Poetry and Poetics in Medieval Arabic Discourse

CHAPTER 2 Poetry and Poetics in Medieval Arabic Discourse

In chapter 2 I present a bibliographical review of some modern historical works, in Arabic and English, concerned with the workings of poetry in the cru- sader era, namely, its relevance, function, and appeal in the course of the anti- Frankish jihād. I include poetry in a historiographical framework, draw on the ‘historical’ value of poetry in a significant historiographical context, and coun- ter the often-held modern view that Arabic poetry in this period was a mere cultural artefact.

Historiographical Considerations

Poetry enjoyed the highest status in medieval Arabic culture. Men of adab were famed for having memorised large amounts of jāhilī (pre-Islamic) and early Islamic poetry; indeed it was a vital part of the traditional education of a lit- terateur (adīb).1 The intellectual entourage of Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn, most prominently al-Qāḍī l-Fāḍil and ʿImād al-Dīn al-Iṣfahānī, were skilled poets of their time. Texts like al-Mutanabbī’s Dīwān and Abū Tammām’s Ḥamāsa were memorised in their entirety by rulers who sought to draw inspiration from ideals of courtly virtue, chivalry, and religious mores. Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn, for example was believed to have memorised the Ḥamāsa in full and carry with him Usāma b. Munqidh’s Dīwān. The composer of a powerful and meaningful qaṣīda (ode) was considered indispensable in the court, as someone who was able to convey the political will of the ruler. The qaṣīda can be seen symbolically as

a formal testimony to the legitimacy of political authority. In its move- ment from chaos to order, from affliction to deliverance, from isolation to integration, the glory of the social order is proclaimed. Society and its values, present in the person of the ruler, are recreated triumphantly by

1 See M. Zwettler, The Oral Tradition of Classical Arabic Poetry: Its Character and Implication (Columbia: Ohio State University Press, 1978), 3–39; R. M. A. Allen, An Introduction to Arabic Literature (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000), 71.

the replay of symbolical events and the utterance of liturgical formulae of praise.2

The function of the poet was not limited to composing celebratory verses in the event of a victory; poetry was more eclectic, suitable for any kind of scenario including defeat – to encourage the faithful, to lampoon the enemy or exonerate the ruler. Poets saw themselves as “spokesmen of Islam” whose poetic “press campaigns” sought to echo Qurʾānic ideals and formulas.3 Some scholars have focused on the ‘origins’ of poetic themes to highlight how indi- vidual poets may have been guided by an array of potential influences, be they religious (with reference to the large corpus of Islamic material) or political. It is entirely relevant, therefore, to apply some of the same standards of analysis to poetry as one would for other material. Contextualising poetry in the political, socio-religious, and economic conditions at the time of its composition enables us to see the works as more than cultural artefacts; both chronicles and poetry were products of their time, shaped by the events that they described. It is unreasonable to assume, in light of the growing entitlements of the ci- vilian elite (aʿyān) and the relationships of scholarly companionship (ṣuḥba/ mulāzama) that formed (and allowed for the transfer of ideas) between mem- bers of different backgrounds, that poets believed themselves to be entirely bound by the outlooks of their respected patrons. Not all poets were in fact dependent on patrons. Poetry thus holds a valuable position in Arab culture and society. Considered to be the “quintessential Arabic literary achievement,” Hitti notes that

no people in the world, perhaps, manifest such enthusiastic admiration for literary expression and are so moved by the word, spoken or written, as the Arabs…. Modern audiences in Baghdād, Damascus and Cairo can be stirred to the highest degree by the recital of poems, only vaguely com- prehended, and by the delivery of orations in the classical tongue, though it be only partially understood. The rhythm, the rhyme, the music, pro- duce on them the effect of what they call “lawful magic.”4

2 S. Sperl, Mannerism in Arabic Poetry: A Structural Analysis of Selected Texts (3rd Century AH/9th Century AD–5th Century AH/11th Century AD) (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004), 26. 3 Gabrieli, ‘Religious Poetry in Early Islam,’ 6–7. 4 Hitti, History of the Arabs, 90. Also see Hillenbrand, The Crusades, 297.