The Sacred in Algerian Poetry. From the Ottoman Period to the End of French Colonization

Understanding the history of Algerian literature and forming an accurate idea of Algeria’s cultural past, from the Ottoman period to the end of the French occupation, requires painting a clear picture of cultural life during this era.

Algeria gave birth to many poets who left behind a significant literary heritage. This heritage reflects the intellectual and literary output of these poets through the stages of their lives and the collections they left. Undoubtedly, this poetry carries many features of Arab thought and culture, yet much of it remains hidden, and what has reached us so far is only a small fraction. For example — without being exhaustive — there is the collection “Algerian Poems”, which includes works by poets such as Ibn Ammar, Ibn Ali, Ahmed Al-Manjelati, Ibn Maimoun, Ibn Ras Al-Ain, among others.

In this project, we aim to illuminate one aspect of Algerian poetry related to the phenomenon of the sacred during the aforementioned period. It is clear that poetry in this era was abundant, yet the spirit of Sufism dominated. Almost every poet produced at least one poem on religious or Sufi themes. For instance, ‘Abd al-Karim al-Fakoun, author of “Manshūr al-Hidaya”, composed more than seven hundred (700) verses in praise of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. Ibn Maryam, in his work “Al-Bustan fi Dhikr Awliya Tlemcen”, recounts information about poets from Tlemcen and Constantine. ‘Abd al-Rahman al-Akhdari, a scholar proficient in all sciences, composed a didactic poem titled “Al-Qudusiya fi al-Tasawwuf” comprising three hundred and fifty-seven (357) verses to facilitate memorization. Among the internationally renowned poets is Ahmed al-Maqri, whose prolific literary output has become a fundamental reference for researchers and scholars.

By “sacred,” we refer here to the religious and Sufi connotations in Algerian poetic expression as shaped by popular imagination. The roots of Algerian poetry are historical, emerging from the suffering and experiences of the Algerian people, and reflect a particular image of the social reality of the time.

The concept of the sacred must be adapted according to the cultural particularities of society, avoiding anthropological assumptions that automatically oppose sacred and profane, or religious and secular, as proposed in some Western theories by Emile Durkheim and Mircea Eliade. In Islamic cultural history, there is no strict division between religious and secular, and the idea of the profane does not necessarily encompass all that is worldly. Accordingly, our concept of the sacred transcends this dichotomy, which may apply to Western societies and other contexts. Nevertheless, in our study, we focus on the psychological and social contexts of the sacred in Algerian poetry, from both a systemic perspective (linguistic and stylistic analysis) and a contextual perspective (analysis of spiritual and emotional content).

Thus, Algerian poetry, both classical and popular, abounds with manifestations of the sacred: praise of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, celebrations of his birth, youth, mission, and qualities; longing for visits to holy sites and their descriptions; praise of the Prophet’s family, companions, great saints, and Sufis; intercession through saints; as well as descriptions of religious feasts and celebrations.

For example — without exhaustiveness — one can cite the Sufi love poetry of Abu Medyen Chouaib al-Tlemceni and Emir Abdelkader, the Prophetic praise by poet Sidi Lakhdar Ben Khlouf, and the veneration of saints as seen in the works of Mustafa Ben Ibrahim and Abdelkader Batabji.

Religious texts are strongly present throughout the lives of these poets. They weave mythical images for their subjects of praise, such as saints, imbued with religious meanings. This makes the poetic lexicon of the sacred rich in words and linguistic connotations.

The works of these poets merit study because of the religious and Sufi perspectives they offer, which greatly shaped the Algerian popular imagination and contributed to preserving the components of national identity. Without the spiritual resistance of these poets, French colonial efforts to erase Algerian identity and destroy its foundations would have been much more effective.

Algerian poetry, characterized by a patriotic spirit and defense of freedom and dignity, serves as a faithful record of social, cultural, and religious life. It recounts numerous events, follows successive Algerian revolts, records victories and defeats, and combats injustice and tyranny in all forms. This vitality is animated by an Islamic religious spirit, reflected in Prophetic praise, Sufism, the veneration of saints, and the description of feasts and religious holidays.

From this perspective, the main objectives of this study are:

To revive and document Algerian poetic heritage from the Ottoman period to the end of the French occupation by collecting dispersed texts, often in manuscript form, and making them available to researchers.To demonstrate the social, historical, and national significance of this poetry, highlighting its crucial role in shaping the Algerian popular imagination, particularly through the element of the sacred.To reveal the customs and traditions associated with the religious and spiritual rituals of Algerian society as reflected in the poetry of the studied geographic area.To examine manifestations of the sacred in Algerian poetic heritage by analyzing its poetic lexicon.To explore the structure of Algerian sentiment in its interaction with historical reality and social and political transformations, through its aesthetic expressions in poetry.