Hussein.jsai 38

The Institute of Asian and African StudiesThe Max Schloessinger Memorial Foundation

Offprint from

JERUSALEM STUDIES INARABIC AND ISLAM

38(2011)

Ali Ahmad Hussein

The rise and decline of naqa id. poetry

THE HEBREW UNIVERSITY OF JERUSALEMTHE FACULTY OF HUMANITIES

CONTENTS

A. Borg Phonological and lexical notes onan Arabic manual of Morisco folkmedicine

1

C. Holes A participial infix in the easternArabian dialects an ancient pre-conquest feature?

75

A. Geva Kleinberger A text in the Arabic dialect of theDruze of Ayn Qinyi, the Golanheights

99

O. Jastrow Qad. amcye in Mardin 111

M. Shawarbah The imalah in some Bedouin dialectsin the Negev

123

O. Shachmon Pausal final imala in central Pales-tinian dialects

145

A. Gaash The development of t from suffix toprefix in neo-Arabic dialects and con-temporary colloquial Hebrew

163

Y. Marom The fisherman and the wishing ring:a text from the Tarabn anNuweba

177

W. Arnold Die Kommunisten mussen Leidertragen! Ein Text im arabischenDialekt von Isdud (Ashdod)

205

G. Rosenbaum The influence of colloquial Arabic onthe language of the modern Egyptianpress

229

F.H. Stewart The word xamsah in Bedouin lan-guage and law

277

A.A. Hussein The rise and decline of naqaid.poetry

305

REVIEWS

M. Marmorstein Michael Waltisberg. Satzkomplexund Funktion: Syndese und Asyn-dese im Althocharabischen

361

Y. Lev Dionisius A. Agius. Classic shipsof Islam. From Mesopotamia to theIndian Ocean

391

D. DeWeese Islamisation de lAsie centrale: Pro-cessus locaux dacculturation du VIIeau XIe sie`cle. Etienne de laVaissie`re, ed.

397

K. Bauer Jutta Gisela Sperling and ShonaKelly Wray, eds. Across the religiousdivide: women, property and law inthe wider Mediterranean (ca. 13001800)

415

R. Milstein Finbarr B. Flood. Objects of trans-lation: material culture and medievalHindu-Muslim encounter

421

JSAI 38 (2011)

THE RISE AND DECLINE OF NAQAID.POETRY

Ali Ahmad HusseinUniversity of Haifa

This article will deal with the synchronic history and methods of com-position, presentation and transmission of naqaid. poetry according toAbu Ubaydas book Kitab al-naqaid. : Naqaid. Jarr wa-l-Farazdaq. De-spite the fame gained by naqaid. poetry in the Umayyad era, many as-pects of it are still ambiguous. Unfortunately, many of the scholars whohave dealt with such aspects have arrived at their conclusions througha rapid treatment of only some of the accounts mentioned in variousclassical works. A considerable number of these studies neglect otheraccounts that seem to reveal important data concerning many aspectsof the naqaid. poetry. In addition, in most cases they refrain from an-alyzing complete poems in order to support or disprove the conclusionsthey had extracted from the accounts. Such a method of analyzing anddiscussing the material at hand is insufficient. It is imperative to pe-ruse all the available accounts and to make a profound analysis of eachone, since each account may shed new light on the naqaid. poetry andthe naqaid. contests. In addition to the accounts, analyses of the po-ems themselves are very important, since they examine the reliabilityand credibility of the prose accounts. They also enable the researcherto reach other conclusions concerning this subject; conclusions that areunobtainable through an examination of the accounts themselves.

As a first step in this direction, the present author has already de-voted one paper to the examination of specific aspects of the naqaid.through the analysis of the material found in the anthology of AbuUbaydas Kitab al-naqaid. : Naqaid. Jarr wa-l-Farazdaq, both the proseaccounts and the various complete poems. It has been shown that suchanalysis makes it possible to reach certain conclusions regarding thesynchronic history of this poetic output, and also regarding the waysin which the naqaid. used to be composed, presented and transmitted.The first paper, published in 2008, examined these aspects in the naqaid.poetry in its formative age in the Umayyad era; i.e., in the period thatprecedes the engagement of the two poets Jarr and al-Farazdaq against

305

306 Ali Ahmad Hussein

each other in this poetic battle.1 The present paper discusses aspects ofthe naqaid. poetry in its age of floresence and in its period of eclipse.

IApproaching al-Bas.ra: Jarr and al-Farazdaq

1.1 The first poem recited and perhaps composed by Jarr inal-Bas.ra

The reasons for the first engagement of al-Farazdaq in the naqaid. contestare discussed in detail in our previous paper. It was shown that al-Farazdaq composed his first poem, naqd. a no. 31, in order to try andconvince Jarr not to engage him in a poetic battle. The latter composeda poem with the same meter and rhyme letter [NJF 33]. Some of itsverses are dedicated to the denunciation of al-Bath, mainly referringto the lasciviousness of al-Baths mother [NJF 33:2933, 36, 4146].Jarr praises his own poetic skill and his decisive victory against hisopponent [NJF 33:2628, 3537]. He also praises his kinsfolk, mainlythe Yarbus [NJF 33:3840]. He then turns to a denunciation of al-Farazdaq and narrates a certain story about this poet. It is not certainwhether the events related in this story had actually occurred, eithertotally or partially, or they were merely Jarrs phantasy. The storytells about a desert trip that al-Farazdaq took with a man nicknamedal-Anbar. Al-Farazdaq does not know the way, and both men get lost.Since their water had run out, al-Farazdaq drinks al-Anbars urine andfinds it as tasty and delicious as honey [NJF 33:4757]. Some classicalscholars mention this story, except for the urine drinking, and tend tobelieve that it really took place.2

This poem by Jarr is very important because it seems to symbolizethe end of a certain stage of the famous Umayyad naqaid. poetry andthe beginning of a new one: it is the end of the life of the naqaid. inal-Yamama and its commencement in al-Mirbad in al-Bas.ra. However,there is no indication in the poem, or in any prose account, whether thisnaqd. a was first composed and presented in al-Yamama or in al-Bas.ra.There is a clear indication that the number of verses in this poem wasexpanded in a certain period and presented in al-Mirbad. This shows

1See Hussein, The naqaid. .2See the account in al-Marzuq, Kitab al-azmina, pp. 424426. An allusion to this

story is also made in Ibn Sallam al-Jumah. , T. abaqat, vol. 2, pp. 314316.

The rise and decline of naqaid. poetry 307

that it was written, at least partially, when Jarr became a resident ofBas.ra. Many members of his Yarbu clan had migrated to Bas.ra decadesearlier, during the reign of Umar b. al-Khat.t.ab (re. 1323/634644), sothat Jarr was no stranger there.3

Abu Ubayda narrates that while reciting a certain poem, Jarr stood(waqafa) before al-Farazdaq in al-Mirbad. A full description of this placewas given by Sad al-Afghan in his book on the Arab markets and alsoby Ch. Pellat in his entry in EI2. It was located to the west of al-Bas.ra, outside the town, between it and the desert. During the earlyCaliphate a market was held there apparently daily for camels,sheep, weapons, and dates. Warriors used to sell their share of booty init. During the Umayyad period, because of the prosperity in al-Bas.ra,al-Mirbad was known for its literary life, in addition to its function asa market. Many poets used to visit the market place, with each poethaving a circle (h. alaqa) in which he recited his poetry while surroundedby his audience. A certain account in Kitab al-aghan shows that eachh. alaqa had places where the audience used to sit.

4 Two or more poetssometimes had one common circle. Houses were also built in al-Mirbadand Ch. Pellat mentions that later, apparently in the Abbas era, awide street ran from al-Mirbad to the center of al-Bas.ra; this street ranthrough al-Mirbad and al-Bas.ra, and buildings were erected along thisstreet. In Abbas times, al-Mirbad also became a place for studying andteaching Arabic, especially grammar and vocabulary. Scholars used tomeet with Bedouins and write down what they needed to know aboutArabic. Poets used to visit al-Mirbad not only to recite their poetry butalso to improve their poetic skills by learning from the Bedouins aboutArabic poetics and gaining knowledge of their vocabulary.5 Yaqut al-H. amaw (d. 626/1229) adds that, from the Umayyad era onwards, peoplefrom different places and regions used to go to the market and recite andlisten to poetry.6 There were roads inside the market,7 and during thelifetime of al-Farazdaq it included parks (mutanazzahat);8 such parks

3See Khuraysat, al-As.abiyya, p. 221. This clan lived in the same region as theMujashi and the Nahshal clans.

4Abu al-Faraj al-Is.bahan, Kitab al-aghan, vol. 7, pp. 4647.5Al-Afghan, Aswaq, cf. pp. 407413, 418423; Pellat, al-Mirbad, vol. 7, pp.

113114. See also H. ammur, Aswaq, pp. 208210; H. usayn, Fann, pp. 2024. Yaqutal-H. amaw mentions that it was later burnt and desolated; see Mujam, vol. 5, pp.115116. See also Abd al-Qadir al-Baghdad, Khizanat al-adab, vol. 3, p. 85. Theauthor mentions here how the poet in the Umayyad era used to be surrounded byhis audience while reciting his poem. See also al-Marzuban, Kitab nur al-qabas, p.171. Al-Mirbad is described here during the Caliphate of Umar, before the buildingof al-Bas.ra: a place containing white rocks.

6See also Yaqut al-H. amaw, al-Mushtarik, pp. 392393.7Al-Sarraj, Mas.ari , vol. 1, p. 62.8Abd al-Qadir al-Baghdad, Khizanat al-adab, vol. 2, p. 68.


remained until the Abbas era.9

At the time of one such recitation, both Jarr and al-Farazdaq werewanted by the governors men. Al-Farazdaq managed to flee, while Jarrand al-Nawar, al-Farazdaqs wife, were arrested and put together in jail.Afterwards, Jarr composed some verses and added them to his naqd. a[NJF 33:5865]. In these verses, he describes the romantic momentsthat both he and al-Nawar enjoyed together in jail, apparently alludingto a certain intercourse between them. Jarr then asks a certain AbuKhalid, who is, according to Abu Ubayda, al-H. arith b. Ab Raba al-Makhzum, the governor of al-Bas.ra, and brother of the well-known poetUmar b. Ab Raba (d. 93/712), not to give his enemy an opportunityto mock him. In the last three verses of the poem, Jarr denounces acertain ibn h. amra al-ijan (i.e., the son of a woman whose perinaeumis red, alluding to the fact she was not of Arab origin as well as of herfornication and slavery).10 By using such a title, it is apparent that Jarralludes to al-Bath al-Mujashi. Jarr himself, in two previous locationsin this poem, uses such a title to humiliate al-Bath [NJF 33:29, 31].

Although Abu Ubayda does not mention clearly which poem Jarrwas reciting at the time of his arrest, it is almost certain that it wasnaqd. a no. 33. The reason for such a conclusion is simple: when Jarrdecided to compose additional verses describing his relations with al-Nawar, he added the verses to poem no. 33, which is considered thecounter-poem to the first poem composed by al-Farazdaq. It also indi-cates that this naqd. a was still new when Jarr was arrested, and wasapparently the last naqd. a that he composed before he was jailed. Thisaccount leads to the conclusion that Jarr, after hearing naqd. a no. 31by al-Farazdaq, left al-Yamama and went to al-Bas.ra.

11 One can maketwo assumptions regarding the place in which Jarrs naqd. a was com-posed and presented. The first is that Jarr composed the first partof his naqd. a in al-Yamama (not including the added verses), and thenshortly afterwards went to al-Mirbad where he presented the poem onceagain for the audience in al-Bas.ra. The second assumption is that Jarr,after knowing that al-Farazdaq composed his naqd. a no. 31, decided toconfront him directly in al-Mirbad where he composed and recited thefirst part of the poem. According to both assumptions, it is likely thatJarr recited this poem more than once. In other words, the recitation ofthe poem that occurred on the day of his arrest was not the first, since

9Al-H. us.r, Zahr, vol. 2, pp. 346347.10Abu Ubayda, Kitab al-naqaid. , vol. 1, pp. 167168. About the term h. amra

al-ijan, see Lane, Lexicon, vol. 5, p. 1968.11According to a certain account, Jarr claims that his clan obliged him to go to

al-Mirbad in order to engage in the poetic battle. He says that they sent him thereto overcome his opponent poets. See Abu Ubayda, Kitab al-naqaid. , vol. 1, p. 428.


it is obvious from the account that the governor was familiar with thecontent of this poem previously and therefore wanted to punish Jarr.

The account also informs us about the way the two naqd. as werepresented by Jarr and al-Farazdaq. Here, unlike the naqd. as presentedby Jarr and his earlier opponents in the formative age of the naqaid.contests, these two poets are located in the same place, apparently in acertain circle (h. alaqa),

12 in al-Mirbad. Abu Ubayda mentions that Jarrwaqafa al-Farazdaq. This verb literally means two persons confrontingeach other on a battlefield or in a contest or match.13 Here it may beassumed that both poets stood facing each other surrounded by theiraudience, each reciting (or re-reciting) his naqd. a while the other lis-tened.14 This account also shows that women used to attend the naqd. aspresentations in al-Mirbad, at least those of the poets themselves.

However, it seems that the verses which describe the romantic rela-tionship between Jarr and al-Nawar were composed in prison because,as previously mentioned, Jarr asks the governor not to let his enemiesmock him, and begs him for his freedom. It is probable that Jarr, afterbeing freed, recited the whole naqd. a in its new expanded version at an-other time, or perhaps several times, in al-Mirbad. If this was the case,then it is possible that the poets used to make certain changes, addingsome verses, to the original version of their naqaid. .

As for the enemies mentioned by Jarr, although their identity is notrevealed either through the poem or through the prose account, theymay have been al-Bath himself since, among the verses that Jarr addsto his poem, there are three in which he denounces him [NJF 33:6365]. Although the reason for denouncing al-Bath here is not known,two suggestions may be offered. The first is that al-Bath was in al-Bas.ra, and perhaps attended the presentations by the two poets in al-Mirbad, once when they were requested to do so, and once after Jarrwas arrested. It is possible that in an attempt to prevent al-Bath

12In many circumstances, the Arab audience used to be positioned in a circle arounda performance; see Buttsva, Alf, p. 35. Jayyusi mentions that each poet had a corner;see Umayyad poetry, p. 410.

13Ibn Manz.ur, Lisan, vol. 9, p. 360; Lane, Lexicon, vol. 8, p. 3058.14Abu al-Faraj al-Is.bahan mentions a certain account about Jarr and al-Farazdaq

in which he uses the verb tawaqafa, which has the same meaning of the verb used byAbu Ubayda. Here too, both poets are presented as standing each in front of theother, and surrounded by their tribes. Both poets, during that moment, are said tohave recited their poetry against each other. A quarrel between Mujashi and Yarbu

occurs and leads Jarr to compose two verses to denounce people who helped theMujashi against the Yarbu tribe. It seems that the two verses were composed orallyat the moment of the quarrel; see Kitab al-aghan, vol. 3, p. 73. Another account istold by the same author about Jarr and Umar b. Laja in which they stood in frontof each other (muwaqifuhu), while many people surrounded both poets. See ibid.,vol. 19, p. 22.


from mocking Jarr for his arrest, Jarr decides to attack him. Anothersuggestion is that al-Bath composed some verses no longer extant in which he mocked Jarr for what happened to him. In response,Jarr denounces him in this naqd. a. Perhaps al-Bath had been stayingin al-Bas.ra or in some place outside the city. If al-Bath really wasin al-Bas.ra, then it is possible that after Jarr moved there, al-Bathalso decided to live, or at least to visit, the city in order to continueparticipating in the poetic contest against his two rivals. It has beenshown in our previous paper that al-Bath continued to take part in thepoetic contest even after al-Farazdaq became involved.15

As mentioned above, this incident occurred during the reign of al-H. arith b. Ab Raba l-Makhzum, the governor of al-Bas.ra during theCaliphate of Ibn al-Zubayr; he held this position from 65/684685 until67/687.16 This allows us to make a more accurate estimate of the dateof the first naqd. a by al-Farazdaq, poem no. 31, which was not composedin 68/687688 as concluded in our previous article,17 but apparently ayear earlier; i.e., around 67/687 when Jarr decided to leave al-Yamamafor al-Mirbad where he recited his counter-poem against al-Farazdaq.18

1.2 A textual analysis of two naqd. as by al-Farazdaq and Jarr

The naqaid. between Jarr and al-Farazdaq continued until the lattersdeath around 110/728729, and lasted for about 43 years.19 Salma

15See 2.4 in Hussein, The naqaid. .16Ibn al-Athr, Usd, vol. 1, p. 392; Al-Dhahab, Tarkh, vol. 6, pp. 4849; Ibn

Taghr Bird, al-Nujum, vol. 1, pp. 218219; al-Qad. , al-Firaq, p. 249; D. ayf, al-Tat.awwur, pp. 175176.

17See 3.2 in Hussein, The naqaid. .18D. ayf estimates that the first naqd. as of Jarr against al-Farazdaq had been com-

posed between 6567/684687. See al-Tat.awwur, pp. 175176. Nallino, Sezgin andal-Nus.s. mention that it occurred shortly after the year 64/683; see Nallino, Tarkh,p. 174; Sezgin, GAS, vol. 2, p. 357; al-Nus.s., al-As.abiyya, p. 479. Abd al-Majdal-Muh. tasib mentions the year 65/684685, see Naqaid. , p. 127. On the other hand,Shakir al-Fah. h. am and Fakhr al-Dn Qabawa suggest 66/685686 as the year of thebeginning of the first naqaid. contest; see al-Fah. h. am, al-Farazdaq, p. 285; Qabawa,al-Akht.al, p. 95. However, as mentioned above, it seems that these naqd. as werecomposed in 67/687. This date is supported by al-Shayib in his Tarkh, p. 318. Theyear suggested by Ibrahm, i.e. 70/689690, is impossible; see Jarr, pp. 1415.

19Some scholars mention that it lasted for 40 years; see van Gelder, Naqaid. ,vol. 7, p. 920; idem, Al-Farazdaq, vol. 1, pp. 219220; Marwa, al-Farazdaq, p. 62.Mardams and al-Fah. h. ams assumption that the naqaid. contest between both po-ets lasted about 50 years (according to Mardam), or more exactly about 48 years(according to al-Fah. h. am) is reasonable only if we accept that al-Farazdaq died, ac-cording to some accounts, not in 110/728729 but later in the year 114/732. See


Jayyusi believes that the Arab tribes that settled in Iraq welcomed thiscontest as a means of relief from inter-tribal tensions and found the in-teresting naqaid. output of the two poets a source of entertainment andcatharsis.20 G.J.H. van Gelder holds a similar opinion.21 However, only76 naqd. as are extant in Abu Ubaydas book (38 by each poet). It isnot known whether there were many other naqd. as composed by the twopoets during their long stay in al-Bas.ra, or only a few. This last assump-tion is likely, for, as mentioned above, both poets used to recite their oldnaqd. as for a certain time before composing new ones. It is worth notingthat in most cases, al-Farazdaq was the one who started composing hisnaqd. a and Jarr was the one who composed the counter-poem to refutehis opponent.22 This is an indication that although at first al-Farazdaqdid not like to engage in such poetic contests, once he was obliged to doso, he was so fascinated by them that he was the one who inspired hisrival to compose most of his naqd. as.

Analysis of the poems themselves can shed more light on the methodsused by the two poets for composing, presenting and also transmittingtheir naqd. as. Since it is impossible to analyze all the 76 poems in thispaper, two samples have been chosen and another two poems will beanalyzed at a later stage (1.3.2 [B]). These first two poems, naqd. asnos. 39 (by al-Farazdaq) and 40 (by Jarr), were not chosen arbitrarilybut rather because in comparison with other naqd. as, they are morerelevant to the three issues discussed in this paper. Both poems werecomposed after 73/692693 since al-Akht.al is mentioned in the poemof Jarr [NJF 40:11]. As will be shown later, this poet was engaged incomposing the naqaid. around or a little before the aforementioned year(1.6). Both poems have the same kamil meter and the same rhymeletter l. The vocalization of the rhyme letter differs in both poems.

Mardam, al-Farazdaq, pp. 1112; al-Fah. h. am, al-Farazdaq, p. 291. For other dates ofthe death of al-Farazdaq and Jarr, see Sezgin, GAS, vol. 2, pp. 357, 360, and H. aqq,al-Farazdaq, p. 25.

20Jayyusi, Umayyad poetry, p. 409.21Van Gelder, The bad, p. 30; idem, Naqaid. , vol. 7, p. 920; idem, Jarr, vol.

1, p. 412. Other studies that profess a similar opinion can be mentioned, such as al-Muh. tasib, Naqaid. , p. 85. Ih. san al-Nus.s., Shakir al-Fah. h. am and Fawz Amn alludeto this too. See al-Nus.s., al-As.abiyya, pp. 480483, 523527; al-Fah. h. am, al-Farazdaq,pp. 291293, 312314; Amn, F shi r, pp. 145146.

22In 25 sets of poems, al-Farazdaq was the beginner and Jarr the refuter; these arenos. 31/33; 34/35; 39/40; 41/42; 45/46; 47/48; 49/50; 51/52; 59/60; 61/62; 63/64;69/70; 71/72; 75/76; 81/82; 87/89; 90/91; 94/95; 96/97; 98/99; 100/101; 102/103;105/106; 107/108; 110/111. On the other hand, only in 13 sets of poems Jarr wasthe beginner: 43/44; 53/54; 55/56; 57/58; 65/66; 67/68; 73/74; 77/78; 79/80; 83/84;85/86; 92/93; 112/113.


1.2.1 Below is a table that includes the major themes and motifs in thetwo naqd. as. On the left side, two columns are presented that includethe motifs and themes in al-Farazdaqs poem in addition to the numberof verses in which they appear. On the right, the motifs and themesin Jarrs naqd. a are listed. In this half of the table, unlike the case ofal-Farazdaqs poem, the motifs and themes are not arranged accordingto their appearance, but rather according to their correspondence withthe motifs and themes in al-Farazdaqs poem. In other words, neareach theme and motif by al-Farazdaq, the counter-theme and motif inthe naqd. a of Jarr is mentioned. Sometimes a certain verse by Jarraddresses more than one verse by al-Farazdaq; in this case, such a versewill appear more than once in the table.

Verses Al-Farazdaq [NJF39]

Verses Jarr [NJF 40]

14

57

Praising his house:and the h. ubwa (acloak or a turbanwhich a personwears; it is usedhere metaphorically,meaning the greatand noble deeds)of his ancestorsZurara, Mujashi andNahshal

Mocking Jarrsbase house

1215

(this sign shows thatthe verses by Jarrrefutes or addressthe verses by al-Farazdaq)

16

Jarr denouncesthe House of al-Farazdaqs clans,and praises theHouse of his ownclans

He asks al-Farazdaqto stop praising hisclan Mujashi andattempt to lookfor another clanto praise, such asNahshal (Nahshalis more noble thanMujashi)


817 Praising the descen-dants of T. uhayya onbattlefields. Thenhe praises his clan(perhaps Mujashi?),especially for killingkings in battle andlikening their mightand their noble deedsto a very large camel

40

51

Condemning BanuT. uhayya and theMujashi clan

Mocking al-Farazdaqfor describing histribess swords (notto be taken liter-ally; he apparentlyalludes to prais-ing their valour inbattles)

18 Praising the mightof Banu Fuqaym b.Jarr b. Darim

17

51

Al-Farazdaq shouldnot praise theFuqaym clan sincethey killed his father

Mocking al-Farazdaqfor describing theswords of his tribes

19 Praising the might ofseveral relative tribescalled al-Rabai

51


20 Praising the nobilityof the descendants ofAdawiyya (wife ofMalik b. H. anz.ala b.Malik b. Zayd Manatb. Tamm)

21 Praising the Barajimclans (sons ofH. anz.ala b. Malikb. Zayd Manat; abrother of Yarbu b.H. anz.ala)

18

Al-Farazdaq shouldnot praise theBarajim clans sincethey did evil to him


2223 Praising Sufyan b.Mujashi b. Darimand Udus b. Zaydb. Abd Allah b.Darim and Jandal b.Nahshal b. Darim

4142

Praising the de-scendants of hisgrandmother Jan-dala (here, it is likelythat he especiallychose the nameJandala because itsounds similar tothe name Jandalmentioned by al-Farazdaq).Praising the twoclans: Amr b.Tamm and Sadb. Zayd Manat b.Tamm

2425 Jarr and his clanscannot reach themanhal (i.e., sourceof water; but here itis a source of honor)

26 The clothes of al-Farazdaqs tribe:they wear clothesof kings in peaceand broad shields onbattle fields

30

51

Al-Farazdaq shouldnot mention theclothes of kings,since his clan be-trayed al-Zubayr;their ally.

Mocking al-Farazdaqfor describing histribess swords


27 Praising their greatforbearance whichis like steady moun-tains; and theircruel act (jahl ; lit.:ignorance) which islike the cruel act ofthe jinnis

36

4748

Praising his clansgreat forbearancewhich is like steadymountains; and theircruel act (jahl) whichis very harsh (Jarruses the same firsthemistich used byal-Farazdaq; thesecond hemistichis also similar toits counterpart inal-Farazdaqs verse)

The Mujashi clandoes not have anyforbearance

2932 Praising H. anz.alab. Malik b. ZaydManat, D. abba, andtheir descendants

4344

Al-Farazdaqs praisefor his uncle and forthe D. abba clan isuseless for they areignoble


3335? The testament of thegenealogist Daghfalb. H. anz.ala (of thetribe Bakr b. Wail?)shows that the de-scendants of D. abbaare more noble thanthose of Kulayb

3739

45

4344

He asks al-Farazdaqto choose only noblesof the Quraysh tribeto judge betweentheir clans; only theyare the persons whocan tell him whichclan is more powerfuland more noble

Both the tribesof Mud. ar and Rabahave judged thatJarrs clans aremore noble thanal-Farazdaq.

Al-Farazdaqs praisefor his uncle and forthe D. abba clan isuseless because theyare ignoble

3643 Praising some oftheir wars and theirloyalty to their allies

2530

51

He denounces thebetrayal of al-Farazdaqs clan withtheir ally al-Zubayrand the fornicationof his sister Jithin.Al-Farazdaqs clanshould not thereforebe praised


4445 Praising his uncleH. ubaysh

4344 Al-Farazdaqs praisefor his uncle and forthe D. abba clan isuseless for they areignoble


4649 Jarrs mother is notable to give birth tonoble persons suchas the relatives ofal-Farazdaq; even ifJarr eliminates thenoise of his motherusing her sharp cli-toris and obliges herto do so.

Mocking Jarrsfather while remov-ing lice from histesticles (or whilethrowing them onthe ground beneathhis testicles)

Jarr was so busywith other thingsrather than doingnoble deeds

4950

5660

Al-Farazdaqsmother is not able togive birth to noblehorsemen like thosein Jarrs clans; evenif al-Farazdaq forni-cates his mother andattempts to obligeher to do so.

Both al-Farazdaqsbase grandfather andhis base and pros-titute grandmotherQufayra preventsal-Farazdaq frombecoming a nobleman

5062 Praising his naqd. a,naming it al-fays.al(i.e. complete and ar-biter). Praising therelationship betweenhim and other earlierpoets

22

Al-Farazdaq shouldnot mention his rela-tionship with earlierpoets; he should firstdefend his Mujashi

clan which is cursed

6364 Comparing betweenthe base clan ofGhudana b. Yarbu

(relatives of Jarr)on one hand andthe noble clan Malikb. Zayd Manat andMalik b. H. anz.ala onthe other (relativesof al-Farazdaq)


65 Jarr steals the po-ems of al-Farazdaq

36

(this sign showsthat the verses byal-Farazdaq refute oraddress the verses byJarr)

Apparently al-Farazdaq alludes toverse no. 36 by Jarr

6667 Jarr claims that heis a descendant of theDarim clan. Noblepersons would notlet him ascribe him-self to another fa-ther rather than hisoriginal base fatherAt.iyya (apparentlyDarim should not beunderstood here lit-erally, but it maybe a symbol of anyother noble clan ofthe Tamm tribe)

35

Jarr is a descendantof the two moun-tains of Tamm (i.e.,two noble branches ofthem). His House isbuilt on a very highmountain

6869 Jarr claims that heis satisfied with theHouse that Godgave to his tribe(House of Honor)

Jarr attempts toseek a father ratherthan his original one,but he would not beable to do so

1215

35

46

Jarr denouncesthe House of al-Farazdaqs clans,and praises theHouse of his ownclans

Jarr is a descendantof the two mountainsof Tamm. His Houseis built on a veryhigh mountain

The House of Jarrsclans is more no-ble than that ofal-Farazdaq.


7072 The intercoursebetween Jarrs low-class mother andfather, an incidentthat brought Jarrto the world. Heis as base as hisparents. This pre-vents Jarr frombecoming a nobleman and vanquishingal-Farazdaq

5660

Both al-Farazdaqslow class grandfatherand his prosti-tute grandmotherQufayra prevental-Farazdaq frombecoming a nobleman and overcomingJarr

7374 Jarr presents in hispoetry a descriptionof a lover who criesat seeing the at.lal(desolate abodes)of his beloved. Hismother, on the otherhand, does not feelsuch a lack withlovers, she has manyslave men with whomto fornicate

Jarr cries becauseof his lost Umama(his beloved?). Al-Farazdaq, insteadof crying over a lostlove, will present avery famous (harsh)verses against him

19

23

A sad love story: Theat.lal of his beloved,his past relationshipwith her: she wasvery miserly and didnot give him what hedesired

Al-Farazdaqs igno-ble clan (descendantsof Qufayra) lookedfor a very powerfulpoet (who is com-pared to a greatand noble horse) todefend them (Jarralludes to the factthat this clan foundal-Farazdaq, but hewas not the poetthat they lookedfor. It is likely thatal-Farazdaqs decla-ration that he willcompose a very harshverse against Jarr isa response to Jarrspresent claim thatal-Farazdaq is tooweak to defend hisclan and to overcomeJarr)


7579 Jarr asks about theh. ubwa of al-Farazdaq

Al-Farazdaq answershim: Jarrs clansdo not have such ah. ubwa because oftheir base origin anddeeds. The h. ubwaof al-Farazdaqs clanis given to them byGod. He praises hisclan and denouncesthe Kulayb clan.

24

Jarr mocks theh. ubwa of al-Farazdaq

8088

8998

99104

Condemning theGhudana clan andpresenting the forni-cation of al-Farazdaqwith Jarrs mother

The story of aYarbu man whodrank the semen ofa man of the D. abbaclan. He mentionsalso that Jarr isthe only man in theworld to becomepregnant

The Kulayb clangives Jarr twochoices: to be killedor to fornicate withhis mother. He chosethe second one

23

3134

53

Al-Farazdaqs igno-ble clan (descendantsof Qufayra) lookedfor a very powerfulpoet (who is com-pared to a greatand noble horse) todefend them (Jarralludes to the factthat this clan foundal-Farazdaq, but hewas not the poetthat they looked for)

Condemns Mujashi:eating some basekinds of food; drink-ing urine; etc...

Al-Farazdaq can-not defeat Jarr sincehe is castrated

1011 Jarrs defeat ofthe three poets: al-Bath, al-Farazdaqand al-Akht.al


52 He denounces the de-feat of al-Farazdaqsclan in a war

5455 Condemning thewomen of theMujashi clan,especially their longclitorises

61 He asks someoneto deliver his harshpoem to al-Farazdaq

62 He praises the mightof his clans (or per-haps his own poeticmight?)

1.2.2 It is clear that the refuting poet does not deal with the themesand motifs in the same order as they appear in his rivals naqd. a; ratherthe order is arbitrary. The following table, which presents the numbersof verses in the poem of Jarr and their counter-verses in the naqd. a ofal-Farazdaq, clarifies this point:

Jarr [NJF 40] Al-Farazdaq [NJF 39]

1216 1717, 51 1818 2122 ? 50622530, 51 364330, 51 2636, 4748 273739, 4345 333540, 51 8174142 22234344 2932/3335/44454950, 5660 464951 19

1.2.3 The first table shows that many verses in the first poem by al-Farazdaq include a refutation of other verses that appear in the naqd. aof Jarr which were composed later. The following table clarifies this:


Al-Farazdaq [NJF39]

Jarr [NJF 40]

65 366667 356869 1215/35/467072 56607374 19/237579 2480104 23/3134/53

An examination of al-Farazdaqs poem would reveal that in the sec-ond half of his poem, i.e. in verses 65104, this poet alludes to somemotifs and themes that appear in the naqd. a of Jarr.

Ah.mad al-Shayib noticed that sometimes the first poem includes ref-erences to some verses in the second poem which was composed later.In an attempt to explain this incongruity, al-Shayib makes certain as-sumptions. First, he assumes that the verses of the first poem that referto the second poem are not a part of the original naqd. a, but are versesthat were erroneously added to it because they have the same meterand rhyme. Second, he assumes that the first poet was able to predictwhat his opponent might say and therefore could compose a refutationin advance. Third, he assumes that the naqd. a was composed in morethan one stage.23 The first two assumptions cannot stand, at least notin the case of the two poems discussed here. It is clear that al-Farazdaqsverses do have some connection to the verses of the first part of his poem,and that they are not erroneously attached to the original naqd. a. It isalso difficult to assume that al-Farazdaq really was able to predict allthe numerous motifs mentioned in Jarrs poem.

The third assumption by al-Shayib is more convincing because itreally seems that al-Farazdaqs naqd. a was composed in two stages. Thefirst included the composition of verses 164 (or perhaps verses 162).24

Jarrs naqd. a, which includes only 62 verses, addresses these verses. Wecan now understand why Jarrs poem was not as long as al-Farazdaqs.Apparently, it was a counter-poem composed in response to the firstversion of al-Farazdaqs naqd. a which has almost a similar number ofverses, and not a complete version of the poem. Then, after hearingJarrs counter-poem, al-Farazdaq decided to add many other verses (vv.

23Al-Shayib, Tarkh, pp. 308309. Ih. san al-Nus.s. also believes that some of thenaqaid. of Jarr and al-Farazdaq were composed in more than one stage; he does notexamine this statement in any of his studies, but mentions it in one of his footnotes;see al-As.abiyya, p. 426, n. 1.

24It is also difficult to determine whether verses 6364 in al-Farazdaqs poem werecomposed in the first stage or in the second because it seems that the two verseswere not directly refuted by Jarr, nor did they directly refute other verses in Jarrsnaqd. a.


63 or 65104) to his naqd. a, in order to refute Jarrs motifs and themes.As shown in the table above, just as in the case of Jarrs poem, al-Farazdaq also does not treat the motifs and themes in Jarrs naqd. aaccording to their original order (but rather treats them arbitrarily tosome extent).

1.2.4 In the light of the last two tables, an important question shouldbe raised regarding the reason leading each of the two poets to abandonthe order of themes and motifs that appear in the counter-naqd. a. Al-though there is no definite answer, this may be related in some degree tothe way the two naqd. as were transmitted and perhaps even composed.It is not unlikely that both poets received the poem orally rather thanfrom a written source, and that each composed his naqd. a dependingon the themes and motifs that he could recall from his rivals naqd. a.It is quite probable that a poet who becomes acquainted with a poemthrough oral transmission sometimes fails to recall the exact order of allof its components. Although such a conclusion is plausible, it can beneither proved nor disproved. Neither can the question whether bothpoets composed their naqd. as orally be clearly answered.

The analysis of the two tables enables us to suggest four ways inwhich the naqd. as were composed, transmitted and presented:

1. Al-Farazdaq composes the first part of his poem in advance, thenrecites it, apparently in al-Mirbad. Jarr comes to al-Mirbad and lis-tens to al-Farazdaqs recitation. He then takes some time to compose acounter-naqd. a in which he refutes the themes and motifs that he wasable to remember of his opponents naqd. a. Some time later, he reciteshis own poem in al-Mirbad. The time taken to compose his counter-poem is not known. As shown later (1.3.1 [AB]), each of the two poetsused to compose a poem in only one night, and perhaps this was also thetime needed to compose the counter-naqd. a. After al-Farazdaq listensto Jarr presenting his counter-naqd. a, he adds more verses to his poem,referring to his rivals counter-poem. We do not know whether the poet,after composing the additional part of his poem, presents the audiencewith the complete naqd. a or recites only the new part. Both options arepossible.25

2. The second way is the same as that mentioned above, but insteadof the rival poet going to al-Mirbad to hear his opponents naqd. a, sometransmitters presumably acquainted him with it. When one examines

25Abu al-Faraj al-Is.bahan mentions an account about Jarr and Umar b. Laja inwhich both met in al-Mirbad. Umar recited a naqd. a in which he refutes an olderone composed by Jarr. This gives the impression that Jarrs naqd. a was recitedpreviously, and that Umar prepared his counter-naqd. a before he came to al-Mirbad;see Kitab al-aghan, vol. 19, p. 22. This supports the above-mentioned assumption.


the naqd. a of Jarr, one finds that towards its end he asks someone todeliver his poem to al-Farazdaq [NJF 40:61]. This may indicate that thetwo poets, unlike the case concerning the presentation of the two previousnaqd. as (nos. 31 and 33 [see 1.1]), were facing each other while recitingthe naqaid. . However, this is not definite proof since such a statementby Jarr need not be understood literally.

3. A third option, which seems to be less likely, is that al-Farazdaqprepares his poem ahead of time and then recites it. Jarr attends therecitation and is required to compose orally a counter-poem by whichhe refutes the major themes and motifs raised by his rival. Immediatelyafterwards, al-Farazdaq composes other verses of his poem (the secondpart of it), this time orally too, in order to refute Jarr.

4. A fourth way, which also seems unlikely, is that the entire processof the naqaid. composition was done orally, both the first and secondparts. All the naqd. as are composed and recited in al-Mirbad itself, inthe presence of the rival poets and their audience.

Al-Fah. h. am, depending on a certain account in Kitab al-aghan, men-tions another way in which al-Farazdaq used to compose one verse andthen send it to his rival Jarr in order to challenge him to compose acounter-verse.26 Afterwards, each of them composed the entire naqd. a.Al-Fah.h. ams conclusion needs to be well examined, since the accountitself seems to be doubtful. It deals with two verses that are extractedfrom two naqd. as by al-Farazdaq and Jarr. The narrator mentions thatthe two verses were composed before these two naqd. as and were addedto them later. The two naqd. as are discussed in 1.3.2 (AB), and theyare said to have been composed orally during the recitation process. AbuUbayda does not make any allusion to the fact that these two verses inquestion were composed some time before the composition of the twonaqd. as.

1.3 Prose accounts and additional verses supporting the textual analysis

It is interesting that the conclusions based on a textual analysis of theways in which these two poets composed, presented and transmittedtheir naqd. as in al-Bas.ra are supported by prose accounts and otherpoetic verses in Abu Ubaydas book.

1.3.1 Written or previously-prepared composition of the naqd. aSome accounts in Abu Ubaydas book show that at least the first of

26Al-Fah. h. am, al-Farazdaq, p. 304.


any naqd. a pair was composed some time before he presented it in al-Mirbad. Such accounts support at least one of the first three assumptionsmentioned in 1.2.4.A. One of the accounts mentioned by Abu Ubayda is the story of thequarrel between Jarr and another poet called al-Ra al-Numayr (d. ca.9697/714715).27 The author mentions more than one version of thisaccount, all of them describing Jarrs anger which was aroused due tobeing ill-treated by Jandal, al-Ras son. This was the impetus for thecomposition of a very harsh naqd. a against al-Ra. The account, inall its versions, also tells about Jarrs anger caused by al-Ra voicingsupport of al-Farazdaq in his poetry.

In order to convince al-Ra not to support al-Farazdaq any more,Jarr meets him on Friday in the mosque and reminds him that he is astranger, while the two poets, Jarr and al-Farazdaq, are cousins eventhough they denounce each another every morning and evening, asJarr says. This rivalry is not sufficient cause for al-Ra to come be-tween them since he is not involved in their mutual denunciation. Afterthis attempt, which seems to have been successful, Jarr makes anotherattempt to convince al-Ra to support him instead of supporting al-Farazdaq. Al-Ra accepts the offer, and both set to meet on the secondmorning in al-Mirbad. They really meet and each begins, accordingto Abu Ubayda, to ask his brother to speak (yastanbithu maqalatas. ah. ibihi). Since the agreement was for al-Ra to support Jarr, it islikely that this statement indicates that the two poets began to composeverses praising each other. The verses here seem to have been composedorally. (This sentence can also mean that each of the two poets recitedsome of his poems, not only praise ones but any other poems, in theattendance of the other.) Jandal sees his father in the company of Jarrand reproaches him for agreeing to meet such a person. Jarr returnsangrily to his house and sits alone in a room. Some people ask himwhat had happened, but he declines to answer. After some time he tellsthem that he was composing a poem against al-Ra, which he has notyet finished. The next morning he goes to al-Mirbad where he finds al-Ra and his son, and recites his poem. Al-Ra composes three versesattempting to refute Jarrs poem but then decides not to compose anymore naqd. as against Jarr.

28

This account shows that the first naqd. a was sometimes composed

27 About his life, see Weipert, al-Ra, EI 2, s.v. According to Weipert, he livedfor some time in Iraq, mainly in al-Bas.ra. Al-Zirikl mentions the year 90/709 asthe year of his death, see al-Alam, vol. 4, p. 340. His tribe was a north Arabianone which once inhabited mainly the western heights of al-Yamama; see Della Vida,Numayr, EI 2, s.v.

28Abu Ubayda, Kitab al-naqaid. , vol. 1, pp. 427430.


and prepared before its recitation in al-Mirbad. Although the time Jarrneeded for composing his naqd. a was not so long less than a day it was not composed at the moment of its presentation in al-Mirbad. Italso seems that al-Ras three verses were composed immediately afterJarr finished reciting his poem. If this really was the case, then onemay assume that this account supports assumption no. 3 in 1.2.4 whichsuggests that the first poet used to prepare his naqd. a at home, but thesecond used to compose his counter-naqd. a orally immediately after thefirst had finished. However, the present version of the account shows thatalthough Jarr composed his poem at home, he did not write it down.It presents him sitting calmly in his room, thinking but not speaking,and composing the poem in his mind. However, this information iscontradicted by another version of the account according to which Jarrdictated his naqd. a in his chamber to a rawiya (transmitter) of his calledal-H. usayn.

29 Despite this disparity between the two versions, both ofthem related that the first naqd. a was prepared sometime before it waspresented to the audience. But the later version does not say whetherJarr, after dictating his poem, recited it from a written version or helearnt it by heart and then recited it. In this later version, Jarr is saidto have composed the poem in two stages. One was completed on thesame night after the quarrel with al-Ras son, while the second wascompleted some time later. This account gives us no information as towhen the second stage of composing the naqd. a took place. Abu Ubaydadoes not mention whether this occurred before or after the first part ofthe poem was presented to an audience.

From this account, it is possible to derive further information re-garding the composition or the presentation of the naqaid. poetry in al-Mirbad. The above-quoted sentence by Jarr, that he and al-Farazdaqused to denounce each another morning and night is very important,although this should not be understood literally; i.e., it should not in-dicate that both poets used to present their naqd. as every day, as somescholars believe.30 Rather, it simply indicates that both poets either

29It seems that Jarr had more than one transmitter; in another naqd. a, he mentionsanother rawiya, named as Wawaa and nicknamed Marba [NJF 101:82]. Al-Farazdaqalso had more than one rawiya; see Abu Ubayda, ibid., vol. 2, p. 1049. A commonrawiya for both poets is mentioned as well. See Sezgin, GAS, vol. 2, p. 358.

30D. ayf, al-Tat.awwur, pp. 163165, 181; Juma, Jarr, pp. 2425, 25; al-Muh. tasib,Naqaid. , p. 88; al-Nus.s., al-As.abiyya, p. 481; Abd Allah, al-Taqld, p. 178; Amn,F shi r, p. 146. None of these scholars explain how they reached this conclusion.They also say that the audience used to clap enthusiastically and call out jubilantlyand loudly or even whistle during the recitation of the naqd. a. Jayyusi adds thatthe audience used to laugh very heartily; see Umayyad poetry, p. 410. However,although this may be true regarding the naqaid. audience, the authors do not basetheir statement on any definite sources.


used to produce many new counter-naqd. as frequently, or at least theyused to compose a limited number of naqd. as (perhaps not much morethan the number of poems gathered by Abu Ubayda, see 1.2), but thatthey used to present these naqd. as repeatedly for their audience beforecomposing new ones. This second assumption may be better supportedthan the first, since it has previously been shown that the naqaid. poemsreally used to be recited more than once.

Another important point that may be derived from the account isthe specific place in al-Mirbad where the naqd. as used to be recited.The account gives the impression that Jarr met al-Ra in a certainplace in al-Mirbad which he frequented. However, another version of thepoem supplies more details about this location. It is a fina of al-Rain which he was seated on that morning. The word fina indicates ayard, normally said to be in front of a house.31 It is not known whetherthis yard was connected to a certain house. If it was not, then one mayassume that the poet normally had a yard in al-Mirbad where he used tosit and present his poetry. If it really was connected to a house, then wemay assume that al-Ra possessed a house in al-Mirbad with a yard inwhich he used to sit.32 This would then show that this naqd. a by Jarrwas not presented in a particular place, which was used only for recitingthe naqaid. , but was presented near the house of the rival poet. Here,it may be assumed that the audience gathered round the two poets tohear their poems.

The second version of the account alludes to two different years whenthis incident occurred. The first was after Jarr had spent seven years inal-Bas.ra. It is most probable that this incident occurred around the year74/693. The second year was the one following the killing of Qutaybab. Muslim, the governor of Khurasan who rebelled against the Umayyadcaliph. Bosworth dates this incident to 96/715.33 If we accept the dateoffered by al-Zirikl (see note 27) as the year of al-Ras death, then wemust assume that the second year could not possibly be that referred toin the poem.B. In addition to this account, which shows that the first poet used tocompose his poem sometime before presenting it to his audience, thereis another by Abu Ubayda that presents al-Farazdaq during one of his

31Ibn Manz.ur, Lisan, vol. 15, p. 165; Lane, Lexicon, vol. 6, p. 2451.32Abu al-Faraj al-Is.bahan mentions that there was a circle in the higher place of

al-Mirbad (ala l-mirbad) where al-Farazdaq, al-Ra and their audience used to meet.This account shows that there was a certain place in this circle where the audienceused to sit and where Jarr recited his poem in the presence of the two other poets. Itindicates that the rawiya of al-Farazdaq attended also the same place; see Kitab al-aghan, vol. 7, pp. 4243, 48. A similar account is also found in al-Abbas, Maahid,vol. 1, pp. 264266.

33See K. utayba b. Muslim, EI2, s.v.


visits to Medina. There he is challenged by an inhabitant of Medinawho meets him in the mosque. The man recites a poem by H. assan b.Thabit (d. ca. 40/661) and asks al-Farazdaq whether he can create sucha highly artistic composition. Al-Farazdaq leaves the mosque angrily.On the same night he visits a mountain in Medina near which he haltshis camel, lies down and composes a poem [NJF 61]. The next day hereturns to the same mosque and recites his poem in the presence of anaudience which included the same man who had challenged him. Al-Farazdaq begins the poem by presenting an imaginary illicit love affairbetween him and a certain married woman [NJF 61:131]. He thenpraises the caliph Abd al-Malik b. Marwan (re. 6586/685705) withonly two verses [NJF 61:3233],34 and afterwards praises his clan [NJF61:52100, 112115], denounces Jarrs clan and Jarr himself [NJF 61:72,101111, 113115]. At the end of the poem he praises the Sad tribe[NJF 61:116119]. According to this account, it seems that al-Farazdaqcomposed the poem in his mind, rather than dictating it.

If this account is to be believed, we learn that the maqd. a was recitedin a mosque. It is amazing that it was permissable to recite naqaid. ,especially uncouth ones, in mosques. No clear explanation for this seemspossible. However, van Gelder tells us about a religious scholar who,moments before prayers, did not hesitate to recite obscene verses by al-Farazdaq. This may show that in some religious circles, reciting impoliteinvective verses was not considered a desecration.35 In his book on thehistory of Arabic literature, Carlo Nallino states that mosques, at leastin the first century of Islam, were not intended for religious affairs only,but were also used for other social, political and general affairs. Only inthe Abbas era did the Muslim mosques become a place for exclusivelyreligious matters.36

Jarr in his turn composes a counter-naqd. a [NJF 62]. There is noindication that he was also in Medina at that time and therefore we donot know whether he received al-Farazdaqs poem through a professionaltransmitter who brought it from al-Medina, or from people who heardthe poem in Medina, and then brought it to al-Bas.ra. It is also possible

34Verses 3451 are problematic. They include a description of a camel journeyby the poet and his comrades and they include a description of very harsh and coldnights. It is not clear whether these verses, especially the camel journey, are connectedwith the praise. In other words, it is not known whether the aim of the journey was toreach the patrons court as poets sometimes do in their panegyrical ode; see Jacobi,The camel-section, pp. 122. It is possible that these verses are not connected withthe patrons praise, but to the self-praise mentioned from verse no. 52 onwards.

35Van Gelder, The bad, p. 34. Another account shows that al-Farazdaq used torecite his poetry in a certain circle in the mosque of al-Bas.ra; see Ibn Abd Rabbih,Kitab al-iqd, vol. 4, p. 52.

36Nallino, Tarkh, p. 154.


that al-Farazdaq himself, after returning to al-Bas.ra, may have presentedhis poem to the Bas.ran audience, perhaps in al-Mirbad.

An analysis of the two poems shows that in verses 116119 of hispoem, al-Farazdaq alludes to verses 7578 of Jarrs naqd. a. This in-dicates that al-Farazdaqs naqd. a was composed in two stages. Verses116119 were composed in the second stage.37 Three conclusions maytherefore be drawn regarding the composition and the presentation ofthese two naqd. as. The first is that Jarr was also in Medina, and thatboth poets presented their poems according to one of the four methodsmentioned in 1.2.4. The second is that when Jarr was in al-Bas.ra andbecame familiar with al-Farazdqs poem, he composed a counter-naqd. a.Afterwards al-Farazdaq, having heard his rivals naqd. a while in Medinaor after his return, added some verses to his original poem in which herefutes Jarrs naqd. a. This analysis supports the second method pre-sented in 1.2.4. The third is that al-Farazdaq composed his naqd. a inMedina, but recited the poem after his return to al-Mirbad. Jarr com-posed his naqd. a to refute him, and then al-Farazdaq composed otherverses to refute Jarrs naqd. a. This may have occurred according tothe first or third method mentioned in 1.2.4.38 However, whichever ofthese three conclusions is correct in the case of these two naqd. as, thisaccount can be considered as an additional proof that the first naqd. awas composed some time before it was presented and recited.

C. A third and final account by Abu Ubayda explains that al-Farazdaqhad a rawiya called Ibn Mattawayhi. This rawiya used to write downal-Farazdaqs poetry, but it is not clear when and how he used to writethe poems. The account presents both persons on one of their visits tothe poet Umar b. Laja (d. 105/724) when he came to al-Bas.ra. In thehouse where he was staying, Umar met some young men (fityan) whowere recording his panegyrics. It seems that they were not transmitters,or at least not professional ones. The account gives the impression thatthey were ordinary young men who were interested in Umars poetryand therefore asked him to recite some of it so that it could be written

37See the account in Abu Ubayda, Kitab al-naqaid. , vol. 2, pp. 546548. In verse95, al-Farazdaq praises the fact that his tribes had two houses: one in al-Kaba andone in Jerusalem. It is not unlikely that he alludes here to the Dome of the Rockwhich was built by Abd al-Malik b. Marwan around the year 72/691692; see Grabar,K. ubbat al-S. akhra, EI

2, s.v. If this really was the case, then the poem must havebeen composed after that date.

38The comparison made in 1.4 between the structure of al-Farazdaqs poem andthat of H. assan shows that the first three parts in both poems are almost identical.Al-Farazdaq adds other two parts to his poem which are not found in H. assans poem:the denunciation of Jarr and his tribe and praising the Sad tribe. It is likely thatthese two parts were added later to the naqd. a. If so, then this shows that the originaland first version of the poem was not planned to be a naqd. a at all.


down and saved for their personal enjoyment. Al-Farazdaq tells Umarthat a relative of his called Shabba b. Iqal sent him a written messageand told him that a Banu Jafar clan denounceed Shabba, and claimedthat he lacked the skill to compose poetry and therefore was in need ofal-Farazdaqs help. Since the latter did not know the flaws of the BanuJafar, he sought Umars help, since he knew them very well. Umartold al-Farazdaq about their flaws and al-Farazdaq wrote them down (orperhaps his rawiya did so).39

This account does not reveal any facts that could shed more lighton the composition process of al-Farazdaqs poetry, such as how he usedthe material received from Umar for composing his poem. By writingdown the flaws he gives the impression that he had prepared his poembefore reciting it. It is likely that he learned about these flaws and thencomposed the poem in the presence of his rawiya who wrote down theverses as they were being composed. If this was the case, then the poemwas not composed orally.

It is noteworthy that the 92-verse poem that al-Farazdaq composedto denounce the Jafar tribe does not include any reference to Jarr orto his clans.40 Since we do not know whether any poems were composedby the Jafar tribe to refute al-Farazdaqs poem, it is doubtful that wecan consider it a naqd. a. It seems also that, in composing this poem, al-Farazdaq was influenced by some earlier poets such as Tamm b. Ubayyb. Muqbil (d. after 35/656 or even shortly after 70/690) and Asha Bahila(lived in the second half of the sixth century).41 Such influence is notapparent at least not to the present author in the naqaid. found inAbu Ubaydas book. This may show that there is a certain differencebetween this poem and the naqaid. , perhaps in the composition processwhich seems to be more sophisticated and more artistic here than in thenaqaid. . This issue cannot be adequately dealt with here, and is worthyof an independent study. But if this assumption is correct, then it wouldbe possible to differentiate between two kinds of al-Farazdaqs poetry,and presumably also of that of Jarr. The first is the regular poems that

39Abu Ubayda, Kitab al-naqaid. , vol. 2, pp. 907908.40Abu Ubayda does not quote the poem, it is a raiyya, t.awl, and found in al-

Farazdaq, Dwan, vol. 1, pp. 362370.41Compare the motifs in verses 3334, 37 and also the phrase a-lam talam ann

(do not you know that I ...) which opens verse 33 in al-Farazdaqs poem with themotifs and the opening phrase in verses 57 in poem no. 4 of Ibn Muqbil, in Tammb. Ubayy b. Muqbil, Dwan, pp. 2239. The same poem appears also as poem no. 35in Ibn Maymun, Muntaha, vol. 1, pp. 291301. See also the similarity between themotifs, images and some of the expressions between vv. 3437 in al-Farazdaqs poemand vv. 610 of the poem, by Asha Bahila, in Abd al-Qadir al-Baghdad, Khizanatal-adab, vol. 1, pp. 9297. The poem appears also in Geyer (ed.), Kitab al-s.ubh. , pp.266268.


they composed in different circumstances and to meet different needssuch as denunciation or praise. This kind of poetry is found in thedwans of the two poets. The second kind is the naqaid. , which does notseem to have gained the same artistic attention from these two poets.These poems are found in the book by Abu Ubayda. The two previousaccounts mentioned above that claim the two poets used to compose anentire naqd. a in one night, may support this assumption.

Since this account does not deal with the composition of the naqaid.poetry, we cannot tell whether al-Farazdaq also used to dictate hisnaqd. as to his rawiya.

42

D. In addition to the prose account by Abu Ubayda, a certain verseby Jarr may indicate that the naqd. a was sometimes dictated and thenrecited from a written source. In naqd. a no. 101, Jarr talks abouta s.ah. fa, i.e. a flat and smooth surface prepared for writing, such aspapyrus and parchment,43 [NJF 101:87]:

hadh s. -s.ah. fatu min qufayrata fa-qrau

unwanaha wa-bisharri t.nin tut.bau

This s.ah. fa is from Qufayra. Read

its title. With the worst of clays it is sealed

We cannot be certain what Jarr means by claiming that the s.ah. fais from Qufayra, nor to which s.ah. fa he alludes. This phrase may beunderstood in two ways. The first is to assume that Jarr is speakingabout a certain s.ah. fa, of which we know nothing except that it containssomething shameful against Qufayra. The second is to assume thatthe s.ah. fa is merely Jarrs present naqd. a containing invective versesagainst Qufayra. If by using the word s.ah. fa Jarr is really alluding tothis naqd. a, this may imply that the naqd. a was prepared and writtenbefore it was recited and presented to the audience. Since the verse inhand is obscure, one should handle it very cautiously.1.3.2 Oral (or: not previously-prepared) composition of thenaqd. aAnother kind of account shows that the two poets used to composetheir two naqd. as orally during the presentation process in front of anaudience.A. This account tells us about Jarr who borrowed a horse of noble breed-ing from Abu Jahd. am Abbad b. H. us.ayn who was, according to Abu

42Renate Jacobi alludes to the fact that both poets sometimes dictated their poetryto their raws, but does not discuss this issue in detail. She concludes that in theUmayyad era, the oral transmission of the poetry was gradually replaced by writing.See Jacobi, Raw, EI 2, s.v.

43Ghedira, S. ah. fa, EI2, s.v.


Ubayda, the chief of police in al-Bas.ra (kana ala ah. dathi l-Bas.ra).44

He wore a shield, took up a weapon (another version of the poem showsthat even the shield was borrowed from the same man), and went toal-Mirbad where he started composing and reciting his naqd. a to hisaudience. Al-Farazdaq in turn put on some expensive clothes of a var-iegated kind (thiyabu washy), and also wore a bracelet. According to acertain version al-Farazdaq also mounted a mule and then approached acemetery of the H. is.n tribe where he began composing and reciting hiscounter-naqd. a. In his book on the Arabic theater in the medieval Arabworld, Moreh quotes such an account, and he assumes that this changeof dress by Jarr and al-Farazdaq was perhaps the vestige of a dramaticritual that attempts to communicate with the world of the ancestors.Accordingly, Moreh believes that the act of cursing a rivals ancestorsin this ritual attire may bear magical significance.45 Without referenceto this particular account Al al-Jund offers a different interpretation:poets, from pre-Islamic times onwards, used to change their clothes andsometimes their hairstyle, while reciting their poems as a means of at-tracting an audience and keep them attentive during the recitation.46

The account shows that both the composition and the recitation ofthe two poems occurred orally and in rotation. Several versions of thisaccount relate that the the poets recited their works at the same timeand that during this process the verses of each poet were related tohis rival by others. The poet listened to his rivals verses, composedcounter-verses, and these were then relayed back to the first poem, andthe process was repeated. This event took place during al-H. arith b.Ab Raba al-Makhzums reign in al-Bas.ra (see 1.1), i.e., in 67/687.47In other words, this happened a very short time after Jarr moved toal-Bas.ra.

According to this account, al-Farazdaq chose to recite his naqd. a notin al-Mirbad itself, but in a cemetery. The reason for this is unclear.Some verses of the naqaid. material show that the governor harassed thetwo poets, especially al-Farazdaq, and even demolished his house twice

44About the police system in the Abbas era, see Ibn Jafar, al-Kharaj, pp. 6576.45Moreh, Live theatre, p. 29.46Al-Jund, al-Shuara, pp. 3943.47Abu Ubayda, Kitab al-naqaid. , vol. 1, p. 320; vol. 2, pp. 624, 650, 683684.

Depending on this account, D. ayf concludes that the naqaid. audience used to movefrom one circle to another in order to listen to the naqd. as of the rival poets. Seeal-Tat.awwur, p. 164. This statement is unreliable. The present account is the onlyone which relates that people used to move from one poet to another because thetwo poets were not allowed to join each other. In addition, the account does nottell us that the audience used to move from poet to poet only some transmitters,professional or unprofessional, used to do this; the account gives the impression thatthe audience of each poet remained in its place, either in al-Mirbad or in the cemetery.


[NJF 63:43]. This was the same governor who once jailed Jarr (see1.1).48 Jarr himself says that the governor attempted to prevent bothpoets from composing naqaid. poetry and that al-H. arith destroyed hishouse. He asks him to take whatever he wants from both sides but to letthem present their poetry [NJF 64:9093]. For some reason, the chief ofpolice Abu Jahd. am supported Jarr against al-Farazdaq, and thereforethe relationship between Jarr and al-H. arith became better than thatbetween al-H. arith and al-Farazdaq. This led al-Farazdaq to claim thathis bad relationship with the governor was due to the Kulayb clansincitement against him; he accuses them of being those who demolishedhis house [NJF 63:42, 50]. It may be that these incidents induced bothpoets not to recite their naqd. as in the same place. The cemetery waschosen by al-Farazdaq because he was apparently too scared to remainin al-Mirbad. Muslim cemeteries were often built outside the rampartsof the town, close to its gates.49 Al-Farazdaq sought a place from whichhe could easily flee should the governors police pursue him.50

This information gives the impression that if the governor had notharassed al-Farazdaq, then both poets might have been able to meet inal-Mirbad in order to compose and present their naqd. as.

51 It is thereforepossible that the two poets, in more peaceful circumstances, used togather in al-Mirbad to present their naqd. as. This may support thefourth method suggested in 1.2.4: both poets used to meet to composeand recite their naqd. as orally and in rotation. This account suggests apossible explanation of the verb waqafa mentioned by Abu Ubayda andother scholars (1.1) in this context: this might indicate that the twopoets used to recite their naqd. as in rotation.

Later classical sources mention another version of this account. Theoldest source for this version was Ibn Sallam al-Jumah. (d. 231/845) inhis T. abaqat fuh. ul al-shuara. He mentions that this took place when thegovernor al-H. ajjaj b. Yusuf invited Jarr and al-Farazdaq to his palacein al-Bas.ra, and asked them to wear the clothes their ancestors used to

48It is impossible to accept al-Fah. h. ams assertion, in which he claims that Jarrwas imprisoned while the two poets were reciting their naqd. as nos. 6364; see al-Farazdaq, p. 303. It was shown previously that when Jarr was captured he wasreciting the first naqd. a that he ever composed against al-Farazdaq, see 1.1. Inaddition, the content of al-Farazdaqs naqd. a indicates that Jarr had a good rela-tionship with the governor.

49See Ory, Mak.bara, EI2, s.v.

50Shakir assumes, without giving any proof, that the place mentioned in the poemwas a cemetery before al-Bas.ra was built, but afterwards became a market, althoughpeople continued to call it maqbara; see Ibn Sallam al-Jumah. , T. abaqat, vol. 2, p.557, footnote 2.

51Another version of the same account, also told by Abu Ubayda, shows that bothpoets composed and recited their two naqd. as simultaneously in the same al-Mirbad.See Abu Ubayda, Kitab al-naqaid. , vol. 1, p. 320.


wear in pre-Islamic times. Both wore the attire mentioned above (IbnSallam explains that in addition to the shield, Jarr took a sword and alance). Each poet then recited a verse in which he praised his own attireand mocked his rivals. The two verses were taken from naqd. as nos.6364 which, according to the previous account, had been recited in twodifferent places. Afterwards, both poets went to two different places;Jarr to the cemetery and al-Farazdaq to al-Mirbad.52

This version seems problematic, since both poets address al-H. arithb. Abd Allah in their naqd. as, but do not address al-H. ajjaj [NJF 63:4347; NJF 64: 9093]. It is known that al-H. ajjaj governed al-Bas.ra later,in 75/694.53 This means either that Ibn Sallams account was totallyfabricated, or that if it is true, it deals with a re-presentation by the twopoets of the same two naqd. as composed during al-H. ariths governorship.

B. Due to the importance of the material provided by this account re-garding the oral composition and rotational presentation of some of thenaqd. as, the reliability of this material should be examined by a textualanalysis of the two naqd. as said to have been composed on that occasion.Unfortunately, unlike poems nos. 3940 analyzed above (1.21.2.4), atextual analysis of these two poems, nos. 6364, seems to be more com-plicated. In most cases it is difficult to show exactly which motifs of onenaqd. a are counterparts of those in the other naqd. a. Even when this ispossible, it is very difficult to prove exactly which are the refuting motifsand which are the refuted since both verses fulfill both functions at once.

According to our own understanding of the two naqd. as, it seemsthat the refuting and refuted verses are the following:

52Ibn Sallam, T. abaqat, vol. 2, pp. 406407. See the same account in Abu al-Farajal-Is.bahan, Kitab al-aghan, vol. 7, p. 67; Ibn H. amdun, al-Tadhkira, vol. 5, pp.162163; al-Abbas, Maahid, vol. 1, p. 268; al-Azd, Badai , pp. 329330. Abual-Faraj mentions two verses of the two naqd. as in another place in his book, andmentions that they were composed while al-Farazdaq was in al-Bas.ra and Jarr inal-Yamama; see Kitab al-aghan, vol. 19, p. 32. This account contradicts all theaccounts mentioned previously in the classical books including Abu Ubaydas bookand, therefore seems doubtful.

53See Dietrich,al-H. adjdjadj b. Yusuf, EI2, s.v.


Al-Farazdaq[NJF 63]

Arrows showingrefuter-refutedrelation

Jarr [NJF 64]

138 (mentioning several loveaffairs and a camel-section;these verses have no coun-terpart in the naqd. a of al-Farazdaq)

Part 1 120 3961

Part 2 2139 6278

Part 3 4093 7996

As shown in this table, the two naqd. as can be divided into threeparts, each including verses that have the refuting-refuted relationship.

1. In the first part, al-Farazdaq opens his naqd. a with praise forhis clans successful wars [NJF 63:117], and then attacks the Kulaybclan by describing its ignoble shepherding methods. He denounces Jarrfor receiving such a legacy from his father, and for wearing low-classclothes from birth [NJF 63:1820]. It seems that verses 3958 of Jarrsnaqd. a are the counterpart of these verses by al-Farazdaq. Here, Jarrpraises his clans might, especially on the battlefield, and their excellentand courageous protection of their property, which consists mainly oftheir camel-herds. In addition, Jarr presents the relationship betweenhis clans and other noble clans of the Tamm tribe, the Amr b. Tamm,the H. anz.ala b. Malik b. Zayd Manat b. Tamm, and the Sad b. ZaydManat. These verses seem to be a refutation of al-Farazdaqs claims. Hefirst accords his clans equal standing: it is not only his rivals clans whoare of noble origin and experts in war, but his own clans as well. Sec-ondly, mentioning the camels and their protection may be understoodas a refutation of al-Farazdaqs claim that Jarrs kinsfolk are shepherds.Since camels, in ancient Arabic poetry, are normally described as prop-erty that Bedouins used to loot in their raids and wars, Jarr is probablyboasting that the camels were taken by his clans following victory on thebattlefield.

Al-Farazdaqs praise of his own clan and his denunciation of Jarrprovoked Jarr too to praise his clan; he also threatened to castrateal-Farazdaq. Clearly this threat here should be understood metaphori-cally. It is clear that Jarr is alluding to his anticipated poetic victory.After refuting al-Farazdaqs verses, Jarr adds three more in which hecompares himself to the moon that dazzles al-Farazdaqs eyes. He askshim whether he can reach such a moon; this is also an allusion to the


height of Jarrs poetic skill which cannot be attained by al-Farazdaq[NJF 64:5961].

2. In the second part, al-Farazdaq wonders how Jarr can relationshipwith al-Farazdaqs clans and yet denounce al-Farazdaq [NJF 63:21]. Heis apparently referring to Jarrs claim that his clans were related tothe three noble Tamm clans mentioned above, which according to al-Farazdaq, were more closely related to his own kin than to Jarrs. Inaddition, al-Farazdaq mocks Jarr by comparing his father to a donkeyand by accusing him of being descended from slaves. [NJF 63:2223].Al-Farazdaq then attacks Jarrs desire to defame the might and nobilityof al-Farazdaqs clan. Al-Farazdaq claims that it is easier for Jarr tomove the mountain Qat.an from its place rather than to award his clanthe same noble qualities attributed to al-Farazdaqs clan or Darim. Here,al-Farazdaq is apparently seeking to invalidate Jarrs praise of his clanswars, since this is not sufficient to elevate his clan to Darims noblestatus. In order to prove his claim, al-Farazdaq praises some unnamedwars in which his clan defeated Jarrs clan and in which they capturedtheir women [NJF 63:2435].

At the end of this part, al-Farazdaq attempts to refute Jarrs clainthat his poetry is superior. Al-Farazdaq claims that he has surpassedJarr in this respect and that his Kulayb clan attempted to drive himaway before al-Farazdaq devours him. Al-Farazdaq uses the same simileused by Jarr; he likens himself to a dazzling moon. In addition, hecompares himself to death from which no one can be rescued [NJF 63:3639].

In his turn, Jarr creates new motifs in verses 6278 to denounce al-Farazdaq, and at the same time attempts to refute some of al-Farazdaqsmotifs. First, he refers to the garments they wore during the compositionand recitation of the two naqd. as. Jarr says that he took up arms, and hethen mocks al-Farazdaqs attire, which makes him look like a laughing-stock dressed in the two ornamented belts and bells of the kurraj play.54

Clearly, by making such a comparison between his rival and the kurrajactor or dancer, Jarr is trying to defame al-Farazdaq, showing that heis not a noble, but merely a mukhannath. His colorful clothes and hisbracelet proved this. This simile leads Jarr to ask al-Farazdaqs clan toperfume him and to prepare him to be a bride. The husband is clearlyJarr himself [NJF 64:6264].

Afterwards, in response to al-Farazdaqs previous simile in which helikened himself to death, Jarr likens himself to Time (dahr) which is

54The kurraj isa wooden stick shaped like a horse; the dancers, who wore womensrobes, mounted them and performed several dances. The dancers were mukhan-nathun, i.e., men who acted like women. See Moreh, Live theatre, pp. 2737, cf.2527, 2931, 37; Snir, al-Anas.ir, pp. 156157.


more powerful and more eternal than death [NJF 64:65]. In response toal-Farazdaqs claim that the Kulayb clan attempted to drive Jarr awayin order to save him, he says that al-Farazdaqs clan was also foolishbecause it asked al-Farazdaq to defend it against Jarr. Here, al-Farazdaqis likened to a monkey who faces great waves in a sea that symbolizes therough poetry composed by Jarr. The monkey is drowned and swallowedby a great whale, who is Jarr himself [NJF 64:6667]. With these versesJarr claims that he is more powerful in poetic contest than his rival.

Jarr also attempts to refute another of al-Farazdaqs claims, sayingthat al-Farazdaq will never be able to make his clan nobler, or at leastpossess the same nobility as his own clan. He uses the same motif as hisrival it is easier for al-Farazdaq to move the mountain Qat.an than tomake his clan as noble as Jarrs. Jarr also suggests that al-Farazdaqshould kill his ancestor who has prevented him from being as noble asJarr. At the end of this part, Jarr denounces the fact that al-Farazdaqdid not avenge his fathers assassination. He says that the strap of al-Farazdaqs sword, with which he ties the sword to his body, is cut off,and that al-Farazdaq has no sword or does not know how to use it. Inother words, he alludes to his weakness and baseness [NJF 64:6878].

3. In the third and last part, al-Farazdaq alludes to Abbud b. al-H. us.ayn and al-H. arith b. Ab Rabas ill-treatment of him. He wonderswhether he was thus treated because he denounced Jarr. He reminds al-H. arith that Ziyad (r. 4553/665673), the former governor of al-Bas.ra,could not catch him, and that al-H. arith would also never succeed indoing so. Al-Farazdaq accuses the Kulayb of being responsible for thistreatment and says that although they succeeded through al-H. arith indemolishing his house, they would never be able to demolish the nobil-ity of his ancestors [NJF 63:4851]. Al-Farazdaq asks Jarr whether heshould kill Kulayb, his clans ancestor, because he could not grant hima status as noble as that of al-Farazdaq by his Darim clan [NJF 63:75].

In addition, al-Farazdaq compares the difference between his andJarrs poetic skills. He likens himself to a strong lion that preys on hisrivals, and alludes to the fact that the Kulayb sent Jarr to compete withhim, wrongly assuming that by doing so they would defend themselvesfrom his attacks [NJF 63:5358]. Al-Farazdaq compares himself to a seawith very rough waves and Jarr to a fox drowning in these waves [NJF63: 7174]. It is clear that by invoking these metaphors, al-Farzdaqis refuting Jarrs attempt to prove his superior talents by alluding tohimself as a whale.

In response to Jarrs mocking remarks about his garments, al-Faraz-daq mocks him for wearing a shield. He sarcastically wonders whatuse has a shepherd for battle dress, and compares Jarr to a pregnant


woman, saying that putting a shield on the bloated belly of such a womanis useless [NJF 63:5961,72]. Al-Farazdaq also refutes another simile inwhich he was likened to a bride, with Jarr as his bridegroom. Al-Farazdaq retorts that Jarr is a woman whom he had impregnated byanal intercourse [NJF 63:6265]. He then refutes what Jarr said aboutthe sword strap, saying that he does have a sword with many straps,and that he can never be separated from it; this is a metaphor for hisbravery and might. He claims that Jarrs father has neither straps norswords, and that he has nothing to hang on his shoulder but a watersack, usually carried by shepherds [NJF 63:6667, 79].

Al-Farazdaq goes on to mock Jarr who takes his father to the marketand presents him to the people. Al-Farazdaq says that Jarr does sobecause he wishes not to sell him but to replace him with a noblerfather Mujashi one of the noble ancestors of al-Farazdaq. Here,it is possible that al-Farazdaq is refuting the last motif mentioned byJarr in which he is accused of not avenging his fathers assassination.This accusation may be less serious than attempting to replace the livingfather with another one. However, no one in the market agrees to takeJarrs father, since, as al-Farazdaq claims, he is a donkey [NJF 63:6869].

At the end of the poem, a comparison between al-Farazdaqs nobleorigins and Jarrs base one is made. Jarrs clan is compared to a herd ofdonkeys [NJF 63:7782]. Al-Farazdaq blames Jarr for not attempting topraise his father (apparently alluding to the Kulayb clan) or looking foran attribute, even a forged one, with which he can praise such a father,but for trying instead to replace him [NJF 63:8387]. Then al-Farazdaqpraises his Mujashi origin and compares it to a star that Jarr cannever reach [NJF 63:8891]. The poem ends with two verses in whichal-Farazdaq denounces Jarrs poor physical appearance (his weak handsand fingers), and asks him whether he can refute these motifs, apparentlyalluding to those in this last part of his naqd. a [NJF 63:9293].

In response, Jarr also denounces al-Farazdaqs lowly origins, sayingthat he is not the noble S. as.aas son, but the son of a slave black-smith who fornicated with Layla, S. as.aas wife. He mentions that al-Farazdaqs fingers are made for holding blacksmiths tools [NJF 64:79,82, 8689]. He even mocks his appearance which resembles that of adonkey [NJF 64:81], and refutes al-Farazdaqs mockery of his appear-ance and his donkey-origin.

Even the story of Jithin, al-Farazdaqs sister, who was raped by someMinqar men, is mentioned [NJF 64:8385]. It may be that Jarr wantsto emphasize that al-Farazdaq was of base origin, and thus refutes whathis rivals previous claims about his noble origins.


At the end, Jarr also addresses al-H. arith as al-Farazdaq had donein the third part of his naqd. a. He asks him to do as he wishes but tolet both poets compose and recite their naqd. as. Jarr here takes theopportunity to mock al-Farazdaqs house that was demolished by thewal and once again he mocks his base origin [NJF 64:9096].

This analysis of the two naqd. as shows that the scenario laid out inabove-mentioned account is possible. The two naqd. as can be dividedinto several parts; each part addresses its counterpart in the rivals naqd. aand adds new motifs that are then refuted by the following part of therival naqd. a. Perhaps after al-Farazdaq had composed the first part ofhis poem, Jarr composed another part in which he refutes his rival andso on until the end of the two naqd. as. As suggested above, each poetmight have learnt of his rivals verses when they were delivered to himby people who had heard them elsewhere (al-Mirbad and the cemeteryof the H. is.n tribe).

One final comment is called for. It concerns verses 138 in the naqd. aof Jarr in which the love affairs and the camel-section were presented.Jarr might have decided to compose such a long part as a prelude tohis poem in order to fill up the time until receiving the first part of hisrivals naqd. a.C. A verse by al-Farazdaq may show that both poets used to meetduring the recitation process. In his ayniyya, al-Farazdaq asks Jarr tosee whether he can find for himself gracious and noble fathers such asthose of al-Farazdaq in order to praise them once they are gathered inthe majami or the places of assembly. The verse reads [NJF 66:8]:

(t.awl)

ulaika aba fa-ji n bi-mithlihim

idha jamaatna ya jarru l-majami u

Those are my fathers; bring me, O Jarr, [fathers] like them

once the places of assembly gather us together

The verse clearly shows that they used to meet at the same place torecite their naqd. as. However, it is not clear whether the second poetused to recite his poem in the same place immediately after the first poetfinished. If this were the case not all the verses of the two naqd. as couldhave been were composed and prepared before the recitation, since atleast the second poet, the refuter, must have had to hear his rivals poemfirst in order to see which meter and rhyme he should use. This versemay support the account regarding the oral (previously unprepared)composition of the second naqd. a at least.

55

55The conclusion derived from this verse may be totally different if the second


D. In addition to the above-mentioned account, a naqd. a by Jarr mayalso show that some of the composition process took place orally (with-out any previous preparation). This is poem no. 48 (lamiyya in kamil)in which Jarr begins eight of its verses with a repetition of the samephrase in which he calls to the D. abba clan, the relatives of al-Farazdaqwho are denounced in the poem (ya D. abba; i.e., O D. abba!) [NJF 48:5966]. In his article on Arabic elegiac poetry, Goldziher discusses a similarphenomenon: the repetition of words and peoples names in Arabic ele-giac poetry. He refers such a phenomenon to the primitive wailing-calls(niyah. a) made by old pre-Islamic lamenters when mourning their deadkinsmen. These primitive calls, which were prose rhymed (masju), werecomposed orally and without any preparation, and included the repeti-tion of some words such as the call that is addressed to the deceased.Later, some elegiac poems preserved such repetitions, some of whichwere clearly noticeable; others were less conspicuous, being more sophis-ticated and composed in such a way that they were hidden within thepoem. Although he does not mention this, one can assume in the lightof what he says that the elegy poems with clear repetitions were alsocomposed orally, or at least without much previous artistic preparation.Goldziher also discusses hija poetry in his article and assumes that therepetition of the phrases directed at the ridiculed person may be a phe-nomenon parallel to that of repetition in elegy poetry. Although Goldz-iher does not mention this, these primitive denunciations may have alsobeen orally composed. Moreover, later poems that included clear rep-etitions of some words, phrases, or even exclamations directed againstthe ridiculed persons, were probably composed orally.56 If we acceptMonroes theory on the oral composition of pre-Islamic poetry, and if weconsider the recurrent and repeated words and phrases to be formulae to use the same concept mentioned in this theory this may indi-cate that the hija poems that include such repetition were really orallycomposed. Accordingly, Jarrs naqd. a may have been composed orallyin its entirety.57

poet did not recite his counter-poem immediately. In this case, one may assumethat the second poet takes some time, perhaps a night or more, in order to composehis counter-poem and only after that presents it to the audience. Here, the versemay show that the two poems were composed and prepared some time before theirrecitation.

56Goldziher, Bemerkungen, pp. 307320, cf. p. 314. His theory about the develop-ment of the hija is detailed also in the first chapter, titled as Uber die Vorgeschichteder Higa-Poesie, in his book Abhandlungen, pp. 1121. About this theory, see Pel-lat, Hidja, EI 2, s.v. Van Gelder also discusses this theory, as well as a contradic-tory theory suggested by Edouard Fars. See The bad, pp. 47.

57See Monroe, Oral, pp. 153. See also the Arabic translation of his articleMonroe, al-Naz.m, cf. pp. 1835. Monroe adapts the theories of Milman Parry and


The analysis presented in 1.2 1.3 shows that each of the four wayspresented in 1.2.4 were used by Jarr and al-Farazdaq in composing,reciting, and presenting their naqd. as. However, this analysis supportsways nos. 1 and 2 more than ways 3 and 4. Both poets usually used toprepare their naqd. as in advance, and presented them more than once.

1.3 The naqaid. during the mawasim

During this prosperous stage, in addition to al-Mirbad in al-Bas.ra, bothpoets seem to have presented their naqaid. once a year in the ArabianPeninsula. Both poets mention several times the word mawasim (pl. ofmawsim) [51: 99; 52: 29; 76:3; 106: 18]:58 the annual markets in Arabia.Some were held during the pilgrimage period. Ever since the pre-Islamicperiod, poets used to visit these mawasim in order to present their po-etry.59 It seems that al-Farazdaq and Jarr used to visit these mawasimas well. Al-Farazdaq mentions in one of his poems that he is the well-known representative (rah. il, lit. a traveler; other variations wafid, i.e. avisitor and shair, i.e. a poet) of the Tamm tribe to these mawasim [NJF51:99]. Jarr, in another poem, mentions that al-Farazdaq is shamed anddisgraced in the mawasim every year [NJF 106:18]. This indicates that,in addition to al-Mirbad, both poets used to visit the mawasim once ayear in order to recite their naqd. as. It seems that they used to visit themawasim together because, in a certain lamiyya, al-Farazdaq asks Jarrto meet him in Ukaz., the famous market which was held southeast ofMecca, shortly before the start of the pilgrimage,60 in order to compete.Here, Jarr and al-Farazdaq used either to present some of their naqd. aswhich they had previously recited in al-Mirbad, or they may also haverecited new poems.

A.B. Lord on the oral composition in literatures other than Arabic. Other laterstudies, in addition to Monroes study on Arabic poetry, especially the old poetry,do exist. See the transla

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