هل كان المتنبي مصابا بالاكتئاب

Abstract EN

Abu Attayyib Ahmad ibn Hussein Al-Mutanabbi (lived from 915 to 965 A.D.) regarded by many as the greatest Arab poet.

He influenced Arabic poetry through the ages and has been widely quoted and his verses are used publicly as proverbs.

Dr.

Taha Hussein one of the most famous Arab literary critic in the first half of the twentieth century commented in one of his books “with the Mutanabbi” that reading Mutanabbi’s poetry gives the impression that Mutanabbi was depressed and he only laughed once in his life.

I used the DSM IV criteria for the diagnosis of major depression to screen the poets verses for symptoms of depression.

This has proved Taha Hussein suggestion that Mutanabbi suffered from a wide spectrum of depressive symptoms through out his adult life.