The Artistic Features in the Letters of Muhammad al-Amin al-Kanemi: A Critical Analytical Study

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the artistic and intellectual features that characterize the letters of Muhammad al-Amin al-Kanemi, considering them an important example of the Arab-Islamic heritage in West Africa, and to highlight their literary and historical value and their role in enriching the literary and intellectual movement in the region. To achieve this objective, the study adopts the descriptive-analytical approach by examining selected samples of al-Kanemi’s letters, analyzing their content, stylistic and rhetorical characteristics, and identifying their most prominent artistic and intellectual features. The study concludes that al-Kanemi’s letters are characterized by eloquent and powerful diction, expressive strength, stylistic diversity, persuasive argumentation, and an ability to influence the recipient, in addition to frequent references to and quotations from the Holy Qur’an and the Prophetic Hadith. Al-Kanemi also employed various rhetorical devices, most notably rhymed prose, antithesis, and paronomasia, as well as figurative language and rhetorical embellishments, which enhanced the artistic and aesthetic value of his letters and contributed to their persuasive and communicative functions. The study also reveals an interplay among the literary, intellectual, and historical dimensions of these letters, confirming their significance as a source for studying the Arab-Islamic heritage in West Africa and as literary works reflecting the scholarly, cultural, and political milieu of al-Kanemi’s era. The study recommends undertaking rigorous scholarly editions of Muhammad al-Amin al-Kanemi’s letters by locating and comparing their manuscript copies, where available, documenting textual variants, and identifying their sources and historical and intellectual contexts. It also recommends compiling his letters in an independent scholarly volume accompanied by a comprehensive introductory study addressing his biography, intellectual background, and scholarly, political, and literary environment, thereby providing researchers with an integrated scholarly resource on his epistolary production.