Two Sources for Abu Dhu'ayb al-Hudhali's Famous Elegy

This article considers the celebrated elegy by the classical 7th-century Arabic poet, Abu Dhu'yb al-Hudhali - his ʿayniyya, which ends with ʿayn as a rhyming letter. Analyzing the poem's structure and comparing it with that of two poems composed by Abu Dhu'yb's teacher, Saʿida b. Ju'yya al-Hudhali, leads to the conclusion that Saʿida's two poems were the main sources on which the pupil drew to create his poem. The sophisticated changes that Abu Dhu'yb introduced in structure and content, however, made his poem more memorable than those of his teacher. The article raises another question, to which there is, as yet, no definitive answer: what was the true inspiration for Abu Dhu'yb's poem? Was it the death of his sons, as is traditionally believed, or was it literary: to surpass his teacher in composing a more skillful poem?