Читать книгу Brains Confounded by the Ode of Abū Shādūf Expounded - Yūsuf al-Shirbīnī - Страница 8

ص

TEXT

٣،١١11.3

وَلَا ضَرَّنِي إِلَّا ٱبْنُ عَمِّي مُحَيْلِبَهْ

يَوْمٍ تَجِي ٱلْوَجْبَهْ عَلَيَّ يَحِيفْ

wa-lā ḍarranī ʾillā-bnu ʿammī Muḥaylibah

yawmin tajī l-wajbah ʿalayya yaḥīf

And none has harmed me as much as the son of my paternal uncle, Muḥayliba—

the day the wajbah comes, he heaps upon me more than my lot.

ش

COMMENTARY

١،٣،١١11.3.1

قوله (ولا ضَرَّني) أي ضررًا زائدًا على ما تقدّم

wa-lā ḍarranī (“and none has harmed me”): that is, harmed me over and above what has already been mentioned.

٢،٣،١١11.3.2

(إلّا ابن عمّي) أخو والدي وهو مشتقّ من العموم لأنّ نفعه يعمّ أولاده وأولاد أخيه لأنّه في حكم الأب لهم إذا فقد والدهم ولهذا تسمّيه العرب أبا (قال) بعض المفسّرين في قوله تعالى {وَإِذْ قَالَ إِبْرَاهِيمُ لِأَبِيهِ ءَازَرَ} إنّ المراد به عمّه أو من العِمامة لعلوّها فوق الرأس حكم التاج كما في الحديث العمائم تيجان العرب فذلك العمّ له الرفعة على أولاد أخيه لكفالته إيّاهم وولايته عليهم وقوله

ʾillā-bnu ʿammī (“as much as the son of my paternal uncle”): that is, my father’s brother, ʿamm (“paternal uncle”), being derived from ʿumūm (“generality”) because his competence encompasses both his own children and those of his brother, for he is like a father to them, if their actual father is not present. This is why the Arabs call the paternal uncle “father.” One of the commentators on the words of the Almighty «When Ibrahim said unto his father Āzar,»¹⁵⁰ says, “What is meant is ‘his paternal uncle.’” Or the word is derived from ʿimāmah (“turban”) because of the latter’s being high above the head, like a crown—as it says in the Tradition, “Turbans are the crowns of the Arabs”—for the paternal uncle has an exalted position with regard to his brother’s children because of his responsibility for and guardianship of them.

٣،٣،١١11.3.3

(محيلبه) تصغير محلبة وهي إناء يعمل من فخار أحمر مجوَّف البطن محصور الرقبة لها أذن واحدة وتُعْمَل بأذنين أيضًا إذا كانت كبيرة سمّيت بذلك لحلب اللبن فيها من باب تسمية الظرف باسم المظروف

Muḥaylibah: diminutive of maḥlabah, which is a vessel made of red earthenware with a concave belly and a narrow neck; it has one handle but is sometimes made with two, if it is large.¹⁵¹ It is so called because milk is milked (ḥalb) into it, according to the rule of “naming the container after the thing contained.”

٤،٣،١١11.3.4

(والحاصل) إنّ الأواني المُعَدّة للحلب على أقسام محلبة ومحلاب وهو على ثلاثة أقسام صغير وكبير ومتوسّط والمحلاب أطول من المحلبة وأوسع منها فَمًا وأضيق بَطْنًا قعره يشبه قعر القادوس صغير جدًّا ورُبْع وهو إناء صغير يأخذ في الكيل قدر ربع المحلبة وقَرّوفِهْ بفتح القاف وتشديد الراء المهملة وكسر الفاء وسكون الهاء في آخرها وهي تشبه المحلاب في صغر القعر إلّا أنّها محصورة الرقبة واسعة البطن جدًّا مثل المحلبة ولها أذنين أو أذن واحدة وأكبر أواني اللبن القِسْط وهو جرّة كبيرة وهناك إناء آخر يقال له الكوز يباع به اللبن في بلاد المدن كما شاهدنا ذلك وهو ثقيل في الجرم قليل في البركة ومحيلبة على وزن مدولبة ومحلاب على وزن دولاب وقِسْط على وزن قِبْط سمّي بذلك لكونه مقسَّطا بالوزن أو الكيل وربع على وزن سُرْع وكوز على وزن بُوز لأنّه يشبه بوز البقرة أو العجلة في وسع فمه وهو مشتقّ من الكَزّ وهو العَضّ يقال كزّت الأرض على المحراث إذا عضّت عليه وكزّ الطفل على إصبعه إذا عضّه هكذا رأيته في القاموس الأزرق والناموس الأبلق فالكوز إذا وضع فيه اللبن أو الماء بقبق وتألّم يشكو ما ناله من ألم النار وما قاساه من العناء حتّى صار فخارًا قال الشاعر [بسيط]

ما بَقبَقَ الكوزُ إِلّا مِن تَألّمِهِ

يشكو إلى الماء ما قاسى من النارِ

فكان القياس الفطيسيّ من هذا القبيل فهذه الأواني معروفة عند أهل الريف هي وغيرها ومنها الزِير والتُمْنة وغير ذلك

A Brief Overview: Vessels prepared for milking are of different sorts. There is the maḥlabah, and there is the miḥlāb, which is itself of three sorts—small, large, and medium; the miḥlāb is taller than the maḥlabah and has a wider mouth and more slender belly; its bottom is like that of the jar in which the water is raised on a waterwheel (qādūs),¹⁵² being very small. There is also the rubʿ, which is a small vessel that holds, as a unit of measurement, one quarter of a maḥlabah. And there is the qarrūfih (with a after the q, double r, i after the f, and no vowel on the h at the end).¹⁵³ This resembles the miḥlāb in having a small base, but has a narrow neck and a very wide belly, like the maḥlabah; it has either one or two handles. The largest of the milk vessels is the qisṭ, which is a large jar. There is also another vessel, called the kūz, with which milk is sold in the cities, as we have observed; it is crudely made and holds little. Muḥaylibah is of the measure of mudawlibah (“causing to go round and round”), miḥlāb of the measure of dūlāb (“waterwheel”), and qisṭ of the measure of qibṭ (“Copts”). It is called a qisṭ because it is divided up (muqassaṭ) by weight or volume. The word rubʿ is of the pattern of surʿ (“reins”), and kūz is of the pattern of būz (“muzzle”) because its wide mouth resembles the muzzle of a cow or a calf; kūz is derived from kazz which means “to bite” (ʿaḍḍa);¹⁵⁴ one says the earth “bit” (kazzat) on the plow, when it seizes (ʿaḍḍat) it with the share, and the child “bit” (kazza) on his finger, when it takes it between its teeth (ʿaḍḍahu); so I find in The Blue Ocean and Piebald Canon. If milk or water is put in the kūz, it gurgles and moans, complaining of the pain of the fire and all that it suffered when being turned into pottery.

The mug makes a gurgle because it’s in pain:

It protests to the water what it suffered from the flame.

This would be according to the analogy of Fuṭays.¹⁵⁵ These vessels are well known to the people of the countryside, as are others, among them the zīr (“water jar”)¹⁵⁶ and the tumnah (“one-eighth measure”) and so on.

٥،٣،١١11.3.5

(فإن قيل) إنّ المحلبة والمحلاب ونحوهما كالقسط والربع والكوز تقدّم تعريف أسمائهم واشتقاق بعضهم فما معنى القرّوفه وما أصل وضع هذا اللفظ الغريب على هذا الإناء وما مناسبة ذلك (قلنا) يمكن الجواب من وجوه (الأوّل) أنّ هذا الإناء عُمِلَ في زمن القِرْ بخفض القاف وجزم الراء وهو شدّة البرد ثمّ إنّهم وَفَوْا حرقه في زمن الصيف فصار يقال قرّوفه أي هذا الإناء وَفِيَ حرقه وتمّ أمره ثمّ إنّهم حرّكوا الراء من قرّ مع ضمها مشدّدة وجعلوا مجموع هذه الحروف علمًا عليه وقالوا قرّوفه فصار مركبًا من اسم وفعل (الثاني) أنّه لمّا أُتِيَ به وهو جديد ووضعه الحلاّب بين رجليه وحلب فيه اللبن فصار يفور ويتحلّل منه رغوة كثيرة فخاف الحلاب من سيلان اللبن خارج الإناء فصار ينادي اللبن قرّ فيه قرّ فيه أي اسكن فيه واستقرّ ثمّ زادوا في هذا اللفظ واوًا بين فعل الأمر والجارّ والمجرور وحذفوا الياء المثنّاة من تحت لثقلها في اللفظ وحرّكوا الواو وقالوا قرّوفه فسمّي بذلك (الثالث) أنّ طينته في الأصل أُخِذَت من محلّ قريب من قَرافة مصر فصاروا يقولوا إناء قرافيّ ثمّ إنّهم اشتقّوا له هذا الاسم من هذا المعنى وقالوا قرّوفه (الرابع) أنّه مشتقّ من القِرْفة بكسر القاف وهو نوع من البُهار زكيّ الطعم والرائحة يدخل في الأطعمة الفاخرة والمآكل النفيسة وكذلك اللبن عند حلبه يكون فيه طيّب الرائحة وحلو الطعم قال الله تعالى {لَبَنًا خَالِصًا سَائِغًا لِلشَّارِبِينَ} ثمّ زادوا فيه واوًا وجعلوه علمًا عليه (الخامس) أنّ الأسماء لا تُعَلَّلُ فلا نحتاج إلى هذه الأبحاث الفشرويّة وهذه الخرافات الهباليّة فاتّضح الجواب وبان الصواب

If it be said, “The definition and, in some cases, the etymologies of the names maḥlabah and miḥlāb and the rest such as qisṭ, rubʿ, and kūz have been given, but what is the meaning of qarrūfih, and how did this strange word come to be applied to this vessel and what was the occasion for that?” we reply that this question may be answered from a number of perspectives. The first is that this vessel was made at the time of the qirr (with i after the q and no vowel after the r),¹⁵⁷ which means “extreme cold”; then they completed (wafaw) its firing in the summer, and so it was called qirrwafih, that is, the firing of this vessel was accomplished (wafiya) and it was finished; then they put a ū after the double r of qirr and made a name for it out of all these letters and said qarrūfih. In this case it would be composed of a noun and a verb.¹⁵⁸ The second is that, when it had just been invented and the milker put it between his legs and directed the milk into it, the milk started to rise and make a lot of froth, so the milkman became afraid that the milk would overflow the vessel and called out to the milk qarr fīh qarr fīh (“Stay in it! Stay in it!”), that is, “Remain in it and be settled!” Then they added a w to the word between the imperative verb and the prepositional phrase, omitted the ī because it was awkward to pronounce, realized the w as ū,¹⁵⁹ and said qarrūfih, and that became its name. The third perspective is that the clay of which it was made was originally taken from a place close to the Qarāfah (“cemetery”) of Cairo, so they started saying “a qarāfī vessel,”¹⁶⁰ then derived this name for it from that sense and said qarrūfih. The fourth is that it is derived from qirfah (“cinnamon”) (with i after the f), which is a spice with a delicious taste and smell that is used in fine dishes and sumptuous foods, for milk too, when fresh from the cow, has an appetizing smell and sweet taste—as the Almighty has said, «pure milk, palatable to the drinkers»;¹⁶¹ then they added a ū to it and made that its name. And fifthly, names cannot be etymologized, so there is no need for these fatuous investigations and inane fabulations. Thus the answer now’s clear, the truth made to appear.

٦،٣،١١11.3.6

(وأمّا) سبب تسمية ابن عمّ الناظم بهذا الاسم فعلى أقوال (أحدها) أنّ أمّه لمّا وضعته سمعت إنسانًا يقول لآخر هات المحلبة فسمّته بذلك تفاؤلًا بهذا اللفظ وصغّرته لكون الولد صغيرًا (الثاني) أنّ أمّه أتت بولد قبله وسمّته محلاب فمات ثمّ ولدته وكرهت أن تسمّيه باسم أخيه فأنّثت اللفظ وصغّرته وقالت محيلبه واشتهر بذلك (الثالث) أنّ أمّه لمّا ولدته زارها إنسان بمحلبة جديدة ساعةَ ولادتها فتفاءلت بذلك وقالت محيلبه فهذا ما ظهر لي من هذه المباحث الفشرويّة والخرافات الهباليّة وقوله

Various accounts are given for how the poet’s paternal cousin came by this name. The first is that, when his mother gave birth to him, she heard one person say to another, “Fetch the milk crock!” so she named him thus, taking a good omen from the word and making it into a diminutive, seeing that the child was small. A second version has it that his mother had borne another boy before him and called him Miḥlāb, but he died. When she gave birth to this child, she did not want to call him by his brother’s name, so she made the word feminine¹⁶² and made it a diminutive and said muḥaylibah, and by this he was known. A third account has it that someone visited her with a new milk crock (maḥlabah) at the moment when she gave birth, so she took this as a good omen and said, “I shall call him Muḥaylibah.” This is the extent of what I have learnt from these fatuous investigations and inane fabulations.

٧،٣،١١11.3.7

(يوم) بالتنوين وخفض الميم لضرورة النظم واليوم اسم لبياض النهار المضيء المُشْرِق بسبب الشمس الّذي يُصام شرعًا كما لا يخفى وقوله

yawmin (“on the day when”):in with following the m, for the meter.¹⁶³ Yawm (“day”) is a name for the whiteness of daylight that is illumined by the rays of the sun and during which one may undertake a legally meaningful fast, as is well known.¹⁶⁴

٨،٣،١١11.3.8

(تجي) من المجيء وهو الحضور

tajī (“comes”): from the verbal noun majīʾ (“coming”), which means arriving at a place.

٩،٣،١١11.3.9

(الوجبه) ووقت مجيئها وحضورها بمجرَّد طلوع الشادّ أو الملتزم أو النصرانيّ إلى الكفر أو البلد فتوزعّ على الفلّاحين بحسب ما يخصّهم من الأرض من القراريط والفِدْن ونحو ذلك فمنهم من يكون عليه في الشهر يومًا ومنهم من يفعلها في كلّ جمعة مرّة ومنهم من يجعلها في كلّ ثلاثة أيّام وهكذا بحسب كثرة الفلّاحين وقلّتهم وحسب زيادة الأرض ونقصها فلا بدّ منها في كلّ يوم مدّة الإقامة فيقوم الرجل بكُلْفة الشادّ والنصرانيّ إن كان حاضرًا وجميع من يكون من طائفة الملتزم بأكلهم وشربهم وجميع ما يحتاجوا إليه من عليق دوابهم وما يتمنّوه عليه من المآكل من اللحم والدجاج ولو كان فقيرًا ألزموه بذلك قهرًا عليه وإلّا حبسه الشادّ وضربه ضربًا موجعًا وربّما هرب من قلّة شيء يضعه فيرسل إلى أولاده وزوجته ويهدّدهم ويطلب منهم فربّما رهنت المرأة شيئًا من مصاغها أو ملبوسها على دراهم وأخذت بهم الدجاج أو اللحم وطبخته وأحرمت أولادها من الأكل منه خوفًا على نفسها من أنّه لا يكفيهم مثلًا وقد يربّي الفلّاح الدجاج فلا يأكل منه شيئًا ويحرم نفسه وعياله من خوفه من الضرب والحبس ومثل الدجاج والسمن^١ والدقيق يبقيه لأجل هذه البليّة ويطبخ بالسيرج ويأكل الخبز الشعير ويضع لهم القمح الزرّيع ويأكل الجبن القَريِش المالح ويتكلّف لشري الجبن الطري الحلو ويرسله في الوجبة كلّ ذلك خوفًا على نفسه من هذه الأمور

١ بي: السمن.

al-wajbah (“the wajbah”): this takes effect from the moment of the coming, or arrival, of the bailiff or the tax farmer or the Christian in the hamlet or the village, at which time it is distributed among the peasants on the basis of how many carats or feddans, etc., of land each one works. Some are obligated to provide it one day a month, others once a week, and still others once every three days, etc., according to how many or few are the peasants and how extensive or limited is the land. It must be provided every day throughout the stay. Under this system, a man sees to the provisioning of the bailiff and the Christian, if the latter is present, and of all those belonging to the tax farmer’s entourage, and undertakes to provide them with their food and drink and everything they need in the way of fodder for their animals and whatever dishes of meat or fowl they may have a liking for. If the man is poor, they impose this on him by force, or else the bailiff imprisons him and beats him severely. Sometimes a man will flee because he does not have enough to offer, and the bailiff then sends for his children and his wife and demands it from them with threats. A wife may pawn some of her jewelry or her clothes for a little money and use the proceeds to buy poultry or meat, and cook it and prevent her children from touching it for fear of what will happen to her if it is not enough for them. Sometimes a peasant will raise chickens and eat none of them and make himself and his children go without for fear of being beaten or imprisoned, and things such as chickens and butter and flour he will keep aside in readiness for this disaster, doing his own cooking with sesame oil and eating barley bread, and he may put his seed wheat aside for them and eat salty cottage cheese and put himself to the expense of buying sweet fresh cheese and send this with the wajbah, all for fear of what may happen to him because of these matters.

١٠،٣،١١11.3.10

وسمّيت وجبة لكونها صارت على الفلّاحين حكم الأمر الواجب عليهم للملتزمين فلا بدّ من فعلها للشادّ بالقرية أو النصرانيّ أو الملتزم إذا حضر كما تقدّم بيانه وإذا أسقطها بعض الملتزمين جعل في مقابلها شيئًا معلومًا من الدراهم وأضافه إلى المال ويلزمهم بدفعه إلى الشادّ بالقرية يؤخذ منهم كلّ عام فهي من أنواع الظلم والأكل منها حرام ما لم تكن من الفلّاحين عن طيب نفس وانشراح صدر بحيث أنّ الملتزم يرضيهم بشيء من الأرض أو غيرها في مقابل ذلك وبعض الملتزمين يتوقّف عنها بالكليّة ولا يجعل عليهم شيئًا لا للشادّ ولا لغيره إلّا إذا تبرّعوا بشيء من عند أنفسهم فعلى هذا لا تكون حرامًا ويحِلّ الأكل منها ومثل الوجبة غرامة البطّالين واستخدامهم بغير أجرة ما لم يكن عن رضاء منهم في مقابل السكنى وترك الزرع ونحوه فكلّ ما كان فيه أضرار للناس فهو حرام قال الشاعر [بسيط]

كُنْ كَيفَ شِئتَ فإِنَّ الله ذو كرمٍ	وما عَليكَ إِذا أذنَبتَ مِن بَأسِ
إلّا اثنَتَين فَلا تَقرَبهُما أَبدًا	الشِّركُ بالله والإِضرارُ بالنّاسِ

It is called wajbah because it has come to be like a duty (wājib) that the tax farmers impose on the peasants, for it has to be done for the bailiff in the village or the Christian or the tax farmer, if he comes, as stated above. While some tax farmers have waived it, they have replaced it with an agreed sum of money and added that to the land tax, forcing them to pay it to the bailiff in the village, the money being taken from them annually. It is a form of injustice, and eating such food is forbidden by religion so long as the peasants do not give it of their own free will and cheerfully,¹⁶⁵ the tax farmer keeping them happy by granting them a little land or something else in return. Some tax farmers have given it up altogether and impose nothing on them, neither for the bailiff nor anyone else, although they may volunteer something of their own free will. In that case, it is not forbidden and it is permitted to eat it. Similar to the wajbah is the fine imposed on the landless and putting them to work without pay, as long as this is without their consent, in return for covering their lodging and compensation for leaving their crops and so on. Anything that involves injury to others is forbidden. The poet says:

Be as you wish, for God is kind—

No harm shall befall you if you sin.

Two things alone you must eschew in full—

Ascribing partners to God¹⁶⁶ and doing injury to men.

١١،٣،١١11.3.11

(فإن قيل) إنّ الأمير أو غيره إذا التزم بقرية وجد في دفاتر من التزم بها قبله الوجبة وغرامة البطّالين وغير ذلك ممّا هو من أنواع الظلم فيجعل ذلك على أهلها حكم الخوالي السابقة كما جرت به العادة فهل يكون الإثم عليه أو على من أحدث هذا قبله أو عليهما معًا (الجواب) ورد في الحديث عن النبيّ صلّى الله عليه وسلّم أنه مَنْ أحدث في أمرنا هذا ما ليس فيه فهو رَدّ أي من أتى بشيء لم يكن موجودًا في زمن النبيّ صلّى الله عليه وسلّم وهو المسمّى بالبدعة فهو ردّ أي مردود ومعناه باطل لا يُقْتَدى به وفيه بيان على أنّه لا فرق بين أن يكون أحدثه بنفسه أو سبقه به غيره فالإثم على كلّ من فعله أو أمر بفعله إذ كلّ فعل لم يكن على أمر الشرع ففاعله آثم لقوله صلّى الله عليه وسلّم من أحدث حَدَثًا أو آوَى مُحْدِثًا فعليه لعنة الله وفيما تناوله الحديث ردّ على ذوي العقول الفاسدة والحكم مع الجهل والجور ونحو ذلك ممّا لا يوافق الشرع فاتّضح الجواب وبان الصواب

If it be said, “If an emir, or someone else, on assuming the right to farm the taxes of a village, finds the wajbah or the fine on the landless or any other form of injustice on the ledgers of those who held the tax farm before him and so imposes that on the people of the village as was done under earlier determinations by the surveyors according to established custom, is the sin then his or that of the person who introduced the practice before him, or both of theirs together?” the answer is to be found in the Tradition of the Prophet, upon whom blessings and peace, that says, “He who introduces into this affair of ours that which is not in it is rejected,” meaning, whoever introduces something that was not present in the time of the Prophet, upon whom blessings and peace—such things being called “innovation”—is rejected, that is, refused, meaning invalid and not to be taken as an example. This shows clearly that there is no difference between someone’s introducing the practice himself and someone else having preceded him in this. Thus the sin pertains to everyone who acts in accordance with this practice or orders others to act in accordance with it, for everyone who performs an act that is not stipulated by the Law is a sinner, as stated in the words of the Prophet, blessings and peace upon him, “He who introduces into it an innovation or provides accommodation for an innovator, upon him be the curse of God.” The substance of the Tradition constitutes a response to those whose minds are corrupt and to government accompanied by ignorance, oppression, and other things of the same sort that are not in accordance with the Law. Thus the answer now is clear, the truth made to appear.

١٢،٣،١١11.3.12

وفي قوله (تجي الوجبه) نوع من أنواع البديع يسمّى التوزيع وهو أن يوزّع الشاعر حرفًا من حروف الهجاء في كلّ كلمة من ألفاظ البيت أو غالبه كقول الصَفيّ الحِلّيّ رحمه الله في بديعيّته [بسيط]

محمّدُ المُصطفى المُختارُ مَنْ خُتِمَتْ

بمَجدِهِ مُرْسَلو الرحمٰن للأُمَمِ

فإنّه كرّر حرف الميم في جميع كلمات البيت والناظم حُكِمَ له حرف الجيم في كلمتين فقط

The poet’s words tajī l-wajbah contain an elegant literary device called “distribution,” which consists of the poet’s “distributing” one of the letters of the alphabet in each, or most of, the words of a line of verse, as in the following verse by al-Ṣafī al-Ḥillī, may God have mercy on him, from his Embellished Ode in the Prophet’s Praise (Al-Badīʿiyyah):¹⁶⁷

Muḥammadu l-muṣṭafā l-mukhtāru man khutimat

Bi-majdihī mursalū l-raḥmāni li-l-umamī

Muḥammad, the Named, the Nominated,

With whose majesty the messengers of the Merciful to men were made complete

—where he repeats the letter m in every word of the line. Our poet managed to work the letter j into just two words.

١٣،٣،١١11.3.13

(ويقرب من هذا المعنى) ما اتّفق أنّ رجلًا قلاّء سمك كان يهوى امراة جميلة وكان له غلام صغير في غاية من الحذق والفصاحة فأرسله يومًا إليها لتأتي إلى محلّه فذهب الغلام حتّى أتى محلّها وأخبرها أنّ معلّمه يريدها فامتثلت الأمر وأرادت الذهاب معه فحضر زوجها في ذلك الوقت فتنكّر الغلام ومضى ولم يشعر به أحد حتّى أتى إلى معلّمه فرآه يقلي السمك على جاري عادته والناس حوله يطلبوا منه فابتدره بكلام مقفّى موزون يفهّمه فيه القضيّة ويعمّي فيه على الحاضرين فقال (يا معلّمي فق لي من ذا السمك فاقلي جات تجي فجا لو لم يجي لجت ولكن ترتجي لمّا يروح تجي)

In the same vein is what happened once concerning a man who was a fryer of fish by trade. He was in love with a beautiful woman and had a young servant boy who was extremely quick-witted and a master of correct speech. One day he sent this boy to her to ask her to come to his home. The boy went to her home and told her that his boss wanted her. She accepted and was about to set off with him when her husband turned up. The boy made himself inconspicuous, took off without anyone noticing him, and made his way back to his boss, whom he found frying fish, as was his wont, with people all around him placing their orders. So as to make the man understand the situation while concealing it from those present the boy accosted him with words rhymed and metered. He said to him, Yā muʿallimī fuq lī, min dha l-samak fa-qlī. Jat tajī fa-jā. Law lam yajī la-jat. Wa-lākin tartajī lammā yarūḥ tajī (“Boss, hear my cry! Of this fish now fry! She was going to come, but he came. Had he not come, she would have come. But she hopes, when he goes, to come”).

١٤،٣،١١11.3.14

(وتفسير) هذه الكلمات أنّ قوله (يا معلّمي فق لي) أي تنبَّه لقولي واستمع له وافهمه

These words are to be explained as follows:

yā muʿallimī fuq lī (“Boss, hear my cry!”): that is, “Boss, hearken to what I say, and listen well to it and understand it!”

١٥،٣،١١11.3.15

(من ذا السمك فاقلي) أتى بهذا الكلام ليوهم الحاضرين أنّه يريد شيئًا من السمك أو أنّه يطلب منه سرعة قليه وبيّن قوله (فق لي) و(فاقلي) الجناس المحرَّف المزيد وقوله

min dha l-samak fa-qlī (“Of this fish now fry!”): he came up with these words to make the people around think that he wanted a portion of fish or that he was asking him to hurry up with the frying (note the “augmentative consonantal paronomasia” between the words fuq lī (“hear my cry”) and fa-qlī (“now fry”)!).¹⁶⁸

١٦،٣،١١11.3.16

(جات تجي) أي أرادت المجيء وامتثلت الأمر

jat tajī (“She was about to come”): that is, she wanted to come and obey your summons

١٧،٣،١١11.3.17

(فجا) أي زوجها في وقت الإرادة للذهاب ثمّ قال

fa-jā (“but he came”): that is, her husband, at the moment that she wanted to go; then he said

١٨،٣،١١11.3.18

(لو لم يجي) أي زوجها

law lam yajī (“Had he not come”): that is, her husband,

١٩،٣،١١11.3.19

(لجت) أصله لجاءت سهّله للضرورة أي لحضرت إليك ولم تخالف أمرك ثمّ استدرك الكلام بقوله

la-jat (“she would have come”), which is originally la-jāʾat, which the boy elided for the meter; that is, she would have presented herself and not disobeyed your order. He continues by saying:

٢٠،٣،١١11.3.20

(ولكن ترتجي) أي حضورها من الرجاء وهو حصول الشيء على وفق إرادة الطالب

wa-lākin tartajī (“But she hopes”): that is, her coming will be in accordance with her hope (rajāʾ), which means the occurrence of a thing agreeably to the will of the one who requests it

٢١،٣،١١11.3.21

(لمّا يروح) زوجها ويخلو مكانها

lamma yarūḥ (“when he goes”), meaning her husband, and leaves the place free

٢٢،٣،١١11.3.22

(تجي) إليك ويحصل المطلوب والشاهد في قوله جات تجي فجا إلى آخره فإنّه كرّر حرف الجيم في كلّ كلمة كما لا يخفى

tajī (ilayk) (“to come (to you)”); and what you want will come to pass. The relevant citation lies in his words jat tajī fa-jā, etc., for he repeats the letter j in every word, as you can see.

٢٣،٣،١١11.3.23

(فإن قيل) إنّ النصرانيّ إذا نزل قرية لقبض مالها يحضر إليه الفلّاحون ويكرموه ويرسلوا له الوجبة ويتذلّلوا بين يديه ويطيعوا أمره ونهيه بل يكون غالبهم في خدمته هل هذا حرام عليهم لتعظيمهم له وهل يكونوا آثمين بذلك أم كيف الحال (قلنا) الجواب أنّ خدمة المسلم للكافر حرام وكذلك تعظيمه والخضوع له والتذلّل بين يديه ويكون الفاعل آثمًا بذلك ما لم يَخَفْ منه ضررًا أو أذيّة بأن يكون حاكمًا عليه ومتولّي أمره واضطرّ إليه في أمر كقِباض المال من النصارى في بلاد الأرياف وغيرهم فإنّهم مالكون هذا الأمر بل إنّ بعض الملتزمين يولّي النصرانيّ أمر القرية فيحكم فيها بالضرب والحبس وغير ذلك فلا يأتيه الفلّاح إلّا وهو يرتعد من شدّة الخوف

If it be asked, “Is it forbidden by religion for the peasants to honor the Christian by coming and entertaining him and sending him the wajbah when he comes to a village to collect its taxes, abasing themselves in front of him and obeying his every command and prohibition, most of them indeed being at his service, and are they sinning in so doing, or what is the situation?” we reply, “The response is that a Muslim is forbidden to serve an infidel, just as he is forbidden to honor him, submit to him, or abase himself before him, and the one who does so sins in that respect, unless he does so out of fear of some harm or injury from him as a result of the infidel’s being set in authority over him and given charge of his affairs, or is compelled to have recourse to him in a matter such as the Christian’s collection of taxes in the villages of the countryside and elsewhere, for they monopolize this business; indeed, some tax farmers hand control of everything to do with the village to the Christian, who rules it through beating and imprisonment and the like, so that the peasants are so frightened that they never come before him without trembling.

٢٤،٣،١١11.3.24

(كما اتّفق أنّ في زمن الأستاذ العارف بالله تعالى الشيخ تقيّ الدين بن دقيق العيد) نفعنا الله به ولّى السلطان شخصًا من النصارى على إقليم مصر كلّه يقبض ماله فكان ينزل إلى الإقليم في موكب عظيم من الخدم والحشم ويمرّ على البلاد يقبض أموالها وهو راكب على فرسه ولا ينزل إلّا لضرورة الأكل والشرب والمبيت من شدّة أذيّته وقوّة ضرره وكان لفرسه رِكابًا من الفولاد مطليّ بالذهب وقد جعل فيه سَفُّوتَيْنِ من الحديد خارجين إلى الخلاء قدر شِبْر ثمّ يرسل خلف الرجل فلا يأتيه إلّا وهو يرتعد من شدّة الخوف فيقف بجانب فرسه وهو راكب فيغلظ عليه بالكلام القبيح ويقول له ادفع ما عليك من المال في هذه الساعة فإن أجاب وإلّا ضربه بالسفُّوتَيْن فيجرحه أو يخرق أجنابه فيموت وكان هذا دأبه مع المسلمين لعنة الله عليه فاتّفق أنّه طلع إلى قرية الشيخ ابن دقيق العيد رحمه الله وأرسل خلف رجل من أتباعه عليه بقيّة مال من خراج أرض يزرعها فلمّا حضر إليه قال له ادفع ما عليك فقال الرجل أمهلني بقيّة النهار فأراد أن يحرّك الركاب ويضربه بتلك السفافيت يقتله فولّى هاربًا والنصرانيّ يتبعه على الأثر إلى أن ألقى بنفسه بين يدي الشيخ وهو يحرق في قَميِن جير لأنّها كانت صنعة الشيخ في ابتداء أمره فقال له ما الخبر فقصّ عليه الأمر فلم يشعر إلّا والنصراني واقف على رأسه فقال له الشيخ أمهله بقيّة النهار فأغلظ على الشيخ بالكلام فأخذ الشيخ الغضب والغيرة على المسلمين وقام إليه وجذبه من أطواقه فبقي في يده كالعصفور وقال له يا ملعون الأبعد طال عمرك واشتدّ ضررك على المسلمين والآن قد زال اسمك وانمحى رسمك ثمّ اتّكأ عليه حتّى قصف ظهره وألقاه في تنّور القمين فانحرق ثمّ نظر إلى جماعته نظرة الغضب فألقى الله الرعب في قلوبهم فولّوا الأدبار حتّى وصلوا إلى السلطان وأخبروه بالقضيّة فاشتدّ به الغضب وأرسل خلف الشيخ فسار إليه حتّى طلع الديوان فلمّا مثل بين يديه قال له ما حملك على حرق النصرانيّ فقال له الشيخ وأنت ما حملك على أن تولّيه على المسلمين وتأمره بأذيّتهم فزاد به الغيظ وأراد أن يَبْطِش بالشيخ فأشار الشيخ إلى الكرسيّ الذي هو جالس عليه فتحرّك من تحته فانكبّ إلى الأرض مغشيًا عليه وصار للكرسيّ دَوَرَان وطَنِين في القلعة ودَوِيّ كالرعد وهاجت العسكر في بعضهم البعض وارتجّت القلعة بمن فيها من الجند فصاحوا الأمان الأمان فأشار الشيخ بيده فرجع كلّ شيء إلى حاله ثمّ أشار إلى الملك فصَحي من غشوته فلمّا أفاق قبّل يديه وقال له العفو يا سيّدي تَمَنَّ عليّ ما تريد فقال له لا أريد منك شيئًا غير أنّك لا تولّي أحدًا من النصارى على المسلمين وإلّا هلكت فقال السمع والطاعة ثمّ إنّ الشيخ نزل من عنده على غاية من الكرامة والمحبّة وسار إلى قريته ولم يزل هذا الأمر منقطعًا زمانًا لا يتولّى أحد من النصارى أمر المسلمين في قبض المال ولا غيره إلى أن احتاجوا إليهم الحكّام لحِذْقهم وصحّة عقولهم في الحساب فولّوهم هذا الأمر إلى زماننا هذا وكذلك اليهود تعاطوا علم الطبّ حتّى يتصرّفوا الفريقين في الأموال والأرواح ولله درّ القائل حيث قال [كامل]

لُعِنَ النَّصَارَى واليَهُودُ جَمِيعُهُمْ	نَالُوا بِمَكْرٍ مِنْهُمُ الآمالا
جُعِلُوا أَطبّاءً وحُسّابًا لِكَي	يَتَقاسَمُوا الأرْواحَ والأمْوالا

“As it happened in the days of the Master and Initiate of the Almighty, Shaykh Taqī al-Dīn Ibn Daqīq al-ʿĪd, God benefit us through him, when the sultan handed over control of the entire province of Egypt to a certain Christian for the collection of taxes. The latter used to visit the province with a great procession of servants and retainers and pass through the settlements collecting their taxes. He would ride his horse and dismount only when he had to eat and drink and stop for the night, so evil was he and so great the harm he brought. His horse had stirrups of steel plated with gold, to which he had attached two iron spikes that projected about a hand’s breadth. He would summon someone and the man would come, trembling with fright, and stand next to his horse, while the Christian, from the back of his horse, would speak roughly and brutally to him, telling him, ‘Pay the taxes you owe this minute!’ If the man did as he was told that was that, but if he did not he would strike him with the spikes, stabbing him or slashing his sides, so that he died. Such was his way with Muslims, God’s curse upon him! It happened that this same Christian went to the village of Shaykh Ibn Daqīq al-ʿĪd, God have mercy upon him, and summoned one of the shaykh’s followers who had a balance to pay on the tax on land that he cultivated. When the man came before him, he said to him, ‘Pay what you owe!’ but the man replied, ‘Give me till the end of the day.’ The Christian was about to put his stirrups to work and strike him with the spikes and kill him when the man turned and fled, the Christian in hot pursuit, until he came to the shaykh and threw himself down before him. The shaykh, who at the time was burning lime in a kiln (for that was his profession when he was young), asked what was the matter and the man told him the story. Before he knew what was happening, the Christian was towering over him. ‘Give him till the end of the day!’ the shaykh told him. However, the Christian replied to the shaykh with angry words, at which the shaykh became filled with fury and zeal for the defense of the Muslims and attacked him, grabbing him by the neck of his garments, so that he became like a sparrow in the shaykh’s hand. Then he said to him, ‘Accursed wretch! Your life has been long and the harm you do to the Muslims has become excessive. Now your name is expunged and every trace of you obliterated!’ and he bore down on him until his back snapped and he threw him into the oven of the kiln, where he was consumed. Then he directed a look of fury at the men who were with the Christian and God cast terror into their hearts and they turned and ran till they reached the sultan and told him of the matter. Incensed, the latter sent for the shaykh, who proceeded until he reached the audience chamber. When he presented himself before him, the sultan said to him, ‘What drove you to burn the Christian?’ ‘And what,’ replied the shaykh, ‘drove you to put him in authority over the Muslims and order him to do them harm?’ At this the sultan’s fury increased, and he was about to strike the shaykh a blow on the head, when the shaykh made a sign to the chair on which the sultan was seated and it moved beneath him and he was spilled onto the ground in a swoon, and the chair itself started to spin through the Citadel with a humming sound, rumbling like thunder. The soldiers leapt up in confusion and the Citadel with all the troops that were in it shook, while they cried, ‘Spare us! Spare us!’ Then the shaykh made a sign with his hand, and everything returned to its place, after which he gestured towards the king, who awoke from his swoon and, when he had revived, kissed the shaykh’s hands and said to him, ‘Pardon, My Master! Ask of me what you will!’ The shaykh replied, ‘All I want from you is that you never again set a Christian in authority over the Muslims. Should you do so, you will perish.’ ‘I hear and obey!’ said the sultan. Then the shaykh descended from his presence, to the accompaniment of the utmost honor and love, and proceeded to his village. Thereafter, this practice remained in abeyance for a while, and no Christian was set in authority over the Muslims with regard to the collection of taxes or other matters, until the rulers were forced to have recourse to them for their acuteness and talent for accounting; so they put them in charge of these matters up to our day. Similarly, the Jews have taken over the practice of medical science, so that the two groups have come to hold sway over our money and our lives. How well the poet put it when he said:

A curse on both Christians and Jews!

They’ve got what they wanted by stealth:

They’ve made themselves doctors and clerks

To divide up our lives and our wealth!

٢٥،٣،١١11.3.25

فعلى هذا يجوز للشخص معاشرتهم والخضوع لهم إذا خشي على نفسه أو عياله ضررًا منهم في أمر دينيّ أو دنيويّ يتوقّف على ذلك وقد اضطّر إليه فلا بأس باستصحابهم من هذا القبيل وقد عوقب سيّدي عبد العزيز الديرينيّ نفعنا الله به بسبب تردّده على نصرانيّ بلدته فقال [طويل]

يَلومونَني في عِشرَةِ القُبطِ خُلَّتي	فوالله طُولُ الدَّهرِ ما حَبَّهُم قَلبي
ولكنَّني صيّادُ رزقٍ بأرضهمْ	ولا بدّ للصَّيّادِ مِن عِشرَةِ الكَلبِ

وأمّا إذا داخلهم الإنسان بالمحبّة والصحبة لا لغرض دنيويّ قد اضطرّ إليه ولا لخوف ضرر منهم فربّما دخل في ضمن قوله صلّى الله عليه وسلّم من أحبّ قومًا حُشِرَ معهم وقوله

“Thus one is permitted to associate with them and obey them if he fears that they might harm him or his dependents in any matter, religious or secular, that depends on such contact and that he is compelled to undertake. Under such circumstances, there is no harm in making friends with them. Master ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz al-Dīrīnī, God benefit us through him, was punished for frequenting the Christian of his village, and he said:

They blame me, my friends, for befriending Copts,

Though never, by God, did I love them in my heart!

But I’m one of those who hunts for his living in their land,

And hunter and dogs cannot live apart!

“On the other hand, the person who has intercourse with them on the basis of affection and friendship for no compelling worldly objective or fear of any harm that they might do should probably be counted among those referred to in the words of the Prophet, may God bless him and give him peace, ‘He who loves a people shall be marshaled with them on the Day of Judgment.’”

٢٦،٣،١١11.3.26

(عليّ) يريد نفسه لا غيره

ʿalayya (“to me”): meaning to himself and no other.

٢٧،٣،١١11.3.27

(يحيف) أي يميل عليّ ويظلمني ويكلّفني ما لا أطيق فكان عليه هذا الضرر أشدّ من غيره الذي هو أذيّة القمل والصيبان ونحوهما كمّا تقدّم لكونه ناشئًا من الأقارب قال الشاعر [وافر]

أَقارِبُ كالعَقارِبِ فاجْتَنِبْهُمْ	ولا تَرْكَنْ إلى عَمٍّ وخالِ
فَكَمْ عَمٍّ أَتاكَ الغَمُّ مِنْهُ	وَكَمْ خالٍ مِنَ الخَيْراتِ خالِ

(فانظر) إلى هذا الشاعر اللبيب كيف أتى بالعمّ والخال وصحّف الأوّل بالغمّ واستخدم لفظ الثاني في كونه خالي من الخيرات وحكّم فيه الجناس وتورية اللفظ وقال بعضهم [رجز]

عَداوَةُ الأهْلِ ذَوِي القَرابَهْ

كَالنَّارِ يَومَ الرِّيحِ وَسْطَ غابَهْ

yaḥīf (“he does wrong (to me)”): that is, he turns against me and treats me unjustly, charging me with more than I can bear. This injury was more severe for him than the others, namely, the previously described harm caused by the lice and the nits and so on, because it originated with his relatives. The poet says:

Relatives (aqārib) are like scorpions (ʿaqārib), so avoid them,

And depend not on father’s or mother’s brothers.

How many of the first will bring you grief

And how devoid of good are the others!

Observe how this clever poet used ʿamm (“father’s brother”) and khāl (“mother’s brother”), changing the letters on the first to make it into ghamm (“grief”) and employing the second to mean that they are “devoid” (khālī) of boons, and how he managed to work in both paronomasia and punning.¹⁶⁹

Another poet said:

The enmity of kith and kin

Is like a fire in a forest when there’s wind.

٢٨،٣،١١11.3.28

(وقال) عليّ كرّم الله وجهه العداوة في الأهل والحسد في الجيران والمَودّة في الإخوان وأصل عداوة الأهل من قصّة قابيل لمّا قتل هابيل فصارت العداوة بين الإخوة والأقارب إلى زماننا هذا ومنشأ هذا كلّه الحسد فالحسود لا يسود (وفي الحديث) لا حسد إلّا في اثنتين رجل آتاه الله مالًا فسلّطه على هَلَكَتِهِ في الخير ورجل آتاه الله عِلْمًا فهو يعلّمه الناس وقال الشاعر [بسيط]

إِنْ يَحْسِدُوني فَإِنّي غَيْرُ لائِمِهِمْ	قَبْلي مِنَ النّاسِ أَهلُ الفَضْلِ قَد حُسِدُوا
فَدامَ لِي ولَهُمْ ما بِي وَما بِهِمُ	وَماتَ أَكْثَرُنا غَيْظًا بِما يَجِدُ

وقال آخر [سريع]

لا ماتَ أَعْداؤُكَ بَلْ خُلِّدُوا	حَتّى يَرَوا مِنْكَ الَّذي يُكْمِدُ
وَلا خَلاكَ الدَّهْرُ مِنْ حاسِدٍ	فَإِنَّ خَيْرَ النَّاسِ مَنْ يُحْسَدُ

ʿAlī,¹⁷⁰ God honor his face, said, “Enmity is among relatives, envy among neighbors, and affection among brothers.” The origin of the enmity among relatives is to be found in the story of Qābīl’s murdering Hābīl,¹⁷¹ as a result of which enmity among brethren and relatives has continued down to these days of ours, the root cause of it all being envy—and “may the envious not prevail!”¹⁷² In the Tradition it says, “Two alone are to be envied: a man on whom God bestows wealth and who uses it to defeat his perdition through good works, and a man on whom God bestows knowledge and who instructs others in it.” The poet says:

Though they envy me, I blame them not—

Good men before me have felt the evil eye.

Let me keep mine and them keep theirs,

And he who is the more vexed by what he finds can die!

And another said:

May your enemies not die but live

Till you have had the chance to make them livid,

And may Fate not deprive you of an envier,

For the best are those who’ve been envied!

٢٩،٣،١١11.3.29

ثمّ إنّ الناظم انتقل من شكوى ابن عمّه محيلبه إلى شكواه من ابن أخيه خنافر لكونه أيشم عليه من ابن عمّه فقال

Next the poet moves on from complaining about his paternal cousin Muḥaylibah to complaining about the latter’s nephew Khanāfir, who brings him even more trouble than his cousin. He says: