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| The Descriptions of the Bedouin and their Disturbance penned by Medinan Poets of the Twelfth/Eighteenth Century |
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| There are scattered verses of Medina’s poets of this period which concentrate generally on the undefined aim of the Bedouin (mainly the Harb tribe) in the city of Medina. In most of his poems concerning the Bedouin, al-Sayyid al-Baytī attempted to paint a very ugly picture of their manners and characteristics, but we have to be aware of a lack of objectivity in this because al-Baytī represented the society of Medina which maintained this hostility towards the Bedouin. He described one of his experiences in 1143/1730, when he was away from Medina on official business in the city of YanbuC
(1)
, a city which was at that time surrounded by a Bedouin tribe: |
| وأصبحت في دار المشقَّة والعَنَا |
| أُخَالِطُ أَوْغَادَ الورَى ورَعَاعَهُ |
| وكَلْباً من الأعرابِ يعْوِي كأنَّهُ |
| يريدُ إذا لاقَى الأمين ابتلاعهُ |
| فلو صاح فوق الصَّخْرِ خَرَّ لوقته |
| وأبصرت من ذاك الصِّياح انصداعهُ |
| براه إلهُ الخلق للناس نقْمَةً |
| وقدَّ من الصَّخْرِ الأَصَمِّ طِبَاعهُ |
| فلا رحم الرحمن أرْضاً يَحُلُّها |
| وباعَدَ عنَّا بالسِّنين انتجاعهُ |
| ومِنْ كل جَبّارٍ عنيد يَرَى الورَى |
| عبيداً لديه والبقاعَ بقاعهُ |
| شَقِيّ عَصَى الرّحمن في كُلِّ أَمْرِهِ |
| ومال إلى شيطانه وأطَاعَهُ
(2)
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| ("I found myself in the land of hardship and distress, mixing with a scoundrel and tumultuous people. A dog from the Bedouin howls, as if he wished to swallow down the secure person if he met him, If he shouted above the rock, you would have seen that rock fall down and the effect of that shout would rend the stone. As God created him for a minister of vengeance on mankind and made his character of solid rock, may the merciful God have no mercy on the land he [this Bedouin] resides in and distance us for years to come from where he takes his efuge, and from every obstinate tyrant who looks on mankind as slaves in his presence and on territories as if they belonged to himself. He is the damned who disobeyed [the merciful God] in every instruction and bent down to the devil to obey him"). |
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| In yhis poetical description of the Bedouin, with the image of a humankind whose way of life was obedient to no rule other than that of self-interest and who presented a menace to all around him, the poet sought to depict the uncivilised behaviour of a section of Medinan society at that time which brought suffering to many and brooked no opposition. |
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| Another description of the way in which the bedouin carried out their attack against the inhabitants of Medina was provided by the contemporary poet of the twelfth/eighteenth century, Muhammad SaCīd Safar: |
| فَجَاءَ بأَعْرابٍ حُفَاةٍ كَأَنَّهم |
| كلاب تعاوي أو نساء تُصَوِّبُ |
| ألوفٌ ولكن ليس فيهم شجاعةٌ |
| سوى أنهم في الكُفْر حِزْبٌ مُخَرِّبُ |
| إذا قِيلَ جاؤكم تكاد قلوبهم |
| تطيرُ من الرُّعْبِ الشديد وتهْرُبُ |
| فلم يظفروا من طيبة بمرادهم |
| سوى أكْل من جاؤوا بهم وَتَسبَّبُوا |
| ونَهْب جيوب المسلمين ودورهم |
| وأسواقهم واللَّه يحصي ويحسبُ |
| وحَرْقٍ بنار سوف يصلونها غداً |
| وهدم وحَفْرٍ في البيوت لينهبوا |
| وقد ترَكَ الناس المدينة وانتهوا |
| لخارجها إلاَّ قليلاً فَأُتْعِبُوا
(3)
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| ("The governor of Medina introduced the bare-footed ACrāb, who looked like barking dogs or women striking out. They were thousands, whose bravery was nothing but infidelity and who formed a saboteur gang. If it was said the enemy came, then it appeared their hearts would faint at the terrible fright. They could not achieve their plot against the city of Tayba without the use of those who undertook to bring them to the city, in which they carried out the plundering of Muslims' money, their houses, and their markets, while God took note of all and kindled the fire whose flame they should suffer on the morrow [i.e. on the judgment day]. They also dug into and destroyed the houses for the sake of plunder, so that the inhabitants of Medina came to abandon the city itself and settle outside, except for some small remnant of them who were sore discomfited"). |
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| The poet indicated in the first line that the attack of the ACrāb against the city was set up by the governor of Medina himself, who provided the attackers with the support necessary to carry out their wanton deed. The poet further concentrated his abilities in the following lines to deepen the impression of the grievances resulting from this savage attack against the unarmed inhabitants and he boldly branded the ACrāb as infidels, relying in this accusation upon the fact that the city of medina was a sacred site which has to be protected from such attacks, while its inhabitants must also be guarded against such ill-treatment. |
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| It seems indeed that this group of people were out of touch with religious sentiment, as they did not hesitate on another occasion in 1148/1735 to launch an attack against the city in which they occupied the Prophet’s Mosque
(4)
. This outrage was recorded in verse by al-Sayyid al-Baytī, who tried to show how in this event history was repeating itself, since this occurrence was to be compared with the event of al-Harra
(5)
, which took place near Medina in the first Islamic century, during Yazīd ibn MuCāwiya’s reign
(6)
: |
| سَلُوا كُلَّ دارٍ بالمدينة ما الذي |
| لقينا فعند الدَّار مِنْ أَهْلِها عِلْمُ |
| سَلُوها عن الهَتْك الذي قد أصابها |
| قَريباً، فمن لقياه في وَجْهِها وَشْمُ |
| سَلُوها عن الأَعَرْاب كيف تسنَّمت |
| ذُرَاها وكيف النَّهْبُ، والهَتْكُ، والغَنْمُ |
| وكيف ارتَقُوا فوق المنائِر وانتهوا |
| إلى غَأيَةٍ ينحطُّ من دُونِها النَّجْمُ |
| وكيف أُعيدَتْ وقعة الحَرَّة التي |
| إلى هذه الأخْرَى تضافُ وتنضَمُّ |
| يزيدية رُدَّتْ وحقّكَ إنَّها |
| لفاقرةٌ أسبابها الجوْرُ والغَشْمُ
(7)
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| ("Ask every house in Medina what faced us, because the house with its people keeps knowledge. Ask them [the houses] about the dishonouring inflicted on them recently which left its scar upon their faces, Ask them how the ACrāb scaled their heights to plunder, and outrage, and carry off the booty, how they ascended above the pulpits [of the Prophet’s Mosque] and reached the station which transcends the station of the star
(8)
, and how the event of al-Harra was repeated, an event to be set beside and associated
(9)
with this latter act. (the event of al-Harra) was a Yasidi affair and, I tell you, it was a catastrophe perpetrated by outrage and oppression"). |
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| In considering the poet’s ability to depict the inhumanity of his enemies' behaviour towards the city of Medina, its inhabitants, and sacred mosque, we should bear in mind that this raising of the voice against the governing authority of the city was the only response possible among the inhabitants. If the poem’s aim is to make the outcry reach as far as the Ottoman rulers in Istanbul, then he might well exaggerate in describing the event or its consequences for the people of the city. Nevertheless, we have to recognise that there aggressive attacks by the ACrāb from time which caused much hostility between the two sides and lasted for a long time, but what the poet failed to do was to specify the causes of these attacks which would have given us greater opportunity to study the other aspects of this problem which deepened the division in the society of Medina and its neighbouring ACrāb. |
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شارع عبد المقصود خوجة
00966-12-6982222 - تحويلة 250
