Book contents
- Arabic Poetics
- Cambridge Studies in Islamic Civilization
- Arabic Poetics
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Note on Dates, Translations, Transliterations, and Names
- Introduction
- 1 Wonder
- 2 Wonder in Aristotelian Arabic Poetics
- 3 Discovery in Bayān
- 4 Metaphor and the Aesthetics of the Sign
- 5 Naẓm, Wonder, and the Inimitability of the Quran
- Epilogue
- Conclusion
- Bibliography
- Index
- Other Titles in the Series
Epilogue
Faṣāḥa, Balāgha, and Poetic Beauty
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 24 April 2020
- Arabic Poetics
- Cambridge Studies in Islamic Civilization
- Arabic Poetics
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Note on Dates, Translations, Transliterations, and Names
- Introduction
- 1 Wonder
- 2 Wonder in Aristotelian Arabic Poetics
- 3 Discovery in Bayān
- 4 Metaphor and the Aesthetics of the Sign
- 5 Naẓm, Wonder, and the Inimitability of the Quran
- Epilogue
- Conclusion
- Bibliography
- Index
- Other Titles in the Series
Summary
This brief Epilogue maps out the implications of the findings of this book on the various branches of the “science of eloquence” (ʿilm al-balāgha) and their role in poetic beauty. While faṣāḥa comes to refer to the correct, clear, and articulate way of conveying ideas, balāgha comes to refer to the conveying of ideas in a beautiful way after securing its faṣāḥa. Nevertheless, clarity often remains part of the definition of balāgha in Arabic criticism. The Epilogue concludes that this call for clarity is included in classical sources not as a determining feature of eloquence, but as a limit to the obscuring aspects of indirectness, implicitness, and unexpectedness necessary for rendering language beautiful.
Keywords
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- Information
- Arabic PoeticsAesthetic Experience in Classical Arabic Literature, pp. 252 - 256Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2020