SOAS Research Online

Abstract

After the discussion of its frontiers, history and social structure, the importance of Madina as a birth-place of poets was discussed. A definition of the term "Madinese poet" was attempted, A division of sources into groups was followed by a discussion of the poems, a description of the manuscripts and their alphabetical arrangement. It was necessary to justify the method of reconstruction of poems from fragments so that they can but need not be read as whole poems. A solution to the problem arising from the similarity of poet's names was proferred. Words and lines were interpreted, but the wording of the text was respected throughout. Any change or omission was referred to. The anthology was divided historically, into fire parts, and provided with a list of poets yet unknown as well as one of the poetry ascribed to unknown poets.;Finally, an attempt was made to show how Madina was reflected in its pre-lslamic and Islamic poetry, with themes such as heroism and the fertiliity of Madina predominating. Taking Ibn Rawaha as a representative, it was demonstrated how Islam in its early days influenced poetry. It was also shown how melody induced erotic poets to use simple words, short metres, and to limit the number of lines in a poem. Reference was made to three Umayyad trends: wine, Shu'ubiyya and travel, stating that Ibn Harma described nomadic rather than settled life.