Development of Arabic Poetry during Abbasid Period

 
Abbasid Period Poetry

The Abbasid Caliphate was an Islamic empire that existed from 750 to 1258C.E.as it was centered in Baghdad and included much of the Middle East Poetry and literature were major ways for the Abbasids to share their cultural values. Based on what the Abbasid poetry emphasized, it is clear that the Abbasid court valued the caliph’s authority, entertainment, and the experience of proving knowledge through poetry recitation. Within the Abbasid trial, prose literature also played a big role. The didactic series of prose tales, entitled Kalila and Dimna, exemplifies that the Abbasids appreciated literature that offers behavioral advice while having fun.

The poetry and literature from the Abbasid Caliphate exemplifies different ways to understand eras in history. To learn about a society, it is helpful to study literature, not just wars and politics. Literature shows how society develops, and shows what societal norms and values are. Even before the influence of Islam, the tradition of poetry was well established in the East. Participants of the trade fairs recited poetry that either praised or criticized others as an annual trade fair. Therefore, poetry was a public experience, where Arabs were used to praise the strength of tribal leaders.

Poetry demonstrated the importance of praising especially tribal leaders, to affirm their leadership and control within the tribe. The expert poetry reflected Arab culture, even before Islam influenced the region. As the centralized caliphate began to exchange tribal organizations because the main sort of government, poetry be significant a part of the Abbasid court. Praise poetry, once directed at tribal leaders, shifted revere kings, caliphs, and other leaders within the court. Litterateurs were people who rec and memorized poetry, and they quickly became a very elite class.

                They clustered around caliph, and while they knew many forms of poetry, they were rewarded financially for the praise poetry of the royalty. Praise poets would venerate their leaders by complimenting the strength, courage, and generosity. Even if the praise was exaggerated, it demonstrates the royalty valued spreading their reputation through the spoken word. This indicates that one of the main functions of praise poetry was to spread the king’s legitimacy of authority.

There were several forms of poetry that were controversial, but were still circulated out the Abbasid courts because of their entertainment factor. Like praise poetry, love was also popular before the influence of Islam. Often times the topic of the poem, or the beloved, would be unattainable and be portrayed as cruel while the author suffers. Some would be extremely graphic with their sexual desires, but this was less common within entertaining the court hesitated to recite graphic poetry.

Abu Nuwwas was an exception this, but most litterateurs preferred to focus on entertaining the people of the court with less controversial genres of poetry. This demonstrates that many poets felt poetry within the court’s purpose was to entertain the royalty and was not intended to be controversial or graphic. This did not mean that graphic love poetry did not exist, but that the role of poetry within the court was to entertain the royalty first. Wine poetry was also popular within the Abbasid courts. Wine poetry was problematic among devout Muslims, because of the Quran prohibited the consumption of alcohol. This is why wine poetry would often "twist and turn into the erotic." Abu Nuwwas is well known for his poetry about wine, and he was well aware of it. Abu Nuwwas is well known for his wine poetry, and he was clearly aware that he sinned. He penned: (Sing to me, Sulayman, and give me wine to drink, and offer me a goblet to distract me from the call of the muezzin).

Wine poetry was popular within the Abbasid courts, but presumably for the entertainment factor. Since wine poetry was circulated through the court, it likely does not demonstrate the actions of most Muslims at this time, but suggests that they valued entertainment in the court setting.

Another popular sort of poetry within the court was hunting poetry. The caliph and his men would enjoy spending the day hunting, where they would impress one another with their hunting skills. At night, the lads recited poetry about the hunt they went on, called tardiyyah. Hunting poetry often was filled with complex and complicated language. Abu Nuwwas wrote much hunting poetry in his collection of poems called the Diwan, which are filled with complex metaphors and poetic devices.
Another poet named Ibn al-Mu’adhdhal wrote lengthy hunting poetry in the complex rajazmetre (urjuzah). This exemplifies the exclusivity of hunting poetry. A person had to be affluent enough to hunt for pleasure. It is also indicated by the complex language of hunting poetry that only the very rich and educated will understand and appreciate hunting poetry. This proves that the role of hunting poetry within the court was to not only to supply entertainment but also to affirm the wealth and standing of these who were elite enough to experience this sort of hunting.

The shared tradition of poetry suggests that the Abbasids valued entertainment and praise within the court setting. While primary documents would explain why the court structure existed and operated in the Abbasid caliphate, it cannot fully demonstrate the values that most of the people in the courts had. The values described in the popular court poetry shows the culture of the Abbasids in a way that other primary documents cannot demonstrate.

Gaston Wiet:

wrote in “Baghdad: Metropolis of the Abbasid Caliphate": “Under the Abbasids, there was also the social advancement of administrative secretaries, which enabled them to succeed the poets of an earlier period, who had been the only ones to earn their living in the field of letters. Thereafter the scholars, mathematicians, astronomers, astrologers, and translators of the works of Greek antiquity was supported by the first caliphs of Baghdad. [Source: Gaston Wiet, “Baghdad: Metropolis of the Abbasid Caliphate," Chapter 5: the Golden Age the Golden Age of Arab and Islamic Culture translated by Feiler Seymour University of Oklahoma Press, 1971.

In Baghdad maybe songs and music are more relevant than in other regions of the Muslim world. Within the theory sector there are great names, Farabi as an example, and the Mausilis, father and son, and Ibrahim ibn Mahdi, the ephemeral caliph, in composition.

During several Abbasid caliphs ' reigns the Mausilis pleased the Baghdad court. Ibrahim (804) was Mahdi, Hadi, and Harun al-Rashid's favorite caliphs; he was the hero of some very race adventures. With a baton, he led his musicians and was perhaps the main conductor of the orchestra. The great historian Ibn Khaldun wrote, "Baghdad's beautiful concerts have left memories that last too."
Several poets gave accounts of the lives of the gay knives, and thus the rough characters that frequented the capital's cabarets. One small piece, by Washsha, includes a description of the worldly manners and customs of Baghdad's sophisticated class, and maybe a true manual of the lifetime of the era dandies. It also provides minute details with their correct inscriptions on clothes, chairs, gold and silver utensils, cushions, and curtains. Another blogger, Azdi, describes the culture of debauched party-goers as being like Villon. His poems, due to their truculence, their strong language and their rejection of good values, are difficult to translate. We shouldn't be too overweight.

This is just a short description of Arabic Poetry During Abbasid period.

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