My interest i n writing this thesis goes back to the days when I was a student i n the University of Baghdad when I was somewhat puzzled by the opinions of some modern scholars who deemed the Arabic Qaslda a fabrication of the Islamic Transmitters and not a Jahillya product of the desert as had always been t r a d i t i o n a l l y held. I have had a love for Arabic poetry since childhood, and have used poetry as the main source whenever possible in this study. The object of this thesis is to determine the merits of the Qaslda as an artistic ideal in Arabic literature, attempting always to portray the setting of the Qaslda in its desert environment with all its vicissitudes. The task before me has not been an easy one for it has led me into fields previously unknown to me, namely viewing the place of the Arabic Qaslda in its Semitic literary environment. I have not attempted to determine whether or not the Qaslda was the work of the RGwat, but have followed the traditional view quoting wherever possible from pre-Islamic sources. The Qasida, the offspring of the barren desert of Arabia, was the poetical ideal of the Bedouin and is to this day the greatest pillar in Arabic literature. Born between the naked sand dunes in that unstable, nomadic environment, it is indeed puzzling that such a stage of poetic perfection could have been reached. It will forever leave in the mind of the reader not only the greatest admiration but also profound bewilderment as to its origins. Lost in the minds of tribal tent-dwellers.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:578112 |
| Date | January 1963 |
| Creators | Ismail, Inad Gh |
| Publisher | Durham University |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/8121/ |
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