Ataaba

Sung unmetered in stanzas comprising four lines, the last word of the first three lines are homonyms, each with a different meaning, creating a pun. In urban settings, the ataaba is often paired with a metric choral refrain called a mījanā.

The ataaba is also used to express grief or reproach. The most common theme of an ataaba is love, though eulogies are also common. Less common themes include moral instruction, and descriptions of nature.

Structure

About half of all ataabas do not use fixed meter, while the other half use a standard rajaz or wāfir meter. Generally composed of four verses of poetry, the first three end with the same sound. The end of a verse or quatrain in an ataaba is marked by adding a word ending in "-ba" to the end of the fourth hemistich. The fourth and final verse usually ends with a word ending in the sound aab or awa.

While there are four lines of verse in an ataaba, these are usually sung as two musical phrases. These phrases are often a melodic curve beginning on the fourth or fifth, descending to the cadence and ending on the supertonic or tonic. All ataabas are performed by a soloist, who often begins by singing a long melismatic phrase on the syllable ōf. While this opening sequence is not necessarily a part of the ataaba, the closing melismatic phrase sung to words such as yā bā ("O father"), yā mā ("O mother"), or yā eyn ("O eyes"), etc., is an integral part of the song's structure and is unique to this musical form.