The السيرة النبوية في الأدب العربي بتن المدح والتوثيق

The Prophetic Biography in Arabic Literature: Between Praise and Documentation

Abstract

This study explores the profound role of Arabic poetry in documenting the Prophetic Biography (al-Sīrah al-Nabawiyyah) and highlights how poetic expression functioned not only as a medium of praise but also as a reliable historical source. Through examining a wide range of poetic texts—from the early Islamic era to later literary traditions—the research demonstrates that many details of the Prophet Muhammad’s life, battles, virtues, and spiritual qualities have been preserved in verse with a precision that often surpasses prose historical records. The article investigates how poets such as Ḥassān ibn Thābit, Kaʿb ibn Zuhayr, Ibn Rawāḥah, and others provided eyewitness-style narration of major events, and how later poets like al-Būṣīrī, al-Nabahānī, Aḥmad Shawqī, and Aḥmad Muḥarram transformed the sīrah into grand literary epics, especially through the bardāh tradition and extended narrative poems. The research also highlights lost or lesser-known poetic works—most notably the seven-thousand-verse epic by ʿUthmān ibn ʿAlī al-ʿUmrī—as evidence of the richness and continuity of this literary heritage. By analyzing these texts, the study affirms that Arabic poetry serves as an essential archive for preserving historical memory, spiritual sentiment, and cultural identity connected with the life of the Prophet, and argues for the need to revive and critically edit such works to deepen contemporary understanding of the sīrah and its literary representations.