A Stylistic Comparison of Two Poems by Al-Buhturi and Al-Mutanabbi

Stylistics is a science that seeks to explore outstanding elements an author uses for a variety of purposes. Prominent elements,  similarities and differences could be shown by stylistics.  Prominent elements in the field of poetry appear at various levels including phonology, syntax, rhetoric, and eloquence. Al-Buhturi and Al-Mutanabbi are prominent poets of the Abbasid period, whose praise and love formed the basis of most of their poems. In the present study, we intend to compare two poems of the two poets, which are similar in terms of content, metre, and rhyme.. The investigation of the two odes involves three lexical, philosophical, and literary levels. At the lexical level, three points are considered: phonetic, words, and grammar. At the philosophical level, the intellectual dimension are taken into account. At the literary level, the expression of the topics from two poets and also the concepts they consider for their definition are considered. Our approach in this research is an adaptive analysis using library resources.The results of the study show that both poets have used syntagmatic and paradigmatic relations to express what was on their minds. The relationship between thinking and how to use these relationships leads to the individual style. Excessive use of the letter ‘a’ in Buhturi’s poem (Taif al-Habib Alam me Adovva) has also intensifiedthe emotional level of the poem. The verb is more noticeable in Buhturi’s poem than in Mutanabbi’s poem (Athal al-Awazil Howla Ghalbi Alta). The reason could be that Mutanabbi tends to emphasize and prove, but Buhturi seems to put a novel in front of the reader and tell a story. Each poem begins with a sonnet and ends with an eulogy. In addition,  there is a unity of the subject and harmony between the verses in both poems. But the unity of the subject could be more observed  in Mutanabbi’s poem because Buhturi’s poem has two parts: the first 5 verses are about the sonnet and the second 5 verses are about eulogy. But in Mutanabbi’s poem, each verse is related to the next verse. So, Mutanabbi’s poem is more integrated than Buhturi’s poem. Buhturi’s poem is in the form of oblique. For this reason, he has used metaphors and similes a lot, but Mutanabbi’s wording is direct, so he has used metaphors and similes less. There is no reason to believe that Mutanabbi was influenced by Buhturi. Both poets are very capable of expressing their concepts. Finally, the differences in the philosophical level as well as in the use of linguistic and artistic devices could be easily observed.