The Dialectic of Homeland and Exile in Al-Jawahiri's Poetry

Abstract

The situation of some poets, especially modern and contemporary ones, reached a point where they lived the experience of exile far from their homelands for various reasons, predominantly political motives. This exile was reflected in their poetry, which depicted their exile with a sense of pain and sorrow, as they expressed their suffering and the reasons for their exile sometimes explicitly and at other times through hints and allusions.
As their exile extended, they began to view their homelands from the perspective of a stranger, seeing them as the beloved who awakens the heart with longing and nostalgia, and evokes warm memories from the past.
This is the state of the poet I chose as the subject of my study, which is Muhammad Mahdi Al-Jawahiri. Al-Jawahiri was an example of a towering poet whose spirit and style belong to a unique elite like Imru' al-Qais, Al-Nabigha, Al-Tirfa, Abu Tammam, Al-Mutanabbi, and Al-Ma'arri, but he distinguished himself by belonging to the modern era. His poetry was characterized by emotional sincerity and a powerful breath capable of influence, with sweetness in style and clarity in expression. This distinction stems from the duality that dominated his life—the duality of homeland and exile—which shook his depths and stirred his inner turmoil to its peak. This duality was both his source of inspiration and his refuge, allowing his spirit to soar and his pen to flow with immortal poetic compositions considered among the greatest creations of Arabic literature in our time.