Page 34 - Arabian Studies (I)

20 Arabian Studies I
which presumably means an affliction laid on him not by a human
being but by an earth-spirit.
All of these beliefs are reflected in the popular literature of these
peoples and doubtless will continue to be so long after the beliefs
themselves have disappeared from everyday life.
Folk-tales deal with relations with spirits, and especially with the
problems of men married to women of the jinn; with larger than life
heroes such as Bo ZId el-Hilali; with the exploits of Ba Nuwas who is
represented as a brilliant eccentric of uncertain morality; with animal
stories; with moral tales; with virtuous and also (rather oftener) with
faithless women; and with trials of strength and endurance.
Closely connected with the last genre are true stories of tribal
heroes. Much tribal history centres around deeds of bravery and
resistance to great odds, with raids, feuds and arguments that led to
blows.
The most interesting of the animal stories are the fox tales of the
HarasTs. The fox is greatly respected by them and appears to be their
totem-animal. They will not kill it, though they play rather rough
games of tag with it which they expect it to win with its cunning.
They put aside food for it after a meal. This gesture is almost made
into a joke and it is hard to tell just how serious it is in fact.
In Harsusi folk-tales which deal with the time when ‘everything
could speak’ and which are presented as perhaps true and perhaps
not, the fox outlives all the others by his cunning, including the
leopard (kayzer) and the hyaena in their strength. At other times the
fox is the amoral hero of stories which in Dhofar have Ba Nuwas as
their protagonist.
The poetry of these peoples is difficult to understand, and this is
by the intention of the poet. It is claimed in Socotra that a good
poet can carry on a flirtation in public through the medium of verse
which only the lovers can understand.
Among both Mehra and other Dhofaris the women will compose
poems to their loved ones, even if they are already married to
someone else. This is a freedom that Arab women elsewhere do not
have, but in fact the poetry is so sibylline that it can be understood
only by people who can reasonably be admitted into the secret. It
may indeed be a more immediate purpose, perhaps the only purpose,
of such poetry to draw the attention of a husband to the fact that he
is neglecting his wife.
Much of this poetry, in an equally complex way, is social
comment; advice to a husband to look that his wife’s attention is not
wandering, but also regret that a woman’s marriage has been wrecked
by careless words; love poetry, often incorporating an element of
complaint; and also satire.

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