Humor and Seriousness in the Poetry of Ibn al-Mu'tazz

Abstract

This study examines the themes of humor and seriousness in the poetry of Ibn al-Mu'tazz, considering them among the distinctive artistic features that characterize his poetic experience. Ibn al-Mu'tazz successfully combined humorous expression with serious reflection, creating poetic texts that unite aesthetic pleasure with intellectual depth and reveal his perception of life and society. The study aims to identify the manifestations of humor and seriousness in his poetry, analyze their artistic characteristics, and explore their contribution to the stylistic and semantic construction of his poetic discourse.

The research adopts the descriptive-analytical approach through the examination and interpretation of selected poetic texts in light of classical Arabic sources and modern scholarly studies. It is divided into three main sections. The first presents the life of Ibn al-Mu'tazz, his upbringing, and his intellectual formation. The second discusses the concepts of humor and seriousness and their major characteristics in the Arabic literary tradition. The third provides an analytical study of selected poetic passages that represent both humorous and serious tendencies in Ibn al-Mu'tazz's poetry, highlighting their rhetorical and artistic dimensions.

The study concludes that humor in Ibn al-Mu'tazz's poetry is not merely a means of amusement, but an artistic device through which he expresses social and psychological concerns, whereas seriousness reflects wisdom, contemplation, and human experience. It also demonstrates that the poet successfully achieved a balanced integration of these two tendencies, enriching the stylistic diversity and semantic depth of his poetry and reinforcing his distinguished position in Abbasid literature.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.54633/2333-025-059-008