Kasida Delguerra, Felhan de Mostaganem – “Lament of the War, ” to the melody of Mostaganem – a satirical piyut mocking Nazi Germany and the Axis powers, expressing hope for the downfall of Adolf Hitler. Printed by Simon Coiffeur, Rabat (Morocco), [c. 1940]. In Judeo-Arabic (Arabic in Hebrew letters). Printed in blue ink, with three illustrations. Rare.
Political satire written in the meter and rhyme of a classical Arabic qasida, with a recurring refrain and poetic structure. The qasida ridicules the leaders of the Axis powers—Hitler, Mussolini, and the German generals—and expresses schadenfreude over their defeats. “They thought Amirik (America) was too far to come, and Russia was approaching from the other side… and Hitler among them dances like a madman! He searches for a hole to escape into, enters the gallows himself, and shouts: ‘Help!’… Lord George arrived from Baza (a place name or distortion of Basel?), a messenger of the Alliance to General Glaoua, and declared in London: ‘Hitler will never win.’ A messenger came with Yousif (Stalin) – and they set out to confront Germany, to destroy the Nazis, and now is the time to avenge what they did to the Jews!…”. The text is accompanied by anti-Nazi caricatures, depicting Stalin and Churchill striking Hitler and Mussolini, who are holding the globe, until Hitler is shown drowning in the sea before the cannons of the Allied fleet.
This is one of the rarest Moroccan qasidas published during the war. Not listed in bibliographies.
[4] pp., 21 cm. Fold marks, stains. Good condition.
