The subject of this study is how pre-Islamic poets viewed religious beliefs and how the Arabs dealt with such beliefs in the period that preceded the emergence of Islam, known as the/ahiliyya. The study discusses Arab...The subject of this study is how pre-Islamic poets viewed religious beliefs and how the Arabs dealt with such beliefs in the period that preceded the emergence of Islam, known as the/ahiliyya. The study discusses Arab religious beliefs and rites, which were filled with mythical elements such as idol worship, treating some animals as sacred, and worship of the sun, plants, certain inanimate objects and birds. It describes the various stages through which these beliefs passed, from sanctification of trees and caves, through the worship of the sun and the stars, to idol worship and more. The study then proceeds to inquire into the traces of mythology to be found in Arabic poetry. It shows how humans did not only inherit their forefathers＇ beliefs, but also their ideas, and explains how poets were able to embody reality by means of artistic symbols that reflected such elements of their lives as emotions and objective mental states. Subsequently the study discusses the sanctity which the Arabs ascribed to some animals, and which they worshipped in the hope of obtaining a blessing, maintaining an intimacy with the animal or averting evil. Many Arabs in those days believed in the sanctity of animals, the sun, the moon and Venus, thought that trees and other p｜ants possessed a spirit, and considered some animals to be deities with extraordinary powers, among them the viper, the crocodile, the bull, the gazelle and the goat. Finally, the study shows how pre-lslamic Arabic poetry can serve as a reliable document that reflects the society of the times, and how even the restricted amount of verse that has survived from those times can provide considerable information about mythical elements that go back to the remotest times.展开更多
文摘The subject of this study is how pre-Islamic poets viewed religious beliefs and how the Arabs dealt with such beliefs in the period that preceded the emergence of Islam, known as the/ahiliyya. The study discusses Arab religious beliefs and rites, which were filled with mythical elements such as idol worship, treating some animals as sacred, and worship of the sun, plants, certain inanimate objects and birds. It describes the various stages through which these beliefs passed, from sanctification of trees and caves, through the worship of the sun and the stars, to idol worship and more. The study then proceeds to inquire into the traces of mythology to be found in Arabic poetry. It shows how humans did not only inherit their forefathers＇ beliefs, but also their ideas, and explains how poets were able to embody reality by means of artistic symbols that reflected such elements of their lives as emotions and objective mental states. Subsequently the study discusses the sanctity which the Arabs ascribed to some animals, and which they worshipped in the hope of obtaining a blessing, maintaining an intimacy with the animal or averting evil. Many Arabs in those days believed in the sanctity of animals, the sun, the moon and Venus, thought that trees and other p｜ants possessed a spirit, and considered some animals to be deities with extraordinary powers, among them the viper, the crocodile, the bull, the gazelle and the goat. Finally, the study shows how pre-lslamic Arabic poetry can serve as a reliable document that reflects the society of the times, and how even the restricted amount of verse that has survived from those times can provide considerable information about mythical elements that go back to the remotest times.
