Forme dell'encomio nelle Sayfiyyat di Abu t-Tayyib al-Mutanabbi

This article examines the formal characteristics of the Sayfiyyāt, the poetical cycle composed by Abū ṭ-Ṭayyib al-Mutanabbī in praise of the Hamdanid emir Sayf ad-Dawla. Contrary to Ibn Qutayba’s description of the classical ode, the Sayfiyyāt show a predominance of monothematic praise qaṣāʾid, followed by bipartite odes. Only a few poems correspond to Ibn Qutayba’s canons. A more precise description of Mutanabbī’s compositional strategies can be found in a page by Ibn al-Aṯīr.