Zeyshaan Rafiq | March 5, 2011

To define poetry is not as simple and straight forward a task as one would initially assume. Indeed, particularly in the west, its definition has been the subject of augmentation over many years. It has evolved from uses of speech in rhetoric, song, drama and comedy (as in Aristotle’s Poetics), to focusing on the formation of verses, repetition and rhyme (so as to separate from other literary works, e.g. essays and novels), and to being loosely defined as creative writing in the current ambience (retrieved 18/02/2011, ‘Poetry’, Wikipedia). What is apparent is that poetry is readily distinguished from more prosaic and essentially informative language. It is literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities, to evoke emotional and sensual responses, to supplant its meaning.  It is an eloquent form of artistic expression, a testification of feelings, inherent emotions, and deep seated affections, articulated (although not exclusively) through prose, rhyme, measure and semantical choices – all of which come together to inculcate and evoke an emotional response from the consumer. Poetry was a particularly developed, honed and cherished entity in pre-Islamic Arabia to such a degree that they recognised the world as ‘ajam, or ‘inarticulate’ in comparison to the level of eloquence the felt they had achieved. Indeed, even a prophetic tradition lauds eloquence “inna min alBayaani laSihran”[1] (pg.14, Mufti ‘Aashiq Ilaahi (eds)). Throughout the history of Islam, poetry has played a significant role, noteworthy mentions going to Mowlana Jalal alDin Rumi’s the Mathnawi and Imam Busayri’s Qaseedah Burdah, just to mention a few. The Quraan and ahaadeeth make several mentions in favour of and in vilification of this form of language and those who indulge in it. This essay will look at elucidating the perception of poetry in Islam, with particular attention to the primary texts of Islam, the Noble Quraan and ahaadeeth. Continue reading →