I have always loved poetry, but I did not like learning about it at school and university because it was taught in a very factual way and we were forced to memorize so much of it. However, I never stopped reading and enjoying poetry out of the educational context. I wanted to write about poetry other than presenting poems and their translations, but it was very hard. So, I will start exploring facts and information about Arabic poetry and presenting it to you in my future postings. First, I will present some basic facts about Arabic poetry and terminology that one must understand about Arabic poetry (from Wikipedia).
Arabic poetry (الشِعْر العَرَبي) is the earliest form of Arabic literature. Present knowledge of poetry in Arabic dates from the 6th century, but oral poetry is believed to predate that. Arabic poetry is categorized into two main types, rhymed, or measured, and prose, with the former greatly preceding the latter. The rhymed poetry falls within fifteen different meters collected and explained by Al-Farahidi in what is known as “علم العروض” (The Science of Arood). Al-Akhfash, a student of Al-Farahidi, later added one more meter to make them sixteen. The meters of the rhythmical poetry are known in Arabic as “بحور” or Seas. The measuring unit of the “seas” is known as “تفعيلة” (taf’ila) with every sea containing a certain number of taf’ilas that the poet has to observe in every verse “بيت” (bayt) of the poem. The measuring procedure of a poem is very rigorous. Sometimes adding or removing a consonant or a vowel can shift the bayt from one meter to another. Also, in rhymed poetry, every bayt has to end with the same rhyme “قافية” (qafiya) throughout the poem.
Here is a famous verse from a famous poem by (أبو الطيّب المتنبي) and its translation.
إذا رايـــت نيوب الليــث بارزة فلا تظنـــن ان الليــث يبتســم
If you can see the lion’s teeth do not think that the lion is smiling
Arabic poetry has evolved over the centuries, and in future postings, I will explain a little bit about it with examples.
