Hawl al-Shi'r al-Ta'limi

Hawl al-Shi'r al-Ta'limi (On Didactic Poetry) is a scholarly critical study by Dr. Salih Adam Bilo, written during his tenure as an assistant professor in the Faculty of Arabic Language at the Islamic University of Madinah, examining the definition, thematic domains, and historical development of didactic verse in Arabic literature Hawl al-Shi'r al-Ta'limi+1.

Subject and Definition

The treatise defines didactic poetry as verse composed to instruct audiences on religious and worldly affairs, conveying facts and information regarding individual and social life, nature, and metaphysics in a structured, memorable form Hawl al-Shi'r al-Ta'limi. The author identifies three primary domains in which didactic poetry operates:

1. Foundations of ethics and creed (usul al-akhlaq wa-al-'aqa'id), addressing virtue, vice, doctrine, and worship through moral exhortation, encouragement, and deterrence Hawl al-Shi'r al-Ta'limi+1.
2. Biography and history (al-siyar wa-al-tarikh), recounting genealogies, historical sequences, causes, and consequences Hawl al-Shi'r al-Ta'limi+1.
3. Sciences, arts, and crafts (al-'ulum wa-al-funun wa-al-sina'at), setting out principles, rules, and technical data in fields such as grammar, astronomy, geography, and alchemy to facilitate memorization Hawl al-Shi'r al-Ta'limi+1.

Comparative Background and Critical Thesis

Before analyzing the Arabic tradition, Bilo reviews the presence of didactic verse in ancient cultures, referencing the Greek poet Hesiod (eighth century BCE)—specifically his poems treating ethics, agriculture, and theogony—as well as Indian traditions of versifying astronomy and mathematics, noting al-Biruni's remarks on the stylistic challenges of that method Hawl al-Shi'r al-Ta'limi+1.

The core argument of the study challenges modern literary historians, including Ahmad Amin, Shukri Faysal, Taha Hussein, and Shawqi Dayf, who maintained that didactic poetry was entirely borrowed into Arabic literature from foreign (Greek, Persian, or Indian) sources during the Abbasid period, or that it was invented anew through the Umayyad rajaz compositions of poets like al-'Ajjaj and Ru'bah ibn al-'Ajjaj Hawl al-Shi'r al-Ta'limi+1. Bilo contends that this view stems from misapplying theoretical definitions to historical texts Hawl al-Shi'r al-Ta'limi. He argues instead that Arabic literature contained genuine didactic poetry across all three domains from the pre-Islamic (Jahiliyya) period onward Hawl al-Shi'r al-Ta'limi.

Historical Survey and Examples

To support his thesis, the author cites various historical and textual examples across Arabic literary eras:

• Pre-Islamic Era: Bilo points to the verses of 'Udayy ibn Zayd regarding the creation of Adam and Eve as well as the historical narrative of al-Zabba' and Judhaymah, alongside the geographical poem of al-Akhnas ibn Shihab delineating the settlements and territories of Arabian tribes across Najd, Iraq, and Bahrain Hawl al-Shi'r al-Ta'limi+1.
• Umayyad Era: The study highlights alchemical versification attributed to Khalid ibn Yazid, linguistic urjuzah compositions used to transmit rare vocabulary, and historical narratives Hawl al-Shi'r al-Ta'limi+1.
• Abbasid Era: The work surveys the proliferation of didactic poetry for historical chronicles, religious tenets, and specific sciences. Prominent figures examined include al-Sayyid al-Himyari for his narrative verses on the virtues of the Prophet's family, Aban al-Lahiqi for versifying works like Kalilah wa-Dimnah and texts on logic and legal obligations, Muhammad ibn Ibrahim al-Fazari for astronomical systems, and grammarians such as al-Kisa'i for versified grammatical rules Hawl al-Shi'r al-Ta'limi+2.

Publication

The work was published as a multi-part academic study in the journal of the Islamic University of Madinah (Majallat al-Jami'ah al-Islamiyyah bi-al-Madinah al-Munawwarah) across issues 52 and 53 Hawl al-Shi'r al-Ta'limi+1.