300 questions and answers — page 2 of 15
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Answer: Mahmoud Sami al-Baroudi
💡 Al-Baroudi restored the strength and grandeur of Arabic poetry in the style of the great classical poets, so he was called the pioneer of the Revival, and Shawqi and Hafez followed his path.
Answer: Badr Shakir al-Sayyab
💡 Badr Shakir al-Sayyab and Nazik al-Mala'ika are considered pioneers of tafila poetry in the late 1940s, while the other three are major figures of classical (vertical) poetry.
Answer: The visible remains of abandoned homes
💡 The talal is what remains of the traces of the loved ones' homes after they have left, and stopping at it is a traditional opening of the pre-Islamic poem.
Answer: Badi' al-Zaman al-Hamadhani
💡 Badi' al-Zaman al-Hamadhani invented the maqama and made Isa ibn Hisham its narrator; al-Hariri later followed his method and acknowledged that he came first.
Answer: Ibn Zaydun
💡 The Nuniyya is by Ibn Zaydun, who composed it longing for Wallada bint al-Mustakfi, and it is one of the most famous poems of al-Andalus.
Answer: Abu al-Ala al-Ma'arri
💡 "The Epistle of Forgiveness" is by Abu al-Ala al-Ma'arri, written as a reply to a letter from Ibn al-Qarih; in it he imagined meeting poets in Paradise and Hell.
Answer: Al-Shanfara
💡 "Lamiyyat al-Arab" is attributed to al-Shanfara, one of the vagabond (su'luk) poets, and it begins "Raise up the chests of your mounts, O sons of my mother."
Answer: Ka'b ibn Zuhair
💡 Ka'b ibn Zuhair ibn Abi Sulma recited it as an apology after embracing Islam; it is known as al-Burda because the Prophet ﷺ placed his cloak (burda) on him, while al-Busiri's Burda came centuries later.
Answer: Hassan ibn Thabit
💡 Hassan ibn Thabit al-Ansari was the most famous of the Prophet's ﷺ poets; he answered the poets of Quraysh with his poetry, and Ka'b ibn Malik and Ibn Rawaha were also poets among the Companions.
Answer: Naqa'id (polemic poems)
💡 Naqa'id are poems in which a poet answers his rival, overturning his meanings using the same meter and rhyme; the most famous were between Jarir, al-Farazdaq and al-Akhtal in the Umayyad era.
Answer: Al-Hutay'a
💡 Al-Hutay'a was famous for his sharp tongue; it is said that one day he found no one to satirize, so he satirized himself when he saw his face in the water.
Answer: Elegy (ritha')
💡 Ritha' (elegy) is weeping for the dead and mentioning their good qualities; one of its most famous poets is al-Khansa', who mourned her brothers Sakhr and Mu'awiya.
Answer: Ahmed Shawqi
💡 The line is by Ahmed Shawqi, from his poem rhyming in sin that he composed in exile in Andalusia, longing for Egypt.
Answer: Hafez Ibrahim
💡 The line is from Hafez Ibrahim's poem "The Arabic Language Laments Its Fate Among Its People," in which he defended the ability and richness of Arabic.
Answer: Ahmed Shawqi
💡 Ahmed Shawqi wrote several verse plays, including "The Death of Cleopatra" and "Majnun Layla," making him the pioneer of Arabic poetic theater.
Answer: Al-Mu'tasim
💡 Abu Tammam said it in praise of the Abbasid caliph al-Mu'tasim after the conquest of Amorium in 223 AH, and it is one of the most famous poems of praise and pride.
Answer: Al-Mutanabbi
💡 The line is by al-Mutanabbi, from his poem rhyming in mim in which he reproaches Sayf al-Dawla; in it he boasts of both his horsemanship and his poetry.
Answer: Sayf al-Dawla al-Hamdani in Aleppo
💡 Al-Mutanabbi lived for about nine years at the court of Sayf al-Dawla al-Hamdani in Aleppo, and there he composed the "Sayfiyyat," considered some of his finest poetry.
Answer: Ahmad ibn al-Husayn
💡 Al-Mutanabbi is Abu al-Tayyib Ahmad ibn al-Husayn, while al-Hasan ibn Hani' is Abu Nuwas, Habib ibn Aws is Abu Tammam, and al-Walid ibn Ubayd is al-Buhturi.
Answer: Banu Udhra
💡 Chaste love poetry was named after Banu Udhra because many of its poets came from them; one of the most famous was Jamil ibn Ma'mar, the beloved of Buthayna.
