Cultivation of Arabic occasional verses in yorubaland (Nigeria): a literary study of selected poems

Abstract

Arabic literati in Yorubaland, especially the versemakers of Zumratul-mū’minīn tradition have contributed significantly to the various genres of the Arabic literary compositions. Al-munāsabāt (occasional poems) occupy the pride of place within their literary productions.Cultivation of this genre by the Arabic literati of Nigerian provenance commenced in the twentieth century and it has continued to attract patronage since then.The study examined the stimulants for the cultivation of this motif while the need to examine the main features of this genre within the anthology of the Arabic poetry of Yorubaland, especially the versemakers of Zumratul-mū’minīn tradition, also served as the catalyst for the study. It employed both historical and contextual methods in examining the social and cultural contexts which stimulated the production of occasional poems,with two of such poems purposively selected for study.Translation of the selected poems to English as well as the thematic study of the same poems marked a remarkable contribution. Information obtained from the study could be a veritable tool in the efforts to establish the diversity in the contribution of Arabic scholars of Yorubaland, especially the Arabic poets within the Zumratul-mū’minīn tradition to literary activities in Nigeria