The Netherlands Institute for the Near East

Nederlands Instituut voor het Nabije Oosten  -  Institut nĂ©erlandais du Proche-Orient

no cover

Book Specifications
VIII, 256 pp.
softcover

Mit Poesie vertreibe ich den Kummer meines Herzens

1997  |  PIHANS Volume 81 Eine Studie zur altarabischen Trauerklage der Frau ISBN 13: 978-90-6258-082-8  |  ISSN: 1571-5728

G.J.A. Borg

This is the first Western monograph since a century about a genre, cherished by Arab literati: the pre-Islamic dirge (martiya) by women. It dwells on the problem of the authenticity of these texts. Metre and rhyme of this genre are discussed in relationship to the genres predecessor - niyâha - and the dominating qasîda. Unlike the latter, the martiya does not have a clear thematical order, although the poem is often introduced by a dialogue, followed by a laudatory part, which serves to legitimize the break of self control, and finally some general remarks on Fate and Death. Marâtî were sometimes composed to comment on historical events. A poetess like al-Kansâ' used her marâtî in early Islam to emphasize pre-Islamic values.