Dr. Imad Al-Khatib

Saudi poets dealt with various poetic subjects in which they share some and differ in others, and their poetic images showed balances in the imagination they have between nature and craftsmanship. We have to look at models of them, such as the saying of the poet Ahmed Al-Ghazzawi (d. 1401 AH) describing Najd:

Indeed.. this is Najd, has the Rand longed for you?

And its breeze blew, so your passion settled in it.

The poet portrayed his longing for Najd through his longing for the blowing of its breeze, and his passion for it, which is a depiction poets are natural to. The image of Najd as pleasant-smelling with its wind blowing and the poet's passion settling in it did not differ from many other images.

Likewise, we find in the natural traditional image of the poet Muhammad Surour Al-Sabban (d. 1391 AH) who portrays his homeland saying:

I am still miserable for your love, wandering in every valley.

Love, misery for its sake, and infatuation are all traditional-style images. The verse does not stand alone in its meaning to portray the poet's love for the homeland; there is no indication in it showing that image specifically, but rather it is suitable for occasions.

The traditional image is not linked to traditional imagination; the image of the poet Abdullah bin Khamis (d. 1432 AH) of Mount Tuwaiq (Mount Yamamah) carried an imagination tainted by the greatness of Mount Tuwaiq. The poet showed unprecedented imagination and employed high artistic tools when recalling the history of the Arabs through his portrayal of the mountain. The poet wanted us to elevate our determination just as this mountain is a witness to high determination, as he said in the brilliant poem:

O you who are crouched in pride, wrapped around,

Why don't you seek transformation over time?

The crow turned grey while you are a virous youth,

Events have not weakened a shoulder from you.

Since the beginning of the poem, we notice a development in the image, an unconventional feeling, and words belonging to the field of heritage. It creates an image that, despite its pattern, belongs to the field of renewal in the total form formed in it and in the correspondence of meaning and the descent of the poet's captivating voice to depict the mountain.

Among that is the image of the poet Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal (d. 1428 AH) of the night that passed through his era and was strange to him, so he made it outside the thread of his life, as if his life were a thread to which nights and days were attached, and that night came out of it for its strangeness. The poet justified its exit for its strangeness and its rapid passage and made it attached to his thought because of its specialty, either for a lover or for a relative between whom there is affection. He said from his poem (Night of a Lifetime) depicting the state of that night:

A night passed through my era,

It was not from the thread of my life,

If it passed quickly,

It is still in my thought.

The night has another poet, who is Muhammad Al-Rumayh, who portrays in his poem (With the Night) that the night is the same night, and it is the concealer of secrets, the cover of actions, and the finisher of pleasures to where they . Since "O, long night," we have known the value of the night, and we know our destination to it and our need to bury our secrets where it is. The image is traditional in meaning but modern in formation in terms of its vertical arrangement: we part, wakes up, reveal, we are confused, and modern in terms of the narrative of the image and its reliance on the elements of time and place, then the reliance of the image on a focal scene, which is his saying: we part, because it forms part of the poet's intention in his portrayal. Parting is no longer difficult but rather an aim in not revealing secrets and a pleasure in "now - from before" so that the secrets remain between them only and no one knows them except.. they:

Let us part now, each to a al we set out,

Let us part now before the darkness vanishes,

And the people wake up,

And we reveal our secrets,

And we are confused from which path we return.

As for the poet Abdullah bin Idris, he portrayed poetry, which almost no poet's collection is devoid of its depiction. The obsession with the meaning of poetry worries poets and makes them eager to make the recipient understand what they feel towards it, and that makes the idea of the poet's depiction of the concept of poetry a repeated idea on the apparent level in terms of meaning, but on the level of choosing words, you will not lack the presence of renewal in their arrangement, so we find him saying:

Poetry is sent by emotions and emotions will not be overcome,

Poetry is the song of life and its chant since eternity.

Among the portrayers of poetry is the poet Saad Al-Bawardy, as he portrays it in a complete poem and this is of the sort: the poem/image that contains one total image, and partial images that wrap around it:

Chant with your poetry, do not ask,

And scatter your poem like the spear,

What is poetry if you describe passion,

Or if you chirp for kisses.

Poetry is the thought of a tear,

That defeated its erroneous passion.

Poetry is the cry of a lost one,

Whose paths were lost with his boat.

Poetry is that we build life and the voice of its most sublime glory.