poet and prophet in al-shābī & fayṭūrī

8/22/2019 Poet and Prophet in Al-Shb & Fayr

1/37

Jeremy Farrell

Dr. Nouri Gana, ARAB 251

Final Paper

Islamic Prophet and Poet: Two Modern Poets Conceptions of Inspiration

The expression of human elocution has often posed a problem to theorists of many

"elds. That the subject of these "rst recorded utterances is - in near uniformity - the

profession of supra-human interests should strike even the casual observer as worthy of

inquest. Particularly, those supra-human issues which united peoples in the observance of

natural and supernatural phenomena have garnered the most inquiry, which has subsequently

been divided into two categories: poetry and prophecy. Our most ancient written records

portray a preoccupation with prophesy as a means of providing natural phenomenology and

future predictions and contain veri"able poetic elements1; likewise, the beginnings of the

Western Judaeo-Christian prophetic tradition are deeply imbued with poetic formulations.2

Farrell 1

1 Hermann Hunger and Stephen Kaufman. A New Akkadian Prophecy Text,Journal of the American Oriental Society,Vol. 95, No. 3 (Jul. - Sep., 1975), pp. 371-375; Aage Westenholz. Old Sumerian and Old Akkadian Texts in Philadelphia,Chie!y from Nippur: Part One, Literary and Lexical Texts and the Earliest Administrative Documents from Nippur. Danskevidenskabernes selskab. Historisk-!loso!ske skrifter ; bd. 7, nr. 2, Copenhaged: Munsgard (1976);Cli"ord HerschelMoore. Prophecy in the Ancient Epic, Harvard Studies in Classical Philology, Vol. 32, (1921), pp. 99-175.

2 Seth Schwartz. Language, Power and Identity in Ancient Palestine, Past & Present, No. 148 (Aug., 1995), pp. 3-47;JMP Smith. Semitic ProphecyThe Biblical World, Vol. 35, No. 4 (Apr., 1910), pp. 218 + 223-233.
http://www.jstor.org/action/doBasicSearch?Query=au%3A%22Clifford+Herschel+Moore%22&wc=on&acc=onhttp://www.jstor.org/action/doBasicSearch?Query=au%3A%22Aage+Westenholz%22&wc=on&acc=onhttp://www.jstor.org/action/showPublication?journalCode=jameroriesocihttp://www.jstor.org/stable/3142046?&Search=yes&term=prophecy&term=ancient&list=hide&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3Dancient%2Bprophecy%26wc%3Don%26acc%3Don&item=15&ttl=20748&returnArticleService=showFullTexthttp://www.jstor.org/stable/3142046?&Search=yes&term=prophecy&term=ancient&list=hide&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3Dancient%2Bprophecy%26wc%3Don%26acc%3Don&item=15&ttl=20748&returnArticleService=showFullTexthttp://www.jstor.org/action/doBasicSearch?Query=au%3A%22John+Merlin+Powis+Smith%22&wc=on&acc=onhttp://www.jstor.org/action/doBasicSearch?Query=au%3A%22John+Merlin+Powis+Smith%22&wc=on&acc=onhttp://www.jstor.org/stable/651047?&Search=yes&term=prophecy&term=ancient&list=hide&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3Dancient%2Bprophecy%26wc%3Don%26acc%3Don&item=9&ttl=20748&returnArticleService=showFullTexthttp://www.jstor.org/stable/651047?&Search=yes&term=prophecy&term=ancient&list=hide&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3Dancient%2Bprophecy%26wc%3Don%26acc%3Don&item=9&ttl=20748&returnArticleService=showFullTexthttp://www.jstor.org/action/doBasicSearch?Query=au%3A%22Seth+Schwartz%22&wc=on&acc=onhttp://www.jstor.org/action/doBasicSearch?Query=au%3A%22Seth+Schwartz%22&wc=on&acc=onhttp://www.jstor.org/stable/310716?&Search=yes&term=prophecy&term=ancient&list=hide&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3Dancient%2Bprophecy%26wc%3Don%26acc%3Don&item=10&ttl=20748&returnArticleService=showFullTexthttp://www.jstor.org/stable/310716?&Search=yes&term=prophecy&term=ancient&list=hide&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3Dancient%2Bprophecy%26wc%3Don%26acc%3Don&item=10&ttl=20748&returnArticleService=showFullTexthttp://www.jstor.org/action/doBasicSearch?Query=au%3A%22Clifford+Herschel+Moore%22&wc=on&acc=onhttp://www.jstor.org/action/doBasicSearch?Query=au%3A%22Clifford+Herschel+Moore%22&wc=on&acc=onhttp://www.jstor.org/action/doBasicSearch?Query=au%3A%22Clifford+Herschel+Moore%22&wc=on&acc=onhttp://www.jstor.org/action/doBasicSearch?Query=au%3A%22Clifford+Herschel+Moore%22&wc=on&acc=onhttp://www.jstor.org/action/doBasicSearch?Query=au%3A%22Aage+Westenholz%22&wc=on&acc=onhttp://www.jstor.org/action/doBasicSearch?Query=au%3A%22Aage+Westenholz%22&wc=on&acc=onhttp://www.jstor.org/action/showPublication?journalCode=jameroriesocihttp://www.jstor.org/action/showPublication?journalCode=jameroriesoci


2/37

Following from these precedents, the Greek3, Latin4 and later-European traditions5 followed a

familiar pattern of combining the capacities of poet and prophet in an e#ort to express the

inspiration which informed their commentary on this world and what was to come.

This nexus

of the role of poet and prophet in numerous epochs and societies, then, has received a great

deal of scholarly attention. 6 Within this strain of research concepts of inspiration and

authority, as they pertain to the poet and prophet, respectively, are oft-covered though not

well-systemized. This paper aims to brie$y systematize concepts of inspiration and authority

as argued by scholars of the Judaeo-Christian-European tradition, present the systematization

of those same concepts within the Islamic tradition, and further seeks to locate the work of

two modern Arab poets - Ab al-Qsim a-ShbbsAl-Nabal-Majhl and Amed FaytrsAl-

Mutanabb- within these systematizations and answer the question: What type of poets and

prophets are portrayed in their poems, and into which model do those characters fall?

Farrell 2

3 Lisa Maurizio. Delphic Oracles as Oral Performances: Authenticity and Historical Evidence, Classical Antiquity,

Vol. 16, No. 2 (Oct., 1997), pp. 308-334.4 Malcolm Scho!eld. Cicero for and against Divination, The Journal of Roman Studies, Vol. 76, (1986), pp. 47-65.

5 Lawrence F. Rhu. After the Middle Ages: Prophetic Authority and Human Fallibility in Renaissance Epic, fromPoetry and Prophecy: The Beginnings of a Literary Tradition ed. James Kugel. Ithaca: Cornell University Press (1990), pp.163-184.

6 Paul Friedrich. The Prophet Isaiah in Pushkins The Prophet, in John Leavitt. Poetry and Prophecy: The Anthropologyof Inspiration. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press (1997);pp. 169-200.
http://www.jstor.org/stable/300365?&Search=yes&term=divination&term=roman&list=hide&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3Droman%2Bdivination%26gw%3Djtx%26acc%3Don%26prq%3Dgreek%2Boracles%26hp%3D25%26wc%3Don&item=10&ttl=4165&returnArticleService=showFullTexthttp://www.jstor.org/stable/300365?&Search=yes&term=divination&term=roman&list=hide&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3Droman%2Bdivination%26gw%3Djtx%26acc%3Don%26prq%3Dgreek%2Boracles%26hp%3D25%26wc%3Don&item=10&ttl=4165&returnArticleService=showFullTexthttp://www.jstor.org/action/doBasicSearch?Query=au%3A%22Malcolm+Schofield%22&wc=on&acc=onhttp://www.jstor.org/action/doBasicSearch?Query=au%3A%22Malcolm+Schofield%22&wc=on&acc=onhttp://www.jstor.org/stable/25011067?&Search=yes&term=oracles&term=greek&list=hide&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3Dgreek%2Boracles%26gw%3Djtx%26acc%3Don%26prq%3Dancient%2Bprophecy%26hp%3D25%26wc%3Don&item=5&ttl=6748&returnArticleService=showFullTexthttp://www.jstor.org/stable/25011067?&Search=yes&term=oracles&term=greek&list=hide&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3Dgreek%2Boracles%26gw%3Djtx%26acc%3Don%26prq%3Dancient%2Bprophecy%26hp%3D25%26wc%3Don&item=5&ttl=6748&returnArticleService=showFullTexthttp://www.jstor.org/action/doBasicSearch?Query=au%3A%22Lisa+Maurizio%22&wc=on&acc=onhttp://www.jstor.org/action/doBasicSearch?Query=au%3A%22Lisa+Maurizio%22&wc=on&acc=on


3/37

The Judaeo-Christian-European Tradition

I: Theories of Inspiration

Here we shall deal with the "rst of the matters at hand to be systematized: the role of

inspiration in ascribing the role of prophet or poet as it has been described in works of the

Judaeo-Christian and European milieus. Much work in the past 60 years has endeavored to link

poetics to prophecy by way of a shared, at times incipient, supra-natural inspiration; special

mention in this "eld is reserved for Nora Chadwicks Poetry and Prophecy, Mircea Eliades

Shamanism, James Kugels Poetry and Prophecy and John Leavitts book by the same title.

Together, they cover a rich variety of epochs, traditions and approaches to the categorization

and study of the rhetorical, scriptural, societal and anthropological roles occupied by the poet

and prophet. Critical ground in the "eld, however, was "rst broken by Thomas Carlyle7 and

Walt Whitman.8

Carlyles Heroes and Hero Worship sought to establish the source of the attention devoted

to various historical personages, amongst whom are several who founded new religions, and

one - Muammad - who wrote a new Bible (the Qurn), and several of the Hebrew prophets.

Carlyle seems to suggest that the most e)cacious way of becoming a hero to a community is

Farrell 3

7 Thomas Carlyle. Heroes and Hero Worship. Chicago : Homewood (19--?), pp. 351.

8 Walt Whitman. The Complete Writings of Walt Whitman, ed. R. M. Bucke, T. B. Harned and Horace Traubel. New York(1902). Fred Smith has sourced Whitmans writings from Carlyles works and his essay will serve as the basis fortheir remarks: Fred Manning Smith. Whitman's Poet-Prophet and Carlyle's Hero PMLA, Vol. 55, No. 4 (Dec.,1940), pp. 1146-1164.


4/37

through the establishment of a new religion by means of providing a Scripture or book of

supra-natural provenance.9 The mechanism through which this new Scripture is to be

delivered is inspiration:

[...W]ith the a#atus and mysterious tide ofvision and impulse rushing on him he knows not whence ... his rapt

vision... [is that] tendency in every man... to speak-out, to act-out, what Nature has laid in him.10

Plainly, religious prophecy as Carlyle envisions it consists of an outside force providing

vision and, at times, even the words to b prophesied themselves. Whitman is swift to a)rm

this conception of the role of inspiration in marking a prophet: Through me the a*atus

surging and surging ... The dirt receding before my prophetical screams... In at the conquer'd

doors they crowd! I am possess'd!.11 Additionally, he confessed to the role of prophet as

bringing a new Scripture with which to instruct the contemporary age:

Perhaps the clothes of our religion are worn out and new clothes are needed.

We need somebody or something whose utterances were like an old Hebrew prophets, only substituting

rapt literature instead of rapt religion.12

Though inspiration played a role of great consequence for prophets in the works of

Carlyle and Whitman, their works made not mention of the inspiration of poets.

Farrell 4

9 Smith, op. cit., p. 147.

10 Ibid., p. 1150.

11 Whitman, Complete Works, op. cit; cf: Smith, p. 1149.

12 Smith, p. 1149-50.


5/37

By the late 19th century, more formal articulations of inspiration for prophets and

poets became the subject of academic study. In 1898, both Edward Pollard13 and William

Guthrie14

posited competing conceptions of the nature of prophetic inspiration in Biblical and

modern English literature. Pollard argues that the roles of poet and prophet were combined in

ancient times, and this served as a template that persevered into the modern age; Guthrie

argues for a sharp division between the two,15 claiming that the prophets role is to rivet

attention to a religious model, while the poets is to delight and entertain.16 Pollard, the more

liberal of the two in allowing for inspiration of a religious suasion, is e#usive in its mentioning:

The causes which !rst led to public speech were the impassioned motives of religion...

He [the Hebrew Prophet] often seems roused into speech by the intensity of his spiritual conviction, rather than

by the subtly incitements of poetic sensibility.

[The prophet] ...must have inspiration; and while not striving to alter the form, yet, seeing clearly and feeling

deeply, he must sing.17

Guthrie, on the other hand, makes no explicit mention of a inspiration for the

prophet as having a divine or even religious source, refraining from imbuing the prophets

inspiration with any particular supra-natural quality:

Farrell 5

13 Edward B. Pollard. The Prophet as a Poet, The Biblical World, Vol. 12, No. 5 (Nov., 1898), pp. 327-332.

14 William Norman Guthrie. The Poet as Prophet, The Sewanee Review, Vol. 6, No. 4 (Oct., 1898), pp. 402-412.

15 Ibid, p. 402.

16 Pollard, p. 402.

17 Pollard, Prophet as Poet, pp. 327-29.


6/37

The much-talked-of messages... may, after careful re%ection, prove no more than the ballast that kept their ships

steady in the gale ofinspiration.18

As for the poets stake in inspiration, Pollard again asserts the divine quality of the

poets source: Poets thoughts must be touched by emotion,just as the prophets words are

energized by a divine human enthusiasm.19 Guthrie, much as he explained the prophets

inspiration, denies any divine quality for such an inspiration; indeed he goes so far as to stress

the a$ected nature of the poets self-conception as one who has received inspiration:

If the prophet be not his [the poets] ideal (if he cannot with the Christ say, Behold, I am He), then hemust be that poet to paint us a mental picture of his hero, or use a [previous] poet... Indeed, there have been many

prophets who have, in their zeal, acted out that which they were sorely conscious of not being.

Though they may not actually receive divine inspiration - resorting even to having to

a#ect it - the poets do play an important role vis--vis the prophets: The poet is the suggestor

of divine messages to prophets. He furnishes the prophet with the facts of the inner life.20

By the close of the 19th century, then, there still remained a great deal of inconsistency

in the formulation of a typology for either a prophet or poet to describe quality of any

inspiration which informed their craft. While all poets -when they are mentioned - were said

to have received some sort of inspiration, its source - either human or supra-natural - was not

yet "xed; poets may or may not have ever received inspiration for their work, at all. Their

Farrell 6

18 Guthrie, Poet as Prophet, p. 404.

19 Pollard, p. 329; emphasis mine.

20 Guthrie, p. 412.


7/37

strongest claim to inspiration was a new Scripture, said to be divinely or supra-naturally

inspired, as is argued by Carlyle and Whitman. This moral inspiration of the theorists and

the attendant moral imperative it contained was the near-exclusive domain of the prophets,

while the poets only inspired delight.

However, throughout the 20th century, "rm consensus developed within the scholarly

community around the quality of inspiration that informed both prophets and poets. The

source of much of this work was Nora Chadwicks Poetry and Prophecy, which strongly advocated

Pollards position vis--vis the shared societal function of prophet and poet and the divine

source of inspiration for both. The newest wave of scholarship on the subject began with

strong a)rmations of this assessment. In editing his book Poetry and Prophecy, James Kugel

states that Dante, Milton, Black [were] endowed with prophetic gifts or divinely inspired

speech... Such traditions go back through the Middle ages in Christian Europe and Muslim

Spain in the East, and back further to ancient Greece and biblical Israel.21 Throughout his

introduction, Kugel stresses the criticism of the historical con$ation of the role of prophet and

poet, citing the perception of many [that] a prophet may be mistaken for a mere poet, - most

hostilely in the early-Renaissance works of Petrarch and Sidney - as evidence of prophecys

Farrell 7

21 James Kugel. Poets and Prophets: An Overview, in Poets and Prophets, ed. Kugel, op. cit.; p. 1.


8/37

source in divine inspiration. 22 Indeed, prophetic gifts are something that can even be denied to

exist by their agent23, though this does not lead to Guthries a#ectation of divine inspiration.

Close by this reading of the role inspiration played for prophetic literature is John

Leavitts work Poetry and Prophecy. Often, he views both poetry and prophecy as divine in

their sources: Both poetry and prophecy, then come from divine sources, the Muses in one

case, Apollo in the other; poetic genius, intuitive divination, the second sight manifested in

dreams, the mystics commerce with the divine, and certain nervous and mental a*ictions are

all due to an... emotional temperament...which...enables men to enter into communication

with beings of a like "ery and animated character.24 Researching the problem through an

anthropological lens, Leavitt approaches conceptions of inspiration through receivership:

Words have power based in their perceived source... that is, marked as either emanating directly from

an extraordinary or supernatural source, that is to say, a source that does not communicate directly with human

beings in unmarked ways or situations; or as referring to the direct experience of such a source.

25

The role of the audiences perception of the nature of the prophets speech is the key

ingredient to creation of prophecy, assigning more agency to the society in toto when it comes

to creating prophetic roles and traditions. He cautions against an uncritical characterization

Farrell 8

22 Ibid., p. 7.

23 Ibid., p. 11.

24 John Leavitt, Poetics, Prophetics, Inspiration, in Poetry and Prophecy: The Anthropology of Inspiration, ed. JohnLeavitt. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press (1997); pp. 1-60; p. 12.

25 Ibid., p. 8.


9/37

of prophetic work as reception26, although it is clear that he seeks to move the discussion

toward a more nuanced understanding of prophecy as - at least in part - productive and not

merely receptive or inspired.

The most vocal in stressing the common inspired characteristic of both poets and

prophets is Paul Friedrich. He has presented a typology of the inspired poetry-prophecy

nexus as follows:

1) Poet and Prophet occupy a single social role (such as in Archaic Greece or ancient China)... Bakhti poetry of

India and su! poetry of Persia and the Middle East are examplespar excellnce in this conception (following

Schimmel).

2) Poet and Prophet occupy distinct roles, but the poet is understood to be somehow impelled by forces beyond

him - or herself to compose and perform in a state of consciousness directly linked to the divine or the

demonic... language of the Gods... as in Tibet, where epic bards sang in divinely inspired states of possession.

3) The poet is seen as ordinary artisan, while the prophet accorded special religious function.27

Friedmans schematization of the topoi found in the intersection of prophetic and poetic

roles "nds that the preponderance of cases a)rm the unity of divine inspiration in the social

roles of prophet and poet, if not a case for the uni"cation of those roles. Under the paradigms

of both Kugel and Leavitt the poet, too, has claim to supra-natural inspiration. Kugel cites the

Cybelline revelations as proof of not just a societal position wherein prophecy and poetry

merged, but also an innate connection between the source of each.28 Alan Jones in his essay as

part of Kugels volume argues that the shared rle ofmessengerbind prophet and poet together

Farrell 9

26 Ibid., p. 42.

27 Friedman, op. cit., p. 172.

28 Kugel, Poetry and Prophecy, p. 13, 17.


10/37

in reception of inspiration.29 Increasing identi"cation of poets from the Latin period forward30

as prophets may belie the Guthrian concept of self-ascription of prophethood on the part

of poets, but this criticism seems to be absorbed by the recognition of the wide dissemination

within society of such texts as con"rming Leavitts theory of perceived source being the

most important marker of supra-natural inspiration.

Clearly, in the 100 succeeding years after Pollard and Guthrie, a sea change in attitude

towards prophecy had been evinced: "rm support stands behind the inspired nature - or at

least the belief in the inspired nature - of both prophetic and poetic production. 31 The role of

the community in a)rming this supra-natural provenance is admitted and more fully

explored, whereas in Pollard and Guthrie, the prophet and poet stood alone in the assertion of

the source of their utterances; or, as Leavitt describes it, the experience of the practitioner.32

The revelation of a new book - la Carlyle and Whitman - markedly disappears in schema of

Kugel and Leavitt.

II: Qualities Amenable for Inspiration

Farrell 10

29

Alan Jones. Imagining Prophecy, in James Kugel, Poetry and Prophecy, op. cit.; pp. 26-44.30 Kugel identi!es the start of the Christian tradition of poetic assumption of prophethood in a work by FaltoniaProba, which imitated Virgils self-styled divine messenger poet; Kugel, p. 19.

31 Both Kugel and Leavitt served as the editors for the respective books which they introduced, and both make itclear that the accompanying essays in the volumes share their approach toward concepts of inspiration andauthority.

32 Leavitt, op. cit., p. 4.


11/37

While not a topic commonly brought up in the literature on the subject, both Whitman

and Friedman have attempted to qualify those people who received inspiration as possessed of

certain characteristics, both innately and at the moment of inspiration itself. Herewith is a

short exposition of those characteristics, with an attempt to harmonize some of the variables

to produce a framework with which to compare Western thinkers conceptions of those who

are chosen for inspiration with those of Islamic thinkers.

Whitman, in various treatises, takes up the characteristics of those who receive

inspiration and "nds the most perfect and pleasing model in that of the Old Hebrew

prophets.33 Smith excerpts a list of characteristics at length, the most prominent among them

being: spiteful of riches; at ease with the uneducated or, at the least, populist; wild or

untamed; a#ectionate; sympathetic; silent or, at the least, laconic; an agent or representative

of the zeitgeist; endowed with a high capacity for achievement in any "eld; champion of

Experience over Reason; idiomatic and owing much to common speech, his message not

indebted to the rhetorical stylings but often composed in free verse; a joiner of men; one who

exposes things for what they really are; earnest; candid; perspicacious; and opposed to

persi$age.34 In his writing, and even in visual representations of himself35, Whitman purports

to live up to these idyllic pre-conditions for receiving inspiration.

Farrell 11

33 CJ Furness. Walt Whitmans Workshop. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (1928); p. 67.

34 James, op. cit., pp. 1149-1157.

35 Ibid., p. 1150.


12/37

Friedman, in his conceptualization of the receiver of inspirations qualities, is much less

e#usive in listing qualities, boiling the prerequisites down to six deadly serious36

characteristics: (1) talent; (2) training; (3) technique; (4) the psychic propensity to ecstasy and

dissociation; (5) various combinations of the role of bard and rhapsode; and similarly... (6)

challenging political and other cultural values.37

To assert these two conceptions of characteristics inherent to one who is worthy of

receiving supra-natural inspiration as wholly representative of modern scholarship would be

folly, but there are some general connections which may be teased out regarding these two

conceptualizations separated by nearly a century and a half. Most importantly, both recognize

that there must be natural linguistic talent in the prophet - whether by being endowed with

high capacity for achievement, skilled in the presentation of idiom or merely as being a

talent. Following closely on this is technique; not just any style will do. We reassert here

Whitmans commitment to free verse38 and Friedmans insistence on a training in

musicality39. Additionally, the propensity to mystical states - be they achieved through

Whitmans untamed-ness or Friedmans psychic dissociation40 - is key in establishing

Farrell 12

36 Friedman, op. cit., p. 186.

37 Ibid., pp. 182-3.

38 James, op. cit., p. 1150.

39 Friedman, op. cit., p. 188-91.

40 Ibid., p. 185.


13/37

communion or dialogue with the supra-natural force. 41 Finally, there must be an e#ort to be

somewhat of a counter-culturalist - a reactionary to the corrupt prevailing mood - and the

establisher of a new spirit of the age; perhaps this may be realized through producing a New

Bible, as in Whitmans conception.

The Islamic Tradtion

I: Theory of Prophetic Inspiration

Any inquiry into the nature of Islamic revelation must begin with the Qurn, the

Scripture that all Muslims hold to be the word of God as revealed diachronically to

Muammad, who is said to be His apostle or rasl (pl. rusul). The terms rasl and nabin

particular are lead any discussion on understanding the role of prophethood in the Qurn.

While rasl is the most prevalent term used in the Qurn to describe prophets, the text also

provides su)cient semantic variety to allow nab(pl. nabiyyn and anbiy) to be translated in

the same way.42 The main epistemological distinction between the two terms seems, according

to al-Bayw (d. ca. 716/1316), to stem from their assignment: a rasl shall come with a book

or law in order to establish a new shara, or understanding of divine will and appointment,

Farrell 13

41 Herbert W. Hines. The Prophet as Mystic, The American Journal of Semitic Languages and Literatures, Vol. 40, No. 1(Oct.,1923), pp. 37-71; p. 44. See also: Friedman, op. cit., p. 175 for the crypticism of such a dialogue.

42 Messengers, a more inclusive group of personalities, are mentioned more than 300 times in the text. Whileboth rasl and nabwould both qualify as a messenger, this category also includes the mursal, which, together withits plural form (mursaln), occurs more than thirty additionaltimes. See: Rubin, Uri. "Prophets and Prophethood."Encyclopaedia of the Qurn. General Editors: Jane Dammen McAuli"e, Georgetown University, Washington DC. Brill,2010.
http://www.brillonline.nl/subscriber/uid=3141/entry?entry=q3_DUM-00491http://www.brillonline.nl/subscriber/uid=3141/entry?entry=q3_DUM-00491


14/37

whereas a nbhas no such explicit mission and most usually carries on the tradition of the

contemporary understanding ofshara; Muammad is referred to by both titles in the Qurn

(as nbin 49:2; as rasl in 33:40)

Within the text of the Qurn, various verbal forms communicate the act of establishing

prophethood. Both the verbs wahaba and hadoccur in 6:84:

"$%'(*+,%-./+123 +,%-./67 29:- ;


15/37

inspiration is nazala, to descend, anzala to send down or tanazzala to be sent

down (65:12); tanzl, a nominal form, is also used to describe the act of the descent of

revelation from heaven (20:4; 26:192; 32:2) . While these forms all denote a sort of inspiration,

there is no explicit, identi"ed agent that causes it to come down, though it is commonly

understood that revelation comes from a divine agent. Another widely used verb denoting the

act of providing revelation is aw , with waas the noun denoting the revelation itself.43 The

verb means to prompt, inspire, suggest and is commonly, though not exclusively, mentioned

along with prophets: occasionally it simply means to instruct, as in which God instructs

(y) the angels to deliver a message to humanity (8:12). However, addresses to the prophets

using this verb are common: God instructs (awayn) Noah to make the ark (23:27), as He

instructs (awayn) Moses to cast his rod (7:117). As pertains to explicit mention of supra-

natural inspiration of a Scripture, the Qurn is self-referential in (42:52):

+3 +$%E(* +cQ3(*?M .NQ3 23 +,%D:f(g @ +G-j k +l%g@ +* .mn,7+* +3Y* (R*+1 pC@ +,%C1 p@q7B%C9l%rH* Y`W@ .Nl%@pQ3

...and in (53:4-5, 7):

W1 +* .$%EW@ W1 t%%u 29@ .-.w?GQDEW12-x1 Qk 2/

The verb lahama is also used in the Qurn (91:8) and carries inspirational connotations,though it is unclear as to whether or not this is related to a prophetic mission.

Farrell 15

43 Rubin, Uri. "Prophets and Prophethood." Encyclopaedia of the Qurn, op. cit.


16/37

That which is actually inspired to be revealed takes several nominal forms: signs, or

yt(57:9); a particular verse orsra (9:86); and qurn (76:23), though this is not assumed to be

the entirety of the Scripture - this is covered by the word kitb (7:2), a term which also refers to

the Torah and Gospel (3:3-4). Additionally, the content of inspiration is said to be ikmah or

wisdom (17:39), referring to lessons given to past generations; this didactic purpose of

revelation is also extended to (11:49) where anbul-ghayb or stories of the history of past

generations which are being revealed to Muammad. God also delivers dreams (ruyah) to his

prophets, Abraham (37:105) and Muammad (48:27; 17:60) being two examples. The

intermediary for these inspirations (excepting dreams) are the angels, with Gabriel or Jabrl the

most commonly cited messenger (e.g. 2:97-98; 66:4).

The form of revelation was chosen so as to maximize comprehension on the part of the

receivers and clarity of meaning44

:

xu;-Yu PQ,%y@ xu;-Yu?Cuz- kFGy@ 2- q,%m +N@21(* Y9@ Q q,%l%@+CMYE+3 Y'pC@ +,%C1 p@q7(42:7)YC: Qr@

2,%*{-k(-qQ@ +^w ./2,%* (-qQD@2/"'|xMYE |xGyE ?m+- nD R}uk2@2@+9@+CGyE +3 Y' +,%D:f2@(41:44).C:M +g*(* +,%-p~@ WGEBNCDE2/ Y' BN3 xu

(12:2) 2D9:mBgQD:@+CMYE+3 Y' +,%@3 +Q3

(43:3) 2D9:mBgQD:@+CMYE+3 Y' +,%D:f+Q3

Farrell 16

44 Later commentators, seeking to justify the Qurns rhetorical perfection seem to counteract the claim that theQurn was delivered as a Scripture free from poetic pursuits. See: al-Baqilln, jaz.


17/37

The clear take-away from this is Islams unquestionable acceptance of a supra-natural -in this case heavenly - means of inspiration for its prophets. Though the inspiration is

mediated by way of another of Gods creations - angels - there appears to be no di#erence in

what God has chosen to inspire his messengers with and what the angels deliver; the reason for

this is the innate clarity and truth of the revelation. Various forms of inspiration occur, but the

strongest and clearest forms of inspiration are visions intended to be replicated orally (29:45)

and spread amongst the people.

II: Islamic Theory of Poetic Inspiration

The Islamic belief in the inspiration of poets has many commonalities with that ofprophets, although distinctions may appear in the matter of its source and those agents who

act as its intermediaries. Likewise, the intended function of prophecy - the dissemination of

Gods will to His people - and that of poetry are often found in contention.

Poetry, most particularly the qadah, was the dominant cultural literary form of artistic

expression in pre-Islamic Arabia.45 It was tribal, though shared inter-tribally; it exhorted men

and women to abide by a social code, but at times advocated the transgression of that moral

code;46 religious ideas were little developed beyond the concept ofduhr(fate, passage of time),

Farrell 17

45 Jones, Alan. "Poetry and Poets." Encyclopaedia of the Qurn. General Editor: Jane Dammen McAuli"e, GeorgetownUniversity, Washington DC. Brill, 2010.

46 See the mallaqah of Imru al-Qays, especially, as suggested in Suzanne Stekevychs translation found in The MuteImmortals Speak: Pre-Islamic Poetry and the Poetics of Ritual. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press, 1993


18/37

the main supra-natural agent, though in it gods are mentioned. Its success as a literary form

has been attributed to the fact that:

[the poet's] main purpose, so to stimulate the imaginative response of his audience that the poem becomes adialogueue between [the poet and his audience], a dialogueue in which the audience are alert to grasp the hints

and allusions compressed within the compass of his verse and to complete his portrait or thought for

themselves.47

This dialogue was based in the poet being able to inspire feeling in the listener; indeed,

the linguistic connection between the root of poetry (shir) and emotional state or feeling

(shar) has not gone unnoticed.48 The way in which poets were able to formulate this dialogue is

the subject of some debate. Poets themselves attribute their poetic gift to the virtue of natural

talent49, or mab; taking too long to compose a poem on the part of the poet was cause for

rebuke.50 The poet who sought fame was obliged compose based on a strict aesthetic

sensibility, an art which eventually became an ilm (science, something which required

training) in the eyes of Ibn azm (d. 456/1064). However, if we are utilize the anthropological

and social construction of the poets identity which Leavitt proposes, a di#erent picture of the

source of poetic creativity emerges.

Farrell 18

47 H.A.R. Gibb.Arabic Literature. London : Oxford University Press (1926); p. 26.

48Lisan al Arab provides al-Azharis explanation of the linguistic between the two under the entry"#$ thusly:&'() "-."#13456"#13789")5$7(


19/37

The context in which Islam was introduced held a very speci"c view of the way in

which the poets (shir) or soothsayers (khin) craft resulted from his - and less frequently, her

- inhabitation by the supra-natural forces of ajinn or ashayn (Greek daemon), beings whose

interests were contrary to that of the God which Muammad represented.51 As a result, these

social roles were needed for various purposes:

A khindealt in short, cryptic, rhymed, jinn-inspired pronouncements on such matter as lost camels,launching of raids, determination of paternity, and especially dream interpretation and other kinds of auguries;

seldom volunteered his e"orts, but they were besought and usually compensated... [A]shir[s] utterances were

far more regular and patterned in their formal structure, having both a considerably more complex and

demanding system of rhyme and a rigorously isometric prosody. Their verse production tended to be far more

substantial, extensive, coherent, thematically and generically diversi!ed and aesthetically satisfying than the

vaticinations of the kuhhn. Leadership role achieved by poets was never because they were poets, it was more

likely despite or regardless of their being poets.52

Muammads Meccan opponents leveled charges against him of being a khin or a man

possessed by either ajinn or ashayn (majnn), or of being little more than a poet and a

falsi"er of dreams; such accusations categorize him in contradistinction to true prophets who

had visions (21:5):

2@Q "= +G7P-M+,%mt%%CDuYE+w2/"M Yl%u "M 61 + 2@+'"M

The pejorative quality of the charge of being a poet was meant to diminishMuammads standing and claim to prophethood; only real prophets were seen to have come

Farrell 19

51 See Alan Jones, Poets and Poetry, op. cit.; Michael Zwettler. A Mantic Manifesto: The sra of The Poets and theQuranic Foundations of Prophetic Authority in Poetry and Prophecy ed. James Kugel, op. cit.; Stewart, Devin J."Soothsayer." Encyclopaedia of the Qurn. General Editor: Jane Dammen McAuli"e, Georgetown University,Washington DC. Brill, 2010. Brill Online;

52 Zwettler, op. cit., p. 76.
http://www.brillonline.nl/subscriber/uid=3141/entry?entry=q3_DUM-00555http://www.brillonline.nl/subscriber/uid=3141/entry?entry=q3_DUM-00555http://www.brillonline.nl/subscriber/uid=3141/entry?entry=q3_DUM-00555http://www.brillonline.nl/subscriber/uid=3141/entry?entry=q3_DUM-00555http://www.brillonline.nl/subscriber/uid=3141/entry?entry=q3_DUM-00555http://www.brillonline.nl/subscriber/uid=3141/entry?entry=q3_DUM-00555


20/37

with a sign (yah), something which Muammads previous revelations had failed to live up to.

Poetry is viewed as an un"tting vehicle for delivering Gods message (36:69-70):

(-Yu+g@ WDE 29@ Q;


21/37

poet, court personage and provincial governor - encompassing the full range of temporal

authority - and a poetic career distinguished by spontaneity of inspiration, by the liberty

which the poet takes with poetic frameworks and by the vigour of style, which has...much...

personal character.57 Despite his best e#orts, the historical al-Mutanabb failed in his e#orts to

assume temporal power, ascending only to the position of a minor wl in Fusat.

III: Qualities Amenable for Inspiration

As prophethood is an inherited phenomenon in Islam, all prophets should share thesame traits. However, with Muammads designation as the seal of the prophets (khatm al-

anbiyya) and the perfect man (insn kmil), he quite understandably had a greater number of

characteristics attributed to him to legitimate his worthiness of the titles. The largest

collection of these honori"cs was compiled by Imm al-Juzl (d. 869/1465), who listed 201;

however, many commentators tried to restrict the list to a more modest 10.58

As with the Judaeo-Christian and European tradition, it would be futile and overblown

to try to list all the recorded characteristics which qualify Muammad for prophethood, and so

a few will su)ce, as well as some characteristics common to all prophets in the Islamic

tradition. Muammad as a prophet is said to have had the following qualities or exempli"ed

Farrell 21

57 Blachre, al-Mutaanabb, op. cit.

58 Dclais, Jean-Louis. "Names of the Prophet." Encyclopaedia of the Qurn. General Editor: Jane Dammen McAuli"e,Georgetown University, Washington DC. Brill, 2010.


22/37

the following archetypes: a shhid, or witness; mubashshir, bearer of glad tidings; nadhr,

warner; dil llh, caller to God;sirjan munran, shining lamp (33:46); al- urwa al-

wuthq, the "rmest handle (2:256); al- nabal-umm, the Prophet coming from a pagan/

illiterate milieu (7:157-8); al-muaf, the chosen one; al- abb, the beloved;sayyid waladi

dam, the lord of the sons of Adam; al- mutawakkil, he who trusts; al- mukhtr, the chosen

one; muqm al-sunna, he who re-establishes the sunna; al- muqaddas, the holy one; r al-

qudus, the spirit of holiness and r al-aqq, the spirit of truth, .

Qualities which were innate to all prophets or ascribed to them are: mdh mdh, a

corollary to ayyib ayyib, the twice good, munaminn, the comforter; ud, the man with

the rod of"re; minul-lin, righteous (6:85);sayyid, honorable (3:39); archaste;

iddq, truthful (19:41, 54, 56). We will here take our cue from Al-QIy who concluded his

list of prophetic qualities with: In these books, there are many indications, titles and signs

regarding him and, God willing, we will be satis"ed with those we have mentioned.

Comparative Notes

Before turning to the modern poets of this paper, it will be useful to both harmonize

the shared qualities and highlight the di#erence of the Judaeo-Christian-European and Islamic

traditions pertaining to inspiration and poetic - prophetic qualities.

Each tradition acknowledges the separate spheres of in$uence occupied by the poet

and prophet as determined by communal perceptions of the source and intent of their

Farrell 22
http://www.brillonline.nl/subscriber/uid=3141/entry?entry=q3_SIM-00264http://www.brillonline.nl/subscriber/uid=3141/entry?entry=q3_SIM-00452http://www.brillonline.nl/subscriber/uid=3141/entry?entry=q3_DUM-00387http://www.brillonline.nl/subscriber/uid=3141/entry?entry=q3_SIM-00408http://www.brillonline.nl/subscriber/uid=3141/entry?entry=q3_SIM-00408http://www.brillonline.nl/subscriber/uid=3141/entry?entry=q3_SIM-00264http://www.brillonline.nl/subscriber/uid=3141/entry?entry=q3_SIM-00264http://www.brillonline.nl/subscriber/uid=3141/entry?entry=q3_SIM-00452http://www.brillonline.nl/subscriber/uid=3141/entry?entry=q3_SIM-00452http://www.brillonline.nl/subscriber/uid=3141/entry?entry=q3_DUM-00387http://www.brillonline.nl/subscriber/uid=3141/entry?entry=q3_DUM-00387


23/37

inspiration. The nature of that inspiration could vary: in the Judaeo-Christian-European

context, inspiration was either supra-natural in the form of a spiritual revelation or, as might

be argued for Whitman, inspiration supplied by Nature and not a deity; the Islamic tradition

held that a supra-natural entities were the ultimate arbiter of inspiration for both poets and

prophets, with God the sole agent of prophetic inspiration andjinn orshayan providing it for

the poets. While in the Judaeo-Christian-European context we often "nd that a poet could be a

prophet and vice versa, this view is actively discouraged in Islamic scriptural tradition and

much of the exegetical literature; the only proponent of such a view is the poet who ascribed a

type of Shi divine prophetic authority unto himself. Prophets were at times marked by the

production of a new Law or Book; in the Islamic tradition this marked prophets of particular

importance, who were termed rusul. The language of this message should be in as clear as

possible, often stripped of the rhetoric which de"nes poetic composition. Both prophets and

poets are prone to visions, which give them access to something unseen.

Shared characteristics between the two traditions pertaining to prophethood can be

identi"ed as follows: high capacity for achievement regardless of the endeavor; champion of

esoteric Experience over Reason; freedom from rhetorical embellishments in terms of speech;

they are joiners of men, sympathetic to their needs; opposed to obscurity and obfuscation -

they avoid these pitfalls by constant engagement in dialogue, either with their fellow man or

Farrell 23
http://www.brillonline.nl/subscriber/uid=3141/entry?entry=q3_DUM-00555http://www.brillonline.nl/subscriber/uid=3141/entry?entry=q3_DUM-00555http://www.brillonline.nl/subscriber/uid=3141/entry?entry=q3_DUM-00555


24/37

with a supra-natural entity; they are men of high moral standing, possessed of honor and

earnestness; they may be revolutionary, though not in the political sense of the world.

al-Shbb& Faytrs Conceptions of Inspiration

The Tunisian Romantic poet Ab al-Qsim al-Shbb and the Sudanese mystical poetMuammad Faytr dealt with the theme of poetic inspiration throughout their diwans, and

the selections 2NyV x$,@ and x$%,lV from their respective oeurves may be viewed as their most

complete treatments of the subject.59

al-Shbbs poem begins with a litany of dialogue between the prophet and his

people in Lines 1-7. He proposes to revolutionize their experience of life, if only he had the

power ( 29@ x@nC@). The revolution ( 2%%) he proposes will not be a comfortable one for his

people - the changes under advisement will destroy the graves, tomb by tomb... (Line 2); a

biting cold will cover everything the spring wilts (Line 4). Neither the comforts of the

grave nor of the life-giving spring are su)cient for our poet - he proposes the revolution to "x

the complacency of the current society.

His societal criticism continues in line 8, addressing his audience as a stupid soul

and hating the light, passing through the ages in a sleek night. The people are blind to

truths even as they swirl around and touch them (Line 9). His solution to societal ills comes

in both the form of a cup ( t7; Line 10) and an unspoilt bouquet (P'+M; Line 13), the exposure to

Farrell 24

59 The works are included in Appendix A, at the end of this paper.


25/37

which his people must undergo in order to learn the aforementioned truths; the people

however, refuse the cup (W= ; Line 11, ) and rip up the bouquet ( *; Line 14). His ostracism is

complete when he is dressed in clothes of sadness (+M2 1xux,lr$@ ; Line 15) and crowning

him with thorns (Line 15), an obvious allusion to the Islamic prophet Jesus.

Unwelcome amongst his own people, his only recourse is to settle into theunseen ( +; Lines 16-7) - the space of revelation - so as to contemplate this sorrow ( t-;

Line 16). The + is identi"ed as the heart of the forests ( +M+@ BCG`; Line 17), equating

revelation with the Natural world. This is the space of true inspiration, the abode of the birds

( 2C) whose speech inspires him realize ( .m; Line 20) the truth of existence: the glory of

souls is a moment of sensory perceptiveness ( R


26/37

the leader of the denomination of life, rejecting death and sorrow. His mission in the unseen

is to revivify a life a consciousness and sanctity ( .' Y:w +C1+C


27/37

al-Shbbs protagonist conforms neither the Judaeo-Christian-Western model nor

the Islam one perfectly. His inspiration is not religiously motivated, as it is in Islam; rather, it is

the Wordsworth-ian Nature which inspires him personal action and to calling the people to

follow him. His access to the unknown is very prophetic, as is his simultaneous dialogue with

the agents of inspiration: the birds with whom he communes and the abundance of Nature. He

"ts in very well with the Islamic concepts ofmuqm al-sunna and r al-aqq, refusing to be

kowtowed by societys interests and focused only on restoring the true understanding of the

meaning of our existence.While not necessarily being a poet himself, he calls on the people to

restore poetry and sanctity - in a way equating them. His language is clear, though possessed of

the poets rhetorical $ourishes, noticeably the malaq forms Y


28/37

(YOl


29/37

impulse, great men into heroes.61 The blending of these roles is a powerful allusion to the role

that the historical al-Mutannab played: occupying the dual roles of poet and prophet and

maximizing the facets of each to his own advantage. However, the "nal clause - .'+* - is

indicative of the never-fully-realized promise of the self-ascribed prophetic mission,

epitomized in the person of Faytrs protagonist and the historical al-Mutanabbs quest for

temporal power. Our protagonist, despite his religious commitment, has not reached the status

of prophet.

More instances of failed, self-ascribed prophethood follow, in the form of prophecy

directed toward temporal authority. The protagonist is knowledgable about the unknown in

terms of Umars future (YGE+-p@ 2lg*; Line 31); the future is correctly foretold by

prognostication of assassination ( +l-; Line 34), the eventual fate of the second caliph. This

choice of Umar is telling. The second of the rashidn he was one of the closest to the mission of

the prophet and unquestionably the superior intellect in the circle around the Prophet.62 Ibn

anbal relates prophetic adth concerning him, stating: If God had wished for there to be

another prophet after me, it would have been Umar. 63 He is said to have claimed that at least

three Qurnic verses were revealed at his request (2:125; 33:53; 66:6). Such claims - even if

indirect - make Umar an excellent specimen for one who ascribes prophethood to himself as

Farrell 29

61 Guthrie, op. cit., p. 410.

62 G.LeviDellaVida-[M.Bonner]. "Umar ( I ) b. al- Khab." EI2

63 Ibn anbal, Musnad i, 29, iv, 154.


30/37

the root tanabbintimates. Such foresight and insight surely should have portended success in

his caliphate; however, he did not embody the prophetic traits as they were set forth in the

Qurn. His temper was legendary, completely at odds with the prophetic attributes of being a

al- abb, ayyib ayyib,munaminn, or ud. His failure to adhere to theshara and his attempts

at its replacement in instituting vast administrative and land reform sealed his fate as a false

prophet and led to his assassination. Like the caliph Umar, the protagonists access to hidden

knowledge leads to the issuance of moral imperative - the caliph should not detract from [his]

e#ort or his vigil, but only decrease the building in the homeland, (Line 32).

The old man ( Y/; Line 3) is also identi"ed as one who composed poetry: And you

realize that some of them, if your poetry had not shed light on their bygone days, would have

become dust covered ( Y$BN*+- WDE 2;D-B@2@ Y:w .mn3 ; Lines 18-19). His poetry

instructed his age about the truths of the previous generations, the likes of which would have

been forgotten were it not for his e#orts. The didactic purpose of this poetic e#ort is clear:

They were kings on a shredded earth, both plant and man devouring earthly riches. They

were enslaved kings... (Yc$@ n$,@ +/ Y 2u 2y-P'G* WDE+72D*23+7; Lines 20-22). The

follies of past kings were exposed by this poet, and in their place, he sought to discredit their

authority by way of his poetry.

Faytrs protagonist, in the mode of the historical al-Mutannab, combines the roles of

poet and prophet. The poem is, however, a unique look into the machinations of a one the one

Farrell 30


31/37

successful poet but on the other, failed prophet. Through the historical example of the caliph

Umar, Faytr exposes the pitfalls of a poets self-ascribed prophethood, a vein of criticism

found in Guthries work. Guthries conception of the poets inspiration as being merely a

matter of delighting and not of serious supra-natural in$uence is on display in its full through

Faytrs exposition of a dying, failed religious and cultural program born not of natural

inspiration, but of earthly conceit.

While imbued with many of the characteristics of the Islamic and Judaeo-Christian-

European traditions views of poetry and prophecy and the link between them, both al-Shbb

and Faytr display independence from these traditions. al-Shbb eschews Islams call for

heavenly inspiration of poetry; Faytr opposes modern Western criticisms insistence on the

supra-natural inspiration of poetry and the move toward combining the role of poet and

prophet in society. In developing theories of the nexus between poetry and prophecy as

social and artistic roles to be played in society, it is clear that further work needs to be exerted

in e#orts toward incorporating modern Arabic poetry into future frameworks for this still-

developing "eld so as to add nuance to the genre.

Farrell 31


32/37

Appendix A

(xM+c@ B=+9@ xM) 2NyV x$,%@

x=t^M qy@ WDE 2/tu+%M+Q_1 n,7x,lC@ !z:c@ +N-*YM+%r* : 2$9@ H.Nmn@+=+* 2Cr@+7n,7x,l%C@ !

xr


33/37

M2r@ 2%%:w2*+ru +NC3+ x1 +,@ "NfGM +}*?$:wxu2/ x$3 +C


34/37

( 2lCu.G


35/37

.'+Gu +- Y@ 2$,@ Y}E YGE+-:n^l/

YG:@ p@ 2lg*

YNr@

.Ny@

pCu

9,-

C@( xu +GEk 9,m+G3Y_@ ?@+l- YN9@ ?@+l-

..nD'Y^r@ "CD@ ./+c@

Y:lrm 2g@ .*xuPD:w+N$@+* YG1 xl@ 2C_@ q/

+,@ 2}@ 2u Y^


36/37

***

Y +u2y@ z},%@ FGrlDu q3xGuxux7 2$@ x3+ q/

BDE

BN*+-

xu

'+rm

Y}l,l=xmt-(* 6E u.1 k+u(+(-

Y$l* k .. +(*BYM

.MnD'Wl%^@ +7WluH .M+-

Y/ -pC,CExu2/;c:D@?mYl xl@ n3

.1 zN@xu +7 Yy^,-2,yV+7 Y


37/37

YyO@ 2l= C1+%E+9- BE .yV+u

+%,-1xcG- Q

.9@

Y

xcG-_________x$,lGD@nC$@ *

Farrell 37