Rawi in Bedouin Society

Rawi in Bedouin Society

Rhapsode, Oral storyteller

A Rawi is an oral storyteller with an incredible memory that memorizes the “contours” of a verbal artwork and recites the poems of individual authors. Rawis are compared to Jazz musicians, improvising from an original story to create a unique performance. This glossary term is important for our understanding of Islamic societies in this class because these pre-Islamic Arabian Bedouin poets set the foundation for Islam as a religion prizes its poetry, buttressed by its sacralization of the word of the Prophet Muhammad. Meaning is constantly being analyzed and interpreted over time in the tradition, and Rawis are some of the original conductors of this.

Michael A. Sells

Desert Tracings: Six Classic Arabian Odes

Wesleyan University Press

400

'Alqama, Shanfara, Labid, 'Antara, Al-A'sha, Dhu al-Rumma

University of Colorado Boulder