on 29-May-2017 (Mon)

The court poet al-Buhturi (d. 897) composed an unusual, but intense poem. In it, he leaves behind haughty patrons and the urban setting of Samarra and ventures out to the ruins of a Sasanian palace at Ctesiphon, 24 miles south of Baghdad famed for its sole remaining ruin, Khosrow's Arched Hall, or Iwan Kisra.

ient, the Iwan Kisra poem is not a communication to a specific person. This otherwise audience-oriented poet was addressing no one in partic

lar. Second, in con- trast with his long poetic practice, this ode does not follow the conventional tripartite pattern of the ode composed of elegiac prelude (nasib), journey section (rahil), then a third communal theme, such as praise (madih) or lam- poon (hijd'), nor the bipartite variety that elides the rahil. Instead, he begins with expressions of indignation and disappointment (roughly 11. 1-10), chan- neled into a short camel journey (roughly 11. 11-13), and then a tribute to the Sasanian palace (11. 14-56). Yet again the tribute is saturated with a mood not of triumph but ultimately lyricism, for these are not present, but former glories. The more glorious the Sasanian achievements are, the more wistful the poet becomes. In effect, the "praise section" here is unexpectedly like the elegiac nasib. Instead of triumphant closure, this poem gives us per- petual tears and yearning dedicated to the glory of the Sasan