Poetry as the Arabs' register

Ibn Khaldun surveys the history of poetry among the Arabs. It was their register (diwan), in which were their sciences, their reports, and their wisdom. ²

Their chiefs would stand at the market of Ukaz to recite it and to present its finest work before the masters, until they came to hang their poems on the corners of the Sacred House. Among them he mentions Imru' al-Qays, al-Nabigha al-Dhubyani, Zuhayr ibn Abi Sulma, Antara ibn Shaddad, Tarafa ibn al-'Abd, Alqama ibn 'Abada, and al-A'sha. Only someone with power among his people, his solidarity, and his standing in Mudar could achieve the hanging. ²

Ibn Khaldun says that the Arabs turned away from it at the beginning of Islam because of the astonishment that the style of the Qur'an caused them, and so they were silent about verse and prose for a time. Revelation did not come down forbidding it, and the Prophet ﷺ heard it and rewarded it, so they returned to it. Umar ibn Abi Rabi'a had a high standing in it, and he used to present his poetry to Ibn Abbas. ²

When kingship and the state came, the Arabs drew near to the rulers with poetry, praising the caliphs and receiving rewards. He mentions al-Rashid and his evenings with al-Asma'i. Then came those whose tongue was not their tongue, who learned it as a craft and praised the princes seeking their favours, such as Habib, al-Buhturi, al-Mutanabbi, and Ibn Hani'. As Ibn Khaldun sees it, its aim thus came to be mostly begging. ³

He notes that poetry exists in every language, and that the Persians, the Greeks, and Himyar had poets. ³