What is "muwashshah"

n. 1 An ode, a multi-lined strophic verse poem, generally of five stanzas alternating with a refrain. 2 A song which uses a (frequently secular) text written in this verse as its lyrics.

Muwashshah ( literally means "girdled" in Classical Arabic; plural or ) is the name for both an Arabic poetic form and a secular musical genre. The poetic form consists of a multi-lined strophic verse poem written in classical Arabic, usually consisting of five stanzas, alternating with a refrain with a running rhyme. It was customary to open with one or two lines which matched the second part of the poem in rhyme and meter; in North Africa poets ignore the strict rules of Arabic meter while the poets in the East follow them. The musical genre of the same name uses muwaššaḥ texts as lyrics, still in classical Arabic. This tradition can take two forms: the waṣla of Aleppo and the Andalusi nubah of the western part of the Arab world.