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Arabic Literature
Arabic literature ( ar, الأدب العربي / ALA-LC: ''al-Adab al-‘Arabī'') is the writing, both as prose and poetry, produced by writers in the Arabic language. The Arabic word used for literature is '' Adab'', which is derived from a meaning of etiquette, and which implies politeness, culture and enrichment. Arabic literature emerged in the 5th century with only fragments of the written language appearing before then. The Qur'an, widely regarded as the finest piece of literature in the Arabic language, would have the greatest lasting effect on Arab culture and its literature. Arabic literature flourished during the Islamic Golden Age, but has remained vibrant to the present day, with poets and prose-writers across the Arab world, as well as in the Arab diaspora, achieving increasing success. History ''Jahili'' is the literature of the pre-Islamic period referred to as ''al-Jahiliyyah'', or "the time of ignorance". In pre-Islamic Arabia, markets such as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
ALA-LC
ALA-LC (American Library AssociationLibrary of Congress) is a set of standards for romanization, the representation of text in other writing systems using the Latin script. Applications The system is used to represent bibliographic information by North American libraries and the British Library (for acquisitions since 1975)Searching for Cyrillic items in the catalogues of the British Library: guidelines and transliteration tables and in publications throughout the English-speaking world. The Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules require catalogers to romanize access points from their non-Roman originals. Howeve ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 suggested that the hanging is figurative, as if the poems "hang" in the reader's mind. Along with the '' Mufaddaliyat'', '' Jamharat Ash'ar al-Arab'', '' Asma'iyyat'', and the ''Hamasah'', the ''Mu'allaqāt'' are considered the primary source for early Arabic poetry. Scholar Peter N. Stearns goes so far as to say that they represent "the most sophisticated poetic production in the history of Arabic letters." History Compilation The original compiler of the poems may have been Hammad al-Rawiya (8th century). The grammarian Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Nahhas (d. 949 CE) says in his commentary on the ''Mu'allaqat'': "The true view of the matter is this: when Hammad al-Rawiya saw how little men cared for poetry, he collected these seven pieces, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Elegy
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: sometimes used as a catch-all to denominate texts of a somber or pessimistic tone, sometimes as a marker for textual monumentalizing, and sometimes strictly as a sign of a lament for the dead". History The Greek term ἐλεγείᾱ (''elegeíā''; from , , ‘lament’) originally referred to any verse written in elegiac couplets and covering a wide range of subject matter (death, love, war). The term also included epitaphs, sad and mournful songs, and commemorative verses. The Latin elegy of ancient Roman literature was most often erotic or mythological in nature. Because of its structural potential for rhetorical effects, the elegiac couplet was also used by both Greek and Roman poets for witty, humorous, and satirical subject matter. Oth ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rithā'
Rithā’ ( ar, رثاء) is a genre of Arabic poetry corresponding to elegy or lament. Along with elegy proper (''marthiyah'', plural ''marāthī''), ''rithā’'' may also contain ''taḥrīḍ'' (incitement to vengeance). Characteristics The genre was used by both male and female poets, and is one of the main genres in which ancient and medieval Arabic female poets are known to have composed. Almost all known pre-Islamic women's poetry is in this form. The subjects of the ''rithā’'' are (almost) invariably dead male warriors (''fursān'') and lords (''sādah''), predominantly those who fell in battle. The genre is prominent in the corpus of the earliest surviving Arabic poetry; it 'provides some of the most moving examples of the poetic voice, as in the poems of al-Khansā' (d. ca. 644) for her brother, Ṣakhr, killed in tribal combat': :I was sleepless and I passed the night ::keeping vigil, as if my eyes had ::been anointed with pus, :For I had heard--and it was no ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Al-Khansa
Tumāḍir bint ʿAmr ibn al-Ḥārith ibn al-Sharīd al-Sulamīyah ( ar, تماضر بنت عمرو بن الحارث بن الشريد السُلمية), usually simply referred to as al-Khansāʾ ( ar, الخنساء, links=no, meaning "snub-nosed", an Arabic epithet for a gazelle as metaphor for beauty) was a 7th-century tribeswoman, living in the Arabian Peninsula. She was one of the most influential poets of the pre-Islamic and early Islamic periods. In her time, the role of a female poet was to write elegies for the dead and perform them for the tribe in public oral competitions. Al-Khansāʾ won respect and fame in these competitions with her elegies, and is widely considered as the finest author of Arabic elegies and one of the greatest and best known female Arab poets of all time. In 629, she went to Medina with a deputation from her clan and, after meeting the Islamic prophet Muhammad, embraced the new religion. Some say al-Khansāʾ was Muhammad's favorite poet. He ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Labīd
Abū Aqīl Labīd ibn Rabīʿa ibn Mālik al-ʿĀmirī (Arabic: أبو عقيل لَبيد بن ربيعة بن مالك العامِري) (c. 505 – c. 661) was an Arabian poet. He belonged to the Bani Amir, a division of the tribe of the Hawazin. In his younger years he was an active warrior, and his verse is largely concerned with inter-tribal disputes. Later, he was sent by a sick uncle to get a remedy from Muhammad at Medina and on this occasion was much influenced by a part of the Koran, shortest Surah, 'Al-Kawthar'. He accepted Islam soon after, but seems then to have ceased writing. In Umar's caliphate he is said to have settled in Kufa. Tradition ascribes to him a long life, but dates given are uncertain and contradictory. One of his poems is contained in the 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 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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-sighted" or "night-blind" after he lost his sight. He continued to travel even after becoming blind, particularly along the western coast of the Arabian peninsula. It was then that he turned to the writing of panegyrics as a means of support. His style, reliant on sound effects and full-bodied foreign words, tends to be artificial. His love poems are devoted to the praise of Huraira, a black female slave. He is said to have believed in the Christian eschatological themes of Resurrection and Last Judgment, and to have been a monotheist. These beliefs may have been due to his interactions with the bishop of Najrān and the 'Ibādites of Al-Hirah. His poems were praised for their descriptions of the wild ass, for the praise of wine, for their s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Antara 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. His chief poem forms part of the '' Mu'allaqāt'', the collection of seven "hanging odes" legendarily said to have been suspended in the Kaaba. The account of his life forms the basis of a long and extravagant romance. Life ʿAntarah was born in Najd in Arabia. His father was Shaddād al-ʿAbsī, a respected warrior of the Banu Abs under their chief Zuhayr. His mother was an Ethiopian woman named Zabeebah. Described as an "Arab crow" (''al-aghribah al-'Arab'') owing to his dark complexion,ʿAntarah grew up a slave as well. He fell in love with his cousin ʿAblah, but could not hope to marry her owing to his position. He also gained the enmity of his father's wife Shammeah. He gained attention and respect for himself by his remarka ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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, belonged to the district near Mecca Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow v ..., but he spent most of his time at the courts of Hirah and Ghassan. In Hira he remained under Mundhir III, and then his successor in 562. After a sojourn at the court of Ghassan, he returned to Hirah under Numan III. Owing to his verses written about the Queen he was compelled to flee to Ghassan, but returned ca., 600. When Numan died five years later he withdrew to his own tribe. His date-of-death is uncertain, but seems to predate Islam. His poe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zuhayr Ibn Abi Sulma
Zuhayr bin Abī Sulmā ( ar, زهير بن أبي سلمى; ), also romanized as Zuhair or Zoheir, was a pre-Islamic Arabian poet who lived in the 6th & 7th centuries AD. He is considered one of the greatest writers of Arabic poetry in pre-Islamic times. Zuhayr belonged to the Banu Muzaina. His father was a poet and his elder son Ka'b bin Zuhayr also became a poet, reading his works to the Prophet Muhammad. Zuhayr's poems can be found in Hammad Ar-Rawiya's anthology, the ''Mu'allaqat'' ("the Suspended"), a collection of pre-Islamic poetry. He was one of the '' Seven Hanged Poets'' who were reputed to have been honoured by hanging copies of their work in the Kaaba at Mecca. He was Umar ibn Khattab's favourite poet. Zuhayr's poetry was written when two Arabic tribes ended a longstanding hostility. His poems deal with raids and other subjects of nomadic desert life. He also wrote satirical poems and poems about the glory of his tribe, but in his verses he was less satiric th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Amr Ibn Kulthum
ʿAmr ibn Kulthūm ibn Mālik ibn ʿAttāb ʾAbū Al-ʾAswad al-Taghlibi ( ar, عمرو بن كلثوم; 526–584) was a poet and chieftain of the Taghlib tribe in pre-Islamic Arabia. One of his poems was included in the ''Mu'allaqat''. He is the grandson of the poet Abu Layla al-Muhalhel. Taghlibs The great Basus War, which was between the Taghlibs and the Bakrs, lasted for approximately forty years until the Lakhmids king of al-Hirah, 'Amr ibn Hind, urged them to make peace with each other on condition that some of their children were to be taken hostages by the king. The King of Hira said one day to his drinking companions, "Do you know anyone among the Arabs whose mother declines serving my mother?" They replied, "Yes, Amr Ibn Kulthum." The king asked, "Why is that?" His companions replied, "Because her father is Al-Muhalhel Bin Rabī'ah, her uncle is Kolaib a prestigious Arabian, her spouse is Kulthum Ibn Malik Ibn Etab an astounding knight of Arabs and her son is Amr ibn ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Harith Ibn Hilliza
Al-Ḥārith ibn Ḥilliza al-Yashkurī ( ar, الحارث بن حلزة اليشكري) was a pre-Islamic Arabian poet of the tribe of Bakr, from the 5th century. He was the author of one of the seven famous pre-Islamic poems known as the ''Mu'allaqat''. Little is known of the details of his life. The story of the ''mu'allaqa'' which al-Harith composed is as follows. A dispute had arisen between the men of Taghlib and those of Bakr after a number of young Taghlib men had died in the desert. The men of Taghlib chose their prince, Amr ibn Kulthum, to plead their cause before Amr ibn Hind (d. 569), the king of al-Hirah in southern Iraq. Ibn Kulthum pleaded the Taghlib's cause by reciting the sixth of the ''mu'allaqāt''. A quarrel then broke out between Ibn Kulthum and al-Nu'man, the Bakr spokesman, as a result of which the king dismissed them both and asked al-Harith to act as spokesman for the Bakr tribe instead of al-Nu'man. Whereupon, al-Harith recited the seventh ''mu'allaqa''. I ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
