Literature of al-Andalus

Arabic literature in al-Andalus began with the Umayyad conquest of Hispania starting in the year 711. The 20th century Moroccan scholar of literature Abdellah Guennoun cites the "Khutba of Tariq Ibn Ziyad", a Friday sermon of the Amazigh general Tariq ibn Ziyad to his soldiers upon landing in Iberia, as a first example. The literature of the Muslim conquerors of Iberia, aside from the Quran, was limited to eastern strophic poetry that was popular in the early 7th century. The content of the conquerors' poetry was often boasting about noble heritage, celebrating courage in war, expressing nostalgia for homeland, or elegy for those lost in battle, though all that remains from this period is mentions and descriptions. In contrast with the circumstances in the Visigothic invasion of Iberia, the Arabic that came with the Muslim invasion had the status of "a vehicle for a higher culture, a literate and literary civilization." From the eighth to the thirteenth century, the non-Latin forms of intellectual expression were dominant in the area. == Umayyad period (756–1031) ==

In his History of Arabic Literature, Hanna Al-Fakhoury cites two main factors as shaping Andalusi society in the early Umayyad period: the mixing of the Arabs with other peoples and the desire to replicate the Mashriq. The bustling economy of al-Andalus allowed al-Hakam I to invest in education and literacy; he built 27 madrasas in Cordoba and sent missions to the east to procure books to be brought back to his library. and who wrote (The Separator Concerning Religions, Heresies, and Sects). On language The study of language spread and was invigorated by the migration of the linguist (967), who migrated from Baghdad to Cordoba and wrote a two-volume work entitled based on his teachings at the Mosque of Córdoba. He also authored a 5000-page compendium on language and an-Nawādir. Ibn Sidah (1066) wrote and . Tammam's descendant, Tammam ibn Alkama al-Wazir (d. 896), wrote poetry, including a lost urjūza on the history of al-Andalus. They later wrote annals in the format of al-Tabari's text History of the Prophets and Kings, which (980) complemented with contemporary annals. ar-Razi was also cited by Ibn Hayyan in . Ibn al-Samh was a mathematician who also wrote about astrolabes. On medicine and agriculture Works in medicine and agriculture also flourished under Abd al-Rahman III. Among writers in these topics there were al-Zahrawi (1013). On alchemy (908–964) authored Rutbat al-ḥakīm, a widely copied treatise on alchemy. Literary works The collection Al-ʿIqd al-Farīd by Ibn Abd Rabbih (940) could be considered the first Andalusi literary work, though its contents relate to the Mashriq. The poet al-Ghazal of Jaén served as a diplomat in 840 and 845. His poetry is quoted extensively by Ibn Dihya. Poetry The and its Dwight Reynolds writes of a 'rhyme revolution' in al-Andalus in the 10th and 11th centuries, in which the Christian and Jewish populations of al-Andalus encountered the rhyme schemes of Arabic poetry, with "possible connections with the sudden appearance of rhymed vernacular poetry in medieval Europe," referring to the troubadours. From around the 9th century, the Arab and Hispanic elements of al-Andalus began to coalesce, giving birth to a new Arab literature, evident in the new poetic form: the muwashshah (pl. muwashshahat). In spite of its widespread popularity and its favorability among Mashreqi critics, the muwashshah remained a form inferior to classical Arabic forms that varied only minimally in the courts of the Islamic west, due to the folksy nature of the muwashshah. Under Abd al-Rahman II, came Ziryab (857)—the mythic poet, artist, musician and teacher—from the Abbasid Empire in the East. The qiyān brought from the Abbasid East were conduits of art, literature, and culture. Ibn Hazm, in his analysis of in The Ring of the Dove, is considered a member of this school, though his poetry is of a lower grade. == Judeo-Andalusi literature ==

The literary traditions of Hebrew—which was used for prayer and ceremonial writings, but not for oral communication—experienced a revolution through contact with Arabic and its literary traditions. Consuelo López Morillas writes that Jews in al-Andalus "wrote Hebrew poetry using Arabic prosodic models and adopted nearly the entire range of Arabic poetic genres and stylistic devices in Hebrew," looking to Biblical Hebrew as a source for literary expression as Muslims looked to Quranic Arabic. Jewish writers in al-Andalus were sponsored by courtiers such as Hasdai ibn Shaprut (905-975) Samuel ibn Naghrillah (993-1056). Jonah ibn Janah (990-1055) wrote a book of Hebrew. Samuel ibn Naghrillah, Joseph ibn Naghrela, and Ibn Sahl al-Isra'ili wrote poetry in Arabic, but most Jewish writers in al-Andalus—while incorporating elements such as rhyme, meter, and themes of classical Arabic poetry—created poetry in Hebrew. Bahya ibn Paquda wrote Duties of the Heart in Judeo-Arabic in Hebrew script around 1080, and Judah ha-Levi wrote the Book of Refutation and Proof on Behalf of the Despised Religion in Arabic around 1140. He wrote Dialogi contra Iudaeos, an imaginary conversation between a Christian and a Jew, and Disciplina Clericalis, a collection of Eastern sayings and fables in a frame-tale format present in Arabic literature such as Kalīla wa-Dimna. Joseph ben Judah ibn Aknin (c. 1150 – c. 1220) was polymath and prolific writer born in Barcelona and moved to North Africa under the Almohads, settling in Fes. Piyyut was a form of religious poetry in Hebrew performed musically with Arabic scales and meters. == Mozarabic literature ==

The literature of the Mozarabs is bilingual in Latin and Arabic. The term Mozarab (from ), first documented in Christian sources in the 11th century, is sometimes applied broadly to all Christians in al-Andalus, though many Christians living in Islamic Iberia resisted Arabization. Christians living under Islamic rule followed their distinctive rite of Christian liturgy, the 'Mozarabic' or, officially, Hispanic Rite. The gradual transition from a predominantly Latinate culture to an Arabic one was already well underway in the mid-9th century, when Alvarus of Cordoba lamented that Christians were no longer using Latin. The use of Arabic by Mozarabs rapidly declined by the late 13th century, following mass Christian migrations northward from territories under Almohad rule and the reduction of Iberian territories under Muslim rule to the Emirate of Granada by 1260. Among the Latin works of early Mozarabic culture, historiography is especially important, since it constitutes the earliest record from al-Andalus of the conquest period. There are two main works, the Chronicle of 741 and the Chronicle of 754. At the height of the Córdoban martyrs' movement (850–859), Albarus of Córdoba wrote a treatise in Latin, Indiculus luminosus, defending the martyrs and decrying the movement towards Arabic among his fellow Mozarabs. A generation later, Ḥafṣ ibn Albar al-Qūtī, finished a rhymed verse translation of the Psalms from the Latin Vulgate in 889. Although it survives in only one manuscript, it was a popular text and is quoted by Muslim and Jewish authors. Ḥafṣ also wrote a book of Christian answers to Muslim questions about their faith called The Book of the Fifty-Seven Questions. It is lost, but there are excerpts in the work of al-Qurṭubī, who praises Ḥafṣ' command of Arabic as the best among the Mozarabs. The 11th-century writer Ibn Gabirol also quotes from a lost work of Ḥafṣ al-Qūtī. == First Taifa period (1031–1086) ==

in Seville, which in his time was called al-Qasar al-Mubārak. The collapse of the caliphate and the beginning of the Taifa period, did not have a negative impact on poetic production. Al-Mu'tamid ibn Abbad, poet king of the Abbadid Taifa of Seville, was known as a generous sponsor of the arts. During the Taifa period, a new Arabic literary genre appeared in al-Andalus, the kutub al-filāḥa ('books of husbandry'). They are encyclopedic in intent, synthesizing practical knowledge gained from experience with the written traditions of the past. Ten agronomic writers are known from this time: al-Zahrāwī, Ibn Wāfid, Ibn Baṣṣāl, Ibn Ḥajjāj, Abu ʾl-Khayr al-Ishbīlī, al-Ṭighnarī and the anonymous author of the Kitāb fī tartīb awqāt al-ghirāsa wa ʾl-maghrūsāt. == Almoravid period (1086–1150) ==

Literature flourished in the Almoravid period. The political unification of Morocco and al-Andalus under the Almoravid dynasty rapidly accelerated the cultural interchange between the two continents, beginning when Yusuf Bin Tashfiin sent al-Mu'tamid ibn Abbad into exile in Tangier and ultimately Aghmat. In the Almoravid period two writers stand out: the religious scholar and judge Ayyad ben Moussa and the polymath Ibn Bajja (Avempace). Ayyad is known for having authored Kitāb al-Shifāʾ bīTaʾrif Ḥuqūq al-Muṣṭafá. Scholars and theologians such as Ibn Barrajan were summoned to the Almoravid capital in Marrakesh where they underwent tests. Poetry Ibn Zaydun, al-Mu'tamid, and Muhammad ibn Ammar were among the more innovative poets of al-Andalus, breaking away from traditional Eastern styles. Al-Mutrib, and ''Mu'jam as-Sifr''. In the Almoravid period, in which the fragmented taifas were united, poetry faded as they were mostly interested in religion. == Almohad period (1150–1230) ==

The Almohads worked to suppress the influence of Maliki fiqh—even publicly burning copies of Muwatta Imam Malik and Maliki commentaries. Almohad reforms Literary production continued despite the devastating effect the Almohad reforms had on cultural life in their domain. Almohad universities continued the knowledge of preceding Andalusi scholars as well as ancient Greco-Roman writers; contemporary literary figures included Ibn Rushd (Averroes), Hafsa bint al-Hajj al-Rukuniyya, Ibn Tufail, Ibn Zuhr, Ibn al-Abbar, Ibn Amira and many more poets, philosophers, and scholars. The abolishment of the dhimmi status further stifled the once flourishing Jewish Andalusi cultural scene; Maimonides went east and many Jews moved to Castillian-controlled Toledo. Philosophy Ibn Tufail and Ibn Rushd (Averroes) were considered the main philosophers of the Almohad Caliphate and were patronized by the court. Ibn Tufail wrote the philosophical novel Hayy ibn Yaqdhan, which would later influence Robinson Crusoe. Ibn Rushd wrote his landmark work The Incoherence of the Incoherence responding directly to al-Ghazali's work The Incoherence of the Philosophers. Abu Madyan, described as "the most influential figure of the developmental period of North African Sufism," lived in the Almohad period. Ibn Arabi, venerated by many Sufis as ash-Sheikh al-Akbar, was born in Murcia and studied in Seville. His works, such as the Meccan Revelations, were highly influential. '', handwritten by Ibn Arabi. When literary figures sensed the decline of Andalusi poetry, they began to gather and anthologize: Ibn Bassam wrote , al-Fath ibn Khaqan wrote " ''Qalā'id al-'Iqyān''" (), Ibn Sa'id al-Maghribi wrote Al-Mughrib fī ḥulā l-Maghrib and Rayat al-mubarrizin wa-ghayat al-mumayyazin. Biography Biographical books spread after Qadi Ayyad, and among the famous biographers there were Ibn Bashkuwāl, Abu Ja'far Ahmad ibn Yahya al-Dabbi, Ibn al-Abbar, and Ibn Zubayr al-Gharnati. The prophetic biography Kitab al-anwar (or Libro de las luces) of Abu al-Hasan Bakri—or else the work on which his final redaction was based—was in circulation in al-Andalus in the 12th century, when a translation into Latin was made for the Corpus Cluniacense. Sometime between the 11th and 13th centuries, the work was also translated into Andalusi Romance, presumably in the Christian North. Several aljamiado manuscripts are known, that is, Romance copies written in Arabic script. The earliest is from 1295. On history Ibn Sa'id al-Maghribi wrote Al-Mughrib fī ḥulā l-Maghrib citing much of what was published in the field beforehand. He also wrote Thawrat al-murīdīn, a lost account of the preceding taifa period. In the Almohad period, the poets Ibn Sahl of Seville and (1177) appeared. Hafsa bint al-Hajj al-Rukuniyya was a poet from Granada. She later worked for the Almohad caliph Abu Yusuf Yaqub al-Mansur, educating members of his family. == Third Taifa period ==

manuscript showing a nā‘ūra''. In the 12th and 13th centuries, the sciences—such as mathematics, astronomy, pharmacology, botany, and medicine—flourished. Abu al-Baqa ar-Rundi wrote the qasida Elegy for al-Andalus in 1267. Hadith Bayad wa Riyad is a 13th-century love story and one of 3 surviving illuminated manuscripts from al-Andalus. Arabic influenced Spanish and permeated its vernacular forms. New dialects formed with their own folk literature that is studied for its effects on European poetry in the Middle Ages, and for its role in Renaissance poetry. Ramon Llull drew extensively from Arabic sciences, and first wrote his apologetic Book of the Gentile and the Three Wise Men in Arabic before Catalan and Latin. The agriculturalist Ibn al-'Awwam, active in Seville in the late 12th century, wrote , considered the most comprehensive medieval book in Arabic on agriculture. Ibn Khaldun considered it a revision of Ibn Wahshiyya's Nabataean Agriculture. == Nasrid period (1238–1492) ==

of the Alhambra featured 11 ''qasā'id'' by Ibn Zamrak, 8 of which remain. The polymath and statesman Lisān ad-Dīn Ibn al-Khatīb is regarded as one of the most significant writers of the Nasrid period, covering subject such as "history, biography, the art of government, politics, geography, poetics, theology, fiqh, Sufism, grammar, medicine, veterinary medicine, agriculture, music, and falconry." The last of the poets of al-Andalus before the fall of Granada was Ibn Zamrak. As for prose, which began in al-Andalus with Ibn Shahid and Ibn Hazm, it quickly leaned toward replicating the prose of the Mashreq. There were maqamat that replicated those of al-Hariri of Basra, such as those of Ahmed bin Abd el-Mu'min of Jerez (1222). The Almohads encouraged religious and scientific composition: in the religious sciences, (1426) wrote at-Tuhfa () and wrote about language. The works of some writers, such as the grammarian Ibn Malik and Abu Hayyan al-Gharnati, reached the Mashreq and had an influence there. The last two Andalusi writers of the kutub al-filāḥa tradition, Ibn al-Raqqām and , wrote in the early 14th century. The former wrote an abridged version of Ibn Wahshiyya's Nabataean Agriculture, purged of all that was pagan for the Nasrid emir. == Andalusi literature after Catholic conquest ==

Suppression After the Fall of Granada, Cardinal Francisco Jiménez de Cisneros oversaw the forced mass conversion of the population in the Spanish Inquisition and the burning of Andalusi manuscripts in Granada. In 1526, Charles V (Charles I of Spain)—issued an edict against "heresy" (e.g. Muslim practices by "New Christians"), including the use of Arabic. The Moriscos managed to get this suspended for forty years by the payment of a large sum (80,000 ducados). King Philip II of Spain's Pragmatica of 1 January 1567 finally banned the use of Arabic throughout Spain, leading directly to the Rebellion of the Alpujarras (1568–71). Resistance After Catholic conquest, Muslims in Castile, Aragon and Catalonia often used Castilian, Aragonese and Catalan dialects instead of the Andalusi Arabic dialect. Mudéjar texts were then written in Castilian and Aragonese, but in Arabic script. One example is the anonymous Poema de Yuçuf, written in Aragonese but with Aljamiado Arabic script. Most of this literature consisted of religious essays, poems, and epic, imaginary narratives. Often, popular texts were translated into this Castilian-Arabic hybrid. Even after Muslims were forced to convert to Catholicism in 1502 in Castile and 1526 in Aragon, Moriscos continued to produce and read religious texts—notably the Morisco Quran. Much of the literature of the Moriscos focused on affirming the place of Arabic-speaking Spaniards in Spanish history and that their culture was integral to Spain. A famous example is by . == Legacy ==

Impact on Semitic literatures Dwight Fletcher Reynolds describes a 'rhyme revolution' in al-Andalus that occurred in the late tenth or early eleventh century with the strophic muwaššah and zajal genres, which broke with the meter and mono-endrhyme of Arabic courtly song traditions. These new genres were strophic, were composed with alternating sections of longer and shorter verses, and took new rhyme schemes. Douglas Young has examined the relationship of the Andalusi maqāma and the Spanish picaresque novel. ==See also==