The Poetry of Arabic Folktales

This week, McDaniel Arabic Professor Carol Zaru came in to tale to our class about Arabic folktales. Much like in the other cultures that we have looked so far, the Arabic tales were told both for entertainment and to pass on certain moral lessons. Arabic tales for entertainment include the stories of the Thousand and One Nights and the stories of Joha, a simpleton or trickster character who has spread and been adapted by cultures throughout the Middle East, North Africa, and the Mediterranean. Stories about him are often short and humorous, reminding me a little of some of the Jewish stories we have read, such as "A Dispute in Sign Language" or "Chelm Justice." Another kind of Arabic story features two jackals named Kalila and Dimna. These tales originated in the court of an Indian king, but spread across the Middle East as tales which provide the hearer with wisdom and moral knowledge.

Image result for sirat AntarOne feature of Arabic tales I found to be particularly interesting is the role that poetry seems to play in them. In the Prof. Zaru's lecture and the articles we read before hand, we learned that Arabic storytellers told their stories in verse and with music too, playing a solo on an instrument called a rabab after each line. Stories would also often begin with a prelude called a farsheh, a word which means "mattress." The farsheh served as a kind decorative fluff at the beginning of each story and gave the storyteller an opportunity to show off his skills with rhyme and language. Even some of the heroes in Arabic tales are poets. The Sirat Antar, for example, tells the story of a half-Arab, half -Ethiopian warrior-poet named Antar ibn Shaddad. Because of his dark skin, Antar had a very low social status, but was able to overcome this through his heroic acts and beautiful poetry, some of which is featured within the epic itself. As somebody who enjoys reading and writing poetry, I really like the idea of hero who is not only strong physically, but also able to write with such skill. Unfortunately, we didn't have the opportunity to read any of the Sirat Antar, but I will definitely be keeping an eye out for it so I can do so in the future.


Picture Credits:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antarah_ibn_Shaddad


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