A Comparative Lexical Study of Qur?anic Arabic

36 CHAPTER TWO
c. A.D.), Zabad (A.D. 512), Gabal 'Usays (A.D. 528), Harran (A.D. 568),
and finally Umm al-Gimal (6th century A.D.). 33
Apart from Arabic epigraphical attestations, the oral poetic tradition
of the pre-Islamic (Gdhiliyyd) bedouin-poets is the next important
stage prior to the emergence of Arabic in its Qur'anic form.
One cannot but admire the poetic genius of pre-Islamic heathen
Arabians who composed literary gems solidly cast within exceptionally
rigid metrical arrangements. 36 Rabin's suggestion that the highly
formal style of Arabic poetry could have had its origins among the
South Arabians, is very fascinating indeed. He argues that, since this
type of poetry does not share the organized parallelism of the North-
West poetic tradition, and in view of its much more developed metre
and its more personal approach, it could have been of South Arabian
inspiration. Although no such thing as South Arabian poetry has as
yet been discovered, nevertheless, the lexical richness and the stylistic
variation of the longer inscriptions from this area tend to point
towards the existence of a literary culture. 37 Taha Husayn's statements,
in his book Fi s-si c r al-gdhiliyy (1926), caused quite a stir and
gave rise to a controversy which dragged on for years. He actually
denies the authenticity of much of what is known as pre-Islamic
poetry, stating that it was written during the Umayyad period. 38
Husayn claims that, rather than depicting the life of pre-Islamic
tribesmen, this poetry is more concerned with the life of Arabian
Muslims. 39 He excludes the possibility of south Arabian poets like
3 Imru 1-Qays, Zuhayr, and Labfd to be able to write poetry in the
'ambiyya of the Higaz instead of resorting to their own south Arabian
language, since South Arabians had only adopted Arabic after the
35 See Robin 1992; Versteegh 1997: 33.
36 Montgomery Watt 1970: 83 states that "It is now generally accepted even by
critical scholars that at least some of the so-called pre-Islamic poetry was genuinely
composed before the time of Muhammad. ..."
37 Rabin 1984: 132 does not exclude the possibility that South Arabian poetry
could, in turn, have been influenced by Indian poetry, elements of which could
have reached South Arabia as a result of commercial contacts between the two
regions.
38 His views were reiterated in his Min tank al- 3 adab al- c arabiyy, Beirut, 1975: 80—
120. A. Mingana 1920 and Margoliouth 1925 had already voiced similar views.
39 1975: 87. He asserts that, in order to have an idea about the religious and
politico-economic conditions prevailing during the period prior to Islam, one should
turn to the Qur'an, to the verses of poets contemporary to Muhammad and to
Umayyad poetry. See also 'Utman 1996: 35ff. regarding the opposition to this view
within Arab literary circles.