And left him in great poverty;
Our compassionate Lord guided him and showed him the way,
God led him along toward the Prophet,
And gave to him the Koran."[5]

[5] R. Basset, Le Poème de Sabi, p. 15 et suis. Paris, 1879.

Other poems--for instance, that of Sidi Hammen and that of Job--are equally
celebrated in Morocco. The complaints on religious subjects are accompanied
on the violin, while those treating of a historical event or a story with a
moral have the accompaniment of a guitar. We may class this kind of poems
among those called _Tandant_, in lower Morocco, which consist in the
enumeration of short maxims. The same class exist also in Zouaona and in
Touareg.

But the inspiration of the Khabyle poets does not always maintain its
exaltation. Their talents become an arm to satirize those who have not
given them a sufficiently large recompense, or--worse still, and more
unpardonable--who have served to them a meagre repast:

"I went to the home of vile animals,
Ait Rebah is their name;
I found them lying under the sun like green figs,
They looked ill and infirm.
They are lizards among adders,
They inspire no fear, for they bite not.
Put a sheepskin before them, they
Will tear your arms and hands;
Their parched lips are all scaly,
Besides being red and spotted.