Texts of Islam

Arabian Poetry: The Moallakát: The Poem of Amriolkais: The Argument

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This is a scholarly introduction and synopsis of one of the Mu'allaqat — the pre-Islamic Arabic odes considered the pinnacle of classical Arabic poetry — specifically the poem by Amriolkais (Imru' al-Qais), from W. A. Clouston's 1881 anthology. The poem follows its speaker as he pauses at the abandoned campsite of a former lover, and uses that melancholy occasion to recount a series of youthful adventures: a voyeuristic bathing episode where he holds the women's clothes hostage, a camel slaughtered for an impromptu feast, and courtships of multiple women including one from an enemy tribe. The poem then shifts to praise the speaker's own courage in a night desert crossing, a hunting scene, and closes with a dramatic storm. The framing note from Sir William Jones positions the Mu'allaqat as an authentic ethnographic record of pre-Islamic Arab character — passionate, open-hearted, and largely unchecked by law or religion. Distinctively, the synopsis characterizes the poem as a "dramatic pastoral," noting its loose dramatic structure and episodic, digressive form, before briefly touching on its complex quantitative meter.

Arabian Poetry: The Moallakát: The Poem of Amriolkais: The Argument

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