A Survey of the Origins of Ode and Prophet Eulogy in the Mamlouki Era

Eulogies dedicated to the prophet reached perfection in the Mamlouki age. Eulogists of the holy prophet did their best to improve this technique by elaborating on the details of this poetic form. Such poets achieved their dream eulogies for their perfect and detailed odes. Prophetic eulogists of the Mamlouki era gave voice to their religious goals by incorporating them into the prologue which prepared the ground for praising the prophet. This brought versatility to the poetic form of prophetic ode and turned it into a major independent poetic expression among others. This article aims at studying eulogy prologues of the age of Mamlouki and their origins. Here we divide prophetic eulogies into two categories. First, we will discuss imitated subjects including the description of holy places, nature, traveling and its vehicle, praying, love lyrics, advising and asking for forgiveness. Second, we will consider new subjects invented by eulogist poets of the Mamlouki era, including contemplation of God, direct and face to face eulogy, prioritizing Prophet Mohammad over other prophets, refusing Christian and Jewish beliefs, and crying over youth.