Abstract
The article considers belletristic elements included in The Life of the Prophet by Ibn Isḥāq — Ibn Hishām. The focus is on the compilers’ efforts to renew the stock principles of Arabic historiography by means of artistic expressiveness and plot- organized narrative, the technique which then was still under development. The article analyses Al-sīra’s grafic imagery, such as descriptions of characters — from without (their portraits, attire, etс.) and from within (their spiritual qualities, motives behind their actions, etc.) — and the setting details operative for vivid recreation of particular events. The article argues that prosaic and poetic components of the text were variously affected by belletristic rhetoric. The prosaic units were refreshed by the matter-of- factness, while the poetic units tended to conventionality and faithfully embodied the values of traditional poetics. The narrative of Al-sīra is indicative of the contrast between the ideals of pre-Islamic Age (muruwwa /murū’a/) and the demands of the Islamic epoch (dīn). The facts and passages discussed here allow us to read The Life of the Prophet as a text rich with elements indicative of belletristic mode integral to literary works.
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