المعري والخيّام من منظور المفكر العثماني التركي رضا توفيق: تحليل تقابلي
Mehmet Hakkı Suçin
Abstract
Taking as its starting point the assessments of Rıza Tevfik (1869–1949), the Ottoman intellectual known as “Feylesof Rıza” (Rıza the Philosopher), this article offers a comparative study of the Arab poet Abu al-ʿAla al-Maʿarri and the Persian poet Omar Khayyam. Using a comparative method, it examines the two poets’ personalities and their intellectual, philosophical and religious leanings, and argues that, contrary to common opinion, they differ considerably in personal, intellectual and literary terms.
The comparison is based on the poets’ temperaments, their pessimism and their attitudes towards people and worldly pleasures, as well as on intellectual and aesthetic features such as agnosticism, skepticism, their approach to religion and their poeticity. In Rıza Tevfik’s reading, al-Maʿarri displays a graver, sterner and Stoic character, whereas Khayyam shows a more flexible personality and an Epicurean bent. Virtue, honour, asceticism and seclusion are central to al-Maʿarri’s outlook, while Khayyam’s quatrains reveal pleasure and a more relaxed attitude towards the world.
The article notes certain affinities between the two poets on metaphysical and theological questions, in particular the agnostic and skeptical tendencies found in both. Yet al-Maʿarri retains his belief in God while taking a critical stance towards institutional religions and sects, whereas Khayyam adopts a more ironic and detached attitude towards religious matters.
With regard to poeticity, Rıza Tevfik’s distinction between nazım (versification) and şiir (poetry) is especially significant. On this view, al-Maʿarri’s discourse, with its sharp logic and direct expression, stands closer to versification, while Khayyam’s densely figurative and imagistic style stands closer to poetry. The article concludes that, despite some intellectual affinities, the two poets differ markedly in personality, worldview and conception of poetry.
Keywords: al-Maʿarri · Khayyam · Rıza Tevfik · Arabic literature · Persian literature
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Cite this work
Chicago
Suçin, Mehmet Hakkı. “Al-Maʿarri wa-al-Khayyam min manzur al-mufakkir al-ʿUthmani al-Turki Rida Tawfiq: Tahlil taqabuli” [Al-Maʿarri and Khayyam from the Perspective of the Ottoman Turkish Thinker Rıza Tevfik: A Comparative Analysis]. Gazi Üniversitesi Gazi Eğitim Fakültesi Dergisi 33, special issue in honour of Prof. Dr. Azmi Yüksel (2013): 69–91.
APA
Suçin, M. H. (2013). Al-Maʿarri wa-al-Khayyam min manzur al-mufakkir al-ʿUthmani al-Turki Rida Tawfiq: Tahlil taqabuli [Al-Maʿarri and Khayyam from the perspective of the Ottoman Turkish thinker Rıza Tevfik: A comparative analysis]. Gazi Üniversitesi Gazi Eğitim Fakültesi Dergisi, 33, 69–91.
Publication details
Gazi Üniversitesi Gazi Eğitim Fakültesi Dergisi (GEFAD) / Gazi University Journal of Gazi Educational Faculty (GUJGEF)
Volume: 33
Special issue: Special issue in honour of Prof. Dr. Azmi Yüksel
Year: 2013
Pages: 69–91
ISSN: 1301-9058
Type: Peer-reviewed research article
Language of the text: Arabic