al-Badi in the Epistle of Abd al-Hamid ibn Yahya al-Katib

The study explores the phenomenon of al-Badi , a rhetorical device, in classical Arab prose. The epistle of Abd al-Hamid ibn Yahya al-Katib is investigated as a case study. The study consists of two sections. The theoretical section introduces al-Badi in classical Arab prose; and it shows how al-Badi developed as a rhetorical phenomenon till it was documented and collected by Abdallah ibn al-Mu'tazz in his Kitab al-Badi (The Book of the New Style). The perspectives of classical and contemporary critics in relation to its emergence by ibn al-Mu'tazz are also addressed. The second section is more applied than theoretical as it discusses al-Badi in the epistle of Abd al-Hamid ibn Yahya al-Katib. It opens with a definition of al-Badi a before textual examples are analyzed to demonstrate the aesthetic effects of al-Badi’ on formal and semantic structures. The resources consulted in this study are given in the reference page.