The Poetteer

Hello Poetteers, I always wondered about the role poetry played in Arab history. History Poetry held an important role in pre-Islamic society where the poet either praised a tribe or criticized other tribes. Mock battles in poetry where they would have one poet of one tribe get up and oppose a poet of another tribe in place of real wars. In a market town not far from Mecca, they would host a regular poetry festival where poets from all over Arabia would come to compete and recite their poems in front of judges. These judges were either a poet themselves or critics. "Each year the festival’s winning poem would be transcribed in golden letters and hung on the door of Ka’bah in Mecca for the whole year." Politics Through poetry, you can learn about the tribal history. Arab poetry shows us that art and politics are connected. "The tribes relied on poets to recount news and offer political commentary. They kept a record of triumphs, defeats, marriages, and deaths. The poem i