Thakur 1 Malvika Thakur Dr. Haris Qadeer MA English (Previous) 21 st October 2019 Love in Pre-Islamic Arabic Poetry Love, as a major theme in most of the pre-Islamic poems written during the course of 500 years, “ is fierce, disruptive” (Xie 23) and is seen urging the lovers “ to grow, to take on the journey, and to quest.” (Xie 23) It finds its strongest proponent in Imru-al-Qais’s elegiac representation in the Mu ’allaqat. Through lofty descriptions and lamentations, Imru’ al-Qais not only paints a vivid encounter with his beloved, but also reflects the anguish he suffers at her departure. In the Nasib, which is typically an erotic prelude, the poet laments the loss of his beloved. While it is usually a passing comment in other poems of the Mu ’allaqat, it takes the central stage in the poem of Imru ’ al-Qais. He begins the poem by asking his friends to stop and weep with him for his loss. His grief is so great that his tears even wet his sword belt and make his companions remark that, " Do not die of grief, but bear it patiently." (Johnson 4) Tarafa also expresses the same sentiment when he talks of his comrades stopping and asking him to “ not die of grief, but bear it bravely.” (Johnson 32) According to Imru ’ al-Qais, only sorrow can mend his broken heart and he wonders if there is “ near the ruined remains, a place for crying?" (Johnson 4) His only solace is in his beloved’s embrace, but in her absence, his “ cure is the flowing tear.” (Johnson 4) Imru ’ al-Qais is also the only poet in the Mu ’allaqat who mentions himself crying at the absence of the beloved when he mentions how "On the morning of separation…it was as if I, standing near the