19 Varieties of Gazelle by 
Classical Arabic Literature by 
Critical Survey of Poetry by Arabic poetry expresses a full range of emotions that describes sorrow and happiness, defeat and victory , death and birth. Poetry is identified as either classical or modern poetry. Classical poetry was writen before the Arab renaissance (al-Nahdah) while modern poetry has its own unique style, structure, and rhyme. The poet expresses "the power of the word" and is held in high esteem by the Arab people.
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Illustration from Kitab al-Aghan, A Collection of Songs by Famous Musicians & Arab Poets
POETIC THEMES
I Reveal Myself
Descendant of raiders who landed on the beaches,
heir to the woman who unmanned Samson,
I am the daughter of waves and of memory,
a fresh shoot from ancient stock.
When I open my arms, the universe sets forth.
When I smile, honey wells from my virgin lips.
I take a step and the earth loses its balance.
In my laugh, earthquakes resound,
and volcanoes spurt from seven tectonic plates.
The child of frivolity and modesty,
I am the daughter of depravity and purity,
the progeny of black and white.
The tip of my finger taps the stars off track.
If I close my eyes,
darkness eclipses the world, until my eyelids lift
bathing it in gold.
And when I toss back my hair
the universe shivers in recognition.
I am today and I am tomorrow.
Crowned queen on the throne of space.
A blink, and fields foam green with wheat.
I am wheat itself. I am green.
The first harvest.
The last.
A Star
Awoken by light, I scratch the glass
of dreams, and find myself
stepping free of shadows and silence.
In the distance a star was absorbing
my tiredness, and itself heading like a pilgrim
towards you, leaving blank its place in the heavens.
In the green pits of our being our inner
threads yearn; this radiance, that makes me feel I own
herds of horses, am as inspired as any knight –
what is its source? Shocked
into words, I defied the book-burners, the suffocators
of thought and feeling, all who’d censor and shroud knowledge.
And a violet blossomed fiercely in the bosom of the sky.
