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Lucía Andrea Illanes Albornoz

Systems programmer | Systems engineer

𒄿𒉡𒄴𒅁𒊭𒄴𒇷𒅁𒁀𒊭𒆷𒁀𒌅𒀭𒈹

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Rush to wine and early

Ruḥ lir-rāḥ wa-bākir

ﻧﻮﻉ ﺍﻟﺸﻌﺮ: ﻣﻮﺷﺤﺔ
ﺍﻟﺸﺎﻋﺮ: ﺍﺑﻦ ﻋﺒﺎﺩﺓ ﺍﻟﻘﺰﺍﺯ
منطقته: ﺍﻷﻧﺪﻟﺲ
(ﺍﻟﻘﺮﻥ ﺍﻟﺤﺎﺩﻱ ﻋﺸﺮ) ﻋﺼﺮ: ﺍﻟﻌﺼﻮﺭ ﺍﻟﻮﺳﻄﻰ

ﺭُﺡْ ﻟﻠﺮﺍﺡ ﻭﺑﺎﻛﺮ

بالمُعْلَم ﺍﻟﻤَﺸﻮﻑ

ﻏَﺒﻮﻗﺎ ﻭﺻُﺒﻮﺡ

ﻋﻠﻰ ﺍﻟﻮَﺗَﺮ ﺍﻟﻔﺼﻴﺢ

ﻟﻴﺲ ﺍﺳﻢ ﺍﻟﺨﻤﺮ ﻋﻨﺪﻱ

ﻣﺄﺧﻮﺫﺍ ﻓﺄﻋﻠﻢ

ﺍﻻ ﻣﻦ ﺧﺎء ﺍﻟﺨﺪ

ﻭﻣﻴﻢ ﺍﻟﻤﺒﺴﻢ

ﻭﺭﺍء ﺭﻳﻖ ﺍﻟﺸﻬﺪ

ﺍﻟﻌﺎﻃﺮ ﺍﻟﻔﻢ

ﻓﻜﻦْ ﻟﻠﻬﻢ ﻫﺎﺟﺮ

ﻭﺻﻞْ ﻫﺬﻱ ﺍﻟﺤﺮﻭﻑ

ﻛﻲ ﺗﻐﺪﻭ ﻭﺗﺮﻭﺡ

ﺑﺠﺴﻢ ﻟﻪ ﺭﻭﺡ

بالله سقِّنيها

ﻓﻲ ﻭﺩ ﺍﻟﻮﺍﺛﻖ

ﻓﺈﻥ ﻣﻨﻪ ﻓﻴﻬﺎ

ﺷِﺒْﻪَ ﺍﻟﺨﻼﺋﻖ

ﻣﻦ ﺍﻋﺪﻡ ﺍﻟﺸﺒﻴﻬﺎ

ﻓﻲ ﺍﻟﻤﺠﺪ ﺍﻟﺒﺎﺳﻖ

ﻟﻪ ﻣﻦ ﺍﻟﻤﻔﺎﺧﺮ

ﺗﻠﻴﺪ ﻭﻃﺮﻳﻒ

ﺩَﻭْﺡٌ ﻣﻦ ﻋﻬﺪ ﻧﻮﺡ

ﻭﺭﻭﺿﺔ ﺗﻔﻮﺡ

ﻫﻞ ﺗﺤﺴﻦ ﺍﻟﻤﺪﺍﺋﺢ

ﻣﻦ ﻛﻞ ﻣﺎﺩﺡ

ﺇﻻ ﻋﻠﻰ ﺍﻟﺠﺤﺎﺟﺢ

ﺑﻨﻲ ﺻﻤﺎﺩﺡ

ﻓﺄﻧﻬﻢ ﻣﺼﺎﺑﺢ

ﻋﻠﻰ ﺳﻮﺍﺑﺢ

ﺃﻛﺎﺭﻡ ﺃﻛﺎﺑﺮ

ﺻِﻴﺪٌ ﺷُﻢّ ﺍﻻﻧﻮﻑ

ﺣﺎﺯﺭﻭﺍ ﺍﻟﻤﺠﺪ ﺍﻟﺼﺮﻳﺢ

فَخُصّو بالحميح

ﻣﺤﻤﺪ ﺑﻌﻴﺪ

ﻣﺮﺍﻣﻪ ﻗﺮﻳﺐ

ﻭﺣﻮﻟﻪ ﺟﻨﻮﺩ

ﻣﻦ ﺁﻟﻪ ﺗﺠﻴﺐ

ﻛﺄﻧﻬﻢ ﺍﺳﻮﺩ

ﻓﻲ ﺣﻮﻣﺔ ﺍﻟﺤﺮﻭﺏ

ﺇﺫﺍ ﺳﻠّﻮﺍ ﺍﻟﺒﻮﺍﺗﺮ

فالحين ﻭﺍﻟﺤﺘﻮﻑ

ﻭﺍﻟﻨﺼﺮ ﻭﺍﻟﻔﺘﻮﺡ

ﻭﺁﻳﺔ ﺗﻠﻮﺡ

ﻭﺇﺫﺍ ﻻﺡ ﺍﺑﻦ ﻣﻌﻦ

ﻓﻲ ﺟﻴﺸﻪ ﺍﻟﻠﺠﺐ

ﻭﻧﺎﺩﻯ ﻛﻞ ﻗﺮﻥ

ﺑﺎﺳﻤﻪ ﻓﻲ ﺍﻟﻠﻌﺐ

فالهيجاء ﺗﻐﻨﻲ

ﻭﺍﻟﺴﻴﻒ ﻗﺪ ﻃﺮﺏ

ﻣﺎ ﺃﻣﻠﺢ ﺍﻟﻌﺴﺎﻛﺮ

ﻭﺗﺮﺗﻴﺐ ﺍﻟﺼﻔﻮﻑ

ﻭﺍﻻﺑﻄﺎﻝ ﺗُﺼﻴﺢ

ﺍﻟﻮﺍﺛﻖ ﻳﺎﻣﻠﻴﺢ

Type of poem: Muwaššaḥah[1]
Name of poet: b. ʕubādah al-Qazzāz
Region of poet: al-Andalus
Era: medieval (11th century)

Rush to wine and early

By the bright and shining coin[2]

In the evening, the morning

In eloquent metre[3]

The name of wine is not spelt out,

so be aware:

except with the Ḫāʔ that draws,

also the smiling Mīm,

the Rāʔ of honey saliva,[4]

perfuming the mouth.

So let all concern depart

and join those consonants

so that you may leave and go

with a body full of spirit

By God, give me a drink

for the love of al-Wāṯiq[5]

For from him spring therein

two beings both alike

Unequalled and unique

in his lofty, noble glory

He is, of all the noble,

of good lineage and wit

upon the tree of Nūḥ[7]

a perfumed splendid garden

Who deserves the panegyric

from all of those that write it

Better than the generous lords

of House Banū Ṣumādiḥ[8]

For luminant lamps they are

upon poets of poems of praise

The most generous, most grand

They hunt with finest sense

Endowed with distinguished glory

Exalted they are in praise

When Muḥammad[5] is far away

desire of him is near

And surrounding him, the army

of House Banū Tujīb[6]

Like lions they all are

in the thick of war and battle

When cutting swords are drawn

and death and trial draw near

and conquests are delivered

and his handsomeness appears

When the son of Maʕn[5] appears

his army's in uproar

and all his foes declare

his name in fun and play

And the sabre starts to sing

the sword my instrument:

How wonderful the armies

when arranged in orderly ranks

when the champions loudly shout:

al-Wāṯiq[5], the most Handsome!

[1] Muwaššaḥah or Tawšīḥ, Moaxaja in Spanish - "girdled" poetry, named owing to its strophic structure and with reference to the fashionable girdle, double belt, or scarf worn by women of high status in al-Andalus at the time - is a form of Classical strophic poetry, e.g. composed in Classical as opposed to vernacular Arabic, that originated in al-Andalus, specifically attributed to either Muqaddam b. al-Muʕāfah al-Qabrī in the 10th century, el Ciego de Cabra, the Blind Man of Cabra, near Córdoba, then named Qabrah or b. ʕabd Rabbih in the 9th/10th century, also from near Córdoba, the famous author of the ʕiqdu l-Farīd, The Unique Necklace.

A Muwaššaḥah is always composed of half-verse pairs - as in Arabic poetry in general - in the form of strophes of three or more Bayt ("verse" (etymologically related to "tent, house") pl. Abyāt,) or Ġuṣn ("branch, twig", pl. Aġṣān,) and, at the end, a Qufl ("lock, bolt", pl. Aqfāl) or Simṭ ("string, thread" (particularly of a necklace,) pl. Sumūṭ.) The first - optional - Qufl is named the Maṭlah ("overlook, vantage"; "remainder of water in a basin", pl. Maṭlāt.) The last - obligatory - Qufl is named the Ḫarjah ("departure, exit", pl. Ḫarajāt - Jarcha in Spanish) - the latter being the most important, refined, and renowned part of a Muwaššaḥah, establishing the ultimate intention and premise of the poet; some Ḫarjah were composed in Romance or Mozarabic - Hispanic Vulgar Latin of the day and age - or Hebrew. Often, a Ḫarjah is composed from the perspective of a beloved person, often women but not always, or even an abstract object or interceding person, etc. pp.

In contrast to Classical poetry, a Muwaššaḥah may be composed in a much larger ranges of metres than those documented - and thereby arguably fixed - by al-Ḥalīl b. Aḥmad al-Farāhīdī in the 8th century. The Classical range of genres - Faḫr, Madīḥ, Hijāʔ, and Riṯāʔ (exaltation, panegyric, satire, and lamentation,) Waṣf (description,) Ġazal (love,) etc. - is more limited in that the genres of Ḥamriyyah, Rabīʕiyyah, Rawḍiyyah, and Nawriyyah (poetry on wine, spring, gardens, and the blossoming of flowers) as well as love predominate; homoerotic poetry is also just as strongly present as it was in Classical poetry where often it is unclear whether the beloved person being referred to is female or male. Stylistically speaking, a Muwaššaḥah tends to have very spontaneous, concise, and direct yet witty qualities.

Andalusian language, culture, identity, and also, of course, poetry - arguably the genesis of the first, true autochthonous and quite pluralistic (yet certainly tumultously so) Hispanic identity with all it entailed - across the centuries decidely set itself apart from that of the - comparatively miniscule in number anyway - Yemenites, Syrians, and Umayyads present in the peninsula beginning in the 8th century, whilst maintaining very strong ties to and influence from the ʕabbasid era heartlands of the Islamic World at the time, viz. Mesopotamia, where, among others, Persian influence was much stronger than peninsular Arabian. This also affected poetry: Arabic or Arabian poetry, Classical poetry, was - eventually - viewed as little but poetry on "towering camels" - there were, of course, no camels and no desert culture in al-Andalus and while Andalusian language identity was of course primarily Arabic - and Romance or Mozarabic and then Hebrew - it was not Arabian - and hence, a more uniquely Andalusian form of poetry was born: the Muwaššaḥah, the counterpart to Classical poetry and, later, the Zajal ("shout",) the counterpart to vernacular poetry.

Much of what has been preserved is due to the 11th/12th century Ayyūbid-era Egyptian poet b. Sanāʔ al-Mulk, known also as al-Qāḍī as-Saʕīd, of Cairo, in his Dār aṭ-Ṭirāz, The House of Brocade, containing the vast majority of the body of old Andalusian Muwaššaḥah along with a great deal of history and analysis thereof.

In addition to this, the repertoire of Classical Andalusian Music (Ṭarabu l-Ālah) in the Maġrib encompasses a large number of Muwaššaḥāt, though only fragments thereof.

Both the Muwaššaḥah and the Zajal, in altered form, have continued to enjoy a great deal of popularity, including in modernity and post-modernity, in the Arab world, such as in Lebanon in the form of extemporaneous poetic duels and have exerted considerable influence on the poetry of Western Europe from France to England, possibly including the poem of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, as well as Hispanic poetry and song to this day and age.

This particular Muwaššaḥah begins as a Ḫamriyyah - poetry on wine - and humorous word play, then becomes Madīḥ - panegyric - praising House Banū Tujīb, particularly its branch Banū Ṣumādiḥ, and specifically Muḥammad b. Maʕn al-Wāṯiq, then turns towards the subject of war - not uncommonly featured in Andalusian literature owing to constant conflict between al-Andalus and the Old Christians - and culminates in a Ḫarjah from the perspective of a sword.

[2] as in the best wine that money can buy - ref. to poem by ʕantarah b. Šaddād, as in "bought by a bright, shining coin (or: a marked, distinguished camel)" as wine was very expensive then

[3] or: stringed instrument

[4] spelling out Ḫ-M-R as in Ḫamr as in wine

[5] presumably Muḥammad b. Maʕn al-Wāṯiq of b. Tujīb

[6] Arab dynasty of the Upper March of al-Andalus in the 9th-11th centuries

[7] Noah - as in, in the line of the covenant of Noah

[8] Arab dynasty of the Taifa of Almería of al-Andalus in the 11th century; branch of House Banū Tujīb[6]

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