ABSTRACT
This article explores the metapoetic reflection on the tradition-modernity nexus in the poetry of the Saudi poet Muḥammad al-Thubaytī (1952–2011), one of the most prominent modernist poets in the Arabian Peninsula. Arguing that al-Thubaytī’s poetry forges an identity between modern Saudi Arabia and Arab cultural autochthony, I will present a reading and a complete and fully annotated translation of Mawqif al-rimāl…mawqif al-jinās (The Stance of the Sand… The Stance of Jinās), one of al-Thubaytī’s last, longest, and most celebrated poems, in addition to analyzing a selection of poems from his critically acclaimed collection al-Taḍārīs (Terrains).
Mainly through emphasis on the stylistic device of jinās (paronomasia), which creates a network of unexpected connections between words that share the same root, the poem suggests an identification of the poet with natural/cultural landmarks from Arabia, most importantly the sand and the palm tree. Moreover, the poem employs a variety of meters, presents a creative play with the structure of the classical Arabic ode, and offers a fascinating juxtaposition of the prophetic, mystical, and poetic experiences in one dense textual field. The result is a multivoiced poem that culminates a lifelong project of experimentation with poetry as a way of redefining identity.
In harmonizing seemingly contradictory cultural elements of Saudi Arabian identity by tracing them back to similar roots, al-Thubaytī’s poetry reminds his imagined community of its rich pre-oil cultural roots and their unlimited potential to generate new meanings in the modern world.
