"''Shams al-'Ashiya''" () is a piece of Andalusi ''nawbah'', a form of

strophic Strophic form – also called verse-repeating form, chorus form, AAA song form, or one-part song form – is a song structure in which all verses or stanzas of the text are sung to the same music. Contrasting song forms include through-composed, w ...

poetry. It's one of the most popular songs sung on holidays and celebrations in the Maghreb Arab (Algeria-Morocco and east of Tunisia)—especially

Eid al-Fitr , nickname = Festival of Breaking the Fast, Lesser Eid, Sweet Eid, Sugar Feast , observedby = Muslims , type = Islamic , longtype = Islamic , significance = Commemoration to mark the end of fasting in Ramadan , dat ...

Composition

The musician and researcher specializing in Moroccan musical heritage, , classifies it as a ''sana'a'' () of '' Mizān Qudām al-Māya'' (), or ' (). It is a piece of ''

zajal Zajal () is a traditional form of oral strophic poetry declaimed in a colloquial dialect. While there is little evidence of the exact origins of the zajal, the earliest recorded zajal poet was the poet Ibn Quzman of al-Andalus who lived from 1078 ...

'' poetry, meaning that it is in Andalusi dialectical Arabic rather than

Standard Arabic Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) or Modern Written Arabic (MWA), terms used mostly by linguists, is the variety of standardized, literary Arabic that developed in the Arab world in the late 19th and early 20th centuries; occasionally, it also refe ...

. It spread throughout Morocco, though its author/composer is unknown.

Renditions

This piece is a standard of

Andalusi music Andalusi classical music ( ar, طرب أندلسي, ṭarab ʾandalusī; es, música andalusí), also called Andalusi music or Arab-Andalusian music, is a genre of music originally developed in al-Andalus by the Muslim population of the region ...

and has been performed by many major Moroccan ensembles, including: the National Broadcast Ensemble led by , the al-Barihi Ensemble led by

Abdelkrim Rais Abdelkrim Rais (Fez 1912 – August 30, 1996) (in Arabic: عبد الكريم الرايس) was a Moroccan writer and musician of traditional Andalusian Music. Known as the ''captain of al-Ala (Andalusian music)'', he was also a Rebab (spiked ...

, and the Ensemble of the Institute of Music in Tetuan led by . The rendition by

Mohamed Bajeddoub Mohamed Bajeddoub ( ar, محمد باجدوب; born 1945 in Safi, Morocco) is an acclaimed Moroccan artist of the traditional Andalusian music. As a youngster he regularly attended Sufi ceremonials in Sheikh Abu Mohammed Salih where they used t ...

is also very popular. Recently, it has also been reinterpreted by

Nabyla Maan Nabyla Maan ( ar, نبيلة معن; born December 6, 1987) is a Moroccan singer-songwriter. Biography Nabyla recorded her first album in 2005 "D'nya", in which she sings in Darija Arabic, Classical Arabic and French, including two reprises ...

Content

The subject of the poem is the setting sun, which can be interpreted as a metaphor for the departure or loss of a friend or loved one. The piece also attests to historic trade relations between the region and the

Venetian Republic The Republic of Venice ( vec, Repùblega de Venèsia) or Venetian Republic ( vec, Repùblega Vèneta, links=no), traditionally known as La Serenissima ( en, Most Serene Republic of Venice, italics=yes; vec, Serenìsima Repùblega de Venèsia, ...

, as the song mentions "''al-Awani l-Bunduqiya''" (, "the

Venetian glass Venetian glass () is glassware made in Venice, typically on the island of Murano near the city. Traditionally it is made with a soda–lime "metal" and is typically elaborately decorated, with various "hot" glass-forming techniques, as well as ...

ware") imported from Venice.{{Cite book, last=IslamKotob, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ltJGCwAAQBAJ&pg=PT317 , title=مجلة مجمع اللغة العربية - 1, publisher=IslamKotob, language=ar

References

Literature of al-Andalus Music of Andalusia Music of Morocco Culture of Morocco Poems in Arabic