Manuscript

Siti Zawiyah Poetry: The Story of a Wife's Loyalty

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Siti Zawiyah poetry is a classic Malay literary work written in the 19th century by Tuan Bilal Abu, a poet from Riau. The poetry is written in Malay with Arabic-Jawi letters. Then this poetry was copied again by Muhammad Bakir in 1893 in Pecenongan. This poetry is also called the Haris Fadilah poetry and is also referred to as the Syair Perempuan Piatu (the orphaned woman's poetry).

This poem tells the story of a wife's fortitude in facing the trials of married life. Siti Zawiyah is the daughter of a wealthy merchant who is married to Haris Fadilah, the son of a king from Basra. Initially, Haris Fadilah did not want to be matched with Siti Zawiyah because he was already in the control of four hookers who used black magic to conquer him. After marrying Siti Zawiyah, without his wife's knowledge, Haris Fadilah kept in touch with the four hookers secretly.

When Haris Fadilah was about to go sailing to various countries, he asked Siti Zawiyah and the four hookers what gifts they wanted. Siti Zawiyah asked for "mind" gifts, while the four hookers asked for expensive items. When she returned from her voyage, Haris Fadilah had received all the requests of the four hookers, but he did not get "mind" gifts for Siti Zawiyah.

On the advice of an old man he met on the way, Haris Fadilah disguised himself by wearing bad clothes when he met the four women and his wife. The four women cursed and insulted him, while his wife accepted him faithfully. Finally, Haris Fadilah realized the mistake he had made. At the end of the story, Siti Zawiyah and Haris Fadilah live life as happy husbands and wives. Haris Fadilah was inaugurated as Sultan of Basrah accompanied by Siti Zawiyah as his empress.

Siti Zawiyah's poetry manuscript is currently stored in the National Library with the script code ML-255 along with other poetry such as Syair Sang Kupu-Kupu dan Belalang (the Butterfly and Grasshopper poetry), as well as several short poems in Dutch. The text is written on European-type paper measuring 19.5 x 15.5 cm. The manuscript is 164 pages long, written on paper with two types of paper stamps, the first is a picture of a standing lion, holding a sword and wearing a crown, facing left in a circle that reads "Concordia Resparvae Crescunt" and the second stamp has the words Van Gelder Zonen and Amsterdam.

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