IFAO

Such ambivalence of Islam towards the status of poets and poetry engendered one of the themes continually treated within Arabic poetics during the medieval era, namely to show, on the basis of explicitly chosen traditions and anecdotes, that the Prophet and Islam were not hostile to poetry. To prove the legitimacy of this literary genre, the majority of authors selected ḥadîth-s which demonstrated that the Prophet was indeed, in favour of poetry, liked to listen it and rewarded poets who composed poetic verses in his glory.

Since the status of poetry has already been studied regarding these two main sources, the present article concentrates on one of the most emblematic personalities in Islam and its civilisation : the caliph ‘Umar b. al-Khaṭṭâb.