The Zajal Playpoem (mal'abah)

Another prediction work in the Maghrib is a zajal “playpoem” (mal’abah) which is attributed to a Jew.

The poet mentioned in it the judgments of the conjunctions of the two superior, the two unlucky, and other planets for his time. He mentioned that he would die a violent death in Fez, and people think that that actually happened.

The poem begins:

The color of that blue 1072 one leaves no choice. O people, understand this indication!

The planet Saturn shows this mark And has changed its whitish color, 1073 that meant wellbeing. A blue sash instead of a (whitish) turban, And a blue cape instead of a (whitish) cloak. At the end of (the poem, the poet) says: Completed is this rhyming by a Jewish man, Who will be hanged on a holiday at the river of Fez, Until people come to him from the desert, And he will be killed, 1074 O people, in a riot. 1075

(The poem) comprises about five hundred verses. They are concerned with judgments based on the conjunctions referring to the Almohad dynasty.

Another Maghribi prediction work is a poem in the meter mutaqarib with the rhyme on b, which deals with forecasts concerning the Almohad Hafsid dynasty in Tunis. It is attributed to Ibn al-Abbar. The judge of Constantine, the great preacher, Abu ‘Ali b. Badis, who knew what he was saying and who was versed in astronomy, told me that this Ibn al-Abbar was not the hadith expert and secretary who was killed by al-Mustansir.1077 He was a tailor in Tunis, whose identity became confused with that of the hadith expert. My father used to recite me verses from this prediction poem, and some of them have stuck in my memory.

The poem starts:

Let my excuse be a fickle time, Which deceives (people) with its flashing, toothy (smile).(Other verses of the poem,) mentioning al-Lihyani, the ninth Hafsid

He will send a leader from his army, And he will remain there on a lookout, News about him will reach the shaykh, And he will advance like a mangy camel. The justice of his ways will become apparent. That is the policy of a person who knows how to attract others. (Other verses of the poem) deal with general conditions in Tunis: Do you not see that institutions have been wiped out And the rights of persons of position are not observed? Therefore, start leaving Tunis!

Say goodbye to its familiar places, and go! Disturbances will eventually take place there. They will affect the innocent as much as the guilty. In the Maghrib, I came across another prediction work concerning the Hafsids in Tunis. The poem mentions the famous Sultan Abu Yahya (Abu Bakr), the tenth Hafsid ruler, and it mentions as his successor his brother Muhammad.

The poet says: Afterwards, Abu ‘Abd-allah, 1079 his brother, Who will be known as al-Waththab .. . (Thus it is found) in the original manuscript. 1080 However, the person mentioned did not succeed his brother as ruler of Tunis, though it was his ambition to become ruler until he died. Another Maghribi prediction work is a “play-poem” attributed to al- Hawshini. It is written in the vulgar language, in the “local meter.” 1081 It begins: Leave me alone, O my incessant tears. The rains have slowed down, but you have not. All the rivers are full. But you continue to fill and become like a pool [?]. The whole country is wet, And you know how (bad) are the times. The summer and the winter have gone by [?], And the fall and the spring are passing. They 1082 replied, seeing that the claim (to be sad) was sound: Let me weep! Who could give me an excuse (not to weep)! Oh, look at these times.

This period is a difficult and bitter one. It is a long (poem), which the common people of Morocco know by heart. It is most likely a forgery, because nothing that is said in it is correct, unless it is provided with a twisted interpretation by the common people, or with a fanciful one by the educated people who accept the poem. In the East, I came across a prediction work attributed to Ibn al-‘Arabs al- Hitimi.1083 It consists of a long, enigmatic discussion. Its interpretation is known only to God. The work is interspersed with magic squares, mysterious hints, complete outlines of animals, separate heads, and strange representations of two animals.1084 It contains at the end a poem rhyming on l. The most likely assumption is that the whole work is incorrect, because it has no scientific basis,astrological or otherwise.

I 1085 heard some distinguished 1086 people in Egypt transmit a remarkable statement from a prediction work by Ibn al-‘Arab[. The work may be different from the one (just mentioned). Ibn al-‘Arab[ speaks about the horoscope of the foundation of Cairo. According to that horoscope, he gives the city a duration of 460 years, which would take us down to the 830’s [1426-35]; for, if we convert the 460 years, which are solar years, into lunar years, figuring three years more for each century, we shall have to add altogether fourteen years. Thus, it would come to 474 years, which have to be added to 358 [969], the year Cairo was founded. That would take us to the year 832 [1428/29].

Consequently, (Cairo will be destroyed at that time) if the statement by Ibn al-‘Arab[ is correct and the astrological indications are true.

An 1087 Egyptian whose knowledge I trust mentioned to me on the authority of Ibn al-‘Arabi’s prediction work, that (the years are to be figured) from the 320’s, or 303, or 313, or 320. And God knows better about all this.

I have also heard that in the East there are other prediction works. They are attributed to Avicenna and Ibn’Aqb. 1088 They contain no indication whatever that (their contents) are correct, because (correct predictions) can be derived only from astral conjunctions.

The prediction works by Ibn Abi 1-‘Aqb are not authentic.

In the biography of Ibn al-Qurayah, Ibn Khallikan quotes from the Kitab al-Aghani to the effect that Ibn Abi 1-‘Aqb-that is, Muhammad b. ‘Abdallah b. Abi1-‘Agbbelongs to things that are well known but have no outside existence, such as Majnun Layli and Ibn al-Qurayah.

In the East, I further came across a prediction work with forecasts concerning the Turkish dynasty. The work is attributed to a Sufi called al-Bijarbaqi. 1091 The whole is a letter puzzle. It starts as follows:

If you want to discover the secret of al jafr, O my intimate, The science of the best of legatees, the father of alHasan,1092 Be understanding and comprehend letters and their numerical value, And the description, and act as a clever and intelligent person would act.

I shall not mention what was before my age.

But I shall mention the time that will come. Baybars will be given a h to drink after the five of them 1093 And a h-m with restlessness, sleeping in blankets [mountain dens?]. Further verses are: A sh, which has a trace (of something) under its navel, Has the power (to decide), the power, that is, of a benign person. And Egypt and Syria, together with the land of the ‘Iraq, belong to him, And Azerbaijan, as his realm, down to the Yemen.

Further verses are: And the family of Nawwar, when its outstanding (man) 1094 The intrepid, the sharp one, who is meant by the branch, obtained . . . [?]

Further verses are:

Remove a happy one [Sa’id?], weak of age. An s has come, Not a l-’, and a q and an n, which got stuck in a quiver. Brave people who have intelligence and considered opinions And will be given a h to drink, and where then will be the owner of abranch?

Further verses are: After a b of years, he will be killed. The m of the realm, the eloquent one, will follow the disgraced one. This is the lame Kalbite [?]. Be concerned with him! In his time, there will be disturbances, and what disturbances! From the East, the Turkish army will come, which will be preceded by A q free from 1095 the q, which will be attracted by the disturbances. Before that-Woe until all Syria!

Show grief and mourning for the people and the country! Behold, suddenly, alas, Egypt is shaken by an Earthquake, which will remain unsettled for a year. T, t, and ‘ayn will all be held captive, And they will perish, and he will spend money freely. The q will send a q toward the most praiseworthy of them [their Ahmad?]. Do not worry about him, for that fortress is strong.

Further verses are: They will set up his brother, who is the best of them [their Salih?], Lam, lam-atif, sh is repeated for that. Further verses are:

Their rule will materialize with the h. None Of the sons will ever come close to the rule.

There is another verse, which is said to be a reference to alMalik az-Zahir Barquq 1096 and the coming of his father to him to Egypt:

“His father will come to him after an emigration And a long absence and a hard and filthy life.”

The poem has many verses. The likelihood is that it is a forgery. In ancient times, forgeries of poems of this type were numerous and widely practiced.