This volume provides a contribution to Arabic literary history from an
exceptional perspective. It examines the literary expression of
veneration of the prophet Muhammad, primarily the hitherto little
researched field of praise poetry to the prophet (al-madih an-nabawi)
and its diverse manifestations - as a personal form of piety, literary
contest, or musical performance. Alongside emulations of the well-known
13th-century Mantle Ode, the volume treats strophic poetry in the
vernacular, mawlid texts, prophetic praise in the maqama genre and in
the Moroccan musical tradition (nuba), as well as prayer books and
letters to the Prophet's tomb. Many influential works and poets are
presented for the first time in Western research.