A Critical Appraisal of Ar-Rusafi’s Poetic Writings (Published)
The great poets of Arabic vis-a vis their poetic works are usually grouped into two categories. The first group are poly-theme poets while mono-theme poets form the second group. The typical example of the first group is the poet under study (Ar-Rusafi). He was a specialized poet who composed extensively on socio-political and educational poems. As a lover of education, having failed in the final examination, he inquisitively and privately studied till success came on his way. He was the first poet to fully represent the Iraqi’s national feeling and political aspiration. This paper aims at presenting some poetical instances of ar-Rusafi. It begins with biographical accounts which comprises of his early life, education and his career. Effort is made to examine his literary activities which were rendered in poetic form. The poetic lines of this poet are critically examined vis a-vis the content in this paper. This is followed by having a look at the appraisal of his works. Afterwards, the paper ends with a conclusion and some recommendations are made. It is true that the west recognized Shawqi long before it did Rusafi, but the reason for this is that European orientalists came in contact with Egypt long before they did with the rest of the Arabic-speaking world.
Keywords: Ar-Rusafi, Critical appraisal, poetic writings