ARABIAN

LITERATURE
GROUP 2
 MEMBERS

Jenny Abenon Rainalyn Batalon Kristine Jane Deomampo

Carmela Lantay Justine Carl Malijan

 TABLE OF CONTENTS
01 Arabia

02 Arabian Literature

03 Characteristics of Arabian Literature

04 Themes of Arabian Literature

05 Historical Periods of Arabia

 OBJECTIVES
At the end of the lesson, you will be able to:

Identify the meaning of unfamiliar words

Learn the elements of the literary selection

Learn the study of secular texts.

Identify significant literary works, authors and their

contributions to Arabian Literature.
ARABIA
 ARABIA
Arabia, peninsular region, together with offshore islands,
located in the extreme southwestern corner of Asia.
The geographic cohesiveness of the Arabian Peninsula is
reflected in a shared interior of desert and a shared exterior of
coast, ports, and relatively greater opportunities for
agriculture.
 ARABIA
The word "Arabia" encompassed a larger area than the current term
"Arabian Peninsula" and included the Arabian desert and large parts of
the Syrian-Arabian desert. During the Hellenistic period, the area was
known as Arabia or Arabia.
The term Arabia comes from Old Persian and is pronounced 'Arab'ya'
This was the Persian name for the country to the west and south of
Mesopotamia.
 ARABIAN
LITERATURE
 ARABIAN LITERATURE
The use of the term literature in English to imply those writings that
are susceptible to aesthetic analysis (as opposed to everything that
is written) is of relatively recent vintage, and the development of a
field of study devoted to it is yet more recent (with the study in the
West of non-Western literary traditions being even more so).
 ARABIAN LITERATURE
In Arabic the term for “literature” in the narrow English sense is adab,
best translated by the French term belles-lettres (“beautiful letters”),
which conveys the combination of the aesthetic and didactic elements
found in adab more effectively than does the English term literature.
However, it is important to observe that, as is the case with many literary
traditions, the origins of this Arabic term in the premodern period lie in
the realms of correct behaviour (“polite letters”).
 ARABIAN LITERATURE
The Arabic literary tradition began within the context of a tribal, nomadic
culture. With the advent and spread of Islam, that tradition was carried far
and wide during the course of the 7th to the 10th century. It initially sought
to preserve the values of chivalry and hospitality while expressing a love of
animals and describing the stark realities of nature, but it proceeded to
absorb cultural influences from every region brought within the fold of “Dār
al-Islām” (“Abode of Islam”).
CHARACTERISTICS OF
ARABIAN LITERATURE
CHARACTERISTICS OF
ARABIAN
LITERATURE
Possessed a highly developed poetry transmitted
orally from generation to generation.
Strongly associated with traditional Arabic
Literature and European traditions
Reflect the culture's history, social, customs,
morals, values, and religious beliefs.
Discusses the position and role of men and women
in society
THEMES OF ARABIAN
LITERATURE
THEMES OF ARABIAN
LITERATURE

Themes were usually about valor and constant battles.

Focused on religious texts
Tales in both meter and prose, contains the oldest extant
Arabic narratives, focusing on battles and raids.
The central theme is the clash of traditional Arabic culture
with Western ideals and a struggle.
HISTORICAL PERIODS
OF ARABIA
 PRE-ISLAMIC ARABIA

Al-Jahiliyyah or “age of ignorance”

The earliest known literature emerged
in Northern Arabia around 500 A.D.
Literature was transmitted orally.
 PRE-ISLAMIC ARABIA

Notable Works:

o Mu’allaqat or “the suspended ones”

Group of poems.
Displayed in Mecca or Makkah al-
Mukarramah.
 PRE-ISLAMIC ARABIA
The Qur’an
The sacred scripture of Islam.
Written in 610 CE, but Islam wasn’t fully accepted until
622 CE
First work of significant length written in the language.
o 114 surah (chapters)
o 6,236 ayat (verses)
 PRE-ISLAMIC ARABIA
The Qur’an
Has a significant contribution with Arabian
Literature.
Although it contains of elements of both prose and
poetry, the Qu’ran is regarded as entirely apart from
these classifications.
 EMPIRICAL PERIODS
Umayyad (661-750)
Arabic prose literature was limited to:

Grammatical treatise
Commentaries on the Qur’an
Stories about Muhammad and his companions
 EMPIRICAL PERIODS
Umayyad (661-750)
Poets like Al-Akhal and Al-Farazdaq favored
forms such as:
Ghazal (Love songs)
Wine songs
Hunting Poems
 EMPIRICAL PERIODS
Abassid (750-1258)
Regarded as the greatest period of development in
Arabian Literature.
Critics often call this period The Golden Age.
Hellenistic and Persian influences contributed to this
development.
 EMPIRICAL PERIODS
Ibn al-Muqaff
His Persian translations led to adab.
Adab is sprinkled with poetry and utilizes Saj
with the style of Qur’an.
 EMPIRICAL PERIODS

Abu Nuevas
was acknowledged among the new poets.
Used the Arabic language with greater
freedom and imagination.
 EMPIRICAL PERIODS
After the fall of Baghdad (1258 onwards)

Waxing of Mongol Turkish and Persian influence

and waning of Arab traditions.
Poetry was at its ebb.
 EMPIRICAL PERIODS
After the fall of Baghdad (1258 onwards)

The Romance of Antar, about a popular Islamic hero

Finalization of The Arabian Nights / The Thousand
and One Nights
 EMPIRICAL PERIODS
After the fall of Baghdad (1258 onwards)

In 1284, Ibn Khalikan, made the first biographical

dictionary.
In 1354, Ibn Batuta, wrote about his travels in the Gift
of Observers and the Marvels of Countries.
 EMPIRICAL PERIODS
After the fall of Baghdad (1258 onwards)

In 1453, the Turks captured Constantinople.

By 1492, the Arab rule in Spain has ended.
 EMPIRICAL PERIODS
The Arabian Nights
A large collection of Arabian, Indian, or Persian
stories.
Stories that were written between the 14th and
16th centuries.
 EMPIRICAL PERIODS
The Arabian Nights
Elaborately plotted stories, filled with intrigue and
folkloric in origin like:
The History of Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp
The history of Sinbad the Sailor
The history of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves
 MODERN ARABIA

Al-Nahda or “the renaissance”

Reanimation of Arabic literary heritage and tradition
in the 19th century.
Introduction of new ideas, new methods, and
imitations.
 MODERN ARABIA

The representatives of the period were:

“Mohammed” Abduk Zirpe Zayden, who introduced
the historical novel.
Al-Anfalutu, who became the master of the modern
Arabic prose.
 MODERN ARABIA

Arabic novels became one of the most important forms

of expression in Arabic Literature.
 MODERN ARABIA

Modern Arabic novels:

Used as a medium of social critique and reform.
Departed from the traditionalist aesthetics of adab.
 MODERN ARABIA

Throughout the 20th century poetry, prose, and

theatre plays reflected the changing political and
social climate of the Arab world.
 MODERN ARABIA

Mustafa Lutfi al-Manfaluti and Kahlil Gibran:

Wrote with heavy moralism and sentimentality.

Imported Western ideas and “shallow
sentimentalism.”
 MODERN ARABIA

Anti-colonial themes were prominent.

Internal political upheaval has also been a
challenge, with writers suffering censorship or
persecution.
 CONTEMPORARY ARABIA

There are many contemporary Arabic writers, such

as Mahmoud Saeed.
 CONTEMPORARY ARABIA

Mahmoud Saeed’s writings include:

Bin Barka Ally in 1993, Won Best Iraqi Novel Award

the same year.
I Am Who Was Seen in 1995, A fictional manuscript
about Iraqi Prisons.
 CONTEMPORARY ARABIA

Other contemporary writers like Sonallah Ibrahim

and Abdul Rahman Munif as well as Mahmoud
Saeed were imprisoned by their government for
their critical opinions.
 CONTEMPORARY ARABIA

Others who had written by supporting or praising

governments, were promoted to positions of
authority within cultural bodies.
 REFERENCES:
HTTPS://WWW.BRITANNICA.COM/PLACE/ARABIA-PENINSULA-ASIA

"ARABIC LITERATURE. - PPT DOWNLOAD"

HTTPS://SLIDEPLAYER.COM/SLIDE/15222430/

HTTPS://EN.WIKIPEDIA.ORG/WIKI/ARABIC_LITERATURE
HTTPS://LITERATUREMIDDLEEAST.WEEBLY.COM/THEMES.HTML
HTTPS://WWW.SLIDESHARE.NET/JENNYOH17/ARABIAN-LITERATURE
HTTPS://WWW.ARABWORLDBOOKS.COM/EN/AUTHORS/MAHMOUD-
SAEED
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