Ibn Kuzman (1080-1160) Ibn Kuzman, a wandering poet and musician of Cordova, attained a very high level in the zadjal. He led a free and dissipated life and enjoyed invariable success with his songs in different Andalusian towns. No trace of the classical qasida is to be found in his zadjals, no descriptions of deserts, nomad migrations, camping grounds or camels. Neither to they suggest the spirit of the Qur’an, for the poet’s attitude to Islam was ironic in the extreme, a fault that brought him to punishment and even to prison. The zadjals of Ibn Kuzman usually consist of two parts: the first, a love prelude with a very marked erotic element; the second, an encomium, always containing a request for reward.
The genetic relationship between Ibn Kuzman’s zadjals and ancient Romance poetry is indisputable. They also include many Berber elements and some traits that are characteristic of the poetry of the Provencal troubadours: Ibn Kuzman openly derides Udhrite love, contrasting it with sensual joys, much in the same manner as the Provencal poets of the 12th and 13th centuries proclaimed that earthy love outweighed religious asceticism. These zadjals of Ibn Kuzman are also closely bound up with a musical accompaniment. Difficult though it is to determine the extent and nature of the influence of Arabic Spanish poetry on that of tin troubadours, there is no doyfci ”hat this influence existed.
