In the Ka'bah, the "cubic" central shrine of Islam, poems were hung on the walls because of their recognized excellence among the Arabs. These poems— about the exploits of tribal heroes, nature, and pastoral life in the Arabian desert—represent the highest literary achievement in Arabic language before Islam. The following excerpt is from "The Poem of Antar," one of the best-known examples:

Have the poets left in the garment a place for a patch to be patched by me; and did you know the abode of your beloved after reflection?

The vestige of the house, which did not,speak, confounded thee, until it spoke by means of signs, like one deaf and dumb.

Verily, I kept my she-camel there long grumbling, with a yearning at the blackened stones, keeping and standing firm in their own places.

It is the abode of...