Jamharat Ashar al-Arab

Jamharat Ash’ar al-Arab (The Gathering of Arab Poetry) is an early anthology of Arabic poetry compiled by Abu Zayd al-Qurashi (traditionally dated to the 2nd–3rd century AH / 8th–9th century CE), containing forty-nine celebrated pre-Islamic and early Islamic odes arranged into seven thematic categories Manahij al-Talif Inda al-…+1.

Authorship and Dating

The anthology is traditionally attributed to Abu Zayd Muhammad ibn Abi al-Khattab al-Qurashi Jamharat Ashar al-Arab+1. Ibn Rashiq (d. 456 or 463 AH) is the earliest known critic to cite the compiler and attribute the work to him in al-Umda, and later citations appear in al-Suyuti’s al-Muzhir and Abd al-Qadir al-Baghdadi’s Khizanat al-Adab Fi Tarikh al-Adab al-Jahi…. In a manuscript held at the Köprülü Library, the compiler is named as Muhammad ibn Ayyub al-Azizi al-Umari, while other reports attribute the collection to al-Mufaddal ibn Abd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn al-Mujabbar al-Umari Majallat Jamiat Umm al-Qu…+1.

A traditional biographical estimate placed the compiler's death in 170 AH (786 CE), but internal evidence shows Abu Zayd transmitting reports through two intermediaries from al-Asma'i (d. 216 AH), indicating that the compiler lived around the middle of the 3rd century AH (9th century CE) or the first half of the 4th century AH Manahij al-Talif Inda al-…+1.

Scope and Structure

In full manuscript titles, the work is titled Jamharat Ash’ar al-Arab fi al-Jahiliyya wa-l-Islam (The Gathering of Arab Poetry in the Pre-Islamic and Islamic Eras) Jamharat Ashar al-Arab+1. The book opens with an extensive theoretical introduction addressing the origins of Arabic verse, the linguistic authority of early poets, the sayings of the Prophet ﷺ and the early caliphs regarding poetry, and textual excerpts drawn from Abu Ubayda’s Majaz al-Qur'an Jamharat Ashar al-Arab+1.

The corpus comprises forty-nine odes divided systematically into seven groups of seven poems:

1. al-Mu’allaqat (also termed al-Sumut): opening with odes by Imru' al-Qays, Zuhayr ibn Abi Sulma, al-Nabigha al-Dhubyani, al-A’sha, Labid ibn Rabi'a, Amr ibn Kulthum, and Tarafa ibn al-Abd Tarikh al-Turath al-Arabi…+1.
2. al-Mujamharat: solid, tightly woven odes by Abid ibn al-Abras, Antara ibn Shaddad, Adi ibn Zayd, Bishr ibn Abi Khazim, Umayya ibn Abi al-Salt, Khidash ibn Zuhayr, and al-Namir ibn Tawlab Usul al-Bahth al-Adabi wa….
3. al-Muntaqayat: select poems by al-Musayyab ibn Alas, al-Muraqqish al-Asghar, al-Mutalammis, Urwa ibn al-Ward, Muhalhil ibn Rabi'a, Durayd ibn al-Simma, and al-Mutanakkhil al-Hudhali Usul al-Bahth al-Adabi wa….
4. al-Mudhhabat: gilded odes by Medina poets of the Aws and Khazraj tribes, including Hassan ibn Thabit, Abd Allah ibn Rawaha, Malik ibn al-Ajlan, Qays ibn al-Khatim, Uhayha ibn al-Julah, Abu Qays ibn al-Aslat, and Amr ibn Imri' al-Qays Usul al-Bahth al-Adabi wa….
5. Uyun al-Marathi: elegies by Abu Dhu'ayb al-Hudhali, Alqama ibn Dhi Jadan al-Himyari, Muhammad ibn Ka'b al-Ghanawi, A'sha Bahila, Abu Zubayd al-Ta'i, Malik ibn al-Rayb, and Mutammam ibn Nuwayra Tarikh al-Turath al-Arabi…+1.
6. al-Mashubat: poems by transitional (mukhadram) figures whose verses span the pre-Islamic and Islamic eras, such as al-Nabigha al-Ja'di, Ka'b ibn Zuhayr, al-Qutami, al-Hutay'a, al-Shammakh ibn Dirar, Amr ibn Ahmar, and Tamim ibn Muqbil Tarikh al-Turath al-Arabi…+1.
7. al-Malhamat: Umayyad-era poetic epics by al-Farazdaq, Jarir, al-Akhtal, Ubayd al-Ra'i, Dhu al-Rumma, al-Kumayt ibn Zayd, and al-Tirrimmah ibn Hakim Tarikh al-Turath al-Arabi…+1.

Modern Editions

The anthology has been published in modern scholarly editions, including those edited by Ali Muhammad al-Bijawi in Cairo (1967), Muhammad Ali al-Hashimi in Riyadh (1981) and Damascus (1986), and Ali Fa'ur in Beirut (2003) Jamharat Maqalat wa Rasai…+2.