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Theme, convention, and prosody in the vernacular poetry Of North Africa1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 December 2009

John Wansbrough
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Extract

Though not invariably susceptible of demonstration, the influence of Classical Arabic upon the popular literature of Arabic-speaking Muslims in North Africa may safely be assumed. ‘Popular’, indeed, the early Islamic verse forms (ši'r mawzūn) and the later stanzaic compositions (klam or ālat al-andalus) have remained, and in these, even when modified by local tradition, the source of inspiration is easily recognized. Less clear is the transfer pattern of classical elements in the strictly vernacular poetry (klam melḥūn) of the same people. It is this category of composition with which the following observations are concerned, and wḥich suggested selection of the term ‘vernacular’ rather than ‘popular’. A further factor contributory to isolation of this topic is the existence of a vernacular literature amongst non-Muslim Arabic speakers in North Africa: the Jewish communities. There, owing both to Judaeo-Arabic orthography and to confessional motives in the selection of theme, the tyranny of Classical Arabic is considerably weakened, to some extent a consequence of social (educational) lines of demarcation. Important, however, are the affinities between the vernacular compositions of both groups, especially in matters relating to rhetorical convention and prosodic structure.

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Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies , Volume 32 , Issue 3 , October 1969 , pp. 477 - 495
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Copyright © School of Oriental and African Studies 1969

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References

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7 The prelude (in Classical arabic) beginning: Seb-an man eqda wa-kem ua-allem elinsan ma lem ye-lem, etc. is standard practice amongst Moroccan reciters/singers, and is not necessarily part of the original composition; ef. fischer, A., Das Liederbuch eines marokkanischen Sangers, Leipzing, 1918, I and passim. Cf. Qur‘ān XCVI, 5.Google Scholar

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12 Desparmet, J., ‘La poésie areabe actuelle à Blida’, Acles du XIV e Congrés international des Orientalistes, 1905, III, 582–94Google Scholar; for imagery see Qur'ān XVIII, 35, LVI, 47, XXIII, 37, XVIII, 44, XXXIII, 45.

13 M. Marzūq012B, al–š‘ir al–melḥūn wa–makānatuh fi 'l–adab alša‘bī bi–t016B;nis, 78–9. This essay, for use of which I am indebted to my colleague H. T. Norris, is in typescript and has not, to my knowledge, been published. IT was given by the author to Dr. Norris in 1962.

14 Fleischer, H., ‘Jϋdisch–Arabisches aus Magreb’, ZDMG, XVIII, 1864, 329–40Google Scholar; Brunot, L. and Malka, E., Textes judé0–arabes de Fés, Rabat, 1939–40, no. 3, pp. 20–6Google Scholar; Doutté, E., ‘Les Marabouts [, II]’, RHR, XLI, 1900, 63–6Google Scholar; Voinot, L., Pèlerinages judé0–musulmand du Maroc, Paris, 1948, no. 51; and see below, § 2.6, 3.5.Google Scholar

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16 Pellat, C., ‘Nemrod et Abraham dans le parler arabe des Juifs de Debdou’, Hespéris, XXXIX, 1–2, 1952, 121–45Google Scholar; and cf. Speyer, H., Die biblischen Erzählungen im Qoran (1931), repr., Hildeshim, 1961, 140 ff.Google Scholar

17 See L. Voinot, Pèlerinages, Passim,

18 e.g. Sidoun, M., ‘Chantes sur la chasse au faucon’, RA, LII, 3–4, 1908, 272–94.Google Scholar

19 e.g. M. MarzūQī, op. cit., 38–40.

20 e.g. Joly, J., ‘Chansons du répertoire algérois’, RA, LIII, 1–2, 1909, no. 3, pp. 53–5, no.4, pp. 55–6 (with refrain ma yefni d–dheb fe r–raՇ illa hel el–ξaql ‘Only the enlightened spend money for wine’).Google Scholar

21 e.g. Amari, M., Biblioteca arabo–sicula, Leipzig, 1857, 379–80 (Ibn ‘Abdūn), 552–3 and 561–7 (Ibn Hamdis)Google Scholar; (Ibn Hamdis); Nāiī, Ibn, Ma'ālim al–īmān, Tunis, 1902, I 15–18Google Scholar (Ibn Rašīq); Bassām, Ibn, Dhakhī ra, pt. IV, vol. I, Cairo, 1945, 182–3 (Ibn Šaraf); erlier exampes in al–‘Askarī, Diwān al–ma'ānī, Cairo, 1933, II, 186–94.Google Scholar

22 e.g. Millas–Vallicrosa, J.M., La poesia sagrada hebraicoespan01a, Madrid, Barcelona, 1948, no. 108 (Abraham b.'Ezra), no. 132 (Isḥaq b. Šeš Perfet), no. 133 (Šime ‘on b. Semaḥ Durān).Google Scholar

23 J.Joly, art. cit., no. 2, pp.51–3; ‘diyār’ is of course a convention of the classical nasib.

24 M. Marzūqī, op. cit., 79–81.

25 Benoheneb, S., ‘Chansons satiriques d’Alger’, RA, LXIV, 1–2, 1933, no. 5, pp. 109–10Google Scholar (trans.), LXIV, 3, 1933, no. 5, pp. 338–41 (text).

26 See Basset, R., ‘Les dictons satiriques attribués á Sidi Ahmed Ben Yousof’, JA, VIII e Sér., XVI, sept.–oct. 1890, 203–97Google Scholar; Castries, H. de, Le gnomes de Sidi Abd er–Rahman el–Medjedoub, Paris, 1896 (and referebces a bove, p. 479, n. 4)Google Scholar; for examples in Classical Arabic cf. the passages in Muḥammad b. Ibrāhīm al–Mawāīnī al–Išbīlī, Raiḥān al–albāb, edited by B. R. Sanguinetti, JA, ve Sé., I, juin 1853, 548–72.

27 Stumme, H., Tunisische Mārchen und Gedichte, Leipzig, 1893, no. 63, pp. 98, 149, and no. 39, pp. 93, 146, respectively.Google Scholar

28 Marçis, W., Le dialecte arabe de Tlemcen, Paris, 1902, 205–40; and see below, § 3.7.Google Scholar

29 Literature of this kind is available for Ḥassānīya, though the emphasis is upon prosody rather than rhetoric, see Norris, H. T. (ed. and tr.), ShinQītī folk literature and song, Oxford, 1968, especially pp. 155–93.Google Scholar

30 C. Sonneck, ‘Six chansons… [, I]’, p. 496, 1. 12; and J. Desparmet, ‘Bilda’, p. 524, 1.7, respectively; cf. also H. Stumme, Beduinenlieder, II. 603–4, 653–4, and 119,

31 J. Desparmet, ‘Bilda’, p. 578, 1.4; also in M. al–Fasi, ‘Tarchoun’, p. 52, 1. 2; cf. al–Qalqašandī, ṣubḥ al–‘šā, Cairo, 1920, XIV, 42, 44.

32 M. Marzūqī, op. cit., 38–40 and 74–8 (Barġūthī's abjedīya on Tawḥid); al–Fāzāzī, al–Wasā’il al–mutaqabbala, Zaria, 1958 (Abū Bakr Muḥammad b. al–Mah‛b).

33 J. Desparmet, ‘Blida’, 543– cf. also H. stumme, Tun. Māar. u. Ged., nos. 33–5, pp.92–3, 146.

34 Desparmet, J., ‘Blida’, p. 524, 1. 12;Google Scholar; also H. Stumme, Beduinerdieder, I. 369, u-znudha sif sallan. The commoner metaphor in Classical Arabic is eye: sword, see al–Jurjānī, Asrār al–balāġa (ed. and trans. H. Ritter, Istanbul, 1954, and Wiesbaden, 1959, respectively), text, p. 129 and trans., p. 161; S. A. Bonebakker, Some early definitions of the tawriya, The Hague, Paris, 1966, 12; it is, of course, to be found in vernacular poetry, e.g.Stumme, H., Tun. Mār. u. Ged., p. 91, IIGoogle Scholar. 1 and 3 from bottom. A modern vernascular version is eye: rifle cartridge (qerṠāṣ), C. Sonneck, art. cit., p. 496, I. 13, analogous to eye:arrow (sahm, e.g. Imru, I–Qais, ed. Ahlwardt, p. 48, 1. 20).

35 Lévi–Provençal, E., ‘Chant populaire’, p. 221, I. 37, and p. 224, I. 94. This figure has, incidentally, a Talmudic parallel in Psalm xlv, 4, sword (ḥerebh):expertise in Torah, Babl. Talmud, Shabb. 63a.Google Scholar

36 Sidoun, M., ‘Chasse au faucon’, p. 280Google Scholar, v. 9, p. 292, v. 17, p. 293, v. 20; Stumme, H., Beduinenlieder, p. 91, vv 461–8Google Scholar; al–Fasi, M., ‘Tarchoun’, p. 47, II. 6–9Google Scholar, and ḥarība.

37 Joly, J., ‘Chansons’, no. 5, p. 56, I. 1; cf. al–Jurjānī Asrār,, no. 210, text, p. 188 and trans., p. 225; and for the second hemistich: u–t–taġr basemGoogle Scholar, ibid., no. 140, text, p. 134 and trans., p. 167.

38 Fischer, A., Liederbuch, p. 156, no. 116, I. 3.Google Scholar

39 Sonneck, C., ‘Six chansons … [, III]’,JA, IXe Sér., XIV, sept.–oct. 1899, p. 242, II. 60–3Google Scholar.

40 C. Sonneck, ‘Six chansons… [, I]’, p. 486, I. 15 (reading xala), p. 487, I. 20, p. 488, I. 28; and cf. Doutté, E., ‘Marabouts [, III]’, RHR, XLI, 1900, 306Google Scholar.

41 E. Lévi–Provençal, art. cit., p. 224, I. 86 (read išeqqoh).

42 Sonneck, C., ‘Six chansons …[III]’, p.225, II. 23–4Google Scholar.

43 E. Lévi–Provençal, art. cit., p. 224, I. 96.

44 ibid., p. 223, I. 82 (text has azar).

45 M. Marzūqī, op. cit., p. 74, I. 10 (an abjedīya, see above, p. 487, n. 32).

46 A. Fischer, op. cit., p. 152, no. 105, reading in I. I, second hemistich qaššabuho.

47 See Cohen, M., Le parler arabe des Juifs d' Alger, Paris, 1912Google Scholar; Brunot, L., Notes sur le parler arabe des Juifs de Fés’, Hespéris, XXII, 1, 1936, 1–32;Google Scholar and idem with Malka, E., Textes judé0–arabes de Fés, Rabat, 1939–1940Google Scholar; Cohen, D., Le parler arabe des Tunis, Paris, The Hague, 1964Google Scholar.

48 H. Fleischer, ‘Jϋdisch–Arabisches aus Magreb’; for a prose version see Brunot and Malka, Textes, pp. 20–6; for imagery, Qur'ān XXV, 61XXXVII, 41, XCIII, 6, XXIV, 41 and 45, VI, 97; Fleischer's edition, about which he is disarmingly modest, is indeed somewhat capricious, and a number of corrections were incorporated into his second printing of the poem, Kleinere Schriften, Leipzig, 1885–8, III, 425–39. One might, however, suggest that I. 5 (second hemistich), elli huwa fe zin maqbud, should be ‘he who is captivated by (her) beauty’ (a plausible antecedent for elli to be found in the prose version cited, p. 22) rather than ‘welcher mit den bösen Geistern (i.e. jinn!) unter Verschluss gehalten wird’; and that in the colophon bt simḥah could be read bēt rather than bat, giving ‘Tangier, place of rejoicing’.

49 H. Hirschfeld, ‘Jewish–Arabic dialect’; and for important emendations, see Socin and Stumme, ‘Ein arab. PiūṠ’ (cf. above, p. 483, n. 15). Differentiated terminology is exhibited in the usage of Tunisian Jews, e.g. the benedictions respectively employed for Talmudic scholars (Շaliyem eš–šlem) and for Biblical figures (Շaleu haš–šelum), see D. Cohen, op. cit., p. 61. 2.

50 cf. A. Wensinck, The Oriental doctrine of the martyrs, Amsterdam, 1921, especially pp. 148–50, 160–3Google Scholar.

51 E. Lévi–Provenç, art. cit., p. 225, I. 105.

52 Fϋck, J., ‘Arabīya: recherches sur l'histoire de la langue et du style arabe, Denizeau, C., Paris, 1955, 195–205Google Scholar.

53 Al–Ma‘arrī, Risālat al–ġufrān,, Cairo, second edition (Bint al–ŠāṠi’), n.d., 206., 218. An interesting, and for our purposes undoubtedly pertinent, application of the term laḥn is found in the (Judaeo–Arabic) writings of early Hebrew grammarians, as a designation of stress/accent (Heb. Ṡ‘am), see Skoss, S., The Hebrew–Arabic dictionary of the Bible known as Kitāb jāmi‘ al–alfāz (agrōn) of David ben Abraham al–Fāsī, Yale University Press, I, 1936Google Scholar, pp. Ixxxi–Ixxxii. Cf. also Farmer, H., Sa‘adyah Gaon on the influence of music, London, 1943, 33Google Scholar.

54 cf. Goldziher, I., Abhandlungen zur arabischen Philologie, leiden, 1896, I, 57–105, and below, n. 55Google Scholar.

55 Hoenerbach, W. (ed.), Die vulgärarabische Poetik al–Kitāb al–‘āṠil al–ḥālī wal–muraḥḥaṣ al–ġālī des ṣfīyaddīn Ḥillī, Wiesbaden. 1956. Internal rhyme (called saj‘!) is the object of critical remarks in classical literary theory, see al–Baqillānī, I‘jān, Cairo, 1963, 235, bottomGoogle Scholar.

56 Weil, G., Grundriss und System der altarabischen Metren, Wiesbaden, 1958; idem, s.v. ‘arūd, EI, second edGoogle Scholar.

57 Brockelmann, C., Grundriss der vergleichenden Grammatik der semitischen Sprachen, I, Berlin, 1908, § 43, especially pp. 82–95Google Scholar.

58 H. Stumme, Beduinenlieder, 36–41; ideam, Socin, in ZDMG, XLVIII, 1894, 24–5; ‘Oft liegt nämlich einem volksmässigen Sprechmetrum irgend ein anderer Rhythmus zu Grunde, welch letzterer, weil er zu complicirt war, im Bewusstsein des Volkes verlorenging’ (!). VOL. XXXII. PART 3.

59 W. Hoenerbach, op. cit., 34.

60 M. Marzūqī op. cit., 78–9 (fourth stanza).

61 W. Maroais, Tlemcen, 216–17; E. Doutté, ‘Marabouts [, II]’, 36, and ‘Marabouts [, III]’, 309–10.

62 G. Weil, op. cit., P. 40, n. I, has discerned even in classical prosody a differentiated terminology for quantitative scansion (taqdīr) and accentual scansion (taf‘īl), based on the exposition of Ibn ‘Abd Rabbin (d. 940), cited in Anhang B. For the lengths to which theorists would go in the imposition of wuantitative scansion, see ibid., 119, and Anhang G. Efforts to link the two scansions terminologically are apparent in the two treatises on vernacular prosody edited by H. T. Norris (cf. above, p486., n. 29). op. cit., ch. xi. In the first (pp. 159, 161, 163, 165) Ḥassānīya and classical metres are adduced in corresponding pairs (linked by ‘baḥruh’), while in the second trestise (pp. 189, 191) the correspondence is more explicitly stated, and one is tempted to interpret these passages as conscious assertion of the historical relationship between vernacular and classical metrical patterns (cf. the author's observation, p. 159, n. 8). The validity of such an assertion is highly questionable, though it is worth noting that the writer of the first trestise (p. 169) has handled the problem of plagiarism in the same way. On the other hand, the prosodic notation employed by the Moors is almost certainly related historically to the system devised by Khalīl (see G. Wil, op. cit., 16). The basic rhyme schemes employed in Ḥassānīya—gaaf (ABAB) and Ṡal‘a (CCCBCB), as well as the mzaareg (AAB AAB, etc.) and the rasm (AAAB AAAB, etc.)—are also found in the vernacular Arabic poetry of North Africa, though it may be that Mauritanian leġna, like Maghribī melḥūn, cannot be explained merely as reactions to the strictures of classical Prosody, or as being more than polygenetically related to Spanish zajal. But the carefully elaborated syllabic prosody is a most interesting feature of Ḥassānīya poetry, not unrelated to the prosodies of other Semitic languages, and surely of valu in liberating from the fetters of the classical language the scansion of all vernacular Arabic verse forms.