Previous Issues
Volume :8 Issue : 29 1988
Add To Cart
Download
Birds and Beliefs in Pre-Islamic Poetry (in Arabic)
Auther : Abdul Qader Al-Ruba’i
Birds in Pre-Islamic poetry are strongly related to deeply rooted metaphysical religious beliefs. Man and his fate were the basis of these beliefs to which relations in their different types refer. So, In his fear of death, war against enemies, continuous requests for eternal life, and whether he was optimistic or otherwise, man remembered birds and recalled forms and images appropriate for every situation.
This research is an attempt to define the dimensions of the relationship between birds and beliefs in the pre-Islamic poetry composed under the influence of that relationship and reflecting its meanings with all their complexities, intricacies and depth. To achieve its objectives the paper sheds some light on the beliefs of other peoples, such as the Mesopotamians, to benefit from their methods of thinking, particularly in regard to the fate of man in his life and death, and the role birds play in this respect.
The paper finds out that man’s view towards birds was mythical in the pre-Islamic age; a view which sometimes led to pessimism and death, and at other times to optimism and life.