Is the poet's saying, "O house of Abla in Al-Jawa, speak!" and every plea to an absent one or an inanimate object or weeping over ruins considered polytheism (shirk)?

Not every call to an absent person or an inanimate object is considered polytheism (shirk). In the Arabic language, calling out (nida') carries multiple meanings understood from context, including: lamentation, astonishment, mourning, exasperation, addressing someone not intended to hear, and wishing.

Calling out is only polytheism if it is a genuine request for something that only Allah can accomplish. The criterion for judgment is the actual request from other than Allah for something that only He can do. As for calling out that has another rhetorical, literary, or emotional purpose, it is not polytheism.

For example, saying "O house of 'Ablah" or "O Taybah" is not polytheism, because it is not a call for a request or supplication, but rather a call of pain, suffering, longing, and yearning. And saying "O Muhammad, O Prophet of Allah" is a call to bring the one being called to mind within the heart.

Therefore, calling out is polytheism if it is genuine and intended to request something that only Allah can accomplish. As for metaphorical calling out, no one prohibits it. A distinction must be made between wishes, lamentations, and praying to the dead; addressing inanimate objects, ruins, and graves in poetry is in the category of wishing or lamentation, whereas addressing the dead to fulfill needs is polytheism.