THE TYPES OF ARTISTIC IMAGERY IN KAʿB IBN ZUHAYR’S QASIDA “BAANAT SUʿAD”
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.57033/Keywords:
Kaʿb ibn Zuhayr; Baanat Suʿad; qasida; artistic imagery; tashbih; istiʿara; Arabic poetry; poetics; Islamic literature; badiʿ tajrid.Abstract
This article analyzes the types of artistic imagery and poetic devices
employed in Kaʿb ibn Zuhayr’s qasida “Baanat Suʿad,” regarded as one of the earliest
masterpieces of Islamic literature. The study highlights the poet’s mastery in utilizing
artistic techniques such as simile (tashbih), metaphor (istiʿara), allegory, and irony, and
examines their semantic and phonological dimensions. The analysis further explores
the harmony between Pre-Islamic (Jahiliyya) poetic traditions and the Islamic spirit
manifest in the literary devices of the qasida, with particular attention to the descriptions
of Suʿad, the garobil (sieve) simile and its phonological significance, and the rhetorical
device of tajrid (abstraction).
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Copyright (c) 2026 Maryam Saidmalik (Author)

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