MODERN ARABIC ZAJAL and the QUEST for FREEDOM The

MODERN ARABIC ZAJAL AND THE QUEST FOR FREEDOM

The profound developments that took place in the social and cultural lives of the Arabic-speaking peoples in the twentieth century have brought about far-reaching changes in Arabic literature in terms of both content and form. The two main manifestations of these changes are: a) the evolution of newly introduced literary genres, namely, drama, the short story and the novel, which today occupy a central place in the literary arena. b) the total transformation of Arabic poetry composed in the normative, classical language. That the first Arab writer to receive a Nobel prize for literature, Nagib Mahfuz, is a novelist and not a poet in no way accidental. It was not only the preference of the European sponsors of this prize for the narrative art which influenced their choice; it also had to do with the retreat of poetry in comparison to the other literary genres in the eyes of the Arab intellec- tuals themselves. Significantly, both the decline of conventional poetry around the middle of this century, and the appearance of the new forms of poetic compositions, are the outcome of the very same conditions which gained for the drama and the novel their supremacy over poetry. It soon became clear that the transformation of classical poetry was insuf- ficient to help it maintain the primacy it had achieved in the past. It soon lagged behind the new, and more attractive genres, and was eventually plunged into a deep crisis. In the light of the foregoing, it seems appropriate to direct our atten- tion to the vicissitudes of the more "popular" kinds of versified composi- tions which, more conveniently, we shall refer to as "poetry in the vernacular" or "colloquial poetry". The question to be asked is whether this poetry, on account of the roots it has struck in the social lives of many Arab communities, is holding on to its position as one of the main forms of cultural expression of the masses. Does it repudiate venerated norms and conventions as does its more prestigious sister, viz. the poetry of the fusha? In other words, has the "quest for freedom", which is one of the driving forces behind all recent developments in Arabic literature, begun to show that colloquial poetry too is capable of breaking fresh ground in terms of artistic creativity, and is undergoing a process of change which is identical or similar to that which we are witnessing in the poetry of the fusha? The following discussion on Arabic zajal, or poetry in the collo- quial idioms, does not purport to provide clear-cut answers to these ques- tions. Rather, it will try to delineate the characteristic features of this 81 poetry, and to ponder over its changing status in the eyes of the educated public. It is intended to probe the range and diversity of vernacular poetry, so as to reach a better understanding of its various types, the cur- rency they enjoy, and the relationship they have with the tradition of classical poetry. It is hoped that in the light of our discussion the reader will be in a slightly better position to articulate for himself the answers he is disposed to adopt. Throughout the centuries, Arab literary historians have been anxious to propagate the notion that only poetry in the classical idiom is to be considered part and parcel of "high" and dignified literature, whereas poetry in the vernaculars, as all modes of popular literary productions, should be looked upon as a means of entertainment for the uneducated masses. Nevertheless, these historians were not always successful in checking the growing popularity of dialectal poetry, or in fully keeping apart the twin components of the Arabic poetic tradition. Even talented and well-educated men of letters did not hesitate to show interest in dialectal poetry; indeed, they often seem to have greatly enjoyed it. It may be argued that the theory of the "seven arts of poetry" (al-funlin al- sab'a) put forward by $afiyy al-Din al-Hilli (d. 1349), and adopted by many later critics, was an early attempt at combatting the division of poetry into two diametrically opoosed categories.' Ibn Sana' al-Mulk, Ibn Khallikan, al-Hilli, Ibn Nubata, Ibn ?Arabi, al-Safadi and Ibn Hujja al-Hamawi, to mention a few notable figures, are known to have com- posed colloquial poetry and paid it a great deal of attention. As they were also great masters of classical Arabic poetry, it would be unrealistic to conceive of the work of each one of them as belonging to two distinctive poetic traditions. Both their poetry in classical Arabic and that in the ver- nacular are two manifestations of one and the same tradition. The rela- tionship between the two constituent elements of this tradition is one of interaction and mutual co-existence. Conceptually, structurally and metrically, Arabic dialectal verse, has in fact, never been totally divorced from the norms of traditional fus?a poetry. Between this latter type and the truly popular verse there are several intermediate levels of poetry. Arabic zajal, especially the portion which is committed to writing, is not popular in the true sense. The majority of it belongs to one of these intermediate levels in which features of both types may readily be

' See al-Hillï, Die VulgarabischePoetik al-Kitàb al-�Àtilal-Hàlï wa-l Murakhkhasal-Ghàlï des Safiyaddïn Hillï,ed. Wilhelm Hoenerbach (Wiesbaden, 1956), pp. 7-8. Among those who adopted the theory of the seven arts we find al-Hamaw (d. 837H./1433), al-Ibshïhï (d. 850H./1446), Ibn Iyàs al-Hanafï (d. 1060H./1650)), Ibn Shihab al-Din (d. 1274H./1857) and al-Damanhürï (d. 1288H./1871). See also H. Gies, Ein Beitrag zur Kenntnis sieben neuererarabischer Versarten. Diss. (Leipzig, 1879).