Arabic Versification and Acrostic in West Africa: A Study of Aḥmad Bamba’s Verse Works

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  • 西アフリカのアラビア語詩における韻文化と折句：アフマド・バンバの著作を中心に
  • ニシアフリカ ノ アラビアゴシ ニ オケル インブンカ ト オリク アフマド バンバ ノ チョサク オ チュウシン ニ

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Abstract

Focusing on the Arabic writings of Aḥmad Bamba (d. 1927), the founder of the Murid order of Senegal, this paper analyzes his poems that versify other authors’ prose pieces and his acrostic verses. In the first section, I discuss the objective and function of versification, a process in which a prose piece is transformed into a verse, and intellectual fields where this process is applied. From the examination of these aspects pertaining to versification, it is inferred that one of the most important objectives of versification is the facilitation of memorizing the contents of the original prose work and that prose pieces whose versification is demanded in a region are indispensable to the intellectual system of that region. The second section demonstrates the structural diversity of Arabic acrostic verse, analyzing the length of the words woven into a poem, relations between the contents of a poem and the words woven into it, and various ways of weaving words into a verse. The discussion on these aspects says that although composing a complicated acrostic verse as well as versifying a prose work has the effect of raising the author’s intellectual reputation, Aḥmad Bamba’s chief motive for composing more intricate acrostic verses was his recognition of the composition as a valuable religious deed. In conclusion, I indicate the possibility of a comprehensive study on the intellectual relationship established by the transmission of these two poetic styles in the large area from West Asia to West Africa and on the link between these Arabic poetic styles and European poetic traditions.

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