Tardiyat al-Dawari 'ind Abu Nuwas [Tardiyyat al-Dawari of Abu Nuwas]

Abstract

Al-?ardiyy?t is one of the less heeded Arabic poetry themes and Abu Nuwas is undoubtedly considered as the first ?ardiyy?t poet in the Arabic tradition. He described various animals and hunting mediums in his poetry and among the most important of them are the predators. Since literary studies regarding predators in his poetry is still lacking, this study intends to identify their types and traits, and the ways they are described in the ?ardiyy?t of Abu Nuwas. The influence of the Persian civilization is evident through the usage of panthers in leisure hunting. Likewise, Arab tradition is also noticeable through the usage of dogs in food hunting. Description of hunting dogs dominate his poems in terms of quantity and variation. Generally, his ?ardiyy?t al-?aw?ri are characterised with the use of peculiar words, complex sentence structures and deep meanings.