Silent Lure : A study of how Mīkhāʾīl Nuʿayma relates to and uses silence in his poems

Abstract: In this study I investigate how a mystic relates to and uses silence in poetry, as silence is a very important part of mysticism overall. I have focused on the Eastern Orthodox Christian mystic branch, which, in this thesis, is represented by the poet Mīkhāʾīl Nuʿayma from Lebanon. In the Eastern Orthodox Christian mysticism, silent contemplation, inner visions and apophatic silence and theology is important. I study Nuʿayma’s poems ʾAghmiḍ Jufūnak Tubṣir, 1924, Yā Rafīqī, 1922, and ʾIlā Dūda, 1923, that are part of his poem collection Hams al-Jufūn that was originally published in 1945. I operationalize silence through several features: ellipsis, elliptic imagery and metaphors, punctuation, rhythm, gaps and breaths, repeating of words or concepts, tone and choice of words. I conduct this study partly through a deconstructive method and an extension of Shirley Näslund’s method in her article Skiljetecken som stilmedel – Om bruket av komma, tankstreck och tre punkter i tio dikter av Nils Ferlin. I show that Mīkhāʾīl Nuʿayma, by linguistic means, succeeds in mediating the content of his poems also in the language, grammar and text; that he skillfully focuses and accentuates certain messages by his rare and sometimes odd placements of punctuation marks and enjambments; that he has a comparably simple language, and uses ellipsis and metaphors a great deal; that he has special choices of words and constellations and uses contradictory reasonings and repeating of words and concepts; that he engages the reader by creating a reaching and lure in the text; that he has a special tone, rhythm and atmosphere that opposes the panegyric norm that has prevailed in Arabic poetry. The analysis is based on my translations and my interpretation.