. The other was Khazraj, and the two, constituted the Ansar ("helpers f Muhammad) after the Hijra. ...

and

Banu Khazraj The Banu Khazraj ( ar, بنو خزرج) is a large Arab tribe based in Medina. They were also in Medina during Muhammad's era. The Banu Khazraj are a South Arabian tribe that were pressured out of South Arabia in the Karib'il Watar 7th century ...

tribes. It contains poems by

Hassan ibn Thabit Ḥassān ibn Thābit ( ar, حسان بن ثابت) (born c. 563, Medina died 674) was an Arabian poet and one of the Sahaba, or companions of Muhammad, hence he was best known for his poems in defense of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. He was b ...

Abdullah ibn Rawaha Abd Allah ibn Rawahah ibn Tha'laba ( ar, عَبْد ٱللَّٰه ٱبْن رَوَاحَة ٱبْن ثَعْلَبَة, translit=ʿAbd Allāh ibn Rawāḥa ibn Thaʿlaba), was one of the companions of the Islamic prophet Muhammad who was mart ...

, and Amr ibn Imru al-Qays. The fifth section contains

elegies An elegy is a poem of serious reflection, and in English literature usually a lament for the dead. However, according to ''The Oxford Handbook of the Elegy'', "for all of its pervasiveness ... the 'elegy' remains remarkably ill defined: sometime ...

, and the sixth, "al-Mashubat", contains "testimonies of faith mingled with heresy". One of the Mashubat is by

Ka'b ibn Zuhayr Kaʿb ibn Zuhayr ( ar, كعب بن زهير) was an Arabian poet of the 7th century, and a contemporary of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Ka'b ibn Zuhayr was the writer of ''Bānat Suʿād (Su'ād Has Departed)'', a qasida in praise of Muhammad. ...

, famous for reciting the poem in question in front of

Muhammad Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 Common Era, CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Muhammad in Islam, Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet Divine inspiration, di ...

. The final section, "al-Mulhamat", is ambiguous in meaning but probably means that the poems refer to bloody fights or struggles.Mustafa 1963, pp. 125–6. Represented poets include

Al-Farazdaq Hammam ibn Ghalib ( ar, همام بن غالب; born c. 641; died 728–730), most commonly known as Al-Farazdaq () or Abu Firas, was an Arab poet. He was born in, Kazma. He was a member of Darim, one of the most respected divisions of the Bani T ...

and

Al-Akhtal al-Taghlibi Ghiyath ibn Ghawth ibn al-Salt ibn Tariqa al-Taghlibi () commonly known as al-Akhtal () (The Loquacious), was one of the most famous Arab poets of the Umayyad period. He belonged to the Banu Taghlib tribe, and was, like his fellow-tribesmen, a C ...

References

{{Authority control 9th-century Arabic books 10th-century Arabic books Abbasid literature Arabic anthologies Medieval Arabic poems