Dasein in the Mirror of Arabic Poetry: a Heideggerian Reading of Existential Verses

Abstract Book of the 9th International Conference on Future of Social Sciences

Year: 2025

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Dasein in the Mirror of Arabic Poetry: a Heideggerian Reading of Existential Verses

Mustafa Allouch

ABSTRACT:

This research presents a philosophical and analytical reading of selected poetic verses from the perspective of central concepts in Martin Heidegger’s philosophy, particularly as developed in Being and Time (1962). The study addresses the Being of Dasein by exploring the concepts of Thrownness, Fallenness, and the potential for achieving Authenticity through the confrontation with Being-towards-death. While Heidegger privileged Hölderlin’s poetry and the German language as the “teller of Being,” this paper argues that Arabic poetry, largely absent from Heidegger’s horizon, offers some of the clearest examples of the poetic disclosure of Being.
The paper employs a philosophical-literary methodology, analyzing a set of Arabic verses written by the author decades before exposure to Heidegger, thereby highlighting the universality of existential questioning. The analysis demonstrates how the verses embody Dasein’s helplessness in the face of unchosen Thrownness, its immersion in inauthentic existence through arrogance and denial of finitude, and its potential liberation through an authentic acceptance of mortality. Ultimately, the study reveals how Arabic poetry can serve as a mirror of Dasein’s existential journey, affirming poetry’s universal role as the house of Being. Arabic poetry serves as a powerful counter-example to Heidegger’s linguistic nationalism, reinforcing the idea that Being finds a “house” in any language capable of authentic poetic disclosure.

Keywords: Arabic Poetry, Martin Heidegger, Dasein, Being-Towards-Death, Authenticity, Existential Philosophy