The Influence of the Political Situation in Palestine on Arabic Poetry from 1917-1973- by Khalid Abdullah Sulaiman Mohammad Thesis presented for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the University of London School of Oriental and African Studies November 1982 ProQuest Number: 10672742 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. uest ProQuest 10672742 Published by ProQuest LLC(2017). 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, Ml 4 8 1 0 6 - 1346 Abstract This work is concerned with Arabic poetry influenced by the Arab-Israeli conflict regarding Palestine from 1917 to 1973. Its main aim is to discuss how the subject of Palestine has, since 1917, been a source of inspiration to Arab poets, and to illuminate the various aspects of influence the conflict had on modern Arabic poetry. The thesis is divided, into two parts. Part, one consists of three chapters and deals with the poetry written up to 194-8. The conclusion reached in this part is that Arab poets1 concern about the'political situation of Palestine in the period between 1917 and 194-8 developed rapidly. Yet, aspects of influence of the conflict on poetry written during that period, are primarily limited to the level of introducing a number of themes as well as some new poetic vocabulary re­ lated to the subject. Part Two consists of four chapters and deals with the poetry written from 194-8 to 1973. The conclusion drawn from this part Is that the conflict, unlike the period preceding 194-8, has affected Arabic poetry in many ways with regard to mood, tone, attitudes and diction. Acknowledgements First of all, I must offer my deepest and sincerest thanks to Professor T.M. Johnstone for his painstaking and encouraging supervision, as well as for the personal support, advice and help' he has given me during the preparation of this thesis. I am grateful, too, to Dr. M.A.S. Haleem, with whom I started this thesis, for his kindness and encouragement, and to Dr. J. Abu Haidar of the School of Oriental and African Studies and to Dr. Salah Niazi .of the B.B.C., him­ self a distinguished poet, for their helpful discussions. My thanks also go to my friend Dr. Ibrahim al-Sa<af!n of al-Iarmuk University for his helpful consultation regarding the two bibliographies dealing with Arabic novels and plays written on the subject of Palestine. I should also like to thank Dr.. Helen Kanitkar of the School of Oriental and African Studies for linguistic assistance; my friend Abdullah al-Udhari for his helpful comments regarding some aspects of translation; Mr. Peter Colvin of the School of Oriental and African Studies Library; and Mrs. Barbara.Turfan and her husband N a tlm for providing me with some valuable articles. My sincere, thanks also go to my brothers as well as my brother-in-law for their financial help, which made it possible for me to complete this work. Last but not least I shall be for ever grateful to my wife for her patience and assistance with typing all the . drafts of this thesis, and to my children for understanding and tolerance well beyond their years, which has helped them bear with their father's preoccupation and absences during this period of research. iv Scheme of Transliteration 1 "> ( not transcribed in initial position) I—** b t th £ J C h kh t j d 0 dh j r . j 2 s & shJ.J. u° s ijo d t Js> z c t t gh ui f (J q til k J 1 r m O n The short vowels are transcribed a, i, Jb h and u; the long vowels a, 1 , and u ; 5 w and the diphthongs ay, aw . y Notes: (1) c at the end of words is not transcribed, e.g. warda. (2) The definite article is transcribed al- both before lunar and solar letters, e.g. u .. : al-shams, .all : al-qamar, etc. V Contents Abstract ii Acknowledgements .................... 1............. iii Scheme of Transliteration iv Introduction . .................. 1 Part One (1917-1948) Chapter I : The Representation of the Zionist Threat to Palestine in Arab Writing, 1897-1917...................... 5 Chapter II : The Place and the Poetry 31 (1) Palestine: Political Events and Historical Milestones, 1917-194-8 . , 31' (2) Palestinian Poetry; The Main Themes: 4-0 The Image of Great Britain .... 4-1 The Balfour Declaration ..... 53 Elegies of the ‘Dead .............. 59 Land-selling........................... 68 Criticism of the Palestinian Leadership 74- Prediction of Disaster ........... 80 Chapter III : The Widening C i r c l e ............... 85 (1) Arab Concern about the Palestine Problem, 1917-194-8: 85 Religious Factors . 86 National Factors .................. 91 Political and Economic Factors . 94- (2 ) Development of I n t e r e s t ........... 97 (3) Arab Poetry on Palestine 1917-194-8; its Orientation and Main Themes: . 105 Religiously Orientated Poetry. 114- The National Factor .............. 134- Praise of the Palestinian Arabs . 14-8 Condemnation of the Arab Leadership. 158 vi Part Two (1948-1973) Chapter IV : Reaping the Whirlwind ....... -175 (1) The Spread of Arab Involvement . 175 (2 ) The Development of Literary Concern for the Palestine C a u s e ............184 Chapter V : New Major Themes: 216 (1) The Palestinian Arab Refugees .... 216 (2) Longing for the Return ................ 234 (3) The Bitter Experience of Two Defeats , 247 (4) The Fida’I .............................. 269 Chapter VI : New Poetic Tools ...................... 283 (1) Symbols ................................ 285 (2) M y t h s ................................ 314 (3) Folk-elements ....... 335 (4) Diction ..... .................... 346 Chapter VII: The Impact of the Problem (1) On the Development of the Palestinian Literary Personality .................. 353 (2) On Modern Arabic P o e t r y ............379 Conclusion . .................. 394 Appendix I : Arabic Novels Reflecting the Palestine Issue, 1947-1973 397 Appendix II : Arabic Plays Reflecting the Palestine Issue, 1933-1973 403 Appendix III: Selected Poems on the theme of the Refugees ............. 410 Appendix IV : The Story of Qaraqush..................... 412 Bibliography........................... 417 1 Introduction Public themes, as Sir Cecil Maurice Bowra argues, have been common for centuries in many parts of the world, and the conscious avoidance of them by poets is more often the exception than the rule. He also adds that in our own century, with its "crowded records of wars international and civil, of social revolutions and awakening continents, poets can hardly be expected to. keep clear of politics in the general sense of contemporary public affairs". If these remarks apply, to some extent, to the poetry of many peoples, they are even more applicable to Arabic poetry throughout its history since the pre-Islamic period. Throughout this century, Arabs have been involved in the thorny problem of Palestine, This problem needless to stress, is one of the most difficult and stressful in the contemporary world; many people, from both East and West, are familiar with this question, and they often have strong opinions about it. Academic studies and scholarly works dealing with the many different aspects of the problem, the "Arab-Israeli conflict", as it is usually termed by Western writers, are numerous and readily available. Yet, as far as Arab lit­ erature is concerned, studies which discuss the representa­ tion of this conflict or its impact on Arabic literature are still far from sufficient. The purpose of this thesis, therefore, is to provide a comprehensive perspective of Arab poets’ responses to 1 C. M. Bowra, Poetry .and Politics, p.l. the most serious, problem their nation as a whole has ever faced in its modern history* Poets -and this is still an accepted fact among the Arabs- are regarded as the "conscience of the nation". Their verses represent that inmost, authentic voice through which the emotions, feelings and^ aspirations of the nation are poignantly expressed. Our aim also is to draw attention to the various influences the political situation in Palestine have had on modern Arabic poetry. The thesis is divided into two parts. Part I deals with poetry written up to 1948, and comprises three chapters. Chapter I serves as a background to the first part, and outlines the Zionist threat against Palestine, as reflected in Arabic writing between 1897 and 1917. Chapter II discusses the major themes of poetry written on the subject by Palestinian poets, while chapter III ' discusses the themes and orientation of poetry written by non-Palestinian Arab poets. The conclusion reached in part one is that the attention drawn to Palestine by Arab poets grew rapidly during the period 1917-1948, especially after 1929. However, the influence of the political situation in Palestine on poetry written before 1948 is primarily limited to the introduction of a number of new themes, as well as to the adoption of new poetic vocabulary related to the subject. Part Two consists of four chapters and covers the poetry written between 1948 and 1973. Chapter IV gives 3 a general picture of the development of Arab literary concern on the Palestine issue. Chapter V deals with the "predominant themes generated by the loss'of Palestine to the Jews. Chapter VI discusses the employment of new poetic tools, such as symbols, myths and folk-elements, in poetry written on the subject of Palestine.