An examination of religious images in the poetry of 'Adonis and Nizar Qabbani

The language and culture of a society are undeniably influenced by the religion they embrace. In many studies on modern Arabic poetry, attention is drawn to religious symbols, reflecting this influence. The general overview of religious symbols in these studies necessitates a detailed examination in this field. Moreover, what an image is in poetry, how it is formed, and its relation to certain concepts are subjects requiring investigation. This study aims to explore the image in poetry and religious symbols in modern Arabic poetry, motivated by the aforementioned reasons. In this context, the religious symbols in the poems of two renowned figures of modern Arabic poetry, Adonis and Nizar Qabbani, have been examined. The religious symbols they crafted were initially categorized under two subheadings: belief and worship. Subsequently, the moral values they reflected were subjected to a socio-cultural examination under a separate main heading. As a result of the research, religious belief symbols such as Allah, angels, sacred scriptures, prophets, the afterlife, and destiny, as well as worship symbols like obedience, asceticism, prayer, and temple, were encountered in the poems of Adonis and Nizar Qabbani. It was found that a significant portion of these religious symbols had various moral implications, including the relationship between belief and ethics, moral decay, inconsistency between belief and behavior, religious exploitation, and corruption in political ethics.