A Comparative Reading of the Imagery of Mourning in the Poetry of Ajwad Majbal Al-Khafaji and Mehdi Akhavan Sales

Elegiac poetry represents one of the most profound poetic genres through which poets, employing a language of grief and lamentation, reflect upon the meanings of existence, death, and humanity’s historical destiny. Adopting a comparative and analytical approach, the present study examines the imagery of mourning in the poetry of the contemporary Iraqi poet Ajwad Majbal Al-Khafaji and the prominent Persian poet Mehdi Akhavan Sales. The study aims to analyze the modes through which mourning is represented, to investigate its historical, existential, and mythological dimensions, and to explore the role of imagery, poetic language, and musicality in constructing the atmosphere of grief in the works of these two poets.The significance of this study lies in the fact that a comparative examination of mourning in the poetry of Al-Khafaji and Akhavan Sales provides a valuable framework for investigating the emotional, aesthetic, and philosophical dimensions of contemporary Persian and Arabic poetry. The findings reveal that both poets reconstruct mourning on three interconnected levels—historical, existential, and mythological. However, Ajwad Majbal Al-Khafaji, drawing upon Mesopotamian mythology, the event of Ashura, and religious and civilizational symbols, associates mourning with resistance, endurance in the face of suffering, immortality, and resurrection. In contrast, Mehdi Akhavan Sales, shaped by Iran’s historical and socio-political experiences, foregrounds historical defeat, existential anxiety, decline, and the collapse of aspirations for resurrection and renewal.