Copyright
Adnan HaydarPublished On
2025-02-06Page Range
pp. 63–72Language
- English
Print Length
10 pages
3. Fuṣḥā and Zajal Metres
- Adnan Haydar (author)
Chapter of: New Words to Old Tunes: Genres and Metrics of Lebanese Zajal Poetry(pp. 63–72)
The third chapter delves into the relationship between Fuṣḥā and Zajal meters and establishes how some zajal meters are easily derived from well-known Fuṣḥā meters. A case study analysis of the scansion of an early zajal by Sulaymān al-Ashlūḥī (around 1298) serves as an illustration. The analysis identifies at least three fuṣḥā meters which the Lebanese zajal tradition has utilized: al-rajaz, al-ramal, and al-basīṭ. It sets the stage for subsequent probing in the study about how many other fuṣḥā meters are utilized, how do they scan, are they quantitative, qualitative, syllabic or a combination, what role do stress and music play in them, and what can they tell us about oral vernacular verse in other traditions.
Contributors
Adnan Haydar
(author)Head of the Arabic section in the department of world languages, literatures, and cultures and professor of Arabic and comparative literature at University of Arkansas at Fayetteville
Adnan Haydar is head of the Arabic section in the department of world languages, literatures, and cultures and professor of Arabic and comparative literature at the University of Arkansas, where he also founded and directed the King Fahd Middle East Studies Center from 1993 to 1999. His fields of specialization and areas of teaching include modern and classical Arabic literature, Arabic language, folk literature, and oral poetry. He has authored, co-authored and co-edited eight books, and is co-editor of the translation series for Syracuse University Press. His many articles on modern literary theory and oral poetry have appeared in premier literary journals.