This paper reveals critical issues dealt with by al-Sharif al-
Murtadah in his poetry. These issues were then dealt with by critics of the
day. Al-Murtadh included in his poetry such themes as ''The Nature of
poetry" ; "Incentives to artistic inno
vation"; as well as themes dealing
with expressions; meaning; variety; succinctness and digression; and
poetic citations from other poems. All this verifies his being wellinformed
on the critical issues of his time.
