The Amazigh Voice, June 1996
Amazigh Harvest Izlan (Songs) of the Amagha Region(1)

By Mhamed Mou(2)


It is a custom in North Africa and other parts of the world to accompany manual work with songs. In Morocco, for instance, every agricultural, domestic, or nomadic task has its special song. The harvest is a case in point. It is one of the most important occasions of work where a considerable number of people gather. Working conditions are unbearable: the scorching sun of the summer, the dry and suffocating heat reflected by the soil and the yellow wheat, thirst, hunger, and the lack of sleep combine with the monotony of work. To endure the hardship and ease themselves through it, people sing a variety of songs. There are reaping songs which are shouted while reaping grains (wheat, rye, corn, etc.), threshing songs (rhymed couplets) shouted at donkeys and mules to urge them forward, and winnowing songs sung while separating grain from hay under a breeze.

These songs are very advantageous because they induce a trance-like effect on the workers and help them to endure and speed the hard work. This effect can be explained in many ways. First, many verses in these songs are religious, and since religion is one of the main sources of relief in Moroccan society, the worker derives great confidence and courage from anything related to religion. Second, the songs are very rhythmical and by superimposing this rhythm to that of monotonous work, the harvester becomes intoxicated and forgets about the hardship. Third, given the dual structure of the songs -each verse is made up of two inseparable halves, each sung by a group- each worker has to follow the singing attentively in order to think of the suitable half of the verse in time. This diverts attention from labor.

It should be mentioned that the lyrics of these traditional songs do not have a pre-determined structure with a beginning, a body, and an end. Instead, they represent a set of verses, each corresponding to a certain rhythm. The verses included in each set have no preset location in the song and people keep adding new verses as time goes by. The only structure these songs may have is for singers of religious background, who are most likely to begin their songs with verses linked to religion, as in:

An senned tadawt inw zarun a yacfia a Muhammed
Ur ci ssuhil uzaza nw

I depend wholly on you, O Muhammed, the intercessor,
My burden is no burden for you

However, the singers would work down slowly to verses linked to social duties as exemplified by this verse:
Ara amger ad c-aewnegh ara taghanimt
Awer gh-isaga yghimi tilim g tafuyt

Give me your sickle and reed, I want to help you
For it would not be right for me to sit in the shade while you are working under a scorching sun

Some songs criticize stingy owners:
Wanna k-n-issen usar k-nid-yaghul
Ad awn-imger a yat Kki w Hami

Whoever has known you once
Will never reap for you again, O Ait Kki w Hami

Other songs are about poverty:
Ccix mulay Buazza warka wrd awa warka wed-at-ttirin medden
Yufas is immut tinbda yaha Ccix mulay

My godly lord Bouazza, people dislike anyone who owns no property
So he would better die than lead a miserable life

The workers then may respond with some proverbial verses such as:
Wanna wer yadduzn at ttc tidi yaman
Mas tallit ayannrar nns ad-ixitr

If one does not work until sweat streams from his body like water
He will have no wheat to reap or thresh

Ur d-ak-izuzzur yan ufus
Ig ur illi wrbia n tizzar tilit ayasahliy

One person alone will not winnow you (O wheat)
There need to be a group of pitchforks and a good coastal wind

Thereafter, the workers would switch to verses linked to human emotions, principally love and nostalgia (some workers have to migrate to work for others) as these verses illustrate:
Usar icib ighef inw
Mahhd Itto ali tghemm imudil s lhenna d tazult

My hair will never turn gray
As long as Itto Ali dies her hair with henna and applies kohl to her eyes

Ccix mulay Buazza yuwd unebdu
Awa yuiwd unbedu g tmazirt n medden
A sidi tinw ay d-righ aha Ccix mulay

O my godly lord, the harvest is upon us
And I am in a foreign land
I would like to return home

After all these shiftings in the themes of the songs, which are not, of course, straightforwardly complete -there are still many other subjects not mentioned here- the workers, in most situations, end their songs with verses related to religion. However, some workers express their affliction and use the songs as an outlet of woe aroused by the conditions in which they work, as seen in these verses:
Awa ay d-i-yaghen a Rebbi d lemhayen
Awa sihla g ur cibn wargalen inw

Woe is me, God, for all my hair has turned gray from grief
But I am still fortunate since my eyelashes have not yet turned gray

If we take a general look at these songs, we find that some of them are difficult -if not impossible- to adapt to any situation other than reaping. Others can be easily changed to suit other occasions such as Ahidus(3). The famous Amazigh singer Mohammed Rouisha has sung an excerpt from it with a slight change in rhythm. Some other songs have been adapted to Ahidus of Iqqebliyen. This phenomenon suggests that the first group of songs belongs to an earlier time, whereas the second group is recent. This is because the first songs have the same long meter as old Ahidus songs. The second ones seem to be recent because their meter is identical to that of modern Ahidus with a short meter. That is, perhaps, one of the reasons why the latter appears to be more popular amongst the younger generation.

Moreover, since the songs are structurally coherent text-wise, the verses can be dealt with separately. The lyrics used in some make them unadaptable to any social setting other than reaping. For instance

A yamger i d-yesker uheddad i yghimi
Awa wwet imendi g rrwah an-nawed kayadn

O sickle, the blacksmith has not made you to rust
So cut wheat in the coolness of dawn so we can go elsewhere

Ihreq udad a talhatmt
Assa yuwd unendu gigh-as taghanimt

My finger is in sorrow, O ring
The harvest is here and I have worn the reed instead

Obviously, these verses would sound ridiculous if sung at a wedding, for example, unless they carry a symbolic meaning. However, they would sound less out of place if sung in another agricultural work setting.

It is sad to see that these wonderful traditions are disappearing rapidly because of the invasion of rural life by modern media, such as radio and television. Also, people no longer seem to enjoy agricultural work because of its meager remuneration compared to industrial work. Therefore, it is our duty as Amazighs to safeguard these songs of our heritage and incorporate them in our social and recreational lives, as well record them before they are lost forever.

Notes

1. Amagha is located in the southeast of Morocco, between Tinghir and Erfoud. It comprises the Ait Atta, Ait Marghad, Iggebliyen, and iggouram villages.

2. This article is an excerpt from Mr. Mhamed Mou's senior thesis in fulfillment of the requirements for the Bachelor's of Art (English) and was summarized by Mr. Berka Mou, a language teacher in Rochester, New York. Anyone interested in reading the integral work should contact:

Departement d'Anglais
Faculte des lettres
Universite Med BenAbdellah
Fes, Morocco

or

Mr. Berka Mou
3118 Elmwood Ave
Rochester, NY 14618 USA

3. Ahidus is a folk dance (practiced in the south of Morocco) in which a row of women faces a row of men with tambourines and dance to their rhythms.