E X I L E and No St a L Gi a in Arabic and Hebrew Poetry in Al -Andal Us (Muslim Spain) Thesis Submitted F O R the Degree Of
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Exile and Nostalgia in Arabic and Hebrew Poetry in al-Andalus (Muslim Spain) Thesis submitted for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the University of London by Rafik M. Salem (B .A.; M.A., Cairo) School of Oriental and African Studies December, 1987 ProQuest Number: 10673008 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a com plete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. uest ProQuest 10673008 Published by ProQuest LLC(2017). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States C ode Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106- 1346 ( i ) ABSTRACT The purpose of this study is to examine the notions of "exile" (ghurba) and "nostalgia" (al-banTn i 1a-a 1-Wafan) in Arabic and Hebrew poetry in al-Andalus (Muslim Spain). Although this theme has been examined individually in both Arabic and Hebrew literatures, to the best of my knowledge no detailed comparative analysis has previously been undertaken. Therefore, this study sets out to compare and contrast the two literatures and cultures arising out of their co-existence in al-Andalus in the middle ages. The main characteristics of the Arabic poetry of this period are to a large extent the product of the political and social upheavals that took place in al-Andalus. Some of the cities which for many years represented the bastions of Islamic civilization were falling into the hands of the invading Christian army. This gave rise to a stream of poetry that reflects the feelings of exile and nostalgia suffered by those poets who were driven away from their native land. This Arabic poetry had a substantial influence on the literary works of the Jewish poets who were reared within the cultural circles of the Arabic courts. As a consequence the Hebrew poetry they composed, in many respects, bore the stamp of the Arabic poetry in form and content. This thesis is divided into three major parts organized as follows: the first part deals with the themes of exile (ii) and nostalgia in Arabic poetry in al-Andalus. It contains three chapters: chapter one begins with a study of the origins of the themes of exile and nostalgia in the Arabic poetic tradition. Chapter two focuses on the nostalgia and lament poetry in al-Andalus describing the characteristics of each period through examining specimens of Andalusian poems. Chapter three is devoted to a study of the poetic product of Ibn Hamdis, the Sicilian (d.1133) and discusses how the themes of exile and nostalgia became the framework of both his life and his poetry. The second part of the thesis parallels the first part in that it deals with the Hebrew poetry in al-Andalus. It consists of three chapters: chapter one investigates the origins of the concept of the homeland in the Biblical sources. Chapter two discusses the form and the structural scheme of the Hebrew poetry in al-Andalus and the influence of the Arabic poetry on the Hebrew poetic works. Chapter three is devoted to a study of the poetry of the Jewish poet, Judah ha-Levi (d.1140) and his nostalgic expressions for Zion. The third part is a comparative literary study of two specimen poems of Ibn Hamdis and ha-Levi. The aim of this study is to develop methods for an analysis of the motifs and internal structure of these two poems. The linguistic analysis is focussed mainly on the levels of phonology, morphology and syntax, while the traditional analysis is focussed primarily on the content and imagery. (iii) ACKNOWLEDGMENTS There is a number of people who have contributed to this work some way or another, and to whom I owe a debt of grat i tude. First of all I would like to thank my supervisor, Professor J. Wansbrough for his help and constant encourage ment without which this work would not have materialised. Working with him proved both intellectually and socially stimulati ng. Next I must thank my country, Egypt and its government for providing me with the grant to carry out this research. In particular I would like to thank the Egyptian cultural attache, Dr. Ahmad Galal. I would like also .to thank Dr. Imran Alawiye and his wife, Zaynab as well as Mr. Jamal Ouhalla for their invaluable assistance. I wish also to express particular thanks to Dr. Ibtisam al-Bassam for her help. Finally, special thanks to my dear parents and wife for their care and patience that have sustained me throughout this work. (iv) CONTENTS Abstract ( i ) Acknowledgments (iii) Part One Exile and Nostalgia in Arabic Poetry 1 Chapter One Origin and Development 2 (1) Man and His Environment 3 (2) A1-Han i n in Ancient Literature 3 (3) The Concept of a 1-Watan in 4 the Arabic Tradition (4) Al-ljanin in pre-Islamic Poetry 7 (5) Islam's View of a 1-Watan and a 1 -Hanin 14 (Qur'an, Hadith) (6) A1-Hanin in Islamic Poetry (early 16 Islamic, Umayyad, Abbasid) (7) At 1 a 1, Han i n and Athar Poetry 21 Notes to Chapter One 27 Chapter Two Nostalgia and Lament Poetry in al-Andalus 30 (1) Nostalgia and Nature Poetry 31 (a) The Caliphal Period: 31 Joy and Pleasure (b) The Mu 1uk 11-Tawa' if Period: 33 Romance and Exile (V) (c) The Almoravid Period: Sadness 49 and Alienation (2) Laments of a 1-Watan 58 (a) Cordoba: Ibn Shuhayd 59 (b) Seville: Ibn cAbbad, 64 Ibn 1 1 -Labbana (c) Badajoz: Ib n cAbdun 71 (d) Granada: Hazim a 1-Qartajanni 75 (e) Abu al-Baqal 'l-Rundi and 78 His Masterpiece Notes to Chapter Two 86 Chapter Three Exile and Nostalgia in the Poetry 88 of Ibn Hamdis,« 7 the Sicilian (1) Sicily under Islamic Rule 89 (2) Sicily under the Normans 90 (3) Ibn Hamdisls life in Sicily: 91 Pleasure and Amusement (4) His First Exile in Spain: 95 Prosperity and Homesickness (5) His Second Exile in North Africa: 99 Despair and Grief (6) The Themes of Exile and Nostalgia: 105 Ghurba wa Ijanin Notes to Chapter Three 112 Part Two Exile and Nostalgia in Hebrew Poetry 114 Chapter One The Concept of Homeland in the Bible 115 (1) Covenant and the Promised Land 116 (Vi) (a) Conditioned or Nonconditioned 117 Covenant (b) Abraham and the Promised Land 119 (c) Jacob and the Covenant 120 (d) The Covenant with Moses (Sinai) 121 (e) The Covenant with David 123 (Jerusa1em) (f) Covenant and Family 125 (2) Exile: Galut (Sin and Expiation) 126 (3) Sanctuary (Regional Affinities) 130 Notes to Chapter One 135 Chapter Two Exile and Redemption in Hebrew 137 Poetry in al-Andalus (1) Jews and Poetry in al-Andalus 138 (a) The Jews before the Arab 138 Conquest of Spain (b) The Jews under the 139 Ca 1 i pha 1 Rule (c) Hebrew Poetry and Arab Culture 141 (2) The Jewish Poets and the Golden 143 Age of Hebrew Poetry (a) Samuel ha-Nagid: 143 Success and Power (b) Solomon Ibn Gabirol: 148 Loneliness and Alienation (c) Moses Ibn Ezra: 159 Love and Nostalgia (3) God, Exile and Redemption in 164 Hebrew Sacred Poetry Notes to Chapter Two 181 Chapter Three Exile and Redemption in the Poetry 185 of Judah ha-Levi (vi i ) (1) His Life in Christian and 186 Muslim Spain (2) His Secular Poetry: Pleasure 187 and Harmony (3) His Religious Poetry: God 194 and Exile (4) His National Poetry: Zion 202 and Redemption Notes to Chapter Three 215 Part Three Comparative Literary Study -2 1 7 Chapter One A Specimen Analysis of Ibn Hamdis's 218 "The Ode to Sicily" (1) Theme: Thematic and 219 Traditional Analysis (2) Structure 230 (a) Metre 231 (b) Rhyme 232 (c) Phonology 237 (d) Morphology 243 (e) Syntax 252 (3) Imagery 255 (a) Classical Arabic Sources 255 (b) Qur'anic Sources 257 (c) Figures: Metaphor, Simile, 258 Antithesis, Parallelism Notes to Chapter One 262 Chapter Two A Specimen Analysis of ha-Levi's 264 "The Ode to Zion" (viii) (1) Theme: Literary and Historical 265 Dimensions (2) Meaning: Hebrew Application of 277 the Arabic Qasida Scheme (3) Structure 287 (a) Metre 288 (b) Rhyme 289 (c) Phonology 295 (d) Morphology 299 (e) Syntax 309 (4) Imagery 312 (a) Biblical Sources 312 (b) Figures: Metaphor, Simile, 314 Antithesis, Parallelism, Paranomas i a Notes to Chapter Two 320 B i bli ography 321 1 PART ONE Exile and Nostalgia in Arabic Poetry Chapter One: Origin and Development Chapter Two: Nostalgia and Lament Poetry in a 1-Anda1 us Chapter Three: Exile and Nostalgia in the Poetry of Ibn Hamdis, the Sicilian 2 Chapter ______One Origin and Development (1) Man and his environment (2) Al-hanin in ancient literature (3) The concept of a 1-watan in the Arabic tradition (4) Al-hanin in pre-Islamic poetry (5) Islam's view of a 1-watan and al-hanin (Qur'an, Hadith) (6) Al-hanin in Islamic poetry (early Islamic, Umayyad, Abbasid) (7) A tlal, hanln and ’athar poetry 3 There is no doubt that man is influenced physically and spiritually by his environment. The Arab sociologist Ibn lOialdun, in his celebrated book A1-Muqaddima refutes the idea that black people inherited their dark colour from their ancestor Ham, the son of Noah, and indicates that they gained their dark colour through the sunny climate of their ( 1 ) environment.