Basit
Basīṭ or al-basīṭ, is a metre used in classical Arabic poetry. The word literally means "extended" or "spread out" in Arabic. Along with the tawil, kamil, and wafir, it is one of the four most common metres used in pre-Islamic and classical Arabic poetry.
Form of the metre
The metrical form of the basīṭ is often as follows :The mnemonic words used by Arab prosodists to describe this metre are: .
The metre is usually used in couplets of eight feet each.
Example
An example is the qasida by al-Mutanabbi : “The poet reproaches Sayf al-Dawla”, a poem of 38 couplets, from which come the following well-known verses:Variations
Although in the poem of al-Mutanabbi quoted above, the last foot of each half-verse is always | u u – |, other poets use the metre in the following form, where "uu" represents a biceps element, i.e. one where the two short syllables can optionally be replaced by one long one.An example is the following drinking-song by Abu Nuwas which begins:
The metre also exists in a trimeter form of which the half-verse is as follows:
There is also a catalectic trimeter form:
Occasionally the first foot of each half-verse can be | – u u – |.
Very rarely the third foot can be | u – u – |.