The contents of the _Ḥamása_ include short poems complete in themselves as well as passages extracted from longer poems; of the poets represented, some of whom belong to the Pre-islamic and others to the early Islamic period, comparatively few are celebrated, while many are anonymous or only known by the verses attached to their names. If the high level of excellence attained by these obscure singers shows, on the one hand, that a natural genius for poetry was widely diffused and that the art was successfully cultivated among all ranks of Arabian society, we must not forget how much is due to the fine taste of Abú Tammám, who, as the commentator Tibrízí has remarked, "is a better poet in his _Ḥamása_ than in his poetry." [Sidenote: 4. The _Ḥamása_ of Buḥturí.] 4. The _Ḥamása_ of Buḥturí († 897 A.D.), a younger contemporary of Abú Tammám, is inferior to its model.[258] However convenient from a practical standpoint, the division into a great number of sections, each illustrating a narrowly defined topic, seriously impairs the artistic value of the work; moreover, Buḥturí seems to have had a less catholic appreciation of the beauties of poetry--he admired, it is said, only what was in harmony with his own style and ideas. [Sidenote: 5. The _Jamhara_.] 5. The _Jamharatu Ash‘ári ’l-‘Arab_, a collection of forty-nine odes, was put together probably about 1000 A.D. by Abú Zayd Muḥammad al-Qurashí, of whom we find no mention elsewhere. [Sidenote: Prose sources.] Apart from the _Díwáns_ and anthologies, numerous Pre-islamic verses are cited in biographical, philological, and other works, _e.g._, the _Kitábu ’l-Aghání_ by Abu ’l-Faraj of Iṣfahán († 967 _A.D._), the _Kitábu ’l-Amálí_ by Abú ‘Alí al-Qálí († 967 _A.D._), the _Kámil_ of Mubarrad († 898 A.D.), and the _Khizánatu ’l-Adab_ of ‘Abdu ’l-Qádir of Baghdád († 1682 A.D.). [Sidenote: The tradition of Pre-islamic poetry.] [Sidenote: The Ráwís.] [Sidenote: The Humanists.]