ABSTRACT
The appearance of the ghazal, that is, love-poetry as an independent thematic unit apart from the nasib, the amatory prelude of the qasida, is one of the few revolutionary developments generally conceded to Arabic literary history. In view of the various elements, formal and conceptual, constituting the Umayyad ghazal, it would seem futile to look for a common denominator or a single cause explaining all of its characteristic features. Whether the ghazal originated exclusively from the nasib, or whether other poetic models must be taken into account, is still open to discussion, and there is also difference of opinion as to the dominant external factors promoting its development and giving rise to the new concept of love inherent in it. In view of the various elements, formal and conceptual, constituting the Umayyad ghazal, it would seem futile to look for a common denominator or a single cause explaining all of its characteristic features.
