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Author's name: Abdul Hamid Dahha

I intended this book to be unique in its field. My approach was to discuss every aspect of prosody—even the most axiomatic—and provide evidence for my opinion. This stemmed from my critical reading of both classical and modern poetry, as well as my familiarity with most classical and modern books on prosody. I found commonalities in these works that I found objectionable, including the prosodists' encroachment on poetic authority and the establishment of rules that deviated from the poets' own definitions of poetry—the poets being the possessors of talent and refined taste. Therefore, I wrote this book aiming to reconcile poetry and prosody, making the poets themselves the ultimate authority. This is because the prosodists, in many respects, have strayed far from the essence of poetry and the poets' methods with their own prosodic rules. In this book, I have considered two main categories; The poet who seeks clear and straightforward explanations of the meter, without delving into complex discussions and arguments, is addressed in the section on the poetic meter, which I titled "What the Poet Needs." In this section, I summarize the meter's forms, its defects, and its permissible metrical variations. The researcher and student of knowledge, however, seeks arguments and discussions. Some scholars of prosody told me during discussions of certain issues in the book, "What you have raised in this book will spark considerable debate." This is acceptable, as long as it clarifies the issues and re-examines established assumptions that have become entrenched due to a lack of discussion and uncritical transmission of prosodic matters. Examples include issues of truncation and truncation, the four metrical variations, al-Akhfash's correction of al-Khalil's al-Mutadarak, many metrical variations and defects, some rhyme flaws, and poetic necessities.