AR A B IA N LI TE RA TU RE
AIL A. C AB IA, L PT , MST
PREPARED BY: ABIG
HISTORICAL PERIODS
• UMAYYAD PERIOD- ARABIC PROSE LITERATURE WAS LIMITED
PRIMARILY TO GRAMMATICAL TREATISES, COMMENTARIES ON
THE KORAN, AND THE COMPILING OF STORIES ABOUT
MUHAMMAD AND HIS COMPANIONS. THE UMAYYAD POETS AL-
AKHTAL AND AL-FARAZDAQ FAVOURED NEW POETIC FORMS SUCH
AS LOVE LYRICS, WINE SONGS, AND HUNTING POEMS.
• ABBASID EMPIRE- MANY FORMS WERE INVENTED FOR ARABIC
LITERATURE, WHICH THEN ENTERED WHAT IS GENERALLY
REGARDED ITS GREATEST PERIOD OF DEVELOPMENT AND
ACHIEVEMENT. THE GREATEST MASTERS OF ADAB WERE AL JAHIZ
AND AL-HARIRI. AN INVENTIVE TYPE OF FOLK LITERATURE,
EXEMPLIFIED IN THE THOUSAND AND ONE NIGHTS POPULARLY
KNOWN AS THE ARABIAN NIGHTS, DREW UPON THE RECITATIONS
OF WANDERING STORYTELLERS CALLED RAWIS.
ARABIC PROSE
• SAJ- IS THE MOST STRIKING CHARACTERISTIC FEATURE OF
ARABIC PROSE. IT CONSISTS OF A SUCCESSION OF PAIRS OF
SHORT RHYMING EXPRESSION WHERE THERE IS A RHETORICAL
AND ANTITHETICAL BALANCE OF SENSE BETWEEN THE PAIRS OF
EXPRESSIONS WITH A CERTAIN LOOSE RHYTHMICAL BALANCE
NOT BOUND BY STRICT METRE.
• MORA, INSTRUCTIVE AND ASSURING ANECDOTES,
BECAME POPULAR TOO AND THE MOST OUTSTANDING
COMPILER OF ANECDOTES WAS TANUKHI WHO WAS
RESPONSIBLE FOR THREE COMPILATIONS LIKE NISWAR
AL-MUHADARAH (THE TABLE OF A MESOPOTAMIAN
JUDGE), MUSTAJAD (ANECDOTES OF GENEROSITY), AND
FARAJ BA’D AL SHIDDAH (DELIVERANCE AFTER ANGUISH.)
ARABIC POETRY
• OCCASIONAL POEMS- CONSISTING OF TWO TO TWENTY LINES WHOSE THEMES ARE
USUALLY WAR AND REVENGE AND PRAISE OF ONE’S OWN TRIBE.
• COLLECTIONS OR ANTHOLOGIES- AL-MU’ALLGQAT, A GROUP OF PRE-ISLAMIC ODES.
- AL-HAMASA IS AN ANTHOLOGY COMPILED BY THE
POET ABRE-TAMMAN. THE THEMES OF THE POEMS WERE CONSTANCY AND VALOR IN
BATTLE, PATIENCE WHEN CONFRONTED WITH REALITY, STEADFASTNESS IN SEEKING
VENGEANCE, FORTITUDE UNDER ADVERSE CIRCUMSTANCES, AND TEMPTATIONS.
• MUJADDIYAT IS A COLLECTION OF POEMS NAMED AFTER
MUFADDAL IBN YA’LA WHO COMPILED THEM FOR THE
FUTURE CALIPH MAHDT BETWEEN 762 AND 784.
FOUR NOTEWORTHY POET
• AKHTAL
• FARAZDAK
• JARIR
• DHU-R-UMMA.
PROSE ROMANCES:
A. THE THOUSAND AND ONE NIGHTS- ALSO CALLED AS ARABIAN NIGHTS AND
A LARGE COLLECTION OF STORIES, MOSTLY ARABIAN, INDIAN, OR PERSIAN
ORIGIN, WRITTEN IN ARABIC BETWEEN THE 14TH AND 16TH CENTURIES. THEY
WERE INTRODUCED INTO EUROPE THROUGH ANTOINE GALLAND’S FRENCH
TRANSLATION. THE BEST KNOWN ENGLISH VERSION IS BY THE EXPLORER SIR
RICHARD BURTON, WHO PUBLISHED A COMPLETE VERSION.
• THE ELABORATELY PLOTTED STORIES, FILLED WITH
INTRIGUE ARE:
- THE HISTORY OF ALADDIN AND THE WONDERFUL
LAMP, THE HISTORY OF SINBAD, THE SAILOR, AND THE
HISTORY OF ALI BABA AND THE FORTY THIEVES.
THE KORAN OR QUR’AN
• IS THE SACRED SCRIPTURE OF ISLAM. MUSLIM ACKNOWLEDGE IT
AS THE ACTUAL WORDS OF GOD REVEALED TO THE PROPHET,
MUHAMMAD . THE TEXT CONTAINS 114 SURAS. THE KORAN,
TERMED GLORIOUS AND WONDERFUL, DESCRIBES ITSELF AS A
HEALING MERCY, AS LIGHT AND GUIDANCE FROM GOD, AS THE
ABSOLUTE TRUTH AND AS A PERSPICACIOUS BOOK SENT DOWN
FROM HEAVEN IN ARABIC.
WELL-KNOWN AUTHORS
• KAHLIL GIBRAN- WAS A LEBANESE POET WHO EMIGRATED TO THE
UNITED STATES. HE IS BEST KNOWN FOR HIS POETIC PARABLES
AND APHORISMS. GIBRAN WAS INFLUENCED BY NIETSZCHE BUT
WAS ALSO HIGHLY RELIGIOUS AND DEALT WITH SUCH
ABSTRACTIONS AS GOD, LOVE, AND WOMAN.
FAMOUS WORKS:
• THE PROPHET- HAS BECOME ONE OF THE BELOVED
CLASSICS OF TIME. IT HAS BEEN TRANSLATED INTO MORE
THAN TWENTY LANGUAGES, AND THE AMERICAN EDITION
ALONE HAS SOLD ALMOST 3,000,000 COPIES.
• SIMON WHO WAS CALLED PETER
• IBN AMJED- WAS ONE OF THE MOST INFLUENTIAL
WRITERS IN THE FIELD OF ARABIAN LITERATURE. HE WAS
KNOWN AS THE FIRST ARAB SEAMAN. HE BECAME
FAMOUS IN THE WEST AS THE NAVIGATOR WHO HELPED
VASCO DA GAMA FIND HIS WAY FROM AFRICA TO INDIA.
AUTHOR OF NEARLY FORTY WORKS OF POETRY AND
PROSE.
LITERARY WORKS:
• THE FOOD OF PARADISE,- ONE OF THE MOST INFLUENTIAL
WRITERS IN THE FIELD OF ARABIAN LITERATURE. THE
STORY IS CONSIDERED AS ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT
MASTERPIECES MADE. IT TACKLES ABOUT THE STORY OF
HOPE AND FAITH IN WHICH DEALS WITH THE DIVINITY
AND RELIGIOUS BELIEFS TOWARDS ALLAH.
SUGGESTED LITERARY PIECES:
• THE LADY AND HER FIVE SUITORS (FROM ARABIAN NIGHTS)
• THE PROPHET BY KAHLIL GIBRAN
• THE BEWILDERED ARAB
• COUNT NOT YOUR CHICKENS BEFORE THEY HATCHED
• THE FOOD OF PARADISE BY IBN AMJED
