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 ṭawīl, kāmil, and wāfir, it is one of the four commonest metres used in pre-Islamic and classical Arabic poetry. The metrical form is often as follows :
The mnemonic words used by Arab prosodists to describe this metre are: Mustafʿilun Fāʿilun Mustafʿilun Faʿilun.
Very rarely the 3rd foot can be | u – u – |.
The metre is usually used in couplets of eight feet each. An example is the 38-couplet qasīda by al-Mutanabbi : “The poet reproaches Sayf al-Dawla”, from which comes the verse:

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 – |.

In a musical context

The term basīṭ is also used in a musical context; in the Andalusi nubah, or classical suites, of Morocco, each nubah, or suite, is divided into five main movements each of which uses a different rhythm, as follows:
  1. Basīṭ
  2. Qāim wa nusf
  3. Btāyhī
  4. Darj
  5. Quddām