THE FOLKLORIC TRADITION

The most popular form in the Folkloric
is the sirah which mean life or biogra-
phy and the stories that go by this tile 
recount adventures and achievement
of tribal or national 🐎.

          In this manners and customer of 
the modern Egyptians ,Edward lane d-
escribed how professional storytellers
rendered three of these works ,Sirat A-
ntar. Performing in the coffeehouses o-
d the day the narrators would recite at
a great speed and in hopes of increasi-
g donations from the audience would
embellishe the tales with fresh anecd-
otes .In this way the tales grew into th-
eir present form after hundreds of ye-
ars of oral transmission.

          At least on of the sirahs Bani Hal-
al is still recited in the coffeehouses of
North Africa. This narrative  recounts 
the saga of Bani Halal ,an Arabian trib-
es that migrated to Egypt and North A-
frica . It focuses on the life and deeds--
of a fictitious tribal leader. Abo-Zayed ,
the black son of a tribal Prince who be-
comes a hero and a leader in exile and
unknowingly does battle against the o-
wne father and lives on for many year-s to lead his people successfully.

Sirat, Bani-Hilal gives the spirit of no-
midic life in which family and tribal l-
oyalties are foremost.

          Sirat Baybars which was compile
by the sixteenth century is based on t-
he life of the historic General and rural
Baybars I,who ruled Egypt and Syria in
the thirteenth century. It portrays Bay-
bars as a champion of a common  peo-
ple against officials and soldiers ,who 
are considered as rogues and oppress-
ors.
          The most famous and popular a-
among sirah works since the eighth ce-
ntury is Sirah Antar .It is based on life
of the pre-islamic hero and poet Antar-
ah was a black man who overcome his
law status and become a leader throu-
gh personal heroism. He wins his belo-
ved Ablah by enduring a series of tests.
          By Mr Mohammed Matbaq

          Abu-Shihab