Simply put, the word qasida means poem. Not poetry as a genre or a collection of poems, but one single poem.
Under the umbrella of Arabic literature there are two main arms of study and expression: nather, which translates to prose; and she'er, which translates to poetry.
Qasida is a subset of she'er. Usually a qasida will have a specific title and focuses on a single topic. Officially defined as a praising, satiric or mournful poem, a qasida’s form and meaning has changed since its origins during the pre-Islamic period.
Arabic poetry is one of the earliest forms of Arabic literature, coveted as an oral and written art form pre-dating the sixth century. During the pre-Islamic period, a qasida was often a form of public speech recited in praise of a tribe leader, king or nobleman.
This classic form has a single, elaborate rhythmic structure or verse formation and usually runs from 15 to 80 lines and sometimes more than 100.
Due to the wide spread of Islam in the latter half of the sixth century, the form and practice of the qasida also ventured far and wide, and developed into different strains across Turkish, Persian and Urdu languages. Even the word qasida came to mean different forms and practices of the poem.
In Indonesia, qasida refers to Islamic music in general; in Urdu poetry it became a publicly performed verse often recognising significant events. The qasida was taken and vastly developed by the Persians after the 10th century and it was used as a means to explore philosophy, theology and ethics.
Even in its modern use, qasida, as mentioned earlier, is a poem that explores one topic or issue. This single presiding subject is often expressed, developed and concluded within the poem. In many ways, this singular focus could be a result of the root meaning of the word qasida.
The root of the word qasida is qasada, which translates to intention. And so to write and perform a qasida, involves the very act and intent of wanting to express, celebrate or mourn a particular issue or person.
The form and style of the qasida has changed over time to include free verse poems and more modern and contemporary ways of exploring Arabic in poetry.
Arabic poetry has had a great influence on culture and music. Many of the great classic songs of the Arab world are based on famous Arab poems.
One of many celebrated Arabic songs is Qareat El Fengan, which literally translates to Reader of Cup, but a more accurate translation would be The Fortune Teller. The song, recorded and performed by the great Egyptian singer and actor Abdel Halim Hafez in 1976 was originally a poem by the celebrated Syrian poet Nizar Qabbani.
The poem details a man’s visit to a fortune teller who foretells his unhappy journey and voyage in search of love.
Scroll through the gallery below to see The National's pick of Arabic words of the week
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
What are the main cyber security threats?
Cyber crime - This includes fraud, impersonation, scams and deepfake technology, tactics that are increasingly targeting infrastructure and exploiting human vulnerabilities.
Cyber terrorism - Social media platforms are used to spread radical ideologies, misinformation and disinformation, often with the aim of disrupting critical infrastructure such as power grids.
Cyber warfare - Shaped by geopolitical tension, hostile actors seek to infiltrate and compromise national infrastructure, using one country’s systems as a springboard to launch attacks on others.
PAKISTAN SQUAD
Abid Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Shan Masood, Azhar Ali (test captain), Babar Azam (T20 captain), Asad Shafiq, Fawad Alam, Haider Ali, Iftikhar Ahmad, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Hafeez, Shoaib Malik, Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Sarfaraz Ahmed (wicketkeeper), Faheem Ashraf, Haris Rauf, Imran Khan, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Hasnain, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Afridi, Sohail Khan, Usman Shinwari, Wahab Riaz, Imad Wasim, Kashif Bhatti, Shadab Khan and Yasir Shah.
Challenge Cup result:
1. UAE 3 faults
2. Ireland 9 faults
3. Brazil 11 faults
4. Spain 15 faults
5. Great Britain 17 faults
6. New Zealand 20 faults
7. Italy 26 faults
Gender pay parity on track in the UAE
The UAE has a good record on gender pay parity, according to Mercer's Total Remuneration Study.
"In some of the lower levels of jobs women tend to be paid more than men, primarily because men are employed in blue collar jobs and women tend to be employed in white collar jobs which pay better," said Ted Raffoul, career products leader, Mena at Mercer. "I am yet to see a company in the UAE – particularly when you are looking at a blue chip multinationals or some of the bigger local companies – that actively discriminates when it comes to gender on pay."
Mr Raffoul said most gender issues are actually due to the cultural class, as the population is dominated by Asian and Arab cultures where men are generally expected to work and earn whereas women are meant to start a family.
"For that reason, we see a different gender gap. There are less women in senior roles because women tend to focus less on this but that’s not due to any companies having a policy penalising women for any reasons – it’s a cultural thing," he said.
As a result, Mr Raffoul said many companies in the UAE are coming up with benefit package programmes to help working mothers and the career development of women in general.
U19 WORLD CUP, WEST INDIES
UAE group fixtures (all in St Kitts)
- Saturday 15 January: UAE beat Canada by 49 runs
- Thursday 20 January: v England
- Saturday 22 January: v Bangladesh
UAE squad:
Alishan Sharafu (captain), Shival Bawa, Jash Giyanani, Sailles
Jaishankar, Nilansh Keswani, Aayan Khan, Punya Mehra, Ali Naseer, Ronak Panoly,
Dhruv Parashar, Vinayak Raghavan, Soorya Sathish, Aryansh Sharma, Adithya
Shetty, Kai Smith
WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
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