At first it was unrhymed, as Goldziher says; the earliest Arabic poetry was in unmetrical prose.
"The Literature of Ecstasy"
Albert Mordell
Like the long waves on a sea-beach, Where the sand as silver shines, With a soft, monotonous cadence, Flow its unrhymed lyric lines:- Telling how the Count Arnaldos, With his hawk upon his hand, Saw a fair and stately galley, Steering onward to the land;- How he heard the ancient helmsman Chant a song so wild and clear, That the sailing sea-bird slowly Poised upon the mast to hear, Till his soul was full of longing, And he cried, with impulse strong,- Helmsman!
"The Complete Poetical Works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow"
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Milton attempts the Pyrrha ode in unrhymed meter, and the light and bantering spirit of Horace disappears.
"Horace and His Influence"
Grant Showerman