Muwashshah Facts for Kids

Muwashshah (Arabic: موشح muwaššaḥ) is a special kind of Arabic poetry and also a type of Arabic music. The word Muwashshah means "girdled" in Classical Arabic. Think of it like a belt with jewels hanging from it – the poem's parts are like the jewels.

This poetic form has many lines and is made of different sections called stanzas. It's usually written in classical Arabic and often has five stanzas. Each stanza has a part that repeats, called a refrain, which helps the poem flow nicely.

As a musical style, Muwashshah uses these poems as its lyrics. This musical tradition is found in two main forms: the waṣla in the eastern Arab world (like Syria and Egypt) and the Arab Andalusi nubah in the western part (like Morocco and Algeria).

A Look at History
The Poetic Form
Poem Themes
Hebrew Muwashshah
The Musical Style
Famous Poets
Famous Muwashshahs
See also

A Look at History

While some Arabic poetry styles came from the East, Muwashshah is special because it started in the Iberian Peninsula (modern-day Spain and Portugal), a place once known as al-Andalus. It's one of the few types of Andalusi literature that began there.

There are two main types of strophic poetry from al-Andalus:

The muwaššaḥ: This is a more complex style written mostly in standard Arabic.
The zajal: This is a simpler style written entirely in everyday Arabic.

The very first muwaššaḥs we know about appeared around the 11th century. This poetic form became popular and was even taken to the eastern Arab world. It was a mix of cultures, using both Hebrew and Andalusi Arabic. This shows how different languages and cultures blended together in al-Andalus.

One of the earliest books to talk about Muwashshah was written by ibn Bassam. He thought it was invented in the 10th century. Later, a writer named Ibn Sanāʾ al-Mulk [ar] (who lived until 1211) wrote a detailed description of how Muwashshah music worked. He noted that some songs had lyrics that perfectly fit the tunes, while others used made-up sounds to fill the melody.

The Poetic Form

Muwashshah poems started appearing around the 9th or 10th century. The name comes from an Arabic word meaning something a woman wears around her neck, like a necklace or scarf. The idea is that the different parts of the poem are "hung" together by a repeating rhyme, much like jewels on a belt.

Unlike typical Arabic poetry, which often has one rhyme and meter throughout, Muwashshah is usually divided into five stanzas with a more complex rhyme pattern. Each stanza has its own unique rhyming lines, but also lines that share a rhyme with the rest of the poem.

A Muwashshah poem usually begins with a matla (the start) and ends with a kharja (the exit). The kharja was often written in a common, everyday language like spoken Arabic or a local Romance language. Sometimes, a different person or character would "speak" the kharja in the poem.

Poem Themes

Muwashshah poems often talk about themes like:

Love: Stories and feelings about love.
Praise: Poems that praise important people.
Wine: Poems about drinking wine, sometimes with deeper meanings.

Some Muwashshah poems stick to one theme, while others mix them. For example, a poem might start with love, then praise someone, and then return to love. The kharja at the end also helps explain the poem's main idea. If it's a love poem, the kharja might be spoken by the person who is loved.

In the eastern Muwashshah tradition, themes also included sad poems about loss (elegy) and harsh criticisms (invective). Some poets, like Ibn Arabi, even used wine and love as symbols for a spiritual longing for God.

Hebrew Muwashshah

Many Muwashshah poems written in al-Andalus were composed in Hebrew. Hebrew Muwashshah writers kept the special kharja ending, often writing it in everyday Arabic. Because of its structure, it was similar to some Hebrew religious poems.

Starting in the 11th century, Hebrew Muwashshah was also used for religious purposes. The first known Hebrew Muwashshah poems are linked to Samuel ibn Naghrillah. Other famous Hebrew Muwashshah poets include Judah Halevi.

The first poet to write a religious Muwashshah was Solomon ibn Gabirol. He was followed by others like Moses ibn Ezra. These poems were made to be used in prayer services and often focused on themes from blessings. Unlike other Hebrew Muwashshah poems, the kharja of a religious one was also in Hebrew.

The Musical Style

In Muwashshah music, the instruments often include:

The oud (a type of lute)
The kamanja (a spike fiddle)
The qanun (a box zither)
The darabukkah (a goblet drum)
The daf (a tambourine)

The musicians playing these instruments often sing along as a choir. A solo singer performs only a few chosen lines from the poem. In places like Aleppo, different musical scales (called maqam) and rhythms (called awzān) are used.

In the past, it was common to perform a full waslah, which included up to eight Muwashshah songs, starting with an instrumental piece. Famous Muwashshah songs still played today in the Arab world include "Lamma Bada Yatathanna" and "Jadaka al-Ghaithu".

Famous Poets

Famous Muwashshahs

"Lamma Bada Yatathanna" (لما بدا يتثنى)
"Jadaka al-Ghaithu" (جادك الغيث)

Muwashshah facts for kids

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