Arabic Poetics in the Golden Age: Selection of Texts Accompanied by a Preliminary Study (Studies in Arabic Literature, 4) 9004042067, 9789004042063

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ARABIC POETICS IN THE GOLDEN AGE

STUDIES IN ARABIC LITERATURE SUPPLEMENTS TO THE JOURNAL OF ARABIC LITERATURE

EDITED BY M. M. BADA WI, University of Oxford P. CACHIA, University of Edinburgh M. C. LYONS, University of Cambridge ]. N. MATTOCK, University of Glasgow ]. T. MONROE, University of California, Berkeley

VOLUME IV

LEIDEN

E. J. BRILL 1975

ARABIC POETICS IN THE GOLDEN AGE SELECTION OF TEXTS ACCOMPANIED BY A PRELIMINARY STUDY

BY

VICENTE CANTARINO

LEIDEN

E.

J. BRILL 1975

ISBN

90 04

Copyright 1975 by E.

04206 7

J. Brill, Leiden, Netherlands

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or translated in any form, by print, photo print, microfilm, microfiche or any other means without written permission from the publisher PRINTED IN THE NETHERLANDS

Had this philosopher, Aristotle, found in the poetry ofthe Greeks what can be found in the poetry of the Arabs .... he could have said more than he did concerning the poetic rules. AL-QARTAJANNI (d. I28S) The Greeks are characterized by their philosophy, epic and dramatic compositions .... The Romans by establishing religious, civil, political, and economic laws .... The Indians by making up fictitious fables they placed in the mouths of animals .... The Arabs filled the world with poetry ... JIRJ! ZAYDAN (d. 1914)

CONTENTS Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . .

I

PRELIMINARY STUDY

I. Poetry and Religion . . . . II. Poetry: Diwan of the Arabs III. Poetry: Lie or Truth. . . . IV. Poetry: The Perfect Speech. V. Poetry: Science or Art. . . VI. Poetry: The Aristotelian Definition VII. Poetty: The Aristotelian Way of Analysis. VIII. Poetry: Imaginative Creativity . . . . .

9 20

27 41

55 63 70 80

TEXTS

Al-Mubarrad Introduction Epistle on Poetry. Al-Farabi Introduction . . . . . . Canons of the Art of Poetry. From Il:t~a) l-'ulum. Qudama Introduction . . . From N aqd ash-shi'r Al-'Askari Introduction . . . From Kitab a~-$ina'atain . Avicenna Introduction . . . From Kitdb ash-shi'r Ibn Rashiq Introduction . From al-'Umda

103 103 109 110

lI6 lI8 lI8 125

12 5

131 132

141 141

VIII

CONTENTS

Ibn Sin an al-Khafaji Introduction . From Sirr al-fa~ril:tah Al- J urjani Introduction . . . . . . . From Kitrib Asrrir al-Balrigha Averroes Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . From Talkhi~ Kitrib AristiUrilis fi sh-shicr Ibn al-Athir Introduction . . . . . From al-Mathal as-sri'ir Ibn Abu l-I;Iadid Introduction . . . . From Al-falak al-dri'ir AI-Qartajanni Introduction . . . . From Minhrij al-bulaghri' wa-sirrij al-udabri' Bibliographical Notes to the Texts . . . . . .

141 141 157 158 176 177 191 191 199 199 206 207 22I

INTRODUCTION There are few, if any, cultural achievements of mankind accompanied by such a clear and distinct feeling of their own value as the poetic literature of the Arabs. Arab writers often characterize civilizations and peoples by their special skills. Poetry and poetic accomplishments are always cited by them as their own most important characteristic and one that distinguishes them from all other peoples. This evaluation is corroborated by the extraordinary influence exerted by Arabic poetry in form and content on all the poetic literatures which came in contact with it: Persian, Turkish, Indostanic, and, indirectly, the Georgic are deeply influenced by Arabic poetry; medieval Hebrew poetry shows its influence; and even in the West it left its traces in the beginnings of the poetry of the Romance languages. However biased the Arabs may be in their admiration of their own poetic achievements, they were never the victims of an ineffective Narcissism. On the contrary, from the beginning Arabic writers and men of letters undertook a careful and detailed analysis of the poetic production of which they were so proud. At a very early date poetic texts became a basis for all studies related to the Arabic language: grammar, lexicography, stylistics, and rhetoric. The influence of Arabic poetry in general and more specifically of the earlier poetic compositions grew so overwhelming in Arabic Islam that it became a necessary key to the philological exegesis even of the holy text of the Koran. Arabic poetry has always been, moreover, the basis of linguistic and humanistic training throughout the history of Arabic culture for native Arabs as well as for all converts to Islam during the centuries of its expansion. The profound awareness of Arab men of letters of the religious and cultural importance of their poetic compositions forced them ar a very early date to gather and codify them in anthologies and collections in order to facilitate their study. This was the beginning of Poetics. The concrete linguistic aims which determined the beginnings of Arabic literary and poetic criticism also imposed a fundamental direction on the Arabic analysis of poetry; namely, the importance given to its philological and linguistic evaluation and to the study of the rhetorical devices and prosodic techniques used in poetic I

2

INTRODUCTION

compositions. Consequently Arabic studies of poetry have in the main been traditionally more critical and aesthetic than philosophical, more pragmatic than theoretical, more prosodic and rhetorical then strictly poetic. This practical trend in Arabic literary studies has usually been considered an essential and characteristic aspect of Arabic poetic criticism to the almost total neglect of all others. Yet Arab literary critics, men of letters, and philosophers have often shown their awareness that even for them the poetic experience could also be considered as going beyond the rhythmic and rhymed forms in which it is expressed and even beyond the conceptual content found in them. Hence their quest for formulations which would define the essence of the poetic phenomenon. It is in this connection that one must turn to the problem of the Greek, more precisely the Aristotelian, influence on the origins and development of Arabic poetic theory. We know that Aristotle's works were translated into Arabic at a very early date; but when we refer to Aristotle's enormous popularity among the Arabs, we must keep in mind that this was mostly the case with philosophers and scientists, not with writers and litterateurs. Arabic poetic disciplines derived, to be sure, from a different approach and were basically the result of efforts made by philologians who were considering and stUdying Arabic poetic compositions only. Under the influence of the Aristotelian writings, however, Arab men of letters were often able to develop their own quest for a definition of poetry and to formulate their observations in a different, more logical vocabulary. Although their conclusions frequently revealed a remarkable insight into the nature of the poetic phenomenon, they often remained ineffectual, lost in the more traditional and vigorous stream of writings emphasizing the rhetorical and formal evaluation of poetry. In dealing with the Arabic essays which were more directly influenced by Aristotelian writings, Western scholars had as their main concern the Arabic role in the transmission of Aristotelian doctrines. Thus their studies often ended as an enumeration of departures from, and misunderstandings of, the veritas aristotelica. Justifiable as this approach might be, it ignores the fact that these Arab scholars were trying to analyse the poetic quality of Arabic compositions in the light of Aristotelian terminology understood in their own terms. To ignore this tends to belittle beyond all reason the intelligence and achievements of the most distinguished writers

INTRODUCTION

3

and philosophers in Arabic cultural history and, in fact, neglects their worthy contribution to the analysis of poetry; for it is under Greek influence that their traditional considerations on the nature of poetry reached a depth seldom matched in other poetic theories. Their inability to change poetic trends or rhetorical tendencies of subsequent literary critics should not be used to their discredit; for they too, in a typically Aristotelian attitude, were intent on observing and studying poetic compositions in the search for philosophical and theoretical formulation. They were not trying to impose an aesthetic direction on poets in their compositions or on philologians in their studies. In the following pages, an attempt will be made to show the various approaches taken by Arab men of letters in their definition of the poetic phenomenon. Overlooking the problem of a grammatical or even an aesthetic evaluation of concrete compositions that so often carries the greatest weight in their writings on literary criticism, I will concentrate on an analysis of the Arabic answer to the question: 'What is poetry?'. It is one thing to say why and to what extent a verse or a poetic composition is grammatically, prosodically, rhetorically, and even aesthetically acceptable, and another to attempt the determination of poetic elements in a given composition. Only the latter constitutes the essence of a poetic analysis. One of the problems scholars face in studying Arabic teachings on poetic theory is the lack of system in the treatises written by Arab literary critics who, in spite of their intellectual and cultural merits, do not seem to have had a proper interest in an organic presentation of the subject. Thus topics which may now be considered of essential importance are either not treated at all or have been given only passing mention. Quite frequently, too, they appear in an order or place that implies to our more structurized way of thinking that they were only given secondary attention. A typical case is Ibn (Abd Rabbih (d. 940) in his (Iqd al-Farid (The Unique Necklace). He composed it as a greatly elaborated structure dealing with studies of 'good behavior'; yet he gave poetry a seemingly undistinguished place at the end of this book in the last one of its twenty-five sections. A similar objection could be raised against Ibn Qutaiba's (d. 88g) (Uyiin al-Akhbar, in which his treatise on 'Science and Eloquence', which includes some chapters on poetry, also received an undistinguished place toward the end of his work

4

INTRODUCTION

between his treatment of 'Natural Dispositions and Characteristics Reprehensible' in man and that of 'Abstinence'. In works primarily concerned with eloquence or good style, the situation is at times somewhat different. In them one mayor may not find specific chapters dedicated to the special presentation of poetic eloquence as such. The reason for this is that, since poetic texts always provide the overwhelming majority of source and quotation material for the study of eloquence and stylistics in general, Arab men of letters prefer to make their observations and comments on poetry as they occur rather than in special chapters. Another problem, more cumbersome even than this apparent lack of a logical presentation, is the characteristic inability of Arabic poetic analysis to replace old trends and attitudes with new theories. As in a river where new waters from its tributaries run mixed with the old, Arabic treatises on poetry often add new concepts without rejecting old ones which thus continue almost unchanged throughout the centuries of the history of Arabic literary criticism. It is worth noting that they do not consist simply of anachronistic repetition, but are on a different level in a multifaceted theory of poetry in a culture in which poetry has always been considered a linguistic expression of supreme perfection, and knowledge easily achieves a timeless worth. Thus our consideration of Arabic poetics takes the form of a point representing the proud consideration of Arabic poetic compositions, which sends forth branches representing the diversification of aspects expounded by various authors each of whom may often present all of them with equal validity. From the chronological point of view, the productivity in Arabic literary theory forms a curve that roughly coincides with that of other studies in the Arab world and represents the socalled Golden Age of Islam, usually considered to extend from the ninth through the twelfth centuries, having a rapid beginning and a painful and slow decline. The modern renaissance, which can be clearly observed today in Arab culture and thus also in its literary awareness, is less of a continuation of a great heritage and more of a product of Western civilization then many Arab men of letters would like to admit. Also modern Arab literary theory is more a ramification of the European than a development from the traditional Arabic. For these reasons, instead of proceeding in a chronological manner in which various levels would lose their relevance, I will discuss

INTRODUCTION

5

Arabic poetics from the point of view of the various attempts at a definition of poetry given by Arab literary critics. In this way, it will be easier to perceive the basic currents in the history of Arabic poetics. In the second part of the study, I have chosen several of the authors most representative in the creation and presentation of an Arabic poetic theory. Most of them are offered here for the first time translated into any Western language. These selections should give the reader an opportunity for a more direct acquaintance with Arabic literature on poetic criticism.

PRELIMINARY STUDY

CHAPTER ONE

POETRY AND RELIGION The beginnings of poetry are always connected with a distinct consciousness of speech as a means of expression; those of poetics are necessarily dependent on the awareness that language has been used in a special way. The later development of both, however, is often conditioned to the role granted in any given culture to the appreciation of both. This is the case in Arabic. The origins of Arabic poetry, and even the first conscious reflection on poetry, may definitely be placed before Islam and in all probability long before any written documentation. Its recording and later development was definitely determined by the role granted to language and poetry by the socalled Arabo-Muslim civilization. This is of such a special nature that no study of language and poetry in Islam can be made without paying direct attention to the genesis and nature of linguistic consciousness of this civilization, as there is no other event of greater importance for the Arabic language than the rise of Islam. The holy Koran, the prophetic Revelation, represented God's ultimate favor, raf:z,ma, to the Arabs who, unlike Jews and Christians, did not possess a Scripture revealing the Divine Will and Ordinance of the Woild. The Koranic revelation was thus primarily aimed at the Arabs; hence the insistence we find in it on the linguistic fact that the Koran 'is speech Arabic, manifest' (K. 16.105), 'in a clear, Arabic tongue' (K. 26.195) and that Mu1;tammad, the Prophet, was an Arab, 'a messenger from among themselves' (K. 3. 1 58). Islam began as a religious and social movement among the Arabs who, upon their conversion, were supposed to undergo a basically religious process that we may call Islamization. The Prophet was addressing primarily his fellow countrymen and only religious and moral tenets were emphasized. The formal acceptance of Islam and its prophet, Mu1;tammad, was, during this time, the only characteristic of the new community. With the beginnings of territorial expansion beyond the geographical and cultural borders of the Arabic peninsula a reversal of this early attitude set in which remained the definitive and most

IO

PRELIMINARY STUDY

characteristic trend in Islam, namely, a process of Arabization. In it, the neophytes, the great majority no longer of Arabic stock, were not only expected to accept the new religion but also its Arabic form and interpretation. Thus in the minds and emotions of Muslims from the first generations of converts an alliance of the new religion with its Arabic linguistic and cultural background was established that determined all future trends in the cultural history of the Arab-Muslim civilization. Even the later development of the idea of Islamic universality and Islam's catholic destiny in the world did not alter the basic fact that Islam was born in Arabia, in an Arabic world, and as an Arabic religion. From the religious point of view, this acceptance of an Arabic background provided Islam with a national sense, the effects of which can be clearly seen down to our day. From the cultural point of view, Islam determined the destiny of Arabic language and of the Arabic, even pre-Islamic, cultural background and the role both played in the cultural and literary development of all peoples that accepted the Islamic religion. If Islam was God's inspired religion, and the holy Koran His revelation to the Prophet, Arabic was the means God used to express His will. In this religious context it is not surprising to see the efforts made by early Muslims to gather and collect the extant fragments of the divine revelation which had been kept by pious companions of the Prophet and to record in writing those passages previously kept only in their memories; nor is the linguistic character that this religious enterprise had from the start surprising for all its cultural significance. The first effort, made by early generations of Muslims, is precisely centered on the fixation of the text of the divine revelation and its purification from corruptions caused by the faulty memory of early generations of Arab converts and by the lack of linguistic feeling of new non-Arab Muslims. The traditions surrounding the early recensions of the sacred text made during the time of the first caliphs and the historical problems they present are well known. The doubts cast by modern scholars on the assumption that Abii Bakr made the first official recension of the Koranic text are of little relevance for this study. It is also irrelevant to affirm or deny the ulterior political motives which may have caused the third caliph