ARABIAN AND PERSIAN LITERATURE

BY: F R A N C E S E G E N E V I E V E D . O R A C OY

Location: Found in the Middle East between the

Persian Gulf and the Red Sea. It borders Jordan, Iraq, and Kuwait to the north, Yemen to the south, and Oman, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Qatar to the east. The country, which is divided into 13 provinces, is composed primarily of desert. Each region has a governor appointed by the king. With a land area of about 1.96 million square kilometers (756,981 square miles), Saudi Arabia is about one-fourth the size of the continental United States. Riyadh, the capital, is located in the central eastern part of the country.

A. ARABIAN GEOGRAPHY

Largest Cities:• Riyadh• Jeddah• Mecca • Medina• Al-Ahsa

• Ta'if• Damma

m• Khamis

Mushait• Buraidah• Khobar

Arabs originated on the descendants of indigenous tribes and lived along the Persian Gulf coast. Arabian Peninsula is also the homeland of Islam, the world's second-largest religion. Muhammad founded Islam there, and it is the location of the two holy pilgrimage cities of Mecca and Medina.

A succession of invaders attempted to control the peninsula, but by 1517 the Ottoman Empire dominated, and in the middle of the 18th century, it was divided into separate principalities.

History Of Saudi Arabia

In 1745 Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab began calling for the purification and reform of Islam, and the Wahhabi movement swept across Arabia. Wahhabis had been driven out of power again by the Ottomans and their Egyptian allies.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is almost entirely the creation of King Ibn Saud (1882–1953). A descendant of Wahhabi leaders, he seized Riyadh in 1901 and set himself up as leader of the Arab nationalist movement. The Hejaz and Nejd regions were merged to form the kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 1932, which was an absolute monarchy ruled by Sharia.

Flag Of Saudi Arabia

Facts About “The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia”Capital : Riyadh

Language: Arab

Religion : Islam

Economy : Saudi Arabia occupies most of the Arabian Peninsula and is the largest country in area in the Middle East—but 95 percent of the land is desert. Mountains running parallel to the Red Sea slope down to plains along the Persian Gulf. Desert kingdom one of the wealthiest nations in the world.

Arabian desert

Cultures and Traditions

Pork is considered unclean and is prohibited. Lunch is traditionally the day’s main meal.

Alcohol consumption, nightlife are forbidden.

Saudi Arabian women are required, according to Islamic law, to cover their bodies in abaya (black robes and face coverings) as a sign of respect for Muslim modesty laws.

Large, extended families live together, and nepotism is encouraged.

 Storytelling is another favorite form of artistic expression, but in keeping with Islamic law, guidelines govern public performances, and artists can’t make "graven images.” Hand-lettered Qurans are considered sacred art that’s to be respected and kept safe for generations. Ramadan, the holiest season of the year

and marks fasting.

ClothingFor Women

• Adherence to traditional dress varies across societies.

• Traditional Arab dress features the full length body cover (abayah, jilbob) and Veil (hijab or chador).

For Men

Traditional flowing robes to blue jeans, T-shirts and western business suits.

Headdress pattern might be an indicator of which tribe, clan, or family the wearer comes from. However this is not always the case.

Arabian Literature

A written Arabic literature began to be known with the collect of Koran, the sacred book of Islam , in Arabia in 17th century A.D. with the spread of the Islamic faith into Asia, Africa and Europe, the Arabian language soon became a major world language. Today it is read or understood by hundreds of millions of People. Even before the revelations of Muhammad were collected in the Koran, however, the Arabs possessed a highly developed poetry, composed of recitation and transmitted from generation to generation. The most famous examples are the elaborated odes, or qasdahs, of Mu’allagat (“the suspended odes”), beginning with those of Imru’ Alqais. These poems reflected and praised the customs and values of the desert environment in which they arose.

PRE-ISLAMICThe structure of the Arabic language is well-suited to

harmonious word-patterns, with elaborate rhymes and rhythms. The earliest known literature emerged in northern Arabia around 500 AD and took the form of poetry which was recited aloud, memorised and handed down from one generation to another. It began to be written down towards the end of the seventh century. The most celebrated poems of the pre-Islamic period were known as the Mu’allgqat ("the suspended"), reputedly because they were considered sufficiently outstanding to be hung on the walls of the ka'ba in Makkah.

The typical poem of this period is the Qasidah (ode), which normally consists of 70-80 pairs of half-lines. Traditionally, they describe the nomadic life, opening with a lament at an abandoned camp for a lost love. The second part praises the poet's horse or camel and describes a journey, with the hardships it entails. The third section contains the main theme of the poem, often praises the poet's tribe and villifying its enemies.

Historical PeriodsThe history of Arabic literature is usually divided into periods making the dynastic changes and divisions that took place within the Islamic world.

A. Umayyad Period (A.D. 661-750)

Arabic prose literature was limited primarily to grammatical treatise, commentaries on the Koran, and compiling of stories about Muhammad and his companions .

The Umayyad poets, chief of whom were Al-Akhtal and Al-Farazdaq, favored poetic forms such as love lyrics called (Ghazals) , wine songs and hunting poems . These forms the conditions of life and manners found in territories conquered by Islam.

B. Abbasid Empire (750-1258)

In the early years of this empire, many forms were invented for Arabic literature , which then entered what is generally regarded it’s greatest period of development and achievement. It is certain that the Persian influences contributed significantly to this development. For example, translations from Persian , such as those of Ibn al-Muqaff’, led to a new refinement in Arabic prose called adab, often sprinkled with poetry and utilizing rhyme prose (saj’), the style of KORAN. The greatest masters of adab were Al jahiz and Al Hariri. An inventive type of folk literature ,exemplified in “The Thousand and One Nights” (popularly known as The Arabian Nights), drew upon the recitations of wandering storytellers called rawis.

Abu Nuwas was acknowledged as the foremost among the new poets who used the Arabic language with greater freedom and imagination. An expiremental tradition now vied with classical traditions, some poets excelled in both traditions ; al-Maarri and al-Mtanabi are regarded as the greatest among them. In Spain an independent poetic tradition culminated in the exquisitive lyrics of Ibn Zaydun and Ibn Quzman. The Romance Of Antar, closest work to an epic in Arabic , was also written about this time.C. Modern Period During the centuries of Ottoman Turkish domination, Arabic literature fall into decline. Not until the mid-19th century was it revived by it’s intellectual movement known as Nahdah (“reawakening”), which originated in Syria and spread to Egypt.From being imitative to Europeans, Modern Arabic literature, both prose and poetry, has gradually freed itself from centuries of neglect and has assumed it’s former place among the world’s greatest literatures.

Outstanding among the recent Arabic novelists, dramatists, and essayists:

• Tawfig al-Hakim,

• Nobelist NgaguibMahfouz, Taha Husayn

• Poets, Ihiya Abu Madi, Adonis , Ahmad Shawqi, Abu Shadi and Abbas al Aqqad

Many other works have been translated and are enjoyed by non-Arab connoisseurs of literature everywhere.

Arabic writers of the past hundred years have been extremely versatile. Most of their work is characterized by strong concern for social issues.

Arabic Prose Saj or “rhymed prose” is most striking characteristics feature of the Arabic prose. Consists of succession of pairs of short rhyming expression with rhetorical and antithetical balance of sense of sense between the pairs of expressions with a certain loose of rhythmical balance not bound by strict metre.

The Khutbah or “formal written in rhymed prose style” is of great antiquity. Turned out to be religious verses in the earliest time of Islam.Most famous : Ibn Nubatah at-Farigi.

Arabic prose began in the latter days of the Umayyad Empire. It exhibits use of the Khutbah style and more sophisticated and fluent style derived from the literary traditions of Sasanian Persian . The most celebrated work of Ibn Muqaffa, “Klila wa Dimna” is translation from a Pahlavi version of the Indian fable, Pachantantra.

D. GOLDEN AGE OF ARABIC PROSE

Studded with names of brilliant writers such s the essayist al-Jahiz and Abu Hayyan al-Tawhidi and the critic Ibn Qucaybah. It was also during the period that the works of Abual-‘alaal-Ma’arri become popular with his letters in Saj and the Risalat al-Ghufran which pictures a visit to the other world. Mora, instructive and assuring anecdotes, became popular too and the most outstanding compiler of anecdotes was TANUKHI who was responsible of 3 compiltions of anecdotes like: Niswar al-Muhadarah ( The Table Of Mesopotamian Judge) Mustajad (Anecodotes Of Generousity) Farah Ba’d al Shiddah (Deliverance after Anguish)

These kinds of works led to a new literary form, the Maqamat (Assemblies) , initiated by al-HamadhaniHamadhani’s Maqamat is a collection of short stories , mainly picaresque, woven round the names of 2 fictious protagonists. Genre was developed a century later by Al-Hariri.

Arabic Poetry

There is not much evidence of written literature among the Arabs before the Islamic period. Oral traditions, the poetry of the North Arabs, particularly the Bedouin tribes of the fifth and sixth centuries, are the most outstanding in artistry and sensuousness of feelings. Poetry was constructed in elaborate meters of which sixteen are universally recognized.All verses are divided into types: Occasional Poems Collection or Anthologies

All verses are divided into types:1. Occasional Poems – Consisting 2 to 20

lines whose themes are usually war and revenge and praise of one’s own tribe.

Various genres fall to this are:

• Elegies• Praising the dead; the most famous type was Kansa.• The Odes or Quasida • Was an elaborate ode usually of 60 to 100 lines• Themes were usually about exploits of narrator, his old passion, and descriptions of camp life in honor of his patron. The oral transmition of poems lasted fot 350 yrs.

2. Collection or Anthologies – Al-Mu’allgqat, a group of pre-Islamic Odes. “3 KINDS OF COLLECTION”•Al-Mu-Allkat means “suspended” because these poems were supposed to have been displayed by the Arabs on the Kaaba at Mecca. These collections are ascribed to Hammed-al-Ravisya in 8th century A.D. by Amru Ul Kais “most illustrious of Arabian poets”. Showed the nomadic life, views and philosophies, visions and their dreams arising from such condition.

•Al hamasa is an anthrology compiled by poets ABRETAMMAN about 836 A.D. Derive its’s name from the beginning of books and poems. Themes were usually about valor and constant battles, patience when comforted reality , seeking vengeance ,pagan rituals, myths, temptations, treasure and Arab traditions.

•Mujaddiyat is a collection of poems named after MUFADDALIBN YA’LA who compiled them for the future caliph Mahdt between 762 and 784. Showed hospitality, charity, valor, faithfulness, lavish entertainment, love for wine and love for chance.

In The first century after the death of Mohammed, IN 622 A.D. CALLED Umayyad period there were no outstanding literary productions but, there were 4 NOTEWORTHY POETS:

•AKHATAL•FARAZDAK•JARIR•DHU RUMMA

The Kasidas a type of literature was becoming stereotype but the vogue of court poetry became popular.

Abbasid Period (750-1258)New tendencies were favored and Arabic poetry became popular. The classical tradition kept faith with the past , particularly desert poetry , with one modification – the substitution for the old imaginative phrases of rhetoric types, a fashion set by MUSLIM IBN WALKD followed by TAMMAN and extravagantly exploited by MUTANNABI. Some critics often call this period as The Golden Age up to 1055 A.D. and 1258 as The Silver Age. Poets become more original in their crafts. Influenced by Hellenistic and Persian Art. The Golden Age up to 1055 A.D. and 1258 as The Silver Age. Poets become more original in their crafts. Influenced by Hellenistic and Persian Art. Outstanding Authors:

IBN ISHAQ – author of mohammed’s life Rabja of Bastra and Sufi poetess ABU NUEVAS – greatest Arab lyricist

The famous MOKAMAT is attributed to HARIRI. Of the popular prose romances, the most famous are The Ten Thousand and One Nights, The Voyages Of Sinbad and The Collection of fables related to the Greek Aesop, ascribed to LUQMAN.

After THE FALL OF BAGDAD (1258)•After the fall of Bagdad, there was the ascendance of Mongol Turkish and Persian influence and waning at it ebb but considerable historical and biographical writings existed, like The Romance Of Antar, about a popular Islamic hero, and finalization of The Ten thousand and one nights under the Mameluke role (1250-1517) from Egypt. •In 1282 IBN Khalikan made the first biographical dictionary. •In 354 IBN BATUTA, traveler and biographer wrote about his travels in the Gift Of Observers and The marvels of countries. •In 1453, the Turks captured Constantinople, and by 1492 the Arab rule in Spain had ended. After the defeat of Napoleon, HASSANAL ARRAI organized European lectures. Then later, he became the rector of Al Azhar University in Cairo. He rectored the western culture and ushered AN-NAHDA or the Renaissance of Arabic culture.

Renaissance of Arabic Culture/AN-NAHDA Marked by the introduction of new ideas and new methods, imitations, and at the same time reform and development of traditional Arabic Literature. The National reawakening or consciousness from 1880’s onward.Egyptians were concerned with the scientific works,great names includes:• BUTRUS AL BUSTANI in Syria • AL TAHTAW ALI MUBARAK and ABDULLAH FIKRISAYYED in Egypt• JAMALUDDIN – AL AFGHANI was the reformist and the orator of

the period.

The openning of the SUEZ CANAL in 1869 The revolt of Arabian Pasha and the entry of British Troops t Egypt which strengthened the Western influence. Historical Novel “ Mohammed” by ABDUK ZIRPE ZAYDANMaster of Modern Arabic prose “Al ANFALUTU” ,

In America the greatest poets among Arab immigrants are AMINAL RAYHANI For the story writers, artists and philosophers are KAHLIL JIBRAN , and writer of the NOTE America was MUHAILO NU-AGMA (influenced by Russians)

The Koran or Qur’an (The Reading)

It is the sacred scripture of Islam. Muslims really acknowledge it as the actual words of god revealed by Muhammad.Contains 114 chapters or suras, arranged , except for the opening , approximately according to length, beginning with the longer chapters.Termed as the glorious and wonderful, describes the absolute truth , healing mercy, light and guidance of God to people’s everyday lives.Has a great contribution with the Arabian literature.

The Arabian Nights

Also called The Ten Thousand and One Nights, is a large collection of stories , mostly of Arabian , Indian, or Persian origin, written in Arabic between 14th t 16th centuries. Introduced in Antoine Galland’s French translations.English version is by the explorer SIR RICHARD BURTON, in complete version.The frame story, Persian in origin, turns on the the woman hating King Schahriah (Shahrazad), however, berguiles the King with a series of stories for a thousand and one nights, withholding the ending of each story until the next night. In this she saves her life. The elaborately plotted stories , filled with intrigue, are folkloric in origin. Three of the best known are the History of Alladin and the Wonderful Lamp, The History of Sinbad, the Sailor and The History of Ali Baba and The 40 Thieves.

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