THE pre-Islamic period in Arabia, better known as Ehd-i-Jahiliyat is known more for its poetry than anything else. But a number of researchers are hesitant to accept it as an admitted fact. Pre-Islamic poetry including verse attributed to Imra-ul-Kais, is, according to some, just a forgery made during subsequent Islamic periods.
This is the nutshell of a discussion going on in the recent issues of Savaira, the old literary journal which just before partition had come out with much fanfare as the spokesman of the Progressive Writers’ Movement. Much has changed with the passage of time. The old names of Nazir Chaudhry, the owner and Zahir Kashmiri, the editor have receded into the background giving place to Riaz Chaudhry and Muhammad Salimurrahman, who are now the editors of the journal. The publishing house associated with the journal has cast away its old name, Naya Idara, and has been renamed as Qausain. Migrating from Circular Road it has now chosen to settle in Akram Arcade on Temple Road.
In the latest issue of the journal apart from fiction and verse included in it Asif Farrakhi will be interviewing Kambaishwar with reference to his newly published novel, Kitnay Pakistan. In addition Khursheed Rizvi will be trying to refute Taha Husain for his assumptions about pre-Islamic poetry. In fact, this article is part of a series of articles that have appeared in the previous issues of Savaira. Khurshid Rizvi seems to have planned a full account of pre-Islamic poetry along with its tribal background.
Hitherto we had known Arabic as only the language of our religion. We cared little to know that this language has also been employed for purposes other than religion. Only at times some non-cleric scholar of Arabic such as Hakim Habib Ashar was engaged in translating a bit of Arabic fiction into Urdu. But now we have in our literary world two scholars of Arabic, who seem intent to introduce us to the literary tradition of Arabic. Mohammed Kazim has already introduced us in brief to the literary tradition of Arabic as it flourished during the past centuries of Islamic history and also in our own time. Now Khurshid Rizvi has chosen to trace the pre-Islamic origins of this tradition bringing before us a full picture of the Jahli period with reference to its poetry. Khurshid Rizvi has depicted the tribal life of the old Arabs in a graphic way, the ferocious tribes rivalling each other, their customs, their feuds, their obsession for revenge resulting in long drawn out battles and purposeless bloodshed. All this had deeply influenced their poetry.
But researchers have been in the habit of creating doubts where there was none and questioned the authenticity of facts, which had till now passed on unquestioned from one period to the other. The English scholar, Prof Margoliouth, questioned the very existence of poetry in the pre-Islamic period. He wrote his article in 1925 where he refused to believe that the pre-Islamic Arabs were acquainted with the art of poetry. Poetry, he claimed, was non-existent in the Jahli period. The verse handed down to us as the poetry of the pre-Islamic period had in fact been forged during the Islamic periods. So, he argued, this verse was reflective more of life during Islamic periods than during the pre-Islamic period.
Arab scholars could have easily dismissed this argument as a prejudiced view of an Englishman. But the distinguished Arab scholar Taha Husain came out in support of this view. “After much study and contemplation”, he said, “I have reached the conclusion that most of what passes on as Jahli literature does not belong to the pre-Islamic period. It has rather been forged after the advent of Islam. So it is Islamic and is expressive more of the aspirations and tendencies of the Muslims than those of the Jahli people”. And he adds, “the portion of genuine Jahli literature which has reached us is very little. We can hardly rely on it in our attempt to understand the literary situation of the Jahli period.”
To be more concrete, what has been handed down to us as the poetry of Imra-ul-Kais doesn’t, according to Taha Husain, belong to him. It is a fabrication of later times.
Khursheed Rizvi has tried his best to refute Taha Husain’s arguments by calling them contradictory and based on wrong assumptions. In the end he has summoned for his help Dr Arberry, who says:
“The authenticity of pre-Islamic poetry has been denied by modern scholars, notably by D. S. Margoliouth and Taha Husain, but their theories have not been accepted by the majority of scholars, who while, admitting some falsifications, consider that on the whole, pre-Islamic poetry has been faithfully transmitted.”
THE pre-Islamic period in Arabia, better known as Ehd-i-Jahiliyat is known more for its poetry than anything else. But a number of researchers are hesitant to accept it as an admitted fact. Pre-Islamic poetry including verse attributed to Imra-ul-Kais, is, according to some, just a forgery made during subsequent Islamic periods.
