By Qalamul Islam
Antarah ibn Shaddad is a popular figure in Arab culture from the time of the pre Islam period. A fierce and courageous warrior he was also widely known for his powerful poetry, fascinating the senses with his powerful imagery. Perhaps his only negative characteristic, in the eyes of his Arab peers, was the fact that he had an Ethiopian mother.
The above poem is Antar's inclusion to the Mualliqaat. A selection of only the best Arab poems that would be hung on the Holy Ka'bah, for all pilgrims to see and admire.
Mualliqaat in fact means "The Hanging Ones" and from the vast quantities of poetry the composition-obsessed Arabs produced, only 7 made the cut - there is however, some confusion as to whether the poems were truly hung on the Ka'bah or that the term Mualiqaat had a more figurative connotation.
Nevertheless, these poems were the epitome of Arabic language and composition at a time when poetry was memorised and orally delivered to tribesmen over warm fires in the chilling stillness of the Arabian Desert. In a time and place where most were illiterate, strong emphasis was placed on the composition of poetry. It was a means to keep alive the traditions and culture of Arab events in a manner that could be easily transcribed in minds if not on paper.
The Arabs became so good at poetry that they were considered forerunners in language and literature. They had narrowed down to a fine art the different shades of meanings of words, powerful imagery all the while maintaining rhyme to deliver quotations to shake any heart or compel any person. It was in this atmosphere that the Quran was first introduced to them.
The claim is often put that the Quran itself was a product of this rich and vibrant, literary culture. That works like the Mualiqaat where also unmatched masterpieces of Arabic that can be compared to the Quran. While the Quran argues that it is in fact a challenge to this rich and vibrant, literary culture! 'Bring a chapter like it!', the Quran emphatically challenges, before continuing, "And if you cannot, and you cannot, then fear the fire of Hell, whose fuel is men and stones!"
There are then two arguments. One that the Quran is the product of Man, and the Mualiqaat prove that the Arabs had the literary prowess to produce the masterpiece of the Quran, and the other, that the Quran is from God, and being such is unable to be copied in the beauty of its language and the breadth of its messages.
Firstly, the point should be made that in 1400 years, no one has been able to imitate the language of the Quran. Even attempts by the best and greatest minds of Arabic Poetry were proved fruitless. Besides this, there are three simple questions that could be asked to those who claim some man wrote the Quran.
If the Quran were the work of some Arabian poet, be it the illiterate, Prophet Muhammad(S) or any other man or woman,why did the author not take credit for the work - the greatest masterpiece ever written in the Arabic Language, especially when adeptness in literature and composition would easily propel you to the upper classes of society? The Prophet Muhammad(S) never benefited with anything material from the Quran, on the contrary, he was shunned by his people, tormented, starved and oppressed, dying in poverty. He actually lived a more materially-privileged life before he announced he was a prophet sent by God.
Lets say some Arabs did get together and came up with the idea that they were going to full the World by choosing a man and giving him unmatched poetry that would compel all Arabs to follow him and the rest of the World after. If they sourced their writings from the Mualaqaat, why preserve and keep the Mualiqaat for all to see and compare later on? Would you not destroy every trace of the Mualaqaat so no one would be on to your trick? Yet today, we find the Mualiqaat still preserved for all to study and critique.
If the Quran is a product of human effort, why were not similar pieces of work produced, if not in Arabia, then anywhere in the World? Which other literary masterpiece can claim to influence the lives of over 1.6 billion people worldwide? The Bible, might also claim a large following, but at least in its current form, it can't match the linguistic miracle that the Quran with its rhetoric, imagery, language devices, breadth and depths of meaning and rhyme, just to name a few.
Reading the Quran without any prejudice, an open mind can see how different it is from any other literature. The breadth of topics it makes mention of from Physics to Embryology, its rhetoric and tone, its imagery and rhyme, truly, touch the heart with peace and understanding that you are reading words from God himself!
Also, if the Arabs wrote the Quran, it would have been written along the same lines as the Mualiqaat and other poems of their time contained. However, many of the themes discussed in them are shunned by the Quran, such as wine, killing and self praise, to name a few.
Feel free to open a Quran for yourself, noticing its address of serious and important themes and issues and how its power of language, tone and style is so different from that of pre-Islamic poetry.
About the Author:
Want to find out more about Islam Poem? (http://www.islampoem.com) , then visit Qalamul Islam's site to read more about Poetry and Islam. Also submit your ownIslam Poetry (http://islampoem.com/contact-2/) .
Antarah ibn Shaddad is a popular figure in Arab culture from the time of the pre Islam period. A fierce and courageous warrior he was also widely known for his powerful poetry, fascinating the senses with his powerful imagery. Perhaps his only negative characteristic, in the eyes of his Arab peers, was the fact that he had an Ethiopian mother.
The above poem is Antar's inclusion to the Mualliqaat. A selection of only the best Arab poems that would be hung on the Holy Ka'bah, for all pilgrims to see and admire.
Mualliqaat in fact means "The Hanging Ones" and from the vast quantities of poetry the composition-obsessed Arabs produced, only 7 made the cut - there is however, some confusion as to whether the poems were truly hung on the Ka'bah or that the term Mualiqaat had a more figurative connotation.
Nevertheless, these poems were the epitome of Arabic language and composition at a time when poetry was memorised and orally delivered to tribesmen over warm fires in the chilling stillness of the Arabian Desert. In a time and place where most were illiterate, strong emphasis was placed on the composition of poetry. It was a means to keep alive the traditions and culture of Arab events in a manner that could be easily transcribed in minds if not on paper.
The Arabs became so good at poetry that they were considered forerunners in language and literature. They had narrowed down to a fine art the different shades of meanings of words, powerful imagery all the while maintaining rhyme to deliver quotations to shake any heart or compel any person. It was in this atmosphere that the Quran was first introduced to them.
The claim is often put that the Quran itself was a product of this rich and vibrant, literary culture. That works like the Mualiqaat where also unmatched masterpieces of Arabic that can be compared to the Quran. While the Quran argues that it is in fact a challenge to this rich and vibrant, literary culture! 'Bring a chapter like it!', the Quran emphatically challenges, before continuing, "And if you cannot, and you cannot, then fear the fire of Hell, whose fuel is men and stones!"
There are then two arguments. One that the Quran is the product of Man, and the Mualiqaat prove that the Arabs had the literary prowess to produce the masterpiece of the Quran, and the other, that the Quran is from God, and being such is unable to be copied in the beauty of its language and the breadth of its messages.
Firstly, the point should be made that in 1400 years, no one has been able to imitate the language of the Quran. Even attempts by the best and greatest minds of Arabic Poetry were proved fruitless. Besides this, there are three simple questions that could be asked to those who claim some man wrote the Quran.
If the Quran were the work of some Arabian poet, be it the illiterate, Prophet Muhammad(S) or any other man or woman,why did the author not take credit for the work - the greatest masterpiece ever written in the Arabic Language, especially when adeptness in literature and composition would easily propel you to the upper classes of society? The Prophet Muhammad(S) never benefited with anything material from the Quran, on the contrary, he was shunned by his people, tormented, starved and oppressed, dying in poverty. He actually lived a more materially-privileged life before he announced he was a prophet sent by God.
Lets say some Arabs did get together and came up with the idea that they were going to full the World by choosing a man and giving him unmatched poetry that would compel all Arabs to follow him and the rest of the World after. If they sourced their writings from the Mualaqaat, why preserve and keep the Mualiqaat for all to see and compare later on? Would you not destroy every trace of the Mualaqaat so no one would be on to your trick? Yet today, we find the Mualiqaat still preserved for all to study and critique.
If the Quran is a product of human effort, why were not similar pieces of work produced, if not in Arabia, then anywhere in the World? Which other literary masterpiece can claim to influence the lives of over 1.6 billion people worldwide? The Bible, might also claim a large following, but at least in its current form, it can't match the linguistic miracle that the Quran with its rhetoric, imagery, language devices, breadth and depths of meaning and rhyme, just to name a few.
Reading the Quran without any prejudice, an open mind can see how different it is from any other literature. The breadth of topics it makes mention of from Physics to Embryology, its rhetoric and tone, its imagery and rhyme, truly, touch the heart with peace and understanding that you are reading words from God himself!
Also, if the Arabs wrote the Quran, it would have been written along the same lines as the Mualiqaat and other poems of their time contained. However, many of the themes discussed in them are shunned by the Quran, such as wine, killing and self praise, to name a few.
Feel free to open a Quran for yourself, noticing its address of serious and important themes and issues and how its power of language, tone and style is so different from that of pre-Islamic poetry.
About the Author:
Want to find out more about Islam Poem? (http://www.islampoem.com) , then visit Qalamul Islam's site to read more about Poetry and Islam. Also submit your ownIslam Poetry (http://islampoem.com/contact-2/) .