Is there any rare news?—In the original: hal min mugharribati khabarin, lit., “is there any astounding matter of a report,” a proverbial expression (Ar. Prov., ii. 883), as frequently employed as the favourite Yorkshire phrase “Aught fresh?” Instead of the usual reply, “Nought” (to be pronounced “noute”) with which the latter meets, here the answer is, “News rarer than the ‘Anḳâ,” alluding to the fabulous bird (Ar. Prov., i. 356) so frequently mentioned in Oriental poetry, “and more marvellous than the sight of Zarḳâ,” proverbial for sharpness of sight (Ar. Prov., i. 192, 401; ii. 68).
Who had donned the wool-cloth (ṣûf), i.e., who had become an ascetic or Sufî.
Amongst those whose token is the trace of prostration in their faces, taken from Koran, xlviii. 29: “Thou mayst see them bowing down, prostrating themselves, imploring favours from God and His good pleasure in them. Their tokens are on their faces, the traces of their prostrations.”
And fond farewells to farer fair, lit., and (memories) of the traveller bidden (or bidding) farewell. In this translation I take the word zâ‘in, which by the Commentators is simply rendered with musâfir, traveller, although grammatically a masculine, as logically a feminine, similar to ḥâmil, a pregnant female, or ḥâ’iẓ, a menstruous woman, because the verb za‘n means more particularly travelling in a za‘înah, litter, an essentially feminine mode of locomotion, from which a woman travelling in a litter is herself called za‘înah. This appears also to be the opinion of the editors of the second edition of De Sacy, who say: “This first verse seems to refer to the usual beginnings of Ḳaṣîdehs, in which the places now desolate and forsaken are celebrated, that had formerly been inhabited by a mistress.” Readers who prefer the letter to the spirit are at liberty to substitute “faring friend” instead of “farer fair.”
And reckless of His tardy wrath, in the original aminta makra-hu, lit., thou held’st thyself secure against His scheme or stratagem, meaning the punishment He has planned for thee. This is an allusion to Koran, vii. 97: “Did they then think themselves secure from the deep counsel of God? But none think themselves secure from the deep counsel of God, save those who perish.”
How often . . . wast thou neglecting carelessly the duties of His covenant , lit., didst thou not observe that which is incumbent of His injunction to be followed, again alluding to Koran, xxxvi. 60: ‘Did I not enjoin on you, O sons of Adam, Worship not Satan, for that he is your declared foe?”
That goal of pilgrims of long syne, of countless pilgrims yet to come.— Compare with this the following lines of a poet:
“Life is a sleep, and death the awakening thereof, and man between them a phantom that fares at night;
Fulfil then your needs hastily, for your existence is but a journey amongst journeys.”
Possessed of all the riches of a Tobba‘ king.—Tobba‘ is the name of three kings of Yemen, the first of whom, called Shamar, is said to have conquered China and devastated Samarcand; the second, As‘ad, slaughtered, according to popular tradition, six thousand camels at the holy house, and provided it with a door of gold; while the third, Abû Ḥassân, is not credited with any particular feat of his own, but seems to have contented himself with the glory of his predecessors (comp. Caussin de Perceval’s Esai, i. 61 and following, and Reinaud’s Introduction to his “Géographie d’Abulféda,” p. 355).
Separated hither and thither, in Arabic tafarraqû shaghara baghara, a proverbial expression for dispersing in all directions, for which see Ar. Prov., i. 502.
And wept as not Jacob wept, allusion to Koran, xii. 84: “And he turned away from them and said, Oh! how I am grieved for Joseph! and his eyes became white with grief, for he bore a silent sorrow.”
If thou makest a resolution, put thy trust in Allah, quotation from Koran, iii. 153: “Therefore forgive them and ask for pardon for them, and consult them in the affair of war, and when thou art resolved, then put thou thy trust in God; Verily God loveth those who trust in Him.”
Keep death in view, lit., make death the target of thy eye, taken from the proverb ja‘altu-hu naṣba ‘ainâya, I have made him or it the target of both my eyes. For naṣb most Arabs say nuṣb, a fu‘l with the meaning of maf‘ûl, like ukl, food, for ma’kûl, that which is eaten, so that nuṣb would stand for manṣûb, that which is set up, hence a butt or target.