The "al-shayb" motive and ascetic poetry in the work of Ibn Hamdis

Abstract

The Arabic literature and culture that emerged in Sicily were very close to the literature of the Maghreb and Andalusia in their spirit, ideas and content. Here a literary process emerged that was a joint product of the local population, Arabs and Berbers. Despite the strong ethnic diversity, the literature was distinguished by its cosmopolitan and universal character. It reflected traditions specific to the North African-Berber culture, as well as the Muslim East. In Sicilian literature, innovations in form are negligible. However, the poetry of this region is notable for its small-volume, broad-content poetic pieces. The names of many representatives of Arab-Sicilian poetry are not very well known, and few examples of poetry have come down to us. However, there is also a prominent representative of Arab-Sicilian literature, such as Ibn Hamdis, who gained fame in his time. Ibn Hamdis's work attracts attention with its originality. His poetry has survived to our time in the form of a separate divan. the Dīwān of Ibn Ḥamdīs was written during and after his stay in al-Andalus ( Francesca, 2021) . The poetry of Ibn Hamdis, which emerged at the crossroads of different cultures, covers various genres and forms . In terms of subject matter, it is quite diverse, and the subject horizons are quite broad. Poems in genres such as ghazal, khamriyah, and wasf predominate in the poet's work. The qasida, qita, and occasionally urjuza-rajaz were the forms the poet resorted to. The most common genres within these forms are medhiyya, marsiya, ghazal, khamriya, and wasf.