Which came first, the Zajal or the Muwaššaḥa? Some evidence for the oral origins of Hispano-Arabic Strophic poetry

Up to this point, I have summarized some theoretical arguments, derived from certain structural features of the texts at hand, to suggest why the zajal might antedate the muwaššaḥa, from which the latter could be derived. Nonetheless, until now, we have had little documentary proof that the zajal did in fact precede the muwaššaḥa chronologically, with which to counter the objections of the partisans of the Arabic thesis. In what follows, I shall present some recently garnered evidence in support of the above arguments, “in order to respond to the ‘Avez-vous un texte?’ of Fustel de Coulanges and his less intelligently positivistic offspring (Rico 1975:557).”--Page 43

The underside of arabic panegyric: Ibn Quzmān's (unfinished?) «Zajal no. 84»

Ibn Quzmān's «Zajal No. 84» has hitherto been viewed as a poem lacking its final, panegyrical section, due to an assumed accident in the manuscript's transmission. According to such a view, the poem has come down to us in an incomplete form. By analyzing certain prominent thematic features contained in the poem, and showing that they fit closely together, exhibiting a complex but carefully organized structure of the kind known as ring-composition, the following article attempts to suggest that there are strong reasons why «Zajal No. 84» may not be incomplete, but that it may, instead, have been composed with the deliberate omission of the ending one would normally expect in an Arabic panegyric. This strategy may have been adopted by the poet, the article proceeds to suggest, in order to stimulate the reader/listener to consider deeper theological, philosophical, and moral implications in a work that, on the surface, deceptively appears to be nothing more than an exercise in buffoonery, devoid of any social concerns. Ultimately, the article attemps to explore the literary value of the poem, and the extraordinary merits of its author.El zéjel n.° 84 de Ibn Quzmān se ha considerado hasta ahora como un poema inacabado, al que le falta la sección final de panegírico, debido a un supuesto accidente en la transmisión del manuscrito. Según esta teoría, el poema ha llegado incompleto a nuestros días. Este artículo, a través del análisis de algunas de sus características temáticas sobresalientes, estrechamente relacionadas y que muestran una estructura compleja y cuidadosamente organizada, pretende mostrar que existen fuertes razones para sugerir que el zéjel n.° 84 no está inacabado, sino que se compuso omitiendo, de forma deliberada, la parte final que se espera encontrar usualmente en un panegírico árabe. Se sugiere a continuación que este recurso fue adoptado por el poeta para estimular, en el oyente/lector, la aparición de unas consideraciones de tipo teológico, filosófico y moral a través de una obra que, superficialmente, parece ser tan sólo de carácter bufonesco y sin preocupación social alguna. Finalmente, el artículo intenta explorar el valor literario del poema y el extraordinario mérito de su autor

Algunas observaciones sobre la atribución de autoría árabe del Cantar de mio Cid

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To the People of New Orleans Broadside, by John T. Monroe, April 25, 1862.

In this item, a broadside about 12 x 18 , Mayor of New Orleans John T. Monroe addresses the citizens of that city just prior to its capitulation in the American Civil War, April 25, 1862.https://digitalcommons.wofford.edu/littlejohnmss/1273/thumbnail.jp

Elementos de la literatura árabe en la estructura del Libro de buen amor (II)

This article examines several aspects of Arab- Islamic culture, about which Juan Ruiz, Archpriest of Hita, and putative author of the Libro de buen amor, betrays evidence of some knowledge. It goes on to suggest that, while the LBA’s literary materials are largely of Western origin, its structure is indebted to a unique combination of certain Oriental literary genres, thereby making it a culturally hybrid work. The article further suggests that the LBA may be read according to three levels of meaning, in accordance with the Averroistic approach to, and conception of, truth, of which the highest, or philosophical level, involves a veiled critique of the doctrine of ecclesiastical celibacy, adopted by the Western Church only a century before the Archpriest composed his work.En este artículo se examinan algunos aspectos de la cultura arabigoislámica de los cuales Juan Ruiz, Arcipreste de Hita, presunto autor del Libro de buen amor, demuestra poseer cierto conocimiento. De resultas se sugiere que, mientras los materiales literarios constituyentes del Libro son de raigambre occidental, su estructura se debe a una combinación de ciertos géneros literarios orientales, de lo cual el Libro resultaría ser una obra culturalmente híbrida. Además, se sugiere que el Libro debe interpretarse según tres niveles de significado, de acuerdo con la metodología desarrollada por Averroes para captar la verdad, y que, de esos tres niveles, el más elevado, a saber, el filosófico, nos conduce a una crítica velada de la doctrina del celibato eclesiástico, adoptada por la iglesia occidental sólo un siglo antes de la época en que el Arcipreste escribiera su obra

Elementos de la literatura árabe en la estructura del Libro de buen amor (I)

This article examines several aspects of Arab-Islamic culture, about which Juan Ruiz, Archpriest of Hita, and putative author of the Libro de buen amor, betrays evidence of some knowledge. It goes on to suggest that, while the LBA`s literary materials are largely of Western origin, its structure is indebted to a unique combination of certain Oriental literary genres, thereby making it a culturally hybrid work. The article further suggests that the LBA may be read according to three levels of meaning, in accordance with the Averroistic approach to, and conception of, truth, of which the highest, or philosophical level, involves a veiled critique of the doctrine of ecclesiastical celibacy, adopted by the Western Church only a century before the Archpriest composed his workEn este artículo se examinan algunos aspectos de la cultura arabigoislámica, de los cuales Juan Ruiz, Arcipreste de Hita, presunto autor del Libro del Buen Amor, demuestra poseer cierto conocimiento. De resultas se sugiere que, mientras los materiales literarios constituyentes del Libro son de raigambre occidental, su estructura se debe a una combinación de ciertos géneros literarios orientales, de lo cual el Libro resultaría ser una obra culturalmente híbrida. Además, se sugiere que el libro debe interpretarse según tres niveles de significado, de acuerdo con la metodología desarrollada por Averroes para captar la verdad, y que, de esos tres niveles, el más elevado, a saber , el filosófico, nos conduce a una crítica velada de la doctrina del celibato eclesiástico, adoptada por la iglesia occidental solo un siglo antes de la época en que el Arcipreste escribiera su obra

Universal and deterministic manipulation of the quantum state of harmonic oscillators: a route to unitary gates for Fock State qubits

We present a simple quantum circuit that allows for the universal and deterministic manipulation of the quantum state of confined harmonic oscillators. The scheme is based on the selective interactions of the referred oscillator with an auxiliary three-level system and a classical external driving source, and enables any unitary operations on Fock states, two-by-two. One circuit is equivalent to a single qubit unitary logical gate on Fock states qubits. Sequences of similar protocols allow for complete, deterministic and state-independent manipulation of the harmonic oscillator quantum state.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure