Arabic poetry has been central to Arabic culture for millennia. Early Arabic poetry before Islam was not narrowly tribal, but engaged with ancient Egyptian, Persian, and Greek ideas. Christianity, which was prevalent in Arabia before Islam, figured importantly in early Arabic poetry. In the enormous, cosmopolitan civilization of the Abbasid caliphate, Arabic poetic fluency played a crucial role in determining a person’s social status.
Jean Bodel’s Jeu de Saint Nicolas includes a wine song like those in classical Arabic and uses wine to establish peace & unity among fighting men. … Read the post wine song and peace in Le Jeu de Saint Nicolas
Despite metaphorical figuring of the penis as a weapon of violence, men’s erections should invoke hope for resurrection as in Abu Nuwas’s Arabic poetry. … Read the post resurrection: overcoming the poetic problem with penises & erections
A. M. Juster’s wonderful new translation of Maximianus’s elegies is a fine poetic resource for pondering aging in men, men’s impotence & a Greek girl hero. … Read the post Maximianus’s Greek girl mourned men’s complacent impotence
Comparing beardless youth to women as sexual partners, the classical Arabic poet Abu Nuwas saw the risk of pregnancy as a disadvantage of women for men. … Read the post fear of pregnancy in the classical Arabic poetry of Abu Nuwas
In addition to saying he is full of shit, Humayda disparaged her husband for not giving her sufficient gifts & being reluctant to risk battlefield death. … Read the post wives disparaging husbands with female privilege: the case of Humayda