Symbolic Resistance to Social Authority in the Poetry of Qays ibn al-Mulawwah: A Sociocultural Approach

Abstract

This study seeks to reread the poetry of Qays ibn al-Mulawwah (Majnun Layla) through the perspectives of cultural criticism and the sociology of literature. It proceeds from the central premise that the emotional discourse in his poetry is not confined to the expression of individual sentiment; rather, it extends beyond the personal to constitute a form of symbolic resistance to the social authority that governs individual destinies, particularly in matters of love, marriage, and emotional relationships. Through his poetry, Qays confronts a patriarchal and tribal cultural structure that subordinates the individual to the authority of the collective and subjects the lover’s will to considerations of lineage, honor, and social status. In this way, the poet’s voice becomes a space of protest against such constraints.

The study focuses on a selection of poetic texts in order to examine how figures such as Layla, relatives, and the tribe are transformed into cultural symbols of prohibition and domination, while the poem itself becomes an alternative space for free expression. Within this space, the lover asserts an autonomous existence through language, symbolism, and memory. The study also discusses the discursive strategies through which the image of madness is produced and realized. Rather than constituting evidence of irrationality, as a superficial reading might suggest, madness functions as a mechanism that places the poet outside the logic of social obedience and enables his voice to speak from a rebellious margin that resists submission to the constraints of prevailing norms.

The findings indicate that the poetry of Qays ibn al-Mulawwah constitutes an early model of what may be termed “soft resistance” or “internal resistance.” Rejection and rebellion are manifested through a linguistic and emotional structure saturated with longing and deprivation, yet fundamentally carrying an implicit critical discourse directed at the authority of society and its institutions. From this perspective, Qays’s poetic experience opens a broader horizon for understanding ʿUdhrī love poetry not merely as a record of personal longing or emotional expression, but as a cultural discourse with profound social and sociological dimensions. It reveals the relationship between literature and structures of power and demonstrates the capacity of poetry to function as an instrument of symbolic protest and negotiation with dominant systems of values.