A review of the aesthetic elements in the drama ‘Al-Hurr al-Riyahi’

Al-Hurr al-Riyahi is a prosaic play by Abdul Razzak Abdul Wahid. The play is one of the few works in the field of religious prose, in particular about Ashura. Reviews of religious literature and comparative literature in different languages in verse and prose demonstrate the limited number of such works in prose. Most artistic creations in this field are limited to the contemporary era. They have emerged as different genres such as novels and plays by some writers in the field. These conditions clarify the importance of introducing, reviewing, and examining the few prose texts on Ashura that exist in a number of languages. Therefore, the present article attempts to examine this literary genre in terms of content, structure, and techniques used to draw upon the innovative and creative features of this work as compared to other similar works. The author has used a historical event as the theme of his play to bestow it with artistic aspects, and interesting perspectives and to exert a positive impact on the audience. He has employed the elements of artistic creativity and fantasy to relate the reality to a beautiful language that can be considered as a free depiction of the story of Karbala.