Ḳaṣīda EI [1]

Ḳ a ṣ īda
1. In Arabic .
Ḳ a ṣ īda collective ḳ a ṣ īd is the name given in Arabic to some poems of a certain length. It
is derived from the root ḳ a ṣ ada , “to aim at”, for the primitive ḳ a ṣ īda was intended to
eulogize the tribe of the poet and denigrate the opposing tribes. Later it was concerned
with the eulogy of a personality or a family from whom the poet was soliciting help or
subsidies. Although the funerary elegy ( mart ̲ h ̲ iya or rit ̲ h ̲ ā ʾ ) does not seem to have been
included originally under the same designation, the form of the ḳ a ṣ īda may nevertheless
be classified in this poetic genre. On the other hand, the poetic satire ( hid ̲ j ̲ ā ʾ ), which,
furthermore, does not go beyond insult in verse, is often called ḳ a ṣ īda by the ancient
poets, even though it does not present all the characteristics of the ḳ a ṣ īda .
The classical ḳ a ṣ īda , represented ideally by the pre-Islamic or at least archaic poems
[see mu alla ʿ ḳ āt ], collected and perhaps also given their form during the first centuries of
Islam , has been defined by Ibn Ḳ utayba in a famous passage many times translated and
commented upon (see Gaudefroy- Demombynes, Introduction au Livre de la poésie et
des poètes , Paris 1947, xvi-xviii, 13-15, 54-55), and then by the various literary critics
who pronounced their judgments (particularly Ibn Ras ̲ h ̲ ī ḳ , see A. Trabulsi, La critique
poétique des Arabes , Damascus 1955, passim ). It contains a series of successive
developments whose conventional character implies a tradition already immemorial. The
ḳ a ṣ īda , which numbers at least seven verses, but which generally comprises far more,
consists essentially of three parts of variable length: (1) a prologue in which the poet
sheds some tears over what was once the camping place of his beloved now far off
( bukā alā 'l-a ʾ ʿ ṭ lāl ), then describes the charms of the latter, which he forebears to pursue
(the nasīb [see g ̲ h ̲ azal ]). (2) The poet's narration of his journey ( ra ḥ īl ) to the person to
whom the poem is addressed. This part of the ḳ a ṣ īda is a pretext for descriptions of the
desert and the hero's mount, as well as for lyrical flights of eloquence , for example on the
insignificance of man. (3) As a general rule, this ra ḥ īl leads without any great transition
into the central theme, constituted by the panegyric of a tribe, a protector or a patron, or
in satire of their enemies.
The Arabic ḳ a ṣ īda is a very conventional piece of verse, with one rhyme, whatever its
length, and in a uniform metre. Consequently, the charm and originality of certain of the
themes employed cannot prevent boredom and monotony from reigning over these never-
ending poems. These formal constraints were moreover resented by the poets themselves;
they are without doubt the cause of the fragmentary character of many of the pieces,
which took a particularly long time to compose. Tradition reports numerous examples of
poets paralysed by the tyranny of the form. Furthermore, this situation can no doubt