Kills beholders, in the sense in which the Irish speak of a killing beauty, and in which presently her rounded bosom, or, according to others, her swelling hip, is called a deadly bane for the enamoured admirer.
The two bordered couplets, in the text al-baitaini ’l-mut̤rafaini, meaning that the beginning and ending of either couplet form a rhyme, and thereby resemble a cloak which is bordered with embroidered designs. Some MSS. read mut̤rifaini, participle of at̤rafa, he produced something novel and wonderful, when the sense would be the two couplets, which fill the hearers with marvel or challenge comparison. A third rendering is mut̤arrafaini, in allusion to a horse, which is called mut̤arraf when its head and tail are white.
And are sure not to be matched (lit., abetted or strengthened, yu‘azzazû) by a third is taken from Koran, xxxvi. 13: “When We sent two unto them and they charged them with imposture, therefore with a third We strengthened them (‘azzaz-nâ), and they said, ‘Verily we are the Sent unto you of God.’”
Make thee a mark whose traces show fair to sight.—The initial words are in Arabic sim simatan, impress a sign (viz., on thy conduct, which in pause would read sim simah, in conformity with the final simsimah, a grain of sesame or coriander-seed. In similar manner the second couplet opens with wa’l-makru mahmâ, “and fraud or craftiness as far as” (supply “thou art able—do not practise it”), the first four syllables of which are identical in sound with the terminating wa’l-makrumah, “and honour, reverence, fair fame amongst men.”
O father of despoilment, in Arabic yâ abâ ’l-ghulûl.—Ghul-ûl is originally the purloining of part of a booty to the detriment of one’s companions, and the meaning is here that the beauty of the boy is such, that it pre-eminently captivates the minds of the beholders so as to curtail the legitimate share of his fellow-pupils in the admiration due to them.
O cymbal-beater of the troop (yâ ṣannâjata ’l-jaishi).—The Persian
sanj, cymbal, has furnished Arabic with the word ṣannâj, a cymbal-
Well done, O thou mite, thou eye of a fly.—In default of a better equivalent, I translate with “mite” the Arabic ḥibiqqah (according to Sherîshi, a fart), which is used in taunting a man with his diminutive size. Other authorities say it means long or lanky, but this would scarcely tally with the following “eye of a fly,” another playful and endearing term, indicating excessive smallness of person, which Tradition puts into the mouth of Mohammed, when dandling his grandsons, al Ḥasan and al-Ḥosayn.
Saying to him: I commend thee to the protection of Allah from the eye of the envier, and fain would be made thy ransom.—This is, of necessity, the ponderous paraphrase of ‘auwaẕa-hu wa faddâ-hu, second form of the verbs ‘auẕ and fadá respectively, which means to pronounce the formulas translated above in full.
O Ḳa‘ḳâ‘, a male proper name, for an instance of which see vol. i., p. 471, and the etymological explanation of which is disputed. Of the various meanings assigned to it, here that of “loud-voiced” seems the most appropriate, since it is said of the boy that he recited his verses in a high-pitched key. The following “O thou bird cautious as to where thou sippest water,” in Arabic yâ bâqi‘ata ’l-baqâ‘i, lit., “O crafty bird of the water-pools,” alludes to the proverb (Ar. Prov., i. 162), mentioned and explained vol. i., p. 318.
Brighter than the fire of hospitality to the eyes of the son of night-
Thou who askest me about the two letters Ẓâd and Z̤â.—For the reason stated in the epitome to this Assembly, I restrict myself to giving here the remainder of this long string of words without regard to versification, together with their English equivalents. They are muwâz̤ib, one who persists in; intiz̤âr, expectation; ilz̤az̤, importunity; waz̤îf, thinnest part of the leg of a horse or camel; z̤âli‘, crooked; ‘az̤îm, great; z̤âhir, helper; faz̤z̤, water in a camel’s stomach (also harsh, cruel); ighlâz̤, rough treatment; naz̤îf, clean, tidy, neat; z̤arf, a vessel; z̤alaf, continence; z̤âhir, evident; faz̤i‘, sweet water (also ugly, difficult); wu‘‘âz̤, preachers; ‘ukâz̤, place of the annual fair between Mecca and Tâ‘if, the name being derived from the verb ‘akz̤, in the sense of thronging together; z̤a‘n, travelling; maz̤z̤, wild pomegranate; ḥanz̤al, colocynth; qâriz̤ân, the two tan-gatherers (see p. 6 above); aushâz̤, pl. of washîz̤, mixed crowd, rabble; z̤irâb, hillocks; z̤irrân, sharp stones; shaz̤af, distress; bâhiz̤, heavy to bear, oppressive; ja‘z̤arî, boaster, vainglorious; jawwâz̤, profligate (also gluttonous); z̤arâbîn, pole-cats; ḥanâz̤ib, male beetles; ‘unz̤ub, male locust; z̤ayyân, wild jessamine; ru‘z̤, hole in a spear or arrow to fix the head in; shanaz̤î, surroundings of a mountain; dalz̤, pushing back; z̤âb (z̤âm), clamour, noise (also brother-in-law); z̤abz̤âb, ailment; ‘unz̤uwân, a saline plant; jin‘âz̤, fool; shinẓîr, ill-tempered; ta‘âz̤ul, hanging together of locusts or dogs in copulation; iz̤lim, indigo; baz̤r, clitoris; in‘âz̤, erection. With the exception of a few more words of exceedingly rare occurrence, this list is said to be complete, and cognate forms are, of course, as far as the letter z̤â is concerned, spelt alike, for instance, qaiz̤, excessive heat, and qâz̤û, they were hot, etc.
May thy mouth never be harmed.—Thus Chenery translates (vol. i., p. 183, last line but one) the idiom lâ fuẓẓa fû-ka, which also occurs in the fourteenth Assembly. The literal rendering would be, “may thy mouth not be broken,” where mouth is said to stand for “teeth.” The expression was, according to Tradition, used by Mohammed, when the poet Nâbighah recited to him his ḳaṣîdeh in the letter Râ, terminating in the lines:
“We have reached the summit in praise, and glory and lordship, yet we hope to attain to a station even above this.”
“Whither to, O father of Lailá?” asked the Prophet, and on the poet’s answer, “to Paradise,” he said to him approvingly: “lâ afẓaẓa ’llâḥu fâ-ka,” “may Allah not harm thy mouth.” The substitution of “teeth” for “mouth,” in the interpretation of the commentators, is in congruity with the original meaning of the verb faẓẓ, “breaking a seal.”
A safer keeper than the earth, alluding to the proverb: aḥfaz̤u mina ’l-arẓi wa aktamu wa âmanu, “more keeping and more concealing and more trusty than the earth,” because it keeps safely what is buried in it of wealth, etc., like a custodian, and pays back what is confided to it like a trustee, and on account of the saying “speak not ill of the dead, so that the earth may not shield him better than thou.”
Therefore remember me: I will remember you; and render thanks to me, and be not ungrateful to me—quotation from Koran, ii. 147.
But I was like one who tries to see in the dark, etc.—My translation follows here the reading of my own MS.: wa ana, “but I,” or of the native editions: wa kuntu, “but I was,” instead of that of De Sacy: “wa huwa, “but he,” which seems to me an evident misprint or slip of the pen, overlooked by the editors of the 2nd edition.