Prison Literature in Al-Andalus: The Experience of Suffering and Resistance

أدب السجون في الأندلس: تجربة المعاناة والمقاومة

Abstract

Prison literature is a literary genre in which a writer or poet expresses their personal experience in prison or reflects on the suffering of others in captivity or confinement—whether for political, ideological, religious, or social reasons. This type of literature is characterized by the sincerity of emotions, the intensity of personal experience, and the density of expression, addressing themes such as deprivation, injustice, hope, resistance, identity, and human fragility. Dr. Shawqi Daif, in his book "Art and Its Schools in Arabic Poetry", writes: “Poetry written by an author during a time of hardship—be it imprisonment or exile—emerges from the depths of the soul, carrying the burdens of both the self and the community, which grants it a human value that transcends the personal moment.” While this literary form appeared at various points throughout Islamic history, its expression in Al-Andalus took on a distinctive character due to the unique political and cultural conditions of the region. Al-Andalus is the name given by Muslims to the Iberian Peninsula (present-day Spain and Portugal), from its conquest in 92 AH / 711 CE until the fall of its last Muslim kingdom, Granada, in 897 AH / 1492 CE. Islamic rule in Al-Andalus spanned more than eight centuries, during which several states rose and fell, including the Umayyad Caliphate, the Taifa kingdoms, the Almoravids, the Almohads, and the Nasrid Kingdom of Granada. Al-Andalus was known for its ethnic and religious diversity, as well as its scientific and artistic advancement. It represented a cultural fusion between the Islamic East and the Christian West. However, this civilization also witnessed periods of conflict and political turmoil, such as civil strife, internal divisions, and wars with northern Christian kingdoms. These conditions gave rise to phenomena such as political imprisonment, arbitrary detention, and exile. The historian al-Maqrīzī, in his book "Nafḥ al-Ṭīb from the Fragrant Branch of Al-Andalus", described Al-Andalus as: “The paradise of knowledge and literature, the refuge of poets’ hearts—but also, in its final days, a land of trials and heartbreak.”