١،١٥
15.1
ذكرها صاحب كتاب الأغاني.
The author of The Book of Songs mentions her.
٢،١٥15.2
أخبرني عبد الرحمٰن بن سعد الله الواسطيّ إذنًا عن أبي القاسم بن السمرقنديّ قال أخبرني أبو منصور العكبريّ أخبرنا أبو الحسن بن الصلت أخبرنا أبو الفرج الأصبهانيّ قال
محبوبة جارية المتوكّل كانت مولّدة شاعرة مغنّية متقدّمة١ في الحالتين على طبقتها وكانت حسنة الوجه والغناء أهداها عبيد الله بن طاهر للمتوكّل على الله لمـّا ولي٢ الخلافة في جملة أربعمائة جارية قيان وسواذج فتقدّمتهنّ جميعًا عنده.
١ كذا في م، وفي ج: مقدّمة. ٢ كذا في م، وفي ج: ولّي.
ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Saʿd Allāh al-Daqīqī72 informed me—citing Abū l-Qāsim ibn al-Samarqandī with permission, who cites Abū Manṣūr al-ʿUkbarī, citing Abū l-Ḥasan ibn al-Ṣalt—that Abū l-Faraj al-Iṣfahānī said:
Maḥbūbah, the slave of al-Mutawakkil, was of mixed parentage. She was foremost of her generation both as a poet and as a singer. She had a beautiful face and voice.
ʿUbayd Allāh ibn Ṭāhir gave her to al-Mutawakkil when he became caliph, as one of a group of four hundred slaves, some of them musically trained, others not. In his eyes, she surpassed them all.
٣،١٥15.3
وبه أخبرنا أبو الفرج الإصبهانيّ قال حدّثني جعفر بن قدامة حدّثني ابن خرَّداذبه قال حدّثني عليّ بن الجهم قال
كنت يومًا بحضرة المتوكّل وهو يشرب ونحن بين يديه إذ١ دفع إلى محبوبة تفّاحة مغلّفة بغالية فقبلّتها٢ وانصرفت عن حضرته ثمّ خرجت جارية لها ومعها رقعة فدفعتها إلى المتوكّل فقرأها وضحك ثمّ رمى الرقعة إلينا فقرأناها فإذا فيها [منسرح]
|
يَا طِيبَ تُفَّاحَةٍ خَلَوْتُ بِهَا |
تُشْعِلُ نَارَ ٱلْهَوَى عَلَى كَبِدِي |
|
أَبْكِي إِلَيْهَا فَأَشْتَكِي دَنَفِي |
وَمَا أُلَاقِي مِنْ شِدَّةِ ٱلْكَمَدِ |
|
لَوْ أَنَّ تُفَّاحَةً بَكَتْ لَبَكَتْ |
مِنْ رَحْمَتِي هٰذِهِ ٱلَّتِي بِيَدِي |
|
إِنْ كُنْتِ لَا تَعْلَمِينَ مَا لَقِيَتْ |
نَفْسِي فَمِصْدَاقُ ذَاكِ فِي جَسَدِي |
|
فَإِنْ تَأَمَّلْتِهِ عَلِمْتِ بِأَنْ |
لَيْسَ لِخَلْقٍ عَلَيْهِ مِنْ جَلَدِ |
قال فما بقي والله أحد إلّا ٱستظرفها وٱستملح الأبيات وأمر المتوكّل عريب وشارية فصنعتا في الشعر لحنين غُنّي بهما باقيَ يومه.
١ ج: إذا. ٢ م: فقلّبتها، كما جاء في ج.
Via the same transmitters, Abū l-Faraj al-Iṣfahānī relates that Jaʿfar ibn Qudāmah reported that Ibn Khurradādhbih reported that ʿAlī ibn al-Jahm said:
I was once in the presence of al-Mutawakkil when he was drinking.73 He handed Maḥbūbah an apple perfumed with a scented musk blend.74 She kissed it75 and took her leave. Then one of her slaves appeared with a piece of paper which she handed to al-Mutawakkil. He read it, laughed, and tossed the paper to me to read. This is what it said:
You—fragrance of an apple I had to myself—
you ignite in me the fire of ecstasy.
I weep and complain of my malady,
and of my grief’s intensity.
If an apple could weep, then the one I hold
would shed such tears of pity.
If you do not know what my soul has suffered
look, the proof is my body.
If you gaze upon it, you will see
one unable to suffer patiently.
Every single person present found these verses utterly delightful. Al-Mutawakkil ordered both ʿArīb and Shāriyah to set the verses to music, and those were the only songs sung the rest of the day.
٤،١٥15.4
وبه قال حدّثنا جعفر بن قدامة حدّثني عليّ بن يحيى المنجّم قال
قال المتوكّل لعليّ بن الجهم وكان يأنس به ولا يكتمه شيئًا من أمره
يا عليّ إنّي دخلت إلى قبيحة الشاعرة فوجدتُها قد كتبت اسمي على خدّها بغالية فوالله ما رأيت شيئًا أحسن من سواد تلك الغالية على بياض ذلك الخدّ فقلْ في هذا شيئًا وكانت محبوبة جالسة من وراء الستارة تسمع الكلام فإلى أن دُعي لعليّ بالدواة والدَرْج وأخذ يفكّر قالت على البديهة [طويل]
|
وَكَاتِبَةٍ بِٱلْـمِسْكِ فِي ٱلْخَدِّ جَعْفَرا |
بِنَفْسِي مَخَطُّ ٱلْـمِسْكِ مِنْ حَيْثُ أَثَّرَا |
|
لَئِنْ كَتَبَتْ فِي ٱلْخَدِّ سَطْرًا بِكَفِّهَا |
لَقَدْ أَوْدَعَتْ قَلْبِي مِنَ ٱلْحُبِّ أَسْطُرَا |
|
فَيَا مَنْ لِـمَمْلُوكٍ لِـمِلْكِ يَمِينِهِ |
مُطِيعٌ لَهُ فِيمَا أَسَرَّ وَأَظْهَرَا |
|
وَيَا مَنْ مُنَاهَا فِي ٱلسَّرِيرَةِ جَعْفَرُ١ |
سَقَى ٱللهُ مِنْ سُقْيَا ثَنَايَاكِ جَعْفَرَا |
قال: وبقي عليّ بن الجهم واجمًا لا ينطق بحرف وأمر المتوكّل عريب فغنّت في هذا الشعر.
١ م: جعفرا.
Via the same transmitters, Abū l-Faraj al-Iṣfahānī relates that Jaʿfar ibn Qudāmah reported that ʿAlī ibn Yaḥyā the astromancer said:
Al-Mutawakkil confided as follows to ʿAlī ibn al-Jahm, his close friend and confidant:
“I paid Qabīḥah the Poetess a visit and found that she had written my name on her cheek using a scented musk blend. I swear, ʿAlī, I’ve never seen anything more beautiful than that streak of black against her white cheek. Go ahead and compose a poem for me about that!”
Maḥbūbah was sitting behind the curtain, listening to us talk, and in the time it took for an inkstand and scroll of paper to be brought and for ʿAlī to formulate his thoughts, she had already improvised the following verses:
She wrote “Jaʿfar” in musk on her cheek,
how lovely that streak where the musk left its mark!
On her face she wrote just one line,
but she etched many more on my heart.
Who can help a master in thrall to his slave,
subservient in his heart, but plain to see,
Or one whose secret desire is Jaʿfar—
may he drink his fill from your lips!76
ʿAlī ibn al-Jahm was dumbfounded at being upstaged like this. Al-Mutawakkil commanded ʿArīb to set the poem to music.
٥،١٥15.5
وبه حدّثنا جعفر بن قدامة قال حدّثني مولاي عن عليّ بن الجهم قال
غاضب المتوكّل محبوبة فٱشتدّ عليه بُعدها عنه ثمّ صالحته١ بعد ذلك جئته٢ يومًا فحدّثني أنّه رأى في النوم أنّها قد صالحته ودعا بخادم له فقال اذهبْ فٱعرف٣ لي خبرها وأيّ شيء تصنع فرجع فأعلمه أنّها جالسة تغنّي فقال لي أما ترى إلى هذه تغنّي وأنا عليها غضبان ثمّ قال لي قمْ معي حتّى نسمع بأيّ شيء تغنّي فقمنا حتّى انتهينا إلى حجرتها فإذا هي تغنّي [منسرح]
|
أَدُورُ فِي ٱلْقَصْرِ لَا أَرَى أَحَدًا |
أَشْكُو إِلَيْهِ وَلَا يُكَلِّمُنِي |
|
حتّى كَأَنِّي رَكِبْتُ مَعْصِيَّةً |
لَيْسَتْ لَهَا تَوْبَةٌ تُخَلِّصُنِي |
|
فَهَلْ لَنَا شَافِعٌ إِلى مَلِكٍ |
قَدْ زَارَنِي فِي ٱلْكَرَى فَصَالَحَنِي |
|
حَتَّى إِذَا مَا ٱلصَّبَاحُ لَاحَ لَنَا |
عَادَ إِلَى هَجْرِهِ فَصَارَمَنِي |
قال فطرب المتوكّل وأحسّت به فخرجت إليه وخرجنا نتبادر فأعلمتْه أنّها رأته في النوم وقد جاءها فصالحها فقالت هذا الشعر وغنّت به فأطرب ذلك المتوكّل وأقام يشرب معها وخرجت إلينا جوائزُها.
١ م: صالحه، كما جاء في ج. ٢ م: ثمّ جئته، كما جاء في ج. ٣ كذا في م.
Via the same transmitters, I cite Abū l-Faraj al-Iṣfahānī, who relates that Jaʿfar ibn Qudāmah reported that ʿAlī ibn Yaḥyā the astromancer77 reported the following to him, via ʿAlī ibn al-Jahm:
Al-Mutawakkil had a falling-out with Maḥbūbah and found it very hard to be apart from her. In the end, the pair made up.78 Meanwhile I went to see him. He told me he’d had a dream that they had been reconciled, so he called a servant and said to him, “Go find out how she is and and see what she’s doing.”
The servant returned and told him that she was just singing.
“Can that woman really be singing when I’m so angry with her?” he said to me. “Come on, let’s find out what she’s crooning about.”
We headed to her room, and this is what she was singing:
I wander the palace, but I see no one,
no one will answer my plaint, it would seem.
I feel as though I’ve committed a sin,
one I can repent of but can never redeem.
Will someone plead my case to a king
who ended our quarrel when he came in a dream?
Yet when the dawn broke and the sun shone,
he forsook me again and left me alone.
Al-Mutawakkil was visibly moved. Realizing he was there, she came out of her room, and I made myself scarce.
She told him that she’d had a dream in which he’d come to her and they’d made up. That was why she had composed the poem, put it to music, and sung it. Al-Mutawakkil was so touched that he decided to stay and drink with her. She made sure I was well rewarded.
٦،١٥15.6
وبه قال حدّثنا عليّ بن يحيى أنّ جواري المتوكّل تَفرّقن بعد موته فصار إلى وصيف عدّة منهنّ فيهنّ محبوبة وٱصطبح يومًا وأمر بإحضار جواري المتوكّل فأُحضرن وعليهنّ الثياب الفاخرة الملوّنة والحلى١ وقد تَزيّنّ وتعطّرن سوى محبوبة فإنّها جاءت مرهاء متسلّبة عليها ثياب بياض غير فاخرة فغنّى الجواري وطربن وشربن وطرب ثمّ قال لمحبوبة غنّي فأخذت العود وغنّت وهي تبكي [خفيف]
|
أَيُّ عَيْشٍ يَطِيبُ لِي |
لَا أَرَى فِيهِ جَعْفَرَا |
|
مَلِكًا قَدْ رَأَتْهُ عَيْـ |
ـنِي قَتِيلًا مُعَفَّرَا |
|
كُلُّ مَنْ كَانَ ذَا سَقَا |
مٍ وَحُزْنٍ فَقَدْ بَرَا |
|
غَيْرَ مَحْبُوبَةَ ٱلَّتِي |
لَوْ تَرَى ٱلْـمَوْتَ يُشْتَرَى |
|
لَٱشْتَرَتْهُ بِمِلْكِها |
لِتُوَارَى وَتُقْبَرَا |
|
إَنَّ مَوْتَ ٱلْحَزِينِ أَطْـ |
ـيَبُ مِنْ أَنْ يُعَمَّرَا |
قال فٱشتدّ ذلك على وصيف وهمّ بقتلها فٱستوهبها منه بُغا وكان حاضرًا فوهبها له وأعتقها وأمرها بأن تقيم حيث أحبّت فخرجت إلى بغداد فأقامت بها وأخملت نفسَها حتّى ماتت حزينة رحمها الله تعالي وجزاها عن حسن العهد وحفظ الوداد والوفاء خيرًا.
١ ج: حليّ.
Via the same transmitters, Abū l-Faraj al-Iṣfahānī relates that ʿAlī ibn Yaḥyā the astromancer had reported to him that the slaves of al-Mutawakkil were divided up after his death. Several of them, including Maḥbūbah, ended up going to Waṣīf.
One day, as he was having his morning drink of wine, Waṣīf ordered that al-Mutawakkil’s slaves be brought before him. They arrived in all their splendor, adorned, perfumed, and dressed in brightly colored clothes bedecked with jewels, except for Maḥbūbah, who came dressed in plain mourning white and not wearing any makeup.
The slaves sang, drank, and made merry, as did Waṣīf. Carried away by it all, he commanded Maḥbūbah to sing. She picked up the lute and sobbed as she sang:
What sweetness does life hold for me
when I cannot see Jaʿfar?
A king I saw with my own eyes
murdered, rolled in the dust.
The sick and the sorrowful,
they can all heal;
But not Maḥbūbah—
if she saw death for sale,
She would give everything she has to buy it
and join him in the grave.
For the bereaved,
death is sweeter than life.
The song struck home. Enraged, Waṣīf was on the point of having her killed, when Bughā, who happened to be present, said, “Give her to me!”
Bughā took her, gave her her freedom, and allowed her to live wherever she pleased. She left Samarra for Baghdad where she lived in obscurity and died of grief.
May God have mercy on her and reward her for her devotion to the memory of her beloved master!