The Complaint in the Diwan al-Mufaddaliyyat: A Stylistic Study

Abstract

The research aims to trace the theme of complaint across different eras and identify its locations and various manifestations in the Diwan al-Mufaddaliyyat. The study is structured with an introduction, followed by an exploration of the purposes of complaint, starting from the pre-Islamic era, through the early Islamic and Umayyad periods, and concluding with the Abbasid era. The analysis then focuses on the instances of complaint in the Diwan under study. The research finds that complaint poems can either stand alone or be intertwined with other themes within a single poem. Regardless of the context, complaint reflects the poet's suffering, evident in either a complete poem or variously sized segments. Even when embedded within a poem with other themes, the influence of pain and grief that motivate the complaint is invariably present. The poet's skill is evident in their seamless transitions between themes within a poem. Complaint poetry authentically captures the poet's suffering without falsification, driven by genuine motives that convey the pain and sorrow experienced by the poet, ensuring an honest transfer of poetic experience to the reader. Complaint shares similar motives with lamentation, reflecting the anguish of the human soul through its sorrows and pains.