Famous poet /1003 - 1071

Ibn Zaydun

Ibn Zaydun was born Abu Al Walid Ahmad ibn Zaydun.

He was probably the greatest arabic poet of Spain.

His unconditional love for Walladah, the talented and beautiful daughter of the Caliph al Mustakfi, caused his downfall. After several years in prison and exile, fortune and fame smiled on him once again. Al Mutadid the Abbadid Caliph appointed him to the post of Grand Vizier and chief of the army and gave him the title Zual Wizaratayn, one of the two vizarats.

Ibn Zaydun Follow

To Walladah

Patience has departed from the parting lover,
Who divulged the secret, confiding it to you;
He is embarassed because of not having been able
To take more steps along with you when taking his leave:
Oh, brother of the full moon in high rank and splendour
May God protect the rime which caused thee to rise!
If your absence made my nights seem long,
I spent this night with you complaining of its shortness!

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Analysis (ai): Written in 11th-century Al-Andalus, the poem reflects the classical Arabic qasid (ode) tradition under the influence of courtly aesthetics and Andalusi literary refinement. The use of elevated diction and formal imagery aligns with Arabic poetic norms shaped by Abbasid models, adapted to local elite culture.

Form and Structure: Composed in kamil meter, typical for serious lyrical expression, the poem adheres to monorhyme and internal cohesion, reflecting formal discipline expected of elite poets. Its brevity departs from traditional qasida expansiveness, favoring intimate focus.

Tone and Diction: Archaic constructions and celestial metaphors ("brother of the full moon") convey both reverence and social hierarchy. The elevated address masks personal longing within convention, using formal praise as emotional conduit.

Emotional Dynamics: The speaker reverses the expected lament of separation by claiming that even a night spent together felt too short—an inversion suggesting that presence, not absence, heightens desire. This reframes longing as persistent regardless of proximity.

Relation to Author's Work: Less anthologized than Ibn Zaydun’s longer political odes, this poem stands out for its restrained personal voice, contrasting with his more public, panegyric compositions. It exemplifies his private lyric output often overshadowed by political writings.

Place Among Period Norms: While many Andalusi poems emphasize idealized separation, this one subtly critiques the convention by implying that reunion fails to satisfy—undermining the romanticized distance common in contemporaneous ghazals.

Less-Discussed Angle: Rather than expressing loss due to enforced separation, the poem centers on the inadequacy of time itself, suggesting that emotional fulfillment is structurally impossible, not merely circumstantially delayed—a philosophical nuance often overlooked.

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Ibn Zaydun Follow

Longing

When shall I describe my feelings
To you, my delight, my torture?
When will my tongue have the pleasure
Of explaining it, instead of a letter?
Oh you tempter in consolation,
Oh you proof of a forlorn lover!
Tou are the sun that has hidden
Itself behind a veil from my eye:

http://www.syriatoday.ca/salloum-moorish.htm © by owner. provided at no charge for educational purposes

Analysis (ai): Composed during the height of Andalusian literary culture, this poem reflects the conventions of ghazal (love lyric) popular among Arabic troubadour poets of Al-Andalus, blending personal emotion with formal elegance rooted in classical Arabic traditions.

Form and Structure: The poem uses a consistent end-rhyme and rhythmic cadence typical of muwashshah-influenced qasidas, though it departs from extended formal development by focusing narrowly on emotional immediacy.

Emotional Dynamic: The speaker positions love as both fulfillment and affliction, framing the beloved as simultaneously redemptive and elusive, a duality common in Arabic courtly love poetry.

Imagery and Symbolism: The metaphor of the veiled sun conveys absence and obscured clarity, aligning with Andalusian motifs where celestial imagery signifies unattainable beauty and divine or romantic distance.

Intimacy vs. Convention: Unlike Ibn Zaydun’s more elaborate panegyrics, this piece favors direct apostrophe, creating immediacy uncommon in his otherwise highly stylized oeuvre.

Language and Diction: Vocabulary merges classical register with emotional transparency, avoiding excessive ornamentation while maintaining syntactic precision rooted in 11th-century literary Arabic norms.

Comparison to Contemporaries: While poets like Al-Mu’tamid employed similar themes, this poem’s brevity and focus on verbal inadequacy distinguish it from longer, more ceremonial love laments.

Contrast with Later Works: Compared to Ibn Zaydun’s political elegies, this poem foregrounds vulnerability over rhetorical mastery, suggesting a private voice amid a career dominated by public forms.

Alternative Interpretation: Rather than seeing this solely as a love poem, it can be read as an allegory for exile—common in Ibn Zaydun’s later life—where the beloved symbolizes lost homeland or political position.

Place in the Author’s Body of Work: Though less cited than his political verses, this poem stands out for its sustained emotional focus and personal tone, marking it as a key example of his lyric sensitivity amid a broader canon of formal writing.

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