History of Arabic Literature, 3 Volumes

Author's name: Mustafa Sadiq Al-Rafi'i

The book "History of Arabic Literature" states that Al-Rafi'i's works were limited to poetry and its care, before he decided to abandon verse and turn to prose. Al-Rafi'i deviated from his usual approach and embarked on the path of authorship and writing. The book in our hands was the beginning of this transformation, and despite his recent foray into scientific research writing, he produced a historical and critical work.

This book by Mustafa Sadiq al-Rafi'i is considered one of the most important references in the field of Arabic literary history. The author divided the book into three parts, each containing several chapters, totaling twelve chapters.
Part One
In the first chapter of this part, the discussion extended to the study of language rather than literature. The following chapters, however, are at the heart of the history of Arabic literature, and it is through them that the book gained its considerable appreciation. It discusses narration and narrators, beginning with the Arabs' expansion in memorization compared to the Greeks, and recording the superiority of the pre-Islamic Arabs in poetic narration.
Part Two
This section deals with the miraculous nature of the Qur’an and prophetic eloquence. In this section, Al-Rafi’i elaborates on the analysis of Qur’anic expression and prophetic creativity, based on the inspiration God bestowed upon him.
Part Three
Al-Rafi'i laid out the plan for this section of the book in the first part, but then passed away before it could be completed. His student, Professor Muhammad Sa'id al-'Aryan, searched al-Rafi'i's library after his death and found a large file labeled "Part Three." However, upon examining it, he found only a few chapters that did not fulfill the methodology al-Rafi'i had outlined in the introduction to Part One. His plan was for it to include: (1) The history of rhetoric and proverbs, pre-Islamic and Islamic; (2) The history of Arabic poetry, its schools, and newly developed arts; (3) The nature of the poems and the Mu'allaqat, and a study of their poets; (4) The stages of Arabic literature and its evolution over the ages; (5) The history of Andalusian literature up to its fall and the decline of Arabic there; (6) The history of writing, its arts, styles, and leading writers; (7) The development of the Arab mind, the history of the sciences, and the various genres of literature, pre-Islamic and Islamic; (8) Authorship and its history among the Arabs, and rare Arabic books; (9) The verbal arts favored by later poets in both verse and prose, and the history of their types; (10) Classifications And some balances
After all of Al-Rafi'i's writings were compiled, this volume came missing some chapters that were buried in the mind of their author.