Rhetorical Embellishments in the Poetry of ʿUlayyah bint al-Mahdi

Abstract

The Abbasid poetess ʿUlayyah bint al-Mahdi excelled in employing rhetorical embellishments in an aesthetic manner that dominated the poetic text. These embellishments functioned as one of the poetess’s artistic tools, helping her express inner emotions through a rhetorical style that produced words with multiple new meanings suited to the occasion she sought to convey in her poetry. Rhetorical embellishments have been divided into two categories: verbal embellishments and semantic embellishments.