At a time when I had come to Tiflis, in Arabic Taflîsu and Tiflîsu, the well-known city in the Caucasus.
Together with a number of paupers.—In some MSS. ma‘a zumratin (in others ma‘a ‘uṣbatin) mafâlîsa, where the latter word is not dependent on, but in apposition to the former respectively, while De Sacy and my own MS. read simply ma‘a mafâlîsa (an imperfectly declined plural).
Then the people fastened [bound] their loops to him, i.e., they sat down to listen to him, an idiom for which compare vol. i., p. 412.
Does not eye-witnessing dispense with hearsay? and the smoke reveal the fire?—I have translated amâ as interrogative, but it may equally well be taken as the particle of tantîh, and rendered by “assuredly,” meaning: “You see with your own eyes, without my telling you, what my condition is, and my appearance sufficiently indicates the state of my affairs.”
Yet erewhile I was one of those who possess and bestow.—The word mâla is explained by the commentators by tamawwala, he was wealthy, in which sense it would be synonymous with the preceding malaka, he possessed riches. But it has also the meaning, “he gave part of his property to others,” and this interpretation seems to me preferable, as it conforms in idea with the phrase, rajulun mâlun nâlun, a man who is rich and bountiful, in which mâlun corresponds to malaka, and nâlun to mâla.
But calamities ceased not to subvert.—The word translated by subvert (tasḥat) occurs in the Koran, xx. 64: “For then will He destroy you by a punishment.” One of its derivatives is suḥt or suḥut, anything unlawful, as leading to perdition, especially applied to usury in Koran, v. 46, 67, 68.
Who trailed his sleeves along in luxury.—The usual phrase is, he trailed his skirt, but the length of the sleeves of a costly robe pictures still more forcibly the extravagance of Oriental habits and habiliments.
Or to whom the tidings of daughters have been brought.—Allusion to Koran, xvi. 60, 61: “For when the birth of a daughter is announced to any one of them, dark shadows settle on his face, and he is sad: He hideth himself from the people because of the bad news: shall he keep it with disgrace, or bury it in the ground?” For the practice of the Arabs of the Ignorance to bury infant daughters alive, compare the exhaustive note in vol. i., p. 434, to the passage: “Give life to one buried alive.” I repeat from it here the final line of the poem quoted from the Ḥamâseh in explanation of the reasons which may have induced a father to put an end to his daughter’s days: “She desires my life, but I long for her death, through compassion on her; for to women death is the most generous quest.”
Beguiled by the beauty of his delivery, along with his disease.—The Arabic ma‘a dâ’ihi, together with his ailment, implies that his listeners, while delighted with his utterance, were at the same time moved to compassion for him by his well-simulated palsy.
That which was hidden in their belts and concealed in their bosoms. —The words translated by “belts” and “bosoms” respectively are khuban, pl. of khubnah, and s̤uban, pl. of s̤ubnah, which the native dictionaries explain in almost identical terms as those parts of a garment which serve as receptacles for money and other objects.
So take this trifle, in Arabic ṣubâbah, rest of water at the bottom of a well, and metaphorically used for anything of small value.
And reckon it neither a miss, nor a hit, i.e., as a thing neither to be disdained nor to be made much of, and given more to show our goodwill towards thee, than to lay thee under the obligation of thanks.
Made off stumbling on his road, lit., snatching his ways with stumbling.
And is indulgent with thee.—In the original man yanfuqu ‘alai-ka, which is explained by “one who buries thy faults in a hole” (nafaq), i.e., veils and conceals them. Others take the verb in the sense of having currency, and therefore being acceptable, so that the meaning would be, who by the pleasantness of his manners makes himself agreeable to thee.
And hast met with a prize, so cling to it.—A proverb applied to one who has obtained his wish, and for which see Ar. Prov., ii. 326.
Then he laughed long, and stood before me a sound or perfect man.— The Arabic for “long” is here maliyyan, which occurs in Koran, xix. 47: “Begone from me for a length of time.” The final part of the clause is an allusion to the same Sura, verse 17: “And we sent our spirit to her, and he appeared before her like a perfect man.”
With no ailment in his body.—Ailment is in the text qalabah, which stands originally for an illness which makes a man toss on his couch, but is used, as here, in a more general sense in the proverb, mâ bi-hi qalabah, there is no ailment or blemish in him (Ar. Prov., ii. 610).
And at his feigned palsy, lit., at the falsehood or lie of his palsy (‘alá kaẕibi laqwati-hi). Similar, though with the state of construction reversed, the Koran says, xii. 18: “And they (Joseph’s brethren) brought his shirt with the blood of lie (i.e., with false blood) upon it.”