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Tribal Poetics in Early Arabic Culture: the Case of Ash'ār Al-Hudhaliyyīn

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Tribal Poetics in Early Arabic Culture: the Case of Ash'ār Al-Hudhaliyyīn THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO TRIBAL POETICS IN EARLY ARABIC CULTURE: THE CASE OF ASHʿĀR AL-HUDHALIYYĪN A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE DIVISION OF THE HUMANITIES IN CANDIDACY FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY DEPARTMENT OF NEAR EASTERN LANGUAGES AND CIVILIZATIONS BY NATHANIEL ASHTON MILLER CHICAGO, ILLINOIS JUNE 2016 ProQuest Number: 10129555 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. ProQuest 10129555 Published by ProQuest LLC (2016). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, MI 48106 - 1346 To my grandmother, Rebecca Willing Ashton Goss and the memory of my grandfather Harry Lee Goss, who both always supported me and my studies with their love and attention, I affectionately dedicate this work. Table of Contents List of Tables .............................................................................................................................................. vi List of Maps .............................................................................................................................................. vii List of Figures ......................................................................................................................................... viii Abbreviations ............................................................................................................................................ ix Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................................... x Introduction ................................................................................................................................................ 3 1. Najd and the Ḥijāz: Moving from Pre-Islamic Poetry to Early Arabic Regional Social Practice .................................................................................................................................................... 4 2. Who Are Hudhayl? ............................................................................................................................. 8 3. Literature Review ............................................................................................................................ 15 4. Assessment ....................................................................................................................................... 24 5. Framework of the Dissertation ...................................................................................................... 28 6. A Note on Authenticity ................................................................................................................... 30 7. A Note on Romanization/Transliteration .................................................................................... 32 Chapter 1: Tribalism and the Development of Arabic Poetry in Late Antiquity ............................ 34 1.1. Introduction: Tribalism and Arabic Literary History .............................................................. 34 1.2. Non-Arabic and Epigraphic Reference Points .......................................................................... 43 1.2.1. Nomadic Arabia and the Near Eastern Empires Before the Sixth Century .................. 43 1.2.2. Nomadic Arabia and the Near Eastern Empires in the Sixth Century and Beyond .... 59 1.3. The Historical Development of Arabic Poetry in Light of Non-Arabic Sources .................. 73 1.4. The Emergence of Poetry among the Tribes of the Ḥijāz ....................................................... 88 1.4.1. The Ḥijāz and Najd ................................................................................................................ 88 1.4.2. Urban Ḥijāzī Poets ................................................................................................................. 99 1.4.3. Nomadic Ḥijāzī Poets .......................................................................................................... 108 1.5. Conclusions .................................................................................................................................. 120 Chapter 2: The Warrior Aristocracy: A Flexible Hierarchy ............................................................. 122 2.1. Introduction: Poetry’s Role in the Flexible Tribal Hierarchy .............................................. 122 2.2. The Role of Poetry in Negotiating Intertribal Hierarchy ..................................................... 131 2.2.1. Flexible Absolutes: Lineage and Alliance ......................................................................... 131 2.2.2. Flexible Absolutes: Egalitarianism and Hierarchy ......................................................... 137 iii 2.3. The Northeast Arabian/Najdī Model of the Warrior Aristocracy: Between Court and Tribe ..................................................................................................................................................... 145 2.3.1. Equestrianism in Combat and Hunting ............................................................................ 147 2.3.2. Weaponry and Wealth ........................................................................................................ 158 2.3.3. Wine ...................................................................................................................................... 165 2.4. The Hudhalī/ Southwest Arabian Model of the Warrior Aristocracy ................................ 170 2.4.1. The Social Role of Poetry in Negotiating Lineage and Alliance among Hudhayl ...... 177 2.4.2. Anti-Equestrianism: The Ṣuʿlūk as a Regional Phenomenon ........................................ 188 2.4.3. Egalitarian Praise ................................................................................................................ 200 2.4.4. Wealth and Women in Hudhayl’s Poetry: Luxury, Gender and Ambivalence ........... 210 2.4.5. The Death of the Warrior Aristocrat ................................................................................ 230 2.5. Conclusions .................................................................................................................................. 238 Chapter 3: Representations of Tribal Geography: Seasonal Rains, Migration and Trade Patterns .................................................................................................................................................................. 244 3.1. Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 244 3.2. On Tribal Geography .................................................................................................................. 245 3.3. The Northern Arabic Nomadic Year ........................................................................................ 252 3.3.1. The Northern Arabian Nomadic Year: Ethnographic Considerations ........................ 252 3.3.2. The Northern Arabian Nomadic Year: Anwāʾ ................................................................. 260 3.3.3. The Northern Arabian Nomadic Year: Evidence from Archeology and Non-Arabic Sources ............................................................................................................................................ 266 3.4. Hudhayl’s Poetic Geography ..................................................................................................... 273 3.4.1. Hudhayl’s Poetic Geography: Anwāʾ, Rain Storms, the Red Sea................................... 275 3.4.2. Hudhayl’s Poetic Geography: Seasonal Migration ......................................................... 289 3.4.3. Hudhayl’s Poetic Geography: Trade, Commodities, Markets ....................................... 298 3.5. Conclusions: Ḥijāzī Regionalism Before and After the Conquests ...................................... 305 Chapter 4: Hudhayl’s Regional Stylistics and Intertribal Intertextuality ..................................... 311 4.1. Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 311 4.2. The Hudhalī Nasīb as Paradigm for Intertribal Intertextuality .......................................... 316 4.3. The Hudhalī Fate Elegy: Najdī Inception, Adoption in Hudhayl and Early Development .............................................................................................................................................................. 335 iv 4.4. The Hudhalī Fate Elegy: Abū Dhuʾayb’s Intertextual Grief ................................................... 354 4.4.1. Abū Dhuʾayb’s Elegy: Historical Background .................................................................. 354 4.4.2. Abū Dhuʾayb’s Elegy: Translation ..................................................................................... 358 4.4.3. Abū Dhuʾayb’s Elegy: Introduction ................................................................................... 365 4.4.3. Abū Dhuʾayb’s
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