Basīṭ, or al-basīṭ (البسيط), is a metre used in classical Arabic poetry. The word literally means "extended" or "spread out" in Arabic. Along with the ṭawīl, kāmil, and wāfir, it is one of the four most common metres used in pre-Islamic and classical Arabic poetry.

Form of the metre

The metrical form of the basīṭ is often as follows (where "–" is a long syllable, "u" is a short syllable, and "x" is anceps, i.e., a syllable which can be either long or short): The mnemonic words (tafāʿīl) used by Arab prosodists to describe this metre are: (مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ فَاعِلُنْ مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ فَعِلُنْ). The metre is usually used in couplets of eight feet each.

Example

An example is the qasīda by al-Mutanabbi (915-965): “The poet reproaches Sayf al-Dawla” (king of Aleppo), a poem of 38 couplets, from which come the following well-known verses:

Variations

Although in the poem of al-Mutanabbi quoted above, the last foot of each half-verse is always | u u – |, other poets use the metre in the following form, where " uu " represents a biceps element, i.e. one where the two short syllables can optionally be replaced by one long one. An example is the following drinking-song by Abu Nuwas which begins: The metre also exists in a trimeter form of which the half-verse is as follows: There is also a catalectic trimeter form: Occasionally the first foot of each half-verse can be | – u u – |. Very rarely (in less than 1% of lines) the third foot can be | u – u – |.

In a musical context

The term basīṭ is also used in a musical context; in the Andalusi nubah, or classical suites, of Morocco, each nubah, or suite, is divided into five main movements (called mīzān (ميزان; plural: mawāzīn, موازين)) each of which uses a different rhythm, as follows: