Theodor Nöldeke

“ We read there: “The Arabs had such an interest in poetry, and valued it so highly, that they took seven long pieces selected from the ancient poetry, wrote them in gold on pieces of Coptic linen folded up, and hung them up (‛allaqat) on the curtains which covered the Ka‛ba. Hence we speak of ‘the golden poem of Amra’al Qais,’ ‘the golden poem of Zuhair.’ The number of the golden poems is seven; they are also called ‘the suspended’ (al-Mo‛allaqāt) .” Similar statements are found in later Arabic works. ”

“ Up to a time when the art of writing had become far more general than it was before the spread of Islam, poems were never—or very rarely—written, with the exception, perhaps, of epistles in poetic form. ”

“ This poet, not less famous than Nābigha, lived to compose a poem in honour of Mahomet, and died not long before A.D. 630.
Labīd is the only one of these poets who embraced Islam. His Mo‛allaqa, however, like almost all his other poetical works, belongs to the Pagan period. He is said to have lived till 661, or even later; certainly it is true of him, what is asserted with less likelihood of several others of these poets, that he lived to a ripe old age. ”

“ The other poems ascribed to ‛Abīd, together with all the rest attributed to Amra’al-Qais, are constructed in precise accord with the metrical canons. It is necessary always to bear in mind that these ancient poems, which for a century or more were preserved by oral tradition alone, have reached us in a much mutilated condition. Fortunately, there was a class of men who made it their special business to learn by rote the works either of a single poet or of several. The poets themselves used the services of these rhapsodists (rāwī) . ”

“ Arabs,” who were supposed to have given effect to their verdict in the way already described. A somewhat simpler version, also given by Naḥḥās in the passage already cited, is as follows: “Most of the Arabs were accustomed to meet at ʽOqāẓ and recite verses; then, if the king was pleased with any poem, he said, ‘Hang it up, and preserve it among my treasures.’ ” But, not to mention other difficulties, there was no king of all the Arabs; and it is hardly probable that any Arabian king attended the fair at ʽOqāẓ. ”

“ This prince is also addressed by Ḥārith in his Mo‛allaqa. Of Ṭarafa, who is said to have attained no great age, a few satirical verses have been preserved, directed against this same king. This agrees with the fact that a grandson of the Qais ibn Khālid, mentioned as a rich and influential man in Ṭarafa’s Mo‛allaqa (v. 80 or 81) , figured at the time of the battle of Dhū-Qār, in which the tribe Bakr routed a Persian army. This battle falls between A.D. 604 and 610. [5]
The Mo‛allaqa of ‛Antara and that of Zuhair contain allusions to the feuds of the kindred tribes ‛Abs and Dhobyān. ”