Qadaya al-Shi'r al-Muasir

Qadaya al-Shi'r al-Muasir (Issues of Contemporary Poetry) is a critical treatise on modern Arabic prosody and poetics by the Iraqi poet and critic Nazik al-Malaika (d. 1428 AH / 2007 CE), first published in 1962 CE Majallat Jamiat Umm al-Qu…+1. It serves as one of the earliest comprehensive theoretical works to establish the formal, prosodic, and aesthetic rules of free verse (al-shi'r al-hurr) in modern Arabic literature Qadaya al-Shi'r al-Muasir+1.

Background and Composition

The book was first published in 1962 CE without an authorial preface, as al-Malaika considered the text an exhaustive presentation of the rules and questions of free verse at the time Majallat Jamiat Umm al-Qu…+1. In later editions—such as the fourth and fifth editions, the latter completed in Kuwait in Jumada al-Akhirah 1398 AH / May 1978 CE—she added an extensive introduction reflecting on the evolution of her critical views over the preceding years Qadaya al-Shi'r al-Muasir+1. The fifth edition also featured an introductory note by Dr. Abd al-Hadi Mahbuba placed near the conclusion Qadaya al-Shi'r al-Muasir.

In her initial assessment, al-Malaika traced the birth of the modern free verse movement to Baghdad, Iraq, in 1947 CE, identifying her own poem al-Kulira ("Cholera") and Badr Shakir al-Sayyab's poem Hal Kana Hubban ("Was It Love?") from his collection Azhar Dhabila as the movement's opening texts al-Adab al-Muqaran - Jami…+1. In subsequent editions, however, she revised this historical framing after further study, noting earlier precursors to free-meter compositions by figures such as Ali Ahmad Bakathir, Muhammad Farid Abu Hadid, Mahmud Hasan Isma'il, Louis Awad, and Arar, as well as an early 1821 CE newspaper poem titled Ba'da Mawti ("After My Death") al-Adab al-Muqaran - Jami….

Structure and Contents

The work is organized into two major parts divided into thematic sections Qadaya al-Shi'r al-Muasir+1:

• Part One: On Free Verse (Fi al-Shi'r al-Hurr):

  • Free Verse as a Movement: Examines the origins, historical circumstances, deceptive pitfalls, and future of free verse, alongside its social foundations, such as the drive toward realism, independence, and preference for content over traditional symmetry Qadaya al-Shi'r al-Muasir+1.
  • Prosodic Analysis of Free Verse: Details the general metrics of free verse, foot structures (taf'ilat), permissible meters, and specific technical issues including al-watad al-majmu', poetic license (zihaf), enjambment (tadwir), and meter variations Qadaya al-Shi'r al-Muasir.
  • Impact and Reception: Analyzes the relationship between free verse and the public, the literary atmosphere of the era, poet negligence, and common prosodic errors made by contemporary writers Qadaya al-Shi'r al-Muasir+1.
  • Supplementary Issues: Addresses the traditional poetic form known as al-band and its metric status, alongside a critique of the prose poem (qasidat al-nathr) Qadaya al-Shi'r al-Muasir.

• Part Two: Poetic Art and Criticism:

  • The Art of Poetry: Analyzes poetic structure (haykal al-qasida), its forms, and the stylistic and psychological functions of repetition (al-takrar) in verse Majallat Jamiat Umm al-Qu…+1.
  • Poetry and Life: Discusses the relationship of poetry to society and death, warning against reducing literature to utilitarian social agitation devoid of artistic integrity Majallat Jamiat Umm al-Qu…+1.
  • Criticism of Poetry: Focuses on the shortcomings of contemporary Arabic literary criticism and the critic's responsibility toward the Arabic language Qadaya al-Shi'r al-Muasir.

Method and Core Arguments

Al-Malaika defined free verse strictly as poetry based on the metric foot (taf'ila) rather than the traditional two-hemistich (shatrayn) line, where lines vary in the number of feet according to emotional necessity while retaining rhythmic regularity and rhyme variation Ahda Sabil ila Ilmay al-K…+1. She insisted that free verse is not an unstructured rebellion against Arabic prosody but an extension rooted in classical meters (al-arud), rejecting attempts to dispense with meter or write prose poetry Qadaya al-Shi'r al-Muasir+1.

She also cautioned against an unconditional surrender to free verse, arguing that its single-foot constraints make it unsuitable for all poetic subjects, and predicted that the initial sweep of the movement would eventually stabilize into a balanced coexistence with classical hemistich poetry al-Inhiraf al-Aqadi fi Ad…+1.

Reception and Criticism

Qadaya al-Shi'r al-Muasir generated significant scholarly debate across the Arab world and became a foundational curriculum text in multiple universities Qadaya al-Shi'r al-Muasir. While widely credited with providing the free verse movement with its earliest codification and technical vocabulary, it also drew sharp critique from various modernist writers Majallat al-Bayan+1. The Lebanese poet Yusuf al-Khal, in his 1978 book al-Hadatha fi al-Shi'r, attacked the work, arguing that it failed to touch upon the essential issues of contemporary Arabic poetry due to its strict adherence to prosodic discipline Majallat al-Bayan. Other modernist commentators characterized al-Malaika's formal rules and warnings against meterless verse as a conservative retreat from modernism al-Inhiraf al-Aqadi fi Ad…+1.