Grammarians' Sayings on Quoting Anonymous Poetry

Abstract

The saying “anonymous poetry is improper for citation” has been quite common among scholars. Several texts are also known to object to quoting anonymous poetry, and its permissibility. These are the sayings that Al-Suyuti stated in his proposal to Ibn Al-Anbari, Ibn Al-Nahhas, and Ibn Hisham. This research investigates the reason(s) for not referring to the speaker among grammarians and the supervening complications. Then, it identifies texts other than the texts of the proposal (over 15 in number). Further, it presents the views of grammarians on prohibition and permissibility through their texts and their quotations. Thus, it turns out that the majority followed each other’s example. Yet those grammarians who declared the prohibition, in theory, cited it in practice. And that their protest against the prohibition of citation is merely a response to their opponents, besides other reasons such as irregularity, necessity, and lack of analogy. The research concludes that citing anonymous poetry can only be permissible through credible narration.