Folklore, culture and literature from Kuwait
   
Bazza Al Batni
 
BAZZA AL-BATNI

-Born in Kuwait 1954
-1972 Bazza Al Batni studied French at the Ecole Superieure des Lettres in Lebanon. A branch of the university of Lyon .
-1976 graduated from the Grenoble University.
-1977-1978 While working as a French teacher ,she was illustrator and CO-author of a series of French textbooks published by the Ministry of Education for use in Kuwait's secondary schools.
-1984 she started working as a folklorist for the Ministry of Information at Beit al Bader.
- She has published six books in Arabic about Kuwait's folklore on lullabies, fables, costumes and fairy tales.
-1985-1995 She wrote and presented many entertainment, cultural and educational programs for the broadcasting and television stations in Kuwait and Gulf Arab countries for children and adults .
-She is also the creator and the writer of the first animation film and series for the GCC countries named "Zatoor" the little donkey.1991-1993
-In addition to her writings , she is interested in crafts and making folk dolls and miniatures with many different materials.
-1997 Won the first prize among 301 writers from Arab countries for her story "The grand house".
-1975-1997 participated in many conferences, siminars, exhibitions and festivals in Kuwait and abroad.
-Writing poems and songs for Kindergartens in Kuwait.
-Illustrated and designed the covers of all her books.
-Wrote and published short stories ,poems and many researches in magazines inside Kuwait and abroad.
-She works now as a free lance writer, lecturer and illustrator. Her poems and songs in Arabic and English will be soon published beside many other researches, plays and 30 fully illustrated Folk tales for children.

Books by Bazza Al-Batni:

1- Women tales and fables. Vol.1-1985 first edition-second edition 1987
2- Lullabies from Kuwait 1986
3- Traditional costumes and textiles in Kuwait 1986
4- The folk Fairy tales 1988
5- Traditions. The folklore of women and children in Kuwait 1987(in English)
6- Women tales and fables.Vol.2-1994
7- The green land. Story for children.1994
8-"We all grew up " 8 Lyrical plays for children 1996
9-"The grand house". Story for children.1997
10-"The Lady was�!" 11 short stories.1998
11- (The dark girl and the blond boy) story for children1998
12-( The list of wishes) story for children1998
13- (In a far place ) story for children1998
 
Women Tales


The following tales are selected and translated from thirty stories originally collected and recorded in Arabic* from elderly women in Kuwait* Some of the tales are common to other Gulf countries and Iraq also, so the picture they present is not specifically of old Kuwait. However, it believed that they have originated hundreds of years ago and been handed down by oral tradition. This is backed up by the kinds of clothes, household equipment and way of life they describe. Also they contain rhyming couplets, a device not found in more modern tales.
These stories, which women told each other while sewing and working together in the home are mainly about the relationship of women with other family members. Jealousy and problems with in-laws are common themes. The tales have a strongly moral flavor with a woman's behavior often being rewarded or punished by her husband who is the judge of her actions. Occasionally, however, he is the wrong-doer and receives his just desserts.
Some tales express the women's hope, dreams and aspirations- that they be allowed to marry the man they fall in love with; that a kind brother will take them in if they are ill-treated by their husbands . To understand the stories fully, one needs to read them in context of the time and society in which they were created.
In translating the stories into English, an attempt has been made to retain the rhyming couplets which are an essential part of the original tales in Arabic. To do this it has sometimes been necessary to depart slightly from the literal meaning of the original, but we considered this preferable to a literal prose translation. Occasionally for reasons of plot, motivation or descriptive purpose, it was necessary to embellish the extremely spare and simple syle of the original Arabic version.
� Publishes in Arabic as "Tra'if wa hikayat Nisaa'iya min Al turath Al Sha'abi Al kuwait"
Ali Al Ab HILI

There was once a ruler who had seven pretty daughters. They only had one male cousin who lived with the family and took care of the father's finance and business matters. The ruler had always hoped that one day his nephew would marry one of his daughters, but this wasn't to be. For the cousin decided to marry the daughter of another ruler .He built her a beautiful apartment on the roof of his uncle's palace, hired numerous slaves and maids and brought his wife to live with them.
The seven cousins were always playing tricks on his new wife and causing trouble. So one day, when he had to go away on business, he asked his best slave to take care of his wife and the baby son she had by now borne him. He instructed the servant in particular to prevent his wife from going downstairs to his cousins or them from coming upstairs to his wife.
The servant followed his master's instructions and stood at the bottom of the stairs in order to guard his mistress and her son. On the first night the husband was away, however, the servant was taken by surprise when a masked man approached him, roughly pushed him aside and rushed upstairs. The poor servant was too afraid to do anything, as the man was obviously so strong and fit. As he stood frightened at the bottom of the stairs he could hear sounds of laughter ,joking, various noises and water running.
When the husband eventually returned, his wife got dressed in her best clothes and waited upstairs in great excitement. However, her husband didn't go upstairs immediately upon his return, but stayed down in the diwania(saloon) and asked his servant to bring him up to date with all the family news and everything that had been happening while he was away. It was then that the servant replied:
" Oh master, who has brought us great wealth
Take it back again, for in great stealth
An eagle has played with your home pigeon
With my own eyes I saw them Kissing"
Hearing these words the husband became angry and saddened at the behavior of his wife in his absence and so he didn't go upstairs to see her.
After a while his wife wondered what was keeping him and called to him:
"Oh Ali Al Ab Hili ( his name)
How I long, long to see thee,
But I can be patient, believe me"
Then he answered her:
"Behind my back you robbed and cheated.
One who loved you stands here defeated.
You can leave this house before sunrise,
Take your deceiving heart and all your lies"
Hearing these words she was greatly shocked and couldn't imagine what had happened to cause him to regard her thus. So she replied:
"Our son is young and still at my breast
But uncles he has, may they be blessed,
They'll come care for him at my behest"
So she wrote a letter to her brothers and sent it with a tribe who were traveling that night to her family's village and at dawn her brothers came and took her and her son back home.
After they had gone her husband grew more and more depressed and couldn't eat until he became quiet sick and just lay there, neither dead nor really alive, neither asleep nor really conscious. He lost interest in everything and ceased working, until he and his seven cousins became very poor. When his cousins watched all of this, they felt guilty and so they went to him and confessed that the masked man had been none other than the oldest sister. They tried to convince him that his wife had behaved quite properly, and not until she new it was in fact her cousin had she welcomed her into her home and laughed and played with her.
Suddenly life poured back into his dead heart. He jumped up and became crazy with happiness. Then, without delay, he sped to his wife's village until he reached the door of her palace where he threw himself on the steps. From the state he was in, the servants mistook him for a beggar and offered him food and water. He refused, saying that he didn't want food or water, all he wanted was his wife. The servants were puzzled by this and went to fetch their master.
Hearing the commotion, the poor man's wife looked out of her window and saw him there. Feeling sorry for him, she took some money and went down to him and said:
" If it's money you wanted we've plenty of it,
Just put out your hand and please take it, take it,
But if it's the past you want, the past is over
For your love has deserted you for ever."



The Sheikh's Daughter(19)

The daughter of the Sheikh of a certain tribe was to be married to her cousin. When the wedding-day came, her husband presented her with a splendid wedding gift: a strong, fine-looking camel. The Sheikh's daughter grew to be very fond of the camel and named it " Beldam".
Some time after the wedding her husband came to her one day to tell her that he was about to leave with his friends on a trading journey and asked if he might borrow her favourite camel. The Sheikh's daughter agreed and asked him to be sure to take care of himself and Beldam .
Without them both she passed a lonely time until the happy day arrived when a messenger came running breathlessly to tell her that the traders were returning. Her heart was filled with joy and excitement as she got ready to welcome her husband home.
Hearing a loud commotion outside, she drew back her tent flap and was surprised to see a large group of strangers who were singing and leading Beldam. And there on her camel's back was a litter with a strange woman seated in it.
Puzzled by all this, The Sheikh's daughter dispatched her servant to find out who these people were and what was going on. The servant quickly returned and informed her that her husband had taken a second wife, a beautiful girl whom he was now bringing to live with them. The strangers were the girl's family, who formed the wedding party.
When the Sheikh's daughter heard these words, she felt the fire of jealousy in her heart and sting of humiliation in her soul. But she remembered that she was the daughter of a Sheikh and felt that it was her duty to welcome the strangers in a manner befitting a Sheikh's daughter. So forgetting her jealousy and her hurt pride, she walked with dignity towards the camel train and said :
" Welcome. Among all the camels, Beldam, welcome to you.
Welcome. God welcome the bride and her kinsfolk too.
Welcome. Even though she took my cousin from me.
Welcome. For a beautiful Bedouine girl is she."
When the kinsfolk heard this, They turned to her husband and said:" We can't break the heart of such a woman. Neither do want our daughter to hurt her. So we are taking the girl back home. You must return to your cousin, to your noble Sheikh's daughter."
 
Traditions In Kuwait



Written and illustrated
by
Bazza Al-Batni


Diwaniya

Generally, most of the Kuwaiti houses in the past contained one courtyard so that women had to go to their rooms and stay out of sight when male visitors came to the house, but those families who could afford to do so built a Diwaniya(The men's courtyard).
This room or courtyard, separated from the women's courtyard, functioned as the public area where business colleagues, male guests, were received and entertained. In the Diwaniya men could meet their neighbours, friends, and relations to discuss events, exchange stories, listen to poems and drink tea and coffee.
The main doors of the Diwaniya were left open to the sea front during the day and early evening indicating that callers were welcome, and led to a corridor lined with benches where they could wait. There were also guest rooms for overnight guests and benches outside the main doors where passersby and guests could sit in summer to enjoy the sea breeze. Some of those seashore Diwaniyas and their benches still exist along the Gulf street and still used in the same old way.
The main reception room-Diwan-opened on to the courtyard and was comfortably furnished with cushions which could be grouped around the walls as seats and arm-rests. The floor was covered with knotted wool pile carpets and flat woven kilims imported from Persia. Essential furnishing for the Diwan included equipment for the preparation of the cardamon-flavored coffee which was served to guests. This was brewed on a low rectangular brazier at the far end of the Diwan or in a small adjacent room either by the host himself or by a specially appointed servant. A coffee set is consisted of four gleaming brass pots (Edlal) with lids and long beaked spouts, in graduated sizes, and a large selection of utensils. As coffee was freshly ground for every serving , there was a spoon-like long handled metal pan(Mihmass) for roasting the beans, which were turned over and stirred with a narrow spatula(Yed el Mihmass) and then put into shallow slipper-shaped wooden container (Mubarrad) for cooling. The roasted beans were then pulverized in a cylindrical brass pestle and mortar (Hawan), and infused with water in one of the pots, from which it was poured into small cups(Fanayeel) which were often of imported Chinese or European porcelain.
The Diwaniya had preserved it's importance at the social, political and economical life and activities in Kuwait and the number of the Diwaniyas had multiplied a couple of hundred times. One can find a Diwaniya or even moor in nearly every neighbourhood in Kuwait which are open daily, once or twice a week or occasionally .These actual modern Diwaniyas are very well equipped with televisions, radios, satellite channels, computers and telephones. Some of them have determined objectives, schedules, and timetable. Some announce the subject that to be discussed days before the opening while others became a sort of saloons for literature and culture, but the most interesting evaluation of the Diwaniya is the appearance of lady's Diwaniyas where the participation of males of the same interests and activities are very welcome.

Marriage


Marriage was considered a political or economic alliance that took place between those of the same social status, financial standing or religious sect. In the past parents were responsible for choosing marriage partners for their children and neither the prospective bride or the bridegroom had any say in the matter.
If no marriage partner could be found by the parents among their extended family or families they were well-acquainted with, then it was the practice to ask a female go-between to act on their behalf. Once she found a prospective bride then she would inform the boy's family and, if they were interested , she would return to the girl's house. If, however the girl's parents were happy with the choice then a date would be set for the two families to meet.
During the engagement the girl would not be allowed to leave her home or meet any one. The boy's father would give his wife money to buy the wedding gift which is called Al Dazzah and would consist of four expensive dresses, two rolls of material, towels, bedsheets and blankets .The wedding gift then would be taken to the girl's house on a Thursday or Sunday evening accompanied by a group of singers holding lanterns who would sing as they walked from the boy's house to the girl's. If the girl's father approved then he would bless them and ask his wife to prepare their daughter well for the wedding.
On the wedding night the groom would walk from his house to the bride's home accompanied by his father and uncles, neighbouers and relations joining the procession.
On his arrival at the bride's house a group of singers would greet him with this song:


There is no God but Allah La illaha illa Allah
Choose the beautiful one! Allaik bil gublani
You glitter like a candle among the boys, Ya shama'at essibiani
You are the golden ring on the right hand, Ya ekhwaitim bil yemeen
You are a gift from God Ya ataya al rahmeen
Bless him God. O allaih embarak
Let him be blessed O assa eytibarak


Sometimes for a favorite daughter a special ceremony called Aljalwa was performed. Inside the house the bride would be seated on a chair wearing a green dress .Four women would hold a large green silk sheet above her head and raise and lower it to the rhythm of a song. One of the most popular songs on this occasion was :


She is faithful in her thoughts Aminah fi amaneeha
She has beautiful features Maleeha fi ma'aneeha
She is shining and glittering Tajalat winjalat haghan
I asked God to make her happy Sa'alt Allah yehaneeha
Her forehead is shining like the moon Jabeenin kalbader yadi
Her saliva cures my ills Wireejin yashfi amradi
God of heaven is happy with her Laha rab essima radi
So he gave her beauty Wa ahsanah fi ma'aneeha

The bride was then carried seated in her chair to the bedroom where the groom would be waiting for her.
After a week at the girl's house, the couple went to live with the groom's family. Relations and neighbours would accompany the bride to her new home but her mother would not be allowed to do so as it was considered a bad sign.


Songs, dances and celebrations

During the long, lonely months of anxiety while their men away, the women in Kuwait would gladly welcome any excuse for a celebration which would help them to forget their responsibilities and hardship for a while. In the close-knit community friends, neighbours and relations were always ready to join in the celebration of someone else's happiness.
Simple, homely events such as baby's first tooth or first step were often a cause for rejoicing. They usually celebrate this kind of event by ceremony called "Enoon". The children of neighbours and relations would be invited for the occasion which generally took place in the afternoon. The mother would spread a rug in the courtyard of her house and then go up on the roof with a large basket full of sweets and nuts which she would scatter down onto the rug . The children would gather them up and carry them in the hems of their dresses. The waiting mothers would be given plates of "Enoon"
More important milestones such as the birth of a longed-for boy or girl child would be celebrated according to the family means. Grinding Grain was usually celebrated in rich houses as part of the preparations for Ramadan. The family would buy in a large amount of grain and then invite a group of women who specialized in crushing grain to come to their house to celebrate the occasion. While crushing the grain they would perform rhythmic movements, alternately pounding the grain and spinning round while they sang.
When a wedding was to take place, the whole family and often the whole neighbourhood would become involved in the preparations. Occasionally a more affluent neighbour would loan her jewelry to the bride or send over rugs, ornaments or even a bed for the bridal chamber. Others would help with the preparation of food or contribute towards paying the singers.
Religious occasions such as the birth of the Prophet Mohammed would be celebrated solemnly. Songs of praise would be sung, the Holy Koran read and money or clothes given to poor people.
During the spring it was the custom to go on picnics to the desert and in summer to go to the sea at the weekend. It was also customary for Kuwaitis to go camping in the desert for two weeks during spring. They would take their tents, camping equipment and animals with them and spend their days walking, playing games, singing and dancing.
Perhaps the largest celebration of all was the welcoming of the divers on their return from months at sea.The whole city-men, women and children- would take part, going down to the seashore and welcoming their arrival with ceremony and song.

The Divers Arrival

When the pearl divers were sighted returning on their boats, their womenfolk would rush to the seashore to await their return. One woman would throw a burning palm branch and a bowl of castor oil into the sea. The former was to frighten the sea and the latter to purge the sea, so that the men folk would return safely. A kitten, belonging to one of the young boys who had accompanied his father on the voyage as an apprentice, would then be pushed under the water three times until it cried, which was considered a good sign.
Making light of their anxiety, the women would then sing a song in which they named homely familiar objects and asked them to bring their men back safe and sound :

Repent, oh sea ! Tob tob ya bahar
Four months have gone the fifth begun, Arba'a wil Khamis dakhal
Bring them back, raising their sails Jeebhom Khfjeen ebjeebhom
You are not afraid of God, oh sea. Matkhaf min Allah ya bahar
Four months have gone the fifth begun, Arba'a wil Khamis dakhal
Stop it, sea, and bring Sabah Le'toob Toob toob jeeb Sabah le'toob
Oh jewel, Yalyouharah
Bring Hussein from the sea Hati Hussein minebhara
Oh box of matches, Yal chabreet
Bring Mohammed Al Afreet Hat Mohammed ela'afreet
Oh can of gaz, Ya elgaz
Bring bou Gammaz Hatt bou Gammaz
Oh lemon Ya eloomi
Bring bin Roomi Hatt bin Roomi
Oh pearl, Ya eddana
Pull Shamlan back by his ears Yerry Shamlan emnathana


Death, Funerals and mourning

Traditions connected with death and mourning in Kuwait have always been very simple. Since death is regarded as God's will, excessive displays of grief are considered evil and protest against God's will. Elaborate ceremonies and memorials are also regarded as unnecessary.
After death the body of the deceased would be washed at home by relatives wearing gloves and using Sidre powder as soap. The corpse was then dried with a towel before it was perfumed with rose oil,Kafour oil(made of leaves) or Al Ood(from tree bark). The body would then be dressed in a simple white cotton shirt and dress and wrapped in a winding sheet. The head would be covered with a Ghutra (head cover).
According to Islamic rites, the body had to be buried before sundown on the day of death. It was first carried to the mosque for a funeral prayer. Passersby were expected to join the funeral procession, help to carry the bier and take part in the prayers. The body was then taken from the mosque to the cemetery were it was placed in a hole in the side of the main hole of the grave. The head would be laid facing Mecca. The grave was then filled in and a small mound a few centimeters high would be left on top. A mud brick would be placed at the head of the grave. This contained no name-its function was simply to indicate that there was a grave there which should not be stepped upon.
The family of the deceased would stay at home for a period of three days following the funeral to receive condolences. On the first night they would sit together and read the Khatma(the whole of the Koran). Relatives and neighbours send round food.
According to the Islamic law, a women whose husband had died had to stay at home for a period of four months and ten days in order to ascertain whether she was pregnant or not. This period was known as Al Edda. During this time she was forbidden to look at, meet or talk to males and also wearing ornaments. At the end of this period the widow would go to the sea at dawn to wash herself. Thereafter she would be free to remarry.


 
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