Themes of Rejection and Rebellion in Ibn Lankak’s Poetry 10.35781/1637-000-149-003

Abstract

Abstract This study addresses an issue that continues to generate debate in literary studies, namely the image of the writer as reflected in his creative text, and the extent to which literature—whether poetry or prose—expresses the writer’s life in its various transformations, as well as his vision of the self, society, and the universe. From this perspective, the study examines the poetic corpus of an Arab poet from the fourth century AH, Ibn Lankak al-Basri (d. 360 AH), who is considered one of the lesser-known or marginalized poets despite the frequent mention of his name in classical literary sources. The research analyzes his diwan, or the extant portion of his poetry, in terms of its texts and thematic purposes. The second and third sections of the study are devoted to the central issue under discussion, seeking—through textual analysis—to explore how Ibn Lankak’s poetry, across its various themes, articulates the image of a poet who is at times receptive to life and its pleasures, fond of beauty and enjoyment, and at other times a complainer against fate and its injustices, rejecting his social condition and rebelling against a set of prevailing concepts and human relationships in his time and place. This study aims to highlight the artistic features of Ibn Lankak’s poetry, identify manifestations of rebellion and rejection within it, and elucidate the contours of the poet’s relationship with time, worldly life, and his contemporaries. To this end, the research adopts an analytical and inductive methodology that proceeds from the poet’s texts, structures, and stylistic features in order to uncover their meanings and thematic Keywords: Arabic poetry, Ibn Lankak), poets of limited poetic production, poetic themes and genres, poetic subjectivity