ABSTRACT
The complexity of ʿAbbasid praise poetry in particular represents a series of stumbling blocks for uninitiated modern readers. How can it be otherwise, as ʿAbbasid poets, building on a tercentennial heritage, which they subtly refined and reconstructed, expected the audience to distinguish theme from variation. Many of the fictional personae populating dramatic madiḥ derive from the pre-Islamic poetic tradition, such as the female neighbor, and even the poet, when he appears as hero of the nasib or other conventional themes. Univocal dialogues in which the poet's persona recites the mamduḥ's demonstrated attributes and attainments back to him, are often structured by series of syntactical figures or hyperbolic tropes. The combined application of speech act theory and dramatic discourse yields four levels of analysis: characterization of the dramatis personae, typology of scenes, supporting verbal ornament, and articulated relationship(s) between praise poet and mamduḥ.
