Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Editorial introduction
- 1 The tribes of pre-Islamic Arabia
- 2 The Umayyad Empire, c. A.D. 750
- 1 Background topics
- 2 Pre-Islamic poetry
- 3 Early Arabic prose
- 4 The beginnings of Arabic prose literature: the epistolary genre
- 5 The role of parallelism in Arabic prose
- 6 The Qur'ān-I
- 7 The Qur'ān–II
- 8 Qiṣaṣ elements in the Qur'ān
- 9 Aspects of the Qur'ān today
- 10 Ḥadīth literature–I: The development of the science of Ḥadīth
- 11 Ḥadīth literature-II: Collection and transmission of Ḥadīth
- 12 Shī'ī Ḥadīth
- 13 Narrative elements in the Ḥadīth literature
- 14 European criticism of Ḥadīth literature
- 15 The impact of the Qur'ān and Ḥadīth on medieval Arabic literature
- 16 The Maghāzī literature
- 17 The Sīrah literature
- 18 The poetry of the Sīrah literature
- 19 Fables and legends in pre-Islamic and early Islamic times
- 20 Umayyad poetry
- 21 Music and verse
- 22 The Greek impact on Arabic literature
- 23 The Persian impact on Arabic literature
- 24 The Syrian impact on Arabic literature
- Appendix Bibliography of translations of the Qur'ān into European languages
- Glossary
- List of sources
- Index
20 - Umayyad poetry
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 May 2012
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Editorial introduction
- 1 The tribes of pre-Islamic Arabia
- 2 The Umayyad Empire, c. A.D. 750
- 1 Background topics
- 2 Pre-Islamic poetry
- 3 Early Arabic prose
- 4 The beginnings of Arabic prose literature: the epistolary genre
- 5 The role of parallelism in Arabic prose
- 6 The Qur'ān-I
- 7 The Qur'ān–II
- 8 Qiṣaṣ elements in the Qur'ān
- 9 Aspects of the Qur'ān today
- 10 Ḥadīth literature–I: The development of the science of Ḥadīth
- 11 Ḥadīth literature-II: Collection and transmission of Ḥadīth
- 12 Shī'ī Ḥadīth
- 13 Narrative elements in the Ḥadīth literature
- 14 European criticism of Ḥadīth literature
- 15 The impact of the Qur'ān and Ḥadīth on medieval Arabic literature
- 16 The Maghāzī literature
- 17 The Sīrah literature
- 18 The poetry of the Sīrah literature
- 19 Fables and legends in pre-Islamic and early Islamic times
- 20 Umayyad poetry
- 21 Music and verse
- 22 The Greek impact on Arabic literature
- 23 The Persian impact on Arabic literature
- 24 The Syrian impact on Arabic literature
- Appendix Bibliography of translations of the Qur'ān into European languages
- Glossary
- List of sources
- Index
Summary
The Umayyad period (40–132/661–750) is one of the most interesting and important for the critic of poetry. More than the verse of any other period prior to modern times, Umayyad poetry was in dynamic development and registered, obliquely and directly, the deeper changes in the spiritual condition of the times. This period of rapid development was flanked by more settled periods of poetic creativity: on the one side the pre-Islamic, on the other the 'Abbasid poetry; and there can be no doubt that Umayyad poetry stems from a powerful poetic tradition of high achievement. The verse of al-Akhtal (Ghiyāth b. Ghawth of Taghlib, d. 92/710), for example, seems to grow out of a well-rooted tradition, developed to a kind of perfection by generations of poets. The verse of a poet like the Qurashite 'Umar b. Abī Rabīah (23–93/643–711) gives a different impression. He wrote experimental poetry that deviated in tone and technique from the poetry preceding it. Nevertheless, although he did not model himself on the pre-Islamic heritage except occasionally, he still built on the achievements of his predecessors, and profited from the strength and malleability of their techniques.
Umayyad poetry abounds with experiments. Many aspects of the poem were explored. New moods and themes were introduced, points of emphasis were shifted, and old motifs reappeared, intensified and sometimes exaggerated. This is a period in which an unrivalled revolution took place spontaneously, unbound as yet by imposed traditionalism.
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- Arabic Literature to the End of the Umayyad Period , pp. 387 - 432Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1983
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