Outliers Post
“and the pearls rained down from her narcissus eyes, watering the roses of her cheeks, as her white hailstone teeth bit her wine red lips.” - Yazid bin. Mu’awiya
English has shakespeare. Greek has its tragedies. Arabic has its poems. Arabic poetry got its start long before Islam was introduced to the middle east, with the first written poems dating back to the 6th century. With poems centered around themes of love and relationships, they used a skillful mastery of imagery to tell their stories. When Islam was introduced to the region poems began to include more references to the religion, especially because some of the poets doubled as religious leaders. However, the themes of love remained. Today, despite its obscurity in western countries, arabic poetry is an important part of culture in the middle east. Different countries have different relationships with the poetry, but many celebrate it as examples of what can be done with the arabic language. While they may be long dead, poets like Imru-l’Qays and Abu Nuwas still help people to slow down and think about life. The tradition of writing arabic poetry hasn’t been lost either. Even though most modern poets never hope to rival those of the |
past, modern arabic poetry is nonetheless impressive.
To properly experience arabic poetry, you really should first learn to read arabic; just like english poetry a lot of the charm comes from how the language is used. However, if you truly can’t wait to view these works of art, a quick search of the internet will give you your desired results. A great place to start is the mu’allaqat, a collection of seven of what are considered the greatest pre-islamic poems in the middle east. Despite arabic poetry’s generally positive atmosphere, it is not without some negative aspects. Many pre-Islamic and modern poems’ examples of open affection goes against Islam’s more conservative ideals. These poems are sometimes censored in theocratic countries such as Saudi Arabia and Syria and in doing so, governments risk increasing tension in their countries. However, we shouldn’t blame the poetry for the negative events they have caused. Many of the most famous arabic poetry was written more than 900 years ago and show a very different region than the current one, so using them as examples to live by is hardly fair. If anything, these poems should be viewed at least as lessons on what people used to live like and enjoy. As for modern poems, if they go against the current government’s ideologies they should be viewed at least as works to be critiqued. By censoring these poems, governments are depriving people of some of the greatest achievements in literature. |