International Research Journal of Interdisciplinary & Multidisciplinary

Studies (IRJIMS)
A Peer-Reviewed Monthly Research Journal
ISSN: 2394-7969 (Online), ISSN: 2394-7950 (Print)
Volume-I, Issue-XI, December 2015, Page No. 29-33
Published by: Scholar Publications, Karimganj, Assam, India, 788711
Website: http://www.irjims.com

Drama in Arabic Literature:

A Brief Study from Historical Perspectives
Dr. Mahbubur Rahman
Substitute Teacher, B.P. Chaliha College, Nagarbera, Assam, India
Abstract
The modern drama what we know today was not seen in classical Arabic literature.
Instead it is observed that pre modern Arabic literary tradition followed dramatic
elements and there existed some forms of drama including Taziya, Khayl al-Zill, Mimicry
etc. But it did not bring full-fledged dramatic quality rather it was developed in an
unpolished manner. In fact drama was introduced into the Arab lands in the 19 th century
when Arabic speaking people came into direct contact with European literature and
culture. And in the first decade of 20th century Arabic drama entered new stage of its
development. The important role played by the different dramatists such as Lebanese,
Syrian and Egyptian along with their various groups in the development of Arabic theatre
in Egypt was noticeable. As a result of it there appeared so many brilliant writers such as
Farah Antun, Ibrahim Ramzi, Muhammad Taymur, Antun Yazbak and Tawfiq al-Hakim
who contributed a lot and fulfilled the demands of the public.
Key Words: Arabic drama, Taziya, Khayl al-Zill, Tawfiq al-Hakim, Ahmad Shawqi etc.
Introduction: Drama was not seen in classical Arabic literature like that of real drama is
performed on a stage through dialogue by actors. According to M. M. Badawi, “classical
Arabic literature did not know drama in the sense of an established art form which
provides an imitation of an action on a stage through dialogue in verse or prose by human
actors.”1 In the pre Islamic period poetry was served as a main medium of expression of
the sentiments of the people of Arab in which they excelled.
As regards dramatic elements it is visible in some poems and we can find out it in the
form of stories and historical facts. These elements represented the Bedouin characteristics
such as fulfilment of promise and loyalty, entertainment of guests, purity of blood and
horsemanship which occupied an important place among the Arabs. For example, the
story of Hatim al-Tai who slaughtered his camel for his guest, leaving his sons hungry, is
meant only to infuse into the hearts of the Arabs the sense of generosity and to encourage
them for it. The story of Samaw‟al-b-Adiya who did not surrender to the enemy though
his son was killed before his eyes, also represents loyalty. Similarly, the love story of
Majnu and Layla, which resembles Shakespeare‟s Romeo and Juliet, signifies
steadfastness in love.2
These types of unique elements became disappeared from the Arabic poetry after the
emergence of Islam. The people of Arab especially the Muslims dedicated their life for the
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Drama in Arabic Literature: A Brief Study from Historical Perspectives Mahbubur Rahman
teaching of Qur‟an and sunnah. They used to recite the Qur‟anic verses on all occasions.
As far as Islamic period is concerned, the famous poet like Hassan bin Thabit and Qa‟b
bin Zuhayr used to compose their odes in the light of the Qur‟anic teaching, where they
used and applied dramatic elements. Apart from this most of the dramatic elements are
noticeable in some of chapters of the holy Qur‟an for example sura [Yusuf (Prophet)
Joseph] XII.
The dramatic elements can be noticed in an unpolished form in Abbasid Period. We
can cite the example of Kalilah wa Dimnah, Alf Laylah wa Laylah, The Romance of Antar
and Risalat al-Gufran etc. In fact, pre modern Arabic literary tradition followed dramatic
elements and there existed some forms of drama. One of the eminent writers named
Yousuf Idris has rightly remarked that there are a number of native genres which display
dramatic qualities.3 Some of them are-
(1)Taziya or Passion play, (2) Khayl al-Zill Shadow Play
One of the important genres is Taziya or passion play. In the medieval period the Shi‟a
community of the Middle East played Taziyas or Passion Plays in connection with the
commemoration of the death of the Prophet Muhammad‟s (SAS) grandson, Al-Husayn, at
the battle of Karbala in 680 A.D. It is observed every year on the tenth day of Muharram,
with great fervour by the Muslims especially the Shia community. During the first nine
days of this ceremony religious notables recite, with great emotion, details from Hussain's
life, while groups of men dance passionately in the streets inflicting wounds upon
themselves with chains. On the tenth day, a symbolic coffin is carried in procession,
followed by horses, bloodied men, and a steed representing Hussain's warhorse. 4 This
practice has dramatic presentation and is closer to drama. According to Jacob M. Landu-
The larger parts of the Ta‟ziyas were written and performed in Persia, although
some are known to have existed and been in Arabic and Turkish. The impact of the
Ta‟ziya on the majority of Arabic speaking communities in the near east through
the centuries, however, was not considerable, as most of them were Sunnites. Still,
it is plausible that the masked performances prevalent today among some of this
communities in the first ten days of Muharram were influenced, even possibly
derived, from the Ta‟ziya. These were, then, the only dramatic performances of a
tragic character in Medieval Arabic literature; they probably remained the only
ones until modern times.5
Next to it is Khayl al-Zill (Shadow Play):
It was a very interesting theatrical phenomenon prevalent in the medieval Cairo, and
was appreciated by all classes. Shadow play appeared in the Arab world in the eleventh
century. The literal meaning of Khaial al-Dil is the imitation of the shadow. The
indications of shadow play performances is found in the Ayyubid period, most remarkably
that the famous Sultan Saladin attended one of these performance with his vizier Alkadi
Fadel which the later described saying „I learned great lessons … I saw empires fall down,
others arise … but when the curtain was removed … the mover (player) was one person‟ .6
In this Shadow play performances take place using a stage fully covered with a wooden
partition which has a window in its middle; this window is normally covered by white
fabric and lighted from the inside by a bright light, the player, or the puppeteer, uses
different puppets of humanlike, animal ...etc. made out of leather, fabrics, or cardboard
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Drama in Arabic Literature: A Brief Study from Historical Perspectives Mahbubur Rahman
and moves them between the lamp and the covered window; as a result the shadows of
these shapes falling on the fabrics are reflected on the other side of the window (e.g.
screen) where a group or audience are gathered to see the shadows and hear the voice of
the player who imitates different voices, according to the characters that he is moving at a
moment.7
The art of shadow play was remarkably developed by the Egyptian Shams al-Din
Muhammad ibn Daniyal (died 1311). His three plays are- (1) Taif al-Khayal (2) Ajib and
Garib (3) Al-Mutayyan etc.
From the discussion of the two genres of drama it is found that Taziya and Shadow
play occupied an important place in the Arab history and were existed in the Arab world.
The modern drama what we know today in Arabic literature is indebted to European
models. The imported form of genre came first to Egypt, Lebanon and Syria through the
effort of Napoleon Bonapart and later by Maroon Al-Naqqash and his contemporaries.
Napoleon had established theatre in Egypt in 1798 just to entertain his soldiers but it could
not able to impress the Arabs. It was Marun al-Naqqash, a first Syrian writer who
introduced Arabic drama being inspired by the Italian opera and attempted a musical verse
play entitled al-Bakhil (The Miser) under the influence of Moliere‟s L’Avare. It was
written mostly in verse and simplified classical Arabic containing many songs. This drama
received a good response from the audience. In addition to this he also produced two more
dramas: Abul Hasan al-Mugaffal and Al-Salit al-Hasud. Al-Naqqash is regarded as the
father of modern Arabic drama who introduced first in drama the element of singing and
secondly drawing upon the Arabian Nights as a source for drama.8
After the good effort of Marun al-Naqqash to make popular the theatre, the Lebanese
writers like Salim al Naqqash, Adib Ishaq, Ibrahim al-Ahdab, Salim al-Bustani, Khalil al-
Yaziji etc. started to follow the same path of al-Naqqash. They translated many dramas
and performed them in their country. In Egypt, it is Ismail with whom the credit goes for
bringing first the theatre where the French and Italian troupes performed plays. The Cairo
Opera house was built by Ismail in 1869 as part of the celebrations of the opening of the
Suez Canal and Verdi‟s Rigoletto was the first performance there.9 In 1871, Verdi
composed Aida especially for the Cairo Opera. In this period many Arab dramatists
contributed their works in the development of Arabic drama.
Arabic drama entered second stage of its development from the first decade of 20 th
century. The important role played by the different dramatists such as Lebanese, Syrian
and Egyptian along with their various groups in the development of Arabic theatre in
Egypt was noticeable. As a result of it there appeared so many brilliant writers such as
Salama Hizazi, Jurji Abyad and Najib al-Rihani who contributed a lot to make the Arabic
theatre popular. In order to meet the demands of the people the outstanding dramatists like
Farah Antun, Ibrahim Ramzi, Muhammad Taymur, Antun Yazbak and Tawfiq al-Hakim
started to write musical plays which were either translated or adapted from Western
works. During that period theatre became a more permanent feature of Egyptian urban life
it came to be used for political ends, mainly in Egypt‟s nationalist struggle against British
occupation. Because of this deep theatrical activity Arabic drama got its maturity in Egypt
in the second and third decades of the twentieth century.10

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Drama in Arabic Literature: A Brief Study from Historical Perspectives Mahbubur Rahman
In the field of Arabic drama it is Tawfiq al-Hakim, an outstanding figure who occupied
the same eminent place like that Mahmud Taymur in case of Arabic short story and Najib
Mahfouz in case of Arabic novel. With the contribution of al-Hakim Arabic drama
reached its zenith point. He is the only dramatist who tried to develop the art of dialogue
in a manner as to make its reading accepted as a part of thought provoking literature. In
his long career as a dramatist, he wrote more than eighty works, covering the period from
1920s to 1970s. His dramas can be divided into two categories: (a) Social plays and (b)
Abstract plays
a) His Social plays deal with the situations in societies which are either criticisms of life
or efforts to reform it. He wrote forty five plays under this category and these play are
collected in two volumes: Masrah al-Mujtama and al-Masrah al-Munawa. These
plays include Sirr al-Muntahirah and Rasasa fi al-Qalb etc.
b) His Abstract plays deal with the themes of universal rather than local interests, which
are based on supposition posed by mythology or religion or by al-Hakim himself.
Among the abstract plays the most popular are: Ahl al-Kahf, Shaharzad and Sulaiman
al-Hakim etc. The eminent literary critic like Taha Husayn regarded Ahl al-Kahf of
Tawfiq al-Hakim as a land mark in the history of Arabic literature, since in his view it
signalled the appearance of a fully-fledged Arabic drama.11
Ahmad Shawqi Bek, the great neo classical poet who is regarded as Amir al-Shua’ra
(prince of the poets) throughout the Arab world. He started to write verse drama in his last
life and wrote seven plays in all, six tragedies and historical dramas on Egyptian and Arab
historical subjects, as well as a comedy inspired by contemporary life in Egypt. His
dramas are: Masra Kilyubatra (The fall of Cleopatra) published in 1929 and his play
describes the last days of the Egyptian Queen. Majnun Layla (The mad lover of Layla)
published in 1931 and this play is divided into five acts. It is a sad story of Qais and Layla,
the two desert lover. Qambiz (Cambyses) published in 1931. It is a historical and patriotic
play set in 6th century B.C. Ali Bey al-Kabir (Ali Bey the great) published in 1932. In this
play Shawqi has severely criticized the practice of slavery system and made an earnest
plea for Egyptian and Arab Nationalism which sounds anachronistic. Antra (Antra)
published in 1932. Amirat al-Andalus (Princes of Andalusia, 1932), Al-Sitt Huda (Lady
Huda) published in 1932. It is only a comic drama by Shawqi.

End Notes:
1
M.M. Badawi, A Short History of Modern Arabic Literature, p. 241.
2
J. Zaydan, Tarikh adab al-Lughat al-Arabiyyah Vol. 1, Dar al-Hilal, Cairo, n.d., pp. 61-63.
And quoted from The Beginnings and Development of Drama in Arabic by Maqsood Ahmad,
p. 37.
3
Roger Allen, An Introduction to Arabic Literature, 195.
4
http://www.al-bab.com/arab/visual/theatre.htm
5
Landau, Jacob M., Studies in the Arab Theatre and Cinema, Philadelphia, 1958, PP. 7- 8.
6
Yaqi, A. Fi Aljohod Almasrahya Alarabia, Cairo: Dar Alfarabi, p. 10.
7
Hamada, I. Khial Aldil wa Tamthiliat Ibn Danial. Cairo: Almoasasa Almesrya Alama Liltaalif
wa Alnashir, p. 43
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Drama in Arabic Literature: A Brief Study from Historical Perspectives Mahbubur Rahman

8
M.M. Badawi, A Short History of Modern Arabic Literature, p. 244.
9
Ismat Mahdi, Arabic Literature, p. 41.
10
M.M. Badawi, A Short History of Modern Arabic Literature, p. 248.
11
Ibid., P. 255.

References:
1. A, Yaqi. Fi Aljohod Almasrahya Alarabia, Cairo: Dar Alfarabi, 1999.
2. Ahmad, Maqsood. The Beginnings and Development of Drama in Arabic, Jamia Nagar,
New Delhi, 2006.
3. Allen, Roger. An Introduction to Arabic Literature, Cambridge University Press, 2000.
4. Badawi, M.M. A Short History of Modern Arabic Literature, Oxford Uni. Press: New York,
1993.
5. I. Hamada. Khial Aldil wa Tamthiliat Ibn Danial. Cairo: Almoasasa Almesrya Alama
Liltaalif wa Alnashir, 1961.
6. Jacob M. Landau. Studies in the Arab Theatre and Cinema, Philadelphia, 1958.
7. Mahdi, Ismat. Arabic Literature, Hyderabad, 1987.
8. Zaydan, J. Tarikh adab al-Lughat al-Arabiyyah Vol. 1, Dar al-Hilal, Cairo, n.d.

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