Al Ḥârith, son of Hammâm.—The use of this name and that of Abû Zayd, by the author, is explained by Sherîshi, who is confirmed by Ibn Khallikân, in his life of Ḥarîri. It is said that Ḥârith and Hammâm are the “truest,” that is the most justly applicable of names. A Tradition of Moḥam-med, concerning the naming of children, is recorded, in which it is said “The most acceptable names to God are ‘Abd Allah and ‘Abd-ar-Raḥmân; the truest are Al Ḥârith and Hammâm, and the most hateful Ḥarb and Murrah.” (Abû Murrah is a kinyeh for the devil). The reason for calling these names the “truest” is that there is no one who is not a Ḥârith, that is, who does not labour after gain for his living; and no one who is not a Hammâm, that is, who has not his anxieties. The names were accordingly adopted by Ḥarîri to signify a common ordinary mortal, in accordance with the precedent set by Badi‘ az Zemân. Under the name of Al Ḥârith, son of Hammâm, the author is supposed to have signified himself, and for this reason he makes Ḥârith a native of Basra. The name Abû Zayd is either the real name of a personage whom Ḥarîri had met with, or it is taken to signify an elderly man generally; Zayd being an ordinary name, and the Father of Zayd the ordinary father or elder. In confirmation of this view, it is noted that Abû Zayd is continually spoken of as advanced in years. The use of these allegorical names is common among Arabs, their own ordinary names having, generally, a meaning. An instance of such a descriptive name is furnished by the philosophical romance of Abû Ja‘far ibn Ṭofayl, whose solitary hero bears the name of Ḥayy ibn Yaḳẓân, the Living, Son of the Awakened. It may be remarked that Ḥârith is the Greek Aretas: compare 2 Corinthians xi. 32.
Ṣan‘â of Yemen.—Ṣan‘â is thus specified by the author to distinguish it from another place of the same name, near Damascus. Ṣan‘â the capital of Yemen, the seat of the Himyaritic kings, called Tobba‘, and afterwards, for a time, of the Abyssinian conquerors, was one of the most noted cities in the early times of Arab history, and preserved its importance as a seat of trade and manufacture in the days of Ḥarîri. A legend ascribes its foundation to Shem, son of Noah, who, after his father’s death, journeyed southward, until he came to the first climate, and found Yemen the most agreeable country, and the site of Ṣan‘â the most favoured district. He was led by the flight of a bird to the place where he laid the foundations of the Ghom-dân, or palace of San‘â. Descending to more historical times, we find it related that the Tabâbi‘ah established themselves successively at Mareb, Ẓafâr and Ṣan‘â. The Ghomdân, the most magnificent edifice in ancient Arabia, was built, according to Kazwini (Caussin de Perceval—Essai sur l’histoire des Arabes) by Surahbîl, one of these ancient monarchs. It was an immense building, with four faces, one red, another white, a third yellow, and the fourth green. In the midst was an edifice of seven stories, each story forty cubits in height. The lowest formed a hall, entirely constructed of marble, and covered with a single slab of marble. At the four corners were figures of lions, hollow, so that when the wind entered their mouths, they made noises like roarings. This great city became afterwards the formidable rival of Mecca, and if the enterprise of its Abyssinian master, Abrahet al Ashram, had succeeded, the worship of the Ka‘beh might have been destroyed, the Ḳoraysh subdued or scattered, and the advent of Islam prevented. The invasion of Abraheh took place about the time of the birth of Moḥammed, in what is called “the year of the Elephant.” Ṣan‘â was temporarily wrested from the power of Moḥammed by the rival prophet, Al Aswad, who was slain only two days before the former’s death. Little historical interest attached to Ṣan‘â in later times, but it continued to be the most populous and thriving town in Yemen. The Ghomdân and the temple which belonged to it were destroyed by the Khalif ‘Othmân. San‘â is said to be an Abyssinian term, meaning “pleasant” or “comfortable,” and to have been substituted for the former name of the city.
When I mounted.—When I made it my monture, my usual conveyance. ◌ is the part between the hump and the neck. “When I made wandering my steed” is the idea intended.
Its depths.—◌, the main part or portion of a thing, as the sea, sand, or a fight; the deepest part thereof (Lane). Hence it is applied to the thick of the city, and its innermost parts.
Fray the tissue of my countenance.—This metaphor is often repeated in the Assemblies to describe the shame of beggary. He who begs is said to wear out the tender skin of his face, to harden it and dry up its moisture. Though alms-giving is enjoined on Moslems, and beggars are sufficiently numerous among them, yet mendicity is always spoken of as humiliating and disgraceful. The Prophet said, “If ye knew what was in beggary, not one of you would approach another to ask of him.” A poet exclaims:
The water of thy hand (its bounty), whether it be generous or niggardly,
Compensates not for the water of my face, which I spend in exchange for it.
The phrase here used occurs again in the Thirty-seventh Assembly, where, in some verses in praise of patience under misfortune, the author says:
The man of spirit, if his eye have a mote in it, hides the mote of his eyelids even from his eye-ball (conceals his poverty or pain);
And when the tissue of his garment is worn, he wears not out the two tissues of his cheeks.
De Sacy, in the commentary to the Thirty-seventh Assembly, quotes several passages on the shame of beggary.
A wide place of concourse.—Ḥarîri remarks in the Durrah that a meeting place is not called ◌ unless the company are in it. (De Sacy, Anthologie Grammaticale Arabe, p. 30, Arabic Text). It is much to be regretted that this work of Ḥarîri on the niceties of the language has not yet been printed. Judging from the portion given by De Sacy, it must be an invaluable companion to the Assemblies.
Cadences.—◌ is applied originally to the cadence of a dove’s cooing, and then metaphorically to the parallelistic rhymed prose, the sound of which has a certain resemblance to it. Compare ◌ and ◌.
To catch—Literally, to take a light or brand. This metaphor, derived from the custom of getting a light at a neighbour’s fire, is often repeated. From frequent use it came to have a special signification, so that iḳtibâs, in the language of scholars, is applied to the introduction into a composition of well-known phrases from another author, proverbial expressions, or words of the Koran, for the sake of ornament.
As he coursed.—For the meaning of ◌, see Lane.
And the throat of his improvisation.—It is impossible to render into English the bold metaphor here used. The ◌ of the male camel is the faucial bag or inner part of the throat, which, when enraged or excited by any cause, he thrusts out of his mouth with a roaring noise, called ◌. The noise of the she-camel, as also of the male camel when he does not thrust out this substance, is called ◌. The ◌ is thus used figuratively to signify the power of rapid and impetuous oratory. Ḥarîri uses the same metaphor in the Twenty-ninth Assembly to describe the flow of Abû Zayd’s speech (De Sacy’s edition, p. 354). In both cases he, no doubt, had in mind the proverb used by the Khalif ‘Ali, when he was asked why he had not made his oration longer, ◌. The shiḳshiḳah roars and then is silent. (Arab. Prov. I. 673). The sermon of Abû Zayd is excellently imitated by Naṣîf al Yazaji in his Third Assembly.
Thyself, thy chief enemy.—A saying of the Prophet is, “Thy greatest enemy is not he who, if thou kill him, thou hast thy revenge, or he who, if he kill thee, thou enterest into paradise; but thy greatest enemy is thyself in thy own body”. Al Aṣma‘î, on receiving from a man food on his journey, said to him, “God confound all thy enemies except thyself.”
Woe to him who seeks the world.—These verses are of the ◌, the sixth metre of the fourth circle, or ◌, which is formed by the primitive feet ◌ This circle contains the ◌, and ◌, the measure of the last being ◌, twice in each verse. It must be observed that the ◌ in ◌ is a ◌, corresponding to ◌ in the original measure of the circle, so that this part of the foot is not subject to ◌. Though there are instances of the ◌ being used ◌, that is, with its full measure, yet the general use is as here ◌, with the ◌ and the ◌ regular (◌), the measure being ◌ Of ◌, there enter into this metre the following—◌, and ◌. Of the first there are instances in all three of the verses; ◌ becoming ◌, and ◌ becoming ◌. The ◌ in the rhyme is to be noticed. Sherîshi gives instances of it from other poets.
Laid his dust, and let his spittle subside.—These metaphors express the cessation from vehement utterance.
Gazed on his up-rising.—◌ is the preparation to rise; the being half upright, in an uneasy posture, as one who is about to stand up and depart.
To move away from the midst.—To fly away, or aberrate from the centre. An allusion to the scientific expression.
A bucket from his stream.—The use of metaphors from the drawing of water, from rain or dew, to express the bestowing of bounty, are continually to be met with in Ḥarîri, as in all Arabic poets. The ancient Arabs, whose poets set fashions of literary diction which have never been departed from, were natives of the Nejd and other regions where the want of water was continually felt, and they spoke to a race whose lives were passed in anxiety lest their corn and herbage should be destroyed, their homes made uninhabitable by a year of drought, and their journeys perilous by the drying up of wells. Hence in poetical language, water and moisture are almost synonymous with benefit; to seek bounty is to go to the spring, to confer it is to fill the bucket or the skin-bag of the suppliant. It is in accordance with this sentiment that “cloud” has in Arabic poetry a favourable signification, while unbroken sunshine represents suffering and protracted misfortune; a use of similitude the very opposite to our own. To say “A cloud gathered over my life” would mean to an Englishman that distress or poverty fell upon it; to an Arab it would mean that success, or a wealthy benefactor had raised the speaker to competence. To forecast the rains by watching the form of the clouds and the lightning, is a phrase used in the same metaphorical manner, and you may say, “I watched the lightning” of such a one, with the meaning “I took notice of him to learn whether he was likely to confer a benefit on me.” Fortune, or a deceitful friend, are described as a cloud whose flash deceives; the prosperous are a well-watered meadow, and their life is a moistened one. A peculiarity of the Semitic languages is the clearness with which they show the original material signification of words, under their secondary and metaphorical meanings, and this is nowhere more remarkable than in the constant association of water with comfort, good fortune, bounty, wealth, and similar ideas.
An Attendant.—◌, a word taken by the Arabs from the Jews or Syrians, ◌. Ḥarîri, in the Durrat al Ghawwâs, (Anthol. Arabe, p. 50, Arabic text), says that the first letter must have kesr, since words of this form are ◌. From this he deduces that the name of the Queen mentioned in the Koran, xxvii. 23, must be Bilḳîs, and not, as often pronounced, Balḳîs. Learned men were often waited on by their pupils.
Thy reality.—◌. The real, intrinsic state of a thing. See the Thirty-second Assembly, page 401, De Sacy’s edition.
But when.—For the use of ◌ redundant, after ◌, see Lane, Book I., page 105.
I don the black robe.—The metre of these lines is the ◌, the only metre belonging to the fifth circle, or ◌, which Al Khalîl mentions. This circle, which consists only of five-lettered feet, is formed by the primitive foot ◌, and the complete measure of the ◌ is ◌ which is the measure of these verses, being the first ◌ of the first ◌.
The only ◌ which enters into this metre is ◌, by which ◌ becomes ◌; but the chief peculi rity of the metre is the intermixture of the ◌ with the ◌, by which the ◌ may be ended either by ◌ or by ◌.
This licence is so common that, in many compositions, almost every line is thus shortened. It will be seen that this is the case with all the author’s lines, except the first and fourth.
The khamîṣah is described as a black square garment, having two ornamental borders; if it has not the borders it is not called by this name. It is, however, evidently used here to signify a garment worn by pilgrims or devotees.
My meal.—Khabîṣah is a mess of khabîṣ, or dates and butter, a common article of food among the poor.
The lion of the thicket.—“As one who seeks his prey in the lion’s lair” is a proverbial expression for the rushing into danger in pursuit of an object, and is derived from the verse of a poet:
O Ṭayya of the field and the mountains; he who threatens you is as one who seeks the prey in the lion’s lair. (Prov. Arab. II. 359).
My loin quiver at it.—More exactly the muscles of the shoulders, the part between the shoulder and the side. Compare Mo‘allaḳah of Ṭarafeh, v. 101.
On the field of battle, where man dreads death, where the shoulder muscles quiver, wedged together in the strife.
Ḥolwân.—A proverbial expression is “Longer in companionship than the two palm-trees of Ḥolwân.” Two palm-trees, planted on a hill near the town in the time of the Persians, had been celebrated by the poet Mo‘ṭî ibn Iyâs, who addressed to them a lamentation at his separation from a slave-girl whom he had sold, saying that they too would weep if they were parted. For this reason the Khalif Al Manṣûr forbade their destruction. But Hârûn ar-Reshîd, passing that way, was seized with a fever, and the pith of a palm-tree being prescribed to him, he cut down one of them. The other quickly withered away. This legend is worthy of notice, as it has a character of sentimentality somewhat rare in the East. (Prov. Arab. II. 47). Ḥol-wân is four stations east of Bagdad, and was named after its founder, Ḥolwân ibn ‘Alî ibn Ḳoḍâ‘ah. It consists of two towns divided by a large river. It was conquered in the time of the Khalif ‘Omar by Sa‘d ibn Abî Waḳḳâṣ, after the battle of Jelûleh.
My amulets were doffed and my turbans were donned.—Ever since I came to the age of puberty. Among the Arabs amulets were hung round children’s necks to preserve them from the evil eye, or the designs of Jinn; and these were taken off when the child reached a certain age. When the boy approached manhood he assumed the turban and girt on the sword.
The word temâ’im signifies “certain beads which the Arabs of the desert used to hang upon their children to repel, as they asserted, the evil eye;” or necklaces, on which amulets were put. Temâ’im were forbidden by the Prophet, though in ◌, which are sentences from the Koran, there is no harm; so that Ḥarîri, in describing Ḥârith as wearing temâ’im in childhood, speaks after the manner of the Arabs of the Ignorance, which is allowable in poetical composition, as the attribution to moderns of classical customs and beliefs is allowed to European poets. Of the charms used among Moslems of the present day an niteresting account may be found in Mr. Lane’s Modern Egyptians. Another kind of charm to which great power has been attributed is that which is called by mathematicians a Magic Square, that is the arrangement of numbers in certain orders, so that, whether counted horizontally, perpendicularly, or diagonally, each row may make up the same sum. Others present more complicated relations of numbers; and each has its virtue in certain positions of the planetary bodies. But these latter were the devices of astrologers rather than of theologians; and it may be presumed that the only amulet used by the strictest professors consisted of verses of the Koran, or relics in some way connected with religion.
Learning’s seat.—According to the opinion of some this was the name of a place, so called from being the meeting place of learned men.
Hope and desire.—Literally, “It may be” and “Perhaps.” When he could find no one to instruct him sufficiently, he passed his time in hoping that such a person would soon appear.
Shifting among the varieties of pedigree, etc.—The Arab race, being made up of many tribes, the members of which, though continually roaming through the country and taking up their temporary abode in strange cities, or among neighbouring tribes, still prided themselves on their allegiance to their own kinsmen, and relied on the protection which these would give them, it was the habit to ask the name and pedigree of a new comer. Examples of this occur frequently in the Assemblies. When Abû Zayd has charmed his audience with one of his displays, he is commonly asked what is his home, and from what stock he derives his lineage. In answer, he generally claims to be of kin to the race of Ghassân, who reigned in Syria under the protection of the Romans, and whose rivalries with the kings of Hira, who were under the protection of the Persians, make up a great part of ancient Arab history. Thus, in the Sixth Assembly, he says, “Ghassân is my kindred and Serûj my home.” In the present case he is represented as giving various accounts of himself as might be most suitable to the various disguises which he assumed.
Beating about.—There may be here a double signification to ◌. From its primitive signification “to beat” it is used to express the stumbling of the purblind she-camel, which beats the ground with her hoof, not seeing whither she is going, and is thence applied to any one who goes recklessly to work in any matter. Another signification is to beat a tree, so as to break off the leaves for fodder, whence the word is metaphorically applied to the extorting alms from the benevolent by importunity. Either sense would be applicable here. In the Nineteenth Assembly the author purposely exhibits the two senses of the word when he says of Abû Zayd ◌.
Sâsân.—Sâsân al Akbar, son of Bahman, son of Isfendiyâr, son of Kushtâsif, a Prince of Western Persia, is the reputed chief and patron of all beggars and mountebanks. The legend is that Bahman, being near his death, sent for his daughter Ḥomaya, who was pregnant, and settled the succession on her and her child, if it should prove a boy, to the exclusion of his own son Sâsân. Sâsân, indignant at this, left the court, and lived the life of a shepherd among the Kurds, so that his name passed into a proverb for one who leads a vagabond life. Hence “the people of Sâsân the Kurd” is a phrase signifying beggars, presti-giators, people that go about with dogs or monkeys and the like. These people had a cant of their own, which was not thought unworthy of study and imitation by the learned. One Abû Dulaf wrote a ḳaṣîdeh in their language, which is said to have supplied Ḥarîri with many of the terms used in the Thirtieth Assembly. This Assembly, which I purpose to publish in my second volume, introduces Abû Zayd making a speech at a beggars’ wedding, full of the cant phrases current among them. In the Forty-ninth, called the Assembly of Sâsân, one of the masterpieces of the author, Abû Zayd exhorts his son to follow a beggar’s life, as the happiest and most independent; and there he speaks of Sâsân as having laid the foundations of the profession, and distinguished its kinds, and kindled the flame of it in east and west.
Sherîshi gives another account of the origin of this term. He says that after the Persians had been subdued in the time of the Khalifs ‘Omar and ‘Othmân, they submitted peaceably to the conquerors, adopting their manners and religion, and that being a clever, artful people they betook themselves to various ways of making their living, one of which was mendicancy. Their way of exciting commiseration was to give out that they belonged to the royal house of Sâsân, or, as we call them, the Sassanids, and to describe the cruel changes of fortune and their fallen conditon, so that at last people came to call a beggar a Sâsâni. This may be the true derivation of the word, but it is evident, from the Forty-ninth Assembly, that Ḥarîri adopts the legend which makes Sâsân a real person.
The Princes of Ghassân.—The ancestors of this family issued
from Yemen at that celebrated epoch of Arab history, the breaking
of the dyke of Mareb. The legend is that Amr Muzayḳîyâ,
being warned by his wife of the approaching calamity, sold his
property and emigrated, being followed by many other families,
who found the country reduced to sterility. (See the note at
the end of the Seventeenth Assembly, to the words “We
went asunder like the bands of Saba”). The part of the
community which followed Muzayḳîyâ first halted in the
northern part of Yemen, by a lake called Ghassân, and here
Muzayḳîyâ died. His son Tha‘labeh migrated with his followers
to Baṭn Marr, in the territory of Mecca. From this
place again they were obliged to depart, owing to feuds with the
possessors of the land. On these early and vague portions of
their history it is unnecessary to dwell. It was only when they
left Arabia proper and migrated to the regions of Syria that
they became of importance. Here they were known by the
name of Ghassân, from the lake where they first inhabited; or,
according to other authorities, from a lake of the same name,
between Hijâz and Syria. At last they arrived in the plains of
Bozra, where the Benû Salîh dwelt under the authority of the
Roman Empire. They were desired to pay tribute, and refusing,
sustained a war against the Benû Salîh, which ended in
their defeat. They then accepted the condition of tributaries,
which they held under successive Princes, until at an epoch,
which M. Caussin de Perceval places
At one time—at another—and now—and anon.—This use of different words, to vary the expression “at times,” is much affected by the author. Compare the Twelfth, in the description of Abû Zayd in the tavern.
Goodly attainments.—By ◌ is meant that by which one works, an instrument. In the saying of ‘Ali, “He makes use of the ◌ of religion in seeking the goods of the present world,” science or knowledge is meant; because thereby only is religion. The same meaning belongs to the word in the present passage. (Lane.)
Valued highly.—Compare the use of ◌, in the Twenty-ninth.
With him I wiped away. The metre of these verses is ◌, as already explained.
Some doubt from my heart.—Uncertainty on points of language and grammar.
Until the hand of want, etc.—These extravagant expressions are scarcely to be paralleled even in Ḥarîri. The second clause of the sentence is literally “The want of a bone urged him.” The word ◌ is applied to setting on a dog, and is therefore in keeping with the words “want of a bone.” When the words of a phrase are all in keeping with the metaphor, the metaphor is termed ◌, otherwise it is ◌. See note at page 8, De Sacy’s edition. It may be noticed that Ḥarîri says in the Durrah that ◌ can never be applied to a cup except when it has liquor in it.
After he was gone.—These lines, in the original, are a string of assonances, very ingenious and not unpleasing. The rhymes of ◌ and ◌, and of ◌ and ◌, present instances of what is called ◌; that is, the insertion into the body of a sentence or verse of two rhymed words, in order to gratify the hearing by the assonance. The term ◌, like ◌, is applied to a poem where the two hemistiches of each verse rhyme together, and there is no continuous rhyme throughout the poem. A familiar instance of this is the Alfîyeh of Ibn Mâlik; in Persian literature it has been preferred by the greatest poets. But in Arabic this “coupled” rhyme is more usually thrown in as an ornament in the body or ◌ of the verse. An instance of it, probably accidental, is given from the Koran, xxvii. 22, where the bird says to Solomon, ◌ (I have come to thee from Saba, with certain intelligence); also in the words of the Prophet ◌ Ta‘rîfât, p. 62. Examples of it so abound in Ḥarîri, that it is needless to quote them. In these verses there is also an instance of what is called ◌ or ◌, which consists in the author making a more laboured rhyme at the end of his verse than he is obliged to do by the laws of prosody. If the author constrain himself to keep to a certain ridf or dakhîl, or to one particular letter or vowel before the rawî, he produces a more perfect and melodious rhyme. In this case the termination of both lines with ◌ is an instance of such an elegance. Here the rawî, which is ◌, is preceded in both verses by a dakhîl, namely, ◌ with kesr, and the ta’sîs which is ◌. Furthermore, each hemistich of each verse closes with ◌.
He was hidden from me.—This word is used to signify the disappearance of the moon during the last days of the month, when it is in conjunction with the sun.
Where my branch had sprouted.—His native town of Basra. For a similar expression see the Thirty-third Assembly, “Make known to us the dowḥah (some large tree) of thy branch.”
To produce what was in his wallet.—To make a display of his stores of learning.
The sagacity of his judgment.—The meaning of ◌, as applied to David in the Koran, has been the subject of much controversy. From the context it would seem to mean the faculty of judging and settling disputes, or of perceiving the application to himself of the case which the angels put before him, (Koran, xxxviii. 19). Bayḍâwi says that the ◌ of litigation is the discrimination of right from wrong; and of discourse the use of choice language, which gives the person addressed a true conception of the meaning, and in which the grammatical and rhetorical distinctions are fully observed. It may be observed that from this passage in the Koran is derived the strange idea of some Moslems, that the phrase ◌, and the practice of prefacing a discourse with an initiatory invocation, was due to David, since ◌ is attributed to David, though, of course, as Bayḍâwi points out, not in the technical sense which the words afterwards assumed.
Abû ‘Obâdeh.—Welîd ibn ‘Obayd al Boḥtori, said by one authority to be the seal, the last and the chief of the later poets, was born at Kufa at the beginning of the third century of the Hijra, and was of the tribe of Ṭay, as was Abû Temmâm Ḥabîb, the compiler of the Ḥamâseh. Hence they seem to have been called the two Ṭays (Anthologie Gram. Ar. p. 131). His poems are extant, and have still many readers. Abû ’l Faraj Al Isfahâni, cited by Sherîshi, says of him that he was versed in every kind of poetry, except satire; though his essays even in this were successful. Sherîshi gives several anecdotes of him, which it would be tedious to transcribe. He died in the year 283.
As though she smiled.—This verse is of the metre called ◌, which is of the fourth circle, already described. The measure of the ◌ is ◌ It has four ◌, the first of which has three ◌. The first ◌ (for the normal form of the verse appears not to be used), is ◌: that is the ◌ of ◌ is dropped by ◌, which is the dropping of the last letter of a ◌ at the end of a foot, and then the ◌ is dropped by ◌, which is the dropping of the fourth quiescent letter of a foot: the ◌, after these two changes, becomes ◌. The first ◌ to this ◌ is ◌, losing the ◌ by ◌ as described and quiescing the ◌ by ◌, which is the quiescing of the last letter of a ◌ at the end of a verse: after these two changes it becomes ◌.
The measure of the verse quoted from Al Boḥtori is, accordingly, ◌ The tanwîn given in De Sacy’s edition is superfluous.
Of ◌ there enter into the verse quoted ◌ and ◌, both of which have been explained; the first foot gives an instance of the former, the second foot of the latter.
Comparisons such as those contained in this verse are to be found even in the more ancient poets. Thus Ṭarafeh in his Mo‘allaḳah says:
She smiles from a dark red lip as when the white camomile flower shows itself from a moist spot in the sand: v. 8.
Thou hast taken for fat, etc.—These are two proverbial expressions, introduced by Ḥarîri in accordance with his practice of imitating the talk of the desert. For the second of them, see Prov. Arab. II. 429.
My life a ransom.—These verses are in the ◌, one of the most common and melodious of the ancient metres, and often dedicated to such themes. It is of the first circle like ◌ and ◌, consisting of five-lettered and seven-lettered feet. Its normal measure is: ◌
This, however, appears to be rarely used; the most common ◌ being ◌, with a ◌ like itself; each hemistich closing with ◌. This is the measure in the present case.
Of the ◌ there enter into this metre ◌ in ◌ and ◌; also ◌ and ◌ in ◌ being the union of ◌ and ◌. Instances of all these licences may be seen in the two verses.
Some suspicions are a sin. Koran xlix. 12.
My saddle-bag.—Used in the same sense as “wallet” above. The ◌ is a bag for provisions bound behind the traveller on the camel. For its use in a figurative sense, by an early poet, see the Dîwân of Imr al Ḳays (Edition of McGuckin de Slane, page 49, line 9):
God is he who most gives me success in what I seek, and piety is a man’s best saddle-bag.
It may be remarked that when an extravagant metaphor or comparison occurs in Ḥarîri, it may generally be traced to some popular or archaic usage, which the author desires to commemorate. The word is again used in the Thirty-third Assembly, (page 426, De Sacy’s edition.)
‘Unnâb.—A red fruit, of an oval shape, about an inch in length, and with a large stone inside. It is sold in the English market under the name of “Chinese Japonica.” Schultens, in his edition of the Six Assemblies, is in error when he writes ◌ and translates “grapes.” Haririi Consessus Sex. 1731, p. 100. The metre of this verse, and the next four, is ◌, as already described. The line quoted by Abû Zayd’s antagonist is said to be from Abû’l Faraj Moḥammed ibn Aḥmed al Ghassâni, called Al Wâwâ. The meaning is “She dropped tears from her dark eyes, and watered her rosy cheeks, and bit upon her red lip with her pure white teeth.”
I asked her when she met me, etc.—Abû Zayd here describes the parting between a lover and his mistress. The meaning of the second line is, “She removed the red veil which hid the lustre of her face, and dropped tears from her eye.”
Night lowered on her morn, etc.—He compares the black hair which she let down to night, her face to the morning, her slender waist to a branch, and her teeth and fingers to pearls and crystal. A great number of parallel passages from the poets are given by the Commentator, but it would be useless to refer to them. The single verses quoted from Al Boḥtori and Abû ’l Faraj al Wâwâ are those referred to in the Preface.
His dark night was moonlit.—His hair had become silvered with age.
The stroke of calamities.—The metre is mujteth, like that of the verses in the First Assembly.
Trust not the gleam of its lightning.—The heavy showers that give life to the parched plains are usually preceded by lightning; which sometimes, however, fails to fulfil its indications; the cloud passing away without having discharged any rain. Hence he who deceives expectations is said to have lightened deceitfully. These metaphors, as has been observed, are of frequent occurrence in the author. Compare, in the next Assembly, “The rain-cloud pours if it has thundered.”
Ḳaylah.—This Assembly is called “of Ḳaylah” because, in the course of it, Abû Zayd exclaims, “By Him who made me descend from Ḳaylah.” Ḳaylah is said to have been the ancestress of Ows and Khazraj, who inhabited Yathrib or Medîneh in the time of the Prophet. She was the daughter of Al Arḳam, the Ghassâni, so that when Abû Zayd claims descent from her, he refers himself to the race of Ghassân. Ows and Khazraj, under the leadership of Jith‘, who was disappointed at not succeeding to the princedom of Ghassân, left the main settlement soon after the foundation of the sovereignty, and settled in Hijâz, where they became the Anṣâr of the Prophet.
The rubbing of the fire-shafts, etc.—These metaphors signify that, though there never was wanting intelligence to keep up the conversation, or scholarship to give the answer to any question that might be propounded, yet discussion never produced anger and rude contradiction. “The rubbing of the fire-shafts” is an expression often used to signify the eliciting the spark of genius or learning that may be in a man. The two sticks by which the Arabs produced fire were called—the one ◌, and the other ◌; the former was made of the wood called ◌, the latter of ◌, these being found the most fitted to produce a spark. The wood called ◌ was also used. Compare Prov. Arab. II. 208 and 256. The two are called ◌, but the plural form ◌ is used as a singular (Prov. Arab. II. 143).
Best of treasures.—For a full discussion of the form ◌ and the use of ◌ as a comparative, see Lane’s Lexicon.
Health to you this morning.—An ancient form of salutation, said to have been first addressed to kings. It is often used in the early poets. Imr al Ḳays thus addresses the deserted habitation of his mistress (Dîwân, p. 20, l. 1). Compare also Mo‘allaḳah of ‘Antarah, l. 2.
Morning draught.—The copiousness of the Arabic language is exemplified in the terms applied to draughts at the various times of the day. Ḥarîri says in the Durrah (Anthol. Gram. Arabe, p. 27, Arabic Text) that the drink of the morning is called ◌, that of the evening ◌, that of mid-day ◌, that of the night ◌, that at day-break ◌.
The rival had compassion—The envious pitied.—◌ is he who wishes to be in your condition without depriving you of it; ◌ is he who wishes to pull you down from it. The former, ambitious emulation, is a venial sin. A Tradition cited by Lane (Book I. p. 698) says that Mohammed was asked, “Does ◌, i.e. the wishing for a blessing, on condition that it shall not become transferred from its possessor, injure him who entertains it?” He replied, “No; save only as the beating off of the leaves injures the tree called ‘iḍâh,” that is, it only diminishes without annul-ing its author’s recompense, like the beating off the leaves without cutting the tree down, for the leaves will grow again. On the other hand, ◌ is a great sin, being the first committed against God in heaven, for Iblîs envied Adam; and the first committed on earth, for Ḳâbîl (Cain) envied Hâbîl (Abel) and killed him. The Prophet said, “Have compassion on three—the rich who has become poor; the powerful, who has been abased; and the wise, who is mocked by fools.”
Anointed our eyes.—We were koheled. The ◌ or ointment of antimony was applied by women to the lids of their eyes from a very early time; a legend makes Zarḳâ ’l Yemâmeh the first woman who used it. For an account of her and her marvellous powers of eyesight, which, according to the story, were attributed by her to the use of koḥl, see Caussin de Perceval, I. 101, and commentary to Fiftieth Assembly; also Prov. Arab. I. 192, “More keen-sighted than Zarḳâ ’l Yemâmeh.” The term is here used to express the dull look which sleeplessness would give to the eyes.
Came to forget our saddles: being reduced to go on foot. Thus Abû Zayd, in the character of an old woman, in the Thirteenth Assembly, says, “That on which I carry is now my back after being my beast.”
How noble.—The metre of these verses is ◌, which is often used in improvised compositions, being the most simple and unconstrained form of metrical rhythm. Yet there is none which has so much engaged the attention of prosodists, and given rise to so many discussions. In early times there was no such thing as a regular poem, but verses were uttered by each according to his need, to express his feelings of anger, resentment, joy, or surprise. A great number of these versicles have been handed down, and whether we look upon them as having been spoken by those to whom they are attributed, or composed by early reciters and story-tellers, they undoubtedly represent the oldest form of Arab metrical composition. The chief feature of these was a continuous rhyme; for though the verse was commonly made up of a simple metrical foot of the normal form ◌, this does not seem to have been originally essential to the style. The records of the Ignorance have preserved a number of metrical rhymed verses of a simpler structure than those of the poets who, in the age preceding Moḥammed, brought Arabic poetry to its perfection. The peculiarity which distinguishes this rejez from other metres is that in its original form it was apparently not divided into two hemistiches. For this reason Al Khalîl ibn Aḥmed would not allow it to be verse, and the Arabic writers always make a distinction between ◌ and ◌. But although they insist on this difference, they have endeavoured to bring the ◌ under the same metrical laws as other kinds of verse, and various ingenious theories have been propounded to account for its peculiar structure. According to the accepted system, ◌ is the second metre of the third circle, or ◌, which is formed by the primitive foot ◌, thrice repeated, and the normal measure of the ◌ is ◌, twice. This measure has been used by the poets, but is probably only a development of the simpler form. The measure of the lines in this Assembly is ◌, that is, one half of the verse is thrown away, so that though the verses are rhymed there is properly no ◌ and no ◌. For the diversities of opinion on the subject see Freytag’s Darstellung der Arabischen Verskunst p. 234. The last foot of the verse is declared by one writer to be an ◌, and by another a ◌; but the most reasonable explanation is that the original form of the ◌ is simply an indivisible verse, consisting of ◌ twice or thrice repeated.
Of the ◌, there enter into this metre ◌ and ◌, which have been already explained, so that ◌ may drop either the ◌, or the ◌, or both together. Hence the extreme simplicity of the verse, and its fitness for improvised and inartificial addresses. The name ◌ signifies a weak, trembling metre, and is derived from the effect produced on the hearer by a series of short lines with a number of short syllables and a continuous rhyme. ◌ is the she-camel afflicted with a disease which makes her haunches tremble.
Perfected by it.—The meaning of ◌ is it suffered loss or diminution, and ◌ is, it became complete, and in a right state, lit. “it demanded loss or diminution,” because these sometimes follow completeness. Or it may be that ◌ is a substitute for ◌, the meaning being ◌. Lane.
How many a full moon.—A person in authority, called so from his loftiness and splendour. ◌ is applied to various sums of money; some say ten thousand dirhems, some seven thousand denars. It is here used to signify a large sum of money, such as would bribe a man in power, and make him descend from his high state to fulfil the seeker’s desire.
By the truth of the Lord: the necessary existence by His own essence.
His fear.—◌ signifies fear of God, by which one guards one’s self from sin, and from punishment in the world to come. Compare Ta‘rîfât, p. 68; also Bayḍâwi, on word ◌, at beginning of the Second Sura.
Its power is supreme.—Abû Zayd’s fear of irreverence is grounded on the use of ◌ to signify especially the greatness of the Deity, to whom this word is generally applied. ◌ means the supreme greatness and majesty of God, or his absolute independence. Abû Zayd asks pardon for saying that money is Almighty.
The honourable performs what he promises.—This saying was first uttered by Al Ḥârith ibn ‘Amr al Kindi to Ṣakhr ibn Nahshal. Ḥârith had said to Ṣakhr, “Shall I show thee booty, on the condition that I receive the fifth part of it?” “Yes,” answered Ṣakhr. Ḥârith had then directed him to a caravan from Yemen, which Ṣakhr plundered. Ḥârith then uttered these words, which passed into a proverb. The legend goes on to relate that Ṣakhr’s tribe desired to evade payment of the fifth, until he seized a hill by which they must pass, and, after a fight, compelled them to fulfil his agreement with Ḥârith. Prov. Arab. II. 747 and I. 52.
The rain-cloud pours if it has thundered.—◌ are clouds which make you think there is rain in them. Thus the word cannot be applied to a cloud after the rain has come out of it.
He cast it into his mouth.—This superstitious usage seems to be common in many parts of the world.
The adornment of the loved one, the colour of the lover.—The adornment refers to the impression of the coinage; the colour to the yellowness of the gold.
The niggard shrink from the night-farer.—To receive the traveller at night, and to minister to his needs, was one of the most sacred duties of the Arabs. For this purpose the generous used to pitch their tent near the camel-tracks, that the traveller might not miss it, or on heights that he might discern it from afar; they were accustomed also to light fires, that he might find his way to them by night. Thus Abû Zayd, in the Thirteenth Assembly, says, “Their fires were kindled for the travellers, and they fed the guest with fresh meat.” Compare also the beginning of the Forty-fourth: “On a dark night I spied a fire lighted on a hill top, the sign of liberality.” Compare also Ḥamâseh I. p. 693, where a poet says, “I occupy the road with my tent and its vestibule; I settle on the tops of the hills, and dwell there;” and p. 699, where it is said of one: “His fire was kindled on the hill when the fires of others were veiled. He was not the richest of men, but he was the widest of arm (the most generous.)”
Many similar passages will be found in the ◌. The traveller often made a noise to set the dogs barking, so as to be guided to an inhabited place; he was then called ◌: compare Fifth Assembly. The niggardly man was as much despised as the generous man was admired. His pot was said to be cold, and he was compared with a glowworm, whose fire warms nothing. A certain Mâdir was noted for his meanness: see p. 517, De Sacy’s Ḥarîri; also Prov. Arab. I. 190. Kosa‘ was also proverbial for his stinginess, since he burnt his dog’s throat to prevent him from barking, so that travellers might not be brought to his tent. Prov. Arab. I. 202. The early Arab poets are full of the most extravagant praises of the liberality both of themselves and those they celebrate; and this virtue appears to have been carried to the wildest excesses. The history of Ḥâtim Ṭay, as recorded in legends and proverbs, is the most conspicuous instance of this. Ḥarîri, in his verse, attributes the meanness which sometimes marked the reception of a benighted wayfarer to the corrupting influence of the denar.
Save by fleeing from thee.—The meaning is that money can only render service to a man when it quits him.
How abundant is thy shower.—The two forms of admiration ◌ and ◌ occur in this Assembly; the latter at the beginning of the first rejez, the former in this passage. For a full explanation of them, see Alfîyeh of Ibn Mâlik, with commentary of Ibn ‘Akîl, p. 228, edition of Dieterici, or p. 178 Boulak edition. The theory concerning them which is accepted by these grammarians, is that, in the case of ◌, the ◌ is the inchoative (◌), and is ◌ or a perfect indeterminate, that ◌ is the past tense of the verb; the pronoun hidden in it referring to ◌, and ◌ being the object of the verb. The proposition is the ◌ of ◌, and the virtual meaning ◌. In the second form, ◌, the verb expresses admiration under the form of the imperative, its agent being the noun mejrûr by ◌, and the ◌ being pleonastic. The proof that ◌ is a verb is that it takes the ◌ before the ◌ of the first person. The question whether the ◌ is ◌ is not of much importance; the dictum of Sîbawayh is in opposition to the opinion of Al Akhfash, who makes it ◌. In one case the sense would be, “What a thing makes Zayd handsome!” or, “What a making of Zayd handsome there is!” In the other it would be, “That which makes Zayd handsome, or the making of Zayd handsome, is a wonderful thing.” For the conditions under which admiration can be expressed by these two forms the student must be referred to the Alfîyeh itself.
Agreement binds strongest.—Prov. Arab. I. 669. The author of this saying was a judge of the Arabs, who addressed it to a dishonest suitor.
Tossed him.—Tossed him gently; the meaning of “give” is secondary.
The twice-read chapter.—The first chapter of the Koran is evidently here meant. It begins with the words, “Praise to God, the Lord of the world,” and may therefore be fitly used in returning thanks for any blessing. The poet Ibn Rashîḳ, quoted by Sherîshi, says of a beautiful boy whom he had been describing, “Say to him who admires his beauty, ‘Repeat over him the Sura of Praise.’” The word ◌, which occurs in the Koran, xv. 87, has given rise to much controversy. The passage runs, “We have given thee ◌.” The explanation of Bayḍâwi, which is commonly adopted, is that this refers to the seven verses of the first Sura; he gives, however, a dictum which asserts that it signifies seven Suras, of which the first is the Cow and the last the double chapter, the ◌ and the ◌. Compare also xxxix. 24. Other significations are also propounded, for which see Lane. Ḥarîri uses the word to signify the first Sura, which is pronounced twice in every act of prayer or rek‘ah.
Blessing his morning’s walk.—I have thus translated to distinguish ◌ from ◌ which follows; though the distinction made by the author is somewhat hard to seize. It is said that ◌ is praise for that which depends on the will of the person praised; so that praising a pearl for its clearness is not ◌ though it is ◌. In the present case ◌ would seem to be more applicable to the company. But ◌ also has the signification of lowly and reverent praise, and may therefore refer to the providential morning’s walk, by which God brought him to a generous friend.
What is thy condition.—For ◌, see Alfîyeh, line 313.
The tempest.—A strong, hot wind, that strips and burns the trees.
I have feigned to be lame.—The metre of these verses is ◌, as of those at the end of the First Assembly, except that here the ◌ is ◌. The same liberty of making the ◌ also obtains.
There is no guilt on the lame.—An allusion to the Koran, xxiv. 60, where it is said that there is no harm in the blind or the lame sitting at mens’ tables. The Arabs of the Ignorance had a superstitious prejudice on this subject, which Moḥammed sought to remove. Abû Zayd now takes the words from the context, and turns them into an excuse for himself. Or he may allude to xlviii. 17, which excuses the lame man from going to war.
Looked upon the features of joy.—Unveiled joy as a bride. The word ◌ is applied to the unveiling and looking upon a bride by the bridegroom.
Broken the staff.—A phrase of doubtful origin, but meaning to depart from or forego. The Arabs said of one who deserted his tribe, “He breaks the staff;” so one breaks the staff of the Moslems by deserting the faith. Here the meaning merely is, they avoided or eschewed dissension.
The milk-flows.—Literally, the milk which has collected in the udder between two milkings.
Like the teeth of a comb.—An expression of the Prophet; “Men are as (like each other as) the teeth of a comb.” In a bad sense they say as like as the teeth of an ass.
A night youthful in prime, etc.—A night in the early part of the month, when there is no moon. The comparison between a dark night and youth, and between a moon-lit night and the silvered hair of age, is not uncommon. Compare the Second Assembly, And now his dark night was moon-lit; also the Fifth, Its hind locks grew gray in the dawn.
The white camels.—◌ signifies literally, “of mixed white and red.”
The night-halt.—◌ was a halt for rest towards the end of the night.
The groan and the roar.—The one is the groan of the camel when its burden oppresses it; the other is the hoarse voice of the male, when he protrudes his shiḳshiḳah.
His talk-fellow.—All through the Assemblies we shall have mention of these night-conversations. The Arabs, like the natives of many hot climates, took a siesta in the middle of the day, and devoted the cool of the nights to those long colloquies in which first their genius for poetry, and then their fancy for every kind of rhetorical subtleties were fostered. The word ◌ means the shade of the moon, or that half darkness which prevails during moonlight in a place which the moon does not shine upon; but it is also applied generally to the dark of a moonless night. ◌ means “I will never do it.” By a natural transition, it came to signify the place of conversation, and then the conversation itself. For a curious derived sense of ◌, see Prov. Arab. II. 513. Compare also Ḥarîri’s own remarks in his interpretations to the Forty-fourth Assembly.
My companion.—◌ is he who rides with or behind one on the same beast.
Alas.—◌ is either a contraction of ◌, or an ejaculation expressing surprise.
Only he who clings should be clung to.—A proverb referred to Al Aghlab al ‘Ajali.
The sun rise.—Ḥarîri says in the Durrah that ◌ only applies to the rising of the sun during winter.
Excellently said thy father.—The phrase ◌ is interpreted as “ascribed be to God,” that is “fitting to God, through its excellence is what thy father said.”—Compare the common expression ◌.
Whoso attaches.—The metre of these verses is ◌, like that of the verse quoted in the Second Assembly; but with this difference, that the ◌ is ◌, like the ◌; both becoming ◌.
These verses appear to have been imitated from Imr al Ḳays. (Dîwân, p. 49). The poet says:—
“I break with him who breaks with me; I unite with him who wishes union with me.”
And again—
“I join my cord to thine, and by the feathering of thy arrow I feather mine.”
There may be some one.—For the use of ◌, see Alfîyeh, v. 366.
The sun.—◌ is said to be a proper name, and feminine, and for this reason imperfectly declined.
With an earliness beyond the earliness of the crow.—The substance of the note quoted by De Sacy from Sherîshi is as follows: When ◌ is used in a comparison among the Arabs as in this case, “With an earliness not as the earliness of the crow,” the meaning is that the thing compared is inferior to the object of comparison. Thus in the proverbial phrase ◌ (a man, but not as Mâlik) the meaning is that the person spoken of was not equal to Mâlik in bravery and goodness. But Ḥarîri evidently uses the idiom in the opposite sense, and wishes to say that the earliness was superior to the earliness of the crow. Sherîshi says that this use, though not pure Arabic, was common in Irak, and that it prevailed in the West among the people of Morocco, though not in Andalusia. It is also to be met with in the writings of modern authors, and notably in the Assemblies of Al Hamadâni. This Mâlik, whose name has thus passed into a proverb (Prov. Arab. II. 213), was Mâlik ibn Nowayrah, who was treacherously put to death by Khâlid ibn al Welîd, under the Khalifate of Abû Bekr. For the narrative, see Ḥamâseh, p. 370, in the commentary to some beautiful lines of Mâlik’s brother, Mutemmim ibn Nowayrah, to whom the proverb is attributed. For another proverbial expression given by Sherîshi, “A meadow, but not as the plant Sa‘dân,” see Prov. Arab. II. 617. It must be observed, however, in Ḥarîri’s defence, that in both the phrases cited as testimony of Arabic usage, the object of comparison is preceded by ◌, which makes an obvious difference in the sense. The idiom of Ḥarîri resembles that which occurs in the Thirty-second Assembly, “guile, as was not the guile of Pharaoh towards Moses,” that is, “greater than the guile of Pharaoh;” so here the literal sense is, “an earliness as is not the earliness of the crow,” that is, “unequalled by the earliness of the crow.”
Two worn mantles.—The ◌ was an oblong cloth, striped down the sides, which was thrown round the body. Mr. Lane says, “The modern ◌ in every case in which I have seen it, I have observed to be an oblong piece of thick woollen cloth, generally brown, or of a dark or ashy dust colour, either plain, or having stripes so narrow and near together as to appear, at a little distance, of one colour; used both to envelope the person by day and as a night covering.”
To shake for them the fruited branches: to procure for them the bounty of the travellers.
The training-ground.—The place where horses that were to run in a race (◌) were exercised.
Spies and scouts.—Those who go before an army to spy out the position of the enemy, and those who go before a caravan or tribe to find a fit place for halting or settlement.
And the wasted bank of the day had nigh crumbled in.—This strange similitude is taken from the eating away of the under part of a bank by a rapid stream, so that the rest is ready to fall in. The meaning is that Abû Zayd wasted their day little by little, until at last they discovered that it was evening and the day gone. There is probably an allusion to Koran ix. 110. Moṭarrezi, cited by De Sacy, remarks on the incongruity of this metaphor, not only in itself, but in respect to the former ḳarîneh.
The greenness of dung-heaps: a proverbial expression for a fair exterior which masks deceit. The ◌ was the pen where camels or sheep had been kept during the sojourning of a tribe on a particular spot. When the tribe migrated the place became covered with a rich grass, very fresh and green to the eye, but rank and coarse, and not relished by the herd. The word is used generally in the same sense as ◌, to signify the traces of the encampment in the form of ashes and other refuse. Zohayr, Mo‘allaḳah, l. 1; Lebîd, Mo‘allaḳah, l. 3. The Prophet said “Beware of the green of dunghills.” It was said to him, “What is that, O Apostle of God?” He said, “A beautiful woman of a bad stock.”
When they have eaten separate.—The metre of these verses is ◌, which is a metre of the second circle, or ◌, so called from all its feet being seven-lettered. This circle is formed by the third primitive foot ◌, thrice repeated, which is the measure of the ◌, one of the two used metres of this circle. The normal measure of the ◌ is ◌ The ◌ in these verses is ◌, and the ◌ is identical with it; so that the measure is the normal measure, minus one foot of each hemistich.
Of the ◌, there enter into this metre ◌, which is the quiescing of the moved second letter of a foot. By this licence ◌ becomes ◌, and as it may take place in any part of the verse, the ◌ may be made identical with the ◌ However, if the original foot occur even once, you may know that the metre is ◌. Another licence is ◌, which is the dropping of the moved second letter of a foot. Thus, ◌ becomes ◌. The third licence is ◌, which is the union of ◌ and ◌. By this ◌ becomes ◌. Instances of the two former licences may be found in the verses.
In the Koran (Sura xxxiii. 53), it is written, “O, believers, enter not the house of the Prophet, unless ye be permitted to eat there; but, if ye be invited, enter, and when ye have eaten, separate, and go not familiarly into conversation, etc.” Moḥam-med once entered the house of his freedman and adopted son Zayd, and there, by accident, he saw Zayd’s beautiful wife, Zaynab. The Prophet instantly became enamoured, and exclaimed in admiration, “Praise to God, who inclines men’s hearts!” Zaynab understood his language, and, possibly desirous of a higher alliance, reported it to her husband. Zayd, out of gratitude or respect to the Prophet, announced his purpose of repudiating his wife, alleging as his reason her haughty manner towards him, Moḥammed then resolved to marry her; but as a marriage with the wife of an adopted son was contrary to Arab usage, a revelation was necessary to give this liberty to the Prophet and his followers. The marriage was celebrated with great splendour. A number of Moslems were invited by the Prophet, and the banqueting lasted far into the night. Moḥam-med, who was anxious to retire, became angry at the tedious familiarity of his followers, and soon after the above words were revealed, and established a more respectful usage at the entertainments of the Prophet. Abû Zayd, as in the last Assembly, quotes the Koran as an excuse for his behaviour.
His witticism.—The meaning of ◌ is a pretty and witty story, and the more reasonable etymology makes it to be what is “gathered” of the sweets of flowers or fruit, as by bees, and thus, by a natural transition, the sweets of conversation or storytelling. Compare ◌ and ◌. But the usual tradition is, that Khorâfeh was a man of the tribe of ‘Othrah and an inhabitant of Medina, who, being questioned, after a long absence, by ‘Omar, related that he had been carried away by Jinn, and had married a female of the race. A war had broken out between the believing and the unbelieving Jinn, and God had given the victory to the believers. Khorâfeh had been taken prisoner with others, but as soon as the believing Jinn heard that he was a Moslem they had given him his liberty, and permitted him to return to mankind. People disbelieved this story, and his name passed into a proverb as a teller of wonderful and impossible tales: so that it was said, “Vainer than the tale of Khorâfeh.” Prov. Arab. II. 716. The Prophet, however, is related to have said that the story of Khorâfeh was true: a tradition which countenances the belief in Jinn. Sherîshi, in his commentary, relates at length a tradition of ‘Âyisheh, who testified that having once asked the Prophet to tell her the story of Khorâfeh, he had declared that Khorâfeh was a good man, and had then told her how he had been made captive by Jinn. The adventure contains a narrative of a man, who, by drinking at a certain well, had been changed into a woman, and borne children, and who by drinking again, had been changed back to the male form, and begotten more children; of a second man, who continually followed a bull which he was unable to overtake, and a third, who had enchanted horses. The stories are much after the order of the Arabian Nights, and, if the tradition be authentic, it is charitable to believe that Moḥammed related them more to amuse his young wife than to instruct her in the truth. In the Sixteenth Assembly, Ḥarîri uses the word with the article to signify the idle tales told in a night-talk.
Kufa.—Of Kufa in Irak, the rival in eloquence and learning to Basra, I have spoken in the Introduction.
Whose complexion was of a two-fold hue, whose moon was as an amulet of silver.—The meaning of this description is that it was a night of a crescent moon, which sets early and leaves the earth in darkness, so that the night is one of two hues, the moonlight and the gloom. The amulet to which the moon is here compared was a crescent-shaped piece of silver hung round the neck of children to preserve them from Jinn, the evil eye, and other dangers. It was generally inscribed with verses of the Koran.
Saḥbân.—Saḥbân Wâ’il was the most celebrated preacher and
orator of the early days of Islam, and his name has become proverbial,
like that of Ḳoss, bishop of Najrân. He was born in
the time of Moḥammed, and died in the year 54 (
O Ṭalḥah, most noble in worth, most generous with thy hereditary wealth;
Thine it is to give, so give to me; then on me will it be to praise thee in the assemblies.
Ṭalḥah said, “Choose what thou wilt.” Saḥban answered, “Thy bay horse, and thy baker lad, and thy castle of Zerenj, and ten thousand dirhems.” Ṭalḥah said, “Fie! thou hast asked of me according to thy own measure, and that of thy people Bâhileh, not according to my measure; thou art to be blamed for asking so little; if thou hadst asked all my castles, slaves, and beasts I would have given them.” It may be remarked that Bâhileh was the least esteemed of the Arab tribes. It is related of Saḥbân that, on a question of reconciliation between two tribes, he spoke half a day, without repeating a single word. See Prov. Arab. I. 450. “More eloquent than Saḥbân Wâ’il.”
Each was a man to remember from and not to guard against.— It is impossible to avoid some awkwardness in the translation of this sentence, in which the word ◌ is used in two different though cognate senses.
Fascinated us, or gained the mastery over us. A similar use of the word occurs in the Forty-third Assembly.
Rousing the dogs.—Literally, making them to bark. When a traveller lost his way in the darkness, he shouted so as to set barking any dogs that might be near. By these means he was guided to a habitation. Compare Imr al Ḳays, Dîwân, p. 49, last line of the poem. The word is often used by poets as synonymous with a belated traveller.
O people of the mansion.—The metre of these verses is ◌ like that of the verses on the denar, in the Third Assembly, with the exception that here the last foot suffers ◌, which is the dropping of the last letter of a ◌ at the end of a foot, and the quiescing of the letter before it. By this licence ◌ becomes ◌. It will be observed that there is here an uneven number of verses, so that the distinction between ◌ and ◌ cannot exist.
Like the new moon.—He likens himself to the new moon, because he is thin, bent in shape, and pale or yellow in complexion.
Begging boldly.—In the Koran, xxii. 37, the believer is commanded to give of his meat both to the ◌ and the ◌, explained to mean him who waits and is content with what is given him without begging, or else begs very humbly, and him who begs boldly and openly. Abû Zayd uses both terms in these verses as descriptive of himself.
Knew what was behind his lightning.—One of the many figurative expressions taken from the rain-cloud, to signify a knowledge of a man’s real nature and acquirements. We knew by the verses which he uttered that behind the sudden solicitation of the traveller was hidden a night’s amusement for us.
I will not roll my tongue over your food.—This word, which signifies to move the tongue in the mouth over the remains of a mouthful, is used in the Thirty-seventh Assembly in the sense of to taste, to get the full savour. Abû Zayd’s son complains that his father made him taste the savour of beggary. Compare Job, xx. 12.
In a note to the verses on the letter ◌, in the Forty-sixth Assembly, two other forms of ◌ are given, namely ◌ and ◌. This variability of the third radical is very common in Arabic, particularly in words that express very familiar ideas, and are much in the mouth of the people. A certain weakness in one of the radicals, generally the third, is to be remarked both in Arabic and Hebrew, and has encouraged the belief that the original Semitic roots were biliteral and monosyllabic, and that another letter was developed in the course of ages, as a larger variety of ideas required expression. M. Ernest Renan (His-toire des Langues Sémitiques, p. 96) says, “On est amené à se représenter chaque racine sémitique comme essentiellement composée de deux lettres radicales, auxquelles s’est ajoutée plus tard une troisième, qui ne fait que modifier par des nuances le sens principal, parfois même ne sert qu’à compléter le nombre ternaire. Les monosyllabes bilitères obtenus par cette analyse auraient servi, dans l’hypothèse que nous exposons, de souche commune à des groupes entiers de radicaux trilitères offrant tous un même fond de signification. Ce seraient là, en quelque sorte, les élé-ments premiers et irréductibles des langues sémitiques. En effet, presque tous ces radicaux bilitères sont formés par onomatopée.” The two letters ◌, for instance, express the idea of scratching or scraping which is found in the verbs ◌; to the two letters ◌ belong a similar series of verbs. Similarly, in Arabic, we have ◌, etc. Compare also M. Renan’s remarks in the same work (Book V. chap. 2.) It has also been observed that the etymologies, or rather plays on words, in the Pentateuch often assume the biliteral root, (Genesis iv. I, v. 29.) The Arab authors have not failed to observe this characteristic of their language. De Sacy, in his Anthologie, page 449, gives several passages from Moṭarrezi, in which that acute grammarian, commenting upon Ḥarîri, remarks upon the ◌, or letter-formation of certain verbs, as expressing certain classes of ideas. Bayḍâwi, in his commentary on the first verses of the second chapter of the Koran, says ◌ and ◌ are of kin, and if you go through the verbs which begin with these two letters, ◌ and ◌, you will find that they have the signification of “departing” or “going out.” He makes a similar observation on the verb ◌, which, whether it be spelt with a ◌ or a ◌, signifies the gaining of something sought or “the opening of the way of success.” Then he adds that words which resemble it in the first two letters, such as ◌, and ◌, express the notion of “breaking” and “opening.” The interest which scholars feel in determining the early structure of the Semitic languages, and their relations to those called Aryan, must be my excuse for this somewhat irrelevant note.
And forbids him his repasts.—Compare Prov. Arab. I. 540, “Sometimes one eating hinders several.”
The best suppers are those that are clearly seen.—The full proverb is given, Prov. Arab. I. 442. “The best morning meals are the early ones, the best evening meals are those that are clearly seen, or that show their face,” that is, that are taken before dark.
Unless, by Allah.—On the usage of ◌ see the commentary
to the Forty-third Assembly, p. 563, De Sacy’s edition, where
also it is explained that the fetḥah at the end is in substitution
for the vocative particle. Compare the French note to p. 569.
But the two may be exceptionally combined in poetry: Alfîyeh,
v. 584. See also Bayḍâwi on Koran, iii. 25. The peculiar
force of ◌ as unless indeed, unless possibly, suggests a comparison
with
Shot with the bow.—According to the author of the Ḳâmûs, cited in the commentary to De Sacy’s Ḥarîri, p. 447, ◌ has here the meaning of ◌, and is equivalent to ◌.
And, lo! it was Abû Zayd.—These words seem not to form part of the ḳarîneh, but to be a kind of exclamation apart from the regular movement of the cadence.
For if the moon of Sirius has gone down, etc.; if the full moon of the Lion has waned, etc.—By Shi‘ra the Arabs understand the star which we call Sirius, but they also speak of Shi‘rayân, meaning Sirius, which they call ◌, and Procyon. The stations of the moon, according to the Arab astronomers, are twenty-eight in number. She passes through the signs of the zodiac in every lunar year twelve times, and remains in each station a day and a night. Their names are as follows:—
◌ the two horns of the Ram.
◌ the Ram’s belly.
◌ the Pleiads.
◌ Aldebaran.
◌ three stars in the head of Orion.
◌ five stars in Orion’s shoulder.
◌ two stars above the Twins.
◌ nose of the Lion.
◌ eye of the Lion.
◌ forehead of the Lion.
◌ mane of the Lion.
◌ heart of the Lion.
◌ the Dog, five stars in the Virgin.
◌ Spica Virginis.
◌ the stars
◌ the horns of the Scorpion.
◌ the Crown.
◌ the heart of the Scorpion.
◌ the Scorpion’s tail.
◌ stars in Pegasus.
◌ a place were no constellation appears.
◌ the Slaughterer’s Luck, in Capricorn.
◌ the Glutton’s Luck (see Lane, sub voce ◌).
◌ the Luck of Lucks, stars in Aquarius.
◌ the Luck of the tents, stars in Aquarius.
◌ the fore lip or spout of the Urn.
◌ the hind lip of the Urn.
◌ the Fish’s belly.
These twenty-eight stations are divided into four parts, seven being allotted to each of the four seasons; thus ◌ is the eighth of the number, and consequently the first station of summer. The laborious Naṣîf al Yazaji has united the names of the stations of the moon in some verses which are to be found in his twenty-second Assembly, page 215.
Might be removed.—This rendering, which is adopted in De Sacy’s commentary, is given as more idiomatic and apposite than “he bade take away.” Sherîshi allows either.
The hurlings of exile.—Sherîshi gives ◌ as a synonym of this word; or it may mean “destinations” or “distant goals.” See Schultens’ note, Ḥarir. Consess. Sex. p. 113.
Like the heart of the mother of Moses.—In the Koran, xxviii. 9, it said, “The heart of the mother of Moses was empty,” that is, despairing or bewildered at the loss of her child. Another explanation is, “free from care,” because she had confidence in God, or believed that Pharaoh would take care of the infant. (Bayḍâwi). From this passage “the heart of the mother of Moses,” passed into a proverb as an image of emptiness.
Fate which is bye-named the Father of wonders, i.e. which has this name as a metonym. The ◌ of an Arab is formed from the name of his first or his favourite son, by the prefixion of Abû. To address a man by this fore-name was commonly indicative of respect and goodwill. When his names were written at length it was placed at the beginning of them; thus, Abû Moḥammed Ḳâsim ibn ‘Alî ibn Moḥammed ibn ‘Othmân al Ḥarîrî al Baṣrî. Ḳâsim was the name given at birth; ‘Alî, Moḥammed, and ‘Othmân were the names of his father, grandfather, and great grandfather; Ḥarîrî was a name given him from the trade of his family; and Baṣrî (the Basrian) from the name of his city.
The laḳab or sobriquet given in praise, as Badî‘ az Zemân, or in blame as ◌ must be placed after the name, but when the kinyeh alone is used, the laḳab may be placed either before or after it. The subject of names is discussed in the Alfîyeh and its commentary, section ◌; and still more fully by Al Ashmûni and his Commentator, Aṣ Ṣabbân: Boulak edition, Vol. i., p. 164.
Hail, people of this dwelling.—Metre rejez. The word ◌ is manṣûb, both as being in a state of annexion, and as not referring to persons actually present to the caller.
Worn with journeys.—◌ is here mejrûr after ◌. This kind of annexion is called ◌ or ◌. Alfîyeh, v. 387.
Aching in entrails.—◌ is said to be a maṣdar used as an epithet.
Throw away thy staff.—A common expression for settling or coming to rest.
By the sanctity of the Shaykh who ordained hospitality, and founded the House of pilgrimage in the Mother of Cities.— According to Moslems, the Ka‘beh or Holy House of Mecca was founded by Abraham. A legend declares that he was called “Shaykh” because he was the first man who became gray. On seeing his white hairs he said to the Lord, “What is this?” The Lord answered that it was the sign of dignified gravity. Abraham said, “Lord, increase this in me,” and then he became fully gray, being about 150 years of age. He ordained the rites of hospitality, since he was the first who entertained guests and fed the poor. He also entertained angels: “Our messengers came to Abraham with good tidings. They said, ‘Peace;’ he answered, ‘Peace,’ and delayed not to set before them a roast calf.” Koran xi. 72. The hospitality of Abraham is highly celebrated: compare the well known poem of Sa‘di, beginning ◌ which Dr. Franklin paraphrased into the style of the Bible. Abraham is held by the Moslems to be the original founder of their religion, which is the worship of one God, and complete submission to His will. Tradition goes further and makes him the author of the rites of the pilgrimage, and even of the usages of civilized life. Thus it is said of him that he was the first who cut his moustache, and pared his nails, and rasit pubem, and cleaned his teeth, and parted his hair, and wore a shirt, and cleansed his nostrils by drawing up water into them, and in latrinâ se aquâ mundavit. On this subject see Ṭabari. That he was the founder of the Ka‘beh is an article of faith, since it is expressly declared in the Koran (xxii. 27). For the epithet of the “Friend of God,” applied to Abraham, see Bayḍâwi on Koran iv. 124. Compare also ii. 118; iii. 60 and 89—91; also the beautiful legend at vi. 74. For the explanation of the name Bekkeh at iii. 90, see Kashshâf of Zamakh-shari, Calcutta edition, p. 219, or Bayḍâwi. Traditions concerning Abraham are to be found in Al Bokhâri, vol. ii. p. 338.
Fayd: a place in the Nejd, half way between Mecca and Bagdad. It is mentioned in the Mo‘allaḳah of Lebîd; and the passage may be profitably referred to since the commentary contains a curious remark concerning the declinability of nouns.
The Benû ‘Abs.—The tribe of ‘Abs was one of the most famous during the Ignorance. It descended from Ghaṭafân through Baghîḍ, and was close of kin to Thobyân, with which it waged a long war. This war, which is one of the most celebrated events of the pre-islamitic period, is known as the war of Dâḥis from the name of a horse belonging to Ḳays, son of Zohayr, chief of the ‘Abs, which was the cause of the dispute. It lasted forty years, that is, the feud or vendetta which arose extended over that time; for by the term “war” among the early Arabs must be only understood a state of chronic hostility, in which each tribe endeavoured to injure the other by forays, ambuscades, or single assassinations. The origin of the war of Dâḥis was the treachery of a section of the tribe of Thobyân, who, when Dâḥis was matched against Ghabrâ, a mare belonging to a certain Ḥothayfet ibn Bedr, obtained the victory for the latter by foul means. The whole story may be read in M. Caussin de Perceval’s Essai, vol. II. and at the Proverb “There has fallen out between them a war of Dâḥis and Ghabrâ.” Ar. Prov. II. 275. Compare also Ar. Prov. I. 210. Elegiac verses by Ḳays on Ḥothayfeh are to be found at Ḥamâseh, p. 210. This war, like the war of Basûs, was celebrated among the Arabs for its calamities; hence the proverb More unlucky than Dâḥis. (Prov. Arab. I. 690). Several phrases, said to have been uttered by Ḳays during the race, have also become proverbial. The ‘Abs were eventually driven from their settlements, to which they only returned after a considerable time; at last they were reconciled with Thobyân. The most celebrated personage of the Benû ‘Abs in older times was the warrior and poet ‘Antarah, son of Sheddâd. He fought in the war of Dâḥis, and was, moreover, author of one of the Mo‘al-laḳât. His poem was composed in honour of his cousin ‘Ableh, whose hand he succeeded in gaining, against the will of her father and brother. ‘Antarah was a mulatto, the son of a negress slave, and therefore ignoble, ◌. He was of so dark a complexion that, like Ta’abbaṭa Sherran, another poet of the early age, he was nicknamed ◌, “crow.” For these reasons his alliance was long rejected, and he was exposed to treacherous schemes against his life. Yet his valour and genius made him one of the most conspicuous persons in a remarkable age, and he has always been reckoned the chief hero of the sons of ‘Abs. A romance has been founded on his adventures, which is still one of the most popular works in the East. ‘Abs embraced Islam early, and when the deputies came to Medina to make profession of faith on the part of their brethren, the Prophet told them that the warrior he most desired to have seen was ‘Antarah. ‘Abs, with the rest of the race of Ghaṭafân, joined in the revolt against Abû Bekr, but were subdued by Khâlid ibn Al Walîd. Their descendants are said still to inhabit their ancient regions.
And be raised when thou fallest.—When a person tripped and fell, it was usual to utter a pious exclamation, equivalent to “God raise thee.” The formula was ◌, or ◌. Compare Thirty-fourth Assembly, “And if thou trip he will say ◌.”
Barrah was a celebrated woman’s name among the Arabs, having been borne by one who was sister of Temîm, and an ancestress of Ḳoraysh, two families of the highest repute, the one for its nobility and generosity, the other for its position at Mecca, and its kinship with the Prophet. The poet Al Farazdaḳ says of Ḳoraysh:
They are the sons of Barrah, daughter of Morr; how excellent are they in mother’s and father’s kin!
For there is no progenitor more pure-blooded than Ḳoraysh, and no maternal uncle more noble than Temîm.
(De Sacy’s Commentary to Thirty-seventh Assembly).
A crafty bird.—◌ is described as a cautious bird, which looks to the right and left while drinking, through fear of the fowler, and does not come to the usual watering-places where men drink, but repairs to stagnant pools. The name is applied to any cunning and crafty person. Prov. Arab. I 162. For ◌, a little further on, see Lane, Book I., p. 399.
Mixed hues.—The author alludes to the mingled joy and care which had preceded the advent of Abû Zayd, and which were now lost in unmingled pleasure, as well as to the mixed moonlight and dark which had been succeeded by a single shade.
The limb of the sun.—◌ is one of the many figurative synonyms of the sun, and according to Ḥarîri (in the Durrat al Ghawwâṣ), it is only used of the rising sun, while ◌ is only used of the setting. Sherîshi gives ten of these synonyms; five of which have the ◌, namely ◌, and ◌, while five have it not, ◌, and ◌. The word ◌ gives rise to the 63rd question in the Thirty-second Assembly.
O thou who didst fancy.—The metre of these verses is ◌, which has been explained in the notes to the Second Assembly. The measure here, however, is that of the third ◌, which is ◌; that is, ◌ is dropped at the end of each hemistich, and ◌ becomes ◌. Its ◌ is identical with it; and both may suffer ◌ and become ◌. Sometimes ◌ and ◌ are interchanged in the same poem; sometimes ◌ alone is used, and then the measure is called ◌, on account of its lax and tottering rhythm. This last is the measure in the present case.
Al Aṣma‘î.—Abû Sa‘îd ‘Abd al Melik ibn Ḳorayb al Aṣma‘î,
the most famous man of letters of his time, and the greatest
authority on all points of Arabic learning, was born
Al Komayt.—Al Komayt ibn Zayd was the last of three poets of the same name. He belonged to the first century of Islam, having been born in the year 60. He was learned in the poetry, the battle days, and the proverbs of the Arabs, and was a man of accomplishments and generous character. His political poems, in honour of the house of Hâshim, brought on him the anger of the Khalif Hishâm, and nearly cost him his life. He took sanctuary at the grave of Mu‘âwiyeh, the lately deceased son of the Khalif, and the children of Mu‘âwiyeh interceded for him. He then replaced the offensive verses in his poem by others, and was released. He was afterwards murdered by a body-guard of Yemen soldiers in the year 126. The great length of his compositions became proverbial. At his death he had produced 5289 verses, an inordinate number in the eyes of his countrymen, for the Arab poets were never voluminous. Hence the expression of Ābû Zayd, “Such as Al Komayt never wove,” or as we should say, “span.” A poet says:
Thy stay, my brother, is so long,
That it is like a poem of Al Komayt.
Some verses composed by him in honour of Meslemet ibn ‘Abd al Melik, brother of Welîd and Sulaymân, are to be found in Ḥamâseh, p. 774. This prince had fought with success against the Greeks, and twice besieged Constantinople. There were three poets of the name of Komayt; the first, Al Komayt ibn Tha‘labeh, was a Jâhilî; the second, his grandson, Al Komayt ibn Ma‘rûf, was a Mukhaḍram; the third, the subject of this notice, was, of course, an Islâmî. The second is said to have had the finest poetical genius.
Coals of the Ghaḍa.—A wood proverbial for making a powerful and lasting fire. Ḥarîri, in the Forty-seventh Assembly, says:
Oft is the ruby burnt in coals of Ghaḍa; then the coals are extinguished and the ruby is a ruby still.
Mr. Palgrave, in his Travels (vol. I., p. 38), says, “We saw the Ghaḍa, a shrub peculiar, I believe, to the Arabian Peninsula, and often alluded to by its poets. It is of the genus Euphorbia, with a woody stem, often five or six feet in height, and innumerable round green twigs, very slender and flexible, forming a large feathery tuft, not ungraceful to the eye, while it affords some kind of shelter to the traveller, and food to his camels.”
The diversified.—The original meaning of ◌ is a horse which has one of its eyes blue and the other black; the word is then applied to other kinds of diversity or variegation. Thus, ◌, plural of ◌, signifies brothers who are sons of one mother, but of different fathers. In the Forty-sixth Assembly, Abû Zayd bids one of his pupils repeat ◌, which have the same property as those of the present Assembly.
Of the pen.—The reed-pen, used for writing. The word is only used of the reed after it is shaped for writing.
Open a virgin style.—Literally, deflower a virgin composition, i.e., write in a new and untried style, without imitation of former authors.
Saḥbân Wâ’il has been spoken of in the notes to the Fifth Assembly.
Scattered fruit, good and bad, from their store.—A metaphorical phrase, signifying the expression of able or worthless criticisms. In Sherîshi’s commentary it is said that ◌ is not to be found among the names of the Arabs for dates; and it is suggested that it is a provincial term peculiar to Basra, which, being distinguished for its abundance of the fruit, had doubtless many local names for it. It may have been a kind used only for the feeding of animals. As for ◌, it is applied at the present day, I believe, to the cake of pressed dates which is commonly sold in the London market.
When the quivers were empty.—A common metaphor of Ḥarîri for the exhaustion of a speaker’s arguments. Compare the Seventeenth Assembly.
Ye have uttered a grievous thing.—A phrase taken from the Koran, xix. 91, where it is applied to the Christians: “They say that the Merciful has begotten a son; behold! ye have uttered a grievous (or abominable) thing; one at which the heavens go near to cleave in sunder, and the earth to gape, and the mountains to be driven in ruin.”
Skilful in testing.—◌ is the Arabic form of the Persian ◌, a broker, one who makes bargains for others. Thus the literal meaning would be “ye brokers of money-testing,” ye who make a profession of examining and judging the merits of works. See, too, De Sacy, Chrest. II., 328.
Ye sages of loosing and binding.—From signifying a priest of the Guebres, or fire-worshippers, the Persian ◌ was applied to any sage or philosopher, and then to a judge or councillor of state.
Cuts the envious.—Sherîshi, however, renders it ◌.
President of the Court.—The dîwân here mentioned is the Court of official writing or inshâ’. Sherîshi gives a curious anecdote which, as he imagines, accounts for the derivation of dîwân. The king of Persia, having ordered a laborious enumeration to be completed by his scribes in three days, was amazed at their rapidity in calculation and copying, and exclaimed, “I see devils” ◌; hence the place of their assembling was thenceforth called dîwân.
The chough in our land, etc.—For the many meanings given to baghâth, see Lane. This proverb was originally used in a sense very different to that which it has here. A hospitable and powerful tribe, receiving and adopting a stranger, boasted that “With us the chough becomes an eagle (or vulture);” that is, “the poorest wanderer by our adoption becomes a powerful personage.” Ḥarîri uses the proverb merely to signify that the speaker will not be deceived by the pretensions of an incapable person, so as to look upon him as a man of eminence. In Arab. Prov. I. 6, the verb is in the singular and the ◌ is with ḍammah. The word is used to signify the weakest and poorest of birds; thus the verse of a poet:
The common birds have the most chicks:
But the mother of birds (the eagle) hatches but one; she breeds little.
It is said that ◌ signifies birds that are preyed upon; ◌ birds that prey on others; and ◌ birds that neither prey upon others nor are preyed upon themselves, as the swallow.
Each man knows best the mark of his arrow.—As allusions to the old games of chance of the pagan Arabs are frequent in Ḥarîri, the remembrance of them being preserved in verses of the poets, and in popular proverbs, it may be as well to give some account of the game called ◌, to which the proverb in the text refers. The Arabs of the Ignorance were so immoderately given to gambling that they would sometimes stake their whole property, and when all was lost, play, like the barbarians of Europe, for their own liberty. For this purpose, as well as for divination, short, pointless arrows were used, called ◌, and ◌, the latter name being more peculiarly applied to those employed in divination; though, according to one interpretation, it is applied to gambling by arrows in Koran, v. 4. The stake in the ◌ was a slaughtered camel, which was divided into ten or twenty-eight portions, according as one of two slightly different games was played. The arrows were short sticks of the tree called ◌, and these, when struck against each other, emitted a peculiar sound, so that an arrow of another wood was easily discovered, and it may be presumed the use of it was unfair. The arrow sounded; it is not one of the right sort, became a proverbial expression in reference to a false pretender: the words having been used by ‘Omar, on the day of Bedr, in speaking of Welîd ibn ‘Oḳbah, who had exclaimed that he was of Ḳoraysh (Arab. Prov. I. 341). The game was played by seven persons, and ten or, some say, eleven arrows were used. According to one authority the ten were named as follows:— 1, ◌; 2, ◌; 3, ◌; 4, ◌; 5, ◌; 6, ◌; 7, ◌; 8, ◌; 9, ◌; 10, ◌. Each arrow had a mark on it by which the players might recognise to whom it belonged; hence the proverb in the text. In order that there might be no cheating, each was placed in a leathern case, and the drawer put on a thick glove, so that it was impossible for him to tell by sight or feeling to whom any arrow belonged. It has been said that not more than seven persons played, consequently three of the arrows, the eighth, ninth, and tenth, belonged to no one, and were only added to give greater interest to the game. The drawer, called ◌, drew from a bag, and whenever one of the three unowned arrows came out, it was put in again. The principle of the game was that the third arrow won three shares, and the seventh seven shares, while those whose arrows were drawn first, second, fourth, fifth, and sixth in order, gained nothing, but had to pay for the beast. When a player won, it was said ◌, (see Nineteenth Assembly, near the beginning). A different and somewhat unintelligible account is given of the game by Nowayri (Freytag; Einleitung in das Studium der Arabischen Sprache). It seems, however, that a second game was played, in which the animal was divided into twenty-eight portions. In this the first arrow gained one portion, the second two, and so on, the seventh gaining seven portions. This kind of gambling was forbidden by the Koran, so that whenever Ḥarîri uses phrases connected with it he speaks after the fashion of the Ignorance,—a species of classicism extremely common among the writers of Islam. The maysir is forbidden by name, Koran ii. 216, and more strongly v. 4 and 92. The latter passage is as follows: “O believers, the maysir and idols (or any stone or altar that was the object of superstitious reverence), and ◌ (arrows for divination), are an abomination of the work of Satan.” The Moslems consider this prohibition to extend to all games of chance. The “mark” on the arrow alluded to by Abû Zayd was called ◌.
With respect to the divination by arrows, Bayḍâwi in his
Commentary to Koran v. 4, taking the passage to refer to divination
of the future, says that the Arabs used to place three
arrows in a bag: on one was written “My Lord bids me;” on
the second “My Lord forbids me;” while the third had no inscription.
When they contemplated any enterprise they drew
one of them: if the first came out, they persisted in what they
purposed; if the second, they abstained from it; if the third, they
put it back and drew again, until an affirmative or negative answer
was obtained. On a journey a man would carry these arrows
with him and consult them on any occasion of doubt. At
Mecca the statues of Abraham and Hobal are said to have held
in their hand arrows for divination: these Mohammed destroyed.
Pocock long since pointed out the identity of this Arab practice
with the divination spoken of by Ezekiel, xxi. 21: “For the
King of Babylon stood at the parting of the way, at the head of
the two ways, to use divination: he made his arrows bright, he
consulted with images (teraphim), he looked into the liver. At his
right hand was the divination for Jerusalem, to appoint captains,
to open the mouth in the slaughter, to lift up the voice with
shouting, to appoint battering rams against the gates, to cast a
mount and to build a fort.” He says (Specimen Historiæ Ara-bum,
p. 318, edition of 1806): Certè quæ de hôc
As the Rebels invested Abû Na‘âmeh.—Among the bands of
Separatists, or Rebels, who arose after the death of ‘Othmân and
disturbed the Khalifate during many years, was the sect of the
Azâriḳah, implacable enemies of the House of Omayyeh. In
the 68th year of the Hijra (
Verses by Abû Na‘âmet al Ḳaṭari are to be found in the Ḥamâseh, Vol. I. p. 44. The warrior addresses his soul and bids it to be courageous in war, to remember the certainty of death, the worthlessness of life, and the common fate which awaits all mortals. Ibn Khallikân says of them, “They would give courage to the greatest coward God ever created; and I know of nothing on the subject to be compared with them: they could only have proceeded from a haughty spirit aspiring after glory.” Like many of the early Arab heroes he was also famous for his pulpit oratory. Sherîshi gives a Khoṭbah by him on the worthlessness of the world, and cites some verses of his composition. He says that he had the kinyeh of Abû Na‘âmeh in war from his mare Na‘âmeh (ostrich), but that in peace he was called Abû Mo-ḥammed.
The name of Khawârij was given to those fanatical followers of ‘Ali who, after the battle of Ṣiffîn, repudiated his authority and went into open revolt against both the contending Khalifs. The Azâriḳah owed their origin to Nâfi‘ ibn al Azraḳ, a heretical leader. An account of their tenets is given by Ash Shahrestâni. They held ‘Ali to be an unbeliever, and reverenced his murderer, ‘Abdallah ibn Muljim. But with impartial hatred they damned ‘Othmân, Ṭalḥah, Zobayr, ‘Âyisheh, ‘Abdallah ibn ‘Abbâs, and other Moslems. For a full account of Abû Na‘âmeh, see Weil, Geschichte der Chalifen, Vol. I. p. 395.
The straightening of my crookedness: the deliverance of myself from embarrassment.
Come with a sign, etc.—Koran xxvi. 154.
Wool thy inkflask.—Make it ready by putting into it the wool in which the ink is kept absorbed, to prevent it from drying up.
Ghassân is my noble kindred.—The metre of these verses is ◌. The ◌ has been described in the notes to the Fourth Assembly. The present measure is considered to be of the third ◌, which is ◌, and the first ◌ which is ◌, and the metre is as follows: ◌
On these beautiful verses Rückert, who has so well imitated them, remarks: “Dieser Ton, den Abû Seid öfter, und nie ohne zu rühren, anstimmt, ist gleichsam der zurückgedrängte reine Grundton seines Innern, der von Zeit zu Zeit aus den moralischen Dissonanzen hervorbricht, und sie in sich aufzulösen strebt. Ohne diese einzige Wahrheit in seinem aus Lug und Trug gewebten Leben könnte er gar keine poetische Person vorstellen. Diese elegische Klage um ein verlorenes Jugendparadies, und diese Sehnsucht nach einem theueren Vaterland, sind nicht er-dichtet. Man fühlt das überall, wo dieser Ton anhebt, aber voll-ständigen Aufschluss darüber gibt der Dichter, sehr kunstgerecht, erst in der ehvorletzten Makame. Mann kann sagen: Dieses gute Härchen am grauen Sünderkopf ist es, woran der Himmel ihn hält, um ihn zuletzt aus der Irre zur Heimat zurück zu führen.”
Filled his mouth with pearls.—Conferred on him rich presents.
Sure to traverse the lands.—Metre ◌. See notes to First Assembly.
I noted the signs of the coming feast.—Literally “I had observed the flash or lightning of the feast.” The metaphor is the one common with Ḥarîri of calling the index or promise of anything its “flash.” As has been remarked in a note to an earlier Assembly, the allusion is to the lightning-flash of a cloud, from the aspect of which the Arabs prognosticated rain. The name Barḳa‘îd enables the author to make an indifferent play on words. The derivation of the word ◌ given by Sherîshi is that Adam was expelled from Paradise; but afterwards God relented towards him and restored him on this day; which was thenceforth called ◌, because Adam was restored (◌) to favour upon it.
Its rites, bounden or of free will.—According to the commentators the obligatory rite, which no Moslem might neglect, was the giving of alms at the end of the fast; while that which was optional, though praiseworthy, was to attend the public prayer on the day of the feast. The usual meaning of farḍ is an observance commanded in the Koran, or by the most weighty tradition; while nefl relates to something recommended as becoming in a believer, and undertaken spontaneously by him. For the literal meaning of the latter word, see Ta‘rîfât, p. 265. But the limits of obligation varied according to the interpretation of the Doctors, and one commentator interprets the passage according to the rite of Ash Shâfii‘î, to which Ḥarîri belonged.
In new apparel.—This is a Tradition originating with ‘Âyisheh, who related that the Prophet had said, “It is incumbent upon all of you besides your suit (of two garments) for common use, to have a suit for Friday and for the Feast.” Compare Koran vii. 29.
Brought up its horsemen and its footmen.—Paraphrased by De Sacy, “accompagné de toute sa pompe et de tout son éclat.” It may, however, be here taken literally, though used in a metaphorical sense in Koran xvii. 66. See notes to Ḥarîri’s Preface.
A pair of cloaks, or overalls, worn by beggars, instead of the usual ◌, or waist wrapper, and ◌, or wrapper for the whole body, which made up the ◌, or dress.
Like a goblin.—◌ is explained to be the female of the race of ◌, the male being called ◌. The Ghûl is well known from the tales of the Thousand and One Nights. It was a malignant demon, of a nature akin to the Jinn. It would light a fire to attract travellers in the desert, and then assume various and horrible forms, which either killed the wanderer with fright, or made him powerless against its attacks. But if his courage was proof against these terrors, it would not hurt him, and he sat and warmed himself by its fire. De Sacy’s Ḥarîri, p. 480. Moḥammed denied the existence of these beings, or rather of their so murdering mankind. Jinn, however, are expressly mentioned in the Koran, and give their name to the 72nd Sura. When a man was lost in the desert, the belief was that he had been carried off by Ghûls. Compare the proverb, More wandering than Sinân: Arab. Prov. II. 17. The ◌ was akin to the Ghûl. From the Arabian Nights it would appear that the ‘Afrît was, in the popular estimation, a being of superior nature and more formidable powers.
Each simple one.—Each that appeared as if he could be easily imposed upon, and cheated of his money by the arts of the mendicant couple. A long dissertation on the word ◌ is given by De Sacy in the Chrestomathie.
Sure I have become crushed, etc.—The metre of these verses is ◌, the first metre of the third circle or ◌. Its measure is ◌, twice. It is, however, rarely found complete; the usual measure being that of the present verses which is ◌. Of the ◌ there enter into this metre ◌ and ◌, making ◌ and ◌. An instance of the latter occurs in the sixth line.
To kin or lord.—This rendering of ◌ is authorized by Sherîshi, and seems the most reasonable. It is certainly better than “miserly.” De Sacy translates “les grands et les puissans.”
The garb of the verses, i.e., the elaborate dress of assonance and rhyme in which they were arrayed.
A fee to an informer is lawful.—To one who is employed to make a discovery, or to find lost articles. These words have reference to the prohibition of Mohammed against paying money to a divineress, ◌, to discover anything lost, or any secret, by magical rites. But it was still allowable to give a fee to one who should obtain information by legitimate means.
The Return.—I have thus rendered the word by which Moslems express the exclamation “We belong to God, and to Him we return.”
There remains not any pure.—The measure of these verses is the third ◌ of the ◌ which is ◌. It is of the variety called ◌.
Not any of worth. Much controversy has arisen on the lawfulness of ◌ in this sense; and Ḥarîri himself in the Durrah has been cited as a witness against it. But whether it be chaste Arabic or not, there can be no doubt that Ḥarîri has used it both in the Fourth Assembly and here in the sense of “valuable, of worth.” De Sacy, who gives the passage from the Durrah in his Chrestomathie, points out that it does not really condemn the use of the word in the sense here attributed to it.
Perdition on thee, Wretch.—◌ is the feminine form for blaming, and ◌ the masculine. The former is indeclinable with kesr; but only as a vocative. De Sacy’s Ḥarîri, p. 527. Compare also Alfîyeh, verse 595.
Both of the prey and the net, etc.—By these metaphors Abû Zayd means to say “Shall we not only receive no alms from this company, but also lose the written petitions by which we are accustomed to obtain them?” A handful to the load is a proverbial expression for ill upon ill, or in an opposite sense luck upon luck. The word ◌ signifies a bundle of fire-wood or dry herbage; hence a great bundle of anything, and in this sense it is used in Koran cv. 3. “Hast thou not seen what thy Lord has done with the Men of the Elephant (the soldiers of Abraheh the Abyssinian); how he made their stratagems to err, and sent upon them birds in bundles or heaps?” But Bayḍâwi says that ◌ is here a plural noun without a singular, meaning in heaps. By some Abâbîl has been erroneously supposed to be the name of the birds.
A mite.—A small unstamped piece of metal used as a coin.
The polished, the engraved.—These words are adopted from the Mo‘allaḳah of ‘Antarah, v. 37. “After the heat of the noon subsides, I drink of old wine gotten by the polished, the engraved.” The epithets, however, in the opinion of some, apply to the goblet, so that the sense is “I drink of old wine from the polished, the engraved.” (Mo‘allaḳât, edition of Fr. Aug. Arnold, page 156).
It troubled my heart.—The sentence is here the fâ‘il to ◌ and ◌ is the mef‘ûl.
I might test the quality.—Literally, that I might bite the wood, as an Arab bites a piece of wood to test its soundness for making an arrow or lance. In the Thirty-seventh Assembly it is said, Henceforth be not hasty in censure, nor plane the wood till thou hast bitten it; that is, proceed not in a charge until thou hast made sure that it is well founded. Firâseh is originally skill in judging of a horse, faras; and secondarily, the art of physiognomy, or of discovering the disposition of men from their face and form; and then discernment generally. A similar art was that of ◌, the skilful in which discerned the tribe and pedigree of a man by his bodily form and features. Compare Forty-ninth Assembly, p. 664, De Sacy’s edition; and Ta‘rîfât, p. 177. He who divined the future of a man from bodily signs was called, according to Maydâni (Arab. Prov. II. 132), ◌; but this is a name for any diviner. The art of Ḳiyâfeh was hereditary in the tribe of Methḥij: note to Ḥamâseh, Vol. II., part 2, p. 245.
Save by treading on the necks of the congregation, a thing forbidden in the law.—It is forbidden to break through the rows of worshippers, and, as it were, to tread on their necks while they are making their prostrations. This prohibition is derived from the Prophet, who said, “Whoso treads on the necks of the people on the day of Congregation (Friday) is making for himself a bridge to hell.”
Ibn ‘Abbâs.—‘Abd Allah, the son of ‘Abbâs, the son of ‘Abd al Muṭṭalib, the son of Hâshim, of the tribe of Ḳoraysh, was cousin to Moḥammed, and the most eminent doctor of the first age of Islam. He was born three years before the Hijra, and consequently was thirteen years old at the death of the Prophet. The year in which he died is variously stated, the extremes being 68 and 74 of the Hijra according to Sherîshi. Another account makes him to have died in the year 67, in the 81st year of his age. He had been blind from his 30th year, but possessed great knowledge and acuteness, and so accurate a memory that he handed down 660 Traditions of the Prophet. He was a man of great physical beauty, and was so careful of his appearance that he dyed his hair with henna. One said of him, “When I saw Ibn ‘Abbâs I said, ‘He is the handsomest of men;’ when he spoke I said, ‘the most eloquent;’ when he discoursed I said, ‘the most learned.’” His remarkable sagacity was supposed to be due to a prayer of Moḥammed in his favour when he was a child: “Teach him wisdom, and give him increase of knowledge and science.” He was called by the Moslems the “Doctor” and the “Sea” (of learning). It is related of him that he saw the angel Gabriel twice when in company with the Prophet. On one occasion he saw a man with the Prophet whom he did not know, whereupon he asked who it was. The Prophet said, “Hast thou seen him?” “Yes,” replied Ibn ‘Abbâs. “That,” said Moḥammed, “is Gabriel; surely thou shalt lose thy sight.” This calamity accordingly fell upon him while he was still a young man. He was said to have observed in verse—
God has taken the light from my two eyes,
But set their light in my tongue and my heart.
Some of his recorded sayings have merit. He was an advocate of change of study. He said, “When I am tired of the orator I take up the poet.” On the accession of ‘Ali he gave him prudent advice as to his treatment of Mu‘âwiyeh, which, unfortunately for the new Khalif, was not taken. (Ockley). He was the most liberal of the early Moslems, for he lectured not only on the Koran and law but on grammar, on the Days of the Arabs, and on poetry, giving a day in turn to each; and to him is especially due the preservation of the early Arab poetry. He was for a time governor of Basra under the Khalif ‘Ali.
Iyâs.—Abû Wâthilet Iyâs ibn Mu‘âwiyet ibn Ḳorrah, called Al Muzanî, was Kadi of Basra at the beginning of the second century of the Hijra. He is celebrated in Arabic tradition for his wonderful acuteness, of which a number of stories are related, so that you say of a very clever person, More intelligent than Iyâs (Arab. Prov. I. 593). Ibn Khallikân says of him, “He was renowned for ready expression and for penetration, and the acuteness of his mind was proverbial; the persons of merit who spoke their language with elegance considered him as their chief; his conjectures were verified by the events, and in the management of affairs he showed great dexterity. It is he to whom Ḥarîri alludes in his Seventh Assembly. He was appointed Kadi of Basra by ‘Omar ibn ‘Abd al ‘Azîz, and his grandfather Iyâs was one of the Companions of Moḥammed.” Of his acuteness Ibn Khallikân relates the following anecdotes: Being at a place in which something happened which caused alarm, and where three women, whom he did not know, were present, he said, “One of them is pregnant, another is nursing, and the third is a virgin.” On inquiry it was found that he had judged rightly; and when he was asked how he came to know, he replied, “In time of danger persons lay their hands on what they most prize: now I saw that the pregnant woman, in her fright, placed her hand on her belly, which showed that she was with child; the nurse placed her hand on her bosom, by which I knew that she was suckling; and the gesture of the third proved to me that she was a maid.” Hearing a Jew ridicule the Moslems for believing that the inhabitants of Paradise are to eat food and yet not pass it away, he asked him if all that he ate passed off in that manner; and on the Jew replying that God converted a portion of it into nourishment, he said “Why should not God convert into nourishment the whole of the food eaten by the inhabitants of Paradise?” Being one day in a courtyard, he said that there was an animal under one of the bricks; the people having raised it found a snake under it. He was asked how he came to know that it was so. He said that among all the bricks in the pavement there were only two under which any dampness appeared, so that he knew there must have been something underneath that breathed. Other anecdotes of the same kind follow. Maydâni tells of him that, hearing a dog bark, he said the dog was tied to the brink of a well. When this was found to be the case, he explained that he had first heard the bark and then the echo. Two men came before him, of whom one accused the other of not restoring some money that he had committed to him, while the defendant denied that he had received any at all. The Kadi asked the plaintiff where he had given it to the defendant. He answered that it was under a certain tree. The Kadi told him to go to the tree, so as to refresh his memory by the sight of it. While he was gone, the Kadi asked the defendant whether he thought his adversary had reached the tree. “Not yet,” said the man unconsciously, “for it is a long way off.” Thus his deceit was exposed. On one occasion he was worsted by a witness. A man was testifying about a garden, and Iyâs, having reason to suspect him, asked how many trees there were in the garden. The man, in return, asked the Kadi how many beams there were in the roof of the court, and the Kadi could not tell.
His conductor.—The conductor, or driver of the camels, is called ◌, though he be behind them, because he guides them.
The third prop of the pot.—The Arabs of the desert place two stones close to the slope of a rock, and on these they rest the pot; the rock itself being the third prop. The “third prop,” became a proverbial expression, to signify anything heavy or inconvenient; and is thus applied to the old woman whose company was undesirable. It is the more appropriate as she made up the trio which repaired to the house of Ḥârith. See De Sacy, in Chrestomathie Arabe.
Yes, by the Watcher from whom no secret is hidden!—I have adopted this rendering on the authority of Sherîshi; but not without hesitation. It seems, however, to present fewer objections than any other. In the first place ◌ cannot refer to the old woman, but clearly refers to God; for Ḥarîri would not have been guilty of the impiety of jesting with so solemn a phrase as the Watcher from whom no secret is hidden. If this be so, we must either accept the trivial idea that the old woman and God accompanied them, or translate the phrase as an oath. It is common with Ḥarîri to indicate a thing by alluding to some quality of the Deity which is in accordance with it. Thus in the Tenth Assembly: “I adjured him to say whether he was Abû Zayd,” “Yes,” he answered, “By Him who has permitted the chase!” meaning, “By Him who permitted the chase! you have before you Abû Zayd, the hunter.” Compare the Forty-first Assembly, where Abû Zayd, speaking of his clever son, says, “Yes, by Him who brings pearls from the deep!” in allusion to the boy’s improvisations. In the present case the mention of God, as one from whom no secret is hidden, indicates that the old woman would be an inconvenient spy on their actions.
The Farḳadân are two bright stars in the Little Bear. The four which form the square of either Bear are called ◌, the Bier; the others are called ◌, the Sons or Followers of the Bier; ◌ being here the plural of ◌, since the word refers to irrational objects. The stars called Farḳadân are, I believe, the two nearest the pole-star. The pole-star is called ◌. There can be little doubt that the Great Bear is mentioned in the Book of Job under the names ◌ and ◌; ix. 9 and xxxviii. 32. Our translation “Canst thou guide Arcturus with his sons?” would be more properly “the Bier with its sons.” See Thesaurus of Gesenius.
As if his mouth were full.—Literally, as if he had an impediment that prevented him from speaking.
Since time, etc.—Metre ṭawîl.