Classical Arabic Poetry

Los dos patrones coránicos de la poesía árabe: elegía a la muerte de su padre, de Abû l-'Alâ' al-Ma'arrî

by Salvador Peña

Published in 'El Corán ayer y hoy', edited by M. Hernando de Larramendi & S. Peña, Córdoba: Berenice, 2008, pp. 361-371.

The Qur'anic model as an active factor both in process of both production and reception of Arabic poetry. The Qur'anic model as an active factor both in process of both production and reception of Arabic poetry.

A Sketch Map of Arabic Poetry Anthologies

by Bilal Orfali

This article provides a sketch map of Arabic poetry anthologies up to the fall of Baghdad in 759/1258 by grouping... more This article provides a sketch map of Arabic poetry anthologies up to the fall of Baghdad in 759/1258 by grouping titles that share general characteristics in form or content, or exhibit specific goals and aspirations. The purpose is to provide an analytic framework to the study of this type of literature. With its ten categories, the map allows for the inclusion of new or previously overlooked anthologies. The map is introduced by a survey of the state of scholarship on the terms adab and anthology within the scope of classical Arabic literature, and highlights a number of the main approaches to the study of Arabic literary anthology in recent scholarship. The article also suggests some authorial motives behind the genesis, development, and popularity of this type of literature.

Liriche arabe di Spagna

by Giuliano Lancioni

Ziajka - Al-Iṣfahānī’s Love Affair with the Jāhilīya -- The Majnūn Laylā Romance as a Staging Ground for a Poet’s Nostalgia

by Anna Ziajka Stanton

The Notion of Phonemic Contrast among Emphatic Sounds: the Example of D and Z in Classical Arabic

by Fayssal Chafaki

The attached filed contains: Abstract, Introduction, Chapter One

Fayssal Chafaki

(Note: MA term paper defended on Friday, July the First, 2011 and has been attempted with plagiarism by the supervisor and other professors in the department. I did not obtain my MA certification as a result to this behaviour.)

Abstract

This paper studies contrast among emphatic sounds in Classical Arabic. In Modern linguistics these... more Abstract

This paper studies contrast among emphatic sounds in Classical Arabic. In Modern linguistics these emphatic sounds contrast with their non-emphatic counterparts. Classical Arabic scholars indicate contrast among the emphatic group. This paper examines two emphatic sounds, namely /D/ and /Z/. The aim of this paper is to prove that these two sounds contrast, distinguish meaning and affect neighbouring segments. This paper also discusses a possible near-allophonic case for these emphatic sounds. The phonological environment of these two sounds is investigated in terms of distinctive features with the attempt of providing natural classes of sounds. This paper studies contrast under Classical Generative Phonology and Distinctive Features Theory (Chomsky and Halle 1968). This paper shows that the two emphatic sounds /D/ and /Z/ are two separate phonemes and that respectively all natural classes of sounds occur in their environment, except for the natural class of approximants. Yet sounds that have the features [+high, -back] and [-high, +back] are more susceptible to emphasis spread. This paper finally retains that two consonants and two vowels emphasized when they occur in the environment of the emphatic sounds and that the emphatic spread is blocked leftward whenever the segment is [+high, -back]. These two emphatic sounds also appear in Near-complementary Distribution.

A review on the book "The Lightning-Scene in Ancient Arabic Poetry"

by Ali Hussein

Published in Journal of Arabic Literature 42 (2011), pp. 272-274.

Ghazal and Grammar

by Bilal Orfali

The Pearl and the Diver: a Poetic Narrative on the Human Condition (in Arabic)

by Rana Siblini

The Nature in Poem of Abu Bakr al-Sanawbari (A.H 334) and Ibn Khafajah al- Andalusi (A.H 533) : A Comparison Study

by HISHOMUDIN BIN AHMAD

Master dissertation completed in 2003 at Islamic International University Malaysia

This study is based on a popular assumption that there is a similarity between Abu Bakr al-Sanawbari (A.H 334) and Ibn... more This study is based on a popular assumption that there is a similarity between Abu Bakr al-Sanawbari (A.H 334) and Ibn Khafajah al- Andalusi (A.H 533) in their poetry about nature. Therefore, the researcher tries to make a comparative study on the nature of their poetry, particularly, examining the beauty, the ingenuity and the skills of the two poets, as well as tracing the influence al-Sanawbari had on Ibn Khafajah and attempting to highlight the similarities and differences between the two personalities. To complete this study, an analytical method is adopted based on references related to the topic. It is concluded from this study that poetry about nature was at its climax in the hands of Abu Bakr al-Sanawbari and Ibn Khafajah al- Andalusi. Both of them shared the same methods and approaches in poetry writing, especially in the poetical structures, meanings and language styles due to the influence of the environment that they lived in. Nevertheless, they differ from each other in terms of imaginations, emotions, literary styles, as well as the rhythm of the poetry, which deny the possibility of imitations of each other. In addition, each of these characteristics refers to the unique qualities of each poet.

Harb al-Basùs e il ruolo poetico della donna nella società della giahiliyya

by Jolanda Guardi

working paper

"A Literary Top 40? Mamluk and Ottoman poetry anthologies versus the canon"

by Adam Talib

Forthcoming in Elvira Wakelnig and Simon Swain (Eds)

This article discusses the generic qualities of poetry anthologies in the Arabic literary tradition and focusses... more This article discusses the generic qualities of poetry anthologies in the Arabic literary tradition and focusses particularly on conceptual problems raised by the efflorescence of poetry anthologies in the Mamluk and Ottoman periods. These literary collections dismantle our out-moded understanding of the pre-modern Arabic literary canon and raise interesting questions about the make-up of the community of poets and readers in the post-court era of Arabic literary production.

Topoi and Topography in the histories of al-Ḥīrah

by Adam Talib

Forthcoming in Philp Wood (Ed.)

This paper treats the image of the pre-Islamic Lakhmid capital, al-Hirah, in Abbasid era literary and historical... more This paper treats the image of the pre-Islamic Lakhmid capital, al-Hirah, in Abbasid era literary and historical works. It draws primarily on al-Shabushti's Book of Monasteries, Kitab al-Aghani, Mu`jam al-Buldan, and the poems of al-Sharif al-Radi. This paper demonstrates that Abbasid accounts of the city and its history are primarily based on architectural and topographical features at the site. The traditional Abbasid era historical narrative of the city is juxtaposed with the legendary image of the city that is both an Abbasid era literary product as well as, so it would seem, al-Hirah's own cultural self-conception.

Pseudo-Thaʿālibī's Book of Youths

by Adam Talib

Forthcoming in Arabica (2012)

This article presents a critical edition and study of a 17th/18th-century poetry collection that had previously been... more This article presents a critical edition and study of a 17th/18th-century poetry collection that had previously been mistaken for al-Thaʿālibī’s lost Kitāb al-Ghilmān. It provides a codicological analysis of Berlin MS Wetzstein II 1786 in which the poetry collection is contained and also explains and corrects long-held misconceptions regarding al-Thaʿālibī’s connection with this text. Finally, the article situates this poetry collection in the context of Mamluk- and Ottoman-era epigram anthologies and the critical apparatus to the edition demonstrates the key features of intertextuality and popularity that characterised these poetry collections.

Language and Literature in al-Rāghib al-Iṣfahānī

by Alexander Key

Chapter in "Reflections on Knowledge and Language in Middle Eastern Societies". Edited by Bruno De Nicola, Yonatan Mendel and Husain Qutbuddin. Cambridge: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2010. 32-63. 

L'errance d'Imrû'l-Qays : poésie arabe et poésie touarègue

by Dominique Casajus

published in Journal des Africanistes 72, 2 (2002): 139-151

The semi-legendary figure of the pre-islamic poet, Imrû'l-Qays, is not unknown among the Sahelian Tuareg. They quote... more The semi-legendary figure of the pre-islamic poet, Imrû'l-Qays, is not unknown among the Sahelian Tuareg. They quote him in their poems and in their stories in which he appears as a cultural hero who invented poetry and the Tuareg alphabet. He stands in opposition to a character who is recognisable as a Sahelian version of another pre-islamic poet, 'Antara. This article attempts to identify the source of these Tuareg narratives in certain medieval Arab documents.