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الفصل الاول

ڡي اضرام اتون

Chapter 1

Firing Up a Furnace

3.1.1

او ما كفى بنى آدم ما هم فيه من الشقآ والعنآ * والجهد والبلآ * والمشقة والنصب * واللاوآ والتعب * والحرمان والنحس * والقنوط والتعس * يحبل بهم فى الفَرْث والوحم * ويولدون فى الاوجاع والالم * ويرضعون فى الضرر * ويفطمون فى الخطر * ويحبون فيعثرون * ويدرجون فيتدهورون * ويمشون فيكلّون * ويكدّون فيملّون * ويبطلون فيتضورون * اذا جاعوا خاروا ووَهَوا * واذا اكلوا اتخموا وبَجِروا * واذا ظمئوا ضووا * واذا شربوا غلثوا وغنثوا وخثروا * واذا ارقوا ذابوا قلقا وكمدا * واذا ناموا ذهب العمر منهم سدى * واذا هرموا ملّهم اهلهم واخوانهم * واذا اختُضروا حسّروهم تحسيرا ربما احانهم *

Are they not enough, the troubles to which men are subject by way of misery and care, effort and wear, toil and disease, hardship and dis-ease, of deprivation and lucklessness, despair and unhappiness? Men are carried to nausea and craving, born in pain and suffering, nursed to their mothers’ detriment, weaned to their imperilment. They crawl only to stumble, climb only to tumble, walk only to lag, labor only to flag, find themselves unemployed only by hunger’s pangs to be destroyed. They languish and grow weak when they go without, suffer indigestion when they eat and grow stout. When they thirst, they lose weight, and when they drink, become sick as poisoned birds, gulp air, and nauseate. Lying awake at night, they waste away, worried and fraught, and sleeping, their allotted share of hours goes by and gains them naught. Old and feeble, they’re a burden to kith and kin, yet, should they die before their time, they cause them such grief as may do them in.

3.1.2

ثم هم بين ذلك فى تحصيل اسباب المعاش ساعون * وفى التظاهر باللباس والزينة معنَّون * والعزب منهم متهافت على امراة تكون له اهلا * وذو الاهل همّه بزوجه وتربية ولده طفلا وكهلا * فاذا مرضوا مرض * واذا حزنوا حزن وجرض * وويل له ان تكن زوجته بَزْرآ * او كانت عاقرا وَذْمآء * وراى لغيره من المتزوجين بنين ذوى طلعة ناضرة * وشمائل سارّة * فيقول فى نفسه انما لذة الدنيا البنون * وانى ميت بلا خلف واىّ منون *

In the midst of all this, they must strive to obtain the means to earn their daily bread, while tormented by the need to make a show of dress and thread. The bachelor’s desperate to find a woman to call his own, the family man preoccupied with spouse and care of children, be they young or grown. When they fall ill, he does so too and when they mourn, he mourns and grieves in turn. Woe to him should his wife be overly fertile, but so too should she be barren and sterile, for then he sees other married men surrounded by bonny faces and children with pleasing graces and says to himself, “Verily, in sons lies all this world’s pleasure, and I am as one who dies (and what a fate!) leaving no successor!”

3.1.3

وكم من سقوط ظفرٍ وهن الجسم كله * وكم لقلع ضرس ذهب الصبر او جلّه * ما عدا الادوآ المتعضّلة * والعلل المتاصّلة * وتخالف الازمان وحول الاحوال * وتعاقب الاحزان ودَوْل الحال * على هذا الجسم الوانى البال * ففى الشتآ يكون عرضة للريح والزكام والبلغم والرطوبات * والبوال والعفونات * وفى الصيف للصفرآ و الحمى والصداع * والترهل والاستنقاع * وفى الربيع لهيجان الدم وتبيّغه ونزغته * وفى الخريف لتحرك السودآ واذى الهوآ وندغته *

How often by the fall of a single fingernail is the whole body defeated, how often by the extraction of a single molar is most, if not all, of its power to endure depleted—not to mention the sicknesses that defy all doctors’ skills, the chronic ills, the passage of time and the passing of the years, the succession of sorrows and shifts of fortune that this worn-out, debilitated body bears, for in winter it is exposed to wind, nasal congestion, sputum, and the damp chills, to incontinence and miasmatic airs; in summer, to cholera, fever, and headache, bloating, and stagnant weirs; in spring, to the imperious demands of the rising blood and its evil commands; in autumn, to the stirring of the black bile, the wind’s bane and its piercing of the bone.

3.1.4

ثم ان منهم من يولد ويعرض له من العيوب والامراض

الجَنأ	اشراف الكاهل على الصدر *
او الفَسَأ	خروج الصدر ونتوٓء الخَثَلة *
والفَطأ	دخول الظهر وخروج الصدر *
والحَدَب	معروف *
والحُسبة	ان يبيض جلد الرجل من دآ فتفسد شعرته فيصير ابيض واحمر *
والحَصْبة	بَثر يخرج بالجسد *
والشبّ	دآء م *
والضَبُوب	دآء فى الشفة *
والطَنَب	طول فى الرجلين فى استرخآ وطول فى الظهر *
والعَكَب	غلظ فى الشفة واللحى *

In addition, some are born afflicted with (among the various defects and diseases)

janaʾ,	“bending of the upper back over the chest”
or fasaʾ,	“prominence of the chest and bulging of the abdomen”
or faṭaʾ,	“concavity of the back and convexity of the chest”
or ḥadab,	“too well-known to require definition” [hunching of the back]
or ḥusbah,	“the whitening of a man’s skin as a result of a certain disease, followed by the corruption of his hair, after which his skin turns white and red”
or ḥaṣbah,	“pustules that break out on the body”
or shabb,	“a disease, too well-known to require definition” [?]
or ḍabūb,	“a disease of the lip”
or ṭanab,	“length in the legs combined with laxness, or in the back”
or ʿakab,	“thickness of the lip or chin”

3.1.5

والغَضْبة	بخصة تكون بالجفن الاعلى خلقة *
والغِضاب	دآء او الجُدَرى *
والغَلَب	غلظ العنق *
والقَلَب	انقلاب الشفة *
والقُلاب	دآء القلب *
والقُوَبآ	الذى يظهر فى الجسد ويخرج عليه *
والكَنَب	غلظ يعلو الرجل واليد *
والكَوَب	دقة العنق وعظم الراس *
والناقبة	دآء للانسان من طول الضجعة *
والجَوَث	عظم البطن فى اعلاه او استرخآ اسفله *
والخَوَث	استرخآ البطن *

or a ghaḍbah,	“a fleshy lump on the upper eyelid (as an inborn defect)”
or ghiḍāb,	“a certain disease, or smallpox”
or ghalab,	“thickness of the neck”
or qalab,	“extroversion of the lip”
or qulāb,	“disease of the heart”
or quwabāʾ,	“those things that appear on the body and break out on it”
or kanab,	“a thickening that covers the leg and hand”
or kawab,	“thinness of the neck and largeness of the head”
or nāqibah,	“a malady that affects a person as a result of extended intercourse”
or jawath,	“largeness of the belly in its upper part, or flaccidity of the same in its lower”
or khawath,	“flaccidity of the belly”

3.1.6

والضَمَج	آفة تصيب الانسان وهو ايضا هيجان المابون *
والعِناج	وجع الصلب *
والفَحَج	تدانى صدور القدمين فى المشى وتباعد العقبين والفجج والفخج اقبح منه *
واللَخَج	اسوأ الغمص *
والمَجَج	استرخاء الشدقين *
والجَلَح	انحسار الشعر عن جانبى الراس *
والصَفَح	عرض فاحش فى الجبهة *
والنَطَف	علّة يُكوَى منها الانسان *
والفركحة	تباعد ما بين الاليتين *
والفَطَح	عرض الراس والارنبة *

or ḍamaj,	“a pestilence that affects a person”; it also means “the aroused state of a passive sodomite”
or ʿināj,	“pain in the backbone”
or faḥaj,	“pointing toward one another of the foreparts of the feet in walking with splaying out of the heels; fajaj and fakhaj are worse forms of the same”
or lakhaj,	“the worst form of bleariness of the eye”
or majaj,	“flaccidity of the corners of the mouth”
or jalaḥ,	“the retreat of the hair from the sides of the head”
or ṣafaḥ,	“excessive width of the forehead”
or naṭaf,	“a disease against which people are cauterized”
or farkaḥah,	“wide spacing of the buttocks”
or faṭaḥ,	“breadth of head and tip of the nose”

3.1.7

والفَلح	شق فى الشفة السفلى *
والقادح	اُكال فى الاسنان *
والَقَلح	صفرة الاسنان *
والكَسَح	الزمانة فى اليدين والرجلين *
واللَجَح	اللخص فى العين *
والمَرَح	شدة سيلان العين وفسادها *
والمَسَح	احتراق باطن الركبة لخشونة الثوب او اصطكاك الربلتين ومثله المشح *
والوَذَح	احتراق فى باطن الفخذين *
والبَزَخ	خروج الصدر ودخول الظهر *

or falaḥ,	“a split in the lower lip”
or qādiḥ,	“erosion of the teeth”
or qalaḥ,	“yellowing of the teeth”
or kasaḥ,	“a chronic disease of the hands and legs”
or lajaḥ,	“fleshy swelling around the eye”
or maraḥ,	“extreme watering and deterioration of the eye”
or masaḥ,	“chafing of the inside of the knee due to coarseness of clothing or the rubbing against one another of the thighs; synonym mashaḥ”
or wadhaḥ,	“chafing on the inside of the thighs”
or bazakh,	“concavity of the chest and convexity of the back”

3.1.8

والزُلَّخة	وجع ياخذ فى الظهر *
والفَتَخ	استرخآ المفاصل او عرض الكف والقدم وطولهما *
والنُفّاخ	نفخة الورم من دآء يحدث *
والجَرَد	عدم الشعر *
والدَرَد	ذهاب الاسنان *
والرِدّة	تقاعس فى الذقن *
والسُواد	دآء من شرب المآ *
والقَوَد	طول العنق والظهر *
والكُباد	وجع الكبد *
واللهْد	دآء فى ارجل الناس وافخاذهم *

or zullakhah,	“a pain that affects the back”
or fatakh,	“flaccidity of the joints, or broadness and length of the hand and foot”
or nuffākh,	“the eruption of a swelling as the result of the occurrence of a disease”
or jarad,	“hairlessness”
or darad,	“toothlessness”
or riddah,	“recession of the chin”
or suwād,	“a disease resulting from drinking water”
or qawad,	“elongation of the neck and back”
or kubād,	“pain in the liver”
or lahd,	“a disease in people’s legs and thighs”

3.1.9

والاَدَر	الآدر والمادور من ينفتق صفاقه فيقع قُصبُه فى صَفْنه الخ وفعله كفرح *
والبَجَر	خروج السرّة وعظم البطن *
والبَخَر	النتن فى الفم *
والباسور	م ج بواسير *
والحَثَر	البثور وحثرت العين خرج فى اجفانها حبّ احمر *
والحَدْرة	قرحة تخرج ببياض الجفن *
والحُصْر والحَصَر	الحصر احتباس ذى البطن وبالتحريك ضيق الصدر والبخل والعىّ فى المنطق *
والحَفَر	سُلاق فى اصول الاسنان *
والحُمرة	ورم من جنس الطواعين *
والمُحنجَر	دآء فى البطن *

or adar,	“the ādir [active participle], or the maʾdūr [passive participle], is he whose peritoneum bursts, causing his gut to fall into his scrotum . . . ; the verb is adira”
or bajar,	“protuberance of the navel and broadness of the belly”
or bakhar,	“foulness in the mouth”
or bāsūr,	“too well-known to require definition, plural bawāsīr” [“piles”]
or ḥathar,	“pustules; ḥathirat al-ʿayn means ‘red pimples appeared on its lids’”
or ḥadrah,	“an ulcer that appears on the white of the eyelid”
or ḥuṣr or ḥaṣar,	“ḥuṣr is constipation of the bowels; ḥaṣar is dejection, or miserliness, or stammering”
or ḥafar,	“scaling at the roots of the teeth”
or ḥumrah,	“swellings of the bubonic type”
or muḥanjar,	“a disease of the belly”

3.1.10

والاُخَيضر	دآء فى العين *
والذَهَر	اسوداد الاسنان ومثله التذيير *
والزَحِير	استطلاق البطن *
والزَعَر	تفريق الشعر وقلته *
والزَوَر	عِوَج الزور والازور من به ذلك والناظر بموخر عينيه *
والشَتَر	انقلاب الجفن من اعلى واسفل وانشقاقه او استرخآ اسفله *
والصَعَر	صغر الراس *
والصَفَر	دآء فى البطن يصفّر الوجه *
والظَفَر	دآء فى العين *
والظَهَر	دآء الظهر *

or ukhayḍir,	“a disease of the eye”
or dhahar,	“blackening of the teeth; synonym tadhyīr”
or zaḥīr,	“looseness of the bowels”
or zaʿar,	“scantiness and thinness of the hair”
or zawar,	“twisting of the throat; the azwar is one who suffers from this . . . and one who looks from the outer corners of his eyes”
or shatar,	“the inversion and cracking of the eyelids, upper and lower, or flaccidity of the lower”
or ṣaʿar,	“smallness of the head”
or ṣafar,	“a disease of the belly that makes the face turn yellow”
or ẓafar,	“a disease of the eye”
or ẓahar,	“a disease of the back”

3.1.11

والعَوَر	معروف *
والتقطير	عدم استمساك البول *
والقَصَر	يبس فى العنق *
والمَعَر	قلة الشعر *
والناسور	علة فى المآقى وعلة فى حوالى المقعدة وعلة فى اللثة *
والكُزاز	دآء من شدة البرد *
والسُلاس	ذهاب العقل *
والفُقاس	دآء فى المفاصل *
والفَطَس	انفراش الانف فى الوجه *
والقَعَس	خروج الصدر ودخول الظهر ضد الحدب *

or ʿawar,	“too well-known to require definition” [“being one-eyed”]
or taqṭīr,	“non-retention of the urine”
or qaṣar,	“stiffness of the neck”
or maʿar,	“lack of hair”
or nāsūr,	“a malady of the inner corners of the eyes, or a malady in the environs of the posterior, or a malady of the gums”
or kuzāz,	“a disease caused by extreme cold”
or sulās,	“dementia”
or fuqās,	“a disease of the joints”
or faṭas,	“the nose’s being squashed on the face”
or qaʿas,	“convexity of the chest and concavity of the back; antonym of ḥadab (‘hunchbacked-ness’)”

3.1.12

والقَفَس	عظم الروثة *
والقَنْعسة	شدة العنق فى قصرها كالاحدب *
والكَسَس	قصر الاسنان او صغرها او لصوقها بسنوخها *
والنِقْرِس	ورم ووجع فى مفاصل الكعبين واصابع الرجلين *
والهَوَس	طرف من الجنون *
والحَمَش	دقة الساقين *
والخَفَش	صغر العينين وضعف البصر خلقة او فساد فى الجفون بلا وجع او ان يبصر بالليل دون النهار *
والدَوَش	ظلمة البصر وضيق العين *
والرَمَش	حمرة فى الجفون مع مآء يسيل *
والطَرَش	اهون الصمم *

or qafas,	“largeness of stool”
or qanʿasah,	“extreme shortness of the neck, as in one with a hunchback”
or kasas,	“shortness or smallness of the teeth, or their adhering to the gingiva”
or niqris,	“swelling and pain in the joints of the ankles and toes”
or hawas,	“a touch of insanity”
or ḥamash,	“thinness of the legs”
or khafash,	“smallness of the eyes and weakness of vision (as an inborn defect), or deterioration, without pain, in the eyelids, or having night but not day vision”
or dawash,	“dimness of vision and smallness of the eye”
or ramash,	“redness of the eyelids accompanied by a flow of liquid”
or ṭarash,	“the mildest form of deafness”

3.1.13

والطُشاش	دآء كالزكام *
والعُطاش	دآء لا يروى صاحبه *
والعَمَش	ضعف البصر مع سيلان الدمع فى اكثر الاوقات *
والمَدَش	رخاوة عصب اليد وقلة لحمها ودقتها *
والنمش	نقط بيض وسود او بقع تقع فى الجلد تخالف لونه *
والبَخَص	لحم ناتئ فوق العينين او تحتهما كهيئة النفخة والتبخّص انقلاب الاجفان *
والبرص	معروف *
والتَعَص	وجع العصب من كثرة المشى *
والحاصّة	دآء يتناثر منه الشعر *
والحَوَص	ضيق فى موخر العينين او فى احداهما *

or ṭushāsh,	“a malady like nasal congestion”
or ʿuṭāsh,	“a disease whose victim cannot quench his thirst”
or ʿamash,	“weakness of vision accompanied by constant tearing”
or madash,	“flaccidity of the sinew of the hand, or its having little flesh and being thin”
or namash,	“white and black spots and blotches on the skin that contrast with the color of the latter”
or bakhaṣ,	“flesh forming a lump above or below the eyes in the shape of a swelling; tabakhkhuṣ is inversion of the eyelids”
or baraṣ,	“too well-known to require definition” [“leprosy”]
or taʿaṣ,	“leg muscle pain caused by walking”
or ḥāṣṣah,	“a disease that causes the hair to fall out”
or ḥawaṣ,	“constriction in the outer corners of the eyes or in one of them”

3.1.14

والخَوَص	غؤور العينين *
والخَيَص	صغر احدى العينين *
والرَمَص	وسخ ابيض يجتمع فى الموق *
والشَوْصة	وجع فى البطن او ريح تعتقب فى الاضلاع او ورم فى حجابها *
والغَمَص	ما سال من الرمص *
والقَبَص	وجع يصيب الكبد من التمر على الريق وضخم الهامة *
والقِرْماص	قصر الخدين *
والقَفَص	حموضة فى المعدة من شرب المآء على التمر وحرارة فى الحلق *
واللَحَص	تغضن كثير فى اعلى الجفن *
واللَخَص	كون الجفن الاعلى لحيما *

or khawaṣ,	“sinking of the eyes [into the skull]”
or khayaṣ,	“smallness of one eye [compared to the other]”
or ramaṣ,	“foul white matter that collects in the inner corner of the eye”
or shawṣah,	“pain in the belly, or flatulence that affects the ribs, or swelling in the diaphragm”
or ghamaṣ,	“dripping ramaṣ [q.v.]”
or qabaṣ,	“a pain that afflicts the liver as a result of eating dates on an empty stomach, or largeness of the crown of the head”
or qirmāṣ,	“shortness of the cheeks”
or qafaṣ,	“acidity in the stomach from drinking water after eating dates, or burning in the throat”
or laḥaṣ,	“abundant wrinkling on the upper side of the eyelid”
or lakhaṣ,	“fleshiness of the upper eyelid”

3.1.15

واللَصَص	تقارب المنكبين والاسنان *
والماصّة	دآء ياخذ الصبى من شعرات على سناسن الفقار الخ *
والمَعَص	التوآ فى عصب الرجل *
والمَغَص	معروف *
والوَقَص	قصر العنق *
والحَرَض	فساد المعدة والبدن والمذهب والعقل *
والهَرَض	الحصف يخرج على البدن من الحرّ *
والخُباط	دآء كالجنون *
والاَذْوَطيّة	الاذوط الناقص الذقن *
والاَسَطّية	الاسطّ الطويل الرجلين *

or laṣaṣ,	“closeness of the shoulders, or the teeth”
or māṣṣah,	“a disease that affects young boys and consists of hairs on the edges of the vertebrae,” etc.
or maʿaṣ,	“a twisting in the sinew of the leg”
or maghaṣ,	“too well-known to require definition” [“stomachache”]
or waqaṣ,	“shortness of the neck”
or ḥaraḍ,	“morbidity of the stomach, body, judgment, and mind”
or haraḍ,	“dry mange that breaks out on the body as the result of hot weather”
or khubāṭ,	“a disease resembling insanity”
or adhwaṭiyyah,	“one who is adhwaṭ has a small chin”
or asaṭṭiyyah,	“one who is asaṭṭ has long legs”

3.1.16

والسَرَطان	ورم سوداوى يبتدئ مثل اللوزة واصغر فاذا كبر ظهر عليه عروق حمر وخضر شبيه بارجل السرطان لا مطمع فى برئه وانما يعالج لئلا يزداد *
والضَرَط	خفة اللحية ورقة الحاجب *
والضَوَط	عوج فى الفم *
والطَرَط	خفة شعر العينين والحاجبين والاهداب *
والقَطَط	قصر الشعر وجعودته *
والمَرَط	خفة الشعر *
والمَعَط	عدم الشعر *
والجَحْظ	خروج المقلة او عظمها *
والبَثَع	ظهور الدم فى الشفتين وانقلاب الشفة عند الضحك *
والجَلَع	عدم انضمام الشفتين *

or saraṭān,	“a bilious swelling that starts the size of an almond or smaller; when it grows larger, red or green veins appear on it that resemble the legs of a crab; there is no hope of its being cured and it is treated only to stop it from getting worse”
or ḍaraṭ,	“sparseness of the beard and thinness of the eyebrow”
or ḍawaṭ,	“crookedness of the mouth”
or ṭaraṭ,	“sparseness of the hair of the eyes, the eyebrows, and the eyelashes”
or qaṭaṭ,	“shortness and tightness of the hair”
or maraṭ,	“sparseness of the hair”
or maʿaṭ,	“lack of hair”
or jaḥẓ,	“protuberance or largeness of the eyeball”
or bathaʿ,	“the appearance of blood on the lips, or the inversion of the lip on laughing”
or jalaʿ,	“non-contiguity of the lips”

3.1.17

والخَلَع	التواء العرقوب *
والرَسَع	فساد فى الاجفان *
والرمع	اصفرار فى وجه المرأة من دآ يصيب بظرها *
والزَلَع	شقاق فى ظاهر القدم كالسلع *
والزَمَع	الزيادة فى الاصابع *
والصُداع	وجع الراس *
والصَلَع	انحسار شعر مقدم الراس *
والتصوّع	تشقق الشعر *
والقَرَع	معروف *
والقَفَع	ارتداد اصابع الرجل الى القدم *

or khalaʿ,	“twisting of the hamstring”
or rasaʿ,	“morbidity of the eyelids”
or ramaʿ,	“yellowing of a woman’s face as the result of a disease that affects her clitoris”
or zalaʿ,	“cracking on the exterior of the foot, as also salaʿ”
or zamaʿ,	“superfluity of digits”
or ṣudāʿ,	“pain in the head”
or ṣalaʿ,	“recession of the hair of the front of the head”
or taṣawwuʿ,	“patchiness of the hair”
or qaraʿ,	“too well-known to require definition” [baldness caused by ringworm]
or qafaʿ,	“bending of the toes back toward the foot”

3.1.18

والقُلاع	دآ فى الفم *
والقَمَع	فساد فى موق العين واحمرار او بثرة تخرج فى اصول الاشفار *
والكَتَع	رجوع الاصابع الى الكف *
والكَثَع	احمرار الشفة وكثرة دمها حتى تكاد تنقلب *
والكَلَع	شقاق ووسخ فى القدم *
والكَوَع	اقبال الرسغين على المنكبين *
واللَخَع	استرخآ الجسم *
واللَطَع	بياض فى باطن الشفة الخ *
والوَكَع	اقبال الابهام على السبابة من الرِجل *
والهَنَع	انحنآ فى القامة *

or qulāʿ,	“a disease of the mouth”
or qamaʿ,	“morbidity of the inner corners of the eye, or an inflammation [of the same], or a pustule that breaks out at the roots of the eyelashes”
or kataʿ,	“the turning of the fingers toward the palm”
or kathaʿ,	“inflammation of the lip and its becoming so full of blood that it almost inverts”
or kalaʿ,	“cracking and dirtiness of the feet”
or kawaʿ,	“proximity of the wrists to the shoulders”
or lakhaʿ,	“flaccidity of the body”
or laṭaʿ,	“whiteness on the inside of the lip,” etc.
or wakaʿ,	“proximity of the large toe to the second toe”
or hanaʿ,	“stooping of the body”

3.1.19

والبَثَغ	ظهور الدم فى الجسد *
والذَلَغ	انقلاب الشفة *
والفَدَغ	التوآ فى القدم *
والفَوَغ	ضخم فى الفم *
والوَبَغ	هِبْرية الراس *
والجَنْف	الجنف فى الزور دخول احد شقّيه وانهضامه مع اعتدال الآخر *
والحَشَفة	قرحة تخرج بحلق الانسان *
والحَنَف	الاعوجاج فى الرجل *
والخَنَف	انهضام احد جانبى الصدر او الظهر *
والسأْف	تشقق وتشعث ما حول الاظفار *

or bathagh,	“the appearance of blood on the body”
or dhalagh,	“the inversion of the lip”
or fadagh,	“twisting of the foot”
or fawagh,	“largeness of the mouth”
or wabagh,	“scurf of the head”
or janf,	“depression and sucking in of one side of the breast, the other being straight”
or ḥashafah,	“an ulcer that breaks out in a person’s throat”
or ḥanaf,	“crookedness of the leg”
or khanaf,	“the sucking in of one of the two sides of the chest or back”
or saʾaf,	“cracking and frowsiness of the area around the nails”
or saʿfah,	“ulcers that break out on a child’s head and face”

3.1.20

والسَعْفة	قروح تخرج على راس الصبى ووجهه *
والشأْفة	قرحة تخرج فى اسفل القدم فتكوى فتذهب او اذا قطعت مات صاحبها *
والشَنَف	انقلاب الشفة العليا من اعلى *
والطَرْفة	نقطة حمرآ من الدم تحدث فى العين من ضربة وغيرها *
والغَضَف	استرخآ فى الاذن *
والغَطَف	كثرة شعر الحاجب *
والكُتاف	وجع الكتف *
والكَلَف	شى يعلو الوجه كالسمسم — وحمرة كدرة تعلو الوجه *
والاَرَقان	آفة تصيب الزرع والانسان كاليرقان *
والبَخَق	اقبح العور *

or shaʾfah,	“an ulcer that breaks out on the bottom of the foot and that goes away if cauterized but which, if cut, causes its victim to die”
or shanaf,	“inversion of the upper lip from above”
or ṭarfah,	“a red blood spot that occurs in the eye as the result of a blow or some other cause”
or ghaḍaf,	“flaccidity of the ear”
or ghaṭaf,	“abundance of eyebrow hair”
or kutāf,	“pain in the shoulder”
or kalaf,	“something that covers the face and resembles sesame seeds . . . and a dull redness that covers the face”
or araqān,	“a pest that affects crops and humans; synonym yaraqān”
or bakhaq,	“the ugliest form of one-eyedness”

3.1.21

والبهق	بياض رقيق ظاهر البشرة الخ *
والحَوْلق	وجع فى حلق الانسان *
والحَماق	الجدرى او شبهه *
والخُناق	دآ يمتنع معه نفوذ النفس الى الرئة *
والرَوَق	ان تطول الثنايا العُلَى السُفَلَ *
والسُلاق	بثر يخرج على اصول اللسان او تقشر فى اصول الاسنان وغلظ فى الاجفان *
والشَدَق	سعة الشدق *
والشَمَق	مرح الجنون *
والغَمَقة	دآء ياخذ فى الصلب *
والفَتَق	علة فى الصِفاق *

or bahaq,	“a fine whiteness on the surface of the skin,” etc.
or ḥawlaq,	“a pain in a person’s throat”
or ḥamāq,	“smallpox and similar diseases”
or khunāq,	“a disease that is accompanied by an inability of the breath to reach the lungs”
or rawaq,	“projection of the upper incisors over the lower”
or sulāq,	“pustules that break out at the roots of the tongue, or flaking at the roots of the teeth and thickness of the eyelids”
or shadaq,	“capaciousness of the jawbone”
or shamaq,	“the mirth of insanity”
or ghamaqah,	“a disease that affects the backbone”
or fataq,	“a sickness of the peritoneum”

3.1.22

والفَوَق	ميل الفم والفرج *
واللَسَق	لسوق الرئة بالجنب عطشا *
والمَشَق	ان تصيب احدى الربلتين الاخرى *
والوَدَق	نقط حمر تخرج من العين تشرق به او لحمة تعظم فيها او مرض فيها ترم منه الاذن *
والسَكَك	عيب فى الاذن *
والساهك	حكّة العين *
والشاكّة	ورم فى الحلق *
والشوكة	دآء وحمرة تعلو البدن *
والفَرَك	استرخآء اصل الاذن *
والفَكَك	انفراج المنكب١ استرخآ *

١ ١٨٥٥: المركب.

or fawaq,	“a distortion of the mouth or the vagina”
or lasaq,	“the sticking of the lung to the side as a result of thirst”
or mashaq,	“injury done by one fleshy mass to another”
or wadaq,	“red spots that break out in the eye and suffuse it with redness, or a piece of flesh that grows there, or a sickness in it that leads to the decay of the ear”
or sakak,	“a defect of the ear”
or sāhik,	“itchiness of the eye”
or shākkah,	“a swelling of the throat”
or shawkah,	“a disease too well-known to require definition [‘plague’], or a redness that covers the body”
or farak,	“flaccidity of the base of the ear”
or fakak,	“the unknitting of the shoulder blade as a result of flaccidity”

3.1.23

والاَلَل	قصر الاسنان واقبالها على غار الفم كاليَلَل *
والبَدَل	وجع فى البأدلة (اللحمة بين الابط والثندوة) ووجع المفاصل واليدين *
والبُوال	دآء يكثر منه البول *
والثَعَل	تراكب الاسنان *
والثَلَل	تساقط الاسنان *
والحَذَل	حمرة العين وانسلاق وسيلان دمع *
والحِقْل	دآ فى البطن *
والحَلَل	استرخآ ووجع فى العصب *
والحَوَل	معروف *
والخَبَل	فساد الاعضآ والفالج *

or alal,	“shortness of the teeth and their turning inward toward the palate; synonym yalal”
or badal,	“a pain in the baʾdalah (the flesh between the armpit and the breast), or a pain of the joints and hands”
or buwāl,	“a disease that causes an increase in urine”
or thaʿal,	“the overlying of one another by the teeth”
or thalal,	“loss of teeth”
or ḥadhal,	“redness of the eye, or an ulceration of the eye with tearing”
or ḥiql,	“a disease of the belly”
or ḥalal,	“flaccidity and pain in the tendon”
or ḥawal,	“too well-known to require definition” [“squint”]
or khabal,	“morbidity of the limbs, or hemiplegia”

3.1.24

والخَزَل	الكسرة فى الظهر *
والخُمال	دآء فى المفاصل *
والدَحَل	عظم البطن *
والدَخَل	ما داخلك من فساد فى عقل او جسم *
والسَبَل	غشاوة العين من انتفاخ عروقها الظاهرة *
والسَغَل	السَغِل الصغير الجثة الدقيق القوائم او المضطرب الاعضآ او السيّى الخلق والغذآ او المتخدد المهزول وقد سغل كفرح فى الكل *
والسُلال	م كالسِلّ *
والسَوْلة	استرخآ البطن وغيره *
والصَحَل	البحح *
والضَعَل	دقة البدن من تقارب النسب *

or khazal,	“a fracture in the back”
or khumāl,	“a disease of the joints”
or daḥal,	“largeness of belly”
or dakhal,	“any morbid condition, mental or physical, that may affect you”
or sabal,	“a film over the eye resulting from the inflation of its exterior veins”
or saghal,	“one who is saghil has a small body with mean limbs, or is one whose limbs are disordered, or one whose physical constitution and nutrition are poor, or one who is wrinkled and emaciated; the verb saghila applies to all the preceding”
or sulāl,	“too well-known to require definition; synonym sill” [“tuberculosis”]
or sawlah,	“flaccidity of the belly and other parts”
or ṣaḥal,	hoarseness
or ḍaʿal,	“weakness of the body resulting from too-close consanguinity”

3.1.25

والطَحَل	دآء الطِحال *
والطُلاطِلة	سقوط اللهاة حتى لا يسوغ له طعام ولا شراب *
والعَفَل	شى يخرج من قبل النسآ كالادرة *
والعَقَل	اصطكاك الركبتين *
والعَقابيل	ما يخرج على الشفة غبّ الحمى *
والغَمَل	فساد الجرح من العصاب *
والقَبَل	اقبال احدى الحدقتين على الاخرى *
والنَمْلة	بثرة تخرج فى الجسد بالتهاب واحتراق ويرم مكانها يسيرا ويدبّ الى مكان آخر *
والاُطام	حصرة البول والبعر من دآ *
والجُحام	دآ فى العين *

or ṭaḥal,	“a disease of the spleen”
or ṭulāṭilah,	“falling of the uvula so that neither food nor drink easily passes through it”
or ʿafal,	“something that breaks out in women resembling the scrotal hernia [in men]”
or ʿaqal,	“knock-kneedness”
or ʿaqābīl,	“an eruption on the lip following a fever”
or ghamal,	“the festering of a wound as a result of its being tied too tightly”
or qabal,	“the turning of one of the two pupils toward the other”
or namlah,	“a pustule that erupts on the body as a result of inflammation and chafing and which quickly destroys the flesh where it is and then takes hold in another place”
or uṭām,	“retention of the urine and feces due to a disease”
or ḥujām,	“a disease of the eye”

3.1.26

والجُذام	معروف *
والخَشَم	تغير رائحة الانف من دآ فيه *
والرَحَم	وجع الرحم *
والسَرَم	وجع الدبر *
والضجم	عوج فى الفم والشدق والشفة والذقن والعنق *
والعَسَم	يبس فى مفصل الرسغ تعوجّ منه اليد والقدم *
والغَمَم	سيلان الشعر حتى تضيق الجبهة والقفا *
والفَقَم	تقدم الثنايا العليا فلا تقع على السفلى *
والقَعَم	ميل وارتفاع فى الاليتين *
والكَزَم	قصر فى الانف *

or judhām,	“too well-known to require definition” [“leprosy”]
or khasham,	“change in the smell of the nose due to a disease”
or raḥam,	“pain in the womb”
or saram,	“pain in the buttocks”
or ḍajam,	“crookedness of the mouth, jawbone, lip, chin, and neck”
or ʿasam,	“stiffening of the wrist or ankle joint resulting in distortion of the hand or foot”
or ghamam,	“the spreading of hair in such a way as to narrow the brow and the nape”
or faqam,	“advancement of the upper incisors so that they do not meet the lower”
or qaʿam,	“a distortion and raising of the buttocks”
or kazam,	“shortness of the nose”

3.1.27

والكَشَم	نقصان فى الخلق وفى الحسب *
والمُوم	اشد الجدرى *
والبَطَن	دآ البطن *
والثَفَن	دآء فى الثَفِنة وهى من الانسان الركبة ومجتمع الساق والفخذ *
والدَنَن	انحنآ فى الظهر ودنو وتطامن فى الصدر والعنق *
والزَمَن	العاهة ونحوه الضَمَن *
والتسوّن	استرخآ البطن *
والقَعَن	قصر فاحش فى الانف *
والآهة والماهة	الآهة الحصبة والماهة الجدرى *
والجَلَه	انحسار الشعر عن مقدم الراس *

or kasham,	“inferiority of physique or of pedigree”
or mūm,	“the most extreme form of smallpox”
or baṭan,	“belly disease”
or thafan,	“a disease of the thafinah, which, in a human, is the knee, or the place where the shank and the thigh meet”
or danan,	“bowing of the back, walking with short steps, and lowering the chest and neck”
or zaman,	“an affliction [of the body]; synonym ḍaman [chronic or crippling sickness]”
or tasawwun,	“flaccidity of the belly”
or qaʿan,	“repugnant shortness of the nose”
or āhah or māhah,	“āhah is measles and māhah is smallpox”
or jalah,	“recession of the hair from the fore part of the head”

3.1.28

والشَوَه	طول العنق وقصرها ضد *
والفَوَه	سعة الفم *
والقَرَه	القره فى الجسد كالقلح فى الاسنان *
والقَمَه	قلة شهوة الطعام كالقَهَم *
والمَرَه	فساد العين لترك الكحل *
والبله	قلة الفطنة *
والتَلَه	الحَيرة والوله وهو ذهاب العقل حزنا *
والدَلَه	ذهاب الفواد من همّ ونحوه *
والبَزا	انحنا فى الظهر عند العجز او اشراف وسط الظهر على الاست *
والجَحْو	سعة الجلد واسترخاوه *

or shawah,	“both longness and shortness of the neck (one word with two opposite meanings)”
or fawah,	“capaciousness of the mouth”
or qarah,	“qarah [jaundice] is to the body what qalaḥ [yellowing] is to the teeth”
or qamah,	“lack of appetite for food; synonym qaham”
or marah,	“festering of the eye as a result of failing to apply collyrium”
or balah,	“lack of native wit”
or talah,	“confusion, or walah,” which means “losing one’s mind as a result of sorrow”
or dalah,	“losing one’s mind as a result of worry and so forth”
or bazāʾ,	“a bending of the back at the buttocks, or projection of the middle of the back over the anus”
or jaḥw,	“capaciousness and flaccidity of the skin”

3.1.29

والجَلا	دون الصلع *
والجَوَى	دآ فى الصدر *
والحَصاة	اشتداد البول فى المثانة حتى يصير كالحصاة *
والحَقْوة	وجع فى البطن من اكل اللحم *
والخَذَى	استرخآ الاذن وانكسارها *
والرَثْية	وجع المفاصل واليدين والرجلين او ورم فى القوائم او منعك الالتفات من كبر او وجع *
والشرَى	بثور صغار حمر حكاكة *
والشَغا	اختلاف نبتة الاسنان بالطول والقصر والدخول والخروج *
والضَوَى	دقة الجسم وقلة خلقة او الهزال *
والطَنَى	طنى لزق طحاله ورئته بالاضلاع من الجانب الايسر *

or jalā,	“[a form of hair loss] short of baldness”
or jawā,	“a disease of the chest”
or ḥaṣāh,	“hardening of the urine in the bladder until it turns into something like stones”
or ḥaqwah,	“pain in the belly from eating meat”
or khadhā,	“flaccidity and floppiness of the ear”
or rathyah,	“a pain of the joints, hands, and feet, or a swelling in the legs, or one’s not being able to turn as a result of old age or pain”
or sharā,	“small red itchy pimples”
or shaghā,	“variation in the manner of growth of the teeth, some being long, some short, some pointing in, some pointing out”
or ḍawā,	“meagerness of the body, or paucity of the body, either as an inborn trait or as a result of emaciation”
or ṭanā,	“[the verb] ṭanā means ‘his spleen and his lungs stuck to his ribs on the left side’”

3.1.30

والفَغا	ميل فى الفم *
والقَعا	هو ان تشرف الارنبة ثم تقعى نحو القصبة *
والقَطَى	دآ فى العجز *
واللَقْوة	دآ فى الوجه *
واللَوَى	وجع فى المعدة واعوجاج فى الظهر *

وغير ذلك من العيوب كانْ يكون الانسان قشعوما او مقرقما او زُعْبلا او سَقَعْطَرَى او نُغاشيا^١ او اِزْبا او دميما * ومن الادوآ التى لم يُعَرف لها بعدُ اسم * ومحال ان تحيط بها كلها حالة كونها غير مستقصاة هذه الثمانية والعشرون حرفا * واصعب ما فيها واضرّ الهُكاع والتشويل * وقد زاد معاصرونا على ذلك الدآء الزَرْنبى مما خلت عنه لغتنا الشريفة *

١ كذا في القاموس المحيط وفي ١٨٥٥ «نِغاشيا».

or faghā,	“a distortion of the mouth”
or qaʿā,	“the projection of the tip of the nose followed by its turning up toward the bridge”
or qaṭā,	“a disease of the buttocks”
or laqwah,	“a disease of the face”
or lawā,	“a pain in the stomach, or a crookedness in the back”

not to mention other blemishes, such as being a dwarf or a runt, or undernourished, potbellied, and thin-necked, or a beanpole or a midget or squat and fat or short and ugly, or diseases for which no name as yet is known and which it is impossible to enumerate in their entirety since they are too many to be contained within these twenty-eight letters.¹ The most trying and harmful of them all are erotomania and erectile dysfunction, to which last our contemporaries have added venereal disease, for which our noble language has no word.²

3.1.31

واعود فاقول الم يكف بنى ادم ان مدى عمرهم قصير * وهمّهم فيه طويل كثير * وامرهم عسير * لكل منهم من العنآ والجهد واللوعه * ما يكفيه وآخرين معه * فطالب العلم يسهر الليالى فى تبيين مشاكل * وايضاح مسائل * وذو الصنعة يقضى نهاره كله مكبّا على عمله ذا سخط * حتى ينال كفافه فقط * وذو الامارة مشغول البال باحكامه وسياسته * والرئيس ذو همّ برئاسته * والملك موجس من وزرائه ان يتحالفوا عليه فيسقوه ما به هلاكه * والوزرآ خائفون منه ان ينقم عليهم فتدور بهم افلاكه * والتاجر يبكر الى محترفه وهو مشفق من كساد بضاعته * والطبيب يخشى ان تَرشَد الناس فيستغنوا عن براعته * فتعفن عقاقيره * وتاجن مياه زجاجاته ويفسد ذروره * وسَفوفه ولَعوقه ووَجوره * والقاضى يستعيذ من قدوم من تفتنه من الغيد بجمالها * وتربكه فى مسائل غير مذكورة فى كتابه فيعلق بحبالها * ويتحير من احوالها * والربّان يحذر من عصف الارواح * والزاجل من شب نار الحرب التى وقودها الارواح * فكلما راى سلطانه متغيرا * وخاطره مكدرا * قال اللهم اكفنى غِيَر الدهر * واجعل هذا الكدر عارضا يزول قبل العصر * فانى ارى فى وجه ملكى واميرى سيميآ القتال * والرسم بمنازلة الابطال * وانا ذو صاحبة وعيال * واملاك واموال * اللهم اكفف السنة الاجانب عن القدح فيه * والقِ فى قلوبهم رعبه وامحُ من صدره ما يوغره ويزفيه * والحارث يوجل من كثرة الامطار * وهبوب الاِعصار * والمعلّم من رغبة الناس عن العلم الى الجهل * والمتعلم من عقبة الكُتّاب * وعاقبة الكتاب * الشافه لما عنده من ثمد الجَلَد * والحاظر له عن اللهو والدد * والمغنّى والعازف بالات الطرب من وقوع الغلآ * او استيلآ الحزن على قلوب الاغنيآ * واللاعب من اهتدآ الناس الى الجد * والشاعر من الفائه ممدوحه كالحجر الصلد * او محبوبه ذا جفآ وصد * والمولف مثلى من مجانين (اى يشفق من مجانين لا انه هو منهم) يتصّدون له فيحرقون كتابه * ويخرّقون اِهابه * والزوج من فرار زوجته وكساد ابنته * وهما من بخله وحرمانها من ثروته * والقسيس من كتب الفلاسفة * والفلاسفة من وعيد القسيس وبوادره العاصفة * ورعوده القاصفة * وفى الجملة فكل ذى حرفة يخاف من انحراف نفعها عن جانبه * وكلٌ يدعو الله لصلاح حاله ولو بفساد حال صاحبه * اذ لا تكاد تتم مصلحة من هذه المصالح المذكورة * الاّ وينجرّ معها مفسدة بالضرورة * كما قال ابو الطيب المتنبى مصائب قوم عند قوم فوائد * ومع ذلك فكل يزعم انه محق فيما ساله * جدير بنوال ما امله * وان لغته فى ذلك عند الحق سبحانه وتعالى * اصدق مقالا *

Again I say, “Is it not enough for men that their lives are short and spent mostly in lengthy thought, their lot hard, each in enough care, struggle, and grief drowned to suffice him and still leave a balance to go round? The seeker after knowledge, to elucidate issues and clarify matters of debate must burn the midnight oil, to scrape the barest living the craftsman must bend over his work all day in resentful toil. The emir is preoccupied with laying down the law and maintaining his domination, the president frets over his administration. The king lives in dread lest his ministers conspire to administer to him a potion that will leave him dead, the ministers quaver lest he find fault with them and withdraw his favor. The merchant goes early to the shop he hires, worried that his goods will find no buyers. The physician fears people living more sensible lives and dispensing with his skills, leaving his drugs to go rancid and the liquids in his bottles to go stagnant, while corrupted become his powders, electuaries, dry doses, and pills. The judge prays that no young lady come before him to snare him with her looks or disconcert him with matters not found in his books, entrapping him in floss till, as to her affairs, he’s at a loss. The ship’s captain’s on guard lest a storm arise, the general against the outbreak of war’s fire, whose fuel is lives—saying, on seeing that his sultan’s thinking is quirky, his mood murky, ‘God protect me from time’s upsets and make this quirkiness a passing spell, gone before the supper bell, for in the face of my king and commander I see designs for the clash of titans and the lineaments of battle, while I have a companionate wife and children, property, and cattle! God make the foreigners hold their tongues and cease their slander, cast terror of him into their hearts and wipe from his breast aught that may make him rage or rouse his dander!’ The ploughman is afraid of too much rain and the hurricane, the educator that men will turn from a thirst for knowledge to one for ignorance, the educated that later writers will say something biting and of the consequences of writing (writing, that is, a book that will suck dry what remains of patience’s limited supply and keep him from any distraction or attraction), the singer and player of instruments that prices will become inflated or the hearts of the rich desolated, the playboy that men will be guided to become more serious, the poet that he’ll find the object of his panegyrics as impervious as rock or his beloved unresponsive and imperious, the author like me of lunatics (meaning he’s on his guard against them, not that he’s one of them),³ who may bar his path, burning his book and tearing his hide to pieces in their wrath, the husband of the decampment of his wife and of his daughter’s staying a spinster for life (as are they, in turn, of his stinginess with his pelf and denial of access to his wealth), the priest of the philosophers’ books, and the philosophers of the priest’s threats, fulminations, and thunderous looks. Thus, in sum, everyone with a trade fears lest its benefits be diverted, each prays God his affairs go right even if his friend’s must be perverted, for scarce any of the aforementioned can his own interests fulfill without another, of necessity, faring ill (as Abū l-Ṭayyib al-Mutanabbī put it, ‘The setbacks of some are for others opportunities’), despite which each claims he has a right to what he asks for, that he deserves to be granted his prayers, and that the proof of his claim lies in the sayings of the Glorious and Almighty Truth, that most truthful of sayers.”

3.1.32

نعم اعود فاقول * وان طال المقول * او ما كفى الناس الخوف من الموت يفاجئهم وهم فى دعة واطمئنان * او يفجعهم بفقد ما لديهم عزيز من اهل وولد واخوان * وخلان وحيوان * اذ بعض الناس يكلفون بالخيل والطير والسنانير والكلاب * كلفهم بالاهل والاصحاب * او الرعب من ان يسقط احدهم عن ظهر دابته فتندق عنقه * او تسرى النار فى بيته فيحترق تالده وطريفه فيعدم رزقه * او يقع فى تيّار فيجفأ به الى ما شاء الله * او تخسف به الارض * او يخرّ عليه السقف من فوق * او تبلغه الوكة من مسافة مائتى فرسخ فتقلقه وتورقه وربما ابكته دما * او ياتيه سارق فيسرق متاعه الذى هو قوام معيشته * او يفقد ما فى كيسه او هميانه فى الطريق * او ينشب فى عينه عود فيعطلها * او تتشنج به عضلة فيعد بعدها من سقط المتاع * او ياكل شيا ضارّا فيودى به * او شرابا مسموما فيسقط امعآه وارابه * او يرى جميلة فيؤرقه جمالها فيصبح وهو هائم متيّم يشكو للطبيب من سقامه * وللشاعر من غرامه * فلا هذا يطعمه ويمنّيه * ولا ذاك ينفعه ويشفيه * او قبيحة فتدهمه مَرْعبة * ويلازمه القمه عن المادبة * او تنبحه الكلاب وتخرق ثيابه فيبدو وَذَمه * او يسيل دمه * او يكون جالسا يوما على التخت * فيسمع له صريف التحت * فيسود وجهه بين اخوانه وعترته * واهل قريته وكورته * وربما نبزوه بالخَضْفى او الغَضْفى او النَضْفى او الخَبْقى^١ او الخَفْقى او العَفْقى او الغَفْقى او الحَصْمى او الخَضْمى او الرُدْمى * او يقع عليه الكابوس ليلًا فيقف جريان دمه على قلبه فيهلك ليلته *

١ ١٨٥٥: الخَبْقى او الخَبْقى [كذا].

And yet again I say, no matter at what length I have already spoken, “Is it not enough for man—fear of a death that may take him unawares while peaceably engaged upon his affairs, or grieve him through loss of a dear one deceased, be he of his kin, his offspring, or his brethren, or a boon companion, or even a beast (for some are as fond of horses, birds, cats, and dogs as they are of family and friends), or terror lest one of them should break his neck by falling off the back of one of his nags, or his house catch fire, his heirlooms and prized possessions be burned to ashes and he reduced to rags, or fall into a torrent and be swept to God knows where, or the earth swallow him up, or the ceiling collapse upon him from above, or a missive reach him from a distance of two hundred leagues, to disquieten him, cost him his sleep, maybe even make him weep blood, or that a robber come and steal the goods upon which his livelihood depends, or lest he lose all that’s in his purse or waistband while on the road, or a stick pierce his eye and he lose its use, or one of his muscles become paralyzed and thenceforth be of no worth, or he eat something harmful and be killed by it, or he drink a poisoned potion and his guts and limbs collapse because of it, or he behold a comely woman and be kept awake by her beauty so that he gets up the next morning beside himself and love-sick, complaining to the doctor of his disease and to the poet of his passion, for the latter will neither his hunger appease nor grant him his desire nor will the former bring him any good or provide him with a cure, or behold an ugly one who strikes such terror into his heart as makes all appetite depart, or lest the dogs bark at him and rip his clothes, so that his tackle’s laid bare or his blood flows, or he be sitting one day on a seat and from down below be heard a tweet, so that his name becomes mud among his brethren and band, the people of his village and his land (in which case they may name him in derision ‘the farter,’⁴ ‘the snarter,’ ‘the varter,’ ‘the browner,’ ‘the bottom burper,’ ‘the queefer,’ ‘the queeber,’ ‘the poofer,’ ‘the pooter,’ ‘the butt trumpeter’), or the nightmare fall upon him one night, so that the blood stops flowing to his heart and he perishes before morning?”

3.1.33

نعم لم^١ يكفهم هذا كله حتى طفق بعضهم يجهّز على بعض كتائب الحدس والتخمين * ويجرّد عليه مقانب الخرص والتزكين * فاقبل قوم منهم على قوم برماح الطعن مشرَّعة * وبسيوف اللعن مبضّعة * وبنصال الجدال فائدة مارقة * وبنبال الجلاد صاردة خاسقة * فقال بعض الا ان درجات السمآ مئة وخمس * فقال غيره الا انها مئة واربع * فقال اخر لقد كذبتما واستوجبتما قطع اللسان وسمل العينين * وسلّ الانثيين * وانما هى مئة وست * ثم قام اخر وقال الا ان دركات سقر ستمائة وست وستون * فقام غيره وقال الا انها ستمائة وخمسون * فقال اخر لقد كذبتما والحدتما وضللتما واستوجبتما غلّ اليدين والرجلين * ونتف الشعرين * انما هى ستمائة وسبع وستون * ثم قام اخر وقال الا ان قرن الشيطان ثلثمائة وخمسة وخمسون ذراعا * فقال آخر هذا افك واضح * وبهتان فاضح * بل هو ثلثمائة وستة وخمسون * فقال اخر وكسور * ثم قال اخر الا انه من حديد لكونه ثقيلا على الناس يعنّيهم * فاجابه غيره الا انه من ذهب لكونه يضلّهم ويغويهم فقال اخر بل هو من اليقطين لانه ينمى ثم يذوى * ويكبر ثم يصغر * ويطول ثم يقصر *

١ ١٨٥٥: الم.

In truth, all this has not been enough to stop some men from rushing to outfit against others the battalions of guesswork and supposition and unleash against them the squadrons of surmise and suspicion. Thus one such company would attack another waving the lances of defamation, wielding the swords of imprecation, thrusting with spearheads of dispute that find their mark and pierce right through, firing arrows of debate that transfix and are ever true. One said, “Verily, the degrees of Heaven are one hundred and five!” while another, “Verily, they are one hundred and four, no more!” Then yet another declared, “You both lied and deserve to have your tongues excised, your eyes put out, your testes pulverized! They are one hundred and six for sure!” At this another arose who said, “Verily, the degrees of Hell are six hundred, six and sixty!” to which someone else responded, “Verily they are six hundred, five and fifty!” while a third declared, “You both lie and true belief defy, have erred and the shackling of your hands and feet incurred, in addition to the plucking of both your cephalic and your pubic hair! They are seven hundred and sixty-seven, I declare!” Then another stood up to say, “Verily, the length of Satan’s horn is three hundred, five-and-fifty cubits!” and another responded, “Untruth clear and falsehood outrageous! It is, on the contrary, three hundred and fifty-six!” (to which a third added, “And a few bits!”). Now another said, “And it is made of iron, as witnessed by how heavily it weighs on people and torments them!” to which another answered, “Verily, it is made of gold, as evidenced by how it distracts and tempts them!” To this another, however, responded, “Nay, it’s made of squash, because it grows and then gets shorter, swells and then gets smaller, contracts after having got tauter!”

3.1.34

ثم قام آخر على سلّم عال وقال بصوت جهير الا ان يكون ايها الناس لجُلَيْدة ينبغى قطعها بحجر محدّد لا كبير ولا صغير * فقال آخر بل بسكّين ماض لا طويل ولا قصير * فقال آخر لقد سفهتما انما هى عزيزة علينا * كريمة لدينا * لا يصح قطعها بحجر ولا سكّين * ولا خدشها بشى ولو من رقين * فانما هى متصلة بالوريد ومنعقدة بالوتين * ومن قطعها فقد كفر * واستوجب نار سقر * فقال آخر بل قطعها واجب فانها من الزوائد * فاعترضه القائل بعدم القطع انّا لا نرى شيا غيرها يقطع فما وجه تخصيصها بالقطع * قال بل الشوارب تُحفَى والاظفار تقلّم * قال ولكنها بعد ذلك تنبت وتلك لا * قال انما دليلى القطعى على وجوب القطع عدم نفعها لصاحبها * قال لم يخلق الله شيا عبثا من غير نفع * قال بل خلقك اياك لغير فائدة * قال لا بل انت مخلوق عبثا * ثم حشد كلّ من الفريقين بخيله ورَجْله * وتلاقى كل من الجيشين بسلاحه ومَحله * فمن بين قارع بحدّ الحسام * ورام بالسهام * وباطش بيده وقاذع بلسانه * وهاجٍ بقلمه * فالروس متناثرة * والدمآ جارية الاعضآ متطايرة * والعرض مهتور والحرمات مهتّكة * والمال مسلوب والديار مخرّبة * والحزازات فى الصدور كامنة * والمشاحنة ظاهرة وباطنة * والخيل مُسرَجة * والكماة مدجّجة * والطرق معطلة * والارض ممحلة * والفرص للانتقام مرقوبة * والدعوات فى الليالى مشبوبة *

Another now arose, stood atop a tall ladder and said in a loud tone, “Verily, you are possessed, good people, of a little piece of skin that must be cut off, using a whetted piece (neither too large nor too small) of stone!” to which another replied, “Nay, using a sharp knife, neither too long nor too short!” to which a third one made retort, “You’re both fools! That bit of skin to us is dear, to our hearts near, and is not with either stone or knife to be made shorter or scratched by aught else, be it even of silver, for it is connected to the jugulars and tied to the aorta. Anyone who cuts it is guilty of infidelity and deserves to burn in Hell for all eternity!” Someone else declared, “Nay, to cut it off is a duty, for it is nothing but a mere appendage!” to which the first objected, maintaining that it should not be cut off and saying, “Verily, we see that nothing else is cut off, so why make cutting its peculiar privilege?” to which the other answered, “On the contrary, mustaches are trimmed and nails clipped!” The other said, “But then they grow back while that does not!” The first now declared, “My conclusive proof that cutting it is obligatory is its uselessness to its owner!” to which the other replied, “God has created nothing in vain and to no purpose!” “On the contrary,” said the other, “he created you to no purpose!”, to which the second responded, “Not at all, it’s you who were created in vain!” Each party then mustered its cavalry and its footmen, and the two armies clashed, using weapons and acumen, and what with blades chopping, arrows shooting, hands bashing, tongues wagging, and pens decrying, heads were scattered, blood flowed and limbs sent flying, the inviolable was violated and honor debased, wealth looted and lands reduced to waste, while grudges were borne in men’s breasts, ill will both patent and hidden stored up in their chests, horses were saddled and warriors armed, roads became impassable and the earth was harmed, men awaited their chance for retaliation, and the nights were filled with vituperation.

3.1.35

ياايها الناس اعتبروا بمن فات * كيف صار الى الرفات * وان منهم من كان يذكر اسمه فى حياته بالبركات * فاصبح يذكر باللعنات * ومنهم من كان يحسب فى قومه سراجا وهّاجا * فصار يحسب دخانا وعجاجا * ومنهم من كان ياكل حتى ينتفخ بطنه وتجحظ عيناه * ويتلجلج لسانه وترتخى شفتاه * فصار الان الدود ياكله * وبعض الحشرات يستوبله * ياايها الناس * وجمهوركم فى سبات والباقى فى نعاس * فرارِ من غرور النفس * وحذارِ من قرور الرمس * وبدارِ الى تقديم عمل صالح يقربكم الى الله * ويلأم بعضكم ببعض وانتم فى الحياه * اتموتون وفى قلوبكم الحقد على خصمكم * وفى افواهكم اللعن على مخالفكم فى زعمكم * الم يقل لكم الحق كونوا ياعباد على الارض اخوانا فانكم من اب واحد وامّ احدة وانكم جميعا لميّتون * سوآ كنتم ذوى وجوه سمر او حمر او صفر او سود او بيض انكم كلكم بشر انكم كلكم فانون * انكم ناظرون ولامسون وسامعون وشامون وطاعمون * ما بال الجُلَيدىّ منكم يشنأ اللاجليدى * والحديدى منكم يمقت اليقطينى افلا تتوادعون * الم اظهر لكم فى طلوع الشمس وغروبها * وفى بزوغ الكواكب ومغيبها * وفى سكون الريح وهبوبها * وفى خمود النار وشبوبها * وفى زخر المياه ونضوبها * وفى صروف الدهر وخطوبه * وهمومه وكروبه * وفى سواد الشعر ومشيبه * وفى هرم الجسم وشحوبه * وفى الازمان اذا توالت * والاحوال اذا حالت * والدول اذا دالت * وفى الغياض اذا اَبْهجت * والرياض اذا دبّجت * والاشجار اذا اورقت وجرّدت * والاطيار اذا زقزقت وغردت * وفى اللسان اذا نطق * والقلم اذا مشق * ليس لعمرى بين الوحوش الضارية والطيور الكاسرة ما بينكم من العداوة والبغضآ * والضغن والشَحْنآ *

Good people, think of those who have passed on to the eternal domains and of how they are now but mortal remains, when there were among them men whose name, during their lives, was uttered with blessings but now is spoken of with blame, men who once were to their people as lamps brightly burning but now are become nothing but smoke and dust swirling, men who would eat till their bellies extended and eyes distended, whose tongues wagged and lips sagged and are now become the food of worms (though certain insects find them noxious). Good people, you whose masses are in a coma while the rest are in a daze, flee self-conceit! Beware the chilly rigors of the grave! Hasten to perform some good work that may bring you closer to your God, and be reconciled before you quit this earthly sod! Would you die your hearts by hatred against your opponent chilled, your mouths with curses against those who disagree with your assertions filled? Has not the Truth instructed you, “Be, O mortals, brothers on this earth, for you are of one father and one mother and all of you shall surely die!”⁵ Be your faces brown, red, yellow, black, or white, all of you are mortal, your lives all are soon erased, all see, feel, hear, smell, and taste. Why is it that the prepuced among you the unprepuced loathes, the ironlike the squashy hates? Will you not be with each other as mates? Have I not made myself manifest to you in the sun’s rising and setting and the stars’ appearing and disappearing, in the fire’s dying and flaring, in the wind’s dropping and blowing, in the waters’ welling and slowing, in Destiny’s reverses and perversities, its cares and adversities, in the blackness of hair and its whitening, in the aging of the body and its lightening, in the ages and how they follow in procession, in the years and their succession, in the advance of nations and their recession, in the thickets when they blossom and the meadows when they bloom, in the trees when they leaf and fall, in the birds when they twitter and call, in the tongue when it pronounces and the pen when it writes with sweeping flounces? There is, I swear, among the ravening beasts and rapacious birds less enmity and hate, less grudge-bearing and spite, than there is among you.

3.1.36

اذكروا يوم ان صعد خطيبكم المنبر * وعبس وبسر * وتوعد وتنكر * وخطّا وكفّر * وحض على القتال وذمّر * ثم دعا فاستغفر * واستخار الله واستبشر * فاغرتم على جيرانكم * وانتهكتم حرمات اخوانكم * وفرقتم بين الام ورضيعها * والمراة وضجيعها * وبين الاب وولده * وسَبَدَه ولبده * اذكروا يوم ان حشد رئيسكم اليه اعوانه * وهاج اهله واخدانه * على ان يخون سلطانه * واى خيانه * وما ذلك الا لمخالفته له فى الحزر والتقدير * والتاويل والتعبير * والتخريج والتفسير * اذكروا يوم ان اعلمتم انفسكم بعلائم الجهاد * وقلتم هذه حرب الله هذا قتال لرضى رب العباد * هذا يوم كسب الثواب * والنجاة من العذاب * فافيضوا الى العدو من البر والبحر * واغتنموا عند الله اجر هذا البرّ * اذكروا يوم ان تنازعتم على لون طعام تاكلونه * وشكل شراب تشربونه * ورحضة جسم تغسلونه * ونوع فراش تتوسدونه * ورقعة ثوب تلبسونه * ووجه كلام تعفكونه * ومتاع تستعملونه * اَلِلخلاف فى هذه الدنيا فُطرتم * ام بالخصام والمعاداة اُمرتم * ما بال علمآ الرياضة والهندسة والتنجيم لا يختلفون فى ادلّتهم * وان اختلفوا لم يشبّوا النار لتحقيق نحلتهم * وانتم تشبونها عند كل فرصة تسنح لكم * ووهم يسبق اليه فكركم * وكان الاولى ان تتواطاوا على راى واحد كما تواطأ اولئك * وان تسُنّوا^١ لعباد الله مصالحهم لا ان تدخلوهم فى هذه الملاحك * وتربكوهم فى هذه المرابك * وان تهدوهم الى اقوم المسالك * لا ان تلبّسوا عليهم فى هذه الحوالك * دعوهم يشتغلوا باسباب معيشتهم * ولا تكلفوهم ادراك ما فوق طاقتكم وطاقتهم * واعملوا انتم ايضا بايديكم ساعتين اذا عملتم بالسنتكم النضناضة ساعة * واجمعوا امركم عند تفرق اهوائكم على الالفة والطاعة * انسيتم ما جآ فى الزبور الذى به تلهجون * وتهذّون وتذبرون * وهو قوله ما احسن الاخوة ان تسكن جميعا فى بيت واحد كالدهن النازل على اللحية لحية هرون *

١ ١٨٥٥: تُسنّوا.

Remember the day your preacher climbed the pulpit with frowns and scowls, issued threats and uttered disavowals, accused your adversaries of error and misbelief, urged you to fight and incited you to defend the right, then prayed and sought God’s clemency, asked His guidance and proclaimed that you’d surely achieve ascendancy—that day you raided your neighbors and violated all that your brothers held sacred, sundered suckling child from mother, woman from lover, fathers from the offspring they’d sired and all they owned and had acquired! Remember the day your leader mustered his lieutenants and urged family and friends to betray his liege lord (and what a betrayal!), all because he differed with him over assessments and estimations, interpretations and considerations, conclusions and explanations! Remember the day you marked yourselves with the tokens of holy struggle, saying, “This is God’s battle! This is a war for the Lord of Creation! This is the day to gain reward and from torment attain salvation—so overwhelm the enemy by land and sea and by this pious act win God’s approbation”! Remember the day you argued over what foods to eat and what drinks to drink, what water to use to wash the dead, on what kind of bedding to lay your head, what clothes to wear, how a certain phrase might best be said, how to arrange table, chair, and bed? Were you placed in this world only to quarrel? Were you commanded to fight and squabble? How come the doctors of mathematics, geometry, and astronomy don’t differ over their proofs, or if they do, don’t set the world to the torch to assert their truths, while you set fire to it at every chance you find, with every fancy that comes to mind? You’d do better to agree on a single view, as have they, and to the needs of God’s flock attention pay, than to drive them into such a strait and in such sticky matters implicate, to guide them to the straightest path to follow than muddle them in such a murky wallow. Leave them to strive for their daily fare and don’t ask them to grasp what’s over your head and theirs. And you too, work two hours with your hands for every hour you do with your darting tongues, and agree beforehand that, when preferences differ, you’ll be friendly and submissive to one another. Have you forgotten what it says in that Book of Psalms that you canter through and cantillate, that you so adulate, and to which you have for so long adhered: “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron’s beard”?⁶

3.1.37

الا ولا تحرّموا ما حلل الله لكم من الطيبات * ولا تتلاوصوا الى معرفة ما لغيركم من الهفوات * ولا تبيعوا املاك السماوات * وانتم على الارض من ذوى البطالة والترّهات * ليس على السوقى ان يتزوج خرجية من حرج * ولا على الخرجىّ ان يتزوج سوقية من مَرَج * فان اختلاف الحزر فيما لا يعلم * لا يكون مانعا للفوز بهذا المغنم * الذى يدريه من تعلم ومن لم يتعلم * او لم تعلموا ان الارحام من الرحمة اشتقّت * والى المصاهرة شقّت * وعلى الانساب انطبقت * والى التآخى والتآلف خلقت * وبالتوادّ اختصت * ولانتهاز فرص الحظ فُرصت * فما لكم عنها تتباعدون * وتتقاعسون وتتقاعدون * ولمَ انتم هولآ فى بحر الشك والظن تسبحون * وتستبضعون تجارة الخرص وتربحون * لا يسمع الله دعآ احد منكم فى الشرق الا اذا كان يستصوبه اهل الغرب * ولا يفيزكم بالآخرة الا اذا تالفتم فى الدنيا على هذا الضرب * فليصافح اذًا اخضر الراس منكم اسوده * ومدوّره ذو القُبّعة مخروطه ذا اللبدة * وليُصْفِ كلّ منكم لاخيه نيّته وودّه * ويحفظ له عهده * واذ قد اتفقتم على المخلوق فلا تختلفوا على الخالق * فهو رب المغارب والمشارق * وانه ليريد ان المشرقى منكم اذا سافر الى المغرب يرى اهله فيه له اهلا * وشمله شملا *

فاقبلوا النصيحة * واسمعوا ما يمرّ بكم بعدها من العبارات

الفصيحة * والمعانى المليحة * فى هذا

الفصل الذى

سميته ☜

Verily I say unto you, “Do not forbid what God has made lawful unto you by way of good things, and do not seek officiously to uncover other men’s sins! Do not sell the goods stored up for you in Paradise by being on earth men of idleness and lies! For a Market-man to marry a Bag-woman is no shame and if a Bag-man marries a Market-woman there’s no blame, for differences regarding the Unknown are matters of surmise and should pose no obstacle to the carrying off of such a prize,⁷ whose value is by the unschooled as appreciated as it is by the educated. Are you not aware that ‘wombs’ (arḥām) from ‘mercy’ (raḥmah) are derived, that they were designed that men might, through marriage, be allied, and that the word to ‘ties of kinship’ is applied,⁸ for brotherhood and harmony were created, to mutual affection dedicated, and for the seizing of fortune’s offerings designated? Why then do you hold yourselves from such things at a distance, withdrawing and showing resistance? Why do you all in the ocean of doubt and suspicion wade, why make commerce from surmise and therein trade? God will never listen to the prayer of you Orientals unless it first be approved by the Occidentals,⁹ nor will you be to the next world admitted unless your conduct in this world to this model you have fitted. Let then now the towheaded man shake hands with the black, the round-headed-with-bonnet with the cone-headed-with-cap. Let each of you harbor toward his brother pure and loving intentions and fulfill toward him his obligations. Then, since your disagreements with regard to Creation will have ceased, you’ll not differ as to the Creator, for He is Lord of all that’s west and east. It is His desire that the Orientals among you, should they travel to the west, should be welcomed by its people and taken to their breast.”

Accept this advice and listen to what comes next

by way of choice phrases and witty topoi in the text

of this coming chapter

which I have

named ☞