Document Type : Original Article
Authors
1
Department of Arabic Language and Literature, Faculty of Language and Literature, University of Kurdistan, Sanandaj, Iran
2
PhD Student, Department of Arabic Language and Literature, Azarbaijan Shahid Madani University, Tabriz, Iran
Abstract
Objective: Musicality is a fundamental, style-defining feature of poetry that strengthens expression and distinguishes poetic language from ordinary discourse. This study examines the musical structure of Sayyid Qutb’s poetry, focusing on the relationship between verbal form and meaning. Although primarily concerned with meaning, Qutb also values diction and employs it in the service of semantic expression. His poetry follows the neoclassical tradition of the Arab Nahda and maintains the conventional form of Arabic verse.
Method: The research adopts a descriptive-analytical approach to poems from Qutb’s collected poetry. It investigates four dimensions of poetic musicality: external, terminal, internal, and semantic. External musicality concerns meter and its relationship to content, while terminal musicality involves rhyme and the variation of rhyme consonants. Internal musicality is examined through the phonetic characteristics of letters and their correspondence with the meanings of words. Semantic musicality is explored through rhetorical devices that establish relationships of contrast, association, and coordination.
Results: The findings indicate that Qutb achieves relative metrical diversity while maintaining correspondence between meter and poetic content. Terminal musicality exhibits variation in the principal rhyme consonant, whereas internal musicality displays rhythmic richness through the relationship between phonetic structure and semantic content. The sounds of words thus contribute to the expression of their meanings. In semantic musicality, antithesis, semantic association, and the coordinated presentation of attributes are particularly prominent, without exceeding conventional limits. These devices operate alongside metrical and phonetic features to produce a musical texture characterized by fluent diction and an absence of semantic contrivance.
Conclusion: The musical organization of Qutb’s poetry reflects the interaction of sound, rhythm, and meaning within the inherited framework of Arabic versification. Its four dimensions demonstrate his attention to verbal expression as an integral component of communicating meaning. His use of diverse meters, rhyme consonants, sound patterns, and rhetorical devices reveals a concern for correspondence between poetic form and content. Musicality therefore constitutes a significant stylistic feature through which his poetry combines semantic orientation with attention to the expressive capacities of language.
Keywords
Main Subjects
)