Articles
Arabic poetry metres: a learner’s guide to ‘arud
Learn classical Arabic prosody: al-Khalil’s metres, the bayt, common buhur and taf‘ilat, and how free verse grew from the old system.
Read the article →How a classical qasida is built
The Arabic qasida’s monorhyme, single metre, nasib–rahil–gharad shape, the mu‘allaqat, later uses, and how a learner can read one.
Read the article →Muwashshah and zajal: Andalusian strophic song
Andalusian muwashshah and colloquial zajal: kharja, qufl and ghusn, later life in Aleppo and the Maghreb nuba, and Lamma Bada Yatathanna.
Read the article →How poems become songs: the sung qasida
How 20th-century singers and composers set Arabic poems to maqam and metre: Umm Kulthum, Shawqi, Rami, al-Sunbati and the art of tarab.
Read the article →Reading Arabic poetry as a learner
A practical method for learners: vowelled texts, reading aloud, rawi and qafiya, i‘rab and poetic licence, anthologies, memory, and recitation.
Read the article →Ten Arabic poets worth knowing
Ten Arabic poets from Imru’ al-Qais to Mahmoud Darwish: era, why they matter, with a famous classical opening line in Arabic.
Read the article →Arabic music words: a listener’s glossary
Tarab, maqam, taqsim, mawwal, qasida, muwashshah, iqa‘, takht and the main instruments — Arabic music terms explained for listeners.
Read the article →Start here
New to Arabic poetry? Begin with how a classical qasida is built, then the metres and ten poets worth knowing.
Play the music
Much of this poetry is sung to the oud. Our sister site Study Oud has practical lessons for learning the instrument, from tuning to your first maqamat.