Marchands, taverniers et échansons : étrangers et gens du Livre dans la poésie bachique arabe
Résumé
Title : Traders, Innkeepers and Wine Waiters : Foreigners and People of the Book in Arabic Wine Poetry
Abstract : The Arabic wine song (ḫamriyya) consists of several recurrent themes, motives and images which are usually dealt with within the scope of stories involving the poet and his companions, the trader or the innkeeper, the wine waiter and the singer, in a tavern, a monastery, a garden or a notable's home. The story of a “pub crawl” is no doubt among the most famous ones. It gives the poet an occasion to describe the innkeeper (ḫammār), a truly vivid figure, usually depicted as a ḏimmī, whether Jew, Christian or Zoroastrian. But the Islamic ban does not suffice to explain why the trades of wine, during the first centuries of Islam, were usually carried on by non Muslims. The religious factor was only stacked upon a cultural one whose importance remained unchanged after the rise of Islam. As a matter of fact, traders, innkeepers and waiters were already non Arabs (ʿağam) before Islam, mainly Jews, and this tradition perpetuated itself during the first centuries of Islam, independently from the precepts of the new religion and the prohibition of alcoholic beverages. Should they be non Arabs or non Muslims, often both, they are always described with the help of the same three main attributes, i.e. a foreign accent (a “nasal” voice, aġannu or ḏū ġunnatin), earrings (tawmatayn ou nuṭaf) and a belt (zunnār, minṭaq ou ḥizām). In other words, the clothing rules imposed upon ḏimmī by Muslim authorities only did ratify preexisting habits, because their main goal was to dissuade non Muslims to dress like Muslims.
Abstract : The Arabic wine song (ḫamriyya) consists of several recurrent themes, motives and images which are usually dealt with within the scope of stories involving the poet and his companions, the trader or the innkeeper, the wine waiter and the singer, in a tavern, a monastery, a garden or a notable's home. The story of a “pub crawl” is no doubt among the most famous ones. It gives the poet an occasion to describe the innkeeper (ḫammār), a truly vivid figure, usually depicted as a ḏimmī, whether Jew, Christian or Zoroastrian. But the Islamic ban does not suffice to explain why the trades of wine, during the first centuries of Islam, were usually carried on by non Muslims. The religious factor was only stacked upon a cultural one whose importance remained unchanged after the rise of Islam. As a matter of fact, traders, innkeepers and waiters were already non Arabs (ʿağam) before Islam, mainly Jews, and this tradition perpetuated itself during the first centuries of Islam, independently from the precepts of the new religion and the prohibition of alcoholic beverages. Should they be non Arabs or non Muslims, often both, they are always described with the help of the same three main attributes, i.e. a foreign accent (a “nasal” voice, aġannu or ḏū ġunnatin), earrings (tawmatayn ou nuṭaf) and a belt (zunnār, minṭaq ou ḥizām). In other words, the clothing rules imposed upon ḏimmī by Muslim authorities only did ratify preexisting habits, because their main goal was to dissuade non Muslims to dress like Muslims.
Le poème bachique arabe classique (ḫamriyya) comporte un certain nombre de thèmes, de motifs et d'images récurrents, généralement traités dans le cadre de récits mettant en scène le poète et ses commensaux, le marchand de vin ou le tavernier, l'échanson et la chanteuse, dans une taverne, un monastère, un jardin ou une maison de notable. Le récit d'une « virée à la taverne (ḥāna, ḥānūt ou bayt ḫammār) » constitue sans conteste l'un des classiques du genre. Il est notamment l'occasion, pour le poète, de décrire le tavernier (ḫammār), personnage haut en couleurs qui, dans la poésie classique d'époque musulmane, est généralement un ḏimmī, juif, chrétien, voire zoroastrien. Mais l'interdit islamique ne suffit pas à expliquer pourquoi les métiers du vin, durant les premiers siècles de l'islam, étaient généralement exercés par des non musulmans. Le facteur religieux n'a fait que se superposer à un facteur culturel plus ancien dont l'importance ne se démentit pas après l'avènement de l'islam. Dès avant l'islam, en effet, marchands, taverniers et échansons étaient, par tradition, des non Arabes (ʿağam), le plus souvent de religion juive ; et cette tradition ne fit donc que se perpétuer durant les premiers siècles de l'islam, sans que cela ait un quelconque rapport avec les préceptes de la nouvelle religion et la prohibition des boissons alcoolisées. De fait, qu'ils soient non arabes ou qu'ils aient une religion autre que l'islam, voire, souvent, les deux à la fois, ils sont presque toujours décrits, au VIe siècle comme au IXe, à l'aide des mêmes trois attributs de base que sont l'accent étranger (une voix « nasillarde », aġannu ou ḏū ġunnatin), les boucles d'oreille (tawmatayn ou nuṭaf) et le ceinturon (zunnār, minṭaq ou ḥizām). Autrement dit, les règles vestimentaires imposées aux ḏimmī par les autorités musulmanes ne firent qu'entériner des pratiques déjà existantes, avec pour principal objectif d'interdire aux non musulmans de s'habiller comme les musulmans.
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