Reference of Predicates in Al-Maqsoura Poem by Al-Jawahiri

Abstract

The present study tackles the reference of predicates in the most famous poems of the Iraqi poet Muhammad Mahdi Al-Jawahiri, which is his poem that is known as Al-Maqsoura. Predicates occurred in many forms in this poem as known in the Arabic syntax. They were sometimes singular, which is the origin of predicates in Arabic. The singular predicate was sometimes definite and some other times, it was indefinite due to what the poet intended by virtue of the length of his poem and the richness of its content. Predicates were structured as a nominal sentence due to semantic reasons. They were also structured as verbal sentences to express the indications intended by the poet that only a verbal sentence could perform. In addition, predicates were sometimes structured as semi-sentences consisting either of an adverb or a prepositional phrase. The poet’s employments of predicates varied according to the possibilities provided by the language. Predicates were sometimes obligatorily topicalized, and permissibly in other positions. Predicates were also omitted in places where omission was more significant as is known from the eloquence of omission in the Arabic language when the meaning is drawn into the mind of the listener.