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The Manifestation of Woman as a Şūfī Motif in Modern Arabic Poetry: Abdul Wahāb al-Bayyātī as an Example

Received: 12 December 2021    Accepted: 13 January 2022    Published: 26 January 2022
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Abstract

The contemporary Arab poets have used the motif of women in their works to convey a variety of messages. Indeed, in many poetical works, the woman has played the role of an objective formula through which the modern Arab poet conveyed his idea, as if the woman were a mask. In fact, the woman is shown as a wide-ranging icon that helps the poet attain great ambitions and change the world around him. This image of the woman is influenced by the female character as depicted by medieval Sufi writers who regarded the woman as one of the major foundations of their writing. Consequently, they would select their female characters, give them glamorous names, and make them target of their writings. The content of the Sufi practices centered on love and craving. They considered that created woman their earthly mistress who aided them to reach their supreme lover, God. These Sufi rituals have profoundly impacted modern-day Arab poets. For purposes of focus, our work will discuss the echo of women in two poetical works of Abdul Wahāb al-Bayyātī. We seek to examine why this poet who is believed to represent modern writers, is magnetized to the Sufi image of woman. We assume that the Sufi treatment of women in modern Arabic poetry offers new insights into the dynamic potential of the motif and suggests a new critical approach.

Published in International Journal of Literature and Arts (Volume 10, Issue 1)

This article belongs to the Special Issue The Woman as a Sufi Motif in Modern Arabic Poetry

DOI 10.11648/j.ijla.20221001.16
Page(s) 44-50
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Woman as a Şūfī Motif, Modern Arabic Poetry, Abdul Wahāb al-Bayyātī, Rūmī and Iben-`Arabī

References
[1] Awad, Rita, The Myth of Death and Rebirth in Modern Arabic Poetry (Beirut: Arab Foundation for Studies and Publishing, 1974), 282-283, 292-3, 282-3, 286, 285.
[2] Bahjat, Ahmed, Seas of Love amongst Şūfism (Cairo: ‎ Dar al-Shorouk, 1979), 150.
[3] al-Bayyātī, Abdul Wahāb, The Kingdom of the Spike (Mamlakat As-Sunbulah) (Beirut: Dar al-Awda, 1979), 111-119.
[4] Darwīsh, Osayma, Editing Meaning: Critical Study in Adonis's Book "1" (Beirut: House of Literatures, 1997), 179.
[5] Dhanani, Alnoor, "Fārābī: Abū Naşr Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad ibn Tarkhān alFārābī." In Thomas Hockey; et al. (eds.), The Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers (New York: Springer, 2007), 356-7.
[6] Emjahed, Abdul Karim, Mystery Poetry: Reading in the Poetry of Abdul Wahāb al-Bayyātī (Wave Publications, 1998) 242.
[7] Fadhl, Salah, Text Codes: Semiotic Study in The Poeticism of Narratology and Poetry (Cairo: Ain for Studies, 1995), 19.
[8] Haidar, Ali, An Introduction to the Study of Şūfism (Damascus: Shamoush Publishing, 1999), 115.
[9] Iben Arabī, Muḥyī al-Dīn, Ibn al-‘Arabī’s letters. Explained by Abdul Karim al-Nimri (Beirut: House of Science Book, 2001), 36.
[10] Khudhair, Diya’, Abdul Wahāb al-Bayyātī: The Poetry of Reality and the Poetry of Words (Damascus: Publications of the Arab Writers' Union, 2000), 62.
[11] Mansour, Ibrahim Mohammed, Poetry and Şūfism: The Şūfī Effect in Contemporary Arab Poetry (Tanta: University of Tanta, 1999) 197, 175, 95, 192.
[12] Mawlawi, Murad, Stories of the Praise of Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī (Damascus: Al-Awael, 2001), 508.
[13] Munir, Walid, "The Self, the World and the Absolute: Variations of Sufi Vision in Modern Arabic Literature," Fusul 60 (2002), 103.
[14] Nader, Albert Nasri, Islamic Şūfism (Beirut: Catholic Press, 1960).
[15] Rūmī, Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad, al-Mathnawī, Book One. Translated, explained and studied by Mohamed Abdesalam Kafani (Beirut: Modern Library, 1966), 11.
[16] As-Sayegh, Adnan Al-Nassar, Abdul Wahāb al-Bayyātī: What is Left from Flood (Arab Book Club, 1996), 202-3.
[17] Snir, Reuven, Two Rak'ahs in Love: A Study in the Poetry of Abdul Wahāb al-Bayyātī (Beirut: Dar al-Saki, 2002), 167.
[18] Al-Allaq, Ali Gafar. The Artist Problem in Abdal Wahhab al-Bayati's Poetry. Exeter: Exeter University, 1983 43, 213.
[19] Bhatnagar, K S., Dimension of Classical Sufi Thought (New Delhi: 1984), 109.
[20] Chittick, William, The Sufi Doctrine of Rumi. An Introduction (Tehran: University of Tehran, 1974), 67.
[21] Chittick, William C. "Ebn al-‘Arabi Mohyi-al- Din Abu ‘Abd-Allah Mohammad Ta’I Hatemi." Encyclopedia Iranica (1996): Web. 3 Apr 2011. http://iranica.com/articles/ebn-al-arabi.
[22] Farhat, Yusuf, The Islamic Philosophy and Its Figures (Geneva, 2003), 61.
[23] Little, John T. "Al-Insan al-Kamil: the perfect man according to Ibn al-‘Arabi." Muslim World 77.1 (1987): 43–54.
[24] Simawi, Saadi, "The Lives of Sufi Master in Abd al-Wahhab al-Bayati's Poetry," Journal of Arabic Literature 32 (2001), 133, 133-44, 134.
Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Jamal Assadi. (2022). The Manifestation of Woman as a Şūfī Motif in Modern Arabic Poetry: Abdul Wahāb al-Bayyātī as an Example. International Journal of Literature and Arts, 10(1), 44-50. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20221001.16

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    ACS Style

    Jamal Assadi. The Manifestation of Woman as a Şūfī Motif in Modern Arabic Poetry: Abdul Wahāb al-Bayyātī as an Example. Int. J. Lit. Arts 2022, 10(1), 44-50. doi: 10.11648/j.ijla.20221001.16

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    AMA Style

    Jamal Assadi. The Manifestation of Woman as a Şūfī Motif in Modern Arabic Poetry: Abdul Wahāb al-Bayyātī as an Example. Int J Lit Arts. 2022;10(1):44-50. doi: 10.11648/j.ijla.20221001.16

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ijla.20221001.16,
      author = {Jamal Assadi},
      title = {The Manifestation of Woman as a Şūfī Motif in Modern Arabic Poetry: Abdul Wahāb al-Bayyātī as an Example},
      journal = {International Journal of Literature and Arts},
      volume = {10},
      number = {1},
      pages = {44-50},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ijla.20221001.16},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20221001.16},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijla.20221001.16},
      abstract = {The contemporary Arab poets have used the motif of women in their works to convey a variety of messages. Indeed, in many poetical works, the woman has played the role of an objective formula through which the modern Arab poet conveyed his idea, as if the woman were a mask. In fact, the woman is shown as a wide-ranging icon that helps the poet attain great ambitions and change the world around him. This image of the woman is influenced by the female character as depicted by medieval Sufi writers who regarded the woman as one of the major foundations of their writing. Consequently, they would select their female characters, give them glamorous names, and make them target of their writings. The content of the Sufi practices centered on love and craving. They considered that created woman their earthly mistress who aided them to reach their supreme lover, God. These Sufi rituals have profoundly impacted modern-day Arab poets. For purposes of focus, our work will discuss the echo of women in two poetical works of Abdul Wahāb al-Bayyātī. We seek to examine why this poet who is believed to represent modern writers, is magnetized to the Sufi image of woman. We assume that the Sufi treatment of women in modern Arabic poetry offers new insights into the dynamic potential of the motif and suggests a new critical approach.},
     year = {2022}
    }
    

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Author Information
  • Department of English, Sakhnin College, Academic College for Teacher Education, Sakhnin, Israel

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