The "Nuniyya of Ibn Zaydun" (; incipit: ) is a 52–verse nūniyya, or a monorhyme poem in nūn (), by the 11th century Andalusi poet Ibn Zaydun (d. 1071).Sells, Michael. “Love.” Chapter. In The Literature of Al-Andalus, edited by María Rosa Menocal, Raymond P. Scheindlin, and Michael Sells, 126–58. The Cambridge History of Arabic Literature. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000."Ibn Zaydūn (1003-1070), An Introduction to." In Classical and Medieval Literature Criticism, edited by Jelena O. Krstovic. Vol. 89. Detroit, MI: Gale, 2007. Gale Literature Criticism (accessed February 20, 2024). It has been described by Michael Sells as the "quintessential Arabic love poem." It is one of the most famous pieces of Andalusi literature.
The poem was written to Wallada bint al-Mustakfi. It is a poem of longing.
Structure Raymond K. Farrin identifies a ring composition in the poem and divides the poem into five discrete sections: A – B – C – B¹ – A¹. According to Farrin:Section A introduces the idea of the poet's separation from his beloved, Wallāda, and culminates in a mood of hopelessness and resignation. Morning is associated with this somber reality. In section B, Ibn Zaydân addresses Wallāda formally and recalls that their nights together were blissful. Section C constitutes the heart of the poem, a paean to Wallāda's beauty and royal stature. At the end of C, the poet switches to an intimate form of address, having implied that, her nobility notwithstanding, he is an equal by the agency of sensual love. B¹ and A¹ correspond thematically to sections B and A, yet the tone becomes increasingly personal at the end of the poem, consonant with private subject matter and an appeal for a reply. The ghazal concludes at the point when figurative night, filled with its dreams of Wallāda and hopes for a response, is about to be replaced by the bleak morning hour and hopelessness of the introduction, suggesting an awareness on behalf of the poet that word from the beloved will not likely come.
Poetic devices
Antithesis Farrin notes that in the two hemistiches of verse 14, the most often quoted verse of the poem, there appear five instances of ṭibāq ( 'antithesis'): +Verse 14hālat lifaqdikumu ayyāmunā, faghadatOur days have been transformed by your absence so that they have becomesūdan, wa kānat bikum bīdan layālīnāblack-morned whereas with you our nights were white instances of ṭibāqhālat - kānatfaqdikum - bikumayyāmunā - layālīnāsūdan - bīdankum - natransformed - wereyour absence - with youour days - our nightsblack - whiteyour - our
Editions
Dīwān Ibn Zaydun, ed. (Beirut, 1964) Ibn Zaydun, Dīwān wa Rasā'il, ed. 'Ali 'Abdu'l-'Azym (Cairo, 1957)
Translations
English
Monroe, James T. Hispano-Arabic Poetry (Berkeley and Los Angeles, 1974), pp. 178-87, (50 verses) NykI, A. R. Hispano-Arabic Poetry and Its Relations with the Old Provençal Troubadours (Baltimore, 1946), pp. 115-16 (50 verses)
French
Cour, A. Un Poete Arabe d'Andalousie, Ibn Zaydan (Constantinople, 1920), pp. 70-74, (49 verses)
References