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AOAs for Ibraham and Nesrin

AOAs for Ibraham and Nesrin

Ibrahim

A jewel of great worth is Alman Ibrahim
He succeeds as if good luck were part of him;
Sitting curia for Ravensdale Stronghold,
His words are wise, his judgement is manifold.
The Shah’s court speak well of him in poem and prose,
His good name has pleased our regal Eastern Rose.

Thus, on this (number) day of (month), Anno Societatis (year), We, Wilhelm & Vienna, Köenig and Könegin of the East Kingdom, are moved to Award unto him Arms to be borne by him alone: (arms if any). Done by Our hand at (event name) in Our (name of host group).

Nesrin

Like a rose whose petals opened overnight,
Like a diamond which transforms the dark to light
Our Nesrin Bint Suleyman opens her heart
And welcomes newcomers to practice their art.
Far her fame has spread, a welcome desert pool.
The Shah holds her as a  precious national jewel.

Thus, on this (number) day of (month), Anno Societatis (year), We, Wilhelm & Vienna, Köenig and Könegin of the East Kingdom, are moved to Award unto him Arms to be borne by him alone: (arms if any). Done by Our hand at (event name) in Our (name of host group).

----------------
Documentation and Research:
Text from the Assignment:  IE the write up.  This couple, Nesrin Bint Suleyman and Alman Ibrahim have contributed greatly to development of the incipient Stronghold of Ravensdale. They have hosted group get-togethers at their property, ... Ibrahim is on the Curia of the incipient stronghold. They are extremely enthusiastic and welcoming, and inventive, and thus contribute greatly both to the enjoyment of others at events and to the ambience of events. They have also put considerable effort into their garb and equipment, including constructing a yurt for SCA camping, in addition to outfitting their two energetic children.

Sources:
(AOA sample language from https://signet.eastkingdom.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/SAMPLE-WORDINGS-5.15.pdf

“Let it be known to all that We, (King‟s name) Rex and (Queen‟s name) Regina have found the many good works and services, especially (reason for award) of (name of recipient) to be of much merit. Thus, on this (number) day of (month), Anno Societatis (year), We are moved to Award unto him/her Arms to be borne by him/her alone: (blazon or a few lines worth of blank text to be filled in later). Done by Our hand at (event name) in Our (name of host group).)”

Links to the poem format:
http://poetscollective.org/poetryforms/mathnawi/ 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mathnawi_(poetic_form)

Rhyming Couplets.
AA/BB/CC
11 syllables each line. End rhyme and alliteration.

Artistic stylings: As this was a married couple, I turned to look for a Persian love story, and was reminded of Majnun and Layla.  Majnun and Layla are the Persian Romeo and Juliet, except their love is entirely innocent. Their love was never consummated. As Ibrahim and Nesrin are a married couple, with children, this is not 100% appropriate, but the imagery in that work, even translated into English is so beautiful, I needed to steal some of the images.

The Story Of Layla And Majnun

Since the AOAs were being given out together, and knowing that they would be read in court together, and likely framed side by side, this gave me the excuse to try a technique of poem chaining that is usually found in Tamil poetry.. Nammalavar's Thiruvaymoli uses this technique to tie the poems together, as if each poem is a bead on a mala, touching the poem before it and after it with a single word.  In this case, with only two poems, I intended that the last word (or image) of the first poem should be the first word of the next poem, and the last word of the second poem is the first word of the first poem.  This chains the poems into a small circle, like a wedding ring.
The imagery I used, a jewel, a rose, the Shah, a court far away, a pool of water in the desert, etc, are particularly, Persian images.
At the time our Majesties were German and the AOA recipients were Persian.  So although I referred to HRM as Shah in the poem, I included their German titles in the wrap up section as a compromise for both Personas.


Quote from Layla and Majun I cheerfully stole from the original:
and in all his enterprises he succeeded as if good luck were part of him, as the
stone is part of the fruit
(I orignally wrote it as :He succeeds as if good luck were part of him;
fortune’s mighty chalice is filled to the brim.)


Quote from Layla and Majun:
like a rose whose petals have
opened overnight, like a diamond which transforms
the darkness of the world into sheer light.

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