The Poem of Abu al-Ala al-Ma'arri: A Rhetorical Study

Abstract

Al-Ma'arri is one of the most important Arab poets of the Abbasid era. He was not an ordinary poet, but rather the philosopher of poets. His poem

(Al-Daliyah) is one of the finest examples of Arabic poetry and one of the poems that most condenses his philosophical and ebistential vision of life, death, and the universr. The ascetic poet is no different from others in his interest in this artistic aspect. He elevated poetry form a mere means of expression to a field of deep intellectual contemplation . His literary output was not merely an aesthetic expression, but rather a reflection of a critical intellectual vision of life and exisence.