Many images of sea, sea waves and ships is repeated in al-Jahili poetry; sometimes,
such images are formulated partially in one single line of verse or as a quick flicker, if not
such those detailed or circumlocutory images; other times, they occur
as comprehensive
images that embody the poet's collective literary experience, upon which textual symbols
are structured in the form of oppositional or substitutive functions and suggestions.
This piece of research concludes that such maritime images take place in three
contexts: either in the howdahs' or riding camels journeys in which the image of the shiphowdah
or ship-camel appears; or, in love poetry, in which the image of the pearl woman
appears. Or, they may occur while disclosing the poetical self when highly indulged in
rhetoric, semantics and oration, not to mention vainglory, generosity and hospitality
speeches.
In brief, this research attempts to explain the relationship of such images to the
structure of the al-Jahili poem, the poetical self, the human temperament, and his
psychological and cultural horizons.