Abdalá
Arabic Music: Muwashahaat
Muwashahaat/موشّحات (singular: muwashah/موشّح) is a form of Arabic poetry that is believed to have originated in Andalusia in Muslim Spain. It’s characterized by straying outside the form and meter of Classical Arabic poetry, as well as sometimes mixing colloquial language with Classical Arabic. As such, it was considered a folksy and “lower” form of poetry. Classical Arabic poets tended to distance themselves from it. However, this form of poetry has stood the test of time, and the best muwashahaat continue to be covered by singers big and small. Some of the greatest singers of our era who have kept this art form alive include Fairuz and Sabah Fakhri.

I’d like to share two of my favourite muwashahaat.

The first one is أيّها الساقي (Ayyuha As-Saaqi). It was written by Ibn Zuhr (commonly Latinized as Avenzoar). Ibn Zuhr was born in the city of Ishbiliyah (known in English as Seville) in Andalusia in the 11th century. He was a surgeon and poet, and was a contemporary of the great Andalusian Muslim philosopher Ibn Rushd (Averroes) and the great Andalusian Jewish philosopher Moses Ben Maimon (Maimonides).

This is my favourite rendition of this muwashah—it’s so sublime. (The video has the lyrics translated and transliterated into English.) <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qf6dpegRRvU" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qf6dpegRRvU</a>;

This is another rendition, by Sabah Fakhri: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=enbtwgljndo

The second muwashah is لمّا بدا يتثنّى (Lamma Bada Yatathanna). This is arguably the most well-known muwashah. Its author is disputed, but it’s believed to have been written by Ibn Al-Khatib (Ibn Al-Jatib in Spanish), who was born in the 14th century just outside the city of Grenada in Andalusia. He was a polymath and one of the greatest poets of his time. He is still celebrated in Andalusia as one of the cultural icons of the region: <a href="https://www.alhambra-patronato.es/en/disfrutar/biography-of-ibn-al-khatib" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.alhambra-patronato.es/en/disfrutar/biography-of-ibn-al-khatib</a>;
His poetry today decorates the walls of the Alhambra palace: <a href="https://www.alhambradegranada.org/en/info/epigraphicpoems.asp" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.alhambradegranada.org/en/info/epigraphicpoems.asp</a>;

The following are three renditions of this muwashah:
Fairuz: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_BZOoSnfH7s" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_BZOoSnfH7s</a>;
Sabah Fakhri: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CTzplo-ZZW0" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CTzplo-ZZW0</a>;
Lena Chamamyan (with English translation and transliteration): <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8zhueJdyVA0" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8zhueJdyVA0</a>;

If you’d like to listen to more of this art form, check out <em>Andalusiyyaat</em> by Fairuz and Wadih El-Safi (another Arabic music icon of the 20th century). It’s an album comprised of muwashahaat and other Andalusian songs. You can find it in its entirety here: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAN1nNTkaBo" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAN1nNTkaBo</a>;
13 mars 2020 12:14
Commentaires · 13
3
<em>(Lamma Bada Yatathanna) </em>is very dear to my heart ♥️ Thank you for sharing, Abdullah. I especially liked the rendition by Lena Chamamyan!

This brought back a memory from my childhood. My father used to listen to Muwashahaat by Sabah Fakhri. He used to watch the man singing on a VHS and I was always perplexed as to why Sabah Fakhri couldn’t stand still. Years later I was told that he is mostly intoxicated in his concerts 😅
10 mai 2020
2
جميل جدا! شكرا للمشاركة
20 mars 2020
1
Mumtaz: Haha, I never noticed it, but now that you’ve mentioned it, it seems so obvious:

10 mai 2020
1
This song is a part of a longer poem under the same title. It goes under the type of “Mowachah” which is mainly poems to be sung. This one can be found in Standard Arabic, but it is still written here with a Moroccan Arabic identical to how it is heard in the song. The setting of the poem takes place in one of the Andalusian nights, very known for music and poetry.

Check it out on YouTube performed by Nabila Maan: https://youtu.be/3gloFNFRUHM

Translation:

The Evening Sun

The evening sun is about to go down and my eyes filled with tears because of separation
It set her lines upon the horizon and when it went down, the one in love fell for his longing
Even birds warbled and trilled mourning upon leaves

Oh, sun of the evening, wait, don’t go down, and for God’s sake take it easy on me
You set me on fire and you make the heart dies of its yearning
Have mercy on me, I’m falling deeper for the beautiful one

In the golden valley where the face of the beautiful (shines) like a chandelier
And the polite servant serves drinks in concave glasses
Set the divans up and give us more, let us have fun this evening
Each one of us is holding his glass in his hand and enjoying the moment
And my heart wants the beautiful one and opens wide for him

I am all at your service, masters, what about you?
I am a slave that you bought with cheapest price
20 mars 2020
Thank you Abduallah for sharing the wonderful muwashahat and for the history lesson 🙂. How amazing when cultures merge and produce such an amazing art.
10 mai 2020
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