known works; references to Brokelmann are, however, given in every case.
4th century
Ibn Kaysaan 1, 110 talkib al-kawaafii wa-talkib
Harakaatihaa; ed. W.Wright in
Opuscula Arabica (1859) 47-74.
Al-Saahib al-Talkaanii S. 1, 199 al-iknaa‘ fii ’l-‘aruud
Ibn Djinnii 1, 126 ; S. 1, 192
5th century
Al-Raba‘ii S. 1, 491
Al-Kundhurii 1, 286
Al-Tibriizii 1, 279 ; S. 1, 492 1) al-kaafii 2) al-waafii
6th century
Al-Zamakhsharii 1, 291 ; S. 1, 511 al-kustaas fii ’l- ‘aruud
Ibn al-Kattaa‘ 1, 308 ; S. 1, 540 al-‘aruud al-baari‘
Al-Dahhaan 1 , 281
Nashwaan al-Himyarii 1 , 301
Al-Sakkaat 1, 282 ; S. 1, 495
7th century
Abuu ’l-Djaysh al-Andalusii 1, 310 ; S. 1, 544 K. ‘aruud al-Andalusii ; first
Printed Istanbul 1261 ; much
commented upon.
Ibn al-Khazradjii 1, 312 ; S. 1, 545 al-kasiida al-khazradjiyya ;
critical ed. by R. Basset :
I . e Khazradjiyah, Traite
metrique arabe (Alger 1902) ;
the text can also be found in
all editions of the Madjmuu‘
al-mutuun al-kabiir ; much
commented upon.
Ibn al-Haadjib 1, 305 ; S. 1, 537 al-maksad al-djaliil fii ‘ilm
al-Khaliil, ed. Freytag in ar-
stellung der arab .Verskunst
(1830) 334 ff. ; much
Commented upon .
Al-Mahallii 1, 307 ; S. 1, 539 1) shifaa 2) urdjuuza
Ibn al-Maalik 1, 300 al-‘aruud
8th century
Al-Kalaawisii 2, 259
Al-Saawii 2, 239 ; S. 2, 258 al-kasiida al-husnaa
9th century
Al-Damaamiinii 2, 26
Al-Kinaa‘ii 2, 27 ; S. 2, 22 al-kaafii fii ‘ilmay al-
‘aruud wa ’l-kawaafii,
First printed Cairo 1273 ;
copied in the Madjmuu‘ ;
much commented upon .
Al-Shirwaanii 2 , 194
11th century
Al-Isfaraa’inii 3, 380 ; S. 2, 513
12th century
Al-Sabbaan 2, 288 S. 2, 399 manzuuma [ al-shaafiya
al-kaafiya ] fii ‘ilm al-
‘aruud ; printed several
times in Cairo ; also
in all editions of the
Madjmuu‘.
Just as the ancient Indians and Greeks developed their own form of metric poetry, so did the ancient Arabs. Ancient Arabic poems, were already written and recited in the known metres a hundred years before Islam, and they retained their form more or less unchanged in the succeeding centuries. The usual ancient Arabic poem, the so-called Kasiida, [q.v.] is comparatively short and simple in its structure. It consist of 50 to 100 monorhyming lines (rarely of more), and there is no strophic division in ancient Arabic poetry. Each line (bayt, pl. abyaat) consists of two clearly distinct halves (misraa‘ , pl. masarii‘ ); the name for the first hemistich being al-sadr, that for the second al-adjuz. Only these more obvious attributes of the line were recognized and named during the 1st century A. H. Al-Khaliil Ibn ahmed al-Faraahiidii (died ca. 175 A. H. in Basra) was the first to investigate the inner, rhythmical structure of Arabic verse; he distinguished between different metres, gave them the names by which we still know them, and divided them up into their subordinate metric elements. The written description and analysis of observations made by ear presented, however, very serious difficulties.
In all languages the choice and position of words in prose is solely governed by generally accepted syntactic rules and by the desire of the speaker to express his thoughts as clearly as possible. In poetry, however, when it is based on rhythm, the choice of words and their sequence within the line is not so uncontrolled. The rhythm of the verse and the metres in which it finds its external expression are created by the following factors: 1) the observance of definite order in the sequence of syllables within the line, and 2) the
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