SOAS Research Online

Abstract

Classical Arab critics held conflicting and blurred views regarding the history of Jahili poetry. They believed that Imru al-Qais was the father of Jahili poetry and the creator of most, if not all, of the Jahili poetic conventions, but at the same time they referred to a host of distinguished poets who either lived before Imru' al-Qais or were his older contemporaries, and whose works embody most of the conventions attributed to Imru' al-Qais. The discrepancy of the classical critics seems to have been overlooked by the scholars of the last two hundred years who, instead of examining the inherited opinions and the work of individual poets, postulated a series of cul de sac theories on the origins of Jahili poetry, thereby adding more confusion to an already confused situation. The reason for this confusion is that the basic ground-work has not been done. The aim of this thesis is three fold: to investigate the validity of the classical critics' assumptions; to trace the history of Jahili poetry before Imru'al-Qais; to study the work of over thirty poets, so as to prove that Imru'al-Qais drew on a well-established poetic tradition. The thesis is divided into three chapters. The first chapter deals with the source material and the language of Jahiliyya; the second chapter covers the historical and religious background; the third chapter, which makes up more than half the thesis, discusses the work of over thirty poets. The thesis ends with a conclusion that highlights certain aspects of the Jahili poetic experience before Imru'al-Qais.