Reinterpreting al-Buhturi’s Iwan Kisra Ode: Tears of Affection for the Cycles of History (original) (raw)
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Historiography on the patricide/regicide of the Caliph al-Mutawakkil (d. 861) developed from a stage of simple description to a burgeoning of mytho-historical narrative. It would appear that what began as a palace scandal—profaning to a putatively sacral community already torn by civil war—developed into a redemptive tragedy with perennial appeal. In a patronage society governed by loyalty to one’s patron or father, this transformation should count as nothing less than conspicuous. This article examines the role of a major Abbasid poet, al-Buḥturī (d. 897), in shaping public perception by cultivating genuine sympathy for the Abbasids and planting the seeds of questions that would be addressed in historical narratives. In particular, I discuss the importance of literary salons or gatherings as a social institution where poetry and historical narratives were recited orally as a means of transmitting knowledge to future generations. These gatherings provide a likely forum where mythic questions of poetry could inspire narrative.
Abbasid Panegyric: Badīʿ Poetry and the Invention of the Arab Golden Age
British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies, 2017
This study argues that the 3rd AH/ 9th CE century panegyrists (praise poets) of the Abbasid caliphal court at Baghdad (and briefly at Samarra) were responsible for constructing the image of a Golden Age of Arab-Islamic dominion that was subsequently adopted by the poets and thinkers of the 19th-20th century Nahḍa or ‘Arab Awakening’. Challenged to create a poetry that would serve as the linguistic correlative of the astounding and unprecedented might and dominion of the rulers of the Arab-Islamic state, the Abbasid Modernist Poets (al-shuʿarāʾ al-muḥdathūn) invented a powerfully and radically innovative poetic style, termed badīʿ. The panegyric odes of poets such as Abū Tammām and al-Buḥturī were canonized so as to promote a vision of an Arab-Islamic Golden Age and, further, to serve as models for the expression of Arab-Islamic hegemony and the conferral and contestation of legitimate authority. In the 19th-20th century Nahḍa, Neo-Classical, poets such as Aḥmad Shawqī, recouped the Abbasid master poets to both retroject and project a vision of an Arab-Islamic ‘Enlightenment’. Finally, this study examines the fraught relationship of the post-Naksa (1967) Arab poet, as exemplified in the modern Yemeni poet ʿAbd Allāh al-Baradūnī, with the poets and poetry of the Golden Age.
Negotiating Abbasid Modernity: The Case of al-Aṣmaʿī and the Rearguard Poets
PhD thesis submitted to the University of Manchester in Jan. 2015, 2015
This study investigates the term, and the poetry of, the Rearguard Poets (sāqat al-shuʿarāʾ). It demonstrates through the investigation of both literary and non-literary texts of the Abbasid era that socio-political circumstances were major factors in forming the critical thinking of Abbasid critics as exemplified by al-Aṣmaʿī. The study argues that the grouping of the rearguard poets (without their consent) indicates that al-Aṣmaʿī and his fellow critics were interested in the poetry of this group not merely because they found in it the ‘purity of the Arabic language’ (faṣāḥa) free from linguistic errors or because of the poets’ eligibility to be included among the champion poets (fuḥūl al-shuʿarāʾ); they were concerned with a much bigger issue: the mission to preserve Arab cultural identity, which those critics felt was being threatened by the changing atmosphere of Abbasid politics, as Chapter One shows. Reverting to the life of the desert and the Bedouin language to create a standard language (ʿArabiyya) marked an important stage in Arabic intellectual life which left its mark on generations of critics and the criteria they used in selecting and judging poetry, as Chapter Two shows. One of the most important features of Bedouin poetry is the predominance of unusual vocabulary (gharīb), which served as both a linguistic treasury for philological critics and a foundation for creating a distinctive linguistic identity impregnable to foreigners, as Chapter Three demonstrates. In Chapter Four the norms and values of Bedouin society, which had the tribe at its centre, are analysed using examples of the poetry of the rearguard poets; these are identified with major themes occurring in the poets’ panegyrical and satirical poetry. Turning to the inner-self and the persona of the poets themselves in Chapter Five, it becomes clear that although the critics relied on them to provide contemporary examples of Bedouin poetry, the poets for their part were preoccupied by their own interests and were trying to fight for their own causes: for their tribes, for their patrons and for their own concerns as a part of the wider society, which may or may not have intersected with the agendas and concerns of the critical and cultural authorities. Chapter Six examines the stylistic features of the poetry in question, and investigates the influence of Abbasid modern (muḥdath) poetry and the refined (badīʿ) style. Examples of Ibn Harma’s poetry in particular are thoroughly analysed due to his perceived position as a pioneer poet composing in the new style of the Abbasid era. The study has found that although the creation of the ‘rearguard poets’ group served the critical authorities’ cultural and ideological interests rather than to show the linguistic and artistic value of their poetry, this does not imply that the representation of those poets as providers of good examples of Bedouin poetry in the Abbasid era is invalid. Moreover, the creation of this group was a reaction to the dominance of Persian culture in al-Aṣmaʿī’s time. Furthermore, the poets’ language, themes, motifs and imagery served to showcase the interests of early critics and their preferences in poetry despite the lack of compelling evidence that both parties collaborated to promote one unified and clearly stated purpose.
Negotiating Abbasid Modernity: The Case of al-Aṣma‘ī and the Rearguard Poets
2015
This study investigates the term, and the poetry of, the Rearguard Poets (sāqat al-shuʿarāʾ). It demonstrates through the investigation of both literary and non-literary texts of the Abbasid era that socio-political circumstances were major factors in forming the critical thinking of Abbasid critics as exemplified by al-Aṣmaʿī. The study argues that the grouping of the rearguard poets (without their consent) indicates that al-Aṣmaʿī and his fellow critics were interested in the poetry of this group not merely because they found in it the 'purity of the Arabic language' (faṣāḥa) free from linguistic errors or because of the poets' eligibility to be included among the champion poets (fuḥūl al-shuʿarāʾ); they were concerned with a much bigger issue: the mission to preserve Arab cultural identity, which those critics felt was being threatened by the changing atmosphere of Abbasid politics, as Chapter One shows. Declaration I declare that no portion of the work referred to in the thesis has been submitted in support of an application for another degree or qualification of this or any other university or other institute of learning.
The Poetics of Islamic Legitimacy: Myth, Gender and Ceremony in the Classical Arabic Ode. Part 3
Indiana University Press, 2002
Indiana University Press, 2002. Pp. xvi + 383. Arabic translation, Al-Qaṣīdah wa al-Sulṭah: al-Ustūrah, al-Junūsah, wa al-Marāsim fī al-Shi‛r al-‛Arabī al-Qadīm. Trans. Hasan al-Banna ‛Izz al-Din in collaboration with the author. Egyptian National Center for Translation, 2010. “ . . . transcends the realm of literature and poetic criticism to include virtually every field of Arabic and Islamic studies.” —Roger Allen Throughout the classical Arabic literary tradition, from its roots in pre-Islamic Arabia until the end of the Golden Age in the 10th century, the courtly ode, or qasida, dominated other poetic forms. In The Poetics of Islamic Legitimacy, Suzanne Stetkevych explores how this poetry relates to ceremony and political authority and how the classical Arabic ode encoded and promoted a myth and ideology of legitimate Arabo-Islamic rule. Beginning with praise poems to pre-Islamic Arab kings, Stetkevych takes up poetry in praise of the Prophet Mohammed and odes addressed to Arabo-Islamic rulers. She explores the rich tradition of Arabic praise poems in light of ancient Near Eastern rites and ceremonies, gender, and political culture. Stetkevych’s superb English translations capture the immediacy and vitality of classical Arabic poetry while opening up a multifaceted literary tradition for readers everywhere.
The 'Abbasid Poet Interprets History : Three Qasīdahs By Abū Tammam
Journal of Arabic Literature, 1979
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The Poetics of Islamic Legitimacy: Myth, Gender and Ceremony in the Classical Arabic Ode. Part 1
Indiana University Press, 2002. Pp. xvi + 383. Arabic translation, Al-Qaṣīdah wa al-Sulṭah: al-Ustūrah, al-Junūsah, wa al-Marāsim fī al-Shi‛r al-‛Arabī al-Qadīm. Trans. Hasan al-Banna ‛Izz al-Din in collaboration with the author. Egyptian National Center for Translation, 2010. “ . . . transcends the realm of literature and poetic criticism to include virtually every field of Arabic and Islamic studies.” —Roger Allen Throughout the classical Arabic literary tradition, from its roots in pre-Islamic Arabia until the end of the Golden Age in the 10th century, the courtly ode, or qasida, dominated other poetic forms. In The Poetics of Islamic Legitimacy, Suzanne Stetkevych explores how this poetry relates to ceremony and political authority and how the classical Arabic ode encoded and promoted a myth and ideology of legitimate Arabo-Islamic rule. Beginning with praise poems to pre-Islamic Arab kings, Stetkevych takes up poetry in praise of the Prophet Mohammed and odes addressed to Arabo-Islamic rulers. She explores the rich tradition of Arabic praise poems in light of ancient Near Eastern rites and ceremonies, gender, and political culture. Stetkevych’s superb English translations capture the immediacy and vitality of classical Arabic poetry while opening up a multifaceted literary tradition for readers everywhere.
New Images in Old Frames: Ibn Harma (d. ca. 176/792) between Classical Poetry and Abbasid Modernity
Arabic sources generally refer to Ibrahim b. Harma (d. ca. 176/792) as one of the “last poets” whose poetry is quoted as lexical and linguistic evidence of sound and “unaffected” language, in other words “pure” Arabic. However, while we argue that the poet’s “pure” Arabic is the main reason for his place of excellence in classical Arabic poetry, we suggest that the poet was well aware of the power of poetic imagery imposed by the new modernity experienced in the Abbasid era. Ibn Harma skillfully developed the new tool as a means of self-expression in a conscious search for poetic immortality. In this article, we aim to explore the poetic imagery of Ibn Harma through textual analysis of a selection of his poetry.