Di'bil al-Khuza'i and the schools of his verses, in terms of their compact external references and internal formal determinants, cannot be addressed without considering the creative rhetorical touches they contain, from the perspective of the morphological components and the musical compositional panels that the reader encounters throughout this poem. Al-Khaza'i has the skill and fascination to harness these two semantic features in his poetry in general and in his Ta'iyyah in the elegy of the Ahl al-Bayt in particular, in that he views them as two flexible and malleable materials for clarifying the conceptual impressions of his recipients, and he clings to them as linguistic transformations with a distinctive semantic effect in crystallizing the revolutionary goals that he intends in the molds of his poetry here, as we see this poem of his as a purposeful graphic drawing in the mold of a balanced elegiac journey that is built on the basis of semantic data with suggestion, referring it to the selection of the most precise morphological and phonetic scales to make his word useful and clear in creating the growing scenes of loyalty that he tries to depict for the addressee. In this study, using a descriptive-analytical approach, we will attempt to highlight some of the formative features of this instrumental approach, manifested within the framework of morphological and musical uses that align with the poet's cognitive intentions, seeking to transcend conservative elegiac customs and their declining conventions. The results demonstrate that the poet has profound insights into the use of sound and morphological indicators to embody meaning and express his initial concepts. He possesses notable musical innovations in his reference to the cultural repertoire produced by his elegiac mechanism. He possesses a powerful will to create the necessary mental connotations required by the elegiac text, using the generative-transformative tools that characterize his poetic structure in the field of sounds and morphology.
Keywords
Diʿbil al-Khuzāʿī; Elegy of the Ahl al-Bayt; Tāʾiyyah Poem; Pragmatic Functions; Morphological Components; Phonological Significance.
 
Introduction
Shiʿi elegiac poetry has long been recognized as a central medium for articulating collective grief, ideological commitment, and historical protest. However, much of the existing scholarship has focused on thematic content, historical context, or rhetorical imagery, often overlooking the micro-linguistic mechanisms through which meaning is generated and negotiated. This study seeks to address this gap by examining the Tāʾiyyah of Diʿbil al-Khuzāʿī through a pragmatic–linguistic lens, emphasizing the formative role of phonemic and morphemic elements in shaping the poem’s discursive power.
The research is grounded in the assumption that poetic language functions as an intentional communicative act, in which linguistic form is inseparable from ideological and emotional content. Accordingly, the study explores how Diʿbil’s linguistic craftsmanship enables him to transcend traditional elegiac conventions, producing a revolutionary discourse that merges mourning with defiance and aesthetic refinement with doctrinal commitment.
Materials & Methods
The study adopts a descriptive–analytical methodology, drawing on principles from modern linguistics—particularly pragmatics, phonology, and morphology—while remaining attentive to the cultural and ideological specificity of classical Arabic poetry. The primary corpus consists of Diʿbil al-Khuzāʿī’s Tāʾiyyah, examined in its most reliable transmitted versions.
Analytical procedures include:
Identifying salient phonemic patterns (e.g., voicing, emphasis, stress, vowel openness, and consonantal distribution) and evaluating their expressive and pragmatic functions.
Examining morphological structures, including derivational forms, pluralization patterns, definiteness and indefiniteness, and verbal nouns, to determine their role in meaning modulation.
Interpreting these linguistic features within their pragmatic context, considering speaker intention, audience reception, and ideological implications.
This integrative approach allows for a nuanced understanding of how linguistic form operates as a semiotic resource within the elegiac discourse.
Discussion & Results
The analysis reveals that Diʿbil’s poetic language is marked by a high degree of phonological intentionality. Phonemic features such as whispered consonants, emphatic sounds, and contrasting vowel qualities are strategically deployed to mirror states of oppression, loss, or defiant strength. For instance, the prevalence of soft, voiceless consonants in descriptions of the Ahl al-Bayt’s suffering conveys fragility and silenced injustice, while the concentration of emphatic and voiced sounds in references to oppressors evokes dominance and coercive power.
Morphologically, the poet exploits plural forms, diminutive structures, and nominalized verbs to recalibrate semantic intensity and temporal scope. The alternation between expanded and reduced morphological patterns serves to signal scarcity, abandonment, or excess, thereby reinforcing the poem’s ideological contrasts. Moreover, the use of indefiniteness and tanwīn emerges as a powerful pragmatic tool for magnification, sanctification, and emotional elevation, aligning linguistic indeterminacy with transcendental meaning.
From a pragmatic perspective, these phonemic and morphemic strategies function as interpretive guides, shaping the reader’s inferential processes and emotional alignment. The poem thus operates as a performative act of loyalty and protest, in which linguistic form actively participates in the construction of Shiʿi collective identity and historical consciousness.
Conclusion
This study concludes that the Tāʾiyyah of Diʿbil al-Khuzāʿī exemplifies a sophisticated integration of phonological and morphological resources within a pragmatically charged poetic discourse. Far from being ornamental, these linguistic elements constitute the structural backbone through which ideological, emotional, and aesthetic meanings are realized.
By foregrounding the pragmatic functions of sound and morphology, the research contributes to a deeper understanding of classical Arabic elegy as a dynamic linguistic practice. It also underscores the necessity of interdisciplinary approaches that bridge linguistics and literary criticism in the study of Arabic poetic heritage. Ultimately, Diʿbil’s poetry emerges as a model of how linguistic form can be mobilized to sustain memory, articulate resistance, and transform grief into enduring cultural discourse.