Rhymed prose

Rhymed prose is a literary form and literary genre, written in unmetrical rhymes. This form has been known in many different cultures. In some cases the rhymed prose is a distinctive, well-defined style of writing. In modern literary traditions the boundaries of poetry are very broad (free verse, prose poetry, etc.), and some works may be described both as prose and poetry.

Arabic culture and influences

In classic Arabic literature the rhymed prose is called saj'. An elaborate Arabic kind of rhymed prose is maqama. It influenced other cultures of the Muslim world, such as Persian (as exemplified by Saadi's Gulestan) and Turkish (tr:Seci).

Maqama also influenced the medieval Hebrew literature, a significant amount of which was produced by Jews of the Muslim world. It influenced the style of Yehuda Alharizi, Ibn Zabara, Ibn Hasdai (Abraham ben Samuel ha-Levi ibn Hasdai), Ibn Sahula, Jacob ben Eleazer. The corresponding works were called maqamat or mahbarot (mahberot, e.g., Mahbarot Emmanuel, by Immanuel the Roman).