Lebanon has a lively arts scene, both traditional and contemporary. The national dance, the dabke, is an energetic folk dance. Classical belly dancing still plays an important role at weddings, representing the transition from virgin bride to sensual woman, and is also popular in nightclubs. Traditional Arabic music is created using unharmonised melodies and complex rhythms, often accompanied by sophisticated, many-layered singing. Instruments used include the oud, a pear-shaped string instrument; the tabla, a clay, wood or metal and skin percussion instrument; the nay, a single reed, open-ended pipe with a lovely mellow tone; and the qanun, a flat trapezoid instrument with at least 81 pluckable strings.

Literature and poetry have always had an important place in Lebanese culture. One very popular form of poetry is the zajal, in which a group of poets enter into a witty dialogue by improvising verses to songs. The most famous Lebanese literary figure is Khalil Gibran, a 19th-century poet, writer and artist whose work explored Christian mysticism. Contemporary writers include Amin Maalouf, Emily Nasrallah and Hanan Al-Shaykh.