https://archive.ph/qMhTK (Part 1) / https://archive.ph/cjvxF (Part 2)
From the 8th century to the 19th century, Jewish and Muslim poets from Spain, North Africa, West Asia, and India wrote about same sex love.
In the early 13th century, Yehuda Al Harizi, a Spanish Jewish writer who visited Baghdad, recorded a poem allegedly composed by an Iraqi Jew:
Poets wrote about same sex love and desire in a variety of languages – Arabic, Hebrew, Kurdish, Persian, Turkish and Urdu. Iraq, Persia, Afghanistan, Mughal India, Turkey, Egypt, Tunis, and Morocco all experienced a flourishing of homoerotic poetry.[2]
Over the next few posts, we will visit these regions and meet non-heteronormative poets who were famous literati in their own right.
And unfortunately, this isn’t the only example.
Part 2: Jewish and Muslim writers of homoerotic poetry from North Africa and Muslim Spain
[1] Kraemer, Joel L., Chapter 2, Maimonides: The life and world of one of civilization’s greatest minds
[2] Crompton, Louis, "Male Love and Islamic Law in Arab Spain" (1997). Faculty Publications -- Department of
English. 61. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/englishfacpubs/61
[3] ספר תחכמוני - שַׁעַר חֲמִשִּׁים / יהודה אלחריזי - פרויקט בן־יהודה (benyehuda.org)
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Cairo-born architect Ibrāhīm al-Miʿmār was the most important Arabic poet of the 14th century.[4] He wrote these lines about his desire for bearded men:
For those who are wondering why men are over-represented in the list of homoerotic poets, Male-Male Love in Classical Arabic Poetry from Cambridge University Press offers the following explanation:
[1] In the Lands of the Christians: Arabic Travel Writing in the Seventeenth Century, ed. by Nabil Matar (Abingdon: Routledge, 2003), p. 127.
[2] Subject, Object and Possessive Pronouns in Arabic | OptiLingo
[3] Hafiz Abdul Qayyum Manzar Kanju, Lexical Errors in the Qur'anic English Translation by Arthur John Arberry http://pu.edu.pk/images/journal/szic/PDF/1-Engv32_47_17.pdf
[4] al-Miʿmār, Ibrāhīm — Brill (brillonline.com)
[5] Male-Male Love in Classical Arabic Poetry (Chapter 6) - The Cambridge History of Gay and Lesbian Literature
[6] ISAAC BEN LEVI BEN SAUL OF LUCENA - JewishEncyclopedia.com
[7] Internet History Sourcebooks Project – Homoerotic texts (fordham.edu)
[8] Scholar of renown: Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Abd Rabbih | Arab News
[9] Al Andalus. Homoerotic Poetry. An Unexpected Discovery. (spainthenandnow.com)
[10] Hispano-Arabic homoerotic poetry - Wikipedia
[11] Medieval Hebrew poets 'come out of closet' in new anthology - Life & Culture - Haaretz.com
From the 8th century to the 19th century, Jewish and Muslim poets from Spain, North Africa, West Asia, and India wrote about same sex love.
In the early 13th century, Yehuda Al Harizi, a Spanish Jewish writer who visited Baghdad, recorded a poem allegedly composed by an Iraqi Jew:
Another translation from Joseph Yahalom and Naoya Katsumata’s paper on the Tahkemoni:“If the son of Amran (i.e. Moses) had seen my lover’s face,
blushing as he imbibed liquor,
with his curls and glorious beauty,
he would not have written in his Torah,
lie not with a male.” [1]
Poem 124 in Chapter 50: Florilegium of Songs, Sefer Tahkemoni
If only Amram’s son (Moses) had seen my beloved’s face
Become ruddy as he drank wine,
And his beautiful locks and gorgeous appearance,
He would never have written in the Torah: “Do not sleep with a man!”
Regardless of what Al Harizi might have thought of that lovestruck poet or the state of Iraqi Jewry in general, literati who wrote about homoerotic desires were quite common in the land where Al Harizi came from (Muslim Spain), as well as in the North African and West Asian lands that he visited.
Poets wrote about same sex love and desire in a variety of languages – Arabic, Hebrew, Kurdish, Persian, Turkish and Urdu. Iraq, Persia, Afghanistan, Mughal India, Turkey, Egypt, Tunis, and Morocco all experienced a flourishing of homoerotic poetry.[2]
Over the next few posts, we will visit these regions and meet non-heteronormative poets who were famous literati in their own right.
Queer Erasure in Translation
Circling back to the earlier male homoerotic poem recorded in Sefer Tahkemoni, it appears that David Simha Segal’s translation rendered the word ‘lover’ as ‘friend’ . The original Hebrew text in Poem 124 in the Florilegium of Songs, the 50th and last story in Sefer Tahkemon,[3] uses the word “dodi”, which could mean “my beloved” (as in the poem’s context), or “my uncle” but definitely not “my friend.”And unfortunately, this isn’t the only example.
Part 2: Jewish and Muslim writers of homoerotic poetry from North Africa and Muslim Spain
[1] Kraemer, Joel L., Chapter 2, Maimonides: The life and world of one of civilization’s greatest minds
[2] Crompton, Louis, "Male Love and Islamic Law in Arab Spain" (1997). Faculty Publications -- Department of
English. 61. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/englishfacpubs/61
[3] ספר תחכמוני - שַׁעַר חֲמִשִּׁים / יהודה אלחריזי - פרויקט בן־יהודה (benyehuda.org)
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Jewish and Muslim writers of homoerotic poetry from North Africa and Muslim Spain
Poetry about same-sex love from South Asia, West Asia, North Africa, and Al-Andalus (Part 2)
Hamda bint Ziyad al-Muaddib (Hamda daughter of Ziyad the Teacher), 12
A famous Arabic poetess born in Guadix, Hamda bint Ziyad left us the following lines, translated by Dr Nabil Matar, an academic from Lebanon who now teaches at University of Minnesota:[1]There is another translation by a deceased British individual who erased both the blackness and the femininity of the love interest in this poem, using “they” instead of “she”. By the way, Hebrew and Arabic pronouns are binary gendered in both singular and plural forms. The gender of the love interest is NOT open to interpretation by the translator.[2] Concerns have been raised about errors in other translated works by that same European colonial translator.[3]Tears have betrayed my secrets in a wadi [valley] whose beauty is striking;
A river surrounds every meadow; and every meadow borders every wadi;
Among the gazelle, a black fawn stole my mind, after stealing my heart;
She desires to lie down for a reason, and that reason prevents my sleep;
When she loosens her tufts, I see the full moon in the black clouds,
As if the dawn had lost a brother, and in sorrow, clothed itself in mourning.
Cairo-born architect Ibrāhīm al-Miʿmār was the most important Arabic poet of the 14th century.[4] He wrote these lines about his desire for bearded men:
I go crazy for men with full beards;
yeah, even those who can grip theirs with their hands![5]
Yishaq ben Mar-Saul, 11
Yishak ben Mar-Saul (Isaac, son of Lord Saul), aka Isaac ben Levi ben Saul, was a Hebrew grammarian and liturgical poet from Lucena.[6] He was also known for homoerotic poetry:Like Joseph in his form
like Adoniah his hair
Lovely of eyes like David,
he has slain me like Uriah
He has enflamed my passions
and consumed my heart with fire.[7]
Ibn ‘Abd Rabbih, 9
Ahmad Ibn Muhammad ibn ‘Abd Rabbih (Ahmad, son of Muhammad son of Abd Rabbih) was a renowned scholar who served both Prince Abdullah of Cordoba and his successor.[8] Regarded as “the leading poet throughout the Maghrib”, Ibn ‘Abd Rabbih wrote these lines of Arabic poetry about his infatuation with a bearded youth.[9]Oh you on whose cheeks the sprouting beard
has drawn two lines arousing passion and frustration,
I never knew your glance could be a sword until you put
on the sword belt of your new beard
And many more illustrious poets
Homoerotic works were not uncommon among the Arabic poets of Andulasia.[10] The same could be said of poets writing in Hebrew.[11] "Deal gently with the young man": Love of Boys in Medieval Hebrew Poetry of Spain | Speculum: Vol 57, No 1 from University of Chicago presents translations of Hebrew homoerotic poetry of Yishaq ben Mar-Saul of the 11th century and Isaac Ibn Abraham of the 12th century, amongst others.For those who are wondering why men are over-represented in the list of homoerotic poets, Male-Male Love in Classical Arabic Poetry from Cambridge University Press offers the following explanation:
Part 3: Arabic, Kurdish, Persian and Turkish homoerotic poetry from 8th-19th century West Asia“Love between women did leave its trace in literature. Indeed, one of the legendary Arabic couples of myth … was a female-female pair … Nevertheless female-female love hardly plays a role in love poetry and the reason for that is simple: while women did compose poetry, they were not supposed to publish it…”
[1] In the Lands of the Christians: Arabic Travel Writing in the Seventeenth Century, ed. by Nabil Matar (Abingdon: Routledge, 2003), p. 127.
[2] Subject, Object and Possessive Pronouns in Arabic | OptiLingo
[3] Hafiz Abdul Qayyum Manzar Kanju, Lexical Errors in the Qur'anic English Translation by Arthur John Arberry http://pu.edu.pk/images/journal/szic/PDF/1-Engv32_47_17.pdf
[4] al-Miʿmār, Ibrāhīm — Brill (brillonline.com)
[5] Male-Male Love in Classical Arabic Poetry (Chapter 6) - The Cambridge History of Gay and Lesbian Literature
[6] ISAAC BEN LEVI BEN SAUL OF LUCENA - JewishEncyclopedia.com
[7] Internet History Sourcebooks Project – Homoerotic texts (fordham.edu)
[8] Scholar of renown: Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Abd Rabbih | Arab News
[9] Al Andalus. Homoerotic Poetry. An Unexpected Discovery. (spainthenandnow.com)
[10] Hispano-Arabic homoerotic poetry - Wikipedia
[11] Medieval Hebrew poets 'come out of closet' in new anthology - Life & Culture - Haaretz.com
