Part 40 (1/2)

[Sidenote: The poetry of the Spanish Arabs.]

Considered as a whole, the poetry of the Moslems in Europe shows the same characteristics which have already been noted in the work of their Eastern contemporaries. The paralysing conventions from which the laureates of Baghdad and Aleppo could not emanc.i.p.ate themselves remained in full force at Cordova and Seville. Yet, just as Arabic poetry in the East was modified by the influences of Persian culture, in Spain also the gradual amalgamation of Aryans with Semites introduced new elements which have left their mark on the literature of both races. Perhaps the most interesting features of Spanish-Arabian poetry are the tenderly romantic feeling which not infrequently appears in the love-songs, a feeling that sometimes antic.i.p.ates the att.i.tude of mediaeval chivalry; and in the second place an almost modern sensibility to the beauties of nature. On account of these characteristics the poems in question appeal to many European readers who do not easily enter into the spirit of the _Mu'allaqat_ or the odes of Mutanabbi, and if s.p.a.ce allowed it would be a pleasant task to translate some of the charming lyric and descriptive pieces which have been collected by anthologists. The omission, however, is less grave inasmuch as Von Schack has given us a series of excellent versions in his _Poesie und Kunst der Araber in Spanien und Sicilien_ (2nd ed., Stuttgart, 1877).

[Sidenote: Folk-songs.]

”One of its marvels,” says Qazwini, referring to the town of s.h.i.+lb (Silves) in Portugal, ”is the fact, which innumerable persons have mentioned, that the people living there, with few exceptions, are makers of verse and devoted to belles-lettres; and if you pa.s.sed by a labourer standing behind his plough and asked him to recite some verses, he would at once improvise on any subject that you might demand.”[767] Of such folk-songs the _zajal_ and _muwashsha?_ were favourite types.[768]

Both forms were invented in Spain, and their structure is very similar, consisting of several stanzas in which the rhymes are so arranged that the master-rhyme ending each stanza and running through the whole poem like a refrain is continually interrupted by a various succession of subordinate rhymes, as is shown in the following scheme:--

_aa_ _bbba_ _ccca_ _ddda._

Many of these songs and ballads were composed in the vulgar dialect and without regard to the rules of cla.s.sical prosody. The troubadour Ibn Quzman ( 1160 A.D.) first raised the _zajal_ to literary rank. Here is an example of the _muwashsha?_:--

”Come, hand the precious cup to me, And brim it high with a golden sea!

Let the old wine circle from guest to guest, While the bubbles gleam like pearls on its breast, So that night is of darkness dispossessed.

How it foams and twinkles in fiery glee!

'Tis drawn from the Pleiads' cl.u.s.ter, perdie.

Pa.s.s it, to music's melting sound, Here on this flowery carpet round, Where gentle dews refresh the ground And bathe my limbs deliciously In their cool and balmy fragrancy.

Alone with me in the garden green A singing-girl enchants the scene: Her smile diffuses a radiant sheen.

I cast off shame, for no spy can see, And 'Hola,' I cry, 'let us merry be!'”[769]

[Sidenote: Verses by 'Abdu 'l-Ra?man I.]

True to the traditions of their family, the Spanish Umayyads loved poetry, music, and polite literature a great deal better than the Koran.

Even the Falcon of Quraysh, 'Abdu 'l-Ra?man I, if the famous verses on the Palm-tree are really by him, concealed something of the softer graces under his grim exterior. It is said that in his gardens at Cordova there was a solitary date-palm, which had been transplanted from Syria, and that one day 'Abdu 'l-Ra?man, as he gazed upon it, remembered his native land and felt the bitterness of exile and exclaimed:--

”O Palm, thou art a stranger in the West, Far from thy Orient home, like me unblest.

Weep! But thou canst not. Dumb, dejected tree, Thou art not made to sympathise with me.

Ah, thou wouldst weep, if thou hadst tears to pour, For thy companions on Euphrates' sh.o.r.e; But yonder tall groves thou rememberest not, As I, in hating foes, have my old friends forgot.”[770]

[Sidenote: Ziryab the musician.]

At the court of 'Abdu 'l-Ra?man II (822-852 A.D.) a Persian musician was prime favourite. This was Ziryab, a client of the Caliph Mahdi and a pupil of the celebrated singer, Is?aq al-Maw?ili.[771] Is?aq, seeing in the young man a dangerous rival to himself, persuaded him to quit Baghdad and seek his fortune in Spain. 'Abdu 'l-Ra?man received him with open arms, gave him a magnificent house and princely salary, and bestowed upon him every mark of honour imaginable. The versatile and accomplished artist wielded a vast influence. He set the fas.h.i.+on in all things appertaining to taste and manners; he fixed the toilette, sanctioned the cuisine, and prescribed what dress should be worn in the different seasons of the year. The kings of Spain took him as a model, and his authority was constantly invoked and universally recognised in that country down to the last days of Moslem rule.[772] Ziryab was only one of many talented and learned men who came to Spain from the East, while the list of Spanish savants who journeyed ”in quest of knowledge”

(_fi ?alabi 'l-'ilm_) to Africa and Egypt, to the Holy Cities of Arabia, to the great capitals of Syria and 'Iraq, to Khurasan, Transoxania, and in some cases even to China, includes, as may be seen from the perusal of Maqqari's fifth chapter, nearly all the eminent scholars and men of letters whom Moslem Spain has produced. Thus a lively exchange of ideas was continually in movement, and so little provincialism existed that famous Andalusian poets, like Ibn Hani and Ibn Zaydun, are described by admiring Eastern critics as the Bu?turis and Mutanabbis of the West.

[Sidenote: The Library of ?akam II.]

The tenth century of the Christian era is a fortunate and ill.u.s.trious period in Spanish history. Under 'Abdu 'l-Ra?man III and his successor, ?akam II, the nation, hitherto torn asunder by civil war, bent its united energies to the advancement of material and intellectual culture. ?akam was an enthusiastic bibliophile. He sent his agents in every direction to purchase ma.n.u.scripts, and collected 400,000 volumes in his palace, which was thronged with librarians, copyists, and bookbinders. All these books, we are told, he had himself read, and he annotated most of them with his own hand. His munificence to scholars knew no bounds. He made a present of 1,000 dinars to Abu 'l-Faraj of I?fahan, in order to secure the first copy that was published of the great 'Book of Songs' (_Kitabu 'l-Aghani_), on which the author was then engaged. Besides honouring and encouraging the learned, ?akam took measures to spread the benefits of education amongst the poorest of his subjects. With this view he founded twenty-seven free schools in the capital and paid the teachers out of his private purse. Whilst in Christian Europe the rudiments of learning were confined to the clergy, in Spain almost every one could read and write.

[Sidenote: The University of Cordova.]

”The University of Cordova was at that time one of the most celebrated in the world. In the princ.i.p.al Mosque, where the lectures were held, Abu Bakr b. Mu'awiya, the Qurays.h.i.+te, discussed the Traditions relating to Mu?ammad. Abu 'Ali al-Qali of Baghdad dictated a large and excellent miscellany which contained an immense quant.i.ty of curious information concerning the ancient Arabs, their proverbs, their language, and their poetry. This collection he afterwards published under the t.i.tle of _Amali_, or 'Dictations.'

Grammar was taught by Ibnu 'l-Qu?iyya, who, in the opinion of Abu 'Ali al-Qali, was the leading grammarian of Spain. Other sciences had representatives no less renowned. Accordingly the students attending the cla.s.ses were reckoned by thousands. The majority were students of what was called _fiqh_, that is to say, theology and law, for that science then opened the way to the most lucrative posts.”[773]

Among the notable savants of this epoch we may mention Ibn 'Abdi Rabbihi ( 940 A.D.), laureate of 'Abdu 'l-Ra?man III and author of a well-known anthology ent.i.tled _al-'Iqd al-Farid_; the poet Ibn Hani of Seville ( 973 A.D.), an Isma'ili convert who addressed blasphemous panegyrics to the Fa?imid Caliph Mu'izz;[774] the historians of Spain, Abu Bakr al-Razi ( 937 A.D.), whose family belonged to Rayy in Persia, and Ibnu 'l-Qu?iyya ( 977 A.D.), who, as his name indicates, was the descendant of a Gothic princess; the astronomer and mathematician Maslama b. A?mad of Madrid ( 1007 A.D.); and the great surgeon Abu 'l-Qasim al-Zahrawi of Cordova, who died about the same time, and who became known to Europe by the name of Albucasis.

[Sidenote: The 'Abbadids (1023-1091 A.D.).]

[Sidenote: Mu'tamid of Seville (1069-1091 A.D.).]

The fall of the Spanish Umayyads, which took place in the first half of the eleventh century, left Cordova a republic and a merely provincial town; and though she might still claim to be regarded as the literary metropolis of Spain, her ancient glories were overshadowed by the independent dynasties which now begin to flourish in Seville, Almeria, Badajoz, Granada, Toledo, Malaga, Valencia, and other cities. Of these rival princedoms the most formidable in arms and the most brilliant in its cultivation of the arts was, beyond question, the family of the 'Abbadids, who reigned in Seville. The foundations of their power were laid by the Cadi Abu 'l-Qasim Mu?ammad. ”He acted towards the people with such justice and moderation as drew on him the attention of every eye and the love of every heart,” so that the office of chief magistrate was willingly conceded to him. In order to obtain the monarchy which he coveted, the Cadi employed an audacious ruse. The last Umayyad Caliph, Hisham II, had vanished mysteriously: it was generally supposed that, after escaping from Cordova when that city was stormed by the Berbers (1013 A.D.), he fled to Asia and died unknown; but many believed that he was still alive. Twenty years after his disappearance there suddenly arose a pretender, named Khalaf, who gave out that he was the Caliph Hisham. The likeness between them was strong enough to make the imposture plausible. At any rate, the Cadi had his own reasons for abetting it. He called on the people, who were deeply attached to the Umayyad dynasty, to rally round their legitimate sovereign. Cordova and several other States recognised the authority of this pseudo-Caliph, whom Abu 'l-Qasim used as a catspaw. His son 'Abbad, a treacherous and bloodthirsty tyrant, but an amateur of belles-lettres, threw off the mask and reigned under the t.i.tle of al-Mu'ta?id (1042-1069 A.D.). He in turn was succeeded by his son, al-Mu'tamid, whose strange and romantic history reminds one of a sentence frequently occurring in the _Arabian Nights_: ”Were it graven with needle-gravers upon the eye-corners, it were a warner to whoso would be warned.” He is described as ”the most liberal, the most hospitable, the most munificent, and the most powerful of all the princes who ruled in Spain. His court was the halting-place of travellers, the rendezvous of poets, the point to which all hopes were directed, and the haunt of men of talent.”[775] Mu'tamid himself was a poet of rare distinction. ”He left,” says Ibn Ba.s.sam, ”some pieces of verse beautiful as the bud when it opens to disclose the flower; and had the like been composed by persons who made of poetry a profession and a merchandise, they would still have been considered charming, admirable, and singularly original.”[776] Numberless anecdotes are told of Mu'tamid's luxurious life at Seville: his evening rambles along the banks of the Guadalquivir; his parties of pleasure; his adventures when he sallied forth in disguise, accompanied by his Vizier, the poet Ibn 'Ammar, into the streets of the sleeping city; and his pa.s.sion for the slave-girl I'timad, commonly known as Rumaykiyya, whom he loved all his life with constant devotion.