Chaâbi in the language of Voltaire is a Rachid Messaoudi 2010 book from Thala Editions.

"While they deserve to be studied in high school, or even in college, certain texts of our heritage remain sequestered by certain singers who in no way want to listen to the intellectual approach."

"Insomnia takes over my nights through the absence of the one I love in my depths and who deserts my heart. What must I do my friends, love has destroyed me and its weight is above my patience . No remedy relieves my sadness and no healer has come to announce his return...". This is the beginning of the poem Ezzine El Fassi by Mohamed Benslimane, translated into French by Dr Rachid Messaoudi in his very interesting work entitled Le Chaâbi dans la langue de Voltaire.

"Having been immersed in the Chaâbi atmosphere since my earliest childhood and continuing to appreciate this fabulous song which perfumes our family and religious celebrations, I took on the challenge of translating texts listened to a thousand times and often little deciphered as well by the singers prematurely called "chiakhs" only by the public," explains the author of the book published by Thala Editions.

The reader will thus find translations of poems such as El Ghourri Fe Eddounia (The Lure In This World) and Ess'aki (The Échanson) by Mohamed Benslimane, Ecchemaâ by Sheikh Mohamed Benseghir, Ettarchoune (The Falcon) by Mohamed Benali, Ghaddar Kassek Ya Ndim (The Setting Sun) by Andjar and Ettaïya by Sidi Kaddour El Alamy. The poems in Arabic and their translation into French are accompanied by a short biography of their authors.

Rachid Messaoudi reminds us that Chaâbi is only one aspect of melhoun, giving as an example Cheikh Hammada and El Hadj Mohamed Tahar El Fergani who "set to music, in different genres, texts based on popular melhoun poetry" . Also, the work includes a "History of Melhoun". "Chaâbi is appreciated like jazz since it is open to improvisation," writes R. Messaoudi. In this area, Amar Ezzahi is certainly the most gifted. Thus, a chapter is devoted to this master who "dresses Chaâbi with elegance" and to this "burning ember of Chaâbi". We cannot talk about this traditional musical genre without talking about El-Anka. "The El-Anka genre is and will remain attractive by the richness of the melodious improvisations, the fantasies and the strength of the tone of our sheikh (…) El Hadj M'hamed El Anka will remain an idol and without sacralizing him, it would be desirable to take the essential path that he has traced and above all go out on happy paths to conquer talent" (page 20). In the part entitled "Between the chebs and the shiakhs", it is a question, naturally, of the "rivalry" which opposes the followers of Chaâbi to those of raï. "Chaâbi" means "popular", but for Dr Rachid Messaoudi, it is "more than urgent" to really popularize this musical genre wrongly considered to be specifically Algerian.

"The current dimension given to this rich poetry is unworthy of it. It can compete and even surpass other poetry because the Arabic language is an ocean of words, of pictorial expressions, of love, of high waves of maxims. Chaâbi poems, sometimes dating back several centuries, are not always (well) understood by those who listen to them and even more seriously by those who sing them.

"This contradiction between the blind devotion of devotees and the blatant ignorance of the poetic richness of Chaâbi can find explanations. I say it bluntly: the Shiakhs are the first culprits. The intellectuals of Chaâbi are just as much" (page 17).

The author believes that linguists, musicologists, music lovers and people of culture in general need to be a little more concerned about this music and these heritage texts. "While they deserve to be studied in high school, or even in college, certain texts of our heritage remain sequestered by certain singers who in no way want to listen to the intellectual approach (…) Without wanting to sell out the Chaâbi , we still have to give it a truly popular meaning. This would only be justice done to our heritage," writes Rachid Messaoudi.


Chaâbi in the language of Voltaire (book + CD) by Rachid Messaoudi (Thala Editions). 107 pages (2010).