Al-ʿUmdah fī maḥāsin al shiʿr wa adabihi wa naqdihi

Al-ʿUmdah fī maḥāsin al-shiʿr wa adabihi wa naqdihi is a significant work by Ibn Rashīq that served as a primary reference for centuries. This comprehensive compilation covers various aspects of Arabic poetics, including prosody, poetic genres, and devices. Ibn Rashīq also incorporated his own critical insights into discussions of contemporary critical debates. The work built upon earlier efforts, such as Abū Hilāl al-ʿAskarī's Kitāb al-ṣināʿatayn, which aimed to explain the basic elements of balāghah (correct style). The tradition of such compilations and manuals in Arabic literature is ancient, with early forms of poetic criticism dating back to pre-Islamic tribal festivals.12