Arabic Tradition Research Articles

The art of Naqd: communicating critique in Arabic thought for teacher training in Arabia

ABSTRACT This article explores Naqd, critique in Arabic thought, emphasizing its significance for teacher training in the Arab Gulf countries. Naqd, a practice grounded in Arabic intellectual tradition, has almost slipped into obscurity due to the overwhelming influence of the Westernization of higher education. The article responds by re-examining Naqd’s historical and conceptual origins and relevance to contemporary pedagogy. It addresses the urgent need to re-integrate Naqd into teacher education programs to offset the prevalence of Western approaches. It explores key concepts such as Tamhis, Tamyeez, and Taqyeem and Taqweem. By tracing Naqd’s development from pre-Islamic oral traditions to its role in Islamic scholarship and jurisprudence, the article proposes a pedagogical and conceptual framework to revitalize Arabic epistemes and foster a culturally responsive approach. The aim is to restore the balance by integrating Naqd’s dialectical lexicon with culturally and epistemologically relevant practices into teacher education programs in the GCC academia.

A Path from Beholding Ephebe to Shāhid-bāzī: A Case Study of a Topos in Azeri Turkic Ṣūfī Poetry

This paper examines the expression of homoerotic desire towards young boys and its metaphysical reflection, the shāhid-bāzī / naẓar-bāzī tradition, within Azeri Turkic Ṣūfī poetry. It comparatively analyses elements of this tradition alongside the contemplation of ephebe in Greek tradition. The shāhid-bāzī traces its roots back to the controversial prophetic saying known as ḥadīth al-ru’yah. Its precursors offer a wide range of images within the historical and religious-mythological contexts of Greek, Arabic, and Persian traditions. The paper argues that while the male beloved derived main metaphors from these traditions, Ḥurūfism, as an ideological undercurrent in Azeri poetry, added specific lettrist and calligraphic features to this depiction. The male beloved in Azeri poetry has been classified into several types, including Christian and Zoroastrian boys, Turkish warriors, cup-bearers, schoolboys, and adult beloveds. This paper explores the appearance and clothing of the male beloved, his primary metaphors, and explains the use of female epithets in the depiction of male beauty.

A Semiotic Analysis of Nationalism in Bakatsir's 'Biladaka Ya Hatta' through Riffaterre's Theory

This study analyzes Ali Ahmad Bakatsir’s Biladaka Ya Hatta using Michael Riffaterre’s semiotic theory to explore themes of nationalism during Indonesia’s independence struggle. The poem, rich in metaphor, enjambment, and symbolic language, portrays both the spiritual and political dimensions of Indonesia’s fight for freedom. Through Riffaterre’s heuristic and hermeneutic reading methods, the research uncovers how the poem's surface meanings evolve into deeper interpretations. Bakatsir’s strategic use of language highlight’s themes of patriotism and unity, with vivid imagery such as "heaven and lake" evoking Indonesia's natural beauty, and "the blowing storm of disaster" emphasizing the nation's enduring hardships. The poem’s intertextuality bridges classical Arabic literary traditions with Indonesia’s contemporary socio-political context, linking the fight for national identity to broader global struggles, including solidarity with Palestine. This fusion of cultural influences underlines the poem’s ongoing relevance in shaping national consciousness. Through Riffaterre’s semiotic framework, the study reveals how Biladaka Ya Hatta transcends mere patriotic sentiment, offering a complex, multilayered narrative of resistance and collective memory. The poem’s linguistic richness, interwoven with psychological and cultural significance, underscores its importance in both personal and national identity formation. The research demonstrates the enduring relevance of semiotic analysis in literary studies and its adaptability in exploring works that engage with themes of nationalism and social transformation.

From Explication to Order: The Persian Vernacularization of Arabic Rhetoric

Abstract This article explores the vernacularization of Arabic rhetorical embellishments by Persian rhetoricians, presenting it as an early instance of comparative literary theory emerging through translation. Focusing on the organizational figurative device laff-va-nashr (“wrapping up and rolling out”), I trace its adaptation from Arabic rhetorical sources into fourteenth-century Persian rhetorical manuals. The discussion addresses the complexities of the coexistence of laff-va-nashr and tafsīr in Persian rhetorical handbooks and examines the subtle innovations Persian rhetoricians introduced to this figure. By charting its transformation from an author-oriented device (tafsīr) to a reader-oriented one (laff-va-nashr), this study highlights a significant example of cross-fertilization between philology, translation, literary theory, and hermeneutics in Persian rhetoric. Ultimately, this comparative analysis of Persian and Arabic rhetorical traditions serves as a preliminary step toward understanding Islamic balāgha as an intrinsically multilingual poetics.

ŠARḤ FARĀ'ID AL-FAWĀ'ID LI TAḤQĪQ MA‘ĀNĪ AL-ISTI‘ĀRA (KOMENTARA KORISNIH BISERA U VALORIZACIJI ZNAČENJA METAFORA) ḤUSAYNA AL-ISBA‘ĪJA

<p>This paper analyzes and comments on the first chapter of the manuscript <i>Sharḥ Farā'id al-Fawā'id li Taḥqīq Ma‘ānī al-Isti‘āra</i> by Ḥusayn al-ʻIsbaʻī al-Sārāyī, a renowned Bosnian author active in Sarajevo. In this work, al-Isbaʻī sought to summarize key elements of Arabic stylistic discipline known as ‘ilm al-bayān, drawing upon the works of previous scholars and following the classical method of scholarly writing of that era, which involved citing, comparing, and preferring the opinions of other scholars.</p> <p>Al-Isbaʻī’s work is significant as it provides insight into Bosnian scholars’ engagement with classical Arabic stylistics. It is divided into three main parts, metaphorically titled "necklaces" (Arabic: al-‘iqd), with each necklace further divided into subchapters or "pearls" (Arabic: al-farīda). The first necklace contains six pearls, the second four, and the third five.</p> <p>The post-classical period of linguistic studies in the Arab world was marked by stagnation, later referred to by scholars as <i>al-inḥiṭāt</i> (decline or regression). This stagnation is also reflected in Arabic stylistics, where most authors primarily wrote commentaries on works from the 11th and 12th centuries. Ḥusayn al-ʻIsbaʻī's work is such a commentary, inspired by <i>al-Risāla al-Samarqandiyya</i> by 'Abū Layṯ al-Samarqandī, an important predecessor in the Arabic stylistic tradition.</p>

The desert, poetry and Ibn ʿArabī

ABSTRACT This study presents a view of the desert as a dynamic tapestry of subtle detail and immense divinity. Beginning with pre-Islamic poetry and continuing through medieval Sufi poetry, the desert has been a site and source of poetic creation, embodying endurance through the aṭlāl motif, shifting sands, and transient features—a testament to spatial and temporal evanescence. While this essay sheds light on the literary legacy of the early Arabic poetic tradition through the muʿallaqah of Labīd (560–661), as reflected in the Sufi poetry of Ibn ʿArabī (1165–1240), it also highlights their points of divergence. Ibn ʿArabī’s Tarjumān al-ashwāq, which elucidates a sublime spiritual experience beyond the earthly realm, draws extensively on early Arabic verses that chant the traces of lost love within the desert landscape. Particularly significant are the ways in which the concept of the trace is understood in Sufi thought and the inherent untranslatability of the Sufi experience.

A Comparative Study of the Translated Arabic Versions of the Novel ‘To the Lighthouse’ under Feminist Translation Theory

This paper, A Comparative Study of the Translated Arabic Versions of the Novel to the Lighthouse under Feminist Translation Theory, examines the influence of feminist translation theory on the interpretation of Virginia Woolf’s iconic novel. It focuses on two Arabic translations, both completed by female translators, to investigate how gender, cultural context, and personal experiences shape the depiction of Woolf’s female characters and the feminist themes central to her work. The study delves into the translators’ individual backgrounds and feminist ideologies, exploring how their perspectives and the sociocultural dynamics of the Arab world influence translation decisions. By analyzing shifts in language, tone, and narrative emphasis, it reveals how these translations navigate the challenges of preserving Woolf’s feminist voice while resonating within the framework of Arabic literary traditions. The paper also investigates the interplay between power relations, societal norms, and translation strategies, highlighting the translators’ efforts to balance fidelity to the original text with cultural relevance. It emphasizes the complexities involved in translating feminist viewpoints into a linguistic and cultural context where gender discourse often intersects with deeply rooted societal structures. Through this lens, the study underscores the transformative potential of feminist translation theory in reinterpreting literature, challenging patriarchal narratives, and enriching cross-cultural dialogue. By bridging feminist theory and translation studies, this research contributes valuable insights into the evolving role of gender in literary interpretation and cross-cultural communication.

Metapragmatic conventions and integrative context: Introducing Sībawayhian pragmatics

Abstract The aim of this paper is to shed light on theories of discourse meaning from the Arabic, namely Sībawayhian, linguistics tradition, that are novel in the contemporary pragmatics space and prompts us to rethink and reshape the Anglo-American, namely Gricean and post-Gricean, lens through which current theories are predominantly defined. The Arabic linguistics tradition was founded by Sībawayhi more than ten centuries ago, yet it is severely underrepresented and under-researched in modern (Western) linguistics. Sībawayhi posited a discourse-oriented, pragmatics-centric, and intuition-driven model of language and communication, providing unique insights into how intentions and conventions figure in meaning representation. Despite his monumental contribution, Sībawayhian theory has hitherto been missing from the present-day field of pragmatics. Instead, pragmatics as a line of study is usually attributed to Grice and subsequent post-Gricean developments, where theory construction has been limited to intra-theoretical analyses and falls short of cross-cultural epistemological perspectives. Many of these analyses are as such reinventions of what can be found in Sībawayhian and post-Sībawayhian pragmatics. And there are many more components of Arabic pragmatic thought that remain to be (re)discovered, with the potential to further current thinking in pragmatics and open a new orientation of contemporary pragmatic study. In this paper, I attempt to address all of the above by closely examining selected sections of Sībawayhi’s monumental al-Kitāb. I particularly introduce two main conceptions Sībawayhi relies on in his theory of meaning – metapragmatic conventions (conventionsmp) and integrative context (contexti) – and investigate their role in shaping major areas of pragmatic theorization, namely syntax, discourse compositionality, and inference.

JAMAL ASSADI: A VOICE OF CULTURAL BELONGING IN MODERN ARAB POETRY

This article explores the poetry of Jamal Assadi, a prominent Palestinian poet whose works delve into themes of identity, displacement, and cultural belonging. Using a biographical approach, the study analyzes how Assadis personal experiences, particularly as a Palestinian Arab living in Israel, inform his poetic voice. By drawing on Assadis own words from interviews and his body of work, the article examines key poems to highlight his reflection on time, memory, and the socio-political struggles of the Arab world. Assadis use of both classical Arabic poetic forms and modern free verse techniques enriches the Arab literary tradition, blending the old with the new to address contemporary concerns.The critical method employed in this article focuses on the relationship between Assadis life and his literary creations, emphasizing how his poetry acts as a mirror of personal and collective experiences of exile and cultural fragmentation. Additionally, the article explores Assadis engagement with global literary traditions, showing how intertextuality plays a role in his political critique. Ultimately, this article affirms Assadis significant contribution to modern Arab literature, arguing that his poetry serves as both a continuation of classical Arabic traditions and a platform for innovation. By addressing themes of cultural resilience and political critique, Assadis work provides a nuanced and powerful voice within the broader landscape of Arab poetry, making it an essential subject of literary study.

Greek Poetry in a Multicultural Society: Sicily and Salento in the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries

Abstract In the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, southern Italy experienced a period of relative political stability and economic prosperity under the Normans as well as the Hohenstaufen dynasty that succeeded them. These cultural conditions fostered a cultural resurgence, which included the composition of Greek poetry. Poets in Sicily wrote from within a multicultural context, including the presence of Arabic- and Latin-speaking communities. Many of their poems illustrate the generative intersections between the Byzantine-Constantinopolitan, Latin, and Arabic traditions. Later in Salento, poetry was written in a rather closed Greek-speaking, Orthodox society. Comparing Greek poetry from Sicily and Salento shows some differences between composition in the two regions. Whereas Sicilian poetry includes especially creative narrative poems, composed for the rich and sophisticated courts of the island, the Salentine poetry bears the stamp of the schoolroom. In fact, most poems from both Sicily and Salento survive in manuscripts that can be traced to a pedagogical environment. While the circulation of these poems was limited to their surrounding regions, their literary sophistication betrays remarkable creativity and the multicultural conditions of composition, further evidence of the vitality of Greek literary culture far from the heartland of the Byzantine Empire.

From ''Dependent Translation" to "Creative Translation'' by Taha Abdurrahman

This paper undertakes a critical and analytical examination of the transformative dimensions of translation as conceptualized by the Moroccan philosopher Taha Abdurrahman. Central to Abdurrahman’s intellectual project is the call to transcend the pervasive Eurocentrism that characterizes contemporary translation theories. Abdurrahman offers a nuanced critique of the translation methodologies employed during the Abbasid period, particularly the uncontextualized appropriation of Greek philosophy. He contends that this approach led to the marginalization of Islamic philosophy, reducing it to a mode of mere transmission and dependency, initially on ancient Greece and subsequently on the modern West. To address these historical inadequacies, Abdurrahman advocates for an innovative translation strategy termed taʾṣīliyya, which translates literally to “authenticating.” This strategy emphasizes a transformative process whereby the source text is integrated into the receiving culture, aligning with its specific epistemic and cultural needs, irrespective of the original context. Abdurrahman posits that this method is essential for fostering an autonomous Arab/Islamic philosophical tradition, one that is not subsumed under external theoretical paradigms, even if this necessitates deviating from conventional criteria of accuracy and faithfulness. This paper critically engages with the theoretical foundations and proposes practical applications of Abdurrahman’s translation paradigm. It situates his framework within the broader historical trajectory of translation in the Arabic intellectual tradition and contemporary translation studies. Furthermore, it interrogates the theoretical and methodological ramifications of eschewing conventional norms of fidelity and accuracy, notwithstanding their entrenched and restrictive nature.

Text and Intertextuality in Modern Arabic Poetry of Yoruba Scholars

Objectives: This paper examines Arabic poetic texts produced by modern Yoruba scholars, to study how they inter-textualize with poetic texts of classical and early modern poets in Arabic. It does a critical reading of select poems from the corpus of Isa Abu-Bakre (b.1953), and Afis Ayinde Oladosu (b.1967). Whereas the former follows the traditional system in the composition of his poems, the latter writes his collections in free verse. Methods: The paper adopts a method of historicizing the annals of intertextuality, before proceeding to exposit, closely read, and analyze intertextuality cues in the poetry of Yoruba scholars. It hinges its discussions on the works of Julia Kristeva, Roland Barthes, James Porter, Lev Vygotsky, Graham Allen, Ahmad Az-Zoubi, and Muhahammad Miftah among others. Conclusions: The study shows that Arabic poetical compositions of modern Yoruba scholars often intersect, not only with poetical texts of classical and early modern poets in Arabic, but also, they inter-textualize with texts from the primary sources of Arabic literary tradition- the Glorious Qur'an and Hadith.

ARABIC POETRY IN TIMBUKTU DURING THE 19th AND 20th CENTURIES: A MODEL STUDY

The written Arabic literary tradition of the Malian desert in West Africa remains largely unknown to the region's inhabitants and the wider Arab and Islamic world. Despite its distance from the traditional centers of Arabic poetry in the Arabian Peninsula, this literature deserves far more attention than it has received. Unfortunately, it has not been given the scholarly consideration it deserves in the research and studies conducted on this country, which could reveal its unique characteristics as a form of Malian African literature written in Arabic and its undeniable value regarding its scientific, cultural, and historical significance. The people inhabiting the Malian desert, including the Soninke, the Berbers, and particularly the Tuareg tribes, developed an Arabic sensibility and literary flair, leading them to compose works in various genres, including religious, linguistic, and literary texts, all at a high level. They also served as living models for others when writing poetry in classical Arabic. The literary renaissance in the northern Malian region emerged in the first half of the 19th century, spearheaded by poets from prominent Arab tribes such as the Tuareg, the Ansar, and the Kunta, as well as their disciples and the 20th century witnessed the rise of numerous poets who excelled in various literary fields. Tuareg poets have written on different subjects, including love, praise, elegy, description, satire, supplication, and prayer. Their poems incorporate many rhetorical and stylistic devices and are characterized by their beauty and sweetness of style.

Iran, Religious Agents, and the People: Voices from Khuzestan

ABSTRACT This article explores the significance of popular religious agents in Iran, focusing on the maddāḥān (eulogists) and their role in the Ashura processions, in the context of Iran’s ethnic minorities, looking into the unique case-study of Khuzestan. To comprehend the contemporary relevance of Ashura, this study utilizes social media, employing a hermeneutical approach to videography. The maddāḥān played a pivotal role in promoting a unifying Shiʿi and revolutionary ethos through their meticulously crafted videos and their widespread dissemination, fostering a sense of solidarity with the Islamic republic and its message of resilience. Their contribution was significant among ethnic minorities, given their numerous grievances toward the regime. The maddāḥān also played a vital role in creating space for local expressions of mourning, enhancing a unique Khuzestani identity deeply tied to its Arab tradition, but also open to multiple influences. Their emotionally charged sessions and direct engagement with the people contributed to a strong sense of connections between the maddāḥān and their extensive online audience. This popular appeal complements the established clerical authority structure but also poses a significant challenge to the formal religious hierarchy, as the maddāḥān’s approach resonates more closely with the lived experiences and cultural realities of their followers.

Разум, язык, культура: как сегодня прочитывать концепцию «арабского разума» ал-Джа̄бири

In his four-volume Critique of Arab Reason the late Moroccan philosopher Muḥammad ‘Ābid al-Jābirī (1935–2010) argues that human history witnessed “Greco-European” and “Arab” variants of reason, and not the single one. He challenges the confidence of philosophers in the universality of reason which disclosed itself in the course of European history. Reading al-Jābirī’s theory in Kantian optics will prove fruitful in view of significant number of observations accumulated in Arabic philosophical studies and directly related to the question of the type of rationality that grounds Arab-Muslim culture. The Arabic linguistic tradition bases itself not on the being of substance but on the flux of action. The indivisible segment of the Arabic speech is the flow of sound between the two “sides” (ḥ arf, pl. ḥ urūf). The copulative function ensures the gluing of the subject and predicate into a single statement due to the action of “leaning” (isnād) between them, which excludes the use of the “to be”-like copula and removes “being” from the list of the fundamental metaphysical categories. All Arabic words, with few exceptions, are “branches” growing from “roots” represented by names of actions. The “root – branches” (’aṣl – furū‘) model, developed by the representatives of the Arabic linguistic tradition and Islamic jurists, explains the diversity of Islamic culture which allows for direct contradictions, legitimizing them by tracing down to a single “root”, which contrasts with the law of contradiction fundamental to European rationality. Islamic ethics is concerned not with the moral perfection of a single substantial individual, but with maintaining a network of interactions between human being and God and between members of society, constituting society not as a hierarchy of strata and classes, but as multiple networks of interactions. The concept of the “Arab reason” by al-Jābirī, read in Kantian optics on the basis of the achievements of philosophical Arabic studies, allows to substantiate the hypothesis of the plurality of types of rationality developed through the history of humankind.

Treating with minerals in the Middle Ages: the rare substance mūmiyā' (pitch-asphalt) and its medicinal uses in Byzantium.

Premodern medicine used a variety of mineral substances for therapeutic purposes. The present article deals with pitch-asphalt, and, in particular, a precious kind of it called mūmiyā' originating in Persia. It was first described in detail in the Arabic pharmacological tradition, and its fame spread throughout the medieval Mediterranean, including Byzantium. By editing and examining for the first time a previously unexplored medieval Greek text on mūmiyā', this study offers new insights into the medicinal uses of this substance. It also significantly increases our understanding of the intense cross-cultural transfer of medical knowledge from the Islamicate world to Byzantium by showing that this was not merely based on the translation of a few Arabic medical works into Greek, but was a multifaceted phenomenon involving a complex nexus of sources that require further investigation.

Studi Komparatif Rima dan Saja’ Dalam Stilistika

Rhyme and saj' (rhymed prose) are forms of literary beauty in Indonesian and Arabic literature often used in poetry, pantun, and syair. Although there have been several studies on aspects of rhyme and saj', there is still a need for research exploring the correlation between these two literary styles. This study aims to analyze the differences and similarities between rhyme and saj' using literature study methods and comparative analysis. The results reveal eight components that were examined: rhyme placement at the beginning, middle, and end of lines; use of rhyme in multi-word phrases; phonetic similarity in letters; similarity of vowels (harakat) in phonetics; variations in rhyme patterns; and word balance harmony. Of these eight components, similarities between rhyme and saj' were found in four aspects: rhyme placement in the middle and end of lines, use of rhyme in multi-word phrases, and phonetic similarity in letters. Differences lie in the other four components: rhyme placement at the beginning of lines, vowel similarity in phonetics, variations in rhyme patterns, and word balance harmony. This research contributes significantly to the understanding of literary disciplines, particularly regarding rhyme and saj'. These findings are expected to enrich insights into the uniqueness and similarities between Indonesian and Arabic literary traditions, as well as open opportunities for further comparative studies in linguistics and literature.

The Flexibility of Placing the Subject in Arabic Sentences: A Study of Syntactic Word Order Restrictions and their Application to Arabic Grammar

This research addresses the possibility of placing the subject in a pre-verb position in verbal sentences in Arabic, without necessarily stipulating that if the subject is preposed before the verb, it becomes a topic. In this way, the subject is a non-overt pronoun positioned within or after the verb, because the subject is conventionally acknowledged by grammarians to move freely to various post-verbal positions, but never pre-verbally. The research considers the views and opinions of linguists and grammarians who have dealt with this issue in detail, presenting a discussion of these views to reveal the strict restrictions imposed on the movement of the subject. It is hoped that this will contribute to the facilitation of teaching and learning Arabic grammar. It will also revitalize the discussion of views in Arabic grammatical traditions to try to establish new grammatical principles that contemporary linguists may adopt when reformulating the rules of Arabic grammar. This endeavor may simplify the task of learning rules and contribute to presenting them more flexibly and plausibly.

Cold War Kreutzer: Tolstoy’s Posthumous Political Career from Venice to Palestine

ABSTRACT The year 1960 marked the fiftieth death anniversary of Leo Tolstoy (1828–1910), one of the earliest self-proclaimed world writers. That summer, the CIA-funded Congress for Cultural Freedom (CCF) organized a lavish international conference near Venice; meanwhile, in Haifa, the Palestinian Trotskyist Jabra Nicola (1912–1974) published his translation of Tolstoy’s sex-obsessed late novella The Kreutzer Sonata. These two events exemplified contrasting styles of Cold War literary internationalism, one aspiring to global dominance and the other to local impact. Both responded to Tolstoy’s “world” status, Kreutzer’s moral ambition, and the Soviet Union’s successful appropriation of nineteenth-century Russian literature. Exploring the CCF archives and the Arabic Kreutzer tradition, this article asks how each of these 1960 events came about, what they assumed, and what they achieved. The Palestinian Israeli case offers a usefully peripheral perspective from which the Cultural Cold War appears both more tangible and less strictly bipolar. Jabra’s translation used the resources provided by Soviet cultural diplomacy for local progressive ends: not to press for social change in Arab society, but to build the cultural confidence of readers who found themselves both minoritized as Israelis and isolated from their fellow Arabs.

Russian and Arabic documentary tradition: syntactic aspect

The object of the study is documents of business correspondence in Russian-Arabic official communication; the subject of the study is the syntactic features of Russian and Arabic business documents, the similarities and differences between Russian and Arabic syntax in business communication. Syntactic organization is very important for business writing; it serves as the final stage of its structure. The scientific novelty of the study lies in the identification of universal and culturally determined features of the syntactic structure in relation to Russian and Arabic-language business writing. Among the universal elements are the use of sentences that convey the non-personal nature of communication, indirect expression of imperativeness (using forms of the subjunctive mood, interrogative sentences), introductory words with the semantics of politeness. Original syntactic constructions can be used to achieve a similar communicative effect. The research was carried out on the basis of methods of analysis, synthesis, observation, description. Methods of component analysis, interpretation and classification, a system-structural method, and elements of a functional approach were used. As a result of the study, it was noted that the differences in the syntactic structure of Russian- and Arabic-language business letters are culturally and historically determined. The specifics of Arabic business syntax were influenced by increased requirements for the expression of politeness in society (indication of the regalia of the addressee), the predominance of the collective over the personal in culture, the origin of the official business style from the artistic, and not from the colloquial (long sentences). It is concluded that it is necessary to take into account cultural and historical factors both in the process of constructing business letters and in the process of their mutual translation. Among the important techniques of Russian-Arabic translation are combining sentences and increasing content