Panegyric as Pedagogy: Moses ibn Ezraâs Didactic Poem on the âBeautiful Elements of Poetryâ (maá¸¥Äsin al-shiÊ¿r) in the Context of Classical Arabic Poetics

Jonathan Decter

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Chapter 4 Panegyric as Pedagogy: Moses ibn Ezraâs Didactic Poem on the âBeautiful Elements of Poetryâ (maá¸¥Äsin al-shiÊ¿r) in the Context of Classical Arabic Poetics

In: 'His Pen and Ink Are a Powerful Mirror'

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Jonathan Decter

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Type:: Chapter

Pages:: 65â93

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004407541_006

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Abstract

At the conclusion of Moses Ibn Ezraâs KitÄb al-muá¸¥Äá¸ara waâl-mudhÄkara, appended to the final chapters in which he outlines twenty chapters concerning the âbeautiful elements of poetryâ (maá¸¥Äsin al-shiÊ¿r), the author presents a sixty-verse qaá¹£Ä«da on the subject of praise and blame. This highly contrived poem was written for the very purpose of exemplifying the poetic devices of the ânovel styleâ (al-badÄ«Ê¿) and so might be considered an example of didactic verse, comparable to poems composed to illustrate grammatical systems or medical knowledge. This article presents a systematic overview of Ibn Ezraâs treatment of al-badÄ«Ê¿ by using the criticâs didactic poem as a heuristic and pedagogical device. One goal of this article is thus simply to give an update on the âstate of the fieldâ of Arabized Hebrew poetics with more detail about Ibn Ezraâs sources, helpful parallels, or expansions from MaqÄlat al-á¸¥adÄ«qa, as well as some refinements of definition. Further, the article will engage with many of the examples from Hebrew poetry, Arabic poetry, the Bible and the QurÊ¾Än that the critic saw as exemplifying the devices under discussion. The review helps situate Ibn Ezra both as a consumer and producer of the naqd al-shiÊ¿r (literary criticism) genre; the very instability of terms, as well as the numerous strategies by which the maá¸¥Äsin al-shiÊ¿r are configured taxonomically, demonstrates the degree to which this discipline, a relative latecomer among the Islamic sciences, was very much âunder construction.â

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'His Pen and Ink Are a Powerful Mirror'

Andalusi, Judaeo-Arabic, and Other Near Eastern Studies in Honor of Ross Brann

Series:Â Christians and Jews in Muslim Societies, Volume: 4

Cover 'His Pen and Ink Are a Powerful Mirror'

E-Book ISBN:: 9789004407541

Publisher:: Brill

Print Publication Date:: 17 Mar 2020

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Chapter 4 Panegyric as Pedagogy: Moses ibn Ezraâs Didactic Poem on the âBeautiful Elements of Poetryâ (maá¸¥Äsin al-shiÊ¿r) in the Context of Classical Arabic Poetics

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'His Pen and Ink Are a Powerful Mirror'

Andalusi, Judaeo-Arabic, and Other Near Eastern Studies in Honor of Ross Brann

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Chapter 4 Panegyric as Pedagogy: Moses ibn Ezraâs Didactic Poem on the âBeautiful Elements of Poetryâ (maá¸¥Äsin al-shiÊ¿r) in the Context of Classical Arabic Poetics