Life in the desert was hard and filled with danger. The Bedouin felt bound to the family
and to the clan, on which depended his existence in the arid desert; loyalty to the tribe
meant for him the same life-long alliance as others feel for the nation and state. His life was
unstable and vagrant; like the desert, he knew not ease nor comfort; and understood only
the language of power, of might. The Bedouin knew no moral code— no legal or religious
sanction—nothing save the traditional sentiment of his own and the tribe's honor. In short,
it was a life that always brought about hardship and trouble for him and sowed the seeds of
danger for the neighboring sedentary populations.
The desert tribes of Arabia were engaged in endless strife amongst themselves and made
incursions into the settled lands around them. At the same time, the Arabs displayed a
boundless loyalty to their tribes and traditions, were magnanimously hospitable, honored
the treaties, were faithful friends and dutifully met the obligations of tribal customs. All
these traits of the Arab character are amply illustrated by their forceful and elegant litera-
ture, both in prose and poetry, proverbs, metaphors, simile and fables.
CULTURAL CENTERS
In places where there were sufficient periodic rains or water was available in wells or
springs settlements used to spring up or the nomads came together during seasonal fairs
and festivals. While such get-togethers exerted a civilizing influence on the life of the Be-
douins, the agricultural settlements reflected their specific characteristics depending on
climatic conditions and economic and occupational features of the sedentary populations.
Accordingly, Makkah had a peculiar cultural development as had other settlements like
Yathrib and Hira their own distinguishing cultural features. Yemen was culturally the most
developed region in the country owing to its long history and political developments in the
recent past. Because of its suitable climate, Yemen had made rapid strides in cultivation of
cereals, animal husbandry, quarry of minerals and construction of forts and palaces. It had
commercial relations with Iraq, Syria and Africa and imported different commodities needed
by it.
ETHNIC DIVISIONS
Arab historians as well as old traditions of the land hold that the people of Arabia can be
categorized in three broad divisions. The first of these were the 'Arab Ba'idah (extinct Arabs)
who populated the country but ceased to exist before the advent of Islam. The next were
the 'Arab 'Ar’ibah (Arabian Arabs) or Banu Qahtan who replaced the 'Arab Ba'idah and the
third were the 'Arab Must'arabah (Arabicized Arabs) or the progeny of Ishmael which settled
in Hijaz. The line of demarcation drawn according to racial division of the Arab stock makes
a distinction between those descending from Qahtan and 'Adnan; the former are held to be
Yemenites or southern Arabs while the latter had settled in Hijaz. Arab genealogists further