Arabic Observations: the True Meanings of Poetry

اِرتِباط

root: ر-ب-ط / form VIII verbal noun / plural: اِرتِباطات / definition: connection, link

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During one of your sessions journeying through an Arabic dictionary, you might have stumbled upon the entry for شِعْر, and maybe you also noticed how it has two primary meanings: knowledge and poetry.

(You’ll find quite a nice phrase under the entry too: لَيتَ شِعري, “I wish I knew”!)

I just love exploring how and why concepts might be linguistically linked, so this dictionary find got me thinking: what can we understand about perceptions of poetry in Arab societies through poetry-related Arabic words?

Here are some reflections I thought I’d share..

شِعر

poetry

As mentioned, شِعر means both “knowledge” and “poetry”.

So poetry was (and/or is) clearly integral to the understanding of knowledge in Arab cultures—whether that means that poets were considered people of knowledge, or that poetry was an essential field of knowledge to be learnt, or that poetry itself was a source or store of knowledge.

It also hints that composing poetry is not an arbitrary practice or superficial artform, but that it’s rooted in knowledge, reason, truth, and meaning.

And we can’t ignore the fact that the root of شِعر, which is ش-ع-ر, is also linked to feeling, intuition, and consciousness.

قَصيدة

poem

قَصيدة, “poem”, also means “intended” or “strived for”, indicating that the poem is as close of an expression as can be achieved to what the heart or mind intends.

Like intentions, the قصيدة should come from the heart.

And note the meaning “strived for”: the قصيدة was considered an ideal to aspire to. So it makes sense that قصيدة originally referred to a “faultless” poem, as the dictionaries mention.

Now though, the word قصيدة is used for to refer to all poems. Is this a reflection of changing attitudes? That there’s no such thing as a “flawed” poem and that all of them are faultless as they are?

Or, maybe, that nothing can express intentions faultlessly.

بَيت

verse

بَيت not only means “verse”, but also “house”, as I’m sure we’re all familiar with. (Note though that the plural for “verse” is أبيات not بيوت!)

The بيت is something lived in, perhaps signifying that poetry verses should be a reflection of lived experiences, or perhaps they are things you inhabit, things that shelter you and bring you comfort. And, going further, perhaps poetry should be lived.

(It’s worth exploring Arabic Observations: Time of Day and “to Become” Synonyms for the verb باتَ which is derived from same root as بيت!)

بَحر

metre

Ah, بحر, the “sea”. You can just picture how the rhythmic motions of the waves reflects the metre, the rhythmic structure of lines and verses.

But don’t just think of the motions and tides—think of poetry as an immense, immersive sea. It can carry you or drown you. You can sail into its horizons and still be surrounded by it. It’s vast, and inescapable.

If you want to immerse some more in sea imagery, you’ll want to read Six Arabic Words for “Ocean” or “Sea”.

شاعِر

poet

And then we have شاعِر, the اسم فاعل (active participle) of the form I verb شعر.

The poet, the شاعر, literally means “the one who feels”, “the one who is conscious”, and “the intuitive and perceptive”. It seems that’s what it takes to write poetry.

Not only does the شاعر feel, but he is responsible for expressing collective sentiments, and perceiving the emotions of his people. Sounds heavy.

There are a few little reflections from me for today. Feel free to share some of yours in the comments below.

And take a look at the vocabulary list of literary terms I put together if you fancy a bit more on poetry and language.

!في أمان الله

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