Classical Arabic poetry

Before Islam, tribal poets opened their odes weeping over the traces of an abandoned camp, and these mu'allaqat were said to hang on the Kaaba. The form then remained the chief instrument of the Arabic language: al-Mutanabbi made it an art of glory and pride, Abu Nuwas sang wine and boys at the court of Baghdad, al-Ma'arri, blind and vegetarian, wrote a journey into the hereafter where he questions damned poets. These texts are handed down by memory and recitation as much as by the book.

works 4

• PoetryThe Mu'allaqatالمعلقاتAnonymous · 550Before Islam, the poets of the tribes composed their verses and passed them on from memory.LiteraturePublic domain
• Poetryديوان أبي نواسAbu Nuwas · 800not translated into EnglishBaghdad under the caliphs of the late eighth century, when a generation born in the cities rejects the decor inherited from the desert and takes the tavern, the market and the garden as its subject.Literature
• Poetryديوان المتنبيAl-Mutanabbi · 950not translated into EnglishA tenth-century diwan, between princely courts and battlefields, whose verses have become proverbs.Literature
• NarrativeThe Epistle of Forgivenessرسالة الغفرانAbu al-Ala al-Maarri · 1033A satirical journey into the other world, a pretext for questioning the ancient poets about their verses and their salvation.LiteraturePublic domain