Читать книгу The Epistle of Forgiveness - Abu l-'Ala al-Ma'arri - Страница 5

The Sheikh’s Return to Aleppo

Ibn al-Qāriḥ’s Arrival in Aleppo

23.1

وأمّا وروده حلبَ، حرسها الله، فلو كانت تعقِل لفرِحتْ به فرح الشَّمْطاء المنهبلة، ليست بالآبلة ولا المؤتبِلة، شحط سليلُها الواحد، وما هو لحقِّها جاحد. وقدِم بعد أعوامٍ، فنقعتْ به فرْطَ أُوامٍ، وكانت معه كالخنساء ذات البُرْغُز، رتعت به في الأصيل، وليس هو لحتفٍ بوصيل، فلمّا رأت المكان آمنًا، ولم تخش للسِّراح الخُمُع كامنًا، انبسطت في المَراد الواسع وخلَّفتْه، يحاول أُنُفًا تكلفتْه، لتُجِرَّ لذلك الولد ما في الأخلاف، ولا تلافي بُعيْد التَّلاف، فعادت المسكينة فلم تُصِبْه، فقالت للصَّمَد: لا تُنْصِبه، إن كان وقع في مخالب الذِّيب، ومُني ببعض التعذيب، فأنت القادر عل تعويض الأطفال، والعالم بعُقبى الطِّيَرة والفال. فبينا هي تَردَّدُ بين العَلَه والوَلَه، بغم لها الفقيدُ من حِقفٍ اتخذ فيه مَرْبِضا، ولم يرَ من الرُّماة مُنْبِضا، هكع لما شبِع. فما ساءه القَدَر ولا سُبع. فغمر فؤادَها ابتهاجٌ، من بعدِ ما وضح لها المنهاج.

ولو رجع القارظ إلى عَنَزةَ، ما بان فيها الطَّرب للرّجْعة، وما قُدر من زوال الفجعة، إلا دون ما أنا مَضْمِرٌ مُجِنّ، من المَسَرّة بدنوِّ الدِّيار، وإلقائه عصا التسْيار، فالحمد لله الذي أعاد البارق إلى الغَمام الوسْميّ، وأتى المُومِض بحلى السُّميّ. وإنّ حلب المنصورة لتختلُّ إلى من يعرف قليلًا من علم، في أيَّام المحاربة والسِّلم، فما باله شيّد الله الآداب بأن يزيده في المُدّة، فإنما هو لغرابها كالعُدَّة.

The Sheikh mentioned that he arrived in Aleppo—may God protect it! If it possessed reason it would have rejoiced at his arrival just as a bereaved crone who has lost her wits rejoices, a woman who has neglected the good management and care of her camels. Her only son has gone far away. He has not denied her what is due to her, and then returns after many years, and then she quenches, through him, her burning thirst. She was to him like a flat-nosed oryx cow grazing with her calf in the late afternoon. The calf was not yet doomed to die. When she saw that the place was safe and did not fear the lurking of limping wolves, she went out into the wide pasture ground and left her calf behind, giving it the difficult task of finding fresh herbage(?), and so that she could save for the calf the milk in her udders(?).⁴⁵ But there is no remedy after perdition. The poor thing returned and did not find him. “Do not cause him any pain,” she said to the Everlasting, “if he has fallen into the claws of a wolf and suffering has been his lot! You are able to replace lost children; You know the outcome of all augury and prognostication!” While she was wavering between being benumbed and distraught, her lost young lowed softly to her from a curved sand dune where it had lain down, not having seen any hunter drawing his bow. It felt at ease, having eaten its fill. Fate had not done any evil to it and it had not become a predator’s prey. Joy flooded her heart after the course of events had become clear to her.

If the acacia gatherer would return to his tribe of ʿAnazah,⁴⁶ the joy that would be evident in the tribe at his return and the providential end of their grief would be less than the delight that I harbor and hide in my breast at the Sheikh’s approaching these parts and casting down his walking stick. God be praised! He returns the lightning to the clouds in spring!⁴⁷ A bright flash has come to adorn the skies. Aleppo (may God give it victory!) really is in need of someone who has a little knowledge, in days of war and peace. So what does the Sheikh think? May God establish literary scholarship by adding to his lifetime! Because he is the right equipment for the marvels of literature(?).⁴⁸

23.2

وإني لأعجبُ من تمالؤِ جماعة، على أمرٍ ليس بالحَسَن ولا الطاعة، ولا ثَبَتَ له يقينٌ، فيشوفه الصَّنَع أو يقين، قد كِدتُ ألحق برهْط العدم، من غير الأسف ولا النَّدم، ولكنّما أرهبُ قدومي على الجبّار، ولم أُصْلح نَخْلي بإبار. وقيل لبعض الحكماء: إنّ فلانًا تلطَّف حتى قتل نفسه، ولم يُطقْ في الدار الخالية عَفْسه، وكرِه أن يمارس بدائع الشُّرور، وأحبَّ النُّقلة إلى منازل السُّرور، فقال الحكيم قولًا معناه: أخطأ ذلك الشابُّ المقتبل، وله ولأمِّه يُحَقّ الهَبَل، هلاّ صبر على صروف الزمان، حتى يمنو له القَدَرَ مانٍ؟ فإنه لا يشعُر علامَ يقدَم، ولكلِّ بيتٍ هَدَم! ولولا حكمة الله جلَّت قُدرته، وأنه حجز الرَّجلَ عن الموت، بالخوف من العَلز والفَوت، لَرغب كلُّ من احتدم غضَبُه، وكَلَّ عن ضريبةٍ مِقْضَبُه، أن تُتْرَع له من الموت كؤوس، والله العالم بما يؤوس.

I am truly amazed that a society is colluding in something that is neither good nor pious; something that has no firm ground of certainty, but is polished and made to look good by a skilled artisan! I had almost joined the company of non-existence,⁴⁹ without sorrow or remorse, but I feared to appear before the Almighty without having set my palm grove in order by pollinating it. Someone said to a certain sage, “So-and-so has employed subtle means to kill himself; he was unable to detain himself in the Passing Abode, loath to commit novel deeds of evil, and wanted to move on to the Dwellings of Joy.” Thereupon the sage spoke, saying words to the effect that this person, still in the prime of his life, committed a sin; it were better for him and his mother if she had lost him as a child. Why did he not suffer with fortitude the vagaries of Time, until Destiny would afflict him? He had no inkling of what he was recklessly undertaking. Every house will come to ruin. But for the wisdom of God (great is His omnipotence), and His holding back men from death through fear of its agony and of annihilation, then everyone who is on fire with anger, or whose sword⁵⁰ is too blunt to strike, would wish cups of death to be filled for him. God knows how He will recompense.

23.3.1

وأمَّا أبو القَطِران الأسديُّ، وأيُّ البَشَر من الخطوب مَفْديّ، فصاحب غزلٍ وتبطُّل، وتوفُّرٍ على الخُرَّد وتعطُّل، وما أشكُّ أنّ الشيخ، أقرّ الله عينَ الأدب بالزيادة في عمره، أشدُّ شوقًا إلى أحمد بن يحيى مع صَمَمه، وأبي الحسن الأثرم مع ثَرَمه، من المرّار بن سعيد عند رجاء العِدَة وخوف الوعيد، وهو ذلك المتهيّم إلى وحشيّةَ، وإن فقد لِبينها الحشيّة، وادّكر ثغرًا كالإغريض، وخدًّا يعدل بلون الإحريض. وإنما ودُّ الغانية خِلابٌ وخِداعٌ، وللكمد في هواه ابتداعٌ. ولو هلكت تلك المرأة والمرّار يعيش، لَعَدّ أنه بتَلَفها نعيش، ولا سيَّما بعد السّنّ العالية، وقوَّة النّفس الآلية. ولعلّ أبا القطران لو مُتّع بهذه المذكورة ما يكون قدْره مائة حِقبة، على غير الجزع والرِّقبة، لجاز أن يغرَض من الوِصال، إذا علم أنّ حبْله في اتِّصال. ولو نزل بها شيءٌ تتغيَّر به عن العهد، لتمنَّى أن تُقذَف إلى غير المهد، لأنّ ابن آدم بخيلٌ مَلول، تسري به إلى المنيَّة أَمونٌ ذَلول. ولو أصابها العَوَر، بعد أن سكن عينَها الحَوَر، لظنَّ أن ذلك نبأٌ لا يُغفَر ولا يكفَّر، فكيف يُعتَب على الفاهين، ويُنتقم من القوم السّاهين؟ والله سبحانه قد رفع ذلك عن ساهٍ ما علِم، ونائمٍ إذا أحسّ بالمؤلم ألِم.

Abū l-Qaṭirān al-Asadī—which human being is ever set free from misfortunes?—was a poet of love lyrics and futile themes, dedicating himself to pretty maidens and idleness. I have no doubt that the Sheikh—May God delight literature by lengthening his life!—yearns more strongly for Aḥmad ibn Yaḥyā, in spite of his deafness, or for Abū l-Ḥasan al-Athram, in spite of his broken tooth, than al-Marrār ibn Saʿīd yearned, hoping for a promise and fearing a threat. That man was madly in love with Waḥshiyyah, though he had to forgo a soft bed, being separated from her. He thought of a mouth with teeth white like the flowers of a palm tree, a cheek that could be compared to the color of safflower. But the love of a beautiful woman is deceptive and delusive. In his passion he suffered ever-new miseries. If this woman had died while Marrār was still alive, he would have thought himself as carried upon her bier,⁵¹ particularly in old age, with his soul’s strength in decline. Perhaps, if Abū l-Qaṭirān had been able to enjoy this woman for a hundred epochs, without anxiety or being spied upon, it is possible that he would have tired of being united with her, knowing that his bond was lasting. If something had happened to her that had made her change her loyalty, he would have wished that she were cast into something other than a cradle,⁵² because a human being is miserly and easily bored; a trusty, docile she-camel⁵³ will bring him to his death. If she had lost an eye, which once was black and lustrous, he would have thought this was an unforgiveable incident, beyond expiation. But how can someone who has been careless be rebuked, or revenge taken on the neglectful? God—glorified be He—has kept this away from someone who has forgotten and does not know, or from a sleeper who feels pain when perceiving something that hurts.⁵⁴

23.3.2

ومن أين لذلك الشّخص الأسَديّ، ما وهبه الله للشيخ من وفاءٍ لو علم به السّموْءَل لاعترف أنه من الغادرين، أو الحارثُ بن ظالم لَشهد أنه من السّادرين! من قولهم فعل كذا وكذا سادرًا، أي لا يهتمُّ لشيء، وإنما عاشَر أبو القطران أعبُدًا في الإبل وآميا، ونظر إلى عقِبه داميا، ممَّا يطأ على هَراسٍ، ومن له في المكْلأة بالفَراس؟ وهو التَّمر الأسود، ومن أبيات المعاني:

إذا أكلوا الفَراس رأيتَ شامًا	على الأنباث منهمْ والغيوبِ
فما تنفكُّ تسمع قاصفاتٍ	كصوت الرّعد في العام الخصيبِ

ولعلّه لو صادف غانيةً تزيد على وحشيّةَ بشِقِّ الأَبلُمة، لسَلاها غير المؤلمة، وإنَّما ديْدنُ ذلك الرّجل ونُظرائه صفةُ ناقةٍ أو رَبْع، وما شجرُه المغترَس بالنَّبْع. إذا جنى الكَمْأة بَجَح، وخال أنه قد نجح! ولو حضر أخْوِنةً حضرها الشّيخ لعاد كما قال القائل:

فلو كنتَ عُذْريَّ العلاقة لم تبِتْ

بطينًا وأنساك الهوى كثرةَ الأكلِ

How could the loyalty of this man from the tribe of Asad be compared with the great loyalty that God has bestowed on the Sheikh? If al-Samawʾal had known of it, he would have acknowledged that he had been a traitor; if al-Ḥārith ibn Ẓālim had known of it, he would have testified that he had been insouciant (sādir). This is from the expression “he did such-and-such a thing insouciantly (sādiran),” i.e., not being concerned with anything.

Abū l-Qaṭirān lived among camel-herding slaves, male and female; when he looked at his heels he found them bleeding from treading on thorny shrubs. Who could give him farās dates in the grazing ground?

Farās are black dates. The following verses are quoted in works on obscure expressions:⁵⁵

When they eat farās you see black “moles”

produced by them on the mud from the wells and the hollows.

Incessantly you hear rumbling claps

like the sound of thunder in a year of abundance.

Perhaps, if he had found a woman prettier than Waḥshiyyah by even half a stone of a doom-palm date he would have forgotten about her and she would have caused him no more pain. It was the habit of this man and people of his kind merely to describe a she-camel or a campsite. The trees he planted were no nabʿ trees. When he gathered some truffles he would exult and imagine he had an excellent result! If he sat at tables such as those that the Sheikh sits at, he would end up just as the poet says: ⁵⁶

If you had an ʿUdhrite attachment you would not spend the night

full-bellied: your passion would make you forget eating a lot.

23.3.3

وهو، قدَّر الله له ما أحبَّ، قد جالس ملوك مصر التي قال فيها فرعون: {أَلَيْسَ لِي مُلْكُ مِصْرَ وهٰذِهِ الأنهارُ تَجْرِي مِنْ تَحْتِي أَفَلا تُبْصِرُون؟} وقد أقام بالعراق زمنًا طويلا، وأدام على الأدب تعويلا، وبالعراق مملكةُ فارسَ، وهم أهل الشَّرف والظّرْف، يوفي صَرْفُهم في الأطعِمة على كلِّ صَرْف، ولا ريب أنه قد جالس بقاياهم، واختبر في المعاشَرة سجاياهم، وعاطوْه الأكؤسَ أُلاتِ التصاوير، على عاد المَرازِبة الأساوير، كما قال الحَكَميُّ:

تدور علينا الكأسُ في عَسْجديَّةٍ	حبَتْها بأنواع التصاوير فارسُ
قَرارتها كِسْرى وفي جَنَباتها	مَهًا تدَّريها بالقِسِيّ الفوارسُ

وأبو القَطِران كان يستقي النُّطفة بخُلبة، ويجعلها في الغُمَر أو العُلبة، وإذا طعِم فمَن له باللهيدة، وإن أخصب شرع في النَّهيدة.

The Sheikh (may God destine for him what he loves!) has sat with the kings of Egypt, about which Pharaoh says:⁵⁷ «Have I not the kingdom of Egypt and these rivers, flowing beneath me? Do you not see, then?» And he has stayed in Iraq for a long time, depending on his erudition, while Iraq was ruled by Persia.⁵⁸ They are noble and refined people. They spend on food more than one could possibly spend. There can be no doubt that he sat with the highest-ranking lords and experienced their characters in their company, while they handed him cups adorned with pictures,⁵⁹ after the custom of the Persian knightly margraves, ⁶⁰ as al-Ḥakamī says:⁶¹

The cup⁶² went round among us, held in a golden (vessel),

on which Persia had bestowed variegated pictures:

Chosroes on the bottom, and on its sides

wild cows, for which riders are lying in wait with their bows.

—whereas Abū l-Qaṭirān used to draw a drop of water by means of a rope made of palm fiber, putting it into his mug or leather pail. When he ate, who would serve him his broth?⁶³ In times of plenty he would embark on eating a nahīdah.

23.4

وما أشكُّ أنه، أمتع اللهُ الآداب ببقائه، لو رُزق محاوَرة أبي الأسْوَد على عَرَجه، وبُخله المتنادَر وجَرَجه، لكانت مِقَتة له أبلغ من مقة مَهْدِيّ ليْلاه، ولا أقول رؤبةَ أُبيْلاه. ولو أدرك محاضرة أبي الخطّاب لكان بدَوَش عينيه أشدَّ شَغَفًا من الحادرة بسُمَيّةَ، ومن غيْلانَ بمَيّةَ، لأنه قال:

وعينانِ قال الله كُونا فكانتا

فَعولانِ بالألباب ما تفعل الخمرُ

وهو بجَلَع أبي الحسن سعيد بن مَسْعَدة أعجبُ من كُثيِّر بشَنَب عَزّةَ، والعُذريِّ بلَمَى بُثينةَ. ولو كان أبو عُبيدة أذفر الفم، لما أمِنتُ مع كَلَفه بالأخبار، أن يقبِّله شقَّ البَلَسة بلا استكبار، وفي الحديث عن عائشة، رحمة الله عليها: كان رسول الله، صلّى الله عليه وسلّم، يُقبِّلني شَقَّ التينة. وروى بعضهم: شقَّ التمرة. وذلك أن يأخذ الشّفة العُليا بيده والسُّفلى بيده الأخرى ويُقبِّل ما بين الشفتين.

Nor do I doubt that if the Sheikh (may God give enjoyment to literature by granting him long life!) had been given the opportunity to have a conversation with Abū l-Aswad, in spite of his lameness, his miserliness attested in anecdotes, and his gruffness(?),⁶⁴ his affection for him would have been stronger than the affection of Mahdī for his Laylā,⁶⁵ not to mention that of Ruʾbah for his Ubaylā.⁶⁶ If he had lived at a time in which he could have attended a lecture by Abū l-Khaṭṭāb, he would have been more passionate about the latter’s weak eyesight than al-Ḥādirah about Sumayyah, or Ghaylān⁶⁷ about Mayyah, for he said:

Two eyes: God said, “Be!” and they were,

doing to minds what wine does too.

And the Sheikh would have admired the gaping mouth of Abū l-Ḥasan Saʿīd ibn Masʿadah more than Kuthayyir admired ʿAzzah’s white teeth, or the ʿUdhrite poet⁶⁸ Buthaynah’s dark-red lips. Even if Abū ʿUbaydah suffered from bad breath, I am sure that the Sheikh, what with his fondness of historical reports, would have kissed him “as one splits a fig,” not feeling himself too grand for this.

In a hadith transmitted on the authority of ʿĀʾishah (God have mercy on her) it says: “The messenger of God (God bless and preserve him) would kiss me as one splits a fig.” Someone transmits it as “as one splits a date.” It means: taking the upper lip with one hand and the lower lip with the other hand, and then kissing the space between the lips.

23.5

وأما مَن فقده من الأصدقاء لمّا دخل حلب، حرسها الله، فتلك عادة الزَّمن، ليس على السالم بمؤتمَن، يبدِّل من الأبيات المسكونة قبورا، ولا يُلْحِق بعثرةٍ جُبورا. وإنَّ رَمَس الهالك لبيتُ الحقّ، وإن طرق بالمُلِمّ الأشقّ. على أنه يُغني الثاويَ بعد عدمٍ، ويكفيه المئونة مع القِدَم. وإنَّ الجسد لَمِن شرٍّ خبيءٍ، يبعُد من سبْيٍ وسبيء. قال الضّبيّ:

ولقد علمتُ بأن قصْري حُفرةٌ	ما بعدها خوفٌ عليَّ ولا عَدَمْ
فأزور بيتَ الحقِّ زوْرةَ ماكث	فعَلامَ أحفِل ما تقوَّض وانهدمْ؟

وما زالت العرب تسمّي القبر بيتا، وإن كان المنتقل إليه ميتا، قال الرّاجز:

اليوم يُبنى لدُويْدٍ بيْتُهُ	يا رُبَّ بيتِ حسبٍ بنيْتُهُ
ومِعصَمٍ ذي بُرَةٍ لويتُهُ	لو كان للدّهر بِلًى أبليْتُهُ
أو كان قِرني واحدًا كفيْتُهُ

As for the friends that the Sheikh missed when he entered Aleppo (may God protect it!), well, this is the habit of Time, which cannot be trusted to keep matters safe and sound: it replaces inhabited houses with graves and it will not allow a slip to be mended. The tomb of a deceased person is surely the true house, though it may bring the most troublesome misfortune. However, it makes its resident free from need, after his privation,⁶⁹ and it saves him from having to procure provisions, no matter how long he has been there(?).⁷⁰ The body is concealed from evil,⁷¹ far from women or wine.⁷² The poet from the tribe of Ḍabbah⁷³ said:

I have come to know that my end⁷⁴ will be a grave-pit,

after which there is for me neither fear nor privation.

I shall visit the house of truth for a permanent visit;

why should I care for things that fall into ruin and collapse?

The Arabs always speak of the grave as a “house,” even if he who moves into it is dead. A rajaz poet said:⁷⁵

Today a house will be built for Duwayd.

Many a respectable house have I built,

Many a wrist with a bracelet have I bent.

If Fate could be worn out, I would wear it out;

Or if my opponent were single, I would be more than his match.

23.6

فأمّا الفصل الذي ذكر فيه الخليل، فقد سقط منه اسم الذي غلا فيَّ، وقرن بالنُّجوم الصَّلافيَّ، ومن كان، فغفر اللهُ جرائمه، وحفِظ له في الأبد كرائمه، فقد أخطأ على نفسه فيما زعم وعليَّ، ونسب ما لا أستوجب إليَّ. وكم أعتذر وأتنصَّل، من ذنْبٍ ليس يتحصَّل! وإنّي لأكرهُ بشهادة الله تلك الدَّعْوى المُبْطِلة، كَراهةَ المسيح مَن جعله رَبَّ العِزّة، فما ترك للفِتَن من مَهَزّة، بدليل قوله تعالى: {وَإذْ قال ٱللهُ يا عِيسَى بْنَ مَرْيَمَ أأَنْتَ قُلْتَ لِلنّاسِ ٱتّخِذُوني وأُمِّي إلٰهيْنِ مِنْ دُونِ اللهِ، قالَ سُبْحانَكَ ما يَكُونُ لِي أَنْ أَقُولَ ما لَيْسَ لِي بِحَقٍّ، إنْ كُنْتُ قُلْتُهُ فََقَدْ عَلِمْتَهُ، تَعْلَمُ ما فِي نَفْسِي وَلا أَعْلَمُ ما فِي نَفْسِكَ، إِنَّكَ أَنْتَ عَلّامُ ٱلْغُيُوبِ}.

In the paragraph in which the Sheikh mentions al-Khalīl the name is missing of the person that extols me so excessively,⁷⁶ pairing the stars with hard stones. Whoever it was—may God forgive his misdeeds and preserve for him for ever his noble qualities!—in his assertion he erred both against me and himself. He ascribed to me things I do not deserve. How often do I have to exculpate myself and justify myself for a sin that never occurred! Truly, I loathe—God be my witness—such false claims as much as the Messiah loathed those who turned him into the Lord Omnipotent, and who thus did not omit any opportunity to stir up religious temptation.⁷⁷ The proof is in the words of God the Exalted:⁷⁸ «And when God said, “O ʿĪsā son of Maryam, did you say to the people: Take me and my mother as two gods, rather than God?” He answered, “May You be glorified! It is not for me to say what I am not entitled to. If I said it You would know it: You know what is in my soul, whereas I do not know what is in Your soul. You are the one who knows all things that are hidden.”»

The Stolen Letter

24.1.1

وأمّا أبو الفرج الزَّهْرَجيُّ فمعرفته بالشّيخ تُقْسِم أنه للأدب حليفٌ، وللطَّبع الخيِّر أليفٌ. وودِدتُ أنّ الرّسالة وصلتْ إليَّ، ولكنْ ما عدل ذلك العديلُ، فبعِد ما تغنَّى هديل، هلاَّ اقتنع بنَفَقةٍ أو ثوْب، وترك الصُّحُف عن نوْب؟ فأَرِب من يديه، ولا اهتدى في اللَّيلة بفَرْقَديْه. لو أنه أحد لصوص العرب الذين رُويتْ لهم الأمثالُ السّائرة، وتحدَّثت بهم المُنْجِدة والغائرة، لما اغتفرتُ ما صنع بما نظم، لأنه أفرط وأعظم، أي أتى عظيمة وبَتَك من القلائد نظيمةً.

As for Abū l-Faraj al-Zahrajī, the fact that he knows the Sheikh testifies as if on oath that he has a close connection with erudition and is allied with a good natural disposition. I wished that the letter had reached me,⁷⁹ but that fellow traveler was a felon traveler⁸⁰—away with him, for as long as doves sing!⁸¹ Could he not have been content instead with some cash or clothes, leaving the letter alone? May his hands drop from his body! May he not find the right path at night by the two stars of the Little Bear!⁸² If he had been one of the proverbial Arab robber-poets⁸³ spoken of by people wherever they go,⁸⁴ then I would not have forgiven him his deed, despite the poetry he composed, because he went too far and committed an enormity, i.e., a grave misdeed, and he destroyed a well-strung necklace.

24.1.2

وقد وُفّق أبو الفرج وولده، وصار كاللُّجّة ثَمَدُه، لمَّا درس عليه الكتب، وحفظ عنه ما يكون التُّرْتُب، فسلَّم العاتكةَ إلى القاريِّ، والنافجةَ إلى المرء الداريّ، والرُّمح الأطْول إلى ابن الطُّفيل، والأعِنّة إلى أحلاس الخيل.

Abū l-Faraj and his son⁸⁵ were fortunate! His little puddle of knowledge became like the sea’s billows when he studied his books under the Sheikh’s guidance and memorized what will be forever immutable. “He handed the ancient bow to the man of the tribe of al-Qārah, the musk pouch to the man of Dārīn, the long lance to Ibn al-Ṭufayl, and the reins to the riders that never quit the saddle.”⁸⁶

24.2

وإن كان الشّيخ مارَس من التَّعب أُمَّ الرُّبيق، فقد جدّد عهدَه الأوَّل بقُويْق، وإنه لَنِعم النَّهر، لا يُغْرق السّابح ولا يَبهَر، وبناتُه المخطوبات صغارٌ، يؤخذن منه في الغفلة ولا يَغار. يَعولهنَّ، والقدر يَغولهنَّ، سترْن الأنفُسَ فما تبرَّجن، ولكنْ بالرّغم خرجن. خدورهنَّ من ماء، زارتْهنَّ الملموءةُ بالإلماء، والملموءة الشَّبَكة، يقال: ألمأ على الشيء إذا أخذه كلَّه. ما يشعُر قويقٌ المسكين، أعَرَبٌ سَبَتْ من ولد أم رومٌ، ولا يحفل بما تروم. ولقد ذكره البُحْتُريّ، ونعته الصَّنَوْبَريّ، وإخالُ أنّ الشيخ أفسدتْه عليه دِجلةُ وصَراتها، وأعانها على ذلك فُراتها.

Though the Sheikh had to contend with contretemps,⁸⁷ he has renewed his former acquaintance with the river Quwayq. What a lovely river! It will not give whoever swims in it a drowning death, nor render him out of breath. Its fishy daughters sought by suitors are small and are taken from it unawares; it does not guard them jealously. It sustains them; Fate snatches them. They conceal themselves and do not show their charms, but they leave it reluctantly. Their boudoirs are of water; the grabbed thing visits them with grabbing—“The grabbed thing” is the net. One says “he grabbed (almaʾa ʿalā) something” when he takes something in its entirety.—while poor Quwayq is not even aware whether Arabs or Byzantines have taken his children into captivity; it does not even care about their desires. Al-Buḥturī mentioned it, al-Ṣanawbarī described it;⁸⁸ but I imagine that the Sheikh’s taste for it was spoiled by the Tigris and its tributary al-Ṣarāh, helped by its friend the Euphrates.

Proverbs

24.3.1

وأمَّا حلب، حماها اللهُ، فإنّها الأمُّ البَرّة، تُعقَد بها المَسَرّة، وما أحسبُها، إن شاء الله، تُظاهر بذميم العقوق، وتغفل المفترض من الحقوق. ووحشيّةُ يُحتمل أن يكون، آنس اللهُ الآدابَ ببقائه، جعلها نائبةً عمّن فقده من الإخوان، الذين عُدم نظيرُهم في الأوان. وكذلك تجري أمثال العرب: يكْنون فيها بالاسم عن جميع الأسماء، مثال ذلك أن يقول القائل:

فلا تشلَلْ يدٌ فتكتْ بعمروٍ

فإنّك لن تُذَلَّ ولن تُضاما

يجوز أن يرى الرجل رجلًا قد فتك بمن اسمه حَسّانُ أو عُطارِدُ أو غير ذلك، فيتمثّل بهذا البيت، فيكون عمرو فيه واقعًا على جميع من يُتمثَّل له به.

As for Aleppo—may God protect her!—she is a devoted mother, joined with all joy. I do not think (if God wills) that she will ever display a blameworthy lack of maternal devotion or neglect the duties imposed on her. The Sheikh—may God please the humanities by granting him lasting life!—has probably made Waḥshiyyah a substitute for those friends he missed, and whose equals no longer exist. It is similar in the idioms of the Arabs: they allude with one particular name to all other names. Someone will say, for example,⁸⁹

May a hand that murdered ʿAmr not be lamed,

for you will no longer be humbled nor be wronged.

One man may see someone kill somebody called Ḥassān or ʿUṭārid, or some other name, and then quote this verse. Then “ʿAmr” stands for anybody for whom the verse is quoted.

24.3.2

وكذلك قول الراجز:

أَوْردَها سعدٌ وسعدٌ مشتمِلْ

صار ذلك مثلًا لكلِّ من عمل عملًا لم يُحْكمه، فيجوز أن يُقال لمن اسمه خالدٌ أو بَكرٌ أو ما شاء الله من الأسماء. ويضَعون في هذا الباب المؤنَّث موضع المذكَّر، والمذكّر موضع المؤنَّث، فيقولون للرجل: أطِرِّي فإنّكِ ناعلةٌ، والصيفَ ضيّعْتِ اللَّبَن، ومُحْسِنة فَهِيلي، وابتدئيهنَّ بعَفالِ سُبِيتِ. وإذا أرادوا أن يخبروا بأنّ المرأة كانت تفعل الخير ثمّ هلكتْ فانقطع ما كانت تفعله، جاز أن يقولوا: ذهب الخيرُ مع عمرو بن حُمَمَة. وجائزٌ أن يقولوا لمن يحذِّرونه من قُرب النّساء: لا تَبِتْ من بَكريٍّ قريبًا؛ والبكريُّ أخوك فلا تأمَنْه. ومثلُ هذا كثير.

It is the same with the verse by a rajaz poet:

Saʿd took them to the water, Saʿd being wrapped in his robe.⁹⁰

This became a proverb for everyone who carries out a job but does not do it properly. It could be said about someone called Khālid or Bakr, or God knows what name. In the same vein one uses the feminine form for the masculine, or the masculine for the feminine; they will say to a man: “Woman, walk at the side of the path, for you have strong soles!”⁹¹ or “This summer you, woman, spoilt the milk!”⁹² or “You’re doing well, woman, pour out!”⁹³ or “You, girl, say to them first: ‘Sluts, may you be kidnapped!’”⁹⁴ If they want to tell that a woman used to do good but then died, so that whatever she did was discontinued, they could say: “The good has gone with ʿAmr ibn Ḥumamah.”⁹⁵ They may say to someone, warning him against the proximity of women: “Don’t spend the night close to a man of the tribe of Bakr” or “The man of Bakr is your brother, but do not trust him.”⁹⁶ There are many similar cases.

The Plight of Men of Letters

25.1.1

وأمَّا شكواه إليّ، فإنّني وإيّاه لَكَما قيل في المَثَل: الثّكْلى تُعين الثكلى، وعلى ذلك حمل الأصمعيُّ قول أبي دُواد:

ويُصيخ أحيانًا كما اسـ

ـتمع المُضلُّ دُعاءَ ناشدْ

كِلانا بحمد الله مُضِلّ، فعلى من نحمل وعلى من نُدِلُّ؟ أمّا المطيّة فآلية، وأمّا المَزادة فخالية، والرّكْب يفتقر إلى الحَصاة، وكلّهم بَهَش للوَصاة:

يشكو إليّ جَمَلي طولَ السُّرى

صبرٌ جميلٌ فكِلانا مبْتلى

إن اشتكتِ السَّمُرة سَفَنَ العاضدِ إلى السَّيالة، فإنها تشكو النّازلة إلى شاكٍ، والصّدق أفضل من الابتشاك. ولا أرتاب أنه يحفظ قول الفَزازيّ منذ خمسين حِجّة أو أكثر:

أعُيَينَ هَلّا إذ بُلِيتَ بحبِّها	كنتَ استعنتَ بفارغ العقلِ
أقْبلتَ تبغي الغوْثَ من رجلٍ	والمستغاث إليه في شُغلِ

As for the Sheikh’s complaint to me, we are both as it is said in the proverb: “One bereaved woman helps another.”⁹⁷ This is how al-Aṣmaʿī interpreted the verse by Abū Duʾād:⁹⁸

And he listens sometimes, as someone who has lost an animal

will listen to the call of another one who searches.

Both of us, God be praised,⁹⁹ have lost something. Whom should we attack, upon whom can we pounce? The riding animal is weak and slow, the provision bag is empty, the riders are in need of a pebble,¹⁰⁰ and all of them hurry longingly toward a palm branch.¹⁰¹

My camel complains to me about the lengthy nightly journey.

Decent fortitude! Both of us are suffering.¹⁰²

If the thorny acacia tree complains about the adze of the woodsman to the thorny mimosa tree, then it complains of a mishap to another who complains.¹⁰³ Speaking truthfully is better than mendacity. I do not doubt that the Sheikh has retained these verses of the man of Fazārah in his memory for some fifty or more years:¹⁰⁴

ʿUyaynah, now that you are smitten with love for her,

why did you seek assistance from someone who has lost his mind?

You’ve tried to find support from a man,

but the one whose help is sought has other things on his mind!

25.1.2

ولم يزل أهل الأدب يشْكون الغِيَر في كلّ جِيل، ويُخَصُّون من العجائب بسَجْلٍ سجيلٍ. وهو يعرف الحكايةَ أنّ مَسْلَمة بن عبد الملك أوصى لأهل الأدب بجزءٍ من ماله، وقال: إنهم أهل صناعةٍ مجفوَّةٍ. وأحسب أنهم والحُرفةَ خُلِقا توْأميْن، وإنما ينجح بعضهم في ذات الزُّميْن، ثمّ لا يلبث أن تزِلّ قدمُه، ويتفرَّى بالقدَر أَدَمُه.وقد سمع في مصر بقِصّة أبى الفضل وسعيد، وما كان أحدهما من الآخر ببعيد. وإذا كان الأدب على عهد بني أُمَيّة يُقصَد أهله بالجفْوة، فكيف يَسلمون من باسٍ، عند مملكة بني العبّاس؟ وإذا أصابتهم المِحَن في عِدّان الرشيد، فكيف يُطمَع لهم بالحظِّ المَشيد؟ أليس أبو عُبيدة قدم مع الأصمعيّ وكلاهما يريد النُّجعة، ولا يلتمس إلى البصرة رَجعة، فتُشُبِّث بعبد الملك، ورُدَّ مَعْمَر، ومن يعلم بما يُجِنُّ الخمَر؟

ومن بغى أن يتكسَّب بهذا الفنّ، فقد أودع شرابه في شَنّ، غيرِ ثقةٍ على الوديعة، بل هي منه في صاحب خديعة.

وقد رُوي أنّ سيبويه لمّا اختبر شأنَه وراز، رغِب في ولاية المَظالم بشيراز، وأنّ الكسائيَّ تحوَّب ممّا صنع به، فأعانه كي يشحَط على مطلبه.

فأمّا حبيب بن أوسٍ فهلك وهو بالموْصل على البريد: وصاحب الأدب حليف التصريد.

Men of letters have always complained of the vagaries of time, in every generation. They have been singled out by strange events in bucketfuls. The Sheikh knows the story of Maslamah ibn ʿAbd al-Malik, who bequeathed part of his possessions to men of letters. “They are,” he said, “people of a despised art.” I think they and bad luck¹⁰⁵ were created as twin brothers. One of them may be successful for a short while, but then it does not take long before his foot slips and his skin is rent by Fate. The Sheikh has heard, in Egypt, the story of Abū l-Faḍl and Saʿīd, whose cases were similar.¹⁰⁶ Now if people with literary erudition were harshly treated already in Umayyad times, how could they be safe from harm during the reign of the Abbasids? If tribulations afflicted them in the prime of al-Rashīd’s days, how could one hope for them to enjoy good fortune on a solid basis? Did Abū ʿUbaydah not come with al-Aṣmaʿī, while both of them were seeking good pastures, not wishing to return to Basra? But only ʿAbd al-Malik was made to stay and Maʿmar was sent back.¹⁰⁷ Who knows what is hidden in the bushes? And who would wish to earn a living with this profession? Who does so keeps his wine in a worn-out skin that cannot be relied upon to keep its deposit: it is to him a deceitful friend. It is reported that when Sībawayh¹⁰⁸ considered his situation and weighed it, he wanted to be appointed at the tribunal of torts¹⁰⁹ in Shiraz; and that al-Kisāʾī expressed grief about what he did to him and supported him, so as to surpass Sībawayh's expectations by far. Ḥabīb ibn Aws passed away while in Mosul, in charge of the postal service. A man of letters is always familiar with receiving too little.

25.2

وأمّا الذين ذكرهم من المصحِّفين، فغيرُ البَرَرة ولا المُنْصِفين. وما زال التَتْفُل يعرِض لأذاة الأسد، وما أحسبه يشعر بمكان الحسد، فإذا ادَّلج وَردٌ هَموس، تشقى به التامكةُ أو اللَّموس، فثُعالةُ به مُنْذِرٌ، كأنه للمفترَس محذِّر، ولا يراه الضَّيْغم موْضعًا للعتاب، ويجعل أمره فيما يُحتمل من الخَطْب المُنتاب. وكم من أغلبَ ُمثارٍ، يسهَّد لغناء الطَّيثار، وإذا هو بليلٍ تغنَّى، فالقَسْوَر به معنَّى:

ما يضرُّ البحرَ أمسى زاخرًا

أن رمى فيه غلامٌ بحَجَرْ

أو كلّما طنَّ الذّبابُ أروعُهُ؟

إنَّ الذُّبابَ إذًا عليَّ كريمُ

ومازال الهَمَج يقولون، ويقصُرون عن المكرُمة فلا يطُولون، وإنهم عما أثَّل متثاقلون، وطُلّاب الأدب في جباله واقلون.

من انفرد بفضيلةٍ أثيرة، فإنّه يتقدَّم بمناقبَ كثيرة، وإن حُسّاد البارع لكَما قال الفرزدق:

فإن تهْجُ آلَ الزِّبْرقان فإنّما	هجوتَ الطّوالَ الشُّمَّ من آل١ يَذْبُلِ
وقد ينبح الكلبُ النّجومَ ودونَها	فراسخُ تُنْضي٢ ناظرَ المتأمِّلِ

يعدو على الحاسد حسدُه، ويذوب من كبْتٍ جسدُه:

فهل ضربةُ الرّوميِّ جاعلةٌ لكم

أبًا عن كُليبٍ أو أبًا مثل دارمِ؟

١ كذا، والمشهور أن يذبل جبل؛ وفي الديوان ونقائض جرير والفرزدق: من هضب يذبل.

٢ في كل الطبعات: (تقصي)، والصواب (تنضي) كما في الديوان والنقائض.

Those the Sheikh mentioned who are guilty of misplacing the diacritical marks when they read are neither respectful nor just. A fox will always be keen to harm a lion; I don’t think he is even aware that it is due to envy. When a fierce, softly treading lion goes out at night, ready to cause misery to a large-humped she-camel, or one whose fatness is palpable,¹¹⁰ then the fox warns against him, as if he were a cautioner of the prey. But the lion does not think him worthy of rebuke and merely considers him one of those misfortunes that must be endured when they befall. How many a thick-necked lion stirred to a rage is kept awake by the singing of a mosquito! All night long it is humming while the bulky lion is suffering. However,

It does not harm the sea, when it is full to overflowing,

if a boy casts a stone at it.¹¹¹

Or whenever a fly is buzzing, should I scare it away?

The fly would then be important to me!¹¹²

The rabble never stop talking, always falling short of noble things and never excelling. They are too sluggish to grasp what is nobly rooted, whereas those who seek erudition will climb its mountains. He who, uniquely, has a noble virtue will advance with many excellent qualities, while those who envy someone who excels are truly as al-Farazdaq says:¹¹³

If you lampoon the clan of al-Zibriqān, then you

lampoon men who are tall and proud, of Yadhbul’s hill.¹¹⁴

A dog may bark at the stars, while between them and it

are many miles¹¹⁵ that wear out¹¹⁶ the eye of the observer.

The envier’s envy turns on himself: his body is worn away by the repression of his feelings.

Will striking the Byzantine provide you with

a forefather descending from Kulayb, or an ancestor like Dārim?¹¹⁷