Description of Architecture in Classical Arabic Poetry from the Perspective of Interarts Studies 1

This essay examines the description of architectural objects in classical Arabic poetry from the perspective of the transdisciplinary area of interarts studies. It investigates the representation of architectural objects in selected poems and anecdotes and explores its relation to the poems’ political, historical, and social dimensions. It further explores the idea of “occasionality,” space and the gaze, the mechanism of rivalry and ekphrasis (description), the relationship between poetry and architecture, and “transpositions” in these poems. I argue that architectural objects, because of their structural, visual, spatial, sensory, and metaphorical qualities, enrich and amplify meanings and symbols in classical Arabic poetry.