Andalusian Styles in the Funoon al Muwashahat (An Analytical Study)

Abstract

"Al-Mushah and Al-Zajal are the genres of folk poetry that were invented by the people of Andalus. However, sometimes the relation of Mushat is connected with Musmat, an example of which is mentioned in the words of Amr al-Qais. Also, a Moshaha is also identified in Ibn al-Mu'taz's Diwan, but these examples are not researchable. The correct thing is that these two genres were born in Andalusia, where the originator of Mushat is attributed to Muqaddam bin Mufia al-Qubri, who was a blind poet at the court of Emir Abu Abdullah bin Muhammad al-Marwani. Then Ahmed bin Abd Rabbah, the author of Al-Eqd al-Farid, continued this art, but the explanations of both of them did not gain much importance and were probably lost. Ibadat al-Qazzaz, the court poet of al-Mu'tasim bin Samadah, ruler of al-Mariya, was the first person to shine in this art. Ibn Khaldun has preserved some samples of his speech.

Mushahat, especially Azjal, were collective folk songs that people used to sing loudly in groups in the streets. A person used to be the Al-Manshad, i.e., the lead singer who would recite a stanza alone. Then everyone would play the tape together. Oud, Ne, Tanbur, Daf, etc., musical instruments were also played on this occasion, and sometimes dance was also done. Due to this public mood, it was not appropriate for these genres to be in the well-known weights of eloquent Arabic and prostrations. They used to be in a general tone and public tunes. Zajal's mood was more public than that of Moush, so Darja dialect is used more in it, which includes local Latin Darja words. The word "Zajal" means to sing and chant, etc. The word "Mushah" is from Wishah, which means a belt that women used to wear diagonally, from one side to the other side, in the style of a genu. Probably, a similarity was established in the arrangement of the colorful pearls and beads of Wishah and the arrangement of the verses of Mushah. The subjects of Mushat were also light and of popular interest such as Hasan and Ishq, Badusaghar, and Scenery. They were often tinged with vulgarity and were generally thought to be the mouthpieces of concubines, slaves, or miscreants. However, later they started to be used for different subjects such as Madh Wahjo and Zahid and Sufism. Considering the Moushah and the Jalal as suqiyana, the first authentic poets did not consider them as durkhuraatna, so there are no Moushahs in the words of Ibn Zaydon, even though these genres had become customary in his time. However, attention gradually increased on the details. They were brought closer to the eloquent tone, and an attempt was also made to mold them into the molds of prevailing weights, although the people of this art considered authentic traditional speech to be contrary to the requirements of the genre, so a clash was consciously made to remove it from the ocean."