Weapons in the Poetry of the Outlaws and the Vicious Poets of the Pre-Islamic Era

Abstract

This text examines the phenomenon of pride in weaponry in the poetry of the sa‘alik (brigand poets) and outlaws in the pre-Islamic era, as a fundamental expression of their cultural and heroic identity. It highlights how these poets employed the sword, spear, and bow in their poetry to convey their physical and psychological strength, as well as their ability to fight and confront enemies in raids and battles. They crafted vivid martial images that reflect their courage, endurance, and resilience, relying on various rhetorical devices such as simile and metaphor to describe their weapons and emphasize their symbolic meanings. The study shows that the sword occupied the foremost position in both usage and poetic pride, followed by the spear, while the bow received comparatively less attention despite its effectiveness, due to the association of pride with direct confrontation. It also demonstrates that pride in weaponry was not merely a literary construct but stemmed from a practical necessity shaped by their lifestyle of conflict and mobility. Their poetry is characterized by abundant imagery drawn from the environment and a balance between reality and imagination. The study concludes that weaponry constituted a central محور in shaping the discourse of pride, and it calls for further research into this literary form and its comparison with other periods and poetic themes.