“Poetic Portrayals in the Dīwān of Ibn Qalāqis: William II de Hauteville and Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn”, «Quaderni di Studi Arabi», Nuova Serie, 12 (2017), pp. 29-43

The present paper proposes an exploration of rhetorical techniques and lyrical motifs used by Ibn Qalāqis in his madīḥ poems, in order to illustrate the relationship between the Egyptian poet and the authority. The comparison between several praise verses, that the poet dedicated to the Norman king William II de Hauteville and Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn, exhibits similarities but also remarkable differences in his depiction of political institutions. If, on one hand, the poetic portrayal of the addressees needs to remain within the convention of the genre, on the other hand, the fragmentary political context of Islamic dominions in the 12th century requires to reassess the literary representation of legitimacy. As a consequence, the recourse to rhetorical devices in the process of encoding meaning corresponds to a precise strategy that exploits the high opacity of the language to interpret the uncertainties of politics. At the same time, it allows the poet to claim his professional identity and find his place in the social-political hierarchy.