—“ʿĀmir ibn al-Akwaʿ, let us hear something of your pleasant verses!” ʿĀmir, who was a poet, dismounted and began chanting to spur the people on:
O Allah, were it not for You we would never have been guided,
Nor given charity, nor prayed.
So send down tranquillity upon us,
And steady our feet when we meet the foe.
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ asked, “Who is that driver?” They said, “ʿĀmir ibn al-Akwaʿ.” He said, “May Allah have mercy on him.” 1
We have also transmitted from al-Shāfiʿī (d. 204 AH) that he said: “There is no harm in listening to the camel-drivers’ chant or the Bedouins’ song.” End of his abridged statement.
Imam al-Shāṭibī, in al-Iʿtiṣām 1/368, after citing the ḥadith of Anjasha in the course of rebutting certain Ṣūfīs, wrote:
“This is sound, yet the Arabs did not refine their melodies in the way people do today. They would simply recite poetry without learning the vocal modulations that arose after their time. Rather, they would soften and prolong the voice in a manner befitting the unlettered Arabs, who knew nothing of the techniques of music. There was therefore no sensuous delight in it, nor any rapture that distracts; it merely gave them a measure of vigor, just as …”