Before Homosexuality in the Arab-Islamic World, 1500-1800 (29 page)
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Authors: Khaled El-Rouayheb
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l al-Mura
di
(d. 1791) mentioned a handsome youth from Baghdad who, when he came to Damascus, elicited enthusiastic eulogies from some of the prominent poets of the city, including Mura
di
’s personal acquaintance Makki
al-Ju
khi
(d. 1778/9).
123
A similar story related by the Damascene belletrist Abu
Bakr al-ʿUmari
illustrates the complex relationship between poetry and reality in the period. A group of poets from Aleppo had composed couplets ending with the same hemistich in praise of a handsome local youth, and subsequently asked their Damascene colleagues to participate in the venture.
124
On the one hand, the youth was a real individual (ʿUmari
- mentioned that he was the relative of a particular notable whom he named) whom some men had found attractive. On the other hand it was not thought to be strange that several of those who were asked to sing his praises had never seen him.
di(d. 1791) mentioned a handsome youth from Baghdad who, when he came to Damascus, elicited enthusiastic eulogies from some of the prominent poets of the city, including Muradi’s personal acquaintance Makkial-Jukhi(d. 1778/9).123
A similar story related by the Damascene belletrist Abu
Bakr al-ʿUmariillustrates the complex relationship between poetry and reality in the period. A group of poets from Aleppo had composed couplets ending with the same hemistich in praise of a handsome local youth, and subsequently asked their Damascene colleagues to participate in the venture.124
On the one hand, the youth was a real individual (ʿUmari
- mentioned that he was the relative of a particular notable whom he named) whom some men had found attractive. On the other hand it was not thought to be strange that several of those who were asked to sing his praises had never seen him.Genuine emotion on the part of the poet, though not conceived to be a necessity, was still widely thought to add an impressive flavor to his product. Muh
ibbi
, commenting on an elegy composed by the son of the deceased, stated that it was the most touching of the numerous elegies written at the occasion since it expressed true emotions and lacked affectation.
125
Similarly, when it came to composing love poetry, an amorous and aesthetic disposition were thought to be an advantage. In fact, passionate love was proverbially capable of transforming even the thick-tongued into a poet.
126
The connection between impressive
ghazal
and its author’s character is underlined in remarks such as the following: “he would not cease to be enraptured by a gazelle, nor budge from loving an addax, and his poetry... expresses his condition as tears express the concealed secrets of love”; “he has a fertile talent, and a nature that is inclined to infatuation, and his poetry is free from affectation”; “[he was] infatuated with beauty, of frequent amorous raptures and passions, and for this reason his poetry became more delicate”; “he was often bawdy, and brazen in love and infatuation, and he has poetry which indicates his sensitive character”; “he was constantly enamored of bathing in the radiant beauty of the handsome... and because of this, witty and subtle exchanges of poetry would occur between him and other belletrists.”
127
Poets were in fact closely associated with the aesthetic ideal, perhaps even cultivating it consciously as part of their occupational ethos. The scholar Najm al-Di
n al-Ghazzi
said of the poet Abu
al-Fath al-Ma
liki
: “He followed the way of the poets
(madhhab al-shuʿara
ʾ)
in displaying a love for beautiful forms.”
128
The Aleppine scholar Muhammad al-Jama
li
opined that the chaste and refined love of beardless and downy-cheeked youths was the “adornment of the elegant, the belletrists, and the clever and high-minded
(h
ilyat al-z
urafa
ʾwa al-udaba
ʾwa al-adhkiya
ʾ al-nujaba
ʾ)
ibbi, commenting on an elegy composed by the son of the deceased, stated that it was the most touching of the numerous elegies written at the occasion since it expressed true emotions and lacked affectation.125
Similarly, when it came to composing love poetry, an amorous and aesthetic disposition were thought to be an advantage. In fact, passionate love was proverbially capable of transforming even the thick-tongued into a poet.
126
The connection between impressive
ghazal
and its author’s character is underlined in remarks such as the following: “he would not cease to be enraptured by a gazelle, nor budge from loving an addax, and his poetry... expresses his condition as tears express the concealed secrets of love”; “he has a fertile talent, and a nature that is inclined to infatuation, and his poetry is free from affectation”; “[he was] infatuated with beauty, of frequent amorous raptures and passions, and for this reason his poetry became more delicate”; “he was often bawdy, and brazen in love and infatuation, and he has poetry which indicates his sensitive character”; “he was constantly enamored of bathing in the radiant beauty of the handsome... and because of this, witty and subtle exchanges of poetry would occur between him and other belletrists.”
127
Poets were in fact closely associated with the aesthetic ideal, perhaps even cultivating it consciously as part of their occupational ethos. The scholar Najm al-Di
n al-Ghazzisaid of the poet Abual-Fath al-Maliki: “He followed the way of the poets(madhhab al-shuʿara
ʾ)in displaying a love for beautiful forms.”
128
The Aleppine scholar Muhammad al-Jama
liopined that the chaste and refined love of beardless and downy-cheeked youths was the “adornment of the elegant, the belletrists, and the clever and high-minded(h
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