Flash Cards

1. Flash Cards Literature Group Ian MacDonald IM

2. Background/ Poetry Source 7S • There are many different types of islamic literature; there is the qasida which consists of an elaborately structured ode of from 20 to 100 verses and maintains a single end rhyme through the entire piece. There is also the ghazelwhich is a 5 to 12 line love poem. The qitah is a literary form used for the less serious matters of everyday life. Its main function was for satire, jokes, word games, and codes. The masnavi originated in Persia, and is a ryming couplet. The roba`i is a quatrain. The maqamah is the most typical expression of the Arabic spirit in rhymed prose. It was used to tell basically simple and entertaining stories in an extremely complicated style. IM

3. Poetry Source 1Q Page 108 • “Islamic literature began with the Bedouin poets who developed the Arabic Languages into a supple and expressive literary instrument” IM

4. Poetry Source 1Q Page 108 • “In Style, content of Islamic poetry was subordinate to form; the poet was supposed to be a brilliant technician, preoccupied with the beauty of his verse” IM

5. Poetry Source 1Q Page 108 • Two poets recognized as technically outstanding during the Abbasid reign were Abu Nuwas, who lived in the ninth century and the Mutanabbi, who lived in the tenth century” IM

6. Poetry Source 1S Page 108 • Odes were very important and praised the poet, his tribe or make fun of opponents. It also was about moral and ethnic themes or description of nature. IM

7. Poetry Source 1Q Page 109 • “Among Islam’s most brilliant poets was Ma’arri one of the few of medieval times to speak without reference to religious dogma. Jailed, as he said, in the triple prison of blindness, ‘confinement to my house, and this vile body for my spirit’s dwelling,’ he expressed a profound pessimism” IM

8. Poetry Source 1Q Page 109-110 • Whereas poetry had begun with the pre-Islamic Arabs, prose had its beginning with the Koran. Through this greatest-and inimitable- work, the Arabic language developed into a powerful and effective mode of expression. IM

9. Poetry Source 1s Page 110 • The wide spread of Islam and the word of God spreading with the Koran, Arabic was the official language of the Arab empire and was found in religion, government and literature. IM

10. Poetry Source 1Q Page • In the field of pure literature, there appeared a new form in the late Tenth Century- the Maqamat, a collection of anecdotes usually centered on the person of a witty vagabond who wandered from place to place, earning his living by performing for appreciative people. IM

11. Works of Literature Source 7Q • Another collection that was begun at the same time consists of the sayings of `Ali, Muhammad's son-in-law and the fourth caliph, whose followers later established a major division in Islam, Shi`ah. Finally compiled in the 10th century, the collection is called `The Road of Eloquence'. It is a masterpiece of Arabic prose that has inspired numerous commentaries and imitations in other languages. IM

12. Famous Writers Source 7Q • A remarkable poet from Mecca, `Umar ibn Abi Rabi`ah, contributed to the development of the ghazel as a love poem. • Using the same literary form, one of the last Umayyads, al-Walid ibn Yazid, gained a greater reputation as a poet than as a warrior. His poetry excelled in frivolous love verses and in odes praising the virtues of wine. IM

13. House of Wisdom Source 9Q • The House of Wisdom eventually acquired a reputation as a center of learning, although universities as we know them did not yet exist at this time — transmission of knowledge was done directly from teacher to student, without any institutional surrounding. Schoolsbegan to develop in the city from the 9th century, and in the 11th century the Islamic University of Al-Nizamiyya was founded.Along with all other libraries in Baghdad, the House of Wisdom was destroyed during the Mongol invasion of Baghdadin 1258. IM

14. House of Wisdom Source 9Q • Under the sponsorship of caliph al-Mamun (813 – 833), it seems that the House of Wisdom took on new functions related to mathematics and astrology. The focus also shifted from Persian to Greek texts as the caliph was deeply influenced by Aristotelian thought and Greek rationalism. IM

15. Poetry Source 10Q • During the reign of the Umayyad caliphate the pre-Islamic tradition of Arabic poetry remained largely unchanged in terms of form - although, as one might expect, the Islamic faith became prominent. Humour was one notable innovation, with it becoming almost a whole new category of poem. The themes also moved from desert-life to city-life, reflecting the changed style of living common at the time. IM

16. Poetry Source 10Q • The Abbasid revolution saw the centre of the Muslim empire move from Mecca to Baghdad. Poetry in the time directly after the revolution was no longer favoured at court, and by the time it re-entered, it had undergone some profound shifts. Many of the people living in the area were not Arabian, and even fewer had any knowledge of the Bedouin life out of which the traditional poetry had emerged. Also, by that time a translation movement was in full sway which gradually translated the vast majority of the famous Greek philosophical works into Arabic. In consequence, whilst the traditional forms and modes were retained, the poetry shifted in tone and had a noticeably intellectual tendency. IM

17. Sources • Source 1- Stewart, Desmond. Great Ages of Man A History of the World’s Cultures. New York: Time Incorporated, 1967. Print. • Source 7- Library of Cornell. Cornell University. 2 November 2012. http://www.library.cornell.edu/colldev/mideast/islamlit.htm • Source 9- Institute of Muhammad Ali. Institute of Muhammad Ali. Web. 2 November 2012. http://www.mohamed-ali.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=105&Itemid=141 • Source 10- Untold Islam. Masalah. Web. 11/2/12. http://www.maslaha.org/untold-islam/depth/islamic-poetry#Poetry%20of%20the%20Umayyad%20period IM