Abundance from the Desert: Classical Arabic Poetry

Conclusion

268 Conclusion What we call the beginning is often the end And to make an end is to make a beginning. —T. S. Eliot, Four Quartets Having thus traced the course of classical Arabic poetry from the sixth century to the thirteenth, in locations from the East to the West, and through the major genres, we have reached a convenient stopping point. Proceeding chronologically , one crosses into what is considered the postclassical period. This age begins around 1250, with the establishment of Mamluk rule in Egypt in that year and the sack of Baghdad by the Mongols, which formally put an end to the ‘Abbasid Caliphate, in 1258. Literary historian H. A. R. Gibb, looking back at the classical period, has divided it into four ages: the Heroic Age (ca. 500–622), the Age of Expansion (622–750), the Golden Age (750–1055), and the Silver Age (1055–1258).1 We would accept this division and naming of epochs, albeit with an important reservation. Applied to our poets, we see that it categorizes Imru’ al-Qays, al-Shanfara, Labid, and al-Khansa’ as poets of the Heroic Age; Jamil and Jarir as poets of the Age of Expansion; Abu Nuwas, Abu Tammam, al-Mutanabbi, and Ibn Zaydun as poets of the Golden Age; and Ibn Quzman, Ibn al-Farid, and Baha’ al-Din Zuhayr as poets of the Silver Age. Our reservation concerns the last designation, which implies a clear decline in the said era from previous glory. Based on our reading of some of their works, any one of Ibn Quzman, Ibn al-Farid, and Baha’ al-Din Zuhayr may reasonably be championed among the poets. Surely, their Diwans— innovative, engaging, meaningful—do not represent a decline in the quality of classical Arabic poetry; it would seem that, in terms of literary creativity, the Golden Age continued. Conclusion 269 Other literary historians have been more severe, speaking of an “Age of Decadence” (‘Asr al-Inhitat), a period of extreme conventionality and general bad taste, beginning after the death of the brilliant Syrian poet al-Ma‘arri in 1058 and lasting approximately eight centuries until the dawn of the modern period (1850–present).2 Yet the poetry dating from 1250 to 1850, the putative postclassical period, is by far the most neglected in Arabic literature. It may well be that this period will not seem so benighted after scholars shed light on it (in this regard, the recently published Cambridge History of Arabic Literature in the Post-Classical Period is a most welcome contribution and should prove to be an excellent starting point for further specialized research). Moving forward into the modern period, we see that the classical poetic tradition in fact continues and remains very much a part of Arab culture. Poets such as al-Barudi (d. 1904), Ahmad Shawqi (d. 1932), Hafiz Ibrahim (d. 1932), al-Zahawi (d. 1936), al-Rusafi (d. 1945), al-Khuri (known as al-Akhtal al-Saghir, “the Little al-Akhtal” [d. 1968]), al-Jawahiri (d. 1998), and Fadwa Tuqan (d. 2004), while giving voice to personal feelings and responding to contemporary circumstances, have been clearly influenced by the ancient poets, exploited classical forms, and made use of classical themes in their work. In fiction classical motifs are also developed and famous lines frequently evoked by allusion.3 In the area of drama classical poetry has inspired works such as Shawqi’s Majnun Layla (Crazy about Layla [1931], about the legendary ‘Udhri lover modeled after Jamil, Qays) and Amirat al-Andalus (The Princess of al-Andalus [1932], about the daughter of the renowned poet-king of Seville, al-Mu‘tamid ibn ‘Abbad [d. 1095]); the contemporary Palestinian al-Hakawati troupe has dramatized not uncommonly the romance based on the life of the pre-Islamic Mu‘allaqa poet ‘Antara. In the field of music new qasidas have featured prominently in the repertory of the supremely popular Egyptian singer Umm Kulthum; one of her best-loved songs is a qasida rendition titled “Al-Atlal” (The Encampment Traces [1966]).4 The legacy of classical Arabic poetry endures, and continues to inspire the work of Arab artists, both literary and otherwise. Stepping back and expanding our scope for a moment, we may observe the direct and extended influence of classical Arabic poetry on a number of other poetic traditions. Stefan Sperl and Christopher Shackle, in the introduction to their second edited volume of qasida poetry from Islamic Asia and Africa, discuss this widespread influence. The classical Arabic ode...