Arabic literature sprang into existence in the sixth and seventh centuries AD with an outburst of poetry. Across northern Arabia, poets recited qasidas (odes), in which a series of themes is elaborated with vivid, imaginative language and cast in complex rhythmic and rhyming schemes.These seven odes are known collectively as the Mu'allaqat, the "suspended" poems, because they were transcribed in letters of gold on linen and suspended in the shrine of the Kaaba at Mecca as masterpieces of the qasida form.Desmond O'Grady's verse renderings of the odes capture the rhythm and spirit of this vibrant art. The known facts of the poets' lives serve as brief introductions.