. He called them 'Mu 'allakat,'--"the
hung up" (in a place of honor, in the estimation of the people). The
authors of these seven poems were: Imr-al-Kais, Tarafa, Zuheir, Labid
(570), 'Antara, 'Amr, and al-Harith. The common verdict of their
countrymen has praised the choice made by Hammad. The seven remained the
great models, to which later poets aspired: in description of love,
those of Imr-al-Kais and 'Antara; in that of the camel and the horse,
Labid; of battle, 'Amr; in the praise of arms, Harith; in wise maxims,
Zuheir. To these must be added al-Nabighah, 'Alkamah, Urwa ibn al-Ward,
Hassan ibn Thabit, al-A'sha, Aus ibn Hajar, and as-Shanfarah, whose
poem has been called "the most magnificent of old Arabic poems." In
addition to the single poems found in the 'Mu 'allakat' and elsewhere,
nearly all of these composed whole series of poems, which were at a
later time put in the form of collections and called 'Diwans.' Some of
these poets have left us as many as four hundred verses. Such
collections were made by grammarians and antiquarians of a later age. In
addition to the collections made around the name of a single poet,
others were made, fashioned upon a different principle: The
'Mufaddaliyat' (the most excellent poems), put together by al-Mufaddal
(761); the 'Diwan' of the poets of the tribe of Hudheil; the 'Hamasah'
(Bravery; so called from the subject of the first of the ten books into
which the collection is divided) of Abu Tammam. The best anthology of
these poems is 'The Great Book of Songs,' put together by Abu al-Faraj
al-Ispa-hani (died 967).

With these poets Arabic literature reached its highest development. They
are the true expression of the free Arabic spirit. Most of them lived
before or during the time of the appearance of Muhammad. His coming
produced a great change in the life of the simple Bedouins. Though they
could not be called heathen, their religion expressed itself in the
simple feeling of dependence upon higher powers, without attempting to
bring this faith into a close connection with their daily life. Muhammad
introduced a system into which he tried to mold all things. He wished to
unite the scattered tribes to one only purpose. He was thus cutting away
that untrammeled spirit and that free life which had been the making of
Arabic poetry. He knew this well. He knew also the power the poets had
over the people. His own 'Qur'an' (Koran) was but a poor substitute for
the elegant verses of