Spatiotemporal Images, Religious and Existential Orientation in the Poetry of Ibn Ḥazm al-Andalusī (456 AH)

Rawan Sukkar

doi:10.35516/Hum.2025.8100

Authors

Rawan Sukkar Department of Arabic Language, College of Arts and Humanities, Damascus University, Damascus, Syria https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1905-7878

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.35516/Hum.2025.8100

Keywords:

Image, Spatiotemporal, time, place, existential, Religious, poetry, Ibn Ḥazm al-Andalusī.

Abstract

Objectives: Ibn Ḥazm al-Andalusī is a unique, comprehensive Islamic scholar of the Middle Ages who combined literature, linguistic thought, dialectics, and religious jurisprudence. Although his reputation as a philosopher comes from his prose books, this research calls for the need to recognise the importance of his poetry in expressing his profound reflections on human identity and the true meaning of life. This research aims to study Ibn Ḥazm’s spatiotemporal poetic images in terms of their importance as an alternative model to his prose in revealing his religious visions and existential theories, as influenced by Islamic culture and Greek philosophy.

Methods: This research analyses the relationship between image, time, and place based on style and cultural criticism, aiming to reveal the poet's ideology.

Results: The research shows that Ibn Ḥazm’s spatiotemporal poetic images deal with his existential philosophical beliefs and his Islamic religious and cultural values in terms of their connection to human life, death, steadfastness, transformation, journey, and residence, which helps to re-evaluate his influence by Greek thought.

Conclusions: The research concludes that Ibn Ḥazm’s poetic spatiotemporal images deeply reflect his existential theories, which were contextually influenced by Greek philosophy in a manner that did not contradict the fundamental values of the Islamic religion.

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