City panegyric, in classical Arabic - Encyclopaedia of Islam, THREE
General Material Designation
[Article]
First Statement of Responsibility
van Gelder, Geert Jan
.PUBLICATION, DISTRIBUTION, ETC
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Leiden
Name of Publisher, Distributor, etc.
Brill
GENERAL NOTES
Text of Note
(795 words)
SUMMARY OR ABSTRACT
Text of Note
City panegyric poetry in Arabic is less common than that devoted to persons; cities are praised more often in prose than in poetry. Poetry in praise of cities was not recognised as a genre in its own right in traditional poetics, but such poetry is nevertheless found, sometimes as part of a longer piece and sometimes as an independent composition; it can be considered as lying at the intersection between madīḥ (panegyric) and waṣf (description). The early theme of al-ḥanīn ilā l-awṭān (yearning for one's homeland), already