Incitement and Its Methods in Ibn al-Rumi's Elegy for Basra (A Stylistic Study)

Abstract

This research sheds light on the rhetorical and syntactic methods of incitement (Tawtheeb) used in the elegy for Basra by Ibn al-Rumi, which he composed to rally the spirits and seek revenge for the caliphate and the Muslims.

The study adopts a stylistic approach as the appropriate method to illustrate the process of incitement, aiming to convey his emotions, his rejection of the crime, and his call for revenge against the perpetrators.

The research concludes that Ibn al-Rumi innovated in the structure of the elegy, which traditionally consisted of mourning, eulogy, and condolence. He restructured it into a new form of elegy for cities, transforming it into a combination of mourning, eulogy, and incitement. This innovation emerged after the Zanj destroyed Basra, killed its inhabitants, and captured its women. Ibn al-Rumi mourned the city in a poem considered one of the finest examples of Abbasid poetry, employing various syntactic and rhetorical techniques to express his emotions and drive for incitement, urging the people to avenge the Zanj before they could repeat their actions in other Islamic cities.