SYI’R, SYAIR, SYI’IRAN: THE CONNECTION BETWEEN RHYMES AND METRICS IN AL-‘ARUD PERSPECTIVE

Purpose of the study: This study explores metric patterns of syi’iran and syair, genres of poetry indicated to bear close relation with the pattern of Arabic syair. The genres include classical poetry in Malay, Javanese, and Sundanese. Methodology: Research is conducted with a qualitative approach towards a data pool of syi’iran and syair, collected purposively to determine its relation with the rhymes and metrics of Arabic syair and its uniqueness compared to other forms of poetry in the Archipelago. Main Findings: The research concludes that syi’iran and syair are poetic genres with the following characteristics: (1) posses a basic structure of couplets, (2) bear a specific rhyme pattern of consonant and vowel phonemes in up to two syllables at the end of each line, in every two to four adjacent lines, and (3) display distinct metric of consistent rhythmic half-lines. The three characteristics are indicative of its relationship with Arabic poetry. Applications of this study: Research findings shall become a foundation to redefine the literary terminology of poetry and assist in philological criticism in Indonesia, although its uses in teachings and researches in both fields will need further promotion, both inside and outside the country. Novelty/Originality of this study: The approach applied in the research allows the identification of metric patterns in various forms of poetry that have been circulating in Indonesia for centuries but have yet to be scientifically formulated, or even theoretically identified by scholars.


INTRODUCTION
Syair is a classical form of poetry in which each stanza consists of four rhyming lines. The entry word was included in the first edition of the Great Dictionary of the Indonesian Language or Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia (KBBI) (1988) and remains available today on its online version. The definition is highly debatable for several reasons: firstly, syair is not the only form of traditional poetry that constitutes four-line stanza as seloka, pantun, talibun, to name but a few, also fall into the category; secondly, syair (including Malay syair) does not strictly consist of four rhyming lines. Some of our early researchers found that the entire final syllables in syair Andai-andai Si Burung Pingai are irregular-sounding and difficult to group into four lines per stanza, as well as syair Teromba Negeri Sembilan and syair Hikayat Malim Deman; whereas the Malay version of syair (nazham) 'Aqidatul-'Awam has a distinct character of rhyme in its couplets; while a syair by Nuruddin in Hikayat Muhammad Hanafiyah is composed in two-line stanzas, ended with /a/ phoneme and interjected by /i/ or /e/ phonemes.
A similar effort was conducted by Hindun (2012) in an article entitled Syingir: The Transformation of Arabic Poetry into Javanese. Her research deduced the two types of transformation of Arabic poetry into Javanese, i.e.: (1) the use of pegon letters in syingir writings to adapt syingir and its senggakan (inserts), (2) syingir follows the metric of Arabic poetry. Her research was considered to be one step ahead for acknowledging the metrics derived from sections of syllables in a target genre presumed to originate from Arabic poetry, yet a major part of the research relied on Arabic sections found in each syingiran.
A significant effort was made by Ikhwan (2010), through his research on a syi'iran manuscript Pengeling-elinge Wong Urip (PWU) of Cirebon, West Java origin. His research was the first to compare Arabic traditional poetry and Archipelago traditional poetry of syi'iran genre by converting the harakat-sukun system in the Arabic alphabet (syllabic alphabet) into phonetic syllables system of Latin alphabet (phonetic alphabet). Even though PWU syi'iran was written in Javanese without Arabic stanzas as guidance (senggakan), its meter shows an influence of Arabic meter Kamil. His finding therefore also indicated that, in Indonesia, syair is not only known among Malay communities but also the Javanese people. There is a distinct relation between Arabic poetry (taqlidi), Malay syair, and Javanese syi'iran in terms of forms and meter types.
Furthermore, another research that highlighted Malay syair was conducted by Makmun, Ikhwan, and Hazmirullah through an article "Arab-Malay Harmonization in Art: A Case Study of Ahmad Baqi's Qasidah", presented in Manassa Symposium XVII in Pekanbaru, Riau (2018). The article discovered meters similar to Arab syair and syi'iran in several Ahmad Baqi's songs. For example, the song "Selimut Putih" was a creative adaptation of Kamil Bahr, while the song "Panggilan Ka'bah" is adapted from Khafif Bahr mixed with Mutadarik Bahr in its chorus. This supports our hypothesis that the general metric pattern of Archipelago syair is an adaptive form of Arabic meters. The composition of pairing lines in syair also supports the rationale, without discounting the possibility of modification from the original meters as an integral part of creativity and local wisdom.
Based on our literature review and the consistent findings mentioned in the review, we are convinced of the hypothesis that "the Archipelago classical poetry known as syi'iran or syair bears a distinct relationship with Arabic poetry pattern in terms of similar rhyme schemes and meters".

MATERIALS AND METHODS
The research object is syi'iran or poetry of the same genre in Sundanese, Javanese, and Malay, involving 81 syi'iran in Sundanese and 64 syi'iran in Javanese, some of them still in the form of an ancient manuscript, compiled from various regions of West Java and surrounding areas, and 112 Malay syair recorded in publications from experts in the field. Sample data were then collected through purposive sampling, a technique using sets of criteria (inclusion and exclusion) selected to acquire a description of the pattern as well as to prove previous research findings. This is applicative research designed qualitatively with an abductive approach. Abductive approach is a combination of both deductive and inductive methods. Inductive method propels the research towards new findings, while deductive method allows hypothesis development (Hardiman, 1993; Damanhuri, n.d; Dayim, 1993;Dhaif, 1987;Fuad, 1980;Ghaddzami, 1991;Haqi, 1987).
Phases in the research comprise of: (a) collection of syi'iran or same-genre poems in Sundanese, Javanese, and Malay, (b) conversion of Arabic Bahr to test the possibility of its use in syi'iran, (c) examination of metric pattern and hypothesis testing, (d) conclusion of syi'iran metric, (e) establishment of the relationship between the metrics of syi'iran and Arabic shair.

Verse Composition According to its Rhyme
The verse in syair or syi'iran is compatible with the term bait and/or syatr Arabic poetry. As previously mentioned in the literature review, based on the characteristics of Hamzah Fansuri's poems, the predecessors in Malay literature gathered that each stanza (or bait in Indonesian, which should not be confused with Arabic bait) consists of four lines. Some then believed this character links Malay syair and Arabic shair.
Such a view appears to call for a reevaluation since Arabic syair does not share the same character. In Arabic syair, each stanza consists of simply a line whichin its ideal formis divided into right and left half-line, with an unlimited number of a stanza in a poem. The arrangement of a four-lined stanza was not derived from Arabic shair but from Persia instead, known as dubait or, the more popular name, ruba'i. In its ideal form, a structure of a dubait may be formulated as follows (read from right to left): These four parts usually converge into a unit of meaning, marked with an a-a rhyme scheme on the left, while the right side may be a-a, a-b, or b-b alternatively. In the next stanza, a-a scheme can transform into b-b, c-c, etc, along with the shift in the poem's core message. These four parts have a consistent meter, usually a repetition of the meter (in consecutive order from right to left): On the other hand, the structure of an Arabic shair may be formulated as such:  (Drewes & Brekel, 1986) The interrelation between the rhymes in every four lines became the ground argument of early scholars in identifying the influence of dubait or ruba'iyat towards Malay syair. In our opinion, as also pointed by Ibn Abi Syanab (1990), dubait does not restrain each Mishra' to be strictly a-a-a-a, because some may take on a-a-b-a scheme (syatr awal of the second stanza is different). Not to mention the metric pattern which we will explain in detail in the following section. Based on this argument, the arrangement of four-lined stanza -or four tied lines, as we call it-in Malay syair is a distinct form of its own, unrelated to Arabic or Persian influence.
Within the tradition of Archipelago syair, be it in Malay, Javanese, or Sundanese, it is difficult to find a consistent rhyme -from the beginning to the final stanza (Arabic: bait)-as in Arabic qafiyah.
Javanese and Sundanese syi'iran is a different case from Malay syair. Based on the pattern of the last phoneme of each line (rhyme), the genre can be classified into (1) four-lined stanza, similar to Malay syair and (2) two-lined stanza. Other than the two, it is also found (3) a five-lined stanza, albeit the latter is extremely rare.
Based on our study, the second arrangement is more frequently found compared to the other two. Two-lined stanzas, for example "Hormat ka Pamarentah" syi'iran in Sundanese and "Hukum Islam" in Javanese, are as follows: This is a different arrangement from Malay traditional pantun.
In Javanese and Sundanese ancient manuscripts, some poems were already written with the above arrangement (with right and left half-lines), but two-lined syi'iran written in the subsequent arrangement was the more commonly used. It is strongly assumed that the situation was due to the limited availability of paper in olden days, on one hand, and also the lack of writing expertise of Arabic Pegon letters, on the other. Letters in those Javanese and Sundanese texts tended to be written in "large" sizes, will have taken ample space should they wrote the nazham in two syatr.

Rhyme Scheme
Besides rhyme-oriented verse composition, another characteristic indicative of a relationship between Arabic shair and Malay syair or syi'iran rests in its rhyme scheme.  -a-a-a or a-a, b-b, etc. It specifies due to the scope that the research encompasses, which includes an analysis on vowel and consonant variations in up to two final syllables.
The most accepted view on Sundanese syi'iran rhyme nowadays refers to Kartini (1986), that the final rhyme of syi'iran is not limited to a-a-a-a, but may be modified into several variations, namely: (1) aaaa, (2) aabb, (3)  Furthermore, the effort to equalize syi'iran to Malay syair-for their four-line arrangement-will in turn obscure the existential relationship between syi'iran and Arabic shair, considering that four-line arrangement is unheard of in Arabic shair.

Metric Patterns
The strongest indication on the relationship between Arabic syair and Malay syair lies in their metric patterns. Preceding scholars generally agreed-see, for example, Hooykaas and Besar (1952), Usman (1960), and Fang (1993)-that each line of a Malay syair is between 8-12 syllables. In Sundanesse syi'iran, Kartini (1986) mentioned that Western Javanese syi'iran often consist of 8 syllables in each of its lines. This view is widely accepted.
Our findings show that the number of syllables in each line of a syi'iran or Malay syair actually depends on the meter it applies to. The presence of these distinctly Arabic meters was yet to be recognized by those early scholars.
Based on the analysis on the entire research data, we find that syi'iran meters, including those found in Malay verses, can be classified into three types: two half-lines, three half-lines, and for half-lines.
Every rhyme scheme may consist of either four-syllable or five-syllable pairs. a. Two half-line pattern of 4-4 pair Example: (1) "Allah anu Maha Akbar" (Sunda) Al.lah a.nu │Ma.ha Ak.bar Based on our data, no pattern of the above examples can be found in Malay poems. The pattern applies the bahr Kamil Tam in Arabic poetry whose metre is mutafa'ilun-mutafa 'ilun-mutafa 'ilun in one line (1 syathr of Arabic poem). Rhythmical deceleration on certain pattern-five-syllable metre to four-syllable metre-can be identified.
c. Three half-line pattern of 5-5-4 pair The only identification we can make of the 5-5-4 pair pattern is from the syi'iran manuscript written in the Javanese language of Cirebon variation: The pattern, as seen in the first line of the cited syi'iran above, may have had rhythmical deceleration in metre from five syllables to four-syllable.

d. Three half-line pattern of 5-5-3 pair
This pattern is seemingly uncommon as well. The only data depicting the pattern is a renowned poem in the Arabic language.
"Ilahi Las…" The poem of Bahr Wafir model is considered unique because of three reasons. Firstly, it is widely recognized and has been translated into multiple local languages in the Archipelago. Secondly, the translated material used to adjusting to the original pattern (translations follows its rhythmical pattern). Thirdly, the translated item will be displayed accordingly as an integral component with its Arabic version. And lastly-this is what interests us-the most appreciated first line of the Arabic version is subject to rhythmical deceleration, altering the mode of mu-fa-'a-la-tun (5 syllables) into mu-fa-'al-tun (four syllables). You should pay attention to the metrical pattern of the poem when it is converted into syi'iran: The initial 5-5-3 pair patterned rhythm has changed consistently into 4-4-4 pair patterned ones. This occurs as, on the one hand, we have accepted the Arabic version of the poem in four syllables (instead of the five-syllable version) and, on the other hand, have also admitted the influence of local metre in completing three-syllables metre into four. Thus, the 4-4-4 pair pattern is established. In turn, when there is a five-syllable metre, it regarded as rhythmical acceleration, while the three-syllable one is deemed otherwise.