The Classical Arabic Heritage

Stages of Arabic Poetry Pre-Islamic (500-622) Early Islamic (622-750) Abbasid (750-1258) Mamluks (1258-1516) Ottomans (1516-1798) Modern Period (1798-present)

pre-Islamic Poetry Lyrical Social (presence of an audience/tribe) Epic qualities (stylistic, Thematic) Meter and rhyme Verse is divided into two halves of equal metrical value. Meter

Ode (Qasida) / Golden Ode (Mu'allaqat): Introduction: Elegiac amatory preamble (nasib) Consolation: Description of Journey to the desert Conclusion: Praise (self/tribe)

Topics (aghrad): Self-praise (fakhr) Panegyric (madih) Satire (hija) Elegy (ritha') Description (wasf) Amatory (ghazal)

Islamic Poetry Ode with monorhyme, monometer Amatory prelude Desert imagery panegyric

Abbasid Poets Abu Nuwas: absurdist Abu Tammam (805-845) Al-Mutanabbi (915-965) Abu'lAla' al-ma'arri (973-1058)

The Neo-Classical Arabic Poetry The emergence of Neo-classical poetry in Modern Arabic Literature in the 19th century was not the outcome of the sudden incursion of a new literary model upon established system of literature

The Main trend was to go back to the old model and to relive the glorious experience of ancient poets. The model was that of medieval Arabic poetry at its peak, the pre-Islamic (Jahili) and early Islamic periods, especially to the abbasid, such as al-Mutanabbi, al-Buhturi, and Abu Tammam.

Modern Neo-classical poetry does not constitute a phase or a stage Modern Neo-classical poetry does not constitute a phase or a stage. For the Arab poets, writing in traditional fashion never ceased, even in the darkest of times. Between the 14th and the 19th century poetry was produced in fusha and according to the traditional meters.

Dull, uninspired literary quality was composed by imitative versifiers who rarely employed it as a means of expressing human experience. The public for whom these poems were composed was a selected group of ulema and privileged literati who saw the poets as entertainers and bon-companions. The poet was the reciter of his own poetry.

Poetry is the only form that was not influenced by the imported literary model. Instead there was a return to the sources to produce verses which were reminiscent in their masculinity and lucidity. (Al-Mutanabbi and his group)

The primary distinctive features of Neo-classical poetry 1. The poems of the Neo-classical poets are composed in the traditional meters of classical Arabic poetry. (As a rule, they are monorhyming). 2. Neo-classical poets continue to use the classical aghrad (thematic types). Most of the diwans are arranged accordingly. These thematic types often impose a pre-determined structure and sometimes affect the choice of meters.

3. The poems are frequently impersonal and the poet's experience is hidden beneath layers of convention. Sections often appear to be "genre-bound" rather than spontaneous . 4. The Neo-classical language is essentially dependent on that of medieval Arabic poetry especially that of the Abbasid period. Not only the lexical inventory but the choice of figurative language which is derived in this way: Invoking classical place-names, images and personages is a major feature of most representative Neo-classical poets.

Mahmud Sami al-Barudi (1839-1904) Barudi is the true precursor of the modern poetic revival. His work is a return to the classicism of early medieval Arabic poetry, especially the poetry of the Abbasid period. He combined a return to the purity of diction, forceful expression and the classicism of the Abbasids with the ability to express his own experience. The renaissance of modern Arabic poetry truly begins with him.

Barudi is considered the master of the sword and the pen because he was distinguished both as a soldier and as a poet. Ismail appointed him governor of the Sharquiyya province. Under Taufiq, He was the Minister of Education and Waqf. Due to his involvement with the Urabi rebellion he was tried and exiled to Ceylon for a period of seventeen years. Both his wife and daughter died while he was away and when he came back to Egypt in 1900 he was in poor condition just four years before his death.

Barudi used main events from his life as material for his poems Barudi used main events from his life as material for his poems. They were filled with descriptions of the battles in which he fought as well as the landscapes in the countries he visited during his travels. They also dealt with the extreme changes in his fortune from the greatness of power to the humiliation of defeat. While in exile his poems reflect the homesickness and longing for scenes and places he remembered in Egypt.

Barudi's works (Diwan) appeared in 1915 long after his death Barudi's works (Diwan) appeared in 1915 long after his death. Before he died he had written a preface to his works which is an extremely important document. It shed light on his poetry and helped to explain why he occupied a crucial position in the development of modern Arabic poetry. Barudi satisfied a real need in man. He felt that the love of poetry was "imprinted in the hearts of men." His view was that the one who has the gift of writing good poetry and who is virtuous and pure of soul would have control over the hearts of men. So according to him, morality is an essential ingredient. He saw the goal of poetry to "educate the soul, train the understanding and awaken the mind to noble virtue."

Beyond the morality is the basis that poetry is an art that has to be learned and mastered. He knew of the difficulty which faced him since at one point he decided to give up writing verse. He could not, however, as he said it would go against his own nature. In the preface of his works are three famous lines: Poetry is difficult and its uphill path is long. Whoever tries to ascend it, not being familiar with it, Will stumble and fall into the abyss.