Intertextuality in the Diwan “Candles of the Candelabrum” by Falah Al-Otaibi: Manifestations and Functions

Abstract

This study examines the phenomenon of religious intertextuality in "Shamou‘ al-Shamadan" by the poet Falah bin Murshid Al-Otaibi, considering it one of the most significant artistic mechanisms that contributes to the construction of the poetic experience in contemporary Saudi poetry. The study adopts a semiotic approach to discover the network of signs the poet draws from the Holy Qur’an, the Prophetic Hadith, biographies, and religious narratives, and to analyze their semantic and symbolic functions within the texts.

The study reveals that the poet employs the Qur’anic stories as a deep symbolic reservoir; his evocation of prophetic figures—such as Job, Jacob, Joseph, and Moses—is not used as mere intellectual ornamentation, but rather as models of trial, deliverance, patience, and miracle. These figures become dense semiotic signs that encapsulate major human experiences, reshaping the poet’s personal suffering within a religious framework believing in hope and salvation. The poet also employs additional symbols, such as the Buraq and sacred places with their spiritual connotations, to construct an aesthetic space that balances a personal suffering with a skyline of transcendence.

Through comparison with previous studies, the research demonstrates that its uniqueness lies in its deep focus on exploring the religious intertextuality, specially, within this collection, and in analyzing its artistic and intellectual functions such as semantic condensation, symbolic suggestion, and expanding the horizon of an interpretation. The study concludes that religious intertextuality has contributed to endowing the collection with a spiritual dimension, enhanced the richness of the poetic experience, and strengthened its connection to the reader’s cultural and religious memory.