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The nalams with which I am acquainted are all composed in the metre described below, which is known as rajaz, the emphasis of the accent in Achehnese taking the place of the length of the syllable in Arabic.
Each verse consists of 3 or 2 pairs of iambics. Thus we have for instance the trimeter: ngòn béseumilah | ulōn puphōn | nalam jawòë || ladum Arab | ladum Acheh | lōn hareutòë ||
and the dimeter:
uyòë karangan | Habib Hadat || that meucheuhu | jeuëb-jeuëb bilat ||
All works composed in nalam deal with religious subjects, and many have the character of text-books rather than works of edification.
So much of the form of Achehnese written literature; we shall now proceed to describe its substance, so far as our limited space permits. We shall classify the various works according to the nature of their subjects, placing the few nalams and the still rarer prose works among the hikayats which treat of similar subjects. Where a work is not expressly stated to be composed in nalam or in prose, it may be taken for granted that it is a hikayat, and the reader may supply this title even where we have for brevity's sake omitted to do so.
For facility of reference, we have numbered consecutively with Roman numerals all the Achehnese works referred to.
We shall deal first with those works which are of purely Achehnese origin and shall then go on to describe those derived directly or indirectly from Indian, Arabic or Malay sources.
§ 2. The Hikayat Ruhé.
The form of hikayat known as ruhé need not long occupy our attention. It stands, in respect of its contents and purpose, between the haba and the hikayat proper. The proper meaning of ruhé is to publish abroad a man's private life, his secrets and his follies, to speak evil of a man or make him an object of ridicule. Should it happen that a stranger from some other district takes up his abode in a certain place, and there meets with any noteworthy adventures or excites ridicule or disgust by his acts or omissions, some local wag will often celebrate
