Creator Bio
J.S.
20th Century
Nothing is known about the author of this satire, which is a Judeo-Arabic version of a popular and malleable song widespread among Maghrebi Jews and Muslims during World War I. The French Arabist Joseph Desparmet (b. 1863) recorded more than thirty different examples, including added stanzas as well as longer ballads of the type presented here. The titular subject of the song “Hadj Guillaume” is the German emperor Wilhelm II, who was rumored to have converted to Islam. The constantly changing lyrics of “Hadj Guillaume” offered a variety of local perspectives on world news, usually demonstrating anticolonial support for the Germans but also appearing in pro-French versions, especially among Jews (many of whom served in the French army).
Entries in the Posen Library by This Creator
Primary Source
A Satirical Song in Judeo-Arabic Describing the Events of the First World War
Fare well, O fathers! Implore Allah that He have mercy upon us.
Look, see! How are we going to make it? Hadj Guillaume is tormented [lit., his blood is burning].
O, alas! How this…