Before his passing last May, the pioneer of “Granada Tarab” Ahmed Bero reviewed his latest book “Addition to Fragments of the Noble Prophetic Praises to the Collection of the Comprehensiveness of the Tunes of Granada in the Rabat Novel,” published in a luxurious large-format edition by the Academic Institute of Arts affiliated with the Academy of the Kingdom of Morocco.
In addition to the recorded poems, zajals and “barawil” accompanying each of the Andalusian nabat, the source is supplemented with a brief dictionary of Granadan music terms.
This new source for the poetry of “Al-Garnati” was prepared by the deceased, revising the poetry of his reference “Al-Ihata fi Angham Granada”, saying: “The idea of revising the Al-Ihata collection from everything that taints it, such as (…) licentious poetry, and what taints and spoils it with scandalous poetic images and shameful, inappropriate meanings, occurred to me. Not only that, but the idea of embellishing and decorating it with the best that could adorn it and shine its light, which is praising the best of creation and the master of mankind, our master Muhammad, upon him be the best prayers and the purest peace.”
To achieve this goal, the late Peru chose from the passages of praise of the Prophet what suited each poem and matched it in terms of meter, position, and rhyme, and combined it and included it within its folds; “to add to its splendor and make it beautiful.”
This comes after the late author had issued more than a decade ago “Al-Ihata fi Angham Granada” in which he presented “poems, verses and muwashshahat, as we have preserved them, and as they came to us from the lands of Andalusia, without any alteration, modification, addition or subtraction.”
Far from merely singing poems and muwashshahat, Pero reminded in this new source that “the history of Andalusia in general, and Granada in particular, the last stronghold of Islam that fell at the hands of the Crusaders,” was one of the main factors that was “the cause of its rapid death”; it “turned at that time from the path of righteousness and piety to devotion to amusement and debauchery, immersion in luxury, and inclination to the world and its pleasures and enjoying its desires in frivolity, tranquility, and submission. The conditions of downfall and decadence were often linked to the abundance of prestige, the abundance of money, and the indulgence in pleasures and enjoyments.”
Then he added that his reference to “the manifestations of this dark era in the history of Granada, which extended over a century and a half” was due to “the impact it had on Andalusian poetry at that time, on the muwashshahat and poems that were sung in Granadan music; we find that most of this poetry was about wine, love, debauchery, and the like.” Then he added, “We also do not deny the pioneering poetic movement that flourished in the era of the Banu al-Ahmar, due to the princes’ encouragement of poetry and poets, these princes who also excelled in poetry in its other genres, such as description, enthusiasm, elegy, poetry, and wisdom.”
This reference, prepared and documented by the scholar of “Granadi Tarab” Ahmed Bero, in the Rabat narration of praises and melodies, as they came from Andalusia and were transmitted by the masters of the art, is an effort that aims to “serve this authentic art and revive its noble heritage.”
