EXPLORING QARÂRA AL-MAWJAH: A CRITICAL STUDY OF ITS LITERARY SIGNIFICANCE

Abstract

This research paper examines Nâzik al-Malâ’ika’s Qarâra al-Mawja (The Bottom/Depth of the Wave) as a significant landmark in the development of modern Arabic poetry. Published in 1957 and comprising forty-one poems, the collection represents an important stage in al-Malâ’ika’s artistic development. It demonstrates her mature engagement with free verse, psychological introspection, philosophical reflection, and modernist poetic expression. The study focuses particularly on the symbolic significance of the title Qarâra al-Mawja. The “wave” represents the continual movement of human existence between ascent and descent, while its “depth” signifies introspection, latent creative energy, renewal, and the possibility of a new beginning. Thus, the apparent descent into despair becomes, paradoxically, a source of regeneration and hope. The research further analyses the collection’s principal thematic concerns, including existential anxiety, memory, love, death, alienation, time, loss, social suffering, and the search for meaning. Special attention is also given to al-Malâ’ika’s formal and aesthetic innovations. Her free verse is characterised by flexible rhythm, repetition, evocative imagery, symbolic language, and a close correspondence between poetic structure and psychological experience. The study demonstrates how images of the sea, wave, darkness, light, memory, and journey function as vehicles for expressing the instability and complexity of human consciousness. The study concludes that Qarâra al-Mawja transcends the boundaries of a conventional poetry collection and constitutes a profound artistic and philosophical exploration of human existence. Its synthesis of modern poetic technique, emotional intensity, symbolism, and existential thought establishes its enduring significance within modern Arabic literature.