Arabian Satire: Poetry from 18th-Century Najd 9781479811199

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Arabian Satire

Library of Arabic Literature Editorial Board General Editor Philip F. Kennedy, New York University Executive Editors James E. Montgomery, University of Cambridge Shawkat M. Toorawa, Yale University Editors Sean Anthony, The Ohio State University Julia Bray, University of Oxford Michael Cooperson, University of California, Los Angeles Joseph E. Lowry, University of Pennsylvania Maurice Pomerantz, New York University Abu Dhabi Tahera Qutbuddin, University of Chicago Devin J. Stewart, Emory University Editorial Director Chip Rossetti Digital Production Manager Stuart Brown Assistant Editor Amanda Yee Fellowship Program Coordinator Amani Al-Zoubi

Letter from the General Editor

The Library of Arabic Literature series offers Arabic editions and English translations of significant works of Arabic literature, with an emphasis on the seventh to nineteenth centuries. The Library of Arabic Literature thus includes texts from the pre-Islamic era to the cusp of the modern period, and encompasses a wide range of genres, including poetry, poetics, fiction, religion, philosophy, law, science, history, and historiography. Books in the series are edited and translated by internationally recognized scholars and are published in parallel-text format with Arabic and English on facing pages, and are also made available as English-only paperbacks. The Library encourages scholars to produce authoritative, though not necessarily critical, Arabic editions, accompanied by modern, lucid English translations. Its ultimate goal is to introduce the rich, largely untapped Arabic literary heritage to both a general audience of readers as well as to scholars and students. The Library of Arabic Literature is supported by a grant from the New York University Abu Dhabi Institute and is published by NYU Press. Philip F. Kennedy General Editor, Library of Arabic Literature

‫د � �� ا ن‬ ‫يو �‬ ‫ن �‬ ‫ش‬ ‫�‬ ‫ح‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ل‬ ‫�‬ ‫��‬ ‫�‬ ‫�مي���د ا � ا � �وي��عر‬

Arabian Satire Poetry from 18th Century Najd Ḥmēdān al-Shwēʿir Edited and translated by Marcel Kurpershoek Reviewed by Saad Sowayan Volume editors Clive Holes Philip F. Kennedy

NEW YORK UNIVERSITY PRESS New York

NEW YORK UNIVERSITY PRESS New York Copyright © 2017 by New York University All rights reserved Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Shuwayʻir, Ḥamīdān, active 18th century author. | Kurpershoek, P. M. editor translator. | Shuwayʻir, Ḥamīdān, active 18th century. Poems. Selections. English. | Shuwayʻir, Ḥamīdān, active 18th century. Poems. Selections. Title: Arabian satire : poetry from 18th-century Najd / Ḥmedan al-Shwe’ir ; edited and translated by Marcel Kurpershoek. Description: New York : New York University Press, 2017. | Series: Library of Arabic literature | In English and Arabic. | Includes bibliographical references and index. | Description based on print version record and CIP data provided by publisher; resource not viewed. Identifiers: LCCN 2017024578 (print) | LCCN 2017025519 (ebook) | ISBN 9781479811199 (Ebook) | ISBN 9781479818730 (Ebook) | ISBN 9781479878062 (cloth) Classification: LCC PJ7765.S58 (ebook) | LCC PJ7765.S58 A2 2017 (print) | DDC 892.7/14--dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017024578

New York University Press books are printed on acid-free paper, and their binding materials are chosen for strength and durability. Series design by Titus Nemeth. Typeset in Tasmeem, using DecoType Naskh and Emiri. Typesetting and digitization by Stuart Brown. Manufactured in the United States of America c 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Table of Contents

Letter from the General Editor

iii

Introduction

ix

Map: Northeastern Arabia

xxxv

Map: Central Najd around Sudayr and al-Washm

xxxvi

Note on the Text

xxxvii xli

Notes to the Introduction Arabian Satire

1

1: My temples flecked with gray

2

2: Mjalli, listen to me, this eloquent graybeard

6

3: I saw two rutting camels in al-ʿĀriḍ

8

4: When man comes to be judged by his Lord

10

5: I swear to God, it was Mnīf who said to me

14

6: Water from the pools of war is brackish

16

7: To look for kind favors from misers

18

8: Māni ʿ, say this prayer for my guest

22

9: I spend the evening working at the well

24

10: Even wise men achieve at best half of their goals

26

11: A sudden shock upset me, deprived me

30

12: Listen to my verses of wise counsel, in such high demand

34

13: One man enjoys a life of ease and comfort

38

14: These are the words of a learned and discerning poet

40

15: Once, I came down from the stony heights

46

16: These are the words of an old man who watched the years roll by

50

17: Māni ʿ sits on his rooftop and plays horseman

56

18: These are the words of Ḥmēdān the poet

60

19: Our plowmen labored in the fields

64

20: The urge to speak in verse burst forth

74

21: Wealth elevates the children of the vulgar herd

80

22: No use praying for the return of the days

88

23: If a dumb ox comes asking for your daughter’s hand

96

vii

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24: Prosperity sparkles like a heady wine

98

25: Yesterday at the well Khalīfah accosted me

102

26: Listen carefully, my boy, to this wise old man

104

27: I swear by God and by all that is holy

108

28: Time is pregnant, events are its midwife

110

29: Ibn Nḥēṭ, listen carefully to these polished verses

118

30: These are the words of an old graybeard

122

31: Smart fellows, heed this piece of advice

128

32: This is the faith that is as clear

130

33: If you head for al-Qaṣab you’ll find me to its south

132

34: Things are simple and easy at the start

134

Notes

137

Glossary

154

Bibliography

166

Further Reading

170

Index of Poems, Editions, and Manuscripts Used for this Edition

171

Index

180

About the NYU Abu Dhabi Institute

199

About the Typefaces

200

Titles Published by the Library of Arabic Literature

201

About the Editor–Translator

204

viii

Introduction

Najdī Fascination with Ḥmēdān al-Shwēʿir None of the early poets who composed their verses in the vernacular of Central Arabia has remained more in vogue than Ḥmēdān al-Shwēʿir.1 Across a distance of three centuries, his voice and words are immediately recognizable to a large audience of cognoscenti in Riyadh and beyond.2 There are many reasons for this. Perhaps it is simply because Ḥmēdān’s plain way of talking and the folksy tone of his often satirical tableaux—from his domestic life to the political struggles of his day—seem to epitomize the quintessential Najdī spirit. Through his poetry he emerges as the embodiment of the plucky, headstrong, yet intensely socially committed oasis farmers who have ensured that Najd remains the only Arab land never to be colonized by a foreign power and who later provided the backbone of the nascent Saudi state. Often harsh, and even coming across as rude to a more refined taste, Ḥmēdān’s Najdī spirit is reflected in the large number of proverbs, sayings, and words of gnomic wisdom coined in his verses or deployed in his work. In Najdī circles, therefore, Ḥmēdān’s verses are frequently quoted to make a point or illustrate an argument. Neither particularly religious nor irreligious, Ḥmēdān is mostly concerned with wordly matters. In his poetry religion is present as a natural part of the cultural environment. The same applies to the religious establishment, the ulema, who come in for a fair amount of his tongue-lashing for their venality. One would be hard pressed to find a similar picture painted of them in later literature. This emphasizes the fact that Ḥmēdān’s poetry is perhaps the most important source for insight into the mental outlook of townspeople in Central Arabia before the reform movement launched in 1745 by the preaching of Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhāb in conjunction with the expansion of Saudi state power. After that date, the dominance of this movement in the Najdī heartland, and its intolerance of dissenting views, inevitably colored the cultural mindset, especially among the sedentary population of the towns where it held sway.

ix

Introduction

Ḥmēdān is also admired for the fear he inspired through his hijāʾ, his invective poetry. As he put it, “I give judicious counsel, expose scandals, and apportion blame with no fear of censure” (see §26.3). However, his poetry describes the price he was made to pay for his invective. In one famous case, he felt obliged to compose a lengthy poem of apology to the most powerful ruler of his time,

ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muʿammar, emir of the town of al-ʿUyaynah. What sets Ḥmēdān apart as a poet is his self-deprecation. The intrepid poet who boldly takes aim at the mightiest rulers of his day cuts a rather sorry figure in the bosom of his family. His own marriage is presented as a case in point: he tries to mollify his bully of a wife, until he has had enough and threatens her with divorce (§1.11). But Ḥmēdān’s self-mockery is mostly situational. Somewhere in his tableaux he will paint himself in a less than dignified position. When he and his four friends are attacked by two louts, the piece ends with the line: “I do not know the name of the fifth brave hero; he scrammed, firing farts from his ass.” It is generally assumed that Ḥmēdān means himself as the fifth of the group (§31.13). In short pieces like these Ḥmēdān is a master of buffoonery. His ribald humor exposes how society’s chivalrous ideals in many cases are merely a façade and sham. One way he achieves this is by bringing himself on stage as an antihero. He takes delight in depicting himself as a man down on his luck, held in little regard by those closest to him, and the target of his enemies’ wrath. We should not take this literally. The diminutive form that so frequently occurs in his choice of words, including his moniker al-Shwēʿir, is a deliberate stylistic device. When it is applied to his own person, it seems to reduce him in size—not in order to belittle his status but rather to ridicule more effectively those who have puffed themselves up and exaggerated their own self-importance.3 The fascination with Ḥmēdān in his native Najd has to do with the way he put his art and personality at the service of affirming traditional values in an unconventional and sometimes provocative way. He saw himself as an artist whose outrage at false pretensions drives him to tear off masks. Ḥmēdān translated the idea of the world as a stage into a set of characters and situations as part of a poetic morality play, in which his sons Māni ʿ and Mjalli are stock characters and he and his wife are shown in almost Punch and Judy-like scenes.4 This theatrical approach, the emphatically down-to-earth and conversational tone of his narrative, and his involvement in the political struggles of his time make him an outstanding artist in the eyes of his compatriots—modern and old

x

Introduction

alike. He experimented with the tools handed to him by convention and created something new. He also cuts a lonely figure: no one in his native Najd has been able or daring enough to follow in his footsteps. Ḥmēdān’s Life and Times Little is known with certainty about Ḥmēdān’s life, though he is named more than any other poet in Najdī chronicles. All we have are stories that once circulated orally and the poems attributed to him.5 What we do know for a fact is that Ḥmēdān was born in the small town of al-Qaṣab, about 165 kilometers northwest of Riyadh. The date of his birth is unknown and widely varying dates for his death are given. It is generally assumed, however, that he was born in the late seventeenth century and flourished as a poet in the first half of the eighteenth century. If one combines events and personalities in the poetry and the information from the chronicles, most of his work was probably composed in a period roughly from 1705 to 1740. He lived in the region that was of the greatest interest to the Najdī chroniclers; a region that stretches from al-Dirʿiyyah and Riyadh, as well as some locations further south, over roughly four hundred kilometers north to ʿUnayzah, Buraydah, and other towns of al-Qaṣīm Province. While Najd is conspicuous for its combination of sedentary and Bedouin lifestyles, this region of al-Yamāmah is decidedly sedentary.6 Agriculture was once the mainstay of its economy, principally the cultivation of date palms and wheat. Irrigation water came from ancient wells that tapped into large underground reservoirs accumulated from the torrential streams that course down the wadi channels during sporadic downpours. The towns of al-Yamāmah at that time can be compared to ancient Greek or medieval Italian city-states, each with its own ruling classes in perpetual competition, internally as well as with other city-states. Geographically, these little city-states are grouped in clusters that were separated by both distance and natural barriers. Warfare was often triggered by the expulsion or flight of one of the factions in a town, which would seek asylum in a neighboring town. Inevitably, after some time the exiled faction would return in force, supported by the town of its temporary residence, and sometimes in alliance with other towns or tribes. Upon its victorious return, this faction would be installed in power by its friends, and the other factions would either have to submit or flee the town. In some cases, this pattern would play out over decades.7 Usually one town would emerge in each of the regional clusters as hegemonic and would start to play the

xi

Introduction

role of kingmaker in its neighborhood, as is evident from Ḥmēdān’s poetry and from the chronicles.8 Most of the ruling families and clans from Ḥmēdān’s day continue to enjoy their preeminent status. They constitute a kind of sedentary aristocracy, now intimately tied to the Saudi state. This continuity, stretching back to pre-Saudi times, explains why Ḥmēdān’s praise, or more often lampooning, of these families’ hometowns is still a sensitive subject in Saudi Arabia. Ḥmēdān’s native town of al-Qaṣab is situated in a somewhat remote corner of al-Washm, equidistant from Sudayr and more powerful towns in al-Washm. What set al-Qaṣab apart were the evaporation ponds at the foot of the sands that were exploited by its people, and still are today.9 The town seems to have been left relatively undisturbed for most of the time. Not so Ḥmēdān, who at some point felt compelled to seek refuge in the little town of Uthayfiyah.10 His poem on the subject mentions a dispute with his kinsmen in al-Qaṣab. Uthayfiyah was a dependency of the town of Tharmadāʾ, which, like Julājil in Sudayr, played the role of kingmaker in al-Washm. Ḥmēdān caused major trouble by exhorting his hosts to stop paying tribute and instigating Uthayfiyah to rise up against its overlords. It was to the south of Tharmadāʾ, in Wadi Ḥanīfah, the pre-Islamic center of al-Yamāmah, that the most influential power in the region had its base. The princely lineage of Ibn Muʿammar of al-ʿUyaynah was preeminent until it was destroyed by the house of Saud.11 Al-ʿUyaynah reached its apogee under ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muʿammar, whose court fostered Islamic scholarship.12 The religious reformer Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhāb rose to prominence in al-ʿUyaynah until he was asked to leave—a fateful decision as the preacher was to become instrumental in the downfall of the Ibn Muʿammar dynasty. As a result of an unfavorable comment, probably in verse, Ḥmēdān fell foul of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muʿammar. Having incurred the ire of the prince, his position had become sufficiently precarious for him to feel obliged to compose an extensive apology (poem 21).

ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muʿammar’s long reign from 1684–85 until his death during the plague epidemic in 1725–26 provides a terminus ante quem for Ḥmēdān’s poem of apology.13 In the poem Ḥmēdān solicits advice from his kinsman ʿUthmān ibn Sayyār. In 1725 ʿUthmān killed his son, even though he had voluntarily stepped down from his position earlier in favor of his son.14 It seems likely that the poet’s self-imposed exile from al-Qaṣab occurred when ʿUthmān was no longer in a position of influence, perhaps not long after his family tragedy.

xii

Introduction

In a poem that still enjoys wide circulation, Ḥmēdān describes his departure from al-Zubayr, not far from Basra in Iraq, to return to his home country (poem 15). At the first well on the borders of Najd he encounters Famine, in the person of the scantily clad Abū Mūsā—a reference to the knife, mūs, wielded by hunger thus personified. Abū Mūsā informs the poet of the state of affairs in Najd, and the poet heads southwest. On his way he delivers judgment on the towns and rulers of Sudayr, some of it in words of praise but mostly with derision. The poet’s artifice consists of simply repeating the judgments confided in him by Famine, Abū Mūsā. This poem may have established Ḥmēdān’s notoriety as a master of hijāʾ, invective poetry. Oral sources report that Ḥmēdān worked as an agricultural laborer in Iraq.15 Given these circumstances and the poem’s tone, it seems probable that Ḥmēdān was still quite young when he composed it. It combines rakish daring and mockery with the innovative framing of his satire within a narrative of travel. Ḥmēdān’s encounter with famine thus personified is entirely realistic. There were two severe droughts that most likely occurred during Ḥmēdān’s youth: one in 1702–3 and the second in 1715–18.16 The chronicles recount that in those years people died in vast numbers from starvation and that many of the survivors escaped to al-Zubayr, Basra, and al-Aḥsāʾ.17 Conceivably, Ḥmēdān joined the stream of refugees to Iraq during one of these droughts. If so, the drought of 1702–3 would best fit with a hypothetical chronology of Ḥmēdān’s life and work. If Ḥmēdān went to Iraq as a young man, and composed this poem in 1705, one might suppose a date of birth not long after 1680. But this is just one possible construction of a rough timetable for the poet and his work. The Poet’s Kin and Artistic Milieu Ḥmēdān is said to have been born Ḥamad ibn Nāṣir al-Sayyārī.18 Ḥamad ibn Nāṣir’s moniker became Ḥmēdān al-Shwēʿir (Humaydān al-Shuwayʿir). Ḥmēdān is a diminutive of Ḥamad, and al-Shwēʿir of al-shāʿir, “the poet.” It is said that the diminutive al-Shwēʿir was given to him by his enemies as a scornful epithet.19 If so, Ḥmēdān probably took it as a suitable nom de guerre and the name stuck. In Saudi Arabia his descendants have the plural al-Shawāʿir as their family name.20 Like ʿUthmān ibn Ibrāhīm al-Sayyārī, who became the headman of al-Qaṣab, he belonged to the clan of al-Sayāyirah that is part of al-Duʿūm (sg. al-Daʿm),

xiii

Introduction

a branch of al-Jubūr, one of the tribes of Banū Khālid.21 ʿUthmān’s father had been installed as headman of the town by the famous poet Jabr ibn Ḥazmī al-Sayyārī. Jabr seemed more interested in poetry than in leadership. He survived his successor to the town headship and passed away in 1708.22 His great age notwithstanding, he retained his playful spirit right to the end, if we are to judge by a poem he received as late as 1703 from Khalīl ibn ʿĀyiḍ, dubbed “Muṭawwaʿ of al-Maskūf ” (i.e., of a mosque in the old alleyways of ʿUnayzah).23 In it, the Muṭawwaʿ—a term now synonymous with the Saudi religious police—speaks about how lovelorn he is. He complains that his temptress leads him like a lamb to the slaughter. And worse: “You made me remiss in the performance of superrogatory prayers; I even fall short in the regular prayers to the Lord; / when reciting the Lord’s graces, I instead utter my greetings to you, for my heart has gone rushing off toward you.” 24 If people were but mildly scandalized at how the Muṭawwaʿ passed his time, it indicates that a relatively lighthearted culture prevailed before a sterner version of the creed was imposed in 1745. Ḥmēdān must have known Jabr’s poetry and evidence that Jabr may have influenced him has been set out in convincing detail.25 Jabr was in regular communication with poets elsewhere in Najd and much of this “poetic correspondence” has been preserved in manuscripts. The most famous examples are the poems exchanged by Jabr with Rumayzān ibn Ghashshām, his son-in-law and politically more important colleague, the chief of al-Rawḍah in Sudayr.26 While Jabr was first and foremost a poet, Rumayzān’s poetry shows him to be a man of action primarily concerned with the exercise of power.27 He was killed in 1668–69, in one of the internal struggles in al-Rawḍah.28 Ḥmēdān exhibits some of the traits of both men. However, why exactly Ḥmēdān left his hometown of al-Qaṣab for Uthayfiyah is not known. A story is told about it in the rich oral lore surrounding the poet’s exploits, but as with so many others that feature Ḥmēdān as their protagonist, this one has all the characteristics of folk legend.29 According to the poem on this episode, other towns declined his request for asylum before he was accepted by Uthayfiyah (§§22.45–48). Some locations connected with his stay in this town are still known and can be visited. In the abandoned old town of al-Qaṣab, a small mud house, now in ruins, next to one of the gates, is said to have been Ḥmēdān’s.30 Apart from such exiguous traces, the only other source is Ḥmēdān’s poetry itself.

xiv

Introduction

Ḥmēdān the Poet Ḥmēdān speaks in different guises: as paterfamilias at the helm of the family boat with its unruly crew; as a picaresque antihero who revels in taking potshots at the hypocrisy and moral failings of the established order; as a peasant who toils in his grove, often to no avail and with no guarantee of success; and as poet, his primary vocation, recording in verse what he sees as the meaning of life. His verses distinguish poetry as his main claim to fame—unlike some predecessors such as Rumayzān ibn Ghashshām for whom poetry was an appendage to a political career.31 Ḥmēdān vaunts his poetic achievements in the style of time-honored mufākharah, self-glorification in hyperbolically boastful verse: “My ambition is harder than the hardest rock, and fires my determination with passionate zeal: / It has shot my fame beyond Arcturus” (§§20.16–17); or: “My renown shot higher than Sagitta” (§26.28). Poetry also provided him with a refuge from life’s vicissitudes. He regarded poetry as his comrade in solitude, and he believed in the power of poetry to make people see things in the same way he did and to help them keep their bearings: “Useful and pleasant words slake a heart’s thirst as irrigation quenches dry crops; / When spirits sag for lack of company, solace lies in befriending my peerless verse” (§§20.11–12). There is no indication in his poetry that he was financially rewarded for his compositions. Ḥmēdān speaks of men always on the edge of starvation: collectors of firewood in the sands and laborers in the nearby evaporation ponds—their mouths grimy and ever thirsty, so poor that all their lives they could not even touch a single date (§§18.2–3). Though he complains of penury, Ḥmēdān did not fall into that category. He contends that he joined a failed raid simply to be able to meet the needs of his family and little children (§11.5). As with his family life, his self-presentation as a peasant of modest means is part of his theatrical mise-en-scènes, but also has the ring of lived experience. So he speaks of the location of his grove; of how its irrigation keeps him toiling so late that he must combine the sunset and evening prayers; of disappointing harvests and months of work in vain (poems 1, 22, and 33). He mocks peasants who work al-Qaṣab’s cultivable areas before a flood has replenished the wells (§33.2). He even prays to be spared the fate of being a peasant (§33.8). Nevertheless, he expresses enormous pride in his rows of magnificent trees with their heavy bunches of dates that make his grove a paradise of shade. His farewell speech to them is a remarkable soliloquy, delivered while the audience of trees listens in silent shock to his voice, which quivers with emotion

xv

Introduction

as he steels himself to abandon a treasure he had invested so much in (§22.22). But this railing against a peasant’s fate does not stop him from advocating unflagging labor as the best guarantee of success: “If your son’s hands are daubed with mud from digging a trench around his date palms, / Before long, you’ll see, your boy will start a business and make it thrive” (§§14.8–9). This example is taken from a long poem in rajaz.32 The four poems in this meter (poems 10, 11, 12, and 29) as well as one in the kindred hazaj meter (poem 14) comment scathingly on types of person and behaviors. Like a Najdī philosopher wielding a hammer, Ḥmēdān tests them and finds many of them hollow. In two poems, his discussion of human categories are heralded by the marker “some men,” with his most incisive criticism reserved for pious cheats and men of religion who fleece their customers, and he demolishes the pretensions of would-be leaders (shēkhin mitshayyikh; §12.6). The poem in hazaj categorizes people by behavior: “so-and-so is notable for acting in such-and-such a way.” One of the other poems in rajaz is remarkable for its viciously effective invective. In it, the notion of raiding for booty as a chivalrous sport is torn to shreds, and the poet takes special delight in mauling the reputation of the raiders’ chief (“We went on the raid but the coward shirked the task: he sat with folded wings, like a lice-ridden raptor”; §11.13) whose words did not match his deeds.33 Literacy In the final poem in this meter Ḥmēdān warns against ever putting any trust in a hereditary enemy. It ends with a remarkable admission: “Listen, once upon a time Moses was a murderer. We have followed suit, no different. / This I know from a tradition on which all agree—Bedouin and settled folks my witness, both” (§§29.16–17).34 It is one of many references in his poetry that make us wonder whether Ḥmēdān was literate. Saudi experts do not rule out the possibility, but point out that, in the settled towns of Najd, literacy was never a precondition for being cultured. It is known for certain that some masters of Nabaṭī poetry who flourished later than Ḥmēdān were literate and were well versed in classical Arabic literature.35 It was not unusual for at least some members of the community to have memorized the Qurʾan. Works on Arab and Islamic history and literature were found in most towns of some significance in Najd.36 This knowledge was also circulated orally and absorbed by illiterate men with cultural interests. In the poem of apology to Ibn Muʿammar the poet swears by several suras of the Qurʾan and compares the subject of his laudatory verses with famous

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Introduction

generals, leaders, and poets who lived a thousand years earlier (§§21.53, 21.61). In another poem, the compact between the “false” prophetess Sajāḥ and her male colleague Musaylimah is adduced as proof of the futility of mendacious opportunism. Ḥmēdān also compares someone to the Samaritan in the Qurʾan (§19.65).37 The poet pictures himself as he pores over “works of genealogy,” to ferret out the truth about the chief whose spurious claims he will soon unmask (§11.22). He scoffs at the self-importance of a religious scholar who cannot read or write (§12.13). Yet all such references to the world of literacy in this type of poetry are fully compatible with functional illiteracy.38 This also applies to the poet’s reference to letters, ink, and paper (§20.3).39 The transition marker “enough of this” (daʿ dhā), followed by a desert journey and the messenger’s delivery of the message, harks back to early Arabic poetry (§28.34), as does the use of mudām for “wine” in the poetry of Jabr al-Sayyār.40 But such use of archaic words and expressions is widespread in the predominantly oral milieu of Nabaṭī poetry. Therefore the question of Ḥmēdān’s literacy, illiteracy, or semiliteracy must remain open, though it is quite possible that he had at least some ability. Self-Portrait The closest thing Ḥmēdān offers by way of a consistent self-portrait is found in the seven wisdom poems (poems 2, 7, 16, 19, 26, 30, and 33) composed in mutadārik.41 One of these poems, seventy-four verses of marriage counsel, is addressed to his son Māni ʿ, while the others are addressed to Mjalli—in one poem the phrase “my boy” must mean him. Mjalli is presumably a younger son because the poet refers to himself as an old man in all these poems. Traditionally, wisdom is the purview of men who command a wealth of experience to be mined for valuable lessons. These nuggets of wisdom are provided to those who seek the sage’s guidance: a shortcut to knowledge that would otherwise take a lifetime to garner. This poetry is similar in function to the many thousands of Najdī proverbs, but it has the advantage of being integrated into a lively poetic narrative. Ḥmedān compares it to indicating signposts in the wilderness of life that would remain invisible to men less tried and tested than he (§26.4).42 The poems addressed to Mjalli portray the poet as an old man (ʿōd, or the diminutive ʿwēd) who is treated with disrespect in his own household, is frail and weak, and has trouble getting to his feet and walking. Again, we should not take this portrait literally.43 After a few verses this plaintive tone gives way to the boast of his skillful navigation of life’s pitfalls: a clever sage who, while “weak of limb,”

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is “endowed with a strong mind” (in Arabic, aṣgharih, “his smaller part,” i.e., his tongue; §30.6). His mental faculties also receive fulsome praise: “Learn from a man clever, tested, and wise, a penetrating mind, prescient about the blows of fate” (§2.2). When the sage launches into his sermon, he expects not to be contradicted or interrupted. The listener is admonished (the imperative of the verb is used) to listen and pay close attention. The decrepitude that the poet laments must therefore be taken with a pinch of salt. The feisty graybeard is yet another member of the cast of characters that act out the script written by the poet. In terms of mental capacity at least, the poet-sage is capable of remarkable acrobatics: “Listen carefully, my boy, to this wise old man, for I have swum in the deep waters of thought. / I tame rhymes with sound meanings, subduing refractory ones without use of reins. / I give judicious counsel, expose scandals, and apportion blame with no fear of censure. / I can read hidden traces and sand-covered trails, find wells without help of landmarks” (§§26.1–4) These four verses capture in a nutshell the poet’s selfimage: a brilliant artist, adept at ferreting out life’s secrets, and ready to assist those who deserve his advice. He is also the implacable enemy of falsehood, savaging charlatans, self-important pretenders, and anything that smacks of the humbug that tarnishes the world and obscures truth. The poet as fearless and blameless knight brandishes his poetry without paying heed to the displeasure caused by his revelations. Such intrepidness is especially important because a poet’s profession depends upon it: he speaks truth to power. Should the poet flinch and compromise his standards, he will slide into mediocrity or worse. The poet wears his adversaries’ taunts as badges of honor: “These are the words of a learned and discerning poet: Ḥmēdān, who has a reputation for irreverence. / My verse is readily understood by thoughtful minds that can navigate the peaks and troughs of meter” (§§14.1–2). The Poetry Ḥmēdān and Literary Convention The upward and downward course depicted in this line can be construed in the context of the deep waters of thought evoked in another verse, in which the poet tends to his craft: “Melodic verses that swell and roll like roaring waves on a pitch-black sea” (§20.4). He tames the assault of inspiration with skill: “I am the expert craftsman who forges verses, working the meter effortlessly. / I pick intricate rhymes from memory’s store, with a hand that reaches into the inner

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recesses of art” (§§20.5–6). The poet’s “peaks and troughs of meter” is linked to the surge of waves, a metaphor for the succession of long and short syllables of the metric scheme. When spoken aloud, the meter creates an impression of a bobbing movement, like a ship riding on the sea (though we should make an exception of those meters with mostly long syllables.) After all the Arabic word for “meter” is baḥr, “sea.” The meter of these verses on the art of poetry is ṭawīl, “the long meter,” one of the best-attested meters in Arabic poetry. It befits the four poems that are among Ḥmēdān’s most serious endeavors (poems 20, 21, 22, and 28). They deal with political developments—including his own involvement in them—set against a background of the general condition of society. All four run to considerable length: on average, fifty-seven verses. They are multi-thematic, in the tradition of the Arabic qaṣīdah, but bear little resemblance to its classical form. One of the four articulates Ḥmēdān’s view of himself and his poetic ethos. In the other three the poet follows his immediate predecessor Jabr ibn Sayyār and other early Najdī poets in arguing his case in a flowing, narrative manner, uninhibited by a framework of classical qaṣīdah structure. But Ḥmēdān largely dispenses with earlier convention. Jabr and his poetic correspondents stuck to the conceits of their genre—mostly in the guise of a stereotyped love affair. In spite of their flashes of originality, they remain wrapped up in a poetic world closed in upon itself. Ḥmēdān threw the doors of poetry wide open and allowed entry to the political and social realities of his day, which he worked into his vision. His awareness of the audacity of his enterprise is also evident in quasi-nonchalant throwbacks to literary cliché: tongue-incheek reminders of how far behind he had left tradition as he cut his own path. For example, a prayer for rain to fall on the land of “the buxom girl” sent by him as a present is as much a cliché as the description of the girl itself (§1.19). In the same poem the poet pokes fun at convention by hinting at a financial reward for these “gifts.” The poem is obviously not meant to solicit remuneration (poem 1). A similar wink at tired cliché is contained in the request to his son Māni ʿ to climb a high lookout “And see if you can spot a caravan’s tail at al-Ṭēri, carrying our folks away down Wādi Khlayyif ” (§22.15): this is the primeval image of the forlorn lover who watches his amour being carried away by the departing tribe.

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Women and Family Members in the Poetry Women feature prominently in Ḥmēdān’s work. He depicts his own marriage as initially happy—a genuine love affair—but no longer so at the moment of the poem’s composition. In his sole poem rhyming on the letter hamzah, his wife nags him for money and complains of his lack of “erotic prowess.” 44 The poet in his turn reminds her that the days of youth and romance have gone forever, and that if she keeps making impossible demands she can get her divorce from him. The longest poem in the collection, seventy-four verses, shows the practical side of Ḥmēdān’s poetry. It reads like a catalogue of different types of women; it proffers advice on how to select those with desirable characteristics, and especially how to avoid falling into the trap of marrying types like Sārah, the spoiled wife of his son Māni ʿ. Ḥmēdān concludes by saying that the right choice guarantees a successful and enjoyable life in all circumstances: “Make sure you are respected at all times, be you affluent or scorched by drought” (§19.74). It is no surprise, therefore, that love poetry as such (the genre of ghazal) is absent. Images of buxom girls are sparingly used and when they are they are used as clichés in vignettes with caricatures of silly men and situations or in parodies of conventional models. Ḥmēdān repeatedly paints old women as hideous hags (§§2.3–11; 11.32; 19.56). As with other motifs, the poet seeks to create a binary antithesis with young girls. Such extremes may in turn stand for the intrinsic unfairness and fickleness of a “world” (dunyā) in which values are turned upside down and shamelessly prostituted.45 Ḥmēdān voices disgust at domestic violence and the despicable men who commit it (§23.5). The poet curses men who beat or otherwise mistreat their wives. His warning against marrying such brutes is repeated in another poem, which pictures a miser who cudgels his mother-in-law and damages his mother’s ribs for being too generous with the food (§§16.27–28). He also seems to take delight in acting in a manner entirely opposed to how a male chauvinist behaves, as when he humorously recounts how in his search for a wife he was rebuffed by women in whom he showed an interest. He tells his wife that if she is looking for a more suitable husband she can go ahead.46 This makes some of the bias expressed against old women look incongruous—even though similar bias is found in Najdī collections of proverbs and Najdī poetry in general.47 We can speculate that in some way the violent opposition in Ḥmēdān’s poetry between an ʿajūz, a woman past the reproductive age, and a bint rahūz, a buxom girl, bears some relation to the effect worked on the Najdī outlook by the binary experience of years of

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drought followed by years of plenty that come with copious rainfall. But this does not reduce the jarring effect of these verses: “Once a woman has passed the mark of forty, and her black tresses are streaked with gray, / The moment has come for you to dig a trench six feet deep: throw her in with a rope around her knees! / Bury her there as you would a rotting corpse; don’t be scared: no one will come to seek revenge” (§§2.9–11).48 These lines are from a poem composed in mutadārik, a meter with a relatively quick succession of long and short syllables.49 In Ḥmēdān’s work this meter is exclusively reserved for wisdom poems in which the poet is generous with advice based on his rich experience.50 In four of the seven poems in this meter Ḥmedān addresses his son Mjalli, who does not feature with any great distinctiveness or prominence in his other poems and is not given a “character” of his own (because he is only used as a foil, the obedient and passive listener, in the poems where he is mentioned by name; poems 2, 16, 26, and 30). Ḥmēdān’s other son, Māni ʿ, probably his firstborn, has a more complex relationship with his poet father. He plays the principal or a supporting role in ten poems—all but three of them in the meter of exclusively long syllables in the satirical mode (poems 4, 8, 9, 13 [though not named, clearly this son or someone like him is meant], 17, 18, 19, 22, 24, and 28). Often Ḥmēdān expresses exasperation with his passively rebellious son. He describes a particularly galling moment when Māni ʿ returns from a spell of work in al-ʿĀriḍ, the area of presentday Riyadh, in the company of a wife, without having first sought his father’s approval for this marriage. Ḥmēdān always calls Sārah by the derisive diminutive Swērah. This utterly impractical luxury doll opens his longest poem, the encyclopedia of marriage advice: “Our plowmen labored in the fields while he was distracted by little Sārah. / Our folks struggle to tend palms and raise children while he busily buys musk and ambergris” (§§19.1–2). From the poem we learn that Māni ʿ took her as a second wife, a practice that Ḥmēdān ridicules as a luxury; a sheer waste for someone in his son’s social position. Judging by this and other passages we might infer that the poet did not take more than one wife. Māni ʿ is scolded for indulging himself while at the same time falling far short of filial duty toward his aging father: the poet is aghast that his son cannot even spare a simple cloak to cover his father’s back. The son’s new wife is depicted as a useless nuisance to the family, a woman without shame or scruple, and adept at bossing others around. Māni ʿ is at her beck and call, especially when summoned to satisfy her sexual desires, a subject described in

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graphic detail in two of the poems (poems 17 and 18). Ḥmēdān compares her, and the type of woman she stands for in his poetry, to “a hyena struck by rabies” (§19.5). In the universe of Ḥmēdān’s poetry, Māni ʿ is a stock character who serves as a foil for his views on what is good and bad. The verse quoted above implies several meanings at once. Ḥmēdān positions himself on the side of the frugal, hardworking, inherently skeptical and wary ethos of the Najdī peasantry. It is an ethos born from the harsh conditions of the country itself—an environment where scarcity of resources makes for constant civil and military strife. In such a setting Māni ʿ’s behavior spells ruin for him and those around him. Put differently, the poet’s warnings and his criticism, whether aimed at Māni ʿ or other targets, are a manual for survival in the extreme conditions of Najd at that time. It also explains why his advice is still considered relevant in Saudi Arabia— perhaps because of a lingering awareness that the affluence brought by the oil boom may one day turn out to have been just one more turn of the “world’s” wheel of fortune (§§4.4, 5.14, 20.35, 20.38, 28.3), and that society would do well to prepare at least mentally for the shock of renewed hardship ahead. At first glance Māni ʿ appears to be the black sheep of the family. But upon closer scrutiny it becomes clear that his father secretly has a soft spot for him and his independence of mind. Perhaps in his son he may even recognize his own youth, as in the verses: “I am no stranger to passion and love’s temptations; in my halcyon days I plucked their flowers at night: / We swam in a sea surging with sinful rapture, enjoying our nights while the guards slept” (§§26.5–6).51 Contrary to initial impressions, we come to suspect that Māni ʿ, in spite or perhaps because of his frivolous escapades, is the son closest to his father’s heart. He is self-willed, but also strong, and can be depended on in a crisis. It is to Māni ʿ that he turns in the greatest crisis of his life, the conflict that made him leave his native town of al-Qaṣab. It is to him that he explains his motives for spurning his kinsmen, even at the price of abandoning his beloved grove of date palms. Then he instructs him to spur on his mount and seek out possible places of asylum: “I appealed to the honor of my courageous son who abstains from food for a week if rebuked. / My boy, if guided by fear, you will not sally forth: villains will not willingly make way for you” (§§22.27–28). It is to Māni ʿ that the poet confides how much he loathes the headman of a certain town as well as the parasitic religious establishment. And in another poem he feels close enough to him to ask for this favor: “Māni ʿ, say this prayer for my guest: ‘May a viper bite

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you on the way!’” (§8.1). Māni ʿ is not so much his father’s prodigal son as the poet’s alter ego and first comrade in arms. Poet of War and Peace Three of the four poems in ṭawīl meter begin in a key charged with foreboding: “Time is pregnant, events are its midwife. Are there things that cannot be, yet are?” (§28.1). Najdī chronicles maintain that the fateful events these verses allude to were instigated by Ḥmēdān when he called on Uthayfiyah to throw off the yoke of nearby Tharmadāʾ and stop paying tribute. It is of course possible that this claim was based on the poetry itself. But extant texts leave no doubt that Ḥmēdān applauded this act of disobedience that was a declaration of independence. It inspired the poet to elaborate on the theories of war he had expounded in other poems. As an example, he holds up his own refusal to accept dishonor: “I’d rather have a slab of rock for a pillow than sleep on a soft carpet in a land of ignominy. / Even if I have to drink brackish water mixed with bitter apple, I value self-respect more: / More than owning Baghdad and its territories, sweet-scented Basra, and the shores of Oman” (§§28.12–14). So Uthayfiyah should not grovel before Tharmadāʾ, just as Ḥmēdān preferred to abandon his palm gardens rather than suffer humiliation at the hands of his kinsmen. The first chords of the other two poems set a similar tone. The poem to Ibn Muʿammar opens with a lament about the corrosive effect of money: “Wealth elevates the children of the vulgar herd as penury fells the lofty, crashing down like tall trees” (§21.1).52 When times are out of kilter and the wrong people accumulate wealth, the forces of evil are given a free rein. It is precisely in times such as these, the poet argues, that one may expect to hear this sort of calumny at the ruler’s court. The third poem contains the poignant narrative of Ḥmēdān’s self-imposed exile from al-Qaṣab to Uthayfiyah. The elegiac first verse, borrowed from the classic abandoned camp scene,53 voices his grief at having to leave everything behind: “No use praying for the return of the days that snatched away our friends and kin” (§22.1). Without the protection of one’s kinsmen, one must expect the worst: “What the dark nights carry in their bellies is unknown, inseminated at dusk, giving birth at dawn” (§22.4). Scattered throughout Ḥmēdān’s work we find pithy sayings, proverbs, maxims, and similes. These often involve a bestiary of animals and birds that symbolize opposite ends of the moral universe: the noble falcon is contrasted

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with insignificant sparrows or despicable birds that peck the gutters for food; pedigreed steeds are worlds apart from dull oxen, as are the hideous hyena and the gracious gazelle, the vulnerable rabbit and the fearsome lion, and especially the Arabian spiny-tailed lizard, also called the dabb lizard after its Arabic name, ḍabb. In Najdī lore the dabb is a creature fabled for its longevity, toughness, and ability to defend itself against intruders by hiding in underground chambers, as inaccessible as Najdī towns with their walls and fortress-like houses made of mud. Ḥmēdān teaches us that we should not put our trust in fortifications only, but rather in a united, well-trained body of men able to confront the enemy on the battlefield. In a famous extended simile, Ibn Nḥēṭ, the ruler of al-Ḥuṣūn in Sudayr, is compared to a dabb lizard coaxed out of its burrow by the ruler of Julājil, who shouts that there is nothing to fear, and that swarms of locusts have settled all over the ground—a delicious meal waiting to be gobbled up (§§16.30–35). Enticed out into the open, the dabb is captured, its jaws tied and hamstrings cut, and then slaughtered. Indeed, the chronicles inform us that

ʿUthmān ibn Nḥēṭ was ousted from power by his own sons in collusion with the ruler of Julājil.54 Ḥmēdān’s rule for political survival is that attack is the best defence: “Hit him with steel, by hook or by crook. Thus are grave affairs settled with ease” (§28.33).55 While we should proceed with deliberation, confiding our plans only in those in whom we have the utmost confidence, a preemptive strike will keep enemies at bay. By keeping the enemy in a state of fear and by wrongfooting him, a ruler will buy respite from aggression and deter all his enemies. Other forms of defence, such as trying to fend off a menace by appeasing an enemy and paying protection money, only serves to whet his appetite. “Mind you don’t appear meek or ready to settle, or you’ll pay more than half of your wealth” (§34.10). And “If you pay protection money every day to keep them at bay, they say, ‘A soft target’” (§28.23). Time after time Ḥmēdān stresses that fear is a poor counselor. Instead, one should remember that: “Caution cannot save you from the arrows of fate, as al-Shwēʿir Ḥmēdān has warned you so often”(§16.36).56 In addition to the weakness of caution as a form of defense, he argues that women, who spend their lives in the safety of home, nevertheless fill up the cemeteries as much as men do. In any case, dying by the sword is more honorable than, and preferable to, dying in bed; and survival in battle will reap the fruits of glory (§§30.33–34).

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Ḥmēdān is no warmonger. In many poems he expresses his dislike of bloodshed and deplores the grief that armed strife brings. He speaks scathingly of rascals who set fire to a conflict and scamper, leaving others to deal with the consequences. He mocks fools who believe that war means “supping on meat and broth, / Or sleeping with delicious damsels,” (§§24.8–9) and who “think that war is all sword dancing and merry songs, with shapely, cow-eyed coquettes for company” (§6.5). Ḥmēdān warns against mass psychosis created by an excited crowd: “His head is easily turned by the sight of patterned breeches and the beating of drums in the streets” (§24.18). His verdict on those who stir up trouble and armed strife is severe: “Break his bones and seize his wealth, and let his children weep and wail” (§24.14). To the poet’s mind war is inevitable and necessary: “He who wishes to rule with his sword in its sheath is like a wingless bird trying to fly” (§7.15). But going to war is a matter of the utmost gravity that requires responsible decision-making and the ability to execute those decisions. As always, Ḥmēdān balances his concepts. Problem-solving and peacemaking are among the endeavors he rates highest: “If I could make a wish, I’d ask that three types of men never die—for the rest I do not care; let them die in peace: / The knight of valiant deeds, the generous spender, the mediator who helps people resolve their disputes” (§§12.26–27). He wants to have no truck with negotiating from a position of weakness or seeking at all costs to avoid armed confrontation. He is resigned to the reality that, once started, war must run its course, or keep burning until its flames subside and an opportunity for mediation arises. Only when “Graves are crammed with fresh corpses, and the laments of the bereaved ring loud and long,” (§24.20) does peace become possible: “No truce lasts unless it is preceded by funerals, with heads rolling and hands tied behind backs. / That is the moment to start your mediation, when hotheads make room for calmer men” (§§29.13–14). Ḥmēdān’s verse makes no mention of any attempt to create a less destructive system of relations among Najdī city-states. Such a system only came about gradually as the Saudi state tightened its grip on its neighbors through application of the austere interpretation of Islamic Law ushered in by Muḥammad ibn

ʿAbd al-Wahhāb. Ḥmēdān’s take on events reflects the tribal spirit of his society. As a modern historian puts it: “The Najdī settler was no less rigorous in his tribal outlook than his fellow countryman, the nomad.” 57 Ḥmēdān champions this spirit, as when he vaunts his clan’s relentless pursuit of revenge no matter how much time has elapsed: “We dug up the well of revenge when it had over time

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become filled with the drifting sands of neglect. / We blew on its fire, well-nigh extinguished, until the tongues of flame shot up in a roaring blaze” (§§28.51–52). It is his firm conviction that enemies are inherited from one generation to the next: “He has long been your grandfather’s archenemy, who has swallowed his hatred for you and nurses it” (§29.4). In Ḥmēdān’s view it would be suicide to think otherwise. This Hobbesian view is rooted in the realities of his time. Violent competition among nomadic tribes was exacerbated in a period, roughly the second half of the seventeenth and first half of the eighteenth centuries, that saw an increase in the frequency of severe droughts. New towns in the region, some of them mentioned in Ḥmēdān’s poetry, were founded between the fourteenth and the seventeenth centuries, mostly by clans that had been forced to leave their ancestral homes. These lands were not bought but settled by force.58 When Ḥmēdān warns against putting one’s faith in legal documents alone, he is merely stating a fact: “Lands are not given away by a judge’s pen, though people pay handsomely for verdicts. / When corpses lie strewn over inherited land, all is decided by the sword, not by right or by wages. / He who argues, ‘These are our ancestral lands and are rightfully ours,’ is consumed as he speaks” (§§28.16–18).59 Ḥmēdān on Power and Wealth in Najdī Society Just as force might be needed to hold on to possessions, so a chief ’s position could not be maintained solely by reference to a right of succession. A shaykh must prove that he is worth his salt and deserving of leadership.60 Ḥmēdān is allergic to the pretense that someone is born to rule: “He said, ‘I was a shaykh long before you; my ancestor took possession of it.’ / ‘Congratulations to your father and grandfather! What a shame they sired a dunce like you’” (§§4.21–22). Those who have nothing to show for themselves except boasting about their ancestors are to be sneered at. He predicts their extinction, ashes their only trace (§10.10). In another poem, the poet examines the tribal antecedents of an incompetent shaykh who traces his lineage to various prestigious forebears— Wāʾil, ʿAmr, and ʿĀmir, the ancestors of ruling clans in Sudayr and elsewhere. He discovers that the shaykh belongs to none of them, but rather hails from a “mongrel race” of outsiders. This hijāʾ, an ad hominem attack in poetry, ends with a blow that finishes the shaykh off: his forefather was a butcher, a trade held in contempt by the Bedouin and, as Ḥmēdān reveals, by the sedentary tribal population of Najd as well (poem 11).

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Again, Ḥmēdān balances these views with a recognition of the importance of lineage in tribal society. He acknowledges that those who start out in life as heirs to the achievements of their forefathers are at an advantage. He also states his faith in eugenics (§11.31)61—a very common sentiment in Bedouin and other Najdī social groups. But in principle the poet subscribes to an egalitarian ethos, for in certain respects all people are equal: “Chivalry and virtue do not depend on inherited position. / We all descend from Noah, common ancestor: nobles, slaves, and lowly folks without pedigree” (§§12.2–3). And yet, “Though all people stem from a single tree, their characters differ, as ordained by the Lord” (§12.4). Many slaves, for instance, surpass noblemen in virtue (§12.23). He scoffs at the notion that having forefathers who ruled is a precondition for becoming a shaykh: “If your ancestors and father were not rulers, then you cannot be praised? How ridiculous!” (§16.6). On the other hand, Ḥmēdān cannot escape the belief, prevalent in Najd, that lineage and character are closely intertwined. When it suits him, he even makes use of it for the purpose of ridiculing an opponent, as with the shaykh who is pilloried as descended from a butcher: “A man’s roots make for good or bad, as the quality of grain is determined by the seed” (§11.31). This principle that quality is inherited is equally applied to women. His words of advice, “Before taking a wife, check her mother’s ancestors,” (§30.16) refer to personal conduct but are informed by a value of the importance of parentage: it is generally understood, for instance, that the mother’s father exerts the strongest influence on children’s characters. Similarly, in his assessment of wealth the poet vacillates between his egalitarian instincts and social reality. In accordance with the traditional view, the rich merchant is asked what benefit he will derive from his gold when he dies. Heirs, who may come from afar and may even be virtually unknown to him, will reap the fruit of his efforts, while he faces his Lord with empty hands. Money also tends to lift otherwise unworthy men to a high rank, while lack of money robs the virtuous and noble of their dignity. It distorts the natural hierarchy and promotes falsehood at the expense of truth: “Wealth covers your back like a fur coat, and hides sores and blisters from view; / It has the power to make plain women pretty, and make up for some men’s defects” (§§4.16–17). On the other hand, without financial means one cannot hope to live a dignified life, especially when one gets on in years.62 “His prestige equals his worldly wealth” (§20.37) and “But were he a man of substance, his every word would

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be obeyed: all are at his beck and call with food and drink. / As soon as a man’s wherewithal dries up, he is shunned” (§§30.3–4). Ḥmēdān’s attachment to his palm trees is similar to the value a Bedouin places in his herd of camels. In both cases affection springs from an innate beauty, but also from a deep awareness of the insurance it offers for hard times: “You’re best served by deep-rooted date palms when years of disaster bear down on you: / In an idyllic palm garden giving restful midday shade, where you can listen to the soothing coo of the doves. / Husband your goods and gladden your children: great will be your gain as harvest comes” (§§26.19–21). Like the merchant, the peasant and the Bedouin will face their Lord alone and naked. But these groves and herds, it is assumed, represent “good” value in and of themselves,63 unlike the suspect gleam of gold that can be traded for less-respectable ware and used for evil purposes. Ḥmēdān, in spite of his criticisms, is a spokesman for traditional Najdī values. That may explain his undiminished popularity, together with the appeal of his stylistic innovativeness; the raw directness of everyday language; the theatricality the poet endows his personal and domestic life with; and the narrative quality of his poems that present a harsh—but, in the view of Saudi critics, on the whole not unflattering—image of the political and social realities in Najd of his day. And as today’s store of Najdī proverbs and sayings demonstrates, that era remains in many respects the bedrock of current Najdī mentality. Najdī Proverbs and Sayings in the Poetry of Ḥmēdān The two major collections of Najdī proverbs and sayings have mined Ḥmēdān’s work.64 The items may consist of an entire verse, a hemistich, or a few words lifted from a verse. More often, items may partly overlap with maxims in his poetry or express the same meaning in somewhat different words. If we were to filter these materials with such a coarse sieve, we would arrive at a total of about 350 items in these collections that can be related to verses by Ḥmēdān. Though the actual number is much lower because many are overlaps, Ḥmēdān’s presence in these collections is considerable. Conversely, these elements, derived from habits of thought, from culture, and from the economic and political environment, have been cemented into the structure of Ḥmēdān’s oeuvre. There is hardly a poem by Ḥmēdān without such items. If one takes a wideangled approach like this, there are thirteen poems with an average of one or more references to proverbs and sayings for every two verses. The highest ratio is attained, as one might expect, in one of the “wisdom poems” in mutadārik

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meter: fifty-one items in as many verses that correspond to items in the collections.65 These are clustered around popular motifs, such as the difference money makes to the esteem in which an old man is held; the shame of avarice and greed, such as the refusal to feed someone who breaks a self-imposed fast or who refuses to freely contribute some urine as a treatment for wounds; the futility of unrealistic expectations, such as sounding the alarm in a graveyard or the illusion that a hermit in a cave will be left alone;66 the advantages of a preemptive attack on an enemy; the foolishness of building on the edge of a sandy cliff; the emptiness of boasting, such as the boasts made over the coffee cups by knights who out in the field take fright at the flight of a little bird; and, an especially popular sentiment, that caution is of little avail against the arrows of fate. Similarly, another poem in mutadārik features the popular maxim that one should not marry before knowing the mother of the prospective bride. Much of what otherwise would have remained obscure in Ḥmēdān’s poetry is explained by reference to these two collections. They also shed light on some of his choices in making a point. For instance, the “false” prophets Sajāḥ and Musaylimah feature in Najdī proverbs and in other Nabaṭī poetry as examples of a deceptive attraction that leads one astray.67 This demonstrates that knowledge of this sort does not presuppose literacy on the part of the poet. From the verses that entered these collections one may gain an impression of elements in the poetry that proved especially attractive to popular attention. On the subject of how the treatment of old men depends on their financial situation, the one that attained proverbial status is: “‘At your command,’ some say to one man. ‘What do you want?’ they growl at another” (§5.7).68 In a verse on the same motif, the second hemistich is identical to the popular saying, while the first hemistich provides the meaning: “But if your pockets are empty you’ll suffer humiliation: you will hear, ‘Such a demanding old man’” (§16.4).69 And on the subject of how important it is to have resources: “For broken bones dirhams are the best cure” (§26.29)—a proverb also found in Snouck Hurgronje’s collection of Meccan proverbs.70 Or take the expression of the sentiment that one has had one’s fill of something: “I have packed up my equipment at the well: let someone else take my job, if he feels like it” (§5.15).71 And somewhat related, the advice: “When your children have grown up, it is best to keep to yourself,” (§9.8) which also made it into the collections of proverbs.72 In another proverb a sarcastic quaintness of expression turns some verses into folksy wisdom: “Like boiling hoes to produce broth, milking billy goats

xxix

Introduction

instead of camel udders” (§7.2).73 The hemistichs, each separate, entered the sphere of popular metaphor to express the utter uselessness of certain actions. For the same reason the following verse achieved proverbial status in its entirety: “If a dumb ox comes asking for your daughter’s hand, give him a kick and say, ‘Shoo!’” (§23.1).74 We can also measure Ḥmēdān’s status as a poet of war and peace from the frequency of connections with the proverb collections. At the heart of opinions on the subject of war and peace is the saying: “The power to rule is not acquired through pen and paper,” or in the words of Ḥmēdān: “Lands are not given away by a judge’s pen” (§28.16).75 “Do not think that going to war is like eating a lovely dish of buttered paste” is the saying that sums up the dangers of starting war without proper preparation.76 This sobering lesson is further captured in the saying, “There can be no peace before graves are sprinkled with corpses.” 77 Ḥmēdān’s practical advice has proved more popular: “Retaliate at once and settle the score” (§16.13).78 Significantly, one of Ḥmēdān’s most quoted sayings pours scorn on claims to preeminence because of birth (§§4.21–22).79 The popularity of the notion that rule should be based on merit can be gauged from the many references to the expression “eat and let eat,” and its variations, as in the verse: “The ruler eats and provides nourishment, protects his subjects from want and fear” (§27.3).80 The following expression on the theme of protection turns a positive into its opposite: “A black dog that feeds but does not guard” (§27.5).81 Pithy sayings in words that are slightly rough around the edges and that provoke an element of mischievous curiosity are much in vogue. On the subject of power, for instance, take the first hemistich of the verse: “Prosperity sparkles like a heady wine, safe in the hands of a privileged few” (§24.1).82 Again, the second hemistich, which is not part of the saying, expresses a condition that gives it an elitist interpretation. This is in line with Ḥmēdān’s conviction that the opinions of the great majority of people (in his view, the riffraff ) are of no account and could even be dangerous to the community and the conduct of its affairs. Though his verses seem to enjoy the favor of this “riffraff,” he does not pull his punches when he states whom his advice is meant for: “Don’t pin your hopes on the views of the vulgar herd” (§22.41). A ruler who ignores his counsels is denigrated as a “mini-shaykh” and is snubbed in turn: “Giving advice to men like this is like pouring water on barren soil” (§24.7).83 This advice on how to deal with advice itself achieved proverbial status.

xxx

Introduction

Even in his capacity as a self-avowed scandalmonger, Ḥmēdān’s words reverberate through the collections: “Giving judicious counsel, exposing scandals” carries the opposite meaning in the maxim: “If you do not give advice you won’t be pelted with mud” (§26.3).84 If this maxim was current in Ḥmēdān’s time, he may have wished to display his audacity by turning it around like this. In the collections one also finds many examples of two or more nouns in a construct state, or otherwise closely linked, that provide a concise characterization and are used as a figure of speech in conversation. These are sometimes cross-referenced to Ḥmēdān’s poetry. Examples are: “They flail as if shaking locusts from a boxthorn” (daggat ʿōshaz al-jarrādah, §10.2); “Like sagebrush his roots are easily plucked,” i.e., of someone who is of no account (maglaʿ shīḥtin, §14.23); “Of no more use than broken handles on a bucket,” i.e., ineffectual men who are a burden on others (kasr al-ʿarāgī; §12.28); “an ox without a halter,” a blunderer who creates havoc if not stopped (§10.3); “the apparition of a specter,” i.e., an unwelcome sight, such as the sight of an approaching guest for a miser (shōf shīfah; §25.6); “a cat could despoil him of his cavalry coat,” i.e., of a swagger that conceals cowardice (§17.4).85 Expressions that employ the figure of speech of itbāʿ, an intensification achieved by repetition with a change of initial consonant, belong in a category of their own. A number of these in Ḥmēdān’s poetry have also been included in the collections of proverbs: yiḥiṭṭ w-yighiṭṭ “pay up or shut up”(§1.4); yʿēzil wi-ybēzil “to squander someone’s goods” (§17.11); anṭal min ʿAnṭal “more thievish than

ʿAnṭal” (§13.6); yashkhir w-yankhir “breathing hard and grunting” (§17.21).86 Imprecations, curses, expletives, threats, oaths, prayers, and a wide variety of interjections are integral to the poet’s style. They lend it an everyday, conversational color, and enhance its verisimilitude. Some of these are found in the collections of Najdī proverbs and sayings; for instance, the curse “May God prevent that sort from multiplying” is extended by the poet over two hemistichs: “How I wish that her sort were eradicated from decent society, but if not, I wish there were fewer of them” (§19.42).87 Nabaṭī Poetry This poetry used to be, and still is, very much in vogue in the Najd, the central part of the Arabian peninsula. The earliest examples of Nabaṭī poetry may go as far back as the thirteenth century.88 By the time the Jabrid dynasty of the Banū

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Introduction

Khālid tribe became established in eastern Arabia in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, Nabaṭī poetry is already well attested.89 In the oral culture of the Arabian interior Nabaṭī poetry maintained its status as the principal medium of artistic exchange among townspeople and peasants, like Ḥmēdān, and the Bedouin, commoners as well as tribal grandees—including poets and aficionados who were literate and familiar with classical Arabic poetry. For this reason, in addition to its artistry as a subject of literary interest, it is an important source for our knowledge and understanding of culture and history in Najd. There are, furthermore, remarkable correspondences between its prosody, images, similes, vocabulary, and phrasing and those of early Arabic poetry that originated in, or was inspired by, the Arabian desert environment. The language of Nabaṭī poetry is based on the Najdī vernacular, but it has an idiom and repertoire of its own, with many “archaic” features reminiscent of the vocabulary and turns of phrase of early Arabic poetry (§22.34).90 For instance, the poet’s exhortations to his messenger to mount an ʿēdihiyyah (classical Arabic ʿīdiyyah), a hardy camel mount, would sooner be understood by the great Umayyad poets Jarīr and al-Farazdaq than by today’s city dwellers in Riyadh or Cairo.91 A study of early specimens of Nabaṭī poetry show that it has gone through several stages of development.92 By the time Ḥmēdān composed his work it was well established as a literary form. There is a substantial enough collection of poems by his immediate predecessors to provide us with a yardstick to measure to what extent Ḥmēdān forged his own distinctive style.93 Geographical isolation is usually given as an explanation for this thematic, stylistic, and linguistic continuity. The economy, natural conditions, tribal customs, and spirit of the vast Arabian interior (the wellspring of the Arabic language and its earliest poetry) showed little change or development until the end of the nineteenth century. Therefore, in addition to its intrinsic worth, this poetry offers an interesting comparison with early classical poetry that may further our understanding of it, and vice versa. In more recent times, Nabaṭī poetry has come under incessant fire from those quarters that for religious, political, and educational reasons regard it as a relic from a backward and ignorant past. Though this opinion is alive and well, it has failed to have any appreciable influence on the popularity of this mostly vernacular, freewheeling poetry. Most of these critics are unaware that Nabaṭī poetry has a long and respectable literary pedigree, and that without it society would be immeasurably poorer, cut off from the richest source for knowledge

xxxii

Introduction

of its history and cultural roots. Perhaps this does not cause them any concern. Fortunately, most people do care. If we are to judge by what is on offer in bookfairs in the region, in the media, and on social media, interest in Nabaṭī poetry has only increased. This is as might have been expected from increased access to what in itself was the true expression of popular culture, and not just for the uneducated but, even more so, for the leading classes of that tribal society to which Ḥmēdān undoubtedly belonged, though he occasionally liked to present himself as a peasant who earned his living by the sweat of his brow and was frequently hard up. Language, Meter, and Rhyme of This Edition As in classical Arabic poetry, each Nabaṭī verse consists of two hemistichs. On paper the poem therefore looks like two vertical columns placed side by side. Even before Ḥmēdān came on the scene, poems with a separate rhyme at the ends of each of the two columns appeared. Prior to that, a poem had a single rhyme at the end of each verse, as in classical Arabic poetry. As early as the nineteenth century, this additional rhyme requirement was being generally respected by the poets in the Nabaṭī style. That Ḥmēdān’s poems are without exception composed with a single rhyme at the end of each verse confirms the relatively early date of the work—had we not known it already from other sources. Again as with classical poetry, Ḥmēdān’s poems have quantitative meters of a fixed length that in principle is the same in each hemistich. There are patterned variations, however, mostly at the end of the line. A distinctive feature is the absence of a succession of two short syllables, though interestingly it is possible to scan some very early specimens with such a succession.94 The reason for this is that this possibility is excluded in the vernacular by elision of one of the short vowels. Another distinctive feature is the creation of long syllables of the consonant–short vowel–consonant pattern, often by connecting the last consonant of a word with the first consonant of the next word and, if necessary, a shortening of the long vowel between both consonants. In scansion of Nabaṭī poetry, word borders as they would appear in Arabic orthography or transliteration must be disregarded. This is entirely in keeping with the performance-based, predominantly oral culture of the time, part of the Arabian majlis culture (somewhat similar to the style of the French salon, but with observance of the Najdī gender segregation). In these sessions poems would be recited from memory.

xxxiii

Introduction

Like so much in Ḥmēdān’s poetry, his choice of meters is unusual. Out of the thirty-four poems (some of which are more in the nature of short pieces of verse), fifteen are in a meter that does not exist in classical Arabic poetry: a succession of eight long syllables with no short syllables.95 Thus the meter produces a steady drumbeat that may convey a deadpan quality: like someone who excels at keeping a straight face while telling a joke, Ḥmēdān dishes up outrageous content in a meter that does not bat an eye. The fifteen poems in this meter ostensibly feature scenes from daily life.96 Some of it comes close to peasant burlesque. In others the ordinary turns grotesque and humdrum characters go through bizarre metamorphoses. The satire is not targeted at anyone in particular, but rather at the human condition in a Najdī town. In two other poems in this meter we encounter the poet’s pleasureloving son Māni ʿ in the company of his gluttonous and sensual belle, Sarāh (derisively called by the diminutive Swērah in the Arabic text).97 After an introduction that bristles with barbed sarcasm, the poems depict explicit scenes of sexual rough-and-tumble so vociferous and passionate that they wake up the entire town (poems 17 and 18). In some poems in this long meter the rhyme foot is refined by the introduction of one short syllable in the penultimate position (poems 5, 15, 16, 24, and 27). This produces a recurring snickering sound that reinforces the poem’s contemptuous, gleefully malicious thrust. One poem, with the extraordinary rhyme ending on a double f, -aff, opens with the unsettling line: “If a dumb ox comes asking for your daughter’s hand, give him a kick and say, ‘Shoo!’” (§23.1). The ox, in the symbolism of the extensive bestiary employed in Ḥmēdān’s poetry, stands for an utterly dull fellow who employs violence against anything standing in his way.

xxxiv

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Sanām

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Kuwait

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Riyadh

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Northeastern Arabia

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Region, mountain

Design: Marcel Kurpershoek Cartography: Martin Grosch

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Riyadh

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Design: Marcel Kurpershoek Cartography: Martin Grosch

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Sandy desert

Salt pond

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Settlement

Central Najd around Sudayr and al-Washm

Note on the Text

The text of this edition is based on ten manuscripts and three printed editions.98 The first edition of Ḥmēdān al-Shwēʿir’s poetry is found in the first volume of Khālid al-Faraj’s Dīwān al-Nabaṭ, published in 1952 in Damascus. It presents the work of four major Najdī poets in the language of Nabaṭī poetry. It opens with the work of Ḥmēdān al-Shwēʿir, followed by that of the poets Mḥammad ibn Li ʿbūn, ʿAbdallah ibn Ribī ʿah, and ʿAbdallah ibn Sbayyil. The edition by al-Fawzān, who originates from Ḥmēdān’s town of al-Qaṣab, is also a critical study of his work. The edition by al-Ḥamdān, who was born in the nearby town of al-Bīr, adds some new fragments of verse, based on oral sources and manuscripts. In all of these editions, and in particular the last one mentioned, lines or words from Ḥmēdān’s verses are replaced by ellipses. The reasons given are that they contain sensitive materials: obscenity, or unflattering comments on some towns and clans. The manuscripts do not show such inhibitions. The greatest number of poems by the earliest known Nabaṭī poet, Abū Ḥamzah al-ʿĀmirī, are found in the manuscript named after its owner, ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAbd al-Muḥsin al-Dhukayr.99 Many of the pages are ink-blotted; it is said that the manuscript fell in water. The eleven pages devoted to nine poems by Ḥmēdān did not escape this fate, but are in relatively good shape. The date of the manuscript is unknown.100 The oldest known manuscripts with Nabaṭī poetry that can be dated with reasonable certainty are the two acquired by the French traveler Charles Huber, who visited the Rashīdī court in the northern Arabian capital Ḥāʾil in 1878 and 1883–84. It is not known where and from whom he obtained these manuscripts.101 But when he purchased them they cannot have been very old. They feature the work of the wealthy and learned poet Muḥammad al-ʿAbd Allāh al-Qāḍī from the town of ʿUnayzah in al-Qaṣīm province, who died in 1868, a little more than ten years before Huber’s visit. The poet ʿUbayd ibn Rashīd, nicknamed “the Wolf,” who together with his brother ʿAbd Allāh established the Ibn Rashīd dynasty in Ḥāʾil that, for much of the nineteenth century, eclipsed the Saʿūd princes in Riyadh, died in 1865. Generally speaking, the great majority of poets in the

xxxvii

Note on the Text

Huber manuscripts are well-known names that recur in later published collections of Nabaṭī poetry. The oldest poems in the Huber manuscripts, such as the verses of Quṭn ibn Quṭn, al-ʿUlaymī, and Barakāt al-Sharīf, date from the seventeenth century.102 It is highly unlikely that these poems survived over a period of centuries solely through oral transmission. Three of the longer poems by Ḥmēdān are included in the Huber manuscripts.103 Most of the Saudi collections of Nabaṭī poetry are based on two voluminous manuscripts. The great majority of Ḥmēdān’s poems are among those collected in the MS written by ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Ibrāhīm al-Rabī ʿī from

ʿUnayzah (d. 1981/2 at the age of ninety-three). The other is Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Yaḥyā from the Sudayr region (d. 1993/4 at the age of ninety). The latter has not included poems by Ḥmēdān. But it is interesting to note that he obtained most of the poems from the poet Ibrāhīm ibn Juʿaythin (1844 or 1845–1943), who was known for his prodigious memory.104 Al-Rabī ʿī used to accompany his blind father, who knew many poems by heart and was the rāwi, transmitter, of the work of the poet Muḥammad al-ʿAbd Allāh al-Qāḍī.105 Al-Rabī ʿī and Ibn Yaḥyā were in correspondence and probably shared information on their common passion. It is clear, therefore, that the written tradition of manuscripts was closely intertwined with the prevalent oral milieu in which Nabaṭī poetry flourished. And it was not a one-way street. Poems that were recorded in manuscripts would return to oral circulation when they were recited and again committed to memory.106 This oral culture did not achieve the status of officially sanctioned cultural expression because that would conflict with the religious standard—though this did not stop some men of religion from indulging in it. This all helps to explain the sorry state of many of these manuscripts, the undoubted loss of many more, the uncertainty surrounding their origins, and their relative neglect until recently.107 It comes, therefore, as no surprise that the quality of the writing of many manuscripts reflects the semi-literacy of the scribes. Mistakes made by earlier copyists were likely to have been uncritically repeated. On the other hand, those who were more familiar with the living culture and formal requirements of meter and rhyme would have been tempted to add “corrections” as they saw fit. The older the poetry, like the work of Ḥmēdān, the greater the likelihood of distortions.108 Though the writing of many manuscripts leaves much to be desired, the task of

xxxviii

Note on the Text

establishing the text was facilitated by the occurrence of most poems in more than one manuscript and the existence of the published versions. While it is quite possible to write Nabaṭī poetry by using essentially the same system of orthography as the one used for classical Arabic, scribes with limited knowledge of literary Arabic often wrote the poems in an improvised, more or less phonetic manner. For instance, tanwīn is commonly written by adding a nūn to the end of a word. If a word according to the vernacular pronunciation begins with a consonant cluster, due to the elision of the initial short vowel, the vocalic onset is written as a prefixed alif instead of sukūn on the first consonant, which may lead to misunderstandings.109 For example, in one manuscript the first hemistich of a verse is written ‫ن‬ ‫ن � ن‬ �‫�و ن‬, pronounced as w-in jāk mn ad-dinya ṭaraf, where the correct ��‫��ا ك ا �م ن��د ��ي��ا ��طر‬ ‫� َ� ن‬ ‫ن‬ form would be ��‫� او � ن��ا ك �م ن� ا �ل�� ند��ي��ا ��ط َر‬. According to the metrical scheme of long

syllables, it is scanned: win-jā-kim-nad-din-yā-ṭa-raf. One way to dissolve consonant clusters for metrical purposes is to connect a final consonant with an ini-

tial consonant and add a short vowel, which in the above example is the vocalic onset, expressed by the alif before the mīm.110

I have not included all the poems and verses found in these sources. My reasons for this vary from mistakes in attribution to what I perceive to be an incompatibility of language and style with the body of Ḥmēdān’s work. Verses that are incomprehensible, because the context is missing or because they have been transposed from another poem in the same meter and rhyme, have also been left out. Some short pieces, mostly based on oral sources, seemed of dubious authenticity and little significance. Yet, despite numerous variant readings in the manuscripts and in the published editions, the overall impression I have of the material is of a surprising degree of conformity among the texts. When choices had to be made, I considered factors such as what was contained in the other texts, the effect a reading would have on the meaning, and conformity to the meter. There are some differences in the order of sections of verse and individual verses, particularly in two of the long poems in ṭawīl meter on the subject of the poet’s self-imposed exile from his hometown of al-Qaṣab to Uthayfiyah, and the poem in which he encourages Uthayfiyah to rise up against its overlords in the town of Tharmadāʾ (poems 22 and 28). The political issues and ruling personalities mentioned in these poems are imperfectly known from the chronicles. It is also quite likely, especially in the case of complex and long

xxxix

Note on the Text

poems, that parts of the original may have dropped out in the course of transmission. In the second half of these poems, where the poet switches from advice on how to deal with the vicissitudes of life to the political situation, variations in the order of verses from one source to the next may result in significant discrepancies in meaning. The chosen verse order is the one I deemed most satisfactory in the context of the poem and Ḥmēdān’s work as a whole.

xl

Notes to the Introduction

1

In transliteration from classical Arabic his name is written as Ḥumaydān al-Shuwayʿir. Because his work is in the idiom of the Najdī vernacular poetry, called Nabaṭī poetry, his name and other names mentioned in this poetry are transliterated in a way that more closely reflects the pronunciation of what is predominantly oral poetry (it is recited on social occasions). This transliteration is the one accepted among specialists in the field of Najdī linguistics and Nabaṭī poetry (see Bibliography). In the introduction, names of towns and other geographical features mentioned in his poetry will be transliterated according to their classical Arabic spelling in order to facilitate identification. Occasionally, where appropriate, names and words that occur in the vernacular text may be given in the introduction and the endnotes (e.g., if they occur in book titles or as official family names) according to the classical Arabic transliteration. For more information see the note on the edition at the end of the introduction. Poems and verses will be referred to by the number given them in this edition. A full transliteration of the poems will appear as part of the web-based materials for this edition on the Library of Arabic Literature’s web site at www.libraryofarabicliterature.org. This will allow the reader to get a more precise idea of how this vernacular poetry is pronounced. For instance, it is not possible in a script developed to represent classical Arabic to render features such as changes in diphthongs or the merging of the phonemes ẓ and ḍ.

2

In the oral tradition of Nabaṭī poetry in Najd, lines of verse are commonly simply referred to as “speech,” gōl (qawl in classical Arabic), also known, from the same verb, as gīl or even jīl in some places.

3

In his discussion of parallels between Ḥmēdān and the poet al-Ḥuṭayʾah (d. ca. ad 676– 77), Saad Sowayan mentions that Ḥmēdān may have followed al-Ḥuṭayʾah in his use of self-mockery. But he argues that Ḥmēdān must be seen in a different light because the general thrust of his sarcasm and invective is concerned with “weighty social and political issues” in which he champions the cause of “the downtrodden, poverty-stricken man who suffers from the despotism of rulers, the greed of traders, and the venality of judges,” whereas al-Ḥuṭayʾah’s self-derision was merely a device by which “he sought to forestall other poets’ vituperations against him,” Sowayan, al-Ṣaḥrāʾ al-ʿarabiyyah, 462–63. While Ḥmēdān’s poetry presents a coherent moral universe, unlike the work of

xli

Notes to the Introduction al-Ḥuṭayʾah, there are indeed striking similarities, starting with the diminutive form of their monikers. One may note, for instance, that both poets include in their self-mockery close family members—al-Ḥuṭayʾah expresses his loathing (baghḍāʾ ) for his mother, and Ḥmēdān addresses his wife in similar terms: Ibn Qutaybah, The Excellence of the Arabs, 34–37; al-Ḥuṭayʾah, Dīwān al-Ḥuṭayʾah bi-riwāyah wa-sharḥ ibn al-Sikkīt, 100–1; al-Jundī, al-Ḥuṭayʾah al-badawī al-muḥtarif, 72–73; §§1.9–11. Yet both poets are also depicted as hardworking family men and al-Ḥuṭayʾah receives praise for his concern for his daughters: al-Ḥuṭayʾah, Dīwān, 84. Al-Ḥuṭayʾah says that he is struck by the ugliness of his face: Dīwān, 133; al-Iṣfahānī, Kitāb al-Aghānī, 2, 163–64; al-Ḥuṭayʾah, Dīwān, 74. In a number of poems Ḥmēdān pictures himself as a stooped, feeble graybeard; and in folktales about him he is described as diminutive in stature. Both men traveled to Iraq to escape the effects of drought in Najd. Perhaps most remarkably, some of their verses show the same deadpan, tongue-in-cheek quality, as in al-Ḥuṭayʾah’s verse about an unwelcome guest: “He repeated his greetings and I told him, ‘Take it easy! Just greeting me once will do for you,’” and Ḥmēdān’s poems 5 and 8. Both poets have in common that their buffoonery in shorter pieces elicited the wonder of collectors and commentators—even more so than the “serious” poetry that makes up the major part of their dīwān (as noted by R. Blachère, Histoire de la littérature arabe, 2, 328). 4

The scholar who first noted this theatricality is Dr. Saad Sowayan in his pioneering study of the historical roots and development of Najdī poetry, and its relation to classical Arabic poetry, al-Shiʿr al-Nabaṭī, sulṭat al-naṣṣ wa-dhāʾiqat al-shaʿb (Nabaṭī Poetry, The Authority of the Text and Popular Taste), 487–88. In his discussion of Ḥmēdān’s predecessor, the poet Jabr ibn Sayyār, Sowayan notes: “It is like a theatre play in poetry invented by Jabr’s imagination, as we previously discussed with regard to his verse on his meeting with the beautiful girls bathing in a pond; a tragedy invented by Jabr in which he himself plays the character of the hero.” And: “Verses of wisdom with Jabr, and after him Ḥmēdān, feature standard characters and caricatured scenes taken from the social and political reality of their days.”

5

Both sources are of questionable value for biographical purposes. Some of the events alluded to in the poetry can be corroborated from Najdī chronicles, but often a considerable degree of ambiguity remains. For instance, if a ruler is referred to as Muḥammad this may refer to Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad or his grandfather Muḥammad. Similarly, mention of one of the many similar episodes in the perpetual warfare among Najdī towns may involve dates that are many years apart.

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Notes to the Introduction 6

The chronicles reflect the anti-Bedouin bias of al-Yamāmah’s townspeople, and in particular the class of ulema and others with a formal background in religion who wrote these chronicles—a bias fully shared by Ḥmēdān, as in §§30.17–20.

7

Al Juhany, Najd before the Salafi Movement, 148–49.

8

It is no coincidence that, for fear of losing their regional preeminence, these towns held out the longest in resisting the Saudi onslaught.

9

Cf. his verse “I hail from a people who trade in fire bush from the desert and digestive salts,” §18.2. In Najd salt and al-Qaṣab have become proverbial in the same way as the expression “bringing owls to Athens.” Three examples are: “Like presenting the people of al-Qaṣab with a gift of salt,” “cheaper than salt in al-Qaṣab,” and “no use trying to sell salt to the people of al-Qaṣab,” al-Juhaymān, al-Amthāl al-shaʿbiyyah fī qalb al-jazīrah al-ʿarabiyyah, 8, 22; 10, 22 and 314.

10

The town is now called Uthaythiyah.

11

Ibn Khamīs, Al-Muʿjam al-jūghrāfī li-l-bilād al-ʿarabiyyah al-suʿūdiyyah, muʿjam alYamāmah, 204.

12

Al Juhany, Najd, 106–7, 150; al-Fākhirī, al-Akhbār al-Najdiyyah, 100, “no one, be it in his lifetime or even afterward, came close to his stewardship, the extent of his realm, his might in men and arms, his properties and chattels.” Also, al-Bassām, Tuḥfat al-mushtāq fī akhbār Najd wa-l-Ḥijāz wa-l-ʿIrāq, 183; Ibn Khamīs, al-Muʿjam, 200; and Ibn Bishr,

ʿUnwān al-majd fī taʾrīkh Najd, 98. 13

If a Hijri year falls predominantly within one year of the Gregorian calendar, then only that year is mentioned. If a considerable number of months of the Hijri year falls within two years of the Gregorian calendar, the two years are mentioned and linked by a dash.

14

Al-Fākhirī, al-Akhbār al-Najdiyyah, 100; al-Bassām, Tuḥfat al-mushtāq, 184.

15

Al-Faraj, Dīwān al-Nabaṭ, 17.

16

Al Juhany, Najd, 56–59.

17

Al-Fākhirī, al-Akhbār al-Najdiyyah, 90–91, 96; al-Bassām, Tuḥfat al-mushtāq, 161, 170.

18

Al-Ḥamdān, Dīwān Ḥumaydān al-Shuwayʿir, 26.

19

Introduction of Ibn Khamīs to al-Ḥamdān, Dīwān Ḥumaydān, 40.

20

Al-Ḥamdān, Dīwān Ḥumaydān, 40. A single member of the family still bears the poet’s name: Ibrāhīm al-Shuwayʿir, ibid., 22.

21

Al-Ḥamdān, Dīwān Ḥumaydān, 40. Sowayan, al-Shiʿr al-Nabaṭī, 450.

22

Sowayan, al-Shiʿr al-Nabaṭī, 451.

23

Sowayan, al-Shiʿr al-Nabaṭī, 493. Maskūf means “covered”, i.e., the narrow market streets of the old town were covered to protect people from the sun.

24

Sowayan, al-Shiʿr al-Nabaṭī, 494.

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Notes to the Introduction 25

Sowayan, al-Shiʿr al-Nabaṭī, 568.

26

Sowayan, al-Shiʿr al-Nabaṭī, the chapter “Rumayzān wa-Jabr ibn Sayyār,” 449–96.

27

Sowayan, al-Shiʿr al-Nabaṭī, 403, 450.

28

Al-Fākhirī, al-Akhbār al-Najdiyyah, 74; al-Bassām, Tuḥfat al-Mushtāq, 130.

29

Al-Ḥamdān, Dīwān Ḥumaydān, 23–24.

30

I visited the area in October 2015.

31

Sowayan, al-Shiʿr al-Nabaṭī, 450.

32

This is the meter with the highest ratio of long syllables to short ones in this collection. See also introd., n. 41.

33

Jabr ibn Sayyār ridicules a self-important but fatuous chief in terms similar to those Ḥmēdān uses in poem 12.

34

A reference to Moses’s unintended killing of an Egyptian: Q Qaṣaṣ 28:15.

35

Sowayan, Nabaṭī Poetry, 169–79.

36

Julius Euting describes how in 1883 at the court of Ibn Rashīd in Ḥāʾil, al-Qasṭalānī’s life of the Prophet, which he had brought from Cairo, was read to the prince by the prayer leader, as well as al-Muʿallaqāt poems: Tagbuch einer Reise in Inner-Arabien, 2, 58.

37

The passage in question is Q Ṭā Hā 20:85–95.

38

Sowayan, Nabaṭī Poetry, 174, “These literate Nabaṭi poets (. . .) were imitated by illiterate poets and eventually became thoroughly assimilated into the Nabaṭi poetic tradition.”

39

It is also used by Jabr ibn Sayyār, whose work generally makes a somewhat more “literate” impression, as in the line, “Greetings, as many as the movements of a pen on paper, a new sheet with a full pot of ink to hand”: Sowayan, al-Shiʿr al-Nabaṭī, 459. Recent examples of this trope are found in Clive Holes and Abu Athera, The Nabaṭī Poetry of the United Arab Emirates, 57, 88.

40

Sowayan, al-Shiʿr al-Nabaṭī, 491.

41

This is a meter with a more balanced ratio of long and short syllables (two to one, in the variant used) than rajaz.

42

Rushaydān ibn Ghashshām, the brother of Rumayzān, the chief of al-Rawḍah, puts it succinctly in one of his verses: “It is best to begin one’s verses with wise counsel, words of advice for friends who need and deserve it”; and take Jabr ibn Sayyār’s formulation: “A letter came to me from my friend and advisor”: Sowayan, al-Shiʿr al-Nabaṭī, 430, 459.

43

Exactly the same elaborate conceit is used by his predecessor Jabr ibn Sayyār who complains of trouble getting to his feet, his need of a walking stick, and the low esteem he is held in in his household, even among his children: “like a shriveled waterskin discarded at a well:” Sowayan, al-Shiʿr al-Nabaṭī, 481–82. This scene is a descendant of a motif as old as Arabic literature itself. See, for instance, the comment by Nefeli Papoutsakis,

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Notes to the Introduction Desert Travel as a Form of Boasting, 27, about Ruʾ bah ibn al-ʿAjjāj: “Complaining about his wife’s rudeness to him as an old man, he remembers his former constant journeying in quest of sustenance.” 44

The attribution of the poem has been the subject of an inconclusive debate, and as the hamzah no longer occurs in spoken Najdī, is construed as a possible indication of Ḥmēdān’s literacy, see al-Fawzān, Raʾ īs al-taḥrīr Ḥumaydān al-Shuwayʿir, 210–48.

45

E.g., the poet and chief of al-Rawḍah, Rumayzān ibn Ghashshām, compares the end of his tryst with his beloved, i.e., the time when the world smiled on him, with the advent of “the evil old hag with eyes like red-hot glowing embers,” “the devil riding with her on the saddle,” determined “to cut the cords binding the lovers with her treachery”: Sowayan, al-Shiʿr al-Nabaṭī, 461–62.

46

See Ḥmēdān’s new twist to the clichéd motif of the ṭāmiḥ, a woman who is dissatisfied with her husband, in §1.11. It has the same meaning in classical poetry, e.g., al-Ḥuṭayʾah’s verse about a woman who was on the lookout for another man and loathed (abghaḍat) her husband so much that she poisoned him (al-Iṣfahānī, al-Aghānī, 2, 172). In other Najdī poetry, this is normally used as part of the boast about a man’s attractiveness: any woman of social ambition, a ṭāmiḥ, dreams of marrying him. But Ḥmēdān does the opposite: if his wife wishes for a better match than him, an old poet of little means, then he is resigned to such a fate.

47

E.g., the section on “women and marriage” in al-ʿUbūdī, al-Amthāl al-ʿāmmiyyah fī Najd, 5, 2025–29. This clearly reflected the way in which men talked about their wives at a postmenapausal age and once they had become emotionally disengaged from them, as illustrated for instance by the casual remark of a tribal shaykh in Tabūk reported by Charles Huber: “One of the first things he told me was that he had taken a new wife, a young one, because the old one had become completely useless; he himself was aged somewhere between fifty-five and sixty,” Journal d’un voyage en Arabie, 1883–1884, 468.

48

Similar in meaning is the maxim “Old women should be hung by a rope from the Pleiades and then let loose and fall down”: al-Juhaymān, al-Amthāl, 2, 200. It is explained as a warning against danger, such as slander and betrayal of secrets.

49

See also introd., nn. 41 and 65. The Index of Poems gives the meter for each poem immediately after the poem’s number and the first line in Arabic.

50

See Sowayan, al-Shiʿr al-Nabaṭī, 481, for a poem in the same meter by Jabr ibn Sayyār on the theme of old age with complaints, images, and vocabulary similar to that in the preludes to Ḥmēdān’s poems in this meter.

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Notes to the Introduction 51

Jabr ibn Sayyār used similar hyperbole in describing his halcyon days, as in the line, “Fighting in close combat for my share of booty, or plunging into the sea of passion with my lovemates”: Sowayan, al-Shiʿr al-Nabaṭī, 490.

52

Ḥmēdān’s poem of apologies to Ibn Muʿammar has been compared to the pre-Islamic poet al-Nābighah al-Dhubyānī’s poem of excuses to al-Nuʿmān ibn Mundhir, the king of al-Ḥīrah. See n. 91 to §21.52.

53

The abandoned camp scene is as old as Arabic poetry itself. An example is the elaborate version of it in one of the pre-Islamic “Suspended Odes” (al-Muʿallaqāt, prize-winning odes that supposedly were hung in Mecca’s sanctuary) by the poet Labīd ibn Rabī ʿah. Its first line is: “There is almost no trace of those abodes, either halting-places or longer encampments, at Minā, and Ghawl and Rijām have become desolate,” Alan Jones, Early Arabic Poetry, Select Poems, 455. Its popularity has continued in modern times, as most famously exemplified by the Egyptian singer Umm Kulthūmʾs rendition of Ibrāhīm Nājī’s poem “al-Aṭlāl” (“Traces of an Abandoned Camp”).

54

Al-Bassām, Tuḥfat al-Mushtāq, 159, without mention of the year in which this happened.

55

When Jabr ibn Sayyār handed over the stewardship of al-Qaṣab’s affairs to his relative, Ibrāhīm ibn Rāshid ibn Māni ʿ, he composed a poem with advice that reflects this political ethos: “If you send a message to your adversary, use spearheads as your pens; / For ink use shields and thoroughbred horses, with eagle-like knights in the saddle. / Then trick and deceive, even as you give solemn promises, for cunning is the surest way with the enemy,” al-Shiʿr al-Nabaṭī, 452–53.

56

Again, a trope as old as Arabic literature itself. For instance, al-Aʿshā tries to assuage his daughter’s fears for his life because of his fearlessness as a desert traveler, “the inevitability of death being an excuse for plunging into dangers,” Papoutaskis, Desert Travel, 33. So too, al-Mutanabbī’s verse, wa-muttaqin wa-l-sihāmu mursalatun / yaḥīdu ʿan ḥābiḍin ilā ṣārid, “Many, while trying to escape from an arrow, run from a failed shot into a hit.”

57

Al Juhany, Najd, 95.

58

Al Juhany, Najd, 71: “The customary means by which the right of priority was determined was force.”

59

The saying is “rule does not come by way of ink and paper,” al-Juhaymān, al-Amthāl, 2, 301. This line occurs in exactly these words in a poem by ʿAbd Allāh ibn Rashīd, a nineteenth-century ruler in the northern city of Ḥāʾil, Musil, The Manners and Customs of the Rwala Bedouins, 302–3. The second hemistich is, “but through the sword and not committing sin.” But as Ḥmēdān’s line shows, the saying as such was current centuries earlier.

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Notes to the Introduction 60

The poet Rumayzān ibn Ghashshām, himself an eminent political leader, states that one’s inheritance and one’s personal achievements are intertwined: “Whoever dies without passing on his traits to his offspring, is like a fire starved of fuel”: Sowayan, al-Shiʿr al-Nabaṭī, 474.

61

Al-Juhaymān, al-Amthāl, 6, 233–34, “no head and no roots.”

62

Jabr ibn Sayyār expresses the same notion: “a man without wherewithal is not held in

63

Cf. §§26.19 and 26.22; also Kurpershoek, Oral Poetry and Narratives from Central

respect”: Sowayan, al-Shiʿr al-Nabaṭī, 466. Arabia, 4, A Saudi Tribal History, “Camels & Palm Trees as Symbols of Bedouin Life in the Haḍb and Cultivators in the Wādi,” 134 ff., and Sowayan, al-Ṣaḥrāʾ al-ʿarabiyyah, p. 373, “Palm garden and camel herd.” 64

Al-Juhaymān, al-Amthāl, and al-ʿUbūdī, al-Amthāl.

65

The exception is poem 26, a short piece in the al-mumtadd meter with an average of two items per verse.

66

One of the more common sayings, it also occurs in a poem by Jabr ibn Sayyār, “I shout and cry but don’t see any succor, as if I had sounded the alarm in a graveyard”: Sowayan, al-Shiʿr al-Nabaṭī, 494.

67

See “The deceit of Sajāḥ’s prophesying,” in a poem by Jabr ibn Sayyār: Sowayan, al-Shiʿr al-Nabaṭī, 487.

68

Al-Juhaymān, al-Amthāl, 1, 63–64.

69

Al-Juhaymān, al-Amthāl, 6, 113–14; 9, 293; 10, 216–17, “an old man is of no use”; al-ʿUbūdī, al-Amthāl, 664.

70

Snouck Hurgronje, Mekkanische Sprichwörter und Redensarten, 102–3. Al-Juhaymān, al-Amthāl, 3, 83; al-ʿUbūdī, al-Amthāl, 506.

71

Al-Juhaymān, al-Amthāl, 4, 263–64.

72

Al-Juhaymān, al-Amthāl, 2, 98–99.

73

Al-Juhaymān, al-Amthāl, 1, 220–22; al-ʿUbūdī, al-Amthāl, 1476–77.

74

Al-Juhaymān, al-Amthāl, 1, 380–81; 6, 227.

75

Al-Juhaymān, al-Amthāl, 2, 301.

76

Al-Juhaymān, al-Amthāl, 1, 231.

77

Cf. §§24.20 and 29.13. Al-Juhaymān, al-Amthāl, 7, 194.

78

Al-Juhaymān, al-Amthāl, 1, 391; 5, 295, 322; al-ʿUbūdī, al-Amthāl, 200.

79

Al-Juhaymān, al-Amthāl, 7, 136; 8, 330; 10, 336; al-ʿUbūdī, al-Amthāl, 1518–19.

80

Al-Juhaymān, al-Amthāl, 6, 133–34; 8, 138; 6, 52–53, 171–72.

81

Al-Juhaymān, al-Amthāl, 3, 256; al-ʿUbūdī, al-Amthāl, 632, 751.

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Notes to the Introduction 82

In one version, “rule” is substituted for “prosperity”; al-Juhaymān, al-Amthāl, 2, 301–2; 8, 331–32; 10, 360; al-ʿUbūdī, al-Amthāl, 1519–20. Intoxication is often used in this poetry as a metaphor for being lovelorn or frenzied, as in Jabr al-Sayyār’s line: “When I finally stole a kiss from her, I felt as if I had been struck down by a strong, old wine (mudāmāt)”: Sowayan, al-Shiʿr al-Nabaṭī, 491.

83

Al-Juhaymān, al-Amthāl, 6, 206; 7, 328.

84

Al-Juhaymān, al-Amthāl, 3, 49–50.

85

Al-Juhaymān, al-Amthāl, 2, 186. Al-ʿUbūdī, al-Amthāl, 1379. Al-Juhaymān, al-Amthāl, 3, 94; 6, 41; al-ʿUbūdī, al-Amthāl, 1015. Al-Juhaymān, al-Amthāl, 2, 158; 5, 89–90. Al-Juhaymān, al-Amthāl, 4, 76–77; al-ʿUbūdī, al-Amthāl, 697. Al-Juhaymān, al-Amthāl, 2, 77–78; al-ʿUbūdī, al-Amthāl, 1300–1.

86

Al-Juhaymān, al-Amthāl, 9, 218; al-ʿUbūdī, al-Amthāl, 1693. Al-Juhaymān, al-Amthāl, 9, 279; al-ʿUbūdī, al-Amthāl, 1754. Al-Juhaymān, al-Amthāl, 1, 395. Al-ʿUbūdī, al-Amthāl, 1730.

87

Al-Juhaymān, al-Amthāl, 5, 81–82.

88

Abū Ḥamzah al-ʿĀmirī, one of the earliest known representatives of the Nabaṭī tradition, eulogizes the sharif of Medina, Kubaysh ibn Manṣūr ibn Jammāz, who was killed in 1327/8, Sowayan, al-Shiʿr al-Nabaṭī, 255–83.

89

In the MS written by Sulaymān ibn Ṣāliḥ al-Dakhīl with the title Kitāb al-Baḥth ʿan aʿrāb Najd wa-ʿammā yataʿallaqu bihum one finds ten poems by Ibn Zēd, an otherwise unknown poet, in praise of the Jabrid ruler Ajwad ibn Zāmil, who died in 1507: Sowayan, al-Shiʿr al-Nabaṭī, 299. It has no poems by Ḥmēdān.

90

Sowayan, Nabaṭī Poetry, is an excellent introduction and makes for a delightful read. For the linguistic aspects one should also refer to Clive Holes, “The Language of Nabaṭi Poetry.”

91

The same word for a messenger’s capable riding beast is used by the poet Jabr ibn Sayyār: Sowayan, al-Shiʿr al-Nabaṭī, 480, 489.

92

This development is explored and described in Sowayan’s al-Shiʿr al-Nabaṭī.

93

Sowayan, al-Shiʿr al-Nabaṭī, 567–68.

94

Sowayan, al-Shiʿr al-Nabaṭī, 182.

95

Sowayan, al-Shiʿr al-Nabaṭī, 173.

96

See the Index of Poems where the meter of these poems is marked as “long.”

97

The diminutive Swērah, “little Sārah,” occurs in the Najdī expression: “A plate of flour and butter paste prepared by Swērah,” i.e., a woman who does not even know how to prepare such a simple dish. The expression refers to a job that should be easy to carry out but is bungled by an incompetent person: al-Juhaymān, al-Amthāl, 4, 358. Another Najdī

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Notes to the Introduction expression is: “Divorce Swērah and marry her sister,” i.e., if you are not satisfied with someone or something, then seek to replace it with a better alternative: al-Juhaymān, al-Amthāl, 10, 198. 98

The fourth edition, the one of al-Ḥātam listed at the beginning of the Index of Poems, does not add much value compared to the earlier edition by Khālid al-Faraj, and it lacks explanatory notes.

99

Sowayan, al-Shiʿr al-Nabaṭī, 199, 256.

100 In some poems the rhyme consonant is written at some distance from the rest of the second hemistich to form a kind of third column. 101 They are currently in the National and University Library in Strasbourg. See my article “Two manuscripts of Bedouin poetry in Strasbourg National and University Library and the travels of Charles Huber in Arabia” (forthcoming). Part of his journey and sojourn was in the company of the German scholar Julius Euting, with whom he had a famous falling out. Huber was murdered by his Bedouin guides on his second journey. Both their travel diaries were published (see bibliography). There is no mention of these MSS in Huber’s Journal d’un voyage nor in his article “Voyage dans l’arabie central.” 102 For instance, in another manuscript a poem composed in honor of Barakāt al-Sharīf is dated 1674/5. Yet another early poet, Rumaizān ibn Ghashshām, died in 1680. These older poems must have been copied from earlier manuscripts, which remain unknown to us. 103 These poems are included in five to eight of the listed MSS, the highest number (poems numbered 21, 22, and 28 in this edition). In addition, one of the Huber MSS has six pieces attributed to Ḥmēdān. But these are badly mangled versions of poems that in this edition are based on other sources. In the section on manuscripts on the website www.saadsowayan.com they are listed in the index that has been added to the MSS, but they have not been included in the copy of the Huber MSS. 104 In addition, Ibn Yaḥyā made use of the library of the Āl Khalīfah rulers of Bahrain, Sowayan, al-Shiʿr al-Nabaṭī, 197. 105 Sowayan, al-Shiʿr al-Nabaṭī, 197–98. This is mentioned in a MS by Muḥammad al-ʿAlī al-ʿUbayd, al-Najm al-lāmiʿ li-l-nawādir jāmiʿ, 76. 106 This was most likely also the case with the long poems by ʿAbdallah ibn Sbayyil that I recorded from a Bedouin near his hometown of Nifī, as described in my “Praying Mantis in the Desert.” 107 Many manuscripts in Arabia were burned at the time of the heightened Wahhābī spirit that accompanied the conquest of most of Arabia by the Ikhwān, the army of settled Bedouin tribes who provided the shock troops of King ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz.

xlix

Notes to the Introduction 108 With regard to the more recent poets, the situation is somewhat better. In the case of Ibn Sbayyil (d. 1933), for instance, his daughter Sārah, who was still alive when I visited Nifī in 1989, was the certifying authority of the dīwān published by his grandson. 109 For other examples of misunderstandings created by this improvised phonetic system of writing, see Sowayan, al-Shiʿr al-Nabaṭī, 204. 110 In their compositions in this meter poets frequently had to resort to the introduction of short syllables to complete their line, as in this case the first syllable of ṭaraf. These are the initial four lines of this edition’s poem number 4 as they are written in the MS of al-ʿAssāf:

‫ا ��ن �ن ا ن� ي � ا �م ا � ا ن ا ن ن‬ ‫���ا �م��ك ا ��س�ه�ا‬ ‫�س��ه� �� د ي�� ا �ي ر‬ �‫ن‬ ‫����� ن�� �ل� �� ن‬ ‫� ن ي ش يا ي ي ن ن‬ ‫�ج�ا ن���به�ا‬ ‫���ا �ن��ك ��ل�ا ن��ل‬ �‫ك‬ � ‫��جع�م ا ن ن� ن‬ ‫���� �م������ �� �� ن�جب���ي� ��� ي‬

‫ن‬ ‫�� ا ي� �ي�����ج�� ا ��ه�ا‬ � ‫�� ي� � ��و ا ر‬ �‫ا د ن��ي�ج�ا ر �و ن‬ � ‫�� ي �ور ر ح ي ر ن‬ � ‫�ن ش � � ا‬ ‫� ن‬ ‫�ج�ه�ا‬ ‫ن�جفن���ا ك ا � ن‬ � ��� ��‫�م��د ن��ي�ج�ا ��طر‬ � ‫��ر �م�و �ل� ك ا ��� او ن� ن‬ ‫ن‬

In transliteration it would be written thus:

an-nafs in jat li-mḥāsibha / f-ad-dīn xyār mikāsibha ćānnik l-al-jannah mištāg / tabġi an-niʿīm b-jānibha w-ad-dinya rōḏ̣at nuwwār / ṣayyūr ar-rīḥ tṭīr ibha w-in jāk mn ad-dinya ṭaraf / f-iškir mawlāk l-mūjibha. The final word has been adjusted in accordance with al-Dhukayr MS.

l

Arabian Satire

‫~‪~١‬‬ ‫ا ن �ن َ ْ ن ا ئ‬ ‫��ل�ا � ا�ا�م ش‬ ‫���‬ ‫ش� ن� � �نو� � �ي� ��معر�‬ ‫��م� �ي�‬ ‫ح َ ي‬ ‫� �ن��َ ي ن� ��ا ن �ن ا ن � ن‬ ‫و �ي��‬ ‫�َم��ٍل ك�� � �ي� �م� ��ٍ� َم����‬ ‫َ ْ ي �َ �‬ ‫�ب�ها �ي���جا ����� ّ ��‬ ‫��ن�ج�ي�ره‬ ‫�و ���عرهٍ ن‬ ‫ي�‬ ‫�ي�ي �� � ّ � ي ّ � � ا ن ن ي‬ ‫���ول‬ ‫�َق ��ط �و�َق ��ط � او �ل� ��ب�ه�ا َر��‬ ‫ّ �َ‬ ‫يَ ن‬ ‫�ن‬ ‫ي‬ ‫���و�ي� ا �ل��د �ي� �م ن� �نَ���ل د ا‬ ‫�َم��ل ي� اي��ه�ا ا �ل ش �‬ ‫ْ��َش ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫ن� � نْ ي �� �‬ ‫� او �ي ��و�م ��ا � ���� ا �‬ ‫��� ن �‬ ‫ط�وع �و ���ر �ي�‬ ‫ن �ن � ْ‬ ‫ن‬ ‫�ه�و د ا ����جع‬ ‫�م� ن �ي� ���ج�ا ك د را ���ع�م‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫ع‬ ‫� نْ ن ن نْ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫ا �ي ��‬ ‫�� ن� ن�ر�و���‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫م‬ ‫�‬ ‫��‬ ‫ا �نَ���غ��� � �� ٍ� َ ي‬ ‫ا ي ّ �‬ ‫ن‬ ‫� ّ‬ ‫� ا�م‬ ‫� �و��م�ا ده‬ ‫د �ي� ���� ٍ‬ ‫ده َ� ن َ ن‬ ‫ن ��ا ن يَ ْ ن �ن ّ ّ ا ي �‬ ‫��م��ا‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫� او � ك�� � �� ن�مب���ي� �ي� �َ�مع�م� � ا � َ ن‬ ‫َ‬ ‫���ا ن� �ه� ��ن�ْ� ن‬ ‫����د ك ���ط�ا �م‬ ‫�‬ ‫� او ن� ك�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫و‬ ‫و‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫ح‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫�يَ �ّ يْ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫ي‬ ‫� دَ �ن�ا �ن�ي��عر�ي� �و�َ���د � �ن����ع�م��‬ ‫��ل‬ ‫ا ��� ا � ا �ن ا �� ��َّ ي‬ ‫��و��ج��‬ ‫�ل َ��د هٍ ��ج�ا �ش �‬ ‫��ج� م � ي‬ ‫ش ٍّ َ نّ‬ ‫َْ‬ ‫ا � ْ�����ل�ن� ي� �ن�ي��ج�ا �ي ��و�م ���ع�م ن�‬ ‫���د ي�‬ ‫ّ يَ ن ي َّ‬ ‫� او دْ ن��ل‬ ‫�ْ ي� را ����� ���ع �ر��� َ� ��و ن�‬ ‫�ج�د‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ي َ‬

‫‪2‬‬

‫�‬ ‫ْ ائ‬ ‫نَ‬ ‫�و����ي� ي� �م ن� ن����م�د اَ�ام ش���ي�� ن� �‬ ‫���ن�� �ي�‬ ‫َ ن �َ‬ ‫� ْ‬ ‫�ل�ا� ي� ����� يل�ج�� �ن�� او ر� ا � نل�مب�ْ�ج�د ا َء‬ ‫ح‬ ‫يَ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ي �‬ ‫�ْ����� ن ائ ن�ْ‬ ‫�‬ ‫�معَرن� �م ن� �نَ���م�ا ا �ل��د ���نم�ا َء‬ ‫َ ن ��ي�‬ ‫ح‬ ‫ا �� شَ ن � َ ي � شَ ْ �‬ ‫���و�� ا �ل ش���ي�� ن���� ا �ل�����م ��ط�ا َء‬ ‫��م� ي� ن� �‬ ‫َ‬ ‫َ ْ ْ ائ‬ ‫�صر�‬ ‫�م�ا �ه�و ن� ش��صْره �ي ��و�م �ع�‬ ‫���ن�� �ي�‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫�‬ ‫�َ�م نْ���ك ا �� ه�‬ ‫���ا َء‬ ‫ل��ل�� �م �ورا د ي� ا �ن��ن�غ ن�‬ ‫ا �يَ ي ْ ئ‬ ‫ن ��ا ن نْ ن‬ ‫� او � ك�� � ن����غ��ٍ� ��م� َ� ���قي�� د � او �ي�‬ ‫� ْ‬ ‫ْ� ش � �‬ ‫�َجنب� ��و�ل �نج�ا ي� ن� ا � ن���َمعر�يج�ا َء‬ ‫�و ��ٍ� ن‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫ي ّ � نَ‬ ‫�َ نْ‬ ‫����ا َء‬ ‫��م�ا � ن� ا �ن��� ن�‬ ‫�م�ا �غ��ط را ��مي� �‬ ‫يَ‬ ‫�َ ي ْ ش ا ئ‬ ‫ي‬ ‫��معرا �ي� �ع�نن�ه�ا �َ��د َ�� �‬ ‫ط �و�ي� ر����� �ي�‬ ‫�ن نْ ن ش � ش نْ‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ�‬ ‫�ج�د �ي� ��ل� ٍ � ا‬ ‫�صر�� ا � نل�َجي��د ا َء‬ ‫� و � َن ي‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫�‬ ‫�َم ن�د يْ� ��م�ا ��� �ع ن ن�‬ ‫ن�‬ ‫�مع�ما �م ا�ا�م�ا َء‬ ‫ن ي �‬ ‫َ ّ‬ ‫� ن � ْ‬ ‫ه� ي� ��م��ل��م�ا ا ن��ل‬ ‫�ج�ا � ا � يل�َمع�م�نم�ا َء‬ ‫�� ن‬ ‫ي�‬ ‫ح‬ ‫� ن ا ا ���ْ َ � ّ َ‬ ‫��ج�ا َء‬ ‫ع�ب�ه� ��غ�‬ ‫���ي�را �� ا ن���م�ا �ن�ي�غ ن�‬ ‫� �َ ْ‬ ‫ْ نَ‬ ‫� ْ �‬ ‫���جعر�ن��ا َء‬ ‫����مب�ي� ي� �ن�ا ���ُو��م ��ط�ا �ع��� ا � �‬ ‫�َو�‬ ‫‪2‬‬

‫‪١،١‬‬

‫‪٥،١‬‬

‫‪١٠،١‬‬

‫‪١٥،١‬‬

~1~

My temples flecked with gray

1.1

signal old age, a farewell to youth! 1 I mourn my beloved of time past: she drifted away, a distant memory. Now a stupid wife crushes me: she thinks me lord of mountains of gold, Barking, “Pay up or shut up and get out! What use do I have for a senile graybeard?” “You were always my darling,” I said,

1.5

“but youth and its appetites have left us, We’ve grown apart and I’ve had enough of your harping, your nasty words. Are you trying to squeeze money out of me? But there’s nothing I can do if you hate me; It’s impossible to appease a soul full of hate, a monster that forever bucks and bolts.2 It’s better to abide by love’s time-honored code: never get trapped with a partner who loathes you. If you seek to rouse my youthful drive,

1.10

I have put away my well ropes and retired. Do you hate me so much that you want a better match? 3 Then away with you: you’re three times divorced!” I feel poverty’s pinch—it’s on my mind; my frayed ropes can’t draw water from the well. My year of labor at the well met with bad luck when scalding southern winds came on in a rage. I gave it my all and then hauled in my ropes, but have nothing to show for all my toil day and night. I shook my head in grief,

1.15

snapped thumb and middle finger: All gone!

3

3

‫~~ ‪~~ ١‬‬

‫َْ��ْ ي ن ن � � � ن ش �ا َ‬ ‫� او ر�ن��� �م� �ع� �� ا �لَ�����ي��د نل ه�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ع‬ ‫�� ن�‬ ‫ي‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫َ ن ي �� ْ � � ن‬ ‫� ش���م�ا‬ ‫��م�ا �صْ هي ا �ل‬ ‫��ي�را ��م�� ا �ل�َد ��م�ل�ونح � َ ر‬ ‫َ ْ ي � ا � ن نا ْ ي �‬ ‫�����ا‬ ‫��غ�‬ ‫�ص �ري�م�� ا �ل� � �� او � �� ��مع�م�� ا ��َ� ن‬ ‫�� � ي ا ا يْ نَ يْ‬ ‫� �م ن � ا‬ ‫��معر ��و�ل��ٍ �ي� ��م� ا �ل�َ� �ل� � ن‬ ‫��� �ه��ل‬ ‫ْ َ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫�نَ يْ‬ ‫� �ي�� �� ا �� ��َ�ش��� ش��ص ��ي ا ��ل�ن��بيه�ا‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫���‬ ‫�‬ ‫ور و م ري�‬ ‫� ا �ن ْ ن�دَ ْ ي ا �ع ن �ش��َ�ف ن �ي � �ن ا ي‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫و �م ر���م� � ي �‬ ‫� �مو مٍ � ق��‬ ‫َ ح‬ ‫� ا �ْ‬ ‫ن َّ ي‬ ‫�م�ا �ش��م�اح� ن���د ه � ن�َم��ل ا ن� ��وه �و �ل� ���ه�م‬ ‫َ‬ ‫َ �ْ َ‬ ‫� ٍّ ي نَ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫ح�ي� َ��د ��م�د � او‬ ‫�����د �ن�م�د ا ر‬ ‫ا م����� َي� ي‬ ‫َ� ّ ْ ي ا � ن نْ�َ ��‬ ‫��� ّ��م�ا � ا ��ل�َشم ن��ا‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ي�م������� ان � �ي�غط‬ ‫ن‬ ‫�ْ� ��ل َ‬ ‫�و�ل�د ا �‬ ‫�ج�دي� ��ش� ا ��ل�� ند �ي� �م ن� لا�ن�ج��‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ي‬ ‫نْ َ‬ ‫ٰ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫�ي�ان� ن� �‬ ‫� �م ن� �عي�ج��ل��‬ ‫�جي� ��ط ا لل� ي �ل‬ ‫َ ْ نّ ن ا ْ ي‬ ‫ن نَ ّ‬ ‫�ي�جعرن��‬ ‫�و�ي� � او �� ا َر ن��ي� �م� �ي�جعر‬ ‫َ ّ‬ ‫� �ْ ّ‬ ‫ن‬ ‫��م�� �ل او ��م���� �ي�جعر ا �لن��را �ي�ا �م��ج�د‬ ‫�و�‬

‫‪4‬‬

‫َ‬ ‫� ا ي ��نلَ‬ ‫�ن��عّرا �ي ش�����ا د �� ا �ل���م� ن� �� ا �‬ ‫��ْ�عر َاء‬ ‫� ن�‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ يْ‬ ‫ا َ ّ ا نُ ْ‬ ‫�‬ ‫�م‬ ‫ه� ش� �ولا ���ج�ب �� او َء‬ ‫��م� �����ج� � ن ٍ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫َّ‬ ‫�ْ‬ ‫�يج�ا �م ي� ��جع دْ �ن ��‬ ‫َ�ن�ج�ا ن�ع‬ ‫�جع نرا َء‬ ‫� ���‬ ‫ن َر ٍ‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫حيّ� ي‬ ‫��‬ ‫� ��م��� د �ي�جعرا ن���ج�ا ا �ل�ا �ن��و َاء‬ ‫�‬ ‫ن ا � �ل�‬ ‫�َ ن‬ ‫ن ي‬ ‫�ورا َء‬ ‫��ج�ا لا �ود �� �م� �ن� رح ا ن �‬ ‫شَ نّ ن َ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫�ي�جعر�ش�م��ي �‬ ‫�‬ ‫�ّو َاء‬ ‫��و�ر �����د �م� �‬ ‫�غ ن� �‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫�‬ ‫�ي� �ولا �َ�ج�د � او �م ن� ا � ��يَ�ج�د ��ج�ا َء‬ ‫��‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫�شَ‬ ‫شْ‬ ‫ن‬ ‫�م�ا � ��ن �َي�� ْ‬ ‫��جن��ا َء‬ ‫َي����جَن��� � ��و�ٍر � ر ي�‬ ‫� � ْ‬ ‫َ ْ ش ا ��ل ش ن‬ ‫��و� �م ن� ا �ّو�ل ا �ل��َد �ن�ي�ج�ا َء‬ ‫�و ر� ���‬ ‫ي �ح‬ ‫�َ ْ‬ ‫ْ يي‬ ‫ن‬ ‫�َي�جعر�ش�م�� ���جي���م �و�ر��ن�ه�ا ا �������لي�ج�ا َء‬ ‫ن ّ‬ ‫�ن َ ْ� ئ‬ ‫ا � َ شْ‬ ‫ي‬ ‫� �‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ا‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ع‬ ‫��‬ ‫��‬ ‫ع‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ج‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�م�لي �ج م ن �و �م �ي� رن �و ي�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ْ ئ‬ ‫ن ن‬ ‫� ا �� ن��َ� ن� ْ‬ ‫و‬ ‫��م��ل �م� ��م�د � او �َي�م�د �ي��ك د � او �ي�‬ ‫ي نَ � �ْ ا ئ‬ ‫ا ن ا ن َ ْي ْ‬ ‫��ج� �� ��� �ن��عر�� ن�ل�� يل�ج��ل��ٍ ��ط�ل���� �ي�‬

‫‪4‬‬

‫‪٢٠،١‬‬

‫‪٢٥،١‬‬

~1~

Then I sang a song about a comely maid,4 a temptress shaped like a dark racehorse, Plump calves clasped by anklets, wasplike waist, her charms untouched by ill health or dropsy,5 Skin smooth, a creamy Egyptian tinge,6 a round behind heavy on her gait, Stunning looks that spelled ruin for many a youth. May the lands where she lives be blessed with rains, In al-Washm’s homesteads, east of the sands

1.20

that offer shelter from the hot summer winds. I warned her against a tribal chief of ill repute, a villager, one of Eve’s offspring gone bad,7 His father the first shaykh in his line, not one to be counted among those of ancient rank. He lorded it over a deserted realm like a dumb ox mooing in a field of grass.8 I gave her as a gift to Ibn Nḥēṭ, a most worthy man, who boasts a lineage of shaykhs, as old as the world; He is the son of al-Ḥdēthī, whose clan

1.25

stems from Timīm’s foremost branch.9 O Ibn Nḥēṭ, may God help me provide for a family left behind in al-Washm. They hope for sustenance, And look to me, while I look for a benefactor whose kind hands will be my cure.10 Prayers for Muḥammad, the best of creatures, as frequent as flashes of lightning in a dark night.

5

5

‫~‪~2‬‬ ‫ا � َ َّ ي َ َّ � َ ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫��‬ ‫م‬ ‫�‬ ‫�� �م � ����جع�م� ���� د‬ ‫جف�‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ي ن�ج �ي� َ ع �وٍ‬ ‫ح‬ ‫ا ن�ْ ي � ن َ � ��مَ َّ َ��‬ ‫َ �َت�َه�م م� �ع� يل�مع�ٍم ن�معر ن�‬ ‫���ي�مع�م‬ ‫ي ْ �َ‬ ‫َْ ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫� ن‬ ‫ا �ن�� َ�د �ر ا �ل��� �َي�ج�د ا �ن�ا �ن ��َ��عر ن� ا ��ن���‬ ‫�ور‬ ‫ي َ َّ ي َ‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫ن‬ ‫� �ن نع‬ ‫��‬ ‫�و�نٍر �ب�ه�و ��ا د �ٍم‬ ‫�م� َ ن��و ر‬ ‫ا ن َ َ� ن ا ا َ‬ ‫�� ا �� ��ي‬ ‫ا�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ع‬ ‫�‬ ‫م‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ر‬ ‫��م� �من� ر�� ي����� ��ر �ي� �ود َ ي �‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫ْ َْ � �‬ ‫َْ �‬ ‫�ن� ���ن���م�ا �َ�م��لَي��و�ي� �َم�شم��ل �ن� ��� ن� ا�امَ��ي�م�د‬ ‫يَ‬ ‫�َ َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�ْ‬ ‫�� �َم ش��س ي� �مش���ل ��مو��� ��نم�ا ه ا �ل���ي��ا د‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫� �ن‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫ا �� � َ‬ ‫ا �‬ ‫جف�‬ ‫ح�� �‬ ‫�‬ ‫د ا �ي��ع�ٍم �ن� �ل�َد ن‬ ‫����د ر��م� َ�ل�� َ� ي‬ ‫ح‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ا�ا��َمع َه �� ��َ�ب�يَ�� ��معْ�ص �ه�ا ا ��ل�ا �َ���م�� ن‬ ‫ر‬ ‫�‬ ‫ر‬ ‫ن ي�‬ ‫ن َ ر‬ ‫� ّ� � ن‬ ‫حْ�مع هي ��ا ��ل�شَمع ا ��جع ْ�م�ي�ه�ا‬ ‫�َق ��ط �ل�� َ� � َرٍ ن ر َ �‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫�ن‬ ‫ا دْ �نم نَ��� دَ ن�� نَ���ي ا ن��ل‬ ‫��منب��م��ي ا ��ل‬ ‫���ا ي����م��‬ ‫َ‬ ‫َيَ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫�� ن ّ ن ي‬ ‫ن‬ ‫� �َيمعر ن� ا ��ن��‬ ‫ا �ي‬ ‫� َر�ه�و�ر‬ ‫�و�ر ا �ي� ن�َ��� ٍ‬ ‫ْ ين‬ ‫َ� ن ا َ � ن � � ن َ‬ ‫ح��م��ل � او ����َ��د ا ر‬ ‫عيم����� �ع�ي� ريٍ�م نَ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫� ن ن َ ن ��نَ‬ ‫��معر �َ�جب�ن�� ن‬ ‫ل‬ ‫ا‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫� او �َرد ا �ي��� َر�م� � او �و‬ ‫�‬ ‫� � ن � ن � � � ن � �نَ ْ�ي‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ع‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫م‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ن�ي� �م�د ي� و �م�دي�ك مرٍ َ ي�‬

‫‪6‬‬

‫ا ن ن ن ن �‬ ‫�‬ ‫�ن ا �‬ ‫� ��ي� �م ن��و� ا ����معر ن�‬ ‫م� �مع�ٍم ��م� ر ٍ‬ ‫� � َ‬ ‫َ ْ‬ ‫�ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫�ن�ا ن�‬ ‫�غ��� �ن�ا �ل��د � او ر ن� �و�م��� او ا �َن��� ن�‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫نْ‬ ‫ش نَ � � َ َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫ن‬ ‫يَ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ا‬ ‫�‬ ‫ا‬ ‫�‬ ‫��‬ ‫ل� ن�‬ ‫��م�دنَ � و لَ ���مع�م م�م��ل �موح ل� �‬ ‫� � ن� َّ�ش �َل��ْ�لَ ن ش� ن � � ن‬ ‫���و ي��معر�� �وي��ب�� ��م��ي� ا �ل�د �� ن�‬ ‫ّٰ ي َ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫ن َ‬ ‫نَ�‬ ‫��ه��ل�ه�ا ا لل� �����ا �هر�ع��� ا د �� �َ��ن�� ن�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�� ا ا ّ �� َ يَ‬ ‫�م�ا ��م�� �َو ْر���� ��م� ��معرد ا ل‬ ‫�‬ ‫��ب�� ن�‬ ‫� �‬ ‫يَ‬ ‫ا يَ‬ ‫�� ن‬ ‫����ا �ي�ج��ل را ���ب�ه�ا َ��ن� �ج�ي��ج� َر� ن�‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫�َ شَ‬ ‫� ش شَ نْ ا ��لن�� ا � َ‬ ‫����لْ ا ��لن‬ ‫َم���ل ����د ن� َ ن � ن��ي ر� ن� ��س ن�‬ ‫يْ َ َ‬ ‫يْ ن �‬ ‫�ورا ��س�ه�ا َ�ع�� ن� د ا �ن�ا َ�ام ش���ي�� ن� ا ��يم��ل ن�‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫ي ْ‬ ‫ي‬ ‫� َ��‬ ‫���ا ��م��ٍ �َ او ر��ن�ه�ا �َ او ش� ن� �من���م�ا ا �َر�� ن�‬ ‫َ� َ‬ ‫ََ َ َ‬ ‫��ل�ا �ي�معر��ْمعر �ي�معر�� �م�ا ي ن�‬ ‫�م�‬ ‫ي�ه�ا ��ط��ل ن�‬ ‫ع‬ ‫�َ‬ ‫ن ن �ه نّ ا�ا�َ �َ ّ‬ ‫ا � ن�� او ��م�د رك�و�ٍر ر � ���ل ن�‬ ‫ا ن ن ي ن� ن � َ َ‬ ‫ن‬ ‫�ن�ا ��ر �ش��م� �� ر�ل��ل�� ��ل‬ ‫ط���و� ا ���‬ ‫�����ل ن�‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫�‬ ‫����َ َ �َ َ ي � َ َ‬ ‫� او � ن���‬ ‫��� ا ن�‬ ‫� ن� �� َر��قي�� ا �ل�����ل ن�‬ ‫ين‬ ‫ي ََ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�م�ش � � ا � � ن � ن‬ ‫�����م�ا �ود �ي�معره �‬ ‫�م��ل ن�‬ ‫َ م�ل م� ن�ي�‬ ‫‪6‬‬

‫‪١،٢‬‬

‫‪٥،٢‬‬

‫‪١٠،٢‬‬

‫‪١٥،٢‬‬

~2~

Mjalli, listen to me, this eloquent graybeard,

2.1

a sage steeped in savoir faire; Learn from a man clever, tested, and wise, a penetrating mind, prescient about the blows of fate: Make sure to give a wide berth to older women, who breathe and spit deadly, red-hot flames. Marry an older woman and you will regret it, even if you are decked out richly in gold. Victims are kept awake to treat snakebite:

2.5

I hope she’ll never sleep a wink, all night.11 Her belly is creased and wrinkled, like a worn-out camel, her haunches so skinny her belt keeps slipping off. When she walks she stoops like a curved, well-crafted bow, her head tilted to one side, as if she has a crick in her neck; At dusk her chests hisses as it heaves, like the sound of a carpenter planing hard wood. Once a woman has passed the mark of forty, and her black tresses are streaked with gray, The moment has come for you to dig a trench

2.10

six feet deep: throw her in with a rope around her knees! Bury her there as you would a rotting corpse; don’t be scared: no one will come to seek revenge.12 Such a difference between this hag and a buxom girl whose breasts swell on her lucent chest, Who has the startled eyes of a gazelle alarmed by the figures of Ṣalab hunters,13 Whose bottom is pert and full, waistline toned and slim; just imagine the wonders when her clothes are off. These women are at opposite extremes, as far apart as Sanaa and Aleppo.

7

7

2.15

‫~‪~3‬‬ ‫ش نْ ي �ْ‬ ‫�معَ�م�� � ن � ا ��� ا ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ه‬ ‫ل‬ ‫���َ�ب��� ن‬ ‫ر‬ ‫�‬ ‫ي� ن‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫َّ‬ ‫�َ ّ ��‬ ‫ط ا ا ��ل��د � ن ��� �جع�م ���ج�ل�ا‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ي‬ ‫�ق و َ � �‬ ‫َ م‬ ‫� � ا ا � � ��ش‬ ‫� ��يَ�ْجب�ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ي‬ ‫�‬ ‫و �ل� د ر ي� َو �‬ ‫ن ي�‬ ‫���ا ن� ا ����ا ���� ن �مش��� ا �� ن� � ا‬ ‫ك� ن � َ ل‬ ‫���ط� �هر‬ ‫ن‬ ‫���ا ن ��من‬ ‫�ما ����ن� ن����ط�ا �ه �ه�ا‬ ‫� او � ك� �‬ ‫ر‬

‫‪8‬‬

‫ا ن ي نَ‬ ‫نَ‬ ‫� ا ���م�ا‬ ‫َر�ن�ج�د ���� ��مو�� � �و نر‬ ‫شّ ْ‬ ‫�ا‬ ‫���د ��م�ا‬ ‫�و �ل� ا د ر�ي� �َو��� �م�يه�ا �‬ ‫� ��ل�ا ا د �� �ع ن ��م����ط�ا ��ل�ن��م�ا‬ ‫و ري � َ‬ ‫� يْ‬ ‫ا َ‬ ‫���ا ���م�ا‬ ‫ا‬ ‫�ي� �ي�ول��ل�ك �ي� �ل��ي� � َ نر‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫�ن����ٍ �َ��ْيه ا ��جب�ي�ج�ا ���م�ا‬ ‫نر‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ل ر َ‬

‫‪8‬‬

‫‪١،٣‬‬

‫‪٥،٣‬‬

~3~

I saw two rutting camels in al-ʿĀriḍ,14

3.1

mouth foam on their withers.15 For them religion is simply a ladder to climb; why, I cannot tell, Nor what purpose they have, or what demands. If hidden intentions match appearances, disaster awaits those who fight them; If they are the opposite of what we see, Qurʾanic verses protect against the scorpion’s sting.16

9

9

3.5

‫~‪~4‬‬ ‫�ْ‬ ‫َْ‬ ‫�م�ا ��س�ه�ا‬ ‫ا ��ل�نمب�ن��� ا ن� ن� ي� َ�م‬ ‫� ن�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ا ن � �ل���لَ ّ ْ ي‬ ‫�م ن��� �َم ش���جي��ا ��‬ ‫�� ��ك ن‬ ‫� � نْ ا َ ن ي نُ ّ‬ ‫ا �ل�َد ��ي�ج� ر �و�‬ ‫��ج�� � �� او �ر‬ ‫� ن �ََ ن‬ ‫ن‬ ‫� او � ن��ا ك �م ن� ا �ل��د ��ي��ا ���طعر��‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ْ َ َّ‬ ‫نَ ْ‬ ‫��لي�ّج�ا ك �ي��ن�ج�ي�ر��ج�ا ���م�يَ����‬ ‫َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ا ن�َ��لّ يْ ن �ْ َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫ا‬ ‫ج‬ ‫�ي�معرا ��م� �م ��� ن�جعرد‬ ‫ي‬ ‫نَ َ ْ � ن َ َّ َ�ّ‬ ‫���د ن�ل‬ ‫��ج�د ي� �� ��� ن�‬ ‫�َم��‬ ‫�‬ ‫ي ي‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫نَ َ � يْ � َ ٍ � ا �ن ا � َ ّ‬ ‫�جع� � �جع‬ ‫�� �د‬ ‫ج � ي م و ي �م‬ ‫َ‬ ‫� ا �ن�ا ا �ن�ْ ن�د ْ �ي�� �ع ن ا�ا���ب�يْ ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫و ج ر ك � َ ي�‬ ‫� ا �ن�ا ا ْن��� ْ ك �ي�َمع �� ا�ا�مْ��ن�غن‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫و نَ ر ر َ ن َ �‬ ‫� ا ْ� �ند ْ �م ش���م نَ�ع شّ ا ��ش‬ ‫و � َ رك‬ ‫ي�ٍر ���م� �‬ ‫� ا ْ� �َند � ا � ا‬ ‫��ا �ْ�َ �����م ن‬ ‫طف‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫َو � ر ن� �ل�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ي�‬ ‫ْ �َن ن نْ ي ا ��� شْ‬ ‫���مع � ن‬ ‫ر‬ ‫� او ��د ر �ع� ن�َ���� �َ� ي�‬ ‫ا ا�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫�� ك�‬ ‫���ا ن �� �د �� �ا �� � �‬ ‫�و � يج ر ���ج ج َم‬ ‫�َ‬ ‫� ا �� ن��َ �ي‬ ‫مو���جعم�‬ ‫�َ�جعر ��ج�ا �ٍر �ن�ا �ا �‬ ‫و‬

‫‪10‬‬

‫ن ا �� ن ن‬ ‫� ا ْ�‬ ‫��ا �����م�ا‬ ‫��� �ل�دي�� � ي‬ ‫م�� �ر �م ه� ن �‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫��يَ�ْجب�ن ا ��ل�ن‬ ‫���ا ن���م�ا‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ب‬ ‫م‬ ‫��‬ ‫ع‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ن‬ ‫م‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ن ��ي� َ ي‬ ‫ن�‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫�� � ا �� � �ي�����ط� ����ا‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�� ي و ر يرح ي ر ن�‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫� َ � ا ا�ُ‬ ‫م ن���م�ا‬ ‫�نج�ا �ش����‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫م‬ ‫�‬ ‫ك‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ل‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫َر و‬ ‫وَ ن �‬ ‫�ي��نَ َّ َ‬ ‫�ج نْ���ك �ْم��م�ا ند ��م�ا‬ ‫�جي�ر �‬ ‫َ ن�‬ ‫ي‬ ‫�َجَّ�د د � ا �ن�ا ا �يجا ����م�ا‬ ‫�‬ ‫و‬ ‫ن‬ ‫َن �‬ ‫�� نّ ا �� ��يه ْ����ط�ا �� يَ� ا ���م�ا‬ ‫� رين �‬ ‫� َر‬ ‫ٰ‬ ‫ا ّ‬ ‫��ا‬ ‫�ج�ا ���م�ا‬ ‫�‬ ‫ا‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫د‬ ‫لل‬ ‫�‬ ‫و�ل�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ج‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ن�‬ ‫��ل�ا ��ي�يْج��ل�ن� �نَ�ن�ْ������ك ��ي�يْمب����م�ا‬ ‫َ َ‬ ‫َ َ َن �‬ ‫� نَ‬ ‫�م�ا �ه� � � �� ا ���� ���ا ���م�ا‬ ‫ون يو‬ ‫ن�‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫� دّ ه ���جع ��جع ��م���ك ا ْ��م�ا‬ ‫َو ن ي ٍر َي ر ي ن�‬ ‫نْ ن � َ نَ‬ ‫�م�ا ن���م�ا‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫م‬ ‫و‬ ‫َن�‬ ‫� او �����َجعر �عي���ي‬ ‫��لَ�ّج�ا ا �� ��ي�ج�ا �� � ��ي�ج�ا ��م�ا‬ ‫ر ي ي ر ن�‬ ‫ي‬ ‫َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫ن� ْ‬ ‫�����طع � ش��ص َ� �م ن �ش���ا ��م�ا‬ ‫ٍر ي رن � ر ن�‬ ‫�� َ نْ� ي � �َ‬ ‫���ل�� ���م�ا‬ ‫��و ر���� �نَ�م� ن ين �‬ ‫‪١0‬‬

‫‪١،٤‬‬

‫‪٥،٤‬‬

‫‪١٠،٤‬‬

‫‪١٥،٤‬‬

~4~

When man comes to be judged by his Lord,

4.1

his strongest testimony is observance, Should he yearn for entry to Paradise, to enjoy its shade and easy comfort. This world is like a flowering garden; it will be blown away by the winds. If this world smiles on you, thank your Lord for making you content. Beware of opening its gate to lustful sin,

4.5

and thereby forfeiting its sweet fruits. The world stripped me until I stood bare; fickle, she left me to wonder what to make of her. She came to me in the form of a plump beauty, her breasts lustrous as pristine sheets of paper. Then she went one way and I the other: I hope to God our paths never cross again! I warn you, if she gives you the cold shoulder, do not run after her and exhaust yourself. You should know about malicious people:

4.10

be careful, don’t get close and friendly with them. I warn you against heeding the advice of impostors: given a chance they will push you down a well. Watch out for those who harbor nefarious intent: examine their eyes and brows for telltale signs. Pay close attention to a twenty-year-old girl, otherwise the Qurʾan teacher will sidle up to her And slake his thirst during lessons with a heady draft from her lips. In season, when goods are cheaply priced, poverty is a shameful thing.

١١

11

4.15

‫~~ ‪~~ 4‬‬

‫���نَ ّ ��‬ ‫ط‬ ‫�‬ ‫ي �م�ي�‬ ‫يَ‬ ‫��م او �‬ ‫��جعر‬

‫ا� ا � ْ ا‬ ‫� او��ج� �ل ا � �ون� �ر‬ ‫� ��جع ن ّ� ن ���من‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫وي ري� نَي ٍ�‬ ‫ش ّ‬ ‫� ا ��ل�يم�� ن �يْ� ن� ا ا ن‬ ‫��� ��م� ن�ر‬ ‫�و��س ن َ ن�‬ ‫ّٰ‬ ‫ا لل� �م ن� �ي�مو�م �ي�ا ��ما �ن��‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫ع‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ي ا � ا ���‬ ‫�� � او �‬ ‫�م�د ���‬ ‫ا � نَ�ي�� �م� ي‬ ‫م‬ ‫ي ا � نّ شَ‬ ‫يَ ْ‬ ‫�ف ن�‬ ‫� �م ن� �جن�َ��ل�ك‬ ‫�م� �ل ا �ي� ��� ي‬ ‫ح‬ ‫ن ٍ‬ ‫َ ّ‬ ‫ن ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�د‬ ‫�‬ ‫��َ���ْ�مع�ٍم ��ي� ا ن� ��وك و ن ج ك‬

‫‪12‬‬

‫�ْ‬ ‫َْ‬ ‫�ج�ا ن���م�ا‬ ‫د �ن�جعٍر �و��� �‬ ‫هود ن ن� ن �‬ ‫�ج�ا ��ل ��َجع ْ ن�م�ا ����ا ���م�ا‬ ‫�ور ن� ٍ ي ر‬ ‫ين �‬ ‫ّٰ ن ّ‬ ‫ن‬ ‫�ج�ا ���م�ا‬ ‫ا لل� ي�‬ ‫� ي‬ ‫� � ين �‬ ‫ه� ن‬ ‫َ َ‬ ‫�م�ا ��م��له�ا �ش����ا ���م�ا‬ ‫ا �ْم����� ن�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ين �‬ ‫�ع ن ا ��ل��د ��جع ه � �ن�� ا ���م�ا‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ ي ر َو وين �‬ ‫َ نّ‬ ‫َ ّ‬ ‫� ا ن���م�ا‬ ‫ن�‬ ‫�ج�د �ي� ��ج�ب��� ن��و ن �‬ ‫�ن َ‬ ‫�لنَ‬ ‫� ا �ي��م�ا‬ ‫� او �‬ ‫�هي�ن��� ي‬ ‫�ل � �و ن �‬

‫‪١2‬‬

‫‪٢٠،٤‬‬

~4~

Wealth covers your back like a fur coat, and hides sores and blisters from view; 17 It has the power to make plain women pretty, and make up for some men’s defects. It’s a lousy revenge to set stubble fields on fire: may God thwart those losers and their schemes. . . . 18 I ask you, Māni ʿ, what kind of folk are these, whose elders are as foolish as their youngsters? When I questioned one of them

4.20

on the district and its conditions, He said, “I was a shaykh long before you; my ancestor took possession of it.” “Congratulations to your father and grandfather! What a shame they sired a dunce like you.”

١3

13

‫~‪~5‬‬ ‫ا �َ ن‬ ‫ن ن ي ا� �‬ ‫�ن� ��� ��و� ��ه�ي��ٍ� �ج� �ل�� �ي�‬ ‫�ي�َمع �� ا ��ل ش���م�ا ��� �ع ن‬ ‫ع�م�ا ��ل��‬ ‫�‬ ‫�د‬ ‫�‬ ‫ر‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ين‬ ‫�ْ‬ ‫� ْ�‬ ‫���و �ي����طَ��ل ن�ب��مع� َردّ هي َ� ��ي�جع�م��‬ ‫م‬ ‫نَ‬ ‫ك�‬ ‫����ل� او �جي��ده ��مع�م ����ا د �وه‬ ‫ا �ْ نَ ن � ا � ي ن ا �‬ ‫��ب�� ��ط ��م� �ل��ك ن��ي� ��م� �ي�‬ ‫َّ‬ ‫�ن َ‬ ‫ن ن‬ ‫��ن ْ ي‬ ‫�ل �ي�مو��ل��‬ ‫��د �ن�� ��ه�ي��ٍ� ي‬ ‫�َ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫�ج ٍ�د �ي��ي�ج�ا ��ل ��ل�� �ل ن�َّجي���‬ ‫ا�‬ ‫�َ يّ ّ ا � نَ ْ ْي‬ ‫�م��� ا �م �عي�� �ي� ر�ه�د � ن �ي�‬ ‫�نْ ي َ ي � نّ �ش ا ْ ��‬ ‫ا�طع �ر��‬ ‫َمب�ه�د � َ�م��� �ٍ� �م� �‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ي‬ ‫َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫� نْ َ � � ش � ش � �‬ ‫� ��ط‬ ‫ي ��و�م �ي�ي��د ي� َم���ل ا �ل �‬ ‫���و‬ ‫ْ َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫���و �ه�و ي� ش���معر�� ك�‬ ‫���ا ن� ا �ش��مع �ر��‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ي‬ ‫�جب�ْ� ن‬ ‫ش‬ ‫�� �ن� �ْ ن‬ ‫ع����ج�ا �م�� �يُ�� ن�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ي و‬ ‫ا � �و‬ ‫ي�‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫�‬ ‫يَ ْ‬ ‫�و ن��‬ ‫��‬ ‫�و����ي� ����جعر�ي� �ن�ا �ل�� يل�ج�ل�‬ ‫ا‬ ‫� � نْ ا ا‬ ‫� او �ل�َد ��ي��� ��م� �صر��م� د ا ��جعر‬ ‫� ّ‬ ‫َ َّ ْ ي َ � َ‬ ‫طّ �و� ي� ا ���َ���د ه‬ ‫� ��‬ ‫�� �د‬ ‫� � ر� و � ي‬

‫‪14‬‬

‫� ��ي �� ��ل ن�َع�ل�� ك � �� � ا �ن� ي‬ ‫��‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ن�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫يو‬ ‫ي�‬ ‫ي وم‬ ‫�‬ ‫� ا �ّ �� ا � ش � ْ ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫وم ي‬ ‫��� �ل�� �م����ل ا ����عَر ن َ‬ ‫ي ا � � نمْ ش ن ا �� ْ‬ ‫����‬ ‫ل‬ ‫�‬ ‫ن�‬ ‫�م� ��� او َ���ي� �َو��� د ا �� َ ي�‬ ‫يْ �� ي ّ � ا � ْ‬ ‫��‬ ‫���‬ ‫�‬ ‫�َ�مب�� ن� ا ل�َ�عَ�م َ����ك �ن� �ل نَ ن َ‬ ‫�َ���يّ ��ل�� �ي�م �ن��ك ��ا ����ْ�ي‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫� ي و‬ ‫ن َ نَ‬ ‫ا��ا ن ن َ‬ ‫�ي َ �ّ ن �‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ج‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ك‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ن�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ي�‬ ‫�و� ن���ي � ي‬ ‫�م�د � ��ي�ج�ا �� ��ل�� � ��شّ ي‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ن�‬ ‫� او � ٍ َي ل َو � َ ي�‬ ‫نَ ْ َ يْ ن ا ن ْ �‬ ‫����هي�� َر��ج� �ي� �َو���طعَرن �ي�‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫��‬ ‫ْ�‬ ‫��ج��� �نَ���جع��مي� �و��م��� َرن���ي�‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫� ا �� �� � دَ ��ّ � ا ند �ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫و ي و م � ور َن�ي�‬ ‫ا � نْ �َ‬ ‫� او ْر ن�‬ ‫�‬ ‫م‬ ‫���� �ن�� ��م� �ي� �ود �ن�ي�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫ن �� َ � � ن �َ � �ي‬ ‫�م�د حَ�م�ن�ي�‬ ‫�و��ب�ه�ي ر�ي� م�‬ ‫نَ‬ ‫� ��ن �م ن �َ�م ي� ��ْ����ط��‬ ‫�‬ ‫ل‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ن�‬ ‫ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ ي�‬ ‫وي � و ٍ‬ ‫ا ن ا نَ‬ ‫ا ْ‬ ‫��م� �ي�ب�ه� �ي�جعٍر �ي� ���عَ نر �ي�‬ ‫َْ ّ‬ ‫ان‬ ‫�ي� ن�ْ�ن�� �م ن‬ ‫�� �‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ي‬ ‫َ ن ي�‬ ‫�َوي� ي� �‬ ‫‪١4‬‬

‫‪١،٥‬‬

‫‪٥،٥‬‬

‫‪١٠،٥‬‬

‫‪١٥،٥‬‬

~5~

I swear to God, it was Mnīf who said to me:

5.1

“You are only appreciated in your prime.” It seems that, to his children and their mother, a graybeard is just a hanger-on. If he asks them for a little bit to eat, they say, “Ugh, what a scrounger!” Yet they have spent all his savings and grown hostile, even though he had always provided for them. Keep a tight grip on your purse and you’ll be everyone’s darling,

5.5

a warm welcome on every doorstep. First I scoffed at these ideas of Mnīf; now I must admit that he was no fool. “At your command,” some say to one man. “What do you want?” they growl at another. Even the mother of my children scorns me— she’s forgotten the fun we had in our good old days. She misses that of which I should not speak: when I am on my hands and my knees. Today my prick, once as hard as yew, dangles listlessly between my legs: If I could buy one, I would do so right away,

5.10

gladly spend on it all my wealth and gold. As it is, my bones are sore all over, and my back hurts below my belt.19 Anxieties race and keep me awake at night: I fear death is in pursuit of me. In the end all that flourishes comes to naught; expect no good from this world, my friend. I have packed up my equipment at the well: let someone else take my job, if he feels like it.

١5

15

5.15

‫~‪~6‬‬ ‫�معر �و� ��َمع�م�ا ن�‬ ‫��م�ا ن� ا ��ل‬ ‫�َ�م او رد َ�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�ي� ن�‬ ‫ن‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ح‬ ‫م���ي �ي�ا �� ي� �ي�م ا د �� �م ش����� ��م�ا‬ ‫��ا ش�َ ْر ن��ي ن‬ ‫ن َ‬ ‫ير‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫و‬ ‫�َ �ن ي‬ ‫� ا ��م�� ا ��ل�نمب�ي�م�ا ��� ��ا ���م�ا‬ ‫ا �� جف���و ل َ ري � ن ن‬ ‫َّ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�م�� �لوك �ن�ي��م�ا �م�شم��ل را �ع�� � �ر��ي�م��‬ ‫�و ن�‬ ‫ي ي‬ ‫ن � َ َ يْ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫����و� ا �ل‬ ‫�‬ ‫����‬ ‫حرن� ر����� �و�ع ْر ن�‬ ‫��� ي� ن �‬ ‫م‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫� َ َْ ن ْ َ يَّ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫ي‬ ‫�‬ ‫ا �ل‬ ‫�‬ ‫�معر ن� ي��ن����� �م�‬ ‫���ه�ل� � ا �����نم�ا د �ي�‬ ‫ي‬ ‫يا ن ي ن ٍ ن‬ ‫�ي‬ ‫ن‬ ‫�مك�� ��مو�م ا �ع�� � �‬ ‫�� او َ��د �� ��ي� �عي �� �و��هم�‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫�� �ن��ْع �ي ن � ي � ن ا ا نَ� ّ‬ ‫�و�� َ َ�م�ٍ را �ل� م ����� � ع�ه‬ ‫� ن ن ي � �م‬ ‫م‬ ‫ن �ٍّ ْ نَ‬ ‫ْ ي َ ْ � نَيْ‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫� َاو ����� ن�ج�د ��� او �����ع � د � �����ن�مع‬ ‫ٍر وَ ل ن ي � �م‬

‫‪16‬‬

‫�‬ ‫�ي�مع ن �ّ‬ ‫���ا ن�‬ ‫���� ا ن ا � ����ب� ن �‬ ‫�م�� �‬ ‫َر ن‬ ‫َ ي ر � َرن يع َر ن ح‬ ‫���َ�ب�َ� �ْ��ه�ا �َ��ْ�غن�� ا �� ��ي�معر�ود �ْو����ا ن�‬ ‫�� ن ن �‬ ‫ح‬ ‫َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�ن���د � او ��ل��ك �ع�نْب�ه�ا ��ا ��ل ش��م�ي �� �ي� �ْو ��ل�ا ن�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ن و‬ ‫ح‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫�َ � �ي �ي‬ ‫���ا ن�‬ ‫��معر��� �م�ي��يمب�ن��م�� �ع‬ ‫�‬ ‫ع�‬ ‫�مري�م� َ� ي‬ ‫ع َ ََي ن ح‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫�و�ْم����ج�ا ��َ�ع نر �ع�نْج�د ��ب�ه�ا هي ن�ع�نج�ا ن�‬ ‫ي ٍَ‬ ‫ح‬ ‫َ َّ‬ ‫ا �� �ْ‬ ‫���ا ن�‬ ‫�من ��و ن� ��ي�ن�ش�ر ��ل��ل��د ن�‬ ‫��م� �ي�‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫ح‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫ن�َعَ�د � او ��ل��ك �م ن �ع�ي�� ا ��ل�ا ���� د �نْ���م�ا ن�‬ ‫�َ ن‬ ‫و ح‬ ‫َ‬ ‫� ا �� � ن ّ ي� �ْ‬ ‫� �ع� ا ْ�ع ا ن‬ ‫�معرا ن�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ع‬ ‫د‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ل‬ ‫�‬ ‫م‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫م‬ ‫يل‬ ‫و �� ر � ن‬ ‫ح‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�َو�ْ�م�ي�ي�ْ�مع�م ���ب�ي�� ا �� ��ي�َمع ار � �ع����ا ن�‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ ن‬ ‫ح‬ ‫ح‬

‫‪١6‬‬

‫‪١،٦‬‬

‫‪٥،٦‬‬

~6~

Water from the pools of war is brackish,

6.1

fouled by camel calves in days of spring. When strife broke out, sound minds were at a loss: some ill-starred wretches let war loose and it ran free. Once these sly dogs had pushed its doors wide open, they scampered through the cracks in the wall, Leaving it to you to quench the fire set ablaze with dry twigs, fanned by gusts of wind. They think that war is all sword dancing and merry songs, with shapely, cow-eyed coquettes for company. War is the clash of sharp-edged Indian swords, not handfuls of grain strewn as chicken feed.20 Men once like lions become meek as lambs blinded by motes in their eyes,21 Great riches were destroyed by their delusion, their honor and reputation were stained. Their conceit was rewarded with poverty and shame, and sweet water replaced by brine.22

١7

17

6.5

‫~‪~7‬‬ ‫�‬ ‫���� �ا ��ل� ا �� ن��َ� ن‬ ‫��ْم�� �م ن � ن‬ ‫���ا �‬ ‫�ج��د ا �ل��شف��‬ ‫�‬ ‫ل �‬ ‫ج ن‬ ‫ح‬ ‫َْ ن َ َ ي‬ ‫� ن � �ن‬ ‫ا �و �َمش���ل ���ط�ا ن� �ل�� ا � ���م�ا ��� ي��ن����ي� ��معر��‬ ‫ح‬ ‫نْ‬ ‫�ن َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�� ش ا �ن‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫ا ��ل‬ ‫�غ���� ��م�ا �ن َ��ه ن� د �ر �َي�م�د �ر َي����م� �‬ ‫�‬ ‫ن‬ ‫َ َ ْ ن ّ �ن ي‬ ‫ا نر��� �ي�جعر�َجب�َ�� ن� ا � ��َ�ج��� �ن�ا ���� ي �‬ ‫ج�و�‬ ‫عٍ‬ ‫نْ ن � ن ا �� ��ن‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫�� � َ ا ن‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ي‬ ‫� او نر���‬ ‫َ�ج��� ل�ل� �‬ ‫هو �‬ ‫ع ��َي�جعَرَ��‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫� او ْر�َ�� ��ي�نْجع نر �� ن ا �� ن���جي��ا ��ل��ل ن را ن�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫نع َ َ َ�‬ ‫رح‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫َ � �شَ�� ن ��ج�ا �� �ن�م �ي �� ا�ا��ج�ل��‬ ‫ي�ٍ و�‬ ‫�ل‬ ‫رو �‬ ‫ٍ شَ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫�و�ْ���ا ��ف ن�‬ ‫� ��ج�د �و�م ن���ن�جي�ر ا � ��يَ�ج�د ا‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫ح‬ ‫ي َ‬ ‫ن‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫ا‬ ‫�جع ��ج�ا ��ا �ل‬ ‫�‬ ‫�جع�م�ا �‬ ‫ع�ج��ٍ � ر‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ا �و ر�ن� � ي‬ ‫م‬ ‫َ ّ‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫�و���ل �م ن� �ه�و َ�ي��� ن� ن�‬ ‫�ج�د ه � او ن� ��وه‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫�‬ ‫طف ن‬ ‫� ��ّ �م ن نَد �ّ �ي ا ��ن‬ ‫��ْ ن ا ��ل��د ��م�ا‬ ‫���د َ�‬ ‫�‬ ‫و َ �ل � و� َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫ن�َ ن‬ ‫َ‬ ‫َّ ي‬ ‫ن‬ ‫���د ن�����ا �َ�م�دٍه ��م�ا �ي��عر�وره � �ر�ي ن�‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫ي َ ّ �ُ ن � ن‬ ‫���ل �َم ن� �ه�و �َ�ج�دي� ن� �ي ��و��ي� ا �ل��د �ي ��و�‬ ‫�و َ‬ ‫ن‬ ‫� ن‬ ‫ََ ّ‬ ‫ن‬ ‫��م�ا د ر�� ا �ن�م�� �َي�جعر�ي�م�د ا �ل��د �ي ��و� �ن���د �ي ��و�‬ ‫�ان‬ ‫�ُ ْ� َ ن‬ ‫�و�م ن �َ��ن�� ا ��ل‬ ‫�‬ ‫�م �و���جي������ �ن�ا �ل� ��جع�م�ا د‬ ‫��‬ ‫�ن�‬

‫‪18‬‬

‫� ش � ن َْ ن ا ن � َ‬ ‫�ص ا � ا ��ل�َ�ل�ي�م�ا �‬ ‫َمَ���ل م� ا �ه�د � �م� ا ��‬ ‫� َر � � ر م‬ ‫ح‬ ‫� ا � � � ي � �َ‬ ‫ي�ه ن �م�نج�ا �‬ ‫� �ل� ��ي ��و�ٍ� �ي ن�ج� �‬ ‫ا �و �ج� �ل ن ٍ‬ ‫ح‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ن�ع�جعر �َ�� ��ل �� ْ�ج��ل�ك �شَ��معرا ��م�� ����ل�� �‬ ‫ن و َي َ‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ح‬ ‫َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫���� ن�ب � �� � َ � ن‬ ‫�ن‬ ‫��م�ل�� �‬ ‫�ر�م � او ���َو���ا � او ��‬ ‫ل�‬ ‫ا � �َط�معر او �‬ ‫�‬ ‫ح‬ ‫��ل ن ��‬ ‫��ن � ا ��ل ن‬ ‫ا ��ل��ن‬ ‫��م��ج�ا �‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ا‬ ‫�‬ ‫ا‬ ‫ل�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫د‬ ‫�‬ ‫ج‬ ‫�‬ ‫و‬ ‫و‬ ‫و‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ن‬ ‫َ‬ ‫َن ل َ نَ �‬ ‫َن َ ح‬ ‫�َ ن َ َ‬ ‫� ن‬ ‫�ج�ا �‬ ‫ج� �و�م�� �ن��ج�ا ن� �‬ ‫طف�‬ ‫ي� ��ي ن�ْ�عر�� ن�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�ل��‬ ‫�‬ ‫ن َي ٍ‬ ‫ح‬ ‫� نْ �َي ا َ يْ �‬ ‫����� ا ��ل���مع�م�ا �‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ن‬ ‫َم���� �لٍ� ��م� �ه� �و�م�� ا � و ي‬ ‫ح‬ ‫ا �و ند ��ل�ج�� ��جع نَر ّر�ي� ���ط� ا ��ل ا �� ��ج�ا �‬ ‫َ ي ٍل ي‬ ‫و ر ح‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫ي ن‬ ‫نن‬ ‫�����ا �‬ ‫���ي� � �����ا د ا �ل��د � او �م�ا �����عر�� ا ���‬ ‫يح‬ ‫َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫نْ َ َ ْ َ َ‬ ‫���يجنب��� � او � ْ��م��يرا �‬ ‫ا �ع�يج ن��� � او ���ي� ن��� � او ��‬ ‫َ �َ‬ ‫ح‬ ‫���د �ود ا ��نُ�� ا �ي�معر �و�ُ��معْ�ص ا �� ��ج�ا �‬ ‫�م ن� �‬ ‫و‬ ‫رر ح‬ ‫� او �ّم ن ا ��ل������ �ع�نْم�ده ����د ا ره �و�����ا �‬ ‫� َنل َ‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ح‬ ‫َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ي�ْ��س� ا �ن�ّ��� �ن ن���ج�� �م ن د � �� �ن�م�� �َو را �‬ ‫� يو‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ح‬ ‫ا ْ يَ‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ورا د ��َمعّ�م�� ��مع�م� �م �و�ه� ��م� ا ���م��را �‬ ‫�‬ ‫وٍ و‬ ‫ح‬ ‫ند ا ك َ ������عر �َ�ي�نَب�ّ�من�� �ل��ل�ّ��ا نَ��نج�ا �‬ ‫�ني‬ ‫يٍ‬ ‫ح‬ ‫‪١8‬‬

‫‪١،٧‬‬

‫‪٥،٧‬‬

‫‪١٠،٧‬‬

‫‪١٥،٧‬‬

~7~

To look for kind favors from misers

7.1

is like fertilizing date palms during the harvest Or like boiling hoes to produce broth, milking billy goats instead of camel udders— Who ever heard of milk from testicles? They produce disgusting urine, rank to the taste. Four virtues redound to a man’s reputation: courage, generosity, faithfulness, and probity. Four vices will bring him the utmost contempt:

7.5

avarice, cowardice, deceit, and fornication. Four things send a man into the wilderness until his ribs protrude from his wasted body: A guest room high above the crowd below, with a closed door, unvisited by fine gentlemen; 23 Gaudy clothes worn by an ostentatious fop; long spears brandished with bravura by a sissy; A flintlock, once a proud pigeon gun, emptied of bullets, unable to fire and roar. If your father and your grandfather have worked hard,

7.10

you will have gained joy, contentment, and comfort. Be the first to give the enemy a taste of blood from sharp-edged swords and tawny lances: Thereby gain respite from a foe’s attack, securing the country’s roads for easy travel. Whoever takes a loan to pay off old debts, thinking to balance his accounts and relax, Unaware that he has heaped debt upon debt, only adds to his troubles and will not find rest. He who wishes to rule with his sword in its sheath is like a wingless bird trying to fly.24

١9

19

7.15

‫~~ ‪~~ 7‬‬

‫ّ‬ ‫ُ‬ ‫�ج�ا �‬ ‫��م�ا ��يَ�نج�ا ��ل ا ��ل�ا ا �����َم ن�د ا ن� ا �و ي���ْ�جَي��ن�ي��د ��م�ا ا �ْ��يَ ن�����ا د ي� �م ن� ن��ن ��ّوي���م�ا َ��فن��‬ ‫َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ح‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ � َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ن ن‬ ‫��م��ا �‬ ‫�ي ��و�م ن� ي� �ام���مي���لْ�م��‬ ‫��م�ا ر ي� ��َمعر�و��� � او�ام�هر ن�‬ ‫�م���� ���ه�ا �َمش���ل �معر��� ا ���‬ ‫�‬ ‫ن‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ح‬

‫‪20‬‬

‫‪20‬‬

~7~

Such men will suffer pain without benefit, like Sajāḥ who made no gain from her prophesies: When she joined Musaylimah as his wife, his dowry was to cancel the dawn prayer.

2١

21

‫~‪~8‬‬ ‫��ل���لن �‬ ‫�ج�ا ���جعر �ي�ا ��ج�ا �ن��‬ ‫ا َد ���و‬ ‫ع‬ ‫ٰ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫ا ّلل� لا ��يَ ن�ْج�ل�� ك ن���َ�جيَ�ّ��‬ ‫�َ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫�نّ �‬ ‫�‬ ‫����ط�ا �ي�م�� �م ن� �َ��ب�ي�ن���‬ ‫�‬ ‫ا‬ ‫�لَ�‬ ‫�� �‬ ‫��ْ � ا ��ل�َ�ف�ّ ن ا ن‬ ‫� د ا ر ن�‬ ‫َي��غ ��ط�� ��� �� ن ٍ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ح� � ا دْ �ع� � ا �َّم ن‬ ‫ا ْ ���ط�َ�ل� � او ْر ن�‬ ‫و‬ ‫و‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ي �‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ي‬ ‫�� َ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫� ���ْل��ده ��َ ن�د َ � �مش�� ا ن ل‬ ‫��م ش�����‬ ‫ونَ ي ر� َ �ل‬ ‫��ْ ا � نَ ْ نف ن ُ‬ ‫� �و�ن��وره‬ ‫َي��جن�� �ل�� ر رلي�‬ ‫ح ا�َ ْ‬ ‫َ�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ا�م�ا َي���ْ�غ��� ن� �و�ه�وا� �‬ ‫م��ط��ل ن�‬

‫‪22‬‬

‫َ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫��ا �نجب�َ��ٍ ��ا ��ل��دَ ْر� ا ��� را �‬ ‫ن �ن ن‬ ‫حَ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫�م�د �نج�ل�� �‬ ‫��يَ ن�ْ��ل�� ك ن� �� او �‬ ‫ح‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�ْ�جعرا � �ش�����ا ه ����ع ّرا �‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫ح ي َ َ حَ‬ ‫�‬ ‫�ن‬ ‫�ْجعرا نر ا ��� را �‬ ‫�َم�ش��� اَ�م‬ ‫ل‬ ‫حَ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ن‬ ‫�ع���م�ا ه �و� ْ������ل�� ��ل��ل��م�ا �‬ ‫ح�ي�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�ج���ْل�ي� � ا ��ل َ‬ ‫����عّرا �‬ ‫��م�ا َي��� ي ي��‬ ‫حَ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫� ا د ����ا � او �ن�مي ����ط�ا �‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�و�َم �ر ٍ‬ ‫َ ْ � حَ‬ ‫� ا ْ�‬ ‫��م�ا �‬ ‫� او �ل� �َي����ط��ل� َن���ل��ٍد �‬ ‫ح�ي�‬ ‫ع‬

‫‪22‬‬

‫‪١،٨‬‬

‫‪٥،٨‬‬

~8~

Māni ʿ, say this prayer for my guest:

8.1

“May a viper bite you on the way!” If God wishes to afflict you with evil, He will inflict such a peasant on you. This guest left my roof terrace covered in date pits, like the droppings of fat sheep; 25 With sharp teeth he gobbled up all my dates as fast as a needle stitching leather. I ask, hope, pray, and say “amen”

8.5

that he and his offspring be wiped out. Let his skin be scattered like limestone dust, if it is of no use for making leather thongs.26 Or let his skin be drenched with arsenic and lime, then smoothed by a sharp-edged plane— It will either be ruined, and how I wish it would, or it’ll serve as a decent piece of leather.

23

23

‫~‪~9‬‬ ‫َْ‬ ‫��ّج�ي‬ ‫ا �ن�ا � َ��ب ْ�جع َن��م�نجيف‬ ‫�‬ ‫� ٍر‬ ‫ي �ي�‬ ‫َ شْ‬ ‫ا �ن�ا اآ �� �م ن �ش���� ن‬ ‫ي� ��م�ا ره‬ ‫�ل �‬ ‫ٰ َ‬ ‫ن‬ ‫�ع����ج�ا ه ا ّلل� ��يف��‬ ‫����ي � ن�‬ ‫ع����ل��‬

‫ي‬ ‫� ا ّا دَ ّ ا � �� � نْن‬ ‫ول ر ن�ج‬ ‫�م���ج�ا ر��‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫�َم��‬ ‫����� �م ن� دَ ْر ن�‬ ‫��م�ا �‬ ‫�ولا َر�‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫���� ��َ ن�د كعر ��� �و�ي ي� را �‬ ‫وي َ‬ ‫ي ٍ ح‬ ‫� �َ ْ‬ ‫ْن‬ ‫�َم�� ��� �م� ��ا � ا � �‬ ‫���ط���ل‬ ‫�م��‬ ‫اد� ل ن ع ن ن‬ ‫يَ‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ َ� ْ‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ا‬ ‫��م�ل�� ن� ا ��� ���ن��عر�وا‬ ‫��‬ ‫�‬ ‫ع‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ر‬ ‫ي‬

‫‪24‬‬

‫�‬ ‫�و�ه� �ن�م‬ ‫�َج��‬ ‫�ْ���لنْ� ���ٍط ن� ْ���غ��ط�و�‬ ‫وَ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�َج��‬ ‫�و�ه�و َ��ل�� ن �ر��نج�� � �وْل��ل�و�‬ ‫ي‬ ‫َن‬ ‫ن نَ‬ ‫نْ‬ ‫ُ‬ ‫�َج��‬ ‫��� او �ن�ج�� ��� � ��و�‬ ‫�ي��ودَ َ�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ع‬ ‫ي نْ‬ ‫�ن‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫��و���‬ ‫�َ��� َش��س ن� �ي� را ����� �ي� � �‬ ‫�ْ‬ ‫�‬ ‫�م��‬ ‫�َي�ْ���ط�َ�ل� ��� ���َطب�ع�م�� �م� ُر �و�‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ع‬ ‫ع‬ ‫شْ � ا �ل�‬ ‫�َ ّ �‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�و��� َ�ل�� �ن� ن�جي��� � او �ر�و�‬ ‫����‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ن‬ ‫َْ‬ ‫ي���م�ل�� نَد ْر��ج�ا �� �ن�ْ����طعر�و�‬ ‫�َ���‬ ‫ي َ‬ ‫ُ‬ ‫�� َ ْ ن‬ ‫� او ن�‬ ‫�ج��‬ ‫���� ُر �و�‬ ‫� لي��‬ ‫�ود ا �‬ ‫�‬ ‫ل‬ ‫�‬ ‫ل‬ ‫ي�‬ ‫ي‬

‫‪24‬‬

‫‪١،٩‬‬

‫‪٥،٩‬‬

~9~

I spend the evening working at the well;

9.1

he spends his stretched out on the roof.27 I eat the worst, rotten fruit while he feasts on the choicest dates. May God strike him down suddenly and make his female household wail, Or let a pulley fly off and smash his head on the rim of the well, Or let a bullet fired from a flintlock

9.5

spill his food and his soul. I wish he’d recall our days of old and how adorable he was as a toddler When I carried him at al-Ṭalḥah gate in my arms, soiled clothes and all. When your children have grown up, it is best to keep to yourself.

25

25

‫~ ‪~ ١0‬‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�� ��ي‬ ‫ق� ي� ا �ن�ا �ن�ا ��ل�نج�ا ��� �ع�� ن�‬ ‫�‬ ‫���ا ����ل�‬ ‫ي‬ ‫يٍ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫� ا �م� � ����ا ���َ�جع �ن� �يم��ا ���َته�ا‬ ‫ي �‬ ‫ي ر‬ ‫ي ن �ي� و ٍر‬ ‫ن نْ‬ ‫ْيَ‬ ‫ن‬ ‫�ا‬ ‫�م ن� �ل� �ي����ي�ر �ن ���م َ�د ر � ��� َ����� ��م�ا ر��‬ ‫��ا ��ل�ن �ا �� �م ن �ه ��ل��ل �نم�ي ��من‬ ‫���ا د‬ ‫ن ج � � �و ر ي ��‬ ‫ع‬ ‫ن نَ‬ ‫�‬ ‫� َّ َ‬ ‫���نج�� ���جعرا ن� ��ي� �����ا �ر �ل�ا ��مب�‬ ‫َ�‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫ٍ ع‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫�‬ ‫� َ� ا �� ا ن ن‬ ‫�ن�ا �ل�نم�ا ��� �م ن� َلي �‬ ‫��رم � ن�� �‬ ‫��م�ا �ي���‬ ‫ن نَ ْ‬ ‫ن ي ن ن‬ ‫�م� �‬ ‫����َل�ي��يَم�� ��م�ا د ا �� را ده �عي�معره‬ ‫ا � ن ا نَ � نْ‬ ‫ن َ‬ ‫��هر�م�ا ���َمعَ�م� ��� �ه�و�ش��م��‬ ‫� �و� �ل�م� ��� ��‬ ‫عي‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ي‬ ‫�ن ن‬ ‫ا � ن ا �� � ن‬ ‫�ي���ف�‬ ‫�ر ��� �ن �ن�����م��‬ ‫� �ون� �ل�م� � م� �ه�و َ َ َ ي‬ ‫َْ‬ ‫ش نَ ن ي �‬ ‫�� او �َم ش�����ي ن�ّج��‬ ‫�َ�جَ���ل ��ق�‬ ‫���ا هٍ �ن�ا ��ن� �‬ ‫َّ‬ ‫� �و�ا ��ل�نم�ا ��� �م ن� �ه�و �ي�م�د �ع�� �ن���د �ي�ا �ن�م��‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ن‬ ‫�نَ � ي ن ا �ن‬ ‫�َ َّ ن‬ ‫ن ��ل‬ ‫��ج��د ا���ل� �ي��� ���� ���ٍل �وي ����‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ُ‬ ‫��م�ا � �مو��� ن�ي�ّم�د‬ ‫�ع ن��ده � ار �ع�� ا ���‬ ‫ع ٍ‬ ‫ْن‬ ‫�ن ا � ن ا�ا�ميْ�َ‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�م�د ا ا ��ل‬ ‫�نم�ا ���د �ر ن�‬ ‫���ي � َ �� ن�م�د‬ ‫ع‬ ‫َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ن‬ ‫��‬ ‫��م �ن��عّر �ن�ي��م�ا �م ن� �ع �ري��عر ن�‬ ‫�م�ا ��م�ل�‬ ‫ٍ‬

‫‪26‬‬

‫ا ��لْ �‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫�ي� � او � ��ي�م�ا د �ي� �ن��نُغ��� ���عرا ده‬ ‫��م� ��‬ ‫ْ َ يّ َ يّ ي َ َ‬ ‫�َ ّ‬ ‫� �ش��جع نر ا ن��ل‬ ‫�جعرا ده‬ ‫� �وي�ج�د �� د �ج�� � �و‬ ‫ن َ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫��ج�د ا ك �ش��و�ر ��م�ا �ع�� يل�ج�� �يج�ل�� ده‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫�يُ��و�َ�مع�م � � �� �‬ ‫��م�ا د �� نَ� ��ود ا ده‬ ‫��م�د ي�م� � ٍ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫� او ���َن�� ش�� ��ج�ا �ن�ج�ي�ره َن��ل‬ ‫�‬ ‫�ج�ا �نَ ن�� �� او ده‬ ‫�‬ ‫�� ّ � ّ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫ن‬ ‫��مي��ن� يَ� نر�‬ ‫�َمعر َ���نم�� ا ���ولاده‬ ‫� او � َن�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫ن‬ ‫�ن ن‬ ‫���و �ه�و د �ن�ا ن� ��ج�ا �و�يجب�‬ ‫�ل را ده‬ ‫ع ي‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ� نَ ا � ن‬ ‫���ا � �شَ��ي���ل �ش���د ا ده‬ ‫�صر�ه� ك‬ ‫�و���و �ه�و ��‬ ‫� ع � ا �ْ‬ ‫�م ن ن�ع��ع �ن��ْ�م� �ي��ن�في�ن‬ ‫�م�د ا ده‬ ‫�مر ن� ن‬ ‫� ي ر َ �ٍل‬ ‫َّ ْ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫��� ْ‬ ‫� �م�َورش���م�ا �ي��‬ ‫���ي�ر ر��ج�ا ده‬ ‫جف�‬ ‫َي‬ ‫�� ن‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ح‬ ‫ْ َّ‬ ‫�َم�يجعَ�م����� ٍك �ن�ج�د �ي�ا �َن��يَج�� � او �ْو را ده‬ ‫ن َ � ْ‬ ‫�‬ ‫�ي�ا َ ن���د �ش��مع �ر����َط�� �َمش���ل ن��ا ر�� ا ����م�ا ده‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ا � ا� ْ‬ ‫�‬ ‫��ج� �ل�� ا�َمكعرا ده‬ ‫� او �ل��� �ن�ل�� �‬ ‫ي‬ ‫عٍ‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫ن‬ ‫���و د ا � � يل�ج��ل�� � او �ل�ب�ه�ا �ر ��جن��ا ده‬ ‫م‬ ‫شْ ن�َن ٍّ‬ ‫َ ّ� � ْ‬ ‫ا‬ ‫�‬ ‫��ج� ده‬ ‫�م ��ط�� �َا�جش���ل�� �َ�م���ل � �‬ ‫ح‬ ‫‪26‬‬

‫‪١،١٠‬‬

‫‪٥،١٠‬‬

‫‪١٠،١٠‬‬

‫‪١٥،١٠‬‬

~ 10 ~

Even wise men achieve at best half of their goals.

10.1

other people bumble about, refractory and stupid: Unable to fathom matters they are confronted with, they flail as if shaking locusts from a boxthorn.28 Someone who doesn’t know his true worth blunders blindly like an ox without a halter. Some men scheme and deceive their companion, feigning sincerity and friendly affection— They are like a mirage on a blistering day,

10.5

and conceal trickery, nothing else, in their hearts. Others enjoy hospitality when visiting as guests, but sigh and moan as if in labor when hosts: It is their nature to keep the food all for themselves, and they don’t even let a fly land on their plate.29 Some “brave” men have never entered battle: as soon as they did, they’d be robbed of their mounts, Braggarts with nothing to show for themselves except boasting about the valiant deeds of ancestors; They burn brightly at night like a shrub thrown on the fire,

10.10

then turn to ash in the morn and vanish without a trace. There are some among us who make a show of piety, with strict observance of rites and mumbling of prayers. Duping those who seek their succor as men of God, they stipulate a fee: it’s business as usual.30 For the well-to-do they wield a razor-sharp knife, and fleece the indigent, scraping them clean. Beware of these holy quacks and their treachery, no matter how many days and nights they spend in worship: Woe betide the ignorant fools who inadvertently fall into the traps these impostors have laid for them.

27

27

10.15

‫~~ ‪~~ ١0‬‬

‫ْ‬ ‫�َ ْ‬ ‫� �و�ا ��ل�نج�ا ��� �م ن� �ه�و ��ن� ��و�ي� ن�ل��ل�����ا �ن�م��‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫�‬ ‫ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫ي� ش��صر�� ا �ل��لن�ه�ا �يُ��ود �ي� ا �َ��يه ��ي ن� �و ن�‬ ‫�م�ا ره‬ ‫ر‬ ‫�َ‬ ‫َ�‬ ‫�‬ ‫َْ ي‬ ‫� �ون�ا �ل�نم�ا ��� �م ن� ي��نَ��ه�د �ع���� ن �ه��ل ا ���هرن�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫�‬ ‫� �و�ا ��ل�نم�ا ��� �م ن� �ه�و �ل��ل ن�� او ��ي ن� �ي�جعريل ��‬ ‫��‬ ‫ن‬ ‫َ َي‬ ‫َ ْ َ � � َ ن نْ‬ ‫� �و�ا ��ل�نم�ا ��� �م ن ي ن�‬ ‫�مع�م� ��ل� �ل �ي� َ�د ��َم��‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫� ع‬ ‫نْ‬ ‫ن‬ ‫� ن �يْ‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ن‬ ‫� �وي�� ��ور �ن�ج�� �عي�جعره �وي��مبَ�ج��ل ا ر َره‬

‫‪28‬‬

‫�ا‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫����د ا ده‬ ‫� او �ل� �ن��ن��ا �ن�م�� ����ا ي��َ��ع�م ا ن�‬ ‫ْي َ ّ � ي � ْ ْ‬ ‫�َجن���ل ن�‬ ‫ح��ج�ا ده‬ ‫�َ����رد �ي� ����� ن‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫�� َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ا‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ل‬ ‫� �ه� �‬ ‫هو�ل � او ن���ج��ل �َم���ج� ده‬ ‫�ب �‬ ‫و و نَ � ٍ‬ ‫ن ُ‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫�‬ ‫ج��ا ���� �ن ��ي ��و ي� ا �ْو�ل�ا ده‬ ‫��ي ن�َج�د �ي� ا ن�‬ ‫�� ي‬ ‫يْ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫�ْ‬ ‫�مع�م�ا ��ل�يم�� �و ن�‬ ‫�ج�ا ر�ي�م�� �و��د ا ده‬ ‫نن‬ ‫�َ َ َ‬ ‫� �� �م ا ��ل‬ ‫����م�ا ن� ا �� �ه��ل�ك ��م�ا ن�م�ا ده‬ ‫يو‬

‫‪28‬‬

‫‪٢٠،١٠‬‬

~ 10 ~

Certain men are admired for their eloquence, but their deeds fail to impress the enemy: Relatives and dependents suffer from their blabbering, while their own efforts result in nothing. There are others who accuse their fellows of ignorance though they plumb the depths of stupidity! Some men fend off disasters, like a mighty rampart feeding their guests first, even before their own children, Unlike those who squirrel away what they have amassed from camel transport, trade, or tilling the soil: Others will benefit from their profits on Judgment Day, when they stand naked and their gain turns to loss.

29

29

10.20

‫~ ‪~ ١١‬‬ ‫ا ن ا � ا ���ن‬ ‫ط � ن‬ ‫ا� ا‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ا‬ ‫�‬ ‫د‬ ‫�‬ ‫��‬ ‫م‬ ‫�‬ ‫و‬ ‫ر‬ ‫���� ن� ��م� �م� نح�� َ ي‬ ‫ر‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ن‬ ‫�ش���ٍّ �� �ا �ن �م ن ن � �ا �ن � ا ��م ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ي� َن�ج ي� � َر �م ي� ور ي�‬ ‫َ ْ‬ ‫ا ��� َ�ش�م�ن� ي� �م ن� �ي�ا �َصر �و�ه�ود �ون� َ� ْ���ن��َي���‬ ‫َ‬ ‫نَ ّ‬ ‫َ ّ‬ ‫ا ��مي�ر ي����جع� �م �ون�م�� ا ��مي�ر ��غ�‬ ‫��ن�� ن�‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫طف��نْ‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ن‬ ‫�و����ط�ا �� رد �ي� ا �ل‬ ‫�‬ ‫�م�ا �ل �ع نار � َ��معره‬ ‫َ ي َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ي‬ ‫�‬ ‫��ْ � ن ا َ ّ َ ّ‬ ‫نَ نَ���نم�ا‬ ‫����ط�ا � �ل� د �ر د ر��مع�م‬ ‫��معري �ع���‬ ‫�ي�م�د ا ��� ا �ع��ل� ن‬ ‫���ا �م ن �����م�د �و ن�ْ �‬ ‫و ي‬ ‫�مَ�لن �� او‬ ‫� نَ ي ٍ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫نَ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫�ي�����ط�ا ردَ يْ� �ن ���م�ا ن� َر����� �و�‬ ‫�ي���ل��مع�م‬ ‫َ َ َر‬ ‫ن ي�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫حْ��مب��ه� � �ّ‬ ‫� ا َ نَ ن ا‬ ‫�م�ا ََ���مي���مع�م‬ ‫ا �� �م� ��ر��م�� ن� � م ن‬ ‫� ن ا � ا �ع��ل� ن ْ يَ َ ّ ي ي‬ ‫���ا � او �����هنر� ���ل�و ن���مع�م‬ ‫ور د و ي‬ ‫َ ي نَ ن ا َ ْ ا ي‬ ‫�‬ ‫�و ن�� � �‬ ‫ح ّ ْر�م�ا �‬ ‫�‬ ‫ح��مع�م‬ ‫ن‬ ‫�ي��ل�م� �ه�ل�ه� َ َ ر‬ ‫�ش�ن��ا ند ��ل�م��ل�� ن � ندنْ�َ ي� �ش�� �� ن��ن��ا‬ ‫�‬ ‫يو‬ ‫ي� وَ‬ ‫ن ي َي ٍ‬ ‫نَ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫َْ �‬ ‫�ع ن �ر�ي�نم�ا �ونَ�ي�ن��ا � او �ن�معر�ي� ا �ري� ش��� �م�ا �ن�مع نرا‬ ‫َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�� � ا ّٰ � �� � � ن‬ ‫�� �ن��ن��ا‬ ‫�‬ ‫�م�ا ��ر �ي ��و�م و�‬ ‫َل�ك لل ��و ه�و‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫يَ‬ ‫�ْ��نَ��� �و�ش�� �و�م�� ه��‬ ‫���ل ���ج�ا ��م�� �َ�ي ن����ل��‬ ‫َ��ن �‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ن‬

‫‪30‬‬

‫َ‬ ‫�� �� ا ����َ�م�� ن � دْ �م� ا �� ن نَ� ���ط�� �ن��شم�ا‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ر‬ ‫و‬ ‫ر‬ ‫ي� وع َ ي َ ر‬ ‫��ْ‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ا‬ ‫�ه� او ��ا ه ��ن� �ل�ا ن�‬ ‫ح�� ا �� ن�‬ ‫��مع��ي�ر ��ن�ج� �ر‬ ‫ي ي‬ ‫ّ َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�م�د � د ���م�ا‬ ‫� ا�ا�م�نم�ا ��س� � او �نل‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫و‬ ‫َرد �ي‬ ‫ي ر‬ ‫ن‬ ‫��ج�ا � ��م��ل���� � ��ا �� ��ي�ج��ا ��م�� �ن�ا‬ ‫�‬ ‫ٍر ي ون ي‬ ‫ر‬ ‫ن ا �َ � ي نْ ي ا ي ي ْ‬ ‫���ن�ج�ا‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫� او �� ��ي��ل��ي� �َم����� �م��ٍ �َو‬ ‫ر‬ ‫َ‬ ‫نْ‬ ‫ا ��لن‬ ‫�َ‬ ‫ا‬ ‫ا‬ ‫ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ع‬ ‫ن� ��م�ج� نل� يل�ج��ل و ن �‬ ‫�و�م ر��ج� �ر‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫����ج�ا ا ��ل��دَ � ْ�� ا ا � �م ن ���ج�ا‬ ‫� �ن�ا ��‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫نو‬ ‫�و ن و‬ ‫ر‬ ‫�‬ ‫شَ‬ ‫�ن‬ ‫�ي�ي ا َ َ� نّ‬ ‫ا‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ع‬ ‫ع‬ ‫�‬ ‫��‬ ‫��‬ ‫�‬ ‫ج‬ ‫ج�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫م‬ ‫�‬ ‫ر‬ ‫�َوَ��ج� د � ي و‬ ‫ر‬ ‫َ نْ �� َ ن نَ‬ ‫لفْ‬ ‫�ج�ا‬ ‫�ي��عر�م�� ����ج�ا � �مون� ر�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ع‬ ‫ج‬ ‫ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫ن‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ر‬ ‫ر‬ ‫ح َ‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫م��ا � �ن‬ ‫�ج�ا‬ ‫�م�� ا �� �ن���نم�ا ن�� ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫و‬ ‫ي َ ري‬ ‫�و� ل‬ ‫ر‬ ‫� نْ َ نْ ي ي شْ‬ ‫�َمع�م�ا �م ����ط�ا‬ ‫����ن��� �‬ ‫� �‬ ‫�‬ ‫َم �‬ ‫ر‬ ‫��معر�َ�م�ٍ َ َ‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫� يَ َّ‬ ‫َ� ن‬ ‫ح��ج�ا ��ا ��َمع ا ��ا � ا�ا‬ ‫����ا‬ ‫�‬ ‫م‬ ‫�د‬ ‫�‬ ‫م‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫و‬ ‫ر‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ر‬ ‫ر‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫�‬ ‫ا ��‬ ‫�َ ن ا � � ا‬ ‫��ا �� �م�ا �ن�ا ن�� ا ن�ل‬ ‫�‬ ‫ا �ن� ا ل �‬ ‫�م��ح �و���ط� �ر‬ ‫َّ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�ٍ �ش�ا‬ ‫ن ا‬ ‫�جن �� ��� �ن�ج�� ن�ع‬ ‫�‬ ‫ح ر‬ ‫���ج� �ٍر � و ٍ ي‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�م ْ�د ��ّ��� ���ن��� ْ�ع�ج�ا‬ ‫َ�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�و�يرم�ي� ن� َري ن ي ر ي ر‬ ‫‪30‬‬

‫‪١،١١‬‬

‫‪٥،١١‬‬

‫‪١٠،١١‬‬

‫‪١٥،١١‬‬

~ 11 ~

A sudden shock upset me, deprived me

11.1

of sleep, and made my eyes drip with tears. This epoch of dread surprises rips my soul apart with terror: I fell in with an undeserving leader, born of base parentage and dodgy lineage, An inept commander, an “emir fettered in iron,” a shame that condemns him to the fires of Hell.31 I joined his raid, cajoled by the rotten bastard,32

11.5

driven by the needs of my family and little ones. We went to rob Qaḥṭān, may they fall on evil days, advancing by night as the stars lit our way. They saw us from afar, raised the alarm, mobilized, and marched on us like swarms of locusts. Our horsemen clashed lances with their cavalry and sparks flew as the sabers clanged. They feigned retreat, then a hidden reserve surged and with a howl they rose up like a wave. They took heart from seeing us overwhelmed,

11.10

massacred our raiders while I stood by, powerless. Our horsemen fled on foot, dragging their lances, crestfallen, like scattered pigeons.33 Our chiefs were killed; humbled, we returned barefoot, stripped naked as fate had decreed. We went on the raid but the coward shirked the task: he sat with folded wings, like a lice-ridden raptor.34 I swear to God, had he been with us in battle on that grim day when fate lurked in the swirling dust, He would have wavered and pissed himself, and shat copiously in his pants from fear,35

3١

31

11.15

‫~~ ‪~~ ١١‬‬

‫ن‬ ‫َد �� يل�ج��ل ن�م�ل�� �ي ��و� ي� ش���ج�ا ��َم�د ��َ�جيّ���‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ٍم‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ي‬ ‫� ��ش �� ���م�ا ي�م�� ا � ��نه�ل��‬ ‫�� ا‬ ‫�و�ه�و �مك� ا�م�د � �و � ي�‬ ‫��َ �َ ْ َ ا ا� ن ن �� ا ّ �� َ‬ ‫�� �وي�ج��‬ ‫�ول �ن� �ول � �‬ ‫ا � �جع�م�ه� ��صر� �‬ ‫م‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫يَ�ن ّ ��‬ ‫َ‬ ‫� � ن �� عْ‬ ‫�َ‬ ‫ل‬ ‫�‬ ‫ا‬ ‫ه‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�د‬ ‫�‬ ‫�ص‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫رو وو ي �ل‬ ‫�مي�ر ن ج ن ي�‬ ‫ني‬ ‫��َ � َ ا �نْي‬ ‫ا‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫م‬ ‫ع‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫م�‬ ‫�‬ ‫م‬ ‫�‬ ‫ا � �ع� د �م� ا �َ�� ن� � ي ٍم و�م مر‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ي يَ ْ يَ � ا ي‬ ‫���ب�ي��ن���‬ ‫�َ�����م�ب�معر �و�ل� �ي�معر��� �َص ار ��ي� َ�‬ ‫ن ا�َ‬ ‫�ا َ‬ ‫�ي يَ َّْ‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ا‬ ‫ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫ا‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ا‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫م‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫د‬ ‫��‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫س� و�ل‬ ‫َ���ن�� � ي �و �‬ ‫�ل‬ ‫ن‬ ‫�َ ّ � َ‬ ‫ْ ْ‬ ‫ُ‬ ‫� او ن�‬ ‫ح��َم�د ي� �ن�ا ��ل��د �وره �ون���ج ن��� َ� ��ي�شي�ي���‬ ‫ي‬ ‫��شف�� ن � َ ْ ن � � ن ��لن َ‬ ‫�َم�ي�ر � ن�ّم��‬ ‫� �م�ل� ��ي ن�م َ�د �ل م� ا �‬ ‫َ �يمف�‬ ‫حٍ‬ ‫ا �� �نَ�� � ��ل��ل��‬ ‫� د ا � ��جع�ّم ��ا ��ل�شَج ن��ا‬ ‫� و� ن و و‬ ‫ن‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫َش‬ ‫�ّ ن ا� ن � �ن ن � ن‬ ‫ا ��ف� �م� ا��جب�� ��‬ ‫���م�� ا ���نْ���د ا‬ ‫�‬ ‫طو� �ي� ��‬ ‫م‬ ‫ح‬ ‫ش‬ ‫ن‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫�‬ ‫� �‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ف‬ ‫ط‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ن‬ ‫� او ��ف�‬ ‫� �م� ا �لن� ��و��� �ع� � او � � ا �ل�َم�د ا‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ح‬ ‫ح‬ ‫ن َ َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�َم�ا ا ّٰلل� �م ن ��مع ن ��م�� ��م� �عي�مل���‬ ‫��م‬ ‫ر‬ ‫ر‬ ‫ي‬ ‫�‬ ‫ر‬ ‫�‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ع �‬ ‫م‬ ‫َ ْ يَ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ن ن‬ ‫ن‬ ‫�مَ�د ْ‬ ‫�َي��� ن ن�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�ه��ل �نَ���ل َ�ع ْر��ي� �ي��ا ا ���م�ب�‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫ن �َ‬ ‫َ نَ‬ ‫ْ ن َي‬ ‫ج�ا �لي� ي� َ�عر��ي� � ن�َ���ل �م ن� ��ج�ب� ي�‬ ‫� ي‬ ‫َ �ّن‬ ‫�� ��‬ ‫ا� َ‬ ‫يَ � ا‬ ‫ا‬ ‫�‬ ‫ا‬ ‫�‬ ‫د‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫د‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ع‬ ‫�‬ ‫� ��� َ ي ن� و َر �‬ ‫�ر�� ا �ل� ����ل ن�� ٍن‬ ‫ن ا ن ن َن َّ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫ا نَ��� �ع نْ���ك �َم�د �‬ ‫ح�ي� �‬ ‫���ع ��ي� �ع�ي�ر ��ي�ر‬ ‫ل‬

‫‪32‬‬

‫َ ّ‬ ‫نا‬ ‫ا � يَ ا‬ ‫�و�ه�و �ن� � �����م� �و�ي� �م� ر��ٍ� كعرا �ر‬ ‫َْ‬ ‫���م�� � ��ا ��ل�ي��ا �� ن�� �ي �ْ ا‬ ‫�ي� �َ ل نو‬ ‫ي� َ� ي‬ ‫��� ��ع�م� �ر‬ ‫يَ ي ا �‬ ‫َ ا‬ ‫ي �‬ ‫��معر�� �� �ي� � �� �و�م�� �ع� يل���� ��جي�� �ر‬ ‫�َ��ن� ��م�ا �م ���ْ�مع� �مي �ع��ل�م�� � � ا‬ ‫ٍر َي َ � ي و‬ ‫��� �ر‬ ‫ن ��‬ ‫� ا نْي � ا � ن � ا � يْ ش ا‬ ‫�و �ل� ا ��َ�� ن� ����م� �ل��ي� ا �ل�� ��و�ل ����م� �ر‬ ‫َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫� ا‬ ‫�َّود �و�ه�َّود ��ا ند �� يل�ج��ل ا ن��ل‬ ‫��‬ ‫�ج� �ر‬ ‫يَ‬ ‫َ �ْ َ �‬ ‫َ َّ ن ا� ْ ا‬ ‫ا � ��ي��� �ل�� ا �‬ ‫��ج��ٍل �ن�ي�� اَ�م��جن�� �ر‬ ‫�ا �‬ ‫ا‬ ‫ا‬ ‫ن�‬ ‫�م�د �وده �َن�ي�م� ����ي�ٍر �و�ل� �ل�� �� �ر‬ ‫� � ش ّ َ نّ �ي‬ ‫���ن‬ ‫ش‬ ‫ا‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ا‬ ‫��‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫��‬ ‫�و�ل�ل���معر �ن�م�د ا �ر َ � ي �‬ ‫ن �ر‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫نَ نْ‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ا‬ ‫ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫�َو���م� �وي���� � ������م�� �ل�لَرد �� �َ��ج�د ا �ر‬ ‫ا �� � ا ن���ي�م�� �َ ّ � ن � ا ْ ا‬ ‫� وَ‬ ‫�م�د ا � ������ط� �م �ع����� �ر‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ن‬ ‫� نَ ��‬ ‫�ْجع�م ا ��ي��َ ����ب� ن ا‬ ‫��َ‬ ‫�عر ن�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ا ��‬ ‫و‬ ‫ع ��ج� �ر‬ ‫ي نَ‬ ‫��ا ن ��َ�ْم ن� � ا �� َ ا �ْ‬ ‫ن‬ ‫�و�م� ك�� � ي ن �ي� ن� ���ي�� �ر ن‬ ‫�م�د ا �ر‬ ‫�ع� � َ�م ْ�د � �ص ن ن� � � ن‬ ‫ش ا‬ ‫��� ح ر �‬ ‫�و�لٍ ن���مي�ر ا �����م� �ر‬ ‫ن ا � ْ ن ي َ نّ‬ ‫�م� �ل�� �َم�� �‬ ‫��مع� �موي�م�� �و�‬ ‫ق�َ��� ن��عرا �ر‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ّ نَ ّ � َ ّ � َ نّ‬ ‫ا‬ ‫ن � ش� ي ل‬ ‫ا‬ ‫�ج�ل� ����ك � ��� ا � ن� �ي� � نل�ج�د �ر‬ ‫�َ‬ ‫�� ن‬ ‫�� ن ْ � ا‬ ‫���ا ��ن� نَ��� ا ��ن��‬ ‫�و�ر �ع ��ط� �ر‬ ‫�مك� � ع ي ي ن‬

‫‪32‬‬

‫‪٢٠،١١‬‬

‫‪٢٥،١١‬‬

‫‪٣٠،١١‬‬

~ 11 ~

A despicable poltroon who shirks battle, but struts and swaggers among the coffee cups; He is like a feisty mare amid a group of thoroughbreds, but his loud neighs are a donkey’s bray: At first the faker cleared his throat for a battle cry, but in the end he just shrieked and yelled. He first picked ʿAmr and Wāyil as his ancestors, then added ʿĀmir to the mix for greater luster. In truth your lineage is neither Timīm nor ʿĀmir,

11.20

and there is not the slightest trace of high birth. Sober up and stop your ludicrous pretensions: beat it and calm down, you useless wimp! I scrutinized works of genealogy but they yielded no incontrovertible proof in support of his claims. Then, after an eager search, I think I found the clue: I traced him to a mongrel breed with no prestige. For this miser a single grain is too much generosity, though the niggard sows evil profligately. Any munificence and ambition that stir in him

11.25

are spoiled by the whisperings of his soul. He clutches his food more fiercely than a toddler with stomach cramps after being weaned, Or a bird with chicks to feed who must be sparing with dew drops, when Aldebaran announces the end of moisture.36 May God blight those who sow seeds on fields with no water; it’s like building a wall on the edge of a sandy precipice. Alas, in ignorance I sang his praises before I knew, wasted my laudations on an undeserving nobody. If only I had been aware of his base origins and his uncle’s butcher’s shop before he got my praises. A man’s roots make for good or bad, as the quality of grain is determined by the seed. My eulogies were wasted on that miscreant, like perfume sprinkled on the bosom of an old hag.

33

33

11.30

‫~ ‪~ ١2‬‬ ‫ن نْ‬ ‫ْ َيَ‬ ‫نّ ُ‬ ‫�ي�ا د ا ا ��يَت�ه�م �َ�م��ي� ن��‬ ‫�وا ن�ٍ َي� ش���ج��ر��‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ن ن ن‬ ‫�م�ا د ���ْ�م�يم�� ن�‬ ‫�م ن� ن�‬ ‫�م�ا د ��ي� �ه�د ا �ود ا‬ ‫ي َ �ْ َ � ن نُ � ٍّ‬ ‫�م�د � او �‬ ‫َ������ل�����ل� او �م� � ��و ن�‬ ‫�م�د‬ ‫ح‬ ‫ش‬ ‫�يَل��ْل�ي� ا ن ��ل‬ ‫���م�ا ��م�� �م ن َ��فن��‬ ‫�َمعْرهي �و�‬ ‫�م َ�د ه‬ ‫�‬ ‫��‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫ْ� َ‬ ‫نَ� ْ � ��� ن‬ ‫ا� ا‬ ‫طو ا َ�‬ ‫�ي����ط��ل� �ن��ه�م � �� �‬ ‫ل��د �و ن� ا�م� ��معر‬ ‫ع‬ ‫ش ا ن � يْ ش نّ‬ ‫�‬ ‫�و�م ن ا ن�ل‬ ‫�‬ ‫�جع�م�ا ��م�� ���ج�ي ��‬ ‫�ف�‬ ‫�‬ ‫� َ�م ��� ي‬ ‫�‬ ‫ح‬ ‫َح‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫� ي ا‬ ‫ش‬ ‫ا �� �َم����� �ن�ا �ل����و�� ا �ل�ه ��ج��ل�ْود‬ ‫ع‬ ‫�مفيْ�َ َّ‬ ‫� �م ن ا ن ��ل‬ ‫���ج�ا‬ ‫���ا ��م�� َ �‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫م‬ ‫��ع�م�ل�‬ ‫ٍل‬ ‫و�‬ ‫ُ‬ ‫� نَ‬ ‫ن‬ ‫��ي��ن� دَ �ّو�ر ن��ي���يم��‬ ‫ا � �م�ا �ي�م�د �و�ر ا ���‬ ‫َّ‬ ‫� �� ن‬ ‫���ه�م ���� او هي ا ��ل��د �ي��ك ر نرهي َ�ع�نْجب�يه��‬ ‫و‬ ‫� نْي ن‬ ‫�� َ‬ ‫� ا ��ا � ن‬ ‫�و�م ن ا ن��ل‬ ‫م�ي�� ن� ا�َا�ق�َ �� ن�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�مع�م� ��م�� ك�� ��� ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫ح‬ ‫��نّ ا �� ن ّ ن ش ا َ ْ � ْ � يَ‬ ‫���� ا � ��‬ ‫����ي��� ���م� �ل�� �‬ ‫��� �َ�‬ ‫��طن ���‬ ‫ي ٍل نع‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫� ا � � ن �� ن ّ‬ ‫�و�م ن ا ن��ل‬ ‫غ ���ط ن���َمع �ر�ي ن�م��‬ ‫ع‬ ‫م‬ ‫�‬ ‫م‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫م‬ ‫�‬ ‫م‬ ‫ي‬ ‫�ََ‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ٰ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ج ْ�د �ي� ��ج�د � ن ا ّلل� د � ن �ن�ج�ا‬ ‫د‬ ‫�‬ ‫ر‬ ‫ي ٍ�‬ ‫�َي� َر ن ي �‬ ‫َ ْ‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫ن‬ ‫م�ه�م ����ل�� �ي� ��م��ل�و��م�� �ن��عر�يم��‬ ‫�و�� �‬ ‫ٍ‬

‫‪34‬‬

‫ْ �ُ �‬ ‫ش‬ ‫�َ�جش���ل ا �ل�� �ل او ���و �م ن� ��جب�ي ��ود �َ�ي�نْج��را‬ ‫ٍ ي‬ ‫�ْ‬ ‫�َ ْ‬ ‫�‬ ‫ح‬ ‫�َج��ل�� ��م�ا ���� ن� ��َوْر ش� َ ن�‬ ‫� او�ا��عر ن�‬ ‫�معرا‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫�‬ ‫�َ‬ ‫� ّ َ‬ ‫�َجعٍر �و��جنْ�ٍ�د � او �َرد �ي� ا � نل�مي�����َجعرا‬ ‫�منْ ْ ي ّ ْ‬ ‫�وْ����طن �� ��ن�ه�م َ�‬ ‫�جيَ���َل�نه��ٍ َرن �ي� �يج�د را‬ ‫و‬ ‫نَ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ْ�‬ ‫� ُ‬ ‫�َّود �ع�نج�ا �ن�ج�� �ي����طعَ�صرا‬ ‫� �و���و ن��‬ ‫��‬ ‫�وحن‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫ّ �‬ ‫�و���ل ا � ن�� او ��ي ن� ��ي�يّجب�ي��� �ع�نت�ه�ا �ورا‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ن � َيْ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ي�‬ ‫�ع ن� ��ا ��طر �ي���َن�‬ ‫�� ن� �� ��ط�ا �ن�� �م�ا د ر��‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫ا � نَ ن ا يَ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ن‬ ‫����‬ ‫�م�ا � �ا ي �� � �� � ���‬ ‫� �م� �معر��‬ ‫م � ي �وٍم م ي ٍ‬ ‫نْ َ‬ ‫ي � ّ‬ ‫ا ه ا ���‬ ‫�د �ي�م�د كعرا‬ ‫��‬ ‫�‬ ‫�د‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫و ه�و ����و َ�� َ ٍ َ‬ ‫�نْ َ‬ ‫ن ن � نَ � ن‬ ‫� ن�جعرا‬ ‫��م�ا را � �ل�� ر �و�ل �ن ��َ��ب�ْ�ج��ل َي‬ ‫َ ٍ‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫�م�يْ�فَ�ن ي ْ َ‬ ‫ش‬ ‫َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫َ ن�‬ ‫�ْجَ��ر ي���ف�� ن� � �� �و� ن�ج�� �م ن� �ورا‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫نّ ن ن ّ ش ا ��لَُّ‬ ‫ا � ���‬ ‫���معرا‬ ‫�ه�و �م� د ر� ا�� �َمب� رَي����‬ ‫ا ن ّ� � َ‬ ‫��ن� ا ��ل��دي� ن� ����و �ه�و �م� ي�‬ ‫�َغ��ط �و�ل�ا �ي�عرا‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ٰ‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫�� ا� ا � ا ن ْ َ‬ ‫� او لل� ��ج�ل �م ��ج� ه�و �‬ ‫��جع�ص ار‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫� عَ �َّي ا �‬ ‫ا ن نْ َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫� ن�جعرا‬ ‫��َج�م� �ل� ��م� �ل� ���� ٍ� َي‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫‪34‬‬

‫‪١،١٢‬‬

‫‪٥،١٢‬‬

‫‪١٠،١٢‬‬

‫‪١٥،١٢‬‬

~ 12 ~

Listen to my verses of wise counsel, in such high demand,

12.1

like prized pearls unstrung from a necklace. Poise in conduct and bearing is what makes for excellence; chivalry and virtue do not depend on inherited position. We all descend from Noah, our common ancestor: nobles, slaves, and lowly folks without pedigree. Though all people stem from a single tree, their characters differ, as ordained by the Lord. One may turn out to be a cunning, inveterate liar,

12.5

who bucks like a stallion against tightly held reins. The self-important man fancies himself quite a shaykh until trouble starts; then he makes himself scarce. For fear of being buttonholed by a would-be guest, in the alleyways he creeps along the walls and hides. Strong men shoulder the burden of their kin: every day they serve supper to a guest; Visitors do not look around but head straight for his house, as if to a famous well where the water gushes incessantly. Some walk like a rooster craning its neck,

12.10

but they’re never seen dashing out to do valiant deeds. Others strut proudly, trailing the hems of their robes, and remind me of a bloated spiny-tailed lizard: 37 Puny men think they support the seven spheres, unaware that they are as light as a sparrow’s feather. One man pretends to be of eminent rank and religious dignity, though unable to write or read, Falsely donning the mantle of faith, though God knows well what he truly harbors. Others play it safe, toadies of dubious repute, fickle and capricious, held in no esteem:

35

35

12.15

‫~~ ‪~~ ١2‬‬

‫َ‬ ‫�َ َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫�ج��ل�ن� � او ��� ي�‬ ‫ا �� �‬ ‫ط�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�ه�ن��� �يج�ا ��ل‬ ‫َ ي‬ ‫ع‬ ‫َ� نَ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫���م�ا‬ ‫�و�م�نت�ه� ���ع�مي���لي�ن��� ��ن�جي�ر �‬ ‫�و �‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫م‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ي‬ ‫�ون�ي�ب�ه� �م ن� َ��‬ ‫���نّ��� د �جي���ل�� َ��ن�ب��م��‬ ‫م‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫�‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫َ ْ� ن �‬ ‫ا َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫� �ون����‬ ‫�و� �ل�� �‬ ‫ل��ر��م�� �و�ل� �ي�ج�د � �‬ ‫�ي�ج�د �‬

‫� ا ن ��ا نَ���� �ا ه �ن�ْ � ا ّ � ن‬ ‫مر ��‬ ‫هو ا �ل��و�ل �م���مع�م‬ ‫و� ن‬ ‫� ّ � ن ْ‬ ‫�معر� �� ا ن�‬ ‫ح��ج�ا �ع�يم��‬ ‫�يَو����د ا �� �م� ا � َ ن و‬ ‫� َ ْ‬ ‫� �‬ ‫�ما ��ل�� را � ��م�ا �ل�� �‬ ‫��ج���ل‬ ‫�َم��‬ ‫� ��و �ل�ا ر ن�‬ ‫ح‬ ‫�يَ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ن‬ ‫�َو� ���شي� ي� �ن�ا ���َ�منْ��د ا � �ع ن�ْ��دٍ ن�ي�ّج�د‬ ‫�َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫� ٍّ ا �‬ ‫�و� ��ي�شي� ي� �ن�ا �ل�ا�‬ ‫�معرا �ر �َ�عر �ن� ���ج��ل‬ ‫�يَ ي َ ّ �يَ �ْ ن ْ‬ ‫� �و ���ه�� �‬ ‫م��� ��معُر�ّوه‬ ‫ح�ي� ا � ���م�ل ن� � ي‬ ‫َ ي‬ ‫َ‬ ‫� ي َ نّ‬ ‫مو ي� �ش�ل�� �ش�ج��‬ ‫� ��و اَ���ج��� ��ج�ا ي�� �‬ ‫ا �� ن ��َ ن�ب � ن����ْ � � ��‬ ‫� �ر�جع� ن�����ا ��ل��‬ ‫ل��‬ ‫�‬ ‫��جَ�معر ن َ �ج�ل� � ا �‬ ‫و ي م‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫���م�ا ��م�� �ع ن‬ ‫� ��ا ��ي ا ن ��ل‬ ‫��ي ��و�ن� �ن ��ي�َمع �ر�م��‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫نو �‬ ‫م‬ ‫ي‬

‫‪36‬‬

‫َ‬ ‫��ْ ّ ن � ا � � ْ � � �‬ ‫ل��ط�� ��م�ا ي� ْ���� َ�د را‬ ‫�ول���ي����� �ن� �ل�ل���ج� �‬ ‫نَ‬ ‫� ْ‬ ‫�ا‬ ‫ق� ن� �ل�ا �َ�ي�شجعَ�صر �ولا �ن�ي��ج�ا د را‬ ‫�ل� �� ي‬ ‫ْن َ‬ ‫ّ � � ا � َ نَ‬ ‫������ا �م�ا َي� �‬ ‫ح��عرا‬ ‫َد ن� ا �ل� يل��� �ي� ��‬ ‫�و‬ ‫ن ْ يْ‬ ‫�َ َ َ شَ‬ ‫�� � ����ن‬ ‫� او �� �‬ ‫��َمعرا‬ ‫�ه� �َي����‬ ‫���� � �‬ ‫�ل و ٍر � م‬ ‫نْ‬ ‫� ْ َ‬ ‫نَ ْ‬ ‫�� ن� �ع��� َد �ي�نم�� �و��م�ا �ل�� َي���� ش����عرا‬ ‫�ع‬ ‫� ٍ �‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫َ � �‬ ‫ط�ن� ا �و ا ��ل‬ ‫�َ���م�ا ��َييي�فن��‬ ‫�ي��عّ�م ا � ��َي���� ي �‬ ‫�َجعرا‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫ٍّ‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫�ودَ �ي�م ه دَ �ي� �َ�جش��� دَ �ي� ا �ّم ا �نل‬ ‫�‬ ‫�جعرا‬ ‫و‬ ‫َل‬ ‫نْ َ‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫���ل ا�ا��َمع ار ن� �ن �‬ ‫َه��‬ ‫�ه�ن��� �َي�ج�د ��‬ ‫��را‬ ‫�م��ل �ي� َي� ي‬ ‫َْ ن َ ن �‬ ‫ْ َي‬ ‫�� ��‬ ‫���� � ���‬ ‫� � ��و ��ي ن�م�ا � َوي� ش���م��ر��‬ ‫َي �و� ي ٍ‬ ‫ع‬ ‫َ ْ � � شَ‬ ‫ْي‬ ‫�ن‬ ‫� او ��ل‬ ‫�‬ ‫�نَ���ل �م�ا َي���م��ي���ك �م ن� ر ��� ن� ا �ل��ر�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫َ يَ‬ ‫َي‬ ‫� �و�ا ��ي� ا ن��ل‬ ‫�‬ ‫�ي� ��معر��‬ ‫�مع�م�ا ��م�� � �م �وَ��ه�م ��‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫شْ‬ ‫نَ ّ‬ ‫� َ ن َ�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�ج��ل�� �َم��� َه�‬ ‫� او �ل��� ي�‬ ‫���ٍل �ن�ي�� ا � ��ور��‬ ‫�‬ ‫ي�‬ ‫�ْ‬ ‫� شَ‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ْ���‬ ‫����َمع ا ����َمع ا �� ��ا ن �ل‬ ‫�����ا ��م�� ا ����عرا‬ ‫�َو ر ر ي� ن‬

‫‪36‬‬

‫‪٢٠،١٢‬‬

‫‪٢٥،١٢‬‬

~ 12 ~

If they volunteer an oath, they break their vow as they jibber-jabber incessantly. Some men are like an untended palm: its basin is wide, but it bears no fruit and provides no shade, Unlike small date palms, easy to tend, that need no one to hoe their basin at night. Such men are not invited to a wedding feast, nor are they summoned when council is held; Pushovers when it comes to tribal dues,

12.20

always the first forced to “cough up.” When their people are at war, they leave on business, toward al-Qaṭīf or al-Aḥsāʾ, to do a little trading: Without their fellows, they’d give up their all for peace, and be beaten viciously like a cur. Among slaves you will find men of accomplishment, second to none in feats of bravery, Whereas among the noble born some are devoid of value, worth only a pittance should they be bought or sold. Chivalrous virtue is to be found among the sincere of heart: the callous won’t even let you squeeze water from moist earth. If I could make a wish, I’d ask that three types of men never die— for the rest I do not care; let them die in peace: The knight of valiant deeds, the generous spender, the mediator who helps people resolve their disputes. The rest of the people are idle loiterers: of no more use than broken handles on a bucket.

37

37

12.25

‫~ ‪~ ١3‬‬ ‫� َْ‬ ‫�َ ن‬ ‫ا�‬ ‫�م ٍ�د ��من������و ��ٍط �و�م��ي�ّ�ب��‬ ‫�‬ ‫َْ‬ ‫�‬ ‫�ل�ا ن�‬ ‫�م�ا �م ن� ا �ل����و�ي� ��مبن�ه��ل��َد �‬ ‫م‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫� �ْ�ي َ ن ٍ ا � ْ ن‬ ‫��م�َ�معر �َو ن�‬ ‫ح��َم��‬ ‫يل�ل��� ��م�د ر َي‬ ‫ي �‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫ش‬ ‫�م�ا �ي ��و�م �م�ا �ل ي� �َو��� َ�ع�نم َ�د ك‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫ا ش َ ْ‬ ‫� �ي�نمب�َ� ي� �ن�م��‬ ‫ا ن� ن�‬ ‫�م� ه � �‬ ‫��و�ي‬ ‫ن َْ‬ ‫��َمن���ه��ي ن�ع�� �ن�م��‬ ‫� او َ���دٍ �ع�نم�ده �‬ ‫�َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�ْمَ��‬ ‫ي� ْ���مع َ�م� َ� ّ����� �م ن� �ن�ا �نم‬ ‫�‬ ‫ل‬ ‫��‬ ‫�‬ ‫ع‬ ‫ي يَ َّ َ ن ش يْ َ‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫� ���م��ل� ��ق���� ��مع�م �‬ ‫��مع �‬ ‫��‬ ‫ن ي‬ ‫َرم‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�ّ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫ن ي ٍ‬ ‫ا �ل�ا �و��مب� د ا � ش����عرا �ش��هي�ن���‬ ‫ع‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ن‬ ‫� او �ي�ا ��ج�د �ي� � او �ي�ا د �ي��ك‬

‫‪38‬‬

‫�ن‬ ‫نْ‬ ‫ا��‬ ‫�ل د ا ره‬ ‫�ي� َه���ل � �و�َي�جب�َ��ع�م ي‬ ‫َ‬ ‫َْ‬ ‫�يل��ل�ي�� ��ل�� د ّرهي ��م‬ ‫�ّج�ا ره‬ ‫َ‬ ‫َ �‬ ‫ي‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�ْج�� ��جعّ�م�� �ه�و � او ���‬ ‫َ ن�‬ ‫��د ا ره‬ ‫ي�‬ ‫َْ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫�َي�معر ن���� �ن�ا ي������ا ره �و�ع���م�ا ره‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ش َّ َ نّ‬ ‫� او ن� ��م�ا ن�‬ ‫���ا ����ي� ����د ا ره‬ ‫نْ �َ‬ ‫َ ْ �َ َ‬ ‫�ّوا ره‬ ‫ا �����ط��ل �م ن� �عن����ط��ل ن��‬ ‫�َ ن‬ ‫�ْ �‬ ‫���نّج�� ��ي� را ��� اَ�ام�نغ���ج�ا ره‬ ‫�‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ح‬ ‫�َم�� �ن� ن�ْغ ���ٍط � �و�ي�م�� ن��‬ ‫�ه ْر ن�‬ ‫�م�ا ره‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ْ َ‬ ‫يَ َ ي �‬ ‫ا �ش����ي� ن� �م ن� � ن�ْمب�هْره ا ���ن�ج�ا ره‬ ‫ّ ْ‬ ‫���ا � ك‬ ‫ا‬ ‫�وا ره‬ ‫� رن �ي� ن ن��‬ ‫�ي� ن� ر‬

‫‪38‬‬

‫‪١،١٣‬‬

‫‪٥،١٣‬‬

‫‪١٠،١٣‬‬

~ 13 ~

One man enjoys a life of ease and comfort,

13.1

eating at home to his heart’s content. If he enters his house with a frown, his eyes are livened by a pearl: The sight of a young lady’s uncovered face, enough to dispel worries and cares. She would never ask, “What have you brought with you?” as serene in affluence as in times of need. She does not complain if he brings home but little,

13.5

and she excuses him for being empty-handed.38 One man has a savage hyena at home, a brutish thief forever ready to pounce Whose yelp is heard by the men as they meet in the house, as loud as a watchman shouting from the tower. She rolls her eyes in fury and snarls, and unleashes on him a torrent of abuse. Her foul temper matches her horrible face, more ominous than the dust of battle. Can you imagine two things further apart? May our Lord grant you His protection.

39

39

13.10

‫~ ‪~ ١4‬‬ ‫� َ ْ� ا �� ن‬ ‫ي � �ش ا‬ ‫��ل‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫��مع�م‬ ‫�ي�� ��و�ل ا �ل����� �عر ا��ن� ر َ � ي‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫� ا � �َي ن��� َ��ع�م�� �م ن �ه� ند ����� ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫� و َ ي�‬ ‫ن��و ن ٍ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫نَ‬ ‫ح��مب�ه�� ن‬ ‫�ْ ي� �و� ْ ي� ��ا �� ن��ا �� ا ن�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ� �ر َ ر ن � َ ي�‬ ‫ش ن �‬ ‫ْ ن �� ن‬ ‫ا� �‬ ‫��و�� ا � ن��ا ��� �َ�م�د � او � ا َنل�� ي�م�ل�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ّ �‬ ‫� نْ ي‬ ‫�‬ ‫�ي�ا �لي� ي� ا �َرر�� ���ل�� �ل�� �‬ ‫ل�� ار �م‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫�َ َ ْ‬ ‫�و ��‬ ‫��م َ�ش�م�ن� ي� ا � ن����ه�د ر نر�يم�� �ين�� �� �وي�م��‬ ‫َ َ َ‬ ‫ّ �ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫ن يَ ْ‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�م��ا ده‬ ‫ع‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫م‬ ‫ر‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�و����� ��� ن ي ي ن‬ ‫�َ‬ ‫�م�ا ك ا ���� ��ل��د ��ا ��م�د ��م�� ����ط�� ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫ا�‬ ‫ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫و ني ي‬ ‫ي�‬ ‫�يَ � ن ا � ا ا ن� ن ن ن‬ ‫��عر� �ه�د ك م� �ي�‬ ‫�َم�د َر��م�ا �‬ ‫�َ ا � � � ن ْ ي نَ‬ ‫� َي‬ ‫� ن��د ��‬ ‫�و �� ن�� ك ا ���و�ل�د َر�م��ل�و��‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫�ي�ن��ي�جب� �ْور �و ش� ا ����� �ه�و � او ن���وه‬ ‫ع‬ ‫ن نْ‬ ‫ي� ّ ��‬ ‫ن‬ ‫�َ‬ ‫ا‬ ‫��‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ا‬ ‫ا‬ ‫�‬ ‫��د ر ي� د �ي ن� �َغ�ط ع�م�ده‬ ‫َْ‬ ‫� ا �� ��ا ك ا ��ل�ا �م�� ن‬ ‫�َ ن‬ ‫�ص َ��� ي���ف�‬ ‫�‬ ‫و� ن‬ ‫ي ر ري � �‬ ‫�َّ‬ ‫ن َنَّ‬ ‫يَ‬ ‫َن‬ ‫���عر�� ��م�د ا َي��ن ���جعر ��م�ا �ي ��و����‬ ‫�َ‬ ‫�َ‬ ‫�م�ا ك ا ��ل�ا �م�� ��م�� ا ��ل‬ ‫�مع�ميّ���‬ ‫�‬ ‫� او �‬ ‫ر‬ ‫ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫ي ن‬

‫‪40‬‬

‫�َ‬ ‫ن � َّ َ‬ ‫�ْ َ‬ ‫�جع�مي�م�د ا � ا�اَمي���جع� �ن�ا ����جي��ا ره‬ ‫م‬ ‫نْ‬ ‫َ ْ� ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫ا‬ ‫�و ش��م���جعٍر ��ي� �����وده � او �م�د ره‬ ‫َ ّ نْ ي �� َ ن ن ن ��لنَ‬ ‫�و�مي�معر� ا ���معرا �ر �م� ا‬ ‫� ن�م�ا ره‬ ‫ن ّ� ن ��‬ ‫�نَ‬ ‫طف ن��� را �ع�� ا ��ل‬ ‫� � ا‬ ‫��‬ ‫�مي��ا ره‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�و�َم�ل � َ ي�‬ ‫�ّ‬ ‫��مع نر� نر � ن ا ��ل�ن�نب� ��و��� نل َه�‬ ‫���ل �ش����ا ره‬ ‫ي ي�‬ ‫�� ن َ ْ‬ ‫ن‬ ‫���ن��� �و�ي�ب� رر�يم�� ن���ن�ج�ا ره‬ ‫�و�� �‬ ‫م عٍ ع‬ ‫� � �َ‬ ‫���ّ �ن � ن‬ ‫عْ����طع� ا ي� ي‬ ‫���د ا ره‬ ‫ا �ل�‬ ‫ئ ن �ل �ي� َ م‬ ‫َ ّ‬ ‫�و��ل�� �ن�َمعْر��� ي�‬ ‫��نب��ر ��ن� ن�‬ ‫��ب�نه�ا ره‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫ي‬ ‫�م�ا �م� �� ن‬ ‫ا ��� �ه�و ن�‬ ‫���ده ن�‬ ‫�ج�ا ره‬ ‫َ � عٍ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ن‬ ‫� �م ن �ن � ا �� ن‬ ‫ش‬ ‫ن‬ ‫���هر�ع�� ��ٍ� ����م�ا ره‬ ‫و � ��و م َ�‬ ‫يَ َّ‬ ‫�‬ ‫�ن�م‬ ‫�جي��� ����ا ���� ش����ي��� ا � ن����ي�ج�ا ره‬ ‫ٍع‬ ‫� � ن ي ي� ي � َ ْ ��‬ ‫� �م�و� ن ��و���م�ط د ا ره‬ ‫�ل�ك ن���� ٍ‬ ‫� نَ نَّ � ا ي ن ا َ ن ن‬ ‫��� � �‬ ‫�وا ره‬ ‫ي���مب�� ��ط �م� �َ��‬ ‫ع� ��ي� ن��‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫�م�ا � �ع�ن��� ا ��ل�ا ا ��ل�ن‬ ‫� ��ل�ا ��ل��‬ ‫ل‬ ‫�‬ ‫ج��ا ره‬ ‫ي‬ ‫و ن ر‬ ‫يْ‬ ‫َْ‬ ‫� �و��شجن��� د �و ن� ن�‬ ‫�م�ا ره �ن�ا ��ي��د ا ره‬ ‫ي ي‬ ‫‪40‬‬

‫‪١،١٤‬‬

‫‪٥،١٤‬‬

‫‪١٠،١٤‬‬

‫‪١٥،١٤‬‬

~ 14 ~

These are the words of a learned and discerning poet:

14.1

Ḥmēdān, who has a reputation for irreverence.39 My verse is readily understood by thoughtful minds that can navigate the peaks and troughs of meter. As I ponder, amazed at the human condition, I distinguish between honorable and treacherous men. I see people disgusted by the ways of misers, and embracing munificent and charitable men. If only wealth were the preserve of the generous,

14.5

upright men who show fortitude at all times! All too often the leopard fails to find nourishment, while the hyena’s food is served up in his den. The Lord decrees what is allotted to man, God Almighty, Magnificent in His power. If your son’s hands are daubed with mud from digging a trench around his date palms, Before long, you’ll see, your boy will start a business and make it thrive. But if your son is a delicate flower,

14.10

face pallid from sleeping well into the day, He will sell both parents’ inheritance: a camel’s hump is not enough to sate his appetite. A decent man should not marry his daughter to him for she will die within the walls of his house. One kind of ruler only cares about stuffing his mouth, a grasping despot who despoils the weak in his care: Such a chief does not attract affection, but repels it; 40 those under his wing have no choice but to escape. Another kind of ruler is the emir who offers a secure haven, resolutely standing up for neighbors under his protection;

4١

41

14.15

‫~~ ‪~~ ١4‬‬

‫َّ‬ ‫نَ نَّ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�ي��ع �� ��م ن�د ا � ��َ �� ��ن� ��م�ا‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ب‬ ‫�‬ ‫م‬ ‫ع‬ ‫�‬ ‫م‬ ‫ي ر‬ ‫ر‬ ‫يو‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫ا ��‬ ‫�‬ ‫�ْ ع ���‬ ‫� ّ �ا � �َ�م�بن�فيَ��ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫ج‬ ‫�‬ ‫ح� م‬ ‫� �نو� لَ‬ ‫ٍر َ ن ي�ر‬ ‫� َ‬ ‫طف�َ ن �‬ ‫ن�َ �ن‬ ‫����ع�م�� ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ع‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫م‬ ‫ه‬ ‫�‬ ‫ي� �ل��ل� � �و �و ر و�‬ ‫َ ٍ‬ ‫�‬ ‫ن‬ ‫���د �ي�م�د‬ ‫��م�ا د �م �ل�� نَ�‬ ‫نَ� ن�م�ا �ٍ �م�ا �ي��‬ ‫َ‬ ‫حن���ب�ن� �ع ن��د َ �ْ���م�� � ا ن ��ل‬ ‫ن� �‬ ‫���م�ا �ع��‬ ‫نر و‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫ُ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ن ان‬ ‫��ع ��ا �ا�م� �� ��� � ا�ا ���‬ ‫�ي���ج� � ر ن ل ن � و‬ ‫م او ه���ل‬ ‫َّ‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫� َك�‬ ‫����ل��‬ ‫��ي�ن��ا � ا �ل�� يل�م��ل �ه�و � او ��َ�‬ ‫�ف�‬ ‫�� ن‬ ‫م‬ ‫ح‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ن‬ ‫�ي��عر�� �ه�د ا ك �م�ا �ي�ا ن�‬ ‫�َم�د ر��م�ا �‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ا � ّ‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫� �و� �ل‬ ‫��ا �م �م ن� ي�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�ْ�ع�َ�م ا �ر�عي�ّ���‬ ‫� ه�‬ ‫نَ‬ ‫� ََ‬ ‫� ْ ن َْ‬ ‫ي��� ��و��� ا�َا�م��ل�ك ��� ي���ل ن�م�� �و�َ�قي�ن���‬ ‫ي َ‬ ‫ي � �َ ش �َ نّ َ ن‬ ‫�جعرا ��ج ن��و��‬ ‫�� �� او ه ا �ل�لي�� ن‬ ‫ع‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫�‬ ‫ن‬ ‫��م ّ�د ن ن�‬ ‫����ا �‬ ‫�مع�‬ ‫م‬ ‫�ي�معر�و�ر ا ��َن�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫و‬ ‫ن‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ع ح‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫�‬ ‫��ج ْ�د ي�م�ا ن ا ��لَ�� ندّ �م ن ا �� ن���جع ا �ي‬ ‫�ل��لَ�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ر‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫�‬ ‫ا ��� �م ن� ا �� نل�َم�د �و د ا �� �� او َ�����م�ا ��م��‬ ‫ي‬ ‫� ّ ا �َ ّ ن �ن‬ ‫� �و�ا ��َلن�‬ ‫�جعرا �ٍر نَ�جي���ل‬ ‫�ج� �ر‬ ‫ن‬ ‫�م�� ْ�فيَ ْ‬ ‫َ ْ َ � نَ‬ ‫�و�ه� َ ن�‬ ‫���م�د ي ن�‬ ‫�جع�م� ����ي��عره‬ ‫و‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ع‬ ‫نَ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫ن ن‬ ‫�من��� َ�ع���عره �و�ه�و ��م�ا َد �ي��ي� را ده‬ ‫� ش � ن‬ ‫َي ن�‬ ‫���د‬ ‫ج��� ا � �� او ر� ا �ل���ي� �م� نَ���� ي‬ ‫� ي‬ ‫‪42‬‬

‫ْ‬ ‫� ن�َمعر �ع�نم�د ه��‬ ‫�ولَ��‬ ‫���ل ا ��ل�ن��ا ��� ك�‬ ‫���ا ره‬ ‫ي‬ ‫�َ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫�‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ا �� �م ن� �ش��َم�بن� ي� ر�و�ل�� َي���ل ي� ي��ا ره‬ ‫َ َّ َ‬ ‫�ي�م�د �ن��عر ���ي�ر �ي�م�د �ن�ي�معره د��م�ا ره‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫�‬ ‫ََ‬ ‫�و�ل�ا �ي ��و� �‬ ‫طف ن���� �نب��م�� �ن� ن���ا ره‬ ‫ٍم‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫�‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ن‬ ‫���بن� �م ن ا �لن��‬ ‫ي����َمعر�ن�م �ون�م�� ا ن�‬ ‫���ا ره‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫��مفْ�نَ ْ‬ ‫َ ن�‬ ‫�جعر�ي�م�� ��م��� را ���ج�� ��‬ ‫��را ره‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�و�يج�� نل�ج�� �ن�ا رد ��ج�ا �ن���� � ار ره‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫�َ يَ‬ ‫�َ ْ َ‬ ‫ي‬ ‫�������بي�م��ل� �ش��َميف��‬ ‫����ٍ ����ا �ل�� � ار ره‬ ‫ع‬ ‫�َ �ّ ا ��ل� َ �ن �ع ن َ ْ �ي �ن‬ ‫ن��د ��مي�� � ��صر� �و�ع� ره‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫َ يْ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�و� �م�غ� ��وده ���ع�م�ا ره �م ن� َد �م�ا ره‬ ‫� ْ � نْ َ‬ ‫ي��� ��و��� ا�َا�م��ل�ك �و�ل�ا �َي���ي��ي� ن���دا ره‬ ‫ُ‬ ‫ا ن َْ‬ ‫�� ن� د �ي�ا ره‬ ‫ن� �� او دي���ج� �و�م� ي���� َ‬ ‫� � ْ ن َ ّ ن ��لنَ‬ ‫�و�ل�ل�َ�م�د � او � ا ��معر �م� ا �‬ ‫��م�ا ره‬ ‫� ن�‬ ‫َ َّ‬ ‫�َ‬ ‫�ن‬ ‫�م��لي�ن��جع�م ن�‬ ‫�َجش��ا �ي�ا �ن�ا �ام��ج�ا ره‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ْ ي‬ ‫ا�‬ ‫�ش�ر ا ��لن��‬ ‫�ج�ا ره‬ ‫�ي��ع ارن �ي� �ن� ع�ي�ٍ َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫� ي‬ ‫�‬ ‫�َمعر��م�ا ن� �و�ل�ا �ه�و �ن�ا ن�‬ ‫ه�ي��ا ره‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫ا � � ا ن � َ�َ‬ ‫�و��م� �ل� �‬ ‫��معرا ره‬ ‫�ّود �‬ ‫�م� َر�َ�م� ن �‬ ‫َْ‬ ‫ّٰ ن ن‬ ‫�و�ه�و �ي��ي�م َ�د � �ع��� ا لل� ��ي� �ورا ره‬ ‫م �‬ ‫‪42‬‬

‫‪٢٠،١٤‬‬

‫‪٢٥،١٤‬‬

‫‪٣٠،١٤‬‬

~ 14 ~

He enjoys his subjects’ affection, is shunned by none, and is held in high esteem by people of all ranks. Another kind of ruler is puffed up with vanity and pride, big and fat, like a flat-topped outcrop on the plain; If he were a sheep he would make a fine, fatty dish. The stratagems he employs to govern are his undoing. A true coward, he avoids squaring up to his foes; so generous that not a single coin escapes his clutches. He carries no weight with his own circle or kin:

14.20

they know he is lighter than a sliver of wood. He takes pride in fine clothes and choice food, and loves perfuming his beard with incense.41 He lies in bed snoring well into the morning; cold of heart, he feels no sympathy or warmth. You can be sure an emir like him will not last: like sagebrush his roots are easily plucked. The true ruler provides his subjects with security by wielding the sword against theft and attack. Affairs of the realm are dear to his heart:

14.25

he strives to create prosperity and keep ruin at bay. Like a fierce lion he rips the enemy to shreds, but reigns without violating his subjects’ rights. Fearless, he takes the fight to his adversaries, raiding both Bedouin and villagers at dawn: Sweeter than the Euphrates to his friends, more bitter than colocynth to his foes. Should the Bedouin dare to break his peace, he leaves the battlefield littered with their corpses. Many tradesmen are scrawny hoarders, usurers who only seek to add to their wealth. The fruits of their labors are enjoyed by others: driven by their nature, they hurt themselves. No one ever gets to taste their stores of food: their wealth is tied up in bundles. Then from a far-off place comes the heir, while they, dressed in loincloths, face God.42

43

43

14.30

‫~~ ‪~~ ١4‬‬

‫� نَ � ن ا ��ل��ن‬ ‫� ّ�‬ ‫�و���ط�ل� ن� ا � �� او �ل �م� َن�جي���ل‬ ‫ي‬ ‫نْ�� نَ‬ ‫� �و�ا ��لن��‬ ‫�ّج�ا �ر �م ن� �ي�ج�د �ر ن�‬ ‫���ي�ره‬ ‫ن‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫�‬ ‫�و�م� ّ�ج�ا �ٍل ��م��� اَ�ام�����َمعر �لَي�� ْ����عره‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫يَ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫�ه�د ا ك ��م�د �ع� �ل�� �ن‬ ‫�َ��ي�ره‬ ‫َي � ن‬ ‫��معر��‬ ‫� ّ‬ ‫ن ي ن ي ��لَ ا ن‬ ‫����ج��ل�� ��ج��د � ��هر� ��� ا‬ ‫����ج� �ي�‬ ‫ي‬ ‫�‬ ‫� �و�ا ���َ�جنْ��د ا ن� �م ن� �ه�و د �و ن� ��َمعّ�م��‬ ‫ن‬ ‫َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ْ ي‬ ‫م �ي ا �� �ش‬ ‫���� � او � ن��ا ي���صَر��‬ ‫�� � �‬ ‫ن‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ع‬ ‫يو � ع‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫� �و�ا �ل ن���� �� او ن� �م ن� ���� �ش��َجنْ��� � ن�‬ ‫��ه ار‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫�‬ ‫ش اي‬ ‫ان ن ن‬ ‫� �ون� �ل���� �� او � �م� ���ي� �َم�م��ل �ن� َ�جعر‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ن‬ ‫��مي��د‬ ‫�ولا �ل��لن ��و� �ي ��و�م �ش��َ�ي ��� �‬ ‫م ٍ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫�‬ ‫�م ن���� ا � ن�� �� ا ���ي‬ ‫� ��ا ��ل ن���� �� ا ن� �م ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ن‬ ‫َ‬ ‫و‬ ‫نو و‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ن‬ ‫�و�ه�د ا �م ن� ئا ��ل�� ا ��ل�ن��ا ��� َ� ْ����ع�م��‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫��ج�� ا ّٰلل� ��م�� �َ��َّ��د �ي � ش‬ ‫�‬ ‫��‬ ‫ي‬ ‫�‬ ‫ر‬ ‫ي�‬ ‫�‬ ‫و� ��‬

‫‪44‬‬

‫َ‬ ‫�������ط� ّل�� ن� ا ��ل‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�َم��لي� ن� �م ن� ا ��ل�� ند ك�‬ ‫���ا ره‬ ‫�� ��لنَ‬ ‫� �� ّ‬ ‫���ا �ر ������ ��ود ا‬ ‫������ا ره‬ ‫و� ن ٍ �‬ ‫� �‬ ‫ن‬ ‫�� ن���م�� � �لن‬ ‫�� ن‬ ‫����ط�ا ره‬ ‫و‬ ‫ون‬ ‫�م�ي�را ��م�� �و� ي‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫� � ا �� �� � ن �َ ّ‬ ‫لفن�‬ ‫�جعر �ن�ا ره‬ ‫�ويَ ن�َجي�� ��َوَي� م�‬ ‫���يم�ا ��م�� ��ن ي��م� ن‬ ‫م��� �ع ن� َي������ا ره‬ ‫�� ن ي� َ ي‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫ن‬ ‫���َو�� �‬ ‫�مع�م�ا ره‬ ‫�ود ا ش��صر��مع�م �م�ل�� َي� �‬ ‫َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�و��‬ ‫��ي�جب�نه�ا �ي�م�� ا ��� �ش���ع�ّم ا ��ل��‬ ‫��يج�ا ره‬ ‫يَ‬ ‫�ّ �‬ ‫ن‬ ‫� او �ل�ا �ن�ا �ل ش���َجنَ��� ���ْ�جعر�� �م��ج�ا ره‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�َ‬ ‫�شُ‬ ‫ََّ ن‬ ‫�َو�ل��د��ج�ا �ن�ي� ن� �ي�ج�� ا � �� او ره‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫� ا ن��َ ْي ْي ْ ي ا ا� َ‬ ‫ا‬ ‫�و�ل� َد ��ر� �ن ��َ�جعره �ن� ���ب��ج� ره‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫�و�ل��د ��م�ا َن� ْرد �ي� �م ن� ����م��ل ن�م�ا ره‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫َ� ْ �‬ ‫�ي‬ ‫��م�د �م�ا �ه�و �ن�ا ن�‬ ‫�و ��� ن�مب�‬ ‫ق�ي��ا ره‬ ‫ع ا ��� ن‬ ‫ََ‬ ‫َن‬ ‫� ْ‬ ‫�ع�د د �م�ا ن��ا �و ن� ا � ��يَه�صر�ي� �ه�د ا ره‬

‫‪44‬‬

‫‪٣٥،١٤‬‬

‫‪٤٠،١٤‬‬

‫‪٤٥،١٤‬‬

~ 14 ~

But asking for gifts from a miser is like trying to milk a ram. Other merchants gain a good reputation

14.35

because they bear heavy losses with patience, Giving credit until circumstances have eased, and standing by neighbors, guests, and visitors. From all quarters people pray for them asking the Lord to spare them from Hellfire. When good deeds are reckoned at the Judgment, may the book be in their right, not their left, hands. Some slaves do not measure up to their owner: rascals not even worth their master’s donkey. They swagger if their bellies are full and steal if hungry;

14.40

the smell of roast meat sends them into ecstasy. The best kind of woman is a pure white filly: as foals resemble a mare, so her son carries her likeness. But if a woman resembles a cow, bovine dullness will be the hallmark of her son. Just as the owl is never seen hunting noble prey, no cow is ever spotted on the field of battle. Some women play fast and loose with morals: like rodents they give birth to rats. God has ordained for each his destiny: it is not for His servants to choose. May God bless the lord of Quraysh as often as the dove coos on the branch.

45

45

14.45

‫~ ‪~ ١5‬‬ ‫نَ � َ ْ ي ن ��ل َ ْ‬ ‫�هر� �م� ا �‬ ‫�مع نر�م ا ��ل�� �ن��‬ ‫�� �‬ ‫ي�‬ ‫� َ َّ �� ي َ‬ ‫��م ن�ا � ��ا ��ل�معْ�� ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫م‬ ‫ي‬ ‫�ق��ي�� � ٍ ن َ �‬ ‫ُ َ‬ ‫�ْيَ ي � ُ‬ ‫�و� ���ه�� ا نل‬ ‫��‬ ‫�وع ا ن� ��و � �مو�����‬ ‫َ ي‬ ‫�‬ ‫ي َ ي ْ �‬ ‫��م��لي��� �ق ���ي���م�� َد ����ع�م�ا �ل‬ ‫َ َ‬ ‫َ ا ن‬ ‫��� ي‬ ‫�ج�ا �ي�‬ ‫� �‬ ‫ج���‬ ‫���ا �� �و�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�و�ج� ك ي‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�م�ا يَ� ْر نَ�‬ ‫��ْمع�م� �ون��‬ ‫���� �ع ن��د �ي� �م ن�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫� �ْ‬ ‫َ ّ‬ ‫ا � ن �ر ن���� �ني�ج�� نر�ن�جي �� �و�َج��‬ ‫َ ي�‬ ‫َي‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫�وا��م��ل �ْمن�ه�ي�َ ار �م�ا �ن���مع�م ن�‬ ‫�َم�ي�ره‬ ‫ن ياَ َ ْ �‬ ‫م��ل ن� ش���مع�م ا ���َ�جعْ �رن�ي�َّم��‬ ‫�َم� �م� �ن�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ي � ن ْ َْ ن‬ ‫�م ن� �م�ا �ل ا ��ا �َم�شم��ل �����لي�مع�م�ا �‬ ‫ْ يَ‬ ‫�ن‬ ‫�َ����� � ْ��َ�ل��‬ ‫ا ��ل‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ل‬ ‫�د‬ ‫م‬ ‫�‬ ‫ب‬ ‫�‬ ‫���‬ ‫ج‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�و ي � ن يوَ ي ٍ َ �‬ ‫ا �� ن��َ��ف�� ا � ي �ع شْ ا ن‬ ‫�و ي��� د ي�جعره َ �جع�م� �‬ ‫نَ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫���ل�� ن�‬ ‫ا��م��ل ن�‬ ‫�م��ل ����ي��عَ�مي�َّ���‬ ‫ا��م�� ا ��ي��َ ���ع�م را ��� ا ��ل‬ ‫�َي�َّم��‬ ‫ل وي‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫�‬ ‫�وا��م��ل ا ��ل��د ا ن�‬ ‫�م��ل�� ا � ن�� او �‬ ‫��معر‬

‫‪46‬‬

‫� َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫�َ��ي��د ا �ل����ا د ا ي� �م ن� ا ���� ش��صره‬ ‫�‬ ‫�َو�ْوَ ����ي� ي� ا ��ر�يمب��� �م ن� ن ��‬ ‫���َمعره‬ ‫َ َ َ ي�‬ ‫�ل�‬ ‫�َ‬ ‫� ا ن �� � �َ ي‬ ‫ح‬ ‫� �ن�ا ن�‬ ‫�جعره‬ ‫ن� ٍ� ل� ن�ي�� ٍ‬ ‫�‬ ‫َْ ْ‬ ‫َْ‬ ‫�و� ش���شي� ي� �َ�قن�ن ��ي�جعر ن ��‬ ‫���َمعره‬ ‫َن‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫ْ � شَ‬ ‫� ن‬ ‫�َو��ْق���ج�ا �ي� �َ�ج�ال� �ل�� ���جعره‬ ‫ٍم‬ ‫�ي � �ْ� �ْل � َ نْ َ‬ ‫� او �مو�ل ن�َ�ج� ��ج� �و� ن�جعره‬ ‫ْ َ‬ ‫َ ّ ْ‬ ‫�و��ش� ن ن�‬ ‫�جع نرره‬ ‫ا �و�ي� د ��‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫َ َّ‬ ‫ن �يْ ن‬ ‫� او ��ج�ي�ر��مع�م د ا ك ا � ���ج َ�د ره‬ ‫ي � ن �َ‬ ‫ن ا ��لن ا ��‬ ‫� � ن‬ ‫�م�� ��و�ل �‬ ‫�� �‬ ‫�‬ ‫����طعره‬ ‫�م� ر‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫��ْ � ا �� ا � � � ا ه�� ْ َ‬ ‫���ل ن�����عره‬ ‫��ر ل���م� �مب ي�‬ ‫م‬ ‫ع‬ ‫�‬ ‫نَ‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫� �ل�ا ن� �ل�� ن���ْو��جعره‬ ‫��‬ ‫�‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ح‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫� َ‬ ‫�و��جب�يه�ا ن�ل��ل��ج�ا د �ي�ا �ر ا � ن �ر�جعره‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ا ن � َ�‬ ‫�م ن� د �و ن� ا ��ن��ا ن� �م� �م ن� �‬ ‫��هره‬ ‫ّ � ا ا َ نْ ي نْ �َ‬ ‫�م ن� �و ���ج� �ه� ��ي��ب�َ���ل �‬ ‫����جعره‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫ْ�‬ ‫�م�ا ���ط �ع�م�َ �مي�غ���ط�و ن ��‬ ‫ن�‬ ‫���َمعره‬ ‫ر‬ ‫عٍ‬ ‫‪46‬‬

‫‪١،١٥‬‬

‫‪٥،١٥‬‬

‫‪١٠،١٥‬‬

‫‪١٥،١٥‬‬

~ 15 ~

Once, I came down from the stony heights,

15.1

where lies the grave of the sayyid, one of the Ten.43 I made sure to keep the hill of Sanām on my right as I walked toward al-Rigi ʿi’s well, from the high ground behind. There I met Famine in the form of Abu Mūsa, who had built himself a shack in al-Ḥjarih.44 He was wearing a shirt made of rough cotton under a tattered cloak full of holes in the back. He spoke to me, and I spoke to him,

15.5

and I benefited from what he told me. I set great store by what he confided to me and I’ll repeat his words and the facts he mentioned— In al-Zulfi you will find some sly tricksters and in nearby Jzerah the men are boorish louts; Among folks of Mghēra there is no good, their emir is the greatest piece of filth; When you face the buttress of al-ʿIrniyyah, you will have left the danger zone. Anyone who claims, “I am like Slēmān of al-Ghāṭ,”

15.10

pardon the expression, can go eat shit. Al-Khīs has the strength of tempered steel, its people holed up like lizards, protected by crags. Fragrant al-Majmaʿah is the home of ʿUthmān, opposite where al-Zyerah have settled. The people of Jlājil, soft and smooth, stay indoors and don’t venture out. The men of al-Twēm are a snake’s head: step on it and your life is at risk. In al-Dākhlah live al-Nuwāṣir:

15.15

their visitors leave with broken backs.

47

47

‫~~ ‪~~ ١5‬‬

‫�‬ ‫ن‬ ‫��م��‬ ‫� اون� ن� �م�ا ���ي� را �ع�� ا � َر�و ن�‬ ‫ن‬ ‫� ن‬ ‫ن‬ ‫�َ� ���ط را �ع�� ا ��ل‬ ‫�‬ ‫�� ��و�‬ ‫ي‬ ‫� او�ن� ٍ‬ ‫�‬ ‫�َ � �يْ َ‬ ‫�ص ار ��معم�‬ ‫�و���ط�� �و��‬ ‫� او ��م��ل ا �ل�‬ ‫�َّ�‬ ‫َْ‬ ‫�وا��م��ل ا �������ط�ا �ر ��مع �ر�ي�نم�ا ي�‬ ‫�َْ‬ ‫�َ‬ ‫� او ��م��ل ا ��� ��وده �ع ن��د ا �ل�نم�د �وه‬ ‫َ‬ ‫� ا�ه� ْ�ع شَ � ه �َ�� ��ن � �َم ن��ْ َ �ن‬ ‫��م�‬ ‫و �ل ����ي ر ي � و‬ ‫حْ ن‬ ‫� ّ�ي‬ ‫��َ‬ ‫�وا�ْ�م�� ا ��ل‬ ‫�معر� ّ��ي نَ��‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ل‬ ‫ر‬ ‫�‬ ‫ي� ٍ‬ ‫َْ‬ ‫� او ��م��ل ي�����ي�ر ي��عَ �ر�معَر� ش���َ�يَ�ّ��‬ ‫ي ي‬

‫‪48‬‬

‫ان ن‬ ‫ْ �َْ‬ ‫�ي� �‬ ‫�َم�د �م�نن��مع�م َ نر��� ا �ل�ش�ع�صره‬ ‫ع‬ ‫� ْيَ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫��ّ��ا ا �ن ����عره‬ ‫ا �ل��د ا �ش���عر ر ن�‬ ‫ع‬ ‫ن ْ ن نَ‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ن‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫�َ�� �‬ ‫�َن�ي�� ش� � �و����ٍ� �صره‬ ‫��ٍ�‬ ‫ّٰ �َ�يْ �َ ن � ا ��ل��شْف��َ‬ ‫�جعره‬ ‫ا لل� ي��غ���طب� د �ي�ك ن‬ ‫ع‬ ‫ّ ْ شَ‬ ‫ّ ن� ّ‬ ‫�َ�يَ���ك �وَ�ع�د �ع����عره‬ ‫َ�ع�د �و‬ ‫� نْ �‬ ‫َ ّ ْ ا � ْن‬ ‫�و�ي� ر ن�‬ ‫��َمعره‬ ‫�م� �َل �ن��د �ي��ك ا ���� �‬ ‫ا ا ن ن �ّ ا � �ْ ن َ‬ ‫� � � ا ا�‬ ‫���ب�معره‬ ‫�م� ي� �َم�د �ل� ل���ي�‬ ‫ْ�‬ ‫�م�ا �ش���ا ��ل ا ����َه�ي�ر �ش���ا ��ل ن ��‬ ‫���َمعره‬

‫‪48‬‬

‫‪٢٠،١٥‬‬

~ 15 ~

Ibn Māḍi, emir of al-Rōḍah, takes a levy of one quarter of the harvest from the town. The emir in charge of al-Ḥṣūn is Ibn Nḥēṭ: that scoundrel secretly sucks milk from his cow. Half the denizens of al-Ḥōṭah and their neighbors love getting buggered; the rest are pansies. The tribal group in al-ʿAṭṭār is al-ʿRēnāt; may God eradicate their lineage. If you invite folks of al-ʿŌdah for a meal, and say, “Bring your friend,” you’d better prepare for ten of them.

ʿShērih folks wield the sword and serve a lavish roast:45 what excellent men in those rugged desert tracts! The people of al-Ḥrayyig hide in a burrow tight: the only way to ferret them out is by digging.46 In Tmēr they cut grass for a living and carry a donkey’s load on their backs.

49

49

15.20

‫~ ‪~ ١6‬‬ ‫ي � َ َ‬ ‫نَ‬ ‫���� ن‬ ‫ا‬ ‫� د نَ ����ن� ��ل�� ��� ن‬ ‫�� ي�‬ ‫ي� �َ�غ�‬ ‫�م� �ل � �وٍ ر‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫�‬ ‫� �َ‬ ‫� �‬ ‫� ا ن‬ ‫����ا‬ ‫�ص ه ��ا َ�نم‬ ‫��ا �ل��� ��ي�ي��ا �� ا �����‬ ‫�م� َ� َر ن‬ ‫َ‬ ‫� ن‬ ‫�م ن� �ن ��ي�� ��مب����� ��ج�ا �ٍل �ب�ه�و �ن�ج�ا ��‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ�‬ ‫يٍ‬ ‫ن ي‬ ‫ا � � � ��ش �ن ن� ا‬ ‫�‬ ‫�َ او � �نَ ����� ��م� م�م� ٍ� ت�ه�و �م� ��ي ن ٍ‬ ‫ا� ّ‬ ‫ي َ َّ‬ ‫�‬ ‫�� �م‬ ‫�ج��� َ����جع�م� �َن� ن�ج�ا � او �ل��ٍد‬ ‫ي ن ي‬ ‫ع‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫� َ‬ ‫ا َ ّ‬ ‫ه��‬ ‫���ل �م ن� �ل�ا ن����َم�د ���م� د ن�‬ ‫���د ه � او ن� ��وه‬ ‫� ن َ ْ‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫� د ��� ن�‬ ‫���ل �م ن ��يَ�ْ� ن�د � ا ن�ل‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫����ل��م ٍ�د‬ ‫�‬ ‫�وَه� � ن َ ر و ي‬ ‫َ�ْ‬ ‫نَ ْ ن شَ ا ن ي‬ ‫َ ْ َي‬ ‫�ن��عر����م�� ي��� َ�جَن��� ��عرح� ���م�ي��م� �َ�م��ٍ‬ ‫ْ ن َ نَ نَ ي يَ ّ �‬ ‫�‬ ‫�َ�جش���ل �ن�ا ٍ� ن� ��� ��مو�� ��ج��ل ا �ر��ج�ا �ل‬ ‫� ا ��ل�� ند � ��معْ ي� ا �� ن��َ� ن‬ ‫��ْم�� � ن‬ ‫�م��د ا ��لَ��ل�ئم�ا �‬ ‫�‬ ‫ل‬ ‫و ي� َي رَ ن �ي�‬ ‫م‬ ‫ا ي �ن نَ �‬ ‫ن ا‬ ‫�ل �‬ ‫طف���� ا �ي ��و�م �ع� �ن� كعٍر‬ ‫�ن� رهٍ ي‬ ‫ّ � ن ن ا �� ن ّ � ن‬ ‫���د �و �ل�ا را �َوره‬ ‫�و���ل م� را ره �َ�‬ ‫ّ ا �� ��ي ن �ي‬ ‫����ا �ن�ا َد َره‬ ‫���ا �ن�ا � ���ق ن�‬ ‫�ش�جع�م َرد �م�‬ ‫� ا ن �َ��نَ �� ن�ْ��ي ش���مع � ا �ن�ْ ي� ��م�ا ��ي�نْ���يش‬ ‫��‬ ‫�‬ ‫و � ن ��� َي َ َ ر و‬ ‫َ ََ ر‬ ‫���� ي� ��ج�ا ��ج�د ��ل�ا ��ج�د ��ل�� ���ن�ج�ا‬ ‫�‬ ‫ن ٍ ن ٍ ن‬ ‫ر‬ ‫و َ ن �ي�‬

‫‪50‬‬

‫ْ‬ ‫ن �ّ َ ْ �‬ ‫����ا � او�ا�م ش������ �‬ ‫��َمعره‬ ‫�‬ ‫� ن�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ر�ل �ع��ر ا � َ ن َ ي ن‬ ‫�َ‬ ‫� � � نَ‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ج��� ا ���َو�ل��د � او ���َو����د � او�ا�جعره‬ ‫َر�َ�ج�د � ي‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫� ن ن ��ل َ‬ ‫�َ‬ ‫لَي�������� � ا �‬ ‫��م�ا �ع ن� �َش�جعره‬ ‫�غ���� �ن�ا �����‬ ‫َ و‬ ‫َ‬ ‫� شَ‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ن‬ ‫� ��‬ ‫�ود َ��ن�جي�ر �و�ي�ج�� ا �ل���جعره‬ ‫�ي�ج��ل �‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫ن‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ن‬ ‫��م�ا � او ��ي� �ن�ا �‬ ‫���ب��معره‬ ‫�يج�ا �‬ ‫���عر �ن�ا �����‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ا ا��مَ� ْ�ف�نَ‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ش‬ ‫�ل�ا �ي�جعردّ ا �ل�ج ن��ا ��ج�� �ي� �‬ ‫�جعره‬ ‫ي‬ ‫َ َ‬ ‫َ يَّ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�م�شْم� �م ن ��َمعْ �يمب� ا ��ل�م�ا �ش‬ ‫��ي �و� �‬ ‫���جعره‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ �ل � ن رع ن �‬ ‫َ‬ ‫��لنَ‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫��نج�ا �ن�ا ���ط��ل ��م�ا ���ط��ل ��م�ا كعره‬ ‫� او‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫� َ ي يَ‬ ‫�م�ا ��ل�� ا � ْ‬ ‫��م��ل �����ل�و ن� ا �ل�شمعر�� � �����َمعره‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫ن َ يْ َ‬ ‫�م شْم� �م�ْ��يَ ن��ْ ع ن‬ ‫��م�ا � ��ي� � �م� ن��عره‬ ‫�‬ ‫ر‬ ‫َ � �ل َ �مَ‬ ‫ع ح‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�ع ن ا �ع ا ����َ �ي‬ ‫َن‬ ‫�و��َمعره‬ ‫�َ�م��ل ��ي�ر �م ن� ن��‬ ‫��د ر ��‬ ‫َ ّ‬ ‫� ن َّ‬ ‫��ج�ا َي���ج��ل�ل �‬ ‫�َجع �ر�ي ن�ج�� �و �ل�ا د �ي�جعره‬ ‫ن ا ي ا � نَ‬ ‫َّ ي يَ َ‬ ‫��ج� ره �ن� ���‬ ‫طف���� �َ�جعره �� ن�ْب��جعَره‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫طف� � ا َ ْ ي ْ � ا � �َ‬ ‫�نم�ا �َ�‬ ‫�َن��� �ل� �ي�ن�ر�َ�ب�ه�ك �ي� ا �ل�د �وكعره‬ ‫ا ّ �‬ ‫ا ن نَ�نْ شَ‬ ‫�‬ ‫� ا �َ��ي� ش���َمعر ن�‬ ‫�م� ه �م� �����عَره‬ ‫��م� َيَ ن‬ ‫‪50‬‬

‫‪١،١٦‬‬

‫‪٥،١٦‬‬

‫‪١٠،١٦‬‬

‫‪١٥،١٦‬‬

~ 16 ~

These are the words of an old man who watched the years roll by,

16.1

youth a distant memory, his hair streaked with gray. He uses a stick to attend the assemblies, and is held in scorn by his son, young children, and wife. As a man of means, you remain dear to them, and they’ll brush the stones from your path,47 But if your pockets are empty you’ll suffer humiliation: you will hear, “Such a demanding old man.” Listen carefully, Mjalli, to the counsel of your father,

16.5

weak of limb, but a master of speech and thought.48 If your ancestors and father were not rulers, then you cannot be praised? How ridiculous! To pour buckets of munificence on bare rock is like hooding a sparrowhawk, training it like a falcon, In the belief that the hood is worn by a juvenile peregrine, while the wretched bird is of worthless stock. This is like building a house on a dune: when the sands shift it will collapse. Pinning your hopes of favor on ignoble misers

16.10

is like running to a graveyard shouting for succor. For a prudent man a penny earned by a morning’s honest work is worth more than a precious stone.49 If the enemy strikes and you fail to repay in kind, your foe does not get stung and feels no fear. So retaliate at once and settle the score: a surprise attack in the morning will confound him. But if he is about to march and you’d rather stay at home, why not befriend him? But don’t be fooled, dimwit! Even the monk who hides away in a cave, hoping for a life of peace, will be disturbed.

5١

51

16.15

‫~~ ‪~~ ١6‬‬

‫� ا ي َ �ّ �� َ‬ ‫�ن ّ‬ ‫م �����ج ن‬ ‫ي‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ع‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ج‬ ‫�ل� � ��و�� ا نل� ي �ي� � ��� َ رَ�ك‬ ‫نَ‬ ‫�ْ�� � ند ا ����ط�ا‬ ‫ن ا ن ا� ن ا‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ع‬ ‫�‬ ‫م‬ ‫��� � �ن� �ل�ج� ��� ن � و‬ ‫ٍر‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫آ‬ ‫��ا ن‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫� او ن�‬ ‫�َجعر �يج�ا ��ل ا �‬ ‫�َجن���ك �و�ه�و ك�‬ ‫د‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫آ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫ن‬ ‫�َجع �م ن‬ ‫� او ن�‬ ‫م��ا � ا �ل�شمعر�� ��م ن�ن��َي���‬ ‫��‬ ‫�‬ ‫ر‬ ‫ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ح‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫آ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫� او ن�‬ ‫�َجعر �ع�نج�د �ي�مو�م � او �ن�ا ن�‬ ‫�ج�ا �نَ�جعَره‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫ا َ� ٍ‬ ‫� �ل�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�َ � �‬ ‫��ع ي� ��ا‬ ‫��ا ��ا ن�‬ ‫�ي� �‬ ‫�‬ ‫ع�جا �ل ا���ل� �ل‬ ‫ر‬ ‫ي‬ ‫� ه� ي‬ ‫ي‬ ‫نَ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�م ن �‬ ‫����ا ن� ن�ل��ل�ود ن�‬ ‫�َم�د ْي� �ن�م�� �ي�م�د �ي��‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ َ‬ ‫ٍَ ٍ‬ ‫ا ش َ ن نش ا ن �‬ ‫ط� � ا ����� ش���ج�ا‬ ‫�ي� � ي�‬ ‫��و‬ ‫� َ����ج� �م� ��� ي �و ر‬ ‫ح‬ ‫ٍ �َ‬ ‫�نج�ا ر��� �ن�ا � ��ي���ج�ا �و�ي� � او �ن�ا ن�‬ ‫�ج�ا �ن��عره‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫َ �ّ‬ ‫� �ل�‬ ‫�َ � �‬ ‫ن‬ ‫�معر ن�م�ا ن�‬ ‫�ي�ا �‬ ‫�معٍر ��م�ا �ي��عر �ي�� ا���ل� �ل‬ ‫ن ٍ‬ ‫�‬ ‫� ن‬ ‫�ّ َ‬ ‫����ا ��ط��ل �ن�ا ���ج��ل �ي�م�� �م ن� َه����ل ��شي� ن�‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫َ� ن ّ‬ ‫�� ي ن� � يَ ْ �‬ ‫�م�ا �َل�يَم�� �����طَ��لَن��� ���� �َ�����ل‬ ‫��و َ ن��ي�‬ ‫ح‬ ‫� �ا ��ي ي ا �َّ �� � �� ن‬ ‫�����ْل�َ�ه�ا ����ا‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ي‬ ‫�م � �م و �ي� َ‬ ‫نٍ‬ ‫ن� �� �ْ�� ند ��ل� � � �ْ�� �ن‬ ‫ور‬ ‫ع نَ�جي���ل‬ ‫ي�ج َنرع َ يج�ٍل َ ن‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫� ا ن����َ ا ��� ن‬ ‫���م�ا ��م�ا ي� ا ��ل�ا ي��ن�ب�م�ا‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ ن �� َ‬ ‫ي� � ن ي� ن� َ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫� ن ن�َ �‬ ‫�َمش���ل را �ع�� ن��ل�� ن�‬ ‫�م��ل �م�‬ ‫�ي�غ��ط‬ ‫ع ان �‬ ‫ي‬ ‫َ‬ ‫َّ‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ي��ْ�ف��َ � ش ن ٍ‬ ‫��م��ل�يَم��‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫م‬ ‫ع‬ ‫ه‬ ‫م�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ه‬ ‫��‬ ‫َر َ �ل � ن� �و� َ�‬ ‫ن نَ‬ ‫�ي ا �� � ا نَ ّ‬ ‫�َ‬ ‫� ��م ن�د ا ن�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ا‬ ‫ع‬ ‫د‬ ‫�‬ ‫ب‬ ‫��‬ ‫م‬ ‫ج� ل ي� �‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ر‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫�� ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫‪52‬‬

‫�‬ ‫ي ْ ن ���� ن ي نْ ن�َ‬ ‫�معَره‬ ‫��ي ��� ا د‬ ‫� او ��َ�‬ ‫��م�د �ي��� ا ��معَر�م�� لَمَ�‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫آ ن�َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫ن َ َ‬ ‫�ا‬ ‫��عر �َم�ش���ل ���َهي� ن� �ود ا �ع ْر��جعره‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫و ٍ‬ ‫�‬ ‫ا َ �� َ‬ ‫َ ��‬ ‫�ّ�معر ا ����َمع ْرن� � او �� ��يه��ل� ��م� �‬ ‫�‬ ‫�� ّ�جعره‬ ‫�‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ح‬ ‫ْ�َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ن‬ ‫� نَ ْ ي �‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ا‬ ‫�‬ ‫��ره‬ ‫�د‬ ‫�د‬ ‫ل�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫م‬ ‫� ��و �نَ�م�د ر� ا � َ� � �ي� َي يم ل �‬ ‫�َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫ا‬ ‫��و ن�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�َجعره‬ ‫�‬ ‫ع‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫� ��و ي���ج�ا �� �م ��� ن ن �ج م �‬ ‫نْ‬ ‫�‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫ْي‬ ‫ا ��معر��م�ا �َم ش���َ�� ن�ج�� � او �ل�ا د ��ي ن� � ش���َجعره‬ ‫َ‬ ‫� َّ‬ ‫ا دْ �ن�َجعٍر �ن�ج�ا َر�ن�ج�� ن�‬ ‫��‬ ‫�ره‬ ‫�ج�ا ر ن� ا �لَ��� �‬ ‫�يَ ْ يَ‬ ‫ا ��لَ‬ ‫����ما ���م�ا ي� � او � ���معر��عره‬ ‫��م�ا ر�ي� �ن�‬ ‫ن�‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫ا �� نَ � ي ا ن ن نَ ّ ي � ُ َّ‬ ‫�ج�د ه �جعره ا ل‬ ‫�� ل‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�ج�ل� �� �‬ ‫�جع�صره‬ ‫ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫�َ ْ‬ ‫نَ َّ �‬ ‫��م�ا �ي�مع�م ا ���� ش���معر ��م�ا �����طعره‬ ‫� ��و ي ن��� �‬ ‫ي‬ ‫نْ � ن � � نْ ��‬ ‫� َ‬ ‫� ��و ي�ن��� ��ج��� ن� ��و�ل �ج�ل� َي���ظَ��جعره‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫�ْ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫��منْ �‬ ‫�غ���َطعر نَ�‬ ‫��ج�ا لَي�����َجعره‬ ‫َ‬ ‫����ل��ت�ه�ا �ن�ا �����‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�َ � َ‬ ‫�ّ َ ْ‬ ‫����ل��م�ا ن� ي� �َي�جعَ نر��م�د ا ���� ش���م�ا ��� ّ���جعره‬ ‫َك‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫� نَ‬ ‫ج��� ش‬ ‫�ون��ج�� ر�ْ�� ن�‬ ‫ور��� �َ�جعره‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ٍ َ نع‬ ‫َ نع‬ ‫ي ٍ � اّ‬ ‫��ْ َ‬ ‫�� نَنْش ٍ ا ��لنَن‬ ‫ح‬ ‫��ج�ا َ�� ا �ل� ��جب� ا ل�‬ ‫��� �و ن�‬ ‫�جعره‬ ‫�‬ ‫ن�‬ ‫ع‬ ‫َ‬ ‫��ْ�ف�َ‬ ‫ا دْ ر��� �م ن� نر��م�ا ن� �و�ه�و ي �‬ ‫�جعره‬ ‫َ َ‬ ‫َ ٍ‬ ‫�‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ا يَيْ َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫حْ‬ ‫ا ا� َ �� � � ا ل‬ ‫��‬ ‫�جعر ��م� � ���ج�د ره‬ ‫�و��ج�ل ��و ن �� نَ‬ ‫�َجعْر ن�‬ ‫� او ��ل�� َ�جن��ا �ي�ا �ش��ي�ج�ا ��ل يَ�ن��� ن�‬ ‫�َجعره‬ ‫ٍ ي‬ ‫‪52‬‬

‫‪٢٠،١٦‬‬

‫‪٢٥،١٦‬‬

‫‪٣٠،١٦‬‬

~ 16 ~

Do not be beguiled into companionship with a sneak; seek a true friend and cherish him for your day of need. Some men are foul and mean, others pure; some are like a fragrant scent, others barren as juniper trees. Some may say, “You are so dear to me!”—a blatant lie: they keep their tongues clean but their hearts stay soiled. Others hail from brackish salt flats: you can lade them with gifts but they’ll stay indifferent. If an outsider attaches himself to the group, watch out:

16.20

he may conspire with the enemy to break the lock of the castle gate. There are tales galore about events, my friends; fishy affairs brought to light through my intellect. I single out a worn-out horse with crippled knees and ulcers on his withers, about as much use as a broken lock. I mean you, little shaykh from a flock of nocturnal birds, fond of malicious gossip and empty chatter, A shining knight over the coffee cups. I know him only too well: in the desert he faints at the whir of birds in flight,50 A rogue trader who pays no alms tax on his wealth,

16.25

who will never offer supper to someone breaking his fast, A despicable good-for-nothing who boasts all the vices: he would not even give you his urine.51 Should his aunt ask him for a handful of salt, she risks having her ribs broken by his cudgel. His mother’s ribs were always sore: he’d hit her like a fiend if she didn’t skimp on dinner. A quarter of these misfits are weaklings, a quarter misers, a quarter are buggers, a quarter sissies. The lizard of the rocks crawls out backward when prodded with a stick and pulled. This is the tale of Ibn Nḥēṭ and the emir of Jlājil, who trained his eye on him and put him under a spell.52 He bewitched him like a lizard hidden in his hole, where ordinary men will struggle to coax him out. He heard the words, “Hey lizard, there are locusts everywhere out here; so much booty that you’ll need all your strength to gather it in.”

53

53

16.30

‫~~ ‪~~ ١6‬‬

‫ن ا نْ � َ � ن ن ا �� ن ن � نَ‬ ‫��� �م ن� َ���ج��‬ ‫ي� ا �ل��د را‬ ‫���ع َره �ل��ل�َ�غ�‬ ‫�م� �� �‬ ‫ش ي ا � �ْ � ا‬ ‫ع�ما ��ل�� ��م�� يل�م��‬ ‫��جع�م �م� �ل ا �معَ�م�ل� او �ي� � ي‬ ‫ّ � َ نَ‬ ‫�يَ‬ ‫ن‬ ‫��م�ا �ي�معرد ا �ل‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ا‬ ‫ع‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�د‬ ‫�‬ ‫ه‬ ‫�س‬ ‫ه‬ ‫�م�د ر � � �و م َ �ر‬ ‫ََ‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫ي‬ ‫َ‬ ‫� � ا�‬ ‫�‬ ‫��ن�ب� ن‬ ‫��ا ��َل��‬ ‫���ط� َ�‬ ‫غ��ط �ع ن� ا �� نل�ج�ا ن� � او �‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ي�‬ ‫� � ن َ ا ن ا ��لنَ َ‬ ‫��ج� ا �‬ ‫�ي�ا �‬ ‫�ج�ا �ل ا �ل�َم�د �م �ي� َر�‬ ‫�م�د �م‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ع‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫ن ن ن‬ ‫ن‬ ‫َي����ل ي� ��م�د ا � او �ن�ا ��ي� َر��م�ا �ي� �نَ��‬ ‫���ي�ر‬ ‫ئ‬ ‫ي‬ ‫� �َ َ‬ ‫�نج�ا ي�����ا ا�َا��معْرَ�‬ ‫�َم��ل �م ن� �ن�ل� د ا �ل��د ��مع�م‬ ‫� نَ‬ ‫طف َ‬ ‫َ �َ�َ يْ � ا ����َ ع ا ي‬ ‫ه� ن� َر�ن�ْج�د ا ������‬ ‫�‬ ‫ر �و ن�� ن� �مر ي‬ ‫�‬ ‫�َجعّ�م�د ن��جب� ا ��ل�شَج ن��ا‬ ‫��ل�ا ن� ن ��م�ا ن��� ��م‬ ‫َر‬ ‫ي�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ع‬ ‫ج��� ��ج�� �يج�ا ��ل��ي ��َ�يّبه�ا‬ ‫ا ن� دَ َ�ع� ي‬ ‫ٍ ن �‬ ‫ي َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ َّ‬ ‫ح � �ي‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ن‬ ‫�م��له�ا‬ ‫�ي�ا ان� ن� ��م�ا ���� َن�� يم�مب‬ ‫ع ا � ���معر�� � �‬ ‫ي‬ ‫� َ‬ ‫ّ َْ ي‬ ‫ن���ا ن� ا �ه��ل����ا ���م�ا ��ي� �����لي���ك ا ����م�د ا‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ن ّ نَ‬ ‫نّ‬ ‫ك �����ا‬ ‫ّ ا نَ ا ا‬ ‫�َ او � �َ���� ���م� ��ج� �ي��َ� �و‬ ‫ََْ‬ ‫�ْ‬ ‫�َ�يْم�بن� ��ا �ن�ْم ن�د ْ ك �ع ن �نل��ل������ا‬ ‫َ� ��ي�معَ�م��ي ا ��ل‬ ‫ن َر �‬ ‫يْ‬ ‫�� �ب‬ ‫�مع�م � ا ن� �ن�َمع ن ا نَ� ّ��م�ا �م ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫��م�د‬ ‫َج َ ٍ و‬ ‫ر ر‬ ‫� نَ ي‬ ‫َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫� ����طَ� ا �� ����ط�ا � َ�ع ش��ّ�� ا �� ن����ع ��ي‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ر‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ا �ي‬ ‫ر‬ ‫ر‬ ‫�‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ي�‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫اَ�� ��ّ‬ ‫َ ْن �‬ ‫ل‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ا‬ ‫�‬ ‫ا‬ ‫ع‬ ‫�د‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ج‬ ‫�‬ ‫��ج� ��ره َه��ل ي �وٍم ن ر � ن � �ر‬ ‫ن ن � ك نَ ْ ي‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ج��د‬ ‫�ن�ي�� ��ج�د ا �ود ا � �جعر�ٍ� نَ���� ي‬ ‫‪54‬‬

‫�َ‬ ‫�ْ‬ ‫ا�‬ ‫ََ َ‬ ‫م‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ح‬ ‫�� ن� ن�‬ ‫�جعره‬ ‫�ّود �ع�نَج�� ���ج�ا َ ��‬ ‫�ش�جع�م ن��‬ ‫َ َّ‬ ‫آ‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫�ج ٍ�د ن�َل��ل�َ�ج�� � او ن�‬ ‫� او �‬ ‫�َجعر ��ج�بي�جعره‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫ْ نَ‬ ‫�� ش َ �� � َ‬ ‫ن‬ ‫�مع�مي�م�د ا � �ي�ا ��م�ا ا �ن�م�د ره‬ ‫� او ل �‬ ‫���وي�َ�جعر‬ ‫ْ ََّ ي � نَ‬ ‫�َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫� او �ش�جعر ا � ��ي ��و�م َ��كي�ن���ٍ �ن�ا �ل��د ره‬ ‫َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�ي�ا �ن�ج�د ا �ي�ا ا ���ن�ج�ل�� �وي� ن� � او � نل�جع �رن�جعره‬ ‫ن ن َ ْ ن � َ َ َ َّ‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫َك�‬ ‫��جعر�� ا �ل��د ��معر ��‬ ‫��د ره‬ ‫����ل��ج�ا را � �‬ ‫�َ نَ‬ ‫َ ْ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫� ��ج��ي �نّ����ا ا ن�ل‬ ‫ن ي ��جفن�‬ ‫�ود ره‬ ‫��‬ ‫��مو�� ن��ون ٍ َ �‬ ‫نَ َّ‬ ‫ن َ ّ‬ ‫ن‬ ‫�ش��ج�ا � ر��ا ���ج�ا را �ي�ج��ل د �ي�جعره‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫َ نْ‬ ‫�ن َ‬ ‫�م ن نَ� ن��َ �َ��� ي� ��َ�عْ�ص ا ��ل�نج�د ا � �م�‬ ‫�جعره‬ ‫� � ني‬ ‫ر َ‬ ‫َ َّ‬ ‫ن نَ نَ‬ ‫ي‬ ‫� او � �‬ ‫�‬ ‫ا‬ ‫��ج�د ره‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫د‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�هي �ج �� و ر �‬ ‫� ٍ � َْ‬ ‫َْ ن ن �‬ ‫حَ‬ ‫ط�ْ��يم ن ن ا ْ ا�م‬ ‫��‬ ‫�جعره‬ ‫�وا�ن� ي� �م�ا � َ ��ل َ ��ي� �م� �ه َ�د �م ن‬ ‫نّ ا َ ْ ي شْ ن َ ْ � � َ‬ ‫� او ��م� ���عر��م�� �َم�م��ل �‬ ‫طو ا�ا�جعره‬ ‫�غ�� �‬ ‫َ �‬ ‫َ ٍ‬ ‫َ َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ُ َ‬ ‫�َم ن� ��م�د ا ��مع� �و��مع�م ن��ي��ن���مع� ��م نْ��د ره‬ ‫م‬ ‫م‬ ‫�ل�‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�فنْ� َ‬ ‫ي‬ ‫�نج�ا نّ��ج�ا ��ل�ا ن � �ي���قن‬ ‫��� ا َ ن�‬ ‫�جعره‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ ن‬ ‫رٍم‬ ‫ن نَ نَ ا ي َ َّ‬ ‫ن شَ‬ ‫كعر ا � ��معر�� �ن� َ��ر �ود ره‬ ‫� او�ن� ��� َ‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫ّ َ� �‬ ‫ا � َ‬ ‫ن‬ ‫��َمعره‬ ‫�ص ْر�‬ ‫� او �ي� ��ط�ي�ر ا ���� ش����ا د ا ك ا �ن� ا ���‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫�َ نْ َ �� نَ َ نَ ْ‬ ‫�وه��‬ ‫طف��� ا ��‬ ‫���ل ���م�ا ��� ا �� ا �‬ ‫طف���� ��ن�� ن�َمعره‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫ا َ ن َ نْ ا �َ ���فنْ� َ‬ ‫شْ‬ ‫������� ا �� َ ن�‬ ‫�جعره‬ ‫�َم����ل ��م� �ن�ي�� �‬ ‫‪54‬‬

‫‪٣٥،١٦‬‬

‫‪٤٠،١٦‬‬

‫‪٤٥،١٦‬‬

‫‪٥٠،١٦‬‬

~ 16 ~

Thus he was enticed from the safety of his den, and once out, they blocked the entrance to his tunnel. Then came the call: “Run and catch hold of him, boys!”

16.35

one tied his jaws tight shut, the other cut his hamstrings. Caution cannot save you from the arrows of fate,53 as al-Shwēʿir Ḥmēdān has warned you so often: Keep a watch on the door and all who pass through— your enemy is within, hidden in the granary. Ah, these accursed children, suckled by servants, inveterate puffers of the pipe and hubble-bubble: My insight into this epoch gives me understanding: if fate smiles on you, your luck will soon be roiled. Rider, you who are about to set out from the land of al-Daʿm

16.40

on a purebred camel swift as an oryx,54 Hooves as rapid as a fleeing ostrich, that in the morning bolts from her rider’s shadow, To Ibn Māḍi, Mḥammad, held in highest esteem, born to the House of ʿAmr, famed for generosity. When I call on him to help with a weighty matter he fixes it, and if I utter his battle cry he sets matters straight. O Ibn Māḍi, do not bother with the other villages: if you take my counsel, you should destroy them in their lair.55 They bear you a grudge and conspire against you,

16.45

but their treachery is feeble, like that of women. The inhabitants cannot secure their town against the enemy because of their internal strife. Do not swallow the fatal morsel, I warn you: its grip is deadly: it will lodge in your throat. Migḥim covers great distances on his raids, while Ibn Shakir on the prowl is sent packing by a cow.56 How can one compare a falcon that feeds an entire tribe with a chirruping bird that flits around at night? 57 Its nest is built right there, in the wall, plain for all to see: you’ll see it pecking the ground in the morning. There’s as great a distance between these two species as there is between Sanaa and Sinjār.

55

55

16.50

‫~ ‪~ ١7‬‬ ‫ن َّ‬ ‫ا ن نَ ّ ا �‬ ‫�‬ ‫�ل ا ��ل��دَ ���‬ ‫���‬ ‫��ج� ���‬ ‫ع �ي�ج� �لٍ ي‬ ‫ن ا� َ ّ‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫��ي��ا � �م ن� � ا‬ ‫� او � ���ح �‬ ‫نر‬ ‫ح‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫ا ��ل� عْ ن �ن ا ا �� ��ن�فنْ� ا �‬ ‫ي�ه� َ ن�‬ ‫�ج� ل�‬ ‫ي َج����� ج�‬ ‫�َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫� او ��� ن���ب�َهر �ي�مع�ّ ا ��لَ������‬ ‫م‬ ‫ي ْي ا ن ��نَ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫� �ن� ��ْمع �ه�� ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫ل‬ ‫�‬ ‫ر‬ ‫�َل�ل��م� ه �م� ا �و ي نَ �‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫� َْ‬ ‫���و �ي ن���جَ��ي ش��� �ش�� �و�ج�� �َيل��ل�ي�ج�ا ه‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ش اش‬ ‫َلفنْن� ْ ا ن‬ ‫ي‬ ‫��� ن�َل��ل���ج� �َ���� � �و�ي�ج� �ي�‬ ‫ْ َ ْ‬ ‫��ُ‬ ‫�م ن�د را �َم�شْ��� ا ل‬ ‫�ورا‬ ‫َ�ع ن� َ�د ه �‬ ‫��‬ ‫ل‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ْ ن نَ ْ ن‬ ‫��يْ��ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ورد �� �و���هٍ�د را �م�ي�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ْ ن‬ ‫ي ْي‬ ‫�َل��ل��م�ا �ه�ا �َم ن� َ ���ي� ن� اَ�ام��م��ل��‬ ‫ن‬ ‫�ي���َج�ي� نر��ل � �و�ي ن�َ��ي� نر��ل ��� ��م�ا ��ل��‬ ‫َ ي‬ ‫�ي��َ� نم��َ ا�ا�مَ�شْم��ل� ش� �م ن ا ن ��ل‬ ‫��ْ�ع�م��‬ ‫و �َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫ي ا ���ْ‬ ‫ْ َ‬ ‫ل�‬ ‫��‬ ‫�ّ َ ك‬ ‫�جَ��ل�� �م ن� نَ��كعره‬ ‫� نولفن�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ح َ ْ يَ يْ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫ن‬ ‫�م ن� �ع��ر � ���َ�ه�د �نَ ���معرا �ش��م��‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫�� ن � ْ يَ�ْ َ � ا َ ْ ��‬ ‫� او رن�� َ�د ه نحرع��ج� ��ج�دَ�ل�‬ ‫َ‬

‫‪56‬‬

‫�َ ْ‬ ‫نَ �� ن�ْ ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫��معر ��ي� را ��� ا�ا��ب�ي����وره‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫ّ �َ ْ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫� او �ي��ي� �ه�و � او �ي�ا ا ��ن���نج�د �وره‬ ‫�‬ ‫�َ‬ ‫� او �لَي�� ْ���معر�� �ن�ي��م�ا ا � نل�جعْر�ن ��وره‬ ‫يا ن ن َ َ ْ � َ ّ‬ ‫�� �‬ ‫�و ن��يم�� ا �ل���ج ن��وره‬ ‫�َم�د ن��‬ ‫�� نّ � �ْ ي َ ْ �‬ ‫�ج�د ا هٍ ��جع�م ��ط�وره‬ ‫َ�����‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫نَ�ْ‬ ‫ش‬ ‫ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ن ��� ��و�م� م� َ��عر ه�وره‬ ‫ن‬ ‫� نَ �ٍّ َ ّ �َ نْ‬ ‫�وره‬ ‫� او �ل��د �ل�� ���ج�د ي� �جفن���‬ ‫�َ ّ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�ن��وره �ي��ي�ج�ا د �� ا � نل�ج ن��وره‬ ‫ش ا ن �ن ش ْ َ شْ‬ ‫�� ��وره‬ ‫�و���� ��� �ي� ���َمن��ٍر �م� ن‬ ‫ْ ��لَ ْ‬ ‫�م�شج�� ا‬ ‫���� ن��ا �ن�م�� �َ�جعنْر ��‬ ‫��وره‬ ‫َ ل‬ ‫ا ي ا � ��ل ّ �َ��ع� ن�ْ‬ ‫��م� ��� �ل ا ن�‬ ‫�وره‬ ‫��‬ ‫���� ��‬ ‫َ‬ ‫يَ نّ‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ ْ‬ ‫�م ن� � يل����ل �ي�جعر�َ�ج�د �� ��وره‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫َ � ّ �ل َ يّ‬ ‫يَ��ن�� ��ج�� ��ك ا �‬ ‫�ج ��وره‬ ‫ي ن‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫َ َ � َ ّ‬ ‫كوره‬ ‫ي��ن�ي� �ن�م�� �ع���ر �و�� �‬ ‫يَ� � � ن ي � �ْ‬ ‫�معر �وره‬ ‫�ن�� ن�م� َ�‬ ‫��مي ��ٍ� َو‬ ‫ي‬ ‫‪56‬‬

‫‪١،١٧‬‬

‫‪٥،١٧‬‬

‫‪١٠،١٧‬‬

‫‪١٥،١٧‬‬

~ 17 ~

Māni ʿ sits on his rooftop and plays horseman,

17.1

a hero doing battle from the safety of his parapet.58 At the sound of alarm outside, he and his belle sit up and take a peek: Coffee cup in his right hand, hubble-bubble in his left. Should he venture forth into the street, a cat could despoil him of his cavalry coat. He huddles like a timid monk,

17.5

or a miserable kite in the dripping rain. Take a closer look at his long white shirt: you’ll see its hems are smeared with his shit. He goes to raise a war cry but his tongue is tied: he trembles with fear, and his throat tightens up.59 He keeps a heavenly young angel at home, a beauty brighter than a glass lamp, With round shoulders, buttocks, and breasts, plump ankles that fill your hand, Well fed on excellent fare,

17.10

like a leech swollen with blood. In her insolence she squanders his money: if she raids the store of dates, he doesn’t blink an eye. She gets up before dawn and stuffs herself with pastry, having kept the oven roaring all night long. In the morning light she lines her eyes with black, longing for his hard dick to rub her pussy. In late afternoon she sits curled up in bed, hankering to have the itch inside scratched. She gorges on butter, a saddlebag full,

17.15

to make her cunt tight and sizzling hot.

57

57

‫~~ ‪~~ ١7‬‬

‫نَْ َ ْ شَ َ‬ ‫�و�َ�م��د ه �‬ ‫�م��ل � ��و�ر ن�ي�َّم�د‬ ‫رن ٍ ٍ‬ ‫�يْغ� ا ��ْ� �‬ ‫�‬ ‫ل���ج�ا �ي�م��‬ ‫ا � � � �د �‬ ‫�‬ ‫�� م� َي ن َ�م ل � َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫� ا ي ا � ي َ�ع ّ‬ ‫����ن‬ ‫�ل� �م� �ل� ن�‬ ‫�َم��ل ن��ا �ي�معْر�‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ �‬ ‫�ي�جع ��م�د ه ��َ�ْجع د ��م�ا ن�ج ه�ا‬ ‫َ ري َ ي ن َر‬ ‫�ي�‬ ‫َنا ا َْ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫����ل ه�ا‬ ‫��م� ���� � او د �ع�� َر ن� ي��‬ ‫َْ‬ ‫�جع � �ه ي���شف��ن‬ ‫شُ ٍّ يَلفنْ ن‬ ‫ع‬ ‫�‬ ‫ج‬ ‫��جع�م ��َ ر و �و َ ر‬ ‫َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ن ن ن‬ ‫� او ��� �ش��َجنّ���ك ����د ا ��ي� د ا‬ ‫�يَ ْ��� ع َ � � ا �� �ي � �� ا �َي��ْ ُ‬ ‫ع‬ ‫�‬ ‫��م ن� ل�� ��و� م��ط� ع� �م‬ ‫ع‬ ‫� ع َ�َ �ي ي�َ عّ ا ��ش‬ ‫ا‬ ‫��م� �ي�� ن� �م ير��م� مر �‬ ‫َيَّ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫�‬ ‫��جعر��م��‬ ‫�ن�ا �ل�� يل�م��ل �يل�� �ل���ي�ه�ا َ�‬

‫‪58‬‬

‫ن‬ ‫َّ ْ‬ ‫ا ن�‬ ‫��ع�ٍم �ي��عر�ع�� ي �ل‬ ‫�‬ ‫ا�ُ‬ ‫م ي���د � ْ ده � � ْ‬ ‫��م�د �وره‬ ‫� او� �وَ َور َو‬ ‫َ‬ ‫نْ � َ‬ ‫��وره‬ ‫د ا �ي�مع�م ��م�ا �َي����ن��ر �م ن� �ش �‬ ‫� ا � َ ّ �� �ي ا � شْ ن َ‬ ‫�ل� �م��ل ا ��م� ر�� ن�‬ ‫��م� ��وره‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�يْ��ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫ل�‬ ‫�ص ْر� ��وره‬ ‫�‬ ‫�م�ا �ن�ي� ن� ا � � و�‬ ‫�َ ْ ن� َ ن‬ ‫�َ� ْ‬ ‫�م��ل �ي�ت�ه�ا ا ������نمن�ب ��وره‬ ‫ا �� ا د‬ ‫ا ��َْي ُ‬ ‫�م�ا ���� �‬ ‫��مع� �َم� ْ��مي��وره‬ ‫�م�‬ ‫ي‬ ‫� م‬ ‫��ُ‬ ‫�َ َ �ّ َ ْ‬ ‫ا �� د �� �ي�كعَر ن� ��وره‬ ‫� ا �َ��يْ� �� نَ�نْ‬ ‫َي ن���ي�ه� ي قَ�‬ ‫��عر�وره‬ ‫�ر‬ ‫َ ْ َ �ّ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫ا‬ ‫��شنن� ��وره‬ ‫�د‬ ‫�‬ ‫� �وي�ج�د �ي� َي� ر َ�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�ه�وره‬

‫‪58‬‬

‫‪٢٠،١٧‬‬

‫‪٢٥،١٧‬‬

~ 17 ~

Her man passes for an excellent little bull: hornless, he pastures in his grassy plot. He gets no farther than the roof of his house: shuttling back and forth to the kitchen. “Hurry up!” she says, and he comes at a trot— he would never venture an opinion. She lusts for him to treat and soothe the burning itch that stings her labia. He puts her on her back, and folds her legs

17.20

between earlobe and shoulder, Then he breathes hard, she grunts, his glans penetrates her with force. When their limbs are intertwined, this bedroom affair is not discreet: Their shrieks and howls fill the street when he ties the saddle tightly on her. She is not the wench of a poor farmhand, nose dripping with snot, Who turns his back on her at night

17.25

and lets rip without inhibition.

59

59

‫~ ‪~ ١8‬‬ ‫حَ ن � ش ا‬ ‫ي � �‬ ‫�ي�� ��و�ل ��مي��د ا � ا �ل���م� �عر‬ ‫يَ ْ َ‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ا �ن�ا �م ن� �ن�ا ��� ن�‬ ‫�جعر����ع�م‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫�‬ ‫� او ��ل�ا �ن��ا ��ل�ي�ع�ص �م‬ ‫���ا ر ن����ع�م‬ ‫ر‬ ‫نْ‬ ‫� � ا � �� ّ‬ ‫� ن�� ن�� او ن�‬ ‫�َ��د ��جع�م‬ ‫و �ل� ي�َ�� ن‬ ‫شْ َ �ن‬ ‫د ا ��مع� ��س�‬ ‫� �م�ل� �َ�مع�����ع�م‬ ‫ي م َ � نٍ‬ ‫�َ ّ‬ ‫ن‬ ‫�م�و ي� ا�ا�هي� ي� ��ج�ا د ا �يج��‬ ‫� ّ‬ ‫ش� ن�‬ ‫��� ي‬

‫ن‬ ‫َ ّ �‬ ‫ي��مع�م ر ن�‬ ‫��م�ا ��‬ ‫�م�ا �ٍل‬ ‫نْ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫ن‬ ‫� ار ��ج�� �ود را �����‬ ‫��‬ ‫َ���ْ�جع�ٍم نل �‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�َ َ ّ‬ ‫�‬ ‫��م��ل��‬ ‫�و���م�ل�� � ا �ل�� يل�م��ل ا �� �‬ ‫ح‬ ‫� َ ّ ش ّ َّ‬ ‫ا�‬ ‫�ل ���ج��ل�� ��جع�م ن�ل��ل��‬ ‫�َ نَّ َ نَّ‬ ‫��� �من �ج�ا‬ ‫�و �� �َم�م�� �‬ ‫�غ� ن ��‬ ‫��َ � ن � �ي َ ن‬ ‫��َّجع���ج�ا‬ ‫�‬ ‫� او � �ج�� ��و‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ �ّ َ شْ‬ ‫يَ نْ‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ف‬ ‫ف‬ ‫���‬ ‫ل‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫د �� ي �َجعر و �ي� �َجعر‬ ‫� �يَ ْ�� َ � ّ � ا �َي�ْ‬ ‫ع‬ ‫���و ����ب� َ ��� �م���ط� � ��مع�م‬ ‫ع‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ي‬ ‫�و�ه�و ي���مع�م�َه�م �و���ي� �َر�َ�مع�م‬

‫‪60‬‬

‫ْ ََّ يَ‬ ‫ا �ْ� ن‬ ‫��ج�ا‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�و�جعره‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫و‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ي ور‬ ‫ي‬ ‫�‬ ‫ْ � ا ن ا� ْ �‬ ‫ح�ي� �ود � او ا ��َن�ه�ي�ره‬ ‫���‬ ‫ا ر ��ط� ا ���‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�ر ن� �م�ا ����مع� �عنْ��ه�ا ن�‬ ‫�َم�ي�ره‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫م‬ ‫�‬ ‫� �َ ّ‬ ‫�ل�ا �ن�ا � نل�جعر �ولا �ن�ا �ل��َد �ي�جعره‬ ‫ْ َْ‬ ‫� او �‬ ‫�َم�د ��� ي� ش��صَرن� �م�ا �ن�ي�جعره‬ ‫م‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫� ن‬ ‫�و �ل�ا �ش��ج�ا �ل�� �ن�ا ن���ط�ا �ي�جعره‬ ‫�ّ ا � يْ َ ْ ْ‬ ‫ا � ا ����� � �‬ ‫�م� �‬ ‫��َ �و�معره‬ ‫�‬ ‫�ل َ �و ي� ر ن �ل ي‬ ‫ن �َ ْ‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�م��د ا �ل�نم�د �وه �و�ع ن��د ا �ل�نَم�ي�ره‬ ‫�ّ يَ‬ ‫��ْمعَر ن� �َ�مع نرا����ي�ره‬ ‫د �ل ي� �� ن�‬ ‫يَيْ �‬ ‫ي‬ ‫��م�ا ��م�ي�ره‬ ‫�م�ا �م ي� � ������َطعر �َم�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫يْ َ‬ ‫� او �يمنب���� � او � ن�م��ل �ن�ي��م�ا �عي�معره‬ ‫ّ َْ‬ ‫ن‬ ‫دَ ��ل ي� �ي�� ن�‬ ‫��م�ا �ي��عره‬ ‫��َ�معر �َم�‬ ‫نَ‬ ‫ن‬ ‫يَ ن ْ ي‬ ‫�م�ا � ���معَر�� ��م�د ا �م ن� �عي�معره‬ ‫َْ َ �‬ ‫ْ َ‬ ‫ي�����ع�م�ه�� ا �ل�نم�ا �ي�مع�م نَ���� ش���م�ي�ره‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ا َْن‬ ‫��م� ل��‬ ‫����� ��م�د ا �ع ن� �ن���ي�ره‬ ‫ي ي‬ ‫‪60‬‬

‫‪١،١٨‬‬

‫‪٥،١٨‬‬

‫‪١٠،١٨‬‬

‫‪١٥،١٨‬‬

~ 18 ~

These are the words of Ḥmēdān the poet,

18.1

who delights in bursting vain pretensions.60 I hail from a people who trade in fire bush from the desert and digestive salts,61 Locked in a never-ending battle with the date palms, not a battle of their own choosing. They never sink their teeth into this dainty dish, not even a bite, be it in the desert or at home. Their mouths are crusted and caked:

18.5

just one of them could drink a well dry.62 They live and die without ever tasting a date; they don’t even touch it with their fingers.63 The only one of them to enjoy any of life’s comforts is this wild tomcat, little Sārah’s man. How well honed are his fleshy arms and legs when he digs for food or runs to escape. When he unsheathes and wields his night sword, his flutes strike up a tune to a beat gone wild. Once it is drawn and gets moist

18.10

it begins to leak and drip with fluid. He embraces her and presses her tight, his penis moving smoothly to and fro, in and out; Then he clasps her violently and draws her close. you hear the slosh and squelch of their parts; He snorts, she groans with abandon, their pants and grunts merge into one, In farts as loud as thunderclaps, loud enough to make sleeping lovers sit up. Spiritedly she neighs and he whinnies, reaching fever pitch at the same time.

6١

61

18.15

‫~~ ‪~~ ١8‬‬

‫ن َ نْ ن �َ ن َ � ن‬ ‫� او �‬ ‫��ْمبن�� ��ط �ه�د ا‬ ‫�م�د �ه�د ا ي��‬ ‫� ْ���َ � � ن ش َّ ي � ا �ن‬ ‫ع‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫َي ���ب م� �َ���د ه م� �ي� م‬ ‫ع‬ ‫ّا �‬ ‫��ا ���نج�ي‬ ‫ك‬ ‫نا‬ ‫ا �� � �وي� � ي ن �ي�‬ ‫ّ ا اّ � ك �‬ ‫�‬ ‫��ج�اَ�ن��‬ ‫�‬ ‫ل‬ ‫ل‬ ‫ج�� � �وي� � � �‬ ‫�� ي‬ ‫ع‬ ‫نَ‬ ‫� َ‬ ‫ان ن‬ ‫�ي� �‬ ‫�َم�د �م ن� �ي�م�د �ي� �ن�ا َ�ام ن�ْمعرد‬

‫‪62‬‬

‫َْ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫كَّ د �ي�ا ��� يلفنن�‬ ‫�ي�جعره‬ ‫�‬ ‫� �وي�‬ ‫و‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ٍّ َ َّ � َ ْ‬ ‫���ل �ش��و�ر َ�ل�� ي��ش�� �و�جعره‬ ‫ي‬ ‫نَ‬ ‫�‬ ‫ن‬ ‫��مب�ن� ��م�ا �ل��َد �ي��عَره‬ ‫� ّ�رن��نم�ا �َ��‬ ‫ّٰ‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ن‬ ‫� ش���َجي�ر ا لل� �ش�جع�م � ش���ج�ي�ره‬ ‫ْ ي َ نْ نَ‬ ‫�‬ ‫� �ن��ك �َم ن� َ���ي�جعَره‬ ‫� او ن� ��ي� ��ي�م�ب ن�‬ ‫ح‬

‫‪62‬‬

‫‪٢٠،١٨‬‬

~ 18 ~

When they start to press as hard as they can, and he ties the saddle tightly on her back, They toil away and reach climax, accompanied by a salvo of farts. My daughter, you and me both, have brought ruin upon almost all of this town.64 Now let us repair to the blacksmith for his counsel, but first ask God’s guidance. He will restore my dick to shape,

18.20

and fill you with hot blasts from his bellows.65

63

63

‫~ ‪~ ١9‬‬ ‫ّ َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫�َجع �� ش‬ ‫� �� �م دَ �� �� ا نر را ر���� ن‬ ‫ج��ا �ل���ل‬ ‫�‬ ‫ر‬ ‫يو و‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ي‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ن‬ ‫� ن ��‬ ‫� �‬ ‫�ن‬ ‫��معر�و ن� ا �ل�‬ ‫ا�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ا‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ع‬ ‫�‬ ‫م�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫م‬ ‫�‬ ‫��م�ا �ل‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ي‬ ‫و‬ ‫ر‬ ‫ل ي‬ ‫ن َ َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ا ّ� � ُ ْ ي ن‬ ‫��ْه�� �م�ا �ه� � ن � ن‬ ‫ر‬ ‫�� ��ط �ل�� �ر�َم���ي� نَ� ل و ن ي �‬ ‫� � ا � ا �َ �� ا �ن ��ل�َ ْ ي‬ ‫ي ��و�م ن��� �م� ع��ط� ي� نجي�ن��ي�م َ�دٍه‬ ‫َ‬ ‫� َ� يْ ن ا َ � ع ه �م ن ا ���� ا ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ي ��و�م ن �ج�� ����وي�مر � ��� ر َ�‬ ‫��لَ ي � �ا �ن�� ا ��َ �ي ��لْ ي ���� �� �ا ��م ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ي�� �مع � َ� � َل ��ج ي�‬ ‫يَ ي ا ن ن َ ْ ن َ ْ �‬ ‫� ن�م��ل �� �‬ ‫�َم�د �ن ��ي�م��ل ن�م�� ر��معرهي ا � �ر��يمب�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫َ نع‬ ‫ْي َ َْ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫� َّ َ � َ‬ ‫�َ �وي��� ش����عر�ن��ك ن� ن�ْم��ل ا �ل ش��صرك �ن�ا �ل�شَ��ن���ك‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�َ نَ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ا �ل �‬ ‫ْ ن ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫َا �َ��َر�ر �م� ������و�م ا �ل�د �هر �ن� ��د �ر‬ ‫َ‬ ‫� �� �م �يم�ا �م ي� � �ش����ا �ن� ا ��ل��ل��ند �� �يَل��ّل�م�ا‬ ‫و‬ ‫يو‬ ‫ي �‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫ا َ َ ن � ن ش �� ش �‬ ‫�م� د ر�� ا � ا �َل�‬ ‫م��اي�ل��ل �َو���معر ا �ل�يمع ار ن�‬ ‫ن َ ي نَ‬ ‫ّ �ْ��ي‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫غ‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫م‬ ‫�‬ ‫�د‬ ‫��‬ ‫ب‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫م‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�ي�ا َ� َن‬ ‫َ‬ ‫��م��ي� َا َ�َ ع � وي ٍ �‬ ‫�‬ ‫ا يَ نْ نَ � ا ���َ َ‬ ‫�� ن� � او ��� ن�����ط�ا �‬ ‫�م� �نَ ����� �َم�م�� �ع�ي ر ��غ�‬ ‫م‬ ‫��ّ ٍ � ن يَ‬ ‫�‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫� ن �ا‬ ‫��‬ ‫َه��ل �َم� ك�� � �جن��لك ن��ي ��و�ٍم �و� يل�ج��ل‬ ‫���ا ن� ا �َ � ّ‬ ‫� ّ � ا � ا� ا‬ ‫��مي���ك �ن�م��‬ ‫�َغ ��ط �ن� �ل��ك ��م� ك� و‬

‫‪64‬‬

‫� َ شَ‬ ‫َ ّ َ يْ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ر �و�� �نَ�م�� ���� �وي�جعره �ع� ا ����ي�ج��َر‬ ‫� َ َْ‬ ‫َ شْ‬ ‫� ا ا� ْ‬ ‫�و�ه�و ي����معر�ي� ����م� اَ�م�����ك � او ����م ن�ن��َر‬ ‫يْ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫ن َْ �َ‬ ‫نَ�‬ ‫��ه��ل �ه�وَ�ع�� ن� �ه�د ا �ي���ن��د ا �ل ش���معر�ي�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫نَ �� ْ‬ ‫يَ َ نّ ا ا‬ ‫��معر�ي� ��جعر�ي�‬ ‫ا ��م�د �ج� ن����� �ي ��و�م � �‬ ‫��نّ ا نَ ْ �ي �َ ّ ن ْ َ‬ ‫��‬ ‫����َ�م�ٍ �م��ل ��‬ ‫ي�ه�ا ��م���عر�ي�‬ ‫َ���م� � ن‬ ‫شَ ْ َ‬ ‫� � �َي َّ �َ ْ �‬ ‫ي ��و ��وه ن �‬ ‫�م��ط��ل� �وَن�ج�� �م���جن���جعَر‬ ‫م‬ ‫�ن نَ َ � ن ا نَ ّ ا ا�ا�َ نْ نَ ��‬ ‫�ي� د ر�� ا ���ه� �ر ��معره �ن��ه� م�م�طَر‬ ‫َْ‬ ‫�نْ َ‬ ‫�ش�مع ��� ْ‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�ف�‬ ‫�م َي‬ ‫� ��م��� را ���ج�� �م ��عَر‬ ‫�� ن‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ح‬ ‫ن � � ْ يَ ّ‬ ‫َ نْ ي ا �‬ ‫� او ��� �م� �ل��ك �ع� ا �ل��ي� �ل��ك � �م���د َر‬ ‫ا ن َ ْ ن ْ نَ َّ‬ ‫�م ن� �َو را ���� �م� د �‬ ‫� ��جع �رن�جعَر‬ ‫َر � َر ٍ‬ ‫���� ا ��ل��د � او ن�‬ ‫�م ن �و�‬ ‫�م��ل �و�ه�و �م�ا َد ر�ي�‬ ‫� َ يع‬ ‫�� �َ �َ �َ َّ � � ��َ� ن ا �يَ َّ‬ ‫ا ل�د ��عر ���د نَ��� ل�ي� ��م� ��‬ ‫��جعَر‬ ‫ْ يَ شَّ‬ ‫ُ‬ ‫��‬ ‫�َم�شم��ل � �‬ ‫�وٍد ��م��� ا �ل�د ر ن� �و� �م�����عَر‬ ‫� ا يَيْ‬ ‫�َ َ‬ ‫�ن‬ ‫�ش��م�ا �وره � او ��ل‬ ‫م�ر �ع�نم�� �ل� � ���َ�‬ ‫���عَر‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ََ‬ ‫ن ا ��‬ ‫ن ن ن‬ ‫��م�ا هيٍ �ع�� �‬ ‫�م�ا � �ه�د �ي� �و�‬ ‫�م� َ�طر�ي�‬ ‫�‬ ‫‪64‬‬

‫‪١،١٩‬‬

‫‪٥،١٩‬‬

‫‪١٠،١٩‬‬

‫‪١٥،١٩‬‬

~ 19 ~

Our plowmen labored in the fields

19.1

while he was distracted by little Sārah. Our folks struggle to tend palms and raise children while he busily buys musk and ambergris.66 The benighted wretch fancies he should have two wives: I hope he starves on a diet of bitter apples. He would not even spare me a wool vest to cover my bare back against the winter cold, When sweet Sārah came to us from al-ʿĀriḍ

19.5

wild-eyed like a hyena struck by rabies. How I wish Māni ʿ had heeded my advice as he embarked on life’s endeavors, Before this spring flower captured his heart, dazzled him with her good looks in a shaded bower, And ensnared him in her nets, making him fall head over heels in love. Guard against the arrows of fate, though we must submit to what is ordained. When she stood up and he saw her ample behind,

19.10

swelling like a massive sand dune, The dimwit did not realize that such mounds point to a slit as wide and cold as a trench.67 Now, boy, listen to an old man who has spent his life being punished by fate Until, frail with age, he has become a bag of bones like dry twigs lying on the road, broken and bare. Turn to those who have lived a life, benefit from their counsel and instruction. Pay attention and heed the advice

19.15

I wish to impress on your mind.

65

65

‫~~ ‪~~ ١9‬‬

‫ي ْن � َ‬ ‫��ا �ي� ن ّ � ي‬ ‫�ل َ َ�‬ ‫��مع�م ا � ��ي� ��م�ا ����معر�� ا �ل�� ��و��‬ ‫� َ ش نَ ي � َ َ‬ ‫نَّ ن � َ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ا‬ ‫�‬ ‫ا‬ ‫ح‬ ‫�‬ ‫ع‬ ‫�‬ ‫��‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫م‬ ‫م‬ ‫��‬ ‫ه‬ ‫�‬ ‫�َي�م�د � ا ��� ر و ي ��� �و� ر ��‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫� ا �ي ن ّ ا �� ي ي شْ‬ ‫���ج��ي �� ��ل��َل�ن�ج�ا‬ ‫�و �ل� ��‬ ‫ر‬ ‫��جع�م ��ي� َ� َ ي‬ ‫�َ ن شَ‬ ‫ا �ََ � ا َ ْ� �� ��‬ ‫ط�ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ع‬ ‫�‬ ‫ل‬ ‫�‬ ‫ه‬ ‫�د‬ ‫�‬ ‫م‬ ‫���‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�� َ� �م ن ��م نَ � رنح َ ي �‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫ا �ن�� ن�د ن�َ��� ��ن �شَ�ل�� ش� ��ي�َ�ب�ع ���ا �شَ�ل�� �ش‬ ‫ئ‬ ‫ي� ٍ َ ن �‬ ‫َ‬ ‫� ا �ي ن ّ �ّ ن َّ �‬ ‫طَّ� ����طَّ�ج�ا‬ ‫�ل� ��‬ ‫��جع�م ا �ل��د �ي� �َي� �� �وح ي ��‬ ‫�‬ ‫��ل�ا �ي� ن‬ ‫� ��ا �َّم���ا‬ ‫� ��‬ ‫��جع�ّم ا � ��ي� ي�ج�د ْ�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ََ‬ ‫�� ن �‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ا ي ن�َ ّ � َ‬ ‫�ن‬ ‫� ��ل�ا �ي� ن‬ ‫��جع�ّم ا �ل��د �ي� �‬ ‫���� ا ����جن��ا ه‬ ‫�‬ ‫م‬ ‫�‬ ‫و ََ‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ َ ْ ا ي ن ّ �َ‬ ‫�م ن ن�‬ ‫��م��ل��م� �‬ ‫�م��� �َو�ل��د ��م�ا �َي�َ�‬ ‫��يمف�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ح‬ ‫�يَ نْ �� َ ن � ي شْ � يَ‬ ‫�ي ��و�م �� �‬ ‫��ر �م� ا �ن�ي��� �َو��� ��ي� �ن��ي�‬ ‫يْ َ‬ ‫ش ��‬ ‫�َ‬ ‫��� � ا ا ��لن‬ ‫� م� � ا �ن‬ ‫ل‬ ‫�‬ ‫ا‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫م‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ك‬ ‫َا ��معَر ي َ ن َ �ل ي َ� َ ي � نَ �ل‬ ‫نَ‬ ‫� َ�َّي �‬ ‫� ��ّله�ا ي��نْ ��� ��لي‬ ‫ا‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ع‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫م‬ ‫�‬ ‫���ط� �ل� ا � �م ر و ج � َ �َ‬ ‫�جَ ��‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫�ا ي‬ ‫��جع�ّم ا ��ل�� ند �� �ع��ن����ا � ا ند نَ��م�ا‬ ‫�ل� �� ن�‬ ‫ي ي � و �‬ ‫َ‬ ‫��� �م ن �َ��ع ّ ���ب� �� �� ي����ا‬ ‫ّ ا�‬ ‫�َود ���� ه�ل � ر ع و �‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫� �‬ ‫��ا �ي� ن‬ ‫���ع�ّم ا ��ل�� ند �ي� �م�ا �ي�مع َر �َ� ا ��ل‬ ‫�‬ ‫�م�ل�� �ل‬ ‫�ل َ َ‬ ‫ن‬ ‫� ا �ي ن ّ � ن‬ ‫ي ّ � ن‬ ‫�ل� ��‬ ‫��جع�م ا �ل��د �ي� �م�ا �َ�����ل ا �َرد �ي���‬ ‫� ��ا �ي� ن‬ ‫���ع�ّ ا ��ل�� ند � �م�ا ي�ن‬ ‫�م��ّ ا �� ن��ي‬ ‫�‬ ‫و �ل‬ ‫�‬ ‫م‬ ‫�‬ ‫ر‬ ‫ي‬ ‫�‬ ‫� َ ي�‬ ‫�ّ ��ّ‬ ‫ا �� َ �َ �م�ش � �م ن �ي ا �� ك�‬ ‫��‬ ‫���� � اوَ ك‬ ‫��و���د َ ��ل � ج� ل َ‬ ‫ي ح‬ ‫‪66‬‬

‫يَ�ْ�َ ا � نَ � ن شَ � ن � ا يَ ْ �ي‬ ‫ن��ج��ل �ر � �����‬ ‫ي� �و �ل� ����ج�َ َر‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫طف ن � � َ ن � نْ‬ ‫� او �� ��ي�ج�د � �ُ�موَ� �‬ ‫� � او �لَ�لن��� َ�م�‬ ‫�َوَر‬ ‫َ َ ر‬ ‫ح‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫َ ْ�َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�ن�ه�ا �ن�ا ����ل�� �م ا �َنرَر�ي�‬ ‫د ا �ي�مع�ٍم �هر ن‬ ‫َ � َّ َ ْ َّ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�� �‬ ‫طو� ي� َ������م�ا �م�ا ا د ر�ي� �م�ا ا د َر�ي�‬ ‫� ا�ْ ي ا � َ �‬ ‫َن َ‬ ‫�ل� ن�م��ل �� َه�‬ ‫���ل ��ل‬ ‫ط��م�ا َ�م��ك ���ي� ��معَر�ي�‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫� نَ َ نْ ي ا ا� َ يْ‬ ‫ي ْي َ‬ ‫ا ���‬ ‫طف���� � او ��� �ن� ��ج�ب� ن�َجعره �َ��� ن�جعَر‬ ‫يَ�ْ‬ ‫�� َ‬ ‫ا‬ ‫ا‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ا‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ع‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ه‬ ‫م‬ ‫�‬ ‫��س‬ ‫� َ ن� ي ن� ن ر ي� و �و نَ َر ي�‬ ‫� َ نَ‬ ‫��نّ يَ َْ‬ ‫د ا �ي�جع�م ��‬ ‫َ���ج�ا �ل��ل�� ن� ا ����جي ���جعر�ي�‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫َ ْ َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫يَ ن‬ ‫����ا َ����م��� ������ا � �موَرد �و��غ�‬ ‫����د َر‬ ‫ع‬ ‫نَ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫َ �� ا ��‬ ‫ي�ن��� �ع�نم�د �عي��عَرك �ل‬ ‫ط��م� �ٍم ��َطعر�ي�‬ ‫ي‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ا� ْش نَ‬ ‫ي‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫�‬ ‫ي‬ ‫�ا � ن‬ ‫ا‬ ‫�ل� َ ن‬ ‫�جعرع �و� ��و �ي�ج��ل �ي� ا�َ�ج ���جعَر‬ ‫� َ َ َ ْ � نَ � نَ‬ ‫�م ن� � ن�م�اَ�ل��ك �ع����� �ن� ������م�ا �ل��ل���عَر�ي�‬ ‫ا� ْ نَ‬ ‫��ا �ا��ص نا ن�ع�م�� � ا ���� ا‬ ‫ن َر ي ل و‬ ‫��ج� �ي�معر اَ�م�����ب��عَر‬ ‫�� � �ن � �ي �� نْ �� َ‬ ‫�م ن ش � ��ن � � �‬ ‫�هر�ي�‬ ‫� ي� ��ول ا� �‬ ‫� َ��صري� وَطري ٍ‬ ‫نْ َ َ � ْ َ ا � ن ا ن َ نْ َ‬ ‫ج�ٍر ��� ن��ب�ع�ه� � او �َر��ج� � ا �ع ن�جعَر‬ ‫ا �� ن‬ ‫َ‬ ‫� � ا َْ‬ ‫�ي ْ����ع �� ا ��ل��ل���� �ل�� ���ج� َي�‬ ‫��يجعر�ي�‬ ‫ر‬ ‫ي‬ ‫�‬ ‫ل‬ ‫ي� �‬ ‫ي‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫ن‬ ‫َ‬ ‫���ن ا ن ا �ْ‬ ‫�ن َ‬ ‫�م��ل�� �� ��و َي� �‬ ‫ي ��م� ��م� ن� ر ن‬ ‫��معَر‬ ‫ن نَ �� َ ْ ي نْ �� َ‬ ‫ن ي ا �َ ش‬ ‫�هر�ي�‬ ‫�هر� ئا � �‬ ‫��ي� �ي�� �م ا ����َ��صر � او � � �‬ ‫‪66‬‬

‫‪٢٠،١٩‬‬

‫‪٢٥،١٩‬‬

‫‪٣٠،١٩‬‬

~ 19 ~

Do not marry a lazy slut who shamelessly turns good into bad: At the end of the day the grain is still in the quern, the pots have not been scrubbed, the milk has gone off. Do not marry a gossipy chatterbox who can’t keep her foul tongue in check. If her husband politely asks her for something, she bawls, “I don’t know, I don’t know how!” Repudiate her thrice and thrice again;

19.20

that way you may enjoy your food in peace. Don’t marry a woman whose well shaft has collapsed,68 who, as soon as you are buried, can’t wait to have sex. Nor a woman born to a mother of ill repute: don’t be fooled, shame is bred in the bone! Nor a woman who’s always getting dressed to go out,69 footloose and fancy-free, an irrepressible dancer Who leaves her baby boy behind in tears: the slovenly scatterbrain has no sense! What do you think she is looking for?

19.25

Tired of you, she is on the track of a new taste. Give her the boot, idiot, you worn-out piece of rope! Don’t worry if you’re called a donkey driver.70 Repudiate the floozy and set her loose, untie her bonds, let her belly be slashed! Do not marry a woman who is all eyes and ears at doors that are ajar and cracks in the walls: She is dying for any old passerby, high-born or low, to say to her, “Come!” Nor one who doesn’t attend to your goods, a good-for-nothing in an age of good-for-nothings. Do not marry a wife who still clings to her co-rider,71 and night after night rushes into his arms. Nor the woman who is in thrall to a former lover: he is always there when her husband is away. Their tryst starts at the late prayer during Ramadan with “Cough, cough,” meaning: “Let’s slip out;

67

67

19.30

‫~~ ‪~~ ١9‬‬

‫ا �ْي� � � ن ن ا �َ� ن � ا �َ نْ ��� َ ن‬ ‫��معر�و�‬ ‫�و �َ�م�د ي� ع�م�د �� �ل�ي� م� ي� �‬ ‫��ا �ي� ن�� ع ّ ا ��ل�� ند � يلفنْ��ن‬ ‫�َ�ع ن ن� د � ن����ا‬ ‫�ل � ج�م ي� َ َر و �‬ ‫�َ �‬ ‫�� �� �ي��ي�� ��ل َا ْر�نج�بي�� ��ا �َ�جع َره ��ا �ل‬ ‫���ل�� �ل‬ ‫ن‬ ‫و و َ ي� ي‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫اَ َ‬ ‫��ا ن� �من��م�ا �م ن ا ����َ�ش�� ��م� ي‬ ‫�ر��م��‬ ‫��‬ ‫ل‬ ‫�‬ ‫ن‬ ‫� � ين‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ن ن َ َّ‬ ‫�َ ْ‬ ‫� ��� ن‬ ‫�����طع ه �ش��مع � ��� �م�ل�� ���مع ��م�ا‬ ‫ر‬ ‫ر‬ ‫ر‬ ‫َ‬ ‫و �و ي َ‬ ‫ي ٍ‬ ‫ن َ َن ا شَ َ يْ �نَ‬ ‫��‬ ‫ق� ش� ا �� ه�‬ ‫ل��ل� �م‬ ‫� او � د ���ل �ن� ��ص �ر�م�� ن� ن� ي‬ ‫يَ‬ ‫َ َّ � ّٰ‬ ‫��م��ل��ط ا لل� �ع��ل�ي����ا � ن����ل�ه�ا �َي��ع نر�و�‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫م‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫� �‬ ‫�ن‬ ‫�م�‬ ‫طف�‬ ‫�ّ�عر �َ�م� �م�ا �و �ن�مي ان� ن ا ��ل‬ ‫�م�ل�� �ل‬ ‫ٍ ير َ � �‬ ‫��ا َ�ع َ���� � ن��ْ َ�� �م�ا د ا ��مع� ��م�ا ������� ش‬ ‫��‬ ‫ي � َن ��‬ ‫ي ٍم َي ي �‬ ‫ن �َ َ ا ن ُ‬ ‫��ّ �ي�َم ْ�د ���مع ��م�ا‬ ‫�م� ن‬ ‫�ن�ه��ل��م� �و�م� � �و ن ي ر‬ ‫�َْ �‬ ‫�َ‬ ‫� ا �ي ن ّ � ن‬ ‫ا ي�‬ ‫�َ��ا‬ ‫ح‬ ‫ح‬ ‫� ن� ا �نل�‬ ‫�ل� ��‬ ‫��جع�م ا �ل��د �ي� ��ج� ن‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫��ا �� َ ��� َّ �� �‬ ‫�جَ�ّ�� �ع ن ا ��ل�� �ي�� ��ي‬ ‫ح‬ ‫�‬ ‫ي م�‬ ‫طول ن َ ي � �ي� َوي��‬ ‫يَ ْ َ‬ ‫�شْ�� ����م�ا ��ل�� �ي�� ��ي‬ ‫ف‬ ‫ط‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�م‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�ي ��و�م �����عع َ ي ن ٍ �‬ ‫َ َوي��‬ ‫ُ‬ ‫� دَ ��م�ا‬ ‫� َْ َ ا ا‬ ‫�‬ ‫��ي� ��م���� ���طن����ت�ه� ��م� ���ي� � �و‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫�اي ن‬ ‫��جع�ّ ا ��ل�� ند �� ����ج��َ�لي� ي� �َ��ع َّ�ي�� ن‬ ‫�ل� ��� م ي َ‬ ‫ري�‬ ‫َ �ْ ن‬ ‫��‬ ‫� ا ن‬ ‫له�ا َ����ي�� ن�‬ ‫ه���ل �ي ��و�ٍم ����م� �ع�م�د ا ��م� �‬ ‫آ‬ ‫�� ي�ن ّ‬ ‫��من ّ‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ه‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ع‬ ‫�‬ ‫�ش��ج�ا ر ن� َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�ن��جع�م � او َ �ٍل َ � م‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫�‬ ‫ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫� ا �ي� ن ّ‬ ‫ي‬ ‫�ل� �‬ ‫��جع�م ا �ل��د �ي� �م�ا ���ه�ا �َم ن� ���ه�ا ن�‬

‫‪68‬‬

‫ْن ��‬ ‫�َ‬ ‫ا� َ � َّ‬ ‫ُي‬ ‫���جعر�ي� � او��غ�� �‬ ‫� َاو‬ ‫طوع �ن���مع�م �ي �� �وَ�جعَر‬ ‫َ نَ‬ ‫َ نْ‬ ‫�ّج�ا ����ا ��ا �ْ��ع ��م�ا يلف‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ع‬ ‫�‬ ‫ج‬ ‫ن َ َر‬ ‫د �و�م ن ر ن ر‬ ‫دَ ��َّمع �� �َصْ ن �ي��ك ند ا ا ��ل�َ��نَ��� � ا � ْ‬ ‫��منَ��َر‬ ‫َو‬ ‫ن ر ي رَرَ‬ ‫� � ْ َ نَّ‬ ‫ي‬ ‫� ��ا �شَ��جعَ ي� ��ن � �‬ ‫�م�ل� �ل��ك َ�ل�� �� ن�ج�د َر‬ ‫ر ي�‬ ‫ون‬ ‫ن َ َّ � � ا نْ �َ‬ ‫� دَّ ����ا ا �ن�م�� ي�‬ ‫�ق ��ط �و �ل� َي�‬ ‫َو‬ ‫����طعَر‬ ‫ر‬ ‫ن ن �َ َ نْ َ � ي � ئ ْ‬ ‫� او � ���ن��ر � او �� َ�د �ن� ي� �ل�� �ي�� ��و�ل ا ن� ش���َمعر�ي�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫طف ن َّ‬ ‫� ا ��� ن� َ َّ ن �َ ْ ن‬ ‫��م�ا يَ����ا �م���‬ ‫�‬ ‫ع‬ ‫�‬ ‫و‬ ‫َر‬ ‫���ب��ي ��� ن��صر� �‬ ‫ن ْ ش ي � �ن �ّ نَ � � �ن َ ْ ن�َ‬ ‫�جعَر‬ ‫�َ�جن�����َجَ�� �ي� ا � ار �ل� ي�جعر‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫ْ �ا‬ ‫ن ش اَ‬ ‫��ش‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ع‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ�ع ن��د ا �ل� ن��‬ ‫� او د � او � �ع�� ��� �م� لي َ َر‬ ‫ا ن �ْ‬ ‫ا َْ ي‬ ‫ا‬ ‫��م� ����� يل�ن�ه� �م� ا �لَ��لن����� �م� ي�����َ��َر‬ ‫� نّ ا ي نْ ن �‬ ‫حّ ا ن ا �‬ ‫د �و ن� َ ن��‬ ‫�ج� ���ج� َ���ب�ه� �َ��م���َطعَر‬ ‫َ�ْ‬ ‫ن � ��َ ن ا ن ��َ ي َ ْ �ي‬ ‫ي‬ ‫� َ��س ن� ا ��م� ا � �� ��جعر� ي����جَ�َر‬ ‫َيْ‬ ‫� ي َّ‬ ‫�نَ ْ‬ ‫�����ط�� �ع ن ا ��ل‬ ‫� ��و �‬ ‫�مع�م��� �م�ا �ي���َ�‬ ‫���عَر‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫�َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫نّ‬ ‫�م�ا ي������د �ل �َ �‬ ‫��و�� ا ����� ين� ��ي� َلي������عَر‬ ‫�� ا � ا يَ نْ‬ ‫َْ�‬ ‫كعَر‬ ‫�ي ��و�م �ي����طعر�ي� ��م� ���ط� ر�ي�ٍ ��� َ‬ ‫ن� آ ن�َ َ نْ � َ‬ ‫� او �‬ ‫�� ٍ�د د ا �م��ٍل � او‬ ‫��عٍر �ي����ب��جعَر‬ ‫�� نّ � َ ْ َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫�ن�م�ا د �� � ن‬ ‫�م��د ��مع�م َ���م�� ا ������� �‬ ‫��ر�ي�‬ ‫يٍ‬ ‫ن ْ ي َْ ي ا� ا ا َ‬ ‫َ� ن�مَ��ل��ٍ �� ن�جَ��ل��ٍ ��م� ���ه� ��م� كعَر‬ ‫‪68‬‬

‫‪٣٥،١٩‬‬

‫‪٤٠،١٩‬‬

‫‪٤٥،١٩‬‬

‫‪٥٠،١٩‬‬

~ 19 ~

Stay with me until they file out of the mosque, then leave as the imam mutters the last prayers!” 72 Nor a woman who must be kept out of the food store,

19.35

but has the carpenter make her a copy of the key.73 If you say, “Woman, go easy on the supplies. this year make do with little, grin and bear it,” Her vicious temper shows its most repulsive side as she takes charge and squanders your possessions. When her husband receives a guest, she gets annoyed and tells him to go out and visit, not to receive guests. When a guest runs away from her rude tongue-lashing, and she sends him a message, he pretends it’s fine.74 God strike down the brazen bitch,

19.40

to whom the weakling is beholden! Henpecked, the poor fellow is down on his luck: nose dripping, he labors through the cold of night at the well. How I wish that her sort were eradicated from decent society, but if not, I wish there were fewer of them. She is such an ignorant and clumsy housewife that she can’t even cover herself properly. Do not marry a woman who shows herself on the roof, and spies over the parapet shamelessly; You can build it higher to prevent her peeping,

19.45

and conceal her when she takes a look. But when she hears the voice of her lover down below, raising it by five arm’s lengths will hardly do. She is so wayward and disobedient by nature, you will have to break her in order to straighten her. Do not think about marrying a woman twice divorced, uninhibited in thought and action; Husbands come and go at her parents’ house: as soon as one moves out, the next one turns up, And this new consort feasts on their soups and meat, taking liberties with them like a quartered soldier. Do not marry a woman without shame or fear. Dumb and empty-headed, she’s not from a good nest.

69

69

19.50

‫~~ ‪~~ ١9‬‬

‫� �َ َ‬ ‫ُ‬ ‫ي‬ ‫�ي ��و� �َ��‬ ‫� �َي�م�د �ون� ن� ��و� ْ��غ��ط ا � نل�م��ل��د‬ ‫��ْ نَمف�‬ ‫م ح ح‬ ‫َ � ا�َ َ‬ ‫�� � ن � ن َ ْ‬ ‫���ا � �ي�معر ن���� �ن�م�د �ون ا��معره‬ ‫ه���ل م� ك‬ ‫ح‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫ا�ا� َ ���‬ ‫ن‬ ‫�� �ي‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ا‬ ‫ا‬ ‫ش‬ ‫�‬ ‫ا‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ل�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ا‬ ‫ه‬ ‫ل‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ه‬ ‫�جعره َ ب� ���ج ن ي� ن ي �و‬ ‫� ا �ي ن ّ � ن‬ ‫ن ي‬ ‫ح �م�ا‬ ‫��جع�م ا �ل��د �ي� را َ�‬ ‫�ل� ��‬ ‫��مب�ه�� ر�و��‬ ‫��ل�ا �ي� ن‬ ‫��جع�ّم ا ��ل�� ند �� ��معْ�ص ��م�ا �م�نْمي‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ه‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ر‬ ‫َ ي�‬ ‫ن نَ ْ �� ن ّٰ‬ ‫���ي� ���َم�ب�ي���ي���ك � �‬ ‫ل��ن� �ع�د ا ا لل� ��م��لي���ك‬ ‫��ل�ا �ي� ن‬ ‫��جع�ّ ا ��ل��ل��ند �� �يل��لْ�يم�بن� ي� ��ا ������ط ��ي‬ ‫�‬ ‫م‬ ‫�‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ر‬ ‫ي�‬ ‫َ ََ‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ي ش �‬ ‫ا ن‬ ‫َ���ل �َو��� ا �ل���� �صر�� ن���ك �ع���� ا �ل� �ي��ه�ا ي�‬ ‫ي َي‬ ‫ا يَّ َ‬ ‫�َم��ا �� ن‬ ‫� �� �م ي�َم��ّ ا ��ل‬ ‫�‬ ‫���د ��م� � او ����جب�‬ ‫ي‬ ‫يو ل‬ ‫ع‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫َ َ ْ � َّ نَ‬ ‫ي‬ ‫��م�ا د ر ي� �ن�ا �ل�يم�َ� �ل� ي� ���� ��و�م �َ���ي�� ن�‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫ن ا َ ْ ن ا�ََ ن� � ْ �َ ا ا �ي ��‬ ‫�� ن�‬ ‫�ه� ن������� ا��صر�� نَ��ه� �‬ ‫�ي�‬ ‫له� �م� َ��ي‬ ‫� ��شْ �ي���د �ّ � �َ ا ��م�ا � ند ا َ ����ْ��ع �ج�ا‬ ‫َو �‬ ‫و ر ور و ن �‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�� �� ا � �� ��م�ا ��� ّ�د ا �نل‬ ‫�‬ ‫��ج�ا ه‬ ‫�جع� �مو ن�����‬ ‫ع‬ ‫و ن و ي�َ‬ ‫ا ا ن� � ا �نَ ّ ي‬ ‫ن‬ ‫�ج���� َ�جع �ر�ي�نم�� ي��‬ ‫�و �‬ ‫�و ��� ي‬ ‫�و�ر‬ ‫ي‬ ‫� ا ي ن ّ � � ن ا �َ‬ ‫�جع�َّ� �ج�ا‬ ‫�ل� ���‬ ‫��جع�م ا �ل�د �ي� �ن� ردٍ ن �‬ ‫�م�ا �ي�م ن�د �و�ي� ا ��ل��ل��ند ا ند ه �و��معْ�ص ك ��معر�و�‬ ‫َ ر َي ح‬ ‫ن َْ‬ ‫�‬ ‫�ن‬ ‫��ل�ا �ي� ن‬ ‫��جع�ّم ا ��ل��د �ي� ر نر�ن�ج��يٍ �ن�ا �اَم ه�‬ ‫�‬ ‫��ا �‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫ي َ َّ � ا‬ ‫�وا ن�‬ ‫�م�ا َ����ال� �و �ل� �ع ن��د�ه�ا �ل��ك ن��‬ ‫م‬ ‫‪70‬‬

‫يْ ي‬ ‫��‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ه���ل د ا �ر �� ن�ج�اي��� �ن�ج�� �وَ� ش���جَ��ر�ي�‬ ‫ٍ ع‬ ‫ْ �َ‬ ‫َّ ن ّ نَ ْ َ‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ا‬ ‫�َود ك ا ����� �ن��جب��ج��لي���ه� �َي��‬ ‫��ق���جعَر‬ ‫�َ ْ �� َ نَ ْ َ ا ��� �‬ ‫�ْ َ ّ‬ ‫ي��طع�م� �ن ��هر����ه� ا ه�‬ ‫�معر�ي�‬ ‫ل���ل ن� � ��و �ه�و ن‬ ‫ع‬ ‫ن ا � ش �يّ ا �‬ ‫ا‬ ‫د ا�ي�جع�م �‬ ‫�ج� �ي�ٍ ���َمب�ب�ه� ا �ل�ي����جعَر‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫��ا ن يَ‬ ‫ي نْ َ‬ ‫ا�‬ ‫ك�� � ��معر ن�‬ ‫�م�� �ٍل �ن��ه�م �َ��د كعَر‬ ‫ح�ي� � ي‬ ‫ا َ َ ي ن� ا نَ َّ يْ � ا نْ َ‬ ‫��ج� د �ر�� ا ���� د �ن�� ا �ل� ن�‬ ‫ع‬ ‫ج‬ ‫� َر‬ ‫ي‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ا ي نا ا‬ ‫� ّ � ا ��‬ ‫�َغ��ط �ن� �ل�ك ����� ��ي� َ�م�به� ا ����م� �ي�جعَر‬ ‫��لنَ ن ا ا � ش � ش نْ �� َ‬ ‫�ي�ا ن�‬ ‫���عر�ي�‬ ‫�ص ار ن� ا ���� �ن� ���ل� � ا � �‬ ‫َ �ْ َ ا َ ّ ن َ نَ ا � ا نْ َ‬ ‫�و ن‬ ‫�ت�عم�ه� ���ل ��ي� ��قي���ه� ا �ل� ��كعَر‬ ‫�َ‬ ‫ا ْ َ‬ ‫�ْ‬ ‫ا‬ ‫��ا ��� ن� ا‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ل�‬ ‫ع‬ ‫���‬ ‫م‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫م‬ ‫��مع�م� ي�ر ن���م� ا � ر َي ن �نَر‬ ‫ن َ‬ ‫نَ ي ْ ا ي نْ ن َ‬ ‫نن‬ ‫��ه��ل �م� َ��� �‬ ‫��� نَ�‬ ‫�م ن� د � ��و ن� �َم�‬ ‫���عَر‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫�نّ ا نَ ا �ن � َ �َ � نْ َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ��� �م� �ع�ي�ر�ه� �ي� ا � نل�م�ل�د �َي�م�د كعَر‬ ‫�َ‬ ‫� ْ يَ نْ نَ‬ ‫َ ْن‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ل�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ع‬ ‫�د‬ ‫�‬ ‫ه‬ ‫�‬ ‫ج‬ ‫ا �و ن� ش���م�� �له�ا �ع���� ا � نم ر� َر ي�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�ْ‬ ‫�مش���ل�م�ا ن��ا � َ ن�ع‬ ‫����ل �م� ا �ل���م�ا �َ�معر�ي�‬ ‫ر‬ ‫ٍ ع‬ ‫َ ْ�نَ ْ �َ‬ ‫ا‬ ‫��ّ ش ا‬ ‫َه���ل ��ٍ� �ي� ن���� �و���������م� َي���م���جعَر‬ ‫ن �ي َ‬ ‫� �� �َ � � � ن � ا�ْ َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫�ي� َ� ��� ��و‬ ‫�م�ل� �ل�ك �م� ا �ل��مع�صَر‬ ‫ي يَ َّ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ْشَ‬ ‫�ْ ع ي‬ ‫طف��ن‬ ‫ا‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫���‬ ‫�‬ ‫ع‬ ‫ه‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫م‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫م‬ ‫�‬ ‫ق‬ ‫ل�ل ن� ي ن� ن ر ي�‬ ‫َر ٍ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ا� َ َ ن ا ْ�� َ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫�ا يَ ن‬ ‫�و�َ��� ه�‬ ‫ع‬ ‫ج‬ ‫�� ��م�� �َي�معر�ي�م�د ا��جعر��� �ن� ��ن� َر‬ ‫َن‬ ‫‪70‬‬

‫‪٥٥،١٩‬‬

‫‪٦٠،١٩‬‬

‫‪٦٥،١٩‬‬

~ 19 ~

She paces the streets in the center of town, stopping for gossip at every door. A man who allows his wife to walk the streets deserves to be thrashed with her sandals, For a woman about town is like a fat sheep eyed lecherously by hungry dogs, even by the puppies. Do not marry a woman who feeds on her own teat,

19.55

whose left breast is always sucked dry of milk, Nor an old hag whose youth has shriveled up, if you want offspring, bearing your name; She may be your ship but God has put her out to sea: weren’t you aware that she had raised anchor? Nor one whose gaze is always fixed on the street: take up post in a corner and watch her closely! Confront her: “What are you looking at? Out, you lecherous hellcat! Here is your divorce thrice.” She took liberties, modesty beat a hasty retreat,

19.60

and her face assumed a saucy expression; She did not know that glances are as lethal as arrows, and that inner wounds do not heal. She is unhinged—because of past sins let her stay like that, let her be damned! Why trouble yourself with such a character? She’s not the only eligible lady in town. Let her father menace and wave his cudgel about, and slice through livers with his lance; Let her brother smite his foe until he lows like the calf brought by the Sāmirī.75 Do not marry a woman whose well has dried up; she is arid, yet unchaste; her roof still leaks.76 You will never taste joy but waste your life away in dire straits, even if you have gold to spend. Stay away from stolid women who do not stir; you couldn’t move rocks like these with a crowbar. She never utters a peep, even in reply, until everyone goes bilious at her stony silence.

7١

71

19.65

‫~~ ‪~~ ١9‬‬

‫ن ي‬ ‫� ا �َ �� ش َ ّ � ا‬ ‫�ل� �م�د‬ ‫� ي����م���� �و �ل� �م ن� �معرا ��‬ ‫يٍ‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ن‬ ‫َّ ا ��َ �ن ا يَ يْ‬ ‫�‬ ‫د ا �ه�و ا �ل���� ي����َجعره �ل ج� َر��‬ ‫ي‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�اي ن‬ ‫��جع�ّ ا ��ل�� ند � ي���ا �ن‬ ‫��� َن���ْن�ل��م�ا‬ ‫�ل� ��� م ي�‬ ‫نٍ �‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ي � ن‬ ‫�م�ا د ر�� ا �ن�م�� �����ل�ي�ه�ا �� �� او ه ا �رد �ي���‬ ‫�ْمَ‬ ‫�� � �‬ ‫���ا �ٍل �َي��‬ ‫�ش �‬ ‫�و‬ ‫���و�ٍم ������� ه���ل‬ ‫���ي�ر‬

‫‪72‬‬

‫ن � ا ينْ ن �‬ ‫يَ � � ا َ� ْ نَ ن‬ ‫�م�ل ن� �ل� ي‬ ‫�معر� �و��م��ي� �ل� َ������َطعَر‬ ‫ا � يَ�نْ‬ ‫�َ ن ي ا ن ن‬ ‫�ل��ي� �� �‬ ‫ع‬ ‫���‬ ‫ج‬ ‫�َج�د �َ �‬ ‫�� او ��ج� �و� ��و � َ َر‬ ‫ن نَ‬ ‫�نَ ْن ا َ�ْ ي‬ ‫��ج ن��ا �ن����رك �ل‬ ‫�م� �‬ ‫���� �ل��ه� ي�م�َجعَر‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ن‬ ‫يَ ّ ي ا�َ ن‬ ‫ي‬ ‫�م�ا ن�‬ ‫� ��ي� �َي�م َ�د ه ����� ا�مي��عَرَر‬ ‫�� ن ٍ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫�منْ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫��ن‬ ‫َ�‬ ‫�� ن� �َوي�ي���ك ا �و �َ �مي�َ� �‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫� َ�م�د َ�هَر‬ ‫ٍ َ‬ ‫ٍ‬

‫‪72‬‬

‫‪٧٠،١٩‬‬

~ 19 ~

No pleasant conversation, no separation: a heart without feeling, an eye without vision. It’s such a relief when she makes herself scarce. Get fresh blood to take her place, no matter the price. Beware of a wife with children by a former husband who tug at her skirts and are still breastfed. The cuckold is then saddled with a fellow rider secretly pulling at the strings of her pants.77 Make sure you are respected at all times, be you affluent or scorched by drought.

73

73

19.70

‫~ ‪~ 20‬‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫�ن ش���م�ا �م ن� ن�ع ار �م ا � ��ي�ي���ل �ن�ا �� ��يه��ل� �ه�ا ن�‬ ‫��‬ ‫ن‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ي‬ ‫��ْمعَ�م�نم�ا ي� �نَ��نهي�����ج��‬ ‫� ا�‬ ‫� �َم ن�‬ ‫��عر�ي ن� ن��ي ��و ٍ‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫اي َ‬ ‫ن ا��ا ي ي‬ ‫���ب�ي �� ��ل��ي ��م�ا‬ ‫�ي�م� ك�� ��ن�ي� َ��ع�م ��م� � �م� و ٍ ن�‬ ‫�َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�ي�ع ا ��غن�� �ن ن�����ط�ا � �ن�ا �ش��ج��ا ي‬ ‫��نّ�م�ا‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ل‬ ‫�‬ ‫م‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ر‬ ‫ي ٍ �‬ ‫ي �‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ن ن �‬ ‫�ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫� �‬ ‫�م�ا ��ا ا�ام�ا ��ر ا �لن�ي����ط�ا �ر � او �ل ش����ا �عر ا �ل��د �ي�‬ ‫َ نَّ‬ ‫�َم��ل�ّم�ا ي� ا �� ��ي �� ا ��ن �م ن ا ��ل�نج��ا‬ ‫�‬ ‫ا�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫وي � َ ن‬ ‫��مب� ي� َ ي‬ ‫َ‬ ‫� ن��َّ ��ن ْ�����ج�بي��م�ا‬ ‫��منب��� ��� ���ه�ا �َ�مع ْر�ن� �م��‬ ‫ن‬ ‫َ� � ي ن‬ ‫ٍ � َ �‬ ‫ن ّ‬ ‫كع ���مب���نج�ا ��م�ا ����ج��د �َص ا �َم�م�ا‬ ‫ا ��‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ر‬ ‫ن‬ ‫َ ي ٍ ر�‬ ‫�ّ � َ‬ ‫ّ �‬ ‫�ولا �ن�ي�� ن� ا َرد ا � ار ��� ا �ل�ا �اَم ن� �ن�ج�د ا‬ ‫َ نْ نَ‬ ‫ا ���‬ ‫ن �‬ ‫��م�ا �ن��‬ ‫�مع�م�ا ه����ل �م ن� ��ي�م�ب ن�‬ ‫ل��ي�معر �‬ ‫� ��م��� َ‬ ‫ع‬ ‫ح‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ي‬ ‫�م��ْ�ل ا ��لن���ا � ْ���مب�ي� ���طع�م�ا ا � ��ه��ل� �مش���ل�م�ا‬ ‫�‬ ‫ن‬ ‫�و َ و َ ن َي �ي�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ا �� � �ا د � �ا �ل��ل�ي ��ل �� � �م�ن �ا د �‬ ‫� �ج �م �ج ن� ي �و مٍ � م‬ ‫ن � ن يَ‬ ‫� �‬ ‫�ج��ي �����ا‬ ‫�ا‬ ‫ا � ك�� � � ن����ل ا �ي ��و�م �ي� را � ٍ ن‬ ‫َ ْ يَ‬ ‫اي � َ‬ ‫َ� ��غ�� �ع�� ��معر��‬ ‫�‬ ‫م�� � ا ���‬ ‫��‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ه‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ين‬ ‫�‬ ‫ري ٍ� �‬ ‫�ي�مع � �م�ا ���َ��م ن� �ع ن �َص ا � ا ����ه� ��َ‬ ‫ع‬ ‫م‬ ‫�‬ ‫م‬ ‫�‬ ‫ر� ن ي �ي� � ر م �� �‬

‫‪74‬‬

‫ُ �‬ ‫ن�ْ � ُ ن‬ ‫�ن���د �و �ل�ا ن� َ����ر �ل��ل�ي �� او ��ي� ���ب�ه�ا ي�‬ ‫��‬ ‫َ س‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫�‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ي‬ ‫�م ن ا �ن�� ا د ٍّ �ن�ما �ل���ا‬ ‫� �َ�����ا ي�‬ ‫��‬ ‫� وع َ ر ي ٍ‬ ‫َ س‬ ‫�َ‬ ‫َ ْي �‬ ‫ن‬ ‫��‬ ‫�ي�معر����� �َن�‬ ‫�ر�ي� را��ي��ا ي� ا ���هرا�‬ ‫�‬ ‫��‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫يس‬ ‫�‬ ‫��نلَ‬ ‫�نم ا � � �م � �ا ي ا �ل�‬ ‫�‬ ‫� ا�‬ ‫ح ا �م‬ ‫�و وير �و ن�م � ن �و�ر ر َ ��س‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ي �‬ ‫� ن �‬ ‫��جب� ا � ��ي� ا � ��� � � ّ �ا �ي� �� �م‬ ‫�َ� �� ي‬ ‫ع �و �ي� ل نل� يل�ج ل َ ��س‬ ‫� ش���مْ ��� � ���� ي نب� ا �ن � ن � ا‬ ‫ي� �ل� �َم‬ ‫ن َ ن�ر ط�و�م��ل ل ل�َج��� �‬ ‫��‬ ‫س‬ ‫َّ ٍ ي ٍ‬ ‫َ ن � ا ن ن ا�‬ ‫طف�‬ ‫� ن نا �‬ ‫�م�ه�د ن� �ل���� ٍ� �م� ح �عي�ر �� َر�س‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫�و��غ��ر �ه�ا ��� �م ن� ن���د �ي��د �ود ا ر�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ٍ َس‬ ‫ٍ ن� ي‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫ْ �‬ ‫ي�‬ ‫��م��� �ع� � �ا �ه �ل�� نل�� �ع ���ا �م‬ ‫ن ي ن �� م �و ن� � �م ط َ ��س‬ ‫َ‬ ‫��لنَ‬ ‫�و ��ل�ا ه��‬ ‫��� �ع�� ا �‬ ‫�ي���ل �ن�ا ر�‬ ‫���ل �م ن� يَ� ْر��‬ ‫�‬ ‫َس‬ ‫ن �‬ ‫�‬ ‫� ْ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫�ن�ا �ل�ا �م� او ه ي���م�ي��� �ن�ا �ن� ي� ا ��نَر ر را ي�‬ ‫��‬ ‫ع َ س‬ ‫َ ي‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫�‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫ن‬ ‫�ن���� �ن ن�ع �� ا � ��ي��� ن�‬ ‫�م� �م ا �‬ ‫ل �ي� ري ن� ي �ل َ �ل �وَ ��س‬ ‫� ن‬ ‫ا � ا �ْ ن‬ ‫��م�َ�مع �ن�ا‬ ‫����ا ي� ا �ل�ا �ن�ا َ�‬ ‫�‬ ‫��‬ ‫ر‬ ‫ي‬ ‫�م� د ن َ‬ ‫س‬ ‫� ّ �ي ��شف�� ّ ا �� �ل �� �ي ا � � ا ن‬ ‫نَ���جع�م� َ ن�م� ل� �م� � م � �‬ ‫��‬ ‫ع ل م �م َ س‬ ‫ٍَ‬ ‫�‬ ‫ا ��َ �يَ� ّ �عن�ه�ا �ش‬ ‫��و�ن� �م ن� �ل�ا ي��م�ا ر�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫� �ل �‬ ‫َس‬ ‫‪74‬‬

‫‪١،٢٠‬‬

‫‪٥،٢٠‬‬

‫‪١٠،٢٠‬‬

‫‪١٥،٢٠‬‬

~ 20 ~

The urge to speak in verse burst forth

20.1

from inside, shaping my rhymes: 78 Exquisite lines studded with precious content, strings of pearls from the choicest shells. My scribe, bring a pristine sheet of paper, and let primped damsels dance to my tune— Melodic verses that swell and roll like roaring waves on a pitch-black sea. I am the expert craftsman who forges verses,

20.5

working the meter effortlessly. I pick intricate rhymes from memory’s store, with a hand that reaches into the inner recesses of art. The poetic skills I have mastered let me speak with polish and eloquence, so unlike a mute. I ponder poetry’s wide range of meanings, the new ones of our time and the remnants of old. I pay no attention to any comment unless it shows a correct grasp of meaning. To be a blacksmith you don’t just fan the bellows;

20.10

riding a horse does not make you a knight. Useful and pleasant words slake a heart’s thirst as irrigation quenches dry crops; When spirits sag for lack of company, solace lies in befriending my peerless verse. If in olden days I enjoyed some leisure, now I travel far and wide without respite. I am bent on scaling the dizzying heights, with the zeal of a warrior ready for combat. My eyes are drawn to the far horizon,

20.15

unlike those blind to its attractions.

75

75

‫~~ ‪~~ 20‬‬

‫�‬ ‫ّ َْ َ‬ ‫���م�ا‬ ‫��� �َ�معَ�م��يٍ �ي��ي��و�� ��م��� ي�م�ا ����� ا ��َ� ن�‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ي‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫��� ن ن‬ ‫���ج�ا �َ�ج�ن� نر�ل �ن�مو�ي� ا �ل���جع�م�ا ��‬ ‫ي� �ن�ا �ي���‬ ‫ٍَ‬ ‫َّ‬ ‫��ْ‬ ‫�‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ا ��َ � ا �ي‬ ‫�من�ب �ا �م ن ن �ا ���ي‬ ‫ي‬ ‫�‬ ‫ل‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ا‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫� �م� �و د � ن َ �م � َرم َ �ي�‬ ‫يَ ن ّ‬ ‫ا � ا � ا ن َ ن�ْ ن �‬ ‫�‬ ‫�م�ي� ْر ي� ��� �عن���مع�م �ن� �ل� �و���ط� � ��م�َرل�‬ ‫ي‬ ‫َ‬ ‫َ ّ نن‬ ‫ي ُ‬ ‫�و�����لي� ي� � �������ي� �ع ن� �ه� او ��مع�م �وَ� ْ�رن��هم�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫نَ‬ ‫��ع�م� �ل��ا‬ ‫ح �� �ن� �و����ا �ن�م �ن� �و�ن ْ���� �� ا ن�‬ ‫��‬ ‫َ‬ ‫و‬ ‫و‬ ‫و‬ ‫ي‬ ‫�‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ي َ‬ ‫نَ ي‬ ‫ي�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫� ا ن � يُ ُ‬ ‫�ي�ا �م�ا � َ�س�َهْر ي� ا ��ل��لي�م��ل ا �ل� �‬ ‫�غ��ط ��م او �َم�هم�‬ ‫َ َّ ْ‬ ‫َْ‬ ‫ْ � َّ‬ ‫�ي�ا �م�ا � �وش��ي� ي� ا ��ل�ن��بن��� ن�‬ ‫�جن��ا �ل �ود ��م�ع‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ م‬ ‫َ َّ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫�‬ ‫ح�م�ا ���م��‬ ‫ا �من���� ���مع�م � َ�س�ه��ل �و�ل�ا ن �� نَ� ن�‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ي ن‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫� َ � َ�ْ‬ ‫� ّٰ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�� ��م�ا‬ ‫� ا‬ ‫ا �� ا لل� ��م�ا ن��‬ ‫�و�ر ا �ل�لي��� �ي� �و�م �ر‬ ‫ن � َّ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫َ ْ‬ ‫����� ل‬ ‫�‬ ‫��س� ا نّ� ن�� د ْر �‬ ‫ا�‬ ‫��‬ ‫��جعم�‬ ‫�ي �‬ ‫�‬ ‫ي�‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫ن ي َع‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫ن ّ َ َ نْ‬ ‫� ن �ّ‬ ‫ن‬ ‫�م��ل�م�ا �عر� ي� ا �ي� �ع���� ا �ل��َد �ل �ع�نم�د ��معم�‬ ‫ْ � نَ‬ ‫�ا �‬ ‫� ََّ‬ ‫ن� ��َو ن��� ا �َر ��� �‬ ‫���د��ي ي� �عن���ع�م �و �ل� ���هم�‬ ‫�ُ ن � َ‬ ‫ن �� ن �� نّ � ن �َ ْ‬ ‫��ل ا َ��� م� ي��‬ ‫��نَ��ر �ع���� ا ��� ��و� � او �َرد ��‬ ‫��ن‬ ‫ن ا � نَ ن َ ْ نَ ن‬ ‫��‬ ‫هو ���ا ر ك���ا �ل��د �ي�‬ ‫�و�م� �ن� ���هن�َ�� �ي�معر���� � �‬ ‫َّ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫�‬ ‫�و�م ن� �ل�ا �ي�� ��و ن� ا ��ل�نَم�بن��� ��معّ�م�ا �ي�ْم�د �ن َ�����‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫���ّ �َ�م���� �م ن ا�ا�م�ل��‬ ‫َي ا َ ن يَ ْ �‬ ‫���م� �و� �ن ���م�د ره َه�ل ي ٍ� �‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫ا ��� ��م�ا د ����طَ��ر ا ��ل‬ ‫�َمع ّر ��ن� �َم�ن� نر��ل ا ��ل‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�م�د ا‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ي َ‬ ‫‪76‬‬

‫َ َّ‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫� ان‬ ‫�‬ ‫���� �لن� ��م�ا �ع نْ�م�� َ������� ا�نم‬ ‫�م� َ�‬ ‫��‬ ‫ا ك ن� ر ي ي ن‬ ‫س‬ ‫ا �ن ْ‬ ‫� ن‬ ‫�م� ي� ا �َ�����‬ ‫��ر �‬ ‫� �وش�ا ن� ���ه�ا ��� �‬ ‫�م�ا ن�‬ ‫��‬ ‫ر‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫َ س‬ ‫ّ � نُ‬ ‫َ َّ ي ن � � ن‬ ‫� د �� �م ا ��د ا � �� � ا � ا �م‬ ‫و ن� � ل ي� � ��ي� ��و َ ��س‬ ‫�‬ ‫ْ نَ� ْ‬ ‫َ �َ ن‬ ‫�� ي� �ن�م�ا ��ي��ع�م ن��ن��ي�� ا �ل��د �ن�ا َ�‬ ‫��‬ ‫� او ر��‬ ‫س‬ ‫ع‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫يَ ن �‬ ‫�ن ��يَ�معر �� ��‬ ‫��را �ٍم �م�ا ���ه ْر�� ا �ل��َد ���م�اي�‬ ‫��‬ ‫ني‬ ‫َ س‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫ن‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ي‬ ‫�م ن� ا � ��َ���ل � او �ْور�و �� �و ن�‬ ‫�ي���ٍ �‬ ‫� او ن�‬ ‫��‬ ‫�‬ ‫ي‬ ‫َ س‬ ‫ن َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�� � � نَ ن � ��‬ ‫��� ���ا ر َه��‬ ‫���ل ��ي� ��ر� ا � ��و� �ع� َ�‬ ‫�‬ ‫��‬ ‫س‬ ‫م‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫يَْ َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫ن‬ ‫� او �ن��ْ�جي��ه�ا �م ن� را د ����ا �ن�ا �لنَ�����م�ا ن�‬ ‫��‬ ‫َ س‬ ‫ا �� � ن ا �� � ن ن� �ن ��م ا ن‬ ‫� �� ل��� � � م ا � ا‬ ‫��‬ ‫��‬ ‫ون َلي� م ي� � �و ي� ن�م َ س‬ ‫ن �ا ّ ْ‬ ‫�َ‬ ‫�و�م� �ل� َي ن�‬ ‫� نَ��� َ�م�د َ�� ش����ا ي� ا ��ن� �� او �َم‬ ‫��‬ ‫َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫س‬ ‫نَ ْ ن ��‬ ‫ن نَ ُ‬ ‫ن�‬ ‫��ي���م� � د ا � ا �‬ ‫�ورن�� َ���م�ع� �‬ ‫��و ��و َ ��س‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�و �ي� ���ط�ا �و� � ا َ� ��‬ ‫� ا � �ش �ا ي ا�ام ن�ا �‬ ‫�‬ ‫ن‬ ‫�و � ��و�� � � نَ ��س‬ ‫ن � ّ ن َ نْ ن ن ن�‬ ‫�م ا � د �ع��د � � ��� � ا � ا �م‬ ‫� ��َو َ ي� ور� ن ��� ��و َ ��س‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ند ��م�� ن‬ ‫ي� �و�� ��و نر�و��ل�� ��ل�ل�� ��ل�م�ا ��� �ي�ا ر�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ن‬ ‫َس‬ ‫َ ٍ‬ ‫ي‬ ‫�‬ ‫��ل ٌ���مع�ّ ا ��ل�ا ن�م�ا �ع�� ��ا ��َلن��‬ ‫�م�ا �ر�ي ن� �ل�ا َ�‬ ‫��‬ ‫ي ن‬ ‫س‬ ‫م‬ ‫ا ن �ش ْ َش َّ �ن � نّ ا�‬ ‫� �� � �‬ ‫�م��ص ا ����مع �‬ ‫وي ر ي� ��و ن� ر� َ ر �ل�نَ ��س‬ ‫� � �‬ ‫�َ‬ ‫�ت�ه�ا �ر �وه�‬ ‫���ل �ل�� �ن�ا �ل�ا �يم�د ا �م د ا ي�‬ ‫��‬ ‫ن‬ ‫َ س‬ ‫ٍ ٍ‬ ‫َ � � ي ا َ�ْم َ � � َ نَ‬ ‫ح�م ن��ا ر�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�و ��ط�ي�ر ا ��� �‬ ‫�ه� ن� ا ����� �ل�� ا �ر َ س‬ ‫‪76‬‬

‫‪٢٠،٢٠‬‬

‫‪٢٥،٢٠‬‬

‫‪٣٠،٢٠‬‬

~ 20 ~

My ambition is harder than the hardest rock, and fires my determination with passionate zeal: It has shot my fame beyond Arcturus— and it is also firmly locked in my thoughts.79 If my fellows treat me without due respect, and my kinsmen begin to nettle me, Then I choose a homeland far away, leaving loved ones behind, because of these dolts. I console myself for the loss of warmth and love

20.20

with the society of frank and honest noblemen. My folks had forgotten my bounty in hard times, as, cold and hostile, they met me with a scowl. For many nights I watched the stars rise, the only one awake, not deep in sleep: I had put my trust in the strength of our bonds and made do with scraps of food. I was always easygoing, never rude; peerless is my kindness to my kin. O God! The tyranny of Time, its tricks and snares:

20.25

none is spared its shocking outrages. I protected them like a coat of mail, I was their refuge from calamitous harm. When I felt that they held me in contempt, and that they favored my filthy detractors, I was content to turn my back on them: my feelings for them are as good as dead. To stay on in disgrace and ignominy is, I think, unwise, no matter the finery I may wear. If you choose to lie back and resign yourself, that’s like licking venom just to see what happens. If your soul is not kept unsoiled and pure, its honor protected, swaddled in pride, Your esteem will be spat on by any lowlife in public, and trampled upon by all. True, noble falcons will be valued as low as kites, eagles ranked below vultures,

77

77

20.30

‫~~ ‪~~ 20‬‬

‫��ّ ن�َ َّ‬ ‫ا �‬ ‫ان‬ ‫�‬ ‫�و��� �ر ا �َرَد �ي� �ي� ر�ي� ��م���� َه��ل �مي�ر‬ ‫ا َ��� َ�ع نْ���ك ند �� د �ن��م�ا نَ�ع � � ن��� َ�ه�ا‬ ‫نل‬ ‫ي َ ي رو ٍر َ َ ل ن�‬ ‫� َ ّ‬ ‫ن �� � ْ ي ن‬ ‫م�ه�ا ا�ام ش�����بي�� ���عر� �ون�م��‬ ‫�‬ ‫ي�‬ ‫�‬ ‫���ل َي�معرَن��ي�‬ ‫نّ ا �� ن� يَ ن ا َ‬ ‫�����ط�ا �َمه�ا‬ ‫�َ�� �م ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�و�َ�معر َ���� �ي�مع�م�‬ ‫�‬ ‫و‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ن � �� �لَ ٍّ �ي نَ ن�ْ َ ن‬ ‫ن ا‬ ‫�معر��‬ ‫�ود ��ي��� ك ��م�د ي� ��و َ��ي� َ�معر‬ ‫َّ ي ن ن َ نْ َ ّ ي ّ ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫�ي� �َ�مع�م��ٍ �م� �ق����ل رن �ي� �َ�َ�‬ ‫��م�د �ي�‬ ‫�‬ ‫َْ‬ ‫يْ َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫���م�ا‬ ‫�وي���لن�� �ع�� ا �ن��‬ ‫�‬ ‫�ْمعرا ن� ا ������ �م ن� ا ��َ� ن�‬ ‫ي� �� َ‬ ‫ٰ‬ ‫ْي‬ ‫ن‬ ‫��ج�د ا �َن� ن�ج�ا �َم ن� �ه�و �َم ن� ا ّلل� �‬ ‫�‬ ‫ع‬ ‫�‬ ‫ج‬ ‫ر‬ ‫�‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ن‬ ‫َ ََ ي�‬ ‫ن َ � َ ا �م َ َّ‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫�م� ا � نل�معرا �� �‬ ‫�‬ ‫�و� �‬ ‫�جع�م�د‬ ‫ي‬ ‫��ج�ل� او ��م���� ي ر‬

‫‪78‬‬

‫نْ �‬ ‫�نَ ن‬ ‫مو� ا ��ل‬ ‫�و ن��ا ر ي� �ع��� َ� �‬ ‫� ن��ا َ�‬ ‫��هرا �ل���‬ ‫��‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫س‬ ‫م‬ ‫ن‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�م�ا ����ه�ا د �ي� َه��‬ ‫�ع��� �‬ ‫���ل �ن� ن�ْم��ٍ �ورا ي�‬ ‫��‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ س‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ن‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ا ��� �ع�� د �‬ ‫��ه�� �م ن� �ش�معر�� ا�ام�ا �ل �ي�ا ن�‬ ‫�‬ ‫��‬ ‫َ س‬ ‫�‬ ‫� ن �ي � ا ��‬ ‫َي�� يم�ن��� � ��و�ه�و م� � �‬ ‫ط �����ا َ�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫��‬ ‫ط‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫س‬ ‫�‬ ‫� �� �� ن�َمعَّ �شَ�س ي� د ����ا‬ ‫�ه�ا � او �ل�َ��ن��ا َد�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫وو ر‬ ‫ين‬ ‫س‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫�ع ن� ا � نَ�ر�ن� �ن�ي�ه�ا � او ريل َه�‬ ‫��ا ن� ا�َا���د اَ�‬ ‫��‬ ‫س‬ ‫يع‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫��َ ْ َ ي �ي � ا � ن ي � ن � ن‬ ‫ا � ا �و�ي�� �مول �َ���ي ��� م� َه�‬ ‫���ل ��ا َ�‬ ‫��‬ ‫س‬ ‫َ ْ نَ آ‬ ‫ح�م�م�� � �ه� �م ن �‬ ‫�‬ ‫حَ�مَي��� �عي�ر ا ي�‬ ‫��‬ ‫َن ي ٍل و و � ر‬ ‫َ س‬ ‫َ َ ا �َ َ � ي ْ � ْ � َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫���د ن� ا ��ن�هرا�‬ ‫��‬ ‫�ع�د د �م� ������ ا ��َه�صر�ي� ن َ‬ ‫َي س‬

‫‪78‬‬

‫‪٣٥،٢٠‬‬

‫‪٤٠،٢٠‬‬

~ 20 ~

Scoundrels will find welcome with the generous, beetles seek refuge with deadly scorpions. This fickle world beguiles and perplexes 80

20.35

even the shrewd and the savvy. She shows no mercy to anyone in dire straits, even if, dirt poor, he has no penny left. A man may come from a litter of scrawny cats, but his prestige equals his worldly wealth. The world entices you with luxury, parading in brocade and gold-threaded silk; 81 Thanks to our Lord my aspirations stop me from going astray and falling into evil ways. My heart is hard as rock, determined to leave, when oafs call me names that unsettle my mind. In presenting these views I put my hope in God; I do not despair of His kind compassion. Now say prayers for Muḥammad, the most excellent of men, as often as the doves coo on the curved branches of the palm trees.

79

79

20.40

‫~ ‪~ 2١‬‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫ا �ل�ا�م� او ��ل �ي�معْر�نمب� �م ن� ند را ر��م�� ن�‬ ‫���ا �ن���م��‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ع‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ن‬ ‫�ج��د ��ان‬ ‫ن‬ ‫����ب�مع ا �ل��د ��ا ���جع � ن‬ ‫� ا ا ْ ��‬ ‫ي ر‬ ‫ا �ل� �ي� �وَ�ل�د �ي� َ� ر‬ ‫�� يَ ْ نَ‬ ‫�ب� ا ��ل�ا �ْ�م ا ��ل �م ن �نَجعْ ن� ��ا �شَ��ي‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ر‬ ‫�و �م ���عر ع و � ح ن �‬ ‫ن �ي ن َ‬ ‫�� شْ َ ْي ش ا ي َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫���َّور �وا‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�ن�م�د ا ا ���و� ي� د ا �معر� و���م� ٍه و�‬ ‫ا � نّ � ا �َ‬ ‫ي � ن �ا‬ ‫�ي�� �� �و��و� �م�ا �ل� �‬ ‫�معر��‬ ‫��م� �ر �م��ي� �و �ل� ن‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ْ َ � نَ ّ‬ ‫ا �����ل �ن�ج�د ��� � َ�����د � او �م ن� �ع ش�����ي�ره‬ ‫عم‬ ‫يَ ّ‬ ‫� نٍ ْ � � ن يْ ي َ �ْ‬ ‫�م��ل� او ��م��ل ا � ��َ���م��ل ا �ل�د �ي� �َي���مَ��د �� ن��م�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�َ����ا‬ ‫ا ��� �م�ا ي� �م ن �ن��ْ��� ا ��ل‬ ‫����د � او �‬ ‫�‬ ‫�م�د‬ ‫ي‬ ‫� ل‬ ‫شَ ا � ن َ نْ َ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫�ش��م�ا �ه�د ي� ��ا ��ل‬ ‫��ا د �ي� ���مي�� ��ط��ي� �م�د �� ن�‬ ‫ن‬ ‫َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫�ي���� ّ�د ا �� دَ �� ��� ن�� � �ل�ا ��ي�نْم�بي�م�� ا ��ل�شج ن��ا‬ ‫ي� و‬ ‫َ‬ ‫َر‬ ‫َ ل‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫عي����ل�ينه�ا‬ ‫� ن� � ن �‬ ‫����لَ�����ي ��ج�ا � �‬ ‫�‬ ‫ا �� ر�ل �ج��ي� َك ٍ‬ ‫ََ‬ ‫�‬ ‫َْ ْ‬ ‫ن��َ ن�� او �ن�مو�ي��ه�ا ا �‬ ‫طف�‬ ‫��ا ن� ا ���َو�ش���ا �ي�ا ي� � او � ن�ف�� ي�‬ ‫ُ‬ ‫ُ‬ ‫�‬ ‫��ج�د ا �َيم��‬ ‫� �ون�ا �ل�ن��ا ��� �م ن� �ي ��وَر�ي��ك ر � �وي�ا َ�‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫َْ‬ ‫َعَ�م��ل�يبه�ا‬ ‫ا �ن�ا �شَ��جّ���ل� �ن� �ن ��ي�جَ��ل��يٍ ��ج�ا �‬ ‫�ج �‬ ‫ي وي‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ي ا�‬ ‫� نَ ن‬ ‫��ْ��� ا ��ل�� ند �� �ي�ا ���د ا ��ل�شّم ن��ا‬ ‫�و�م� ��� او �ه��ل ا � ���� ل ي ن‬

‫‪80‬‬

‫َ‬ ‫� ّ‬ ‫� او � ��يَ�م��ل �� ْ�منب��� �م�ا ر�ن�ب� �م ن� �َم�ن�م�ا ْر���ج��‬ ‫َ‬ ‫َي َ ي� َ ع‬ ‫ي ْ ن ْ ا � ا�ُ ن ن ا نْ‬ ‫م او ر �� �ن� ����ج��‬ ‫��جعر�جب� � �‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ع ر ن�ج� ٍل �ن�ا � � ي‬ ‫ٍّ َ َّ‬ ‫يَ َ ّ‬ ‫�‬ ‫��ن�ي�ج�� �نم�ا ْر���ج��‬ ‫�‬ ‫���‬ ‫�‬ ‫ع‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ل‬ ‫�ج‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ر‬ ‫ن‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�ج��� �‬ ‫�‬ ‫�ُ‬ ‫�َي����ا �و�ر �م�ا �ل�ا ���ا ر �ن�ا � نر�و�ر ���ط�ا �ْم���ج��‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ي‬ ‫شَ‬ ‫���ا ���ط�� ن‬ ‫ي� �م�ا �يُ��و�َم نْ� ��ه�ا �م ن� �و����ا �ْو���ج��‬ ‫��� ي‬ ‫َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ن‬ ‫� ْ‬ ‫ن ّ‬ ‫�‬ ‫�َم�� �ل او �َ�� ن��ا نر���ه�م �م ن� ا ���َ�م�ال� د ا ْر���ج��‬ ‫�و�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫م‬ ‫َ�� شْ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫ُ �‬ ‫ا ��لن�� �� ا�‬ ‫م���ط�ا ن����ج��‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ا‬ ‫�‬ ‫�و � ا�َ�‬ ‫�و���جعرو �م او يل���د ن �‬ ‫� ��ل�ا ن����ج�ا �� �ي ْ��م��م�� ن‬ ‫�م�ا �ن���ج��‬ ‫ي� �َ��عّ�م�ا ي ن�‬ ‫و‬ ‫ٍر َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ن‬ ‫�َم ا ش ُ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫��ٍّو �ن�م��ل ن�‬ ‫�و��� �م�نم�ا ن����ج��‬ ‫�‬ ‫�ج� �ر�ي� �‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫��ي ا ي ُ ّ‬ ‫��ٍو�ع ن� �ش��َ�ع�م�ا ��� ��مع ار �ْو���ج��‬ ‫َ���م� ��ي�� ن� � �‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ي‬ ‫�َ‬ ‫ن � ن‬ ‫�م�ا ن‬ ‫��معٍر ��م�د ا ����م�د ا ��ي�ن��ا َد ���ج��‬ ‫�‬ ‫ا�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�َ� ا َ شْ ي نَ ْ ي ا ا ��لن ّ � ْ‬ ‫��م� �و���جعَ�م��ٍ رر��� � �و� �‬ ‫�َم�د �ل�ا�ع���ج��‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ي ْ ي �ْ‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫�و�ه�و ���م�ا ر�ي� �َ���د ك �و�م�ا َ���ل� �ن�ا �ل���ج��‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫� ا نْ‬ ‫� ا ا َ� ا ن ْ‬ ‫� يَ ّ ا �ْ‬ ‫�‬ ‫��ر�ي� �و �ل� ا ����ل �ه� ن ���ج��‬ ‫�ه� َ� �‬ ‫�و�ل� �� �� �‬ ‫َ‬ ‫� َ ْش َ‬ ‫ََ �َ �‬ ‫���ر ي� �نَ��يه�ا ْر���ج��‬ ‫ي�ر�� ا � ��ي ��و�ل ن�ي���ك ا �ي ��و� ��‬ ‫َ‬ ‫م‬ ‫‪80‬‬

‫‪١،٢١‬‬

‫‪٥،٢١‬‬

‫‪١٠،٢١‬‬

‫‪١٥،٢١‬‬

~ 21 ~

Wealth elevates the children of the vulgar herd

21.1

as penury fells the lofty, crashing down like tall trees. The gleam of gold dinars, my boy, is all it takes to raise men of otherwise trifling weight. Money sends many a lowly sparrowhawk soaring high over peregrines with sharp talons.82 In these times of ours, backbiters thrive and spread their lurid tales, figments of their imagination clothed in perjury. Theirs is a smear campaign, far from the truth,

21.5

the whispering of devils who skulk about and lie in ambush, Heretics who scheme to corrupt the society of men and banish decency and truth from their homes. Paragons of virtue have become few and far between, and a wave of newborn filth has taken their place. For every malevolent envier who dies, ninety spring up to take his place. In this twelfth century I observed the evil ways of devils hard at work planting the seeds of hate—defilers! 83 They tarnish my name and never speak well of me:

21.10

like evil guardian angels, they give currency to calumny. If, inadvertently, I utter an indiscretion, they nudge each other and exchange malicious looks. Slanderers have taken their cue from them to daub me with a large dark tattoo, tracing it on my cheek. Some folks make a show of friendship toward you, learning your secret thoughts in order to inform on you. They saddled me with a load of calumnies— things I had never considered, that had not even crossed my mind. Honorable men, known to all for their virtue, told me, “They are out in their masses to hound you,”

8١

81

21.15

‫~~ ‪~~ 2١‬‬

‫َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫� ��ي �� �� �� ن� ��� �ش��جف ن‬ ‫�َهن� ن���� ن��‬ ‫� ا �ل‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�َهي�َي���‬ ‫�‬ ‫َي و و‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ي�‬ ‫ي �َ ْ � ح‬ ‫ٰ‬ ‫�‬ ‫�َ‬ ‫���م�ا‬ ‫�‬ ‫� او ّلل� ��مب� ا �ن� ���‬ ‫���ا �م� ا � نل�شي� ي� � او ��َ� ن�‬ ‫ع‬ ‫ع‬ ‫ن � ي �ْ ي ا ي ا � � ا �ي � ا � � ن‬ ‫�م�ل� َ���ل� ��م� ��� � �� او �و �ل� ا �مو�ل �ن� �ل�د �ي�‬ ‫� ن يْ ا ن َ ْ �ن � شَ ن ا ��ل ْ � َ‬ ‫ع� ا��ي�� � �‬ ‫�����د � او �َرد ��‬ ‫�صر� ا �ل�����ي� �و َ‬ ‫ن � ن ّ ش َيْ‬ ‫�َ ْ‬ ‫�ص ا ��ل‬ ‫حك� د � �ون����‬ ‫� �ي��‬ ‫�‬ ‫جف ن�‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�م�ل� ا َد �م ��� ي‬ ‫ر‬ ‫ي�‬ ‫ح‬ ‫ٍ َ‬ ‫��مفَّ� ن �ي‬ ‫��‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫����ل��‬ ‫�‬ ‫ا‬ ‫م‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫��م���� د ا رك�م م ن �و � َ ن ي‬ ‫نّ � َ َّ‬ ‫�َمع�م�جب� ا ��ل�� ����د��� ن�م‬ ‫��ن� �ع ن ن�‬ ‫�شن� ن�‬ ‫ي‬ ‫�‬ ‫ي �‬ ‫ي‬ ‫�‬ ‫ع ي�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�ْج ن�� ن� �لا �ن�ا � ن� ا‬ ‫� ا ن ا �م‬ ‫�و �ل� �� ن� ن� و ٍ و ن‬ ‫��� �����ل‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�ن ّ َ‬ ‫ْ ن‬ ‫�ا‬ ‫�ص ْر��َ���‬ ‫�و �ل� �ن�ا ن� ���كعرا ٍ� �ولا �ي� �‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫ن ي ْ � ْ ن �‬ ‫ل��‬ ‫� �ر�جع�م ن� ن� ��م�ا �ن��‬ ‫��ب�َ�م��ل ي� ��َ���شجع�م�ا � ا � َ�‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ع‬ ‫ا ش �ُ‬ ‫�� ن �‬ ‫�ود � او �ل�َدي�� � او ����ج�د ا‬ ‫� �لن���ل�‬ ‫�ه�و ��ج� ر ٍ‬ ‫ْ ن نّ‬ ‫�ي � َ ن �‬ ‫ا‬ ‫�‬ ‫� �م‬ ‫� �������ي� ا �� ار �ي� ���� �ه�و ��مب��ب��م��ل‬ ‫َر و ٍ‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ن‬ ‫���َم��ل �َي��عْر ن�� ��� �ي�ان� ن� �َ��يّ��ا �ر ن�‬ ‫�م�ا �ن� ن�‬ ‫َ ي� ي‬ ‫َ‬ ‫يَ � � ن � َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫��ْ�ن�ب�� ا ��� ����ط�ا � ����ط�اي�‬ ‫��‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�مو�ل�ك �م�ل ي َ ي�‬ ‫ح‬ ‫ح‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ْ � َ‬ ‫ن��ب�يَ�م��ل ي� ���َ��ي������� د ن� ��� �عي�ج َ�د �َ�ميّ���‬ ‫ي‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ َ يْ َ ْ َ � ن � ا ن � ْ‬ ‫�مع� � ا �ل ش����ب�نه�ا‬ ‫ر�ع� �ص ن�ر�� ا ���َ��ي� ��ط� � �ل��لَر ن� م و‬ ‫ع‬ ‫ُ‬ ‫ُ‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ي‬ ‫َ َ ْي‬ ‫ح� د �ن����نَبه�ا‬ ‫ن‬ ‫����عر� �م� � �� او �ل ا �ل�� يل�م��ل � ��وَ�ي� َ ي �‬ ‫�نّ شْ ي ا � � َ ْ ي ْ‬ ‫�‬ ‫�� ن� ��معنْ �نَ�ه�ا‬ ‫َ��� ا �������� �ل ا � نل��عر�� �نَ�معر ��و َ ر �‬ ‫‪82‬‬

‫ْ‬ ‫ن ٰ‬ ‫�م�ا �ش��م�ا �َم��م�ا د ا ّلل� ��م�ا �ن�ي�� ن� د ا �ن���ج��‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫َ َ �َ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫�و��م�ا �ش��معّر�ن� ا�ام ْ��م�َ�� ئا ����ه� �ن�م�د ا ي����ج��‬ ‫� ي�‬ ‫ن َ �ْ‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�َشي�ن��� �نَ��ي�� ّ ا ���َ�معْر ن��� �ن�ي�غ�� �م�ل� ن����ج��‬ ‫َ‬ ‫َ ٍ�‬ ‫ن َ ي�‬ ‫����م��د � ند ا ك ا �� ��َ ْ��� �م�ا �ن���� ن‬ ‫���ا ْر���ج��‬ ‫�‬ ‫نَ ي ٍ و‬ ‫ون‬ ‫ين‬ ‫َ‬ ‫� ا ن ّ ي ي ْ� ن � ْ‬ ‫ي‬ ‫� ��� ن�م‬ ‫�‬ ‫�ج�ا ��ل���ج��‬ ‫�و �ل� ا َد �م �موٍ�م �َ�جعرَل �ي�� ي َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫� َ‬ ‫�وك�م �ل�اي��� �� او �م ن� د ا ر �ي�مو�م �ن�م او ْر���ج��‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫ا ش ا ن � ي �ْ ي � � ن نْ ي ا ْ‬ ‫�� ���� ��ل� َ�م�ل� ا �ل�د �ي� ا��� �ه� ن����ج��‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�و ��ل�ا �ش����ا ر ن� ن�‬ ‫�َمعْ�صر�ع�يمي ��ي� �م��م�ا �ْو���ج��‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫ٍ ٍ‬ ‫َ ٰ‬ ‫ي َ �ن ياْ‬ ‫ن�َل��� ا ّلل� �م ن� �ه�و َ���د �ن�ل� �� �ن��م� �ع���ج��‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ي‬ ‫�‬ ‫� ن نْ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫ن‬ ‫���ل َ�م��ي� �ي�ا �و�ي� ا �� �م� �ي �� او ����ج��‬ ‫�و َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫�‬ ‫��م ٍ�د �ع ن� ا �ن���م�ا ��ل ا �ردَ �� ا �و �م�د ا �ن���ج��‬ ‫ن��� ي‬ ‫َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫�َ ن‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ا ��� ���ا �ر ��� ن���� ن�� ا�ام�ه�ا �� �م����ا ي����ج��‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ن � ن ا ��� َهْ � � ن نْ ي ا ْ‬ ‫�م� ا ��َ�ه َ�د ر �و � ن��� ا �ل�د �ي� ا��� �ه� ن�َ�����‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ ن ا� شْ� � ا ا� � ي ا ي ا ْ‬ ‫�و��هي�َ��� �َ����لك �ن� ��م�ل� �م� ه ���� ن����ج��‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫� ا يَ‬ ‫ن‬ ‫�ه�د ا ا �����م�ا � ��م�ا �َم�� ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫�م�ا ��ل���ج��‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ل‬ ‫ي�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫��ه� َ‬ ‫م‬ ‫� �� َ َ � ْ‬ ‫ا �� ا ل‬ ‫�‬ ‫�مع ّرهي ا ��َ�ه��لي�م�ا َ��م�ي�م�ا �ه�ا �ن�����ط�ا �ْم���ج��‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫َ � � ْ‬ ‫�� ْ ��‬ ‫حن� را ن�َ�����‬ ‫ط او ن� �ْر ن� �ي���ل��ي ا � نَر� �‬ ‫ا�‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ �مك�‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫���َ� ن��ا َر�و�ش�� ن� ��م�ا ��ل �يَ�ل����َمب� �َ �مي�م�ا ن����ج��‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫ٍ ع‬ ‫‪82‬‬

‫‪٢٠،٢١‬‬

‫‪٢٥،٢١‬‬

‫‪٣٠،٢١‬‬

~ 21 ~

Explaining: “You lampooned Wādi Ḥanīfah’s shaykh.” 84 God forgive me! I would never stoop to sullying his name. By God, by the valley of Mecca, by the Kaaba and al-Ṣafā and the holy men who walked there: They lie! I could not say a word against someone as pure and radiant as he, his honor unblemished. I keep clear of vile speech, envy, and mean behavior, for I am anxious not to disgrace him. I will not blame a chief beyond reproach,

21.20

nor will I blame the men who attend him at his assembly. Throughout the land they surprised many enemies in their homes and crushed the pick of their cavalry. It is my nature to stay away from filth: how could I say the things you think I do? I am neither raving mad nor a fool, I do not sip well-aged, heady wines, I am not a drunk or given to bouts of epilepsy.85 May God send these curses on my tormentors. I spoke my mind to my kinsman ʿUthmān ibn Māni ʿ,

21.25

for it is natural to seek out likeminded company. Endowed with munificence, piety, and good sense, he is eager not to soil himself with vile acts. No dimwit, he grasps the heart of the matter, clear-sighted and tactful in dealing with thorny issues. So, Ibn Sayyār, may I harbor any hope at all for pardon, considering the premonitions you have had? 86 You said, “Bended knees will not appease him: in battle his frown terrifies men like you.” I ordered ʿĪsā to bring me a riding camel, one in excellent shape after two years of rest.87 It roamed the spring pastures toward al-Rijm and the uplands, as far as the high lava fields drenched by the rains That arrive toward the end of night with a mighty din, like the thunder of cannons fired in a night attack, From clouds ablaze with flashes of lightning around their edges, like torchlight flickering on the top floor of a reception room.88

83

83

21.30

‫~~ ‪~~ 2١‬‬

‫َ‬ ‫���َمع َ ْي� �َْ ن ��‬ ‫ل��ا �ن� � ا �� ن�� ن� ���م�ا ي� �م�ا‬ ‫ر ن‬ ‫حر�� ا � ه� و و‬ ‫�‬ ‫ي‬ ‫َْ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�َجع ّر �� ش���ج���م ا �����ج�ا � �م ن َه��‬ ‫َ ن�‬ ‫���ل �يل��ل�َ�ج��‬ ‫م �‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ي يَ َّ ْ‬ ‫�َ َ ّ‬ ‫ح ا �ْ‬ ‫�‬ ‫���ل ���ا‬ ‫�مع نر�و��ت�ه�ا �م ن م‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫� �‬ ‫� ���م�ل ن� ن م �ر‬ ‫َ َ‬ ‫��ل���ا ����ا �ي‬ ‫��� �ن�َ�ّبه�ا �نَ�م �ي� �َ �ْ�م�يَ��ج�ا‬ ‫�‬ ‫ا‬ ‫�‬ ‫ع‬ ‫�‬ ‫ج‬ ‫و‬ ‫�‬ ‫ر‬ ‫ي‬ ‫و‬ ‫ي‬ ‫�‬ ‫ن‬ ‫��نّ�ج�ا‬ ‫َ��صَ ْي� �م ن ُ � د ا ا � ن ���َ� ّ��ا‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ�‬ ‫ر‬ ‫ر � رن� ر ن � ي‬ ‫�‬ ‫� َ � َ ْ� ن � � ن ا � � نَ َ‬ ‫� ��ل‬ ‫�َم�د ا �ل��د ر��‬ ‫ا �� ا ن�َ�ن���ل ا �رع� ا �ل�د �ي� �ي� ن‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�ي�����ج�ا �َم�� ��ل�� ��ل ا �� ��ي� ن� ���ط شَ��صْ �َ �� ��م�ن�� ن‬ ‫م���‬ ‫ي‬ ‫�ن‬ ‫رو َ ي َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫�‬ ‫ي‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ُ‬ ‫ا �َم����ف��ن‬ ‫ن‬ ‫�َ�ي���ل��‬ ‫� �ي ��و َ���� �ن�معر���م�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫��مب� ا ��َ�ن�ف�‬ ‫ي‬ ‫َع ح‬ ‫�َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫ي ن َّ ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫ا‬ ‫ك ن�‬ ‫� ���ي�غ��� �ع���� د ا �رٍ �وك�� �ٍر �و �مو َ‬ ‫َ ّ‬ ‫ن���ب� � شَ ن ا‬ ‫ّٰ ن‬ ‫ع ا �ل���� � ن‬ ‫َر ي‬ ‫�ج��د ا لل� ان�� ���ب��جع�صر‬ ‫�هنَ��ْمع ا ��ل�يَ��ل�� ��ي � ا � ش�� ا �� َ����ط ْ �ن� � ا ��ل‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫م‬ ‫َ رن ر‬ ‫�‬ ‫ي� و � ر و �‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫ن يَ نَّ َ يْ‬ ‫� �ش��مف��ن‬ ‫�� �� نَ��م�ا‬ ‫���ا �نَ��ه�ا ��ن� �‬ ‫��‬ ‫� او � �م��‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ي‬ ‫و�‬ ‫ي‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�م � �‬ ‫� ن‬ ‫م�ٍ�د َن�‬ ‫�م�ا �ل ا � ار �ي� ��م�ا ي� ْ���مع�م� ا ����م�د ا‬ ‫نَ���� ي‬ ‫ع‬ ‫نَ‬ ‫�� ن � ن ا � ن� ْ‬ ‫����ليَ��� ن �م ن ا ��ل�َشم ن��ا‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫غ‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫َد ر ي� م‬ ‫ي� �‬ ‫ر� َ َ ٍ‬ ‫� ْ‬ ‫َر�مع�م ��م��� ا �ل�ا ي�من�ب�م�ا �و���َمعْ�م ي� �و�َ�قي�نَ���‬ ‫�‬ ‫�� �‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫�ي ٍ �‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫ن َ ��ْلَ�َ‬ ‫��ا � نَ��م��ل�� �ع ن ا �� ��يَ��نم�ا‬ ‫ن‬ ‫� او � د ن�� َر‬ ‫ن ي‬ ‫�‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫ا ْي � ا ش ا ن ي ��لنَ‬ ‫��ل�� ���م� ن� �� �ل� ���م� �� ا‬ ‫�َم��‬ ‫�ي�م��ل �َ�م َ�د ن�‬ ‫ٍ�‬ ‫ني ن ْ‬ ‫��جن�ب�� �نَ��ي�� ��ج�ا �ي��ع ارَ��م� ن�‬ ‫�َج�د �َ�ج��‬ ‫َ�‬ ‫ي�ٍ ي�ٍ‬ ‫‪84‬‬

‫ْ‬ ‫نَ ْ ّ ي يَ ْ َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫��مع �ر�ي�م�� �‬ ‫��ن��ا �م ن� �ن����ا �ن���ج��‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ا‬ ‫�د‬ ‫�‬ ‫�م � َ�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ن ٍ‬ ‫�� شّ َ � �ن نَ َ �� َ � �ْ ْ‬ ‫� د ا �ع���َ���‬ ‫�و�� َ�ع��� ��ط�ي�ر �ي� د ر�� ا ���ط�ل‬ ‫م‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫ح‬ ‫ن ن�ْ َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫ن�‬ ‫�َمع�مي�� � ا �‬ ‫ح�� َي�ْر�ي��و�� �م�م�� �ع� ر������‬ ‫ع ا �نَ� ��ط� ي َ ي‬ ‫َن َ ي َ �ّ ا ا �َ‬ ‫�َْ‬ ‫ن‬ ‫��ا �ن���ج��‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫��‬ ‫ر��� د ���ه� ��م� �ل نَ �ي ��� ي ن‬ ‫ن يٍ َ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫������ْ �ي�ا ي� � ن‬ ‫ا‬ ‫��م�ا ر��ا � ن��‬ ‫�� ر���ج��‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫م‬ ‫َ نَ ر‬ ‫ر‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫�‬ ‫ن‬ ‫�اَم ن ن��ا �ن� �م ن� ا �ْصر ��ل�ل�� د �ه�ا ن� ��م�ا �ْم���ج��‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫ن ا نْ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫نْ ي‬ ‫��ن��ا �ع ن� ����� ����َ���‬ ‫�ع ن� ا ���هرن� �َي���َ�ه�د�ه�ا َ�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ن ن ن نَ َ � ّ‬ ‫ن�ع ا ��� �‬ ‫�ي���ل ��� د ر�� ا ���َ�معنر ���ط�ا �ْم���ج��‬ ‫ر‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ي� ٍي‬ ‫ا ا �ن ن ا ْ‬ ‫ُْ �‬ ‫َ‬ ‫� �َن ن� ���ي�مب�ن� �م� �ي���� �� �م�م� ن����ج��‬ ‫� ��‬ ‫�و�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫ٍم‬ ‫ا ��ل�� ا�ا�مَ�ل�� �ع ن ���ا �� ا ����َه�� ن‬ ‫ي� ��ا ْر���ج��‬ ‫ئ‬ ‫�‬ ‫ن‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫ي‬ ‫�‬ ‫� ا �ع �ْ‬ ‫�م�بنه�ا ن� َ ن�‬ ‫حْر�� ا � ��ي�م�ا دا�ن���ج��‬ ‫ور �ي� ن‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫ع‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ُ‬ ‫ن‬ ‫هو ن�ي�م�� �َ�جعّ�م�ا ي� �ي�� او ��م�ا �ع ار �ْم���ج��‬ ‫�‬ ‫ب‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫�ْ‬ ‫� ا ن َْ‬ ‫��ن ن�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�َم��لي���� �م�ل� ن����ج��‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ٍ�‬ ‫�و ��و ن�� ه م� ا � ���‬ ‫� ن دْ ي� ��ْ�ش��ل�� ش� � ا ��� �ش�مع�ّ ن‬ ‫�م�ا �ْم���ج��‬ ‫�‬ ‫ٍ و نر م‬ ‫ور ن‬ ‫َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ع‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫� شَ ن ا ن � ْ � ي � ن ا � ا ْ‬ ‫�و�ش��و ن� ا �ل�م�� �ع� نَح�مَ�ل�� ا �ل�م� ��� �ل� ن����ج��‬ ‫َ‬ ‫َ ّ � نْ‬ ‫�ن َ ن ا ا ْ‬ ‫�ورا � ن� ���َط�ب‬ ‫��را ن����ج��‬ ‫�ل ��ج� �ي� ��‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ي‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫ح‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫ن َ ْ ا � �لَ‬ ‫�‬ ‫�م� �ل� �م�ل� �ن����� د ا ي����ج��‬ ‫ن�ن�ه� �ي�م�� ��معر ن�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ي�‬ ‫ي�‬ ‫�َ ن �� نَ شَّ ا �ن َ � ْ‬ ‫�ل ����ل� ن����َ���‬ ‫ا �� �م� َه���لٍ ������ج� ي‬ ‫‪84‬‬

‫‪٣٥،٢١‬‬

‫‪٤٠،٢١‬‬

‫‪٤٥،٢١‬‬

‫‪٥٠،٢١‬‬

~ 21 ~

The downpours are created by divine command,89 driven by a gale from the west that routs the eastern breeze. The dead wood of the last year is swept along by the deluge,

21.35

along with birds’ nests once hidden in acacia trees. The torrent churns up stones from rugged hills, and floods palm gardens in the valleys downstream. Grazing has piled layers of fat on my camel’s back, and produced a mount of outstanding beauty. She sped away from the rolling lands of Ibn Sayyār, like a flock of birds speeding over hillsides where foxes bark, Toward the shelter of a mountain cliff where refugees are safe from terrors that daze the mind. In the shimmering air of midsummer, my beast surges like a ship

21.40

struggling against a western gale that routs the eastern breezes. At dawn, a vision like the promise of distant lightning: proud palm gardens planted in a safe stronghold— You, my messenger, have reached a sanctuary of repute and glory, known for the fairness of its rule, untainted by corruption.

ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muʿammar deserves the highest respect, may the Lord of humankind guard him from the evil eye! A lion feared in battle, its gaze fierce, its temper raging; a host whose platters spill fat on the ground. Other shaykhs hunt close to their castle walls:

21.45

his zeal makes hardy camels sway from fatigue. He is farsighted and is not moved by idle talk, even if it comes from his closest companions. The poet Fāris attributed two noble traits to him,90 but I will add a third, a fourth, and then a fifth: Generous in his gifts, exquisite in poise and dignity, he wears the robes of praise most graciously. When cavalrymen cower from the flying spears, and the speed of their charge lifts them from the saddlebows, His racer, seeing the other warhorses bolt away, prances and curvets, trampling on fallen knights. Truehearted and pure, he has no truck with treachery, even if others have concealed it in their clothes.

85

85

21.50

‫~~ ‪~~ 2١‬‬

‫َ ْيَ � َ َ‬ ‫نَ ن �‬ ‫�و��ل ن�َ�ي���يم��‬ ‫�و�‬ ‫��ي ��� ا ���� ش���م�ا �يل�� �ل��� ا ���� ش����ا ��‬ ‫ي �� َ‬ ‫َن‬ ‫��ا‬ ‫��ْ��صَ �� �و�م ن ��ا �ما ��‬ ‫ن���د �� ا ����َه�د ��ل �م ن َ��‬ ‫طف ن�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ر‬ ‫َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ن يْ‬ ‫ْ َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫�و�ه�و �َمش���ل ش��مّ ���ط ا �ل�نمي���ل �م�ا �ه�و ن� �َ���مبَ�ه��‬ ‫�َ‬ ‫ّٰ‬ ‫يَ � ْ ن‬ ‫�ل��ك ا لل� ��ج�ا ��مو�ي� �ن� ن�ج�اٍ �و�نج�ا ده‬ ‫ع‬ ‫نْ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫ا‬ ‫ا‬ ‫ا‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ن‬ ‫�و����� ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫م‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�د‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ه‬ ‫م�‬ ‫�م‬ ‫م‬ ‫��‬ ‫�‬ ‫ن‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ر‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ن �‬ ‫�‬ ‫طف��‬ ‫�م�� ن�‬ ‫�م�د ا �ر �مَ�������ا �نَ�م�د‬ ‫� او ��ا ���ج�ايٍ� �ي‬ ‫ح‬ ‫� ا �ن ا ن ا � ن نَ ��ْ نَ �ي د � � �م ن ا �� �ن‬ ‫����طع�م�ا‬ ‫و � ر ن ٍ� رن�ج� ري� ٍك � َ‬ ‫�َ‬ ‫يَ َّ‬ ‫�‬ ‫طف�� �ي �َ ع ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ب‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫غ‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫م‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫م‬ ‫� او �ن�ا ���ج�اي� ��� ي �‬ ‫ري � ٍل‬ ‫�ر‬ ‫ح‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫��‬ ‫� ْ ي شْ‬ ‫��َ ��‬ ‫ا‬ ‫ا‬ ‫ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫م‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫م‬ ‫�‬ ‫ا‬ ‫ا‬ ‫ا‬ ‫ل���ع‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫م‬ ‫ا �‬ ‫�‬ ‫م‬ ‫� ط �و ن و ي �ٍل َ � َ � م‬ ‫ي‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ن ا � ن نَ نّ � ي ا‬ ‫� او �� � او �ل��د �ي� ��جعر�ل �� ن�ج� رك �و�����ل ا ��‬ ‫ن ي ْ‬ ‫ي � � ا ي � �ن‬ ‫�م�ل�� َ����ل ي� ��م�ا ���ا � �� او �و �ل� ا ��مو�ل �ن�ا �ل��د �ي�‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫�َ‬ ‫�و ��ل�ا ن�م�ا ه �م ن ن�م�ا ���� ��م��� ا ��ن��ي�معر َك�‬ ‫����لَ��م��‬ ‫�‬ ‫ي �‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫ا �ن�ا ا �ي�مو��ل ����ا �ي��ي��ن�ب�� ا ��� ����ج�ا � ����ط�اي�‬ ‫َ ي�‬ ‫ح‬ ‫ح‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫� او �ن�ا كنْ� ي� ��ل��ل��دي� ن ا �ل‬ ‫�‬ ‫�هن�ي ن����� �ي�ا ن���‬ ‫َ‬ ‫َ�‬ ‫ي ع‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ن‬ ‫�م�ا ك ����ط�اي�‬ ‫�ي�ا �ش��‬ ‫� ا �ي ن�َم��ل �َ�م َ�د ر �َم ن� ن�‬ ‫�ف ن�‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ح‬ ‫ح‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ا ن� �ي�َج�� ��م ن�د �� �ي�ْم��ل�� ا ّٰلل� ��ن ا ��ل��ل�ي���ا‬ ‫ي�‬ ‫َ ن ل َ َ ري ن َ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫ُ ّ ا ن ن‬ ‫� َ ����ا‬ ‫َي�� � ي � ا ن ا‬ ‫مو� ا �ل� �ج� �ع�ي� ���مع������ ��ي� ��ور‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫نَ‬ ‫ا �� َ ا � ا ��م ّ‬ ‫�جع�م�د‬ ‫��ج�� �ل او ��م���� �ي�جعر نل��عر ي�‬ ‫�و�‬ ‫‪86‬‬

‫نَْ ا ���نَ َ َْ �‬ ‫ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫طف��� �يَل����لي ا ���ن�َم�د ا ��� َ�م�د ا �ْو���ج��‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ي‬ ‫�و���صر � �‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ن َْ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫�و�م� ا �‬ ‫�ن ��ن� َ���ل�م�� �و�م ن� �عَ�صر�ه�ا ن����ج��‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫َ �‬ ‫�ج�د �يي�ج��ل �ن�ا ن����ج��‬ ‫ا ��� �ن�ا �ل ن�ي�ن�ه�ا � او �‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫� ا َ نّ‬ ‫ن ا اْ‬ ‫���جي���ك �م�ت�ه� �ن�ي�م� ن����ج��‬ ‫�ع�ن��د ك �و �ل� ��‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ْ َ َ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ر��م�ا �� �ن��ه�ا �َ����ل ن� �ي���م�ا �ي ن� ر���م�اي����ج��‬ ‫َ‬ ‫َ ي‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫�ّ ا ي ي ا ْ‬ ‫ُ‬ ‫�‬ ‫رن�ي��ب� ن ا ا �ي �‬ ‫ح�� ا �ل� � ���م� ي����ج��‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ع ا � نل�م�� ���� ��وَ ي‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫�‬ ‫�يُ��وي���بن� �ع��� ا �ري�جب��� �ش��َم�بنه�ا �ي�ا ه �ي�ا ن����ج��‬ ‫� َ َ َ ي�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫نَ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫�‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�م�ا �ي��ن� �م ن� ��م او ر���ج��‬ ‫�م�د �ي�� ا � َر��م�ا �ي�ا ن�‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫� ْ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫���ا ��‬ ‫ا ��� �‬ ‫��م ��ج�ا د ��ل �و�ل��ل�َ�ج��ل�ك را ي����ج��‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫ا ن �‬ ‫�م�ا �ْم���َ���‬ ‫ي� � او �ل�ا��معرا �ن� ن�‬ ‫� ����ط�� � �� �����‬ ‫و وي ٍ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫�‬ ‫ن�‬ ‫�َقي�ن��� �نَ��ي�� ّ ا ���َ�معْر ن��� �ن�ي�غن�� �َم�ل�� ن����ج��‬ ‫َ‬ ‫َ ٍ�‬ ‫ي�‬ ‫� �ن ا ّ‬ ‫� �م ن ا ْ‬ ‫�‬ ‫�ي��ا �َم ن� ا ��ل��َدي� ن� د ا ْر���ج��‬ ‫�‬ ‫��د َ� ن‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫� ��ل�ا �ي�م �� ��ا �ا�م ش���ج�ا‬ ‫�ج�ا ي���ه�ا ك���ج��‬ ‫�‬ ‫و َو يٍ ن َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�َ آ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�ي�م ��� �� ن���جب�ْ�ج�� ن��ج�� � او �ل‬ ‫�يّ� ا �ن���ج��‬ ‫��‬ ‫و‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ي� ي‬ ‫ي‬ ‫� ّٰ شُ ّ �َ � � َ ن ّ ا ْ‬ ‫ا �� ا لل� ��مع�م ا �ي��ك � او ����ب� �ي� ن����ج��‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫ا ن َ نَّ ه � ا ي ا �� ا � ا‬ ‫�‬ ‫م��ا ��ل ي�م�ا ي���َ�ج��‬ ‫�‬ ‫�و � �و� َر م� �م� � �ل� ن ي‬ ‫ي‬ ‫�‬ ‫ن يْ‬ ‫��م��‬ ‫�و��� �م ن� � �‬ ‫َر���� �م�ا ي� �م�ا �ش���ا �� ��ا ر َ�‬ ‫ي‬ ‫م‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫�‬ ‫ن ا �ن ن ْ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫�م� �� �عرا����ج��‬ ‫ا ن َ ا � �ي ْ �‬ ‫�م� ��معر��م�د �َ�مع�صر�ي� ن ي ي َ‬ ‫‪86‬‬

‫‪٥٥،٢١‬‬

‫‪٦٠،٢١‬‬

‫‪٦٥،٢١‬‬

~ 21 ~

In the evening, guests are fed supper in his house, while vultures dine on his battlefields.91 His models are Chosroes for justice, Ḥātim for generosity, Aḥnaf for forbearance, and ʿAmr for cunning.92 He is like the mighty Nile, not a shallow pond sullied when someone pees in it.93 My praise is truly for your sake, not for any reward;

21.55

to you, though your liberal hands never run dry, I offer my apology for the foul aspersions cast on me by riffraff—inveterate liars. I fall on my knees and collapse like the wall of a tall building crashing loudly to the ground.94 I seek your help, for I feel that I am dying from thirst, lips parched, at the lip of al-Rigʿi’s well. I kneel before you like a feeble camel, worn thin, left behind by the herd, fearful of predators. Just as your Wāyil kinsmen kneel before you, so do I kneel

21.60

before a just ruler and skillful leader. By Him who sent down Tabāraka and Hal Atā,95 Ṭā Hā, Yā Sīn, and al-Aʿrāf, five chapters from the Qurʾan: I swear I did not say what they said I did, nor would I speak against one as pure and radiant as you, a man of honor unblemished. Not a single word of disparagement was heard on my lips, only love for the man who has resuscitated our moribund religion. Surely a man such as he will not dismiss a supplicant, because no one can face up to him in battle.96 I profess myself a follower of the pure religion, always, as proven by my deeds, faithful to the truth. My shaykh, accept the excuses of a supplicant who implores God, then you, for I am completely without means. If he accepts my apology, may God welcome him on Judgment Day; if he rejects it, the course of my life cannot be determined.97 Some vipers die from the venom in their throat, some men die from a bite without seeing the snake.98 Now say prayers for Muḥammad, the best of men, as often as the doves coo in the trees.

87

87

21.65

‫~ ‪~ 22‬‬ ‫َْ‬ ‫� �‬ ‫�‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫ا �ل�ا �ي�ا �م ��ج�ا �َي�جع‬ ‫�‬ ‫ح�� َ����� ن� رن�و�‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ر‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ع‬ ‫�َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�َ�جعر�ي ي� �م ن� ا ��ل��َد �ن�ْي�ج�ا ن��ي ��و�م �و�لي�ج��ل��‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫َ نَ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ا ��ا ��ا � ��� ي�ن‬ ‫�ْم��ل�ن� �� �� �م ��م�د ي��م�ا‬ ‫ن‬ ‫�ل ي م �و َ‬ ‫ر‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫يوٍ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ُ‬ ‫�� د ا ��ل��ل��ا ��� �م�ا د ر�� �ع ن �� ���ط� �ن��ه ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫ن‬ ‫َ ي � وَ �‬ ‫�و� و ي ي‬ ‫ن ا �م�� ْ�في‬ ‫���� ��ا ���� �� �ع ن ش��ص � �ه ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ور‬ ‫ر‬ ‫�‬ ‫ا �� َ َ ن ي ٍ ن َوَي � ر َ �‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫ا نَ‬ ‫� او �ن�ا ا دْ ر�� ن��َ�هل��� ا ��ي ��و� �وا�ْم�� �و�م� �‬ ‫�‬ ‫م‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫ٍ�‬ ‫ي م م‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ن � شَ‬ ‫��ا � ا ��ي�ه�ا �م� � ���� ��ا‬ ‫طف‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ا‬ ‫��ص‬ ‫و‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫ن َ ي و ن‬ ‫�و�م� �ع� ر‬ ‫نْ‬ ‫نا � ّ � � ا � ن‬ ‫ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫ح�ي� �ي��� �َ�م�دَ� ن�‬ ‫� او �� ا َ ن� ي ��وم �م� ا ن‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫�‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ا‬ ‫�� ا‬ ‫����ح� ا � ���ي� ��ط �َورٍد �و��� د ر‬ ‫� او َ� ن ي‬ ‫ن � ٍّ ن ن‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫� او �ن�ا ا َ� ن� ن���ل�و����ي� �ع��د‬ ‫ح�ي� َ�يَ���ي��د �ي�‬ ‫ن يَ ي نّ ن‬ ‫نا ّ ي‬ ‫� او �� ا َ� ن� �����ود �ي� �ع��د ��مو�م ���َ�معر �ي�‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫��‬ ‫� ا �ن ا ا � ّ‬ ‫� �نَ�� �م�� ��� ن َن�ع�ج�د د � او َ �ل‬ ‫و‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ي‬ ‫�‬ ‫و� َ ن‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ح‬ ‫� ا َ ّ ن � ا نُ � ْ‬ ‫�و �ل� دي� ن� د �ي�ا ٍ� �و �ل� ���ط�ال� ��ا ك�م‬ ‫م‬ ‫َ ْ يَ‬ ‫ن ن ْ ن �‬ ‫�ي��ا �م�ا ��� َا ش��صر�� �ي� �ع��� را ��� �صر� ن�‬ ‫ع َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫�����َم��ّ �ع� ا ����ط�� �� �ش����ل� ��ا‬ ‫ط��م�اي� ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ل‬ ‫�‬ ‫ر‬ ‫ي‬ ‫َ�‬ ‫ل � ي ي‬

‫‪88‬‬

‫ْ‬ ‫ن َ َ ْي �ن ّ ن �‬ ‫�َج�ل�� ٍ� �ل�نج�ا �ورن��و�‬ ‫��ج�د � ن‬ ‫ع‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫� ا � ّ�د ���ج� �م ن �َ‬ ‫ا‬ ‫ا‬ ‫�‬ ‫ه‬ ‫�‬ ‫و َ�ج‬ ‫�� و�‬ ‫ر‬ ‫و‬ ‫ن �وع �‬ ‫نع‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫ْي‬ ‫�� ن ��ا �� ��ي�مع � ن ا�ا�� �ا ن‬ ‫��‬ ‫�‬ ‫م‬ ‫َ��ه� ن ر و� �‬ ‫���ا ي� �و�و�‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ع‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫�� ّ ْ‬ ‫�‬ ‫َي�ْ�م���� � ش‬ ‫��‬ ‫جفَ�� ن� �و ن� و�‬ ‫ع���م�ا �ر �َوي�� َن‬ ‫َ ي�‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫ع‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫ن �‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫�َ‬ ‫��ج��ل�و�م ا �َرد �� �يَل��َل���� � َ��ه ن� ر�م�‬ ‫و‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ع‬ ‫ن نَ‬ ‫�‬ ‫يْ‬ ‫ا‬ ‫ا‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ه‬ ‫� � او �ل��م�و�ر ��ن و�‬ ‫� �ون� َ‬ ‫كعر �مب� ي ن ٍ‬ ‫ع‬ ‫�ن‬ ‫ْ�‬ ‫�م ن َ �ْ� �� ن��ْ ش‬ ‫��‬ ‫�‬ ‫� نر�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�ل ر�ن�ا ه ���طن و�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ع َي َ ي�‬ ‫ع‬ ‫� ا �ن � ن�بْ � � ا � ْ‬ ‫�جع نر �‬ ‫�و �ل� �ي�� ن� َ�ج�معرا � �ل� ن‬ ‫و‬ ‫ح و ن ع‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫�‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫���ا � �ن���ا را ي� ا � �ر��ي�ب� �ي��عرو�‬ ‫��‬ ‫��‬ ‫و يح‬ ‫َن ع ع‬ ‫نْ ن‬ ‫َ‬ ‫� ��ل�ا �َ�هّ� ي‬ ‫�‬ ‫� ��ج�ا �َم ن� �و را ه � �� و�‬ ‫و‬ ‫ي ٍ‬ ‫ع‬ ‫ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ ْ�‬ ‫���ا ن� �‬ ‫���و ك�‬ ‫��مع� �م ن� �‬ ‫�‬ ‫�����لي� ن� ���جن و�‬ ‫ي�‬ ‫م‬ ‫ع‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫نَ� ن ��‬ ‫ا �� ��م�ا‬ ‫ط �ن��ه ن� �و��مع نر�‬ ‫ع‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ق‬ ‫ي‬ ‫و‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ ن ي� ي ٍ َ َ َ ع‬ ‫نَ‬ ‫ُ‬ ‫�‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫َي ن�‬ ‫�و�ر �و �ل�ا ي���ْ�م�د ��ل �����لي��� ن�‬ ‫�م�د و�‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ع‬ ‫َ ْ �َ‬ ‫ْ�‬ ‫�َ ن‬ ‫ا �� �ن�ا � �م ن� �ش��مع�م��� ا �ن���م�ا ر ���ط��ل�‬ ‫و‬ ‫ع‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�ن َ ّ ن ْ‬ ‫�ي��ي�م�ا ن�� ن ��مب� � او د �� ا ��ل‬ ‫�‬ ‫����لي��� رن� و�‬ ‫َ � ع ي‬ ‫ع‬ ‫‪88‬‬

‫‪١،٢٢‬‬

‫‪٥،٢٢‬‬

‫‪١٠،٢٢‬‬

‫‪١٥،٢٢‬‬

~ 22 ~

No use praying for the return of the days

22.1

that snatched away our friends and kin. A day and a night, and then our time in the world is up, while I counted off the weeks, one by one.99 But we can excuse Time if it misses a day or two, busy as it was creating havoc in the past. What the dark nights carry in their bellies is unknown, inseminated at dusk, giving birth at dawn. I seek refuge from their evils with the Lord,

22.5

in revulsion at the world’s odious ways. The affairs of today, of yesterday, and earlier, these I can fathom; but we don’t know what lies in store tomorrow. Even if you escape safely from the company of a backbiter, you still face the risk of being infected by his traits. My favorite day is one passed without sin, a day with neither merriment nor anxiety. I like the noise of herds at the well in midsummer, I fear the yells of attacking raiders in the spring.100 I enjoy an edifying chat with a lively wit,

22.10

not the company of a dull and useless boor. I am gracious when people treat me with respect, even if they have some pariah traits.101 I am fond of sleeping in lush palm gardens unless I must pay the price of rage and shame. I do not relish a usurer’s debt or the tyranny of a ruler whose oppression and deceit are beyond censure. Now Māni ʿ, climb yonder lookout for me, at the first rays of the rising sun, And see if you can spot a caravan’s tail at al-Ṭēri, carrying our folks away down Wādi Khlayyif,—

89

89

22.15

‫~~ ‪~~ 22‬‬

‫َ‬ ‫ر� ��و �َ�ل�نج�ا �يَ��و�م ا ��ل��لي�ج�ا ��� ���عَ �ر ن���م��‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ع‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ن‬ ‫��ا ن ا ا ا َ ن� �‬ ‫���ا �ي� �م����ا َر��‬ ‫ا � ك�� � �ن� �ي� �م �ر‬ ‫ا � َ اَ‬ ‫ن َ ا نْ�نَ‬ ‫�م�ل�� ي� ��� �ع��� ن�‬ ‫�م� �ل ��مي�ل��‬ ‫����� �ي�‬ ‫ٍ ي �‬ ‫م‬ ‫ا َن �نْ ي ن ا �َ � ن � ن ا ن‬ ‫ع‬ ‫�‬ ‫م‬ ‫��د � �نَ��ه� ��م� م�ي� َ�ي���لٍ ر�و َ ر‬ ‫نّ �‬ ‫ن َ ا نْ ن�َ � ي � َ ْ‬ ‫�‬ ‫��ا‬ ‫�‬ ‫ط�� نّ� �ن�ا �نَ� ه�‬ ‫�د‬ ‫�‬ ‫����� �ي� ��ل� � ا ���‬ ‫�� ر نَ �‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫�‬ ‫نُ ي ّ‬ ‫�‬ ‫�م��ل�ن� ي� �ي�ا ا�ا�م�ا ��م�ا �َي�م�د �وَ�� ن� �نَ�جعرَد ه‬ ‫�نّ � ن � يَ � ن ا ا نْ� ن‬ ‫�نَ �� ���‬ ‫َ� َ�م��د ي� � ن�م��ل �م�د �و لَ�‬ ‫�م�ل‬ ‫��ر�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫ا ��َ ا ْنَ� نّ �م ن نَ ا � ا‬ ‫ا‬ ‫عن�ي‬ ‫ف‬ ‫�ه ن‬ ‫ط‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫� د ��ي� � �‬ ‫��ي���م �ل� ن� َ َ َ� �‬ ‫ن ا ا ��ل�� ا نْ �ي َ ْ‬ ‫َ ْ �� �‬ ‫ا �� �ن� َ �م� َرر �ي� �و �و��م�د �ي� �و�م��ط�َلن��ي�‬ ‫يَ َّ ْ‬ ‫ّا َ ن ا ن �‬ ‫�َي���ج��ل�ل ي� �م ن� د ا �ر � او �ي� �م�ج� َرل�‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫َ َ‬ ‫�ل�‬ ‫ا ا ا �� �يَ ْ‬ ‫� ن � �����َم��ّل�ن‬ ‫�ي� ���� ي�ر ��غ�‬ ‫�� ن� ا َن� �� نوي�‬ ‫�ي�‬ ‫ا �� � َ �َّ ��‬ ‫نَ�نَ يْ ي�َ ْ‬ ‫ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫م‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫م‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ل‬ ‫�‬ ‫��م‬ ‫��‬ ‫�ي�� �عر مٍ � ي ي� � ط‬ ‫ن شَ َّ ��نَ‬ ‫� �ن� �م�ا ��م ���ط�ا‬ ‫يَ ا ْ � �‬ ‫�ن ل‬ ‫�ر�� �ي� �َ�ول�د �ي� �م� �م� ا ��و‬ ‫َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫��ل��ك ��م ّ�د هي � ا ْ�ع�د ا د ��م�ا �م�ا �ي��ع ن ���د ��م�ا‬ ‫َ ٍو‬ ‫َ ري‬ ‫ن�م�ل�� �َل��لْ ن �م ا �� ��ي�م�ا ��ل�ا ي� �م ن ��ل�ا ��ش�����َل ه�ا‬ ‫ي َر‬ ‫� َي ي �‬ ‫يَ‬ ‫ا�‬ ‫مي �ا �ن� ْ ن‬ ‫�َمع ��مه�ا‬ ‫��َ�ه�ا �م ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ا‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ع‬ ‫��‬ ‫م‬ ‫�‬ ‫م‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ر‬ ‫ر‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ر‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ي�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫� ا �ن�ا ��ا �ْ ��ل��د �� �م�ا ا �ن�ا ا ��ل�� ند �� �ي�ّ�َ���طع ا ��ل��د �م�ا‬ ‫ر‬ ‫ي‬ ‫و ي وَ ي‬ ‫� ��ل�ا �شَ���� ّك ن��ا ���� ن��د �� �ي� ن� ا��ّ � ن‬ ‫و‬ ‫��� َه���ل �ع� ن�ر‬ ‫�َ ي‬

‫‪90‬‬

‫�‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫�‬ ‫� او �ي ��و� ��ج�ا ��ج�ا د � او �ل�نج�ا �نَ�جعر�ن ��‬ ‫و‬ ‫م‬ ‫ع‬ ‫نَ َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫ْا�‬ ‫ي‬ ‫َ‬ ‫م‬ ‫��م�د � او �َ�مش���ل �ن�مع ار �� ا �ل����ع ار ن� � �‬ ‫و‬ ‫ع‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫�َ � ي ن �ْ شَ ن‬ ‫ا �‬ ‫�‬ ‫ب�ه نّ� �ي��عر�‬ ‫���‬ ‫و‬ ‫��وَ َ‬ ‫�م�د ي��� َ���ل ن ٍ‬ ‫ع‬ ‫� يَ ن �‬ ‫ا ن�َ �ّ نّ �ن ّ ن ْ‬ ‫����ل�‬ ‫�م ن� ا � ���ي�غ��ط ��م� �م�ل� �ي� �‬ ‫و‬ ‫ع‬ ‫��‬ ‫�َّ نّ ا ْ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫ل‬ ‫�‬ ‫ا‬ ‫��‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ع‬ ‫�د‬ ‫�د‬ ‫د‬ ‫�‬ ‫م‬ ‫�‬ ‫م‬ ‫�‬ ‫�وَ���ل� ي� �َ� ن� ن َ ري‬ ‫وع‬ ‫نّ ْ ن‬ ‫� نّ � ا ْ يَ �‬ ‫�� ن�‬ ‫َ�م��� �و �ل� ي���م���� �‬ ‫�م�د �‬ ‫�‬ ‫و‬ ‫َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ع‬ ‫� ي � ن ا ن يْ‬ ‫�‬ ‫�����لي� َ�‬ ‫��ن� �َمي�ج�ل� � ا �َر��م� � ��� ��‬ ‫و‬ ‫ع‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫َ ّ� �‬ ‫� ّ‬ ‫�و� ��و َ�ه ن� �ع��� ش��م ��ط ا � ن��ه ار ي� �ش��معر�‬ ‫و‬ ‫�‬ ‫ع‬ ‫�ن �َ�فْ ن ا َ نَ ي ُ‬ ‫��م�ا �ه�و ن� �� ن �‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�م� ��معرا ��م�� ن��‬ ‫و‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ع‬ ‫��ْ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ي�َ َّ�ْيَ ا � ي‬ ‫�وجن��ل���ج�‬ ‫�جش��َوه �ي��عرا ن� ���� ��‬ ‫و‬ ‫ع‬ ‫ْا�‬ ‫ش نْ � � ن يَ�ْ ي � َ‬ ‫ا‬ ‫�‬ ‫ع‬ ‫م‬ ‫ج‬ ‫��و��ك م� �� ا �ل��� � �‬ ‫ا� �‬ ‫ر ن وع‬ ‫��َ �ن ن � ا ن �ي ا �� َ �� � ا � ْ‬ ‫ا � �معر�ر م� د ا � ��ل‬ ‫�‬ ‫��‬ ‫ط�م� ا � �‬ ‫َ‬ ‫م ن وع‬ ‫� ا ن� ا � ا ن �ّ � � � َ ��‬ ‫ط‬ ‫� او �ل� ن�م� �� �م� �� �ل او َ��ن��ي�م�لك � �‬ ‫وع‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫يَيْ َ � ّ ْ ن‬ ‫� او �ل�ا ن�‬ ‫�ج�ا �ل ��ج�ا � �� ��و�� � َ��ه ن� د ��م‬ ‫و‬ ‫ع‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫�َ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫�و ��ل�ا �يَل��ل ن �م ر�يج�ا � ا ��ل‬ ‫�مع �ري�جع� د ر�‬ ‫و‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ر‬ ‫َ‬ ‫م ع‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�� � ن‬ ‫��و ك‬ ‫���ا � ��ي� �َو� ْ��غ��ط ا � نل�مي ��و ي� ��م ن��‬ ‫و‬ ‫ع‬ ‫ا � شَ‬ ‫����ف ن َ ْ � َ ْ ي ْ‬ ‫�م� ا �ل‬ ‫�و ن�‬ ‫� ي��ن� �‬ ‫�� ��جن��َره �َود � �م‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫و‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ح ي‬ ‫ٍ ْع‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ن َ ّ ��لن َ‬ ‫��‬ ‫�و�ش���عرا ن� �م د �م ا �‬ ‫��جي���م ���م‬ ‫�غ�‬ ‫و‬ ‫�‬ ‫ع‬ ‫‪90‬‬

‫‪٢٠،٢٢‬‬

‫‪٢٥،٢٢‬‬

‫‪٣٠،٢٢‬‬

~ 22 ~

Kinsmen who in earlier times brought me joy and delight but now are my close fellows no more; They were friendly with me in days of plenty and ease, but then flickered and became a shimmering mirage. My beloved palm trees at the well’s edge, you lovely garden of royal trunks crowned in green; For two miserable years I toiled there fruitlessly, as blistering midsummer blasted my frame: You gorgeous row of palms in the front, shudder and sob,

22.20

shed tears, you branches heavy with ripe fruit! 102 Then I swore that I would not let you taste cool water from my hands, that I would leave your trunks to desiccate— You were my proudest possession until I was betrayed by Time and battered by its wicked blows. Even palm trees on the banks of the Euphrates would be loathsome if for their sake I put up with unjust treatment. All I require and desire, all that is promised, is in heaven, not in a salt flat where hunger stirs up the dust. I departed, and though it was such a marvelous abode,

22.25

I bade it farewell by kicking up dust in its face. Ah, southern corner of al-Qaṣab, I long so much to catch a glimpse of you beneath a mirage! I appealed to the honor of my courageous son who abstains from food for a week if rebuked.103 My boy, if guided by fear, you will not sally forth: villains will not willingly make way for you. Take only what you need and travel lightly: one cannot ward off what destiny has in store. Arduous tasks are for the strong to carry out, women do not clothe their torsos in chain mail.104 As you know, graveyards receive their share of women, though they spend all their lives safely at home. By nature, my son, I am not one to shed blood, to inflict losses that make old men weep and sob. The sword’s blade is the last resort: thirstily it gulps down the enemy’s blood.

9١

91

22.30

‫~~ ‪~~ 22‬‬

‫َ َ ي � ْ شََّ‬ ‫ن ني‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫�ي�م�ا ��ا �� �َم ن� ن� ن�ّم�ا �ن�م�� ا � ��و�ش��مع�م � ��وَري�‬ ‫يُ � � ن ا �ن َ ن َ � ن ش‬ ‫��� �م�م�ا‬ ‫َ��ن ��ونح ا �َ���ي�م� �ي� �ع� �ص ار م�ي� � �و �‬ ‫ئ نَ ْ ي ��م ّ ن َ َّ‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ان �� ن�‬ ‫�ص‬ ‫�جب��م��ٍ �جع�مٍ�د ان�� ��مب��ع ر‬ ‫ي‬ ‫َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫�‬ ‫�ي�ا �م�ا � َ�م��ل ي� َي��م�ن��ا ه �م ن� �ن�ْ ��� ن ن�‬ ‫���اي���‬ ‫� ع‬ ‫َ ن‬ ‫�َ َ‬ ‫ي� ْ���معرا ه �م�ا ��ي ن�ْ� َ�د ر �م ن� ا �ل ش���معّر � ن�ّم��‬ ‫َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫���د �ي� � ا �ن ��يه�ا‬ ‫ن � ا �ل��� ي ا �ن �‬ ‫��د ا �م� � او�م�هر�و� � او �َ� و َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ن ��ّ َ نْ ن �‬ ‫�و ��ل�ا ند ا ر ن�ي�م�� ا ن��ل‬ ‫�‬ ‫�م�ا ر ��ي� َه���ل �م��َر�ل‬ ‫ل‬ ‫� َ َ َّ‬ ‫يَ َّ �ْ‬ ‫َ نْ‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ا‬ ‫ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫��‬ ‫�ر�وا‬ ‫�‬ ‫��‬ ‫ع‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫م‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�َ� ن�م�د �ل� نم ن ر و ر ن م ٍل �‬ ‫ن ْ نَ‬ ‫�َ نَ َ‬ ‫�� ند ا � �يَ�م َ ���ط َ�ي‬ ‫ا‬ ‫ا‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�ه�د‬ ‫ع‬ ‫ا �� ر �ل‬ ‫و َر �� و و ر‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ن ا ن ا ش َ ��ْ ن‬ ‫م��ل��‬ ‫�� �� �َم�م��ل � �‬ ‫�ودٍ َ�ن��ر ��ي� د ا �ر �عي� َ‬ ‫ا ��َ ي ن شْ‬ ‫�مع نْ �َ �� �ع�� ا �� َ ن��ا‬ ‫�‬ ‫ا‬ ‫ع‬ ‫���‬ ‫م‬ ‫�ي� ي�����ي� نَ� ر ك َ رو �� ر‬ ‫ّ ا ن َ‬ ‫ي‬ ‫�� نر��ج�د �نج�ا �َ �وّ�ا َ� ن�َجي���ل��‬ ‫ا ��ج� نَ ليف ي ٍ‬ ‫ي‬ ‫�يَ ْ �‬ ‫َ‬ ‫� َ‬ ‫ي‬ ‫� ��ا َ�م‬ ‫�ْمع�م��ل نَ�م�د ا د �ي�مع� ي��عْر��م��‬ ‫� َو� ���قي� ن‬ ‫م َي‬ ‫ن � ّ � َ َ ْ َ نَ‬ ‫��َ �ش��م�ا ��م ا ا �لن‬ ‫�‬ ‫����ط�ا �ر ��من���ع�م �ي�ل�� �ود �وا‬ ‫�‬ ‫و َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�ْ َ‬ ‫� ا � ّ�م�ا ��َم�� � �ش��َم ��يه ي�م��ا ��� ن �‬ ‫طف�‬ ‫��‬ ‫طف�‬ ‫�‬ ‫و‬ ‫ل و يَ ر َ ن ن ي�‬ ‫ح‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫َ ّ نْ � � �‬ ‫�َي�جعن �رن��� ي� �ل�ا �و�ل�ا د ا ����َمع نرا �َ�م�ي� نر َد �ي��عره‬ ‫حْ ن �َ ْ ��‬ ‫�� � ن � ن �‬ ‫��م‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ع‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ي� ���ج�ا رد‬ ‫د‬ ‫ت� ي�م��‬ ‫�‬ ‫م‬ ‫ج‬ ‫�‬ ‫ج‬ ‫و‬ ‫َن‬ ‫ر‬ ‫ي�‬ ‫ٍ َ‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫� ��� ا ��لَ��د � � ا �� نَ����ط��ْ�لن�يَ�� ن ْن ن‬ ‫�و َ� ط ن� َ ي� ن� َ �‬ ‫ي� �َو��ل�� َ���ك‬ ‫‪92‬‬

‫ْ‬ ‫�� ع َ ّ ا ��لن‬ ‫�َ�َجع � ا �����ج�ا �ا�َ�ج�� ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫نجرد‬ ‫�‬ ‫ي� ن� �‬ ‫و‬ ‫ر‬ ‫و‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ع‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫�‬ ‫ا �� ْ نَ ّ‬ ‫�و �َ�‬ ‫��م�ا ن� �ي�معر�‬ ‫�� نمف�‬ ‫� ر��م�ا ي� ا ���م ن�‬ ‫و‬ ‫ع‬ ‫ح‬ ‫نْ‬ ‫ا ن َ�‬ ‫� اْ ن‬ ‫ا‬ ‫ف‬ ‫ل‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫� او �ل� ر�ي�ا �� ا �ن�ا ��ج� �ي� � ��ج َن ن �‬ ‫و‬ ‫ع‬ ‫ن ْ‬ ‫�ا����ا �ن�َمَ�د ْي� �� ن�� ي� ا ��ل‬ ‫�‬ ‫����ا � ي��ن ��‬ ‫�غ�‬ ‫ن‬ ‫و‬ ‫ع‬ ‫نْ‬ ‫� ��ْ�ج ن��ا ه ��يَ�ْج ن�د � ��ا �نل‬ ‫�‬ ‫�َجع�مي���ل رر�‬ ‫و‬ ‫َيو‬ ‫ن َ رن‬ ‫ع‬ ‫�‬ ‫ي ا� ن َ‬ ‫�َو�‬ ‫�َجي��د �و �ل�ا �ي ��و�م �ي����� �ل �‬ ‫���د �‬ ‫و‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫ع‬ ‫� َ‬ ‫ن� َ‬ ‫� ْ‬ ‫��ي���ل ا ����م�د �� �ي�ا ��م�ا َ��� �� نّ� �ي�معر�‬ ‫و‬ ‫�و‬ ‫ع‬ ‫ي َ � ا ْ � َ ّ نْ‬ ‫�ا‬ ‫�و �ل� �َي�جعْرَ ن��� �ل� ر�ي�ا ا ��� �� او �م � ن�� ��‬ ‫و‬ ‫ع‬ ‫�َ‬ ‫ن ا � َ َّ نْ‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫����‬ ‫�‬ ‫ا‬ ‫ع‬ ‫�َ��ه نّ� �جع نرو�‬ ‫ح‬ ‫�د‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ط‬ ‫��� ر يم ن �م ٍل �‬ ‫ع‬ ‫نَ ّ‬ ‫ن ْ‬ ‫�ن � �‬ ‫�و�‬ ‫�ج�� �لوه‬ ‫�ل �ي�ا �ل ا �َنر����ا � ي��� ��‬ ‫ي‬ ‫و‬ ‫ع‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ْ ��‬ ‫� ا �َ‬ ‫��ْمعَ هي ا �� ��ن�ف�� �ا �َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ع‬ ‫ط‬ ‫ا‬ ‫�‬ ‫م‬ ‫�‬ ‫�و �ل� ا �ن�� ر ي م و ر ي� �‬ ‫و‬ ‫ع‬ ‫َ ْ�‬ ‫�� � ا نّ ن� ُ‬ ‫��م��لي� ن� ���ن ��‬ ‫��مع�م �َم ن� �‬ ‫��و �ل� ا � ي�‬ ‫و‬ ‫ع‬ ‫ن َ ْ ي يَ ْ ٍ �� ن ا َ يْ يُ‬ ‫ر�‬ ‫م‬ ‫�جع�م��ٍ � ش���جعرا ����� ���ج�� ��‬ ‫و‬ ‫ع‬ ‫يَ � ن ْ ن ��لَ يْ‬ ‫� ��� ْ‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫��ج�د �‬ ‫و‬ ‫ن‬ ‫��ل �َود �َون�جعرا ٍ� َن� َ‬ ‫ع‬ ‫�َ ي نَ ْ‬ ‫ن ن ن ن‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ا‬ ‫ا‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�د‬ ‫�د‬ ‫�‬ ‫��‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ا �� َ�م�‬ ‫��ن��� م � ك �‬ ‫َ وع‬ ‫نْ‬ ‫�‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ن‬ ‫���ُ�جع� ��ي� ر�ن�ا ��م�ا ��ي� َ��‬ ‫م�مع�م �جعر�‬ ‫و‬ ‫ي‬ ‫م‬ ‫ع‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ا � ن نْ‬ ‫�‬ ‫��م‬ ‫���ا ���ي���ل ي���ا �ل�ا ي� ر ن�‬ ‫��� �ل � �� ��‬ ‫و‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫ع‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫ا�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫م‬ ‫��س���ي���ل ا �َلي�جع�م�ا �ي� �م ن� �و را ك َ� �‬ ‫و‬ ‫ع‬ ‫‪92‬‬

‫‪٣٥،٢٢‬‬

‫‪٤٠،٢٢‬‬

‫‪٤٥،٢٢‬‬

‫‪٥٠،٢٢‬‬

~ 22 ~

Camel mount, set out from al-Washm’s plains with my reply, while people still sleep. Cross the empty wastes, away from the rocky spurs.

22.35

Do not be startled by the sight of buildings in the morning light.105 For pasture I would migrate to Muḥammad ibn Muʿammar and not bother to go in search of grassy plains.106 His generosity has sated so many hungry bellies, when lesser men are forced to sell their fillies.107 His left hand has never sown a grain of evil, while his right hand has sown many fields of charity. Exquisite poise, virtue, candor, and honesty are his. He has never indulged in trickery. The horses of neighbors under his protection are safe,

22.40

but he scares enemy cavalry to death. Sadly, I was saddled with a bunch of ingrates: don’t pin your hopes on the views of the vulgar herd. In anger or despair, in a crisis they run in panic, like herds caught between robbers and their owners in pursuit. I am like an old man who resides with his family, lonely, left to fend for himself in his last days. I prefer to stay on the meager pastures at Ḥizwa’s dunes: I do not pine for Basra’s fragrant attractions.108 Bini Zēd is a tribe that would deserve our esteem,

22.45

but for some pariah traits in their character.109 I found al-Miḥmal’s folks to be clodhoppers, wretched vultures that scavenge on refuse.110 They scram at the arrival of guests in search of a host, like rock badgers ducking into crevices. The people of Ushaygir scurry in all directions like desert beetles: 111 catch one, the other bolts. I found refuge with the sons of al-ʿAzāʿīz, whose branch stems from noblest Timīm. They shield the hunted, humiliate their hunters, brave men of action, a community’s finest. Set your saddle facing the lodestar, leave Canopus’s flicker behind you, to the south! 112

93

93

22.50

‫~~ ‪~~ 22‬‬

‫ا � ا �ش ي � ا ْ ن ا ن �مَ َّ‬ ‫�� ��ط� ر���� �م�� �ل�ن� ��م� ��� �‬ ‫�مع�م�د‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ي�‬ ‫ي َل �‬ ‫نَ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫ي ْ ي ي ن ا َ ّ ا �ن ا ن �‬ ‫َ���د �َ���� ا �� � �وي� ه �ي� �م� ���ي�ٍ م����‬ ‫ن َ‬ ‫ن‬ ‫��‬ ‫����ا ��� ن�ُ��و�م��ي ��� ن� ار �ن�م��‬ ‫ٍ ي‬ ‫�ه�و راح ي�� ي‬ ‫ْ �‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ا ��َ � ا ي ن� ا � ��ن‬ ‫ين� ��ي� �َم ن��� �ن�ا �� �‬ ‫طو�ر � ن� � �م� ي�‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫نا ن � ْ َ‬ ‫ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫ا‬ ‫�‬ ‫�� � َ ��ل‬ ‫ط�� ي� �ش �‬ ‫��ور�ي� ��� �� را ع�ي� ن��ل� ن���ل‬ ‫َْ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫�‬ ‫ن��د �ي�معر�ي��ك ن�م�ي�ه�ا �ي�ان� ن� �م�ا ن���� �َم���ط�ا �َم�‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ع‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ا ن نَ ��ّ يْ ا �ّ � نَ ي � ا �ي‬ ‫ا‬ ‫ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ا‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ع�‬ ‫�و � رل� م ي �� ن � ن � �م مر‬ ‫يَ َ نّ ا ْ َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�ر�� ا � �ن� ن� ����د�ير را ع�ي� ن��ل� ن���ل‬

‫‪94‬‬

‫يَ َ � َ‬ ‫� �يْ ي َ ْ‬ ‫�‬ ‫ع�َن��� َ��د �نَ��د ا �نَ�معرن��‬ ‫��معر�� ا �ل ش �‬ ‫���و�‬ ‫و‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ر‬ ‫ع‬ ‫� نْ‬ ‫نَ َ ْ‬ ‫���ع �رن��ن��ا �ي�ل�� ��ج�ا َ��� �� نّ� ��عر�‬ ‫�‬ ‫و‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ع‬ ‫ع‬ ‫ْ َ ٍ‬ ‫ْ ن ْ‬ ‫� فن �‬ ‫ح � �ا ����ي‬ ‫�‬ ‫ه‬ ‫�‬ ‫ج‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ن�َج�‬ ‫� ا �ل��َد ن��� �ج َي � َ �ي� َن� ن �‬ ‫و‬ ‫ع‬ ‫ح‬ ‫ا ي ّ ��ُ‬ ‫ن‬ ‫��معر��� ��ج� ����ج�د ا ل‬ ‫��‬ ‫�‬ ‫��‬ ‫َ َ‬ ‫و ه�و َ� ي‬ ‫ن وع‬ ‫ع‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫�ا ن‬ ‫ن‬ ‫��م�ا �م�ا �َي�� ��م��لي���ك ��مع نرو�‬ ‫�و �ل� ��ي� �م�‬ ‫ع‬ ‫ُ‬ ‫ْ�‬ ‫َْ‬ ‫�ود �ي�معر�ي�م�� ��م�ا �َمن���م�ا �َي�م�د �و�ر ���طع� �م‬ ‫و‬ ‫ع‬ ‫ن ا �نل ش َ ٍّ‬ ‫ي‬ ‫��و�ي� �م ن� �َن� ن�ج�ا ه َ�ج ن��‬ ‫���‬ ‫� او �� ي‬ ‫و‬ ‫ع‬ ‫نَ‬ ‫ن نَ‬ ‫��ْجعر�‬ ‫�و�عي�جعره ن��ي�� ن�ج�ا ٍ� نَ����ي�جعر �‬ ‫و‬ ‫ع‬

‫‪94‬‬

‫‪٥٥،٢٢‬‬

~ 22 ~

Convey my message to Ibn Māḍi, Muḥammad: since we last met, things have gone out of kilter. In bygone days we two strayed apart as we blundered our way through gloomy gullies. He chose to befriend a creepy owl of a man, who in the darkness would haunt old ruins, awake.113 To be under his watch at night was like satisfying the pangs of hunger with the dry thorns of Hell.114 If you heed my counsel, turn to the emir of Jlājil: befriending him will not reflect badly on you. Greedy eyes are trained on your lands, Ibn Māḍi, but unlike yours his district is not coveted. Sooner would Mount Umm ʿNēg fly away than Ibn ʿĀmir would cheat; just a little of their fame would make me proud.115 Jlājil’s prince commands the gate of Sudayr; other gates are like doors off their hinges.116

95

95

22.55

‫~ ‪~ 23‬‬ ‫� ا � ا شَ َ�نْ �‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫غ ��� ن� �نَ��نمَي���ك‬ ‫�ل� ن�م� � ��و�ٍر ي� َ‬ ‫ّٰ‬ ‫�ْ َ‬ ‫ا َْ‬ ‫�ي ه�ا‬ ‫���و�� �َ�م�ل‬ ‫� او لل� ��ج� َي� �‬ ‫��‬ ‫� ا ّٰ � � ا � ْ َ ن‬ ‫��ج ن��َ�جيْه�ا‬ ‫و لل �ج� َي �‬ ‫���و�� َ� ي ��‬ ‫�يَ ن�ْ����ظ�َه ��ن� �ن��نْمي���ك �م ن �ن�َ� ي‬ ‫م���ك‬ ‫� يَ‬ ‫ري َ َ‬ ‫ن َ �ْل ي � ن نَ‬ ‫ا � ���م� �م م‬ ‫�ص ْ�ر�م�� �نَ�ي�م َ�د ه‬ ‫� �� ن‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫�‬ ‫�َي�جعر �وَ� ن� َ�ي�ج��ل �َو��ج�ل�� ��ط‬ ‫ٍ‬

‫‪96‬‬

‫ْ ي ْ � يَ نّ‬ ‫�ن ا نْ‬ ‫��‬ ‫�صرن� َر ن�َ��ل�� َ���ل �ل�� �مب��‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ْ َ يَ ْ � َ نّ‬ ‫���و�� �جعر ا �ل��د ��‬ ‫�ولا َي� �‬ ‫ع‬ ‫�ا َْ �ْ‬ ‫ن ُ نّ‬ ‫���و�� نَ ��ط��ل�ن� �و�‬ ‫�و �ل� َي� �‬ ‫�مب��‬ ‫ْ نَ َّ �ي ا ُ‬ ‫نّ‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫� ��ج�د � �ج� �‬ ‫�و و�َمب�‬ ‫َوي و � ن ع‬ ‫َْ‬ ‫ُ ن ّ يُ نّ‬ ‫�م�ا ���م��ل�م ي� �م ن� �ن��� � �و���‬ ‫� يْ‬ ‫ْ َ َّ ن‬ ‫�وينَ� ن� َ� ���‬ ‫� �َو��جعرد ��‬ ‫َ‬ ‫حٍ‬

‫‪96‬‬

‫‪١،٢٣‬‬

‫‪٥،٢٣‬‬

~ 23 ~

If a dumb ox comes asking for your daughter’s hand,

23.1

give him a kick and say, “Shoo!” By God, he does not deserve to marry her, or the wedding celebrations with tambourines playing. By God, he is not worthy of her cooking, not even a dish of cows’ and camels’ hooves. He takes your girl away from your house, then exposes her to hunger and poverty. Even if he does not slap her in the face, she is still at risk of being spat in the eye. Girls leave home unencumbered and unsaddled, only to return pregnant, burdened with a family of their own.117

97

97

23.5

‫~ ‪~ 24‬‬ ‫�َ�عْ َ� ّ ا ��ش‬ ‫ا ��ل�نمب�ْع�� �� ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�ص‬ ‫َ َ�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ٍر ي �‬ ‫��لُ ن ْ َ‬ ‫�و �‬ ‫� او د‬ ‫�م�د �ي��د �ي��ع�م ا ن��‬ ‫� ا ��‬ ‫و نع‬ ‫�َ ي ن � نَ ْي ش ا ن‬ ‫�لي�� ا � ا � ����هر ي����م� �َور �ي�‬ ‫�‬ ‫���ا ن� ا دْ َ�ه��ك ��� َ�ع�ي�ر ي��َن�ْ��‬ ‫ك�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ن ٍ َر‬ ‫ن َ‬ ‫طف��ْ ي �شْ َ ن� � ا ا� ا ن‬ ‫�َ��‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫��‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ج‬ ‫�‬ ‫ي�‬ ‫يوح نَ‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫َْ‬ ‫�ولا � �مي�م���ود �ي� �ي�ا ��م�ا �ن��‬ ‫ع‬ ‫ن‬ ‫�ن� ْ ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫طف��� ��� ����د ا �وا�ْم�ش��ا ��ل��‬ ‫َ ي� ي‬ ‫��لَْ � َ ّ‬ ‫َ�َ ْ‬ ‫��س ن� ا �‬ ‫ي‬ ‫حرن� ا �� �ش��ن�� ي�‬ ‫ا � �نَ�� � ��جب� ن�� ن‬ ‫و م‬ ‫�ودٍ ��ا �َ�جع�م‬ ‫وٍ ع‬ ‫�ن َ ْ � ا ن‬ ‫ْ �ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫ط �ه� ��ي�‬ ‫� � او �ي� �و�و��م�ٍ‬ ‫َرد ٍ‬ ‫َّ‬ ‫�‬ ‫�َ‬ ‫ا ��ل‬ ‫��عْر ن� �ي ��َو�ي��د ن�ر ن�‬ ‫�ج�ا �ل‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ّ �ن ْ ي‬ ‫َي� َش��س ن� ا � ��َ�هي�َن��� �م��جعر�ود‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�نم�ا �� ا �شْ��يَ� ّ�د يْ� �َم��م�ا ����م�ا‬ ‫�‬ ‫َن �‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫ن‬ ‫�� َ َ نْ �‬ ‫����صر� او �‬ ‫ع ��طع�م�� �و ن���د � او �م�ا ��ل��‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ن‬ ‫�َ��ّ ��َمب�يْ��ن‬ ‫��م�ا هي ان�ْ ن� َد ْر�م��‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�وي ��‬

‫‪98‬‬

‫َْ ْ‬ ‫� ا ُ �ْ ي‬ ‫��م�ا ي���م�َ�ل������ ��‬ ‫��ود ا ��� �وش���َم��‬ ‫َ‬ ‫َّ � ك ا � ا ّ ْ‬ ‫� � ه��‬ ‫���ل ن �رن ��يَ�م��‬ ‫�‬ ‫َود � ي� ��ط� َ َ‬ ‫ّ نْ‬ ‫���ا ن� ا دْ َ�ه��ك ��� َه��‬ ‫ك�‬ ‫���ل �َ��م�يَ�م��‬ ‫ن‬ ‫َْ‬ ‫يْ ا ���َ� ْ‬ ‫ط�م��َم�ا ن�ي��� �ن����يَ�م��‬ ‫َ�ع�� ن�‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫ا �ن�ي�ج�� ��ي ن�َجعَر�ي� �ن�جعْر�ن�ب�يَ�م��‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ا �ّ ا ��م ا � ا هي � �شْ ن‬ ‫�م�َ�جب�يَ�م��‬ ‫�ل� ��� ��� ٍ َو‬ ‫نَ َ َ‬ ‫���ي���ه��ي �ن�م�د �ي�معر �ن� ن�ْ��َ�ل�ي�م��‬ ‫�‬ ‫ٍَ‬ ‫ْ ْ‬ ‫���ل �ل‬ ‫ا ه��‬ ‫�‬ ‫�َم���م �و ش��صْرن� �ْصر�ي���‬ ‫ي َ‬ ‫ََ‬ ‫ش �� ْ‬ ‫نر�ّ �نْ��ه� ده �م�م�� ا ل‬ ‫��‬ ‫حيَ�مب�يَ�م��‬ ‫م و َ ل‬ ‫�ْ� ا �شَ ٍّ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫� �َ��ش���ل ا ��ل��د ر�يم��‬ ‫��‬ ‫�َو���� �ي‬ ‫ََ‬ ‫ْ ا يْ َ ْ‬ ‫غ���ط � �ون ن��َ�مب�يَ�م��‬ ‫�و ن�ي�م� ٍد �َ�مع �رن�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ن� ن‬ ‫َر�ن�َم��ي �ش��ي�����ج�ا نٍ� �و��َ�ل�يَ�م��‬ ‫َ‬ ‫َ َّ‬ ‫�‬ ‫�يمنب��� �ن�ا ي�ر �م�شم��ل ا �ل� ْ��م�َ�ل�يَ�م��‬ ‫�‬ ‫نَ ّ‬ ‫�ْ يَ‬ ‫ا� �‬ ‫� �‬ ‫ع�م� َ�ل�� ����مع� �����َ�م��‬ ‫�م� �ل او � ي‬ ‫م‬ ‫� نْ َ ْ‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫�م�يج��ل���ط دَ ����� ن���ْ�جعر�يم��‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫َ ََ‬ ‫‪98‬‬

‫‪١،٢٤‬‬

‫‪٥،٢٤‬‬

‫‪١٠،٢٤‬‬

‫‪١٥،٢٤‬‬

~ 24 ~

Prosperity sparkles like a heady wine,

24.1

safe in the hands of a privileged few. Hunger, handmaiden of the generous, ought to trample all misers underfoot.118 If poverty were to ask my opinion, I’d have it crush every godless bastard. We’d smash each and every brash donkey that brags and brays with a full belly. I used to counsel a so-called shaykh

24.5

on how to handle his clan’s affairs,119 With no other object in mind, Māni ʿ, than solicitude and cameraderie. But giving advice to men like this is like pouring water on barren soil. To his mind, igniting the fires of war meant supping on meat and broth, Or sleeping with delicious damsels, their breasts firm and pert like cups, Their buttocks round, with wasp waists,

24.10

and plump pussies, as round as shields. War burns on a fuel of men, outlay, precious steeds, and money. Strife is kindled by rotten wretches, Satan’s offspring, ill-starred fiends: You can count on them, when battle is joined, to scurry and sprint away as fast as a greyhound. Break his bones and seize his wealth, and let his children weep and wail. Let him suffer the ordeal of Ibn Dirmah, whose blood mixed with the sweat of pain: 120

99

99

24.15

‫~~ ‪~~ 24‬‬

‫� َْ َ‬ ‫��م ن�د ا ن�‬ ‫�َجع نرا �َم ن� �ل�ا ��ي�ي�ن���‬ ‫ع‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫��لن‬ ‫���اي� ن ��ل�ا ��مَ�د ه ن� ا ن‬ ‫� او � � َن‬ ‫�ج�ي��‬ ‫نَ َّ ْ َ يْ‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫���عر�وه �ن��ن��ب� ش��� ا �ل���َمعر� او �ل‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫��ّ �‬ ‫��ل�ّج�ا ك �ي�� ا ��ل‬ ‫ح��ج�ا �ل‬ ‫��ج� َح نَ‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫ا�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫� �و�جعر��ش� ي�من ��و�ر �نر ن�‬ ‫�ج� �ل‬ ‫َي‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ا ان�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ش ّ ْ‬ ‫ن‬ ‫��مع�م َا ��م َ�د �ل ��ي��ع�م �ي� ��م� د �ل‬ ‫ن َّ‬ ‫ا � ي� ن‬ ‫�م� �ع� د‬ ‫���د ك‬ ‫��ا َد �ر �م ن� َ�‬

‫‪100‬‬

‫شَ ْ ّٰ ن ّ‬ ‫���معر ا لل� ��� َه��‬ ‫���ل ْ����طعري�م��‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ََ‬ ‫ع‬ ‫َ نْ َ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ن‬ ‫�ي�م�د �� ن� َ�عي��د ا ��م�� �و�ور�م��‬ ‫ََ‬ ‫َ � يّ � �َ ّ ا َ ْ � � ْ‬ ‫���وي���‬ ‫�و �� � ا ��د � � � � ��م �� ا �ل‬ ‫�‬ ‫ط� ل م م و ط َ َ‬ ‫يَ ْ �� َ ْ ُ ْ‬ ‫���� ا ل‬ ‫�‬ ‫�معْر ن� ي��ش��و�ر �ي ن��َ�م�بيَ�م��‬ ‫نل‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫�و��َن��َ�� ا ��ل�نم�ا �ع�� َ�م��م�ا ْ����طعري�م��‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ي �‬ ‫ََ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫ي ن�َ�ّ �� � ا ي‬ ‫ا‬ ‫�� َ�د َي�م��‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫���� َل�ك �ل ر ن� �‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫�� ُ‬ ‫� ن�ن�‬ ‫�ود ���م�ا �ي� �و�ْوري�م��‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ك‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ََ‬ ‫ٍ‬

‫‪١00‬‬

‫‪٢٠،٢٤‬‬

~ 24 ~

A punishment for those who refuse to abide by divine law in all things.121 A traitor will always commit treachery. may he be extirpated, root and branch. His head is easily turned by the sight of patterned breeches and the beating of drums in the streets. Beware of befriending rash fools before the guns of war start crackling, Graves are crammed with fresh corpses, and the laments of the bereaved ring loud and long. Then you should start your blame, you who love to find fault, and let the dead be your share of alms.122 Free of the need to heed your enemy’s wiles, you will sprout fresh shoots and leaves.123

١0١

101

24.20

‫~ ‪~ 25‬‬ ‫َْ ْ ن‬ ‫�َم�� يل� َمب�نه��‬ ‫ا �ْم�� �ن�ا �� نل�م�ي�ر �ي� ن�� ش���َج�د �� ن�‬ ‫ي‬ ‫� َ‬ ‫ي ْ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫�‬ ‫ن ش‬ ‫��َمي��نه��‬ ‫�َم��ل ي� ا �ن�ا �ع ن��د �م ن� �ي��هر��� �� ن�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫� �يْ ن �َ � � َ ّ‬ ‫�‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ق ���ط ا �� ا �ل��د � �و ��ه��‬ ‫َم�جعَر ٍ� ي ��و �‬ ‫ي َي‬ ‫م‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ي‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫� �َ نَ ْ ي ي َ ن‬ ‫�َ‬ ‫�م��لي��نه��‬ ‫ا ���‬ ‫�‬ ‫���و �ق�‬ ‫�صر� �م�د �ر َو َ‬ ‫��م�ا دَ َ �ر� ي� ا ن� ا ��ل��د � �و ن������ ����َطع �ر ��نه��‬ ‫ي‬ ‫َي‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫شَ �ن �� � ن ن‬ ‫���و�ن� �شَ��ي��نه��‬ ‫��ي ��و�� ن� ش �‬ ‫��‬ ‫��و��ه�م ل�ل�‬ ‫نَ‬ ‫ن ّ ّ �ي �� �‬ ‫ط��نه��‬ ‫��م�ا ن���جع�م ��جي�ر َد ر�ي��� َ �‬ ‫��� َي‬

‫‪102‬‬

‫� ��ي �� �َ � ن ا �ن�ْ ي � � �م ن ند ا ا ��لن��ن‬ ‫�مي��ل�‬ ‫َي ��ول وي � � نَ�م� َ �‬ ‫���ّ ن� شْ ن �� ْ � ن‬ ‫�َج��ي� �َو�ج�ا َ��ن�جعر ا �َ �رن��يج�ل�‬ ‫َه��ل‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫يَ ْ َ �‬ ‫� �‬ ‫����مع�م� ا�ا�م�ا ن� ��َو� ْ��غ���َط�� َ�ل�� َ�‬ ‫��م�� يل�م�ل�‬ ‫ع‬ ‫ا �� ��‬ ‫ا �َ‬ ‫�ي��و�م ن�‬ ‫�م� ن� ا ����� ي‬ ‫����ده �ن� َ�������ي���ل‬ ‫� ا�‬ ‫ا‬ ‫�ْ �‬ ‫َلي���ود �ن� � نل�مي�ر نَ����َ�ل�� ��م� َي��� َ�جي���ل‬ ‫شَ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫� ا �ي ب�ن‬ ‫جفي��‬ ‫و�‬ ‫� ��مش���ل � ��و�ر �َم��� َ‬ ‫�جي��ل�‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫�‬ ‫��ل��ل�م��َ�ج�َ�ّ � َ�ع�ّج�ا‬ ‫�‬ ‫ا‬ ‫ل‬ ‫���‬ ‫�‬ ‫ه�ي��ل�‬ ‫َ ن‬ ‫ير و ن ر‬

‫‪١02‬‬

‫‪١،٢٥‬‬

‫‪٥،٢٥‬‬

~ 25 ~

Yesterday at the well Khalīfah accosted me:

25.1

“Where among these palm gardens do you stay?” I said, “With Migrin who spreads for his guest a carpet of cow dung poured from a heavily laden basket: When he serves up a dish of wheat gruel you can hear the water slosh about in it.124 You should have heard how he pleaded and swore as he served a plate of flour and butter paste. I was unaware that ground wheat was considered a delicacy until I came to al-Bīr—may the rains pass it by.125 For him the sight of a guest is the apparition of a specter: so, like an ox, he crouches and refuses to budge. Laṭīfah’s children are the only people for visitors and wayfarers to choose.”

١03

103

25.5

‫~ ‪~ 26‬‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫ْ َ �ن‬ ‫��جَ�� ّ َا �ن�ي�مع�م �م ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�ا�‬ ‫�د‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫م‬ ‫��معم�‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫� وي ٍ ي‬ ‫ي� َ ن ي� َ�َ‬ ‫َ َ ْ ن �يُ ن َ ْ ا�َ ا ن‬ ‫ا �ع���مب�� ا � �� �� او ��ي� ن�����ن���ك ا��مب�ه� �ي�‬ ‫ي� �‬ ‫ّ �ن‬ ‫����اي�‬ ‫ا ��مو�ل ا �ل�نَغ���اي� � او �َ���د ا � ��َ� ن�‬ ‫ح‬ ‫ح‬ ‫ّ �‬ ‫ْ� �ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ا‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫د‬ ‫م‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫و‬ ‫و‬ ‫ر‬ ‫ل رو�‬ ‫ٍ�‬ ‫� او ع َر‬ ‫� نَ‬ ‫َْ ن � َ‬ ‫ن ن‬ ‫� او �عر�� ا ��� �‬ ‫هو�� � او ��� ��و�� �م ن� ر��م�ا �‬ ‫� نَ ّ يْ َ‬ ‫���مفَ�� ن ا لفَ�� ْ‬ ‫�جعر �ن���� ا ������ �َم�مع‬ ‫َ ن �ج� ن ن‬ ‫ر‬ ‫َ ٍ‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ع‬ ‫نَ‬ ‫�� عَ ��ْ ن �ا �ي� �� � ن� ن ن‬ ‫�����ا‬ ‫�‬ ‫ه‬ ‫ج‬ ‫��‬ ‫�‬ ‫ج‬ ‫ل‬ ‫و‬ ‫ي�‬ ‫ر‬ ‫�‬ ‫� ن‬ ‫نع‬ ‫ع‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫يَ‬ ‫ي �َ‬ ‫�َ ن‬ ‫��جعر�� �ن�ا ����م�د ا ر�� ���� او ه ا�ام����ا ر��‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ن‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ي�ه ن‬ ‫��ل��ي �‬ ‫�و�م�ي��� ن� ��م�ل��ي � �و���‬ ‫�‬ ‫ح‬ ‫ح‬ ‫َن �َ ن‬ ‫� ا �ن�اَ � ْ ي‬ ‫�َمعر� �ي�ا ن� ��وك �ن�ي�� ا ����ج�د ا ر��‬ ‫و‬

‫ند �� ����ا �ي����جن�� � ند �� ����ا ا ���م�ا‬ ‫ن ي ي� و ي‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ني �‬ ‫�َ‬ ‫ا �ي ا � َ ّ‬ ‫ا ن‬ ‫��� � �� �� ن�م‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ا�‬ ‫د‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫��‬ ‫�‬ ‫م‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ر ي‬ ‫ي� ي‬ ‫ي�‬ ‫ّ َ ْ‬ ‫ش‬ ‫�م ن�د را َ�م�يلف��‬ ‫����‬ ‫��ي� ���ل �‬ ‫ا �ي�ا ��م�ا � �‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�� ْ �يَ ْ ن ��‬ ‫�‬ ‫�ن ن�����طع ��م�ا َ ك‬ ‫�‬ ‫�َ�ي���ل �وجعر� َ� �‬ ‫ط �وي�م�ل�‬ ‫ر‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�و���عن �ر�ي ي� َ �ري��ي�م�� �ع����� ��م�ا �َي�ن��ي�ج�د‬

‫‪104‬‬

‫ن �ن ْ‬ ‫ن �ّ ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫�و��ي� ه����ل َ�ع ن�ّج�� �م� ا �َ��� �‬ ‫��ر��ج�ا �ي�مع�م‬ ‫َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫طف��نّ َ �َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫� او �‬ ‫��‬ ‫����م�ا ن�ل��لي�ّج�ا �َش�� ه�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ع‬ ‫�‬ ‫م‬ ‫��ا �ي�مع�م‬ ‫ر‬ ‫ن‬ ‫�ع ن ا �� �نَ ب�َ �ْ ا � � ا ا ن� ن � ا‬ ‫� ل��� مه�ل�ه� و �ل�‬ ‫�م�ا �� �ل��ي�مع�م‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫� او َد �� ا�ام� او َرد ن�ل�� يل�ّج�ا ��ج�ل� �ي�مع�م‬ ‫ي �َ ن ن نَ َ‬ ‫�َ � ي‬ ‫َ�����طب�����ا ر��معر��م�ا �لي�م�ا �ٍل �َ��د ا �ي�مع�م‬ ‫َ َ ن َ‬ ‫� ش ن‬ ‫���ن���عر��ا ن�ل��لي����ٍل �ن���� ا ��� او ��� ��ا �ي�مع�م‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ن��َ عَ ��ْ ن ا � ن‬ ‫َ‬ ‫� مرن�م�‬ ‫�معر�و�ٍم �و �م�ي�َ�� ن� �و�ه�ا �ي�مع�م‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ا ��ل شَ ي‬ ‫ن��نم�ا ن� َ ن�‬ ‫�م�ا ر�� �ع��� �‬ ‫���و�� د ا�ي�مع�م‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫�‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫ي‬ ‫نَ ن َ‬ ‫�ه��ك �ي��ه�ا د �� ا �لَ���م�ا �ي�مع�م‬ ‫َ����مع�م�ه� ن� ��و ن� �‬ ‫نَ َ ي‬ ‫�و�ع�د��ي� �م ن� ن��ي��ن��ه ن� �َمَش���ل �ن�اي��� �و����ا �ي�مع�م‬ ‫ع‬ ‫ي ني ن‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ي‬ ‫�‬ ‫�ود �ي� ��م�ا ��� او َ�م�� �ود �ي� ��م�ا ��ل� �ي�مع�م‬ ‫�ن�ن نْ اْ َ ا� ا �ي ا �‬ ‫ا ��‬ ‫�ود ��م� ج� �‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�ج�د ����ل� � �‬ ‫ل‬ ‫�‬ ‫م‬ ‫َ َ م ٍ‬ ‫�َ� ن �ن �ن�َ ن � �نَ َّ ي‬ ‫� � ��ونح ن‬ ‫���د ه َر���ا �ي�مع�م‬ ‫� ��و‬ ‫ٍ ن ٍ‬ ‫� ْ � � � ْن ي‬ ‫ن‬ ‫�و�َغ��‬ ‫�ي���ل �ل�� ا � َرد �� ���ا �ي�مع�م‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ر‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫َ ّ َ ْ �َ‬ ‫�نْ ن َ‬ ‫ي‬ ‫��ق�� ر���ك �ن���ي���ك ا�م‬ ‫�‬ ‫���ا ر�م‬ ‫� او ع� ن‬ ‫ن‬ ‫‪١04‬‬

‫‪١،٢٦‬‬

‫‪٥،٢٦‬‬

‫‪١٠،٢٦‬‬

‫‪١٥،٢٦‬‬

~ 26 ~

Listen carefully, my boy, to this wise old man,

26.1

for I have swum in the deep waters of thought. I tame rhymes with sound meanings, subduing refractory ones without use of reins. I give judicious counsel, expose scandals, and apportion blame with no fear of censure. I can read hidden traces and sand-covered trails, find wells without help of landmarks. I am no stranger to passion and love’s temptations;

26.5

in my halcyon days I plucked their flowers at night: We swam in a sea surging with sinful rapture, enjoying our nights while the guards slept; We struggled through gullies surrounded by hyenas, clambered on rocky hills haunted by demons.126 So let me say: some girls are purebred fillies, gardens ever flowering with heavenly bliss. But not all girls are pretty: some are hideous, and breathe winds of poison that scorch your face. I myself, son, am perplexed by maidens;

26.10

I ended up going from one to the other: This one doesn’t want me, that one I don’t want— either we can’t agree or she is not right for me. Such is my experience, dear Mjalli, so take this advice from an old man who knows. O lover in the thrall of lovely ladies of style, gorgeous coquettes with tattooed cheeks, Kohl-lined eyes, black tresses tumbling down, wasp-like waistlines, bulging behinds, May you get no reward for drinking their saliva: 127 the violation of taboos provokes your Lord’s ire.

١05

105

26.15

‫~~ ‪~~ 26‬‬

‫ن ن‬ ‫�ي ن�� ��و ي� ا ��لَ��ل��د ا د ه � �و�يَ ن�ْج�بي�� ا ��ل�نَج�د ا ��م��‬ ‫�‬ ‫يَ‬ ‫�‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫�نَ َ‬ ‫ن‬ ‫�ْ��س� ا ��ل‬ ‫�و ��ل�ا �‬ ‫�مي�ر د ر ن� ا �َ������م�ا د‬ ‫َ ن‬ ‫�َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�م�ا‬ ‫� �ون ن�ْ����ج�بن� ا�ا��م�ل�� ��� �و��ل��ْ�� ا�م‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫��‬ ‫ن �‬ ‫ن � َن �‬ ‫َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ا ي ��ل �ن‬ ‫��نلَ � �ن‬ ‫�ي�معر�� ا��ي ر �ي� را ���‬ ‫��� � ا ن��د �‬ ‫و‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ع‬ ‫َ َّ‬ ‫�ن�ج�� ن‬ ‫ي� ن����َج�� يل�م��ل�� �ي�����طعر ن� �َ�م�بي�ي�م��ل��‬ ‫َ ٍ‬ ‫�ي َ نَّ �َ �� � � �ي ن��ْ � � ا �‬ ‫�‬ ‫���َ�ل�ك‬ ‫��و��عر ���ل �ل�ك �وَ �معَرح � ي‬ ‫َ َّ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫ََ‬ ‫�و ن��نّم�ا �ي� ا �ل�ا ْر����ج�ا �ي��ي�م��ل ن� �ي�م�د ��ي�نَم��‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ن �‬ ‫�� ن ا ا � ن ا ن‬ ‫��ج�د ��ي‬ ‫�‬ ‫ا‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ن �م�د �ر��ج�‬ ‫�‬ ‫م‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ي‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ي�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫ن � ن‬ ‫� او �ن�ا ا ند ن�‬ ‫�َجعر ر�م ���ي ����م�د ا �و���ش���ل��‬ ‫َ ي ي�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�َ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫�‬ ‫� ن‬ ‫��م�د � ��ي� ��َمعَ ن��يم�� ا �� �م�ا ل‬ ‫�‬ ‫غ���طَي���‬ ‫َ� ي �ي� ر َ �‬ ‫َ ن ا� شْ‬ ‫�‬ ‫ح‬ ‫ن��‬ ‫���ا ن�‬ ‫�م�� �و�عي����� َ�م�ج���ي� َد � يل����ل‬ ‫ن ّ‬ ‫ي‬ ‫� ا َ ّن‬ ‫��م�د ه‬ ‫��م�د �ي���م�� �و َ�‬ ‫�و�م ن� �ل� ي���ج�ي�ر َ�‬ ‫ّ ْ ََ‬ ‫�ولا ن�م�ا ي� ن��� ���ل ا ��معر ن���ن�هي�ي���‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫�� �يَ ي � ا � �َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ��ي�� ا �ل�� ��ول �و ن‬ ‫�جن��ر ا �ل����� ��و�ر‬

‫‪106‬‬

‫َ‬ ‫� َّ‬ ‫َ ن ��‬ ‫��� �بن‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ا‬ ‫ش‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ا‬ ‫�‬ ‫ع‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫م‬ ‫م‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫���َمعر�ي�� َل � �و�ٍر ع�ج ي م‬ ‫ع‬ ‫�ْ ن ٍ � َ ن� َْ�� �ل�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�و�و� ��� ا �ن �� او ع�� �ور��� ا ن�‬ ‫�جعرا �ي�مع�م‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ي‬ ‫َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫َ�� ْ �َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫�� ّ‬ ‫��ج�ا ��ي� �و������ب� ا�م‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ا‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�م�ا َر م�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�و ن� �‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ع‬ ‫ا �� َ ��ْلَ�َ نّ � ن ن ��‬ ‫�َ ��‬ ‫ا‬ ‫ل‬ ‫ل‬ ‫�‬ ‫ع‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫م‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫� د ن�� ا �ل�� َ�ج���ي� ا ط ي م‬ ‫ي َ َّ َ ي �� َ‬ ‫َْ‬ ‫ل‬ ‫�و���مع�مَ�ه��ك َ��م�يمب� �ن�� �‬ ‫��و� ا ���م�ا �ي�مع�م‬ ‫ع‬ ‫َ ْ ش نَ � � َ �‬ ‫َ‬ ‫� �وي���َ�ر � �� او �َل�ك ن��ي ��و� ا ���‬ ‫��معرا �ي�مع�م‬ ‫م‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫� �ش���ا �ن� �وْرد �ع�� ا ن�ل‬ ‫�و �‬ ‫ا �ل‬ ‫��‬ ‫�م�ا �ي�مع�م‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ ٍ �‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ن‬ ‫َ ن‬ ‫ا �ل‬ ‫� �ن�ا �ر �ج�ي�ه�ا َرَد �ي� ا �����عرا �ي�مع�م‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ش‬ ‫� ن�‬ ‫ا �ل‬ ‫�م�ا ن���م�ا �ر َي����ي�� ن� ا �لَ��ل�م�ا �ي�مع�م‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫َ ّ َ ُّ‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ا‬ ‫� او ��مي�نر ��م�د �و�ي� �و�ي���مع�م �َو���ج� �ي�مع�م‬ ‫نَ‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ا�َ َ ْ ن ن �‬ ‫�و��َنم��ي� ا�م��معر�م�� ��ل� �ه�و ن� ��ا ��مع�م‬ ‫شَ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫�ب� �‬ ‫هو � ��و�ر �ه�و�رٍ ين� ��ي� �ل�� َرد ا �ي�مع�م‬ ‫�َ َ ّ يَ َ ّ‬ ‫ي ن �نَ َ‬ ‫� �م‬ ‫������ ����م���� �� �‬ ‫ج�و� ا ����ج�ا �ي�مع�م‬ ‫و ي‬ ‫ا�َ‬ ‫يَ‬ ‫�َ‬ ‫اي ن�‬ ‫�م�ا د ا���عرا َ���م ��معرا �ه�ا ا �ل��د را �َ�مع�م‬

‫‪١06‬‬

‫‪٢٠،٢٦‬‬

‫‪٢٥،٢٦‬‬

~ 26 ~

Sensual pleasures pass; remorse remains. Grave implications quickly come to mind. Do not think the wrong way is for the best: consorting with whores and committing crimes, Strutting flamboyantly in fine apparel, rings on the fingers, headdress at a rakish angle. You’re best served by deep-rooted date palms when years of disaster bear down on you: In an idyllic palm garden giving restful midday shade,

26.20

where you can listen to the soothing coo of the doves. Husband your goods and gladden your children: great will be your gain as harvest comes. The laborer who collects firewood from the desert stands in awe at the sight of great herds pressing at the well.128 At such times you will be able to tell a true friend from deceivers who have no moral fiber. I cherish my friends for my hour of need, for a day that turns your sidelocks gray. I can tell a true friend with one glance: my enemy bears telltale marks that I perceive: For me, the eyes and brows speak volumes, while those devoid of understanding flounder. One who cannot distinguish between friend and foe is as dumb as an ox that should be locked up in a pen. In truth, I obtained all I wished for, my renown shot higher than Sagitta. I uncovered the root causes of things and found ways to heal: for broken bones dirhams are the best cure.129

١07

107

26.25

‫~ ‪~ 27‬‬ ‫��ا شَ� د � ن‬ ‫� ا ّٰلل� د � ن‬ ‫و َي‬ ‫ي‬ ‫سن ر َ س‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫�� ��َ ن��ْ ش���مع �م ن��ْ ش���م�ا‬ ‫� ا‬ ‫ا ن� ا ��ل‬ ‫�‬ ‫�م� ��م ي َ ر َ‬ ‫ر‬ ‫َّ‬ ‫���‬ ‫��‬ ‫َ‬ ‫� ا‬ ‫�‬ ‫ا ��ل‬ ‫�‬ ‫ه‬ ‫�ج� ك�م �ي�ا َه���ل �و�ي��و ل‬ ‫ْن َ نّ‬ ‫���م��‬ ‫��َمعّره ��م�ا َي��ن��َ�م�د ��‬ ‫�ولا ن�‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫�‬ ‫ْ�‬ ‫� او ����م�اَ���م �ي��د ن�‬ ‫�َم��ل ��م�ا �َي� ��ط�َ�ل�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ع‬ ‫�ّ‬ ‫�‬ ‫ل��ا ��م�د � او �نل‬ ‫�‬ ‫� ا �� ه�‬ ‫���ا ��م�د‬ ‫يَ ن‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫� اولا �م ن ����ا ��ل�� ��م‬ ‫�جعر�و�‬ ‫�‬ ‫م‬ ‫�‬ ‫ْ َ ن �‬ ‫� او �ن�ا ا ��م�د � ��ي� ا ���ه�ا َ�ا �ش��م�ا َره‬ ‫م‬ ‫ح‬ ‫�� �يَ ي � ن � �‬ ‫���ط�ا ��م �ي�ا ����ا �ن��‬ ‫�َو��شي�� ا � �‬ ‫ع‬ ‫ن ْ �‬ ‫�م�د ��مع�م ��� َ�ن�‬ ‫� او �‬ ‫���ر ا �َل���لْي�م��‬ ‫ي‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�َ َ يْ � � َ � �ْ �ن َ ّ‬ ‫ا �� ن�‬ ‫���ك ا ����ط�لَن��� �ي� �‬ ‫ح�يه��ك‬ ‫َ ��ّ �َ ْ��� ع َ � �ن�َ ْ �� ا ��لن‬ ‫�‬ ‫��ْمعَ�م��‬ ‫��‬ ‫د � ي م�م‬ ‫ع ن�غ�ط َ‬ ‫ن �ْن ن ن َ��نّ‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ا‬ ‫ا‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�م� � ��َ�معر �ي� ���ج� د ي��� �ر‬

‫‪108‬‬

‫ن ا �ن ا � � ن‬ ‫��ْمع �م�ا‬ ‫�م� �ن� ن� ا ���ه� ��ط ا �� � َر‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫�‬ ‫� ا�‬ ‫�بَه�م�ا‬ ‫� او ����ج� َ��م �م ن� � يل�ج��ل ن� �‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫�‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫� � ��نه�� ّك ا ��ل��د ا � �م ن ا ����ج�د �م�ا‬ ‫ر �‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ويَ‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ج��� �ن��ْ��ع�م�� � �نْ��َ��ع�م�ا‬ ‫� َ ي‬ ‫َو‬ ‫ي‬ ‫�ل �ن�ي� َ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫ي‬ ‫�َجع�م�ا‬ ‫��ف��‬ ‫�َجع ٍ�م�ا �ي�ا َه��‬ ‫���ل �و ��ل�ا �‬ ‫�م ن ��م�ا ��ل ا ����نَ�ج� ا �� �ْ �ا��م�ا‬ ‫�‬ ‫ي ر � وَ‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫�‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫� َ ن ا �ي‬ ‫�ل��‬ ‫�ْجع �م�ا‬ ‫رن ي� ر ر‬ ‫� �ل َر‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫اُ‬ ‫� ده ��ن �نَجعْ ا ��ل��دّ �َ�جع�م�ا‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ر‬ ‫�ي� ن و ي‬ ‫ع‬ ‫َ� ّ‬ ‫م ه ا ����ْ�ج��ل��ج�ا‬ ‫�م ن� ��ج�ا �ٍم �ا و�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ْ�‬ ‫�َ ّ ا �� �َ ّ‬ ‫ط�َ��ع�م�ا‬ ‫غ���ط �ن�م�� ��ل‬ ‫��ن�� ٍل �‬ ‫َ‬ ‫يْي ا َ ْ ي نْ ي ّ ا ��لنْ‬ ‫��مع�م�ا‬ ‫� �و ���م� �ل��ل� ا��� � �و� ا �‬ ‫�َ�‬ ‫َ ن‬ ‫ي‬ ‫�َ‬ ‫�ّ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫�ْ��بيَ�ميْ���ك ا ��ل ش�������� � ا �ي‬ ‫���ع�م�ا‬ ‫ل‬ ‫�‬ ‫و �‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫�َ ّ ا � نَ َ ْ‬ ‫���ع�م�ا‬ ‫�لي�ج� ه ي��‬ ‫��جعر�ن��ك ا �ي �‬

‫‪١08‬‬

‫‪١،٢٧‬‬

‫‪٥،٢٧‬‬

‫‪١٠،٢٧‬‬

~ 27 ~

I swear by God and by all that is holy,

27.1

from the gate of al-Ghāṭ to Ḍruma: The ruler ventures forth in broad daylight; the man of religion prefers the cover of darkness. The ruler eats and provides nourishment, protects his subjects from want and fear: No matter how liberally he spends, prosperity and serenity reign in his house. A religious scholar takes but never gives: 130

27.5

he is a black dog that feeds but does not guard. He gobbles up all he finds, moist or dry, as long as someone else is paying. And if that other person has spent all he has, he cries: “My Lord provides for the down and out.” We must hand it to the cleric: no one digs deeper into the cooking pot; Holding forth on oppression and injustice— the man of religion has appropriated it all. He grows his beard long and bushy,

27.10

and uses it as bait for those he ensnares. If you are in court with the claimants and what is yours is contested in a dispute, If their loud arguments attract attention, and they fire accusations and aspersions at you, Then slip a dinar into the cadi’s hand before false charges bring harm down on you.131

١09

109

‫~ ‪~ 28‬‬ ‫�ا َ‬ ‫�ا ن‬ ‫ا ��ل�ا ��ا �م ُ��ْ‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ا‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫م‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ل‬ ‫ج‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ر‬ ‫و‬ ‫ي‬ ‫و و�‬ ‫ن �‬ ‫� ا ا ن ن � ن ��‬ ‫ط ��م�� � �يم�ا‬ ‫�‬ ‫ا �ل���مع�م� ر � َ�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫و‬ ‫ي�ه� م� َ وي ٍل‬ ‫ر‬ ‫� ا ي ا ن � � ن ا � ن ن َ �ْ‬ ‫�ب�َعمه�ا‬ ‫�ل� �� �َم� ا �ل�َد ��ي��� �و���و را � �و ن �‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫�� نَ َّ‬ ‫ََّ � ْ‬ ‫��م ��م�ي�ر ي� �م ن� �َ�م��ل�ك �ن�ا ��� � �نو��د �ل ي�‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫ن ا ا ْ � � �َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫��عَّ ��ْ ي� ا ��ل�ا ��ا � ك���ل�ج�ا‬ ‫�‬ ‫يم َ �‬ ‫ا �� �ي� �وَ�ل�د ي� ن رن‬ ‫� نَ‬ ‫� � ُ‬ ‫طف َ‬ ‫���ا �ل ا � َر ن��ا �ي��ورد ك نَ� ّ �ر� ي� �ن�ا �����‬ ‫�‬ ‫�ن‬ ‫ي‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�َ ّ�د � ا �ن َ��� َ‬ ‫� ا ��ل�ا�ْ ��ا ��ش ��ا ��م�ا‬ ‫�‬ ‫م�ّ��‬ ‫م‬ ‫�‬ ‫و‬ ‫ر‬ ‫�‬ ‫ي ني‬ ‫و ون � ي‬ ‫�ا ي ْي‬ ‫َ‬ ‫� �ون�م��‬ ‫�و��م�ا �ن��ك �م ن� �ل� �َ�مع َر ن��� �م ن��� � �‬ ‫َي‬ ‫��ل َ ْ‬ ‫يَ ن ا َ‬ ‫ا ��� نر � او ك ا �‬ ‫�معر ن� �ي��و�م ����� ���مب���وا‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�يَ‬ ‫ي � ن‬ ‫ن‬ ‫�����ا َد � ���‬ ‫����ن��ا � ا�ام�ه�ا �ي� �ع��� ا �َ��ه�د ��‬ ‫م‬ ‫َ � ْ‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫ْ ن‬ ‫�نم�ل�� �َ ْم����ط��ل ن� ا ��َ�ه��لي�م�ا �ن�ي�م�د �� �َ�قن�يَ���‬ ‫َ ي َ‬ ‫يَ�نَ ّ�َْ ي �نَ �م �ن �ي َ ّ ا �ن �ي ا ��� ن‬ ‫����َم�ا‬ ‫��و � َ�‬ ‫�م�ي ر� ��و�ي� �مو� � �‬ ‫� ا ش ْ ٍ ا َ�ع ا � � ن �‬ ‫�م�ا � َ����ط��‬ ‫�و���و ��� �ر َ��ص نر�ي� �م� �م� ن‬ ‫ح‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫َ ّ‬ ‫� َ�ع� ّ �م ن �م��ْل�ك �َ�ن�ه�د ا د � ا ْ�ن‬ ‫����‬ ‫ا � ن َ�ي� � َ ن‬ ‫ورَ‬ ‫ئ َّ‬ ‫ا ن ا �� �يَ ا َ � �نَ َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ا‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ا ��مل��� َ�‬ ‫��ن��ي�� � �معر ي� �م��ل ا ل�د ر�‬ ‫م‬

‫‪110‬‬

‫َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫���ا ن‬ ‫ن�ت�ه��ل �ي�ا �ي�معر�� �م�ا �ل�ا لي��‬ ‫��و ن� �وك�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫�� ٍّ‬ ‫َ ّ ��‬ ‫�ن‬ ‫�َ��ل�� ��ي �ن��ا ن‬ ‫ل‬ ‫ا‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫��و� ر ن�‬ ‫�وَه���ل َ �‬ ‫ي�� �‬ ‫�ي�َمع � َ �ْمَ ا ��ل��ل�َ ا �َا� � ن ْ� ن‬ ‫ح��م�ا ن‬ ‫ر� ر ي���م� ��� م�ي�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ن‬ ‫�ن �‬ ‫�ا ن‬ ‫��م�ا ر �عي�ر � ه�‬ ‫�َم ه�‬ ‫��ا ٍ� �ل�نم�ا ��� �‬ ‫م�� �‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫��� � ن � ن‬ ‫عْ����طع� ا ��ل�ا�م� � � �ه�ا ن‬ ‫�ا�‬ ‫م� َنَ� ر م� َ م و ر و �‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫�ن‬ ‫ا� ن‬ ‫�م�د � د �ي ا ن‬ ‫�� ��ي �م�ا �ي�معْرد ا ��ل‬ ‫� �ون� ��َ� ي � َ‬ ‫و ر�‬ ‫� ي َ ْ يَ‬ ‫�م�ا ند � � ْش��م����ط�ا ن‬ ‫�� � � � � �‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫و‬ ‫ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫طيول�ل� ��م�ل��‬ ‫�‬ ‫نٍ َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�� ُ ّ ا �ن َ� ن ا � ن ا ن‬ ‫�و� ر ن� رع �ي� ن �م� �ن�ك �� �‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫يَ�َ‬ ‫���ا ن‬ ‫���ْ�جن��� ا � ْ��عر ��م�ا لي��‬ ‫��و ن� �وك�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫ُ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ا ا�‬ ‫ا ا �� ��ي‬ ‫�م��ا ي� �ْم�ه�ا ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�د‬ ‫�‬ ‫م‬ ‫�‬ ‫م‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ن‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ن و ن‬ ‫رع َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫� ��ل�ا ن ا دَ ن� ا ��ا � ا �� َ ن‬ ‫�َج�ا ���م�د ا ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫ن‬ ‫و ر‬ ‫يم ر‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫�ن‬ ‫�ا َ‬ ‫�ل ��ل�� د �َه� ا ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫د‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�و �ل� ن‬ ‫ر‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ن‬ ‫و�‬ ‫و َ يٍ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�نْ ن�����َط� � ا �ن�ا �� ��ا �ا�َم��َمع نّه �ش��م�ا ن‬ ‫� �ل و ي� ن ر‬ ‫�‬ ‫� � ْ ي � نَ‬ ‫ا � ا ��� � �‬ ‫�م�ا � د ا ��ْمع�م�ا ن‬ ‫ف‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�صره ا � ي و ر‬ ‫� ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫�م ن ا �� ن��ا �� � ا ��ل�ا �ن�ا ��ل�� نّد �ه�ا ن� ند �ه�ا ن‬ ‫�و‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫‪١١0‬‬

‫‪١،٢٨‬‬

‫‪٥،٢٨‬‬

‫‪١٠،٢٨‬‬

‫‪١٥،٢٨‬‬

~ 28 ~

Time is pregnant, events are its midwife.132

28.1

Are there things that cannot be, yet are? While man’s life may be long or short, all but the face of the Lord will disappear. Do not trust the world, even if it should smile on you: for humans, it always packs a huge punch. It takes away possessions, it changes ownership: status enjoyed one day is gone the next. In life, my boy, I have experienced all vicissitudes,

28.5

the greatest and the gravest, even in minor things. When you’re rich, drawing water from a deep well is easy; the hard up can’t even fetch it from an open stream.133 Scoundrels like to push you over the edge of the pit from where you cannot be rescued, not even with long ropes. But you get succor from unexpected quarters when you are forsaken by your dependents Who embroil you in war and then abscond: you think that’s something that can never be, but is. Tackle hard tasks head on but be wary:

28.10

in crises fortune favors the deliberate man. High aspirations do not hasten one’s fate, and comfort does not lengthen a truant’s days. I’d rather have a slab of rock for a pillow than sleep on a soft carpet in a land of ignominy. Even if I have to drink brackish water mixed with bitter apple, I value self-respect more: More than owning Baghdad and its territories, sweet-scented Basra, and the shores of Oman.134 Let me give sheltered village lads

28.15

advice not required by judicious minds.

١١١

111

‫~~ ‪~~ 28‬‬

‫�‬ ‫� ا � ن َْ‬ ‫ا نَ� ّ �‬ ‫� ��ط ��م�ا َا�‬ ‫ا �ل��و ��ط�ا � �م�ا ي��ن�ه َ�د �ي� ن���م�‬ ‫م‬ ‫َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ا �� �نَ�ق ّ� ي� ا ������ط َ‬ ‫�َم�ا ��م�د ا � � ْش�يَه�ا‬ ‫�‬ ‫� ن‬ ‫ر ن رٍ َو َر��‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫َّ‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ْ ن‬ ‫� ��و َي�م��ل ي� د ا َ�م��ل�ك �ل�ان� ��و�ي� �و ن�‬ ‫�م�د �ي�‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫�يَ ْ‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫�ي�ا را �ع�� ا � ���غ��ر ا �ل��د �ي� ��ي� ي�جعرا ره‬ ‫ا ��ل�ا� ���ط�ا ن� ا ن� ��ا �َه� ��ش ��ل�ا يَ� ْ �َن�� ا ��ل�ن��ا‬ ‫و‬ ‫ن و � رع ن‬ ‫ّ ن ن ��نْ‬ ‫�ْ�مب�َ�من�بّ�مي���ي �ش��ج��ا ���م�ا �� ا ���م�ا ن����ا‬ ‫ي�‬ ‫ٍَ َ ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫ن ��نْ ي ن يَ ْ َ ن َ َّ‬ ‫���ل�و َ���� ��� ���� �‬ ‫�����‬ ‫ي� �م�ش��ي��د‬ ‫ي‬ ‫رٍ‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫� نْ‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫��� ي� َ�ي��ْ�غ ���ط� َه��‬ ‫�و� ��و َ��‬ ‫���ل �ي ��و� ا ن�‬ ‫�م�ا �َوه‬ ‫ي�‬ ‫مٍ‬ ‫�َ يْ‬ ‫�‬ ‫�م ن� �ي�ا �َم ن� ا �ر������ط�ا �ع��� ا �ل���م�ا �ي� �ن�ا َد �‬ ‫�‬ ‫م‬ ‫ن �ّ‬ ‫َ ُ َّ � ن َ ّ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�ج�ل�� ك �ي ��و� �َ�ج�د �ل��‬ ‫��ج�د �وك � ��و �‬ ‫ٍم‬ ‫ن��ل�� �ي�ن�ْه ن�د ��ص ْ��ا ن� � ��ل�ا �ي��د ن� �م�ْمبن�� ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ َ ر ٍ و ََ َ ن َ �‬ ‫� ا يْ‬ ‫�‬ ‫�َي��ي�ر ��ن� ا ��ل��د ا ر را �ع�� ن�‬ ‫م��ا �ن��‬ ‫�ي‬ ‫ي‬ ‫�و �ل� َ َ ي‬ ‫َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ن� َ � ي َ ْ‬ ‫��شْ‬ ‫�َي�� ��� ه�ا ��‬ ‫���م�بن� ��ي�ن���‬ ‫� ��‬ ‫�‬ ‫�م�عي� َ‬ ‫م�ل��ٍ ي��� ن �‬ ‫�َ‬ ‫��معْ ي� ا �ع� ي�م�ا ��ل��ي ��ي�يَّم�بي� ��م�ا‬ ‫�‬ ‫ا �� َ ر ر ي� َ ٍ َ َ�ي� ن�‬ ‫�َ‬ ‫ن� ش����ا �و�ر �َص ْر ن�‬ ‫ط����ي� َ�د‬ ‫�� ��‬ ‫�م�ا �ٍم َ�‬ ‫ر‬ ‫و‬ ‫ن‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫ع‬ ‫َ َّ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫ن‬ ‫حن� ب�ن‬ ‫�ي‬ ‫� او �ي�معَرك را ر�و ن� ن� �‬ ‫�‬ ‫م‬ ‫ي‬ ‫� ���َمع�م� �ل�‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫ُ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫�‬ ‫�نْ‬ ‫ا يَ‬ ‫� ا �يْ�مع ��ا ا ��ل�� ند � ��� ن‬ ‫��‬ ‫ل‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ل‬ ‫�‬ ‫و‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫و َرك ن ن� َ ل ي‬ ‫ن َّ‬ ‫����� ��ا ��� � نْ��د �� �ع�� ا ��َ�� �ي� � ا ��ن ��يَه�ا‬ ‫��َ�‬ ‫��� ن �َ ي �� ن و و َ‬ ‫‪112‬‬

‫� نَ �َّ ي شْ َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫��� نْ ��م�ا ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫ل‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫��‬ ‫ه‬ ‫�و ��و ��م�ل�َم� َي���معر� ن ل ر �‬ ‫ا� ن � ا َ �‬ ‫��ْ�م�ل�� ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫�ي �و �ل�ا نَ�‬ ‫�ن� �ل�� ي �‬ ‫�م�� �ل� �ٍ�‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�َيّ �َ نْ‬ ‫����ل� ه ��َ�م�ا ن‬ ‫��م�� ا ��ل‬ ‫�‬ ‫م‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫غ‬ ‫ك‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ن‬ ‫و‬ ‫ن‬ ‫و‬ ‫�� �‬ ‫ي �‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫ا ْي � ا ْ‬ ‫�‬ ‫�ا ن‬ ‫����ي ��ن� ا � ��ي ��و�� �م� َي�رن��� �ل� �‬ ‫َن�‬ ‫�‬ ‫و‬ ‫�‬ ‫َي‬ ‫� ا ��ل�ا������ط�ا �� ��ل��لن‬ ‫�� ّ�د ا �� ��يه�د �� ��ْمع ا ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫و ن ل‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ر‬ ‫َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫م‬ ‫�ع ا�ه نّ �م ن �َ �ْل� ا �� �� ���ط���� دْ �ه�ا ن‬ ‫ر َ � � ون �ل َو ي � �‬ ‫ن نَ‬ ‫ْ �‬ ‫�م�ا ��ل � �ه�ا ن‬ ‫��وه �م ن� َ�ع�د � ا �ر ن�‬ ‫َ���‬ ‫�‬ ‫و‬ ‫�‬ ‫م‬ ‫يَ�� ا �����م�ا ن���� ي��ا �� �� ا ند ا َ‬ ‫� ن��ا ��� ��ل�ا ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫ي و ن‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ن��‬ ‫�‬ ‫� �م ن ��ا �م ن ا ��� ن‬ ‫��م ّ�د ا �� ��يه�د �� �ْ�ه�ا ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫ي‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ي‬ ‫و � ي َ� َ‬ ‫م �‬ ‫�ُ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫�ن‬ ‫����ا ن‬ ‫�مو�ا�م�ا ي� �‬ ‫هو �َم ْ���معرن� �ل��ل‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫ح َ‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫���طع�م� ا � ن �����د �ي�م�د ا ن‬ ‫�وا�ّ��ك � او �‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ر‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ع َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ان‬ ‫�‬ ‫�� ش ا ي ا ا ا �ل‬ ‫�ا‬ ‫�م ���� �ل� �و �ل� د حر �م �ه�د �‬ ‫� ا � ْ ا �ّ ا ا ن‬ ‫��� ن� �ْ��ه�ا ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫ل‬ ‫�و �ل� َ‬ ‫حك�ٍم �ل� � َي و ي �‬ ‫�ع ن ا �� �� ا ��ش �م�ا �ي�َم ْ�د ��� �ه�ا ��ا �ْ�م�ل�� ن‬ ‫� و �‬ ‫ن ير ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫ن � ا ��لنَنْ‬ ‫�َ�� ��ا ه �ْ�جي��ا ن‬ ‫ي����ه���ك �� �‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ر‬ ‫و‬ ‫َ يَ ن‬ ‫ي‬ ‫�‬ ‫�ْ‬ ‫د � ا ��ل��ل�ي�م�ا ��ن ا�ا�م�ْ� ن‬ ‫���ل�� ي� ���ا ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫َرَ ي�‬ ‫ي� َ‬ ‫ي‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫� َ ي � � ن َُ‬ ‫�د �ّ ك ��ا ن‬ ‫ا �� �ر�ي� را �� م� ��م‬ ‫و‬ ‫ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫��� �م ن � ن‬ ‫عْ���طع� ا�ام������� �ه�ا ن‬ ‫� �م�ا ��‬ ‫ين‬ ‫�‬ ‫و َنَ ر � َ م‬ ‫‪١١2‬‬

‫‪٢٠،٢٨‬‬

‫‪٢٥،٢٨‬‬

‫‪٣٠،٢٨‬‬

~ 28 ~

Lands are not given away by a judge’s pen, though people pay handsomely for verdicts.135 When corpses lie strewn over inherited land, all is decided by the sword, not by right or by wages. He who argues, “These are our ancestral lands and are rightfully ours,” is consumed as he speaks.136 Listen, if you are weak and have no hope of help from allies, your fortress will not protect you. If your land is attacked, do not raise the walls higher:

28.20

only valiant fighters bring old enemies to heel, Youngsters ready to die dressed in shrouds, their bare backs sweaty as they do battle. The thick walls of a fortress won’t keep you safe. without defenders it is easily stormed. If you pay protection money every day to keep them at bay, they say, “A soft target.” He who lets a viper wrap its coils round his leg will regret it, and he who trusts a sworn enemy will be abused. For now he may prefer to leave you in peace,

28.25

but he is already saddling his horses for grim days ahead. Do not feed a wolf or favor an ill-wisher; have no patience with greedy, selfish men. Do not ignore traitors inside your house: villains have finished off many a coward. Many acts of aggression end in loss of face: no ruler can dispense with help from others. Hide your intention to strike out boldly before you are ready—hide it well! Confide in tough-minded men as hard as rocks who rally to the cry and are undaunted. Snub the harebrained whining pest, a flop in battle and a pushover in a fix. It is an abomination to cower and acquiesce at the first sight of the enemy. Hit him with steel, by hook or by crook. Thus are grave affairs settled with ease.

١١3

113

28.30

‫~~ ‪~~ 28‬‬

‫َ‬ ‫َْ ن ان ا‬ ‫��َّم��‬ ‫دع د ا � �وي� ���� د �ي� ��م���� �عي�م َ�د � ي‬ ‫َ ن ا �� ْ‬ ‫َْ‬ ‫� ����ا �ي�ه�ا‬ ‫�ع��� �َمش���ل ر�ن��د ا �م�‬ ‫ع ����� ا �َ�ن�ف� �‬ ‫�‬ ‫ح‬ ‫َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫ُ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ا ��َ ا �ي�ن ي � � نْ �ي ا �َ‬ ‫��� ��ه�ا‬ ‫ا‬ ‫�‬ ‫� ��� م‬ ‫�‬ ‫م‬ ‫ن �و �‬ ‫ع �ر�مٍ ��و‬ ‫�ّ‬ ‫ْ� ّ‬ ‫ن ََ‬ ‫� او �ل�ا ن�ج�د اَ�ن��ي� ��� �ه�و�� َ�م�دَ����جعَ�م��‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ي‬ ‫�َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫�ق� ي � نّ‬ ‫�‬ ‫�م��ا �ل��ل��َمع نرا �َ�مي�نر َد �ي�معَره‬ ‫ا �� ن َ ي �‬ ‫َ َّ‬ ‫ن ا �ْنَ ي �� ّ‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ا‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ل‬ ‫�‬ ‫ك‬ ‫�م�‬ ‫ع‬ ‫��‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ل‬ ‫�‬ ‫ق‬ ‫ه‬ ‫����ل��� �ي� �م ي �‬ ‫�‬ ‫ي َ � �م‬ ‫م‬ ‫َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ي��� ��ا �ه�� ا � ن����ه�� ا �ل��د �� �ُ�� ن�� ا �لش�ن��ا‬ ‫َ ل ي ل َ ل ي ي وَ ن‬ ‫نّ‬ ‫ي �‬ ‫� ا ��ن ��ي�م�ا‬ ‫� ا‬ ‫ن�‬ ‫طف�‬ ‫َ�م��ل ا �ي ��و�م َ����و�ه� �ع���� � او َح َ‬ ‫ُ‬ ‫�‬ ‫حَ ْ� ا ��ل�� ند � ��ن َ‬ ‫�و��� ��ا ��ل‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫� ن��ا نل ��‬ ‫�‬ ‫��و� �‬ ‫��‬ ‫ي� ي� ن‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ر‬ ‫م‬ ‫م‬ ‫يْ‬ ‫�َ �ن ُ‬ ‫�ي‬ ‫���ا‬ ‫َ�عَي���ي�� او �ع ن� ا �ل ش��صّر ا �ل��د �ي� �ي ��ونَ� ن� ا � ��� ن�‬ ‫ي نَ يَّ‬ ‫ي‬ ‫�ا ا � �‬ ‫هوا‬ ‫�‬ ‫ت‬ ‫���ا �ٍل �م ن� ����ي���م �َ�����ب � �‬ ‫ا �ل� �ي� ر ن‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫ن �� ن �‬ ‫���د �ن�ا �ل�ا �و ���ط�ا ن� �َم��‬ ‫يَ�ر�� َ�ع��د ��‬ ‫��نَ�ب�‬ ‫�‬ ‫م‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫ع‬ ‫يّ‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫��ن‬ ‫َ� َ�����ْ ي� ����� ���ي��� ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫ي� �� ي �‬ ‫� �م�ه� �ل�‬ ‫م َ‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫ي ا �� ا � ن ا �َ ْ �� �‬ ‫�م�� ن �نل��ل�يم�بي‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫��� ��و �ل�م� م��م�ل ا‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ي�‬ ‫َ َ ي�‬ ‫�م ْ‬ ‫ي َ ن ا �� َ ��‬ ‫ط��م�ا‬ ‫�ن ا‬ ‫�ن�ن���‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�ه� ا �‬ ‫ل‬ ‫��‬ ‫م‬ ‫��‬ ‫ن‬ ‫�ل�م� د �ي�معرهٍ �ع �‬ ‫ي‬ ‫َ‬ ‫� ََ‬ ‫ا ن�َ ن�دْ �ن ا �َ ا ا � ا�ش ا ن � ا د � � ا ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫�م � ن��ه� �ل� ��م� � ن� ٍ و�م� َ�ر‬ ‫َ ْ‬ ‫طف� ا � ش ا ا �‬ ‫ي�يَ���ل ن��ا �ن��ه�ا ا �‬ ‫��معم�‬ ‫�� ن� ا � ��َو���� �ي� نَح�مي�� �‬ ‫�ي ن ا ْ‬ ‫َ نَ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫��‬ ‫��� َ� �‬ ‫عي� ن� �م�ا ن�ع�د ا‬ ‫حه �نر�ا �ن��ه�ا �نَ�ي�ر ا � ����‬ ‫‪114‬‬

‫�‬ ‫�ْ ن �م ن ��َ�نم�ا ي� ��ْمع�م�ا ن‬ ‫ن�‬ ‫��مع ار ن� َن� ٍ� � ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫ا�� َ � �‬ ‫���ا ن‬ ‫���َ� ن��ا �‬ ‫طي� ا �َن ن���مي�ر � او ك�‬ ‫��� �م� �� �‬ ‫�‬ ‫ٍ َ‬ ‫��‬ ‫���م�ا ��ا �ي� �َ�ش ّ� ي� ��م��ل��� ���م�ا ن‬ ‫َ� ن َر ٍ ن‬ ‫ي َي �‬ ‫شْ‬ ‫ي ن َّ � ْ‬ ‫�م�ا ن‬ ‫��م�ا � او ��ل��د ن� ��و� ��ف��‬ ‫�م�� ا �ن�َ��‬ ‫�َ�معر ن�‬ ‫ر‬ ‫ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫�‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫��ا ن‬ ‫� ن ا � َ ش �ي� ن � �ل��ل�َ ن ا � �‬ ‫م� ��و���مع�م َ�هر� �م�� َ�ر ك� �‬ ‫���ا ن� ي���ا ��� ��ا ��ل���ل�� د � د ا ن‬ ‫�م ن� ك�‬ ‫ي� ن ن‬ ‫و �‬ ‫َ ُ‬ ‫��‬ ‫�� � ن �‬ ‫ي‬ ‫���د��م�د ��م�ا ن‬ ‫ا‬ ‫ل‬ ‫�‬ ‫ا‬ ‫ا‬ ‫�‬ ‫�د‬ ‫ا‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ل�‬ ‫م‬ ‫� ار �م‬ ‫نم ن� َن ي َي �‬ ‫�ع ا ن����ي �من�ُ�مع� ����جع ��م�ده ��م�ا ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫ر َ ٍ َ � م َ ري‬ ‫� ْ‬ ‫� �م�ا د ا� ا �� ن ��م�ا ن� ن �م�ا ن‬ ‫����‬ ‫�ع ن� ا ��َ�‬ ‫ل‬ ‫م َر‬ ‫َر �‬ ‫ح‬ ‫� ��ل�ا ��ا ��م� ا ���دا ش� ا �� ��ي� �� �ْم���ا ن‬ ‫ن ور‬ ‫و يَ ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫ع‬ ‫ا�‬ ‫��م�د ا ي�م�� ��ا ن‬ ‫ن‬ ‫��يّ���ي �م� �ه�و �ن� �‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�َو َ�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ن‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫� َْ‬ ‫َْ‬ ‫حنه�ا ن‬ ‫ا �ر��� �م ن� ا �ل��� �ي�معري�ن ��و ن� ن� �‬ ‫�‬ ‫ي� َ‬ ‫��ا د �ش�ا ي� �ْ��ن��ا ن‬ ‫� او ��ل�ا�ن� ���ط�ا ��ل �ع ن��د ا ��ل‬ ‫�‬

‫�ن ن ْ‬ ‫� ا ش��ص ���د ��َ�م�ا ن‬ ‫��ن��نج�ا را �‬ ‫�‬ ‫ع� �َ�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ن‬ ‫و‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ر‬ ‫ي ي �‬ ‫َ ان َ ْ �‬ ‫�َ�ع ��� ْ�ع���ا ن‬ ‫���ن�ب ��ي �ل���ل‬ ‫�ن�ي��� � �‬ ‫ر‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ين‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫�مع� �ي�معْ �َم �� ن‬ ‫��َمع ْ� ا ْ��م�ا ن‬ ‫ن� ا‬ ‫�‬ ‫ح�م� ن�َ مٍ َ ر�� ن‬ ‫ي‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ر‬ ‫ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫� ����ا �ن��ن��ا �م ن ��ل�ا ������ا ن� �ْ ش�����ا ن‬ ‫و‬ ‫� ي‬ ‫ن �‬ ‫ا � نَ ��‬ ‫ط ��ل ا �� ن �م�ا ن� د ن��ا ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ر‬ ‫و‬ ‫�ع���� �م� َم����‬ ‫�‬ ‫‪١١4‬‬

‫‪٣٥،٢٨‬‬

‫‪٤٠،٢٨‬‬

‫‪٤٥،٢٨‬‬

‫‪٥٠،٢٨‬‬

~ 28 ~

Enough of this, you rider of the sturdy she-camel, progeny of racers of Omani stock! With the speed of an ostrich she starts at dawn,

28.35

like a ruler who sounds the bugle and attacks. She scorches stony hills, ribbons aflutter, like thunderclouds whipped by a southern gale, Or like a wooden boat in a pitch-black sea, tossed by a storm from the northwest, about to be wrecked. Upon arrival in the land of the men of al-ʿAzāʿīz in al-Washm, tributary to al-ʿAnāgir, Greet them all for they are your destination, distant relatives and close kin alike. Tell them, “Your brave feats deserve praise,

28.40

those of you to the right of the New Gate.” 137 Then say, “Now reclaim your rights by force— a camel plundered from you should be easy to retrieve! 138 Unleash a devastating assault, seize the opportunity, do not seek peace. May you be freed from this insufferable evil! the grave awaits you at your appointed time. Men of Timīm, use your good sense and take the counsel of one who is a proven friend. Your adversary crouches ready to pounce,

28.45

as eager as a starving man staring at plates full of food.” I counted sixty swords hanging on their walls; but a warrior’s pluck is worth more than blades.139 They said, “Easy, let’s wait for combat; half our number will make them run for their lives.” The great dunes lie to the south of our homeland, conspicuous, in full view of any marauders.140 We exacted a price from Bedouin and townsmen in its defense: heads sent rolling by clash of arms. There we made short work of all our detractors, killing them with the help of Him who needs no help. We dug up the well of revenge when it had over time become filled with the drifting sands of neglect.

١١5

115

28.50

‫~~ ‪~~ 28‬‬

‫�نَ��ننَ ْن ا ا � ا � ن ي � َ‬ ‫�ن� ي� �ن��‬ ‫��م� �ن��ه� ا � ن�� �ر ا �ل��د �ي� َ��د َ�� �‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ن ��‬ ‫��ا ��ن ��ما ��ل�نج�ا �ع ن ي���ا ���نج�ا‬ ‫�م�ل� لي ه� ي�‬ ‫�ر ن‬ ‫ي َ َّ ن ّٰ َ ْ‬ ‫�م�� ��� ا ن� د ا �ن�ا‬ ‫ر‬ ‫َ���ل �ن�ي�غ��� ا لل� �و ن� ن ي ر‬ ‫ن َ� ْن� َ � ُ‬ ‫َ� نْ َ ْي �‬ ‫َْ‬ ‫ع�‬ ‫���ي ا � ��ي ��ور �َو�ي��ه��‬ ‫��‬ ‫�صر� ���ه�م ��ي� ن‬ ‫َ َّ َّ‬ ‫���ا‬ ‫ج��ا �م�َ�� ن���م�� ن �َ����ن ن‬ ‫�وي�جن�ب �� ا �و�َي��ن�� ن‬ ‫ي ي� ن ي‬ ‫و ي‬ ‫ن ن‬ ‫�ْ �َّ� ن ْ َ ْ � �‬ ‫�‬ ‫م� ي َ�‬ ‫���ي��� ر�ن� ��ط ا � َ�‬ ‫ل�� �ري�مع�م ن�� را ��م��ل‬

‫‪116‬‬

‫ْ‬ ‫�ن‬ ‫�مع� �م د ��ل����ا ن‬ ‫� ن�َع�د ا ����م�ا‬ ‫عيْ�� ا �ل‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫و‬ ‫و � َ ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ َ �ّ نَّ‬ ‫ا َ‬ ‫ي ا ��‬ ‫�� ا ه ن�ْ��ل�� ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫ع‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ج‬ ‫� ��و �ل�ه َ ��� ر �ج �و‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ ْ‬ ‫���ا ن‬ ‫ا ��� �م�ا �نَش����د � او �ع ن� �و� ش�� ك�‬ ‫���ا ن� �وك�‬ ‫ي�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ا ا �� ْ �� َ َ ا شَ ْ َ � ا �� َ ش �يَ نّ‬ ‫�‬ ‫ا‬ ‫ن��ه� �طر�� ��صر�و� ������ي��م ��و �‬ ‫َ‬ ‫� ا � ي� ��ي�نم�ا �ع� �����َم��ي � ا ْ� نا ن‬ ‫ور‬ ‫ي� ي ٍ و ر�‬ ‫َْ‬ ‫َ �َ ْ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫حنه�ا ن‬ ‫���م ن��ا ا � ��و�ش�ف��م را �ع�ي� دش�َرهي �و ن� �‬ ‫ٍ َ �‬

‫‪١١6‬‬

‫‪٥٥،٢٨‬‬

~ 28 ~

We blew on its fire, well-nigh extinguished, until the tongues of flame shot up in a roaring blaze. We will not save our necks by paying up: our enemies are fiends, not the common sort. Tell them, “May God brighten the faces of those neighbors who do not forget to ask after our well-being.” 141 They took part in a battle at ʿAjfat al-Gūr 142 where bodies lay scattered like dead wood. Disgusted with the fighting, all returned home to the shrieks and laments of women mourning. We were roused to battle by the capture of Ibn Zāmil, that luminary of al-Washm famed for his great feasts of roast meats.143

١١7

117

28.55

‫~ ‪~ 29‬‬ ‫نَّ‬ ‫ا ن‬ ‫َْ‬ ‫�َ ��� ا �نْ َ‬ ‫�وا ن� �م��م�د ن�‬ ‫��مع�م ن��‬ ‫�ي� ن� ن� �ي�ط َ �‬ ‫َ آ‬ ‫ي� �‬ ‫�ي‬ ‫�َم ن� ��ا ر ن� ا �ن�ا ك ا � ��ه�د ا �م �و��ا �ل َ�ل��ك‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫� ي‬ ‫�ي�معرا ه ��م�ان �ي� َ�ل��ك �َ���لي� ن� �َ�ب�هَ��ل�ك‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫ي‬ ‫�َ ُ�د �ّ‬ ‫�َم�د ك �م ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ا‬ ‫ع‬ ‫�‬ ‫م‬ ‫�د‬ ‫د‬ ‫�م‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ر‬ ‫و‬ ‫ن‬ ‫�َ يم َ�‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫� ن ا ش �يّ � َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫��ي��د �َم نْ���ك � ن�م�ا �يل��ل��‬ ‫���و �� ��� َد � ا ���‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫� او ن� �م�ا ��ل ا �ي��� �م ن� ا �ر�نم�ا َ�ي�� � او �‬ ‫�م�د‬ ‫�نَ�ْ‬ ‫� �ي‬ ‫�����ا ��ش �ع�نم�د ند �� �‬ ‫�‬ ‫�ْ���ل�د�‬ ‫م‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ي ن�ٍ َن َ‬ ‫ن��� ن ٍ� َ‬ ‫� ُ‬ ‫ا َ �ي � ْي ن�َ َّ ن‬ ‫���و �ي �� �ويل��لي�ب�ه�ا ���ج� ��ج�ٍ َم�مب�جع‬ ‫ر‬ ‫َ‬ ‫َ ع‬ ‫ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫�ي ْ‬ ‫���د �ي��ي� �عني�������‬ ‫� او �َ��هرن� �م ن� �ن�ا �ر ا ��َ�‬ ‫ٰ‬ ‫ي‬ ‫�‬ ‫ج���ل��‬ ‫ا ّلل� َي ن�‬ ‫�َج�ي�َرك �م ن� ��� ن �‬ ‫ط�وع َ� ن� ي‬ ‫� ��ل�ا ���د ا ن� ا �� �ج�ا �م ن ����ا ���نه�ا‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫و ي َرح ر ��‬ ‫َ‬ ‫� يَ‬ ‫�‬ ‫ن‬ ‫�ه�د �ي� ���ب�ي �� �و�ا ي� ا � نر�م�ا ن� �ن ��‬ ‫�م ��معر��‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ن‬ ‫��ا‬ ‫����ْ ا �ّ ا �ع�ي‬ ‫�َمع ّ نَ��نم�ا �ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫و �ل�‬ ‫ل‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ل‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ر‬ ‫ير‬ ‫ََ ن‬ ‫َ ٍح‬ ‫ن ن‬ ‫َ ن‬ ‫�نم�ا ��� �‬ ‫�����ل �ه�د ا �م� او َ�����ل �ن�ي�م���ع�م‬ ‫َّ‬ ‫َْْ‬ ‫� ن ّ‬ ‫�َم�� ا �� نل�م�ل�� د ن��م��ل�يَ����‬ ‫��م�د �م�ا ن�‬ ‫� او ��َ�‬ ‫�‬

‫‪118‬‬

‫� �ع ن�� ا نَ��م�ا‬ ‫طف‬ ‫� ا ن‬ ‫��م�د � ��ي � او ن�‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ن‬ ‫�م� �م� َ� ي‬ ‫� ح و�‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫� ْ‬ ‫��م��‬ ‫�� ْ�د �ي��ا نَ��م�ا‬ ‫� ا �ن�ا �َ ا �َّ�ا ك �م ن‬ ‫�ن�ا ��َ�‬ ‫ل‬ ‫�‬ ‫و‬ ‫ي � َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫ْح‬ ‫�‬ ‫�م�ا نَ��م�ا‬ ‫�َم ن�د را ك ��ل�ا ي� ْر��مي���ك ��ن� َيف����‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ َ‬ ‫ي‬ ‫�مفيْ��َ َّ �َ نْ ن ا ُ ��‬ ‫ط ��ل ا ن ��م�ا نَ��م�ا‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ ن��عر ن����‬ ‫ر‬ ‫��م� ك و‬ ‫�‬ ‫نعٍ‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫��م�ا د ا َ ����ا �م���جي��ا د �ل���مع�م�ا ن��م�ا‬ ‫ر َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫َرٍ‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫نَ َّ نَ‬ ‫ح�ن���ن� ا �� َ � �ن �م ن ند ��ل�ا ن�َ�م�ا‬ ‫�‬ ‫�ر ن�‬ ‫و‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ر ر � َ �‬ ‫�ي�َع ا ه ن‬ ‫�� ْ�د �ي��ا نَ��م�ا‬ ‫���ْه ا ا ����َه�� ن �م ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫مر َ� ر ي� � َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫ي َي ّ � �َ ْن ��‬ ‫يْ �‬ ‫� ْ� ا نَ��م�ا‬ ‫�‬ ‫ع‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ا‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�د‬ ‫�‬ ‫��‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ط‬ ‫�‬ ‫ن‬ ‫َ�ع�� ن� ا � َ‬ ‫م ر�‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫� ن ّ‬ ‫�َم ن�د ا �م ن �ن��ه��� نْ��نم�ا نَ��م�ا‬ ‫�‬ ‫�د‬ ‫��م‬ ‫� او ��َ�‬ ‫ر‬ ‫� َ يم‬ ‫�‬ ‫ن‬ ‫�معْ ��َ ي� � ن����ْه�� ا�ا�م��ْي �نم�� ن ا � ����ط�ا نَ��م�ا‬ ‫�َ رن ن َ ل َ َر ي� و �‬ ‫َْ‬ ‫����لَ ي� ��م�ا �ه�����م�ا ن���م�ا ن��مع ا نَ��م�ا‬ ‫�‬ ‫ك‬ ‫�و‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ر‬ ‫ن� َ ي‬ ‫ي �‬ ‫ن يَ ْن َ ْ‬ ‫كع َ�ه�ا �ل��ْل��د ا نَ��م�ا‬ ‫�م� ��مو�م ا ���� ��‬ ‫ر‬ ‫نَ �‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ن‬ ‫�مع� ���مب�� � �ع��م�د ا ���م�ا ن��م�ا‬ ‫� ن� ا‬ ‫ح�م� ن�َ م َ � �� و‬ ‫و‬ ‫ي �‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫�َ يّ �ي ��‬ ‫�م�ل�� �مه�ا َ�ه���م�ا نَ��م�ا‬ ‫�‬ ‫ا‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�م�� �‬ ‫ب‬ ‫��‬ ‫م‬ ‫ي‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫� َ يع‬ ‫َ�ع�َّهنْ� ي� ��� ����ط�ا � �م ن ����م�ا نَ��م�ا‬ ‫ي‬ ‫َريع ح َ � َري �‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫‪١١8‬‬

‫‪١،٢٩‬‬

‫‪٥،٢٩‬‬

‫‪١٠،٢٩‬‬

‫‪١٥،٢٩‬‬

~ 29 ~

Ibn Nḥēṭ, listen carefully to these polished verses,

29.1

a message from a friend of established repute. If a scion of your ancestors’ foes says to you, “Let’s make our peace and henceforth be friends,” Know that he is digging a pit for your downfall. Beware lest he pushes you into its cavernous depths. He has long been your grandfather’s archenemy, who has swallowed his hatred for you and nurses it.144 If his traps snare some of your small game,

29.5

he leaves it alone and waits for bigger prey. If one of your gang drifts away from you and sucks up to him, your cowardly lightweight falls apart Like a yellow-eyed ewe in the company of a wolf, thinking she’s cuddling up to a friend: For a while she walks in his steps without a care until, friendship over, he tears her throat to shreds. It is a fine thing to warm oneself at a friendly fire, but beware of heavenly bliss offered to you by a foe. May God protect you from the proclivities of tribesmen

29.10

whose pampered weaklings brought ruin to their land. Their affairs went askew and turned awry: good-for-nothings riding roughshod over their neighbors. These are the harsh punishments inflicted by Time— many a land was laid waste by the perfidy of its folks. No truce lasts unless it is preceded by funerals, with heads rolling and hands tied behind backs. That is the moment to start your mediation, when hotheads make room for calmer men. Flattery alone will not make a foe withdraw: did you ever see a mountain cliff split off and go away?

١١9

119

29.15

‫~~ ‪~~ 29‬‬

‫نَ‬ ‫ا يَ ُ َ ��ا ن ن ا ن‬ ‫�� ي� �ا �ي�م� � � نّ ا ي ا ن‬ ‫�� ن �‬ ‫��ا نَ��م�ا‬ ‫�ي� ��مو�م � �مو����� ك�� � ��ي� �م� ���ٍ �َم �� م َ �ل و‬ ‫�َم�� �م� � ن‬ ‫م���ي� �َم ه� �‬ ‫ن �َ‬ ‫ح��م�ا �ع�� ��َْ�د � � َ� ن‬ ‫��ْمع � ا ن‬ ‫�ص � ن ا ن �م�ا نَ��م�ا‬ ‫���د��ي ش� نَ�‬ ‫َ�ع ن��د �ي� �ع�� �ه�د ا ا �ل‬ ‫ن ٍو و‬ ‫�� ٍر‬ ‫�م� َ� ير� ر �‬ ‫��‬

‫‪120‬‬

‫‪١20‬‬

~ 29 ~

Listen, once upon a time Moses was a murderer. We have followed suit, no different.145 This I know from a tradition on which all agree— Bedouin and settled folks my witness, both.146

١2١

121

‫~ ‪~ 30‬‬ ‫ي ا� َ‬ ‫��� � ا �ع�يم�ل�� ه ا�ا�م ش‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫���‬ ‫د‬ ‫�‬ ‫ش� ن�‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫و‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ي‬ ‫�م� �ل وٍ نَ ر َ َ‬ ‫�� ا � �يَ ْ ه � � � � ا‬ ‫ن‬ ‫�م�ا �ل�� �و �ل� �ن�� �َ�مع �ري��د‬ ‫��ط�ح م�د َر و‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�َم�ل�� ��ل � �يَ�م ��ل�� ��غ����ط�ا‬ ‫�ي ��و�م �ع�نم�ده �‬ ‫و‬ ‫و‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫ع‬ ‫� َ ��ّ‬ ‫يَ ّ‬ ‫�‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ا �ر ن�‬ ‫�َم��ل َه���ل ��م�ا �م��ل ��م�ا �ل�� ي����م�ا ��‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫َْ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�َم�د � ه ا ن��ل‬ ‫�‬ ‫�ر� او �م�ا �َمن���� � او ن��‬ ‫��‬ ‫ا نل �‬ ‫�َمع�مي��ل�‬ ‫ح و‬ ‫ا ��م َ َّ ي َ َّ ن ٍ ا � ن ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫�ي� ن���� َ����جع�م�‬ ‫ن‬ ‫��‬ ‫�‬ ‫م‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫يم‬ ‫ع �َ� ن�ج� َم�‬ ‫ي�‬ ‫ا�‬ ‫��� ��ن� نَ�‬ ‫��م�ا ر�ن ا ن�‬ ‫ح� يم�مب�‬ ‫ع ا �ل��م�و�ر‬ ‫� �ن� َ ٍ� ي‬ ‫َ ٍ‬ ‫�َ �‬ ‫ن‬ ‫��ل�ا ��ي�ن��ا‬ ‫��م�� َ��‬ ‫���شم� ا ��ل‬ ‫��‬ ‫ن‬ ‫س�‬ ‫�م�ل�� �ل‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ن ي ٍل ي ر‬ ‫�َ‬ ‫َ َّ‬ ‫�‬ ‫���ا‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ا‬ ‫ا‬ ‫�ن�ا �َ�س ن� ا �ل�� �ي�مع‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫ر‬ ‫ي‬ ‫و‬ ‫ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫ع‬ ‫ي‬ ‫� ا يَ َّ‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ن‬ ‫���د �ي�م�د‬ ‫�و �ل� �ل��ل�ي� ن� ن��نم�ا �ن��ك �ام ن� �ه�و َ�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫نْ َ يَ ْ يْ‬ ‫��ل‬ ‫حَ �ر�� ا �‬ ‫�معَره � ن�م��ل �َي���َن�م��ل �ع��لي���ك‬ ‫� او � ي ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫�م�ْ�م��لي � ن‬ ‫�مَْ��‬ ‫����َطع َ�م� ���ك �‬ ‫�‬ ‫ا‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫��‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ل‬ ‫�‬ ‫م‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ي‬ ‫و‬ ‫ع ن َ ير‬ ‫� َ نَ‬ ‫َ ٍَ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ن َ ن ن َ ُ َّ َ ّ َ‬ ‫��م��ل���ط �ع��لي���‬ ‫�َم� نَ�ن��� �ع� ��م�د �وه �ي��‬ ‫ن َّ نَ‬ ‫�‬ ‫�وَر ن� �ع��لي���‬ ‫ه����ل �م ن� د ا ��� َ�‬ ‫���د ه �و� �‬ ‫� ا ������د ��ي ا ْ�ع �ن�� � ا ندْ نَ� ه ��ل��ل�م ن‬ ‫��م�ي‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫و َ� ي�� َ َرَ َو َر َ َ ي �‬

‫‪122‬‬

‫نْ َ نَ ش يَ‬ ‫ي ا� َ‬ ‫��م� ها‬ ‫� او �‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�م��� �َم�م��ل ��مو � �ي�م� ي� ع�‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫ن َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫� او ن� �ُو�َصر�م ن� �‬ ‫��م�ا ه‬ ‫ع�م�ا �ل�� َ�‬ ‫���ه�ي�ر �ع�‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫َ ْ�� ن �� ّ‬ ‫�ي�جعر���� ا � َه�‬ ‫ل���ل �َمن���مع�م �ن�مع نرا ده �و��م�ا ه‬ ‫َ �‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ن َ َ ا� َ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫� او � ��مع��م �ن� � َل��‬ ‫�ن��ر ���ع�م��� را �ي�� � �نو�ا ه‬ ‫�‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫َّ‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫� �‬ ‫�ي ��و� �‬ ‫�مب�ي�م�� �و َرد � او ����م��ل ا �ل�� �َو را ه‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ي�‬ ‫م‬ ‫َ‬ ‫��ْمب�ن�َمع ه �يم�ا � ا ي‬ ‫� ا ��ن ا‬ ‫��م�ا ه‬ ‫� �ع ن�‬ ‫و‬ ‫� �ن� � َر َ‬ ‫�صر ٍ‬ ‫يٍ‬ ‫�‬ ‫ن نَ َ �‬ ‫ا � �ع�د �� ا � ار �ي� �ع ن� د ا �ي�معر�� ن��� َ� ��ي�م�ا ه‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ْ ني ّ‬ ‫َ َّ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�َ�ن��ه���� َه��‬ ‫���ل �ي ��و�م �ي��ي�جي����� �ع ش���م�ا ه‬ ‫ََ‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫ّ � يْ‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫� ّ‬ ‫� او �ل�يَمنَ�� َ���جع�م ن��� َ�ج نَ��� �م ن� ا �و�ل �معرا ه‬ ‫َ ُّ‬ ‫َ ْ َ‬ ‫ا �و ��ج�د �ٍو �ي�ج�د ا َ�ه ن� �ن ��ي�م��ل ن���� �ن�ل�� ه‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ا ن ي��َنَ ي � � ن‬ ‫ورك �ن�م�د ا رك �ي�معرا ه‬ ‫�و � �ي���َج� َي�معر� َ‬ ‫ن ي �َ يَيْ‬ ‫��ْ�ع ��� ����ا ه �ل�� ن‬ ‫ي� � �����َ�ل� �َ�م�د ها‬ ‫َا ن�‬ ‫ر‬ ‫ر‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ع‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ا ��ل��ن‬ ‫ن‬ ‫�َج�� � او ن�ل‬ ‫�‬ ‫�َجن��� �ل��ل��جب�ه�ا د �ي� �م�نم�ا ه‬ ‫َن ل‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫يَ ْ‬ ‫ن‬ ‫�َم ن�د ��م�ا ��مَ�د هي ��م�ا َ��م�ش� ن��َ �‬ ‫ح��م�ا ه‬ ‫�‬ ‫� ن� َ ٍ‬ ‫ن ّ َ نّ َ ْ‬ ‫� � � ي� ْ َ ي‬ ‫�مع��م� َ� ن���م�ا ه‬ ‫َد ن� �ع���� ن� ��و نح���� َو‬ ‫‪١22‬‬

‫‪١،٣٠‬‬

‫‪٥،٣٠‬‬

‫‪١٠،٣٠‬‬

‫‪١٥،٣٠‬‬

~ 30 ~

These are the words of an old graybeard,

30.1

bent and crooked, who supports himself on a stick. He is held in no esteem—if in this wretched state he tells even a child what to do, he is paid no heed. But were he a man of substance, his every word would be obeyed: all are at his beck and call with food and drink. As soon as a man’s wherewithal dries up, he is shunned. if his eyesight fails and he grows confused and lost, His past is forgotten and the good he did disavowed,

30.5

just when it is his right to receive what he is due. Mjalli, listen to advice proffered by a clever sage endowed with a strong mind, though weak of limb, Who knows all things and has plumbed their depths: when others are lost, he finds the way forward. Don’t acquire an in-law who is rich but stingy, whose daily routine is to calculate his dinner’s cost. Acquire one who welcomes hungry visitors with open arms and a broad smile as he hands them the first morsel of food. Do not display a sign of softness to an adversary

30.10

or to an enemy plotting your doom. March on your foe before he pays you a visit: if you hesitate you’ll find him smashing down your door To sink his claws in you and satisfy his greed: smite him in a raid that sends him flying. A display of cowardice puts you at an enemy’s mercy: avarice and gutlessness play into his hands. Trample your foe in numerous attacks, and you’ll have no encroachment on your sanctuary. Know who your friends are, save them for a dire day: defend them from the front and protect their back.

١23

123

30.15

‫~~ ‪~~ 30‬‬

‫َ‬ ‫ا�َ َ ن‬ ‫��جع�َّ� �م�ا لا َ�عَ ن�ْ ي� ا � ّ�به�ا‬ ‫�‬ ‫� او��معره َ� �‬ ‫ر‬ ‫� � ن �َ َ �� ي � �ي َ �َّ ��‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ل‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫� او �ن��د �و ي� ا � ع��ي�َ�� َ��‬ ‫ع‬ ‫���لط ي��ك‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫ا ن� �َو ��� ن����ط�ا ��م �َ �من����م � �‬ ‫لك�م�ا �م‬ ‫�د �ل� َ‬ ‫ٍَ‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫��ْ ن َ يُ ن ْ‬ ‫�َمش��� ك���ل� ا � ر�م�م��� �ن ��َ�ت�� ��معر�و�‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ر‬ ‫ل ن‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ٍ ح‬ ‫َ�ن ن‬ ‫ن ن‬ ‫�� ا‬ ‫� ا�‬ ‫�م�ا ��‬ ‫���ل� �و�� �و�َم���مع�م ي‬ ‫�م� ٍ�م �ي� َ‬ ‫� �� َ‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ن ْ‬ ‫�‬ ‫�م�ا �� �ه�و د � او ��مع�م �ن ��َ���م��ل َي� ش���م�ا ��‬ ‫و ٍم‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫���ّ � �� � �ع��ل�نه� � ا ش‬ ‫��من��ح� ���َمع �ري�معر‬ ‫َه��ل ي وم ي � م َ‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫ش نْ‬ ‫�ل�‬ ‫� ا َ � َ ْ �ن �� ��‬ ‫��� ر�� ي��هر� ا ��ي �‬ ‫�َم���ل نَ������ ا ن‬ ‫��و�ر‬ ‫�‬ ‫�مع ّ ��ْ�د �ع� �َع ن‬ ‫�ن�ا د � ا ��ل‬ ‫�‬ ‫هو�‬ ‫��م�ا �ه�ا ��‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫ر‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ر‬ ‫َ ي‬ ‫م‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ا‬ ‫��� �م ن �ن�م �ي� �‬ ‫ح��مع ار رد �و�‬ ‫و‬ ‫��م�� �ي� را �� ن ٍ �‬ ‫�ي‬ ‫َ م‬ ‫َ َ نَ‬ ‫ش �‬ ‫��ود‬ ‫�عينم���م�ا ر�ور��م�ا �م�ا َي�� ن��و��� ا ����غ ن� �‬ ‫ُ‬ ‫كوَر��م�ا �ي��ْ�ج��ير�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�ي�ا �نَ�م�دين� ��ي� �ع��‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ي‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ح‬ ‫ن � �ي َ‬ ‫��� ��� � �يل��ْن�ل� ش��صَ ��ي‬ ‫�‬ ‫و‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ر‬ ‫ر‬ ‫�م� �ن�ل� د ا � ��َ�� ن‬ ‫َ ي� ي�‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫�َ‬ ‫د ��معرهي ��ل��ل��َمع نرا ��م�ن ���م�بي�مع� ا ��ل‬ ‫�مع �ر�ي ن�‬ ‫ير َ م‬ ‫ي ٍ‬ ‫�َ��ع ّ�م�ه� ��ا �ن�م�د ��ي� ����ج�ل�� �م ن�‬ ‫ح��جي���‬ ‫مي‬ ‫ن ن‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫ع‬ ‫ي � َ‬ ‫� ن‬ ‫ي‬ ‫��ور�ي� ا �ل���� �َم���� �م ن� َ��دي��‬ ‫َ���ل ���� �ش �‬ ‫م‬ ‫م‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ن �ْ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫نْ‬ ‫�ل�‬ ‫�ص �ر�� او د �و� َ��د ن� ا ن�‬ ‫َا � �‬ ‫ا‬ ‫ا‬ ‫�‬ ‫ح �ر��د‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫و‬ ‫ر‬ ‫و‬ ‫َ ن َ َن‬ ‫َ ي‬ ‫�‬ ‫� ا� ي‬ ‫�� ْ ��ا‬ ‫�‬ ‫�َ�مويل ��‬ ‫�م �ن� �ن �� او �َ�معر ��ك�م َ� ن�معر ك�� �ر‬ ‫‪124‬‬

‫ش ّ نْ ْ نَ ا � ا ��نَ ّ �َ‬ ‫�ي�م�ا ه‬ ‫ط��� �َ�معر����م� �ل� َي��معر ن‬ ‫��مع�م َ�‬ ‫� ن‬ ‫� َ �‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ي�م�ا �ل د ا ن�‬ ‫�م�ا �ي��ن� �مي�ر �ن�اَ�ل��ك �ع���ط�ا ه‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ�‬ ‫�‬ ‫� او ن� ن���‬ ‫جل��� نرا ن� ���ن�َ�ه�� �و���م�ا �ي� ا � نرك�‬ ‫���ا ه‬ ‫َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫م‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ن‬ ‫� او � رَ�م�ي� �ل�� ن��� ن����جع�ٍم �َ�ي ن�مب� �م ن� َر��م�ا ه‬ ‫ع‬ ‫ش‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ن‬ ‫�م ن� َر ن�‬ ‫���ا �َمي�ّجَي��� ��ج�ا �َ�����ي� � �� او ه‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫��ّ ا ن ا �َن �َ ْ‬ ‫�ي ن��ته� �م�نم� ها‬ ‫��� � �� �� ا ل‬ ‫�‬ ‫َه���ل ��م� �‬ ‫و �� ي � م‬ ‫نَ نَ ْ � َ َ ْ � َ‬ ‫���ي�ر دن� ا �ل���ل�� ���ع نر�ل ن� ��و��ش� �و�ش��م�ا ه‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫ح‬ ‫�م�ا ند �ي� �ُ�م ��ش� �م ن َ�����م� ها‬ ‫�َ�� �م � ا‬ ‫يو ن‬ ‫�م� � ٍ و ن ٍ �‬ ‫َ ْ ش ي ن ن�َ‬ ‫� ي ي ْ�‬ ‫� او �ل�َمن���‬ ‫�معراه‬ ‫ع �َ����طعَرَد ه ��معر�َ����ٍ �م�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�م ن ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫���ا ���ن��ع�ه�ا �م�ا �‬ ‫�م�ل�� ه‬ ‫�ي��ا �ر ا �َن� ن�‬ ‫َ�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ن نّ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫َ� �‬ ‫ح�ت�ه�ا �����ا ��م ��م�ا ْري�مب� �م ن� � ن�‬ ‫ح�م�ا ه‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫َع‬ ‫نْ ن �‬ ‫�مي���ك ���م�ا �عيَ��� ن‬ ‫ي� ن�‬ ‫نَ�معْر ن�‬ ‫� ���ط ا �لئ�ا ��ل��‬ ‫�َم�ب‬ ‫َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫يا َ ي‬ ‫ي �‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ا‬ ‫�‬ ‫��معر��م� ��معراه‬ ‫َد �ي��عره �ن�ا � ��َو�ش��َ�ع�م �� �‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫َّ‬ ‫ٰ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫ي‬ ‫��مي ��ن� َ� ن���م�ا ه‬ ‫�ع��ل��م�ا ا لل� ن� ��َو� ْ���ع�م �و�‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫َ َّ ي َ‬ ‫ّ ا َّ َ ْ‬ ‫ش�� �ه� او ه‬ ‫�َ�م�د ��م� ��م��ل � �ون�م��ٍل �و�� ن‬ ‫ي‬ ‫��ا ��� ُ��ع �ن‬ ‫�ْ��َ� ن�ل �� �ون�م�� َي ن�‬ ‫��م�ا ه‬ ‫ن � � َي‬ ‫م�ه�م �� ن�‬ ‫� ي�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫م‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫اش‬ ‫��‬ ‫َر� او �ي�مو�ل �‬ ‫� او د ��‬ ‫�� او ه‬ ‫���ا �َي�مع�م �و �ل���� �َ �‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫� � نَ‬ ‫ا �يَ‬ ‫�و�َ�م �وي�ك� �ن� � �� او ن�‬ ‫�َمب� ��م�لي� ��‬ ‫�م ر راه‬ ‫م‬ ‫ع‬ ‫‪١24‬‬

‫‪٢٠،٣٠‬‬

‫‪٢٥،٣٠‬‬

‫‪٣٠،٣٠‬‬

~ 30 ~

Before taking a wife, check her mother’s ancestors, safeguard her honor, let no one get close to her. Being kind to a Bedouin allows him to take liberties: he says, “This man is scared,” so do not give him an inch. When in power he is a tyrant who corrupts the realm, but when oppressed, he behaves and pays the tithe, A dog that scampers when you throw a stone at it, but if you throw a bone it will follow you forever.147 If a ruler trembles before the people, they will eat him alive;

30.20

because he is so feeble, they will ravage his realm. Another ruler may govern them with an iron fist: whenever they are unruly, he brings them to heel— Each day he reaps a crop of vicious morning raids, massacres and booty of camels and sheep. Thus, the bustard lives in fear of the falcon that pounces on him like a bolt from the blue: The peregrine will tear the bustard to pieces, while a drop of bustard shit will scare off a lesser falcon. Ho, rider on the well-fed, light-brown she-camel,

30.25

sweet-tempered, born from the hardiest of mounts; Perfect, with a breastbone that does not chafe against the muscles, and foot pads that have never needed treatment for bleeding.148 My messenger, sit comfortably in the saddle: your desert crossing will be short, in God’s keeping. Set out from the land of al-Qaṣab and head east to a district in al-Washm that lies next to Marāh: 149 The homeland of al-ʿAzāʿīz, scourge of the enemy— may God bless it with rains in winter and late spring. Greet them, my messenger, with a collective salute like a heavy downpour driven by a stiff breeze. Tell them, “Heed the advice I gave you long ago. If you disregard it, you will be made to pay the price. Fight hard for your curved palm fronds; remember the verse of Ḥātim, nothing else.150 To die on the tips of sharp blades brings renown; to succumb to the pain of infirmity brings disgrace.151

١25

125

30.30

‫~~ ‪~~ 30‬‬

‫�م ن ند � د � ن � �ا ��ل�� � � ا � ش‬ ‫��م�د‬ ‫ح و� �م و‬ ‫� َ نَ‬ ‫�م� �ل�� َ���� ي‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ن �ّ‬ ‫� ا يَ�َ‬ ‫� �‬ ‫���ْ�جن ��و ن� �َم ن� د �ل �َ�معْ�صره �ي� ��‬ ‫طول�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�ل�‬ ‫َ َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�� � � �‬ ‫�� َ ن�ْ ي‬ ‫�َم ّ�د ��‬ ‫�‬ ‫�جعَ�م��ٍ ��ج�ا �ر �ل� �‬ ‫ل�� ي �‬ ‫ر‬ ‫ط�و�ر‬ ‫ن م‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫نْ � َ ّٰ‬ ‫ا � َ َّ �‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ع‬ ‫�‬ ‫م‬ ‫�‬ ‫ش� ن� � � م‬ ‫ع�م� �ل�� �و��� ن‬ ‫� او ��ب��ر ا لل� � ي‬ ‫َ‬ ‫نْ �‬ ‫ن �َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫َا �����َطع� �م او �َم ن� َ�����طع�م دَ �ي�م�د �َم ن� �ي ن�م�� ��‬ ‫ل�‬ ‫م‬

‫‪126‬‬

‫� ا ن َ��م�ا ��ا ��ل َ��م��م�ا د ه � ��ل�� ���‬ ‫��ر ن�‬ ‫�م�ا ه‬ ‫و� ي ن‬ ‫َ وَ َ نَ‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫ن ا نّ ن ا�َ �‬ ‫�‬ ‫مو ي� �ل�ا �ن�ج�د ��‬ ‫��م �م ن� � ��ي�م�ا ه‬ ‫�ج� � د ا ا� �‬ ‫َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�� �َ‬ ‫ن‬ ‫�َ َّ � نْي‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ه‬ ‫�م�ل�� �و�ي� َ���م�ا ه‬ ‫������� ا ��َ�� ��َ�معر�ي� �ل‬ ‫َ‬ ‫َ ن‬ ‫ن� َ �‬ ‫ي�‬ ‫�غ���ط�ا ه‬ ‫��و�ر � �‬ ‫�ش �‬ ‫�ودٍ َ�ب�هي���ٍم َ�م� يل���� ٍل‬ ‫نَ ْ � َ ي �‬ ‫� َن‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�����طع�م�� ا � ��وْر �ع ن� د �ي�م�ده ا �ل��� �ن�م�د اه‬ ‫ي�‬ ‫َع‬

‫‪١26‬‬

‫‪٣٥،٣٠‬‬

~ 30 ~

To die defending goods and chattels is a martyr’s death: survival means a life of felicity and high repute. Reckon not that docility adds to your span of life: man can never evade his appointment with death. Your grandfather, a scavenger born of falcons, whetted the appetite of al-ʿIngirī with his tribute of dates.152 Fortunately, his sons turned out to be real men, and they were lucky to have this old sage’s counsel. Wean him who took pleasure in weaning others before you, as a toddler is weaned from the breast that feeds him.” 153

١27

127

30.35

‫~ ‪~ 3١‬‬ ‫ا � ا ا �َ َّ‬ ‫� ��ا ا ��ل�� ندّ َ���نج�ا‬ ‫��جي� ��‬ ‫ن� و�‬ ‫�م ي‬ ‫شُ� ّ ن ْ َ‬ ‫ن�ْ ْ‬ ‫�َمنب�هر��مع�م �م��‬ ‫َا‬ ‫ي� َا ن��هر��معم�‬ ‫َ نْ ْ�� َ نَ‬ ‫�ْ َ ّ‬ ‫ش � ن‬ ‫ح�م����� �م�د � او‬ ‫ا ����َم�د �م �ع�‬ ‫� َ َّ‬ ‫� ْ� ْ‬ ‫���و َي��ن ن����َجعر�ع�م َ�ع�نم�د ا�ا�م�د ه‬

‫��‬ ‫� َْ‬ ‫ُ‬ ‫م���‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫َه����ٍل ي��ن�َ�‬ ‫�� ن� �ي ��وَر�ي� َ ي َن‬ ‫�‬ ‫َي‬ ‫�����ا �ع�� نَ�ي�ن��ا �َ�م ن��د ا � ��يه�ا َره‬ ‫يَ ن ّ ا ي َ ْ‬ ‫اَ‬ ‫��م� �م����مع�م � ���م� �ٍ� �ي�معر�م�ي�‬ ‫شَ ّ � ا �ي‬ ‫ْ َ ��‬ ‫طَّ �‬ ‫�‬ ‫ع‬ ‫ع‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�د‬ ‫م‬ ‫ا‬ ‫��‬ ‫�‬ ‫ل�‬ ‫�‬ ‫م‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫��غ و �‬ ‫ن ر‬ ‫م‬ ‫�‬ ‫حْ ا ن‬ ‫ا ْ � � ا �ع اَ�م‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�ه�و� �ن�م� ر �� ن��� �‬ ‫ا�َيْ ن َ ّٰ‬ ‫�‬ ‫ع�ي��د ا لل�‬ ‫�ورا ع�� ا�م�هر�و� � ن‬ ‫� ْ�َ � �د �يَ ن�َّ �مفنْ�� ا ��ش‬ ‫و�‬ ‫�وي�م َ �ر مب��� َ�م� �‬ ‫ْ َ ّ يَ نَّ‬ ‫َ ْي‬ ‫�َو �و��ي� ن� �مب���� �م ن� �ش��معر��‬ ‫�ن‬ ‫� او ��ل‬ ‫�م�ا �َم�� َر نْ���ل �م�ا ا �عْر�ن��‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ٍ‬

‫‪128‬‬

‫ْ‬ ‫َ �نَ ْ� �� َ َ‬ ‫�ج��ي �ي�م �م نلفي��‬ ‫�‬ ‫�َجيَ�ّ��‬ ‫�ع ن� ��‬ ‫وٍ‬ ‫يَ‬ ‫�‬ ‫ن‬ ‫� �ون��ك �ن�ا ���َجيَ�ّ��‬ ‫� ن�ْم��ل �ي���م�ا ن� َ�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫ا �ْم�� �َ�ج�د � او �ن�ا �ا��ج�ا ر��َم��‬ ‫ٍ�‬ ‫َي‬ ‫ُ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫�‬ ‫ن‬ ‫� او �‬ ‫� ��ل�� �َ��يَ�ّ��‬ ‫�َم�د ��� ��ي�غ ���‬ ‫م ح‬ ‫�َ ْ‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫َ�ع�نم�د ا�ا�مع نر� �� �ون�م�� ���َمعْرد �ي�َم��‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ي َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ا ن ا َ�ْ � ن �َ‬ ‫ن�‬ ‫�مع ْ �ر�ي�َّم��‬ ‫��� �� ن���ل��‬ ‫َن‬ ‫ر ي�ٍ‬ ‫يْ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫را �ع�� �َم ش���مب��م�ا ن� �و��نَ�يَ�ّ��‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ٍَ‬

‫ي � ا� َ‬ ‫�جن��ه�ا �ن�ي�َّج��‬ ‫�ي�� ��و�ل ��م� �ي� �‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫��شْ��ي��� �َم� ْ‬ ‫��من ��و ن �ن�م�د �َمي�َّم��‬ ‫نَ َ‬ ‫عَ‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫ّٰ ا َ‬ ‫���و�� �ش����ا َ��ي�َّم��‬ ‫� او لل� �م� َي� �‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫� ْ ّ‬ ‫��َ� ْ�د ���� �ن�م�� دَ ��� ا ن��ل‬ ‫�َ���ل��َد �ي�َم��‬ ‫ي وَ ي‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫�‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫ي� ش���جن��� � َ�ر�ْ��د ا �َ��عْر�مي�َّم��‬ ‫َ‬ ‫َ َ ن‬ ‫َْ‬ ‫ْ ّ‬ ‫ا �يمنب��� يَ� ْر�م�� �م� �‬ ‫�َم�د ر��َم��‬ ‫َي‬ ‫� ي ع‬

‫‪١28‬‬

‫‪١،٣١‬‬

‫‪٥،٣١‬‬

‫‪١٠،٣١‬‬

~ 31 ~

Smart fellows, heed this piece of advice:

31.1

do not greet any strangers you bump into. Watch them carefully, then say, “Scram!” before all of a sudden they turn violent. Ask them: Did you hear about the five fellows who set out? Yesterday they marched beyond the road mark: If you had seen them striding forth with such panache, you’d say each could take on a hundred men, As they vied in swagger and displays of mettle

31.5

to impress the maiden of al-Sardiyyah.154 On reaching the flat-topped outcrop two warlike men came toward them, Not the sort to carry loaded guns: just camel prods and heavy canes. Our pious mate who had a cow in tow said, “No way will I let go of her.” He was attacked by the man with the stick, his cloak spattered with his blood.

ʿUbaidallah, the man in the fancy dress, by God, is not even worth a penny.155 And little Ḥaydar, he ran away as fast as a bucket falling down a well. Whayyib the wimp bolted to the east like an ostrich under fire. I do not know the name of the fifth brave hero; he scrammed, firing farts from his ass.156

١29

129

31.10

‫~ ‪~ 32‬‬ ‫�� ن‬ ‫ا ��ل��د � ن ا ��ل� �َ��َّن‬ ‫ا �ل�َدي�س َي � �ي� ن ي�‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫ن ْ َْ‬ ‫ا ��ل��َدي� ن� ن����جي�ر �‬ ‫�َجعرن� ا نر���‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫ح ع‬ ‫ا َ َّ ن ن‬ ‫�ن � ا � ن�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ا‬ ‫د‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ل�‬ ‫م‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ي‬ ‫��م� �مع�م� ن ٍ ي ن �‬ ‫�‬ ‫�يَ�م ��ل�� َ�يّ ن ْ‬ ‫�� �و�َجب��جَ��ل�� �ن�ا ���ط�ل�‬ ‫وَ �‬ ‫َ َّ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫ن َ نَ‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ن�‬ ‫���� ��م�د ا �ي�ج�دن� ����د ا‬ ‫�‬ ‫ح‬ ‫ا �َ ْ‬ ‫ن � ا�‬ ‫���� ا ن� ْ��و ر� ش���َ���‬ ‫ا � ن�م� ك ل� نع َ ي‬ ‫ن ْي َ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫ش‬ ‫َْ�‬ ‫�‬ ‫��ا ��د � � او �ع��َ �لي� � َاو ر��� ن� � او �و�َ� �‬ ‫ح‬ ‫م‬

‫‪130‬‬

‫�َ��َّن �م�شم� ا ��ل ش���َمعْ�م�� ا �� ��يَ� ن‬ ‫� ����ي�َّم��‬ ‫� يَ‬ ‫ن ي� َ �ل‬ ‫�ن‬ ‫� او �ل‬ ‫��جيَ�ّ��‬ ‫�ج�ا �م��� َدي� ن� ا �ن�ا َن�‬ ‫َ َّ ن َ‬ ‫�ود �ن�ا ��ل��َد ْر�عي�َّج��‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�جع�م�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫ْ ن َ‬ ‫��ْي َ ْ � ّ‬ ‫�‬ ‫ط �و�َم��‬ ‫� �‬ ‫�‬ ‫� ��م ��‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�َو���جي ��وَم� ن ٍ‬ ‫َي‬ ‫�‬ ‫�و�ه�و �ن�ا �ي�جع�م �ن�ا � نُر�و��لي�َّج��‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫��َ‬ ‫�يَل��ل�َ�� َ��ل��ك َ����ْ�� ا ل‬ ‫�‬ ‫�و�‬ ‫�يَ�ّ��‬ ‫�‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ن‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫� ّ�‬ ‫ط� �َ�� ن �ل‬ ‫�‬ ‫�َ�يَ�ّ��‬ ‫�َغ��ط ا � ��ي�م�ا َ ��ل‬ ‫�و‬ ‫ع ن ي�‬

‫‪١30‬‬

‫‪١،٣٢‬‬

‫‪٥،٣٢‬‬

~ 32 ~

This is the faith that is as clear

32.1

as a midsummer sun at noon.157 It is like a camel laden with four bags, and there is a fifth, the Ibāḍī school. My concern is not the wolf in al-Bāṭin— it is al-Dirʿiyyah’s wolf I keep my eye on.158 He speaks the truth but his deeds are wrong, his swords are scrolls of scripture. He has endorsed killing among the people, while he sleeps serenely on his carpet. Should the bogeyman come to play his games like the lion in the story, Attack with flintlock and spear, and plant your sword right in his throat.159

١3١

131

32.5

‫~ ‪~ 33‬‬ ‫� ا � �� ي َ‬ ‫��� �ي �� � ا �ن�ا ��ا ن��ل‬ ‫�‬ ‫� ن��و ن�‬ ‫� �ل�ل�َ�� ن وم ن َ‬ ‫���ط� �ل ن ٍ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�� َ َ � ا ي� ّ �ي َ‬ ‫�ي�ا ��ن�ي���ل ا ���معر ن� �ل� َل َ�‬ ‫�� ن�‬ ‫��د ا � ��َ��‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ْ ي �َ‬ ‫َا ��‬ ‫��� ن� ا ��ن�ه ْر��� �م ن� ي�ن���ل دَي� ن� َي ن� ي�م��‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ُ‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ا‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ه�ي�َ��ل�ك �ل� �َي�م�د �و�ر ا �َن��ي�ج�ا د‬ ‫�ع� �� ي‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ �‬ ‫ا ن� �ن ��ي�� نّ ا ��نَر را ن��ي ��ي� َ��ل��ك ��م�ا ا �ل�َ��نَ���‬ ‫َ‬ ‫َ�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫نن‬ ‫�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫يَ‬ ‫�‬ ‫�َوَ���د �َم ن� �م�ا ��طر�� َ�ل��ك �ع��� �م�ا �ر��‬ ‫يَ َّ ا ن � � ن ا ي ي‬ ‫� او �ْوَد �َ���� ��مب�‬ ‫ع �و�ي�ج� � �ل�ك �� �م��ٍ‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫� � ا يُ ن ن‬ ‫رن �ي� �م���م�ا �ي���ك �ل� ���وَر �ي� ��ا َر ش�‬ ‫ن َْ �َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�ع�� �� ي‬ ‫� ا �ل ش���ْ�م�� �م�ا �ن�� ّك �ع ن َ��م‬ ‫حْ نر�م��‬ ‫ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫� ََ‬

‫‪132‬‬

‫�� ا ����َ ْ ��ش ْ‬ ‫��م�ي�ي�م�� �َو� ْ��جعَ�مي�َّم��‬ ‫� او ي� �معر � َي� َ‬ ‫� َ‬ ‫ََ ْ‬ ‫�َ ن َ‬ ‫ي� ���جي���ل�� ي����جب�ي� ن� ا �ري��ي�ن��ي�َّ���‬ ‫�ل��‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�َ ْ‬ ‫� َ َّ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫�‬ ‫ه�ي���ل �نَ����طَ���لي�َّم��‬ ‫َا ر���َجعَ�م�� �ل�ل�� ي‬ ‫�‬ ‫��ن� ��َمع�م�ا ��ل ا � ��َي��َ �م ن �‬ ‫� ن�� �و�ي�َّم��‬ ‫ي‬ ‫�� ن� � نَ َن‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�نم�ا ن�‬ ‫�ن�� ���ط ا ��ل��دي� ن� � او ���� ن� �ن�� ا � نل��يَ�ّ��‬ ‫َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫َ�‬ ‫نْ ن َ‬ ‫� او د �‬ ‫�جعَره �نج�ا ��ل��لي�ما ��� ����ج�ا �ن�ي�َّم��‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ي‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫�‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ن�‬ ‫�َج��لي� ي� ��� �ن ن�� ��ود ا �ل ش���جع�م�ا ���َ�يَ�ّ��‬ ‫ي‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫�َ‬ ‫ا �ل‬ ‫�جعرا �ر� ش� �ي�مو�م �ش��َجب�ي�ج�ا � �و�َج��‬ ‫ي‬ ‫َي‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫�‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫� ا �� ن��َه ا ��غن�� �ي� ن‬ ‫��م�ا �ه�ا ا ���� ش���م�ا � �و�َم��‬ ‫�‬ ‫و ري � َ‬ ‫َي‬

‫‪١32‬‬

‫‪١،٣٣‬‬

‫‪٥،٣٣‬‬

~ 33 ~

If you head for al-Qaṣab you’ll find me to its south—

33.1

may the Lord of the Throne irrigate it with rains. You fool, don’t think of working al-Qaṣab’s soil until torrents come coursing past al-Rgēbiyyah. Secure the date harvest before the debt’s collected by putting it in your child’s name. Do not search the ground for dates to feed your little one among the uncultivated palms south of al-Qaṣab.160 If you keep the well’s supports ready this year, gobble up the debt and start to have some fun; 161 Grab anything that strikes your fancy and cherish it: the dark nights lurk, waiting to spring their trap. Take a gamble—like entrusting a camel to a Bedouin, like getting Wugayyān to pasture it in al-Shimāsiyyah’s dunes.162 My Lord, I beg you, do not force me to till the soil, for I know no greater misery than the life of a peasant: The sun sets, yet still your loins are girded up; and you have to combine your last two prayers at night.163

١33

133

33.5

‫~ ‪~ 34‬‬ ‫�ُه� ن� ا ��ل�ا�م� � ��ج�ا دي���ج�ا‬ ‫ور ن‬ ‫و‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫� ن ين ن ي‬ ‫ا � ��َ�ه�َ��� ��ا ي���ج��ٍ د ا �ي�جع�م‬ ‫َ يْ‬ ‫ّ �ن ْ‬ ‫ي� َش��س ن� ا �َ����يجَن��� ��ج�ب��عر�ود‬ ‫ن ا �َ َ �ْيَ يْ شُ ّ ش يَ ّ‬ ‫�م� �� ��م�ل��� �� ا ���‬ ‫��ن�� ي�‬ ‫م‬ ‫يَ ْ َ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫ا�‬ ‫��‬ ‫ي‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ا‬ ‫ا‬ ‫�‬ ‫�و د‬ ‫�� ن�جعر ن�ج� ٍل و ن �‬ ‫ل��ل�‬ ‫ْ نَ � شَ ّ � يَ يْ َ‬ ‫َا د �مب�‬ ‫�د‬ ‫�‬ ‫ع ا �ل���معر د ا َ�م�ك � ��ه ر‬ ‫نْ ن � َ ٍّ �� نْ ن ��‬ ‫� نَ ي‬ ‫�ر �م�و�َ��ك‬ ‫� َاو �����َطعر ر ن� َي�غَ‬ ‫�َ َ‬ ‫َْ‬ ‫� او ْردَ �ن �ن�� َ�����ك �ع ن� ا ����ي����ل��‬ ‫َ ع‬ ‫ن ا ن َ يْ � َ � �َْ ن َ يْ‬ ‫�� � ن�‬ ‫����ك ا ����ط�لن��� ��ي� ���َل�ه��ك‬ ‫� نَ �ّ � َ ّ‬ ‫ن‬ ‫�‬ ‫�ج�ا د �و�ر ا �ل��د �ل�� � او�ا�ج�د ه‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫� او �ل�َ��ي��ن� ا � ��يه�ا ����طب� � او ���َ�نْر�َم��‬ ‫ع‬ ‫ا يُ ن‬ ‫� ا ْ نَ يَ ْ ي‬ ‫ا �ل� �ر� ن� ���عر�َم�د ��م� ���ود �ي�‬ ‫� َ ْ ا�ُ ن‬ ‫َْ‬ ‫� او �ل�‬ ‫مود �ي� ��م�ا �ي�معر�َيم�د‬ ‫���� ا� �‬ ‫نع‬ ‫ن� �ن ن نَ ْ � ْ ن‬ ‫����و�نم��‬ ‫�و �م �� ���� ل��‬ ‫� ٍ‬ ‫� � نغط َن َ‬ ‫ا َيْ َ َ � ْ‬ ‫�� � � ��� ع �‬ ‫�و�ل�� �نَ�م�د �ي�ا ره‬ ‫� ي جر ن� � َ‬

‫‪134‬‬

‫�يَج ْ�د � � ����ه�� �ي�ا ����م�ا‬ ‫ٍح و � ي ن ٍ ي�‬ ‫�َ�ج� ا ��ل�ا �ش��جع ا � �ي�� ّ�ع��م�ا‬ ‫ير‬ ‫ر ر و ي�‬ ‫�‬ ‫���ْ�م�� �لي�ته�ا �م ن �ل�ا ��ْ����جن�ب�م��م�ا‬ ‫َي َ � َ � ي‬ ‫ي�‬ ‫ا � َْ ن‬ ‫�م�ا ��ش �م ش����ا ��م�ا‬ ‫�� �ل‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫حرن� ا‬ ‫ر‬ ‫�‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ي�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫يْ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫��م�ا �يبه�ا � ��م�ا‬ ‫د �و�ٍم �َ��نق�‬ ‫� وي�‬ ‫�َ يّ ��ي نْ َ‬ ‫���ع ���يج�ا ����م�ا‬ ‫����� َ�غ‬ ‫�‬ ‫ر‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ي�‬ ‫� ي � نَ ن‬ ‫�ْ����م�ا‬ ‫�‬ ‫َي�َ�قي�� ا �ل��ب����� �وَي ي َ ي�‬ ‫���ا ند � � ا �� نَ � د �ي��َمب�يْ�� ��م�ا‬ ‫� و ر رو � َوي�‬ ‫ن ا نْ‬ ‫�ص � ��ا ��ل�َ����ن� �ْم�َه ّ�د ��م�ا‬ ‫�� � َرن ن ي‬ ‫ي�‬ ‫� ن ْ‬ ‫���ن� ا �م� ا ��ل��ك �ي��ْ� ������م�ا‬ ‫���و �َ��‬ ‫وَ َ َي�‬ ‫��ل�ا �يم�ا � ا ��� ن‬ ‫��م ّ�د �ْ��َمَّ�د ��م�ا‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫ر ن َ ي ي�‬ ‫ي ن َّ‬ ‫�َ��ل��م�ا‬ ‫� ��ل�ا �ش�م�نْ� ي� ا ��ل�نم�ا‬ ‫�‬ ‫�‬ ‫و َ‬ ‫� ي�‬ ‫� ��ل�ا �ُ�� ����ط�ا ��ا ن�� �ه� �ن��م�ا‬ ‫و ي و ن ر ٍ� و ي�‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫���ٍ ���ْجب�ه�د �َم�ن��ا ���م�ا‬ ‫ي‬ ‫َ ل َن َ‬ ‫ي�‬ ‫َ‬ ‫� ا ��ل�� ندَ ��لّ�� ��ج�ا �ه� �ن�ا �����م�ا‬ ‫و‬ ‫و ي�‬ ‫‪١34‬‬

‫‪١،٣٤‬‬

‫‪٥،٣٤‬‬

‫‪١٠،٣٤‬‬

‫‪١٥،٣٤‬‬

~ 34 ~

Things are simple and easy at the start;

34.1

sparks and flames follow in their wake. Discord and strife slumber until roused by mean rascals. Some bastard sets the riot alight, starting a fire he cannot quench: As the kindling bursts into the flames of raging war, the culprit makes off, Leaving it to brave and generous men,

34.5

hosts of the coffee-drinking crowd. Quell evil at the beginning while you can so as to gain the upper hand in the end. Remember, the Lord watches from above; He causes the soul to die and resurrects us. Fend off all incentives to wrong behavior; stay away from pride and arrogance! If anyone comes to get you by the throat, smite the attackers with your sword. Mind you don’t appear meek or ready to settle,

34.10

or you’ll pay more than half of your wealth. Let the swish of blades and a will of steel be aimed at the necks of your foes. A rabbit lies down and does not fight, yet you donʼt see people leave it alone; Ferocious lions do not crouch and hide; no one ventures into their domain: In fear of being torn apart by their paws, all prefer to give them the widest berth. The timorous do not approach his lands, unable to forget the terror he struck in them.

١35

135

34.15

Notes

1

This hamziyyah, a poem that rhymes on the letter hamzah, has generated a debate on its attribution to Ḥmēdān and on the question of whether he was literate, given the fact that the hamzah has disappeared from the vernacular: al-Fawzān, Raʾ īs al-taḥrīr Ḥumaydān al-Shuwayʿir, 225–48. Both questions are undecided. Some of the images and wording recur in other poems by Ḥmēdān, and so does Ibn Nḥēṭ, the ruler of al-Ḥuṣūn. It is difficult to see who else could have composed this poem.

2

The meaning of the last two words of the second hemistich in the Arabic text is not clear, and neither word has been included in the translation. Such obscurity may be due to a mistake in transmission.

3 4

See p. xlv, n. 46. The same classical word for “a beauty” (kāʿab), following a prelude about the ravages of old age with many similarities to Ḥmēdān’s imagery and vocabulary, occurs in a poem by Jabr ibn Sayyār: Sowayan, al-Shiʿr al-Nabaṭī, 481.

5

The interpretation of the second hemistich is based on a communication from Dr. Saad Sowayan.

6

The “Egyptian tinge” is similar to the Ottoman Turkish one in Jabr ibn Sayyār’s line, where rūmiyyah, literally “Byzantine,” stands for Ottoman Turks, as is customary in Arabian poetry: “A Turkish beauty.”

7

Eve may have been selected because of the rhyme: in Arabic the name ends on the letter hamzah.

8

I.e., he is a parvenu who cannot boast of a respected, ancient lineage that would put him on a par with most of the ruling clans in the area. The person denounced in these verses might be identical to the shaykh ridiculed in poem 11.

9

Ibn Nḥēṭ is praised by means of a contrast with the shaykh lampooned in §§1.21–23. He recovered his family’s position as chiefs of al-Ḥuṣūn after his grandfather Māni ʿ ibn

ʿUthmān al-Ḥdēthī (al-Ḥudaythī) al-Timīmī had been expelled in 1673 with the assistance of the town of Julājil: Sowayan, al-Shiʿr al-Nabaṭī, sulṭat al-naṣṣ wa-dhāʾiqat al-shaʿb, 484–85; al-Bassām, Tuḥfat al-mushtāq fī akhbār Najd wa-l-Ḥijāz wa-l-ʿIrāq, 132. The beautiful girl given to him as a present is a stereotypical motif in this poetry: she symbolizes the poem itself and its preciousness: cf. Sowayan, Nabaṭi Poetry, 179.

١37

137

Notes When this motif is the theme of an entire poem it is called ʿarūs al-shiʿr, “the bride of poetry,” implying that it is a beautiful poem. According to Sowayan, “in Nabaṭi poetry, al-ʿarūs is also a panegyric poem addressed to a friend or patron.” 10

It is questionable whether this request for material support should be taken literally. Ḥmēdān was not known for soliciting rewards in exchange for his verses. Content and tone rather imply irony shared with Ibn Nḥēṭ, with whom he appears to have been on friendly terms, see p. xix.

11

It was the custom to keep a victim of snakebite awake all night in the belief that sleep would prove fatal. Hence the saying: “Longer than the night of someone bitten by a snake” to indicate the severity of an ordeal: al-Juhaymān, al-Amthāl al-shaʿbiyyah fī qalb al-jazīra al-ʿarabiyyah, 1, 183–84.

12

See p. xxi.

13

The men of the pariah tribe of al-Ṣalab were renowned for their hunting skills (see Glossary).

14

These verses are said to refer to the beginning of Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhāb’s preaching (the “Wahhābī movement”) but there is no proof or consensus that the poet lived to witness these events. In one MS these verses are included as part of the next poem, which has the same meter and rhyme.

15

In the rutting season camel studs produce large quantities of lather from their mouth, blobs of which often land on their withers. The reference would be to Muḥammad ibn

ʿAbd al-Wahhāb and Muḥammad ibn Suʿūd. 16

Qurʾanic verses are read to ward off evil, such as the danger posed by a scorpion’s venom. Intriguingly, this piece and a second one on the subject (poem 32) might represent expressions of a rare skeptical view of the Wahhābī movement preserved in Najdī tradition.

17

A well-known saying, as are many other lines in this poem: al-Juhaymān, al-Amthāl, 7, 158, “Money covers up blemishes.” “In season,” i.e., when products are available at relatively low prices. On days like these, those who cannot afford such things are made even more conscious of their disadvantage.

18

Here five verses in the manuscripts have been excised because they are so enigmatic as to be wholly unintelligible. The printed editions offer no explanation. Perhaps other verses that would explain them have gone missing or perhaps these verses have been transposed from another, no longer extant, poem with the same meter and rhyme.

19

To lift heavy buckets and empty them into the basin at the well, and to hoe the earth around the palm trees and the irrigation channels, is backbreaking work done with one’s robe girded up under the belt.

١38

138

Notes 20

In this poem “chicken feed,” as in English, means something utterly insignificant. In Ḥmēdān’s stylistic use of binary phrasing, it is the opposite of war, one of the weightiest matters. The poem inveighs against those who take it lightheartedly.

21

A small matter, like a speck of dust, can bring pretensions crashing down.

22

The last word of the first hemistich of the poem’s first verse, hamāj (“brackish-tasting water”), is repeated in the rhyme word of the last line, where it follows an antonym, garāḥ (“sweet water”), to reinforce the contrast between ruinous war and the pleasant calm of peace.

23

In houses of some standing the room where guests are received is on the second floor, called rōshan (from Persian rowshan). “A dīwān or coffee-room, or even an ordinary room, but always on the first floor, from where those seated in it have a view of what is outside at ground level”: Huber, Journal d’un voyage en Arabie, 123; and Euting, Tagbuch einer Reise in Inner-Arabien , 2, 23. At certain times of the day, after afternoon and sunset prayers, it should be open for the hospitable entertainment of visitors. If the door is always shut, it is a sure sign that its inhabitants are mean-spirited and they may therefore expect to be held in contempt by the townsfolk.

24

A common image, e.g., “A bird without wings will not soar, your wings are camel herds on desert pastures”; or the opposite, “whoever had a wing to fly, took off,” Sowayan, al-Ṣaḥrāʾ al-ʿarabiyyah, 350, 601, and “A poem and its narrative by Riḍa ibn Ṭārif al-Shammarī.”

25

After grazing on rich pasture, sheep produce great quantities of droppings. This guest, a peasant, was hosted on the flat roof of the mud house and given a large bowl of dates, in the absence of the house’s owner. Politeness demands moderation, not that the whole bowl be devoured. This is what the visitor managed to do, and then departed, leaving the roof terrace covered with date pits like sheep droppings. That dates were not a cheap commodity, in spite of the groves of date palms around the towns, is made clear in §18.4. The vengeful host, the poet, then fantasizes how the visitor will be flayed and his skin treated in the way he handled the dates.

26

The sarrāḥ of the Arabic text is a craftsman who makes leather thongs for various uses such as the straps of a camel saddle. If the leather made from the peasant visitor’s skin is too flaky there is no choice but to discard it, like “limestone dust.”

27

Clearly, the lazy fellow is Māni ʿ, the son who is on the receiving end of this kind of sarcasm in other poems.

28

This is a Najdī saying. In explanation it is said that locusts often settle in this tree that is known for its sharp needles so that the only way to catch them is for men to beat their sticks blindly at the tree, as hard as they can. The meaning would be “to act with random

١39

139

Notes violence”: al-Juhaymān, al-Amthāl, 3, 89; also 2, 186; 10, 126. Roasted locusts are still eaten as a delicacy in Najd; their taste is comparable to that of shrimp. 29

As in the line of the poet Khalaf Abū Zwayyid, “Instead of you let death take all misers who throw a fit if a moth lands in their melted butter”: Sowayan, Ayyām al-ʿarab, 611, al-Suwaydā’; Min Shuʿarāʾ al-jabal al-ʿāmmiyyīn , 2, 66.

30

This was indeed normal practice in Najd: Al Juhany, Najd, 154–55, “The judges derived part of their income from litigants (. . .) These expenses appear to have been so considerable and controversial that they created discussion, (. . .) expressed in the poetry of Humaydan al-Shuwayʿir, who accused the judges and ulema of his time of abusing their social position and accepting payments and gifts that influenced their legal judgments.”

31

According to al-Juhaymān, al-Amthāl, 1, 368, a thing held together with metal clasps to keep it from falling apart, i.e., inherently weak and unreliable; al-ʿUbūdī, Muʿjam al-uṣūl al-faṣīḥah li-l-alfāẓ al-dārijah , 8, 276, explains that the saying refers to a story about a chief who was seized by his kinsmen and whose feet were shackled together with iron or brass rings. When he was asked to provide a piece of information, he said, “How can I be a chief and expected to act like one while I am shackled?”

32

Literally “rotten maternal uncle,” as in the saying, “Every fellow resembles his maternal uncle”: Snouck Hurgronje, Mekkanische Sprichwörter und Redensarten, 65. See also p. xxvii.

33

As described in the nineteenth century by the traveler Charles M. Doughty, the lances held by Arabian horsemen were very long, and therefore when on foot they had to drag them along: Charles M. Doughty, Travels in Arabia Deserta, 1:379.

34

The reference is to feather lice or mites that may impair a bird’s plumage and its ability to fly. Such a lice-ridden bird is not fit for hunting, cf. §7.15.

35

The expression ṯārat bi-ghēr ʿyār is explained by al-Juhaymān, al-Amthāl, 2, 151, as: “A shot fired without precise aiming at the target; a shot fired at random;” and, by extension, “an action taken without due consideration, without measure.”

36

The star Aldebaran, in Najd called al-Twēbi ʿ, is one of the stars of the hot season and as such it follows the Pleiades. Like the other stars, it rules for thirteen days: al-ʿUbūdī, Muʿjam al-anwāʾ wa-l-fuṣūl , 30–31.

37

The Arabian spiny-tailed lizard, also called dabb, see p. xxiv. Jabr ibn Sayyār ridicules a self-important chief in similar terms, as a “rooster” who struts in his fancy dress, a fop who keeps perfuming himself with incense, as in §14.21: Sowayan, al-Shiʿr al-Nabaṭī, 486.

38

This is the type of woman recommended in the poet’s marriage counseling in poem 19.

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Notes 39

The word ʿayārah denotes playful impudence, an unconventional demeanor that tests the limits of what society can tolerate by confronting it with intentional irreverential and jocular ridicule of appearances. It is similar in meaning to tajwīrah in the first line of poem 18, and demonstrates the poet’s fondness for puncturing vain pretensions.

40

Jabr ibn Sayyār gives the same definition of good and bad political leaders: Sowayan, al-Shiʿr al-Nabaṭī, 489.

41

See n. 37.

42

Cf. the verse of Ḥātim al-Ṭāʾ ī (see also §§21.53 and 30.32): “A miser’s ill repute sticks to him after death, and his wealth is gathered up by a heir” (inna l-bakhīl idhā mā māta yatbaʿuhu / sūʾu l-thanāʾi wa-yaḥwī al-wārith al-ibilā). Dīwān Ḥātim al-Ṭāʾ ī, 76; Dīwān Shiʿr Ḥātim ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Ṭāʾ ī wa akhbāruhu, 192.

43

The sayyid (i.e., a descendant of the prophet Muḥammad) is al-Zubayr ibn al-ʿAwwām, a companion of the Prophet who gave his name to the city of al-Zubayr, near Basra, and whose tomb is mentioned in this verse. According to tradition he is one of the Ten who were promised Paradise by the Prophet (al-ʿasharah al-mubashsharūn bi-l-jannah).

44

Famine is personified by Abū Mūsā, a pun on the word for a barber’s razor, mūs and mūsā: al-ʿUbūdi, Muʿjam al-uṣūl, 12, 218–19; it is used for someone who fleeces people and works against their interests. See also p. xiii.

45

In another version: “The men of ʿUshayrah are ‘sons of al-Manī ʿī,’” i.e., a branch of Banū

ʿAmr of Tamīm. 46

This verse is only found in the King Saud MS.

47

This poem is particularly thick with proverbs and sayings that have entered the Najdī collections: I counted fifty-two items in the collections that can be linked to verses in this poem. They start with this verse.

48

Literally “richly endowed with regard to his smaller part (aṣgharih)”: “the smaller part” refers to one’s tongue, i.e., eloquence, while one’s “two smaller parts” refer to the tongue and the heart: al-Suwaydā’, Faṣīḥ al-ʿāmmī fī shamāl Najd , 1, 526, and Ibn Manẓūr, Lisān al-ʿArab, s.v. ṣ-gh-r.

49

“Morning brings profit”: Snouck Hurgronje, Mekkanische Sprichwörter, 42–43.

50

The “little shaykh,” the butt of Ḥmēdān’s mockery, is the subject of poem 11. Night birds, like owls, who hunt under the cover of dark, are contrasted with noble falcons, as in §16.49. “Knight of the coffee cups,” see also §§11.16 and 17.1–3. Cf. Khiyār al-Kātib’s verse: “I am not chased away by every dog that barks, nor am I scared by every fly that buzzes” (wa-mā kullu kalbin nābiḥin yastafizzunī / wa-lā kullamā ṭār al-dhubābu urāʿu). Abū Bakr al-Ṣūlī, The Life and Times of Abū Tammām, 55.

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Notes 51

Urine was used for the treatment of wounds and sores because of a belief that it can act as a disinfectant.

52

See p. xxiv.

53

This popular proverb is reflected in six items in the collections: in addition to this verse, “caution does not save you from fate,” al-Juhaymān, al-Amthāl, 2, 261; “caution is useless against fate,” ibid., 6, 260; “caution is of no avail against the arrows of fate,” ibid., 7, 238, 249; “caution does not repel fate,” al-ʿUbūdī, al-Amthāl al-ʿāmmiyyah fī Najd , 1, 394. It is similar in meaning to al-Mutanabbī’s verse: “A man trying to dodge an arrow may run from a miss straight into a hit” (wa-muttaqin wa-l-sihāmu mursalatun / yaḥīdu ʿan ḥābiḍin ilā ṣārid).

54

“The land of al-Daʿm,” i.e., the subtribe to which Ḥmēdān’s clan of al-Sayāyirah belongs, see p. xiii.

55

According to al-Faraj, Dīwān al-Nabaṭ, 29, note 8, al-Dākhilah is meant, a town near Ibn Māḍī’s al-Rawḍah.

56

Āl Migḥim is a family of the Qaḥṭān tribe whose members settled in Sudayr and al-Washm. Ibn Shakir is unknown to me.

57

The contrast is between the falcon that hunts during the day and night birds like the owl: the first is noble and honorable, the second despicable and foul. It is the nature of the “world” to turn things topsy-turvy, with the result, in the words of Rumayzān ibn Ghashshām, that “I observe that the owl is allowed to live in security, while the falcon lives in fear of its blows”: Sowayan, al-Shiʿr al-Nabaṭī, 460.

58

A dakkah is the outdoor area of a house for sitting. In the Gulf it is a stone bench. In Central Arabia it could either be a carpeted area adjoining the house, with a parapet running around the other three sides, or a raised platform. In old al-Qaṣab it was a small terrace on the first floor (of the sort that I saw on my visit to the half-ruined mud dwelling that was said to have been the poet’s house), although it could have been on the roof. This is consonant with the line in which this poem’s protagonists look down from the top of the house to the street below.

59

Cf. §11.18 for the same topos.

60

See n. 39.

61

See p. xv.

62

They are perennially thirsty from working at al-Qaṣab’s salt evaporation pools.

63

Similar in meaning to the verse of al-Ḥuṭayʾah: “Barefooted and naked, they did not have a loaf to eat, / Nor did they ever taste barley since they were born” (ḥufātun ʿurātun mā ghtadhū khubza mallatin / wa-lā ʿarafū li-l-burri mudh khuliqū ṭaʿman). Al-Ḥuṭayʾah, Dīwān, 178.

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Notes 64

His daughter, i.e., his daughter-in-law, the wife of his son Māni ʿ. In the poet’s theatrical cast of characters she stands for the type of shameless, lewd, and unpractical woman one should avoid like the plague: see next poem and p. xxi. He includes himself in the scene of mockery as the poet who gained notoriety for his irreverence and relish for scandalous revelations, as vaunted in §26.3, see also p. xviii. The authenticity of the attribution of these verses in this and the previous poem is disputed by Saudi commentators.

65

His private parts, because of wear and tear, are in need of repair at the town’s blacksmith shop. The first hemistich is literally: “He uses the file to take from my little dick” (i.e., to restore it in better shape; the diminutive is used for endearment). Underlying this image is the traditionally low social regard in which craftsmen like the blacksmith, ṣāniʿ, are held in tribal society.

66

In these verses the poet contrasts the austere Najdī peasant ethos, which he champions, with a pleasure-seeking mentality unsuited to the region’s environment and ruinous to one’s chances of survival. Cf. Jabr ibn Sayyār’s description of a buxom girl (kāʿab), “the scent of sandalwood and musk wafts from her”: Sowayan, al-Shiʿr al-Nabaṭī, 481.

67

The simile is about digging a well or a trench. The mounds of dug-up earth are the size of the hole that has been opened in the ground. Similarly, the curvaceous shape of this lady should warn Māni ʿ that sexually he may come in for a disappointment: her insides, i.e., her vagina, may turn out to be as wide and cold as the outside features that attracted him to her.

68

On sexual symbolism of the well and its equipment, see §§1.10 and 5.15.

69

A woman who frequently leaves the house to go visiting and gossiping, for which she needs to put on her black cloak, ʿabāh.

70

Al-Juhaymān, al-Amthāl, 1, 283–84, “attach the donkey rope,” i.e., a rope thrown over the donkey’s back and tied under his tail, where it is fouled by the animal’s droppings. The donkey driver who handles this dirty rope must himself be regarded as impure and contemptible.

71

See §23.6. The man sitting behind the rider on a camel’s back used to carry a gun and would slip off the camel’s back to take aim. In order not to fall off he had to hold on to the rider in front. It is used here metaphorically, to refer in a derogatory manner to a woman’s links to a previous marriage, principally children, and, through them, contacts with a former husband and his kin.

72

The tarāwīḥ prayers after the last evening prayer in the month of Ramadan may last for over an hour, and long sections of the Qurʾan are read following the prayer leader. These readings are rounded off by a witr prayer. Hence, once the imam is heard intoning the formulas of the witr, one knows that people will start leaving the mosque soon.

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Notes “Cough, cough” occurs in a Najdī saying: al-Juhaymān, al-Amthāl, 6, 30, “cough and I cough to you,” as a sign among lovers; al-ʿUbūdī, al-Amthāl, 1009–10, “Cough in your sleeve,” i.e., do something with stealth. 73

Each time her husband has a new key made for the wooden lock to the storeroom to stop her from plundering it, she makes sure to get a copy of the key from the carpenter.

74

First she scares him off, and when he has left she sends him word, pretending that it was not meant as he thought—in the full knowledge that he will probably never return.

75

Q Ṭā Hā 20:85–97.

76

She is postmenopausal, yet on the lookout for an affair.

77

The fellow rider also occurs in §23.6, for a divorced woman, “saddled with fellow riders,” i.e., the physical legacy from a previous marriage, the children, and, through them, their father, the former husband.

78

This poem occurs in one edition and two manuscripts. There is some doubt whether it is to be attributed to Ḥmēdān. For instance, the reference in §20.3 to writing the verses on paper is not found elsewhere in his work. Its somewhat ornate style is more characteristic of Jabr ibn Sayyār. On the other hand, its indignation at the disrespect shown him by kinsmen, in spite of his contributions to the common good of the group, and his determination to accept any hardship rather than suffer this humiliation, is a theme in other poems by Ḥmēdān, in particular poem 22, on his self-imposed exile from al-Qaṣab to Uthayfiyah. Its prelude on the art of poetry is reminiscent of the opening verse of poem 26. Some images occur in other poems as well, such as his fame reaching beyond the stars, Arcturus in this poem, Sagitta in §26.28. On balance, therefore, there seems to be no overwhelming argument against the inclusion of the poem.

79

There are doubts about this hemistich’s wording. It may have been distorted in the course of transmission.

80

This Bedouin trope of a “world turned upside down” expressed in terms of the animal kingdom is very common: see for instance Holes and Abu Athera, The Nabaṭī Poetry of the United Arab Emirates, 24–29.

81

The next verse in the MS has not been included. It proved difficult to make sense of, also for other experts. It may have been distorted in the course of transmission.

82

Cf. the Najdī saying al-būmah ṣārat girnāsah “the owl became a peregrine falcon,” i.e., a weak person became strong; more often the meaning is a complaint about a world (al-dinya) in which things have turned topsy-turvy, with the result that undeserving men have attained better positions and become more powerful than their good and noble fellows.

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Notes 83

The Arabic text mentions the eleventh century specifically. There are more instances of such mistakes and commentators are in agreement that the poet must have meant a date that begins with the number eleven hundred, that is, the twelfth century hijri.

84

ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muʿammar, the prince of al-ʿUyaynah.

85

The word for “drunk” (sakrān), is used for any kind of mental intoxication that leads to loss of control or exuberant behavior. In the poems of Jabr ibn Sayyār vivacious coquettes and their slow, swaying gait are called sakrānah: Sowayan, al-Shiʿr al-Nabaṭī, 461–63.

86

Explained in the next verse: his mentor, ʿUthmān ibn Sayyār, fears that a man like Ibn Muʿammar, who terrifies his opponents in battle, will not be appeased by a show of contrition. In §21.64 the poet gainsays Ibn Sayyār’s premonition.

87

ʿĪsā is a common name for “So-and-so,” a servant charged with fetching the riding camel.

88

See n. 23 above.

89

In Arabic: kāf and nūn, the letter “k” and “n,” for kun: “Be!” as in the Qurʾanic verses that declare that as God speaks a thing, it comes into being.

90

The reference is to Fāris ibn Bassām, whose poem in praise of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muʿammar is found in manuscripts of Nabaṭī poetry. Sowayan, al-Shiʿr al-Nabaṭī, 569.

91

This poem has been compared to the poem of apologies (iʿtidhāriyyah) of the famous pre-Islamic bard al-Nābighah al-Dhubyāni addressed to al-Nuʿmān ibn Mundhir, the king of al-Ḥīrah: see al-Fawzān, Raʾ īs al-taḥrīr, 4–31, for a perspicacious and detailed comparison between these poems of apology. In this verse Ḥmēdān improves on al-Nābighah’s image of vultures following al-Nuʿmān’s armies in expectation of feasting on enemy corpses: idhā mā ghazaw bi-l-jayshi ḥallaqa fawqahum, aʿṣāʾibu ṭayrin tahdtadī bi-aʿṣāʾibī / yuṣāḥibnahum ḥattā yughirna mughārahum, min al-ḍāriyāti bi-ldimāʾi l-dawāribī (al-Nābighah al-Dhubyānī, Dīwān, 10). Ḥmēdān takes the same image of vultures and scavengers following the prince on the prowl, but ties it to Ibn Muʿammar’s hospitality towards his guests. For further comparisons between the two poets, see my forthcoming article in Quaderni di Studi Arabi, “Politics and the art of eulogy in Najdī Nabaṭī poetry: Ḥmēdān al-Shwēʿir’s (al-Shuwayʿir) apologies to Ibn Muʿammar and Ibn Sbayyil’s Ode on Ibn Rashīd.”

92

This verse echoes the verses of Abū Tammām: “ʿAmr’s bold advance, Ḥātim’s munificence, Aḥnaf ’s insight, and Iyās’s wit” (iqdāma ʿAmrin fī samāḥati Ḥātimin, fī ḥilmi Aḥnafa fī dhakāʾi Iyāsi ); and “You have become Ḥātim in generosity, Aḥnaf in sagacity, and Kayyis and Daghfal in knowledge.” Abū Bakr al-Ṣūlī, The Life and Times of Abū Tammām, 261, 167. For Abū Tammām, shrewdness is exemplified by Iyās ibn Muʿāwiyah ibn Qurrah al-Muzanī (d. 121/739); Ḥmēdān cites ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ for cunning. In Abū Tammām’s verse, boldness is exemplified by the poet and warrior ʿAmr ibn

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Notes Maʿdīkarib (d. after 16/637), ibid. 347, 359, 370. Al-Faraj mentions in a note that ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ was famous for his makr, “craftiness,” Dīwān al-Nabaṭ, 47. 93

Cf. al-Farazdaq’s verse: “It makes no difference to the Taghlib Wāʾil whether you lampoon them or piss where the two seas clash” (mā ḍarra Taghliba Wāʾilin ahjawtahā / am bulta ḥaythu tanāṭāḥa al-baḥrāni). Abū Bakr al-Ṣūlī, The Life and Times of Abū Tammām, 55.

94

Cf. the Najdī saying ṭēḥat jdārin mrāwis “crashing down like a high wall,” i.e., a collapse or disastrous event that has been in the making for a long time and then occurs all of a sudden without warning. Al-Juhaymān, al-Amthāl, 4, 267–68; and ṭāḥ ṭēḥat jdār (“he collapsed like a wall”). Al-ʿUbūdī, al-Amthāl, 762.

95

“Tabāraka” and “Hal Atā” here refer to to the Qurʾanic suras al-Mulk (Q 67) and al-Insān (Q 76) respectively, using the opening words of each.

96

The poet argues that a ruler who instills such fear in his opponents in battle can afford to be generous toward supplicants and forgive them—contrary to the opinion given by the chief of al-Qaṣab, ʿUthmān ibn Sayyār, in §21.29.

97

The second hemistich is quoted as another example of the poet’s pluckiness—as if he felt he had almost gone too far in eating humble pie in the previous lines. An alternative translation might be: “If he rejects it, no one knows what his life has in store.”

98

The expression in the first hemistich is similar to the saying, “his deceit stuck in his throat,” meaning that he became the victim of his own treachery: al-Juhaymān, al-Amthāl, 6, 179, and al-ʿUbūdī, al-Amthāl, 1073–74. It occurs in the poetry of Rumayzān ibn Ghashshām, the chief of al-Rawḍah with whom Jabr ibn Sayyār corresponded: “When sword is true to a heart on the prowl, the enemy’s troops will choke on their deceit”: Sowayan, al-Shiʿr al-Nabaṭī, 461.

99

Another reading of the second hemistich might be: “While I reckoned that there would always be another week.”

100 During the hot season of ninety days in summer, al-qayẓ, the Bedouin and their herds stay fixed at wells, where they interact socially with other Bedouin and the villagers, as described romantically in the poetry of ʿAbdallah ibn Sbayyil. Spring, when the Bedouin and their herds are spread out in pasture, is the time for raiding, as noted by Euting, Tagbuch, 146: “This lovely winter and spring season also has a less appealing side. True, the owner of camel herds roams the desert pastures at will, without having to worry about food and drink. But then the same holds true for his enemies. Therefore spring is the heyday for countless raiding expeditions by individual robbers or gangs of honorable marauders.” 101 Ṣalab, see Glossary.

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Notes 102 The groves are evoked in the same words by Jabr ibn Sayyār: “I wish for a shady palm grove at a gushing well”: Sowayan, al-Shiʿr al-Nabaṭī, 490. 103 A conventional motif: Jabr ibn Sayyār speaks in similar terms about sending his undaunted son on a mission: Sowayan, al-Shiʿr al-Nabaṭī, 492. 104 He exhorts his son by reminding him that he is not a woman from whom such feats are not to be expected, but a man who must undertake demanding tasks without hesitation. 105 Many verses mention the tendency of riding camels, once they leave the open desert spaces behind and have entered a town, to be startled by the sight of dark shapes in their vicinity, such as their own shadow, mud walls, palm trees, and houses. Musil, The Manners and Customs of the Rwala Bedouins, 299: “The Bedouin she-camels are easily scared by the shade and the rustling of palm groves, as well as by the high walls enclosing them.” Similarly, Euting, Tagbuch, 48, 156; Palgrave, Personal Narrative of a Year’s Journey through Central and Eastern Arabia (1862–63) , 72. 106 This prince’s generosity makes it superfluous to go in search of real pastures. Muḥammad is mentioned in only one manuscript, listed in the index as MS Shi ʿr Nabati; the others have ʿAbd Allāh. If it is ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muʿammar who is addressed, then this raises a question about dating, because he died before Muḥammad ibn Māḍī (§22.52) came to power. He was succeeded by his grandson Muḥammad ibn Ḥamad ibn ʿAbd Allāh, nicknamed Khirfāsh, who was killed in 1729. Reading Muḥammad for ʿAbd Allāh is also more in conformity with the meter. 107 Normally men would not part with their fillies, their most prized possessions. In times of famine and hardship they may be forced to do so. The meaning of this second hemistich is not certain : it might also mean that in addition the ruler gives fillies as presents. The word for “filly,” bint al-ḥṣān, is explained by Lady Anne Blunt in A Pilgrimage to Nejd, 351, as “what the Anazeh would call ‘beni’ or ‘banat hossan’; that is to say, animals with a stain in their pedigree, and therefore not asil, though often nearly as good and as good-looking.” 108 A standard expression, see §28.14. 109 The town of Shaqrāʾ must be meant, the largest settlement of Banū Zayd in al-Washm: Juhany, Najd, 118–19. The unflattering judgments of the places in §§22.45–48 are reminiscent of Ḥmēdān’s poem 15, in which he attaches mostly derisive labels to a series of towns in Sudayr. 110 The literal meaning of the last two words of the verse is “the sweepings of the threshing floor,” or, in another version, “the chaff of a threshing floor.” Al-Junaydil, al-Sānī w-alsāniyah, 118.

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Notes 111

The expression gibābīn ṣaḥṣaḥ, literally “darkling beetles (sg. gbūn, CA qubūn) on a barren plain,” is used to indicate the impossibility of getting hold of something because its parts scatter in all directions and keep eluding one’s grasp, i.e., “an ungovernable lot,” al-Juhaymān, al-Amthāl, 5, 272.

112 With Canopus at his back, the messenger sets out in northerly direction toward Ibn Māḍī’s town, Rawḍat Sudayr. 113

It is unknown which town is meant. Al-Ḥātam mentions Ibn Muʿammar, but the date he gives for Muḥammad ibn Māḍī’s death, 1644, is impossible. The incident he mentions was the killing of Māḍī ibn Muḥammad in 1647.

114 Q Ghāshiyah 88:6. It is the thorny shrub fed to those in Hell. 115

An expression often encountered in Najdī poetry: mountain such-and-such would sooner fly away than so-and-so would be to act in a certain way. See for example, Hess, Von den Beduinen des Innern Arabiens, 1–2, the tale of the love affair between the mountains Ṭimiyyah and Giṭan. Here the mountain and the tribe of the town Julājil are meant.

116 Julājil used to be the dominant military power in Sudayr, see p. xii. 117

After having been divorced by her brutish husband, it is implied, she returns to her parents’ house with her little children and pregnant with another child by her former husband, thereby imposing the burden of care on her parents and other kin. Literally, the Arabic word translated as “burdened with a family of their own” reads “saddled with a rear-rider.”

118 Al-ʿUbūdī, al-Amthāl, 726–27: “The young ones in the group should act as the servants.” In the Arabic text the word for “servant” has a double diminutive. The intention is to underline the dangers inherent in an abundance of good and to stress the opportunities hardship offers. The first hemistich may assert that if famine reigns, generous men become even more of a shining example and acquire added prestige and power; or it may mean that hospitable men are also forced by their “servant,” famine, to reduce their entertainment of guests. The same meaning is expressed in §14.5. This poem is particularly rich in proverbs and sayings. 119 Similar to the shaykh who is the main subject of poem 11 and also features in poem 1, §12.6, and §16.23. 120 Al-Juhaymān, al-Amthāl, 8, 94, cites the story of an otherwise unknown man, called Ibn Dirmah, who was killed in an act of revenge and left to die a painful death, his sweat mixing with his blood, as an exemplary punishment. 121 One wonders if this verse was added in a later era. It does not sound typical of Ḥmēdān. 122 The lives of men fallen in war are the price to be paid for successful mediation to restore peace.

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Notes 123 The same image, but in a negative sense, in §24.17. 124 The dish, duwayfah, is made of wheat mixed with milk or water, and kneaded into a thick paste and boiled. It is a poor man’s version of ʿaṣīdah, which is the same but uses less water and contains clarified butter and seeds. 125 One of the poet’s editors, al-Ḥamdān, who is from al-Bīr, the town lampooned in this piece, believes that it has been mistakenly attributed to Ḥmēdān. According to him, there is no indication that the poet visited the town. Also, he notes, this poem has a double rhyme, unlike Ḥmēdān’s other poetry: al-Ḥamdān, Dīwān Ḥumaydān, 131–32. In fact, the use of double rhyme has been attested even earlier than Ḥmēdān’s compositions. In any case, the tone is very much that of Ḥmēdān. Its verses are also much quoted as popular sayings: I counted fourteen items in the collections for this piece’s seven verses, the highest ratio among his poems. The individuals named are not known and could well be fictional. The piece might be considered part of the poet’s peasant burlesque: in this case as he makes fun of the paltry hospitality on offer among those who have a hard time just scraping by. 126 Boasting about one’s reckless exploits also occurs in early Arabic poetry as part of the poet’s amorous encounters. An immediate predecessor of Ḥmēdān in this regard was Rumayzān ibn Ghashshām, e.g., the verses in which he boasts about evading “the sleeping enviers and the informer” (al-ḥussād w-al-wāshi), sword in hand, “O Jabr, the blade of my sword is my key to happiness” (ya-Jabr ḥadd al-sēf miftāḥ al-faraj). Sowayan, al-Shiʿr al-Nabaṭī, 458. On Rumayzān as a predecessor of Ḥmēdān, see p. xiv. 127 A standard expression for “kissing” in this poetry is “to drink the honey-like saliva from the beloved’s lips.” 128 Like the laborers in al-Qaṣab’s salt evaporation pools, men who make their living by cutting fire bush (Calligonum comosum, Arabic irṭā, an excellent smokeless fuel) in the belt of sands to the town’s southwest are presented in §18.2 as among the poorest peasants. Here they are contrasted with wealthy men who own great herds of camels: the peasants’ hand gestures express their amazement at this spectacle. 129 In poetry God is praised as the healer of fractured bones. To have knowledge of ways to heal broken bones is therefore held in high regard. The second hemistich is a well-known proverb, see p. xxix, meaning that money is the solution for many of life’s problems. 130 Literally, “enters [the house] but does not venture forth.” 131

See p. xvi and n. 30.

132 A similar image occurs in a poem by Rumayzān ibn Ghashshām: “Times are always pregnant, never sterile; their vicious and evil camel calves sicken the hearts of men,” Sowayan, al-Shiʿr al-Nabaṭī, 426. The last word of the hemistich, ʿawān, occurs in a

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Notes similar line by the first/seventh century poet Muzarrid ibn Ḍirār al-Dhubyānī: “When time becomes pregnant and gives birth to continuous war, and the air is heavy with foreboding of coming disaster” (wa-ʿindī idhā l-ḥarbu al-ʿawānu talaqqaḥat, wa-abdat hawādīhā l-khuṭūbu l-zalāzilu), where ʿawān is an “epithet of war, long-continued trouble,” Lyall, The Mufaḍḍalīyāt, 1:164; 3:28. See also Zuhayr ibn Abī Sulmā: idhā laqiḥat ḥarbun ʿawānun muḍirratun (“When times become pregnant with a grinding, devastating war”), Dīwān, 103–4. 133 In the first hemistich, Birrīt is a deep well from which water is drawn with long ropes and much toil. The second hemistich mentions al-Khudūd, an abundant well in al-Aḥsāʾ oasis where the water gushes at the surface almost like a running stream. 134 Here Ḥmēdān is outdone by his predecessor Jabr ibn Sayyār, who is not driven by concern for his self-esteem but by infatuation. For him love is worth more than “the Hijaz and Syria and Egypt / and Sanaa and Damascus and Iraq and India, the kingdoms of the Christians, and the lands of the Jews”: Sowayan, al-Shiʿr al-Nabaṭī, 461. 135 See n. 30. 136 See p. xxvi. 137 This gate is unknown to the commentators. In Saudi Arabia old towns made of mud brick have been abandoned in favor of new cities built in their proximity. 138 The word translated as “camel plundered” (ʿrāfah) is used for a camel that is recognized by its branding marks to belong to a certain family or clan, for instance when it is offered for sale. If this comes to the attention of the rightful owner, he may claim it. That should be easy in this case, according to the poet, because its ownership is known to all and it is the owners’ legitimate right to retrieve it. 139 From §28.40 on, printed editions and manuscripts differ in the order of verses and in which verses are included, see p. xxxix. It is not clear how this verse and the next should be interpreted: do they refer to the men addressed by the messenger and their response? If it is the poet speaking, on what occasion did he receive this response from them? Do the verses belong somewhere else in the poem, or have some verses gone missing? These questions must remain unanswered for lack of information or until better alternatives are discovered. 140 Here the poet speaks of al-Qaṣab, his hometown situated to the northeast of a strip of sands named ʿUrayq al-Buldān or Nafūd al-Washm. 141 Here the poet resumes the messenger’s speech to al-ʿAzāʿīz. 142 This place is not known to the commentators and does not occur in the geographical dictionaries.

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Notes 143 ʿAlī ibn Zāmil was killed in battle against ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn Muḥammad ibn Suʿūd, fighting on the side of Tharmadāʾ, in 1750; ʿAbd al-Karīm ibn Zāmil was taken prisoner in another battle waged by ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz against Tharmadāʾ and its allies in 1754–55: al-Bassām, Tuḥfat al-mushtāq, 199 and 201. It is most unlikely that this poem refers to these events: it cannot have been composed at such a late date. It must be placed in the context of Ḥmēdān’s self-exile to Uthayfiyah and Uthayfiyah’s refusal to pay tribute to Tharmadāʾ, which can only have taken place many years earlier. Therefore, these verses probably represent a later addition, possibly by transmitters who wished to insert some flattering words about the Ibn Zāmil clan from Uthayfiyah, a fairly normal practice in the case of famous poets whose verses were widely quoted and could redound to or detract from the reputation of personalities, families, and clans. At that time poems were the only effective way of self-advertisement, so few individuals were averse to riding piggyback on so powerful a vehicle for attaining high repute. See also Glossary under Uthayfiyah and Tharmadā’. 144 See p. xxiv. The enemy is the town of Julājil, the most powerful in Sudayr. In 1673 the chief of Julājil, Ibrāhīm ibn Sulaymān, expelled Ibn Nḥēṭ’s grandfather Māni ʿ ibn

ʿUthmān of the Ḥudaythah (Ḥdēthah) clan and installed another group: al-Fākhirī, al-Akhbār al-Najdiyyah, 76. 145 A reference to Moses’s unintended killing of an Egyptian, Q Qaṣaṣ 28:15. 146 The phrase “Bedouin and settled folks” is another way of saying, “all men; everyone.” 147 Cf. the saying, “Starve your dog so that he will follow you” (ajiʿ kalbak yatbaʿk); Ibn Manẓūr, Lisān al-ʿArab, s.v. j-w-ʿ. In the Najdī vernacular, the proverb is similar, with a slight linguistic difference (jawwiʿ kalbik yatbaʿk). Al-Juhaymān, al-Amthāl, 2, 224. 148 These are standard descriptions of a riding camel’s qualities and body parts that are as old as the pre-Islamic poet Ṭarafah’s famous camel ode. See Geiger, “Die Muʿallaqa des Ṭarafa.” Here the breastbone does not rub against the leg muscles—which is why the camel is praised for having widely spaced axillae. The soft soles of a camel’s feet are ideally suited to sand but will easily bleed on rocky ground and sharp stones: bleeding soles will be swaddled in cloth for protection but the animal’s gait will be impaired. In Ḥmēdān’s work there is no effort to make the messenger motif sound like a scene derived from lived reality. It is a nod to literary convention. 149 Uthayfiyah, the messenger’s destination, lies to the southwest of al-Qaṣab. It is not clear, therefore, why the poet sends him in an easterly direction. Possibly he traveled by a roundabout way on a path that first veered a little east before bending west toward al-Marāh and then on to his destination. The last word of the hemistich, ʿawān, occurs in a similar line by the first/seventh century poet Muzarrid ibn Ḍirār al-Dhubyānī:

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Notes “When time becomes pregnant and gives birth to continuous war, and the air is heavy with foreboding of coming disaster” (wa-ʿindī idhā l-ḥarbu al-ʿawānu talaqqaḥat, waabdat hawādīhā l-khuṭūbu l-zalāzilu), where ʿawān is an “epithet of war, long-continued trouble,” C.J. Lyall, The Mufaḍḍalīyāt, 1:164; 3:282. See also Zuhayr ibn Abī Sulmā: idhā laqiḥat ḥarbun ʿawānun muḍirratun (“When times become pregnant with a grinding, devastating war”), Dīwān, 103–4. 150 The poet is Ḥātim al-Ṭāʾ ī. The printed editions do not mention which verse is meant. In the collected poetry of Ḥātim, or poetry attributed to him, a verse that comes somewhat close in meaning to the next two verses in this poem is: “Even when death stares me in the eye, I do not shrink and keep my composure” (wa-innī idhā mā al-mawtu lam yaku dūnahu / qidā al-shibri aḥmī al-anfa an ataʾakhkharā). Similarly, Ḥātim prefers to keep his self-respect intact by living up to the code of chivalry even if it results in poverty: “Riches do not raise my standing among kinsmen, nor does poverty scar my reputation” (fa-mā zādanā baʾwan ʿalā dhī qarābatin / ghinānā wa-lā azrā b-aḥsābinā alfaqru). Ḥmēdān uses the same verb, azrā, with the meaning “to bring disgrace, shame,” in §30.33. Dīwān Ḥātim al-Ṭāʾ ī, 51, 53; Dīwān Shiʿr Ḥātim, 203, 257. 151

One is reminded of Dolores Ibarruri’s maxim, “It is better to die on your feet than to live on your knees.” This verse echoes the saying of the Prophet: “Whoever is killed in defense of his possessions is a martyr” (man qutila dūna mālihi fa-huwa shahīdun).

152 An ʿIngirī is a member of al-ʿAnāgir, the ruling clan of al-Tharmadā’. 153 A frequently used expression: al-Juhaymān, al-Amthāl, 9, 198; al-ʿUbūdī, al-Amthāl, 122, “to cut the breast that fed you,” a jocular expression similar to “biting the hand that feeds you.” Here it sends the message that the ruler of Tharmadāʾ should forcibly be deprived of his tribute from Uthayfiyah, just as he forced others to part with sustenance they tried to hold on to. 154 A playful allusion to the old custom among warring tribes of having their beauties ride in a howdah carried by a strong, brightly festooned camel in order to shout encouragement to the fighters, occasionally even baring their breasts. It adds to the comic effect to think that these village clodhoppers imagine themselves performing in a heroic display with such time-honored chivalrous overtones. 155 The Arabic word magrūn here has the meaning of “a fancy dress like a cloak (bisht) or headdress,” communication from Dr. Saad Sowayan. 156 It is generally assumed by Saudi commentators that in this last verse the poet includes himself in the picture to round off the quixotic enterprise with a fitting touch of bathos. 157 See poem 3 and n. 14.

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Notes 158 As in poem 3, these verses deploy camel imagery in their allusions to the rise of the religious reform movement of Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhāb, here likened to a wolf. The four bags are the four major schools of Islamic law, with the Ibāḍī school added as a fifth. According to al-Fawzān, Raʾ īs al-taḥrīr, 199, al-Bāṭin here refers to a dry watercourse to the west of al-Qaṣab. 159 This element in the piece’s enigmatic style was explained to me as deriving from a children’s tale or game featuring a lion with big whiskers. Prof. Clive Holes has come across al-ḥōḥiyyah, the same expression, in Bahrain: “I have come across ḥūḥū (or ḥūḥaw) in Bahrain; it is the noise supposedly made by a bogeyman (abū l-ʿuyūn il-ḥumur, ‘the one with the red eyes’) who comes in the night and ‘gets’ children if they are disobedient,” (personal communication). And in the glossary of Holes’s Dialect, Culture, and Society in Eastern Arabia, 1, we find: “ḥūḥū ‘woof woof ’ sound supposedly made by bogeymen used to frighten children.” 160 Dates of uncultivated trees can be picked by anyone. It is also customary to allow the poor to pick up any dates that have fallen from cultivated date palms before the harvest. The implication is that he should postpone payment of his debt for another year instead of paying it straightaway and thus be left without means. 161 Literally “and play the game of al-biyyih.” This is one of the oldest traditional games, also called al-mangalih. It consists of two wooden boards, each with seven holes, and with a total of seventy small balls. In the early days the holes were made in the ground and the game played with pebbles. It is played by two participants who are encouraged by their friends. See http://www.rwlh.net/vb/t52045-6.html. In al-Qaṣīm it is played with pebbles or date pits in small holes in the ground, Sowayan, al-Thaqāfah al-taqlīdiyyah, 12, al-Alʿāb, 131–32. 162 This refers to a proverb: al-Juhaymān, al-Amthāl, 4, 425; 8, 85: “To keep a she-camel with Wugayyān.” The explanation is that anything given to the care of this poor, wandering Bedouin should be considered as lost. Such a she-camel is therefore a purely imaginary possession. It is used to express doubts about the promises an individual makes. 163 When peasants and Bedouin are hard at work watering their camels or working their fields, they pull up their robes and keep them in place with their belts. Because they are forced to continue working until after sunset, they combine the last two prayers of the day in the evening prayer.

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Glossary

Aḥnaf al-Aḥnaf ibn Qays, an influential leader of the major tribe of Tamīm who was instrumental in convincing his fellow tribesmen to embrace Islam. Later he became one of the generals who led the Muslim armies in Persia. He worked tirelessly as a moderate force and mediator in tribal and other conflicts. For this reason his quality of ḥilm, forbearance and intelligence, became proverbial: aḥlam min al-Aḥnaf, “more understanding than al-Aḥnaf.”

ʿAjfat al-Gūr an unknown location. Perhaps ʿAfjah is meant, a wadi with various kinds of shrubs, and the name of three different locations in al-Yamāmah.

ʿĀmir one of the ruling families in Julājil, which was in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries the regional powerhouse in Sudayr. Its members belong to the subtribe of al-Badārīn of al-Dawāsir. Originally from Wādi al-Dawāsir in southern Najd, they migrated to central Najd in the fifteenth century. This family appears for the first time in the Najdī chronicles as the rulers of this town in 1667.

ʿAmr [ibn al-ʿĀṣ] leader of the Muslim armies in some of their most spectacular early victories. He is especially known for the conquest of Egypt, where he acquired a reputation as an exceptionally able administrator. He sided with Muʿāwiyah against Muḥammad’s son-in-law ʿAlī in the First Civil War, and avoided defeat by the ruse of attaching Qurʾan pages to lances. The poet cites him as a symbol of shrewdness and political cunning. al-ʿAnāgir (al-ʿAnāqir)

a tribe of Banū Saʿd of Tamīm. It is concentrated in the

regions of al-Washm, al-ʿĀriḍ, and al-Qaṣīm. The branch of Āl Khanāfir ruled in Tharmadāʾ, the dominant regional power that levied tribute from Shaqrāʾ and Uthayfiyah in the north to Ḍurmā in the south. The singular is al-ʿIngirī, as in the name of the famous ruler and poet Bdāḥ al-ʿIngirī. Ibn Muʿammar of al-ʿUyaynah was descended from al-ʿAnāqir in Tharmadāʾ, as were the families of some other chieftains in the area.

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Glossary

al-ʿĀriḍ the heart of the al-Yamāmah region, called “the barrier” after the Ṭuwayq escarpment that runs through it from north to south and rises like a wall of stone. It is traversed by Wādi Ḥanīfah, where there are important towns like al-ʿUyaynah, al-Dirʿiyyah, and Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia. al-ʿAṭṭār

a town in the lower part of Wādi Faqī, inhabited by al-ʿUraynāt of

Subayʿ whose chiefs were Āl Sayf. al-ʿAwdah see al-ʿŌdih. al-ʿAzāʿīz

a branch of Banū Ḥanẓalah ibn Mālik ibn Zayd al-Manāh of Tamīm.

According to the historian al-Fākhirī, in 1704 they became the masters of Uthayfiyah (now Uthaythiyah). They gave Ḥmēdān asylum and he praised them in his poetry. Bini Zēd (Banū Zayd) a Najdī tribe which originally had its center in the High Najd and al-Washm. They are strongly represented in the towns of Shaqrāʾ (it is they whom Ḥmēdān mentions), al-Quwayʿiyyah, al-Shaʿrāʾ, and al-Dawādimī. al-Bīr

a town whose name means “well,” situated south of al-Washm in the region of al-Miḥmal, not far from Thādiq. Before 1616 it was a well of the Subayʿ tribe. It has since been settled by families of al-Dawāsir in southern Najd. It is the birthplace of Muḥammad al-Ḥamdān, an editor of Ḥmēdān’s poetry, who also wrote a book about his town.

Chosroes

(Ar. Kisrā, from the Persian name Khusraw) the Sasanid rulers in gen-

eral. It is remarkable that Ḥmēdān employs the Persian kings as a symbol for justice; in Arab lore they stood for extravagance and despotism. al-Dahnāʾ a range of sands in eastern Arabia that connects the Nafūd desert in the north with the Empty Quarter in the south over a length of more than a thousand kilometers. From the perspective of the poet these block the view to the east from the regions of al-Washm and Sudayr. The word means “desert” and also “a red-leaved shrub that is used as a color agent.” The poet uses it as a symbol of great fortune, in terms both of the immensity of the sands and the red gleam associated with gold (§1.3). al-Dākhlah (al-Dākhilah)

a prosperous village to the northeast of al-Rawḍah

and very close to it. Its inhabitants are from al-Nuwāṣir of Tamīm. There is said to be a poet called Rāʿ al-Dākhlah whose invective is as caustic as Ḥmēdān’s but he has not been published nor do I have information concerning any manuscript where his work may be found.

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Glossary

al-Dirʿiyyah

the original capital of the Suʿūd dynasty, now a suburb of Riyadh.

The town was destroyed in 1819 at the orders of Ibrāhīm Pasha of Egypt after his successful siege of the town. Ḍruma (Ḍurmāʾ) a town in al-ʿĀriḍ about sixty kilometers to the west of Riyadh, known as an agricultural center on the old road from Riyadh to the Ḥijāz. Its fortunes were always interwined with al-Dirʿiyyah across the Ṭuwayq escarpment. al-Ghāṭ

a town overlooked by two promontories of the Ṭuwayq escarpment,

Khashm al-Shāsh from the south, and Khashm al-ʿIrniyyah from the north. It is the town of the famous family of al-Sidārā (singular: al-Sudayrī), originally from al-Dawāsir, who became affiliated to the Suʿūd family. Its inhabitants are from different tribal backgrounds. Ḥātim [al-Ṭāʾī] a symbol of prodigious hospitality, the pre-Islamic Bedouin poet Ḥātim al-Ṭāʾ ī is one of the most widely known ancient figures in Saudi Arabia today. He is synonymous with the traditional virtues of generosity and the lavish entertainment of guests, similar to the huge sculptures of coffeepots that adorn the entrance to many Najdī towns. A popular Najdī saying runs, “more generous than Ḥātim.” He is especially associated with the region of Ḥāʾil, whose inhabitants claim him as one of their own. The tribe may have gone but the mountain ranges are still called Jabal Ṭayyi ʾ. al-Ḥawṭah

see al-Ḥōṭah.

Ḥizwa (Ḥuzwā) an area of dunes in the al-Dahnāʾ sands near Maʿqalah, where the early Bedouin poet Dhū l-Rummah is buried. al-Ḥjarah

a place north of the old village of Līnah and its deep wells on the pil-

grim road to Iraq in the northeastern part of Saudi Arabia, about one hundred kilometers from the border with Iraq. South of Līnah lie the sands of al-Dahnāʾ. al-Ḥōṭah (al-Ḥawṭah) a town at the center of Wādi al-Faqī in Sudayr, inhabited by various clans of Tamīm and other tribes. al-Ḥrayyig (al-Ḥurayyiq) an isolated village on the flanks of the Ṭuwayq escarpment. It had strong ties with Ushayqir, where the founders of al-Mashārifah (Āl Musharraf ) branch of al-Wahabah of Tamīm came from. Al-Qaṣab became involved in this village’s internecine struggles: the chief Ibn Yūsuf fled, and returned in 1700 with the help of al-Qaṣab.

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Glossary

al-Ḥṣūn (al-Ḥuṣūn) a town with many palm groves that was settled by Āl Tumayyim with the permission of al-Qārah, another village near al-Janūbiyyah in Sudayr. Its chiefs, the Ibn Nḥēṭ clan, were dislodged and then returned. Later they were succeeded by Āl Yaḥyā of al-Wahabah of Tamīm. Ḥuzwā

see Ḥizwa.

Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhāb, Muḥammad

(1703–92) preacher of a rigorous version of

Islam. In 1745 he concluded a religio-political compact with Muḥammad ibn Suʿūd, the ruler of al-Dirʿiyyah. The armed campaigns that followed brought the town of al-Yamāmah and others further afield under Saudi dominion, one after the other. This became the foundation of modern Saudi Arabia. Ibn Māḍī, Muḥammad

ruler of al-Rawḍah. The earliest mention of the Ibn Māḍī

family of Āl Rājiḥ of Banū ʿAmr of Tamīm as a ruling house in al-Rawḍah dates from the first half of the seventeenth century. They were frequently involved in internecine struggles with the other families who traced their descent from the same ancestor, with involvement from Julājil and other towns in Sudayr. Māḍī ibn Jāsir ibn Māḍī died in 1726–27 and it is probable that he was succeeded by his son Muḥammad. He was murdered in the mosque of al-Rawḍah in 1745 by his brothers Māni ʿ and Turkī; the latter came with armed assistance from Julājil, where he had found refuge. Ibn Muʿammar, ʿAbd Allāh

(d. 1725, during the plague) chief of al-ʿUyaynah

from 1684. The period of his rule is considered the town’s golden era: it became the undisputed cultural, religious, and political center of al-Yamāmah. His high standing, and the fear he inspired, are reflected in Ḥmēdān’s long and poignant poem of apology to him (poem 21). The exact reason for this poem is not known, and it is unlikely to be something he said in one of the other poems in this collection. The poem itself refers to “words” Ḥmēdān was supposed to have said and that were reported to Ibn Muʿammar by his enemies at the court. “Words” in this context must be understood as “verse.” Ibn Nḥēṭ

ruler of al-Ḥuṣūn. In spite of an insulting description of Ibn Nḥēṭ in

one poem, Ḥmēdān appears to have been on friendly terms with him if one goes by the other poems, especially the one in which he addresses him in the first line (see §29.1). Jabr ibn Sayyār lavished great praise on Ibn Nḥēṭ’s brother Suʿūd ibn Māni ʿ ibn ʿUthmān (it is assumed that it is

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Glossary

he who is meant by “Ibn Māni ʿ”), describing him as “the jewel of all Arab lineages” in an exchange of poems. Therefore, the Sayāyirah of al-Qaṣab seem to have traditionally had good relations with this family. In 1699

ʿUthmān ibn Nḥēṭ returned from al-Aḥsāʾ to the town of al-Ḥuṣūn and defeated Āl Tumayyim of Banū Khālid. ʿUthmān’s grandfather Māni ʿ ibn ʿUthmān al-Ḥudaythī (Āl Ḥudaythah) of Tamīm had been forced out by Āl Tumayyim in 1672, along with his sons Suʿūd and Nḥēṭ. ʿUthmān was later turned out of the town (but it is not known when) by his sons Māni ʿ and Suʿūd, in collusion with the ruler of Julājil, an event described by Ḥmēdān in a poem that compares his opponents’ tactics to a ruse whereby the dabb, the large Arabian lizard, is enticed out of its underground hole. Ḥmēdān says that he warned Ibn Nḥēṭ repeatedly about this very danger. Ibn Sayyār, Jabr

Jabr ibn Ḥazmī (or according to another source, Jabr ibn

Ḥzēmī) ibn Sayyār, considered one of the outstanding Najdī poets of his time. He exchanged many poems with colleagues, foremost among them the ruler of al-Rawḍah, Rumayzān ibn Ghashshām. It is assumed that Ḥmēdān may have known him as a young man and that he was influenced by his work. He died in approximately 1708 at a great age, after the death of Ibrāhīm ibn Rāshid al-Sayyārī, his successor as chief of al-Qaṣab. Ibn Sayyār, ʿUthmān a relative of the famous poet Jabr ibn Sayyār whose family belongs to al-Sayāyirah of Banū Khālid. In 1725–26 ʿUthmān ibn Ibrāhīm ibn Rāshid ibn Māni ʿ killed his son Ibrāhīm, who had succeeded him as the town’s chief. Ḥmēdān’s respect for ʿUthmān is clear from the advice he asks him for in his poem of apology to Ibn Muʿmmar. Ibn Zāmil a family of the ʿĀʾidh branch of the Qaḥṭān tribe in Uthayfiyah and al-Kharj. The chronicles mention ʿAlī and ʿAbd al-Karīm ibn Zāmil, who were killed or captured in fighting between Tharmadāʾ and al-Dirʿiyyah and its allies. al-ʿIrniyyah Jazrah

a mountain peak towering over al-Ghāṭ.

see Jzerah.

Jlājil ( Julājil)

a major town in Sudayr. In the seventeenth century it is men-

tioned in connection with a visit by the sharif of Mecca, Zayd ibn Muḥsin, and with armed conflict with al-Tuwaym, another powerful town in Sudayr. It also clashed repeatedly with clans in Rawḍat Sudayr. Its rulers belonged to Āl ʿĀmir of al-Dawāsir tribe. In 1763–64 it was subdued by

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Glossary

the Saudi rulers of al-Dirʿiyyah. As with the dominant town in al-Washm, Tharmadāʾ, once Julājil submitted, all resistance in the region disappeared. Jzerah ( Jazrah) a tributary to the wadi of Julājil. al-Khīs

a village in Sudayr northwest of al-Majmaʿah.

al-Majmaʿah a regional center founded in 1427 by ʿAbd Allāh al-Shammarī with permission from Ibn Mudlij al-Wāʾilī from nearby al-Ḥarmah, a town that was subsequently eclipsed by the new settlement. The ʿUthmān family, whose ancestor is mentioned by Ḥmēdān, are his descendants. Mecca, valley of (Ar. al-Bāṭḥa) the lower part of the valley (baṭḥāʾ ) of Mecca where the Kaaba stands. It is used as a synonym for the Meccan sanctuary. Mghērā (Mughayrā) al-Miḥmal

a well fifteen kilometers south of al-Zulfī.

an area on the western side of the Ṭuwayq escarpment south of

Sudayr and al-Washm. Thādiq and al-Bīr are included among its townships. Mughayrā Musaylimah

see Mghērā. belonged to the Banū Ḥanīfah kings of Tamīm in al-Yamāmah,

many of them Christians and allied with the Persian kings. He seems to have been ambitious to set up a political system based on prophethood, as Muḥammad had done successfully in Medina. After Muḥammad’s death, he married the prophetess Sajāḥ and was eventually defeated and killed in a fierce battle. al-Nābighah al-Dhubyānī

one of the great pre-Islamic poets whose works were

included among the prestigious al-Muʿallaqāt, “the suspended odes” said to have been hung in the Kaaba. He frequented the courts of the Lakhmid rulers of al-Ḥīrah and of the Banū Ghassān. Some of his best compositions are the poems of apology he composed after having angered al-Mundhir III of al-Ḥīrah. This is why it is said that his genius became especially inspired when gripped by fear. Parallels with the poem of apology by Ḥmēdān to Ibn Muʿammar, and a similarity in source of inspiration, have been pointed out. See n. 91 to §21.52. Najd

generally understood as the central part of the Arabian peninsula—the plateau area roughly situated to the east of the mountain ranges of al-Ḥijāz, south of the Nafūd desert, west of the al-Dahnāʾ sands, and including Wādi al-Dawāsir in the south but not beyond it to the south and southwest. This enormous region is subdivided into many areas that differ greatly in character. Historically and environmentally it has been characterized by a division of its inhabitants into sedentary and Bedouin groups, a division

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at once symbiotic and antithetic. Nabaṭī poetry is essentially a Najdī phenomenon with roots in classical Arabian culture—a pedigree shared by many of the sedentary and Bedouin tribes in the Najd. al-ʿŌdih (al-ʿAwdah)

an agricultural town in lower Wādi Faqī with a mixed

population, among them Āl Dubās and Banū ʿAnbar of Tamīm. Qaḥṭān

traditionally tribes of South Arabian descent, as opposed to ʿAdnān,

the northern Arabian tribes. For centuries it has denoted a large tribal group in areas southwest of Najd, like Wādi Tathlīth and Bīshah, and in parts of southern Najd, especially the desert lands known as Ḥaṣāt Qaḥṭān, “Qaḥṭān Rocks,” where the Qaḥṭān frequently clashed with the Bargā divison of ʿUtaybah. They also migrated farther north and settled in many Najdī towns. They are mentioned in Najdī chronicles for the first time in the second half of the sixteenth century as an ally of the Dawāsir tribe. It is not clear where or when Ḥmēdān took part in a raid against the tribe. The episode may be purely fictional or it may refer to a camp of migrating Qaḥṭān tribesmen in relative proximity to al-Washm. al-Qaṣab

the hometown of the poet Ḥmēdān al-Shwēʿir. It is situated in a fer-

tile agricultural area with more than a hundred wells and a large number of homesteads producing dates and wheat. Its wadi comes down from the Ṭuwayq escarpment via the little town of al-Hurayyiq and al-Ruqaybiyyah. The nearby salt evaporation ponds supply al-Yamāmah and areas beyond with salt. Its population was very mixed, with only a few representatives of the Sayyār clan to which the poet belonged. Quraysh the Meccan tribe to which the prophet Muḥammad belonged. al-ʿRēnāt (al-ʿUraynāt)

a large subdivision of the Subayʿ tribe. The chiefs of the

groups that founded the town of al-ʿAṭṭār in Sudayr, near al-Ḥawṭah, are from the Āl Sayf branch of al-ʿRēnāt. al-Rgēbiyyah (al-Ruqaybiyyah) a village upstream from al-Qaṣab in the wadi that comes down from the headlands of Ṭuwayq. al-Rigʿī

a well just south of the Saudi border with Iraq in al-Bāṭin, where it

meets Wādi al-ʿAwjā. al-Rijm may refer to the al-Rijm mountains west of al-Dawādimī in the High Najd, which is famous for its excellent camel pastures. al-Rōḍah (al-Rawḍah) a famous old town in Sudayr, situated in the upper reaches of Wādi al-Faqī, which means that it is the first location to receive floodwaters after rainfall. Under the leadership of Rumayzān ibn

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Ghashshām, a prolific poet with whom the poet Jabr ibn Sayyār of al-Qaṣab was in poetic correspondence, a dam was built to store the floodwaters for the town. This created tension with the other towns farther downstream. Rumayzān was killed in 1669 by a member of the Abū Hilāl clan. In 1647 the Sharīf of Mecca killed Māḍī ibn Muḥammad, the ancestor of the Ibn Māḍī family who enjoyed prominence in the town. The rulers of Julājil frequently intervened in the internal struggles among the leading clans of Rawḍah. al-Ruqaybiyyah

see al-Rgēbiyyah.

a prophetess who tried to convert her tribe, Tamīm, to her version of the

Sajāḥ

faith following the death of the prophet Muḥammad. When she failed and her followers were defeated in battle, she joined the prophet Musaylimah, whom she is said to have married. She later returned to her tribe, and little is known about her except that she embraced Islam and died in Basra as a Muslim. (also ṣlēb, singular ṣlubi) regarded as a pariah tribe by other tribes, with

Ṣalab

whom intermarriage is regarded as taboo. In the past they used to perform various services for the Bedouin, such as shoeing their horses and other ironwork. They had a reputation as skilled hunters and were renowned for the beauty of their women. Sāmirī

in the Qurʾan, the person who created the Golden Calf during Moses’s

absence and who tried to lead people from the faith by persuading them to worship this idol (Q Ṭā Hā 20:85–97). Sanām

an elevation of 150 meters (more like a little hill, but still called a

“mountain,” Jabal Sanām), a salt dome, in an otherwise flat land forty-five kilometers southwest of Basra on the border with Kuwait. Sardiyyah

a woman from Sardiyyah, a small tribe in Ḥawrān, which until about

1800 had the right to accompany the pilgrim caravan from Damascus. See Burckhardt, Notes on the Bedouins and Wahabys, 16–17. al-Shamāsiyyah

see al-Shimāsiyyah.

Shaqrāʾ a town in al-Washm that served as a trading post for the Bedouins of the High Najd. The inhabitants are descended from Banū Zayd (Binī Zēd), a group that traces its descent from Qaḥṭān.

ʿShērah (ʿUshayrah) a town in Sudayr founded by Māni ʿ of ʿAmr of Banū Tamīm, a group called al-Manī ʿāt or al-Manʿāt. According to one tale, the

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name is derived from the ʿushar tree. Its fields are irrigated from Wādi al-Miyāh. Its chiefs came traditionally from Āl Nāṣir of Tamīm. al-Shimāsiyyah (al-Shamāsiyyah) an agricultural district in al-Qaṣīm, twenty kilometers from the city of Buraydah. To its west lie sand dunes. Sudayr

a populous agricultural region about 180 kilometers north of Riyadh.

It encompasses most of Wādi al-Faqī. Among its many towns are Julājil, al-Majmaʿah, al-Ghāṭ, al-Rawḍah, al-Tuwaym, al-Ḥawṭah, and al-Ḥuṣūn. al-Ṭēri (Wādi al-Ṭayrī)

a wadi to the east of Sudayr, near Ḥafr al-ʿAtk and the

sands of al-Dahnāʾ. Tharmadāʾ an ancient town in al-Washm, mentioned in pre-Islamic poetry. Its inhabitants belong to al-ʿAnāqir of Banū Saʿd of Tamīm. It used to be the dominant town of al-Washm and its influence extended to neighboring towns, like Uthayfiyah, al-Marāh, and Shaqrāʾ. An eighteenth-century chief, Bdāḥ al-ʿIngiri, composed a famous poem on what separates and unites sedentary people and Bedouin (see Sowayan, Nabaṭi Poetry, 21–22). Tharmadāʾ stubbornly resisted absorption into the Saudi state until the death of its capable leader, Ibrāhīm ibn Sulēmān al-ʿIngiri, in 1767/68. Timīm (Tamīm)

a large tribal group that before Islam was centered in

al-Yamāmah and fanned out through Najd, the Gulf, and Iraq. They included nomadic and sedentary sections, the latter in al-Washm and eastern Arabia. The most important branch of the ʿAmr ibn Tamīm was the Banū l-ʿAnbar, a name that occurs frequently in the more recent Najdī chronicles. Tmēr (Tumayr) a village with palm groves in the southeastern part of Sudayr at the wadi and the heights of Mujazzal. Its inhabitants are from Tamīm, al-Dawāsir, ʿUtaybah, and other tribes. al-Twēm (al-Tuwaym) a town in Sudayr, abandoned and then resettled by Mudlij ibn Ḥusayn al-Wāʾilī from Ushayqir after a conflict there with al-Wahabah of Tamīm. In 1699/1700 al-Tuwaym’s Wāʾil rulers ousted Āl Tumayyim of Banū Khālid from the town of al-Ḥuṣūn and installed Ibn Nḥēṭ of Banū l-ʿAnbar ibn ʿAmr as the new chief. In the same year Māḍī ibn Jāsir, the chief of the Āl Rājiḥ of Banū ʿAmr in al-Rawḍah appealed for al-Tuwaym’s help against their fellow tribesmen Banū Hilāl, who were then ousted from the town by Āl Mudlij of al-Tuwaym. Both events set in motion a chain of reprisals and counterattacks that played out over a long time. Al-Tuwaym is the birthplace of two famous Najdī poets: Ibrāhīm

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al-Juʿaythin and Muḥammad ibn Ḥamad ibn Laʿbūn, whose father, Ḥamad ibn Muḥammad, was a famous Najdī historian and genealogist. Umm ʿNēg (Umm ʿUnayq)

a prominent, solitary peak that looms over Julājil

from the southeast. Its name, “Little Neck,” refers to its shape.

ʿUrayʿir the family of chiefs of Banū Khālid, a tribe in the eastern part of present-day Saudi Arabia with its center at the large palm oasis of al-Aḥsāʾ. In 1670 they ousted the Ottoman Turks and established themselves as independent rulers. In 1795 their rule was ended in al-Dirʿiyyah by the Saudi state. al-ʿUraynāt

see al-ʿRēnāt.

Ushaygir (Ushayqir)

an ancient town in al-Washm named after a mountain and

wadi. In classical times it was the town of Banū ʿIkl. It played an important role in the region. After a conflict in the town between al-Wahabah of Banū Tamīm and Banū Wāʾil, many groups of the latter left and founded new towns, such as al-Ḥarmah, al-Tuwaym, al-Majmaʿah (together with Abd Allāh al-Shammarī), and Ḥuraymilāʾ.

ʿUshayrah see ʿShērah. Uthayfiyah

a town named after three rocky outcrops that resemble the three

vertical pieces of stone used to suspend the cooking pot above the fire (athāfī). Its modern name is Uthaythiyah. It was the town inhabited by the Banū Kalb of the Banū Tamīm tribe of the Umayyad poet Jarīr (d. ad 728). Until well into the last century its inhabitants were said to have preserved elements of the ancient dialect of Tamīm. In the early eighteenth century its headmen came from al-ʿAzāʿīz of Tamīm. They accepted Ḥmēdān’s request for asylum and gave him a plot of land, called Mulayḥ. He incited them to rise up against Tharmadāʾ and to stop paying tribute to its rulers. al-ʿUyaynah the “little well” that belonged to Banū ʿĀmir of Banū Ḥanīfah in the wadi of the same name, in the district of al-ʿĀriḍ, the ancient heart of al-Yamāmah region. In 1446 Banū Ḥanīfah was forced to sell it to Ḥasan ibn Ṭawq of Banū Saʿd of Tamīm from the town of Malham, the forefather of the Ibn Muʿammar dynasty that turned the town into the most powerful and successful township in this part of Najd, especially during the long rule of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muʿammar. The religious reformer Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhāb was born here in 1703. In 1768 he had the palace of Ibn Muʿammar destroyed and ordered the end of their rule in the town.

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Wādi Ḥanīfah a valley in the heart of al-Yamāmah named after the tribe of Ḥanīfah ibn Lujaym. Wādi Khlayyif one of two wadis between Tharmadāʾ and Uthayfiyah. Its upper course joins another wadi and they join Wādi Uthayfiyah. It may also refer to a place between Ushayqir and Shaqrāʾ. According to another source it is a wadi near Rawḍat Tinhāt close to the northwestern edge of the al-Dahnāʾ sands, which would fit better with its mention in conjunction with al-Ṭēri. Wahhābī a term currently widely used as a description of the doctrine and practices elaborated by the religious reformer Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhāb, and later established as the foundational principles of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, where it is perceived as a pejorative term. The preferred description of this movement is Salafī, a movement that believes in a return to the purity of early religion practiced by the salaf, the early generations of Muslims. From the point of view of doctrine, its adherents call themselves “those who profess the unicity of God” (al-muwaḥḥidūn). al-Washm in the early Islamic period, a region with villages and towns mainly inhabited by tribesmen of Tamīm who had left their nomadic life behind, and as a consequence were looked down upon by their Bedouin kinsmen. It is the region where Ḥmēdān lived. Among its towns are Tharmadāʾ, Shaqrāʾ, Ushayqir, al-Qaṣab, Marāh, and Uthayfiyah. Wāyil (Wāʾil) a tribal group said to be related to the ancient Bakr ibn Wāʾil that included the Ḥanīfah tribe after which Wādi Ḥanīfah is named. They lived in al-Yamāmah and its ancient capital al-Ḥajr, near modern Riyadh. al-Yamāmah

in pre- and early Islam, the region of Wādi Ḥanīfah and its capital

al-Ḥajr. Nowadays it is used as a loose, general term that may comprise the entire region that runs parallel to Ṭuwayq’s escarpment from al-Kharj south of Riyadh to the northern part of Sudayr, where it is bordered by al-Qaṣīm. al-Zilfī (al-Zulfī) in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries this town’s ownership was disputed by Āl Muḥdith of Banū l-ʿAnbar of Tamīm, al-Farāhīd, a branch of the ʿUtaybah tribe, and Āl Mudlij from the town of al-Ḥarmah. It is the last town of al-Yamāmah before the desert crossing to Kuwait and Iraq. al-Zyerah (al-Ziyarah)

a place identified with the ancient town of al-Ḥarmah,

established by Banū Wāʾil in 1368, near al-Majmaʿah. The poet Ibn Laʿ būn

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belonged to al-Ḥarmah’s family of chiefs, Āl Mudlij of Banū Wāʾil. The inhabitants of al-Ziyarah (the name comes from its ancestor al-Zīr) are of al-Rāshid of Āl Ḥamad from the town of al-Ḥuraymilāʾ, a town founded in 1635 by a clan of Banū Wāʾil from al-Tuwaym. Al-Tuwaym itself was founded by Āl Mudlij of Banū Wāʾil, who had left Ushayqir.

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Bibliography Sowayan, Saad Abdullah. “A poem and its narrative by Riḍa ibn Ṭārif al-Shammarī.” Zeitschrift für arabische Linguistik, 7(1982):69. . Nabaṭī Poetry. The Oral Poetry of Arabia. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1985. . The Arabian Oral Historical Narrative. An Ethnographic and Linguistic Analysis. Wiesbaden: Otto Harrasowiz, 1992. . Al-Shiʿr al-nabaṭī: dhāʾiqat al-shaʿb wa-sulṭat al-naṣṣ. Beirut: Dār al-Sāqī, 2000. . Fihrist al-shiʿr al-nabaṭī. Riyadh: self-published, 2001. . Al-Ṣaḥrāʾ al-ʿarabiyyah, thaqāfatuhā wa-shiʿruhā ʿabra al-ʿuṣūr, qirāʾah anthrūbūlūjiyyah. Beirut: Arab Network for Research and Publishing, 2010. . Ayyām al-ʿarab al-awākhir: asāṭīr wa-marwiyyāt shafahiyyah fī l-taʾrīkh wa-l-adab min shamāl al-jazīrah al-ʿarabiyyah maʿ shadharāt mukhtārah min qabīlat āl Murrah wa-Subayʿ. Beirut: Arab Network for Research and Publishing, 2010. Al-Ṣūlī, Abū Bakr. The Life and Times of Abū Tammām. Edited and translated by Beatrice Gruendler. New York, NY: New York University Press, 2015. Al-Suwaydāʾ, ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Zayd. Faṣīḥ al-ʿāmmī fī shamāl Najd. 2 vols. Riyadh: Dār al-Suwaydāʾ, Maṭābi ʿ al-Farazdaq, 1987. . Min Shuʿarāʾ al-jabal al-ʿāmmiyyīn. 3 vols. Riyadh: Dār al-Suwaydāʾ, 1988. Al-ʿUbayyid, Muḥammad al-ʿAlī. Al-Najm al-lāmiʿ li-l-nawādir jāmiʿ. MS on the website of Dr. Saad Sowayan, http://www.saadsowayan.com/html/manuscripts.html. Al-ʿUbūdī, Muḥammad ibn Nāṣir. Al-Amthāl al-ʿāmmiyyah fī Najd. 5 vols. Riyadh: n.p., 1979. . Muʿjam al-anwāʾ wa-l-fuṣūl. Riyadh: n.p., 2011. . Muʿjam al-uṣūl al-faṣīḥah li-l-alfāẓ al-dārijah. 13 vols. Riyadh: n.p. 2008. Von Oppenheim, Max Freiherr. Die Beduinen. 5 vols. Leipzig: Otto Harrassowitz, 1939. Wallin, Georg August. Travels in Arabia. Cambridge, New York: The Oleander Press, 1979. Zuhayr ibn Abī Sulmā. Dīwān. Cairo: Dār al-Kutub, 1944.

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Further Reading

Holes, Clive. Dialect, Culture, and Society in Eastern Arabia, vol. 1, glossary; vol. 2, Ethnographic Texts; vol. 3, Phonology, Morphology, Syntax, Style. Leiden: Brill, 2001–16. Holes, Clive, and Said Salman Abu Athera. The Nabaṭī Poetry of the United Arab Emirates. Reading, UK: Ithaca Press, 2011. Honvault, Juliette, ed. “Nouveaux accents de la poésie dialectale en péninsule Arabique” [Vernacular “Poetry in the Arabian Peninsula Today”]. Special issue, Arabian Humanities 5 (2015). URL: https://cy.revues.org/2952. Kurpershoek, P. Marcel. Oral Poetry and Narratives from Central Arabia. 5 vols. Leiden: Brill Publishers, 1994–2005. . Arabia of the Bedouins. London: Saqi, 2001. . Al-Badawī al-akhīr: al-qabāʾil al-badawiyyah fī l-ṣaḥrāʾ al-ʿarabiyyah. N.p.: Dār al-Sāqī, 2002. Sowayan, Saad Abdullah. Nabaṭī Poetry. The Oral Poetry of Arabia. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1985.

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Index of Poems, Editions, and Manuscripts Used for this Edition

This edition is based on published collections and manuscripts, specifically the ones listed below. The poems have been ordered by rhyme according to the position of the rhyming consonant in the Arabic alphabet, as is customary in editions of classical Arabic poetry (the only other edition to do so is the one by al-Ḥamdān; other editions and the manuscripts are haphazard in how they arrange the poems). The first line of each poem is given with an indication of the meter; for the meter that consists exclusively of long syllables the designation “long” is used. The shorthand references in bold at the start of each source listed below indicate where a particular poem can be found. These references are followed by page numbers and the relevant number of verses of the poem in that edition or manuscript. The versions in a published edition are listed first, followed by the manuscript versions on a separate line. Printed Editions refers to Khālid al-Faraj’s Dīwān al-Nabaṭ, majmūʿah min al-shiʿr

FK

al-ʿāmmī fī Najd, vol. 1, published in Damascus in 1952. Faw refers to ʿAbd Allāh Nāṣir al-Fawzān’s Raʾīs al-taḥrīr Ḥumaydān al-Shuwayʿir: ṣaḥāfat Najd al-muthīrah fī l-qarn al-thānī ʿashar, published by Markaz al-Ḥarf in Riyadh in 1988. refers to Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Ḥamdān’s Dīwān Ḥumaydān

Ham

al-Shuwayʿir. The first edition was published in 1409/1988–89, by Dār Qays li-l-Nashr in Riyadh, with a subsequent edition in 1417/1996–97. Hat

refers to the third edition of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Khālid al-Ḥātam’s Khiyār mā yulṭaqat min al-shiʿr al-nabaṭī, vol. 2, published by Dhāt al-Salāsil in Kuwait in 1981.

Mandil

refers to Mandīl ibn Muḥammad ibn Mandīl al-Fuhayd’s Min

ādābinā al-shaʿbiyyah fī l-jazīrah al-ʿarabiyyah, qiṣaṣ wa-ashʿār, in four volumes, published in Riyadh between 1981 and 1984.

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171

Index of Poems, Editions, and Manuscripts Used for this Edition

Manuscripts The best available description of all known manuscripts that contain Nabaṭī poetry, and the challenges they pose to researchers, is the chapter on this subject in Sowayan, al-Shiʿr al-Nabaṭī, sulṭat al-naṣṣ wa-dhāʾiqat al-shaʿb, 196–206. The Manṣūr al-Ḥusayn al-ʿAssāf [Assaf] manuscript can be found on the website www.saadsowayan.com. The al-Dāwud [Dawud] manuscript is also on the Sowayan website. The ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAbd al-Muḥsin al-Dhukayr [Dhukayr] manuscript, also on the Sowayan website, has many ink-blotted pages and is partly unreadable. The al-Ḥasāwī manuscript [Hasawi] opens with the note that these “Bedouin songs,” (Beduinenlieder) were acquired by Professor Socin, and gives the date of 1901. It can also be found on the Sowayan website. Huber refers to two manuscripts on the Sowayan website acquired by Charles Huber, with a few of Ḥmēdān’s poems missing. I received a complete copy of the manuscripts from the National and University Library in Strasbourg, where I also examined the manuscripts. King Saud

refers to a dīwān owned by King Saud University. I was given

a copy of the dīwān, which is in fact more a series of handwritten notebooks than a manuscript proper. These are from the collection of Muḥammad al-Ḥamad al-ʿUmarī. (See the entry “al-ʿMiri” in the index for Sowayan’s Nabaṭi Poetry.) MS Shir Nabati

Makhṭūṭat al-Shiʿr al-Nabaṭī (1). Sowayan website.

The ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Ibrāhīm al-Rābī ʿī manuscript [Rabii] is on the Sowayan website. I also received a printed copy from Muḥammad al-Ḥamdān, who published an annotated edition of the diwan and is the learned proprietor of the Qays Library in Riyadh. In ʿUnayzah I copied some of al-Rābī ʿī’s collection of notebooks in the Ibn Ṣāliḥ Library. Lāfī ibn Shabbāb al-Shurayyiṭī’s Makhṭūṭah li-shuʿarā’ al-Jabal wa-shuʿarā’ min Najd [al-Shurayyiṭī], based on notes by ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAlī ibn Sālim al-Dāwud and collected by al-Shurayyiṭī. The Muḥammad Nāṣir al-ʿUbūdī manuscript [Ubudi] is a copy of a manuscript given to me by Muḥammad al-Ḥamdān.

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� ‫ْ ائ‬ ‫َْ ن ئ‬ َ‫ن‬ � �‫����ا �ي� �و����ي� ي� �م ن� ن����م�د اَ�ام ش���ي�� ن‬ �‫�عر‬ �‫���ن�� �ي‬

Poem 1, p. 2.

‫ان ن‬ ‫� ا � ا� ش‬ �‫ش� ن� � �ون� � ��ي‬ ‫�ل�ح اَ�م��� ي‬

Meter: rajaz. Faw 230; Mandil 3, 34–35; Ham 53–55, 28 vv. Rabii 174, 9 vv.; King Saud 26, 7 vv.

� ‫ن ن ن‬ �‫��ي� �م ن��و� ا ����معر ن‬

Poem 2, p. 6.

Meter: mutadārik.

‫�َ ن‬ ‫ا �ن‬ � ‫جف� �ن ا‬ �‫��� ��ود َ�م‬ � ‫�� ي‬ ٍ ‫� م� �مع�ٍم ��م� ر‬ ٍ ‫ح‬

َّ َ ‫ي‬ �‫َ����جع�م‬ ‫ع‬

َّ َ ‫� ا ��م‬ �‫ي� ن�ج��ي‬

Ham 64, 15 vv.; Hat 172, 14 vv.; Faw 175 15 vv.; KF 51, 20 vv. King Saud, 12, 15 vv.; Rabii 193, 23 vv.; Ubudi, 3–4, 15 vv.

َ‫ن َ ا ن ي ن‬ ْ ْ ‫�معَ�م�� � ن ا � ا ن‬ ‫� ا � ����ا‬ �‫�ش��َ��بن� ي� ن� ل‬ �‫ي� �ن� ���ه� ر��� َر�ن�م�د ��م� ��مو�� � �و رن‬ ٍ

Poem 3, p. 8. Meter: long.

Ham 59, 5 vv (as part of next poem); Faw 200, 5 vv. Assaf 98, 8 vv.; King Saud, 30, 9 vv. (as part of next poem).

ْ� ْ� ‫� ا ا �ن ا � � � ن ن� ا‬ � ‫��ا �����م�ا‬ �َ �‫ا ��ل�نَم�بنْ��� ا ن� ن� ي‬ ‫م‬ � � ‫م‬ � � � ‫د‬ � � � � ‫ل‬ ‫ه‬ �‫م‬ ‫ه‬ �‫�س‬ � ‫م‬ � � �‫ن‬ ‫ي� ي ر‬ �‫ن‬ �

Poem 4, p. 10. Meter: long.

Faw 152, 28 vv.; Ham 59, 33 vv.; Hat 145, 33 vv.; KF 32, 27 vv. Assaf 184, 30 vv.; Dhukayr 155–56, 29 vv.; King Saud 30, 27 vv (combines two poems with same rhyme and meter).

‫�ه� ��ن� �يج�ا ��ل�� ��� � ��ي�� ��ل ن�َع�ل�� ك � �� � ا �ن� ي‬ ‫��ا ����َ�� ن� � ن‬ �� � � � �‫ن‬ � ‫ي‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ي‬ ‫و‬ ‫و‬ ‫ن و‬ �‫َ ي‬ ٍ ‫ي‬ ‫م‬

Poem 5, p. 14. Meter: long.

Faw 188, 15 vv.; Ham 62, 15 vv.; Hat 162, 11 vv.; KF 34, 15 vv. Assaf 97, 11 vv.; Dhukayr 154, 12 vv.; King Saud 74, 15 vv.; Rabii 198, 18 vv.; Ubudi 2–3, 15 vv.

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ّ� ‫�مع � ��َمع� ا � �ي�مع ن‬ �‫���ا ن‬ ‫��م�ا ن� ا ��ل‬ �َ ‫�َ�م او رد‬ � �‫�َ��ي�را ن� ا ��� �ر�ي�مب� �نر ن‬ � ��‫�م‬ � ‫م‬ � �‫�ي� ن‬ ‫ن‬ ‫و‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ر‬ ‫ر‬ ‫ن‬ َ ‫ح‬ َ ‫َن ع َ ح‬

Poem 6, p. 16.

Meter: irregular, it seems to be a mixture of different meters. Ham 68, 9 vv. King Saud 40, 11 vv.; Rabii 195, 9 vv.; Ubudi 4–5, 9 vv.

َ � ‫ن ا ��ل��شف�� ا � � ش � ن ْ َ � ن ا ن‬ ‫���� �ا ��ل� ا �� ن��َ� ن‬ ‫��ْم�� �م ن‬ � ‫�ص ا � ا ��ل�َ� �لي�م�ا‬ � ‫ا‬ ‫م‬ � � ‫ا‬ ‫م‬ � � ‫�د‬ ‫�د‬ � ‫�ه‬ �‫�ج‬ � � � ‫م‬ � � � � � � ‫َر‬ � ‫ح ََ ل‬ � ‫ل‬ ‫ج ن‬ ‫رم‬ ‫ح‬ Poem 7, p. 18.

Meter: mutadārik. Faw 180, 17 vv.; Ham 71, 19 vv.; Hat 170, 16 vv.; KF 36, 17 vv. Assaf 97, 18 vv.; Dhukayr 148, 18 vv.; King Saud 35, 18 vv.; Rabii 199, 18 vv.

َ � ‫��ا ��ل��دَ ْر� ا ��� � ا‬ ‫ن ن‬ َ‫رح‬

Poem 8, p. 22.

‫� ��ل���لن‬ ٍ�َ�‫�ج�ا ����جع ��ا ��ج�ا �ن�� ��ا ن�ْجب‬ ‫ر‬ � ‫ا َد � �و‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ي‬ � ‫ع‬

Meter: long. Faw 198, 7 vv.; Ham 69, 8 vv.; Hat 159, 7; KF 61, 6 vv. Assaf 98, 7 vv.; King Saud 76, 6 vv.; Rabii 179, 6 vv.

َ‫�ْ ن‬ َ �� ْ � ْ‫��م ْ � ن‬ ّ ‫ي‬ ‫ف‬ ‫ج‬ � � ��‫�َج‬ �‫ا �ن�ا ���ب�ْ�جعٍر َن�م� ي ي�ج��� �و�ه�و َن���ل� ��ٍط ن����غ�ط�و‬ َ ‫ي‬

Poem 9, p. 24. Meter: long.

Faw 195, 8 vv.; Ham 73, 8 vv.; Hat 171, 8 vv.; KF 49, 8 vv. King Saud 13, 8 vv.; Rabii 194, 8 vv.; Ubudi 5, 8 vv.

� ّ ‫� او � ��ي�م�ا د �ي� �ن��نُغ��� ���عرا ده‬

Poem 10, p. 26.

َ ْ �� ‫ا‬ ‫�� ��ي‬ ‫�ي‬ ‫���ا ����� ��م� ل‬ � �‫ق� ي� ا �ن�ا �ن�ا ��ل�نج�ا ��� �ع�� ن‬ � � ‫ي‬ ‫ل‬ � ٍ‫ي‬

Meter: rajaz. Faw 161, 21 vv.; Ham 76, 21 vv.; Hat 147, 17 vv.; KF 25, 21 vv. Assaf 99, 17 vv.; King Saud 33, 17 vv.; Rabii 161, 21 vv.; Ubudi 8–9, 17 vv.

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َ � ‫ن‬ ْ ‫�� � ا ���َ ن‬ �� َ‫� ن ن‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ا‬ ‫ا� ا‬ ‫ش‬ ‫ا ن ا � ا ��نط‬ � � � � � ‫ا‬ � � � � � � ‫د‬ � � ‫م‬ � � � ‫���� ن� ��م� �م� نح�� َ����م�ي�ر �ود ا �ر ر� مي� و �وع َ�طي ر َ م �ر‬ ‫ن‬

Poem 11, p. 30. Meter: rajaz.

Faw 171, 30 vv.; Ham 79, 33 vv. King Saud 7, 30 vv.; Rabii 169, 31 vv.; Ubudi 11, 33 vv.

� ُ� ‫ش‬ ‫ا �ل�� �ل او ���و �م ن� ��جب�ي ��ود �َ�ي�نْج��را‬ ٍ

Poem 12, p. 34.

َ‫ْ َي‬ ُ ْ ��‫ن‬ �‫�وا ن�ٍ َي� ش���ج��ر�� �َ�جش��ل‬

ّ‫ن‬ ‫��ا ند ا ا �نْ�ي‬ � ‫�م‬ � ‫ت‬ �‫ه‬ � ‫م‬ ‫ي‬ �‫َ � َ ي‬

Meter: rajaz. Faw 145, 29 vv.; Ham 109, 29 vv.; Hat 150, 29 vv.; KF 30, 28 vv. Assaf 97, 27 vv.; King Saud 79, 28 vv.; Rabii 204, 29 vv.

َْ ‫�ن‬ ْ‫�� � ن‬ ‫��َّ �بن‬ ‫ا‬ � � � � � ‫ب‬ � � ‫ه‬ � ‫�ل د ا ره‬ ‫ع‬ ‫ج‬ � � � � � � ‫�و�م ي � ي َ �ل وَي َ م ي‬

Poem 13, p. 38.

� �‫ا‬ ‫�م ٍ�د ��من���� ��و ��ٍط‬

Meter: long. Ham 112, 10 vv. King Saud 75, 10 vv.

َ� � ْ َ �� َ َّ � ‫ن‬ َ ْ� ‫�ي��ي�� ��ل ا ��ل ش�����ا �ع ا ل‬ � ���‫��ن��ر ا �َن‬ ‫�جع�مي�م�د ا � ا�اَمي���جع� �ن�ا ����جي��ا ره‬ �‫��مع‬ ‫م‬ ‫و‬ � ‫ي‬ ‫ر‬ ‫م‬

Poem 14, p. 40. Meter: hazaj.

Faw 126, 45 vv.; Ham 83, 46 vv.; Hat 162, 46 vv.; KF 41, 45 vv. Assaf 93, 44 vv.; Dhukayr 153–54, 23 vv.; Rabii 186, 46 vv.; Ubudi 12–13, 46 vv.

َ � � � ‫ا �ل��� �ن�� �َ��ي��د ا �ل����ا د ا ي� �م ن� ا ���� ش��صره‬ �‫ي‬

Poem 15, p. 46.

ْ‫نَ � َ ْ ي ن ��ل َ ن‬ � ‫�هر� �م� ا‬ ‫�معر�م‬ � ��

Meter: long. Faw 158, 23 vv.; Ham 86, 23 vv.; Hat 168, 22 vv.; KF 19, 22 vv. King Saud 43, 21 vv.; Rabii 175, 22 vv.; Ubudi 7–8, 20 vv.

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ْ � ْ َ ّ� ‫نَ ي ن‬ � ������‫����ا � او�ا�م ش‬ � ‫��� ر�ل �ع��ر ا‬ ‫��َمعره‬ � �‫� ن‬ �‫�َ�غ‬ � ‫ي‬ ‫ن‬ َ ‫َ ن‬ Poem 16, p. 50.

َ َ ‫���� ن‬ ‫� د نَ �� ��ن� ��ل�� ��� ن‬ ‫� �وٍ ر‬ �‫ي‬ ٍ

� ‫ي‬ ‫�م�ا �ل‬

Meter: mutadārik. Faw 105, 52 vv.; Ham 94, 41 vv.; Hat 148, 49 vv.; KF 26, 49 vv. Assaf 92, 49 vv.; Dhukayr 147–49, 54 vv.; King Saud 27, 54 vv.

ََّ � ‫ن‬ ْ‫ا� َ ي‬ ‫�� نَ �� ن�ْ �ن‬ � ‫ا ن نَ� ّ ا‬ � � � � � �‫��ج� ��� ي�ج‬ ‫�ل ا �ل��د �� ���معر �ي� � ار �� ا��م�ب����وره‬ ‫ل‬ ‫ي‬ ٍ ٍ ‫ع‬

Poem 17, p. 56. Meter: long.

Faw 155, 24 vv.; Ham 104, 24 vv.; Hat 146, 24 vv.; KF 52, 24 vv. Assaf 98, 13 vv.; King Saud 71, 24 vv.; Rabii 180, 25 vv.

َ‫ْ ََّ ي‬ ‫ح�َ�م��د ا ن ا ��ل ش���م�ا �ع ا �ْ� ن‬ � ‫� ��ي �� ��ل‬ � �‫��ج�ا �و ن‬ ‫� �و�جعره‬ � � � � � � ‫ن‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ي‬ ‫و‬ ‫يو‬ ‫ر‬ ‫ر‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ي‬

Poem 18, p. 60. Meter: long.

Faw 186, 18 vv.; Ham 107, 20 vv.; Hat 159, 14 vv.; KF 54, 18 vv. Assaf 98, 13 vv.; King Saud 70, 15 vv.; Rabii 181, 15 vv.; Ubudi 6, 15 vv.

َ‫� َ ش‬ َ‫ن‬ ْ‫َ ّ َ� ي‬ ��‫ج��ا ��ل‬ ‫�َجع �� ش‬ ‫� ��م�� ����َ ��جع ه �ع ن‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ل‬ � � � � � � ‫ا‬ ‫ا‬ � � � � � � � ‫ج‬ � � ‫وي ر � ي َر‬ ‫رو‬ ‫ر ر ري‬ ‫ري‬ َ‫ن‬

Poem 19, p. 64.

ّ� َ ‫�ي ��و�م د � ��وا‬

Meter: mutadārik. Faw 118, 74 vv.; Ham 89, 76 vv.; Hat 156, 68 vv.; KF 55, 72 vv. Assaf 95–96, 70 vv.; King Saud 45, 77 vv.; Rabii 182, 75 vv.

َ‫ن‬ � ُ � ‫ن�ْ � ُ ن‬ ‫ن‬ ‫�ي‬ �‫َ� ش���م�ا �م ن� �ع ار �م ا � ���ي���ل �ن�ا � ��يه��ل ن� �ه�ا ن���� �ن���د �و �ل�ا ن� َ����ر �ل��ل�ي �� او ��ي� ���ب�ه�ا ي‬ �� ‫َ س‬ ٍ Poem 20, p. 74. Meter: ṭawīl. Ham 117, 41 vv. King Saud 13, 43 vv.; Rabii 166, 43 vv.

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َ ��‫�م�ا رن��ب� �م ن� �َم�ن�م�ا ْر���ج‬ َ ‫َع‬ Poem 21, p. 80.

َ ‫���ا �ن���م�� � ا �� ��ي�م�ّ � ْ�من‬ ‫ا ��ل�ا� �م ا �� �ي�معْ ن�مب� �م ن ند ا ��م�� ن‬ � � ‫ب‬ َ ‫و ل رع � ر ري‬ �‫و َ �ل َي� َ��ي‬

Meter: ṭawīl. Faw. 111, 65 vv.; Ham 113, 66 vv.; Hat 142, 64 vv.; KF 44, 61 vv. Assaf 94–95, 71 vv.; Huber 2–3, 52 vv.; King Saud 9, 61 vv.; Rabii 170, 61 vv.; Ubudi 15–16, 41 vv.

َْ ‫ا‬ � � � ْ � ‫ن َ َ ْي �ن ّ ن‬ ‫ا �ل�ا �ي�ا �م ��ج� �َي�جع‬ �� �‫�َج�ل�� ٍ� �ل�نج�ا �ورن‬ ��‫ح�� َ����� ن� �ْرن‬ ‫�و ��ج�د � ن‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ر‬ ‫و‬ َ ‫ع‬ ‫ع‬

Poem 22, p. 88. Meter: ṭawīl.

Faw 164, 54 vv.; Ham 120, 58 vv.; Hat 139, 57 vv. Assaf 91–92, 54 vv.; Dawud 121–22, 39 vv.; Dhukayr 149–51, 47 vv.; Huber 30–32, 35 vv.; King Saud 20, 55 vv.; MS Shi ʿr Nabati 1, 45 vv.; Rabii 155, 56 vv.; Shurayyiṭī 121–22, 39 vv.

ّ‫ْ ي ْ � يَ ن‬ ْ‫�ن ا ن‬ � ْ‫� ا � ا شَ َ�ن‬ ْ � � ‫غ��� ن� �نَ��نمَي���ك‬ �‫�صرن� َر ن�َ��ل�� َ���ل �ل�� �م�ب‬ َ �‫�ل� ن�م� � ��و�ٍر ي‬ َ

Poem 23, p. 96. Meter: long.

Faw 197, 6 vv.; Ham 124, 6 vv.; Hat 171, 6 vv.; KF 48, 6 vv. King Saud 78, 6 vv.; Rabii ms 179, 6 vv.; Ubudi 4, 6 vv.

‫�ْ ي‬ ��‫ا � �� �وش��َ�م‬ َ

Poem 24, p. 98.

ْ َْ ُ � � ‫ا ��ل�نمب�ْع � ن�َ ْ َ ش‬ ‫��ع�صر ن�ي�ّ��ا ��� ��م�ا ي���م�َ�ل������ا ���ود‬ ����َ َ ٍ

Meter: long. Faw 149, 22 vv.; Ham 126, 22 vv.; Hat 160, 15 vv.; KF 63, 21 vv. Assaf 176, 15 vv.; King Saud 42, 17 vv.; Rabii 176, 22 vv.; Ubudi 6–7, 17 vv.

‫ن�َ � �ن � � ��ي �� �َ � ن ا �ن�ْ ي � � �م ن ند ا ا ��لن��ن‬ �‫�مي��ل‬ � َ �‫�م� يل� َمبه� َي��ول وي � � نَ�م‬

Poem 25, p. 102.

‫َ نْ ش ْ � ن‬ �‫ا‬ ْ �‫ا �م��� �ن� � نَل�م�ي�ر �ي������َج�د �ي‬

Meter: mumtadd. Faw 196, 6 vv.; Ham 131, 6 vv.; Hat 172, 6 vv.; KF 50, 6 vv. King Saud 78, 6 vv.; Rabii 193, 7 vv.; Ubudi 5–6, 6 vv.

١77

177

Index of Poems, Editions, and Manuscripts Used for this Edition

ْ ‫ن �ن‬ ‫ن‬ � � ���َ� ‫َ�ع ن�ّج�� �م� ا‬ ‫��ر��ج�ا �ي�مع�م‬

Poem 26, p. 104.

‫ْ َ �ن‬ ّ�� ‫ن‬ ‫ْن ي‬ ‫ن‬ � � � � � � � ‫ه‬ ‫ع‬ ‫م‬ �� ‫ع‬ � ‫م‬ ‫�د‬ � ‫م‬ � � � ‫م‬ ‫َا �َ��َ م � �وي ٍ َ ي �م و�ي� �ل‬

ّ َ � ‫��ا‬ ‫ي َ ن‬ �‫��ج��ي‬

Meter: mutadārik. Faw 142, 29 vv.; Ham 133, 33 vv.; Hat 160, 29 vv.; KF 39, 28 vv. Assaf 100, 6 vv.; Assaf 183, 30 vv.; King Saud 81, 30 vv.; Rabii 189, 30 vv.

‫ن‬ ‫��ْمع �م�ا‬ ‫� َر‬

Poem 27, p. 108.

� � ‫ن ا �ن ا‬ ‫ن‬ ��� ‫َدي�س �م� �ن� ن� ا ���ه� ��ط ا‬

Meter: long.

َ‫ا ش‬ ‫� ا ّٰلل� د � ن‬ � � � ‫و َي‬ ‫سن ر‬ ٍ

Faw 184, 13 vv.; Ham 135, 13 vv.; Hat 152, 12 vv.; KF 62, 12 vv. Assaf 99, 12 vv.; King Saud 32, 12 vv.; Rabii 178, 13 vv.; Ubudi 10, 11 vv.

َ ‫�ا‬ ‫ن� َ � ا �يَع � � ا � ا‬ ‫���ا ن‬ ‫�ا ن‬ ْ��ُ ‫ا ��ل�ا ��ا �م‬ �‫���و ن� �وك‬ � � ‫ا‬ � ‫ل‬ � � ‫ه‬ � ‫ت‬ ‫م‬ � � � ‫م‬ � � ‫م‬ � � ‫ل‬ ‫ل‬ ‫ج‬ � � � � � � � ‫و‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ر‬ ‫و‬ ‫و‬ � ‫ل‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ر‬ َ � � � ‫ن‬ Poem 28, p. 110. Meter: ṭawīl. Faw 131, 54 vv.; Ham 138, 62 vv.; Hat 166, 62 vv.; KF 21, 53 vv. Assaf 90–91, 59 vv.; Dawud 213–15, 53 vv.; Dhukayr 151–53, 56 vv.; Hasawi 22–24, 62 vv.; Huber 1–2, 58 vv.; King Saud 16, 57 vv; Rabii 158–61, 57 vv.

َّ‫ن‬ ‫ا ن‬ ‫ي ن‬ َْ َ ْ‫�َ ��� ا �ن‬ ‫� �ع ن�� ا نَ��م�ا‬ ‫ا‬ ‫طف‬ ‫ن‬ � � � � � ‫ا‬ ‫م‬ � ‫�د‬ � � � ‫��م‬ ��‫��مع�م ن‬ �‫�وا ن� �م��م�د ن� ن م � َ� ي‬ � َ ‫�ي� ن� ن� �ي�ط‬ �‫� و ح َ و‬ ٍ ٍ

Poem 29, p. 118. Meter: rajaz.

Faw 178, 17 vv.; Ham 143, 18 vv.; Hat 169, 17 vv.; KF 35, 17 vv. Assaf 187, 18 vv.; Dhukayr 145, 18 vv.; Rabii 198, 18 vv.

َ ‫��م�ا ه‬ �‫�ع‬

�‫ي ا‬ �‫��ي�م� ��ي‬

َ‫نْ َ نَ ش ي‬ ‫ي � ا� ش‬ � � �ٍ �‫ش� ن� � او �م��� �َم�م��ل ��مو‬ ‫� او َ�ع�َم�ل� ه اَ�م��� ي‬

Poem 30, p. 122.

� � � �َ �� ‫�يم�ا‬ ‫ل‬ ‫�ودٍ َ�ن�َ�ر‬

Meter: mutadārik. Faw 138, 38 vv.; Ham 147, 41 vv.; Hat 164, 36 vv.; KF 37, 38 vv. Assaf 93–94, 38 vv.; King Saud 28, 37 vv.; Rabii 191, 39 vv.

١78

178

ْ َ َ �� �ْ َ‫ا َ َّ � ا � نّ َ ا َ �ن‬ � ‫� �� ا �ل��د ���نج� �ع ن‬ ��‫�ج��ي �ي�م �م نلفي‬ � ��ّ�َ‫�َجي‬ � �‫ا �ن� ا �و‬ ‫��جي� ��م ي‬ � ٍ‫و‬

Index of Poems, Editions, and Manuscripts Used for this Edition

Poem 31, p. 128. Meter: long.

Ham 151, 13 vv.; Hat 173, 13 vv.; KF 60, 13 vv. King Saud 77, 13 vv.; Rabii 178, 13 vv.; Ubudi 9, 13 vv.

‫�م�شم� ا ��ل ش���َمعْ�م�� ا �� ��يَ� ن‬ ��‫� ����ي�َّم‬ َ‫� ي‬ ‫َ �ل‬

Poem 32, p. 130.

‫�� ن‬ ‫ا ��ل��د � ن ا ��ل� �َ��َّن �َ��َّن‬ �‫ا �ل�َدي�س َي � �ي� ن ي� ن ي‬

Meter: long. Faw 199, 7 vv.; Ham 153, 7 vv.; Hat 158, 7 vv. Assaf 98, 7 vv.

ْ ‫�َ ْش‬ ��‫��م�ي�ي�م�� �َو� ْ��جعَ�مي�َّم‬ َ �‫ا ����معر��� َي‬

Poem 33, p. 132.

َ ‫� ا � �� ي‬ � ‫�ن‬ ‫��� �ي �� � ا �ن�ا ��ا ن��ل‬ ��‫���ط� �ل ن ٍ �ل�ل‬ �‫� ��و ن� � او �ي‬ ‫و‬ ‫ن‬ َ ‫� َ� ن م‬

Meter: mutadārik. Faw 190, 9 vv.; Ham 157, 9 vv.; Hat 171, 7 vv.; KF 49, 7 vv. King Saud 54, 7 vv.; Rabii 205, 7 vv.; Ubudi 5, 7 vv.

‫�ُه� ن� ا ��ل�ا�م� � ��ج�ا دي���ج�ا �يَج ْ�د � � ����ه�� �ي�ا ����م�ا‬ ‫ور ن‬ ‫و‬ �‫ٍح و � ي ن ٍ ي‬

Poem 34, p. 134. Meter: long.

Faw 182, 15 vv.; Ham 154, 15 vv.; Hat 151, 14 vv.; KF 33, 15 vv. Assaf 98, 15 vv.; Dhukayr 155, 15 vv.; King Saud 34, 15 vv.; Rabii 197, 15 vv.; Ubudi 1, 15 vv.

١79

179

Index

ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz, King, xlix n107, 151n143

Āl ʿĀmir, xxvi, §§11.19–20, §22.58

ʿAbd al-Wahhāb, Muḥammad ibn, ix, xii,

al-ʿĀmirī, Abu Ḥamzah, xxxvii, xlviii n88

ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ, xxvi, §11.19, §16.42, §21.53,

xxv, 138n14, 138n15, 153n158 Abū Mūsā, xiii, §15.3, 141n44

141n45, 145n92

Abū Zwayyid, Khalaf, 140n29

al-ʿAnāgir, §28.38, 152n152

abuse, §13.8, §28.24; tongue-lashing, ix,

al-ʿAnāqir. See al-ʿAnāgir

§19.39; vile speech, §21.19

ancestors, xxvi–xxvii, §4.21, §10.9, §§11.19–

adversary. See enemy

23, §12.3, §16.6, §29.2, §30.16; boasting

advice, xii, xviii, xx, xxi, xxii, xxvii, xxix,

about, xxvi–xxvii, §1.24, §4.21, §10.9,

xxx, xl, xliv n47, xlvi n55, §4.11, §19.6,

§§11.19–23, 137n8. See also genealogy

§19.15, §24.7, §26.12, §28.15, §30.6,

animals, xxiii–xxiv, 144n80; bestiary, xxiii,

§30.31, §31.1; counsel, x, xvii, xviii,

xxxiv; bull, §17.16; cat, xxxi, §17.4,

xxix, xxx, xxxi, xliv n42, §12.1, §16.5,

§20.37; cow, xxv, §6.5, §14.42, §15.17,

§16.44, §18.19, §19.14, §22.56, §24.5,

§16.48, §23.3, §25.2, §31.8; dog, xxx,

§26.3, §28.44, §30.357, 140n38; wisdom

§6.3, §19.54, §24.13, §27.5, §30.19,

poems, §§2.1–15, §§7.1–17, §§16.1–51;

141n50, 151n147; donkey, §11.17, §14.39,

§§19.1–74, §§26.1–29, §§30.1–38, §§33.1–

§15.23, §19.26, §24.4, 143n70; fox,

9. See also wisdom

§21.38; ewe, §29.7; gazelle, xxiv, §2.13;

agriculture, xi, xiii, §10.20, §§33.1–4, §33.8.

goat, xxix, §7.2; hyena, xxii, xxiv, §13.6,

See also crops, harvest, irrigation, palm

§14.6, §19.5, §26.7; lamb, xiv, §6.7;

trees, peasant

leopard, §14.6; lion, xxiv, §6.7, §14.26,

Aḥnaf ibn Qays, §21.53, 145n92

§21.44, §32.6, §34.13, 153n159; lizard,

al-Aḥsāʾ, xiii, §12.21, 150n133

xxiv, §12.11, §15.11, §16.30, 140n37; oryx,

ʿAjfat al-Gūr, §28.55

§16.40; ostrich, §16.41, §28.35, §31.12;

Ajwad ibn Zāmil, xlviii n89

ox, xxiv, xxx, xxxi, xxxiv, §1.23, §10.3,

Aleppo, §2.15

§23.1, §25.6, §26.27; rabbit, xxiv, §34.12;

ally, §28.19, 151n143. See also enemy

rat, §14.44; rock badger, §22.47; sheep,

alms, §24.21

§8.3, §14.18, §19.54, §30.22, 139n25; wolf,

alms tax, §16.25

xxxvii, §28.26, §29.7, §32.3, 153n158. See

ambition, xv, xlv n46, §11.25, §20.16, §20.39,

also birds, camel, horse, scorpion, snake

§28.11

١80

180

Index apology, x, xii, xvi–ii, xlvi n52, §§21.1–69,

Bedouin, xi, xvi, xxvi–xxvii, xxviii, xxxii,

145n91; poem of apology to ʿAbd Allāh

xlvi n59, xlvii n63, xlix n101, xlix n106,

ibn Muʿammar, §§21.1–69

xlix n107, §14.27, §28.49, §29.17, §30.17,

al-Aʿrāf, §21.61

§33.7, 144n80, 146n100, 147n105,

al-ʿĀriḍ, xxi, §3.1, §19.5

151n146, 153n162, 153n163; anti-Bedouin

arms, xxiii, xliii n12, §28.49; coat of mail,

bias, xliii n6. See also sedentary

§20.26; flintlock, §7.9, §9.5, §32.7;

beetle, §20.34, §22.48, 148n111

gun, §7.9, §24.19, §31.8, 143n71; lance,

beloved. See love

§7.11, §11.8, §11.11, §19.64, 140n33; spear,

bereaved. See death

xlvi, §7.8, §21.49, §32.7; sword, xxiv,

bestiary. See animals, birds

xxv, xxvi, xlvi, §6.5, §7.11, §7.15, §14.24,

bewitch, §16.32

§15.21, §18.9, §22.33, §28.17, §28.46,

Bini Zēd (Banū Zayd), §22.45, 109n147,

§32.4, §32.7, §34.9, 146n98, 149n126

147n109

arsenic, §8.7

al-Bīr, xxxvi, xxxvii, §25.5, 149n125

al-Aʿshā, xlvi n56

birds, xxiii, xxiv, xxv, xxix, §7.15, §11.27,

ashes, xxvi, §10.10. See also fire

§16.8, §16.23, §16.49, §21.35, 139n24,

aspiration. See ambition

140n34, 141n50, 142n57; bustard, §30.23;

assemblies, §16.2, §21.20

chicken, §6.6, 139n20; dove, xxviii,

asylum, xi, xiv, xxii. See also refuge

§14.46, §20.40, §21.65, §26.20; eagle,

al-ʿAṭṭār, §15.19

xlvi n55, §20.33; falcon, xxiii, §16.7,

al-ʿAzāʿīz, §22.49, §28.38, §30.29, 150n141

§16.49, §20.30, §30.23, §30.36, 141n50, 142n57, 144n82; kite, §17.5, §20.33;

Baghdad, xxiii, §28.14

nocturnal, §16.23, §16.49, 141n50,

Banū Khālid, xiv, xxxi–xxxii

142n57; owl, §14.43, §22.54, 142n57,

Banū Zayd. See Bini Zēd

144n82, xlii n9, 141n50; peregrine,

Basra, xiii, xxiii, §22.44, §28.14, 141n43

§16.8, §21.3, §30.23, 144n82; pigeon,

battle, xxiv, §10.8, §§11.14–16, §13.9, §17.1,

§11.11; rooster, §12.10, 140n37; sparrow,

§18.3, §21.29, §21.44, §21.64, §24.13,

xxiv, §12.12; sparrowhawk, §16.7, §21.3;

§28.21, §28.31, §28.55, 145n83, 146n96,

vulture, §20.33, §21.52, §22.46, 145n91;

151n143; battlefield, §14.43, xxiv, §14.29,

wingless, xxv, §7.15, 139n24

§21.52; battle cry, §11.18, §16.43; dust of, §13.9

blacksmith (ṣāniʿ ), §18.19, §20.10, 143n65; bellows, §18.20, §20.10

beauty, xxviii, §4.7, §17.8, §21.37, 137n4, 137n6; beautiful girl, xlii n4, 137n9; beautiful girl symbolizing poem, 137n9

blame, x, xviii, §21.20, §24.21, §26.3. See also censure boasting, xv, xvii, xxvi, xxix, xlv n43, xlv n46, §1.24, §10.9, §16.26, 137n8, 149n126; bragging, §10.9, §24.4

١8١

181

Index body, §7.6, 151n148; bones, xxv, xxix, §5.11, §19.13, §19.22, §24.14, §26.29, §30.19,

caravan (ẓaʿn), xix, §22.15; carrying howdah of women, 152n154

§30.26, 149n129, 151n148; bones,

carpenter, §2.8, §19.35, 144n73

broken, xxv, xxix, §24.14, §26.259,

castle, §16.20, §21.45. See also fortress

149n129, 151n148; liver, §19.64; ribs, xx,

caution, xxiv, xxix, §16.36, 142n53. See also

§7.6, §16.27

fear

bodies (dead). See corpses

cavalry. See horseman

book, §14.38

cave, xxix, §16.15

bragging. See boasting

censure, x, xviii, §22.14, §26.3. See also

branding, 150n138

blame

building, xxix, §11.28, §16.9, §19.49, §21.57,

character, xxvii, §12.4, §22.45; good sense,

§22.35; at precipice, xxix, §11.28; on

§21.26, §28.44; moral fiber, §26.23;

sand, xxix, §11.28, §16.9

temper, §13.9, §19.37, §21.44, §30.25.

bucket, xxxi, §12.28, §16.7, §31.11, 138n19; with broken handles, xxxi, §12.28 burrow, xxiv, §15.22

See also decency, generosity, kindness, vices, virtues, zeal characters, characterization, x, xviii, xxi, xxvii, xxxi, xxxiv, xlii, §19.63, 143n64. See

calumny, xxiii, xlv, §§21.1–69; backbiters, §21.4, §22.7; detractors, §§21.1–69,

also theater children, xv, xxi, xxiii, xxv, xxvii, xxviii,

§20.27, §28.50, 151n143; smear, §21.5. See

xxix, xliv n43, §5.2, §5.8, §9.8, §10.19,

also gossip

§11.26, §16.2, §16.38, §19.2, §19.72, §21.1,

camels, xxviii, xxx, xlvii n63, §2.6, §3.1,

§24.14, §25.7, §26.21, §30.2, §30.38,

§6.1, §7.2, §10.20, §14.11, §16.40, §21.30,

§33.3, 143n71, 144n77, 148n117, 153n159;

§21.37, §21.45, §21.59, §22.34, §23.3,

offspring, xlvii n60, §1.22, §8.5, §19.56,

§28.34, §28.41, §30.22, §30.25, §31.7,

§24.12

§32.2, §33.7, 138n15, 139n24, 143n71,

Chosroes, §21.53

145n87, 146n100, 147n105, 149n128,

chronicles, xi, xii, xiii, xxiii, xxiv, xxxix,

149–50n132, 150n138, 151n148, 152n154, 153n158, 153n162, 153n63; herd, xxviii,

xlii n5, xliii n6 clothes, §2.14, §7.8, §9.7, §14.21, §21.51;

xlvii, 146n100, 149n128; hump, §14.11;

brocade, §20.38; cloak, xxi, §15.4, §31.9,

mount, xxxii, §21.37, §22.34, 139n26;

143n69, 152n155; cotton, §15.4; dirty,

plundered, §28.41, 150n138; purebred,

§9.7, §17.6; fine clothes, §14.21, §20.29,

§16.40; riding camel, §21.30, 145n37,

§20.38, §26.18; robe, §12.11, §21.48,

147n105, 148n151; rutting, §3.1, 138n15;

138n19, 153n163; shirt, §15.4, §17.6; silk,

she-camel, §28.34, §30.25, 147n105,

gold-threaded, §20.38; skirt, §19.72;

153n162

vest, §19.4; wool, §19.4

١82

182

Index coffee, xxix, §11.16, §16.24, §17.3, §34.5, 139n23, 141n50

§28.21, §28.55, §§30.33–35, §34.7, 140n29, 141n42, 148n120, 152n150,

colocynth. See vegetation

152n151; bereaved, laments of, xxv,

community, xvi, xxx, §22.50

§24.20; of Ḥmēdān, xi; honorable, xxiv,

company, xv, xxi, xxv, xxxiv, xxxviii, xlix,

§§30.33–35, 152n150, 152n151; martyr,

§6.6, §20.12, §21.25, §22.7, §22.10, §29.7

§30.34; painful, 148n120; reputation

conceit, xix, xliv n43, §6.9

after, 141n42; shroud, §28.21; starvation

contentment, §7.10

(famine), as result of, xiii; wealth after,

conversation, x, xxxi, §19.70; chat, §22.10 co-rider (fellow rider, rear-rider), §19.31, §19.73, 143n71, 144n77, 148n117

xxvii. See also corpses, famine, plague debt, §§7.13–14, §22.13, §§33.3–5, 153n160; credit, §14.36; usurer, §14.30, §22.13

corpses, xxv–vi, xxx, §14.29, §24.20, §28.17, §28.55, 145n91

deceit, xxix, xlvi n55, §7.5, §10.1, §10.5, §15.5, §20.10, §22.13, §22.39, §26.23,

corruption, §21.6, §21.42, §30.18. See also evil

146n98; beguile, §16.16, §20.35; impostor, §10.15; sneak, §16.16. See also

counsel. See advice

falsehood, trap, treachery

courage. See virtues

decency, xxxi, §14.12, §19.42, §21.6

cowardice. See vices

delusion, §6.8

craftsman, xviii, §20.5, 139n26

demon. See devil

creed. See religion

derision. See mockery

crops, xv, §20.11, §30.22. See also

despot. See tyranny

agriculture, harvest, irrigation, peasant

desert, xvii, xxxii, xxxv–vi, xliii n9, xlv n43,

culture, ix, xiv, xvi, xxviii, xxxii–iii, xxxviii,

xlvi n56, xlix n106, §15.21, §16.24, §18.2,

152n155; cultured, xvi; lighthearted , xiv; majlis culture, xxxiii; in Najd. See Najd, Najdi; oral. See oral culture

§18.4, §22.48, §26.22, §30.27, 139n24, 140n33, 146n100, 147n105 destiny. See fate

curse, xx, xxxi, §16.38, §21.24; damn,

detractors. See calumny

§19.62. See also prayer

devil, xlv, §21.5; demon, §26.7 al-Dirʿiyyah, xi, §32.3

al-Dākhlah (al-Dākhilah), §15.15

disaster. See ruin

dates (fruit), xi, xv, xvi, xxii, xxviii, §7.1,

disease, dropsy, §1.17; epilepsy, §21.24; ill

§8.4, §9.2, §12.18, §14.8, §17.11, §§18.1–6,

health, §1.17. See also heal

§26.19, §30.36, §§33.3–4, 139n25,

disgrace. See shame

153n160, 153n161. See also palm trees

dishonor. See honor

date palms. See palm trees

dispute, xii, xxv, §12.27, §27.11, 143n64. See

death, xlvi n56, xlvii n60, §5.13, §14.12,

also mediation

§18.6, §21.5, §21.58, §21.68, §22.40,

١83

183

Index divorce, x, xx, xlix n97, §1.11, §19.48, §19.59, 144n77, 148n117

§22.5, §22.38, §28.43, §34.6, 138n16, 149–50n132; evil days, §11.6; evil eye,

domestic violence, xx, §§16.27–28, §23.5

§21.43; evil ways, §20.39, §21.9; sow

drought, xiii, xx, xxi, xxvi, xlii, §19.74; dry

evil, §11.24, §22.38; ward off evil, 138n16.

crops, xv, §20.11. See also famine

See also corruption

Ḍruma (Ḍurmāʾ), §27.1

evil eye. See evil

dust, §8.6, §11.14, §13.9, §20.24, §22.25,

eyes, xxv, xlv, §2.13, §4.12, §6.5, §6.7, §11.1,

139n21, 139n26; kicking dust in face,

§13.2, §13.8, §16.31, §17.11, §17.13, §19.5,

§22.25

§19.28, §19.54, §19.70, §20.15, §22.57, §23.5, §26.14, §26.26, §29.7, §30.3, §32.3,

earth, §12.25, 138n19, 143n67; soil, xxx,

152n150, 153n159; cow-eyed, xxv, §6.5;

§10.20, §24.5, §33.1, §33.5. See also

lined with kohl, §17.13, §26.14; reading

agriculture, mud

character in eyes and brows, §4.12,

eat, xxx, §5.1, §9.1, §13.1, §15.10, §27.1, §30.20, 142n63. See also fasting, food egalitarian, xxvii; natural hierarchy, xxvii.

§26.26 exile, xi, xii, xxiii, xxxix, §§22.1–59, 144n78, 151n143

See also status enemy, foe, xvi, xviii, xxiv, xxvi, xxix,

face, xlii n3, §13.3, §13.9, §14.10, §19.60,

xlvi n55, §7.11, §10.15, §14.19, §14.26,

§22.25, §23.5, §26.9, §28.2, §28.54;

§16.12, §16.20, §16.37, §16.46, §19.65,

loss of, §28.28; ugly, xlii n3, §13.9;

§22.33, §22.40, §24.22, §26.25, §28.20,

uncovered, §13.3

§28.32, §29.2, §29.9, §29.15, §30.10,

falcon. See birds

§30.29, §34.11, 145n91, 146n98, 151n144;

falsehood, xviii, xxvii; liar, lies, §12.5, §16.18,

adversary, xviii, xlvi n55, §14.27, §28.45, §30.10; in battle, xxiv, xxix, xlvi n55,

§21.18, §21.56. See also truth family, x, xii, xv, xvii–iii, xx–xxiii, xlii n3,

§7.11, §14.27, §§16.12–13, §22.33, §22.40,

xliii n20, §1.26, §11.5, §22.40, §23.6,

§28.33, §§30.11–14, 145n91, 146n98;

137n9, 142n56, 148n117, 150n138; father,

hereditary, xvi, xxvi, §29.4; preemptive

xiv, xxi, xxii, xxvi, xxvii, xxxviii, §1.22,

attack on, xxiv, xxix, xlvi, §7.11, §28.33,

§4.22, §7.10, §16.5, §19.64, 144n77;

§30.11. See also ally

grandfather, xxvi, xxvii, xlii n5, §4.22,

esteem. See honor

§7.10, §29.4, §30.36, 137n9, 151n144;

Euphrates, xxxv, §14.28, §22.23

in-law, xiv, xx, §30.8, 143n64; husband,

Euting, Julius, xliv n36, xlix n101, 139n23,

xx, xxviii, xlv n46, §9.19, §§19.38–41,

146n100, 147n105

§19.48, §19.53, §19.72, 143n71, 144n73,

Eve, §1.21, 137n7

144n77, 148n1117; mother, xx, xxvii,

evil, xxiii, xxviii, xlv n45, §8.2, §11.6, §11.24,

xxix, xlii n3, §§5.2–4, §5.8, §16.28,

§20.39, §21.5, §21.9, §21.10, §21.43,

١84

§19.22, §30.16; mother-in-law, xx;

184

Index family (cont.), son. See Māni ʿ, Mjalli; uncle, §11.30, 140n32; wife, x, xx, xxi, xxvii, xlii n3, xlv n43, xlv n46, xlv n47, §1.3, §7.17, §16.2; wife, advice on choosing, §§19.1–74, §30.15, 143n64

firewood collectors, xv, §26.22, 149n128. See also poverty flattery, §29.15, 151n143; unflattering, xxxvii, 147n109 floods, xv, §21.36

famine, xiii, §15.3, 141n44, 147n107, 148n118. See also drought

flower, xxii, §4.3, §14.10, §19.7, §26.5 fly (insect), §10.7, 141n50

al-Faraj, Khālid, xxxvii, xliii n15, xlix n98, 142n55, 146n92

flying, xxv, §7.15, §9.4, §21.49, §22.58, §30.12, 139n24, 140n34, 148n115

al-Farazdaq, xxxii, 146n93

foe. See enemy

Fāris ibn Bassām, 145n90

food, xx, xxii, xxiv, xxviii, §9.5, §10.7, §11.26,

fart, x, §18.14, §18.17, §31.13. See also shit

§14.6, §14.21, §14.32, §18.8, §19.20,

fasting, xxix, §16.25

§19.35, §20.23, §22.27, §23.3, §28.45,

fate, xii, xv, xvi, xviii, xxiii, xxiv, xxix, xxxvii,

§30.4, §30.9, 146n100; butter, xxx,

xlv n46, §2.2, §11.12, §11.14, §16.36,

xlviii n97, §17.15, §25.4, 140n29, 149n124;

§16.39, §19.9, §19.12, §28.11, 142n53;

cow’s and camel’s hooves, §23.3; dinner,

arrows, blows of, xviii, xxiv, xxix, §2.2,

§16.28, §30.8; fatal morsel, §16.47;

§16.36, §19.9, 142n53; destiny, §14.45,

flour and butter paste, xlviii n97, §25.4;

§22.29

locusts, roasted, 140n28; meat and

al-Fawzān, ʿAbd Allāh Nāṣir, xlv n44, 137n1, 145n91, 153n158

broth, xxv, §19.50, §24.8; meat, roast, §14.40, §15.21, §28.57; pastry, §17.12;

fear, x, xviii, xxii, xxiv, xxx, xliii n8, xli n56,

store, supplies, §§19.35–36; supper,

§5.13, §11.15, §12.7, §16.12, §17.7, §19.51,

§12.8, §16.25,§21.52; wheat gruel

§21.44, §21.59, §22.9, §26.3, §27.3,

(ʿaṣīdah, duwayfah), §25.3, 149n124. See

§30.23, §34.14, 142n57, 145n86, 146n96;

also dates, eat, fasting

of censure, x, xviii, §26.3; of death,

foolishness. See stupidity

§5.12, xlvi n56; fearless, xviii, xlvi n56,

fooled, §16.14, §19.22. See also deceit

§14.27; fear as poor counselor, xxiv,

footwear: barefoot, §11.12, 142n63; sandals,

§22.28. See also vices (cowardice), virtues (courage)

§19.53 forbearance. See patience

feast, §9.1, §12.15, §19.50, §28.55, 145n91

fortress, xxiv, §28.19, §28.22. See also castle

fellow rider. See co-rider

fortune, xxii, §28.10; luck, x, §1.13, §16.39,

fire, xxv, xxvi, xlvii, §4.18, §6.4, §10.10, §18.2, §24.8, §28.52, §29.9, §31.12, §34.3; firewood, xv, §26.22; friendly fire, §29.9;

§19.41 fragrant, §15.12, §16.17, §22.44. See also perfume

fires of Hell, §11.4, §14.37 fire bush, xliii, 149n128

١85

185

Index friend, x, xi, xv, xxiii, xliv n42, §4.10, §5.14, §10.4, §14.28, §15.20, §16.14, §16.16,

guard, xxii, xxx, §19.9, §21.43, §26.6, §27.5, §30.16; watchman, §13.7

§16.21, §20.12, §22.1, §22.17, §22.54,

guardian angel, §21.10

§22.56, §24.19, §§26.23–25, §26.27,

guest, xxii, xxxi, xlii, §8.1, §8.3, §10.6,

§28.44, §§29.1–2, §29.7, §30.15, 138n9,

§10.19, §§12.7–8, §14.36, §15.15, §§19.38–

138n10, 153n161; companion, §10.4,

39, §21.52, §22.47, §25.2, §25.6, §30.9,

§16.16, §21.46, 141n43; false friend,

139n23, 139n25, 139n26, 145n91, 148n118;

§10.4, §16.16, §26.23; true friend, §16.16,

guest room (rōshan), §7.7, 139n23. See

§26.23, §26.25, §28.44

also hospitality

gazelle. See animals

Ḥāʾil, xxvii, xliv n36, xlvi n59

gender segregation, xxxiii

Hal Atā, §21.61, 146n95

genealogy, xvii, §11.22; eugenics, xxvii;

hand, xvi, xviii, xxv, xxvii, xxx, xxxiv,

lineage, xii, xxvi–vii, §1.24, §11.3, §11.20,

§1.27, §5.8, §13.5, §14.8, §14.38, §17.3,

§15.19, 137n8; mongrel breed/race, xxvi,

§17.9, §20.6, §21.55, §22.21, §22.38,

§11.23. See also ancestors

§23.1, §27.13, §29.13, 152n153; empty,

generosity, xxi, xxv, §1.27, §7.4, §11.24, §12.27, §14.5, §14.19, §16.42, §20.34, §21.48, §21.53, §22.37, §24.2, §34.5, 145n92, 146n96, 147n106, 148n118; munificence, §11.25, §14.4, §16.7, §21.26, 145n92. See also miser, virtues

xxvii, §13.5; gestures, 149n128; left and right, §14.38, §22.38; liberal, §21.55; in marriage, xxx, xxxiv, §23.1 harvest, xv, xxviii, §7.1, §15.16, §26.21, §33.3, 153n160. See also agriculture hate, §§1.7–11, §21.9 Ḥātim al-Ṭāʾ ī, §21.53, §30.32, 141n42,

al-Ghāṭ, §15.10, §27.1 gift, xix, xliii n9, §1.24, §14.34, §16.19, §21.48, 140n30

145n92, 152n150 hazaj. See meter

glory, xxiv, §21.42; self-glorification, xv. See also honor

al-Ḥdēthī (al-Ḥudaythī), §1.25, 137n9 heal, §19.61, §26.29, 149n129; cure, xxix,

God, §1.26, §4.8, §4.18, §5.1, §8.2, §9.3,

§1.27, §26.29. See also disease

§10.12, §11.14, §11.28, §12.14, §14.7,

heart, xiv, xv, §10.5, §11.10, §12.25, §13.1,

§14.34, §§14.45–46, §15.20, §18.19,

§14.22, §14.25, §16.18, §19.7, §19.70,

§19.40, §19.57, §20.25, §20.41, §21.16,

§20.11, §20.40, §21.51, 141n48, 146n98,

§§21.66–67, §§23.2–3, §27.1, §28.54,

149–50n132

§29.10, §30.27, 145n89, 149n129

heaven. See Paradise

gossip, §16.23, §19.18, §19.52, 143n69

Hell, §11.4, §14.37, §19.59, §22.55, 148n114;

gray. See old

dry thorns of Hell (ḍarī ʿ ), §22.55,

grain, xxvii, §6.6, §11.24, §11.31, §19.17,

148n114

§22.38

١86

186

Index hijāʾ, x, xiii, xxvi, §§10.1–21, §§11.1–32, §§15.1–23. See also mockery, satire

honor, xviii, xxii, xxiv, xlix n102, §6.8, §14.3, §20.31, §21.15, §21.18, §21.63, §22.27,

Ḥizwā, §22.44

§30.16, 142n57, 146n100; decent man,

al-Ḥjarih, §15.3

§14.12; decent society, xxxi, §19.42;

Ḥmēdān al-Shwēʿir, ix–xxxiv; as antihero,

dishonor, xxiii; esteem, xxix, xliv n43,

x, xv; apology to ʿAbd Allāh ibn

§12.15, §14.16, §16.42, §20.32, §22.45,

Muʿammar, x, xii, xvi–ii, xlvi n52,

§30.2, 150n134; ill repute, §1.21, §12.15,

§§21.1–69, 145n91; birth, xi; boasting,

§19.22, 141n42; prestige, xxvii, §11.23,

self-glorification (mufākharah), xv,

§20.37, 148n118; reputation, xvi, xviii,

§§20.1–42; conventions, experimenting

§6.8, §7.4, §14.1, §14.35, 151n143,

with, x–xi, xviii–ix, xix, xx, 141n39,

152n150; repute, §21.42, §29.1, §30.34,

147n103, 151n148; exile, self-imposed,

151n144. See also glory, respect, shame

xii, xiv, xxiii, xxxix, §§22.1–59, 144n78,

horse, §20.10, §22.40, §28.25; filly, §14.41,

151n143; financial reward for poetry,

§22.37, §26.8, 147n107; foal, §14.41;

xv; hometown. See al-Qaṣab; humor,

knackered, §16.22; mare, §11.17,

x–xiv; influences, xiv; literacy, xvi–ii;

§14.41; racehorse, §1.16; stallion, §12.5;

modest means, xv; moniker, xiii; Najdi fascination with, ix–xi; originality, x,

thoroughbred, xlvi; warhorse, §21.50 horseman, §11.8, §11.11, §17.1, §20.10,

xix; as peasant, xv–xvi; poetic ethos,

§§21.49–50, 140n33; cavalry, xxxi, §11.8,

xix, §§20.1–42; on power and wealth,

§17.4, §21.21, §21.49, §22.40

xxvi–viii; return to home country, xiii, §§15.1–23; theatrical approach. See

hospitality, §10.6, 145n91, 149n125. See also generosity, guest, virtues

theater, characters; self-depiction, xvii–

al-Ḥōṭah (al-Ḥawṭah), §15.18

iii; on war, xxiv–vi; women and family,

house, xiv, xxiv, §12.9, §13.2, §13.7, §14.12,

relationship with, x, xx–xxiii. See also

§16.9, §17.17, §19.49, §21.52, §23.4, §27.4,

poet, poetry

§28.27, 139n23, 139n25, 142n58, 143n69,

Hobbesian, xxvi

147n105, 148n117, 149n130; kitchen,

home, xxiv, §1.20, §13.1, §§13.5–6, §15.12,

§17.17; roof, §9.1, §17.1, §17.17, §19.44,

§16.14, §17.8, §18.4, §21.6, §21.21, §22.31,

§19.66, 139n25, 142n58; roof terrace,

§23.6, §28.56; women at home, xxiv,

§8.3; sitting area, outdoor (dakkah),

§13.6, §17.8, §22.31, §23.6. See also homeland

142n58 al-Ḥrayyig (al-Ḥurayyiq), §15.22

homeland, xiii, xxvi, §15.12, §20.19, §28.48,

al-Ḥṣūn (al-Ḥuṣūn), §15.17

§30.29; hometown, xii, xiv, xxxix,

hubble-bubble, §16.38, §17.3

xlix n106, 150n140

Huber, Charles, xxxvii–viii, xlv, n47,

hometown. See homeland

xlix n101, xlix n103, 139n23

١87

187

Index hunt, §2.13, §14.43, §21.45, §22.50, §29.5, 138n13, 140n34, 141n50, 142n57

Ibn Suʿūd, ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn Muḥammad, 152n150 Ibn Yaḥyā, Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd

Ibāḍī, §32.2, 153n158

al-Raḥmān, xxxviii, xlix n104

Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhāb, Muḥammad, ix, xii,

Ibn Zāmil (clan), 151n143

xxv, xlix n107, 138n14, 138n15, 138n16,

Ibn Zāmil, ʿAlī, §28.57, 151n143

153n158; Wahhābī, Wahhabism, ix,

Ibn Zēd, xlviii n89

xlix n107, 138n14, 138n16, 153n158

ignominy. See shame

Ibn ʿAyiḍ, Khalīl: Muṭawwaʿ al-Maskūf, xiv

Ikhwān, xlix n107

Ibn Juʿaythin, Ibrāhīm, xxxviii

incense, §14.21, 140n37

Ibn Li ʿ būn, Muḥammad, xxxvii

informer, §21.13, 149n126

Ibn Māḍī, Muḥammad, §15.16, §16.42,

inheritance, xxvi, xxvii, xlvii n60, §12.2,

§16.44, §22.52, §22.57, 142n55, 147n106, 148n112, 148n11

§14.11, §28.17; heir, xxvii, §14.33, 141n42 intoxication, xlviii n82, §21.24, 145n85

Ibn Muʿammar, ʿAbd Allāh, x, xii, xvi, xxiii,

Iraq, xiii, xlii, xliii n12, 137n9, 150n134

xlvi n52, §21.43, §22.36, 145n84, 145n86,

al-ʿIrniyyah, §15.9

145n90, 145n91, 147n106, 148n113

irrigation, xi, xv, §20.11, §33.1, 138n19

Ibn Nḥēṭ, xxiv, §1.24, §1.26, §15.17, §16.31, §29.1, 137n1, 137n9, 138n10, 151n144

Jabrid rulers, xxxi, xlviii n89

Ibn Ribī ʿah, ʿAbdallah, xxxvii

Jarīr, xxxii

Ibn Rashīd (dynasty), xxxvii, xliv n36,

Jlājil ( Julājil), xii, xxiv, xxxvi, §15.13, §16.31,

145n91

§22.56, 137n9, 148n115, 148n116, 151n144

Ibn Rashīd, ʿAbd Allāh, xlvi n59

journey. See travel

Ibn Rashīd, ʿUbayd, xxxvii

judge, xxvi, xxx, xli n3, §28.16, 140n30;

Ibn Sayyār, Jabr, xix, xlii n4, xliv n26,

claimant, §27.11; verdict, xxvi, §28.16

xliv n33, xliv n39, xliv n42, xliv n43,

Judgement Day, §10.21, §14.38, §21.67

xlv n50, xlvi n51, xlvi n55, xlvii n62,

Jzerah (al-Jazrah), xxxvi, §15.7

xlvii n66, xlvii n67, xlviii n91, 137n4, 137n6, 140n37, 141n40, 143n66, 144n78,

Kaaba, §21.17

145n85, 146n98, 147n102, 147n103,

al-Khīs, §15.11

150n134

kindness, §1.27, §7.1, §20.24, §30.17. See

Ibn Sayyār, ʿUthmān, xii, §21.28, §21.38, 145n86, 146n96

also generosity kinsmen. See tribe

Ibn Sbayyil, ʿAbdallah, xxxvii, xlix n106,

knife, xiii, §10.14

l n108, 145n91, 146n100 Ibn Sulaymān, Ibrāhīm, 151n144

Labīd ibn Rabī ʿah, xlvi n53

Ibn Suʿūd, Muḥammad, 138n15

lamp, §17.8

١88

188

Index laudations. See praise

luxury, xxi, §20.38. See also prosperity,

law: divine law, §24.16; Islamic law, xxv, 153n158; legal documents, xxvi; legal judgements, 140n30. See also judge leader, xiv, xvi, xvii, xxvi, xlvii, §11.3, §21.60, 141n40, 143n72; commander, §11.4. See also shaykh

wealth

madness, §21.23. See also fool majlis, xxxiii al-Majmaʿah, §15.12 Māni ʿ, x, xvii, xix, xx, xxi–iii, xxxiv, §4.19, §8.1, §§9.1–5, §17.1, §§17.5–8, §§19.1–4,

leather, §8.4, §8.6, §8.8 139n26

§§19.6–8, §§19.10–12, §22.14, §24.6,

leech, §17.10

139n27, 143n64, 143n67. See also Sārah

lies. See falsehood life: domestic, ix, xxviii; meaning of, xv, vii; family, xv; enjoyable, successful, xx; daily, xxxiv; dignified, xxvii; ease and comfort, life of, §13.1; human condition, xxxiv, §14.3; at risk, §15.14; of peace, §16.15; reflections on, §§19.65–69, §§21.65–69, §§28.1–4, §§28.5–9,

Marāh, xxxvi, §30.28, 152n149 market, xliii n23 marriage, x, xvii, xx, xxi, xxix, xlv n46, xlv n47, xlix n97, §2.4, §14.12, §§19.1–70, §23.2, 140n38, 143n71, 144n77; wedding, §12.19, §23.2 maxims. See proverbs Mecca, xxix, xlvi n53, §21.17

§§30.30–39, 146n97

mediation, xxv, §12.27, §29.14, 148n122. See

lime, §8.7

also peace

limestone, §8.6, 139n26

meekness, xxiv, §6.7, §34.10; docility,

lineage. See genealogy literacy, xvi, xvii, xxxii, xxxviii, xliv n38, xliv n39, §12.13, 137n1; of Hmēdān, xvi– ii, xxix, xlv n44. See also oral culture, writing

§30.35 memory, xvi, xviii, xxxiii, xxxviii, §1.2, §16.1, §20.6 male chauvinism, xx men, categories of, §§10.1–21, §§12.1–28,

lock, §16.20, §16.22, 144n73 locust, xxiv, xxxi, §10.2, §11.7, §16.33, 139n28 love, xxii, §1.9, §19.8, §20.20, §21.63, §26.5, 150n134; beloved, xxii, xlv n45, §1.2, §20.18, 149n127; love affair, xix, xx, 148n115; loved ones, §20.19; lovelorn, xiv, xlviii n82; lover, xix, xlv n45, xlvi n51, §18.14, §19.32, §19.46, §26.13, 144n72 love poetry (ghazal), xx

§§14.3–40, §§15.7–23, §§16.17–19, §§22.41–42, §§22.45–50, §§24.7–13, §§24.17–18, §§28.26–27, §§28.30–31, §§29.10–11, §29.14, §§34.2–3, §34.5; old men. See old; “real men,” §30.37; religion, men of. See religion; three types, xxv, §12.26; wise men. See sage, wisdom merchant. See trade

lover. See love

mercy, §20.36, §30.13

luck. See fortune

١89

189

Index message, xvii, xlvi n55, §19.39, §22.52, §29.1, 152n153; letter, xliv n42; messenger, xvii,

dwellings/houses, xiv, xxiv, 139n25, 142n58, 105n147, 150n137. See also earth

xxxii, xlviii n91, §21.42, §30.27, §30.30,

Musaylimah, xvii, xxix, §7.17

148n112, 150n139, 150n141, 151n148,

music: tambourine, §23.2; drum, xxv,

152n149

§24.18

meter, xvi, xviii–xix, xxi, xxiii, xxix, xxxiii–

mutadārik. See meter

iv, xxxviii–ix, xliv n32, xliv n41, xlv n49,

al-Mutanabbī, xlvi n56, 142n53

xlv n50, xlvii n65, xlviii n96, l n110, §14.2,

Muzarrid ibn Ḍirār al-Dhubyānī, 150n132

§20.5, 138n14, 138n18, 147n106; long meter, xxxiv; hazaj, xvi; mutadārik,

Nabaṭī. See poetry, Nabaṭī

xvii, xxi, xxviii, xxix; rajaz, xvi, xliv n41;

Nābighah al-Dhubyānī, al-, xlvi n52, 145n91

ṭawīl, xix, xxiii, xxxix

Najd, Najdī, ix–xxxiv, xxxv–vi, xxxvii,

Mghērā (Mughayrā), §15.8

xli n1–xlii n5, xliii n7, xliii n9, xlv n44,

al-Miḥmal, §22.46

xlv n46, xlviii n97, 138n16, 139n28,

milk, xxix, §§7.2–3, §14.34, §15.17, §19.17,

140n30, 140n36, 141n47, 143n66,

§19.55, 149n124

144n72, 144n82, 145n91, 146n94,

mirage, §10.5, §22.17, §22.26; shimmering air, §21.40

148n115, 151n147 neighbor, xxv, §14.15, §14.36, §15.18, §22.40,

miser, xx, xxxi, §7.1, §11.24, §14.4, §14.34, §16.10, §16.29, §24.2, 140n29, 141n42;

§28.54, §29.11; neighborhood, xii; neighboring town, xi

hoarder, §14.30; niggard, §11.24. See also

Nifī, xlix n106, l n108

generosity, vices

Nafūd al-Washm, 150n140

Mjalli, x, xvii, xxi, §2.1, §16.5, §26.12, §30.6 mockery, xiii, xv, xxi, xxv, xxxiv, §§19.1–14,

night, xxii, xxiii, §1.14, §1.28, §2.5, §5.12, §10.10, §10.14, §11.6, §12.18, §16.49,

141n50, 143n64, 147n109; self-mockery,

§17.12, §17.25, §18.9, §19.31, §19.41,

x, xli n3. See also hijāʾ, satire

§20.22, §21.32, §22.2, §22.4, §22.55,

money. See wealth

§§26.5–6, §33.6, §33.9, 138n11, 141n50,

monk, §16.15, §17.5

142n57, 153n159

Moses, xvi, xliv n34, §29.16, 145n151

Nile, §21.54

motif, xx, xxix, xliv n43, xlv n46, 137n9,

Noah, xxvii, §12.3

147n103, 151n148 mountain, xxxv, xxxvi, §1.3, §21.39, §29.15, 148n115; lookout, xix, §22.14; outcrop, §14.17, §31.6; rocky spur, §22.35

oath, xxxi, §12.16; swear, xvi, §5.1, §11.14, §21.62, §27.1 offspring. See children

mud, xiv, xvi, xxiv, xxxi, §14.8, 139n25, 142n58, 105n147, 150n137; mud

oil boom, xxii old (age), xvii–iii, xxix, xlv n43, xlv n46, xlv n50, xlvii n69, §1.1, §16.1, §16.4,

١90

190

Index old (age) (cont.), §19.12, §22.32, §22.43; §26.1, §26.12, §28.20, §30.1, §30.37, 137n4; graybeard, xviii, xlii n3, §1.4, §2.1,

farmer, ix; farmhand, §17.20. See also agriculture, crops, harvest, irrigation people: boorish louts, §15.7; decent society,

§5.2, §30.1; old women, bias against,

xxxi, §19.42; idle loiterers, §12.28;

xx, xlv n45, xlv n47, xlv n48, §§2.3–4,

riffraff, xxx, §21.56; ruler trembling

§§2.9–15, §11.32, §19.56. See also sage

before, §30.20; vulgar herd, xxiii, xxx,

Oman, xxiii, §28.14

§21.1, §22.41

opinion, xxx, xxxii, §17.18, §24.3, 146n96

perfume, §11.32; musk, xxi, §19.2, 143n66;

oppression. See tyranny

ambergris, xxi, §19.2; sandalwood,

oral culture. xxxii–iii; xxxviii. See also

143n66. See also fragrant

poetry, Nabaṭī

piety, §10.11, §21.26

Ottoman Turkish, 137n6

plague, xii, 143n64

ox. See animals

plane, sharp-edged, §8.7 poet, as craftsman, xviii–ix; intrepidness,

pain, §7.16, §24.15, §30.33, 148n120; ordeal of Ibn Dirmah, §24.15, 148n120

x, xviii; irreverence, xviii, §14.1, 143n64; moniker, xiii; as old man, xvii–iii; poetic

palm trees, xi, xvi, xxi, xxii, xxiii, xxviii,

ethos, xix, §§20.1–42; roles of, x, xv;

xlvii n63, §7.1, §§12.17–18, §14.8, §18.3,

as sage, xvii–iii; scandals, exposing,

§19.2, §20.42, §21.36, §21.41, §22.12,

x, xviii, xxxi, §26.3, 143n64; self-

§22.18, §20.20, §20.23, §25.1, §§26.19–

glorification, xv, §§20.1–42; speaking

20, §30.32, §33.4, 138n19, 139n25,

truth to power, xviii. See also Ḥmēdān

147n102, 147n105, 153n160. See also dates

al-Shwēʿir

Paradise, xv, §4.2, §22.24, §26.8, §29.9, 141n43

poetry: archaism, xvii, xxxii; classical Arabic poetry, correspondences with,

pariah, §22.11, §22.45, 138n13. See also Ṣalab

xxxiii–iv, xlii n4; cliché, xix–xx, xlv n46;

pasture, §17.16, §21.31, §22.36, §22.44, §33.7,

conventions, experimenting with, x–

139n24, 139n25, 146n100, 147n106 patience, §14.35, §28.26; forbearance, §21.53. See also Aḥnaf ibn Qays

xi, xviii–ix, xix, xx, 141n39, 147n103, 151n148; financial reward for, xv; folksy tone, ix, xxix; malicious tone, xxxiv;

peace, xiii, xxv, xxx, §12.22, §12.26, §14.29,

metamorphoses, xxxiv; oral poetry,

§16.15, §19.20, §28.25, §28.42, §29.2,

xli; parody, xx; peasant burlesque,

139n22, 148n122; peacemaking, xxv. See

xxxiv, 149n125; power of, xv; sarcasm,

also mediation

xxix, xxxiv, xli n3, 139n27; satire, xiii,

pearl, §12.1, §13.2, §20.2

xxxiv; stock characters, x, xxii. See also

peasant, xv–vi, xxii, xxviii, xxxii, xxxiii,

Ḥmēdān al-Shwēʿir

xxxiv, §8.2, §33.8, 139n25, 139n26, 143n66, 149n125, 149n128, 153n163;

١9١

191

Index poetry, Nabaṭī, xvi, xvii, xxix, xxxi–iii, xxxvii–iii, xxxix, xli n1, xli n2, xliv n38, xlviii n88, xlviii n90, 138n9, 145n90, 145n91. See also Ḥmēdān al-Shwēʿir politics, ix, x, xiv, xv, xix, xxiv, xxviii, xxxii, xxxix, xl, xli n3, xlii n4, xlvi n55, xlvii n60, §§15.1–21, §§21.1–69; §§22.1–59, §§28.1– 57, 141n40, 145n92. See also power, rule poverty, xv, xli, xxix, §1.12, §4.15, §6.9, §10.13, §§13.1–5, §16.4, §17.24, §§18.1–6,

prophet:“false” prophets, xvii, xxix; Muḥammad, xliv n36, 141n43; prophetess, xvii prosperity, xxx, xlviii n82, §14.25, §24.1, §27.4; ease and comfort, life of, §13.1. See also luxury, wealth protection, xxiii, xxiv, xxx, xliii n23, §3.5, §13.10, §14.15, §15.11, §20.26, §20.31, §22.40, §27.3, §28.19, §28.23, §29.10, §30.15, 151n148; of God, §13.10, §29.10;

§20.36, §23.4, §24.3, 149n124, 149n128,

Qurʾanic verses as, §3.5; of ruler, §14.15,

152n150, 152n169, 153n162; and shame,

§27.3

§4.15, §6.9; penury, xv, xxiii, §21.1. See

protection money, xxiv, §28.23

also firewood collectors, wealth

proverbs, ix, xvii, xx, xxiii–xxiv, xxviii–

power, ix, x, xi, xii, xiv, xviii, xxiv, xxvi–ii,

xxxii, xliii n9, xlv n48, 141n47, 142n53,

xxx, §4.17, §30.18, 144n82, 147n106,

148n118, 149n129, 151n147, 152n151,

148n116, 148n118, 151n143, 151n144; of

153n162. See also wisdom poems

God, §14.7; of poetry, xv; poet speaking truth to power, xviii; powerless, §11.10.

Qaḥṭān, §11.6, 142n56

See also politics, rule

al-Qaṣab, xi–xv, xxii–iii, xxxvii–ix, xliii n9,

praise, xii, xiii, xvi, xviii, xlii, xlviii n89, §2.2, §§11.29–30, §16.6, §21.48, §21.55, §28.40, 137n9, 145n90, 149n29, 148n151

xlvi n55, §22.26, §30.28, §33.1, 142n58, 142n62, 144n78, 146n96, 149n128, 150n140, 152n149, 153n158

prayer, xiv, xv, xix, xxii, xxiii, xxxi, xliv n36,

qaṣīdah, xix

§1.28, §7.17, §8.1., §8.5, §10.11, §14.36,

al-Qaṣīm, xi, xxxvii, 153n161

§§19.33–34, §20.42, §21.69, §22.1,

al-Qaṭīf, §12.21

§33.7, 139n23, 143n72, 153n163; prayer

Qurʾan, xvi–ii, §3.5, §4.13, §21.61, 138n16,

leader (imam), xliv n36, §19.34, 143n72; mosque, xiv, §19.34, 144n72; tarāwīḥ, 143n72; witr, 143n72. See also curse

143n72, 145n89, 146n95; read to ward off evil, §3.5, 138n16 Qurʾan teacher, with girl student, §4.13

prestige. See honor

Quraysh, §14.46

pretense, xxvi

Quṭn ibn Quṭn, xxxviii

pretensions, x, xvi, §11.21, §18.1, 139n21, al-Rabī ʿī, ʿAbd al-Raḥmān Ibrāhīm, xxxviii

141n39 pride, xv, §7.9, §12.11, §14.17, §14.21 §20.31,

rain, xix, xxi, §1.19, §17.5, §21.31, §25.5,

§21.41, §22.22, §22.58, §34.8. See also

§30.29, §33.1; downpour, xi, §21.34,

vanity

§30.30; lightning, §1.28, §21.33, §21.41;

١92

192

Index rain (cont.), prayer for, xix, §1.19, §25.5, §30.29, §33.1; thunderclouds, §28.36 rajaz. See meter

rock, xv, §16.7, §16.30, §19.68, §20.16, §20.40, §22.35, §22.47, §26.7, §28.30, 151n148; as pillow, xxiii, §28.12

razor, barber’s, 141n44

al-Rōḍah (al-Rawḍah), §15.16, xiv, xliv n42,

realism, xiii; unrealistic expectations, xxix rear-rider. See co-rider

xlv n45, 142n55, 146n98 rope, xxi, xlv n48, §1.10, §1.12, §1.14, §2.10,

refuge, xii, xv, §20.26, §20.34, §22.5, §22.49; refugee, xiii, §21.39. See also asylum religion, ix, xii, xiv, xvi, xvii, xxii, xxxii, xxxviii, xliii n6, §3.2, §12.13, §21.63,

§19.26, §28.7, 143n70, 150n133 ruin, xxii, §1.19, §8.8, §14.25, §18.18, §29.10, 139n22, 143n66; disaster, xxviii, §3.4, §10.19, §26.19

§21.65, §27.2, §27.9, 153n158; religious

ruins, xiv, §22.54, 142n58

establishment, criticisms of, ix, xvi,

rule, ruler, x, xiii, xxiii, xxiv, xxv, xxvi, xxvii,

xvii, xxii, §3.2, §12.13, §27.2, §§27.5–13,

xxx, xli n3, xlii n5, xlvi n59, xlviii n82,

140n30, 153n158

xlviii n89, xlix n104, §7.15, §§14.13–29,

al-ʿRēnāt (al-ʿUrayniyyāt), §15.19

§16.6, §21.42, §21.60, §22.13, §§27.2–3,

repute, reputation. See honor

§28.28, §28.35, §§30.20–21, 137n1,

respect, xx, xlvii, §19.74, §20.18, §21.43,

140n36, 146n96, 152n153. See also

§22.10; disrespect, xvii, 144n78; less-

tyranny

respectable, xxviii, respectable, xxxii, 137n8; self-respect, xxiii, §28.11, 152n150.

Ṣafā, §21.17

See also honor

sage, xvii–iii, §2.1, §30.6. See also old

retaliation. See revenge

Sajāḥ, xvii, xxix, xlvii n67, §7.16

revenge, xxi, xxv, xxx, §2.11, §4.18, §16.13,

Ṣalab, §2.13, 138n13, 146n101

§28.51, 148n120

salt, xxxvi, xliii n9, §16.27, §18.2; digestive

al-Rgēbiyyah (al-Ruqaybiyyah), §33.2

salts, xliii n9, §18.2; evaporation pools,

rhyme, xviii, xxxiii–iv, xxxviii, xxxix,

142n62, 149n128; salt flat, §16.19, §22.24

xlix n100, §20.1, §20.6, §26.2, 137n1,

Sanaa, §2.15, §16.51, 150n134

137n7, 138n14, 138n18, 139n22, 149n125;

Sāmirī, §19.65

hamziyyah, 137n1

Sanām, xxxv, §15.2

rich. See wealth

Sārah (Swērah), xx, xxi, xxxiv, xlviii n97,

rights, xxvi, xlvi n58, §14.26, §§28.17–18, §28.41, §30.5, 150n138

§18.7, §19.1, §§19.5–10. See also Māni ʿ al-Sardiyyah, §31.5

al-Rijm, §21.31

satire, xiii, xxxiv. See also hijāʾ

al-Rigʿī, §21.58

Saudi, ix, xii, xiii, xiv, xxii, xxv, xxviii,

Riyadh, ix, xi, xxi, xxxii, xxxv–vi, xxxvii

xxxviii, xliii n8, xlvii n63, 143n64,

robbery, xxxi, §10.8, §11.6, §13.5, §14.24,

150n137, 152n156; commentators, xvi,

§22.42, 146n100

xxviii, 143n64, 152n156;

١93

193

Index Saudi (cont.), religious police, xiv, Saudi Arabia, modern-day, xii, xiii, xiv, xxii, 150n137; Saudi state, ix, xii, xxv

symbolism of, §§1.10–14, §5.15, §19.21, 143n68 shame, xx, xxi, xxvi, xxix, §4.15, §4.22, §6.9,

sayings. See proverbs

§11.4, §19.16, §19.22, §19.44, §19.51,

Sayyid al-Zubayr ibn al-ʿAwwām, §15.1,

§22.12, 143n64, 152n150; and poverty,

141n43

§4.15, §6.5, 152n150; and women, xx, xxi,

scandal, x, xiv, xviii, xxxi, §26.3, 143n64

§19.16, §19.22, §19.44, §19.51, 143n64;

scorpion, §3.5, §20.34, 138n16. See also

disgrace, §20.29, §21.19, §30.33, 152n150;

venom

ignominy, xxiii, §20.29. See also honor,

sea, xviii, xix, xxii, xlvi n51, §19.57, §20.4,

scandal

§26.6, §28.37, 146n83; deep waters of

Shaqrāʾ, §147n109

thought, xviii, §26.1

Sharīf of Medina, Kubaysh ibn Manṣūr ibn

secret, xviii, xxii, xlv n48, §15.17, §19.73, §21.13

Jammāz, xlviii n88 al-Sharīf, Barakāt, xxxviii, xlix n102

security, §14.24, 142n57

shaykh, xxvi, xxvii, xxx, xlv n47, §1.22,

sedentary, ix, xi, xii, xxvi; sedentary

§1.24, §4.21, §12.6, §16.23, §21.16, §21.45,

aristocracy, xii; settled, xvi, xlix n107,

§21.66, §24.5, 137n8, 137n9, 141n50,

§15.12, §29.17, 142n56, 146n151;

148n119. See also leader

townspeople, ix, xvi, xxxii, xliii n6,

ʿShērih (ʿUshayrah), §15.21, 141n45

§28.49, 139n23; villagers, §1.21, §14.27,

al-Shimāsiyyah (al-Shamāsiyyah), xxxvi,

§16.44, §28.15, 146n100, 152n154. See also Bedouin

§33.7 ship, xix, §19.57, §21.40

servant, §16.38, 145n87, 148n118; of God, §14.45

shit, §15.10, §17.6, §30.24; cow dung, §25.2. See also fart

settled. See sedentary

sign, §4.12, §30.10, 139n23, 144n72;

seven spheres, §12.12

signpost, xvii; traces, hidden, xviii,

sex, sexuality, xxi–ii, xxxiv, §§17.13–25;

§26.4

§§18.9–20, §19.21, 143n67, 143n68;

silence, xv, §19.69

bugger, §15.18, §16.29; co-rider, §19.31,

sin, xxii, xlvi n59, §4.5, §19.62, §22.8, §26.6

§19.73, 143n71, 144n77, 148n117;

sincerity, §10.4, §12.25

cuckold, §19.73; cunt, §17.15; dick,

Sinjār, §16.51

§17.13, §18.20, 143n65; lechery, §19.54,

sky. See seven spheres

§19.59; private parts, 143n65; pussy,

slander. See calumny

§17.13, §24.10; sexual scenes, §§17.20–

slave, xxvii, §12.3, §12.23, §14.39

25, §§18.9–20; slit, §19.11; unchaste,

sleep, xxiii, xxv, §2.5, §11.1, §14.10, §14.20,

§19.66; vagina, 143n67; well, sexual

١94

§18.14, §20.22, §22.12, §22.34,

194

Index sleep (cont.), §24.9,§28.12, §32.5, 138n11, 149n126; snore, §14.22

stick, xliv n43, §16.2, §16.30, §30.1, §31.9, 139n28

snake, §2.5, §15.14, §21.68, 138n11;

story, xi, xiv, §32.6, 140n31, 148n120; tale,

snakebite, §2.5, 138n11. See also venom soul, §1.8, §9.5, §11.2, §11.25, §20.31, §34.7 Sowayan, Saad, xli n3, xlii n4, xliii n21–l n109 passim, 137n4, 137n5, 137n9, 139n24,

xlii, §16.21, §16.31, §21.4, 148n115, 153n159 streets, xxv, xliii, §17.4, §17.23, §§19.52–53, §19.58, §24.18, 142n58; alleyways, xiv, §12.7

140n29, 140n37, 141n40, 142n57, 143n66,

strife. See war

145n85, 145n90, 146n98, 147n102,

stupidity, §1.3, §10.1, §10.18; bovine

147n103, 149n126, 149–50n132, 150n134,

dullness, §14.42; dullness, xxxiv, §22.10;

152n155, 153n161

fool, foolishness, xxv, xxix, §4.19, §5.6,

speech, xv, xli n2, §16.5, §21.19, 150n141;

§10.15, §21.23, §24.19, §33.2; ignorance,

blabber, §10.17; chatter, §16.23, §19.18;

xxxii, §10.15, §10.18, §11.29, §19.43; “ox

eloquence, §2.1, §10.16, §20.7, 141n48;

without a halter,” xxxi, §10.3

talk, ix, xlv n47, §21.46. See also abuse, gossip

Sudayr, xii, xiii, xiv, xxiv, xxvi, xxxv–vi, xxxviii, §22.59, 142n56, 109n147,

specter, xxxi, §25.6

148n112, 148n116, 151n144

spell. See bewitch

summer, §1.20, 146n100; midsummer,

stars, §11.6, §20.22, 140n36, 144n78;

§21.40, §22.9, §22.19, §32.1

Aldebaran (al-Twēbi ʿ), §11.27, 140n36;

supplicant, §21.64, §21.66, 146n96

Arcturus, xv, §20.17, 144n78; Canopus,

sword. See arms

§22.51, 148n112; lodestar, §22.51; Pleiades, xlv n48, 140n36; Sagitta, xv,

Tabāraka, §21.61, 146n95

§26.28, 144n78

taboo, §26.15

status, x, xii, xxx, xxxii, xxxviii, §28.4; rank,

tale. See story

xxvii, §1.22, §12.13, §14.26. See also

talk. See conversation, speech

egalitarian, honor, lineage

Ṭarafah ibn al-ʿAbd, 151n148

status, lower: trade held in contempt, xxvi;

tattoo, §21.12, §26.13

butcher, xxvi, xxvii, §11.30; lowly folks

ṭawīl. See meter

without pedigree, xxvii; slaves, xxvi,

tears, §11.1, §19.24, §22.20

§12.3, §12.23, §14.39. See also egalitarian,

temptation, xxii, §26.5; temptress, xiv,

lineage, poverty

§1.156

status, higher: aristocracy, xii, nobles,

al-Ṭēri (Wādī al-Ṭayrī), xix, §22.15

xxvii, §12.3, §12.24, §20.20, §22.49;

terror, §11.2, §21.39, §34.15

preeminent families/clans, xii, xxx. See

theater, theatrical, x, xv, xxviii, xlii n4,

also egalitarian, lineage, wealth

143n64; stage, x. See also characters theft. See robbery

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Index thirst, xv, §4.14, §20.11, §21.58, §22.33, 142n62

oppression, §22.13, §27.9, §30.18. See also rule

Time, §22.3; betrayed by, §22.22; pregnant, xxiii, §28.1; punishments inflicted by, §29.12; tyranny of, §20.25. See also life Timīm (Tamīm), §1.25, §11.20, §22.49, §28.44, 137n9, 141n45

ugliness, xlii n3 al-ʿUlaymī, xxxviii ulema, ix, xliii n6, 140n30. See also religion Umayyad, xxxii

Tharmadāʾ, xii, xxiii, xxxix, 151n143, 152n153

Umm Kulthūm, xlvi n53

Tmēr (Tumayr), xxxvi, §15.23

Umm ʿNēg (Umm ʿUnayq), §22.58

tongue, §16.18, §17.7, §19.18; as “smaller

urine, xxix, §7.3, §16.26; pee, §21.54; piss,

part” (aṣgharih), xviii, 141n48

§11.15, 146n93; as medicine, xxix, 142n51

tongue-in-cheek, xix, xlii n3

Ushayqir, xxxvi

townspeople. See sedentary

usurer. See debt

trade, trader, xxvi, xli n3, xliii n9, §10.20,

Uthayfiyah, xii, xiv, xxiii, xxxvi, xxxix,

§14.30, §16.25, §18.2; merchant, xxviii,

144n78, 151n143, 152n149, 152n153 al-ʿUyaynah, x, xii, 145n84

§14.35 trap, xx, §1.9, §10.15, §29.5, §33.6; ensnare, §19.8, §27.10. See also deceit, treachery travel, xiii, xxxvii, xlii n3, xlv n43, xlvi n56,

vanity, §14.17, §18.1, 141n39. See also pride vegetation: acacia tree, §21.35; bitter apple,

xlix n101, §7.12, §20.13, §22.29, 140n33,

xxiii, §19.3, §28.13; colocynth, §14.28;

147n105, 152n 1 4 9 ; desert travel, xvii,

fire bush (irṭā), xliii n9, §18.2, 149n128;

xlv n43, xlvi n56, 140n33

juniper tree, §16.17

treachery, xlv n45, §10.14, §14.3, §16.45, §21.51, §24.17, 146n98; perfidy, §29.12. See also deceit, trap

vernacular, ix, xxxix, xli n1, 137n1, 147n151 venom, §20.30, §21.68, 138n16. See also scorpion, snake

tribe, xi, xiv, xix, xxvi, xxxii, xlix n107,

vices, §7.5, §16.26; avarice, xxix, §7.5,

§16.49, §22.45, §29.10, 138n13, 142n54,

§30.13; cowardice, xvi, xxxi, §7.5,

142n56, 148n115, 154n152

§§11.13–19, §§14.19–23, §17.1, §28.27,

tribute, xii, xxiii, §30.36, 151n143, 152n153; levy, §15.16; tithe, §30.18

§29.6, §30.13; fornication, §7.5; greed, xxix, xli n3, §22.57, §28.26, §30.12. See

trick, trickery. See deceit

also deceit, miser, virtues

truth, xvii, xviii, xxvii, §§21.5–6, §21.65, §32.4. See also falsehood

villagers. See sedentary virtues, xxviii, §7.4, §12.2, §12.25, §21.7,

al-Twēm (al-Tuwaym), xxxvi, §15.14

§21.15, §22.39; chivalry, x, xvi, xxvii,

tyranny, §20.25, §22.13, §30.18; despot,

§12.2, §12.25, 152n150, 152n154; courage,

xli n3, §14.13; iron fist, §30.21;

xxii, §7.4, §12.20, §22.27, §22.50, §28.40; faithfulness, §7.4, §21.65;

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Index virtues (cont.), honesty, §22.39; probity,

§21.1, §24.14, §28.5, §34.10, 141n42,

§7.4. See also generosity, hospitality,

149n128, 152n150; dinar, §21.2, §27.13;

vices

dirham, xxix, §20.29; gold, xxvii, xxviii,

visitor. See guest

§1.3, §2.4, §5.10, §19.67, §20.38, §21.2;

vow. See oath

money, xx, xxiii, xxiv, xxvii, xxix, §1.7, §17.11, §21.3, §24.11, §28.23, 138n17,

Wādī Ḥanīfah, xii, §21.16

149n129. See also poverty

Wādī Khlayyif, xix, §22.15

weaning, §11.26, §30.38

Wahhābī, Wahhabism. See Ibn ʿAbd

weapons. See arms

al-Wahhāb, Muḥammad

wedding. See marriage

war, xxiii–xxvi, xxx, §§6.1–2, §§6.5–6,

well, xi, xiii, xv, xviii, xxv, xxix, xxxv–vi,

§12.21, §17.7, §24.8, §24.11, §24.19, §26.5,

xliv n43, §1.10, §§1.12–13, §4.11, §5.15,

§28.9, §34.4, 139n20, 139n22, 148n122;

§9.1, §9.4, §12.9, §15.2, §18.5, §19.21,

Ḥmēdān’s views on, xxiv–vi, xxx; strife,

§19.41, §19.66, §21.58, §22.9, §22.19,

xxii, xv, §6.2, §16.46, §24.12, §34.2. See

§25.1, §26.4, §26.22, §28.6, §28.51, §31.11,

also battle, enemy

§33.5, 138n19, 143n67, 146n100, 147n102,

al-Washm, xii, xxxv, xxxvi, §1.20, §1.26, §22.34, §28.38, §28.57, §30.28, 142n56, 147n109

150n133; sexual symbolism of, §§1.10–14, §5.15, §19.21, 143n68 wind, §1.13, §1.20, §4.3, §6.4, §26.9; breeze,

water, xi, xviii, xxiii, xxx, xxxvii, §1.12, §6.9, §11.28, §12.9, §12.25, §22.21, §24.7, §25.3,

§21.34, §21.40, §30.30; gale, §21.34, §21.40, §28.36

§26.1, §28.6, §28.13, 139n22, 149n124,

wine, xvii, xxx, xlviii n82, §21.23, §24.1

150n133, 153n158, 153n163; brackish,

winter, §19.4, §30.29, 146n100

xxiii, §6.1, §16.19, §28.13, 139n22; deep,

wisdom, ix, xvii–iii, xxi, xxviii, xxix, xlii n4;

xviii, §26.1; pool, pond, xii, xv, xlii,

wise, xviii, xliv n42, §2.2, §10.1, §12.1,

§6.1, §21.54, 142n62, 149n128; sweet,

§20.29, §26.1. See also advice, proverbs,

§6.9, 139n22; watercourse, 153n158; waterskin, xliv n43; watering animals, 153n163. See also irrigation, well

sage, wisdom poems wisdom poems, xvii–iii, xxi, xxviii, §§2.1–15, §§7.1–17, §§16.1–50; §§19.1–74,

water pipe. See hubble-bubble

§§26.1–29, §§30.1–38, §§33.1–9. See also

Wāyil (Wāʾil), xxvi, §11.19, §21.60, 146n93 weakness, xvii, xxiv, xxv, §14.13, §16.5,

wisdom writing, xvii, xxxviii, xxxix, xlix n100,

§16.29, §19.40, §28.19, §29.10, §30.6,

l n109, 144n78, §12.13, 144n78; ink, xvii,

140n31, 144n82. See also meekness

xxxvii, xliv n39, xlvi n55, xlvi n59; paper,

wealth, xx, xxii, xxiii, xxiv, xxv, xxvi–viii,

xvii, xxx, xliv n39, xlvi n59, §4.7, §20.3,

xxix, xxxvii, §4.16, §5.10, §6.8, §14.5,

144n78; pen, xxvi, xxx, xliv n39, §28.16;

§14.30, §14.32, §16.25, §19.70, §20.37,

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Index writing (cont.), scribe, xxxviii, xxxix;

xlv n43, xlv n46, xlv n47, §1.3, §7.16,

scrolls, §32.4. See also literacy, oral

§16.2. See also beauty, co-rider,

culture

domestic violence, family, Ḥmēdān

women: advice on choosing, §§2.1–15, §§19.12–74, §§26.5–19, §30.16, 143n64;

al-Shwēʿir, love, marriage world (dunya), x, xviii, xx, xlv n45, §1.24,

buxom girls, xix, xx, §2.12, 143n66;

§§4.3–4, §4.6, §5.14, §20.35, §20.38,

girls, xix, xx, xlii n4, §2.12, §4.13, §13.3,

§22.2, §22.5, §28.3, 142n57, 144n80,

§23.4, §23.6, §§26.8–18, 137n9, 143n66;

144n82

in Ḥmēdān’s poetry, xx–xxii; loose morals, §14.44; mother, xx, xxvii, xxix,

al-Yamāmah, xi, xii, xliii n6, xliii n11

xlii n3, §5.1, §5.8, §16.28, §19.22, §30.16;

Yā Sīn, §21.61

mother-in-law, xx; old women (ʿajūz),

youth, xiii, xx, xxii, §§1.1, §1.5, §1.10, §1.19,

bias against, xx, xlv n45, xlv n47, xlv n48,

§16.1, §19.56. See also old

§§2.3–15, §11.32, §19.56; pregnant, §23.6, 148n117; and shame, xx, xxi,

zeal, xv, §20.14, §20.16, §21.45

§§19.16, §19.39, §19.51, 143n64; socially

al-Zubayr, xiii, xxxv, 141n43

ambitious women (ṭāmiḥ), xlv n46;

Zuhayr ibn Abī Sulmā, 150n132

slut, §19.16; types of, xxii, §§14.10–46,

al-Zulfī, xxxv–vi, §15.8

§§19.16–74, 140n38, 143n64; whore,

al-Zyerah (al-Ziyarah), §15.12

§26.17; wife, x, xx, xxi, xxvii, xlii n3,

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About the NYU Abu Dhabi Institute

The Library of Arabic Literature is supported by a grant from the NYU Abu Dhabi Institute, a major hub of intellectual and creative activity and advanced research. The Institute hosts academic conferences, workshops, lectures, film series, performances, and other public programs directed both to audiences within the UAE and to the worldwide academic and research community. It is a center of the scholarly community for Abu Dhabi, bringing together faculty and researchers from institutions of higher learning throughout the region. NYU Abu Dhabi, through the NYU Abu Dhabi Institute, is a world-class center of cutting-edge research, scholarship, and cultural activity. The Institute creates singular opportunities for leading researchers from across the arts, humanities, social sciences, sciences, engineering, and the professions to carry out creative scholarship and conduct research on issues of major disciplinary, multidisciplinary, and global significance.

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About the Typefaces

The Arabic body text is set in DecoType Naskh, designed by Thomas Milo and Mirjam Somers, based on an analysis of five centuries of Ottoman manuscript practice. The exceptionally legible result is the first and only typeface in a style that fully implements the principles of script grammar (qawāʿid al-khaṭṭ). The Arabic footnote text is set in DecoType Emiri, drawn by Mirjam Somers, based on the metal typeface in the naskh style that was cut for the 1924 Cairo edition of the Qurʾan. Both Arabic typefaces in this series are controlled by a dedicated font layout engine. ACE, the Arabic Calligraphic Engine, invented by Peter Somers, Thomas Milo, and Mirjam Somers of DecoType, first operational in 1985, pioneered the principle followed by later smart font layout technologies such as OpenType, which is used for all other typefaces in this series. The Arabic text was set with WinSoft Tasmeem, a sophisticated user interface for DecoType ACE inside Adobe InDesign. Tasmeem was conceived and created by Thomas Milo (DecoType) and Pascal Rubini (WinSoft) in 2005. The English text is set in Adobe Text, a new and versatile text typeface family designed by Robert Slimbach for Western (Latin, Greek, Cyrillic) typesetting. Its workhorse qualities make it perfect for a wide variety of applications, especially for longer passages of text where legibility and economy are important. Adobe Text bridges the gap between calligraphic Renaissance types of the 15th and 16th centuries and high-contrast Modern styles of the 18th century, taking many of its design cues from early post-Renaissance Baroque transitional types cut by designers such as Christoffel van Dijck, Nicolaus Kis, and William Caslon. While grounded in classical form, Adobe Text is also a statement of contemporary utilitarian design, well suited to a wide variety of print and on-screen applications.

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Titles Published by the Library of Arabic Literature

For more details on individual titles, visit www.libraryofarabicliterature.org. Classical Arabic Literature Selected and translated by Geert Jan Van Gelder A Treasury of Virtues: Sayings, Sermons and Teachings of ʿAlī, by al-Qāḍī al-Quḍāʿī with the One Hundred Proverbs attributed to al-Jāḥiẓ Edited and translated by Tahera Qutbuddin The Epistle on Legal Theory, by al-Shāfiʿī Edited and translated by Joseph E. Lowry Leg over Leg, by Aḥmad Fāris al-Shidyāq Edited and translated by Humphrey Davies (four volumes) Virtues of the Imām Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal, by Ibn al-Jawzī Edited and translated by Michael Cooperson (two volumes) The Epistle of Forgiveness, by Abū l-ʿAlāʾ al-Maʿarrī Edited and translated by Geert Jan van Gelder and Gregor Schoeler (two volumes) The Principles of Sufism, by ʿĀʾishah al-Bāʿūniyyah Edited and translated by Th. Emil Homerin The Expeditions: An Early Biography of Muḥammad, by Maʿmar ibn Rāshid Edited and translated by Sean W. Anthony Two Arabic Travel Books Accounts of China and India, by Abū Zayd al-Sīrāfī Edited and translated by Tim Mackintosh-Smith

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Titles Published by the Library of Arabic Literature

Mission to the Volga, by Aḥmad ibn Faḍlān Edited and translated by James Montgomery Disagreements of the Jurists: A Manual of Islamic Legal Theory, by al-Qāḍī al-Nuʿmān Edited and translated by Devin J. Stewart Consorts of the Caliphs: Women and the Court of Baghdad, by Ibn al-Sāʿī Edited by Shawkat M. Toorawa and translated by the Editors of the Library of Arabic Literature What ʿĪsā ibn Hishām Told Us, by Muḥammad al-Muwayliḥī Edited and translated by Roger Allen (two volumes) The Life and Times of Abū Tammām, by Abū Bakr Muḥammad ibn Yaḥyā al-Ṣūlī Edited and translated by Beatrice Gruendler The Sword of Ambition: Bureaucratic Rivalry in Medieval Egypt, by ʿUthmān ibn Ibrāhīm al-Nābulusī Edited and translated by Luke Yarbrough Brains Confounded by the Ode of Abū Shādūf Expounded, by Yūsuf al-Shirbīnī Edited and translated by Humphrey Davies (two volumes) Light in the Heavens: Sayings of the Prophet Muḥammad, by al-Qāḍī al-Quḍāʿī Edited and translated by Tahera Qutbuddin Risible Rhymes, by Muḥammad ibn Maḥfūẓ al-Sanhūrī Edited and translated by Humphrey Davies A Hundred and One Nights Edited and translated by Bruce Fudge The Excellence of the Arabs, by Ibn Qutaybah Edited by James E. Montgomery and Peter Webb Translated by Sarah Bowen Savant and Peter Webb

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Titles Published by the Library of Arabic Literature

Scents and Flavors: A Syrian Cookbook Edited and translated by Charles Perry Arabian Satire: Poetry from 18th-Century Najd, by Ḥmēdān al-Shwēʿir Edited and translated by Marcel Kurpershoek

English-only Paperbacks Leg over Leg, by Aḥmad Fāris al-Shidyāq (two volumes) The Expeditions: An Early Biography of Muḥammad, by Maʿmar ibn Rāshid The Epistle on Legal Theory: A Translation of al-Shāfiʿī’s Risālah, by al-Shāfiʿī The Epistle of Forgiveness, by Abū l-ʿAlāʾ al-Maʿarrī The Principles of Sufism, by ʿĀʾishah al-Bāʿūniyyah A Treasury of Virtues: Sayings, Sermons and Teachings of ʿAlī, by al-Qāḍī al-Quḍāʿī with The One Hundred Proverbs, attributed to al-Jāḥiẓ The Life of Ibn Ḥanbal, by Ibn al-Jawzī Mission to the Volga, by Ibn Faḍlān Accounts of China and India, by Abū Zayd al-Sīrāfī Consorts of the Caliphs: Women and the Court of Baghdad, by Ibn al-Sāʿī A Hundred and One Nights Disagreements of the Jurists: A Manual of Islamic Legal Theory, by al-Qāḍī al-Nuʿmān

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About the Editor–Translator

Marcel Kurpershoek is a senior research fellow at New York University Abu Dhabi and a specialist in the oral traditions and poetry of Arabia. He obtained his PhD in modern Arabic literature at the University of Leiden. He has written a number of books on historical, cultural, and contemporary topics in the Middle East, including the five-volume Oral Poetry and Narratives from Central Arabia (1994–2005), which draws on his recordings of Bedouin tribes. In 2016, Al Arabiya television broadcast an eight-part documentary series based on the travelogue of fieldwork he had undertaken in the Nefud desert of northern Arabia for his book Arabia of the Bedouins (in Arabic translation The Last Bedouin). He spent his career as a diplomat for the Netherlands, having served as ambassador to Pakistan, Afghanistan, Turkey, Poland, and special envoy for Syria until 2015. From 1996 to 2002, he held a chair as professor of literature and politics in the Arab world at the University of Leiden.

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