The Mentality of the Visual Image and Its Manifestations in the Poetry of Ibrāhīm ibn Aḥmad al-Kindī

Abstract

This study is concerned with the mentality of the visual image and its manifestations in the poetry of Ibrāhīm ibn Aḥmad al-Kindī, through examining the term ‘image’ and its problematics, particularly the problematic of the sensorial nature of the visual image and its mental character in the poetry of one who has lost the sense of sight. The study traced the presence of visual images in a selection of al-Kindī’s scattered poems, whether as single visual images or as images combined with other sensory images. The study identified three patterns of composition which were binary composition, ternary composition and quaternary composition. The study also addressed the sources of the image in al-Kindī’s poetry and the mechanisms of its employment, as the visual image appeared within an artistic structure which was manifested in simile and metaphor, whether implicit or explicit. In addition, the study examined the two techniques of personification and animation in the depiction of the visual image, and it revealed instances in which the visual image appeared in structures that did not carry an artistic dimension within their context. Moreover, the study adopted description and analysis as methods for interrogating the poetic texts, and it made use of the theories of reception and interpretation in probing the depths of single and composite visual images. The study was necessarily divided into an introduction and three sections which were the term ‘image’ and its problematics, mentality in the depiction of single visual images and composite visual images combined with other sensory images