New Manifestations in the Kamil Meter: A Study of New Meters and Their Development in Contemporary Arabic Poetry

Research

Abstract

The Kamil meter, characterized by the pure structure based on the foot "Muta'afilun," is one of the most vibrant and present meters in the history of Arabic poetry, due to its capacity for complete rhythmic flow and rich music. Its usage in classical eras settled on its complete, truncated, divided, and exhausted forms, with specific variants and measures. However, the movement of renewal in contemporary Arabic poetry, especially with the emergence of free verse, opened the door to deep structural transformations in the use of this meter. This research, through a descriptive-analytical approach, aims to identify and classify the weights and modern forms derived from the Kamil meter, which have not been sufficiently theorized in traditional prosody texts. The study analyzes examples from modern poetry, highlighting how the foot "Muta'afilun" has liberated itself from the constraints of the two-hemistich structure to form the fundamental rhythmic unit in lines of varying lengths. The results reveal that the most prominent manifestations of the modern Kamil meter involve its use as a pure meter in free verse, alongside the emergence of hybrid and innovative structures that were previously unfamiliar. The research concludes that these transformations do not represent a rupture with traditional metrics but rather demonstrate the flexibility of the Khilali system and its ability to evolve and absorb modern aesthetic visions, affirming that the Kamil meter still possesses a creative rhythmic energy that has not yet been exhausted