Defective speech act : translation and linguistic analysis of Al-ʾAʿshā's Dālīya and intention

الملخص EN

This paper translates and explores the language of a classical text composed by the pre-Islamic poet Maymūn ibn Qays ibn Jandal al-ʾAʿshā (d.

7/629) when he was about to travel to the Prophet to praise him, to perform a transfer of faithfulness to him, and to convert to Islam.

From a modern linguistic perspective, the paper explains how this text is an "unhappy/infelicity/void speech act” and "defective" by the linguist John Searle's terminology.

It describes how the text is a defective speech act in which the poet fails the condition of completing the ritual performance of the poem before the addressee/the Prophet.

It explains how the poem is void/defective due to the circumstance here not being in order and because the act is not performed.

Even more critically, the addresser/poet composed the poem with a purpose different from his intention, which is recognizable from the language of the poetry and the anecdote surrounding the poem.