Gray Hair and the Poets’ Repentance: A Reading of Al-Satali’s Diwan

Abstract

This study examines the meanings of grey hair in the Diwan of the Omani poet Abū Bakr Aḥmad ibn Saʿīd al-Kharūṣī, known as al-Sattālī. The analysis focuses primarily on what may be termed the “repentance of poets,” which we regard as a form of repentance grounded in ethics and genealogically rooted in poetry itself. Our interest in this topic stems from the notable originality observed in al-Sattālī’s poetic engagement with the theme of grey hair. Adopting a structural and interpretive approach, the poetic text is examined through three main axes. The first explores the relationship between grey hair and womanhood; the second addresses the connection between grey hair and ethics; while the third is devoted to reflecting on what we have termed the poets’ repentance. This investigation leads to several conclusions, most notably that the discourse on grey hair functions as an artistic poetic device through which the poet distances himself from amorous prelude (nasīb) and turns toward panegyric praise (madḥ), thereby constituting, in one of its dimensions, a ritual of transition. Within this dynamic of separation and connection, the central meanings of repentance take shape, transcending the ethical sphere to reach the very essence of poetry itself.