This article examines the earliest Arab perceptions of prose and its conceptual formation in pre-classical Arab thought. Special attention is given to the notion of kalām as a central linguistic and aesthetic category, divided into manẓūm (metrical speech) and manthūr (non-metrical speech). Ordinary communicative speech is interpreted as the primary form of prose, while ornamented speech represents the emergence of artistic prose. The study also analyzes the traditional Arab distinction between prose as non-metrical discourse and poetry as rhythmically and rhymed expression.

early Arabic literature, concept of kalām, manthūr discourse, manẓūm speech, Arabic prose, prose and poetry distinction, artistic prose, rhetorical thought, Arabic poetics, early literary theory.

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