Lamiyyat al-'Arab’s Binary Contrasts: A Study in Anthropology

Abstract

Life is full of harmony and contrast and combining contrasting forms is a large part of human thinking. Everything in the universe tends to have a contrasting opposite. Many researchers have studied these contrasts. The ode “Lamiyyat al-'Arab”, attributed to Shanfara, is a traditional poem full of contradictory concepts. The present researchers examined these opposing concepts in this ode at different levels. We started with the arrangement of words and concepts to identify contradictions and considered them in terms of cultural anthropology. We did not concern ourselves with the authenticity of the affiliation of this ode; our mere concern was to identify and present the contrasts. Then, we elucidated the concepts in the light of the poet’s character and life. The most important of these contrasts was the contrasts between the seclusion and affinity, pride and abjection, hunger and satiation, delicacy and hardness, patience and dread, etc. According to this research these contrasts reveal the mental conflicts of the poet and are rooted in the opposition of positive and negative or good and evil in the mentality of Shanfara.

Keywords

• shanfara
• lamiyyat al-'arab
• binary contrasts
• viewpoint
• cultural anthropology