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Quss ibn Sāʽida al-Iyādī: Preacher and Poet of Pre-Islamic Arabia

Publication at Catholic Theological Faculty |
2021

Abstract

Quss ibn Sāʽida al-Iyādī, a legendary pre-Islamic poet-preacher, known from his performances in Ukaz, is considered by medieval Muslim scholars as a model of rhetoric perfection and religious wisdom. Some hint at his Christian and even clerical identity.

His verse was collected from oral tradition in early Islamic era, and little remains of a possible Christian substrate, though that can be assumed from the historical and religious context of pre-Islamic Arabia. The articke contains, aside a literary treatise, translations into Czech of his verse with transcription of the Arabic original.