ARABIC LITERATURE: HISTORICAL CONTEXT, CHARACTERISTICS AND GENRES - LITERATURE - 2025

The literature Arab encompasses all literary production in prose and poetry of the Arabic language speakers using the Arabic alphabet. Works written with the same alphabet but in another language are excluded from this group. Thus, for example, Persian and Urdu literary works are not considered Arabic literature.

These received Muslim influence during the Arab occupation periods but have characteristics that differentiate them. The Arabic name for literature in its beginnings was arab which, among other things, means nobility, courtesy and good manners. This suggests that Arabic literature was initially aimed at the educated classes.

Then, with the Koran and the arrival of Islam as the monotheistic religion of the Arabs, the themes and language of the works changed. The need to expand the faith forced the authors to write in a more popular language. In this way, the writing style for the masses reached all the themes.

All kinds of texts were also written with the intention of being read by more people: from biographies and legends to philosophical writings. Consequently, two groups were formed with different views on what should be taken as Arabic literature.

One group believes that only that produced during the Golden Age should be considered. This period is between the 8th and 13th centuries, and is the one with the greatest splendor of Arab culture. These were years of intense literary production in fields such as literature, navigation, philosophy, and others.

On the other hand, another group maintains that the development of Arabic literature did not stop after the 13th century. On the contrary, they believe that it was enriched by the exchange of influences and by mixing with other cultures.

Historic context

Pre islamic literature

The period before the writing of the Qur'an and the rise of Islam is known to Muslims as the Jahiliyyah or period of ignorance. This ignorance referred to religious ignorance.

There is very little written literature prior to this time. It is presumed that the knowledge was transmitted orally. The little written evidence that has been rescued corresponds to events in the last decades of the 6th century.

However, like the stories of the oral tradition, it was formally recorded at least two centuries later. All this historical record was consolidated in the form of poetic compilations of historical subjects, novels and fairy tales. The time difference between the event and its written record resulted in many inaccuracies.

The Quran and Islam

The Quran is the holy book of the Islamic religion. According to its faithful, it contains the words spoken by God to Muhammad through the Archangel Gabriel. Initially it was composed of individual stories recorded by the scribes.

After Muhammad's death in 632, all these documents were compiled. Between 644 and 656 the first definitive text of the Koran was obtained.

The Quran had a significant influence on the Arabic language. The language used in this sacred text is classical Arabic. In the opinion of theologians, this work marks the end of the Jahiliyyah and of pre-Islamic literature.

With the advent and spread of Islam, the tradition of Arabic literature proper began. That tradition developed from the 7th to 10th centuries.

characteristics

Metric and rhyme

In the early days of Arabic literature, poetry was recited by bards who sang events that happened centuries ago. The remains found on this stage revealed a prosodic system of execution.

Later, after the beginning of the written records of the stories, the poems were marked with particular patterns of rhyme and meter.

Each line is divided into two half lines (called miṣrā '); the second of the two ends with a syllable that rhymes and is used throughout the poem.

In order for the audience to internalize the rhyme, the first line (which was often repeated) used the rhyme at the end of both halves of the line. From there, the rhyme appeared only at the end of the full line.

Categories and shapes

One of the first methods by which poems were categorized was according to the syllable of the rhyme. Even from the ninth century on, it was common to refer to these by this syllable.

However, the pioneering compilers of ancient poetry soon developed other modes of categorization based on length and segmentation. Poetry in general was subdivided into two types.

The first was the qiṭ'ah ("segment"), which consisted of a relatively short poem dedicated to a single subject or well composed and performed for a particular occasion.

On the other hand, the qaṣīdah was a polythematic poem that could be extended to 100 lines or more, and constituted an elaborate celebration of the tribe and its way of life.

Genres and themes

Along with these methods of categorizing poetry and poets, some classical critics identified three main "purposes" (aghrāḍ) for the public performance of poetry.

First, there is the panegyric (madḥ), which consisted of a praise to the tribe and its elders. This was a genre of poetry that became the preferred mode of poetic expression during the Islamic period.

Then another of the purposes is the opposite satire (hijā ') of praise, used to verbally challenge the enemies of the community. Finally, there is the praise of the dead, or elegy (rithā ').

Literary genres

Compilations and manuals

It was one of the most common forms of Arabic literature during the Abbasid period (750 AD - 1258 AD). These were collections of facts, advice, ideas, instructive stories, and poems on various topics.

They also offered instruction on topics such as etiquette, how to govern, how to be a bureaucrat, and even how to write. Similarly, they tackled ancient stories, sex manuals, folk tales, and historical events.

Biography, history and geography

Beginning with the earliest written biographies of Muhammad, the trend in this genre was accounts by Arab travelers. These began to offer an insight into the different cultures of the Islamic world in general.

Usually they offered in a single work stories of people, cities or historical events with abundant details of the environment. This modality allowed to know details about the towns in the wide Muslim geography.

In the same way, they recorded the development of the Muslim Empire, including details of the history of the personalities responsible for this development. The favorite subjects were all those around Mecca.

Diaries

This type of genre of Arabic literature began to be written around the 10th century. It consists of a detailed account of the events that occurred around the author. At first it was a mere factual account.

Starting in the 11th century, newspapers began to be arranged in order of date. That way of writing is preserved to this day. These types of newspapers are called ta'rikh.

Epic literature

This genre of fictional Arabic literature compiled the ancient tales told by the hakawati (storytellers). It was written in al-ammiyyah (language of the common people) so that it could be understood by all.

Stories told in this genre include fables about animals, proverbs, stories of jihad (in order to spread the faith), moral tales, tales of cunning con artists and pranksters, and humorous tales.

Many of these works were written around the 14th century. However, the original verbal histories are earlier, even pre-Islamic. The most famous example of Arabic fiction is The Book of Arabian Nights.

Maqamat

Maqamat was a form of rhymed prose from Arabic literature. In addition to uniting prose and poetry, it connected fiction with non-fiction. They were fictional short stories about real-life settings.

Through the maqamat, political satire was made covered in humorous facts. It was a very popular form of Arabic literature. Its popularity was such that it continued to be written during the fall of the Arab Empire in the 17th and 18th centuries.

Romantic poetry

The genre of romantic poetry has its sources in the elements relating to courtly love. That is to say, in the acts of "love for love's sake" and "exalting the beloved lady", which occurred in Arabic literature of the 9th and 10th centuries.

The idea related to the "ennobling power" that love had was developed by the Persian psychologist and philosopher, Ibn Sina. In his works he handled the concept of courtly love as the "wish that will never be fulfilled."

According to historians, this genre influenced other styles from distant cultures. They cite Romeo and Juliet as an example and claim that it may have been a Latin version of the Arabic romance Layla and Majnun (7th century).

Theater plays

Theater and drama have been a part of Arabic literature only in modern times. However, there is an ancient theatrical tradition that was probably not considered legitimate literature; therefore, it was not registered.

Authors and works

Abu Uthman Amr ibn Bahr al-Kinani (776-868)

Better known as Al-Jahiz, he was a renowned Arab writer. In his works he addresses the art of living and good behavior. Also, in his production the influence of Persian and Greek thought stood out.

Among the 200 works attributed to him are The Art of Keeping Your Mouth Closed, The Book of Animals, Against Public Employees, Arabic Food, In Praise of Merchants and Lightness and Seriousness, among others.

Abū Muhammad Abd-Allāh ibn Muslim ibn Qutayba al-Dīnawarī al-Marwazī (828-889)

He was a representative of Arab literature in its golden age, whose pseudonym was Ibn Qutayba. He was a writer of adab literature (secular literature). In addition, in his works he addressed themes of theology, philology and literary criticism.

Unfortunately, few works have been recovered from his literary production. These include the Secretary's Guide, the Book of the Arabs, the Book of Knowledge, the Book of Poetry and Poets, and Evidence of Prophecy.

Ahmad al-Tifashi (1184-1253)

Ahmad al-Tifashi was a writer, poet, and anthologist of Arabic literature. He is recognized for his work A Walk of Hearts. This was a 12-chapter anthology of Arabic poetry.

Al-Tifashi also wrote several treatises related to sexual hygiene. Also, another of his renowned works was the Book of the flowers of thought on precious stones, which dealt with the use of minerals.

Al-Baladhuri (-892)

Aḥmad ibn Yaḥyā al-Balādhurī was a Muslim historian known for his story on the formation of the Muslim Arab Empire. There he talks about the wars and conquests of the Muslim Arabs since the time of the Prophet Muhammad.

His work entitled The Origins of the Islamic State speaks of the Arab aristocracy from Muhammad and his contemporaries to the Umayyad caliphs and Abbas. Similarly, it contains stories of the reigns during this period.

Ibn Khallikan (1211-1282)

He was an Arab scholar recognized for having been the compiler of a great biographical dictionary of Arab scholars. The title of the work is Deaths of eminent men and history of the children of the time.

Ibn Khurdadhbih (820-912)

Ibn Khurdadhbih was a versatile Arab geographer and writer. In addition to writing on geography, he also has works on history, genealogy, music, wines, and even culinary art.

There are discrepancies about their dates of birth and death. Some historians set them at 826 and 913, respectively. His masterpiece was the treatise on geography titled Roads and Kingdoms.

This work is a voluminous historical work that deals with the ancient kings and peoples of Iran, between the years 885 and 886. Because of that and the date of compilation, they consider it the father of Arab-Islamic geography.

Ibn Khaldun (1332-1406)

Abd al-Rahman ibn Khaldun was a 14th century Muslim historian and thinker. It is considered a precursor of original theories in social sciences, philosophy of history, and economics.

His masterpiece is entitled Muqaddimah or Prolegomena (Introduction). The book influenced Ottoman historians in the 17th century. They used the theories in the book to analyze the growth and decline of the Ottoman Empire.

Even the European scholars of the 19th century also recognized the importance of this work. These considered Ibn Khaldun as one of the greatest philosophers of the Middle Ages.

Al-Hamadani (968-1008)

Ahmad Badi al-Zaman al-Hamadani was an Arab-Persian writer. He had a great reputation as a poet, but he is most remembered as the creator of the genre maqamat.

Since the beginning of 990, and for many years, he wrote more than four hundred maqamat. Of all these, only fifty-two have survived.

The maqamat is a rich source of social history, describing the middle-class people and intellectuals of the time.

References

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