SOAS Research Online

Abstract

Abu Bakr Ibn 'Ammar (422/1031-477/1084) was one of the most prominent poets and statesmen of Muslim Spain during the age of the Muluk al-Tawaif. He was born in the same year that witnessed the downfall of the Ummayyad dynasty and died only a few years before the start of the Almoravid regime in 484/1091. This thesis which deals with his life and poetry consists of an introduction and 15 chapters. The introduction deals mainly with the difficulties which face those who under-take Andalusian studies, namely the scarcity of information and contradiction. The most important sources of this thesis are also discussed in the introduction is considered. A plan for the thesis is also drawn here. Chapter one is a brief survey of the history of the period. Chapter two is a more detailed study of the poetic revival, its different phases, the causes that led to it, and the part which the Muluk al-Tawaif had played. The biography of Ibn'Ammar engages the next 8 chapters. As there has been no reliable biography for the poet, it was necessary in order to clear the obsurity which had wrapped his name and correct the erroneous conceptions about him, to make this biography from the original sources, making full use of his own poetry and that of his compatriots, the thing which was not given any real weight before. The last 5 chapters deal with his poetry. At first the opinion of the Andalusian critics about the poet was made clear, then their criteria was discussed so that their judgement might be clearly appreciated and the poet's place among the other Arab poets be shown. The poetical career of the poet has been followed in a special chapter in which the different factors which directed his composition were made clear. The themes of the poet, his imagery and diction and the value of his poetry as a source for the study of the age engage a long chapter. In the last chapter the different collections of his poetry, which have unfortunately been lost, are considered. The Arabic part of this thesis is a collection of his extant poetry, compiled from original sources. They are arranged according to the alphabetical order of their rhymes with a few explanatory footnotes.