The Image of Women in Andalusian Muwashshahat

Abstract

The art of Muwashahat is considered one of the most important poetic arts that appeared in the early Andalusian era. The strength of this art is evident in its permanence and immortality, and the influence it has had on many other arts. Critics differed in attributing the art of Muwashahat. Some critics attribute it to the Andalusian Arab poets, and some to the Persian language and their singing in Andalusia. However, the most likely opinion is that it is an authentic Andalusian-Arab art that appeared at a time when singing and music were widespread in the Andalusian-Arab eras. Some Persian words also appeared in it due to their presence in Andalusian society, as Andalusian society included some of the colloquial dialects prevalent in it in addition to the Arabic language. The image of women in muwashshahat poetry also appeared in a wonderful and beautiful spiritual and sensual image, similar to the chaste love poetry that appeared at the hands of the early Umayyad poets. The image of women appeared in a state of coldness, harshness, miserliness and aversion as a form of women’s chastity and their refusal to be intimate with men. The poet portrayed her as a ruler, cruel, miserly and refusing to give and bestow. The sensual image of the beautiful woman who has the oriental Arab character and the beautiful European form also appeared, so the sensual and moral image of the woman appeared in the poetry of the Muwashahat, authentically Arab.