Early Islamic Period (622-661) Poetry PDF

Early Islamic period (622 – 661) - Historical overview of early Islamic period - Poetry during the early Islamic period al-Khulafa al-Rashidun “Rightly Guided Caliphs” What was the first thing that Muslims had to deal with following the death of the Prophet ? What is the Saqifa of Banu Sa’ida? What...

Early Islamic period (622 – 661) - Historical overview of early Islamic period - Poetry during the early Islamic period al-Khulafa al-Rashidun “Rightly Guided Caliphs” What was the first thing that Muslims had to deal with following the death of the Prophet ? What is the Saqifa of Banu Sa’ida? What is meant by the term Caliph? Who are the Four Rightly Guideded Caliphs and what are their achievements? 2 al-Khulafa al-Rashidun “Rightly Guided Caliphs” The Question of Leadership was the first question to split the Muslim community. Is the leader divinely sanctioned or should he be selected by the community? Is leadership hereditary? Should it remain in Quraysh? Abu Bakr “al-siddiq” “hurub al-ridda” the apostasy wars r. 11-13/632-634 (around two years. ‘Umar b. al-Khattab “al-faruq” futuhat - “the great conquests” Syria, Iraq and Egypt r. 13-23/634-644 (around ten years) ‘Uthman b. ‘Affan futuhat - “the great conquests” Iran, North Africa and Central Asia r. 23-35/644-656 almost 12 years ‘Ali b. Abu Talib fitna - “political strife/discord” r. 35-40/656-661 PRE-Islamic Arabia FROM: Lapidus, IRA M. A History of Islaitymic Society. Cambridge & New York. Cambridge University press, 2002 “The Middle East on the eve of the Muslim era” 6 Islamic Empire 7 Poetry during the life of the prophet and the rightly guided Caliphs Poetic tradition suffered temporary decline Yet when leading Arab poets converted to Islam, poetry regained its prestige. Leading Arabian poets during the life of the prophet include: Hassan bin Thabit and Ka’b bin Zuhayr. The poets who lived in both pre-Islamic and Islamic period are called “mukhadramun”, singular: “mukhadram”. Hassan bin Thabit became the “poet laureate” of the Prophet. For example one of the famous qasidas by Ka’ab bin Zuhayr (AlBurda), starts as: ‫ثرها لَم يُف َد َمكبو ُل‬ َ ‫ُمتَيَّ ٌم ِإ‬ َ ‫َضيض ال‬ ‫رف َمكحو ُل‬ ‫ِإ اّل أَغ َُّن غ‬ ِ ‫ط‬ ُ ‫وم َمتبو ُل‬ ُ ‫بانَت‬ َ َ‫سعا ُد فَقَلبي الي‬ ‫ين ِإذ َر َحلوا‬ ُ ‫َوما‬ ِ َ‫سعا ُد غَداة َ الب‬ Su'ad is gone, my heart stunned, lost in her traces, shackled, unransomed. What was Su'ad the morning they set off, but a faint song… It is an example of classical Arabic qasidah. It has three themes: nasib, rihla and madih During the reign of the Caliphs poetry continue to flourish and poets such as Hassan bin Thabit in addition to hundreds other poets wrote short and long poems in praise of the leaders and the Muslim armies who contributed to the extension of Islam and conquered new lands.