The Arabic Theory of Prosification and Versification: On Hall and Nazm in Arabic Theoretical Discourse.

• Author: Guo, Li
• Position: Reviews of Books

The Arabic Theory of Prosification and Versification: On Hall and Nazm in Arabic Theoretical Discourse. By AMIDU SANNI, Beiruter Texte and Studien, vol. 70. Beirut: FRANZ STEINER VERLAG, 1998. Pp. xiii + 186.

The phenomenon of hall and nazm (or [[blank].sup.[subset]]aqd), that is, utilizing poetical materials in prose and vice versa, has long been an important component in classical Arabic literary theory. The significance of the phenomenon is further underlined by the broadening of its applications to materials from the [Qur.sup.[contains]]an and other existing literary idioms, by its direct link to the discourse on sariqat or plagiarism, in literary criticism, and by its being an integral part of the adab al-kuttab the art of letter writing in the medieval chancery. However, despite a rich literature devoted to its theory and practice, modern scholarship has waited long before the publication of the first book-length treatment of the subject.

Four chapters make up the core of the present monograph: the first three deal with the hall phenomenon, the fourth the nazm/[[blank].sup.[subset]]aqd. They are preceded by a foreword by Wolfhart Heinrichs, and an "Exordium," in which the author outlines the goals, methodology, and structure of the study. The concluding remarks are to be found in the "Peroration," followed by an appendix which makes public for the first time verses by Abu Nuwas (d. c. 814) containing [Qur.sup.[contains]]anic phrases. (They are expected to be part of the forthcoming fifth volume of Der Diwan des Abu Nuwas, edited by Ewald Wagner, and were made available here by the latter's permission.)

Chapter one is an essay on the historical development of the hall theory in Arabic literature. Its main thesis is that the two issues in question--the use of [Qur.sup.[contains]]anic idioms and the use of poetical materials in prose writings--were started by the same group of people, namely the katib-scribes, for the same purpose, that is, to use these existing materials as an instrument of style or as an artistic technique that would enhance the quality of their writing. Although [[blank].sup.[subset]]Abd al-Hamid al-katib (d. 750) was among the early generation of Arab stylists whose writings provide samples of such a trend, the phenomenon, which later became a standard, did not find its articulation until later in the writings of al-Tha[[blank].sup.[subset]]alibi (d. 1037), [[blank].sup.[subset]]Ali b. Khalaf al-katib (fl. 11th century), Muhammad Ibn Futuh al-Humaydi (d. 1095), and Ibn Munqidh (d. 1188), among others. The ultimate contribution to the subject of the hall device is attributed by the author to [Diya.sup.[contains]] al-Din Ibn al-Athir (d...