Andalusian Muwaššaḥ Poetry

Jones, Alan (2026) Andalusian Muwaššaḥ Poetry. ARABIST: BUDAPEST STUDIES IN ARABIC, 49. pp. 35-96. ISSN 0239-1619

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Abstract

This article, published posthumously, re-examines the origins, structure, and development of Andalusian muwaššaḥ poetry through a close reading of the surviving corpus and the medieval critical tradition. By analysing stanzaic structure, metre, rhyme, and the relationship between poetic composition and musical performance, the study argues for a more precise understanding of the formal evolution of the genre. Particular attention is given to the role of tasmīṭ, the expansion of Arabic metrical practice, and the structural importance of the ḫarǧa. The article also challenges approaches that isolate the ḫarǧa from the poem as a whole, advocating instead the study of the muwaššaḥ in its entirety as an integrated literary form. Through detailed textual examples drawn from the surviving corpus, it proposes a clearer framework for interpreting the formal and historical development of this distinctive poetic tradition.

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