The most respected (and at the same time oldest) literary genre in the Middle East is poetry. It was she who explained difficult parts of the Koran, described the life of Bedouins, told about heroic deeds, magical places, miraculous love and much more. Initially, poetry was passed on orally. The fair, where poets gathered and recited, was an opportunity to listen to it. The most famous market is the market in عكاظ, where even poetry competitions were held.

Over the course of hundreds of years, many types of poetry and related concepts have developed. There are a lot of them, but the most important are:

• Adab (أدب) – simply and generally speaking, it is literature, fiction
• Qasida (قصيدة) – this is a classic form of Arabic poetry, no division into stanzas, it was created in pre-Muslim times
• Diwan (ديوان) – a collection of poems by one or more poets, sorted alphabetically
• Mu’allaqat (المعلقات) – a collection of the seven most perfect kasides collected in the 8th century. All of them were created in pre-Muslim times

What does contemporary Arabic literature look like? First of all, it differs from classical literature. New literary genres have emerged, such as a novel, short story, short story, and drama, but drama and prose are quite close.

Modern Arabic literature, despite its differences, is strongly associated with traditional Arabic literature and European traditions. Both sources drew certain patterns, which resulted in the emergence of new literary genres.

The writers also looked for inspiration in the surrounding world. They begin to depict the fate of simple, ordinary people. They write about social and religious conflicts, the lack of political freedom, poverty, disease, wars and the aristocracy which they criticize. Arabic literature begins to take on a more down-to-earth character and deals with matters of everyday life, which makes it closer to every human being.