Arabic literature encompasses sixteen centuries of literary creativity across a range of genres, in language spanning the spectrum from the classical to the vernacular. 1. Fifth and sixth centuries C.E.: Pre-Islamic Arabian literature The pre-Islamic literary prose that has survived consists mainly of some adages, sometimes accompanied by an account of the circumstances that gave rise to them; rhymed soothsayers' pronouncements; and a few well-structured orations. In contrast, the century and a half immediately preceding the advent of Islam can boast of an abundant and vigorous