Every experiment deserves a voice, just as every opinion deserves expression
- Even today, prose poetry and colloquial verse are often denied publication rights, while official circles regress toward rigid traditionalism.
By Souad Khalil | Libya
Poetry, like any form of art, is often driven by its creators’ yearning to explore the unknown realms of expression, to invent new means of image, rhythm, and intellectual narration in addressing the eternal questions of life and death.
The poet’s inclination toward the freshness of language is an inherited one; a true poet can never be content with imitation or repetition, for art demands exploration and discovery. This is what Al-Jahiz hinted at when he likened creativity to “plowing” — a process far more difficult than “harvesting.” It is also what made Abu Tammam relentlessly speak of original meanings and of the poet’s capacity to invent them.
The Syrian writer Bayan Al-Safadi in a brief study titled Poetry and the Battle for Renewal reminds us that modernity in poetry is a relative concept — an idea echoed long ago by Abu Al-Fadl Al-Andalusi
The great poet has always found himself in conflict with the rigid walls of tradition, struggling to find a distinctive voice amid the countless verses that merely echo what came before. But is it ever easy for a poet to inaugurate a new form, rhythm, or structure? Certainly not — for in doing so, one must be ready to face the arrows of critics, peers, and public opinion alike.
Thus, many poems remained in the shadows, neglected by official recognition simply because they did not conform to prevailing trends. Yet how often I have encountered forgotten verses whose meaning and artistry shine brilliantly today.
This occurred even within the foundational works on prosody and rhyme — such as Al-Qawafi by Al-Akhfash Al-Wafi fi Al-‘Aroud wal-Qawafi by Al-Tabrizi and Al-‘Iqd Al-Farid* by Ibn ‘Abd Rabbih — as well as in masterpieces of language and literature like Al-Aghani Al-Kitab I‘jaz Al-Qur’an and Sirr Al-Fasaha
Consider the great Al-Mutanabbi a giant who filled the world and captivated its people. He achieved this not by demolishing tradition, but by revitalizing it — breathing new life into a rigid form, crafting a distinct path between beginning and end, and daring to weave imagination, innovation, and vision into his verse. His poetry, controversial from the start, imposed itself through its mastery of the magical threads of creativity.
A few examples will suffice to show how Al-Mutanabbi reshaped poetic language:
> “He departed after the spears had entwined for an hour,
as lashes meet in the slumber of dreamy eyes.”
> “Those who met you were not lacking in strength or valor,
> but those you met were stronger — and nobler still.”
Through such verses, Al-Mutanabbi bent language to his will — inserting the definite article into participles, combining explicit subjects with their pronouns, and calling forth imagery born from the very dust of the earth.
The creative spirit, by nature rebellious, manifests itself in how the poet manipulates language and rhythm. Indeed, our poetic heritage has known few experiments in musical innovation. Yet Abu Al-‘Atahiya once declared, when criticized for his deviations from meter, “I am greater than prosody.”
The emergence of new poetic forms — particularly the Muwashahat — signaled a profound transformation in the shape and atmosphere of Arabic poetry.
In modern times, with the Arab world opening to the age of renewal, the struggle for innovation reawakened. Around 1880, Rizqallah Hassoun raised the issue of *blank verse followed by Ameen Rihani Gibran Khalil GibranAl-ZahawiAbdul Rahman Shukri Abo Shadi Ali Al-Nasser and others. Their efforts paved the way for the crystallization of modern Arabic poetry in the works of Al-Sayyab Nazik Al-Malaika Al-Bayati Adonis Salah Abdel Sabour and many more.
Al-Baroudi for instance, experimented with new rhythmic patterns derived from traditional Arabic meters. His poem — beginning Fill the cup and shun the preacher’s advice — so impressed Ahmed Shawqi that he composed his own in a similar form: He withdrew and claimed anger, wishing my heart would find the cause
In contrast, Hafez Ibrahim mocked the experiment, turning it into playful satire. Yet Gibran proclaimed his literary revolution: *“Your language is yours — mine is my own.”* In 1911, he defined poetry as “an emotion yearning for the unknown, making it familiar; and a thought whispering to the unseen, rendering it visible.”
Al-Zahawi fascinated by evolution, declared in 1934:
> “I see no rules for poetry — it is above them,
> a living being that follows the law of growth and transformation.”
And in 1937, Elias Abu Shabaka wrote:
> “Poetry is a living organism, overflowing with nature and life;
> it cannot be measured or weighed.”
That same year, Saeed Aql observed:
> “Poetry arises from the unconscious, while prose comes from consciousness.”
Through such insights, we witness the turning point in how poetry was perceived — no longer as mere imitation of classical form, but as a living art seeking depth and freedom.
The Romantic Movement nurtured this renewal, as expressed in Al-Diwan (1921) and Al-Ghurbal (1922), and in the works of Mikha’il Na‘ima Shukri Ibrahim Naji Ali Taha Mahmoud Hassan Ismail and the poets of the Apollo group. Their verses brought tenderness, emotion, and musical sensitivity, as in Naji’s lines:
All things are born of joy and sorrow,
> Nights of delight and grief intertwine,
> And I can hear the footsteps of time,
> and the echo of loneliness upon the stairs.”
The struggle for renewal, however, was not without conflict. Genuine and false claims mingled, and many who once called for change later opposed it. Yet the seeds of modern poetry had been planted — particularly in free verse shi‘r al-taf‘ila — reflecting the broader movement of liberation that swept the Arab world.
This evolution was not only formal but also ideological: one current aligned with the pulse of the age and its challenges, while another clung to rigidity and retreat.
The 1950s and 1960s marked a grand flowering, giving rise to major voices such as Badr Shakir Al-Sayyab Salah Abdel Sabour Ali Al-Jundi Yusuf Al-Sayegh Bashar Al-Sheikh Jaafar Aman Denqal Mahmoud Darwish and Samih Al-Qasim
A new debate emerged within the renewal movement itself — between the magazines Shi‘r and *Hiwar on one side, and Al-Adab on the other. Despite divisions, the core question remained: what is the essence of modern poetry?
Eventually, two main tendencies crystallized — one deeply engaged with human and social concerns, seeking to reach people through shared experience; and another more inward and experimental, inclined toward abstraction and alienation, breaking communication with reality in pursuit of existential or spiritual solitude. Among the latter were Yusuf Al-Khal Tawfiq Sayigh Adonis (in part of his work), Anis Al-Hajj Fuad Rifqa Shawqi Abi Shaqra Sargon Boulos Mu’ayyad Al-Rawi Jan Dumou and Jabra Ibrahim Jabra
It is worth noting that this movement toward renewal often faced deliberate obstacles. While genuine writing can never be severed from its cultural roots or popular spirit, this does not justify the suppression of any poetic form.
Every experiment deserves a voice, just as every opinion deserves expression — without being turned into a political or institutional tool to impose or ban forms of poetry, as some states have regrettably done.
Even today, prose poetry and colloquial verse are often denied publication rights, while official circles regress toward rigid traditionalism.
Yet, despite these challenges, the movement of renewal has secured both popular and institutional legitimacy. It has become a dominant current within contemporary Arabic poetry — one that must continue to refine its creative depth and clarity of vision, remaining ever faithful to the timeless mission of poetry:
To illuminate, to question, and to create beauty in every age and every place.
Read: Popular Proverbs in Narrative
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Souad Khalil, hailing from Libya, is a writer, poet, and translator. She has been writing on culture, literature and other general topics.
