Pre Islamic Poetry
Origin of the Arabic Poetry:
Introduction:
When did these people spring? Is a question first posed and then answered by Clement Huart. According to Clement Huart, the Arabs belong to “Semite Group”, who from the lower plains Babylonia migrated to peninsula. The rugged terrain of the peninsula made them aloof from other Semitics groups and then develop their own language- Arabic – associated with “ Yahrib bin Qahtan”. The history is replete with the events of tribal clashes between the descendents of “Qahtan” and “Adnan”. The Arabs spent their life as nomads in search of water and Greenland. Thus it was during these migration the poetic genius of Arabian Peninsula was evoked.
Further Clement Haurt holds the opinion, “The long caravan marches across the monotonous dresses, turning the unaccustomed traveler sick, soon taught Arab to sing Rhymes. He noted various soon that he hurried the pace of recitation the any string of camels would raise their heads and got their pace. This creature is responsive to music rhythm.”
So, the Arab had produced poetry with absolutely knowledge of rules about it. The era of 250 to 400 years before the advent of islam is known as “Dour e Jahlia”. The evolution of poetry traced back in this era passed many steps to emerge as the poetry, known to the world.
1- Free Prose
2- Masjah Prose
3- Rijz
4- Qaseedah
5- Hadi Khawani
6- Behr And Qafia
1-Free Prose:
In very initial stage the poetry don’t follow any pattern. It was just an expression of thoughts and thus was called as free prose.
2-Masjah Prose:
Sermons and saying of wise people were mentioned in poetry which was in raw nature and was used to impress the people.
3- Rijz:
Rijz, a way to invoke emotion of the warrior Arab was in the blood of the Arabs as they were racially proud.
4- Qaseedah:
Qaseedah was the natural outcome as the Arab was fond of self praise.
5- Hadi Khawani:
The life is rugged terrain and unfavorable conditions resulted in the emergence of Hadi Khawani in the peninsula.
6- Behr and Qafia:
Final touch to the Arabian Poetry was given after the introduction of Behr and Qafia in it.
Types of Poetry:
1-Ghanai or Wajdani Poetry:
Ghanai poetry is a type of poetry in which the poets express the feelings of his heart.
2-Narrative Poetry:
Narrative poetry is used to narrate some happening or incident in war to boast of tribal pride.
3-Dramatic Poetry:
Dramatic poetry is concerned with the narration of conceptual or idealistic view points from some heroic achievements.
Criticism:
Zaidan in his treatise “Tarikh al adab al Arabi”and “Adab al Jahli” has mention that Dramatic poetry emerged even before the narrative or ghanai poetry but this does not seem to be true as Clement Huart and Dr. Nicholson validate the poetry.
Second, Arabs were nomads and were not able to think conceptually to such an extent.
The Poet – A Man to be revered:
According to F I Malik “The port in the pre Islamic era were respected by the people by and large. A poet was considered to be the savior of reverence of tribe on public forum like “Souk Akaaz”. He was considering being leader in case of war and peace. So, the poet held the central position in a tribe.
Clement Huart present an example to validate this point as he writes in his book “ A History of Arabic Literature” That Zuhair Ibn Janab used to enjoy such a level of respect that encampments by his tribe made or forsaken by his order. The booty was distributed by him. This shows that he enjoyed a level of respect.