It is the name of an Arabic stanzic poem , which then passed into Hebrew , Persian and Turkish.
The name is derived from the Arabic ” Simt ” – meaning a thread or string. The oldest musammat are ascribed to Abu Nawas ( d.815 AD ). Some specimens can be found in Eastern Hebrew poets but it is the Andalusian Hebrew poets who use this stanzic poem called ” Meruba ” in Hebrew.
This genre acquired an importance in the canons of Hebrew poetry, both secular and non secular.
Bedouin poetry later also knows the Musammat Murabba alongside the Kasida. This is attested by Ibn Khaldun in the 14th century AD and for the 19th century by Socins collection- ” Diwan Aus Centralarabien ”
Takhmi
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In later times a special function has developed upon the Mukhammas type. It is frequently used to expand an existing poem- to gloss it. The result is more often called the ” Takhmis ” rather then the rather then the Mukhammas.
In this way Safr ul Din al Hilli has ” glossed ” the famous “Nuniyya ” of Ibn Zaydun.
None of the Hebrew ” Merubs “composed before the contacts of Jewish poets with Arabic poetry shows a common rhyme.
In the 11th century AD the Persian poet Manuchiri introduced the Musammat into the canon of Persian poetry.
The revival of Musammats and other medieval Arabic stanzic forms played an important role at the beginning of modern Arabic literature.