Moorish Literature | Page 5

a
Courageous
man in the night.
Happy he sleeps, fearless with kneeling camels;

They pierce him with a lance,
Sharp and slender as a thorn,
And

leave him to groan until
His soul leaves his body:
The eagle waits
to devour his entrails."[23]
They also show great scorn for those who lead a life relatively less
barbarous, and who adorn themselves as much as the Touaregs can by
means of science and commerce:
"The Tsaggmaren are not men,
Not lance of iron, nor yet of wood,

They are not in harness, not in saddles,
They have no handsome
saddle-bags,
They've naught of what makes mankind proud;

They've no fat and healthy camels,
The Tsaggmaren; don't speak of
them;
They are people of a mixed race,
There is no condition not
found with them.
Some are poor, yet not in need;
Others are abused
by the demon,
Others own nothing but their clubs.
There are those
who make the pilgrimage, and repeat it,
There are those who can read
the Koran and learn by that
They possess in the pasturage camels, and
their little ones, Besides nuggets of gold all safely wrapped."[24]
Another style, no less sought for among the Berbers inhabiting cities, is
the "complaint" which flourished in lower Morocco, where it is known
under the Arab name of Lqist (history). When the subject is religious,
they call it Nadith (tradition). One of the most celebrated is that
wherein they tell of the descent into the infernal regions of a young
man in search of his father and mother. It will give an idea of this style
of composition to recite the beginning:
"In the name of God, most clement and merciful,
Also benediction
and homage to the prophet Mohammed,
In the name of God, listen to
the words of the author,
This is what the Talebs tell, according to the
august Koran. Let us begin this beautiful story by
Invoking the name
of God.
Listen to this beautiful story, O good man,
We will recite
the story of a young man
In Berbere; O God, give to us perfection;

That which we bring to you is found in truthful tradition, Hard as a
rock though thy heart be, it will melt;
The father and mother of Saba
died in his childhood
And left him in great poverty;
Our

compassionate Lord guided him and showed him the way, God led him
along toward the Prophet,
And gave to him the Koran."[25]
Other poems--for instance, that of Sidi Hammen and that of Job--are
equally celebrated in Morocco. The complaints on religious subjects
are accompanied on the violin, while those treating of a historical event
or a story with a moral have the accompaniment of a guitar. We may
class this kind of poems among those called Tandant, in lower
Morocco, which consist in the enumeration of short maxims. The same
class exist also in Zouaona and in Touareg.
But the inspiration of the Khabyle poets does not always maintain its
exaltation. Their talents become an arm to satirize those who have not
given them a sufficiently large recompense, or--worse still, and more
unpardonable--who have served to them a meagre repast:
"I went to the home of vile animals,
Ait Rebah is their name;
I
found them lying under the sun like green figs,
They looked ill and
infirm.
They are lizards among adders,
They inspire no fear, for
they bite not.
Put a sheepskin before them, they
Will tear your arms
and hands;
Their parched lips are all scaly,
Besides being red and
spotted.
"As the vultures on their dung heaps,
When they see carrion, fall
upon it,
Tearing out its entrails,
That day is for them one of joy.

Judging by their breeches,
And the headdresses of their wives,
I
think they are of Jewish origin."[26]
This song, composed by Mohammed Said or Aihel Hadji, is still
repeated when one wishes to insult persons from Aith Erbah, who have
tried several times to assassinate the poet in revenge.
Sometimes two rival singers find themselves together, and each begins
to eulogize himself, which eulogy ends in a satire on the other. But the
joust begun by apostrophes and Homeric insults finishes often with a
fight, and the natural arm is the Basque drum until others separate the
adversaries.[27] We have an example in a dialogue of this kind

between Youssuf ou Kassi, of the Aith Djemnad, and Mohand ou
Abdaha, of the Aith Kraten. The challenge and the jousts--less the

blows--exist among the chellahs of lower Morocco, where they are
called Tamawoucht; but between man and woman there is that which
indicates the greatest liberty of manners. The verses are improvised,
and the authors are paid in small money. Here is a specimen:
The woman: "When it thunders and the sky is overcast,
Drive home the sheep, O watchful shepherd." The man: "When it
thunders, and the sky is overcast,
We will bring home the sheep."
The woman: "I wish I had a bunch of
switches to strike you with!
May your father be accursed, Sheepkeeper!" The man: "Oh, God, I
thank thee for