Harmony of white color in the poems of Antara Ibn Shadad

Color has spread over a wide range of human environment, in a way that everything has a special color and human beings have interacted with these inseparable elements throughout history and sometimes it has been used to express specific purposes. Regarding their place of birth, poets have used colors in their poems, more or less,  and they have been reflected them in their poems. Pre-Islamic poets are no exception and naturally had to interact with a variety of colors. The virtuous poet of this era, Antara Ibn Shadad, also has used white color both in positive and negative dimensions and applied it as a tool to get rid of inferiority complex, as the symbol of purity, token of luck and the symbol of good ethics. In this article, it has been attempted to analyze white color in Ibn Shadad’s poems, determine its implications and demonstrate the way the poet has used its positive and negative dimensions to release himself from the humility complex.
 
Keywords: white color, Emotional implications, Antara Ibn Shadad.

1.     Introduction

From long ago, colors have always surrounded human beings and have affected them (Lusher, 2008: 17), and human beings have always been interacting with this natural phenomenon. Considering the culture of every nation, colors have had different loads of meaning which have to be mentioned in studying them to avoid misunderstanding; for example, in many countries, black is the color of sorrow and lamentation, but in Andalusia, white clothes are the symbol of sorrow and lamentation. Therefore, as in the content analysis of the text, situational content must be considered in the elements of color applied in the works of poets, this issue should be considered as well. Out of different colors, black and white have a lot of functions in poetry; poets have taken white color as the secret of positivity, blessing and all beautiful things (Khiti, 1986: 346).
1.1.Statement of the problem
Considering the outstanding position of the element of color in different periods in the poems of poets, the author tries to deal with white color and positions of Antara regarding this color. The study tries to answer two questions:

Why has he used white color to get rid of the inferiority complex?
What aspect of this color has appeared in the poems of this poet?

1.2.Research hypotheses

The White color is a symbol for the poet to get rid of the sense of inferiority and gain mental and emotional satisfaction.
In the poet’s Divan, white color has both positive as well as negative aspects.

1.3.Literature
Color and its appearance in poetry is an inevitable phenomenon, and even a quick and brief look at divan’s of poets approves this claim. This is not limited to the poems of a specific period; but according to their homelands and environments, poets have made use of this phenomenon.
Appearance of colors in the poems of poets is so much that it has made the researchers analyze poems of the poets by relying on the element of color and decode colors-especially in the contemporary poetry- for example, some of the articles written in this regard are: 1. ‘Symbolic implications of green color in the poems of Abdul Moatti Al-Hijazi; Tayyebe Seifi, Narges Ansari, Journal of Arabic Language and Literature, No. 2, spring and winter 2010; in this survey, the researchers have tried to explain the position of this color in the poetic imagery of these poets’ poems from some aesthetic perspectives. 2. ‘The symbolic aspects of color in the contemporary poetry’ (by focusing and emphasizing on Nima’s, Sepehri’s and Musavi Garmarudi’s poems); Dr. Naser Nikubakht, Seyed Ali GHasemzade, Journal of Literature and Language, no. 15, winter 2005. In this study, symbolic grounds of color in the contemporary poems have been studied by emphasizing on the works of three poets. 3. ‘Implication of colors in the poems of Bashar Ibn Bard, Abbas Taleb Zadeh, and Mustafa Mahdavi Ara’, Journal of Arabic Language and Literature, No. 6, spring and winter 2012, the objective of this survey is to analyze mental situations of Bashar as it appears from the existence of colors in his poems. As it is observed in the titles of these articles, some researchers, have considered a specific color so their surveys become deeper and more comprehensive, and some others, have studied all colors; however, they have not all reached comprehensive and precise results. Therefore, considering the affluent use of color white, the authors have only studied the appearance of this color and its implications so they can explain the poet’s attitude towards this color.
1.4.Conclusion
By reconsidering color white in the Divan of the brave and pious poet of the age of ignorance, we conclude that:

Description of whiteness of teeth has been applied more to women and it is hardly used for men; this is because the description of beauty is more about the lyrical romances related to women. In Antara’s Divan, there is only one couplet where the white teeth of a man have been described; it describes severity and hardships of the battle.
The White color of the hair has two positive and negative aspects in the Divan of the poet.
Since the inferiority complex always disturbs the poet, to get rid of this issue, he always describes battle scenes and his braveries; the sparkle of swords in the battlefield shows this issue.
In many parts of his Divan, Antara announces his virtuous love of women, the only symbol of whom in his Divan is Abla. The white color of a woman in his poetry is the symbol of virtuousness and chastity; on the other hand, this color in men is the sign of their gentleness and honesty.
Antara has assimilated the white forehead of a horse to the crescent of the moon so that he could better express his purpose; because in his perspective, the white forehead of his horse is a sign of victory and dominance over evil, over problems, and is a sign of luck.