OrBinah

The malhun poem, khelkhal Aouicha " Aouicha’s anklet"

By Al-Jilali Al-M’tired (18^th-19^th .c)

Sung by Haj Lahoucine Toulali

Translated into English by Mohamed Elmedlaoui (06 08 2023)

This poem

Being mainly of oral tradition like the bulk of the poetry in Moroccan Arabic, called 'malhun', this poem has several versions. This translation is based on the version sung by Lahoucine Toulali in comparison, in places, with the version sung by Mohamed Bouzoubaâ

.

Toulali’s sung version

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_6kLap0koQ

Bouzoubaâ’s sung version

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hm45oig-MrQ

The text of this English translation bellow is numbered, verse by verse. This numbering corresponds, verse by verse also, to that of a notation of the poem in Arabic script, of which here is the link:

https://static.blog4ever.com/2006/04/162080/xlxal-Aouicha-Notation-Ar.pdf

The poem takes the form of a narrative ballad. Far from trying to render its prosodic and aesthetic properties, this translation rather tries just to convey certain elements of its ethno-cultural content. For example a paradoxical reconciliation between faith in God, magical belief and a strong penchant for worldly enjoyment; a real 'orientalism' (before the term) emerges from the descriptions of splendor and landscapes. On the other hand, the narrative aspect of the ballad reflects a great characteristic of redundancy in the discourse in the culture in question.

The full text, through the following link

https://static.blog4ever.com/2006/04/162080/xlxal.-Trad.-Angl.-Texte.pdf

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Mohamed Emedlaoui

https://orbinah.blog4ever.com/m-elmedlaoui-publications-academiques