نشریه ادب عربی
سال یکم شماره 1 (پیاپی 0، پاییز و زمستان 1388)

Muwashshah is a poetic form which originated in Andalus (the present-day Spain) in the third century after Hegira, and much has been said on its first composer, Andalusian origin, and definition. While many researchers admit that they are uninformed concerning the causes or the justifying reasons for the emergence of Muwashshah, they consider in both old and new books several factors as the major grounds for its emergence, which include: Lyrics of the ancient Spain, national and folk songs, troubadour poetry, poems in rhymed couplets, cinquains, Arabic quatrains and Arūḍ meter. For some, the grounds for the emergence of Muwashshah lie in the role played by Andalusia’s geographical regions, the ruling aristocracy, and the mingling of different races following the Muslim Conquest. Others, also, add to the above list the Hebrew songs, Galician women, as well as the role of Ziryab (the great musician and composer) in this regard. The present article intends to investigate whether and to what extent the above factors can serve as the original grounds underlying the emergence of Muwashshah; it also aims to specify the contributions made by some of the above factors in this respect, and finally enumerate the major grounds accordingly.

Hijā or satire is a genre of poetry that emerges, both spontaneously and through conscious effort, from the depth of the poet’s soul to relieve him of his inner anguish and is followed by resentment of the one being satirized. In the same way as there exist certain motives or factors behind the orientation of poets towards a specific genre of poetry, there are also certain factors involved in the development of this form of poetry. The present article is an effort to investigate such factors within the two classifications of internal and external motives. To begin with, the present study examines the causes of Bashār’s orientation towards satire in the family and social environments, and mentions such factors as his family’s enslavement, genetic physical deformity, as well as barrenness and incapability of producing offspring, as the major factors contributing to his production of satire. The article continues to compare the personality trait of this poet in terms of the opinions of some experts in psychology and sociology on issues including stress, sensation seeking, inferiority complex, and superiority complex.

Similar to any poetic genre, eulogy of the Prophet (pbuh) has progressed through various stages and experienced vicissitudes of history. The genre was first developed by such great poets as Ka’b bin Zuhayr and Hassan ibn Thābit, and continued to survive inspired by the Holy Qur’an and the Prophet’s tradition. The Period of Decadence (the Mongol, Mamālīk, and Ottoman Empires) was the heyday of this poetic genre which reached its apogee through the artistic contest of distinguished poets including al-Busiri, Safi al-Din Helli, and Ibn Nubāta al-Misri, and became an independent genre of poetry with its particuliar construction and characteristics. The genre starts a new trend in the contemporary period through the efforts made by poets such as Mahmud Sāmi al-Bārudi, Ahmad Shawqi, and others. While giving an introduction to the genre of eulogy, and eulogies after the Prophet (pbuh), and how they came into existence, the present article presents a comparative study of this poetic genre in the contemporary period and the Period of Decadence, and deals with the renovation and imitation developed in this genre in the contemporary period as compared with the eulogies in praise of the Prophet produced in the Period of Decadence.

Reaching a considerable growth in terms of rhetoric, eloquence, and semantic richness of words or terms, the Arabic language was ready in the Pre-Islamic Period to receive the Divine Revelation. On the other hand, the Qur’an (as the Word of Allah) with its sublime meanings and boundless scientific facts had to be revealed in the Arabic language in such a way that it would succeed in duly communicating the Revelation’s message to its audience; given the coming down of Revelation, the Qur’an’s scientific levels, which are by themselves of multiple layers of meaning, were embodied in the words of the Arabic language, a language previously enriched with words that were polysemous. The present article intends to investigate the behavior of the polysemous words (both synonymy and homonymy) of the Pre-Islamic literature found in the Holy Qur’an that are discussed by experts of the Quranic sciences; it intends to clarify the extent to which the Pre-Islamic literature enjoyed this phenomenon, and which of the above phenomena were not present in that literature. It is, therefore, considered the Qur’an’s miracle to be able to incorporate terminological overlaps and be deemed as a unique feature in the present analysis.

As a committed writer, Najib al-Kaylāni was of the belief that works of art and literature should be used as a means to promote the Islamic culture; thus, he regarded writing narratives, in a realistic style, as the need of the Arab World and particularly the Egyptian society. Features which distinguish his works from those written by other writers are the religious hue and spirit of his stories as well as his commitment towards Islamic issues, the significance of which made it necessary to conduct the present research. Explanation of the realistic style of his short stories is a turning point which serves as the objective of the present study, since it is through his recourse to Islamic teachings and taking advantage of the Islamic doctrines that al-Kaylāni addresses the society’s problems and calls the public opinion to understand them and find respective solutions. Utilizing a library research method, the present study analyses the narrative elements of al-Kābus short story anthology to explain his critical realistic style in addressing social issues. It is concluded that al-Kaylāni utilizes as the core of his realistic stories issues that are of an Islamic hue and contain a moral message, and writes a story which is short yet purposeful by means of elaborating the three elements of narrative, i.e. point of view, character and plot, more than other elements.

From among the Arabic alphabet, hamza is the only vowel with four orthographic variations of (alone), (above a wāw), (above and under an ‘alif) and (above a dotless yā). Such an orthographic variation for hamza has caused spelling problems for writers mainly those who write in both Arabic and Persian. The present article is to reach the following 1. Introducing the right orthography of hamza in the Arabic and Persian languages with reference to the authoritative books on the Arabic and Persian morphology and syntax together with rules of orthography which rely on the current orthographic methods employed by the competent writers; 2. Compiling hamza rules which are comprehensive yet easy to learn; 3. Clarifying the points of orthographic similarity and differences in the Arabic and Persian languages for those writing in both languages.

Designating Imam Ali (pbuh) as the successor of the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) is a source of Shia-Sunni split. To prove it, however, Shia provides arguments found in the Holy Qur’an, hadith (tradition), wisdom, and history. It is worth to consider works of literature on the issue as well, yet little research has been done in this respect. This issue has been dealt with in the present article. A study of the Arabic literature provides evidence of the fact that the succession of Imam Ali (pbuh) was certainly a notable event and reference to it can be found abundantly in the poetry of poets.

Abu Kabir al-Hudhali was a poet of the Pre-Islamic era who converted to Islam during the time of the holy Prophet (pbuh). He is famous for his fourfold odes with similar prologues. In his odes, he fully utilizes a complete ‘arūḍ meter. The central topic of his odes is the human being. The present article is an attempt to perform an inner analysis of only the first ode, in which the poet has used the time element in such a way that it has changed from a physical element to a poetic subject; that is to say, the element of time has influenced the poet’s emotions to the extent that it is clearly manifest in the text and content of his poem.