# Introduction to Arabic Prosody (مقدمة في علم العروض)

## Definition (التعريف)

**Ilm al-Arudh** (Arabic: علم العروض) is the science of Arabic poetry that studies the rhythmic patterns (meters) and their rules of correctness and variation. It acts as the "scale" or "balance" used to distinguish correct poetry (*Sahih*) from broken poetry (*Maksur*), and to identify the specific type of meter (*Bahr*) used by the poet.

The word *Arudh* literally means "side", "middle", or "pillar" of a tent, signifying its central role in the structure of the verse. In technical terms, *Arudh* refers specifically to the last foot of the first hemistich (*Sadr*) of a verse, but the science as a whole is named after it.

## History and Origin (النشأة والتاريخ)

The science was founded in the 8th century CE (2nd century AH) by the genius philologist **Al-Khalil bin Ahmed Al-Farahidi** (الخليل بن أحمد الفراهيدي).

### The Legend of Discovery
It is said that Al-Khalil was walking through the coppersmiths' market (*Souq al-Saffarin*) in Basra. He heard the rhythmic hammering of the smiths on the copper vessels—*DANG, dang, DANG-dang*. This repetitive sound inspired him to realize that poetry consists of sequences of moving (*Mutaharrik*) and still (*Sakin*) sounds.

He secluded himself, studying all available Arabic poetry, and distilled their rhythms into 15 distinct meters. Later, his student **Al-Akhfash Al-Awsat** discovered a 16th meter, called *Al-Mutadarak* (The Overtaken), completing the system we use today.

## The Importance of Arudh

1.  **Authentication**: It helps verify the attribution of verses. If a poem attributed to a pre-Islamic poet breaks the rules of Arudh known to be instinctive at the time, its authenticity is questioned.
2.  **Reading**: It guides the correct reading of poetry. Often, a word can be read in multiple ways grammatically, but only one reading fits the meter.
3.  **Composition**: It provides the framework for poets to compose rhythmic and musical verses.

## The Scope of PyArud

PyArud encapsulates this millennium-old wisdom into a modern computational engine. It respects the classical rules defined by Al-Khalil while providing the precision of digital analysis. By understanding the theory documented in these pages, you will better understand the output and capabilities of the library.
