Influence of al-Buhturi’s “Siniyyah” in Ahmad Shawqi’s exile poems

Abstract

This study explores the “Siniyyah” of Eguptian poet Ahmad Shawqi in comparison to the same qasida of al-Buhturi (821-897), one of the eminent Abbasid poets. His qasida entitled “The Journey to al-Andalus” was writen as a muaradah (imitation) to the “Siniyyah” of al-Buhturi.
Abu Ubadah al-Walid ibn Ubayd Allah al-Tayyi, known as Bukhturi, was born in Manbij, Suria. He grew up among the bedouin tribes and mastered the eloquence of the Arabic language with them. Then he settled in Baghdad, praising the Caliph Mutawakkil and his vizier, Fath ibn Khaqan and enjoyed the patronage of caliph as a court poet. After the death of the Abbasid Caliph Mutawakkil, he
left his homeland with a deep sense of despair and traveled to the Persian city of Madain, where he composed his famous poem "Siniyyah" in front of the ruins of the legendary ancient city.
The poet of emirs and "Emir of poets" Ahmad Shawqi grew up in the aristocratic palace culture, worked in the palace of Khedive Tewfik and then Khedive Abbas. He imitated Buhturi's attachment to the Abbasid Palace in meaning and style. 
In this work, written by Ahmad Shawqi with nostalgia for his homeland while he was in exile in Spain, the poet borrowed both classical and poetic forms from al-Buhturi's work. Al-Buhturi describes the ruins of the Sassanids, a great state in the ancient East in his poem and expresses his frustration, while Ahmad Shawqi praises the monuments inherited from the medieval Islamic Caliphate in Spain.
In the article, firstly, Ahmad Shawqi's work in exile and his poem "The Journel to al-Andalus" are explored and then the similarities between the two poets in "Siniyyah"are investigated.

References

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 شوقي ضيف. شوقي: شاعر العصر الحديث. القاهرة: الهيئة المصرية العامة للكتاب, 0232

صالح الأشتر. اندلسيات شوقي: بحث تطبيقي في أدب شوقي في المنفى و أثر الأندلس في شخصيته و فنه/ الطبعة الاولى
مطبعة جامعة دمشق, 3999

حمد الأمين المؤدب. معالم و عوالم في بلاغة النص الشعري القديم.- بيروت: مؤسسة الرحاب الحديثة