Illusions of Arab Poets in Meaning

Although ancient Arab poets excelled in the field of poetry, to the point that their verses became linguistic proofs unrivaled, they were not immune to errors. An Arab does not make mistakes in pronunciation, due to his well-established linguistic ability. However, he may err in meaning, as there are some expressions in Arab poetry whose meanings have deviated from the correct path. Ahmed Taymour, the author of this book, calls these "e;illusions."e;Taymour divides these illusions into six types, depending on their type and origin. Some occur as a result of the poet's ignorance of what he is describing, due to his distance from it. He may present it incorrectly, misplacing it in the wrong place. Others occur as a result of a mistake he made in a way he did not see or was familiar with. Others occur as a result of exaggeration seducing the poet, which leads him to overstep his bounds and, if he transgresses, reverse his intended meaning. Others occur as a result of "e;inversion,"e; which involves placing one part of speech in place of another and another in place of the other, while attributing the meaning of each to the other. In each section, the author provides a number of examples from Arab poetry, explaining the reasons for them and critical comments on them. He concludes the book with the moral illusions of respected modern poets, other than what he mentioned with the illusions of pure poets, in the first chapter of the book.