THE SIGN OF MUHAMMAD AL-TUBI IN ARAB-SICILIAN LITERATURE
Jamila DAMIROVA

Researches of Arab-Sicilian poetry, show to us that the names of many representatives of this poetry are not very well known, few samples of poetry have survived to our time. However, there is also such a prominent representative of Arab-Sicilian literature as Muhammad ibn al-Hassan at-Tubi (محمدان الحسن البن الطوبي), who was fame in his time. A very brief information about the life of Muhammad at-Tubi can be found in the anthology of Ibn Qatta الدرة الخطيرة في شعراء الجزيرة al-Durra al-Khatira fi Shuara al-Jazira (The Precious Pearl on the Poets of the Island). At-Tubi was not only a poet, but also one of the encyclopedic experts of his time. His knowledge covered such fields as tarassul, linguistics, medicine, poetic criticism, and calligraphy. Although the anthology of الدرة الخطيرة  (Ad-Durra al-Khatira) contains a total of 224 verses, we can see that he is a poet with a noble spirit. On the other hand, he was a poet who was not indifferent to the negative situations he faced in society. The poet was far from writing large oratorical works in the traditional style, preferring to express in small fragments the issues that concern his heart. In these works, great meanings are expressed briefly, but with high artistry. Unfortunately, the poems of Muhammad at-Tubi have come down to our time only in one anthology. Perhaps his poems were abridged, and some were not included in the anthology. So, it is difficult to talk about the entire work of Muhammad at-Tubi as a poet. Perhaps he had qasida, or maybe a diwan, but these works have not reached our time.

Keywords: Sicilian literature, Mohamed at-Tubi, Ibn Qatta, Sicily under Arab rule, Muslim Sicily
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