The poetesses of the Arabs are numerous, and some of them hold a high rank.

Their poetry was impromptu, impassioned, and chiefly of the elegiac and erotic type.

The faculty of improvisation was cultivated even by the most barbarous tribes, and although such of their poetry as has been preserved is mostly a kind of rhymed prose, it often contains striking and beautiful thoughts.

They called improvised poetry "the daughter of the hour." The queen of Arabic poetesses is El Khunsa, who flourished in the days of Mohammed.

Elegies on her two warrior brothers Sakhr and Mu'awiyeh are among the gems of ancient Arabic poetry.