Sacred and Secular

The book focuses on specific Muslim and Jewish poets, who are representative of the period, poets who referred to abstinence (الزهديات), Fate, and the love of God. Discussing secular poetry separately from sacred poetry requires a general clarification. Early Hebrew poetry is divided into two kinds: One is secular poetry, and the other sacred. The distinction between these two concepts, ＂secular＂ and ＂sacred＂ in this context is not clear cut. This was particularly difficult with regards to Biblical and Second-Temple literature, when literary composition and especially lyrical poetry were virtually entirely sacred, for the most part, both in terms of content and intended use.