The Manifestations of Rhetorical Embellishment in Afa‘i al-Firdaws Collection by Abu Shabaka

Asst. Prof. Dr. Yusra Khalaf Hussein 494-531

Abstract

    This research presents an in-depth analytical study of «Manifestations of Badi› in the Diwan «Serpents of Paradise» by the poet Elias Abu Shabaka,» highlighting the poet›s skill in employing rhetorical devices to serve his artistic and philosophical vision. The research begins with a theoretical framework of the historical development of the science of rhetoric, from its inception among the Arabs to its well-known divisions between verbal and semantic embellishments. The analysis focuses on how Abu Shabaka, who suffered the pain of his mother›s early death and was consumed by existential questions, transformed his poetry collection into a canvas brimming with contradictions and clashes between beauty and ugliness, innocence and sin, and life and death. The research reveals how these contrasting dualities were manifested through ingenious rhetorical techniques such as alliteration, antithesis, and repetition—not as abstract verbal embellishments, but rather as expressive tools that deepen the meaning and reveal the tragic struggle and suffering of the self. The research concludes that Abu Shabaka did not use al-Badi› for rhetorical boasting, but rather to create a cohesive poetic world that reflects his vision based on pain as a source of creativity. He asserts that these embellishments were his means of weaving a musical and semantic fabric that translates the concerns and anxieties of modern man, making the collection a unique model of modern Arabic poetry that blends rhetorical authenticity with psychological and philosophical depth.
    Keywords: al-Badi› (or rhetorical embellishments), The Serpents of Paradise, Elias Abu Shabaka, alliteration, antithesis (or contradiction), philosophical vision (or existential meanings)