Work: al-Ayniyyah

The central object of whose story I weave together is Abu Dhu’ayb al-Hudhali’s classical Arabic poem–an elegy about his five sons who died in a plague–commonly referred to by its poetic structure, the ayniyyah. However, to simplify the poem to only an emotional speech commemorating his sons would be reductionist: this poem brings to the fore the very human truth of having to come to terms with the inexorability of fate and death.

The poem itself is a pioneer with its allegoric style. Its rarity is appreciated and recognized by being given the distinction of preceding all other poems in Diwan al-Hudhaliyyin, a canonical anthology of the Hudhayl tribe (Stetkevych 2020). Abu Dhu’ayb is still appreciated today, as a Mukhadram poet – those poets who actively composed poems during the transition period from Jahiliyyah (pre-Islam) to the time defined as post-Islam (Hussein 2021). As a Mukhadhram poet, his work exists at a crucial turning point in Arabic literature: not only does it serve as a gateway to the Jahili poetry such as the mu’allaqat (canonical odes of Arabic literature, which will be elaborated on in the section titled ‘Context’) (Imruʾ al-Qays et al. 1820), but also because it serves as a window into how much–if at all–Islam had altered Arabic poetry.

The ayniyyah of Abu Dhu’ayb can be separated into four parts: the first part expresses his grief and helplessness at the loss of his sons to plague, whereas the second, third, and fourth parts are deeply detailed allegories for the futility of attempting to break free from one’s fate. In other words, the poem transitions from solely elegiac to largely allegoric very early on in the text. Specifically, the second part expresses a story of an onager who attempts to make a break for freedom while being hunted but fatally learns it has no escape. The third part details the grievance of an oryx-bull who is nearly victorious in fending off hunting dogs, but is ultimately bested by a hunter’s arrow. And finally, the fourth part eloquently expresses a very concrete story of two knights duelling, relying on their armour and skill to protect them, but ultimately exposing the frailty of human life by both dying due to the wounds inflicted on each other (Stetkevych 2020). In this way, Abu Dhu’ayb leaves no room for ambiguity by the end of the poem: this is the poem of an aggrieved human, a father, a Bedouin, who is using what Bedouins know best–hunting, chivalric fighting, and poetry–to engrave the pain of losing his five sons into the hearts of all those who would study and memorize this poem after him.