Introduction: A Brief History of the Emergence of the Science of Ilmu Arudh Wal Qawafi

    In the context of the Arabic language, there is a discipline that is quite familiar among learners of Arabic literary language and also within Islamic boarding school (pesantren) communities, namely Ilmu Arudh Wal Qawafi (علم عروض والقوافي). This is one branch of Arabic literature; generally, Ilmu Arudh becomes part of the curriculum in the environment of pesantren and also in Islamic-based universities, more precisely in two study programs: Arabic Language and Literature and Arabic Language Education. In the English context, Ilmu Arudh is more familiar by the name “Arabic Prosody.”

Originator

    Ilmu Arudh Wal Qawafi itself was first introduced by a great Arab scholar whose full name was Al-Khalil bin Ahmad bin Amr bin Tamin Al-Azdiy Al-Farahidi, born in Basrah (100H – died 175H). He is also well known because he was the teacher of Imam Sibawaih, whose full name was Abi Bisyr Amr bin Utsman bin Qanbar Al-Bishri (148 – 180H). Initially, the purpose of the existence of Ilmu Arudh was simply to trace the authentic (correct) or corrupt (incorrect) verses of pre-Islamic poetry (Syi’ir Jahiliyah) textually.

    The reason this discipline is named as such has several explanations that have been found:

• It was introduced in a region located between the cities of Mecca and Ta’if called Arudh.
• Because of the differences (Mu’aradhah opposition) found in poems, and Ilmu Arudh is used to determine whether a poem conforms to its wazn (metrical pattern) or not.

    A brief chronology of the creation of Ilmu Arudh Wal Qawafi according to Ash-Safadi’s explanation in the book Al-Waafi bil Wafiyyat (الوافي بالوفيات) is as follows: At that time, Khalil was alone in his house. He picked up a kind of bucket or basin and struck it with wood while chanting “Fai’ilun, Mustaf’ilun, Fu’ulun,” and so on. His actions were accidentally discovered by one of his friends nearby. That friend hurried to the mosque and told the people there, who thought that Khalil was insane. They all went to his house and saw Khalil hitting the basin. They asked whether he was alright, and he answered that he was still fine and healthy.

Ilmu Arudh Today

    As mentioned in the opening paragraph, although it has been a very long time since it was first introduced, Ilmu Arudh Wal Qawafi has not completely disappeared. In fact, this discipline is still often studied in university Arabic language departments and in pesantren. Many final-year students also take concepts from this science as part of their thesis assignments, using Arabic poetry (Syi’ir) or Arabic songs (Ghina’ Arabi) as their objects of study.

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