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| Oct 24 |
Classic Arabic Love Poems
posted by: Admin
Since earliest history of the Arabic peoples, a love poem has been an important literary mode. The romantic odes often do not resonate with Westerners in the same way that the pastoral epics from the same period in Western literary history, but they represent a significant literary form to those who read, write or study Arabic literature. A love letter from an Arabic man tends to be more sexually explicit than a love letter from a Westerner. The Arabic love poem may be an ode to a boy rather than to a girl. These beautiful and haunting love letters can be found in several major types. Generally a classic Arabic love letter falls in one of 4 categories.
Sacred Love Poem
Since God in Arabic philosophy is all loving, a love poem often has sacred or spiritual overtones. Even though a love letter to God may seem strange to Western philosophy, it may be hard to distinguish a hymn in Christian tradition from a sacred ode or poem describing deep, spiritual love. Even a love letter to a lovely and mysterious lady has lofty sentiments and speaks of beauty and emotional joining rather than sexual love. Even so, the descriptions of physical beauty are not necessarily limited to face and hair.
Profane Love
A profane love poem is one that is also called secular, meaning that it not based on a spiritual or high plane of romance. A love letter that doesn't rise to the level of a spiritual poem is sometimes an allegory meant to teach a spiritual truth. However, there are those who describe the Biblical Song of Solomon as a profane love poem, while others are just as certain that the love poem is a spiritual representation of God's love.
Illicit Love Letter
An Arabic love letter may also be considered illicit, particularly from a Western standpoint. For example, a poem can be written to describe the body of a young boy in a homosexual relationship. In fact, poetic classics in Arabic literature date far back in history with such poems as "Contemplation of the Unbearded" and "A Father Advises his Son About Love." Illicit love may also refer to love outside of the marriage relationship which must be hidden from the spouse. A love poem in this instance may be full of allusions so that the illicit love is hinted at but not definitive so that the principals could be identified.
Mystical Love
A mystical love poem is one which has power in the words that are pronounced. The love letter that falls into this category may be allegorical or spiritual, but the intent is to pronounce the words that will make the object of one's affection to fall in love with you. A mystical love poem can be on a spiritual subject and can be studied in order to come to a better understanding of the spiritual tenets. An example is Ibn al-Farid's love poem of the Sufi Way which has been somewhat controversial due to the fact that the Beloved -- God -- is referred to as "her," rather than in the more traditional masculine gender.