Pure Eulogy in Early Islamic Arab Literature

In Persian literature terminology, eulogy is defined as the expression of a person's good traits in verse or attributing good virtues to somebody. The Persian letters for eulogy (م د ح) in reverse order gives us three letters (ح م د), meaning praise. Praise belongs to God, but eulogy is for men. There can be some differences: Eulogy is used for wise and animate creatures as well as inanimate things, but praise is only used for animate creatures. Eulogy can occur either before or after receiving a gift, but priase is always done after receiving a gift. Eulogy is some times considered wrong and is to be avoided, but praise is encouraged in any way. There have been various eulogies in Persian and Arabic literature: Some of them are pure eulogies; others have been composed to flatter somebody in order to be granted gifts. This article tries to explain what a eulogy is and to study poems by some religious figures, four early Islamic Arab poets and two famous poets of the Azarbaijani style.