The present paper investigates the visual and verbal expressions of loyalty of citizens of Qatar and the United Arab Emirates to their regimes. It discusses the content and style of the praise poems, songs and advertisements that have been published for political and social occasions –including National Day celebrations– and in the context of entertainment programs like the popular television competition Sha‘ir al-Milyun. Particular attention is given to the body of vernacular praise poetry that is published in local Arabic-language newspapers and broadcast on television. A close reading of a selection of these nabati madihs explores the relation between ruler and ruled as articulated by citizens. This discussion is put in a double historical perspective. First, comparison is made with nabati madihs from the pre-nation state era for a discussion of the transformation of allegiance patterns in the Gulf states. Secondly, through a comparison with examples of the classical madih, the continuity of nabati poetry with the classical heritage is explored, while attention is given to the particularities of poetic practice in Gulf societies.

I argue in this paper that the concept of wonder provided medieval Arabic literary theorists with a tool to appreciate and evaluate muhdath poetry. A major change in poetic style started taking place at the rise of the Abbasid Empire, epitomized by the likes of Abu Tammam. On the most basic level, modern scholars have characterized this New Style as an increased use of literary figures (badi‘). Others have rightly pointed out that muhdath poetry is not merely defined by the quantity of badi‘ it employs, but also by its quality. (Stetkevych) There is a general consensus, however, in modern scholarship that medieval literary criticism failed to formulate an understanding of and appreciation for muhdath poetry and its kind of badi‘. (e.g. Heinrichs and Stetkevych) It is true that the New Style was initially frowned upon by the literary critics of the period. Both Abu ‘l-Qasim al-Amidi (d.370/981) and al-Qadi al-Jurjani (d.392/1001), for example, side with the Old Style and disapprove of Abu Tammam and the muhdath style. However, they do acknowledge that some people do prefer the New Style, referring to them as “Ahl al-ighrab wa ‘l-ibda?” (the supporters of strange-making and innovation). Their use of the term “ighrab” is peculiar and I believe merits further investigation. Moreover, the elements that render the New Style inferior, according to these critics, seem to be the very characteristics that later critics deem wonder-evoking. These include elements such as farfetched meanings, complexity, obscurity, and novelty. I argue that a shift in attitude starts taking place in Arabic literary theory (starting with the commentaries on Aristotle’s Poetics in the 4th/10th century and later in the 5th/11th century with ‘Abd al-Qahir al-Jurjani) from a view that prioritizes clarity, truthfulness, and naturalness as necessary qualities of good poetry to what I argue falls under a general concept of “wonder”. This shift accommodates the character of the New Style and frees it from being boxed into “truth-falsehood” / “natural-artificial” dichotomies, which inevitably favor the Old Style.

Al-Tayyib al-Siddiqi is a foundational figure in modern Moroccan theatre. In this paper I argue that, although his work of the late twentieth century has helped create the category of a national theatrical movement in Morocco, he challenges the very possibility of national narratives in the artistic field. Trained in France, famous early in his career for authoring Moroccan colloquial plays and adapting Russian works for the Moroccan stage, al-Siddiqi made a controversial turn toward 'Abbasid adab (Classical 'belles-lettres') in his productions "Abu Nuwas," "Abu Hayyan al-Tawhidi," and "Maqamat Badi' al-Zaman al-Hamadhani" ('The Maqamat, or "Séances" of al-Hamadhani') during the 1970s and 1980s. It is my contention that these works appeal to both a generalist ethos of Arabic-language theatre--"Maqamat" opened at the Damascus Theatre Festival before achieving domestic fame in Casablanca--and a specifically Moroccan redress of national historiography. The paper examines these plays against a backdrop of historical narratives recounting Morocco's medieval past. Specifically at issue is North Africa's Andalusi heritage. A popular and highly politicized historiography--which tends to privilege the Umayyad beginnings of Andalusi empire, and elide both the 'Abbasid cultural presence in al-Andalus and the Moroccan regimes that succeeded the Umayyads in ruling Iberia--comes under direct scrutiny in al-Siddiqi's language of medieval anachronism and revival. The paper argues that al-Siddiqi's "Maqamat" play, in particular, exploits the courtly social protocols of adab to allegorize Moroccan nationalism. The canny renovation of al-Hamadhani's rogue hero--a character eloquent in Classical Arabic, demonstrative in performance, nostalgic, opportunistic, and ultimately deceitful--seeks to confirm longstanding notions of an 'Abbasid "Golden Age," while compelling Moroccan audiences to question the extant versions of their own national identity.