- Umm al-Khair
- 10 min read
Poetry was the lingua franca of pre-Islamic Arabia. The poet would be seen as the news-teller, historian and propogandist, with so much power in his words that a slight turn of phrase having the ability to instigate or even cease tribal wars. Poets were highly esteemed; they were eloquent and commanded mastery of the Arabic language. Infact, pre-Islamic poetry was a major source in both vocabulary and grammar for classical Arabic language.
Regarding subject matter, praising a certain tribe or even the opposite, so the denigration of tribe were common themes, and coupled with this however were also embellishments and lies, with no limits placed on what could be mentioned, raised or abased. Society, in this time was seemingly deep in moral decay and hedonism, and it was is in this environment that the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ began to preach Islam, descending morality upon corrupt people.
Entering Madinah
With this coming of Islam, the door opened for a more spiritual or pious form of poetry; hamd or praise of Allah ﷻ, madīh or praise of the beloved Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, covering but not limited to any and every aspect of the Prophet himself; his family, his lifestyle, his etiquettes, his physical appearance ﷺ. Poems in the defence of Islam also started materializing.
This was a far cry from the poetry of the time; however, the purity of the subject matter inspired such writings to flourish and grow. Below is part of one of the oldest recorded poems to date which was sang when the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, entered the city of Madinah for the first time. The men, women and children came out onto the streets and eulogised with the following words:
طَلَعَ الْبَدْرُ عَلَيْنَا
مِنْ ثَنِيَّاتِ الْوَدَاعْ
Oh the white moon rose over us, from the valley of Wadāʿ
Talaʿa’l-badru ʿalaynā min thanīyāti’l-Wadāʿ
وَجَبَ الشُّكْرُ عَلَيْنَا
مَا دَعَا لِلهِ دَاعْ
And we owe it to show gratefulness, where the call is to Allah
Wa jaba’sh-shukru ʿalaynā mā daʿā li’Llāhi dāʿ
The Prophet's Poet
It is worth mentioning a couple of the companions of the Prophet ﷺ, who became known as the Poets of Islam; Hassān ibn Thābit and Kaʿb bin Zuhair, may Allah be pleased with them. Hassān ibn Thābit accepted Islam at the age of around 60 and was known as the Prophet’s Poet. Before converting to Islam, his life was dedicated to poetry whose genre was mainly satire. However, upon meeting the Prophet ﷺ, he converted to Islam and from that point committed himself to defending the Prophet ﷺ through his words, to the point that the Prophet ﷺ had a pulpit erected in his masjid in Madinah, upon which Hassān ibn Thābit would stand and reply to the enemies of the Prophet ﷺ. The Prophet ﷺ said to Hassān, “Your poetry hurts them more than arrows!”
He ﷺ, also mentioned to Hassān that the angel Jibraīl, upon him be peace, is “Standing next to you and is supporting you and will continue to support you as long as you defend the Messenger of Allah!”
The famous couplet below written by Hassān ibn Thābit has in more recent times become popularised, often being sang together with another poem about the Prophet ﷺ called Qamarun, (meaning the full moon and found in Breezes of the Elect, page 120):
وَأَجْمَلُ مِنْكَ لَـمْْ تَرَ قَطُّ عَيْنٍ
More beautiful than you no eye has ever seen
Wa ajmalu minka lam tara qattu ʿaynin
وَأَطْيَبُ مِنْكَ لَـمْْ تَلِدِ النِّسَاءُ
And purer than you no woman ever gave birth to
Wa atyabu minka lam talidi’n-nisā’u
خُلِقْتَ مُبَرَّأً مِنْ كُلِّ عَيْبٍ
You were created free from every flaw
Khuliqta mubarra’an min kulli ʿaybin
كَأَنَّكَ قَدْ خُلِقْتَ كَمَا تَشَاءُ
As if you were created just the way you wanted
Ka’annaka qad khuliqta kamā tashā’u
Kaʿb's Conversion
Moving on to the second companion called Kaʿb ibn Zuhair. Kaʿb’s father was one of the most famous poets from pre-Islamic times who died before meeting the Prophet ﷺ. Kaʿb ibn Zuhair continued his father’s legacy and too became a great poet. He would however satirise against the Muslims, against the Prophet ﷺ and also his own brother who had converted to Islam. This led to a lot of ill feeling amongst the Muslims, with many ready to take up arms against Kaʿb, however, Kaʿb’s brother encouraged him to come and seek forgiveness from the Prophet ﷺ, whom upon doing so was immediately forgiven by the Prophet ﷺ.
Kaʿb ibn Zuhair had prepared a poem for this occasion called Bānat Su’ād. It started off by talking about the love of a girl, which was a common way in those times to start poetry, with this love usually being a metaphor. The difference in this poem however, compared to any other poem he had previously written was that in the last third of the poem, he mentioned and praised the Prophet ﷺ and his companions. Once he had finished reciting, the Prophet ﷺ physically wrapped his personal mantle, in Arabic known as a Burdah, around Ka’b ibn Zuhair, who through this act gained tremendous forgiveness and acceptance from the Holy Prophet ﷺ. This poem became known as the first Burdah poem of Islam.
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The Legacy of Praise Poetry
Thus, poetry from this time until present day has flourished. The Prophet’s ﷺ acceptance of Ka’b ibn Zuhair and Hassān ibn Thābits has meant that countless poets have followed in their path, and continued their legacy. Anything that is pleasing and accepting to the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ is vigilantly adhered to by his followers, with the result being that poetry has flourished in the areas of hamd and madīh (praise poetry), mawlid (a genre of poetry that centres on the period and events surrounding the Prophet’s birth ﷺ) or hadrah (a collection of poems and Qur’ānic verses usually associated to a particular person or time). The Prophet ﷺ has become the most praised man in history with the number of poems written about him being too numerous to count.
