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 , i.e., a syllable which can be either long or short): :, x – u – , x u – , – – u – , u u – , The mnemonic words (''tafāʿīl'') used by Arab prosodists to describe this metre are: ' (). 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 comes the well-known verse: : : : :, u – u – , u u – , – – u – , u u – , :, u – u – , – u – , – – u – , u u – , :"If you see the lion’s fangs displayed, :do not imagine for a moment that the lion is smiling."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. :, x – u – , x u – , – – u – , uu – , An example is the following drinking-song by Abu Nuwas which begins: : : : :, – – u – , – u – , – – u – , – – , :, u – u – , – u – , – – u – , – – , :"Censure me not, for censure but tempts me; :cure me rather with the cause of my ill—" The metre also exists in a trimeter form of which the half-verse is as follows: :, x – u – , – u – , x – u – , There is also a catalectic trimeter form: :, x – u – , – u – , x – – , 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 – , .Stoetzer, Willem (1982In a musical context
The term ''basīṭ'' is also used in a musical context; in the '' Andalusi nubah'', or classical suites, of