Rhetorical Aesthetics in the Poetry of Muhammad Mahdi al-Jawahiri: An Analytical Study of the Poem ‘O Tigris of Goodness’

Abstract

This study examines the rhetorical dimensions of Al-Jawahiri's poetry (1903–1997) through analytical and critical lenses, exploring the key rhetorical techniques he employed across the sciences of bayan, badi', and ma'ani. It argues that Al-Jawahiri employed rhetoric not merely as an aesthetic device, but as a vehicle for conveying his intellectual vision and emotional experience—whether in patriotic and nostalgic poetry, love and lyrical verse, or satirical and social critique. The study adopts a stylistic-analytical methodology combining description, interpretation, and evaluation, drawing on selected texts as primary examples. It concludes that Al-Jawahiri represents a unique stylistic phenomenon in modern Arabic poetry, one that drew upon the classical rhetorical heritage and redeployed it within a contemporary expressive context.