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English Pages [409] Year 2013
Leg over Leg Volume One
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, Cornell University Editors Julia Bray, University of Oxford Michael Cooperson, University of California, Los Angeles Joseph E. Lowry, University of Pennsylvania Tahera Qutbuddin, University of Chicago Devin J. Stewart, Emory University Managing Editor Chip Rossetti Volume Editor Michael Cooperson
Letter from the General Editor
The Library of Arabic Literature is a new series offering Arabic editions and English translations of key works of classical and pre-modern Arabic literature, as well as anthologies and thematic readers. Our books are edited and translated by distinguished scholars of Arabic and Islamic studies, and are published in parallel-text format with Arabic and English on facing pages. The Library of Arabic Literature will include texts from the pre-Islamic era to the cusp of the modern period, and will encompass a wide range of genres, including poetry, poetics, fiction, religion, philosophy, law, science, history and historiography. Supported by a grant from the New York University Abu Dhabi Institute, and established in partnership with NYU Press, the Library of Arabic Literature will produce authoritative Arabic editions and modern, lucid English translations, with the goal of introducing the Arabic literary heritage to scholars and students, as well as to a general audience of readers. Philip F. Kennedy General Editor, Library of Arabic Literature
� ���ت�ا � ك� ب
�� � ا ��ل�� �ا �ق ا ��ل�� �ا �ق س � ع�ل�ى س � ��ف ا � ا �� � ا � ا �ق �ى ��م� ه�و ل��ف� ري� � �ش ق ف ��ا ر��س ا �ل����د �ي�ا �� � � � � � �أ � الم �ج�ل�د ا �ل� �ول� �
Leg over Leg or
The Turtle in the Tree concerning
The Fāriyāq What Manner of Creature Might He Be by
Fāris al-Shidyāq Volume One Edited and translated by Humphrey Davies
New York University Press New York and London
NEW YORK UNIVERSITY PRESS New York and London Copyright © 2013 by New York University All rights reserved Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Shidyaq, Ahmad Faris, 1804?-1887. Leg over leg or, : The turtle in the tree / Faris al-Shidyaq ; edited and translated by Humphrey Davies. volumes cm Bilingual edition In English and Arabic on facing pages. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-8147-2937-3 (cl : alk. paper) -- ISBN 978-0-8147-4524-3 (e-book) -- ISBN 978-0-8147-4541-0 (e-book) 1. Shidyaq, Ahmad Faris, 1804?-1887. 2. Shidyaq, Ahmad Faris, 1804?-1887--Travel--Middle East. 3. Arabic language--Lexicography. 4. Middle East--Description and travel. I. Davies, Humphrey T. (Humphrey Taman) translator, editor. II. Shidyaq, Ahmad Faris, 1804?-1887. Saq ‘ala al-saq. III. Shidyaq, Ahmad Faris, 1804?-1887. Saq ‘ala al-saq. English. IV. Title. V. Title: Turtle in the tree. PJ7862.H48S213 2013 892.7’8503--dc23 2013007540 CIP 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
Foreword ix A Note on the Text
xxxi
Notes to the Frontmatter
xxxiv
Leg Over Leg, Volume One
1
Contents of the Book
4
The Dedication of This Elegantly Eloquent Book
6
Author’s Notice
8
An Introduction by the Publisher of This Book
16
Proem
20
Book One
34
Chapter 1: Raising a Storm
36
Chapter 2: A Bruising Fall and a Protecting Shawl
64
Chapter 3: Various Amusing Anecdotes
72
Chapter 4: Troubles and a Tambour
84
Chapter 5: A Priest and a Pursie, Dragging Pockets and Dry Grazing
92
Chapter 6: Food and Feeding Frenzies
108
Chapter 7: A Donkey that Brayed, a Journey Made, a Hope Delayed
116
Chapter 8: Bodega, Brethren, and Board
124
Chapter 9: Unseemly Conversations and Crooked Contestations
134
Chapter 10: Angering Women Who Dart Sideways Looks, and Claws 148
like Hooks Chapter 11: That Which Is Long and Broad
162
Chapter 12: A Dish and an Itch
174
Chapter 13: A Maqāmah, or, a Maqāmah on “Chapter 13”
190
Chapter 14: A Sacrament
202
Chapter 15: The Priest’s Tale
212
Chapter 16: The Priest’s Tale Continued
222
Chapter 17: Snow
244
Chapter 18: Bad Luck
254
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Chapter 19: Emotion and Motion
282
Chapter 20: The Difference between Market-men and Bag-men
312
Notes
321
Glossary
351
Index
355
About the NYU Abu Dhabi Institute
366
About the Typefaces
367
About the Editor-Translator
368
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Foreword Rebecca C. Johnson
While I do not claim to be the first writer in the world to follow this path or thrust a pinch of it up the noses of those who pretend they are dozing, I do notice that all the authors in my bookcase are shackled to a single stylistic chain . . . . Once you’ve become familiar with one link of the chain, you feel as though you know all the others, so that each one of them may truly be called a chainman, given that each has followed in the footsteps of the rest and imitated them closely. This being established, know that I have exited the chain, for I am no chain-man and will not form the rump of the line; nor do I have any desire to be at its front, for the latter is an even more calamitous place to be than the former. —Leg over Leg (1.17.10)
For most Anglophone readers, this will be their first introduction to the writing of Fāris al-Shidyāq (later Aḥmad Fāris al-Shidyāq, born in 1805 or 1806 and died in 1887), a foundational figure in Arabic literary modernity.1 For, although he is the author of at least four published works of literary prose, ten linguistic studies of Arabic, Turkish, English, and French, over 20,000 lines of poetry, and at least four unpublished manuscripts (not to mention his many translations, journalistic and critical essays, or those works that have been lost), his work has never appeared in English until now. For specialists in Arabic literature and many native readers of Arabic, however, he needs little introduction. As belletrist, poet, travel writer, translator, lexicographer, grammarian, literary historian, essayist, publisher, and newspaper editor, he is known as a pioneer of modern Arabic literature, a reviver of classical forms, the father of Arabic journalism, and no less than a modernizer of the Arabic language itself. His masterwork, Al-Sāq ʿalā l-sāq fī mā huwa al-Fāriyāq (Leg over Leg or the Turtle in the Tree concerning the Fāriyāq, What Manner of Creature Might He Be, 1855), is acknowledged as one of the most distinguished works of the nineteenth century and an inaugural text of Arab modernity. It is also among the most controversial: generically impossible
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to characterize, it is a critical, self-referential, learned, and irreverent book of observations on the lives and manners of “The Arabs and their Non-Arab Peers” that includes scathing attacks on authority, both ecclesiastical and worldly, as well as liberal and libertine discussions of relations between the sexes. Yet, while virtually all studies of Arabic literature acknowledge his central place in literary history, the works of al-Shidyāq, as Nadia Al-Bagdadi writes, have largely been “merely read, but not seriously known” in Arabophone and Anglo-European academies alike.2 Although a growing number of essays on his work has been published in English, no monograph on his work has yet been written, and, although several biographies and studies exist in Arabic, his oeuvre was still so little known in 1995 that an edited volume of his selected works could be published in a series entitled Unknown Works.3 Leg over Leg itself has been seldom reprinted and often abridged (as often for moral as for aesthetic reasons), making a thorough study of its contents difficult. Moreover, it has suffered from more general scholarly neglect, as the nineteenth century has, until recently, remained one of the lesser-studied periods of Arabic literature. Known as the Nahḍah, a term derived from the verb meaning “to rise” or “to stand up,” it is commonly translated as the “awakening” or “revival” of Arabic literary culture—a flowering often attributed to the salutary influence of European culture, for which reason it has also been called the “Arab rediscovery of Europe,” beginning with Napoleon’s invasion of Egypt in 1798.4 Following a clearly Eurocentric paradigm, scholarship has tended for many years to emphasize the innovative aspects of the period—most notably the introduction of European genres and styles—and to sideline works following classical models, as well as works that fall between the two. Works such as Leg over Leg have been overlooked by those scholars who have seen it as a transitional curiosity between the “intellectually frivolous” and decadent post-classical literary age and the twentieth-century flowering of the modern novel.5 Looking at al-Shidyāq’s complete work, however, helps scholars to re-evaluate this assessment, to engage critically with the Nahḍah and its output, to understand the importance of both translation and philology to modern Arabic literature, and to reconceptualize global frameworks of literature and Arabic’s place in them. As al-Shidyāq writes, he is no “chain-man” and does not seek to replicate the style of those authors who have come before him. Yet he has as much distaste for appearing at the front of the chain as he does for appearing at its rear. For this reason, Leg over Leg can be seen as a portrait in miniature
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of Arabic literary modernity, if we understand that modernity as it has been described more recently in scholarship: a contested category marked by selfinterrogation and a “constant reworking of the meaning of community” through language, created not by being imported from the West, but through interaction with Europe.6 Historically contingent rather than inevitable and ambivalent in its relationship to both universalist claims and Eurocentric enunciations, Arabic modernity in Leg over Leg appears not as a stage on a single linear trajectory of history but as the name given to all of the competing “discrepant histories” which are themselves intertwined.7 Engaged with both the literary heritage of the past and the social and political conditions of the present, written in conversation with European languages and literature, and following the path of a burgeoning print industry, Leg over Leg is a portrait of a world where material and literary culture are in simultaneous flux. As al-Shidyāq writes: I tell you, the world in your late grandfather’s and father’s day was not as it is now. In their day, there were no steamboats or railway tracks to bring close far-off tracts and create new pacts, to connect the disconnected, and make accessible what was once protected. Then, one didn’t have to learn many languages. It could be said of anyone who knew a few words of Turkish—Welcome, my lord! How nice to see you, my lord!—that he’d make a fine interpreter at the Imperial court. (1855 4.1.9)
The “new age” [al-ʿaṣr al-jadīd], the subject of many Nahḍah-era writings, was one in which the disconnected were being rapidly and frequently connected— through technologies of travel, of course, as well as through imperialist military expansion, missionary activities, and trade. Yet as al-Shidyāq hints here, these connections were formed as much by the production of knowledge and literature as they were by material innovations. Languages, translation, and even print culture—as printing presses gradually replaced the scriptoria of the imperial court—are what draw distant places closer in Leg over Leg, as it follows its protagonist from his native Lebanon to Malta, Egypt, Tunisia, France, and England, while he searches for gainful employment in the literary sphere, as a scribe, then poet, translator, editor, and author.
*** Leg over Leg is not only emblematic of his age; it is also largely autobiographical and, in this sense, irreducibly idiosyncratic. Al-Shidyāq followed the same
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peregrinations as his protagonist, whose name, al-Fāriyāq (or “the Fāriyāq,” as he retains the definite article from his family name), is a condensation of his given and last names.8 In the absence of consistent historical records, biographers have even gone so far as to use Leg over Leg as a historical document, although this practice—considering the text’s satirical and highly stylized mode of narration—seems to obscure more than it illuminates.9 It cannot, for example, help settle the question of al-Shidyāq’s birth date (which is variously given as 1801, 1804, or 1805), as the Fāriyāq is only specified as being “born with the misfortune of having misfortune in the ascendant everywhere, the Scorpion raising its tail to strike at the Kid, or Billy Goat, and the Crab set on a collision course with the horn of the Ox” (1.1.13). What is known is that Fāris al-Shidyāq was probably born in the village of Ashqūt, in what is now Lebanon, to a prominent family in the Maronite community. Like many in his family, which had for generations provided clerks, teachers, and secretaries for local emirs and their sons, al-Shidyāq entered the local village school in Ḥadath, where the family later moved. An intelligent child of a literary family, he learned in large part at home and afterward took up the family profession as copyist and instructor in the service of the emir Ḥaydar al-Shihābī and helped him to compile his family chronicle and history of Lebanon, Al-Ghurar al-ḥisān fī tārīkh ḥawādith al-zamān. Al-Shidyāq might have kept to this well-trodden path had he not come into contact with some of those forces that “connect the disconnected.” In 1825 his older brother Asʿad began working as an Arabic instructor and translator for two American evangelical missionaries in Beirut and eventually converted to Protestantism and declared his desire to interpret the Gospel independently and preach it to others. Distraught and probably fearful of the social and financial repercussions of his leaving the church, his family begged him to renounce his new faith and his vocal skepticism of what he called their “custom and upbringing”; when he did not, he was taken into Patriarchal custody.10 In the Qannūbīn monastery in Mount Lebanon, whether from torture or poor living conditions—he was kept for some time in a small cell that was blocked entirely by earth and stone except for a small window through which rations were passed to him—Asʿad died in 1830.11 In the meantime Fāris al-Shidyāq—who “anticipated trouble,” according to a missionary account of Asʿad’s case, but possibly also out of disgust for the general approbation among the elites in his community for his brother’s punishment—fled with several of the Americans to Alexandria and then British-protected Malta, where he entered their employ.12
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This would mark al-Shidyāq’s exile from Lebanon and the beginning of his lifetime of wandering, as he would return only once, in 1840, to visit his family in secret. He stayed in Malta from early 1827 to 1828 and again from 1834 to 1848, working primarily for the London-based Church Missionary Society (CMS). At first, he was employed as a tutor in Arabic for several of the missionaries, but they soon recognized the full extent of his abilities and enlisted him in their most precious and frustrating project—their Arabic printing press, which they hoped would produce translations of religious materials but was stalled by the lack of printing materials and qualified personnel. Al-Shidyāq soon began translating texts, as well as editing and correcting others’ translations; as Jurjī Zaydān remarks in the biographical entry for al-Shidyāq in his A History of Arabic-Language Literature, “he was responsible, as the author, translator, or editor, for every single Arabic book printed at the Malta press” during his tenure there.13 Zaydān’s description, as later scholars have pointed out, is probably an exaggeration—there were other translators employed by the press, and the missionaries themselves took an active role in the production of literary materials. But it is nonetheless clear that al-Shidyāq became essential to the operations of the press, as the missionaries found him indispensable, despite the fact that he remained unconvinced of the truth of Protestant Christianity and the validity of the missionary project as a whole. Upon his arrival, as his supervisor notes, al-Shidyāq was “very much in need of a sound knowledge of the truth of the Gospel, and . . . gives good hope of receiving it.”14 But if they hoped that they would find him to be like his brother, open to evangelical teachings and eager to join the missionary ranks himself, then they were deeply disappointed. Al-Shidyāq maintained a steadfast skepticism in matters ecclesiastical, which is evident in his sometimes ambivalent adoption of Protestantism.15 As one of the American missionaries writes, “Fares has always expressed a wish to be free, and loudly sometimes.”16 Yet he was also the most qualified and learned of any of those they could find to work with them; he “probes things to the very bottom,” as his supervisor wrote of him, an often vexing quality—as it meant long sessions of debate (as the same missionary also wrote, “were it not for his disputing I scarcely knew labours more pleasant to me than those I perform with him”)—but one that was ultimately beneficial.17 Al-Shidyāq translated religious tracts, secular educational materials, and grammars for the CMS and was often the only translator in their employ.
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Al-Shidyāq was unhappy in Malta. In Leg over Leg he calls it as “the Island of Scoundrels” (Jazīrat al-mulūṭ, a word-play with the root letters of Malta) and “the Island of the Foul of Breath” (an allusion to the Maltese language, which he sometimes referred to as a corrupt version of Arabic). In his Travel Narrative of the Known Conditions of Malta he found fault with almost every aspect of Maltese culture and geography, describing the climate as so inhospitable that vegetables, even when grown abroad, lose their taste when eaten there.18 He likewise bristled under missionary life: he could not tolerate the missionaries’ food or austere lifestyle—he visited taverns, to the missionaries’ chagrin, and was rumored to have had “conversation with bad women”19—and wished to be more fairly compensated for his work. Yet his years in Malta also gave him his first opportunity to work in print, allowing him to develop skills and interests in many aspects of the printing process, all of which would allow him to hold editorial and managing positions in Arabic presses throughout the region. In Egypt, where he traveled when he left CMS employ between 1828 and 1834, he worked on the editorial staff of the first Arabic periodical, Al-Waqāʾiʿ al-Miṣriyyah (Egyptian Events), and he would later found his own journal and printing press in Istanbul. Little is known about his life in Egypt, except that he seemed dissatisfied with his government position—he approached the missionaries in 1829 to return to Malta, and in 1832 was employed as an Arabic instructor in a missionary school. When his replacement translator left to participate in an expedition to the Euphrates, he returned to Malta and resumed his former post, remaining there from the end of 1834 until the press closed in 1842. When al-Shidyāq finally left CMS employ, it was to complete a translation of the Bible under the auspices of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge (SPCK), another Anglican mission organization operating in Malta. In 1845, this brought al-Shidyāq to the small village of Barley, in Hertfordshire, and then (after a brief return to Malta) to Cambridge, in order to work with Professor Reverend Samuel Lee (d. 1852), an Orientalist and missionary. After Lee’s death, al-Shidyāq continued to work on the Bible, while living alternately in London and Paris until its publication in 1857. This was the first of his periods of great literary productivity, enabled by the steady salary he received from the SPCK (and supplemented by a job as the commercial correspondent for the trading company of Butrus Ḥawwā, to whom he dedicates Leg over Leg20). In England, he lived near the Cambridge University Library and the British Museum and their
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substantial Arabic manuscript holdings—he was impressed by the access readers were granted to rare and important manuscripts—and came into contact with scholars of Arabic literature there and in Paris (including Thomas Jarrett at Cambridge, John Nicholson at Oxford, and Caussin de Perceval in Paris). In Paris he also met Arab litterateurs and reformers on their travels (including Fransīs Fatḥallah Marrāsh and Khayr al-Dīn al-Tūnusī). It was in this atmosphere of intellectual stimulation (as opposed to the “Panegyricon,” or “praise factory,” of the Egyptian press office) that al-Shidyāq wrote and published Leg over Leg (at the Paris press of Benjamin Duprat, in 1855) and began his travel narratives of Malta and Europe and several other minor projects, including a French grammar for Arabic students and an Arabic grammar for English students. Although he worked with Protestant missionaries for nearly half of his career, he rigorously maintained an independent-minded scholarly agenda. While translating texts in Malta, he held a post as lecturer in Arabic at the university in Valletta. In Egypt, while working for Muḥammad ʿAlī’s state-run newspaper and then a CMS-run school, he began to attend Muslim scholarly and literary circles, studying jurisprudence, grammar, and literature with al-Azhar shaykhs, as well as acquiring or copying “as many classical texts as he could find.”21 Later, when he moved to England in order to collaborate on a translation of the Bible, he not only copied manuscripts of some of the most important works produced during the golden age of Islam but also began to compose a refutation of the Gospels.22 That is, during the same years that al-Shidyāq worked to establish a faithful and correct translation of the Bible, in accordance with the Hebrew and Syriac source texts, he was also working on a treatise arguing for the unreliability of the Gospels on the very basis of source criticism. In this treatise, al-Shidyāq presents the contradictions of source criticism and faith as irresolvable—a gesture that perhaps most concretely points to his own resolute skepticism that remained the basis of his literary and scholarly endeavors, whether he worked under Christian or under Ottoman Muslim patronage, which he did after leaving Europe in 1857. The year 1857 marks al-Shidyāq’s final departure from missionary employment (though it may be argued that the true break came in 1855, with the publication of his scathing depiction of the missionaries in Leg over Leg). In 1842, while in Malta, he had written a poem in praise of the ruler of Tunis, Aḥmad Bāy, and had received a diamond in recognition of it. Later, in Paris, on one of the Bāy’s journeys there, al-Shidyāq wrote another laudatory poem; this one elicited an invitation from the Bāy to Tunis to establish a state printing press
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and newspaper. While this project was eventually realized by one of his contemporaries, al-Shidyāq remained in Tunis for nearly two years, where he continued to work on his European travelogue, Uncovering the Hidden Arts of Europe (published in Tunis in 1863). Scholars believe that it was here that he converted to Islam, taking the name Aḥmad—though evidence in Al-Sāq seems to point to his having converted even earlier, while still in Europe.23 Soon afterward, he was invited by the Sublime Porte to the capital, and it was there, as Aḥmad Fāris al-Shidyāq, that he would attain the greatest recognition. He arrived in Istanbul/Constantinople in 1859, where he was first employed as chief corrector at the imperial press, and, in 1861, he became the founder and editor in chief of Al-Jawāʾib (Tidings from Afar), the first Arabic periodical to be published there and perhaps the most influential Arabic publication to be produced in the Nahḍah. Al-Jawāʾib ran weekly from 1861 to 1883, and for the first nine years it was subsidized by the imperial ministry of finance and printed at the government press.24 Thus beholden, as were most other periodicals of the time, to “our master, the great sultan,” as al-Shidyāq puts it, Al-Jawāʾib reproduced government bulletins and produced news reports that corresponded with official accounts of events and yet maintained a partial independence, for which it was occasionally punished.25 More than merely a mouthpiece for the Ottoman sultan and his provincial governors, Al-Jawāʾib was also a source for domestic and international news and might have been best known as a venue for cultural and literary debates. A lover and defender of the Arabic language, al-Shidyāq used Al-Jawāʾib as a vehicle for his philological scholarship and as a place where he could hold fierce linguistic debates with his contemporaries and publish poems satirizing his critics. He engaged in international debates about Arabic usage with the editors of the Paris journal Birjīs Bārīs (The Paris Jupiter, 1858–63) and an intergenerational argument about orthography with Ibrāhīm al-Yāzijī and the editors of Al-Jinān in Beirut. These were so heated as to inspire a critic to launch a periodical devoted entirely to satirizing al-Shidyāq, Rujūm wa-ghassāq ilā Fāris al-Shidyāq (Fire and Brimstone upon Fāris al-Shidyāq, 1868); it only lasted a few issues. During this period, al-Shidyāq launched the Jawāʾib Press; in 1870 he began printing his periodical himself (with the assistance of his son, Salīm), as well as his book-length works, the works of his supporters and friends, and classical works on Arabic language and literature. Many of these were devoted to philological inquiry, including works on the morphology, lexicography, and phonology of
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Arabic, most notably Al-Jāsūs ʿalā l-Qāmūs (Spying on the Dictionary, 1884) and Sirr al-Layāl fī l-qalb wa-l-ibdāl (The Secrets of Morphology and Metathesis, 1884) as well as a comparative study of Arabic, French, and Turkish (Kanz al-lughāt; The Treasury of Languages, 1876). As Geoffrey Roper notes, al-Shidyāq “did not just passively accept and make use of the printing press” but was “an active protagonist and propagandist of the print revolution.”26 Al-Shidyāq helped to establish many of the norms of modern printing—from language to typesetting—including the addition of tables of contents and title pages with dates. As he argued, “all the crafts that have been invented in this world are inferior to the craft of printing.”27 Al-Shidyāq operated the Jawāʾib Press from 1870 until three years before his death, when he was perhaps able to devote his full attention to his final project— a critical edition and introduction to the seventh/thirteenth-century dictionary, Lisān al-ʿArab (The Arab Tongue, 1883–89) of Ibn Manẓūr. Published in twenty volumes at the Bulāq Press in Cairo, it remains one of the largest dictionaries in Arabic and a near-exhaustive source for rare words—one of al-Shidyāq’s particular passions, as evidenced in Leg over Leg’s extensive lists of synonyms and near-synonyms. His final journey, in a life of traveling, was to Cairo in 1886, in order to confer with the press about its publication. A fellow author and literary biographer described his visit: Old age had overtaken him, dimmed his eyes, and bent his back; but he had lost nothing of his keenness or intelligence. He was, until the last of his days, a pleasant conversationalist with graceful expressions, amiable—with a tendency towards profanity.28
Eloquent and profane until the last, al-Shidyāq died, shortly after his return from Egypt, in the village of Kadiköy, on September 20, 1887. Some biographers claim that he converted back to Maronite Catholicism on his deathbed, but his own final wishes seem to contradict this. Never one to settle such questions simply, he requested to be buried in a Christian cemetery near his family home in Hazmiyyah, Lebanon, in a grave marked not by a cross but by a crescent.29 Al-Shidyāq, then, was paradoxical even in death, as is fitting, considering the broadest strokes of his biography. In the (perhaps understated) words of the missionary society’s annual report, “Fāris is a man of excellent mind, but strong and wayward passions”—an apt way to describe many of his political and religious affiliations. He wrote poems in praise of Aḥmad Bāy of Tunis but also of Queen Victoria and the rebel leader ʿAbd al-Qādir of Algeria, and he became a British
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citizen before leaving England to work as a subject of the Ottoman Empire. To quote Kamran Rastegar, he was a “Muslim Christian. A sedentary traveler. An ascetic sensualist. A modernist classicist. A literary gutter-mouth. A pious unbeliever.”30 He was, intellectually and personally, a series of irresolvable paradoxes.
*** Al-Shidyāq’s body of work—seen as a whole—is equally difficult to categorize neatly. Most frequently, al-Shidyāq is seen as a modernizer, a renovator of Arabic letters who “had little regard for literary tradition” and who instead looked to Europe for literary modes that would replace those discredited indigenous ones.31 In a certain sense this is true: he was a pioneer of narrative forms new to the Arab public sphere, including the modern travelogue and experimental narrative prose such as we find in Leg over Leg. Known as the father of Arabic journalism for his work on Al-Waqāʾiʿ al-Miṣriyyah and Al-Jawāʾib, he was invested in the modernization of the Arabic language, so as to preserve its usefulness and expressiveness in modern daily life. Thus, he introduced many surviving neologisms that described his contemporary reality, including jarīdah “newspaper,” intikhāb “election,” and jawāz “passport,” and he translated and edited English translations of religious, geographical, pedagogical, natural historical, and narrative works. His literary career, that is, showed a sustained engagement with European languages, scholarship, and literary forms. And yet much of his published work consists of works one might classify as neo-classical, or even “revivalist,” including influential studies in classical lexicography and critical editions of classical Arabic texts, as well as original compositions in neo-classical style, such as his poetry and his examples of maqāmāt (a rhyming prose form that originated in the fourth/tenth century but that was produced by many during the Nahḍah).32 These works, comprising much of his prolific production, signal that al-Shidyāq was not interested simply in abandoning inherited Arabic literary modes and rhetorical styles: he was equally interested in reviving classical rhetoric and forms and publishing them for the new reading public.33 His modernity, that is, was pioneered precisely through an interest in Arabic literary pre-modernity. In this sense, al-Shidyāq’s oeuvre exemplifies the diverse trajectories of the Nahḍah. Yet, despite the diversity of its output, the Nahḍah had for many years been seen as an enlightenment movement with its primary origins in “Western influences, the introduction of unknown or barely known genres such as the
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theatre or the European-style novel” or which “loosened the attachment of Arab societies to traditions reckoned inappropriate to modern civilization.” 34 In recent years, however, scholars have looked at the production of the Nahḍah as more ambivalent in its attitude toward Western literary and cultural models and less categorical in its rejection of indigenous ones. Studies of translation and literary contact in the Nahḍah now tend to see experimentations in Western forms not as admiring imitations of a dominant culture but as creative acts of cultural resistance or indifference that “cared nothing for origins and genealogies.”35 And intra-regional studies have questioned the extent to which these works should be viewed solely in conversation with the West. These studies point to more continuities than discontinuities with the literary heritage of the East, and show us that looking at the literature of the Nahḍah solely in the context of its relationship with the West writes out a significant part of the period’s output: not only “revivalist” literature (classical and neo-classical publications) but also those works that lie between revivalist and “modernist,” such as Leg over Leg.36 The Nahḍah, in light of these recent studies, might more precisely be understood as a period of dynamic social and literary change, which oriented its modernity simultaneously inward, toward a classical heritage, and outward, in the direction of Europe. Indeed, Samah Selim has gone as far as to suggest abandoning the singular term Nahḍah, in order to “speak of two intertwined literary Nahḍahs”: “one that, partly looking backwards to an antediluvian ‘golden age,’ was invested in an act of genetic and linguistic recuperation (re-naissance) and another that was strictly materialist in the play of its textual and social articulations.”37 That is, one Nahḍah that recovers a literary past and another that represents, in varying degrees of realism, a material present, which included goods and people from both inside and outside the Arabic-speaking world, or the “Arabs and their non-Arab peers” of Leg over Leg’s subtitle, or those disconnected and newly connected by steamships and railways, to paraphrase the Fāriyāq. Al-Shidyāq’s—and the Fāriyāq’s—steamship fare to England was, of course, paid by missionaries. The missionary presence in the Middle East, mostly American and British, began in Egypt and the eastern Mediterranean in the early nineteenth century and was aimed mainly toward the conversion of Eastern Christian sects such as the Maronites in Lebanon and the Copts in Egypt (and, to a lesser extent, Jewish Ottoman subjects). While they failed to convert many— in 1830, the entire “Protestant community” of the Ottoman empire reportedly consisted of six people38—they did establish important institutions of learning
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and foster intellectual relationships with several influential literary figures. Yet missionary societies are just one example of international contact in the Middle East; far more influential and commonplace than the “Biblemen,” as they were sometimes called—or “bag-men,” as al-Shidyāq satirizes them, because they, like itinerant merchants, would hawk their wares in the spiritual marketplace— were European merchants and manufacturers, who appeared more often in the region during the nineteenth century. During this period, economic ties between European countries and the larger Ottoman Empire (of which modern-day Syria and Lebanon were a part) deepened: beginning in the 1840s with a series of laws called the tanẓīmāt, Istanbul rapidly opened its empire to foreign investment and trade. In Egypt this meant that European banks began to establish themselves in Alexandria as early as the 1850s, lending money to the soon-to-be bankrupt Egyptian government.39 In Lebanon the consequence of these changes was the rapid growth in the export of agricultural products in the 1850s and 1860s; the silk-thread trade alone accounted for over eighty percent of the region’s exports to Europe.40 At the same time, the quantity of European manufactured goods consumed in the region increased: the Middle East became incorporated into the new world economic system as a dependent region, with prices and exports determined by demand in Europe, and with locally-based European merchants reaping much of the profit.41 Foreign travel and immigration to the Middle East rose apace; the silk trade brought French capitalists and merchants (especially from Lyon) to Mount Lebanon to set up silk factories, and a booming cotton industry and transport construction lured workers and investors to Egypt. (The number of Europeans who came into Egypt alone rose from between 8,000 and 10,000 in 1838 to 30,000 in 1861 and 80,000 by 1865.42) At the same time that foreign travel and immigration to the Middle East became more frequent, so did Arab migration and travel to Europe. While it was once a scholarly commonplace to consider Muslims and Arabs as generally uncurious about Europe—a view popularized, at least in academic contexts, by Bernard Lewis in Islam and the West and The Muslim Discovery of Europe—recent work has made lesser-known travelogues of the seventeenth through nineteenth centuries known and available to English readers.43 Putting this period’s travel literature into the long history of Arab contact with Europe makes it clear that there was no sudden nineteenthcentury “discovery” of Europe.
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Nonetheless, a new dimension to this contact emerged in the nineteenth century—national consolidation, with the goal of strengthening Arab scientific and military capabilities in the wake of European encroachment. After Napoleon’s short-lived occupation of Egypt, from 1798 to 1801, Egypt’s ruler, Muḥammad ʿAlī, launched his own scientific campaign to Europe by dispatching educational missions in various disciplines.44 First sending a group of students to Italy to train as printers and type-founders, he later sent missions to France and England to study shipbuilding, engineering, medicine, law, diplomacy, and languages. During what Muḥammad ʿAlī envisioned as a cultural and technical revival, these missions stood at the core of a national education project—as they not only brought home valuable skills and information, but also disseminated them through university teaching and the translation of technical textbooks.45 Printing presses, then, including the press that Napoleon brought to print his military bulletins and the still-operating Bulāq Press (founded in 1821), were instrumental to Muḥammad
ʿAlī’s modernizing agenda, as they published official news and the scientific and academic works that Egyptian delegates translated upon their return. Not all publishing, however, was produced in the service of the state. Any author could have a book printed at Muḥammad ʿAlī’s press, provided that the costs were paid, and private presses began to compete with state publishing houses for the emerging print market.46 By mid-century, there were more than a dozen presses operating in the Levant alone, with six privately owned commercial presses opening in the 1850s.47 In addition to missionary presses like the CMS Press in Malta, authors themselves also became printer-publishers, founding their own presses and publishing their own writing or journals. In Cairo, Alexandria, Beirut, Baghdad, Mosul, Aleppo, Damascus, Jerusalem, and Valletta, authors and translators published a range of texts for the emerging commercial market.48 The nineteenth-century Arabic print sphere emerged as one that was profoundly heterogeneous, producing editions of classical Arabic texts as well as translations from English and French literature. Alongside these, original Arabic prose works appeared, some in neoclassical style, and others written in a form called riwāyah, the word now used to mean “novel” but which then signified a category more fluid, such as “narrative” (literally, it is the verbal noun for “telling”), as well as works in between. In doing so, the Nahḍah’s print market forged new alliances, not simply within the imagined community of the nation, but intra-regionally—creating, in effect, something that could for the first time be called a public Arabic print
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sphere, where “the sounds from Beirut, Cairo, and Alexandria reached other Arab provinces, and educated groups in the towns of Syria, Palestine, Iraq, and even the Hejaz became involved in the new exchange in print across provincial boundaries.”49 Periodicals published in Beirut would advertise or review novels written by Egyptian colleagues, and journals of various affiliations would engage each other in debate about the correct use of Arabic, the relative merits of different literary translators, or editorial policy. The picture that emerges is of an Arabic print sphere that was intricately interlinked, making alliances across provincial borders, confessional boundaries, and even across continents. Early journals and newspapers were sometimes the product of either foreign investment (as was the case with the Franco-Egyptian ventures of L’Echo des Pyramides, 1827, and Al-Tanbīh, founded in 1800) or direct intellectual exchange,50 and featured an international news section often translated from European newspapers and wire services, thanks to the widespread use of the telegraph and the establishment of Reuters’s first office outside Europe, in Alexandria in 1865.51 Their audience, too, was international—composed not just of readers in Beirut or Cairo but also immigrant readers and Orientalists in Europe and, later, in North America.52 An English traveler to the Arabian Peninsula in the 1870s, Charles Montagu Doughty, remarked that al-Shidyāq’s Al-Jawāʾib was “current in all countries of the Arabic speech” and that he had seen it even “in the Nejd merchants’ houses at Bombay.”53 The links established by trade and travel, then, were formed simultaneously in the print sphere, and it was there that they were debated. What was shared in print, perhaps even more than a sense of a bounded national or imperial space, was the Nahḍah reader’s relationship to the world around him, the sense both of being a local actor and participating in global phenomena. Indeed, by the end of the nineteenth century it was possible to see journalists referring an international or even global Nahḍah, consisting of Arab authors or litterateurs who traveled and published abroad.54 The Nahḍah, then, might be understood as an attempt to negotiate Arab modernity, identity, and enlightenment in the context of what authors identified as a new age of technological, social, literary, commercial, and even moral change, which they were joining by virtue of a new sense of global interconnectedness.55 One intellectual project that concerned the writers and thinkers of the Nahḍah, then, was how—and on what terms—to understand their participation in this global process. Debates about modernity, oriented toward the issue of tamaddun (loosely translated as “progress toward
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civilization”), emerged. Journalistic essays asked, “Who are we?” as a way to seek answers to the larger question of what it means to be Arab (and not necessarily an Egyptian or a Lebanese) and modern, or Arab and enlightened, in the cross-currents of global capitalism, empire, and the trans-regional and potentially global community of the faithful, the umma. 56 To do so was to demarcate local specificity within the global, rather than against it. Thus Nahḍah intellectuals did not necessarily seek either to preserve or to abandon authentic traditions in the face of foreign encroachment. The common understanding of the choice intellectuals made, between the position of “reformer” and “reactionary,” might be a false dichotomy. As Shaden Tageldin writes, “For most of the elite Egyptian intellectuals of the Nahḍah, becoming modern was never a question of abandoning Arabic and writing in the languages of their European colonizers—in French or English. The Nahḍah unfolded in translation: it transported French or English into Arabic. Thus it appeared to ‘preserve’ Arabic—all the while translating it.”57 In other words, these intellectuals theorized modernity as a comparative project, as something taking shape alongside Europe.58
*** One can see this comparative tendency in the title page of Leg over Leg. As its subtitle announces (“Days, Months, and Years spent in Critical Examination of the Arabs and their Non-Arab Peers”), the narrative takes the outward form of a travelogue that follows the Fāriyāq between Europe and the Arab Middle East. In his “critical examination,” he looks outward at a cultural other, but he also reflects inwardly upon his own social background, leaving no society safe from his satirizing gaze. It takes place on the road between cultures; though influenced by Laurence Sterne and François Rabelais, it takes equal interest in the wandering scholars of the classical Arabic tradition, such as Badī ʿ al-Zamān al-Hamadhānī (d. 398/1008), who—like the Fāriyāq—traveled in search of literary patronage. Though nominally Christian at the time of its publication (he added “Aḥmad” several years later), he invokes Islamic motifs and values that seem to identify him ambivalently as already Muslim.59 And though avowedly a work devoted to linguistic preservation—and indeed taking antiquarian delight in stringing together lists of rare words and in lampooning authors and orators for using incorrect language—he also claims to eschew the dominant rhetorical tendencies of the preceding centuries that produced texts “marinated in the spices of paronomasia and morphological parallelism, of metaphor and metonymy” (1.1.11).
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This final contradiction helps to describe the work’s complex prose style. Leg over Leg contains many elaborate displays of linguistic erudition—in the form of its lists of synonyms but also his repeated demonstrations of rhetorical and generic mastery. Al-Shidyāq intersperses his narrative with original verse compositions and sections in rhymed prose (sajʿ ), as well as the four maqāmāt he includes, along with other more occasional usages. These passages, combined with his quotations and intertextual references to poets and linguistic scholars, give the reader a full sense of his scholarly abilities and qualifications—he makes clear that he could hold his own with the literary masters of his time. In this sense, we can see Leg over Leg as “a last glance at a fading language,” in which the author is conscious of “the precarious state written classical Arabic reached under the growing impact of European languages and local attempts at reforming the Arab language in the Ottoman world.”60 One cannot help but wonder, however, if this final glance did not contain a glint of irony. In the opening pages, as the reader will see, he preserves classical erudition by recalling over 250 synonyms and euphemisms for “penis,” “vagina,” and “sexual intercourse.” He may have aimed to unseat literary authority even as he claimed it for himself. In other sections, he renders events in clear and direct language that can approach the style of present-day Arabic novels. He even, on rare occasions, writes in colloquial Arabic—an act that remains controversial even today. For many scholars, the shifting of registers between formal and informal Arabic and between ornate and simple styles, marks Leg over Leg as a text produced during the transition to modernity and is one of the sources of the notorious difficulty in categorizing the work. While its title seems to present it as a travelogue, and its story follows the author’s real-life travels, its characters and events are abstracted and stylized, with rhetorical acrobatics often seeming to take precedence over attempts at ethnographic verisimilitude. Long philosophical and literary digressions frequently interrupt the plot, so that the narrative often takes on the form of a miscellany. As the narrator admits, “I committed myself to writing a book that would be a repository for every idea that appealed to me, relevant or irrelevant, for it seemed to me that what was irrelevant to me might be relevant to someone else, and vice versa” (1.10.6). Despite this hint at formlessness, the author’s preface gives two possible generic possibilities: to “give prominence to the oddities of the language, including its rare words” (0.2.1) and to “discuss the praiseworthy and blameworthy qualities of women” (0.2.12). Yet no study exists that treats the work as either a
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linguistic treatise or a sociology of gender. Instead, scholars have categorized it as belonging to a variety of literary genres. Luwīs ʿAwaḍ and Shawqī Ḍayf, for example, classify it as a maqāmah or neo-maqāmah, Radwa ʿAshour as a novel (“the first and most important Arabic novel”), Matityahu Peled as Menippean, and Paul Starkey as fictional autobiography or a “voyage of self-definition.”61 For Nadia Al-Bagdadi, the work transcends categorization: she argues that it should be understood both as a novel and as “a unique literary expression of its time,” or “a genre of its own.”62 Al-Shidyāq might have agreed with this characterization. As he warns in his prefatory poem, his art is “an orphan” and “unique”; “so be well disposed toward it,” he begs his reader (0.4.5). In this verse description (and anticipatory list of complaints) of Leg over Leg, he identifies what might be the central difficulty in characterizing it: it appears as if he “pieced it together and cobbled it up by hand” (0.4.2). It might not be categorizable because it is pieced together from many genres and literary modes, as it contains passages in verse (madīḥ, hijāʾ, ghazal, rithāʾ ), prose (with passages that imitate or make reference to historical writing, sermons, aphorisms, ethnographic writing, linguistic studies, and philosophical critiques), and prosody (it includes four original maqāmāt, as well as other passages written in rhyming prose, or sajʿ ). Alongside these Arabic exemplars, he includes sections translated from European authors, such as the travel narratives of Chateaubriand and Lamartine, and original passages written in “the Frankish way” (1.7.5). And he intersperses in these lists (many quoted, as Humphrey Davies notes in his Afterword, from Al-Qāmūs), anecdotes, and typographical jokes which punctuate the text. In cobbling together this multigeneric work, he renders no mode privileged over any other. Instead, he incorporates all into his narrative archive, to praise and discredit equally. As a result, there is no stable position of narrative authority in Leg over Leg, a fact perhaps announced by the work’s title itself. In a text abounding in sexual puns and innuendos, “leg over leg” could refer to an intimate union of limbs or the detached posture of an armchair academic. Moreover, this single phrase signals the linguistic and structural play built into all aspects of the work: “al-sāq ʿalā l-sāq” also appears within the text in a list of the conventional topoi of courtship narratives, which interrupts the very courtship story that the narrator is trying to tell: It is the custom of my fellow writers sometimes to go back and leap over a period of time and connect an event that happened before it to an event that
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The “and the like” that mockingly ends this list opens it up to parodic criticism, gesturing simultaneously toward infinite substitutability on the one hand and the impossibility of precise equivalence on the other—signaling both the mechanisms and limits of representation that will be explored throughout the text (which reaches the absurd in the secondary reading of the title, “The Turtle in the Tree”). Thus al-Shidyāq, in his display of mastery over these genres, also leads the reader through a series of generic parodies, anatomizing literary forms—interrupting his maqāmah to talk about the limitations of sajʿ (likening it to walking with a wooden leg), interrupting his protagonist’s poetry with literary-critical commentary, or (as above) disrupting the narrative episodes to discuss the conventions of the narrative discourse. Furthermore, these interruptions, digressions, and lists create an endless leg after leg of narrative, where text seems to generate only more text. This itself points to the work’s operative hermeneutic mode: it is contiguity, not equivalence, that serves as the driving force behind meaning. It is by the juxtaposition of events, characters, and even adjectives that the plot, as nonlinear as it is, moves forward (or sideways, which is often the case). Al-Shidyāq even goes so far as to reject explicitly the very notion of equivalence, in the form of synonymity, in its opening pages. He writes: In addition, I have imposed on the reader the condition that he not skip any of the “synonymous” words in this book of mine, many though they be (for it may happen that, on a single road, a herd of fifty words, all with the same meaning, or with two meanings that are close, may pass him by). If he cannot commit to this, I cannot permit him to peruse it and will not offer him my congratulations if he does so. I have to admit that I cannot support the idea that all “synonyms” have the same meaning, or they would have called them “equi-nyms.” (1.1.7)
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As al-Shidyāq points out here, the Arabic root for “synonym,” r-d-f, does not necessarily connote equivalence. The verbs derived from it can mean to pile up in layers, to become stratified, to flock, to throng, to form a single line, or to follow one after another. Or, to put one foot after another, follow leg upon leg, as another reading of al-sāq ʿalā l-sāq allows.63 Thus does Leg over Leg, in its very title, “lay bare the device,” as Victor Shklovsky wrote of Tristram Shandy.64 Leg over Leg, then, might be more precisely characterized as meta-generic— as al-Shidyāq seems to comment on genre more often than he writes in a generic mode. Yet his interruptions of literary convention are not only a commentary on style; they are also the foundation of his larger social and political critiques. The linguistic authority that al-Shidyāq undermines is always tied to political authority: he lampoons emirs for their misguided overconfidence in grammatical studies, satirizes Maronite priests for their hypocritical lack of scholarly goals—when staying at a monastery and in need of a dictionary to compose poetry, he inquires after a copy of the Qāmūs, Muḥammad ibn Yaʿqūb Fīrūzābādī’s lexicon, and is given answers about jāmūs and kābūs, or buffaloes and nightmares—ridicules Protestant missionaries for their inability to communicate with their congregations in their native language, and criticizes Orientalist scholars for their errors in translation (he devotes an entire appendix to correcting the errors found in the works of the French scholars he came into contact with in Paris). Yet his attacks on ecclesiastical authority should not be seen solely in light of his wellknown disagreements and injuries. His position against ecclesiastical authority is more than a reaction to his brother’s treatment in Lebanon, just as his critiques of Orientalist scholarship are more than simply a reaction to his reported failure to find an academic post in Europe.65 Both are part of a sustained critique of institutionalized interpretations of sacred texts, canonical works of literature, and even social conventions—and especially of any person who blindly accepts them. Instead, al-Shidyāq subtly suggests skepticism—based on individual perception and self-improving study—as the guiding principle for spiritual enlightenment, political leadership, judicial decisions, and moral principles, as well as for scholarly research. Or, as his narrator tells us early on: “Observe, then, how people differ with regard to a single word and a single meaning!” (1.2.7) The linguistic indeterminacy that reigns in Leg over Leg—with simple definitions of words seeming to collapse under the weight of his lists of subtly differentiated synonyms—does not establish him as the ultimate linguistic authority as much
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as it shows that language itself is the key to dissidence. It is not a coincidence, in this sense, that his protagonist’s name also means “he who distinguishes.” It might not be possible to tease a coherent political doctrine from his work, but al-Shidyāq expressed in his writings values that today would be associated with liberalism. He repeatedly advocated a separation of religious and political life and a respect for “personal freedoms” (so long as they are in the interest of society). Both in his travels and in his observations on life within the Ottoman Empire, he called attention to the need to improve working conditions for farmers and workers, approaching (but never wholly identifying with) some of the socialist ideas being debated in Europe during his sojourn there, chief among them the responsibility of the ruling classes toward the poor and the importance of equality under the law.66 His promotion of the value of equality, in fact, might be considered among his most radical, as he advocated for it not only among religious sects and social classes but also between genders. In Leg over Leg and elsewhere he promotes absolute equality between men and women, advocating—nearly fifty years before Qāsim Amīn’s The Liberation of Women (1899)—for the right of women to be educated. (As he explains in Al-Jawāʾib, “knowledge and education are the light of the mind . . . and if you cannot entrust this light to woman, then you cannot trust her with any light whatsoever, for fear that she might use it to burn down the house.”67) Unlike many of his contemporary reformers, however, he did not write of an idealized woman whose education was in the service of a better performance of her domestic duties or the education of a new generation of children. As he writes in Leg over Leg, if one reads him in order to hear about women “possessing peculiar skills in terms of the excellent management of such household tasks as sewing, embroidery, and the like, these are mentioned in many a book and you’ll have to look them up yourselves” (2.16.72). In his book, women appear not as angels of the house but as full and equal participants in society who have a right to work as well as stay at home. “There can be no Nahḍah in the East,” al-Shidyāq is reported to have said, “without a Nahḍah of women.”68 In Leg over Leg, written, as he claims, with so much interest in women and sympathy for them that one might believe his protagonist had been transformed into one, his interest in women’s equality is centered less on female education than on female emotional and sexual fulfillment. Through conversations with the protagonist’s wife, the Fāriyāqiyyah, al-Shidyāq decries sexual double standards, advocating for the right of women to choose their own husbands, to divorce, and
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to demand sexual pleasure (see Volume Three). These conversations reveal her as a witty social satirist in her own right, or, as al-Shidyāq writes in the preface, one who “argues with theorist and practitioner alike and provides excellent critiques of the political issues and conditions, mundane and spiritual, of the countries she has seen” (0.2.12). Rastegar argues for reading “the Fāriyāqiyyah” not as a name—if it were a feminization of Fāriyāq, it would be Fāriyāqah, as he points out—but as “Fāriyāq-ness,” rendered in the feminine form.69 She might thus be thought of not as a stand-in for a historical personage (al-Shidyāq’s wife, Wardah al-Ṣūlī) but as a second apparition of the self. Writing not simply about women but as if a woman, al-Shidyāq uses gender as another permutation of his thoughtexperiment in radical difference and belonging. And he reveals that above all, it is an experiment in subjectivity—which does not result in a definition of the self or of something one might call the modern Arab subject, but examines “the ways the self cannot be accommodated by social frameworks the world around.”70 The self, in Leg over Leg, seems always to exceed its narrative frame and multiply. As if to see himself from the inside and out, he appears as the author on the title page (“Fāris al-Shidyāq”) and as his textual doubles: the unnamed narrator (who narrates in the first person), the Fāriyāq, the Fāriyāqiyyah, and the interpolated narrator of the four maqāmāt that appear in the work. But even the lisping narrator of these maqāmāt, “al-Hāwif ibn Hifām,” has his own textual doubles, in the form of the narrators of the most famous series of maqāmāt, ʿĪsā ibn Hishām and al-Ḥārith ibn Hammām. Indeed, as Humphrey Davies points out, the name in its “lisped” form is no name at all but may be translated as “Masher, son of Pulverizer.” At every turn, al-Shidyāq does violence to the very presumption of verisimilitude; word and thing never correspond neatly, even in the attempt simply to name a character. Instead, he holds up art and artifice as the substance that underlies the world and even constitutes it. To navigate it, one must travel not only through space but through texts; when one reads Leg over Leg one also reads those innumerable authors he quotes or invokes, like the authors of the maqāmāt, al-Hamadhānī and al-Ḥarīrī (“men who have rendered their reputations white by covering pages in black,” 1.1.1), or the English and French authors whom he quotes. It is no wonder that the text begins with eleven synonyms for the command, “be quiet!” (1.1.1), as al-Shidyāq attempts to speak alongside, and often over, the voices that crowd the text. This multi-register and multi-lingual cacophony sets the stage for many of the travel narrative’s comic scenes, where intercultural encounters are not always
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entirely fungible. As in Tristram Shandy, its closest English analogue, communication more often leads to misunderstanding and misinterpretation than to understanding. The result can hardly be used as a guide for East–West relations but instead parodies intercultural communication and its institutional forms— chief among them Orientalist scholarship. If this period’s literature was partly looking to the West, what it saw was the West looking at it. Perhaps, then, there was no other way to write about that encounter than as a self-reflexive one. It looks to the West as a way to reflect on itself, not to imitate it but to critique and reformulate it. If we see Leg over Leg as an archive of Arabic literary modernity, we must take this double refraction into account. What al-Shidyāq ultimately gives us in Leg over Leg is a theory of world literature—from a particular, Nahḍawī perspective. It imagines and constructs the world anew, through an omnivorous textuality, absorbing texts and literary forms through juxtaposition, quotation, imitation, and parody. Far from holding up Sterne or Lamartine as culturally distinct and inviolable paradigms, he incorporates them into Arabic literary categories, aligning Tristram Shandy with the maqāmāt. Rather than a choice between the two, or a straight line of filiation connecting them, literary history in al-Shidyāq appears as a winding one—modernity is staged on the road and does not always appear in the guise of “progress” (to use the language of modernity’s evil twin, modernization). It sometimes appears to move sideways, to digress. As an alternative translation of the work’s subtitle allows, al-Faryāq’s travels track the ʿujm, or mistakes, of the Arabs and “non-Arabs” (al-ʾaʿjām can also be translated as “barbarians,” or those whose speech is unintelligible to Arabicspeakers). Traveling along linguistic boundaries, al-Shidyāq pieces together an unruly patchwork of a text whose unity is in danger of disintegration, threatening to dissolve into mere ʿujmah, or “babble.” Leg over Leg thus creates a literary sphere that reminds us that the “world” in world literature is not a given; it must be manufactured. It is not merely “there” to be observed but is itself a dynamic constitutive process. It creates trouble—generic and otherwise—and it is always in danger of collapse. That is, world literature during the Nahḍah age is constructed out of the migrations and cross-fertilizations that define the era. Or, as the Fāriyāq reminds us, it was produced in the time of steamboats and railways, of “connecting the disconnected.” Rebecca C. Johnson Northwestern University
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A Note on the Text
The Arabic text presented here is that of the first edition of Al-Sāq ʿalā l-sāq, printed in Paris in 1855 under the author’s supervision. The sole omission is of the Corrigenda (1855 pp. 25–26, “Arabic”).71 The only other deliberate changes are the adoption, without comment in the apparatus, of the contents of the Corrigenda and the corrections, noted in the apparatus, of a small number of apparent additional misprints, including amendment of the vowelling of lexical items taken directly from al-Fīrūzābādī’s Al-Qāmūs where required to make the text conform to the 1344/1925–6 edition of the latter. This edition of Al-Sāq
ʿalā l-sāq also follows the order in which the opening and closing sections of the book were printed in 1855. Inconsistencies in the original, such as differences between the titles of chapters as they appear in the list of contents versus the body of the text, have been maintained. I stress the completeness and faithfulness to the original order of this edition, because al-Shidyāq’s text has elsewhere been subjected to significant editorial intervention. Darwīsh Juwaydī’s72 edition omits the celebrated pointing-hand graphic element both from the list of contents and from its place in the text (2.15 in the present edition); it also omits the verses from the 1855 title page, the author’s notice (0.2) and the publisher’s introduction (0.3) and places the dedication (0.1) at the end of the book between the Conclusion and the Appendix (see Volume Four); at the end of the book, in addition to changing the order of elements, he omits the original conclusion, gives the originally untitled letter in Egyptian Arabic the heading “Conclusion,” and omits the list of synonym lists and the author’s remarks on the printing of the edition. Nasīb Wahībah al-Khāzin’s edition73 is complete with the exception of the omission of the hand, but it reverses the order of the author’s notice and the publisher’s introduction, while interleaving the opening pages with a considerable amount of editorial comment; at the end of the book, he changes the order of the sections entirely. By changing the order of elements at the end of the book, both Juwaydī and al-Khāzin obliterate al-Shidyāq’s playful division of the work into two parts, whereby the Conclusion marks the end of Part I (tamma l-juzʾ al-awwal), consisting of 703 “Hindi”-numbered pages in the 1855 edition, while Part II (by
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A Note on the Text
implication; this heading is not used) consists of only eleven pages (the list of synonym lists), followed by the Appendix, consisting of twenty-six “Arabic”numbered pages. ʿImād al-Ṣulḥ’s edition, published under the title I ʿtirāfāt al-Shidyāq fī Kitāb al-Sāq ʿalā l-sāq,74 which I have not seen, is apparently both radically shortened (through the omission of the lexical lists and much of the poetry)75 and bowdlerized.76 That the 1855 edition faithfully represents the author’s intentions is made clear in the last lines of the work, where he asks, “Do you not observe that M. Perrault, rue de Castellane, 15, Paris . . . has followed with the utmost care our instructions in terms of corrections and changes and gone to great lengths to compose the letters correctly and produce an excellent piece of printing—so much so that he has ended up, praise God, with the best thing ever printed in our language in Europe?” (1855 p. 24, “Arabic”). In another work of his, he states that he corrected all the proofs of Al-Sāq himself.77 The orthography—which is often, though not always, at variance with current norms and conventions—has also, therefore, been left unchanged. This both honors the intentions of the author and will, it is hoped, provide material for the study of the development of orthography and printing in Arabic and of its relation to wider issues of language change during the Arabic literary nahḍah, or “renaissance,” to which Fāris al-Shidyāq was so important a contributor. In addition, retention of such forms may on occasion be imposed by the internal demands of the text, especially in terms of rhymed prose as when, to take but one of several examples, al-yās (for al-yaʾs) rhymes with al-nās (2.13.11). Examples of orthographies at variance with modern convention are: � �ن � �ن • omission of dots below final yāʾ (e.g., ا �لث��ا ��ىfor ;)ا �لث��ا ���يthis practice is nota�ف �ف bly inconsistent in the case of ���ي/ ��ى, where two different type-pieces are
• •
used apparently randomly, one (the more common) with an undotted �, and the other with backward-facing ��يwhich is always dotted, the dot ى � ڡي being omitted from the associated fāʾ, giving � . � the opposite of the preceding, i.e., dots below final alif maqṣūrah ( ا�لم�عن���يfor �� ن )ا�لمع��ى. ق آ �ت ق آ �ت omission of hamzat al-qaṭʿ in initial ( ا �ث�ا ر�ةfor )�إ �ث�ا ر�ة, medial ( � �ر ��ىfor ;� �ر ء ���ي �ت ق أ ش ا� �� �شfor ا�������ئ ��ش ��ت ق �ش this also occurs �ي ) ي, and final ( ��ىfor ء ار ; ���يَ �� � for ) � �أ� �رposition; َ� � � � �أَ ش � ا ��صfor �خ ;� ��ص��ا ��ل � ا �ل�ا ش��� كfor ��ا �ل � )ا �ل� ��� كabove where a short vowel is written (�خ � � initial alif.
xxxii
A Note on the Text
use of maddah above alif where the latter would, under modern convenآ tions, be followed by hamzat al-qaṭʿ (��� جfor ) ج��ا ء. ة ة ن ث ن • scriptio defectiva (� �ث��لث��� ا �ي�اfor � ا ; �ث�ل�ا �ث�� ا �ي�ا� �ث��لث��و� �ي ��و�مfor ا�) �ث�ل�ا � ��و� �ي ��و�م. م م • writing of the vocative particle ا� �يas part of the following word (; �ي�ا ��س�ي �د ��ي �ة ) ��ا ��ل ��� ك ح�م�� ا لله ي � ن • use of � ٍ as an abbreviation for ح���ئ���ذ ي ح In the same spirit, unusual graphic features of the 1855 edition, such as the point•
ing hand in Book Two, Chapter 15 (omitted in all other editions) and the caudate line compositions at the end of many chapters, have been preserved. On the other hand, there is no compelling argument for retaining the original Arabic typeface, which the author himself described as being of “alien form.”78
xxxiii
Notes to the Frontmatter
Foreword 1
Al-Shidyāq’s biographers differ as to the date of his birth, with dates ranging from 1801 to 1805. We have used Geoffrey Roper’s calculations, based on al-Shidyāq’s British naturalization record submitted September 26, 1851, which lists his age as 45. Public Record Office, Home Office Papers—Naturalisation, 1278A, 26.9.1851.
2
Nadia Al-Bagdadi, “The Cultural Function of Fiction: From the Bible to Libertine Literature. Historical Criticism and Social Critique in Aḥmad Fāris al-Šidyāq,” Arabica, 46, no. 3 (1999): 377.
3
ʿAzīz al-ʿAẓmah and Fawwāz Ṭarābulsī, Aḥmad Fāris al-Shidyāq: Silsilat al-aʿmāl al-majhūlah (London: Riad El-Rayyes Books, 1995).
4
See Ibrahim Abu-Lughod, The Arab Rediscovery of Europe: A Study in Cultural Encounters (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1963).
5
Examples of this opinion abound; see, for example, M. M. Badawi, A Critical Introduction to Modern Arabic Poetry (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1975), 25.
6
Samah Selim, The Novel and the Rural Imaginary in Egypt, 1880–1985 (New York: Routledge, 2004), 90.
7
Timothy Mitchell, “The Stage of Modernity,” in Questions of Modernity, edited by Timothy Mitchell (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2000), 24; see also Stephen Sheehi, Foundations of Modern Arab Identity (Gainesville: University of Florida Press, 2004).
8
The following biographical information is taken largely from M. B. Alwan, “Aḥmad Fāris ash-Shidyāq and the West” (PhD diss., University of Indiana, 1970) and Geoffrey Roper, “Arabic Printing in Malta 1825–1845: Its History and Its Place in the Development of Print Culture in the Arab Middle East,” supplemented by archival research in the CMS Archives in Birmingham, UK.
9
See, e.g., Muḥammad al-Hādī al-Maṭwī, Aḥmad Fāris al-Shidyāq, 1801–1887: Ḥayātuhu wa-āthāruhu wa-ārāʾuhu fī l-nahḍah al-ʿarabiyyah al-ḥadīthah, 2 vols. (Beirut: Dār alGharb al-Islāmī, 1989) and ʿImād al-Ṣulḥ, Aḥmad Fāris al-Shidyāq: Āthāruhu wa-ʿaṣruhu (Beirut: Sharikat al-Maṭbūʿāt li-l-Tawzī ʿ wa-l-Nashr, 1987).
xxxiv
Notes to the Frontmatter 10
Ussama Makdisi, Artillery of Heaven: American Missionaries and the Failed Conversion of the Middle East (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2008), 114. For a complete account of the Asʿad al-Shidyāq affair, see Makdisi, 103–37, Buṭrus al-Bustānī, Qiṣṣat Asʿad al-Shidyāq (1860; Beirut: Dār al-Ḥamrāʾ, 1992) and Isaac Bird, The Martyr of Lebanon (Boston: American Tract Society, 1864).
11
Makdisi, Artillery of Heaven, 127.
12
Bird, Martyr of Lebanon, 145.
13
Jurjī Zaydān, Tārīkh ādāb al-lugha al-ʿarabiyyah, vol. 16 of Muʾallaffāt Jurjī Zaydān al-Kāmilah (Beirut: Dār al-Jīl, 1982), 222. Originally published in 1911–3 by Maṭbaʿat al-Hilāl.
14
Christopher Schlienz, letter to Society Secretary, 18 May 1827, Church Missionary Society Archives CMS/CMO 65/1, University of Birmingham Special Collections.
15
The matter of al-Shidyāq’s two conversions is difficult to settle using archival sources. Though Theodor Müller writes that he has received a “confession of belief with which [he] was satisfied” from al-Shidyāq in 1832, his colleague, William Krusé, writes three years later that, in his opinion, “Fares . . . is not yet converted.” Theodor Müller to Christopher Schlienz, April 2, 1832, Church Missionary Society Archives CMS/ CMO/65/20; William Krusé to Lay Secretary, January 25, 1835, Church Missionary Society Archives CMS/CMM 5/39. For references to the Fāriyāq’s beliefs, see 1.19.4 and 1.19.5: “[H]e concluded that, in view of his said perseverance and mild manners, the Bag-man must be following the right path and that the metropolitan, with his vehemence and eagerness to do evil, must be among the misguided. (1.19.4) So he said to the Bag-man, ‘Sir, I have heeded everything with which you’ve filled my ears and believe the truth to lie with you alone. I am your partisan, your follower, and the co-carrier of your bag.’” (1.19.5)
16
Daniel Temple to William Jowett, July 25, 1828, Church Missionary Society Archives CMS/CMO/ 39/121; emphasis Temple’s.
17
Christopher Schlienz to Society Secretary, February 3, 1836, Church Missionary Archives CMO/65/44A; Christopher Schlienz to William Jowett, May 20, 1828, Church Missionary Society Archives CMO/65/4A.
18
Aḥmad Fāris al-Shidyāq, Al-Wāsiṭah fī maʿrifat aḥwāl Mālṭa (Beirut: al-Muʾassasah al-ʿArabiyyah li-l-Dirāsāt wa-l-Nashr, 2004), chap. 2.
19
Theodor Müller to Christopher Schlienz, June 15, 1830, Church Missionary Society Archives CMS/CMO 73/47.
20 Buṭrus Yūsuf Ḥawwā: one of a group of Lebanese merchants living in London, on whom al-Shidyāq depended for financial and moral support during his third sojourn there,
xxxv
Notes to the Frontmatter between June 1853 and the summer of 1857, during which period he was also visiting Paris to oversee the printing of Al-Sāq; Ḥawwā provided al-Shidyāq with employment as a clerk in his offices. 21
See Geoffrey Roper, “Aḥmad Fāris al-Shidyāq and the Libraries of Europe and the Ottoman Empire,” Libraries & Culture 33, no. 3 (Summer 1998), 235. For the names of the scholars with whom al-Shidyāq made contact, see Alwan, 42–45.
22 Aḥmad Fāris al-Shidyāq, Mumāḥakāt al-taʾwīl fī munāqiḍāt al-injīl [Altercations of Interpretation: On Contradictions in the Gospels] (Amman: Dār Wāʾil li-l-Nashr wa-Tawzī ʿ, 2003). For a discussion of its contents and technique, see Nadia al-Bagdadi, “The Cultural Function of Fiction: From the Bible to Libertine Literature: Historical Criticism and Social Critique in Aḥmad Fāris al-Šidyāq,” Arabica, 46, no. 3 (1999): 375–401. 23
There is no empirical evidence for the exact date or place of his conversion, which might also have occurred while he was in Tunis, Paris, or London. Al-Shidyāq, in fact, began an intellectual relationship with Islamic scholars while in Egypt and continued to pursue, in the libraries of Cambridge and London, his interest in linguistic and literary texts produced during Islam’s golden age. And, as Humphrey Davies notes in the translator’s Afterword, his invocation of Islamic motifs in Leg over Leg might indicate that he converted before its 1855 publication—as he deploys specifically Islamic formulae on more than one occasion, even going so far as to say, regarding a Christian woman, that “she had converted to Islam, praise be to God, Lord of the Worlds” (2.4.16). For more on al-Shidyāq’s textual studies in England see Roper, “Aḥmad Fāris al-Shidyāq and the Libraries of Europe and the Ottoman Empire,” 236–41.
24 Ami Ayalon, The Press in the Arab Middle East: A History (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995), 30. 25
Ayalon, 30.
26 Geoffrey Roper, “Fāris al-Shidyāq and the Transition from Scribal to Print Culture,” in The Book in the Islamic World: The Written Word and Communication in the Middle East, edited by George N. Atiyeh (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1995), 214. 27 Al-Shidyāq, Al-Wāsiṭah, 382. Cited in Roper, “Scribal to Print Culture,” 214. 28 Jurjī Zaydān, Tarājim mashāhīr al-Sharq fī l-qarn al-tāsiʿ ashar (Cairo: Maṭbaʿat al-Hilāl, 1922), 2:87. 29 Walid Hamarneh, “Ahmad Fāris al-Shidyāq,” Essays in Arabic Literary Biography: 1850– 1950, edited by Roger Allen (Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz, 2010), 327.
xxxvi
Notes to the Frontmatter 30 Kamran Rastegar, Literary Modernity between the Middle East and Europe: Textual Transactions in Nineteenth-century Arabic, English, and Persian Literatures (New York: Routledge, 2007), 109. 31
Sabry Hafez, Genesis of Arabic Narrative Discourse: A Study in the Sociology of Modern Arabic Literature (London: Saqi Books, 1993), 47.
32
The maqāmah (plural maqāmāt), or “session,” is a genre popularized by Aḥmad Badī ʿ al-Zamān al-Hamadhānī in the fourth/tenth century. Considered the first avowedly fictional literary genre in Arabic, al-Hamadhānī’s maqāmāt narrated, in rhyming prose, the adventures of Abū l-Fatḥ al-Iskandarī, a vagabond trickster figure who earns his living by outwitting his companions with his verbal dexterity. For an introduction to the maqāmāt, see Abdelfattah Kilito, Les séances (Paris: Sindbad, 1983).
33
These include a commentary on al-Fīrūzābādī’s Al-Qāmūs, entitled Al-Jāsūs ʿalā l-Qāmūs (Istanbul: al-Jawāʾib, 1882), an edition (with introduction) to Ibn al-Manẓūr’s fourteenth-century lexicon, Lisān al-ʿArab, 20 vols. (Cairo: Bulāq, 1883–9), and a lost commentary on classical Arabic poetry, Malḥūẓāt ʿalā l-shiʿr al-ʿarabī. For a complete bibliography of the works of al-Shidyāq, see al-ʿAẓmah and Ṭarābulsī, 408–40.
34 Robert Brunschvig, Classicisme et déclin culturel dans l’histoire de l’Islam: Actes du symposium international d’histoire de la civilisation musulmane, Bordeaux 25–29 juin 1956, organized by R. Brunschvig and G. E. Von Grunebaum (Paris: Chantemerle, 1957), 284; cited in Nada Tomiche, “Nahḍah,” in Encyclopaedia of Islam, edited by P. Bearman et al., 2nd ed. (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 2008), 7:900. 35
Samah Selim, “The People’s Entertainments: Translation, Popular Fiction, and the Nahdah in Egypt,” in Other Renaissances: A New Approach to World Literature, edited by Brenda Deen Schildgen et al. (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006), 38.
36 See Rastegar, Literary Modernity, and the essays in “The Novelization of Islamic Literatures: The Intersections of Western, Arabic, Persian, Urdu, and Turkish Traditions,” a special issue of Comparative Critical Studies, 4, no. 3 (2007), guest editor Mohamed Salah Omri. 37
Samah Selim, “The Nahda, Popular Fiction, and the Politics of Translation,” MIT Electronic Journal of Middle East Studies 4 (Fall 2004): 71.
38
Henry Harris Jessup, Fifty-three Years in Syria (New York: Fleming H. Revell, 1910), 2:713.
39 Roger Owen, The Middle East in the World Economy, 1800–1914 (London: Methuen, 1981), 116. 40 Akram Fouad Khater, Inventing Home: Emigration, Gender, and the Middle Class in Lebanon, 1870–1920 (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2001), 22–29.
xxxvii
Notes to the Frontmatter 41
Owen, Middle East in the World Economy, 160.
42 Roger Owen, “Egypt and Europe: From French Expedition to British Occupation,” in The Modern Middle East, edited by Albert Hourani et al., 2nd ed. (London: I. B. Tauris, 2005), 117, and Fritz Steppat, “National Education Projects in Egypt before the British Occupation,” in Beginnings of Modernization in the Middle East: The Nineteenth Century, edited by William R. Polk and Richard L. Chambers (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1968), 283–4. 43 See Nabil Matar, Europe through Arab Eyes, 1578–1727 (New York: Columbia University Press, 2009), Nabil Matar (ed.), In the Lands of the Christians: Arabic Travel Writing in the Seventeenth Century, First English Translations (New York: Routledge, 2003), and Roxanne L. Euben, Journeys to the Other Shore: Muslim and Western Travelers in Search of Knowledge (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2006). 44 On these early educational missions, see Ibrahim Abu-Lughod, The Arab Rediscovery of Europe (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1963), Alain Silvera, “The First Egyptian Student Mission to France under Muhammad Ali,” Middle Eastern Studies, 16, no. 2 (May 1980): 1–22, and Lisa Pollard, “The Habits and Customs of Modernity: Egyptians in Europe and the Geography of Nineteenth-Century Nationalism,” The Arab Studies Journal, 7–8, no. 2/1 (1999/2000): 52–74. 45 Headed by Rifāʿa Rāfiʿ al-Ṭahṭāwī, the scholar selected to accompany the first Mission égyptienne to Paris in 1824, Muḥammad ʿAlī opened the School of Languages [Kulliyat al-Alsān] in Cairo in 1837 in order to centralize these translation efforts that were earlier performed out of individual schools and institutes. (Al-Ṭahṭāwī himself had worked as a translator out of the School of Medicine and the Artillery School.) While the purview of the school was by no means strictly literary—they published more than 2,000 scholarly and scientific books—al-Ṭahṭāwī himself is commonly considered the initiator of what became known as the “Translation Movement” of Arabic literature (ḥarakat al-tarjamah) with his 1867 translation of François Fénelon’s Aventures de Télémaque. 46 John Heyworth-Dunne, “Printing and Translations under Muhammad Ali of Egypt: The Foundation of Modern Arabic,” Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, no. 3 (1940): 332. 47 Heyworth-Dunne, 332; see also Ayalon, 565. 48 These presses were international also in their day-to-day operations, with translators sometimes working with the European authors (who were employed in government schools, for example) to produce Arabic versions of textbooks; Heyworth-Dunne, 346. 49 Ayalon, 561. 50 Elisabeth Kendall, “Between Politics and Literature: Journals in Alexandria and Istanbul at the End of the Nineteenth Century,” in Modernity and Culture: From the
xxxviii
Notes to the Frontmatter Mediterranean to the Indian Ocean, edited by Leila Tarazi Fawaz, Christopher Alan Bayly, and Robert Ilbert (New York: Columbia University Press, 2002), 332. 51
Kendall, 350.
52
See for example Stephen Sheehi, “Arabic Literary-scientific Journals: Precedence for Globalization and the Creation of Modernity,” Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa, and the Middle East, 25, no. 2 (2005).
53
Charles Montagu Doughty, Travels in Arabia Deserta (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1888), 2:371.
54 In an article entitled “Al-Jarāʾid al-ʿarabiyyah fī Amrīkā” (“Arabic Periodicals in America”), appearing in Ibrāhīm al-Yāzijī’s journal al-Ḍiyāʾ, for example, the author refers to Arab writers in the United States as part of a worldwide Nahḍah: “Al-Jarāʾid al-ʿarabiyyah fī Amrīkā,” Al-Ḍiyāʾ: Majallah ʿilmiyyah adabiyyah ṣiḥḥiyyah ṣināʿiyyah 16 (Cairo, April 30, 1899): 502. 55
As Lital Levy puts it, Nahḍah authors “viewed themselves as local agents of this global process” of historical change; Lital Levy, “Jewish Writers in the Arab East: Literature, History, and the Politics of Enlightenment, 1863–1914” (PhD diss., University of California Berkeley, 2007), 23.
56 Both of these are titles of articles in Buṭrus and Salīm al-Bustānī’s biweekly Al-Jinān (Beirut, 1870), 1:160–4. 57
Shaden Tageldin, Disarming Words: Empire and the Seductions of Translation in Egypt (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2011), 5.
58 This description is not exclusive to Arab modernity. As the essays in Timothy Mitchell’s Questions of Modernity make clear, modernity in Western and non-Western contexts alike “had its origins in reticulations of exchange and production encircling the world,” making it “a creation not of the West but of an interaction between West and non-West;” Mitchell, “The Stage of Modernity,” 2. 59 For an example, see the translator’s Afterword in Volume Four, and Rastegar, 113–25. 60 Al-Bagdadi, 392. 61
Luwīs ʿAwaḍ, Al-Muʾaththirāt al-ajnabiyya fī l-adab al-ʿarabī al-ḥadīth (Cairo 1962), 28, and Shawqī Ḍayf, Al-Matāmāt (Cairo: 1964), both cited in Mattityahu Peled, “AlSāq ʿalā al-Sāq: A Generic Definition,” Arabica 32, no. 1 (March 1985): 35; Raḍwah
ʿĀshūr, Al-Ḥadātha al-mumkina: Al-Shidyāq wa-l-Sāq ʿalā l-sāq, al-riwāyah al-ūlā fī l-adab al-ʿarabī al-ḥadīth (Cairo: Dār al-Shurūq, 2009), 10; Paul Starkey, “Voyages of Self-definition: The Case of [Ahmad] Faris al-Shidyāq,” in Sensibilities of the Islamic Mediterranean: Self-Expression in a Muslim Culture from Post-Classical Times to the Present Day, edited by Robin Ostle (London; I. B. Tauris, 2008), 118–32.
xxxix
Notes to the Frontmatter 62 Al-Bagdadi, 394–5. 63 Lexically, the adverbial phrase sāqan ʿalā l-sāq is also a figurative way of saying “one after another”—which is fitting for the text’s self-conscious attention to narrative sequence. Lane gives the example, “So-and-So had three children one after the other [sāqan ʿalā l-sāq].” Edward Lane, Arabic-English Lexicon (Beirut: Librairie du Liban, 1968), 4:1472. 64 Viktor Shklovsky, Theory of Prose, translated by Benjamin Sher (Normal IL: Dalkey Archive Press, 1991), 147. 65 For a reading of Leg over Leg in the context of al-Shidyāq’s intellectual challenge to ecclesiastical authority, see Al-Bagdadi, 391–401. 66 See al-Ṣulḥ, 109. 67 Aḥmad Fāris al-Shidyāq, in Kanz al-raghāʾib fī muntakhabāt al-Jawāʾib, edited by Salīm Fāris (Istanbul: Maṭbaʿat al-Jawāʾib, 1288–98/1871–81), cited in al-Ṣulḥ, 215. 68 ʿAẓmah and Ṭarābulsī, 34. 69 Rastegar, 104–5. 70 Rastegar, 104–5.
Note on the Text 71
The Corrigenda occupies pp. 25–26 of the Appendix (Dhanab), which is numbered using “Arabic” forms and follows p. 712 of the “Hindi”-numbered text.
72 Sidon and Beirut: al-Dār al-Namūdhajiyyah, 2006. 73
Beirut: Dār Maktabat al-Ḥayāh, n.d.
74 Beirut: Dār al-Rāʾid al-ʿArabī, 5th ed., 1982. 75
Matityahu Peled, “The enumerative style in al-Sâq ʿalâ al-sâq,” Journal of Arabic Literature 22 (1991), 127; Katia Zakharia, “Aḥmad Fāris al-Šidyāq, auteur de maqāmāt,” Arabica 52, no. 4 (2005), 509–10.
76 Peled, “Enumerative,” 137. 77 Geoffrey Roper, “Fāris al-Shidyāq and the Transition from Scribal to Print Culture,” in The Book in the Islamic World: The Written Word and Communication in the Middle East, edited by George N. Atiyeh (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1995), 213. 78 Roper, “Fāris al-Shidyāq,” 219.
xl
�� ا �ق ا ل��س� �
�ع��ل� ى ّ أ
�� ا �ق ا ل��س� �
ل� � �� � � ّ� م �ج�ل�د ا �ل� �ول� ا�
Leg Over Leg Volume One
ت � � ا � ك��� ب
� ا �ق ��ف �� ا �ق � ا ل��س� � �ع��ل�ى ا ل��س� � �ى ا �و
� ا � ا �� �ف ا � ا �ق م� ه�و ل�� ري� �
��ف �ع � ا ��ا � � �ش �� ا �ل�ع ب� � او ��ل�ا ج�ع ��ا � � � ا ا � �� ع ه � � � و ر ى � ج يم و و م ر م وم �ت ا ��ل �ف ا ��ل�ع ا �� ف� �ق � ا ��ل � ه ا �� �ز ا �ق � ي�� ب��د ل���ي ر �ى رب� لر � ف �ش ق ف ��ا ر��س ب��ن �ي ��و�� �س� ا �ل����د �ي�ا ��
ذ � � ن �ف �ز �ز �ت�ا � �ل��ي�ف� ���ي�د �و � ه��د ��ى ��م�ا �ن��ك �ا ُ ّ � َق ث � �ود �ر��س � ��ور �ي�ن �ق�د ����ش�د ا ا �ل�ى � َر�ن
ا �ش��ه ا ��ل� ا ��ل ن��ا �� �م�ن �ت�ا ��ل ��ف� �� فس�� �ي�ن � �ى ى ي س ر � � ا �قن��ى � او ��ن ����ف� �م�ن ��ت�د ر��� � �حب��ر �ي�ن 1 يس ع
ّ ف ذ نة ة ح� م����ة ����سن����ة فق ن ف قت ش ق فئ � ب �� 1ع�د �ه�ا �ف�ي :1855ط ب���ع�ه �ب�����������ه ا �ل�ع ب���د ا �ل����������ير ا لى رح�م�� رب��ه ا لمو�ى را ��ا �ي��ل كح�لا ا �ل�د �م�����ق�ي و� �ل�ك �ى �م�د ��ي��� ب�ا ر�ي��س ا لم��� �� ي ن � ��ة ث� ا ��� �غل���ة ا �ل��ف�� ���س�ا ��ة � 1855م����س����� ة حي���� � 1270جهر�ي م ب� ل ي ر و�ي LA VIE ET LES AVENTURES DE FARIAC RELATION DE SES VOYAGES AVEC SES OBSERVATIONS CRITIQUES SUR LES ARABES ET SUR AUTRES PEUPLES Par FARIS EL-CHIDIAC. PARIS BENJAMIN DUPRAT, LIBRAIRIE DE L’INSTITUT, DE LA BIBLIOTHÈQUE IMPERIALE, DES SOCIÉTÉS ASIATIQUES DE PARIS, DE LONDRES, DE MADRAS, DE CALCUTTA, etc. Rue du Cloître-Saint-Benoît, no. 7. 1855
Leg over Leg or
The Turtle in the Tree concerning
The Fāriyāq What Manner of Creature Might He Be otherwise entitled
Days, Months, and Years spent in
Critical Examination of
The Arabs and
Their Non-Arab Peers by The Humble Dependent on His Lord the Provider
Fāris ibn Yūsuf al-Shidyāq The writings of Zayd and Hind these days speak more to the common taste Than any pair of weighty tomes. More profitable and useful than the teachings of two scholars Are what a yoke of oxen from the threshings combs.
ت �ت ف � �هر��س� ا � ك�� ل��ا ب� �� آ �ذ � ت � � ل��ا ب� ا �لب��د �ي�� ا �ه�د � �ه� ا ا � ك�� ع �ت� ن�� ه �م�ن ا �ل� �ؤ ��ّل�ف ب��ي � م � * � ق ة � ن ا ش �ذ � ت � ا � ا � � �م���د �م� �ل�� ���ر �ه� ا ك� ل�� ب� فا ت ة � ت � �� � ح�� ا � ك�� ل��ا ب�
*
6 8
*
16
�ت � �ا � ل��ا ب� ا �ل� �و�ل ا � ك�� �ا � ف �ف � �ف ق �ف ث ة ��ى ا ��ا ر� ر��ا � �و�ي��ه �م�و�ل��د ا � �ل��ا ر��ا �� * ا � �ل���ص�ل ا �ل� �و�ل ي ي ح � ث ا �ن �ف �ا �ة ا ق �ة �ع ا �ة ق ة �ف ��ى ا ��ن ت� ك� ح� �ي�� �و �م� �م� � ا �� ��س� � و �ي��� * ا � �ل���ص�ل ا �ل�� ��ى �خ ف ة � � �ف ث ���فى �ن�� او د ر �� م ت���ل���� * ا � �ل���ص�ل ا �لث��ا �ل� � � ��ف ش �ن ا � ف�ل���ص�ل ا �ل ار ��� �ور * ط� � �ى ���ر�ور �و �� ب ب ع ت ت � ��ف ��ق �� �ا �� ��خل ����ل ا � ف� � حي���� * �ى ��سي����س �وكي����س �وح�لي����س �و س �ل���ص�ل ا � �م��س �ف � ف � ا ��ع�ا � � ا ��لت � ��ط �ه�ا � * ا � �ل���ص�ل ا �ل��س� د ��س ��فى م وّ � م � � ح ا �ن ا �ق �� ف� ا خ� ف ق ا � ف�ل���ص�ل ا �ل��س�ا ب��� ����ا �� * ��ى ��م� ر ��ه� � �و س�ر �و ع � ��ف خ ا ن ا خ� ا ن خ� ن �ف �وا � * ا � �ل���ص�ل ا �لث��ا �م�ن �و � �و � �ى �� � �و � � � ��ف ��م ا ت خ ا �ن �ة � ن ا ��ق ش ا ت �ن ة ا � ف�ل���ص�ل ا �لت��ا ��س� �ى ح� �ورا � �� �ي�� �و م�� ���� � � ح�ا �ي��� * ع �ف غ ن �ف � اش �� او ��ف�ن � او � ش����ا ب� � ا بر �ث�ن * ��ى ا �� ض� ���ا ب� �ش � ا � �ل���ص�ل ا �ل�ع� ���ر � � �ف � ش �ا ا � ف�ل���ص� ا ��ل � ا � �� ا �� � * ل ح� د �ى �ع���ر �ى ل�ط�و�ي��ل لع �ري���ض �ف ��� �ة � � �ف � ث ا ��ن ش ��ى ا ك��ل� � ا و ك���ا �ل * ا � �ل���ص�ل ا �ل�� �ى �ع���ر �ف ق ة �ف �ث ا � ث ش ��ى �م���ا �م�� * ا � �ل���ص�ل ا �ل�� �ل� �ع���ر �ف ا �� ف�ل���ص� ا ��ل ا ��� ش ��ى ��سر * ع �ع���ر � ل رب ف ��ف �ق�� �ة ا �� �لق ش ��خل ا � � � �ى ص� ��سي���� * ا � �ل���ص�ل ا �� م��س ع���ر س �ف �ف ت ق ة � ق ش � ا ��ى ��م�ا � ���ص�� ا � �ل���سي���� * ا � �ل���ص�ل ا �ل��س� د ��س �ع���ر س �ف � م ا �� ف�ل���ص� ا ��ل��س�ا ��� ش ��ى ا �ل���ث�ل * ب ل ع �ع���ر ��ف ا ��لن � �ف ش ا �ن ث � � � � � ا ل م �ى ح�� * ا � �ل���ص�ل �� ع���ر س ا �� ف�ل���ص� ا ��لت��ا ��س� ش ���فى ا ��ل ��ل ح ك��� ���ة �وف�ي��ه �ن�� او � ا �� �لف��ا ر��ا �ق� �و�ش���� � ��ك او ه �وف�ي��ه ل ح��س � او �ر ع �ع���ر ي � فح � ت ض � ا ا � ل � � � � � � � ا ا �� � � ��� عر �ض ك� ب� حرو� * ي� ��ف �� ف� �ق ي�ن � ق ي�ن �� �خ ي�ن ا �� ف�ل���ص� ا ��ل� ش ل � ا � � ا � � � � ا � ل � ل�� � � � س�وي� و ر�ج ي� * ع���ر�و�ن �ى �ر� ب ل
4
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20 34 36 64 72 84 92 108 116 124 134 148 162 174 190 202 212 222 244 254 282 312
Contents of the Book
The Dedication of This Elegantly Eloquent Book Author’s Notice
6 8
An Introduction by the Publisher of This Book
16
Proem
20
Book One
34
Chapter 1: Raising a Storm
36
Chapter 2: A Bruising Fall and a Protecting Shawl
64
Chapter 3: Various Amusing Anecdotes
72
Chapter 4: Troubles and a Tambour
84
Chapter 5: A Priest and a Pursie, Dragging Pockets and Dry Grazing
92
Chapter 6: Food and Feeding Frenzies
108
Chapter 7: A Donkey that Brayed, a Journey Made, a Hope Delayed
116
Chapter 8: Bodega, Brethren, and Board
124
Chapter 9: Unseemly Conversations and Crooked Contestations
134
Chapter 10: Angering Women Who Dart Sideways Looks, and Claws like Hooks
148
Chapter 11: That Which Is Long and Broad
162
Chapter 12: A Dish and an Itch
174
Chapter 13: A Maqāmah
190
Chapter 14: A Sacrament
202
Chapter 15: The Priest’s Tale
212
Chapter 16: The Priest’s Tale Continued
222
Chapter 17: Snow
244
Chapter 18: Bad Luck
254
Chapter 19: Emotion and Motion, including “The Fāriyāq’s Lament and Plaint” and also “A Memorandum from the Writer of These Characters” 282 Chapter 20: The Difference between Market-men and Bag-men
5
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312
ي �ڡ �
آ �ذ � � ل�� ���ت�ا ب� ا �ل��ب�د �ي�� ا ��ه�د � ��ه� ا ا � ك ع ا ��ل � ح��م�د لله
ت ّ�ز �ف � � اف ن ن � ة � �ف �ف ت �صر�ه� �لم�ا ج�ر ت� �ع�اد� ا�لم�و� �ل���ي�ن �م�ن ا �ل� �ر� ا � �ي��ه�د � او �م�و� �ل��ا ���ه� ا �ل�ى �م�ن ��م�ي� ��ى �ع� م م �ج � ت ن ا ن ��ذ ُ ت ن �آ �ث � � ة ��ف �� �� �ف � � � ل ���ا �ئ�� � اولم � ع ا � ه � � � ل � ح�ا �م�د �ور �و��ي� �ع��ه �م� ر ج �ي��ل� �ى ا كرا ل� � او �ه�ل� را ��ي� �ه�� ا � ا � �ب�ا � �ل� ض� ح� �و ل م م آ �ذ � ت ��ذ �� �� � ا ا �� ��� �� � �� �ف � خ � ل ل��ا ب� ا ��لب��د �� ا ��ل�ى ا �ج��ل ا � � �ڡ ا �ه�د � �ه� ا ا � ك�� � ن��ا ب� ا �ل ك م��رم � �و ج�� ب طر س ي ��و س� ح� �و�ه�م ي ع�ي � ّ � � ة ت �ت ة ذ �ّ � ق ���ا ن �ق�د ا �ت��ص�ف ��ف �ع ن ا �ذ ا �م�ز ا ا �ل ح�� ��ه�ا � �ى � � حوا ا�لم��ي�� ب���ل ن��د ر� ا � ك� � �ص �ر� �ه� ا �ب� �ل� ا �ي� ح�مي��د� ا �ل ��ى ي�� ل�ى ب � م ّ � � ق ����� �ه��ذ ا ا ��ل��� ت� ا �ل� ش ���ل �م ���ط ��ئ �و��ق�و��ل �ك� �م�د � �ك� ���ل �م�و�ل�ف� �و�ه�و ا �ل�ا ن� كب� م����ه�ور �م�ن ��دي�� ر ب ي ي ر ح م � ت ف ّ � ث � � ة �خ ن ن ف ف � � ق � ��ز ا ا �ل � �ور���ع�� ا � �ل��د ر �وك���ي�را �م�ا ا �ع�ا � �ع��ل � ا ل� � ���اي���ل � او �م�د �ص���ل ا � �ل� ض� ح� ي س� �و ر ا �ل �م� � �ب� ح�� ب �ى � � ث أ � � ب� ن�� � ن����س�ه � �غ��� �ه� ��م�ا ا �ف�ا �ز�ه� �� ن م�ت��ه�ى ا �ل�ا�م�ا �ل � او د رك �ب��ه� �م�ن�ت�� �ى ا �ل�ا�و ��ط�ا ر �ف�ا �ن��� ن��وا ى ج م ب و ير م ب م آ ّ � �ا �ذ ن � � � �ع ن��ه � ح�ا �م�د �ي�ن �و�ع��ل�ى � �ل� �ئ�ه �ش���ا ك��ر�ي�ن �ه� ا � او � �ي��ك�ن �م�ق��ا �م�ه ا � ك ل��ر�� ي ج���ل �ع�ن ب���ع��ض� مي ُ �َ �ف � ت ف � � � �ن��ه ���ف ا ج ���ل �و �م ن��ه �قب ��و��ل�ه � او ج��ا ر�ت�ه �م��ل��ة ج���د �ير �ب�ا ن� ي� ل��ا ب� � ك �ج ��م�ل ��ى ا � ك�� �خ ت���ص �ب�ه ��ا �ل�مرج�� ل�� ى آ � �ك��ت��س� �ت ك� �و�تر �و ج��ه � او ج��ا �ز �ت�ه �ف�ا ن� ا ��ل ح�ق��ي�ر �ب�ا ��ل�ا�ن�تم�� ا ��لي��ه �ي��ع�ود ج���لي��ل�ا � او ��ل ن��ا �ق��� �ي�� � ��مي��ل�ا * ب ص ي �م�ن ا ��ل��د ا �ع�ى �ج��ل � ن��ا �ب�ه �ش ق ف ��ا ر��س ا �ل����د �ي�ا ��
6
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The Dedication of This Elegantly Eloquent Book
Praise Be to God
It being the custom of Frankish authors to dedicate their works to those distinguished in their day by virtues and praiseworthy qualities and of whom great achievements are reported regarding the patronage of scholarship and its servants, I have decided here to follow their example by dedicating this elegantly eloquent book to the esteemed and honorable Khawājā Buṭrus Yūsuf Ḥawwā,1 of London, for he is well known in this age of ours for all the commendable merits with which the eulogist adorns his songs and the author his words, while he is now also head of that house2 so long celebrated for its pedigree, pride, and elevated status. Many a time has he assisted in the attainment of virtuous qualities and provided those of his race, and others, with the means to obtain their highest hopes and realize their most distant goals, so that they leave him uttering praise, grateful to him for his generous ways. Moreover, albeit his standing exceeds what little may be contained in summary form in this book, it is nevertheless fitting that the latter be dedicated to him in sum. We ask that he accept it, take it under his wing, promote it, and grant it his approval, for whatever is unworthy regains, through appurtenance to him, its worth, and all that is incomplete is made whole. From Fāris al-Shidyāq Who Prays for His Honorable Person
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� �ف ت� ن��ي �ه �م�ن ا�لم�و�ل�� ��� ب � ّ � � �ف �ذ � ا ���حل �م��د لله ا�لم�و��ف�ق� ا ��ل�ى ا �ل��س�د ا د � او�لم��ل�ه� ا ��ل�ى ا �لر�ش���ا د � بو���ع�د �ف�ا ن� �ج��مي�� �م�ا ا �ود �عت��ه ��ى �ه� ا م ع ت �ت �ي�ن � �ه ا �ز �غ ا ��ف � غة ن � ل��ا � �ف�ا ن��م�ا �ه� �م� ن� ّ ت ي�ن � � ح�د �م� ا � ا ا ى �ع��ل� ا �مر ا � ح � �د د ا � ك�� بر � ار ��ئ ب� ا �ل��ل���� �و� ��و ر ه� � ر �ج � ب ب و ى � ن���� ا ��لغ�� ��� �ن�� ا �ل�م��ت ا د �ف� � ا�ل�مت���ا �ن�� � ق��د ض��ّ�من� ت� �من �ه�م�ا �ه ن��ا ا �ش���هر �م�ا �ت��ل�ز � �م�عرف�ت��ه � و ج سو ج س ري ب وع ر م ت ح�ا ���ة ا ��ل��ه �ع�� ن��م���ط ���د �� � ذ�� ���� ا ��ل��لغ����ة �م��ق ت��� ا � � ا �هّ � ا ت� ّ ا ��ل � ب �ي ب ع �و�ل�و� ك�ر�ع��ل�ى ا ��س� �لو ب� ك� ب ض�� �ع��ل�ى و �م م� �م��س ج ي ل�ى � ا ئ �آ � � � ّ�ة �ن��س��ق ت ه � ف�� �ق ��� ء �م�م� ّل�ا � ق��د ا �ع� ت� ��س ده �م �ة �ع�� �ت �ت���� � ف ال�م� ا �ل�ع�ل� � ��ق ج�ل ل ر ر و حر�و�� جع�م و مر �� ب � ي ��ر ر ر ى يب � � ث� � ا � ��ا ��ف ت� ذ ة � ة � ق ت ا �ن �م���جس ��ع�� �و�عب�� را � �مر�ص�ع�� * �و�م � �ل��ك ا � �ل���ل ب� � او �ل� �ب��د ا �ل �مك� �ى ا �ل ��ور �ور � او �ل ��ور �ور تّ ت � ت � � ت ��ث� ة � ت ق ا �ة � � �ت � او �لت�� �وث��ور � او �ل��ر�ت��ور �و��م ���ط�ى �و��م��تى �و��م��ط��ط �و��م�دد * �و�م ن��ه ا ا �ير د ا � �لف��ا ظ ��� ك���ي ر� م���� ر�ب� � � ا �� � ف� ظ �� ا �ل�م�ع ن � �ن � ف �� ن�� � غ � ش ا �� �غ� ش ح�ز حر�و�ف� ال جم�ع �ه�ز � او �ب�ل�� ح��د �م�ن � حر�� � او � ل�ل��� �و ��ى م حو ا �ل�� ��ط��� �و ل�م��� � او �لب � م ف �خ ت � ن �ن � ا ��ن ن �غ � او ��لب���غ�ز � او ��ل ح�ف�ز �ت� ن�����ه�ا �ع��ل ا ن� �ك� �� ���ل � حر�� ي� ���ص ب�م�ع��ى �م ا�لم�ع� �ى د �و� ��ي�ره �و�ه�و � ب ي ى ��ا ��ا �م� �م�ن ا ��س ا ا ��ل��لغ����ة ا ��ل�ع �����ة ا ��ل�ت ق��ّ �م�ن �ت�ن�� ّ��ه �� �ا * � ق��د � �ض ���ع ت� ��له��ذ ا ك��ت� �خ �ص� �ص�ا ب ل�ه و و رر � و بر ي �ى �ل ب آ � �ف � � ة � � �� �ة ��س�م�ي�ت�ه �من�ت��ه� ا ��جل�ع حر�ف� ا ��ل � ب� ي �ڡ � �خ� �ص�ا �ئ���ص �لغ���� ا �ل�عرب� ��م�ن �خ� �ص�ا �ئ���ص � ح� ء ا ل��س�ع� ى � ان ا � ن � � � � � � � � ت � ا ا ت ّ ا � ط � او �ل� ���ل ن��د ا � � او ل � ح � � او�ل�م ���د � � حوا �ل� با���� � � ا �ل � � او �ل� ��ب����س� ��ط �� ح�ح� � او �لب��د اح� � او �لب��راح� � او �ل� ب� ��� ب ح ج �َ و ر رح ر ح ح ح � � ْ �ت � � � �ت حً�ا ا �ى �م��ت��س�ع�ا � ���فى ��ق�و��ل�ه� ا ن� ف�ي��ه لم����س�َ�م �� �� � او �ل����س ��ط�ي�� � او�لم�� �فس� �و� � اولم��س�م � او �ل َر�و� � او �ل��ر ك ح ح م ح ح ح
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Author’s Notice
Praise be to God, who each happy thought inspires, and to guide man to righ-
0.2.1
teous acts conspires. To proceed: everything that I have set down in this book is determined by one of two concerns. The first of these is to give prominence to the oddities of the language, including its rare words.3 Under the category of oddities fall words that are similar in meaning and
0.2.2
words that are similar in lexical association. Here I have included the most celebrated, important, and necessary items that need to be known, and in elegantly eloquent form, for, had they been set out in the style typical of our books on language, divorced from any context, the effect would have been wearisome. I have also taken care on some occasions to present them in alphabetical order and on others to arrange them in paragraphs of rhymed prose and morphologically parallel expressions.4 Another consists of substitution and swapping,5 as in tuʾrūr, thuʾrūr,
0.2.3
tuʾthūr, and turtūr (“police officer or his assistant”6), or tamaṭṭā, tamattā, tamaṭṭaṭ, and tamaddad (“to stretch”). Another is the production of numerous words of similar sound and meaning from a single letter of the alphabet, such as ghaṭash (“going blind from hunger”) and ghamash (ditto), and bahz (“shoving”), baḥz (ditto), baghz (“striking with the foot or a stick”), and ḥafz (“pushing from behind”), for it is to be noted that each letter is associated with a specific meaning distinct from that of every other letter—a peculiarity of the Arabic language of which few have taken note. I have written a book devoted to this topic entitled Muntahā l-ʿajab fī khaṣāʾiṣ lughat al-ʿArab (Wonder’s Apogee Concerning Every Arab Linguistic Particularity).7 Thus, among the characteristic associations of the letter ḥ, for example, are amplitude and expansiveness, as in the words ibtiḥaḥ (“affluence and abundance”), badāḥ (“broad tract of land”), barāḥ (“broad uncultivated tract of land”), abṭaḥ (“wide watercourse”), iblindāḥ (“widening out (of a place)”), jaḥḥ (“leveling out (of a thing)”), raḥraḥ (“wide and spread out”), murtadaḥ (“scope, freedom”), rawḥ (“breeze”), tarakkuḥ (“spaciousness”), tasṭīḥ (“roof-laying”), masfūḥ (“spreading (of water)”), masmaḥ (“ample room”) as in the saying “Keep thou to the truth, for in it is ample room, i.e.,
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0.2.4
��� ��� � ��������� � ����� � � ������
� ف �ُ � ا ة � ن ح��ة � او ��ل�ص��ل��د � � او ��ل�ا �ص��لن� ���ط�ا � ح��ة � او ��ل ش��� � � او �ل�ص� ي���� ح�� � او �ل�ا ���س�ي �ا � � او �ل ش����د � � او �ل��س� � ر ح ح ح ح ف � � ف � � � ف � � ف ش �ف � � طة � آ خ � �ف ظ� �� ط � او � �ل���ل ��� � او �لم�ص��ل� ط � او � �ل����� حق� �ب�ه ا � �ل��ا ��� � � او � �ل� ��� ط � او�لم��ر ��� � � او �ل ��� ح�� ا �ل�ى � �ر ا �لب��ا ب� * �وي��ل� ح� ح ح ث ح ح � ا ا � ا ن ا ��لن �ظ �� ن� � ا ���س ا � �� ت � ا ��ل��س ا �ة �� ة خ ��ف ���ة ا ��ل�ا �ت��ص�ا �� �ل�ا �ت � � ا � حو ا �ل� ج�� � او ل����سر �و �م� � � م �د ح� � � � � ع ك � ل � ل ب � ر ك���ي�ر� � � ي ر ح يح ح �ف ا �� � ا �� ا �����ي�ن ا ��لن�� � �ة ا ��لغ� ض ا ض �ة ن� �� � خ �دا ة � �س�ن �خ ئ حو ا لب� ر�� � ��� � � او �ل�� � * �و�م�ن � �ص�ا ����ص �ر� ل�د ل لل� �و ع�و م� �و �� ��� � ح أ � ا �� ا ة �خ ة �خ � ا ��ل� �د � ا ��لث��� د � ا ��لث��ع�د � ال�م�ثم�ع�د � ال�م�ثمغ���د � ا ��لث�� �ه�د � ا ��لث �ه�م�د � او ��ل �ود �و لر د� �ب��ن �د ا � � او �ل� و و و � و و و و ت�ي و �ق ة � أ � � � � � � ا �� َ خْ� ة ا ة ا ف ق ف له�ود � او � �ل�ر�ه�د � او � �ل� ش����د� � او�لم�� د �و لر � �ود� � او �لر�ه� د� � او �ل�عب��رد � او � �ل�ر�ه�د � او �ل� �م��ل�ود � او � �ل��� � ََ � � ة � �غ � ة � او �ل��م د � او �ل�مغ���د � او �ل�م��ل��د ا ��ل�ى ا خ� ا ��ل��ا � * �و����ل حق� �ب�ه �م�ن ا �ل�ا �م�ور ا�لم�ع ن�� �و�� ا �لر��د � او �ل��سر�ه�د� � ب ب ر ر ي ي � ث � � �ف ذ � ح � �ف� ا �ى ا �ع� ا ف� ا ا � ��ا �م�ن ���د �و�غ��ي�ر � ��ل��ك * �ور��م�ا �ع�اد �ل� او ��ى ب���ع�� ا �ل � اولجم �ه� ا �ل� ك�� ر �رو ر و ي� ب �ض � � ف ا ظ � �ث ة � ا �� �ا � �ة ا �� ��ق ة ح �ف� ا ��ل��د ا �� ي� ش����ت�م ا �� ض ا �لن ���قي���ض� ف��ا ن� � ���ا �ع��ل� ا � �ل�� ��� ك ����ي�ر� �ت��د �ل �ع��ل� ل�ص�ل ب� �و ل �و� � ل � ي ر ل ى ى � � �� � �ل� ذ � � ن� � ت ا ّ � ة ا �ت ا � � � � ت ل � � ����د � او �ل�� ��ي ��د � او ج���ل�ع�د � او جل ��ل�م�د � او ج �لم�د � او � ح�د�ي��د � او �ل ش����د� * �و� �ل�ك � حو ا �ل�� د د � او �ل�� ك�ي ي � � � � � � ا ��ل�ص�� خ � ���د � او �ل�ص�مغ���د � او �ل�ج�ع ح��دد � او �ل��� خس � او �ل���س ���د �ود � او �ل��س�م�ه�د � او ��ل��ت ش����دد � او ��ل�ص�ف��د � او �ل�ص��ل�د �و ل � �رد � � � ّ � ق ة � � � � � ّ ا ��� �� ّ � � آخ � او �لت�ج�ع ���ل��د � او �ل�عرد � او �لعِ� �ر��د � او �ل�عر��د� � او �ل�ع�ص�ل�د � او �ل�ع ��ط�ود �و لع�طرد � ا و �ل�ع��ل��د ا �ل�ى � �ره * ب
10
10
5،2،0
6،2،0
Author’s Notice
space,”8 sāḥah (“courtyard”), insiyāḥ (“bigness of belly”), shudḥah (“roominess”), sharḥ (“laying open”), ṣafīḥah (“slab of stone”), ṣaldaḥ (“wide stone”), iṣlinṭāḥ (“widening out (of a valley)”), muṣalfaḥ (“large-headed”), ṭaḥḥ (“spreading”), mufalṭaḥ (“large-headed”), fashḥ (“standing astraddle”), faṭḥ (“broadening”), falṭaḥah (“flattening”), and so on to the end of that rubric. To these may be added numerous words whose connection to the idea of amplitude and expansiveness is not obvious and can be detected only with careful scrutiny, such as sujāḥ (“air”), tasrīḥ (“divorce”), samāḥah (“generosity”), and sunḥ (“good fortune and blessing”). Among characteristic associations of the letter d are softness, smooth-
0.2.5
ness, and tenderness, as in the words burakhdāh (“a smooth, limp woman”), tayd (“kindness”), thaʾad (“soft, tender plants”), thaʿd (“soft dates”), muthamʿidd (“clear-faced (of a boy)”), muthamghidd (“fatty (of a kid)”), thawhad (“fat and well-formed (of an adolescent boy)”), thahmad (“large and fat”), khabandāh (“fat and full (of a woman)”), khawd (“young and wellformed (of a girl)”), raʾdah (“early matured due to good nourishment (of a girl)”), rakhwaddah (“soft (of a woman)”), rahādah (“softness and pliancy”),
ʿubrud (“white and soft (of a girl)”), furhud (“plump and handsome (of an adolescent boy)”), umlūd (“soft and pliable”), fulhūd (“fat and comely (of a youth)”), qurhud (“smooth, fleshy, and soft”), qishdah (“clotted cream”), maʾd (“large and fat”), murd (“boys with downy upper lips but no beards”), maghd (“smooth and fleshy”), malad (“youthfulness, softness, and wobbliness”), and so on to the end of the rubric. To these may be added, under the heading of figurative usages, such words as raghd (“generous and kindly”), sarhadah (“ease of living”), majd (“glory, generosity”), and so on. It may be that the ancient Arabs sought to bring a balance to certain letters or, in other words, took care to give the opposite meaning full play too, for the letter d also encompasses many words indicating hardness, strength, and force, as in taʾaddud (“harshness”), taʾkīd (“asserting”), taʾyīd (“confirming”), jalʿad (“hard and strong”), jalmad (“a rock”), jamad (“ice”), ḥadīd (“iron”), suḥdud (“strong and rebellious”), sukhdūd (“a man of iron”), samhad (“a thing hard and dry”), tashaddud (“harshness, severity”), ṣafad (“shackle”), ṣald (“hard and smooth”), ṣalkhad (“a tall, strong, aged camel”), ṣimaghd (“hard”), ʿajrad (“thick and strong”), taʿajlud (“to grow large and strong”), ʿard (“erect, strong, and hard”), ʿirbadd (“strong”), ʿarqadah (“to twist tightly”), ʿaṣlad (“strong and hard”), ʿaṭawwad (“harsh and difficult”), ʿaṭarrad (“harsh and difficult”), ʿald (“hard and strong”), and so on.
11
11
0.2.6
��� ��� � ��������� � ����� � � ������
�ف � � ق � � ت � � ���س ن�� َ َ �ز �ثَ ث ل�� �و�م�ن �خ� �ص�ا �ئ���ص � �� � او �ل�ا ��س��ئ��ص�ا �ل � او � ك حر� ا�لم �� ا � �ل� ��ط حو ا ر�م � او �م �و ِر�م � �و��ل� ر يم ع م � � �ذ �ذ �ذ ح���ذ �ل�� �و� ط �و� ح��ل��ق� �و خ��� � �و خ�ر� �و�خ�ز � ح �� ح�� � �و� �و ج��� � �و ج�ر� �و�ج�ز � �و ج�ل��� �و� س � ح�� � � و م م م م م م م م م م م م قُ � ن ة ُ �ّ � �ن � � � �خ ض ض ا ا خ � ق � ا � � ح� �ب�ه �م ا ��م ا�لم�ع� ��� ح� ا ��م ا � ��� � � ح� �و� � � � ا �ل�ى ا �ر ا �لب�� ب� * �وي�ل� �ل �ور �وي م �ل ر ى �ى و رم م ح�ز � ف ا ن �م�ع ن ا �� �ق �� �م���ل ظ � ف ح �ف ا �� ض ا � � ن �ك��ثر ���فى �ه��ذ ا ا ��ل �و� �ه�ا * �و�� حت�� �و� �� � ��ى ل��ط �ر� ي � �� � حو ��� �ي� ��� مع��ى �ي م ع م � ح ق ا �� غ� �ف � �ة �� ث � ق � �ة �ن �خ ا ئ ح �ف� ا ��له��آ ا ��ل �ظ� ا �� �م� �و ل���ل� � او لر� ء ا ى ��ل� � ا �ل����ل� �م � او �ل��س� او د * �و�م � �ص� ����ص �ر ط���ة ن�� َ � ه ُ ه � � ه �� ُ �ة �ت ف ه ��تَ ْ � � � ه � َ َ ه شُ �� غ �ة ��ف ُ ش ا �� ف�ل� ��� ن حو ا لِ�� � او ِ�م� � بو�ل� � او لب ��و�ه� � �و ��� � او ل ��وه � او �ل�د �ل� � او �ل��سب�� �و����ده ل��� �ى د �ه��� ُ َ � ف ا �و � �مق���ل�و ب� �م ن��ه �و�ع��ه �و�عِ��ل�ه �و�ع�م�ه � نو��م�ه �و �َو رِه �و��ق�� �ع��ل ذ� ��ل��ك ��س�ا �ئر ا ��ل حر�و�� * تِ � س ى � ا �ن ن � ّ ا� ض � ن �ذ � غ ن �ن �ص�ي�غ� ي� حو ا ج�ر�ه�د ���ا ك���و� ب���ع��ض� ا �ل� �و�م�ن �ه� ا ا �ل��ر�� ب� ي�� �خ ت���ص ب��م�ع��ى �م ا�لم�ع� ��ى �� ي ش ا � �ف �ذ � ت ق �ا� �ا ف ن �غ � ّ � ذ � � ّ � ف ت ت � �ن � او ��س�م�هر �و�ك���ل � �ل�ك �م���� ر ا �لي��ه ��ى �ه� ا ا � ك�� ل�� ب� �ي���ب���ى ا �ل ��� ��ط �ل�ه * �و��د ��ط� �ل�ع� � ٓ ت � � �ا ذ � �ف � غ ة � � �� ف���ه �خ� �ص�ا �ئ��� ا ��ل��لغ����ة ��ن �ق��ل�ا �ع�ن ك����ا ب� ا�ل�م�ز �هر ��ى ا �ل��ل���� �ل�ل�ا �م�ا �م ا �ل ي � ��س�و ��ط�ى رح�م�ه م�م� � ك�ر ي ص � ا ا ا �� � �غ ّ � ائ ى اب��ن ف��ا ر�� �فل��� ا ج���ده ��ت�ع ّ�� ��ل�ه��ذ ا ا ��ل ن�� ��� ر��م�ا ا �ورد �م�ن ا ���خل ا �ل��م� � ل�ل� �و� ر �ض س وع ب ل ب �ص� ����ص م م � � � � � � � ن ة � ق ا ف ظ �غ ا ا � ا ا ا ث ن � � � ك ��ع�ل�ه �م��ل� ا ��ط�ل� �� � �ل� ����� ا �حل �ير ده ج� ح��ا �ن� �م� �ل� �ي���ب���ى ا ا �ه� * �م�ا ر �ع��ل�ى ا �لب��لي��د �م � ا �ي
12
12
7،2،0
8،2،0
9،2،0 10،2،0
Author’s Notice
Among the characteristic associations of the letter m are cutting, uproot-
0.2.7
ing, and breaking, as in the words arama (“to seize and bite”), azima (“to bite hard using the whole of the mouth”), tharima (“to be gap-toothed”), thalama (“to nick or notch (a blade or the like)”), jadhama (“to chop off ”), jarama (“to bone (meat)”), jazama (“to cut short”), jalama (“to clip”), ḥadhama (“to cut quickly”), ḥadhlama (“to sharpen to a point”), ḥasama (“to sever”), ḥaṭama (“to smash”), ḥalqama (“to cut the throat of (s.o.)”), khadhama (“to cut”), kharama (“to pierce”), khazama (“to thread (pearls)”), khaḍama (“to bite into (s.th.)”), and so on to the end of the rubric. To these may be added, under the heading of figurative usages, ḥumma meaning “it (a certain matter) was decreed,” ḥaruma (“to be forbidden”), ḥatama (“to declare necessary”) and ḥazuma (“to be resolute”), in all of which the sense of “cutting” is clearly observable. Also common in this letter are the meanings “darkness” and “blackness.” Among the characteristic associations of the letter h are stupidity, heed-
0.2.8
lessness, and rathʾ, or lack of native wit, examples being aliha (“to be perplexed”), umiha (“to become demented”), baliha (“to be stupid”), būhah (“a stupid, inconstant, and disordered man”), tafiha (“to become stupid”), tawh (“disturbance of the mind”), dalh (“being maddened by love”), sabah (“senile dementia”), shudiha (“to become amazed and confused”) (a dialectal variant of duhisha, or formed from it by metathesis), ʿutiha (“to lose one’s mind”), ʿaliha (“to become confused and amazed”), ʿamiha (“to hesitate as though lost and confused (in an argument or on a road)”), namiha (“to become somewhat confused”), and wariha (“to become stupid”). It is the same with the rest of the letters. Another oddity of the language is that certain patterns are associated with
0.2.9
a specific meaning, examples being ijrahadda (“to hasten one’s pace when walking”) and ismaharra (“to become hard and strong”).9 All these things are alluded to in this book and must be quickly grasped. I have perused what Imam al-Suyūṭī10 (God show him mercy) has to say on the distinguishing characteristics of the language in his Al-Muzhir fī l-lughah (The Luminous Work on Language),11 copying from the master linguist Ibn Fāris,12 and found that it fails to deal at any length with this type of association of form and sense; even worse, it sometimes seems to provide examples of “associations” that shouldn’t be considered as such—for example, the application of the term ḥimār (“donkey”) to a dim-wit.13
13
13
0.2.10
��� ��� � ��������� � ����� � � ������
فة � � � �ن � ا � ف ا ظ � ذ � � ن� �ق �� �� ��ف ذ � �غ �و�م�ن � �ل��ك ا �ل��ر�� ب� ا �ل ن�� او د ر م ا �ل� � �ل�� ��� �و� �ل�ك � حو ��ول�ى ا �ك�ه�ى �ى �ص���� ا �لر ج���ل ي ن نَفَ � � ّ � �ف � ف ق �خ � ق � � ا ا ا � � �ن م�ق� �ق��ف� �م�ن ا ��لب��رد �� �ل ��ى ا � �ل�� �م� ��س ا �ك�ه� س ا �ل ت� � ا ��ط ار �� ا �ص� ب���ع�ه ب�� �����س * �و�� حو و ر ى �ا آ � ق ش � �ذ ا �� ض �� ا � � �ن � خ ا ��ل �ق � ف �ف � ق � ا �ل�عن ����ا ��� �ل��ل�� �ى �ي� ��ط�و�� ��ى ا � �ل�ر�ى �ي�ب��ي�� ا �ل��ش���ي � * �و ل� � ��و�ط� ر �و ه�و م ي��د ���ل ��س�و� ع � �ذُ �ق ة � �َ قا � ة � �ا ا �� � ا �� ف���� ت ا � � �� �ث �ث ا �ي�ن � ب�ل ر س م� ل ي س� * � او �ل� �ب� �ب�� 1ا �ى �ب �� ي��� ا �ل�د * �و ر��م�ل ��ي��� �ل ر��م�ل ح�� �ل �ل�ل��ك�� ب ��لي�ت ��ف � � ت� ظ �� ظ � ��� ف ا �ن ت ث � ان ن ن نت ��ع�ا � �ل�� ي� �ن � � ا �ل��ط �ص� ا �ل� ���س�ا � ح��س ا ك�ل�ه �� � ���ر �ع��ل�ى ح� �ه �و�م�ه * � ��يو���ك �����ك ��� �و�ه�و ا � �ي����� ب م م � ا�� ق ا �� ّ ن �� �ز ة �� � � � ذ � ّ ت �غ �غ ا َ ا � ا ل �ز ت ن ن � � � ح ا جل له � � او �ل ح � او �ل�و� �م � او �ل�ر��ا �ل �و��ي�ر ��� � �ع��د ا �ل� �ك��ل �� �ع�د ا ك��ل�م� ا �م��ل� �ب� ��ط��ه * �و��و �ت � �ق ف �فُ ّ ذ� � � ا � ث ا �ن ذ�� �ا ���ه �و�ترك ا �لب��ا ��ى � ار را �م�ن �ت ك ��ب��ي�ر ج�ر�م ا � ك�� � �ل��ك �م�م�ا ���سر ب���ع ض� ل�� ب� * � او �ل� �مر ا �ل�� ��ى � ك�ر آ أ � �ف ح�ا �م�د ا ��ل ن����س�� ء �و�م��ذ ا �م�ه�نّ ��م�ن �ه��ذه الم ��م � ا �ت ��ق � ة ��ف � � ة � ا �ف � س� ح� �م�د ر �ى ا�ل�م �ر � �ى ا �ل�د را �ي�� � او�لم�ع� ر� بح�� ب � ت ا �ف � ا� � � ا�� ظ � ن �خ ��ا ن�� ت � ا � قة ف �هر �م�م�ا ا �ثر ت� �ع�ن ا � �لف��ا ر�ي�ا �ي��� * ��ا �ن��ه�ا ب���ع�د ا � ك�� � �ل� ا ��ل� � ا �ل� � �ه� �مك�ا �ي� �� � حوا �ل �ع�لي� ال� ق ا ���� ة ي�ن �� � ل ح��� � �و�� ا بل�� ��ت ف�� �ق� �ب��ي�ن ا ��ل�ا�م د �وم ح ا ��ل�ين���ل �ت��د ّر�ج� ت� ���فى ا �ل�م�ع�ا ر�ف� ب� � حرا�لم��ل حي� ث� ح��ل�و�� �لي � � بو�ر ر ر ب ت ��خل ة ت ن ت قح ا� � ن �ظ �� � � ا �ة � ا� �� � ا ش �ة �ص�ا ر ت� ج� حوا ل ا�لم�ع� ����ي � ��ا د �ل ا ��ه�ل ا �ل�� ر � او�ب��ر� � �و��� ����د ا �ل��م�ور ا �ل��س�ي � ��س�ي � � او �ل� � � � ف ا ن ق� ن ه ق ��ن �ق � ن � ف ظ � �ن ت ق ا � او �ل�م�ع�ا د �ي��ة ���فى ا �لب��ل�اد ا �ل ��تى را �ت��ه�ا ا � �ه�ا ا � �ل��ا ��� ح��س�ن ا � ���� د * �� � ي���ل ا �� ��د ���ل ع � �غ �ة �غ � ش ة � ا ��ف ا ��لت خ� � � ا ��ف ا ���ت ف ا � ن �ك ن ق��د �ن� ��� �ق ��ا ��ط ب� �و �ل� �ى ك ط� ت� ل��� ب� ��ل� ي��م��ك�ن ا � �ت���و� � ��يرب�� ��ي ر �م����ه�ور� �ل� �ى ا ن �ن ا ق ت ن � ن ق � ا �ز ح � ف��ه � ا ن��م�ا ا �ل�م�د ا �ع��ل ا �ل�م�عن�� * � �م�ن ر �ى ى و �ب��ه� * ���ل� ا � ا �ل �����ل �ل� �ي��ل �م �ه ن�� ا � �ي��ك�و� ب�رو و � ���ا ���ا ت � ن �آ � ش ا �ئ ق ة ض � تن ة � ت � ت ّ �� � � ��م ا ن �ت��ل�ك الم � ح�ا �م�د ا �ي� ض� ح� ��س��ه�ن ا�لم� ��و�ع�� ا �ل ��ى �ل�م ��ي ��ص�ور حرك�� � ا �ل����س� ا �ل���� � ���� �و� رو ب ن ا ش �ّ ا ذ�� ت �ف �ذ � ت ظ� � �ا ق � خ � ا ���ط �ه�ن �ه� ����ى ا �ل� �و� ك� �ر�ه ��ى �ه� ا ا � ك�� ل��ا ب� �ل� ب���ل ��د ا �ود �عت��ه ا �ي� ض� ���ا �م�ع �� �م � �م ��و ر ا �خ� � ّ � ��ا ر�ه�ن �و�ك� � او �ف ك� ���ل ��م� ا �ت� �ص �ب��ه�ن *
:١٨٥٥ 1ا �ل��ذٮ�ا ب���ة.
14
14
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12،2،0
Author’s Notice
Among other such oddities are the rare words, as when I use akhā to
0.2.11
describe a man shivering with cold; in the Qāmūs, it states that “akhā means ‘he warmed the ends of his fingers by blowing on them’.” Further examples are ʿinqāsh for “the man who goes around the villages selling things,” ḍawṭār for “one who enters the market without capital and swindles people for gain,” dhubābah meaning “the amount outstanding on a debt,” tharmala as in tharmala l-ṭaʿām meaning “he ate messily, so that it was scattered over his beard and mouth,” yatakaẓkaẓ meaning that a person “straightens up in his seat every time he feels his belly is full.” Further examples are jalhazah (“pretending ignorance of something of which one is aware”), talaḥḥuz (“drooling from the mouth on eating a pomegranate or the like”), wadham (“a penis with its testicles”), arghāl (“orache plants”), and so on. Some such words are explained while others have been left without explanation to avoid inflating the size of the book. My other concern has been to discuss the praiseworthy and blameworthy qualities of women. One such praiseworthy quality is the distance a woman may advance in knowledge and education depending on the varying circumstances to which she is subjected, as will appear in my reports on the Fāriyāqiyyah,14 for the latter, who once didn’t know the difference between a beardless boy and a clean-shaven one, or between the ocean and the Nile, has made such progress in education that she now argues with theorist and practitioner alike and provides excellent critiques of the political issues and conditions, mundane and spiritual, of the countries she has seen. If it be said that the book attributes to her rare words that are little-known either in speech or in books and which she could not have uttered, I reply that such attributions do not, in this case, have to be literal; the thought is what matters. Other praiseworthy qualities of women are their alluring ways of moving and all their various charms, no imaginable form of which have I left unmentioned in this book. Nay, I have put into it most of their thoughts and ideas as well, and everything else that has to do with them.
15
15
0.2.12
�ذ � ة� �� ا ���م�ق��د �م�� �ل��ن�ا �ش��ر��ه� ا ا � ك � ل���ت� � ب ا ��ل � �ت ا � ا �غ� �م�ن ��ن�ع�م�ه �ع��ل�ي�ن �ا �و � او ��ل�ى �و���ع�د ف� ���ق � ��ل ا ��ل�ع��د ا �� ف�ل��ق���ر ا ��ل�ى ر� ح�م��ة ر��ه �س� �ح ب يو ب ي �م�د لله ��ع� �ل�ى �ع��ل�ى �م� ا � ب ب ّ ت � � ��ل ا �ف ظ � � ��ق ف ا �ئ ���� ا � � ش �ق ��ن � ا � ا ت �ذ � ل�ا الم��س � ا �� ا �ق � ا � � �� ك � � ا � �م��� ا �ل � �ل� ا ا � ك� ا � �� ا �ل ل ح� �� م�وِ��ي ر � ي �ل ح�ل ل�د ��ى �ى م� �ط� ع� �ه� �� ب� ��مى ب� ��س� � �ع��ل�ى � ا �ق ت ه ق �ش��ت ��ث� ة � �ن � �ت �ف ا�ل�مت�� ا ن ��ف ئ ج�ز � � �ة � �ن �� ف ا ظ � � � � �� ا �ل��س� � را �ي �� ��د ا �م�ل �ع��ل�ى � او ���د � ي�ل� م ��سرد ا �ل�� ��� ك��ي ر� م ا�لم� را د � �و ج � � س � � شت � ��ا ��س�� �ل � را �ئ��ق � �جم�ع ت� ه��د �ش���ا �ئ��ق� �م ��طرب� �و�خ� �ص�و�ص�ا �ل�ا ����م�ا �ل�ه �ع��ل� ا �خ� ��ص �م�ا �ي��ل�ز � � ب� �و�م� ي ب وب � ى م � � � � � � ش � �م�ع ف�ت��ه �م�ن ا �ا �ا ت � ا �اد � ا ت � ا ��ست����ف��ا �ئ�ه ج �ل �� �� � ا �ل ش ��م�� ا �ص�ن �ا �ف ا �ل �ا ك� م��� � � الم���م � �ل �ل � و �ل و � و ي ر يع � � م �ول و رو ب� و �وم ت � � � �ذ � ا �ل� ��ل �� � ا �ل ف � ك��� ح��ل � او ج��ل �� � ا ��ل م� � ��ش � ا �ل � � �وا �هر�م�م�ا �ل� �ي��و ج���د ي �ڡ ��ا ب� �غ��ي�ره �ع��ل� �ه� ا �� ى وم ب��و س و �رو � و�مرك�و ب� و �ى م آ ُ ق � ف� ق ذ�� � �� ف ��ف ��ل � ا ��ل�ن�م���ط � �م�ا ا غ� �ف �ن ت � � � ا ش � �ف ا ���د �و�ل و ����ل �م ��لك ا �ل� ����ي � ء ��ى �ب� �ب�ه �و�ه�و ��لي���ل ����د � ك�ره ا�لم�ول�� �ى ا ج أ ت � ّ � � ت � �ن ��م ا �ن �ذ ا ���ا � ض ا ن ه �ش��ت ��� ا �� ا � ا�لمب��ي�ِ�ن ��ل�ل�ا � �لف��ا ظ ���� ا�لم��ترا د �ف��ة �وق��د ر� ��ي� م ح� ��س �ه� ا ك� ل�� ب� ا � � � ع �م � � � � ل ي � ل ى نث ن ظ � � ة ف �ف ة � � � �خ� ���ط� � �م�ق��ا �م�ا ت� � �م� �ا � ظ ح �����ا ت� � ك� ح��مي��� � او ��ن ت��ق��ا د ا ت� ���ل��س� ي��� �و�م ��ط�ا ر� ح�ا ت� ول ���ر � �و� ��� و ب و م ��ا ��ا ت� � �ت�� � ��ا ت� � �ت�� ��ا ت� � � �ك���ة ك��� � ح�ا � ا ت� � �ع��ا ا ت� �مض�� ��ل�ا ���م�ّ ا �� �لق��ا �ى �م�ن � م � � � ح� و وري و ور و ب ر ي يل ر �و�ك�ن ي و ور�ي ب � �ن � ت � ة �ف � ذ� �ف � ف � � � ة � � �ت��ل�ك الم � �م ��ط�ا �ل�عت��ه ا�ل�مر� ب���ع�د ا�ل�مر� * ��م�ن �م��ل ح�ا �ورا ت� �م�ا � ك��ر ��ى ا � �ل���ص�ل ا �لت��ا ��س� �م ا � ك�� ل��ا ب� ع ح � ش �ي�ن �ن � ت � ث ا ��ن ل�ا ا �� ث ا � ث ��ف ا �� ف � ا � ��ف � ف � � ث ا �ن ش � � � ا � � ا � � ا ل � ل ل ل م � � ك ع ص � � � ل �ل �� �ى �� ب� �� � و�ى ا �ل� �و�ل �و�ى ا � �ل���ص�ل ا �ل�� �م �ع���ر و ���ر �ن � ت � ل��ا � ا ��ل ا ��� � ���ف ا �� ف�ل���ص� ا ��ل��س�ا د �� �م ن��ه � ���ف ا �� ف�ل���ص� ا ��ل�ع�ا ش��� � ���ف �غ��� ه � �م�ن ر وى ي ر و وى �م ا � ك�� ب ربع وى س ل ل � ث ا �ن ش �ن � ت � � ش �ي�ن �ف �ا � ا � �ف � ف ذ� �ف � ف � ل��ا �ي�ا ت� �م�ا � ك��ر ��ى ا � �ل���ص�ل ا �ل�� �م �ع���ر�م ا � ك�� ا � �ك�ن ل�� ب� ا �ل� �و�ل �و��ى ا � �ل���ص�ل ا �ل�ع���ر �و��ى �خ � ة � ت � ن ��ف ض أ خ �ث ة ف � � ل��ا ب� ا ��لث��ا ���نى �و���فى ا � ف�ل���ص� ا ��خل ط��� ا � ك�� ��ا �م��س �م��ه �و�ى �و� ��� � �ر�ى ك����ي�ر� ��ا �م�ا ا �لت��ور�ي�ا ت� � �� ب ل ّع ت ف ف ا ن ا � ا �ت�ا ت� ��ث ةً ف � ح�ه � � �ّ��ة � ا �ع�م�ا ��ل �ن �ظ� ��� ��ل�ت�����ّ�ن �و �م�ن �م ���ط�ا ��ل�ع�ه ا ن� ��ي ��ص� �� ���ه� �ل� ك� �� د ح��صى ك���ر� ��ا �ل�مرج�� � بر وي و ر ي يب � � � � خ� ��ا ت� � اولم ح�ا ��س�ن * �و�م�ن ��م ��ف ّ �م�ا ا �ود ���فى �ف��ص�و��ل�ه ا �ل ف� ���ا ا �ن�ه � م��ص��ل��ة �م�ن ا �لن� ك� ح�ا ��س�ن �ه ا �ي� ض� ��ى ع � ذ ذ� ت �س�و���فى �ك� ���ل �م�ا ا �م�� �ك�ن ا ن� ��ي�ق��ا ��ل ف�ي��ه �ورا �ع�ى ا ��لن ظ� �����ي�ر ��ل�ه �م�ن �ج��مي�� ��طر�ق�ه ا � ا � ك��ر �ش���ي �ا ا � � ع 16
16
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An Introduction by the Publisher of This Book
To Almighty God be praise, for the blessings with which He has showered
0.3.1
us throughout our days. To proceed: Rāfāʾ īl Kaḥlā, of Damascus,15 humble seeker of the mercy of his Lord the Preserver and Protector, declares: When I perused this book entitled Leg over Leg, I found it provided a wealth of useful information through its enumeration of many synonymous and lexically associated words in a style clear and admirable, presented in a manner both fascinating and delectable. This is especially so, given that it encompasses all the names of instruments and tools that need to be known and provides a complete reckoning of all types of foods, drinks, perfumes, clothes, furniture, shoes, jewelry, and gems, the like of which is to be found in no other book in this form, while any items that may have been omitted in the relevant chapter—and they are few—have been mentioned by the author in the table enumerating synonyms.16 I also found that a further excellent feature of the book is its inclusion of prose and poetry, sermons and maqāmahs, aphorisms and philosophical critiques, conversations and idioms, double entendres and puns, and amusing dialogues and expressions, so that the reader will never grow bored perusing it, even if he reads it over and over again. Among the most entertaining of the aforesaid conversations are those to be found in Chapter 9 of Book One, chapters 18 and 20 of Book Three, chapters 2, 6, and 10 of Book Four, and elsewhere, and of the idioms, those to be found in chapters 18 and 20 of Book One, in the sermon in Book Two,17 and in Chapter 5 of Book Two, as well as in many other places. The puns are almost too many to count; anyone reading the book is asked to turn the pages slowly and focus closely in order to uncover the hidden meanings conveyed through jokes and the other excellent features that have been placed within its separate chapters. Another of the book’s excellent qualities is that, when it mentions something, it says everything there is to say about it, while also taking into consideration every aspect of any similar words.
17
17
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�� �� � ������� ������ ���� �������������� � ��� ���� �
�ف �ذ � ا �غ ن �ق � ن � � ف ق ف�ت ا �م��ل��ة ف��ا ���ن ا ت� ا ا ��ل �� ��سر�ع��ل�ى ا � ا ��و�ل ا � ا�لم�و�ل�� ��د ��� �ب� ب� �ه� ا ا �ل���س��ل�و ب� ا �ل��ر��ي ب� ��ى � �وب� ج � ى ج ت ّ ح �ان � ت � �ا �ن �� ح��د ��ه �م�ن � ا ا ��لت��ا �لي ��ف� ث�� �م�ا ��لب� ث� ا ن� �ق��ف���ل�ه ف��ل�ا ي��م�� � �ك�ن � � � � ل� ا ك � � ع�ده � � � � ع � ط � � � ل � � ى � ل ب ب و � ي ى م ا �ش ه � �ا � � ا �� �ق�ا � �م�ع ف�ت��ه �م�ن �غ� ا ��ئ ا ��ل��لغ���ة * �ه��ذ ا � �ل� �ا ا �� ت � �ا ف���ه �م�ن ��ّ ر ب� � �ج وم ر ي� م ي ��� ر م �ير وم ل� رى ر م � � �ف ئ � ة � � �غ ة ث ت � ّ ن � ن �ق � ا � � �ذ ق ا � �ل � او ���د ا �ل�اد ب��ي��� � او �ل ن�� او د ر ا �ل��ل� � �وي�� � �و�ب��� �ل��د ��ي ا ��ه �ي��ك�و� �م� ب ��و �ل� �ل��د �ى ا ��ه�ل ا �ل�عل��� � او �ل�� �و�� م � �ف � ت� � ه ف ا ا ا � ظ �� � �ن ف ت�خ ت ا �ل��ص ط��ع�ه � او �ش��ت��ه�ا ره �لي���عّ � ���ع�ه �وي���س��ه�ل ح� �� ا ���س��ر� ا لله ��ى �� ب �ص�ي �ل� �� �م� �م� ي�� � �هر ح�ي م ح ّ � � ف �أ � �آئ ف ق ��ن ش � ا � �ن � ا �آ ة ��ف ن ��ف ت ا حق ا ��� خ� � � ا ا � م � � د �� � م � � � س ��ا ��ص � � �م��ه � � � �صرح� ا�لم�و�ل�� �ب� �س�م� ���ه� �����د ك��� ل ل ى � ى ى ب ر � م � ا � �آ � �ت� ش ا �ذ �ف � ن �� ا ا ��ل�ا ا �ن�ه ا �ش����ت ���ط �ع�� ّ ق � ش ر ا �ود �ل�و ا � �ه��ذه ا �ل� �س�م� �ل�م ��ك�ن ����ي � �م� ك��ور ى �ب���ل ا �ل���ر�وع ��ى ل� ضً � � ذ ا ��ل���ط�� ا ن� ��ل�ا ا ��ن �ق��� �م ن��ه �ش�� �ا ���ا �ع��ل� �ج��مي�� ا � �لق��ا ر�ئ��ي�ن � او �لي��ه �ك��ا ا �ن�ه ا �ش����تر ���ط � ��ل��ك ا � � � � م ي �ي ص ى ع بع ش ا ��ف � ف ا ت� �ة �ق � ه �ت ت�أ ��س�ت �ع ا � ه ��م ��ذ ف ا ف ت ن ق � � �َ ْ � ��ذ ا ���� ر �ى ا � �ل�� ح� �ب �� �و�ل� ا �و �ر� �ى ا �م� �ل� ح� �و�� * � ار��ي� ا � ��لي���ل ا �ل� �لو�م ا �ل� �ى أ ت � آ �ن ح��ص� �م ن��ه �غ��� �م�ا ��ن� �م�ن ���ثر�ة ا �� �ف�ل � ا �ئ��د ا ��ل ��ت ت��� ��س���ة ا ��ل�ى ك�� �ي� ن�� ش����� �ع�ن ا ��ثب��ا ت� �ت��ل�ك ا �ل�ا ��س�م�� ء �ب�ا �ل�� ير و ب ل ى ع ش ت ا ق � ف �ن�� ا � � ا � ت ف ة �ت� ة � ق � ة �ن ف ة ا �����ه� ره �و�ب ��و�ل�ه ��د �و��ك�ه ا �ي��ه� ا �لم��ط� �ل� � ح���� �مب� ك �ه�ا �و�ه�د �ي�� � ��ي����س�� ي�ج� ب� ��ر� �ل�م ي� ب � ��س�� ا �لي� ع � ا � ف� � ت �ز � � � � ا ف ا �ع�ن ن ت ا ت ا � ن �ظ �� م � ح ّ��ا ت�� 1م�ع�ا ��ن �ه�ا ا ��ل � �ه� ا � �ل� ك ي� �ه� �� �م� �ع��د ��ل� �و���ه� ا �ل�� ر � او د �م �ع�لي� حر��ص �ع�لي� ��ر�ل�ب��ر �ل�ك �ج� ب �ُ�مْ ْ ة ق ف ح ��ا ت� �م��ا ��ن �ه�ا � ��ل�ا ��ت�ع�ا �وت�نج� � ���ل� �ع��لي���ك �ج� � � م له�ا �م�ع�ا �م��ل�� �م�ا ��س� او �ه�ا �م�م�ا ��د ا �ش��ت��هر ��ا �ن��ه�ا �بِ��د و ي� � ب ي ى ع �ع�زّ �ع�ن ا ن� � ن �ظّ� ��� * ث�� ا �نّ�ا ��ن�عت���ذ ا ��ل���ك �ع�ن ���ع�� �غ���ل���ط�ا ت� � �ق��ع ت� ���ف ا ��ل���ط�� �غ��ا ��ل�ه�ا و ى بع ب � ر ي �ي ر ب �ض م � ّ ن � � �ف ة ق � � ف ظ �غ ة ات �م�ق��ص�ور �ع��ل �ش�� � ��ك�ل ا � �ل��ا ��� ��ي�ر �م ش����ه�ور� �ع��ل�ى ا �ن��ه�ا ���لي���ل�� ج���د ا �و �ل� � ��و ج���د ��ى �ج��مي�� ا �ل����� خس � �ى ع �� ت ّ � � �ف �غ � �� ة ف ّ ة �ا �� ض ا ا ا ا � ق ن � � ��ا � �� � ��� ا �ل��لغ���� خ��ا �ل��ا ا �لم� ب � ط�و�ع�� ��ا �ن�ا �ت��د را �ك�ن�� ب�ع� ي ���ه� �ب� �ل� �ص�ل�ح �و���ل ا � �ي ��و ج��د ك�� ب ى ري ب � ��لت ذ � � � � �ت��ص���ل � ق � � ف ��ر�م��ك ا ن� ��ت�ق��ا ب��� �م�ن � ��ل��ك ف��ا �لم�ا �م�و�ل �م�ن ك� له�ا �ع��ل�ى ج���د �و�ل ا ��� ح�يص� حه�ا �ب�ا � �ل�ل��� � او�لم�و�ل�� و � � م ح � � ا قت ف � ل�ا � ا �ّ ا ت ف �ق �ا ت ف � �� ح��ده � �م��هن ا ه � �م � لل � � ل �م�ع��ر�� �ب�ا � �ل��ص�ور � او �ل��ع��را �� ي�م� و و حو ا �ل� ���را �� �و�لي����س ا � ك�� �ل �ن���س�ت ا � غ� ف� ة ا �ل� � ة �م�د �لم��ر� �و��مع� � ون�� * :١٨٥٥ 1م � ح���ج� ب���ا ب�.
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An Introduction by the Publisher of This Boo
In sum, I would make so bold as to say that the author, having once
0.3.3
opened the door to this strange style of writing, has as quickly shut it again and that hereafter the book will never be challenged, for it has covered all the most celebrated oddities of the language that the reader might want to know. This being the case, when I saw the abundant useful literary items and linguistic rarities that it contained and became convinced that it would appeal to scholars and people of sound taste, I asked God for proper guidance as to its printing and promotion, so that its benefits might be generally enjoyed and it might be easy to obtain. As to what it contains at the beginning by way of disrespectful comments
0.3.4
directed against persons named by the author, I would have preferred that those names “had not been mentioned,”18 but the author imposed the condition on me—before printing went ahead—that I should leave nothing out of the book, and he has imposed the same on all his readers, a fact to which he alludes in the Proem when he says, “[Beware lest you] . . . think of using it in abbreviated form.” I decided therefore that the small amount of condemnation that might result from making those names explicit was no reason— when measured against the many benefits that would accrue from the book as a whole—to stop its promotion and acceptance. Here then, Reader, is a novel and unprecedented treasure for you, a pre-
0.3.5
cious gift to be treated with care. Scrutinize it closely when reading it and give it your undivided attention, so that its veiled meanings may appear, its enigmatic constructions become clear, and do not treat it as you would any other well-known work, for it is an innovation singular beyond compare. Finally, we apologize to you for certain mistakes that occurred during printing, most of which are limited to the vowelling of little known words and are, anyway, very few. Nor do they occur in all the copies printed, as we managed to catch and correct some. Few books on the oddities of language are completely without such errors and we hope you will be gracious enough to match them against the table of corrigenda and correct them with your pens; the author confesses his shortcomings, confession erases commission, and none is perfect but God alone, from whom we ask forgiveness and aid.
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�ت ا � ا ��ل � ��ح�م�د لله ���ع� �ل�ى
ات ة � ت � ل��ا ��ف� � � � � �ح�� ا ك�� ب ل�����ظ � �ف� ������ظ � �ف�� ا ��� ا � �� � � �ذ ا ك� ر�ي �ه� �ت� بى ل� � ر�ي تُ َ ً ا �ود ��ع��ه ك� �ِ���ل�م�ا � او �� �لف��ا �����ظ�ا � ت �ح��ل� � ةً � ة � �و��د ا ��ه�� �و�ف ك� ��ا ��ه�� �و�ن�ز ا ��ه��ة ب ُ � �ف ُ ض �� ��ت�ع ش ق ���ا �ج�ل ك� � ����س�م ���ي�ه ���غ�ي�ر �ع� �ٍو � ���� �ف ّ �ع��ق�� ���ف�م� ا �ص��ل��ت�ه ��ل�� �ك�ن � � � �� �ع��ل�ى � ل�ى � � �� ���ق�ّ��ع �ر��ت�ه ب��م � �ح�ا ���فر ا �ل�ا �ف ك� ��ا ر ك��ى � �ق �� �ل ّ ��ق ��ف ت��ه �و�خ� �ص�ف���ت�ه ب����ي�د ى � � ��ف���ل �َ ا ���فر�غ� ت� ��ف�ي�ه �ك� ���ل � ح���بٍر را �ق�ه � نّ ّ ���م�� ت ى ��ق�د � � �وك� ���ا ن���م�ا ب����ي�د � ق��ه � � � �ّ ف ا � �ل���ت�ه � او �ل�� �ل��ي�ل ا ��س�ود �ح�ا �ل��ك
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� �خ ����ف�ا �خي ��ف� ���س َ ���ط��ِ �لقَ ا ��ل��ل��س�ا ن� � �ول��ل���س � �ي � ح ش � �ُ �ن ق � ا �ز ت ح � ��ف�ا �و� ��� �و�ت�ه � �����ط� �ه� �و�رو
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�خ�ل�ا ��ع��ة � ��ق��ن�ا ��ع��ة � ��ُ�ع�ز � ��ف�ا �و� � و و و ت � � ت ��س� �م��ن�ه � � � ش���� ��ف�ا ح��م�د ا �ل ك و ا�لم �ور م�� و
ق �ق ا ���ا ن� ��ل� �م�ع � ��ف�ا �مِ � ي�� ��س �ع����ل�ك ك� ى رو ت ُ � � � ���ف�ا ل��ل�ا � �و���سم��ت�ه ج� ي�����س� ا �� ك� � و �ي م ع َ �� ُ فَّ �� �ا �م� �خ �ص� ��ف�ا ا � �نِ����ع� ا � ك ل���ت� ب� �م��ل� ��ق و م � ��ل�ه ����ب �� ت� �م�ن ا ��ل��ي ا ا ��ل� ��ف�ا � رع و و ري ت ���م�ا �م �ص� ��ف�ا �ح��ت ا ���تى �م���س�� ك� � ح� ر و ى آ خ َّ �ذ � � � �م���س � ��ف�ا ا م� � � � س � ��ف��ل�� ا ك � �� �ج� ء م� ج �و
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Praise Be to God Almighty
Proem
This book of mine to the sophisticate will be sophisticated
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And smooth-tongued, while to the foolish it will be foolish. I have set down in it words and lexical items to bejewel it And filled it with dots that shine19 and letters, With natural style, humor, and purity of intent As well as with license, temperance, and abstinence. Like a body, it has more than one member. Those that are concealed May earn your passion, those that are in plain sight your praise. I have tailored it, but to fit my own way of thinking, for The measure of yours is to me unknown. I beat a path for it with the hooves of my thoughts To make it wide enough for the words and forced it to be hollowed out. I pieced it together and cobbled it up by hand. Say then, “What a well-pieced-together and cobbled-up book it is!” I emptied into it every sort of ink that might make it appealing And for it I sharpened thousands of pens. One might almost say that with my very hands I shaped it, down to the last detail, So that it came out tightly constructed and compactly built. I composed it on a night black as pitch Which is why it emerged so filled with animus and darkling allusion.
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�� � � � � � �� � ����� � ��� ���� �
�م���ك ُخ���ُ�ل ��ف�ا ��ت ّ���لت��ه ��ل��ك د �و ن� ���ط�ا ��هى ا �� �ل�ق � � ��ا ��لَّ �َ�ل�ا ت� �ف�ه �ت�ز ���ي� � ن ب و وم ب ر ب � �ى � ل َ تَ ْ �تُ��� ُّ ا � �ن ُ � ا � �َ ة َ �ف��� �ل�ق� ���ع�د ذ� ا ك ا �� �ف�ل � ��ف�ا ��ض َ�� � �و ِ ص � �م� �ب�ك �م ��ط�ل� طِ ���ل�� �و�م�ن �� رٍس مب و ح �َ��سْ ُ غ � �ن َ ي�ن � � ت� ا �ز �ل� ح��ت � ��ف�ا ا �ن � ط�ي��� �و � � � ح�ل�ه ��م� �م � � ��جرا ه ��خ� �م ا � ر و �ي����ن�ي �ك �ع �م�� ا ل� ب ب ق ن ت ت غَ ض آ � ضً�ا � �ج� ّ��ن�ا ت� �ت � �ق� � � ���ف�ا ��د ا ��ب���� ��� �� �ر ء ا ر��ض� ��س ��ط�وره ر �و� �� و ٍ ر و ور�ي ْ آ َ ح ن ��س�ه�ا ا ��لغ�� ���ط � ���ف�ا �ف��ت�����ش�َّ �من ���ل ر� �ْح��ل��ة دَ �ه���س�� ء ��ي�ف���ت�ن � �ه�ا ��َ�ع ْر�ف� �ك� � � ر ب ِ م �ي َ � � ّ � � � ة � � �ت �ى ا�لم��ل� �ع����ظ�� ا �ل��� ن��ا ��ط ب� ن��ه� ا � ا � �لف��ا �� ا � �ل� ���ط�ا �� � ا �ل ُ��س �ع� ��ف�ا ور �ج ب � و ر �ض قِ ر س و ر و �شِ َ آ � � � ء ��ه�ا � ا ��م�ا �مه�ا �ُ��م �ُ�م �ة � ��ُ��غ ا �ن��قٌ ��م�ا ا ن� ����ت�ز ا ��ل ا �ن�� ��ف�ا و ور و � و ر ور و ر � ا �خ � �نَّ َ ش �� ��ف�ا � ا ذ� ا ���د ت� ��ل��ك �م�ن خ��ل�ا ��ل � ف ُ ُ � ث ا حر�و��ه ردح � �و� ����ئر ��ف� � ��طب�� ر� �و و ب ت ْ � �ف � َ َ � ة ه�ف��ا ��ف�ا ذ� ا �ع �س�ق���ل � ت� �و ج���د ت� ��ى ا �ع�ق��ا �ب��ه�ن ا �ل� ي � �ج�ز ت� �ع�ن ا�لم��ؤ ���ن�� � او �� � � ف ت ��ت � ت ا خ� �ع�ن ا ن ��ُ ْ ا ���خل ن ��ا خ���ر �ه�د ا ك ا لله �م�ا �ت��ه�و�ى �و �ل�ا �� � �ر��و��ف�ا1 � �ت�د رك ر � �ف ذ ّ ��� ن �غ � � � �ن ا �� ّ � � ن ��س�� ا ا ��لت��صن�� ����ف�ا ك �ص�ا �ف� ��ى � ا � ن �ف� �ص� � او ��ي رى م ل�و� ل�� � ي ���ه�م �ل�م يح و ذ �ب���ذ ��ل�ا � �ل�� � ت��ق���َّ �من�ه� � ا �ص�ف� �م� �ص� ��ف�ا ���ا ن� ��م�ا ��ق�ا ��ل� ه �م� ت ا � ك� و م �ي ص � م و و و و �ح ّ�د � ا ��ل���ت�ع � ���ف�ا ��ك��ف ا ��ل �ح� َّ ا ��ل ��خ�ل�ا �ف� ذ� ا �ن�� � �ك�ن ك� ��ل�� � ����ت�اب ��ى ا �و ا �ن�ا ب� � �ف� و ر ى ى �ي � � ��ح � ���ف�ا �� ن ص� او ��ل��ن�ا ���فى ��ف ّ��ن ن��ا �و� �ع� ب� ��ف�ي�ن �ا ���غ�ي�ر ا �ن��ك �ل�ا �تر� �ل�ا � � � ى ر ي �ي آ ف � ت ال�م����ست � � ا �� ف�ل � �د �ف �خ�� �ك�ن ��ع��ل��ه �ع ���ط� ��ف�ا � � � � ا � ��ه ا �ل�����ي ح � � � � � � ه ه � ي � ي �ل ِ ي و � �و ي � �م و و و ر�
�ل� ف :١٨٥٥ 1ا حرن�و��ا.
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Proem
Outdoing the best of cooks, I seasoned it for you with pulicaria
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Plants, for these will dispel the bad breath of fasting from your mouths20 And set right whatever misfortunes may afflict you and whatever Sets your teeth on edge; after which you’ll be ready to gobble up the pellicle of a date stone. It will allow you to dispense with doctors’ lies and their fees— Nor on its account will you have to face a struggle to feed your children. From the clayey ground of its lines has sprouted A meadow, and gardens excelling in luxuriance. From them will come to you the scent of statuesque girls,21 Ruddy-colored, whose beauty charms the comely youth. At her side you will see tall plump girls
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And well-endowed ones, white and tall, and tall smooth women While behind them and to their fore are smooth girls whose flesh wobbles And fair women, ever proud. And should there emerge before you from among its letters Heavy-haunched women, fat and ready to be bedded, then propose marriage to a girl whose saliva is sweet and vagina dry. Should you lack what it takes to do so and excuse Yourself from this obligation, you will find, hot on their tails, slimbellied lasses; So choose, God guide you, what you desire And be not lazy in pursuing and realizing cunsummation.22 Other describers of such things have made their categorizations, But did not do so well, For what they said was trite and not one Among them studied minutely what was to be described. My book, however, or I myself, have done the opposite: We save the enquirer the task of delimiting and defining. We have no blemish, though you will not find Any like us in our art nor any co-worker. For this art is an orphan to find whose brother is impossible, And it is unique, so be well disposed toward it.
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0.4.5
�� � � � � � �� � ����� � ��� ���� �
ُ �ّ �ج�ه ��ق� ��ل� ���غ�د ا �مغ�� � ��ف�ا � ف ض �� � ا ح� ا �� �لق��ا �م�و��س ا �ذ �م�ن ��ل رو � وى ا � �ل�����ل ل�ى � �ول�ص�� ب ا ا � � � � ْ ���ا ن� خ� � ���ف�ا ���ل ا �ل��ع�ا � ك� ح���ل ت� ���ب�ه را ��س�ى خ��ل�ا ف��ا �ل��ل ن�����س� ا ��ع� ��م� �و�ك ب ر �ي م َ ّ �َ ش ّ � � ط���ف�ا ح��ا ��ع��ل �ع ��ل�ك�ن �ت��و��ل��د ���فى ِ3ا ����ش���هر �و� � �ل�� ي � � ب � ��ج�ل �و��� ب ى َ � � ��ن���ف�ا ط��ه ا � �ب��ص��� ت �خ ���� ت �ل�� ا د ر ��ه� َر جَ���لتْ��ه ا �و ��م ق��ه ا �و ا � �لق���ت�ه ����ث�ّ ك�� ي � و م ِ ل م آ � �� ش � ف � ��ج�ز � ���ف�ا ��ا ��ل � ح�ي�ر ا ج��ا رك ا لـ�ل����م�ـ� �مو��ل�ى �ع��ن�� ء �ل�ا ُ�ي ك� �ع�ا �ن�ي�� ت� �ي��ه �م�ن ا �ل�ز � � �ي �ق �� ��ع ت� ُ��س َّ���ت�ه �ع�� ا ���ه ا ��ل � ح�نْ �م� ��ق� ��ف�ا ح� �و�ع��ل ا ��س�م���ه� ��ل�ا ��ي���بر َ� � �و� � ط � ل وو � � ل ج ر ى ى ى م �ئ � �ا� ن �خ��لتُ��ه �م��س � ��ف�ا �ر�ى �و���م� ذ� ا � �� � م� ك ���ا � �م�ن ظ �����ر �ل�ه �ع ن��د �ى ��س�و�ى �ف ك رو ع ن � ْ ً ح ت ��ن �ف��� �ل� � ُ �ش � ت �ص � ��ف�ا قِ� �د �م�ا ��ع��لي��ه � ��و��م� �سى �و�م �ي�ك � ��و�ق�ه�ا �ع�ن �� حوه ��م� رو ش ُ َ حت �ح��ت ا ذ� ا ��ا ش��� ت� �ع�د ت� �نَش���� ��ف�ا � ��ل���ذّ ا ت� ��ُقَ���� ن����ت�ا �ج�ه � �ور����� � � و ٍ بي ل ى ب ر ا � ��ل��د ت� ��ل� � ��ل��د �ي�ن ��ل�ا ��ل��ك ����ث� ذ� ا ��ل��ك �ث�ا ��لث�ً�ا ��ل�ا ��ل� �َف��ُ�ع��ْل�هُ ا �� �ل�قُ�ْ ��ف�ا ىو و ى و م َ َ � � َّ ُ� �فّ � ط���ف�ا ى ا ن� ي�ت�� ّ ا ت��ه �ي���� ي � ��ع�ه�د �ى ا �ل�ى �و�ل��د � �ح�د �ي� ا ���س��ل� �و��ب�ه � �وب��د �� ي ��ح ّ� ���ف�ا ��ل ���ؤ �ّم ن��ا ه �م�ن ا ��ل ��حر� ��ق ا ذ� ا ا � � �ح�د ��ع��لي��ه ��ل�� �ك� �و��ن�ه � ح���ت��م ا � ِ ر ي � ى ي �ي � �ن �تّ�� �ذ ۤ � ا ن �ح��ل ����ف�ا ا ��ى ����بر�ى ء �م�ن�ه�م� ا � �ي���ع�د �ل�ا �ع��ن�ه �يو �ح� ا ��ع��لي��ه � ي �فَّ َ َ �ن ��ا ن �غ � اَ ْ � ا ��فق��د ض�َ���ّ ا ��ل��س����� � ا � ���ف�ا � � � ق � � ل �ف��ه �ف�ه�و �م�و��� و ل ب ي ل ِو �ي �م ك�� � �ير� ب� � ي ��ف � � ��� ن غ � غ � ة � ا � �ن ا ح��ي���ف�ا �ى ا �ل�لي���ل ي س�م� �م��ه �� ��ط ��� ��ط�� �ي� ��ي ط� � ب� ���ع� ��س�ه ���ب�د � او �م�ه� �و�ج� � ع � َ ذ � � ا �َ ا �ك��س� ��ف�ا �و�ل ُر بّ� �ن��ور ���س�ا ����ط� ع �ي����غ�د �و ا �ا �ق� ب���ل�ت�ه �ي ��و��م� ���ب�ه �م�� و َ ذ ض �خ ����ب�� �� ���ط�ن ض� ا ق ن ف ا ت ���ع ����ف�ا ّة ن � ��� �� ��ع��ه �و�� ���ك � �ى ���ِ��شر�ٍ ��ع��ه ي ���ي�م � ي �وك� يِر ب ��ا ��ز �ئ ق � ّ � � ن�����ظ ه � ��ل�ا ���س ���ط�� ُ��م��س��ك �م�ن �ق��ف��ا ه �ص� ��ف�ا ك�� �ل �ب ��� ا � �ل���فرا ر ��ي� ر و ي يع ي و
24
24
6،4،0
7،4،0
8،4،0
Proem
To me and to the author of the Qāmūs must go the credit
0.4.6
Since it is from his fathomless sea that my words have been scooped. Unlike a woman, my head was pregnant with it For a year, and the whole year was a season of storms. But it took only three months to be born And quickly it learned to crawl and grew into a delightful youth. I could not tell if my head gave birth to it feet first or blew it out of its nose or Spat it out or dumped it there at the latrine. I suffered over it in groans, may the Lord protect You, suffering such as cannot be measured haphazardly And cut its umbilical cord to suit only the people of discernment To whose name alone it is dedicated. It had no wet nurse other than
0.4.7
My thoughts, and even so I thought it too well suckled. From days of old, my soul had craved it, like a pregnant woman, and Its longing could not be distracted And I sweated with pleasure just before it was born, So much so that when I ejaculated the book, I was left drained. I fathered two sons for myself, not for you, O Reader, then this one Which is for you—a third, not for me, so lend it your ears. My behest to my two true sons is that they should emulate Its style and make a ritual circuit around its covers So that they make keep it safe from burning, should any Grow hot with anger against it, because of its spiciness. I wash my hands of the doings of both, should they turn aside From it and take an ally against it. Any who longs to find it will be granted success, Or if not and he loses his way and is stricken, At night he will hear a burbling sound coming from it That will sweeten his slumber with its unceasing gurgling— And how many a shining light will appear if You find yourself faced with it on a gloomy day! How many a one large of belly has given up on it in dudgeon! How many a murderous killer recoils from it, now weak! To him like elusive mercury it seems and he cannot Grasp any of the wool on its nape.
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25
0.4.8
�� � � � � � �� � ����� � ��� ���� �
َّ ى ا ��ل � ���ف ا ��ل� ا د �ى ا ذ�ا ��م�ا �� � ����ث�ّ �ُ��س نّ�� ا ��ل��ُ��ش��ن�ع� ��ف�ا ��ه� �ى �ه� � ى ر و و ي �هِ�ي ِ ي � ِو و يح �ج م م َُ �ه� خ��� د ا � ��ل��ل���ذ �ى �ل�� ��َ �م�ن ��ل�ع� ا ��ل�ز ��م�ا ن� � ��له� ه خ����ذ � ��ف�ا رو م �ير �ض و� و ب و ي ر ٍح ُ ح��س�ن �ُ�غ���ا �م�ه ا � �تُ��ل���غ�ه �ُ ْ����س� �ْع��ك �م��ن�ه �ع�ز � ���ف�ا ا ن� ��ت��ت��ل�ه �ي������طر�ْ��ك � و ي مِ ب ب �ي َ خ َ ْ َ � �ف � ف � � اة ّ شت � ��سه�ا � �َم� ����ف�ا �و� �ي��ه �تر�ى ��ى ا �لب��رد �م�����ى ����ث�م ِا �ن �ث�ا ر ت� ج�� �ج� � ا �ل � م �صِ ي ت َْ ذ ��ث�� � تَ ت �ق �ف���ي���ف�ا � �م�ن ا ��ل���ط ا �ن �ث � � ة خ� � او � ا �ق�ل ��ع� �م �و���غ�ي�ره ���ل��ى ���ب�ه �م � ��ق�ل�� � � َُ ذ ت خ� ��ذ ت � ق ةً ف ا �غ ����ل��ي�م�ا ت� ����ت�زد ك ��ُق���ط� ��ف�ا ا � او � ا ا �� � � ح�د ��ي���� �� �ر��س �ب��ه� �م��ن�ه ك� � و ا ض��� ش ظ �� ا � ا �� ّ ا � اُ�خ � � ف �ت غ � �ن ن � ����ف�ا �ص� ا ��ل � �خي��ا �ل �ب��ه�ا ���ل�و ح�ى ِ������ ����ظ� ل� �ص�ه� �ل� ي ����ن�ي �ك �ع ��� ب ��ف ا �تُ َ ��ن ض� ن تُ � � � فُ � ��ف�ا �ن َ ا � ا ��من� ا �ى �م�� �ل�ك ا � �ل��د �ور �م� ر�ى �م ب����ع�ده ���ع�زِ �ه� �و �ل� ج��و ُ َ � َ �ً � ا ت �� ّا � ا ت � َ ن � ��ف�ا ��صً�د �ى �و ج�ع ��ث���ل�ا � ��و��م�ا �و �ل�ا ا ِر�ق�ا �و �ل� � ش�����ك�و � �و� ك��ل� �و �ل� �م��س��� قِ � ُ َ � ت ح��ب�ا � د � ���ف�ا ��خ��ذه � ا ��و ب� ا �ل�ص�ع� ا �ن �ل�� ت�� �ل�ا ��ت�ق��د�م�نّ �ع��ل� رك�� � ��ص� � ور �ي ب ى م َ ت � � �ح�ت ا ذ� ا ��تُ�عت��ع ت ا ��ص� �ع�ا �ص�م� ا ���� ا ن ����ت�ز � ���ف�خ � __��ف�ا � �� � ��خل � ب� لك � ل �ى ��ط�ى ا ر ح ُ َ ن �� ا ��ن ��اَ��عل�� � ا ��ل�� �د ا د � �د ��لّ ن � ن��ا ���ي َ� ا ��اَ���� � �خ ����ف�ا م ل � ا ا � � � ل �ى �ل �م و �س ��ي �ى � �ج ب � رى بي �ل ي ّ َ ُ � ���ف ����ف�ا �فْ��ه ا ن�� ت� ب� � ��ك�ل � ��كف� �ع ن���ك � ي� ��حر�ف� �ب�ا ����تر ق��د �خ� ّ ���ط ف�ي��ه �ي�� ف��ا خِ� � ك �ز � ن ذُ ا ح� ��ف َ � ْ ف َ �ن �غ ت ا ��َ ا ��س��م�ه �م ���ط � ��ف�ا �ه�و� � رو �صر�م �ى ��طر�� �م �ي�� �� �ب�ه ��م� ا �ل ا � � كِر � � � ق ا � � ا ض � ��ذ س ا ��ل ش��� ��س� ��ف�ا � �� ا � �و�ه�وا ��ل �� ح�د�ي��د ا � �ل�� ��ط ع ا�لم� ���ى ا �ل� �ى �ي�ب�ر�ى ا �ل�ع���ظ� �م �يوح�� �م ر و
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9،4،0
10،4،0
11،4،0
Proem
It falls like the wind in the valley when
0.4.9
Stirred up, and wears the mountain peak down to a bump. It is the best of levelers for any who has found no humming top Among Fate’s toys and games to please him. If you recite it, the beauty of its sound, like a gazelle calling to its young, will delight you And if you seek to drown it out with your talk, it will give out a musical sound to which you will have no choice but to hearken. In it you will find a winter refuge in the cold; then, When the burning wind of summer gusts, a summer resort. If you grow tired of food and other things,
0.4.10
You will find in it relief for your boredom And if you acquire a garden, plant there Little words from it that will give you yet more posies That will relieve you of having to erect a scarecrow in it; Should even Shiẓāẓ23 come to steal them, he’ll be affrighted. I guarantee24 you will find it so absorbing that you will lose all interest in sex, But no one thereafter will think you’re strait-laced or no longer able— No indeed!—nor that you’re one who doesn’t want to sleep or is kept awake By insomnia, or because he suffers thirst or hunger. Make not bold to mount life’s challenges
0.4.11
Unless you are ready to take them as your companion and pillion rider, So that, should you be shaken in your seat, it may protect You from slipping and so missing . . . summation.25 Well I know, and common sense instructs me, That Your Honored Self finds monks frightening. Scare them yourself, then, using every cutting character26 That’s in it inscribed, and any monk will pull back from you blinded.27 It is sour grape juice in the eye of its calumniator, Whose eye, if its title is ever mentioned, will weep and weep. It is the sharp cutting steel that Slices bones and cleaves cartilage.
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َ ف أ َ ا ن� ���� ئ ه��� ���ب�ه ا �ْ ��ل�ا ف��د ��ع�ه �ن ظ� ���� ����ف�ا ش� ت� �ت��ل�����س�ه ��ع��ل �ع� ّل�ا ���ت�ه ��ا �� ن و ي ب �ى َّ � �َ ْ َ ُ ن تَ خ�َ�ف ْ ��قَ ْ ئًا �فخ ����ذه �م�د � ��ف�ا �و� �ل��ق�د ا � ��ج�ز �ت��ك ����س�ف��ه ا �و �ل�� � � �عق�� ه ا �و ا � �� ��ي�� و ن � تأ �ك�ن � �ذ �ن ��ز ا ة �ف �ت� ا � � ح���ذ � ��ف�ا � ��ل�� �ح� ا ِر �م ا �ل �ي� د� ���ي�ه ا �و ا � ���تر�� �ى ا ���س� ع�م� �ل�ه �م و �ن �م ّ � ��ل��ل �ذ ذ� ق���ف�ا �ف��ه �م � ��ح�ل ��ق�ا ����ب�ل � �ح� �ف� ا �و �ل�ز ��ا د�ة ��ت���ث��� ي � ا � �لي����س � ي ي � �� ن ُ شَ ّ ��ج�م�ا ��ل�ه ��ل���غ�د ا ا ��ل� �ى ُ�����ط ا ���ب�ه �م ش����غ� � ��ف�ا �ج�ا ��مٌ�د ��ل � ���ق� � � � �ل�و ك��ا � �ي��ع � ور ر و م�� � ه � ث ��ا ن �ز �ش ح ��ف�ا � ��لَ��ئ�ن ����ن�ز� تُ �ن � ا ن ا ا و ح�� ك�� � ��و ح� �ع ا �ل� �� �م ��ف� ���ن�ه ي� ��ى ا � �ل�ي� � ي ف ذ ت ح�ي��ة ا ��ل�ا �ش����ق ����غ�ا د �ش���ع ��ه�ا �من�ت �� ��ف�ا ��خ�ا � ��ا ذ ا ن ���ل � او � ا � �ى �ي و ر ر ���ص�م ك�� � �ب� � � � ت ��اَ نَّ � شَ �ن َ�� ا � �ط�ن �� ح����ش�ا ��ا �ن�ا �ع��م�ا �م ن��د � ��ف�ا ل ل � � � ا � � ح � � � ه ��� م � ع � � � � � � � م ق ي ي� و �ح��ى ك�� � ا �ل ر ي � ن � ة �غ���ف�ا ف ا ���نى ���ب�ه �ل�ن ا � ت � �ف��د ر�� ي � ح��ا � را ��س��ك ا � را ��س�ى �ع�ا ر�� �س�� ي �و ي �زّ �� ّا � ا � � ا � ا َ� َ � �ا � ����س� ��ف�ا ��شف��ا �و �ل�ا � ك��ل� �و �ل� ا �ق ��ط� �و �ل� ح��� � � ��خ ا ��ع��ل�ى � �و�ت�د �ى �و �ل� ك�ر و َّ ��ن �ن ا �� �ك���ة ��ه�ا � ت � ���م �ة �ت�ا ��ل���ي��ف�ا ل ��ل�� � �ك�ن �ب ��ق�ر��ى ِ� ا ا ح� � � � � �ع � � � � ع �ج ل ى � ر � ى �ج ُ ّ � � �ّ ف َ �خ � ة � �ن ��ا ن ُ�ؤْ َ � �س���ف�ا ط��� �ف�ه� ا �ل � ��خ��لي ��ق� �ب�ا ن� �ي���ع�د �ع� ي � �م ك�� � �ي �� ج�ر ك��ى �ي ��و� �ل� � �� ب و ا ت� �ْ �ن �ز �ئ ف ا� ��ه ��ل� ��م�� �فل� � ��ف�ا ا َ� �ن �ق � �فخ � �� د �م ا � �� ��ف� ���ترك��� ى �م� را �ج �م ��و�ل�ى ���ذه �و�م� ج و � َّ ت �ج�د ا ��ل��ص��ا �ف� � ّ��م �ة ���ي�ن ا ��ل��د ا ���ه� د ���ه�م�ا ���م�ز � �� ��ف�ا �ل�ا �ب��د ا ن� � � ر م ر ير يو ر ب � َّ ت � ����ل ي�ت � � ُّ � َ ش ��� ��ف�ا � د����ن�ا ر ي� ��جر ا �لي���ك �م�ن ���ه�وى ب �و�لر ب ي �ح� �ه �و�لي����س �م �و
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12،4،0
13،4،0
14،4،0
Proem
If you wish to dress yourself in it, despite its shortcomings,
0.4.12
Then enjoy it; if not, then leave it be, still clean. I have licensed you to swallow it whole or to lick it Or, if afraid of vomiting, to take it diluted. Beware, though, lest you add to it or Think of using it in abbreviated form, For no place in it is susceptible To abbreviation, or to addition, to make it better. If an inanimate object may be fallen in love with for its beauty,
0.4.13
Then all humanity will be enamored of it. After I have bidden mankind farewell, They will find their way to it, wherever it be, in droves. And if two liars quarrel, the hair of the beard Of the more unjust will end up plucked out And finally the hair on both their jawbones will be like Mattress cotton, smooth and carded. By the life of your head, my head knows that I’ll never benefit from it by even a loaf— No indeed!—nor cottage cheese, nor poor-quality dates, Nor silk mixed with wool to hang on my peg, nor a cotton wad for my inkwell. But on my pate I had an itch that spurred me To practice writing, if only once, Though he who is hired to compose a sermon for money, Such a one is well suited to be considered a laborer of no worth. Take of my words such as will find a market, and what you find Counterfeit, leave for me in their wrappings. The money changers are bound on occasion to find Among the silver coins one that is of bad metal. Many a gold coin will drag to you by his beard one whom you May love, even if its face cannot be clearly read.
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0.4.14
�� � � � � � �� � ����� � ��� ���� �
��ا ��ع��ل���ق�ن ��ز ��ا � �ع�ق���ل� �م�ا �ت � ��ف��ه �م�ن ا ��ل أ � ق ���ث ����ف�ا � ب ج �ج ك رى �ل �ي ��ص�د � ا � �ل��د ����ي�م ك�ي ي � � � غ � ظ � �ن ال�م ّ � � �ن ��ا ن ��ف � � �� �� ا � ط���ف�ا � � �ل�� ي � ل� ي � �م ك�� � �ى ب��ل�د � ط���ف� ��ط���ب��ع�ه ي ج��د ا �ل��� �ل�ي��� �م ح ب آ � � � ُ �ف���ف�ا �ل�ا ����تر��ف��س�ن �م�ا َ��س َّر �م ن��ه �ل�ا ج���ل �م�ا ��ق�د ���س�� ء ����ب�ل �ل�ا �ت��و���هِ �ت�ا � ي � لِ ن � ن � ّ ن �ا �ص� ��ف�ا �ص�ف��ا ا ��ل�ا ا ذ� ا � ��ص�ف� �ل�ا �ي�� ��ج���ع�ل ا �� ك� ا � ا �لم� � �ك�و ن� ��م� ن � � ل��ل� �م � �و ن � � �مث ا �� ن �ف �ف � ن ق ا � ُض �� ����ف�ا ��رب� ���ل ل� ا �و �لي����س ا � ا �لض� �ص�� ��ى ا�لم�ع��ى �و�رع �ع�ص� ا �لي��ه ا � ي ت � ق���ف�ا ح�ا ����ش�ا ك ا ن� ��ت�ق� ض��� �ع��ل ّ �ت��ه�ا ��ف��ت� ا �م�ن ��ق���ب� ا ن� ت��� ��ح��ق�ق� ا �لت��و�� ي � � ل ى �ى �ت ت �ف � �ق � ق ف �ق �ج�د � ���ف�ا ��� ا �ل�م�و�� �لف� ف��ا � ��ص�ا � � ا ��ى � �� � ح� ك�� �ت �و�ل ��د ��ك � ح ش����د �ا و �ي�ا ��و�م � � �ي ب ر م �ف � � ا ئ �َ�ه�� � شُ �ؤَ ف�خ � س� ��ف�ا ���ت� ه�ي��َ ا ر�ب�ا ب� ا � ك ل����ن� ���س ي� �� �م�ى ي�������تر ��ط� او �ع�� �ل�ي�ه ��� ي و� �ج�ة � � �ج ن �صِ �ل�ا ت� �م� دَّ �ة ��م�ا � �ق������ط� ا ��ل���ت�ف���س�ق � ا ��ل��ت��س��ق ����ف�ا �ن ن � ب��ي����ى �وب����ي��ك �م � ي �� و ي و �ي ع � � � � � ن � �ذّ ْ �ل�ا �ت�ز ���ئ ّر ا ��ل�ى ا � �ل�ق ت��ا ��ل �و �ل�ا ا ��ل�ى ا �ل ش��� �� �ك�و�ى �و �ل�ا �ت��ك ب��ي�� ��ن��ا قِ� �ِ �ي����فى1 ب ً ��ن تُ ن ح� ����ذ ��ل� ا � ��ل�ا ��ف�ل�ا ��ت���ق��ذ � ���ف�ا �ا �ت � ِا � ح��س�ا �ن�ا ا �ت�ي�� ت� ف��د �و�ن ك� ا � ك�� �� �ل� ��س�ـ�� �بي ى و �ي ُ ��ل�ا ي� ����ش�تَ�م�نَّ ا �� � ��ل�ا ا �م� � ��ل�ا �ع ض��� � ��ل�ا �ت��ك ��ل� ����ذ ا ك ا ��ل ����ف�ا ر ىو بى و ى و ي ىب ا ن ُ �� � ا � ث ُ �ن �ف � �م�ن ا ��ل�ع��ا د ا �ن�� ��ف�ا ب و ا ���مى ��ع��ل�ى ا � ��ى ��ي��ن� ��ط ��م�د �ل�د �ل�ا �م� ا � �ي�� ي ��ص� ب � َّ � � ّ���س�ق ا ��ل��ل���س�ا ن� �ُم��ب�ا ذ� ��ئ � غ���د � � ق��د ��ف�� �سق ا ��ل�ع��ف ��ف� �ع��ف ����ف�ا �ي و و ي � ي ٍ �و�لر ب �فِ ي �� ض � ت� ��ل�ه �� ��ت � ���ف�ا �ك�و ن� ا ن� ���� � �و���ن�ز ��ه ��ن �ف��� ا ن� ����ي�ز ر ذ� ا �ز �و ج���ة �و�� ح�� ك ر عِ �ي س �ي ي
ق�ذّ ذ ��� ا]. � ِ ��ِ :١٨٥٥ 1ي��ف��ى ا [ ك
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Proem
The old patina that you see thick
0.4.15
Upon it will not adhere to the glass of your mind. He whose nature is refined, be he where he may, Will believe what is gross in his beloved to be as refined as he. Do not spurn what has gladdened you in him just because of what Has hurt you. Nay, turn not your back on him in disgust. The classifier is no classifier If he doesn’t put things into classes. Isn’t “of a certain stamp” the same in meaning as “Of a certain type,” with the addition of the thwack of a stick?28 God forbid that you should judge me incoherently
0.4.16
Before you have properly studied it And say, “The author has committed blasphemy, so gather, You people—your friend has uttered unbelief,” Causing the masters of the churches to rise up in dread Outrage and unsheathe their swords against it. The bonds of affection between you and me are such As to cut short any accusations of my being either a sinner or a saint. Raise not your hackles in preparation for a quarrel, or a complaint, And let there be between us no dogfight. If I have come with good intentions, you should acclaim Me. If not, at least do not calumniate me. Do not let my father, my mother, or my Honor be insulted, and do not get used to doing so. My sin is suspended, dangling, from my nose. It does not strike the noses of other mortals.29 Many a foul-tongued loud-mouth Has become, when the chaste have become sinners, himself chaste, And many a man of pure soul, if he visits a man who has a wife, Becomes, if she smiles at him, a rascal.
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0.4.17
�� � � � � � �� � ����� � ��� ���� �
آ ُ � ُ ��ْ ٌ َ� ُ �� � ���ل�ي�ه �َ�منُ�� ��ف�ا � � ك ����ل ب� ا �ل��ك� او �ع ب� �لي����س �ي��ع�د �ى ���غ�ي�ره �ود � �و ��ؤه ع كِ و ب ي� َ ُ � ا ���ن�ه ����ش��ا ا ��ل���ذّ �م�ن ا �ل��م�د ا � �����ط � ���ف�ا ��م�ا ذ� ا ��ع��ل� ��م��ه ٍ�د ا ��ل�ى ا خ� � ر ي و �ي ى م ُ ُ �ت � � � ح���ف�ا ���س��ه ا ��ل��ل�ي�ا ��ل� ��م ك� ا �ص���ل�ه �و���ه�ُ ر��ق� د ي� ك�� � ح�م�و ن� ج�� � ي� ح���م� � ��ف� ي � ر � ى م و ّ ذ �� ا � �ت ن ت ع� ����ف�ا ا را ��ي� � ا ك�ر�م ����يرد ��ه�د ���ي��ة �وي���س�و�م ��م��ه�د ���ي�ه� �ل�ه ��� ي � ض � � � �ج� ��ف�ا ��ا ت� � ن �ح� ا �يَ���ه��ذ �ى � �و�ا ���تى ال�م���� � �م�ا �ز � ح ك� �� ا �و �لي����س ا ن� ا �ل��د ���هر ا � �ص� ب � �و ي ح � َ � نَ َ ف ا �ن َ َ � َ َ � ا ف ف ظ ت �ص�ف��ا ا ن ��ف�ا �ش��ت ��قّ �م�ن خ� ْر�ف� ا �ج�ل� خِ�ر�� �و�م � ��� ر �م��ه � ح� � ح� ي � ه ا �ل� �� � � �ص � � � � ى ٍ � ِى َ ْ ْ � ن �ت �ا � �� ا �ف �ُح�َ �ن �ه � ��ف�ا �ك�ن ا �خً� ا ��ل�ا ب ��ى ا ��ل � د �ع���ك ��عب�ي����س ا �ل� ��س�ود و ��ص�ي� ���مرا �و���غ� �ي��� � و ع ض ح��ك ا ��ل��س��ل���ط�ا ن� �ص� ت� ُ د ا �م�ه ��فه� ا ��ل���ذ �ى ���ف ا ��ل��ن�ا �� �ُ�ع ّ�د �ع � ���ف�ا �م�ن ا ���� ر ى � س و و ر �ي فت �حت � ��ب��ا ���ئه�ا �ت����س�ق���ي���ف�ا ت��م ت� ���ه��ذ ا ا ��ل ت ا ��ص�ّ�ر���ت�ه ��ل ن � � � د � ق� � ب� ��ب�� �� �ى و � ي � ي � ا �ت � أ ُ � ���ّ�ف تَ �ت� ���ل��ي���ف�ا � نْ �ن �� ��حر��ف�ا � او � ش��ا �و�ل�و ك��ِل� �ح�د ا ك� � �ل� � ���قر� � �م ب����ع�ده ��� ي ت � ن � ُ�ز �� ق تَ � ا �ز ْت � ت �ج��ل�ك ا ��ل������س �ى ��ل�ه �ت�ا � ���ف�ا � ���ك ر� � ����ث� � � �ف����كو� �ق�د ا �ل� ي ر �ج� �و ب ر�ي م ن �ن ح�ت ���ا ��ل � ���ف ا ذ� ��ن ��� ���ع �ف ���� ح ت� ��س�د �ى � ���ط��ل ����ف�ا �ص�� � ا ي ا ��ى ا ر�ى ك� ير ى ي ك ر � ىر و ي ح
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Proem
One rabid for young girls with firm breasts infects none but himself
0.4.18
And his medicine’s a breast abreast of him that’s well-risen. What blame can attach to one who gives to his brethren Something more delicious than wine, something exquisite? He spent the nights carefully crafting its details While they were sleeping, snoring loudly as they did so. Did you ever see a noble man return a gift, Humiliating the one who gave it to him with harsh words? Could it not be that Fate has taken to playing the fool, To raving and making jokes unfairly? It derives kharif (“dotard”) from kharf al-janā (“the gathering in of the harvest”) and From the ḥaṣaf (“mange”) that weakens the fingernails it derives ḥaṣīf (“man of clear judgment”). Avoid making the lion frown, and be a brother To the fox, a crafty fellow, of iron will. He the sound of whose bow-string when plucked makes the sultan laugh Is the one whom the people consider an expert. My proem finishes with this line, Which I have made as a roof to complete its construction. Read nothing after this, even should you be Charged with reading a single letter of any other book, For then you’ll be on a slippery path, where you’ll go wrong foot first And so slide across the line. (Though I think that the scented air of my advice, Like wind is in your ears—passing, leaving no trace, as though it were nought.)
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0.4.19
� �� ا ا � ا � ا� ك � ل���ت� ب� �ل� ول
Book One
�� �ا ا � �ل�ف��ص�لا �ل� �و�ل � ا �ث�ا ر�ة � ��ا � ي �ڡ ي ر ح ت ن ت َ �قَ �� ئْ �ذ ن �� خص َ �ن � �م�ه �ص�ه ا � ك �ص� ا �ي�ب����س اِ �ع�� ا س�م� اِ ��� � ا ِ � ا �ص �غ� ا �عل��� ا ��ى ش���ر�ع ت� �س�� ت� ا �ص�م� ا ��� م � م ع �ف ت � ف ��ت ّ �ذ ال� ش �ة ض ا غ �� �ة �ت ��ف �� ا �� �ج�ت ن م����ت�م �ع� ا ���ع��ة ك�� � ا ح� � � �� ل � ا ا ا ل � � �ه � �ه� � � ص � � � � �� � ط � � � � � � � � � ل ب ى يىر ل �ى بر و ى �ى �� �لي ��� ك�يب ى ن ت ّ حت � � �� ُ ّ � قئ ق � ا ��ل�ى ا ج��ل �صنب�� ��ور ا �ف ك� ��ا ر�ى �م�ا ي���س�ده �ع�ن ا ������ ق � ��ؤ ا ر ��ا ��م�ا �و��ا �ع�د ا ��ى �ل� ا ج��د ل� � � ي ب �ع� ع��ل�ى م � �ف � ا ت �� �لق � � ا � � ق �ف ا �� � ا ة ا �ئ ف ي�ز ن ا ا � ل � ص � � �وه �ه��ذه ا � � ح� � �� * �ل�م� را ��ي� ا ل� �ِم ��ط� او �ع� �ل� �� �م��ل� �و ل�د �و � �م�� ا ب� ا � �ل�ل��� ��ى �و ج�� ى م م ت �م ���ط� ا �ع�ا ��ل��ل�ق�ل��� ق���ل ت� ���ف ��ن �ف���س ��ل�ا ��ا �� ا ن ا �ق�ف�� � ا �� �ل�ق � � ا ��ل���ذ�ي�ن ��ّ� ض �� او �و ج� �و�ه�ه� �ب�����س� �و��د � � � بي و ى �ى ب س � و وم ي م م ن�ن ق آ � ُ ّ � � ن ق ف ن ف ���ا �� ا ��د ا � ن � س�ن ي�ن � �ا ا ���ا �م�ن الم ��س� او ��ا �ن�ا ا �ع�د ا �ي� ض� ح � ح�� �� * � او � ك�� � �� او ��د ا ��س� � او ا �ل��طر�و��س �� � ك� �و �� ا � � ّت ف ا ا ��� � �ان �ف��ل��ع �ع�دد ك�� �ك� ن� ك��ت� ��ت�ه� ي� ت ا � � �ت� �� ة ف� ��اب ��ى �ع��ل� �ك��ل � ل�ك�ا �ل * �ل� � ح� �ل م��ص��� �ب� �م � ح�� �ج ا �ل�ى �مك�ل�� ي���و �ل ب ى م ��ا ن � ا ن � ا ّ �غ � ��ن �ف� ه ��ف �ن ث� �ل�� ا �ت �ق�ف ف�� ا �ق��ص�د �ت ه � �ل�� ا ت� ا ش �ك�م��ل ��ي�ره ك�� � ج��د �ك�م�ل ��س� * �م � ��و�� يم� � � �ير �ب�ا � �ي � م� � و ح� ��� م م م خَ ف َّ آ ا ن� ا �ود �ع�ه �م�ن ا � ا �� �ف ا ظ �� ا ��ل ش ا ��ئ�ق �ة ا �� ا ��ئ�ق �ة � ا �ل� � ا ��ن ا �� �ف ا ��ئ�ق �ة ا � � ف� �ق �ة �ك� �� � ا � � �ل� ل�� �� ���� �� لر �� ومع� �ى ل�� �� �ل� ��� �ل م� �� �ع��ل�ى � ن � ا �ا ُ �ّ ف ٌ � ن ا � ا ��ا ��ن � ��ذَّ � � �� � ��ي� � ع ع � � � ه � � �� � � � �م � � ا ا � � � �ج ل � ا �ل��س�م� * �و�ل� �ل�ل � � ل � ط� د م � م � � * � � م � * � ع ك � ك � � � ل � � ل و ى س ي �ي �ج ب بع ع �ى وِ ع ق ت �ف ت ا � ف ت �ت ّ � غ � ��ا ن � � �ف � �ا �م��ف �ن ف ف �ق ت � � � � � ب� م�� نع�� ��ي� �و�ل �ى � ����س�ه ا �و �ل���ي�ره �ل�و ك�� � ا�لم�و�ل�� ا �ج� �ه�د رح��ه �ى �� �لي ��� ك��� ب� ي��د ي �ا ت � ث �ن � �م�ا ��ل�ا ��ن�����غ ذ� ك�� ���ا � �ق ت��ه � �ث ا �ذ � ق ض حق� ا ن� �ي���ن��ى �ع��لي��ه * � ك �ره �ل� ���س��� ل����ى ا را ه ��د ا � ع و ع� � �ب�� ك�ر ب ي ب �ى ح�ي�ن �ا ����ذ ك�� �ي�ن ا ���د �ى ��ن ف���ع�ا * � او ج��ل �ر �م�ا ��ل�ا ي ج� �وا ب� �ع�ن ا ��ل�ا �و��ل * �و ��م ح��تر��س �م�ن �مث���ل�ه �� ح� � * �و� ب ٍ ش ْ ُ ��َ حَ ت ��ف � ����� ح�ا �� * � خ����ذ �م�ن ����ذ �م�ا ا �ع ���ط�ا ح�ا ر��س� * 1و�ع�اد ا ل حي��ْ��ُ ي� � �م �و�ه�و � � * ك � � و و ىى س جِ س ع ُ :١٨٥٥ 1ح�ا ر��س.
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Chapter 1
Raising a Storm30
Gently! Hush! Silence! Quiet! Cock an ear! Listen up! Hold your tongue!
1.1.1
Quit talking! Hear! Hark! Hearken!—and know that I embarked upon the composition of this four-book opuscule of mine during wearing, grinding nights that had me praying to God standing and seated, until finally I found no further impediment to stop the faucet of my thoughts from emptying like rain clouds into the drainpipe of my pen and onto the surfaces of these pages; and that when I found the pen obedient to my fingertips and the inkpot to the pen, I said to myself, “There can be no harm to my following in the footsteps of that company of men who have rendered their reputations white by covering pages in black, for if they did well, then I too may be considered to have done well, and if they did badly, it may be that one more book is needed to add to their efforts, in which case my book, at least, may be described as perfect, for whatever has perfected something else must be capable itself of being perfect.” Taking this as my starting point, I never paused in the pursuit of my goal and felt no compunction in consigning to it all such words attractive and fascinating and figures admirable and scintillating as bring pleasure to the ear and to the constitution cheer; this, despite knowing that scarce an author can please everyone. I picture myself, then, as one confronted by some picky fault-finder who says to himself, or to another, “If the author had put his talent to work to compose a book that was of some use, he’d deserve to be praised for it; but it seems to me he has wasted his time for nothing by mentioning on some occasions things that should not be mentioned and on others things that yield no benefit.” My reply to the first point is “How many a pot has called the kettle black!,”31 and “You’ve made a bad business worse!,”32 and “Make the most
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1.1.2
��ف� ا �ث�ا ر�ة ر��ا � ي يح
َ َْ ةٌ � �ن ���ل �ع�� ك� ق���ل��ع * � او �ه�ت���ْ �هبَ���ل�ك * �و�ع��ي�ن ا ��لر ض��� �ع�ن �ك� ����لي���ل�� * �و�ع�ن ا �لث��ا ��ى * ا بر��� ي ل ى ب ب ى ِ ع قأ ظَ � ْ قَ ��ا ��ن � � � ظ ظ ظ � � � � � �ع��ل�ى �����ل�ع�ك * � او ر�� �ع��ل�ى �����ل�ع�ك * � او ر�� �ع��ل�ى �����ل�ع�ك * �و�قِ� �ع��ل�ى �����ل�ع�ك * �وك�� �ى آ �� �ن ا ئ ��ق � اً ��س��ل ا ث ��ا ��ن � ح��د��ي ث� خ� ار ف���ة �ي�ا ا � �ع�مر�و * �و ج�� ه ك� � � � � �ب�� خ�ر ��ي��ق �و�ل � �وا �ب� �و�م م �ع� �� ب� �و �ل� يم� * �م ك� ��ي م قة � ظ ع ��� �ة � �ن ��لَ ا ذ ّ ى � ا ��لن�ه�ا �م ّ���ي�ن � ا ��ل�اَ �نْ�ه�م��ة � ا ��ل�َ �َق��ف���ة � ا ��ل�َ �فَ�ه��ة � ا ��ل� �ه�ف���ة � ا ��ل�ا �����ل��ي�ن ب ج�� �و��� ي�م�ٍ م ا ج ��ل� � � و � ي و � و و و و � و و و ب ي � � � �ذ � َ َ � � او ��ل�ز را �ز ر�ة � او �� �ل�ق �م�ا �م��س��ة � او �م�ا �م�ه� ا ج��ل ��ا �ث��لي ��ق� ا �ل�ا كب�� ���ر � او �م�ا � �ه� ا ا �ل�ع��س ��ط�و��س ا �ل�ا �عظ �� � �و�ه� � م م م م أ ض �خ ن �ي�ز�أ �� ن ��� غ� �� ن � ت�ق �ّت ن ن ن � � � � � � � � ن� �و� ج�ع �ي���ج�� ��� ر �و ن� � �و ن��ع �و� �و�ل ب ��و� �و ص �و ن� �و ج� � � � � ب ��و� �و �ط�و� �يو ل��ط�و� � �يو��� ر �و� و ر ي �ي ي �ي ي�ج ن � ت �ذ ن � ت � ن ��ت�� ن ن � ت ش �ذ ن � ت ش �ز ن ن ت �غّ ن ت ت ن �ه�دد �و� � �يو�� �مر�و� �وي���� ك ��ر�و� �يو ��مر�و� �وي������� ر �و� �وي������ ر �و� � ��يو ��و�ر�و� � ��يو ��و�ع�د �و� � ��يو � �غ � � ا �ن ق �� ح�م� ن � � ن � � ت�غ����ذ �م � ن� � �ن�� ����ت�� �ع�م ك�� �ه�م�و ن� � �و��ل��م�و ن� * ف��ا ��ق�و�ل �ل�ه� �م�ه�ل�ا �م�ه�ل� ا ك�� � � �� ض� � � و �يو رو يو و ي ر ي �ي م م م م ت ت �ف ّ � � �ف � �ف � � ة ح ف���ة ا �لت��ا � �� ��م�ا ��ض �� ّ � � �ن�ه �� ك��� ��اب ��ى �م�ن ا �و�ل �و�ه��ل�� * �و��م � ����ل�ه ��ى � ك ��رك�� �ل�و ا �و�ل ت�� �م�ا ��ت ن� ك ح��لت�� وي�ل ي � ��رو ى ر م م م ظ � �ق � �ان ت خِ � ت �ظ � ف ��ع��ل� ا �م ن��ه � س�ن ا ا �هر � ب �ي ��� �ك��ا �ه�و د ا ب� ك�� ح�ا �و�م��س� �� ر��ا �م�ا �ي��ل�وح� �م�ن ��ل�ا �ل �م ح�� � �م� �ي� �� � � �ل� � ج� و م ً � � ذ � � �ذ � ئي�ن � �ن � س�ن ي�ن � ��ق ه� �عب��ا ر�ت�ه ف��ا � ح ش����ا * ف��ا ن� ا �ب�ا �ن�� او ��س ق��د ا �و�ج� ب� �ع�لي� ك�� � � �ل�ك �م� م��� م ا �ل�� �� ب� �و�ل� * م � ّ �ز آ ّ � ا ت �ظ � � �ف ن �ن � �ظ �ل� � �� ت� ا �م ء ا �ور�ع�ا ��ف�ا ن� � ح ��� ك��� ح �� را �ل�ع� �وا � ك� ��ه �ب�ا �ل��د �ي�ن ا � �ر ء ر ر � �و ���ق �و��ل�ه ب
ئ ن �� � �ف ذ � �ك�ن ك��ي�� �م�ا �ش���� ت� ا � ا لله � �و ك��ر� م ً �ت � ْ ا ��ل�ا ا ��ث ت ��ن���ي�ن ��ف�ل�ا � ���ق �رب��ه�م�ا ا ���ب�دا
ا � � ذ ذ ن ت �ن ا �و�م� ��ع�لي��ك ا � ا ا � ��ب��� �م �ب� ��ِس � �ا ا� ا ا �ل ش���رك �ب�ا لله � او �ل� ض� �� ار ر �ب� �ل��ن� ��س
� � � ن ق ن ف � ح��ة ب� �صر� � ا �ن ك�� حي� ث� �ل�ا ��ت��ق ب���ل ا �لت��ا �و���ل * �ف�ا ��ق�و�ل �� ك�� ل� � ��ا �م�ا ا � ���لت�� ا � �عب��ا ر�ت�ه � ي ي ت م م م ���ن ت � ن ن ��ت غ� � �� ن �ت �ه ن � �� �أ ن ت� ض � ن �ت �أ ن �ت���ل ن ن ت � � � � � � � � � � ك � ل� � � � ك� �� �خ �ط� �و� وح� ��رم�و� و��هر و� وح ��و� و ��و� و لط�و� و ��و �م�و� تُ � م� ن تَ � ت ّ ن تخ � ن ت � �� � ن �ت �ذ ن �ت �ذ ن � ن � �ت�� ��ف ت ن � ��ت �خ � � � � � � � � � � � � � � ل � � � �و�لب���ك�و� � �و�ل� �كو� و ��و� و ع� �ص�د و� و لط�و� و �ط�ل�و� و��ه� و� و��ه� ر و� ت �ت ت ن �ت��خّ ن �ت�� خ ��ع ن ��ت�ف � ن �ت � �ف�ُّ ن �ت�ت�����لت�� ن ��ت ت���ل ن �ل��خ �ل� ن ��ع ن � �و� ح� �صر�و� �و�ل� ه��ع�و� �و� �وج��م�و� �و ج �م�و� �و ��د م�و� �و�ل �و� �و ب ع�و� �و � ي �و� �و
38
3،1،1
ا� ا �ب� �ل� �م��س ��ت� ف�� ن ع���ك�و� �و
38
4،1،1
Raising a Storm
of what you’re given!,”33 and “So what are you going to do about it?!,”34 and “Mind your own business!,” and “The accepting eye to every fault is blind!,” while to the second it is to point out that one who limps (a) should go easy on himself, (b) shouldn’t try to climb mountains, (c) should tend to his own limp before anyone else’s, and (d) shouldn’t call attention to his limping;35 or as though confronted by someone else who says, “Another of Khurāfah’s tales, Umm ʿAmr!,”36—to which I reply, “Many a true word has been spoken by the less than perfect!” Next, I am confronted by a mighty crowd of priests, abbots, and monks,
1.1.3
bequeathers of pious bequests, churchwardens, and sacristans, board-beaters,37 patriarchs, and hegumens, before whom goes the Great Catholicos38 with, before him, the Supreme Pontiff,39 all of them clamoring and havering, mooing and snorting, raging and roaring, shouting and shrieking, fuming and furious, threatening and fulminating, complaining and calumniating, venting, ventilating, and hyperventilating, yelling and gasping, praying and spittle-spraying, thus causing me to say, “Hold your horses! Hold your horses! You have spent your whole lives in the craft of exegesis, so what harm would it do if you were to explain away what it is you don’t like about my book from the get-go, making arguments, as is your wont, that whatever is malformed is in fact comely and whatever seems hideously phrased is in fact elegant? This is something Abū Nuwās made incumbent on you hundreds of years ago, when he said, Be not stingy in forgiveness if you be a pious man For your illiberality is but contempt of religion “and Be as you wish, for God is kind— No harm shall befall you if you sin. Two things alone you must eschew in full— Ascribing partners40 to God and injuring men.” If, on the other hand, you say, “Its words are too plain to explain away,” I say to you that only yesterday you were making mistakes, mispronouncing, and maledicting, uttering solecisms and stuttering, erring and aberring, speaking randomly and raggedly, misspeaking and randomly mouthing off, rambling and roaming, raving, ranting, and talking irrationally, faltering and
39
39
1.1.4
��ف� ا �ث�ا ر�ة ر��ا � ي يح
ت ن �ت ف ف ن � ت � � ن � م � �وت��لغ����ل�غ� � ن� � �وت��ل�ق���ل��ق � ن� � �و�ت�ق���ل�ق���ل� ن� � �وت��تر�تر �و ن� � �وت��ثر�ثر �و ن� �و� ح� �صر�و� � �و ��ر�ر�و� �وج ج �م�و� و و ت و �ت ت �غ �غ ��م ت ت ث ث �غ � � �غ �غ �غ � ن ��م� ن ��م�� �غ� ن ��ت��عت�� ن ��ت�� ت��غ� ن ��ت��عث�� ن ��ت�� ث��غ� ن ��ت��ع�� ن ��ت�� ��غ� ن � م م � � � � � � � � � ع ع ع م � � � � � � � � � � �وج ج و� و و� و و� و و� و و� و و� و و� وب ب و� وب ب و� ت �ت �غ ن ت ض غ ض �غ ن �تَ ْ َ ن �ت ف ن �ف آ� � حت �ف ت ن ق �و� ��و�� �و� � �و�� �ه�ه�و� ��م��تى ج��� ك��� ا �ل�عل��� ��ى � ����� �ه�م�م�و�ه�ا * � او � ���لت�� ��� �و� �و��عي ��و� � �و � � م م م ق ت � ّ � �ت ف ا ن �� ض ا � ا ��ل��س ّ�ئ � ف� � �� ض ا �غ ف �ه�وم � بو�ع� � ب�ع� �ه�و�م * ���ل� �ل��ع�ل �م�ا �ل�م � � � ���ه� ��ي�ر �م� � ���ه� �و ه�و ِي�� م � �ه�م�وه �ه�و � �ذ � ن ن � �ع�� ا �ّ��ة � � ة � ن �م�ن ا ��ل � ح��س�ن �ا ت� ا �ل ��تى �ت�� �ه ب� ا �ل��سي��ئ��ا ت� ف��ل�ا �ي���ب���غ� �� ك�� ح�ا �ل�� 1ك���ا �� ت� ا � ل� ل�ى ي ى آئ م � آ � ت � � �ك�ن � �ن ش ا �ف � �ق � �� ا �ن ت� ا ���ض ���ا � ن ن � حر��ق�وه * � �ول�ع�مر�ى �ل�و �ل� �ي�� م ���� �� ع � �ل ب ��و�ل�ه � او ج� �ر ��ه �ع��د ا �ل�اد �ب� ء �و�ع��د ك�م� �م ي م � ��ت � � ث ��ف � ف � �ن ذ � � ف َ ت ة � ف ظ �� � ْ ا �ن �ج�مر�ى ك�� ب� ا �ل�اد ب� ��س�و�ى ��سرد ا � �ل�� ��� ك���ي�ر� �م ا�لم��را د �� �ل���ك�ى * ب���ل �ي��ه م � ك�ر ّ ث أ �ّ �ا �� � ا �ه��ل�ه ا د ا � ا لله �ع�ز �ه�نّ �م�ا � �� �� ا � ظ ا ج ���ل ع �����ا �م�ه � �و�ت�ق� �ر ظ� ���� �م�و� �لف��ه � ح��ا �� �ت�� ب��ي�� ن��ه ب���ع�د � ل �ج م و ي ي و ب م ي م ف ا ق ت ا ه�ن �غ �ف ��ث �ن � �ف ة �� � ��ن � �ن ف ش � ل�� ا � ا�لم���ه� د �له �ه�� ا � ك �م��� ر���ه ا �ي� � �بر �م ا � ���ه * �ع��ل�ى ا �ى ا �عر� ك���ي�را �م ا �ل�و � ر م � و � �م � ٌ �ش� ت � � � �ش� ف َّ �ش � ا �� ف�ل� ض� � �ي�ن ا � ا �ن ا � � ا �ت�� ّ� ن �م�ن ��ق �� �ش�� �م�جم � � � � � � � � � � م م م � � � �د ل � � � � � م ك � ب� ���ل ب� �ل� � م �ل� يحرج � �و� و ى رم و ى �ول�ه�م �ى و ى �ج َ ذ �َ ْ ��ث � ث � ثَ �ز َ ّ �ش�� ُ ف ش ق �ز � ل�� ���ع ب� � او � ك ���ك * �و�م�ن � ك� ع� ب� � او � ك ��ر ا �ل�ك�� ل�����ع ه�د �� �و����ى ��ا � �و�َب بك�� ا ��ي ب� �و �ى �م� ِ ح م َ �َ ْ �ُ ْ ��لَ�ز �نَْ � � ْ�نّ ة ��لُ � ���د جُ���د � او ��ل نّ�َ�ْ��ز � ����ث � او ��ل�ا �خ� ث�� � او ��ل � او ج�ل ��� � �خ�ثي�� � 3او � له�و ب� � 2او �ل�ع َرك� ��رك � او �ل�ا ك� ����� � ا ح � ب���ل � او �ل�ِد �ع ك و � ج ي �ج م م م �ُ �َ � � ُْ � َ ْ �ذ �َ ضْ � ضّ � �� ا ����ط�م ّ � او �ل�ع�م�ا ر ���ط ّ � او ��ل ������ � او � � او �لب ��ْو��ص � او �ل ن��ا �م��ة � او �لبُ���لغ���� � او � �لق���ل�� � � او �ل�ا كب� ل ح� � � � ��ر ر س ص ى ى م �َْ ��ل آ � ّ آ �� � ضْ � � ُ � َ �ُ � ض ل ش ش � ا � � ّ ا ا � او �ل�َهيْ��د ب� � اولم � ��� ر ��ط�ى �و ج �مي����� �و ج �م���� � او �لب��د � ء ح��ل�و��س � او �لب��ْو��ص � او �لعِ� � ��ر ��ط � او �ل�ع� ِ
ُْ �ت �ل � ذ�� ا � ا �ل��ق���ا �مو��س و � :١٨٥٥ا �ل � � �خ ش���ي� . ف�ي :١٨٥٥ 1ح�ا ل�� :1855 2 .وا �ج ���ل�هوم 3 .ك ف�ي م
40
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6،1،1
Raising a Storm
floundering, babbling like foreigners, bumbling as though you had plums in your mouths and mumbling as though your mouths were covered, dragging out your words and wagging your tongues mischievously (and at great length too), stammering, yammering, and pronouncing letters like Qurʾān readers,41 tripping over your ts, prattling, faltering,42 and battologizing, hemming and hawing and hawing and hemming, talking as though you had a bone in your throats, swallowing your words, lifping your fs, mumbling as though you’d lost your teeth, speaking as though you were belching and vomiting, prattling incoherently, burbling like emptying water jars and squawking like parrots, talking nonsense, snarling like wolves tearing at their prey, howling, and ending up running out of breath like winded horses—so at what point did you acquire the knowledge that would allow you to understand it? And if you say that one part (the bad part) is comprehensible and the
1.1.5
other part incomprehensible, I reply, “Perhaps the part you don’t understand consists of precisely those good features that compensate for the work’s bad, and, anyway, under no circumstances do you have the right to burn the book.” I swear by my life, even if the only thing it had to intercede for it and give it currency with the literati, and with you too, as a literary work, were its enumeration of so many synonyms, that would be enough! Yet, in fact, there is more: the book contains sufficient discussion of beauty and beautiful women—God prolong their glory!—to require that it be extolled and its author be lauded while alive and eulogized when the time comes for him, unwillingly, to part their company. In addition to which, I know many a noble churchwarden whose virtues are acknowledged among men and yet has no compunction about referring to “things quivering,” “things rounded,” “things tightened,”43 “things huge,” “things ‘the size of mountains,’” or “things hard and vigorously thrusting,” nor about making mention of the pudendum big, the pudendum large, the pudendum swollen, the pudendum huge, enormous, the pudendum vast, the thick, raised pudendum and the raised, thick pudendum,44 the pudendum thick of lip, the vulva huge, the vulva mighty, the vulva long of clitoris, the buttocks, the vulva’s inner chamber and space, the wide wet one and the bulgy one, the big brutish one and the just plain large one,45 the genitals of either sex, the woman’s droopy one, the skinny one, the buttocks but with a slightly different spelling,46 the anus, the flabby vulva, the pudendum shaven, the woman whose vulva is huge, the woman with a huge vulva with widely
41
41
1.1.6
��ف� ا �ث�ا ر�ة ر��ا � ي يح
� فَ ُ � � ا ق �ة فة �� �َّ �� آ �َْ ة � ت ��ا �� �لق���ة � او ��ل ��س�ود ف���ة � او ج��ل ���و��ش� � او ل�ل�ط ح� ر�� ��ع�� � او�لم�ه��ل�و��س�� � او�ل�مر�ص�و��� � او�لم � � او � �ل� ش � ��خَ � َّ آ �ُ �َ � َ ُ خ� ال��خَُ ة � َ َ ْ ح �ة �خ بَُ�� �ق� � او ل � او ��ل ��ق �و�ق� � او �ل �ر��و �وم � ��ق �و�ق� � او �لغ� � �� � ْ�ر��ق��� � او �ل��س�� �لق��� �لق� � او �ل ش����ق��� � او�لمت��ل�ا ��م� و ب ب� �َ �َتْ��آ ��لَ� �ق َّ ة � �ف �غ ة �َ ُ �َ � اَتُ � َ � ا � ا ��خل � ا خِ��ل �ُ ْ ش � � ا � ا �ل � � � � � � � ا � � م � ا � � � �ل � ا ح ا �ل ا ل � � ل � � � � � � � � � م � � � � �م � ��� � � � � ك ل � �ص ه � � � ل � � � � � و ج م و ج وم و وم و ريم و � و ج �ل و و ِ ي و رو و و ص � ف ة � َّ ّ خ ة � َخّ خ ة �ل� �ُ � � َ ضُ �ْ �خُنَّ�ة � ْف ��ا ر � او �ل ش������ي�ر� � او �ل�ز خ��ا ��� � او �بل� ���و��ض� � ال�مِو ن خ� ��ا ��� � او � � �� � او �لِمن ����ا ��ص � او �لِم�ي�را ��ص � او �ل�ع� ج � اَُّ � قُ ���خُن تُ ��َ ا ��ل شَ����فَ���َّ ا ���ُ نُْ � �ة � �ن �� �َّْ �ز ا �� نَ ْ �ف ن � ل ل � ا ا � � ا � ا � ا ل � ل م � � � � � � � ل � � �� � � ل ل � � � �و ل � � � � � � ل � � �و لع�ب��ل� و ج ي و عِ و و ب و و� و ب و ي �ل ع ح � اَ شْ َ �� ا �� َل��� َق ا � ا � � ا ��لَ� ْ ظ� ���� � ا ��لثُ��ْعُ ح��س���لت���ي�ن ا ��ت��ي�ن � ا ��ل �ي�ن ت ل � ك� � � � � ا � ا ك �� �س� ط � � � � � ح � ع � � � � � � ل ل و رور و ِ ر و و ر و ب �� و و بي �� قُْ ُ أْ ��� اُ � � �ز ل �� ُ � ْ �َ ْ ُ � � ْ � ة �ق � ا ��ل�ُعن�ت�� � ا ل� � � او�لم�� �ن�� � او ج�ل ل��ط ْ ث� � او �ل�ع��كب�� � اوم�جع ��ع� � او � � � � او لجع � ح� و �ل و ِ �� ِر�م � او �ل� بو��ي���ل ر ر ب م ح � فَ ْ ْ ُ َ � َ � � � � � � � ش � �ة ة ة � � � � �ف ن �ق � �ت ْ � او � �ل��نج� ���ل���� � او � فِ�ل���ل��ط���� � او �ل حو���ل�� � او �ل��ك�و����ل� �و��ا � � او�لمت���ك � او �ل� ح ��ط�ا ��ط � او �ل��ك�و��ع�� � او ج�ل� ي س ي س
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Raising a Storm
separated edges, the woman whose vulva squeaks when it’s entered, the woman with the dry little scrawny one, the woman with the emaciated one, the woman with the tiny vagina a man can’t get at, the woman who holds the man’s semen inside her womb, the woman who flashes her “thing” and her belly folds, the woman the clefts at the head of whose womb are narrow and who holds herself rigid on her side for the man,47 the woman whose vagina makes a sound when entered, the woman broad-buttocked as a donkey whose vulva also makes a sound, the one whose vagina makes another kind of sound, the woman who swoons during intercourse and the woman who faints during intercourse, the woman who menstruates from her anus, the woman with a wide vagina, the woman the meaty parts of whose vagina are tight, the woman whose vagina is wide open and the woman whose vagina is open wide,48 the woman whose vagina may be either small or capacious, the woman whose vagina and rectum have been torn so that they have become one, the broad-vagina-ed and debauched woman, the uncircumcised woman with torn vagina and rectum who is also incontinent, the women so much fucked that, like an overused she-ass, she’s developed a medical condition in her womb, the woman with the tiny vagina a man can’t get at (again, but a different word),49 the woman who covets the man during intercourse,50 the woman who wets her bed, the woman who excretes when laid, the tight woman, the woman who whinnies through her nostrils during intercourse like a lunatic, the woman who derives her pleasure from the edges of her vagina, the woman who gushes water during intercourse, the woman whose belly’s so big they say, “Bravo!”, the woman who’s no good at intercourse, the woman whose vagina is droopy with large edges, the woman with the long clitoris, or the woman who doesn’t keep herself covered when alone with her husband; nor about the thick clitoris, the clitoris tout court, the prepuce of the clitoris or that of the girl before she’s been cut, the semen in the womb, the woman’s womb itself,51 the folds that protect the clitoris, the part between the backside and the front, the side of the vagina, the back of the vagina, the edges or sides of the womb, the testicles, the clitoris said with a funny accent,52 the pelvic bone, the navel, the flabby belly between the navel and the pelvis, the tip of the clitoris, the glans, the “knotty rod,” the man with a strong penis, the “thick stick,” the large glans, the tip of the glans if it’s broad, the edges of the glans, the donkey’s glans, the donkey’s penis, the fly’s penis, the large limp penis, the large glans, the foreskin of a boy if it widens
43
43
��ف� ا �ث�ا ر�ة ر��ا � ي يح
ْ � قُ ْ � ا ��س�ت � ن ا ا ��لت��ف� ن���ش�� خ ا ��ل ش��َ� ْ �ذ �� فَ ْ �ت �ت � ة � ُ � ة �ن � ��ق ا � او � �ل� ه � �ص�ع�� � او �ل��د �ل�ع�� �و�م ا �لاِ� �م� د � او �ل �� �و ي��د � او �ل� ع�� د �و � �و �م� � او �ل � �ر � � فَخ ةّ � �تش ّ � � ف ا �� ن ش ن ش �ة � ا ���ست خ� ا � � ُ� ��ا � ا �ل� ��� �ه�ا ر � او �ل�و�ج���س �و ل����������� � او �ل� ��ل� ��ط � او �ل�����ي� ��ط � او �ل�ه ك�ع و � او �لاِ� � � � ُُ ُ � � َ َ ا �� َ ��غْ � � � � ْ ���ي�ز ه�ق�ق � او ��لن� ْ� ����ط�ل � او ��ل�ُع��تر � او � َل���طُ�و� � او �لج�ع ����س�ا �ل � او ��ل��د �ع� � او �ل�زَ ج���ل � او �ل� � �و ل��س � � او �لاِ� ك ي ر � ح م � فِ ْ م َ �� � ن � ا �ز�خ � �ت �ّف�غ � ا ف�آ ا ���َ ْ �خ حَ ق ا ��لت��ع��ف ا ض ل ا ت � ا �ص�د � � او � �ل���خِ��ر � او �ل� � � �م� �و ي���ل � او �ل�بت�� ��� ر � او �ل� ر�� � او �ل� �ص��� �و لع� � � و � � ُْف�غ � َ فَ �ُق ْن ة � َ � �ُ � � ��ْ ا �� ا ���َ ْ �ك��ْ�ن �ص�د � او �لر��� � او �ل� � � او �ل�ع ْر�و�ة � او �لاِ� ��س� او � او �ل ��سِ��ا � او �لاِ� ل�ه� �ط �و لع� ب ع���ل � او � �ل� �ر�� � او �ل��ي ع ع � ُّ � �ؤْ ُ � �ؤ ة �ن ذ�� � ْ �زَ ّ �َ��زْ ا �ز � ة �ل� �ُ �ن �ف ا �ل� ش � ا �� غ�ُ ض ا �� �خ ف ا ط � �و�م � ك�ر ا �لاِ� ر ب� � او �لب� �ب� � او � �ل�� �ع�و��س�� � او ر��و� �وم���رح �و ل�� � او �ل�� � ط �� � ��� ر�ط�ى �َ ُ �َ ْ َ � ْ � �َ� َ ا �� �ُ ْ ُ �صو��ص � او ��خل ��ا �ق� �ب�ا �ق� � او �ل�زَ رد ا ن� � او � ّل��ط نْ�ب��ر�ي�ز � او � �لف���ل�ه� � او � �ل�قب��ق��ا ب� �و ل� له�م�و� � او �لم� � � م م �َُ َ � �ُ ق � ق � َْ �ُْ َْ � � �خَ َ ْ ف �� ة ا ��ل � � � ا �ل��مَ�زَ ّخ���ة � ا ��لنُ��غ� ن �غ� � ا ��ل ح � � ش���ن �����ل � او�لم�ع ��نر�� ��ط � او�لم�ق� ��نر ف�� ��ط � او � �ف�ل �و�� � او � �ل�ق �و�� � او �ل ّر �ك�و� � � و و �و ج وم و فِ � َّ �َ ّ�ذَ َ ُ ا ��ل�ق ف �ي�ز � َ � � ف �ة عفَ���ّ�لق � �غ��� ذ� ��ل��ك �م�ن ا د � ا ت� ا ��لن �ص� � �م�ن ا ��ل�ن ّ�� د�ة � ا �ل � �ِ�بع�� � او �ل �و� � � � ح� ا �� � ح��ل�� � او �ل� � و ي ر ب و و ب و و جِ ى
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Raising a Storm
so far that the glans emerges, and a vein in the penis; nor about extra hard erections, ordinary erections, pricks that commit fornication, women’s stuffing of their vaginas with rags so that their wombs won’t come out, women’s spreading their legs wide during coitus, a man’s practicing coitus with one woman and then another before ejaculating and a man’s practicing coition with one women and then another before ejaculating,53 one slave-girl’s hearing the sounds made by her master when he’s with another slave-girl, and a little-used word for plain copulation,54 the spontaneous leaping of she-camels by he-camels, emaciation resulting from incessant intercourse, lusting for intercourse, sleep taken after intercourse, having intercourse with one’s slave girl by merely inserting and withdrawing because not wishing to ejaculate, withdrawing before ejaculation because not wanting children, thrusting it into her the whole way, ejaculating into the womb, people who fuck frequently, men with long genitalia, vaginas that excite, men intercourse with whom is sure to result in pregnancy, men who find it difficult to have intercourse with a woman, the hard man who keeps on fucking, the deflowering of pre-pubescent girls, sitting between a woman’s thighs in order to have intercourse with her, women’s emptying a man of all his seed, a noun meaning copulation from which no verb is formed,55 something white that comes out of the vulva, the curing of the thing resembling a scrotal hernia that emerges from a woman’s vulva and makes intercourse impossible, having protuberant buttocks (of a woman), the nympha at the base of the clitoris, to push forth its penis (of a donkey), women voracious as lionesses, dashing water on one’s vagina,56 the external parts of the vulva, the thing resembling a scrotal hernia that emerges from a woman’s vulva and makes intercourse impossible, the protuberant part of the womb, and the flesh of the inner part of the vulva57; nor about the vulva (especially when large), the vulva said four other ways,58 the flabby vagina,59 the vagina that dries the liquid from the surface of the penis,60 the gaping vagina, the tight vagina, and another name for the vagina,61 the large ugly vagina with long womb flaps, the large wet squeaky vagina, the women’s sexual parts in general, the “bulge,” the “sprayer,” the fleshy vagina, the bizarrely spelled,62 the “shrunken,” the “gripper,” the “nock,”63 the woman sent mad by the cravings of her crevice, the woman’s “wide well,” and the vagina again in another exotic spelling,64 the large floppy one, and other “instruments of erection”65; nor about mentioning the backside, the posterior, “the thrower,”66 “the
45
45
��ف� ا �ث�ا ر�ة ر��ا � ي يح
� � ال� خْ ��ذ ف ة ال�َخْ �َ�ذ ق ة ��خَ ّ ة ��خَ �ََنْ��فَ ث �ة �� َّ ّ ا �ة � ّ ة ��خ ح ّ��س��ة � اولم �فّ��ا ق���ة � او ��ل�َع�زّا ق���ة � اولم �� ��� � او ل �� ��� �وم �وم �وا ر� � او ل � � � ح ش����� � او �لب�� �� � او لر�م� �ع� �� ِ ِ َ � �ُ � ُ �� � ّ ْ خ ة � َ ّآ � َ ّآ � َ ْ � ا �� َ ��ْع �آ ا ��ل�َ��سْ ��آ ا �� ��فُ ن �قُ �ة ا �� ف�ُ �ُق �ة ل � ا � � � � � �ز ل ا ا ط � ل � او ل��صم� ر�ى � او �لر�� �و ِ بِ�ي��� � او � ��ح�م� � او �ل� �ع �و � او �ل�ع �ل� �و ج �م� �و �حم� �و ل ���ص� �و ل�ر��ع� ئِ م � َّ فّ ة � َ ُّ � ّ ا ة � ّ ا �غ ة � ّا ة ��لَ ّ ن ة ��خلَ ّ ن ة � ن ة �ُ ْ ُ ث � او �ل� � �وا ��� � او �ل�ص� او ��� � او �لب��ر�ع� �ص��ا ر� � او �لنب� ��ور � او �ل�بن�� �ع�� � او �ل�بن�� ��� � او �ل� �وب� �ع�� � او ج�� �وا ��� � او �� َ ُ � �ُ ْ �ُ ُ �ج�ز � �م�ن ا � اُ ا �ف ا ��لَ ْ��ز ا ا ج �ل � �ي��م ْ� � او ج��ل � او �لب��عثُ� ���ط �و�غ��ي�ر ذ� ��ل��ك �م�ن ا د � او ت� ا ��ل ��عث��و� �ل� د � �و ب��ي ر � � � و و م م ح � َ ْ قَ � اَ ذْ � ّ �� �َ ق � ْ � َ � ��زُ�ُنْقُ � ة ��خلَ �َ ْ نَق ا ��ل�ُ��س ا � � ضَ ْ��ز ا ���ُ �ْ ُ � ل � � � � � � � � � � � ا ا ا ل ا � � ل �ل � ع ا د � � � � � � � � � � � � � � ل � ل د � م � � � ح � � � ل � ل ح ع ط � � ط �� � � � � او �ل� � �ل��عى � او و �ل و ِ ول و و ر �� و دِ ل و ب ي و �ل و و �ل � ش ا ��ق � ا �� �قَ ْ َ ْ ا ���َ ْ َ � ا �� �قَ ْ َ ا �� �لقُ� ْ�� َ ��� ْ ن �ة ا �� � نْ �� �ُ�ز ا �جِ�ز �ص���طب��ي�ر � او �ج��ل � ل � ا ل � � � � �� �هب���لي����س �و لعرد �ل �و ل�� ��� ط �� � �و سطب�ي���� �و �فِل � ي س و ول و � َ �ُْ �َ ذّ ذ ح�ا � او �� �ل�قِ�زْ�مي���ل��ة � اولم�تم��ئ ّر � او ��ل��دَ �ْو َ��س � او �ل��سَ�م�ْه�د ر �و�غ��ي�ر ذ� ��ل��ك �م�ن ا د � او ت� ا �ج��ل � ّر �و�م�ن � � �و� � ر ح َّ� َ ْ� َ � �أ ش ف ت�ن ش �ك�ز ض �ز ��� �ع�ز ����ط�ن ��ز � ��ز � ���ه �و ط ح�ى �ور�ص� �ور ��ط� �و������� �و����� �و� � �و � �وع ��ط �وع �ل ب� �ودح �ود ب ع ح ق � � �ق � � � � ت � � �ل�م��ذ � �م ش � �ق �ف� ���ط � �ق ن� ���ط � ��ق��س�� � � � � �ون��ر� ح ��طر �و��م ��طر �و�ل��ط�ز �ولم � �و�م�ع ���ق� �و�م��ر �و�م�ه � و و ور و ر و بر و ي �ج ذ ف �ج �ج �ج ذ � � �ز �خ�ز خ� � د � ظ �� �ه� � ��ل��ك �ل��� ا ��ك�ن ا �ى �ع��ل�ه�ا ��ن� ت� ا � ع ���� * �وك� �و�ه�ه� �ع ن��د � ك� ح�م�� �لق� ي �ڡ � �و ج�� و �و ر ي� ر م م م ت � � ة ف ة ف ن ا ف ة � ة ا ��خل ��ا ن ت ن ا ض � �� �ة �م��س�ت ب�� ش��� �ة � بم��� جه ��� �م��س��ر� * ��ا � ر ح�مر� ج���ل �و �ل� �ص��ر� ا �ل�و ج���ل * ب���ل ك�� ��� �� � ر َ �َ � ن� �ّ ا ن ا ً �ت ق ا ض �ن � � آئ ق � �ا�ف اب��ي ا�لم� ك ��ر ِا �ل� �ع�� د ا � �و ��� � ���ا ���ي ج���د �و�ل ا ��س�م�� ���ه�م ���ل ت� �ل�ه �ه�ا ك ا �و�ل�ه �ي�ب��ت��د ��ي �ب�ا �ل� �ل�� آ آ � �آ �ن ذً ف هً � ث ن ا �� �ق ا � ا � ا � �و خ�ره ��ا ��لي��� ء * ف��ا � ��س�و�� ا � ا � او � ح ��ا �م�ن �ه�و �ل� ء * �� ا � ش���ر ��ط� �ع��ل�ى ل�� ر�ي �ل� � � ب ب �ي م �ي ُْ � ش ا �ن � ا � ف ا ظ � � ت ف ة � ت ث �ذ ن ف �ف � � ت ق � ت ق � ا ا � ي���س ��ط ��� � �م ا �ل� � �ل�� ��� ا�لم��را د ��� ي ڡ � ر �ي � ك��� ب��ي �ه� ا �ع��ل�ى ك���ر���ه� * �����د ��ي �� �� ا � ي��مر ّ �خ � � � ة ة � � �� � ق ا � � ة � � ي�ن ف ظ � �� � ن ح��د ا � ��م�ع�ا ن �مت��ق��ا ��� * � ا �ل�ا ف��ل�ا و �ب�ه ي ڡ طري��� �و ح�د� ��سرب� �م��س�� � �ل� ���� بمع���ي � او � و ب � رب ي�ز � � ا � ت � ا نّ �ن � ا ذ � ن � ا � ف ا ظ� � ت فة ا ج��� �ل�ه �م ��ط� �ل�ع��ه �و �ل� ا �ه ���ؤه �ب�ه * �ع��ل��ي ا ���ي �ل� ا � �ه ب� ا �ل�ى ا � ا �ل� � �ل�� ��� ا�لم��را د ��� ��هى ّ � ن ح��د � ا ��ل�ا ��ل��س�م� �ه�ا ا �ل�م��ت��س�ا � ���ة � ا ن��م�ا ��ه �م��ت ا د ف���ة ب��م�ع ن� ا ن ���ع ض ���ه�ا ق��د ��ي��ق �و� �م�ق��ا � � � � ر و و ب�م�ع���ي � او � و ب و �ي ي �ي م م
46
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7،1،1
Raising a Storm
catapult,” “the podex,” “the bellower,” “the dunger,” “the winnower,” “the currycomb,” “the sickle,” the khabanfatha,67 “the fontanel,”68 “the dry and sweaty-smelling,”69 “the slimy,” “the watermelon,” “the heater,” “the howler,” “the draining vent,”70 “the toothless one,” “the black one,”71 “the exploder,” “the whistler,” “the greatly swollen,” “the gusher,” “the prominent,” “the swallower,” “the blackener,” “the betrayer,” “the flintstone,” the bunghole, the butthole,72 and other “instruments of cutting off,”73 nor about mentioning the penis, “the falcon’s stand,” “the little bolter,” the huge penis, the huge long penis, the flaccid penis incapable of erection, “the lengthener,” “the little man,” “the big spider,” another rare word for the penis,74 “the strong, crafty wolf,”75 the erect but not very hard penis, “the mast,” “the thimble,”76 “the snub nose,” “the plumb line,” the prick,77 the penis distended and erect, the qaṣṭabīr,78 “the tassels,”79 “the short ugly thing,” “the straight, thick lance,” the huge, strong penis, the hard, dry thing, and other “instruments of attraction”80, nor about using words meaning to lie with, to have sex with, to compress, to lie with one’s slave girl, to have intercourse, to perform coitus, to have sex with in or out of wedlock, “to prod,” to copulate with, to “push,” to “jab,” to shtup,81 another word of similar form but dubious status,82 to double up like a she-goat during mating, to “bridge,”83 to fuck hard,84 to “string her bow,” to “fill her up,”85 to “kick”86 her, to “nibble” her and a variant,87 to “chafe” her, to “cut” her, to “suckle” her, to “stick the kohl-stick in her kohl-pot,” to “furrow” her, to “push” her, or to “ram it in all the way to the hilt.” I would stare into their faces while they were using such words and see there no trace of either embarrassment’s red or the yellow of dread. On the contrary, their faces would be verdant and cheerful, radiant and joyful— and should anyone, out of sheer pigheadedness, deny that what I say is true and demand of me a list of their names, I’ll tell him, “Here it is, beginning with alif and ending with yāʾ.88 Just think of me as a churchwarden like them.” In addition, I have imposed on the reader the condition that he not skip any of the “synonymous” words in this book of mine, many though they be (for it may happen that, on a single road, a herd of fifty words, all with the same meaning, or with two meanings that are close, may pass him by). If he cannot commit to this, I cannot permit him to peruse it and will not offer him my congratulations if he does so. I have to admit that I cannot support the idea that all “synonyms” have the same meaning, or they would have called them “equi-nyms.” They are, in fact, synonymous only in the sense
47
47
1.1.7
��ف� ا �ث�ا ر�ة ر��ا � ي يح
� � ذ� ن � �ا �� � ث ً�ا ا �� �� �� � ا �� ا ��لن � �ة �� ف� ا �ة ب���ع��ض� * � او �ل��د �لي���ل �ع��ل� � �ل��ك ا � ا ج ��لم� ل م��ل �و ل�ط�ول � او �لب��ي � �ض �و �ع�و�م� � او ل��ص� � ح� ى ا ف �خ ت ا ف � � ّ � �خ �� �ن ت�خ ف ن ف ت ت ا � حوا �ل�ه� ب� ح�� �ص� ا �ل�عرب� �ك��ل �� س� ا � ��ل� �� ا�لم��ص�� �ب��ه� � � � ت���ل�� ا � �� او �ع�ه�ا � او �� و ب ع �ُ ت � ن ح��د * �و��ق�� �ع��ل ذ� ��ل��ك ا �ن�� او ا ��ل � �ه�ا �ب�ا ��س� �و�لب��ع�د �ع�ه�د �ه� �ع ن��ا � ظ� ��� ن�ي�� ن��ا �ه�ا ب��م�عن�� � او � � ح � ل �م � � � س ع ى ى �ي م م �ف ش � � ا�� � � ش �� � * ��ل�ا ��� �ع ن��د � � ��ل�ا ا �خ� ش���� �م�ن �� �ي و � او�لم� ك��و�ل � او�لم���ر�و ب� � او�لم�لب ��و��س � او�لم��ر�و��� � او�ل�مرك��و ب بل ى ��ا ن ا � � ا ن ن ا ن �ُ�ق ا �� ا َ � � � نٌ ا �ن ه ا ذ ا � ن ح��د�ة �وك�� � ���ا � ا ��س�م�ا � �م ش���ت ��ق���ي�ن �م�ن �م�ا د�ة � او � � � �د � � ع � � �ي�� ل �و �ل�ك ع��د � � ك � ل � � ل � ي ى � � � ة �َ ف � ة ��خل ��ا ��خل ن � ن �ا � � � � �م�عن��ى � او � �و ج��ا � �مث��ل�ا �ل��لير� ا �ل ش����د �ي��د� ا�ل�م ّر ��ل�ا �ب��د � او � �ي��ك�و� ا �ل� ��س� ا �ل�ز ا �ئ��د � ح��د ك�� � � او ج�� � ج و�ج م ح �ف � ف ظ � �ز ئ ً �ذ ��ن � � ا �ف ا ن � ا �ل�م�عن�� ا �� ض� ا ف ا ن ش ئ ت ذ ن ت ��ى ا �ل�� �ل� ��� ا ���د ا ي ڡ �ي ي ��� * �� � ������ ا � �ع�� ا �و �ل� ��ع� ���د * �ه� ا � او ��ي �ّ �ن � ت � ش ت �غ � ق ق��د ا � �ل�ف ت��ه �و�م�ا �ع ن��د ��ي �م ا � ل�� �� ب� ا �ل�عر�����ة ����ى ا را ج� ��ع�ه � ا ك و �ع��م�د �ع��لي��ه ��ي�ر ا � �ل��ا �م�و��س * بي فً �ف � ن آ �� ن�ت ف ا ت�ز � ا �غ ن � ف ٓ ح�م�ه �ل�� � غ���ا د � �ص���ا �� ا �ل����س� ء� فا ن � ���ت ��ا ن ت ق ف � ت � �ه� * ��ي�ر ا � �م�و� �ل��ه ر م �ي ر و ى �� � ك�ب��ي ك�� ��� ��د �رك ��ي �� �ع�� �ل � �ت �ف ف�ا ن ن ُ � �ّ ذ ن �� ��ه ك� ا �ل�ا �و� ك� ��ره * � ك� ���ا � ا �ل�ه� 1ا � ��س�ي �ا ��ى ب���ع�ده �م�ن �ي� �غ� �و��ص ��ى ق��ا �م�و��س�ه �ع��ل� �ج��م� ِم ى ع � نت ق � آ � �ف � � ��ف � ��ذ �ذ � ن � �� � ا � خ ق � � ت ا � � ه�ن � �ه��ذه ا ��ل�ل�� �ل��ئ ��ى �م�و� �لف� � او � 8،1،1 ح�د �م����� �س� �ل���ك�و� ا �ع�� �ل� �ب� �ل� � � او ر س �ى ا �ل� ك�ر * �ول�و �ل� � � � ن م�ا � �ه�ن � � َ � ه�ن � ��م ا �� ه�نّ �ن ت ذ�� ت ��ث �ن � ا ���ن �خ� ش����� ت� �غ�ي ظ� ���� ا ��ل ح��س�ا � �ع��ل� ّ � ك ل وِح� ل� ح�� � ل���� � ك�ر� ك���ي�را �م � ك�� ي��د و ي ي �ي ى آ � � � �ن � ق � ّ ق ن � ف �� ا ف ل�� ن� ا ��م�ا ��� ت ت ا ف ت �ه�ن �و�تر ض� ��ي��ه�ن �ب�ه * � او ���ي � �� �س� �ك��ل ا �ل� �� �س� � ك�ي� �ص�د � ب���� �لي ����ه ا �ل ���رب� ا �لي� ذ� ش ف �� � � ه�ن ا �� �ق آ ة � ا ��� �� ا ��� ا ة ن ّ �غ ق ا ت ا ��� �ع��ل�ى ا ���ه�ن ��ي�ر �� د را � �ع��ل�ى � � �ه�م�ه �جل �ه� � ل ل� �ر � �ل� لع�و ص لعب�� ر� * ا � �ل� ��ي �ف ه�ن � ا �ؤ � � ذ ف � ّ �غ ت �� ا ��ل� �ص�ا ��ل � او ��ل ع��ن �ه �ه�ن ي� � �ي��ص�ع ب� �ع��ل�ى � ح ب� � او �ل�� ار �م * � � �ه�م� م�م� �ي �� �و�ل ا �ل�ى � ك�ر و ��س�و� ب �ا ق �ق � � ت���ل�ق ��ف � ا �تَ َ ن ت ن �غ ا � � ن��ه �م�ن د �و� ���ل�عث�� �و �ل� ���ص�ور �و �ل� عه�ن ��و�ل ر � �يو � * �وح��سب��ى ا � ��ي ب���ل� �م��س� �م� � �ج م ّ آ فق � �ا ًا ف ض ّ ���� ه�ن ��ه �ع� �� �ا �ئ ال� خ م ق ت � ق ا ئ ن ف ا ن ا ق � ف �ف � ن � ت� ���ل�و��ا � * �����ا �ل ل ب �ل�ى س ر ا � �ل�� ���ل ا � ��ل� �� ��د ا � �ل� ��ى ا �ل����س� ء ك��� �ب� ��� � ُ � ة ا ا �ك�و ن� * �و��ن�ع �� ا ��ل��د ��ني��ا �و �ز �ه�ا �ه�ا * �و�غ� ب� ���ط��ة ا ��ل ا �ن��ه�ن �ز خ�ر�ف� ا ��ل�� حي ��و� �و�م ن�� �ه� * �و��سر�ور ي م � � ق ة ش �ن ا ��لن �ف ق ت ي�ن ا �م ش ت ا ا �ف � �لق ا � � � ش ق غ ف �ز ا � � �� � ا �ل� � ����س �و �����ه� �ه� (� )1وع� �� ل��ل ب� * �و�ر ع� * �و �ع� � ( )1ح�ا �����ي���ه ��د ���ل��ط ا �ل������ير ب�ا د �ي� ى ق ُ �آ ��خل � ا ش�����ت��ق���ا ����ه�ا ا �ل��س ّ ��ة �م� ن ا �ل��س ّ ��ل�� م�ا � � � َ � ر�ي ُ� ر ل� ���ج �� ع ا � �ف�ل ��ؤ ا د * �ور �ْو� ا �لر�و� * �و ج��ل� ء ا ��ا ��طر * �و��ت�ع��ل�ل ا � ف� ��ر * ل � ك ق ق ّ ن ت ش ن � ح ح ب�ل ا ����������ا ���ه�ا �م�� ا �ل��سر �ب��م�ع�ى ا �ل��سر ور ُ :١٨٥٥ 1ا ��ل�ه� . ِم
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Raising a Storm
that certain of them may take the place of certain others. Proof of this lies in the fact that beauty, length, whiteness, smoothness, and eloquence differ in kind and in collocation, depending on the differences among the objects they describe. The Arabs,89 therefore, assigned to each type of beauty, length, etc., a specific name, and it is only our distance from their days that makes us think they all mean the same; how much more so, then, in the case of words relating to jewelry, food, drink, dress, household furnishings, and footwear. Indeed, in my opinion—and I am not afraid of anyone saying, “Aren’t you being opinionated?”—if two words derive from the same base form and refer to the same object (as is the case for example with khajūj and khajawjāh, meaning “wind that passes violently”),90 the longer of the two forms must involve an extension of meaning. Grant me this, if you wish, or be stubborn—it makes no difference to me. Bear in mind, too, that I composed the work at a time when the only book in Arabic I had to refer to or depend on was the Qāmūs, for my books had taken against me as a wife does her husband, and I’d decided to have nothing more to do with them— though it must be acknowledged that the author of the work in question, God rest his soul, did not fail to record a single word descriptive of women; it is almost as though he knew by divine inspiration that someone would come along after him and dive into his “ocean”91 in order to collect such pearls into a single work where they could be so arranged as to lodge more firmly in the mind and become more deeply rooted in the memory. And, did I not fear the wrath of these beauties against me, I would have
1.1.8
made mention of many of their crafty ways, their stratagems, and their artifices too; however, my intention in writing the book has been to approach closer to them and use it to appease, not anger, them. I am indeed extremely sorry that they will be incapable of understanding it—as a result of their ignorance of reading and not of the recondite nature of its language, for nothing that involves the union of souls, love, or passion, is too hard for them to understand; they take it all in and grasp it without hesitation, deficiency, or incomprehension. Enough for me that the rumor should reach their ears that so-and-so has written a book about women in which he gives them precedence over all other creatures, declaring them to be the adornment of the universe, the comfort and pride of this world, the joy and hope of life, the soul’s pleasure(1) and its desire, the
49
49
(1) Al-Fīrūzābādī is wrong in deriving surriyya (concubine) from sirr meaning “coition.” In reality, the word derives from surr meaning “pleasure” (surūr).
��ف� ا �ث�ا ر�ة ر��ا � ي يح
آ ن � � � � � � نّ �ة ا ��ل ن ط�� * �و�ص�ف��� ء ا ��ل��د � * �و��ل���ذ �ة ا ��ل � ن��ا � * � او ���س ا �ل�� �و�ل�ه�و ا �لب��ا �ل * �و�ج �� �� �ج ب حوا ��س م ع �هة � ��ق � �غ ��م�ت � � � � ن ة � ا ا حّ � م�� � � او �لب�� ء � * ب���ل ا �و�ل ��ي�ر � �و�ن�ز �ه��ة ا �ل�ا �لب��ا ب� * �و �ز � ن���ة ا �ل�ز �م�ا ن� * �و� ج��� ا �ل ك� ر ب �ي �ج َ ذ � ا �ا � � � � � ة �ّ ا � ّ ��خل ا � �ذ ن ن ا � � ق ا ه�ن � �عر�ف� ا �ل�ا �ل�ا �ه��ة * ا � �ل� �ي ك� � ا�� ��ل� * �ب�� ك�ر� �ي�ل�ه �صر�ج �مي��ل�� ا �ل� �وي�� ب�س� �� د ا �ل� ���س� � ��ي ب�� � �ج ت�ت � آ ح ��خل � ت ت ت�ت�� ش ا �ل� ش ا �ق � ن � ن ا �ق � ا �ل��ل��س�ا � * �و��د �م � � �� � � ه م��� � � � وي � و� �ه�ن ���س��ع�ي ا � �ل��د �م * �و �ح��م�ل ا �ل� �عب��� ء * و�ج � � م � � ض ا ئ ه�ن �ذ � � � � ت �ذ � ع�ز�ي�ز ا �ل�ص�ع ب� * �يو��ج��ر ا �ل�ص�ا ب� * � �و�ي�ق��ا ��س�ى ا �لض� �� ّر * �و�لر� ��� ��� �ي�� �ل ا �ل� * � ��يو ب�� �ل ع ن َخ ا �ق � �ذ � � � ��ف �خ� �ة � �ن ن ه�ن � � ا ن ن ا �لن ��ف�ي����س * � �و�� ا �ل ا �لم�ص�و� * � ا و � ��ل� � ا �لر ج���ل م د �و��� حرم� � * �و �و�زه �بي�� * ي آ ت آ ظ �� ن ة ق ا ا �ق ش ش ا �و�ه ن��� �وه ��ت ن��غ�ي��� * � او ���س�ه �و� ح����� * �و� �و * � او ر� �� �و ه � ���م� * �ور�� ده ر� * ����ع�ه ج�� ب ص ع آ � � ت ن ��ا �� غ� �ي�ن ف ا ذ �ق �ز �و�ع�ا ��ف�ي�ت�ه �ب�ل�� ء * �و��س�ع�ا د �ت�ه �ش���ق��ا �و�ة * �و ���ط�و��ى ��ل�ه ك� ���ا �ل ��و� * � او �ل����س��ي�� ك�� ل���س�ل�� * �� � ا ب م م ّ � �غ �ذ ��خل � � ح��د � �� �د ا ��ت �ه ���آء ا ج ��ل ��م��ل�ا ت� � ��س �ت ق��د ر ا لله ب��ل�و �ه� ا ا �ب��ر ا �لم��طرب� ��س�م�ا ا � ى س�ي �ى �و �ل ي و ر ع � ة � ن غ �ت ض ت ن ح ت� * � �ق�� ت ا ا ا ن �ص� �و�مر� �ب�ه �و�فر� �� ار �ع�� ا � � ب���ل���ه �ه� � او �� �ب� ��س ��ط �ي��د ا �ل� ح ت� * رج�� ور �و� �م � حت � ا ت ���ا ا ن� �ت� ���ط�ا ��ل� �ب�ه �ص�ا � حب�ت��ه�ا ��ى �ل� ���ا �م��س�ا �م� ج��ا ر���ه�ا * � او �م��ل ت� �م�ن �ه��ذه ا �ي� ض� ا �ي� ض� ع ع � �ا � ن خ � ت ��ف �ن ذ � ض �ا ق ذ �ف � ن ة�� �س�و � او � ح�د ا �ل� �و�ي��ك�و� �ب��ر ا � ك�� ي��م���ى ا � ب � له�ا * �و��ك��ا ���ي � �ل��ك ل�� ب� ��د �اع ��ى ا�لم�د ��ي ��� ك��� � ع آ ن ��ت َ �َ �َْ ْ ت � �ن � � �ف ت �ن �ج�ز� ء �ع��ل ��ت�عب�� ا ��ل���ذ �ى �ت ك� له�نّ * ا �ل�ا �َو�لي��ع��ل�م�ن ا ��ى �ل�و ا � �س� ��ط ��ع ت� ا � ا ك�� ب� ���ل� ��ه �م ا ج��� � �ى ى َّ ن � � ح�ا � ن ا طق ��ه ب� � ��ك�ل �م�ن ج�� � ح� �ل�م�ا �و���ف ذ� ��ل��ك ب��م � حه�ن ب ج��مي�� �س��ه�ن * �م�دي� � ع ا �ص� ب����عى � او �� �� �� ب �وا ر �ي �ي � ف ََ � ��له�ن �ع� ّ �م�ن ا �� ف�ل� ض �خ ا ��ل ح��س�ن ا ��ل � ح��ل�ل * �و�م��س�ن � �و�ا � � ا �� � ح��ي�ن �ب��د �ْو ن� ي ڡ �ف ك�� � � � � ح��ل� ّ * � ل ر ب ِ ى � � �ل�ى م � ف ث ف ن � � �ظ �ا � � �خ ف ش ّ �ت ت � ش ت ن ت ا ا ا ا � ا ���ط � * ���فم�ا ن � � � � � � �ون� �� ر� ا �ل�ى ���� ��� � * ح�ى ا ب��� ا �ل�ى ح���� ���ي � او �� ا �ع� ر �ب� � ك� ر�ي و �و ر�ي �ق � �ق � ���ا د ت� �ي��د ��ي �ت���ص�ل ا ��ل�ى ا � �ل�ل��� ا �ل�ا �وق��د �ت��د ف���ق� ت� �ع��لي��ه ا �ل�م�ع�ا ���نى �و��س�ا � ك� ح ت� �ع��ل�ى ا � �ل�ر �� ط�ا ��س * م ق ذ � ذ� ف�خ � � � ة � ف �غ �ن ف ق ف�ا � �ث ن ن � ور�����ى �ب��ي�ن ا �ل ن��ا ��س � ك��را �و �� ار * �ور����ع�ن ��د ر�ى �ع��ل�ى ��د ر � �و��ي ا �لب� ��ط�ا �ل�� � او � �ل� ار * ���ع م �ن �نَ ت َ � ف ا �ف � َ � �ذ �ف � �ن ن �ن ن �ك�ن ��و�ن��ه�ا �ل� �ت�� ل�� �ه�ا �م�ع� �ور�ة ��ى ك�� ل�� �ه�ن �م � فِ����س� �ع��ل� ّ �ب� �� ي � �ر�ى * �و� ك �ه� ��ى ا � ك � ط� � ا � �م ب��ي�� � ى م � � � � � ق � ��ت�عل��� ا ���نى ا �ت ك� ���ل�ف� ا �ل ن��و� * ب���ع�د ا ن� را ت� �ع�ي ن�ى �م�ن �ج��م�ا �ل�ه�ا �م�ا � �هر ا �ل�ع����ل � �و ب���لب���ل ا �لب��ا �ل * �ي � ب �ي م م
50
*
50
9،1،1
10،1،1
Raising a Storm
heart’s jewel and the eye’s apple, the breast’s refreshment and spirit’s refection, the mind’s elucidation and thought’s preoccupation, a distraction for the head and paradise for the soul, good cheer for the constitution and limpidity for the blood, pleasure for the senses and diversion for the intellect, the embellishment of the age and the glory of every place and dwelling. Indeed, I declare unabashedly that they have about them a whiff of the
1.1.9
divine, for one can scarce behold a beautiful woman without glorifying the Creator. At their mention, the tongue breaks into praise while the foot runs to serve them, bearing burdens and taking on hardships, and in their service what is difficult seems easy, colocynth may be drunk, injury borne. To please them, what is dear is treated with contempt, what is precious is not spared, what is sacred is trodden underfoot. Without them, a man’s lot of what is good in this world is turned into deprivation, his triumphs become disappointments, his happiness displeasure, his sense of companionship loneliness; where once he was full he hungers, and where once he was watered he thirsts; where once he slept he suffers from insomnia, and where once he was strong he is in tribulation; his felicity turns into misery, Paradise to him is become like the fruit of the zaqqūm tree92 and its nectar like pus. Thus, if God should ordain that this intoxicating news reach the ears of one of these beautiful mistresses of mine and she is pleased and made happy and dances and is merry, I beg of her, extending the hand of supplication, that she communicate it to the ears of her lady neighbor too, who will show it in turn, I hope, to a friend, so that not a week passes before news of the book has spread throughout the whole city. This will be sufficient reward for the trouble that I have gone to for their sakes. Indeed, they must know that, were I able to write their praise with all my fingers and proclaim it with all my limbs, it would still not be equal to their virtues. How much I owe them for appearing in their finest garb, strutting in the best of their jewelry, and casting me such darting looks that I returned to my little house barely able to hold my thoughts and fancies in check! Then, no sooner did my hand touch the pen than the ideas gushed from it and spread themselves over the paper. Thus women have earned me repute and honor among the public and raised my status above that of the unemployed and idle. True, one among them refused to let her specter visit me in sleep, thinking me unworthy, but she is to be excused because she was unaware that I, in fact, was only feigning sleep,93 after my mind had been dazzled and my brain discombobulated by her beauty.
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1.1.10
��ف� ا �ث�ا ر�ة ر��ا � ي يح
ّ � ن � ا ��ت �غ � � � غ �ة � �غ � � ّ � �ة ت ا ��لت�� ن ف��ا �م�ا ا ذ� ا ��ت� نع� ت� �ع��ل� ّ ا � � � ل ح�د ب��ك�و� عب�� ر �ى ��ي ر ب�ي���� * ا �ي ��ي ر م�بت��ل� ب�� �� او ب���ل �ج �ي����س ى � ا س�ت ا ت �� ف ا ��ق � � ��ن � ّا ��ت��ق ت خ� � ة � ن ا ��ف �ت � ت ا ا � او �ل��ر� �ص�ي � � او �ل� �� �ع� را � � او �ك�ن ل�� �ي� � * �� �و�ل �ل�ه ا �ى �لم� ي��د � ب��د �م�� �ج �� �ب�ه �ى آ ع � � � � � � � �ن � �ذ � �ز � � ا �ف � �خ ف ت � ا ا ا � � ت ك�ن ا �ن ش����� ء �ه� ا ا�لم�و�ل�� �ل� �ي�� ي ��طر ب��ب�� �ل�ى ا �ل �� �� ا ��ى � او �ل ك� ��س�� ك��ى � او �ل� �م�د ��ي � او �ل� او � ح�د ��ي م �� ت �ن � ت�ز �ن � ن� ا��ا ن ت خ �� ة � ��خ �ن ت ����له�ا ا ن �ن � او �ل�ز �م ش���ر��ي � او لب����س��ى � اوب� ا�لم�ع�� � اوب� ا �ل�ب��ي��ه � اوب� � ب�� ��� * � او �م� ك�� ��� �� �وا �طر��ي ك� � � �آ ف ��ل � �م ش �ت ة � �ن � �ن �ق ��� غ����ل�� ب���و�ص�� ا �م�ا �ل * �و�ل��س�ا ��ى �م� يّ��د ا �ب�ا �ل�ا ��ط �ر �ع��ل� �م�ن ا ���ع ا لله ��ت�ع�ا �ل�ى �ع��لي��ه �ب��ه��ذه � ج ى آم � ��ف �غ � ة � ة خ ن �ن �ّو��ل�ه �ع�زّ �و ج���ّ �ع�زّ�ة ا ��ل ا �لن��ع�م��ة ا ��ل � ح��س�ن �و� �رث�� ء �م � �ج�ز ���ل�� * � بو��� ب� ��ط�� �م�ن �� حر�م�ه �م��ه * �و�ى ل ب ي �ن �ل� غ ن ذ� �غ �ا �� �م�ن ا �� �� �ا ة ف � � �ن �و ا � ي ڡ ل�ط�ل �و� � �ل��ك �ش���ا ���ل �ع ��ي�ره * �ع��ل�ى ا ��ى ا رج�� � �ج�مرد �و�ص�� ا ج �م� ل � ّ ت س�ت �غ آ � آ � � �ذ � ح�� �ن �ا � ا �� � ن��� ء ا �ل � او ��ل �و�ن��ق � او ��ل�ز خ� ف���ة �م�ا �ي� �غ� ن�� �ع�ن �ت��ل�ك الم ح��س�ن �� ء �ع�ن ا ��ل � � ح��ل� ّ �و�ل�� �ل��ك ر سِ ر � �ي �ي � ة ت� ت � � �ن ة ة ن ق ا � � ا �غ ا �ن � س�ن ا ت الم ا� ف ا � ق � ت ا �ل� ��ي��� �ل �ل�ه� �� �ي��� * � بو���ع�د �� �ى ��د �ع�ل�م� �ب� �ج� �بر�� ا � �ه��ذه ح�� � � ا �لب��د �ي��عي��� ل ��ى ت ّ ف � � �ف ن �ث � ت � �فظ � ��� �ع�ن ا ��لن �ظ� ��� ��ف ��ا ��� � ن ط�ن ا�لم�ع��ى * �ه�ا ا�لم�و� �ل �و� ك����ي�را �م�ا � ش���غ����ل ا � �لق��ا ر�ى �ب ظ� ����ا �هرا �ل��ل� � ��ي � �ه�ور �ي� ر �ى ب � � �ذ � ت � ش ُ �دا �ن � ا �� �ف ا � ا �ق ف� ه �ت ا ة � �ول�ع�مر�ى ا �ن�ه ��لي���� ي ڡ ل��ا ب� �����ي �ي��ع�ا ب� ��س�و��ي �و ج�� �ك ل�� ري� � ي�� � ر� � �ه� ا ا � ك�� س ح� � � �� � ��س � ا ��ل�غ� � ا ���ن * � �ت�ا �ة ���د �مق �ع��ل ه�ن ه�ن آ ن ا ت ي� ش ��ا �ل�ه�ن ا �و ي �ڡ � ح���ر ي ڡ رب و ى و ر ي �� ي� � �و� � �م�� � ي ڡ ج ذ �ت �� � � � ّ � ة �ف �ز ة ذ� � � ح��د ��ي�ق��� ا �و ��ى ا � �وي�� ا �و �ع��ل�ى ا �ل��سرر * �و�ل��ك�ن �ل� �ي��ك�ن �ل�ى �ب��د �م�ن � �ل��ك * ا � ا � ك�� ل��ا ب� م �ي �غ ن ن �ث � � ا �ع�� � � ق ف �خ � �ود حوا �ل�ه * ���ق��د ب���ل� ��ى ا � ك����ي�را �م�ن ا �ل ن��ا ��س ا �ن ك ��ر� او �و ج�� ��و �ع��ل�ى ����ص ا ب�� ره �و ل� ا � �م�و ض� � م ع ��ا ن ق ظ ��� � ة �ه��ذ ا ال�م��س� ف���ق��ا ��ل� ا ا �ن�ه �م�ن ��ق��� ا ��ل�غ� � �� � ا ��ل�عن ��ق���آء * � ���ع ض� ق ا � ن �هر مر� بو ب ي �ل ول و ���ه�م �� �ل ا ��ه ك�� � ��د � �مى و � � �ف � ن ث ذ �خ ُ ن � � ب���ع�د �و �ل�اد �ت�ه ��ى ا �ل�ز �م�ا � * �� ا � ت����فى �ع�ن ا �ل�عي��ا � * �و� �ه ب� �غ��ي�ر � او � ح��د ا �ل�ى ا �ن�ه �م��� خس َم � ُ � ���س�ت ّ � ش ة ت ح�ا ��ل * � �ز�ع� ��ق� � ا �ن�ه �ص�ا ا � ��ا ��ا � * �و �ل�� �ي��عل��� �� �ى �ص�ور� ��ل���� � او �ل�ى ا �ى ��� � ��ك�ل ا � ر و و ب ب س م م بيم م م آ َ � � � ن ن خ ن ن ق �غ ن ن �م�ن ج�����س ا �ل����س�ن �ا ��س * � �و �ر�و� �م�ن ا �ل����س�ا ���س * �و��ا �ل ��ي�ر�ه� ا �ن�ه �ص�ا ر �م�ن ��� م وع ن � � ن ه ���ست� � ح�ا ��ل�ا �م�ن ا ��ل � ِ�ن * � او �ث�ب�� ت� ب���ع�� ا �� ا � ح�ا �ل ا �م ار �ة * ف��ا �ن�ه �لم�ا را �ى ا � ا�ل�م ار �ة ا ��س�ع�د � ح �ض � آ � � � �ن ا ال�م�� ا ة �ن ا � ن �آ ن � � �ف � ا �لر ج���ل ��ى �ه��ذه ا �ل�د �ي�� س�م� � د �ي�� ا �ل����س� ك� ���ا � �ل�ا �ي�ب��ي� ت� ا �ل�ا �ه�و ج��ا �ئر ا �ل�ى ر�ب�ه �ب�ا �ل��د �ع�� ء
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If, on the other hand, someone should insist that my language is devoid
1.1.11
of rhetorical devices—which is to say, not marinated in the spices of paronomasia94 and morphological parallelism, of metaphor and metonymy—I’d say to him, “When I undertook to serve His Honor95 by composing this work, the last persons on my mind were al-Taftazānī,96 al-Sakkākī,97 al-Āmidī,98 al-Wāḥidī,99 al-Zamakhsharī,100 al-Bustī,101 Ibn al-Muʿtazz,102 Ibn al-Nabīh,103 and Ibn Nubātah.104 My thoughts were exercised exclusively by the description of beauty, my tongue tied to the praise of those on whom the Almighty has bestowed this egregious blessing, to the expression of happiness for those to whom He, Great and Glorious, has accorded the glory of comeliness, and to mourning over the fate of those whom He has deprived of it, and this was enough to distract one from everything else. Nevertheless, I hope that the scintillation, the luster, and the decorative nature of the description of beauty will, in and of itself, relieve the book of the need for any such rhetorical embellishments, just as a beautiful woman is relieved of any need for jewelry (which is why she is called a ghāniyah105). In addition, experience has shown me that these rhetorical embellishments in which authors so freely indulge often draw the reader’s attention to the words’ outward forms and away from their inner meanings.” I swear that this book contains nothing reprehensible, unless you find the Fāriyāq’s106 sometimes pushing his way through a troupe of ghāniyas or forcing himself upon them as they rest safe in their bridal pavilions or in a garden or in the corner of a house or on their beds to be so. This was, however, something I was unable to avoid, for the book has been compiled as an account of his doings and to provide knowledge of the circumstances that influenced him, it having come to my attention that many people have denied that the above named even exists and claimed that he belongs to the same category as the ghoul and the phoenix, while others have asserted that he appeared but once throughout the age and thereafter vanished from the stage, and more than one has held that he was transmogrified a few days after his birth and that it is not known what shape he adopted or into what form he mutated. Another party has claimed that he joined the race of the monopods and another that of the monopodettes.107 Still others have said that he joined the ḥinn.108 Some have insisted that he was transformed into a woman, for when he saw that the female enjoys a happier state in this world—this “women’s world,” as it is known—he let not a night go by without praying to his Lord to
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1.1.12
��ف� ا �ث�ا ر�ة ر��ا � ي يح
ف�ت�ق ّ ذ � ا � �ة � ا ن � � �ن ث � ���ل �ش��� ق��د �ير * �ف ا ��ي ت� � او ��ل � �� � ن ه ح� �ل� ر �ل� � ي��ص�ي ره ا ��ى * � ب���ل ا لله � �ل�ك م�� �و�ه�و �ع��ل�ى �ك �ي آ � �ه��ذه �م�ن ���ع�� �م�ا ي�ج�� �ع��ل َّ ا ن� ا �ع ّ �ف� �ه� ��ل�� ء الم � �خ ت���ل�ف���ي�ن ف�ي��ه ب� ح��قي ��ق���ة �و ج� �وده � � ع � � ل و � ر ب �ض ى ب �ى � � ف � ��ل ا � �ذ � � ة �م�ا �� ��طر �ع��لي��ه * �م�ا �ع�د ا ا �لت��غ�ي��ي�ر ا �ل�� �ى �عر��ض� �ل�ه �ع�ن �ج� �ه�د ا�لم�عي�� ش����� �و��س�وء ا � ح� �ل � ��ا ��ل���ط��ة ا ��ل�ا ��ا ن��� � ا ��ل�ا � ت ��ا ��ل * �و�ع��ل ا ���خل �و�م�ق��ا ��س�ا �ة ا ��ل�ا ��س�ف��ا ر �و � خم ح� ك� � �ص�و��ص �م�ن �ت��ل��ف ي�� و ج � ب ى ع � ال�م ا �ز ة � �ن � � ش ا �� �ن �� � �ة ف ا ذ ق �ع�� ذ � � ف ا ��ق � ا �ل ش���ي�� ب� * �و ج�� �و � م � ح�د ا �ل���ب�� ب� ا ل�ى ��س ا �ل��ك�ه�و�ل� * �� � ��د ل� � �ل�ك �� �و�ل م ن �ن � ش ا ئ � ة �ذ �ن ا �� �ل� �ق � ���ا ن� �م�و��ل��د ا � �لف��ا ر��ا �ق� ���فى ���ط�ا ��ل� � ك� ح��س ا �ل��� �ه� ا ل�ى ا ج��د ��ي ا �و حو��س � او �ل�ع��رب� ���� ��ل�� �ب�� � ب � ي ع قن � � ��ا ن � � � �ن ذ � �� ا �ة � ا �ة � � ن ش ا �لت�ي����س � او �ل��سر ��ط�ا � �م�ا ��ٍ� �ع��ل�ى �ر� ا �لث��ور * �وك�� � � او �ل�د ا ه م � �و�ي ا ل�و ج�� �ه� � او �ل�بن�� �ه� َ ���ا ن� ا � ��س� �م�ن د ��ن ��ا �ه�م�ا � �ص��ت ا ح� ) ا ��ل�ا ا ن� د � ن ا ��� �م�ن ح�ى �م � � او ��ل�ص�ل�ا � (�َم ْ� و ي� �ي � �ه�م� ا كب�� ر �ه�م� ك� و ى ي ر ح ر ُع ا َْ َ � � � ذ ّ � ح � � ��ا ن � �� �ه�م�ا د � � ي���س�م� �م�ن ���ع��د * � �ل�ز � ا ��� �ش���ا �ن�ه�م�ا � ك�ي����س�ه�م� (ب�ر��ى بر ح�ى) �وك�� � �ل��طب���ل � ك�ر و و و ب ي ب �ي ع ع �ع ا � �ث ن�آ ث ��ف ��ل � � �ت� � ف ا ة �ل ا ت ش آ � �ف � �ه�م� � او �ع�� ����� ء ا �ل�و��ود �ل��د �ي��ه�م�ا * � ب��ا �ل � او �لب��ي �د * �و�ل� ك ��ر�ير ا �ل�ع��� � �ع�ي� ج�� �ج � �� ء ��ي ��ور �ى ا �ج ّ ��ت�عّ �����ل ت ��س�� د خ���له� ا � �ن�ز � ت ئ �ف ض ����له�م�ا �فل��� � ��ق ف��ه�ا ا ��ل�ا �ن�زّا �ز ا ت� ���ل��ق ف��ه�ا � م� * و ي �ى ي� ح� �ب��ر �� � م �يب � ي� ط � ب �ل ال� خ �ف � ّ �ز � َ �ا ن ا � ن م � �ق الم � � حر�و� ��س�د ا د ا �م�ن �ع�و�ز * �ف ك� ���ا �م�ن �ع�و ا �ل��س�د ا د (�وهٍ �وه) �ود ا � �ب�ه ا �ي� ض� �� �� ي ج � �� م � � �ذ � ���ط�ا �قت �ص �ة ��ل�ي�ت �عل��� ا ��ل�ع �����ة * � ا ن��م�ا �ه�م�ا ا ن� ��ي ب��عث��ا ه ا ��ل�ى ا ��ل�� ف���ل�� ��ل��ك �ل� �ي��ع�د ي �ڡ �ك�وف���ة ا �و ا �ل � � � و ب ر ر م بي م � ت �ا �� ق ة ا �� ت � �ا ف ا � � ��ا ن ال�م�ع�� � �ذ �� �مث�� ��س�ا �ئ � ن � � ج� ��ع�ل�اه �ع��د معل�� ك��� ب� ا �ل� �ر�� ل ��ى �ك�ن �ه� (�يوح �يوح) �وك�� � ل�م ا�لم� ك��ور �ل ر �س�� �ي� ي م ّ � � �ف �ف �� �ن�ه �ل�� �� ���ط�ا ��ل� �م�د�ة � ا ت ت� �ا ��ز ���� ا �م�ع��ل��م ا �ل�صب��ي��ا ن� ��ى �ت��ل�ك ا �لب��ل�اد ��ى ك�� له� ��س�و�ى ك��� ب� ا �ل �ب ��ور ح�� ��ه ك� � ي ي و ى م ّع � ��ذ � ت � � ا � ن ا � ا �غ � �ف � ا �ف�) � ��ل���� ��ق� ��ل� ا �ن�ه� ��ي ت��ع��ل�م� �ن�ه �م� ذ� �ن�ا �و�ه�و ا �ل� �ى �ي ��ع�ل�م�ه ا �ل� �و �ل�اد �ه�� ك �ل� ��ي ر (ا و و وي س وى � م ف ا ن �ذ � ت � َُ �ف اذ � ��ا �ن�ه� � 1ف� ن ل��ا � �م� �ت ق ا � س�ن ي�ن ب � م �ي � ع � ��� د �م ا �ل�� �� �ع��لي��ه �ل�م �ي��ع�د ��ى �ه�م� �و�ه * �م�ع� � ا لله * �� � �ه� ا ا � ك�� ب ا ا ��غ ض ا ��ف ا �ت � ت ه ��ل ا �� � غ �ة � ا ق �ة ش ن � ف� ه غُ �� غ �� ق �ز ��� ��س� د ر�ج �م�� ا �ى ل�ل��� �ه�م� (���ط ���ط) �و��د ا ده ا �ب��ه� �م� �و �م�و� ��ط� �� ب����ر ا � �ي � حت � ن � ن ض ا �ن � ا ا ��ل� �� �ة � �� ح�ا �ج�� � ا �ل�م�ع�َّم ( ُ ْ ���ط ���ط) � ا ن��م�ا ���ا ك�����ة �عب��ا ر�ت�ه ��ى ك عر ي�� ورك ���ا د ا � �ي��ك�و� � �� �بر� �م ا �ل� � �ي و �ى ر ر و ب :١٨٥٥ 1ب�ا ن��ه.
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turn him into a female and God accepted his prayer (and He is capable of all things). This being the case, it seemed to me that one of my duties should be to acquaint these same people, with their differing opinions, with the fact of his presence in the very form that he bore when he was brought into being, due exception made for the changes wrought on him by the efforts he has expended in the pursuit of a living, his difficult circumstances, the hardships of his travels and of consorting with foreigners and learning their languages, and, especially, the graying of his hair and his passage from the borders of youth to the age of maturity. This now being known, I declare: the Fāriyāq was born with the misfor-
1.1.13
tune of having misfortune in the ascendant everywhere, the Scorpion raising its tail to strike at the Kid, or Billy Goat, and the Crab set on a collision course with the horn of the Ox. His parents were people of notability, nobility, and righteousness (Bravo! Bravo!) but while their prospects for the world to come were expansive, their prospects in the world in which they lived were not with these co-extensive, and their reputations were, of their purse, the inverse (Boo! Boo!). The thunder of their names resounded far and wide, while the whirlwinds of their circumstance kicked up a cloud of praise as audible on plain as on mountainside, and so frequent were the visits of those seeking solace for their plight, so often did petitioners seek out their campfires by night, that the fountains of their income had run dry, the end of their bounty’s wellspring come nigh, and all that was left there was a little seepage from which the destitute and deprived might derive provision against want—and still they were generous with this to those who wanted for provisions (Boohoo!). Thus it was that they no longer found themselves with the means to send him to Kufa or Basra109 to learn the Arabic language, placing him instead with the teacher at the kuttāb of the village in which they dwelt (Alas! Alas!). The teacher in question, like all other teachers of children in that country, had never in his life perused any book but that of the psalms, and it was that and that alone that the children studied there (Faugh! Faugh!) though to say they studied it doesn’t imply that they understood it. God forbid! Given its antiquity, it is no longer within anyone’s capacity to understand that book (Snore! Snore!), and the inaccuracy of its Arabic translation and the lameness of its language have made it yet more obscure and mysterious, to the point that it has almost come to consist of no more than word puzzles and riddles (Have at it! Have at it!), despite which, the tradition of the people of
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1.1.14
��ف� ا �ث�ا ر�ة ر��ا � ي يح
� � �غ ن ف ن ّ ف �ق ة ة ت ت ج�ر� �ع�اد� ا ��ه�ل ���ل�ك ا �لب��ل�اد �ب�ا � �ي��د رب� �� او �ي��ه ا �و �ل�اد �ه�م �ع��ل�ى ا � �ل� ار � �م�ن ��ي�ر ا � ��ي� � �ه�م� او ن ن آ ا �ن ه � ن � ��م �ظ � �ف �� ن � ا ف �تُ ف ّ �ت ف ح�� �ه�م�و� �م�ع��ى � �م�ع ن��ا ه * �� �ه� �م�ع� �ي�� ع��د ه� ح �� �ور ( � �� � ��) �و �مك�ا ا ���ه�م �ل� ��ي� � � ب �ل م م ن ا ة �ت �ا � �ذ ��ذ � � ا ف �� ر ا ذ� ا �ق ا �و�ه�ا ( ���� ْخ� ���� خ �و�مي�� �وق��ا �ف� �مث��ل�ا * �ف � �) * �ه�م�و� �عب�� ر� ا � ك�� �ك� �ل��ك �ل� ��ي� � ل�� ب� ا�لم� ك��و طِ�ي ط�ي ر م � ّ� � ظ � ا ن ا �ت ن ا �ؤ �آ � � �ي�ن � � �ن ا � � ن � ن ا � ق ف � ت ي�ن ت ا ع���ه� ا�لم��س� ك��� ا � ��ي �� � � او �ل���� �هر ا � ��س� د � �� ر � ��س� ا �ل�د � ا �ل�د � �� �ل� ���د � �ل � �ه� او ا �و �� و ي �يري و� ر ي م � ت��ف قّ � ا ��ل�غ� ا ة ��ع��ي�ن ���فى �م�ه�ا �م�ه ا �ج��ل ح�ا �و�ل�و ن� �م�ا ا �م�� �ك�ن ا ن� �ي� غ���ا د ر �و�ه� �م��ت��س�ك� حوا * ب���ل ي� � ��ه�ل �و ب�� �و� �ي � ��� م آ ُ ( ا ْ ا ) ا ذ� ��ل� �ش���� � ا �غ��� ذ� ��ل��ك ��ل�ا � ت�ه�د � ا ���ف ا ن� �� ن�� ش���ئ �� ا ��له� �ه ن��ا ك �م ���ط��ع��ة �ت� ���ط�� ف��ه�ا �ج و ر و ب ى � � بع ي� ي ي و و م عتع � �ف ة آ �� ة ة َ ُ � �ف �ت ض ن � ا ا ��ت ن ا ا � ا ف � ن ت ْ ّ � ا ل�� �� ب� ا�لم� ي��د� ��س� �و ء ك�� ��� �عر����� ا �و �م�ع �ر�� (��سر ��سر) � ك ا ك ��و� ي� ��س� د �� �ل� ��ي�� ر� � بي ب � �زّ ة �� � � ذ � ََ ن �ن � ا �ج��ل �� ا �ل�ا � ��ل��ة ا ن� �ترب �� ا �و �ل�اد �ه� ي �ڡ �ع � ل�ع� �د ك� � ��ه�ل � او �ل�ع�م�ه (�ع�ز �و�ى �ع�ز �و�ى) � او � �ي��ك�و� �ي م ب �ي م ّ � غ ف ة � ا ش ا �غ �خ ح��س�ا � � او ��لت��ا ر خ� � او ج��ل � ���ط � او ��ل �م�ع��ل�م� �ه� ��ل�ا �ي��ع ��ف� ن� ا ��ل�ع �����ة �و ��ل�ا ا ��ل � ��� ار �ي��� �و �ل� ����ي � ��ي�ر ب و و ر ر ي بي م � � �تَ َ ذ � � ا � ا ّ �� ْ�ز ع�ز ف �ا ت � ا �ة � �ْ�ذ �ق �ت ف � � ل � ت �ن � �ن � � � ل � م � لع�مر� �م �م�� ك� �مع� � � � ه �� � �� � ل�� � بر �ع� �وحِ � � � �ل�ك �م� �ل� �ب��د ل�م م معر��� ( ع ى ى) � ك�م� �ي �آ � � ث � � �م�نّ ا لله ��ت�ع�ا ��ل�ى �ب��ه�ا �ع��ل� ك� ����ي�ر �م�ن �ه�و �ل�� ء ا �ل�ا �و �ل�اد * �غ��ي�ر ا �ن�ه � ف�ل � �س��ا ب� ا �ل�عل��� �و�ع�د � �ق��د ا � ب ى م م ��لت�خ َ � ئ تْ ُ ��ذ غَ ث � ف ت �ك�ن ا ن� � ث���ق �ه�ا ا � ذ� را ��ئ� ا ��لت��ا د��ي� � او � � �� * ب� حي�� �ل� ي�م�� �ر� �� فِ� �ه� �ع��ل� صِ ط��� ج�� �و���ه� � ي� �ي ب � ر ب م ى م ي �ج ع ُ � ت �ن ت ف � َ ا� �ذ � ت � � �ن الم� �ي�ن �ث � ْ � � ل � �ي�ن �ن � � ا � �� � �ص���ل �ع��ل� كِ ب���ر ( ا �وه ا �وه) �ه� ا � او ك�� ح � ب �ح�م�د ا لله م م�و�ل� ا�لم� ر * �ل� ب��ه�م �� � ي ى م ن آ �� ن �ت ن ف �ق ���ذ ���ذ ً �� ��ت �ف ة ْ ف ن ��ع � � او ك�� ا �وك�� ا ك� � �ج�ز ك�� ا � � �� � ��ي����س�ا �ع��ل� ا � ش����� ء �م�د ا ر��س �و� ط�� ك�� ب� �م� ي��د� (ِا �ي�ه ا �ي�ه) ��ا � ب ى �ي م ع ��ل� ���ط ك ا ��ل���ط�ا ��ئ�ف���ة ا �ل�م�ا � ��ن ���ة دَ ْخ�� �ا ��ل�ه � �ق�� � ظ �ن��ه ا ن� ي� ع ����ي�� * �وق��د ر �ج���سي�� * ب� �م�� حي� ث� ي� ك ح� ل و ي ب ر ر وي �ي م ع م � � � � ش �ف � � َ ة �ز �ف ق ا ة � � ���� ���ي�ن � ا �ئ�ف ت تا ة � ت ا � ّ ا � ن ا � �ب�ه ���ل�و ب� ��ط� � � ��ه �ه��ذه ا �ل�� ر � ا ل ��ى �ل� ه�م �ل�ه� �ى ا�لم�� ��س�� � او�لمب�� را � ي ڡ ى ب ف َْ ن َّ ن �ق �س��ق �و�ه� ا ��ل�ى �ك� �م�ن � ب � ���ل �عل��� �و�� ض����ل (�هي����س �هي����س) � او ��م�ا �ه�م�ه� ا � ��ي ت��ع��ل�م� او ب���ع��ض� �� او �ع�د م م م ذ � َُ ن ف ة آ � ن �� � �غ تي�ن � ة � ا �ن ة ل�م � فق � يڡ �رد ا �ل�عل��� �ب��ه�ا ���� ��ط �م�ن د �و� ��ا �ئ��د� ( � ه ا ه) ا � �ل� �ي��عل��� � �� حوا ل�ل� ��� ا �ل�ع بر��ي��� � او �ل��س �ري� �ي��� �ج م م م �ا ن � � ن ن �� ا �ة �م��ف �د�ة �ڡ ت � �غ ح��دا �من�ه� �ت �ج�� ك��ت� ا �ل�ى ا �ل�ا � ا � ا � ��ا �ب�ا ا �و ك�ر ��س� ي� � �ه�ا ���ي�ن ا �ل��ل� ت���ي�ن �و �ل� ا � ر ي � م م ْ � �ف �ا � غ ة ف �� س�ن �ة ن �ن خ �ف ف �ت �غ �غ ن ق ا ��ل� ���ط ك ا �م �� ��� ت� ا � �ه�م� ( �تِ�� �� ) �و�ل�و ا ��ه ا � � �� ���ص�� د ��ل�ه ��ى �ك��ل �� � ط�� ك��� ب� �ل���� �ي� ب تر ر ب بع آ � ّ � � � � � ئ � � ح�ص�� ا ��س��ا ا �ل�عل�� ���د � �ه��ذه ا �ل �ا �� � ا�لم�� د ا �ل�ت �� ئ ا �ز ّ �ع��ل�ى � � ي �ل ب ب� � ب ل ه� ��و�ه� �ل � او ره * ا �و �ل�و �و �ل م و ب� �ى ي � ي م 56
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the country is to use it to train their children to read, without understanding what it means. Furthermore, in their opinion, it is forbidden to understand its meanings (For shame! For shame!) which makes one think that they don’t understand the meaning of the letters s-t-u-p-i-d,110 for example; neither, by the same token, do they understand the purely linguistic components of the book in question when they read it (Belly laugh!). It seems that our masters, lords of the next world as of this, do not want
1.1.15
their wretched subjects either to understand or to open their eyes but instead try as hard as they can to leave them wandering in the labyrinths of ignorance and stupidity (Barf! Barf!). If they wanted otherwise, they would bestir themselves to establish a printing press for them there111 to print useful books, whether written originally in Arabic or translated into it (Forward! Forward!). How, O mighty masters, can it please you that your abject slaves should raise their children in ignorance and confusion (Too bad! Too bad!) and their teachers not know Arabic or penmanship or arithmetic or history or geography or anything else of the things that a teacher ought to know? (So sad! So sad!) On how many of these children has the Almighty bestowed faculties of capacity and quickwittedness, despite which, for loss of the means to knowledge and lack of the instruments to discipline and raise them, the spark is so thoroughly extinguished in them when young that the tinder of achievement can no longer ignite it in them once grown (Ah! Ah!). What is more, you are, praise God, numbered among the well-heeled and wealthy, and it would not be beyond your means to spend a few purses on the construction of schools and the printing of useful books (Well? What about it?). The income of the Maronite patriarch is of great weight and massive aggregate, so much so that with it he could bring life to the hearts of this desiccated sect of his that has lost any interest in competing with or challenging in any area those who, in earlier generations, attained to every science and virtue (On! On!) and whose only concern now is to learn a few rules of the Arabic and Syriac112 languages simply for the sake of knowing them and not for any benefit (Oh dear! Oh dear!). To date, not one of them has been known to have translated a book or beneficial pamphlet into either of these two languages, nor is the patriarch known to have ordered the printing of a language-teaching book in either (Tee hee! Tee hee!). If he were to spend half his annual income on acquiring the means to knowledge instead of on all those feasts and banquets that they put on for his visitors, or if each emir
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1.1.16
��ف� ا �ث�ا ر�ة ر��ا � ي يح
آ ة� � �� ��ا ن ���ّ �م�ن ا ��ل�ا �م � ء � ا �ل� ش � �ك� � ار � ��ي ن ��ف���ل �ش���ي �ا �م�ع��ل�و�م�ا ي �ڡ ل�� ���ل ��س�ن �� �ل�ا ج���ل �ه��ذه م����اي خ ا ك و ك�� � �ك�ل ر م � ن ث �ن َ � �� � � ال�م�ص���ل ة ��خل � ة � ا ف � ة �� �آ ي� ن �ن ذ � ح�� ا��ي ر�ي�� * ا �و �ل�و ب���ع� �م قِ�ب��ل�ه ا ل�ى ا �لب��ل�اد ا �ل� �ر�ج ي��� �وك��ل� ء ج �م�ع�و� �م � �و�ي ن �خ ّ ا ��خل � � ا � ا ن ف �ص�دده * ��ل�ا � ح�م�د �ك� �ص�ص�ه ب��م�ا � ���ل �م�ن ي �ڡ � ��ي ر � او �ل� �ه�ا �مب���لغ���ا ي� � ح�ن �ب�� ح��س� � �ي� � �ف� � َ��نْ � � � �ك�ن ا ذ ا ��ت�ع نّ ا � ا �ت ن ا � �آ � ا ن ث � ا �ل ش���ر�ق� � او �لغ��رب� �ع�ل�ه ( ج�� � ج�ن�) �و�ل�� � ��ى � ح�د ��س� د � �� �ه�و �ل� ء �ل� � ��ي ب��ع� ا �ل�ى ح ح �� ق ا ��ل � � ف ن � �ة � آ �ن ة خ ت � ا �ن�ه ا ��ا �ف ن� � نّ ��م� ا�لم�ا �ل ��ا ��م�ا ��ي ب��عث��ه �لب��ن �� ء ك���ي����س�� ا �و �ص�و م�ع� ح��ا ا �و �م��ى ا �و ل�و�� ج ا ��و �ل ر�ج ع �آ � ا � � ا ن ا � ا ن ا ن � �ذ � � � ��ل ا ن � ��غ ا �ث�ن�� ت � ش ة س�ن �ة � ا � � ن ) م� � �ل� ���س� � م� ي ��و�ل�د ا �ى � �ي ب��ل� ��ى ع���ر� �� � �ل� ي ك ( �م��ن��ه ا � �ي��د رك ٍح ح ع ة � ة � ة �ن ه �ڡ خ � ذ � ن ت ل�� �ش���ي �ا �ع��ل� � � ح�قي ���ق ت��ه �م�ن �ج� �ه�� ا � ك �ن�ي����س�� � او �ل�ص�و�م�ع�� * �و� ك �م���� � ��ل�ا �ل � �ل��ك ا � ��ي ��عل��� ي ي ى م ة تّ ة ن آ �ثُ �ثُ ف �تَ �� � نِ � � ت �ن � ش ا � ا ا ا ا ع�د �و ��ى �ي� ��س� د� �ب� ����� ء � ك� �م�ا ��ي��ف ي��ده ي ڡ م�� �� ب� �و�ط�� � �م�د ر��س�� ا �و ك��� ب� ( �� �� ) � � ��ه�ل �� ِ بع ع ع �ذ � ��ت � � � ح�زا �ز ا ت � ّ� ة � ��ل �ص�د ر�ي� � �ه� ا ا � ف�ل���ص�ل * ف��ا ن� �ب ��ق���لب�� �من� ك�� ح�تى �ل�ا ا ��طي���ل �ع��لي� ك�� � � ح�ا ك����� � �وب�� � � ك�� ب� �ي م ّ َم � �ت � � �� ا ا ت ا � خ خ � خ � �م�� � �م�ل� �م� � �ص� ك�� �ن��ه ���ة ( ا � ا �) �ل�ا ن� ���لي���صى ا � �لف��ا ر��ا �ق� ي ڡ � د �و�ل� ك�� �ع�لي� ك�� � ا �ل��س�عي��د�ة �ل� ي� ك � ي م �� م م ّ �ا ٌ ش �� ت � � � �ف �� ة خ� �خ ق � ت �غ � �خ � � �ز � ا ا ت � � ا ل � � �ن ��� ه �ل ح � او ل ا ن� ��ي �عل�� ��ى � � ��ه ��ي�ر ا �ل � ��ور * �و�ه�و ك��� ب� � � ��ط� � او �لرك�� ك���� ( ا ا ) ح �و �ير ب �� َ م � نّ � � � � ت � ة ف �ق � � �� � ت �ئ ت ا � ك�ن � ��ل�اد ك�� ط��ع� ي ڡ ل��� ب� ا �ل ��ى �� �ل�ا � �م�ع �ر�ه �ل� �ي�� �ي��عر�� ا �ل�عر��ي��� �و���س �ع�لي��ه ��س� ر ا � ك ب ب ب ب م م � ق � ُ � ن � غ � � ذ تا ّ �ف � ظ غ �و��ى ر �و�مي���ة ا �ل�ع ������م (��ه� ��ه� ) �و�م�ع��ل�و� ا � ا �ل���ل��ط ا � ا �� ��ص�ل ي ڡ � �ع����ل ا �ل�ص���ي�ر م �ي ع ع ُ ن ف � �ذ � شَ ْ�ن � ف ق ّ � �ا �ن �ش�� ب� �م�ع�ه �و���مى �ل��� �ي��ع�د م �ك�ن ��ه�ل �م ��سب�� ب� �ل�ه� ا ا �ل����ي� � او �ل�يع� ب� ��س�و�ى �م�� ب���ع�د ���ل�ع�ه * � � م ت ن ل�ا �ئ �ة اَ ��فُّ ا ��ف ت � �ڡ � ا ة � �ن ة �� � �صر�ف ك�� ا �ه�م�ا �� ك�� ا ح * ه) ل� ��س� � �و��س��ؤ ��� � � ب و� � ي � ا �ل��س�ي � ��س�� ا�لم�د �ي��� � او � �ك�ن� ��س�ي � ( �وه و م م ن � � ئ ن �� ا �غ �ة ��ت�ف � ف ض ئ � ش ة � � � ض �ئ � ا ا ا �ز �ي�ن �ن � ���ه �و�ع ا ��م�ه * � او � ا لب��ل� �� ���� ب� ك�� ا � ا �لرك�� ك���� �م ����ع� ر ا �ل�د �و�م�ع� �لم�ه �و� ار �� � � �ي م �� �ة �� ف ا � ْ �� � ن ت �ا ��كف� � او ��ل�ا ��ل �غ� ) ا � � ا ��ل�ى ا ��ل�� � �غ� �م ��ط ح�ا د * � او لب��د �ع� � او �ل���س� د ( ِم�ط � � ح�� بس��ت�� ا � ���ل�ك ا �ل� ب��ي��ا ت� ر م م َْ � ا � � ة ق �ف� ت ذ � � ال� �� � ا � �ن ال�م � ة � ة ق � ا � ���ل�� * ( �ي�� �ي�� ) ا �م� ب���عر�و� ك�� ��ا د �ل�� � او�لم ن��ا ض� � ا �ل�ع� ��ط�ل�� * ��د ا ح�م� � �ل�ك م��سل�م ا �ل�ع� �ل�م �ع ج ّ عع م � َْ� � فَخْ � � �غ ة � ة � ا ��ل � ّ �ن ق ا ��ل�ع ا ة � ل��ل�ا � ا �ج�ل � ا �� ك� �ه�ج�� ك�� ��ز �ل ا �ل��� * � او �ل�ى ا �لب��ل�ا ��� � او �لِب���ل�� * �و �� �س� ب�� ر� د �م �ي�� ي � �ى ح ب م م م � ش ال� خ ّ � ا �ف ا � � ّ ا � � � �ق ة � د �و ن� ا ��ل ح����و م �خ ��طر ب��ب��ا �� ك�� �ع��ل�ى �م�و�ج� ب� ا � �ل�ق � او �ع�د ا�لم�� ّرر� * � او �ل� ��ص� ع�م� ي ���ل * ل� ح م �ق �� �ف �ز �� � � ّ � ّ � ّ � � آ �� ة �ل� �خ خ � ل � او �ل�ا �ع��ترا ��ض� ا �لم��م�ل * � او �لت��ع��قي��د ا�لم��ع�ل * � او �ل�ا ��ل� ا�لم���س�ل * �و��و� ك�� �و ا ج �م�ل�� ا * ل� ��ى ج�� � م 58
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and noble shaykh were to make an annual gift of a certain amount toward this charitable end or were to send agents to the lands of the Franks to collect from the charitable there a sum that could be allocated to such things, everyone, east and west, would praise him for his deed (Hooray! Hooray!). However, if one of our masters were to go to the trouble of sending Ḥanna
1.1.17
or Mattā or Lūqā to his Frankish brethren113 to collect money, he would do so only for the building of a church or a hermitage (Ugh! Ugh!) overlooking the fact that, from birth to the age of twelve, no one can properly comprehend anything that comes to him from church or hermitage, though he can, during the same period, be learning useful things in a school or kuttāb (Blech! Blech!). Will you then, my masters, promise me to build libraries and print books, so that I don’t have to make this chapter too long for you? My heart with rancor against you burns, while my breast with accusations
1.1.18
against you churns (Ach! Ach!) because under your auspicious reign, my dear friend the Fāriyāq was unable to learn anything in his village other than the psalms, which is a book that they have stuffed with vulgar usages, mistakes, and lame language (Yech! Yech!) because its translator didn’t know chaste Arabic, and you can well imagine what the rest of the books printed in your country and in Great Rome are like (Retch! Retch!). It is well known that, if error becomes rooted in the mind of the child, it grows up with him and is thereafter impossible to root out. Is there any other cause for this disgrace and shame than your neglect and mismanagement of civil and clerical affairs? (Ptui! Ptui!) Do you reckon lameness of language to be part of religion’s rites and lineaments, duties and requirements, or that chasteness of language will lead you to unbelief and heresy, reprehensible innovation and errancy? (Tut-tut!) Or did you reckon that those verses inastute might confound the learned Muslim in dispute? (Forget it! Forget it!) Is there no blood in your veins to rouse you to a love of eloquent, stately language, of rhetoric and fluency, of the arrangement of the words in accordance with set rules, of the expression of what passes through the mind without grammatically incorrect padding and boring interpolation, sickening complexity and phthisic expatiation? Without saying “et cetera” in mid-sentence or turning triliteral verbs into quadriliterals and vice versa,114 without using fī instead of bi- after a verb and the other way round,115 without making transitive verbs intransitive and the reverse, or the glottal stop into an elision and the contrary, or failing to distinguish between the active
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1.1.19
��ف� ا �ث�ا ر�ة ر��ا � ي يح
س�ت � � �ث � ن ا � ا ت ا �ف � ات �و ج� � ا � ف�ل���ع�ل ا �لث��ل�ا ��ى ر�ب�ا �عي��ا � �و�ا �ل�ع�� �ك��س * � او �� �ع�م�ا �� ك�� ��ع�� ك�� ل� ل� �م� ��ي ��ع�د ��ي �م��ه �ب� �لب�� �م��ع�د �ي� �ب ���ي� ب م م ّ � � � � �ز �ئ� ا �ل� ت ّ � ا�ز �ك��س * � او�لم�ه�م�و �م�عت��ل�ا � �و�ا �ل�ع�� م��ع�د ��ي �ل� �م�ا � �و�ا �ل�ع�� � �و�ا �ل�ع�� �ك��س �و�ع�د � �ك��س * � او ج� ار ك�� � ب ب ب م م � � � � ف �ق ن � ف ح��س� د � ن� �من�� ا � � ا فا ت ن � �م � ي�ن � �فر�ق ك�� ح� ��س�د �و� �ل�ى � �ب�� ا �س��مى ا � �ل�� ��ع�ل � او�لم���ع�و�ل * � �� �و�ل�و� ه�م � و و �ي �ي م ت �ا � �ذ ّ ة � ْ ذ � � َق ْ � ق ڡ� ح�ت �ن � ش ا � ا �و�ه�ا � ا �� �لق���س����س��ي�ن � �و�م� ا ���ب��ه � �ل�ك (��ه ��ه) �و�لي����س ك��� ب�ى �ه� ا د ر� ا �لثِ��ي� * ي ي ى م ا � َْ ّ � ذ ذ � � ت �س�و�ع ب� ف�ي��ه � ك� ح� ) � او ن��م�ا ا �ل � مق��ص�ود �م�ن � ��ل��ك ا ن� ا �ب���ن �� ك�� � � او �و�ه� � ك�� ��ر ا �غ��ل�ا �� ك�� ا ا � � ل� ( م� ط� ا� � ح ي ي � م ى ى يت م م � � تّ نّ � �غ ت� ق ُ قّ ت ا ��ل���ل � ذ �ف � � ���ا ك��� ح�ن � او �لرك� ل��ا ب� �و�ق ار �ت ك�� ���ة �م�ن �و��ق ت� � �ه�ا ب� ك�� ا � ا د م� � ك�� � � ا �ل�ى ا � ك�� � �ي��ه ك����ا ب� � ��د ��س��ي�� م م م ُ ��َّ اً ث ش خ ا ْ � �ل� ن ت ت ن ا ح�ا ��ل ف���ل�ن ا �ل�ز � ��ور ا ��ل�ى ا � ���ص�ي�ر � او �ك�ه�ل���� �� 1ي ��و�� (دِ � د �) � او ��ه �م� د �م �� �ع��ل� �ه��ذه ا � م ى ب ح ح م ث ا �خ ت � ت ث � � ْ � ن ْ ق ق ف َ � � ا ا ا ا ا ن �ن � �ير�ج��ى � ك�� ل� �م ِا �ب�ل� �ل (�و��ي ب� �و��ي ب�) �� ا � ا � �ل�� ر�ي� �� ا �� �م �ع��د �م�ع�ل�م�ه �ير�م� � �� ا � ك�� ل�� ب� م م م ّ ن ل� �ف � �ذ ذ ف ت ن � ن � � ئ ا � � � � � ا�لم� ك�� ��ور * �و���ع�د � �ل�ك ا �و�ج��� �م��ه امعل�� ا � �ير�ب��ك��ه ي ڡ � �م��س� ���ل ���ص�ع ب� �ع�لي��ه ي� ��� �ض ��� س ب م � ت �ف � ح � تّ ن � ن � ف غ ش � ت ا �ن خ � � ا� ك ل�� ب� �وي�������ل�ه �ب������س �ب��ه�ا * ��ا �ش���ا ر �ع��ل�ى � او �ل��ده �ب�ا � ي�خ�ر ج��ه �م ا � ك�� ل��� ب� ��ى ا �لب�ي��� � �ك�ن �ل�مث�� ه ا ن �� ت ��ف ح�ا ��ل��ة �م�د�ة ���ط� ���ل��ة ف��ا � ت �ف ا ن (�بَ�ه �ب�ه) ف���ل� ث� �ع��ل� �ه��ذه ا ��ل � � � �ه�ا �م�ا ا �م� �س� ي��د � ل �ي �س��� د �م � يو ب ى ت ْ � � � � َ � � � �ن ف � �� � � ف� ظ ا ف ��خ ح��س�ن ����ل�و ن� � ح� ��� ب���ع��ض� ا �ل� � �ل��ا ظ ��� (�ب��د �ب��د) �وك ���ا � ا ��ه�ل ا �لب��ل�اد ��ي�� ض� �م�ن ج�� � �وي��د ا ل ط و � ت �خ � ��ذ ��ف ق �ت �خ� ّ � ا � س�ن ا ا ��ل � ���ط �ع��ل �ك� �ص�ن �ع�ه ا �لي��د * �ف��ع ن��د �ه� ا ن� �َم�ن �ي ك� ���ل �م�ا ��� � �� ب� ��ط� ح�� � �ه�و ا �ل� �ى ا �� ى م � تّ ف � ت � ذ � � ف � � � خ � ض ش ت ا ا ا � � � �ن � س � ك�ن ح� ك�� ا �لب��ل�اد ي���� �ب��ي�ن ا �ق ار �ن�ه ي ڡ � ا � �ل�����ل * �و�م� ا �����ه� ر � �ل�ك ل�� �ي�� � ��د �م �م ا � ك�� ل�� ب� م م ع ْ� أ ت � �خ ّ � ن �ّ ا � ش ف � �ذ ق � � ا ا �ل� �م�ن �ب���ذ� � ا �ل�ع��ي�ن � ��ط�ه �و�ع�ا �� ا �ل�� �و�� ا �ل��س��لي�� ك���ل� �م�ه ( ِ�عي� ��ط �عي� ��ط) ا ����ع�ا را �ب�ا � م ��ل ظّ � � �ذ � ق �ف �ت � ا ت �خ � ت � ا ح ���� ��ل�ا ��ي ت�� �ق��ف� �ع��ل ا ��ل ا� ح��ا � * �ل� � � ���ر ا �ل�ى ���ه� ��ي ب� ا � ك� � ّ ���ط * � او ن� ا د ا ر�ة ا �ل�ا � ك� ل��ل� � * و � ى م م ن �ث ق � � ة � � ا �� ن �ة � � ا � ن ن ق �تُ �ت ��س�و� �ت��و�ي�� ( �� �� ) � او � ك����ي�را ��د �ن�ا �ل� او ا�ل�م ار��ت ب� ا �ل��س�ا �مي��� � او�لم ن��ا � �ص� ل��س��ي�� �و ه� �ل� يح � ب م ع عع � ش ف � ّ � �غ ن � ف ا ا �ق � �ك�ن ق � ذ �ل� � ف �ة ي�ن ا ��س�م�ه� ا �ل��� �ر�� (ح��س ح��س) ��ي�ر ا � ا � �ل�� ر�ي� � �ل� �ي�� �رر ا �ل�ع�� �ب��ه��ذه ا حر�� * ا � م �ي �ي م � ش قّ �� �لق � � � �ت � ن � ا ض ّق ا َ ْ �ذ � �ز ن �� ن ّ ق ا � ق ش ت ق ا �ن � ��ي���� (�و�ى �و�ى) ��� ك�ِ����� ا �ل�� �ل� �ي��ك�و� ا �ل� � ك��ا � �ي��ع ����د ا � ا �لر �� ا �ل� �ى �ي� ��ى �م � � م ��خل � � �ن ن ��ث �ن � ا ق ن ا � � ش � � ن ��ي�ر ا�لم�ت�ت�ا ب��� ا �ل�و ي �ڡ � * ���ع ا � ك���ي�را �م ا �ل ن�� ��س ��د �� �ل� او ا �ل�عي����� ا �ل� او ��س� ا �ل�ه��ى * � او ع ع م كَ ْ ً ��ه�لا. � :١٨٥٥ 1
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Raising a Storm
and the passive participles—for you say “They are envied of me” when you mean “are envious of me” and the like? (Ha-ha!) This book of mine is no Durrat al-thīn fī awhām al-qissīsīn (Prize Pearl of the Fishery concerning the Delusions of the Clerisy)116 that I have to include in it a mention of every one of your errors and delusions (My! My!). My intention is simply to use it to demonstrate to you that your brains have been fed with incorrect and lame language from the days when you went to the kuttāb and read the psalms there until you became grown, and then old, men (Hold your tongue! Hold your tongue!) and that if you remain in this state, no cure is to be hoped for (Woe! Woe!). Thereafter the Fāriyāq remained with his teacher, where he completed
1.1.20
his study of the aforementioned book, after which the teacher became concerned lest the Fāriyāq get him caught up in matters that were beyond him and through them expose him, so he indicated to his father that he should remove him from the kuttāb and put him to work copying books at home (Wow! Wow!), which he continued to do for a long while, gaining therefrom as much as the likes of him could by way of improving his hand and memorizing certain words (Good for you! Good for you!). The people of that land gave precedence to good writing over anything else the hand might make, and, to them, one who wrote a good hand had achieved more than any of his peers. Despite this widespread attitude, the country’s ruler117 employed as scribes only those whose writing was ugly to the eye and whose words were disgusting to good taste (Oy! Oy!), this being a kind of public declaration that good fortune is not dependent on good handwriting, that to administer the law does not call for language without flaw (Abtholutely not!118), and that they themselves have often attained lofty rank and exalted position though barely able to sign their noble names (Aiee! Aiee!). The Fāriyāq, however, was not elated at having to practice this craft, believing that any earnings that might reach him through a slit as narrow as that in the nib of a pen must themselves be straitened (Alack! Alack!).119 True, many a person has obtained a living expansive and agreeable, as well as good fortune unabated and reliable, from a wellspring that, though broad by comparison with the pen’s nib, when measured against their greed and extravagance, was narrow (What a pity!). However, the Fāriyāq was then a greenhorn, with neither practice nor experience, given to judging what is distant by what is close—and nothing is closer to the eye of the scribe
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1.1.21
��ف� ا �ث�ا ر�ة ر��ا � ي يح
ا � ن ة �� ش ق ا �� �لق��� � � �ن ه ا �� ن ة � �ن ح ب� � ك ��س��� ا �ل�ى ش���ر�ه�هم� ��س��� ا ل�ى � � ��� ل�م ر ل���� �ب� ل�� ب �م �م�ورد �ه�و �ب� �ل�� ب ض ّ �غ ن � ق �ق �ذ ��ا ن �غ� ّا � ا ت� � �ة �� ه � ا خ � ة ��ي ��ق� (� او ه � او ه) ��ي�ر ا � ا � �لف��ا ر�ي�ا �� �و��ت�ئ� ك�� � ر �ل� �ج ر� ل� �و �ل� �ب� ر� � ب � � � ش � � � �ع��ل� ا �ل� بع��ي �د �ب�ا � �لق�ر�� ب� * �و �ل�ا ����ى ا �قرب� ا ��ل�ى �ع��ي�ن ا �� ك� ل��ا ��ت ب� �م�ن �ل��س�ا ن� ق���ل�م�ه �و�ع�ا ر��ض� ي� ك�� ح� ى ي م �ن � � �ن ق ن ا �ل� �ذ � � � ق � ح ف���ة ا ��ل�ت � ا �ن � � � �قر ���ط�ا ��س�ه * ا �و ا د ��ى ا �ل�ى ��لب��ه �م ا � ك� ���بت��ه � او �ل�لب�ي�� ب� م ��� ل��ل� � ا �ل� �ى �ي ك ع �ب� �ر �ى م � ت� ا �� ا ا �ل� � ش ق � �ل ه ا � ت ا ��ل ش ق �ل� � ش ئ ّ شُ ش � ا ��ل�ى �م�ا ��ل���� ي� ح��س�ن �ه (���� ���� ) * ���� ع�ي�� م� � �ي �ع� �ط� �ه� �و�م ي � ي ���� �و�م ي���ر�� ب س ع ع
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Raising a Storm
than the nib of his pen and the paper before him, or closer to his heart than the words he is writing. A clever fellow is he who accepts the craft that he practices, to whom the shame of hard work is no burden, and who does not crane his neck to look out for things at which he does not excel (No to the flesh! No to the flesh!).
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� ا �ن �ف ا � �ل�� ���ص�ل ا �ل��ث� ��ى �ف ا �ة ��ق �ة �ا �ة � ق ة ��ى ا ��ن ت� ك� �ح�ا �ي��� �و���ع�م� �م� �وا ��ي� �� ���س� � ��ا ن �م�ن ��� � ا �� �ف ا � ا �ق ��ا � ا ��م � ا � ا � �دا ث ا � ض ا ا ن � ا � ق � �ڡ ط� ل�� ري� � �مك� ه�و د ب� �ج ي� �ل� ح� � ي�� ��د ك�� � ��� � ي ح� ك��ى ي ب ع ع ا� � ��� ا �ن ��ا ن �مت ّ � � �ة ف � �ز ض ن � � � � � � او �ل�ا ���ط� او ر � او ك� ه � � ڡ � � � � ع� �صره �ب� ل�����ل � او �ل�د را �ي� * � او �� را ى ل��ل م م ك� � م�ي ا ي ف �ز ً ت ّ �قت�ئ �ذ �� ��ا ن �ذ ا �� �ق �ز � ُ� َ ة ة� ة �ي ��و�م � ْقِر ا �م�ا �م�ع��م�ا ب���ع�م�ا �م�� كب����ي�ر� �م�د �ور� * �وك�� � �ه� ا ل�ر ا م ي ح��س ب� �و�� � �م�ن �� حو�ل آ � �ن ا ��ل ش����ع � ء * �ف�ا ح� ا �� �لف��ا ر��ا �ق� ا ن� �ي�� � �ك�و ن� ��ل�ه �مث���ل �ه��ذه ا �ل�ع�م�ا �م��ة �ع��ل� �صغ��ر را ��س�ه * �ف ك� ��ا � ر ب ي ى َ ةً ةً َ � � � ذ �ذ � ق ض ا ش ق � �خ ن � �ه�ا ي��م ن��� �و���سر� ك���ا � �ل��ا �� ا �ل�� � � �ڡ ا �ل� ��س� او �� ب���ع�د � ي ا � ا �م����ى ي�مي���ل را ��س�ه �م � ي �ى ى ي ر�ج ّ �� ا�� � ت ة �� �ص��ل� �ة ا ج ��ل ��م�ع��ة � ���سل��� �ع�� ا ��ل ن��ا �� * � ا ��ت�ف� �ق ا ن� ا ��ا ه ��س�ا �س��� � ص ل � ح��ه ك � ل ا ا ا ا � � � � د � م ح � ل و ر ر و و ى و ب س � ب ر ي م �ى م ا ن ا ��ف ث � ن �م�ا ن ا ا � ا � ا �ف��ع�نّ �� � �ف ا � ا �ق ة � � � � � �م�ع�ه � او ركب���ه �م�هر� �ل�ه * �وك���ا � �ه�و را بك����ا � ح�ص� �� * ك��� �ه�� ك ي� م� * � ل�ل�� ري� � � ح�ص�ا ن �م � �� ���ط�ا � ن ��ك�� ا �ل�م�ه �ة ي � � ن ��ا ن ��ل � ا � �ن ا ا ن � �ڡ ج��ا �� ب� * ي ر �ڡ ا�لمي��د ا � �وك�� � ا � � برو ي ��و�م� م ا �ل� �ي� �م ا � �ير �ض � � ف ا �ت ف ت ت � ��ا � ش ة نّ � ة �ن ف ش � � ذ ف ح�تى ا � ا �ق�ا ب���ل ت� �م �ر� ��ط ا �لي ����ه� ا �ل����� ا �لي��ه ك�� �ل ��و ��ط ��ا ج�ر�ى ا�لم�هر� ��ص�� � � م����ي�ر� ا � ب �ف ق � ا ن ق � ��ف ا � ن �غ �ا ف � ��ا ر��س�ه�ا ��ي�ر ج���د �ير �برك���و�ب��ه�ا �ب��ي�ن �ج�ي��ا د ا �ل� �م�ي�ر * �م� ك ���ا � �م�ن ا � �ل��ا ر�ي�ا �� ا �ل� ا � ��س�� ��ط ت ��لَ � ة � ا ن �غ �ت ه ��م ن � ا �ع��ل ا �ّ را ��س�ه * � او �ق���ل ت� ا �ل�م�ه �ة � �ى ا ��ل�ى ا ��ل ا � ح � �د � � �اد � � � ���دا �ل�� * � ع � ص � ل � � ل ر و �ج �ى ج ب ر �ج ر �ى م ُ ً ت � ن � ث � � � ة ن ت ف �ظ �ق � ت ت � � � ح�ا �ل�� ��� ك���ا ن�� ت� ����ت� �� ه � ���ا � ��ا ر��س�ا �ج�مي��د ا �لم�ا �ترك���ه �ع��ل� ���ل�ك ا �ل �و�ل�و ك� ح�ى ��ي� �و� * �� ا �ن�ه � ب ل ر ى م م � ت َ �قَ تْ أ ذ� ح��د � ا ��ل��ش����ا �ت �� ا ت ف ا ن ا قا � � ��س�ه �ع�ن ا � ى �� �م ب���ع�د � �ل��ك ي �ح�م��د ا لله �ع��ل�ى كب���ر�ع�م� �م��ه �� ���ه� ��هى ا �ل ��ى �و� ر ج � ش � � ق ا ش ة �� ا َ ة � ا ة � � ة �ُت ا � � ْ � ا �ق �ُْ ضِ����َ �ة � ا �ش�� �ة ا �ل�ع��� �و �هى ا � �ل�� ِ��� � ا ل حِ�م��ة ا �ل سِ���م � ���ع�� ا �ل�د ا �ِمي��� ا�لم��ل� ح� � ا�لم�و ح� ا �ل�ه�ِ م� �ص�� ا �لب�� ضِ� ح� ِر� ر ر ��ز ا �ل �ى ذ � ا ت�
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Chapter 2
A Bruising Fall and a Protecting Shawl
It was in the Fāriyāq’s nature, as is normal among the young, to imitate in
1.2.1
dress, behavior, and speech those in his time distinguished by merit and knowledge. One day, he saw a wretched poet wearing a large round turban. The said wretched poet then being numbered among the masters, the Fāriyāq set his heart on having just such a turban, small as was his head, and he would walk along nodding under the weight of it to right and left, like a judge passing through the markets on his way home after Friday prayers saluting the people. Now it happened once, when his father went to the ruler’s house, that he took him along with him, mounting him on a filly of his, while he rode a stallion. There they stayed for a number of days, on one of which the Fāriyāq got it into his head to take his filly for a gallop in the square, where the stallion was tied up to one side. He’d raced her one length of the square when his filly, passing the place where her friend was picketed, turned her head toward him as though to indicate that her dashing cavalier was unworthy to ride her past the prince’s steeds. The Fāriyāq promptly flew off and landed on his head, while the filly set off running, leaving him flat on the ground, though, had he been an expert horseman, she’d never have left him in such a state but would have waited for him to get up. He then arose, thanking God for the size of his turban, for it was that which had protected his head from receiving any of “the ten head wounds”120 (to wit, the bloodless abrasion and the bloodless graze, the break in the skin that brings blood but does not make it flow, the one that makes the blood flow, the one that enters the flesh without reaching the periosteum, the one that reaches the periosteum, the one that cuts to the bone, the one that breaks the bone, the one that shifts
65
65
1.2.2
�� �� �� � � �� �� � �� � � ����� ��� �� � �� ������� ������� ��� ������� ����
�ذ ف ن �� � ة ف � ا �ل� نَ�ّ ة � آ ة � ة �ن ه ق ا � ��م �ق ���ل�ا م�ق���ل�� ا �ل�� �ّم�� ا �ل��د ا �مِ غ���� * �و� ك ل���� �� ح� �ّ او �و�ي��و�مئ�� �عر�� ا � �ل��كب��ر ا �ل�ع�م�ا �م�� �� ض� م �ظ�ن ن ت خ� ذ � ئ � ف� �ق �� � ن� ا � �� ق ا �ة ّة ة � �ؤ ن �و�م�ز ��� * �و ��� ا � ا ��ا � ا �ل�ع�م�ا �� ا � ك ل��ب��ي�ر� �ع��د ا ��ه�ل �ب�لاده ا �م� �هى ل�و�� �ي� ر � ��س�ه� ���ط ي م م ف ن � ة ا ��ل�� خ ة ت ت � � � ت خ غ �ف � ش ي�ن ا ا ا � �ن � ا �ض � � ��ل�ا ��ل�� � �م ح��س�� �و ج� �و�ه�ه� * �� � لع�م� �م�� �م�� � ح� ��س ا �ل�و ج��ه �و� � � ���وه ا �ل�و ج��ه ا �ل�ص���ي�ر � ى م ا ّ ��ا ن ّ � � ا ُ � ت � ف ة ا �خ ن �ن � ���ل�ا �ع�ن ك�� ��و�ن��ه�ا �ت��و ج� �� ض� �� ا �ل ار ��س �و�م�� �ص�ع�ود ا �ل� ب�ر� �م �م��س� �م�ه �مك� ����ص �ع�لي��ه ا �ل��س� � � عور ع ع تخ ذ � � ئ � � � ة ن� ا �� ق ا �ة �� �ؤ �� � ا � � �ز ن �ة ن � � ا ا ا � � ا ���ر * ف��ا ن� ق�ي���ل ا ذ� ا ك�� � ��س��� ا � ا �ل�ا كب�� �� � لع�م� �� ا � ك ل��ب��ي ر� ا �م� �ه�و ل�و�� �ي� ا لر� س �ل� �ل�ل � �� ب ب �ي م ت ف ن ن �ف خ ت �ت ا ح � ��ؤ ��سه� �ع�ن � او ��ل�� ح��س��ي�ن ���فم�ا ��ا ��ل ا ��ل���ذ�ي�ن �يرق��د �و ن� ��لي�� ًل�ا ��ي ت��ع��م�م� ن� * � ��ه�ل ي� �� ��و� ا � � ��د � � ر � ر و ب �ج م � ف � � ن ف ش �ت� ن ا � ����ت � �م�ه� او �ة ي �ڡ �م�ص�ا د �غ� �ه� �ي����س�ق� ��ط� او ي �ڡ �ه� * م� � * � ع ا � �ر����ه�م ��ك�و� �ع��ل�ى ا �ل� ر��ض ب ي م م ن ن آ �ت خ ��ذ � � ا �� �ق ن ن ن ة ت � ش �ؤ � ا ا � � ه�ن ق���ل ت� ا ن� �م������ �ه��ذه ا �ل�ع� د� �ه�وا � ���س� ��لك ا �لب��ل�اد ي � �� � ي ڡ � ر � ��س� �ه��ذه ل�ر�و� ف ذ � � � � �ذ ا ��ل ت ق ا �� �� ا ن ا �� ن � �ن ����ة ا �و � �ه ب� ي ڡ � ��ط�و�ل ا �ل�� را ��ى ��ي��� ل ل�ه� �ه�� ك � ط��ا ��ط�ي�ر * �و��هى �ت��ك�و� �م�ن �� ض� ع غ �آ ت ا � � �غ ظ � � ذ ���ا ن� �ع�� ا ��س�ه �� ��ط�� �غ� * ف��ا � ا �ب�ا ت� ا �لر ج���ل �م� ا �م ار ��ه � �و���ل��� ا �لر��س ح� ��سر ا �ل ار ��س ا �و ك� ل�ى ر ع �ت ن � � أ ط ق ن ا ق ن ف��ت ا � ا ��ل��ش�� ا � � �ذ �� �ة ف ا ن ا � ت ا �ّ ا رق�ي ��ق� �ل� �ي�� �م�ن ا ن� � � ��� ح�ه �ب ��� �ر��ه� �ع��ل� � �ر�ه م�ن�ي �ه �ب� � ح�د ��ي ج�� ا�لم� ك��ور * �� � ب�ي��� �ل� ى م �ج � � ق ن �� � � � ت �ذ ة ّ ��� ا �� �ق ن ق ت ا ل ��ا ج���ة �و���ل� �م� ��س��� �ه��ذه ا � �ل� �و� ا � ا �لج��ل ح��س�ي �� * ��ه�ل �هى د �لي���ل �ع��ل�ى ا �ل�� ك��ي ر �ب� ل�ر�و� ر ب ب أ ْ �ف��ا ه �عن ا ��ا �� �لف���ة ا ��ل ��� ��ل�ا�م � �ت�ه * ا � �ع ن��د ��ت��ق ت��� ه �ع��ل ا ا �ل�م�ع ن�� �و��ة �ع ن��د � خم �ه� * ا �و و �ه� * ا �و ا ج� � ر � ي ر ي� رج ل ر ي ��ز ن ة �ن � �� � ن �آ ش ه�ن � ث ذ �ش� �ن ئ �ق ح��ة ا ��ل�ا ���س�ا �م�ن �ن ��هى �م �ب�ي���ل ا �ل ��ي ��� ا �و �م ب��طرا �ل����س� ء �و���ر�ه� بحي�� ا � ا ��م�م را � ي ر �قَ أ َ �َ ْ � ة �ّ ت ق ن ن ذ � ا �ز � او �ج� �ه�ن ر� �ي�ن ا ن� �ك� ���ل �ج��مَ��ّ �م�ن ا �ج���س�ا �م�ه�ن ��م��ي�نٌ ��ا ��ل ح��ل�ى � او �ل�ز��ي ن��� * ا � �ك�ن �ي��ع ����د � ا � ب س ن� ن ن � ت ��س� �من�ه�ا �ع�ن �ع �� ن� ا ��ل ن��ا �� �غ��� �م ت � �ن ن �ت �ه�ن * � او � ك���ا � س ير ا�لم �ور � ��س�ور �ع �عي ��و���ه�ن �و�عي ��و� ب���ع�و�ل � يو ت ت � ا �ل�م��س��أ ��ل��ة خ�� �ا �ف � ظ � ا ��ل�� ّ�ن ب� �غ ظ � ا ع ����ي�� * �و� ح��لي���ل �و� حر�� * � او ن� ي �ڡ ي �ڡ ل� ح��ل�ى ��ي�ر ���� �هر ت�ز�ي يم م � �ذّ ةً � ظ ّ ا � ه ��ا �� ا � �ز ن ن ع ����م��ة * ف��ا نّ� ��م ّد ا ��ل�عل��� ��ا � �ز �ش ث ي�ن حر ا ���س�ا � �ل��ل�� � ي ح ار ���ى ��م�� ي���سر �ص� ب ح�� * �مك� ل�و �ج ر م ب �غ ن �ظ � � � �ذ�� � ق ن � � �ز ��م ق ح فن ف ك�� ���ن�ز ا ي �ڡ حر ج�� �و ب� ��ا ��ه ��ي��رح� �ب�ه �م�ن ��ي�ر ا � ��ي ن� �� را �لي��ه * ���ل ت� ا �م�ا ا �لت�� ك��ي�ر �ب�ا � �ل�ر�و� � آ � � � ذ � ن � �ن��س�� ء �ت��ل�ك ا ��لب��ل�اد ��ل�� �ك�و�ن��ه�ن �م�ن � � او ت� ا �لعِ� ر��ض� � ا ا�لم�ع ن�� �و��ة �ف�غ���ي�ر � ظم ��� ن��و ن� ي ڡ و �لت��ص�ا �و� * ي ن آ ف ض اً �ن ذ � ف ا نّ � ة � ق �ز ا � ا � �و ��ل�ا � � � � ل ���ل� �ع � �ل�ك �� � هِ� ار �و� ا �ل �و �و�م��� �م� �س�م� ���س� ء ا �ج� ب���ل * �و��� ي ع ا �ه�ل�ه � او ��ه�ل �ج 66
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4،2،1
5،2،1
A Bruising Fall and a Protecting Shawl
the bone, the one that leaves only a thin layer of skin over the brain, and the one that cuts to the brain). However, he arose, having taken a blow to his loins, and that day made
1.2.3
the discovery that there are benefits and advantages to a large turban, and he conceived the idea that the people of his country had taken to wearing large turbans simply to protect their heads and not to beautify their faces, for a huge turban hides the good qualities of the face and makes a small face look bad, not to mention that it hurts the head and blocks the ascent of vapors from the pores, something the Great Christian Master Physician121 prescribes. If it be said,122 “If the sole reason for adopting large turbans is to pro-
1.2.4
tect people’s heads, not to adorn or beautify them, how do you explain the people who wear their turbans when they go to bed at night? Are they afraid their heads will roll off their pillows and fall into a chasm inside their houses, even though their bedding is placed on the floor?” I reply, “The origin of this custom lies in the fact that the women of that land are given to wearing on their heads those ‘horns’ that they there call ṭanāṭīr.123 These are made of silver or gold, and are as long as a forearm in height and as wide as a wrist. Now, if a man spends the night with his wife with nothing, or only a thin covering, on his head, he will be in danger of being bashed on his pate by her ‘horn’ and receiving from her one of the ten head wounds referred to above.” If you were to insist on being argumentative and say, “What is the reason for these veritable horns? Are they placed there to remind one of the figurative horns that a man acquires when he goes against his wife’s wishes or is stingy with her or breaks off relations with her, or as a kind of adornment, or as a sign of women’s wantonness and greed, in that, when they catch the smell of riches on their husbands, they think that every inch of their bodies should be decorated and ornamented, believing as they do that, while such things should be concealed from the eyes of others, they should not be concealed from their eyes or those of their husbands (albeit there is many a difference over the matter, with some forbidding it and some taking an attitude of acquiescence), for the mere knowledge that something valuable is safely hidden away may give pleasure to its owner, just as, if a person squirrels away treasure in a concealed hoard, he may revel in it even though he cannot see it?” I would reply, “The idea that they are there to provide a reminder of the figurative horns is not to be entertained, for the women of that country maintain their honor and preserve their chastity, and especially the women
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1.2.5
�� �� �� � � �� �� � �� � � ����� ��� �� � �� ������� ������� ��� ������� ����
ن �� ت ��� ا ن� ا �� ض� ا ت� ن م��عه�ا �ع�ن ا ��ل�ا �ت��ص�ا �ف� ��ا ��ل�ص�ف���ة ا ��ل�ز � � ّ���ة ا ��لت��ا �ّم��ة * ا �م�ا ��� � � ا �م ار ��ه �و�عي ��و� ا جلي ر ي و�ج ي ب �ف � � ن� ا��ا ن ت خ� ا ذ � ة � ق ن ��ف � ا يڡ � ا�لم�د ن� ف��ا ن� �ه��ذه ا �ل�ص�ف��� ا ��ق�و�ى � او � ش����ى * � او �م� ك�� � ا �� � �ه��ذه ا � �ل�ر�و� �ى ا �ل� ��ص�ل � ا غ ة ق ة ث �ا� ت ��� ت� �� ���ط� ��ل ا ��ل�ز �م�ن �م ن��ا ���ط�ا �ل��لب��را �ق�� * �وك� ���ا ن�� ت� ي �ڡ � �مب��د ا �ه� �ص���ي�ر� ���ص�ي�ر� ��م ��ط� �ل� �وكب�� ر ب و �� � اع �� ّ ا � ت ه �� � ا ض�� خ� ا �ة ا � ه �ز �ز ق ن ا �وكب���ر ا �ل��د ��ي ن�� ر * �وك���ل�م� ا د ا ي���س� ر ا �لر ج���ل �و�م� �ل� ا د �ر� ا �م ار �� � ط�و �ل� �و �� �م� * ن ا ف ا ئ ة � ا ّ �ن ذ �� �ه�ا * � ��ه ا ن �� ف�ل ظ � ������ة ا �� �لق� ن� �م�ن ا ��ل�ا �� �لف��ا ظ ���� ا ��ل ��ت ا �ش����ت ك ف��ه�ا وى � ى ر ي� �و�ه�� �� ���د� �ل� �ب��د �م � ك�ر ر � � غا ت ���ا ��ل�ص�ا � �� ن� � ا �� �لق�ّ ���ط � ا �ل��م�ز� � �غ��� �ه�ا * � ق��د �ش��ه ت� �ع ن��د �ج��م�� ا �ل�م� �� �لف���ي�ن و �ج و ي ر �ج �مي�� ا �ل��ل��� � ك� ب و و و �ر يع و ع ّ �ذ �ذ � � �ف ة ف � � � � � � �ز ا ان ا حق �ز � �ج� ه�ا * ا ��ل�ا �ع ن��د ا �ل�م� �� �لف���ي�ن �م�ن �ن �ن �ب� ���ه� �ك�ن� �ي�� �ع ك�� ا �وك�� ا �م ��طر�� ا �ل �و ج��ه ��ى ��� و � و � � � � �ذ � ���ت�ه �م�ن ا ��ل�ص�ف��ا ت ا ��ل � ��ث�� ا �م�ا �ه�ود ف��ا ن� ا �ل�ص�ف���ة ا � �لق� ��نر ّ���ة ي �ڡ ا �ل ح�مي��د�ة * �و�ل�� �ل��ك �ف ك � � ك�ب � م� �� ي ر ي� ي ت �ف ت �ت ف ق �ن ن ت ف ق �ن �ن �ن �� � � � � �ق ��ن � ا ا ش ه ذ � � ط ب��ر�ى �و م� ���ب�� � �ل�ك * ���س�م� ��ى ك����ا ب� ا �ل�ز �ب ��ور ا �ر ��� �ر��ى � او ��� را ��� �ر��ى � او ��ى ا �� ع ع ع ح ��ل�ا ا ��ل�ا ��س�ت �ع�م�ا ��ل��ي�ن ��غ�م� �� � ا ��ه�ا � * ا �ّم�ا ��غ�م� �� ا ��س�ت �ع�م�ا ��ل ا �� �لق� ن� �ع ن��د ا �ل�م� �� �لف���ي�ن �و���فى ك�� و � و �ض �ض و و ب ر م �ن �غ � � ةً ا ف ا نَّ ي�ئ ة � ق ن � �خ ة � � �ز ة ا ض ت �ه�ود �ك�ن��ا �ي�� �ع�ن �ي��ا �ن�� ا�ل�م ار � �و�ج� �ه� ��ل� � �ه� �� ا � �ل�ر� �ل� ���د �ل �ع��ل�ى �ع� � �م ��ي�ر ا �لي� ��و � ��ق ��ق ت ه ض ا � ا ت � �خ �� � �ن ا � ض آ � ا ن ن � ح �� ا ن� ��م �خ �ص�و� �ص * ���� ا �ل� ���س�ا � * �وح ي� �� ا �ي�� �م �ص�و ص م ع� ��� �ل� ���د �ل �ع��ل�ى �ي و آ � � ف ن � � � ���ذ � � �غ � ش ت ق ��د ن� ي �ڡ ذ � � ف ظ� � �رك�� ل�� ��ا � ا �لث��ور � او �ل�و��ع�ل � او �لت�ي����س � او � ك � � �ل�ك ��س� �و ء * �و� �ل� ����ه ك� �ل�ك ��ي ر �م��� ��� �ف ّ �ذ � س�ت ضَ ْ ت ��ف ت ت �ف �م�ن �ف� � ش � ا ��ل �خ �ي��ا �ن��ة ا �و ���م�د * ��م�ا �ع��ل��ة �ه� ا ا �ل�ا �� �ع�م�ا ��ل * �وق��د ا � �س� �ي��� ��ى ��ع�ل ي����ي ر �ى � س�ئ � ة ا � ش �� ة��ث ً �ن � ت�ز ّ ي�ن ال� َّ ذ�ي�ن ف� ّ ��ا ن �ت� ّ � ��ل�� ك���ي�را �م ا�لم�� �و ج��� �جم ��� �ه��ذه ا�لم�� �ل�� �لم��� ك� له� ك�� � ي� �ر� * � ك� �خي ��ف� ا �ل� او �ن�ا �ع ن��د �م نْ َ �� �ا �م�ه � � ��ق � � �م�ن �ع ن��د � � ق��د خ� ��س��ؤ ا ��ل�ى ��ل�ه * ي�و��جم � ك�� �� ي �ڡ ���ل �و �َو�ج�� * ف��ا � ��ف�ت� ا لله ل ى و و ج و �ي م ج م م �ذ � ح ت �ذ �ف � ف ة � ن ح��د �م�م�ن �� ���ط�ا �ل� � ح �ف� �ع ف��ا �ا ح�ق ��ق��� �م�ا ا �ن �ل ا �ل�ا � �ع��ل� ا � ع ك��� ب ��ى �ه� ا ��ى � � �ه�م � � ي ي �ير د �م �ه� ا ا �ر ر ى ن ةً حً ��س�ت �ا ة �ن ا ��لض� ف � ت ف ضّ ا �ل� �ف � � ن � ا ا ا � �وا ب� �م��� �ص��ط�ل�ا �� * �و��ى ب��ي�� � ��سب�� ب� ا ع�م� �ل�ه �ك�ن� �ي�� �ع � او � ��م�د ��لي� �������ل �ب� ج�� � � ا ن ا ف ا ا ��س�ت � ا � �ن � �ف � � ��ا ���ة �ع�ن ا ��ل�ع�زّ�ة � ا �� �ل�ق �ّ �ة � ا �ل� ن م��ع��ة � او �لغ����لب���ة ف��ا �ن�ه و و و � او ح��س� �� * �� �م� ا ع�م� �ل�ه �م �م�و ��ل�ى ا �لي� �ه�ود �ك�ن ي ح �� ا �ن�ا ت� ق��د ا �ش����ت ك ف���ه * � �من�ه�ا �م�ا � ا � ا ّ � �ن ن ��ث �ن ��ل و � ر ي �يرد �ع�لي��ه �م� �ورد �ع��ل�ى ا �ل� �و�ل �م ا � ك���ي�را �م ا �ي و � ت �ا �ف � ن ا �� ��ف �� ف ظ � ة ف ن �ظ � �خ �غ ذ �ق ة � ا ح��د�ة �و�م�عن��ى � او � � ����� � او � �ه�و ��ي�ر � �ى ��و� �و �ل� �ب�ا ��س * ��ا �� �� را ��ل � ا �ل�� س �ى �ل ح��د *
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A Bruising Fall and a Protecting Shawl
of the Mountain. In addition, the husband’s cudgel, the hooked staffs of his own and his wife’s families, and the eyes of the neighbors prevent her from having the full range of marital traits ascribed to her; in the cities, on the other hand, such traits are stronger and more widespread.” In origin, these “horns” were merely a device from which to suspend the
1.2.6
face veil and, when first used, were small and short. Then they grew taller and larger as time went by and people got richer, a wife’s horns getting taller and larger the richer and better off her husband became. And this brings us to a bit of useful information that we have to mention: the word qarn (“horn”) is one that is common to all languages,124 like ṣābūn (“soap”)125, qiṭṭ (“cat”), 126 mazj (“mixing”),127 and so on and has become famous among writers as a metonym for you-know-what on the part of the wife against the husband, except where Jewish writers are concerned, for in their books the horn has a positive significance, which is why you often hear in the Book of Psalms, “My horn has been exalted” and “You have exalted my horn” and “I shall butt with my horn” and so on.128 Both usages contain a certain incomprehensibility and ambiguity. The incomprehensibility of the use of “horn” by non-Jewish writers as a metonym for women’s infidelity to their husbands lies in the fact that the shape of the horn does not bring to mind any specific human member and neither do its actual manifestations bring to mind any specific animal, for the ox, the mountain goat, the billy goat, and the rhinoceros all have one. Similarly, the word itself is not derived from any verb that might indicate a woman’s being unfaithful or taking a lover.129 What, then, lies behind this usage? I have asked many married men of lengthy experience about this prickly issue, and all of them changed color on hearing my question and, embarrassed and despondent, stammered, got up, and left me. Should God, then, grant any of those who peruse this book of mine a sudden insight as to the meaning of this word, both in common usage and as a technical term, let him be so good as to respond, out of kindness and charity. As to its usage among the writers of the Jews as a metonym for high rank, power, strength, and victory, what is true of the preceding is true of that too, namely, that it is common to many animals, some of which are possessed of neither power nor might. Observe, then, how people differ with regard to a single word and a single meaning!
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1.2.7
�� �� �� � � �� �� � �� � � ����� ��� �� � �� ������� ������� ��� ������� ����
ّ ا ا ��� ا ة ف ا ن ش ت ق ا ق ف �ن � َّ � � ن �شَ� � ا ن ا ��ت ّ � � �ه�ا �ي�م�ا ا ر�ى �م ع� ب�مع��ى ��مِ �ل �ل� ���ه� ��ع ا � �� ه ا � � ل � ع � � ل و ى ا �م� لع�م� �م�� �� � ا ��� ���� � � س ر � ى م َم ا � �ّ � �ق َّ � � � � � � �ز �نّ �ا � ��خ ت ف ة ��ف ن �ه�ا ا ��ل ا �ش�� ك� �ك�ور�ى * � او �ل � �ى � او �لاِ� ��ط�ا ر�ى * �و�لم� م �ور�ى * ع� ح��ل �و ��ى * � او �ل�ك�� ك� �� �ل �م ���ل���� * �م � � ْ َ � ّ � �قَ ْ َ � قُ �قُ ّ �ص�ن ا ف �ا ن ���� ا �ه�ا ا � ح��س�ن �م�ن �ه��ذه ا �ل� ج� ار � � او � �ل � له� �ع��ل�ى ا � � � � �ه� �ور�ى * � او � قِ�ل�ر ��ط��ل�ى � او � �ل ب��ع��ل�ى * �وك� � � � � ّ ف ن �ظ � آ � ��ف آ ة ّ ة ا �ل ��تى �ت��لب����س�ه�ا ر ��ؤ ��س�� ء ا�لم�ا ر � ��نو ي���ة ي ڡ �و�ه�ه� �ى �م � ر � ج���لي��� * � ا �ل��د �ي�ن ���لي�� �� ر� او �و ج�� م
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A Bruising Fall and a Protecting Shawl
As for “turban” (ʿimāma), I believe it derives from ʿamma meaning “to embrace,” for it embraces the head. It comes in various forms, among them the spiral, the cake-shaped, the wheel-shaped, the globular, the coil-shaped, the conical, the basket-shaped, and the cup-shaped, and all of these, whatever the type, are better than the baptismal fonts that the Maronite religious leaders wear. Let them just take a look at their faces in a well-polished mirror!
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1.2.8
ا �� � �ث ا � ث � ل � � ا � ل � ف ص � ل � � �ل � �خ ت � � �ة �ف ن ��ى � �� او د �ر ��م ��ل��ف� � � � ��ا ن � � ف ا ا �ق �ت ا � �غ �ي�ز � �ن غ� �� �ق آ ة �� � ل��ل�ا � ا � ف� ل � � ��� � او �م�ع�ا ن� ا �لن �ظ� �� ر ف�ي��ه ك�� � �ل�ل��� ر�� � ا �ري�� �ر �ى م �ص�ره ل� �ر � ا � ك ص�ي ي م ح ح � � � ت � �ف � ة �ز � � � � ن ن � ا ق ف � ف ت غ ظ � � ح ك��ت��ا ا ا �و �ل�ا �لت��ق��ا ��ط ا �ل� � �ل��ا ��� ا �ل�� �رب��� ا �ل ��ى ك���ا � ي ج���د�ه�ا ��ى ا � ك ل��� ب� * �� � ا �ب� ه ��د ا �ر ب �ي �ن ظ � ة �ف ف ن ن ��خ ت ف ة ���ا ن ا � ا �� �لف��ا ��ا �ق � ت�ه�ا ��ف ت� �م ن���ذ � ت � �م�ن ح��دا ��ث��ه �ع��ل�ى ا �ل� ��� �ع�د �ي��د� ��ى � ��و� �م ���ل���� * �وك� � ى ري � �ي � م � � ق � �� ن ت ة �ن ة �ص�ن �ع��ة * �ف ك� �ئ ��ا � �مر� �ي��صي�� ب� �و�مر� ي�خ � �ب���ل ا � ��ي ��عل��� �ش���ي �ا ��مم�ا �ي��ل�ز � �ل�ه��ذه ا �ل� ط� * م م � ا � ت�ق ا ا ن ا ��ل ش � �آ ا �ف ض ا �� ن ا �� ا ن ا ��ل ش � ا ّ � ا � ت� ا �� ا ا � ا ن ا ن م� ع��� ده � ���عر ء �����ل ل�� س �و � ���عر ج���ل م� �ي �ع� � ط� ه �ل� ���س� � * ع � ا �خ ا �ن ش ا ��ا ن ��ف � �ثت � غ فّ ا ث ا ��ف ف �� ا � � � ه ه � � � � � ل � � � � � ���ق� ار ي ��و�م� �ى ب��ع��ض� ا �ل� ب�� ر ع ���� عر ك� � �ى � 2،3،1 ح�دا �� ا ب�ل� م���ل �م �ص� ر ا �مره ا �ى ن � ً ف ق �ف ن �ف ن �ن�غ ��ف �ن�ظ �� � � � َ� ة ح ك�� � ا � �لق��ص�ا �ئ��د ا �لم��ط�ّو�ل�� � او ج��ا د * ���مّ�م�ا ُ� ح � �ى �ع ن��ه ا ��ه � ك �س��ر �ي ��و�م�ا �����ع�د ��ى �و� ا � � ب�� �ى �� م � �� � ن ه �خ� �� �ة �ن�ا �م�و��س (� )1و ج� ���ع�ل ي�خ �ط ب� م�� � ط�� ف ت ف ق ف ت ش ة �ق �َه ا ل ا ن ن ب � � � �� � ك � � � � �� ( )1ح�ا ���ي���� �د و م م��طر � ج ر م�ا و س رح�ا � ى ول�ه ى ��ا ب��ه ب�ا ب� قن ن � ة �َ � � آ نف ق ط��ل ن��د �ى ���ك �ن��ك الا �عرا ب� ا � ت�ل��ا �مور ا �لوع� وا ��ل�����س وا �ل�����ل� ب� و�صو�م�ع�� ا �لرا �ه� ب� و��ا �و� ط���ك �� اب ��ي ا �لعِ� ب��ر ��طرد �� ّ ب ب ُ ُ ف ن ة ة ة ن ن ن ت ا �لر�ه��ب���� و�ع ب���ا ر� ا �ص�ل�ه و�صو�م�ع�� ا �لرا �ه� ب� و �ا �مو��س�ه ���و�هم ا � ا ��ل��ا �مو��س ا ن ���ك �م�ن ا ��ل���ل� �ع��ة * � ا ن ف ف ن ن ق ن �ت ش ن ش و ��ه ا را د �ي ��و�م� ا � �ه ن���ا �ب��م�ع�ى ا �ل�����ا �و� ا و ا �ل���ر ع��لى �م�ا ا ������� �هر �ى �عر�� ا ��ل����ص�ا ر �ى و�مرا د ب و ي ع قُ تْ ق ّ ة تق ن ن �ص�ا � �ل� � ث � ت � ت ح� ب� ا �ل�����ا �مو��س ا ل��م�ع�ى الا �ص��لى و�هوا �ل������ره وا �ل�ع�ا �م�� �����ول �ا وو��س �ف ئ ق ّ ت ح�ا �� ��ط�ا �لي��� ن��ا �و�ل �م�ن ب���ع� ا � � � �ي�����س�ور � ن � �مر �و�� و�م�ا ا ش����� �ت�� �هر �ع ن���د �ه ف����هوا ّ�م�ا �ج� � ّو �ز �ع� ن� �ص�ا � �ض ح� ب� ا �ل��سر او�هو �يون�ا �ى �م�ع ّر ب� ع م ف � �خ ن ��ا ن �ن ���فى � �ص��ه �ص�ا � � � � ك � ح ب� ا �لب����س�ت�ا � � ب � � � � �غ � � ة ة ة ن ّ ف ا ن ق ف ظ خ ن ن ت ا ت ا ا ا ا ا ن � �ل���ل � � � � � � � � ه ه � � � � � � � � � حي �� او �ن� � * � او �� � ل ي ��و�م� �ل� م� ا � ع��د �ل �� �� د م� ���ي��� ��س�ل� ا لي ��وم �ب� ب� فآ د ا ر�ه�ا ج� �� ار ��س�ه ��ف��س�ا ر � او �ق��تر��ض� ��� ء ا ��س�ود �ي��ل�م� * � او �ن�ه را �ى �ي ��و�م�ا �صب��يّ��ا �ق�د �ق��ل� ا � ح��د ا ض� ع ع 1،3،1
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Chapter 3
Various Amusing Anecdotes
From childhood, the Fāriyāq had felt an instinctive disposition to read and
1.3.1
assiduously study the classical language, picking out the rare words that he came across in books, of which his father had amassed a large number in a variety of disciplines. He, that is, the Fāriyāq, was also, from his youth, wild about poetry, even before he had learned anything about the requirements of that craft; thus sometimes he would hit the mark and other times miss it. He also believed poets were the best people and poetry the most magnificent thing with which a man could occupy himself. Then one day he read in some chronicle of a poet who in his youth had
1.3.2
been stupid and artless but had grown up to excel and to shine at composing lengthy odes. The story is told of him that one day he got drunk and sat down beside a monk’s cell(1)130 from whence he set about delivering the sermon of Abū l-ʿIbar Ṭarad Ṭabak Ṭalandī Bak Nak Yak131 from the drain.132 Also that one day, he wanted to scale a wall so that he could reach some dates, and he fell into an animal trap set by the owner of the orchard.133 And that one day he told his mother that such and such a woman had an excellent maid who had “washed the door of her house today till it was shining black.” And that one day he caught sight of
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(1) Metropolitan Jirmānūs Farḥāt is misguided in his statement in his Bāb al-I ʿrāb (Gateway to Grammar) that “taʾmūr means ‘container’ and ‘soul’ and ‘heart’ and ‘the monk’s cell’ and ‘the monastic rule’ (qānūn al-rāhib).” The wording of the original [from which Farḥāt took this, sc. the Qāmūs] is “and the monk’s cell and his hide (ṣawmʿat al-rāhib wa-nāmūsuhu)” and Farḥāt was deluded enough to imagine that nāmūs here means “rule” or “path” as is the common usage among Christians. In fact, the author of the Qāmūs intends the original meaning, which is “[a hunter’s] hide.” The common people say nāwūs [when they mean nāmūs], and this widespread sense in which they use the word is either a figurative extension of the meaning “one who holds a secret” [a further meaning listed in the Qāmūs] or an Arabization of the Greek [naos (“temple”)].
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�� � � � � �� � ����� ���� ������ ������
� � َّ ن ت �� ��ف حّ ا � ا ق��� � ض ��س ا �ن ا ا � ض ا ف ا �ن ه �غ � ق ا ��� � ��ف ا � ا �ه ا � ق ا �� �ل��ل �� � � ل � � � �ك � �� � � ل � ط ل � * � � � � �� � � � � � � � � � ع �� � � � � � � � � � ل ل و �ل ي ب ى ى ير ع ى د ر �م� و�� ل ج م ع ر ى ي ��ث� ة ح��ّد �م ن��ه * � ق��� ��ل�ه � �� �م�ا ق��د دُ �ّ ن�� ت� �ع ن��� �� � ��ا ��ا ت� �م�ن � � ك� ��ر��س ا � ح�م�ق���ك ك���ي ر� م��ا �ن�ه ض� ك و و ي �ل ي و ح ك� ي � ض � � ّ � ن خ ح��دا ��ي�ق� ار �ه�ا �ع��ل� ّ �ل�ا ���� �وه �ي ��و�م�ا ف���ق��ا ��ل ا ب� ��وه �ل�ز �و�ج� ت��ه ف���ق��ا �ل ب� ��ود �ى �ل�و ا � ا � ح��ك * �و�مر��ض� ا �� ى � �� ��خل ا �ة عًا ف� ق ا � � �ن ا ق ف ق��د ا ض�� ه ا ��ل���ط � �ذ � ق ض ا ��ع�ا �م ا �ل�� �ى ا ك����ل�ه ا �م��س * ����� �ل ���ع ��د ا � ��ره ا �ل� �ك��ل � او�� د �م� �م�� * ���� �ل �ر م ا � � ا خ ا ��خل ا � �ة ا �ه ن ا ف� �ق ا �� ��� � ا ا � ��� ت ه � ا �ل� � ّ � * �ورا ت� ا �م�ه � � ع � ل ب ��وه م� د ���ل �� د م� �ه� �� * ��� ل لع� � � له� عط�� م� �م يح ب ى ف ً ف ��ثي��ا �ب�ه د �م�ا ف���ق��ا ��ل ت� ��ل�ه �م�ا �ه��ذ ا ا ��ل��د � * ق��ا ��ل ق��د �و�ق��ع ت� �ج��ر�ى د �م�ى �و�ه�و ا � ح��س�ن * ���ق��د م ّ �ي�ن ف �م ا ق ا � �ق ّ �ت ��ي�ق��ا ��ل �م�ن �و�ق�� �و ج�ر�ى �م ن��ه د � ��ص � � �و � �و�ى * �و ج�ر� �ي��ده ب���س��ك�� �ر�ى �ب��ه� �و�� �ل �ه��ذه ح م ح ع ش �يً �ذ � � � َ � � � � ف � ف � ق ق � ��� َ ن ت ت � ا ا ا ا ا ا � �ك��ي�ن �ل�ا �ت��س� �و�ى ��� � * ����� �ل ا ب� ��وه �ل�و ك�� ��� ك�� �ل�ك �لم� ج�ر� ا �ل��س�� ح� �ي��د ك * ����� �ل �ك�ل ن ن ت �ف � ق �غ آ � ق � ّة ق �ف � �ن ا ���س�ا � ي�ج�رح� �ي��ده ��ى ا �ل��د �ي��ا ��س� �و ء ب���س��ك��ي�ن ا �و ��ي�ر�ه�ا * �و��ا �ل �مر� ��د را ��ي� ��ى ا �ل��س�و�� ق ا � �غ � ا ف�ت ��� خس �ة ��ف ��ل � ق � �َ � ا �ت غ ��ا ��ز �ف ت �ن ا له� ��ع�ود �و�� �ى ا � ح�ا �ل * �ج�ب� � ا ب��ي���ض� ك�� �ل �� * �و�ي���ل �ل�ه �ل�م �ل� ������س�ل �ي��د ك �� �ل ا � ��س� � � ت ق �ت ن ظ � ف ��ا * � ا �ى ذ� ا ت� � �� � ��ا ��ل�ا �م�ص��ل� ���ي�ن �ك�و ن� د �م�ى �و��� خس �ه�ا ��ل�� ور ي وم ر ج �و�ل��س� ا ��د ر �ع��ل�ى � � ���ي �� � بو ف���ق��ا �� ��ا �ّم�ه ��ا ا �ّ ا ذ� ا �ع�ا �ش�� ت �ه ���آ ا ��ل ��ا �� ا �� ض ا ف ق � � �ذ�ي�ن � � �و �ل ر ج ل ي � �هم� ��� ا �ي ����د ر ا �ل�� �ص�لب ��و�ه�م �ع��ل�ى �ص�لب � ل �ل ي م ا � ن � �ن �ن�ز � ��ش��خ� ف ق � � ن �ق ف ق ة خ ق �� ف � ��ص �����ا �ل ا �ن�ا ا �عر�� �م��ره * �ي���ل ك�ي ��� �مر� ا �ر�ى * �وك���ا � ��و�م ي���س� �ل�و� ع �م� �ل � ق ا �� � ا � �ن ا ��ل�ث ا �ن �ة ف ش �ف � ق ق� ق �عر�ت��ه * ��ا �ل ��د را ��ي ت� ا �لر ج���ل ي��م����ى ��ى ا �ل��س�و�� �ع��ل�ى ر ج���لي��ه * �و�� ل ي��و�م� م م� �ي�� ق � ت ا ��ل��ل ��ث � � � � ��س��ع��ة * �و�ي���ل �ل�ه ا � ح ب� � ا ��ل�ى ا �ل��ت��س�ع��ة ي��مض���ى ا �ل�و��ق ت� ا ��سر �م�ن ا �ل��س�ت��ة ا ��ل�ى ا �ل ح� ا ك���ر ب ع م ذ ��ن � ّ �ذ ��ث ن ا ف���ت � � ق� � �ت ق غ ت ا ح��س�ن ظ�ن ا ���نى ا � ح ب� �ه� ا ا ك���ر * �و�� �ل �ل�ه ا ب� ��وه ا � ا ك��� ���ي� ب� �ع�� ا � ا � ا �ل��س�م��ك ��ا �ل ا ��� م ن �ت�ت � ن ا ت � � �� ا � ث � �ن خ�زّ � ق ن � � � � ا ا ا ��� ب� �ل�� ك��� �ب� * �� �ل ���ع ا ك�ب�ت��ه � او �ج��ى �ب�ه ا �و�ص�ل�ه ا �لي� ك�� � * �و س�م� ا �ب� ه ي�����ى �ع��ل� � ا� ك ى ع م م ��ا ن ت ا �ة � � ة �ن � � ت ت شت ��ا ن � ه ف � ف � ق � �ل� � ش�����ر �وه * �ورا �ى ا �ب�ا ه ح�ا * ���ق��ا �ل ��د ك�� ��� ��س� �ع� �سعي��د� ا ك � � ا �����را ه �وك�� � ب� �ر م م ت ت � ن �ت ق فقا � � � � � ��ت� ك��ت� �� ��ف� ��ل�ا � ا �ن�ا ��ا �ب�ا ف���ق��ا �ل �ل�ه ��ه�ل �� �س� �� �ي ك ط�� �ي�ا ا ب�� ت� ا � � �� ار �م�ا �ت ك و ���بت��ه * ����� �ل �ل�ه ك�ي ي �� ب ع � ��ذ ت قا � ا ن ا ف ا ت � �سف �ع� ��� ف ق ا �ل� �ى ك� ���ب��ت��ه * �� �ل ا �م� ا �� ��ل� ا � ط�� * �ورا �ى ا �ب�ا ه ��ي ت��ا �ّ � �س� �� ط�ي�ر �����ده * � � ل ي � ى ع ��ف � ا �ة ا ��ل ت � ا ف ا ف� ق ا � � ه ا � ّ � � ف �ه� * ���� �ل �ل� �ي� ا ف���ق��ا �ل �ل�ه �ب�ا رك ا لله �ى ا �ل��س� �ع� ��ى ��ط� ر � ح� �مق� ا �ن�ا ��ن ت��ا �� �سف� �ع��ل� ���ق��ده ي� ى 74
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4،3،1
5،3،1
Various Amusing Anecdotes
a boy who had had one of his molars removed, so he went and borrowed a dirham and told the cupper, “Take my molar out too because it doesn’t cut my food; maybe another, sharper, molar will grow in its place.” And one day someone said to him, “Many stories have been recorded of
1.3.3
your stupidity,” to which he replied, “I wish someone would read them to me so I could have a laugh!” And one day his brother fell ill and his father said to his wife, “The food he ate yesterday was bad for him,” and the poet said, “Yes, the food was bad for him and so was the maid.” “What has the maid got to do with it?” his father asked him, and he said, “Maybe she gave him something he didn’t like.” And his mother noticed blood on his clothes and asked him, “What’s that blood?” and he answered, “I fell over and my blood ran, which is for the good, for it is said, ‘If someone falls over and his blood runs, he gets well and is strengthened.’” And he cut his hand with a knife and threw it away, saying, “This knife is worthless”; his father said to him, “If it really were, it wouldn’t have cut your hand,” to which the man replied, “Everyone in the world cuts his hand, if not with a knife then with something else.” And he said, “Once I saw cheese as white as tar in the market.” And some-
1.3.4
one said to him, “Why don’t you wash your hands?” He replied, “I do, but they get dirty again straight away; I can’t get them clean because my blood is dirty.” And one day he saw some men who had been crucified and he asked his mother, “Mother, if those men survive, can those who crucified them recrucify them?” And a company of people once asked after someone’s house and he said, “I know where it is located.” “How do you know?” he was asked and he replied, “I saw the man going through the market on foot.” And one day he said, “Time moves faster between eight and nine than between six and seven.” And someone asked him, “Which do you like better, meat or fish?” and he replied, “Really, I think I like this one better.”134 And his father said to him, “If you were away from us, would you be able to write us a letter?” and he replied, “Yes. I’d write it and bring it to you, too.” And he heard his father singing the praises of some silk-wool he’d bought and with which he was delighted, so the man said, “It would have been a fortunate hour if you hadn’t bought it.” And he saw his father writing a letter and said to him, “Father, can you read what you write?” and the father replied, “How could I not when I am the one who wrote it?” “For my part,” the man said, “I cannot.” And he saw that his father was upset over a bird he had lost and told him, “God bless the hour in which it flew away!,” so his father said
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1.3.5
�� � � � � �� � ����� ���� ������ ������
َ ق ا �� ا ن� ا ا �ع ن � د�ي�ن � � �ا ن ق��ا �� ��ل�ه � �ل��َ �ل�� �ت�� ��ل�ه د ا ا * ق��ا �� �أ�َ �ُ���نَ� ��ل��ل���ط�ا �ئ ا � � � د � ع � � * � ع م � ي ل ج ل� ر ر ر �ى و ل و ي ب �ى ل و م م ب �نِ آ � ة ف ح� ا �ن�ا ت� � �ه�ا ف���ق��ا � � ا �� ت� ا �� ض� ا خ �� �ن ن ا �ن ن ا ��� ���ن�ز�ي ار ا كب���ر ر ل ور ي ي �م �ه�� �و�م �ه�� ك * �و �و�ص�� �مر� �ي �و َ �ذ � ش �ا عً �ف ���ا ��ى ر ج���ل�ه ف���ق��ا ��ل ��لي� ت� �ه� �ى ا �ل ّر ج���ل ��تب���ل� * �وك� ���ا ن� ا ب� ��وه ��ي�ف���سر ��ل�ه �� �و ج� �من��ى * �و��� ك� ى �م�ع ن ��ن �ق �ذ ا ن ق ا �� � ه ذ �ق � ��ف � ن ا � ث اً ذ تَ � � او خ� �ج� ت��ه �من � ا ف �ذ � � ��ى ا �� �ب� � �� ل �ل� ا � ا �و�� ا � ح�د �ى ا �ل�� ر م��ل� �و� � به� ر �ه� �� �ل�ك �ه�و ع ف � ��ن ض ت �ذ � � � ذ ت ق � ف �ن ف ق ل�� ح��ر�� � ك ���ع� �ه� ا ا �ل�ا ��ن �ق��ا � * ق��ا �ل �و� ك �ن��ه ق��د ا � ��ي ��� ا � ����ذه * �و�ع��ل�ى �ر �ض� ا �ى �و� ض ا �ن ق ا ذ ��ف � ا ��ل �ف�ّ ��ف ا �� ن ا ث� ا خ � ت ه � ن ف � ن ذ � اآ خ � � ن �ه�ا ا �ي���ك�و� � �ل��ك ا �ي�� ��س �ود �ى ل�� ر �م �ر�ج �� م � ��� ا � ��� � ا * �و ��سر �ل�ه �ي ��و�م� � �ر مع��ى �َ أ �َ �ف ش ف �ذ � � ���ل� � ف���ق��ا �� ا ذ� ا ا �� ���ط�ا �ع��ل���ك ��ش��خ �� �� ��ى ����ى �وق���ل ت� ��ل�ه �ل� ا �ب� ���ط�� ت� �ل� �ت ك� ��ا ��س��ل ت� �� �ل��ك ي وم ل ب ي ص م م َ � � � � ُ ق � � � �ك� ن ��ل� �مً�ا * ف���ق��ا � � ا ��ق� � �ل�ه ا �� ض ���ر ت� �ل� �صغ�� ت� �ل� � �صر ت� * �و �ل�ا �مت��ه ا �ّم�ه ���ا �ل� كب�� � � � ع � � � ل �ي��و� و � ر ى م م ل و ول ي م ن � � � ح�ى * � او را د ا � �� ه ا ن� ي�خ� � �ك�ن ��ل�و�م�ى ر �و� ل��ل�ا � ف���ق��ا ��ل ��ل�ه�ا ا �ل�ا �ل�ا �ت��ل�و�م�ي ن�ى �و��ل�� �خ�ره �ع ن��د ا �� ك� ب و ر م �ج ن ��ف � � � ا ��� ث� �ع�د �� �خ � ف��ا �م�ن ا �ل�م���ط * ف���ق��ا ��ل ��ل�ا �م�ه ��ا ا �م�ا ه �م�ن ��ن��ع 1ا لله ا �نّ�ا �ل�� �خ� � �ى ي��وم م� طر �م ل �و ي ر م ر�ج م � فا ن � آ � ن � ا ش �ت ت � ه ا �ّ ه �ث ا �ف ّ ق � � أ َ �ي�ز � � ن ���ا � ��ط�بي��ا * �و ���� ر� �ل� م� �� �وب� �� ا �لي ��و� �� � ا �ل�ه� �و ء ك �ص��لت��ه ��ا �ل �ل�ه�ا � �و �و�ل �ل�و� م قا � ت � ق ا � � ن �ي�ز � �ف � �ذ قا � ا ت ث � � �ن �و ا � �و�ل �ل�ع�ل�ه �ي��ص�ي�ر ا � ح��س * �و�� �ل� �ه� ا ا �ل��و ب� * �� �ل� �ل� ا د ر�ى * �� �ل ا رج � ن � آ �ق � �ف ق � �ق ف� �ق ا �� �� ا � ا �ا فق � � ث �ل�ه ا � او � ا �ل ش����ت�� ء �و�ه�و �ل� ب���س ��مي��ص�ا ���� ��ط ا �لب����س � �� �وب��ك ��و�� ا � �ل �مي���ص * ��� ل ل�ه� �ل� ��ث � ا �ن ق ف ق ا � � �َ �ذ � ق �ف �ا ق آت ت �ل� ��ى ا �برد �ب�ه ا ك���ر * �و �ل� �م�ه ا ب� ��وه �ع��ل��ي � �ر ��ه �ب��ص�و� �ص�� �ل� ����� �ل �ل�ه �ل�م �ه� ا ا �ل�ص�� �ل� ��ى خ �ث � آ � � � ذ � � خ ��فى �ع��لي��ه �ي ��و�م�ا �م�عن��ى ا �ل�ز ��ا ر�ة ف���ق��ا �ل ت� �ل�ه ا �ّم�ه ا � ا ا � �لق� �ر �ة ق��ا �ل �ل�ا ا ق��د ر ا ن� ا �صر� ا ك����ر * �و��� � ي � ة ف ا ن ة � ا �ن �ظ �� ا ف� ق �ز ت ا ق ا � ق �ف ُت � � � �ه�م ت� ا �ن��ك �ت��س�� �ي�ن ��سر� ا �لي��و�م ا �ل�ى ا �ل��س�ي �د� ��ل� ��� �ل� �� ر�ه� ����د ر���ه� * �� �ل ��د � ير � ت �ف � ا ��ل ا � � � ت خ� � �ه�ا * �وق��ا ��ل ت� ��ل�ه ا �م�ه ا ن� ف��ل�ا �ن��ة ا �ل ��تى � ح��س�ن ا �لي���ك ق��د �م�ا ��ت ت� � ك ��س�� ت� �ه� ك��ى ��د �عي� ي� � ث ا �� �ل� ث � � ن �ة ة ت �ّ ح�ز ن�� ت� �ع��ل ا�� ح�ز ن ت ��س�ا �ع�� �� ق��ا �ل * ق��د � �ه� ا ل�ى ا �ج �� �ه� �مك�ا � ��� �ع��ل�ى �م�و� ا م�ى * ا لله �ي ب��ع � ي� م ا ا � اً ا � � � ن � � �ل ن ا � ق ش ت �ق ض ا � � �ز ق ض ا ��هى �و �و�ج� �ه� � ح� �ل� * �و�� �ل �ي ��و�م� �ل� او �ل�ده ا � مع� �م�� ا �لي ��و� ��د ا �����ر�ى �� ��ي��ب�� �لي�� ��رب� م � � � �ف ت � ف ح�ت ��ض ض ي�ن � ن�ه� � غ�� ض ن ا ا ا �� �� �ن�ه �ع�م�د ا � ل�� �ب�ه ا �ل�ا �و �ل�اد �و� ك �� �ر��ه� �ب�ه �� ك ��� * � ����سر �� ��س��ير� ا �� ا �ي�� � � ي �ي و ب ى ب م م ح � :١٨٥٥ 1عّ. م
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Various Amusing Anecdotes
to him, “You imbecile, I’m upset at its loss.” “So why didn’t you build it a house?” responded the man. “Can one build a house for a bird?” asked the father. “All I mean,” said the man “is two sticks going from here to there.” And once he described some animals he’d seen, saying, “They included
1.3.6
a pig that was larger than me.” And he complained of a pain in his foot and said, “I wish this foot would rot away.” And his father was explaining to him the meaning of “to save” and said to him, “If someone fell into the fire, for example, and you went and pulled him out, that would be saving him,” to which the man replied, “But he would have burned up, so how could I save him? Suppose I stuck this skewer into the fire and pulled him out with it, would that be saving?” And once another was explaining to him the meaning of “to reproach” and said to him, “If someone was slow in doing something for you and you said to him, ‘Why were you so slow? Why were you so slothful?’ that would be reproaching,” and the man said, “And I’d tell him too, ‘Why did you grow large? Why did you grow small? Why did you grow short?’”135 And his mother reproached him for snorting when he spoke, and he
1.3.7
replied, “You should reproach not me but my breath.” And his father wanted to go out one day when it was raining but decided against it because of the rain, so he said to his mother, “Mother, it’s a blessing from God that we didn’t go out today, for the weather was fine.” And his mother bought him a length of cloth and when she had had it made up he said to her, “Will the color of this cloth fade?” “I don’t know,” she replied. “I hope that it does,” he said, “because it might look better.” And once in the winter, when he was wearing only a shift, his mother said to him, “Wear your robe over your shift!” and he told her, “No. It’ll make me colder.” And his father reproached him for shrieking as he read out loud, and he said, “I can’t shout any louder.” And one day he couldn’t think of the meaning of the word “visit,” so his mother said to him, “If I were to go today to such and such a lady to see her, I would be visiting her.” He responded, “I deduce from this that you’re going to her to play a trick on her.”136 And his mother said to him, “Such and such a lady who was kind to you has died,” and he was silent for a while and then said, “I have mourned for her as I would for my mother. May God send her and her husband to Heaven this minute!” And one day he told his father, “Today our teacher bought a rod to beat the children, and now they are making him angry in order to make him beat them with it till it breaks, which will be a relief to me too.”
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1.3.8
�� � � � � �� � ����� ���� ������ ������
أ �ف ض ت ذ ئ�ن ا ا � � � ا �ة ق� �ا ق ط�ي��� �و �ل�� � ش����� ا لله ا ن� ي� ش�����ف ي���ك ��م�ا ا ��ل ح� ج�� �و��ا �ل �ل� �م�ه �و��د �مر� ��� ا � ا �ج�� � ك �ب� �ل�� ب ب م ي � آ س�ت �ذ � آ ف ت ق� � ة خ ����ي�ن * � او را د ا �ل�ى د � �و ء * �و��ا �ل �ل�ه�ا �مر� ا �ر�ى ا �� �ع�م��ل�ى �ه� ا ا �ل��د � �و ���ل�ع��ل�ك ���مر ض� ْ � قا � ت � ّ � �� �م�ا ا ن � �� ق��د ا ��ل ن��ا ف���ق��ا �� ا د ت� ا ن ا ���ط��ف ئ ا ��ف ا ن � ف �أ ت � ر ل ر �ه� �م� ا �� ��ط��� � * �و�� �ل� �ل�ه ا �م�ه سِ�� ر ا �ل�ى � يو � يو آ ت � ش � ف� ق ا � ن ف �ا �ن �ة ق � ا ا � ��� خ� ف ن ��ا ���ي�ن �م�ن ا �م�ى ا ��م�ا ��هى ب� ش���ر �م�ن ب� ��ى � د �م �مث���ل�ك * ���� �ل ��ل � �و���ل ل�ه� �ل� ى �ى ح�� ا �ن�ا ت ا ��ق� ��ل ��ل�ه�ا ��ت��ق� ��ل ��ل��ك ا �م�ى ��ل�ا �ى �ش���ى ��ت ن ف��� �ي�ن �من � ا ن� ا � �ن ن ��ل � �مث���ل�ك * �ه� ا �م� �هى �م ب� ��ى ا �ي و و و ر ش �ف � ق � � ه � � ا ا ن ف �ا ن ا � ن �وق��ا �ل �م �ة ��ى ����ى ا �ج�ع � ب��ه ��تب��ا رك ا لله �م�ن �ك� ���ل �ع��ي�ن * �و ي���ل �ل� ي ��و م� � ��ل �� �يري��د ا � ر � � � � � ة ��ا خ����ذ ك ا ��ل�ى �م�د ر��س�ت�ه �لي��ع��ل�م��ك * ف���ق��ا �ل ب���عث��ه ا لله ا ��ل�ى ا �ج�ل � ن��� * ق��ا �ل �ل�ه ا ب� ��وه ا �ت �ري��د ي ذً ت � � � � ق ا �� �� ّ ه� ق � �ق �� ا ن� ��م�ي�ت�ه * ق��ا �ل �ف ك �ي ��ف� ا ��و�ل ا � ا * ق��ا �ل ���ل ا ��ط�ا �ل ا لله �ع�مره * �� ل � ط�و�ل� ا لله * � آ ��ت� �� � � ة ف� �ق ا � ت � ن قا � � ا ط�ن��ن�� ا ��ل��لي���ل��ة �م�ن �ت��ل�ك ا �ل � ح��ل� �و ء * ��� �ل � �ل�ه ا � �ع ش����ن �ا ا �ل�ى ا �ل��لي���ل�� * �و�� �ل �ل� �م�ه ا ع� ي ى ن ف � � �ذ � � ��ف� ��ل�ا ��ن�ع�� ش�� ا ��ل� ا ��ل��ل��� -ا ��ن ت ق��ا ��ل � �� ح�ن ��ن�عي�� ش��� ا ��ل�ى �غ��د �ف ك �ه�ى�� �� -ط�ا �ل� �ب�� �ل��ك ا � ح��د ى ي � ي ي ل � ع �َّ تُْ � � �ف � � � � ن �ذ � ا �ل�ا �لبّ��ا ��ى �ب�ل�اده �وق��ا �ل �ل�ه ق��د ظ �� �هر �ل�ى ا � �ه� ا ك���ل�ا � ا ب���ل�ه �م�ا �م�وه * ا �و �م�د �ل�ه � ��وه * � م َ نَ ّ ا �� ذ � � ف ف ت � ��س�وه * ا �و �عِ�م�ه �م ش����د �وه * ا �و �ِ�م�ه �م�ع ��وه * � ك ا �و �م��س�م�ه �م ب � ��ي ��� �ص� ر ب�ع�د � �ل�ك �ت � ض �ذ �ش���ا �ع ا * ف���ق��ا ��ل ��ل�ه ي� ���ا ن� ق��د ��ع�م�ده �لي����� ح�ت�م�ل ا ن� ك�� ��ل�ا �م�ه �ه� ا ك� ح��ك �ب�ه ا ب� �� �و�ه * ا �و ا �ن�ه ر ي � � � � � � �ن ه�� �ل��ل��س��ؤ ا �ل ف��ل�ا ش �� ة ف ا ن � �ن ن ا �� � �ن ل�� �ن��ه � � � ف ا � ���ا � ب���لي��د ا �لب��ا د ر�ة �و� ك ك ح�د�ي��د ا �ل�� كر� * �� � م ا �ل�� س م �ي��د� � ف ذ �ا � � ح��س�ن �ك� ���ل ا ��ل�ا � �ره ���فى خ���ل�و�ة ا � ح��س�ا ن� * ا �و ا �ن�ه �ي ك� �� ��ا د ي�ج�ي� ب� ا �ل� �خ� ��ط�ا * ��ا � ا ا �ع��م�ل �ف ك � ق �ذ � ن �ك� ن� ��نََ ا ش ي�ن � ن ا ق ة ق ا ة ف ا ن ��ث � ن ا ��� �ص�د �ب�� �ل��ك ا � �ي��و ب � �ه� �م����ه�ورا �ب�� ا �ل�� ��س �و�ل�و ب �ح�م�ا ��� �ور�� �ع�� * �� � ا ك���ر ا �ل�� ��س � �ت ة � �ت ا ��لت�� � � � ا ���ا ن� * ��ف�من ح�ا �و��ل ا ��ل ش����هر�ة �ب�ا �ى �و ج��ه ك� ي� �ه� �م�ن ��ي ت��ع�ا ��ط�ى ا �ل��ر�ج��م�� �ل�� ك ل��� ب� �و ع�لي�� �و ه�و �ل� � م م ��ن ف ا ن ض � �ف � � ت ان �ّ � �ي��د ر�ى �ش���ي �ا * �و� ك ��� ا �س�م�ه ��ى ا �و�ل ا � ك�� ل����ه � �� � �� � ��� ل��ا ب� * � �وب� � ي ح ش����ي �ه ب���عب��ا را ت� �ي رح ب ي ع ن ف ق ا � ق ا � ف ا ن ���ذ �ذ �ك���ة � او ��ق� او ��ل ���س رك� � �خي ��ف���ة �م�ن �ع ن��ده * ا �و �ب�ا ن� �يُر �َو�ى �ع��ه �ي ���� �ل �� �ل ��ل� � ك�� ا �وك�� ��ي��� �� ا � ت �ف خ �ك� ن� ��ق� ��ل�ه �خ� ���ط�ا � �ه��ذ ا * � �من �ص�د ر الجم �وا �ن�ه � او �ق ار �ن�ه �ه� �م�ن �ي�� بر��� ��ى � ���ل��س �ب��ي�ن ا �� � �و�ي��و و و ر و م ع � � �� ��� �ف � ��ل�ا �م�ه ب����ع�� ا �� �لف��ا ظ ���� ��ت�ع��ل�مه�ا �م�ن ��ا ��ا ت� �ع�ن ��ل�اد ب���عي��د�ة �و خ� ���ل���ط ك�� ح ك� �ى �ل�ه� � ط� �ق� ي� ك�� ح� � ب ي ب �ض ي وي م 78
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Various Amusing Anecdotes
And he told his mother, who had fallen sick, “If we brought you a doctor
1.3.9
and God wasn’t willing to cure you, what would be the point of the medicine?” And on another occasion he said to her, “Use this medicine. It may make you sick.” And one day he wanted to light the fire, so he said, “I wanted to put it out but it wouldn’t go out.” And his mother told him, “Go to such and such a woman and ask her, ‘Why are you afraid of my mother? She’s a human being like you,’” so he told her, “I’m going to tell her, ‘My mother asks you, “Why will you have nothing to do with her when she’s an animal just like you?”’” And once he said of something he admired, “May God be protected from every eye!”137 And once he was told, “So and so wants to take you to his school to teach you” and he replied, “May God send him to Heaven!” His father asked him, “Do you want to kill him?” “What should I say then?” he asked. His father replied, “Say, ‘God prolong his life!’” “He already has,” said the man. And he asked his mother, “Will you give me some of that halvah tonight?” and she said to him, “If we live to see the night.” He responded, “We’re going to live to see the morrow, so how could we not see the night?” End. An intelligent person of his country came to learn of these things and
1.3.10
said to the Fāriyāq, “It appears to me that these sayings are dumb and disturbed, or dotty and deranged, or feather-brained and feeble-minded, or confounded and befuddled, or bedazed and confused, so how could he have gone on to become a poet?” The Fāriyāq told him, “Probably he intended, with these sayings of his, to make his parents laugh, or maybe his first impulses were slow-minded but his more carefully thought-out responses quick-witted. Some people are so put off their stroke by a question that they can only answer wrongly, but if they put their brains to work when they’re on their own, they perform excellently. Or maybe his intention in doing so was to become noted and celebrated among men, if only for foolishness and folly, for most people seek fame by any means possible. “Some practice the translation of books and teaching when they know nothing, despite which they derive pleasure from putting their names at the beginning of the book and stuffing it with feeble phrases and stupid statements that they make up themselves, or in having others report their sayings so that it may be said, ‘So and so said thus and such,’ the statement itself being erroneous and pointless. Others sit cross-legged at the forefront of the salon among their brethren and peers and suddenly start telling tales of far-away
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1.3.11
�� � � � � �� � ����� ���� ������ ������
� ف �ق � � ن ن � ن ف ��لغ����ة ا �جل�ع �� * �ي �� �و�ل �ل�ه� �مث��ل�ا �ص�ا � ��ا �ص�و� * � �وپ�ا رد �و� �م�و� ي � �س�و * �ود�ن��ك�و�ى م م ش ا ةً �ف � � � � ة ن ف � � � � ن �ن ا ا ا ا ا ���ل��ت �ة � ��ت�عل��� ح�� �� ��ل�اد � ���س� � ا �� ��ط� �ل�� � ا ك� �وڤ��ا ر�ى �و�ل * ا ���� ر� ا �ل�ى ا ��ه ا ��ط� �ل ا �ل��س�ي � � ى ب ر وي ي و ر و م أ � ن � �ن �ت خ� ��ذ � ا ة ����� �ة �� ض� ا ��لغ���ا �ت�ه� � �ه� ي� �ه� ��ل�غ� ت��ه ا ��ل ��ت �ن ش����� �ع��ل ا �ه�م م ي ��� ��هى �ه� * �و م � ي� �� �ل�ه �ع�م� �م�� كب� ي ر ي � م و و �ج � ل ى � آ ف ن �� � �� � �� � � � ة �ب��ه�ا ب���ع�� ا �ل�ع��ل�م�� ء * ��ا � كب���ر ا �ل�ع�م�ا �م�� �ي��د �ل �ع��ل� كب���ر ا �ل ار ��س * �وكب���ر ا �ل ار ��س �ي��د � � � ع � ل ل � �ض ى ى � � � ة ق ��ا ة �ل ه ّ ا � �ن �ف � ��� �لف� ��م ا � د�ة ا �ل�ع���� � �ص� ا � ا �ل ا �ى * � �من �ه� �م�ن ��ي ت� ك� ح� ك�� � � ج ل و وب ر ج��و ��� �م� م�م �عر�� او و �م ا � ف ا ة فت ت ش ّ ق َ ْ س�ت ُ ف ا ن �غ ن � � ��َ�ع �و��� �ع��م� ا �� �لف��ا ظ �����ا ���فى �غ��ي�ر ��م �ب� � �ل��ص� � � � ا � له�ا * � بو���ع�د ��ل� �ي���ب���ى ا � ح�� � ل ح� �� ر ه ي�������د � �يو ج م ي � ني�ن � ن ش آ ق ا ف فا فا ن �ا ���ث�� ا �م�ن الم ا � ن �ش ا ���ث�� ا �م�ن �� ��� ك�� � �� او ����ع �ر ء * ا �و ك� ي ر �ي��ك�و� ا �ل���� �عر�ع�ا ��ل� ا �و �ي���ل��س�و�� * �� � ك� ي ر ج � آ �َ ذ � ّ ن � ق ���ا �ن�� او �جم ��ا �ن��ي�ن * �و� ��ل��ك ك� ا �ل ش����ع �ر ء ك� ���اب ��ى ا �لعِ� ب��ر �و�ب��ه��ل�و�ل �و�ع��لي��ا � �و ��ط�و���س �و�م�ز ���د * �و��د ي ب � � � �غ �ن ق��ا ��ل ت� ا � �لف��ل�ا ��س�ف���ة ا ن� ا �و��ل ا ��ل�ه�و��س ا �ل ش����عر � او � ح��س�ن ا �ل ش����عر�م�ا ك� ���ا ن� �ع �ه�و��س �و� ا ر� * م ن � � آ � ّق � � ن � ا �ق �زَ ًا ف �ل ا �� � ف ا ا �ق ذ � � �ز ��ف ف��ا � ا �ل ش����عرا �ل�ع��ل�م�� ء ا�لمت��و�ر�ي�ن �ل�ا �ي��ك�و� ا �ل� �م�ر �م� * �� �م� س�م� ع ا � �ل�� ر�ي� � � �ل�ك �ه�د �ى � � ن �� ف ظ � � � � � ة � ل�� ا �ل ش����عر �ور�غ� ب� �ع��ه ا ل�ى � �� ا ��ل�ى خ���ل�ق��ه �ن��ه �ل� �ي��لب� ث� ا ن� ر ج� ح� � ��� ا �ل�ا � �لف��ا ظ ��� ا �لغ�� �رب��� * � ك م �ي ع � ة� � � �ا� � ذ � � ن � ق ض ل � � ا �ل�ا �و�ل * �و� ��ل��ك ا � ا �ب�ا ه ا خ����ذه �م�ع�ه ا �ل�ى ب���ع��ض� ا � �ل�ر�ى ا �لب��عي��د� ي�ج �ب�ى ا�لم� �ل ا �ل ��ر� � م � ع � � � ل و ب � ى ��ا ن ا �� �ق � �ن �ن�ز � ه ا �ة � ا� � ح�ا ك�� �س��ا �ن��ه�ا ا ��ل�ى �خ�ز �ن��ة ا ��ل �� * ف��ا �ن�ز ��ل�ه ا �ه�� � � ك� له�ا �م��ن�ز �ل� ك��ر��م�ا * �وك�� � �ب� ل�رب� م �م� �ل� ج�� ر�ي� � ي م � ف � ّ � �ن � � � ة �ه�ا �ن �ظ� ��� الم ���د �ي��ع��ة ا ج ���ل �م�ا ��ل * ج�� ���ع�ل ا � �لف��ا ر�ي�ا �ق� �ع��ل� �صغ��ره ��ي ن �ظ� �� ر ا �ل ح ب� ا �ل ار ��ى ج� �ر�ا �ع��ل� �ع�اد� ي� ب ر ي ى ى � ا �غ� � �ن ا ��� ش ا �ق � �ن ن � ت �ئ ن ا ��� ش ق �ڡ ا ت ���ست خ�� ف ا ف ا � � � �� � � ج�� را ���ه� ا ��� �� �ل�ل�ط�ل ب� ا �ل� ار ر م لع���� � * م ا ���ه�م ي�ب����د ��و� لع � ���� ي م �ت�غ ت ش ف ا ًا ا ��ل َّة �ك��ا ا ن� �ع�اد�ة ا ج��ل ��ا را ت� �ت��ه�ن�ي �د ج��ي�را �ن��ه�نّ � �و��م��ي�ز �ه� 1ا �ش���ا ر�ة ا ��ل�ى ا �ن�ه ��ا ر�ي�� * � م � او ��س�������� �ع� �ب� ج م � � � ا ن �غ ا ��ل�� ث �ن � � �ك��ي�ن �ن �ك�ن ا ��لت��د ا �و�ى �ع ن��د ا �� �لق� ��� * �غ���ر ا ن� الم ح��� ط�ي�� ب� ا �لب��عي��د ا ذ� ا ا �م�� �ل� �ي���ب���ى ب ح� �ع ا �ل�� ب ي ري ب � ن�ت �ف � � ا ��ل � �� * �ل�ا �ن��ه� �ل�م�ا ج� ح ب� ��ي ب��ع�د �و ن� ��ى ا �ل���ط��ل ب� �و ر �ود �و ن� ا �ن�ز � �م��ج� ي �ڡ ��ع��ل� او د ا �ب��هم� �ي م ح ع � �ف ذ � ف � �ن ا ش ا �� ن �ف � �ن ا ا � ن ���ا � ا و �ج� ب��ا * �ودي��د ��ه� ���ب�� ا ل����س م �ه�و �ه� ك ���ا � �ع ن��د �ه� ا �ل��س��عى ��ى � �ل��ك �ر ض� م م ع آ � ��ذ ة � ظ � ��ف � ا ا � ع ����م��ة * ا ذ� �م�ن ��ف�ت� ف��ا ه ��� ء ا ن� �ت���ت��س�ا �ق� ���ط ا ��ل�ا ث��م�ا ن �ص� �ل� � ي ر رج �و �و ج��د � او �ى ا �ل� ب���ع� د � او �ل�� ب ح *
ت �� :١٨٥٥ 1غ����م��ير�ه . م
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Various Amusing Anecdotes
countries, mixing their words with a few phrases from foreign languages that they have learned. Thus they will say to them, for example, sans façon, and pardon, monsieur, and dunque, and very well to show that they have spent a lot of time touring France, Italy, and England and have learned their languages, though they are ignorant of the language in which they were brought up. “Some wear large turbans like those worn by certain scholars of religion,
1.3.12
for a large turban is supposed to indicate a large head and a large head is supposed to indicate an excellent mind and sound judgment. Some affect to imitate some nasal intonation of those who are known for the chasteness of their speech, and you find them using high-sounding terms and chewing their words inside their mouths and using words inappropriately. “But, to return to your original question: the poet does not have to be
1.3.13
sensible, or a philosopher. Many madmen were poets. Examples are Abū l-ʿIbar, Buhlūl,138 ʿUlayyān, Ṭuways,139 and Muzabbid.140 The philosophers have stated that poetry is the first product of rapture and that the best of it is that which has its origins in rapture and amorous infatuation, which explains why the poetry of sedate scholars is always feeble.” When the Fāriyāq141 heard this, he renounced poetry in favor of committing rare words to heart. It wasn’t long, however, before he reverted to his first nature, the reason being that his father took him with him to a certain distant village to collect the taxes imposed on its inhabitants and deliver them to the ruler’s treasury. The people of the village put his father up in grand style, and, living close to where he was staying, was a girl of surpassing beauty. Despite his tender age, the Fāriyāq began to look on her with the eyes of the star-struck paramour, according to the custom of novices in love of first falling in love with girls who are their neighbors, because they believe the goal is easily reached and because they can make use of their relationship as neighbors to plead their cause. Similarly, the girl neighbors usually sigh over their boy neighbors and wink at them as a way of signaling that there’s no need to go looking for a distant physician when the cure is close at hand. Old hands at love, however, look far afield and cruise the most distant grazing grounds, for, having made it their custom and habit to give in to every fancy of their souls, they feel it an obligation and a duty to make things difficult for themselves, and they find enormous pleasure in distancing themselves from the beloved and falling sick over her; any who opens his mouth in the hope that the fruit will fall into it can only be regarded as impotent.
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�� � � � � �� � ����� ���� ������ ������
ّ ّ ا ت � ا ن ��ا ن ّ ن �ف ا اق �ا ف�ي��ه �ل�� �ي��ع�د ا ��ل�ا �م� ا ��ل�ع�ا �ج�ز�ي�ن * � او ��ل ح� ��ص�ل ا � ا � �ل�� ر�ي� �� �ه�و�ى ج�� ر��ه �ل� ��ه ك�� � �غِ� ار م ع �� � � � ن � ة ا � ن�ز ن � ن ت ت ث � ا ا � ت ت ط �ن � ع � او �ن��ه�ا ��هى ا ��س��ه� �و�ه � او �م��ه �ل��ك�و���ه� ج�� ر� * �و �ل� � �م�� �ل��ه �م � حي�� ك�� �و�ه �م� ا ب��ي��ه ع ت ض � � � � � � � �غ ن ة ك� ���ا ن�� ت� ��مي���ل ا �ل ن��ا ��س ا �لي��ه * ��ي�ر ا � �م�د� ا ق��ا �مت��ه �ه ن��ا ك �ل� �ت� ���ط�ل * � او � � ����طر ا �ل�ى ا �لرج�� و م آع ��� ف ا ا ��ل ا ة ف � ا ا ن � ف �ق � ت� ّ �ت ن فّ ا �� ُ َ ح� � ا � �ل� ار � ب� ك�� �م� ا ب��ي��ه �وق��د ب�����قى ك��ل��� �ب� ج�� ر�ي�� * ��ل�م� � �ى �وح��سر � �و �����س ل� �ص�ع�د � * ع ن � � � ا ن � ن ظ �� � �ق�� �د�ة ��ع�ّ� ��ه�ا �ع�ن �غ� ا �م�ه * ف���ق��ا �� �م�ن �ج��م��ل��ة ا ����ا �ت �و� ل �خ�زه ا �ل�و ج��د �ل� � �ي ���م �ص�ي �ي ب ر ب � بي ر *
ا ��ف�ا ��قه�ا ��ع��ل ����غ� � ا ���ن ا ���غ�ا د � ن �ع��د�ه�ا � او لله � �و� ر ح�ى �ى ر ٍم و ى ر � ر
ش آ ق � �ة ف �صره ا �ل���ذ�ي�ن ��ي����س�م�و ن� ا ي��م�ا �ن�ا �مغ���� ظل����� �ب�ا �ن��ه� �ق�د �ع�ا ��ف�وا �و��هى ا �ش��ب��ه ب��ن �����س ����ع �ر ء �ع� م ش ق �غ � � � � � � � ة ن ا �ل��ط ��ع�ا �م � او �ل ش��� ار ب� � � ��و��ا �و� ار �م�ا * �و��س�هر� او ا �ل��لي��ا �ل�ى ا �ل��ط�ي�و��ل�� �و ج���دا �و�هي��ا �م�ا * � او ���هم� ���فّ ن � نّ �ه �ع ن ذ � � � ت � ّ ن � ا � ّ ��َ ْ ة ن ق ح� ���ط� ا � د ف� ن ا هو� � � � �ن�ا ��س�م�و� �و��د �م�ا �ت�� او �و��ك �� او � � �د � � � * � � ل هو� ب� ى ل� � ل� � ك �ي و و و � و و م ���ا ن�� ت� * ث�� ا �ن�ه �ل�م�ا ا ّ ���ط��ل� ا � �� ه �ع��ل �ت��ل�ك ا ��ل�ا ب����ا ت� ا �� ف�ل� ا �ق���ة ��ل�ا �م�ه �ع��ل�ه�ا � �ن�ه�ا ه �ع�ن ك� ي� و � ري ي ع ب و �ى م ّ ا ��لن ظ �� ��ا ن �ق �غ ف ا ن � �ن �� � ا � ��ف ا �� غ� ا � ا ��خل ف �ف � ��ا ن��م�ا � � ه � � � � ا ا � م ه �د � � * � * � ك ك � ط�� ا �ل� �و �ل�اد �ى ل�� �ل ب� ��ل�ا �� � � � ر ب بع م آ ّ ف �ن ت � � �� ق ة ح�ز ن ا ��ئ ث � �ير��ده �من �ه� ا �ب�� �و�ه� * �� ا �ن�ه ����ص�ل �م ��لك ا �ل� �ر�� � � �� ك �لم�ا � ��ي��ب��ا � تيم��م�ا �م��ف ت�� � ون�ا * � ي �ي ي م م م
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Various Amusing Anecdotes
In short, the Fāriyāq fell in love with his neighbor because he was new to the game, and she welcomed his love and gave him hope of success because she was a neighbor and because the prestige that he derived from being with his father disposed people well toward him. His stay did not last long, however, and he was compelled to return with his father. He had fallen very much in love with the girl and, when the time for separation came, he wept and mourned and heaved mighty sighs, and passion prompted him to compose a poem to express his love, one of whose verses went I part from her against my will and Leave, I swear, my soul with her —which is much like the poetry of the rest of the poets of his day, who would swear mighty oaths that they had given up food and drink out of yearning and passion, had spent long nights awake out of love and longing, were dead men, and had died and been put in their shrouds and embalmed and buried, while at the same time indulging themselves in any sport that might be going. When his father took a look at these valedictory verses, he reproached him and forbade him to write poetry anymore, though this seems to have made it the more attractive to him, for it is, generally speaking, in the nature of sons to do the opposite of what their fathers want. Then he left that village sad, forlorn, bewitched, lovelorn.
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1.3.15
� � ا � ف� ���ص�لا �ل ار ��� ل � � بع � � �ش�� � � ���� ن � ط� � � يڡ ر و ر و ب و ر ض ّق ة � � ف ق آ خ �ذ �ف �ق � ن ة � �ق �غ �د ك ��ي����� ا �لم�ص�ا د ر * ��ي�ر �م�ا �م� �ون�� ا �ل�ع� او � ب� ���ا � ا ب� ��و ا � �ل��ا ر�ي�ا �� � ��� ا ��ى ا �م�ور � آ َ � � ش غْ � � � ف ا �� � ا ي�ن ئ � ي�ه�ا �م�ن ا � �لق��� ء ا �لب�غ�� ض� �ة ي�ن � �ؤ �� � او �لم�ص�ا �ير * �لم�ا �� ��� �ب�� ا لر� س * �و���� ب� ا ��ه�ل لب��لاد �م� �ب�� ر��ي����س ��ا ن ذ ضَ ا ��لن�� � ة � ا � �ة خ � �ز ف ����ل� �م� � �و�مر��ؤ �و��س * ���ق��د ك�� � � ا � ح�ز ب� �م�ن �م ش����اي� ا �ل��د ر �و �م ش����ه�ور �ب� ج �د� � او �لب����س� �ل� � عع � فْ � �ا �� ا �� �ص�ن �ق ا �� ا ن ا ��لهْ ا ن ا ا � �ر� * �غ��ي�ر ا �ن��ه� ك� � � � ا ��ل�� ���ا �ن�� او صِ � ��ر ا �ل� �ي��د ى � او �ل� كي�� س �و ل� �د �و� �و ل�ص�و � �و �ِ �مي�� � و كم م � ا خ�ف ن � �ن ا � ّا��ا ن ش � ا ُ َ ً � ت �ّ ذ � � � ��� � ��ر� �وّ�ا ك� �� � � او �لب� ��و ت� * �و �ل� ي��� ا � � � ح��د ا �ل�ا ا � ا ���ا ن�� ت� �ل�ا ��مي���ل ا �ل�ى ا � �ى � ا ل�د ي�� �لم� ك� � ك�ل�ه� ك ي ي �ق ت � � َ �ا د ت ّ ف� ا ا � ��د � �ن ه �ف ا ��ل� ف ا ��س�م�ا �ل�ه�ا �ب�ا �لم�د �ّو ر �مث���ل�ه�ا �و�ه�وا ��ل��د ��ي ن��ا ر * �ف�ل�ا �ي ك� ي�ه� مر ب� و� * � �� �ي �� � �س��� � او � �ل�ل��� ي م م � �ن ��ا ن ذ َْ � ة ��ف �ُ �ن ا ش ن ��ل �� قئ ن � ا ت �ڡ خ���د �مت��ه * � او ��ل�عل��� � او ��ل � � ه � � � ح��س � ��ا ��م�ا � ي ح� ����د ا � ا �ى �ط� ع�� * �و م ك� � � ا ب ��س�ط� �ى م � �� � �ف� ض��� ��ف ا �ل�م ن�ا ��ق �ف� �ا � ��ف ��ده ُ ��� ���ه � َ ��� ���ه ��غ��� ا ��ل��د � ن�ا �ش �ا * � �ه �ع� �ص�غ ��ل � طول و � � ا �ج س�م و �ل �ى � ب� ل �ي ي طول ب �ي ر �ي � ر ���ي و �و �ل�ى ر � ا � �ُ حه � غ� � � ا � ن � �ث�ق �ف ا �� � ا �ل� َّ ة ا �ل� �نَّ ة � �ف �وه م�د �و ر� م�د ر� ج ��م� �ي ��ل ب� م� ك ���ا � كب����ي�را � � ي��ل�ا �م�ن ا �ل� �و ��ط�ا ر �و�لب��ا �ن�ا ت� ا �لن �����س * � ل�وج � َ � � � �ة نقا ة � �� � ا ا ��� � ض �ة خ ا ض �ة � ه أ ّا نَ َ� َ �ز � �ف ق � ا ل � � � ه � � � � � ا � � ا ك ا ا ��� �� � ���ع� �ل� � �ي� � ب ر * �و ل��د �ود ل�ط�يو�ل� م ���� د� لي�� ي� �م� د ا ر * �و �ج ب�� ه لعر�� ي � � ة �ف ا ا ا ق ا �� � �ن ن � � �ز �ص�د � ا ��ل ا ��س�ع��ة �ت�ض ق � ف ق �َّ ة � ا �ل�ص��ل�ي�ت�� � ك � ��ي ��� � �ل����ده * � �م� �م� ��ي��� ل م ا � ا �ل�د ر �و م��ب��� �ع�لي��ه * � او �ل� ور �و َ � � �ن ذ حقّ خ��ل�ا �ف� ذ� ��ل��ك * ا �م�ا �ك���س� � او ��لت�� ا ���نى � او �ن��ه� ��ل�ا ذ� �ّم��ة ��ل�ه� �و ��ل�ا � �م�ا � �ف�ا ��ل � � ه�م �م � �و�ى ا �ل�� ل و ذِ م � م م َْ حً � �ف ا ن ه ن ا �ش�� � �ن ا �� ��ق ن ا �ة � �ن�ز �ة ن � ن ذ� �و��س�م�ه� �ب�ا ��ل�� �ك���س�ل �ف�ا � حر�ى ا � �ي��ك�و� � �ل��ك �م�د��ا �ل�ه� * � �� �� �ى ع ل �� �ع� � او �ل� ا �ه� م م � � ّ � � � �ز ت ف ن �ف ق �غ ة � ف ت ت ل ح��د ���ل��ل�ا � ا ��ل�ز �ه�د * ��� ا � ا �ل�ص���ا ت� ا � ي�ه�ا ا �ل ن��ا ��س �م�� ج��ا �و ت� ا �ل ح�مي��د� ا �ل ��ى �ي��� ن��ا ���س �� ير و � ي ى � ا� �ف � ا ��لت ت �ق حل�� �مث اً� ���لت � ا ��لض��� �ف � ��ه�ا * ���ف ا �ل �ب���� �� ��ل ي �ب����س ب� � ع� * �و��ى ا � ك س� ب��ن�� ي�ض� ل��ر�م �ي��لت�ب����س �ب� �ل�بت���ذ�ير ى � م 84
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1،4،1
2،4،1
Chapter 4
Troubles and a Tambour
The Fāriyāq’s father was involved in matters as difficult in point of extrication
1.4.1
as they were uncertain in terms of outcome and implication, given their ability to set people at one another’s throats and the bad feeling between ruler and ruled that this promotes. He had a close relationship with a faction of Druze shaykhs famous for their doughtiness, valor, and generosity, whose hands, money pouches, coffers, cupboards, waist-bands,142 and houses were, however, empty. It is no secret that the world, being round in shape, favors none unless they lure it with something equally round, namely the golden dinar, without which nothing happens. To serve it, sword and pen stand to arms, while knowledge and beauty throng to service its demands. Anyone endowed with an ample physique or excellent qualities will find that tallness and talent benefit him nothing without the dinar, which, despite its small size, can bend any large and weighty ambition or care of the soul to its will. Round, well-minted faces thus submit to it when e’er it appears, tall figures are drawn to it no matter where it wanders, shining brows bend o’er it, and the sunniest of dispositions darkens when it’s lost. As to what they say about the Druze being lazy and slow and about their knowing neither covenant nor compact, the truth is entirely otherwise. Their characterization as lazy is more akin to a compliment, for it springs from their moderation, abstention from dishonorable acts, and renunciation of the world. On the other hand, the most praiseworthy characteristics become indistinguishable from their opposites when men compete in making a show of them and they exceed by even a little their proper bounds. Thus, excessive clemency, for example, becomes indistinguishable from weakness, generosity from prodigality, courage from impetuosity and
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1.4.2
�ف ش �ن ط� ��ور �ي� ���ر�ور �و �� ب
� ��ا �ع��ة ��ا ��لت�ه� � ا �ل�مغ���ا �م �ة * ��ل�ا ��� ا ��ل�ا �ف ا ���ط ���ف ا ��ل�ع��ا د�ة � ا ��لت��د ّ�ن ف��ا ��ل�ا �ف ا ���ط * �و���فى ا �ل��ش�ج� ب ل ر ى ب و �ي ب � ور و ر ر َ � � � � �ذ ذ �ف � � � ة �ز � ���ا ن�� ت� ا �ل��د � � فم�� ��ط��ي�ن �� ا � �ل�ق ن��ا �ع�� ا � �ل�ا �تر�ى �م�ن �ي��لت����� ��ا �ل�ه�و��س � او �ل � �خ ب��ا �ل * �ه� ا �و�لم�ا ك� رو ر ى ب سب آ ق ّ � � ت � �ف �ف � � ح��دا ��ي����� ا � �لق �ف خ ن �و��ض� ا �بل�� ح�ا ر ��ى ��ط��ل ب� ا ِ�ل�ا�ز� ء (� )1و��ى ا �لت��ا �ن��ق� ي �ڡ � آ ���ا ر �يو�� �ه�م ا � ح� ب��ي�� � ل �ه �ز� ا ء ()1 ا م و ِ � ا �ن ُ ف ّ � � � ة ّ ف �خ ش � ��ل�ل�ا �م� ر ا ��ل ا�لم��لب ��و��س � او �لم��ط � ��سي����س�� � �وي��د �ن��ق� � �ه�ا * ا �و �م�ن ��س�ب�� ب� ا �ل�ع��ي��� ا و ��ع�و� * �و �ل� �م ي��� �س ي� و ّ م �م�ا ��س�ب�� ب� �م� ن� ر غ��د ه ا ش � �ص�ن ا �ئ � ش ا ّ ن ��� ا��ث �ن � � ُ ة � ف � ق ّ ظ ت �ن ��ي ب�� ���را �ل� � �� �ه�م ا �ل��ك���س�ل � او �ل �� او ��ى * �و�م�ع��ل�و�م ا ��ه ك��ل�م� ك���ر ع ا �ل���� ��� * ��� �ي� �اف ن � ا ن ن نَ َ ّ ت ��ث ن ت ��د ه �و�ه ّ�م�ه * ف��ا ��لج� �ص��ه �وك�� ش���ره ا �ل� ���س�ا � �و���ه�م�ه * ك���ر ��� ��ا ر �م�ن ا �ل� �ر� �ع��ل�ى �ثر �و���هم� ب �ج فّ �غ � ق ح �� �اد �ن ا ف �ت � ا ��لت ا � �من �ق ا �ن �ص�� � ���قى �م�ن ��ل�ا ��ى ب ل � * �� رى �� �ه� ��ي� �و� �ع��ل�ى ��د �مي��ه �م ا �ل �و� ن��ا �ه� ا �ش �� � ج � ر ب م م ح م � � اً � � ذ � ن � ة ة �ز ن ّ ّ ة ا ا ف � ش ا ا ا ا ا � ا ��ل�ى ا ��ل��س� �ع�� ا �ل�ع� ��� � �لي��ل� * � او �م� ا � ا �ل�د ر �و �ل� �ع�ه�د �ل�ه� �و �ل� � �م�� �� ��م� �ه�و �م 3،4،1 ح��ض� ر م آ ُ ش ث �ن�ث � ن ن �ّ ذ ه��ا ن� * ا � �ل� ��ع َ �ف� �عن ا ف���تر� ء �و��� ت �ه� ا �ن��ه� �ع�ا �ه�د � او ب�����ى �� ك �� �� او �ب�ه د �و� ا � يح � � �ي ��س او ر ب م م م م ش ة ا ا ��لن ��ن ��ت غ� ت ن �ن �ُ ا َ � �غ خ ا ن � �� �� را �ى ا �م ار � ج�� ره �� �ه�م ا �و�� ي �م ا�لم�ع� �ه�د ا �لي��ه ��د را * ا �و ا � ا �م�ي�را �م � �ص ار �ى ������س�ل � �ت ض ا ض ت ا َت ْ � ت ا ُ ا ف� ث � ا �ن ت� �ّق � ا غ ف �ص��ه�ا * �ي ��و�م�ا ��ا �ج�عب� �ه �ب�� ��� � �ه� �وب� ��و� �ص�ه� * ب��ع� ا �لي� ����ه� � ب�و���ي��ل � �ه� �م �م� �ل� �ل�ه� ا �و ��� ب أ � ن �ث ئ �خ له� * �و�م��س�ت�� �م ن�� ن� ���فى � ���و ن� ���فى ظ ������ ح�م�ا �ه� * � او ن�� ت� � ب��ي�ر �ب�ا � ك����ي�را �م�ن ا �لن��ص�ا ر�ى �ع�ا � ش � � و م َ م أ �ذ � � ن ت َ � � ّ � ََ �� ا �م��س�ت�� �من �ه� �ه� ا �لي���ك�و� �� او � � او �ن��ه� �ل�و خ��ي�ر � او ا ن� �ي��ترك�� ح ت� ا �ْم�ن �م ش����اي خ� ا �لن��ص�ا ر�ى �ل�ا ب� �� ا و* � و م م � � �ف � ة ن ن ن � خ خ ق � � � � ا ا ا ا ت �ن � � �ك�ن � حر�م��ه ك�� � ��لي ���� ب� � حر�م�� ا جل ��ك�ل ��ي�ر * �و�ل� �ي�� �� ر ��ى � �و�ع ن��د �ى ا � �م ك�� � �يرع�ى � م ّ ت ح�زّ� � ا ��لت��ا ��ل� ���ي�ن ���ط� ا ��ئ�ف� ا ��ل��د � �ز � �غ��� �ه� ف��ا ن��م�ا ��يل خ� � �ون�ه ���فى �غ��ي�ر�ه�ا * ف��ا �م�ا �م�ا ج�ر�ى �م�ن ا ��ل�� �� ر و و ر و ي ب و ب ب م ن �ذ � ة � ّ � �ّ � ف �ك�ا� ا ��هى ا �م�ور ��س�ي �ا ��س�ي �� �ل�ا ��ت�ع�� �لق� �ل�ه�ا �ب�ا �ل��دِ�ي�ن * �ب��ع��ض� ا �ل ن��ا ��س � �يري��د �و� �ه� ا ا �ل�ا �م�ي�ر � ح� �م ��قت�ئ �ذ � �ذ � �غ ��ا ن ا � ا �� �ف ا � ا �ق �م �ن � � خ � ا ح�ا �و�ل ���ل� ا �ل� �م�ي�ر ا �ل�� �ى �و � � 4،4،1 ��ه �ع��ل�ه � ���ع ض� �يري��د ��ي�ره * �وك�� � ب ��و ل�� ري� � �م ي ي� �م بو � �م ع ف ا ن� ا �ز � ا ش آئ �ن ذ ق ت �ف ت ن � او ��ل�يً�ا �� �ا ��س��ة ا �ج��ل � ب���ل * �� ح� ا �ل�ى ا �ع�د � ��ه �و�ه�م �م � �و�ى � ارب����ه �ج�ر� ب��ي�� � �ه�م �م�ه� �و��� س�ي آ آ � � � �ف � �م ن��ا � ��ش �غ��� �م �ة * � � �ل ا �ل�ا �م ���ع�د�ه�ا ا ��ل� � ش���� ا �ع�د � ء ا �ل�ا �م�� * ف� ف���ّ � ا ا ��ل� د �م ش ق � ير و و � ير ر و رو ى رب ى �ل ���� � � �ف ة ���د�ة �م�ن � �ه�ا ��ف� �ع�د �ه� � �م نّ��ا �ه� * � �� �ت��ل�ك ا �ل��ل���ل�� ا �ل�ت �ف ّ� ا ف��ه�ا ج�ه �ي��ل�تم��س�و ن� ا ��لنج� ��م ت� و �ز�ير و م و م وى ي �ى رو ي� ن � � �ف ا اق ن �ا ف� ف�� ّ � � ا �ّ ه ا ��ل ا � ن ة ا � ق �ه�ا �لب��ع��ض� �ج� ��ود ا �ل� �م�ي�ر �ع��ل�ى �و ��ط�ن ا � �ل�� ر�ي� �� * �ر م م� �ى د ر ح�صي����� �ب� � �ل�رب� �م � ع 86
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recklessness. Indeed, even excessive worship and religiosity become indistinguishable from obsession and insanity. This being the case, and given that the Druze are excessive in their moderation—so that you will not find any of them braving the desert wastes or setting forth upon the seas to seek their sustenance (izāʾ )(1) or aspiring to elegance in clothing or food or stooping to or becoming deeply involved in any base occupation or practicing the toilsome crafts—they are thought to be lazy and sluggish. It is also well known that
(1) Izāʾ means “means of sustenance, or whatever ease of living has been created through work.”
as a person’s appetites and greed increase, so too do his ill health, his hard work, and his cares. Frankish merchants, for all their wealth and riches, are worse off than the peasants of our country: you find them on their feet from morning until ten at night. As for the Druze knowing no agreements or covenants, this is mere slan-
1.4.3
der and falsehood, for they have never been known to undertake to do something and then to break their word, unless they sensed foul play on the other’s part. Nor is it known for an emir or shaykh of theirs to see his Christian neighbor’s wife bathing one day and, finding her fair-skinned plumpness, her buttocks, and her fine silks pleasing, to send someone to flatter or abduct her. Also, as you are well aware, there are many Christians living under their patronage who have requested and received their promises of protection and who, if given the choice of abandoning their protectors in favor of having their security provided by the Christian shaykhs, would refuse. In my opinion, anyone who takes care to preserve the sanctity of the neighbor who is under his protection deserves every good thing and will not betray him in other matters. As for the factionalism and conspiracies among the Druze and other communities, these are purely political matters, some wanting this emir to rule them and some that, and they have nothing to do with religion. The Fāriyāq’s father was one of those who sought to depose the emir who was, at the time, entrusted with the political affairs of the Mountain; he took the side of his enemies, who were the emir’s relatives.143 More than once, commotions and skirmishes broke out. Then the tide turned against the emir’s enemies, and they fled to Damascus begging for aid from its governor, who gave them promises and raised their hopes. On the night of their escape, the emir’s troops attacked the Fāriyāq’s home town, so he fled with his mother to a fortified house nearby belonging to another emir. Looters took all the silver and household possessions that they found in his house,
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1.4.4
�ف ش �ن ط� ��ور �ي� ���ر�ور �و �� ب
آ آ ا ��ل�ا �م � ء * ف�ن�ه� ا ��ل ن��ا �ه �� ن� �م�ا � ���د � ا ���ف ����ت��ه �م�ن �ف� ض� ة �ن ة �ن � � ة ذ � � � ن ط� ��ور ���� � �و �ي��� �و�م �ج �م�ل�� � �ل�ك �� ب ر �ب ب و و ج و ى بي � ن � � �غ ا�ز �ن ف ف ن �س�� �� ا � �لف��ا ر��ا �ق� �م� ا �م�ه �� ت� �ت��ل�ك ا �ل�ز �ع� ر ج� ���ا � �ي��ع�ز �� �ب�ه ا �وق��ا ت� ا � ف�ل� ار * ���ل�م�ا ا � � ك ك ي ع ع ع � ن ا ��ل� ا ��ل��� ت� ��ف� ���دا ه ق��ا �ع�ا � فص���ص�ف��ا * ث�� ُ دّ ا ��ل��� ن ه��ه �ل� ط� ��ور �ع��لي��ه ب���ع�د ا �ي�ا � * ف��ا � �م�ن �ن� � مر ى بي و ج ب ب م م � � � � � � �ف ذ ة �ز ق ن ن ت ف ق �ف ن ا ت ���د ���ف � ح�م��ل�ه �من ����ع�� �و�ل�م ��ي���د ر ا � �ي�ب��ي��ع�ه ا � ا �ل�ع�ا ��و� �ب�ا �ل� � ا �ل��طرب� ��ى ���ل�ك ا �لب��ل�اد ���لي���ل�و� ي ج� ى �ف ق ف �ق ��دا ف ا � ��� � ق ت � ق ة��فّ ة ن ط�ا ه � �ل���سي����س ���ل�ك ا � �ل� �ر�� ��ك��ا ر� �ع�م�ا ���ه ب� * �رده ا � �ل���سي����س �ع��ل� ا � �ل��ا ر��ا �� * ج� * �� ع ي ى ي ��ا �نّ � ت ن ا �ق � ا ف ا ئ ة �ذ ��خ ���ر ا ��ل��ا رد * ق���ل ت� ا ن� �و ج�� � � ن ا ��ف ��ل �وك�� ��ى ب�م�ع��ر��ض� �ه�� ��ي� �و�ل �م� �� ���د� �ه� ا ا لب ب �ود ا �ل��ط�� �ب�ي�ر �ى ا �ج� ب���ل �ز�ي�ز �ّ ��ا ذ�� ن ا ف ا ن �ص�ن ة � ا ��ل ا ن � ع�ز �ف ا � ا � َ ُ ا � ا ا � شَ ْ �ع ج��د ا �مك� � ك�ر�� * �� � � �ع�� ا �ل� � ح�ه�م� �ب� �ل ����ي��ن * ح� � � او �ل� � �ب� �لم�ل� �هى ��� � س �ص� ب � يِ م � َغْ ُ ن �ف � ّ � � � �ف ذ � ا � �ق �ص��ّ � ا ��ل��ت ش �لم�ا ��ى � ��ل��ك �م�ن ا �لت� ��طر�� ب� � او �لت�� و � �ل �و� �ه ن��ا ك �ي����� �لو� ��ى ا �ل��د �ي�ن * ���و� ��ق� * � ب و ى ي م ي ��ذ ن �ن �� ا � ��ذ �� ّ � ��ذ � � � ا ش �آ ن ن � ت�� �ل ا �� �غ� ن�آ ا ���ع�ز �ف ح� ر �و� �م �ك��ل �م� ��ل� ا ل �و� �� حوا ��س * �و�ل� �ل�ك �ل� ي����� ء �و� ا � �ي ع� �م� او ل �� ء �و ل � ي ي � س�ت � � �ف ا �ت ف ت � �خ ت � ش ا ا ا � � � �� �ب�ا � ح�د �ى ا �ل� � ا �ل��طرب� * ا �و ي ع�م��ل� �ه� �� �م�ع� ���د �ه� � �ص��ل� ا ��ه كا � ����ع �م���� � ه و ى ب م و و � �م �م� �ل ي � �م ن ُ ف � �ف ن ن �� ا ��ل�ا �ف � * �خ� ش����ي ��ة ا ن� ��ي ف�� ض��� �ب��ه� ذ� ��ل��ك ا ��ل�ى ا ��ل�ا ��ل � ح�ا د * ���ع ن��د �ه�م ا � �ك��ل ��ف�ن �م�ن ا � �ل ن��و� ى م ر�ج � � � � ا � ت �غ� نَّ ��ف � � � ة ا � � ن �� ط�ف��� ك� ا �ل��ل�� ي � ���ا �ل ش����عر � او �ل� ��ي�ق��ا �مث��ل�ا � او �لت��ص�ور � ك م��ر�وه * �و�ل��ك�ن �ل�وا ���ه�م س�م�ع� او �م� �ي � ��ى �ب�ه �ى �ي ع اُ � �ذ�� �ي�ن �ن � ��ش ف ا � اُ ��غ�ن � �ن ا ��ل���ل ن َ ��ا �ئ�� �م ش����ا �خ ت �ك�ن� ا ع�ز � � �ه� ا�لم� ك��ور �م ا�لم�و �� ح� � * ا �و �م� �ي�� �� �ب�ه �ع��ل�ى �ل� ر م � حو� س ي م آ � �م ا �ّ �ق ة ت �ف � � �َ � ��ل�ا ��ا ��ل��ل ��ا ��ل � ا ��ل ن����س�� * �ل�م�ا ا �ل ��تى �َو�ل� ا �ل ن��ا ��س �ب��ه�ا ��ى ا�لم�ل�ا �ع ب� � او�ل�م ار �ق��� �و� �ه�و� ا ���سج� ب ر ج و ح� �ل ا � �ل � ص ِع ا � ن ة � � ا �غ�ن��ا � غ ص�ن �ن ا ��ل��ش� ة ��ا ��ل�فخ ��ذ � � ��ف � � ث ن ف ن ن ا ا � ��س��� ا �ل�ى ا �ل� ر� ك�� �ل���� �م �ج��ر� ا �و ك�� �� ط� ��ور �ب� �ل�� ب ط� ��ور ا �م� * �� � ا �ل�� ب را � او ��ي ا �ل�� ب �ة ذ � ا �ُ��سَ � ن ه � ا �� ن �� ن �ة ��ف � ا ��غ�ن �� ن �� ن �ة ن ن �ة خ��ن�� ة �م�ن ا �ج��ل �خ ن��� �ود �م�د �م� � �� � س * ا � �ل� ي �م� م�� ا �ل� �ط��ط�� �و�ى ا �ل� ر �ط��ط�� �ود ���د �� �و ع م � � �ة ���ل � �ة ق � �ق � �ة �ز ق�ز ق �ة ��ق ق �ة � ��ق ق �ة ف� �ق ف ق �ة �� �ق �� ق �ة ق ق �ة � �� � �ة �و صل�ص�ل� �ود ر�ل� �و ج ج��ل� �و��ل��ل� �و � �� �و �و �و�� �وب� ب ���� �و� � �� ��� �و�ط��ط��� �ود ��د �� ب ة ف ة ��ش �خ �خ ش ش � ة �غ� �غ� ة خ خ ة ق ق ة � � ة �� �� �ة �� ش �ة ة � �ق��ع�ق�� � � �ق�� � � �� ��� خ� �����خ ط�� و ع� و�ر ع� و ��� �و ���� �و ج�رج�ر� �و ر ر� �و�ر�ر� �و�ر�ر� � بو بر ر� �و� ب ط�� ب ة �ز م�ز ة � ة � � �ة �ق ق ة ��ة �غ� ����ط�م ����ط �ة �ت ا �ت ا ة ح� ة �� �� �م� �و� � � ه �ه�� � بو���عب�� � بو���عب��ع�� �و � �م�� �وه�م�ه�م�� �و �حمم� �و �ود �ب��د �ب�� �و�ك�ه��ك�ه� �و � � ف ة ض ا ض �آ ا �آ ق ا ق�آ ع َ ْ َ ق َ َنَْ َ غ � � ح��ف ��ف ف � ق �خ � � � ط� ��ط �وج� ��� ء � �وي� �ي� ء �و�� �� ء �و� �ص�ه� ��� � �ود ا د ا � �و� � ي ��� �و ح�ي� �و� ي � �ص�� �ل� �و ج��ل�ب��� �ل� �و�� ��ي ح خ ف �ز�ي�ز ط���ي�ن � �ع � �ن ش����� ش�� � �ن��ي�ن � ��ن ��ق ��ق � ��� ن �ص �ر�� �و� ��� � او ر�ير �ود �و�ى �و�ر�ير � او �و�هرر �و� �صر�ير و و ي � ور و ي � و ج�ي �ي �ي �ج 88
88
5،4،1
6،4،1
Troubles and a Tambour
among them a tambour144 that he used to play in his spare time. When these convulsions quieted down, the Fāriyāq and his mother returned to their house and found it stripped bare. A few days later, the tambour was returned to him; the person who’d stolen it, seeing no benefit in carrying it about and unable to sell it—for players of musical instruments in those parts were very few—had given it to the village priest to make amends for what he had stolen, and the priest returned it to the Fāriyāq. Do I hear someone objecting here and asking, “What is the point of
1.4.5
this banal tale?” I respond: as we said, a tambour was a very rare item on the Mountain, for composing tunes and playing musical instruments are regarded as shameful, because they induce ecstatic pleasure and amorousness and incite desire. The natives there are fanatical about religion and warn against anything capable of causing sensual pleasure. Consequently, they do not want to learn to sing or play an instrument or to use the latter in their places of worship and their prayers, as do their Frankish shaykhs,145 lest this lead them into disbelief. Thus, every one of the gentle arts, such as poetry and harmony, for example, or painting, is an abomination. Could they but hear the hymns sung in the churches of their aforementioned shaykhs or the tunes on the organ that people are so fond of and that are played in places of entertainment, dance halls, and cafés to attract men and women, they’d find no sin in the tambour. The tambour is to the organ as the branch is to the tree or the thigh to the body, for the only sound that it makes is a strumming, while the organ produces strumming and humming, mumbling and rumbling, jangling and jingling, squeaking and creaking, chirping and cheeping, burbling and barking, clicking and clacking, gnashing and crashing, chinking and clinking, gurgling and gargling, purring, cooing, and bleating, thrumming and drumming, roaring and guffawing, glugging and gabbling, la-la-ing and lullabying, horses’ neighs and the roaring of waves, blubbing of billy goats and cricking of cradles, cries of men at war, call of merlins and raven’s caw, old women moaning and heavy doors groaning, snores and stertors, huffing and soughing, water boiling and grief-stricken bawling, frogs ribbiting and ears tinky-tinkling, bulls bellowing and gaming-house reprobates roaring, reverberations and crepitations, pots gently bubbling and chilly dogs whimpering, pulleys squeaking and crickets chirruping, milk flowing, chickens crowing, and cats mewing, not to mention caw-caw and hubble-bubble
89
89
1.4.6
�ف ش �ن ط� ��ور �ي� ���ر�ور �و �� ب
ْ ْ �غ �م ْ � ق � ق �� � يِّ ُ آ �غ ق �غ ق ��ش��خ �ئ ِ�م��ئ �و ���� خ �ص���ئ �و� �م �و �و��ا �� ��ا �� �و�غِ� �ق� � �ق� �و ��ط�ا �� ��ط�ا �� �و�ِش��ي�� ب� �ش��ي�� ب� �و� � �و ب� �و طِ�ي � � �ن �ط�ن �ط�ن ف ا ن ق ��� � خ ق ق ق ق خ ا ا �ز خ ا ق ا ق ف ا �ي�ن �ذ � �ط�ي�� �و�ي ��� �ي ��� �و�� �زِ �ب� �و�� �� �ب� �� * �� �ه� ا ك�ل�ه �ه�د ا ك ا لله �م �� �� * �� � �ي���ل � َ �ْ ق �ف � � آ � � �غ � ل�ا ئ � ا ن� ا ��لر� ب���ة �ع�ن ا �ل�ع�ز �ف� �ب�ه ا ن��م�ا �ه�و��ل�� �ك� �ون�ه ي� ش���ب��ه ا �ل�ا �لي���ة * �ي���ل ��م�ا �ب�ا �ل ا �ل ن����س�� �ي��د خ���ل�ن ا � � � � ك�ن �� س ّ ذ�� � �ع�� ��ؤ ��سه�ن �ه��ذه ا �� �لق� � ن ا �� ف�ل� ض ����ة �و��هى �تش���ب��ه ف�ن� ���طي����س��ة ا ��خل ��� ر ا ج���ل�ك ا لله �ع�ن � ك�ره * � رو� و ل�ى ر � ن�ز�ي �ذ �ذ ّ ذ � ت � ن ت فق �� �� �� �وف�ن� ���طي����س��ة ا �خل ���ن�ز�ير ا ج���ل�ك ا لله �ع�ن � ك�ره � ش���ب��ه ك�� ا �وك�� ا * �����د ��تب��ي��ن �ل��ك ا � ا �ع��را ض� ����ك ن ذ �ڡ ��م �ّه ف ا ن ا � ت ا �ّ ا ا ��� ن ا �ت ّ � ا ن �� ا �� �� ن ��ا ن �غ � ح�ل� * �� � ب�ي��� �ل� لع�� د �و�� �ص�د ��ي ت� �ل� � ط� ��ور ك�� � ي ��ي�ر � او رد * � او � � ك�ر ل� ب � ّ �� �ئ ن ��تت ت�خ �ڡ � ا ع�ق� ن� ��ز ��ل��ة �قل��� � ��غ���� �ز ��ل��ة * � �م ت� ا ن� ��ت��د �ى ��ل��ل ن��ا ت � � � � � ط � �� � ا ع � � � ا �ل� ��ن ت��ق��ا د � � ك س بر ور ى و ب ى ب م بو ي ر ي ب � ت � ّ ف �ن � �ذ ت ف � ل��ا ب� * � �ول�ع�مر�ى �ل�و ا �ن��ك �ع��ل�م ت� ��سب�� ب� ش���ر�و�ع�ى �ي��ه ى ��ا ��ى ا �م��س��ك �ع�ن ا ��م�ا �م �ه� ا ا � ك�� �ع��ل� ف � ش � �� ���ك �و�ت��س��لي���ة خ��ا ���ط ك �ل�م�ا ��ت�� �و�ه�و ا ��لت�ن ��ف�ي���� �ع�ن ك� ح ت� ف��ا ك �ع��ل� َّ �ب�ا �لم�ل�ا �م��ة ي ڡ � ����ى * ر ر س ى ب ق � � �غ ا ا� ا ن ح�ت ا �ف �م�ن ��غ�ز � ��� ت ّ� ح��س�ا ن� ا �ص���ل � ف���ق��ا ب���ل ا �ِ�ل�ا � �ص��ى * ل ح�ك ا لله �ب� �ل� ح��س� � � او �صب��ر �ع��ل�ى ى ر ن ت �ق ت ذ � � ف ا ن �نّ ��خل � � � �ُ �ان �آ ف ف � ��اب ��ى ي ڡ � بو���ع�د � �ل�ك �� � �ع ��ا ��طرك ا � ����ل�ى ب� ك�� � ا �ل ن��ا ر ا �و ا�لم�� ء ��ا ����ع�ل * �و�لن��ع�د ا �ل� � � � � � � � �ن خ ة ا ��ل�ى ا � �لف��ا ر��ا �ق� ف�ن ���ق �و�ل ا �ن�ه ا ق��ا � �م� � او ��ل��د �ت�ه ي ڡ � ا �لب�ي�� ت� ��ي ت��ع�ا ��ط�ى ا �ل����س�ا ��� * � او �ن�ه �ل�م �ي��لب� ث� ي مع ف�تف � ق � � �ذ ا ��ل�ف ّ � � �ق �� �� � � �ن ش ق ن � � ���� * ��� ��طر��لب��ه �ل�ه� ا ج� ا ن� �ورد �ع�لي��ه ���ع � او �ل�ده ي ڡ �� � د �م � ط� ��ور ع �و �ود �ل�و ب ���ى ا ل� ب ى ا ت�ت �ز � ّ � ه ت �ذ �ف ّ ن ف � � � ن �ت ت �ت ا ن �ص�� � � �و��د � �و�ج� �ه� �و � �ع ن��د �ن�ا �هب��ه * �وك� ���ا ��� ا �م�ه � ��� د ڡ � �ك�� ح��سر�ع�لي�� � �و�� ر� ب ر ي ل �بح � � � � ا�ز ح�ا ت� ال�مت�� ���ا ن�� ت� �م�ن ا ��ل�ص�ا ��ل �ق��ده * ف��ا �ن��ه�ا ك� � ا�لم�د ا �م� � ف�ل � حب�ب��ا ت� �ل� � او �ج� �ه�ن �ع�ن خ���ل�و��ص �ود ا د عق فآ ا �ت � ��ا ن ت ت �ظ�نّ ن ن ا � �ن ا ا ف � �ي�ز � ح�ز �ن�ه�ا ا �ير �ه� ي ڡ �ه� �ل� ا �و� � ا � �� ار د�ه� ح�ى �ل� �ي��د � � �ص�د �� �و�� ء * �وك�� ��� �� ��� ا � ا ب�� � �ؤ ت ا ا � �� ��آئ ا ��ك�ن � ف ا ا �ق ��ا ن � ن �ظ �� ا � خ � ت ا � � ح ش���ت�ه�ا �ى لب� ك� �� ���ه� * �ل�� ا � �ل�� ر�� � ك�� � �ي �� ر�ه� ي ڡ � ��ل�و���ه� � �و ب� ك�� �ه� ا �ي� ه ��ي ب� ك�� �ى �ل�و� � �بر � ��ي � ي �ي ت تش ا غ ا � ت � ة ��آء ف ا ذ ا � ��ف� ف غ � � � ت ش ّ �� ل��ا �ب�� ا �و ب�����ي�ر�ه�ا * ��ع ت� ��ك���ك�� �عب��را ��ه �و����� ���ل �ب� � ك�� ح��د���ه�ا ا ����د ا �لب� ك�� * �� � ر ج وو ّ � � �ذ ذ � � ة ن خ �غ ن �غ �� ف � ف �و�م� � ��ل��ك ا �ل�و��ق ت� �ع �ف� ا �ن�ه �ل�ا �مج��ل ��ا �ل�ه ب���ع�د ا لله ��ي�ر ك��د ه ���ع���ك� �ع��ل�ى ا �ل����س�ا ��� * ��ي�ر ا � ر � ْ ق � � � �ف � � � �ت �ف � ا � ا � ا � ط���ي�ن � ��ل�اد �ل�َ �ق�� �ق �ش��ه�ا �� ن �ه��ذه ا ��ل ��ك� الم ح ف���ة �م��ذ خ��� �لق� ا لله ا � �ل�ل��� �ل�ا �ت�� � ح� ر� ب��ه� و �ل� ي �س�م� ي ڡ ب وع ر � ر ى م � �ؤ ة ن ا ا �ت� �ت �ذ � ا ن ذ � � ّ �ن �خ ّ � َ ��قَّق �ن �ف �ور�ن��ي�ن * �و�لر� �ي�� د ��ي �� ر�ه� ك �ه�م�ه* ��ب��ي�ر �و��ع� �وي�� ا �ل� ا � � �ل�ك ج�� �ود �م � ��ط�ه �ور �� �م � 90
90
7،4،1
8،4،1
Troubles and a Tambour
and wham-bam and slurp-slurp and baa-baa and tee-hee and keek-keek and buzz-buzz and schlup-flup146—after all of which, what’s wrong, God guide you, with plinkety-plink? If it be said that that aversion to playing the organ derives solely from its resemblance to the buttocks, reply may be made, “What do you make then of the fact that their women enter their churches with those silver ‘horns’ that resemble pigs’ snouts (God exalt you above any contamination by their mention!) on their heads, given that pigs’ snouts (God exalt you above any contamination by their mention!) resemble youknow-whats?” This should prove to you that your objection is baseless and mention of the tambour appropriate. If you insist on being obstinate, are bent on catching me out in error and
1.4.7
exposing me for slips (and non-slips) of the pen, and want to show people how clever you are by criticizing me, then I won’t go through with this book. I swear, if you knew the reason why I embarked on it—namely, to relieve your dudgeon and entertain your mind—you wouldn’t utter a word of reproach against me about anything. Meet, then, good deeds with good and be patient with me till I finish my tale. Afterward, if it crosses your mind to throw my book into the fire, or the water, go ahead. Let us return now to the Fāriyāq. We declare: he lived with his mother in the house and practiced the copyist’s trade, but news of his father’s demise in Damascus soon reached him. He was heart-broken and wished the tambour were still with the one who stole it. Each morning his mother would go off by herself, utter laments for her husband, and grieve for him, the tears gushing for his loss, for she was one of those righteous women who love their husbands with honest affection and true loyalty. She thought that, if she went off by herself, her son wouldn’t see her and her sorrow would not then be compounded by seeing him weep at her grief, but the Fāriyāq would look on her in her private place and weep bitterly over her desolation and loneliness. Then when she returned he would hold back his tears and busy himself with writing or anything else. It was now that he realized that he had nothing he could rely on, after God, but the sweat of his own brow, so he devoted himself to copying. However, since the day that God created the pen, that profession has never been enough to support those who practice it, especially in countries where the appearance of a piaster is cause for rejoicing and the sight of a dinar is greeted with plaudits of “God is great!” and “We seek refuge with God from lapidated Satan!” It did, however, give him a good hand and refine his thinking.
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� ��خ�ا ا � ��ل�ف��ص� ا ��ل � � م �� ل س ت ت � ��ق���س���� � ك�� ����� �و� �ح��ل���� �و����ل ي �ڡ � �� �� ح و ي ي ي ي س س س س � ش �آ ف ت � ت آ � � تق ث ق ا � �� ت ��ق �ا �م�ن �ق ار � خ�را � ف�ل���ص�ل ا �ل � م���د �م �� ا �ت�ا ه خ��ا د �م�ه �ي��د �ع�وه �ل��ل�ع���� ���رك ا � ك�� ل�� ب� �و�� م ي �س� ب���ل م � � � �ا ه� �خ � ف �ت ف ش ق � ت � ت ت ا ا ا ت ل��ا ��س � او �ل���ط�ا ��س � او � �لق��د � � او �ل��ك�و ب� م�م� ا � ���ل��� ا ��� ك� ا �� ك� �� �ل� � � و ��� �و��� �م��� د�يره * ح ث ق خ � ا �ن�ه ���س�ا �م � �ن�ه ��ف�من�ه �م�ن ق��ا �� ��ل�ه ا ���ن �ض �� �� ت� ا ��ل �� � ��ا ��ت � �ن�ز ��ل ت� ��ه�ا �� ا �ب���ل ت� �ع��لي��ه ا ��و ي رو � م� ل ى رب ي وم ج �ير ى و ب� م ذ �� � ث � � ن � ق ا ف ت ن ت ن � ا �ً�ا ا ا ا ا ا �ز ن � عه� �و�ل�و ب����ص�� �م � ا �ل�ى ا �ل��س�و�� �ع��ل�ى �ع �م ا � ا ب��ي�� � �ه� * �و� �ل�ك �ل� ���ه� ا ج�� ب��� ��س�ي �د ���ه� ج��و ب � � �ن ق� � ن �خ ��ف��ا * � �من ���س ��رب� �ل�ا ��ى را ��ي ت��ه �ي��ل�ع ب� �م� ��ر��ب ت� اب� ��ى ا �ش���د ا �لض� ���ا ض� �ه� �م�ن ��ا �ل �ل�ه � او �ن�ا ا �ي� ض� �ي و �م ع � � � ��ل ث ق � �ان ف �ن ف ��ه� ق��ا ��ل � ا �ن�ا حب����س�ت�ه ي ڡ ��ي�را ن� �� � ا �و �ل�اد ا � ا� ك ل���ي ��� �و�ه�و �ب�ا �ٍ� ا �ل�ى ا �ل� � �ي��ه * � بو���ع ض� و � ج م م �ز � ت ا ن �ت �� � �خ �� ا � ا �خ ن � �ص�د �ه�ا ا � � � � ���ا � ح ّر�ج� ت� ا �لي ��و� �ع��ل�ى �و�ج �ى �ب� � ��ط�ل�ع��ى �ع��ل�ى �ج �مي�� �م� ي �طر ب��ب�� �ل�ه� �يو ل ا �ي� ض� �� ر م ع �ج ت � � ح��ل ه ا � ض ا �ڡ � � �ن � ا � ح�ل�ا � ا ��ل ��ت �ت� ن�� ش����ا �ع�ن �م�ن ا �ل�ا �ف ك� ��ا ر � او �ل�ه� او �ج���س * � بو��م�ا � �م� ي�� ��� ي � ا �ل�لي���ل �م ا �ل� � م ى � ن � � ت �آ � � ا�غ � �ن خ� � � ن � ق � ��ع�ا � * ا �و �م�ن د خ��ا � ا �لغ�� ار � �ب���ل ا �ل�ن�ي �ا � * �وق���ل ت� �ل�ه�ا ا � �ل� ��ا ر ا �ل��ط ا م��ل� ء ا �ل�د �م� م ب م م م م ف ��كّف � � �ظ �ق ت خ� ن � ق ن �� ح ��� �ع��لي���ك ث�� ي����ست�خ�� ��ر�� ت� �ب��ك ا �ب�ا �ن�ا ا � �ل���سي����س �ي����رك �ب�� �ير ��ى �ب�ا �لي �����ي�ن ا ض� و � �م���ك �ك��ل ر ر ي �ج ي م �� ا ت ت �ي�ن ت ات �ت ت ض � ّ ت ف خ ن ي�ن ي�ن ح���ذ �ي�ن �م�ا �ت ك ���م��ي�ن � �و����مر�ي�ن * � �و� ��ط��ل� �ع��ل� �ك��ل �م� ���س��ر �و� � ���� � �و��ص� �و�� * �و�ع��ل�ى �م� � ر ي ع ى ت ت ق خ �ف ح��ي�ن ��ل�ه �و��مي���ل��ي�ن ا ��لي��ه �و�ت ك� �م ن��ه * �و� حر�ص��ي�ن �ع��لي��ه �و�ت �رت�ا � ��� �ل���ي�ن �ب�ه * �و��د �ر�ج� ت� �م�ن د ا ر�ى غ ا ن � تم� ن ّ ج�ز ت ا ن � ا ا ��ل �ّ ذ ق ّ حه�ا ا �ل�ا ا � ا ك� ���ا ن�� ت� ��ت����ص �ع��ل� ّ ا � ح�ل�ا �م�ه�ا * � بو���ع ض� ���هم� ض�� � ��م ار �و� �م� �ب� � �ل� ا �ص� � � ����ب ى � � � ن � ذ � � ن ا � ن ت�� شّ � ��ت� ّ ق��ا �ل ا ن� �م�ص��بي��تى ي ڡ � ب������تى ا �عظ �� � * �و� �ل�ك ا ���ه� ب��ع�د ا م��� ��ط ت� ا �لي ��و� �و ع� �صب�� ت� � � م م 92
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Chapter 5
A Priest and a Pursie, Dragging Pockets and Dry Grazing147
If anyone read the end of the previous chapter and then his servant came and called him to dinner, causing him to leave the book and rise and turn toward glasses and goblets, tumblers and tankards (in all their different shapes and sizes), and then his friends dropped in to pass the evening with him, one saying, “Today I beat my slave girl and went down to the market with her intending to sell her, even at half price, because she’d given my wife a pert answer” and another, “And I too today beat my son because I found him playing with the neighbors’ children and then I locked him up in the latrine and he’s still there” and another, “And today I insisted to my wife that she make me privy to every thought and worry that goes through her head or troubles her breast and every dream she dreams at night—such dreams coming from the food vapors that fill her brain or from the smoke of passion consummated before sleeping—and I told her, ‘If you don’t tell me every detail, I’ll set the priest on you and he’ll declare you a disbeliever and ban you from the church and then he’ll get out of you everything you’re hiding and harboring and take a good look at everything you’re concealing and secreting and holding out on, that you’re on guard against, have taken measures to prevent, feel at ease with, have a liking for, and have taken it upon yourself to do,’ and I left my house in a rage against my wife, uttering threats, and swore I’d only make up with her if she told me her dreams” and another, “My problem with my
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ت ت �ف ق �� � � ����ل � �ي� ���سي����س �وكي����س �وح�لي����س �وحي����س
�ق �ت�ز ّ ن ت ��ت� ّ �� ت �ت �� ّ �ت�ز ّ غ ط��� ت� � �ت� ���ط�ّ �� ت س� � �وت�ب�ر� ش��� ت� �و �ي��� ت� � �وت�ب� ّر�ج� ت� �و ��ي�� ت� � �و�ض� �� ّر�ج� ت� و و �و ع�طر� �و�� ي ب �قّ ت ّ�ق �ت�ز خّ� �ف ت �ت�ز� � ت �تش �ف نق �ت�ز ���ّو� ت� �و���سر�ج� ت� � �و�ت ��� ش��� ت� �و�تر� ش��� ت� �و �هن��ع ت� � بو�ر� ت� �و ��� �و ب ر�ج � �و � َ ��ق ت ت ا �ّق ت � ت ا � ش ا � ت ن �ظ �� ت� فّ � ت �ت�ز ّ ��ق ت ��ت��ق ّ ن ت �ت�ز ��ّق ت �ت�ز�ر � � �و� � �ل�� ج��ل��س� �ب� �ل���ب�� ك �ل��� ر �وح���ل� �و �و � �و ي���� �و �ل�� �و ب ف�ن ت ا � �ن ذ � � ف ا �ن ��ف ت ث� خ ا �� �ل�ف�ت ن ف � ت � � د�ي�ن � ا �ي�ن ه���ه� ع � �ل�ك �� �� �صر � �م �� �ى �ر ج ��ع� ا �ل�ى ا �ل� او ر � او �ل�ص� د ر * �� ي ت � � � ّ �غ �ز عه�ا * � او �و�ه�م�ت ن�ى ا �ن��ه�ا � �خي� ���ط �ه ن��ا ك ب���ع�� �م��لب ��و��س �ل�ه�ا * �ف ك� �م�و ض� ��ا ن�� ت� ك����ل�م�ا �ر ت� ��� � �ض ف �ق ت � � �ذ ت � �غ ظ � �ذ ت ش ا � ة �غ �ز ة �ت ن �ظ � ن �ظ � تي�ن �ه�ا �م��س�� ش���ي� ��ط�ا �ي� ����ا �و�ج� ب�� ���ه�ا ب�����عر�ه�ا ا �ل�� �ى �ب� �ل�ا�بر� �ر � � � �� ر�� �� �ر�� * ��� �م� ا �لي� ف � ت ن ق �ش ن �خ � ة ا م��� ��� ت ط��ه �و ض� ف� �ص�ت�ه �� ��ط��ل� ��� �تر�ه �و�ع��� �ه�ا � ا � ع ب��ي��د �ى �م��ه � �ص�ل�� �و�ه� ��هى �م��عى * �و�هي� ���ا �ل�مه �ة ا ��ل ا � ح��ة ��غ���� �ع ن��ا ن� * ��ل�ا ّد�ه�ا فا ن ا �ت�ن��ت�ه �ع�ن �غ� ّ ا � �ن ت ف تُ ش ا��� �ير �� �م ب ي ر ي� �ه� �و�ل�و � ���� ����عر�ه� ك��ل�ه * �� ���ه� ك� � ر ج � �ى َ �َ ْ ْ � � أ � �نذ � ف � ن ن �ن ن � �ا� ا �� � �ل�ا ض � ��ع�ا � * � او � �ي��ه � � ك ��رب� ب���عي��د ا � * ���ع ا � �م�ن �م�ل�� ا �ع�ص�ا �ل�ه �ب�ا �ل� او � ا �ل��ط � � � � � ل � و �ل ك�م ب م م ن �ن ق ن �ّ �ذ �ا ف ا � ف ا ا ق �ن � �ق ا ��ل ا � ب��مث���ل �ه� ا ا �� ك� ل��ل� �م * ��ل� �ب��د � او � �ي��ك�و� ��د ���سى �م� ج�ر�ى �ع��ل�ى ا � �ل�� ر�ي� �� �م ا �ل�و��وع ح���سى ف � �ن� خ ���ت ق � ��ت ا � ه �م�ن ذ � � � ة � او�لم�ع ن��و�ى * �و�م�ن ج�� �ا ك �ود� ل��� ب� � او ك�����س� ب� ��ع�ه ب��ن���عى ا ب��ي��ه * �و�م�ن ا �ب��ا �ل�ه �ع��ل�ى ��س � �ل�ك ج � � � �خ ّ � ��ف �ن ث ض � � � �ز ا ��ل بر �عت��ه ����طرر ت� ا ��ل�ى ا �ل�ا�ع�اد�ة * � او �ي��د �ه ن��ا ا ن� ا ��ق�و�ل * ا �ن�ه �لم�ا �ش���ا �ع ت� � ا � ��ط �م �� ا � م �� ن � �ن � �ز ن ف �ت س�ت ���ا ن� � �� د �عه�ا ا � �ن خ يڡ � ا ر���س�ل ا �لي��ه �م ا �س�م�ه �ع��ل�ى �و ا � ب���ع�ي�ر ب��ي��عر ي��� �د �عي��ه ل�����س � ا �ل����� خس � د �� ر ك� ي و � � � � � � � �ڡ �ز ذ� �� ���ا ن � � ث � �م�ا �ن�ه * �و�لي����س ا �لغ��ر��ض� �م�ن � �ل��ك ا ف��ا د�ة ا � ح��د �م�ن ا �ل�ع�ا �لم��ي�ن * �ك��ل �م�ا ك� � ي ح�د � ي ن تف ّ ا � �تن ف � � �ن � � �ة �ا ���ا �ل���ل ���ا ن� ا �م��س� ك� � او ن��م�ا ك� حوا د ث� �م�ن ا � ��ت �����ل ت� �م�ن �م�د ا ر ا �ل� �ي�ا � * ا �و � ����ك م ��س�ل��س�ل� � م ّ �ا ح�ا ��ل�ا �من �ظ� ��� � ا �م�ن � ���ا ر ا �ل�م�ا ض��� �و ج� ���ث�ي�را �م�ن ا ��ل ن��ا ��س �ير �و ن� ا ن� ا � حوا ��ل * ف��ا ن� ك� ��ع�ل�ه � ح ض� ا �ل��� ور ى � ظ� ن ف صً � �خ �و� ���ا ن�� ت� ا ��ل�ا �ف � حِ� ار � �ا �ع��ل� ��ت�ق�� �د ك� ا �ل�ا �م�ور ا �ل�ع ��ي�م��ة * �و��ل���ذ ��ل��ك ك� ����ل�م�ا ��ي�ق�� �ع ن��د �ه� * �� ر ر ي�ي ى �ج م �ج ع � � ا ة � ا ش ة � �ت�ق ��� ً � � � ا ا � �ز �م�ن ����ت�ه�ا �ع � ا �ل��س� �ع�� ا �ل�ع� ���ر� �و �هى � � �ود ك��لب�� �ل�ه� * � او �لر� ح�ا �و�ع�ود�ه�ا ا �لي��ه ي ڡ �ص��ا � � بي � ج��و ب يح � ا َْ خ � �ف�ف ق َّ ة ن ق ف ة � � �� ف � ا �ف �ع�ا �ص���� � او �لم��طر � او �ك�� �ل� ��ي� �و ت� ا ��ل�ا �م�ه� * �و �ل� �ي��ع�د �و�� �وا ��طر�ه�م * ���ى �م���د �م�� د �ي �� او � م � ا تي�ن �عظ �� ش آ � ف ن ة � � �ص �ن�ا �ه��ذ ا � �ه� ا ��ل��د � �� ا ن� ا ��ل���ذ �ى ��س ّ�م� ها د�ي�ن يڡ � ����ع �ر ء ا � �ل�ر���س�ا � �وي�� ا�لم�وج�� �ل� �م �ر�� ا �� و و يو �و � �ع� ر م ّ � � � ت ا ّ ا �� ش � ّ � ن ن � �غ �ڡ ق �� � � �ة ى �م�ا �تر�ج��مت��ه * �وك� ا �ل�� ��م�ل لِ���عر� ���ا ن�� ت� ا �ل�عرب� �ي��د �خ ��و� ا �ل ب�ت�� �ص��ا ت� �ل�ه� �ط�و�ل� � �� � ي ب م ي 94
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3،5،1
A Priest and a Pursie, Dragging Pockets and Dry Grazing
eldest daughter is even worse, to wit, today, after she had coiffed, hatted, perfumed, scented, bedecked, painted, made-up, arrayed, displayed, rouged, bedizened, bejeweled, tricked out, beautified, decorated, adorned, dandified, prettified, primped, preened, prinked and pranked herself, donned her saffron-dyed dress and girded her loins for battle, she went and sat by the window to watch the people going in and out. I forbade her to do so, so she left, but then she disobeyed me and returned to her place and tricked me into thinking that she was sitting there to darn some of her clothes, but for every stitch she made, she stole two looks, so I went to her burning with anger and tugged her by the hair that she’d dressed and braided and curled, and a tress came off in my hand (here it is!), and, if she doesn’t put an end to her wicked ways, I’ll pull it all out, for she’s like an unruly filly without reins: boxing her ears doesn’t stop her, and nor do beatings with sticks”—if anyone, I say, filled his bowels with all kinds of food and his ears with talk of this sort, he will certainly have forgotten all the physical and moral incidents that have befallen the Fāriyāq (his grief at hearing of his father’s death, his devoting himself to the copying of books, and how he thereby acquired an excellent hand) which is why I have just been compelled to repeat them. Though here I would add that, when his excellence as a copyist became
1.5.2
bruited abroad, a certain man whose name rhymes with Baʿīr Bayʿar148 summoned him to copy out the ledgers in which he would enter everything that had happened during his day. His purpose in doing so was not to benefit any scholar but derived from a simple desire to hold onto events lest they escape the orbit of the days or become detached from the chain of circumstance, for many believe that to summon up the past and make it a visible entity is in itself a great thing. This is why the Franks have been keen to record everything that happens in their lands; the exit of an old woman from her house in the morning and her return to it at ten o’clock, leading a dog of hers, with the wind blowing and the rain coming down hard, neither escapes their pens nor is foreign to their thoughts. There is material of this sort in the introduction to the verse collection Méditations poétiques of Lamartine,149 the greatest French poet of our day,
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1.5.3
ت ت �ف ق �� � � ����ل � �ي� ���سي����س �وكي����س �وح�لي����س �وحي����س
� ة �ز قآ � � ��ت ن �ظ � ن � � خ ن ط�ف���ة ا ��ل ا ن �ي� ض� � م ح � �و�ه�م ��س�ا ك� ��و� � ��يو ن� �� ر�و� ا �ل�ى ا �ل��د ��ا � �مت��ص�ا �ع�د ا ك���ا �ع�م�د� ر��� ء �ل�� ي � �ى � �ل � � آ ض�� ا � ا ش ق � آ ذ ذ ش فّ ا �ف �� �� � ��ل ا ن ط�ف � ا �ل�ه� �و ء ا م � يڡ � � � � ا ا ا ا � ا ء � ل � � � * � * � �� ل ه ك � � ح�ل� �ل� ي� � � ى � � ي ���و�� ا �ل �ر ى و � و � � � � خم ا � �ن ش � ع�ز ض ���ع� �ه�ا ق��ا ��ل * ث�� ا ن� ��ص � ح�ب�ى �م�ن ا �ل�عرب� ج� ��ع��ل� او ا �ل ش����ع�ي�ر ي ڡ � �� �ٍل �م ����عرا�لم� �ى �و �و� و م � خ � ة � ق � ت ق �خ � ا ا � � �ن ن ل ح � ��م� * � ا ��� � ا �ع�� � ا � �� � �ه � له� �م �ر��و ��ط�� ي ڡ ي �ڡ �� ح�� �ل� �م � ح�د�ي��د �و��هى � ي �ل و �ى �ول ي �ى و ر ج � ب �م �ف� ض ة � � ا خ �غ��� ��مت��� ة �ص�ه�ا ا ��ل شَ����عث���ة * � �ش���ع �ه�ا ظ�� ة ن حرك����� * �ور ��ؤ ��س�ه�ا �� �و� ير ���� ا �ل�ى ا �ل� ر��ض� �م ����ل�ل�� ب���� او � ي � و ر ت � � � ش � ة ة ّ ق ح ت� ا �ش���ع�� ا �ل���م�� ا �ل بر �ق� ي�خ�ر� �م ن��ه د خ��ا ن� � ح�ا �مي��� * �وك� � ا �ش���ه ب� � ا ���ا ن�� ت� ا �لر ج��ا �ل ��د س �ج ت ت � �ز ة �ك� ن� * � �ف �ش��� ا � ت ح�ه� �ع��ل� ا ��ل�ا ر��ض� � � �م�ا �ي�� ا ج��تم�ع ت� � ح ت� ظ ������ل � ت�� �ون�� �م�ن ا �عظ �� ح�ص�ي�را � و � و و ر �ي م ى م �ذ � �ن ن � � � ة �نش ن �خ �غ � ت ث ا ا ا � �ن � � ح�د��ي� � او ل �ال � � ك� �ش���ا �مي��ا � او خ��� � او ي �ڡ ح�� �ي� � �ع ا �لب�� د �ي�� �و�ه�م �ي��د ��و� ا �ل ب�ت�� * �وي�������د �و� ش آ � � ا �ة ا ��ل ة � ة ت �م�ا ��س�� � او �لر�ع�ا �ي�� (ا �ى ر�ع� �ي� ا �ش���ع�ا ر �ع ن���ر �و�ه�و �م�ن ����ع �ر ء ا �ل�عرب� ا �ل���ذ�ي�ن ا �ش��ت��هر� او �ب� �ح � ائ �ڡ � ا �� ة ح��ي�ن �غ � ت ن ا � ا �غ ة ق غ ت ش ا ن ���ل�� * �و� � ا �ل� ركي� �ه�م �مب���ل� ا �ل���ب�� ك ي �ه� ��م) � او �لب��ل� ��� �و��د ب���ل��� ا ����ع� ره �م � ا �لب � � ف ن �ن � � � ّ ��ث ��ا ن �ه� �م�ن ا �ل�ا ب��ي��ا ت� �م�ا �ي ��و�ثر ي �ڡ ���ا د �ع��ل ك ح��س�ه�م ا ك���ر ك�� � �� او �ير���ع�و� ا �ي��د �ي��ه�م ا �ل�ى � �ير ي� م � � �ق ن � �� خ ذ ن �و ن� �ت�ا ر�ة ب���ع�د �ت�ا ر�ة ا لله ا لله ا لله * ا ��ل�ى ا ن� ق��ا �ل ي �ڡ � ا � ا ���ه� � �وي� ��طر��و� �بر ��ؤ ��س�ه� وي � �صر�� م م ة آ �ز ق � �ت ���ا ن� �ش���ع �ه�ا �م��س�د ��ل�ا �م�ن �ع ن��د ا ��سه�ا ا ا ن �ى �ع��د �ب��ر �و�ج� �ه� * �وك� �و�ص�ف� ا �م ار � ر� �ه� � ب� ك�� ر � ر ّ ��ا ن � ا � ت � ه ا ��� ا ة �ش ���وف��ا ك� م�� �ه�ا �و�م�م�ا � ّ�س�ا ��ل�ل�ا ر��ض� * �وك� �م��لت��ف��ا �ع��ل �ص�د ر�ه�ا � ك ����ل�ه �ع��ل� م� ج ر� ب� لع� د� � � � � ي� ى � � ة ا ��ل�ع ا �ة ن أ� ح��ي�ن ك� ���ا ن�� ت� ��تت� ���ط�ا ���ط�� �ل��لث�� �ص�ور� �م� � �ع ن��د ���س�ا ء �ت��ل�ك ا �لب��ل�اد �م�ن �ب�ل�اد ا �ل�عرب� * �و� � � � م ع � ل � ى م � ذ � � ��ا ن �ث ا ا �� ا �ز ن � ّ ن �� ا � م��س�ا ن� ا �ل�ا ر��ض� �و ر�س�م� � ي ڡ ِر ج��ا � ا � �لق�ب��ر ا �و �ت��ص��غ�ى ا � �ن��ه�ا ا �لي��ه ك�� � ��د �ي� �ه� ا لب�� ر ا � � ي �ي م �ص�ف� �ة �ذ ا ��ل�ن �� � �ق �ة ��ا �� ق ا � ش � �ئ ا ا ��� ا ��ل��ترا ب� ��� ك� له�م� ك�� �ل�� �ل ب� * ا ه ح� � 24و��س� ر �ه��ذه ا�لم��د �م� �ع��ل� �ه� ا �م�ط �م� � ى ع �ش آ قّ � � ّ ��ف � � �ة �ت � ا �ن�ه ��س�م�ا �ه�ا � �مق��د �ور ا �ل ش����عر * ا �ى �م�ا ��د ره ا لله ��ع�ا �ل�ى �ع��ل�ى ا �ل ش����عر � او �ل����ع �ر ء * �و�ى رح�ل� ظ� ش آ ت � ن ن�ز � � �ش���ا ���ط�و� �رّ�ا ن� ا ��ل�ى ا �م�ي�ر�ي ك� � ����ع �ر ء �ع� ��ا �و�ه�و ا �ي� ض� �صره �م�ا �ص�ور��ه * �وك���ا � �م�� �ل ���ا �م�ن ا �ع ��� بي م � � ي�ز �ف � آ � � � ت ن ة ة ة ة غ ا�ن � ا �ن � ا �ن ل�م � ر�ئ����� ا �ل��د �و�ل �� ح�د� �عب�� ر� �ع د ا ر �ص���ي�ر� �مب���ي��� �ع��ل� ا ��س��ل�و ب� ا �ل� ك� ��ل�� ��ى ا �لب� � ء * ي س ى ف ت � � � �م�ن ن خ� ف� ة خ � � �ل�ا � ش له�ا * ف���ل�م�ا �ق �ع ت� ا �لب��ا � ���� ��ر� �ع ن��د�ه�ا �م�ن ا �ل� ك ح ت� د �و� ح�� � ع��س��ر و �م د ا ��� � ب ر 96
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4،5،1
A Priest and a Pursie, Dragging Pockets and Dry Grazing
which I translate as follows: “The Arabs smoked tobacco in their long pipes in silence, watching the smoke rising like graceful blue columns until it dispersed into the air in a way beguiling to the observer, the air at the time being transparent, gentle.” Later he goes on: “Then my Arab companions put the barley in goat’s hair nosebags and placed these around the necks of the horses that were around my tent, their feet tethered to iron rings, and which stood motionless, their heads lowered to the ground and shaded by their heavy forelocks, their coats a glossy grey and smoking beneath the hot rays of the sun. The men, having gathered in the shade of an enormous olive tree, had spread out beneath them on the ground mats from Damascus, and set about talking and telling tales of the desert as they smoked their tobacco. They recited verses by ʿAntar, one of those Arab poets celebrated for their valor,150 husbandry”—by which he means, “animal husbandry”—“and eloquence, his verses having as much effect on them as the Persian tobacco in their nargilehs. When a verse cropped up that appealed particularly to their feelings, they would raise their hands to their ears, bow their heads, and cry out over and over again, ‘Allah! Allah! Allah!’”151 Later, describing a woman whom he saw weeping at the grave of her husband, he says, “Her hair hung down from her head, enveloped her, and brushed the ground. Her entire bosom was exposed, as is the custom among the women of this part of Arabia, and when she bent to kiss the carved turban that topped the gravestone or press her ear against it, her exposed breasts would touch the ground and press their shapes into the dust, as though they were molds” (end; p. 24). The rest of this introduction is of the same character, even though he calls it Poetry’s Destiny, meaning, “what God Almighty has ordained for poetry and poets.”152 Similarly, the Voyage en Amérique of Chateaubriand,153 also one of the greatest poets of his day, contains the following: “The residence of the president of the United States was a small house built in the English style, with neither a guard of soldiers round it nor servants inside. When I knocked on the door, a young girl opened to me, so I asked her if the general was at home. She replied that he was. I said I had a letter that I wanted to deliver to him,
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1.5.4
ت ت �ف ق �� � � ����ل � �ي� ���سي����س �وكي����س �وح�لي����س �وحي����س
��ل ن � �ف � ن �ن ف فق ��ل� ��ا ���ة �صغ���� �ة ��ف��س�ا ��لت �ه�ا ��ه�ل ا ���را �ل ��ى ا �لب�ي�� ت� * ��ا ج��ا ب�� ت� ���ع * ������ل ت� ا � �ع ن��د �ى ير � ج ى ج ري م أ ّ � ا �ة � � �ف � ا �ف ظ فقا ت � ن غ ا ا � �ت ن �ن �ه� ح�� ����ه ����� �ل� �ل�ى ر��س� �ل�� ا ر�ي��د ا � ا ب���ل���ه ا �ي� �ه� * ���س� �ل �ى �ع ا ��س��مى �و�ص�ع ب� �ع�لي� � � � ي�ز ة ت ��من خ�� ف ���� ا د خ���ل �ي�ا ��س�يّ�د �ى * (� او �ورد �ه��ذه ا �ل�عب��ا ر�ة �ب�ا ��ل��لغ����ة ا �ل�ا�ن ك� � ���ل�� �ي�� �و��هى ب��ص�و� � �ض �ت� ن�� ا � �م� ف�ت ه �� ا ث� �م ش ت ا � ا �م ��ف ��م ش م��� ��� � � ي�ز ط�و���ل ك���ا �ل��د �ه��ل�� * � ( )Walk in sirب�ي��ه� ع��ل�ى عر �� ل�ه�) �م ���� م� �ى �ى ى ي � �ص�ف� ة ف ة ا ش ا ت ��ل ّ ن � ق ث خ �ه�ا �من�ت�ظ� ��� ا ا ��خل ى ا � ا ج���ل��س � ح�� * 25 �� د ���ل ت� ب ��ى ا �ل�ى � �م��ص�ور� �و ���� ر� ا � ي� ر م � ض آ ��ف � �ق ة �ع ف�آ � ا أ ة � �ن ن � �ا ف� ق ا � � خ ن ا ��� ء �ل� �م �ر � م �ه��د ا �م�ي ر�ي ك� ��� � �ر * ا ��ه را �ى ب��ر� ج� � �و�ى �م�و� �� * ���� �ل �ل�ه� �و�ه�و ع � �ف�آء ف� �ق ا �� ت �� ه ا �ن ا �ت ا �ك� ق ح�ا ��ل�ه�ا * �م�ا ��ا ��ل �ه��ذه ا ��لب ��ق� �ة ج�ع را ث� ��ل � ���ل ���لي��ل�ا * � او �ورد �ه��ذه ��� * ��� ل� ل� ��ه� � ب ٍ ر آ � � �ف ة ة � ة � � � ض � خ � ي�ز ���ا �ب�ا �ل��لغ���� ا �ل�ا�ن ك� �� ���ل�� �ي�� �و��هى ( )She eats very little.و�ى م�و� ا �ل�عب��ا ر� ا �ي� ض� ع � �ر � �َ ذ � � ���ا ن� �ير�ى ِك� حي �� او ن� �و���ع ض� ا ��ف ش � ���ه�ا ���فى �ش�� � ��سف� ا �ل���س ��ك�ل � ��ر ا �ن�ه ك� � � ك� �� ح�ا ب� ب���ع ض� ���ه� �ى �����ك�ل �ج� ب���ل ب ن ت ذ� ف ذ ق �ف ش ة �ذ ف ����ك �ع�� َّ ���ف ا ا د �م�ا ا �و ����ج��ر� �و�م�ا ا �ش��ب��ه � �ل��ك * ��ا � ��د �عر� ت� �ه� ا ��ا �عل��� ا � ا �ع��را ض� ل�ى ى �ير م ّ � � ن ف ش ���ت��ا �م�ا ا ا �ن �ف �� � ا � ن � ا �ت نّ�ت ا �ي�ن �ذ�ي�ن �ه�و �غ��ي�ر �م��ف ي��د ��ل��ك � ك ل����ه �م� ي��د ل�ى �ل� �ي��ك�و� ا �ل� ��ع� � * �� � �ه� ا �ل���� �عر ك�ب � ش ا �� �ة � ا ئ� � � �ت � �ل ا � �ن ن �� ا � �خ ق شت ا �ه�م� ا � ك�ب�ت�� ه �و�ل�م ي ����ي � ل�و�م� �ل� �م �و�ل�م �ي�ع� ر �ض� �ع�ي� ح�د �م ج�����س�ه�م� * �و��د ا �����هر � ت �ق � � �ف �ف� ض���� ا �ص��ت ا � ن � ا � � ن �� �ل�ا �م �تر��ي�ن ��ى ا ر��ض� ح�تى ا � �م�و �ل� �ن�ا ا �ل��س��ل��ط�ا � ا د ا � ا لله د �و�ل��ه ا � ��ط �ه�م� له�م� �و ي � � � م ع ُ �اف ن � َ ق� ظ� ة �ز ق� �� ش ا ا �م�ي�ر ا �� ��ط�ا �ع�ا ت� �ع ��ي�م�� * �و�ل� ي���س�م� �ع�ن �م��ل�ك �م�ن �م��ل�وك ا �ل� �ر� ا �ن�ه ا �� ��ط ع ���� �ع ار �ج م ع �ا ق ا �ت � ح��د ���ف ا �� �ع�ا �م �ة * � ��ل�ا �غ��ا �م �ة * ف��ا �م�ا ا فا ر و �ع بر��ي�� ا �و �� ر��س�ي � ا �و ركي��� �م���د ا ر ج�ر��ي ب� � او � ى ر �ض ر ن �� ن �ز ا ن �� � ���� ق � ا ك�� ��ه � �ه� �ع �� � ا � �� ا ه ا �� ض �ى ا ��ل�ا �ف � ���فى �ت�ا ر خ� ���ا �عر�� ّ��ا ن� �و�ع ّ�م�ه ك��و� �و � ب�ع�ي ر ب ي عر��د ح� � � و و ى ي ب و و ر ر ي بي ب �ج ّ ن ا �ز �ذ � ت �ف �ع ت �ذ � �� ��ل��ك �ع �� ّ��ا ن� * ���م�م�ا �ل�� ا ��تي ���ق ن��ه ا ��ل�ى ا ��ل�ا ن� * �و��ل�ع��ل� ا �ع��ل�م�ه ب���ع�د ا ج� �و �م��ه ك�� �� �ه� ا ا � ك�� ل��ا ب� ر بي ى م ن آ � �ا ق � ن ف خ �ق �� �ق ا �ت�ه �ج��ل � �ه��ل�ه �و ا �ن�ه ا �ى ا � �لق��ا ر�ى ا �ل� ��ي�� ��ط ��ا �ب��ر �ب�ه ا � �ل��ا ر�ى ا � �ش���� ا لله * � او ��م�ا ا رج�� ع ر � � ن � ث ا � ا �م ا��ا ن � � ف ا ا ق �ف ّ ��س��� �ه��ذه الم ���ا �ة � او ن� �ي�� ح�ا ك� � �ك�ن ا �ل�عل��� �ب�ه �م�ه�م�ا * �ود � �و�ك �م�� �ل� �م� ك�� � �ي ك ���بت��ه ا � �ل�� ر�ي� �� ��ى ب ب م � �ذ ذ �ف � س�ن �ة � ح�ا د �ى � ش ا ��س�ا ��ط�ي�ر ب���ع�ي�ر ب��ي��ع * ��ى �ه� ا ا �لي ��و� �و�ه�و ا �ل � ع���ر�م�ن �ش���هر ا � ا ر1818 � �� 1 ر م � ذ � ة ة �ن �ق ّ ف �ا ن ��ن ف �ا ن � ن ت ف �ا ن � ن � ا ن ه ا ش ��ا ن � �ا � �� ن � ���ص ��ل � اب ��ل �� ب����� ��ل �� � �� ب� ح�ص� �� ا �ل� ����ه ب� ب�ع�د ا � ك� � �ط� �وي�ل �ي�ك����س :١٨٥٥ 1ا د ا ر.
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6،5،1
A Priest and a Pursie, Dragging Pockets and Dry Grazing
so she asked me my name, which she found hard to remember. Then she said, Walk in sir.” (He gives these words in English to show that he knows the language.) “Then she walked in front of me, down a long walkway like a corridor and took me into a private apartment and indicated to me that I should sit down there and wait,” etc. (p. 25). Elsewhere he writes that he saw an American Indian woman with a thin cow and said to her, bewailing its state, “Why is this cow so thin?” and the woman answered him, “She eats little,” and again he provides these words in English, to wit, She eats very little. In yet another place he writes that he observed fragments of clouds, some in the shape of animals and others in that of a mountain or a tree or similar things. Knowing this, you will appreciate that, in objecting to my talking of things that are of no interest to you but are to me, you are simply being stubborn. These two great poets wrote what they did fearing the censure of none,
1.5.5
and none of their race opposed them. Indeed, the acknowledgment of their worth and their reputations grew to such dimensions that Our Lord the Sultan, may God preserve his rule, awarded Lamartine vast estates in the area of Izmir, even though no one has ever heard of a Frankish king awarding an Arab, Persian, or Turkish poet a single field, sown or barren. As for the person-whose-name-rhymes-with-Baʿīr-Bayʿar imitating the Franks in his history when he was an Arab, both his parents were Arabs, and his paternal uncle and aunt were both Arabs—the reasons remain unclear to me to this day. Maybe I’ll find out after finishing this book and then, God willing, let the reader know. All I ask is that no reader stop reading just because he’s ignorant of the reasons behind this imitation, important as they may be. Here now is an example of the sort of thing the Fāriyāq used to write concerning the legends of Baʿīr Bayʿar: “On this day, the eleventh of the month of March 1818, So-and-so, son of Mistress So-and-so daughter of Mistress So-and-so, cut the tail of his grey stallion, which had been so long it swept the ground. That very day, he mounted it and it threw him off.” If you ask, “Why does he give the man’s ancestry via the female line?” I reply, “Baʿīr Bayʿar was religious, godly, and pious, and it is more proper and precise to trace a man’s ancestry via his mother than his father, for there can be only
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1.5.6
ت ت �ف ق �� � � ����ل � �ي� ���سي����س �وكي����س �وح�لي����س �وحي����س
�� فَ ََ � � � �ف ذ �� ن ة � ��ا ��ه * ف��ا ن� ق���ل ت� �م�ا ا �ل�ا ر��ض� * �و��ى � ��ل��ك ا �لي ��و� ب���ع�ي�ن �ه ركب���ه � بك� ��س��� ا ��ل�ى ا �ل�ا � ا �� �� ل �� س � � ب ب ب ب م م ن ن �ا ق ���ا ن �م�ن ا �ل�مت��د � ن���ي�ن ا �ل�مت�� ّ �ع��ي�ن ا �ل� ّ�ت م�ق���ي�ن * ف� ن����س���ة ا ��ل� ��ل�د� د �و� ا �ل� ب� * ���ل ت� ا � ب���ع�ي�ر ب��ي��عر ك� � ور �ي ب و ف ا ن � ا ّ � ا �ت ن � ��ل ّ ه ��صّ � ة خ� ف �ص�د �ق� �م�ن �ن��س��ت��ه ا ��ل�ى ا ب��ي��ه * �� � ا �ل� � �ل� �� � �ا ا �ى ا �م� ا �ك�و� ا �ل�ا � او � � ��ل�ا �� ح�د� ب و ب م ح �� ن ��ل � � � ذ � � � ا �ّ�ا �م�ن ��خ �ن��ه ا ���خل �م�� ا �ل�ا ب� * �و�ل��ك�و� ا ح��د * �و�م�ن � ��ل��ك * ا �لي��و� � ن���ي�ن �ل�ا ي� ك �مر� � او � � ل و �ج ر م �ج �ج نُ�ظ � ت في�ن ة ��ف ��ل ا خ ة ف ظُ � َ ة ق ت ح��د �ى �م ا ��س� �ف �ن��س�ا ا ا �ن ح �م� �ر� � ا� � � � ����نّ ا �ن��ه� �ب� ر ج��� ��د �م� �م ا � ر ى ر �� ر� ��س��� �� �ى ب�ر ت � � �ن ه � ن ا ��لت�� �ق ق ظ � �� ن ا ���ا ن�� ت� �ز �ورق��ا �م��ش�� ��ل� �هر ا �ن��ه�ا ا ن��م�ا ك� � حرر ا ��ه�ل ا �لب��ل�اد * � ك ل���� ع��د ح�ي ��� �� � ح �و� �ب�ب�را �مي���ل �ي � ا ت ق�آ �ن ي�ن ���ذ ة ف ا ن ق� ن �ذ خ �ا �ف ن �غ ق � � ا ف��ا ر��� * �وك�� � ��سب�� ب� ��د �و�م�ه �ل�ل� � � �س��� ء �م �ع�� ك�� ا * �� � ي���ل ا � �ه� ا ��ل � � � ي�ن �ن ُ � ق ف ا ن � �ن ش �أ ن ��� ن غ �ا � عه�ود * �� � م ���� � ا ك ا�لم� � ل��ب��ي�ر ا � ��ي ب��د �و �ل�ل�ع�� �ع ب���ع�د �ص���ي�را �ل� �ع��ك��س�ه * �ي���ل ا ن ا � ا ن ا ن ا ذ ا ا � �� ��ن �ف ه � ا ا ا � ا ��ل ش���ئ خ� �ا �ف � ا � � �ل ه ��ف �ن ا � ّ � �ل� ���س� � � ع�ط�ى ���س� ه�و �ه� ر ى �� ب��ل � م� ه�و ع�ي�� * �م ح ب� ا ً ةق ة � ح �� ��ت��ه ���ف ق���ت �ة ا �ه�ا ا � ��س� �م�ن �ص ا * �و�م�ن خ��ل�ا ب��م �مث��ل�ا ا �م ار � ���ص�ي�ر� �ل�م �ير �ب��ه� قِ��� � ب بو ى ر ر و ر ع ُ ف ا �غ ن ع�د ف��ا �نّ�ا �ن � ا ��ل ن�� ا ��ل�صغ���� �ع�ن �ُ�� �� �صر� ب���ل�ق�ي���� * �و��� � ع�د كب���ي�را * ��ل� �ر�و ا � ��ي ب��د �و ير رى ور ب ٍ س ب ح َ ة ة ف ا ن ا �� ��ق � ن ا � ا �ز ا �� ا � ن ن � ق ق ح��ل�م�و� �ب�ا � ر ��ؤ ��س�ه� ��د ا �ل�ز �ور�� �ب�ا ر ج��� ا �و �ش���ْ �ون�� * �� � ل �وم �ه�� ك م� ل� ي و م آ ح�م ا �ع ْ ض ه ���ع ض � ت �ت�� ���ط��ل ت� ��� ا ����ط ا �� ف�ل� �ن��س�ا � ���ة � ��ل ن � � ��ا ق ا � � ش ا ��� � ب ر� � �و ِ ر� ب ب ر �ل ر وي و بر ���ه�م ح�ى �ير � او ���س� ه�م �مك� �� �ل ا �ل���� �عر م
ظ � آ � اُ ُ � ت �� او ر� ��� �ص�ي �د ���ب��� � �ون�ا ا �ل� ��س�د ا �لض� � ى �ز � ا ن � ف ن ت �ض� ا �ص��د ا �ي��� �و����غ �ل� � ا � �ل�ر�ج� ��� ي � ُ تْ ًا َ� �ْ�ظ �� ً ُ َُّ ة � � َّ ة � ن ���ا ن� � ح��يل�م�ا ي� ل�� �ن��ه ك� �وك� ���ا ن� ب���ع�ي�ر ب��ي��عر��س��ه�م� ج�ع� ار ا � ح�ز �ق�� * � ك ح ب� ا �ل��سل��� � او �ل��د �ع�� * �وك���ا � م ّ � اش ة � �غ �ف�� �ع� ��ا ن�� � ظ � � �ئ ش ��ا ن� � �فم� �ّ ض� ا ع ����ي�� * �ف ك� �م�ن ا �لت�� � �ل �ل�ى ج ب� ��� ا �م�وره ا�لم�ع� ����ي �� ا �ل�ى ر ج���ل �ل ي��م ���ر��س و م � ُ��عنْ ُ َّ ة � ف ة �ت�ف � ا خ ا ق َ َْ غ �� ��ا ن ت� ض� � ه � ا �ة ة ّ � � � ع � � ه��� �و�ج�ر�� �و�ج� ��س �و��طر��س�� * �وك�� � �م ��ى �ع�لي�� ا �ل��س� �ع� ا �ل� ��ل� �� �عي��دٍه �ب�ه كِ ب���ر �و �ج� � ي ف� �ظ�ن �� ّ ن �م�ع ف� �ف �ُ َ � � ن �ا �ا ��ره ��ى �ت��د �ب�ي�ر ا �ل��د �و�ل * � او �ل��س�ا �عت��ا � �و�ه�و �ل� ��ي ب��د �ى �و �ل� �ي��عي��د * ي� ��� ا لغِ��ر ا ��ه ��م�ل � ك � نِ َ ت ت � ا ة ان � ذ ��ا ن ذ ف� �ق ���ا ن� �ع�ّ�ا �خل ا �ل� �ن�ز � �ة ف� � �ة ف ا ن � � ���� ا� ا �� ا �و ي���ص �ح�ل * ���د ج�ر� لع� د� �ب� � لر ج���ل ا � ا ك� � � ا �م� �ل� ر ي�ع� �� � ك ي�ي ����ل ظ � �ح��� ب �ذ َْ ���ب� �ن �ي
100
� ظ � �ف � � ا �و ب���ل��ف��� ��ى ا�لم���س�ا �ل��ك ���ذ � �ا ���م��ع�ا � �وب�ا �ل� ���ي�د �ى ك�� �ل��ك
100
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A Priest and a Pursie, Dragging Pockets and Dry Grazing
one mother—which is not the case with the father—because the fetus has only one possible exit point.” Further: “Today a ship was seen on the sea, plowing along. It was thought to be a man-o’-war come from one of the ports of France to bring freedom to the people of the land. On investigation, however, it turned out to be just a rowing boat loaded with empty barrels coming to take water from the spring at such-and-such a place.” If it be said that this contradicts the normal state of affairs, for large things appear small at a distance and not the opposite, reply may be made that when a person gives himself over to his fancies, he sees things differently from how they really are. Thus, for example, someone in love with a short woman will fail to notice her shortness, and if someone finds himself alone with his beloved in a hunter’s hide, he’ll think it more spacious than the pavilion of Bilqīs;154 furthermore, a small light seen from a distance will appear to us as a large one. Small wonder, then, that a rowing boat should look like a man-o’-war or a frigate. The people there still dream that their heads have been crowned with the bonnets of the French and their honor welded to theirs, to the degree that they see their womenfolk to be like those described by the poet when he says: Our gazelles along the paths The raging lions hunt with word and glance. And the gazelles of the Franks hunt too, with both of those, But by adding hands the hunt they enhance. Baʿīr Bayʿar was a big-buttocked, short-legged, round, waddling little glutton, but he was also mild-mannered and loved peace and self-effacement. To a great extent he was a simpleton. He had delegated his worldly affairs to a base man of vicious morals, conceited, proud, arrogant, uncouth, boastful, and haughty. An hour or two would pass without his uttering a word, so the poor simpleton thought he must be exercising his wits on setting the world to rights or syncretizing the different sects, for it has become a habit to regard the man of elevated status, if he be inarticulate and at a loss to answer questions, as serious and dignified, and if he be a prattler, as a sound counselor.
101
101
1.5.7
ت ت �ف ق �� � � ����ل � �ي� ���سي����س �وكي����س �وح�لي����س �وحي����س
ّ ف ف َّ �م��ح�م�ا ُ�ع�د ر �ز � ن��ا �و��ق�ورا * � او ن� ���ك �م�ه��ذ ا را �ع�د ����يص�� ح�ا * ف��ا �م�ا ا �م�وره ا �ل�م�ع�ا د �يّ��ة ف��ا �ن��ه�ا ك� ���ا ن�� ت� ي �ي ت�ج�ز � �تُ َ ت ذ �ا �ة ة ف �ق �ف ت ت ف �ت ض �ت ق ق ت ت ��و�ى �و� �ل � �و � ��� �و ر� ��� ب����د �ب��ر ���سي���� � �ى د �ع�ا �ب�� �و� ك� �� �ه� ��ع��ل�و �و���س����ل � �و�� � ي س � � ش����ا �ش����ة � � ش ���ا ن� �ه��ذ ا ا �� �لق���س���� ا ��ل�ص�ا ��ل � ه����ا �ش����ة * �ق��ص�ي�ر ��س�م��ي�ن * ا ب��ي��� �ب��د �ي�ن * �وك� و ي س �ض وب ح ّ ت � � � ت ف ن � ق��د ��م�� ح��د �ى ب�� ن��ا �ت�ه �وك� �ك�ن �م�ن � �م��ا �ل�ا ��ي ب��ا ر�ي�ه �ي��ه ا �ل����سي�� * � او ��ل��قى �ع�ص�ا ه �ع ن��د ا � حر��م�ه � ك��ن ���ا ن�� ت� ي م ُ ّ ت َّ فخ َّ ذ� ا ت � ��ه � ��س * � �من� ��� ق �خ �خ �� � ��ا ن ت �ت�ز ّ ت ق ��ن ���لت��ه � و ج و ي�� و � ط� ر�ي��م * �وك�� ��� �و�ج�� �بر ج���ل ��د �ج �و� ب �ل م آ ن ا ا �زّ ً � ن ن �عت � ن ة ف ق �ق � ت ا ا ا ا � �ه� � ك� �ه� �م �� ط� �ع�ا * �� �هي�� �و ا �ع�ا * �� � ا � �ل���سي����س � �م ار �ع�لي� �و�ج� �� �و�ه � او ��ص�م� ب���ع� �و� ا ب��ي � � ا ن � ن � َق فَ � قُ � َ ��� ا خ ف ا �ش خ � ن ش ت � � �ا ن ت �ف ك� �ه�ا ����ى �� ��ط�ا �ل�ع�ه �ب�ه �ل� ���ه�ا ك���ا �� ت� م�م�ن ���� ��ط �� ��طر�ى �ه� ���ى ا �و �ر�ج �م � �� ��� ك��ل�م� د ���ل �ي� عً ّ � ا ��خل ة ا � ا �ن �� ا ��ل��د �ي�ن � او ��ل��د ��ني��ا �م��ا * �وك� ���ا ن�� ت� ��ت�ع��تر�ف� ��ل�ه ب�ج� ار �ئر�ه�ا ي �ڡ ���ل�و� * �و�ه�و ي���س� �ل�ه� �ع �ك��ل ت �ذ �ذ َ � ف �ق � � � ت �ز ��ل��ة �و� �ف� ه �وه * �ي �� �و�ل �ل�ه�ا ��ه�ل ��ت�� �ب�� ب� ا �لي��ا �ت��ك � �وي��ر ج�ر� �ث��د �ي�ا ك �ع ن��د �ص�ع�ود ك ا �ل��د رك �ج ت �ذ � ف ة ا � �ع ن�د ا �ل� ش � ق � ح��د ث� ف�ي���ك �ه��ذ ا ا ��ل�ا ر ج� م����ى * �و��ه�ل ي� ��ا � �م�ن �ل� � * �����د �ورد ي ڡ و � � ب���ع��ض� �ج ت ��ا ن � ت ��ا ن � ا ا ن �� ا ��ل �ا � ظ �� �ة � ن � ا �خ ���ث�� ا �م�ا �يرت�ا � ا ��ل�ى ا �ى ا ر ج� ���ا � � ��ا � ك�� � * ا �ل� ب�� ر � ب�ع��ض� ج��ل م��� ك ح�ى ك�� � ك� ي ر �ج ح ُ َّ ت � � � �ف ق �� ا ث �ي �ت�من�� ا ن� �ت��ت�ز ��ل�ز ��ل ا ��ل�ا �� �م�ن � ت �ن � � � ح��ه * �وت��م�ور ا �جل � ب�� �ل �م ��و��ه * �و��ه�ل ي�م���ل �ل�ك ي ڡ ر �ض ى ض ف ف � � � ذ ة � ح�� ا � �ل�ا �ف �ق �ع ن��د ا لله ���ي�ن ا �ل ��ق ظ � ا ��ل � حل��� ���ج�� ي�� �ي ك� � ����� � ا ح��ك * �و خ���لي�� �ي��ص�ا �� ��ا �� و�لم ن��ا � * ك � ي ب ر م ع م ع � � �� � �ل� � ُ ن ئ ا ن ق ا ق �خ ا ا ا ن � �ال � � او ن� ا �عظ �� ح��� � ��� ا ��م� ب� ��ى �ع��ل� ا �ل� � � ح�ل� �م * �و��ه�ل �و��س�و��س ا �لي��ك ا �ل�و��س� او ��س ا � �� ��س ى ف ا ش ت تم ن �ت� �ن �خُ��نْثَ ذ�� �ن ث � ا � ا ذ �� � ا �ن ث ��ا ��ت��ق �� �� ا �ة ه�� ا � ��ك�و��ى �ى * ا �ى � ك�را � ا و ��ى * �ل� �ل� � ك�ر �و �ل� ا ��ى �مك� �ول ا ل�ع� �م� * �� ����� ي ف ا ن �ذ � �ق � � ت ض � �غ ذ � � �ن � ا ئ حق ��ق ن �ن � ّا �ن ي�ن � تي�ن ���ه الم �� � �ه� ا ا � �ل �و�ل �ل� � �� �ير�� � �و� �م ا �ل �بر� �ي��� ا �ل ار ��� * �و��ي�ر � �ل�ك �م ا �ل�و��س� ���ل م ا �ذ � ا � ا � �ئ � � � ن ف �ت �ت ف ق �ت � � ا ا ن ظ�ن ��س�� �ب�ه ا �ل��� �لم� � ��رر �ع��ده ��ي ��ق� �ع�ن � ��� ا �ل ��ى �ي�ض� �ص�ي �� � له� �ه� ا ا � �ل���ص�ل * �وك�� � ا ب���و�ه� �ل� ي ي آ � �ف � ��ا �ص��ي�ن �م�ن ا ن� �ك� �ه�و �م�ن ا �� �لف��ا ����ط�م��ي�ن ا �ه� �و �ه� �ع�ن ا ��ل��ل���ذ ا ت� * ا ��خل ���ل �م�ن �لب����س ا �ل��س� او د � م � ���ت �ذ � ت ا ��ن �ف���سه� �ع�ن ا ��ل ش���ه� ا ت� * � ح�تى ا �ن�ه �ن �ظ� �� ر �ي ��و�م�ا ي �ڡ � ب���ع��ض� ا ك ل��� ب� �ه� ا ا �لب�ي��� �و�ه�و �و �م � ذ� �ّ�م ا ��ل ن��ا ا ��ل�� ن د����ي�ا �و�ه� و و م
ض ���ع� ���نه� ا �ير� و �
102
� ّ � �ث اَ �ا � ��قَ � ت ح�ى ��م�ا ��ت�د ر �ل ن��ا ����عل� ��ف وي��
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9،5،1
A Priest and a Pursie, Dragging Pockets and Dry Grazing
Baʿīr Bayʿar’s spiritual affairs, on the other hand, rose and fell, waned
1.5.8
and waxed, came apart at the seams and were mended up again through the scheming of a jolly, cheerful, smiling, jovial priest, short and fat, white and plump. This goodly Father had gained an unshakeable control over the man’s womenfolk, having found his niche with one of the man’s daughters, who was comely of face, dulcet of tongue, and had been married to a man who had gone insane and become a madman; leaving him to his madness, she had sought the sanctuary of her father’s household, where the priest had become her master and commander, her conscience and reprimander. Anything that was delivered to her or that she dispatched she would give him to look at, for she was one of those who made no distinction between the domains of this world and the next. She confessed her transgressions to him in private, and he would question her concerning every slip and lapse, asking her, “Do your buttocks shake and your breasts quake as you climb the stairs or when walking? And does this shaking produce a pleasurable sensation? I ask only because it is mentioned in a chronicle that a certain sensualist found relief in any shaking whatsoever, even praying many a time that the earth would quake beneath his feet and the mountains above him move from side to side. And did you ever see yourself in your dreams struggling with some bed-mate, or shaking the hand of some profligate (there being in God’s eyes no difference between the waking and the sleeping state, the strongest realities being but built upon dreams)? And did the Recoiler ever whisper in your ear and leave you with a desire to be a hermaphrodite (which is to say, both male and female, and not, as the common people say, neither male nor female, the latter being a definition that has found no favor with erudite and learned scholars who make sure of their facts)?” Thus spoke he, and of other matters that this chapter is not large enough to hold. He could do no wrong in her father’s eyes because the latter was so convinced that all who wore black had weaned their appetites off worldly pleasures and cut themselves off from sensual desires, that, when one day he saw the following line of verse in a book155— To us they condemned the world while they themselves on it suckled Till they’d drained the milk that collects between milkings, so that even the supernumerary teats could yield us nought—
103
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1.5.9
ت ت �ف ق �� � � ����ل � �ي� ���سي����س �وكي����س �وح�لي����س �وحي����س
ُ ق فُ ت � ف � ح �ق� � ذ� ّ �ى �م�ا ده * � ا �ى � �� �م�ا ا �ه� * ف��ا �مر �ب�ا � ظ�ن ا �ن�ه ��ت�ع �ر���ض� �ب��ه� � �و��ل��م�ي� ا �ل �� ��� ح ار ��ه �� �ر و ر ر ي� ور ي و ي م م ح � ت� آ آ ��ا � � خ� � �ه�م�ا � خ�ر ب��ي��ت���ي�ن ي ڡ � ك�� ب ر و � �ا َ �م�ا �ب�ا �ل �ع�ي ن�ى �ل� �تر�ى �م�ن �ب��ي�ن �م�ن ش �غ ���ا ن� �م�ن ��ل � ��م�ا ك� ��ح� �و�����ئ � ���يره م
ن ح��ي���ف�ا ��ل���� ا ��ل��س� ا د �م�ن ا ��ل�� ا � ب ع�� د � ب س و ن � �ق ف����ه� ف��ا �ص��ل� ��م�ا ��ك� � � �� ��ف�ا �ي و و و ب ي� م
ض ا ا ق �ت ت � � � ف � � ا �لب���ل��د ي��ج�� ّ��س��س�و ن� �ع�ن �م�و� �لف��ه �وا ��سي���� ي ڡ ��� �ب� � ح ار �� ا � ك�� ��ا �مر ا �ي�� ل��ا ب� * � بو���ع ث� ج�� س �َ اَ �ّ �ف ت � � � ��ذ ف ن ُ�ج�ز � � �و�ن��ود �ى ي ڡ � ا �لر� اوب ��ى � او �ل�و�ه�ا د * ا �ل� �م�ن د �ل �ع��ل�ى �م�و�ل�� ك����ا ب� ك�� ا ��ا ��ه ي� �ى �آ ��ق ��ل �ت �ة ن �ة �ف �ل ا ��س � �� �ف � �ذ � � ا ض ��� �� ح��س�ن ا �ل ا� � ل � �ج�ز� ا � �� ا ا �� �� �ل � س � � ل � � � � � � � � � * * � ط م م م � � � � ل � � ك ر ر ى ي و�ي ى ى ر ب ع و ب نُ آ �ذ � ا ��ل�ا �خ��ت�ت�� ء �م�د�ة � ح�تى � سِ���ى ا ��س�م�ه * ف��ا ن� �ق��ل ت� ا ن� �ه� ا ا � ف�ل���ع�ل خ��ل�ا �ف� �م�ا �و�ص��ف ت��ه �ب�ه ت� � � �� ق ت ن ة �� �ش�� ا �ّ ا �ك� ن� ��م ن ا ��ل �ن ا ��ل �� ح�م�ود ا ي �ڡ � �ك��ل �ى �ل� �م حل��م * ���ل� ا � �ع�اد� ا ��ه�ل ��لك ا �لب��ل�اد ا � حل��م �ي��و �َ ة � � � �ك���ة �م�ن حر�م��ة ا ��ل��د �ي�ن * ف��ا ن� ا �ل�ا خ� �ليُ�ب�����سِ �ل ا خ��ا ه ا ��ل�ى ا �ل�ه��ل�� ي �ڡ حر�م�� ا �لعِ� ر��ض� �و� � ا �مر�ي�ن � � ة � � ف ئ ا ا � � ا ج���ل�ه�م�ا * ث�� ا ن� ا �� �لف��ا ر��ا �ق� ا ق��ا � �ع ن��د �ه��ذ ا ا ��ل � �ه� �ع��ل�ى �� ط� ���ل * ح��لي��م �م�د� �ل�م يح��ص�ل ي� ي م م أ ف � �ف �ث ث ذ � � ة ن ة ّ �ز�ي�ز � ت ت ا ا � � ن � � � � �ن � � � � � � �وك� ط�� � �و�ب���� ك��ي را ���ا ن�� ت� ��ن �ف���س�ه �ع � �ع�لي��ه ل� �يرد ا � ي���س� �ل�ه * �م �� �ج �م� ع � ا � لي��ل�� ح �� ب م م ن � � ق ف� ا � ا ف ا �ن ث � ح �م�ق��ص� �ة ���ع�� ب����ع * �ف� ���� ن � ا � او ��ط�ل�� � ي�ه�م� ا �ل ن�� ر �� � ب��ع� ا �ل�� � ظ�ن ا � ا �ل ن�� ر ه� ب� ��و لي ور ب ي ر ي ر � ق فق ت �ق ن � �ق ف ا � ت ش � �ق �ق�د ��سر ت� ي ڡ ��� �س�و����ى ا � �ل ي��ا �م � او � �ل��ع�ود ��ا �ب���ل� او �ي�����س�ا �ب �� �و� ا �ل�ى �م�و ض� � ��� �صره * �� � ع ��ل � �ف � ذ � فق � ا ��ل ن��ا ر * �ف ا � او �ع ن��د�ه�ا ا �� �لف��ا ر��ا �ق� �ي�ز ���د�ه�ا �م�ن ا ��ل � ح ���ط ب� ا � �ج�ز �ل * ���س�ا �ل�وه �ع�ن � �ل��ك �����ا �ل ر ي ي � � � � � � ن ن ن ن ة � ت ا � �ه��ذه ا �ل ن��ا ر �م�ن ب���ع��ض� ا �ل ن��ي�را � ا �ل ��ى ��ت ن��و ب� �ع�ن ا �ل��ل��س�ا � * � او � �ل� �ي��ك�ن �ل�ه�ا �ص�ور� م ن � ف � ن �ف اَ نّ �آ ا �� ��ق � ا �ذ � خ �ل��س�ا � * �و�م�ن �� او �ئ��د�ه�ا ا �ن��ه�ا �ت���بّ��ه ا �لغ���ا ���ل��ي�ن * � �و�ت ن�� ر ا �لب��ا ���ل��ي�ن * � �ور �ه� ل �و �ل� َ َ �ّ � � ح��ك ا ن��م�ا ��هى �م�ن ���د �ع��ك ا �و ك� ح��د�ي��د ا * ف���ق��ا ��ل� او �و� �ل��� ا � �ش���د �ي��د ا * �و�ل��س�ا �ن�ا � ح��د �ب�ا �ل ن��ا ر * ب �ي ي م ق �� �غ اشا ة ق ا �ص�� ا � ب���غ��م�ز �� �لق��د ���سم�ع ن��ا ا ن� ا ��ل�ا �ن��س�ا ن� �ي ك� �ل��م ��ي�ره ب��ب ��و�� ا �و �ب ���رع �ع�ص� ا �و �ب� ���� ر� ا � ب و ع ف ا ا ا � ن ا ف� �ة ض ا � �ا � ف �ع��ي�ن ا �و �بر�م�ز � ���ل� �ل * ح�ا �ج� ب� ا �و �بر��� �ي��د �م�ن �ع ن��د ا �ل� �ب� ��ط * �� �م� �ب� �ل�� ر ب��د �ع� �و� ٍ ع 104
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A Priest and a Pursie, Dragging Pockets and Dry Grazing
he imagined that this had been written to run the clergy down and make insinuations against them and ordered that it be burned, which it was, and its ashes scattered. And one day he saw another two verses in a book, which went like this— How is it that mine eye ne’er sees A skinny man among those mortals who wear black? Of what they have by way of flesh or any other thing The hardest bit is that which stands erect, the rest is slack— so he ordered that that book be burned too and sent spies out into the town to find out who its author was, the call going out over hill and dale, “Let him who can point out the author of this book come forward, for he will be rewarded with the best of rewards and raised to an elevated state!” When the poet heard this, he was obliged to go into hiding for a while, until his name was forgotten. If you say, “This contradicts your description of him as mildmannered,” I reply, “It is the custom of the people of the country to regard mildness as praiseworthy in all things but two—the sanctity of women’s honor and the sanctity of religion, for the sake of which a man will deliver his brother to perdition.” The Fāriyāq resided with this mild-mannered man for a while, during which he made not a sou. Too proud to complain when asked, he was driven one night to gather large quantities of firewood and straw and set fire to them. The flames leaped toward the private apartments of Baʿīr Bayʿar, who, thinking that the fire had engulfed his palace, roused everyone. They came, each trying to be the first to reach the fire, and there they found the Fāriyāq adding fuel to it by the armful. When they asked him what he thought he was doing, he said, “This is one of those fires that take the place of a tongue, even if it doesn’t have the form of one. Among its virtues, it alerts the slacktwisted and gives warning to the tight-fisted that behind it stand words that are strong, and an iron tongue!” “Woe unto you!” they said. “This is one of your godless innovations! Who speaks through fire? We’ve heard of people speaking to one another using a trumpet, or by beating on something with a stick, or by making a sign with a finger, or by winking an eye, or by moving an eyebrow, or by raising a hand in the air, but fire is a godless innovation and a deviation.”
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1.5.10
ت ت �ف ق �� � � ����ل � �ي� ���سي����س �وكي����س �وح�لي����س �وحي����س
ن ّ �ّف � �� � � ��ل ا ��ل�تمّ ن �� � ا �وك� حوه ا �ل ن��ا ر * �لو �ل� � ��س �وي��طر � ���ا د � او ا � ��ي ب��د �ع�وه �و�ي���ك�ر�وه � �وي��� ب � ��س�وه ا �ى �ج � ت ّ ق��ا �ئ� �من �ه� * ردّ � او ا ج��ل � �وا ب� �ع��ل� �مر��س�� ك�� � * �و �ل�ا ��ت ف���ع��ل� ا و �ش���ي �ا �ع�ن ���ه�وك * ل� � ى �ل � م م تآ ذ ف � ت � �ا � ا لله ا خ�ب��ر �وه ب��م�ا را � او �و��س�م�ع� او * ا ��س��ر� ه � او ��س��ن� ��ط�ق��ه �ع�ن � ا ك ا �ل� ج�ي��� * ���ق��ا �ل ا �ص��ل ح �ج � �ز ف � � ������ ��ل�ا ��ي ن ف����عن�� � ��ل�ا ا ��ن ف���ع�ه * � ��ل�ل�ا ك��� ��ا ���ل�ا �وَ ��� �ْ ا ق � ��ا ن ��ل � �� ا�لم�و�ل�ى * �و ا ده �� ض� ىو و ي س طو �ل� * ��د ك� � �ى كي س ن ا ذ خ فّ � � ّ ا ة � خم � ة � �ز ��ا � �لف��� �ل��س�ا �ئر ا �ل�ع�ا د ا ت� * �و��هى ا ���ه� ا � ا � � �و�لم�ا ج��ا ء �ع��ل� �و �ن��ه�ا �ور �و�ي��ه� �ع�اد� �� ت� ى �ثَ قُ ذ �ث ق ت خ فّ ف � ّا خ ف ّ � َُ � � � ت � �� كي�����سى ي ڡ ��� * ��ل�م� � � ��ث�ق���ل ت� * � او � ا � ����ل� � � � ج�� �وا رك ا �ل��س�عي��د ا �ى � ����ل ظ ��ن ت ت �ه ��َ ض َ ع ��� ة ��ذ � ا �ن ح ق�ت��ه ��ه��ذه ا ��ل ن��ا * � ا ن��م�ا ج� � ت �ه�ا � ي�م�� � ��و�ى 1ي �ڡ � �ه�ك� ا �ل� ��ى ك��� ا � ��و �م�ه ك�ر� � ر و ا �ر ب � ��ع�ل � � � * �ت ن ���ث�� ا �م�ا �من��عن�� �ع�ن ا ��لن �ه�و��ض� � او ���خل � �و� ��ل ح�ا ج���ة �م�هّ�م��ة * ف���ل�م�ا ��س�م� ��ق�و��ل�ه � ح�ى ا ��ه ك� ي ر � ى �ج�يب ى ر �ج ع ّ ض ف � � � � ف ح��ك �م�ن خ� ار �ت��ه �ور �ض ����ه ا ج�ل ��ا �م�د�ة �ش���ي �ا ��ي�ق��ا ب���ل �م�ا ك� ���� ��ب�ت��ه �ل�ه ا � �لف��ا ر��ا �ق� ي �ڡ �� خ� �ل�ه �م�ن �� � ك ي � ن ش �� ت آ �� ن � ق �ت ش ا �� ذ � ا ف �خ ا � ا ��س�ف��ا ره ���فى ا ��ل � ��س�ا ��س��ة * �� �ب���ل ي� ح�ب����� ا ل�ى ب��ي����ه � �و ل�ى ا � �ل� �ي ك ��� ب� ����ي � ب�ع�د � �ل�ك ق � �ّ ا ا �� ن � ن �ا ة �ن ف ق � ط�ا ب� �م�و���ع�ه * �و ج���ل � ���ع�ه * ر ج��ا ء ا � �ت��ك�و� ا �ل� ج�ر� �ع��ل� ��د ر ا �ل�ع��م�ل * ا �ل� �م� ى ا ت فا ن ث � ُْ ح��س�ن ���ر ا ��ل ن��ا ��س ��ن ف���ع�ا �و�ش��غ���ل�ا * ا ق��� له� ا ج� ار �و ج� ��ع�ل�ا * �و�م�ن �ل� ي� �ه� � �� � ا ك�� � �و�هي� م م ُ �ق � َ � ُ ّ ال�م � ف �ا � ق ق � ت �� � * �ك��ا �ي��ل�� ا �لث��د �ى ا �لر� ا �ل� ا �لت��و�ي�� * ا �ح� �ح�ل ا �لر�ي�� * �و� �ل�قِ �م� �ي��ده �و��د �م�ه �م ض�ي ل ع ع ع م
ُ ىَ :١٨٥٥ 1ر �ض � و� .
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َ نْ ا�
ق� ��ا �ل ف���ل�م�ا
11،5،1
12،5،1
A Priest and a Pursie, Dragging Pockets and Dry Grazing
Just as they were about to declare him a heretic and a disbeliever and
1.5.11
call him a Magian156 and throw him into the fire, one man said to the others, “Before you do anything rash, report his answer to the one who sent you.” When they informed Baʿīr Bayʿar of what they had seen and heard, he demanded to see the Fāriyāq and asked him to tell him about the blaze in question, so the latter said to him, “God better Our Lord and more blessings and power to him accord! Once I had a little pursie that was of no more use to me than I was to it. Now pursies, and other things that have similar-sounding names,157 have a way with them that goes against all other ways, for, when they’re light they’re a drag, and when they’re heavy, they’re delightful. When my pursie grew light while within your Happy Purlieu, which is to say, when it grew to be a drag, I burned it in this fire, which I only made this big because when that pursie was in my pocket it felt as big to me as Mount Raḍwā,158 to the point that it often prevented me from standing up and going out on some important errand.” When Baʿīr Bayʿar heard his words, he laughed at his fanciful invention and squeezed from his tight fist something equal in its exiguousness to what the Fāriyāq had copied out in his ledgers. The Fāriyāq then hopped and skipped all the way home, swearing he would never again write anything that wasn’t worth writing or yielded no profit, with the hope that the fee would be in proportion to the quantity of the work—which is, of course, a ridiculous notion, as those who work hardest and whose work deserves the geatest consideration receive the lowest wages and remuneration, while for those who can do no more than sign their names are reserved the highest planes, and the hands and feet of such as these are gobbled at, much as the breast is gobbled at by the suckling child.
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1.5.12
ا �� ��ل�ف��ص� ا ��ل���س�ا � � د س ل � ي �ڡ � �����ط�ع�ا � �وا �ل��ت�ه�ا � م م ّ �ف � � ا� � ��ف ا ��ل ت � ن �����ن ا � ن � ف ق �ت�ق � � � � ا �ل � ���ا � ا � �ل��ا ر�ي�ا �� را ��س�ه �ور ج��لاه �ى ب�ي��� ك ب ي م� ك ���ا � �ف ك ��ره ي��صِع�د �ى �ج ب�� ل * �و�ير ���ى ت � � � ة � �ت ا � � ت ّ ا ��ل � ن ت نّ � ق ه� ��ط ا �ل�ا �ود �ي�� � او �لغ���ي�را ن� * �و �ر� �� ط� ��د را � * � �وي�����س �� ا � �ل��ص�ور �و�ي�� ا �ل��ل� �ل * �وي�����س�ور ج ب �ي م م ذ��ا ن �ق � ��ف � ا � ا ان ف ق خ ا �و��ض� ا �ب�ل�� � � � � � � � �و ب� ا ل � �ى ا �ل� �و� ح�ا ر * �يو ج � ح�ا �ل * �يو�� ��� ر * ا � ك� � ا ص�ى �مر ده � �يرى � ن ا � ا ن ا ن ��ف ن�ز � ن ا ا �غ ن�ز � ا �غ � ح��ا �ت�ه * �ف���ع�نّ ��ل�ه �م�� �ل� ��ي�ر �م�� �ل�ه * � �و� ��س� ��ي�ر ا �ه�ل�ه * �و�ه�و ا �و�ل �ع�� ء ا �ل� ���س� � �ى �ي � ا �ن خًا � ��ا ن ن �ي�ز ���ا ��ت��ا �ع ن��د ���ع�� ا �ع��ا ن ا ��ل��د � �ز * ��ف��س�ا � � ق ح���ا ��ئب��ه ا �ل� �م�ا ��ى * رو ب �ض ي � ر و ا � �ور ا �� �ل�ه ك�� � ك� ب �ف �ل ا ا ��ت � ه ا � � ا � ن � ش �ن �ة ا ��لت��ق� ش �ف �م�ن ا � ا � ا �� ا �ل� غ� ا ة ��خ � �ق حو ل م�� �ير� � �م� ج م� ب� �ور ى م� ك ���ا � �ع��لي��ه ا � �ل �و�م �م�ن ا �ل � ���و� �و ���� �و �ل� � ع ت � � � � � � �ن� � ض ا ّ �� ا �ن خ ف ش ش ا � �ن ه � � � ا �ل � � ط��ا �ع�ه * ا ك ��ر ب�ع� ���ه� �و �و�ط ���س� �ع��ل�ى �ح�م�ل لب��ع��ض� ا �ل� ر * �و�م ي����� �و����ك �ل�� ب �َ �ن ن �ت ق ّ � � �ص �م�ع ف�ت ���ا ن� �ش �ص َ �ف� ��ن �ف���س�ه �ع�ن �ه� ا �ه�ا �م�ن � � � �و �م د � � �� ا � �د ل * �� � ك ه ل � � ا �لرج�� � � ر و � و و �ي ر و� ى � ر م ع � حت ن �ة �ق �ة � غ ّ� ن خ ا �ق ذ � � �ن ال ن م � �ه� �و�م�ا ر� �� او �ع��لي��ه � � � � � � ا �و�ل �ي ��و * ا � �لي����س م �م ا ا ��ه م�د �� ا � �� �� � ا �� ب م �ل � �ل �ي و ري �ي ي ر و� ل � م ظ� ة ذ � ا �غ �ة خ ف �ن �ا ذ� ن �ل� ج���ل �ر�� ب� د ���ل �� �س�م�ا ا � ا ك���ا � �� او �ش���ي �ا �����م�� � �و�ى ب���س ��ط�� � �وب�ا ��س * �وك���ا � ي�ه�م * �و �ل� � ي ي ف ا ت �ق ذ �� � ا ن ن � ق ّ ش غ ��ث ف � ����ف ب���جم �� �رد �م�ا ي����سم� �ب�ا � �ن�ه ��و��ل�ه * ��ل� �ي ك �ه�و ��م�ي�ئ�ا * �و�ل��ك�ن ا �ل� ���س�ا � ك����ل�م�ا ���ل �������ل�ه ك���ر �� ض� � ى ع ����ل�م�ا �ز ا د ��ه� ��ل��آء ا �� �ل�ق � � خ��� �ة � ��ن �ق��د ا * �ز ا د ا �ع ا �ض ���ا � ���ا ن� ا �� �لف��ا ر��ا �ق� ك� ح�تى �ير�ى ب���ع�ي�ن �ه * �وك� وم ب ر و ب� و ر ي �ز �ان �سِ�� خِ � �ف ا �ف ظ �� ا ���ا �ن�� ا �غ��ل�ا ظ ���� ا ��ل��� ا ن ب �ع��ه�م �و �ه�د ا * �ل� ���ه�م ك� و ط��ع * �ب��ه�م ج��� ء � او ����ع * �و ��ى ا�ز � ضَ فَ � � ��ا ن ��� خ � ا �ف� � او ��لب �� ��س * � او �ق��ذ ر� � � ��� ه � ط��ا � ا �ل� �م�ي�ر * � ك ا �ل�و��س�ا د � او�لم��لب ��و��س * �م�ل� �م�ى ا �ل� � و ب� م
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2،6،1
3،6،1
Chapter 6
Food and Feeding Frenzies
While the Fāriyāq’s head and feet stayed put in his house, his mind was
1.6.1
climbing mountains and hills, scaling walls, conquering castles, descending into valleys and caves, plunging into mire, roaming deserts and launching itself upon the waves, for his dearest desire was to see a land other than his own and people other than his family, which is everyone’s first concern while growing up. It occurred to him therefore to visit one of his brothers who was a scribe working for a Druze notable, and he set forth, with nothing for baggage but his dreams. When he was united with him and beheld how coarse and rough were the people and how at variance with his own nature were the conditions there, he rejected some of those things and resigned himself to putting up with the rest. At the same time, he didn’t want to find himself at some point about
1.6.2
to return without first having got to know them better, albeit had he been wiser, he would have had nothing to do with them from the first day on, for it is not to be expected that the people of a city or a village will change their manners and the ways in which they’ve been raised for the sake of a stranger who has entered among them, especially if they be hulking fellows of great height and strength while he’s a little titch. The less work people have to do, though, the more their curiosity gets the better of them; this being the case, it wasn’t enough for him to make do with what his ears had heard: he had to see it with his own eyes. The better the Fāriyāq got to know these folk through experience and close examination, the less he liked them and the less he wanted to do with them, for they were coarse-natured, full of boorishness, and horrid to excess, their clothes and bedding filthy, they themselves ever prey to shortage of
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1.6.3
��ف ���ط ا �ت �ه�ا �م ي� ��ع� �م � او �ل �
� ق � ت ا �ن � ��� خس � ف ا ن ��ق�م ه � ن �ة ق �ش � ��ا د �ت�� م�م ك��� ���ط�ه � �م�ا �ل�ا �ت ك� ���ا � ا �ن��ت�ن �م�ن ال ِ �� � ي��ص� ك ح�ا � * �و��د �مي��ه ا ��ل�� �م ا �ل� و � � ن ذ � � �ق� �ق �ة ة � �ز ة �ع ن��ه اِلم���س ح�ا �ة * �وك� � ���ا � �� او ا � ا �ق��ع�د � او �ل��ل��ط ��ع�ا � ��س�م�ع ت� �ل�ه� �م�ز �م�� �و�ه�م�ه�م�� * �و�ع��ع� م م ّ �فخ � ��� � �� ة ث ن � ت�� ��ق ن ن ن ف ن ���لت�ه� � �� ش ا �و ط �ع�ط �ه��س�و� � �يو عر �و� حو���� �ع��ل�ى �ج�ي ����ه * �ي��ر�م��ل�و� �و�ير�ه ��ط�و� � ��يو � ��ع�� * � م و َ َ ن ��� �� � ن � ت��ن ّ �� ن �� ذ � � �ف ف ش � ة �ت�م شّ ش ن � ت���لّ �ظ �� ن �ت ّ �� � ن ���و� �و �م� �و� �و�م� �ع�و� �و� ��ط ط�ق �و� � �و��ل�و��س�و� �و ل�ط ��ع�و� �و�ك��ل � �ل�ك ��ى �ر��� ��ط��ٍ ي ي � �يو ��� � �ي ي �ي َ خ �ف ف ة ف ن �ل�� � ت��ق� ّ �ف ض ن ق َ � فْ َ ف ��� �من �ه��ة �ك� �� ت� �تر�ى ���فى �ج� �� �� � ي ����� * � ك �ص� * �ه� �م��م�و� �م�ا �ي���ل �م�ن � �ل��� �ل� * �ي � � � ل ب ٍ م م ّ � � َ ضَ �ن ف��ا ذ� ا ق��ا �م� او را ��ي ت� ا ��ل ُر�ز �م�ز ر �و�ع�ا ���فى ��ل ��ر �مت��ق��ا ��ط ار �م�ن ك� � ����س�ا �ه� * �ف ك� ح�ا �ه� * � او �ل�و� ��ا � م م �ف ق ذ آ �آ ��ف � ف ���� ق ت ن ت ا ا � � � ا � �ل��ا ر�ي�ا �� ا � ا � ك �و�ع�ا �ن�ا * �و�م�ع� �ع�لي��ه ا �م�ع� ��ؤه �ى ا �ل�لي���ل �ب�� � ��س�هرا �� * له� ��ا �م ج�� �م � �ع ً � � �آ � �ف ق �ا ن �ق � � ا �خ � ا� ش �ف ك� � ب��ا �لم�ن �ي��ع�ا ���ر �ه�و �ل� ء ا �ل ن��ا ��س * �م�ن ا �ل� كي����ا ��س * �م�ا ا � �ل�ر�� �� � ��ي� �و�ل �ل� ي��ه �ج ا ��ل�� ا ��ل� ا ئ ي�ن � ئ �ا ن ا ئش ��� ن� ���ف ا ��ل��د ��ن ��ا ����ن �ه�ا �� * ��س�و�ى �ب� �ل �ه� � �وب�� ا �ل ح�ى �و ع�م� ��م * �ل� ج�ر�م ا ���ه�م �ع� � �و ى ي بي � م ب� م � � ّ � � � � ح��د �من ظ�ن ��ا ر�ه� * �و� �ل��ف�ت� ا ��ف� او �ه�ه� � او د �ب�ا ر�ه� * �ل�ا �ي ك� �ل��س�د �ب��ص�ا �ئر�ه� � او �ف ك� ��ا د ا � �ه� �ي� ��� � م م م م م ً �ّ ح ه� ن ن �ان ان � ن ن �ت � ا خ ق � ن � ش ا ا ا � ا لله ��ع�ا �ل�ى ��� �ل� ب���� ار ا �ل� �وك�� � د � �و�ه * �و�م� �ي��د ر �و� ا � ا �ل� ���س� � �لي����س �ل� � ��م � � � ا ن� ا طق �ف� ض���� �ع��ل ا �جل��ع �م�ا � او ت� * �و�م�ز ���ة �ع��ل ا ج ���ل �م�اد ا ت� * ف��ا ن� ا �� ك� �رد ا �لن� �� � ب�ج ل��ل� �م ا �م� �ه�و � � ل � ي ى ى ت ة ت� ّ � � � � �ن ذ � � �ح� ف� ا �م�ا د�ة �ل�ص� �ة ا�لم�ع�ا �� * � �ل�ا ��تن ف���� ا�لم�ا د�ة � � � ا و ى و ور �ه� ا �ل�ص�ور� ا �ل ��ى ��هى ح�د�ه� ا � ا �ل�م � ل ي� ع ْ َ � � � � � �ن � �آ ق ُ � ف �ود ا �لث��ا ��ى * �وق��د ��ي�ق��ا �ل ا ن� ا �لرق���ي�ن * ��ت غ��ّ ���ط� ا ���ن ا �ل�ا ف���ي�ن * �و�ه�و �ل� ء ��د � ا �ل�وج � حِر�م� او ى َ َ �ن �� ن ��� ا ��ل ن�� َ ة �ن ة � �ن ا ��� �ق �� ��ف� �ت� ��� ق ن �ت ا ش م ل ع���ل � او �ل��ع�م�� * �ور ض� � ي� �� او �م ا �ل��ك�و� ك��ل�ه �ب� ��س�م�� * ك�ي ط�� ا � ��ع� ���ر ف � ق � �آ � َ َ �ن ن � * ف���ق��ا ��ل ��ل�ه ا خ�� ن ��ث ��ل�� � * �و�� ض� ����ل�ك �ب��ي�ن ا �ل ن��ا ��س ��د ب���ل �ه�و �ل� ء ا �ل�ه�م �وه ا � ك���ي�را يح��س�د �و ��ى �ج �ج � ��ن �� ��ا ق � �ّ م�ا �ن ت �ع ن ا � ا � ا � � � � � � ا � � � ا ا ك ل ل� ح � � � � �د �د � د � � � * � * ع � � � م � ص ع�� س ��س ك � � ل � ير ير و ى ي �م� ي �ل �ع��ل�ى � ك�� ��ى ى ب ر ل�ى
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5،6،1
Food and Feeding Frenzies
provisions and distress. The filthiest of all was the emir’s cook: his shirt was fouler than a cum-rag, and his feet bore more dirt than one could scrape into a vomit bag. When they sat down to eat, such rumbling and mumbling and teeth-gnashing and lip-smacking was to be heard you would have thought they were wild beasts at a carcass. They ate like animals, taking huge bites, burying their front teeth in the food, stripping off the meat down to the bone, sucking out the marrow, licking their lips and smacking them, polishing off the desserts, licking the plates with their tongues, and throwing half-eaten food down on the table, all the while seated on the ground with their legs crossed under them at their ease. You might think that on each one’s brow was inscribed the proverb “Eat your fill and you’ll never be ill.” When they stood up, one beheld their beards strewn with rice, their clothes dripping with grease. When the Fāriyāq ate with them, he’d get up hungry from the table and his guts would rise against him, so that till late at night to sleep he’d be unable. To his brother he’d say, amazed at how any with wits could live in the
1.6.4
company of these barbarous twits, “What distinguishes the Druze from the beasts save their beards and their turbans? For sure, their very way of life leads to the closing of their eyes and minds, the opening of their mouths and behinds. Scarce one of them can credit that God Almighty has created a race of men to which they are not superior. They’re unaware that a man isn’t better than a dumb animal or distinguishable from an inanimate mineral simply because he has the power of speech. Words are but the Matter pertaining to the Form in which various meanings may be expressed, and this Matter alone is of no use if the Form, which is the second stage of existence, has not within it been impressed.159 It has been said that ‘a silver coin covers the fool’s shortcomings,’ but these people have been deprived of both brains and ease and are content to take from this whole world nought but the breeze. How can you bear to live alongside such kine, and at a time when your own gifts have just begun to shine?” His brother replied, “They often envy me for my standing with the emir, but I bear the wiles of my enviers with patience, however hard they be to bear. As it is said:
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1.6.5
��ف ���ط ا �ت �ه�ا �م ي� ��ع� �م � او �ل �
آ �وك�� �� ا ����ش�� ء ي� �س�ه�ا ا �ن�ا ��س ح�� ب � م � �ا َ ن � ا ���ي�د ���ه� � ح�� �سود ا �و�ل�و �ل� ا � �ي ك� ب
ُ �� �ل��ف�ا ��ع��له�ا ��ن� ا � � ع��ي�م� �و��هى ب� ��و��س ُ � ا�ن� ذ� �ل� ك ��ر � ك��ر��ه�ا � �و��ب�ه �� ب � ع�و��س
ن ش ة فت ّ ة ة �ف ض اً� �ع�ن ذ � � ف ا ن ا �� ��ق � ذ ن خ� ة ن �و�� � �ل�ك �� � ل �وم � �و �و � ���ل �و� �و�مر�و� * �و����ه�ا �م�� �و� ��و� * � او ���ه�م � او � ّ � �ف � � � �ف �ا �ن � �ه� �مت��ا د ب� ��و ن� ��ى ا � ف�ل��ع�ا ��ل � او �� ك� �ي��ك�و� �� او ��سي����ئى ا �ل�اد ب� �ع��ل�ى ا �ل��ط ��ع�ا � * ل��ل�ا � * �ل� � م م م � نَ �خ � ا �ُ� َ �ف � ن � � � ا �ز ن �غ ن � ف ق � ن ن � �ق ن ا ��ل �ه�م �ل� او ��ط �و �ل� ��ا * ��ي�ر ا � ا � �ل��ا ر�ي�ا �� ك���ا � �ير�ى ��ي � ��ط� �و� �ب� �ى * �و �ل� �ي عر� ب�ي�� � َ � � �أ ة ف�اّ ن ن ق ت � ا ف ن ��ا ن ف ا ��ل�ا دَ ب� ك� �� ��ه ك� � ا�لم� د �ب�� * � ك� ����ل�ه ي ڡ ���ا � ��د �خ� ّر� �ع��ل�ى ب���ع��ض� ا �ل� � �هم� � ا �و ك�� � �ي� ر �ج �ج ف َّ � �ن ا د � ا �� �ل�ق ا ��ف �� � �ف �ت �ن��س���ة * ��ف�م�ن ث�� ا ��س�ت�د�ع� � ��ق� � ت ح��ه �ع��ل ج�ه �� �هم� �و�ه�م ���لب� �ه * و� ى �و �ى ل�و ص � � ب ى ب ير ى م ف � ّ � � ق ة ف ا ا ت ه � ن�ظ �� ف ف �خ ��� �ن�� ��ا �له� * �م�ن �ج��م��لت�ه�ا � ��ه ��� �د�ة ����ن ��ه�ا ��س� ء � �� ج�� ب���� * ح�ا �له * � � ش � � �م ي� �م �ص�ي ب ي ي� و � �م و و ب � م ّ �ف �ث ّ � ا ض فاَْ�ن �ُْ � ��� �من ي���ة � ��س�ل�ا م�����ط��ُ ن � � � ه �س� ك ا � � �ل ا �ك � � ه � �ل � � � � � ح � م � � ى �ي و ��ى �����غر ٍل � م � عِم
ث ا �خ ���ا ن� �م ش���ه� د ا ��ل�ه ��ا ��ل�اد � * � �عل��� ��لغ����ة ا ��ل�ع � * ف��ا ���ست�� ن ��س�ه�ا �ي��ه �وك� ���ه�ا �ع�� �� �عر ض� ل و � ح � رب ب و � ب ى م م �م ن��ه �ع�� �صغ�� ��س�نّ�ه * � ا � �� ��� ا �ع��ة ف� نّ��ه * ث�� �ل�� ���ل� ث� ا ن� ا �ش��ت�ه ا �م �ه�ا * � �ش���ا ع و �ج ب ب ب ر م ميب �ر ر ل�ى ر و ع ذ� � ��ث�� �م�ن �م�ع�ا ف��ه ف����ّلغ��ه�ا ات ا ا � �ه�ا * � ذ� ��ل��ك ��ل�ا ن� ا خ��ا ه �م�ن �ش���د�ة ا �ع ا �� �ب�ه �ب��ه� ��ل� �ه� �ع��ل�ى ك� ي ر و ر ب � ج � ك�ر � � ن ا� ا � �ا ��ا ن �ذ � ّ�غ ن �نا �ّا �ص ا ��ن ��ا ف��ا ن� ا ��ل ���ع�� ا ��ل ح��س�د �ل� �ي��ك�و� �ل� ح��س� د * ا �ل�ى ا �م�ي�ر ا �ل�� د * �وك�� � �ه� ا ا�لمب���ل� ��� ر ي ب �ض � ث � �ز ن خ ن �� � �ه� �م�ن ا �ل��د ر �و ك� ���ا � �� او د ا ���ل��ي�ن ي ڡ �ع ن��د ا �لن��ص�ا ر�ى * �م� ا � ك����ي�را �م�م�ن �ت��لي� ت� �ع��ل ي� م ع � س�ت�آ �ّ ق ا � � �ف � ا �� � تا � �ذ � �خ ا ا ق � �ع�د ا د الم� جه �ّو�ي�ن * �ل�م� س�م� ا �ل� �م�ي�ر �ب�� �ل�ك ا �� � ء ج��د ا �و�� �ل �ل� �ي��ه * �� لله � �ل��د �� ع �آء ا خ � ��ف � �ن�ا � �ه �ض � ك ا �م ا �ف �ّ�ا * ك�� �� ���ف ن��ا � �ق�د ا �ن�ز ��ل ن��ا ه �م��ن�ز ��ل�ا ك�� � ��م�ا * � ��س��ق ن��ا � ه � � ج�� � � � � � و ي ي جو و و ي و ير و ر ري َ � أ � � � �ن ة � ق � � �غ ظ � ّ �ز ق � �وه �ب ���� ا �لي��ه ر ��ا عي�م�م�ا * �ل�ع�مر ا لله �ل��ئ�ن �ل�م ��ي ت��د ا رك ج�ه� �ص�ي �د� �م�دح� �ل� �ي� ��� ن��ه * �وك���ا � آ فا ت � �ذ � ا � ت فا ���ده * �و���فى ش��� � ء ا ���حل � ا �� ف�ل� �و��س��ة � او ��لنج� �م��د ر �ه� ا ا �ل� �م�ي�ر �م��ص��� �ب��ص��� � ا �ل�عرب� ي ڡ ر َ � � � � � � ���ا ن� َ�ي �كِ� �ج� �ه�ده� * 1غ��ي�ر ا �ن�ه ك� ��ل ا �ل�ا �م�ور ا �ل�ى ا�لم�ق��د �ور * �و �ل�ا �ي��ه�م�ه �ت �تر�ي�� ب� � ح�ا �ل�ه * هَ �� :١٨٥٥ 1ج� ��د ه.
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7،6،1
8،6،1
Food and Feeding Frenzies
Many things men think a blessing To those who have them, when in fact they bring them down. Did not the envious plot to take them from them, They’d disavow them with a frown. “In addition, these people are endowed with pride and chivalry, courage and gallantry, and though ill-mannered at the board, they’re well-mannered in deed and word. They never utter a word obscene, and among them sodomy and adultery are nowhere to be seen.” The Fāriyāq, however, could appreciate no manners but those of the
1.6.6
dining table, as though he’d been gently raised by Franks or belonged somehow to their ranks. Summoning, then, his native wit to mock them and being obeyed, calling for rhymes to describe them and being not gainsaid, he composed on them an ode in which he exposed the wretchedness of their daily grind and their coarseness of mind, one line of which went: When each one holds knife and cutter In his mouth, what’s left for him to eat with? He showed this to his brother (to whose knowledge of literature all bore
1.6.7
witness, as they did to his grammatical fitness) and the latter thought it well done—even though the Fāriyāq’s age was still tender—and was impressed by the skill with which his art he did render. In no time, however, the ode became celebrated, and much debated, the reason being that his brother, so proud, recited it to many of those whom he knew, at which one of the envious communicated it to the emir of the crew. This informer was a Christian— envy being a quality found only among Christians—even though many of those to whom it had been read out were among the Druze who were the object of the satire. When the emir heard about it, he was greatly offended and told his brother, “Forsooth, your brother’s committed an act uncouth! How can he satirize us when he’s our guest whom we’ve dealt with as one of high station, and to whom we’ve alloted generous compensation? I swear to God, if he doesn’t cancel out his attack with a poem of praise, I shall vex him greatly.” This emir was, of the Arab qualities of chivalry and courage, the epitome, and would do anything in his power to attract a eulogy, though he submitted his affairs to fate, giving little thought to his current or future state. Now, however, he feared this threat might invite further attacks, should the Fāriyāq
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1.6.8
��ف ���ط ا �ت �ه�ا �م ي� ��ع� �م � او �ل �
آ � � � �ك�و ن� �ه��ذ ا ا ��ل� �عي��د ا د �ع�ى ا ��ل�ى �ز ��ا د�ة ا �ل� جه � او �لن �ظ� �� ر ���فى �م�� ��ل�ه * ث�� �خ� ش����ى �م�ن ا ن� �ي�� �� �و و ي م � ضآ ن �ا غ ضآ ذ ف � ف ق �غ ظ �ف ا � � ��� ء * ��� ء ا ج���ل ب� �ل�ل� ر� ا � ا ����ص�ل �ع ن��ه ا � �ل��ا ر�ي�ا �� �و�ه�و �م�ي� ��� * � ار �ى ا � ا �ل� ��� آ َّ �ف � �فّ �ف ث � �فُ ضَ ن � ت ّق ���ل�ا �ص�د ��ي�ق��ا �ل�ه �م�ن �ع��ل�م�� ء �م��لت��ه * �و�� � او � ا �ل�م�� �ل� * ا �و ��ق� �ل��لت���ل� �ق� * ��م�ن �� ��س�ا ر � م ن � � � ف ق ف خ ا ا ا ا ا ا � ن � ح��لت��ه * ا ن� � � �ص�ن � �م�ا د �ب��ة � �و��د �ع�وه ا � �ه� � او � �ل�� ر�� �� � او �� ه * ��ل�م� �ج �م� ل � عه� ا �ل�� د �ى * � ي � ي� ي ي م آ ع ��ق � � � ا ذ ق�ن �ن �ذ � �َ ق ا ق � ئ ا � ا ا ا �ئ ��ا ��ل � س ا �ل� �م�ي�ر �� ��ل� � او لله �ل� ا � �و�� �م �ه� ا ح��ل� �و ء �ع��ل� ا �� �و�جِ � ط�� �� ك�� �ل�ه� او د �ى * ا �� � ب ب ى م ت � َ ��ا ��ل�ا * ف��ا ��ت��د � ق��ا ��ل ���د ��ه�ا � ا ب� ��و د ��ل�ا �م��ة �ي��عن�� ا �� �لف��ا ر��ا �ق� ب��ي����ت �م�دي� ا ر ج� �ش���ي �ا ا �و ��ي ن�ظ �� � ب ر و ب ي� ى ى ي ح م � � ���ا ن ����ط��� � � ا ة ن ان �� �ف ق � ��ل�ا ن� ا �ل� جه �ه �و �و ��� �ج���ن� ��هِ ع اب�ى د �ل� ��م�� ا ��ه ي� ج��و �ق�د ك� � ب � ��نّ��م�ا ��ه��ذ ا ا ��ل� ّ � ان �خ���� �ن�ه�ا ه ا �ذ �ُ��م َ� ت� � ا � ل�� �ك �زِ �ج ح�ل� � �و�ت�ه ب���مر �ل���س� ��هِ � بي ص �
فُ ف � ن � ت � � ت �ا �ح�ا ض �ج� �� �و ن� ا ����ست�� ��ص�ا � ��نّ ا ��ل � � ح��س�ا �ن�ا �ل���ه�م�ا * � �ح��ى ا �ل� ��م�ي�ر �ل�م �ي ���م�ا �ل��ك ا � � ر ح ��ّ �ذ � ا �� �ل ا � ا �ق � �� ّ ي�ن �ع�ن��ي��ه ��ف�ا ��ن�ع�ق��د ت� ���ب� ��ل��ك ا�لم� او د ��ع��ة �ور� ��ج� � ��ف� ري� � و ب ق���ل�ه �ب�� � ي ع �ك��ل آ �ذ � ن �ا ق �ض��ا * � ���ق�ف��� � ا ح��ن �ا ا ��ل� ب��� ت ي��ه * � �و �ل�ى ا � �ل� �ي����ع���د �ي�ف�م�ا ب����ع�د �ن�ا �صي����ت�ه ���ب� ن�� ب� ��ص� �ب ى � را �� ي و ل آ � � ن ّ ذ �ن ا� ح��د �م�ن كب����ر� ء ا �ل ن��ا ��س * � او � ي���س�د ا � �ي��ه �ع�ن �ص�و ت� �ص��ت� � ا ن �غ � ي �ه�م و � ��ل ب� �ع��ل�ى � ا ا �ل� ج� ا ر ��س *
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Food and Feeding Frenzies
leave his service while in a wax, and thus decided that to disregard the slight was the best path to placation, flattery the surest route to reconciliation. As a consequence, he discreetly asked a friend of his, a scholar of his sect, a member of the community’s elect, to put on a feast, to which he was to invite him, the Fāriyāq, and his brother. When all had been gathered by the public crier in one place, the sweets brought in on dishes like a herd of camels heading up a race, the emir made an oath and swore, “I shall not taste of these, till Abū Dulāmah”160 (meaning the Fāriyāq) “has composed two lines of praise impromptu!” The Fāriyāq, not slow to respond, came up with the following, in situ: Abū Dulāmah by nature can scarce forbear to mock For mockery’s in his nature fixed. But this date-and-butter pudding stopped him in his tracks When his sour tongue with its sweetness mixed. The company went into transports over the lines, to the point that the emir couldn’t restrain himself from shaking the Fāriyāq’s hand and kissing him between the eyes. This sealed their mutual conciliation and all returned home in jubilation, though our friend went to his house and swore he’d never again tie his forelock to any great man’s skirts and would block his ears to the reverberations of their reputations, though they rang louder than any church bells’ tintinnabulations.
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1.6.9
� �� ا � �ل�ف��ص�ل ا �ل���س�ا ب��� ع ح ا ن�� ّ ا �ق � ��� ف �س� � ا خ � �ا �ق ي �ڡ � � � � � �ف و � � �م� �ر �ه� � و ر � �ن ث� �� ث ا �� �ف ا ا �ق � ت� ا �� � ف ت � ا � �ف ش ّ ن �ه�ا �م��ل�ل ا �ل�ع��لي���ل �م�ن ا � �ل� ار ��� * �وك���ا � حر���ه ا �ل� �و�ل�ى �و��م�ل �م � �م لب�� ل�� ر�ي� � �ي �ع� �ط�ى �ڡ � � ث �ف ض �� ه �ص�د � ق �ص�د � �ق ا ��ق ا � ا �� ه �ف ا ج��ت � � ه � �ة � خ ا ض ا � حو ل� * � م ب� مر و�� � ل� � ي��� � و� �ير ب� � ��� ي ح�د��ي� ا ����ى ع ّ ذ � ا ��لت ظ �� ا � � �ي�ن ا ��ل ن ا �� � ا � �ن ا �� � ا ��ش �� ا �ل� � ا ��ش �� �من� ا ف���ق ّ ا � �ك� ا ��ل � �ى � كر مع� � * و ���� هر ب� �� س ب� ح��س لري� � * �ر ر ى �ل �ه�م� �ع��ل�ى َّ ِ�زَّت �ز ن �ا ُ ّ ن ف ن ن �ان ان � �صر�ه�م�ا �ل� �ي��ع�د ا ���س�ا �ن�ا �ب ��� ض� �ڡ �ع� ����ل�ه �و�م�ز��ي ت��ه * ب���ل �بِ�ب� ��ه �و �ي���ت��ه * � او � ا � ا �ل� ���س� � ي �ت �ق � � ل��ا ن� ا �ل�م�ع��ل�ق���ي�ن ���ف ا � �ت�ا د �� ن ت � ت ا �خ�زّ � ا ��ل ا ��ل ن��ا ��س ا �ل�م�و��ل�ود�ي�ن �م�ن ا ��ل � � حرر � او � �ل� ��ط�ن � او � ك�� حوا ��ي��� ا �لج��� ر ى و و �ي ظ� ن � ذ ��ا ن ض ّ � � ق �ن � ن ا � ا ش ي�ن � ا �ي�ن ن ��ي ��ق� ا �ل� �ه�ا * � او � ا�ل�مرء ا � ا ك�� � � ا �ع �� �ص�د ر �م ��د را �م ا �ل�� ��س ا�لم� ����� ا �ل�ع� ر �ع � ���ا ن� �ه� ا ��لنَ���ه 1ا ��ل��آ �ف� ق � او ��ل ار ��س * ب� حي� ث� �ي�� �ك�و ن� � او ��س� ا ��ل��س ار � �و�ل�ا ت� � او ��ل��لب��ا ��س * ك� �� ي و بِ ع � � � ن � ت�� ض ا � ض ا �ة ن ف � � م����ا ا ��ل��ه ��ا ��ل��ن �ا ن� * الم �ش ا ا ا ا � � � �� س � � ��� �ع� ح�م�ود ب� ��ك�ل �ل��س� � * � �ج �مع� را ي��ه�م� �ع��ل�ى ا � ي ب�� ��ع� ب�� ا �ل ر ي ب ب � ق �ص�د ا �ت � � ه�ا ���ف ���ع�� ا ��ل�� �اد ا � ت ح�ا �� ا �ه��له�ا � ��ت ف جً �� �س� ���ط�ل�ا �ع�ا ��ل و �� ّر��ا �م�ن ك�ر ب� �ب�ا �ل�ه�م�ا * � �و�ي��� ر يو�ج � ى ب �ض ب ل �ل � � ح �ث�ت �ن � ُ �ز � � ضَّ َ �ا ت � � ا �� ض ة ���تر��ا � �ف�ا ك�� ���ا �ع�� �و�ه�و �ل� ي�� �س� �� ح�م�ا را ��حل�م�ل لب�� ط�� ���م�ل �ج � �ه �م ا �ل�ه ا �ل � او �ل� � ��و�ى ي ي ع � ش �ف ض اً نُ ا �ق ه �زُ �ق ا ه �ف ا � ا � ���ل� �ع�ن ِ�ع�ل�ا � �وت�ه * �و�ل� �ي�� �ك�ن �ق�د ب�����ق ف�ي��ه ����ى �ش���د �ي��د ��س�و�ى ���ه� � �و � �ع� * � �ل� �ول� �� ى م � �ق � ه � ا � ف ث� ا ا �ه ا � ف� ّ ا ن ��ل�ل�ا ��س�ت �ع�ل�ا �ف� * � او ��لث��ا ���نى �ل�م�ن ي�ن�خ� � ��س�ه ا �و �ي� �ل�ى �ع�لي�� ا �ل� ك ���ا �� * � ��س� ر �و �م� �ي�� �ص�ل� � م نُْ �ن �ق ا �ة � �آ ا � � �ق ّ ن ا � ا �� �ف� �ز ح��ة ا ��ل�ا ��ا ��ل * ���فم�ا ���لغ���ا �ث��و ب� ا �لج���ا � �ع��ل� � �م� ا �ل� �م� � � � ا � � � � �د ل � �د � � � * � ع �� س ط � � ل � ل ر و ج ب ب �ي و �ى ح ى �� َّت ا � ا �� ��ا �ع�� �ش���ف��ا ُ� �ف� �ه�ا �م�ن َ �َم�ق��ه * � ا �� �لف��ا ��ا �ق ا �� ض ���ا �ز ا �ه�ق ا ��ل � � �م�ن ل ح � � � م ل ج و ر و ر ر ر ِ�طي���ه�م� ا �ل� � او ي ي ر ٍ �ى � رح َ بَ :١٨٥٥ 1ا �لن�����ه.
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2،7،1
Chapter 7
A Donkey that Brayed, a Journey Made, a Hope Delayed
Thereafter the Fāriyāq continued to practice his first profession, becoming,
1.7.1
in the process, as sick of it as the invalid of his bed. He had a true friend who kept an eye on how he was; once they met and embarked on a discussion of how a person might keep himself fed and cut a dash before others by dint of wearing the best thread, both concluding that the people of their day judged others not by their virtue and discrimination but by their attire and its decoration, that those who were born to the wearing of the silk-wool, silk, cotton, and linen that are hung on the pegs of merchants’ stores were of greater account than those who were without of such things, and that a person, be he petty and dumb, so long as his pantaloons and drawers were baggy, was the one man all would point to as noble and learned and who’d be praised by every tongue. They ended up agreeing that they’d acquire some goods for trade and try to sell them in certain towns, as a way to observe how their inhabitants lived and to dispel the rancor from their minds. They hired a donkey to carry their wares, though the donkey was so thin and emaciated he could barely carry his own carcass, let alone whatever might be put on top of him. Nothing of any force was left him but his bray and his fart. The first of these was an appeal for fodder, the second directed at any who threw a pack-saddle on him and at any prodder. Then they set off, cutting the cloth of success to fit the figure of hope, measuring out the carpet of triumph to fit fate’s scope. By the time they reached their destination, however, the donkey was at the edge of a crumbling dike of prostration, while the Fāriyāq too was about to give up the ghost from fatigue and vexation, remorseful at having abandoned his pen, however ungiving, along with the little it spat out by way of a living.
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1.7.2
ف ح ا �ن ّ ا �ق �� ف� ا خ� �ف ق ���ا �� ��ي���م� ر��ه� � �و س�ر�و
�ت ا �� �لق��� ا �� ض ئ �ت ق �م�ع ا��ا ن ن ف ث �ن � �ز ق � ق � ��عب��ه �و���ل�ق��ه * �ن�ا د � �ع��ل� رك ل� ل� ����ي���ل * �م� ك�� � ��ي ���� �ب�ه �م ا �لر �� ا � �ل��لي���ل م ى م ق ة �� ئ �ذ ف �ف � ش ة � �َ شَ���� * � ��تَ��ع��ة ا ��ل َ��ثَ� * � ظ ��� � َ ف ا �هر �ل�ه ��س��� ه را �ي�ه ��ى ا �ل��� ار �ه�� ا �ل�ى �و�ي��و�م�� �عر�� �ع�ا �ب��� ا �جل ع وبِ رع و � ْ ا � نَ َ �ن �� �ص� ا ��ل�ا ���د ا ن� * � �وَ��لب��ا ��ل ا �ج��ل �َن��ا ن� * �غ��ي�ر ا ن� ا ��ل��لب���� �م�ن ا ���ست�خ� � �م� �ي ��و�ج ب� ��� � �م �ك��ل ب ي ر ب ب ب �ج � � ض ة نف ة � ة � ف عً � ش �ن ��� �م�ف���س�د�ة �م�ص���ل ة � ح�ت ا ن� ���فى ف���ق��د ا �ل��ص ح�� �لن �����ا �لم�ن ر����د * م� ��ر� �م ����ع�� * �و�م �ك�ل ح�� * ى �ف � خ � ا �ل� �ن �ق��ص�د ا ذ ا ��ل�ع��ل�� � � �م�م�د � � � ا ده ��ت�ق� �ن ف �ن �� ت ا و��ي ر م � * � ي �ل و ه�و ود ع��ل�ى و��س� * � �صر� ����س�ه �ع ا ل�م� د �ى ��ى ت � ئ � ق ة ف ت�ق �ف ��ف �ش ا �ت ه ا �ل� ن� ة � � �ن�ا �ه��ك��ه * ���س�ا ده * �و�ى ���ه�و � م� ك ��ر� � او �ه� او ��ه ا�لم� �وب����� * � �� �و�ى �ب��ص�ي�ر��ه � او�ل�مر��ض � � �ذ �ك��ه * �وُر ض���ى ا لله � او ��ل ن��ا ��س ب��م�ا �ه�و ��س�ا ��ل�� �و��م��ل�ك ��س�د ا ده � او �ل�ا �ل� �م�ا ��ل�� �ك� ا ك� �ك��ه * �و � �ه� ���ا ن�� ت� �ي ي م ا �� �� ف ا ا �ق �� ق ا ا ت ه �ت � � ا � ش ا �قّ ف ا ن ه � ا � ّ ض�ن ��ك ا ��ل�� فس�� * � ��ل��ق � �� ح� ل ا �ل�� ر�ي� � * ب�ع�د �م��� ��س� �� �لك �لم���� � * �� �� �لم� ا ح��س �ب�� ر و �ى �ت ّ�ن � ن ش � ق � � � �ن � ق ئ � ن ��ق� ا � �ل�ل��� ا �و��س� م � ��رر * � ب��ي� �ل�ه ا � � �م ن��ه �م�ا ��ل��قى �م�ن ا �لض� ح��ا �� ب� ا �لب��ي �ا �ع�ه * � او � � م ع � ن � � ا ن ��ف �ت � ا ��ل ّ��س�� � �ة �ل�َم� َّ ةً �ن ا �م� ّ ة لع� عر� د �و��ه� عر� ���ا �ع�ه * �و � �ى ر ي� ��س� او د ا�لم�د ا د ا �ب��ه�ى �م�ن ا �ل� او � ا �لب� ض� و �ج � غُ َّ ة � ّ ة �ف ّ � �خ �ج�ز � � ا �ن ه �ع ن ا � ا � ا ا ��ل ��� ن ض �ا �ن ش ش �ن ط��ه �ير���ى ب���ل�ي� ا �ل�عي����� �و���� �ه * �و �ل� ا �ل���د � � او �لِ��س��ل�ع�� � م ب� � ��د �ل� ي� ب� �ى �و � ن �� ذ ة ة َ� �ة ف ة ة �ئ ة ح ث �ا ��ي ب��ا �ل�ى ا � �ل� �ي��ك�ن � ا �ش���ا ر� را ��ع�� * ا �و ��ط�ل�ا �ل�� را ���ع�� * ا �و �م�عي�� ش����� � او ��س�ع�� * ب�ي�� �ل� م � نا ا ش َ � � � ا ف ا ا ا ت � � �و ب� ا �م�ص� را * �و �ل� ��ي ���ل� او ح�م� را * ا �م� �و�ص�� ا �حل �م�ا ر �ع��ل�ى ا ��س�ل� بو���� �م�ع� ���ر ا �ل�عرب� ي ج�� � � � �ا � ف ا ن ه � �ز � حر� �ون�ا �ع�ن�ي �د ا * �ت�ا ر �ز ا ق��د �ي��د ا * �ل�ا �ي ك� ���ا ن� ب� �� �ون�ا ب���لي��د ا * � ��ا د ي�خ �� ط�و ا �ل� �ب�ا �ل�هرا �وه * �� �� ك فا ف ن ا ف � � ذ �ن ق � �ة �آ ��ف � ا � ظ �� نّ ا �ً ذ ُ � طف��ا �وه * �� ج� � �ه� ا ج� � ح ار � ا �� � ����ل �م � او � ا را �ى � �� ��ط� �م� ء �ى ا �ل� ر �ض� �� ���ا �ل ا �لن��ع�ا � * �ه� ب � � م ��ا ن � ا ً � َ � � قة � ا ف ن ة ف ن ح�م�ا �ك��ا �يُ��و جَ��� �م�ن ا حِ ���ل �م�ا �م * � او �م�ا �ع��ل�ى ا �ل��ط �ر�ي���� ا �ل� �ر�ج�ي��� ��ا ��ه ك�� � �و �و ج���ل �م ح�م� را �و�ل��د � ر ل َ ن � � � ّ له� � ���� � او �ّم�ه ا �ت�ا ن� �م�ن �ج�ي���ل ك� ح�م�ي�ر * �وك� ��رب� ا �ل�ى ا �ل��س� او د * �و�م��س �ش���عره ���ا � �ل� �ون�ه �ي�ض� � م �� ّ � �قَ � �م� �ّ � ا ذ ني�ن � � ن � � ّ ا ا ي�ن ش ا ا ا � س ا �لر ج��ل�� �ب� د �ى ا �ل� �ِم�ع� ��ط * ا د ر� ك��م��س ا � �ل ت��ا د * صل�� ا �ل� � ��� �و �ل� ����� ��ط * ا �ع�� � م م من َ َْ َ � ش�غّ �ف � �ف �ت ّ�غ ّ �ف ف �خ � � ن ا ��ف�وه * ا دْ �ل� ا �قره * ��ي� ��ر� �و�مر * �و����� � �� ��ى ب���س�ه * �و ر���س �ع��د � ��س�ه * � ك ك و ر �ي ي �ي �ي م �ح َ ْ �غ � ا ت � � � ا �ت� ّ � ا ذ ذ ف ف ا �ز � ا � � ح��ك �ي��ه ا �ل�ع�ص� * �و �ل� �ي ع��م�ل �ي��ه ا �ل �ر ا � ا �ع��صى * �و �ل� ي� حرك ا �ل� ا � ا � ��يو ب��د �ل� �ي ج � �ن ة � ا ذ � ا تظ� ف ا � ّ ا �َ َ ف ن � ن �ز �ؤ ن ا �هر ف�ي��ه ا ��ل حي �� او �ي��� ا �ل� ا � ا را �ى ا �ت�ا �ن�ا * ��ي�ر�ي��ك ح��س �ب� �ل�ع�� �ل� � او � �ي��ك�و� � ا �� * �و �ل� �� �� � 118
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4،7،1
5،7،1
A Donkey that Brayed, a Journey Made, a Hope Delayed
That day he discovered the consequence of greed and where cupidity can
1.7.3
lead. He realized how foolish he’d been to lust after that which brings with it physical contusion and mental confusion. It is also true, though, that the wise man is he who extracts some benefit from each reverse, some advantage from each circumstance adverse. Even in loss of health there’s benefit to him whose path is straight, good fortune for him who doesn’t deviate, for the soul of the sick man stretched out head upon pillow is too constrained to pursue depravity, forbidden lusts, or mortal iniquity. As the disease makes him weaker, his insight becomes stronger, and he sees things more plainly as the pain lasts longer, thus pleasing both God and men with his behavior. This was how things stood with the Fāriyāq, after he had suffered through these travails, for when he became sensible of the hardships of travel, and saw what it had to offer by way of trials, it became clear to him that the slit of the pen nib was more capacious than the salesman’s sack, colored wares less gay than ink, however black, while to the marketing of goods there pertained a stigma no less great than that of buboes or of goiter. He determined, therefore, that, on returning to his hometown, he’d rest content with whatever ease or discomfort life might bring, not caring if he were a man of note, wore an elegant coat or lived like a king, and that never again through the world’s cities would he pass, walking behind an ass. Now, were I to describe the donkey after our fashion, my dear Arab
1.7.4
nation, I’d say he was a slow-witted beast with a vicious kick, balky, stubborn, and shaggy, with a hide that was thick, scarce willing to move without the stick. Catching sight of a drop of water on the ground, he’d think it a flotsam-covered ocean and, as scared as though it promised death, shy from it like an ostrich and make a commotion. Were I, though, to describe him in the Frankish way, I’d say he was a donkey son of a donkey, born of a she-ass all of whose ancestors were donkeys. His color tended toward the black and his hair felt like thorns when you touched his back; his ears were cropped and listless, his legs stiff, his coat starting to fall, and he was toothless; wide-mouthed, slack-lipped, and with hide discolored, he kicked out when goaded and when driven walked with buttocks splayed, not to mention that he sniffed at she-asses’ pee, rolled on the ground, smeared his dung everywhere and sprayed. The stick on him had no effect, nor did rebuke, when he disobeyed and he never moved unless he sensed food, be it only darnel. No trace of animal nature would he show until
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1.7.5
ف ح ا �ن ّ ا �ق �� ف� ا خ� �ف ق ���ا �� ��ي���م� ر��ه� � �و س�ر�و
َ ف ن ش ا � ا � َ ا ن ا � ت ��ث ا ت ن ا نا � �َ� هًا ���ا ن� � �ق���ل� � ح�م��ل�ه * � �و�ي����س�د ٍح �سم�و� � � او ��س���� �� * �و����� ��ط� �و ص�مي�� �� * ح�ى ك���ي�را �م� ك� �ي ب َ َّ � ن ن ئ � � قة ِ�ع�د ��ل�ه * �وف�ي��ه خ���ل��ة ا خ�ر�ى �و �هى ا ��ه ك� ���ا � د ا �� ا ِ�ل�ا � ��ر��س�ه * ح��دا ث� �ع��ل�ى ���ل�� ِا �ع�م�ا �ل ض� م ف ن ن أ ن � غَ �فْ ��ث �ف ن �ف � � ش ا � ا � �ق ���فى ا ��لنج�� �و�ة � او ��خل ���� �ز ��ا د�ة �ع��ل� � �م� او ��ص�ل ا �ل� � � � ح��س�ه * �� � �م������ ه ك�� � ��ى �ب�ل�اد �ي��ك� ر � �ض ي ى ��ل�ف � � � ف � �� * ف���له��ذ ا ا �عت��ا �ن ا ����ع�� ��ل�اد ا �جل�ع ��� � او �ل�� جس��ل �� * � او ��ل��ل�ف� ت� � او � �ل�ق ن���ي� ���ط كب� � د � ع �ه�ا ا � ك � ل � �ي� ب � ل��ر�� ب� �و ج ل ب �ض ى م م َ � ئ ف�ا ن � ا ّ � � ا ش ا خ� ار � �ه��ذه ا �ل ار � ح��ة �م�ن �صغ��ره * �و �ز ا د ت� ف�ي��ه �ب�ا �زد �ي�ا د �ع�مره * � ك� �� � �ل� �ب��د �ل�ل�م� ����ى �ج �ا ث �ا �ن ُ فّ خ � ف �ن ّ ��ف �� ا � ف ي�ن ف ا ن ف ق ة �ذ � �ن ف � ه� * � � �� �ل��ه �م ��س�د ا � ���ه * � او �ل� ك��� ر �م ا ��ه * �و�ى ك��ل� ا �ل�و� �ص��� �� � ر������ �ه� ا ا �لب � يم ُ � �ت�ك�ن ق ّ ذ ً �ن � ف � ا � ن � ��ل�ا ن� �ع�د�ة �ق �ى * ��ل���� ف��ه�ا �م�ن ي س ي� �ل�م �� ا ���ل ا � �ى �م ا �ل��س��ر ا �ل� �لي��م * � او ��ه ب���ع�د ج��و ر � ش ا �ي�ن � ة �ا ��م � ا �م�ا � � � ��ل�ا � � * � ���ع�د �م ا � ا ت ح�ا �و �ل� ت� �و�م�ص�ا �و �ل� ت� وى و قِرى �� د �ل� � �م� ا �ل���� ر ��ط�ي�و��ل�� * �و بو ج ع �َّ فآ � � �آ � غ � ة ة ق �ف ق ن ا � ض�ي �ا �ب�ا �ل��ل���� � ا و �ل�ع�ود ا �ل�ى ا�لم�� ب� * �� � بو��ي���ل�� * �ن�� ا � �ل��ا ر�ي�ا �� �و ش���ر�ي��ك��ه �م�ن ا �ل��ي��م�� �ب�ا �ل� �ي�ا ب� * �ور� ع ن � � ا ن � ئ � ف ا �غ ة � ا ت � ت� ا ت ا �ذ � ت ت ن �ن � �و�ع�ل�م� ا � ا �لب���ر ا � �ل�� ر��� �ل� �م���ل� �م ا �ل��د �ى * � او � ا �ل��ع ب� ي ڡ � ج�� ر���ه�م� �ي�� �ه ب� ى ق ّ � � ش ة �ظ � ا ت � ��ع��ي�ن � ن � ا ا ا ا � ت �ن � � �� �ه� * كي���ل� ي ��م� �ب��ه�م� �م ��ي � �� ر�ه�م� را ج� �ُ�س�د �ى * ف���ت��سب��ب��ا ي �ڡ � ب��ي�� ا �لب� ض� ��� �ع�� ب ي��م � ع ��م�ا �ه�ت�ه�ا * � ��ا �ت�ا �ت��ل�ك ا ��ل��ل���ل��ة خ��ا ��ل �� ا ��ل��ا ��ل * �م�ن ا �� �ل�ق ��� � ا �� �لق��ا ��ل * ف��ا ن� �م�ن ا ��ل ن��ا �� �م�ن يل و ي ب ي� س يى ب وب ت ّ آ ّ � ش �ذ � ن � �ئ ف ا � ��ه ش��� � ء ���� ا �ل�ا ���ع�د ��ت�ق���ل�ي��ه * � ���ع�د � ��ل�ا ��ي�ج�ع ح�مي ��ق� �ب�ا ��ئ�ع�ه �و�ت � �ك� ��ي ب��ه * ��ل� �ب��د �ل��لب��ا �� �م�ن ا � بو ى ب ب ب ر ّع ت� خ ة � �ك�ن ��ف ت ا يًا ت ا ا � ا ت ا ّ ا تغ ا ف ا � ن �ن ث �ت �ي��ك�و� �ع �م���ل �ه�و �ل� �م��ص� �م� �م���� ��ل� * �م��ع� �م�� �م����س� �ه�ل� * � �و��لك ���ل�� �ل�م �� �ى � ف ا ا ق � ا �ف � ت � ة �� ن � �ن ف ا ن �� ّا ن ا �ه�م�ا ك� ���ا ن� ي� ح�ا �و�ل ا ��س�م�ا �ل�� ا �ل��ك�و� ا �ل�ى ج��ا � ب��ه * ح��ه * �� � ك��ل� �م � ا � �ل�� ر�ي� �� �و �ل� ��ى �ص� � ب ث � ث �ّل ا � ا �� �� ا � ه �ف� �� �ل ا � �ة ���ا �ع��ة � �و�ا ���حل �� ا �ن��ه�م�ا ر ج� �ه�م� ��س�ل�ع� ��ع�ا ب���م�ن ا �لب� ض� ح�� * �عر �ض �ع�ي� �م�ا ر �و��س� �م� ا�لم� ل ل�ص� ب ب م فَ ة خ � َّ �� ة �ف � � ة ّ آ ت �ن ن ن َ ت خ �ث � ش ا ا ا �ت � م � ص ا �ر�ى �� ب���� * �و� �� او �ع�د ا ا � ي ج��م�ع� �م � ا �ر�ى �ل��ل��� ك���� ��ى �ل ح�� ا �ه�م * � �و ار ا � ��ك�و� ي ر ر � � ا � ��ن � � � ذ � � � � �ب�ه ڡ � ا �لب��ي � � او �ل ش��� ار ء * �وق��د ج�ر ت� ا �ل�ع�ا د�ة �ب��ي�ن ا �ل ن��ا ��س �ب�ا �ن�ه ا � ا ��ت�ع�ا ��ط�ى ا � ح�د ع�م�ل� �و�ل�م يج�� َ ي ع نح َ � ا �َّو��ل �م َّ�ة ��ل �ّ �ب�ه ا ��ل ش��� َره ا ��ل�ى �م�ع�ا ���ط�ا �ت�ه �مر�ة ا خ�ر�ى * ا ذ� ��لي���� ا � � ض� � ن �ف ه � ح�د �ير ��ى ل����س� ح��س س ر �ج ف َ َ � � ا � شُ ّ ُ � � ن ح��ت �ف ��ه ا ��ل� ���ع�� �ع� ا �� � ��ط� ا ��ئ ���د * � ا ��م�ا �� ن����س� � ْ ف � ا ���ؤ � ا ج�ل ا � ��� �ل� � � � حر��ه ي�م� ا � ر� ب ى ب �ض و ر �ض و و ر و ي ب لطع و م � � ّ ف �ق � ث � � ا �ت ق ّة ذ � � َة �ڡ �ن ف � � � ����س�ه �ل��ع�ل �ه��ذه ا �ل�ع� او ر��ض� �ل� � ��� �ه��ذه ا�ل�م ّر� * �و�ع��ل�� � �ل��ك ح��د�� ت� �ل�ه * �ي �� �و�ل ي ع 120
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7،7،1
A Donkey that Brayed, a Journey Made, a Hope Delayed
a she-ass he espied; then you’d see him frisk and gambol, show vigor and pull the bridle to one side, so that he often overturned his load or sent it askew; and another peculiarity he had too, which was that, rarely though his molars were put to work, everywhere he defecated and incessantly over hill and dale he flatulated, making him seem yet more ill-fated. He’d been raised in lands where there was an abundance of cabbage, radish, rape, turnip, and cauliflower, as there is in certain foreign parts, and was therefore accustomed from his youth to producing farts, and this condition had only grown worse as he’d grown older. Thus any who walked behind him had, perforce, to hold his nose and keep saying “How coarse!” In any case, whichever of the two descriptive modes you choose, of all the pains of the journey and its injuries, keeping company with this beast was by no means the least. After touring a number of villages offering neither bed nor board, and
1.7.6
after long debates with customers and hagglings and chafferings they could ill afford, the Fāriyāq and his partner returned with nowt, deciding to cut their losses and return to whence they’d set out, well aware that “the empty well cannot be filled by rain,” that any further toil at this affair would be in vain. They were thus compelled to sell their goods for the price they’d paid to forestall from gloating any who might see them returning with the very stuff they’d taken to trade, and spent the night as though stunned from all the rout, for there are people who’ll buy a thing only after they’ve turned it inside out and called the seller a fool and a gyp, leaving him no choice but to bite his lip, to the likes of these paying no attention but turning, rather, a blind eye and offering no contention. This talent, though, was not one possessed by either the Fāriyāq or his friend, each of whom sought to bend the world to his own end. Thus they returned with the cost of the goods and the donkey and handed the money over to his owner, who offered them other goods, which they refused. They did, however, agree to meet again to work as partners on some business of greater import, preferring that this be in selling and buying too, for it is usual, when someone does a job and does not at first succeed, that his avarice insist he try again, since no one will accept that he was born to be unlucky or suffer dire fortune; rather, he attributes his bad luck in his chosen profession to certain accidents and unexpected incidents that have befallen him, telling himself, “The same will not occur this time around.” The root of all this is man’s dependence on his own intelligence, his confidence in his
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1.7.7
ف ح ا �ن ّ ا �ق �� ف� ا خ� �ف ق ���ا �� ��ي���م� ر��ه� � �و س�ر�و
ت �ان ن ��ث��ق ت ه � � ه ا �� � نُ � ق �ن ف � ��و� ا �ل�ى � ح��د��س�ه * �و��د ك����ل�ه ا �ع�م�ا د ا �ل� ���س�ا � �ع��ل�ى ر�ش���د � ����س�ه * �و �� ب ��سعي�� �و لرك� ث تّ � �ز ق � ا ��لت�ه�ا ��ف ت ���ث�ي�ر �م�ن ا ��خل � ذ� ��ل��ك ك� ��� �لق� * � او ك�� ���ر�ه� �ج� ن�ى �ع��ل� ��ن �ف���س�ه ي �ڡ هور ي �ڡ � �ع��ل� ا �لر �� * � ��� � ى ى م
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A Donkey that Brayed, a Journey Made, a Hope Delayed
own efforts, and his reliance on his own intuitions. Many of God’s creation have done so fecklessly, most hurting themselves in the process and destroying their livelihoods recklessly.
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ا �� ��ل�ف��ص� ا ��ل��ث�ا �م�ن ل � � ا ن � ا خ� ا ن � خِ � �ا ن � يڡ � � �خ� � و � �و � و و � �ذ ث ن ا ن � س�ت ا � ا خ ا �ن ا ���ة ���ط� ���ل��ة ���ي�ن ا �� �لف��ا ��ا �ق� � �ص�ا � ه �ق ّ ا �� ا ري و ب ��م ا ��ه ب���ع�د �م� ا ك�ر يو ب ح�� ر ر ي �ه�م� �ع��ل�ى � ي�� � ج ر �� � �ع��ل�ى ف ت � � ���ع�ا �م�ا ��ا ت� * � ث �ت � ق ا ف � ة ن ���ط � ��ق �م�د ��ي ن���ة ا ��ل�ك� ���ا ك� �ه�ا ا ��ل�ى �م�د ��ي ن���ة ا �لرك� ��عي� ك� ���ا ت� * ��ا ��س��ب�ض� حي�� رد ا � �ل�� ��ل�� �م � ري� َ َ � � � ْ � �ا� � ف َ ّ ت ن ن ة ا ت ت �ي��ل�ز �م �ل�ه�م�ا �م�ن ا�لم�ي�ر� � او �ل� د � او � �و�لب��ث�ا �ي��ه �ي�ب��ي��ع�ا � �وي� ش�����ر�ي�ا � ب��م�ا ��ي����سر �ل�ه�م�ا �م�ن را ��س ا�لم� �ل ت ا ن � د�ي�ن � ذ ف ت ي�ه�م�ا �بر�ه��ة �و ج���ي�ز �ة � ح�تى ا �ن���ت ش���ر�صي����ه�م� �ع��د ا �ل� او ر � ا �و� ��ن ب��ه * �ل��� ��م�� �ع��ل� و �ل�ص�ا د ر �ي�ن * م �ضِ � ث �ف ش �ه ا � � ا �ف �ي�ن �ف� ن � ق �ص�د �و�ن��ه�م�ا �ل�ا ق�ت��ص�ا د �ه�م�ا * �وك� �و�عر� ر����د �م� �ج �مي�� ا�لم��س� ر * ك� ����ي�را ��ا � ا �ل ن��ا ��س ��ي��� ع ت ��اَ نَّ � �� ا �ة � ا ت � ا �ة � � �ة ��ا ن ف خن �ن ض � � ح � ا � � ه ا � �م�ا ا � ت��ا ب� ��ا ���ه�م�ا ا ��ه�ل ل�����ل � او �لب� را �ع� * �و ل�و ج�� �ه� � او �ل� ��س��ط� �ع� * �ى ك� �� ك� � � � ذ � ق �ة � ت�ف ّ� ف� � � ن �ت ن �ر�و ب� * �و�ع�اد�ة ا ��ه�ل � ��ل��ك ا �ل�ص�ق�� ا �ن��ه� �ل�ا �ي ك� م�� � ح�د ��ي��� �ي ��ر � ي�ه�ا ا �ل ك ��ا د �و� ي ج��م�ع�و� �ج ع م ّ � خ� ض ن ��ف ا � ا �� � ��ن ا ا � ا خ ة � �ظ � ة � ���ا ��س ا �ب�ل�� �ڡ ��مح�ل ا �ل�ا � �و�ت�� ن��ا �ز�ع�و ن� ك� ��و� �ى م�ور ل�د ي�� � و �ل� �ر� * �و� � ح ث� � او�لم ن��ا �� ر� * �يو � ي ي آ ن ���ست س�ن ��ست ن �ز ن �ن �ُن�َ ن ح��د �ش�� �ا ��ن �ف��ا ه ا ��ل�� خ� * � او � ا �� ح�� �ه ا �� �جه �ف�ا � ا �ث�ب�� ت� ا � ��ر * � ��ه �و �ع� ا ��ه �م ا�لم� ك ر �ي م �ف ي�ت �ز � �ق ح�ز ا َ �ت � �خ ا َ � ا ا �ن ت ا ��ل�� ث �� � ��� م��ا ن� �� ص � � � � ا � � ل ا �ل � � ا ا ا ا ا � � �ئ �م � � � �د � ل د ِد د � � � * � * � ح � ك م � � � ل ور و و �ه�ى بح� ا �ى قِ ب � ب ب ي � ب وم َ � � � اً � � ف ّ ن ق � خ �ق � ح��د �ه� �مث��ل� � �ل� � ن��ه * ا �ترد �ع��ل ّ ��ا �ثر ��ا �ل � س� * � او �لت� ك� س� * �ي�� �و�ل ا � ح�� ا �لت��ف��ا �ر �ب�ا �ل���� ى � اوب �ى � ب �ير ب ب م ��� ه ش � ه ��� ه ا �ن ه �خ� �ص� ه ن� ّ ه � ا � �ق� ض �ا � ن �� � ���دي��م ا �ل� �م�ي�ر �و �سم�ي�ره � او كي�� ل� �و��� �يرب�� �و ج لي����س� �و �ي����س� �و � ي �ص� �و�ج ي�� * �ل� �ي ��ى �ّ � � � � ة �ا ق �لي���ل�� �م�ن ا �ل��لي��ا ��ل�ى ا �ل�ا �و���س�ت�د�ع�ى �ب�ه �لم��س�ا �م �تر�ه * �و �ل�ا ي� ك�� � ب� ش����ى ا �ل� ب���ع�د �م ش����ا �ور�ت�ه * �و��د ح� ي م ُ � ��ز ا ن ا ن ُ ف آ � ا � ا ا ح��د �م�ن م � �عر�ف� ا �ه��ل� �م�ن �ق�دي�� ا �ل �م� � �ب� ���ه� � �س�� �ر ا �لب��ل�اد * �و�ن�� او �مي����س ا �ل� ج � د * �و�م� ا � ى م م ِ � � � ا��ا �ث � � ا ف ا خ � � � ن ا �� ا َ �َ �ُ � ا ش ا �ف ا ا ف م ض ا � م � � � � � � �ود ا ا �ل�� س �م� ج��د �ه �و �ل� ���� �ه� �و �ل� ك� ره� �و �ل� � ره� �و �ل� � � ���ل�ه� ا �ل� �و�ع�اد ج � م ر� م م م م 124
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2،8،1
Chapter 8
Bodega, Brethren, and Board
After a long discussion between the Fāriyāq and his companion, they settled
1.8.1
on renting an inn on the road to the city of al-Kuʿaykāt, where are to be found the caravans that leave for the city of al-Rukākāt.161 They stocked up on what they needed by way of provisions and equipment and settled there, doing business with whatever capital (and assets)162 they’d been able to muster. It wasn’t long before their renown spread among all who came and went thence, all travelers learned of their good sense, and people started seeking them out for their reasonable prices, so that their inn was so much frequented by the better and more skilful class of men, those possessed of means and gravamen, that it became as a garden where the distressed could find relief. Now, it is typical of the people of that district that they can hardly meet together in any place without passing back and forth among them the chalice of discussion and debate, plunging into matters that both to this world and the next relate. If one asserts a proof, the next denies its truth, and if the first believes that it is well, the other condemns it and claims it’ll send you to Hell. The people thus divide into opposing factions, the place filling with clamor and disastrous actions. Sometimes the discussion ends with boasting over noble extraction and high degree of influential connection, one saying, for example, to his fellow, “Would you answer me back, when my father’s the companion of the emir, sits with him of an evening to maintain his good cheer, is his partner at board and at bar, the frequenter of his salon and his mate, his special friend and intimate? Not a night goes by without him summoning him to socialize, and he makes no decisions without first asking his advice. Plus, my people have been known since time immemorial as ambassadors to many a land and confidential advisors to the grand. Never has any man vied with him in glory, honor, plenty, pride, or virtue without being
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1.8.2
�ف خ ا ن ا خ� ا ن خ� ن �و � �وِ � �ي� �� � �و � �وا �
ُْ ذ� � �ث ا �م�ف�خ ا � ف� ض � ا ق �و�م ش���ر�وف��ا �و� ك ��و �ل� * �ورب��م�ا ا �عِ�م��ل ت� ب���ع�د � �ل��ك ا �ل�هرا � او ت� * �و��ا �م ت� �ور �و م�� � م�� ��ور �و � ف َ � � ت نّ � � �م�ق��ا � ا ��ل� ّ�� ن��ا ت� * �ي�ت���ن�مّ �من �س�� ��س��ر * �ر �و�م�ن �ل� ي� ك �ه� �م�ن �ل� �ي��ك�ن �ي�����مر * �و��ي�ع �ر��د �م�ن � ك م بي ب م م ر �م � � َ ُ �ف ذ ف��ن��ت �ه� �م�ص�ا د ر �ي�ن � �و��ي � � �ه� ا �ل�ا �مر ا ��ل�ى ا �م�ي�ر ا �ل� � �صق�� �صق�� * ��بي��ع ث� �ع��ل ي� � ع * �و �و�ي��ل ي ى م ع � ف ا ا ��ف ف ا ن �ف � ن ئ �ذ � �ن ال�م ا � � ن ق ذ�� �� � ا � ��ق ت ��ل � � ح����� م � ح� �ل * �� �م� �ى �لم�ن �ي��ك�و� ��د � ك�ر ا س�م ا �ل� �م�ي ر �و � ا ج��دا �ل * �� � �ع� �وه ي � ظ ع ��� ة ف ا ن � ت ّ � ُ �ذ �ذ ذ فَ ا ��ل حوا د ث� ا �ل� ي�م�� �� � ا �ل م��ع�د �ى ا � ا � ّر �م�ن ا � �لقِ��ص�ا ��ص ا خِ��� �ب�� ��ن ب��ه ا � ح��د ا �ه��ل�ه ا �و ج��ي�را �ن�ه * �� � � �تت َّ ا ن ه �قُ �� ��ش��� ُ ق ن�ز � �غ ن �ز �� �ج ره � او � ا �و �م�ا �ش��ي��ت��ه ا �و �م� �ع� �و� �و��ط حر�� �م�� �ل�ه * ��ي�ر ا � �م �ر�ت ن��ا �ه��ذه �ل�م �ت��ك�ن � ��ع�د �ى ع َ � ق فَ ْ َ ن ف ح��ّد ا ج��ل ���دا ��ل ا ��ل�ى ا � �ل�ق ت��ا ��ل * ف��ا ن� ا �� �لف��ا ر��ا �ق� �و�ص�ا � ح��ه ك� ���ا �ن�ا ��ي��ق �و�م�ا � � � �ه� �م���ا � �ي���ص�ل * ي� ب ي م م �� ��ف � � � ث ة ��ث ت � �ف � ���ث�ي�را �م�ا �ب�ا ت� �ع ن��د �ه�م�ا ا ��ص �ه�م�ا * �وك� � ح�ا ب� ا �ل�عي��ا �ل ح���ي��� ك���ر� ا �ل�و��ود �ع�لي� �م�ن �ه��ذه ا ل ي � � ا �غ �ن � � ئ �ن ة ة ��ر�ة � او �ل�ع�م�ا �� �مت� ���ط�ا �ير�ة * �ف ك� � او �ل ار � �ع��ل �وه �ن�ا ض� �ه� د ا �ئر� * � او �ل� ��ا ��ى �مت�� او �تر� * � او �ل�وج�� ��ا � ي� ح م آ م �ن آ �ن �� � � ذ� �خ � ا ا ت ط�� ا ��ل ن����س�� ء �ع�م� �م�ا ا �ن��ه�ن ا ذ� ا �ع��ل�م�ن ه�ن � * �و�م � � �ل��ك د ا �عي�� ا �ل�ى � �ص� � ا �ل����س� ء �م� ب���ع�و�ل ب � و م ع ع ه�ن ن ه�ن �ض � ذ َ نَّ � ً �� �ق �ز ق ن ن � � ئ ت ق ا �ن � ه�ن � � � � � � � � � ل � � ا �� � ا ا ا ا ا� ا� ع � � � � ل � � ح� � � ل * � � �م � ع � ع � � � ل ك ر� � �ي بر ى �� ب ب �ض ي � ح�د ا �ي ع�و� ا و �ج � � َ ْ �ذً ف � � ف ن ��ا ن �م �ن �ُ�ْع شَ ق ف� �ق�ن �� ه � � ا ��ع��ل�ن ����ة � او�لمب��ا د ��ل��ة ا خ��� ا ب��ث��ا ر�ه�نّ * ج�� ���� �ص��� ل� ح�ا �ل� �ع��ل�ى ا�لم�ق��ا �ي� ض� ��ا � ك�� � �م �ي � َ َ ّ أ � � ��و �م ن��ه ب���ع�ل�ا * �و�م�ن �ك� ���ل �ش���عر�ة خِ��ل�ا * � او ن� ك� ���ا ن� �م ّ�م�ن ��تب���ذ� ه ا �ل�ع��ي�ن َر�ْمي��ن �ه �م�ن �ك���ل �ع ض� � ة ت ّْ � �غ ن ن آ ت ح�َ��ل�ن ���ف خ��ل�ا �� ���ع� ��لت�ه�ن �م ن��ه � َ دّ �� ض� ا ت �ه�ن * ��ي�ر ا � ���س�� ���ل�ك �ب��د ا �هي��� �و�ي ى �ه�ن ا �لي� ��� �ع � صب و� ور ب ت � ا ��ل � � ا خ� ا �ص �ن ��� ��لت ه�ن �ه�ن �م ض�� ا ت �خ ح� ّل�ا ت � ��ا ��ن ت �ه� ا �و �م���ست� � � ا ��س��ب��د ا �ل�ه� * �مر � � �و � ب��لاد �ل� ي�� �م ب ع�و � ي م م � ة آ � ا ة �ت َّ ّ � �ّ ا �خ ف��ا �ن��ه�ن َر�َ��ْ�ن �ع��ل �م ح��� ا �ب�� �ئ��ه�ن �و�ع��ل� ��ط� �ع�� ب���ع�و�ل �ه�ن * �و�م�ا � �ص�ا �م�ه�ن �ل�ه� ا �ل� �عت��ا ب� * � ب ى ب ي �ى م َ ُ ّ � �ف � � � َ �ذ � �ز ح��د�ة �من�ه�ن ا ��ل� ا �ل�ا ن� ا �ن�ه�ا خ��ا �ص�م ت� � � ه�ا �وك��� ��ى ا �ل�عت��ا ب� �م�ن �ل�� �ة * �و�ل� ي���س�م� �ع�ن � او � � ى و�ج � � م م ع � �� ن ��ث � � �آ � ا �ص�ن ا �ف ا �� ث � ث �ة � ن ّ � ش ا �ن � �ل��د �ى � ح� ك�� ���رع�ى ا �و ا �م�ي�ر ا �و م�ط ار � * �م� ا � ك���ي�را �م �ه�و �ل� ء ا �ل� � � � ل��ل�� م ع ا � ا ف��ت خ� ا ا آ � � � ا ن ا �ف ��ف تّ ذ � ا� � � ت � �ي ��م ن��و ن� � ��ل�ك ي ڡ � ب���ع��ض� ا �ل� � ع���هم� حوا �ل * ا �م� �ل�ل� �� ر �ب� ج� �ر ء ا �ل�ع�د �ل � او �ل� ���ص� � �ى ر�ي � ��ا ت �ا � �ة ا �� ّ �ة �ف�آء ا ��ل�ع��ق ة م ق ا � ��ل�ع��ّ��ة ا خ� � * � �م�ن ���ط�� �ه ���آء ال� خ ي��د� ���ل�و��ا ت� ا�لمب��ا رك�� � ��س�ل م� ل�ن�ي � �و�ص�� ب �و �ل و ل رى و ع ف ّ ت � تق � � � � �ا فت � ة ن ���ا ن�� ت� ا �و �ث�ي��ب���ة ج� �ه�ن �م��ت�ز �ّو ج���ة ك� � او �ل ���رب� ا �ل�ى ا �لر ج��ا �ل �ل� �ع�ن ج��� ���ل��س ا �ل�ى �ور * ���ر�ى ا�ل�م ار � �م � 126
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Bodega, Brethren, and Board
beaten, thrashed, trashed, outdone and undone.” At this, cudgels might be set to work and take the place of arguments, he who hadn’t lost his temper losing it, and all, drunk and sober alike, setting down to brawl. In the end, news of the affair would come to the ear of the emir of the local lands, who would send men to exact punishment by dealing out to them slaps with their hands, and woe betide any who dragged the name of the emir into the discussion: pardon for him was out of the question. Where grave matters were concerned and the aggressor fled in fear of retribution, a member of his family or a neighbor, or his cattle and stores, would be taken to pay for his crime, his trees would be felled, and his house burned. Our company, however, never crossed the line between debate and don-
1.8.3
nybrook, for the Fāriyāq and his companion took on the role of arbiter, and, this being the case, the number of those who frequented them became great. Many a time, family men would spend the night with them, each the other with wine plying, songs succeeding one another, faces radiant,163 turbans flying—which led to conflict between the women and their husbands. It is in the nature of women generally, should anyone keep their husbands from them, to scheme till, by one of their wiles, they can get close to that person. If the man is handsome, they promptly make a deal of barter and exchange with him, to exact revenge, taking every limb of his as their husband, every hair as their boon companion; should he be of the type to which the eye’s averse, they get him into trouble, plotting to wrest their husbands from him and thus their loss of goods reverse. The women of those lands,164 however, do not oppose their husbands, keeping the latter’s infidelities to themselves and regarding it as permitted for their husbands to replace them. They have been raised to feel affection for their fathers and be obedient to their husbands, and their disputes with them go no further than reprimands—and how pleasurable a reprimand can often be! To this day no one has heard of any of them taking a dispute with her husband to the legal authorities or an emir or a bishop, though many members of these three groups would like that to happen in certain circumstances, either so that they could boast of their imposition of justice and fair dealing upon their subjects, or for some other reason. Also part of the nature of these blessed creatures is the purity of their intentions, the sincerity of their belief, and their capacity to create intimate relationships with men without hint of debauchery. One may observe one of these
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1.8.4
�ف خ ا ن ا خ� ا ن خ� ن �و � �وِ � �ي� �� � �و � �وا �
خ �ذ � �تف ت ت ج��ا ن�� ب� ا �لر ج���ل � �وت�ا ��� ب��ي��ده * � �وت���ل��قى �ي��د�ه�ا �ع��ل�ى ك�� ����ه �و���س�ن �د را ��س�ه�ا �ع��ل�ى � س �ص�د ره � �و�ب���� � آم تت � �ك� ذ � ت �� ث � ه �ت�ؤ ن ه ��ف ��ل ��� ف ه ���ل � �ل��ك �ع�ن � �صف��� ء � �م�ا ����ص�ل ا �لي��ه �ي��د�ه�ا * �ل� �و �� ا ���س� �ى اح�د��ي� * �وح��� ب��ب��ع��ض ف � ا ة � ّ ة ف ا ن ا �ف � ن �آ خ ا ��ني���ة �و خ���ل�و��ص �م�ود�ة * � او � �ه�ن ا �لب��ل� �ه�� � او �لغِ��ِ �ري�� �� ���ه�م� ��ى ا �ل����س� ء ��ي�ر ح��س�ن �م� �ير�ى �ي� �ُ ْ َ �ذ ذ ��ا ن ��ف �غ � ا ش ي�ن �� � ن ت � ��ل ة ف ا ا �ف � ��ّ ا �ه�ك ا � �م�ن ا �لن� ك حر�م�� * �� �م� ��ى ��ر � او �ل�د �ه� ء * �ه� ا ا � ا ك�� � �ى ��ي ر �م� ي������ ا ل�عر �ض� � �وي��� � � ��ق ت ��ل ّ ف ت ة ن �ذ ا � ا � ن �ش �ص�د � �ه�ن �ن ���ا � �م�ن د ا �ب��ه�ن ا � �ي ك � ا �لب��ل�ا �ه�� * �ه� �و�لم� ك ���د ��ل�ا ����ص ��������ف�ن �ع � ور �و � ا جِ ح آ آ ��ا ن ��ث ه�ن ُ ض ْ اً ذ �ا ف ش غ ���ل� ا �ى � � او ت� ا �ث��د � ء �و �ل� �ير����ع�ن ا �ث��د � �ه�ن �م�ن �ص��ر�ه�ن ب�����ى * ك�� � ا ك���ر� �ه� � � ة ��ث ه�ن � ت ق ن ��ف � � ض ا � � � �ز ا ة ��صّ ح��ة ��ل�ه * ��ف�من ��� ا �ل�و�ل�د �� د� � ��� �ه�ن �م�ن �تر ض� ��ط�ي�و�ل�� * � او ك���ر� �ي�ع ����د ا � � ��ط� �ل � � ي ى و ر ع ع ح ت ه�ن � ا � � �ه�ن � ف� �ق ه�نّ �ن �ت�ز فا ّ ا � � � ا ي�ن ت ا ّ ي�ن ن ذ �� � �ه�ن �م �ي��د �ع��ل�ى � �ل�ك * �� �م� �مب��� �ل� و �ل�اد ور� � �و�ل�د�ه� �ع�ا �م�� �� �م�� * �و�م � ف ف ��ث �ن � �ن ا ت �ّ � ش �ق ���ّ �ع�ن ا ��ل�و� �صف� * � او �ع �� ك���ي�را �م ا �ل� � � � �ه� ي�� ج� �ك�ن ��ي ب��� �ك��ي�ن �ي ��و� �ه�ن ا �ل �ب��ه� �و� � ي� � ��و ل ب ر م م م ف ق آ شّ ا ت ه�ن خ� ت ه�ن ��ا � �غ � ه�ن ��ف � �أت �ز ئ � ه�ن ه�ن �و��� �مك� ��ي ب� ك�� �ى ��ي ر� �ى ا�لم� �� ا �و ا ����د * � او �ج� � �ع��ل�ى � ار �� ا �ب� ��� � او �م�ه� ��� � او � م آ ف ا � ا � ا � �ق ا �� � �ن ا ن ا ��ل�� � �ة ا � ن � ��ل�ا � ��ل�ا ا ��ص� ��ل�ه * � ا ن��م�ا ح��د �ه� د �و ن� �ن��س�� �ئ��ه� �ف ك� ����ل�و� �و� �� م� م� �ي�� ل م � ب ع�و�ل� �ي� ك و ل م م م � � � ض ف �غ � ن �ذ ن ق � ن ذ �� ا ذ ا � ن ح���ئ�� ا � ��ت���ع�د ا �م ار �ت�ه �م� ح�تى �ل�وا را د �ي��ك�و� � �ل�ك � ك ���ا � �ع ن��د ا �لر ج���ل � ��ي ��� �ر�� ب� ي ي ع �َ ت ن ذ � � � ن ���ست خ ف ا ف ا ا �ن ت ا ً � � ت ���ا ��ل ��ي ��ف� ��لت��ا �ك� �ه� ك� ���ل �م�ع�ه �ل�ا ب��َ ت� �ورا � ا � � �ل�ك �ي��ك�و� ا �� � �ه�ا * ا �لض� حر�م � ��� �� �ب��ه� � او � � َ ��ف ا ��ل �� ة ف ا ن ه�ن � ا َُ ْ�ن ش � ا ا ��ل � ��ه� �و�ه�نّ ���فى ذ� ��ل��ك �م�ع��ذ �ورا ت� * ف��ا �م�ا ا ج��ل ��ا �ه�ل�ا ت� �و�ى ج �م�ل�� �� ��� �ل� �ي��عب�� ب�����ى ا �ل� �ب� �ج ل �ن � ا ف ن ف ا ن ه�ن ُ ض ف�ن � ��ل َ ًْ ُ ْ ُ َّ ة �ذ � �� �م ا �ل� �ر� �� ��� �ي�� � � ار �و�خ�ب��ث�ا * � � ون�ا �هي���ك �ب�� �ل��ك �م�ن ��سب��� * ���� ا �ل�ى ا �ج� ��ه�ل �م ك �ج َ َ نّ � �آ ل� � ف ض ائ ت خ ّ ّ ن ق ت ا ا � �ن � ��� �ل��ق�ن �ن ح�ز�ن ن�� ج��د ا ا � ا �س�م� ا � �ه� �ل� ء م ��� ��� �و� �� � او ���نى ��يل�� � و حب �� �وب� � ��د �م�لل �م �ه��ذه ا � �ل�� ل ى ف ع �ن ل� ّ � � ة ن �غ �ف ا ا ا ت ا ه�ن � ّ ��ا خ��ل�ا �ق� ا خ�ر�ى * ي���ج��� �ع��ل� � او ل � �ب�ه �م م � � ح� �م�د * ا �و ح� �ل�� �ه��ذه ا � ا ��ي�ر �م� �و�ص� � ب ب ى َ �ذ �ذ �ذ � ت ذ � � ة �ڡ ن �� �� �� ��� �ع��ل� ا �ل �� � ا ن ا ن ��� �ق ا � �ا ك ح�ا �ش���ي �� ك�� ب� ك�� ب� ك�� ب� ا �و �ه��ذ�ي�ن ا �لب�ي��ت���ي�ن * � � � لل�� رى ي � �ي ب ى ن � آ ا � ا �ل ن�����س�� ء ُ َ نَّ �ا �ل� �ي�����غرر�
�َّ � ث � ح�ي���م�ا �ك�ن ��س�و� � ى َ � ّ ن َّ ُ�قً م�ه�ن ��ت��ى ا �ل�ِ���غر �� �
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ث ت ا ه�نَّ � َ َ ي��م��ل�ن �م�ن � ح�� ا �� � ا �ل� � هو�ى �ي � ا ُ ً � � ا نُ ً � ا َ ح�ي�ا �و �ل� ��ه�د ى �و �ل� ��� � هى �و �ل� ��
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women, married or a widow, sitting beside a man and taking his hand, or putting her hand on his shoulder and resting her head on his chest, smiling at him, holding friendly converse with him, and making him a present of something that has come her way, and all that with sincere intent and uncomplicated affection. The best qualities to be observed in them are their simplemindedness and naiveté, which, in women, are to be preferred to guile and cunning, so long as they do nothing to bring them dishonor or destroy their sanctity as women. When things get serious, however, simplemindedness will not do. In addition, given their habit of exposing their chests and their use of
1.8.5
nothing, from childhood on, to support their breasts, theirs are mostly pendulous. Most of them think that the longer they breastfeed their children, the healthier it is for them, and some breastfeed them for two whole years, or even longer. Their affection for their children and their kindness to them and tenderness toward them are too great to describe. I have known many girls who, on their wedding days, wept at being separated from their fathers, mothers, and siblings as other women do at funerals, or more. The claim that their husbands eat on their own, without their wives, is completely without basis; this happens only if the husband has a guest who is not a member of the family, on which occasion, even if he should wish to have his wife sit down with the guest, she would refuse, believing that such a thing would indicate lack of respect for her and a violation of her sanctity. Overall, there is nothing for which they can be blamed save ignorance, and in that they are to be excused. Ignorant Frankish women add to their ignorance cunning and baseness, so how much the worse is their shame! It pains me greatly to hear of the beloved women of Lebanon growing discontented with these virtues and adopting other ways. If this is indeed the case, I shall be obliged to change my description of their virtues, or give the reader permission to write in the margin either “Lies, lies, lies!” or the following lines of verse: Women, where’er they be, are all the same— They incline to love from wherever it may appear. Let not piety, right guidance, reason, or shame on their part Take the gullible unaware!
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1.8.6
�ف خ ا ن ا خ� ا ن خ� ن �و � �وِ � �ي� �� � �و � �وا �
ا � �ه��ذ�ي�ن و
�� ْ �َمضْ َ � ا �ف � � �ف َ ْ ��رب� ا �ل� ر��ض� ��ى ��ط� �ول �و��ى �عر���ضِ سِ � ر ِ � � �ا َ �ب�ا �لر� ��ج�ل �ي�� فص� � � ���ق�ن �ع ن��د ا �ل��ب��ي � �ل� بِ����ي�د ِ ع
َ آ � ْ � ْ ����تر ا ��ل ن����س�� ء ��ي���ب��ع�ن ا �ل�ِ��عر��ض� ك� ���ا �ل��َ�عر�� �ضِ ت ُ ُ �ج���ل�ه ي� ���ّ ��ق�ا �� ��ع��ل ����س � �� � � م � � �ى ي �و�ك�ل ضِ ى �ضٍ
أ ر� �� ت� �م�ن ا ��ل � ���خرا ���ئ�د ���غ�ا د �ةً ي َّ �ح�ا ���ة �� ن ع� ت� ��له� ا د� ت �ع���ك ��ل � ج �
نّ ت �فَ ت ��خ�� �ف�ا ر� � � ��ج�ع�و� ����ب�د �و �و� ى �ت� ن ق ا ض ف ّ ��ي��ه�ا �ر� �مب��ا. . . . . . �ل���ك�و� �� � �ج
ذ � او � ا ذ � او � ا
ا � �ه��ذ�ي�ن و
��ص�ا ��له�ا �و� �
ا قا � ا �و �م� �� �ل�ه د �عب���ل
ْ َ َ ��خَّ�د �ة ��ق� ��ٌ ��ت���غ��ّ � �ح�ا ��ل�ا �يُ��ْ ���س�نّ��ك �م�ن ��م ل���ظ�ه � او ن� � َجر� � �� � ل ر و ِ وئِ آ ُ � ا �� ن � ء ا ��ل �ُ ا � َ ة ا �ل َ �ْ ُ �ح�ا �ك�ن ب���ع�د �م�ا �ج��م � ي��م�� � �ع����سر ل�����س� �ى مي�� ���سر� ٍ �و � ���صع ب �ّ � آ �ع�� ن ا �� � ا ��ل ت ُ�تَّ�� ف ق �ه�ا ب���عر��ض� ا �ل ن����س�� ء ب��غ���ي�ر �م�ا ��ن� ا �ل�ا ب��م�� �ك��س �ع��لي��ه ���لي���ل �ي��د �ف�� � � او ل�م ا � لب��لاد ��ى ي�ج ر ي� ع ع � � آ � َ ُْ� ��ع ة � ا ت ا ��خل ق ّ � � � �لب�ي�� ت� ا�لم�ا �ل ��لب��ن �� ء �م�ع�ا �ب��د �و�غ��ي�ر�ه�ا د �و ن� ا �ع�بت��ا ر � �ل�ق �و�ل �م�ن ق��ا �ل ا �م ��ط �م�� ا �ل� ��ي �� � ا � ��ي����ل م� � � ّ � � ف � � �� ��ت ن���ف �ه�ا ا �لت���غ�ز �ل �ب��ه�ن * ف��ا ن� ا �لر ج���ل �ه ن��ا ك ا �يّ�ا ن� �خ� ��طر ب��ب��ا ��ل�ه ا ن� ر ��ؤ ���ة ا �ل�و ج��ه ا �ل �ص � �ي � ب �ي� � ح ى ي َّ ت ت ّ � �ص�د ا ق���ل��ه � �ت��ص��ف ��� �� �ر�ه �و ج� �ف� ا ��ث�ق��ا ��ل�ه * � �و�ت ن ��ف��� �ع ن��ه ك� �� �ه�م�ه �و�ت�ز ���ل ب���لب��ا �ل�ه * �و خ� ف� ل � � و � و ب س ي ى ب خ � �ف� � ض ا �َّت ت ن ت�ظ �� آ � ف �ا � ت ا � � ن ذ � � �ل� ا � � ا � ع ا ء ل ه � � �د � � � � � * � ح� � � � � ل د �م�ه * �ر�ج �و ج��د � ك ى ��� �ل��ه ����� ر ور ب ب ل ي �ج َ �ف ُ �� ب�ج� �� �ك�و�ى �و�عت��ا ب� �و�ت�� او ج���د * � او ��ل�ى ��ق�و��ل�ه ا َر�ق� �ع��ل� ا ر�ق� �و�مث���ل� �ي�ا ر�ق� * �و �ك�� �ش���� س � م � ى ى ى ى � ت ُ� �ظَ فا ا � ذ �دا �غ� ا � ا ن� ذ � ن� � اً ن ح ��� ف��ه�ا حو �ل� ا �ن ��ى ر ج���ل * �و� ب�� ت� �و ج�� �و ر م� �و � � حو � �ل��ك * �� �م� ا �لب��ل�اد ا �ل ��ى ي ر ي� ّ آ �ذ � ا ت ف آ ��ل �ّ � ��ذ � � ��ا ن ��ف ش � ��ا ر ��جت� �ه� ا ا �ل� ج� ل��ل�ا � ���فى ا ��ل ن����س�� ء ��متج� ���د ا �� ك� ��ا �و �ز ا �ب�ه �ور� ء ا � ح�د * �و�ل� �ل�ك ك�� � �ى ����عر م �ّ ا � ا نّ � ا ف ن � ا ق ي�ن �ن ال�م ن ا ت� �ف �ت � � ا �ة ���ده ��ى ك��� ب� ا �ل�عرب� * �و�م�ا ا �ل� �ل� � �ه��ذه ا �لب��ي � �ع� ا �ل� �ر� ا �ل� ��د �م�� �م ج�� �و� �م� ج �ج
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Or these: Walk the length of the world and its breadth— You’ll see women selling their honor like market wares. They clap with feet, not hands, once the sale is made, And every judge165 “It’s legal!” declares. Or these: Beg a young maiden, a virgin, to let you love her If you see her prowling on the hunt And if she invites you to satisfy some urgent need she feels, Comply with her and shake up her c . . . .166 Or the words of Di ʿbil:167 Let not the harsh words of a chaste lady, Though wounding, make you refrain. Women’s recalcitrance leads to complaisance: After bolting once, the prancing steed submits to the rein. You should know too that in those countries where their honor is traded
1.8.7
without constraint, apart from a small levy paid to the treasury for the building of temples and so forth, without regard to the words of him who said, “O feeder of the orphans . . .” etc.,168 women are rarely courted with words of love, for it would never occur to a man in such a place that the sight of a charming face could dispel his worry and put paid to his unrest, alleviate his burdens and relieve his distress, from his heart polish the rust, from his blood remove the dust. Since he leaves the house and finds what he’s looking for waiting for him right there on the other side of the door, he has no need of a lover’s complaints, reproaches, and passionate protestations, or of saying, “Sleepless night after sleepless night!” or “Such as I can never sleep!” or “I have lost enough weight! I am a man and have melted away with burning desire and love!” and so on. In countries, however, in which this trade is forbidden, you’ll find that talk of women exceeds all bounds, which is why you find the same bawdiness in the poetry of the ancient Franks as in the works of the Arabs, the sole reason being that this commerce was, in their day, banned. Once it became common, bawdiness became rare among them. On the Mountain,
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1.8.8
�ف خ ا ن ا خ� ا ن خ� ن �و � �وِ � �ي� �� � �و � �وا �
� ت �قت�ئ �ذ � ة ف ��ث ق ّ � ن ا ��ف ��ل � ب��� ف��ا �ن��ك ��ل�ا ج� ك� ���د ���ا ن�� ت� �و�� � م�م ن��و�ع�� * ���ل�م�ا ك���ر ت� ���ل �ع ن��د �ه� الجم� �و� * ا �م� �ى ا �ج ل م � � �ع�ن ا �� �ف ا � ا �ق ا �ن ه � � � ا � �د�ة �م�ن ا � ��لئ � �� �ا � �� ة �ا � �ك�ن � �ون�ا * �و� ك�� ل�� ري� � � ه�وى و ح� �ل�ه� ب��ي��ا �ع�� �و �ل� ج�م� و ��ك ا ل�ل ى ح�ى م �ق � � � �ك�ن � ظ � ن ا � ا � ث �خ ذ ت ن ن ف � ا ا ا � � ح��ه �ص�ه� � ك� �� � ا � ا ا �ب�ص� �ه� ا �ل� ب��ل �� ا �م� �ي��ردد � �ع�لي��ه �و�ل�م �ي�� يح ����ى �م � � ��ي� �و�ل �ل�ص� � ب م ح ا �َ ُّ � َ �ت � �ح��ة ��ق ّ له� �يل�� � � ا ن� ا�لم�ق��ّ �ل ر� � ه � � ا ا ع ي � � م� � � � � ق� � � �ن ���س � بي ل ر �ج�� � ��ج�ل و � رهِ ��بِ ه�نّ � �ف �ت�ن ��ل�� ّ ��ف � ه�نّ خ ٌ �ن ��ن �ز َ � ا � �ل � او �ل ��خ��ل� �����ش���عر�ة �م�ن� ��ي�ر �م ك� ��و ����غر�وره ى
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however, you’ll find neither commerce of this sort nor bawdiness. It is said of the Fāriyāq that he once fell in love with one of the women who used to visit him, and all she granted him was a kiss on the hollow of her foot. When he got up the next morning, he recited to his companion Any who’s kissed her foot thenceforth’s too good To kiss the hands of priests or of emirs, Such women are the bachelors’ charmers, and all the treasures of this world Are worth less than one of their hairs.
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�� � ا � �ل�ف��ص�ل ا �ل��ت�ا ��س� ع ت خ ا ن �ة � ��م ي �ڡ �ح�ا �و �ر ا � �� ����ي�
*
� ن ا ��ق ا ت � ا �ن �ة �و م�� ����ش� � �ح� �ي��
� � � �ذ �ف ت ف �ق � ���ا ن� ��ي�ق�� �ب��ي�ن �ت��ل�ك ا ��ل�ز �م �ة �م�ن الم ��ر �ه ن��ا �مث��ا �ل�ا �ل�م�ا ك� � �ل�ا �ب�ا ��س ��ى ا ن� �ن�� ك� ح�ا �ورا � � ن�� �و�ل ر ع ت � �ق � ي�ن � ا ج��م�ع ت� �ز �م �ر�ت ن��ا �ه��ذه �مر�ة � او �� ك� � � ي�ه� * � او ل��سر�ور �ير�� �ص �ب� �ي��د �ي��ه� * ل��ا ��س �ت��د ا ر �ع�ل� م م َ ُّ ف � اً ف � � ّ ح��س�ن ف���ق��ا ��ل ا ����ص ى ا ��ل ن��ا ��س ي��م�ا �ع��ل�مت�� ا ��ن�ع� �ب�ا �ل� * � او � � ح�ه� �م�ق��ا �ل�ا * � او ��ل��د �ه� ج���دا �ل�ا * ا � م م م م � ��ف � ت ذ � � � ة � ن َ � � ل��ا ��س �ه�و �م�ن ك���ا � �ع��ل� �مث��� �ه��ذه ا �ل � ح�ا �ل�ا * ف���ق��ا �ل �م�ن ب��ي��ده ا � ك� � ح�ا �ل�� * �و�ى را ح��ه � �ى ى ل آ � ا � �ة ا ��ل�� ��ل��ة * ف���ق��ا ��ل ��ل�ه ��لي���� ذ� ��ل��ك �ع��ل� ا ��ل�ا ���ط�ل�ا �ق� * �و �ل�� ��ي�ق�� �ع��لي��ه ا ��ت�ف��ا �ق� * �ف�ا ن� �ه��ذه ا ��ل ح� �ل� س ى م ع �غ ف � ن ة � ا � �� ن ا ئ ة ن ّ � �غ � ت � ط�ه�ا ��� �ت�ا �م�� * � ا ��م�ا ��ه ���ع�� �م�ن �ك�� * � �ج�ز ت ل و �ل� ي��م��ك�ن ك��و���ه� د ا ��م�� * ����ك�و� � ب� �� � ي ر و ى ب �ض �ن ُ ّ �ق � ن �ظ � �ف � ا �ق �ا خ �ف���آ ا ن �م�د ا � �م��ة ا �ل�م�د ا � * �ت� ث � ق � ا �ل��س���ا � * م �ور �م ج���ل * �و ب����ى ا �ل� �� ر ��ى ا �لب�� ��ى * �و �ل� � � � و م � ا ا ا ن ا ن �ّ ا ّ �تُقْ � � � ّ � �ذ � ح��ل ت� �ب�ه ��ع�ا � * �و�ل�� �ل��ك ��س�مي� ت� ا � �لق��ه�و�ة * �و �ل� �ي��عت�� د�ه� ا ���س� � ا �ل� � �ه�ى �ع�ن ا �ل��ط � �و � ِ� م آ ت اً � � ت � � ن ح�فّ��ه �ج��م�ا �ع��ة �م�ن �� ���ه * �و� ا �ل ش�����ق �و�ة * ف���ق��ا �ل � خ�را � ا ��ن�ع� ا �ل ن��ا ��س �ب�ا �ل� ا �م�ي�ر ي ج���ل��س �ع��ل� ا ر�ي ك ى م �ف ا ذ ���ف ه �ز �ق ه ��ف ا � � ش �ة ح ش��� ت ه � �ف ت ه ا ��ت ه �ز �غ ق � � � � ه � �ل �م�� �وح��د �� * �ي� ي�� ر � ر��د ا * �و�ي�ك ي�� را � �ى معي������ �ج �ه�د ا * � � ا ا �وى آ �ع � �ف ق ف �ق � خ �ز ة �أ ف ش ا ��ل�ى � � ب� ا �ل�ا �ش���ي �� ء ح ير��م�ه ��ل�ا �ب�ا �هرا �م ار � �ع��ل�ى ا �و ��ط�� � ار ��� * �� �ص�د �� �ي��ه ��و�ل�ه�م * ا �ج �ذ نَّ َ َْ َ ِ�ثْ َ �ثْ ����ل�ه ا �ل��مُ ا �ز �م��ة * � �و�ث��ا ��ه ا ��ل ن��ا �ع�م��ة * � او �م ه �م ���ط�ا * �و� ك�� � ح� �م�ه ا ا ا ك � � � � �ه� � * ع � � ل ر ر و و يب ر و �ى ر ع ف � فق � � �ّ ف ن � � ا ���ذ � �اّ ق �م���ا ب���ل �ب�ا �ل� ��تب��ا * �����ا �ل ب���ع ض� حق� ي��م�ا �ه ن��ا �ل��ك * ��ا � ���ه�م �لي����س ا �ل� �مر ك�� �ل��ك * �و�م�ا ا �ل� ع � ا � ا خ� ا ت � ش �غ � ��خل ا �� ذ � ا �ي�ز � �ّ � ا � ف �ئ � � � ه � � م � � � � ا �ل� �م�ي�ر �ل� ي��ل�و �ب� �م ار �� ا �ل� �و�ه�و ��� �ول ا � طر * م�ك�د ر ا ل��س ار ر * ا � �ل� ا ل ��ي�� ك ��ر أ �م ن ا � ا � ه � غ� ش ش ا �ن ّ ا � �ف �� � خ ا�� � �ز ق �ذ ن �ت ن � �و� ب�م� �ل� * م� � ��ى ك�� �ون�ه � �هم� ���و���� �م �ع�م� �ل�ه * �ي� �ك��ل ر�ه ��ط�ه ر ��ه � �وي�� �م� �و�ه * � �وي� ��م � *
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Chapter 9
Unseemly Conversations and Crooked Contestations169
It would be well to provide here an example of the kind of conversations that
1.9.1
used to take place among this company. Thus we declare: Once, when this company of ours had gathered, the cup was on its rounds, joy unconfined, the chastest among them in speech and most dogged in debate posed the following question: “Which person, in your opinions, is the best-off and has the greatest peace of mind?” Replied the one with cup in hand, “He who’s in this same state as I, holding his vessel high.” The first told him, “It is not so at all, nor is it he on whom men may agree, for his condition’s one that will not last and his joy, it follows, will soon be past. Moreover, it rests on but a partial proof, is but a part of a greater truth, of which the rest remains to be considered—namely there’s no denying that imbibing wine can make a man ill and stop him from eating his fill, which is why it’s called qahwah;170 no man can use it regularly without disaster.” Another now declared, “He who enjoys the greatest peace of mind is the emir when on his sofa he sits at ease, a party of servants and scions at his knees. His living comes to him without a care, for his Provider relieves him of any effort regarding daily fare. When he takes himself off to his harem, he closets himself with the most gorgeous of women on the softest of beds (and how true the words of him who said, ‘There’s nothing more wonderful than to bed on a comfortable bed’!). What’s more, with a different dish each day his table’s laid, in soft garments he’s arrayed, his orders are obeyed, his judgment never gainsaid.” Another then declared, “That’s not how things are. The truth from that is far. The emir never sees his wife but his head’s full of strife, his heart with worries rife, for he’s always thinking how he’s
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1.9.2
�ف ��م ا ت �خ ا ن �ة � ن ا ق ش ا ت ا ن �ة �ي� ح� �ورا � �� ��ي�� * �و م�� ����� � � ح� ��ي��
��ف�� خّ � ذ� �ن ف ف فخ ط�ه� بي� � �ون�� �ون�ه * �و��ي�ع �� ���ل� �ون�ه * �و�ه�و �م� � �ل��ك �مر�ص�ود م �ه� �ي�م�ا ��ي���ع��ل�ه * �من�ت��ق��د ي����� � ي� م م ع �َ � � �ت نّ � ت ّ � ة ّ �غ ا ا ف ن �ؤ ا ت �ع��لي��ه ب��م�ا ��ي ��ع�م��ل�ه * � او ��ه �لي ��ود ا �ل��س��ر �و �ل� ��ي �� � �ل�ه * � �يو�م��ى ر � �ي�� ��ي�ر �ب�ل�اده �و �ل� �ي��د رك ح ف �ن � ش م���� ���ف ا ��ل�ا �� � َ�سَ�ْه��ل�ل�ا * � � �غ� � ���ط �م�ن ��ع��ت�� �سف� ا ��ل���ط ��ق � �ه� ي� ح��س�د �م ي� ى ى ر �ض ب � �ي و�ي ب ا �م�ل�ه * � � و ري�� ضَ َ � �ّ ق� ن ف خ ق � ����ل�ل�ا * ���ق��ا �م ب���ع��ض� ا �لن ��ق��ا د �و��ا �ل ��س�م�ع�ا �ي�ا ا ��ه�ل ا �لر�ش���ا د * ا � ا ��س�ع�د ��� �ل� ا لله را �ه ب� �ا �ف �ت ف ّ�غ �ز ق �� �عت��ه * �ف �� �ش غ ��ز ت� قا �ه�و �ي�ا �ك��ل �م�ن ا ر ا �� �ل �م ك��� �ب�ه ��ى �ص�و�م�عت��ه * � �و ��ر �ع�ن ا �ل�������ل ب���ع��� ره �و�ض�ي � َ � آ �ف غن �ا �ڡ � ا � �م�ن ا �ص�م�ا ر ا �� ك� ���ه� �ع ن��ه د �ع�� ء �ي� ��ط� ا �ل ن��ا ��س * �و��ي�ع�و ض� ل�� ��س * �و��ي���ي��ه�م ي � ا �ل��د �ي� �ج��ى م ح ق آ � ن ث ف � � � � � � � � ئ ش � ا ا ا �ن � � �� ��� * � �ع�ن ا ��ل ن�ب��را ��س * �و رك�� �م� �ل�د �ي��ه� �م ا لج� �ه�و �مك�ا �ي���ل � �ك��ل ���� ر ب� را ك� ب� * �� � ب �ي ب م م ُ ن شُ � � ف� ق ا � ذ� ن خ �ك� ن ا � �ع�م * � ا ن �م�ا ت ا �خل ق ��� �ل� ا �و �ِ���ر * ���� �ل ب���ع��ض� �م�ا �ع��لي��ه ب���ع�د � �ل��ك ا � �ر ب� ا �ل��و� و ر و � � فا ن � ذ ثا � ذ ا �ذ � �ق � �ن � �نا � شا � �و�ى ا �لر���� د * �م� �ه� ا ا � �ل �و�ل �م ا �ل��س�د ا د * �� � ا �ل ار �ه ب� � او �م�� �ل�ه ا � ا را �ى ا �ل�� ��س آ � �ق �م ش �ت ��� غ����ل��ي�ن ��ا �ش��غ���ا ��له� * �ل�� �ير��َ ا ��ل��د �ن�� ء �ة ��لن ��ف���س�ه ا ن� ��ع�� ش�� �م�ن �م� ب���ل��ي�ن �ع��ل� ا �ع�م�ا �ل�ه� * � م م �ض ب �ي ي � ى م ّ ّ ت � ت ن ن �ت ف � � ش �ن � ��ا ا � �ه� �و�ج� �ه�د �ه� * �و�� � ح�ي� ا � او � ر��د �ه� * ب���ل �ي ��ود �ل�وك�� � ���ر ك� ��د �ه� * �و���س��ير� �ع��ل� ��ع � ب م ي ك� م ي ح ى �ي م م �ذ ذ � � حر�ى �م�ن ا ن� �ي�� � �م�ص� �ون�ا �ت��ه� * �ه� ا ا � ا ك� ���ا ن� �ن�ز ��ه �ك�و ن� ش���ر ك� ��ا ي �ڡ �ل�ه� ي �ڡ � ا ��ت�ع�ا �ب��ه� * ا � ي �ي م م م ض ا � � �� � ا �ق � ث� ن � ه � ن �ؤ �ة ن �ف ق � ��� �ب� ��ط ا �ل�وع�ى * � ا � �ل� ع��د ر � �ي� ا �لن �����س * ك�ري�� ا � �ل�����س * �ص� د � ا �ل��س��عى * � م م َ َ ت َ َّ � � �َ غُ � ا ��س ا ذ � � ن ّ ئ ت ت ا ح��س ا � � او �ى � � ح��س ار � * �و �ل� ي�م� ا � ا ا �لر ج��ا �ل �م� ���س�ا ���ه� � او �و �ل�اد ه� �ل��� �ص� � * �و ر م م ع ً خ �ف � ن �سِ� َ ن ذ ة ��س�د �ى �م�ن �غ���ر �من ف����ع�ه * � او ن� �غ���ره �م�م�ن ��ل�ا ��ى ا �ل�ص�و�م�ع�� * �ورا �ى ا � �م��ه � ا �ه ب� ي ي � � �غ � ا ق �ك�ّد � ا ��لن �ص� * � او ج��ا �ع�ه� ا �ج��ل � �ه�د � ا �� او �ه� ا � � ل� � و �لت��ع ب� * ا ��د ر �م ن��ه �ع��ل� ب���ل�و ا �ل� ر ب� * � ا ض� � و ب ى م م � فق � ق� ت � �ع��لي��ه ��س�ا �ئر خ��� �لق ا لله �م�ن ج�ع �م�م�ا ا � �ص� �م���ا �ل�ه * �ص��ط��ل �� �و�عرب� * �����ا �ل �م�ن ا � � � �س�و� ب م ح �ذ � ��لق � فا ن � تا � � ا قا � � �ن ا ش ه � � ّ ا ن ي�ن � � ل ع � ا ه ا � � �ل ا � ا ا � � � � م ح م � �ه ل ح �ه� �� � � � � � * �م * � � او ر�� �لم� ه � ه � � � ل � � ب � رى ب � � ر ب و رى و �� ب ح شً ُ ّ � � � � ن ن � �ق ق �� ظ ش ي�ن ا ا ا ا ت ن �هر �ل�ى ا � ا ��س�ع�د ا �ل�� ��س �عي������ �ه�و ا �ل�� ج�ر ��ي���ع�د ي ڡ �ي��ع�د �م� ع ا �ل���� ي��� * � او ��م� �ي� �� � َ �ُ َّ � ة �ف ة ف� �ا ن ت ح��د�ة �م�ا ا ا ت �ن س� �ب�ا ي��م�ا �ن�ه ا�لمغ���� ظل����� ��ى ��س�ا �ع�� � او � ح� � �� �و�ه ب���ع��ض� ��س� �ع� � �م �ي ��و�م�ه * �ي���ك�� ب ن ف �ف � ف � �ئ ق � �رر ك�� �ق��ه ��ى �ش���هره * ي ج� ���ع�ل ا �� ك� ��ي �� � �� م��ر�وه �ش���ا � ���ا * ��ل�ا �م�ه �ن�ا ���ق��ا * � او �ل ك ل��ا ��س�د �م�ن ��س��ل�عت��ه ب��ت� ك �ي 136
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4،9،1
Unseemly Conversations and Crooked Contestations
been betrayed over his wealth, cheated by his agents of his pelf. His income’s consumed by his court, which yet finds fault. He places his affairs under their sway and yet they betray. He treats them with generosity and yet they accuse him of illiberality. In addition, they watch every step he takes, criticize him for every move he makes. He’d love to travel, but has to stay, longs to see new lands but can never have his way. He’s jealous of those who walk aimlessly hither and yonder and looks with envy on all who whimsically wander.” Now rose another to criticize, saying, “Listen now, all you who’re wise.
1.9.3
The happiest of God’s creation is the monk who remains in his cell to read, who from work on his land or in his village is freed; he eats of what others labor to earn, providing prayers in overflowing measure in return (so relieving them of any need for light, in the darkness of the night), and he takes his steed from among whatever beasts to their lot may be counted, so that he is, as the saying has it, ‘Fed, watered, and mounted.’ Thus equipped, it matters not to him whether the world flourish or go to pot, mankind be resurrected or left to rot.” One of those wise men then said, “These words are far from true. The monk and his like, should they see men setting forth on their labors, occupied in their endeavors, are far from happy to be reduced to living off their toil, taking their ease at the expense of others’ exhausting labor on the soil, idly waiting till they bring him their gifts. On the contrary, he’d rather take on a part of their chores than be a partner in what they’ve set aside as stores (this if he be of blameless soul and noble stock, honest in his striving, his conscience not ad hoc). Nay more—on seeing men with their wives and children he suffers agonies and sorrows too great to tell, especially when, alone in his cell, he sees his plumpness going to waste and doing him no good while others, weakened by toil and fatigue, enfeebled by effort, sickness, and lack of food, are more capable than him of realizing the desires to which all mankind, Arab and non-Arab alike, aspires.” Another, who the last man’s opinion shared and was at ease with his view, declared, “This, I swear, is the revealed truth! The monk and those like him are better counted among those who live in ruth. However, it seems to me that the happiest of men where livelihood’s concerned is the merchant. He sits in his store for a few hours of his day and earns in one hour, with his mighty oaths, enough to pay his expenses for a month. By means of constant
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1.9.4
�ف ��م ا ت �خ ا ن �ة � ن ا ق ش ا ت ا ن �ة �ي� ح� �ورا � �� ��ي�� * �و م�� ����� � � ح� ��ي��
َ � � � ث �ف � � او �ل��د �و ن� ف��ا ��ئ�ق��ا * �� �ه�و ا ن� ا �َو�ى ا ��ل�ى �م��ن�ز �ل�ه �لي��ل�ا * ا �ص�ا ب� ���ي خ���د �مت��ه د �ع�د �و�ل � � � ل ي � ى م ��ف � �� ّ ا � � ف �ق ه �� َ �َّا ت ا ��حل ف � ا �ڡ ن ا ن ت ��ا ��ل * ف���ق��ا ��ل �م�ن � � �ه�و ي �� � ���ه� ره ك���س� ب� �ل�ل�م� �ل * �و�ى �لي��ل��ه �م �� ��� ع�ل�ى رب� � ج � ة � ّ ذ � � ا ت� � ة ن �ا ا ��ن ت��ق��د ك�� ض�ي �� * �و �ل� �� ��ل�ا �م�ه * � �و�تب��ي��ن � ا �م�ه ا � * ا �لت��ا ج�ر �ل� ��م��ك�ن �ل�ه �ه��ذه ا �ل�عي�� ش����� ا �ل ار � �ا ذ ��ا ن ق ا �ز ا ذ � ا �ا ت ��ف �� � � ق ا ة �ن ة � ف ة ت �ص�ي �� * ه��ؤه �ه��ذه ا �ل��ع�م�� ا �ل� او �ي��� * ا �ل� ا � ا ك�� � �� �ب� � ا م�ع� �م�ل � �ى ا لب��لاد ا � �ل�� � ��� ن� فُ �ن �غ � ت ��ا ن ���ذ � � �ن ق �� � ��ل�ل�ا �خ� ���ط�ا * � ا ق��ت�� ا � ا � ا ر و �ورك��و ب ح� �م �ل�ل� �و ��ط� ر * �و م��ى ك�� � ك�� �ل�ك � ����ص �م ر��ده * �ِ او �ر َ ّ ّ َ ّ ش ت� ش �� ��د ه * �و��ن غ�ّ��� �م�ن ��ل���ذ ا �ت�ه * ��ت�ع�د دُ ب���غ�يّ�َ�ا �ت�ه * �و�م�ل��أ خ��ا ���ط ه ا ���ج� � ه ح�ا �و��ل�ه � �ج ��ا �ن�ا * �م�ا � � ك� � م و ر ص � ����ل�م�ا ���ل�م�ا �ه� ت� ر� �خ� ش���� �ع��ل� ��س��ل�عت��ه ي �ڡ ا ��ل� ح * �وك� �وا �ن�ا * �ف ك� ��ل�ي�ر ض���ى �ب�ه �ز � �� �ون�ا � او خ� � ب ى � ب�ر ب ي ى ح أ َ َ ُ ََ َ ن � ت ف �خ ْ �ة ت �ٌ ا �و�ج��� �م�ن �ور �ود ق��ا د � ي خ� �ج� ش��� َر �ب� �ب��ره ب� ش���ر * ا �و �م�� �ل��ك��� ����ب��ى �ع�ن ��� �ل� �و���سر * ص� س ِ م َ ت �ف � ا �ي�ز � ��ف � ا � �ن �ظ �� ح�ظ �� ف� ق ا � � ف � ّ ����س�ا � � � ح ك � د * �ه�و �ل� ا �ل �ى ا ع�م� �ل �� ر * �و�ج�ر ا �� �س� �وك��د ر * ���� �ل ب���ع��ض� �و و ر � ع ّ ت � � ��و ن� ذ� ا ا ج� ��ا ر * �و��ل�و ر� ا ��ل��س�ا �م�ع��ي�ن * ا �ن��ك �لم�ن ا �ل�ص�ا د ق���ي�ن * ا �م�ا ا �ن�ا ف��ل�ا ا �ودّ ا ن� ا ك�� ح ت� ب � ا ��لت��ذ � ���ل �ي ��و� �مئ���ة د ��ي ن��ا ر * �ل�م�ا �ي��ع�ق�� �ه��ذه ا ��ل � �ك� حرف���ة �م�ن ا � �ل�قي���ل � او � �لق��ا ��ل * �و � � � ي �ڡ �ك� ��ي ب� ب م � � � ف ة � � �ة � �ن ���ل�ا �ع�ن ا ق�ت��ص�ا ر�ى ���فى ا ��ل ح�ا ��ل * � اولم � اولم � �� م�� �ر * �� ض� �ر * � او�لم�د ا �ه�ا � � او �لن�ُ ك ح�ا �و�ل�� � او �ل ك ح�ا ���و ت� ف � � ّ ��ق ًا خ� � ف ن � �ڡ �� �ا � � ا بر��� ��ا � �ل��ى ا �ل�ى د ا ر�ى * � �وك�ر�ى * ��ل�ع�ل ر �بي�� ي ع �ع�مر�ى * �و �ل� �عل��م �ل�ى ب��م� ي�ج�ر�ى ي �ذ ��ف�ف � ن�ق � � ا ث � او �ن�ا ا ذ� ذ� ا ك ا ك�� �� ب� �ع��ل� ا ��ل ش����ا ر�ى � او �م�ا ر�ى * � او ج��ا ��م�ل � او د ا ر�ى * �� ع � حب���ل ا �ل� �� � � ى ى ى م أ �ة � � ��ن � ا �ف ��ف �ُمَْتَ �ف �ل� ا � ت ح ا � ���ف �م�� ��ل��ف * � ا ن��م�ا ا �ت ب�م� ا ���ع�ل �ى � �صر� �و��س�ي �ل�� �ل� ر ك� ح��ر ��ى * �و�ب��ك�و�ى � �� ب� ا �ر م ى �ى و ا � �ف ��ظ�ن ن �ق � ا ا ن �غ � ح ف�ت��ه � �مه�ن�ت�ه * ا ن��م�ا ش �ت ا �� ا � ا � ح� ا �ل ن�� ��س �ب� � �ي�� ب� ��ط �ع��ل�ى �عي����� �ه * � ��يو ب�� رك �ل�ه ��ى �ر و � ف � �ة ن ه �ؤ ن �ة ح�ا ث� ا ��ل���ذ � ���س� ��لن ف���� ��ن �ف���س�ه � ��لغ���� ه �ف�م�ا � ث �ه�و ا ��ل �ك��س� �ب�ه ��ص � ح� �ب��د �� �و�م� �� و ير ي ي ى ع ر � ي ح �ر�ه * �ي��� ب ى ع ّ �ز �ت ��ف ق � ه �ڡ ُ� ْ ن � ذ� �ت � � �عي��ا �ل�ه �و� �ل��ك خ��ي�ر �م�ا �ي�ب�ِر�ث�ه * � او � �و ج��ه ار �و� � ع��سره ح�ه �ع��ل�ىع�م�ل�ه * �و ر �� ب� ي ت � ه ذ ّ �ة ن �غ � �َعَ ���ط�� ه ا نْ � �� � َّ ضَ ْ ف ق ���ت�ه ب��ن �����س�ه�ا �و��ا �م ت� �ب�ا �مر �م �ر��ع�ه * � او � ��ا ب� ر�ع� �ل� � �م� و ل� * � مر �ض مر� ب ن � �� ت �� �ذ ا ا ��لتَ�� ُ ��ع�ا �م�ه * � ����ست�� �ن � �و�ا ��ت ت� �ت���ت�ظ� �� ر �و�ش����ك �مر ج� � ي�� � � �س� � ط �ه� ح��ل� �ي��ا �م�ه * ��ع�ه * ط� � و و عِ ي ب ب ب ي ى ّ � � � � �ف ا � �ن � ذ ذ ذ � � �ك�د * ا ��ص ن ا ا �ل�ا �تر�ى ا ن� ا �و �ل�اد � �و�ى ا �ل��س��ع � او � � ل� �ه�م� م ا �و �ل�اد � �و�ى � ا �ب��د ا �� � او � ك��ى � ى ح 138
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*
5،9،1
Unseemly Conversations and Crooked Contestations
hype, he converts loss to gain, the unwanted into things desired, the shoddy into goods of superior stripe. Plus, when he goes home at night, Daʿd and Laylā171 are waiting there to treat him right; thus by day he earns his monies, and by night he spends it on his ankleted honies.”172 One who the truth of these words denied and wished to prove that the man before had lied now said, “The merchant can attain this pleasant life, enjoy this ample ease, only if he be ambitious, a rolling stone, with dealings in lands far from his own, a master of risks, one who boldly seizes what he wants. This being so, the realization of the results of his greed and toil must put paid to his leisure, the burgeoning of his ambitions must spoil his pleasure; what he must do to please customers and family must fill his soul with anomie. He fears for his goods at sea whenever the wind blows and, when dawn breaks, worries that someone will come to inform him of woes, some letter arrive to inform him of damage or loss, of stagnant markets or embargoes. Thus in thought his brow he ever furrows, gulping down regret and sorrows.” One of his audience now said, “Verily, your words are true. As for me, I’d have no desire to engage in trade, even if each day a hundred golden dinars I made. Any who engages in that profession spreads gossip, tells lies and absurdities, schemes, practices craft and deception, and betrays, not to mention that I’d be stuck there in the store for a quarter of my days. I’d have no idea of what was afoot in my nest: perhaps some watcher would go there and make hay while I was away, while I was lying to a buyer and wangling, flattering, and wrangling. Sin’s rope would then be round my neck both for what I did in the store and for being a means to the commission of forbidden acts behind my very own door. For my part, I believe the man who most deserves to be envied for his way of life, whose craft and profession most deserve our praises, is none other than the cultivator, who labors to do good to both himself and others with what he raises, thus gaining both health for his body and provender for his dependants, which is the best of the many blessings by him enjoyed, though in addition his wife goes back and forth with him to work and keeps him company when times are hard and he’s unemployed. If he falls sick, she nurses him herself and looks after his mead; if he’s absent, she watches out for his interests and waits, hoping he’ll return with speed. What’s more, the tired man savors his meat and finds his slumbers
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1.9.5
�ف ��م ا ت �خ ا ن �ة � ن ا ق ش ا ت ا ن �ة �ي� ح� �ورا � �� ��ي�� * �و م�� ����� � � ح� ��ي��
�نُ � ت فّ ��لَ ّ ن � ن ق ن ذ� �ا �ان ���د * �و�م�ا � �ل��ك ا �ل� �ل� ���ه� �ير��د �و� �ع�ن ��ع�ا ��س � �وي�ا ك����ل�و� �ع�ن ج�� �و �وي� ش��� �بر��و� ا �ل��ر��ه � او ج م ع َ َ ّ �ع�ن ظ ������م�ا * ف��ا ��ا ��ه ا �ق � �َم�نْ �َ ��لَ��ه * ا نّ� �في�م�ا ق���ل ت� ��لن �ظ� ��� ا * ف��ا �ن��ك �ل�� �ت َر ا ��ل�ص� �ة ا ��ل�ا �م�ن ور ج ب رب ر وِي م ف ّ � � � ة ة ح��د�ة �وف��ا ��ت ت���ك ا �ج�ل � �ه�� ا �ل�ا خ�ر�ى * ���ل�ع�م �ى ا ن� ا �ل ح�ا ر ث� �م� ك�� ��د �ب��د �ن�ه * ا ��س�ي�ر �ه�م�ه � �ج� �ه�� � او � ر ع ض ش � ق ق ��ل ث � ذ ا � � ا �و����ج�� ن��ه * �و���ج�� ي�� ق���ل�ق��ه �و� حوا د � � ا و �ل� ك�� �بر * ح�ز �ن�ه * ا � �ه�و�عب��د ا �ل�ع ن��ا � �صر * �ور�ي ��� ا �� ع ن ��ث � �� �خ ث ق ف � � ن ن ق ت ق ش ف ا � � ا � �ع�ص�� ت� � ����ى �ع��ل�ى ���مره ا � �ي�����س� �� ��ط �ي����س�� ��ط ��لب��ه �م�ع�ه * � او � ك���ر ا �لم�طر ا �و يرح �ن ن � ت � ف ا �ز ق ش �ف ����س�ا د �م�ا �� � ��ف � � ��� �ق �م�ن ك� ن ات � ���ل �و ج���ل �م ا � �ي ��ل�� �م� ر�ع�ه * � او � �م� � كب��ي ر �ى ب��ل�ده * ا � � آ َ ت �َ َ �ُ �ك�ن ذ� ا ���ص�� �ة � � � ح ت� �ي��ده * � او ن� �ي�� ح� * ��س�� ء ه �م�ا �ير�ى ا �ه��ل�ه ف�ي��ه �م�ن ا �ل�عر�ى � ا � و �ل�و�ج��ى * و ر ب ي ج ى ت �ذُ �ّ � َ �� �� ّ � �ن � �� � � ة �ا ن ة ن ا ا � ا تئا � � � او ��ل�� �ل � او �ل�ا ��س�ت ك� ط� ب� م ا�لم� ك��و�ل * �� ��� * � او �ل� ب������ ��س � او�لم�ه� ��� * �وح��سره�م �ع��ل�ى ا ل�ِي � � � �� ن ه � ا � �ت ة � ة � �ك��ا ي� ش����ا * �و �ل�ا ي� ك �م��ن��ه ر ��ؤ �ي�� ب���ل��د � او �ل ن��ا �ع� �م�ن ا�لم��لب ��و��س * �و�ع��ل�ى ك�� �و� �ل� ي ح��س�ن بر��ي��� �و�ل��ده �م م ُ ذ �غ �ذ ْ ف ف �غ � ن ف � ق � � ش ا � � ن � � �ه� �م�ه�ده �و�ب��ره * �و �جس � ��ه �و�ج� �ه�و �ر��ض� حره * �و�م� ع � �ل�ك � � ��ي�ر ا �ل� �ى �ي��ه ����� * � � و أ � ا �غ ات ���� �ع��ل�ه�ا �م�ن �ه� ��ف� ق��ه �م�ن ا �ل�م��ث �ي�ن * � ا ��ل��س�ا �ئ��د �ي�ن ا �ف � � �ي�ن و ر �ل� � ار ��ض� ا �م� �م�ه ��ى ا �ل�د * �و�ع�ص� ��ي ��وك� ي� وو �ف �َُ ْ � �ف �ة �ا �ا � �آ خ � ��ا د ي�ت خ� � او�لم��سي� ��طر�ي�ن * ��م�ا �ي ك� ���ل��ص �م�ن �ور ��ط�� ا � ح��د �ه�م�ا ا �ل� � �و�ي�ق�� ��ى ش���رك ا �ل� �ر * �و �ل� ع � �ف� ت ه ش ّ � ا � ت ��ق � � � ا ْ ِه � ه�� ه � ا � �د �َ خمْ��َ صًا �� ه � ا � �صر �و�ج � ل� * �ل� ي ج�� �ل� � ل� �و �ل� �س� ب���ل�ه ش���را كب����ر * �و ه�و م ِ � �ي � �و� ���ر ا �ل� � او ع � ا �ه���ه * � �� ا �ن�ه ا � ا ن ن ��ا ا �ت� ض���ا ه ��لن ��ف���س�ه � ا � ت �س��ص� ��ه * �و �ل�� ��� � ��ل�ا �ه��ل�ه �من�� جه � � ه ع � � ك � ل �ل� ل ول�و ر م � �ي و ر � و � ي ى ب م �ج ا ه � آ خ ذ � �ت �ة � ا � �ن �غَ� �ة �من ا � َ َْ ة �ف ق س �ع �ر�تب��� * �ه�م� ا �و ح�� � �و ��� �م ار �م ِا �م� �م� � او �م�ي ره ا �و � �ر � ى �م �رب�� * �ل�م �ي� م ار �م� � م آ �ذ �ق خ � ن ه َ � � ّآ �ف � � ص رق�ب���ة * �و �ل�� �ي��لب� ث� ا ن� �ير�ى ا ��ص ح�ا �ب�ه �ل�ه ا �ع�د � * � ا �ه�و�ع��ل� �ه� ا � � و ��دا �� ا لِ��د � * � ا �و � ى م م ا �ف ّ ف � ق � ق � �ق ق ر�ه��ي�ن ا ���خل �ص�د �� �ع��ل�ى �م� �� �ص��ل�ه * ��و * � او ��س�ي�ر ا � �ل ن��و * ���ق��ا �ل �ر�ي�ن �ل�ه * �و��د � � ض� � ع ع � قّ � � ذ � ا ��ن ا � �� ا � � ا ن ف ق ا ا � � � � � ��ن��ع ا ن� �ه��ذ ا ��ل�ه� ا ل ح� ا �ل� او �ض� * �و�م� ب���ع�د ا �لر�� � �ل �� �ض� * �و �ى رى ب�ع�د مع� � �� و ح ح م ت � � ت � � � ّ � �ز � ت ن ا �ظ ق �ق ق ا ا � ن ل � ل ا �� ح� � � او �� ا �ن � � ح� �ل� * ر ج���ل ر ��ه ا لله حر�ى * ا � ا ��س�ع�د ا �ل�� ��س � ل�� ر � او �ل� ر �و�ى * �و � ف � � �ا � ف � � � ا ��ل��ل�اد ا ��لغ�� � ��ه * � ا �ل� ش � ��ل�ه �ب�ا �ل�ا * ج�� م����ا �ه�د�ة �ل�� ك� �م�ا �ل� * � او �ص��ل ل��ا ��ئ ن��ا ت� و ���ع�ل د ا �ب�ه ا �ل��س��ر ي ڡ ب �يرب ح � ��ف ا ��ل�ع ة ف �� � � �ڡ ش ا ن �� �َم� ا ن ا � �� ا ن � ا خ � ا ن * ف���ق��ا �� ق��ا �ئ � � � ه �ك �ك � � � � � � � � * � * � ع ل � �� ط � � � � � � و ى ل � و � و و� �ج �ه�و ل ي وم ي ��بي��� * � � ل �ل 140
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Unseemly Conversations and Crooked Contestations
sweet. Do you not observe that the children of those who strive and toil have healthier bodies and are quicker witted than the children of those who live a life of ease and are better outfitted? The sole reason for this is that they go to sleep when tired, eat when hungry, and drink when thirsty.” The one closest to him now answered, “I must take issue with what you say, for you look at the picture in only one way, while the other side escapes you. The cultivator, I swear, over and above his body’s hard work, is captive to care and woe, bedfellow to anxiety and sorrow, for he’s a slave to the elements, at the bidding of the great families and of accidents. If a storm blow, he fears his fruit will fall and he feel gall; if the rain’s too little or too savage, he fears lest what he’s sown be ravaged; if a great man in his town dies, he worries he won’t be able to market his supplies. If he be a man of insight and sensibility, it hurts him that his family should see him poorly clothed and shod, abject and submissive, wretched and downtrod, as does their grief at having nothing by way of food that’s tasty nor by way of clothes that’s comfy, at being unable to raise his son as he would have desired, unable to visit any town but the one in which he was sired, for that is his cradle and his tomb, his prison and sole dwelling room. In addition, he is the object of the designs of his leader in religion, and a stick on which any may lean who has more money than he, or any ruler or wielder of authority. He barely escapes the snare set for him by the one before he falls into the trap set by the other, and should one evil pass him by, he’ll find another, yet greater, nigh. Given his burdens and lack of education, he finds no escape for himself or for any relation. Should he ever desire to follow a path for his family that’s of his own choosing and he believes correct, but which is not what his imam, emir, or other high-ranking person would elect, he may not be spared a fine, or the lopping of his nose, or the breaking of his neck, and in no time his friends will be his enemies, his boon companions his dogged foes. In short, he’s a pawn to subjection, a prisoner to supplication.” Said a companion, who held that what the former had outlined was correct, “Indeed, we may say with certitude that there is no abjection worse than servitude. Now, after all this scrutiny and reflection, interrogation and investigation, I see that the happiest of men in kind is he to whom God has allotted wealth, and a good mind, and who makes it his habit to travel to foreign places and observe new races. Each day some fresh matter he discovers173 new
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1.9.6
�ف ��م ا ت �خ ا ن �ة � ن ا ق ش ا ت ا ن �ة �ي� ح� �ورا � �� ��ي�� * �و م�� ����� � � ح� ��ي��
ف � ذ � ّ ض � � ق فَ َ ق ت ���ل�ا �ل�ه * � �لق��د حو�ى �م�ق��ا �ل�ه * � او �عت����د �م�ا � �ه ب� ا �لي��ه ا �ن�ه �م�ن � ن��ده �و� �س�و�ع ب� ��� ��د ا � � ْ آ � � �ز �غ ق �ص�د ا * � �ل�� ��ت�ق�� �ش���د ا * ا � ��ل���� ا �ل� ت م��ع ّر��ض� �ل��ل�� فس��ر * ب�َ�� �لَو �ع ن��� ء �و�خ� �� طر * � ت� ��� و م �ل ر وي س ذ ��ث�ًا � ا �� ه � ا � ا �� �ش � ة ��ت�غ� �ُ ا �� �آء � �ل ه ا � ا � ا �� �غ � ا �ل� � ة عه�ود� * ا � ك���ي ر م� يم�ن�ي � ب� مر �ض ���دي��د� * ي��ير ل�ه�و ع�ي�� �و �ل� � حو ل ��ي ر م � آ ض � ُ َ � ف ف ف � ن � � �� ����ط ار ره ا ن� �ي� ��ط � او � ���ع �م�ا �ي��ع�ا ��ه * �و� ش���رب� �م�ا �ب�ه ا د �ن�ا ��ه * �ي���ك�و� � ك���ل�ا �لم�ا �ي�ا �ك��ل �ب��د �ن�ه * ي م ُ �ذْ ن ا ��في�ن غّ ََ � � ا ��خل � ف ا � ا ف ن� ت ا ��ت �� �ن ه ل � � � � � ا � � � �ه��ذه � � � ع�د �ه د اد � � �ه�ا * � � � � * � � � � ه �س �ص � � � � ل � � � ر ى ى بل � �وي�� ب و � م م و ج و ن�ز�ير ي� �ج ش �ا � خ �ل � ا �ع�ن ا ��ل �ا � �ف �ه�ا * ا ذ� �ي�ز�ع�م� ن� ا �ن��ه� ي خ� ���ل���ط�و ن� ����� ���ا �ه و�� �و ه� ح� � او �ل� را ن�� ب� �و�م�ا �ي� ض� ��س�ل ح� ي� و م آم �ف �� ُ ة َ ُ ّ َ ْ آ � � ا حف� �م ق��ا ��ه �ش���ف��� ����ذ �و ن� �م�ن ��ل �ص��� �و� ��� ر �ود �م�ه ��ى �ك� ح�� �ل �و * �و�ت خ� ا ��خل ح � � ��س � � � و ل و ح�م ا �ل��س�ل� � � ر ب ب ن�ز�ي ي �� آ ن ي�ن ا ن � ن ن ا �غ ضَ ْ � �ذ خ ��ز ن ا �م � � �� ق ا � ��ع�ا �م ن��ا �ن � ع� ��و� �ع��ل� � ا � �لب����� ��ي�ر � �ي��� �و �ل� م�م� �و�� * �و�ب� �� �م�ل�و �و�ط �م �ك�ل د� ء * �و��ي�ي ب ح ح آ �غ ة ا � �غ م�ز ق �خ� �ن ا �غ عق��ا ق��� * � ا �نّ�ا ن � ن ا �غ �مم�ز � ا ��ل � � � � � � � � � � ل � * � � �م � م �ص� � � ير و ��ي�ر � �ع�و�� * � او � �م� �� ��ي�ر � �و�ج �ب� ج��ي�ر و ر ي ر ب و ب ذ �خ ن ��ق �ن ا �خ �ن ح�مه�ا �غ� �� ض ��� ��ل � �ن���ذ ب� ا ��ل ح�ا � �ون�ا �ك� ���ا * �و�ه� ي� � � ن ��ق��ا � �و�ا ك� حي �� او �ن�ا ت� � ب� � ���ا * � ه � ����ل� �ون�ه د ا �ئ��د ا ا �ي� ض� � � ل � � و ر ي ي م ح ن ّ ن ا �غ ذ َ �ْ ن ��س �آ ن ا �غ � �ُ�مْ � �ة � �� ن ا �غ � ئ� �� َ ت�ن �ن � �و� ��ي�ر � ��ي د �ج * �و م�ط �ر� ��ي ر د ا � ا ل�ه�� * � ا و � �م� ء �� ��ي ر حِ�ل��س� * � او � ج�� م ا ا� ا �ئ � ا ش �آ ا�ل�من ّ ة فَُ�ق �ُ ا �غ � ث ض�ن �ا �غ���ر �م ���ط��ل ّ � او ر� ى �و�ج� �ه�ه� �ب� �لر�ج�ي�� � او �لر�و� �و��س� ر ا �ل� ����ي � �ج�� ��س�� * �ب �� �و�ل ن�� ��ي�ر �� ي � ع ُ � آ � � َ ���ة * � او ث��م�ا ر�ن�ا �غ��ي�ر�م�ي�ل خ� �س خ� �ص��ف ن��ا �ل�ا ي���س�م� ف�ي��ه ���ة * � او ن� �ش���ت�� �ن�ا �ل�ا �ي��د �و� �ث��ل��ثى ا �ل�ع�ا � * �و� ي � �م�� ي م م ع ذ آ �ي�ت � ذ �ز � � ث� ���ي�ن ا ظ ��� ن ا ش ر�ع�د � �و ِا ر ا � * ف��ا � ا ج��� ء ا � ح��د �ه� ا �ل�ى �ب�ل�اد �ن�ا �ل� �عل��� �لغ���ت�ن�ا �و� ك � م�� ب �ه �ر� �ع���ر م م م ث �ل� ح�ا �� ا ��ل���ذ ن��� �ع�� ا ��له� ا * ف���ق��ا �� ا ��هن ي�ن ا �ن � ��س�ن ��ي�ن * �� ر ج� ل �� �و�ه�و �م ا �ج� ��ه�ل ا ج�� �ه�ل�� * ا � ل ب ل�ى � و م ع ��ََ �َ ا� ا ا � � �� ا �� ا � ��ق ن �� � �ذ ا ا ن ف �ُمن�� �م ن��ه ��ا ��ل ح�ّ�م � او جل �� �و�ى * ا �و �ب� �ل� ��س�ه� �ل ا�لم��ر ��ط * � او ل��س�ع� ل �لم ��ط * �ه� �و � ى ب ى � � ق ف ن ت �ن��ه ا ن� �ي��ع �ف� �ع�اد ا �ت�ه � ا خ�� �ا � �م�� �ه� * �ل� ي� ك �م�ن � �ه �ل��س�ا ��ق � � �ه � �ه� � او � � �س�و�ى ر �ج � �ل � �وم و �و ي� م م � �م و ل � م خا ف �ن �غ ف ا ن ظ�ا ن ا� � ن � �ه�م * ��ي�ر�ى �ع��د �ه�م �م� �ير�ى د �و� �عل��م * �وي��س�م� �م� ي��س�م� �م ��ي�ر �ع��ده ���� �هر�ه�م �و�� �ي� ع ع ف �ك�ن � ��ذ � ا ة ُ ٌّ � �ن ت خ� ذ ت �ف � �خ � �ف ن ح�� �ب��د م ا �ه� * �ل��� �ي�� �ل� �ى ا �ل��س�ي � � ��ا � �تر�ج��م�ا � * � او �ع�م�ا ده �ع��لي��ه ��ى �ك���ل � ��ط ب� � م م ن � � �َ � � � نه ا � � ن شان ا ّ ث �ن ظ�ن � ��س���ئ �ب�ه ا �ل��� * �و�ير�ى ا � �ل�ه �ع�لي��ه ا�لم * �و�ل�و ا �� � ح� �و�ل �و���� � * �و �ل� �ي�لب�� ا � ي� ي � ن ���س�ت �غ� ن � ن ه � ف ا ت ه � ف �ة � ا � � ا ت ي�ن ا �� ��ق ذ � ة ح ش����� � ب� و��لب��ا �ل * ا � ي ��ى ع�� � �ل�� �� م�عر�� ا �ل� � حوا �ل * � �وب� � �ب�� ل �و�م � ا �و 142
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Unseemly Conversations and Crooked Contestations
homelands of every sort and new brothers.” Said one who’d understood his tenor, and attributed his views to dotage and error, “You’ve gone off track as you well know, and what you say is not thought through. The lot of any exposed to travel is suffering and danger, is it not? With the change of air and strange surroundings, awful diseases often strike, not to mention that he’s forced to drink things that bring chronic sickness and to eat what he doesn’t like. Thus he consumes what eats his body away and drives any wink of slumber from his eye. When these Franks come to our lands, their mood is ruined by the absence of swine, as by their innocence of turtle, rabbit, and other creatures of this sort to which they incline, for they claim to mix the grease and blood of the pig into each dish, every soup, and all their sweets, and make from turtle flesh a broth that all ills treats. They fault us because our milk’s neither watered nor thinned, our bread too salty, our food not with salt saturated, our water not mixed with chalk, our wine not adulterated, because we slaughter our animals by cutting their throats and eat the meat fresh, while they strangle theirs and eat it wormy and almost raw, because our weather’s never overcast, our rain’s not always pelting down and it doesn’t always pour, because our land’s not covered with a tilth of excrement, dung, and other filth. Our legumes they say are tasteless, our fruits flavorless. They blame us that our winter doesn’t last two-thirds of the year and in our summers no booming thunder fills the ear. Having made their way to our land to learn our tongue and after living among us a decade only to return as ignorant of it as they come, they blame the weather and say, ‘It gave me consumption and fever, or terrible diarrhea, or a cough that drove me to despair.’ Moreover, because of the foreigner’s ignorance of the language of those among whom he dwells, he cannot learn their customs and ways and one and the same to him are their outer and their inner selves. He sees what he sees and learns nothing, hears what he hears and understands nought; thus the traveler has no choice but to hire a dragoman, depending on him for business of every sort. Soon, however, he develops an unappreciative attitude and decides the man seeks to burden him with a debt of gratitude. Should he try to dispense with him, however, he can no longer the meaning of events discern, and he lives on among the people, a victim of loneliness and concern. He may yearn to see his family, to be reunited with his kin, in which case longing will make him sick, separation
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�ف ��م ا ت �خ ا ن �ة � ن ا ق ش ا ت ا ن �ة �ي� ح� �ورا � �� ��ي�� * �و م�� ����� � � ح� ��ي��
َ ض�ن ا َ ْ�نُ �ن �ور��م�ا � ح�ن ا ��ل�ى ر ��ؤ ���ة ا �ه��ل�ه * � او ��ل�ا ج��تم�ا ب� ش���م��ل�ه * ف��ا دْ ��ن �ف��ه ا ��ل �� � ه �ب�� ح���ي�ن * � ا � و ب ي ي ع ن ّ � َ ذ � ّ ن � ن ن ن �ا �ص�د � ��ق � ّ ��خلَ �ِ�ي�ن ط� ب� ا �ل�� فس��ر�م�ا ا � ا ا ��ت�ف� �ق� ا ���س�ا � �م� ى * ع �نِ� ٍ�د �ل�ه � ��ِو�ى * �و� ي� جِ � ا��د * � او �م� �ي� ��ي � �ّ � ة ��ا ن ا ا في�ن � غ ا ت ��ث ة ا خ ا � ة �ن ا ق ة ��ل ق� � �ب�ا � �لق���ل ب� � ا و �لب��ص�ي�ر� * �وك�� �� �ع� ر��� ب��ل��� � ك���ي�ر� * �و��ل� �وب��ه�م� �� �لي��� �م �ع�ل� ��� ا ح ب ن ن ا ن �ت ت ّ � �ذ ة ن �ن �ه�ا ت� ا � ��ي ت�ف�� �ق� ا ��ث ن��ا � �ع��ل� را �ى � او � � �ل�� � �م�ن د �و� �م�ا �� ج��ا �ه�د * ح��د * �و � � �و�هي� ى ع م ��ث �ق �ا ّ ح�ا ض �� �ي�ن �ش���د ا � �ف� ض �ص�د * ف���ق��ا ��ل ا ق��� ا ��ل � ���ل�ا * � ا و ك���ر�ه� �ه�ز �ل� * �ي�ا ��و� * � �و�ه� �ع�ا � � و ر ل ر م م م � � �ن � � ف � ن �ق ا ا ق ئ ظ �ت ض ا ا ا ا ن ح ���� �ه� * � او ر� ا ��ى �� ���ل ��و �ل� �و �ل� �ل�و� * ا � ا ��س�ع�د ا �ل�� ��س � او � ��� �ه� * �ه� � او ر� � م م م م ت �ن ف ا � � ا ف ا ن ا ��ت�غ�ت ن ن ��م��� �ة ا ��ل�ت ��ت���ف�ت ا ��ل���غ ّ ا ج ��ل ق ا ا ا ا � �� � � � � �ل � ا ا � � � � � � � � د� �ص�د� � � � * � �م � * � � � � ل ه � ه ه ه � ه ل �ي ��س � � � �� � � � وب � رو � ب ب� ب �ى ي �ى �م س ذّح تح ُ ً ت ن ّ � � ف � ت �ن �ن ف �ز ا �ئ �ه�ا � �م�ا ��ل�ه * � �ت���ُ���ل�ه � ّ ا � ت �ه�ا �عِ�ز ا �ل�ه * �و�م��تى � ك ر و ح��ه� ح�ى �ير�ى � �ل�ه �ي� وب ب ب �م���� �م � ��ر ت � � ْ � �ف �ذ � َ � � ة ح ث� �ع�ن ��ك � �ن�ه�ا �م��ؤ �ن�� ا �ل�ا ��ط�ي���ي�ن * ف��ل�ا � ت ح��ا � ب���ع�د�ه�ا ا ��ل�ى ا ب�ل�� ��ي ب�� �ل�و ن� �ل�ه�ا ا �ل�ع�ي��ن * �و�� � و ب �ي �ج �ڡ � ا � �ت ّ � � � �م��ا ه � ا �ل�مه�ا ��ل��ك * ف��ا ذ� ا ��ه �ش���ا �خ� ت� � ���د �ت وج �م ار �ود ي ى � ا�لم��س� �ل��ك * � او �ل��عر��ض� �ل�ل ك� ر و � � ا ّ خ ت ��ف ��ّف ه � �ن ّ ئ ا ت ا � ا �� ف �ة ة �ف �ص��ا �ئ��ه�ا �م�ا ��تن �� �ق� �م ن��ه �ع�ن ��س�ع�� * �و�م�ا �ت��ك�ر �ب� ع ��سي���� ���ه� ا �ل��س� �ل�� م�م� ا د � �ر�ه �ى � ب � ة � �ف � ة � � ث ف ة ة ة �ه�ا ا �ل ن��ا ��س �ب�ا �لت�� �و�� ا �ل ن��ا �ص�ع�� * � او�لم�عي�� ش����� ا �ل� ا �ت��عي�� ش��� ��ى د �ع�� * � �وي���ن��ى �ع��ل و ��س�ع�� * ي� ب � ا � �ّ � � ��ا ن ن �ان ن �ن �ا ا ا � � ا ا ا ا �ئ�ن ط�و �ع��ل�ى ا �ل����س�ي �ا � * �ل� ��ي ب�� �ل��ي ا �ل� ب��م� �ه�و ك�� �ل� ب��م� ك�� � * �و �ل� � او �ل� ���س�ا � * �م �� ب � ع ُْ ً أ � ���ف ا ئ� ّ ة � � �ي�ن ذ ذ ا �ن ف ح�ا ض ا ج�ز � ا � �� ي ج� ���ا ن� ا ��ل �س�م�ا ا � ا ك� � ��د �ى � ���ع� � ��ل� * �و���س ار �م� �م�و �ل� * �و �ك��ى �ب� �م�� ا �ل�د ا � ا � �ي ر ي ي ن ا �� � ن ا � � ا ا � ف � ا ت � ت �ت ة � ث�ن ن نش � �ه�ا ا � ح��س�ن ا �ل� �ا * �ه� ا �ل�ع ��ط� �ي� ا �ل� او �ره * � او �ل�ص�ل� � ا�لم�� او ر� * ا � �ي������ر� او �ع�لي� �� ل� او م � ��ّ �ة �� ت �� �ف ش ح�� � �خ� ن� * ف��� ا ن ّ �ؤ ا �ن � له� �م � �ه�م �ع��ل�ى �ك��ل �ص�ل�� �ص��ل� او � * �و�ع��ل�ى �ك��ل � � �وي�ب�ر � �ه� �م �ك�ل � � و ى �ظ� ��ف ا �ن �ڡ ذ � ف � ق ن � ض ة ت ���غ� �ن��ت��ه * �ثم�ا � � �ل��ك ���لي����س�ا �ل � �ير���ت��ه * �و�ي��ك �� �ير د �ع�و� د �ع� او � * �م�ن �م� را ��ى ي �� ي م � � � ق � �ا �ة ذ� � ف �غ ا �ي�� �ل�ه �ع��ل�ى � �ل��ك ا �لب��را �ه��ي�ن * �م�م�ن �ب��ر �و ب�����قى �م�ن ا �ل�ع�ا �لم��ي�ن * ���ل�م�ا ��س�م�ع ت� ا ج ��لم� �ع� م َ �ذَ ض ُ � ن �ل� � ن ن ت ن ا ا � غ�ز � � �ن ت ح�� �م�� ا ه * �� د �ع� ا ه * �و ل � �وا ب� �ع��ل� �ب��ه�� ��ه * ح��ك� او �م �ه� �ي� ��ه * �ورا � او ا � ا ج�� و ى ن �ص� اف � � �ف � � ن ة �� � �ق � ا �ل �دا � ا � ا � �م�ن ض � ش � �غ �صِ ا �ن�ه * ف��ا ض �� �ر�� او �ع��ه � �� ح� * �ع��ل�ى طر�� ج�� ل �م� ه�و �و� ع ا �ل����ى �ى ��ي�ر � �و � ب �ي �ش قا � � ق ��ق � � ت � � ن ا ف ف ق � � ا ا ا � � � � �و�� �ل� او �ل�ه ب�� ح� �ل ار ��ك �و � ح� * ���ل�و ك�� � ا ��ه�ل � �ص�� � * ع �ع��ل�ى را �ي�ك � �ل���س�د � ا �ل� ر��ض ي 144
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7،9،1
8،9،1
Unseemly Conversations and Crooked Contestations
from the beloved thin. One can only have fun being peripatetic if one travels with a companion sympathetic, a confidant with whom one can share a lot— especially if each is polyglot, fancy-free, preconceptions quite forgot. How difficult it is, though, for two to agree on any one view, or for there to be any pleasure without strenuous objection or constraining reflection!” Now spoke the least of those present in terms of good sense and schol-
1.9.7
arly renown, the one most likely to play the clown. “Dear friends!” said he. “I have something to say—forgive me if it offends. The happiest and most favored of persons, the best-off among them and most content, is the beautiful whore who opens her door to visitors and makes herself available to any who accosts her, for rent. She wins her visitor’s companionship as well as his wealth and drives him so wild with love he thinks groveling before her an honor to himself. Once she has a band of men who’d sell their eyes for her in hand, they provide her with all she needs of ‘the two best things,’174 and she’s no longer obliged to look for custom on the roads or be exposed to anything that harms or discommodes. When she grows old, she finds she’d saved a lot when young, and so, with open hand, she spends and, with the money, for her earlier misdeeds she makes amends, living blamelessly the while, all praising her for her radiant repentance and large style. Man is by nature amnesiac. He thinks only of what’s present, not what’s passed, especially if the current situation yield a mighty dividend and the good life on which all hopes depend. The clergy have only to praise her high and low, to exonerate her of all debaucheries and abominations, to be given non-stop gifts and abundant donations. With each present she gets from them prayers, with each banquet blessings. Let any who doesn’t believe me, ask his consort and master his irritation, till such time as I can furnish proofs from both this and any earlier generation.” When the company had heard his claim and seen through to his hidden aim, they laughed at his raving and decided that the correct response to his misleading words, simply for the sake of the wrangle, should be to address the matter from a different angle, so they snubbed him, saying, “Shame on your opinion and God damn you! If all the people of a place sang the same refrain, the land would become corrupted, honor be blighted, and no vestige or smidgen of decent behavior remain. But the fault is the cup’s, which has
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1.9.8
�ف ��م ا ت �خ ا ن �ة � ن ا ق ش ا ت ا ن �ة �ي� ح� �ورا � �� ��ي�� * �و م�� ����� � � ح� ��ي��
� � � � �ا ا �� ت � �و�ا ر ا �لعِ� ْر��ض� �و�ل� ��يب ��ق� �م�ن ا �ل�ص�ل�ا � ا �ثر �و �ل�ا بَ� ْر��ض� * � او ن��م�ا ا ��ل��ل�و� �ع��ل� ا �� ك� ل�� ��س ل ��ى ب م ى م ح � �ذ ذ ْ � �ف � �ش ف � ت ت � � به� ت� ب���لبّ���ك * �وك������ ت� �ع�ن ���س�ا د �م� �هب���ك * � بو��ق� � ِا ر�ب��ك * �و�ل�ع��لك ���ه��د �ى ا �ل�ى ح فا� ا ن � �����ا �ع��ة �ه��ت ك � ا � ت ا ��ل �ش���ا د ا ذ� ا ا ف���ق� ت� �م�ن �خ��م�ا ك * � ��ت���ّ�ن ��ل��ك �ف ظ ا ت �س� � * � ه� ك رى � ر و � ر ر ر وبي ن �ل� � � � � � � ة ة ة ق ناق ة غ ا ح�ا � �ة � الم ا � �ك�و ت� �ل�ه ا ��سل��� �ع�ا �ب��� �م�ن الم ا �ل��س�� ض��� * � او � ا ج �م�ه�ور � ور و ج �� � �وب�� * � او�لم�� �ر� � او�لم��� ��ب م ًُ �ق � ن ن ن ف �ف �س�ف ت � � ض ا � � ا ا ا �ي� غ����ل ب� ا � �ل�رد * � او � ك�� � �� او �ع��ل�ى � ���ل� �ل �وك�� � �ه�و �ع��ل�ى �ه�د �ى �و�� �ص�د * �� � �� � �خ ّ � ��ت�ف��ن�ي �د �ه� * �و� ش����ى �و�عي��د �ه� * � �و�ت ف��ر��ق� او �و�ل� ي ج��م�ع� ا و را �ي��ه� �ع��ل� ا �ى ا �ل ن��ا ��س ا ��س�ع�د * م ى م م م ف �نَ غَ ��ف ذ ّ �� ا � �ة �غَ� نَ ن �غ � � ش ا ا � او �ى �عي����� ا ر��د * ا � را � او د �و� �ك��ل � حر��ه ����ص� * �و�م� �ك��ل � ح� �ل� ��ص� * �و�ى ع � � ة َ غَ ��ث� �م ا ض ا �ق قت � �ن ذ ق ف ا ت � �ن � � � � � ��� � �و� �ه� ع � ك�ره * حوا �ل ا �ل ن��ا ��س ك���ي ر �م� � �ك���ل ا ك����ل�� �م���ص�ا * �و��د �� ���ه� م ا � � م م آ � �ذ ف ف � ق � ا � �ن ح�ص� �ك��ل �م� ا �ورد �وه �و�ع � ���ا �ق� �ه��ذ ا ا � ف�ل���ص�ل �ع�ن ا � �صره * ��� � �� �ع��ل� �ه� ا ح � �ك��ا ض� �م ى � ق ذ � �ذ ت � ة ت � ا � �لق��د ر ا �ل�� �ى � ك� �� �ر�ه * �و��سر�م��ع ا ��ل�ى ا ��س���ئ�ن�ا �ف� ���ص�� �َم�ن �غ��اد ر�ت�ه * �و�ع��لي� ك�� � ا �ل��س�ل�ا � * ى م م
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Unseemly Conversations and Crooked Contestations
made off with your brain and revealed the corrupt thinking of your kind, the ignominy of your mischief-ridden mind. Perhaps, when you sober up, you’ll be guided to what’s right, and, after your gross falsehood and irresponsibility, see the light.” The man decided then that silence was a safer course for him than discussion and back-and-forth, or bickering and getting cross, and that the mass outranks the one, even if the latter’s well-guided and full of wisdom, the former in the wrong. He swallowed therefore their rebuttals and took fearful account of their monitions and the company dispersed without having come to a consensus as to who is the happiest of men or which the most easeful of conditions, finding that for each trade there was a fly in the ointment, for every state a disappointment, and every dish was accompanied by its own form of indigestion, albeit to many a condition of men they’d paid no attention, the time being too short to allow its mention, just as this chapter has been too short to allow a computation of all the arguments they made or their enumeration. Halt with me, then, at this portion that I’ve outlined, and let us return together to the story of the one I’ve left behind. Farewell.
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ا �� ��ل�ف��ص ا ��ل�ع�ا �ش � �ل �ر � ا ���غ ض� ا ش �� ا ��ف�ن ي �ڡ ��� ب� � �و
*
� ا �ن����ش�ا � ����ب ا �ث ن و ب ر�
� ا ��ل���س � � � ش � ���ا �لر ج���ل �م�ن �خ� ش��� ب� �ل��ل�م�ا ����ى * ف�ي�ن��ب���غ� ��ل�ى ا ن� �ل�ا ا �ت��وك� �� �ل��ل�م�و�ل�ف� ك� ���ا �ع��لي��ه � ِ ى جع �ذ ن ��ف �ج��م�� ���ط �ق� ا ��لت��ع��� ��لئ��ل�ا �ت�ض� ق � ة � ا نا بير ��ي ��� ب �ى �م� ا �هب��ه * ا �و �ير�م�ي�ى �ى �ور ��ط�� �ل� �م�� ��ص يع ر � � � � ف ا ت � �� ف ة ن ظ � ش ن �ه�ا * �و�� �لق��د را ��ي ت� ا ن� ك� ����ل�ف���ة ا �ل���جس � * ��ا �ن�ه �ل� ي� ش�����ر ��ط ��ق� �م�ن ك���ل���� ا �ل� ��� �� ا � � �م � ع م ت � �ف � ف � � ة ا ����ا ت� ا �� �لق�� �د�ة �م�ن ا ��ل�ا ��ت��ا ���ط � ا �ل�م ن��ا � ة ا ش ���ث�� ا �م�ا � �ق� الم���جس ��ع�� * �وك� ي ر و رب �ص�ي ب بي �س��� �م� ي������ر ��ط �ى ا � �ل � ر � � ح�ت ��ت���لغ���ه ا ��ل� �م�ا �� ق��د د ا ت� ��ه ا �� �لق��ا ف����ة �ع�ن ��ط � �ق��ه ا �ل ��ت ��س��ل�ك ف�� ا �تر�ى ا ��ل��س�ا ج� ي�ه� �ى ب ى ي ر ب ر�ي ى ع � � ق � �ك�ن �ت �ل� �ي�� ض�ي �ه �ل�و ك� ���ا ن� �غ��ي�ر �مت���قي��د �ب��ه�ا * � او �لغ��ر��ض� �ه ن��ا ا ن� ��ن��غ�ز ��ل ���صت�� ن��ا �ع��ل� �و ج��ه � �� � �ير ى م ���ش � � ن ن �ق ا ق � �ئ � �ف � �غ � ا � � ح�ا ا ا ا ا ل��ل� � ك���ل�ه م���جس ��ع� �م��� �و�م �� ��س� �� �ل� �ى �� ر�ى ك�� � * �و�م�ن ا � � ح ب� ا � ي���س�م� ا � ك� ى ر م ع � � � ا � � ا ��ل ن ا ��غ� �� �ل�ز ��خ � ��ا ��ل�ا ��س�ت �ع�ا را ت� �و��م ل��ا ��ا ت� �ف��ع��لي��ه ب��م�ق��ا �م�ا ت� ا ��ل � حررى و ب� ��و ب� ل� م ش���ر�ى * ح��س�ن �ا �ب�ا � �ك�ن ي ب �ي � ذ ف ن �ق � ن ا ح��ن �ا ا �� �لف��ا ر��ا �ق� ب���ع�د ا �ق�ا �مت��ه �م�د�ة �ع��ل� ا ��ل ��ر�ن�ا �ه�ا * ج�ر�ى ب���� ن��ه ح�ا ��ل��ة ا �ل ��تى � ك� � � �� �و�ل ا � �ص� �ب ي ي ى ي�ن � �ن � ن�ز �ت ���ا ن� ف���ه � ا ق�ت��ف��ا ء ���ط ��ق ا � ا �ق ش ا ت ا � �وب�� ج��ده �م ا �ل�� اع � او�لم ن�� ����� � �م� ا �و�ج� ب� �ع��لي��ه رك �م� ك� ي و ري�� آ � � � ذ � فتا � �ه ا ن � ن ح��د �ى ب�� ن��ا ت� ا �ل�ا �م ار �وك� � خ�ر�م�ن ��طر�ق� ا�لم�ع�ا ��ش� * ��� �ل� � �ي� ��كو� �م�ع��ل�م�ا �ل�ا � ���ا ن�� ت� � ا ت� ح نا ة � ة تا ة � � � � �� � �ة � ة �ك�ن � ف ف �ظ ش ئ � ا� � � � ا� � � �� �� � ه��� * �و���م�ا ���ل �مر� �ط�ل�ع� ب�� ي ض�ي � * �� �م� ل� ر� * �� �ع��س� ل�طر� * �ول� �لي����س � �ذ � � ن ا��ا ن ت � ا �ت �ص �م�ن ي� ا�� ��ك ن� �م�ن ��ه ��ن�ع�ا �� * � ا ن��م�ا ا �ل�م�عن�� ا �ن�ه�ا س و ى � ب� ح�ه� �مك�ا �ي��و ب ا�ل�م ار د �ب�� �ل�ك ا ���ه� ك�� ��� �ل� � ب�� ر ف � ذ �ت � ح�ت �و ��ل�ا �ه��ذه ا �ل�عب��ا ر�ة �م����ص ح��ة ب��م�ا 1ا ر���د ا ن� ا ��ق�و��ل�ه * �ف�ا �ن��ه�ا �ت��و�ه� �إ �ن��ه�ا 2ك� � ���ا ن�� ت� � ا ب��ل��ه * ى ي م �ف ��ى � �ل�ى �ف ��ى
ئ ذ ذ ن ��� ا]. � :١٨٥٥ 1م�ا [ ك ��� ا]� :١٨٥٥ 2 .إ ا ���ه�ا [ ك
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2،10،1
Chapter 10
Angering Women Who Dart Sideways Looks, and Claws like Hooks
Rhymed prose is to the writer as a wooden leg to the walker. I must be care-
1.10.1
ful therefore not to rest all my weight on it every time I go for a stroll down the highways of literary expression lest its vagaries end up cramping my style or it toss me into a pothole from which I cannot crawl. Indeed, it seems to me that the difficulties of rhymed prose are greater than those of poetry, for the requirements regarding linking and correspondence set for lines of verse are fewer than those for the periods of rhymed prose. In rhymed prose, the rhyme often leads the writer from his original path to a place he would never have wanted to reach had he not been subjected to its constraints. Here our aim is to weave our story in a way acceptable to every reader. Anyone who likes to listen to language that’s entirely rhymed and chimed, with metaphors and metonymies adorned and primed, should go to the Maqāmāt of al-Ḥarīrī175 or the Nawābigh176 of al-Zamakhsharī. Thus we declare: after our friend the Fāriyāq had lived for a while in the state that we’ve described, he was obliged by the conflicts and quarrels that occurred between him and his grandfather177 to abandon what he was at and adopt another means of making a living. Fate ordained he should become tutor to the daughter of an emir, and a bonny lass was she, her features pleasing to a degree, with a body in which naught was awry, and a sleepy eye178 (which doesn’t mean that she was unable to see anyone who loved her, as would be the case with one who was actually sleepy; it means that she had an eye that was “dried up.”179 And even that doesn’t fully express what I’m trying to say, because it gives the false impression that she was dried up, when, in fact, she was tender and full of sap. No, what I’m trying to get at is
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1.10.2
��ف ا �غ� ض� ا ش �� ا ف�� ن * � ا �ن ش����ا � � ا ث ن ي� ��� ب� � �و � و ب بر ��
��ا ن ت �غ ض �ة � ض ة ذ ة �ق ن ن �ن �ق � ن ا��ا ن ت ���ا �ن�ه�ا ��ت ن �ظ� ��� �ع�ن ��� ب�� � ا ب���ل�� �م� ا ���ه�ا ك�� ��� �� ���� * ب���ل ا�لم���ص�ود ا � � � �و�ل ا ���ه� ك�� ��� ك� � ر ت ع ف � ا ��ت ة �ل� ف ا ن ف ا ا ��ن � � ا �ة � � ة � �خ ن ش ع ا � � ك�ن ح ش���ي ��ف� * �و�ل�� �م� د� � ح � �ه� �م�ع� �ى ا �ليب� ��و��س�� � او ��س� ��س� ���� �ل� ب �ج���ي * �� � �ي� � � ة �ش� خ ت� � ذ �� ��ره * ب���ل ا�ل�م ار د ا �ن��ه�ا ك� ���ل ا�لم�ل�ا � �ع�ن � ك� ���سر ج� � ���ا ن�� ت� �ت ك �ف�ن�ي��ه�ا �ع ن��د � او �لرد ا ء � �و ��ى ا �ر ج ح ض � � � � � � ح�ن ��ل��ل�ق��ا � �م�ا ا د ت ��ي ��ف� ا ��ل � ���ا �ل�ا �ئ��ق �ب��ه�ا * ف��ل�ا ا د ر�ى ك� ا �لن �ظ� �� ر * �و �ل�ا ا � ك � * ل����سر ا �ي�� رى ر � � � � � غ ن ���ا ن�� ت� �ت �م� ���سه�ا � �ع�ن �ع�ن�� ا �س�ه�ا �و�ل��ع�ل ا �ل�ا �و�ف��ق� ا ن� ��ي�ق��ا ��ل ا �ن��ه�ا ك� ر ي ي� � �ه� * �و�ل�م �ي��ك�ن �ص��ر � � ب �ي م ا �� غ � ة �ل� ا �ن ا �ن ت ت ���ّد ا ء * �ك�ا ��ع��لق ق �ن ن �ظ � ا ف ا ن � ق �م� ��ع� �م ����ب�ي���ل �م ��ي � �� ر�ه� * �� � ا � �ل���ل ب� �ي��ع�� �ل� �ب��ه�و�ى ل�ص���ي ر� ا ج �م� �ي �� َ � ذ � �� ش ���ق �م� دّ ��ا ا ��ل� ا ��ل��دّ �ع�ا �ة * ف���ق��د �ع ش �ق � ن ا ���� �ة ا ��ل� ��� ا �ب��ه�و�ى ا � ك ر ط�� ء * ا � �لي����س �ك��ل �ع �� و ي ى ���� ا �ل�� ��س ل��ب ي ر و ب ّ � � � � �ن ش � � ��ف��ا �ا � � ا ن ا �لر��س�و� � او �ل�ا ���ط�ل�ا �ل � او �ل�ا �ث�ا ر * � او �ل�ا �ش�� ك� ���ق� �لر��ؤ ��ي ت��ه ��ك �ه�م �م �ع � �� �ل � او �ل��د �ي� ر * �و�م � م �ة ن ة �ق ث ش ت ا ا �خ ض�ّ ا �ت ح ذ� ��ل��ك * � ا �ع �ف� �م�ن ��م ��ب�� ا �و �ع� ي��ص�� ����عر ا �و ��� �وب� ا �و ��س ار � �وي�ل� � ا �و ��ك��� ا �و ��و و ر ّ � ث �ه�ا �و� �خي���ل ��ل�ه ا �لغ�� ار � ا �ن�ه �م�ل�ا �ع� �ص�ا � ا� حب�ت��ه�ا * �وك� �ا ن � �ا � ح ب� �هر�ة ا �م ار �ة �ف ك� ����ي�را ب �� � ي�ل عب � ي م س�ت �ذ ذ � � ����ست ���ا ن�� ت� �ت� ن�� ش���� ف���ه ا ظ ��� �ف ا ا ت ح��ل��ه * ا �م�ا �م�ا ك� ��� ر�ه� � �و��د �مي��ه * �و�ه�و ي��� �ع� ب� � �ل�ك �وي �� ي ب ي ة � آ � � � �ذ � ا س�ت �ذ ن � � �ه� �ى الم � حب ��و ب� * ا �و �ل�ا �عت��ق��ا ده ا � �م�د ا �عب��� ا �ل ن����س�� ء �ل� �� �ع� ا ب� ا �ل�ع� ا ب� ي ڡ و آ ت ا � ة ��ا � ة ن� ا � � �من �ه�ن �ك�و ن� ا �ج��ل ���ا ��ل�ا خ� ���ل�و �م�ن خ���د ��ش� �و ا د �م�� ء * �ف�� ا �ي� ض� � ا �ص� �ل�� ا �و �وك�� �ل�� ا �م� �ه�و ر ح � � شّ ا ق �ن �غ � � ن ف ق ا � ن ش ح��د * � ق��د �� ئ ��� ت� ا ر�ت�ا � ��ل��لر� ح�د ا �ل�ع���� �� �ع �مب���ل� ا �ل�و ج��د �م��ه ����� �ل ك� ����ى � او � س���ل ا � و ح يح � � ت �ذ ن ش ا ذ� ا �م َّ ت� �ع��ل �ن��ت�ن �م��ق ب���ل��ة �م�ن �ص� ب� الم � ���ق� ا ��ه�ل ���ل�ك ا �لب��ل�اد حب��و ب� * �ه� ا � او � �ع � و ر �ى � � ن� � �ذ ن � � ���ث ه �ع� �ه� ا ا �ل��م��ط * ا � ا ن ا �ل�ع�ا �ش � ��ق �من ���ل�ف� ��ا �ثر �م�ن ��م �ه� �ي ك� ا� ى � � حب �� �وب�ه ك�م��دي���ل ا �و � ب � ك� ر �ل�ى م ف ا �ن ق ��ا ق �ق � ق � �ز �ه �ة ا �و ر��س�ا ��ل��ة �و�خ� �ص� �ص�ا ب��ن��ّ ة ش ��� ش�� ّ �� ض� و �ص�� ����عر ي ��م�ه �وي �م�ه � �و�ي� ب��ل�ه � �و�ي���لب��ه �و��ي�ع� � ���ه �مك� �ي���ل ر � َّ �ّ ُ � َّ �ّ ة � ث ش �����ش�ع ذ� خْ� ��ُي��ذ خَ�ُ � � � � � � ا ا � ل ل � � ا ا ��ش ��� ��� م ع ��ث � � � د � � �ع� ل ه ع � ى � � ا �ل���ِ��ش�عر�م���ل ا �ل ر ي �و و ر ل ِ ر ر� ر ا � َّ ا� ّ ن � ف ت �ت ن �ظ � � �ن �غ � �م ��ا ب� �ع��ك ���ل��س� � � �� ره ��س�و�ى �ب� �ل���ِ��ش�عر ا �و �ب� �ل�����ش�عر �و�ه�و الا ك����ثر ن ا ش �ق ذ � � ا �ف فا ن ق ن �� � �ي���ل ا ���ه�م ا ��م� �ع���� � او � �ل��ك ���ط�م�ع� ��ى 150
ا �� ��ذ � ��ت ف�� ض�ّ � ه��ذه ا ��لن�� � ا �و�ص�ا ��ل ا ��ل � ع� �ل� ح�ي�� ب� ل� ى ���ل ب�� ب م 150
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4،10،1
Angering Women Who Dart Sideways Looks, and Claws like Hooks
that she would seem to be, as we say, “given to looking through half-closed eyes [taḥshīf]”—but the whole entry for ḥ-sh-f in the dictionary is repugnant to me: it contains the senses “dryness,” “baseness,” and “mediocrity,” plus something else that pretty girls are too dignified to speak of.180 What I really mean is that, when looking, she would open her eyelids a crack—but even “crack” isn’t the right thing here. In the end, I don’t know how to to convey to the reader what I’m trying to get at. Perhaps the most appropriate way of saying it would be “she shot arrows from her eyes.”) Her youth was no impediment to her “tenderizing” a man’s heart with
1.10.3
her glance, for the heart attaches itself as easily to the small-breasted girl as to the big-busted grown woman, not every passion being a prelude to prostitution. Men have fallen in love with pictures, with the remains of the beloved’s campfire, with her footprints in the sand, with outward forms, with a beloved land. Some have fallen in love at the sight of a hennaed hand, a lock of hair, a dress, a pair of drawers, a drawstring, or whatever. I know a man who fell in love with a woman’s cat and would play with it, led by passion to imagine that he was playing with its owner; often it would fasten its claws in him and draw blood, which pleased and delighted him, either because he took pleasure in being tormented as part of his love for the beloved or because of his belief that toying with a woman was likely to lead to scratches and blood-letting so in the end it would come to the same thing, whether the wound was inflicted personally or by proxy. One who had loved was asked to what lengths his ardor had gone and he said, “I used to find pleasure in the wind if, coming to me from the direction of the beloved, it carried with it the smell of carrion.” Most loves of the people of these lands are of this sort: when one of them is in love he goes into ecstasies over anything associated with the beloved, such as a handkerchief, a flower, a letter, or, especially, a lock of hair, which he will sniff and hug, kiss, turn over in his hands, and hold to his chest, in accordance with the words of the poet who said, Verses, like hair, are summoners to love, A lock of hair, like a line of verse, a relic to be hoarded. The only way to feel him close when he’s not there Is through a verse or through a lock (the latter the less oft accorded). If it be said that they only love such relics out of hope of union with the beloved who has been so generous as to give them these favors, not because
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��ف ا �غ� ض� ا ش �� ا ف�� ن * � ا �ن ش����ا � � ا ث ن ي� ��� ب� � �و � و ب بر ��
ق � ت � ا � ا ��ن � �ن ا ن ��ت� ش � غ ة � �ف ن ����ل�ف��ا ��ه�ا �م�ن � ث ���ق� ا �ل�ص���ي�ر� ���ط�م�ع�ا ��ى ا � حي�� ��هى ��هى * ��ل� م� ا�لم� � م � ع � ك� ب � ع ُ ا ض ق � شَ � � ا ��ف�ْ��س ة � �ف �ز ُ َ ََ ت � ة ��ي ��� ا �ل�عي���� �ل�و �ل� � ح�� ا �ل�ا ��م�ل * �ور بّ� ا ��م�ل ا � ح��ل� �م�ن ��و * ���ص�ي�ر كب����ي�ر� * �م� ا � � ى � ة َ نّ َ َ َ �ا ح �َ ه ا ه �م�ن ا ��ل � � ة � ا ق ���ه �و��د �عل��� ا ��ه�ل ا �ل��د را �ي�� ا � �م�ن �رم� لل �م�ا �ل �لغ���ا �ي�� �ل� �ي��ع��ل�م�ه�ا ا �ل� �ه�و �ع�ّو ض� ج� م ق ة ��لَ �ْ ة ش ة �ت ّ ا ��لت� ّ � � ن ه �ز ا ةَ �ق ا � � ه � ّ ة � � � او �لب��ص�ي�ر� �و����د� ا �ل��ص�ور �و � �خي���ل �ود ��� ا � ح��د � ا � ف�ل� ك ع�� �ي� د� ��ص� �ص �ل� ب ح�د ��س ��ر ذ �ان ان ّ ث ��ل � ف� ن � � ش ����ل�م�ا ���ع�د �ع�ن ���ق� � او ك�� ���ر � حر�ص�ا �ع��ل�ى ا ��ه�ل ا ج � �ي���ك�و� ا ��سر ا �ل�ى ا �ل�ع � �م�ا �ل * ا � ا �ل� ���س� � ك� ب � ش � ق ع � ن ت ق ن � ��ث ت �ّ شّ � ذ ��� ه ن �ن �ق � � �ن � ا �ل����ى ا�لم���ص�ود ك���ا � � ��و��ا ��ه ا �لي��ه ا ك���ر �و� ��و�ل�ع�ه �ب�ه ا ����د * � او�ل�م ار د �م � �ل�ك ك��ل� ا � � � �و�ل ن �ن آئ � ن ّظ � ��ا ن ��ع�� � �ن غ ن ه � ع�ز � � �ن ��ل � ن �ف ق � �م�ا �ل * � او ��ه �م � ا � ا � �ل��ا ر�ي�ا �� ك�� � �ي ل� م �ص��ره ا �� ب�م� �ل ع ا ج � �ص��� ��ه ك���ا � �ي��ع ��� ب م م �غ ه�نّ ن � �ذ � ش ق ا �ل�م�� ��ا ق ا � � ق ّ ّ ش ا ���� �ل�ي� �مك� �� �ل ا �ل���� �عر * ا �ه��ل�ه �يو��م�ز ���ه�ن �ع��ل�ى ��ي�ر� � او � ا � �ل�ب �ي ��� �م�ع� �ور �ع��ل�ى ع � ي ح ح � ُ ْ � � قُ � �ق � �ج�ه �ت��ه�و�ى �م�ي�ل�� �و��ق�ا �ل� او �ي�ا ����ب�ي� ا �ل�و� � �ح�ا د � �و��ن�ه ا �ل����س�مر ا �لر�ق�ا �� ح �ذ � � قُ �ف ا �ن ا ا � ا ����يف � �ف� �ت ن �� � ت � � � ا ا ا � � ك � � د�� �ه � ل ه� � � � � � ل � � � ط��ا �� � ب � ��ف��ق�ل� �و�� ل �ي و ى يب
قا � � ن �ش � ق � �ك� ن �ع ش ق � غ � � �� �ق � ن ا ن ���ق� ا � ك ���� ا �ل�ص���ي�ر كب���ي�را �مك�ا �ي��ك�و� ع � �ه�م * �و��د �ي��و� � ل��ب��ي�ر �� �ل� او * ا �و ا ��و�ل ا �� �ع � �ف ف ا ن � غ � ا��ا ن �غ ذ غ ش ّ �ن � ا ت ا � �� ت ا �ص���ي�را * �� � ا �ل�ص���ي�ر �لم� ك�� � ��ي�ر � �ى ر����د �يرد ه �ع ا �ل� ��س��ر��س� �ل � او ل�م� د �ى ��ى � � � ذ ن ���ا ن� �ه��ذ ا ا ��ل�ا ��س��ت ��س�ا ��ل �م�ع��ق ��ا �جل��ل �ه� او ه ك� ح��د * ا �ل�ا �تر�ى ا ن� ا �ل�صغ���ي�ر ا � ا ��م�و� د �و� � ر ب ح � ش �ن � � � ف ا ن ه � ت تّ ف �ف ن �ه�م��ك �غ��ا �ي��ة �م�ا �ي�� �ك�و ن� * �ف ك �و�ل� � ��ي ��� ه���ك �ي��ه � ��يو � له�و �� �� �ي � ع ب�����ى �م ا �ل��ل�ع ب� � او �ل� � ذ ج�ن � ش �ن �ق ��ّ �م�ا ي���س�ت�م�� ا ��ل���ط�� � � ش ق � ف �ب�ه ا � ا ��� ا �ل�ى �����ئ �ه�و ا ��و�ى �م�ن �ك�� ي �ل ب وي � ���و�� ا �لن �����س * ��ع� ل ع م ن �� ح ُ ّ �ن ��ث � �ن ا �� غ� � �� ��ذ � ق ف �ص�ده �م�ن �م�ع ش ق � � � ا� ا� ك ل��ب��ي�ر ��ي�ق��د ر� 1م ن��ا ��� �م�ا ��ي��� � ���و��ه ا ك�� ر م ل�ص��ي ر �ول� �ل�ك �ي�ك�و� ع ُْ �ث �غ � ن �زّ ة �ن ف ه َ ْ ة � ح �ص�ه �ع��ل��ه ا ���ل � � � ط��ا �ع�ه �و�ن��ه�ي�ت�ه �غ� �و ��ط��لب��ه �ل�ه ا ك���ر * ��ي ر ا � �ع � � ����س� �و� � ي ب �سور� �� ب �ر ّ �ف � �ق�د ت�� ن م��ع�ه �م�ن ا ن� ي���سل��� �ع ن��ا ن� �م ش���ي���ئ�ت�ه ��ل�� له�و�ى * ف�ي��� �ك�و ن� ��ى ��طر� ��ق� �مي���ل�ه �و�ت��وق��ا �ن�ه � ي م ّ ً � ت ت ة خ خ ت غ ا � � � � � ا �ت�ا ر�ة �م�ق��د �م�ا ر ج��ل�ا � �وت�ا ر� �م�و� ا ر ا �رى * �و ل�ص���ي ر م��ى �م� ا ��س� ر���س�ل ا ��س����س��ه�ل * يَ ��� :١٨٥٥ 1ق���د ر.
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Angering Women Who Dart Sideways Looks, and Claws like Hooks
they feel any fondness for them in and of themselves, I reply, “There’s nothing wrong in loving a young girl in the hope and expectation that she will grow into a mature woman. Without hope’s broad horizon, how narrow life would be, and many a hope is sweeter than a triumph. People of experience know that he to whom God has denied beauty for a purpose of which he is unaware is more than equally recompensed by Him with sharpness of intellect and insight, powers of visualization and imagination, and acuity of intuition, and as a result is quicker to fall in love and more solicitous of those who possess beauty, for the further a person finds himself from the desired object, the greater his longing for it and the more powerful his infatuation with it.” The point of all of this is to provide an opportunity to say that the Fāriyāq was aware, from an early age, that he was himself far removed from beauty, that from his childhood he venerated those who possessed it and favored them above all others, and that the ugly man is to be excused for loving pretty girls. As the poet says, “Ugly fellow,” they asked, “wouldst thou love A pretty girl, access to whom dusky slaves will stymie?” “Am I not a literary man?” I replied. “Never could I let such a ‘contrast’ get by me!”181 (“They asked”—or I do on their behalf.)182 Young love can be big, too, just as grown-up love can be little. A young person, being still without the emotional and intellectual maturity that might inhibit him from the unaffected and extreme expression of his affections, may be led by such unaffectedness to a wildness of passion that knows no restraint. Have you not observed how, when a child becomes infatuated with some toy or game, he may become intemperate in its pursuit and abandon himself to it entirely? How much more so, then, if he inclines to that thing that is stronger than anything else to which temper may incline or for which soul may yearn? True, the adult calculates the benefits of what he wants from his lover more carefully than the child and is therefore more solicitous of him and demands more from him; however, self-esteem, strength of character, and the instinct for self-preservation may prevent him from surrendering the reins of his will to love; thus on the road of his longing and desire he takes one step forward, one back. The child, having once abandoned himself to his natural spontaneity, believes that everything will be easy.
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��ف ا �غ� ض� ا ش �� ا ف�� ن * � ا �ن ش����ا � � ا ث ن ي� ��� ب� � �و � و ب بر ��
ن ��ت ت �� ا ق ��خل � �ن ف � �ق � ن � ف ق ن �ذ ت ��ا ��طر�ى �م�ن ا � �ل �و�ل � بو���ع�د �����د ��� ر� �ع��ل�ى � �����سى ا � ا ك�� ب� ك����ا �ب�ا * � او � ا �ود �ع�ه �ك��ل �م� را �� ف �ن ن �غ � ق �ن � ا � ن �غ ���ا � ا �و ��ي�ر ��س�د �ي��د * ��ا ��ى ا �عت��ق��د ت� ا � ��ي�ر ا �ل��س�د �ي��د �ع ن��د �ى ��د �ي��ك�و� �ع ن��د ��س�دي��د ك ْ ف ن ئ فَ ذ ��ا ت� �قّ � �ا ف �ذ � �ق �غ � ح� �ق� �ل��د �ى �ع��ك��س�ه * ��ا � �ش���� ت� ��ا � �ع�ن ا �و �ل� ���لي����س �ه� ا ا �ل�و� ت� ��ي�ر�ى ��س�د �ي��د ا �مك� ن � ف ا ا ق � ث �� � ّ ت � غ ة �ا ���ع� �م�ن �و��ق ت� ا ��ل�ع ن��ا د � او ��خل ��ل�ا �ف� * � او ��ل ح� ��ص�ل ا � ا � �ل�� ر�ي� �� �لب�� �ي عل��م ��س�ي �د ��ه ا �ل�ص���ي�ر� �و ج� ل غ ضآ � أ ن ّ � �ك�ن � ن ا � �ة ���� ء ا ��لن �ظ� ��� �ع�� ا �ص�ل�ا � �غ���ل��� ا د� �ب�ه ا � ��ي ت��ود د ا �ل �ه�ا �ب�ا �� ح�� � ل � ي� طه� * ب���ل �ل�م �ي�� �يرى ا � �ص� ب � ر ى ح � ��ف � �ذ � �ا � � �ز ّ ا ف ت ا خَّ ت � ��ف ��ف ا ق ا �� ف �ت ق ا � � � ل � ع ا � �� � � � ا م � � � � ل � � �د � �ه� * � � * ه م � ل ه � � �ه� ا ا ج ��لم� �ل ي ج � � � ل ي� �و رد �ه� ��� �ر� �هى �ى م و م و ى � و س � ّ � � ����بر�و� ح�ى �َم�ن ا ��ع��ل�م�ه �و�ق��ل�ب�ى ا ���س�ي�ر �ه� او ه �ل�ن ي���س���ط��ي � �صب��را ع �ث ف � �ف� � ه ��ه�ا � ت حر�و� ا �غ��ا ر �ع��لي��ه �و� �ج�د ا �م�ن � �ف���ل���ث� �م��ن�ه �����غرا � � � �ي و ب م
ة � �اف ن ة �ا � �ن � غة � ة خ � ة �آ �ف � او ���حل �م��د لله �ع��ل�ى ك���و� ا �ل��ل���� ا �ل�ع بر��ي��� ��ا �لي��� �ع�ن ا �لپ��� ء ا � �ل��ا ر��س�ي �� � او � �لڤ��ا ا �ل� �ر�ج�ي��� � او �ل� �ل�ز ا د ت� �ڡ � ن �ن ه ف ا ن ا �� غ� � ة ا ��ل ن �خ ن ا��ا ن ذ � ا �غ�َ�ْ� �ة �ص�ا � �ن ا � ن��و� ي�ر ج��ا � ير � �ج ��و� * �� � ل��ي ر� �و �ج حب� � �ورب��م� ك�� � � �ل��ك ��سب��ب�� ي � � � �ف ة ق ن ن ف خ �خ ش �م�ن ��م � � ا � � �� ا م����اي� ا �ل ا ��� خس �و� ��ى ا �ل�ز � او � * �و�ه ن��ا د �ي ��ق��� �و��هى ا � ب���ع��ض� �� ر�ج و ح�د �مك�ا ا �� ده ا �ل � ر �ج ا ��� ت ا � � � تْ � � �ن � ا خ � � ن ���� ن �آ � ت��ث�ق � ن ث ��ف ا ���غ�ز �� ا �� ن لع�� �و�ل �ج �م� ِع ��و�ل �و�ه�و م �ل� ��ي ر ع��ده لل����س� ء ي��س ����ل ا�لم�و��� �ى ل� ل �و ل����سي�� ب� ع ن � ق َّ ف �ق � � ف ا ا ق ّ �� ض � � � ��ع��ل�ه �م��ذ ك�� ظ ض ا �ي� � � � � � � � � ل � ه ه � � � � � � � ا ا � ا ا ا ا � � ل �ل � � ع ه � � � � � ع �د م � � � � م � � ه � * � � * �م ع ي ل � ه ل �� � � � � ل � � ج ر و ر و ي و ر ري ر بو � م � �ذ �ف � ّ � ��ف ا �� ف� ن ا �ة ف ف ن غ ت�ن �ن ���ف ذ� ��ل�� �� ف�ل ظ � ������ة ��ش��خ � �� �� �� * �ي��ا �ل� ت� �ه� ا ا �ل �ك��ا �ه�و �ى ل�ر���س� � �وي� ى ك حر�� ك��ا � ��ى �ل��� �ا �م� �و ث��ا �م ي ص آ آ َ � ف ا � ا ��ت� � �ن � ء � � �ن ا ا �� �لق � ة ���د ا ��ل ن��ا �� ��م ْ � او ��ل���ط��ل��ا ��ن ���ة � ح�ت ��ل�ا ي ج� ح��د ا �ع�ن ا �لت��ا �ن�ي�� ث� * �� م� ع�لي�� ��س� ب�لاد � �ر � س� ي ي ي ى ب م �ت س�ت �ا� � � ة � ة � ف � ة �ت ا ��ل�ت ل��ا �ب�� ���ع ن��د �ى ا �ن�ه � �ح�مم��د� ب� ش���ر ��ط ا �� �ع�م�ا �ل�ه �ع��ل� ش���ر�و ��ط�ه * �و�ه�و �م ��ط� �ل�ع�� ا � ك � او � ك�� ل��� ب� �ى ى ّ ت � ا �آ ف ن � ة ذ ش �ت غ ت � �� ن � ش غ �ت��ه��ذ ب� ا ��ل�ا خ��ل�ا �ق� �و� ح��س�ن ا �ل� �م�ل� ء * ��ا � ا�ل�م ار � ا � ا ا ��� ����ل� �ب�ا �ل�عل���م ك��ا � �ل�ه�ا �ب�ه ����ا ��ل� � �ت ذ� ذ � �ا � ت�ز ّ � م��ا ���د � او خ���ترا ا ��ل � �ع�ن ا ��س��ت�بن��ا ���ط ا �ل ك� �ك��ا ��س�ي �ا ��ى � ك��ر � �ل��ك * �و �ل� �ب�ا ��س �ب�ا �لم�� �و ج��ا ت� حي���ل �م ي ع � ا ن ��ا ن �ن � ن �� � ا ا ا � � �ذ � ن ت�ز ي�ن � ��ق� �آ�ة ك��ت� � � ��اب ��ى �ه� ا � او �مث��ا �ل�ه * �ل� ��ه �مك� ا � �م ا �ل� او � ا ل��ط ��ع� �م �م� ��ي ب��ح �ل�ل�م� �و ج��� د �و� بر
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Angering Women Who Dart Sideways Looks, and Claws like Hooks
To return to our topic: I committed myself to writing a book that would
1.10.6
be a repository for every idea that appealed to me, relevant or irrelevant, for it seemed to me that what was irrelevant to me might be relevant to someone else, and vice versa. If you’re of a mind, submit—if not, so be it: this is no time for quibbling and quarreling. The long and the short of it is that the Fāriyāq continued to tutor his young mistress, making a habit of gaining her affection by forbearing to correct her mistakes. In fact, he couldn’t see how anyone so beautiful could be refused anything, as a result of which she fell behind in her education while he progressed in his obsession. One poem he wrote about her went as follows: My soul I’d give, and heart, for him I teach! The prisoner of his love ne’er can patience know. Passion makes me jealous of every letter He mouths and that kisses his lips as he does so. Thank God the Arabic language lacks the Persian p and Frankish v,183 or our friend’s jealousy would have been even greater and might have driven him insane: jealousy and madness issue from the same place, as learned scholars familiar with marriage tell us. This brings us to a nice point, to wit, that certain of the people known as
1.10.7
ʿatāwil (plural of ʿitwal and meaning “men who can see no good in women”) find it irksome to use the feminine gender in amorous and erotic poetry and so turn it into the masculine instead, and others invoke it only implicitly. The words of the Fāriyāq “for him I teach” conform to this practice.184 It seems likely that the implicit referent of such masculine pronouns is the word shakhṣ (person). Would that the word referred to in our language by the pronoun were feminine, as it is in French and Italian, so that the erotic poet would find no impediment to using that gender!185 On the question of whether the women of our country should be taught reading and writing, in my opinion, it’s a good idea, provided it be according to certain conditions, namely that reading be confined to the perusal of books that refine their moral conduct and improve their writing skills, for if women are kept busy learning, they will find no time to work up schemes and concoct stratagems, as we shall see below. There would be nothing wrong with married women reading this book of mine or its like, for, just as certain sorts of food are reserved for married people only, so it is with ideas.
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1.10.8
��ف ا �غ� ض� ا ش �� ا ف�� ن * � ا �ن ش����ا � � ا ث ن ي� ��� ب� � �و � و ب بر ��
� �غ � � ف �ذ ذ � ظ � ا ن � غ ة � ة شَ َ � �ا �ك� ��ل��ك ��هى ا �ل� او ن� ا �� ك� ��ي ره� � � � له�و�ى ا � �ي ��و ج���د ل��ل� �م * � او �ل���� �هر ا � ا �ل��ل���� ا �ل�ع بر��ي��� ���رك �ل�� � م �ف ق أ ف ا �ن � ا ت � ش ا �ئ ق ة � ّ � �ف �ف ة �غ ا ش ت ت ا ا ا � ث � �ن �ه� �م ا �ل�ع�� را � ا �ل���� � ���� ا�لم��ص����� �م� �ل� � �� ج��د ��ى ���ر�ه� * �م � � � �م��ل� ��ى ��� � �ي� بي ي ب يو ر رح � ش ا ق � �ن ا � � ن ت �� ش ق ث� ا �ن ة ن ا ا � ا ���ست� ا ن ن ش �أ �ن � ن �ظ �� ��� �م� �ي��� ا د �� �ه� ا �ل� � � ا� ح��س� � � �وي������� �ع ا �ل�� ر ا�لم���� ر� �ل� با� �م� �ل�ك ا � �م ار �� ب� لع �� � � � ا �ت ف ّ � ة ث �ق ث �ق حب �� ب� (ا �ى الم � ف�ي��ص�ي�ر �م�ودّ �ة �و��هى ا �ل�مي��� �ل��ل�م � او �ل��س�م�ا �� ��ي� �و�ى �ب� �ل ��� ك حب �� �وب��) * ��م ��ي� �و�ى �و ل ��ر ع م � ل� ت ّ ُخ ّ � ث � ة ��ف ف ة ة ف ا �ق ا �ئ ا ت � � �ن ف�ي��ص�ي�ر ��م ح��� �و��هى ا � ��ل� �� ا �ل� ر � او � * �� ��ي� �و�ى �ي��ص�ي�ر ��ل�� �و��هى ك ح��� �ى ب �م�� م ب ح م ث� � ��ق � ف� � � � ث � ا خ� ا �� �� ه ت � ّ ن � �ئ ا �� �لق���ل� � ت ت ق � ن �ه�م�ا ا �ل��س ار ر * �م �ي �وى ي��ص�ي ر �ه�وى بحي�� �ل� ي�� ل�ط� ��ل�و� ح�ى ���س�� ��ط ب��ي�� � ب � � � ّ ث �ف ف ة � � ح��� � �و ��ل�ا ���د ا خ���ل�ه ��ت غ���ي�ر * �� ��ي��ق � �ى �ي��ص�ي�ر �ع ش����ق��ا �و�ه� ا �ل�ا �ف ا ��ط ��ى الم ح�تى �ل�ا ي خ� ���ل�و �ف ك �ب م و ي ��ر و ر � � �ت�ت�� اّ ��ف �ل� ف � ا � �ة ة ا ��ل� ا �ش ق �ع�ن ا�لم�ع ش �ق ا � ا�لم�ع ش ق �ق ���و���) * � او �ن�ه ��ي� �و�ى �ي��ص�ي�ر ي�م� * �و�ى �ه��ذه اح� �ل� � � ���و� ( ى ع� � ��� � ا �ت ض�� ��ن �ف� ه �� � � �ة �م�ع ش ق ش ��� ق�ت��ه) * ث�� � ��ق � �ى ف���ص�� � ��لهً�ا � �ل� ر �ى ��س� س�وى ص�ور م �ي و ي ي ر و � ���و��ه (ا �ى �م�ع �و ن �ذ ��ت � ا � آ ا �ق � � ا �ي�ن �ذ � �ّ � ت � ا �ج�ز �و�ه�و ا ���خل � �و� �ع�ن ا ��ل ح���ئ�� �ع ط��� ء ح�د ح�ى �ل� �ي��د ر�ى �م� ��ي� �و�ل �و �ل� ا �ي�� �ه ب� �و�ي � ا �ل� �� ب ر �ج �ع�ن � ا ا �ت ه ق � ت ا ن � �ن ا �ن ا ه ا � ض ا ا �� ا � �ة �ه ّق �ة ا �� � ا ��ل ش �ق ���و� * م�د �و � * ��ل� �و � م ��و �ع� ي�� �ص�� ب� �و �ى ر�� ل�ه�وى �و � ��� ل� ب � أ ��ََ � غَ � ن ن �ن ا ��� ش �ُ ا س�ت � ��ل ���ق * � او جل ��ل � � �� �و�ى �و�ه�و � او ل�� ار �م �و�ه�و ا ح ب� ا�لم�� � سِ�� ر * � او �ل�هي�� �م �و�ه�و ا �ج ��و� �م لع �� � � � � � �َ ن � ق ا �ل�ه�و�ى ا �لب��ا ��ط�ن * � او �ل ش����و�� �و�ه�و �ن�ز ا ا �لن ��ف���س * � او �لت��َوق��ا � �و�ه�و ب��م�ع ن��ا ه * � او �ل�و ج���د ع � ل� � �َ �َ � � ة �ّ ف ا ���ده الم حب �� ب� (ا �ى م � �م�ن �ه� �ى الم �و�ه�و �م�ا ي ج� حب �� �و��) * � او � ك� � � ح ل��� �ل� �و�ه�و ا �ل�و�ل�و * و و ب ب َع �َ َ �ُ � شَ غ ا ف �غ ا ف � ق � ��ا ��ه ا � � ّ�ت �ف� �و�ه� ا �ص�ا ���ة ا ��ل � او �ل ش���غ� � حب� �ه ا �و ح ب� ا �ل������ �� ا �ى ��ل� �� ا � �ل���ل ب� ا �و جح ب و و ب َ ن � غ� ش ��ل ُّ َ َ �ُ َ ��د�آء ه � ا ��ل شَ غ�َ �ف عف���ة ا �� �لق���ل � �ه ا ��س�ه �ع ن��د �م�ع��ّلق � � �ش��� � �سو� * و ��� ب� و �و ر �� �� �و�ه�و ا � �ي �����ى ا ح ب �ي �َ ْ � � � � ذ ا ��ل�نِ�ي �ا ���ط �م ن��ه * � او �ل ش���� � عف� �و�ه�و ب��م�ع ن��ا ه * � او �لت��د �لي��ه �و�ه�و � �ه�ا ب� ا � �ف�ل � او د �ع ش����ق��ا * �ل� م ت � � ت � ن ة ��� ا � ��ل�ا �ف� ��لغ���ا ت� ا �جل�ع ح�ا ��ل * ب خ� �ت�تم�ا ��ل��ك ا ن� � ح�ا �ل�ا ب���ع�د � له� � ح��س �ب��ه��ذه ا�ل�م ار �� ب� ا �ل��س��ي��� ك�� �� � م ة ن ل� م ق �خ ��ا ��لق � ال� خ ف��ا �ن�ه�ا ��ل�ا � �� ���د ف� ا �ّ ا � ف ظ � ّ ة � �ق ن ا � ������ة � ا � � � ا ���ل�و�� * ح��� �ي� ��ط��ل� �و���ه� �ع��ل�ى ا �ل �� و �ه� ا �ل� � �ل و � ي و ج ي� ح�د� ب�م�ع��ى م ب
156
156
9،10،1
Angering Women Who Dart Sideways Looks, and Claws like Hooks
It seems that the Arabic language is a snare for love, for it contains words of passion and amorousness found in no other. Any woman who reads, in Ibn Mālik’s Sharḥ al-mashāriq,186 for example, that the stages of love are eight—the lowest of which is liking, which has its starting point in seeing and hearing and is then strengthened through cogitation, which turns into friendly regard, which is an inclination toward the beloved person (meaning the beloved woman), which in turn becomes stronger and turns into affection, which is the congenial intercourse of spirits, which grows stronger and turns into intimate companionship, which is affection’s taking control within the heart to the point at which the couple start to share secrets, and then grows stronger until it turns into full-blown love unmixed with shifts of mood and not subject to change, which then grows stronger until it turns into passion, which is an affection so extreme that the passionate lover’s mind is never empty of thoughts of the passionately loved person (meaning the passionately loved woman), which then grows stronger until it turns into lovesickness, in which condition the only thing that can satisfy the lover’s soul is the image of the person whom he passionately loves (by whom I mean, of course, the woman he passionately loves), which then grows stronger until it turns into love-crazed distractedness, which is when he goes so far over the edge that he no longer knows what he’s saying or where he’s going, at which point the doctors are powerless to treat him—and noting in addition, as I do, that there are also different varieties of love, such as ṣabābah, which is love and longing in their most delicate form; gharām, which is love as surrender; huyām, which is insanity born of passion; jawā, which is the love one holds inside oneself; shawq, which is the struggle with the self; tawaqān, which means the same; wajd, which is the affection that the lover receives from the beloved person (by which I mean, again, of course, the beloved woman); kalaf, which is craving; shaghaf, which is what happens when love reaches the pericardium, which is to say the tissue that enwraps the heart or the fat that surrounds it or the kernel or core of it; shaʿaf, which is when love coats the shaʿafah of the heart, which is the top of it, where the aorta is attached, or shaʿf, which means the same; and tadlīh, which is when one loses one’s mind from love—will be able to refrain from experiencing all these sublime stages one condition after the other. This contrasts with the languages of the non-Arabs, in which there is only one word meaning love, which they apply to Creator and created alike.
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1.10.9
��ف ا �غ� ض� ا ش �� ا ف�� ن * � ا �ن ش����ا � � ا ث ن ي� ��� ب� � �و � و ب بر ��
� ن �ذ ة �ف � آ ق ظ� � ن ���ث�� ا �م�ن ا ��ل�ص�ف��ا ت� الم � ح�م�ود�ة ���فى ا ��لر ج��ا ��ل �ت�� �ك�و� �م� �م�و�م�� ��ى ا �ل ن����س�� ء �هر �ل�ى ا � ك� ي ر �و��د �ي� �� � � �ذ ��ق ��ف ا � ة ك� ��ر� ا �لر ج���ل �ي� غ�� ���ط� �ج��مي�� � ه � � �مث�� �ا ف��ا ن ك� ���ا ��ل�� ع عي�� �وب� �و�ه�و �م� �م�و�م �ى �ل�م ار � * �و ��س ى كرم ل � م آ ة ا ��ل��ش� ا ة ��ل ة � آ � ذ� � � ش ن �ة ة ��خ � � او ��ل��د�ه�� � او ��ل�ا ���ط � � او � ف�ل� �و��س�� �و ج� ��� �و� �� �ع�� � او �ح �ع��ل�ى � �ل��ك ا �لن�ُ ك �م�ا ��س�� � او �ل�ص�ل�ا �ب�� � او �ل � ر ر ��ر � ّة � � � � ش ا ق �ة � ا ف ا ا ��ل � ة � ّ ا ت � ن ا �ئ �ة ة �ا � او �ل�ه�م�� ا �ل�ى ا�ل�م ار��ت ب� ا �ل��س�ا �مي��� � او �ل� �م�ور ا �ل���� �� � او �ل� ��س��� ر ب�عي��د� � او �ل�ن�ي � � ا �ل�� �ي�� � � ا ا �ل� ت �ذ �� ن ا � ة ت� ا �� �� � � ش � � � ّ ة �ف ذ � ذ� � او �لم��ط� �م� م��ع� ر�ة �و�غ��ي�ر � �ل��ك * � او �ل�ع��ل�� ��ى � �ل��ك ك��و� �ل�م ار � �مي���ل �ب� ل� ط�� ا �ل�ى ا �ل��� ��ط��ط ب ع ع � ا �ز ة ��ل ّ ��ل � ه ��ف � �ن ت��م ��ل ا ��� ا ة � ن � ف ا �ن ا � ا ��ت�ق �ف �ف ذ � �و جم �� �و � ا � ح��د * �ود ي��ل� �ى م ي���ل ا �ى لعب�� د� � او �ل����س�ك �� ��ه� �ل� �� ��ى � �ل��ك � ت ّ �ج�ز ا ت ��� ا ت ��ت� � ََ �ت ت ا ف � ح�ت ��تت� ّ ت�� �خ ب ّ��� ف�ت��د�ع�ى الم�ع � � � او ك ل�� ار �م� � �وع�م�د ا �ل�ى �ه�و��س �و� ل �ع��ل�ى ا �م�د ب���ل �م� د �ى �ي��ه ى � ا ا ُ َّ � ّ �غ � َ ن �ت ق � ح�ل� � �و� ل��ا ��ي ن��ا �ج� �ه�ا * �و�ه�ا ��ت�ف��ا ��ي ن��ا � �خي���ل �ل�ه�ا ا ن� �م�� ك� ا �ل ُر��ؤ � ا � � � �ه�ا * � او ���ه�ا � ��ي�� � ل ى و ي� ي� م ي م � ا قت � ت � ت� � غَ ت غ�آ خ� � �ا ف ُ ت ا ا ح�ى ا �لر�� � * �ورب�م� ���ل� ا �و �ل�اد�ه� �ع��ل� صِ �ب��د �ع�ا �ئ��ه�ا ا �ل� �م� او ت� * � � ��ر ا ب������ ء د � �و�ل�هم� و ي ى أ ��ل ن ة غ ح��س�ا � * ا � � ��ل��د ت� �ت�� � �م��ي�ن ف��ا دّ �ع ت� ا �ن��ه�م�ا �م�ن �غ��� ا � * � ���ف �م�ن و و وى ير ب ا �ج� ��� ب�����ي�ر � ب و ا � �ذ�ي�ن � ا ّ ا ا �ت�ق ت �ف ا � ت ��ل �� � ف ا ن ا ت �ت ا ا �� � ور��ي�� �ه� � �و � ب���ل �ج�ر�ى ��ى �م� �ل� ا �ى ا ل�ه�وى �� ���ه� �� رك ا �ب� �ه� � او �م�ه� ا �ل�ل� �و�ل�د ا �ه� � ب ذََ � ���� �ف ت � ه ا �ل� ا ة � ��را * �ف � ا �ثر ر ج���ل �ل�ا ��ت�عر�ف� �م�ن �ص�ف��ا �ت�ه �ش���ي �ا ��س�و�ى ك�� �� �ون�ه � ك� ��ك�ل �م�ا ك�ل�� ب� �مر � ��ا ن ت ف ��ث ت ا ا �ن � �ن �� ف� ه�ن � ا �� �لق �آ ة � ا ف� ر � �ل� ا د ر�ى ا �ي�ن �ي��ك�و� �م�ص�ي�ره * � ب� � ك�� ��� �ي��ه ا ك���ر ��م� د �ي� �م ا �لر ج���ل * � ك��ل � ح�ا ��م ��له�ا �ع�� �ه��ذ ا ا ��لغ����ل� � ا ��ل ش��� ���ط���ط ا ن��م�ا �ه� �م�ع ف�ت � او ��ل � �ه�ا �م�ن ��ن �ف���س�ه�ا ا �ن��ه�ا ا ��ق�و� � � ع � ى � ل ل و � � و و � � ل ر ى ى � ��ذّ ت �ن � ��ف �ف �ذ ت � �ز ف � ق � ة ت ت ا ا ا ا ا ف�ز ن � � �ه� �ل� �ل�ك ا د � ��ى ��م� د �ي��ه� �ي��ه * �و�م��ه ��سر�ى �ى ا �ل��ل� ا � �م ا �لر ج���ل * � �ي� د� ا ��ط� � � � غ �ي�ز ة ضً � ش �ؤ ن � ا � � � � ة �ف �ا � ذ� �غ حوا �ل ا �ل��ط�ا ر�ئ�� �و��ى ب���ع��ض� ا �ل��ر �ي�� ا �ي�� ��� �و� � او �ل� � ��ي�ره �م�ن ا �ل� ��ط� او ر � او �ل � ���ا * �و� �ل��ك � �ا � ا ��لض���� � ا �� َ ْ ���ة � � ا ق��ّ �م ن ه ف� ا ��ف �� ا � ا � � ف � � او ��ل ���ا �� ك� ك� � ل���س� �ه� �ى ب�ع��ض� �ل� � حوا �ل ��ا �ن��ك حرك��� * و م� �ل �� ي� ل��ل م �و ح�ك �و ب ح � آ � � � �ذ � �ت ار ه �ز ا �ئ��د ا ���فى ا �لب��ع�� ا �ل�ا خ�ر �ز ��ا د�ة ��ف�و�ق� ا � �ل�قي��ا ��س * �و�ل��ع�ل ك�� ��ل�ا �م�ى �ه� ا ي���س�وء ا �ل ن����س�� ء �ض ي �� ن � ي�ن � قي�ن ن �� ض ذ � � �ك�ن �� ه ��ف ا��ا � ه�نّ � � ه�ن ل���� ا �عل�� �ع�� ا �لي ����� ا ��� ي �� ا � ا ��س�م��ع�ن �ب�ه �و�ه�نّ �ب��ي�ن ا �لر ج��ا �ل * � ك ح�� ل� �ى �مك� م� ى م ���ست�� ا ن ا ��ت�عّ ا � ت ��ا �ن ح�ت ح��س���ن ا ���ن � ش ع��� ت� �بر�ه��ة �م�ن ا ��ل��د �ه ا �م ا �ة � � ب�� * ح�ى ك�� ��ى �ب��ه�ن ي� ب ى ا ح��س� �� �و�ج ر ر ى �ن �ت � ذ� �ك�ن ��ل �م�ع ف���ة ��س ا �ئ �ه�ن ث�� �م����خس ن ا �م�� � ��ى ا لله ��تب��ا رك �و��ع�ا �ل�ى ر ج��ل�ا * ا �و ا ��ى �ع��ل�م ت� � �ل��ك ى ر رر م 158
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10،10،1
11،10،1
Angering Women Who Dart Sideways Looks, and Claws like Hooks
It seems to me that many qualities considered praiseworthy in men are 1.10.10 considered blameworthy in women. Take liberality, for example. Liberality in a man covers all faults, but the same quality is considered blameworthy in a woman, and the same applies to truculence, craftiness, praising people hypocritically, horsemanship, bravery, heroism on the field of battle, callousness, and coarseness, as well as zeal in the pursuit of high office, difficult affairs, distant journeys, hard-to-achieve purposes, impossible ambitions, and so on. The reason for this is that the woman inclines by nature to deviation and excess, as evidenced by those of them who develop a taste for worship and self-abnegation. Such women never know where to draw the line; on the contrary, they go to such lengths that they become obsessed and demented, claiming miracles and supernatural gifts, getting caught up in visions and dreams and imagining that angels are speaking to them and voices whispering in their ears, or that they can bring mortal remains back to life and raise the dead with their prayers. Sometimes they kill their children when they’re still young, in the hope that they will enter Heaven without being held to account, or give birth to twins and claim they were conceived with no father about. Some have a weakness for love and leave their mothers and fathers who bore them and raised them and run off after a man of whose qualities they know nothing except that he’s a male. Everything, then, that women set their hearts on they go to greater lengths over than men, and if they set their hearts on reading, who knows where it will end? What drives them to such exaggeration and excess is their innate awareness that they are stronger in resisting sensual pleasures than men; having extra capacity in this area, they go to excess in it, and from there it has spread to other states, affairs, and contingent conditions, as also to certain instinctual matters. These states and so forth include talking and laughing, bustling about and physical exercise. What one of them lacks in a particular area you’ll find immeasurably compensated for in another. What I say may displease women if they come to hear of it when they’re among men, but I’m certain they’ll laugh behind their hands at it in approbation and amazement. It even seems to me that they’ll decide that I must have lived for a while 1.10.11 as a woman and learned their secrets, until such time as God, blessed and almighty, turned me into a man, or that I learned these things from Hind and Suʿād, Mayyah and Zaynab,187 when, as a youth, I would write them love sonnets and lie to them that I’d gone without sleep all night and, complaining
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��ف ا �غ� ض� ا ش �� ا ف�� ن * � ا �ن ش����ا � � ا ث ن ي� ��� ب� � �و � و ب بر ��
ّ ن ا �فتً ���ذ ّ ة ي�ن ��ن ت ش ّ �ز ن � ّ �ق � �م�ن �ه ن��د �و��س�ع�ا د �و �ي��� ب� �و�مي��� � �ه�ن �ب �� �و�ل�ى ح�� ك��� ا ���ب�� ب� �ب��ه�ن � او �� �ى � او ك�� ب� �ع�لي� �ن ق فُ ت�ن � ن ه�نّ َ �ن ُ � � ف ا �ق ن � ت � � �ل�ه�ن ا ��ى � حر�م ت� ا � ك ل��ر�ى * � او ج�ر��ي� �ع��ل�ى � �� او � ِ�عب��را * � او �ى ��د ��� لب��ى * �و�� ر �ى ن � ف ا �ق ن �ق � �ا �� ا ��ل� ّ ا ���د ا * ��ل�ا ���ن ���ط�ا �ل�م�ا � ف ا �ق ن ة � ا ق� ى ��لب��ى * �ل� ج�ر�م ا ��ه �ل�م ��ي��� ر �ى � ��ط * �و�ل�و �� ر �ى �مر� �لم� ر ج�ع ى ب خ � ت � � ا ح�ز ن ا � �ت�ك�ن �ُت َ ذ �ف � ��ن ت ا � ن ا د ��ل� �ع�لي��ه ه�م�و�م� � او � ا �� �ل� �� �ل �ه�ّ ا � ح��دا �م�ن ا �ل ن��ا ��س ��ى �ب�ل�اد �ى * ا � ك��� ح�ز � م ِ� م � ّ � ش � � �ن � ت � �س�ق��ن خ ا � �ن � ك�ن ّ ح� �و�ل ا ���را ���ى �م ا �لب��د �� �ل� �ي�� ا � � � �لت��ع��صى �م�عن��ى �م�ن ا�لم�ع�ا ��ى �ع��ل� � او � �ي ح�د ب ى ى ع م ع ال� خ ت ت � ت ُ�ز َ � ن ا �ذ ن � ق ا ا ا ��لي��ه * ظ �����ا �نّ�ا ا �ن�ه ��ي��ق �و� ��ل��ل ن��ا ��س � �م�� � �ه��ذه م �ص �ر� �ه� ا ���ر�ع�ا � ا �ل ��ى �ي ��هى �ب��ه� ا �ل��ك�و� �ع� م م � �ت� ّ �� ّ �ف�� ت ّ ا �� ف ن � ذ �ف � ن � � ت ت ا ا ا � � � ل �� ت� ا ب��ي��� ا �ل�لي���ل ��ى �ي� ��س �وك�ر ب� * �م�ع� � ا لله �ل� ك �� ه�� ل�ى � ك �� �م��ى �و�م� ك��ل�م� ل�م ��ي � �ي م ن ن ا �ف ت ا �ف ت �ن � ا ا � ا ق ة ذ ن ��� ت� ا ب����ْ ت� � او �ن�ا � خم ح�ل� � ا �ل�ص� د ��� ا � ك� ���ل��ص لله �ه��د � او ��م� �عر�� �م� �عر�� �م ا �ل� � ي م ّ فا ن � � ا ن ا ة � �ق ن ت �ص�د �ق ن� ف���ل�ي���ت�ن ��ل���ل��ة ا � ��ل���لت���ي�ن �ت�ا ��ئ��ا ت� ق��ا ��ن ت��ا ت� �مث��� � ا �ن�ا ل�ى و ا �ل� �� �ب�� � او � �ل ��و� * �� � �ل�م �ي�� ى ب ي و ي ب � � � � ة ض ا � �ن � ه�ن ن ه � � ح�ل�ا � ا �ل�ص�ا د ق��� �م�ا �ي��و�ق ف�� �ه�ن �م�ن ا �ل�ا � ه� ��ط �ع��ل �ه�ن �ع��ل� ا �م�ور ا �لر ج��ا �ل * � � ي� ��� م �ل� ا �� ي�� ب ى م
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Angering Women Who Dart Sideways Looks, and Claws like Hooks
of our separation, make up maxims about my plight, saying my soul had been bewitched, my heart from its moorings become unhitched. In fact, we can be sure that it never left me, for if it had, it would never have returned, so often had I burdened it with cares and sorrows of a kind that had never previously bothered anyone in my country. These included mourning if a trope proved uncooperative when I tried to compose in the “novel” style188 something that no one had ever said before, believing it would be accorded the same status as those inventions on which everyone prides himself so much these days, and it wouldn’t come out right for me, causing me to spend the night in torment and despair. I swear before God, “Hind” never spoke to me and I never spoke to her. I just learned what I did from truth-telling dreams, for I spent the nights in sincere repentance and obedience to God, and if they don’t believe me, let them spend a night or two in repentance and obedience as I did and I guarantee them that He’ll send them down enough truth-telling dreams to provide them with a complete overview of men’s affairs.
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�ف �ا � ش ���ص�ل ا �ل ا � �ل�� ح� د ى �ع���ر � � � � يڡ � ا �ل��ط� �و��ي�ل ا �ل�ع �ر�ض� � ي � � � ض ا � ��ل � ف �ن خ ة ن� ن ذ � �ف�� ن� � � ا ن � � ف ق ف ��� ر ج�� �� ا �ل� � ا �ل�ى ا � �ل��ا ر�ي�ا �� ��ا �ن�ه �ه�و ا ي�� حر� ت��ه �و��هى ا �ل����س�ا ��� � او � ك���ا � � �ل��ك ل� ر ج ع ا �ى ع آ � َْ ذ ذ ذ �ع��ل� �غ��ي�ر �م ار ده * � او ��ت�ف� �ق� ا � � ا ك ا ن� ��ف�ت�ي �ي��ن * �م�ن ا �م �ر ء � ��ل��ك ا �ل�ص�ق�� ا را د ا ا ن� ��ي�ق� ار ا ى ع � �ن ن � ن � � ن ن ق ّ ة � ف ض � � ح�ا � �وك���ا � ا � �ل��ا ر��ا �� ي� حو�ع��ل� ب���ع�� ا �ل�� � * �وك���ا � ا � ��را �ل��د ر��س �و�ه�و� ك ح��د م�� ب� �ع��ل�ى ا �ل����� خس ح� ا �ل��� �ض ي ى � تآ �َ غ�ْ َ�� َ�ْ �� ت ّ� ا ��لت���ل�م ��ذ�ي�ن �� ���ي�ئ ا �ع�ن ا �� ف ا �ه� ��س ��ع�ا ا ��ل�ى ا ج��ل � �وا ب� * �ي���ث��� ب� � �يو��م ��ط�ى * �و�ي �ر �ض �يوح� ط� * ي� ب ط� � ل �� � م �ير أ ت َ ُ ذ �خ ّ � ن ف َ س�ئ � ة ّ � �و�ت�� ن��ا �ع�� � �و ت��ق��ا �ع�� * � �و ت��ف��ا ��س�� � �وت��ع�ا ���ط�� * � او � ا �ي���ل �ل�ه ا ��ه � ح��ك � �ِه� �م�� �ل�� � ح ت� س �ي س �ي س �ي ي �م ْ ئ ت ث ث ت � � ق ش ّ ّ � � ف �ف ت�ت � ّ ّ � � ح�ه�ا � ك� �� �� ��م�� ق � طق� �م�ن ا �� �� ا �ب� ��ط�ه * �و�� � ط�ه * �� �ع �ر��د �م�ن ا �� �ا �ن�ه * ط� �مك�ا �ي ��م�� � �م را � ت� و ر م � م ب ق � َ �َ ا قُحً � �ذ ا �� ف� �� � ة � � � ة �خ ق َ َ �َ �وا ��طرا �لب���لي��د� * �و ل�� ط�ن ا �لب��عي��د� * �و��س��ل�� �م�ن �وِ�لي��ه ب���ل��س�ا �ن�ه * �و��ا �ل ا �ل� �ب����ا �ل�� �و�ى ا �ل� �ن ّ ا ت ت �� َ � ح��قْ� * ا �م�ا ����ل�ه� �ف�ن ا ��لن� ل ��ي��ف� �ل�ا ��ي ت��عل��� ا ��ل ن��ا ��س ك� ك� ح��ك �م� � حو * �و�ه�و ا ��س��ه�ل �م � �� ح� ا � و م م � � �غ �ا غ �ا � � � ت � او لله �ل�و ك� ع��ت�ه ���ا ن�� ت� ا �ل�ع��ل�و�م ك����ل�ه�ا �مث���ل�ه * �لم�ا ��اد ر ت� �من��ه�ا كب����ي�را �و �ل� �ص���ي�را ا �ل� � او � � �س�و� ب � ن �ن � ا ن� ا � ��ف ت ا � �� � � � � � ا �� ّ � ن ف ا ّ ن � ن �ن ك� ����ل�ه * � ك ل����ى ���سم�ع ت� ا � ا �ل�� �ه�ا ��ل� �ب��د � او � �ي��ك�و� حو �م� �ه�و م ��ح ل�لع�ل�وم �و �ل� �ي ع�د م � � � � � �ك��ذ ا ب��� ا ��لن� �غ��ي�ره ا �ص�ع ب� �م ن��ه * ف���ق��ا ��ل �م�ع��ل�م�ه �ل�ا ��ت�ق���ل � �� ا �ل�ع��ل � حو ا ��س�ا �� ا �ل�ع��ل � � �ك �� �ه� ل س �وم و �ل �وم نّ � � � آ � � ّ ن �ف ق ة � ف �م� ت���ر� ا �لي��ه ا �ت��ق��ا ر ا �لب��ن �� ء ا �ل�ى ا �ل�ا ��س�ا ��س * ا �ل�ا �تر�ى ا � ا ��ه�ل �ب�ل�اد �ن�ا �ل�ا ��ي ت��ع��ل�م�و� ��س� او ه فق ت ّ ت ّ ن � ا �� ّ� ن �غ ��ن �م�ن �م�ع �ف��ة �خ� �ص�ا �ئ ��ن �م ن��ه �����د � � � �م� �م� ك �و� �ع��ل� ��ي�ره * �و�ع ن��د �ه� ا � �م�ن � ك � � � �و �ل� �ي عرج � ر ص ى م ّ � ا �ل�م� �� ت �� ا ح��ص� ا ��خل ا ف ن ن� ا � � ��ذ � � � ا � �ف ن � ا ف� �ڡ �ه�م ي ��ل� �� ب��ي�� � �ود ا � ك���ل�ه� * �و�ل� �ل�ك �ل� �ي ��و� �ل �و� ا �ل� ي��ه * � او �م� ي ل وج � �ف ��ا ن �م ا � ن ه ا �ّ�ة ا ت �ت ق ش ا �� ا و �ه�د * �ه�م� م�� �ب� د �ل� �و� � � ���دي��م ب���ع��ض� ا �ل� ب� �� او ب� �ع��ل�ى ب���ع��ض� * �و��ى � ��و�ض�ي��� �م� ك�� � ب � ح 162
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Chapter 11
That Which Is Long and Broad189
Let us now return to the Fāriyāq, just as he returned to his profession—
1.11.1
namely, the copying of manuscripts—albeit against his will. It happened that at that time two young emirs of the region had decided to study works of grammar at the feet of a grammarian, and the Fāriyāq was present at these classes, bent over his copying. One of the two pupils was slow to understand, quick to answer. He’d yawn and stretch, fidget and fart, slack off and snore, stick out his bum and sneeze. If he thought he’d understood a point, he’d scratch himself under his armpit and smell the scent, sniffing at it with bared teeth and smacking his lips like someone savoring a piece of cottage cheese. Then, out of delight at his own cleverness, he’d kick up a rumpus and tongue-lash the one next to him, saying, “Shame indeed on those of slow comprehension and dim apprehension! How is it that not all men can master grammar’s rules, which is easier than scratching your balls? If all the sciences were like that, I swear I’d have them down pat. I’ve heard, though, that grammar, while being ‘a key to the sciences’ is not regarded as one of them, so the others must be harder.” Then his tutor would tell him, “Say not so! Say rather, ‘Grammar is the basis of the sciences’ and all the rest are as much in need of it as a building is of a foundation. Have you not observed that the people of our land learn only this and do not stray from it to any other? They think that he who has a command of grammar commands a knowledge of all aspects of the universe. That’s why it’s the only thing they write books about and why the only disputes that arise among them are about which chapters to put before others and the clarification of the ambiguities of that science with proofs and citations. They also disagree over the latter, some saying that they’re fabricated,
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1.11.2
��ف ا ��ل��� � ا ��� ض ي� طو�ي��ل لع �ري����
ض �ف � �ف ق ن �ف ة ذّ ة ة �خ �ف ق ن ��ر�ور� ا �و �ش���ا � � ب��ي��د ��� او �ه�د ��م�ن ��ا �ئ��ل ا ���ه�ا �م� ت��ع��ل�� �و�م�ن ��ا �ئ��ل ا ���ه�ا ض� � او � ت���ل� � او ا �ي�� ���ا ��ى ا �ل ش � ن � � � ا َّ � � ا ذ ن ت ّ �ن ن ��آ � � ت �س�ق�� �ا ح��د * �و�ه�و ا � ا �ل�ع�ا �ل� �ل� ي���س��م �ع�ا �لم�ا ا �ل� ا � ا ك� ا � ا�لم� � ا � � ���ا � �م� ك��ن �م��ا �م�ن ا �ل��� ل و حو �م� � �ص�ي ى م � �ز ت ّ �ن �غ �ا � ق ج ��ل � ��مي�� د ق��ا ��ئ�ق��ه * �و �ل�ا �ي ك� ��ا د ي���س��ت� ب� ا �مرا �ل� �ب�ه * �و�ل�و���ل ت� �مث��ل�ا ض� ��رب� �ي��د �ع�مر�م ��ي�ر ع �ف �ذ � � � ّ َ ت �ز ن � �خ ا ا ا ن ق ض َ ا ا ا ا � � �� �ر�ه � � ر�ف�� � ا �ل� ع�م� د �ع��ل� �ه� ا ا �ل� � ب�� ر * ح�� �و �ل� �ي���ص �ص� �ع�مر�و �م� �ي��ك�و� � ع �ي��د � �و�� ب ى ب ح ف ا ن �ق ق ة ف � ق ة � ا �� � غ ا ت ا ��ل ت � �� ن �ز � ��ف ا �� � � � � � �م � � ل �ج � � ل � � * � ��رب� �مت��و���ف��� �ع��ل�ى �عل��� ك��و� ي��د �م � �� ع � ل �� ح ي ����� ����ع�ل ا �لض� � � و ي و ر �ى ي س م ع � � ن � ة �ة ف ا �ا � ا ت ا �� �ف �ف ���ا �ه� خ��ا �لي��� �ع�ن ا �ل�ا ف��ا د�ة ا �لت��ا �م�� * � او ��م�ا ��ي ف� �ه� �ع�ل م� � لر�� �ه� ب���ع��ض� ا �ل ن��ا ��س ب���ع ض� � �ي� � ع ى م ��ت ن �ث � � ة ن �تّ ف ق ف �م�ن د �و� �ه��ذه ا �ل�ع�ل�ا �م�ا ت� �ع�ن د ر�ب�� ا �و ا � ���ا �� * ��ل�ا �م�ع�ّو�ل �ع��ل�ى ك��ب��ه� � او � ك����ر ت� م �ن ن ��ن ت ق � ق ت ن َ َ ق � ق ة �ا ن ّت ���ث�� ا �م�ا �و �ل� �ع��ل�ى �ع��ل�و�م�ه�م � او � ج���ل� * � او ��ى � او � ك��� ��د � �ل�ي�� �م��ه �عر�� ا � �ل� �بر�� �وك� ي ر ت ا � ش �غ � ُ قْ � ة �ن ُ َ ف�ن آ ق � ق ة ���� ه � ا ع��ل�� �م � � ب��� � �و� �ل�ى �م���� �و�ل ب��� � عق���ل�ه � �وب��د ا �هي��� �م�ن �ع ار �ي���ل�ه * � ك ��� ت� � ر�� �ل���ل�ى ك�ل� �و �ل� ِ ب ي ّ ف � � �ن ذ � � ا ا ا � ا � ت �ف ت �م ن ه ف ا �ئ ة ا �هت��د �ى ا �ل�ى �و ج��ه ا �ل�ص� او ب� �ي�م�ا �ع�و��ص �ع��ل� ّ �م�ن � �ل��ك * �ل� �ى �س���د � �� �� ��د� ى َُ َ ظ� � � � ���ا ن�� ت� ��س����ا � ع ��ي�م��ة ج� ��ع��ل�ت ن�ى �م�م ن�� �ون�ا �لب� ن�� ت� اب ��ى ا �ل�ا ��س�ود ا ��ل��د �ئ��ل� ا �ب�َ�د ا ��ل��د �هر ف��ا �ن��ه�ا ��هى ا �ل ��تى ك� بب ِى �ن آ ًَّ �ف ت ا � ت � ���ذ ا ا �ئ ا �� ا ��ئ ��ا ن ��ى ا ��س���بن��ا ��ط�ه * (ق���ل ت� �وك�� ��س� ر لب��د � طه�ا �م��سب��ب��ا �ع�ن ا �ل����س�� ) ع ك�� � ا ��ص�ل ا ��س���بن�� �� � ق ا � ق � ا � ا��ا ن خ� ا �ن � ف ق � � � ت �ذ �ف ذ �ف ئ ة �����ا �ل �ل�ه ا �ل���ل�مي�� �م�ا �ه��ذه ا � �ل��ا ���د� �ي�ا ا ��س�ت�ا � �ى * �� �ل ��د ��ط� �لم� ك�� � ي �� �مر��ى ا �لر��ي ب� ��ى � �ق ة �ن� ت� ا �مي��� ا ��ل�ى �م�ا ق��ا ��لت��ه ا �� �لف��ل�ا ��س�ف���ة �م�ن ا �ن�ه �ك� �� ���ل �م�ا ك� ���ا ن� ��ل�ه ض�ي �� خ���ل�ود ا �لن ��ف���س * �ف ك �� �� ل آ ف ا ت �ن � ح ��ل�ه ا ��ت��د�آء � ���� ��ل�ه ا ��ن ت�ه��آء ��ق�� ت � ف ا ��ت��د � ء �ف ت�ن ا س� ا �لن �����س �ع��لي��ه �ف�ز ا �ل �ه�و �م� � ٍه * ���ل�م� را ��ي� ا �ل���و ب ب � � ولي��س � ث � �ن �ف ذ � � ة � ّ ن �عن�� � او ��حل �م��د لله � ��ل��ك ا �ل�ا �ب��ه�ا � * �و�مث���ل�ه ا �و ا ك�� ���ر �م ن��ه ��ى ا �ل�ص�ع� �و�� ��ف�ن ا�لم�ع�ا ��ى � ا و �لب��ي �ا � * ى ب م � � �ذ �ذ ذ � ق �ف ا � ش���ت � � ف� �ق ا �� ه ا �لت���ل �ل ��س �� � � � ّ ا ن ا ف ق �� ت قا ��� ل �ل� �مي�� � ا �م� ع �ب�� ك�ر� �ل�ك � ��ط * �� �ل ا �م� ا �� �����د س�م�ع� �ب�ه � او �عر� �م� ي ��م�ل م � � � � ذ ن ة ة �ز � ت � �غ ة ا ف س�ت � � ا ا ا ت � �ع��لي��ه * �و�ه�و الجم ل�� �ي�� � او �ل� �� �ع� ر� � او �ل ��ور��� � او �ل�� �ص�ي � �و��ي�ر � �ل�ك م�م� �ي���ي � ��ا � او � � � � � ع � ك�ن � � ل ر � ي ى ع ت ف �غ َ ق َ � ن ا ن ذ � � � ف� ّ ن ض ا ة ن ا ا ا � �ص�ل�ا * ي�� � �س��ر ا ج��ل� * �ورب��م� ����ى ا �ل� ���س� � �ع�مره �مئ��� � ��و * � بو��ي�� � � �ل�ك م�� ع � ث � ن ق �ن ��ف � �ف ا س�ت ت ت ا ا ا ا � � ����ل�ه ��ى �عل�� ا �ل� �� �ع� را � �و� ك له� * ا �و �ي��ك�و� ��د ���سى �ى ح�د�ه� ��م ي��م�و� �و�ه�و ج�� �ه�� � م ّ آخ � ت � � � ��ت� �م�ا �ع ف��ه ���فى ا �و��ل�ه * �و ذ� ��ل��ك ا ن� �م�ن ا خ���تر �ه��ذ ا ا ��ل�عل��� ا ج��ل ل�� ���لي���ل �ل� ل��ا ب� ا �و ا � ك � �را � ك�� ر ب م م ع 164
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4،11،1
That Which Is Long and Broad
others that they are determined by the meter or anomalous, though it all comes to the same in the end, namely that a scholar cannot be considered such unless he has acquired a command of grammar and gone deeply into all its finer points, and that almost no business can go smoothly without it. If you were to say, for example, ‘Zayd struck ʿAmr’190 without putting Zayd in the nominative and ʿAmr in the accusative, he would not in fact have struck him, and it would be wrong to depend on the information thus conveyed, for a true understanding of the nature of the act of striking is dependent in this instance on knowing that Zayd is in the nominative. Any language that has no markers for the nominative is utterly worthless, people understanding one another in the absence of these only by virtue of custom or convention; their books cannot therefore be relied on, however they may multiply, and neither can their sciences, however they ramify. Even though I might toil over this science by day and would often go to bed racking my brains over one of its knotty points or fiendish difficulties, I’d have to spend the whole night awake, unable to find my way to the proper solution to whatever was giving me such trouble. I did, however, derive one great benefit from it that made me eternally grateful to the daughter of Abū l-Aswad al-Duʾalī (since she was one of the reasons for its invention).”191 (To which I would add that all the other rhetorical sciences owe their existence to women, too.) “And what was that benefit, master?” asked his pupil. Replied the tutor,
1.11.3
“I had long harbored doubts over the question of the immortality of the soul and inclined toward the dictum of the philosophers to the effect that whatever has a beginning must have an end. But when I found that grammar has an ‘inchoative’ but no ‘terminative,’ I drew an analogy between that and the soul and ceased to be confused, praise God. Similar to grammar or greater in difficulty is the science of topoi and rhetoric.” “That I have never ever heard of before,” said the pupil. “I, however, have,” said his teacher, “and I know what it covers, which is metaphor, metonymy, figurative usage, punning, morphological parallelism, and more than a hundred other things. Laying all that out in detail takes an age, and one could spend his whole life just on the science of figurative usages and then die and still know little about it, or forget by the end of the book or books what he’d learned at the beginning. “The reason for this is that the inventor of this magnificent science was no sultan with the authority to force everyone to follow up on it and unceasingly pursue it. On the contrary, he was a just poor man who fell in love with the
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1.11.4
��ف ا ��ل��� � ا ��� ض ي� طو�ي��ل لع �ري����
� �ك�ن ��س��ل���ط�ا �ن�ا � �م�� �ي�� �ن��ه ا �ج� ب��ا ر ا �ل ن��ا ��س �ج��مي��ع�ا �ع��ل� �مت��ا ب���عت��ه �و�م ش����ا �ي��عت��ه * ب���ل ك� ���ا ن� ف���ق��ي�را ح�تى ي� ك ى � �ا ن � ا � �ق � � ه �ش�� ا �ّ ا فُ � �ذ � ش �ص�د ره �لت��ق�رر ��ق� او �ع�د ��ل�ه �ف ك� �صر �ع��ل�ى �ى �ل� ��ا �و�ل� �ب��ه� ا ا �ل����ى �و ش���ر� ا لله � �� � �ل� �ي� ب�� ح �ي ةً ع ع ف ا ذ ن �ظ � �� � � � ً � � ش � ة � ق ق �� ��ف ��ن�����غ ا ن � �ف ق ا ا ا ا ث �ن ل ا �و�خ� ��طر ب��ب�� �ل�ه ��ط �ر���� �م ��طر��ه * �� � ا �� �� ر ���م�� �م��ل� ��ط� �ل�ع�� �� � ك� �ه س �ي ل ي � ي ب �ى � �ي � �م � � ُ �ُ�غَ ّ ���ذ � �ف ّ �ز �ز �ق � ْ �ق ا ا ا ل ّ ن ا � �ه ن��ا ���ط��ل�و ا �ل ش���م�� ��ه� �ه� � �� �ى �و��ه� جم ح� ��� ا �و جم �� �ه�� �عر�ى ا �و �ل� �و�ى * �وك�� ا �ل�و و ل ل ي س ى ع تً � �ف �ف � �ز �� �ف ت�أ ��ق �� �� ق ا ئ ن ت ا �� ا ��ل �ق �ق ق ن ا ا ا �ن را �ى ا �لب �����ل �� ب���� ��ى �م ا �ل بر��ي�� �� �ل ك�ي�� �� �و�ي��ل �ول ا �ل�� ���ل ا ��ب��� ل بر��ي�� ب����ل * � ��ه�ل ع ذ� � � ع ن ن أ ن � ا � � � ا ��ل ش��� �ف �ا �ن �ه�و �و �ل� �ي���ص � ا ��س�ن �ا د � �ل��ك ا �ل�ى ا �ل بر��ي�� �و�ه�وا ��م�ا � ش����� �ع د �ورا � ا �ل� ر �ض� � حو�ل م��س � ع ح ّ �زّ ّ ش �ّ ف ّ �ا � ن �ن ان �ا ا ا ن � � � � � � � � ا ا ا � � ه � ع �� � � �� م�د � ك م�� س * لل � * � ع ه � � ه � � � م � ���� � � � � ل ل � ك و ج �ل ي و� � و ري ب � �ير ر �ض و ب ب � � ّ � ��ق�و��ل�ه ا �ن��� ت� ا ��لر���� ا ��لب ��ق���ل �جم ��ا �ز ا �ب��د ر�ج� ت���ي�ن * �ل�ا ن� ا �لر���� �م��سب�� ب� �ع�ن د �ورا ن� ا �ل�ا ر��ض� ب ب يع ب يع � ���ذ ��ق � � ت �� في�ن �ة ا �ت ا � ن ا �ن �ت ق �ود �ورا � ا �ل� ر��ض� �م��سب�� ب� �ع � ���د �ير ا �لب�� ر�ى ��ع� �ل�ى * �وك�� ا �و�ل�ه�م ج�ر� ا ل��س��� � ا �و �ن ل� ا ��ل � ��ا �ز �م�ا ��ل�ه ا �� ض حْ * �و�م ا م � ���ا �ث��ل ث� د ر ج��ا ت� �و�م ن��ه �م�ا ��ل�ه ا ر��� * �و�م ن��ه �م�ا ��ت�ف� �و�ق� د ر ج��ا �ت�ه � ي ج ِ�ج ر ب ع َ � َ �ن � �ذ �ق ذ � � ة � ّْ ح��ل�ز � �� ّ � �م ن��ه �ل� �ل� ّ د ر� ا�لم�ا � �ن�� * �و�م�ن �ه� ا ا �ل��د ر� �م�ا �ش�� ك� ى * �و�م ن��ه ���ل�ه �قِر��ى �و�م ن��ه � وى و وب� �ج �ج �غ ذ � ث ا �ز � � تن � ف ّ � �ف �ئ ت � ��ه ا ��ل�ا �� ���فم�ا ت� � � ���ق � � �� ��ى �ه��ذه ا �لب��د ا �� ح�ى ا د رك��� ج �ل ��ي�ر � �ل�ك ��م �م� ا �ل ا�لم��س���ب� ��ط ��ي�� كر و ب�ى ع آ َ ُ � � ف �ذ � ّ ف ���ث��ر�ة �ل�� ي� ك� �ع��لي��ه ا �ش���ي �� ء ك� ح��م�ه�ا * ���ق��ا �م �م�ن ب���ع�ده �م�ن ا �و�ل� �مث���ل�ه �ب��ه� ا ا � �ل��ف�ن ��ا ��س�ت�د رك ي م ع ��ث� ة ظ �� � ا � ث ه �� ا ض ه ا ��ل ا ن �ق� ض� ن� ه ق ف �ت ح�� �و��د رك �ع��ل�ى ��س��ل���ه �م� او ض� ��� ك���ي ر� * �و����ل �ي ب�� ح�� �و�يع� ر� ��� �ى � ��ى ب ع �م � ا � � �ف�آء �م�ن ��� �َم�ن ا �ص�� ����ن ا �ف ّ ة ���ّ �من�ه�م�ا ب ع�ده ��ا �ل� �لغ���ي�ره * ج�� ل � بي � �ه�م� ��ى �ع�د � �م� او ��ط�ن �و�ع�ا ب� �ع��ل�ى �ك�ل � ج قح ف ً � ث خ �ص�ن ا �� ض �ا ا �م ا * �� � �ا ت � �ل� �ُ ن�� � �ا ���ص�ده * � ف �ص�ن غ ���ل���ه �م�ن � � �ب�ه �م�ا � �ع�ه �ه�و ب�����ي�ره * م � و �ي هِ م � ي� �� � م ور م ع ��ذ ا � �ق ت ا � ا ا �� ن �ق � ��ف ت ة �� �ص �ن�ا �ه��ذ ا * ��ف�م�ن ق��ا �ئ�� ا ن� �ه��ذه ا ��ل�ع��ا �ة �م�ن �و � �ه�ك� ب��ي�� ب ��و ب� ل���د م ��و� بر ل ح�� ا ل�ى �ع� ر ة � ة �م�ن ق ا �ئ ا �ن ا �م�ن �� �ت ��ش���� �ة ق ا �� �� ا ��ل�ع��ل �آ ا � ا ��س�ت � ا ة �ا ح�� * �� ل ب�ع��ض� �م� �ل� ع� ر� ا �ل� ��س�ت �ع�ا ر� ا �ل ب�ت��عي��� * �و �� ��ل ��ه� ا ل� ر ي ي َ � ��ل �ق ��� � �ة � ت � ة � �ت ن ق نق �ن�� ّ �عن م�� �ص ّر� �ب��ه�ا �و� ك س ا �ى � ط ح�م�ا �لي��� * �ه�ا * � او �لم� ��ت �����س ا �ل� �م� �صرح� �ب��ه�ا � ����� � �عي�� � او � ى �م ى ح م � ت �خ � �ة ت� �ق �ق ة �ت ن ق ا �� �لق� ���ط ة �ت ن ق س �ث�ا ��ن ��ا ا ��ل� ا �ص��ل���ة � ��ت��ع���ة * � �ث�ا ��لث��ا ��عي��� � ����� � و س ا �ل�ى ��ي�ي �لي�� �و �و ح� ي �� ي��� * � �و ����� � ي ى ي وب ي م م ش َْْ َ �ا �ئ ّ �ة ��ه� � �ه��ذه ��ت ن ��ق���س ا �� ض ح��ة * � ق��ا �� ���ع ض ا ��ل�ى ��ج�م د�ة �و�م ����� ���ا ا ��ل�ى ِ� � ع�قي �� �و يّ���ة �و�ُم ك� �� �ي�� � � ل � و و � ي ب ر ر �نِ م م 166
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That Which Is Long and Broad
subject and whose heart God had made receptive to the laying out of its principles. Thus his eyes had only to fall on a particular thing for his mind to come up with a way of dealing with it. If, for example, he saw the sun rising, he’d say, ‘How are we to understand the “rising” of the sun here? Is it “literal” or “metaphorical,” and would the metaphor here be “conventional” or “linguistic”?’ Likewise, if he were to see green plants sprouting in the spring, he’d say, ‘How should we analyze the words of the one who said, “The spring caused the plants to sprout”? Can we correctly trace the sprouting back to the spring, which itself is born of the revolution of the earth around the sun, this revolution being without doubt a contributing factor? At the same time, however, there can be no doubt that the one who makes the earth revolve is God, Mighty and Majestic, in which case his words “the spring caused the plants to sprout” would be a two-step metaphor, for the spring is caused by the revolution of the earth and the revolution of the earth is caused by the ordinances of the Almighty Creator. The same applies to the expressions “the ship sails” or “the mare runs.”192’ There are also three- and four-step metaphors and some with more steps than the stairway of a minaret. Some of these stairways are smooth, some spiral, some winding, and others something else. “The originator of this science went on thinking about these rhetorical figures until he came to the end of his life, and he died leaving much undecided. After him, another, similarly enamored, arose and fleshed out many areas left by his predecessor, continuing to debate with and contradict him until he too passed away, making room for others. Next came someone who reconciled the two with regard to a number of cases, while declaring them both at fault with regard to others, but he died without finishing what he’d set out to do, and after him another came along, who did to him what he’d done to the rest, and thus it is that the doors of criticism have remained open down to these days of ours. One will say, ‘This expression belongs to the category of “subordinate metaphorization,”’ while another will claim that it is ‘propositional.’ Certain scholars have said that metaphors may be divided into the literal and the analogical, the literal into the categorical and the presumptive, and the categorical firstly into the make-believe and the factual, secondly into the primary and the subordinate, and thirdly into the abstracted and the presumed, with some claiming that this last may be sub-divided into the aeolian,193 the ornitho-sibilant,194 the feebly chirping, the tongue-smacking,195 the faintly tinkling, the bone-snapping, the emptily thunderous, and the phasmic,
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1.11.5
��ف ا ��ل��� � ا ��� ض ي� طو�ي��ل لع �ري����
نَ ْ َّ ة َ � ��َْ ��� � ّ �ة َ��غ ْ َّ �ة ��َل�ْع�� � ّ �ة َ ���ْل� � ّ �ة َ� ْ ا �ة ا ��ل�ع��ق ��ن ّ �ة ��ت ن ��ق �ص�ي �� �و ��طع ط � � �� � � �عي�� �و �مي����س�ي � �و لعي�� �يو معي�� �وع��س�ع� ��س�ي � * � س � �و�ب��ي�� � � و و ي ي َ َم َ ْ ح��لنْ��َ ة شُ نَْ �� �ف َ ة ُ ْ � ّ �ة ا �� ض ا ا ��ل ف �ق��ع �ة � ق �ق��ع �ة � � �ق ا �م��ق �ة � ا �� ف�ل �ق��ع �ة ا ��ل ج�� � ج��عي��� �و����� � ط يّ��� �و�ع ��طر�و��س�ي � ي� ��� �ى �ر ي�� و�ر ي�� و م�� ي�� * و �ر ي�� �ى ُ ْ �� ش ث � �ة �ْ�م ا � ة ش ن �ق ة �خ �غ ة � �خ �� � ���ة * � ا �� �لق� �ق��ع���ة ا ��ل خ� �خ ���ة �و�ع�ه ��ع ��عي���ة �و�ع�ه�ع �ود ��ي��� �وك�����ع�ج�ي�� ح� �لي��� �و���ي�� �� �ور�ي�� �وكِ�بر ير و ر ي �ى �ي � َ ش ُ � � ظ �ُ�ا �ئ ة �� �َ ّ ة ن �ت ّ ة َ ف�َ ة �َ َ ة ُ � ّ �ة َ فّ ا ّ�ة �وك�����ع�ج��� �ي���ة * � او�لم ك� ��ي�� �و� � �ص��لي��� � ب�و��ل ك �ص�� ر�ي� �� �ي��� ا ل�ى م�ع� �و�� �و�ع�� ر�ي�� �و� �ص� �ر�� �وع� ي ي ضَ ��� ْ � ّ �ة َ �� ْ �� ّ �ة �ن ق ا �ة ��ل �غ � ذ � � � �ن �� ت �ن ش �ت � ��ف �خ� �� �ة ق ط�� �� ط��ي � � او � ��� � ض�ي � * ا �ى ��ي ر � �ل�ك م ا ل����� � سم * �وي����� ر ��ط �ى � ب �و� �غِ ي��لي�� �و�طر�ب �ت ف ا �ف � ت � ن � � ن � �ك� ن ��ا �م�ع��ة ج ��ل ��مي�� �ه��ذه ا �ل�ا �ن�� او * � او ن� ا �ير �ع�ى � ل��ا ب� ك����ل�ه � �� �ه� �و��ى ا � ك�� ا � ك�� ل��ا ب� ا � �ت��و� ج ي� و ع ع ع � ذ� ذ � � � � � ف �ا ّ ن � ��ق �� ف ا ��ف � ث ا �ن �ة �ف ف ط��ا �ق� * �مث��ا �ل � �ل��ك ا � ق��ا �ل ا � �لق��ا �ئ��ل ��ى ���ق�ر�ة ��ط��ل� �ه� ا �و �ى ا �ل�� �ي�� ع * ��ل �ب��د ا � �ي �ول �ي� ا �ل�� ب خ أ � ��ف ا ��ل ة ف ن �غ ن � ن �غ �ن�ز ��ل * � او ذ� ا ق��ا ��ل ا �ك� ���ل ��ي��ق �و�ل ب���ع�ده �م�ن ��ي�ر �ت ار � ��ت��قيّ��� ا �و� -و�ى ج � �م��ل�� �ي���ب���ى ا � �ت��ك�و� � ��ا�� ة � ت � �ذ ة � �� ة � � �ك�ن � ا �ّ�ة �خ� ��� ة � � � � � ن ن ت � ا ا ا ن � ا ��خل � ط��� �ع� �و��ص�� �م�ا ا �م�� * و ي� ط��� �ل� �ت��ك�ن ك�� �ل�ك ك�� ��� �ع�� او �� �ع��ل�ى رك�� ك���� ا � ك�� ل�� ب� ب ب ي م ف ا ��ل�ن ا � � ا � ة ف ق ا � � ا ��لت �ل �ذ ق ُتق � ح�ا �ة ا ���ض ن ���ا � ك� ����ل�ه �ل��� �ي�� �ك�ن ج��د ا �ير �ب� �لم��ط� �ل�ع�� * ����� �ل �ل�ه �� �مي�� �و��د ا �م ���� ع �ل� �و�ه �و��ه�ل � ي م �ذ � ق آ �ت � �غ � ا �ت ا �ل�� � ن �ق �ت�غ ن �ه� او �� او �ع�د �ه� ا ا �ل�عل��� * �و��ه�ل � �ر ��ى �ل�ه �ع��لي���ك �� ��ى �ع�ن ا �ع�اد �ت�ه �ع ن��د ��ي�رك م� ��و �و م �ي � م � � � �ف �� � � � ا ف ا ��ل ه ا ن � ت��ع�� ن� ا �ه�� ه ا � � �ع�� � ة ه�و ل� مر� �ه ن��ا * �و��ه�ل ي�ج� ب� �ع��ل� ا �ل��ط�ا �ل ب� ��ى �ك��ل ب�ل�د ��س� �ر ي�� � �ي ل حو ل� � � ى م م م � � � ة � �� ا ��ن ّ�ي�ن � �ف ا ف � ا� ة ف � � ش ق ن ا ا ا ا �ن ح��د� * ���ق��ا �ل �ل�ه �� �ي�� خ� ا �م� �ع ا�لم��س� �ل�� ا �ل� �و�ل�ى �� �ج�ي� ب� ا ��ه �م� ج�ر�ى �ع��ل�ى ا لب��ي � ي�� ���د و �ن � آ � ش �ف � ق ق ح�ا �ة * ف���ق��د ق��ا � ا � ف�ل� � ء ا �م ت � � ���ل� ���� �م�ن � ت � � ا� ض ���ا �ع��ل� ا �ل� � ح�ى * �و��د �م�ا ت� ل ر �و� و�ى ب�ى ى ج رى ي�� ى آ �� ّ �ف �ف ق ف�ت ة ن �� �ص�د ره ��سي ب�� �� �وي�ه �و ب�����قى ��ى ���لب��ه �م�ن ��� �ه�م�ز � ا � �وك���سر�ه�ا ا �ش���ي �� * �و�م�ا ت� ا �ل��ك��س�ا �ى �و��ى � ة � �ن � ف�آ � ا � ف ة � حة ا �� ف�ل���ص� ة � ة � �ة ح�ز ا �ز ا ت ط��� � او �ل��سب��ب��ي �� �و ي� �م ا � �ل�� ا �ل�ع� �� � ح�� � او �لت��ف� �ر�عي��� � او �لت��ع��قي�ب��ي��� � او �ل ار �ب� ��ط�� � � * �ي � ا ت ���ي�ز � � ّ ��ف ا ه �م�ن ا �� ا ا ��� ا ��� �ف �ة ا � ا تئ�ن ا ف� �ة ا �� �لق���س�م �ة ا ���زا �ئ ة ل�و �و لع� ط�� �و �ل� ��س��� � ي�� �و ي�� �و ل ��د� �و م� � ا ل� ي��د ى �و�ى ر ��س� � �ا �ة �ق ق � � ا ت ا ���ز ��خ ����ده �م�ن ��ل�ا � ا ��ل�ا ���ست� �م ش���ر�ى �و���فى كب� � او �ل�ا�ن ك� �ص�د ا � او � �ص�د ا * و م� � ل �� ر�ي� � � ى ح���ا �� م ع ع � � � � ذ ت ت ق � ا �خ � �غ ت � �ف ت � ن ش � � � � � � او �ل� � ت��ص�ا ��ص � او �ل�م��لي��ك �و���ب��ه ا ل�م��لي��ك � او �ل��ع�لي���ل �و� ��وك�ي��د ا �ل ���ى �و��ي�ر � �ل�ك �ر�وح� � او �ى ق ��ف ا ��ل ة ف ن � ا ت ا � ا �ص � ��ف �عن �ق ه �م�ن ��س ك�ت� ة � ة �غُ َّ ة ��ا �ب�� ا �ل�ه�م�ز � ��د � * �و�ى ج � �ر�و� * �و م� � �ل� �م�عى �و�ى ��� ر � � �م��ل�� ��ا � ح م ذ �ت � � � ف �ة � ف ح��د �م�ن �ه��ذه ا ��ل � �س�ق��ص�ا �ه�ا �و�ج� ب� �ع��لي��ه حر�و�ف� ا � ا ��ع�م�د ا �ل���ط�ا ��ل ب� ا � ت � حر�� � او � معر��
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6،11،1
That Which Is Long and Broad
while the aeolian itself may be sub-divided into the stridulaceous, the crepitaceous, and the oropharyngeal, the crepitaceous may be sub-sub-divided into the absquiliferous, the vulgaritissimous, the exquipilifabulous, the seborrhaceous, the squapalidaceous, and the kalipaceous, the crepitaceous into the panthero-dyspneaceous,196 the skrowlaceous197 and the skraaaghhalaceous,198 as well as the transtextual and the intertextual,199 and the oropharyngeal into the enteric, the dipteric, the vermiculo-epigastric, the intestinal, the audio-zygo-amatory, the anal-resonatory, the oro-phleboevacuative, the capro-audio-lactative, the ovo- (or assino-) audio-lactative, and other ‘may-be-sub-divideds.’ A book’s prologue200 is required to bring together all of these kinds of metaphor, just as attention should be paid, there and throughout, to the specific kind known as ‘opposition.’201 For example, if someone writes in a certain paragraph ‘he went up,’ in the next he has to write ‘he went down,’ and if he says ‘he ate’ he has to say afterward, without let up, ‘he vomited’ or ‘** ****.’ Over all, the prologue should be as difficult as possible to understand; a prologue that isn’t serves notice that the book as a whole is poorly written and not worth the reading.” The pupil, who by now had turned pale, asked his teacher, “Did all the grammarians too die before completing the rules for that science? And does the fact that I’ve studied it at your hands relieve me of the need to go over it all again with someone else here? And is the student obliged to learn grammar as it is understood by the people of every country he travels to, or is it a science that has to be learned only once?” The shaykh told him, “As far as the first’s concerned, my response would be that the story of the rhetoricians is that of the grammarians. Al-Farrāʾ202 said, ‘I shall die still pondering the meaning of ḥattā,’203 and Sībawayhi died still unsure as to certain questions relating to when *nna should be realized as anna and when as inna.204 Al-Kisāʾ ī died of tetters he was so exercised over the difference between connective fāʾ, causative fāʾ, clarifying or deductive fāʾ, consequential fāʾ, and binding fāʾ,205 while al-Yazīdī206 died of a headache (and what a headache!) caused by connective wāw, resumptive wāw, affirmative wāw, supplemental wāw, and negative wāw.207 Al-Zamakhsharī died with ulcers on his liver from the differences between the right-related, ascriptive, proprietorial and semi-proprietorial, purposive, emphatic-negative, and other uses of lām,208 and al-Aṣmaʿī209 died with a goiter on his neck from worrying about the glottal stop. In sum, if a student wants to acquire an in-depth knowledge
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1.11.6
��ف ا ��ل��� � ا ��� ض ي� طو�ي��ل لع �ري����
�ك�ف� �ع��ل �م�ا ق���� ف���ه � ا �ج��� �ع ن��ه * � �م�ا ق���� �م�ن ا ن� ���ترك �ج��مي�� ا �ش��غ���ا ��ل�ه �و�م�ص�ا ��ل � ي و يل ح�ه �و��ي�ع�� �ى ي ل ي و ي ب ع أَ ّ ُ � � ْ � ذ � � �ز ن ��ت�ق � ا ا � ا ثا ��� � ا ��ق � � �� �� �َ � ا �ل� �م�� �ل ا �ع ��ِط ا �ل�ع�ل�م ك�لك �ي��ع ��ط�ك �ج�ز� ه ا �ل� �ل� ج���ل � �ل�ك * � او �م� �و�ل�ك ��ه�ل �ي�ل �م ا � � ار �ف ف �ذ � �غ � ا�ز ف ن �غ ��� � ا ح ا �� ض ا ��لن�� ���ا �ع��ل�ى ��ي�ر�ى �ه ن��ا ا �ى ��ى �ب�ل�اد �ن�ا �� �ل��ك ��ي�ر �ل� � * ��ا � ا ��ه�ل �ب�ل�اد �ن�ا ك�� له� �ل� � � � ي و م م �ذ � ت قّ � � ف � � ن �غ �ا � �ذ ت � ا � ن ت � ا � �ن ع �ي� ��ط�ا �ل�ع�و� ��ي�ر �ه� ا ا � ك�� ل�� ب� ا �ل�� �ى �� ��ط� �ل�ع�ه ا ��� * ب���ل ���ل �م �ي� ��ط� �ل�ع�ه � �و�ي� � �ه�م�ه ا �و �ي ��م�ل � �ق ت ض �ق ة �ذ �� � �ف �� ا �ن �ؤ � � ث ا � ث ف ا �ق � ن � ا ن �غ ب�م� ����ى �� او �ع�ده * � او �م� �ع ��س� ا �ل��ك ا �ل�� �ل� �� ��و�ل ا ��ه �ل� �ي���ب���ى ا �ع�اد� �ه� ا ا ل�عل��م ��ى �ك��ل � � ���� � ث ف ن نتق ن ت ّن ت ت ن �ا ب��ل�د �و �ك�ن ح��م�ا ��سر� � او �ي�ا � � ��و�ج� �ه ت� �و ج���د � ا ��ا ��س�ا �ي��� ����د �و� �ع��لي���ك ك���ل� �م��ك * ��ا � ل��ك ي � فآ ق� �اف � ّ �ف ق� �ا � �عب��ر ت� �ب�ا �ل� او �و �مث��ل�ا ��ا �ل� او ا �ل� ����ص � �ه ن��ا ا � �ل��� ء * ا �و �ب�ا �و �و��ا �ل� او ا �ل� �و�ل�ى ا �م * �و��ى ب���ع��ض� آ ح ذ ُ � ن � �ئ ق � نق � فق ق ق ا �لب��ل�اد ا � ا �عل��� ا �ن��ك ��ت ��� ��ط �ي�� ء ��ا �ئ��ل � �وب�ا �� ��س�� ��ط ا �ع�بت��ا رك �م�ن �عي��و� ا �ل ن��ا ��س * �����د � ار ت� م �ع آ ��ت � قًا � ��ف �ف � ف ن ض ا � ن � �ص�د ��ي��� �ل�ه �ى � ���ه � ار �ى �ع��ده ��ى ب���ع��ض� ك�� ب� ا �ل�اد ب� ا � ب���ع��ض� ا �ل�ع�ل�م� ء �ع�اد � ح� �ل �مر� �آ ��ّ ة ق ��ت ف ا � ف ظ � ة ق ا ئ ن ق � ت �ق ق � ��ف ��ل � ك� ا ��س�� ��د ك��� ��ه� � �ل� ����� �� ��� ب�� ��� �� ت ط���ي�ن � �� �ى ا � ح ت� ا �لي��� ء �فر ج� ح�ا �ل �ع��ل�ى �ع� ب��ه �و��ا �ل ب ي� ر ل ع ّ � � �ذ �ف � � ة �ز �ل� �ن ا �م� ه � �لق�د ا ض ���ع ن��ا �خ� ��ط� او ��ت ن��ا ��ى ��ا ر�ت�ه * �و�ه� ا �ه�و ��سب�� ب� ق���ل�� ا �لت��ا �لي ��ف� ي �ڡ � � م ��س� ر ع� � ي ّ � آ � � � � �ة �ا �ن �ص �ن�ا * ف��ا ن� ا �ل�م�و�� �لف� � او ��ل ح�ا �ل�� �ه��ذه �ي��ع ّر��ض� � �ف���س�ه �ل��ل��ط ���ع�ن � او � �لق��د � � او �لب��ل�� ء * �و �ل� �ع� ر ح � � �ف ئ � َ �ّ ذ �ّ ا �ع� ا ��ل ن��ا �� �م�ا ���ف ك��ت� ���ا ن� �م ش����تم�ل�ا �ع��ل �ج��مي�� الم ��ا �ب�ه �م�ن ا � �ل � او ���د � او �ل � * ا �ل�ا ا � ا ك� � ح ك�� � ح��س�ن �ا ت� س ى �ير ى � ِ ى ع م � َ ُ � ذ َ � ��ق � ي�ئ �ة ة ة � قئ ف خ ا �لب��د �ي��عي��� � او �ل��د ��ا � ��ق� ا �ل��ل�غ� � �و�� * �و�مث���ل � �ل��ك �مث���ل ر ج���ل ��ا ض����ل �ي��د ���ل �ع��ل�ى �و� ب��ه� � م ي � ا �� � � � ا �ش� ا �� �� �زَّته �ز هّ ة � ا ف �ظ ن �ت ن ا ا ن ط� ���ط * �� �ل�� ��س �ل� � � �� ر ا �ل�ى ا د �ب�ه ا �لب�� � ر�ث�� �ور�ع� ب�� � � � � ط��ى ب���ل ا ل�ى ب� �� �و �� * � م � ي ي ل ي ق ة � � ف ي�ن � �ف ت�خ � ئ ت � ن ا ذ � ��ث ��ث �ن ق �ك��ث �ت � او ���حل �م��د لله �ع��ل�ى ���ل�� ا�لم�و� �ل��� ا �لي ��و�م ��ى �ب�ل�اد �� ا � �ل�و ك���ر � او �وك���ر � ���د �ه�م �و� ��ط���ه�م �ل�� ر ق س�ت �غ ن � ذ� �ف ا ��س��ا � ا ��ل�غ���� � ا �ل� ش ح���ة ����ن م����ا � ن �ه� * �و��د ا �� � ��ى ا �ل ن��ا ��س �ع�ن � �ل��ك ب��ت���ل�ي ��ق� ب���ع��ض� ب ب ب �ض و � ب ي م ن �ق َق �م��� ّ � � �� ن ّ �ة ا ��ل �ة ا �ئ � ا �� � ا�� ا فِ���� جس � ��ع��ة ي �ڡ ه�� * � ر��س� ��ل �و � حو�ه� ��ك �و�ل��ك ا �ل��س�ل� �م � او �ل� ك�را �م * � او ل��س��ي�� �و ب � �ي ر � ّ �ذ ���ا ن� ��س�ا �ك�ن� �ص �ن�ا �ه� ا ف��ا �ن�ه �ع��ا ر�ة �ع�ن �و�ص�ف� �م�م�د �و� �ف��ه �م�ا ك� ��ا * ف��ا �م�ا ا �ل ش����عر ي �ڡ ف��ا خ� � ب � �ع� ر ح ا ن ا �� ا ��ل��ش�� ة ف ة � ن �خ ح��ل�ا * � د �ف�ه�ا ��ث��ق ��ل�ا * � ���ط �ف�ه�ا �ب� � ك ��ا �ع�� ا �و �و�ص�� ا �م ار � ب���ك�و� � � و ر� ور � ي �صر�ه� �ي ل��ر�م �و ج �ًا ن �ت ّ ق �� ش� ّ ت ك� �ص�ي �د�ة ج� ���ع�ل ج���ل ا ب��ي��ا ���ه�ا ��غ�ز �ل� �و���سي��ب��ا �و�عت��ا �ب�ا �و�����ك�و�ى �و�ترك ح��ل�ا * �و�م�ن ��ع�م�د ��� �ي
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7،11،1
8،11،1
That Which Is Long and Broad
of just one of these particles, he will have to give up all other concerns and interests and devote himself to what has been said about it and the refutations thereof, which is why we have such proverbs as ‘You may give all of yourself to scholarship but it will give only part of itself to you.’ “As to your question whether you should study grammar with others
1.11.7
than myself here, meaning in this country of ours, that will not be necessary. None of our countrymen have read any books other than the very one you are reading. Indeed, few are those who have read that and understood it or can apply its rules. As for your third question, I’d say that it is not necessary for you to go over the same science in every country. However, wherever you go and in whichever direction you head, you will find people who will criticize you for your way of speaking. Thus, if you use wāw, for example, they will say that fāʾ is the more correct, and if you use aw, they will say that am210 is preferable, while in some countries, if you put dots below the letter yāʾ in the words qāʾil or bāʾiʿ,211 you will lose all respect in people’s eyes. I read in some work of belles lettres that a certain scholar paid a visit to a friend of his who was sick in bed and caught sight of a notebook in which the word qāʾil was written with two dots below the yāʾ, so he turned on his heel and said to his companion, ‘We have wasted our steps in coming to see him.’ “This is why so few people write works on grammar in this day and age: under such circumstances, the writer exposes himself to criticism, vilification, and tribulation and no one will pay any attention to the useful information and maxims in his book, unless it be replete with every kind of stylistic embellishment and linguistic nicety. It’s as though a virtuous man were to go into a gathering dressed in rags and tatters; they wouldn’t see his inner refinement, only his outer clothing and attire. Thank God there are so few writers in our country these days: if they were to increase—and, along with them, their criticism and fault-finding—the occasions for their mutual hatred and quarrelsomeness would increase in proportion. People have substituted for serious writing the concoction of a few paragraphs in rhymed prose that they put in letters and the like, as when they say ‘salutation and veneration’ or ‘the splendid and resplendent,’ these being easiest to take when pronounced without vowels at the end.212 As far as poetry in this day and age is concerned, it consists merely of describing a man who is the subject of a eulogy as generous and brave or of a woman as having a slender waist, heavy nates, and an eye with collyrium laced. Anyone who sets out to
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1.11.8
��ف ا ��ل��� � ا ��� ض ي� طو�ي��ل لع �ري����
ا ��ل �ا ��ق ��ل��ل�م�د � * ث�� ا ن ا ��لت���ل�م���ذ ا ��لن�� ا ��س�ت�م � �ق� ا �ع� ��ش خ ��ه ا ��اد�� ��ف ا ��لن�� � ت �� � ي �ج ي� ب� ��� �ل ي ب� �ى � ر �ي ر �ل�ى ي حو ح�ى ب ى ح م � � � ن ��ف ا ا � ف� � ا�ف � م���ع�و�ل ف��ا �ع��تر��ض� �ع��ل� ا ن� ا � �لف��ا ��ع�ل �ي��ك�و� �مر �و�ع� �و �ل �و��ص�ل ا ��ل�ى �ب�ا ب� ا � �لف��ا ��ع�ل �و �ل م��ع�و�ل ى � ذ ��ا ن � ��ذ ق ا �� �ذ � ا � ن �ان �ف ف ف � � ا ا �من��ص� �وب�ا * �و�� ل �ه� ا ا �ل� � �ص��ط�ل�اح� ��ا ��س�د �ل� � ا � �ل�� ��ع�ل ا � ا ك�� � �مر��و�ع�ا ك�� � ا �ل� �ى �ف � آ � آ � � ��ل � ّ �ع��م�ل ف�ي��ه ا �لر�ف�� � خ�ر * � او � ح�ا �ل ا �ن�ه �ه�و ا �ل�ع�ا ��م�ل * � بو��ي��ا �ن�ه ا �ن�ا �نر�ى ا � �لف��ا ��ع�ل ��ى ا �لب��ن �� �ير�ف�� ع � � �غ ع �تف ف �� ف ���ذ � � � � �ف ف ل ف � ا ا � ا ��جل� حر �و��ي�ره �ع��ل� ك�� ����ه ��ا �ج� حر �ه�و ا�ل�مر��و � او � �ل�� ��ع�ل را ��� �وك�� �ل�ك �� ��ع�ل ا �ل . . . . . . . ى ع ع � ق �ف ف ق ا � � ل� � �ا ن � ن ��غ � ق ف ف ت ش ا � � � ف��ا �ن�ه �ه�و ا ��ل���ذ �ى �ير��� ا �ل��س� �� * ����� �ل �ل�ه امعل�� �م�ه �م�ه � �ل��د ا � ح���� � ،ك� �� � ي���ب��ى �ل�ك م ع � ا ا ة ث �خ ت � ت � �ذ ن ق ة � ت � � �غ ف � ن � ا ا � � � ���ل�� ا لعل�� �� ��ه ��ي�ر جم ا ��لت��ا دّ ب� ���فى �جم ل�� ب� �و�ل� ���ل��س ا �ل� �م� ر� * �� � �� ا �ل��ل�مي�� ا � � ار � ا � ك�� س م م م م ت �ف ش ا نّ �ذ ذ � � � �ق ت خ ��ذ ّ � � ن � ق � ف � � � ش ا ا ا ا � ي�� � �س� ي��د ا ����ي � �وك� ���ا � ا �ل���ر� ك��ل�ه ك�� � �م�و�ج� �ه� ا �ل�ى ا � �ل�� ر�ي� �� * �و�م� � �ل�ك ا �ل�و�� ا �� ح ت �ق ض � ا ��لن�� ة ���فى ج� ح� � �و��د �عب��ا ر�ت�ه ب��م� ت����ى ا � �ل�ق � او �ع�د و�� * � � ي ي ا � ّ� ف ا ا ا ن ���ص� ر �ي��ه�و�ل �ب��ه� �ع��ل�ى ر�ع�ع ا �ل�� ��س �� ا ظ � �ف ك���م� �ي� �� � ���هر ��ى � ا �ت �ف ا � �ل���ص�ل ا �ل� ��ى *
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That Which Is Long and Broad
compose a poem fills up most of its lines with amatory and erotic or plaintive and querulous material and keeps the rest for eulogy.” This brilliant pupil continued to read grammar with his shaykh until he got to the chapter on the “doer” and the “done,”213 when he objected to the fact that the doer was “raised” while the done was “laid,”214 claiming that the terminology was corrupt, for if the doer was raised then someone else must have raised him, whereas in fact it was the doer who did the work, the evidence being that we may observe a man working on a building raising a stone or the like on his shoulder, in which case the stone is the thing raised and the doer is the raiser, and likewise the doer of the . . .215 is the one who raises his leg. At this point, the tutor told him, “Steady on! Steady on! You’re being foul-mouthed. In the scholarly gathering—which is quite different from the princely—you’re supposed to demonstrate good manners.” Then the two pupils concluded the reading of the book, neither having benefited in any way, and the commentary might as well have been directed entirely at the Fāriyāq who, from then on, took to improving his speech by following the rules of grammar till he came to scare the pants off the rabble as will become clear in the following chapter.
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1.11.9
ا �� ��ل�ف��ص ا ��ل��ث�ا ���ن �ع ش �� �ل ى �ر أُ ة � � ا � ي �ڡ � ا ك��ل�� �و� ك�� ل � ا ّ � �ن ن � �� �ف �ذ � ت � ف ا ن ��ت � �ل� �ب��د �ل�ى �م ا � ا ��طي���ل ا � ك� ل��ل�ا � ��ى �ه� ا ا � ف�ل���ص ا ��م�� ا �ن ا � � ا � �ق ا � � ا �ل ح� � ل�صب� ر ل�� رى * � � �ى �ع��ل�ى م ا خ� �ف� �ة ا � ة � �ن �غ � ا ن ت� �ت �ق ا س�ن ا �ن ه �غ� ظ �� ا ا �ت � � �غ � ة ره د �ع� �و � �ص��ط��ك ر ج��لاه ��ي ر� ح�د� م ��ي ر � ح� ر� �� � � ي���� * �و �� َ َ ْ ةً ن ح�م ّ���ة * ا � ���ن�ز � � �م�ا ���ي�ن �ع�ن����ه ا ��ن �ف��� � � ح ش���م��ة * ا � �ت���ت��ف�خ ا � د ا ��ه �َ �غ� ا َ َ � ر �و�ه�و ج��ا * و ج و و و و ي وى ب ي ي �و ي � � ق ّآ � ف ُ � ف ً ف �� ن ت ا �رد ت� �ل�ه ���ص�ل�ا �ع��ل� � ح��د�ت�ه �م�د � ح�ا �ي��ه �و�ع�دد ��ه �م�ن ا � �ل� �ر ء ا �ل�ص�ا �بر �ي�ن * �و�ل��ك�و� ى أ ق � ف ق �ف �ذ � �ق ق � � � ن � �� �ره �ق�د ب�����قى ���ص�ي�را �ور� ��س�ه �صغ���ي�را ا � �ل��ا ر�ي�ا �� ��ى �ه� ا ا �ل�و� ت� ��د ��ط�ا �ل �ل��س�ا �ن�ه � او � �ي��ك�ن �ف ك َ ن ا ق ا �ن ن ���قَ ْ �ُ �ق ن �ذ ��ن �ف ن �آ �خ� �� ة �خ� �� ة ش َ ت ت � م م � ه � �� �� �� ���ص� �م �ع��د ح�د � �و� * �و �د ��� ر� �ع��ل� س�ى ا � ا ��ى �ور ه �ط�و� �ط�و� ى �� �ف �غ �غ ة ت ف ن ت ح�م�ق���ة �ئ� ت� ��مث���له�ا * ا � � � ا ��� � � �� ت � او � � �مث���ل�ه * ح�ا ك�ي��ه ��ى ��س�ي�ر��ه * ��ا � را ��ي� �م ن��ه � �ج ب � و و ي وي � ا ف �ن �� ن �خ � ق � � ا� ت ا �و ر�ش���د ا �ق�ا ب���لت��ه ب��ن ظ� ����ي�ره * � ا و �ل� ��ا ��ى ا ك��و� � ��صم�ه �ل� ك���ا �� ب� ��س�ي�ر�ت�ه ا �و �ن�ا ���ل ك���ل�ا �م�ه * �ث ف �ن ن �غ ن � �َّق �ذ ��ل �ف ق �� � �ف � �و���ب��� ا � �ي�ع� �ل� �ه� ا ا � ك�� ي�ه�ا ت� ��ا ��ى ا ر�ى ا ك����ر�ه� ح� � ��ى ا �ع ن��ا �� �ج��مي�� ا�لم�و� �ل���ي�ن * �و�ل��ك�ن �ه� ي ى م ع � م ّ ل � �ذ ا ة � � �ن �� ا ��ف ذ � �غ ة م ف � � � ح�� * ا � ا�لم� �ل� �من �ق�د �ز ا �ع�ن �ه��ذه ج� �ه� ب��ي�� ن��ا �ه�و �ي�� ك�ر�م�صي��ب��� ا � ح�د م ا ل�عب�� د �ى وّ� � م أَ ة شّ ا � ذ �ت��َ ف � � َق ال�م���سّ ة � ا ت � ت � ح � � � � � � ا � � ا � ه ه ه ا � �� � � � �ل �ع�ق���ل�ه ا �و ا �م �ر �� ا �و �م� �ل� ا � ا �ب� ك�ل� �ل� ا ا�ير د لفِ��ر ج�ع� �و لعب�� را � �مر�صع� �و ��ى � � � ا س�ت �ق� ّ � �ا ا ت ت ش ا غ �ن ّ ا ��ر�و ب� ا �ل� �� �ع�ا را ت� � او � �ك�ن �ص�ت�ه ب ج��مي�� ض� � ح��ه ب��م�ا �ي��د �ل ل�� �ي� � * �و����� ���ل �ع �ه�م �ص� � ب ع � ُ ن�ت ُ � � ش� تظ � �ف �ك��تر ث� �ب�ه * �ف��تر�ى ا �ل�م�ص�ا بَ� ��ي��� �ع��ل� ا �ن�ه �غ��ي�ر �م�� ح ب� �و�ي��و�ل�و�ل �وي������ك�و � ��يو� ���ل��� * � او�لم�و�ل�� ى م ���� ّ ت � � ت ف ت ت ن ا � � ا ��ن � ة ف� ّ نّ ّ ّ ي س � �ص� �و�ير �و�ى �و�ي��س� ��طرد �ي�و�ل���� � �وي����� �و�ل ا�لم�ع� �ى ا �لب��عي��د� * ي��م�د �ي��ده �� �و����� �و ر� جع ي ج س �ي ع � � �ن�ز � ف �ق � ئ � �ت�ا ر�ة ا ��ل�ى ا �ل ش���م�� � �وت�ا ر�ة ا ��ل�ى ا ��لنج�� �و� * �و� ح�ا �و�ل ا ا �ل�ه�ا �م�ن ا �و� ���سم�ا ���ه�ا ا �ل�ى ��س�ا ���ل ��و�ل�ه * � س م ي �ج 174
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Chapter 12
A Dish and an Itch
I must go on at some length in this chapter, just to test the reader’s endurance. If he gets to the end of it at one go without his teeth smoking with rage, his knees knocking together from frustration and fury, the place between his eyes knitting in disgust and shame, or his jugulars swelling in wrath and ire, I shall devote a separate chapter to his praise and count him among those readers “who are steadfast.”216 And because the Fāriyāq had become prone in those days to making a long tongue at people—even though his brains remained quite short and his head quite small and exiguous at the occiput— and I had taken a vow to follow along behind him step by step, mimicking the way he walked, if I saw him doing something stupid I would do the same, wandering off the path if he did, and matching too anything sensible he did, for otherwise I’d be his foe, not the writer of his life story or the reporter of his sayings. An injunction to do the same should be hung around the necks of all writers, who, in fact, are very far from obeying it. I observe that most of them depart from this approach, and you suddenly find such a writer, in the middle of describing a disaster that has affected some mortal’s sanity, wife, or wealth, going to the trouble of inserting paragraphs in rhymed prose and expressions full of parallelisms, padding his story with all sorts of metaphors and metonymies, and forgetting all about his subject’s worries, thus indicating that he doesn’t care about them. As a result you find the victim moaning and wailing, objecting and complaining, while the author is rhyming and using paronomasia, making parallel constructions and puns, going off on tangents, switching persons,217 and playing with unlikely topoi, as when he reaches out his hand now to the sun, now to the stars, trying to bring them from the zenith of the heavens down to the lowly level of his words,
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1.12.1
ُ ف �� ة أ� � ��ي� ا ك���ل�� � �و ك���ا �ل
ة � �ق��ت� �� � �� ف ح�ا * � ا خ� �ى � ��ق ت� ��� �ف � ا�ز ا ح��دا �ئ��ق � ا ��ل�غ� ��ا �� �م�ن ط�� ���فى ا ��ل �و�مر� �ي � ح�م ا بل�� ر و ر �ي � � و ي �ض ط� ا �ل� �ه� ر * �وي�� ر �ن ��ل�ا �م�ا �ع�ن ا ��ص�ل ا ��ل�ى �فر �و�م�ن �غ� �و ���ط��ة ا ��ل�ى ر� ��و�ة * �م�ا ذ� ��ل��ك د اب ��ى ف��ا ��ى ا ذ� ا ا �ورد ت� ك�� ب ع � � � ��ف ذ � ة � ف ا �ن ف ف ظ ق ت ت ت �خ � ا ا � ا ل� �ن � � � ح� �مق ا ��ن ت��ق�� ت� �ي��ه �ل�ه �ج �مي�� ا �ل� � �ل�� ��� س د��� �م�ع�ه �ى � ي ����� * � او � ا � ����ل� �ع ا �م�ي�ر �� ب ا � ي ع ت � � ��ا ���نى ج��ا ��ل�� ب�� جم ���ل��س�ه * ا �و �ع�ن ��ق ّ��سي���� �مث��ل�ا ا �و �م ���ط ا ن� ا � ا �لن ��ق���ل �م�ا ا �م�� �ك�ن �ف ك� ح��ف ت��ه ب ج��مي�� ر س س ع �� � �خ ّ � ّ �ف � ن ف �ف ا ��ل�� فل� ظ �غ � ���� ا ��ل ك��� ل��ل�ا � الم ���ك � او � ك� � ت���ل * �لئ��ل�ا �ي��ص�ع ب� �ع��لي��ه ا�لم�ع��ى �ي �� �و ت� ا �ل��ر��ض� �م�ن �ت�ا �لي ��� ر ي م �ذ � ت ف ا � ذً ة ا ��ل�ن � ن ن �غ ق ف ف � ح �ز ��ا د�ة �ع�� �م�ا ا ا ا ا ح ار ر� � ل��ا ب� * �� �عل�� ا � ا ا � ا � �ل�� ر�� �� ب���ع�د ا � �� ر د �م� ��ه ب� �ه� ا ا � ك�� � ل و � ي ي ى م �ق ض آ � �غ ة �ف � � �ف �ف � ذ � � ���� ء �م�ص���ل ح��ة ��ل�ه * ��م ّر ��ى ��ط �ر�ق��ه � ��س�ا ر � ا ت� �ي ��و� � � ���ا ن� �ل�ه �م�ن ا �لر� ب��� ��ى ا �لن�ظ �� � ل � � ع ك � � � ل � �ي ى م م آ � � �ف د�ير ��ل��لر�هب��ا ن� * �وك� ���ا ن� ا �ل�و��ق ت� �م��س�� ء * �ف ار �ى ا ن� �ي���� ت� �لي���لت��ه �ت��ل�ك ��ى ا ��ل��د �ير �ف��عر� �ع��لي��ه ب ي �ج � ق � ف �ز � ف � � �ف ق �� ��لض �ف �� * �و ��طر�� ا �لب��ا ب� �ب��ر �ل�ه ر �و�ي��ه ب� * ���ق��ا �ل �ل�ه ا � �ل��ا ر�ي�ا �� ��ه�ل �م�ن �مب�ي�� ت� �ع ن��د ك�� � ��ي م � ف� ف � � ف ا ا �ق �ذ �ل� اً � �ك�ن ذ� ا � �ف ف���ق��ا ��ل ��ل�ه ا �لر�و���ه ب� * ا �ه�ل� �ب�ه ا ن� �ل� �ي�� �وا ب� �س�� * ���رح ا � �ل�� ر�ي� � �ب��ه� ا ا ج�� ي ي م �ن � ن� ا ق ا � � � �ف ا قا � � ة ا � �ن � � �و�ج�ع � ب� �م�ن ا �ن�ه �ي ��و ج��د ��ى ا �ل�د �ير �م ي� ح��س ا�لم��س� ج��ل�� * � او �م� �� �ل �ل�ه ا �لر�و�ي��ه ب� �م� �� �ل � ا ن � � ن ن ��ث ��ّ ْ �� � ْ �قَ �َ نَ � ت ف �ا �� ه�ّ �ل�ِه�م ���ِهم� �ل� � ا �ل��د �ير ك���ا � �ي���ت��ا �ب�ه ك���ي�ر �م�ن ا ��تب��ا ا �ل� �م�ي�ر �لي�ب��ي� �� او �ي��ه �م�ن �ك��ل سِ�� رِ�� ط قِ � ع ٍّم م َ َ َ ف�ا ن � � ذ ا ت ث َّ � ة �ه �ُ��سَ� �� ه َ�هْ���ق � ��� �لف� ا ��ل �ه��ا ن� �م�ن � �و� � � � � � ل ه ا ا ا � � � � � ك � د � � � ح� � � � * ك ل � � ح�م �و�خِ��م �قِ�� ي �م ل� ي � م ي �ي رب م ب ِ ع م م آ ّ َ � � � � � � � ة ا �ل�م���ط�ا �ع� ا � �لف��ا خ� �ة �م�ا �ل� ��عه�د � ه * �ل�ا ن� �ه� �ل�� ء ا �خل ق ش ��� ن� �ع�� ش����� ا �ل ت�ق ش ف ي�ن مق���ت �ي�ن م��������� ا �ل � ر ر م �ي � و ��� �ل� �ي��عي�� �و ي و م � ّ � � � � �ن ذ �ذ � � ف ن ن � � �ظ �ظ �ق ت �ن ت ي�ن ن ا ا ا ن � � ا�لم�بت���لغ���� �ب� د ��ى ا � �ل �و� * ا � �ه� ��ي � �� ر�و� ا �ل�ى ا �ل�د �ي�� � او �ل�ى �ل� ا ���ه� �� �� را �ل�ع�د �و * � �ه�ى �ع��د �ه� � م م ن ا � ا ن ا ن ل� م � �ق ف ا �ت ق ّ �� �ل� � ن �ة حت ا ن خ ض� َّ ة � �آ خ ة ��� ا �ت ا ا � �ه� � ��رب� ا ل�ى ا �ج �� * �ى � �ه� ا �ل� ���س� � ��ل�و� �ي� ��ر� ا �ل� �ر� * ك��ل�م� � ب�� �ع�د �ع � ��خل �ز � ��ذ ث � ك�� ن خ فا ن ����ز � ه ق� ��ق��ا �خ�ز � ن ا ��� ن ه � غ � � � � �� � ا ا � �ب�� ا �ل�� ��س * �� ���ه�م ب���ع�د ا � ي�ب و ر ي ا�ب� ا �ل� ى ك��ي را �م� �ي� ك�ل� �و� ب����ي ر اِد ا �م �لي����س ّ �ذ � ي� ش���ّ�م��س� �ن�ه ا �ّ�ا �م�ا �مت�� ا ��ل���ة � �ف� � �و����� * ب� �ك�ن ��ل�ل�ا �ن��س�ا ن� ا ذ� ا ا خ��� ب� ك� حي� ث� ي��م�� ���لت��ا �ي��د �ي�ه ح�تى ي ج� � وي و ي �ي ي ب س آ � ف ذ � ن ن �غ ف �� � ا � ا ا � خ ن �خ ف ق ت ر� ي �����ي�ن �و ض� �ه�م�ا �ج��مي�� ج�ر� ا � ا �ل��د �ير * ا �و ا � ح��د �ه�م� �ب� �ل� �ر ا � ي� ي ��� �ب ���ر���ع � ب ر ع �ت خ �ذ � ن ا ق ����ذ ا ��ل ن��ا ��ق �� ا ��ل���ذ � �ُ�ض ���ل�ه� �� ب� �ب�ه ��ل�ا �وق��ا ت� ا ��ل�ص��ل�و�ة * �و �ل� ��ي���د ر �و� �ع��ل� ا ك� ��� �ه�م�ا ��مت خ� ي� � � ى ي س و ر ى �ي�ن �ا * ف��ا �م�ا ��ت�ق���ّ �د �ت�ا ��� ا ��ا �م�� ��ا ��ل� �ف ف ا ن� ا ت ا ��ا �من ���ق �ع�ا ��ا �ل���آء � ت �ل �و ب م ح�ى �ي��ع�ود �ج�ع � ل� بع �ل ي ر ب ي �س�� �� �م� �ه�و ���ه�و�ي��ل 176
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2،12،1
A Dish and an Itch
or, on some occasions, plows across oceans and at others plucks orchids while bounding around in garden and thicket from trunk to branch and from hollow to hill. Such, though, is not my way of doing things, for if I introduce the words of an idiot, I put every kind of silly expression in his mouth, and if I report something said by an emir, I use, to the extent possible, polite language, as though I were sitting with him in this salon; or by a priest, for example, or a bishop, I make him a gift of every variety of lame and defective phrase so that it isn’t too difficult for him to express himself, which, should it happen, would undermine the purpose of writing this book. Know, then, that after the Fāriyāq’s brains had boiled over following the application of the heat of grammar, which came on top of his desire to be a poet, he set off one day to take care of some business. On the road he passed a monastery and, it being evening, thought it would be a good idea to spend the night there. Turning off to it, he knocked on the door, at which a young monk appeared before him. “Can you provide a guest with bed and board?” the Fāriyāq asked, to which the young monk replied, “He’d be most welcome so long as he has no sword.” The Fāriyāq was delighted with this response and amazed to find in the monastery someone who was good at repartee. The young monk had only said what he did because numbers of the largegulleted, omnivorous, gluttonous, voracious, craving, dyspeptic, ravenous, loudly swallowing followers of the emir afflicted the monastery with their demands for lodging, and, whenever one of them spent the night there, he would charge the monks with providing fine dishes that they knew nothing of, for these folk live a life of short commons and abnegation, surviving on the most meager ration, regarding, as they do, this world and its pleasures as their foe; it is to them the arch-rival of the life to come, and the further mortal man distances himself from it, the closer he approaches Paradise. Even their bread, which they often eat plain, is unlike other people’s, for after they’ve baked it in thin layers, they expose it to the sun for several days in rows until it dries and gets so hard that if one were to take a loaf in each hand and strike them against each other, the din would panic all the rats in the monastery, or they could use them in place of the wooden plank they strike to mark the times of prayer, and they can eat it only after it’s been soaked in water so long it has turned back to dough. The emir’s followers wear swords to terrify those who pay them less than total respect and to warn them of the consequences, in just the same manner as the Fāriyāq terrified
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1.12.2
ُ ف �� ة أ� � ��ي� ا ك���ل�� � �و ك���ا �ل
��ت � � �ذ � ��ا ��ل ا �ل�مت �ك�ن �ه�ا �و ن� �ب�ه * ك� �ه�و���ل ا �� �لف��ا ر��ا �ق� �ع��ل� ا �لر�و���ه ب� ب���س� او ��ل�ه * �و�م�ن �ل� �ي�� � او �ن�� ا ر ب��ن� ك� � � ي ى ي ي م ت خ ��ذ � �خ ش ة ق ق ة �ف �غ � �س�ف �س�ف ا ��س�ت � ا � �ف ا � ح��ه * ا �و ا � �� �ل�ه ����ب��� ر�ي ����� ��ى �م�د � ي �� * �ل�ه � ي �� �س�� �ص� � ب ع� ر ي ��ث ن س�ت �و��ل���� ���فى ا ��س�ت �ع�ا ر�ة ا �ل�م�ا �ع� ن� �و�غ���ره �ع ن��د ا ��ه� ا �ج��ل � ب���ل �م�ن �ع�ا ر ب���ل ك���ي�را �م�ا ي��� �ع�ي�ر �و� و ي ل يس � ْ ث � � ة ��ث ا ا �ع ا � � �ي�ز� ن �ن ه � ا � ا �ن ه ا ن �ف �ّ ���ا �ل��ل�عر�و��س �ي�ز ��و�ن��ه�ا �ب�ه �و�ل��لر ج���ل ي�� �ب� �و �م� م� �ي ��و� ب��ه� * � � �لم� � ح��لي��ا �و�مِ �عر ض� ح�ا � م آ آ ة َ ْ �نُ � � � خ � �فة �و��ق ت� ا ��ل�ع ش����� ء ج��� ء ذ� ��ل��ك ا ��لر�و���ه� �ب���ص ط�و�� �ب�ا �ل�ز ��ي ت� � بو��ث���لث��� ا ��ص� ح���� �م�ن ا �ل�ع�د ��س ا �لم�� ب � ي ب ّ � �ج � ف ا ا ق �ف � � ش �آ �ت ن ا � �غ ف ا ق ا ا خ �م�ن ذ� �� � ا ��خل �ز ��ع�� ا ي�ن ل�ك �ب�� �و ج� � له� �ب�� �ي��د �ى ا � �ل�� ر�ي� �� * ج���ل��س �ل�ل�ع���� � �و�� �و�ل ر� ي ���� �ود ��ه �ب� �ل� �ر ف �ل ا ا ��ت��ق � �� ��ق ة ن ش ت َش �� ّ ة � �ن ��خل �ز �ف ّ � ت ن � �� ���سر * �� �م� ل�� ا �و�ل ل �م�� ����ب��� ���ظِ��ي��� م ا ح�تى ا �ن ك �ب�� ��ى ��س�ن �ه �وك���ا د � ا � م �� ت � آ ف ّ ض ��خل � ن � �ذ �ك�د �� ا �ل�ع ش����� �ه�ا �ب�ا �ل�ع�د ��س * �و�ل� �ي � �ت�� �ه ب� �ب��ه�ا * ج�� ��� ا��ل�ل �م ���ع�ل ي���س�ن �د�ه�ا �وي���س�د �م� او � � �ي م ع م ح ا �ة ا ��ل�ع�د �� ��ف ��د �ن ه �ف� � � � ّ � ا ظ ��� �ف ا ه � ���� �ق� َ �د ا ��ل �غ� ��ف � ت ش �ت ت س �ى ب� � ج��ع�ل يح�ك ب� ��� ر بو ب ع��ض� � �ص ر ي � ح�ى ا ��� �د � �ر ر خ � ت ت شّ �� ة نّ ف ا ق � �ع�نَّ � ج���ل��ده * ��ف��س�ا ء ه ذ� ��ل��ك ج���دا �وق��ا ��ل �� �لق��د ��� خل ل����سر� ��س��ى ��ل� ��ل� ���ل ت� �ه��ذه ا � ك ح�ى ���ه�� � م ث ن � ف� ��ف �ن ظ �� �ذ � ّ ن ا � ����ت���ي�ن ���ف ا ��ل�ع�د �� �تش�����ف ّ��ا �م�م�ا س�ن � ��س�ن �ا �م�ن ا �� � � �ه� ا ا �ل�د �ير * �� ا ��ه ا ع��م�ل � ك ��ره �ى ��� ب ي ى س ي م م آ ة ا ��ل ش � � �ن ن � ت ش �ف�ّ ن �� ت ا نا �ه � ن ه ا � � �م ا � ف ه � �ن ا ��لن�� �� �ل� م�� ج� �ري� �ع��ل�ى �ع�اد� ���ع �ر ء م ا ���ه�م ي������ �و� ب�ع�� �ب��ه�م ا �ل�د �هر �م� ه�م �ي�� م ح��س ف ا ��لت ت � ه �� ف� ظ � ة ف �ف � �ق � ا �� �لق�ه * � ا ��ل ش����ق��ا � �ة � ا ��لض � ����� ���ق��ا � ��ى �� �� ّر * �� �ب����س� �ع�لي�� ل ط��ل ب� ا � �ل��ا �م�و��س * � و �ر و و و م � ت ّ �ف � � � ف � ق فق ���ا ن �م�ن ال�م�� ح�م��س��ي�ن ��ى ا �ل��د �ي�ن * �����ا �ل �ل�ه ��ه�ل �ع ن��د ك �ي�ا ��س�ي �د �ى �� ��طر�� �ب�ا ب� ج��ا ره �وك� � ن �ف � � � �ان ف � ق ا � �لق��ا �م�و��س * ق��ا �ل �م�ا �ع ن��د �ن�ا �ب�ا �ل��د �ير ج��ا �م�و��س ب���ل �ث�ي�را � ��م�ا � ح�ا �ج� ت���ك �ب�ه ا �ل� � * �� ��طر�� ��ا ن ش ّ � ن ه �خ� ش ة ف � � � � ��ف ن ��ت � ��ن � ق ا �� ا �ة آخ �ب�ا ب� � �ر �وك�� � ا ����د م�� ��� �ون�� * ���ق��ا �ل �ل�ه ��ه�ل �ل�ك �ى ا � �ع�ي ر �ى ا � �ل�� �م�و س ��س� �ع� � � � ��ف ض � ا ات ن � ا ��ف �ذ � ��ق ت �ا ق��ا �ل ا �صب��ر �ع��ل� ّ ا ��ل�ى �ن��ص�ف� ا �ل��لي���ل ف��ا ن� ا �� ك� ل�� ب� ��و��س �ل� �ي� ��ي����ى ا �ل� �ى �ه� ا ا �ل�و � * �م���ى ى ��ش �ذ � � � � �غ � ف ف ق ق ا ا ا ا �ؤ � ا ��ل�ى �غ��ي�ره � او �ع�اد �ع�لي��ه ا �ل��س� ا �ل * ����� �ل �ل�ه ا �ى ��ى �ه�و �ه� ا ا � �ل�� �م� �� �� �م� � � �� � ج� �� و ص ي ّ و ص رع � ا َّ �ن �ن ظ �� � ا �ت ��م ًا ف ا �غ ا � � ف ظ � ة ف ق � ق� � � ا �لب�ي��ت���ي�ن * �و��س� رك ح�ل� �� ر�� �ل� �ل� �� ��� �����ا �ل * ا �ل�ى �ص�و�م�عت��ه �و��ا �ل * �ل� �ب��د �م ��� م
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3،12،1
4،12،1
A Dish and an Itch
the young monk with his question. If one of them doesn’t have a sword, he borrows his friend’s or takes a thin stick and puts it in a scabbard. The people of the Mountain find nothing shameful about borrowing provisions or other things; on the contrary, they often borrow jewelry and apparel for the bride for her procession and borrow clothes and a turban for the groom to make him look smart. When dinnertime came, the same young monk brought a dish of lentils
1.12.3
cooked in oil and three “cymbals” of that bread and placed them before the Fāriyāq, who then sat down to eat, taking a piece of bread and whacking it against another until it broke. When he took the first mouthful a sliver of the bread caught against a tooth and almost carried it off. The Fāriyāq tried to prop it up and fill the holes in the tooth with lentils but hardly had he finished his meal before the heat of the lentils started to grow in his body and he took to scratching with his fingernails and fragments of the loaf until his skin was in shreds. This upset him greatly and he said to himself, “That crust almost dislodged my tooth, so I’m going to dislodge one of the monastery’s,” and he cudgeled his brains to compose a couple of lines of verse on lentils to avenge himself for what it had done to him, in imitation of the custom of poets of getting their own back by rebuking fate for any ill-fortune or depression, wretchedness or oppression they may have suffered. Searching for a certain word, he rose and went looking for a copy of the Qāmūs and knocked on the door of his neighbor, who was one of those particularly zealous in religion, and asked him, “Do you have, sir, a Qāmūs?” to which the other replied, “In the monastery we have neither qāmūs nor jāmūs (‘buffaloes’) nor oxen, and what would you be needing them for at this hour, anyway?” So he knocked on the door of another who was even coarser and asked him, “Would you mind lending me the Qāmūs for an hour?” to which he replied, “Hang on till midnight, for the kābūs (‘nightmare’) never comes at any other time.” So he went to another and asked him the same question and the man replied, “What qāmūṣ, you māghūṣ?218” So he returned to his cell, saying, “I’ll have to compose the lines and leave a space for the missing word,” and he wrote,
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1.12.4
ُ ف �� ة أ� � ��ي� ا ك���ل�� � �و ك���ا �ل
آ ُ � �ف ا ك� ����ل ت� ا �ل��ع�د ��س ��ى د ي�ر �م���س�� ء � تُ � �ا � ظ �� � ��ف��ل�و �ل� ا �ن ن��ى ا ���ع�م�ل ����فر�ى
أُ تُّ ا � � ا � ا قُ � �و ��ى � ك� �ل �ل� �ي����ط� �� �ب �ف� ب قُ � �� � � � �ل�ق�ا �ل ا �ل��ن�ا ��س ___ ا � �ل��ف�ا ر�ي�ا ��
� ف � ف ��ا ن �ن�� �ف ا ��ل��ل�� � ا �� �ف ا � ا �ق �ن ا ئ� ا ذ � ا � � ن ق ظ�ن ا �ن�ه ���ل�م�ا ك�� � ص� ي �ل و ل�� ري� � � � � ب� ح��د ا �لر�هب��ا � ��ي��ر �ع��لي��ه ا �لب��ا ب� * �� ��� م ع تا ا � ت ��ق � ن ض ا �ت ف ق ا � � � ف ف�ت � � � � س�ت ش ��� �ل��ه * ����� �ل �ل�ه ا �ل ار �ه ب� � ا �� ه �ب� � ك�� ل��ا ب� ا �لم��ط��ل�و ب� * ������ �ل�ه �و�ه�و�م�� ب�����ر ب� ��و ج��دا � � م ح ف� ت �ذ �� � ن ذ � � ا ق ا � ه � ه ا � �ن ن �� ا ��ل ا ��ل�ص��ل �ة � ا �ق��ف�� ا ��ل �ا � ا ��ت��ع ن � ل��ا � � � �� ا � ا ع � � م ه � � �د ك � � � � � � � � � * م � � ل ل ك � � ل � ك � � ب ج ر �ى بو س ر �و و �ل ب� ب� و ى � ا �ف ن ف � ق � � ف ا ن �ذ � �ا ف � �ف �ن ف �ل� �ي�ا ��تي��ه ا �ل� ��ى ���ص�� ا �ل��لي���ل * ���ق��ا �ل ��ى � ����س�ه � �لق��د � �ص�د �� ا �لر ج���ل �� � �ه� ا ا �ل��د ا �ع�ى ّ نّ � � ئ قحً � � ة � ���ا د ا ��خل ���ؤ�م�ى � �لق��د ك� ا �ش���د �ع��ل� ا �ل ن��ا �� �م�ن ا �� ك� �ب���ز ��ي�ق���ل� ل��ا ب� ��و��س * ب�����ا �ل�ه�ا �م�ن �لي���ل�� �ش � ع ��س��ى ى م ا �ن ا � ّ ا�� ت � ا ن �غ �ف � ت ت ا ��ن �ذ � ق ا � ا ق ا ��لن � � ة � ن ل � � � �� � ح � � ا �� �� � � �و لع�د س م�� �ى �ب� ح�ك�� * �و�م� ك�د� ا �ل� � ا ��ى �ى ا �� �ى �ه� ا ا �ل�� رع ا �ل� �رع ح��س ��ن � � ّ � ة ا �ّ � � ا ��ل�ص��ل� �ة �م�ن ة ��ا ن � ى ا �ل ش��� ك ��ر و و �ي��د �ع�و�ى ا �ل�ى ا �ل�ص��ل�و� ا ك�� � اب�ى را �هب�� � او م�ى را �هب��� ا �م �و�ج� ب� �ع��ل� �� � ا � ف � ا ن � غ آ ذ � � �ة �� �ص�� * ��ل�م� ك� ا ج���ل ا ك����ل�� �ع�د ��س * �و�ل��ك�ن ��س�ا �صب��ر ا ل�ى ا �ل ���ا � ا �ل���د ج��� ه � �ل��ك ا �لر�و�ي��ه ب� � ب ح �ذ � ا � ه � �ن � ذ� ن ق خ � �غ ف �ا ن ف� ه � ���ق ّ �ة ق �ة � ��ل��� �ف � �لي����س� �ل� ع � ح�ا �ل�ه ا � ك���ا � ��د د ���ل ا �ل��د �ير �م� �ع�ه�د ��ي�ر ب���عي��د � ك�� � ي�� ب ي�� ر�� و ط� * أ ت قا � � ق � ق� ا ف � ا ن ف���ق��ا ��ل ��ل�ه ا �� �لف��ا ر��ا �ق� ��س�� ��لت���ك �ب�ا لله ا ن� ج� ���ل��س �ع��د �ى ��لي��ل� * ��ل�م� ج���ل��س �� �ل �ل�ه ���ل �ل�ى ي َ َ � �ذ ث � ّ � ن �ف �ؤ ق ا � ف ظ�نّ �� � ف ت � ��ف � �ن ت �ت ف � ��د ��ي ��ك ا �ى �ك�ل �ي ��و�م ا ��م � ���ع�ل�و� �ه� ا * ��و�ج �م ا �لر�و�ي��ه ب� �و ��� �ب�ه ��س� ا ��م �� �ل ا ى ����ع�ل ق ا � �� � �آ ق ا � �ف ن ف � � �ت ة ق � �ن ذ � � ا �ل�ع�د ��س �م��س� ء �و�ي�� � ك�� ��ع ن��ى * �� �ل ا ك��� ك�� ل� م� ��ى ���ص�� ا �ل��لي���ل �ل��ل�ص��ل�و� * ��ا �ل ��ع� � �ل��ك م م م أ ا �ف ّ � � قا � � � � � ه قا � �ذ ق � ق ّ ت ت ا ا � � د� ب�� ن�� ��ى �ك� ���ل �ي ��و� * �� �ل �م� ا �ل� ى ا �و�ج� ب��ه �ع�لي� ك�� � * �� �ل ا �ل��عب��د لله � او �ل ���رب� ا �لي�� * �� �ل م م � � �ذ � ���ل �ع�د��س�ا ا �و ���حل ���ا ن� ا ��ل�ا �ن��س�ا ن� ��ا �ك� ا ن� ا لله ��تب��ا رك �و��ت�ع�ا ��ل�ى �ل�ا �ي��ه�م�ه ا ن� ك� �م�ا * �و�ل�م �ي�ا �مر �ب�� �ل��ك ي آ � �� ق � �ذ أ � ن ّ � �� ��ت��ه * ا ذ� ���� ف���ه �م�ص���ل ة � ف ��ف � ح�� �لن �����س ا �ل� �ك���ل ا �و �ل��ل�م�ا ك���و�ل * ��ا �ل �ه� ا د� ب� ا �ل����س�ا ك لي ��س ي �ى ك�ب ا � �ۤ � �ن �� �� ��ع�ا � � � ��ق���ّل��ة ا ��ل ن� � � ن���ف ا ���ُ ّ ا ذ ا ��ت�ق ش �ف ��ف ا � � ش �ة ن � ا ��ل � ا � �وم �ي �ي� لعب�� د ا � ل������ �ى �لمعي������ �و���ه�ك �ج ��س�م �ب� لرد ى م ل�ط م وب آ آ ا ��ل ش���ه� ا ت� * ق��ا ��ل ��ل�ا ��� �ه� �م ن��ا �ف� �ل�م�ا �ش���� ء ه ا لله * ا ذ� ��ل� �ش���� ء ا ن� � ن �ه��ك ���د �ن��ك �و خ� ���لي��ه بل و �و و �ي � ب ي � �ن �� ش ا ت ��خل � ق � ض ا ا َ � �ف ا � ا ��ق � � ��ف � �ن خ � �ق ه ا � �ا ا � �ز � ه ا ن م ا ل����ه�و � ��ل���ك � ��� � �وي� د �نِ�� * م� �و�ل�ك �ى م ��ل�� لله �ج �مي��ل * ي ج � �و �ل� �
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A Dish and an Itch
I ate lentils in a monastery of an evening, Then spent the night with an itch that my mind did almost derange. Had I not set my nails to working, Men would have said, “The Fāriyāq’s got *****!” When it was midnight and the Fāriyāq was sleeping, one of the monks
1.12.5
suddenly knocked on his door. Thinking that he’d brought the book he wanted, he opened the door in expectation of finding what he’d been looking for, only for the monk to tell him, “Get up and come to prayers. Lock your door and follow me.” Then the Fāriyāq recalled what his neighbor had said about the nightmare not coming till midnight and said to himself, “The man spoke truly, for this summoner is harder on the sleeper than a nightmare. Damn this for a wretched night for me: the bread almost pulled out my tooth and the lentils made me scratch, and now I’d barely started to doze off when this miserable scald-headed door-striker comes and summons me to prayer. Was my father a monk or my mother a nun, or have I incurred some other obligation, to have to give thanks and perform prayers for the sake of a dish of lentils? All the same, I shall endure until morning.” Next day, the same young monk came to ask him how he was, for he had
1.12.6
joined the monastery only a little while before and still retained some traces of finer feeling and kindness. “I beg you,” said the Fāriyāq, “do sit with me a little,” and when the man had taken his seat, he asked him, “Tell me, if you’d be so kind, do you do that every day?” The young monk frowned at him and thought his question odd. Then he said, “What are you alluding to?” The Fāriyāq replied, “Eat lentils in the evening and get up at midnight to pray.” “Yes indeed,” he answered. “Such is our custom every day.” “What imposed this duty upon you?” said the Fāriyāq. “The need to worship God and become closer to him,” he replied. The Fāriyāq responded, “God, Blessed and Mighty, doesn’t care whether a person eats lentils or meat, and he didn’t command any such thing in His Book, as there is no benefit therein, for the soul of the eater or for the eaten.” “This is the way of the contemplative ascetics,” said the other, “for a life of abnegation and chastisement of the body through eating the worst foods and reduction of sleep drives away the appetites.” “On the contrary,” said the Fāriyāq, “it is inconsistent with God’s will, for had He wanted to chastise your body and free it of its appetites, He would have created you emaciated and sickly. What say you about those whom God has created beautiful? Is such a person allowed to disfigure his face,
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ُ ف �� ة أ� � ��ي� ا ك���ل�� � �و ك���ا �ل
ت ش ش �ف �خ �ن ف ق ن ���ّ ه � � ه�ه ��ا ن� ي� خ��ق ش �ك��ا ا رد �� �� �ع�ي�ن �ه ا �و ي�ر�م ا � ���ه ا �و ي����ر�م ���� ت��ه ا �و ��ي����ل� ا ��س�ن �ا ��ه �م ي� �و و�ج � ب ب � م ع �ن � ق حن�ت ه ق ا �� ��ف ظ ���� ن ا �ن ه � ا �ب���ز ك�� ��ّ ���س �� �ه��ذ ا ا ��لي��ا ��� * ا �و ا ن� ي���� خس ح��ة ب خ� ���ل� ا ��س�ن �ا ��ى ا �لب��ا ر� �� � * �� ل �ى ��ى � �ل� ب س م ع � م � ن �ّ � � � �ز ق � � ق �ف خ ق �و * ��ا �ل ا �لي����س ا �لب��د � ك����ل�ه �ع��ل�ى �ي��ا ��س ا �ل�و ج��ه * �ل�ع�مر�ى �م�ا ��� �ل� ا لله ا �ل��س�ا �ع�د ا � �ل���ع يج� م آ ئ � ا �� ا �ق ال�م � ة �ّ ا آ � ن � ن ���ذ � ا ��ل�ا � �ه� � ق � �ف� ا ���د �و�ل�� ا �ل� �و�ش���� ء �ل�ه�ا ا � �ت��ك�و� ك�� �ل��ك د ا ��م�ا * �يري��د �ب ���� ه �ع�م� * �و �ل� ا ل��س� � ج وو آ �ا ّ ّ � � � � � �ن ق ح��ل�ل ا �ل��ط���ا ت� �م�ن ا�لم�� �ك� �ير��د ا ن� �ي�ا ك� �و �ل� � ���ل �ل��ل ن��ا ��س ا �ل�ا �و�ه�و � ����ل�و�ه�ا �ه ن�ي��ئ��ا �م �ر ئ��ا * ���ع ��د ب ي ي �ي م � �ّ ي��ا ت ���ع�� ا ��اد ��ا ن ا �ل� ش �ّ ح��ل�له�ا * � ا ن��م�ا م��� ���ط��ة * �غ��� ا ن� د�ي�ن � ن ا حر�م �ه��ذه ا �ل��ط�ب � ب �ض �ل ي � ا �ل��ص� ر�ى ي� � و ير �قَ َ �� آ ت � ا ��ل ا ��ل���ل � ا � �غ ���ط ن �ف � ّ �ف � � ج��� ء ا ��ل�� ح� �و �ل� ا �ل�ى ��ي�ره * ط � حر�� �م�ن ب���ع��ض� �ش���ه�ا ر ب� ��ع �� او ��ى ا �ل��س�ن ل��م �ي��ك�ن �ب��ه�م � � ى يم �آ ن ا �قم � ن ذم� ف ق ّ � � � ن � ا ق � ت � ت ا ا ا � � � � � �م�ا ا�لم�ا ��ن� ��ت ن�� �و�ل�ه �ك��ل �ي��و� * �� �ل �ل� ا د ر��ي � ا و ��م� س�م�ع� �ع�ل�م� �� ��ي� �و�ل�و� � �ل�ك ������ل�د ���ه� * م م ع � � �ن �ن ��ف � ة ّ � �ق ف � � � ت ق ش ا �ن � � � � او ���نى ا �� �ل �ل�ك ا ل �� ح� ا ��ى �م�ل�ل� �م �ه��ذه ا �ل�عي������� * �� ��ى ا ر�ى �ج ��س��مى �ك��ل �ي ��و�م �ى و ن � � �ف � ق �ف ذ� ب� ��و��ل � �و�ن �ف����سى ��ى ا ��ن ��ق ب��ا ��ض� * �و�ل�و ك� ل�� ��� ت� �عر� ت� �م�ن �ب���ل �م�ا ا �ص�ي�ر ا �لي��ه �لم�ا ��س�� ك � ت� �ه��ذه ذ � � �ة � ّ� ن �ن � � ة �غ ن ف ن �خ �ط�ل * ا �ل��ط �ر�ق��� * ��ي�ر ا � اب ��ى � او �م�ى ���ق��ي�را � �و� ش����ي �ا ا � ا ك���و� �م�ن � �و�ى ا �لب� ��ط�ا �ل�� � او �لت��ع �� �ي ذ� �ف �ك�ن � ا ن ا ن ن � ت� �ّل ا � ش � ن ا ف�ز ّ ن ا ��ل �� ا �ن �ة ة ف �ئ ن ن ا ا ا �ص�ن � ا � �ل�ا � � �� �� ���ع�� ��ى �ب�ل�اد �� ي�م�� �ل�ل� ���س� � ا � �ي �ع� �م�ه� �و�ي�عي����� م �ه� � � �� �ى ا لر�هب�� �ي�� * � �ي ع ق ا � ا �� ذ �ظ �� �� ق �ة ��ف � � � ض س�ن ي�ن ف � ا �ت �ت�ق ��ل �ت �ة ا �� �ة ��فتن ف ت ��� �� �� �ر�م� ر �� ا � �ر �� �ع� ل�� � ���� �و�� �ل� ل�ى ا � ا � او �ب�� �ع��ل�ى �ط �ر��� �ى ا �ل�د �ير �� ب �ي �ى ى ب ي ع ب ع ا �ز � ا � � ت � ت ا � � � ا � ا � ا�� ا ��ن ذ� �ن ف ا نا � �ه�م� �� ط�و�ع� �ل� ك�ر�ه� �ى �ع��ل� � �ل�ك * � ����س��ك � او �ي� �� * �و�م� ا �ل� ب�ى ح�ى ا �ج ب���ه�م� �و�ل�و�ل�م ا �ج ب � ى � � �ن � ن � � � � ة ف� ف���ق��ا ��ل ��ل�ه ا �� �لف��ا ر��ا �ق� ��ن��ع ا ن� ا ��لر�هب��ا ��ني���ة ��هى �مج��ل ��ا �م�ن ا �لب� ��ط�ا �ل�� � ��ك�ل م ك ���ا � �ع ��ط�ل�ا �ع�ن �عل��� م ي م � ثا ف � �ك�ن � � ن �ت ق �ز � ة ق ا ت ن ا ث ح��دا �م�ن � � �ص�د ا � �ص�د�ه�ا * ا �ل� ا ��ك �م� �ل� �م���ل� � �ص�ن �ع�� ��ي�� ا �و � � ح�د�� ي��م�� �ل�ك ا � � ��� ى � فّ ّ �ت ا �� خ � ق � ا ش ق �خ ��� � ا ��ل ش ف �ت ا نف � ���� �ق ة ف � � ا ��ه�ل ا �لي ر و ���� �ي��د �ل�ك �ع��ل�ى �م� ��ي ����ع�ك * � او لله ��ع� ل�ى �� �ل� ا �ل� ����د ا �� * �و���ك���ل � � �ذ ن ت ��ت�ع�� ن �� ا �ن �ة � ش ت ق �ة �� � ���ع� ���فى ا ��ل �ل�ه�ا �ب�ا �ل�ا ر �ز ا �ق� * �وق��د ج� حرك�����ة �برك�����ة * �ه� ا � او ��� ل� ا � ا لر�هب�� �ي�� م��� ���� ل م ف ةً ش ت ا ي�ن � ف ا ذ �ت ا � � �ن ا �� �ة �ه خ� ف �ت ا �� ا ن ط� ت� � م لر�هب�� �و �ى � حر��� �و�ع���� �ب��ه� �ب�� ا �ل�� ��س �و�� ا لله ��ع� ل�ى * �� � ا ��ع� ��ي � ت � ا �ن ة ا�� فا ن ت �ت�ز ت �ز �ق ت � � �خ ش ت �و �و�ج�� �ور �� �و�ل�د ا �و����ي��� ا لله �� ��� ٍح� را �ه ب� * �لي����س� ا �لر�هب�� �ي��� �ب� �ك��ل
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A Dish and an Itch
gouge out an eye, pierce his nose, slit his lip, or pull out his teeth—as you wanted to pull out my teeth yesterday with that hard bread of yours—or to blacken his appearance?” Said the other, “In my opinion, that would not be allowed.” Said the Fāriyāq, “Isn’t the body as a whole analogous to the face? I swear, God cannot have created a well-muscled forearm without wanting it to remain a well-muscled forearm, or a leg rippling with muscles without wanting it to stay that way for ever. Nor would he have made it permissible to people to eat good foods unless he had wanted them to eat them in blooming good health. True, some eccentric religions have forbidden these good foods, but the Christian religion permits them and they only came to be prohibited because of a few aging dodderers who didn’t care for meat or anything else. What is your objection to eating them every day?” “I don’t know,” said the other, “but I heard our scholars say it was so, so
1.12.8
I imitated them, and to tell you the truth, I’ve grown sick of this life. I see my body wasting away day by day and my spirit becoming dejected, and if I’d known beforehand how I’d end up, I never would have taken this path. My father and mother, though, are poor and were afraid I’d end up unemployed and idle, for there are no useful crafts in our land for a person to learn and live by, so they painted me a pretty picture of the monk’s life. They told me that if I stuck to the path in the monastery for a few years, I might be promoted to a high rank, ‘and do yourself some good and us too.’ They kept on at me until I agreed, and if I hadn’t done so of my own free will, they would have forced me into it.” The Fāriyāq told him, “It’s true: the monastic life is a refuge from unemployment, for anyone who’s too idle to have acquired any knowledge or a craft makes a beeline for it. But you’re still a young man like me, so you can go to any person of good will and charity and he will direct you to something that will help you. The Almighty created the jaws and He’s guaranteed the daily bread to fill those maws, just as He’s made action the key to benefaction. Moreover, you will be aware that the word rahbāniyyah (‘monasticism’) derives from rahbah (‘fear’), meaning fear of Almighty God. It you adopt a profession, make your living from it among your fellow men, marry, and are blessed with a child, you will have manifested fear of God and will then be rāhib (‘god-fearing/a monk’). True rahbāniyyah doesn’t depend on eating lentils and dry bread. Isn’t it the case that there’s more quarreling, name-calling, and grudge-bearing among the monks of your monastery
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1.12.9
ُ ف �� ة أ� � ��ي� ا ك���ل�� � �و ك���ا �ل
� � ����ز ا ��ل��ا ��� * ا ��ل���� ا ن� �ه��ا ن� د�يرك ����ن �ه� �م�ن ا ���خل ���ع�ن � او ��ل ا ��ل�ع�د ��س � او ��خل � ح�ق��د � �ص�ا � � او �ل��ط ر � ب ب ب ي ي ب ي س س م م � � � � ذ � � ه� ا �خ ض ا �م�ا �ل�ا �ي ��و ج���د �ع ن��د �غ��ي�ر�ه� * ف��ا ن� ر�ئ�ي����س�ه� �ل�ا �ي�ز ا �ل ي� ��� �ع�ه� �ل� * ح�ا �و�ل ا � �ل� �ل�ه� � او � � م م م م �آ � ا � � ا �ي�ز � ن ا � خ � ش ي�ن ي�ن ي�ن ا ن ن � �و�ه�م �ل� ا �ل�و� �م�د �م�د �م�� �ع�لي��ه ���� ك��� �م��ه * � ب�و�ي����ه � �وب�� ر �و��س� ء ا �ل�اد �ي� ر ا �ل� �ر�ى ��ث � ا �ف ة ا ي�ن �ز آ � � ا � � ئ ا ة ا �� ت ق � ا �م�ن ا ��ل � ح��س�د � او�لم ن�� ���س�� �م� �ب�� �و ر� ء ا �ل��د �و�ل * � او ك���ر�ه�م ��ي ن�� �ل ا �ل �ر� ��س�� �ب� ل�م�� �ل� �ل�ل� �م�ي�ر آ �� � � � فا ذ � د ��ا ��له�د ا ��ا ح�� � �� �ش����ك ا ��ن �ق� ض� � ت �خ� ش � ع�ز � ت �ا � ا ��ل ح� ك�م ا �و �ل�لب� ��طرك * �� � ا ا � س ب و ��� ء �م�د ��ه �و ����ى ا �ل� �ل را ��ي ��ه ي ج��و ب � ي �ت � حف� ��ل���ذ �و�ى ا ��ل�ا �م � او ��لن �� � ا ��ه� ��ل�اد �ن�ا * �و ذ� ��ل��ك � �ه� ب��م�ا �ل�ا ي ج� �ود �ب�ه ا ك� � او �ل�� � ح�تى ��ي�ق� ّر�وه � � ع � � ل � ر ب � ل ر ى ى م �� � ّ ت�ن ُ � ذ َ � ن � �آ � ن � �غ � ا ل � ا ��ر�ه�و� �ع��ل� ا �ل�بت���ل� �ب� �ل�ع�د ��س �و�ع��ل� � ر�ئ�ا ��س�ت�ه * �و�ه�و �ل� ء ا �لر�هب��ا � ا �ل ح��س ا � ا د �ع�ا �ه� م ك ى ى م ّ ف ت � � � � � ا ة �� ت � ا ت � ن ن ��ظ �� ن ن ف � �ف � ظ �ظ �ظ � ت � � � � ل ل � ا� طه�م د � �وي�ا * �ي��� �ل���ل� �و� �يو ع�م �� �و� �وي ��م�� �و� � ��يو���ك �����ك� �و� ح�د �لم� د �ب�� س�م�ع� �ل� ��س��را �� � ت ت ّ ّ � حت � �ظ ح ���� �ع� �ن�ه * � ا ض � �ك� ن� �ع��ل ّ �من ��ا د ���سل�� �و� ش���ت �ف�� � ن� � �� �� َّر �م�ا �ي�� �ه� ا �ن��ك �ل�ا �ت ك� � � � ع ج � � � � � ل و � � و و و ي � � ى ي م ى ى م م ا��ا ن ت ن ّ � �ف � �ذ ة � � ة ا ق ف ث ت ا � ن � �ه� ا �ل� �و��م�د �ل�ك �ي��ده �ل ب� ��و��س�ه� * رب��م� ك�� ��� �ج� ��س�� �� ر� * � ك ح�د �م ا� ��ي ��� ا �ل �� �ي��د ي �م م �ف ش ن ا �ف ن �ظ � ْ�� نا ن � ا �غ ا �م�ن �ه�و ا �ج� ��ه�ل �م��ى �و �ل� � ن�� ء� 1ع ن��ده ��ى ����ى * ا �� �� ر ك�م� �ع ن��د �� ��ى �ب�ل�اد �� �م�ن د�ير � � َ � تش ت � ن ح��دا �من �ن �غ� ���ف �عل��� � ��ل�ا �م�ن �و�ع��ل� ك��� ������م�ل �ه��ذه ا �ل�اد �ي�ا ر �م�ن ا �لر�هب��ا � * �و�ل� ا ر ا � �ه�م � ب� ى م و � م ىم ُ �ا ت � � �ف ة ن ن ا ا ق � ض ي�ن ش ا ا ن � ن � م��ر�م�� * ب���ل �ل� ��س�م� �ع ���ه * ا �ثِر ت� �ع��ه � ك �ه� ا �ل� �م� ي������ ا �ل� ���س� � ��ى �ع���ل�ه �و�عر� � م ع � �آ ق ت ّ ق �ن �ف ن ة � ف ة � � ت ا � ت �ن �ز�ي�ن � �ن �م�� �م ا ب������ه ح�د �ه�و �ل� ء ا � ك� ��� ت� ��ى خ���د �م�� ب���ع�ي�ر ب��ي��عر �م�د� � ار��ي� ا � ��د ك ��د ك ل�� ر ت �ت �م َ ْ ف � ت � � ا ��ل�ي�ت�ا ك � �و��تر ج� � ��ا ن� ��ي��ق �و��ل ��ل�ه�ا �ي�م�ا ي���س�ا ��ل�ه�ا �ع ن��ه ��ه�ل ج�� ��م�� �ك�ن ا �ل�ز �و� �م�ن ا �م ار �ت�ه * �ف ك� م ر ي �ج �ج ة ثآ ��ف �ت ّ � ا ا � آ�ج خ ��ا ن ئ ا ��ف � ن ن ئ ا ث ا ه�ن ���د �ي� ك * �م� �ل��ل ار �ه ب� �و�ل��ر�ع�د ا �ل� �ي� ا �ل����س� او � �ور ج�ر ج��� ا ���د � ��� * � �و �ر ك�� � ر��ي����س� �ى �غ ن � ّ� ن ف ق ن �ف ق ة � ق ن ق � ف ت د�ير ���ع�� �ل� ب����ت��ا ��ى � �ري�� �ب�ا � �ل�رب� �م�ن ا �ل��د �ير �ل��� ���لب� ث� ا � �ع��ل�� ت� �م ن��ه * ��ي�ر ا ��ه �لم�ا ك���ا � م � ف�� ض ق ��ت�ق ن خ خ ا �ن � � ح�ا ك�� �ه�ا �ع ن��د ا ��ل �� �ص�م�ه �و �� �� خ��ا �ف� ا ب� ��و ا ��لب� ن�� ت� �م ا � ي� � ا �� ح�ه * ب���ل ��د �رر �وه �و�ج�ي� �ي م ن �ف آ ��ف �ق � ��ل آ �ف �ذ ��� �ب�ه �عر��ض� ا � ح��د � �ه�ل�� ء �م�ن ا ��ه�ل �ب�ل�اد �ن�ا ا � ا � ش����� ء ا �مر�مث���ل �ه� ا �م�م�ا ��ي� ت� �ض �ى �ع� �و�ل ا �ج ف ض ح �آ � ن � ت �غ ح ا � ف��ا ن ������� ت �ت �ه�و �ل�� ء ا �ل ن�� ّ��س�ا ك � ح��ه رد ��ي�ره * ح ار �م * ا ي�� ا لله ا � ا �ل��س��ر �ع��لي��ه �ر م � ي م ع آ �غ :١٨٥٥ 1ول� � ن���ا ء.
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A Dish and an Itch
than among other people, that their chief never stops trying to humiliate them and force them to submit to him, that they never stop grumbling and complaining about him, and that there’s as much envy and competitiveness between him and the other heads of monasteries as there is among the ministers of the world’s countries? Most of them obtain their posts by flattering the ruling emir or the patriarch, and when they feel their terms are approaching their end and fear dismissal, you find them showering people of influence with gifts and presents such as the ordinary people of our land would never give and continuing to do so until they are confirmed in their positions as heads of their monasteries. “If anyone invites their monks—who have to put up with lentils and 1.12.10 abstain from meat—to a feast, you can hear the roar as they swallow, for they dive into their food, gnaw on the bones using their whole mouths, lick their lips by sticking out their tongues like snakes, fill their waterskins to the brim, and drink them dry until their eyes start from their sockets. The thing that I hold most against them, though, is that you can hardly say hello to one of them without his stretching his hand out for you to kiss, and often enough it’s defiled and filthy—how am I to kiss the hand of one who is more ignorant than me and good for nothing? See how many monasteries there are in our land and how many monks each monastery holds—and yet I haven’t come across a single one of them who excels in scholarship or has left behind him anything to boast of. “On the contrary, all you hear of them are things that are a disgrace to the 1.12.11 mind and morals of mankind. I was in the service of Baʿīr Bayʿar for a time and discovered that one of these preachers had acquired as much control over his daughter as a husband over a wife. Among the things he’d ask her were, ‘Do your buttocks shake and your breasts quake?’ What has a monk got to do with the quivering of women’s buttocks and the jiggling of their breasts? Another was head of a monastery. He conceived an affection for a girl in a village near to the monastery and it wasn’t long before she conceived a child by him. Because his brother was highly regarded by the ruler, the girl’s father was afraid to stand up to him and expose him; indeed, it has become an accepted fact in the minds of the ignorant people of our land that it’s a sin to disclose a matter of this sort that might expose one of these socalled ascetics to scandal. I swear by God, concealing such things is a sin, for exposure would deter others!
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ُ ف �� ة أ� � ��ي� ا ك���ل�� � �و ك���ا �ل
ق � � ��ّ آ آ �ق � ن ت � ت � � � ظ �� ّ ك� ف خ � �� ق ت ن ا �مت ا ت ا ح � ه ه � �ل � � ا �� � � ل �� � � � � �� س� ك� ه � � � س � د � و ى م �ي ي � ر � او �عر�� � �ر ج�� ء ا ل�ى � �ير����� �م� � �و� �و��د ��ط�و�ل �مي و ب �ل ّ ت ن�ز � ة �خ� � �ي�ت ت ظ � ا ً ا � ا � �ت�ق ث �ن�ز � �ن ف �ن ت ح�ه�ا ا ��ل�ا ���فم�ه �و ��ل ط� ب� �م � � ح� �ه �� ���� �ه ار �ب� �ل�ص�ل�ح � او �ل �� �و�ى * ��م ا �ل � ����س�ه �م�� �ل�� ��ي ف �ف � �ذ ذ� � ��� � �� ظ ���ع �خ ع ���� � �و ن�� ر �ب��ص�و ت� �ج� �ه�ي�ر * �وك� ��ى ا � �ل�ق �و� * ج�� ���ا ن� ��ي ب� ك�� �ى �ع ن��د � �ل��ك ا �ش���د � ط ي � � و ل ب �ي �ي م ا �� ��آ �ذ �ف � ذ ��ا ن � ��ف � ن � � ه � ��ذ � ��م��� ه � ه ش ا ذ ُ ْت �ة لب� ك� � �ب� �و�ج �ه� ����ي � � ا � ح �ر� �� � �وي�� ر� ا�لم�د ا �م� ا � ك�� � ج���ع�ل �ى م��دي�ل� ا �ل� ى ي س ع ح ث آ� � � �ة � س�ن �آ ش ا ّ�ة قض ّ � � � �ا �ل� ا د ر�ى �م�ا �ه�و * �� � �ل ا �مره ا �ل�ى ا �ن�ه ��ي�����ى ا �ي�ا �م�ا �و�لي��ا �ل�ى �م� ا ر م�ل� ح�� � ���� �ب� م ع ً �ذ ن آ � آ �ف � ف ت ت ّ ة ف �ت ن س�ت ا ا ا ا �ن �م�ن ���س�� ء ا �ل�ا �م �ر ��ى خ���ل�و� ا �� � را �ع�ا �ب� ���ه� ��ع��ر�� �ل�ه ا �ع��را �� �ع�ا �م� * ا �ى �م �ي ��و� م آ � ن ق ذ ذ � �ة �ن ف � �خ �ث��د �ي��ه�ا � �نو�ب�� ت� �ش���عر�ه�ا ا ��ل�ى � ��ل��ك ا �لي ��و� * � او �عر�ف� � خ�ر ك� ���ا � ��د � �ه ب� ا �ل�ى ر �و مي�� ا � ت�� م � ��ا ن �مغ� �فَّ �ا �ف � �خ � ��ا ن� � ن��ا � �ف ا �ش���ه ��ث����ا ��ه ا ��ل �ه��ا ��ن ���ة �ع�� ���ط � ��ق ت��ه ���ف ا ��ل��د � ��� ��س� � ڡ � � � � ك ل �وك�� � �ي م ي ر ب ي ب ر ب ي ل�ى ر�ي ى �ير ويو� �ق ّ �ُ آ ث � ن ذ� � ح� ا �ل�م��ن�ز ��ل � ن ��ا ن� �ص�ا � ا�لم�ل�� �ة * �ف ك� �ه�ا ه �ع�ن � �ل��ك * �� �لم�ا را �ى ا � �ج��مي�� ���سي�����س �ي � ب �ي م ع ا ني�ن � ا ��ش ا ن ئ� ت ا �ن � ا ا �� �� ن ا � � � ة ن ا ن �ه� �م ا �لب�� �ب� ا ل�ى ا � ك ل��رد ��ي �� �ل ا �ل�ى ا �ل ار �ه ب� ��ي �� �م�و� �ع �ري� ��� �ل� ��ى ر �و�مي��� � او �عي�� � ا �م � أ �غ ُ آ � تّ �ا ن � ف ��ف ا ����ست ت ْت � �ح�ّ ا ��ل ح�ل�ا ��ل � او ��ل � � � � � � ل� ا � حا � � ك � ل � � ر � �م�ع�ا * � � � ص ه � � ي ي���س��ر ��س� �و ���ه�م ��ي�ر �م�ل� ء ا � ك�� � ر ي ر ب � م و ر ل م ع � اۤ �ُ ّ ا �ن � ا ف ا ن � ا �ت ف � ا �خ ف ا ن �ظ � � � ����ثً�ا �م ن��ا ف���ق��ا * ا � ��ا �ه�ل�ا وج �� �� �� ر ا �ل�ى �ه�و �ل� ا �ل�عب�� د �م ا �ل�عب�� د �� ���ك �ل� ر�ى �ي� �ه�م ا �ل� ب ي �� ّ ا ��� � ف ن �ا ا ا �ئ ق ا � د ا ��ل�ص�ا ��ل ن �ه� ��م ّ � �ه�م ك��� � حر�م �ع�لي� � ب��ي�� � له�م * �ل� �ب� ��س �ه�م * ا �م� ا لعل��م � � و �م� � ��� * � �و��د ر �و ج��و ح � ق ة ��م ة ��ا � �ز �ة ا ��خل �� ش � � ��م��س��ي�ن نا �ف � َّ ا �ن ة ت � � ا ا ��ى ا �لر�هب�� �ي��� �� ��ط�و�ع�ا �ل� �ب� ��س ا ��م� ��هى ��ط �ر�ي���� ح�م�ود� * �و�ل��ك�ن ب����ر ��ط جم و �ت ن � ن �ن � ة � ف ن ف �ف ��س�ن �� * � او � �ي� �ك�و� ا �ل��د ا خ���ل�و� � ���ا �ئ��ل � او�لم�ع�ا ر�� * ي� ش��� غ����ل�و� �ب�ا �ل�عل��� �ه�ا �م�ن ا ��ه�ل ا � �ل� ض� ي� م � ضّ آ � ا �ف � � ا خ ق � ات ف ت �ه��ذ ��ي ب� ا �م�ل�� ء ا خ� ��و ن� �ع��ل� � ك� �وا �ن��ه� �و م� �ه� * �يوح � ع � � � م��ا ر�م ا �ل� ��ل�ا �� � او �ل� ���ص�ا �� ر � بو�� � � ى م م � �ف ن �� ��ا �ل��م�ز ا ��ا ا ��ل � ��ت� ا �ل�م��ف ي��د�ة �ون�� جه �و ن� �� �ل�ق �و�م�ه� ا �ل�م ن��ا �ه � ا �ل�م�ودّ �ي��ة ا ��ل�ى ا ��خل ل�� ح�مي��د�ة * �و� ��و� �ل �و� ا ك �� ��ي�ر ب ي �ي ب ي م �ج آ � � � � � ن � � � � �ز � ه�ا �ل ا �ل���ذ�ي�ن �ل�ا ��ع �ف�� ن� �ش�� �ا �م�ن ا �ل��د ��ن ��ا � ا �� �لف��ل�ا � � ا � �ف�ل � � ا �ل� ا ا ث � � ��ح� * �ل� �م���ل �ه�و �ل� ء ا �جل � و ح و و وج ي �ي ر و �ي ت َ � ّ ّ ّ � �ن ة � ح�م��س�ا ���ف� � ا ��ل �ث�ا �ث�� * � �ن�ا �ه���ك د �ل��ل�ا �ع�� �ج� ه��له� ا �� ��س�ا �ل ت� ا �ش���د �ه� � ��س�و�ى ا �لت��ق� ش � ل و و � ى � ي ر ي � ى م م آ � � � خ ظ ا ن ��ع�� ��ن ا �� �لق��ا �م �� �ف ظ ق � ا ا ن � ���� نّ��ه ا ج��ل ل�� ب� ��و��س * � �و �ر ا � �ل�� �م�و� ��ا �م�و��س * � او خ�ر �����ه ا � ك� �ص * � �ي ي ر �ى �و س تخ ّ �ّ ا ف�ت ن �ك� ن� ��ل�ا �م�ن ا ��ه� ا ��ل��د ��ن ��ا � ��ل�ا �م�ن ف�ب��ا د ر �ي�ا �ص�ا � �و� ل ي و ���ل��ص �م � �ه�م �ه�د ا ك ا لله � او �ل� ���و حِ 186
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“I know another, too, who came to our village pretending to be at death’s 1.12.12 door. To show how righteous and pious he was, he wore his sleeves long and had pulled his cowl down till almost nothing could be seen but his mouth and beard. The first thing he did was to set himself up as a preacher to the local laity, and he took to preaching and sermonizing and uttering warnings of coming judgment in a basso profundo, weeping as hard as he could the while, tear ducts overflowing, for he had put something pungent, I know not what, on the handkerchief with which he wiped his face. Eventually he ended up spending days and nights in seclusion with a pretty young widow of the princely class, justifying himself by saying that she was making plenary confession to him, meaning starting from the time when her breasts swelled and her hair sprouted and going all the way up to that very day. “And I know of another who went to Rome. Being a simpleton, he would 1.12.13 go to bed in his monk’s habit just as he did at his monastery and thus dirty the sheets, so the owner of the house forbade him to do so. When the monk discovered that all the priests of Rome, from the cardinals to the monks, slept naked, with nothing to cover their shame but a thin linen sheet, he renounced his faith and started declaring that everything, sinful or not, was permitted. Observe, then, how none of these ‘contemplative’ worshippers of God turns out to be anything but base and hypocritical or ignorant and hysterical. A righteous man among them is rarely to be descried and with regard to scholarship they’re all equally deprived. “There’s nothing, nothing at all, wrong with becoming a monk of one’s 1.12.14 own free will; it is a praiseworthy path—on condition that one is over fifty and that those who join the monastic ranks be people of virtue and knowledge who occupy themselves with scholarship and improving the writing skills of their brethren and acquaintance, spurring them to noble morals and the adoption of praiseworthy qualities, writing useful books and laying down for their people the roads that lead to good fortune and salvation, triumph and a happy termination, unlike those ignoramuses who know nothing but mortification of the flesh and ragged clothes. To demonstrate their ignorance it’s enough to say that I asked the most zealous of them to lend me the Qāmūs and he thought I said jāmūs, while another thought I said kābūs, and a third qāmūṣ. Set to, then, my friend, and have done with them: God guide you right, or you’ll end up as a man of neither this world nor the next, for
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ُ ف �� ة أ� � ��ي� ا ك���ل�� � �و ك���ا �ل
آ ذ � � غ� ت � س�ت ي�ن س�ن �ة � ش ا ��ه� ا ��ل�� خ�ر�ة * ف��ا ن� د�ي�ن ا ج��ل ��ا ��ه�ل �ع ن��د ا لله �لي����س ب�����ى * � او � ا ب�ل�� ا �ل�� �� �� � ل َ َ ّ ت � � �ف � � � � ة �ف ���ل�� * ق��ا �ل ا ��ل��ك �� ا �ل��د �مت��ا ��ي ��ف� ا �ل خ� �ه�ا ��هى ا �لر�هب��ا ��ني��� �ب��ي�ن �ي��د �ي��ك * ف���ق��ا �ل �ل�ه ك� �ير ى � ص ع ذً ف ن ق� ف ف��ا ��س�ا �ع�د ك �ع��ل � ح�م��ل�ه * ق��ا ��ل �م�ا ��ل�ى ��س� �ى �م�ا �ت ار ه �ع��ل ّ ى * ��ا �ل ��ا �م���ضِ ب�� ن��ا ا � ا ��ا � و � �ى ف �ف � � � �خ ا �� ا ن ا � ا ن ا �� ن �� �و� �ع��ل� ا �ل�ص��ل�و�ة * ��ر ج��ا �م�ن �ب�ا ب� ا �ل��د �ير �و�ل� �ي��عل��� �ب��ه�م�ا ا � لر�هب�� � �ل� � �ع� ك ح��د * ى م م � ق� � ق � ا نّ�أ � ف ا ا ق ا ف� ا ح��ه ب�خ� �و ج��ه �م�ن �ر ��ق���ة ا �ج��ل � ��ه�ل �و��ا �ل �ل�ه * �ل�ع�مر�ى ��ل�م� ب���ع�د ا ��لي��ل� �ه�� ا � �ل�� ر�ي� �� �ص� � ب ر ب � ��ن ت ّ ة َُ ����ل��ة �ع�د �� خ���ّل� ت ا ه��ا ا �و ��ا ��ل ����ل ت� ا ك� �ل�و ك��� ك� ����ل�م�ا ا ك� � حر�ى را �هب��� ا �و س �ص� را �هب�� ا �و ر �و�ي�� ب ب آ َ ن َ�� �ن �ف�ج�ز � ُ َ � �ة �� ت ن � ا � � خ ���ل ا �ل��د �هر �غ��ي�ره � ا ه�� ل�ودد � ا � �ل� � �ك � �ى ا لله ا �ل��د �ير ��ي�را * و � ا �ك��ل �ب��د ��ى * ر �وي�� ب
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A Dish and an Itch
God doesn’t give a fig for the religion of the ignorant. Then, when you reach sixty, you’ll find the monastic life awaiting you.” “How am I to get free?” the man asked him. “If you have belongings in the 1.12.15 monastery,” said the Fāriyāq, “I’ll help you carry them.” “I have nothing but what you see upon me,” said the other. “Let’s be off, then,” said the Fāriyāq, “for the monks are presently occupied with their prayers,” and they set off through the door of the monastery, and no one noticed. When they had gone a little way, the Fāriyāq congratulated his friend on his escape from the noose of ignorance and told him, “I swear, if I were to free a monk or a novice, or at least a nun or a novice nun, every time I ate lentils, I’d want to eat nothing else so long as I should live, even if the lentils consumed my body. May God reward the monastery well!”
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ا �� ��ل�ف��ص ا ��ل��ث�ا ��ل ث� �ع ش �� �ل �ر �ڡ ق ا �ة � �م��� ��م� ي � ا �� ��ل�ف��ص ا ��ل��ث�ا ��ل ث� �ع��ش ا �و �م�ق��ا �م��ة ي �ڡ �ل �ر � �� ت � ن ن ق � ���ل�ف� ا �ل���جس �� ت� �ع��ل� ّ �بر�ه��ة �م�ن ا ��ل��د �ه �م�ن �غ��ي�ر ا ن� ا �ت ك� � ح�� بس����ى ���سي�� ت� ��د �مض� �� � او ل�ج�� ن�ي����س � او ر ى ع ذ فا ن � ف ا ّ �ن ن �خ ت ق � ت ��ف �ذ � ف �ن �غ ذ �� � �ل�ك * ��ل� �ب��د �م ا � ا � �ب��ر �يرح�ى �ى �ه� ا ا � �ل���ص�ل �� ��ه ا �و�ل�ى �ب�ه �م ��ي�ره * ا � �ه�و �� ف �ذ ُ ��َ �ذ ع��� � ا ق��� �م�ن ا ��ل ا ��� � ش ���ث �م�ن ا ��لث��ا ���ن � ش ع���ر * �و � �ك� ا ا �ف���ع�ل ي ڡ �ه� س �ب��ه� ا � �ك ���ل ����ص�ل �ي ��و � و ا ك�� ر ى ر ل ر م بع ف �ق � ة � ف � ا ��� � ف�غ ���ت � ا ة ف ت� ن لع�دد ح�تى ا �ر �م�ن ك��ب�ى ا �ل� بر���ع�� * ����ك�و� �ج��م��ل�� ا�لم�ق��ا �م�ا ت� �ي�م�ا ا ��� ظ�ن ا بر���ع�ا * ��ا ��و�ل َّ ة � َ َْ �ڡ � ة خ ف ة ���� �ن ث ا ق ا � َ �ق ت � ا �� � �لي���ل�� ��ا �ي��� ا �ل��ك�وك� ب� * �ب�ا د �ي�� ا �ل�هي��د ب� * ح�د ��س ا �ل�ه� ر��س ب� �ه�� �م �� �ل ا ِر�� ي ف � �َ � ة � �ذ َ ْاَ � �ن � َُ � ة �َرب� * ج�� �رب� * ا �ل�ى ا � ��ط� �و��ل�� ا �ل�� ن�� ب� * �م�ل� �ى م ا � ل�� ل�� ��ع��ل ت� ا �ن�ا � �ع��ل� ظ �� �هر�ى �مر� � � � ع ك ك � ل و � � ى م ى ي ت ّ ��ش��خ ا ن ا ا ا ت �آ آ خ ن�خ ن خ خ �خ ّ ت � ث � � �ج�ن�ب�ى ا �ر�ى * � او ���ص�ور �� �ص� �� �ع��س� ا �م� م ������ � � � �� � ا * � ا � � �ه � �ى ي ب� و ر ي ر ر و ر �ي � �وم � ا * ف��ا ن� ا ��لت��ص�ّ �ف�م�ا ق��ا ��ل� ا � ��ع ث� �ع�� �ف���ع� �م�ا �ت �غ� � ا ��لن ��ف��� ف���ه * � �� ن�� ش��� ���ط ا ��ل� �م�ا � ك ى ور ي و �ي ب سي �س��ر ل�ى ل ر ب وي ُ �� ت �غ �ف � ا ��ف�ت ��ف ��تث ا �ؤ ��� � ا � ا ت � تش ت ه��ه * �و�م� ذ� ��ل��ك ��م�ا ا ك��� ���ا * �و �ل� � ��مى �� � ب� ط�و �ل� �و �ل� ح��ل ت� ��م ض� ��� ب � �ص�و ا �لي��ه �و������ ي ع ح � ن ُ َّ � ��ق ا �ن ا � � � � �ن � ن َ ق ���� ���ا * �وك���ا � ي� �خي���ل ��ل� ا ن� ا ��ه�ل ا �ل�ا ر��ض� ك� م �� د � له� ر �ود �و � �وح� �ه� ا ِر�� * �عر ض� ى � � ب ي �ي م م ف �ن �ف ن �ك� ن� � او �ن�ا د �و�ن��ه� َق��� �لق * ف����ق �م ت� ا ��ل�ى ا ��ل ش��� ا � � � ح��س�و ت�� 1م ن��ه � او � �ج��مي�� ع ج��ي�را ��ى ��ى ��س��و رب م ِ� ّ ف �ف �ّ غ أ ا� شّ � ���ا ن��م�ا ك� � �وه * ك� ح��س�و�ة * �ل��� �ت��ك ا �ل�ا � �ف� ���ا ن�� ت� � �فه� �وه * ف��ا ف���ق� ت� ��ى ا ��س� �و � ح� �ل * �و���ر م � � � ة � � ب���لب��ا ��ل * � او �ل�ه�م�و� ق��د ا ��ن ث��ا ��ل ت� �ع��ل ّ �م�ن �ك� ���ل ج��ا ن�� ب� * � او �ل�ا �ف ك� ��ا ر �مت� ��ط�ا �ير� �ع��ل�ى �ك���ل �م�ق��ا ر ب� � ى م � ة ح��سو�. :١٨٥٥ 1
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2،13،1
Chapter 13
A Maqāmah, or, a Maqāmah on “Chapter 13”
A while has passed now since I tasked myself with writing in rhymed prose
1.13.1
and patterned period, and I think I’ve forgotten how to do so. I must therefore put my faculties to the test in this chapter, which is worthier than the rest—because it’s higher in number than the twelfth and lower than the fourteenth—and I shall continue to do so in every chapter branded with this number till I’ve finished my four books. The total number of maqāmahs in it will therefore, I believe, be four. Thus I declare: Faid al-Hāwif ibn Hifām in lifping tones:219 “Sleepless I lay on a night on which the stars were concealed, the clouds revealed, a night never-ending, full of worries to anguish trending. Now on my back to sleep I tried, now on any other side, placing before my eyes the image of a person drowsing or yawning or snoring, or of another into a drunken stupor falling. Imagination, they say, is conducive to the doing of the thing for which you burn, and stimulates the achievement of that for which you yearn, despite which sleep to my eyes not a drop of salve applied, not a yawn spread wide my mouth, from top to bottom or from side to side. Meseemed the people of the earth, without exception, were fast asleep, while I alone among them all no repose could reap, that all my neighbors were at rest, while I alone remained distressed. So I arose to take a nip and took indeed a sip, but all this brought was an oscitation, something barely more than a lapse of attention, after which I awoke once more quite overwrought, in a desperate agony of thought, cares thronging toward me from every side, my worries ranging far and wide.
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1.13.2
�ف ق ا ة ق ا ة �ف � ف �ث ا � ث ش �ي� �م��� �م�� ا �و�م��� �م�� �ي� ا � �ل���ص�لا �ل�� �ل� �ع���ر
ا �ن ا��ن ت ف ّ �ك�ن �م � � ت� ف���ه �م�ن �ا ن � �خ ���ط ب��ب��ا ��ل�ى �ك� �و �جم ���ل �م�م�� �و� ��ا ن�� ب� * �ف ك� ح�ا �ل * �و��ي�ع� �ود ��ى �م� ك��� � ك ��ر ي �� � ي ر ّ � � حوا ��ل * �مر�ة �م ن���ذ ا � ا �ل�ا � حوا ��ل * ف���ل�م�ا �ع��ل�م ت� ا ن� ا �ل ن��و� ق��د �ن��د �عن��ى � او ن� ��ت ن��ا �و�م ت� * � او �ن�ه � � م � � ت � ف � ن � ت � ��ل�ا ���د �م�ن �ت ��ق� ا �ل�ف� ا ن� ا ذ� � ن ا ا ع� ت� � او � ق��ا �و�م ت� * �م�دد � �ي��د �ى ا �ل�ى ك��� ب� ا �� ط� �ل� �ي��ه * �ج ب ر رب ع ُ ف ن ن ّ � �ت � � � � ا ��ن ه ��فت�ن ا ت ق ن ق ن �هن��ى ب��ب��ع��ض� مع� ي�� * � � �و�ل � ا �رب� �م�ا �و�ص�ل� ا �لي��ه �ي��د �ى * �و���ل ت� ا � �ل�م �ي ��م��ى �ي���ب � �ز ن ة ��ل � � ��ت� �ع�� �غ��� ه ���ف َخ���َل��د �ى * � ا ذ� ا ��ه ك��ت� ��ا ب� �م� او ��� ا � � او �ن�ا �غ��ي�ر �م�و�ثر ا � ح��د ا � ك ح�ا �لت���ي�ن * ل�� ب ل�ى ي ر ى و ب �ز ن ة � �آ � تي�ن �� � ش خ � � � � � � ُ شْ �نُ ْ �ة � �و�م ار ��� ا �ل� �ل��� * ل�ل�� �ي�� � ا �ل�ا �م�ا � ا �ل�ع�ا �ل� ا �ل�ع�ا ��م�ل * ا � �لف��ا ض����ل ا �� ك� ل��ا ��م�ل * اب�ى ر����د ��هي�� م م � � � ت� � � � ة �ف � ح�ز � * ا �ل� ش ح��د �م�ن ��ا ب� �ل� ي�� ب � ب��ن � م����ه�ور �ب�ا �لب��ل�ا �غ��� ��ى ا �ل ن���ثر � او �لن�ظ �� �س�ق��ه ا �لي��ه ا � � * �و�ه�و ك�� � م م م � ا ف ��ا ت �ن ال� �ّي�ن ف ق �ز ن ف ي�ن � ت �ؤ � �ن �� ره �ي��ه ك�� ��� �م جم ا �ل�م�و�� �لف���ي�ن * �و�ل� ي ج� ��ل�� * �����د � او � �ي��ه �ب�� � ح�ا �ل ��ى ب��� ��س ا�ل�مرء � �و�يع�م�ه * ب م ن �ذ ّ ّ َ �� �ن ه �� �ف �ا �ل� ف ض ن ح�ز ا ا ا ن �ور �و� ح�ه �و�ه�م�و�م�ه * �و�م�� ���ع�ه �و�م� ��� ره * � او � ا ��ه �و�م��س� ره * �م�� ك��و� �ط��ل * ا �ى �� ا ث ��ش � خ ا �ق ن ق � ا ���ع ذ� ��ل��ك ���ف ���د � ��ل��ي�ن �مت��ق��ا ���ل��ي�ن * � ا ��س��ل� ���ي�ن �� �� ا � �ي��ص�ي�ر �ك�ه�ل� * ��م ي ى ج و و بو ب ح�ل� * �و��د ج� �ل ّ � � �ف ����ل��ي�ن * ا �ل�ا ا �ن�ه �ل�م�ا ك� ���ا ن� ا �ل��ش �ي�� خ� ق��د ��س ا لله ��س َّره * �ور�ف�� ��ى ا �ع��ل� �ع��ليّ���ي�ن �م�ق��ا �م�ه �مت��ف��ا ض� ى ع ذ � ا ظ� �ه �ة ا ة ة فة ة ة � ق ض�ي �� * �� �� ض�ي �� * �و��س�ع�ا د� � او �ي��� * �و �م� �م� � �هر �ل�ى � ا �عي�� ش����� را � �و��د ره * �ع��ل�ى �م� �ي� �� � ّ ت ق ّ ش ّ �� �غ ح�ت ج� � ���ط �ف� ا ��ل��ل���ذ ا ت ا ح �� �ة ��ا ��ل ن����س���ة ا ��ل� خ���ر�ه�ا * � ل � � � � � ا ا �س� � � � � � � � ��� * � ع � ه � � و ل�ى ي ر �ل ر ي و ب ب ى ي ى رح ر � � � � � �ذ � � خ� ف ا ف ن �ك� ن �ع�ن ا � ف�ل���ع � ا ّ ا �ن�ه �ز�ع� ا ن� ا �ل��ل�� �ة �ت�� �ر �ل�ا ��ي�ق�� �م ن��ه �� و �لت��ص�ور �م�ع�ا * ��ل�ا �� ا �ل� �ل� ��ا � ا � ف�ل� ك ب � � و ل م م ع ن ��ا ن ذ ث خَ ا ت � ه ه�زَّته ن ق ْ ش ��� �ة ���ط � �م�ا ��ل ��ه�ا �م�و���ع�ا * � او ��ه ك�� � ا � ا ا �م�ت���ل �� ب� �ود ا �ي��د ا �عب � �ه� � �و��د ا عب�� * � �� � �و رب َ ��ن ت ت ��ف �� ا ��ف �ذ ال� ّ ق � ����ه * �وك� ���� ك� �ب��ه * ب��ي��د ا �ى ا �ر���� �ى ك��ل� �م�ه �ى �ه� ا م ��سرره �و�مركب� �� ل���ل�ه �و�من� ك �ح�ل * �و���ل ت� ب �ي ت �� ّ ش ّ � � � �ن ذ � ن ن � ة ا ت � ف �ف �خ ا ا ا ل� �ن � � � ل��ك�ل �م�و�ل�� �م �ه� �و� � او � ج��� * �و� �ل�ك ا ��ى �لم� ���ص�ور� �� ح� � ا لله �ل� ���د � � �س�� �� ب ب ل ��ص � ف �ن ق ا �ل�مت�ه�ّ � * � ا ��ل ن��ا �ع�� � ا �ل�م�ت�ث�ا ��ئ� � ا ت�ن � ُ غْ �ن ن � ّ و �ن�ا �م� �ا �و� * �ل� �ي��� �ى ا �لت��ص�ور �ع�ن ا � �ل���ع�ل � ���ي�را * سو � وم و ب م م � ا � ت ف � ��ذ ة � ا ق � ا � ا��ث � �� ا ذ ��ن ذ �و �ل� �و ج��د � �ي��ه �ل� � �ل� ��لي��ل� �و �ل� ك���ي�را * �ع��ل�ى ا �ى ا � �ه ب� ا ل�ى �م� � �ه ب� ا �لي��ه ب���ع��ض� � � � ن � �ذ ة � � � ن ق � ئ �ه � �ق ة الجم ��ا �ن��ي�ن * �م�ن ا � �ل�� � ا �ل ن��و� �ل�ا �ت��ك�و� �ب���ل�ه �و �ل�ا �م�ع�ه �و �ل�ا ب���ع�ده �ل��ل ن��ا ��م��ي�ن * �و �ى ع��د� م ّ � � �ن � � � ا ف ف ن ن ظ � ا ا ا ا ا ا س�ن ح�� �م�� له� ب���ل��س� ���ه� � او � ك� �� ر�ه� * �و �ل� �ب� �� � ���ه� � او �� � �ه� � ط��ا ��ئ�عي���ي�ن * �ل�ا ي� ك �ل��ل�� ��� ر�ه� * � � ب م م م م م 192
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A Maqāmah, or, a Maqāmah on “Chapter 13”
All things possible and impossible to my mind occurred, every situation over which I’d ever worried (if only once and many years before) recurred. “When I grasped that slumber had escaped me, even though sleep I feigned, and that I’d have to witness dawn whether I resisted or was resigned, I stretched out my hand for a book to read, with the following hope, that, ‘If it doesn’t make me sleep, it may at least engage my attention with some trope.’ I picked up the first thing to come to hand, feeling no preference for any particular work, and what should it be but Kitāb Muwāzanat al-ḥālatayn wa-murāzanat al-ālatayn (The Book of Balancing the Two States and Comparing the Two Straits)220 by the Honored Shaykh and Productive Scholar of Perfect Virtue, Abū Rushd ‘Brains’ ibn Ḥazm,221 whose rhetorical skills in both prose and verse have provoked widespread enthusiasm. This is a book such as no author before him ever hatched nor any writer, however distinguished, ever matched, for in it he compares man’s two states of wretchedness and leisure, of joy and care, of gain and loss, of sorrow and pleasure, from childhood till he arrives at maturity, then desiccated senility, all set out in facing tables using a columnar system that comparison enables. However, the shaykh (God sanctify his soul and elevate his rank and worth to the highest point above the earth) living, as it seems to me, a life of goodly weal, with abundant fortune and energetic zeal, gave undue weight to pleasure and failed to treat life’s evils in equal measure. He even asserts that pleasure is to be had from both deed and thought—unlike pain, in which thinking is of no import—claiming that were he to picture himself cavorting with a ripe young wench, and she with him, he’d be so shaken by ecstasy he’d be entirely carried away, chest and flank, bed and bench. However, I doubted his words upon this point, thinking to myself, ‘Glory be! Every writer, however great, must on occasion be out of joint’: in my case, when I pictured the drunkard, the drowser, and the yawner, as I lay there trying to sleep, all that picturing didn’t compensate for the actual thing by even a jot,222 and I found no pleasure in it, either a little or a lot. I tend to the belief of a certain madman that the pleasure of sleep is not felt by the sleeper, either while, after, or before it prevails—a knot those who hold to the humoral theory223 remain incapable of untying by talking or thinking, or even with their teeth and their nails.
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1.13.3
�ف ق ا ة ق ا ة �ف � ف �ث ا � ث ش �ي� �م��� �م�� ا �و�م��� �م�� �ي� ا � �ل���ص�لا �ل�� �ل� �ع���ر
ت �خ �غ��� ا ن� �ع��ا �ة ا �ل�م� ن �ف ��ا ن ت �ن ��ل�ع�� ا ��ل � ك� ���ل� �ع�ق��� ا ��ل ن��ا ق��د ا ��ل � ة � ث خ� ح� � ب��ي�ر بر ير ل �ص�� ك�� ��� �م ا ل�م �و �م�� بحي�� ب ن ت � � ّ � ف �ف � � ف ا ق ت ن �ظ � ّ �� ح��د ا � �ل�ق �و�ل��ي�ن �ك� ���ل � �و�ت �ر��ك ��ى � حر�ى ا � �ه�م�ا �و�ع�اد ا �ل�ى ك���لي��ل�ا * حر�ير * ���ل�م� ا ��ط��ل��� ا �ل� �� ر �ي� ب ّ � � ت � �ذ � � ��ا �ل * �م�ن �� �م�ف���ل�و �ل�ا * �ع�ز �م ت� �ع��ل� ا ن� ا ���س� ���ل� �ه� ا ا �ل�ا �ش�� ك� ح��د ا �لن ��ق��د �ور ج� � او �ع�م��ل ت� � جى ى ع � � ��ن �ف���س ��ا ا ن ���د � �ن�ا ��ل ت �ن � ا ف ���ع� ذ� � � ا ��ل��د ا ���ة � ا ��ل � ف ق � ا د ��ى ا �ل� ��س���ا ر * ���دا �ل * ������ل ت� ي ڡ �ى �مك� � ي ى ب �ض� وى ر ي و ج ���ذ � � � ن ��ا ن �ك�ن ��ا �� �لق� � �م ن� �م ���ط ا ن �� ���ط ��ئ ��ن ��ل ا � � ك�� �ل�ك �ي��ك�و� �م ار �وح�ى �ع�لي��ه ا د �ى ا ج�� ر * �وك�� � ي���س�� ب رب �ى ر � ي ر ْ ُْظ� ن ف �ق ف���ق �ت ه ض���� ة ����ل�ه � او د ��ه �ع��ل ���ط� ��ل ��ل � حو� ��و�م�ه �ع��ل�ى حِ���ل�ي�ت�ه * �و��ي�ع �����م�و� �� ض� �ص�د � ح�ي�ت�ه * �� � ب �ى و ْ ا َ � �ة ف �ِ�زّ ة �تش ق ق ا ��لن ى ا �ل�ا ��س�ت ب�� ش����ا ر * �ف ار � ت��ه ذ� ا ب� ك� �ه�ا ر * �ب� د � �� ت� ���و�� * ���عر ض� ���ل�� �تر �و�� * � بو � � � �ي �� � � ة ف� ن �ظ �� � �ف�ت ن �ف ة ا �ع��ل ه ا ��ل � ق ق �ن �� ���د �و�ل��ي�ن �و���ل ت� ا � �ى ��ى �ه��ذه ا � �ل�� ي�� ج ض�ي �� * �و�ل�ك ا �ل� ج�ر�م ر ب� ا �لب��ر�ي�� * �� ر ش ث � ُ ث ذ � � ف� ح ّرك را ��س�ه * �و ج� �ه�م�ا �� � ���ع�ل �ير� م��� �� ي� ش�����ك�و ��ن�ع�ا ��س�ه * �وق��ا �ل �ل�ى �م�ا �تر�ج��مت��ه * ا � ي� م م َّ � � � �ت � �� � ا ت �ف � � ت ن ���ا �ن�ا ا ا ا غ�ز � � ت ا ل� � � ه �ن �� �م��ه * �م� ل �ل� �ي��ك�ن م�م ��س�م� ا �ل� س � حوا �ه�م� * �و�ل�وك� � ح�� �م�� ا �ه�م� * �و �ل� د ر��ي� �� م و ى جع � ذ � ن � � ة ا ���ة ف� �ق � ت ق � � ة � � ا ا �ن � ّ ب���عب�� ر� رك�ي���ك��� * ك�� � � �ل�ك �ع��ل� ا ��س��ه�ل �م ا ج�ل ���ل�و��س �ع��ل�ى �ه��ذه ا �ل� ر�ي��ك� * ���ل� ��د ى خّ ��ف � �ن ق � �ف ا �ز ��ف ق ف � ا ��ل�عل�� � ا ��لثَ�قْ �ف � �ن �ت ق ا �ره ي ڡ � و � �� * � ���د �م�ه �ى ا �ل�ص�� * � �و ����ص �م �ع���ل�ه �و � �ه�م�ه �م� ا د �ى م �� ف ا ��س�ت �ع � �نّ � ���ث � ح �ق ا َ َ ا � ا ذ � � ا � ا �م�ع�� ا �� ا ن ا ن � ��ل � ح�ي�ت�ه �وك��م�ه * ��ل� �م�ل ب��ع�ده ا ك�� ر ا �ل�� ��س �م�� �و�ه�و ج�� * �و م� � �ل�ك �ل� ل� ل�صب��ي�� � م � ذ �� ذ � فة �ن �ڡ � َ ٱت ف ��� ا �ل� جه ��ا * �وك���ا � � ا �لب���ل��د �م�نِ � ���ص�� �ب��ه��ذه ا �ل�ص���� * �و�ه�و �م� � �ل�ك � �و كب�� ر ي ف ا ذ ق ا ع �فّ � �ع ف ة ف ق ح��ّل�ه * � ا �� �لق�� ت ق �ص�د ت� ��م �ر��� * ���� � �ع��لي��ه ا�لم��س�ئ��ل�ه * �� � ا �ب�ه �� � �ي�� �ص �� ب��ي��د �ي�ه * � و �و�ج ي م ن �و ار ر��ئ ب���عي�ن��ي��ه * � �و ��ق � ��ل �� �لق��د ��س�ق� ���ط ت� �ع��ل ا ��ل � �خ ب��ي�ر * � او �هت��د��ي ت� � ا بر �ى �ب��ص�ي�ر * ا � �ي و �ي �ى َ � � ّ � � ئ ف ن �ت �ق � ت ي�ن �ص�د �ق� � ا �ص� ���د �و�ل��ي�ن د �و ن� ج���ل�د� � * �ف � ا ل� �ش����� ا � ��عر�� ا �ى ا � �ل �و�ل�� ا رج� � * � او � �زِ نِ ج وح ح �ت �ف � ف �خ � ذ ا ا ��ث ن ا ن ف����ق ف � � � ت � �من ت ا ا �ه�م� � �ه�وا �ل ار ج� � �م��ي�ز ا ن� * ��م�ا رج�� ل��ا ب� ي �ڡ ا � ك�� � �م� ا � ��� �ل� ي ڡ � �� � * �م� � � ح ح � � � � � �ن � ن غ ض��ا �ن�ا� 1ن�ا د �م�ا * �و�ل� نع� ت� ا �ل�ا ر�ق� ا ��ل���ذ �ى ك� � ا ن� ا ك�� ���ا ن� ا �ل��سب�� ب� ي �ڡ م ع��ده � ��و ن� �لم�ع��ل � � � � م � ب ى � ذ �ا� � ��ا � * � ��س�م�ع ت م��ا �ل�م�ا * ���ع�د ا ن� �ق ا ت� �ڡ �غ ت� ا �ل�صب��ي��ا ن� � ك� � �م�ن � �و�ى ا �ل� �لب��ا ب� * و ي ب � ��ي�ر ك�� ب ر ن �� ب���ا �. �� :١٨٥٥ 1غ���ض
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4،13،1
5،13،1
A Maqāmah, or, a Maqāmah on “Chapter 13”
“This said, the words of the compiler of these tables are of so full of know
1.13.4
ledge and wisdom as to bemuse the expert critic, and reduce any maven, in the investigation of either argument, to confusion. After, then, I’d turned on them my eye’s gaze, and it had returned aglaze, and I’d applied to them the blade of careful examination, only for it to come back full of indentation, I determined to throw light on this problematique by consulting one known for his skill in debate and insightful critique, saying to myself, ‘Just as my hand fell upon the nearest tome, so let my next choice be the neighbor closest to home.’ Living near me was a metropolitan whose adornments, worth, and culture by his congregation were lauded and cheered at a length equal to his beard. I went to see him at midday, all ready to rejoice, and found him wearing a buckle to amaze, a habit to set the heart ablaze. Setting before him the two tables, I said, ‘Rule for me on this case, and may you be rewarded by God, Lord of the Human Race.’ He looked at them, then nodded off and started blinking, complaining he was too sleepy to do much thinking, and telling me something to the effect that since he wasn’t one of those whose ambitions ever rose to rhyming in prose, he ‘hadn’t caught their implication or grasped their signification, though, had they been penned in hackneyed terms, I vouch, I’d have got them as easy as sitting on this couch!’ “I thought, ‘His advancement up the ranks of the clergy has retarded his scholarship and erudition, and the longer his beard and sleeves have grown the shorter have become his intellect and intuition. Let me enquire then of the silliest and least intelligent of men, and who other should that be but the one who teaches children their ABC?’ In the town was one who, despite his pride and arrogance, had, for these qualities, won renown. Off I set, then, to where he was and put to him the case, and he stood up, clapped his hands, rolled his eyes, and said, ‘Guided by sound judgment, you’ve arrived at the right place. If you wish to know which of the two arguments carries the greater weight, is the more correct and accurate, place the two columns (minus the binding) in a scale. The one that dips will be the weightier; on that all men will agree without fail.’ I left him, then, in fury and regret, cursing the sleeplessness that had driven me to ask a teacher of young boys, even after I’d read in books on more than one occasion, and heard from men of perspication, that they were the most feeble of mind among God’s creation, the most to
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1.13.5
�ف ق ا ة ق ا ة �ف � ف �ث ا � ث ش �ي� �م��� �م�� ا �و�م��� �م�� �ي� ا � �ل���ص�لا �ل�� �ل� �ع���ر
��ث ف �ن � ف � �ف خ ق ا ق ا ا �ن��ه� ا ��� خس �ه�هم� �ه�م * � او ��س� � �� ��� �ل� ا لله �ع���ل� * � او ك���ر�ه�م �ج� �ه�ل� * � او ب���ع�د �ه�م �ع ا � �ل � م ّ � � � ذ �ف ة ف � � �ق ق � � �ق � ت ا ت �ن � � � � �ل�ك ا �لي ��و� * ا �ل�ى ��� ي��ه �م ج��ل�� ا � �ل �و� * ��د كب���ر �ع�م� �م��ه ا ��ل�ى ا �ل�و�ه� * ���سر� ي ڡ م م م ّ �ذ ّ � � �ز ّ ق �ف�ت ف ا ف ن ّ ق ض ت ا ا ا �ت � � �وك�� ��ور�ه�ا * �و �و��س� �ج�ب� �ه �و �و ر�ه� * ������ل� ا �ى ا �ي��ه� ا � �ل�� ����ل ا �ل� � ح� �� * ا �ى ع � �ق � ن �ن حقّ � ا �ص�د �ق * ف���ق�ا �� ا �ّم�ا ا ذ� � ئ�ت�� ن� �م� ت �ف �ل �س���ت�ي �ا * �ور�م ت� ا � �ت��ك�و� ا � �ل �و�ل��ي�ن �ع ن��د ك ا ��� و � � �ج �ى � � �ذ � �ذ �ن � � �أ �ي�� �م ت ��س��ه�د �ي�ا * � �و� ��طر�����ق �م��ق ت��د �ي�ا * ف��ا ��ى ا ��ق�و�ل ��ل��ك ب���ع�د ا ��ل��تر �ّو�ى * ي ڡ � �ه� ا ا�لم� �ه ب� بر ى ب يى آ � َ � � � ئ � ّ حّ� * ا �ن�ا �م��ا ش��� َ ا � ف� �ق � �ا ا � ح��ا � * � �ت������ي�ن ال�مت�� �ه�� �م�ن ا ��ه�ل ا � ك� ل��ل�ا � * ا � �لق��ا ��م��ي�ن �ب�ا � ك� ل � ع � ى � ح�� �م ا �ل� � ك� م وب ي و ر ِ م أ ا ظ � ً �� ّ � � ن ن ت � ق � ت ش ا ي�ن � ا ن ا �ن � �ك��ث �م�ن � ن �ن ن ح� ا � ���س�ه ب� ي ڡ �ه�ا را ل�ل� � ا �ل��ع�لي���ل * �و�� ر ا�لم������ �ب�ه �ب�� ا �ل� �� �م * � او � �م د� ب���� ا �� � آ ذ� ّ آ َ ف � � � � ق ق��ا �ل �و�ي���ل * ا � �ل�ا �ب��د �م�ن ا �ن���ت ش����� ء �عر�� ا �ل�ص� او ب� * �م�ن ا �ل�ا ��س�ه�ا ب� * �و�م�ن ا �ل�ا �هت��د � ء � ��ا � � � � ف ا ��ل�ى ���ع�� ا �ل�م��ذ ا �ه� * �ب ف��� �� الم���ست�� حي���ل �و ج� ���ع�ل ا�لم�ع�د �و�م ك�� �لم�وج � �ود ا �ل� او �ج� ب� * ���ع ن��د �ى ر �ض ب ب �ض آ ف ��ل � �ي�ن ��ف ا��ا ن ن ا ��ث ّ ّ � � � � ا �ن�ه ��ل�ا �ب��د �م�ن �ع�د ا � �لف��ا ظ ��� ا � �ل�ق �و�ل��ي�ن * � او � ح�ص�� ء � حر�و�� ا ج��د �و�ل�� * �م� ك�� � �م � �ه�م� ا ك���ر ف ا �ف ا ه ا �ع�� ف� ف�� � ت �م�ن �ع ن ا �� ف�ل ��ق �ف �ك��ا �ه�و ا رج�� � � او � � ��د حر�و�� * ح��س�ن �ت�ا �لي ����ا * �و لل ل� * ��ص�ل� � ي��ه * �م � م ح ث ق ح��ه ا ��ل��س��ف ��ه * � ق���ل ت ا ن�� �ا ا ����ل � �ع� �م� ت �ف �ف��ص��ل ت� �م�ن �ع ن��د �ص�ا � م � ل �س���ت�ي �ه * �� ��� �ص�د ت� � � ل و و ي ب � م ى م �ن تف� ّ ت ّ � ت� ق ت ّ ق ت�ّ � � �ت�زنّ� � �ق � �� ت � �ش���ا �ع ار ك��� ت� ا �ع�ه�ده �ي �� له�و�� � �وي��� ش����د �� * � ��يو����ص � وي� * و��ل� � � �يو��م�دح� * �وي جب�� � َح ح ح �ف ف اِ�نْ �� ّ � ه ا ا ت� �ز �خ ى ا ��ل�ا �ه��ل� ���ي�ن � � ي�ن � ن ا � � ل � ا ا حر �ع��لي��ه ا ج� ار * �و�ي ك � * �ل� �ه� ك �م� � � ب ى بو ��س��ك �ب�� ا �ل�� ��س ر �� ب � فَ َ �ڡ � �ن � ا ن ق ا � ا ن ا ��ف ا � �ن َخ ا ق ا ��ْ�د * � �و�ا �ل � ا �ل��د �ي��ا �و �ل� ���صي�� ب� * حق� ��ا � �� �ص�دع * �� �ل ا �م� ا �� �م� �ل�ى �م ��ل� �� 1ي ب ب ع َ �ف � ا � غُ َّ � � ن �غ �ص�ت � ڡ� �ف � ا ��لث��ا ���ن ��ل���ذّ ���ت * ف��ا �ص�� �ع�� َّ �ثم�ا ب ر ل�ى �ير ��ي�ر ا�لم�دح� � او �ل����سي�� ب� * ���ى ا �ل� �و�ل�ى ��� �ى و ي ى ى �ن َّ �ت��ص�ف ُ َ ف ��ث � ت � � غَ َ � ن ا ���ط�ا ��ل� د �ي �� او ��ى ك� ����ل�ه * � او � ح�ه �ج��م��ل�ه * ف��ا � �و ج��د � ا�لم�دي� �ي��ه ا ك���ر �م�ن ا �ل���ز �ل * ع حّ ت�ّ � � � � � � ق �ق �ق ف ف ق � � خ �ن ت �ل��� ا ا ا � � ت �ن � � � � � ا �ل�د � �� ا ��� * �� ل � ي��ه � اولمعل�� * �و���ل� ك�� �م م� ك� ��ا ن ل � ح� ��ه �ب��ص� � حب��ي �ه ا � �ل � ك�� � ا��ي�ر ي ڡ ي ل م م م ُ ّ ت ت �� ث ف ثن ت �� � ��ا ��ت ا � ا � ح ّ�ى � او ��ل�� ���ا ن� �م ش����ه�ود ا ��ل�ه ��ا ��ل�� �م � � � � � ك ل � ا � � * � ��س * � م � ك ك ل � � � حرر * ��ا ����ي� ت� � ل ير و ب ر ِ�م م ر ى ب �ي � ذ ��ج�زئ ا ف ق ا � نّ � � ا �ت �ع��لي��ه ق�ب���ل ا ��ل��س��ؤ ا ��ل �م ��ط �رئ�ا * �وق���ل ت� �ل� �ي�� �ك�ن �غ��ي�رك ي ڡ � � ا �م �� * ����� �ل ا � ��س�ع� د ��ى م ْ ق ذ ��� ا]. � :١٨٥٥ 1خ �لا � [ ك
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8،13،1
A Maqāmah, or, a Maqāmah on “Chapter 13”
ignorance inclined, the furthest from ratiocination and most given to foolishness and hallucination. “On that day then I betook myself to a jurisprudent, of all that people the
1.13.6
most resplendent, who had inflated his turban and coiled it round and round, using extra cloth, and decorations on his gown, and to him I said, ‘Give me a ruling, most virtuous and sagacious man, as to which of the two arguments in your opinion is the closer to the truth, which most sooth.’ Answered he, ‘If you’ve come to me seeking a ruling, by my opinion to be guided and my path to emulate, allow me to tell you (due deliberation having been devoted to this school of law so convoluted) that we—we noble company of jurists, that is—are men of debate, makers of the rules that govern the rules that govern the game, revealers of fine distinctions among things that might otherwise seem the same; likewise that it is our way, to make clear the truth, to analyze in depth and go to great lengths in argumentation, since there’s no escape, if you’d sniff the aroma of veracity, from expatiation, and from seeking the guidance of one of the schools, which, by insisting on the impossible and making from the nonexistent something necessarily existent,224 imposes its rules. In my opinion, then, you must add up the words of the two arguments and calculate the number of letters that in each column are disposed, and whichever has more will then be the weightier and better composed (though God alone truly knows).’ So I parted ways with that jurisprudent as I had from his foolish friend, telling myself that any who asked him for a ruling had none to blame but himself, in the end. “Next I proceeded to a poet whom I knew to be a great flatterer, a mouth-
1.13.7
twisting faux-Arabic patterer, a would-be master of classical lays and spouter of praise, a gusher and self-pusher, and I said to him, ‘Here’s something off which you can make some money and that may make you renowned. Show me which of the two forms is the more brilliant in style, and let the truth resound!’ Said he, ‘Eulogies and poems of love are all I write; in the first I express my pain, in the second my delight. Be patient while I review my Collected Works, leafing through it from cover to cover; if I find the panegyrics there more numerous than the sonnets, the good things of this world must be the fewer.’ I added him then to his friends the jurisprudent and the teacher, remarking, ‘How many a wound from how many a speaker!’ “Then I set off for the scribe of the emir, one whose skills of discernment and careful accounting were acknowledged far and near, but before putting
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1.13.8
�ف ق ا ة ق ا ة �ف � ف �ث ا � ث ش �ي� �م��� �م�� ا �و�م��� �م�� �ي� ا � �ل���ص�لا �ل�� �ل� �ع���ر
ش �ت ن غ �ڡ �� ن ض ن ض ن �� ب� �م ن��ه � ا �ل��ك�و� ��هى ا � ا ر���ى �ع�ن ا �م�ي�ر�ى �و�ير���ى �ع��ى * �و����ق��ا �و ��ى ��هى ا � ا �� ض� ي � � � ث ن � ض غ غ ض �ك�� �ة ا �ل ش ���ل �م�ا ج� �ى �ع��ل ّ ��� �من�� * �وق��د ���سي�� ت� �ك� م����ا ده ى �م�ن ا �ل�� ض� �� ب� � او �لر���ى * �ل�� ر ر � �و��ي��� ب ى � �ق ت ضَ � �ڡ ت � اقّ �� * ف��ا ن �ص�� ت� �ع� َّ �ڡ � س�ت ا �ن ف ش ال � � د ف���ر�ى �م�ا ا � �لق��ا ه � ا�لم�� � � �� ����هرا * �ل� �ي��د ي ى ي � ب ر �ل� �وم � �ى ف ّ ف ق �ذ �ن ف ا ضُ � ة ّ �� ّا * ا ف��د�ت��ك ا ج��ل �م ن��ه � �وا ب� ��ا �ب���ل �ع� را * ���ص�ي�ر�ت�ه را ب��� ا �لث���لث��� * ح��ل� او �و�م ار * � �و ���ع� �و� �� ر ع ق ذ ق� ت � ا ت ش � ن ذ ا َ � ثة ف ا ن ت � ت � نا �و��ل� �ل� ��س������ي ر� � � �ص� ��د � � به� ت� � �ص�د ا ر���هم� ح�دا ��� * �� � ا ��ه�ل ا�ل�م ار �� ب� � او�لم�� � ب �ن � � ف َ ف �ف� ئ ت ا �� �ف ا � ا �ق � �� ّ �ب�ا �لب��ا �ب��ه� * �ل��� ��يب ��ق� � �ه� خ��ي�ر � �لق��ا ر �ب�ا �ب��ه� * �ج �� ل�� ري� � �و ه�و ك �* م�� ب� �ع��ل�ى ا �ل����� خس ي� م م م م ع �ف � ت ا �ئ � � ظ �� ذ ن �غ ف ق ا�ئ ت ت ي�ن ي�ن ت خ � �و��ى ��ط��ل�ع��ه �مب�� د � ا�لم���س � � * �����د را ��ي� �عي���ي��ه �� �ر�� * � �وي��د �ي�ه � ا � ��يو��� * �وع�� م �� �ز �ن ئ ا � ت ث ت ��ل � �� � � � �� ت ح�ا �لت��ه * �وك�� د� ا �م��س��ك �ع�ن ا �� ك� ���ا � ظل�����ل ا � �� * ح�ى �ر�ي��� � ل��ل�ا � خ���د�ي�ه �ن�ا ��تئ��ا * �و ج��ل�ده ك م � � � ق� � �ن خ � �ة �ن ه �ل� ا �آ ��ن ق ا � ا ��ل ّ ى * ث�� ا ق���� �ع��ل ّ ا �ش���ف��ا ق��ا �م�ن �ب� ��ط�ا �لت��ه * � ك ى * �و��ا �ل ��ه�ل م ��د �م� ل���� م� ر �ى �� م � م بل � ف ق � ت ق ق ن ���ذ ���ذ َ ْ نَ ق ف ا ��� �ف ن ت � ا �ت� ض� �� ت� ��س�يِع��ى * ا �و ج�� �و�ى ا �و�ج�ب�� �وعي��ى * �����ل� ��د ا ��د �م��ى ك�� ا �وك�� ا * �� ك��ى ذ � � �ؤ � ُ� َ � ذ ��ت ف ا � ��ل � ف ا خ ��ذ �ق �ة � �ن ت� ت � ا � � ا� �ه� ي ڡ ���ي� ت� ا �ل�ا � �ى * �� �� ر��ع� م � �ل ا �ل��س� ا �ل فِ�ك ح�ا �ل * ح� ا �س�م� �ل * �وك�� ب� �ي� �ت��� � ن � ت�ف � يًا �ف ا ي �ت�� م�� ِ �س���ت�� ��ى ا ���مر �ي ّ ��ل َ ن � ا � � ا � ا� ��خ�ي�ر ا � �ق� ب��ل�ت�ه �ب� �ل�����شر � ا َ َ � اَ ْ � ف تَْ ا �ل� �تر�ى ا �ل� ج�ر ب� ك��ي ��� ���سر�ى �ن ذ �� َّ ة ُ �و��ل���� �م � �ى �ص �ح�� �وي� ْ����سر يس � �ن ُ ّ ذ ُ �� � ف � او � ل���ط����ل ا � ��ي���ثغ��ر ك��� �م �� ��ضر م ُ � �� ن ع��د ِا �����ش�ع�ا ر � �نو�ب�� ت� ���� ف� ��ظ�رِ و ٍ ��ّ ُ ض � � � � � ق�و�ل ا � ك ل������سر ��و � �ل� ب � �و�ك��ل ��ع� �
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حْ �ي���ع��ل��م�ه �ك� ���ل ا ���مرء ذ� �ى ِ�� � ��جِر ٍ �ف ا ��� ��ا ن �� � ةً ط � �م�ن ب� � لع � ��حر �ى �مر ك�� � ق� ر � َ ْ �ف ��ع�د � او ه ��ى �ج���م��ي � ا ��ه�ل ا �لم� �صر ع � � � � ا� نا � ل ع �ع�د �و�ى �لم�ن د ا �� ه ��ط�و�ل ���مر َ ْ�ق ُ ْ�قَ �ف �ق َ �ي�� �ل�ى �ي�و�� �ل�ى �ع��ن�ده ��ى ����بر � �ن � ��ذَّ ة ُ ّ � �لي����س �ل�ه �م �ل� ٍ� �و����سِر ا ���ق � �م��ن�ه �� �ل�� � � ��ل ق�و�ل ا �ج����بر ب رب
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A Maqāmah, or, a Maqāmah on “Chapter 13”
the question, I praised him to his face and said, ‘None but you could possibly suffice.’ Said he, ‘Happiness for me lies in being content with my emir and his contentment, unhappiness in resenting him and feeling his resentment. At this point, given the fighting and all that goes with it that there’s been, I’ve forgotten both any anger and any content that I may have seen. If you can wait for a month into the future, so I may inscribe in my ledger all that I meet with from him that is sweet and all that is sour, all that is gold and all that is pewter, I’ll inform you of the answer in due time; till then, I must decline.’ I added him then to the three, making him number four,225 and thought, ‘I really must consult someone who’s still young, for pride of place has left of the brains of those who hold high rank and office not a trace, and there’s nothing left for those who knock at their door.’ “To the Fāriyāq then I went, to find him o’er his copying bent, on his visage
1.13.9
the first signs of transmogrification, eyes, as I beheld, deeply sunken, hands suffering from desiccation, cheekbones as though from the face’s surface hewn, skin as tight as the shade at noon, so that I deplored his state and came close to staying silent for pity at his plight. When he saw me, though, he rose and came toward me, saying, ‘Is there some service you require me to perform, or private word you need to convey?’ ‘Thus and so,’ I said, ‘have come my way, so settle this question, God save you from harm,’ at which he pulled from inside his tattered coat a scrap of paper and on it wrote without a qualm: You came to me seeking an answer—
1.13.10
One to mindful men226 already known—to a question. Good, compared to evil, Is, over a life span, as a drop to an ocean. See you not how, if one man has the mange, To a whole city he spreads his disease, Yet no one infects his fellows, no matter how close, Who’s healthy and lives a life of ease? How many a sickness afflicts the child from the day he cuts his teeth, And with him to the grave’s consigned? How he, from the first sprouting of his hair and nails, No pleasure and no joy can find? Any limb’s more easy broken Than it is mended
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�ف ق ا ة ق ا ة �ف � ف �ث ا � ث ش �ي� �م��� �م�� ا �و�م��� �م�� �ي� ا � �ل���ص�لا �ل�� �ل� �ع���ر
ق� ��ا �ل ��ق�و��ل�ه ج��ا د � ثَ ا �ل��را
� ت � ��ص��ل �ف �و��م�ا ��ف���س�ا ده ��س �ر��ع�ا ���ُ�ي�ز ر�ى ك� ���ا �ل��ع��ي�ن �ل�ن ��� � ح�ه ��ى د ���هر �ي �َّ � �� �ن � �ف �ا � �ؤ �و���عى ����ط����ف�ل �ل� ب����ي�ه ��ي����فر�ى �� ا ده �و�ك��ل ��ع���ظ�م ��ي���بر�ى ّ � �و��ل���� ���فى �م� ��ل��ده �م�ن ������ش ���ن ّ�د ��ل � ��ح�ز نِ� �م� �و��ت�ه ا �ل�ا �� ��ضر بِ ر و ٍ يس ت � ذ �ذ � َ ن ة ت ا �ن �� ��ح�ق �ق ت �ر ا � ا � �� �و��م�ا ��ك�و� �ل�� � �ع�ن �ف ك ��� �و �ل� �ع ذِ� ك�ر ا � � غ فَّ � غ � ّ � او ن���م�ا ذ� ا �َه�َ �� ��ق�د ي� ��جر�ى ���فى � �خ� ��طرا �ل��م� � � � ����ل ا �ل��م����تر وس آ ُ ف �ذ ذ ن ش ت ُّ � ش � �� ���ه�ل ���ص�ور ا �ل������ف� ء ��ي���بر��ي � ا ���مر��ض� ا �مِر��ض� �م�� ������هر ْ ن �ل ّ �ُ ّ �ذ � ���ا �ر ا � او � ا � �و���ه�ل �لم�ن ��ي���برد �و��ق ت� ا � �ل���قر دِ �ف� ءٌ ب����ت� ك� ��حر اۤ ُ ن ا نا � ا �خُ ْ ��ل ْ � ��ف�لي����س د ����ي� �� �ل� ���ه�ل ا �خِ����بر ��س�و�ى �ب�ل� ء د ا ����ئ�م �و�����سر َ ا � �غ َ ُ ّ ��ذ ت �غ ا ا ُ �� ع��د � ���ير � ��حر �و � �ه�ك� ا ي��م� �و� ر���م� ��ف� د ِر �ي��و�ل�د � ي� �ف�ه� ا �ل�� ب
ت ف � ا خ ��ذ ت � ق ة ت ا ت ف ن ا �ن ح�ق �ق ت �ه�ا * �و� �ه�ا * �ع��ل�م ت� ا � ��� �م�ع� �ي� ��ل�م� ا �� � ا �لر���ع�� � �و� �م��ل� �ي� َ �ا ّ ��س�د * � ا ن� ��ق� ��ل �غ��� ه �ه��ذ ��ا ن� � ف� نَ��د * ف���ق���ل ت� ��ل�ه � �� ك ���ف �ز �م�ن �ه�و ا �ل� ي و و و ير ب ور ى ف � � ا �ل�م� ت ��ف ق���� ا � ا �س� ي��د �ي�ن ا �ل�ى ر�ش���د ك �و�� ض� ب��مث���ل�ك * �و�ه�د ى ����ل�ك * � بو ح� �ل� ��ه�ل ذ � ُ ّ ث ن �ص ��ف ت� �م�ن �ع ن��ده د ا �ع��ا * � �ل��م�ا ح�� �لوك ا ر�ف�� � ��ذ � * ا � �ل� ي� و ي ع ا �ل� رى * ��م ا ��� ر م � ا ه� ا ع�ي� * �ق� �ل� � او � �
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A Maqāmah, or, a Maqāmah on “Chapter 13”
And that, like the eye, whose corruption will fast destroy you, You’ll ne’er fix, till time is ended. Mourning for a child rends his father’s heart Wears through his every bone, And in his birth there is no joy Equal to the sorrow of his death, by which the greater harm is done. Pleasure cannot come from thinking, Nor from recollection; that’s naught but an illusion When you think upon it well—one that may occur To the dimwit or victim of delusion. Can a patient who for the past month’s been sick, By picturing a cure, his illness treat? Can one who in winter’s depth grows cold Feel warm by recalling the days of heat? This world of ours, to those who know, Is naught but loss and tribulation that we must endure. Man’s born enslaved, not free, And so he dies, of that you may be sure. “Thus his words, and as I took the scrap, my gaze upon it bent, and started 1.13.11 thinking what it meant, I realized that these words of his were the most wise, those of the others mere drivel and lies, and I told him, ‘Blessed be the Lord for an age that has brought us the likes of you, and guided seekers after knowledge to your good sense and superior view, and shame upon the people of this earth, should they fail to recognize your worth!’ Then I departed from where he was, calling blessings down upon his head, and heedful of everything he’d said.”
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�ف ���ص ا ��ل ا ��� ش ا � �ل� � � ر ل ع �ع���ر ب ���ف ��سّ ى ر ن آ �ق � � ة � � ه �ق ت خ ���ل� ت ���ا ح� ا ���حل ح� �ه �ه � � �م��د لله * ا ��حلم�د لل * �د �ص� �م�ن ا � ش����� ء �ه��ذه ا�لم�ق��ا �م�� �و�م�ن ر��م�ه�ا ا �ي� ض� ع ع � � � ف ا ن ا��ا ن ت ا ظ � ة � قَ � ّ ن �ه�ا ��س�و�ى � ح ث� ا � �لق��ا ر��ئ �ع��ل�ى �م �� ط�ا �ل�عت��ه�ا * �� ���ه� ك�� ��� �ب� �ه ����� * �و�ل�م ��يب ��� �ل�ى �ه�م �م � �� ت ّ َُ �ا �� ا ��ل �ك�ن �خ� ش����ن ��ة �غ��ي�ر �م�ه��ل�ه��ل��ة ك����جس �و��هى � او ن� �ت�� � � حرر�ى ا �ل� ا �ن��ه�ا �ت��لب����س �ع��ل�ى �ع�ل�ا �ت��ه�ا * �و �ح�م��د ع �ي � � � � �ن ة ن �ل�ا �ف�ا د ا �ت��ه�ا * �و���فى ظ ���ن��ى ا ن� ا ��لث��ا ��ني���ة �ت�� �ه�ا * � او ��لث��ا �لث���ة ا � �ك�و ن� ا � ح��س�ن �م�ن ا �لث��ا �ي��� * ح��س�ن �م � � ح �ن �م�ن ا ��لت ا ��س� �ة � ا � ا ��� �ي�ن � ا ت خ� �ف ح��س�ن �م�ن ا ��لث��ا ��لث���ة * � ا ��خل � او �ل ار ���ع��ة ا � �� ع� و �ل� بر ع� * �ل� ��م��س��ي�ن ا ���س �� و ب �م�ن �ه��ذ ا ا ��لت�ه� �� � ا ��لت�� �ه�� ��ل�ا ت خ �ف * ا ن��م�ا ��ه ا ��� ��ل�ا �غ��� �ك�ا � �ع�د�ت�� * � ا ��ل�ا ن ��ن�����غ � � � ك � � � م و و ر ر ى ب � بع ي � وي�ل و و ي �ل ي ى ت ا ��ف �خ� � ا ت � �ا � ا ��ن � ة � ف � �ئ ق ة ن �صر �ي� �و �ى �ل� � �س��ق� ��طر�م ن��ه ا �ف ك� �� را �و م�ع� � ا � ا �ع� ح��س�ن �� � او � �ل��ا ظ ����ا را � ���� �م� �ج� ن� ب� ى ع �ث ة ف ن � آ آ �أ � ن ذ� ف � �ك�ن �ق��ف �ه ن��ا � ت ظ�نّ اِ خ��ل�� ء * �و��ل�� � ح�ى ا ��س� ل�ه� * ا �ل��ر�ثر� * ��ا � ا �ل�ع��ل�م�� ء ي����سم�و� � �ل��ك ي��م�ا ا ��� � م آ ا ذ �ت��س ّ ن �� � � ه �ف ا ن �ل� �ت��س ّ �ل� � ل��ل�ا � ا ��ل���ذ �ى ��ي ت��د ��ف�ق ��ا �ل�م�ع�ا ���ن � �و���ّ �ق�ا ر�ئ�ه � � �مو� ا ح�تى � ��تي� ك�� ك � ب� * � � �م � �م� � ا � �موه �ى ى �ي ب ل �ب م م ف �ن �ن � �ن �ق ��ا ف ح ث� �ع ن��ه ��ل�ا �ع�ن �ود �ود اب �ى ا ن� ا ب� ح�ا �ل� ��ل�ا �ت��ل�و�م�و��ى �ع��ل�ى � � ي� ض� ���ه * ��ا ��ى ا �ن�ا �م�ن ا�لم�وج�� � � � ��ا ن �� � ا خ ��آ � � �ن �ق ا نا س� ا ن� ا �ع�د ��ل ا �لي��ه �ود ا � �و � ي� ض� ا�لم�ع�د �و�م * �و�لم�ا ك�� � ا س� ا �ل� ��ل م�وج � ���ه �م�ع�د �و�م� �� �� ب م � ���ك�ن � ا ا �� � ن ت � �غ �خ ن ا �ق � ا ��لت�ن ا � ��ش � ا ��لن �ق ا � ا ��لت ا � ��ش ل � � � ط� ا و �ع��ل� ا س� �ول� �ل� �ب� �� � و � � و � * و ��� ر و ��ه� و � * �ع�ن ��ي�ره * ا �ل�ى ا � ��ت �� او �� ئ� ى م ا ��ل ت ا � ا �� ا � �ز ن ة � �ا ذ ا� ��ل � ا � اَ ْ ن ق ا ل � �و�ا ج��ل � � � � � � ا � ���دا �ل * � �وب� �م� ��س�ك �ب� �ج ي ��و ب� � او �ل� � �ي� ل * ب��ل �ب� لر ا �� �و ل�و � ر * �و �ل� �و� ��ل�اد � او ج ب ً �ش آ � � � ذ ذ ت �ز ن � ا ا ف ض ��� ا ��س�م�ا �ل����ى ج��� ء � �ل��ك ا �ل� ��س� ر � ن��ا �مث���ل�ه * � او �ل� ��س��ب��ص�ا ر * ��ا � ا �لر�ز�ي�ن ا � ا �و� م �ي ع
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Chapter 14
A Sacrament227
Ahahahah! Ahahahah! Thank God! Thank God I’m done with the composi-
1.14.1
tion of that maqāmah, and with its number too,228 for it was weighing on my mind. Now all that remains for me to do is to urge the reader to read it. Though more coarsely woven than the finely knit rhymed prose of al-Ḥarīrī and despite its prosodic irregularities, it may, for all that, be worn, and commended for its beneficial verities. I believe the second will be better than it was, the third better than the second, the fourth better than the third, and the fiftieth better than the forty-ninth. (Don’t panic! Don’t panic at these attempts to shock and scare! There are in fact, as promised, only four.) Now I have to squeeze my sconce to extract some more nice thoughts, figures, and choice words, at the same time avoiding chatter, a process that scholars refer to, I believe, as “voiding verbiage.” But hang on a moment, and I’ll ask them! What do you call words that are so bursting with meaning that they drench the reader, so that I can fetch them for you? If you don’t tell me their name right away, don’t blame me if I use their opposite. I exist, and it is my custom to look for what exists, not for what doesn’t. Given that the term “voiding verbiage” exists and its opposite doesn’t, it is perfectly appropriate for me to turn to it in preference to some other term. You may if you wish put your heads together and come up with a word—but instead of flying at each other’s throats and fighting, pecking out each other’s eyes and biting, or striking with swords and swiping with words, or grabbing each other by your pockets and skirts, do so sedately and soberly, serenely and rationally, for when someone sedate bestows a name on something, it comes out as sedate as he is and cannot thereafter be converted into something different. In fact, the thing named may even acquire dignity from the name given it,
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1.14.2
����������
آ � ُ َّ ُ � � � فَّ �ة �ك�ن ب���ع�د ا ��ن ت��ق��ا ��ل�ه ا ��ل�ى � خ�ر * ب���ل ر��م�ا �َو�ق َر �ب�ا �ل�ا ��س� الم��س��مَّ � او ن� �ي�� ف��ل�ا ي��م�� �ك�ن �م�م�ا ا �ت��ص�ف� �ب�ا �خل � ��� ب م ى � ن �� ا � ش ا � ق ق ا ��ت ق ق ا �� ا ا ��لض�� خ� �ت � �� خ � او �ل���طي�� ش��� * ا �ل�ا �تر�ى ا � ك��ل� � ا �ل���� �عرا �لر� ��� �ي� �ى ر�ي ���� * �وك��ل� � �م�ا * �� �ي�ا ��ى �ض � ي م م م ش � أ ة ا ��ت خ ا � ا � � �ق � � ا ا ا � ا � � ا ا �ك��ا ق�ي���ل ك�� ��ل�ا � ا �ل�م��ل�وك �م��ل�وك ا �� ك� ل��ل� �م * �و����عرا�ل�م �ر � �ي� �ى �� �لب�� �ل�ل�ع� �و�ل �ل� �عب�� �ب� �ل� �لب�� ب� �م م � ق ا ة ض � � � � �ن ق ه � ا ة ت �ز�غ �� �� ت�ث ن ث ��� ا �ل�و�ل�د م �ب���ل ا ب��ي�� ا ى �م� د� � ��و �� ا ل�و�ل�د * له�ا * �و�ي��س�� �ى �م�ن �ه��ذه ا � �ل�� �ع�د� �و� �م��� � �ي ع �ق ح�ا � �و�ا ���تى �و��ل��ده � �صب �ي �ك�و ن� � ب �ي ��ل�ا ا ن� ا ��ل�ا ب� ي� حب���ل � �و��ل��د * �و ذ� ��ل��ك ا ن� ا ��ل� او ��ل��د ق��د �ي�� ��� ��� ح�ا * ي ي � ا��ا ن �ن � ا ف ا � � � � ا ا ت ّ ت ���ة ا ��ث ن���ي�ن ا �ع ن� ��ل�ا ش ا �ت �و��س��ب��ه ا ن� ا ��ل�ا �ي�ل�اد �لم� ك�� � �م ا �ل� ���ع� �ل ا �ل ��ى �ل� �� ا �ل� ب��م���� رك��� �ى ر ج ب م � � � � �ك�ن � � � � � � ق ��ت �ف ��ف ذ ا � او �م ا �ة ا � ا �لت�غ����لي�� �ه ن��ا �ل�ا ي خ� ���ا �م�ن ا �ل� �ب��ه�ا �م * �ل�م �ي�� �ل�ل� او �ل�د �م ��ط� �ل� ا ل�� ���ل�و ا �ي� ض� �صر� �ى ر ب آ ّ ذ � � ئ ت � ت ���ا ه �و�ت�� �ك��ا �ش���� ء * ف���ق��د �ي�� �ك�و ن� �ه�و�ع ن��د � ��ل��ك �م�ق��د را �ل�ه �ش�� ك� �ك�و ن� ا �ّم�ه ��ل�ا ا �ر� ض� ه���ت��ه �و�ل��ده �م ��� ي قّ ة � ش� آ ف ا �ت ا ذ ذ خ ح��س� ا ���ست�� ن حر��س�ه�ا ا لله �م���د ر� �ل�ه ��� ك� � ��ل�ا � خ�رب� بم� ا ح��س��ت��ه �و���ل �� �ص�د ر�ه� ا � � ا ك * �ي�� ��ى ذ�ج ا �� �� � �خ � ن ��ف� ش����ا ر�ّ�ا * ��ل�ا � �ق��ا ��ل ا ن� ا ��ل ج��� ��ل�ا ي����ست�� ��ر�ع ن��د � ��ل��ك �ص�ور�ة �م�ع��ل�و�م��ة ��ل���ذ �ه�و��ل�ه ل�ول�د حض� �ي ر ل ي ف ن � ش �ا غ�� ا �ل� �ا د�ة * ف��ا ن ذ� �� � ��ا ���ص�د �ق �ع� �م�ن اَ �� �لف َ �ش �ا � ا � �خ ب ��� �ل م ح��دا ب� �ص�و�ص�ه * ��ا � � ل�ك �ل ي � � �ل�ى ِ � ���ي و َّة �فََ ��َ َ � � � ف ة � ا ن ا ن �� ش �ت ّ � ف ش �ف ا ش � ث � ك� ث ��ط�و�ل ا � �ل��� ا �ل� ���س� � ل����ى ��ع�د �ل �ه� او ه �ي��ه * ��بي�� ���ره �بر����د �ور � �وي�� * �م��ل�ه �م���ل � � ّ ا خ� � ش ن � � � � � �خ� ض له� � ��ا � ب خ� ��ا ��ئ� ف��ا �ن�ه �ي�� ��ل�ا �ف� ا ج��ل ح ك� ��ع�ا � �ب�ا ��ت�ق��ا ن� � او � ����ض� ا �ل��ط �����ع�ا � �ي� ��ب� خط� � � ط��� ا �ل ب ا �ل�� ب و م م �ج ع � ُ � ذً � �ذ � ا ت � � ن ف �ع�م�� ه � ��� ق ���ا ��ل ال�جم له�و��ه * ��ا �عل��� ا � ا ب���ع�د �ه� ا ا �ل� ��س� ��ط ار د ا �لب��د �ي�� * � او �ل�ع ض� � ي�� * ا � ل� يو � م ع ع ذ �ف ق ذ ق� � ت ف � � �ق ف � ا � �ل��ا ر�ي�ا �� � �ه ب� � ا ت� �ي ��و�م ا �ل�ى ب���ع��ض� ا � �ل���سي����س��ي�ن �لي��ع��ر�� �ل�ه ب��م�ا ����ع�ل �و�ف ك ��ر * �و��ا �ل َ �ف �ن �ُن َ �ن ظ � � ق �� ف ف ق � � �ق � ت �م ا�لم� ك � ��ر * �����ا �ل �ل�ه ا � �ل���سي����س ي�م�ا ��س�ا �ل�ه �ب�ه * ��د ��س�م�ع� �ع ن���ك ا �ن��ك ك��ِ� �ل� �ب�ا �ل� ��� م ظ� �ف ن � ن � ا� ا �ف ا �غ ��ه� ��س�ّو��ل ا ��ل���ك ا ��ل � �و�ا ��ل�ا ��ل � �خ ن��ا ��س ا � ح�ا � �و�ه�م�ا �م�ن ا �ع �� ي �س�� ب� ا � �ل���س� د � او �ل�� ار �م * � ل �م ب ب ّ ة � ََ َ � ّ ت�ّ ة �� ف � � �ف � � ّ ش ح��� �تت غ�ز ا ة قا ة ن �ه�د * �م�ورد�ة ا �خل ���د * ب���� ن��� ا � ك � ل��ل * �مر ج��� ا �ل���ك���ل * � ��� �ل ��ى ا �ل����عر �ب� �م ار � �� �ع�د� ا �ل � ي ف َّ ن ���د � ��ل��ة ا ��ل��س�ا �ع�د �ي�ن * ��س د�آ ا ��ل ش ���ة ا ��لث�غ�� * َ�ع���ل��ة ا ��ل��س�ا ق���ي�ن * � �ص * �م���� � ي � ة ���خل م � ل � ��� ع � ج و ج ثِ و ر ر ح��ل�� ا � ر ��َ �َ ي�ن ن �آ � ي�ن ي�ن ��خ ضَّ ��كف���ي�ن * ق� ��ق���ة ا ��ل ش�����ف ت���ي�ن * �م�ز� �ا ل � ح�ل�مت��� * ج� ���ة ا ��ل � ��ب���ة ا ��ل�� ح�ا �ج� ب���ي�ن * ��ل� ء ا �ل�ع� �� * �م � و جج ري
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4،14،1
A Sacrament
even when it is innately insignificant and frivolous. Have you not noticed how the words of a slim poet come out slim, and those of a big poet come out big? As the saying goes, “The words of kings are the kings of words.” By the same token, poetry written by a woman is as bewitching to the mind and teasing to the heart as a woman. An exception to this principle is the donation of the child by the father,
1.14.3
meaning the donation by the father of the material used to form the child. By making an exception of this I don’t mean to say that the father becomes pregnant and gives birth but that the father may be ugly and the child turn out good-looking. The reason is that, because conception requires the collaboration of two persons, i.e., a man and a woman, it is unclear which contribution is determinative. The father does not have absolute sway to shape the child as he wishes. He may have in mind at that instant a certain form that he finds attractive, while the mother, God protect her, may have another, depending on her preferences and whatever is then uppermost in her mind; as a result the child may come out a bit of this and bit of that. By the way, it cannot be said that the man is incapable of summoning up a familiar form at that moment just because he’s all in a tizzy over the business of that formative material. That’s not credible in the case of one who’s become used to what is always the same old thing where he’s concerned, for long acquaintance modifies a person’s attitude to a thing, and, as a result, he deals with it with good sense and deliberation. Take for example the well-fed cook, who prepares all the various dishes with perfect skill and mastery, unlike the hungry cook, who hurries his work and botches it. Know then (after this polished excursion and prolonged and stimulating insertion) that the Fāriyāq went one day to a priest to make confession to him of all he had done, said, and thought that he didn’t ought. The priest asked, among other questions, “I hear you’re fond of poetry and tunes, which are among the worst causes of evil and passion. Has the Recoiler ever put it into your mind to court in verse a woman firm of breast, rosy of cheek, the kohl on her eyes clear to see, her buttocks wobbling free, slender of waist, her teeth widely spaced, her legs with thickness and splendor graced, her forearms muscled and without slack, her hair and nipples black, her eyes startling in the contrast of black and white, her hands with henna bright, her lips fine, her eyebrows a thin, arched line, her belly-button round, her belly folds unbound, her smile sweet, her figure svelte, with saliva like honey,
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1.14.4
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ذ ت َُ تَ ة � ة ح��ل� �ة ا ��ل�ا ����ت��س�ا � * �م فه��ه�ف���ة ا �� �ل�ق � ا � * ��له�ا �� ��ن �م�ف��� ّر�ة * � �م�د �ور� ا �ل��س ّر� * � ا � �ع ك � � � و ب و م م � �ذ ذ � ُ � ة ت � � ا �� ّ � ن ا نْ ا ا ا �ّ ا � �ص� * ق��ا �ل ق��د �ف��ع��ل ت� � �ل�ك � ك ل����ى ِ � ر ك �ل� ���ا ب� �ع� ب� * �و�ن��ك�ه�� � ك ر ض� ��س��ر ل� ب ت � �ف � ا ن َّ � ن ق � ح��س�ن �و�ص�ف� ا ��ل �ص�ن �ع��ة * ف���ق��د را ��ي ت���ك � � ح��س� � ا �ى ا حر �ي����فى ��ى �ه��ذه ا �ل� ح��س�ا � * ��ا �ل فا ن ّ �ا ��ل���� ت �ا� ا ن ا �ش�ئ ف ت ا � �ق ا ��� �َم�ن حر�ف�تى �ت��ل��في ��ق� ا �� ك� س� � ل��ل� �م * � او ��م� �ه�و ��� �عر���ه �ب� � �ل ي�� ��س � او �ل� �ل�ه� �م * �� � �ك�ل ي � � ت � ّ أ � �ذ َ �ت � ن ظ ��ا ن ف �ا � � �ن ا ن � ق �� ف � ي��م�ل�� د �م�ا �غ��ه �ب��ه� ا ا �ل�و�ص�ف� الم � ح ّر�م * �وك�ي ��� ك�� � ��ل ب��د م � ��ع�ا ��ط�ى ا �ل� ��� حر�� م فتُ�ج�زَ َ � َ�غ � ا ��ل ة �ف �غ��زَ��ل��ك ك� �م��ل�� * ف��ا �ن�ه ��ي ب��ع ث� ا �ل�ا � ار ر �ع��ل� ا�لم�ع�ا ��صى * ���� �ى �ب�ه �ي ��و� �ص���ل �و ج � ����ل�ه * �ب�ا �لت��� � ي ى م َ �ذ �ق ��ف ا �ة ح��د�ة �م�ا ��سه �ت �يُ���ؤ خ��� �ب�ا ��ل ن�� او ��صى * �و��ت�ع�زّ ا ��لت��ف��ا صِ��ى * ق��ا ��ل ك� ��ي ��ف� ا � حر� �ى ��س� �ع� � او � �ر �َ َ ف ه �� ا ��ل �مت� ّ ة � ت ف � �ا � ���ا ���د ت �ي�� لي�� �ى �ع�د د� � �ب��ه�ا �ج� �ه�د ا �و �ل� �ج� �ه�د ا �ل ش���ر�ى * �ه�ا �م�ن ا � ك حر�م� �ي� ل��ر�ى * �وك� ب �ُ َ � ف�ن ذ ن ظ� �خ ّ ��ل ّ ��ن �ق �� � ت � � �ة �ق �ص�ي �د�ة ي�ي���ل ا �ى ا �ى ��ط ا �و ا �ل��سر�ى * � ك �ع� �مرح�ل� ��� ت� ا � ا �� �����م ت� ا �لب�ي�� ت� �م�ن ا � �ل�� � � ّ � م���غ�ز �ّ� � �ا * � �ع ن��د ت�� �ا � ا �� �لق� �د�ة ا �ت�� ّ ا ��ن � �ص��ل ت ا ��ل ا � قَ ن ا �ل�ى م �ح�ل ا �ل ت ل ب��ه و م م � ص�ور �ى و � ي� �ص�ي �ه� �و�ل�م ��يب ��� ب��ي����ى خ ف ��ل � ش آ � � �ذ � �ف � ن ��ا ن� ا ��ل � �ه�ا ��س�و�ى ��ف�ت� ا �لب��ا ب� * �ف ك� �خ ت��ا � �ع ن��د �ى ا ��ت�ت�ا � ح�ا ��ل�ا ��ا ج��مي�� ا �ل����ع �ر ء * �و�ل�� �ل��ك � ب�و�ي�� � م ع ق ح َ �� �ص�د ا �� �لق��ص�ا �ئ��د ا ��ل���ط� ���ل��ة �خ� ش��� ��ةَ ا ن� �ت� ���ط� ��ل �ع��ل ّ ا �ل�م��س�ا ف���ة �� ���ط� ��له�ا * �ف��ه� �م�ن �ل� ا ��ك�ن ا �� � ب و� و و � �ي �ل ى ي م ُ ف ا ��ن � � � �غ � � ن ا ا � ن � �ن � � ح� ��ط ع�م��ل�ى ك��ل�ه �م ا ج���ل ا �ل� � ار ر * � بو���ع�د �� � �ل� ا ���د ا ��ه ا �ل ار �ى ا �ل��س�د �ي��د ا � ي� ب ى ري � �م أ آ ��ل� � ف �ذ ن � ف �خ ّ � ئ �ن ن �ان ق ن �� ا �� ن �� � ��ي�� ار �و� ك��ل� �م�ى * �ل� ���ه�م ا � �ل�م ��ي� � �ه�م�وه ��س� �ل� او �ع��ه ا ��ه�ل ا عل��م �ي�� �م�ه �ه�و �ل� ء �يو ��ط ��و ��ى � ن ���ست�� ن � � � �� � � � �و ��ف نّ��د �و�ن ن��ى * ا ذ� �ل�ا �ير �و ن� ���فى ك�� ��س�وه �ل� ح��س�ن �ا * � او � ا ح ��ل�ا � ا �ل�صغ���ي�ر ا �ل�و� � ض�ي �ي م م ع �ك�ن آ ن � � �� ت ه ه � ا َ � ه � ا َّ ه� �ق ا ق ت �ث خ�ز ا � �ه� ا �ل� ��و�ل�ه� ا � ا ه ا لله �و�� ��ل�ه ا لله �و ك� �ي�� �ج�ز� � �م ��ل�� ا �م� �و �ل� ا ب� �ل� �و �ل� ا � �ل� * م م ى �م � ق ا � ن تَ � ا � ّ � � � �� �ل ا � ا ب��ي��� ا �ل� ا �ص ار ر �ع��ل� ا �ل�ع ن��ا د * � او �ل�ز ��غ� �ع�ن ج��ا د �ة ا �لر�ش���ا د * ا � ك � � � م��س�� ت� ل اِ ى �ي ن � � غ ف� ذ ق ا �� � ا ��ت�عّ ف ا ن ا ��ل�ع � �ة ن ت ��ف ا ��� ة �ع��ك م� ��ر�ة � �ن�� �و��ك * � �و��دد � �ى ك ل��ن�ي����س�� ب���عي �� �وب��ك * �� ل �ل� ج���ل �� � ج��ل� ب َ � � ن ة �� ��� �ة ت� � � َ��فّ ة ا ا � ت � �� � � ت ق � �ذ ن �م�ن ا �ل ش���ي� ��ط�ا � * ر �ي ��ك ل�و م�د له�ا ��ك��ا ر� �ع�ن ا �ل�� �� ب� * ح���ك �ب ���� �ص�ي �د� �ط�يو ل� ج�ع� � � ن � � � ف ن ش ئت ن ���ا �ج��مي�� ا �لر�هب��ا � � او �ل ار �هب��ا ت� � او �ل�ع�ا �ب��د �ي�ن � او �ل�ع�ا �ب��د ا ت� �ه�ا ا �ي� ض� � او � ������ ا � ا �م�دح� �ي� ع � � � �ف � ق ا �ن تي�ن � ق ا �ن ت ا ت �ا ت م�� ّد�ي�ن � او �ل�ز ا �ه�د �ي�ن � او �ل�ز ا �ه�د ا ت� � او ��ل ن��ا ��س�� �ك��ي�ن � او �ل ن��ا � ك� �س�� � � او � �ل�� � ��� � او � �ل�� � �� � � او �ل ر
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6،14،1
A Sacrament
sweet enough to turn iron into candy?” Said the Fāriyāq, “I have indeed done so, but I see that you are my fellow in this craft, for I note how well you can describe a beautiful woman.” Said the other, “It isn’t my job to produce such verbal fabrication, just
1.14.5
something I’ve learned by analogy and spontaneous inspiration, for all who listen to verse find their brains filled with such descriptions perverse. But, be that as it may, you must burn your love poems, each one, singly and in sum, for they incite the heedless to err and you’ll be punished for them on that day when men are ‘seized by their forelocks,’229 and you hold extrication dear.” “How,” said the Fāriyāq, “can you expect me to burn in a single moment things I stayed up working on for many a night, during which I knew no slumber and on which I worked as hard as a horse in a race, or cameleers who, from dusk to dawn, maintain their pace? When I finished a line of the poem, it would seem to me as though I’d covered a stage on the road to her whom I was wooing, and, when the poem was done, I’d imagine I’d reached her and all that stood between us was for me to open the door, which made the conclusion in my case an inauguration, in contrast with all other poets. That is why I didn’t attempt long poems—lest the time it took to write them should be as long as the time it took me to cover the distance to my beloved. Does it make sense that all that effort of mine should be thwarted for the sake of the heedless? Not to mention that I don’t want them to read what I write anyway, because if they don’t understand it, they’ll ask the scholars, who will proceed to hold it up to scorn, accusing me of mistakes and pointing out shortcomings. They never see merit in the writings of the young and humble, and even if they do, my only reward will be, ‘God shame him! God destroy him! May his mother be bereaved of him! May he have no father and no mother!’” Said the priest, “If on stubbornness you insist, and in divergence from the road of right guidance you persist, I’ll withhold absolution and expose your dirty laundry in open church for ablution.” “Don’t be so hasty,” said the Fāriyāq, “for ‘haste is of the Devil’! Do you suppose, if I praised you in a long ode, you could take that as expiation for my sin? And if you’d like me to laud therein each monk and nun, each contemplative (male and female), each ascetic (male and female), each recluse (male and female), each person who stands long in prayer (male and female), each hermit (male and female), each ecstastic reciter (male and female), each preacher (male and female), each caller on God’s name (male and female),
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1.14.6
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� �ذ ّ � � ّ � ّ � �ذ �ذ �ذ � ا �ل� ف م�ق���ي�ن ��ر�ي�ن � او ��ل�� ا ك� ��را ت� � او ��ل�� ا ك� ��ر�ي�ن � او�لم� ك� م�� ّرد ا ت� � او�لمغ��ب��ر �ي�ن � او�لمغ��ب��را ت� � او�لم� ك� ��را ت� � او �ل ت� و � � � � ّ � ت ت ّ � � ���د �ي�ن � اولم�� جه م��قي��ا ت� � او�لمت�ب��ت���ل��ي�ن � او�لمت���ت��ل�ا ت� � اولم�� جه � او �ل ت� ���دا ت� � او �ل��س�ا ج���د �ي�ن � او �ل��س�ا ج���دا ت� ب ف َّ � ا �ة � �ت ا ت ال�م���سّ��ي�ن ال�م���سّ�� ا ت �ف� � تُ ��ا نَّه أ � ن � � ال�ُ�خ �ْ��ت��ي�ن � ال��خ � * �ف م م � � � � ا � � � � � � � � ل � � ع �� � � � � � � � ح �� ع ح ك � س � � ل ك �� � � و ب و ب و ب و ب ر و رى � ي س ضِ َ � � ف � ث � �ذ � ة ف ف ن �ف ا �ل ا �ة �مث �ا ���� خ� � ���فى ا �لت���غ�ز �ل كب� ����ي�ر ا �� * ��ا � �و�ص� �مر ��ل ب �� ا �ل���ك���ل �و���ع�و�م�� ا �ل�� را � �وت��د �م��ل�ك م ع م �ذ � � � � �ف ذ � � ن �ق � � � �ق � ق � ئ ق ا ا ا ن �ن � ا �لث��د �ى ا � ا ك� ���ا ن�� ت� ��ى ا �ل� او ��� ك�� �ل�ك ا ��م� �ه�و�م �ب�ي���ل ��و�ل ا � �ل�� ���ل ا �لب��د ر ��ط� �ل� �ع��د ��ط��ل�و�ع�ه ع ع � ن � ن ا ف �ت �آ ً ا ث� ا � ا ا ذ ا ُ �ف ت � �ذ � ق �ن ق ش ا ا � ا �و ا �ل���س � ح�ا ب� �من ��� ش���� �ع ن��د ا � ������ �ع�ه * � او ��م� �ي��ك�و� �� ر ء �و �م� م� � �و صِ � �� ب�� �ل�ك ت تَّ � تُ آ عآ �ذ � َ �ج�ز�آ �ف ّ �ق ا �ن ا �ظ ��� ا ��ف ذ � خ � ن ت � � ش ا ا ا �� � � ل � � � ح���� �� �� � ل ح��س� ع ���ا ن�� ت� �م���س �وك� � ء �� �ه� � ر�ه� �ى � �ل�ك �ص�د � ح� ء �مرد� * �وك�� ��� �� ا � ي ب َ ّ � ا ن �غ ن ت�ت خ ��ذ ق ا �� ف ��ا �ز ف���ة * ف���ل�م�ا �ت��دبّ�ر ا ��ل�ا �م �ورا �زه ب���ع�ق���ل�ه ق��ا ��ل * �ل� �ي���ب��� ا � � �ه�ا �م�ا ق��ا ��ل �جم � �� �و�� ل ي� ر ى �ن �ق ف �ف ذ � ��ف ا ة ف ا �ن �خ� ش ن ت � ا �ت ت � � ق ن �م�د ح�ى ��ك�� ر� �� ��ى ا ����ى ا � ��م��س��ك ب ��ى �و �ل� ��ع�ود �� ��ط�ل���ى * ا � ا ر�ى �م �� او �ي���ك ��ى آ �ك���ة ُ�ع��َ�لق���ة �نُشَ������ة ��لُ�زَ�م��ة * � ا ن��م�ا ت��م�د � ا � ��ل��� ء ا لله � ا ��ل �ّ�ا ��ن ���ي�ن ا �� �لف��ا �ع��ل��ي�ن � او �� �لف��ا �ع�ل�ا ت� ا �ن��ك �ُم َ��س�� و و بر ي ب ح وي � ��ف � � �ن ا �غ ة ��ف � ا خ ة � �ي�ن � ��ذ�ي�ن �ز � � ��ز ا ��ل�ص�ا ��ل ح�� ا �ل� �ه�د � او �ى ا �ل�د �ي�� ر� ب��� �ى ا �ل� �ر� �ل�و ج��ه ا لله �و�لب����س� او ا�لم��س�وح �و�ل �م� او � � �ف � �� � َّ ة ح��ا ��ا لله * ��ف�من ���ف� � ا �ل��س�هر ��ى ���ط�ا �ع��ة ا لله �ود ا �و�م� او �ع��ل� ا �لت��ق� ش � �ه� �م�ن �ل� �ي�ا �ك��ل م�د � � ب ب ى م م ّ � � ق �ق ف ف ق ض � ا ت �� ا ا ا ا ا ����س ��س�ن � له�ا ا ��ل�ا ا ��ل�ع�د ��س � او ��خل �ب���ز ج��ا ف��ا �ص�لب�� * ����� �ل ا � �ل�� ر�� �� � او �ع� ب��ه ا �ي�� � ح�� ��ه ك��� � ي ��� ك ر ي ق ن ت ن ذ�� � � ش ا �خ� �� � ا ن ا �� � ح�� �ك���ة * �ق��ف� �ق��ف� * ��د ���سي��� ا � ا � ك�ر �ل�ك ����ي � ا � �و� طره ا �ل� � ب��ب�� ل�ى ا �ل�ع�د ��س * �ن ت ّ �ف ذ ن � �ذ �ت�� � � ق �و� ��ل��ك ا ��ى ���سب��ب� ت� �مر�ة ��ى ا خ� ا � ر �و�ي��ه ب� �م�ن د�يره �و رك���ه ا �ل��ط �ر�ي���ه * � او ��م�ا ا �ل�� �ى ر �ج �غ ��ن �ذ � � ا ق ا ت ه ف ه ف� ف� � ت ا �ف � ت تش �فّ ا ف� ق ا � ذ �ن � ��ف ا �� ت �ف ش ا � ار �ى �ب�� �ل�ك �م� �� ��سي���� �ي�� ���ع�ل� �م� ��ع�ل� ����� ي�� * ���� �ل � � ب��ك �ى ل�� �� ���ى �و�ه�و � � �ف ذ ن ���ث ا �� �ه ا ن � ا ف ا �ئ ة ��رب� �م�ن ا �ل�ا ��ن ت��ق��ا � ا كب�� ���ر �م�ن � ��ن ب���ك ��ى ا خ� ار � ا �لر�و�ي��ه ب� * ف��ا � ا ك�� ر لر ب�� � �ل� �� ��د� ض� م �ج ذ � � ف� ق ي� ت ن �ذ � �ا� � �ن ق ا ت �ف � � ا � م ا �� �م �ه� ��ى ا �ل��د �ير �ل� �ل�ه� �و �ل� �لغ���ي�ر�ه� * �و�م�ا �ع�د ا � �ل�ك ����د ح��م�ل ا � �ه� ا ا �لر�و�ي��ه ب� م �م م ا نا ث �ك�ن ا ذ� ا �م�د � ت � ا ت ف ا ح���ذ �م�ن ���ع�ل �م�ن �و��ل��ده ر�هب�� �� ك� ����ي�ر �ي�ن * �و��ل�� �ي��ت�ز �ّو� �و ج� ح� ا �ل ار �هب�� � �� � ر �ج ي ثآ � ا �ز ذ � ا �ش� � ه�نَّ � �ذ ذ � � � �ا �ف ن � ا ف ت ا �ن � ه�ن ��ر �ل� ا ���د � ء � او جع ا ن� �ت�� ك� �� ا ا � �ل� ��ى �ل� �م � �ل�ك * �� � ��ط�و�ل ا �ل� �ع� ك� �� � آ ن � َّ ��ا ب� ق��د �ص�يّ�ر�ه�نّ � خم � او ��ل�ا �حتج� ��ا �� �لف��ا ت� ��ل��س�ا �ئر ا ��ل ن����س�� ء * �و� ح�ن �م�ع�ا ش���را �ل�عب��ا د ا �عل��� �ب��ه�ن * م 208
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8،14،1
A Sacrament
each God-fearer (male and female), each celibate (male and female), each one who arises from sleep to pray (male and female), each one who prostrates him- (or her-)self in prayer, each one who humbles him- (or her-)self before God, and each teller (male or female) of the rosary, I could do so.” The priest thought for a moment and apparently discovered that love poetry wasn’t such a great sin, for if it described a woman as having huge buttocks, fat arms, and round breasts, and she really did, then it would be just like someone saying “the moon has risen” when it really had, or “the clouds are parting” when they really were. It would be a lie and a sin only if the woman so characterized was in fact flat-chested and flat-buttocked or used stuffing to make people think she had a large backside, and the one who saw her took what she’d done for real and said what he did without exercising due caution. When the priest had thought the matter through and weighed it in his
1.14.7
mind, he said, “It won’t do for you to use your praise of me as expiation, for I’m afraid that, once you get hold of me, you’ll never let me go, seeing as I do from your rhymes about those who do this and that (male and female) that you’re stubborn, leech-like, dogged, and assiduous. You may praise only those close to God and the righteous divines who deny themselves in this world out of desire to see God’s face in the next, who wear hair shirts and spend their nights in constant prayer out of obedience to God, and who subject themselves to perpetual mortification out of love for Him, some eating nothing all their lives but lentils and hardtack.” “Followed,” said the Fāriyāq, “by the breaking of a tooth and pruritis. Wait! Wait! I forgot to mention something that the lentils have just now brought to mind. Once I was responsible for persuading a young monk to leave his monastery and abandon the path. The reason was the sufferings I’d undergone there, and I did what I did so that I could gloat over the monastery’s discomforture.” Said the priest, “Your sin in gloating, which is a type of revenge-taking, was greater than your sin in persuading the young monk to leave, for there is no benefit to be had from the residence of most of the monks, or anyone else, in the monastery. In addition, it may be supposed that this young monk will marry and create lots of monks from his children. If, however, you go praising nuns, be careful you don’t talk of them as though they had breasts and buttocks, since they know nothing of such things. Their prolonged devotion and seclusion have made them into something different from other women. We, as contemplatives, are the best authorities on them.”
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1.14.8
����������
� ف � � �ف ق � �ا �ق ���ق��ا �ل �ل�ه ا � �ل��ا ر�ي�ا �� ��س�ا �لت���ك �ب�ا لله �م� بع ��ود ا ��ه�لا �ل��س�م�ا � او ت� � او �ل� ر��ض� ��ه�ل�ج��مي�� ا � �ل���سي����س�ن �مث���ل�ك ع ��ف ا �� �ظل��� ا ف �ة �� � ا � �ة ق ا �� � ا ا � ا ن� ا ا � ا ��ن ا �ن ا � � �ش �ق ت � ا � ��ف ت �ى ر �� � او ل�د �ع� ب� * �� ل �ل� د رى �و �م� د رى �ى � �و� ح�د ى ���ي�� ب�م� عر � * نَّ �ن �� �ا ن خ ً � � �ه ��ل ا � ة ف ق � � �� ف ل � او ���نى ��ل�و �ب ��ق�ي� ت� ج��ا �ه�ل�ا �مث��� له� �� ك� ح�� * �����ا �ل �ل�ه �وك�ي ��� � ل�� � ��ي�را �ل�ى * ا � �م ا �ج � �ل ر م ّ ذ � � � ن ن ف �ق ق �ي�ز � ا ت ا ا �ن � � ��ل��ك * ق��ا �ل ا �ع ن��د ك �ل��ل��س ّر � ك� م�� � � حر * �� �ل ا � ��سر�ى �م د م�ى ��ل� ا ب� ��وح� �ب�ه * (��ل� َ ق � � � ق ّ ��ر� �ب��ه�ا ق��ا ��ل ا ِ�� خص �ص��تى * ق��ا �ل ا ك� ب���ل �ب�ا � �ب�ه ا �ل�ا ن�) ق��ا �ل ا �ت �ري��د ا ن� ا ����ص �ع��لي���ك ��� � ��س�م�ع�ا * م ح �
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A Sacrament
The Fāriyāq then asked him, “In the name of Him who’s worshipped in Heaven and in Earth, are all priests like you, so witty and funny?” “I have no idea,” the other replied. “I do know, though, that I have suffered for what I’ve learned and would have done better to remain ignorant like them. Indeed, ‘in ignorance lies ease.’” “How can that be?” asked the Fāriyāq. The man replied, “Have you a place well guarded where a secret may be kept?” Said the Fāriyāq, “Secrets to me are like my own blood: I never let them out!” (though I say, he’s let it out now). “Would you like me,” asked the priest, “to tell you my story?” “It would be an honor,” said the other. “Listen well, then,” said he.
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1.14.9
�� ا �� � ��خ�ا �م�� �ع ش � ل ل � ا � � �� ف ص � �ل س �ر �ڡ � ة �ق �� ��ص�� ا � �ل���سي�� ق �� � ي س � شآ أ �ن �ن �ف � ا�ز � � �ت � ث�� ��� �ف � ح�ا �ئ ك� ط� �ق� ��ي��ق �و�ل * ا �عل��� ا ��ى ك��� ت� ��ى �مب��د � ا �مر�ى � ��ا * �و�لم�ا ����� ء ا لله ��ع�ا �ل�ى �م�ن ا �ل� �ل م م ن خ ق ن ��ق ت ن � �� ا �ق حت ا ن ا �م �ع ن�د �ن �ظ� ��� � ا ا ��ل ّ � � � � �ي � � � ل � ى ك� � ���ا ن�� ت� �ح�م��د ا لله �ع��ل� ا ��ه ��ل ا � ي �ى ب ح� �و��ص�ي را * �ى � �ى � ره� � ى م خ� ق ن � � ف ا � ش ن ا ��ن �غ � ة ��ف � ف ة � � ��ك�ن �ص�� ��ل���ل � ة � ا نّ ق ي ���ل��ن�ى ب����ت��ا �ل� ا � ا ل ح��ا ك����� * �ل� � ��� ح��ر� ا �ل ن��و�ل �صر�ى ا � �ل�� ح��� �م�� �ى ��ي ر �مر� �ى � ي م ح َ َ ��� � غ ف� ا ��ف ن ق � �ن ف ن ن ّ ا ��ُ �خُن ا �ق ا ذ � ن �هر � او ��ل �� � ����س�ى * �م� ا � ��م�خ��ر�ى ب �ح�م��د ا لله ي�ه� ي���� ��ط ���ا � �ج���س��مى ك��ل�ه �ي��ي� ب� � � �� � * � ك � �ب� لب ع ع آ ُ َ �خ ا ��ف �خ ث ا ن �ن � ���ا ن� �ي� غ�� ش���� �ع�� ّ ف��ه�ا ��ر�ش���ا * �وك� ����ي�را �م�ا ك� ��ك� ��م��س��ي�ن ر�ئ��ة �و��م��س��ي�ن ك� � � � � ى ل�ى ي� ي���سع� � م ا ل�ه� �و ء �م� �ي ى آ آ ن � ف ة�� � ا � خ ��ذ �من �ه�ا �ع��ل � خ�ر ر�م�ق * �ف��ل�م�ا �ق�ا ��سي�� ت� �م�ن �ه��ذه ا ��ل حر��� �ك��ل �ج� �ه�د �و�ع ن��� ء را ��ي ت� ا � � و و�� � �ى �غ ف � ن آ � فا ت �ت ّ � ح�ا �ن�� �وت�ا �صغ���ي�را �و�ق��ع�د ت� ف�ي��ه � * �� ك�� ���ر��ي ت� �ل�ى � ا �ل����سب�� ب� ب��ب��ع��ض� �م�ا �ير� ب� �ي��ه ا �ل����س�� ء ا �ص�ل ث ح ��س ت ة ن ه�نّ �َ �ن �ت�ق � � �ا ن�� ت ا �� ن�� �آء �� ن � ّ �ظ � ن � ّ ض ا ك�ن � �ف ك� � � � � � � � م �ول * ى � ��يو ن� �� ر� ا �ل�ى �� ��ي ت�� �� � ل ��س� ي�مرر� ع�� ل ��� ح� * �و �مع� �مر� م � � م �ف ّ � ا ��ط�ن �� �� � ن � � ق ل��ا ن خ� ��� � �ه��ذ ا ا ��لت��ا � � ش ف � ������ ��ل�ه ��ى �ج�ث��ت�ه � ل�وك ���ا � ا � ظل����ا �هر�ع ن�� او �ن�ا �ص�ا د ��ا �ع��ل�ى ا �لب�� � ك � رط� ج ي ر و م ع � ق � ّ ت ا ة ف ق ق �ف �و ر �ّو� ��س��ل�عت��ه * �ف�ا �ع��م�د ت� �ع��ل� ك�� ��ل�ا �م�ه�ا �و���ل ت� �ل��ع�ل �م�ن ا � �لب��ق� � ��س�ع� د� * �����د �ي���ل ��ى �ي ى ح � ا ��ج نَّ ث � � � � � �غ ة ة � �ق ئ ش ا �ل� �مث��ا �ل ا � �م�ن ا �ل م��� ت� �م�د� �ع��ل� �ه��ذه ا �ل � � ح��س�ن �ل���� �و� * �و� ك ح�ا �ل �م�ن ��ي�ر �� ط�ا ���ل * ى � آ �ف � � �ز �ق ف ن ن قف �ش ���ره �م�ن ا �ل� ح�� ب� �غ� كب�� حي� ث� ا �ن�ه �ل� �ي��د �لغ���ي�ر ا �لاِ� �ب�� ء ��ا � ا �����فى �و���� ب��ي��ن��ى � �وب��ي�ن ر ��ى * � ب�و��ل � م ع ض ا فق ت ا ف ّ ��ق � �ا �ر ���فى خ���ل�ق� ا لله ��ت�ع�ا ��ل�ى �ه��ذ ا ا ��ل�� �ك�و ن� * � او �ول� �� � او �ل� �ع ار ��ض� �عن��ى �م�و� ���ع� * �����ع�د � �ي ��و�م� ا � ك ن ث ت � �� ف ت خ �ف � � � ق ف� ه ش ا � ن �ز ��ا ��ل � ك�� ح�م��ة ا لله ك�ي�� ���ل�ق� ��ى ا �ل��د ��ني��ا ا ���س�ا �ن�ا �� خ�ل�� ي�� ����ي � ي� م�� ر �ق�ه �و��ق� ا و � �م�عي�� ش����ت�ه * � ي م م ع � ض � ت ض � � � � �ذ � �ذ � � ا �ز ف ّ ن ة ا ا ا ا �ن ش ف ف خ � �ل����ى ا �ل� �ل� � �����م�ن �ي��ه ا ج�ع� �م�ا ا � �ل��ا �ئ��د� �م�ن �ه� ا ا �ل� � �� ا �ل����� ا �ل�� �ى �ل� �ي��ص��ل م ح 212
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2،15،1
3،15،1
Chapter 15
The Priest’s Tale
Without further ado, he spoke. “Know that when I started out in life I was
1.15.1
a weaver. However—given that Almighty God had decided, in His sempiternal wisdom, to make me so ugly and short that even my mother, when she looked at me, would thank God that He hadn’t made me a girl—I was no good for weaving. The reason for this was that my terrible shortness often caused me to pant and choke in the loom pit, because my whole body would disappear inside it, and I’d find it impossible to breathe, despite which my nostrils, praise God, could take in enough air to fill fifty lungs and fifty bellies. Often I’d faint down there and have to be pulled out at my last gasp. “When I’d suffered from that craft as much toil and trouble as I could
1.15.2
stand, I decided it would be better to set up shop selling a few things that women crave, so I rented me a little store and sat there, and the women would pass by, look at me, and then laugh to one another. Once I heard one of them say, ‘If the outside is a true guide to the inside, that shopkeeper’s hose will intercede for his body and sell his goods for him.’ I put my trust in her words and said, ‘Maybe from ugliness will come good fortune, for, as the proverb has it, “from good comes evil.”’ I went on for a while that way but to no avail, for my nose stood between me and my living, and it grew so monstrous that it left room for nothing but rejection and aversion. “One day I was sitting thinking about the Almighty’s creation of this universe, when I said to myself, ‘My, my! What a wise God! How could He make an individual a part of this world and at the same time make a part of that individual an impediment to his earning a living or making his way in it? What use is this huge nose except for having the “buttocks” of “Halt and weep”230
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1.15.3
�ف �ق �ة ا �� �ق �ي� ��ص� ل���سي����س
َ �َ � �ج�ث�ت * � �م�ا ��ل� ا �ى ���ع�� ا ��ل ن��ا �� �ج��م��ل�ا � ّ ��ف � �ق ف ا �ن � �ل �ل � ��ق َّ � ن ه �ش�� � س ي ���� � ب��ك * �و�م �م �ي �ور م�� �ى �و�ي�ك�ور �ى ى و ى ر ب �ض �ََ ض ��ق ّ � ���ا ��ل ش���� ����ا ن * ا ��ل��س�ن �ا �ج��م��ع�ا خ���لق ا � � � ���ا �لم�� �� �ي �س� � � ك� � � � ا ه � � ا � ب ل * لل � ع �� ح ك ه �� ل ط �� ك � ح�ا �ن�ه �ي��ع�م�هم� � ي � ي س ب ي �� بو � م �� ّ � ا �ن � ا ض ّ ذ � ن ك��� �ص�ن � �ش���ي �ا ف��ا �ن�ه له� ب���ع ن��ا ��ي ت��ه �ع��ل� � ح��د ��س�و�ى * ا �لي����س ا �ل�ص� �� ا �ل� ر��� ى ا � ا ا را د ا � �ي�� � ى م ع ع �ت ا� ن ّ � ّ � ت��ا �نّ�ق ف���ه � � ت���ق ن��ه �ع ن��د ا � ت �س� ���ط�ا �عت��ه � �و�ا ��ى �ب�ه �م�ن ا � ح��س�ن �م� �ي��ك�و� * ��ه�ل �ي��ص�ور ا �لم�ص�ور �ي �� ي �يو ي �ق ضِ َ ض ّ � � ُ � � �ف � ة � ح ْ��س�ن �ا ح��ك ا �ل ن��ا ��س �م�ن ا �لم�ص�ّور �ع ن��ه * ا �ل��ع� ��ى �� خ� �� ا �ل�ا ��ن �ف� � �ص�ور�ة � ب �ي �ى �ي����� ��� ح�� ا �ل�ا � ك�� ل� ل آم ن ً � � ث ّ ح�ن �م�ع�ا ش��� ال� خ ت ا م ا �و خ��ي�را ا �و ��ن ف���ع�ا �و� ���ل�وق���ي�ن �ل�ا ��ن�ع��ل�م�ه * �� ا ��ق�و� ا ��ل�ى ا�ل�م �ر �ة � او �� ��م�ل �و�ج� ه � � ر ى م م �� �ذ �ه � ا � ��ق � ف ف� ا ف ا �ن � � ا ���ع�ا ��ل�ل�ا ���ست�� ح��س�ا ن� * ف��ا �ع�ود ا ل�ى �م� �ب�ى ا �ل� �و�ل � ا و �و�ل * �ره �و �ل� ا ج���د �ي��ه �م�و ض� � �ه� �� ك ي� آ ن ت � � ت ف ن ن ا ن خ �غ ��� ت� ا �ن�ا �ل� ا ���س�� �ن ��ه� ي����س�� � ا ن� ك� ح��س�ن �ه � �ر ��ي�ر�ى * �ع��ل�ى ا � ا �ل� ���س�ا � �ير�ى ح��س �و�ج� �ه�ى � ل م � ق � �ف � أ �غ � ف ه � س�ن ا ذ � ت ه �ف ة َ �� � * �ذ� � ��ي ره �ي�� ح�� � �ور� �ي�ل�� �� ض�ي ��ل�� * ا �تر�ى ��ى ا �ل ن��ا ��س �م�ن �ير �و�� �ل�ع�ي�ن �ه ا � �لب��ق� م ح � � � � � �ف � ن ن ن ن �غ ا ا ق ا ا ا س�ن ن ن ف���ق��د ��ي��� �ل ا � ا �ل��س�ود �ل� �ير �و� ��ى ا �ل� ب����� �م�� � ح�� � * ��ي�ر ا � �ل�و� ا �ل��س� او د �ع��د �ه� ي �ض م َ ّ � �ف ن �ن ���ا �ن���ف � ت ح ن �ع�ا �ّ ف���ل���ذ ��ل��ك ي����ست�� ��س� �ون�ه * �و�م�ا ا ر�ى �غ��ي�ر�ى �َم�ن ا ق���ل ا ��ن �ف��ا ك� � ح�ى ا ���ط�م� ��ى ا ��ه �ي��ك�و� � ى م ع �م���س�ت ا � � ن ف ا ��ن � ت � �ن � � ا �م�ن ا ��ل ف ا �ن ا � �ي�ن �� �ا �عنَ �ْ�ن ا � ا ا س�ن � ��س�ود �� � ب� ا ل�ل ��ي * �ل� ح�� � * ا �م� ا �ل�ل�و� �� �ى �ل��س� م ا �لب�ي���ض� �و �ل� َ ت ّ َّ �ت �ذ ُ ف ���� ���ا �ن�� او ك� ��لي� ت� ا ��ه�ل ب���ل��د ��ى ك� له� �مث���ل� ق� ن��ا �يّ���ي�ن ف��ا ���س��ل� � او �ت�ا ���سى �ب��ه� * �م�ن ا �ي�ن �ور��ث ت� �ه� ا � ى م ى م �ي�ن ��ا ن ق � ي�ن ��ن �ق ��ف ف � � ش ت ا ن ا ج��ل ���ا ن� ك� ���ل�م�ود � او ��ن �ف� اب ��ى ك� ���ا �ن��و�� ا �ل�� ��س * �لي�� ����عر�ى ا ك�� � �ع����ل اب�ى � ح�� �ر �ى � �ف �ذ � � ن ��ف ّ ّ �ت � ى ���ط�ود ا �و ��ط �ر�ا ��ل ا �و �م ن��ا ر�ة ك� �ر ا �ن ش����ا �ى ��ى �ه� ا ا �ل��ك�و� �و�ى ا � �� ���ا ن�� ت� ا �م�ى � ف�� ك را ��س�ه �ف ك ��ر ب ُ ََ � ��ل���ل��ة ا � َ حتْ��ه �ع�� �ه��ذ ا ا �ل�ع��م� * ا ��ل�ا ��يل��تم�ا �غ� ش���� �ع��ل�ه�م�ا �ت��ل�ك ا ��ل��ل���ل��ة ���فم�ا ا ف��ا ق��ا * ا � فَ�َ�د ا ���فم�ا � ل ى ي� و ر ي رو ي � ل ى ُ �ف �ف � �ف َ ق �ا ا ���ط�ا ق��ا * ا �و ����س � ار ��م�ا ق��ا * �و ج� ��ع��ل ت� ا �ج�ي���ل �ه��ذه ا �ل�ا �ف ك� �� ح ار ��م�ا �ت�ا ��ا * ا �و ��س ك �� ر ��ى را ��س�ى َ ق �ن أ �خ ت���ل�ف���ة � ا ف��ا �ن��ي�ن �مت�ن ��ّ �ع��ة * � ا ذ� ا ��ا �م ا �ة �مت�ن ���قّ ���ة ا ق����ل ت� �ع�� ّ � ��د � ت��� � او �ص� �غ� �ه�ا ���فى ��ق� ا ��ل� ��م ل�ى و و ب ب و و و ب ر و ب ش ا �� قُ �ّ ة �ف ظ �� ن ن ت ن ا � � ت �حن�� � �� ن �ن ف ا ��ل��ت ش�� ّ ش �م�ن ت� �ن ق �ه� ��م�ه ح ت� � ���ا �ب��ه�ا ����ى ���ب��ي��ه �ب� �ل��ل�� * ������� ا ���ه� ج��ع�ل� ج � �ور ع�طر�ع��د ا � � � � ش آ �ف َ ّ � �ف �ع ن��د �م �ور�ه�ا �ع��ل ا �ج��ل � ي ��ف� ��ى ا ��س� او �ق� ا�لم�د ��ي ن���ة * ��ف��س�ا �ل�ت ن�ى �ع�ن ����ى �ت �ر��د ش��� �ر ه ���س�ع �تر�ه ر ي �ى نَّ ْ �ذ ق ت ت � � � ف ن � س�ت غ ف �ن فق �ل�ه�ا �ف ك� ��ا ���ه�ا ا �� ����لت��ه ���ق��ا �ل ت� �ل�ى ا ��� �ص�د ��ا � ���س�ع�ي�رك �ه� ا ���س�ع�ي�ر * ������ل ت� �ل�ه�ا � او �
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5،15،1
The Priest’s Tale
stuffed up it? And why shouldn’t a part of it be cored out and curled about my body? How is it I see that some people have been created as beautiful as angels and others as ugly as the Devil? Are we not all God’s creatures? Has not He, glory be to Him, taken them all into His care, on the same footing? Does not the earthly craftsman, when he wants to make something, work on it meticulously and make it as nearly perfect as he can, bringing it to the best state possible? Does a painter paint an ugly picture, unless he wants to make people laugh at the thing portrayed? Could it be that, in a nose of huge size, there is some comeliness, value, or benefit of which we ordinary mortals are unaware?’ “Then I would get up and go to the mirror and contemplate my face and
1.15.4
reject it, finding nothing in it to like, and say, returning to my first line of thought, ‘If I cannot find anything to like about my face, how can anyone else find it attractive?’ People will, however, find good in the faults of others and in their vices virtues. Do you not observe how, to some people’s eyes, ugliness is attractive? It is said that blacks find nothing attractive in the fair-complexioned among us, while blackness, being general among them, is something they appreciate. Never do I see anyone carrying around a nose like mine without hoping that he’ll find mine attractive. As for color, I belong neither to the blacks nor the whites and am cursed by both their houses. Would that the people of my town were all like me, with big noses; then I could share in their joys and sorrows. From whom did I inherit this boulder, when my father’s nose was just like other people’s? I wish I knew what my father was thinking about when the idea of bringing me into this universe came knocking at his head, and about what lofty mountain peak, craggy landmark, or minaret my mother was thinking on the night when she collaborated with him in that deed! Would they’d swooned that night and not awoken, or gone off the boil and found their appetites broken, or been bewitched and lost all feeling, or got drunk and and gone about reeling! “I was turning these ideas over in my head and fashioning them into different forms and varying shapes, when behold, a woman with covered face approached, with something that might have been a water pitcher forming a bump beneath her veil; I thought she must have placed a flask of scent by her nose to sniff at when passing the carrion in the city’s markets. She asked me about something she wanted to buy, and I told her its price, which
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1.15.5
�ف �ق �ة ا �� �ق �ي� ��ص� ل���سي����س
فض آ �َ َ �أ ت �ف � � ح��سن�� ت� ���فى ا ج��ل � ت� �وق��ا ��ل ت� �� �لق��د ا � ح�� ِش��� �ر ء ك �ل ش���ر�ى * ������ ك �وا ب� �و� �ك�ن �� ل���ك ا ��س� � ��ى �ق ق � ش �� ة �� ن ّ ة ف ا �ن ش ت � � ��ا ن ��ن�����غ � ح� � �� ا �ل��� ك���� � او جل ����� �� �� � ا �ل���ط��ل ب� * �ف ار � ���ك �ورف�ي ���ق ت���ك * �ف ك� � ك ��� � � � ى ب � ي و س�ي ر ر ى �ي ِع ّ ق �� � ا ن ت� ا � ن ش ت ح��ك ا لله � �ه��ذه ا � ��ل �خ� ���ط �ة ش��� � ن� ف��ه�ا ���ة �����ن�ن �ا ا �ص��ل� � � ل�ك � و و ر ر�ف�تِ ى ي� ح� ب�ي����ى * ��ل� ا �ى ���رك�� ب ي ���ا �ن�ه � ا ��هَ ا �ن���ف ��ا ��ل�ز ��ا �ة * �ف �ف��ع ت� ا ��لن ��ق��ا � � ا ذ� ا ��ا ��ن ف��ه�ا ا ��ل ن��ا ���ت�ئ ��ض ��ي ��ق� �ع ن��ه �و�ج� �ه�ه�ا * �وك� � و ب ير ج ب و ب � � ي ر ى ف َ � � � خ �خ ذ �غ �ذ ق � ���ا ن� ي��م� � ا � �لف� � ا ��ا ح ّ� �ه * � ��يل�� � ��طر ب��ب��ا ��ل�ى � �م�ا �ي���ل �ع�ن � ��ل��ك ا �لغ�� ار ب� ا �ل�� �ى ك� رب ي ٍ ع وِ �ي ح �ش آ ا ق ا � ا��ن � ن ض ت ا ا � ه��� ا �ج��ل � � ن��ا � * � او � ا � ح�د ا �ل����ع �ر ء �لم� ا �ب�� �صر�ه�م� �� �ل �م� ك��� ا د ر�ى �م� ا را ده ب���ع� ���هم� م� ي �ض ح آ �ق � ن � � ح�ت ا �� ت� �ه��ذ�ي�ن ا ��لغ�� ا ���ي�ن * ث�� ا ���ن ���عت�ه�ا ا خ��� ا �م�ا ط� ر �ع��ل ا ��ل�� �ف�ه�ا ��ت�ق�� � م ى ب � ير �ب �� �و�ل�ه ا � ا �ل��ي �و �ى � ع ى ري رب ت ن تش ت � ا �� تُ ا ن ا ق� ّ � ا قُ� ْ��� �ة ا � ة �ت ���ا �ع�م�ا �خ���س �ت�ه �م�عه�ا ���فم�ا ح��د� ��ع� �وي� ض� له� ب ل� �و ر � ا را د � ا � ������ر�ي�ه * �وح� �ول� � ب�� � � ا ن �ن في�ن ا � ث �ت � � ��ل � ث ذ َْ ا� � � ة م�� �� ت� ا �ن�ا �ع��ل� �لك ا � �ك�ن �ل�ى * �ل� � ا � ��� � � م� ح�ا �ل�ا �م�ا ب��ي���ن�ن �ا * �� � � به� ت� �و� ك ح�ا �ل �م�د� * ى م آ � ت َ ���ا ن� �ف �ه�د ا �غ�َ��ْ��س�ا ��ن ّ��ا �ق� ت� ا ���نى ��ل�ا ا �ص��ل �ل��لت� ا ة � ا ن � ن � � ا ش ت �ي�ن � ا �م ّ�ن ف���ل ّ�م�ا � ح�ق � ي ي � ج�� ر� �ل� � ا �ل����س� ء �ل� ي������ر ا �ل� �م ك� ر �ذ ّ حه�ن ت تّ � م���ع�ن ��م�ا ا �ش����ت �ي�ن �م�ن �ع ن��ده * � �ت ��ًا ��ل���ذ ��ل��ك ا ��لن�ه�ا ���ا بج ��م�ا ��ل ��ط��ل�عت��ه ���فى ا �ن�� �ي � �تب��رك� � ك � � ب �ر ر و ر � � �ذ ��ن �ذ ف��ت�� � ف ف ��ا ن �ل� ا �� ا � ا ��لت��� � ���ْ�ن �ف ّ ة � ن ذ � ا �ل��س�عي��د ا �ل�� �ى �عر� ن��ه �ي��ه * � او �ى �م� ح ت� ا �ل��د ك�� � � ب� �ل� لك ا ك ل�� �ر ي�� ي��� �وك���ا � � �ل��ك مع � َّ ا �ن ة ف �ذ ت � �خ ا ة �م�ا � ق���ل ت ����ل �ئ��� * � ق��د ا ق��د �م�ن �ز ت ب� ��س� ر� * �ع �م� �ع��ل�ى ا �لر�هب�� �ي��� �� � به�� ا �ل�ى د�ير و � ل ري��س و �ى � ن � �آ خ ة �ف � �ن � �غ ة �ف � ا خ ة ف ن � �ن � ا �ت�غ ن ا �ل�ز �ه�د ��ى ا �ل��د �ي��ا � او �لر� ب��� ��ى ا �ل� �ر� * ��ا � ا �ل��د �ي��ا �ل� �� ��ى �ع�ن ا �ل� �ر� �ش���ي �ا * � او � آ �ن ت خ �ذ ذ� ���ا ن�� ت� �ه��ذه � ���ط�ن�ن �ا ا ��ل���ذ �ى �ش���� ء ه ��ل ن��ا ا ��ل��لب�ي��� �م ا � ��� د ��ني��ا ه �ه��ذه �جم ��ا �ز ا ا ��ل�ى �ت��ل�ك * ا � �ل�و ك� و ب ّ ّ �ن � � � � ّ ِ � �ق � ل��ا ��ع�م ف��ه�ا ��ط� ��ل�ا * �ع�� ا �ن�ا �ن �ى ا ن� �م�ن ا �ل ن��ا �� �َم�ن � �� �ل��د ف��ه�ا � ��ع�� ش�� � �� �م�ا خ��ا � �ل ن��ا � �ك�ن ل�ى ر ي� س و ي و ي� و�ي ي � ي و ر ي نّا � ن ذ � � ا � ��ذ � � �ف � خ ق ا ا ش �ن � �ه��ذ ا د ��لي��� �ع��ل ا �� �ل� � ��� �ل� �ل�ه� * � او ���ب�� ه � �ل�ك �م ا � ك� ل��ل� � ا �ل� �ى ج�ر� ح�دا � او � � � ع � ى ل � � � ل ى م ى م َ ت ق ��ف ّ � � ة � � ّ �ف � ف �ق � ى ا � ف�ل� ض����ل * � او ��ت�ف� �ق� ��ى ا �لي ��و� ا � �لق��ا ب���ل ا �ن�ه ا �ل��س�ن �� ا �ل�عبّ��ا د * ��� ب���لن��ى ا �ل �رئ���ي��س � او �ع ����د � م ت � آ �ذ ف خ � ت ��ف � �ت � ح�ا �ئ� ���ط ��لي�ن ��ف�� �م ن��ه ا ��ل�ى ب���ع�� ب��ي ��و� ا �ل ش���رك� ���� ء * ��د ��ل� �ى ا � ح�ا �و�ل ا �ل����س�ّور �ع��ل� � � ح�د �ى �ض ى ن ة �ن غ ص�ن ��ش�� ة ف �ذ ت ا ف � �� �غ��� ا ن ق ت ش �آ ق �عي���ي��ه قِ��� ض�� � �و��د ����� �م �ب ����د �و�م�ى ا �ل�ى �ص�د� �م ���� �ج�ر� �� � به�� �ب��ه� * �ر ج�ع ب َ ّة � ة � ذ � ش ق� ���ا ن� ق��د ا �� �لف� ا ��ل��ت��س�ّ ق��� ��م ا ��ل��د �ير * ا � ك� �ج�ي�ئى ب��م�د � ��ط� �و��ل�� �و�ل� �ي��عر��ض� �ل�ه ����ى �� �� ط * � ِ ر ب و ل ي م 216
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The Priest’s Tale
she seemed to find high, so she told me, ‘Bring it down. Your price is pyretic,’ to which I responded ‘And your proposal’s pruritic.’ She laughed and said, ‘You did well on the response but you made a mess of the request. Make allowance for the rights of partnership and commonality, for I’m your partner and comrade, which means you should make me a gift for friendship’s sake.’ ‘What partnership can there be between us, God set you to rights,’ I asked, ‘when this is the first time you have honored me with a visit?’ At this she raised her veil, and I beheld that her nose bulged out so far it left almost no room for her face and seemed to stand face to face with mine as though to salute it. It made me think of the story of the lame crow that made friends with a crow with a broken wing, on seeing which a certain poet declared, ‘I never knew what people meant by the saying “Birds of a feather flock together” until I saw these two crows.’ In the end I sold her what she wanted to buy, trying to get one kiss as a compensation for my loss, but I couldn’t because our noses got in the way. Then she departed and I continued for a while as before. “When I realized that I wasn’t cut out for trade (for women buy only from young men who are well-built and supple as a branch, taking the beauty of their faces as a good omen that they will enjoy whatever they buy from them and as as a memento of the happy day on which they made their acquaintance), and that since I’d opened the store the only thing I’d sold had been to the woman with the bulbous beezer (and that at a loss!), I decided to become a monk. I found my way to a monastery and said to its abbot, ‘I come to you disillusioned with this world and eager for the next, for this world can never assume that other’s place. The wise man is he who takes this as a metaphor for that, for were this the home that our Creator desired for us, we would live in it for eons, though in fact we see that some people are born into it and live a single day, which is evidence that it’s not what we were created for’ and similar stuff of the sort that trips off the tongues of contemplatives. The abbot saw virtue in me and accepted me, but the next day he happened to try to climb over the wall to get to the houses of certain partners and the broken end of a tree branch entered his eye and blinded him, so he returned in a fury, saying that my arrival at the monastery had brought bad luck, because for ages before I came he’d climbed that wall all the time and nothing had ever happened to him.
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1.15.6
�ف �ق �ة ا �� �ق �ي� ��ص� ل���سي����س
آ ت �� � �ف ث َ � �ن ف �ق � د�ير � خ�ر � او �ع�د � ا � ك� ل��ل�ا � ا �ل�ا �و��ل * ��� ب���لن��ى ر�ئ�ي����س�ه ��م�ن ��ّ ��طرد ��ى �م�ن ا �ل��د �ير ف��د خ���ل ت� ا م م � ف ا ��ق ت ثَ َّ ّا ا ق ا �� ف ا �ن ��ق ش ف � ش ة � ��� خس ا � ض ا ا � � ح�دا ���� ا�لم�عي������� � او �ل�و � �م� �ل� �ير���ى ا لله �و �ل� ا � �ه� �م �� �م� ��م ا �ي� �م� ا �� س�ى �ي� � � ن �ت ف ق آ �ن �ذ � � � ���ع�ن �م�ن ا �ل�ع�ا �لم��ي�ن * �ه� ا �م�ا �ع�د ا �م�ا ك��� ت� ا ر�ى �م�ن �ع ن��ا د ا �لر�هب��ا � � �و ��ر�� � را �ئ��ه� * �و ��ط م �ت� ّ� �ذ �ف ا � ة ش� � ئة � ئ �ن � ب���ع ض� �هم� ���ه�م ��ى ب���ع��ض� �و�����ك� او �ه�م ا �ل��د ا ��م�� �ل��ل �ر���ي��س �م ا �م�ور �ب� ��ط��ل�� * �و��كب� ر �ه� ا �ع�لي� � آ ف �� ّ � ََ َ � �ف ت�خ �ص�ه�ا �لن ��ف���س�ه �م�ن د �و�ن��ه� * � �و�ت ن��ا ���س�ه� �ي�م�ا �ي��ه�د �ى ا �ل �ه� ا �ل ن����س�� ء � او �ث �رت�ه �ب�ا �ش���ي �ا ء ا ���س � ي� م م م �� ن ّ � �ف ذ � � � ل � � ا � ���ل�ه� � ك�ن �ك���ة * �و �زد �ع��ل� ذ� ��ل��ك ك��ل�ه �ج� ��ه� ج �مي�� ا � �ل� �ي�� ��ى ا �ل�د �ير ك� �م�ن � ��ي���� �و�ت�� حو �م ن��دي���ل �وك� � ل س ى ع م �ن َ ْت �ت ن � ا � ة ��ف � � ن �ن � ا ��ن �ن ف ئ ح��س ك� �َم�ن ي� ��� ب� ر��س� �ل�� �ى مع��ى �م ا�لم�ع� �ى * ح�ى ا � ا �ل �ر�����س � ����س�ه ا د ا � ا لله ي م � �زّ � �ك�ن � �ف ن ت ن � ة � ف ���ا ن �خ � ���ط �ه��ذه ا ��ل �� �� ب� ��س ��ط ار � او � �ع ه �ل� �ي�� �ي�عر� ا � �ي ك ح��دا �ب�ا �ل�ع بر��ي��� * � او ��م�ا ك� � ي حر�و�� م � �ن �ذ ت�ّ � ف ت � � � ة ة ن ف � �ن � � � �� ش � � ا ا ا ا ن � � ��و��ى * �وك�� � �ه� ا ا جل �� ��ه�ل ي جب�� ا �ل��س �ر�ا �ي��� ا�لم�عر�و��� �ع��د �ه� �ب� ��س� ك�ر� � � ب�م�عر���ه �ل�ه� �وي �ح�م�ل ي م م ًّاح ا��ا ن � � ن خ ت � ظ ت ن �ز � ا ا ا ا ت �ن � �ك� ���ل �م د ���ل �ص�و�م�ع��ه �ع��ل�ى ا �ع �� �� �م�ه� *ح�ى ا ��ه ك�� � �ي��د �ع�و ا �ي� �م� ك�� � �ل �� ر��ه * ي ف�ا ن ت � ا �غ � �ن � ا ن ��ت� ت ق ن ذ � � � �ن � �ن خ ا ق �� � � ك� �� ��� ا �ل� � ار ر م ا �لر�هب�� � ع ����د ا � � �ل�ك م ط��ا �ع�ه * ح��س ا ��ل� ��ه �وك�ر�م �� ب � آ ��ا ن ق ت ف�ن ت ي�ن �ن �ظ �� � � ���� �ب��ه�ا �ع��ل� ��ا �ب�ه ��س ���ط ا �و�ع��ل� ا ��ل �وك�� � ��د ك� ���� � ح�ا �ئ� ��ط ��س ��ط ار � خ�ر * � ك ب ح�� ا �� ر ر ب ى ى �ن ��ا ن �خ ً ض � � �م�ن غ� �ف ��ا �ت�ل�ا ذ� ��ل��ك ا ض���� � � بّ��ا � خم ح��ك ا ج�ع ظ�ن ا ���نى ا ���� ����لت��ه �ي� ��� ��ا �ب�ا �ب��ه�ا * �و�م ك�� � ح�ك * �و ه�و �ن �ن � ا ن �خ � � ف ا ن ��ث �ن � ن ا ق � � ��ه� � او ��ل ي�ن ��ل � ت���ل) ك���ا � �م ا �لر�هب�� � �ع��ل�ى �ج �ه�ل�ه (�� � ك���ي�را �م ا �ل�� ��س ��د �ج �م�ع� او �ب�� ا �ج ل � ن � � ت ��ل�ا ��ا ��ل ض ���ع�ا � �خ� ش ��ي ت��ق� ّ ب� ا ��لي��ه ا ���ستج� ���و�ع�ا ا ك� ��ر� ���ا ه �ب�ا � ��ي��ق �و�ل �ل�ه �و�ه�و � ح�ا ��سر ا �ل ار ��س � �� او ض� � � و ر ب ر م ن ذ ة � ح��س�ن �م�ا ��� �م�ن �خ� ّ ���ط��ك ا �ص��ل � �ع��ل� ّ ��ا ��س�ي �د �ى �ب������ خس ��ا ن� � ��ل��ك �م�ن ا � �ه�ا �خ� ّ ���ط� * �ف ك� � �ع�لي� ىي ى � ح آ ّ ً ّ � � � ة � ��ط� �م�ن � ش ��ُ�د ��ل ��ه �ع��ل��ه * ف���ل�م�ا ا �ش���ت�د �ع��ل ّ ا ��خل ��ع�ا � ع��� �رت��ه� �و�خ� �ص�و�ص�ا �م�ن رد� ء � ا �ل��ط ي � ب ي ب ى م م �ف �ف � ا �زّ ش � �ن ق ّ ة �ل� ت ض � � ّ خ � � �ق� ت� ا د �م�د � � ا ������ * ��س�م�عن�� � �� �م�ا �� ا �� ف� ط� ط���� ا �ل��د �ير ا �����ك�و�م ���ل�� ا ��س�م�ن ��ى ا �ل� ر ى يو ب م و �ج ر � ا ا ا ��ل� ظ � ��ذ ��ا ن �� ����ط خ� ��ف ع ��� ة ��ا ن ُ تُ ّا �ز�ن ا ف ا ت ش ا � ن ا �ل� �ى ك�� � ي ب��ه �ى ب���ع��ض� ا �ل� �عي�� د ي�م�� * �وك�� � �ع��ل� ي�م� * �� ��س������ ��ط �م��ى � �ك�ن ا ش ف ق ة ث ذ � � ��تف �غ ظ � � ن � �َ ا �ك��ا ي �ح��م�ل ا �لر ج���ل �و�ل��ده �و�ل�� �ب�ل� ���� � �ي� ����ا �وح�م��ل��ى �ع��ل�ى ك� ����ه �م ���� * ��م � �ه ب� ب ��ى ا �ل�ى م�م� ر ة � غ ّ � ن �ف �ق � � �ذ ا ��ل��س �ن � ��ذ � ���� خ ه � ا �ز ا �ل��د �ير �و�� ��ط��س��ى ��ى خ��ا ب��ي��� ا �ل��س�م�ن �و�ه�و ��ي� �و�ل * �ه� ا �م ا �ل� ى ا بط� � �ب� ا �ل� ر � 218
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9،15،1
The Priest’s Tale
“As a result, he threw me out of the monastery, so I entered another and
1.15.7
repeated what I’d said the first time. Its abbot accepted me, and I resided there for a few days, suffering such squalor and dirt as neither God nor man could put up with, in addition to the obduracy of the monks, the divergence of their opinions, their accusations against one another, and their constant complaints to the abbot over matters of no importance, as well as the way the latter lorded it over them, his selfishness over things that he kept for himself alone, allowing them no share in them, and their rivalry over things that women would give them, such as a handkerchief, a purse, or the drawstring from a pair of bloomers. “To this you have to add the ignorance of them all, for in the whole monas-
1.15.8
tery there wasn’t one who could pen an epistle on any topic. Even the abbot himself, God preserve his high degree, was incapable of writing a single line in proper Arabic, using instead the Syriac letters known as karshūnī,231 of his knowledge of which the ignoramus was so inordinately proud that he’d force everyone who entered his cell to say how wonderful they were, and even invite all and sundry to visit him, which the gullible monks thought he did out of noble morals and generosity of character. He had written a line in these letters above his door and another on his wall, and when I looked at it, I’d smile, which he, in his simplemindedness, believed was because I admired them. Other monks who, for all their ignorance, were wily swindlers (and how many a man combines ignorance and dishonesty!) would, in hope of gaining his favor, cozy up to him by telling him, as he sat there with his head lowered in modesty and submissiveness, ‘Would you be so generous, Master, as to let me have a sample of your handwriting to use as a model for my own?’ and this was one of the best ways for them to get things out of him. “When, then, their company, and, above all, the awfulness of the food, became too much for me to bear, I took to grumbling and muttering. One day the monastery cook heard me complaining about how little clarified butter there was in the rice he was cooking for a high holiday. He was a ruffian and a knave and he exploded at me in anger, picking me up and putting me over his shoulder as a man might his child, though without the tenderness. Then he carried me through the passageways of the monastery and plunged me into the vat of butter, saying, ‘This is the butter with which I cook the rice that
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1.15.9
�ف �ق �ة ا �� �ق �ي� ��ص� ل���سي����س
� ح� ا ���خل � ���ط�و� * ��ا ��س��لي��� ا ��لب ��و� * ��ا �ن��صي��� الم ا ��ل���ذ �ى �ل�� ��ي�ج�ع � ب���ك �ي�ا �ص�ا � � حر�و� ل ي ي ر ب ب ْم م م م � َّ ُ ئ � � � ة � �ئ � ا ا ا ا ا ا � � ث ل � ع ا � ح�� ا �ل �� � * �� ر� ���سم� � * �� ج�ل ل�� ر � او �جل �ر�و� * �ي� را � �ي�ا اب��ن ا ��ل��ل�و� * �ي� ا �ب� ا � بك� �و� * � � و و ي ي ي م م م م م ح ا �َ َ ث �ف ف ا َ نْ ّ �غ �ق ة خ � �غ� �م�ن َ � ا ّ � � �ه�و�م * �ي� �ل�ه�و�م * �ي� �و�� �ي� �م � �ص� �ع��ل�ى �� او �ى ك���ي�ر� ��ي�ر �ه��ذه * �ب��ل �ى �و�م * �و� ب ��ت غ� ��� ه � ض� ��ف ا �� ّ ���ث �م�ن ��ت غ�� ���ط����س�ه ا ��س� ���ف ا ��ل��س�م�ن * ف��تم��ّل� ت �ص� �م ن��ه ب���ع�د س� ا ك�� ر ي ر ىى �طي����س� عر ��ى �ى ل�� ب ذ ت � ت �غ ت خ� ت � ق �ا �ّ � � ��ق � ��ل * ��ل�ا �� ّ�د �م�ن � �ج� �ه�د �ود ��ل� �ص�و�م�ع��ى ح�ى ا ������س�ل � او � ا �ب�ه �ي� ��طر�� ا �لب�� ب� �و�ي�ع و�ي و ب خ ف �ن ا ��ل�� �ن ا ��ف � �جً ث ا ن ا �ع �ن ف � ف� �ق ه� ��ك� ا �لر�هب��ا ن� ا �يّ�ا �م�ا * �� ا �ه�و�ى ب��ي��د �ي�ه س � � � �صر ا � ���ك ���د د ���ل �ي�� م �م �م� �ي ى م ��من�خ ��ا ن ا��� �ت ا ّ � � � ن ن ق ح��د ا د �و ج� �ع��ل� ��ر�ى ك�� ���ه�م� ك��لب� � � ح�تى ظ ��� ن��� ت� ا � ��د �صر * �صر�ه�م�ا ا �ش���د ا �ل�ع� ���ع�ل �ي��ع� ى �� � �ن ف خ� � �ق ن ن ا ف �ن �ث ف ق �ئ ت � ن ا ا ا � ل ح�ده د �و� ��س� ر � � �و ب� ا �ج� ��س�د م �ز � � �ه�م� * �� � ا �ل� � �� �و� �ح�ل د � �و�ل ه�� � �����سى �م � ا ��لن ��ف��� � خ� � � ه�ا خ�� �ا ف��ا �� �ل�ق � * � ��ل���ذ ��ل�� � �ق��ا �� ��ت ن ��فّ��� ا ��ل�ا �ن��س�ا ن * ف���ل�م�ا �ش ��قّ �ع�� ّ �م�ا � � ل � � س و رو�ج � ل �وم و ك �ي ل س ى �ن ش � � ق ا ت � � �ف � ّ ن ت ّ�ق ن ذ � ا ن �� له�م �ي �م�� �ل �و� � ��يوت��ود د �و� �� ��سي����ه �و�ل�م ا ج��د ��ى ا �ل��د �ير �م ا �����ك�و ا �لي��ه * ا � ا �لر�هب�� � ك��� � � ثُْتُ �ف � ا آ � ف � � � ح�ت � ش ا ��ل��ه � ����� عه� �و�ل�و �م�ن ا �ل��ر�� * (�و�ه�و �م�ا �� ض����ل �م�ن ا �ل��ط ��ع�ا � ا �و ا �ل�اِد ا � ��ى ا �ل� �ن�� ء) � ي ب ي ى م م م م � � خ� � ت �م�ن ا � � �م �ت ئ ا � ق ن � ق ���ا ��ق ت� ا �ل��د ��ن ��ا �ع�� َّ ُ ْ ح�ه�ا * � ق���ل ت� ا �ي�ن ل�د �ير ب� ����س� ح�ز��ي ن��ا ��ا �� ��ط�ا �و��د ض� ر�ج � و ى �بر� ب � ي ل� ف �خ �� �ي�ن �ذ ّ �ذ ذ ا ن�ف �ذ � ��ذ � �ز ق � � � ا � �ه ب� �ب� ����ى �ه� ا ا �ل� �ى ��س�د �ع��ل�ى �م� ا �ه ب� ا �لر �� * ا �م ا �ي�� �ه ب� ب�ى �ه�و * �طر ��ن ُّ � ن ق ن ن �ص�د ا د�ير ب���عي��د ا ك�� ت� ا ��س�م� �ع�ن ر�هب��ا �ن�ه ا ���ه� � ب��ب��ا �ل�ى ا � ا ��� �ص�ل�اح� * � او � ب���ع ض� ���هم� م ع ّ فت ّ � � � ف ف � ��� ا ��ل�ع � ّ � � ّ � غ �خ ض ت ت ا � � ح��س�ن ا ��ل ي� ح ب� ا �ل��ر�� ب� �و�ي ك ��ر�م ا �ل� ط � ��ي ��� * � ��و�ج� �ه� ا �لي��ه ��ل�م� ��س�ل�م� و ى ر ب ي ي أ شّ � ن � � ت � �ع��ل ر�ئ�����س�ه �و ���ط�ا ��ل�عت��ه ب��م�ا �ع�ز �م ت� �ع��ل��ه ا � ه��� ب ��ى * � ك ح�م�د ر� �ي��ى �و� ل��ن��ه �ل�م �ي �م�ا �ل��ك ا � ي �ى ي � � ت � � �ذ �� �من�� ا�لم��س�ت �ع�� �م�ن ن �ظ �� ّ ن �ظ الم��ع ي �� �� ر ا ل�ى �� �� ر �ج ب ى �ش���ؤ � ��ت��ع��ة �ت���ل ق ن�ف ح���ه �م�ن ا ����ى * �م ب �ف ��ث ت� ���ف ه �م�ا � ك �م�� ى د�ير شآ ن ����� ء ا لله ا � �ث م�� ا� ك � *
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*
10،15،1
The Priest’s Tale
you don’t like, you schnozzle-chik, owl-chick, poor man’s portion, rascal’s scion, committer of sins great and small, emitter of a garlicky pall, poisonous wind anabatic, blood-sucking tic parasitic, insatiate, crapulate, indigestate’— and poured over me many more rhymes of this sort, the dunking in insults received by my good name exceeding the dunking my head got in the butter. After some effort, I contrived to slip out of his clutches and entered my cell to wash, and suddenly there he was again, knocking on the door and bellowing, ‘I have to squeeze your nose out, for enough butter’s got into it to keep the monks going for days!’ Then he reached for my nostrils with hands like iron pincers and set about squeezing them as hard as he could till I thought the soul (nafs) was about to about to depart, for the nose alone among the body’s orifices (and I say this in knowing contradiction of the beliefs of a certain school) is the point of entry and exit for the breath (nafas), which is why one says that a person yatanaffas (‘breathes’).232 “As my sufferings were too much to bear, and I could find no one in the 1.15.10 monastery to complain to, because the monks all flattered him and made up to him so that he’d give them enough to eat, even if it were only the thurtum (which is the food or condiments left on a dish), I left the monastery, in parlous state, saddened and discouraged, the world in all its expansiveness seeming me a narrow space, and said, ‘Where am I to take this nose of mine that has blocked every avenue by which I might make a living, or where is it to take me?’ It occurred to me to head for a monastery far away, of which I had heard that its monks were righteous men and that some wrote a good Arabic hand, loved strangers, and honored their guests. So I made my way to it, and when I saluted its abbot and acquainted him with what I had resolved, he praised my opinion highly and welcomed me warmly, though he couldn’t prevent himself from gazing at me in surprise and praying for God’s protection from any ill consequences that might befall him because of my nose. So I stayed in his monastery for as long as it was God’s will that I should stay.”
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ا �� ��ل�ف��ص ا ��ل���س�ا د �� �ع ش �� �ل س �ر �ف ت � ة �ق ��ى ���م�ا � � ��ص�� ا � �ل���سي�� ق �� � س م ن�ت � ث�نآ ة ا �� �� ا خ ۤ �ئ ح� �ه � ا �ل� �� ا �ث ن ا ا �و ج� ��ع��ل ت� �م�ن �ه�ّ�م �م�د�ة � ك ط���� �و�م��س� � و م����ى �ه�� ك �ب� د �ى �ب��د �ٍ �م�د ا را � ل� ب ى � ت ُّ ن � ش � �ن � �ن �ف � �ن �ا ح�تى ا ��ى ج� �ع��لي��ه * �ف ك� حو�ج��ى ا �ل�ى ����ى ��مم�ا ي��م��ك�ن �ي���ل�ه ��ى ا �ل��د �ير * ��ا � �ل� ي�� ��ع�ل� ج���ل ف ّ ن �ف � � �ن ض ا �� خ � ن �ن � � � � * �وك� ��� ت� ا � ��ع�ا � �ل�ا �ي��عر�ف��ه�ا �ه�و ���ع��ل�مت��ه � ا �ل� او � �م ا �ل��ط ح��س ا �ي� ��� �ب�ط� �م�ق��ا �م�ى ��ى ا �لم��ب� خط� � م ذ � � � ن ف ف �ف ت � ض ئ ا ا ح��د �ع�ز�ي�ز �ع��ل��ه ا � ا �ش��ت�ه ��ل� �ن�ا �م�ن � � ا �ي�ا �ه�ا �ف ك� � ه � � ��� � ا � ���ل�� ب �ى * ك �� � ر��ي����س ا �ل�د �ير ا � ا ا �س�� ي و � �ى و ����ّف�ل� ن � ه �ف ا ��ل���ط �خ حت � �ظ ح ��� � ت �ن� ت� ا �ت�ا �نّ��ق ��ل�ه ���ف �ع�م��ل�ه �م�ا �ك�ن � � � � ا م� � ك � �ع ن��ده * ��ع�ا � ب� �ص�و�ص�ه ك� �ى ب� * � ى ى ي � م ن � ّ � �ن �ن ث �ق � ت � �ن � ت � � ت س� ��ا �ل�ص�ل�ا � � ا �لت�� � �ى ���ي�ن � ي�ن ا ح و و ب ا ع��ى ا �ى ك��� ا ��س� �مره � او ج��ل��س �ب�� �ي��د �ي�ه * ��م ا �ى ��لب���� ب � � ة ت ن � ن �غ� �ق� ة ن�ف �ن ت � ق � ن ��ت � ت �ت � ا �لر�هب��ا � * �ف ك �ص��� ا ����ى * � �وي�ا �لي� ت� ا �ل�ع�ا د� ج�ر� �ب�ا � ���� ا ��س�د �ل ��ل����س�و�ى ح�ى � ب��ل � ب ُ َت � ا �ن ف ا��ّ ��ن ت ذ ش ت خ ف ���� ا ���س ا ��ل� ا ��ل�ا �� � ��ل�ا ا �ن �ظ� ��� ��م�ي�ن �ا ي���س��ر ا �ل� � �� �ب��ه� ك���ل�ه * �وك��� ا � ا �م���ي��� ا � � �ض ر ى ى ر �ض و ري � ا �ش ا � ا � ا ل� ذ ����ل ت� ا � ش��� �� ت� ا � �ق�د ت� ا � �م ش����� ت� ا � �غ� ��س��ل ت ح�ا م � � � ا ا ا � � � ك * �و �ل� ��م� �ل� ا �ل� � ه و و و ر و و و �ج � ي �ى رب ح�ا �م�دًا لله � �مث�ن���يً�ا �ع��ل��ه * �ف�ا ��ق� ��ل �مث��ل�ا * �ق�د خ� �ج� ت� ا ��ل �� � �م�ن ا خ�ب��ر �ع�ن ذ� ��ل��ك ك� ����ل�ه � و ي ر و ي وم ل� �ت ن ا � ت ��ف �ذ � � � �ه ا � ّ ��ل ا �� ا ن ا �ص� �م�ع��ت �ولله ا ���حل � �ص��ا � م � ا � ا ا ا � �ه د � � � ح ل ل �ه� � � * � ل � � � � � � � � � و و و ى ى ى �م�د ا �و �ولله ج رب و ى ب بح ُ ّ � � ذ �ق ف � �ق ن ن �ت � حت � ظ ن ت ا �ي�ن ا ت ُ ْ ا � �م ا ا ش �ا � �م��س�ه�ل� ا � ك�� � ا لله � � ب���ل �و�م� ا ���ب��ه � �ل�ك �م� �عر�� �ع��د ا�لم� ���� �هر �ب� �ل�� �و�ى * �ى ت ق � ا ن ��ف ّ � ا � ا � � ف � ة ��ن ت ض ق �ت �� ا �ع����د ا �لر�هب�� � �ى �ج �مي��ع� ا �ل�ص�ل� � او � �ل�� ���ا ��د ك���ب�� ت� ب���ع��ض� �ص��ل� او ت� ض�ي �ل�� * �وك��� ا �ي�� ح �ن ذ ة ن � ّ� � � ت ن ن � �خ �ق � � ��ة � � ئ �ف ا �ع � � ا � � ح �� � ركي��ك�� �ل�ل �ر���ي��س � �ج ب� ب ��ط�ى �و�م�د �ى �ع��ل�ى � �ل�ك * �و �و�ع�د �ى �ب� � �ير�ق�ي�ى ا ل�ى د ر ج��� ��لي ��� أ آ �ن �غَ ً � � �ود�ة ا ��ل �ر �ى * � او �خ� ��ّ ذ� ��ل��ك ب��� ب �ى * ا ذ� ر� ���نى �م�تم��ي�ز ا �ع�ن ا �لر�هب��ا ن� �ب�ا �ل�عل��� �و ج� �ك�و��ى � يْ��د ا را � ص م 222
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Chapter 16
The Priest’s Tale Continued
“From the outset and for as long as I was there, I made it my concern to humor the cook, get on his good side, and praise him. He, in return, let me want for nothing that could be had in the monastery. In fact, I spent the greater part of my time in the kitchen. I was also good at cooking dishes he knew nothing of, so I taught him these, and he became exceedingly fond of me. Thus it came to pass that, when the abbot invited someone dear to him to eat with him, or had an urge to eat a certain kind of food on his own, the cook would charge me with preparing it. Because I was as meticulous as possible in doing so, I ended up in his good graces, meaning that I’d sit with him in the evenings and keep him company, acquiring in this way a reputation for righteousness and piety among the monks. I pulled my hood down till it reached the bridge of my nose—and would that custom had allowed it to cover the nose entirely!—and when I walked I kept my head bent toward the ground and cast only brief glances to right and left, and when I ate, drank, slept, walked, or washed my face, I made mention of all of those things, thanking and praising God as I did so. Thus I would say, for example, ‘Today I left my cell, praise be to God!’ or ‘To God be glory!’ (the latter being the monks’ preferred form), or ‘This morning I took a laxative, may this find favor in God’s eyes!’ and other stuff that those who make a show of piety are known to say. Thus the monks ended up believing that I was full of righteousness and virtue. I’d also written out a few hymns in bad Arabic for the abbot, who admired and praised me for my hand, promising to promote me to a rank worthy of me, for he believed I was distinguished from the rest of the monks by my learning and excellence of judgment, a faculty he attributed to my being ghaydār (meaning ‘a suspicious person who ponders a matter and then comes up with a correct interpretation’).
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��� �� � �� ���� �� �� ��� ��� ������� ����������
َ � ت � ة َ نْ � ا ��ل ّ � � � �غ ظ�ن ف�ي��صي���) * ث�� ق� ّ�د ر ا لله ر ب� ا�لم� � � او �ل � ظ�ن �ي� ��� ��س���ئ ا �ل��� حي ��و� ا � �م�ا ت� (ا �ل�ي��د ا ر �ه� ي و و ب م ���ف ���ع�� ا ��ل���ل��د ا ن� ا ��لب��ع��د�ة ���ع�� ا �� �لق���س����س��ي�ن ا ��ل���ذ�ي�ن � ��ا ش��� � ن� خ���د �م��ة ا ��ل �ع���ة * ا �ى ا ��ل���ذ�ي�ن �ي ب رو ى ب �ض ب ري ي ي ب �ض � �ف �ف � � � � ا �خ ت���ل��ط� ن� � �ع�ت�ه� خ��ل�ا ف��ا ����ل� ن� �و� ش��� � �� ن� ��ى ب�� �� ت� ا �ل ن��ا �� �ل�ا ��ى ا �ل��د �ير * � او �ل���ذ�ي�ن ي� س يو �ي� ك� و ي برو و بر ي � م � ا ة � ا ن فا ن � ا � ا خ ��ا ��ل���ط� ن ا ��ل ن��ا �� ا ��ل�ا �ع ن��د ا ��لض� ة ف ت ّ ئ �ل�ع� د� ا �لر�هب�� � * �� � �ه�و �ل� ء �ل� ي� و� س ��ر�ور� * �����سب�� ب� ر��ي����س � �فَّ � �ف ذ �ف �ًا � ا �ن �ف � ن �ق ا ��ل��د �ير ��ى ا ن� ب���ع�ث ن�ى ا ��ل�ى � ��ل��ك ا �لب���ل��د ��ى � ك� م��ا � ا � �ل���سي����س ا�لمت��و��ى ا �ى �ب��د �ل� �م ن��ه �ل� ا ��ى د � ن� ت� �ن � �ن � ف ��را � � او ��ل��تر� �م�ع�ه * ف���ل�م�ا �و�ص��ل ت� �ت�� �لق��ا ��ى ا ��ه�ل ك���ي����س��تى �ب�ا �ل�ا ك� حي� ب� * ف��ا �ب��د��ي ت� � �ه� ا �ل� ر ي� و م م ع ف � ف ة �ف ن � � ح �م�ه ا لله �م�ن ��ل���ذ �ة ا ��ل��ن ��ي�ن � ا ح�ت ا ن� ���ع�� ا ��لت� ا ن � �ن � او �ل�ع���� � ش����ا �� ض� ����ل�ى ب��ي�� � �ه�م * ى ب �ض ج �� ر م�م ك�� � �ر ب ع آ � � ن ا ق ف�ت ن�ز ت � ن �ك��ا ��ت��ق� ��ل ا ��لت�� را �ة ف�ت���ل�د� د �ع�ا ���نى ا ��ل�ى �م�� �ل�ه �ل� � �� �ع��ده ر ج�� ء ا � ��ي���� ا لله ر� ح�م ا �م ار ��ه ب��� بس��ب��ى �م و و يم � ح ت � ��خل ا �ة �� ة ة ش ق ق � � �ن ي�ن ��ا ن ت � قا ة ن �ه�د * � له�و * �ل�ه ا �لب� �� * �وك�� ��� �ج �مي���ل�� ر���ي ����� ا � �ل��د * �� �ع�د� ا �ل � ح ب� ا��ل� �ع� � او �ل� � آ خ ا � ��ل��ل��� ف �ق �ذ � او �� �لق��ص�ف� � او ��ل�ز �ه� * (�� �س�� ��را ��ل ن����س�� ء ا ��ل�ا � �و�� ه�ي�� �� ��ط ه جس ح��د �ي�� ك� � ح�ا ن� ا لله �م�ا ا � �� ) ��ا ��م ت� ب و ر ع ي �ج َ َ �غ ث � �ز ا�ز �ع ن��ده �م�د�ة ���ف ا ��ن��ع �ع�� ش�� � ���د �ة * �� �ع�نّ ��ل� ا ن� ا �غ�� �ل � � ت��ه � ا �ن�ا � �ه�ا * � ا �ع�ا ش��� �ه�ا م ى و�ج و ي� و ر ى م ي � و جِ ف ا ن �ن � � ن ا � � �ت � �ت ا ا ن ت � ا ا ض ا فا ا ت � ُ ط�� ور � ��ي��ه� * �� ج�� ب��� ا �ل�ى �م ار �ود ��ى * �و�ل�م � ب�� �ِل �ب� �ر�ب����ى * �� � �م �� ب ع ا �ل����س� ء ا�لمي���ل � آ � قَ � �ذ ا ��ل ا �� ��ل ّ ح��د �ى ا �ل ن����س�� ء ى * � او �ل�ا ��س�ت �غ� ن��ا ء �ع ن��ه �ب�ا � �ل���صى * �و�م�ا ا د را ك �م�ا ا �عت�� ر ت� �ب�ه ا � �ى ل�و� � � ة �ب ���ق �و��ل�ه�ا �قرب� ا �ل�و��س�ا د * �و ���ط�و��ل ا ��ل سِ�� � او د * ف�ب��ر �ز ت� ا ��ل��د ��ني��ا �ل�ع�ي ن�ى � ���فى ا � ح��س�ن �ص�ور� * ٍ ِ ح ق ت � ا ض�نَّ ن ت ا � ا �ق ت �ف � � �ن � ش ا قّ ث � ة � ت ا ّ �و���سي��� �م� �ل� �ي�� ��ى ا �ل�د �ير �م ا�لم���� �� ا � ك ل����ي�ر� * �و���ل� �ل� �ع�و��� �ع��ل�ى �م� د ا �م� �ن � ظ� � �ن���ة * � �ش � �ف �ص��ة ا ��ل �� او رده �م��ذ �ع ن���ة * �ك� �م�� ح�ا �ئ ك� ح ��� �ل�ى �م ك ���ل �م�ا ف��ا �ت ن��ى �م ن��ه ا �ي�ا � ك��� ت� � ��ا * � و ر م ّ ُ َ �ت َ �ن ث ف �ذ � � ق ف �غ ة � �� ّ �� � ط��ا خ��ا � �ون�ا � ك� �� ت� �ع��ل� � �����سى ا ن� ��ت����َ � � � ا � �م� عه�ا �ع��ل� �ك��ل �ي��و� �ب��ر �مر� * �س��ا * �� �ر ض� و ب سم ل� �ى � ى ى م م أ � ّ � �ف � � َ �� ان ض ���ا �� � �ز غ ا ت�ز � ح ّ�ة * �و�ع��ل� ا �ل � � ح�ا ض� س� ��ر * �و�ه�وا �ل� � ا �ي�� ى ك��د � ب� ا�لم�� �و�ج ب�ر ح�ي� ا �ل��� �بر * بح�� ب ى أ � ن � ذ �ن �ة ا ��ل�� ا �ع ث� � او ��ل�� ا د ر * ف���د � ت� ��ا ��ل�ع�دد * � ح�تى ب���لغ�� ت� ا �ل�ا�م�د * �وك� ���ا � ا �لر ج���ل � ا �ي�� ب بو بو ب ق ف ت � ش � ة ة ة � � ا ق �ن ش غ � � � �ك�ن � �ئ � ظ�ن ���م�� �م��س��� ��س�يل�م�� * �و� ي ي�م�� * ل��م �ي�� ي���س ب�ى ا �ل��� * �و �ل� �ي��ع�و��ه �ع ������ل�ه ا �مر �ذّ � � ُق ���ؤ��س ا �ل�م��س ّا ت� �ص�ا ف�ي��ه * �و�م�ن ا ��جل�ع �ع�نّ * ف���ترك �ل ن��ا �� ���ط�و�ف� ا ��ل��ل�� ا ت� د ا ��ني��ه * �وك�� � ب� * ر
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4،16،1
The Priest’s Tale Continued
“Then God, Lord of Death and Life, decreed that one of those priests who
1.16.2
service the laity in certain far-off parts (meaning that they eat and drink in people’s houses instead of at the monastery and mingle with their congregants, against the custom of monks, who mix with people only when they have to) should die, causing the abbot to send me to that country to adopt the same position as the deceased (meaning to substitute for him, not to be buried along with him). On my arrival, my congregation received me generously and with open arms, while I demonstrated god-fearingness and chastity to them and my virtues became well known among them. A merchant, one to whom God had denied the pleasure of children, even invited me into his home and asked me to lodge with him, in the hope that, by virtue of my presence, God would ‘open his wife’s womb,’ as it says in the Old Testament,233 and children be born to him. This wife was beautiful, slender of figure, and well-endowed of chest, fond of dissolute pleasure, revelry, and zest (God be praised—the mere thought of women produces the urge to write in rhymed prose!), so I stayed with him a while, living in the most luxurious style. “Then it occurred to me to flirt with his wife and to pursue her, be her
1.16.3
close companion and woo her. She responded to my enticements, paying no attention to the tip of my nose, for it is in women’s nature to incline to what’s close, ignoring what’s far away (and I’m sure you’re aware of what one woman said, concerning ‘long converse and closeness in bed.’)234 The world now appeared to my eyes at its best, I forgot the many hardships that, at the monastery, I’d had to digest, and I said to myself, ‘So long as my good fortune persists and its currents serve, I shall make up to myself for all the good things of which I saw no use when I was a weaver, a cook, and a recluse,’ and I made it a rule that my pleasures with her be measured—taking care that I be pleasured once for each day past (like any man with his lawful wedded wife) and then once again for the present (which of course didn’t last), as incitement and impulse might take me—and kept count, soon reaching a huge amount. The husband, having no ill thoughts and being of a trusting disposition, was quite unperturbed, and, with no suspicions to distract him from his work, pleasure’s fruits were there for the plucking, the cups of our joy undisturbed. “Now here’s an amazing thing that deserves to be recorded in books—she’d pick quarrels with the maid, both in her husband’s presence and when he was delayed, and abuse her in front of him in the nastiest way, thus forestalling any suspicions of his that might come into play—she fearing no consequences
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1.16.4
��� �� � �� ���� �� �� ��� ��� ������� ����������
ت �غ � ��ذ ن �غ ن ّ ن ��ف �� �ت ��ا د �م��ة ���فى � ��ا �ص� ا ��خل ���ا ن�� ت� خ� �� ب� * ا �ن��ه�ا ك� �� �تر�ه �و� ي��ا �ب�ه ل� ا �ل� �ى �ي���ب���ى ا � �ي��د �و� �ى ا ك حض� م ت ف � � � � ت�خ � شَ ن ���ا ن�� ت� �م�ن �ه�ا ��تَب��ع��ة * �و �ل�ا ك� � ش���ت ا ي�ن ه �� ش ش ت � ن ا ا �ت ا ه �و ��م�ه� �ب�� �ي��د �ي� ا ح��� ا �ل��� ��م م��ع� �ل� �ري�� �ب� * �و�ل�م ��� �م � ِ ّ � � � �س��ه�ن ���ث�ي�را �م�ن ا ��خل �غ � ��طرد�ه�ا جَ��ز �ع��ة * �وق��د ��طرد ت� ك� �� �وا د �م �ل��سب�� ب� �و�ل���ي ر ��سب�� ب� * ب���ع�د � ب آ �� ا �� ّ � ق �غ ض س� * �و� �ج�ز ا ت� ا ��ل ن����س�� � �و�ْ�د �ع�ه�ن له�ن �ع��ل ا ��ل � ��� * �و ذ� ��ل��ك �م�ن �م�ع ح�م�� � � � ح���د � او �ل��� ب �ك�ل ل�� ب ِب ى ُ � � ��ن ت ُ �عَ �ن ��ن��ه ��س ّه ا ��جل�ع ��� * � او ��ل ا �لغ��ر�� ب� ا ��ل���ذ �ى �ي��ع��م ا ��لر ج��ا ��ل �ع�ن ك� � � � ( )1ا ف� ن�� ق ح�ا ��ص�ل ا ��ى ك��� ا � ا � ل �ج ي ر �ج ب ب ر � ى ل ي نت ّ ب�ؤ ����ن ت َ �ن ��ق ��ل ا � ة ��ف ف ّ ���عم ب��ع�د ا ��ل� ��س � ت ن ا ا ا ن �ن ب� ح��س��ه� * �مك�ا ك��� ا �جع عه� �ع��ل� �ه��ذه ا � �م� �ا� ا ح� �ل�� �ى � ب� �م � � �ه� * و �ى �م� � ى �غ ا ة � ُ ّ ُ �فْ ن ق ا �ت ا � ا َ� �ظ � ث �ا َ �ن ف ت�ز ّ 5،16،1 �� �ي�� ا �ل��سر * � �م ���� را ��ع� �و �ل� ح �� ر(� )1و�م�� �و ج��ا �و �ل� �م�هر * �� ا ��س�ت�ا � �� ت� م ��ث � � �ن ذ ف � ا � �� �ت ن ا ��لن��ع ة دً آ خ ن ت �ن � � �ع�د ا � �ر * ا ��ط�و�ل �م � ا ك � او ك���ر * ��ل�م� ا ب��طر ��ى �م�� * � او �م�� �م ا �ل�د �هر ف ن � ث ة � ُق ة � �ف �ف �ك� ���ل ��ن ��ق �م��ة * ��ن �ق�ر ��ى را ��س�ى ا ن� ا �ج��م� �ب��ي�ن ا �� ك� ل��ا ���ي�ن * ��ا � ب���ك��ر� ا �ل�ع��ي�ن � ّر� ا �ل�ع��ي�ن * ع ّ � ُ قَ � �ف � � �ن �وق���ل�م�ا را ��ي ت� �م�ن ا �ن��ه�م��ك ��ى ا �ل�ا �و��ل * ا �ل�ا �و��ت�ع�ا ���ط� ا �لث��ا ��ى �و�م�ا ا �ش��ب��ه �م�ن ا �ل� � ع���ل * ى �َ � �َ ْخ ا �� �فَ ْش خ ��لَ �ْ � ذ �� � � � �ق �ْ � ا � �م ا � ا ��لنََ � ا ���خ �ََ ���ط � ا ��ل َ�ش��ق ل ل ا � م � � او � د � �د � � � � و� ل�ك ك � �و ل����� ���ا � �ل �م�ا ر � او ج�بل�� � � ل ح� �ج و�ج ر و اِ ج ر و ب و ر و ر �� � � � � َْ � َ � ا ض �ة ا � ن ا � �ة ا � ن �ة ال�م ا �ز ف �ة ا �� �َق َ ا ��لنَ�ْ ���غ�ْ�و � او ��لغ����ذ �م �ة � اولم �صب���ن � او �لض� ح�� �و�ل�م ار �ه�� �و ج�� �� ح� ر� � ش��� � او �ل� �و ل�رع �و �ج ��� �و�لم�� ب ر � �َ ا ق � �ة ا �م�ز ن �ة � ا � �آ �ُ � � �ة � ا ض �ة ا � ن ا �ذ ة ا � ا ّ ة ا � ا �خ� �ة � غ ا ن �ة � اولم ��� �و�لم�� �ب�� � �و�لمب�� د � �و�لمب�� ��س� � او�لم��� ب���� ح� ��ل� �و�ل� ا ب���� � او �ل� �ج ب�� ء � او�لم�د ا ح�ل� � او�لم�ع� ر� فة ف � �َت � ش � ق ا �� ة � ا ة � ض ة � � � ة � � � او�لم� او �ل��س�� � او �لت��د �لي����س � او �ل� ��ط�و���� � او �ل � م�� �طر� � او�لم�ع� �و�م�� � او�ل�م ار �و� ���� � او�لم� او � �ص��� * �� �� � طهب���ل ي � ت�خ ّ � � ّ �ز ف �ق طه�ف���ل * �و �م �ح�ل � �وت� �� �و �� طه��م�ل * �ود ج���ل �و �ع����ل * � او �ب� ���ط�ل �و� ب���ل * �وعر�� � � � �ت ل (��� )2ب �ه��ل���ص ا �لر�ج �ل َْ َ خ �ت ن ��ن� ت� ا ��س�م� � ن �ت �ت له�� �و���ه��ص�ل ( )2ف��ا ج��تم�ع ت� �بر ج���ل ك� ع ن��ه ا ��ه و �ب����ل�ه���ص �ر ج� �م�� � �و ب � �ه��ل��ص * � �و ب��� � ب ص �خ �ث ع ���ا ��ه � ه�� ص� ��ل ي ب فو �ب � � ل ع � �ص�ن ة ق ��ت ف� ّ�غ �� ا � ّ �ذ � ف � ق �ه�ا �ُو��س�ع�ه * � او �و��س� ���د � �وب�� �ل � ��ثي��ا ب��ه ������ا �مر �ب� �ه�ا* ��ي ت��ع�ا ��ط�ى �ه��ذه ا �ل� �ع�� * �و��د �ر ل�ه� ب ي� جِ ع ف ا �ذ � � �ن ن ق ا ف �ة � � ة �ت ف ��ف ا ��ل عق��� ��ه�ا � �ق � �ص���ل * م د �و� �� �ي�� �ه� �ب�� �ل�ه * �و� � ل ب � �ي� ع��ل�ه * �و�ى ج �م�ل�� � او �ل ���� ي ق ا �� �ف� ت �ن �ف ق ف � �ق �� ���ط� ��� * ��ت�ع�ا ���ط�ت�ه�ا �م�ع�ه (ا ��ن ت �ه� ���جس �و���جس �ه�ا �م�ا ا �ج��م�ع�ه 6،16،1 �� ا � �ل���سي����س) �� ل ج ��ع��ل� ا � � �� �ي� ي� � �ع ويل ى ع � � ا �غ � ا �� �ص�ن �ة ذ� �ا � �ف �م�ن ا �لج�ع ��ا �ئ�ز � او �ل� � ار ر �بر��س� ا �لن �� �و��س � او �ل� ر � او � * � او �ن�ا �م� � �ل��ك �م� او �ظ �� ب� �ع��ل�ى ل� �ع� ح م ع ا ��ز ا ة ا ��ّ ف ا ن ا �� ت � ��ف �ا � ��ا ن ذ � ت ن �ز �ن ا �ل� �و�ل�ى * ب���ل ك�� � � �ل��ك د ا �عي�� �ل �ي� د� �هي�� �م �ك��ل �م��ى �و�م ب� ��ي�ع��ى * �� ���ه� ��ط�م�ع� ٍح �ى 226
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The Priest’s Tale Continued
from this, nor being concerned at what might happen should she the said maid dismiss, for she’d fired many a maid before, for good reasons and for poor, after subjecting them to every kind of insult, and making them to hatred and anger inclined; and this is one of the miracles of women and their strange uniqueness, to the essence of whose extraordinary secret we men are blind. In sum, I was entranced by her beauty, just as I marveled at her art, and I dwelt with her in this state in extreme delight, like one married without having to pay a bride-price, coddled after calamities,
(1) “afnaqa l-rajul: ‘to live a life of luxury after destitution.’ [The author’s gloss refers to the word mufniqan ‘coddled after calamities.’ Translator.]
indulging without restraint my every appetite.(1) “Then I started another count, longer and more extended than the first,
1.16.5
for, as the easy life made me reckless and I felt safe from any blow that fate might deal, I couldn’t stop thinking I should combine the two cs,235 for ‘much prosperity brings much weal’ and rarely have I seen one truckle with the first who does not also indulge in the second and similar worldly attachments— such as shuffling gaming arrows and twirling bones,236 cheating at games and accusing others of the same, trading in livestock as yet unborn and usury, shooting arrows and brandishing spears, arrow-shooting contests and casting lots, flushing game and picking up the dice before a throw, cheating and selling things at arbitrary prices, inciting others to shuffle the gaming arrows and inciting them to lay bets, betting and laying stakes, dealing in grain futures and selling dates while still on the tree, selling seed before it has matured and other fast practice, swapping commodities and making bargains, bartering and defrauding, swindling and misrepresenting, concealing defects and delaying payment of debts, selling grain on the basis of the weight of a single sample and deferring (while at the same time increasing the amount of ) a debt, offering blandishments and contracting to buy things on the basis of a description only—at which point [i.e., when he has lost], he wanders, making do with nothing to eat but bread made of sorghum, and he cheats and plots, swindles and lies, jokes around, behaves like a lunatic, and tries to con people, taking his clothes off, stripping naked, and using them as stakes for his bets.(2) So I met with a man of whom I’d heard it said he practiced this profession and devoted himself to it seriously and without digression, devoting to it great pains and expending on it much of his gains, while confining his thoughts to that alone. To cut things short, and without
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(2) abahlaṣa and tabalhaṣa both mean “to take off one’s clothes,” and bahṣala means “to remove one’s clothes and gamble with them.”
��� �� � �� ���� �� �� ��� ��� ������� ����������
� � � ث � ا�ز ّ شّ ا ق � ا ت� أ � ن آ �ف �� �ه�ن ا �ل�ه�د ا �ي�ا � او �ل�ص�ل� � �مك��ا �ه�و د� ب� ا �ل����س�� ء ��ى �ك��ل ا �مر ي ح�د � �ل� � او �ج� �ه�ن �و�ع���� � � � ن � � � �ذ � ف ف ��غ خ �ص�ن �ع��ت �ه��ذه ا ��ل ح��د ��ي ث���ة �لج��ل � ��ا �ث��لي ��ق� * ��ا ر���س�ل �ي� �� ط��ل ب� �م��ى ا�لم�ا �ل ا �ل�� �ى �ج��م�عت��ه * �ب��ل� �ب��ر � ى ف�ت�� �ّ � ت � ه ��� � ا ا ا �ل� ضَ ا ف ت ّ ��ف ا � ض ا � ا �� ه ض � � ن ��� رى لي�� �و� ���ه� * �����سب�� ب� �ى ح� ع�لل� �ل� ب ع�ل�ل �ب� �ه� �و�م �ير� ��ب� ��ط �م�ا ك���ا � �ع ن��د �ى ا ش ق ّ �ن ق � � � �ذ ا �غ �ل�� � ش قَّ ّ فَ قْ ذ � �� ق ��� �ع�� ى ا � �� ��ط�ا ا �ل�ع�دد ا �ل�� �ى ى �����د � �ل��ك ك���ل�ه ��د ر �م� � � �م�ن �مت�� �و��ي�ره * �و م ي � ل � ���� �ع��ل� ع ع ��ن ت ش ت ف �ف ت � ا � ا � ث �ن �ت ف ّ � � ّ ث � ت ق ا ا �ن ت � � � ك��� ��� �ع� �ي��ه ��ى ب����� ا �ل�� � ا �ل�ص� ل �� �ل ا جل � * �� ا ��ى � ����ل� �م ِ�ع ك� �� ��لي ��� ب���ع�د ر ي جر ح م ّ ّ � ن � خ � ت ��ف � � آ خ �ن�ا �ة � ��ذ �ذ � �م�د �ة ك� ���ا د ت� ا ن� �ت�����سي��ن��ى �ل�� ا ت� ا �ل�ا �ي�ا � ا �لغ���ا �بر�ة * �و�ر�ج � �ى ��ط�ل ب� � �ر ك� �� �ي� �ل� ا ك م ّ � �ف ة �ل� ��ا �ث��ل ���ق ا �� �لق��د �� * ا ذ� ا ��ل�ع�د ا � �ة �ت�� ���د ���ي�ن �صر ت� ا ��ل�ى ج��ا �ث��لي ��ق� �م�ن ا �ش���د ا �ل ن��ا �� ا � � � ع�د � � ي و � ج س و وج ب ي ى م �خ ث ن ة ش َ � ��ل ث ا � ق ة ��ا ت � ي�ن ��ز ن ا ق ة ف ا ��ق ت ن هق� ن� �م�ن ّ � ا �ج� �� � �ل��� * �مك� � ��و ج��د �ب�� ا �ل �� د ��� * �� �م� �ع��ده �م�د� ��م ����ى �ع��ل�ى ا � �ير� ى �ف ّ �ن �ف ذ ة ا ا ت �ت ��ف ا ن ا � ا ك ��س�وء ��� فس��ر��ى ا ��ل�ى �ب�ل�اد ب���عي��د�ة ��ى ��س�ف��ي�ن �� � حر ب� * �م� ��س �ر� ب���ع��ض� ��س� �ع� � ح�ى ق تآ �خ � ق� ُ ��ت�عّ ����ط�ل ب���ع�� ا د � او ت� ا �ل��س�ف��ي�ن ��ة �و� ش����ى ر�بّ�ا �ن��ه�ا ا ن� ��ت غ��ر�ق� �ب��ه� * �فر ج� �� �و��د � ش����� �م ب ��ى �و��ا �ل �ض فم ع شَ َ ْ ت ّ َ �ّ � � ذ ّ ّ ن ���ا ا �ن�ه ا �� �ا � � �ع��ل��ه �م�ا � � �م�ن ��� خ �غ ن � �� ت م ت ت ���ع � ا � ب���ل� ��ى ك���ل�ا �م�ه ج��د ا * �لب��ع��ض� ا �لرك� ب� ج رى م ج رى ي ���ِ�ير ��ى �ج ب �ان � � ا � ّ ن � ا آ� ن � �ق � ا ت ن � ا ت آ ن �ا �ل� � ا �و�لئ���ك ا � �ل �و� �ل� �ير���س�م�و� �و �ل� �ي��� ش����� �م�و� * �و �ل� ��ي ت� ��ط�ي�ر �و� �و �ل� ��ي ت��ف��� �ل�و� * �و �ل� م � ا ����ت �ّ ن � ا �ي �تم� ّ���س ن ح�تّ ن � ا ��ت��� ّ ن ن � ا �ُ�ق �ّ � ن ���ُ ا �� ش ا �ق ي�ت�� ل �م � � � � � � �د � ��س � د د ع ع � * ح * � � � � م � � � ي ��� ل � � � � ل ل ل ل � � � � ب ر� و� و و� و ي و� و ي و� و �ي و� ب و ا� ا � ن � َ �قْ �ة � ا ُ�ل ا� � ا ا ُ �� � ا ���س�ت �ع � ن نَ ْ ت ا ���ََ ع ��� �ف �و �ل� ي �م�ل�و� ��ب��� ل طو��س �و �ل� ط� * �و�م� ع��د ه� �ه��ع� �و �ل� ج�� �م * �و �ل� �ع� � � م �ا ن � �ا ق �ا � ا �� � ا� � ا� �ع�ا �� ط��س * �و �ل� ك���ا ب� �و �ل� ك���ا د ��س * �و �ل� ���عي��د �و �ل� د ا ك���س * �و �ل� �ب�ا ر� �و �ل� ��س�ا � * ح ّح � اح َ �ْ � ا َ � ْق � � ا َ ْثَ ة � � ا �زَ ْ � ا ت �ز ة ة ف ف ا ا � ا ه �و �ل� ج�ر �و �ل� � ح �ى * �و �ل� �عي���ر� �و �ل� ِ�عي�� ��� * �و �ل� ��طر�� �و �ل� �ع ار ��� * �و �ل� ج�ي�� ��ج ن � ا تن ّ �ا � ة � ا َ� ّ�ة � ا ُ� �ف�ُ ف � ا ��ُل�ْ �� �ة ا �ا ح �و�� * �و �ل� ع�ط� �و �ل� ��ك�ه�ا �ن�� * �و �ل� ا ب�� ن��ا ِ�عي��ا � �و �ل� �ج���ى * �و �ل� �لم� �و �ل� �و �ل� نتآ � ا � ا � � ا تش ّ �ا ئ �ا ت � ا �ت � ا ُ ��قَ � ا ا �ج� ���ّوه �و �ل� ��عيّ��د * �و �ل� ��ط�ل� �س� �و �ل� ���� هق� * �و �ل� �ع�زا �� * �و �ل� ر �ى �و �ل� ��� ء * �و �ل� � ش � � � م م � ا َ � � ا �غَ � ا � َ �نَْ َ � ة �ا َ ّ ت ئ � ا تَُ �َ ة �ا حْو ��ط �و �ل� ��زّ * �و �ل� �ت��د ��سي�� ا �ل ن�� �ون�� �و �ل� �ش���د ��م�ا �� * �و �ل� ا �لي��ج���ل ب� �و �ل� � ��و�ل�� * �و �ل� �� م م � اَ �اَْ �ا َ � ا ُق َ ْ ��ْ � ا َ � ْ ه � ا ُ �ْ ن �ة ة ة �خ ا � � ا ��ل � �ق�� ب� * �و �ل� ر��س� �و �ل� �ص ب��� * �و �ل� ���لي� ب� �و �ل� كب���د� * �و �ل� �و�ج ي�� �و �ل� ��س� �ل ا و �� * حِ ُع ُ َ ْ َ ْ ُ �ذ ْ � � � � � � � َ ْ ذ � ْ ا �ة ا ا خ� ة ا � ة اُ ة ا ُ � ا ن ا � �ق ة ا� عو� � * �و �ل� �هب� ر� �و �ل� ��س� �لو � �و �ل� �و�ل �و �ل� �م�هر� * �و �ل� �� � �و �ل� � ع�ر� * �و �ل� ِج�م�
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The Priest’s Tale Continued
having to further lengthy rhyme resort, I went into the same trade with him.” (Here ends the priest’s rhymed prose.) “I started funding it from what I gathered from the old women and
1.16.6
greenhorns by way of fees for welcoming new souls and seeing off old, as I continued to ply my first profession. Indeed, all the preceding was a stimulus to extra passion from both my side and that of my little cutie, for she now grew greedy for presents and gifts, as women do every time there is some occasion in the lives of their husbands and lovers. The news of my new profession reached my abbot, who sent to demand from me the money that I’d made. I made excuses that he refused and didn’t accept, and he found a reason to recall me, seizing the baggage and everything else I had with me, though the loss of all of that didn’t upset me as much as the interruption of the first count (the one I’d initiated at the house of the righteous merchant). After a period almost long enough to make me forget the pleasures of those by-gone days, I slipped from that abbot’s bonds and set off in search of another, to spite the former. I thus made my way to an abbot who was one of those most hostile to the abbot I’d been with before—for hostility is to be found as much among abbots as among atheists—and the former, fearing that I might come to harm from the latter, sent me off to distant lands in a ship of war. “Before we’d been at sea for more than a few hours, some of the ship’s instruments failed, causing its captain to fear that it would take us down, so he turned back, having decided that I was the cause of his misfortune and telling one of the passengers that what happened had occurred because of my ugly mug. I was greatly amazed to hear his words, for such people237 are not given to irtisām,238 to tashāʾum,239 to taṭayyur,240 to tafāʾul,241 to taḥattum,242 to tayammun,243 to tasaʿʿud,244 to tamassuḥ,245 or to hanging necklaces of shubāriq wood or making use of ʿaṭaf; nor do they place any faith in haqʿah or lujām, ʿāṭūs or ʿāṭis,246 kābiḥ or kādis, qaʿīd or dākis,247 bāriḥ or sāniḥ, zajr or taḥazzī, ʿiyāfah or ʿaytharah, ṭarq or ʿirāfah, hajīj, or kahānah,248 ibnā ʿiyān or tanajjī, lammah or ḥufūf, luʿṭah or intijāʾ,249 tashawwuh or taʿayyud, ṭalāsim250 or tashahhuq or ʿazāʾim,251 ruqā252 or tamāʾim,253 yanjalib or tuwalah, ḥawṭ or ghazz, tadsīm al-nūnah or shadd al-ḥiqāb, rasʿ or ṣakhbah, qulayb or kabdah, wajīh or sulwānah, sulwān or ʿuqarah, mijwal or muhrah, ukhdhah or ʿūdhah,254 habrah or raʾamah, kaḥlah or hinnamah, julbah or ṣarrah, qablah or nushzah, qublah or nufrah, ṣudḥah or hamrah,
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1.16.7
��� �� � �� ���� �� �� ��� ��� ������� ����������
أَ � ا َْ ���� ة � ا نَّ ة � ا قَ ْ ة � ا نُ ْ ة � ا ُ �لْ �ة � ا َ ة �ا �و ��ل�ا ر� �م��ة * �و �ل� ك � �ص ّر� * �و �ل� �ب���ل�� �و �ل� � ش���ر� * �و �ل� ح��ل�� �و �ل� هِ� �م�� * �و �ل� ج�� ب�� �و �ل� � � ا َ ْ ة � َْ � ا �زَ ْ ق �ة � ا �َ ْ �� ف ة قُ ْ ة � ا �نُ فْ ة � ا �فَ�ْ ��� �ة � ا ح�� �و �ل�ا �ه�مر�ة * �و �ل� ر�� �و �ل� ع� � �ص�د � ط��� * �و �ل� ط��س� �و �ل� �ب���ل�� �و �ل� � ��ر� * �و �ل� � َ � ا �خَ ْ ة � ا َ�ت ْ ة � ا َ ْ � ا ْ �ز � ا َ�� �ص ْ ف���ة * � ��ل�ا �غَ� ض ���ا ر �و �ل� ك�را ر * �و �ل� ب�ِري�� �و �ل� حِ�ر * �و �ل� � ��صم�� �و �ل� ر�م�� * � � و ر ي م � ا َ �ْ�� َ � ا ْ � ا ت �ذ ّ ت � ُْ ف �ا �ا ة �ا ف �و �ل� ا �س � ا �ل�� �لو�� * �و �ل� �ه�ا �م�� �و �ل� � �ص�ر * ح�م �و �ل� �صِ� �ه�مي��م * �و �ل� ��� �ع ب� �و �ل� �ص�و َ َ ُ ْ �ذ � ا ُ ْ � ا ��ش�� ْ � ا ��ل � �ا �و ��ل�ا ا خ��� �ة ا ��ل ن��ا ر �و ��ل�ا ت�نج� �كي���� * �و �ل� ا ��س �و �ل� ِ� ��ْ ا ِ�ن � �ي����س * �و �ل� حي��ث�ا * �و �ل� ح �و �ل� ا � س �ج َْ � ا �ن فّ ن ة � �� ّ �ا ا ض �ا �ْ � ا � �و ��ل�ا �ت��و��ل * �و ��ل�ا ���س حر �و �ل� �م�ا قِ�� ��ط * �و �ل� �ع� � ���ه �و �ل� �م��س�ت�� ش����ئ�� * �و �ل� � ���ا �ث�ا ت� �ط ب ْ �ذ � ْ ن � ذ � � � ��ف ا ���ُ �قَ � ا ح�ا ب���ل �و �ل�ا � �ص�د �ى * �و �ل�ا �ش���عب�� �ة �و �ل�ا �نِ�ي�َر� * �و �ل�ا �ش���ع�و� �ة �و �ل�ا � ح�ا �و * �ى لع��د �و �ل� � ٍ �ج �ف ن � �ق �ف ّ �ذ ق � �وه �ع ن��د �ج��مي�� ا ��ل�ا �م� * � او ن� ا �وق����ة ��ل � ح� �ز ا �ئ��د�ة ��ى �و ج��ه م�� �و�ي��و�مئ�� ا ��ي��ن� ت� ا � ا � �ل ن��ا ��ى � ك ي ر ع م م تش �ق ت � � ��ت����� �ة ا �ل� �أ�ة � � ا �ن ا � �ف �ي�ز ا �ن ا ف�ز ا ��ت� � ح �م�ه * � ���ط��ل��ي�ن ع � ور ي ڡ ب ي ل� �مر ي��سع�د ��ه� �و�ي�� ��ه� * � د �ج �ب�ى ا �لر ج���ل ����� ي��ه �و�ر � � � ذ � �ف � � � ��ز ف �م�ن �ه��ذه ا ��ل��د ��ني��ا ا�لمب�ن��يّ���ة �ع��ل ر ���ط��ل��ي�ن � او �وق�ي���ة ا �ل���ل ح� * �و م� �ه�ا * ع � �ل��ك ل��م ي��م��ك�ن �ل�ى ا �ل �ه�د �ي� � ى م ذ � � �� ت � � � ف � ا �ع�د�آ � * � ا ��س�ت�ا � �ت ث �ن ا ف ت ت ن ا �ن �ه� �م � ك م��ر ى و ��م ا ��ى ��س� �ر� ب���ع�د � �ل�ك ا ل�ى ��لك ا �لب��ل�اد � او �م�� �ي� جر � ن أ ت ت ا ت خ �ذ ��� ت� ��ل�ى ا �م � �ة خ� ب������ � او � ���د �من��ى * �وق��د ج�ر ت� ا ��ل�ع�ا د�ة ���فى �ت��ل�ك ا ��لب��ل�اد �و���فى �ب�ل�اد ا �ل�ا �فر� ر ي �ج آ � � �ذ � ت �ت �ف ة ن ض ���د �م�� * ف�ت��ا ��ى ا�ل�م ا �ة ا � � � ���ا ��ا ن� ي� خ� ��� ا � �لق���سي����س�و ن� ���س�� ء �ل�� خل ح�ا �و�ه�و ��ى �ف ار �ش���ه �ص��ا � ا �ي�� ب ح�د ه�م � ب ر �ّ � � ن ا ف � ا ذ �ق ت � ن � ث �ت ق ض � ا ط� ب� ا �ل�عي�� ش��� �و��س�و��س ا �ل�ى ا �ل�و��س� او ��س ا � ا �ل� �و�ي�ر � �و �����ى �ل�ه �م� �ير �و�م �م � �ه� * ��ل�م� � �� ��ي � ة �ن � � ن �ن ل�� �ه�ا ك� ���ا ن�� ت� �ج��مي���ل�� * �غ��ي�ر ا ��ى �ل� ا ��ك�ن �ع��ل� ��ي�ق���ي�ن �م�ن �ن��ه�ود �ث��د � �ه�ا �و�م� ا �ت�ز �و� ب����ت��ا ف���ق��ي�ر�ة � ك �ي � � ي ى م �ج ع ف �� ن �ي�ز ظ � ف ت فَ َ ف � � ل ف � ث � ق � ت ت ت ق ا ا ا ا �ن � � � � ح ذ� ��ل��ك ف�����د ك���ل��� �ب��ه� * �� ��ط��ل�� �م ا جل �� ��لي �� ا � ���د �و��ي ����ى �� ب ��ى * �� � ح� �ع�لي��ه ب � ي �غ � ن ّ ��ن ث �ق �ت ف ا ت�ز ة م�� � ا �ن�ا �م� ّ � �ه� �م� ّ ن ا ش �ت �ن �صر�ع��ل�ى ا �ل و �صر�ع��ل�ى ا �ل� ��س�� ا د� * ��م �� ���� �ه �ورا �م��ه � ار �ى ا � �يرد �ى وو ع ت �ن�ز ن� � � � �ف �ف ت � اث � ق � �م�ن � ث ئ ت ح� �ل��ل ا ث � ق ا � ّ � حي�� �ج��� * ���سر� ا �ل�ى ج�� ��لي ��� �م ب ج �� ��لي ��� ا �ل� �و�ل ��سر �بر ��ؤ�ي ��ى � او ل ��ى ت ّ ّ ��ن ن ا قا �م�� �ع ن��ده * �ف ج� تُ �� ا��ن ت � ا ن ا ت ��ق ف ة خ � ك � ��ع� ا ل�ى �م� ك��� �ع�لي��ه ��س� �ب ���� * �و�ه� ا �� �م��ر ب� �ر�ص�� ا �ر�ى ى ر آ �ّ � � ن �ذ � ن � ن � ا � �ة ة � ا � خ� ا � ض ف �م�ن ا �ل�م�ق��ا �� ض ���� �ع��ل �ه� ا ا �ل� ���ا ��ا �ن�ه ج��ا ��ه�ل ج��د ا * �وع��د ى ا � مب�� د �ل� � ح��س �ل� ر ي�� ي � ى � � َ ُ �ن ت ت �ق ة ق� � �ذ �ف ا ��ل � ق ة ف ا ��ز � ا ن ا �ل� �ف ��ن ف� � �ن �� �ف � ا �� ��سو� ا �� � ث��ا � �ل��� ��ى �ه� ا ل م� � ع � حرا � �ل ي���ل��س�و�� * ا � � �ج ع م �ج �ه� ��ص� ل���سي����س 230
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8،16،1
The Priest’s Tale Continued
zarqah or ʿaṭfah, faṭsah or ṣarfah, ghaḍār or karār, barīm or ḥirz, khaṣmah or ratīmah, asḥam or ṣihmīm, tadhaʿʿaba or ṣawt al-lūf, hāmah or ṣafar, ukhdhat al-nār or tanjīs, laḥj or inkīs, us or shaḥīthā, ṭibb or tawl, siḥr255 or māqiṭ,
ʿāḍih or mustanshiʾah, naffāthāt fi l-ʿuqad or ṣadā,256 shaʿbadhah or nīranj, shaʿwadhah or ḥābil or ḥāwī. “On that day I learned for sure that a man with a big nose is hated in every country and that half a pound of extra flesh on a man’s face will bring him woe and privation, while two pounds on a woman’s rump will bring her fortune and success, and my wonder at this world that’s built on twoand-a-half pounds of flesh increased, despite which I couldn’t bring myself to renounce it. Then I traveled to those lands257 and found safety in them from the intrigues of my enemies, and rented a house and brought a woman to serve me. It has become customary for priests, in those lands and in the lands of the Franks too, to take a woman to serve them, who comes to him in the morning, while he is still in his comfortable bed, and provides him with whatever he wants from her. Having tasted the sweetness of that life, the Tempter whispered in my ear that I should marry a girl who was poor but beautiful. I wasn’t quite certain that her breasts had completely rounded out but had taken a fancy to her all the same. I therefore asked the abbot to increase my stipend, but he refused. I insisted, but he was adamant in saying no, while I was adamant in asking for more. Then, when I argued with him and ended our discussion on an angry note, he decided to send me back to whence I’d come, so I went to an abbot who was friendly with the first abbot, and he was delighted to see me and put me up with him, and I found myself back where I’d begun. Now I’m waiting for an opportunity to exchange this other no-hoper too, for he is very ignorant, and, in my opinion, swapping abbots in these days of oppression brings more benefit than the philosopher’s stone.” Here ends the priest’s tale.
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1.16.8
��� �� � �� ���� �� �� ��� ��� ������� ����������
� �ه��ذ ا ��ت�ف� �� �م�ا ا �ش �ا ا ��ل��ه �آ��ن �فً�ا �م�ن ا ��ا �� �لف �ا ظ ��� � غ ��سي ر �� ر ي � �ل � � و �ي أ � ا �ئ ن �خ ّ � ا ن �خ � ���طه�م�ا ا ��ل�ع�ا ��ئ�ف� ���ف ا ��ل�ا �� ث�� � ��ق � ��ل ا �� ن��ا ا ب�� ن��ا �عي��ا ن � ��ط� ار � � �و � ��ط� � ي � ى ر �ض م �ي و ب َ �عي��ا ن� ا ْ��س �ع�ا ا ��ل� �ا ن� ا ��خل � * ر ب �ي � ُ ُ ة ف ن �ق َ ا ْخ����ذ �ة ا ��ل ن��ا �ُ��َع��د �ص�ل�ا �ة ا �ل�مغ�� � �ي�ز�ع�م� � ا �ن�ه�ا ش��� ّ ��س�ا �ع�� � � ت � � �د � �ه�ا * ر �ي ح ي� بي رب و � ر خ �ز ة ّخَ � ُ � اُ ْ �ذ �ذ ة ق ���ا �ل����س ر�ي��� ك� حر ا �و �ر � �ي ��و��� �ب��ه�ا * ا �ل� خ��� �ة � � � ا ��لت ّ ذ ا ��لت�� ّت � ف ُ � �ا ت ا �لت� ك � ا �لت����ا ��ؤ �ل * ا �ل� ر���س�ا � ��ب��ي ر �و ��ع�و� �و ح � م م َْ � ا�ل�مت� ا � � � ��ت�غ ف ف ي�ن � ا ��ل�ا ����س � ا �ل�د � �م�� ي��ه ا �ي��د ى � ح� � �ل��� * ح � م س ُ م ف � ت ْ � ة ة � � �خ �ت ّ ق ض � � � ا � � � ل � ل � � ك�ل�م�� � ��� �ل � ��� * ا �� ح��� � ي س ع �ف �� � � �� � � ��ى ا �ش�� ك� ��ا �ل ا �لر��م�ل ك���ا �لمن���ك�و��س * ا �ل�ا�ن��كي����س � � ا ��ل��ا رح � �ص�ي �د �م�ا �م ّر �م�ن �مي��ا �م ن���ك �إ �ل�ى �مي��ا ��سرك * �م�ن ا �ل� ب � ت � � � ن ن ة ف �خ ح�م � ا ����� � ش����ده ا�ل�م ا � �ع�� � ��س ��طه�ا �خ ت �ا ا � � ا ��م ا �لب��ِري�� ر ل�ى و � ي� ��ط� � ��ل �� � ا ر و ب ي �ض م ا ��ل� ذ ة ض ا ���د�ه� � . . . . . .و ع�و� � * �و�ع� � ت �زّ ّ �ت� ّ ح�ز ح�ز ً ت��ز� �ز ح�ز�ى ا ��ل���ط�� ��س�ا �ق�ه�ا �ن � ا �ل�� � � � � ا ا � � � � � ح ح � ه ك ى ى ج رو � و وو ير � �ز �و ج�ر�ه�ا * � � ن ن �ة ا ��ل ّ ت � ات ا � �ت��د ��سي�� � �� �و� � �ه�ا ا �ل�ع��ي�ن * �ت��د ��سي�� ا �ل ن�� �ون��ة �ص�ب�ى ���س� �وي��د�ه� كي���ل� ���صي��ب � م م � ت �ذ ُ ت �ذ َّ َ�تْ ُ �� ف�ز ت �ج�ن ل � � ��� �عب� �ه ا ا �ع��ه * ا �ل�� �ع ب � أ �ت ش ّ ش ق ت ي�ن � ن ا �ظ �� � ر�ع��لي��ه � �ص�ا ب��ت��ه ب���ع��ي�ن * ����ه��� �ع�� ا �ل�� ا �ل������ � هق � �ت �ات ن � �ق ا �� � ا �تش ّ ���وه �ع��ل� ّ ا �ى �ل� ���صب���� ب���ع��ي�ن * ���ّوه ا �ل�� ش � �ي�� ل �ل� � ى �ي � � � ن تش ّ ق � ت ش � ا � �ف �ت َ � ُ �غ� ��ى ا �ص�ا ب��ت��ه ��عيّ��د ا �ل�ع�ا �ي�ن �ع��ل�ى ا�لمعي��و� �����ه�� �ع�لي��ه �و�����دد �ل�بي�� �ل ا �لت��عيّ��د ذ� � ب���ع�ي�ن �ه * � ك� �ره ا � �لف��ي�ر �و �ز ا �ب�ا د �ى ي �ڡ � �و د * ع ا �ل�� �رب���ة*
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9،16،1
10،16،1
The Priest’s Tale Continued
Here are the meanings of the rare words mentioned above: ibnā ʿiyān,
1.16.9
[literally, “the Sons of Sight”] “Two birds, or two lines; the augur would draw lines on the ground and say, ‘Sons of Sight, tell us quickly what you see!’,” etc.
ukhdhat al-nār,
[literally, “the fire spell”] “Shortly after the sunset prayer; they claim that this is the worst time at which to strike [a flint].”
ukhdhah,
“An incantation, like sorcery, or a bead with which spells are made”
irtisām,
“Saying, ‘God is great!’ or ‘I take refuge with God!’ or believing that certain things are inevitable or believing in omens”
asḥam,
“The blood in which the hands of those swearing oaths are dipped”
us,
“A word said to the serpent, on hearing which it obeys”
inkīs,
“A shape made in the sand [by a geomancer]; some call it the mankūs”258
bāriḥ,
“Game that passes from one’s right to one’s left”
barīm,
“Two separate threads, red and white, tied by a woman around her waist and her forearm . . . and incantation”
taḥazzī,
ḥazā/ḥazwan, and taḥazzā are synonymous with zajr 1.16.10 [see below] and takahhana (“to divine”)259
tadsīm al-nūnah,
To perform tadsīm on a child’s chin-dimple is “to blacken it with soot so that ‘the eye’ does not afflict it”
tadhaʿʿub,
[One says,] “he suffered tadhaʿʿub from the jinn,” meaning “they gave him a scare”
tashahhuq,
[One says,] “the observer’s eye performed tashahhuq upon him,” meaning “it afflicted him with ‘the eye’”
tashawwuh,
One says, “Do not perform tashawwuh upon me!” meaning “Do not afflict me with ‘the eye’!”
taʿayyud,
“‘The beholder performed taʿayyud on the beheld’ means he afflicted him with ‘the eye’ and did so forcefully so as to intensify the injury done to him”; mentioned by al-Fīrūzābādī under ʿ-w-d
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233
��� �� � �� ���� �� �� ��� ��� ������� ����������
� ت�ن ش ظ � � �ت � �ذ خ ق �ة ا ��س� ����ى �م�ن ا � �لق�� ر ا �و � ع ����ا �م ا�لم�و��ى ا �و �ر�� ا �ل��ج�ي����س م ّ �ل� � ف خ ق ا �ن �ن � �ج�ن �ي��ع�� �ل� �ع��ل� �م ي� �� �� �ع�لي��ه �م �و�ل�و ا � �ب�ه * ى ع �� ن � ن أ ت ن ّ � ف ا ن تش ّ � � � تن ّ � ي�ن ا ا ��� ه ��ا ��له�م�ز ك ���وه �ل�ه �لي��ص��ب��ه �ب� �ل�ع�� ج� �ج���ى ��ج���ى � �ل��ل� � � � �� �ل�ه �و ج� ب � ي � ا �ص�ا �ب�ه �ب�ا �ل�ع��ي�ن * � � �َ � �ت�ا ��ل ��ي ت�� ��ل �ع�ا �ل � ا �ل���س � حر * ا �لت��ْو�ل و ش �ج خ �ز ت َّ �ُ َ � � ��ا ��تَ �َ�ة �ز � ة ا ا ا �ل���س ح ا �و �����ه�ه �و�ر � � ا �لت��َو��ل�� حب� ب� �م� عه� ا�ل�م ا ر � ا �ل�ى �و�ج� �ه� ك�� ل ��و�ل� * ة � ر ب ِ �ُ ْ ت ة � ذ ة �خ �ز � ا ج�ل �ه�ا ج���ل��د� * ���لب���ة ا �ل�ع�و� � �ر �ع�لي� � ا ��ل � ا �ل��س�ا � حر * ح�ا ب���ل ا ��ل�ُ ذ ة ا ��ل � عو� � * ح ْر�ز � ِ ُ ُ � � � ة ش ة ا ا �ل � �ف� ����د� ا �ل� �ص�ا �ب�� �ب�ا �ل�ع��ي�ن * ح �و�ف � � ا � ئ �آ � � ة �ف �َْ � خ� �ز ا ت� � �ه�ل�ا ��ل �م�ن �ف� ض� ة ت ش طه� �ل��ل� حو ��ط ا �ل� و ���� �����ده ا�ل�م ار � ��ى �و��س �� � ر � ت �ه�ا ا �ل�ع��ي�ن * ���صي��ب � �َ ْ �خ � � خ� � � ن ا � ن ا �ز �ة ح � �ز ا ��ل �ا �� �ت ا ��ل �ن � � � � ص � � �ل ا � ع م ا � م � � � �د � � د � � � � � � ة ع ع �� ل � � م ل �� � � ل ل ل و و ج ر ر و � ب س ى �� � �� ن ا ل��س�ل� ط�ا � * �أ خ �ز ة ل� � ة ا ح��� * ا �ل �ر �م��ة �ر � م ب �َ ْ ��ا ن � �ن ا ا �� ف� ا ��ع ��ل ��ش��� ة ف� � �ق �غ �ص�ن �ي�ن � ن ف ن ا �ل �تِر�م��ة �ه�ا ��ا � ك�� � م ر د س�ر �ي �م�د �إ �ى �ج ر� ي�ع��د �� � م � ي �ّ � ت ا� � ن ف ا ق �ن ق خ � �خ ن � ا ا ا ا ا ت ن � ح� �ل�ه�م� �� �ل ا � ا �ه�ل�ه �ل� � ��ه � او �ل� �����د �� � ��ه ر ج� �� �وك�� �� �ع��ل� � ى م ع ذ � � �� َتْ� � �ت ة � �� ا ل � � ا و �لر�م�� * و ل�ك ر م ي خ �ز � ف � � ا �� َّ ش �ف ر��س� ل� �صب�� ى ����د ��ى �ي��ده ا �و ر ج���ل�ه �ر ا �ل��د ��� ا �ل�ع��ي�ن * ا �لر��س� ع ع ع � ا ف ة �ت� ّ � �ن ا �ل�عي�� ��� � ا و �ل���ك�ه * ا �ل�ز ج�ر خ �ز ة � �خ �ذ �َ ْق �ر � �ل��لت��ا �ي�� * ا �ل�ز ر���ة
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234
�ئ � ن ا ��ل ح�ا ����ض� ك���ا �
11،16،1
12،16،1
The Priest’s Tale Continued
tanjīs,
[literally, “defilement”] “The name given something dirty, or bones from the dead, or a menstrual rag that they used to hang on anyone whom it was feared might have been afflicted with madness by the jinn”
tanajjā,
“To perform tanajjī on (li-) someone means to perform tashahhuq [q.v.] on him in order to afflict him with ‘the eye,’ as also najā”; najaʾa with the glottal stop means “to afflict with ‘the eye’”
tawl,
“[The verb] tāla, yatūlu means ‘to practice sorcery’”
tuwalah,
“Sorcery, or anything like it, or beads used to make a 1.16.11 woman love her husband”; also tiwalah
julbah,
“An amulet strung on a leather string”
ḥābil, “Sorcerer” ḥirz, “Amulet” ḥufūf,
“Severe affliction with ‘the eye’”
ḥawṭ,
“Beads and a silver crescent that a woman ties around her waist so that ‘the eye’ will not afflict her”
khaṣmah,
“An amulet used by men, worn in battle or when going into the presence of the sultan”
raʾamah,
“A love bead”
ratīmah,
“One intending to make a journey would go to a tree260 and tie two branches together. If he returned and they were still tied, he would say that his wife had not betrayed him; otherwise she had betrayed him. This was called ratm or ratīmah”
rasʿ,
“‘He performed rasʿ on the child’ means he tied a bead onto his hand or foot against ‘the eye’”
zajr,
“Divination through ʿiyāfah [q.v.] or the taking of 1.16.12 auguries”
zarqah,
“A bead for casting spells”
235
235
� ن � ا �ل��س�اح �ُ ا �ل��س��ل� او ن � �ُ ا �ل��س��ل� او �ن��ة �ش���د ا ��ل � �ق��ا ب � حِ � َ ْ �ذ ا �ل ش����عبَ�� �ة �َ ْ ذ ا �ل ش����ع�َو� �ة ش ح�ي�ث� ا ���� � � َ ��ص ْ ا �ل � �خ ب���ة � َْ �ص�د � ح��ة ا �ل� ا �� َ َ �ص ّر�ة ل� ا �� َ ف �ص ْر���ة ل� � ْ ْ ا �ل�صِ� �هِ�مي�� م � �ص�و ت� ا �ل��ل�و�ف � � َ فَ ا �ل� � �ص�ر ا �� �� ّ � ِل�ط ب �َ� ا �ل��طر�ق � � ���ه ا �ل�ع�ا ض�
��� �� � �� ���� �� �� ��� ��� ������� ����������
���د ا ��ل��ا ر� ض� بح � ّ ُ �ذ ت ف��� �ف �م�ا ي� ش��� َرب� �لي����س��ل� �م�ا �ه�و ا ن� �ي ��و خ��� �ت ار ب� ق�ب��ر �مي�� ي ج� ���ع�ل ��ى ى �آ �ف �ق � ا ش ق �ف ت � ّ �ل� �خ ح��ه ا * �م� ي���� �س�ى ا �ل�ع� � � ��� ي�م�و� ب � �ف خ �ز ة � � ت ا �خ �ذ ح ث� �عن�ه�ا ي� � ا ��لر��م�ل ف���ت��س�ودّ � ب��� �ي�� �و خ�ر�ز �ة �ت��د ��ف�ن ي �ڡ �ر � �ل�ل�� � ق � � ن ن فت ّ �و���س���ا �ه�ا ا �لإ� ���س�ا � �����س��لي��ه * ي � ق ا �خ � ش ّ �ف �ق � �� ف � ي�ن � � ال �� ح�� ب� �ي� ��ط ي�����د ��ى حِ� � �و ا ل� �صب��ى �ل�د ��� ا �ل�ع�� * ع �ش ذ ة ا �ل����ع�و� � * ُ َخ ��ذ � � �ف � ُ �ش غ ���ا �ل���س ا �� ك� حر �ير�ى ا �ل����ى ب�����ي�ر �م�ا �ع��لي��ه ا �ص��ل�ه ��ى را �ى ا �ل�ع��ي�ن * � ا �غ � �� ة �ن ة �ت ن ف�ت ف ك���ل�م�� ��س �ر�ا �ي��� � ����� �ب��ه�ا ا �ل� ��ا �لي��ق� �ب�ل�ا �م���ا ت�ي�� * ي ح خ �ز ة �ت��س�ت �ع ��فح ��ل ّ � غ ا� ا� �ر � � * ��م�ل �ى ح ب� �و لب�����ض ت خ �ز ة � �خ �ذ �ض � � او ��ل�� � �وب�ا �ل� ح �ر��ك �ر � �ل��لت��ا �ي�� * � ي م � �ذ خ �ز ة �� � ت ا �خ �ر � ل�ل�� ي�� * خ �ز ة � �خ �ذ �ر � �ل��لت��ا �ي�� * ُ � ح��ل� او ن� ا �� ك� � ل��ا �ه�ن * �ن ا ت � � � ة �ت�� َّ �� َّ خ ة � ا ن � �ف � ن � ب�� � �ل�ه ب��ص�ل�� س��مى ا ل� �ص ار ��� �ل� � �ل�ه ��ى �ي��و�م ا�لم�هر ج��ا � ت ا �ي�ز�ع ن ن � �ن ��س � ت �ف � ��ى �ي ��و�م�ه * �ص� �و� �م�و� ا � م �م�ع�ه ي�م�و ّة � � � ت ق � فت ���ه�ا ا �و ا ��خل ح��� ي ڡ � * � ا �لب� ��ط�ن ���ل�ز �� �ب�ا �لض� ����ل�و ���ع ض� �ي � ع � �مث���لث���ة ا ��لر��ف�ق � او �ل���س � حر * � ن خ� � � ��ا ه�ن � ق �ط�ن ا � �ف ذ �ت� �نّ ا � ي��ل��ط ا � ك� ل�� � ا � �ل� � � �ب� �ل�ص�و� ا � ا ��ك�ه * � � �� ضَ ����ذ � �ت ه��ا ن� � او �ل���س ���ه 1ا � � ا �ل��س�ا � حر* حر � او لعِ� � ل�ك� ب� � او �لب � *
� ��ة. :١٨٥٥ 1ا �ل�ع���ض
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13،16،1
14،16،1
The Priest’s Tale Continued
sāniḥ,
Opposite of bāriḥ [q.v.]
sulwān,
[literally, “consolation”] “Something that is drunk to bring consolation, or the taking of dust from the grave of a dead man and making it into something that is given to the lover to drink so that his love-sickness dies, etc.”
sulwānah,
“A bead used for working magic, and a bead that is buried in the sand and which then turns black, is sought for, [is pulverized], and is drunk by someone, to whom it then brings consolation”
shadd al-ḥiqāb,
[literally, “the tying of the ḥiqāb”] “The ḥiqāb is a thread that is tied around the loins of a child to ward off ‘the eye’”
shaʿbadhah,
shaʿwadhah [q.v.]
shaʿwadhah,
“Spells, a form of sorcery: things are seen in a shape different from their original shape as seen by the eye”
shaḥīthā,
“A Syriac word by which what is locked may be opened without keys”
ṣakhbah,
“A bead used for love and for hatred”
1.16.13
ṣadḥah, “(also ṣudḥah or ṣadaḥah) a bead used for casting spells” ṣarrah,
“A bead used for casting spells”
ṣarfah,
“A bead used for casting spells”
ṣihmīm,
“The sooth-sayer’s fee”
ṣawt al-lūf,
[literally, “the cry of the loofah”] “A plant with a bulb that is called ‘the shrieker’ because on the day of the festival it emits a cry which, they claim, causes any who hears it to die within the day”
ṣafar,
“A serpent in the belly that clings to the ribs and bites them,” or etc.261
ṭibb, “Also ṭabb and ṭubb; gentleness, and magic” ṭarq,
“The soothsayer’s mixing of cotton with wool when he prognosticates”
ʿāḍih, “Magician”; ʿiḍah means lying, falsehood, and magic 1.16.14
237
237
� � ا �ل�ع�ا ��ط�و��س � ف ا ا �لعِ� ار ���ة
ا ���ََ � ع �� � ل طف �
� َْ � ا �ل�ع �� � طف���ة ا ��ل�ُ �َق ع�ر�ة
�ُ �ع�ود ا �ل ش���ب��ا ر�ق � � ف ا �ل�عي��ا ���ة
� َ ْثَ ا �ل�عي���ر�ة ا ��ل�غ�زّ � �غَ� ض� ا ��� ر
َ� �وك��را ر
� فَ ْ � ا � �ل� ��ط��س��ة � �قَ ْ ا � �ل ب���ل��ة � �قُ ْ ا � �ل ب���ل��ة � قُ َ ا � �ل���لي� ب � � � ا �� ك� ل��ا بح
��� �� � �� ���� �� �� ��� ��� ������� ����������
ّة آ ُ �م�ا �ي��ع ���ط��س �م ن��ه �ود ا �ب�� �ي���ت ش����� � م �ظ� آ ا �م�ا �م��ك �م�ن ا �ل�� �ب��� * � َ ّ �ف ���ا ه�ن � � ف �ص�ن � فة ق ا �ل�ع ار � ا ك� ط�ي�� ب� �و� �عت��ه ا �ل�ع ار ��� �و��د �عر�� ل�� � � او �ل�� ب ���ت �ك ك��� ب� * خ �ذ � ق َُ ا �� �ف ا ف��ت�� ّ �ن�ب�� ت� �ي ��و��� ب���ع��ض� �عر�و��ه �ي�و��ل�و�ى � �وي� ��طر� �ع��ل�ى ل�� رك ح ب� ح �ز �و�ج� �ه�ا * خ �ز ة � �ذ �ر � �ل��لت��ا �ي�� * خ� �ز �ة ت �ح���له�ا ا �ل��م ا ة � آ ت ر � �لئ��ل�� ���ل��د * ر م� ّ � �غ �خ ا ��ل ش�����ا ر�ق� ��ش��� �ع�ا ��ل � �و �ق���ل��د ا ��ل �ي���ل �و��ي�ره ب���ع�وده �ل��ل�ع��ي�ن * ب �ج ر �ي آ � ة ُ �ز � عف� ت� ا �ل��ط�� ا �ع ف���ه�ا �ع��ا ف��� � �ت�ه�ا � �ه� ا ن� ��ت�عت��� ��ا ��س�م�� �ئ�ه�ا �� � ير ي � ِ ي ج ر� و و بر ب ن آئ ف ت ّ أ ت ت آ � �م��س�ا �ق� ���طه�ا � ا � �� � ��ه�ا � ت�����س�ع�د � � ���� ش ����� � * و و � وو� م ث � �َ آ ة �عي���ر ا �ل�� ط�ي�ر ر� �ه�ا ج��ا ر��� �ف�ز �ر�ه�ا * ي ج �غ�ز � ا َ � � �ص َّ �ّق � ا ا ��� ن عه�و� �م�ن ا �ل�ع��ي�ن * �ه� ل � � ا �ل� ب���ل � او �ل� ب��ى �ع� �ل� �ع�لي� � ف � �� خ �ز ة � �خ �ذ �ت�ق � خَ َ ف �غ ا �ل�� ض� ���ا ر ��ز �� ي �ح��م�ل �ل��د ��� ا �ل�ع��ي�ن �وك�را ر �ر � �ل��لت��ا �ي�� � � �و�ل ع َ ُ ق �ف ن ن ة ّ ا ��ل��س�ا � ة ا�� ��ّ ا حر� �ي� ك�را ر ك� �ري�ه � �وي� �ه�مر� ا �ه�م �ري�ه ا � ا �ب���ل ���س �ري�ه � او � ا د�بر ف �� ّ�ر�ه * �� ض� ي خ �ز ة � � � �ذ � �ق � �ن خ ��ذ ت ه ا �� ف�َ ْ �� �ة ا ��ثَُٔ�آ ا ���َ ْ �� �ة �خ ا ت � �ر � �ل�ه� �ل�ل�� ي�� �ي��ل ا �� �� �ب� ل��ط��س� �ب� ل �� �و� �و لع� ط��س� * ب م �ن ���خل �ز ّخ ��ذ ا ��رب� �م ا �ر �ي ��و�� �ب��ه� * ض� ا ت�ت خ� � � ا ة �ُت�ق �ان ان ا �م� ���ذه ا �ل��س� � ح��ه * حر� �ل �� ب���ل �ب�ه �و ج��ه ا �ل� ���س� � �ع��ل�ى �ص� � ب خ �ز ة � �خ �ذ �ر � �ل��لت��ا �ي�� * ا � ت ��ق � � �م ا ت � ّ �م� ا �س� ب��لك �م� ��ي � �� ط�ي�ر �م ن��ه *
238
�س��ق ب���ل�ك �م�ن ���ه�ا � او ��ل�ع�ا ���ط�� �م�ا ا � ت � ب س
238
15،16،1
The Priest’s Tale Continued
ʿāṭūs,
“Something that is sneezed at and a beast from which an evil omen is taken”; the ʿāṭis is “a gazelle that approaches head-on”
ʿirāfah, A ʿarrāf is a soothsayer, or a physician, and his profession is called ʿirāfah; the verb [“to practise sooth saying”] is ʿarafa, on the pattern of kataba262 ʿaṭaf, “A plant some of whose roots are twisted and . . . thrown over a misogynist to make him love his wife”
ʿaṭfah, ʿuqarah, ʿūd al-shubāriq,
“A bead used for casting spells” “A bead worn by women in order not to give birth” “[The wood of ] a tall tree, necklaces made of which are hung around the necks of horses and other beasts to protect them from ‘the eye’”
ʿiyāfah,
“[The verb] ʿiftu [first person singular perfect], uʿīfu [first person singular imperfect], ʿiyāfatan [verbal noun]) al-ṭayr is synonymous with ‘I took an augury from the birds,’ meaning that one takes into consideration their names and their descents and ascents and then draws a happy or an unhappy omen”
ʿaytharah,
ʿaythara l-ṭayr means, he saw the birds flying and took an augury from them
ghazz,
“To perform ghazz upon camels or a child is to hang 1.16.15 colored threads on them against ‘the eye’”
ghaḍār and karār, “The ghaḍār is a piece of pottery worn to ward off ‘the eye’; a karār is a bead for casting spells. The witch says, ‘O karār, turn him back! O hamrah [q.v.], knock him flat! If he come this way, give him joy! If he turn his back, give him pain!’” faṭsah,
“Beads they use for casting spells; women say, ‘I take him with the sudden death, the yawn, and the sneeze!’”
qablah,
“A kind of bead used for casting spells”
qublah,
“What the magician uses to summon up a person’s face for his friend”
qulayb,
“A bead used for casting spells”
kābiḥ,
“Things [i.e., animals] used for taking auguries that approach one head-on”
239
239
� ا �� ك� ل��ا دِ ��س �َ �ْ ا� ك ل��ب��د �ة �َْ ��� ا� ك � ح�� ل�ل��ة �ُ ا �لج��ل ��ا � ّم � �ْ ا �ل��ل�ج ح � �ُ � ا �ل��ل�ع ��ط��ة � َ َّ ا �ل��ل�م��ة
� � ا�لم�ا قِ�� �� ط � �ْ � �و�ل اِلجم� � ن ا�لم��س�ت�� ش����ئ��ة
��� �� � �� ���� �� �� ��� ��� ������� ����������
� �آ �ّ � � � � �ق �م�ا ��ي ت� ��ط�ي�ر �ب�ه �م�ن ا � �لف��ا �ل � او �ل�ع ��ط�ا ��س �و�غ��ي�ر�ه�م�ا � او � �ل��عي��د �م�ن ا � ظل���ب��� ء � �ه ا ��ل���ذ � � �م�ن خ���ل�ف�� � ����ت ش�����آ� ��ه � ن� � �� حوه ا �ل��د ا ك���س * � ك وي م ب و � و �و ى ي ج �ى خ �ز ة ��ل���ل ّ �ر � ح ب� * خ �ز ة � �خ �ذ � �ر � �ل��لت��ا �ي�� ا �و �ل��ل�ع��ي�ن * ا ت �ّ �م� ��ي � �� ط�ي�ر �م ن��ه * ��ل � ح ��ه ب���ع�ي�ن �ه ا �ص�ا �ب�ه �ب��ه�ا * ج � � ا ��س� �م�ن �ل�ع �� ط�ه ب���س�ه� ا �و ب���ع��ي�ن ا �ص�ا �ب�ه * م م ا ت �ن �� ّ � ّ �� ي�ن � ا ّ �ة ة ّ ق � �ج�ن � �ق��ا ��ل ا �ص� ب����ه �م ا ل � �لم�� ا �ى �م��س ا �و ��لي���ل � او ل�ع�� ا �ل�ل� �م� �ي � ة ا� ا �لم�صي��ب��� �ب� �ل��س�و * �كه�ن ا ��ل���ط�ا �ق� ��ا ��ل � ا �ز � ت � ا ��ل ح��صى * ح� �ى ا�لم���� ر ب ا ��ل�ُ ذ ة عو� � * � � ة ا �� ك� ل��ا �ه ن��� *
�ُْ خ �ز ة��ا ن � ن �آ �ت ّ ح����ن ��ه�ا ا�لم�هر�ة �ر � ك�� � ا �ل����س� ء ي�� ب ب ب � � � نُ ْ � � ا الم ق �ة � ا ��ل �ن ن ا � * ا �ل�� ش���ر�ة ر�ي�� �ي�ع� �ج �ب��ه� �ج ��و� ا �و �ل�م �ري���ض �ّ �ف � � ا �ل��س� او � حر * ا �لن ��ف��ا �ث�ا ت� ��ى ا �ل�ع�ق��د � ّ �ُْ ش � �ف ا ��لن �ظ� �� ة �خ ����ى �ي��ع�� �لق� �ع��ل� ا �ل� ا �لن ف���ر� � ر� * ة �صب��ى �ل� �و� ى � ْ نْ � أَ ْ ٌ�ذ � ���ا �ل���س ا �ل نِ��ي�َر��ج � خ��� 1ك� � حر �و�لي����س �ب�ه * � ََ � � ا �ئ �خ� � � �ن �� ا � ��ق ت �� ��ز � ��ل ة ��ا �ه��لي��� * ا �ل�ه�ا �م��ة ا �ل� �ص�د �ى �و�ه�و ��ط� ر ي ر�ج م را س �لم ��ول ب ع�م ا ج خ �ز ة ّخ �ذ � َْ � � �ر � �ي��و��� �ب��ه�ا ا �لر ج��ا �ل * ا �ل�هب��ر�ة � �� � �� ��ف � ا � � � ة � ّ ���ط ُ�خ �خ ا �ل�ه � ل � ا ا � � �ل��ل��ك�ه�ا �ن�� * �ج � ط � � ي ل � ى ر �ض ج�ي
16،16،1
*
ُ �خَ�ذ ذ ��� ا �ف�ي ا �ل��ق���ا �مو��س و �ف�ي :١٨٥٥ا � . 1ك
240
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17،16،1
The Priest’s Tale Continued
kādis,
“Things used in divining, such as a good omen, a sneeze, or the like; the qaʿīd, said of gazelles, is the one that comes up behind you, and from it a bad omen is drawn, and the dākis is the same”
kabdah,
“A bead for love”
kaḥlah,
“A bead used for casting spells, or against ‘the eye’”
lujām,
“Things from which omens are drawn”
laḥj,
“‘He performed laḥj on him with his eye’ means ‘he
1.16.16
afflicted him with it’” luʿṭah,
“The noun formed from [the expression] laʿaṭahu bisahm (‘he struck him with an arrow’) or bi-ʿayn (‘with “the eye”’), meaning ‘he afflicted him’”
lammah,
“One says, ‘He was afflicted by a lammah, or fit, or a touch [of madness] from the jinn’ . . . and al-ʿayn allāmmah (literally, ‘the gathering eye’) is that which afflicts with evil”
māqiṭ,
“The minor magician who claims powers of divination and knocks small stones together”263
mijwal, “Cantrip” mustanshiʾah,
“The woman soothsayer”
muhrah,
“A bead women used to attract love”
nushrah,
“A spell with which the insane or the sick are treated”
naffāthāt fī l-ʿuqad, “Witches”264
1.16.17
nufrah,
“Something hung on a child for fear of ‘the eye’”
nīranj,
“Charms that look like magic but are not”
hāmah, “The ṣadā, which is a bird that emerges from the head of a murdered man, according to the Arabs of the Days of Barbarism” habrah,
“Beads by which men are bewitched”
hajīj,
“A line drawn on the ground for purposes of divination”
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��� �� � �� ���� �� �� ��� ��� ������� ����������
آ �َ هقْ��ع��ة د ا �ئ �ة ���ف ا �� ف�ل� �� ����ت ش����� � ��ه�ا ا �ل� � ر ى ر س ي م ب� � �ذ � َْ خ �ز ة � �خ �ر � �ل��لت��ا ي�� ا �ل�ه�مر�ة � نَّ خ �ز ة � �خ �ذ �ر � �ل��لت��ا �ي�� * ا � هِل��م��ة � ة ن � � � خ �ز ة ��ا �� � ة ق �ه�� * ���ل ت� ا � ظل�� ��ا �هر ا ���ه�ا �ل��ل�و ج��ا �ه�� * ا �ل�و�ج�ي��ه �ر � �م ك�� ل�و�ج ي� � �ي�ن خ �ز ة � �خ �ذ � �و ب���ع�د ا � ف�ل� ا رر * ا �ل��ج���ل ب � �ر � �ل��لت��ا �ي�� ا �و �ل��لرج�� ع َ َآ ا � �ل� ق � ت �ذ �غ ا ة ا ذ �ه� ت ا ا ��ل ر ج���ل � � ح�ا �و� ح� �و ي ج �م� حّو� ء �و� � ى ع ا �ي ح�� � * ��ل� �ه� ا �� �ي�� �م� � ك�ر ٍ � �ف � ّ � ظ ن ا �ك�ن �ص�ا � ح ب� ا �� �لق��ا �م�و��س ��ى � �ى �ى � او �ل���� �هر ا ��ه � او �و�ى �و�ل�� ح ض ّ � �ة ��لت�� ّ ا ا ��خل � عف��ه ���فى ا ��ل� ا �و �ب ���ق � ��ل�ه ق�ي��� �و�م ن��ه ا ��ل ��� � � �و��ق�و�ل�ه ي ج��م� ح�� حو���ه� � � ي و و ل ي � ع �� ا ق ا � �ف ���ا �ن�ه ��ل ظ �ّ ح ���� ف���ه �م�عن�� �� � ا ن ا ح��ا ت� ك� س� �م� �� �ل�ه ��ى � ي ا لي ى حو�ى �ل� ��ي �� �� ب ة ظ� �� خ�ة � حنْ��ف� ش�� � �ع��ا �ت�ه * ا � � � ع �� ة �ض ��ت�ف���س�ي�ر ا ��ل � � و بر و ي ح��� ي�م�� �م�� ا �ل ار ��س ِ آ �ن � ن ا ��ف ذ ا �ف �ق ش �آ �� ح � ت�ه�ا ا � ت�ف�خ �ه�و � �صيرح �ه�� �ى � �ور�ي��د�ه� * � ر����� ء رك��د � ء ا � ا �� �يو � � �ف ت �ق ة ق ذ �� ت ذ � ف � � � �ل��ك �و�م�ا ا �ش��ب��ه ��ى ك����ا ب� �م��رد * ا �لر�ي��� �و��د � ك�ر
242
*
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18،16،1
The Priest’s Tale Continued
haqʿah,
“A ring on a horse that is regarded as ill-omened”
hamrah,
“A bead used for casting spells”
hinnamah,
“A bead used for casting spells”
wajīh,
“A bead, too well-known to require definition,265 as 1.16.18 is wajīhah”; it seems to me they must be [worn] to impress with “high-standing” (wajāhah)
yanjalib,
“A bead for casting spells, or for return after flight”
ḥāwī.
“The man called a ḥawwāʾ or a ḥāwī collects snakes.” I declare: This is all that the author of the Qāmūs says under the root ḥ-y-y, though it appears that the root is really ḥ-w-y; however, the Qāmūs relates the word to the root ḥ-w-y when he doubles the w and says, “It is claimed that ḥayyah (‘snake’) is from this root because of its coiling upon itself (taḥawwī),” etc. His statement that the ḥāwī “collects snakes” (yajmaʿu ḥayyāt)—as if the word was derived from ḥawā (“to gather”)—is inconsistent with his definition of the word ḥinfish, namely, “[the viper] or a great serpent with a huge head, variegated black and white, given to lying still; if you charm it (ḥawwaytahā), its jugular swells.” Here he relates it unambiguously to the casting of spells, as I state, along with other things, in a separate book.266
243
243
ا �� ��ل�ف��ص ا ��ل���س�ا ��� �ع ش �� �ل بع �ر � � يڡ � ا �ل��ث��ل � �ج ا � ا �ن ��ت ت ��ف � ق ا ئي�ن �� ا � ��ف �ذ � ف � ا �غ ن � �ل� �ر�و ا � ي ج��د ب���ع��ض� ا � �ل�� ر��� ك��ل� م�ى �ى �ه� ا ا � �ل���ص�ل �ب� رد ا �ل� ��ى ك��ب����ه �ى �ي ��و�م �عب ��و��س �ق � ا ��لث�� ذ ذ � � ق� ذ �ز ّ � � ق ق ��م ��طرر * � �ى �م�هر�ير * �و �ل � ا � � ا ك ��س�ا �� ��ط �ع��ل�ى ا �ل��س ��ط�وح� * �و��د ��س�د ا �ل��طر�� �ي �ج � �ف � ���ا د �� ���ط��ف ا ��ل ن�ا * � ����ذ �ه ��ا ��ا �ص��� �ا * � ��م�ن �ود خ��� ��ى ا �ل� �� ت� � او �ل� � �صر�وح * �وك� ي �ى � ر وي ب� ب �ل � ب بي و ل ط� ر يو �ى آ َ � � � ه� ّ ن �غ ا � � � ث � � ا � � ك���ل�ه ا � ا �ل�ل�ا ح��د ا � �ش���ا � ا �ل��� ��ا �� �ل�ق َ�م � ا � �ل �م�ا * ��� ا �ن�ه �ل� � ن � � � ا � ع � ل � � ك ح�� � ي و و ر ر ر و �ي ي ب ر �قِ ب ب ب ر س �ج ّ �ذ ت ن ن � ف � ف ق � َ � � ن ح ا �ة * � ك�� �ل��ك ��ا �ى ك���ل�ا �م� ��ا �ن�ه � ا � � ���ده ��ا د ا ��ل�ا ���د � ا � يح�م �ع��ل ّ �م�ن �م��ه ب�ر ر ب و و وج ب ر ر و ى �ى �ى ت �غ � ا ��س� ا ا ذ � ن ق �ك�و ن� �ق�د � ح��ص� ا ��لغ�� ��ض� �و�ه�و���� خس �ه��ذه ا ��لب��ر �ود�ة * ف�ي��� ���ا � ��د ���ي�ن د �م�ا ��ه * �و �ل� يم� � ك ل ر ف ��� ن � ق ة �غ � ف �ي�ت ه ا � ا ح��ّد �ة �م�ن ا �� ف�ل���ص ا �ل� ت م��ق��د � * �و ك �ب ��ق�ي� ت� �ي��ه �ب ���قي��� �ي ظ� ��� �و� �ص�د ي��م�ا � ك ح��� � �ل� ل����ى �ل� ا ��� �ل م م ة خ ذ � �ف ق �ا � ض �ة � ا ا ��ل�ص�د �ق � �� �خ� ��� �� ا ��ل ا ن �آ ��ت ا �ف � ��ت�مت�ه�ا � � � � ع � � ه � � �� ك ع� ت� � �ل��ك ��ى ��� � � ل و و � � * ول�و طر ب ب�� �ى � �ى � �ص�ي �د� �و � ي ي آ � � خ �آ �ا ن �ن ف �ن �ف ذ � ف � � ق �ب��د �ع�� �و�م�د � �ل�ا � ح��د ا ب�ل���ل� * �و�م�ن �م�ا را ��ى ��ى � �ل��ك ���لي����س�ا �ل ا � �ل���سي����س � ����س�ه * ا �ل� ا � ح � ف ّ �� �ا �م �ق �ق �� � ة ا ق ا ��لث���ل خ ض � ��ا ��ل�ف� ك���ل�ا �م� �م�ن � ه�� ا �ن � � ه ه � � �� � � ا �� � �� � � � � � �د �� � � د � � � س س ك � �� � ع ع � س � ط ط � � ل � � � ل �ي ل ل �ج ي ي و ى ى � ي و ب �ى �ى �ج �� ا � ا ��ف ظ �� �ق � �� �ت ا ن ��ف ا �� �ق � ا ��ف � �ة ن � ّ � ا ي�ن � ا � ل ه ه ي � � � � � ا �� � � � � ا � � � ل�ر� ط� س ��س�وده * �وك�ل �م� �ى ��ى �ير �و� لع� �وك�ل �م� ج مع� � �ى �ه��ذه �ج �ه� * ّ � � �ذ � � ن ا �لث � � ً � �ذ �ا � �ق � �ل�ا �ت� ���ط��ل� �ع��لي��ه ا �ل ش���م�� ا �ي�ا �م�ا ا �ل�ا � �و�� �و ب� * �وك�� �� ا ك�� ��ل�ا �م�ى �ف�ا �ن�ه �ل�ا �ي ك� �و �هى ا � ��ل س �� د �يب ���ى ي ع ش �ف �ج � � ن ظ �� ّ �ت �ُْ� �ع��ل ه � �ه ن ا � �ة ا خ �ق ق ا ن � � � � � � �� � � �ه�ور ب ��وح ي�� * و �� ك �ج �ه� رى �م��ه ����ى ��ى را س ا �ل�� رى ب�ع�د �مره ا �وع��د � � ن � ���ذ � �� ا �ت� ض�� ّ�مه�م�ا * � �ه� ا ن� ا ��لث��� ح � او ج��ل��آ ا ج��ل � ب���ع�د ��س��ق � ���ط�ه �ي� ن�� ش����ا �ع ن��ه ا �ل��ص ل �� �و� � �و * �وك�� �ل��ك ك��ل� �م�ى و وو �ج ن آ ت ق� � � ا� ن ف س�ت � �ّو �ف ك ��ر�ى �و��ص� ��ا �ن�ه ب���ع�د ���س�ا �� ��ط�ه �م�ن را ���سى �ي��� ش����ا �ع ن��ه ا ج��ل�� ج�� حو �ب� �ل�ى � او �� �ع�د ا ده ا �ل�ى 244
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1،17،1
2،17،1
Chapter 17
Snow
No doubt, some readers will find what I have to say in this chapter hard to
1.17.1
warm to as I wrote it on a “frowning day, inauspicious,”267 a day of cold that was vicious. Snow at the time o’er the rooftops was sifting, had blocked the highways, and into house and palace was drifting. It was almost enough to extinguish any fire, put an end to any patience, and thoughts of moon and of money-wagering inspire.268 Be that as it may, no one can deny that anyone who drinks, eats, or plays with snow derives from it a feeling of heat. The same goes for the reader of my words: if he finds himself getting chilly, all he has to do is seek protection with me from the cold, in which case the goal, which is to put his brain through some warm-up exercises, will have been achieved. This will be especially true if the said brain still carries some traces of anger and indignation left over from the preceding chapter, though I meant nothing by telling the tale but to speak the truth, and, had it crossed my mind to lie or fib, I would have done so in a poem concluding with prayers and praise for some miser; if anyone doesn’t believe me, let him ask the priest himself. All the same, snow differs from my words in one thing: snow falls on what is black and makes it white, while my words fall on paper and make it black. Both, in my opinion, are a delight to the eye, and the two share the following feature: a few days after the sun rises over the snow, it melts, and the same is true of my words, for almost nothing will remain of them in the reader’s head after the passing of one moonlit night or the rising over him of one Shining Orb. And here’s a further point of resemblance: the falling of the snow gives rise to a clearing and brightening of the weather; so too the descent of my words from my head brings about a brightening of the weather of my thoughts,
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1.17.2
�ف ا ��ل�� ث��ل � �ي� � ج
ا ق ح�ا �� ت� � � ش ا ة ن ا �ف ق ف �� عه�ا �و�ع��ذ ر�ى ���فى ��م ح��ل�ه ��د ا�لم���� �ب��ه�� �ه�� ��ى �م�و��� � �م� �ير �و�� �و�ير �وع * ���ع��ل�ى �ك��ل � ل ج � ��� ُ ف ا ��ن ا � ا � ا �غ� �آء ا �ل� �ث �ي�ن �ت خ� ��ذ � ن ��ف � ا �ه ا �� �فل����س�� ة ا � خ �ك�ن ��ل��ل �ف بو ع�د �� �ى رى �ل� �ن�ي � م� ر ي�� و� �ى دي� ر � 3،17،1 �ص�� � او �ر�ى ي ح�� �م��س� � � ي م ّ آ ّ �ن � �َا �� �ل ت خ � ا���س�ت ح��د �ف�غ �ك�ن ��ل�ه �م�ن �غ��� �ه� ا ��ل�ا ���� ت � ش �ت � � ا � � � � �ل � � ا � م � � � � * � ح � � ير ير م بي و �ل��ل��� � ء �و�ك�ن� ل� �مب�ي��� � او �ر �ل�ل� �م� م و م �ي ف �ّ �ن ن � ن ��ق ت ا ���ز � ا ة � �ق � ة ج���د �ير �ب�ا � �ي�ز ا ر �ي��ه ا �ل�ا � ح��ي�ن �ي��ك�و� ب��ي��ت��ه �م� او ف���ق��ا �ل�و� ت� ا �ل�ز ��ا ر� * ا �و �ي��ك�و� �و � ل � ر� ي ي �ف آ فق � ذ � � ن �غ �� � � �ل �آ ق ت آ ا��ا � � ا �غ �آ ن �ت خ� �ذ � ��� � او �ل�هم� �م� او �����ا �لب�ي��ت��ه * �ب��ن �� ء �ع��ل�ى � �ل�ك �ي���ب���ى ل�لع� �م� ء ا ���د � ء �ب� ك�� �بره� ا �ل� � �ن�ي � ا � ي م �ف آ � � ل�� �ا � ا ��ل��ا د � ا �� �لف��ا �ت ���ف ��ؤ ��سه� ا � �ل ي���� � �ن � ت ة ��خ ت ف ة � ا ا �ت � �ه�م �م ا � ك�ل م ب ر و ر ح� �م� او ��ط�ن �م��ع�دد� �م ��� �ل��� �لم� �ي� ��ى �ع�لي� ىر �م � � � � ��ف�ف ��ق ت �ث ا ن � � ��ه� ن � ا ��ل � ��كه� �م�ن حر� ط�� ��ي�ق� ار �و ن� ا �لب��ا رد ��ت�ق���لي��ل�ا �م�م�ا � ��ا � ا �ل�� ح�مي�� * ��ى �و � ��ور � ا �ل�د � ي و و � ب ج م م ع م � � �ذ �ف � � � ن � ت � ن ا �ل � �ك�� �ع��ل �م� �ه� �م�ن ب� �� او �ع ث� ا �ل ح ار ر�ة * �و��ى �و��ق ت� ا �ل��س�� ح � ا � � ا �� � ب ك�و� �ي ��ل�و� �مي��م * و ب� لع� س �ى ق �ف ت �ا � ن � � � ا � ا ��ل ش�� � ن � ا �� � �و�ت��ه ��ى ��مي���ي�ز ا �لب��ا رد ���ده * �ل� ��ي�ق��ا �ل ا � ا � �لق��ا ر�ى �ي�� �����س�ه �ل� �ب� ض� ي��د �وى ��ى ب ج ض�ي ع ض ن � ا ذ �ت آخ ح�م� �م�ن �ه��ذه ا �� ف�ل��ص �� * ا ذ� ���ا � ت � ا ��ل � ��س�و�ع ب� �م��م�و���ه�ا ا �ل� ا � ا ا ��ى �ع��ل� � �ر�ه�ا * ل � � ل � و و ي ي ى م � ت ّ � � � ت خ� ف ا �ئ �� ف ا ن ا � � ف � ل�� �ا � ا �ل��ا د �ف� �ع� �من �ه�ا ا � ك� �ه�ا � � او � ��ل�ا �� ��س� ر ا ك ح��د * ب ل��� ب� �� ��ه �ل� �ي �ع�م�د �ي� ل م ب ر �ه�ى �ل�ى � �ج �ن ت � � � ف � � ن ن � � � ا � ة �ق �� �� �ف �ن � �� � ا � �ة ة ف��ا ��ى ا ��ق�و�ل ا ن� �ك��ل ���ص�ل �م ��لك ا � �ل��ص�و�ل �ل�ه �ع�� او � �ي��د �ل �ع�لي��ه د �ل� �ل�� ��ط ��عي��� ك��د �ل� �ل� �� خ ا ن �ف � ن ن فق ثا � ذ �� ذ ّ �نا ��� ��ف �ن � ا �ل�د �� � �ع��ل�ى ا �ل�� ر * �م د ر�ى ا �ل�ع �� او � �����د د ر�ى ا � �ل���ص�ل ك�ل�ه * �م�� �ل � �ل�ك ا � ا �مر � َ َْ � ا َْ ة ف ّ �ف �ف � ة � � ة � ّ ة � ّ ة �ب��ك ��ى ا � ح��د ا � �ل��ص�و�ل �تر�ج��م�� ا �لب��ا �ل�و�ع�� ا �و ا �لب��� �لو�ع�� ا �و ا �لب��ل�ا �ع�� ا �و ا �لب�� بر خ� ا �و ا �ل� رد �ب�� ��ل�ا �ب��د � ُ � �ت � �ة حُ�م ا ��ل��د ق��د �غ� ���ط�� ف� � ت ح�م�ا را �م�ن � ��ل��ك �م�ن ا ن� ��ت ف�� ���ط�ن ا ��ل�ى ا ن� � �ه�ا �ل��ل��عر�� ب� ا �و ا �ل� ر�ج �م� * �ير ي� ر س ي ذ �ا �ا ن � ق � ن ن َ غْ�زَ � ف ت �ن ��رب� �ع � ا 4،17،1 ر ��ه * ا �ل� ا �ن�ه �ل� �ي���ب���غ�ى �ل��ل�ق��ا ر�ى ا � ا د ر�ى �م�� �ى ا � �ل���ص�ل �م�ن ا �ل�ع ن�� او � ا � �ي�ض� ت�ّ � اق ف ث �ق � �م � �ا � ا ق ح�ا ���ي�ن ا �ق ا �ن�ه � ا خ�� ن ق ق ت ت� �ه�م ت� �م�ع�ا ��ني��ه ��� �� ��ي� �و�ل جب �وا ��ه ��د � ار � ك��� ب� ا �ل��س� �� �ع��ل�ى ا �ل��س� �� �و� � � ب ر و م ف ا ن ذ � � ن ���ق � � ُ ق ن � ق � ت ا � ّ له� * �� � � �ل�ك �ي��ك�و� ��ك �و�ل � �م�����س(�� )1د را ��ي� ا �لي ��و� �ق ن �قَ ن ك��� � � م ( )1ا ����س ا �لر�ج �ل ا د عى ا لى ����س ّ ف � � �ا �ك�ن ا � �م ن ه ا � ا ق �ذ ا �� ه �ش��ر ي���� (ا �ى ا �ص�ل) و �هو �خ���س��ي��س1 ا �ل� �م�ي�ر ا �ع�زه ا لله �وك����ل�مت��ه �م� ا �ن�ه �ل� �ي�� ر ى �� �ل� �� ل� م ع ُ � ة ��ا ن ذ � � ي�ت � �ن ق ف ش � �ع�ن ب���ع�د * �و�ل�م �� �ل�ه � ��ب�ي���ل �ي��ده ا �ل��� �ر�ي���� * ا �و ك�� � � �ل�ك ح *
ن :١٨٥٥ 1ح����س��ي��س.
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a clearing of my mind, and a readiness on its part to delight and please. In any case, I’m sure you’ll agree that the comparison is appropriate here and my excuse to the point. To proceed. I see that the well-off and well-to-do, in their spacious homes,
1.17.3
use one set of living quarters for the summer and another for the winter, one nook for passing the night and another for taking a bath. Others, who have only one house, aren’t worth the visiting, unless that house happens to be close by at the time for visits or the time for visits happens to coincide with closeness to their houses. It follows that, in emulation of their better-off betters, scholars should assign themselves, in their roomy heads, numerous and varied locations for the cold, tepid, and hot words that come to them. That way, when their blood is hot and their natural tempers are aroused, they’ll be able to read something cold and so reduce the underlying causes of the heat that has exercised them, and when things are quiet they’ll be able to recite out loud from the hot, or pursue the opposite strategy, in keeping with the school of those who treat things with their like and not with their opposite. Let no one say that the reader will be wasting his time if he spends it distinguishing between the cold and the hot among these chapters, for the only way to thoroughly digest their contents is to read them through to the end, unlike other books, in which the sin of “cold talk”269 isn’t committed and which follow one set curriculum. Every one of these chapters, I declare, has a title that points to its contents as unambiguously as smoke does to fire; anyone who knows what the title is knows what the whole chapter is about. If, for example, you happen to come across some chapter with the word bālūʿah or ballūʿah or ballāʿah (“drain”) or barbakh (“drainpipe”) or irdabbah (“sewer”) as a heading, you can assume that one of the donkeys at the monastery must have dived into something of the sort looking for help with their Arabizations and translations. On the other hand, of course, just because the reader has got to know the
1.17.4
gist of the chapter from its title doesn’t mean he can decide not to read it and then boast to his friends and brethren, “I read Leg over Leg and understood it all!” That would be like someone who claims to be of noble origin(1) saying, “Today I saw the emir, God strengthen him, and spoke to him,” when all he saw of him was the back of his head, and that from a distance, and it wasn’t granted to him to kiss the noble hand; or
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(1) muqnis [“claiming to be of noble origin”]: aqnasa l-rajul means “he laid claim to a qans sharīf, i.e., a noble origin, when he was a low-born upstart.”
�ف ا ��ل�� ث��ل � �ي� � ج
�ت َّ ف �ف ّ آ � ا ��ل�ا �م�ي�ر ق��د ��س�ا ��ل�ه �ع�ن �ش���ى ف� ت���ل�عث�� ���فى ا ج��ل � س� ا �ب�� ه � او ج���دا ده �و�ل�ع ن��ه �� �وا ب� ا �و ر �و�ى �ي��ه �� ب م ���ق � َ َنْقَ �م�ز ّ � ا ق ال� ّ ل� َ ّ � ن � ا ث �ة � م ح� م � �و�ت��ه�د ده �ب�ا �ل�ص��ل ب� ا �و ب����سْ�م�ل �عي���ي��ه * ا �و ��ك �و�ل �هب� ���� ح� د �� ع (�ل� �ه�و ا �ل� ح� �م� ب آ � ا ن � ه�ت ن ق ف تْ �تن فَّ ت � � ف ة �ن آ ق س� ا �ل�ص�ع�د � * �م� ا �ل����س�� ء) ��د را ��ي ت� ا �لي ��و� ��ل�ا �ن�� * �و�لم� ا � � او �ج � �ى �و����� � �و ����� م ع آ ن ا �تن ف ّ ت � � ُ ن � ن ق قف � ْ ن � ا ت ق ن ا ���ه�ا �ت��ك�و� ��د �و���� ت� �ل�ب�� �ص� ا �و ا ���ه� � �����س� ا �ل�ص�ع�د � �ب��هرا * ب���ل ا �ل� �و�ل�ى ا � ��ي ��و�ى �ذ � ت ت ف � �ف ����ل�ه �م�ن ا � ��ل�ه ا ��ل �آ خ� ه � ت � ح�ه ك� حوا �ش���ي �ه ل��ا ب� ا ن� ��ي ��ص�� ا � �لق��ا ر�ى �ع ن��د ا ��ت�ت�ا � ح�ه �ه� ا ا � ك�� ح�ى �� و �ى ر ف ن �ا � � � � ح��د ا ن� ��ي�ج�ع ح�ا �ت�ه * �و��عت��ق��د ا ن� �� � ل��ك�ل �م�و�ل�ف� ا ��س��ل� �و�ا * � او ��ه �ل� ي�م�� �و�ع�دد �ص�� �ك�ن �ل�ا � � ب� �ي ب ذ � ا آ ت ف ت ة � �آ آ � � �ت �ة ة ا ق ف ت � �خ ت ا ت �ن م ���� ا ��ل ن��ا ��س ك� له� * ا � ا �ل� �ه� �و �م ���� � �و�� � او �ل� ر� � ���ل���� * �و�م ا �ل� ��س ار ر ا �ل ��ى �ب ���ي�� � ك م�� ��و�م� � م ت � � � ذ � � ن � ق �غ ا ا ف � ف ة � �ت ي�ن �ت ش ا ا ا � � � ح ك���� ���ر � �ى ����� ��ط �و �ل� �م � * ��ل��� ا �ل� �ر �� � ��د ب���ع�� ا�لم�و� �ل��� �� ر ا ل �عن�� ا �ن��ك ج� � ي ي ل ى ر ر ي �ض ح ح � َ � �� ة ن ا �ظ �� � � ة � ا � � � �ن ا � ْ � ا ث ت � � او �ل � � �ه�ا �و��ش� � او �ل�ت�ن�ا �و��ش� * �مت��ق��ا �ع��س ل�ه�م� ع ل���س� ا �ل�ى �م� ��ي ب��ع� �ع��ل�ى ا �ل � ب حرك��� * �� � ر ح �� �ق ��ف ����له�ا �ن �ظ� ��� ا �ل�مت� �ق�� ��له�ا * � �ه �م� ذ� ���� ا ذ� ا ا خ����ذ ا �� �لق�ل��� ا ��ن ا ��ل�ى ا ��ل � � �ك � ع � � � � و� حوا د ث� ك� � ر � �� لك م ب �ض ل ر� ى � و و ع ع َ ��ا ذ ت �ت ّ ت �� ق ا � � � � � �ف َ�صَ ا ن ق �ن �ت ا ن �ن �ه� �م ار ه �زِ �� � ا �ل�� رى �وحرك �ك ���ل ��س�ا ��ك�ن * �و�م حرك�� � ا �� ر �و���سر �وح��د �و �مي�� � � م ع ع � ا ق �ة ة � ا � �ة � ا ة م�ز � ة � او ق�ب��ا �ل � او د �ب�ا ر �و��س��عى �و�ت��ه�ا ��ف ت� * �و م�ع� ج��ل� �و مب�� د ر� �و� ا ح�م�� �و�م�ز ا �ه�م�� �و�م��س� �ب ���� �ق � � �م ة ث � ذ ن ق� ق � �و� ح�ا ش���ر� * �� �ه�و ا � ��ا �ل �ش���ي �ا ��س�� ��ط �م�ن را ��س�ه �ع��ل�ى � �ه�ن ا � �لق��ا ر�ى ��س� �و ��ط ا �لث���ل � م �ج ذآ �ف �� ن �ق � ف �ل ا �ت ا � � ت ��ف ذ � � ت� �ق ��ق � � ��ا د ا ن� ي �خ�م��د �م ن��ه � ك� ح�تى �ي ك� ���� ه * �� �م� � م�ل� �ى � �ل�ك �وح � ت��ه ا �رت�ب�� ت� ��ى ك��و� ��س� �و ��ط ة � ة �ف � آ � � ف � ه ف �� � ا ة � ّ � �ن�ا �ش���ئ�ا �ع�ن �ر ��ط �بر �ود� �مت���ك� �ون�� ��ى ا �ل�ه� �و �وق���ل ت� ب���ل �ل��ع�ل ��سب��ب�� �ر�ط حر ر� ا �لث���ل ح�ز ت� �ف �ج �� � ّ ن ��ف ف �غ �س�ا ن �ه��ذه ا � ا ح ش����ا ه ف��� فل� ظ � �ت � �����ه �ع�� ل � � � � ا � � � � ا � ل � � � � �ص�د ك � � * � � ع � ك � � � � ل � � �هم� � ��ى و و ر و ر و� ى ي� ر �ض ر ج و ل�ى ث � ن ذ� ت �ف � � � ة � ��ا ا ��ن ت��ق��ا �مً�ا �من � ج��ل �ه� �ع�م�ا �ي�ا � �� �ون�ه ��ى ا �ل��لي��ا �ل�ى ا �لب��ا رد� �م�ن ا�لمن� ك �� ار ت� * �و� �ل��ك ا � ب���ع ض� ���هم� � م ةف آ � � � � ة ف ّ ف ف ة �خ ش ض ن �� � � ا ا ا ا ا ي� ا � � � � �ن ط� �ع�� ي س ا� � � * �ه� �� ر * � بو���ع� �ه� �م� ح�مي� ���ه�م �ب� د ا � �ي� � � ار ����ه �ب� د ا � �ي� ح� �و�ل �ع��ك��س ل�ب �ي م � ف خ ن اخ ض ��ه� ��ا د ا �ة ف� ا ش �ه�ا ��ل ���ا ن� �م�ن ذ� ��ل��ك ا �ل���ل � ح� * �ور��م�ا ك� ح� �ه� ��� ار ب� * � او �ر�و� �ب� �ر�ى �ي� ي� � بو���ع� � م ب ب م م ّ � �� �من��عً�ا ��له� �م�ن � ا �ل�م��ترا ك�� ح� خ��� ر ا ج���ل�ك ا لله * ��ف�م�ن ا ج��� ذ� ��ل��ك ا ��س�ق� ���ط ا ج��ل ��ل � �ّو �ع��ل �ه� ا �لث���ل �� � ي� ل م ن�ز�ي م م م ���خ � �ن ا � � ا ��س�ت � ت �� ت � �ن ��ف�ج ا � � � ي�ن ا � ال �ر�و �م د �ي� ره� �ل� ع�م� �ل �ه��ذه ا �ل�اد � او � � ك�� ل�ى ي���س��ير �م ��س� د ه� �و�ل�و �ي ��و�م�� * �ج م م ح 248
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the same emir asked him about something and he stammered over his reply or had to think about it, so the emir insulted his father and forefathers and cursed him out, threatening to have him crucified or to have his eyes put out with hot irons; or like some habanqaʿ (one who puts on airs, is stupid, and loves talking to women) saying, “I saw such and such a woman today, and, when she was face to face with me, she stopped and sighed deeply,” when she probably stopped to spit, or she sighed a deeply malodorous sigh. The reader should, preferably, on opening this book, go through it page by page, from the beginning to the end, including the footnotes and page numbers. It is believed that each author has his own style and no one can please
1.17.5
everybody, for people’s likes are diverse, their opinions various. One mystery I’ve never been able to get to the bottom of is that a certain author will appear slothful, with neither energy or good cheer, ill at ease with anything that might stir up commotion or conflict, tepid in both inaction and action, viewing everything that happens as though it was just what he’d expected— and yet set every vein of the reader’s throbbing and every muscle aquiver the moment he takes up the pen; and there are some whom you’ll find lively and brisk, always in a hurry and a rush, quick and agile, coming and going, running around and falling over himself, chasing and speeding, ducking and weaving, shoving and jostling—and then, when he composes something, it falls out of his head onto the reader’s brain like snow and almost douses the fires of his intelligence. When I thought about the matter and looked into it in depth, I started to doubt that snow could be created by an excess of cold formed in the air. I decided that, on the contrary, it may well, in fact, be caused by the creation by excessive heat of an irritated patch on the air’s breast above the inhabitants of the Earth plus a superabundance of ire inside its guts, followed by the precipation of the latter onto the said inhabitants in the form of snow, to pay them back for the abominations they practice on cold nights, meaning the way that some of them try to turn nature upside down and heat their beds with an instrument containing fire or, in the case of others, one containing piping hot water or, of others, by using an instrument containing drink, or of others, one containing meat.270 Such meat might even include pork, God save your dignity, and the air would therefore drop accumulations of snow upon them to prevent them from leaving their houses to make use of these instruments, and thus be relieved of their corruption, be it but for a couple of days.
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1.17.6
�ف ا ��ل�� ث��ل � �ي� � ج
� ا ن ق ف ات ن ��ث� ا �م�ن � � ا ء ا ��ل ن ا �� �ت خ� ��ذ ن ا ا ة �� � ا ة ا ا ا ة � ا ة ه�و �ل� �� س ي�� �و� د � ل�لاد � �و د � �ل�اد � ا �ل� ا ��ه ��د �� ��ه ا � ك���ي ر ا ��ل�اد � ا ت� * �مث��ا ��ل ا ��ل�ا � ��ل �م�ا ا ذ� ا �ت �ّ�� ا �� �غ� ن ��ف س�ت ت �ثّ ف ت ق ا � � غ ا ْ بر و و ع ل ��ى �ى د�� �ه � �و��د ر �ب ���ر� �و�ه �و�� �ل �ل���ل� �م�ه ��سر ْ � ت �ذ � ش � ت �ذ ة ف �� ا � او �ئ���ن�� �م ن��ه ��ا د ا �ة �ل����� خس �ي�ا �غ��ل�ا � ا ��ل�ى �م �ح�ل ك�� ���ي�ن �ف ار ����ى �ه��ذه ا �ل��لي���ل�� * ��� �ه ا �لغ��� �ا � ب ى ي ب� ل م م أ � � ث ا � � ث ا ��ن ا ذ ��ا ن � � � ة ن ف ظ ث � �ي� ���ط�� ا �ل�و� حو�ل � او �ل���ل�و �ور ج���ل ��س�ي �ده �� ���ي ����� * �و�م�� �ل ا �ل�� �ى �م� ا � ا ك�� � ا �ل��س�ي �د � �ج �ف آ دً �ن �� �� �ف � �غ ق � خ � � ا �خ ّ ا �ف ث ا ا س�ت �وا ا ���س ج�� �ي�� ��بي��ع� ��ل� �م�ه ��ى �مرك� ب� �ل�ه ا �و ��ى � �ر م�م� ي��� � ج�ر �م ا ل�طر�� * ا �و ذ ن ذ ن ة ة ��ا د � ا ن��م�ا � ت�� ��س ه �ع�ن �غ��ل�ا �م�ه * ��ل�ا ن� ��ل���ذ �ة ا ��خل ا � ا ك� �� ���ا � � ا ��س�ي �ا د� � او �م�ا ر� �و�ي �ري��د ا � �ي ك ر م م ف س�ت � � ث � ��ف ة ذ� � خم � ���ع� ��ن �ف���س�ه ا �و ��ل�ى ��ا ��خل ���د �و�مي��� �م ن��ه * �ي���� �ع��م�ل � �ل��ك �هى ا �ل��ل ب� �ى �عر��ض� ��د �و�م�ه �و ج� ل ب آ �ن ق ث � � ُ َ �ف �ن ق �ا ن �غ ا ا �ل��س�ي �د � خ�ر ا �و ا خ�ر�ي�ن ا �و ا خ�ر ��ى � ك� م�� � ��ل� �م�ه * �و�ي��ك�و� ��د ب���ع� ا �لي� �ه�م �م �ب���ل � ة ظ� � ف� ن � ن خا �ه�ا را �ل ك� م��ا ر�م�ه * ا �و ا ��ه ا �ع ��ط�ا �ه�م ا �ي�ا �ه�ا �م�ن �ي��ده * �ي���ك�و� �ب��ه�د �ي�� �ع��ل�ى �ي��د �� د �م�ه ا �� � ا ��ف ا ��ل��ت��� خسي�ن ��ل ة � ا ن ذ تُ �ف ��س��ق � ���ط ا ��لث��� ح�ا ��ل ك� ���ا ن� ��سب��ب�� �ى ��� � او � � �ع��ل� ا �ى � ل ح ار ر� * �ل� ��ه ا � ا ا �ع�ب��ر ��ى و �ج ى � ت � �ف �ف � حق ال خ ��ا �ذه ا �اد ا �ة * � ا ن ا �عتُ��� � �ق �خ ��ا د � �و�غ���ره �م�م�ن م ���ا ن� ��س��ب��ا ��ى ا خ� � ���د �و� ك� �ل و � ب ر �ى � ح� ا ل م ي ب �� م ت آ � �ن � ظ � ّ ّ ّ ��ي�ن �ا � او � ���ا ن� �م� �ج� ��ا �ل���ل � ا �ل�م� �ث ار ت� �����خس ��س�د �م��س�د ه ك� ح�م�� ء * �و�م� ح��س�د * �و�ه�و �م ا ع ��� ب و و ع م � ق� �� � ض ��ف ا � � ن �ة ن ت� �ي�ز ا � �ن ا ف ا ن � ك��� �ون�ه ا �ى ا �لث���ل � �ير�ى ��س�ا �� ��ط�ا �ع��ل�ى �ك��ل م�و� ��� �ى �لم�د �ي �� د �و� �مي�� د ر ع د ر �� � ع �ف � �ج �� ف�ل ظ ح��ق ��ق���ة ��ل�ا ���ص��� ا ��ل�ا ��ؤ �� ���ع�� ا ��ل ن��ا ���ا ن� ا ��ل�ا �و ��ل�ى ا ن� �ي� ���ط د � ك�� � �����ه ��ى ا �ل ح� � �م�ه �� � * ك س و �ي ر ي يب ر س ب �ض ف � ح��ا � ا ��ل�� فل� ظ � � ���� ا ��ل�ا ض��� ف��ا �ن�ه�ا ت� �ى �ع�� ��ق� � د � ن� ��ق� � * � ا �� ف�ل� �ق� ���ي�ن �ي���عّ �ل�ا �مث���ل ا � ك� ر ى � �ج ر ل�ى وم و وم و ر ب م م ن � � � � � � ف ن � �ف ف �ق ���ا ن ا �ل� ظ ث ظ ظ � م���� ن�� ن ��ه ا ��هن ي�ن � � ا ا �ن ا �ل��ل�� ����� �ه�و ا � ا �ل��ل � �لم� ك�� � ��س� �و ��ط�ه ا �و � �ل� ����ه �م �ع��ل�و ا �ل�ى ��س����ل ك� � و� ب �ج َ �� ف��� ش ��م � ا �� �� � ش ة ���� �من�ه�ا � ا ��ل�صغ���� � ا �ل�م�� فس�ّ� ���ط �من�ه�ا �� � � ا ك �د� ل� � ل ��ي ت��ص�و ب� �ع��ل�ى �ج ي� ��� * �م ي �ل ب ي ر � و ي ر و � ع رو س ب � � ��ا ن �� ف� ظ �� ا �ن ف � �ا � �ق ني�ن � ا �� ��ة ��ف�م�ن � ث � اولم��س��م َر ���ط * ف��ا �م�ا ا �ل�ا � ك� �ه� �م ��س����ل ا �ل�ى حي�� ك�� � ل�� � ح�� �م � او � �ل � او ��� ا �ل� ر�ض�ي � � ح�ت ا ن �ك�ن �م�ن الم � �ع��ل�و ا �ى �م�ن ر �و��س �ن�ا ��س �م��س�ود�ي�ن ا ��ل�ى ر �و��س �ن�ا ��س ��س�ا �ئ��د �ي�ن * �ل� �ي�� �م �ل � م � �ف ة � �آ � ��ذ�ي�ن � ّ ا ��ل���س ا � �ن ت� ت ُق �ذُ � حت � � ذ � ن ��ت��ّعث �ق �غ� � �و�ى ا �لر��ع�� � او �ل�ع�ل� ا �ل� ي��مر � �ه�ا �� �و�ا ��ى �ي ب��ل ح� ب� م ح� �� �ل�ه� * ��ك� �ي و� ب � ي م
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8،17،1
Snow
What would have escaped its notice, however, is that many of these same
1.17.7
people make use of one instrument to instrumentalize another, or several others. An example of the first would be the rich man who sits cross-legged in his tub, wraps himself in his fur mantle, and says to his servant, “You there! Off with you to such and such a store and bring me an instrument with which to heat my bed tonight!” so that the servant treads the mire and snow while his master’s foot stays clean. An example of the second would be if the master is open-handed and liberal and sends his servant in a vehicle either belonging to him or hired off the street, or, if he’s a sovereign emir and wants to keep his secret from his servant (it being ever the pleasure of servants to slander their master’s good name and pretend that they are worthier to be served than he), in which case the master will make use of another, or a couple of others, or of several others, in place of his servant, he having sent them, ahead of time, via his servant, a gift as a way of showing his generosity or perhaps having given it to them with his own hand. Whatever the case may be, the falling of snow will have been the cause of heating and warmth, for, if the latter be regarded as due to the action of the master, it would be the cause of his having made use of the instrument, and if it is regarded as being due to the action of the servant or others who might take his place, it would be attributable to envy, which is one of the most effective stimulators of warmth and heat. Despite the fact that it (the snow, that is) appears to fall everywhere in the city without favoring one house over another, in reality this precipitation (by the sky, of its anger) targets only the heads of certain people, though it would be more proper if its sentence were inclusive and thus felt equally by all, unlike sentences of earthly precipitation, which are applied to some groups and not others. The difference between the two precipitations is that it might have been supposed that the snow, given that its falling, or precipitation, is top down, would be deposited on all heads with equal force and thus include old and young, fat-headed and long-headed. Earthly sentences and laws, on the other hand, given that their precipitation is bottom up, or in other words from the heads of people who are themselves ruled to the heads of those who rule,271 are unlikely to carry strongly enough to reach those who are possessed of high status and elevated station, whose heads are so high that the clouds pass beneath them.
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1.17.8
�ف ا ��ل�� ث��ل � �ي� � ج
� ث�� ا ن ا ��لث���ل �م�ع�م�ا ��ت����ع�ه �ڡ � ق ض�ن ��ك � ا �ل�م ش����ق���ة �ل�م�ن ا �� �لف��ه ف���ق��د �ير � �ق� ��ل�ع��ي�ن �م�ن � ا �ل� او ��� �م�ن ا �ل� و �� و م � � يب ي ع آ�ج � � � ا �� ا � ف� �ق ��� �غ� ن ا ا ن ���ا ن �م �ة ض ف � �ل� �ي�� � � � �� � � ل ل � �ر�م�وه �و�ل� �ك�ن ر� ه ل ص � �د � � � � � * ع ك � ع ��ي ����ا �ع ن��د ا �ن�ا ��س �ل� �ي ك � � � � ك � � ب ي ب ر �ض م م م � ا ة ��ا ن � � ا ق � ف � ذ � ف ن � ف ن ث � ت � �� ا ا ح����ل� او �ب�ه ا � ك�� � د �و���ه� ي ڡ ي� � � ا�لم�ع� ر�� � او �ل�بن�� �ه�� * �وك�� � ب���ل�د �ه� �ل� ي���س�� ��ط �ي��ه ا �ل��ل م م � ّ�ج ا ��ل��ت��ة * ف���ل�م�ا �ف���ص �م�ن �ع ن��د �ه� ا ��ل� �� �اد ا خ� � ا � ف��ه�ا ا ��ل �ز �ق � �ع�ا�ي�ن ��ه�ا ا �لث���ل �� � كب���ر م ى ب ل رى ر ى ي� ر � و ب � �ل ب �ج ّ � ذ ة ة �ز ّ � �غ ا ��ا * � ت ��ل ��ؤ � ت��ه �و�ه��ل�ل � او �ج�ع � ب� �ب�ه ��ا �ي�� ا �ل� ج�ع ب� ح�ى �ع� ا �ن�ه �م ن��� �م�ن ا لله �خ� ��ص �ب��ه�ا � �ل��ك ر �ي م �ذ � ت � � ة �� ن �ت ا � �� � �غ ح � �من ا � � � � ض ف ا ا ��ل�ص�ق�� م�ز �ه� ب�ل�د م� ��ي ����ه ا �ل� �و�ل * �وك�� �ل��ك ع �� �ي�� �ل�ه �ع��ل�ى ��ي�ره * �مك�ا ا ��ه ��ع� �ل�ى �رم � ن ا ف ا ن �م�ع ا ف �ن � ا ت � ا �ف ا ظ� � ض ���غ� � ���ط��ة ���ي�ن �س� ���ط ا د � او ��ل �� ا � � حش � ���و � او �ل� � �ل�� ��� ا �لم� و ب ك��ل� م�ى �ه�ه�� * �� ��ه �م� �ي��ه �م ا �ل� � ر � ق ��خل ا �� فق ا �ل�م�ع�ا ���ن � �م�ن ا �ل�مغ���ا �ز �ى ا �ل�م�ع��ق � د�ة ��ا ��لت���ل� � � ا ��لت���ل� � * � ا ��لت��� ا �ل�ت � و ب �م�ي و يوح و ىو حو�ي��ل �و م��ل�ي� * �����د �ير �و�� �� �طر ح �ذ � ت ح ت �ن � � � � �ك�ن ق ا � ف ح��د��ه � ��م� ��ع��ل�ه ا �ل�ا �ع ا ���ل� ��ط ��� ر��م�ا ي ج� ا �ل خ� � � ح�ا ك���ا �ت�ه * �� ب� �ب�ه �ع��ل�ى � ي و ج م �ل�م �ي� ��د ل�� �ه� ا ي ب ل ب � �ن � ت �ز �ن � �� � ه ال�مت�� �ّ �ي�ن �ه�ا ت� ف��ا ن� ا �لب��ا ب� ق��د ا �غ��� �لق� ي �ڡ ح�د * �ع��ل�ى ا ��ى �ل��س� ا �ع�م ا ��ى �و�ل��ك�ن �هي� � �و ج��و � ا �ن � � �ڡ � � � قة � ��ا ت � ا �ل��د ��ني��ا ن��ه طه�ا ا�لم�ت�ن�ا �ع��س��ي�ن * ا �ل� ا ��ى را ��ي ت� ا �و�ل ك�� �� ب� ي � �ه��ذه ا �ل��ط �ر�ي���� � او ��س�ع �� � �ج ��� �� �� �ة ��نَ�فَ �م�ن ا ��لت ا ��ل �ف ا � ة ����ت ق�د ق� �د � ا ا ��ن �ف �ج��م�� ا �ل�م� �� �لف���ي�ن ���ف � َ�سْ � ة � ل�� س � س �� ي�� و� � � � ح��د� * � ��س ل ه �� � هو� كب�ى ي و يع و ى � �مب س َ � ف ق ��ث � ّ ذ �ن�� ��ل�ا ا �عل��� ا ��ل�ا ن� ��ه� �غ���ر � او ا ��س��ل� ���ه� ا �ْو �ل�ا * ا � ق��د �مض��� �ع��ل ّ ل�� �ك �ه�م ا ك���ر ى ب���ع�د � ار � � و ي ى � ل ى ب م م �خ �ا نّ �� ا �ف � � ق �ة ف ح��د�ة �م�ن �ت��ل�ك ا ��ل��س��ل��س��ل��ة ق��د �ع �ف ��س�ا �ئ ي�ن س�ن �م�ن ��م�� �� �� * � ك� �� � ا ل�ع� ر� بح� �ل�� � او � ر� ر س آ �َ َ ن �ش �� ن� �ص�د �ق� �ع��ل��ه ا ن� ي���س�مَّ � � �ق ّ ا ح��د �من ح�� �لق � ا �ل ح�ت ا ن� �ك� � �ه� � ا � � � � � و � ي ل � ي � ح� �ل ي�� * ب���� ء �ع��ل�ى ا ��ه م����ى ى ى م �ذ آ � ح���ذ � �ه� * ف��ا ذ� ق��د ��ت�ق� ذ� ��ل��ك ف��ا �عل��� ا ���ن ق��د خ� �ج� ت� �م�ن ا ��ل��س��ل��س��ل��ة ���فم�ا ح�� ا � �ور� ا � �ل�ق �و� �و� و رر م ى ر م م ن ا �ق � ا ُ تَْ ّ � ا �� ن ا � �ق ف ا ن � ا �ن ة ن ح�� �م�ن ا ��ل�ا � ��ل� * � ا ن��م�ا ا �ن�ا ث � � � ا �� ب� � ا �� وى و ح���ل�ى �و �ل� ب���س��ي � �ه�ى �و �ل� ا ك�و� ا �م� �م ل �و�م �� � ا �ل�� ي�� ا س ت � ت ��ق � �ف � ة ح ن�� ت �آ خ ��ذ �� ن ا ة ا ت �ظ �س� ��� ��ف ت� * را �ف��� � ك� م� م��� �ل� ا �ل�ع�ا د� * �س� ب���ل �لم�ا ا ���س�� ��س � * �� ب �� � �ص�ي �� �م� ا � ر �ض
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Snow
It is also the case that snow, however much misery and trouble it may
1.17.9
bring in reality to those who are familiar with it, often looks delightful to someone who has never seen it before. We have been told that a certain vagabond was once the guest of people who failed to honor and celebrate him272 because he was inferior to them in terms of acquaintance and social eminence, their country being one in which snow never fell. When he left them and went to another, which he found to be a land of plenty and where he witnessed snow falling with his own eyes, he exclaimed and cheered at the sight and was as pleased as he could be, to the point that he claimed that it was a gift from God that the latter had made specific to that particular spot to distinguish it from all others, just as the Almighty had denied it to the first country in which he’d been a guest. Of the same type are my words here,273 for, despite all the digression and 1.17.10 padding, the words that have been squeezed into figures of speech and the meanings that have been made knotty with allusions and insinuations, transformations and witty formulations, someone unused to such minglings may find it appealing; indeed his admiration may even drive him to seek to outdo and emulate it. Too late, though! The door has closed in the face of competitors. While I do not claim to be the first writer in the world to follow this path or thrust a pinch of it up the noses of those who pretend they are dozing, I do notice that all the authors in my bookcase are shackled to a single stylistic chain. I don’t know whether they’ve changed their style now or not: more than five years have passed since I left them. Once you’ve become familiar with one link of the chain, you feel as though you know all the others, so that each one of them may truly be called a chain-man, given that each has followed in the footsteps of the rest and imitated them closely. This being established, know that I have exited the chain, for I am no chain-man and will not form the rump of the line; nor do I have any desire to be at its front, for the latter is an even more calamitous place to be than the former. I follow what I see to be good, seize what I find appealing by the forelock, reject the impositions of tradition.
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ا �� ��ل�ف��ص ا ��ل��ث�ا �م�ن �ع ش �� �ل �ر � ا ��لن�� ي �ڡ ح �� س �ق ن � ق ق � ��ته �م� ا �� �ق �� �لق��د ا ر� ح ت� ��س�ن ا � �ل�ل��� �م�ن ك���د � ا ��س� ا � �لف��ا ر�ي�ا �� ���لي��ل�ا ب���ع�د ا � �ترك��� ع ل���سي����س م م م ا �� ث � � ا خ � ن �ن ف � �� � ة � ا عً ت � ّ ت ا �� � � � ا ا ل ل � � � � � � ل ل � � � � � � � ا � � �لم� د ا ��ى م ر�ط ح�د� ع� � ا �ل بر��ي� ��ط * � �و�ل�هي�� �ب� ك ي�ه�م� م � * ل��ل �ع��ل�ى ل م �ج ق ه � ��ذ ��ل �ن�ز � ��ا ن ن ف� � �ق ت � ه ه � ڡ � � ا �م�ا �ع��ل�ى ا � �ل���سي����س ���ل��ك� �ون�ه خ��ا � � � حرم�� * �وك� � �ص�د ��ي��� ا �ل� ى ا � او ه ا �ى �م� �ل� ي ن �غ � ن �ذ �ف �� ف �� ا �ئ � ق ة ي�ن �ن حر� ت��ه * �ي���ب���ى �ل�ه ا � �ي�� �ه ب� ا ل�ى �م� او ج�ر� ا �و ��ي����ع�ل ك���س� ر ا � �ل���سي����س�� �م ا ��ه�ل ذ � ت ���ا ن� ا لله ��ت�ع�ا ��ل�ى ر �ز �ق� ذ� ��ل��ك ا ��لت��ا ج�ر �و��ل��د ا �ع��ل �ن� ّ��ت��ه ا �ى ��ف�ت� ��ل�ه ر� �ك��ا ا � �ل�و ك� ح�م ا �م ار ��ه �م �ى ي ح � � � ل��ا ن� ا ���ع��ة ا ��ا �ه��ذ ا ا ��ل� ��ل��د �م�ن ا �� �لق���س���� � ا ��ل��ا ���ق � �ه� ا ���سم�ه �م�ن ��ت��ق�و�ل ا �لت��ورا �ة �� ك� ر ر ي س وب ى و و و ب ب ع ن � ذ�� ف ا ت ف � � ن �ق �ق ا �ن ف ه ق ا �َ �ن ُّ ا ��لن �غ � � � � � � � � ح � ا �لت��ا ج�ر * �ي���ك�و� �د ا � � � ����س� �م��� م �ير ب� � �ول * �م� ا � ا �ول � كر � ر � م م ح م ع ظ� � �ذ ��ا ن �ق �� ث �ة � �ت�ق � � ة �ا ن � � ا ح� ل�ورا �� ع��د �مك��ا � � �و�ل ا �لت��ورا � �مب��ا رك �و�م�ع ��� � �ع ن��د �ج��مي�� ا �ل� �م�م * �و�ل�ه� ا ك� � � ع م ت � � � ي�ز � ف ���ة � ا �ى �� �لف��ا � ا ��لر� � ح�ا �و��ل ا �� �لق���سي���� �ه ن��ا �ج��م� ا �ل��ل�ع ن���ة � او ��لب��رك��� ا �ل�ا�ن ك� �� �ي��ف� ي� ح �� ك � * ���ل�� �ل��لب� ك ر س ح م ع � نْ ذ � � �ّ ا �م ا � ق ف ف �خ ن ا ا ا ا �م��ل� �ق� � ا � � � � ه � � � � �ع��ل�ى را ��س و و ح�د * اِ � � �ل�ك ا �ل� ح� ل * � او �م� �ع��ل�ى ا �ل�� ر�ي� � �ل �� �ه�و آ � �ذ ��ا ن � � �ن ا ��� ن ا ا ��لت �ّ�ف ��ف � ف ظ � �ف �ف ش � �ذ � ّ ا ح�� ��� ا �ل�� �ى ك�� � ا �ل��سب�� ب� ��ى ا ����� �ه� ا ا �ل��سر ب��م� ا �ب��د ا ه م لع�� د �و ��ص�ل� �ى � ا �غ ة � � � ف�� ا � ي�ن � غ ة �غ ات � ت � ا ش �ڡ ا �ن�ه ا ر�ت ك �� ب� ي�ه� ا�لم�� � او �ل����ل�و � او�لمب�� �ل���� ا�ل�مرد �ود� �ل���ي�ر ا ب��ي�� ��ه ا �ل ��ى �ل� ا �����ك ي � فا ا ش ا ة � � ا �ص�ن ا ��ن ف��� * �و�ه�و �م� ذ � � � س� ا �ن�ه ي� �ڡ ح��س�ن � �ع� * �� �م� �م���� �ب��ه�� ا �ل�و�ل��د ا �ب� ه ي ع � �ل�ك يح�� ب ع ��خَ � ا � �ة �ق �� �ة ق �� �ن�ه ا �� ن��ه �ف�غ���� �مت�ف�� �ق �ع��ل�ه�ا * �ف��ذ �ه� ���ع�� ا ��ل� ا �ن�ه�ا � ال � � � ط�ع� �ع��ل�ى ك�و ب ��ل�� ��ه�ل د �ل� �ل� � ي ب ب �ض ى � ي ر � ي� ف ا ة ��ا ف ة � ا ن � ا ق � ت �ة ن � ن � � ت ��و�ن��ه�ا �م��س�ا � ح�ا ��ل��ة ك�� �ڡ � ح�� ا � �ت��ك�و� �لي����س� �ع�ل� �م�� ك�� �ي��� * �ل� � ا �ل� �م ��د يح��م�ل ي 254
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2،18،1
Chapter 18
Bad Luck
The reason I gave the nib of my pen a little rest from the snapping teeth of the
1.18.1
Fāriyāq’s name, after leaving him with the self-denying priest, and distracted myself by talking about snow was that I was so angry at the two of them. Where the priest’s concerned, I was angry that he’d betrayed his friend who had taken him in and had played fast and loose with his womenfolk; had the Almighty given that merchant a son whom he’d accepted in good conscience as his own—or, in other words, had He “opened his wife’s womb,” as it says in the Old Testament274—four quarters of the child would have been from the priest and the rest, which is his name, from the merchant, the latter thus putting himself in the position of a raiser of bastards, though the first male to open a womb is, as the Old Testament says, “blessed and magnified among the nations.”275 That is why, among the British, the right of inheritance goes to the eldest, or the “opener of the womb.”276 How could the priest have attempted, by doing so, to bring both a curse and a blessing down on the head of any of God’s creatures? It’s unthinkable. As to the Fāriyāq, I was angry because he was the cause of the secret’s being revealed277 through the obstinacy and blustering that he demonstrated in hanging on to his verses, in which, I have no doubt, he was guilty of falsity, overstatement, and objectionable exaggeration to no purpose (despite which he thinks he’s a great poet). As for the claim that the child’s physical resemblance to its father constitutes definitive proof of his being his son, there is no consensus. Some believe it is an insufficient indication because it is possible that the mother, even while fornicating, might be thinking about her husband and picturing him to herself, in which case the fetus would take on the form of that image. Others say that the mother,
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1.18.2
�ن ل� �ف ا �� �ي� ح��س
�ذ � ذ ف� ة ��ف �ز ا �ت ة � ف ا ��ت ت �ز�غ ��ل ني�ن � �م�� ك س� �ه� ا ا �لت��ص�ّور * �و� �ه ب� ��ر� �ى �و�ج� �ه� �و م��ص�ور� �ل�ه �ي�� �ى � ��و ��ي� ا �ج� ��� بح�� ب � � � � ا ��لت�� �ز ��غ� ف���ق��د ��ا ���ت ���ع�� ا ��ل�ا � ��ل�اد �م ش����ا ��ه�ا ح��د�ه�ا �ل�ا ف��ا �ع��لي���ة �ل�ه�ا ي �ڡ ب���ع��ض� ا ��ل�ى ا ن� ا �ل�ا � � � و و ب� و ي ى ب �ض �ي م � �آ خ �م �ن � � ا ن ن �غ �� ن ��س�ت ��ف ��� ّ �ك�ن ّ ه ق ت ه �ق خا� � �ت لع�م�ه ا �و �� �ل�ه ا �و �ل� �ر �م �ل�م �� ا �م� ��د را �� � ��ط * � او �ل� � �ي���ب���ى ل�ى ا � ا �مر �ى � � ن ا � غ ّ ة ف �ق � ن ا �� �لق��ص��ة * � ا ن ا �ع ض ���ه�ا �ع��ل� �م��س�ا �م� ا � �لق��ا ر�ى �م�ن د �و� ا ج� ار ��ض� ا � ح�د�� ب���� � �ص�� * ��ا ��و�ل و� ر ى ع ن ت � ن � � �ذ � � �ف � � � ش ا �ئ � �ة ق � ل��ا ب� ا ن� ا � �لف��ا ر��ا �ق� �ُو�ل��د � او �ل���ط�ا �ل� � ق��د ��ت�ق��د � ��ى ا �و�ل �ه� ا ا � ك� حو��س � او �ل�ع��رب� ���� �ل� � ح��س ا �ل��� ي م ع ف ا � � ن ا ن ا ��ل�ن � � � ق � ن ن ق ف ����ذ ��ن ا ث ت �ه�ا ا ��ل�ى ا �ل�ي���� * � او �ل��سر ��ط� � � او � ��� �ع��ل� �ر� ا �ل��ور * �� عل�� �ه�� ا � � � � ع ح�� � ل � ب ب � س س ى ى م �ق ن ن � � ن � � � � �ق ظ � ت� ن ا�ز ا�ز ف ا �ق ف ا �ل�� � � ���س ي�ن � � �ي�����ه ح�� ا�لم�ل� � �م�ا �ل�ز � ا �ل�ا ���س�ا ن� ي ڡ �م�� ح��س �م�ل �م �وح��س �م��� ر� * �� س م م �ف ق خ �ف ����ل�ه �و ش��� ��ه �و�غ��د �وه �ور � او � ��ف � ���ل �م�ا ��ا ��تي��ه * � او ��لن�� �و�م ن��ا �م�ه � او ك� ح��س ا�لم���ا ر�� �م�ا ��ا �ل�� ح�ه �و�ى �ك ي بر � � �ف ذ ن ا� � � ف ا � ن ��ز � ��ل��ك ا �عن��ى �م�ا �ل�ز � ا �ل�ا �ن��س�ا ن� ي ڡ ح�ا �ل د �و� � � � ح� �ل * � او �عر�� �م� �ي��ك�و� �ل �و�م�ه ��ى م ن � ف تا � ف ت � � ن �خ � ة � � ح ذ� ��ل��ك * ث�� ا ن �م�ا �ه��ا �ت � �ز � ش ا ا ا � ا ��ل�ا �� � ��ل م � ي حوا �ل ا � ��ط�ي�ر� ا �ل���� � ك�� �ل � او �ج � او �ل��س��ر � �و� �لي ��� ك��� ب� �و��و � �ف ن � � �خ ت���ل�ف���ة ا �� ض ح�� ا �ل�م�ل�ا�ز � ��م ���ا ��ل�ع�ق��د�ة الم ا ��لن� ���ا * ��م ن��ه �م�ا �ي�� � ح��ا �ة * �و�م��ه ك� �ك�و ن� ك� ���ا �ل �ر��ق���ة �و�م ن��ه � ك� � ي س ب م �� آ � � � � ف �ف ق � � � ت ا � � � � ا ا ا ا ا ش ن ن ن ن ت � � ���ا لم��س�م�ا ر * �و�م��ه ك�� �ل� �و��د �و�م��ه ك�� �لم���ب��ك * �و�م��ه ك�� � �ل � ك� ����ل �ب�ل� �م� ��ح �و�م��ه ك�� �لغِ�� �ر � � � ��ا ��ل��ل ا ذ ن ه � � � نه � � ��ا �� ُ �ة ���ا � �غِل��جم �و�م ن��ه ك� ���ا �ل��د ب� ��ق� � او �لطِ�� ب ��ق� ا �و ك�� لر�و�م� ���ا �لِش��� ار ��س * �و م�� ك ��ا ر * �و�م ن��ه ك�� ِ ج�� � �و�م�� ك َْ ���ا ��ل��د � ا ��ل��س�ا ر�ى ���فى �ج��مي�� ا �و�ص�ا ��ل ا �ج��ل ���ا ج��ل ���ل��د �و�م ن��ه ك� ا �و ا ��ل��ثر ���ط � او ��ل��لِ�ز ا �ق� * �و�م ن��ه ك� � ��س�د م ع ق ش ش �ت �ت ا �ئ س�ن � �و�م�ف��ا �ص��ل�ه * �و�ج� ن��ا �ج� ن��ه �و��س�ل�ا �ئ��ل�ه * �و��س�ن �ا �� �ه �و����ل� ����ل�ه * �و ار � ب��ه �و ا ر �ي��ه * ََ �َ ضَ �ذ خ �س�ف��ه � � ا ��ن ��ه * � �غ� ض���ا � �ف��ه � � �ن ش ���ل�ا �ت�ه حوا �ي��ه * �ور�ب�ل�ا �ت�ه �و�م� ا �ره * �وع� و � ر�ي و � �و��� ار � ي � وب ��و ي � �ف �غ ن ش �ص��ه �وب� �� او د ره * � او �ع�ص�ا �ل�ه �و�م ار د ��ه * �و��س�ا ��ي�ن �ه � �ون�ا �ع�وره * �و �ور�ي��ده �و� �� او ���ره * �و�ع� ب َ َْ ح��ل��ق �و�م�ه �و خ� ��ا �ع�ه * � �ون�ا �ئ� ���ط�ه �و � �وت�ي�� ن��ه * � او ��س�ه �ر�ه � او خ���د �عيْ��ه * �و�مۤ�ر ئ��ه �وف���لي ��ق��ه * �و� ب ي �ي ن �ثَ نَ ن ْ ف � َ ش ظ �ت ش ش ا ن �و خ� ��ا �ع�ه * � او �ود ا ج��ه �و� � ار ه * � �و ��� �ه �و��� ���� ه * �ور � او �ه����ه �و��� ار ��ي����ه * �و���سي����س�ي �ه فِ ذِ ي �ذ � ا ش ا �ئ ه ف��ن�� ا �� �ف ا ا �ق � ن �غ � ا �ن ه � ا ن ���ا � �م�ن �ه� ا ا �ل ��و * ��ي ر � �ل� ��و � * ح��س ل�� ر�ي� � ك � او �ش���ل�ا �ئ�ه * �و�ع�م�وده �و � � ع �ّ ا جً ف ن ا ن ��ا ن ��ث� ا �� � � ا � ��م ّ � ف� ن �غ ن ف ا ح��ا �ل��س����ك��ه ا �و �و �ل� ��ا �ي��ه * �ي���ب���ى ا � ��ي� � �ه�م �ه�� ا ��ه ك�� � د �م� �وي� ا �ى ك���ي ر ل�د م و ب 256
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4،18،1
Bad Luck
on her own, has no role in the shaping of the fetus; some children come out looking like their paternal or maternal uncles, or someone their mothers never ever set eyes on. Now I must resume my tale, presenting it to the reader’s ears without
1.18.3
leading either of us to choke on his tears. Thus I declare: as stated earlier in this book, the Fāriyāq was born with the misfortune of having misfortune everywhere in the ascendant, the Scorpion raising its tail to strike at the Kid, or Billy Goat, and the Crab set on a collision course with the horn of the Ox. Here you must know that bad luck is of two kinds—inseparable bad luck and separable bad luck. Inseparable bad luck is the kind that dogs a person in his waking and sleeping, his eating and drinking, in his setting off of a morning and his coming home at night, and in everything that comes his way. Separable bad luck is the contrary, by which I mean that it is the kind that dogs a person under certain conditions and not others, the best-known such conditions being the critical ones, such as marriage, travel, writing a book, and the like. The specificities of inseparable bad luck are various too. One kind is like a tightly tied knot, another like a noose, another like a nail, another like a peg, another like a clip, and another like a lock without a key; one is like fish glue, another like corn glue, another like flour paste, another like bookbinder’s paste, another like birdlime or mistletoe slime, or like arrow-feather glue or shoe-maker’s glue or chrysocolla; one is like the skin and another like the blood that courses through the body’s every joint and member278— the breastbones and polyps, the vertebrae tips and osmotic membranes, the thoraces and collarbones, the rib cartilage and shoulder blades, the gristle and the four long ribs, the upper thighs and lower belly, the muscles and the sinews of the arm, the veins and the flesh between the shoulder and the neck, the intestines and fatty deposits, the vein that runs on the inner side of the spine and is joined to the aorta and the hemophilic vein, the jugular and aorta, the seminal ducts and the two hidden veins at the cupping-place on the neck, the esophagus and the cephalic vein, the gullet and the backbone nerve, the spinal vein that is cut to cure jaundice and the bone marrow, the jugular veins and the sweaty place behind the ear, the stifle joint and the small bone in the knee that is sometimes displaced, the inner-arm sinews and the arteries, the two veins that supply blood to the brain and the limbs, the spine and the extremities—and it was to this type that the Fāriyāq’s bad
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1.18.4
�ن ل� �ف ا �� �ي� ح��س
ن ��ا ن ن� � � ة ن�ن � ف ا ت �� ف ا ن ��ا ن ن�ز ا �ن ح��س�ه ك���ا �ل��د �م �م�ن �ج� �ه�� ا ��ه ك���ا � له�ا * � او ��م�ا ك�� � �� ��ه ك�� � �م�� �ه� �ع �ه��ذه ا �ل�ص��� � ك��� � ف ق � ن �ك�ن ذ ف ��ذ ا�ز ا � ه ��ف � � � � ة ق ح�ى � او � �ي�� ك� حوا �ل�ه * �����د � ك�� ���ا � �ب�ا ���ع��لي��ه ك��� �ب�ه ا �ن�ه �ب�ا ت� �لي���ل�� �و��د �م�ل� �م� �ل� �ى �ج �مي�� ا � ع ث ��ف � �ق ف �خ ش ش ش ن � ا ا ا ي�ن � � �ن ث � ا �ل�م ن��ا � ا ��ه ��� � �م���ل�و ج�� �� ��� � �ع� ب��ه س � ي������ك�و �م �و ج� را �ى ي �ڡ �� �� � �� �ب�ص� ع �ى م رب رب م ح ق � قة ح ��ف � ق ش ��ا ن � � ن ت �ن � �ه�ّور �م�ن � ن��� �ج� ب���ل ا �و ي���س�� ��ط ا ض� �� ار ��س�ه ����د �ي��د �و�م ب�� �ى ح��ل���ه * �وك�� � يحل��م ا ��ه ��ي � ح ��ف ��ا ن ذ �� �� ل�ا � خ � �مغ � �ع�ن ظ ����ه �ج���م ف��غ���د � � ظ ����ه ه �مت���ق�ّ حل��� ا �ن � م � � ه ه � � �� ا ا ا ا �ك � � � � � * � � �� س ك ك � � � ر �ل ي و و � ر و س و � ى م ل � �ز ق قآ ش ُ � ئ �غ ة �ن �ن ف ش تّ �� �لي���لت��ه * ا �و ���رب� ا ج��ا ج��ا ا �و �ع�ا ��ا ��� * ا �و ا ��� �� ر � او � ك� �ري��ه�� � ث� ت� � ����س�ه * �وك���ا � م ح ��ف � �ق ت َ ْ ��ف � ن ا � ذ ت �� ن ت � � � ح�د ��ي� ��ه ر� ح��ل��ة را �ى �ه�و �ى ا�لم�� � �لي��ل��ه ��لك ا ��ه ي ڡ ح��د �ب�ا �ن�ه را � ح��د�ث�ه ا ا �ا � � � � ى ى ب ِ م �ف ا � ئ ْ ن ا ه� ا �و �ب��ر ا �و �ب� ب� �ل�ه� * �َو�ي��ل � او د ��ى �ج� � � م ��ف �َْ ف �ه�ا * ا �و �ى ا �ل � � او د �ي� م ِو�ب ��ق � �ف � فَ َ ّ ف ن � � �ه�ا * �ج� � � ه�م ا �و �ج� ب� �ي� ا �و �ى ا � �ل�� �لق � �ف ُ �َ � ف ���س �ه�ا * ا �و ��ى ب� ��و�ل��س �ج�ن �ي� �ف ّ ف �ه�ا * ا �و ��ى �سِ��ج���ي�ن � او د �ي� �ف َ ف �ه�ا * ا �و ��ى ا �ث�ا � � او د �ي� م �َُ �� ا � ا ا � ���ف ا ��ل �ب� ب� �ل�ه� * ح��ط�م��ة وى َ �غ ف ا � ��ف � ّ ن �ه�ا ا �و ���هر * و �ى � ى � او د �ي� ��ف ا �� َ ُ ف حو��ل�ه ا �و �ى ل� �ص� �عود �ه�ا * �و�� �ج� ب���ل �ي� ��َُ ْ نَ ا ��س� �� ن�� ت � � ا ب���لي����س * مب لب�ي���ى �زَ �َ ْ ُ � ��خل ة ا� ح��د ا �و �ل�اد ا ب���لي����س ا ��م��س�� * ا �و �لنب� ��ور � ْ � � �ا غ �غ �� ب� * ��سَو ��ط �و�ل��د �ل� ب���لي����س �ي���ر�ى �ع��ل�ى ا �ل�� ض� ا �و ِم � �ك�ن ا ��بل�� ا �و ا ��ل ُ��س ْر� �ش��ي� ���ط�ا ن� ا �ع��م ي���س�� حر * ح � � ب و ى ش �� ن َخ نْ�ز ���ي�� ط�ا � * ا �و ��� ب �
258
258
5،18،1
6،18،1
Bad Luck
luck belonged. It shouldn’t be understood, however, that he was “bloody” in the sense of having much blood, or being fond of shedding or wallowing in it; he was innocent of all such characteristics. It’s just that his bad luck was like blood in being inseparable from him under any circumstances. He has said—and if he lied the responsibility is his—that one night he saw
1.18.5
in his dreams that he drank an iced drink and then, immediately after it, a hot drink and started complaining of a severe pain in his molars and of a hoarseness in his throat. On other occasions, he would dream he was plunging from a mountain top or falling off a camel’s back, so that he ended up bent double. If he dreamed that he ate pickles, he would get a stomachache from them that same night, if he drank salty or brackish water, he would vomit, and if he smelled a bad smell, he would faint. And if anyone were to tell him that he’d seen a fair, full-bodied girl in his garden, that night in his dreams he would see himself in Wayl,
“A valley in Hell, or a well or a gateway there”
or in al-Mawbiq,
“A valley” there
or in al-Falaq,
“Hell, or a pit therein”
or in Būlas,
“A prison” there
or in Sijjīn,
“A valley” there
or in Athām,
“A valley” there
or in al-Ḥuṭama,
“A gateway” there
or in Ghayy,
“A valley” there, or “a river”
or in al-Ṣaʿūd,
“A mountain” there with, ranged about it,
Lubaynā
“Name of the daughter of Iblīs”
or Zalanbūr,
“One of the five sons of Iblīs”
or Miswaṭ,
“A son of Iblīs who tempts men to anger”
or al-Surḥūb,
“A blind devil that lives in the sea”
or Khanzab,
“A devil”
259
259
1.18.6
�ن ل� �ف ا �� �ي� ح��س
� َ ْ �ف � ن � ح ا ��س�م �ش��ي� ��ط�ا � ا �و ا �ل��سر � � � � ن ا � ا ��ل ّ ا �ل ش���ي� ��ط�ا � ا �و ا �ل ش����ي �ا �� ط��ي�ن * و �� جِ م ُْ ش �� ن ���ي�� ط�ا � * ا �و �ن��ه� م َ � �ن ��س �آ � ش ا �� ي�ن م ا �م� ا �ل����ي � � ط�� * ا �و �هي��ا ه ��لُ ا ��س ش �� ن ا �و ا � � ���ي�� ط�ا � * حب��ا ب � م ا ��س ش �� ن � اَ �زَ ّ � ���ي�� ط�ا � * ا �و ا �ل� ب � م ا ��س ش �� ا ن َ�زَ ّ � �ق � ���ي�� ط� � * ا �و ا ب� ا �ل�ع� ب���ة م � ن ّ � آ � ق ا � � ا ش ا ا �و ا �ل�هر� ��� ا �ل� � ح�ل� � * ا ��س� ���ي� ��ط� � �م�و�ك��ل �ب ���ب �ي م م ح � َ �ْ ش � ا ن � غ � ث ة ّ �آ �ف � ��و * �ص� ا�لم�� ��ى ا �ل�و ض� � ا �و ا �ل�و�ل�ه�ا ن � ���ي� ��ط� � �ي��ر�ى ب���ك��ر� � ب �خ ْ ذ �� ا ��ل ش���� ����ا �ي�ن � ا ث ��ل �ُ� ث� � او ��ل � و �ن�ا ���ه�ا * �خ ب��ا ��ئ ث � � ك��ور ي ط ا �و ا ب �َ ���س ّ ا � ض � � ��ن��ت ه ا � �ُ َّ ة ا ْت ة ���ا ا�لمب� ���ط�ل �وك��ي �� ب ��و مر� � و ب� ��و قِ���ر� * ا ب���لي����س �وي ��مى ي�� ��س� ي ��ف � ا �و ا �ل �فِ ا ��س ش �� ن � ف ق � ���ي�� ط�ا � ا � �ل�ر�زد �� * ا �و �ع�مر�و م � � � � َّ � �م�ن ا �و ��ل�اد ا ��ل �ج�ن � او �ل ش����ي �ا �� ط��ي�ن * ا �و ا � قِ�ل��� �لْو ��ط ْأَ �َ ْ � �فَ تّ ا ن � اَ ْ ��لَ � �ص��ا ن� � او ��لبَ��ل�� �ز � او �� �لق��ا �ز � او ��خل ��ا ب���ل � او � �خ نّ��ا ��س � او �ل�َو��س� او ��س � او � �ل �� � � ا و �ل� ج���د * ا �و ا �ل ش���ي�� ب ع �ف � أ ��ا ة ��ا�� ة �خ ّ ن ذ ��ّ�ة ����ت��ه ب� ك� �وك� �صر�م�ن ك�� �م�� �م�� � ك� �ي���ل ��ل�ه ��ى ا�لم ن��ا � � �ن�ه ي �ڡ م�ك� ك���� � ���ا � ا � ا �ب� � � م ب و ي م ف ا �ّ �ج�ن * �ب��ه� ا ر��ض� خ��ا �ي���ة �ف � �م ن��ا �ز ��ل ا ��ل � �ج�ن * ا �و ��ى ا �لبِ��را ��ص � ض � �� ن ا � �ة ا ��ل�� �ف ق ��ا ظ ������ �ة �ي�ز�ع ن ا �ن ه �م�ن � ا �� ا � ��ف ا ��لَ �ُّل ق �ك�ن � �� حر�ي�ن ��و�� ك�� م� �م�و� � � ح� � م��س� � م ة � � � � و ب ي ب و �ى ب�� �و ع ا ��ل � �ج�ن * *
�ف �َ ّ ا �و ��ى ا �لب ��ق��ا ر � �ز ا �و ا �ل�ع�ا �ف �
�ج�ن ���ث�ي�ر ا ��ل ��� �بر��م� �ع�ا ��ل � � ك� �م� ض� و ع ل �ج ��س��مّ ��ل�ا �ن�ه ��ت�ع�ز �ف� ��ه ا ��ل � �ج�ن * ب ع ى
*
260
260
7،18،1
8،18،1
Bad Luck
or al-Sarfaḥ,
“Name of a devil”
or al-Jimm,
“A devil, or a number of devils”
or Nuhm,
“A devil”
or Hayāh,
“A name used by devils”
or al-Ḥubāb,
“Name of a devil”
or al-Azabb,
“Name of a devil”
or Azabb al-ʿAqabah, “Name of a devil”
1.18.7
or al-Hirāʾ,
“Name of a devil in charge of nightmares”
or al-Walhān,
“A devil who tempts men to use too much water when performing their ritual ablutions”
or al-Khubth and
“Male and female devils”
al-Khabāʾith, or al-Safīf,
“Iblīs, also called al-Mubṭil (‘the Joker’279) and known by the patronymics Father of Bitterness and Father of Molten Brass”
or ʿAmr,
“The name of al-Farazdaq’s devil”280
or al-Qillawṭ,
“One of the children of the jinn and the devils”
or al-Shayṣabān,280 al-Bal ʾaz, al-Qāz, the Corrupter,282 the Recoiler, the Whisperer, the Seducer, or Cut-nose. Similarly, if he looked through the window of his house and saw a neat trim little girl, it would seem to him in his dream that he was in an arḍ khāfiyah
“a land of the jinn”283
or birāṣ,
“dwellings of the jinn”
or in al-Ballūqah,
“A place in the area of Bahrain, above Kāẓimah, that they claim is an abode of the jinn”
or al-Baqqār,
“A place in the Sands of ʿĀlij where there are many jinn”
or al-ʿĀzif,
[literally, “the Maker of Sounds”] “A place so named because the jinn make sounds there”
261
261
1.18.8
�ف � �َْ ش ا �و ��ى ا �ل� حو�� � �ف ا �و ��ى �َ �وب�ا ر �ف َ ْق ا �و ��ى �عب ���ر �ْ ا � ���ف َ �ه� � ي و ى �ج م � شَّ ْ َ ا �ل���ي�� �صب��ا ن � َ ا �و ب�� ن��و �ه نّ��ا � م �غَ ْ ا �و ب�� ن��و ��ز � او ن � َ ْ َش ا �و د �هر�� � َ َْ ا �و ا � � حق� ب �
�ن ل� �ف ا �� �ي� ح��س
�ج�ن ��ل�اد ا ��ل � ب ق � � �� �� ا � ق � ف � �وب�ا ر ��ك��ط� م �و��د ي�� �صر�� ا ر��ض� �ب��ي�ن ا �يل��م�ن �ور�م�ا �ل �ي�ب�ر �ي�ن ��س� يم� ت� َّ َ � � ح��لت �ج�ن �ه� ا ��ل ور ث� ��م � ب� �� �و�ا ر ب��ن ِا ر� �لم�ا ا �ه��ل�ك ا لله ��ت�ع�ا �ل�ى �ع�اد ا � � ب م م ف ا �ن�ز � ا ا � ن ��ل� �ي� �ل�ه� ا � ح�د �م�� * ���ث�ي�ر ا ��ل � ك� �ج�ن * ع ��ث �ل� � � �ج�ن ك���ي�ر ا � * �و�ل�د �ي�ه ع ��ق � ة �ن �ل� �ج�ن ب��ي �ل�� �م ا � * ��ق� ��ل��ة �م�ن ا ��ل � �ج�ن * ب �ي *
حّ �ج�ن ى �م�ن ا ��ل � �� ا ��س� اب ��ى ��ق� ��ل��ة �م�ن ا ��ل � �ج�ن * ب �ي م آ � ت � ا ��س � نّ � �ن ��ذ�ي�ن ا ��س� � ا ا � �ق � ن � �ج �ى م ا �ل� مع�و ل�ر � * م �ق � ة �ن �ل� �ج�ن � ��ط ��ع�� �م ا � * ا �و �زِ � �م��ة م�زِ ن �ن �ل� ّ �ش ق �ج�ن ��� ج�����س �م ا � * ا �و ا �لِ � � ش �قْ � ر�ئ����� �ل���ل �ج�ن * ا �و �ِ��نِ �� ن��ا �ق � ي س � ْ ��ق� ��ل��ة �م�ن ا ��ل � �ج�ن * ا �و ا �لعِ� ���س�ل ب �ي � � ْ ��ق� ��ل��ة �م�ن ا ��ل ���ا ا ��س� ا ر��ض� �ل���ل � �ج�ن * ا �و ا �لعِ� ��سر �ج�ن �و�ه�و ا �ي� ض� �ي ب م �َ ْ َ � ��س�ا ا � ا ��ل��س�ْع�ل�ا �ة � ا �ل�عي����� ح �ة ا ��ل س � � � �ج�ن * � و ج ور ر و ِ َ ّ � � ا �ل ش ه�ا � و ���� م �َ ْ َ ّ � َّ � ا � ا �ل��س�ع�ا ِ�ل�ى * ا �و ا �ل��س�ع��س��ِ �لق � م ّ �ل� ا ���َ ضْ �ف � �ن �ج�ن �م د � ا و ب� ا � * �� َر��و ��ط ا �و لع� �َ�ظْ � ا ��ل���ط�ا ��ئ�ف� �م�ن ا ��ل � �ج�ن * ا �و ا �لن� �� ر�ة
9،18،1
*
262
262
10،18،1
Bad Luck
or in al-Ḥawsh,
“Lands of the jinn”
or in Wabār,
“Wabār: (of the pattern of qaṭām, with or without nunation284)—a stretch of land between Yemen and the Sands of Yabrīn, called Wabār ibn Iram. 285 When the Almighty destroyed ʿĀd, He bequeathed their territory to the jinn, and thus no human may stay there”
or in ʿAbqar,
“A place full of jinn”
or in Jayham,
“A place full of jinn” or that he was facing
the Shayṣabān,
“A tribe of the jinn”
1.18.9
or the Banū Hannām, “A tribe of the jinn” or the Banū Ghazwān, “A clan of the jinn” or Dahrash,
“The name of the forefather of a tribe of the jinn”
or Aḥqab,
“The name of one of the jinn who gave ear to the
or Zimzimah,
“A sub-section of the jinn”
or the Shiqq,
“A kind of jinn”
or Shiniqnāq,
“A chief of the jinn”
or the ʿIsl,
“A tribe of the jinn”
or the ʿIsr,
“A tribe of the jinn and also the name of a territory
Qurʾān”286
belonging to the jinn” or the Si ʿlāh, or the “Witches of the jinn” ʿAysajūr, or the Shahām, or the Saʿsaliq,
“The mother of the Si ʿlāh witches”
or a ʿaḍrafūṭ,
“A beast ridden by the jinn”
or the Naẓrah,
“Jinn that roam by night”
263
263
1.18.10
�ن ل� �ف ا �� �ي� ح��س
� �ج�ن ر�ئ����� �ل���ل ي س �خََ �ج�ن ���ذ �ل� ا ��ل � �وك�� ا ا � ب���ل *
�َ َ ا �و ا �ل�ز �ْبو���ع��ة ��خل ا ��ف ��خل ف ��ا �ي���ة ا �و ا�� �ى � او ��خ ��ا ف���ا � او ل ي � ا ن ا ن ت ان � ث ذ � � � ن ا ��ل ّ ة � ن ��ل � � �ه ب� * ا �و ا �لت��ا ب��� � او �لت��ا ب���ع��ة ��ن�ي �� �ي��ك� �ون�ا � �م� ا �ل� ���س� � �ي���ب��ع� ��ه حي� ا �ج �ى �و �ج ع �َ َ عْ َ � ا �� �غ� � � ��ذ � � � � � ن �� � ن��ك�� � ا ا �و ا �ل�ع ك و �ل�ك��ع��ك�� ل �و�ل ا �ل� ك�ر * ع ع ��لَ ا �� �غ� �� ��خل �ّ �ة ا � ا� ل �ول ا��د ا �ع� * �خيْ��د و ع � ُ َّ �� َ َ � ْ ت � َ ْ ن ة �� ْ � ََ �خ � ��ل� � ا ��ل �خَي���ع� � او ل �ص �د ا ��� � او ل �خيْ���ل� � او ��خل � � � ��ي�ت �ع�ور � او �ل���س�م ْر�مر�ة � او �ل���سم� ��و و ا �و ا �لِ��س�ل ��م � او �ل� �ي ل ع ع ع آ � �غ � � ا ��ل�َ�عْ ��لق � ا ��ل�َع��ُ�ل �ق � ا ��لَه�ْ� �ع��ة � ا ��له��ع �ة � ا �ل�مَ��ْل��د � ا ��ل�َ ف�َ ْن ا ة �� له�ا �م�ن ا ��س�م�� ا �ل� �و�ل) * و و �� و و� و �ي ر و � ي ر و و ع� �ر� � ( ك��� � � ْت � �غ � � �ذ�� ا �ل� �و�ل ا �ل�� ك�ر * ا �و ا �لعِ���ِري���س 11،18،1 � ا �� ا ��لتِ� ْ َ �خ ��� ث ل � ا � � ا �و� 1م� ا �ل د �* � ح س م � ر بي � ّ � ْ ا ��س �� � ا �� � ا � ض ا ا �ل�م ّ ْ � � ���س� ك���س��ك��ي�ن * ا �و ا �ل��ِد �قِر�� � ا ل�د ج�� ل �و ه�و ي�� ��� ِ ِ�ي م � م � ح ُ � �غُْ � � � �خ ث � �ن ا ��ل�غ� �ا ن ن ش ا ا � �ن ا�لم� رد �م ا �ل���� ��ط� � � او ل ا �و ا �ل��ط � ب�ي��� م ي��ل � * �مو��س �� � ي � َ � َّ �ّ �ج��م� ��ْن��ي���ة �و�ه� �م�ت�م د ا ��ل�ا �ن�� � او ��ل � �ج�ن �و�مث���ل�ه ا �لِ�ع ك �� ب� * ا �و ا �ل�ز �ب�ا ��نِي���ة و ر س ع �زِب ��لَ ْ�زَ ح��ن �ا �َ ��ه ���ف �ه��ذه ف��ا ���ن �ل�� ا ���د�ه�ا �ڡ � ق ا ��ا نّ ا ا �و ا � ح�ي� ب� ��و ن � ى م ج ي �وك�� � �ص� �ب وِ م ى � ا � �ل�� �م�و��س �� ا �غ � � �ف �ك�ن �ؤ ت �ف �ف � �ود ��ى ق��ا �م�و��س ا �� ك� �ه�ا ��ى �م ن��ا � * � او س�م�ه� ��ي ر � �ف ك ل��ل�ا � * �م� م � � ��ي ��� ي��م�� ر � ��ي � و ج م م ع ٓ ا �� ��ق � ا ��ل��ع� � �ف ا ��� �� � �خي�ت ح��ي�ز � �� � ا ��ل �ز ن � ا ن� ا �ل�م�� ر� �ه�ا ا ��ل حور �و ي ج��ل�و� �و لعي�� ب � �� �ع�ور �و ل ي��د � ط�و�ل � ب ور و ح�م�ه �و � �ع�لي� ص � � � � � ث ذ � � ن�ن �ه�ج�� �� �� � او �ج�ل ه� �ق� � او �ل�ز�ي�ز �ف�� ن� � او �ج�ل � ��ي�ث��ل�و ��ط � او �ل�عي�ض� �ف� � او �ل� �� �و �� ط * �� ا ��ه ك���ا � ا � ا ��س�م� 12،18،1 � ب� ي ي� ب س و و و م ع ا � ن �� � طق �خ� �� ��س�م� ���ف ا ��ل��ل��� َ�ع � �ف��ا � َ�ه��س�ا � �� � �ت�ه� ���د ا � ْ�ز ��م�2ا �خَ��نِ���ة �ت ك� �ل��� ر ج��ل� �م � � � ب و و و ر ى � ي و ي ب ل هِ � س �زِ�ي ي ي �زِ �ي م م ع َ ْ � ْ �ز �� �زَ ا ْ َدَ تْ �ج�ن له�ا �م�ن ا �ص� ا ت� ا �ل � � ا ��جل ��ا ر ي���ة ر ���ف�ع� ت� ر �ج �لا �و�ه�د�ه�د ا �و �ه ج�� �و �زِ �ى �زِ �ى * ( ك��� � و ) ( )1ر ِ �ش ب* ذ م����� ت� ع��لى ا خ�ر �ى ت���ل�ع�� ا ة �تَ ْ آ �ف ن ف ن ف و �ن �ه�ا ر( )1ج��� ه ��ى ���ص�� � او � ا را �ى ج�� ر�ي�� رد �ى ���ص�� ا �ل � *
ُ ْ :١٨٥٥ 1ا و� :١٨٥٥ 2 .ز ي��ز �م�ا. ِ
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Bad Luck
or the Zawbaʿah,
[literally, “the Whirlwind”] “A chief of the jinn”
or al-khāfī or
[literally, “the Hidden Ones” (male, female, and col-
al-khāfiyah or
lective)] “The jinn”; al-khabal means the same
al-khāfiyāʾ, or al-tābiʿ or
[literally, “the Followers” (male or female)] “The male
al-tābiʿah,
or female jinni, because they are among men and fol-
or the ʿAkankaʿ or
“Male ghouls”
low them wherever they go” the Kaʿankaʿ, or a khaydaʿ,
“A deceitful [female] ghoul”
or the Siltim, the Ṣaydānah, the Khayʿal, the Khaylaʿ, the Khawlaʿ, the Khaytūr, the Samarmarah, the Summaʿ, the ʿAwlaq, the ʿAlūq, the Hayraʿah, the Hayʿarah, the Mald, and the ʿAfarnāh, (all names of ghouls) or a ʿitrīs,
“A male ghoul”
or a timsaḥ,
“An ignoble mārid”287
or al-Dirqim,
The name of the Antichrist, also known as the Missīḥ
1.18.11
(of the pattern of sikkīn) or a ṭughmūs,
“A rebellious devil or ignoble ghoul”
or zabāniyyah,
Plural of zibniyyah. “Rebellious persons, whether humans or jinn”; synonym ʿikabb
or a ḥayzabūn.
I think our friend must be wrong about this one:
I can’t find it in the Qāmūs,288 and how can the Fāriyāq have seen it in a vision when it’s nowhere to be found in that paragon of precision? On the other hand, the lexicographer,289 God rest his soul, does use it as the patternword for ḥayzabūr (synonym of ḥayzabūn), khaytaʿūr (“fading mirage”290), qaydaḥūr (“person with an ugly face”), ʿaylajūf (the name of the ant mentioned in the Qurʾān),291 ʿayṭabūl (“tall” (of a girl)), hayjabūs (“hasty, rough man”), jayhabūq (“rat feces”), zayzafūn (“fast” (of a she-camel)), jaythalūṭ (an insult invented by women, of unclear meaning), and ʿayḍafūṭ (synonym of ʿaḍrafūṭ (see above)). and if he were to hear by day a sweet-toned coquettish girl talking in dulcet 1.18.12 tones to a man, at night he’d hear the moaning and laughing of the jinn, their twitterings and whisperings, their cheepings and chitterings, their clamorings and their ziy-ziy (all of which are sounds made by the jinn); and if he saw a girl hopping(1) on one foot all day long, he’d be assailed in the middle of the night by a
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(1) radat al-jāriyah: she raised a foot and moved using the other, in play.
�ن ل� �ف ا �� �ي� ح��س
� ْ ن � َ َ �ن � ُ ْ ف ن � َْ َ � � ُ ل�ا � �� � ا ��ل ث � � �� ��ا � ��و�م � او �ل��د �و��ا � � او �لن��ي �د �ل � او �لب��ا ر �وك � او �ل��ِد ��ئ ث��ا � � او �ل��د ��ي ث��ا ��ى * �ورا �ى ا �ل�لي���ل ا � ك�� ب ��و س و ج ن � � � ط � �ق �ن ف ا ت ق ظ � ذ ���ع�ل ��ي � ��� �لي���ل��ة �م�ا ا ن� ق��د �ز ��ف ت� ا �لي��ه �عر�و��س ف��ا �ت�ا ه �ت�ي���� �و ج� � ��� ف��ا � ا ح�ه ب�� �ر ي��ه �� ��س��ي �� س ق ن ن ق � ة خ شا � ن نا ن � �ب ���ر� را ��س�ه �مر ض� � ��و��ض� * �ورا �ى �لي���ل�� ا �ر�ى ا � ��د �و ج��د �ع��ل�ى ���� ��ط�ى ���هر د �� ��ي�ر � ��ف ّ � ش � � ث ا �ن ا � ا �غ �م�د ���ده � ا خ����ذ �من ا �خ� ة ش ف� ا � د ا ه� ي و �ه� �م��س�� �ع���ر د ر�ه�م� �ل� ��ي�ر * ��ل�م� �عب��ر ا �ل��� ��ط ا �ل�� ��ى � ور م �ذ � ق �ف � ش � ��ا ن� ك� �� خ� ��ا ب��ي��ده ك� ��ر�ة �ي��د �ير�ه�ا * �ف ك� �هره �و ج� �� ����ل�م�ا ا د ا ر�ه�ا ا خ��� ا � �لف��ا ر�ي�ا �� ��ى ظ �� را �ى �� ي � ع � ّ � آ � ف �ف � � ف �ش���د ���د ك�� �� ج� �� ا �ل��د � ا�لم�عر�و�� ��ى �ب�ل�اد ا �ل ش����ا � �ب�ا �ل� �وث�ا ب� * ���ل�م�ا ر�م�ى ا �ل��د را �ه� �م�ن �ي��ده م م ي وع � �� * � ا �ى ��ل���ل��ة ا خ� �ى ا ن� ��ل�ا �مغ�� ����ا �م�ن �ش���د�ة �م�ا ا �ص�ا �ب�ه ��س�� �ك�ن �ع ن��ه ا �ل�و ج� ج ر ور ي ر ر بي ع � � �ق ذ � ت� ف ه � ش ف ت � ق ف ه ��ف ��ل � ��� �ى ا � ح�ا �ل �م ش���ر��ى �و� �ه ب� �ب�ه * ق��ا �ل � او ��ل�ى ا �ل�ا ن� �ل� �ير ج� ا ح��� ب ����ى ���ل� � �� �ب�ه �م� م �ع ع ح�� �ن ظ � �ن ت ظ � ا � � ه � � ة �ق ذ� ح�ل�ا �م�ه * � �م�م�ا ق��ا ��ل�ه ���ف ا �ل � �� ا � � ���� رى �ل� �ك ���ل �لي���ل�� * �و���س �ع��ل� � �ل��ك ��س�ا �ئر ا � ���م�ا * �ل� و ى ى م ذ تّ ُ � آ � �ذْ َ ��ا نّ �ه � � ت� ت � خم ّ �ت � ��ت غ��ر�ى ب ��ى ا �ل�هر� �لتُ�� ر�ئ�ه ���د ��ى ا � ا ب�� ك�� � �م�وم�ى �و �هى ح� ت ّ � � َ ذ ��ت��ق�و��ل ��ع��ل� ّ ا �لي ��و� ك� ���ا ن� ب�ُ��وا ��ل�ه � او ن� �ع��لي���ك ا �ل��لي���ل � ا ا ن� �خ� ّ�ر��ئ�ه ى م ق� �و��ا �ل
�ن � ّ ا ات ّ ُ ّ � �ن ا ����سر ا ذ� ا ا � ��قض���ى �ي ��و�م�ى �ل�ا ��ى ا ر�ج��ى ��ف��ي�ه ا � �ح�ل� ��م� �����سر ّ ف ا � � �ن ن �ق ث � �� �حل��م ا ��ى ا ����س��عى � او �����ش��ى ��ف�� �ل�ي��ل�ى ��م���ل �ي ��وم�ى ا �و ا �����شر ق� ���ا �و��ا �ل ا �ي� ض�
� �ف � ت ��غ���ا ث� ا � �ح�ل�ا � ��� �سوء ح�تى ��ى ا�لم ن��ا � �تر �و�عن��ى �ب�ا ض� � �وي�ا ر ب� م م ف �ت �ف � اُ � َ ّ � � ا �م�ن ا � ّ ل�� ���سر ���بر�وي� �ر�ى �ي��ا �لي���ن��ى ا �ش �� ���قى �ن��ه�ا ر�ى �و��ى ا � ك ح ب�
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� �ت�ز �ع � و �ج َ � او ب��ه � �ج
13،18،1
14،18،1
Bad Luck
bad dream—by the dream that lies prone upon the breast, by the incubus, by the succubus, by the dream that kneels on the chest, by the dream that pollutes, by the dream that humiliates, by the nightmare. One night he saw a bride brought to him in procession, after which a billy 1.18.13 goat came to him and started butting him with its horns. He awoke, and, lo and behold, the place on his head where horns would be was bruised. Another night he dreamed that he came across some gold and silver coins on the river bank, so he stretched out his hand and took fifteen silver coins, no more. When he crossed to the other side, he saw an old man who had a ball in his hand that he was twisting, and every time he gave it a twist, the Fāriyāq was taken by a severe pain in his back, like that of the illness known in the Syrian lands as “the jumper,”292 and when the pain increased so much that he threw the coins from his hand, it went away. And another night he saw a man from the west bestow something on him, at which a man from the east immediately snatched it away and made off with it. “And,” he declared, “he still hasn’t brought it back, even though I’ve waited for him all night!” The rest of his dreams were of the same sort. Among the verses that he composed on dreams are the following: Meseems at night my cares, from underneath my pillow, Draw al-Hirāʾ293 to me, that him against me they may pit. They say he spent the day upon me pissing “So tonight you have to make him shit.” And At day’s end I’m happy For I have hopes of dreams of pleasure. But then I dream of strife and toil And night and day are shrunk to equal measure. And again O Lord, you scare me even in my sleep With dreams confused that torment and distress. Would I might toil by day and then, when I’m asleep, Enjoy the sight of my belov’d and there find rest.
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1.18.14
�ن ل� �ف ا �� �ي� ح��س
�و�ع�نّ ��ل�ه �ي ��و�م�ا ا ن� ي��م�د � ب���ع�� ذ� �و�ى ا ��ل��س�ي �ا د�ة � او ��ل��س�ع�ا د�ة * ف���ل�م�ا � حظ ����� ب���لث�� ا �عت��ا �ب�ه ح �ض ى م � �ن ن � غ ا� ة ا ��ل ش � �ف �ة � ا �ن ش �ده ا �� �ق �د�ة � � ا � �لق ق �ه��ر�ى �ع��ل�ى �ع�اد� ا ��ه�ل �ب�ل�اده �م ا � ا �ل�ص���ي�ر �ل� ���ر�� و ��� ل�� �ص�ي ر ج� � �ي ع ش ا ة �� ن � ا ق �ذ � � �ذ � � ث �آ ��ل ا � �ق � � � � ُ ا ق ق � ف ا ل��ب��ي ر * �� ج�� ه ا � ل��ب��ي�ر ����� ه * ا ���� ر� ا ل�ى ا ��ه �ل� �� ا �ل ا �ل� �� ا �ل ا � ك �يِر�ى ا � ك ح� �ج ب� ��ي� �و�ل م � �ق �ن ا � � � � �ش ف ا ن� ا �ل�ا �م�ي�ر ا د ا � ا لله د �و�لت��ه * �و خ���ل��د �ص�و�لت��ه * �و ج� ���ع�ل ا �ل���م�� � ا و � �ل �مر��ع�ل� � �ل�ر��س�ه * س م � � ا � ظ �� ظ خ � ا �ن � � ���ع�ل �ي ��و�م�ه ��ي�را �م ا �م��س�ه * �و ج� �و ج� ���ع�ل ����ل�ه م�م�د �ود ا �ع��ل� ا �ل� ر �ض� ���لي��ل� * �و ج� ���ع�ل ى � �� � � ���ا �� �ك�و ن� ���ترا ب� ��ن�ع��ل�ه � ك ��طر�ف� ا ��ل�� ���ع�ل ا ��ل��ثر��ا �م�ق� ار �لر ج���لي��ه * � او �ل�عي ��و�ق� ش��� ار ك� م�و �ل�ا * �و ج� ح � ب ي ا �� �م�ت ا ا ��� � ا ئ �ذ ت ا ت � ���ع� — �فل��� �� � �و� ��ه � ل��ك�ل �ل� ��� ر ج� �ود �ب� س�م�ه ب�� جه ���ع�ل ا ��ل�و� �� �مر�� * �و ج� �لن��ع��لي��ه * �و ج� � ب ل ب جى ج م ا ذ �ق � � ُ َ � َ قا � � ت ا ق ن ا ا ا �ن ���ع�ل �ي� ج� �ي �م�ا ��ل��ك ا � �لف��ا ر��ا �ق� ا ن� �ب� د ره �و�� �ل د �ع��ى �م ج� ���ع�ل * �م� � ا ��ي� �و�ل ا �ل� �م�ي�ر * �� �ل ي �ق � � ا ا �ل� � ظ �� �ل� ذ � ا � �آ � ا ��لن � � ف ة � �ن ذ � � ة � غ �خ ا م��ر� * � �و ا �ل� �ل� ا �ل��� �مر� * �و ��ع ا �ل� او �ر� * م ا � ا � * ا � ���� ا �ل ��ي� �و�ل ا �ل� �م�ي�ر مع�� طي ر ك م م م ذ ت�ن�ح�ن � � � ف � �ف ق ق��ا �� �ف���ع * � ا ذ� ا �� ئ س���ل ا �ع ��ط�ى ��ا �ج�ز �ل * � او � �� ا ��ل��قى ا �لر�ع ب� ��ى ���ل�و ب� ا �ع�اد �ي�ه * ل �ل و ذح َ ت � َ � ذ ذ ّ ئ � ف �ا ن �ق� ت� �ف ق��ا ا �ئ��د�ة �ش���ا �ن���ي��ه * � او � ا ��م �خ ��ط ا ر� ا �ل ك� � او � ا ��س��ع�ل خ� ف� �� ه�ب��ت��ه * � او � ا م�� � �ل� ي ر �ج ّ � � ئ ة �� �خ ث �ة ا �خ � ث ق ل ���ل�� ��ل ح��ق ت��ه * ف���ق��ا ��ل ا �� �لف��ا ر��ا �ق� ا �ف� ��ل�ه��ذه ا �ل ار � � � حب ��ق �ت�ز ��ل�ز ��ل الجم �ب � ح�� ا ب�ي���� �ي� ب�ي��� ���ل � س ي �ش آ � ن �ن �ذ �تق ا �ق � � ا �ذ � غ � ق ّ �ز ت �م� ��ي� �و�ل�ه ا �ل� �م�ي�ر * � او رح�ى �م �ه� ا ا �ل ����ع�ي�ر * � �ل��د �بر � �ع��ل�ى ا �ل����ع �ر * �ب��ه� ا ا �ل����ل�و آ ح��سن�� ت� ���ف ا ����ا ت� ا �� �لق�� �د�ة � ا ���د �ع ت� �م�ا � او ��ل�ا ���ط � * ق��ا ��ل ا �ن�ه ��ي��ق �و��ل ��ل��ك ا �ن��ك ق��د ا � �ص�ي و ب ى بي ر ّ � � � � � � � � � �ش����ئ ت� * �ل�ا �ن��ك �ش ت �س�ف� ا�لم�ا ض��� � او �ل��ط�ود ا �ل ار ��� خس ه��ه ��ا � �ل�ق �م � او �بل�� � حر � او �ل�ا ��س�د � او �ل� ي � ب ى ���� ب ر � ّ � � � �ف ف ف �ن ح��د ج� ��ع��لت��ه �ي��ه ��ق� ا �ه�مر�م�م�ا �ه�و خ���لي ��ق� �ب�ا �ل�ا �ت��ص�ا �� �ب�ه * ا �ل�ا ��ى ب��ي�� ت� � او � و دا * س���ل ا�لم � � او �ل�� ي ّ � ا � � �ن ا �� ��ق ا ة ق ا �� ��ن� ن � ق � ت �ن ه � ا � ا �� � ن ف ا ئ ق ��ف ذ� ��ا �ل ك��ي ��� � �ل��ك ج���ل ا �ل� �م�ي ر ع ل ي�� د� * �� ل �ع ا ��ك ��ل� ا � ي ج � �ود �ب� �لم� ل � او �ل ���� ���س م � ق � ت ��ف ت آ خ ن ه ��مَّ� � ��ذ �� � ح ا �ل� ن ا ��ق � �غ � ��م � � ا � م � �و� ��و��ل� ا �ل� با� ك� ��ا ر * �و��ل� �ى ب��ي��� � �ر ا �� ح�م�د ا �ل� ك�ر �م�ود م�� ب� �و ه�و ��ي ر �حم�د �و �ل� ي �ي ة �ش آ � �ذ � � � ق ف �خ ��م ش �ؤ ا ا ا ت �ن � � ح�م� د * �و���س��� �ه� ا ا ل � ��ط� ا � �ل�� � ح��� � و حر�م�ك �م ر � ��ي ��ه * �� �ل �ه��ذه �ع�اد� ا �ل����ع �ر ب ب ب � ّ ن � �ذ � � �ذ � � �ن �ة ا �� ��ق ا ة �� ا �ل� �ق �ا �� ���خل � ئ الم ا �ي�ز � ن � ت �ل �ظ �� ن � ��س�� ل ي�� د� م��ص�ود ب�� �ل�ك ب ا ���ه�م �ل� ا ل�و� �ي �� �م� �و� �ب�� كر ا ار ���د �وح� �م�د * �ولي����س
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One day it occurred to him to write a eulogy to one of those possessed of 1.18.15 sovereign felicity. After he’d been permitted the privilege of kissing the latter’s noble threshold and of reciting his ode and had retired backward in accordance with the custom of the people of that land, which dictates that a young man must not show the nape of his neck to an older (in acknowledgment of the fact that only older persons have backs to their heads), the chamberlain came to tell him that the emir, might God preserve his rule for ever and a day and immortalize his sway, make of the sun and moon shoes for his horse’s hooves, make each day of his better than the one before, spread his shadow the earth as a protection o’er, anoint the eye of the universe with his slipper’s dust, make the Pleiades his stepping-stone and Capella, through the eyelets of his boots, as laces, thrust, make all existence rejoice in his name and make his portal the desired gate of every mortal, make . . .—but here the Fāriyāq could no longer contain himself and interrupted by saying, “Enough ‘makes,’ you mayfly! What says the emir?” The man replied, “The emir—the magnified, the important and highly 1.18.16 dignified, he of the blessings overflowing and favors ever-growing, he who, when he speaks, passes forthwith into action, and who, when asked, is generous in benefaction; who, when he clears his throat strikes terror into the hearts of those who are his foes, and, when he coughs, makes those who hate him shiver to the tips of their toes; whose whole palace quivers at his majestic pose when he blows his nose and whose fart makes the whole council chamber start; whose . . . .” Said the Fāriyāq, “Pew to this vile smell, you villain! Tell me what the emir said and relieve me of these orotund phrases—you’ve outdone the poets with your lavish praises.” He said, “He says you did a good job on your ode and achieved your ends very well when you likened him to the moon, the sea, a lion, a sharp sword, a firm-set mountain, and a watercourse in spate, all of which he is worthy of being compared to. Except that, in one verse, you called him a pimp.” “How so?” said the Fāriyāq, “may the emir remain far above all pandering!” “It’s true,” said the other. “In one verse you said that he ‘hands out money and gems with open hand, and befriends the virgin.’ Also, in another you said that his name was ‘worthy to be praised (muḥammad)’ and that his virtues were ‘praiseworthy (maḥmūd)’ but he’s no Muḥammad or Maḥmūd,294 and because of this appalling mistake he has banished you from his sight.” The Fāriyāq replied, “This is but the way of poets—they keep smacking their lips over ‘unbored pearls’295
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ا ��ل� ا �ل�م�م�د � � * ق��ا �� �ه��ذ ا �غ��ا ���ة �م�ا �ع ن��د � ف�� �ا �ت� ����ط�م� ���ع�د ���ف ا �ل�مث� �� ب� ض �� �ة ا �م�� �ن�ا ى ل ب ى �ول ل ح� ر ي ر ى ي وح ع � � � �ف نٓ �ذ ث � � � �غ ظ ن �غ �غ ن �� ا � �لف��ا ر��ا �ق� ��م ا بل�م ج� ���ل * ��م�ن �� ر ج� حر�و�م�ا �م�ن �ه� ا ا�لم� �� ا �ل�ه��ى * � ب�و��ل� �م ن��ه ا �ل�ي� ��� ا � ي م ع آ م � � � ت �س�ق� �� * ��ف��س�ا ���ف ���ط � ��ق � خ� � �م�ا � ��ص� ا ��ل� �م��ن�ز ��ل�ه ا ��ل�ا ���ع�د ا ��ل��لتَ�ّ�ا ����ل�ه �ع�ن ا �ل��طر� ��ق� ا�لم� � ا ض� ر ى ري� ر و و ل ى ب ي �ي ي م �ق ن خ ��ذ ف� � ن � � �ف ظ � � ه ن ا � �ل��� � �� ��ر ي ڡ ح�� ���ط�ا �ل�ع�ه �و�ش����ؤ � ق���ل�م�ه * � �� � � � او �ل ��تى * � او �� ��ي� � ك �هر ل�ه�و��س� ا � ل�م ا ح��س س م � ف ن ا �ت �ن ش ف ق �ف � ا ن ����ذه ا ��ل�ا �ن��س�ا ن� ��س��ب��ا �ل�م�ص�ا ��ل �ش���ى ي�ت خ� � �� ا �ل� � ك� ح�ه * � او ن� ا � �س�� �� ا � ��� �م��ه * � او � � ���دي�� � � ب ى م ع �ّ ا ش ا ة �� ا ��ل�ن �ف �ق � �ت ا � ن � ق � ا � ن ن �ن ن ح�� * � ا ن� �م�ا ا �ل ��و� �ع��لي��ه ��ى ��و�ل�ه ��ع� �ل�ى � � او � �ل�ل��م �و�م� ي���س ��طر�و� ا � �ه�وا �ل� ا ���� ر� ا ل�ى � س و � ّ ق ا � ا�ل�من �� ���ف ���ط�ا ��ل�ع�ه ��ص �� * ف��ا �ن�ه ا �َّو��ل ا �ل��م ا �ة ا �ل ��ت �ز ��ف ت� ا ��لي��ه ���فى ا �ل�م ن��ا � ��ا ��ل�ع�ق� ب� * � او ج��ل ���د �ى �� �ل�ه ج� ى ح�ي ر ى مب ر م ن �ح � �ن ن � ذ � �ذ � � ن ن ق ا ق ف ف � � � � � � �� دا ا ا ن � � ��ا ��لتّ�ي���� ا �ل� �ى ك�� � �ي ط � �ه��ر�ى �م �ع��د ا �ل� �م�ي�ر � ك� ح�ه * � او �ل��سر ��ط� � ب�� �����س�ه ا � ر ج� �� ا � �ل � ب س ع � � َّ � ث� � ت � ة ا ن ش ف تا ا ا ن� ��ع��ثر ب� ح�ص�ي�ر �جم ���ل��س�ه ا �ل��س� �م�ى �ل�و �ل� ا � ��م��س��ك ب��ب��ع��ض� ا � �و� ده ا �ل��� �ر�ي���� * � او �و�ل ا �ل ��ور �ي � ن � ن � � ن � � � ة �� � �ل ح �� �غ���ر ��م ��ا ��ل�ا �م�ي�ر ا �لم�م�د �و� * ا �ل�ا ا ن� ا �ل�عب��ا ر�ة ا �ل�ا �و ��ل�ى �و��هى ��ق�و�ل ال�مج� ح�ص�ور� ح��س ا ���و س ي ب ح م ت � � ذ ذ �ف � � � � ا ث ا � �د ا �ه ���س�ت غ� �ق �ج��م � ا � ح ا �ل � او �ل �ر� ي� �� حوا د ث� �مك��ا ��س�ي�رد ب��ي��ا �ن�ه * �و� �ل��ك �ى ح� د � �و ح� * � �ى ع ا �ل� ��و �ا ت ف ن � ن �ف ق � ة �ف ق ق � ن ّ � �ذ ق ا � ا � �ل��ا ر�ي�ا �� �لم�ا ��س�م� �م�ن �ج�ي��ه ا �ل�� �ى ��ا �ي� ض� ���ه �ع��ل�ى ا �ل� �ع��را �� ا � ا�لم��س�ا �و�م�� ��ى �ي���ل �و��ا �ل ع � �ن � ا ا ت � خ��� ��ف �ا ا � � �ة ة � �ص�د ه ا ن� ي� � ��ت ن ���ف �ق ا ن �س�� ب� ا �ل�� ج� �هى �م ا �لب��ي � �ع� � ا �ل ار ب� ح� * ل � �ى � ر ح�� * � او �ل� � ب �ج رب ي �� �ج �م�ا �ع ن��ده �م�ن ا ��ل� ض ���ا �ع��ة ا �ل��م�ز ��ا �ة * ا ��ل�ا ا �ن�ه �ل�� ��ع ض ��ه�ا �م�ن ا �ّ ��ل � �ه��ل��ة �ع�� ا � � � ش م�����ت �ي�ن � � ل ح�د ا �ل ر و و ب ج � �ي � ر ى م �ذ ت �ف � �م�ن ا ��ل ث ا � ق ة�� ف ا ح��ه * ��� ا خ��� �� ��ت�ق���ل��ه�ا � ��ت�ف���ل�ت�ه�ا � ��م ش���� ��طه�ا � �ت� ن���� ��له�ا �م�ن �ج ى ي ب � و ي � و ي � و س�ي � � �� � �ل��� �مك�ا ����ع�ل �ص� � ب بل ّ � ف � � ة ف � �ة � ا ��س��ت ش �ف ا � ا �ن خ ظ � �� ت� ب� �هر �ل�ه ا �ن��ه�ا ق��دي��م�� ق��د رك� حي� ث� �ل�ا �ي ك� ��ا د ا � ح��د �ه� �م ا �ر�ى * �� �� � �ج �ه� و ����� � ّ ٓ � � ة ن �غ ف �ت �ق �ذ ن ق ا � �ير� ب� � �ه�ا * � او � �ف� �ق� �و��ت�ئ� ا � ��د � �عن ��ق��ا ��ش� ��ي�ف��د د �ع��ل� ش��� ار ء ا �ل��س��ل� ا � �لق��دي��م�� � � � ع � ل و ي� � ى ى م ع ا �ص�غ��ه�ا * � ا د �ع� ا �ن�ه � �ق��د ا ن� ��ع��د�ه�ا ا ��ل� ��ل� �ن�ه�ا حه�ا ا � �ع�� �م�ق��ا ��ض� ت ا ى و� ����ه� ا �و �ع��ل�ى � ب � و ى �ي ر �ي ي ا �ص�ل� � � و ل�ى ي آ ح� ا ��ل��س��ل�ع��ة ��ن �ف���س�ه ا ذ� � �ه�ا �ج�زه �ش��� �م�ن ا �� � ا � ث ن ا ا ��ل�ا �و��ل * � او �ن�ه ��ل�ا ��ي�ع ر � ى حوا �ل�ه� بحي�� ا � �ص� � ب �� �من ا �غ ة ��ل� �ص�غ��ه�ا � �ت��ص��ل�� ا � ت�� �� � ��ل�ا ��ع� د ��ع �ف�ه�ا * � ا �ن�ه ا �ى ا ��ل�عن ��ق��ا ��ش �ل�م�ا �ه� ��ا �ي�� ا �جع ب و �ي و �ي ر � و حه� �ي �جع ب � ب���ع�د � ب � و ي � � � � �ف ح�ف��د ا ا ��ل�ى �ت��ل�ك ا �لب��ل�اد �و�ه�و ي �ح��م�ل خ�ر ج��ا كب� ب���لغ���ه ��ى �ب�ل�اده ��ف��س�ا د �ت��ل�ك ا �ل��س��ل� ا ق�ب���ل � ����ي�را ف�ي��ه ع 270
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and ‘praiseworthy virtues,’ but that doesn’t mean that they’re accusing the person praised of pimping.” “That’s all I have,” said the other. “Don’t even think of appearing in the presence of our venerable emir again.” Thence, then, the Fāriyāq returned, deprived of that happy source of 1.18.17 profit, and his anger grew so fierce that it diverted him from the straight path, and he walked another road, reaching home only after many a mishap. He started thinking how ill-omened was the star under which he’d been born and how much bad luck his pen had brought him, and in his folly it seemed to him that the pen was the unluckiest thing any man could adopt as the instrument of his livelihood, that the cobbler’s awl was more profitable, that the letter nūn, when preceding the words of the Almighty “Nūn. By the pen, and what they inscribe. . .” had been put there to indicate “bad luck,”296 and that what the astrologer had said of his birth stars was correct. He interpreted the woman who was brought to him in a wedding procession in his dream as being the Scorpion, the billy goat that had butted him as the Kid, and himself, as he retreated from the emir’s presence, as the Crab, for he would have tripped over the rugs of his sublime council chamber had he not grabbed onto its noble supporting poles. Likewise he interpreted the Ox as being the emir who was the object of his praise. However, the earlier statement—namely, the astrologer’s words con- 1.18.18 cerning “the misfortune of having misfortune everywhere”—were not limited to one incident; rather, they encompassed every condition and event, as shall be explained. Thus, when the Fāriyāq heard from his confidant297 with whom he’d exchanged confessions that trading in polemics was a profitable affair, with prospects fair, he was taken by the idea of trying his hand at making money out of the paltry supply he had of such goods. He did not, however, display them right away to some ecclesiastical bigwig in the hope that he might buy them, as his friend had done, but took, on the one hand, to turning them upside down and removing the nits, combing through them and picking them to bits, and, on the other, to holding them up to the light to check for defects, at which they appeared to him so old and worn that hardly anyone could be expected to want them. Now, it so happened that, at this time, a roving peddler had arrived, 1.18.19 crying that he would buy, mend, exchange, or dye old goods, claiming he could restore them to their original color, that nothing was impossible for him, and that the owner himself would be so amazed on seeing them after
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�ن � ا �غ � �ف �� � ن ن ف � �ف ق ف أ�� خ ق ت �ص��ا � او �ل�اد � او � �م�ا �ير��� �ك��ل �ر�� �و��ي�عي��د �ك��ل �ل�و� ��ا ����ض� * ���س�ا ر ا �لي��ه ا � �ل��ا ر�ي�ا �� �م ا �ل� � ب �ع �ا ��ل � ق ا � ض ة � ا � ا �� � ا �ع ن �م�ن ا ��ل��س�� � �ة ا �� �ق � �ة � ا خ� � �د� ة لع� ل��دي�م� ب� رى ج�� ي��د� ���� �و � او ��ط�ا ه �ع��ل� ب��د ل م� ��ده ج��ل ا �ى ا�لم��� ي�� ى �ق � � ل� �د� � ه ة ث ق ف � ا ��� ف� ��ق ف ق ق � �� ��� * �� ������ل ا �ل�ى �م��ن�ز �ل�ه �م��سر�ور ب ص � ت��ه * را � ت� �ل�ع�ي�ن �ه * �����د ��ي���ا �ل � ��ك�ل ج�� ي��د ب� ج م � �ل� � ت ش ا � � �غ � ق ظ � ن�� د �م�ا � �ت ا ا � � ف� ا � � ن �ذ � � ل ��ل�م� �عل��م ا �ه�ل�ه �و ج��ي�را ��ه �ب�� �ل�ك ا ��س������ ��ط� او �ع�لي��ه �ي� ���� �و�� �ل� او * ع�مر ر ب� ا �ج و ج ر ث � ا ��� ا د�ة ��ف � � �ن ا ��ت��غ� � ا �� ا ا ت � ا � �ق ا � ض ت ا � ا � ا �ا � � ا �ص�غ� �ه�ا * �� �ل� حه�ا �و �ل� �ب�� لع� �ى ب�لاد � ب ي��ير لب��ي � �ع� � �و �ل� ب�م�� ي�� � ����ه� �و �ل� ب� �ص�ل � ب م م ّ � ث ��خل ن ��غ � �� ن � ق ��ا ن �ن � ض � ة � �ا ن� ا � ن � ��ي�ن �ا �س�� ل��ا ر * �ف ك� ���ا � � ك �� �م� ك ��� او ��طر� ا � بك�� �ي�لب�� ا�ب��ر ا � ب��ل� م�ط ار � ا �ل�ص��� �وك�� � �م ا �ل� ع � �ف � �ز ف ق خ خ ا � ح��ل��ق �و�م�ه * ا �و خ�رد �ل�ا د ���ل ��ى �ر ��ط�و�م�ه * � ��س�ق� ���ط �ع��ل� � �ه� � او �ب��د * � او �بر�� � او ر�ع�د � ى �ج �ّ � ق ّ ض �خ �ث �ث ح�ز � � � � ا� ص ����ط ب� * � �ض � �و � ب� * � او �ل ب� �و� ب� * � بو� بر�ر �و ر ر * � او �ب���ل * �و�م� �ج � او � ر و �ج �ز �� ف ن ح�ي�ت�ه �م�ن ا ��ل�غ� ظ� ��� � ت ث ط�� * �وف�ت��� ��ل � ي� ح�ى �ص�ا ر ت� ل � او د�بر * �و ج�ر �و���هر * �و �و�� ب� �و� ر � �� � ف �خ ن مق� �ع��ة * � او �غ� �ى �ك� ���ا �ل � ك� حن�ت ��و�� �مث���ل�ه �ب�ا � �ي�� ه�ي�� �م�ع�ه * � �ون�ا د �ى �ي�ا �ي���ل ا لله � � ع � � ل ل � ر ر ى �ج �� ف ت ّ �ذ � ش � ن � � � � ف � ا �ل�� حو��س * ا�لم�عت��وه ا�لم�ه��ل�و��س * ��ك��ا ر * ا �ن��ه� �ص�ا �ل� او ا �ل ن��ا ر * ك�ي ��� �ج� ار �ه� ا ا �ل �� ����قى ال�م��� م � ف � ق ة �� ف �ع� ا ن ����ذ �ه �م��ذ �ه��ا �غ��� �م�ا ن� ه � ث ق �ل�ى � ي ب� ��ه �ل�ه ج��ا ���لي ����ه * �و��س��ل��ك��ه �ي��ه �ب� ��ط �ر�ي���� * �وك�ي ��� ب ير � ج ة ذ� � ق ش � ح��ه * � � �صف��ا ق���ة � �ج� ه�ه � ق���ا � ت ا ق��د � � �� ق��ا � ت � * ح��ه * �ع��ل�ى �م�ع�ا �م��ل�� � �ل��ك ا �ل�عن ����ا ��� ا �ل��ل�ئي� و و � وب م بو م ُ � � �ف ُ � ق �و�مب��ا �ي��عت��ه �م�ا �ور�ث�ه �م�ن ا �ب�ا �ئ�ه �م�ن ا �ل�ز �م�ن ا � �لق��دي�� * ا �لي����س ��ى �ب�ل�اد �ن�ا � �ص��ل ب� * � او د�ه�ا �� م � � �ق ُ ن ن ن ا ا ا ي�ت حوه ��ي�را �� * ا � �ل �م�وه � ح� � �� * �ي�و��ل ب� * �ه��ل�م� او �ب�ه �م�ه�ا �ن�ا * ا ج���ل��د �وه �ع �ر�ا �ن�ا * ا ��طر�� ي �ق ��ز ن �نَ � ّ � �آ ن � ا ن ��ع�م� ه د �م�ا �ن�ا * ا �ق� ���ط ن � ا ن ا فا ت ��ط ا� ى �ب�ه ا �ل� � ا �ل� � * �� ب����د ر ا و ��ع� او �م��ه �ل��س� �� * ا ��س� �وه ا �ل �� �ى * �ع��ل� ث �ّ آ �ذ ��ُ � ف � �ا ض ��ع ش � ش ا �ن �� �ي�ن �وق��ا ��ل ا �ن�ا � ��ت���ك ���ه� ا ا جل � ب���ع�� ا ��ل ���و��� �ب� ��سرع �م رد ��طر���ك ا �لي���ك * ��م �و �ل�ى ي ب ح� � ر �ض �ّ � ق ة � � ف �ت � ��ذ � ف ه ث� ا ن ا ��ل � �ة ��فت�ن ا ه� � ف � ف ق �ف م��ا �ع��ل�ى � ار � ا �ل�د �� ر ا �ل� ى �ي�� ا �م� � ��س�ل�ع� * � � �و�ل� ح���د ا ا �ل�ى ا � �ل��ا ر�ي�ا �� ��و ج���ده � بك�� � �ج�زّ � ش � ث ف �س�ق ا �� �لف��ا ر��ا �ق� ا ��ل�ى ا ��ل �س�ف� ف��ا �ص�ا ب� �فر� �وت�ه * � �ب�ا �ل� ي � � ا ر ا �ل � � م����ا ر ا �لي��ه * ���ل�م�ا �ب�� � ي �صر � ي م �ن ت ف ن ت �ق ة �ف ف �ت ش ق ت ت ّ ا ن ت �ب�ه ا � ��� � � ه � �خ ت� ا �ود ا ج��ه � او ���س� ��م�خ�� � � ع ار ه �و�ع��د � ا ��سر� �ج ب�ي���� � او �ص�ر� ��� �� ه * �ور���ص � � ة ح��د ق�ت��ا ه * � ا � ت �ق ت س�ن ا ن ت ن �ش���ا ر��ا ه � او � �ه�م�ا �ه��ذه الم ح�مر ت� � ح�ا �ور� * ح��ر�� ا �� � ��ه �ود ا ر� ب��ي�� � و ب 272
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dyeing and mending that he wouldn’t recognize them. He (the peddler, that is) also claimed that, when he’d heard back in his hometown of the dire state of the goods in these parts, he’d hot-footed it over, bringing with him a large saddlebag298 full of dyes and containing the tools to darn any tear and restore any faded color. The Fāriyāq therefore hurried off to do some bartering and came to an arrangement by which he would exchange all his old goods for others that were new and pleasing to his eye, for, as they say, “All things new have appeal.” Then he returned home, pleased with his bargain. When, however, his family and neighbors found out, they erupted in 1.18.20 rage against him, saying, “By the Lord of Hosts, it is not our custom in these lands to change, barter, mend, or dye goods” and soon thereafter the news reached the bishop of the district, one of the big-time fast-talking market traders.299 You would have thought a knife had fallen on his windpipe or mustard got up his nostrils, for he fumed and frothed, thundered and lightninged, surged and thrashed, roared and bawled, conspired and plotted, jabbered and prattled, wheeled and dealed, remonstrated and reproached, and jumped up and down, braiding his beard, in his fury, into a whip, and trying to inveigle every other bilious beard-plucker like himself to rise up with him as he cried, “God’s horsemen against the infidel!300 They shall roast in Hell!301 How dare this accursed rascal, this raving lunatic, choose a path other than that laid down for him by his masters ecclesiastic, that followed by his very own patriarch? How dare he, in his impertinence, brazenness, and infamy, have dealings with that miserable traveling peddler and barter away to him what’s been passed down to him from his ancient ancestry? Are there in our land no roods, no stocks, no leathern hoods? Bring him to us in disgrace! Flog him in the nude! Throw him in the fireplace! Feed him to the fishes! Make him eat ashes! Cut out his tongue and make him drink camel snot! Bring him to me while the iron’s hot!” At this, one of those present leaped forth and said, “I shall bring you the little squit ‘before ever thy glance is returned to thee.’”302 Then he hot-footed it over to the Fāriyāq, whom he found poring over the ledger in which were written the prices of the goods, and set upon him with his sword and injured his scalp, after which the Fāriyāq was handed over to the aforementioned butcher. When the latter set eyes upon him, his jugulars swelled, his nostrils flared, 1.18.21 his brow knotted, and his lips turned blue, his mustaches quivered, his eyes turned red, and from his teeth smoke flew, and they proceeded to engage in the following dialog:
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� � ة �ف ق ا �� ا �� ض � �غ ن �� ل ل� � ��و ��ط�ا ر �ي�و��ل�ك �ي�ا �م� ب ��و� * �م�ا د �ع�ا ك ا �ل�ى ا�لم��س�ا �و�م�� ��ى ��س��ل�عت���ك ذ ��ا ن ت � ��س�� � ت ��ا ق َت �ف � �ذ ذ� �ف ن ن � ��م�ا ا �ل�� �ى ي��م��ع��ى �م�ن � �ل��ك * ا � �ل��ا ر�ي�ا �ق � ا � ا ك�� ��� �هى لع��ى �مك� ا �رر ا �� ض � ض� � � ت ح� ث� ا �ن��ك � ��ثت�ه�ا �م�ن ا ��ا �ئ��ك ��ل�ا �م�ن � ت � �ن � ��و ��ط�ا ر ل� � ور � ���لل� * �هى ��س�ل�ع��ك �م �ي ب � ث ن � � �ق ا ��لت ف ف �ه�ا * ح� �� حي�� ا � �ل�ك � �صر�� �ي� �ذ خ ا ف � ة � �ق ف ا ن ا ث ه � ا ن ا ن �قّ � ه ا ��لت ف �ف ح� �� � �م� � ح� �ل� �� �صر�� ا � �ل��ا ر�ي�ا �ق � �ير� ا �ل� ���س� � ي � �ه� ا ��ل� �� ا �ل�ع�ا د� � او �ل� ف �ي��ه * �ا � � ���ذ تَ ا �� ض � ا �ن � ا ن� ا � ��ثت ا ��لت� ف ح� ظ� ��� ا � ا �ت عه�ا �و �ل� �ل�بت��ا د �ل �ب��ه�ا * �ه� ��و ��ط�ا ر ل� � �� � � � � ك�� ب��� * �ك �م� ور � �ه� �ل� �ل��ض�ي آ �ث ف �ف ��هى �م�ي�را ��ى ا ����ع�ل �ب�ه �م�ا ا �ش���� * ا � �ل��ا ر�ي�ا �ق � ُ � �ن � � ق���� َ ا �� ض � �ق ّ ��� ا ئ و �� ب� * ��و ��ط�ا ر ح ت� * ا ��ى ا �ن�ا ا � �ل�ي�� �ع��لي��ه ا �ل�ص�ا �ئ�ن �ل�ه �م�ن ا �ل ش � ل� � ب م ن ت �ّ ث �غ � ا ذ ��ا ن � ث �غ �ف �م�ا ���ل�غ� ن��ا �ع�ن ا � � ا � �ل��ا ر�ي�ا �ق � ح�د ا ��ه � ��و�ل�ى �م�ي�را � ��ي�ره ا �ل� ا � ا ك�� � ا �ل� او ر� ��ي�ر ب ش را ����د * ��ف �غ ا �� ض � � ّ ن �غ �ّ ��و ��ط�ا ر �ص�ي ��ك �و��ك ي���ل�ك ل� � � �و��ي ت� * ا �ن��ك ا �� ت� ��ي�ر ر�ش���ي �د � او �ن�ا �و�لي���ك �و �و� � � ك��� ���ل�ك �و� ح��سي��ب���ك * و وي � � �ن ذ �ذ � � � �ف �م�ا ا �ل��د �ل�� �ع�� ا �� �ل�� ت س� �م�ن ا �ل ا �ش���د �ي�ن �و�م�ن � ا ا �ل�� �ى ج� ��ع��ل�ك ا � �ل��ا ر�ي�ا �ق � ي �ل ل�ى ى ر � ّ �ّ �ص�ي �ا �و �و�لي��ا * و� ّ ن � � �غ ا �� ض � ا �ز�غ َ ���ل�ا ��ل��ك �ه�و ا �ن��ك ��تب��د ��ل ت� �ب�ه � ت� * ا ��م�ا ا �ل��د �لي���ل �ع��ل�ى � � او ��ي ت���ك �و ض� ل� � ��و ��ط� ر �� �ن ّ ف ن ن � �غ � ش �ك��ا �مت��ا �ع�ا ��ي�ره * � او �م�ا ك��و��ى �و� �ص�ي �ا ��ا � �ج��مي�� ا �مث��ا �ل�ى ي�����ه�د �و� �ل�ى �ب�ه �م آ ع ��ن ن ا ض ش � � �غ ن ���ا ا ����ه�د �ل�ه� �ب�ا ���ه� ا �و�لي��� ��ي�رك * ا �ى ا �� ا �ي�� م م ش آخ � ا �� ض � ��غ ذ � ن � � � �ف �لي����س ��تب��دي���ل ����ى �ب�� �ر د �لي��ل�ا �ع��ل�ى ل� ���ل�ا �ل � او �ل�ز ��ي� ا � ا ك���ا � ا�لمب��د �ل ا � �ل��ا ر�ي�ا �ق � � ن � �ن � � ح��د * �و ��ل�ا � � او�لمب��د �ل �م ن��ه �م�ن ج� ن����س � او � �س�م�ا ا ��ى را ��ي ت� �ل�و� ا � �لق��دي�� ي م ق ّ ن �� ت �ق��عت ه ��ف ��لت ه � ا � ا �ز�ه ا �ق �ي ��و�ش����ك ا � ��ي ن���ص�ل �و��د رك�� ر �� �بت��د �� ب�م� ه�و �ى � و ��و�ى *
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The Trader: Woe unto you, you sucker! What made you barter away your goods? The Fāriyāq:
If they’re my goods, as you have just admitted, what’s to stop me?
The Trader:
Misguided man! They’re your goods in the sense that you inherited them from your forefathers, not in the sense that they’re yours to do with as you please.
The Fāriyāq:
This is against custom and truth, for a man may do whatever he likes with his inheritance.
The Trader:
Liar! You inherited them precisely so you could preserve them, not so you could squander them or exchange them for something else.
The Fāriyāq:
It’s my inheritance and I shall do with it as I wish.
The Trader:
Accursed one! I am the warden of the inheritance and its preserver from all that might sully it.
The Fāriyāq:
That’s the first time we’ve heard of someone being put in charge of someone else’s inheritance, unless the heir’s incompetent.
The Trader:
Dupe! You are incompetent and I am your guardian, your trustee, your sponsor, your agent, and the one who will hold you to account.
The Fāriyāq: What proof is there that I’m not competent, and who made you a trustee and a guardian? The Trader:
Deviant! The proof of your gullibility and error is precisely 1.18.22 that you traded in your inheritance for other goods. As to my being a trustee, everyone else in my position attests to that fact, just as I attest that they are the trustees of others.
The Fāriyāq:
Exchanging one thing for another isn’t evidence of error and deviation if the thing exchanged and the thing it is exchanged for are of the same kind, especially since I’d observed that the color of the old had almost completely faded and that the material was worn through. That is why I exchanged it for something more attractive and stronger.
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�ن ل� �ف ا �� �ي� ح��س
��ف َ ا �� ض � �ا� ن ��ف ا �ت� ت ��� ن �ت ف ق �غ ش �صرك �م� �س� ��و ��ط�ا ر ��ك�ر ت� * ا �ن�ه � ����ى �ع��ل�ى �ب�� ل� � ط�� ا � � ��ر�� �ب��ي�ن ا �ل� �ل� او � ي ع ن �� �ف ذ � � ��ل �ي�ن ا ن �ن ا �ظ ��� ��ت ن ا ن � ن � ا ا �� �لف��ا ر��ا � ك� � � � � � � � � ق و��د ا � �ل� �م��س�ت�ا �* � ع� � � ل � ك � � � و ى ي ر ي ي ق �ت غ ش � ا ��س ا ا ة � � ف ا ن �ل� َ � ت ا � حوا ��س ��د ������ �و �ل� ي�م� � �صر * ��و ��ط� ر ح� ��س�� ا �لب�� ع�مي�� * �� � ا �� ا �لض� � ذ �غ �ف � ��ف� ��س��ل�م ت� �� � � �ن �� غ ش ا � ا ك� حوا ��س�ى ق��د � ش��� ت� �ف ك ���ا ن�� ت� �� ا � �ل��ا ر�ي�ا �ق � ��ي حوا ��س�ك م ا ل����� � ا ن�� ت � ب� ش���ر�مث���ل� * و ى ن ْ � � �ن َ � ا �� ض � ن � ف ش �� ت � ش��� ا �مث���ل� � ك ن � ِ� ��و ��ط�ا ر حن� ت� * ا ��ى � او � ك��� ب ر ك ل����ى �وكي����ل �م�ن ��طر�� �� �ي�� خ� ل� � �� � ق ف �ن ف � ق � �ة ا ن ا �ا ا �ل��س�و�� * �و��د ا ��ا د ��ى �م�م�ا ا �ود ا لله �ي��ه �م�ن ا �ل� ��س ار ر ا ��جل�ع �بي�� � �ل� ع ّ �غ �ن � ا �غ ش �ّ ا �ت ّن�ت � � � �ن � ا غ ن ش �ي� ��ط ا ر �ع��ل� �ب�� �و �ل� � ��� ا �ل� � �و ب�ي��� �ه �ل� ��ه �ه�و �م�ن�زه �ع ا �ل����� * ى �ي�ن ش�� � خ �� ف �ق �ذ ث �� ا ه ق ا � ة ف ق ا � � ف ا ا ق ��ا ن ف �أ ف س�ت ا �ي�� ا �ل���س�و� �ه� ا ��م ا �� �د رك ك��ل� �م� �و�� �ل ����� �ل ا � �ل�� ر�ي� �� �وك�� � �ب�ه �� �� � * � او � � ة ��ل ّ ا ن��م�ا ا رد ت� ش�� �ي�� خ � ا ��ل��س�و�ق� * ف��ل�ا �ت�� �ك�ن �ز ��ا د�ة �ه��ذه ا �ل�ثم�ا �ن��ي�ن �م�و�ج� ب��� � ح��د ي � �ث ا �ل�م�ا �ن��ي�ن * �ُ ا �� ض � ح�ا ر �و�ج� ب��ا ��ل * �غ��ي�ر ا ن� ا ��ن �ف��ا ��س�ه �ل� نع� ت� * �ه�و ب���عي��د �ع ن��ا ب��ي���ن�ن �ا � �و��� ن��ه ا ب� ��و ��ط�ا ر ل� � يب �ق ة ت �ف �د���س�� ���سر�ى ��ي�ن �ا * ا � �ل� ي �ف �ج�نّ ا �و �م ّ��س�ه ���ط�ا ��ئ�ف� �م�ن ا ��ل ��ي ��ف� ��ه ا ذ� ا �م ��ض� ا �و � � �ج�ن ا �و ا �ص�ا �ب�ه ا � �ل��ا ر�ي�ا �ق � ك� ب ر ح�ا ��ل��ة �ه��ذه ت��مي���ي�ز ا �ل�مت��ا ا ��ل د �ى �م�ن ا �ج��ل �ك�ن � او ��ل �� �ي ��ف� ي��م�� � ب�ر��س�ا � * �ف ك �ي��د * ع ر م َْ � � ت ا � ظ �� َ ا �� ض � ا ّ ن ا � ل�� �ه�� ك � ت� * �م� �ه�و ب��ب��� �لو �ل�ل�ع� او ر��ض� �ل� ��ه ب� �� او ب� ر�� �ع��ي�� � بو��ي��ده ��و ��ط�ا ر ل� � �ج م ظ قُ ُ � ع ��� ا ن � ا � � ُُ ح ك� �م�ز �ل�ا ج��ا ن� � ي�م� � �ل� � ��ا � ا �لب��ا ب� �م�ن �ب���ل �و�م�ن د ب�ر * م �� ن ا ن ��ف � ا � �ذ � � � ّ ا ذ � ن ن � ن � �م����ه ا � �ي��ص�ي ر ب� �� او �ب� � ا �لي����س �ه� ا �ب��د �لي���ل ف��ا � �ك��ل ا ���س� � �ى ا �ل�ع� �ل� ي ك ا � �لف��ا ر�ي�ا �ق � م �ا �م�ز �ل� ج���ي�ن * ف �ف ا �� ض � �خ ّ � ة ذ ق ح��ده �م��ست��ب� ّ�د ���ه��ذه ا ��ل ���س�ق� ت� �و�ج��ر ت� * ا �ن�ه �ه�و �و� � ��ط�� ا � ��د ��و ��ط�ا ر ل� � ب � � � �آ �ف� ض ت � � ا �لي��ه �م�ن ا�لم�ا �ل��ك ا �ل� �مر * �� �و�
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23،18،1
Bad Luck
The Trader:
Blasphemer! He blinded you so that you couldn’t distinguish among the colors.
The Fāriyāq:
How can that be, when I have two eyes to see with and two hands to touch with?
The Trader:
Blind man! The senses can be deceived, especially sight.
The Fāriyāq:
If my senses were deceived, how come you’ve been able to preserve yours from being deceived too when you’re a human being just like me?
The Trader:
May you perish! Though I was once a human being just like you, I am now an authorized agent of the Market Boss, who has let me in on the amazing powers that God has bestowed on him, which include my being able to see through any false claims or dishonesty that may come my way, because he himself could never cheat.
Said the Fāriyāq (who had a speech defect involving the letter f): And where 1.18.23 is this “Boff of the Market Difgwace”303 (then he corrected himself and said) “I mean ‘the Marketplace’? Shouldn’t the addition of these eighty require the eighty-lash penalty?”304 The Trader:
Curse you! He is far away and between us lie seas and mountains. But his holy spirit courses within us.
The Fāriyāq: What happens if he falls sick or goes mad, or is touched by some wandering jinni or afflicted with pleurisy? In such a state, how can he distinguish low-quality goods from high? The Trader:
May you perish! He is never afflicted by such attacks, for he is the keeper of a mighty gate, and he has in his hand two mighty keys to close the door tight, one from in front and one from behind.
The Fāriyāq:
That’s no proof, for any person in the world could become a doorkeeper with two keys.
The Trader:
Depraved sinner! He alone has sole charge of this plot of land, for it was entrusted to him by its All-commanding Owner.
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�ن ل� �ف ا �� �ي� ح��س
ت � ن ذ� �ف �م��ى ك���ا � � �ل��ك ا � �ل��ا ر�ي�ا �ق � ُ � تَ ا �� ض � ة �تق �ذ � �ف � * �م� ا ��ل�ى ��س�ن �� � �� �رب��ا * ��و ��ط�ا ر �ص�لب� � ل� � �ي ة �ف اَ�َ �ع�ا ��ش �ه��ذ ا ا ��ل��ش �ي�� خ � �ف � ا ��ل�ى ��س�ن �� * ا � �ل��ا ر�ي�ا �ق � و � � � َّ ن� ا �ن ت�ق � ت � � ة ا �� ض � ا �ل � ح��د ت� * ا �م� ا � ���ل � ا �لي��ه �ب�ا �ل�ورا �ث�� * ��و ��ط�ا ر ل� � ث َ �ّ �ف م�م�ن �ور���ه�ا ا �م�ن ا ب��ي��ه �و ج���ده * ا � �ل��ا ر�ي�ا �ق � � ن ن � ا ُ ّ �ف � ���ل ت ��و ���ط�ا ر �ن ك� � * �م�ن ا ���س�ا � �ل� �ي��ع�د ��ى ا �ه��ل�ه * ا �لض� � �غ ف ن ث �ان ن �ه��ذ ا ا � �ع �� ف �ف �ي� ب� ك�ي ��� �ير� ا �ل� ���س�ا � �ش���ي �ا �م�ن ر ج���ل �ر��ي ب� ��ا � ا � �ل��ا ر�ي�ا �ق � مر �ج ث �ن ت ق ا � � ت � ا � ف ذ ا ت �ن �غ �غ ا �ل��ر��ي ب� ا � ا �م� � �ع ��ي�ر � او ر� ا � �����ل �م� �ل�ه ا �ل�ى ب��ي��� ا�لم� �ل � � �ه�و � ا �و�ل�ى �ب�ه �م�ن ر ج���ل �ع��ل� � ح��د�ت�ه * ى ُ �ذّ �ذ ّ � � � ن ت��� ث ف ا �� ض � �ع� ب�� ت� * �ه� ا ��سر �لي����س �ل�ك ا � بح � �ي��ه * ��و ��ط�ا ر ل� � � ّ ا �� �لف��ا ر��ا � �م�ا ا ��ل��د �لي���ل �ع��ل� ك�� �� �ون�ه ��س ا ر* ق � ي ى �ف � �� � ن ذ � � ق ا �ع ا ��ت �ذ � ت ش ا ا� ��و ��ط� ر ا �لض� � ح���� * �ه� ا �ه�و ا �ل�د �لي���ل * �و �ع��د � �ل�ك �� �م ج��ل� �و ا �ى ت � �� �ا خ ��ذ ق � ف �ن خ � ح�ت ي ج� ���د ف�ي��ه ب� ك�� �� ب� �و ا �� ��ي���ل ب� �ي��ه �م ا �و �ل�ه ا ل�ى ا �ره ى ذ � �ك�ن �ث � ة � � � ن �د �ع ا ة �م ��ط��ل�و �ب�ه ا � �ل� �ي�� ك ����ي�ر ا �ل��د ر ا ��س�� �ل�ه * ا �ل�ى ا � �و ج�� ب�� ر � م ض ن ن � � ا �ف ��ا ن ا � ّ ة ا ت شت �م��م�و ���ه�ا ا � ا�لم�ا �ل��ك ك�� � ح ب� �مر� ر ج��ل� ��و �هب��ه �هب�� � �����ى �ف ة �ث ن ���ا �� � ���ط�� ت �م�ن �ج��م��لت ا س� �و �ع�ص�ا ��ى ر ا ��س�ه�ا �ص�و ر � ��عب��ا � �ه� ك� س و � � � � � ة ا ن ن ن ق �و �ج� بّ��� �و ��تبّ��ا � �و ��ن�ع�ل�ا � �و �ب�ا ب� �ل�ه �م�ز �ل� ج��ا � * �و ق��ا �ل �ل�ه ��د أ ���� ا ف ا ��س�ت � �ت له�ا �و ا �ه ن��� �ب��ه�ا * له� �� ع�م�� � �و � به� ��ك �ه��ذه ك� � � �ذ ق ا ت ��ّ � �ف ا �� ة ا � �ف ّ �� ا � �ل��ا ر�ي�ا �ق � ه��� �م� �ي��د �ل �ع��ل�ى ��سر * �ه� ا �و��د �م� � �ك��ل لع�مر�ى �لي����س ��ى �ه��ذه ل� ب ُ � �ف �ل�� � قَ ا � ا �م�ن ا ��ل� او �ه� � او �ل�م�و�ه�و ب� ��ل�ه �وف���ق��د ا �ل�م�و�ه�و ب� ك� ����ل�ه * �ف ك ��ي�� �يب ��� �ل� ب م � � � � � ا ن فق ق ���ا ا �لب��ا ب� �و�ه�م�ا �ل�ا ��ي ن ف����ع�ا ن� �م�ن د � � ون�ه �ش���ي �ا * ا�ل�م�ز �ل� ج��ا � ���� ��ط �و��د ض� ع *
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24،18،1
Bad Luck
The Fāriyāq: When was that? The Trader:
May you be crucified! About two thousand years ago.
The Fāriyāq:
You mean to tell me that this “boss” has been around for two thousand years?
The Trader:
Atheist! It came to him by inheritance.
The Fāriyāq: From whom did he inherit it? From his father and grandfather? The Trader:
You should be punished as a warning to others! From a person not considered to be a member of his family.
The Fāriyāq:
That’s odd! How can a person inherit anything from a 1.18.24 stranger? If a stranger dies without leaving an heir, his money goes to the public treasury, which has a better right to it than any individual.
The Trader:
May you be tortured! It’s a sacrament that you have no right to discuss.
The Fāriyāq:
And what proof is there that it’s a sacrament?
The Trader:
Now you’ve gone too far! Here’s the proof (and he got up in a hurry, fetched a book, and started leafing through it from beginning to end, looking for what he wanted—for he hadn’t studied it at any great length—until he found a passage that said, in summary, that the Owner had once loved a man, so he’d given him a number of gifts, among which were a cup, a basin, a stick with a carving of two snakes on the end, a robe, a pair of shorts, a pair of sandals, and a door with two keys, and had said to him, “All these things I give unto you. Use them and enjoy them.”)
The Fāriyāq:
I swear there’s nothing in such a donation to prove it’s a sacrament, not to mention that both the benefactor and the beneficiary have died and the whole gift has been lost. How can just the keys be left, when the door’s gone and they’re useless without it?
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�ن ل� �ف ا �� �ي� ح��س
فُ نّ ت � � قَ � ن ا ��ف �غ � ا �م�ز � ا ي�ن � �ن ا �ة ا �� ض � ���د � * �ل� �يب ��� �ل�� �ى ��ي ر �ل� �ل� ج��� م � ح� ج�� ��و ��ط�ا ر ل� � م � � �ّ أ ت ل�ا �� � ة ب� ا �� �لف��ا ر��ا � حق� �ه��ذ�ي�ن ا�ل�م�ز �ل�ا ج���ي�ن �ع��لي���ك �ي�ا ��س�ي �د �ى ا �ل�ا �م�ا � �ر���ن��ى ا �� ك� �� س مر� ق � � ي ي �ف � َّ �� ذ � � � ة � ت ا �ة � ُ � � ا � � لع � س� * �و�ل�ك �ع��ل� ب�ع�د � �ل�ك ا �ل اِ� �مر� ا �ل�� �م� * �ى �مر �وح�� ب ى ف� ا ن ض غ � � ��ا � ا ��س��ت ش����ا ���ط �َ �غْ� ا � �ه�َّ ا ن� �ي���لق ��و ���ط�ا ر �ب��ي�ن ا ��ل��س��ل� � او ��ل�ا ي ج� ��ل�م� ا � � ���� ��ط ا �لض� � � و و ب ر ب ح� م � � � ل��ا ��س ��ل�و ��ل�ا ا ن� د �ع�اه د ا ا ��ل�ى ا ��ل��ل�و��س * ف���ق��ا � �ن�ا ش��� ���ط�ا �و �و�ك� ���ل �ب�ه ا � �لف��ا ر��ا �ق� �ب�ا �لب��ا ب� � او �� ك� ي م ٍع ن �ؤ ة ق � ق ��ف � �� � �ذ ف �ق ن �غ ا ت�ئ � ّ ض ش � ت ا خ �و�ع�ا � ار �ى ا � ر � �ي�� ���عرا � �ل��د ر �ى ا �لم�ب�ط� ب���ع��ض� ا �ل� �و��اد �وك�� � �و�� � ��ي �� ���ور ج�� � ا ����ه�ى � � فت �� �� �ة � �ظ � � ف ف � ق � ق ا �لي��ه �م�ن ا �لن� �� ر ا �ل�ى �و ج��ه ا � �لف��ا ر�ي�ا �� * �ت�غ���ا ���ل �ع ن��ه ��م��ل��ص ا � �لف��ا ر�ي�ا �� �م�ن �ه��ذه ا ل�ور�ط� ف ن � � �� ���خل � ق ا � � � ق �خ� ت ت� �ت ق ���ا �ع��ة ك� ���ا د ت� ��ا ر ��ى �م�ع��ك ��ا � ا �لب� ض� � او �ب���ل �ي��هر�و�ل ا ل�ى ا �ر�ج �ى �و�� �ل �ل�ه * � �ل��د ��سر� ج َ � � ئ ت��م ن��� ن� ��م�ض �ك�ن �ع ن��د ك ���فى ا ���خل ��� * ف��ا ب��ت���غ� �م ن���ك ا �ل�ا ق��ا ��ل��ة * ا �ْو �ل�ا ف��ا ن� �ي�� �ر� را ��س �ي�ل�ا �� � ي� بب ى �ج م ى ع � � �ن �ذ ذ ا � � ن � ف �ج�ث ت � �ت � ح��ي�ن ��ع�د � �ه� ا ��ا ر ��ى ا �ي�ا ه �لي����س��ك�ن ر �و�ع�ى * ا � �ل� ي��م��ك�ن �ل�ى ا � ا �عي�� ش��� �ب�ل�ا را ��س * �ى م ف ن � ة �ذ فق � �ف ض ّ � �ك�ن ��ف ا ���خل �غ � ن �ف � �ر� ��ي�ر ا �ل��ل��س�ا � ��م�ا �ل�ى �ب�ه � ��ا �م�ا ا � �ل�م �ي�� � ح�ا ج��� �ه� ا �مت��ا �ع��ك ����م�ه ا �لي���ك * �����ا �ل ى �ج � ���خل � ا ��ذ ق � ن ا ����ل ق � � �ن ��ت �ة ا �� ف ق �ة ن ت �غ ت ا �ل�ه ا �ر�ج �ى �م� � ح� ا �ل��ع� ��م�ل * �ي���ب��� ا � ���صب��ر �ع��ل� �م� يح���ك م ب��ع� ل�ص� � ��� �ه�ك� ا �� ى ى � � ا ��لت� ة ت �ك�ن � ا خ � ��ا ر� * �و�ل�� �ل� �مك��ا �ه�ود ا ب� �ج��مي�� ا�لم�بت��ا �ي��ع��ي�ن �ع ن��د �ن�ا * � �و��ل�ك �م�ن ب���ع��ض� �� �وا ��ص �ه��ذه ج ع ت ا ض ا ن ت�ق � �ق � ا ت ف ظ � �ا ف ظ � � � ���� الم �ه�ا * ف�ي��� �ف� ف��ا ن� �م�ن خ� ��� ا � ���� ا �ل� او ��ى �ل�ه� �و� �ك�و ن� ��ل�ه �ص�ه� ا � خ� � ح� ا � � � � � ح� �� ��� �ع�لي� ي و ى �ن � ي�ن ي�ن ذ �ُ تّ � �ن � � ا ن ذ � ا ��غ�نً �ع�ن ا ��ل ا �� ا ذ� ا ��ن �ق �ف ا ت � � �� * �و�ع ا �ل�ع� �� ا � ا �سم�ل�� * �وع ا �ل�ل��س� � ا � ا ا ��س���ل * رس ب��ه� �ى ذ �غ ذ �غ ّ � � �َ َ � ذ � � ل���ل * �و�ع�ن ا �ل�ع ن��ق� ا � ا �و�ع�ن ا �ل��س�ا ق���ي�ن ا � ا ��م�ز �ت�ا �ب�ا �ل��د �ه�ق� * �و�ع�ن ا �لي��د �ي�ن ا � ا ���لت��ا �ب�ا � كب�� ُ � �ُ �ق�� ت ���د ا ذ� ا �ف � ت ق ا � ا ا �ت ف ا ن � ا ف � ا � �ص� * � او � ك ح�ى �م�ا ��ئ ت��ا * و ل��ب �ص� * �� �ل �م� ا ر�ى �م� ر�ى �� � ا �ل� �� �س� �ل� ي ي ر آ � � � � � ة ف�آ ��ن ف ّ ا ّ ف ا �ئت ا ف ا ن � ن ن �ن ��خ�ز ن �ن � او �ل��د �م �ل� �يرد �� � �� * �� � �ي��ك�ن �ع��د ك �م � � �م �ي��ه �م ا �ل�ع�د �و �ع��ل�ى ا �ل��س�ل�ع�� �� �و�ى � ة ث �ّ ا �ف حة �ه��ذ ا �ف ا �ق� ب��ي��ن�� � �و��� ن���ك * ف��ا ���ط �ق� ا ���خل ا �لي��ه * � ا �ر�ج��ى ��س�ا �ع�� �� د خ���ل �ب�ه �ج��ر� � � ل و � ى ر ر ب ي م ت ا ن ��ف � � ا ��ت � ف � ق ف � � ا ا � �م �ن �صغ���ي�ر�ة � او �غ��� �لق ا ��ل��ا � * � او خ����ذ ي �� ح ا � �ل�� ر�� �� �مك�ا ��س�ي�رد ب��ي�� ��ه �ى ا � �ل���ص�ل ا �ل� �ى * � ب ب ي
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26،18،1
Bad Luck
The Trader:
May you be shown up for the liar you are! The keys are all we need now.
The Fāriyāq:
By the power of these two keys over you, My Lord, if you can show me just once in my lifetime the cup—that’s all— you can have complete authority over me from that day on.
Faced by this resolute attitude, the trader burned with ire and was on the 1.18.25 point of bringing the Fāriyāq the door and the cup when someone called him to table. Rising energetically, he appointed a few of his knaves to see to the Fāriyāq, for at that moment he was so convulsed with hunger that he believed the sight of the bottom of the pots in the kitchen would be more appetizing to him that that of the Fāriyāq’s face, and he pretended to forget about him. The Fāriyāq thus escaped from that sticky situation and set off at a run to the Bag-man and told him, “I lost by my trade with you, for the goods almost landed me under the scalpel, so I want to revoke the deal— or if you will not, and you have in your bag a head that will fit my body when the latter’s deprived of this one, show it to me now and calm my nerves, for I cannot live without a head. If all you have in the bag is the tongue, it is of no use to me. Here’s your property. Take it.” Said the Bag-man, “This is no way to do business. You have to endure 1.18.26 patiently the consequences of the deal, according to the way of all those where we come from who agree on terms, this being one of the distinguishing features of this trade. But do not fear: another of its features is that it protects those who protect it and preserves those who preserve it. He who engages in it will need no head if the top of his is lopped off, or eyes if his are put out, or tongue if his is pulled out, or legs if his are clamped in the stocks, or hands if his are shackled in irons, or neck if his is snapped, or liver if his is popped.” The Fāriyāq replied, “I don’t see things the way you do: being sorry doesn’t revive the dead, regret doesn’t bring back what’s fled. If you have a storeroom in which I can keep my goods safe from the enemy, lodge me there. If not, this is the parting of the ways between us.” The Bag-man hung his head for a while, then took him into a little room and closed the door, and he set about putting the Fāriyāq to the test, as will be explained in the following chapter.
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ا �� ��ل�ف��ص ا ��ل��ت�ا ��س� �ع ش �� �ل ع �ر �ة ���فى ا �ل ح�� �وا ��ل � � حرك� س �ق�د � ت� �ع�اد�ة ا ��ل ن��ا �� �ج��م��عً�ا ��ا ن� � ��ق � ��ل� ا ا ذ� ا ا � ش ا ش �ت ا �ق �� �ش� ن ق � جر س ي ب �ي و و حب �� او ����ي � ا �و ا ��� � �� او ا ل�ى ��ى ا � ��ل�ب�ى �ذ � ح���ة �ه��ذ ا ا ��ل ش��� * ا � � ش���ت�ه ذ� ��ل��ك ا ��ل ش��� * � ��ل�� ت ح��ّ ب��م � � ا �ل ش�� س� �ى و �ب يح ب� �ه� ا ��ى * ا �و ي س �ى و ي � �ى ض �ف � ة �ذ � ا س�ت � ن � � �ن � � �ة ف ن �ق ��و ��ى ا �ج�ل ��س� م �ج �م�ل� ا د ر�ى �ع��ل�� �ه� ا ا �ل� �� �ع�م�ا �ل * ��ا � ا � �ل���ل ب� ا ��م�ا �ه�و �ع� � م �ا ضآ اً �ن �� ا �ن ه ا نّ �َم�ن ا � ّ ����له�ا ج�م ح�ا � ّ�س��ت�ه�ا �ك�ن ا ن� �ت ���� ء �ف�ل�ا ي� ��م�و�ع��ة في� � � � ه � �مث��ل� � � �م� � ح ك ك � � � � * � � ا �ل� �ع� � � و � � و ب ي بي ف � ن �ظ � ��ف ت �ا ��ل �نً�ا �م�ن ا ��ل���ط ا �خ ��� ا ��ل��ا �عث���ة �ع��ل ا �ش��ت�ه�ا �ئ�ه * � �م�ن و �ى � ��ع� �م ب� �ص�و�ص�ه ��لي�� �� ر �ى ا د � او � ا �ل� �ك�ل ب �و آ � � � ة ف � ن �ظ � �ف � ة � ا ث ة ا� ّ ش ت �ئ ا ا� ط�� ح ب� ا �م ار � ��لي�� �� ر ��ى ا �ل�اد ا � ا �لب�� �ع��� �ع��ل�ى ا �����ه� ���ه� * �و�م� ي�مي���ل ا �لي��ه ا �ل�� ب ع �و�ه�و �� � ئ ة � ة � ّ ن �غ ن �غ��� ��م ت ح��ا � ا ��ل�ى ا �ع�م�ا ��ل ا د ا �ة ظ �����ا �ه �ة �و ذ� ��ل��ك ك � ح� ب� ا �ل �ر�ا ��س�� � او �ل��س�ع�ا د� � او �ل��د �ي�ن �ي���ب���ى ا � ر ي ر �ج � ذ � � ن ّ�ة � ا �ا �ق �ة � ا ��ت � � ا ��ل ض ة �ق ���ع�� ا �ى ا � �ل���ل ب� * ي �ح��م�ل �ع��ل�ى ا �ل ار ��س * ا � ��هى ا �م�ور مع �� �و� �ل� �ع�ل � �ل�ه� ب ��لك ب�� ي � � � � � ��ذ � ��ا ن �ك��ا ا ن� ا �ل �� ط ح�ا ��ل ا ��ل���ذ �ى �ه�و �و راليم��م ن���ة �ل�ا ��ت�ع��ل�ق� ��ل�ه �ب��ه��ذه ا �ل�ا �م�ور * �ف � � �و �م �ك� �ل��ك ك�� � �و �ز�ير �ز�ي �ا � �ن �غ �� ن ق � � ة �ق ���ا ن�� ت ��� ة � ق ا�لمي����سر� ا �ى ا � �ل���ل ب� * ا �ل� ا �ن�ه �لم�ا ك� � حرك���� ا � �ل���ل ب� ا ��سرع �م ��ي�ره �ل��ك� �و�ه ا �رب� ا �ل�ى �ز � ن ّ � ة � �ف �ّ � آ �ان ن ن �ق ا �ل �رئ�� ا �ل ��تى ��هى � حر ا �لت� ��ف���س * ��� ظ�ن ا �ل ن��ا ��س ا � ا � �ل���ل ب� ا ��ص�ل ��ى �ج��مي�� ا �ه� �و ء ا �ل� ���س�ا � ع � ش ح�ق��ا �ئ�ق ���ث �ة ا ��ل�ا ��س��ا � � ا ��ل�ع��ل� � ا ��لت� ��قّ���ن ��ل�� ح ث� �ع�ن �� ا �ق�ه * �و�م�ن �ع�اد �ت��ه� ا �ج��ت�ن�ا �ً�ا �ل�ب�ل�� ل � � � ك � و و ر ل ب ب � او � �و ي ب � م ت ّ ن �ق ن ا � �د �م�ن ا � ا ا ا �ل� ت ّ ة � � �صر� او �ع��ل�ى ��سب�� ب� �و ح� ا � ��ي� ت�� �س�� ب� ��س� او ا �لي��ه �ك���ل �م�ا ���سب�� ب� م��ع�د د� * � �وي��� ب � �ل� � ب آ � � � � �ف ق �غ �ك��ا �ت� ن����س� ا ��ل ش����ع � ء �مث��ل�ا د � او �ع�ى ا ��لن� ح��س ا �ل�ى ا �ل��د �هر �ود � او �ع�ى ا �لب���ي�ن � او � �ل� ار �� �ع�ن ��ي�ره * �م ر ب آ ن ة �ا آ � � � ا ��ل� ا ��لغ�� ا � * � �� ن��� ء �ع�� �ه��ذ ا ا ��ل�ا �عت��ق��ا � ا � ��س��� ا �ل� �ه� �و ء ك ����ل�ه�ا ا �ل�ى ا � �لق���ل ب� ا را د د ى ل بو ى رب ب �ى 282
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Chapter 19
Emotion and Motion305
It is the custom of people everywhere to say when they love or long for
1.19.1
something, “My heart loves” that thing or it “feels drawn to” it or “desires” it. I don’t know the underlying reason for this usage, for the heart is only one of the many organs of the body, and it’s not possible that the sensory capacities of all the organs should be gathered together in just that one. The proof is that if someone loves a certain kind of food, for example, the cause is to be sought in the gustatory organs that give rise to his desire for it, and if someone loves a woman, the cause is to be sought in the organ that gives rise to his desire for her. Natural inclinations that do not call for the employment of any visible organ—such as love of leadership, good fortune, or religion—must be attributed to the head, these being abstractions that have nothing to do with that lump of flesh called the heart. By the same token, as the spleen, which is the Vizier of the Right-hand Side,306 has nothing to do with these matters, so the heart, which is the Vizier of the Left-hand Side, can have none either. However, given that the motion of the heart is more rapid than that of other organs because of its greater proximity to the lungs, where breathing originates, people think that the heart must be a primary source for all a person’s affections and desires. It is also their custom, to avoid having to search for numerous reasons and causes and of having to be certain of their facts, to reduce everything to one cause among the many. In the same way, poets, for example, attribute the proximate causes of bad luck to fate and of ill-fortune and separation to crows. Based on this belief (namely, that all affections are attributable to the heart), the Bag-man wanted to test the Fāriyāq’s in order to find out whether
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1.19.2
�� � ���� ������� ��� ��� � �������� ��
� ق � ف� ه � ّ ���د���د�ة ��ن � ض ���ا ��ق� ��ا � �ج��ى ا ن� ي���مت�� ا ���خل � ا ��ل��س��ل�ع��ة ا ج��ل ح�ن ق���ل ب� ا � �لف��ا ر�ي�ا �� �لي��عل��� ��ه�ل ��ن ب���ض� ي�� ح � ب و ي ر ب ي م َ ْ � ا �ف� �ق � � ت� ّ ��ف ق � � ا ن ا ��ل �� � �ة ا ��ل �د� ة خ � � �ن ا � ا �ل� ���ع�ل ��ي� �و�ل �ل�ه ��ه�ل ح��س �ى ��لب��ك �ب� � ��سلع� ج�� ي��د� ��ي ر م �ل� �و�ى * ا �و �ل� * ج ت ً حً � ض � �ذ �� �ه�ا * �و��ه� ��ي ن�ب����س ���ط � �و���ت��س� � �و� ن�� ش��� � ����طرب� �فر��ا �و��سر�ورا �ع ن��د �م�ا ���س�م� �ب�� ك� �و��ه�ل ي�� ر ل ر ي ع ي ح ع � � � ض ق � ت ض ا �ّ �ع ن ذ � ت �ق ��ي ��� � �يو� ��ر ���ل�ك * �و��ه�ل �ع ن��د �ع ن��د �خ� ��ط�ور �ه��ذه ب��ب��ا �ل��ك * � ��يو ن �� ب���ض� �وي� ��� ��د � ك � � م قآ �ف ف ت � ا ث ن ُ�خ َّ � َ ن ق ُ � ف �� � �ف � �ن � �ف ق � � �ر �ت��ك د ���ر ا �ل� ��م�ا � ي�ي���ل �ل��ك ا � ��د ��طب�� �ي��ه ا �ى ��ى ���لب��ك �ك��ل حر� م حر�و� ع ّ ت �ت � � �ل� � �ف � ّ ه � ه ��ض����� � � ت ق ا ��ل��د ف���تر * � ح�تى ��ل�وا �ع�و�ز ك �و ج� �وده ��س�د � �لك ا حر�و� م��س�د * �و ��ل ي � طر � �يو ��و��د � م ث ��ا ��ل��س ن �� ا �ل� � �ف �ن �ق � �ة � � �ذ � � �� ض��م خ �ح�ل ا �ر�ى * �� �ي��ع�ود ا ��و�ى �م�م�ا ك���ا � �ع��لي��ه ك�� �م��د ل معر�و� * مر وي�� و ب� وي م � ��ه ت� ّ ا �� ض ا � ا ن �ن ا �خ� ا �ن�خ �ص ه * � ا �ه�ص�ا �� ��س�ه * �و � او �خِ�زا ي� ��� ب� � � ��س� ي �خ�زه * �و�ع�ا � و �ل ح��س ي � �ص ار �ي��ع� ر ور فقا � � �ف ا ا ق ا � ا ض � ض ا غ �ا � ض � ق ق ��غ�� ��ط�ه * ����� �ل �ل�ه ا � �ل�� ر�ي� �� ا �م� ا �ل� � ��� �� ��ط� ي�� ����ط ار ب� �ير�ه�ص�ه * �و�م�م�ز ��ا ي��م�ز ��ه * �و� � � ُ ْ ض �ذ � �ة ح�ا �ل ��ت ا �� ف�ل� � � او ��خل �ق��ا ن� ف��ا �ن�ه د ا ئ��م�ا �ع��ل� �مث��� �ه��ذه ا ��ل ����ة ��ل�� ��ل��ك ي ڡ � ف� �� � � ح�ا �ل�� * �و�ه�و �عر� ل ى ر ى ح ا � ّق � �ذَ � ت ف ن �ن ش ف ن ف ف� �ق ا �� ا �ل� ا � ا ��لت ق َ ا ا ت � � او �ل��ر� ��ا � ا د ��ى ����ى �ي ��و�ثر �ي��ه * � او �م� ا �ل ��و��د � او �ل� � �وب� � ��ل� ا د ر�ى * ��� ل �مر د ب� ��و��د ح �� ح ّ ة ا ��لت��ّ ت�خ ّ � � ن � ل �خ ّ � ا ا ا ا ت � ل �ه ن��ا � �وب� ��ر � او �ل�ع� �ه�و��س �و�ي���ل �م� �ه�و �م�ع�د �و�م �م�وج�� �صر �مي��� �و ح�م��س � او �ل � �ود ا �و�م� �ه�و � ظ� أ ن �م� �ه� � � �ق��ي�ن �ا * � �َمثَ�� ذ� ��ل�� �مث�� �م�ن ���س�ا �ف ���ف ف�� �ا �ة ��ل�ا �م��آء ف� �ف �غ و �ل ك �ل ي ر ى ل �ه�ا ��بي���ل� �م ن��ه ا �ل�����م�� ا � ي� و وم �ي آ آ ُ � َ قِ�زً ّ � � � ش � � ً ش ا ا �ل�� �ن ا �ي�ز � ن �ن ف � ن � �ت ت ّ ��ي ��ص�ور ا �ل��س ار ب� �م� ء �و����ع�ع �م��س � �� ا * �و �ل� ا �ل ي�م��ى � ����س�ه ب���و ج��دا � ا�لم� ء ح�ى � ش قّ ت � ت � � � �خ ّ��� � ا ��لت �� ا �ل�م�ف��ا �ز �ة * ف��ا ن� �ش���د�ة ا ��ل� � �ه�ّو��س ��ت�ع��ي�ن ا �ل�ا �ن��س�ا ن� �ع��ل� �ح��م�ل ا �ل ك� م��ا ره � او �ل ��ي�ق� �� ط م����ا �� * و � ي ل ى ف �ع ن �ز حًا ت ن �ن � � ئ ف ّ ا � �ث ق ت ت ئ ي�ن ت ا � � �ي���ك�و� را �� � س� ا ��ه �م ا�لم� ك ����� �ع��ل�ى ا �ل� را ��ك * �ي�� � ��س�و�ى ح� � ���� � له� �و�ه�و يح�� ب � � � ا ��لَ ف�َ خِ � ا �ن�ا �غ الم � ��ق ق ة الم ��ا �ز � او ��ل � � �ب���ذ ��ل��ك �ع ن��ده الجم �ت � س� � �ص�ر ��و ح ي ����� �وح��س�و��س �و��ي�ر ح��س�و��س * ح�ى يح�� ب �ف � ي�تّ خ �ذ � ا ��لن�� ش ���ا ن� ذ� ا �ز � ���ة � �ع��ا ��ل ��� ع�� �ع �ش���ا � او ��خل ��ا �ز �و�ق� ا �و ا �ل�ص��لي� ب� �م ن�ب��را * �ور��م�ا ك� ��� �ه� و و و ج ي ر ب � م ��مت خ� ��ذ � ا ن � �ن �ل� �خ�ز �ف ف غ ا � � � ��ف ا �� � � ن � ق ا �ة � �ت � ا ��ل � �ة �� ا�لم� �ع�و� م ا � � �ي���� د ره� �يو�ج رى �ى لب��ل�د ا � ا � �ل�� � � �ل� � ��س�ل�ع� * م �ص�ي ر يو �ج ��ت �ف � � � � �خ ف � � ���س�ت �غ� ن� �ع�ن ا �ه��ل�ه � ا خ�� ن س�ت ش ا � � � � � � � ل و وي �ى �وا ��ه �ور�ه ��ط�ه ب�م� �ل�د �ي�ه �ى ا �ر�ج * ف�ي �حم�ل�ه �ع��ل�ى ك� ����ه �م�� ب����� ار � � �ف � ف َ ا ا � َ �� ���ا * � � ��ك�ل �م�ن �م ّر �ب�ه �م�ن �عب��ا د �م��سر�ورا � �وي�ض� ��رب� ��ى �م ن��ا ك� ب� ا �ل� ر��ض� ��ط�و �ل� �و�عر ض� 284
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Emotion and Motion
or not love for the new goods beat strongly within it. He started off by asking him, “Do you feel in your heart that the new goods are better than the old, and does it pound with joy and pleasure when you hear them mentioned? Does it feel happy, expansive, and care-free when the thought of them occurs to your mind and does it clench itself, shrink, and recoil at the mention of the other? When you read the price list, do you feel that every single letter in it has been imprinted on it (meaning, on your heart), so that, even if it weren’t there, those same letters could take its place? Does it sometimes ignite and burn, and then at others go out, only to return more strongly, like the celebrated phoenix? Do you feel too that it’s being prodded by a prodder, pricked by a pricker, squeezed by a squeezer, constricted by a constrictor, ripped by a ripper, and pressed by a presser?” The Fāriyāq told him, “As for the pounding and the choking, my heart’s always that way, being subject to such sensations in both joy and sadness, for the least thing affects it. As far as igniting and melting are concerned, though, I don’t know what you mean.” “What is meant by ‘burning’ here,” replied the Bag-man, “and by ‘prodding’ and ‘squeezing,’ is ardor, enthusiasm, and obsessive interest, and imagining that what isn’t there is present and what is a fantasy is real. An example would be someone walking in a waterless desert who becomes so thirsty that he thinks the mirage is water and the sun’s rays, too, are pure, sweet water, and keeps on going in the hope of finding water until he’s crossed the waste, because intense imagining and obsessive interest help a person put up with trials and tribulations, and, though he be sinking under their weight, he will imagine that he’s reclining at ease on a couch. Thus the figurative and the real, the tangible and the intangible, all come to be on the same plane to him, to the point that he reckons hunger a dining table, the bier a throne, the impaling stake or cross a pulpit. He may have a wife and children and use them as though they were no more valuable than china plates and go running off through distant lands to promote his goods, giving up family, friends, and companions in favor of the contents of his saddlebag. This he carries on his shoulder, gladly and with high hopes, trudging high and low over the earth, offering to make any mortal who crosses his path his partner and co-financer. He goes on this way until his time is up, and nothing pleases him better than to die thus engaged. The bag! The bag! No other trade or work have we than it. The goods!
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� ا �ي�ز � أ ت قض ن � � �� ة � ض ا ة ���ذ � � � ا لله �عر��ض� �ع��لي��ه ا �ل ش���رك���� � او �لم� ح��ه �و ��ط� بو��ى ��� ر�ب�� * �و �ل� ا �ل د� �ب�ه ك�� �ل�ك ح�ى ��ي�����ى � ب ��خ َ � َ� * �م�ا ��ل ن��ا ��س� ا ه �م�ن � ف ة � ا ش غ � � ا ���خل ح�ا ��ل��ة * ا �ل ��ل�ه ا ن� �م�ا ت� �ع��ل� �ه��ذه ا ��ل � حر��� �و �ل� �������ل * و ر ر ى �ج �ج � َ � َ ث � �ف ق � ����ن�ت ُ � � ف �ل ا ا ف ا �ق �غ ا ا �ن ن �ى �و � ا �ل��س��ل�ع��ة ا �ل��س��ل�ع��ة * �لي���� �ل�� ��ي�ر�ه� �م ج� ���ع�ل * �� ��ط� �� ��ي ب� ك�� ح ب� * �� �م� �� � س ي م �ق ش���� خ �� � �ق ق ا �� � ا �� �م�ع�ا ش��� ا ���خل ّ ي�ن ح��ي�ن ��س�ا ��ل�ه ا �� �لف��ا ر��ا �ق� ��ه� �ع ن��د ك�� ب���ع�د � �ر�ج�ي��� ��س�و� �و �ي� ل�ل��س�و� * �� ل �ل� * ل ر ي م � �ق ّ �� � ا ق ا � ّ � � آخ ��� �م ن��ا � ��ق �ّ � �مت��ا �ع�ه ب��ن ��ف���س�ه �و ��ل�ا ي� ت ل� ا�لمت�� �� �ل �ك� ق��ا �ل �و�م�ن ��ي� �و� � ك�� ح��ا � ا �ل�ى � �ر * ل �ي و م �ج م م ع ف �ت�� �ّ� ا �� �لف��ا ��ا �ق � ق��ا ��ل ���ف ��ن �ف���س�ه ا نّ� ���ف �ه��ذ ا ��لع� � ��ا * ف��ا نّ� ��ق� �م�ا �م�ن �ه� ��ل��آء ا ��ل�ص�ع�ا ف��ق ع ى ري � و ى �ج ب و و �ج ب ي �� �ك�ن � � � � � � �ق ا � ش خ ق ا ش خ خ � خ � �ل�ه�م �� �ي��� ��س�و�ٍ� �و�م� �ل�ه�م �ر�ج * �و��و�م� �ل�ه�م �ر�ج �و�لي����س �ل�ه�م �� �ي��� * �و�ل�� �ل��ع�ل ذ � � �ك�ن ���ذ � � � ا �ت��ّ ف � ���خ � ق �� � ح� �ذ حق ا� ل �� �ل� ح��م� ا ل � � � � ا � �ل ا ا �ل ك � � � � �ر� �م�ن ا ����صى ا �لب��ل�اد � ك� � � * ع ل م � ل � � ك و م �ي �ص� �ب�ى �ه� ل�ى �� ل �ج ث ن ت� شّ � ن ���خل � ّ� ا � � � �م ت ف ا �ف �خ�زه ا ��ل � � ا �خ� ���ط�ا ر ا �ل�� فس��ر �و�غ��ي�ره * �� � �خ نّ��ا ��س ا � ا �ر�ج �ى ر�م� �ل� ي ج��د � �و�ج �� � ح��ر�� ��ى ب م م م � ت �ف�آ � ا ن � ن ف �ف ف ن خ ��� �م�ن ���ل��ده �مث��ل�ا �ب�ل�اده ج�� ء ب�م� �ع��ده �لي� �� � �ق��ه ��ى �ب�ل�اد ا �ر�ى * ��ا � �ت�ا ج� ار �ل�و ا ��س��ب�ض� ب ع ً آ � فق � ��ل�ه ��ا �ن�ه ق��د � ا ��ل �ه��ذ ا ا ��ل���ل��د � ّ �خ�زّا ا �و � ��كِر��ا ��س�ا ا ��ل�ى ب���ل��د � خ�ر �ل� ي� ك�� ح��ا �ب�ا �ه��ل�ه * �����د ج�ر ت� م �ى ب ب ح� ب ب م م ث فّ � ّ � �ف � ��ف َ نّ َ ن ا َة �ل� � ق ت � ن � ة ن �ف ا � �خ � ي�ن � �ج�� � �م�ا ا ا �ل�ع�ا د� �ب�ا � ا�لم����سب��ب��� �ي� ��ط�و��و� ���ي �ك��ل ا �ل� �� ��ط� ر * �� � ك ��ر �ى ا � ا �� � ا ر ى و م � �ن � �ز ن ة � �ن ق ن � �ل� �ا ّ ن خ� �ا �ف � �ن�ز �ق ش �ز �ه�ا ا �لر����د � او � ح �م * ب��ل � ا �ل� � �ه�و �ع�لي��ه �م ا �لر ا ��� � او �ل�صب��ر �ل� �ب��د � او � �ي��ك�و� � ��ير � � � ن � ا ق �ي�ن �� �غ ة �� ض � �ف ث � � ��ا ن � ��ا ن� ا ���خل �ر�ج��ى ك� ���ل�ا �ل * ��م�ن �� � ك�� � او �ل��طي�� ش��� ف��ا �ن�ه �ل�ا �ي��ك�و� ا �ل� �ر ا ل� � او �ي�� � او ل � � � ح� ع � � � ل � ب ى م م ًُ ذ � ��ا ن � �ن � ض ا �ي�ن �ل� � �ّ ت ه ت �ت ّ ه ث ق ا � ن � � ن �ه�د �ى �و� ��ل��ك �ل�ا �ن�ا �ت�ه �و� ح��ل�م�ه * � او � ا �لم��ط ار � ك�� � م ا �ل� ��� �ل�� حِ �د �� � �و� ر�ع� * ��م �� �ل � َ ذ �ن � �ّ ا ��ل���خ �� �ل �ج�� ق��د � � ت حق� ا �ل� �م�ع��ك * ع�� �ي�ا ��س�ي �د �ى �ك��ل �م�ا ا �و�ع�ي�ت�ه ا � ��ى * �و�م�ا ا ر�ى ا �ل� رى وي � ��ن �ن � �آ ا �� ا ف ق � او ���نى �م ش����ا ��ع��ك �و�مت��ا ���ع��ك �و� ا �ل���خل � � �ك�ن �� � ب �ي ح� ��م�ل �ر�ج �م�ع�ك * �ول� ا ج�ر�ى �م �ه�و �ل� ء ل�ص�ع� �ي ��� َ نَّ �ذ � � � �ف ة ة ة ���ا ��ا ��س د ا �لض���ا ��� �ا �ت�ا خ��� �ه� � خ���لق ا لله ا ف��� � �ا �ش ف فن ��� �ق ر و �ل ��ا ���ه� ك� �ل �و � ري �ل ���� * �و�ع ن��د �ه�م ا � م �ى �� م ت ُ �َْ � ظ � ا ��ق � � ا �ه�ل�ا ك ��ن �ف��� �غ��� �ةً �ع��ل ا ��ل��د �ي�ن �� ��س��ه� �ع ن��د ا لله �ز ���ل�ف * �وق��د ��م��س��ك� او �ب� ���� �هر ا � او ل� ك �ي ب ى س ي ر �ى م ف أ �ان � � �ف �ز ف �ق ن ن فق غ � ن ئ �م�ن ا �ل� �ج�ي���ل �ي�م�ا ر� �وه �م� او �����ا �ل��ر ض� ���ه�م �و ا ���د ا ��ى ج��ا �ه�ه�م �و��س��ل��ط�ا ���ه�م * �ي �� �و�ل�و� ا � ْ � � � ف ن �خّ � � �ف � ا�لم���س�ي� �ب ���ق �و��ل�ه �م�ا �ج�ئ� ت� �ل�ا ��ل��ق �ع��ل� ا �ل�ا ر��ض� �ِ�س��ل�م�ا ��ل�� �ك�ن � ي � �س���ا ا ��م�ا ر� ��ص �ل�ه�م ��ى ا �ع�م�ا �ل ى ى ح 286
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The goods! No other reward have we than they.” At this point he broke down, weeping and sobbing. When, after a while, he’d recovered his composure, the Fāriyāq asked
1.19.4
him, “Do you Bag-men have a marketplace and a boss to take charge of it?” He said, “No.” “Who, then,” said the Fāriyāq, “checks the quality of the goods?” He replied, “Each of us does so himself and we don’t need anyone else.” The Fāriyāq was amazed and said to himself, “Now here’s a wonder! We have a group of undercapitalized parasites who have a market boss but no saddlebags, and a similar group who have saddlebags but no boss. But perhaps my friend is in the right: if it were otherwise, he would not have undertaken to bring his bag from such distant lands or braved the dangers of the journey and all the rest.” Now, however, the Recoiler poisoned his mind with the thought that perhaps the Bag-man hadn’t found anywhere to set up shop in his own country, so he’d brought what he had in stock to get rid of here. If a merchant stocked up on, say, silk-wool, or cotton goods, and brought them to another country, he couldn’t be regarded as doing so out of love for its inhabitants; it had, after all, become commonplace for those in search of work to roam the world. Next, though, it occurred to him that the Bag-man’s perseverance and his equanimity and patience must inevitably be complemented by good sense and resolve, in contrast to rashness and flightiness, whose only complements are conceit and error, and he concluded that, in view of his said perseverance and mild manners, the Bag-man must be following the right path and that the metropolitan, with his vehemence and eagerness to do evil, must be among the misguided. He said, therefore, to the Bag-man, “Sir, I have heeded everything with which you’ve filled my ears and believe the truth to lie with you alone. I am your partisan, your follower, and the co-carrier of your bag. Just protect me from these undercapitalized parasites, for they are like ravening lions that feel no mercy or pity for God’s creatures. They think that destroying a soul out of zeal for religion will earn them a place close to Him. They hold tight to such exterior meanings of the words of the gospel as they believe are in keeping with their aims and will increase their standing and authority. They say, for instance, that Christ’s words ‘I came not to send peace, but a sword’307 license them to apply the said instrument to people’s necks to make them return to the true path. They have cast behind them the essence, substance,
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�ذ آ � �ه��ذه ا ��ل�اد ا �ة ���فى رق��ا � ا ��ل ن��ا �� ردًّا ��ل�ه� ا ��ل�ى ���ط � �ق���ة ا ��ل � حق� * �وق��د ��ن ب�� � او �ور� ء ظ �� �ه�ور�ه� � � س ب ر�ي م م � ن � � � � ة ة � � ا �ل ا ة ال � �ه ه � �� ت�ي��� ت��ه * � ��ه ا �ل�ا � �لف��� ���ي�ن �ج��م�� ن ا خ ا ة � �ي�ن ح�� �وم��س� �ع�د� ��ل� �ص�� ا �ل��د �و ج��و ر و �ج وى ي ع ا �ل�� ��س �وم ب ب � � ا �ص� ٌ حق ا ن� ي����ست�خ�� � � �ع��ل �م�ن �ز ا�غ �و�ع��م �ع�ن ا ��ل � �و� ح��س�ن ا �لي ��ق���ي�ن �ب�ا لله ��ت�ع�ا ��ل � ع � * م � � و ى � ر ب � ى ى �ج ت �ا َ ْ يًا ن �غ َ ْ ف ن ح � ا � ا ��ف ق �غ� ض ه ��ف ا � ��ق �م�ن �ك� ���ل ك���� ب� �و� ح�� ك� ��� �و ��س� د ���ا � ا �و ��ي�ر �و��ى م� ي ��و �� ر� ع ي��د �ت�ه * ��ا � �ب�ا ب� ّ ُ � َُ � ّ ذ � �ز ا ��ل�ا ن� ��ل�ا �م��ر ا �ج��ل ا ��لت��ا �و���ل � او ��س� * اي ج� � ب���ل ا � ا �ش���ا خ� �و�ل� �ي��ع�د ا �لت��د �ثر �ب�ا ��ل�ث�ي �ا ب� �ي��د ف�ئ��ه � ي و ي � م فّأ ن ت� ّ عن ت �ذ آ � ة � ف � � � ا ا � ت � � � �ص��ط��ل� ب� � �� ا � ��� � ���� � � ء �ج �م�� � ا � � حر �ج���س�د�ه� �مك�ا ����ع�ل ا�لم�لك � �ي ك�وى ب ب �� ع� ر ي ل� ى �ي ��د �� ب��ه� وي�� ى � �ز � ذ � �ز �ن ن �ق ن آ � ت�ز �صر�ع��ل �و �ل�ه ا � ا � ح�ا ر ب� ا �ل��د ر �و � او � ت�� �ه� ا � ��ي� ت���ل ���س�� �ه� ا�لم�� �و ج��ا ت� د ا �ود * ا �م ي ج � ي� م م ت � ح �ا � ��لت��ف� ه�ن �ف� � �ك��ا �ف���ع� �م� ��س� ��ا ��ه� �م�د �ي�ن � او ���ط�ف��ا �ل�ه� �و����س��ي�ى ا ب� ك� �� ره� �ج ر � � � حو�ل �ج� ن��ده * ع � � � � م ل ى � و ب � ل ل ب م ي ى م ذ� �ف � �ل� ف � ا د � � ا ��لث���لث�ي�ن �م�ن �� فس� ا ��ل�ع�دد ا � � �ز �� ه ا ن � �ت�ز � � � ا �� �لف �م�ا � ك��ر ��ى ا � �ل���ص�ل اح� ى و �� * م يج� �و ل� � ي� و�ج ب� � �ر �ز � ن �ق ة ة� ف � �ة � �� �و �ل�ا � ح��د �م�ن ا � �ل���سي����س��ي�ن ا � ��ي ن� ك ا �م ار � �م�ا �ب��ي�ن �م��ل��ك��� �و��س ّ�ر�� �مك��ا ����ع�ل ��س��يل��م�ن * ا �م ي ج�� ي ح � �غ � �ز �ن �ة � � ا ا ��لن �غ � ح��د �م�ن ا ��ل� ��ل�ا �ة ا ن� � ��ق ت��� �م�ن ا �ي�� �و� ��و�ل�د�ه� �� �و� �ك��ا �ف���ع�ل ا �ل�ن�ب�ى �ه�و�ش��� * ا � ي���س�و �ل�ا � � ل م و �ي ل ي ع م �� �� ��ا ف ش ا � ا ��ل�ع ا � ة ف ة � � ق � � �ن ا �ع�د ا �ئ�ه �ك��ل ر ج���ل �و�ك��ل ا �م ار � �و�ك��ل � � �� � ط���ل ر�ض�ي ع * �مك� ����ع�ل ���� �و�ل �ب� �م� � �ل��� �ع ا �مر � آ � حت ا ن ا �� �غ ض � �ل ه ��ل� � ق�ت��� ه �خ ر بّ� ا �ج��ل �ي��ا ر ا ��ل ش����� ء � او �ل�ا ��ن�ع�ا � �و �ل�ا �ب ��ق��ا �ئ�ه � ن��ود * ��ى � لر ب� � �� ب� ع�ي�� ع�د ل� � م م �ق ّ �� � � ة ف ّ� ن ق �ئ ا �� �ع��ل�ى ا ج��ا � �م��ل�ك ا �ل�ع�م�ا � �لق��� � �ون��د � �ع��ل�ى ا �ن�ه �م��ل��ك��ه �ع��ل�ى ب� ��ى ا ��س ار �ي���ل ����� � �ص�م�و���ل �و��ط م م ي �ج ع ا �ل� � � �ق �� ا ا � ��ف ���ل ا � �ذ ��ن ق ق أ ت ��ف �ف ت ��ت ة ا � �� �ة م�لك ��ط ط�و�ع� �هر��س� ا ل ��ورا � �لم� ب � ��ع� ا �م� �م ا �لر ب� �ى ج ج�� �ل * �ه� ا � او �ى ��د � �ر � �ى � �ف ن � � ا ��ن ة ة ن ن �م �ة ��ف � ف � آ ن حر�� ا �ل�ه�� ء �م�ا ���ص�ه * �ي���ب���غ�ى �ل ن��ا (ا �ى �ل� ��ه�ل ك��ي����س�� ر �و�مي���) ا � ���ه��ل�ك ��ى ر �و ي�� �ى � � �ن ذ� ت طق���ة * ا �ى ا �ل�م��ت�د �ع��ي�ن ا � ا �ل� ش م����ا � ن ا �ل�هرا �� � ح���ي�ن * � او ��س�� ش����ه�د � او �ع��ل�ى � �ل��ك ب��م�ا ك���ا � ي�ج�ر�ى و ب ي�ن � � ا �غ � ف ن � �ق � � �ف ئ ذ�� �س�ق� � ك�ره * ��ا � �ه�ود � او �ع�د ا ���ه�م �م�ن ا � �ل ت��ا �ل � او � �ل ت���ك � او �ل� � �ت�ي �ا �ل �ع��ل�ى �م�ا � ب � �ب�� ا �لي� �ن آ ح��ّل� ق�ت�� ا ��ل ��ا �� � ا ��ل ن����س��آء � ا ��ل�ا ���ط�ف��ا �� � ا ��ل�ف�� ا � � ��ا �م�ن ا �ل����س�� �ك�ن د�ي�ن � ن ا �ي�� �ور �ب� �ل� با� ك� ر و ا �ل��ص� ر�ى ي� ل �ل ر ج ل و ل وج ة � �ّ ّ ظ � �� ن ن �� ا ��لت� ��ثّ �ع� � �ق � غ � �و��ي ب �ي ع��ا ر ا �ل���ي�ر �م�ن د �و� د �ع�و� ا �ل�ى ا �ل��د �ي�ن ب���ل �ج�مرد �عت��و �و ���ل��� �مك��ا ك���ا � � �و ب� �ل�ى م ح َ �ن�َ�� خَ ذً � � �ّ � د�ي�ن � ف ا ّ �� � ى ��س��� س يح�لل�ه ح ك� ��ه ا � ا � او �ب� ����ط�ل ا � ��ا �م�ه * �ل��ك�ن د�ي�ن ا �لن��ص�ا ر�ى ا �لي� �ه�ود * ��ل� � ب ب
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and consequence of religion, which are friendship among all men, affection, assistance, and a proper certitude as to the existence of God Almighty. Those who have gone astray and are blind to the truth find no difficulty in extracting from any book, divinely inspired or not, whatever may suit their purpose and corrupt creed, for the door of exegesis is a wide one. Should the Emir of the Mountain, once he’s grown old and wrapping himself up in his clothes is no longer enough to keep him warm, be permitted to cozy up to a beautiful virgin girl, i.e., warm himself with her and heat himself with the warmth of her body, like King David? When he makes war on the Druze and God grants him victory over them, is he permitted to slay their married women and their children and leave their virgins alive for the stud bulls among his troops to debauch, the way that Moses did to the people of Midian, as stated in Numbers, chapter 33? Is he permitted to marry a thousand women, queens and concubines, as Solomon did? Is a priest permitted to have intercourse with an adulteress and beget bastards, as did the prophet Hosea? Or to tolerate one of his governors slaying every man, woman, and suckling child among his enemies, as Saul did at the Lord’s command with the Amalekites, the Lord even being angry with him that he hadn’t killed along with them the best of their sheep and oxen and had spared Agag, King of Amalek, and repenting that he had made Saul king over the Children of Israel, so that Samuel arose and hewed Agag in pieces before the Lord in Gilgal? Moreover, I have read in the index to the Old Testament printed in Rome, under the letter h, the following: ‘We (i.e., the adherents of the Church of Rome) are obligated to destroy the heretics (i.e., innovators and schismatics)’; in justification, they cite the fighting, bloodshed, and assassination that occurred between the Jews and their enemies, as outlined above. Thus, if the religion of the Christians makes lawful the slaying of men, women, and children and the debauching of virgins, and allows the seizing of other people’s property without first inviting the victims to join the true religion but out of mere ferocity and tyranny, as does the religion of the Jews, why did the first abrogate the second and declare its laws null and void? In fact, though, the Christian religion is built on high moral values and its aim from beginning to end is to maintain peace among men and urge them to what is righteous and good. Otherwise, we might as well go back to being Jews.”
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ْ آ آ � م��ا � ا ��ل�ا خ��ل�ا �ق� * � �غ��ا � ت��ه �م�ن ا � ��ل�ه ا ��ل� � خ� ه ا � ��ق��� ء ا ��لِ��سل��� ���ي�ن ا ��ل ن��ا �م� ن� ّ �ع� � ك� �� و �ي س و ى ر ب مب ب ى �ل�ى رم �ّ ��خ ّ ذ � أ دً � � ثّ ��ْ �ي��ه�و ا * ف���ل�م�ا ��س�م� ا �ل ح�ه� �ع��ل� ا �ل�ص�ل�ا � � او ��خل ��ي�ر * � او �ل�ا ف���ل�ن�ر ج� � �ر�ج��ى � �ل��ك ر� �ى � و م ى ح ع ع ن آ �ذ �� � ةً ف �ن ق ذ � ف ق � ة ت ا � �ور� �ه� ا ا � ك� ل��ل�ا � �لب��ا �ق��ع�� * �� حر��ص �ع��ل�ى ا � ���ا � ا � �ل��ا ر�ي�ا �� �م�ن ا �ي��د ��ي ا �ل�عت��ا � * � او ر��ا �ى م ةت �� � ف ا ا �ق ��ف في�ن �ة ة � � ف ت ئ ا نًا ف ن ث � � �ه�ا * �رك� ب� ا � �ل�� ر�ي� � �ى ��س��� � ا � ��ي ب��ع��ه ا �ل�ى �ج�ز�ير� ��س��مى �ج�ز�ير� ا�لم��ل�و ��ط ا ��س���م� �� �ي� � ض � �ن��د ر���ة * ف���ل�م�ا ا ن� ��س�ا ر ت� �ب�ه �غ��ي�ر ب���عي��د �ه�ا � ا ��بل�� �س�� �صغ���ي�ر�ة ��س�ا �ئر�ة ا ��ل�ى ا �ل�ا � ك حر � او � ����طرب� ي �ج � � � � � �ف ق ش ئ ا ق ا ن � �ن �ن � ل ح��ن �ا �ف ا �ش���ه �م ا �ل�د � او ر * �و ��ط� � ي������ك�و�م ا�ل� ا ب�� �ب�ا ��ل��س�ف��ي�ن ��ة ف���ل�ز � �ص�ا � حر � �و ��و� �� ��ل� * ب ر � م م �ي ح
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�ن � َ فَ �م ّ ا ش ت ق ن ا��ا ن �غ ن ا ��ن �ن ق ا ا ة �ذ � ض � ا � ��ر ا �ل� �لي�� �وي���ل�ى �م ا �ل��س��ر �و�م� ا ��� ��� �م��ه �م� ك�� � ا � �� �ى �ع �م��� ��س� � �ه� ا ا �ل� م ا ن �غ �ن اذ � ا �ة ا ��ل ت ا �م�ت ن �ذ �� � ظ � �م� ك� ���ا � ا � ن��ا ��ى �ع�ن �ه��ذه ا�لم��س� �و�م� ��ى ��س� �ى �ه� ا ا � ك ل��رب� ا �ل�ع ���ي��م * �م� � ا �و��س�و��س حت خ � ت ي�ن �� ض �� ة � ا ا ئ ة �� � �ن �ذ �� ف ض � � �ذ �ق � �ّ �� او �طر� �و �ل� �ع� ���د� ل�ى م �ه� ا ا �ل�� ���و�ل ا �ل�� �مي�� * � �ل��د �و�ل��د ت� ا �ل�ى ��ى د ��ل� �ب�� ا ل� � م ف ا ش �خ � ا � ا �خ ت ف ف َ ا �ف � �ن ا ش ت �ز ا ن ا � � ��ى ا �ل��د �ي�� �و�ع���� �م� �� �و�ل�م ي ��طر ب��ب�� �ل�ى �م� ا � ���ل�� �ي��ه �عب�� �م � بو���عي�� * ��ل� �ى ����ى م د خ���ل ت ��ف �ه��ذه ا �ل�م ض ا ق ت ّ � ت �ف �ذ � ش ّ � ق ���ا ن ��ع ن��� ن� �م�ا �ت�ه�ا �ت � ��� �ي��� �و� ��ور ��ط� ��ى �ه� ا ا �ل���ر ا �ل�ع��ي�� * ��ه�ل ك� � �ي ي �ى � ر � �ى م � ا �� �لق��� ن � �ف خ �ق � �ف �ع��ل��ه ا ��ه� ا �ل� ش �ك�ن ��ى �ِش���ق��ه م���رق���ي�ن �م�ن ���س�ا د را �ي��ه� �و��ل� ه��فى �ع��ل� ل� � او � �ي� �ه� ا �ل��ل�ئي�� * �ل � � � ي ل م ى م م م ُ شَ � �ذ � � � �ذ � � � ن �ي�ز ق �ف � ه��ف �ع��ل ا ��حل حو�ل �جم ��ا ج��ه ا �ل�َو �� * � ��قّ �و� � ل � �م�ا ر ا �ل�� �ى ك���ا � ��� �و�ير���س �م�ن �ل�ى �ب�� �ل��ك � � � � � ى ى ع �نِيم � � � ف � �ان ح �ن � � ا ن � �ف �ن ق ح�ا �ل� �م��ى �و�ل�ع��ل�ه ��ى ��عي�� �م��ي�� * � او �ن�ا ا �لي��و�م ب��م�ا � ّر ��ط ت� ه� * �ل�ع��ل�ه ا �ل� � ا ���س � ي� ا �لب � م م م � �ز ا نَ � ا ش غ � ا ا ق ة � � ف ن ن � ا َ خ � خ �ز � ن ا ا �ن � �ُم��لي�� * �م �ل� �� ل �ه� �ك��ل ب� �� ���دي�� * �م� � �ل� �������ل ا �ل� �م�ع� �ر� ا�لم�د ا � �ا � �� � ا �ل� �� م ى ب � و و � ي� م �يع م م � � � � ت � � ت س�ت ق �ف ق غ ن �ت ت ت ا ا ا �ن ن � او �ل� ��طر��ي ب� � او �ل��ري��م * �لي�����ى ���ل� �م� �� �ل ا �ل�� ��س �و�عب��د � �م� � عه�م ا �لب��عي��م * (ا �� � ��ر ن � �ق ��ف ا � � � �ق ق �ق ة �خ حن �ص �� * �� �لق��د ����ص � � ا لله ��د ��ك�ر �ص� حب��ن �ا) �لي����س �ك���ل �و� ت� �و� ت� ج���دا �ل �و�م ن��ا � ش����� � � ي ى م �ف � � � � ن �ق � ن �� ّ � ��ل ا ��ئ����� � او �ج��ل ا �لم��ط ا � �ب �� � �ل�ه ا � ا ل � ��سي�� * � او �ل�غ�ب�� � او ��ل حوا ��س ق��د ��ت غ�� ش��� ��ى ا �لض� �ك �� ي ر و ح��ي��م * � او ج�� ��ه�ل ل ى م َ ّ � � � ذ � � ف � �ق �غ خ ن ��ا �ه��ل�و ن� �ل�ا ��ي�ج�ع �و�ف� �ك� ���ل �عت��� �ز�ن �� * ا � ا ج�ل حق� � �و�ي� �و�ل ��ي�ره �� �هم� � او �ل�ع��لي�� * ا ��ه �ي��عر�� ا �ل� �ب � ل ي م م 290
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When the Bag-man heard this, he decided that behind the words was
1.19.6
a sly dog, so he exerted himself to save the Fāriyāq from the hands of the arrogant,308 thinking it best to send him to an island known as the Island of Scoundrels,309 believing it would make a safe haven for him. The Faryāq thus embarked on a small ship going to Alexandria, but before they had gone far, the sea rose and threw the ship about, and our friend became so dizzy he had to stick to his bunk, where he set to complaining of the dolors of the sea and to lamenting, as follows:
The Faryāq’s Lament and Plaint “Alas for my traveling and alack for my travail! Why do I endure this painful distress to no avail? What good this bargain when this mighty affliction is all it earns? What tempted me to take on the traders when such low meddling could bring me no returns? I was born into this world and lived there many a year before, without giving a thought to the squabbles of every dolt and boor. Why did I enter these straits and get embroiled in these sterile debates? Why should the shouting matches engaged in by people west and east, with their corrupt thinking and low characters, concern me in the least? Ah how I miss the pen, however hard over its nib-notch I’ve toiled and even if the page onto which it spits its ink with fly shit’s soiled! Ah how I miss the donkey that brayed and kicked—who will bring me back that beast? He may be better off than me these days—he may be living a life of ease, while I, today, am cut off from all I once held dear. Who will bring me back the inn and brethren—each one a gracious and companionable peer? All I had to do then was sing, warble, and quaff—would that I’d gone along with all the rest and worshipped the golden calf!”310 (I seek refuge with God—our friend has blasphemed!). “Not every second has to be given over to wrangling and trying to grab your opponent by the collar. The metropolitan gave me sound advice when he said the senses deceive mighty and meek, stupid and wise, ignoramus and scholar. He knows the truth but says something different, fearing all who are ‘ignoble and, beside that, basely born,’311 for nothing pleases the ignorant more than to distract and suborn. Did he not tell me, ‘You cannot
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1.19.7
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ت � �ق ا ��ا ا ��لت� ض ����ل��� � ا ��لت � �� * ا �ل�� ��ي�ق��� ��ل�ى ا �ن��ك ��ل�ا ��ت�ق��د ر �ع��ل� ج� � ���د�ي��د ا � �لق��دي�� * �و�ع��ل�ى ��ت� �و�� �ل � و ي ل ل ه�ي ى م يم م يم � � �س�ق� �� * ��ن��ع ا ن� ا ��ل حوا ��س ��ت غ�� ش�� �و�� ّ�ا ن� ���فى ذ� ��ل��ك ا ��ل��س��ف ي��ه � او ��ل � � �م�ا �ل�ا ي�� ت � ل�� �ر�� ح��لي�� * � او � ك � ي س�ي � يم م م �ق � م ن �� �لق �ذ ث ذ � ��� �ة ة ق ق ف ت ا ث � ا � � � � او �ل��ل�ئي�� * �� �و� ��� ��لي��ل� ح�ى �ي ��ورد ا �م��ل�� �ع��ل�ى �ه� ا � او � ا �ب�ه ��ي� �و�ل * ا � ب �يح� مآ م آ �ف آ ة �ت�ق � ن ��ن ش آ � �ن � ذ ن ف �ظ ت ت ح��س�ن �� ا � ا ن ��و�ه� �ع��د ب���ع�� �� ��ى � ا �ل ش � ���و�ه�� ء ا � ا �� �� ر� �و�ج� �ه�ه� ��ى �م �ر � � � �و�ل ا � ك��� � � �ض آ � �ة ض ّ �ش آ � ة ��ل �ق �ع ن��د � خ�ر�ي�ن * �و��ل���ذ ��ل��ك ق��ا ��ل �ص�ا � ���د * ���و�ه�� ا �ل�ع�ا ب���س�� � او ج �مي��ل�� � ح ب� ا � �ل��ا �م�و��س ا �ل � � ا ن� ا �� �ل�قُ ن��ا �ف� ا ذ� ا �ن �ظ� ��� ���ل�م� د ا ��ن �ف��ه ق��ا ��ل ي� ح��س�ا ن� �ير�غ����ن ف���ه � �م�ا �ير �ي�ن ح�ت�م� ا ن� ���ع�� ا ��ل � ب ي و و رج و ل ب �ض َ َ � � � � ذ � ْ � ا �ل � ا ة ا � عو ج��ا * � او ن� ��س�ا د ��ت ن��ا ا � �ل�ق ب��ا � �م�ن ا�لم��ل�وك � او�لم�� ك� ل��ا ت� �و� �وى ��سع� د� �ب�ه ا �مت��ا �و �ل� � � ح ّ � ّ ا ��لَ �ّ � ا � ا ن �ظ � ن �ن ف ��ف � ن ا �ص� � ن� ا ��ل�ا � ا ن ا ��د �ل� �ي��ص�ور�ه�م ا �لم� ور و �و ج ح��س� �� * �و�ه�م �ل� ��ي � �� ر�و� ا � ����س�ه�م �ى ا �لِ�ع�� ��س � � ة �ّ � ق � � � �ق � �ش نّ � ن ن � ا� ّ ا �ل� �مك��ا �ص�ور�ه�م ا �لم�ص�ور �و� * � او ��ا �ل��ر�ى ا �ل���م��س ��ط�ا �ل�ع�� �و�لم�ا �ت��ك�ن ��د ��ط��ل�ع ت� �مك��ا ��ي� �و�ل �ف �آ � �غ ذ ن � ة ا �� ا ض ن ��ي ��و� * �و�نر�ى ا �ل�ع�ص�ا ��ى ا�لم�� �م�ع�ّو ج��� �و��هى ��ي�ر � ا ت� �ع � ل �ري� � � * � او � ا �ل��س ار ب� �ير�ى و �ج � �ة ا ��ل��ش��خ �خ ّ���ل� ن� ��ل��ل ن��ا �ظ ��� �ي�ن �� �� ا ��ث ن���ي�ن * � او ن� ب���ع�� ا ��ل�ا ��ل� او ن� ��ي ب��د �و ���ل� �ون��ي�ن * � او ن� ا �ل���س حر� ي�ي و ب ر �ض ص ��آ � خ � ن ��ف ا �� ن ا � ا � ت �ق ن ا �ن � ش ن �َم�ن � � ُ ��ف �في�ن �ة � ا خ� ة ح��ر��و� * �و ي�ك �ى ��س�� � م� ر� ��ه� ي�م � ���و� �ع��ل�ى ا�لم� �وي��د ��ل�و� �ى ل�� ر �و �ل� ي م � ت �ف � ا ف � ق ق � ن ث ت � � ا ا ا ا ا ا ا ا ا ا ش ك�ن �م � ق��ا ب���ل��ة د �� ر �و�ع��� ر �� ��ه �ير�ى �م� ��ي��� ب��ل�ه ��ى ا �ل� ر��ض� �� حرك�� �م� ����ي � �و�ه�و ��س� � �� ب��� * ي آ � � �ف �ف � � � �م�ن ��ع�ق��د �� �ش����ا ك �م ن��ا � � �ل ش�����ا ك � خ� �م��س�ا � �ل�ه �� ا �ل�ا ��ت�ف��ا ف��ا �ن�ه ��ي ن �ظ� �� ه ا �ع��ل �م�ن وح ب و �ي ى ب ر �ى رآ ٍو ى ر ع � � � � ة �� � �غ ف ا ن � � �غ� ن ش ا�� ا� � � ح�ب� ا ��خل �ر�ج��ى ك� ���ا ن� ب� ك� �� �وه �ل�د اٍع ��ي�ر د ا ع�ى ا �ل��س�ل�ع�� * �� ��ه �ي ب��ل ��ى ���ب�� ك���ه * �و�ل��ع�ل �ص� ى � �آ ض ��� �ك� ن� � �و����� ح�� �ع�ن ا ��ل�ل�ا �عب���ي�ن � او ��ل�ل�ا �عب��ا ت� ���فى ا �ل�م�ل�ا ��هى ا �ن��ه� ��ي ب��� �ك�و ن� ا �ي�ا ن� �ش���ا � او ف���ل��ع�ل ا �لب� ك� و ي م � غَ ا ذ �ف ��ن ���خل � � ن � �ن � ن ا �ع��د ه� �م ا � �ص�ن �ا ��ئ� ا �ل ��تى ��ي ت��ع��ل�م�و�ن��ه�ا �ع��ل� صِ � ��ر * �م� � ا ��ي� ي��د �ى ا �ر ا �ل� � * ا ا د �ع�وه ل � ى �ج م ع � ه � ���غ ت�� ن ��ض ح�م���ه � ��ن�����ذ ��ن * ف���ل�م�ا ا ��ت��د ا �ه��ذه ا ��ل�� �ف �ا �ه��ة ا ��ل�ت ن � س� ب ح�� � �يوب � ��ى * ا ا ل وي ب �ى � �وي��رك���ى * 1ا ا ب �ى ت �ت ّ ف ا �ة �� ح�ا * � �ع ن��د ا �ل�مت�� ��س ���ط��ي�ن ����ن ��ف� ا * � �ع ن��د ا ��ل��س� ق����ي�ن ���س ع�د �ع ن��د ا ���خل �ي � �� �ر�ج�يّ���ي�ن ��ك ب �ه� ��س��� �ه� و و � ي ب و و ر ي م ّ � ذ � ��ق � او ا ��ل�ى ا ��ل�ا ن� ا ��ل�ا �ع��ل ا ��خل �ن�ا �ش���ئ��ة �ع�ن ا ��ل � ��ل�ا �ف� * �م�ا د ت� �ب�ه �ج�ز * ا � ا �ل ن��ا ��س �ل� ��ي ت��ف � � ى م ع ن :١٨٥٥ 1ي���ت�ز�ك�ى.
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Emotion and Motion
renew the old, or straighten what is bent?’ True, the senses deceive and alike in this are the murderer and the man of mercy, the vile and the benevolent.” After pausing for a moment to marshal examples of the preceding, he
1.19.8
resumed, “When an ugly, misshapen (shawhāʾ ) woman looks at her face in the mirror, she says, ‘I may be ugly and misshapen to some but to others I am handsome,’ which is why the author of the Qāmūs says, ‘Shawhāʾ means both “a woman who frowns” and “a beautiful woman”; a word with two opposite meanings.’ When a man with a big nose looks at that crag on his face, he says, ‘It may well be that some good-looking women will desire it and see in it no crookedness or curve.’ Painters portray our ugly overlords, kings, queens, and any others on whom fortune has smiled as though they were comely and they, in their years of spinster- and bachelorhood, see themselves exactly as the painters have portrayed them. We see the sun as though it had risen, when according to the scientists it hasn’t yet done so, and we see a stick in water as though it were crooked, though ‘there is no therein no crookedness.’312 A mirage shows a person as though double and certain colors appear in two different forms. Magicians make observers think they are walking on water or going through fire without being burned. To a person in a ship plowing along opposite houses and property, the part of the land closest to him appears to be moving and mobile, when it is unmoving and fixed. A person who sits at a window opposite another at the same level sees the latter as though it were higher than his own. Maybe, then, the Bag-man’s tears were not for his goods but for some other cause, for I hear that the players in theaters weep and laugh at will. Maybe weeping is one of those arts that the Bag-men are instructed in when young. What benefit to me is the saddlebag now? I call on it, and it abandons me? I love it, and it hates me? I pick it up, and it spurns me?” When he started in on this foolishness—which the Bag-men regard as blasphemy, the Market-men as glorification of the Lord, and those in between as generated by fear (for to this day people can agree only to disagree)—the ship gave him a violent shove, such as the Bag-men would consider to be the Lord’s revenge and the Market-men entirely incidental, and he began yelling, “Forgive me, Market Boss! By your beard, which is at the barber’s, save me! Bag! Goods! Price list! Traders! Undercapitalized parasites! You who weave the goods and you who dye them, you who warp and you who weft them, you who hem and you who embroider them, you who
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1.19.9
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� � ق ن ن �ن ق ���ا �م�ن � في�ن ة ة ش ة � ح��س��ه�ا ا ���خل �ر�ج�ي ��و� ا � ت����ا �م�ا �م�ن ا �لر ب� * � او �ل��س�و�ي ��و� �ع�ا ر ض� ا �ل��س��� �� �مي��د� ����د �ي��د� ي ب ف � ً � � ح�ل�ا ق���ي�ن حق ��ل ح�ي�ت��ك ا �ل ��ت �ع ن��د ا ��ل ���ع�ل �ي�� خ� �ق � ا ا ش�� � خ � �ق �ف � � � ا �ل�ع� او ر��ض� * ج�� ى �صر� � �و�ي� �و�ل ا �ل� �ي� �ي�� ا �ل��س�و� �ع� � او ب �� � ا ض ��� ة ا � ا ف� �ق �ة ا ن ّ ا خ � ا �� � � �ة ا ف �ت � ا ا �ت ن ا � ا � � � � � � ص � � � � * � � * � * � � ط � ع �� ��س � � � ي �ج ى ا �ل� �م� ا ج�ر ��ى * �ي� �ر�ج * �ي� س�لع� * �ي� دْ ر ي و ر ي ُ � � ة ا ّ ا �غ ا ا ّ م��س�د ��ه�ا ��ا�م���ل ح�م�ه�ا ��ا �م ن��ّ� ��ه�ا ��ا �م ���ط �ز ��ه�ا ��ا �م� �ش���ه�ا ��ا ّق��ا �م�ه�ا �ه� * �ي� � ي � ي ي� ي ي ري � ي ر ي � ي و ي � ي ر ي� �ص�� �ي� ا �ل��س�ل�ع�� * �ي� � ب آ � ا فّ ا ��ئ ا � ا ش�� ّ ا ا ا �خ ��ف��ا ف��ه�ا ��ا ش��� ّا � �ه�ا ��ا �ن شّ����ا ��ه�ا ��ا ���ط� � ��ئ ا ا �ق ّ ا � ��ا ��� ا ا �ه�ا ()1 �ه� ي� �� �ه� �ي� ���س� �مي� ط�ه� �ي� ��ك ي� ي ر �ج ي� ي ري � ي و ي� �ص� ر�ي��ه� �ي� ي ي� ي� ر�� ي� �ف �ن � ف ��ق ���ا د ت � ق��د �ه�� ل�� � ت� * ��م�ا ك� �ه�ا * �ت��د ا رك�� �ه�ا �ي�ا �م�� ف�ل � حق� ك�� ��و��ى ب� � �ي�ا � �لف��ا � ك � قَ � َّ � ي� ي� �ث �ي ن م ( )1ا �ل������س�ا مى �م�� �ي��طو �ى ا �ل� ي���ا ب� م آ ّ ّ ّ �ذ ا �� � � ء ا � ا � ا �� ت � ه ا ��ل �ف ي�ن �ة �م � �ة �ت � � � ا ا ه ا و ل ط �ي�� �ه�ا � ح�تى ��ت ن��ك��سر ع��لى طي���ه* �ه� ا ل�د �ع� �ل� �و م� ل� ب� ��س�� � ي��ل� ��د حر ب��ه� ر ��س� �ج � غ � � �� ف خ� س�ت غ ث �ق � � ق ّ ت �ط خ� ���ة * ج�� ���ع�ل �ي�� �صر� �وي��� ��ي�� � �و�ي� �و�ل � �ل��د �ع�د ��ي� ا �ل�ص���ي�ر ك���ا �لب��ي � � � � �ذ � � ف � ن ��ف آ خ ث �غ� ش �هر �م�ن ا �و�ل ا �ل��طر� ��ق� �ف ك �ع�ن ا �لت��ف��د �ي��د * �ه� ا ا �ثره ظ �� � ��ي ��� �ي��ك�و� �ى � �ره * ��م ����ى ي �ق � ��خُْ ��خُْ �ف � � ّ �ذ ذ ف � � � � � ش ن � ا ا � � ظ�ن � ا �ل �ل �ر * ���س�م�ع�ه ا � ح�د ا �لرك�� ب� �ي ك ��رر � �ل�ك �� ��� ا ��ه ي������ك�و �ع�لي��ه �و�ص� ر �ي��ه� �ى � �و�ي� �و�ل ا ر �ذ ق� � اَ َ� �ت�� ح��د ا ��ل�ا �خ���ث��ي�ن ���فى �ف ا �ش���ه * ف���ل�م�ا �ل�� ي ج� �م�ن ا � ���د �ش���ي �ا ��ا �ل �ه�و �ي��ه� �ى �م�ن ا �ل� �ل� �و رك���ه * ب ر م م ّ � ظ �� ا ا ت �� � ا � ة ح �و�ص�ف��ا ا ج��ل �ك�ن ا ��بل�� ث�� ق��د ر ا لله ا ن� ��س�� �هر ت� ب���ع�د ��س� �ع� � ا ر �ض ا �ل� � ك � � �س��ن��د ر��� * 10،19،1 � � و � و ر ي فمآ ّش � ف ا ا ق �ؤ ة � ف ق ا ��مت� � � �غ � ذ � ه � � ا � � ��� � �ل�ك ا �لر ج���ل �وب����ر ا � �ل�� ر�ي� �� �بر � �ي�� ا �ل� ر��ض� * ����� �م ج��ل�د ا �و� ���س�ل �و�ج �ه� � �وب��د �ل ج � � � حت �ت ن ا � ة ف ق � � ا ��ث ا � ه ف���ل� ا خ� � ا �م�ن ا �ل�� �ف�ي�ن � � �ق ي�� ب� * م� رج � �ه�م ا � �ل��ا ر�ي�ا �� �و�م�ا ك���ا د �ي� ��ط�ا ا �ل� ر��ض� ��ى � �� �و�ل �س� � �و س�� ب � َ ُ � ث � ف � ف ن �ه�ا � ح�ص�ا �ة � او �لت���ق �م�ه�ا �وق��ا �ل �ه��ذه ا �ّم�ى * � او �ل �ه�ا �و�ل��د ت� �و� �ه�ا ا �ّم�ى * � �ه�ا ا �م�و ت� * �� � ي� ي� �م � ي م ن ت � �آ خ � خ ���ا ن� ���ف ا �ل�م�د � ن���ة � ا دّ �ى ا ��ل��ه ك��ت� ��ا ب� �ت��و� ��ة �م�ن ا ���خل �ر�ج��ى ا �ل� �ر * ا ��ه � ��و ج��ه ا �ل�ى �ر�ج��ى ك� ى �ي و ي �ص�ي � آ � � ة ف� ن �و��ل� ث� �ع ن��ده �ي�ن��ت�ظ� ��� ��س�ف��ي�ن ��ة �ت��س�ا �ف ا ��ل�ى �ت��ل�ك ا ��ل �ه�ن�ئ�ه ب� ��و�ص�و�ل�ه ��س�ا �لم�ا � �م ن��ا * �ج�ز�ير� * ��ل � ر ر ب �ل� ا � � � ّ ة ا� � ض ة � �� ة � ض ة � �� � � � ا �ئ ف �ة ة ��ر� ا�لم� ك �و�لن ��ق��د � �عر��ض� � ��ر� ب��طرك ا �ل��ط� � ��� ل��ي��� * ح� ح� �ل �ل�ل��س�د � ا �ل� �م�ي�ر�ي�� * � او ح� م � ق ي�ن ���خل ي�ن ن �ذ�� � ث � ة ن ق ق �ن ف � � ا �ئ � � ا ا ا ا ن ن � � ا�لم�ا ر � ��نو ي��� ك�� � �� �م� ك�� � * �� ��عر ��لي��ل� �ع��ل� ا �ل��س�و�ي��� � او �ر�ج�ي��� � �و�� ك�ر ا � �ل�ر�� ب��ي�� �ه� * � ى م �ج م
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ornament and you who stripe them, you who darn and you who stitch them, you who sew and you who edge them, you who baste and you who unroll them, you who fold and you who crease them,(1) you who wrap and you who sew them edge to edge, catch me, by your lives, or I am done for!” This cry had barely left his lips before the ship gave a list to one side that sent his little head rolling like a watermelon, so he
(1) The “creaser” (al-qasāmī) is “the person who gives clothes their first folding, so that they take their creases according to the way he makes them.”
started yelling and calling for help, saying, “I’ll never cry goods for sale again! If this is what’s in store for us at the start of the road, where will it all lead?” Then he fainted and started raving, saying, “Sh . . . ! Sh . . . !” which made a passenger who overheard him repeating it again and again think he must be complaining that there was one of “the two impure things” in his bed.313 Finding nothing, though, he said to himself, “He must be raving with pain” and left him. Then God decreed that the sea grow calm and the weather turn fair, and 1.19.10 after some hours the Alexandrine shore appeared, and the same man came and gave him the good news that land was in sight, so he arose stoically, washed his face, and changed his clothes. When they left the ship, the Fāriyāq was ahead of them all, and no sooner had he set foot on the ground than he picked up some pebbles from its surface and swallowed them, declaring, “This is my mother and to it I return. On it I was born and on it I shall die.” Then he made his way to a Bag-man who was in the city and presented him with his letter of recommendation from the other Bag-man, and he stayed with him while waiting for a ship leaving for the island. Let us then congratulate him for arriving safe and sound, and let us present a memorandum to the Princely See and Royal Presence, His Excellency the Patriarch of the Maronite Sect, whoever he may be, after which we shall turn our attention for a short while to the Market-men and the Bag-men and set out the differences between them.
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� ف ���ا ��ت� ا �ل حر �و �� ���عر��ض� ك� ب
ّ � َ��عنْ�َ ��ف ن � � �ج��م��ع�ا � � � * � او ��م��ل��ص �م�ن �ب��ي�ن ا �ي�ا د�ي ك�� ق��د ��ت�ف���ل ت� ا � �لف��ا ر��ا �ق� �م�ن �ن�ا د�ي ك�� � ك �ه� � � � � ج � * �و �ج�ر �ى و ي و ي م م م � �ق � ا ن ن ذ �� � ا ا ش�� �� �� ت � ه � �ن ا �� ظل������ ا �� ��� �غ� ا ن � � � � � ��ل�ا ي خ� ��ا �ف� �� ك�� ل� �و ل ط ط� ب� م � او �ب�ص� � ي�� � ل� �و�عي��د ا * �و ب���ى ا �ل� � ا � ا � ك�رك�م م� ��ط� � م �م م � ��لح � ذ �عت ا �ل����س �ف �� �� �ة �ور � او �ل�ع�د � او ن� �ع��ل� ا �خ��ى ا�ل�مر� حو� ا ��س�ع�د * ا � ا �ود �م�وه �ج�ن ��ى د ا رك�� ا ل�و�ز�ي �ري� � � او ج�� ى م م ّ ن � ��ذ � � ن � ن ذ قت �ق ح �� ت س� ��س�ن ��ي�ن * � بو���ع�د ا � ا � ��م�وه �ج��مي�� ض� �ب �� ن�� �وب��ي�ن �� ��ر�و ب� ا �ل� �ل � او �ل�ه� او � � او �لب ��و��س و ع ف � ف� � � � ض ا ن ن � ض�ن ��ك ���فى �ص�و�م�ع��ة �صغ���ي�ر�ة �ل�ز �م�ه�ا �ل��� �ي�� �ك�ن ي�خ�ر� �م �ه� ا ل�ى �م�و� � او �ل ��� ��ي ب�� �� � �صر ي��ه ا �ل ��ور ا �و � �ج م �� فّ عا ق ض ن � ا ��خل ا � ���س�ت ن�� ش ق ا �� �آ ا ���� ��ذ�ي�ن � �نّ ق ل ح��ه � �م�ا ا ا �ن � � � � � � � ا� � � ا ا ا م ع ده � � � � ه� � � � � � ع � ل م � � � � ل � � � ل ي ����� ل�ه�و لل� ي�م ب � � �ى بر ر و ج ر ى ب و ب آ �ذ � � �ت�ق م ا �� ��ف ت � �ف � ���ه ا ��ا ل� خ � ��ى ا �ش���ي �� �ل�ا � � ت�ض���ى �ع� ا �ب�ا �و �ل�ا �عت��ا �ب�ا * �و�م�ا ك� ك� � �ع��لي��ه ���ا ن� �� ك�� �� ل ��ه � ك�� ���ا ن� ����ج�س ن� ك�� ل� ل� � ل �ل م م م � �ن �م�ن �� � �� ا ن ن� � � ا �َ َ�د ��نّ ى * ا �م�ا ا ��ل��دّ �ي�ن ف��ا ن� ا�لم���س�ي� �ور��س��ل�ه �ل�� ��ا �م � او ب�����س س�ل�ط� � د�ي �ى و �ل� م � �ج�ن �م�ن ك���ا � مي ر ح � � فق � ن �� � ن �� �ا � � ا ن� ا � ن خ� � ف ���ا � د�ي�ن ا �لن��ص�ا ر�ى � ش����ا �ع��ل� �ه��ذه ���ا � �� او �ي��ع��ت�ز �ل� �ون��ه� ���� ��ط * �ول�و ك ��ا �ل�� ك��ل م�ه� و �م� ك ي ى م م ة � ض �ّي�ن � آ �ان ة � ئ ا �� �لق���س�ا � �ة ا ��ل � ة � ت ت ف ���ا �ل�� �لم�ا � �م�ن ح ش����ي �� ا �ل��ى ا ���ص��ت�� �ب��ه�ا ا �ل� � ا �ن ت�� ر�ع�ا � ا �لت��ا ���ه��ي�ن �و�ه�د ا � ا �ل� و �و م م � ذ � ا � � �ن � ن ا َ ْ ُ � ذ � �ذ � �ص ���ؤ ا �ل�ا ا � ا ك� ���ا ن� �ير�ى ا �ل��د �ي�ن ا �ل�� �ى خ�ر� ا �لي��ه خ��ي�را ح��د * ا � �ل� ا � �ب�ه ا � ح�د م ا �ل�� ��س �ي�� ب �ج � ت � ا ذ� ا � � ّ ���ل ا �ن��س�ا ن� ���فى ا ��ل��د ��ن ��ا �ي��عل��� ا ن� ا �ل����س �ج�ن � او ��لج�� �م�ن ا ��ل���ذ �ى خ�ر� �م ن��ه * �و�ك� �و�� � او �ل� � �ل� �ل � او �لت��و�ع�د � ي �ج م � �يع �أ �ن ��خل ��ف �ش � قّ ذ ن � ن �ت ش ن ا � ا � �ل � � او �لت��� �و�ي��ق� � او �ل�������ي�� �لي����س �م ا��ي�ر �ى ��ى * � �و� �هي��ك ا � م���س�ي� �ور��س�ل�ه ا �ر� او � �وى ع �ّ � ح � ّ �ا � ا � ا خ �ا �ق ا � ْ ت ت ا � ك�ن ل ا ��ل��س�ي �ا د�ة �ع��ل� ��س�ي � د ���ه� � او �م �ر��ه� * �و�ل� �ي�� د ا �ب��ه� ا �ل� ا � ح�� �ع��ل� � ك� م�� رم �ل� ��ل � م ِ ى �ض ى م م م � ُ � � � � ة ف ة ا �ا ف ��� د�ي�ن �ع �� ���ي�ن �ل ان ا نا �ن �� � ا� ّ � � او �ل� �مر �ب� �لبِ��ر � او �ل�د �ع�� � او �لِ��سل��م � او �ل� �� � � اوحل��م * �� ���ه� ��هى ا�ل�م ار د �م �ك�ل ر ب ن� � ا �ت� �خ ن ة �ف � ا �نا ا � ��ن ف ا ن �خ� �� ار �و �ل� ا ر ك حق� ج��ا ره � �م� ك �� ب� �ي��ا ��� ��ى �� ا �ل�� ��س * � او �م� ا�لم�د �ى ��ل� � ا �ى ا ��س�ع�د �ل�م �ي� تِ �� �ف ذ � � �� � ��م�� � ��ف � ّ � � ة �� ش �ع ّ ف ا �آ ة ح�ا ك��مت��ه �ل��د �ى � ح�ا ك�� ���ر �ى * �� ��س� � حق� ا �ل��د �و�ل�� * �ول�و���ع�ل � �ل�ك ل�و�ج ب� ا �و ا �م�ي�ره ا �و �ى � م آ ّ � ن � ة � ذ ت � ا نا � � ا ن � ا نا � ا � � � ن� ا � ع��ي �د �ل�ه �م��س�ت�ا �م ن��و� ا �لب� ��طرك ا �لي��ه ا �م� �هى ا ��س� � ا �ل�ى � ا � �م�و �ل� �� ا �ل��س��ل��ط� � * �ل� �� �ج �مي��ع� � ب � �ق �ق آ ذ ا ��ل �� � � ه �ق ��ف ن �خ � طف� �م�ن ���فى ا �م�ا �ن�ه �و� ك�� ����ل ن��ا ���فى ا ��ل ح� �م�ه * �وك� � �� � ح� �ى ا � ي ح� �و� ��س� �و * ا � ب��طرك �لي����س �ل� � َ � َ ْ ن �خ � ��� �ف � ا ح��دا ��ل �ش����آه ف��ا ��نّ ��ل�ه ا ن �خ ت � ا �ى � ي ط� ا �ل� ر � اوح� * �و�ه ب� ا � ا ��ى ج��ا د �ل ب��ي����ى د ر ه�م� � او � �و 296
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A Memorandum from the Writer of These Characters The Fāriyāq now has escaped your lands and slipped through your hands. 1.19.11 He’s blown a raspberry in all your faces, and at your threats his pulse no longer races. All that remains is for me to remind you of the injustice, tyranny, oppression, and aggression that you carried to such great lengths against my brother, the late Asʿad,314 to wit, that you held him in your prison at your official abode at Qannūbīn315 for around six years and that, after you had forced him to taste every form of humiliation, degradation, misery, and distress in the small cell that was his sole abode—for he never left it for a place where he could see the light or breathe the air that the Creator has bestowed on the innocent and guilty alike among his creatures,—he gave up the ghost. Your only reason for imprisoning him was that he was at odds with you over matters that call for neither punishment nor reproach. You had no authority over him, either religious or civil. As for the religious aspect, Christ and his apostles never ordered the imprisonment of those who disagreed with what they had to say; they merely held themselves aloof from them. If the Christian religion had adopted from its beginnings the same vicious cruelty that characterizes you now—you, the shepherds of the lost and guides of the erring—no one would have believed in it, for no one converts unless he believes that the religion he is adopting is better than the one he is abandoning. Everyone in the world knows that there is nothing good to be said for imprisoning, starving, humiliating, threatening, discomforting, and reviling people, not to mention that Christ and his apostles acknowledged the authority and government of the sovereign and never themselves did more than urge on people the noble virtues and command them to piety, modesty, peace, endurance of suffering, and mildness of behavior, which are the goals of every religion known to man. And as for the civil aspect, given that my brother Asʿad did nothing repre- 1.19.12 hensible and committed no crime against his neighbor or his emir, or against the state—which, if he had done so, would have required that he be tried before the legal authorities—the patriarch’s maltreatment of him is no less than maltreatment of the person of Our Lord the Sultan, whose slaves we all are and to whose safekeeping and rule we all appeal. All of us are equal in
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� �ذ ض � � �ف � ن�ن � ن تت ���ل�ا �ل ف���لي����س �� ك�� ��ى ا �ل��د �ي�ن � �ون�ا �ظ �� ر �وق��ا �ل ا �ن ك�� � � �ع��ل�ى � ل� ا � �� يم� ��وه ب���سب�� ب� �ه� ا * � او ��م�ا ك���ا � م م �ّ �ت �ا �ة ذ �ن�ز ��ل ت � �ن�ز � �ة � ن نق � � ض ت ا ا ت ت �� او ا د �ل��ه � �و��د � �� او �ج� ح ��ه �ب� � ك� ي�ج� ب� �ع��لي� ك�� ل�� �ب� ا � ا ا �م�وه �م� �ل� ل��ل� �م ا �و ا � ك�� ح� � � ا � ��ت ��� ض� � ت م � � � � � �� � ��ا ن ن ن � ا ا � �خ ف �ف ن �ت � � � �ت � ا ت �ن ���و ن� � ب��ع��ه * � او �ل� � ك� �� � ا �ل� �و�ل�ى � ك�� ل� ا � � �� �وه �م ا �لب��ل�اد �مك�ا ك�� � �ه�و ي��ط�ل ب� �ع�ا �ل�م � ش � م �� ة ��ل�ن ت ذ �ز ف ن � �ف �ت ة � �ن ف ت ا �ن � ���ل�ه �و ع�م �� ا � � ار ره �م د ا رك�� �مر� ج�� � � ����س�ه � ��ل��ك * ب���ل ا �صرر�� �ع��ل� �عت��وك��� ��ى � ن� كي�� � م م ى م م ش � فآ �� �نّ ت ت � ظ ا � �م�ع�ا ��� ا �ل��س��ه�� ا � � ���ا ن� �ز ��ا د�ة ���فى �ج� ن��ا ��ي ت��ه �و ج�ر �رت�ه �ف�زد �� ج� � �ب��را �ع�لي��ه �و ����ل�م� * �وك�� ��ى ب� ك�� � ر � ك ي �ي م م ��ك�ن � ��ت��ق �� ن ا ن ا �ه� �ا ��ن �ف � ا � � ة � ا ة �ن �ف ���ث�� �ة � �ح�مم��د�ة �ُ ن�َ�د � ا ��ل ا ح�د� �ل��س�ل� �م�� � � �و��س ك� ي ر �ول�و� � ل ك ���س و �ي ب ي� �ه� * �و�ل�� �ل�و �ش�� � ا �ي�ز � ض � ��ا ن ��� � � ة ش ��ل� �ل ت ن � ا ض � �ا ك�� � ك�� طه�د طه�ا د � او �ل� �ج� ب��ا ر �ع��ل�ى �ى �ل� �ي��د ا �لم� ل� ب��ص�ي ر� �ور����د ع� �م �� ا � ا �ل� � ���� � ���� � م ش م �ّ فً � �ل� ذ � �ق ا ن ا ا �ن ف � ض ن � ا ا ا �ن � � � �� �عت��ه ا �ل� ك���ل��� ب��م� ا � ح� �و � �س�م� ا � ا �عل��م �م � ����س�ه ا ��ه �ع��ل�ى ا � �و� �ي طه�د �ع�لي��ه * �و �ل� ي ���� � �خ � ن �ت ض ا� � �ح�ّ ��ا ��ل�عل��� � ا �� ف�ل� ض� ا ئ ق ن ُ ُ � ن �ه�ا * � �ص�م�ه ا � �لق��ا �هر �ل�ه �ع��ل�ى � ���ل� �ل * ا �و ا ��ه �م� ل ب م و ��� ���ل �و� ��ير��ه �ع ���ط�ل �ع � � � �ذ � � � ّ��ض ت � ض � � �ذ ف ّ ف���ق��د ف��ا �ت ك�� � �ل�� �لق�� �� � او �ل��ت��س� � �� ك و��د * � � � �ع��ل�ى �ه� ا ا �ل�عل��� ا �ل��د �ي ن��ى � او �ل��س�ي �ا ��س�ى * �وعر� �� ع � � ر ي م م م م ت � آ آ � ذ��� � � �خ ن ا ف ق ت ض ت ا � � ا � � ل ا � ��� * � او � ا ��ى رح�م�ه ا لله �و� ك��رك�� �ل��ل�م��� � او �ل ����ن�ي �د * �م� د ا �م� ��س�م� �س�م� � او �ل� ر��ض� ا ر� م ن �ك�ن ق ا ت ف �ذ�� � � �� � ة ذ ذ ذ � � � �� � � ش � ت ا �ن �ن � � � او � �ي�� ��د �م� � �� ك�ره �ل ي�م�و� * �وك��ل�م� � ك�ره � ا ك�ر�م ا ��ه�ل ا �لر����د � او لب��ص�ي ر� � ك�ر � ف � � �و�غ���ل�وك�� � � او �� � * �وق��د �ل�ع�مر�ى ا خ�ر� �عن� ك�� � �و�ش���ن �ا �عت� ك�� �� �و�ج� �ه�� ك�� ح�ا �ش�� ك�� ���ا ��س�و �ف��ع�� ك�� � � ل� � ل� �م�ع�ه ا �ي� ض� م �ج م م م ّم م �ت � ة ش � ت ���ث �م�م�ا ��ل� � ���ق � ّ ا ف � �� � �� �عت� ك�� ��س���ك ب��م� �و�ه �م�ن � �ي � �ه��ذه ا�لم ��وح�م�� �ع��ل�ى ��س���ك ا �ل�د �م ا ك�� ر و ب �ى ي ح�� * �وح ب م � �� �� � �و��غ���ي�ره �م�ن ذ� �و�ى ا �� ف�ل� ض���� � او ��لب��را �ع��ة �مث��ا ��ل�ا * �ل�� �ت�ا خ����ذ ك�� ��ا ��خل �وا ج��ا �ي�م خ� � ��ا ��ئي���ل �م ش����ا ق��ه ا �ل�ا ك� � ر ل ب ب م م م � � � �ف � � ة �ز � � ا �لت��ا ر �ة �ل� فص��ر�ة �و�ج� �ه�ه �ي�ا �غ��ل�ا ظ ��� ا �ل�ا �ع ن��ا �ق� را ف��� ��ى �ش��ب��ا �ب�ه �و�ج��م�ا �ل�ه * ا�ل� ��ت ت��ا �ثر ق���ل�و�ب ك�� � م م � آ غ � ذ ي�ن �� ت ة � ض ض ض ح��ي�ن ا ا ض�ت ح�� �ج �� �ه * �و� حب��م�وه �ع�ن ا �ل ن��ور � او �ل�ه� �و ء * �و� � ��� � ���� �ج ��س�م�ه � �وب�� ح��ي�ن � �و ت� ��� ��� � � ق �ت ت �غ �� � � ا ��� ظ �� ذ � � خ���لت �ع��ل��ه ا �� ض �ا ا ن �ت� ���ط��ل��ق ه ��ه� �ا * ا �ل�� �تش ف �ل� ��ي �� ار ر��ه ��ي�ر ا جل ��ل�د �و لع ���� � ��ق � او �ع��لي��ه ا � �و ب � م �� � بو� �� � � � ي ي م ب� م م م ُ ُ خ ��ذ ت �� � �ق � ت � � ن �ز ق � ا ت ا ن ا � � ه ق ض ت �� � ا � ن م�� � ه � �� ر �ي �� �� م�ل� ��د � ���ا � �ي � ت ب� ����ي�� لع�و م� ك ح�مرد�يرك�� * �و� �ل��د ��ط�ا �لم�ا � او لله ا �� � ا ل�ل�� م م ع ف م � ف � � � �خ �� ف � � ا ت� ا � ا ا ��ل�َ َ �ق ق � � ت ا ا ا ن � � �خ ّ ���ط� �م� �ي�جع � � ب� �ب�ه ا�لم��ل�وك * �و� �ل��د ��ط� �لم� � او لله �ص�ع�د ا�لم�ب��ر � �ط ب� �ي� ك�� � ر ج�� �ل� �و عر� م َّ � � ّ ذ �ذ�� �ت�ز � ��ي ت��صب�� ب� �م�ن �ج� ب�ي�� ن��ه � ا ك ا �ل�ص��لي� ت� * �و�ل ش����د �م�ا ا ب� ك�� �ى ��س�ا �م�عي��ه �ت�� ك��ي�را �و �هي��د ا *
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rights, for the patriarch has no right to take a single silver coin from my house by force; how much less then is his right to take a life by force! Even if we concede that my brother debated and argued over religion and said that you were misguided, it was not yours to kill him for that reason. If you acknowledged his status as a scholar and feared the consequences of his activities, you ought to have pulled apart his evidence and refuted his arguments orally or in writing; if not, you should have banished him from the country, as he asked you to do. Instead, though, you persisted in your ferocious punishment in order to make an example of him and claimed that the fact that he once escaped from your abode in an attempt to save himself exacerbated his crime and increased his guilt, meaning that your own tyranny and injustice toward him should also be increased. Do I hear you, you confederacy of cretins, claiming that to destroy one 1.19.13 soul for the salvation of many is a praiseworthy act that should be encouraged? If you had any insight or good sense you would know that persecution and compulsion only increase the persecuted in his love of that for which he is persecuted, especially if he is convinced in his heart that he is right and his tormentor wrong, or that he is blessed with knowledge and virtue while the other is innocent of them. The fact is, you are without either religious or political understanding and have exposed your honor to defamation and blackening and your reputation to revulsion and condemnation for as long as sky is sky and earth earth, and that my brother’s reputation, God have mercy upon him, though he be dead, will never die. Whenever anyone of good sense and insight mentions him, he will mention along with him your misdeeds, your atrocities, your excesses, your ignorance, and your ugliness. I swear, he drove more of your blood-thirsty community out of their allegiance to you by his death than he would have done if he had remained alive—suffice it to mention the Most Honorable Khawājā Mikhāʾ īl Mishāqah316 and other persons of wealth and capability. Did you feel no compassion, you bull-necked thugs, for his youth and 1.19.14 beauty? Were your hard hearts not affected by the pallor of his face when you kept him from the light and air, when his firm and tender body withered and nothing was left of his well-turned physique but skin and bones (and even then you were too stingy to release him with just those)? Did you take
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���� ��� ة ّ � �ّ �ن ظ � � ا ت �� � �ا خ ح�م��ق ا � ل� ك��ت��ا ك����ك��� � �عل�� �ن ل � � � � ل ا � �و ���ط�ا �لم�ا ا � �لف� �و�ع ّرب� � ك�� � م �ه � � ه � � ك � � � � م � ه � � � � �ج و ر و ر � � ي ب ر �ج � �ل ب م ى م م م �ن �آ ��ل �آ ف�ا ن ش ّ � �ف ة ق ت ن ق � � �ف خ ف ق � � ا ا � �� � ا ����د � � ح�� � ك� �و ك�� ا�ل�م ي� �و ج�� �ه� ا �ل�ص� ي ����� �م� ك�� � �ي��ر�ر�� �ى �و�ج� �ه�ه �م �م� ء ا �ي �� ار م �خ�زِخ َّ َ نّ ��ا ن �ز�ي�ز ��ف � ا � ن � ا آ ��م َّ ا ��ل ��خل ا �ة ة � �م�ن �م م��ر�م� ع��د ا �ل� �م �ر ء حب�ب�� ا �ى ا�� �ص� ���د ر� * � او ��ه ك�� � �ع ا �ى ا �ه�ل�ه * � ك � � �ف َ ْ � ا ة �ن�ز � ن ف �� ��خل � ق ���ة * ا �ن����� الم � ��� ا �ل��ل� جه ��ر * ا �ِمث���ل�ه حض� � او �ل�ع� �م�� * �ي�ه ا �ل �����س * ك�ري��م ا�� �ل� * �� ص�ي ي س ح ش � � ل�ا ئ � � ح���� �� ت س� ��س�ن ��ي�ن � �و���ذ ��ل � �و ن� � � ��ك�ل �و��م�و ت� � او لله �ي��عل��� �ب�ا �ى ����ى �م�ا ت� * �م�ا �ب�ا �ل ا � � � � ك�ن �� س ي ب س �ي ي ي م � � � � ة � � ة � ة �ا ث ذ �� �ة �� � �ة ا � ف�ل�ر�ن��س�ا � �و��ة � او �ل�نم��س�ا � �و��ة � او �ل�ا�ن ك� ���ل��ي�ز �ي�� � او�لم��س��ك� بو��ي��� � او �لر�و�مي��� ا �ل� ر� ��و� ك���س�ي � � او لر�و مي�� ي ي � �� ة ا �� ��ق � ة � �ق ة �� ن � ة � � �ز ة � ت � ة � ا ن ا ة � �ة ط��� � او �لي�� � ا�لم� ك �ه�ود �ي� ع � بو��ي��� � او ل����س ��ط�ور�ي�� � او �ل�د ر �ي�� � او�لم �� او �لي��� � او �ل� ���ص� ر�ي�� � او �لي� ل��ي��� �و ل ب� �� ي � ف ظ � ا ة � ش �ن ا ة ا �� ت �ت ف � � �ن �ة � ا �ن ة � ا �ت ح��د�ه�ا ل���ي����س� ا�لم� � � له�ا ا � ك ور ي��� * ا � ��هى �و� �ل� � ف����ع�ل �ه��ذه ا � �ل� ���� �ع�� � او �ل��� � �ع�� ل ��ى � ���ع� � م حق � ا ��ل ن��ا �� ا �ج��م�ع� ن �ع�� ا ��ل��ا ����ط * ا ��ل��ست� �ت�ز�ع�م� ن ا ن �م��ل�ك �ف �ن��س�ا �ه� م� ��� ا ��ل��د �ي�ن �ع��ل ا ��ل � و� � و� ل�ى ب � و ج ير ��� و س ل ر �ى م ُ � � ت � � �ز � � �ي�ن � ا ا � ا �� �� ن � ���ت��ا � ن��دد � ن� ف��ه�ا ل�� ���ه ا � ك� �صره * � او �ل ن��ا ��س �م�ن ا ��ه�ل �م�م�� ك ل��ا �ت�� �ول�ي ك � �ون�ا � ��ي�� م� ل�و ي ب ط��ع�و� ك�ب �ي و ي� آ ف ئ ��ن��� ت ح ش���ه� � ش��� ا �هت حه� � ��س�ف��ا �هت ب���عي ��و ب� ر ��ؤ ��س�� ء ك� �ه� � او ��ل �ه� �و �� ��س��ه� �وق�ب��ا � � ح�ا د �ه� * و و � � � � ي ر م م م م م م � ا ا ت �ن � ف ق ا ��ل�ف ة ن ن ت خ ��ث� ا �من ق �ّ�ف خ � � ا ا ا � �� ا ك��� �ه� ��د ا � �ل � او � �� او ير� �� �ص�� ب��م� ك�� � �ع�لي��ه ا �لب�� �ب� � او � �م ا � �ل��� �س� �و ج�� �ور ب �ل � ي ر � م � ا � ّة � � ق� ��ف ن ���ل�ود ا ��لن ��ف��� � او ��ل�و� ��كف� �ه� ب خ� �صر�ف� * �و��� �و��س�وء ا �لت�� �ه�م �م�ن ��ا �ل ه��� ا�لم���س�ي� * �م � ح�ى � �وب� �ل� ي ر ب س م ح ق َ �فْ َ �ق � � ة ف � ا ا � ا ن� ا �لب��ا �ب�ا ا ر�م�ا د �ي ��و��س ا �لث��ا �م�ن �و��عر�� �ب��د �و�� � � �ص �و�ى ر ��ى ا �ل�ى د ر ج��� �ب� �ب� �و�ه�و �ع�ا م�ى * �ي � � � ن � � ن ن خ �ن ن ق � ي�ن � ا ا ا ا ا � �من � � ع�� ده ل س���ل ا ��م� ك�� � ا �� � �ه� �م�ن ق��ا �ل ا � ج�م�م� �ب�ا �� ���ل� ا �لب�� �ب� �ي ��و ج��� � او ���ه� � ك� ي ح�م� او م و �م ع ع ن � تآ � ق �َ � � ث� ا ��ل�م��ي�ن * � �من�ه� �م�ن ق��ا ��ل ا ن� ا ��ل��ا ��ا �� �ص�ي �ا � � او �ل�ا ر� ش����� � او �ل ش����ق��ا �� � او �لِب��د �و�ن ك �ع��لي��ه �ب�ا �ل�ع� ي و � بب �م ع �� ن ت ا � ن �� � ن ل� � � ق ��ف م ا �� ��ف ت � ��ف � � ��ذ ل ا خ م ��ني ���ق �و �ل�ا ��س ا �ل�ا �و��ل ك� ���ا ن� ق��د � حر� ك�� �و���ي�� ر �م ��ط ار � ك��و�ل�و� �� ل ��ه �ل�ه �ى ج �م� ع ا �ل� �ى �ع���د �ى م ف ت � � � �ذ ة َ ْت �ا ئ ه � ��ق �� ف ا ا ن ن � � ئ � � ا � �� �� ب� ا �لم��ط ار � ا�لم� ك��ور ر��س� ���ل ا �ل�ى �ج �مي�� �م���ز ��س�ن �� � * 864ك �ه� * � ع �ك�ن� ���س� �ي �ول �ي� � ��ذ ت �ذ ن � ن � �� �ن �ق � ا �ن ف ن خ� � � � ق ا ا � س� � ����س�ه ا ��ه �ب�ا �ب�ا �و��س��ل��ط�ا � �م�ع�ا � او � ا�لم�ول�ى �ي �� �و �ل� ��س ا �ل� �ى ا �� �ل�ه � �ل� ب� �ب� �ب� �يوح�� ب ق� ن �ك�ن ق �� ح �م ن��ا ف���ق��د �ع��ل� �ن�ا �ع��ل ��س�ف��ا �هت��ه * � �من ح�ا ك�� �س�و��س � �ه� �م�ن ��ا �ل ا � ا �مب��ر �و� ي � �ي�� ��د �ر و �ى و �م م � ان ���ا ن �غ��� ��ص � ا ق ح��ص �ع�� د ���ة �م ���ط ا ن �م� ن �� ا �ل� �عت����ا د �ب��د �ي�ن ا �لن��ص�ا ر�ى * ر� �مي��ل� � � �ل ل�ى ر ج ع ا ��ه ك� � ي ر ح�ي ح 300
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no pity on him when you saw that his fingertips had been worn away for want of those very things to which the asses in your monastery had unfettered access? How many a time, by God, did they take up the pen only to use it to write out what kings wished to hear and how many a time, by God, did he ascend the pulpit and preach to you extemporaneously, the sweat pouring from that shining brow, and how hard did his listeners weep as they remembered their sins and determined to renounce them! How many a time did he write and translate insipid books for you and instruct your stupid monks and bring them out from the shadows of their ignorance! Did not the modest decency that shone from his face put your own impudent countenances to shame—he who was more bashful than the most demure of women? Or his dearness to his family, the honor paid him by emirs, the love shown him by lords and commoners? His unblemished purity and honorable morals? The elegance of his language, the good cheer he brought to those he was with? Is one such as him to be imprisoned for six years, humiliated, punished, and to die (and God alone knows of what he died)? How do you explain that neither the French churches nor the Austrian 1.19.15 nor the English nor the Muscovite nor the Greek Orthodox nor the Greek Catholic nor the Coptic nor the Jacobite nor the Nestorian nor the Druze nor the Mutawālīs317 nor the Anṣārīs318 nor the Jews perform such abominable and vile acts as are performed by the Maronite church? Or is it alone possessed of the truth, while all others are in error? Do you not claim that the King of France is the protector and defender of religion? Yet at the same time, the Catholic citizens of his kingdom continue to print books condemning the vices, shameful deeds, stupidity, obscenity, lustfulness, and atheism of the leaders of their church. Some of them, indeed, have written histories devoted to the immorality, depravity, and bad conduct of the popes, as of their denial of the truth of the immortality of the soul, of divine inspiration, and of the divinity of Christ.319 One has said that Pope Amadeus VIII, known as the Duke of Savoy,320 1.19.16 was elevated to the papacy when he was a layman. Another that the Council of Basel was convened specifically to depose Pope Eugene321 and found him guilty of sedition, bribery, sowing discord, and betraying his vows. Another that Pope Nicolas I excommunicated Bishop Günther of Cologne because of
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�ن ا � �ن �� ف ه ��ل ا �� �لق���س ��� ن ��� ن �ة � �من�ه� �م�ن ق��ا ��ل ا ن� ا ��ل��ا ��ا � �� � ن ا � ث ا �ن ط���ي�� ح�� ا �ل�� �م ا ر���س�ل �� او �ب� م �طر�� ا �ى ط� ي ب ب يو و �م آ � ث ت � ة ف ة �ف �ت ن � له� � ك�� ���� �ف � ك� �ف��ع�ق��د � او ��ّ ج�م�م�ع�ا ا ج��م� �ي��ه ا �ر��ع�م�ا �ئ�� ا ��س�ق � ح�م� او �ب�ب�ر� � �� �وي��و��س � او ��ه ج��د �ير ب � و �م م ع � � � � � ��ت���ة �م ���ط ا ن� * � �من�ه� �م�ن ق��ا �ل ا ن� ا �ل��ا ��ا ا ��س ��ط�ف��ا �ن�� �� ا �ل��س�ا د �� ا �م ��ا ن� ��ت ن�����ش وس س ر ب بب بر ب ر ب � و �م َ ْ � � � ة ف �ف� ب� ��ور ��ط�و �م�ن ا � �لق�ب��ر �ل�ا �ن�ه ك� ���ا ن� ق��د ا �ث�ا ر �ش���غ� ب��ا �ع��ل� ��س��ل�ف��ه �س�و��س ا ��س�ق � �ج� ث��� �ر�م�و� ي � ى ث � ا ا �ن � ق � � �ع��ل ه � � ة � �� را ��س�ه � �وث��ل ث� �م�ن ا �ص�ا ب���ع�ه ح��ا ا �لث��ا �م�ن * �� � ك�� ح�ا �ل�� ك��� �ون�ه �م�ي�ت�ا �ب ��� ��ط ح� ي�� ا �لب�� �ب� �ي ��و ع م م � �ف � ت �ز ا ن ا �� ا ا � �� � ن �س�و ر �ث�ا �ود �ور�ة ا � � او � �لق�ي� ت� �ج��ث�ت�ه ���ي �� ���ا � ق��د ا � ط�ب��ر * �و � لب�� �ب� ��سر�ج ي ��و س ك � ي م ا �ز ا ا �� ت �ت�ز ّ � ت � ��ي�ز � � �ن � � � �ز �م� ر �و �� ل ��ى �و�ج � ب��مرك��� ��ط�و� ك� �س��ا ��ى * � او �ن�ه ا �ى ا �لب��ا �ب�ا ا �و�ل��د �م�ا ر �و �ي�ا �ه��ذه �و�ل��د ا ي ث ق ّ ة ن ة خ �ت�ز ش � ت ا ا � �ن �ن �ص ه �م د �و� �م ح� ���� � ا � ر�ب�ا ه �ع ن��ده د ا ���ل ��� ح�د �م ا ��ه�ل ر �و�مي��� * �� �و�ج�� ر م نا � ا ش � ��ا ن ا ن �م�ا ر �و �ز ��ا ب���ع�د ذ� ��ل��ك �ب��ه�وك �م��ل�ك ا ر��ل�� �و�ع�م��ل ت� �ع��ل� ق�ت���ل ا ��لب��ا �ب�ا �ي ��و� ح�� ا �ل�ع� ���ر �ل� ��ه ك�� � س ي ى �خ ا ف ت ّ ت ا ا� ت ا � ت ن �ّ ت � ث ف �ق �خ ش ي�ن ي�ن ن ت ت � �ه� * � �� ��ه �ب�� � ار ����� � او ��س��ب��د � �ب� �ل� �مر * �� ا � �ي��ه�و�ى ا � � ح�� �ل� ا � �و�ل� �لي ��و م ّ � � ��ذ�� ش ا خا ث � ت �ن �ج�ن � �ت ة ث ق ت � ت ��ف ا �ل���س �ه��ذه ا �ل �ر ب��� ��م ���ل��ه �ى � ب���ع�د ا ����هر * ��م �و�ل� �م ب���ع�ده ر ج��ل� �� ��م�ل ا �ل� ك�ر ش �ا ع��� � �ه� ا ب��ن ا �ن ��ف� ��ل� ���ع�� ��س�ن ��ي�ن ث�� �ع�ز ��لت��ه � �ون��ص�� ت� � �� � ن ح��ا ا ��ل ح� د �ى � ر و و � �ه� �م ��سر�ج�ي ��و��س ب يو وى ب �ض م � � �ت � ة � � ��ا ن ق ا � � �ل ه ا �� ش ن س�ن ا �غ ش ت � ن ا اش ا �لث��ا �ل ث� �وك�� � ��د �ى ع�ي�� بر� ع �و�ع���ر�و� �� �� �ل� ��ي�ر * �و���ر ��ط� �ع�لي��ه ا � �ل� ��ي ب�� ���ر �ن � ا � � �خ ت ا ة � ة ّ �ز ث �ت�ز ن ح��ا � ا �ل�ا �م�ا ك� �م ا �ل� � ك� ���ا ن� ��م ��ص� � � بر�ت ب��� ا �لب��ا �ب�ا � �وي�� * � او ���ه�ا ��س�م ت� �و�ج� �ه�ا �� �و�ج� ت� م م �ا � � �ز ���س�� فل��ه�ا �م��ل�ك ��ل� �م��ا د � � ��ف� ض �� ت� ا ��لي��ه ا ��ل � ك�� � * ف���ق��ا � ا � ح� � ح��د �و�ل��د�ه�ا �م�ن �و�ج� �ه�ا ا �ل� �و�ل ب � و ب ر ى وو م م ن �ف � ة � � �ش��غ��� �ع��ل�ه�ا ا ��ه� � �م��� � � ا ن �ه�ا ا �لب��ا �ب�ا ��ى �ص�ا ن�� ت� ا ج� ���ل�و * � او �ن�ه �َوِ�ل�ى ب���ع�ده و ب ي� ل ر و ي و حب����س�ه� � او ب�� � � � � ا �ن �ة ا �� �� �ف ا �ن �� ا ��لث ا � �ن �غ � ا �ن ه ا � ن �غ � ���ا �ع ن��د ا �لر�و�م�ا ��ني���ي�ن �ل��ك� �ون�ه �م�ن ج�ر�م� �ي�� س�ط�� ��و س �� م * ��ي ر � �لم� ك ���ا � ب���ي� ض� ُ ف �� ظ �� �� ا ��ن � ��ل��د �م�ا � �ز ��ا �ه� ر ���ي�ن ا ��ل ن��ا ��س * ث�� ا ن�ت�خ� ��ّو�ه� او �و�ج� �ه�ه �ل��� ��ي�ق��د ر ب���ع�د�ه�ا �ع��ل� ا � ل �ش � ب و ر و � و ب ب ي ى م م � � ّ ن ا � ث ا �ن ��ك ���ط�ا ف���ا �ن�� �� � ��ل�ه �م�ن ا �ل�ع�م ث��م�ا ���ن � ش الم��س��م ا � ع���ر�ة ��س�ن ��ة �و���س�م �م�ن ب���ع�د ذ� ��ل��ك �ي ��و� و ح�� ا �ل�� ��ى ى س ي و ر ى ى فّ ت ن خ � � ن ش ت � � �ش ه�م��ا ���ف ا ��ل��ل���ذ ا ت� � �ه� �ى ا ��لن ��ف��� �م� ��ل�ع�ا ا ا ا ا ا ا � ن ع���ر * �وك�� � ��لي��ع� �م� �ج� �� � ح� ���� �م��س��ه��را �م � � ك� ى س و وو ن� ا � خ� ّ ذ ��� ة � ا ن ��ث � � ة �ف �خ �� � ا ��ل ���ل � ��ل��ك �ب�ا �م�ور ا ك ل��ن�ي����س�� �ل� � ا ك���ر ا �ل��د �و�ل �ي���ل � او � �ل�ر�و��س�ي �� * � او �م� �ل�م ي �برك��و ب 302
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a disagreement with him at the council that was convened in Metz in 864 and that the aforementioned bishop sent letters to all his churches in which he said, “Although Vicar Nicholas, who has taken the title of pope and considers himself to be simultaneously pope and secular leader, has excommunicated us, we have dismissed his folly.”322 And another that Ambrose, governor of Milan, obtained the rank of bishop, even though his belief in the Christian religion was unsound.323 Another has said that Pope John VIII sent delegates to Constantinople, where they convened a synod at which four hundred bishops met and that all of them found Photius innocent and declared him to be worthy of the rank of bishop.324 Another that Pope Stephen VI ordered that the body of Formosus, Bishop of Porto, be exhumed from its grave because he had incited strife against his predecessor John VIII, and then sentenced him, dead as he was, to have his head and three of his fingers cut off, after which his body was thrown into the Tiber.325 And that Pope Sergius326 appointed Theodora, the mother of Marozia,327 1.19.17 who was married to the Count of Tuscany, a senator328 and that he, that is, the pope, fathered a boy329 on the said Marozia and had him raised inside his palace far from the eyes of the people of Rome, after which Marozia married Hugh, king of Arles,330 and intrigued to have Pope John X331 killed because he was in love with her sister, smothering him between two pieces of bedding and assuming absolute power. Next, she schemed to appoint Leo332 to the same position, and then, a few months later, murdered him in prison; after him, she appointed another man whose name has now fallen into oblivion333 and he ruled for a few years, after which she deposed him, placing John XI—her son by Sergius III—on the throne when he was only twentyfour years old, imposing on him the condition that he should implement no decision that did not directly derive from his rank as pope. She also poisoned her husband334 and married her brother-in-law the king of Lombardy,335 to whom she delegated the rule of the Papal States. One of her sons by her first husband336 rose up and incited the people of Rome against her, imprisoning her and her son, the pope, in Sant’Angelo. After him, Stephen VIII337 held office but he was hated by the Romans because he was from Germany, and they so disfigured his face that he could not show himself among the people.338 Then Marozia’s grandson Octavianus was elected pope at the age
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� ��ل ا � ن ث �ا � � � ا � � ن �ذ � ا ا ق ض� ل��ا �ئ�� ك� ���ا ن� �ع��ل� �ه��ذه ا � � او � � ك�ن ح� �ل * � او � ا �و� ��وا �ل� �مب��را ��ط�ور �لم� عل��م ا � �ه� ا ا �لب�� �ب� ��د ا ��مر س ى � � � ت ّ � �ن � � � � �خ ا ق ض ا س�ت ا ا ا ���ا ن� ا ��ه� ا �ي� ��ط� �لي�� ��د ا �� �د �ع� او � �ص�ي �ا ن� �وك� ��وره �ل� �ص�ل�ح� �م� ا ���ل م ا � ح� � ا �ل�ع� حوا �ل�هم� ل ة ت ّ �ن ا ڤ ا �� �� ا ن ا تت ّ � ��ل�ه ا ��ل�ا �م ���فى ا �ل�م�د ��ي ن���ة �ع�ق��د ج��م�م�ع�ا � حض� ر ��ر � ��و ج��ه �م �ب� �ي�� ا ل�ى ر �و�مي��� * � بو�ع�د � ��س��� ب ة ف � ا ا ن ف ��ث �ن آ ا �ن ة �� � ن ا � ا ن ق �ف��ا � ��س��ع��ة � ش ع���ر ك�رد �ي �� �ل� �ي��ه ا �لب�� �ب� ب�� �����س�ه �وك���ي�ر �م ا �م �ر ج�ر�م� �ي��� �ور �و�مي��� � او بر���ع�و� ا ��س� � و ب ّ ن آ ُ � �ف ذ � � ��ف � ن ة � ا ��ل��ا ��ا ب� �و� �ل�ك �ى ك ���ي����س�� �م�ا ر �ب� ��طر��س * �و�ش�� ك�� �� �رت��ه� ا �ج��م�ع��ي�ن ا �ن�ه ��� �سق� ب���ع�د �ة ���س�� ء � حض� ب ب ى م �نُ فَ آ نّ ق ّ � �ن ّ ة � �غ ا � ن �خ تَ ّ � ت ت �و� �ص�و�ص�ا ا �ي���ن� ت� ا �ل ��ى �م�ا �� ت� �و��هى � ����س�� * � او ��ه ���ل��د �م ��ط ار �ي��� ��ط�ود �ى �ل���ل� �م ك���ا � � � � ا �ن ه � ن � ا �غ ��س�نّ�ه � ش �ا ئ ة ا �� ع���ر ��س�ن ��ي�ن �ل� ��ي�ر * �و � ك ���ا � �ي�ب��ي�� ا �لر��ت ب� � او �ل��د ر ج��ا ت� ا � �ك�ن ل�� ���س�ي �� ب��ي��ع� �و س��م�ل ع � �� � �ة � �خ َ� ّ � د � ن��ا ��ل�ا �ت � ن ش ي�ن ��ف ا �ل�م�ع ة �� ا � � ا �ى ��صى ا � ل�� ار د �ل� ا �و ا � ك ح�د ا � ك ل��ر �ي ع�ي�ى ا ���ب��� �ه �ى �م�ود �ي�� س�م�ل� * �و�ج ب ا� � �ا ن �� �غ ذ � � ا ّ ا ث قت �ن �ج� ب�� * ��م ����ل�ه * � او ��ه �ل�م �ي��ك�ن �ي��و�م �ب� �لم���س�ي� �و��ي�ر � �ل��ك م�م� ا �و�ج� ب� �ع��ل�ى ا �ل� �مب��را ��ط�ور �ح � �ف � � � � ا � �� �خ� � � �ن � �ة ن � خ� م��ا �ن�ه * ا �ل�ا ا �ن�ه �ل� �ي � �ص� �لي ��و ا �لث��ا �م�ن ��ى � ك� �ك�د ا �ل� �مب� را �ط�ور ي ر م ر �و مي�� ��ل�ع�ه � �و�� ب م �ج � خ ف � � � ق � � ة � �� �ي��د ح�تى �ه�ا � ا �لب��ا �ب�ا �ع��لي��ه ا ��ه�ل ا�لم�د ��ي ن��� * �و�ع�ق��د ج�م�م�ع�ا ���ل� �ي��ه �لي��و ا �لث��ا �م�ن � او �مر �ب ��� ��ط �ج ع ع ق� �� � � � �ذ �ت � � ل�ا ت �� ��ذ � � ن �ق ���ا ��ل��س�ا ن� ا �� ك� ���ا � ��ي� يّ��د �رد ��ي ن��ا �ل ا �ل�� �ى ك��� ب� ا �ل ش�����ك�و�ى �ع��لي��ه * �و�� ��ط �� �� ب� ا ل� ى ك ل� ا ك �� ا �ي� ض� ُع َ ا نق ح ا د ث� � ا ��نْ�ف��ه � ا �ث�ن��ت���ي�ن �م�ن ا �ص�ا ���ع�ه * ث�� ق�ت��� ا ��ل��ا ��ا � �� � ن ا � ث ا ��ن ش ��ل و و ب م ل ب ب يو ا ��و ح�� ا �ل�� �ى �ع���ر �و�ه�و �م�ع� � ��� � ا ة ��ا ن � ق ا ت � ا ق �ز ا ث ن ا �� ��ق ن �� ���سن��ت� �� �� ا ��ن ا ��ل��ا ��ا �ل� �م ار � * �وك�� � ا � �ل�� ���ل �ل�ه �ع��ل�ى �م� �ي���ل �و�ج� �ه� * ��م ا � ل ���ص�ل ك�ري ي و س ب ب ب � ��ت � ن � �� � ن ح��ا ا ��ل�ع�ا ش��� �م�ن �م�ا ر �و �ز ��ا ج���ّ ش�� ا ��ه� ر �و�مي���ة �ع��ل ا �و�ث�� ا ��لث��ا ���نى �و���س �ج�ن ب�� ن��د ك� ��و��س �وك���ا � �ى و يو ي ي � ل ر ث �ّ � �ف � نا � ذ �ف � ف �ن ح�ز � ا �ل�ا �مب��را ��ط� ر ��م�ا ت� ��ى ا �ل���س � �غ� � ��ل��ك �م��س�ا �م� ا �و� ��و �و �ل�ى �ي ��و� ح�� ا �ل ا ��� �ج�ن * ���ل�م�ا ب���ل و �م � ب ربع ع ق َ � �ق � � �ذ � ن � � ة �ن ف فق �ش ع���ر * �����ا � �ع��لي��ه ب� �� �و ����ا ��س ا �ل��س�ا ب��� ا �ل�� �ى ك���ا � �و�ل�ى ا �ل �رئ�ا ��س�� �م�ن قِ�ب���ل ا � �ل ن���ص�ل �و�ت���ل�ه * ي م ع �ا اش ة �ا � � � ���ق ا �� �ل�ق ن���ص� �م� ت �ق ا ت ح��ا � ا ��ل� ا ن� ق��ا � �غ� � �غ� � ��� �� اب��ن �س���ل� ب����د �ب�ي�ر ا �ل� �م�ور �و�مب�� ���ر� ا �ل� � ك� م ى م ر�ي وريو س ل و ب�ى � � ث � � � � � ا ا �خ� ت� ا �ل�ا �م��را ��ط� ر �و خ���ل�ع�ه 1ا �و�ث�� ا �لث��ا �ل ث� * �� ا � ت ح��ا �ل �ع��لي��ه ا �ل� �مب��را ��ط�ور �و ض� ��رب� و ب و م ُ � � � ش �عن ��ق��ه � ا �م ��ا ن� ��ت�ع�� �لق �ج��ث�ت�ه �م�ن ا � �لق��د �م��ي�ن * � ���سم��ل ت� �ع�ي�ن �ا ا �ل��ا ��ا � �� � ن ا �خل ا و ب ب يو � و رب ح�� ا�� �م��س �ع���ر ُ �ن ذ ة ق ة ا ن ت ن � ث ق ُ � ن ا ��ل���ذ �ى ا ن�ت�� �� ا ��ن �ف��ه �� ر�م�ى �ب�ه �م � ر �و� ���ل�ع�� �ص� ��� ا ج� �خ ب��ه ا �لر�و�م�ا ��ني��و� �و�� ��ط ���ل�و * م ع � :١٨٥٥ 1خ ��ل . ع
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of eighteen, being known thereafter as John XII.339 He was licentious, indecent, depraved, a scoffer at religion, entirely given over to the satisfaction of sensual pleasures and his appetites, infatuated with horse-riding and chivalry—a situation that failed to disturb the church only because most other churches and nations were in the same state. When Otto, the emperor,340 learned that this pope was secretly in revolt 1.19.18 against him, and the people of Italy called on him to come and set their affairs to rights, he made his way from Pavia to Rome and, after settling the affairs of the city, convened a synod that the pope himself attended along with many princes of Germany and Rome, forty bishops, and seventeen cardinals, in the church of Saint Paul. There, in the presence of all, the emperor made a complaint against the pope that the latter had fornicated with a number of women, and specifically with Étiennette, who died in childbirth, that he had ordained as bishop of Todi a boy who was only fourteen years old, that he used to sell church titles and offices for money, that he had put out the eyes of his godson at his baptism, that he had “snipped” (i.e., castrated) a cardinal and then murdered him, and that he did not believe in Christ, along with other charges, the emperor thus being obliged to depose him and install Leo VIII341 in his place. Barely, however, had the emperor left Rome before the pope ( John XII) whipped up the people of the city, convened a synod at which Leo VIII was deposed, and ordered the amputation of the hand of the cardinal who had recorded the complaint against him. He also had the tongue of the clerk who had recorded these events cut off, as well as his nose and two of his fingers. John XII was later murdered while embracing a woman—the murderer being, according to some, the woman’s husband. Next, Consul Crescentius,342 son of Pope John X by Marozia, mobilized 1.19.19 the people of Rome against Otto II and imprisoned Benedict,343 who was of the emperor’s party, and he died in prison. When this reached Otto’s ears he appointed John XIV,344 but Boniface VII,345 who had been appointed to the top position by the consul, rose up against him and killed him, leaving the consul a free hand in the running of affairs and execution of decisions until Gregory,346 the emperor’s sister’s son, was installed and Otto III347 deposed Crescentius; the emperor then played a trick on him, cut off his head, and
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ٌ ث ُ ح��ا �� ت� ا ��ل �ئ�ا ��س��ة ا ��ل��ا ��ا � ���ة �ع�� ا ��ل� � ف ا ش ت ا ���ّ �م�ن ب�� ن ��ت�� �� ا ��لث��ا �م�ن �و� �� � ن � ك �د � �� �عر ض� ع �� �����را �ه� �ك�ل وس ر يو ب ب وي ل�ى ب �ي م ��ي�ز � �ا ��ن � ث� ش �ُت خ � ن ت � ش ا ا ا � � ت �و�ى �مرك��� ��ط�و� ك� ح�دا ب���ع�د � او � ا �ل�� ��س� �ع���ر � او � �س�� �ى * � ا ���� ر��ي� ح�د * �وك�� �� ا �� م ع ث ن��ت ن ��ت � � � ّ ��ا ن ن ن خ �خ ي�ن ش س�ن ا ا ا س�ن ت �ل�و�ل��د �� �ه �ع���ر �� �� �و�ه�و ب����د ك� ��و��س ا �ل�� ��س� * ��م ا � ب� �ب� �ب� � او � ا � ار � �وك�� � ع � � �ه ا ّف � � ن خ ق ت �ن�����س��ة �ف�م�ا ����ن�ه�م�ا ا ا � ح �م�ه * ث�� ا � �ص��ط���ل ح�د �م� �ي�� ��ك�را �ل�ا خ�ر �و� ح�ا �ع��ل� ا � ��ي ���� �س�م� د ���ل ا � ك ا� ل�� ي ي ب ي � ر ي ى م ة ق � ن �ن ة ت ة �� � ن �ه�م�ا �م� ��س ّ� ت��ه * � �من ن ش � �ص�د ر� �مر� 20،19،1 �ه� �م�ن ��ا �ل ا � ك���ي����س�� ر �و�مي��� ا � � او � �ي��عي����� �ك�ل م � ع �ير و �م ن �ّ � ��ت �ة فن � ف نش ��� را � ك� ح��م ت� �ي��ه �ع��ل�ى ب���ع��ض� �م��ل�وك �ر���س�ا �ب�ا � �ي� ��ط�� �لق� ا �م ار �ت�ه � ��يو ب��ا ش���ر د � او ع�ى ا ل �� �وب� �م�� �و � ة � � � �ن ن ���ور ���فى ا �لم�م��ل�� �ك���ة ��س�ق� ��ط ت� � �س�� ��س�ن ��ي�ن * � او �ن�ه �لم�ا �ش���هر ا�لم�� ش � حر�م�� ا�لم��ل�ك �م�ن �عي ��و� � ب ع ق� ا ��ل ن��ا �� ف��ت�� نّ���ت��ه ا ��خل ا ة � ا ة � ت � ق ن �غ خ ا َ ْ�ن ن �ه�م �م�ن ��ا �ل �� �ص�� � او �ل�ع� �م�� ح�ى �ل�م ��يب ��� �ع��ده ��ي�ر �� د �م�ي� * �و�م � س �ج ب آ � � �ف ن � �غ � ا �ن �ة ة � ن ا � ا �لب��ا �ب�ا � �ر �غ� �ور�ي��و��س ا �ل��س�ا ب��� �ع�ق��د ج�م�م�ع�ا ��ى ر �و�مي��� �ع��ل�ى � �نر�ى ا �ل ارب��� ��س��ل��ط�ا � ج�ر�م� �ي�� �ي أَ ْ ع ع ق خ � ت آ �ن � �ن � ا ة ا ��ل ن ا � ا � � ا عف�� ت� �ج��م�� ا ��لن��ص�ا �ى �م�ن �وق��ا �ل ف�ي��ه * ��د ��ل�ع� � ر�ى ع �و �ل� �ي�� �م��س� � او �ي� ��ط� �لي�� � �و � � ر ي ي ع � ت آذ ن � � � � ة � �ن ق ن ا � � ح��د ���فى ا ن� ي خ� س� � � � �ل�ا � �� ت� �ع�ه�د �ه� �ل�ه * �و�ل�� ���د �م�ه �ب�ا �ع�بت�� ر ا ��ه �م�لك ا �ل��ط�ا �ع�� �ل�ه � �و �� ض� م ذ� � �� �� ��� ا ن � ا ن �آ �ن � �ل� ا ض ا �ق � �ذ �� � ذ�َ ْ � ا ا �ض �����ط ا ��ل� ا ��ل���ذ �ه�ا � ا ��ل� � �م���ة * ف���ل�م�ا ��� � ب�� ل�ك رع� و سلط� � * و � رى م� � رى ب ى رو ي � ا ا � خا� ا ا�ُ ْ �ف ��ا �ن �ز ا �ف� �ق��ف ل�� �ن���ت�� �م�ا ��تي���ل��د�ة ��ى ك� ث ُ ق��د � �ع��ل� ا �لب�� �ب� �و ج��ده �� �لي�� �ب� � ك ()1 � � � � � �ت ن ن و و �ن��� ت� �م� ن س � � � ل �م م ى ا ا ك ل � ()1 �ك� � �� � و ن� س � �ف ذ � � � � ا �ل��ق���ا � ا � ش ن ن � خ ل���ر �ف� �ع ن���د ا لا ف�ر ج� ا ا س�ت � � � ك�ن ا ��ل��س��ل���ط�ا � ي��� � � � ��ى ا �ل�د � ب �و�ل �ل�د �ى ا �لب�� ب� �و�ل� �ي�� �م�ع�ه ا � ح�د � � م �ش � ف �ل ا خ � � � ا � ت �ن�ز ا ا ي خ� ف� ��ره * �� �م� د ���ل ا �ل مق��ا �م ا �ل� �و�ل ا �ع��ر ض� ���ه ب���ع��ض� ح�� � �م ا �لب�� �ب� �و �ع� او ن �ّت � �� ّ ة � ث قف �ش ح�ن ���ا �ي�ن��ت�ظ� ��� ا ��ل�ا ذ� ن� ���فى ��ص � �ع��ه � ح�ل��ه ا�لم� ك ل��ي��� � او �لب����س�وه ��� �وب�ا �م�ن ا �ل����عر * �و �و� ��� ا �ي� ض� ر � آ ث � ث ة ا ق �ت ق ث ُ ��ز ن �ق ش �ت � �ص � ا ف ا ��ا ن ذ � � ��ف ق � ح� �ي�� �وك�� � � �ل�ك �ى ��ل ب� ا �ل��� � ء * ��م ا �ل �م ا � �ي��ص�و�م ��ل��� ا �ي� �م �ب���ل � ��ب�ي���ل ا � �ل�� ر � � � � �ف � �ف ق��د � ا ��ل��ا ��ا * ف���ل�م�ا ا ��ن �ق� ض �� ت� ا �ل�ا �ي�ا � ا �لث���لث���ة دُ خ���ل �ب�ه ا ��ل�ى �جم ���ل��س ا �لب��ا �ب�ا ��و�ع�ده �ب�ا �ل�ع� �و ب� ش���ر ��ط � م بب م ن � � �ذ ث �ف � � �غ �غ ا ت ا ا �� � ن قا � �ب�ه �ع��لي��ه ��ى �جم ا ن� �ي���ت�ظ� �� ر�م�ا ي� ك�� ح� ���ل��س ا � �و��سب��ر * ا �ل�ى ا � �� �ل ��م �م� � ا �لب�� �ب� ا�لم� ك��ور م ُ � ف ��ف � ت ّ ��لت �ن � ن ن � ّ خ ف ئ � ا ا ا ث ث � ��ّ�ر * ��ف�م�ن �و���ل���ه ر��ي����س د�ير ��س�مى ا �ور�ب� � ��و��س ا �ل�� ��ى * �وك�� � �م���ل ��س�ل���ه �ى ا �ل�ع ��و � او ج�ب � ف � آ آ ث اا ح ّ�� ا � ن��َ � �ن �ى �ع�� ق�ت��ا ��ل ا ب���ه�م�ا * � �ه��ذه �ث�ا ���ن �م �ة �ه�ا ���ع�ل ي� �� ج� �ه�ا ا �ل�ا ب�� ن��� ء ل ب � ر و ى � ا �لب�� �ب� �ي� ي �ض � ى ر ر ى �ج م 306
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ordered that his body be hung up by the feet.348 Pope John XV, who had been elected by the Romans, had both eyes put out and his nose cut off,349 and was then thrown from the top of the castle of Sant’Angelo. After this, the papacy was put up for sale, to be bought successively by Benedict VIII350 and John XIX,351 who were brothers to the Count of Tuscany. Then it was bought for a boy aged ten, Benedict IX.352 Then two further popes were elected, each of whom excommunicated the other,353 only to reconcile later on the basis that they divide the wealth of the church between them, each living with his concubine.354 Others have stated that the Church of Rome once issued an edict 1.19.20 by which it ruled that one of the kings of France should divorce his wife and perform acts of penance for seven years355 and that, when the edict was published in the kingdom, the king lost his sanctity in the eyes of the people, who, lords and commoners alike, ostracized him to the point that he was left eventually with no one but two servants. Some say that Pope Gregory VII356 convened a synod against Henry IV,357 king of Germany, in Rome, where he declared, “I hereby depose Henry as ruler of Austria and Italy and absolve all Christians from obedience to him, and I will permit no one to serve him as a sovereign king.” When Henry IV could stand it no longer, he was forced to go to Rome. When he went to the pope, he found him alone with Countess(1) Matilda358 at Canossa,359 and the emperor stood at the gate, with no guard of his own, asking for permission to enter. When he entered the first courtyard, his way was barred by some of the pope’s servants, who
(1) “Countess” is the feminine of “Count,” a title of nobility among the Franks.
stripped him of his royal mantle and dressed him in a hair shirt, and again he stood and waited for permission, barefoot in the castle courtyard, in the middle of winter. Then he was told he had to fast for three days before he could kiss the pope’s foot. When the three days were over, he was brought into the pope’s council chamber, where the pope promised to pardon him provided he should wait to see what sentence the Diet of Augsburg might pass on him. The writer goes on to say that the aforementioned pope died and was succeeded by the abbot of a monastery, under the name Urbanus II,360 who was as arrogant and tyrannical as his predecessors and, as such, set about inciting the two sons of Henry IV361 to fight
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آ � �ف � � ث ف ��ي�ن �ا ذ� ��ل��ل�ا �ع��ل ا ��� �ئ��ه� * ف���ق��ا �م�ا �ع��لي��ه � او �ود �ع�اه ا �ل���س �ج�ن �� � ّر �م ن��ه �و�م�ا ت� ��ى �لي��ا � � ك م��س�� ي �ج �ى ب م م آ ّ �ن � � � � � ة � � �من�ه� �م�ن ق��ا �ل ا ن� � �ن �ى ا �ل��س�ا د �� � �ل��د �ف ���د ���ك ا �لث��ا �� ��س�ا ا ��ل� � �م��� �ل�ت�� ��ه ا �ل��ا ��ا ر ى ر ى رو ي ي وج ب ب س و ري ري و �م � � � � � � ق ق ���ا ن� ا �ل�ا �م��را ��ط� ر �مت� ���ط�ا �� ئ ��س�ي ��ل��س�ت�ا �ن��و��س * �و�لم�ا ك� ط��ا �لت���ب�ي���ل ��د �م�ه �و�ع��ل�ى را ��س�ه �ت�ا � ا�لم��ل�ك ب و �ج � ا � ��ا ن �نّ � ا ا ��قت�ئ �ذ � ف � �ف �ف ر��� ا �لب��ا �ب�ا ر ج���ل�ه �ور���س �ب��ه�ا ا �لت��ا � �ع�ن را ��س�ه ��و�ق�� �ع��ل�ى ا �ل� ر �ض� �وك�� � ��س ا �لب�� �ب� �و � � �ج ع ع ن � �ن ق ا � ث ة �� ا ا ت ظ �� ن ه ن ن ت �� ث ا � ن ن ث ي�ن ا ا س�ن س�ت �� � �و��م� ��� �� �� * � �م �ه� م �� �ل ا � ب���ع��ض� ا لب�� �ب� � او � � او ���� ا ��ي ��و�ص��� ا ل�� �ل� و �م ن � �� � � ن �غ ئ ا � ا � ك�� �غ ن � ا �ي�ن ف ن ا ���� خس � ح�م�ه � او �مر� او �ب�اِ �ل���ا ��ه * � او � حر�م ا�لم�لك �ل�وي���س � او �ب� ه * ��ي�ر ا � �م ��ط� ر �ر���س� ��و � � ف � �ن ذ � �ا ا ��ل��ا ��ا ا � ن�� �ص ن�� ت� ا ��ل ا ��� �ع�ق��د الجم ��م� ا ��لث��ا ��ل ث� � ش ع���ر�ع��ل�ى ا �ل� �مب��را ��ط�ور � �ري��د ر�ي��ك ا �لث��ا ��ى �و� �ل��ك ب ب �ي و ع ربع ّ ف �ف ة ف �� � ا �ن ه � ن ت � ا ت فنا ض ��ى ��س�ن �� � 1245و� ك�� ح� � �ع��لي��ه �ي��ه ب���ك�ره �وب� � ك ���ا � �ي�����سر�ى ب ج�� �وا ر�ى �م��س�ل�م� � * ��� ����ل م � �خ � ح�ز ه ّ ا ��ل ا � ا ا �ن ه ا ف�ت ّ � ن��ت ا ا �ت ش�� �غ � � ة �ن � ا ا � ب� �� �و ر ��ى ��ي ر مر� * �ع ا �ل� �مب��را ��ط�ور � �� ب ط�� �وه �و� �ب� �ورد � او �ع��ل�ى ب�� ب� � ���ض ّ � � � �ش � �ن ق ا � ن � ا ا � �ذ�� �غ ن م����ا ر ا �لي��ه �ب�ا ن� �ي��د ��س ��ل�ه ط�ي�� ب� ا �ل�ا �مب��را ��ط�ور ا �ل �و�م � �ه�م �م �� �ل ا � ا �لب�� �ب� ا�لم� ك��ور ا �ر�ى �� ب � ن �اا�ق ة ف � ث ا ��ن َ �� َ سّ ���ف ���ط ا ى �م �ة � ح�ص�ا ر ر �و�مي��� ب��ن �����س�ه �و�م�ا ت� ا �ل�� � ى ��ع� �م�ه * � او � ا �لب�� �ب� �ل�و�ي ��و��س ا �ل�� �ى �وِل� ر م � �ف نَّ � � � � ة ن ن � خ � � � ض � ش ن ا ا ا ا � ل � ك � �� �م�� �ع��� ك�� � ي ج�� � ��و��س ا ل �م�ن ر�مي��� �ج� حر�ع��ل�ى را ��س�ه * � او � ا �لب�� �ب� ا ي��م�� � �و�ل �ى �ڤ�ي�ى س ر � ن ��ل � � � ن ش �ق ن �ق ّ �ا � آ �ن �و�لي ��و� ج��م� ا�لم�ا �ل �و�م�ع�ه �ع���ي �� ت��ه * � او � را �هب��ا �م�ن ا �ل��د �و�مي���ي �� ي���ي�ن ��س�م ا �ل� �مب��را ��ط�ور � ر�ى ع � �ف ذ �ف �� ئ ا �ة ة ن ن � ق �ت�ز ن ا ا ا ا س�ن � � �ع�ن ا �م ا ��لب��ا �� �و� �ل�ك ��ى ا � �ل� �� � * � او ��ه ��ى �� �� 1200ا � ح� �ب� �ب� � او � �ع��ل� ا ل �ر� ��س� �و�ج �م� ر ب بر ى م ع ّ � � � ن � �ه ا �ت �ف ��ف آ�ن �ة ة �� ن ح�ز ��ه �ل��ل��ق ت��ا �ل �و�ع��ل را ��� �ك� �ه�م�ا � ���ل �ص�ور�ة ا�لم�ف��ا ت�ي�� * � او � ا � �صر� �ى � �ي�� ح�د �م� �� �ك��ل �م � �ى ي ٍ ب ح ��ن��� ��ة � �ا �� ��� �� � ا ��ن ف� �ق ح * � ا ن ا ��ل �ا ��ا ا � ��ا �ن �� � ن �ذ � �ه�ا ���فى ا �هب���ة ا ��ل �رب� و � ب� ب ورب ��و س ك ���ا � �ي��ع� ب� �ك��ل� ك� ي ��س م ر ب طر س و �� ��ف ذ � � �� ��ق ت �ن� ت � �ة ف ن ا ئ ا �ة � � ا �� �ة ا �� � � ا �ف ��ر� د �و�ل� �ر���س� ر�� ��س� ل� �رد ��ي ن��ا �ل� ت� * �و�ى � �ل�ك ا ل�و � ا ك ل��ر د ل� �و ا ك �م�ن خ��ا � �ل��ه �م�ن ا � ك � ن � �ن ق ا �� ن �� ا ا � � ن � � ا ��ل��ا ��ا � ا ��ست��� ّ�د ت� ا ��س�ا �ق���ف ت�ه�ا ��ا �م� � ت ح��ا ا �لث��ا �ل ث� ع���ه�م * �و م � بب و ب �ه�م م �� ل ا � ا لب�� �ب� ي ��و � ب ور ر ي آ ُ � � � ئ ق ة ن� ن ظ � ا �ئ ف �� ل��ا ��� �� � �ت�� �ع�د�ة ا � �ئ � ان � ّ � ف ا � او �ل�ع ش���ر�ي�ن �ش�� ك�� بر�� * � او ��ه ك���ا � �ى �ب� ��ه �س�م ��س�ل���ه � �وب�ع ا �ل�و ���� � �� ا �ك�ن س�ي و �ل � � �غ ذ � ��ا ف ا �� ��� ّ ا � � ا ��ف �ن ث� ُخ��� � � ض ة � ا ��ي ��ق� �ع ن��ه ط�� مع� * �م � ل بح� ��ر� ا �ل� �مب��را ��ط�ور * ا �ل�ى ��ي�ر � �ل��ك �م�م�ا �ي�ض� ك�� �ر �ول�و ي م ع �ذ � ت �ا ت � � ل��ا ف��ا ��ن �ل�� ا ض ���ع�ه ���فى ا ��ل��د �ي�ن � او ن��م�ا ا �ورد ت� �م�ا �م ّر �ب��ك �ع��ل� ��سب��ي���ل ا �ل� � �س� ��ط ا رد * � �ه� ا ا � ك�� � � ى ب ى م 308
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their father, which was the second time the pope had set the sons against their father. They rose up against him and put him in prison but he escaped and died at Liège, pitiful and humiliated. Some say that Henry VI,362 son of Frederick II, went to Rome to have himself crowned by Pope Celestine363 and that when the emperor, crown on head, bent over to kiss the pope’s foot, the pope lifted his leg and kicked off the crown, which fell on the ground; the pope was eighty-six at the time. Someone else says that one of the popes, Innocent III364 I think, excom- 1.19.21 municated King Louis and his father but that the French bishops abrogated the sentence and ordered him to cancel it, and that Pope Innocent IV365 convened the thirteenth synod against the emperor Frederick II366 in 1245 and there found him guilty of unbelief and of taking Muslim girls as concubines. The emperor’s preachers and the members of his party stood up for him and responded by accusing the pope of having deflowered a virgin and of taking bribes on more than one occasion. Another has said that the aforementioned pope seduced the aforementioned emperor’s physician into slipping poison into his food, and that Pope Lucius II367 on one occasion took command in person of besieging Rome and died as the result of a stone striking him in the head; that Pope Clement XV368 used to roam about in Vienne369 and Lyons collecting money with his mistress, that a Dominican monk poisoned Emperor Henry on the orders of the pope (and at communion too!), that in 1200 two popes jostled for the throne, each gathering his party in readiness for a fight, on the banner of each the image of the keys, that one of these seized the liturgical vessels of the church of Saint Peter and sold them in preparation for the war, and that Pope Urban370 used to torture any cardinal who disagreed with him. At this time also, the French state refused to acknowledge the pope and its bishops ruled tyrannically over the people. Some say that Pope John XXIII371 was accused of poisoning his predecessor, selling church offices, murdering a number of innocents, and being both an unbeliever and a sodomite, as a result of which he was deposed by the emperor.372 And so it continues, beyond the scope of this book, for it has not been my intention to belittle religion; I simply provide the foregoing by way of a digression.
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� �آ � � �ف ن �ن � ف ن ا ي�ن قً ���ا ن� ا � ّ �م�ن �ه� ��ل�ا ا ��ل�ا ئ� ّ�م��ة � ا �ت���ق ح���ا ك� ف��ا ن� ك� ���ا ن� �م�ا ق��ا ��ل�ه �ه�و �ل� ا�لم�و� �ل �و� �م ا � �ل�ر���س� � �و�� � بر و � و ى ي �ا آ �ز �ن ذ � ُْ َ ق � � � ئ � �ق ا � �ل� ي� ش�����ك �� ��ط �ب�ا �ن�ه �ل�ا ��ط ا �و ��ى ا �و��س�ّ ا � ح��دا ا �و �ه�ا � ا �ل� ب�� ن��� �ع��ل� ا �ب�ا ���ه� �لي �� ت���ل�و�ه� * ى م �ج م م م �غ ا ت ت � ّ ن ة � ئ ش �خ �ن � ن ن ا ا ا ت ���� �و ج� ل�� ���س ا �و ��ط ا �و ا ��ه ا � ���ل��س ا �ي��� ا � �ك�ن �ب��ر �ع��ل�ى ��س��ل��ط� ��ه ا �و ا ر�����ى * � او ��م� ��هى ش �آ �غ � � �ق �ة � ا � � ة � ا �ز ن �ة �� � �م�م�ا � ك� ح��ا ت� ج�ر ت� ب��ي�� ن��ه � �وب��ي�ن �ب� ��طرك����ه �ع��ل�ى ا ����ي � ��ي ر م�ي����س� �و �ل� مع�د �ود� �و �ل� �م�و � �و� � ق� �� ة ف ا ن ت �ت�ق � ث ًا ن ���ا ت ق� ن� ���ي�ن ا �ل�م دّ ���ة ا ��ل ���سّ ث �و �ل�ا � كي�� ���ي�ن ���ل ث� * �و�ه�و ��ا �ل �و ي �ى ج م��ل�� * �� ��� � � �و�ل �م��ل� ا � د رك� � � بو � � � �ذ ان �ن �ث��ل�ثم�ا �ئ��ة * � او �ن�ا ا ��ق� ��ل �ث��لث���ة ا ��ل�ا �ف� * ���فم�ا �م�د خ��� ا �ل���س � ���ا � �م�ا ق��ا �ل�وه �ج�ن �ه ن��ا � او �ل�ع� ا ب� * �و � ك و ل آ �ذ � � ذ ق � ���له � ا �ا �ت��ص�ا �� �من�ه * �ا ف���ت ا �ئ ك�� ���ا ن� � ��ل��ك ا د �ع�ى ا ��ل�ى ��ت ن� كي� �� �ب�ا � او ف���تر� ء ك� � � � ع ه � � � ل ل � � � � ل ر و � � � ص � م ى م م ّ � خ ف ا ئ �ف ح ش ��ل�ن �� ت ا� ا �س� ���ط�� �ع ّ��ا د ا �� �ل�ف ت��� ش�� ا ن� ��ا �ت�� ا ��ا �ف��ظ����� �من �ه�ا * �م� ا �ن�ا �ل� ح�� ر ا لله �و���ل��� ��ه �� او ���� ي � ي ب ب و ي ب ي � ع م ع ع ّ ُ ُ � ُ ُ �ذ ق ح��دا �من �س��ف�زّ �م�ن د ا ره ا �و ا ��ن �ف� �م�ن ��م �ه� �ع� ب� ا �و �ن����ف ا �و ا � ت � �ن َر ا � حض� ��ره * ب���ل ��د ��طب��ع ت� ى �م � ��ت � � ق ئ ا �ق � ن �ف � ا ق � � ة ��ت � ة ك��ب��ه�م ا�ل�مر� ب���ع�د ا�ل�مر� * �و��س�عر�ه�ا ��ى ا �ل� ��س� او �� ك���س�عرك�� ب� ا �ل�عل��� * �و�ل��ع�ل ��ا ��ل� ��ي� �و�ل ا � م َ � ّ � ّ � � � � �ذ �ا � � ف ض ����ك �ه� ا �م�و ج��ه ا ��ل�ى ا �لب� ��طرك ا�لمت��و��ل�ى ا �ل�ا ن� �و�ه�و �م�ن ا ��ه�ل ا � �ل�����ل � او �ل ك� �عر ض� م�� رم �و�لي����س �ج�ن خ ا ق ت � ن� ا ف �غ ن ا ق� ت ن � ذ �� � ��ذ ���س �ه�وا �ل� �ى � ا �� ك �و���ل�ه � او �م� ��س��ل���ه * ��ل� �ع��د �ى �عل��م � �ل�ك * ��ي�ر ا ��ه �م� د ا �م �ه�و تق ا ن ا ف ن �ق � �ا ف ���ا ن �ص� ا ��ا �ف ش �ه�و ��� �ري��ك �ل�ه �و �ل� �ي��لب� ث� ا � �ي��ع�ا ��م�ل �م�ن ��ي� ت��د �ى �ي��ع ����د �ب� � �م� ���ع��ل�ه ��س�� �ل��ه ك� � و ب � ���ذ ��ل��ك ���ع ا ��ل��ل� � �ج��م�� ا �ل�م���ط�ا �ن��ة � ا ��ل�ا ��س�ا �ق��ف���ة � ا �� �لق���س����س��ي�ن �ب�ا �خ��ى �م�ع�ا �م��ل��ة ��س��ل�ف��ه * �وك�� ر و �ي ي و و ي م ع م � � � � ��ن ت ّ � �خ� ت �ذ �ف ف ت � � او �لر�هب��ا ن� ا ن� ك� ���ا �ن�� او �ي��ص�ّ �و ��و ن� �م�ا ���ع�ل�ه ا �لب� ��طرك ا�لم ��و��ى * �وك��� ا �ود �ل�و ا �� �ه� ا ب م ض ة � � � � �خ ن � خ خ � ت � ا ا ا �ن ا ��ل�ع ��ض� ب���عت��ا ب� ا �و�ج� �ه�ه ا ��ل�ى � ح� ��ر� ا �لم��ط ار � ب� ��و�ل��س �م��س�ع�د اب� �� �ل�ى �و�� �ل ا ��ى �وك�� �� ب� ر � � � � � �ف ا ق � ت ا � �غ� ن �� � ة � ا � ان � ك �خ ل��ن��ى � ش���ي�� ت� ا �ل� � �م�ن ا �ل� �� ط�ا �ل�� * �و�م� ��ل� �م� �ي ��ى ا �ل�لب�ي�� ب� * ا ��س ار ر ا �لب� ��طرك * �و ي
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However, if what these French authors say is true, then my brother was 1.19.22 far more pious and godly than these leaders of the church, for no one ever accused him of practicing sodomy or adultery or poisoning anyone or inciting sons to kill their fathers, or of making off with the church plate or behaving unjustly or rebelling against his sovereign or taking bribes. The whole matter comes down to no more than arguments between him and a patriarch over things that have no fixed measure or number or weight or volume. You might say that the steps from Qannūbīn to Sijjīn373 are three in number; he might say three hundred; I might say three thousand—what role do prison and torment have to play in such matters? If, on the other hand, what these writers say is lies and slanders, that would call for them to be punished and for retribution to be exacted upon them for slandering God’s priests and successors with libels so vile no fetish-worshipper could come up with anything more appalling. In fact, however, we are not aware of any of them having been tortured or banished or scared out of their houses or summarily removed from their abodes—quite the opposite, as their books have been printed time and time again and are priced in the market as scholarly works. Someone may say, “This memorandum of yours is addressed to the pres- 1.19.23 ent patriarch, who is a man of virtuous and noble qualities and not the one who imprisoned and killed your brother, who was his predecessor.” I reply, “I am aware of that, but so long as he believes that what his predecessor did was right he is his partner and sooner or later will mete out the same treatment to those who have followed in my brother’s footsteps. By the same token, all metropolitans, bishops, priests, and monks are equally blameworthy if they condone what the deceased patriarch did. I would have preferred to conclude this memorandum with a word of censure addressed to His Excellency Metropolitan Būlus Musʿad, our maternal uncle and confidential secretary to the patriarch. But I see that I’m in danger of going on too long, and what I’ve said above should be enough for the wise.”
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� ا �� � ن � � � ا ل ل ع � �� � � ف ش ص � � �� ر و� �ل � � ا �� �ف�ل �ق� ���ي�ن يڡ ر ب
�خ � � ��� ن ا ��ل�� �س ��ق�ي��ي�ن �و ا �ل �ج ي و� ر ي�
ذ � � ن � ت� �� � ة ن �ذ ة ظ � ة �ف ن � ق � اق � ��ر� او ا ل��س�ل�ع�� �م�� ا �عل��� ا � �ل��ل��س�و�ي���ي�ن �ش���هر� �ع �ي��م�� ��ى �ج��مي�� ا �ل� �� ��ط�ا ر * �و� �ل�ك ا ���ه� ا ح� ك م م ع � قا � ث ��ف � خم ا �ز ن � � �� �م�ن �ل�� � ش ��ت �م�ن � خ �ق � � � � �م�ا �ز ��ن ن��ا ا �ن�ز �ل ن��ا �ب�ه ا � �لق��ص�ا ��ص * �� � � ي��� ا � �ل��دي � �ى � � ل�ه� * �و � ل� او �ك� ر ل ِ م م م م ا � ا ا ت �ن � ش ت �ي�ن �غ ا � � ث �ن � ش ّ �� ف ت ا ف �ف خ ن ا �ص�ن � � � � � � � � � ا � طا و* ا ���ه� ا � � او د � ر ا ��سع� ر ا �لب��ي � �ع� � ع �لم���� ر �و�� ل� او ب �م ا �ل� � � � � او ���� � م � خ ا �ز ن �ف ض ا ف �� �ق ة ث ت خ ��ذ � �ا �ن � ت�ق ا ض ن � �ن ا �ل� ش ت ا �ف ك� ��و� م م�����ر�ى ا � �� �� او �ي ��� � � ���ع� �� ا لي��م�� * ��م ا �� � او �ل�ه�م �م�ع� ��م�ل �و�م� � ��ى � � ا ظ � � ة خ ا � ة �ن �� ُ َ �ذ � ن �ن ��ع�ل�و�ه� �م ����ل�م�� �� �لي��� �ع ا ل�� �ج��مي�� ا �ل�ا �م�ص�ا ر �و ج� ��كو�ى �و�م ن��ا �ف� ا �ل ن��ور * �ف ك� ��ا � �� او �ي�ب��ي��ع�و� ع ن ُ �غ �من ا ح��ق ��ق���ة ��ل� ن� ا ��ل��س��ل�ع��ة � �ق��عت �ن � � ���ا �ن�� او ي ج� � �ه�ا * �وك� ��ع��ل�و ن� �م�ا �ي�ب��ي��ع� �ون�ه � ور � � �ه� م ��ي ر ا � �ي ب��د � او ي و �ف ف �ظ � ف ف خ � ف �ن �ا � ق �م�ن ا � �ص�ن �ا ���ه�ا �م��ل� �و��ا �م �� ر�و��ا �ي��ا ����ذه ا �ل ش����ا ر�ى � ��يو ن� ��ط��ل�� �ب�ه �و �ل� �ير�ى �م ن��ه �ش���ي �ا * �وك���ا � ف�ا ن � �آ � �خ ا ���ي�ن ا �� �فّ ا �ئ�ي�ن ا �� ّ ن � �ن � ن ّ ا ي�ن ��ل �ص��ا �غ���ي�ن �م�ا ��ي�ف� �و�ق� ا �ل�ع�دد * � ك� �� � �ه�و �ل� �ع��د ه�م �م ا �ل����س� ج��� � او �ي�� �ط� �و لر� � �و ل� ب ذ �ف � ن �ص�ن �ع�و ن� ��ل�ه� �ك� ���ل �م�ا �ي�ا �مر�و�ن��ه� �ب�ه * � او ��ت�ف� �ق� ��ى ب���ع��ض� ا �ل��س�ن ��ي�ن ا � �و�ق�� �ُ�م او ت� � ر��ي� �ي�� م م ع ع ن � ��ا ت � ا ن � � ا ح��ل ت� ا ��لب��ل�اد ف���ق���ّ ا ��ل�ص�و�ف� � او ��ل ���فى ا �ل�م�ا �ش�� ��ة � او ��م � �ي حر�ير �ع��د ه�م �وك�� د � ا �ل� � �� او �ل � او�لم�ع� ��م�ل ل ��ل ا ف ة ��ل ��ذ ق ن ���س�ت �ع � ف ش ��تت��ع ����ط� * ��ا ر�ت�ا �ى ر ج��� �من��ه� �م�ن ا ��ه� ا � ح�ص� ��� � او � ح� �� ا � ي ��م�ل ا �ل����عر � بو���ع��ض� ل ل ل م آ � �ذ � � �ز ف �ق � �غ حت � ت �ص�ن ا ح ر �و���ره * �و��� �ع�م��ل�ه �ه� ا �م�� ن��ا �م �ما � �ل ح ش����� ش�� ���د �ل �م�ا ا �ع�و �ه� �م�ن ا �ل ج �ر�ي ي ا � � �� ا � ي � ب ح�ك� �ى م � ض�ن � ��ف ا � � ش �ة ���ثر ا ��ل ن��ا �� * ث�� ا ن� ��ن ف��ًا �م�ن ا �ل�م�ع��س �ي�ن ا ��ل���ذ�ي�ن � ا �ش��ت��ب��ه �ع��ل� ا ك�� �� �ك �ى �لمعي������ ح�م��ل�ه�م ا �ل� س ر ر ى م � آ � � � � � ت �ف � � ت � ن ة ا ف �ظ ي�ز � ف �ع�� �ت�� �� � �ئ �� � ا �لن� �� �� ا �ل� �م� � ا �ل��م��� �له�ا * ( ��ا � �� ا �ل�ع��ل�م�� � ا�لم��س��ن�� ��ط��ي�ن ع د ا ر� ا � �ل� كر و ر ى ور و ي � ل�ى و س�ي و ب ج �ل آ � � � م �ز ن � ت �م�ن ا ��ل�ص��ا ��ل � ) ذ� �ه ا � �م�ا ا ��ل ��� � ال خ ��ا � �ل ش��� ار ء �م�ا �ل�ز � �ل�ه� �و ج��� � او ب��م�ا ا �ش����ر �وه ب ��و ي ��و �ى ب ع �ض� ع ي��ك م م 312
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Chapter 20
The Difference between Market-men and Bag-men
You must know that the Market-men are famous everywhere, for they have,
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since ancient times, held a monopoly over the goods, which they keep in warehouses of theirs, declaring, “We shall exact revenge on anyone who does not buy from our warehouses.” They have also hidden the price list from the buyers and jacked up the prices of the various items to an exorbitant degree, demanding from the buyer several times the original price. More recently they opened workshops and warehouses in all the cities, and they have kept these dark, with no apertures or openings for the light, and they sell from them without showing the true colors of the goods or the kind of cloth. They keep the items they sell wrapped and packaged, and the buyer takes them and goes off without having set eyes on them. They have innumerable weavers, tailors, darners, and dyers, and these make them whatever they ask for. One year it happened that a devastating die-off of cattle occurred, and the land was laid waste. Their stocks of wool and silk were thus reduced, and the looms and workshops were close to falling idle. One among them, a man of sound judgment and perspicuity, decided to use hair and certain kinds of plant in place of the silk and other stuffs that they could not find, and the work that he did with such materials was so well and cleverly made that most people were taken in. Then a company of those hard-pressed types who have been driven by their poverty-stricken situations to broaden the scope of their thinking and to look into and compare and contrast things— for the majority of scholars and original thinkers are vagabonds—went to one of the warehouses to buy what they needed and took what they’d bought to their homes, wrapped and untouched, as usual.
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ف � ف ق ن � ق ن �خ �� ن ��ي� ا � �ل�ر�� �ب�ي��ا �ل�� �سو�ي���ي� � او �لر ج �ي���ي�
� � ��ا ن �ير��د ا ن� ���ت�ز �و� ا ��ل�ى �م ن��ا �ز �ل�ه� �م�� �فل� �وف��ا �م�ص� �ون�ا �ع��ل� ا �ل�ع�ا د�ة * �وك� ح��د �ه� �ي��ه�و�ى ا �م ار �ة � ا � � � ي ي ى �ج م م ا ا � ض ت ��ا ن ت ذ � ت ش �ف ف ت ق ت ا ا ا ن � �ب��ه�ا �و��د ا �ش����ر�ى �ل�ه� �م��د �ي�ل� * ��ل�م� ا �ه�د ا �ه� ا �ي� ه بح� �� �ر��ه�م �وك�� ��� � ا � ا ��س����� ار � �ئ � ن آ ت � � شان ا خ ��ذ ت � ن � ش����ا �ف� ��ل��ل�م ت � ��ا �� � او � �س� ��ط�ل�ا � او ��س�ت ك ��س�ور �مك� �ه�و ���� � ��س� ر ا �ل����س� * ا �� � ا�لم��دي���ل ع ف �ن ت �ن ن � � ذ��ا ن ت �ز ت � �ف � � ق���� ا ن� �تش �ره �ع��ل� �م�عر�و��ه ا د � ��ه �م � ��ور ا �ل��س ار ا � ك� �� �� � ��ا ر���ه�ا �ل�ه ��ى ا �ل��لي���ل * � ��� ك وب ل ي ى �ج � � � ذ ف ف ن ���ا ن ��ط��ف �ف �ا � �ش � ا ن � ن� ��ط�ف * � ا � ا � �ا �خ خ � � ار ت� �ي��ه ���ل�ل�ا كب����ي�را �م� ا � ا �ل ن��ور ك� � ي�� ي��و���ك � �ي ��ى و ب��ه � �صر� ت� ع �ذ �ت�ق � ق �غ ئ ن ف خ � �ذ ق �فت�ن � � �و�ل * �ب�����س �م�ن �ب�ا �ع��ك �ه� ا ا �ن�ه ��د � ب��ن ��ك * ا � �ي��ه ���ل�ل�ا �مث���ل ا �ل�� �ى ��د �� ��ك * � نّ ف���ل�م�ا ��س�م�ع� ا ذ� ��ل��ك �ت�ن���ه� ا ف��ا خ����ذ ���ع ض ح�ا �ج� ت��ه * �و�ص�ا ر ا �ل�ا خ�ر ��ي�ق�ي���� �ث�� �و�ه ���ه� �ي������س�ل � � ب ب�و و س ب م ّ � � ف � � � ّ ة ان ن �ف ظ ���ا �ع�� �ل���� ت قا ت � �هر �ل�ه� ا � ا �لب� ض� س� �ع��ل�ى �و ��ق� �م ار د �ه�م * �ل� � �ع��ل�ى �� �م��ه �و�هل��م ج� ار * �� �� � ي م آ ذ � � ت ح�ا ج���ة ���ل� ن� ا � �م�ن � �ه ب� �لي�� ش�����ر�ى � ح�مر �و ج���د�ه�ا ��س�ود� * �و�م�ن ا را د �ث�� �و�ا ��ط� �و�ل�ا �و ج���ده و ب ب ي ا ��ف � غ �� � ا ة ق ا � � ق ��ر��ا ��س�ا * �فر ج� حر ار �و ج���ده ك� ���ص�ي�را * �و�م�ن ا را د � ��ع� او �ب��ه� �ى ا �ل���د ا ل�ى ا �لب�� �ع�� �و�� �ل� او �ل�هم� ب �ي � � � � ة ف � ق ق ق ���عت ن ا ا � �ن ا ا ا ا ا ا ا ن � �س�� �ب� �ل�ل� �� �ل�� * ����� �ل �ص� � ح ب� ا�لم��دي���ل ��د ب �م� �و� �م� �ل�م رده * � او �ورد � او �ل�ه�م �ع�ل�ل� � او � ب � ت � ض �آ ��ا ت �ت غ ا ض ن � ا ت � ح��ف ت�ه�ا �م�ن ��د ت�� �ت��س�ّ د �و ن� �و�ج� �ه� �ع ن��د �م � �لق��د ك�� ��� * �وك�� د � ���� � حب �� بو� ��ى ا �لب�ي�� ��ب����ى �لم� ا � � و ى م ق � � ت ا � � ا ن ا � ت �ف � � ن ة � ن � ف �� خ ق ت ا ا ا ا ا ن ن ��س�� ��ط ا�لم�� �ل� �ل� ا ���ه� ���ط�م�ع� ي�م� �ي��ك�و� ��ي�را �م��ه * ����� �ل� �ل�ه� ا �ل�� �ع�� ا ��م� ب���ع�� ك�� م ب ع و م � � � �غ � ة � ا �ت �ف ن ن ة ف �� �� ن ا ق �م�ا ��ط��بل�ت�� �و�ل��ك�ن �ع��ل�ى ا �ب��ص�ا رك�� � ش����ا �و� ���ل��ست�� ��تب�� �صر�و� ا �ل��ل�و� �و �ل� ا �لر���ع�� �و �ل� ��عر��و� م م م � � � � ت �ك�ن ا ن � ا � ا ن ا ن ا َ ف � ف ق ق �ق � ش ا ا ث �ن � ا�لم���ا د�ير �و �ل� ا�لم��� �ي���ي��س * ����� �ل �م ا �����ر�ى ا �ل ��و ب� ك�ي ��� ي�م�� � ي�ج ��ه�ل �ل� ���س� � ق ا �مت ه �� �ف آ خ �غ ن ا ت � ن �ا ق ا �� ا � � ن � ا ح�م � �ه�ا �ه�ا � �ر ��ي�ره * �و�� ل �ص� ح ب� ا �ل��ل�و� ا �ل� ��س�ود ا ��م� ا رد � ا �ل��ل�و� ا �ل� � ر و �� �� �و�ي عر � � ذ فق � ا ن� �ث�� �و��ك ا ��س�ود �ورف�ي��ق��ا �ى �ه��ذ ا ن� ي� ش����ه�د ا ن� ��ل�ى �و�م�ا �ه�و � او �ض ��� �� � ل��ك�ل � �ى �ع�ي�ن ��ي�ن * �����ا �ل ب ح � �ت ُ �� � � � ث ذ ت ن ��� ه � ه ف ا �َ ذ ا ق ا �� � ا ا ا �ئ ي�ز ل ن ت � � � ا ا � ��ل�ه ا ��ل��ا �� ا ��� ا �ع��م �ل� ��م�� ا �ل� �ل� ا � �� � �ه� �ل�� �ي��ه ��ل�م� ك ي ك � ح�ل� ب� �� ب�ى � ك �و�� ل �ل� و م ب ي ب ى بع َ ن � � � � �ُغَ شّ ت � ق � ��ا ��س ���د �ل ا �ل � ب���ل ا ن�� ت� �عِ�م�ه ا �ع��مى * �و��ا �ل �م�ن ا �ش����ر�ى ا � ك حرر �ه ب� ا � ا �لب�� ل�� بر ب �صر �ي����� �ي ض ف ��ل � � � �خ ��ا � ��ج� � ��ف ا ��ل��ل�م�� �ع��ل ا ��ل�ا �ع�م * �ف��لّ ن ا ي�� خ�� م��ا ن� ��ص ��ج� ���دا �ل � او �ل�ع ن��ا د �و�م�ل�ا � او ا �ل ك� ��ا * � �ب و ي � ب��ي�� � � � �ه�م ا ج � س ى ذ ى ذ ى �ج ف � ث ُ � ق � ْ � ق ض ن ن ا � ��� �ي��د �ي�ه �و�ي�م�ا �ه� �ع��ل� � �ل�ك ا � ا �بر ج���ل ا �ب���ل ي���س��عى �و�ه�و �ي� له� �ب��هرا �و��د ا ���د �ل� �ل��س� ��ه �و �و� � م ى ع ع 314
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The Difference between Market-men and Bag-men
Now one of them was in love with and wanted to marry a woman, and
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he’d bought her a handkerchief. When he presented it to her in the presence of the others—it being noted that she was, like all women, skilled at examination and inspection and the uncovering of what is hidden—she took the handkerchief and, before thanking him for his kindness, brought it close to the light of the lamp (for she was visiting him at night), only to find in it a large hole, even though the light was weak and on the point of going out. Before them all, she cried, “Woe to him who sold you this! He cheated you. It’s got a hole in it as big as the one that holds you in thrall!” When they heard this, they were put on their guard, some picking apart what they’d bought, others measuring their clothes against their bodies, and so on, until it became plain to them that the wares were not what they’d asked for. He who had gone to buy something red found it was black, he who had wanted a long robe found it was short, and he who had wanted silk found it was cotton. The next day, they returned to the salesmen and told them, “You sold us
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things we didn’t ask for” and gave them reasons and justifications for returning the goods. Said the owner of the handkerchief, “You almost blackened my face in front of my white-skinned beloved, and she would have quarreled with me over the low quality of what I gave her, had she not been anxious to get something better.” The salesmen, however, told them, “We sold you what you requested but ‘over your eyes there is a covering’374 that stops you from seeing the colors or kinds of cloth and from recognizing either quantities or measurements.” “How,” asked the one who had bought a robe, “can a person be ignorant of his height and another know it?” And the man who had the black but had wanted red said, “Look! The robe you sold me is black, and these two companions of mine will bear witness to what I say. See! It’s clear to anyone with eyes.” “You are blind and cannot distinguish colors,” said the salesman. Then he went to fetch some eye-wash with which to treat the man’s eyes, but the other refused, saying, “On the contrary, it’s you who are blind, and stupid, too.” The one who’d bought cotton instead of silk now said, “Suppose the eyes can deceive. Can touch also mislead the blind man?” Thus debate and intransigence did battle between them, and they filled the place with shouting and uproar. While they were so engaged, a man came up at a run, panting and gasping. His tongue was hanging out, and he was holding his midriff with his hands. He had barely entered the store before he fell to the ground and could move
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1.20.5
ف � ف ق ن � ق ن �خ �� ن ��ي� ا � �ل�ر�� �ب�ي��ا �ل�� �سو�ي���ي� � او �لر ج �ي���ي�
�� �ف �ق � حت �ق �� � ا �� ت ��� � � � �غ �ع��ل ك���ش��� ���ا د �ي��د خ��� ا ��ل ح��ه * ��م�ا ك� � ح�ا �ن��و ت� ��ى ��س��ط �ل� ي �س� ط� ح ار ك���ا �و��د ا �ي��ئ�ن � �و�ي� �و�ل ي ي ل �ى ع آ �غ � �ت �ت ث ة ة ف���ل ا ا ف ا �ق ا ا �ن �ظ� �� ��م ن � � ة � ه ا �م ار ���ي ا ه ا �م ار ��ى * �� � ش����ى �ع��لي��ه ��س�ا �ع�� * �م� �� � د ر ره ي �� �وي��سر� م � � �غ ث � ف ن �ف � ت ا � ف ق ّ م ث � ا ا ا �ن � ار �ى � ير��م�ه * ل��م �ي �م� �ل��ك ا � �و�� ب� �م ج��م�ه �و�� �ل * �ي� ا ��ه�ل ا � �ل���س� د * �و�مر�و�ج��ى � ّ � � ف� ��ق � ا � �ن ن ه ن �ز ا ��ل�� �ك��س�ا د * �و�م�� بس��ب��ى ا � �لف���ت�ن �ب��ي�ن ا�ل�مرء �و �و�ج� ت��ه * �و م�ر�ى ا �ل� ب� ع ا ب���� � ا و ب����ت��ه * � ّ �غ ن � ا �غ � ق �صر�ي�ن * ك� ��ي ��ف� �ح�ل �� ك�� � �م�ن ا لله ل� �وه ا�لمب�� �و�� با� ��ى ا �ل� � ار ر �م�ن ا �ل ش����ا ر �ي�ن * �و�مب��ر����عى �و ج�� م �ن � ��ن ت ت � ن� ن �ت ��ن ن ��ت غ ش �ن ة � � �ب�ا �ل�ا �م��س ا ��ط��ل ب� �م� ك�� ح�ا ج��� ��ل�ى �ب�ه * ا �ى ا ��ي��� ك�� ���و��ى � �وت�ب��ي��ع�و��ى �م�ا �ل�ا � � ا � �� � � ا � �ب��ي��ع�و�ى م فم ��لًا � ا ت خ �ذ ��َ��س خ�ب���ز �وق���لت�� ��ل�ى ا �ن�ه ��ل �ح�م� �ل� � ��� �م ن��ه �م ق��ا ��ل�ز �و�ج��ت ��ل�ا �ن��ه�ا �ع��لي���ل��ة �م��ذ ا ��ا � * �ب��ع�تم�و���نى ِك� � ح� ي ى ر ر م م م �ت ف �ل ا ق ت � ن ا � ا ����ط خ� ذ �غ �غ ن ت �ذ ق خ �ز ف ت ت ��ه ا � ا �ب�ه �ب�� * �ب��ا ��� ا �م ار ��ى �م�ن ��ي�ر ا � ��� �و�� � �ري���ض� * �� �م� ا �و��د � ا �ل�� ر �ل� ب � �ا ح ا � �ا ا �ّ�ا ��� �ا �ن �ا * �ف � ا �ت�ز � ت � �ع�ن ت � � � ا ة ا �� ت �ش�� �ا �وق��د ا � ب�ص� ح ت� �ل� �ر ك ب��ه �ل ب ل��س ��ه � �ي �ه�ى �ل� ا �ل ��ل� ��لك ا �ل��س� �ع�� ل ��ى ق� � � ��ذ ق ت �ت ن ف �ه�ا �ب���ل ا �ل�ز � او � * �و��� ضَ س� ا � �ل���سي����س ا �ل� �ى را ��ى �ي� �ه ا ل�م ا �ة ا ل���خ��ا �ل��ف����ة ب �� �ج � � ا �م ()1 �ض � � �ج � � ل�� م �ج � ع ع �ج وع و ى ر � ح��ل�ف� ت ا �ن ه�ا ا ذ� ا � ��ئ ت �م�ن �ل�ز و ��ج� �ه�ا * �ق�ل� ت� و �ه �غ� �ي�� ف��ا ن� ا ش�����ت��ق���ا �ق�ه �م� ن ك� ���ا ن� ا �ل��سب�� ب� ف�ي��ه * �وق��د � � � � و ر ب � بر � ض�� ف ا ن � ن �م�ع ن���ا ه ا � ط�ا ع��ة ��ا ن ���ق � ك � � �� � � � �ج � ل�� � ت� ك �� � ي ضى � ي و � آ ض َ ّ ع ّ �ك�نّ �م� ا �ز � او �ج� �ه�ن ذ �غ ن ة ���ه�ا ��لت��ا �مرن� ا ��ل ن����س�� �ج��مي��ع�ا �ب�ا ن� �ي�� �مر� * و ا لم��ف����س�ل��ة ا ل�مر ا � ا ��ل�تى ا � ا ا ر ي��د � ش�����ي���ا ���ه�ا ع ت ق ئ ن ت ن ش ضُ �� ُ � �ل��ر ده ا لم���ا ������ي��� �م ��ا �ل�� ا �ا ح�ا ����ض ���ا �ن�ه �ل�م�ا ق��ا ��ل ذ� ��ل�� و ف ف ص �ج ع ج�� ��ع�ا �م�ف� ّ��س�ل�ا ت� �م ن��ا �ش��ي��� (� )1وك� نْ �ت ك �ز ش ن ش � � ص � و ��ج �ه�ا ى ر ا �����ه�ا * ِ�م������ا � �ل��ل� م�� ص تى ع �ف ��ا ن � ش �ا ن ه � ف��ا ر دَ �ُم�ه ��ى د �م�ا �غ��ه ��ف�و��ث ب� �م�ن � ك� م�� �� �وك� د ا � ��ي ب� ��ط��� ّ � � � �ئ � � ا ن �� �ص�نّ�ا ���فى ا ��ل ح�ا �ن��و ت� * ف���ل�م�ا ت��م��ل�� ا �لب��ا ��ئ� �م�ن �ي��د �ي�ه � 6،20،1 �ب�ا �لب��ا �� * �ل�و �ل� ا � �ت��د ا رك���ه ب���ع��ض� ا �ل� ص � آع ع ع � ا ��ت� � � َ �خ � �� � ف ق ْ ل ن � ا � ا �ؤ ا � ا ا �ن ن � �ص�ع�د �م�ب��را �و�� �ل * ا س�م�ع� او ا �ي��ه� �ص�م� * �و �ل� جع ���ل� ا و ا �ل�ى ا �ل�� �لو� �� ��ه �م د ا ب� ا �ل�ل� �م� * م � ذ � ق �غ� ش�� � ا �ف �ص ا ��ل�ا � � ق��د ��ف��س�د �ف��ع ن��د ك�� �� ا ن� ا �ل���ل ح�مرا ��س�ود * �و� �و�ق ك�� ا ن� �عي��و�ن ك�� � �ه� �ه�ى ��تب�� ح� � ��د ��ى �ع�لي� � ر م م م ْ أم فا ت ت ق� ق ّ �ل� ق � � ن ا ا �ن ن ن � ��س� ا ل حر��ض� �� �� � � ل� ��د رك �و� خ�ب���ز �ُ �م�ف ت��� د * �و�ع���� ك�� �و�هر�ع�ه�� * حرر �� ��ط�� * � او ج�� ح � ب و� �ي م م �ّ ف ّ � � �ف ا ن �ف ا �ّ ا ق ّ � ��ف ا �� �ف �ق ق ا ف ت ا �ن �ن � � �م ا ��ه�ل ا �ل��ك�ر �و ل���س�و� * �ه�ل � �م او 1ا �لي��ه � او �ل� �� � ��م� ��ي ��ص� ن�� ا �ل� �ي�� ا �ل��س�و�� * � � م م � � � � � � � ن ق ش ش �ك �ن ه ا ض��� �ف � � ا ن ت � خ ف���ل�م�ا ��س�م�ع� او � �مق��ا ��لت��ه �و�ع�ل�م� او ا � �م ح� ك�م��ه �ل�ه�م �ع��د �� �ي��� ا �ل��س�و�� ��� ��ط��ط �ل���و� � ع� � ف ّ ���� :١٨٥٥ 1ه��ل�موا.
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no more, and he started moaning and saying, “Ah my wife! Ah my wife!” Then he passed out for a time. When he revived, he cast looks right and left, caught sight of his foe, and could not restrain himself from leaping up from where he lay and saying, “You wicked people! You pushers of goods that have exhausted their life! You stirrers-up of conflict twixt a man and his wife! You drivers of wedges between father, son, and daughter! You veilers of the eyes of those who can see and cheaters of gullible buyers without quarter! How can you think that it is allowable in God’s sight to cheat me and sell me something of which I have no need? Yesterday I came to you and asked you to sell me meat so that I could make broth for my wife who has been sick for some days, and you sold me crusts of bread and told me they were tender flesh. When I lit the fire to cook them, I found they were bread, and my wife went the whole night without tasting food and when morning came nothing of her moved, except her tongue, which never ceased cursing the wretched hour in which she set eyes on me before we married and abusing the priest who was the cause of our doing so, and she swears that, if she recovers from this sickness, she will give orders to all women to be to their husbands contrarians, excusemakers, and bed-deniers.”(1) As he said this, the blood in his brains apparently boiled, and he leaped up from where he lay and would have beaten the salesman had not some of the workers in the store grabbed hold of him.
(1) “contrarians, excuse-makers, and beddeniers”: ḍujuʿ is the plural of ḍajūʿ, meaning “a woman who is at odds with her husband” (I hold the form to be strange, for it derives from ḍajaʿa (“to lie down”) so it ought to imply obedience); mufassilah means “a woman who tells her husband when he wants to sleep with her, to keep him away, ‘I am having my period’”; and manāshīṣ is the plural of minshāṣ, meaning “a woman who keeps her husband from her bed.”
When the salesman had wriggled from his grasp, he mounted a pulpit and declared, “Listen, all you adversaries, and do not rush to criticize. Typically, as critics, your eyes have become so clouded you see black as red, your taste buds so corrupted you think meat toasted bread, your minds so enfeebled and jaded you believe jewels to be colored pompoms that have faded. Only the Market Boss can judge fairly between us, so off with us to him, otherwise you must be counted people of unbelief and sin!” When the others heard the man’s words and realized that for him to have them tried before the Shaykh of the Market would be fast practice because the latter, by reason of his extreme old age, was weaker both in sight and judgment than they, they erupted in anger and started overturning the goods, jumbling them, and scattering
317
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1.20.6
ف � ف ق ن � ق ن �خ �� ن ��ي� ا � �ل�ر�� �ب�ي��ا �ل�� �سو�ي���ي� � او �لر ج �ي���ي�
�من �� ا � �� � �ة �� � ه ا ��لت� ا �غ� ظ �� ا �ف� � �ل ا ك�� ���س� ن ا ��ل�ا �مت��ع�ه � � ش �ّ ش �� �ن�ه�ا �ه� ب � �صر وب �ص�ي ر ل�هر م� * � ب � � ه�و ي���� ج�ع� �و �ير و ���و� �و � و ي �م أ � � � ن � �و��ع��ثر �و�ن��ه�ا �و��م�ز ��ق�و ن� �ك� ���ل �م�ا ق��د ر � او �ع��لي��ه * � �و� ���ط�� �و ن� �م�ا ا �م�� �ك�ن �ل�ه� �و ��ط��ؤه * �و�ي ك ����سر�و� �ي ب ي ي م ّ �ؤ ث ن خ �� ��� �م�ا ا �ص�ا �� ا �م�ن �م�ع�د � � ق �� �وا �و�ه� ��س�ا �م�د �و� * �� �ص�ن �د �و�� �وك�� ��س � او ك�� او ب� �و�رج�� و �ك�ل ب �و م م ف �ن � آ ���ل��س�ا �ت��ل�ك ا ��ل��ل���ل��ة ��ل�ي�ت�د � � ا ���ف ا �م� �ه� * ���ل�م�ا ك���ا � ا�لم��س�� �ت�� او ���ط�ا � او �ع��ل� ا ن� �ي��ع�ق��د � او �جم ي ى بر و ى ور م � �آ ا �� ا �ة ظ �� ا � ن �غ ا ن ن ا ج��ت � ا ق ا �� ا ق ا �ت��� �� ن ا ا ن ا ن � ا س�ن ا �ل�� �ت َ مع�و �و�� ل�و ��د �ض� ل�� � �ه�و �ل� ء لب�� �ع� ��� �لم�و� �� ب�� ��و� * �و � � حو �� � م ر ح � ا ة � � �ذ �ت � ا ��ل ش���� ا ��ل�ا �ع�� �م�ا �ه� �ع��ل��ه * ��ف ش � � � ا ه � ل � ح��� ا�لم ن��دي���ل ا �ل ��ى �ه�د ��ت ن��ا ا �ل�ى �ه� ا * � لل ص � ��� ك ر و ب و ي ى ل�ى ف ت ا �� �ن ت �ق ّ ا ن ا ��ن�ع � ن ا � خم ا �ز ن � ا � ��ا �ع � � ث� ت خ� ��ذ � �ش �ة �� �ع� ���ع� ل� او ��س����ل �ب� �م�ور�� �و ��م�ل �ل�� �� � �و م�ع� �م�ل �مك� �م�ل� او ه�م * �م ا �� � او �ل�ه�م �ي � ث � � ح�ا ��ا � ا �ع� ا �ن�ا * � ا ��س�ق� ���ط� ا �عن � او خ���دا �ن�ا * � او ��ص �ه� ك� ����ي�را �ه� �م�ن ا �ل��س�عر �م�ا ا �م�ا �ل ا �ل و ي� � و �ب و و م م � � � ي�ن� � ن ا �� � ن �ن � ا �� ض ة ���ا �ع�� ب���م ار �ى ا �ع� ك�� � ا � �ب��ي�� ك�� �م�ن ا �ل ن��ا ��س * �وق��ا �ل� او �ل�ه� ا ن� �ع�ه�د �� ا لي� ك�� ع� لب�� � �و�لم��س م م م م �ن � َ ّ ذ ّ � � � ن ت ف �ن خ � ش ن ا ا ا ا ش ن � �و� �و�ق� ا �ل��س��ت� ك�� ا �ي��د �ي ك�� � ����ي � ا �����را ه �� �� � ب��د �ل�ه �ل�ه ب��م� �ه�و ��ي�ر �م��ه * � � * �و�م �ل�م �ير��ض م م ��س�ت � قا � �ف �ذ ن � � ة ت � ف ف � �خ ئ ش ا ت � ث �ن � � � � م ث�� ب� ح �� او �ع ا �ل�د ���ر �و����ر�وه ��ى �ج �مي�� ع ا �لب��ل�اد � او ع�م��ل� او �ل� �ل�ك �و��س� ���ل � ��� �ل��� * �و�� �ل� او م �� ت � �� � � ف ت � � ف �ا �ت ش �ت ا �م ن ا � ا �ة ا � ا ا ا ن � � ا ا ن �ل��ل�� ��س �ه� �وك�� ا �ل�د ���ر ا �ل� � ��ور * � او �ل�د� �س�ور ا �ل� كب���ر * ��ل ���� ر � � � � � � ع � � ح � � ل � � ل و ج � ى م � ا ت �ذ ��ق ت ض ت �� ش�� � خ � �ق ف ا ن ا � � ��ف �غ ف �ض �م ����ى ���س�ع�ي�ره * �و �ل� ��� ب �ه �� او ا ل�ى �ي�� ا �ل��س�و� �� ��ه �ه� �ل�ك �ى �ر�وره * �ر ��ى � �آ � � �ذ � ا �ل ن��ا ��س ب��م�ا ا �ش����تر ���ط�ه �ه�و �ل�� �ع��ل� ا ��ن �ف���س�ه� * � او ��ن ف���ص��ل� او �ع�ن ا �ل��ش �ي�� خ� ا�لم� ك�� ��ور �و�ع�ن � ح�ز ��ه * ى ب م �خ ّ � ئ� فّ ��ّ �ن ��ل�ز ي�ن ّ�ذ حّ � ��ف ف ّ �ئ � ن � � ح ��� �ي � �و�غ��د ا �ك��ل �م ا � �ك� ب� � � �ه�ه ي�و �مره �و�ي ��ده ح �ر�ي���ه �وي���س�و� �ع�لي��ه �يو ��ط��ه �وي���س� � ب ���س�� ن �ا � �ا ��كّف� ه � �� ثّ��م�ه � � �ف� ّ��س�ق �خ� ّ ف ه ���ل� ن ه � ه � � ح�ا � �م�ن �ي��د ا �و�ل ا �ل� �ي�ا � * �ب��ي�ن ا �ل� �ن�ا � * * � و ب �يو ر�� �يو ع�� �و�ي� ر وي�و و�ي م م � �ا � ن� هى ا � ك ل����ت�ا ب� ا �ل� �و�ل ا ���ت� �
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7،20،1
The Difference between Market-men and Bag-men
them, ripping to pieces everything they could lay hands on, stamping on everything they could stamp on, and smashing every implement, box, glass, and cup they could reach. Then they left, heads held high. Next, they agreed among themselves to convene a council that night to arrange matters. When it was evening, they met and said, “It’s become clear to us that these salesmen are oppressors and cheats and that our senses perceived everything the way it really is. Thanks then to God and to the Lady of the Handkerchief, who guided us to this. Come, let us be independent in our affairs and set up our own warehouses and workshops as they did theirs,” and they found themselves partisans and confidants, friends and assistants, and brought prices down so much that many became well disposed toward them. To these they said, “Our covenant with you is that we will sell you the goods in such a way that your eyes can see them, your hands touch them, and your tongues taste them, and if anyone’s unhappy with what he’s bought, we’ll exchange it for something better.” Then they looked for the price list and published it in all the lands, using a variety of means to that end, and they said to the people, “Behold the clearest of ledgers, the most extensive of registers. Buy from us nothing that isn’t according to the price sheet. Don’t go to the Market Boss; he is beyond redemption in his conceit.” The people, pleased with the conditions these men had set themselves, split off from the aforementioned Market Boss and his party, and each of the two parties took to accusing their opposite numbers of lying, and calumny, calling them stupid, excoriating them, rebutting their claims, accusing them of feeble-mindedness, cursing them out, calling them unbelievers, and charging them with sin and fornication—glory be to Him who makes each of man’s days succeed the one that went before, in never-ending fluctuation.
end of book one
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1.20.7
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Notes
1
Buṭrus Yūsuf Ḥawwā: one of a group of Lebanese merchants living in London, on whom al-Shidyāq depended for financial and moral support during his third sojourn there, between June 1853 and the summer of 1857, during which period he was also visiting Paris to oversee the printing of Al-Sāq; Ḥawwā provided al-Shidyāq with employment as a commercial agent in his offices.
2 3
“that house” (hādhā l-bayt): i.e., either the Ḥawwā family or the trading house it owned. “the oddities of the language, including its rare words” (gharāʾibi l-lughah wa-nawādirihā): works on oddities and rarities of the “classical” or literary Arabic language form a well-established genre of Arabic letters, originally intended to clarify the use of unusual words in the Qurʾān and hadith.
4
“morphologically parallel expressions” (ʿibārāt muraṣṣaʿah, from tarṣī ʿ, literally, “studding with gems”): a device used in rhymed prose (sajʿ ), e.g., ḥattā ʿāda taʿrīḍuka taṣrīḥan wa-ṣāra tamrīḍuka taṣḥīḥan (“until your obscurity reverted to plain statement and your deficient rendering became sound”).
5
“substitution and swapping” (al-qalb wa-l-ibdāl): on the evidence of his work devoted to the topic, Sirr al-layāl fī l-qalb wa-l-ibdāl, the author includes, under qalb, not only palindromes (the conventional definition of the term; see Julie Scott Meisami and Paul Starkey, Encyclopedia of Arabic Literature, 2 vols. (London and New York: Routledge, 1998), 2:660) but also the substitution of one letter in a word by another without change of meaning (see, e.g., Sirr 46, bāḥah and sāḥah (“open space, plaza”)); by “swapping” the author means variation of the dots used to distinguish certain consonants over an identical or nearly identical ductus to produce different, related, words.
6
Unless otherwise noted, definitions added by the translator have been taken, here and throughout the translation, from Muḥammad ibn Yaʿqūb al-Fīrūzābādhī (= Fīrūzābādī), al-Qāmūs al-muḥīṭ, 2nd ed., 4 vols. (Cairo: al-Maṭbaʿah al-Ḥusayniyyah, 1344/1925–26) (see Glossary), from which only one of what are frequently several possibilities has been chosen.
7
Muntahā l-ʿajab fī khaṣāʾiṣ lughat al-ʿArab: this work is also mentioned by the author in his Sirr al-layāl fī l-qalb wa-l-ibdāl (Mattityahu Peled, “Enumerative Style in Al-Sāq ʿalā al-sāq,” Journal of Arabic Literature, vol. 22, no. 2 (1991), 132); it was multi-volumed and
321
321
Notes may have been lost in a fire (Mohammed Bakir Alwan, Aḥmad Fāris ash-Shidyāq and the West (Ph.D. diss., Indiana University, 1970), app. B). 8
i.e. “space for the avoidance of falsity.”
9
The author’s implicit claim appears to be that the uncommon “second” or “augmented” form of the quadriliteral verb is associated with intensity.
10
Jalāl al-Dīn al-Suyūṭī (d. 911/1505): a prolific polymath, much of whose 500-work oeuvre compiles material taken from earlier scholars.
11
Al-Muzhir fī l-lughah: the full title of the work is Al-Muzhir fī ʿulūm al-lughah
12
Aḥmad ibn Fāris (d. 395/1004), known as al-Lughawī (“The Linguist”), wrote on most
wa-anwāʿihā (The Luminous [Work] on the Linguistic Sciences and Their Branches). areas of lexicography and grammar. It may be that the author’s choice of the name “Aḥmad” on his conversion to Islam was an act of homage to this scholar. 13
i.e., the author does not regard such a straightforward figurative usage as a distinguishing characteristic of Arabic.
14
By “the Fāriyāqiyyah” the author has been generally assumed to mean the Fāriyāq’s wife, but Rastegar makes the point that, “while the noun is feminine, it is not simply a feminization of his name (which would be Fāriyāqah). Fāriyāqiyyah should more correctly be translated as ‘Fāriyāq-ness,’ although as a grammatical formulation, it is feminine. Within the text, it is not always clear that it refers to his wife (although at times it clearly does)” (Kamran Rastegar, Literary Modernity between the Middle East and Europe: Textual Transactions in Nineteenth-century Arabic, English, and Persian Literatures, 105– 6). The Fāriyāqiyyah does not appear again until Volume Three.
15
Rāfāʾ īl Kaḥlā of Damascus: a litterateur and collaborator of al-Shidyāq’s in Paris, who paid for the printing of Al-Sāq.
16
“the table enumerating synonyms”: i.e., the Enumeration of Synonymous and Lexically Associated Words in This Book (in fact, a list of the lists of synonyms, etc.) that occurs near the end of Volume Four and to which the author added further items.
17
See 2.3.3.
18
“had not been mentioned” (lam takun shayʾan madhkūran): cf. Q Insān 76:1.
19
“dots that shine”: perhaps refers to the manuscript writers’ tradition of embellishing dots and other diacritical points with colored ink or even gold leaf.
20 “with pulicaria * Plants . . . .” (bi-l- * rabalāti . . . .): Pulicaria undulata (rabal) is a plant with medicinal properties that grows in the region; however, rabalāt may also mean “the fleshy thighs of women,” in which case it would prefigure “From them will come to you the scent of statuesque slave girls” three lines further on.
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Notes 21
“statuesque slave girls . . . plump slave girls” etc.: this list of desirable women is not simply a high-flown metaphor for the joys that the book holds, since the same (mostly rare) words used occur also in the main text.
22 “And be not lazy in pursuing and realizing cunsummation” (wa-lā tatarakhkhā ʾan tudrika l-khurnūfā): the 1855 edition reads ḥurnūfā, a word not attested in the dictionaries; we have preferred to read khurnūfā (=khurnūfah) (“vagina”), supposing its usage here to be figurative, i.e., “the desired goal”; it then parallels the phrase used thirty-four lines later fa-tukhṭiʾa l-khur . . . fah (the ellipsis is the author’s) (“and so miss . . . summation”). 23
Shiẓāẓ: a thief of proverbial skill.
24 “I guarantee . . . hunger” etc.: i.e., the book will distract you from all pleasures and keep you awake at night, but everyone will realize that the book is the cause. 25
“. . . summation” (al-khur . . . fah): see n. 22 above.
26 “cutting character” (ḥarf bātir): or, punningly, “cutting edge.” 27 “will pull back from you blinded” (yakuffu ʿanka kafīfā): or, punningly, “will pull back from you entirely.” 28 “Isn’t ‘of a certain stamp’ the same in meaning as * ‘Of a certain type,’ with the addition of the thwack of a stick?” (a-wa-laysa inna l-ḍarba mithlu l-ṣanfi fī l-maʿnā wa-qarʿu
ʿaṣan ilay-hi uḍīfā): ḍarb has “blow, stroke” as its basic meaning but also a subsidiary meaning of “type, kind” (synonym ṣanf); hence, things that are of a certain ḍarb may be conceived of (jokingly) as delivering a certain percussive force. The overall sense of these two couplets seems to be “Do not be offended if the contents of the book, and (perhaps especially) the various lists that I have compiled, is somewhat rebarbative.” 29 “It does not strike the noses of mortals”: i.e., its injurious consequences harm none but me. 30 “Raising a Storm” (Fī ithārat riyāḥ): compare the earlier description of the book as falling “like the wind in the valley when / Stirred up” (0.4.9); the first chapter of each of the four books of which the work is composed bears a title that, like this one, has little to do with the events recounted in that chapter but denotes the initiation of some energetic activity. For further discussion of chapter titles, see the Translator’s Afterword (Volume Four). 31
“How many a pot calls the kettle black!” (wa-muḥtaris min mithlihi wa-hwa ḥāris): “From many a one such as he does he guard himself though he is himself a guardian,” a proverb “alluding to him who finds fault with a bad man when he is himself worse than he” (Edward Lane, An Arabic-English Lexicon, 8 vols., London: Williams and Norgate, 1863 (offset ed. Beirut: Librairie du Liban, 1968), s.v. muḥtaris).
32
“You’ve made a bad business worse!” (ʿāda l-ḥays yuḥās): “The sloppy date mixture has been made sloppier,” said when someone is called upon to make good something done
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Notes badly by another and makes it worse (Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad al-Maydānī, Majmaʿ al-amthāl, 2 vols. (Cairo: al-Maṭbaʿah al-Khayriyyah, 1310/1892–93), 1:316). 33
“Make the most of what you’re given!” (khudh min Jidhʿ mā aʿṭāk): “Take from Jidh ʿ whatever he may give you.” The pre-Islamic Ghassanid Arabs had been obliged to pay a certain king protection money; when the king died and his son came to collect his money from a Ghassanid named Jidh ʿ, the latter beat him with his sword and pronounced the words in question, after which the Ghassanids stopped paying the tax (al-Maydānī, Majmaʿ, 1:156).
34 “So what are you going to do about it?!” (shaḥmatī fī qalʿī): “My fat is in my shepherd’s bag.” The wolf, asked what he would do if he came upon sheep guarded by a shepherd boy, replied that he would fear the boy’s arrows that were in his shepherd’s bag, but when asked, “What if the shepherd were a girl?” replied as given, meaning “I should do with them as I liked” (al-Maydānī, Majmaʿ, 1:246). 35
To confound his putative critic, the author produces four impeccably classical proverbs, each of which consists of the words ʿalā ẓalʿak “regarding thy limping” preceded by an imperative verb: irbaʿ ʿalā ẓalʿak (“Restrain thyself because of thy limping,” i.e., “Do not overreach yourself ”), irqa ʿalā ẓalʿak (“Ascend thou the mountain with knowledge as to thy limping,” i.e., “Do not make idle threats”), irqaʾ ʿalā ẓalʿak (apparently meaning “Be gentle with thyself, and impose not upon thyself more than thou art able to perform . . . or abstain thou, for I know thine evil qualities or actions . . . or . . . rectify thou, or rightly dispose, first thy case, or thine affair”), and qi ʿalā ẓalʿak (“Be cautious as to thy limping,” i.e., “If you live in a glass house, don’t throw stones”) (see Lane, Lexicon, s.v. ẓalaʿa).
36 “Another of Khurāfah’s tales, Umm ʿAmr!” (Ḥadīthu Khurāfah yā Umma ʿAmr): Khurāfah was a man of the tribe of ʿUdhrah who claimed to have been carried off by the jinn but whose tales of which were, on his return, dismissed as lies; thus khurāfāt has come to mean in modern usage “superstitions, fables, fairy stories.” Umm ʿAmr (“Mother of
ʿAmr”) is an epithet of the hyena; her frequent apostrophization in proverbs and anecdotes appears to be related to the conventional view of the hyena as “the stupidest of beasts” (see al-Maydānī, Majmaʿ, 1:160); thus the sense is something like “It’s all a pack of lies, you imbecile!” 37
abīlīn, pl. of abīl, “one who beats the nāqūs,” a plank beaten with rods to summon Christians to prayer.
38
“the Great Catholicos” (al-jāthilīq al-akbar): the leader of Eastern Orthodox Christians living under Muslim rule.
39 “the Supreme Pontiff ” (al-ʿasaṭūs al-aʿẓam): the Pope of Rome.
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Notes 40 “Ascribing partners to God” (al-shirk): i.e., polytheism. 41
“pronounce letters like Qurʾān readers” (tuqalqilūn): qalqalah is “a quality unique to recitation [consisting of ] the insertion of [ə] (schwa) after syllable-final [q], [d], [ṭ], [b], and [j]” (Kristina Nelson, The Art of Reciting the Qurʾan (Cairo: American University in Cairo Press, 2001), 22). Such a pronunciation would sound bizarre in non-Qurʾanic contexts.
42 “falter” (taḥṣarūn): the repetition is the author’s. 43 “tightened” (mufarram): cf. the Qāmūs, “al-farm . . . is a medicament with which a woman becomes narrower” and Lane, Lexicon, “farama . . . to constrict the vulva with raisin stones.” 44 “in two different forms” (al-ʿakhtham wa-l-khathīm): while the second word reads in the text wa-l-khashīm, this word, which is not found in the lexica, must be a misprint for wa-l-khathīm, which the Qāmūs gives as a synonym of the former. 45 “the just plain large one” (al-ʿumāriṭī): defined in the Qāmūs as farj al-marʾah al-ʿaẓīm (“a woman’s large vagina”). 46 “the buttocks but with a slightly different spelling” (al-būṣ): the author has already used al-bawṣ above; the Qāmūs gives both spellings. 47 al-ḥāriqah: literally “the woman who rubs, or burns.” The Qāmūs gives other possibly appropriate meanings, such as “the woman who is so overcome by lust that she grinds her teeth one upon another out of fear lest that lust take her to the point of neighing and snorting.” 48 “the woman whose vagina is wide open and the woman whose vagina is open wide” (al-khijām wa-l-khajūm): according to the Qāmūs, the two forms are synonymous. 49 “the woman with the tiny vagina a man can’t get at (again, but a different word)” (al-marfūghah): cf. twenty-one items earlier (al-marṣūfah). 50 al-maṣūṣ: also (the Qāmūs), the “vagina that dries the liquid from the surface of the penis.” 51
al-bayẓ: also (the Qāmūs) “the water of the woman or man.”
52
“the clitoris said with a funny accent” (al-ʿuntul): “the clitoris (baẓr); a dialectal variant of ʿunbul” (Qāmūs).
53
“a man’s practicing coitus with one woman and then another before ejaculating and a man’s practicing coition with one woman and then another before ejaculating” (al-fahr wa-l-ifhār): the Qāmūs states that these two verbal forms from the same root are synonymous.
54 “a little-used word for plain copulation” (al-nashnashah): defined in the Qāmūs simply as nikāḥ (“copulation”).
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Notes 55
“a noun meaning copulation from which no verb is formed” (al-ʿaṣd): the definition in the Qāmūs runs al-nikāḥ lā fiʿla lahu.
56 “dashing water on one’s vagina”: the next word in the text—al-ʿaṣd—has occurred eight items earlier (see n. 56); here the author may have intended al-ʿazd, which is synonymous with the former (though it has a verbal form). 57
“the flesh of the inner part of the vulva” (al-kayn): this is followed in the text by al-ṭuʾṭuʾah, for which no meaning has been found.
58 “the vulva said four other ways”: the author supplies four more items (bizbāz, fāʿūsa, khurnūf, mashraḥ) that the Qāmūs defines simply with the words farj and ḥir (“vagina” and “vulva”). 59 “the flabby vagina”: in the text al-ghuḍāriṭī, which is not to be found in the Qāmūs (or other dictionaries) and is probably a misprint for al-ʿuḍāriṭī, in which case it is a repeat from above; this possibility seems stronger, given that the following word is also a repeat (see the following note). 60 “the vagina that dries the liquid from the surface of the penis” (al-maṣūṣ): a repeat from above where, however, the second sense given in the Qāmūs seems more appropriate. 61
“another name for the vagina” (al-ṭanbarīz): defined in the Qāmūs simply as farj al-marʾah (“a woman’s vagina”).
62 “the bizarrely spelled” (al-khafashanfal): the word, defined simply as “a woman’s vagina,” is of a particularly unusual form and without related words that might throw further light on its meaning. 63 “the ‘nock’” (al-fūq): after the notch in the end of the arrow that fits the bowstring. 64 “and the vagina again in another exotic spelling” (al-qaḥfalīz): as al-khafashanfal, see preceding note. 65 “instruments of erection” (adawāt al-naṣb): adawāt is a grammatical term (literally, “instruments”) applied to particles (prepositions, adverbs, conjunctions, and interjections) that govern other words; adawāt al-naṣb (e.g., an, lan, idhan, kay) require that words they govern end in a naṣb; however, naṣb, in its non-grammatical sense, means “lifting up, erecting,” and the author puns on this. 66 “the thrower, the catapult,” etc.: many of the items in this and the next list appear to be epithets. 67 khabanfatha: defined simply as “a name for the anus” (Qāmūs). 68 “the fontanel” (al-rammāʿah): so called “because of its elasticity” ( Jamāl al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn Mukarram al-Ifrīqī Ibn Manẓūr, Lisān al-ʿArab, http://www.baheth. info/).
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Notes 69 “the dry and sweaty smelling” (al-ṣumārā): cf. al-ṣamīr “the man whose flesh is dry on his bones and who gives off a smell of sweat” (Qāmūs). 70 “the draining vent” (al-ʿazlā or al-ʿazlāʾ ): literally, the mouth at the bottom of a waterskin used to drain off the last remains of the water. 71
“the black one” (al-saḥmāʾ ): in the text this is followed by al-funquṣah, for which no meaning has been found.
72 “the bunghole and the butthole” (al-burʿuth wa-l-buʿthuṭ): two further words meaning “anus,” with no further senses and with no other members to their respective roots. 73
adawāt al-jazm: particles (see n. 66) that govern words ending with a closed syllable (jazm), e.g., negational lā, lam; in its non-grammatical sense, jazm means “cutting off or amputation,” whence the expression in the Qāmūs, jazama bi-salḥihi “he voided part of his excrement, part thereof remaining” or simply “he cast forth his excrement” (Lane, Lexicon).
74 “another word for the penis”: al-suḥādil defined simply as dhakar (“penis”). 75
“the strong, crafty wolf ” (al-ḍabīz): such is its definition in the dictionaries, with no indication that it may be used figuratively.
76 “the thimble” (al-qusṭubīnah): this and the next item refer presumably to the glans penis. 77 “the prick” (al-qahbalīs): a word not found in the dictionaries, though the related qahbalis occurs, defined in the Qāmūs as zubb (“penis,” a vulgarism). 78 the qaṣṭabīr: an orphan word, the only one in its root and cited in only one dictionary (Qāmūs), where it is defined simply as “penis” (dhakar). 79 “the tassels” (al-jazājiz): assuming that their use in the sense of “penises” derives from the underlying meaning of “tassels of colored wools with which the [women’s] camellitter is decorated” (Lisān); singular jizjizah. 80 adawāt al-jarr: particles that govern words ending in i, i.e., prepositions that govern the genitive case; in its non-grammatical sense, jarr means “drawing toward, attracting,” prepositions being so called because the governed word is “attracted to,” or governed by, them. 81
“to shtup” (ʿazaṭa): described in the Lisān as “seemingly a metathesis of ” (kaʾannu maqlūbun min) ṭaʿaza (the next to preceding item in this list).
82 “another word of similar form but dubious status” (ʿazlaba): the author of the Lisān writes, “I cannot confirm it” (lā aḥuqquhu). 83
“to bridge” (qanṭara): assuming the use of this denominal verb in the phrase qanṭara l-jāriyah (“he had intercourse with the slave girl”) derives, perhaps via a visual image, from the base sense of the noun qanṭarah (“bridge”).
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Notes 84 “to fuck hard” (qasbara): assuming the verb derives from the nouns qisbār or qusburī meaning “a hard penis.” 85 “to fill her up” (qamṭara): cf. (Lisān) “to fill a water skin” and “to tie off a water skin with its thong.” 86 “to kick her” (laṭaza): if we assume that this sense derives from that of “to kick (its calf ), of a she-camel.” 87 “and a variant of the same” (lamadha): the latter is a dialectal form of the preceding, i.e., lamaja (Lisān). 88 i.e., beginning with the first letter of the Arabic alphabet and ending with the last. 89 Meaning here the Arabs of the Arabian Peninsula in the days before, during, and shortly after the appearance of Islam, that is, the speakers of the pure Arabic language before its corruption by contact with other peoples and its decadence as the result of the passage of time. 90 The Qāmūs equates the two words at the point in its entry from which the author takes this definition; elsewhere, however, he defines khajawjāh as “a wind that blows constantly,” thus supporting the author’s argument. 91
“his ‘ocean’” (qāmūsuhu): see Glossary.
92 “the zaqqūm tree”: a tree that grows in Hell and whose fruit are exceedingly bitter (Q Wāqi ʿah 56:52). 93 “she is to be excused because she was unaware that I, in fact, was only feigning sleep”: the argument seems to be circular, i.e., she is to be excused for not visiting him while asleep because, in fact, he was not asleep. 94 “paronomasia”: (tajnīs (or jinās), literally “making similar”): perhaps the most used rhetorical figure, it consists of deploying in proximity two words that are identical, or
� “handsome” and almost so, in the ductus but differ in vowelling and diacritics (e.g., ح��س�ن أ أ “ �خ� ش����نcoarse” or “ � �ف��ع�ا ��ل�هhis deeds” and “ � �م� ا ��ل�هhis money”) و
95 i.e., Buṭrus Yūsuf Ḥawwā, to whom the book is dedicated. 96 Saʿd al-Dīn Masʿūd ibn ʿUmar al-Taftazānī (d. between 791/1389 and 797/1395) was the author of commentaries (Al-Muṭawwal, Al-Mukhtaṣar) on al-Khaṭīb al-Qazwīnī’s Talkhīṣ al-miftāḥ (The Summary of the Key) that were accepted for centuries as “the primary authoritative texts for the advanced study of rhetoric” (Meisami and Starkey, Encyclopedia, 2:751). 97 Abū Yaʿqūb Yūsuf ibn Abī Bakr al-Sakkākī (d. 626/1229) is best known for his Miftāḥ al-ʿulūm (The Key to the Sciences). His definitions and formulations “became standard in the science of Arab rhetoric” (Meisami and Starkey, Encyclopedia, 2:679).
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Notes 98 Abū l-Qāsim al-Ḥasan ibn Bishr al-Āmidī (d. 370/980), whose Al-Muwāzanah bayna Abī Tammām wa-l-Buḥturī, which compares the poetry of Abū Tammām and al-Buḥturī, is “one of the most important monuments of Arabic literary criticism” (Meisami and Starkey, Encyclopedia, 1:85). 99 Abū l-Ḥasan ʿAlī ibn Aḥmad al-Wāḥidī (d. 468/1076), commentator and literary critic. 100 Abū l-Qāsim Maḥmūd ibn ʿUmar al-Zamakhsharī (467–538/1075–1144), best known for his commentary on the Qurʾān, also wrote in the fields of rhetoric, grammar, lexicography, and proverbs (Meisami and Starkey, Encyclopedia 2:820); the author may have had particularly in mind his Maqāmāt, which are written in “carefully crafted sajʿ ” (Devin Stewart, “Maqāma,” in Arabic Literature in the Post-classical Period, edited by Roger Allen and D. S. Richards, vol. 6 of The Cambridge History of Arabic Literature (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008), 155). 101 Abū Ḥātim Muḥammad ibn Hibbān al-Bustī (270–354/884–965), also known as Ibn Hibbān, was best known as a traditionist, but one of his few surviving works is a literary anthology, Rawḍat al-ʿuqalāʾ wa-nuzhat al-fuḍalāʾ (The Meadow of the Sagacious and Promenade of the Virtuous) (Meisami and Starkey, Encyclopedia, 2:334). 102 Abū l-ʿAbbās ʿAbdallāh ibn al-Muʿtazz (247–96/861–908) was a poet and critic who wrote Kitāb al-badī ʿ (The Book of Rhetorical Figures), the first treatise covering this area of Arabic poetics (Meisami and Starkey, Encyclopedia, 1:354). 103 Kamāl al-Dīn Abū l-Ḥasan ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad ibn al-Nabīh (ca. 560–619/1164–1222), a poet, probably included in the list because of his love of morphological parallelism (see, e.g., lines 14 to 18 of the poem starting afdīhi in ḥafiẓa l-hawā aw ḍayyaʿā (http://www. adab.com/modules.php?name=Sh3er&doWhat=shqas&qid=55259, accessed March 15, 2012)). 104 The author probably means Jamāl al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn Shams al-Dīn ibn Nubātah (known as al-Miṣrī, “the Egyptian”) (686–768/1287–1366), a poet known for his love of punning (tawriyah) and a writer on literature and stylistics to whom he refers later (Volume Four, 4.17.5). However, the latter’s ancestor, Abū Yaḥyā ʿAbd al-Raḥīm ibn Muḥammad ibn Nubātah (known as al-Khaṭīb, “the preacher”) (d. 374/984–85), whose sermons in rhymed prose were regarded as models of stylistics, may be intended. 105 ghāniyah (“beautiful woman”): the Qāmūs states that the ghāniyah may be so called because she is “the woman whose beauty is such that she may dispense with adornment” (al-ghaniyyatu bi-ḥusnihā ʿan al-zīnah). 106 “the Fāriyāq”: the name of the author’s alter ego, formed by combining the first part of his first name and the last part of the last, thus Fāri(s al-Shid)yāq.
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Notes 107 “monopods . . . monopodettes” (nisnās . . . nasānis): according to the dictionaries (which have some difficulty in distinguishing between the two), the nisnās is, among other things, “an animal numbered among the monsters, that is hunted and eaten, has the form of a person with one eye, a leg, and a hand, and speaks like a person” (Lisān) whereas the nasānis may be either the same as, or the plural, or the feminine, of the former. 108 al-ḥinn: a species of jinn or their dogs, or half-men half-jinn (see Volume Two, 2.4.44). 109 Kufah and Basra: cities in Iraq from which emerged the two main contending schools of Arabic grammar. The author is unlikely to have meant this to be taken literally. 110 The Arabic letters ḥ-m-q used in the text spell out the word ḥumq, meaning “stupidity.” 111 i.e., in Lebanon. 112 By the Arabic language the author means literary or formal Arabic; Syriac is the liturgical language of the Maronite church. 113 “his Frankish brethren” (ikhwānihi l-ifranj): i.e., the Roman Catholics of Europe. 114 “turning triliteral verbs into quadriliterals and vice versa”: in another work the author provides the example of allowing the use of rafrafa instead of raffa in the sentence raffa l-ṭāʾir janāḥayhi (“the bird flapped its wings”) (Aḥmad Fāris al-Shidyāq, Kitāb al-jāsūs
ʿalā l-qāmūs (Constantinople: Maṭbaʿat al-Jawāʾib, 1299/1860–1), 13). 115 For example, by saying wathiqa fī-hi (“he trusted him”) instead of wathiqa bi-hi or istaʾdhana bi-hi (“he asked permission to do something”) instead of istaʾdhana fī-hi. 116 “Durrat al-thīn . . .”: the author mimics the extravagant rhymed book titles typical of his day. 117 “the country’s ruler”: Emir Bashīr II al-Shihābī (1767–1850), ruler of Mount Lebanon, with interruptions, from the 1780s until 1840. 118 “Abtholutely not” (tuʿ tuʿ ): though the lexica do not appear to recognize this item as an interjection, the verb taʿtaʿa is defined as faʾfāʾ (“lisping”) or ratratah (“tripping over the letter t”), among other meanings. 119 The interjection way way should perhaps be understood here as a reference to the words of the Qurʾān (Q Qaṣaṣ 28:82) waykaʾanna llāha yabsuṭuka l-rizq (“Alas we had forgotten that it is God Who increases the provision [of those of his servants whom He will]”) (Maududi), where way is considered by Sībawayh to be a separable particle meaning waylaka (“Alas for you!”) (see Qāmūs s.v. way). 120 “the ten head wounds” (al-shajjāṭ al-ʿashar): the significance of the categorization lies in the various penalties owed the victim under the rule of qiṣāṣ (“retribution”), the first five requiring no qiṣāṣ, the second from five camels to a third of the monetary penalty for murder. Al-Shidyāq in fact increases the number to eleven by adding one category (the
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Notes first) in an attempt to correct an error in the original, which appears to be the Lisān (the Qāmūs contains no similar passage). 121 “The Great Christian Master Physician” (al-sāʿūr al-akbar): meaning, perhaps, al-Ḥunayn ibn Isḥāq (194–260/809–73), the translator of Galen. 122 “If it be said (fa-in qīla) . . . I reply”: the author deploys a technique known as fanqalah (derived from the preceding Arabic words), common in Arabic exegetics and literary criticism, by which the author poses, and then responds to and dismisses, an objection to an argument he has put forward. 123 ṭanāṭīr: cone-shaped woman’s headdresses, singular ṭanṭūr; “The height and composition of the tantour were proportional to the wealth of its owner, with the most splendid tantours made of gold and reaching as high as thirty inches. Some were encrusted with gems and pearls. The tantour was a customary gift presented to the bride by her husband on their wedding day” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tantour, accessed April 20, 2012, with illustration; see also R. P. A. Dozy, Dictionnaire détaillé des noms des vêtements chez les Arabes (Amsterdam: Jean Müller, 1843; offset, Beirut: Librairie du Liban, n.d.).) 124 qarn: cf. Latin cornu, French corne, etc. 125 ṣābūn: cf. Latin sāpon-, English “soap,” French savon. 126 qiṭṭ: cf. Latin cattus, English “cat,” French chat. 127 mazj: not in fact cognate with English “mix” or French mélange, etc. 128 Cf. “the horns of the righteous shall be exalted” (Ps. 75:10) and “in my name shall his horn be exalted” (Ps. 89:24), etc. 129 “the word . . . is not derived from any verb” etc.: typically, Arab scholars of the classical period regarded nouns as derived from verbs; in this case, however, there is no verb with a meaning related to the noun qarn in either its literal or figurative senses. 130 Jirmānūs (Germanus) Farḥāt (1670–1732) was a Maronite cleric, grammarian, lexicographer, poet, and educator from Aleppo; his Bāb al-iʿrāb ʿan lughat al-Aʿrāb is an updating of the Qāmūs. Jirmānūs’s efforts, portrayed as part of a “revival” of literary Arabic are sometimes better understood in the context of the transition from Syriac, the original spoken and literary language of many Levantine Christians. On Farḥāt’s life and works, see Kristen Brustad, “Jirmānūs Jibrīl Farḥāt,” in Essays in Arabic Literary Biography 1350–1850, edited by Joseph Lowry and Devin J. Stewart (Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, 2009), 242–51. 131 Abū l-ʿIbar, etc.: one of the most famous buffoons and comic poets of his age, whose real name was Abū l-ʿAbbās Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad al-Hāshimī (ca. 175–250/791–864). Having changed his kunyah (“patronymic”) from Abū l-ʿAbbās to Abū l-ʿIbar (“Father of Warnings” or “of Tears”), he thereafter added a letter with each succeeding year, ending
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Notes with the nonsensical appellation given above. His works include a comic sermon on marriage. See further Meisami and Starkey, Encyclopedia, 1:37. 132 “from the drain” (mina l-balūʿah): the sense is not obvious but perhaps recalls some anecdote concerning Abū l-ʿIbar. 133 The humor of many of the following anecdotes seems to lie in the unexpected and, especially, ridiculous nature of the protagonist’s actions and reactions and the crossed purposes at which he always seems to be with his interlocutors. 134 The joke being perhaps that the response fails to answer the question either way. 135 The formulation of the question seems to imply a fuller version, such as “If he grew large, I’d ask him ‘Why . . .’ etc.” This would be ridiculous, since the man cannot control how he grows and hence cannot be blamed for it. 136 The humor may lie in the phrase “to see her” (li-anẓurahā), which might be taken to mean “to cast the evil eye on her.” 137 “May God be protected from every eye!” (tabāraka llāhu min kulli ʿayn): the man confuses the verbs bāraka and tabāraka. 138 Buhlūl, ʿUlayyān: moralizing “wise fools” of the early Abbasid period (see Naysābūrī,
ʿUqalāʾ ). 139 Ṭuways: Abū ʿAbd al-Munʿim ʿĪsā ibn ʿAbdallāh (10–92/632–711), nicknamed Ṭuways (“Little Peacock”), a celebrated singer and mukhannath (“effeminate”) of Medina during the early days of Islam, known for his comical sayings. 140 Muzabbid: Muzabbid al-Madanī, a much-cited early Medinan comic. 141 The Fāriyāq: the author seems to have forgotten that the Fāriyāq is already speaking. 142 Waist-bands (himyān): i.e., sashes, in which money was carried. 143 “The Fāriyāq’s father was one of those who sought to depose the emir” etc.: Yūsuf, Fāris’s father, though employed by Emir Bashīr II al-Shihābī, became involved in a 1819 Druze revolt against him, led by his relatives Emir Ḥasan ʿAlī and Emir Sulaymān Sayyid Aḥmad and caused by his ever more oppressive tax levies. With the failure of the uprising, Yūsuf fled along with these to Damascus, where he died in 1821 (on the political situation in Mount Lebanon in the early nineteenth century and the Shidyāq family’s role in it, see Ussama Makdisi, The Artillery of Heaven: American Missionaries and the Failed Conversion of the Middle East (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2008)), 72–76, al-Maṭwī, Aḥmad, 47–48, and Paul Starkey Fact and Fiction in al-Sāq ʿalā l-Sāq, in Robin Ostle, Ed de Moor, and Stephan Wild (eds.), Writing the Self: Autobiographical Writing in Modern Arabic Literature (London: Saqi Books, 1998), 36).
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Notes 144 “a tambour” (ṭunbūr): a long-necked fretted lute. According to Starkey, the author uses “the ṭanbūr as a symbol of art, of freedom, almost of life itself ” (Starkey, Fact and Fiction, 36). 145 “their Frankish shaykhs”: i.e., the clergy of the Roman Catholic church, with which the Maronite church is in communion. 146 “schlup-flup” (khāqibāqi): “the sound of the vagina during intercourse” (Qāmūs). 147 “A Priest and a Pursie, Dragging Pockets and Dry Grazing” (Fī qissīs wa-kīs wa-taḥlīs wa-talḥīs): the priest is mentioned at 1.5.8, the pursie at 1.5.10; taḥlīs does not occur in the dictionaries but may be based on maḥlūs (a word already used, see 1.1.6) which, according to the Qāmūs, means “scantly fleshed” (of the vagina), in which case it would relate to the figurative use of “pursie” (see n. 10 below) in such sentences as “When my pursie grew light while within your Happy Purlieu, which is to say, when it grew to be a drag . . .” and/or on iḥlās meaning “bankruptcy”; talḥīs is likewise absent from the dictionaries but may be based on laḥisat al-māshiyatu l-arḍ (“the herds grazed the land to the roots”), in which case it would refer to the Fāriyāq’s general state of penury. 148 “whose name rhymes with Baʿīr Bayʿar”: i.e., Amīr [= Emir] Ḥaydar [ibn Aḥmad al-Shihābī] (1763–1835), cousin of Emir Bashīr II, ruler of Mount Lebanon (see 1.1.20, n. 117). The book referred to in the following lines as “ledgers” is Ḥaydar ibn Aḥmad’s Al-Ghurar al-ḥisān fī taʾrīkh ḥawādith al-zamān, a history of Lebanon from the earliest times to the Egyptian invasion of 1831. 149 Alphonse de Lamartine (1790–1869), writer, poet, and politician; for these quotations, see Alphonse de Lamartine, Oeuvres de A. Lamartine: Méditations Poétiques (Paris: Charles Gosselin, 1838), 21, 23–24, and 25. The author’s translations of Lamartine and Chateaubriand that follow are discussed by Alwan, who characterizes them as “smooth, readable, and reasonably accurate” (Alwan, Aḥmad, chap. 3). 150 ʿAntar ibn Shaddād: a pre-Islamic poet whose life gave rise at a later date to a popular epic of chivalry. 151 The name of the deity is used to express deep feeling incited by music or poetry. 152 Poetry’s Destiny, etc.: Lamartine’s essay is entitled Des destinées de la poésie and contains the words “je vois . . . des générations rajeunies . . . qui reconstruiront . . . cette oeuvre infinie que Dieu a donné à faire et à refaire sans cesse à l’homme, sa propre destinée. Dans cette oeuvre la poésie a sa place.” (Lamartine, Oeuvres 56). 153 François-René de Chateaubriand (1768–1848): writer, politician, diplomat, and historian, considered the founder of Romanticism in French literature, who lived in America from 1791 to 1792. The originals of the two passages quoted below are to be found at
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Notes Chateaubriand, Oeuvres complètes de Chateaubriand, vol. 6, Voyages en Amérique, en Italie, au Mont Blanc: Mélanges littéraires (Paris: Garnier, [1861]), 54 and 62. 154 When Bilqīs, Queen of Sheba, visited Sulaymān from her kingdom in Yemen, he had a splendid pavilion built for her reception (Q Naml 27:44). 155 The verses are by Hammām ibn al-Salūlī (d. 100/718). 156 “a Magian”: a Zoroastrian, and thus supposedly a worshipper of fire. 157 “pursies, and other things that have similar-sounding names” (li-l-akyās wa-li-mā jāʾa
ʿalā waznihā wa-rawiyyihā): literally, “purses, and things that have the same syllabic structure and rhyme-letter”; the author probably intends the Arabic reader to think of aksās (“cunts”), just as the translator hopes the English reader will think of “pussies.” 158 Mount Raḍwā: a mountain in Medina. 159 “Words . . . Matter . . . Form”: the terminology is Aristotelian and was adopted by Muslim philosophers writing on physics, psychology, and metaphysics, with “Matter” meaning the substratum from which any entity is formed (thus, the soul is the matter from which the body is formed, wood the matter from which the chair is formed). The application of this analogy to the relationship between speech and meaning may be original to the author, whose intention seems to be to give a twist to the widely accepted notion that man is superior to other beings by virtue of having the capacity to speak, his point being that, if you have little to say, any such superiority is moot. 160 Abū Dulāmah: buffoon poet to the first three Abbasid caliphs (d. 161/777–78). 161 “al-Kuʿaykāt . . . al-Rukākāt”: comic names, meaning “Cookies” and “Simpletons” (or “Cuckolds”) and perhaps joking allusions to the village of al-Shuwayfāt (Choueifat)— which is next door to al-Ḥadath, where the author lived in his youth and which has long been a transit point for trade among Beirut, the south, and Mount Lebanon—and another location as yet unidentified. 162 “capital (and assets)” (raʾs al-māl wa-dhanabuhu): literally, “the head of the money (raʾs al-māl) and its tail,” the author playing with the literal meaning of the Arabic expression meaning “(financial) capital.” 163 “faces radiant” (wa-l-wujūhu nāḍirah): cf. Q Qiyāmah 75:22 wujūhun yawmaʾidhin nāḍirah “Some faces will be radiant on that Day.” 164 “those lands” (tilka l-bilād): i.e., Lebanon, or Mount Lebanon. 165 “every judge” (kullu qāḍin): or “each party to the transaction.” 166 “her c . . .” (mabā . . .): the missing Arabic word is mabālahā. 167 Di ʿbil: Di ʿbil ibn ʿAlī al-Khuzāʿī (148–246/765–860), a poet of invective (hijāʾ ) and philologist who lived in Kufa.
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Notes 168 “‘O feeder of the orphans’ . . . etc.” (a-muṭʿimata l-aytāmi ilā ākhirihi): a reference to the widely cited but unattributed verse a-muṭʿimata l-aytāmi min kaddi farjihā * a-lā lā taznī wa-lā tataṣaddaqī (“O you who feed the orphans from the labor of your vagina, * I say to you, [better that] you neither fornicate nor give alms!”), i.e., it is better to do nothing than to seek to do good through illicit means. 169 “Unseemly Conversations and Crooked Contestations” (Muḥāwarāt khāniyah wa-munāqashāt ḥāniyah): alternatively, Muḥāwarāt khāniyyah wa-munāqashāt ḥāniyyah (“Inn-style Conversations and Tavern-style Discussions”). 170 “which is why it’s called qahwah”: the author links qahwah (“wine”) to the verb aqhā (ʿan al-ṭaʿām), “to be put off (one’s food),” though the roots are different. 171 Daʿd, Laylā: women’s names. 172 “the ankleted honies”: i.e., the women of his household. 173 “Each day some new matter he uncovers” (fa-huwa kulla yawmin fī shān): Q Raḥmān 55:29. 174 “the two best things” (al-aṭyabayn): i.e., eating and coitus. 175 Al-Qāsim ibn ʿAlī al-Ḥarīrī (446–516/1052–1122), Iraqi prose writer, poet, and official, wrote fifty immensely popular maqāmāt, which he compiled into a work of the same name. 176 “the Nawābigh”: Al-Kalim al-nawābigh, a brief homily written in a mannered, ornamental style. 177 “his grandfather” (jaddihi): i.e., his mother’s father, Yūsuf Ziyādah Musʿad, of ʿAshqūt (al-Maṭwī, Aḥmad 1:49), his father’s father, Manṣūr, having died in 1793. 178 “she . . . degree . . . awry . . . eye”: despite his protestations, the author slips into rhymed prose at this moment of heightened emotion, possibly without noticing, and continues to do so at similar moments throughout the chapter. 179 “she had an eye that was ‘dried up’” (dhābilatuhu): meaning, presumably, that her eye had lost its moistness by having taken on that “sleepiness” that is said to characterize “bedroom” eyes. 180 “the whole entry . . . too noble to speak of ”: the entry for the root ḥ-sh-f includes words meaning “it (a camel’s udder) became contracted and withered” and “dry bread” and “the worst quality of dates,” as well as ḥashafah, “the head of the penis.” 181 “Such a contrast . . .”: ṭibāq (“antithesis”), consisting of the “inclusion of two contraries in one line or sentence” (Meisami and Starkey, Encyclopedia, 2:659), is a rhetorical staple of traditional Arabic poetics. 182 “or I do on their authority”: by implying that he wrote the lines himself, the author may be seeking to undermine the sometimes spurious authority lent to ideas stated in prose
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Notes by topping them off with a couple of lines of verse, a standard technique used by writers of earlier generations. 183 Both are labial consonants. 184 “for a boy I teach”: the author refers to the practice of addressing the beloved as though she were a male (tadhkīr), a feature of Arabic poetry and song from the earliest times until today. 185 The author deploys two contradictory arguments: that tadhkīr is used because some “men who can see no good in women” prefer to do so, and that it reflects an underlying grammatically masculine referent, namely the word shakhṣ; thus, according to the second argument, when the poet refers to “he” or “him,” he really means “that person” and is thinking of a female. The French and Italian equivalents of shakhṣ that the author has in mind are, presumably, personne and persona. 186 “Ibn Mālik’s Sharḥ al-Mashāriq”: the author’s name as given by al-Shidyāq is apparently a mistake for (ʿAbd al-Laṭīf ibn Firishtah ʿIzz al-Dīn ibn Amīn al-Dīn) Ibn Malak (d. after 824/1421), whose Mabāriq al-azhār (fī) sharḥ Mashāriq al-anwār, a hadith collection with extended commentary, was regarded as a classic and reprinted several times in the nineteenth century (Encyclopaedia of Islam, edited by P. J. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C. E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel, and W. P. Heinrichs et al., 2nd ed., 12 vols. (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1960–2005), 2:923–24); it has, however, proven impossible to confirm the reference in the absence of any mention of the hadith from the commentary on which this passage is presumably taken. 187 “Hind . . . Zaynab”: generic female names. 188 “the ‘novel’ style”: poetry in the style called badī ʿ, i.e., that relying largely on rhetorical and technical artifices. 189 “That Which Is Long and Broad” (Fī l-ṭawīl al-ʿarīḍ): perhaps an allusion to the long, broad path facing the grammarian. 190 “Zayd struck ʿAmr” (ḍaraba Zaydun ʿAmran): Zayd and ʿAmr are generic names used in sentences constructed to demonstrate grammatical rules. 191 “the daughter of Abū l-Aswad al-Duʾalī” etc.: al-Duʾalī (d. 69/688) is known as “the father of Arabic grammar”; the story goes that his daughter said to him mā ajmalu l-samāʾ (“What is the most beautiful thing in the sky?”) when she intended mā ajmala l-samāʾ (“How beautiful the sky is!”), and he corrected her, thus starting the process of the recording and codification of “chaste speech.” 192 “the ship sails, or the mare runs”: these are two-step metaphors because the ship is propelled by the wind, which in turn blows at God’s behest, while the mare runs because she is made to do so by her rider, who is himself a creature propelled by God.
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Notes 193 “aeolian” (ʿiqyawniyyah): for a definition of the noun ʿiqyawn from which this adjective derives, see Volume Two (2.14.43). 194 From this point, the nomenclature leaves the realm of reality and devolves into a series of fanciful and bizarre-sounding terms based largely on onomatopoeia (farqaʿiyyah, qarqaʿiyyah, etc.) or, toward the end of the list, hapax legomena known only from a single line of ancient verse (jaḥlanjaʿiyyah, ʿuṭrūsiyyah) or having only a precarious foothold in the language (such as shunṭafiyyah, of which the Qāmūs says, “a colloquialism, mentioned by Ibn Durayd, who does not explain it”). 195 “tongue-smacking” (ṭaʿṭaʿiyyah): according to the Qāmūs, ṭaʿṭaʿah is a sound one makes by “sticking the tongue against the hard palate and then masticating [? yanṭiʿ ] because of the good taste of something he is eating, so that a sound may be heard from between the palate and the tongue.” 196 “panthero-dyspneaceous” (khuʿkhuʿiyyah): the word khuʿkhuʿ refers to a certain plant and thus does not lend itself to an onomatopeic interpretation; it may, however, be related to the verb khaʿʿa “to make a sound from the back of its throat when it has run out of breath running after its enemy (of a leopard).” 197 “the skrowlaceous” (ʿuhʿukhiyyah): of this word the Lisān says, “Al-Azharī said, ‘We heard Khalīl ibn Aḥmad say, “We heard a hideous word, not to be permitted by the rules of word formation: a Bedouin was asked about his she-camel, and he said, ‘I left her grazing ʿuhʿukh.’ I asked reliable scholars, and they denied that this word could belong to the language of the Arabs.”’” The Qāmūs says that the word, meaning a certain medicinal plant, is a deformation of khuʿkhuʿ (see n. 195 above) and, as such, does not offer an obvious onomatoeic association. 198 “skraaaghhalaceous” (ʿuhkhaghiyyah): the word is not found in the dictionaries. 199 “the transtextual and the intertextual” (kashaʿthajiyyah wa-kashaʿẓajiyyah): the Qāmūs says of these words only that they are “recently coined” (muwalladān), without definition. 200 “a book’s prologue” (khuṭbat al-kitāb): the invocation with which pre-nineteenth-century Arabic books usually begin, which weaves a statement of the work’s concerns into an encomium of the Prophet Muḥammad, his Companions, etc. 201 “opposition” (ṭibāq): al-Ḥillī describes ṭibāq as consisting of “using two words of opposite meaning, so that it is as though the poet were opposing (ṭābaqa) the one to its opposite” (al-Ḥillī, Sharḥ 72). 202 Al-Farrāʾ: Abū Zakariyyāʾ Yaḥyā ibn Ziyād al-Farrāʾ (144–207/761–822), a grammarian of the Kufan school, most famous for his grammatical commentary on the Qurʾān, entitled Maʿānī al-Qurʾān.
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Notes 203 ḥattā: a particle (meaning approximately “until”) whose usage is complex. 204 “*nna”: a particle (approximately “that”) whose initial vowel varies according to environment. 205 “connective fāʾ ” etc.: on the copula fa- (consisting of the letter fāʾ plus a) and its multiple uses and significations, see e.g., W. A. Wright, Grammar of the Arabic Language, 3rd ed., rev. W. Robertson Smith and M. J. de Goeje (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1951), whose index cites ten distinct usages. 206 al-Yazīdī: Abū Muḥammad Yaḥyā ibn al-Mubārak al-Yazīdī (d. 202/817 or 818) was the author of several works on grammar and lexicography; these have not survived, although anecdotes about him abound in anthologies (Meisami and Starkey, Encyclopedia 2:812). 207 “connective wāw” etc.: on the copula wa- (consisting of the letter wāw plus a) and its multiple uses and significations, see e.g., Wright, Grammar, whose index cites five distinct usages. 208 “the right-related . . . uses of lām”: on the particles li- and la- (consisting of the letter lām plus i or a), see e.g., Wright, Grammar, whose index cites seven distinct usages. 209 al-Aṣmaʿī: Abū Saʿīd ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Qurayb al-Bāhilī al-Aṣmaʿī (122–213/740–828) was one of the most influential early lexicographers and philologists. Sixty of his works are extant, although it is not clear if any dealt with the orthographic issue raised here. 210 “aw . . . am”: two particles that may be translated “or.” 211 “[the words] qāʾil or bāʾiʿ ”: because the proscribed orthography—qāyil and bāyiʿ— might be taken to represent a colloquialized pronunciation. 212 “when pronounced without vowels at the end” (sākinan): the author implies that most writers do not know enough grammar to use correct desinential inflections and their “concoctions” are therefore less offensive to the ear when read without them, in keeping with the adage sakkin taslam (“read without endings and be safe”). 213 “the ‘doer’ and the ‘done’”: in Arabic grammatical terminology, the subject of a verb is referred to as the fāʿil (“doer”), the object as the maf ʿūl (“done”). In the following, the author plays, as many have done before, on these and other, non-grammatical, meanings of the same words, e.g., “doer” in the sense of “manual worker” and “fucker,” and “done” in the sense of “fucked.” 214 “‘raised’ . . . ‘laid’”: the vowel u, called “raising” (raf ʿ ), is the marker of the subject, while a, called “laying” (naṣb), is, among other things, that of the object. 215 “the doer of the . . .” (fāʿil al- . . .): perhaps meaning, in grammatical terms, “the subject of the verb” (fāʿil al-fiʿl), which in non-grammatical language would mean “the doer of the (dirty) deed.”
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Notes 216 “who are steadfast” (min al-qurrāʾ al-ṣābirīn): evocative of a number of passages in the Qurʾān, e.g., sa-tajidunī in shāʾa llāhu min al-ṣābirīn (“and, God willing, you will find me steadfast”) (Q Ṣāffāt 37:102). 217 “switching persons” (al-iltifāt): a rhetorical figure consisting of an “abrupt change of grammatical person from second to third and from third to second,” as in the words of the poet Jarīr “When were the tents at Dhū Ṭulūḥ? O tents, may you be watered by ample rain!” (Meisami and Starkey, Encyclopedia 2:657). 218 māghūṣ: a nonce-word apparently used to mean “bore, pest.” 219 “Faid al-Hāwif ibn Hifām in lifping tones” (ḥaddasa l-Hāris ibn al-Hithām): the author substitutes the letter s for th, h for ḥ, and th for sh; without these substitutions, the sentence would read ḥaddatha l-Ḥārith ibn Hishām. The name evokes those of the narrators of the best known maqāmāt series, by al-Hamadhānī, whose narrator is called ʿĪsā ibn Hishām, and those by al-Ḥarīrī, who names his narrator al-Ḥārith ibn Hammām. At the same time, the name in its “lisped” form may be translated as “Masher, son of Pulverizer.” 220 The Balancing of the Two States and Comparing of the Two Straits (Kitāb Muwāzanat al-ḥālatayn wa-murāzanat al-ālatayn): the title may be intended to evoke the Kitāb al-Muwāzanah bayna Abī Tammām wa-l-Buḥturī of al-Āmidī (see 1.1.11 above), although the latter compares not good and evil but the literary accomplishments of two poets and does not employ the “facing tables using a columnar system” referred to below. 221 Abū Rushd “Brains” ibn Ḥazm (Abū Rushd Nuhyah ibn Ḥazm): the name evokes two of the best known writers of the Maghreb—Ibn Rushd, known in the West as Averroës (520–95/1126–98), and Ibn Ḥazm (384–456/994–1064)—although the significance of the choice of these writers is not obvious. Nuhyah, literally “mind,” is not part of the name of either writer. 222 “by even a jot” (naqīran): an echo of Q Nisāʾ 4:53 and 124. 223 “those who hold to the humoral theory” (al-ṭabāʾiʿiyyīn): i.e., those who hold to Galen’s theory that one’s physical state is determined by the balance therein of the humors (al-ṭabāʾiʿ—phlegm, blood, yellow bile, and black bile). 224 “by insisting on the impossible and making from the non-existent something necessarily existent” (bi-farḍ al-mustaḥīl wa-jaʿl al-maʿdūm ka-l-mawjūd al-wājib): the terms “(im) possible” and “necessary” pertain to Aristotelian logic (see also above 1.6.4, n. 158) and were introduced into Islamic philosophy by al-Fārābī (ca. 259–339/872–950). Al- Fārābī postulated that it is inconceivable to posit the impossible (e.g., a square circle), while the author’s jurisprudent insists that to do so constitutes the very essence of his trade. 225 “I added him then to the three, making him number four” (fa-ṣayyartuhu rābiʿa l-thalāthah): an echo of Q Kahf 18:22 sa-yaqūlūna thalāthatun rābiʿuhum kalbuhum
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Notes “Some will say, ‘They were three, the fourth was their dog’” (in reference to “the people of the cave”). 226 “mindful men” (dhī ḥijrin): an echo of Q Fajr 89:5. 227 “A Sacrament” (Sirr): the allusion may be either to the sacrament of confession (1.14.4) or to the secret (also sirr) referred to at the end of the chapter (1.14.9). 228 “its number”: i.e., the number thirteen. 229 “seized by their forelocks” (yuʾkhadhu bi-l-nawāṣī): Q Aḥzāb 33:37. 230 “the ‘buttocks’ of ‘Halt and weep’” (aʿjāz qifā nabki): qifā nabki (“Halt and weep”) are the opening words of the celebrated “suspended ode” (muʿallaqah) of the pre-Islamic poet Imruʾ al-Qays; the word “buttocks” occurs later, when the poet says “I said to the night, when it stretched its lazy loins followed by its fat buttocks, and heaved off its fat breast, ‘Well now, you tedious night, won’t you clear yourself off, and let dawn shine?’” (Arthur J. Arberry, The Seven Odes: The First Chapter in Arabic Literature (London: George Allen and Unwin, 1957), 64). The author links, bathetically, the misfortunes of the speaker with those of one of Arabic literature’s most heroic figures. 231 karshūnī: Arabic written in Syriac script. 232 “soul (nafs) . . . breath (nafas) . . . breathes (yatanaffas)”: the author plays with the fact that the words for “breath” and “soul” are spelled the same when vowels are not indicated, with a resulting potential for confusion; the reference to orifices and “a certain school” may be no more than a joke to the effect that some people count farting, belching, hiccupping, etc. as “points of exit and entry” for the breath. 233 “open his wife’s womb”: see, e.g., Gen. 30:22: “And God remembered Rachel, and God hearkened to her, and opened her womb.” 234 “long converse and closeness in bed” (qurb al-wisād wa-ṭūl al-siwād—literally, “closeness of pillow and length of converse”): Bint al-Khuss (a semi-legendary figure dating to perhaps the third century before Islam and famed for her ready wit) was asked, “Wherefore didst thou commit fornication?,” and this phrase was her response (Lane, Lexicon, s.v. sāwada; al-Maydānī, Majmaʿ, 2:37). 235 “the two cs”: in the Arabic, “the two ks” (al-kāfayn). Since there appears to be no conventionally recognized “two ks,” the meaning is open to speculation. In the opinion of the translator, the phrase is probably code for al-kuss wa-l-kutshīnah (“cunt and cards”), the topics of this chapter. 236 The following catalog lists activities, such as gambling, dishonest dealing, speculation, and usury that are forbidden in Islam. 237 “such people”: meaning presumably, and presumably ironically, ships’ captains.
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Notes 238 irtisām . . . : the following list of 104 words is, in effect, redundant, because all but fifteen of them are repeated, with definitions, in a table at the end of the chapter (1.16.9); on the author’s evolving approach to the formatting of such lists, see the Translator’s Afterword in Volume Four. Words that are not repeated in the table, and that thus remain unglossed, are tashāʾum, taṭayyur, tafāʾul, taḥattum, tayammun, tasaʿʿud, tamassuḥ, kahānah, intijāʾ, ṭalāsim, ʿazāʾim, ruqā, tamāʾim, ʿūdhah, and siḥr; these items are glossed here, in the endnotes. Presumably the author did not regard them as rare enough to need definition. 239 tashāʾum: “to draw an evil omen.” 240 taṭayyur: “to draw auguries.” 241 tafāʾul: “to draw a good omen.” 242 taḥattum: “to believe in the inevitability of a thing.” 243 tayammun: “to draw a good omen.” 244 tasaʿʿud: “to draw a good omen.” 245 tamassuḥ: “to seek blessing from holy men by drawing the hands over them” (Lisān: “blessing is sought from so-and-so by drawing of the hands [over the object of veneration] (yutammasaḥu bi-hi) because of his merit and [the devotedness of ] his worship, as if one were drawn closer to God by proximity to him”). 246 ʿāṭis: defined in the list of definitions at the end of the chapter under al-ʿāṭūs, following the Qāmūs. 247 “or qaʿīd, or dākis”: defined in the list of definitions at the end of the chapter under the entry for kādis, following the Qāmūs. 248 kahānah: “soothsaying, divination.” 249 intijāʾ: the author does not include this in his list of definitions below, nor does it appear in a relevant sense in the dictionaries, but al-intijāʾ is described by some of these as synonymous with al-tanājī, or “talking to one another in secret,” and there may be a reference here to Q Mujādilah 58:9: “O believers, when you conspire (idhā tanājaytum), conspire not together in sin and enmity and in disobedience to the Messenger, but conspire together in peace and God-fearing” (58:9; Arthur J. Arberry, The Koran Interpreted (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1982), 570); see also tanajjā above and in the list of definitions. 250 ṭalāsim: “talismans.” 251 ʿazāʾim: “spells.” 252 ruqā: “incantations, charms.” 253 tamāʾim: “amulets.” 254 ʿūdhah: “spell.”
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Notes 255 siḥr: “magic.” 256 ṣadā: in the list of definitions at the end of the chapter, this word is defined under the entry for al-kādis, following the Qāmūs. 257 “those lands” (tilka l-bilād): presumably, the lands to which he was bound before the ship turned back. 258 “the mankūs”: “three lines following one another immediately, then one on its own” (Lisān). 259 The wording seems to be the author’s, not that of a dictionary, and he interprets ḥazā as being of the root ḥ-z-w rather than ḥ-z-y, an alternative given by the Lisān but not the Qāmūs; al-taḥazzī is the noun formed from the reflexive variant of the verb. 260 “a tree”: presumably of the kind also called ratīmah. 261 “or etc.”: indicating that the entry in the Qāmūs continues with other less relevant definitions. 262 “pronounced like kataba” (ka-kataba): a word having the same pattern of consonants and vowels as that of the subject of the definition is used to disambiguate its spelling, a necessary procedure given that short vowels and other morphological features are not always indicated in writing and, if indicated, are vulnerable to error; the meaning of the word used (kataba “to write”) is irrelevant. 263 “the minor magician who claims powers of divination and knocks small stones together” (al-ḥāzī al-mutakahhin al-ṭāriq bi-l-ḥaṣā): the Qāmūs quotes an authority to the effect that the ḥāzī “has less knowledge than the ṭāriq (‘one who bangs small stones together’), and the ṭāriq can scarcely be said to divine; the ḥāzī speaks on the basis of supposition and fear.” 264 al-naffāthāt fī l-ʿuqad: the phrase is taken from Q Falaq 113:4 and means literally “the women who blow on knots.” 265 “too well known to require definition” (m): here, as frequently elsewhere, the Qāmūs uses the abbreviation m, standing for maʿrūf (“well known”). 266 “a separate book”: unidentified, but not, as one might expect, his Al-Jāsūs ʿalā l-Qāmūs (the verb iḥtawā is dealt with there but in terms of transitivity versus intransitivity, not root-assignment or semantics). 267 Q Insān 76:10. 268 “the moon and money-wagering” (al-qamar wa-l-qimār): perhaps because exposure to moonlight was considered by the ancient Arabs to be hazardous, as, of course, is wagering. 269 “cold talk” (al-kalām al-bārid): idiomatically, “rudeness.”
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Notes 270 “an instrument containing drink, or . . . one containing meat” (adātun fī-hā sharāb . . . ukhrā fī-hā laḥm): i.e., a bar or a restaurant, amenities that the author puts on the same level as bed-warmers and hot-water bottles by referring to each as an adāh (“instrument, device”). 271 “their precipitation is bottom up, or in other words from the heads of people who are themselves ruled to the heads of those who rule” (lafẓuhā min siflin ilā ʿilwin ay min ruʾūs nāsin masūdīn ilā ruʾūsi nāsin sāʾidīn): apparently meaning that judges, being themselves subjects of the ruler, cannot impose the law upon him. 272 “a certain vagabond was once the guest of people who failed to honor and celebrate him”: perhaps a reference to the author’s treatment in Malta, or Egypt, versus that which he received in England or France. 273 “here”: i.e., in this book. 274 “Old Testament”: see 1.16.2, n. 232. 275 The reference is unidentified. 276 “opener of the womb”: the referent has changed, being now the first-born child and not God; for the two different usages, see, e.g., Gen. 29:31 and Exod. 13:2. 277 “the secret’s being revealed” etc.: cf. 1.14.9 above. 278 The following list reflects the medical science not of the mid-nineteenth century but mainly of the pre-Islamic and early Islamic periods, whose language provides the corpus for the Qāmūs. It thus includes terms not recognized by modern science, some of which are based on medieval understandings of camel and horse, rather than human, anatomy. 279 “the Joker”: or “the Liar.” 280 “The name of al-Farazdaq’s devil”: pre-Islamic and early Islamic Arabs believed that major poets had their verses dictated to them by personal devils; Hammām ibn Ghālib al-Farazdaq (ca. 20–110/640–728) identified his demon as bearing the name ʿAmr. 281 “al-Shayṣabān”: a name of the Devil (as the two following items), but also the name of a forefather of a certain tribe of the jinn and as such repeated below. 282 “The Corrupter . . . the Beguiler”: unlike the preceding, the majority of which are proper names, the following five items are common epithets of Satan. 283 arḍ khāfiyah: on khāfiyah in the sense of “jinn (collectively),” see further down this list. 284 “with or without nunation” (wa-qad yuṣraf): certain indefinite nouns are inflected with terminations ending in the letter nūn (n), a feature known as nunation, others with terminations not ending in nūn, and a few according to either regime; thus Wabār when fully inflected may be pronounced (in the nominative) either Wabārun or Wabāru.
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Notes 285 “Wabār ibn Iram”: Iram was one of the five sons of Sām, son of Nūḥ; among his descendants was Wabār, forefather of the tribe of ʿĀd, which God destroyed for practicing false belief in the sanctuary of the Kaaba. 286 “The name of one of the jinn who gave ear to the Qurʾān”: a reference to “Remember how We sent to you a band of the jinn who wished to hear the Qurʾān and as they listened they said to one another, ‘Be silent and listen’ . . . .” (Q Aḥqāf 46:29); the jinn heard Muḥammad reciting during his retreat from al-Ṭāʾif and became believers. 287 “mārid”: a sub-species of jinn, literally “the rebellious.” 288 “I can’t find it in the Qāmūs”: it does in fact appear there, although without a definition, being glossed simply as synonymous with ʿaḍrafūṭ (see below); other dictionaries (e.g., the Lisān) define it as meaning “old woman.” As the author points out, the word also occurs in the Qāmūs as the word used to disambiguate the pronunciation of most of these (in Arabic terms) bizarre-sounding words. 289 “the lexicographer” (al-m.ṣ.): an abbreviation for al-muṣannif. 290 “fading mirage”: and twelve other definitions (in the Qāmūs), including “ghoul” and “devil.” 291 “the ant mentioned in the Qurʾān”: “. . . and when they came to the Valley of the Ants, one ant said, ‘Ants! Go into your dwellings lest [Sulaymān] and his hosts inadvertently crush you’” (Q Naml 27:18). 292 “the jumper” (al-waththāb): neck-muscle spasm. 293 al-Hirāʾ: “a devil charged with [causing] bad dreams” (Qāmūs). 294 “Muḥammad or Maḥmūd”: names specific to Muslims, while the emir was a Christian. 295 “unbored pearls”: virgins, in conventional poetic imagery. 296 “the letter nūn”: twenty-nine of the sūras (“chapters”) of the Qurʾān commence with one or more letters of the alphabet of unknown significance. The Fāriyāq takes the nūn preceding the verse quoted here (Q Qalam 68:1) to stand for naḥs (“bad luck”). 297 “his confidant . . . polemics . . . ecclesiastical bigwig”: the “confidant” (najī) was his elder brother Asʿad, whom the author visited, with other members of his family, following his adoption of Protestantism and who talked to him at length about his beliefs (al-Maṭwī, Aḥmad, 1:69); by “polemics” (qīla wa-qāla) the author means “religious controversy and debate”; the “ecclesiastical bigwig” (aḥad . . . min al-jathāliqah) must be the Maronite patriarch, to whom Asʿad frankly declared his beliefs in the hope of securing internal reform. 298 “saddlebag” (khurj): this introduces the theme of “the Bag-men” (al-khurjiyyūn), the author’s term for Protestant missionaries (see Glossary).
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Notes 299 “one of the big-time fast-talking market traders” (mina l-ḍawāṭirati l-kibār): see Glossary. 300 “God’s horsemen against the infidel!” (yā khayla llāh ʿalā l-kuffār): the first half of the cry used to assemble the first Muslims before battle and subsequently used as a pious invocation to action on behalf of Muslims in danger. 301 “They shall roast in Hell!” (innahum ṣālū l-nār): Q Ṣād 38:59. 302 “I shall bring you the little squit ‘before ever thy glance is returned to thee’” (anā ātīka etc.): the wording evokes the Qurʾān (Q Naml 27:40), when a member of Sulaymān’s council volunteers to bring him the Queen of Sheba’s throne. 303 “who had a speech defect involving the letter f” (wa-kāna bi-hi faʾfaʾah): the defect called faʾfaʾah is defined as “repeating and over-using the letter fāʾ in speech” and causes the Fāriyāq to say shaykh al-fusūq (literally “the Boss of Disgrace”) for shaykh al-sūq (“the Boss of the Marketplace”). 304 “Shouldn’t the addition of these eighty require the eighty-lash penalty?” (fa-lā takun ziyādatu hādhihi l-thamānīna mūjibun li-ḥaddi l-thamānīn): the addition of fāʾ to sūq (see preceding endnote) produces fusūq; the numerical value of the letter fāʾ in the counting system known as ḥisāb al-jummal is eighty; and the penalty specified in the Qurʾan for the fāsiq (“committer of fusūq” or depravity) is eighty lashes (cf. Q Nūr 24:4). 305 “Emotion and Motion” (Fī l-ḥiss wa-l-ḥarakah): both emotion and motion (of the heart) are mentioned in the opening passage. 306 “the Vizier of the Right-hand Side . . . the Vizier of the Left-hand Side” (wazīr almaymanah . . . wazīr al-maysarah): terms derived from popular conceptions of the organization of the courts of the caliphs, but meaning here, presumably, the primary organs on the right- and left-hand sides of the body, respectively. 307 “I came not to send peace, but a sword”: Matt. 10:34. 308 “he exerted himself to save the Fāriyāq from the hands of the arrogant”: following his brother Asʿad’s arrest by the Maronite patriarch in March 1826 (see below), the author himself sought refuge with the Protestant missionaries with whom Asʿad had consorted, and these hid him in Beirut before sending him abroad in December of the same year. 309 “the Island of Scoundrels” (Jazīrat al-Mulūṭ): i.e., Malta, normally Māliṭah. 310 “the golden calf ” (al-baʿīm, literally, “the idol”): presumably a reference to the “idolatry” implied by the presence of statues of the Virgin Mary and saints in Maronite churches. 311 “ignoble and, beside that, basely born” (ʿuṭullin wa-baʿda dhālika zanīm): Q Qalam 68:13. 312 “there is therein no crookedness” (ghayru dhāti ʿiwajin): an echo of Q Zumar 39:28 (“[an Arabic Koran,] wherein there is no crookedness” (Arberry, Koran, 473).
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Notes 313 “Sh . . . ! Sh . . . !” (al-khur! al-khur!): the passenger thinks the Fāriyāq is trying to say “The shit! The shit!” (al-khurʾ! al-khurʾ!), when, in fact, he is trying to say, in his delirium, “The saddlebag! The saddlebag” (al-khurj! al-khurj!). 314 Asʿad: Asʿad al-Shidyāq (1798–1830), the third eldest brother in the family (the author being the fifth and youngest), became convinced of the truth of Protestantism after associating with American evangelical missionaries in Beirut and was detained on charges of heresy by Maronite patriarch Yūsuf Ḥubaysh at his palace at Qannūbīn, where he died after some six years of maltreatment. For a detailed account of the events leading to and surrounding Asʿad’s death and their significance, see Makdisi, Artillery, and Alwan, Aḥmad, chap. 1. 315 Qannūbīn: a valley in northern Lebanon, site of numerous Christian monasteries, including a former seat of the Maronite patriarch. 316 Mikhāʾ īl Mishāqah (1800–1888 or 1889): first historian of later Ottoman Lebanon, who converted from Greek Catholicism to Protestantism in 1848. 317 “the Mutawālīs”: the Twelver Shiites of Lebanon. 318 “the Anṣārīs”: a Shiite sect with distinctive teachings and cosmology, with followers in Lebanon, Syria, and elsewhere in the region. 319 “Some of them . . . have written histories”: the material that follows, even though attributed below by the author to several writers, appears to be taken mostly—and in some cases word for word—from Voltaire’s Essai sur les moeurs et l’esprit des nations, chaps. 35–37 (see, e.g., http://fr.wikisource.org/wiki/Essai_sur_les_mœurs, accessed 6 March 2013). 320 “Pope Amadeus VIII”: the name and number refer, in fact, not to a pope but to Duke Amadeus VIII of Savoy (1383–1451), who did, however, become antipope, assuming the papal name of Felix V, when elected by the dissident rump of the Council of Basel. The spelling Armadiyūs in the Arabic is an error. 321 “the Council of Basel was convened to depose Pope Eugene”: the Council of Basel was convened in 1431 to limit the powers of the papacy. Pope Eugene IV (r. 1431–47) sought to disband the council, a rump of which remained at Basel and elected the antipope Felix V. 322 Nicholas I (r. 858–67) excommunicated the Bishop of Cologne over the latter’s support for Emperor Lothar II’s petition for an annulment of his marriage that would allow him to marry his mistress. 323 “Ambrose, governor of Milan”: Aurelius Ambrosius (Saint Ambrose) (ca. 340–97) became Bishop of Milan after originally being governor of Emilia and Liguria, with headquarters at Milan. The author’s reference to his “unsoundness” of belief may derive
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Notes from the fact that Ambrose was neither baptized not formally trained in theology when elected bishop by popular acclaim, but his later contributions to theology resulted in his being numbered among the four Latin Fathers of the Church. 324 “Pope John VIII . . . Photius”: Pope John VIII (r. 872–82) recognized the reinstatement of Photius as the legitimate patriarch of Constantinople after he had been condemned by Adrian VII. Photius (ca. 810–93) gained, lost, and regained the patriarchate of Constantinople against a background of the struggle between rival candidates for the Byzantine throne, a struggle in which the Western church attempted to intervene. The Western church eventually anathematized Photius, while the Eastern canonized him. 325 “Pope Stephen VII . . . Formosus”: under pressure from a leading Roman family supportive of Pope John VIII and opposed by Formosus, then Bishop of Porto, Stephen VI (r. 896–97) had the remains of Formosus (pope, r. 891–96, and Stephen’s last predecessor but one) exhumed, put him on trial, and sentenced him to the punishments described. 326 i.e., Pope Sergius III (r. 904–11). 327 Marozia (ca. 890–936): a Roman noblewoman who, with her mother Theodora, was actively involved in the affairs of the papacy, as described in what follows. The accession to the papacy of her bastard son, grandson, two great grandsons, and a nephew has led hostile commentators to refer to the period of her ascendancy as a “pornocracy” (rule by prostitutes). 328 According to most accounts, it was Pope John X rather than Sergius III who awarded Marozia, rather than her mother Theodora, the unprecedented title of senatrix (“senatoress”) of Rome. 329 Later, Pope John XI (r. 931–35). 330 “Hugh, King of Arles”: i.e., Hugh of Arles (before 885–948), who was elected King of Italy. 331 Pope John X (914–28) was a protégé of Theodora and perished as a result of the intrigues of her daughter Marozia. 332 i.e., Leo VI (reigned for seven months in 928). 333 i.e., Stephen VII (r. 928 (?) to 931), hand-picked by Marozia as a stopgap until her son could assume the papacy as John XI. 334 “her husband”: Alberic I, Duke of Spoleto; it is not usually reported that she poisoned him. 335 i.e., the aforementioned Hugh of Arles, King of Italy. 336 i.e., Alberic II (912–54), who had his mother imprisoned until her death. 337 Stephen VIII: reigned 939–42.
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Notes 338 “disfigured his face”: perhaps a reference to the claim that Stephen VIII was the first pope to shave and that he ordered the men of Rome to do likewise. 339 John XII reigned from 955–64, dying at the age of twenty-seven. 340 i.e., Otto I (912–73), who in 962 made a pact with Pope John XII that made the Western Roman Empire guarantor of the independence of the Papal States. Soon, however, the pope, fearful of the power thus bestowed, began to intrigue with the Magyars and the Byzantines against the Western Empire. Otto returned to Rome in 963, convened a synod of bishops, and deposed the pope. 341 Leo VIII was an antipope from 963 to 964, when he was illegally elected by the 963 synod that illegally deposed John XII, and a true pope from 964 to 965, having been legally re-elected following the death of John XII. 342 Crescentius: i.e., Crescentius II (d. 992), son of Crescentius I and not, as the author states, of John X and Marozia, was a leader of the Roman aristocracy who made himself de facto ruler of Rome, was deposed by Otto III, rose again in rebellion, appointed an antipope ( John XVI), and was eventually defeated and executed. 343 Benedict: Pope Benedict VII (d. 983); other sources do not confirm that he died in prison; the author appears to have confused him with John XIV (see below). 344 John XIV: pope from 983–84, who was imprisoned by the antipope Boniface VII in Sant’Angelo, where he died. 345 Boniface VII: ruled as antipope (974, 984–85) under the patronage of Crescentius and the Roman aristocracy. 346 Gregory: i.e., Pope Gregory V (ca. 972–99), cousin and chaplain of Otto III; although he consistently supported the emperor, his death was not without suspicion of foul play. 347 Otto III (980–1002): son of Otto II, in 996 he came to Rome to aid Pope John XV (985–96) (see below) against Crescentius, whom he eventually killed. 348 “played a trick on him”: Otto III promised Crescentius the right to live in retirement in Rome but reneged and had him murdered and hung from the walls of Sant’Angelo. 349 Pope John XV (r. 985–86) succeeded Pope Boniface VII; according to other accounts he died of fever, while it was the antipope John XVI, appointed by Crescentius, who, on the latter’s defeat, had his eyes put out and nose cut off before banishing him to a monastery. 350 Benedict VIII: reigned 1012 to 1024. 351 John XIX: succeeded his brother Benedict VIII and reigned from 1024 to 1032. 352 Benedict IX: said by most sources to have been between eighteen and twenty years of age when he succeeded his uncle, John XIX, he is the only pope to have reigned three times (1032–44, 1045, 1047–48) and to have sold the papacy (to Gregory VI in 1045), although he later attempted to reclaim it.
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Notes 353 Meaning presumably Sylvester III and the restored Benedict IX. 354 “with his concubine” (maʿa surriyyatihi): thus the Arabic, although one wonders if maʿa sariyyatihi (“with his detachment of soldiers”) is not what is meant. 355 “one of the kings of France”: i.e., Robert II (972–1032), who was excommunicated by Pope Gregory V when he insisted on marrying his cousin, a marriage denied by the pope on grounds of consanguinity. 356 Gregory VII: reigned from 1073 to 1085. His attempts to strengthen papal hegemony against the Holy Roman Empire culminated in the Investiture Controversy (over the right to appoint bishops), which led, in 1076, to his excommunication of Emperor Henry IV, who was accused of being behind his brief abduction. 357 Henry IV (r. 1056–1106) had declared Pope Gregory VII deposed at the synod of Worms, held a week before his own excommunication. 358 “Countess Matilda”: Matilda of Tuscany (1055–1115), a leading noblewoman and heiress, who supported Pope Gregory VII during the Investiture Controversy. 359 Canossa: Matilda’s ancestral castle. 360 Urbanus II (r. 1088–99) in fact succeeded the short-reigning Victor III rather than Gregory VII directly. 361 “the two sons of Henry IV”: i.e, Conrad (1074–1101) and his brother Henry (1086–1125), later Emperor Henry V (r. 1106–1125); Conrad joined the papal camp against his father in 1093; Henry was crowned King of Germany by his father to replace Conrad but soon revolted against his father, whom ultimately he deposed. 362 Henry VI (r. 1190–1197) was in fact the son of Emperor Frederick I, while Frederick II was his son. 363 Pope Celestine: i.e, Celestine III (r. 1191–98). 364 Innocent III: reigned 1198–1216. 365 Pope Innocent IV (r. 1243–54) summoned the Thirteenth General Council of the Church at Lyons in 1245 in order to further his attempts to recover from the Holy Roman Empire territories in Italy that Innocent believed belonged by right to the papacy. The Council formally deposed the emperor, although to no practical effect. 366 Frederick II: reigned 1212–1250. 367 Lucius II: during his reign (1144–45), the Senate of Rome established a Commune of Rome that demanded the pope abandon all secular functions; the pope died leading an army against the Commune. 368 “Clement XV”: a mistake for “Clement V” (r. ca. 1264–1314). 369 Vienne: on the Rhône in southern France and site of the Council of Vienne, called by Clement V from 1311 to 1312 to address accusations against the Templars, partly in
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Notes response to the desire of Philip IV of France, Clement’s patron, to confiscate their wealth. 370 “Pope Urban”: i.e., Urban VI (r. ca. 1318 to 1389), who in 1384 tortured and put to death certain of his cardinals who wished to declare him incompetent. 371 John XXIII: i.e., the antipope John XXIII (r. 1410–15), whose seat, during the Western Schism, was in Rome. 372 John XXIII was deposed, along with other claimants to the papacy, by the Council of Constance, which was called by Emperor Sigismund; he was accused of heresy, simony, schism, and immorality. 373 Sijjīn: a valley in Hell. 374 “over your eyes there is a covering” (ʿalā abṣārikum ghishāwah): cf. Q Baqarah 2:7.
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Glossary
Abū Nuwās (al-Ḥasan ibn Hāniʾ al-Ḥakamī) a poet (ca. 140–98/755–813) of the Abbasid period. Bag-men (khurjiyyūn) the author’s term for Protestant missionaries in the Middle East, whether the American Congregationalists of the Board of Commissioners of Foreign Missions, with whom he first came into contact in Beirut, or the British Anglicans of the Church Missionary Society, for whom he worked later in Malta, Egypt, and London. The Congregationalists established their first mission station in Beirut in 1823 (Makdisi, Artillery, 81, 83). In December 1823, when their intention to proselytize became clear, Maronite patriarch Yūsuf Ḥubaysh (1787–1845), who had initially received them cordially, ordered his flock to avoid all contact with what he referred to as “the Liberati” or “Biblemen” (Makdisi, Artillery, 95–97). Bilqīs Queen of Sabaʾ (Sheba) in Yemen, the story of whose visit to Sulaymān (Solomon) is told in the Qurʾān (Q Naml 27:22–44). Druze a monotheistic religious community found primarily in Syria and Lebanon. emir (amīr) a title (lit., “commander” or “prince”) assumed by local leaders in the Arab world; as used in Book One, the term refers most often to the emirs of the Shihābī dynasty of Mount Lebanon. Fāriyāq (The) the hero of the events described in the book and the author’s alter ego, the name itself being a contraction of Fāri(s al-Shid)yāq. Iblīs the Devil, Satan. Khawājā a title of reference and address afforded Christians of substance. kuttāb a one-room school in which children are taught reading, writing, and numeracy. maqāmah, plural maqāmāt “short independent prose narrations written in ornamented rhymed prose (saj‛) with verse insertions which share a common plot-scheme and two constant protagonists: the narrator and the
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Glossary
hero” (Meisami and Starkey, Encyclopedia, 2:507). The thirteenth chapter of each book of the present work is described by the author as a maqāmah, the plot-scheme in these maqāmāt being a debate. See further Zakharia, “Aḥmad Fāris al-Šidyāq.” Market Boss (The) (shaykh al-sūq) the author’s term for the Maronite patriarch. Market-men (sūqiyyūn) the author’s term for the Maronite and Roman Catholic clergy, or the Maronite and Roman Catholic churches in general. market trader (ḍawṭār, plural ḍawāṭirah) the author’s term for a member of the Maronite upper clergy. Maronite of or pertaining to the Maronite Christian community, whose historical roots lie in northern Syria and Lebanon and whose church, while using Syriac as a liturgical language, is in communion with the Roman Catholic church. Mountain (The) Mount Lebanon, a mountain range in Lebanon extending for 170 kilometers parallel to the Mediterranean coast and the historical homeland of both the Maronite and Druze Lebanese communities. Qāmūs (al-) Al-Qāmūs al-muḥīṭ (The Encompassing Ocean), a dictionary compiled by Muḥammad ibn Yaʿqūb al-Fīrūzābādī (d. 817/1415) that became so influential that qāmūs (“ocean”) eventually came to mean simply “dictionary.” The author later published a study of the Qāmūs entitled Al-Jāsūs ʿalā l-Qāmūs (The Spy on the Qāmūs). Recoiler (The) (al-Khannās) Satan, so called because he recoils at the mention of the name of God. rhymed prose (sajʿ) “artistic prose, subject to certain constraints of rhyme and rhythm . . . Etymologically, the word referred to the cooing of pigeons” (Meisami and Starkey, Encyclopedia, 2:677). First used by pre-Islamic soothsayers, the form developed, often in combination with other types of parallelism, until it became virtually de rigueur by the tenth century ad, and it remained in use into the early twentieth century, “by which time, however, the modern revolt which has now largely swept away this sort of artifice was already growing strong” (idem). The author uses saj‛ in the title of the work and most of his chapter titles, in short scattered bursts in the midst of unrhymed prose (especially at moments of drama), and sometimes, as in the four preceding chapters, in sustained blocks. For further discussion of sajʿ in this work, see Jubran, “Function.” Sām Seth son of Noah.
352
352
Glossary
Sībawayhi Abū Bishr ʿAmr ibn ʿUthmān ibn Qanbar Sībawayhi (or Sībawayh) (second/eighth century), the creator of systematic Arabic grammar. By the fourth/tenth century, his only work, Kitāb Sībawayhi, was firmly established as the foundation of a grammatical system that has remained essentially unchanged to the present (Meisami and Starkey, Encyclopedia, 2:718). Sulaymān Solomon. Suyūṭī (al-), Jalāl al-Dīn a prolific polymath (d. 911/1505), much of whose 500work oeuvre compiles material taken from earlier scholars.
353
353
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Index
abbots, 229, 231
al-Āmidī, 53
ʿAbd al-Qādir, xvii
Amīn, Qāsim, xxviii
Abū Nuwās, 39
ʿAmr, 165, 343n280
Abū Rushd ‘Brains’ ibn Ḥazm (character in
anecdotes about poets, 73–79
Leg over Leg), 193, 339n221
Anṣārīs, 301
Abū l-Aswad al-Duʾalī, 165
ʿAntar, 97
Abū l-ʿIbar, 73, 81
Arab nationalism, xxi
affections, 283–85
“Arab rediscovery of Europe,” x, xx
Agag, 289
Arabic journalism, xviii
Aḥmad Bāy, xv–xvi, xvii
Arabic language, love and, 157; Maronite
Al-Bagdadi, Nadia, x, xxv
patriarchs, 57; oddities, 9–15, 321n3; rare
Alexandria, [Aḥmad] Fāris al-Shidyāq in,
words, 15, 81, 229–31, 233–43; synonyms,
xii; European banks, xx; the Fāriyāq’s journey to, 291–95; publishing industry, xxi; Reuters’ office, xxii
xxvi–xxvii, 9, 17, 47–49 Arabic literature, literary modernity, x–xi, xxii, xxx; maqāmāt, xxiv, xxv, xxvi, xxix–
Al-Ghurar al-ḥisān fī tārīkh ḥawādith al-
xxx, 191; renaissance in (see Nahḍah); riwāyah (“novel”), xxi; sajʿ (rhymed
zamān (al-Shidyāq), xiii Al-Jāsūs ʿalā l-Qāmūs (Spying on the
prose), xxiv–xxvi, 149, 171, 225, 321n4;
Dictionary) (al-Shidyāq), xvii
translation and philology to, x
Al-Jawāʾib (Tidings from Afar) (periodical), xvi, xviii, xxii
Arabic poetry, 131, 343n280 Arabic publishing industry, xxi–xxiii, 57,
Al-Jinān (periodical), xvi
xxxviiin48
Al-Muzhir fī l-lughah (The Luminous Work
Arabs, 49, 97, 131
ʿAshūr, Raḍwā, xxv
on Language) (al-Suyūṭī), 13 Al-Waqāʾiʿ al-Miṣriyyah (Egyptian Events) (periodical), xiv, xviii
al-Aṣmaʿī, 169 asses, 301
Amadeus VIII, Pope, 301
atheists, 229
Ambrose, Saint, 303
attire, 117
355
355
Index authors, 249, 253
Cambridge, England, xiv
ʿAwaḍ, Luwīs, xxv
Catholicism. See Maronite Catholicism/ Catholics
Bāb al-I ʿrāb (Gateway to Grammar)
Celestine III, Pope, 309
( Jirmānūs Farḥāt), 73
chain-man, ix, 253
Bag-man/Bag-men (Protestant missionaries), the Fāriyāq and, 281, 291; influence, xx; Market-men, 295, 313–19; saddlebags, 344n298; weeping, instruction in, 293
Chateaubriand, François-René, xxv, 97–99 children, death of, 199–201 children of cultivators, 141 children’s resemblance to their fathers, 255–57
Baʿīr Bayʿar, 95, 99–107, 185
Christ, 287, 297, 301, 305
Basra, 55, 330n109
Christian religion, 183, 289, 297, 303
bawdiness, 131–33
Christian shaykhs, 87
Benedict VII, Pope, 305
Christianity, xiii. See also Maronite
Benedict VIII, Pope, 307
Catholicism/Catholics
Benedict IX, Pope, 307
Christians, xix, 87, 113, 307
Bible, xiv “Biblemen,” xx. See also Bag-man/Bag-men Bilqīs, 101, 334n154
Church Missionary Society (CMS), xiii–xiv churches, 59 Clement XV, Pope, 309
bird of a feather, 217 Birjīs Bārīs (The Paris Jupiter) (periodical), xvi
CMS Press, xxi conception, 205 Coptic church, 301
bishops, 311
craftsmen, earthly, 215
blackness (skin color), 215
Crescentius, 305–7
body parts, 257–59
crows, 217, 283
Boniface VII, Pope, 305
cultivators (farmers), happiness of, 139–41
Book of Psalms, 69
curiosity, 109
books, prologues to, 169 bread baked by monks, 177–79, 181, 183, 209
Daʿd, 139
breastfeeding, 129
Damascus, 87, 91, 97
Buhlūl, 81
Ḍayf, Shawqī, xxv
Bulāq Press, xvii, xxi
desires, 283
Būlus Musʿad, 311
Di ʿ bil, 131
al-Bustī, 53
dinars, 85
Buṭrus Yūsuf Ḥawwā, xiv, xxxvn20, 7, 321n1
disease, 199 divorce, xxviii, 307
Cairo, xvii, xxi
doctors (physicians), 81, 309
356
356
Index donkey(s), Frankish description of, 119–21; the Fāriyāq’s journey with a, 117–23; lament for a, 291; meaning of, 13; at monasteries, 247
envy, 113 equality between men and women, xxviii–xxix Eugene IV, Pope, 301, 346n321
Doughty, Charles Montagu, xxii
evil, 199, 205
dreams, 259–69, 271
exegetes, 39
Druze, characteristics, 85–87, 109–11; Christians living under, 87; eating habits, 111; Emir of the Mountain, 289; the Fāriyāq, 109–15; moderation, 87; revolt (1810), 332n143
Farḥāt, Jirmānūs, 73, 331n130 the Fāriyāq (protagonist of Leg over Leg), Alexandria, journey to, 291–95; bad luck, 257–59, 271–73; Baʿīr Bayʿar, 105– 7; bartering away his inheritance, 273–
Druze church, 301
77; beauty, removed from, 153; beliefs,
Duprat, Benjamin, xv Durrat al-thīn fī awhām al-qissīsīn (Prize Pearl of the Fishery concerning the Delusions of the Clerisy), 61
xxxvn15; birth, 55; book of psalms, 55– 57, 59; brother, 109, 111–13; childhood education, 55–59; as copier/scribe, 61–63, 163, 199; donkey, journey with a,
earth, revolution of, 167
117–23; Druze, 109–15; Franks, 113; girl
ecclesiastical authority, xxvii
neighbor, love for, 81–83; grammar, 173;
education, [Aḥmad] Fāris al-Shidyāq’s, xv
grandfather, 149; handwriting, 91; home
education, the Fāriyāq’s, 55–59
town, attack on, 87; horsemanship, 65;
education, preteens’, 59
as innkeeper, 125; Island of Scoundrels,
education, women’s, 15
travel to, 291; manners, 113; market
Egypt, [Aḥmad] Fāris al-Shidyāq in, xiv,
trader (bishop) and, 273–81; monastery,
xv; Alexandria (see Alexandria); “Arab
visit to a, 177–89, 209; mother, 91;
rediscovery of Europe,” x, xx; Cairo,
name, xii, 329n106; parents, 55; peddler
xvii, xxi; cotton industry, xx; European
and, 271–73; on poetry, 73, 81; poetry
banks, travelers, xx; Protestant
by, 83, 115, 129–31, 133, 199–201, 267–71;
missionaries, xix
as polemicist, 271; priest, conversation
Emir of the Mountain, 289
with, 205–11; rare words, 81; speech
emirs, a Druze emir, 113–15; grammatical
defect, 277; as traveling salesman,
studies, xxvii, 163–73; language
117–21; travels, xi–xii, xxiii, xxx; as tutor
attributed to, 177; spending on
to emir’s daughter, 149–51, 155; wife,
education, 57–59; sword-carrying
93–95; wisdom of, 199–201; woman, life
followers, 177–79
as a, 159–61; writing for profit, 107
England, xiv–xv
the Fāriyāqiyyah (protagonist of Leg over
enslavement, 201
Leg), xxviii–xxix, 15, 322n14
357
357
Index farmers (cultivators), happiness of, 139–41
339n219
al-Farrāʾ, 169
handkerchiefs, 315, 319
al-Firūzābādī, Muḥammad ibn Yaʿqūb,
handwriting, 61, 91
xxvii, 49
happiest trade, 135–47
forgiveness, 39
al-Ḥarīrī, xxix, 149, 203, 335n175, 339n219
Form, 111, 334n139
al-Hāwif ibn Hifām (character in Leg over
Formosus, Bishop of Porto, 303
Leg), xxix, 191
Frankish authors, 7
Ḥawwā, Buṭrus Yūsuf, xiv, xxxvn20, 7, 321n1
Frankish description of donkeys, 118–21
head wounds, 65–67
Frankish kings, 99
health, 199
Frankish lands, priests in, 231
heart, 283–85
Frankish merchants, 87
Henry IV, King of Germany, 307–9
Frankish shaykhs, 89, 333n145
Hind, 3, 159, 161
Frankish women, 129
History of Arabic-Language Literature, A
Franks, ancient poetry, 131; charity from,
( Jurjī Zaydān), xiii
59; the Fāriyāq, 113; in the Middle East,
horns, 67–69, 91
143; recordkeeping by, 95
Hosea, 289
Frederick II, King of Germany, 309
Hugh, King of Arles, 303
French authors on popes, 301–11
husbands, 127, 129
girls, desirable, 23, 33, 323n21; Emir of the
Ibn Mālik, 157
Mountain, 289; eyes, 151; love of, 153;
Ibn Manẓūr, xvii
monks, 185–87; neighboring, 81–83; on
Ibn al-Muʿtazz, 53
wedding days, 129
Ibn al-Nabīh, 53
God, 181–83, 189, 213–15, 277
Ibn Nubātah, 53
good, 199
idiots, language attributed to, 177
Gospels, xv
ignorance, 211, 219
grammar, works on, 171
ignorant, the, 189, 291
grammarians, 169–71
infidelity, women’s, 69
grammatical studies, 163–73
inheritance, 273–77, 279
Great Catholicos, 39
Innocent IV, Pope, 309
Great Christian Master Physician, 67
Islam and the West (Lewis), xx
greed, 87, 119
Island of Scoundrels, xiv, 291
Greek Orthodox church, 301
Istanbul/Constantinople, xvi–xvii
Gregory VII, Pope, 307
Jacobite church, 301 Jarrett, Thomas, xv
al-Hamadhānī, xxiii, xxix, xxxviin32,
358
358
Index Jawāʾib Press, xvi–xvii
Lee, Samuel, xiv
jealousy, 155
Leg over Leg (al-Shidyāq), xxiii–xxx; as
Jewish writers, 69
an historical document, xii; on Arabic
Jews, xix, 289, 301
language (see Arabic language);
John VIII, Pope, 303
author’s travels compared to narrator’s,
John X, Pope, 303, 305
xxiv; chapter titles, 247–49; classical
John XI, Pope, 303
erudition, xxiv–xxv; cold and hot
John XII, Pope, 303
chapters, 247; comic scenes, xxix–xxx;
John XIII, Pope, 305
composition/writing of, 21, 25, 37–39,
John XV, Pope, 307
49, 53; concerns, 9, 15; ecclesiastical
John XIX, Pope, 307
authority, attacks on, xxvii; editions,
John XXIII, Pope, 309
x; emirs, lampooning of, xxvii; emirs,
jurists, 197
language attributed to, 177; equality
Juwaydī, Darwīsh, xxxi
between men and women, xxviii–xxix;
Kanz al-lughāt (The Treasury of Languages) (al-Shidyāq), xvii
fault-finding readers, 37–41; genres, xxv; hermeneutic mode, xxvi–xxvii; idiots, language attributed to, 177; influences
karshūnī, 219
on, xxiii; Islamic motifs, xxiii; linguistic
al-Khāzin, Nasīb Wahībah, xxxi
indeterminacy, xxvii–xxviii; maqāmāt,
Khurāfah, 39, 324n36
xxiv, xxv, xxvi, xxix–xxx, 191; modernity
al-Kisāʾ ī, 169
and, ix–xii, xxx; narrative authority,
Kitāb Muwāzanat al-ḥālatayn wamurāzanat al-ālatayn (The Book of Balancing the Two States and Comparing the Two Straits) (Abū Rushd ‘Brains’ ibn Ḥazm), 193–95
xxv; protagonist (see the Fāriyāq); orthography, xxxii–xxxiii; priests, language attributed to, 177; Proem, 21–33; prose style, xxiv–xxvii, 17; Qāmūs (al-Firūzābādī), xxvii, xxxi; Rāfāʾ īl Kaḥlā
al-Kuʿaykāt, 125, 334n161
on, 17; rare Arabic words, 15; rhetorical
Kufa, 55, 330n109
devices, 53; the self in, xxix; skepticism
Lamartine, Alphonse de, xxv, xxx, 95–97, 99
as guiding principle, xxvii; social and political criticism, xxvii; starting point,
language, love of, 59–61
37; title page, xxiii–xiv; as a travelogue,
language, religious belief and, 59
xxiii; verisimilitude, xxix; world
language of masters, 61
literature, theory of, xxx
laws, 251
— characters, Abū Rushd ‘Brains’ ibn
Laylā, 139
Ḥazm, 193, 339n221; the Fāriyāq (see the
Lebanon. See Mountain, the
Fāriyāq);
359
359
Index Leg over Leg, characters (cont.), the
family, xii; baptismal fonts, 71; bishops,
Fāriyāqiyyah, xxviii–xxix, 15, 322n14;
311; book of psalms, 55–57, 59; books
al-Hāwif ibn Hifām, xxix, 191
printed by, 59; handwriting, 61;
leisure compared to wretchedness, 193–201
heretics, 289; income of patriarchs,
lentils, 179–81, 183, 189, 209
57–59; memorandum to Maronite
Leo VI, Pope, 303
patriarch, 297–311; metropolitan
Leo VIII, Pope, 305
(leader), 195, 287, 291–93, 311; monks
Lewis, Bernard, xx
(see monks); persecution, 299; priests
liberalism, xxviii
(see priests); Protestant missionaries,
liberality, 159
xix; retrogression, 57–59; salvation, 299;
Liberation of Women, The (Amīn), xxviii Lisān al-ʿArab (The Arab Tongue) (Ibn Manẓūr), xvii
scholarly goals, xxvii, 57–59 Marozia, 303–5, 347n327, 347n328 Marrāsh, Fransīs Fatḥallāh, xv
London, xiv, 321n1
marriage, 155
loss, 201
masters, 57–61, 251
love, Arabic language, 157; breast size,
Matter, 111, 334n139
151; of a cat, 151; the Fāriyāq’s for a girl
Mayyah, 159
neighbor, 81–83; hope, 153; of language,
meat, 143, 183, 249
59–61; non-Arabic languages, 157; old
Méditations poétiques (Lamartine), 95–97
hands at, 81; stages of, 157; triggering
men, husbands, 127, 129; liberality, 159;
objects, 151–53; varieties of, 157; of
penises, 43–45; poetry about, 171–73;
young girls, 153; young love, 153
wise men, 119; women compared to,
love poetry, 83, 207–9
159; women’s equality with, xxviii–xxix
Lucius II, Pope, 309
merchants, happiness of, 137–39
luck, 121–23, 257–59, 271–73, 283
metaphors, 167–69 metropolitan (religious leader), 195, 287,
madness, 155 Malta, xi–xiv, xv, xxi, xxxiv, xxxv, 343n272, 345n309
291–93, 311 Middle East, foreigners in, xx, 143 mildness, 105
Maqāmāt (al-Ḥarīrī), 149 maqāmāt, xxiv, xxv, xxvi, xxix–xxx, 191 Market Boss, 277–79, 293, 317–19
Mishāqah, Mikhāʾ īl, 299 mockery, 115 modernity, [Aḥmad] Fāris al-Shidyāq,
market traders, 273–81
xviii–xix; Arabic literary modernity, x–
Market-men, 295, 313–19 Maronite Catholicism/Catholics, [Aḥmad] Fāris al-Shidyāq’s conversion back to, xvii; [Aḥmad] Fāris al-Shidyāq’s
360
xi, xxii, xxx; Leg over Leg (al-Shidyāq), ix–xii, xxx money, 85
360
Index monks, 177–89; abbots, 229, 231;
Nicholas I, Pope, 301–3
age at becoming one, 187–98;
Nicholson, John, xv
blameworthiness, 311; bread baked
Nile River, 15
by, 177–79, 181, 183, 209; donkeys
nominative case, 165
among, 247; escaped monk, 189, 209;
non-Arabic languages, 157
at feasts, 185; frightening, 27; girls,
non-Jewish writers, 69
185–87; happiness of, 137; ignorance,
nuns, 209–11
219; lentils eaten by, 179–81, 183, 189, 209; monasticism (rahbāniyyah), 181–87; Qāmūs (al-Firūzābādī), 179, 187; scholarship, 185, 187
Octavianus, 303–5 Old Testament, 225, 255, 289 Orientalist scholars, xxvii, xxx Otto I, 305
Moses, 289
Otto II, 305
Mountain, the (Mount Lebanon), borrowing by people of, 179; Emir of, 289; the Fāriyāq’s father, 87–89; music
Otto III, 305–7 Ottoman Empire, xix, xx
and other arts, 89; women of, 67–69,
pain, 193
131–33
parasites, undercapitalized, 287, 293
Muhammad ʿAlī (of Egypt), xv, xxi, xxxviii
Paris, xiv, xv, 321n1
Muntahā l-ʿajab fī khaṣāʾiṣ lughat al-ʿArab
paronomasia, xxiii, 53, 175
(Wonder’s Apogee concerning Every Arab
passion, 205
Linguistic Particularity) (al-Shidyāq), 9
peddler, roving, 271–73
Muslim Discovery of Europe, The (Lewis), xx
Peled, Matityahu, xxv
Mutawālīs, 301
penises, 43–45
Muzabbid, 81
Perceval, Caussin de, xv persecution, 299
Nahḍah, [Aḥmad] Fāris al-Shidyāq, xvi; Arabic literary modernity, xxii; meanings/translations of the term, x; “new age” as subject, xi; participation in global processes, xxii–xxiii; print market, xxi–xxiii; social and literary change, xix; tamaddun, xxii–xxiii; tradition, xxiii; Western literary and cultural models, xviii–xix
Photius, 303 physicians, 67, 81, 309 pigs’ snouts, 91 pious, the, 39 plants, sprouting of, 167 pleasure, 193, 201 poetry, about blessings, 113; about forgiveness, 39; about gazelles, 101; about knives, 113; about men and
Nawābigh (al-Zamakhsharī), 149
women, 171–73; about sin, 39; about
Nestorian church, 301 new goods vs. old goods, 271–73, 285
361
verse, 151; Arabic poetry, 131, 343n280;
361
Index poetry (cont.), by the Fāriyāq, 83, 115, 129–31, 133, 199–201, 267–71; the Fāriyāq on, 73, 81; by Franks, 131; love poetry, 83, 207–9; to Mountain residents, 89; priests on, 205–9; Proem, 21–33; by slim poets, 205; by women, 205
monks, 179, 187; shawhāʾ, definition of, 293; women, descriptive words for, 49 Qannūbīn, monastery of (Mount Lebanon), xii, 297, 311, 346n314 Rabelais, François, xxiii Rāfāʾ īl Kaḥlā, 17
Poetry’s Destiny (Lamartine), 97 poets, anecdotes about, 73–79; crows and, 283; on leisure compared to wretchedness, 197; personal devils, 343n280
rahbāniyyah (monasticism), 183 Rastegar, Kamran, xviii, xxix, 322n14 reading, women and, 155–57 recollection, 201 refurbished goods, 271–73
popes, French authors on, 301–11
religious belief, consequences, 287–89;
pork, 249
language, 59; women, 159
price lists, 313, 319 priests, adultery with a merchant’s wife, 225–27, 255; Baʿīr Bayʿar’s daughter, 103–5; blameworthiness, 311; extorting secrets from wives, 93; the Fāriyāq’s conversation with, 205–11; in Frankish lands, 231; gambling by, 229; language attributed to, 177; large-nosed priest’s tale, 213–31; on poetry, 205–9; praise for, promised, 207–9; repartee, good, 177; threats based on calling in, 93; women serving, 231
rhetoric, 165–67 rhymed prose (sajʿ ), xxiv–xxvi, 149, 171, 225, 321n4 riwāyah (“novel”), xxi Rome, 187 Roper, Geoffrey, xvii, xxxivn1 Rujūm wa-ghassāq ilā Fāris al-Shidyāq (Fire and Brimstone upon Fāris al-Shidyāq) (periodical), xvi al-Rukākāt, 125, 334n161 sacrament, 279
prologues to books, 169
saddlebags, 273, 285–87, 293, 344n298
prostitutes, 131–33, 145–47
sajʿ (rhymed prose), xxiv–xxvi, 149, 171,
Protestant missionaries, xiv, xv, xix–xx, xxvii. See also Bag-man/Bag-men Protestantism, [Aḥmad] Fāris al-Shidyāq,
225, 321n4 al-Sakkākī, 53 salvation, 299
xiii; Asʿad al-Shidyāq, xii, 346n314;
Saul, 289
Ottoman Empire, xix
scholars, 3, 165, 207, 247
pursies, 107
scholarship, monks’, 185, 187
Qāmūs (al-Firūzābādī), akhā, definition of, 15; credit to, 25; dependence on, 49; Leg over Leg (al-Shidyāq), xxvii, xxxi;
362
schools, 57, 59 scribes, the Fāriyāq as, 61–63, 163, 199; on leisure compared to wretchedness, 197–99
362
Index Selim, Samah, xix
Cambridge, xiv; Egypt, xiv, xv; England,
sentences, 251
xiv–xv; Istanbul/Constantinople, xvi–
Sergius III, Pope, 303
xvii; London, xiv; Malta, xii–xiv, xv;
servants, 231, 251
Paris, xiv, xv; Tunis, xvi — personal relations,ʿAbd al-Qādir, xvii;
servitude, 141 sex, churchwardens’ interest in, 41–47
Aḥmad Bāy, xv–xvi, xvii; Duprat,
Sharḥ al-mashāriq (Ibn Mālik), 157
Benjamin, xv; Jarrett, Thomas, xv; Lee,
she-ass, 43, 119–21
Samuel, xiv; Marrāsh, Fransīs Fatḥallāh,
al-Shidyāq, [Aḥmad] Fāris, Al-Jawāʾib
xv; Nicholson, John, xv; Perceval,
(Tidings from Afar) (periodical), xvi,
Caussin de, xv; al-Tūnusī, Khayr al-Dīn,
xviii, xxii; alter ego (see the Fāriyāq); Al-
xv; Victoria, Queen, xvii; al-Yāzijī,
Waqāʾiʿ al-Miṣriyyah (Egyptian Events)
Ibrāhīm, xvi
(periodical), xviii; Arabic journalism,
— writings, Al-Ghurar al-ḥisān fī tārīkh
xviii; Bible, translation of, xiv; birth, ix,
ḥawādith al-zamān, xii; Al-Jāsūs ʿalā
xxxivn1; British citizenship, xvii–xviii;
l-Qāmūs (Spying on the Dictionary),
Bulāq Press, xvii; Buṭrus Ḥawwā, xiv,
xvii; Kanz al-lughāt (The Treasury of
xxxvn20, 7, 321n1; Church Missionary
Languages), xvii; Leg over Leg (see Leg
Society (CMS), xiii–xiv; conversions,
over Leg); Muntahā l-ʿajab fī khaṣāʾiṣ
xvi, xvii, xxxvn15, xxxvin23; death, ix,
lughat al-ʿArab (Wonder’s Apogee
xvii; education/studies, xv; equality
concerning Every Arab Linguistic
between men and women, xxviii–xxix;
Particularity), 9; Sirr al-Layāl fī l-qalb
father (Yūsuf ), 81, 85, 87, 332n143;
wa-l-ibdāl (The Secrets of Morphology
Gospels, refutation of, xv; Jawāʾib Press,
and Metathesis), xvii; Travel Narrative
xvi–xvii; liberalism, xxviii; literary
of the Known Conditions of Malta, xiv;
career, xviii–xix; Maronite Catholicism/
Uncovering the Hidden Arts of Europe,
Catholics, xii, xvii; modernity, xviii–xix;
xvi
monographs about, x; Nahḍah, xvi;
al-Shidyāq, Asʿad, xii, 297–301, 311, 346n314
occupations, xiii; oeuvre, ix, xvii, xviii–
al-Shidyāq, Salīm, xvi
xix; personality, xvii–xviii; poetry, xvii;
al-Shihābī, Ḥaydar, xiii, 333n148
printing industry experience, xiii–xiv,
Shiẓāẓ, 27
xvii; Protestant missionaries, xiv, xv, xix;
Shklovsky, Victor, xxvii
Protestantism, xiii; al-Shihābī, Ḥaydar,
Sībawayhi, 169
xiii; skepticism, xv, xxvii; Society
sight (vision), 277
for Promoting Christian Knowledge
Sijjīn, 311
(SPCK), xiv; travels, xxiv
sin, 39, 317, 319
— in Alexandria, xii; Cairo, xvii;
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Index Sirr al-Layāl fī l-qalb wa-l-ibdāl (The Secrets
Tunis, xvi
of Morphology and Metathesis) (al-
al-Tūnusī, Khayr al-Dīn, xv
Shidyāq), xvii
turbans, 65–67, 71
skepticism, xv, xxvii
Ṭuways, 81
skin color, 215
ugly people, 153, 213, 293
snow, 245–53
ʿUlayyān, 81
Society for Promoting Christian
Umm ʿAmr, 39, 324n36
Knowledge (SPCK), xiv
Uncovering the Hidden Arts of Europe (al-
sons, nature of, 83
Shidyāq), xvi
spleen, 283
undercapitalized parasites, 287, 293
Starkey, Paul, xxv
Urban VI, Pope, 309
Stephen VI, Pope, 303
Urbanus II, Pope, 307
Stephen VIII, Pope, 303 Sterne, Laurence, xxiii, xxx
veiled woman, 217
Suʿād, 159
Victoria, Queen, xvii
Sulaymān, 334n154
virgins, 131
al-Ṣulḥ, ʿImād, xxxii
Voyage en Amérique (Chateaubriand),
al-Ṣūlī, Wardah ([Aḥmad] Fāris al-
97–99
Shidyāq’s wife), xxix
vulvas and vaginas, 41–47
sun, rising of, 167
al-Wāḥidī, 53, 329n99
al-Suyūṭī, 13
whores, 131–33, 145–47
Syriac language, 57
wise men, 119, 199–201
al-Taftazānī, 53
wives, 67–69, 93–95
Tageldin, Shaden, xxiii
women, author’s intention toward, 49;
tamaddun, xxii–xxiii
bawdiness, 131–33; breastfeeding, 129;
tambour, 89–91
conception, 205; desirable ones, 23;
ṭanāṭīr, 67–69, 331n123
divinity, 51; education, 15, 155–57; emir’s
teachers, 55–57, 79–81, 195–97
daughter, 149–51; equality with men,
Theodora (Marozia’s mother), 303
xxviii–xxix; the Fāriyāq as a woman,
thinking, 193, 201
159–61; honor, selling their, 131; horns
translators, 79–81
worn by, 67–69, 91; husbands, disputes
Travel Narrative of the Known Conditions of
with, 127; husbands’ infidelities,
Malta (al-Shidyāq), xiv
127; ignorance, 129; infidelity, 69;
travelers, happiness of, 141–45
liberality, 159; men, relationship with,
tribulation, 201
127–29; men compared to, 159; of
Tristam Shandy (Sterne), xxvii, xxx
the Mountain, 67–69, 131–33; nuns,
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Index 209–11; poetry about, 171–73; poetry
world literature, theory of, xxx
by, 205; praiseworthy and blameworthy
wretchedness compared to leisure, 193–201
qualities, 15, 41, 49–51; priests’ servants, 231; prostitutes, 131–33, 145–47; Qāmūs (al-Firūzābādī), 49; reading, 155–57; recalcitrance, 131; religious belief, 159; rhetoric, 165; rhymed prose, 225;
al-Yazīdī, 169, 338n206 al-Yāzijī, Ibrāhīm, xvi Yūsuf (father of [Aḥmad] Fāris al-Shidyāq), 81, 85, 87, 332n143
salesmen and, 217; two pounds on a
al-Zamakhsharī, 53, 149, 169
woman’s rump, 231; veiled woman, 217;
Zayd, 3, 165
virgins, 131; vulvas and vaginas, 41–47;
Zaydān, Jurjī, xiii
wives, 67–69, 93–95. See also girls
Zaynab, 159
work, 109, 121
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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 text in the footnotes and margin notes 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 Qur’an. 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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About the Editor-Translator
Humphrey Davies is an award-winning translator of some twenty works of modern Arabic literature, among them Alaa Al-Aswany’s The Yacoubian Building and Elias Khoury’s The Gate of the Sun. He has also made a critical edition, translation, and lexicon of the Ottoman-period Hazz al-quḥūf bi-sharḥ Abī Shādūf (Brains Confounded by the Ode of Abū Shadūf Expounded) by Yūsuf al-Shirbīnī and compiled with a colleague an anthology entitled Al-ʿāmmiyyah al-miṣriyyah al-maktūbah: mukhtārāt min 1400 ilā 2009 (Egyptian Colloquial Writing: selections from 1400 to 2009). He read Arabic at the University of C ambridge, received his Ph.D. from the University of California at Berkeley, and, previous to undertaking his first translation in 2003, worked for social development and research organizations in Egypt, Tunisia, Palestine, and Sudan. He is affiliated with the American University in Cairo, where he lives.
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