And checked his bark, in Arabic khasa’at-hu ‘ani ‘n-nubâḥi, lit., scared him away from his bark. The verb, which is here transitive in the sense of driving away a dog, etc., is also used intransitively for taking one’s self off, as in Koran, xxiii. 110: “He will say (to those whose balances at the day of judgment shall be light), ‘Be ye driven away into it (ikhsa’û fî-hâ, the pronoun referring to hell-fire), and address Me not.’”
And eased his back after his pebble-throw.—Jamrah, here translated with “pebble-throw,” is the ceremony of stoning the devil at Mina, which concludes the rites of the pilgrimage, and thereby removes the weight, which, as it were, is imposed on the back of the pilgrim by his religious duties. A marginal note in my MS. says, ‘aná bi-hâ ’l-nut̤fata, the author means by it the semen virile, and however distasteful the repeated allusions to the pilgrimage and its ceremonies may appear to the European mind, in connection with these matrimonial squabbles, we must not forget that Orientals look on such matters simply as natural facts, and, far from intending blasphemy, honestly believe they mitigate in this way their language in speaking on subjects of that kind.
He followed Abû Yûsuf’s view.—This eminent lawyer, a disciple of Abû Ḥanîfeh, was born at Bagdad A.H. 113, and died A.H. 182, after having filled the office of Chief Justice (qûẓî ’l-quẓât) under Hârûn ar-Reshîd and his two immediate predecessors. The lesser pilgrimage, or ‘umrah, consists in the performance of the ceremonies of circumambulating the Ka‘beh, and running between al-Marwah and aṣ-Ṣafâ, but omitting the sacrifices and other observances of the Hajj. The practice of combining the ‘umrah and the ḥajj, wearing the same iḥrâm, or pilgrim’s cloak, is called qârin “joining,” that of performing the ‘umrah before the ḥajj in the same year, but in a different iḥrâm, is termed tamattu‘, “reaping advantage,” because it procures the advantages of both ceremonies. Lastly, the name ifrâd (isolation) is given to either act, if performed separately in different years.
Obedient to old Abû ’l-Murrah’s hest.—Abû ’l-Mûrrah is a nickname given to Iblîs, because it was that of the old man of Nejd, in whose likeness he appeared to the Koraysh, instigating them to destroy Mohammed by the sword.
Who clears himself from doubts cast on him, lit., who explains his excuse in that which causes her to doubt.
Professed so staunchly by ‘Uẕrah’s tribe.—Compare the note on the Benû ‘Uẕrah, p. 255, above.
Like one who vows chastity for caution’s sake, in Arabic hijrâna ‘affin âkhiẕin ḥiẕra-hu, with the renouncing of the chaste, who takes his precautions, in allusion to Koran, iv. 73: “O ye who believe, make use of precautions” (khuẕû hiẕra-kum; the passage refers to the mode of warfare to be adopted against the infidels).
And not from grudge held I aloof from my field.—The final word, in the sense in which it is used here, is again taken from the Koran, ii. 223: “Your wives are your field; go in therefore to your field in what way soever ye will; but do first some act for your soul’s good; and fear ye God, and know that ye must meet Him; and bear these tidings to the faithful.”
Thou lack-food and lack-a-lance, lit., “O thou who art no food and no tilting,” i.e., neither possessed of the one nor fit for the other. De Sacy and the Beyrout edition read here: yâ man huwa lâ t̤a‘âmun wa lâ t̤i‘ânun, with the full nominative termination of the two nouns; while my own MS. has lâ t̤a‘âma wa lâ t̤i‘âna, in the accusative without tanwîn. These are the most approved of the legitimate five modes of construing the repeated absolute negative lâ with two nouns, which are illustrated in Palmer’s “Arabic Grammar,” p. 255, by the different manners of expressing the celebrated ejaculatory prayer: “There is no strength and no power but with God,” in Arabic. In the above passage of our text the negative and noun together form logically a compound, as rendered in my translation. The word t̤i‘ân, infinitive of the third conjugation, stands here metaphorically for jimâ‘, copulation, which has the same grammatical measure fi‘âl.
When for every grazing creature there is a pasture ground, in Arabic wa li-kulli akûlatin mar‘án.—The woman affects in this speech the language of the proverbs, intending to say that everybody has his appointed share in the bounty of the Creator, and therefore ought to be contented with his lot, and trust in Providence. But although the saying does not appear in this form amongst the proverbs of the Arabs, its leading words are contained in the proverb: mar‘án wa là-akûlata, “a pasture, but none to graze on it,” which is applied to a rich man, who allows no other person to take part in the enjoyment of his wealth (Ar. Prov., ii. 619). Akûlah means originally a sheep, which is fattened in order to be slaughtered for food, but is here used in a general sense for any grazing animal, and the above sentiment is taken from Koran, xi. 8: “And there is no moving thing on earth whose nourishment dependeth not on God, and He knoweth its haunts and final resting-place; all is in the clear Book.”
If thou wert to wrangle with al-Khansâ she would go away from thee silenced.—For al-Khansâ comp. the note, p. 246, above.
There is enough in his concern for his growling entrails (qabqab) to make him forget his pendulum (ẕabẕab).—This alludes to the proverb: man wuqiya sharra laqlaqi-hi wa qabqabi-hi wa ẕabẕabi-hi faqad wuqiya ’sh-sharra kulla-hu, which may be translated freely: “He who is safe from the mischief of his rattler (tongue), and his growler (belly), and his swinger (penis) is safe from all mischief” (Ar. Prov., ii. 663).
After appeal to the judge, in Arabic ba‘da ’l-munâfarah. This is originally a technical term for the contention before an umpire on the titles of a man or tribe to nobility or honour over others, for which see Chenery’s note on Pride to Assembly XII., where the word occurs in the form nifâr (vol. i., p. 375). Here, however, it is merely a synonym of muḥâkamah, judicial contest, litigation in a court of justice, or of taḥâkum, which a little lower down will be translated “resort to the judgment-seat.”
Content therewith the two hollows.—Al-ajwafân, the two hollows, is equivalent to al-ghârân, the two caves (os et pudenda), for which compare the note, vol. i., p. 460).
Resist the stirrer of mischief (nâzigh) between two friends, allusion to Koran, vii. 199, where the same verb is applied to Satan: “And if stirrings to evil from Satan stir thee, then fly thou for refuge to God; He verily heareth, knoweth!”
For the handsome way in which he had dismissed them, in the text ‘alá ḥusni ’s-sarâḥi. The word sarâḥ, which originally means allowing the cattle to pasture freely, if applied to a woman, signifies divorce, and has here the sense of dismissal, as in the proverb as-sarâḥu mina ’n-najâḥi, dismissal is part of success (Ar. Prov., i. 602). In explanation of this the commentators say: “If thou art not able to supply a man’s want, thou shouldst make him despair, i.e., renounce all hope of obtaining it.” It is therefore tantamount to the proverb, “Despair is one of the two kinds of rest,” which we have met with in a former Assembly (see p. 264 above).
So he rose to go defiantly, but came back defeated.—This translation is more in accordance with the spirit than the letter of the two proverbs quoted in the text. He rose to go defiantly is in Arabic nahaẓa yanfuẓẓu miẕrawai-hi, lit., he rose shaking the extremities of his buttocks, a proverbial expression for the threatening and arrogant deportment of an adversary, which ‘Antarah did not hesitate to use in one of his ḳaṣîdehs (Ar. Prov., i. 301). He came back defeated, ‘âda yaẓribu aṣdarai-hi, alludes to the saying, “He came beating his shoulders” (Ar. Prov., i. 288), which means, “He came empty-handed, without having accomplished his object.”
Flight with Qurâb is the wiser thing.—Here again I follow the reading of my MS. in preference to De Sacy, who writes kirâb with kasrah instead of qurâb with ẓammah. The latter is the name of a generous steed which belonged to ‘Abdallah, the brother of Durayd ibn aṣ-Ṣimmah. They were engaged in war, and Durayd, considering himself and his people inferior in force to the enemy, advised his brother to flee, with the words quoted above, implying that speedy flight was more prudent than fighting on unequal terms. Abdallah, however, would not listen to him, but resolved on combat, in which he was killed and the horse taken captive. Abû Zayd in this version, therefore, means to say that to flee in the utmost haste was the safer course for them. On the other hand, qirâb signifies the scabbard of a sword, or any case in which a mounted traveller keeps his utensils; or it may be synonymous with qarîb, that which is near at hand and easily carried off. In this form the proverb is said to originate with Jâbir (according to others, Khâlid) ibn ‘Amr al-Mâzanî, who, while journeying with some companions, saw the tracks of two men on the road, and, through his skill in reading footprints, discovered them to be men of great violence and rapacity. He therefore urged his companions to take to flight with the most portable of their goods, before losing the rest of them together with their lives. Thus the purport of the proverb, and its application in the present instance, would be to enjoin contentment with small advantages, such as the couple had already reaped, without running into danger in the hope of getting more (see Ar. Prov., ii. 210).
Nay, the return to the charge is praiseworthier, in Arabic bali ’l-‘audu aḥmadu. The comparative aḥmad is formed from the passive participle maḥmûd, praised, when the sense would be, if a beginning is to be praised, the return to the same line of conduct is still more so (Ar. Prov., ii. 130). Some interpreters take the adjective in a personal sense, “one praiseworthier,” and contend that al-‘aud stands for ẕû ’l-‘aud, “he who returns,” as, according to this view, firâr in the preceding note stands for ẕû ’l-firâr, he who takes to flight. But as Abû Zayd in the verses following repeats the word al-‘aud in the sense of return, in evident allusion to the words of his wife, the former explanation seems to me more appropriate.
Even though its keeper made it free to all comers.—The Arabic sabbalu-hâ, here rendered with “made it free to all comers,” means the same as ja‘ala-hâ fî sabîli ’llâhî, gave it over in the way, i.e., service of Allâh to the use of the public (others read fî sabîli ’l-khairi, by way of a good action, or explain the phrase by aḥalla-hâ li ’bni ’s-sabîli, made it lawful to the son of the road, i.e., the traveller).
Abû Mûsá, before thee, has been deceived.—The text says: Before thee the Shaykh of the Ash‘arîs has been deceived, alluding to Abû Mûsá ‘Abdallah ibn Kais al-Ash‘arî (†A.H. 44), who was appointed together with ‘Amr ibn al-‘Aṣ, to be arbiter between ‘Ali and Mu‘âwiyeh after the battle of Ṣiffîn, and was outwitted by ‘Amr to Ali’s detriment (see Weil, “Geschichte der Chalifen,” i. 230 and following).