In this Assembly Abû Zayd proposes twenty riddles or conundrums of a particular kind, and all of the same form, which consists in finding a word resembling a given short sentence in such a manner, that its component parts are synonymous with the members of the phrase in question. The introduction to the Assembly itself adduces as an instance the query, what is like an-naum fât, Sleep has departed, to which the answer would be al-karâmât, pl. of karâmah in the sense of “wonder,” “miracle,” because the initial part of the word, al-karâ, means “slumber,” and the final syllable, mât, signifies “is dead.” The English reader of this translation will not be worse off than Abû Zayd’s Arabic audience, for the author gives no solution in the body of the Assembly, leaving its discovery to the ingenuity of the listener, but if his curiosity and interest are roused by the quaint form of the questions and the lively style in which they are introduced, he will find at the cost of small trouble amusement as well as linguistic instruction in the short commentary, which Ḥarîri himself has attached to this composition.
Al Ḥârith, son of Hammâm, related: I made my camel of foreign travel kneel down at Maltîyah, and my pouch was at that time well filled with coin. So I made it my wont, when I had deposed there my staff, to frequent the places of entertainment and to hunt after rare pleasures, so that nothing escaped me worthy to be seen or heard, and no play-ground or resort of enjoyment was left unvisited by me, until, when I had no further business there, and no desire for longer stay, I resolved to expend my remaining gold in buying travelling gear. Now when I had completed my preparations, and was ready for departure, or all but ready, I saw a group of nine people, who had purchased some wine, wherewith they had ascended a hillock, and their winning manners captivated men’s eyes, while their pleasantry was sweet-spoken. Therefore I wended towards them from a wish to join in their conversation, not in their drinking-bout, and from eagerness to mix with them, not to taste the contents of their tumblers. Now when I had become the tenth in their string, and a companion in their forenoon meeting, I found them to be a medley assemblage thrown together from the deserts, though the woof of literary culture united them as with the union of relationship, and matched them in their ranks, so that they shone like the luminaries of the Twins, and appeared as a community whose members are of one kindred. So I rejoiced at having been guided to them, and praised the lucky star that had made me light upon them, beginning to shake my arrow together with their arrows, and to solace myself with the perfume of their refinement, not with that of their wine, until the branch-roads of discussion led us to the proposing of riddles, as if thou sayst, intending thereby al-karâmat, what is like “al-naum fât” (sleep has departed), which may be expressed by “al-karâ mât” (slumber is dead), whereupon we began to display both Sohá (the smallest star in the Bear) and the moon, and to cull both the thorn and the fruit, and while we were spreading out the fresh and the old, and drawing from [fishing out of] the pot the fat and the lean, an old man intruded upon us, whose bloom of complexion and beauty of form had gone, while knowledge and experience remained with him. Then he stood as one who listens and observes, picking up what we were scattering, until the purses were empty and it became obvious that no more was to be hoped for. Now when he saw the flagging of their powers [faculties], and that both he who drew water from the top of the well, and he who drew it from the bottom, were equally baffled, he gathered his skirts together, and turned his back on us, saying: “Not everything black is a date, nor is everything ruddy wine.” Then we clung to him as the chameleon clings to the trees, and blocked his progress as with bars, saying to him: “The cure of a rent is to stitch it, and if not, then retaliation! retaliation! So hope not to wound while thou art safe, and to make bleed the gash while thou goest scot-free.” Then he turned his bridle, sitting down in his place for a good stay, and said: “Since you have challenged me to discussion, I shall give the judgment of Solomon in the matter of the sown field. Know, ye owners of literary accomplishments and golden coloured wine, that the proposing of riddles is for the purpose of testing the quickness of wit and bringing out its hidden treasures, under the condition, that they are founded on a real resemblance and contain meaning words, and some scholarly nicety. For if they are of a style different from this they are refuse [worthless], and not to be put into the casket [as something worthy to be preserved], and I noticed that your definitions kept not within these limits, and distinguished not between the acceptable and the objectionable.” We said to him: “Thou art right, and hast spoken the truth. But measure out to us somewhat from thy select store, and pour upon us from thy main sea” [ocean]. Said he: “I will do so in a manner that those who failed may not doubt, nor look at me with suspicion.” Then he turned to the foremost of the people, and said:
1. “O thou who excels in sharpness, who strikes the fire-sticks of merit,
What is it that likens saying: ‘hunger is cheered by provisions’?”
Then he smiled to the second, and indited:
2. “O man of surpassing honour, unsullied by any baseness,
What is as if one in riddling would say: ‘a back looked askance at’?”
Then he glanced at the third, saying:
3. “O thou, the children of whose thought resemble coin of ready course,
What is like saying to a man thou pliest with riddles: ‘he met a gift’?”
Then he stretched his neck towards the fourth, and said:
4. “O thou who solvest what is intricate of riddles and enigmas,
Reveal to me that which resembles to ‘take a thousand gold coins’?”
Then he cast his eye upon the fifth, and said:
5. “O such an one of shrewdest wit, endowed with brightest sagacity,
What resembles ‘he neglects adornment’? If rightly guided, be quick and tell.”
Then he turned in the direction of the sixth, and said:
6. “O thou from whose capacity a rival’s steps stop short by far,
What is like thy saying to him who joins with thee in riddles: ‘Hold in! hold in!’?”
Then he winked his eyebrows towards the seventh, and said:
7. “O thou who own’st intellect of brilliancy, in subtleness high of rank amongst thy friends,
Explain, and, mind, tell aright in doing so, what saying is similar to ‘brother fled’?”
Then he bade the eighth to listen, and indited:
8. “O thou whose gardens of excellence are fresh with flowers in bright array,
What is like telling the sharp of wit in solving riddles: ‘he chose not silver’?”
Then he cast a glance upon the ninth, and said:
9. “O thou to whom they point for a mind of ready wit and for eloquence,
Expound to us, what is like the speech of the riddler: ‘tread upon the crowd’?”
Said the narrator: Now when he came at last to me, he patted me on the shoulder saying:
10. “O thou possessed of subtleties to baffle sore and floor opponents,
Thou makest clear, so tell us what is like my saying: “be still, my uncle’?”
Then he said: “I have watered you and allowed you time, and if you want me to let you have another draught, I let you have it.” So the brunt [heat] of thirst drove us to ask for a second drink. Whereupon he said: “I am not like one who from selfishness stints his boon-companions, nor of those whose fat remains in their own dish.” Then he returned to the first, and said:
11. “O thou whose sharpness unfolds a riddle [unties a ticklish knot], however tight,
If one propose as a riddle, ‘take this,’ say true what is like it.”
Then he bent his neck towards the second, and said:
12. “O thou whose eloquence appears clear from his skill in explanation,
What is as if people would say: ‘an onager has been decked out’?”
Then he blinked towards the third, and said:
13. “O thou who in sagacity and sharpness art like Asma‘î,
What is like saying by way of riddle: ‘spend lavishly, thou con-
Then he looked sharp at the fourth, and indited:
14. “O thou who if knotty questions arise enlightens their darkness,
What is it that likens saying: ‘sniff in the perfume of grape-
Then he ogled the fifth, and said:
15. “O thou whose intellect lets him not give way to anxious thoughts and doubt,
What resembles saying to a man expert in riddles: ‘shield the ruined’?”
Then he stepped in front of the sixth, and indited:
16. “O thou endowed with sagacity in which thy perfect worth appears,
The saying, ‘he travelled awhile at night,’ say what a thing is like to it.”
Then he turned his glance towards the seventh, and said:
17. “O thou whose wit, brisk of market, gives thee adornment and honour,
Say, for thou art able to tell us, what word is like ‘love a coward’?”
Then he looked in the direction of the eighth, and said:
18. “O thou who in fame hast reached a height surpassing every height by far,
What resembles, tell us, saying: ‘give a crook [crutch] deprived of the handle-part’?”
Then he smiled to the ninth, and said:
19. “O thou who hold’st undoubtedly fine judgment and elocution,
What is like saying to the skilled in solving riddles: “I own the bullock’?”
Then he clutched my sleeve, and said:
20. “O thou who hast penetrating sharpness of wit in solving intricate question, bright as a star,
What is resembling the saying: ‘whiz of a muzzle’? Explain so that thy expounding renders it clear.”
Said Al Ḥârith, son of Hammâm: Now when he had delighted us with what we had heard, and challenged us to disclose its meaning, we answered: “We are not of the horses of this racecourse, and our hands are not equal to untying these knots; so if thou wilt explain, thou conferrest a favour, and if thou wilt keep it hidden, thou inflictest grief.” Then he consulted his mind for and against and shook both his arrows (of consent or refusal), until he was pleased to vouchsafe the bounty, coming forward to the company, and saying: “O ye people of eloquence and distinction, I will forthwith make known to you that which you know not, and thought not you would ever know, so fasten upon it your vessels and freshen therewith the assemblies.” Then he began an explanation which furbished the intellects, and withal emptied the sleeves (breast pockets), until the understandings became brighter than the sun, and the pockets as if yesterday they had not been rich. Now when he bethought himself of departure, he was asked about his abode. Then he sighed as sigheth the bereft mother, and said:
“Each mountain-path is path for me, and ample is my dwelling there,
Save that for Serûj town my heart is crazed with longing, mad with love.
She is my virgin land from whence my erewhile youthful breeze has sprung,
And for her mead so rich of growth above all meads I fondly yearn.
Afar from her no sweet is sweet to me, delightful no delight.”
Concluded the narrator his tale: Thereupon I said to my companions, “This is Abû Zayd, the Serûji, whose riddles are the least of his elegancies,” and I began to descry to them the beauty of his diction, and the obedience of speech to his will. Then I turned round, and lo! he had leaped up, and was gone with what he had gained. So we wondered at his performance, when he had fallen in our midst, and knew not whither he had wended and swerved.