Referential or contextual metapoesis refers to a prior form or a prior work and thus offers itself as a commentary or a challenge. The metapoetic dimension becomes obvious when the poems are placed in the context of the major critical debates of the age and when they are juxtaposed with the earlier pre-Islamic and Islamic qasidas. In these examples, the Abbasid poets do not necessarily address the theme of poetry per se, but they do consciously write with a specific poetic reference in mind. Their poems are a commentary on or a manipulation of previous poems.