Arabic Poetics and Prosody in Practice: Najīb Surūr’s Experimentalism in ʻKalimāt fī-l-ḥubbʼ [Love Words]

This study of the Egyptian intellectual Najīb Surūr's poem ʻKalimāt fī al-ḥubbʼ [Love Words, 1966] argues that this hardly studied work offers powerful means to reflect on the trajectories of experimentalism in the Arabic poetry of the 1960s and the concurrent methodological upheaval in textual criticism. While discussing the compelling rhetorical analyses in bridging linguistic and literary studies, this paper asserts that the perennial continuity/estrangement relationship reflected in Surūr's work can in fact be tied to the author's background and unorthodox critical thinking. Arguing the viability of applying a balāgha (poetics) and ʿilm al-ʿarūḍ (prosody)-grounded approach in evaluating Surūr's subtle poetic innovations, the article addresses ʻLove Words'’ potential to enrich modern imaginaries in realms of exilic and love poetry. This study aspires to contribute to a paradigm shift (away from Eurocentric stances) in approaching contemporary poetry analyses, allowing for a deeper exploration of the structure, substance, and evolution of Arabic poetics from a culturally embedded and cross-temporal perspective.