Abstract

This research assumes that the deep sorrow expressed in Mutammem bin Nuwairah's elegy for his brother, Malik, is not a result of the lamentable loss. Rather, it springs from the poet's feeling of suppression caused by the authorities and the encouragement they provided for his brothers murderer. This stand led to the poet's lack of faith in the state. In turn, this deepened his alienation and his wish to revive the tribal system which guaranteed rights of the tribe's members. Thus came Mutammem's abiding by the Pagan ethical principles in his elegies, and his disobedience of the Islamic moral injunctions as it is understood from his elegies. Malik's death is surrounded by big unresolved controversies that necessitate attention since this event functions as the stimulus of the poet's creativity. Such focus will interest us in his work and contribute to the study of elegiac texts. This researcher believes that it is methodologically sounder to introduce the poet first and talk about Malik's death.