Qasida
A long poem in classical Arabic poetry, typically using a single rhyme throughout and often organized into distinct thematic sections.
Arabic prosody: The system of metre and poetic form used to analyze classical Arabic verse. It describes the metrical patterns that structure qasida lines.
Rahيل: The travel passage in a classical Arabic qasida, describing a journey and its hardships. It often follows the prelude and turns recollection into movement across the desert.
Mu'allaqat: A celebrated group of pre-Islamic Arabic odes preserved in the classical literary tradition. These poems are among the best-known early examples of the qasida form.
Abbasid poetry: Poetry produced under the Abbasid Caliphate, which ruled much of the Islamic world from 750 to 1258. Abbasid poets reshaped qasida conventions for urban, courtly, and intellectual settings.
Ghazal: A lyric poetic form built from couplets, often centered on love, longing, or spiritual devotion. Unlike the qasida’s extended thematic arc, a ghazal typically comprises more autonomous couplets.
Bayt (poetry): A unit of Arabic verse consisting of two hemistichs, often translated as a poetic line or couplet. The qasida is built from successive bayts sharing a metre and rhyme.
Madih: A poem or passage of praise, especially praise of a patron or ruler. It is a common destination for the qasida’s journey from opening scene to public purpose.
Imru' al-Qays: A pre-Islamic Arab poet traditionally regarded as one of the greatest early practitioners of the qasida. His celebrated ode exemplifies the form’s opening with memories of love and place.
Al-Mutanabbi: A tenth-century Arabic poet renowned for ambitious qasidas of praise, pride, and political observation. His court poems show the form’s power as a vehicle for patronage and self-fashioning.
Qit'a: A short Arabic poem or poetic fragment, commonly lacking the qasida’s full sequence of thematic sections. Its brevity makes the qit'a a useful contrast to the long, conventionally structured qasida.