طبقات فحول الشعراء

Ibn Sallam al-Jumahi's *Tabaqat Fuhul al-Shu'ara* (The Classes of the Master Poets) is an early critical work that classifies pre-Islamic and Islamic poets into classes (approximately ten classes for each era). It employs a methodology based on documentation and the elimination of spurious poetry. It distinguishes between love poetry (nasib) and descriptive poetry (wasf), and lays the foundations for Arabic literary criticism through linguistic analysis and poetic quality. Despite some reservations regarding its judgments and preferences, it remains an important reference for the history of literature and criticism. The poets are divided into classes based on their chronological period (pre-Islamic and Islamic) and their level of mastery, influenced by the methodology of hadith studies in verifying narrators. The author selects the most accomplished poets and those of the highest rank, focusing on the "most eloquent of the Arabs," which leads to a significant emphasis on figures such as Imru' al-Qays, Zuhayr, Nabigha, and Tarafa ibn al-'Abd. The book is indexed by class, works offline, is identical to the printed version, and has a very small file size.