The Image of Society in the Poetry of Baha Zuhair

This study examines the image of society in the poetry of AL-Baha’a Zuhair, who lived during the reign of the Ayyubid dynasty and witnessed the rise of the Mamluk dynasty. The study focuses on the poems and verses which express the political, economic and social situation of society at that time while attempting to expose the image of power and its relationship with people and with poets. The study further focuses on the portrayal of women and their different ranks in society; ranging from the honorable women of the upper ranks, to maidservants who give themselves to anyone who asks, and to the imaginary beloved as a literary theme. The study also detects people’s habits in times of luxury since the poet ignores themes of poverty and the poor. The research does not claim that Zuhair’s poetry is a purely historical document that offers an accurate portrayal of its age; instead, it is the artistic vision of a poet who lived in that period, scrutinized it and used his poetic prowess to reflect life in that period – a reflection that the poet intended to document in his poetry. The research attempts to work out what preoccupies poets of the past Arabic literary ages and whether the poet was artistically and aesthetically accurate in his portrayal of his times.

Cite this article: Hout, A. (2022). The image of society in the poetry of Baha Zuhair. Current Perspectives in Social Sciences, 26(1), 137-142.