Pre-Islamic Arabic poetry, known in Arabic literature as al-shi'r al-Jahili ("poetry from the Jahiliyyah", i.e. from the pre-Islamic period), was composed in Arabia roughly between 540 and 620 AD, the period of late antique Arabia. This poetry largely originated in the Najd (then a region east of the Hejaz and up to present-day Iraq), with only a minority coming from the Hejaz. Poetry was first distinguished into the Islamic and pre-Islamic by Hammad al-Rawiya (d. 772). In Abbasid times, literary critics debated if contemporary or pre-Islamic poetry was the better of the two.
Pre-Islamic poetry constitutes a major source for the classical Arabic language both in grammar and vocabulary, and as a record of the political and cultural life of the time in which it was created. A number of major poets are known from pre-Islamic times, the most prominent among them being Imru' al-Qais. Other prominent poets included Umayya ibn Abi as-Salt, al-Nabigha, and Zayd ibn Amr. The poets themselves did not write down their works: instead, it was orally transmitted and eventually codified into poetry collections by authors in later periods, beginning in the eighth century. Collections may focus on the works of a single author (such a collection is called a diwan) or multiple authors (an anthology).
The emergence of these collections of pre-Islamic poetry was driven by three stages of expertise: that of the poet, the transmitter, and the scholar. Each was a distinct profession, though the same individual could participate in two or all three. The poet (sha'ir) creates the poetry and commits it to memory. The transmitters (ruwat) take charge in its memorization and preservation, generally in a tribally affiliated manner. The scholars (or collectors) collect poetry across their sources into a single, written collection that can be copied and read. Scholarship in poetry (al-'ilm bi'l shi'r) emerged as a distinct discipline around the end of the eighth century, and most of its participants were mawali (offspring of non-Arab converts to Islam) engaged in the royal courts of the empire. Historically, experts in each domain of this process claimed authority over preservation which, in turn, functioned as a claim to authority over the representation of the past, and the poetry was the vehicle by which the pre-Islamic past was understood.
Origins and context The earliest evidence for pre-Islamic poetry comes from ancient inscriptions. The Hymn of Qāniya is a twenty-seven line poem known from a first century rock, addressed to the god Shams. The earliest figures to whom poetry is attributed to in Islamic tradition are the Tanukhids and Lakhmids in the third century. Greek sources attribute poems to Arabs as early as the fourth century.
Many sources provide a context for pre-Islamic poetry. Pre-Islamic Arabic and Greek poetry share some similar themes, such as the inescapability of death and the notion of self-immortalization through the accomplishment of heroic deeds in battle. Recent scholarship has identified that pre-Islamic poetry, to a degree, experienced Hellenization and that it offers strong evidence for the integration of Arabia into the broader Mediterranean culture during Late Antiquity. Another context may be the genre of Arabic literature called the Days of the Arabs, recounting some of the wars in pre-Islamic Arabia that give the setting for some of those same heroic deeds on the battlefield.
Genres and themes The central genres or motifs of pre-Islamic poetry included:lamentation before the ruins of the camps (al-bukāʾ ʿalā l-aṭlāl), erotic prelude (nasīb), description of the poet's journey (raḥīl), description of animals and nature (waṣf), panegyric (madīḥ), self-exaltation (fakhr), invectives (hijāʾ), and eulogies (rithāʾ)These motifs could be combined to produce well-known genres of pre-Islamic poetry, one example being the qasida. The qasida occurs in three parts, each corresponding to one of these motifs, and these motifs are arranged into the following order: the desert motif (nasīb), description of a camel or a horse (raḥīl), and finally the tribal boast or similar (the fakhr).
Ethics Pre-Islamic values have historically been inferred from pre-Islamic poetry, although historians doubt that the values of this poetry represented the values of society more broadly. The themes of Jahili poetry emphasize a heroic value system where the enjoyment of wine, amorous adventures, and fighting came together, as can be seen in the muʿallaqa of Ṭarafa:If you can't avert from me the fate that surely awaits me / then pray leave me to hasten it on with what money I've got. / But for three things, that are the joy of a young fellow / I assure you I wouldn't care when my deathbed visitors arrive— / first, to forestall my charming critics with a good swig of crimson wine / that foams when the water is mingled in; / second, to wheel at the call of the beleaguered a curved-shanked steed / streaking like the wolf of the thicket you've startled lapping the water; / and third, to curtail the day of showers, such an admirable season / dallying with a ripe wench under the pole-propped tent, / her anklets and her bracelets seemingly hung on the boughs / of a pliant, unriven gum-tree or a castor-shrub.According to Pamela Klasova, the values expressed should not be seen as "values in themselves". That is, they are values invoked by the poet as a vehicle for the expression of the heroic refusal of the poet to surrender themselves to the power of unpredictable fate. When wine, fighting, and so forth are celebrated, these are acts of defiance against death. For the poet, death can come at any moment, and so the poet hastens death by behaving in a manner that is unrestrained. This perception of the world extends to other areas of the life of the poet, and so he acts with extreme generosity to others, even at the risk of the endangerment of one's own life. After all, the poet sees death as inevitable and the only form of immortality achievable is through the memory of oneself after their death. This memory is perpetuated by the performance of heroic and honorable deeds. Wars were opportunities for one to set themselves apart from others by demonstrating their courage and achieving glory. Thus, poetry portrays war as something that occurs not merely out of necessity and material gain but also "for the noble strife itself". Poetry centred the present, but in a manner that was motivated by a deeper existential framework as opposed to barbarism. Tradition depicted the poets as pagan, but the poetry itself lacks concern for religion.
Pre-Islamic poetry is not representative of the values of pre-Islamic Arabia (and likely was an expression of one cultural model among nomads and/or seminomads), but it came to be depicted in this way likely for two reasons: the scarcity of other pre-Islamic sources to have survived into the Islamic era, and deliberate reconstructions of the "Jahiliyyah".
Poets
Social role In pre-Islamic Arabian society, the poets (al-shuʿarāʾ) were charged with the task of perpetuating the legacy of their tribe and transmitting knowledge of the past. Members of tribes and primeval ancestors had their deeds recorded in stories and tales, memories of confrontations between the tribes and times of distress were recounted, and the genealogy of the tribe was maintained. The positive qualities of the tribe, such as their heroism and genealogy, was coded into their poetry. One generation would listen to and recite the odes of the earlier one, allowing for the tribe to maintain trust in their poems as records of earlier times. In this process, the poetry was thought to be stamped into the collective memory of the tribe. This process allows the poets themselves to be the creators and shapers of how the past what was happening was expressed, and it also allowed them to convey their agendas through their art. Poets played roles in diplomatic arbitration, conflict resolution, and intermediating in ransom of hostages. The relative worth of a poet was conveyed by their wages and the opinions of them by more experienced poets. This practice was thought to last until the Umayyad era, when some poets disassociated from their tribal framework and entered the royal court of the caliph. In this context, new functions and modes of dialectics for poets emerged and earlier ones shifted. It was also in this time that the authority of poets as conveyors of the past began to deteriorate in favor of other types of experts, such as hadith transmitters.
Famous poets
Among the most famous poets of the pre-Islamic era are Imru' al-Qais, Samaw'al ibn 'Adiya, al-Nabigha, Tarafa, Zuhayr bin Abi Sulma, and Antarah ibn Shaddad. Other poets, such as Ta'abbata Sharran, al-Shanfara, Urwa ibn al-Ward, were known as su'luk or vagabond poets, much of whose works consisted of attacks on the rigidity of tribal life and praise of solitude.
Although few in number, some poets were Jewish or Christian. On the other hand, most poets expressed a gentile monotheism or henotheism that elevated Allah as the supreme being and Creator of the world.
Imru' al-Qais Imru' al-Qais was a poet of the first half of the sixth century AD. Today, he is one of the most famous and celebrated Arabic poets, with some viewing him as the very best (though this was a matter of debate). He was widely known by the title "the prince of the poets in the Era of Ignorance" (amīru l-shuʿarāʾ fi-l-jāhiliyya).
Contemporary sources for Imru' are lacking and biographical information about him from 9th and 10th century sources were shaped by heroic narrative conventions. His name, "Imru' al-Qais," means "Worshiper of the Qays" referring either to a deity called Qays or an attribute of the goddess Manat. Most sources identify his father as Ḥujr ibn al-Ḥārith, who became the king of the Kinda tribe in 528 AD, shortly after Imru' was born. According to his work, he adopted a lifestyle of poetry, wine, and women; he strayed from the conventional morality of the court which led to his expulsion. He lives a wandering life until he learns of his father's death at the hands of the Asad tribe. This effectively transforms him into a warrior, and he raises the support of several other tribes in order to take vengeance. He failed to get such support. He sought to regain momentum by appealing to the Byzantine court. Unsuccessful in that, he dies soon thereafter. The poetry of Imru' al-Qais was collected in the late eighth century in Iraq. The authenticity of it is disputed, with al-Asma'i believing that his vagabond group as he wandered in the aftermath of his expulsion composed much of what is attributed to him. Some of his poetry is widely agreed upon as genuine however, including his contribution to the Mu'allaqat.
Jewish poets Islamic compilations of pre-Islamic poetry occasionally mention Jewish poets, although it is difficult to assess their authenticity and, compared to epigraphs, are more difficult to date and are subject to later influences of Islamicization. The Ṭabaqāt fuḥūl al-shuʿarā ("The generations of the most outstanding poets"), composed by the Basran traditionalist and philologist Muḥummad ibn Sallām al-Jumaḥī (d. 846), records a list of Jewish poets. The Arabian/Arab antiquities collector Abū l-Faraj al-Iṣfahānī (d. 976) also has scattered reference to eleven Jewish poets in his Kitāb al-agānī ("Book of Songs"). The poets they refer to are as follows, followed by (J) if mentioned by al-Jumahi and (I) if they are mentioned by al-Isfahani:
Samaw'al ibn 'Adiya (J) (I) Al-Rabi ibn Abu al-Huqayq (J) (I) Ka‘b ibn al-Ashraf (J) (I) Shurayḥ ibn ʿImrān (J) (I) Saʿya (Shuʿba) ibn Gharīḍ/ʿArīḍ (J) (I) Abū Qays ibn Rifāʿa (J) (I) Dirham ibn Zayd (J) Abū l-Dhayyāl (J) (I) Sarah of Qurayẓa (I) Kaʿb ibn Saʿd of Qurayẓa (I) Aws ibn Danī of Qurayẓa (I)