From Al-Zahra

The medieval lyric From Al-Zahra by Ibn Zaydun is a poem about his love for a women and his city. Zaydun was in love with Wallada, the daughter of the Umayyad ruler of Cordoba. Zaydun fled to Seville after falling out of political disfavor. The poem shows his longing for his lover, and his city. He starts by talking of remembrance of his city, and how coiling water looks like necklaces. “Delicious those days we spent while fate slept”(Zaydun 323) shows his longing for something previous. The use of “spent” shows it has already happened; he uses the word delicious to show how he perceived the times. He could be using this to talk of how he misses his times in his home town, and he could also be talking about Wallada.The city and Wallada are interchangeable, because Wallada is in the city where he can no longer go, making her no longer accessible as well. “Fate slept” shows again the past, and also alludes to his exile, which was at one point of no concern. The use of flowers is another way the author describes his city and his lover, rosebuds representing his lover, water lilies “perfume they gather up” representing the city. The final metaphor used is that of a horse, his love once being free, is now fenced.  In conclusion, the overall experience of the poem has a nice rhyming scheme, and thoroughly explains the author’s feelings.  This poem uses metaphors in his poem to represent Wallada and his city and how he longs to be with both of them.

Work Cited

Ibn Zaydun. “From Al-Zahra” The Norton Anthology of World Literature. Volume B. 3^rd Ed. Martin Puchner. New York: Norton 323-324. Print