Cultural References in the Poetry of Ahmed ibn Alawiya al-Katib (d. between 320 AH and 322 AH)

Abstract

A careful reader of Arabic poetry realizes that this enduring literary legacy of the nation did not emerge from a vacuum, nor was it produced out of emptiness. Rather, its images are manifested and its ideas are transformed into effective poetic texts through the established themes and reliable references that assist the poet in constructing the foundations of his creative achievement and elevating it to a level that is both appealing to and influential upon the human soul. At the same time, these refrences enable the poet to express his inner thoughts and deep-seated emotions and present them to the reader. Based on the foregoing, this study seeks to uncover the cultural refrences upon which the Abbasid poet Ahmed ibn Alawiya al-Katib relied and which he employed to enrich his poetic texts with aesthetic modes of expression, substantiate his arguments, magnify his ideas, and reinforce their meanings and implications. These cultural refrences appeared in various forms, namely religious, literary, and historical refrences.