Rāwī (narrator)
Rāwī ( Arabic راوي, pl. Ruwāt) are reciters of poetry , storytellers and narrators of aḥādīṯ . The term is derived from rawā, 'fetching or carrying water', whereby carrying is understood figuratively for the transfer and storage of information.
Historical
In the Middle Ages, the term kaṯīr ar-riwāya (abundant transmitter) was used as a form of increase . In modern research it is also used for the collection of Bedouin poetry of the 8th century. The institution of the Rāwī has contributed significantly to the preservation of pre-Islamic poetry. The contemporary poets had one or more Ruwāt who learned their verses by heart and passed them on to the following generations on the occasion of annual markets with poetry competitions. The Ruwāt themselves often became popular poets, examples of which are known across generations. The profession was also often passed on within the family or clan.
The recording of poems in pre-Islamic times was probably rather rare, since the Bedouin poets in particular were unlikely to have sufficient writing skills. A more extensive literacy of the population did not take place until the 1st Islamic century, so that it can be assumed that the transmission of contemporary poetry took place mainly orally. For more information see under Mu'allaqat .
Relationship between poets and the Ruwāt
Many Ruwāt were trained by a poet himself and enabled to write poetry themselves. As a result, they were not only able to pass on the poems themselves, but also the techniques necessary to create poetry themselves; often they corrected or even improved the works of their teachers.
literature
- Nāṣir ad-Dīn al-Asad: Maṣādir aš-šiʿr al-ǧahilī wa qīmatuhā at-tāriḫiyya, Cairo, 1978, pp. 222-254