The Umayyad period (40–132/661–750) is one of the most interesting and important for the critic of poetry. More than the verse of any other period prior to modern times, Umayyad poetry was in dynamic development and registered, obliquely and directly, the deeper changes in the spiritual condition of the times. This period of rapid development was flanked by more settled periods of poetic creativity: on the one side the pre-Islamic, on the other the 'Abbasid poetry; and there can be no doubt that Umayyad poetry stems from a powerful poetic tradition of high achievement. The verse of al-Akhtal (Ghiyāth b. Ghawth of Taghlib, d. 92/710), for example, seems to grow out of a well-rooted tradition, developed to a kind of perfection by generations of poets. The verse of a poet like the Qurashite 'Umar b. Abī Rabīah (23–93/643–711) gives a different impression. He wrote experimental poetry that deviated in tone and technique from the poetry preceding it. Nevertheless, although he did not model himself on the pre-Islamic heritage except occasionally, he still built on the achievements of his predecessors, and profited from the strength and malleability of their techniques.

Umayyad poetry abounds with experiments. Many aspects of the poem were explored. New moods and themes were introduced, points of emphasis were shifted, and old motifs reappeared, intensified and sometimes exaggerated. This is a period in which an unrivalled revolution took place spontaneously, unbound as yet by imposed traditionalism.