Muwashshah

Template:Short description Template:Italic title Template:Arab culture Muwashshah (Template:Langx Template:Transliteration 'girdled'; plural {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} Template:Transliteration; also {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} Template:Transliteration 'girdling,' pl. {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} Template:Transliteration) is a strophic poetic form that developed in al-Andalus in the late 10th and early 11th centuries. The Template:Transliteration, embodying the Iberian rhyme revolution, was the major Andalusi innovation in Arabic poetry,<ref name=":4">Template:Citation</ref> and it was sung and performed musically. The muwaššaḥ features a complex rhyme and metrical scheme usually containing five Template:Transliteration ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}} 'branches'; sing. {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} Template:Transliteration), with uniform rhyme within each strophe, interspersed with Template:Transliteration ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}} 'threads for stringing pearls'; sing. {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} Template:Transliteration) with common rhyme throughout the song, as well as a terminal kharja ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}} 'exit'), the song's final simṭ, which could be in a different language.<ref name=":12">Template:Citation</ref> Sephardic poets also composed Template:Transliteration in Hebrew, sometimes as contrafacta imitating the rhyme and metrical scheme of a particular poem in Hebrew or in Arabic. This poetic imitation, called Template:Transliteration ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}} 'contrafaction'), is a tradition in Arabic poetry.

The kharja, or the markaz ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}} 'center') of the Template:Transliteration, its final verses, can be in a language that is different from the body; a muwaššaḥ in literary Arabic might have a kharja in vernacular Andalusi Arabic or in a mix of Arabic and Andalusi Romance, while a muwaššaḥ in Hebrew might contain a kharja in Arabic, Romance, Hebrew, or a mix.

The muwaššaḥ musical tradition can take two forms: the waṣla of the Mashriq and the Andalusi nubah of the Maghrib.<ref>Touma (1996), p. 71</ref>

History

While the qasida and the maqama were adapted from the Mashriq, strophic poetry is the only form of Andalusi literature known to have its origins in the Iberian Peninsula.<ref name=":1">Template:Citation</ref> Andalusi strophic poetry exists in two forms: the muwaššaḥ: a more complex version in Standard Arabic with the exception of the concluding couplet, or the kharja, and zajal: a simpler form entirely in vernacular Arabic.<ref name=":1" /> The earliest known muwaššaḥs date back to the eleventh century.<ref name=":1" />

It was exported to the east, and celebrated there by figures such as Ibn Sanāʾ al-Mulk and ibn Dihya al-Kalby.<ref name=":1" /> The corpus of muwaššaḥs is formed by pieces in Hebrew and Andalusi Arabic.<ref name=":1" /> Tova Rosen describes the muwaššaḥ as "a product and a microcosm of the cultural conditions particular to al-Andalus.<ref name=":1" /> The linguistic interplay between the standard written languages—Arabic and Hebrew—and the oral forms—Andalusi Arabic, Andalusi Romance, Hebrew, and other Romance languages—reflect the fluidity and diversity of the linguistic landscape of al-Andalus.<ref name=":1" />

The earliest known source on the muwashshah is Ibn Bassam’s 'Template:Interlanguage link'. He ascribes the invention of the muwashshah to the 10th century blind poet Muhammad Mahmud al-Qabri or ibn ‘Abd Rabbih.<ref name=":1"/>Template:Rp Nonetheless, there are no extant muwashshah poems attributed to these authors.<ref name="EAL">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp

Ibn Sanāʾ al-Mulk (d. 1211), author of Dār aṭ-ṭirāz fī ʿamal al-muwashshaḥāt ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}}), wrote the most detailed surviving musical description of the muwashshaḥ.<ref name=":02">Template:Citation</ref><ref>Template:Citation</ref> He wrote that some of the muwashshaḥāt had lyrics that fit their melodies (sometimes through melisma), while others had improvised nonsense syllables to fill out the melodic line—a practice that survives to the present with relevant sections labeled as shughl ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}} 'work') in songbooks.<ref name=":02" />

The poetic form

Examples of Template:Transliteration poetry start to appear as early as the 9th or 10th century. It is believed to come from the Arabic root w-š-ḥ ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}}) which means any thing that a woman might wear on her neck from a necklace to a scarf, and the verb Tawašḥ means to wear.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Some relate it to the word for a type of double-banded ornamental belt, the Template:Transliteration, which also means a scarf in Arabic.<ref name=":0" /> The underlying idea is that, as there is a single rhyme running through the refrain of each stanza, the stanzas are like objects hung from a belt.

Typically, Arabic poetry has a single meter and rhyme across the poem and is structured according to couplets, not strophes. The muwashah however, is generally divided into five stanzas with a complex rhyme scheme. Each stanza consisted of aghsan (sing: ghusn), lines with a rhyme particular to that strophe and asmat (sing: simt), lines with a rhyme shared by the rest of the poem.<ref name="EAL"/>Template:Rp Conventionally, the muwashshah opened with a Template:Transliteration ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}}‘the beginning’) and closed with a kharja (‘exit’). The kharja was in a vernacular language such as colloquial Arabic or Romance. It often was voiced by a different poetic speaker.<ref name=":1"/>Template:Rp

Meter

The meter of the muwashah can be one of the classical meters defined by al-Khalil or the poet can devise a new meter.<ref name=":1"/>Template:Rp This subject is debated amongst scholars, some of whom argue for the use of a Romance metrical system based on syllable stress.<ref name="EAL"/>Template:Rp

Themes

Typical themes for a muwashshah include love, panegyric, and wine. Some muwashshah poems are devoted to a single theme while others combine multiple themes. One common thematic structure is love, followed by panegyric, and then love.<ref name=":1"/>Template:Rp The kharja also plays a role in elaborating the poem’s theme. At the end of a love poem, the kharja might be voiced by the beloved.<ref name="EAL"/>Template:Rp The eastern muwashshah tradition includes themes such as elegy and invective.<ref name="Brill">Template:Cite journal</ref> Ibn Arabi and ibn al-Ṣabbāgh composed esoteric muwashshahs that used wine and love as allegories for divine yearning.<ref name=":1"/>Template:Rp

Corpora

Corpus of Arabic muwaššaḥāt

Of the approximately 600 known secular Arabic muwaššaḥāt, there are almost 300 kharjas in vernacular Andalusi Arabic and over 200 in Standard Arabic ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}}), though some of the vernacular kharjas are essentially Standard Arabic with a vulgar gloss.<ref name=":10">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp About 50 are in Andalusi Romance or contain some Romance words or elements.<ref name=":10" />Template:Rp

Corpus of Hebrew muwaššaḥāt

About half of the corpus of the more than 250 known muwaššaḥāt in Hebrew have kharjas in Arabic.<ref name=":10" />Template:Rp There about roughly 50 with kharjas in Hebrew, and about 25 with Romance.<ref name=":10" />Template:Rp There are also a few kharjas with a combination of Hebrew and Arabic.<ref name=":10" />Template:Rp

Hebrew muwashshah

An important number of the muwashshah poems written in al-Andalus were composed in Hebrew. Like the muwaššaḥāt composed in Arabic, those in Hebrew might also contain linguistically distinct kharjas, either in Romance, Arabic, or a combination of Hebrew and Arabic.<ref name=":10" />Template:Rp Because of its strophic structure, it was similar to some Hebrew liturgical poetry.<ref name=":1"/>Template:Rp Starting in the 11th century, the Hebrew muwashshah was also used for religious purposes. The first extant Hebrew muwashshahs are attributed to Samuel ibn Naghrillah.<ref name=":1"/>Template:Rp Other prominent Hebrew muwashshah authors include Judah Halevi, Todros ben Judah Halevi Abulafia<ref name=":2">Template:Cite journal</ref> and Joseph ibn Tzaddik.<ref name=":1"/>Template:Rp

The first author to compose a devotional muwashshah was Solomon ibn Gabirol, about two centuries prior to the development of religious muwashshah poetry in Arabic. He was followed in this tradition by Moses ibn Ezra, Abraham ibn Ezra, and Judah Halevi, among others. The poems were designed for use in prayer services and were elaborated themes of particular benedictions.<ref name=":1"/>Template:Rp Unlike other Hebrew muwashshahs, the kharja of a devotional muwashshah was in Hebrew.<ref name=":1"/>Template:Rp

The musical genre

Musically, the ensemble consists of oud (lute), kamanja (spike fiddle), qanun (box zither), darabukkah (goblet drum), and daf (tambourine): the players of these instruments often double as a choir. The soloist performs only a few chosen lines of the selected text. In Aleppo multiple maqam rows (scales) and up to three awzān (rhythms) are used and modulation to neighboring maqamat was possible during the B sectionTemplate:Clarify. Until modernization it was typical to present a complete waslah, or up to eight successive Template:Transliteration including an instrumental introduction (sama'i or bashraf).<ref>Touma (1996), p. 83</ref> It may end with a longa. Famous Muwashshah songs still played in the Arab World today include Lamma Bada Yatathanna and Jadaka al-Ghaithu.

Famous poets

A composer of Template:Transliteration is known as a Template:Transliteration ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}} 'girdler'; pl. {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} Template:Transliteration). Famous Template:Transliteration include:

• Al-Tutili
• Avempace
• Avenzoar
• Todros ben Judah Halevi Abulafia (Hebrew)<ref name=":2" />
• Yehuda Halevi (Hebrew)<ref name=":2" />
• Ibn al-Khatib
• Ibn Baqi
• Ibn Zamrak
• Ibn Sahl of Seville

Famous muwashshahs

• "Lamma Bada Yatathanna" ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}})
• "Jadaka al-Ghaithu" ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}})

See also

• Aljamiado
• The kharja is the final stanza of a Template:Transliteration, of which a few are in the Mozarabic language and therefore the first attesting of an Iberian Romance language and first written examples of the Castilian language.
• Zajal
• Fasıl
• Malouf
• Samuel Miklos Stern
• Emilio García Gómez
• James T. Monroe

References

Citations

Bibliography

• Benbabaali, Saadane, 1987, Poétique du muwashshah dans l'Occident musulman médiéval, thèse de 3e cycle, sous la direction de R. Arié, Paris 3, 1987.
• Benbabaali, Saadane "La plume, la voix et le plectre, avec Beihdja Rahal, Barzakh, Alger, Déc. 2008.
• Benbabaali, Saadane Bahdjat al-Nufûs fî Bahâ'i Djannât al-Andalus (l'Amour, la femme et les jardins dans la poésie andalouse) ANEP, Alger,2010
• Corriente, Federico (1997). Poesía dialectal árabe y romance en Alandalús: cejeles y xarajat de muwassahat. Madrid: Gredos. Template:ISBN.
• Emery, Ed (2006). Muwashshah: proceedings of the Conference on Arabic and Hebrew Strophic Poetry and its Romance Parallels, School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), London, 8–10 October 2004. London: RN Books.
• Jones, Alan (1987). Romance Kharjas in Andalusian Arabic Muwassah poetry: a palaeographic analysis. London: Ithaca. Template:ISBN.
• Jones, Alan & Hitchcock, Richard (1991). Studies on the Muwassah and the Kharja: proceedings of the Exeter international colloquium. Reading: Published by Ithaca for the Board of the Faculty of Oriental Studies, Oxford University. Template:ISBN.
• Touma, Habib Hassan (1996). The Music of the Arabs, trans. Laurie Schwartz. Portland, Oregon: Amadeus Press. Template:ISBN.
• Zwartjes, Otto (1997). Love songs from al-Andalus: history, structure, and meaning of the kharja. Leiden: Brill. Template:ISBN.
• Zwartjes, Otto & Heijkoop, Henk (2004). Muwassah, zajal, kharja: bibliography of eleven centuries of strophic poetry and music from al-Andalus and their influence on East and West. Leiden-Boston: Brill. Template:ISBN.