For a long time the attention of modern scholars, in the field of Arabic literature had been directed to the study of its various aspects during what has generally been called "golden period! 'q that is to says the pre-Islamic, Early Islamic and Omayyad and first part of the Abbasid period. In approaching the literature produced during the latter part of Abbasid caliphate (towards the end of al-Mutawakkil's time 247 A.H./A.D. 861 they drew a general conclusion that it was then that Arabic literature began to decline in content and this decline persisted until modern times when it was revived by the Egyptian nineteenth century poet al-Barudi. Naturally there were exceptions to this view: al-Mutanabbi, Abu Firas al-Hamdini and Abu al-Alaal-Maarri were known for their excellence.