The Representation of Azelah (Reproachful Woman) in Pre-Islamic Poetry

زبان و ادبیات عربی

Article 5, Volume 5, Issue 9, July 2013, Pages 99-128   

Document Type: research article

DOI: 10.22067/jall.v5i9.37331

Authors

Hajar Sedaghatmehr^* ; Zineh Erfatpour

Abstract

One of the commonest topics of Pre-Islamic poems is Azelah (reproachful woman) and her reproaches about the poet and of his way of thinking and behavior. The fear of death and the desire to leave a good name and be a champion can cause the poet to go to extremes in donating the property and make him bold and fearless. On the other hand, the poet is worried about death and inexistence. Therefore, two conflicting characters are found in these kinds of poems. One is the poet (himself), who is a fearless extremist, and the other one is the Azelah (blamer) who appears as a moderate and wise woman. The opposition between these two characters appears in the form of external conversation. Thus, this research not only seeks to find out the style and technique of speech in the odes in which the blamer is present, but also tries to analyze the concept of Azelah and its symbols in Pre-Islamic poems .

Keywords

Pre-Islamic poetry; Azelah; intertextual analysis