Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-5nwft Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-05-31T02:03:02.260Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Free verse (al-shi'r al-ḥurr) in modern Arabic literature: Abū Shādī and his school, 1926–46

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 December 2009

Extract

The beginning of the twentieth century marked a new and revolutionary stage in the history of Arabic poetry. Through the increasing influence of Western literature, some new genres which show only preliminary signs of emergence in the nineteenth century found official recognition, as in the case of the strophic verse, or experimenting with them was resumed, as in the case of the blank verse (shi'r mursal), which was first practisd by Rizq Allāh Ḥassūn in 1869 and which was revived in 1905, probably unconsciously, by Jamīl Ṣidqī al-Zahāwī (1863–1936), under the name of shi'r mursal.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © School of Oriental and African Studies 1968

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1 see BSOAS, XXIX, 3, 1966, 483505.Google Scholar 001

2 see al-Hilāl, XIV, 2, 1905, 97–8.Google Scholar 002

3 jabrİ, Shafiq, admitted thisl fact in his book Anā ωa ‘l-shi, r, Cairo, 1959, 911. See also the arguments of Māzinī, defending himself againsy the accusation of plagiarism in his preface to his second Dīwān, Cairo, 1917, p.m, cf. also his article in Majallat al-Kitāb, I, 5, 1946, 618.Google Scholar 003

4 On the argument that metre is the most important part in poetry see Abū Shādİ, s, comments on his opera Ibsān, Cairo, 1927, 127; al-Shafaq al-bākī, 1206; al-Yanbū‘, Cairo, 1934, P. W; Abu”l-Qāsim al-Shābī, al-Yanbū“, p.t; Zahāwī in his article ‘Hawl al-nathr wa’ l-shi‘r’, al-Siyāsa al-Usbū, iyya, II, 78, 1927, 18–19, reprinted in Hilāl Nājī, al-zahāwa-dīwānuh al-mafqūd, Cairo, 1963, 362; Nu, ayma(Naimy) in his interview with the literary editor of the journal, al-Jarīda (Beirut), No. 2451, 1960; Abū Shabaka in Rawābit al-fikr wa, l-rūh bayn al-‘Arab wα” l-Firαnjα, [Beirut], 1945, 156; Muhammad Mustafa Badawī, Rasā, il min Landan, Alexandria, 1956, 10. 004

5 Dīwān al-Khalīl, Cairo, I, 275–9.Google Scholar 005

6 See BSOAS, XXIX, 3, 1966, 493–5.Google Scholar 006

7 See Abū, Shādİ's anthology Andā, al-fajr, Cairo, 1934, 117; cf. also pp. 119, 128.Google Scholar 007

8 Cairo, 1926–[7], 1181. 008

9 ibid., 1186; cf. p. 1181. 009

10 Cairo, 1927, 156. 010

11 cf. Khafājİ, , Rāid al-hadīth, Cairo, 1953, 202–3.Google Scholar 011

12 See for instance Apollo, I, 2, 1932, 84–6.Google Scholar 012

13 cf. al-Shafaq al-bākī, 1180, 1185–7, 1189, 1201–26. On the Apllo school see, Abd al-, Azīz al-Dasūqİ, Jamā, at Apūllū wa-atharuhā fī, l-shi, r al-hadīth, Cairo, 1960. 013

14 Masrah al-adab, 180. 014

15 See Minal-samā, New York, 1949, 11, al-Shafaq al-bākī, 1216, 30–1, 69–71; cf. also Apollo, I, 8, 1933, 847. 015

16 See Adabi, I, 7–9, 1936, 327. 016

17 ibid., 366; Apollo, II, 10, 1934, 900; Apollo, 1, 8, 1933, 846–7.Google Scholar 017

18 See Abū Shādī, s opera Ihsān, 132. 018

19 Ih&ān, 132. 019

20 Adabī, I, 7–9, 1936, 353–4. In fact this idea is not new. Baqillānī argued on the same basis in defending the style of the Qur, ān, cf. Mukhtārāt al-Manfalūtī, 44 020.

21 Adabİ, I, 7–9, 1936, 356. 021

22 Adabİ, I, 7–9, 1936, 329, 332, 354. 022

23 Apollo, I, 10, 1933, 1228–9; Adabİ, I, 7–9, 1936, 332, 327. 023

24 Apollo, I, 10, 1933, 1228–9; Adabİ, I, 7–9, 1936, 327, 329. 024

25 See Masrah al-adab, 221. 025

26 On Kahn, s activities in French vers libre see Jones, P. Mansell, The background of modern Frencyh Poetry, essays and interviews, Cambridge, 1951, 120–35, 170–4.Google Scholar 026

27 In his anthology Anİn wa-ranİn, Cairo, 1925, 20–1, Abū Shādİ used two different metres in his poem Laylat ams. In these couplets he used the ramal and the kāmil metres and called the result shi, r mursal. 027

28 al-Risāla, I, 5, 1933, 10–11. 028

29 Apollo, I, 8, 1933, 845–7. 029

30 cf. for instance Monroe, op. cit., 293, 294, with Apollo, I, 8, 1933, 845–7. 030

31 al-Shafaq al-bākİ, 353. On the difference between Abū Shādİ, s experiment in which he mixed different types of metre, and Nāzik al-Malā, s, in which she used a single metre which employs one type of foot only and the same foot at the end of each line-i. d. keeping a uniform darb, with no division of two hemistichs in the line-see Nāzik al-Malā, ika, s discussion in her book Muhādarāt fi shi‘r’ Ali Mahmūd Tāhā, [Cairo], 1965, 187–9. In this discussion Nāzik al-Malā, ika denied that she was acquainted with Abū Shādİ, s experiment and his term shi, r hurr, otherwise she would not have used the same term for her experiment which has different techniques. On this problem see my article ‘The, Irāqİ poetess Nāzik al-Malā, ika and free verse in modern Arabic poetry’, Hamizrah Hehadash, XVI, 3–4, (63–4), 1966, 319–38 (in Hebrew with a summary in English). 031

32 op. cit., 294–6. 032

33 New York, 1917, 7. 033

34 Op. cit., 297. 034

35 ibid., 298. 035

36 See ‘Free verse’,Proceedings of the British Academy, XLIII, 1957, 173, Reprinted in his book Image and experience: studies in literary revolution, London, 1960, 102.Google Scholar 036

37 Shipley, J. T. (ed. ), Dictionary of world literature. New revised ed., Paterson, N. J., 1960, 172.Google Scholar 037

38 al-Shafaq al-bākİ, 535–6. 038

39 See Abū Shādİ, s clear statement about his deliberate use al-khafİf in his opera Ihsān, 127–8. On the use al-mujtathth metre in modern Arabic dramas see Ibrāhİm, Anİs, Mūsİqā al-shi, r, [Cairo], 1952, 113–14.Google Scholar 039

40 On Swinburne, s connexion with free verse see Eliot, T. S., ‘Reflections on vers libre’, published in Selected prose, by T. S. Eliot, ed. Hayward, J.Penguin Books, 1963, 83–4;Google Scholar on Whitman, s and Swinburne, s possible influence on the French verslibristes. See P. Mansell Jones, op. cit., 170. On the influence of those two on Pound. See Fraser, G. S., The modern writer and his world, Penguin Books, 1964, 34Google Scholar, while for the influence of Swinburne on Pound see. ibid., 249, 258, 371, and V. de S. Pinto, crisis in English Poetry, 1880–1940, London, 1961, 17, 173. 040

41 See Enid, Hamer, The metres of English poetry, London, 1930, 274–5.Google Scholar 041

42 See p. 28, n. l, above, and Apollo, I, 8, 1933, 846. 042

43 In al-shafaq al-bākİ, 1201; Masrah al-adab, 231, cf. also pp. 13, 187, 232. 043

44 See al-Yanbū,, 216. 044

45 Apollo, I, 8, 1933, 845–7; II, 10, 1934, 900. 045

46 al-Shafaq al-bākİ, 726–7. 046

47 ibid., 963–72. 047

48 Mukhtārāt wahy al-, ām, Cairo, 1928, 44–5.Google Scholar 048

49 Apollo, II, 10, 1934, 900.Google Scholar 049

50 Adabİ, I, 7–9, 1936, 366.Google Scholar 050

51 Anwara al-Junkİ in al-Shi, r al-‘Arabİ al-mu, āsir, 562, said that Abū Hadİd wrote his drama Maqtal Sayyidinā ‘Uthmān in 1918 and published it in 1927. See also DurrİnİKhashaba, s Khashaba, s article in al-Risāla, XI, 539, 1943, 889.Google ScholarAbū, Shādİ in Apollo, II, 2, 1933, 90, mentioned, Abd al-Rahmān Shukrİ as one of the Egyptian poets who composed free, verse, and not only blank verse.Google Scholar

52 Riwāyat Qambİz, [Cairo], 1946, 37. The first edition of this drama appeared in 1931. 052

53 al-Risāla, I, 5, 1933, 1011 053.Google Scholar

54 See Riwāyat, Qambİz, fi, l-mİzān, Cairo, 1931; cf. also Fusūl fi, l-naqd, 115–21.Google Scholar

55 See al-Risāla, I, 7, 1933, 1314.Google Scholar 055

56 See Mukhtāral-Wakİl, s al-Wakİl, s article in al-Ahrām, 30 June 1950, 11.Google Scholar 056

57 See AbūShādİ, s Shādİ, s article in Majallat al-Ba, tha al-Kuwaytiyya, April 1954, reprinted in Rā, id al-shi, r al-hadİth by Khafajājİ, 284.Google Scholar 057

58 Abū Shādİ also considered Shawqİ, s and Shaybūb, s experiments as shi, r hurr; cf. Apollo, I, 8, 1933, 845. 058

59 According to Graham Hough in his lecture on free verse (p. 160), the French of vers libéré is a verse which takes its starting-point from traditional versification, but handles it with great licence and much neglect of the ‘less essentials’ of the old conventions. See also the chapter on ‘The vers libéré’ in P. Mansell Jones, op. cit., 110–19. 059

60 See al-Fajr al-awwal, pp. y-t. 060

61 Apollo, I, 3, 1932, 227–31. 061

62 Apollo, I, 3, 1932, 227–8, 11. 12, 27–9, 35–7 are in al-khafİf and 11. 1–4, 33–4, 46–50, 81–8 are in al-tawİl. 062

63 ibid., p. 227, 11. 5–11. 063

64 ibid., p. 228, 11. 12–16. 064

65 See al-Majalla, VII, 8, 1963, 45.Google Scholar 065

66 See al-Risāla, XI, 545, 1943, 998Google Scholar. Cf. also his note on his way of verification in Apollo, I, 3, 1932, 227.Google Scholar 066

67 al-Risāla, XI, 545, 1943: 11. 7–21. Only the seventh linel is a hemistich of al-mujtathth.Google Scholar 067

68 al-Risāla, I, 4, 1933, 23–4.Google Scholar 068

69 al-Risāla, I, 5, 1933, 1011.Google Scholar 069

70 Printed in London. The second ed. was printed in Brirut, 1870. See also BSOAS, XXIX, 3, 1966, 488.Google Scholar 070

71 See Ma‘lūf's article in al-Hilāl, XIV, 10, 1906, 582. In GAL, Suppl., II, 757, Bustrus. 071

72 cf. Dīwān al-Khalīl, Cairo, 1949, I, 275–9. 072

73 See his anthology, al-Shawq al-‘ā’id, Cairo, 1945, 37–68. 073

74 On Abū Shabaka and his poetry see Razzūq Faraj Razzūq Ilyās abū Shabaka wa-shirub,[Beirut], 1956. 074

75 See Afā‘īal Firdaws, third ed., [Beirut], 1962, 84–95. 075

76 ibid., 96–105. 076

77 Abċ Shabaka also composed interesting lyrical poems in new strophic forms similar to those written by the mahjarīs. See his anthology al-Alhān, Beirut, 1941, 60–1, 24–5. Cf. also his poem Ustūra in Min sa‘İd al-āliha, Beirut, 1959, 9–20. 077

78 Khurİ, s nickname is al-shā, r al-qarawİ. See his pome in his anthology A, āsİr, Beirut, 1962, 126–34. 078

79 See Adabİ, I, 10–12. 1936, 415.Google Scholar 079

80 Alexandria, 1943; cf. Sahartİ, s critical work al-Shi, r al-mu, āsir ‘alā daw’ al-naqd al-hadith, Cairo, 1948, 124. 080

81 Azhār al-dhikrā, 35–6. 081

82 Halab, 1931; cf. Sahartİ, al-Shi, r al-mu, āsir, 123. 082

83 See Khūrİ, al-Dirāsa al-adabiyya, 3rd ed., Beirut, 1959, 85–6. 083

84 ibid., 88–9. 084

85 From a letter sent to me by his personal friend Dr. Muhammad Mustafā Badawİ, lecturer in modern Arabic literature at the University of Oxford, dated 28 May 1965. 085

86 See Sahartİ, al-Shi, r al-mu, āsir, 123. This arrangement into lines is ours. Dr. Muhammad Mustafā Badawİ informed me in the above-mentioned letter, that the manuscript of Munİr Ramzİ, s anthology is in his possession. We hope that he will be able to publish this precious work soon. 086

87 From Dr. Badawİ, s letter dated 12 March 1965; cf. also Rasā, il min Landan, 6–7. 087

88 ibid., 6–7. 088

89 Rasā, il min Landan, 10. 089

90 ibid., 10–12. 090

91 ibid., 11–13. 091

92 ibid., 109–10. 092

93 Rasā, il min Londan, 13–14. 093

94 seeKhafājī, al-sh, r wa, l-tajdīid,342. 094

95 cf. Khafājī, Rā, id, 9, 81. 095

96 SeeRūmyū wa-J ūlyīt, Cairo, \1946], 3. 096

97 See Bākathūr, s book Muhādarāt fi fann al-masrahiyya, 10. Cf. also BSOAS, 3, 1966, 497, and my article in Hamizrah Hehadash, XVI, 3–4 (63–4), 1966, 326–7. Fu, ād al-Khashin, s poem Anā laulāki (composed in 1946) is based on the same method of using irregular rhyme scheme and irregular number of feet in each line, yet he did not give any label to his verification (see al-Adīb, v, 10, 1946, 25; this poem is republished both in Modern Arabic poetry, ed. A. J. Arberry, London, 1952, 10, and in al-Khashin, s anthology Siwār al-Yasamīn, Beirut, 1961, 94–9).Google Scholar 097

98 See pp. 35–6 above. Cf. also Bākathīr in al-Risāla, XIII, 1945, 680. 098

99 al-Risāla, I, 5, 1933, 10. 099

100 Madhāhib al-adab, Cairo, 1953, 50–2. 100

101 Apollo, I, 8, 1933, 845–7.Google Scholar

102 SeeJaddāwī, , s preface to al-Shafaq al-bākī, pp. 1416, n. 1.Google Scholar

103 al-Risāla, I, 5, loc. cit.

104 Khafājİ, Madhāhib al-adab, 50–2.

105 Qadiyyat al-shi, r al-jadİd, Cairo, 1964, 101.Google Scholar

106 See Hamizrah Hehadash, XVI, 3–4, (63–4), 1966, 319–38.Google Scholar