ARABIAN

LITERATURE
ARABIA
“The Cradle of Islam”

Background

Prepared by:
It is found in the Middle East between the
Persian Gulf and the Red Sea.
It borders Jorda, Iraq, and Kuwait to the
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north, Yemen to the south and Oman, The
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United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Qatar to
the east.
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This is divided into 13 provinces.
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RiyadhYvette
is the capital of Saudi Arabia and is
located in the central eastern part of the
Lomioan, Jasmin
country.
One fourth size of US
Land square area of 1.96million square
Presented to: kilometers (756, 981 square miles)
Ms. Neila A. It has a governor in each region appointed by
Palmones
a King
 Arabs are originated in the descendants of indigenous tribes and lived along the Persian Gulf
Coast.
95% of their land are is mostly composed of desert.
The homeland of Islam
 Islam is known as the second largest religion
 Muhammad founded Islam
 Quran is their sacred scripture that has 114 sura or chapters and 6, 236 ayat or verses
There are two pilgrimage cities
 Mecca the blessed
 Medina the radiant
Culture, Traditions and clothing
Pork or eating pork there is considered unclean and prohibited
Lunch is their main meal
Alcohol consumption, nightlife are forbidden and under the law
Black robes and face covering (hijab) for female as a sign of respect for muslim modesty laws
 For women, full length body cover; abayad, jilbob and veil
 For men, traditional flowing robes, blue jeans, t-shirts and western business suits
Nepotism, which means favoritism is only granted to their relatives and so that they are in
favor of large extended families living together
Storytelling, is one of their favorite form of artistic expression.
Ramadan, the holiest season that marks fasting
Arabic is the term for their language

LITERATURE
The written Arabic literature began to be known with the collect of Qur’an in 17th century A.D.
The Arabian language soon became a major world language
The Arabian possessed a highly developed poetry, composed of recitation and transmitted from
generations
The most famous examples are the elaborated odes or qasdahs of Mu’allagat, beginning with
those of Imru’Algais
 These poems reflected and praised the customs and values of the desert environment in which
they arose
The earliest known literature emerged in the northern part

HISTORICAL PERIOD:
1. UMMAYAD PERIOD (661-750 A.D.)
Arabic prose literature was limited
primarily to grammatical treatise,
commentaries on the Qur’an, and
compiling of stories about
Muhammad and his companions.
Poetic forms:
 Love lyrics (Ghazals)
 Wine songs
 Hunting

UMMAYAD POETS
a. Al-Akhtal (The Loquacious)
- 640 -710 A.D.
- Born either at Hira or near Rosafa
- Esteemed for his perfection of Arabic poetic
form in
the old Bedouin tradition
- He wrote poetry in praise of wine
- His poetry if divided into two the SATIRE
AND EULOGY
 Satire, is ridiculing and insulting his
opponents and against the opponents
of the Ummayads
 Eulogy, he glorified the Ummayads

c. Al- Farazdaq (The Lump of dough in Arabic)

- (born c. 641, Yamāmah region, Arabia—died
c. 728 or 730)
- An Arab poet famous for his satires in a
period when poetry was an important
political instrument
- His Dîwan, the collection of his poetry,
contains several thousand verses, including
laudatory and satirical poems and laments.
His poems are representative of the nomad
poetry at its height. Most of them are
characterized by a happy sincerity, but some
 2. ABBASID EMPIRE (750-1258 A.D.)
The greatest period of development and
achievement
Persian influenced contributed
significantly to this development,
translations from Persian led a new
refinement in Arabic prose called Adab,
often add with poetry and utilizing rhyme
prose the style of Qur’an

Greatest Masters of Adab:

a. Al Jahiz
b. Al Hariri
New poets:
a. Abu Nuwas- used the Arabic language with greater freedom and imagination
b. Al-Maari and Al-Mtanabi- regarded as the greatest among the poets.

Outstanding authors:
a. Ibn Ishaq- Author of Mohammad’s life
 b. Rabja of Bastra and Sufi poetess
c. Abu nuevas- the greatest Arab lyricis

3. THE MODERN PERIOD

During the centuries of Ottoman Turkish domination
Arabic literature fall into decline, until mid 19 th
century it was revived by intellectual movement
known as Nahdah (reawakening), originated in Syria
and spread to Egypt.
Arabic writers of the past hundred years have been
extremely versatile, most of their works characterized
by strong concern for social issues

Outstanding recent Arabic novelists, dramatists and essaylists:

a. Tawfig al-Hakim- first play was a re-telling of the Qur'anic story of the Seven sleepers and the second
an epilogue for the Thousand and One Nights
 Arabian Nights (One thousand and one night)
- A collection of middle eastern and south asian stories and folktales compiled in Arabic,
during the Islamic Golden Age
- The common throughout the editions of the Nights is the initial frame story of the ruler
Shahryar meaning “King” or “sovereign” and his wife Scheherazade meaning “noble
lineage”
- Some editions contain only few hundred nights while others include 1,001 or more
- The Lady and Her Five Suitors, Arabian Nights

THE QUR’AN
 Sacred scripture of Islam
 The actual words of God revealed by Muhammad
 Contains 114 chapters or suras and divided into 6, 236 verses or ayah
 Termed as the glorious and wonderful, describes the absolute truth, healing mercy, light
and guidance of God to people’s everyday lives
 Has a great contribution to Arabian literature