Al-Atlaal


         The majority of the Arabs during the Pre-Islamic period were living the Bedouin life. It means that they lived in the desert of Arabia and there was the scarcity/shortage of the water, they moved from places to places in the search of water, likewise they used to eat whatever was easily available in the desert such as the meat of the wild animals and the milk of animals as the cow, goat and camel.

The people of the desert lived in tents under the open sky. So the descriptions of
natural things were described in the poems. It is natural that the poet describes in his verses the natural things that were in the desert and under the open sky. The poet of Pre-Islamic period described in his poems the life of desert in detail such as he describes his journey from one place to another place and whatever the difficulties he had during his journey. Further, he goes in detail and describes the situation of journey and he picturizes the natural things such as moon, stars and he gives the simile and metaphors of these natural things, likewise, the poet picturizes, the movement and speed of his riding animals and he uses the simile and metaphors for his riding animals from the natural things such as the lighting and air.

The poet of pre-Islamic period also mentions the forbidden traces where he had halted
places, he remembered those moments and shed the tears by remembering those beautiful moments and further, he urged from the people to remember those moments.

Simile & Metaphor
The poet of pre-Islamic period used the simile and metaphors very much and he had given those simile and metaphors generally from the natural things. The language and selection of the words of the pre-Islamic poetry is pure and free from any kind of mixture, likewise the structure of the verses are highly appropriate and the use of grammar is very perfect. Therefore, the verses of pre-Islamic period are presented as evidence in Arabic literature.

The poems of Pre-Islamic periods are generally composed on the patterns of Qaseedahs which are like the odes of English Language. The Qaseedahs started generally by remembering the beautiful moments that the poet has passed with his beloved and by remembering that place and those moments, the poet shed the tears and further he urged the audience to shed the tears. After that, the poet describes the beauty of his beloved and compares her with the deer of the desert; likewise he
describes her organs such as eyes, hairs, and her movement. After that, the poet describes the qualities of his riding animals, which is generally a camel or a horse.

The poet describes his speech and his colors and compares it with natural things After this the poet his global qualities such as bravery or hospitality and in the description of bravery, he generally uses simile of lion and tiger and the poet concluded the poem by mentioning his literary skills and abilities.

The poems of Pre-Islamic period were composed in a natural situation. So the description of nature is abundant, likewise, the similes and metaphors were presented from natural things. The use of pure language and the selection of appropriate words and the use of prosody are highly perfect in the Pre-Islamic poetry.



Therefore the Pre-Islamic poetry is considered as a great treasure of Arabic literature!



loading...