Durham E-Theses Three Libyan poets of the 20th century a study of their political poetry Abu Dib, Sed M. How to cite: Abu Dib, Sed M. (1980) Three Libyan poets of the 20th century a study of their political poetry, Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/8045/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk Three Libyan Poets of the 20th Century A Study of Their Political Poetry by Sed M Abu Dib The copyright of this thesis rests with the author No quotation from it should be published without his prior written consent and information derived from it should be acknowledged Thesis submitted to the Faculty of Arts in the University of Durham for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy School of Oriental Studies, Elvet Hill, 1980 Durham. •la. To My Daughters 'Abir and Ibtihal 1 ABSTRACT The present study consists of three parts, together with anthology of Libyan political poetry Its aim is to deal with the surviving political works of three well-known modern poets, Ahmad al-Shanf, Ahmad Rafiq and Ahnad Qanabah To be precise, it deals only with their political works which were composed during the Italian and British occupations from 1911 to 1951 The first part provides biographical sketches of the above- mentioned poets, their career and circumstances Chapter I deals with Ahmad al-Sharif's life, the second with Ahmad Rafiq's and the third with Ahmad Qanabah's Because their lives spanned the second half of the nineteenth and the first half of the twentieth centuries, the second part gives a comprehensive picture of the environment in which the poets lived. Chapter I describes Libya under the second Ottoman period from 1835 to 1911, paying particular attention to certain historical events which helped in developing political life in Libya at the time Chapter II and III deal with the Italian and British occupations from 1911 to 1951, laying great emphasis on the socio-economic, educational and political conditions as the main factors which formed their outlook and personality and affected their poetry In the light of these two parts, the third part studies the political trends in their poetry, Ottomamsm and Islam, patriotism and Arabism successively In Chapter I a general survey is made on the development of modern Libyan poetry Chapter II examines the Ottoman and Islamic trend in their works Chapter III deals with the patriotic trend Chapter IV studies the trend of Arabism Finally, Chapter V assesses the aesthetic value of their political poetry and its style n TABLE OF CONTENTS Pages Abstract i Table of Contents n Acknowledgements iv Preface v Table of Transliterations ix Abbreviations x PART ONE (The Lives of Three Libyan Poets) Introduction 1 Chapter One The Life of Ahmad Ahmad al-Sharif 7 Chapter Two The Life of Ahmad RafTq al-MahdawT 18 Chapter Three The Life of Ahmad Ahmad Oanabah 30 PART TWO (Historical Background) Chapter One Libya during the Second Ottoman Period (1835-1911) 43-85 Historical Background 43 Political Life 49 Socio-Econonnc Life 57 Educational Life 64 The SanusTyah Movement (1840-1911) 74 The Press in Libya (1866-1911) 80 The Ottoman Constitution of 1908 83 Chapter Two Libya during the Italian Occupation (1911-1943) 85-141 Historical Background 86 Political Life 93 Socio-Economic Life 105 Education, Culture, the Press 114 The Libyan Patriotic Resistance 126 The First and Second World Wars 135 Chapter Three Libya under the British Military Administration (1943-19r)l) 142-151 A General View 14? The Political Development from 1943-49 145 The Establishment of the Libyan Political Parties 146 m PART THREF (The Political Poetry of Three Libyan Poets) Between 1911-1951 Chapter One The Modern Poetical Movement in Libya 152-195 The Political and Literary Revival Movements in Modern Arabic History 15? The Modern Poetical Movement in Libya 161 Political Poetry (its historical background) 186 Libyan Political Poetry (its development) 189 Its Aspects 192 Chapter Two The Ottoman and Islamic Trend in their Poetry 196 Chapter Three The Patriotic Trend in their Poetry 218 Chapter Four The Trend of Arabisn in their Poetry 271 Chapter Five The Poetic Technique of their Political Poetry 30? Conclusion 333 Anthology of their Political Poetry 1911-1951 339 Bibliography 362 IV ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I wish, in the first place, to record a large debt I have owed over the years to my supervisor Dr R W J Austin for his very considerable patience and understanding His support has been invaluable and so has the advice I have been fortunate to receive from him I would like to thank the University of Al-Fatah of Tripoli for its financial support which enabled me to make this study possible. fly thanks are also due to the staff of the Oriental Section of Durham University Library Finally, I would like to thank Mrs. A Lavery for typing this thesis - V - PREFACE Mu'Tn BesTso says, "when the world starts to know about us through the faces of our poets and artists, it will be the first step in our journey towards the world. At the same time it will be the beginning of the world's journey to us"J This is certainly true in the case of Libya. Many, particularly the people of the West, knew Libya recently through its oil fields which changed its economic and social face in the sixties. But very few know the name of a poet or writer who took part, as the fighters did, in forming the political features of Libya during the first half of the twentieth century. It is true that the Western world knew Libya in the beginning of the present century through some of its historical events. For instance, when she was invaded by Italian troops in 1911 and made a battleground by the fighting forces during the First World War, 1916-18. When 'Umar al-Mukhtar set up his Armed Resistance Movement against the Italians in Cyrenaica for about a decade, 1923-31 and when she was a theatre of war between the Allied and Axis forces during World War II, 1939-45. But the Western world and even the Arab and Islamic world, with the exception of a very few intellectuals, did not know the voices of the Libyan poets and writers who were prominent in the literary field in Libya exactly as those who were famous in the theatre of struggle during the above-mentioned period Among the many reasons for this, it could be, as Ma'Tn BesTso says, the fact that "in several stages of history, the political events 1. Mu'Tn, B., 'Itr al-ard wa al-nas fT al-sh'ir al-LibT al-mu'a$ir, (Tripoli, 196?) p.5. - VI - of this country or that one are greater than a poem, a play, a story or a painting m1 In fact, Libyan poetry is still unknown, not only in the West, but also in the Arab world. In addition to a very few scattered articles and essays on the subject, a handful of books have been written in the Arabic Language These have been mostly written by Arab writers. Some comprehensive accounts of the lives and poetical works of a few Libyan poets appeared in books by 'All Mustafa al- Mi§uratTand KhalTfah al-TellisT, who are Libyan writers. But these books were briefly and often inadequately discussed in more general studies in Arabic. Therefore,much is still to be done in the study of modern Libyan poetry, rather than of the few poets themselves There are still many poetical themes which have not yet received the attention of critics and scholars. If there are some studies on modern Libyan poetry, most of these are articles and essays. So, the aim of the present study is to fill a part of that gap by dealing with a particular poetical theme, namely Libyan political poetry during the Italian and British occupations, from 1911 to 1951. It is an attempt to study the national struggle of Libya not only from historical books, but also from that effusive stream of political poetry by which the Libyan poets inflamed the spirit of patriotism, crystallised national feelings and directed national goals towards freedom and independence. It is an attempt to point out the political role played by the Libyan poets during the colonial period and their national contribution to the liberation of their country. 1. Ibid., p.4. - vn - In fact, Libyan political poetry is not yet collected as a whole and, unfortunately, will not become available, because most of the political poems, particularly those composed during the Italian occupation, were lost In the course of the thirty-two years of Italian domination, strenuous efforts were made by the Italian authorities to kill everything associated with the Arabic language and Islamic culture in Libya.