Lāmiyyat al-ʿArab

Lāmiyyat al-ʿArab is among the earliest and most powerful poems of the Arabic literary canon. Attributed to al-Shanfarā, this celebrated Jāhilī qaṣīdah is renowned for its linguistic purity, striking imagery, and moral depth.

This course offers a close grammatical and rhetorical study of Lāmiyyat al-ʿArab, enabling students to engage directly with one of the purest surviving examples of pre-Islamic Arabic. Through careful analysis, students will deepen their command of Naḥw, Balāghah, and classical vocabulary, while developing sensitivity to the stylistic features that shaped later Arabic literature.