Western Theory Meets Eastern Praxis: Continuity and the Amatory Prelude in Pre-Islamic/Early Islamic Poetry

Abstract:This article suggests a rereading of Arabic poetry through a critical lens that builds on T. S. Eliot's notion of continuity underpinning the nexus between traditional and the individual talent. Through analyzing the use of continuity in the pre/early-Islamic qaṣīda, as manifested in the conventional motif of nasīb (the amatory prelude), the article attempts to wed Western critical theory and premodern Arab poetic praxis. Drawing on the notion of continuity identified by Eliot, this article approaches the works of Mukhaḍram poets, whose lives spanned the pre-Islamic and early Islamic-eras, in order to elucidate their attempt to create a balanced nexus between the old Jāhilī tradition and the new Islamic culture. Following Eliot's concept of tradition, the article examines the contours of continuity in the early Arabic qaṣīda, focusing especially on the amatory prelude or nasīb as a condensed metaphorical garb that represents the spirit of a new age without sacrificing established norms. The article thus focuses on the tension between the conventional and the creative that marks this transitional period, as represented by Mukhaḍram poets in their attempt to set a balance between their creative talents and the new moral code enacted by the newly introduced faith. Here, the Mukhaḍram poets, represented in the article by Ḥassān ibn Thābit, the Prophet Muḥammad's panegyrist, offer an excellent example of this hybridist reworking of an established poetic canon. It is thus claimed that such reworking resulted in new metaphors, which encapsulated both traditional motifs and creative symbols. In this sense, Mukhaḍram poetry imbued pristine individual talent with a conscious sense of tradition that ensured the "wholesome continuity" of universal cultural values.