A Sampling of the Verse of the Rural Rank and File

“By God, by God, the Moighty, the Omnipotent”

١،١،٢2.1.1

فالتفت الجماعة إليه * وصار الكلّ يضحكون عليه * لما سمعوا منه من كلام شنيع * وعلموا من حاله أنّه في أمر مريع * فقالوا له ابدأ بهجوك يا أخا الشعراء * فصار يتفكّر طويلًا ويقول لهم قفوا قفوا بلا مراء * وكرّر ذلك عليهم مرارًا لخمود فكرته الخامده * وجمود قريحته الجامده * ثمّ قال شعر [كامل]

وَاللهِ وَاللهِ العَضِيمِ القَادِري	هُوَ عالِمًا بِسَرايِري وَخَبايِطي
إِنْ عادَ قَلْبي دا المَشُوم ذِكِرْكَمُوا١	لا نُقَطِّعوا مِنْ مُهْجَتي بِصَوابِعي

١ الأصل: دَكركَمُوا.

At this the company turned to look his way, all mocking him for the loathsome words they’d heard him say, concluding from what they saw that his case was dire. “You, brother poet,” they said, “shall be the first to fire.” So he pondered at length, telling them, “Halt, halt,⁶ for sure!” and said this again and again, so dull his mind, so rigid his brain. Then he declaimed:⁷

wa-llāhi wa-llāhi l-ʿaḍīmi l-qādirī

huwa ʿāliman bi-sarāyirī wa-khabāyiṭī

in ʿāda qalbī dā l-mashūmu dhikirkamū

la-nuqaṭṭiʿū min muhjatī bi-ṣawābiʿī

By God, by God, the Moighty, the Omnipotent

He is cognizunt of my secrets and my clangers!

If this unlucky heart of mine should turn again to thoughts of youse

I’ll cut it out of my heart with my fangers!

٢،١،٢2.1.2

فقام شخص من بينهم وأثار الصياح * وقال له يا أخا الشعراء ليس هذا من طريق النجاح * فإنّ الأولى أن تقول في الآخر من البيت الأوّل * (وَظَواهِري) بدل (وَخَبايِطي) ليكون الكلام له مزيّة ويؤوَّل * فإنّ القافية على حرف الرا * فلا تكن على الجهل مصرّا * فسلّم في ذلك إليه * وجعل المعوَّل من نفسه عليه * ثمّ قال له لِمْ لا تقل في آخر البيت الثاني (وَظَوافِري) لأجل القافية * بدل (وَصوابِعي) لتكون فكرتك لآثار الشعراء قافية * فصاح به من جهله المركّب وقال إنّ الشيء بالشي يتركّب والأصابع مركّبة في الأظافر * وهذا يقوم مقام هذا يا خبيث يا فاجر * فعند ذلك ضحك الجماعة عليه وتوجّهوا من أمامه * وخلّوا بينه وبين إبليس إمامه * ولنرجع لما نحن بصدده من حلّ شعر هذا التعيس * المطرود عن أبواب ذوي الذوق والكلام النفيس *

At this one among them rose and engaged in vociferation, saying, “Brother Poet, the path to success lies not in that direction. It would be more proper to say, at the end of the first line, wa-ẓawāhirī (‘my patent errors’) instead of wa-khabāyiṭī (‘my clangers’), so that the words may have some merit and be with interpretation consistent, for the rhyme is with the letter r—be not then on your ignorance insistent!” This point the man conceded, acknowledging thereby that his help he needed. Then the other asked him, “Why did you not say, at the end of the second line, wa-ẓawāfirī (‘and my fingernails’) rather than wa-ṣawābiʿī (‘my fangers’), and so your footsteps with the relics of the poets align?” The other, from his ignorance compounded, now shouted, “One thing is on another mounted, and the fingers are mounted on the nails, so the one for the other may substitute, you miscreant, you dissolute!” At this, the company mocked him and left him alone, abandoning him to his own devices and those of Satan, his patron. Let us now return to what we were about by way of a decoding of the poetry of this lout, who, from the portals of those of good taste and exquisite speech, must surely be driven out.

٣،١،٢2.1.3

فنقول وبالله المستعان * وعليه التكلان * أمّا هذا الشعر الناقص * فمن بحر الخراع الناقص * وهو على ثلاثة أضرب متناقص متناقص متناقص * وصفة تقطيع المصرع الأوّل عليها

والله و ال‍	‍لٰه١ العضي‍	م القادري
متناقصٌ	متناقصٌ	متنافصٌ

هذا هو التفعيل السقيم * الّذي ليس بمستقيم * وأمّا طوله المستبين * فمن باب المارستان إلى قاعة المجانين * وأمّا عرضه الأوفى الأوفر * فمن باب السلسلة إلى باب البرج الأكبر * وأمّا معناه فليس بمعين * لا لفظًا ولا معنًى لأنّ لفظه بالعضيم^٢ * ليس بيمين * لأنّه من التعضيم * لا من التعظيم * وبه لا تنعقد اليمين * على الوجه المستقيم * حتّى لو قصد به غير التعظيم * كان جاحدا * ولأمور الشريعة مخالفًا معاندا *

١ الأصل: و الله. ٢ الأصل: يالعضيم.

Thus we declare—and from God we seek aid and to Him we repair: this deficient verse is drawn from the ocean of madness⁸ and consists of three feet: mutanāqiṣun mutanāqiṣun mutanāqiṣun.⁹ A depiction of its scansion,¹⁰ applied to the first hemistich,¹¹ would go:

wa-llāhi wa-l-	lāhi l-ʿaḍī	mi l-qādirī
mutanāqiṣun	mutanāqiṣun	mutanāqiṣun

This is its limping measure, which is anything but straight, while its length, as all may see, is from Bedlam’s hall to the hospice gate, and its breadth, so complete, so broad in sweep, from the Gate of the Chain¹² to that of the Great Keep. As for the sense, it’s beyond help, with regard to both wording and meaning, for, when pronounced al-ʿaḍīm, it’s not an oath, for the latter is from taʿḍīm not taʿẓīm,¹³ and if he uses it the oath nonbinding we must deem. Even if he meant by it something other than “held in awe,” such a use would be repudiated, as being at odds with, and contrary to, the conventions of the law.

٤،١،٢2.1.4

وقوله (هُوَ عالِمًا) لا يصحّ نصب عالماً في علم العربيّه * لأنّ عالماً مرفوع بلا نزاع على القاعدة النحويّه *

The poet’s words huwa ʿāliman (“he is cognizunt”): the ending an here does not, according to the science of Arabic, compute, because ʿāliman should be, according to the rules of grammar, in the nominative¹⁴—over this there can be no dispute!

٥،١،٢2.1.5

وقوله (إنْ عادَ قَلْبي دا المَشومُ ذِكِرْكَمُو) فلا يصحّ فتح الكاف الثانيه * وبهذا فكرته لرداء الذوق ثانيه * بل لا يصحّ الإتيان بالفعل الماضي وإنّما يؤتى بالمضارع * لأنّه إمّا للحال أو للاستقبال واقع * وقصد القائل إن عاد القلب بذكركم لا أفعل^١ به كذا * وأظهر له كذا وكذا *

١ لا افعل: أي (لَأفعل).

The poet’s words in ʿāda qalbī dā l-mashūmu dhikirkamū (“If this unlucky heart of mine should turn again to thoughts of youse”): by putting an a after the second k correct grammar he has belied, and with his thinking on this point the robe of taste is folded and set aside. Moreover, having the verb in the perfect isn’t any more correct—here the imperfect must be preferred, it being to either the present or the future that the reader is referred.¹⁵ What the poet wants to say is “If this unlucky heart of mine should turn again to thoughts of you, I shall do to it this or that, or shall treat it thus and so.”

٦،١،٢2.1.6

وقوله (لا نُقَطِّعوا مِنْ مُهْجَتي بِصَوابِعي) او (بِظَوافِري) فهذا شيء مستنكر * لدى من له ذوق سليم وبصر * لأنّه لا يمكنه قطع القلب بالأصابع * وبه لم يستقم المعنى عند من له يُراجَع * وبذلك يظهر أنّ القائل لهذا الكلام * ليس له عقل يعقل به وبعدمه حصل النقض والإبرام *

The poet’s words la-nuqaṭṭiʿū min muhjatī bi-ṣawābiʿī (“I’ll cut it out of my heart with my fangers!”) (or bi-ẓawāfirī, “with my fingernails”): this is something beyond the pale for any possessed of sound taste and insight hale because for him to cut out his heart with his fingers would be impossible, and the meaning has made no sense to any authority who is accessible. This demonstrates that the speaker of these words has no powers of ratiocination; in its absence, what he says is revoked without chance of cassation.

٧،١،٢2.1.7

فوالّذي جعل البلغاء رجال ارتجال الكلام إذا قالوا * والفصحاء فرسان نثر نظم النظام إذا صالوا * إنّ هذا الشعر لمسقوط من دواوين الأشعار * وبه تبيّن سعر قائله في سوق الأسعار * فما أجهله في معناه وحسّه * وما أخمله بين أبناء جنسه * ولكن نقول رفقًا وإسعافا * وعَوْدًا وانعطافا * لأنظار هذا الشعر في الرتبة الخسيسه * والحالة الرثيثه *

By Him, then, who has granted the eloquent the power of improvisation when uttering their verse in speech, and turned the chaste-tongued into chevaliers scattering poetry’s tight ranks¹⁶ when they storm the breach, this verse should be dropped from all collections; by it its author’s price has been set according to the market rate, for how ignorant he is in both sense and sensibility, how undistinguished among the people of his race! Nevertheless we shall address, in the name of comradeship and ministration, as a favor and out of inclination, further verses the likes of this in terms of lowly position and tatty condition.

“You sleep while my eye by distance and insomnia’s distressed”

١،٢،٢2.2.1

فمن أنظاره قول الشاعر الجهول والمبطون الأكول شـــــــــعــــر [طويل]

تَناموا وَعَيْني ضَرَّها البُعْدُ والسَهَرْ

وَلا تَعْلَموا ما بي وَلا عِنْدَكُمْ خَبَرْ

Thus, among its likes are the words of that versifier of ignorance unrestricted, that glutton by bellyache afflicted, that go:

tanāmū wa-ʿaynī ḍarrahā l-buʿdu wa-l-sahar

wa-lā taʿlamū mā bī wa-lā ʿindakum khabar

You sleep while my eye by distance and insomnia’s distressed

Though you know not from what I suffer, nor have you any news?

٢،٢،٢2.2.2

أقول أمّا بحر هذا الشعر فاختراع التخييل * وهو على الأربعة أضرب من التخبيل * خُبولٌ مخابيل خُبولٌ مخابل وتقطيع المصرع الأوّل كما ترى

تناموا	وعيني ضر	رها١ البع‍	‍د والسهر
خَبُولٌ	مخابيْلُنْ٢	خبُولٌ	مخابلُ

هكذا التفعيل البارد * الّذي من المنظوم والمنثور شارد * وأمّا طوله القصير * فمن سلسلة العرفشه إلى حلقة الجنزير * وأمّا عرضه فمن باب الديلَم الكبير * إلى قاع جهنّم {وَبِئْسَ ٱلْمَصِيرُ‌} *

١ الأصل: وعيتي * ضرّها. ٢ الأصل: مخابِيْ * لُنٌ.

I declare: the meter of this verse is a concoction with fantasy replete, consisting of four mentally disordered feet, namely khabūlun makhābīlun khabūlun makhābilū,¹⁷ while the scansion of the first hemistich is, as you see:

tanāmū	wa-ʿaynī ḍar	rahā l-buʿ	du wa-l-sahar
khabūlun	makhābīlun	khabūlun	makhābilū

Such is its scansion so brazenly abhorrent, in terms of all verse and prose aberrant. Its length is as short as that between the Chain of al-ʿArafshah¹⁸ and one of its sprockets, its breadth from Daylam’s Great Gate¹⁹ to Hell’s very floor (and «how wretched a fate!»).²⁰

٣،٢،٢2.2.3

وأمّا معناه يا أخا العرفان * فلا تُقرّه الأسماع في الأذهان * لأنّ قوله (تَنامُوا وَعَيْني ضَرَّها البُعْدُ وَالسَهَرْ) يريد أن يستفهم من المخاطبين بقوله تنامُوا أي أتناموا وحذف أداة الاستفهام للضرورة وقصده أن يكونوا ملازمين طريقته على الوجه المشتهر * وقوله (وَلا تَعْلَموا ما بي وَلا عِنْدَكُمْ خَبَرْ) * يريد أن يكونوا متقيّدين بما هو فيه من الذلّ والهوان المعتبر * عالمين بخبره المعكوس * منكَّسين لما به الرؤوس * مع أنّ هذا كلّه لا يكون * بل ولا يحرّك ما لديهم من السكون * لأنّهم أولًا وبالذات * منعَّمون في كلّ الساعات والأوقات * لم يكن لهم في قصورهم وظيفه * إلّا الجلوس على الفرش القطيفه * يطاف عليهم بأكواب من الفضّة وأباريق * ممزوجة بِريق من ثغور الوِلدان بَريق * وهو واقف على كوم كفره في أسوأ حال بلا خلاف * يصيح على راعيه ائتني بالثور والناف * فإذا أتاه بهما * كان الثالث لهما *

As for its meaning, my brother in knowledge, this is something with which the ears refuse to allow the mind to be impressed, because by “you sleep” in “you sleep while my eye by distance and insomnia’s distressed,” he wants to convey to those addressed a question—that is, “would you sleep?”—the interrogative particle being dropped for the sake of the meter, it being his intention that to his own everyday style of expression they should keep.²¹ Likewise, through his words “though you know not from what I suffer, nor have you any news,” he wants them to become fettered to his abjection and notable lack of glory, their heads bowed in sorrow and fully apprised of his perverted story, though none of that will ever come to pass. Indeed, he will not even for a second disturb their rest, for they are, before all others and quite specifically, at every hour and every instant, among the blessed, having nothing to do in their palaces but lie about on velvet cushions and recline, as silver goblets and flagons are passed around and glittering saliva from the mouths of comely lads dilutes the wine,²² while he stands on his hamlet’s garbage dump in the worst of states, make no mistake, calling out to the one who watches his herd, “Fetch me the ox and the yoke!” with which two, when the other brings them to him and he’s paired, he makes a third.

٤،٢،٢2.2.4

والذي أنزل السكينة في قلوب المؤمنين * و{عَلَّمَ ٱلْإِنسَـٰنَ مَا لَمْ يَعْلَمْ} من بديع بيان وتبيين * وألّف بين الأجساد والأرواح * وهدى من شاء إلى سبيل الإرشاد والإصلاح * إنّه لقليل عقل * شليل يد ونقل * وإنّ شعره كمجالسه الذميمه * وعظامه الناخرة الرميمه *

By Him who brought peace to the hearts of the Muslim nation and «taught Man what he knew not»²³ by way of eloquently expressed exposition and explanation, brought bodies and minds into companionate relation and guided whom He wished to the path of mature understanding and amelioration, he is, I swear, of very little brain, paralyzed of hand and shabby shoon, his verse as nasty as his get-togethers and as his every carious decaying bone!

“The soot of my paternal cousin’s oven is as black as your kohl marks”

١،٣،٢2.3.1

ومن نظائر هذا الشعر في الخمول * قول من هو مبعود من المنقول والمعقول * حيث قال مواليا ليس له شبيه * في لفظه ومعناه والتشبيه * [بسيط]

هِبابُ فُرْنِ بْنِ عَمّي سُودُ كُحْلاتِكْ	وَحَبْلُ تَوْرِ بْنِ خالي طولْ مِدَلّاتِكْ
يا مِن عَجَنْتي قُلَيبي في وُحَيْلاتِكْ	يا رَيْتَني قُرْصَ جِلَّهْ بَيْنَ دَيّاتِكْ

Similar to these verses in their inconsequentiality are the words of that poet who was excluded from the sciences of both tradition and rationality when of a pastoral he made delivery, one without parallel in wording, meaning, or use of simile:²⁴

ḥibābu furni-bni ʿammī sūdu kuḥlātik

wa-ḥablu tawri-ibni khālī ṭūl midallātik

yā man ʿajantī qulaybī fī wuḥaylātik

yā raytanī qurṣa jillah bayna dayyātik

The soot of my paternal cousin’s oven is as black as²⁵ your kohl marks

and my maternal cousin’s ox-rope is long as the chains on your lovelocks.

O you who have kneaded my heart into your daubies

I wish I were a dung cake between your handies!²⁶

٢،٣،٢2.3.2

أقول هذا المواليا من بحر خراط التخليط * وهو على أربعة أضرب من التخبيط * مستخبط خابط مستخبط خَبْطا وتقطيع مصرعه الأوّل

هباب فر	ن بن عم‍	‍مي١ سود كح‍	‍لاتك
مُسْتَخْبطٌ	خابطُنْ	مستخبطٌ	خَبْطا

هذا التفعيل خبط عشواء * من راكب متن عمياء * وطوله من بركة غرندل الزاويه * إلى أسفل المراكز في الهاويه * وعرضه من جزيزة القرود * إلى مقابر اليهود *

١ ن بن عم مي: ن بن عمّ.

I declare: this pastoral is drawn from the ocean of what confusion may excrete²⁷ and consists of four disordered feet, namely, mustakhbiṭun khābiṭan mustakhbiṭun khabṭan,²⁸ while the scansion of its first hemistich goes:

hibābu fur	ni-bni ʿam	mī sūdu kaḥ	lātik
mustakhbiṭun	khābiṭun	mustakhbiṭun	khabṭan

This scansion is like the weak-sighted lurching of a man on the back of a blind she-camel perching. Its length is from the pond of Gharandal of the Little Mosque to the lowest foothold where the chasm gapes, its breadth from the graves of the Jews to the Isle of the Apes.²⁹

٣،٣،٢2.3.3

ومعناه غريب في المعاني * عجيب في المباني * لأنّ قوله (هِبابُ فُرْنِ بْنِ عَمّي سُودُ كُحْلاتِكْ) يريد به التشبيه الخارج عن الماهيّه * الجارح لقلوب ذوي الإدراكات والمزيّه * أي كسود (كُحْلاتِكْ) ومن العجب العُجاب * تشبيه هذا الخسيس بالهباب * ويا ليته أتى في التشبيه بهباب فرن له بل من خموله وغمّه * أتى به من هباب فرن بن عمّه *

Its semantics are strange, its constructions surprising because, with his words “The soot of my paternal cousin’s oven is as black as your kohl marks,” he seeks to make a comparison extrinsic to the thing’s nature intrinsic, one hurtful to the sensibility of those possessed of insight and superiority, namely, when he says that it is as black as “your kohl marks.” It is truly amazing that this wretch should compare the latter with soot; would that, in the comparison, some from an oven of his own he’d put—yet, in his footlingness and obscurity, he had to make the comparison with his paternal cousin’s oven’s sooty impurity!

٤،٣،٢2.3.4

وقوله (وَحَبْلُ تَوْرِ بْنِ خالي طولْ مِدَلّاتِكْ) كَلام أبرز منه الكِلام * لأنّ المدلاّت الّلاتي تصنعهنّ نساء الفلّاحين غالب طولهنّ ذراع بالقياس التامّ * وما أبرد لحيته وشعره حيث لم يذكر هذا الثورُ له ثورا * ويجعل له حبلًا ويشبّه به المدلّات والله إنّه كان {مَذْمُومًا مَّدْحُورً‌ا} * فإن قلتَ يحتمل في قوله (وَحَبْلُ تَوْرِ بْنِ خالي طولْ مِدَلّاتِكْ) أن يكون الحبل قصيرا * قلتُ والله إنّما فهمتَه فهمًا مخزولًا قصيرا * لأنّ حبل الثور المعلوم عند الفلّاحين * نحو من عشرة أذرع أو عشرين * ومن هنا يبطل الاحتمال الّذي ورد لديك * ويعود فهمك القاصر عليك *

His declaration “and my maternal cousin’s ox-rope is like the chains on your lovelocks” make wounds out of words, for the lovelocks made by peasant women are generally a cubit³⁰ at their greatest extent³¹—and how thick-skinned his verse, given that, again, this ox doesn’t mention an ox of his own, yet to it a rope, which he compares to lovelocks, he’s lent! He is, I swear, one fit to be both «despised and discarded».³² If you tell me that it’s probable, with regard to his words “and my maternal cousin’s ox-rope is like the chains on your lovelocks,” that the rope may in fact have been short, I reply that it is your understanding that is severed and short, for the length of the ox rope known to the peasants extends some ten or twenty cubits in space; this makes the possibility you suppose both null and void, and the shortness of your understanding redounds to your disgrace.

٥،٣،٢2.3.5

ومن بلادة هذا القائل * الّذي هو في سباسب الخِزْي قائل * أنّه منع نفسه قبول كلامه عند محبوبته الّتي خاطبها باستعارته تور^١ بن خاله وحبله ولم يذكر له شيئًا من أنواع الملك في الاستعارة يليّن به قلب محبوبته عليه فقطع الله خَيْله ورَجْله

١ كذا في الأصل.

Another example of the slow-wittedness of this poet, dozing in ignominy’s vasty waste, is that, by addressing his beloved using the borrowed figure of his paternal cousin’s ox and its rope, he denies himself any possibility of his beloved finding his words to her taste. He also fails to mention, in his framing of this figure, any of the kinds of property that are his to deploy and that might soften his beloved’s heart toward him, may God deprive him of every horseman and every foot soldier in his employ!³³

٦،٣،٢2.3.6

وقوله (يا مِن عَجَنْتي قُلَيْبي في وُحَيْلاتِكْ) كأنّ هذا البطين * وجدها في معجنة من الوحل والطين * وتيقّن أنّها نزعت قلبه بحبّها * ووضعته بالمعجنة تحت رجلها * وصارت تقلّبه ذات اليمين وذات الشمال * والكلب يتلقّف ما تهوي به ريح الجنوب والشمال *

His words “O you who have kneaded my heart into your daubies” imply that this pot-bellied tub must have come across her in a kneading pit of daub and mud. He thus determined that she must be so in love with him that she’d ripped out his heart and placed it in the pit beneath her feet and was flipping it to right and to left, leaving to this dog whatever the south or north wind might blow his way, to snatch up in his teeth.

٧،٣،٢2.3.7

وقوله (يا رَيْتَني قُرْصَ جِلَّهْ بَيْنَ دَيّاتِكْ) يُفْهِمُ أنّه دون مرتبة قرص الجلّه * وذلك من أذلّ ما يكون من الذلّ والمذلّه * بل يُفْهِمُ أنّه دَسٌّ مدموس * تحت حوافر المواشي بالبول مغموس * ومراده الرقي إلى أن يصير قرصًا من الجلّة بين يدي محبوبته * وهذا ممّا تقبله فكرته وقريحته مع نفسه وطبيعته * أو أن يكون أراد التشبيه الّذي كشَكْلِه * أي كقرص جلّة إذ هو موثوق بقيود الهوى وشُكْله *

His words “I wish I were a dung cake between your handies!” give one to understand that he is lower than a dung cake in station, though the latter is among the most abject and degraded things in creation. Nay more, it gives one to understand that he is something that has been well and truly trodden beneath the hooves of the livestock and is with urine sodden. His hope is that he will be promoted to become a dung cake between his beloved’s hands, this being appropriate to his way of thinking and personal and physical demands. Or it may be that he wanted to use a comparison that resembled him, that is, that of a cake of dung, given that he was bound by the fetters of love, his arm to his shank by its hobbles strung.³⁴

٨،٣،٢2.3.8

والذي أعطى لمن شاء من خلقه غُرَر دُرَر نفائس العلوم * وجلا عين بصيرته في استخراج خبايا عرائس منطوقها إنّ هذا الشاعر لمجنون * وإنّه بما قاله لمقتون *

By Him who has given to whomever of His creation He wills the finest of the pearls of this most precious of skills and polished the eye of his insight into the deduction of the inner meanings of the best of its spoken and unsaid production, this poet is certainly possessed, by his composition obsessed!

“And I said to her, ‘O daughter of noble men, go into the garden!’”

١،٤،٢2.4.1

ومن أنظار هذا المواليا في التعاسة والخمول * والسفاهة والفضول * قول الآخر [طويل]

وَقُلْتُ لَها يا بِنْتَ الٱجْوادِ رِوِّضي

تَرَيْ ما وَرا رَمَضانْ إِلّا العِيْدْ

Similar to this pastoral in its wretchedness and inconsequentiality, its silliness and prodigality, are the words of that other poet who said:

wa-qultu lahā yā binta l-ajwādi rawwiḍī

taray mā warā Ramaḍān ʾillā l-ʿīd

And I said to her, “O daughter of noble men, go into the garden

And you’ll see naught after Ramadan but the Feast.”³⁵

٢،٤،٢2.4.2

أقول بحر هذا البيت من هزال الهزيل * وهو على أربعة أضرب من التهزيل * هزولٌ مهازيلٌ هزولٌ مهازلُ * وتقطيع المصرع الأوّل عليه

وقلتُ لهَا	يا بنت الاج‍	‍واد روّضي
هَزُولٌ مها	زيلٌ هزو	لٌ مهازلُ

هذا التفعيل مسلوخ من التفاعيل * ممسوخ في التماثيل * وطوله من موطن المسيخ الدجّال * إلى محلّ إبليس الملعون بين الرجال * وعرضه ما بين بيوت ثمود وعاد * وقصور الخبيث شدّاد بن عاد * ومعناه فمجهول البيان * منزوع التبيان * لا يُفهم إلّا بدواعي الخداع * ووجوه التزيّف والاختراع *

I declare, the meter of this line of verse belongs to the class of the skinny underweight and consists of four feet, all fit to make one emaciate, namely, hazūlun mahāzīlun hazūlun mahāzilū,³⁶ and the scansion of the first hemistich therewith accords:

wa-qultu lahā	yā binta l-aj	wādi rawwiḍī
hazūlun mahā	zīlun hazū	lun mahāzilū

All proper feet from this scansion have been flayed, and it is in ugly and distorted form displayed. Its length is from that charlatan the Antichrist’s den to where accursed Satan dwells among men, its breadth that between the houses of Thamūd and ʿĀd and the palaces of that wretch Shaddād ibn ʿĀd. Its meaning is of unknown interpretation, stripped of any possibility of explanation, incapable of being understood other than through the exigencies of deception and from the perspectives of forgery and falsification.

٣،٤،٢2.4.3

وهو إنّا نقول أراد هذا الشاعر الجهول بقوله (وَقُلْتُ لَها يا بِنْتَ الٱجْوادِ رِوِّضي) الوقوفَ له * حتّى يحصل المخاطبه * وهي محبوبته الّتي اعتراه بسببها الغرام والوَلَه * وهذا من قلّة عقله وخموله * في أموره وفعله * حيث يقول لامرأة قفي لي وهو في حالة غندره * بسكّين في جنبه تكاد أن تكون عودًا^١ مقشَّره *

١ الأصل: عود.

In this spirit we declare: this ignorant poet wished, by his words “I said to her, ‘O daughter of noble men, go into the garden’” to obtain an assignation, that he might attain the one addressed, namely his beloved, who was the reason for his falling victim to all this ardor and infatuation. This, though, is an outcome of his imbecility and distraction both in his affairs and in his action, since, by rights, he ought to say to a woman “grant me an assignation, prithee!” and then only when in dandified state, with a knife at his waist, be it but a peeled withy.³⁷

٤،٤،٢2.4.4

وقوله (تَرَيْ ما وَرا رَمَضانْ إِلّا العِيْدْ) يريد إعلام محبوبته بأنّ ما خلف رمضان إلّا العيد فكأنّه من فهمه السقيم * وذوقه الرميم * وقريحته الغارقة في بحار الخمول * وذهنه القاصر عن إدراك الموضوع والمحمول * ضرب لنفسه مثلًا خارجًا عن الأمثال * عائدًا على نفسه بالنكال والوبال * بذكره هذا الكلام الركيك * الخارج من الشعر عن طريق التسليك * لأنّ من المعلوم أنّ ما خلف رمضان هو العيد * جعله الله مسلسلًا في الخزي إلى يوم الوعيد *

His words “And you’ll see naught after Ramadan but the Feast” are intended to convey to his beloved that what follows the Fast must be the Feast; as though, through his meager understanding and execrable taste, not to mention his very makeup, sunk in oceans of inconsequentiality to its waist, and his mind, incapable of grasping a topic or its implication, and through this lame language that excludes this verse from any possibility of interpretation, he had made of himself an object lesson beyond any prior, with consequences for him that could only be dire, for that what follows Ramadan must be the Feast is obvious and well known, may God place him in chains of ignominy until the Day of Doom!

٥،٤،٢2.4.5

فَوَرَبِّ الكعبة والمقام وزمزم والحَطيم * إنّ هذا الشاعر لَفي الأغلال مع الشياطين رجيم * وإنّه صار بما أتى به لدولة الحبّ حصّادًا ليس زرّاعًا * مشبوحًا في سلسلة من الهوان ذرعها سبعون ذراعًا *

By the Lord of the Kaaba, of the Maqām, of Zamzam, and of al-Ḥaṭīm then, this poet is fit indeed to be placed in a pillory with the devils and stoned and is become, for the havoc he has wreaked on the empire of love, one who reaps and has never sown, staked out on a chain of degradation whose length is seventy cubits by mensuration.³⁸

“I asked after the beloved. They said, ‘He skedaddled from the shack!’”

١،٥،٢2.5.1

ومن نظائر هذا الشعر في الخزي الدَوْريّ * والظلم الغَوْريّ * والشقشقة الغاشيه * واللقلقة القاسيه * والظلمة المقتمه * والحالة المظلمه * قول الآخر مواليا وهو هذا [بسيط]

سَأَلْتُ عَلى الحِبِّ قالوا شَتَّ مِن التايِهْ	مَسَحْتُ دِمْعي بِجِلّايَهْ وَكِرْسايِهْ
وِشِلْتُ وَجْهي لِرَبّي قُلْتُ مَوْلايِهْ	جابْ لي رُغَيِّفْ وَعَجُّورَهْ وَقَتّايِهْ

Similar to such verse in its circumferential disgracefulness and nadiral shamefacedness, its blinding prattle and hurtful tattle, its darkness sombrous and condition tenebrous are the words of another, who said, in the form of a pastoral:³⁹

saʾaltu ʿalā l-ḥibbi qālū shatta mina l-tāyih

masaḥtu dimʿī bi-jillāyah wa-kirsāyih

wa-shiltu wajhī li-rabbī qultu mawlāyih

jāb lī rughayyif wa-ʿajjūrah wa-qattāyih

I asked after the beloved. They said, “He skedaddled from the shack!”

I wiped away my tears with a dung cake and a dung slab

And I lofted my face to My Lord, [and] said “My Master!”

He brought me a loaf, a melon, and a cucumber.⁴⁰

٢،٥،٢2.5.2

أقول هذا المواليا قليل الأوضاع * قائله خبيث الطباع * وهو من بحر تزويد التجريح * على أربعة أضرب من التقريح * مستقرح قارح مستقرح قرحَا وتقطيع مصرعه الأوّل

سالت١ عل‍	‍حبّ قا	لوا شتّ م	التايه
مستقرحٌ	قارحٌ	مستقرحٌ	قرحا

هذا التفعيل . . .^٢ العائد بالخمول المؤيّد عليه أو كان ضيفًا طفيليًّا مقروحًا جائعا * جاهلًا أعجميًا ممسوخًا مائعا *

١ كذا في الأصل. ٢ يلي كلمة (التفعيل) في الأصل صفحتان خاليتان.

I declare: this pastoral is weak in construction, and the one who composed it is vicious by constitution. It is drawn from that ocean that with false witness is replete⁴¹ and consists of four pus-producing feet, namely mustaqriḥun qāriḥun mustaqriḥun qarḥā,⁴² the scansion of the first hemistich being as follows:

saʾaltu ʿa-l43	-ḥibbi qā	lū shatta mi	l-tāyih
mustaqriḥun	qāriḥun	mustaqriḥun	qarḥā

This scansion . . . ⁴⁴ redounds only to his greater inconsequentiality, or he was a hungry, ulcerating, parasitical guest, an ignorant, barbarously-tongued, deformed, and vapid pest.

٣،٥،٢2.5.3

فقصد بالسؤال شيئًا يقتات به بلا نزاع * لما يُفهَم من كلامه الآتي بالإيجاد والإيقاع * وهو قوله (جابْ لي رُغَيِّفْ وَعَجُّورَهْ وَقَتّايِهْ) فعُلم من هذا في قوله أنّ رفع رأسه إنّما كان جريئًا على الجوع * لا على الدعاء للمحبوب ولا على اجتماعه به من وَلوع * ولذلك اكتفى بما أتاه من المأكول * ولم يذكر بعد ما قاله شيئًا من أنواع الفضول *

It follows that, by his question, he sought, beyond any doubt, something with which he might be fed, as may be inferred from his words that, in all their creativity and musicality, lie still ahead, to wit, “He brought me a loaf, a melon, and a cucumber.” From these it may be deduced, with regard to his saying that “he lofted his head,” that he was bold only where his hunger was concerned, not in offering prayers for the beloved nor in meeting him out of any love with which he might be supposed to have burned. Thus, he was content with the food that came his way and, after his initial question, had nothing that might indicate further curiosity to say.

٤،٥،٢2.5.4

والذي وهب لمن شاء عقلًا زكيّا * ورفع من أراده مكانًا عليّا * إن كان القائل لهذا الكلام ليس له إلّا عَضْب صقيل * يُقْطَعْ منه المجمل بالتأصيل والتفصيل * فقد أورثني من كلامه عدم المنام * فقبّح الله ذاته بين الأنام مدى الأيّام *

By Him who has given to whom He pleases a mind capable of ratiocination and has raised whom He wishes to high station, if all the speaker of these words possesses is a sharp tongue, I should like it, root and branch, to sever, for with his verses he has left me incapable of sleep, may God disfigure his form among men forever!

“I asked God to join me together with Salmā”

١،٦،٢2.6.1

ومن أشباه هذا المواليا في البلادة الغريزيّه * والغباوة الجُبُلّيّه * قول الآخر شعرًا براعة استهلاله غريبة المثال * بعيدة المنال * منظومة الكلام بلا مضاربه * مبعودة عن الكِلام بلا مقاربه * وهو هذا [وافر]

سَأَلْتُ اللهَ يَجْمَعُني بِسَلْمى

فَإِنَّ اللهَ يَفْعَلُ ما يَشاءُ

The like of this pastoral, in its instinctual torpidity and innate stupidity, are the words in verse of another, the allusiveness of whose opening⁴⁵ is almost without equal, hard to rival, in terms of prosody beyond compare, free of anything to hurt the ear, quite without peer. The opening goes:⁴⁶

saʾaltu llāha yajmaʿunī bi-Salmā

fa-inna llāha yafʿalu mā yashāʾū

I asked God to join me together with Salmā

for God may do whatsoever He pleases.

٢،٦،٢2.6.2

هذا البيت من بحر الوافر الظريف * المصان عن الزِحاف والتحريف * ومعناه مستقيم في المعاني * قويم في المباني * لكن أتى بعده بأبيات سقيمه * أورثت بُعده عن الحالة المستقيمه * وهي

وَيَطْرَحُها وَيَطْرَحُني عَليْها	شَبيهَ الزُقِّ تَحْمِلُهُ السَّقَاءُ١
وَيُرْسِلُ مَنْ يُهَزْهِزُنا بِلُطْفٍ	لِيَنْزِلَ لي مِنَ الَٱعْضاءِ ماءُ
وَيُرْسِلُ بَعْدَ ذا مَطَرًا غَزيرًا	يُغَسِّلُنا وَلَيْسَ بِنا عَناءُ

١ للضرورة أي: السَقّاءُ.

This line belongs to the charming meter wāfir, preserved from metrical deviation⁴⁷ or phonetic contortion. The content is, with regard to sense, correct, with regard to constructions, direct. He follows it, however, with faulty lines leading to verses that veer far from correct confines. They are:

wa-yaṭraḥuhā wa-yaṭraḥunī ʿalayhā

shabīha l-zuqqi taḥmiluhu l-saqāʾū⁴⁸

wa-yursilu man yuhazhizunā bi-luṭfin

li-yanzila lī mina l-aʿḍāʾi māʾū

wa-yursilu baʿda dhā maṭaran ghazīran

yughassilunā wa-laysa bi-nā ʿanāʾū

And that He throw her down and throw me down on top of her

like the falcon (zuqq) carried by the hawkers (saqqāʾ)

And send someone to jiggle us gently

that from my limbs may fall water

And then that He send a copious downpour

to wash us without lifting a finger.

٣،٦،٢2.6.3

أقول أمّا هذا الكلام فمن بحر الجهل والفضول * وهو على أربعة أضرب من الخمول * خمول خامل خمل خمولُ * وتقطيع مصرعه الأوّل

ويطرحها	ويطر	حني	عليها
خمول خا	مل خ‍	‍ملٌ١	خمولُ

هذا التفعيل منفيّ من التفاعيل * ليس له معنى إلّا بتكذيب الأقاويل * وأمّا طوله فمن بَحْريّ باب اللوق الخسيس * إلى قِبْلِيّ قنطرة الخَرّوب والحشيش * وأمّا عرضه فمن شرقيّ باب الزُّهومة الرثيثه * إلى غربيّ مواطن كيمان الريش الخبيثه *

١ الاصل: مل خملٌ.

I declare: these words belong to the ocean of ignorance and prodigality, and consist of four feet of inconsequentiality, namely khamūlun khāmilun khamilun khamūlū.⁴⁹ The application of these to the first hemistich is as follows:

wa-yaṭraḥuhā	wa-yaṭra	ḥunī	ʿalayhā
khamūlun khā	milun kha	milun	khamūlū

This scansion with none of that science’s rules complies and is without meaning, unless all right doctrine on the matter be treated as lies. Its length is from north of Bāb al-Lūq, that low-class district,⁵⁰ to south of the Bridge of Carob and Grass,⁵¹ while its breadth is from east of the Gate of the Smell of Rotten Meat,⁵² that shabby portal, to west of the dwellings by the feather dumps that smell so awful.

٤،٦،٢2.6.4

وأمّا معناه فعديم النظير * لا يوجد إلّا بقلّة المروءة وكثرة التَسَنْطِير^١ * لأنّ قوله (وَيَطْرَحُها وَيَطْرَحُني عَلَيْها) * يريد به طرحها وطرحه فوقها لنيله فرجها^٢ * وهذا أخسّ ما يكون من المروءة^٣ الخراب * والخساسة الخارجة عن الصواب *

١ الأصل: السنطير. ٢ الأصل: فرحها. ٣ الأصل: المرؤة.

Its meaning has no like and could only have been brought into being through a deficit in gallantry and excess of plummetry,⁵³ because, by his words “and that He throw her down and throw me down on top of her,” he means that God should throw her down and then, on top of her, throw him, that he might have access to her quim—which is the vilest form of perverted chivalry and a degree of viciousness that deviates from all righteousness.

٥،٦،٢2.6.5

ثمّ ما كفاه هذا الكلام المتعوس * حتّى أتى بتشبيه أقوام نحوس * في قوله (شَبيهَ الزُقِّ تَحْمِلُهُ السَقاءُ) أي كمثل الزُقّ الّذي هو الصَقْر والسَقّآ الخادمُ له وأراد أن يكون مثل الزقّ عند انطلاقه للصيد * ومن أين له ذلك وهو راكد في الخمول والكيد *

Then, the wretch, not satisfied with such words, goes on to make a comparison appropriate to peoples ill-omened when he says, “like the falcon carried by the hawkers,”⁵⁴ that is, like the zuqq, which is to say the saqr (“falcon”), while the saqqāʾ (“hawker”) is the falcon’s handler, he wanting to be like the falcon when launched at its prey—though what has he to do with such things, mired as he is in inconsequentiality and deceitful play?

٦،٦،٢2.6.6

وقوله (وَيُرْسِلُ مَنْ يُهَزْهِزُنا بِلُطْفٍ) يريد لمّا أن أكون مُطْرَحًا عليها * أريد أن يُرسَل لنا من يهزهزنا معًا بلطف لديها * لأجل إنزال الماء من الأعضا * وهذا من أشدّ ما تكون به البلايا المرضى *

By his words “And send someone to jiggle us gently without lifting a finger,” he means, “When down on top of her I have been thrown, I want Him to send us someone to jiggle us gently together while I am thus prone, that the water may descend from my limbs”—which, of all calamities, is among the most sick.

٧،٦،٢2.6.7

فوالّذي {أَمَاتَ وَأَحْيَا} و{أَخْرَ‌جَ ٱلْمَرْ‌عَىٰ} * فجعله غُثاءً أحْوَى * ليس لهذا الشاعر عندي دواء * إلّا كثرة النكال والداء * والعَضْب الصقيل البارز الذي يهزهز منه البواطن والظواهر فإنّه في الخمول مخمود * لا يحرّكه إلّا الأخدود ذات الوَقود *

By Him, then, who «causes death and gives life»⁵⁵ and «turns the green grass into black stubble»⁵⁶ after first making it quick, the only cure I have for this poet is the imposition of much exemplary punishment and much disease, and that to my shining unsheathed sword, which both his insides and outsides will jiggle, he submit, for he is in insignificance immured and nothing will budge him but “the fuel-filled pit.”⁵⁷

٨،٦،٢2.6.8

ثم لمّا ذكر الطرْح والإرسال * والهزهزة لأجل الإنزال * أخذ يسأل في إرسال مطر غزير * يطهّر هذا الخنزير * فقال (وَيُرْسِلُ بَعْدَ ذا مَطَرًا غَزيرًا يُغَسِّلُنا وَلَيْسَ بِنا عَناءُ) أقول أراد هذا الشاعر * إرسال مطر متواتر * ليكون مطهِّرًا له ولمحبوبته من غير عناء في ذلك * لا زال راكدًا في أعلى مسالك المهالك *

Next, having now talked of “throwing” and “sending” and “jiggling” and “descending,” he sets about asking for “a copious downpour” to cleanse that swinish swain, and says “And after that send a copious downpour to wash us without lifting a finger.” I declare: the poet wants continuous rain to be sent to cleanse him and his beloved without their exercising their own volition, may he remain forever bogged down on the highest pathways of perdition!

٩،٦،٢2.6.9

والّذي له ما في السموات وما في الأَرَضِين * إنّ القائل لهذا الكلام ليس عندي من الذَيِّقين * وإنّه لقليل المروؤة^١ لا محاله * مخبول الطبيعة في كلّ حاله *

١ الأصل: المرؤة.

By Him to whom belongs all that’s in the heavens or on Earth, the taste of the speaker of these words is, in my opinion, without worth, just as he is, let there be no doubt, deficient in chivalry, befuddled of nature inside and out.

“And I said to her, ‘Piss on me and spray!’”

١،٧،٢2.7.1

ومن أنظار هذا الشعر في الخسافه * والحماقه والسخافه * قول الآخر بيتًا ممسوخًا في الأبيات * مرسوخًا في أسافل الكُبّايات^١ * وهو [طويل]

وَقُلْتُ لَها بولي عَليَّا وَشَرْشِري

طَويلُ القَفا لِلنّائباتِ صَبُورْ

١ الأصل: الكبيات.

Among the likes of this poetry in woebegoneness, imbecility, and stupidity are the words of another such bumbler, who declaimed a contorted line of the sort that sticks firmly to the bottom of the tumbler, to wit:⁵⁸

wa-qultu lahā būlī ʿalayyā wa-sharshirī

ṭawīlu l-qafā li-l-nāʾibāti ṣabūr

And I said to her, “Piss on me and spray!

One whose nape is broad endures the blows of fate!”

٢،٧،٢2.7.2

أقول هذا البيت من بحر الهذيان الثقيل * وهو على أربعة أضرب من التثقيل * ثقيل مثاقيل ثقيل مثاقلُ * وتفعيله

وقلت	لها بولي١	عليّا	وشرشري
ثقيلٌ	مثاقيلُ	ثقيلٌ	مثاقِلُ

هذا التفعيل خارج عن الماهيّه * محشوٌّ بالتعاليل الرديّه * وطوله من أسافل قدميْ عُوج بن عَنَق^٢ إلى أمّ رأسه * وعرضه من نحو مولده الخبيث إلى حلوله برمسه *

١ وقلت / لها بولي: وقلت لها * بولي. ٢ الأصل: عنُق.

I declare: this line of verse is drawn from the ocean of boorish delirium and consists of four feet conducive to tedium, namely, thaqīlun mathāqīlū thaqīlun mathāqilū.⁵⁹ The scansion goes:

wa-qultu	lahā būlī	ʿalayyā	wa-sharshirī
thaqīlun	mathāqīlū	thaqīlun	mathāqilū

This scansion is beyond the pale for verse, stuffed with distractions perverse. Its length is from the soles of ʿŪj ibn ʿAnaq to the top of his head, its breadth from the miserable place where he first drew breath to the grave where they laid his carcass when dead.

٣،٧،٢2.7.3

ومعناه مأخوذ من النجاسة * موضوع في الرثاثة والخساسة * لأنّ قوله (وَقُلْتُ لَها بولي عَليَّا وَشَرْشِري) كأنّه لما أصابته نائبة العشق الشديده * واختلفت فيها أموره الّتي ليست سديده * وهو مع ذلك يتطلّب من محبوبته الوصال * ويودّ منها عدم الهجر والاتّصال * أراد عند قربه لها * أن تسكب على وجهه عوضًا من ماء الورد بولها * وأنّه من شدّة ما به من النوائب * ضرب لنفسه مثلًا من أمثال المصائب * يدلّ على ذلك قوله (طَويلُ القَفا لِلنّائباتِ صَبُورْ) * لا زالت ذاته في الخزي الدوريّ بالنكال تدور * ويعني هذا الخبيث بتمام بيته السقيم * أنّه صبور على النائبات وهو في كلّ حالة ذميم *

Its content is derived from uncleanness and has been set down in tattiness and meanness, for his words, “And I said to her, ‘Piss on me and spray!’,” imply that, after being assailed by love’s mighty blow and after his affairs, so ill-ordered, had been brought so low—despite which he still demanded union with his beloved and asked of her that she be not cold but grant him a kiss—he desired, when close by her, that she pour over his face, not rosewater, but piss. Likewise, as a result of the intensity of the disasters to which he was subjugated, he coined for himself a calamitous metaphor, as evidenced by his words “One whose nape is broad endures the blows of fate!”—may his person ne’er cease in ever-repeating misfortune and punishment to revolve and ne’er find peace! What the wretch means by his lame verse, taken as a whole, is that his endurance in the face of disasters is never to be ended; however, he is, in all cases, to be reprehended.

٤،٧،٢2.7.4

فَوَحقّ الذي جعل عند التناهي فَرَجا * وسلك بمن شاء من خلقه على التوالي بلطفه فُرجَا * إنّ القائل لهذا الكلام لَفي مسالك النجاسة وقَفَا * وإنّه لَبقْفٌ واقفٌ في أموره وقَفَا *

By Him, then, who provides relief to men at the end of their tether, and through His grace opens up for those of His creation whom He pleases broad avenues forever, the speaker of these words is verily one who on the paths of uncleanness has ceased to ambulate and is indeed a lout, stuck, immobile in his affairs, and a dunderpate!⁶⁰

“The rattle staff of our mill makes a sound like your anklets”

١،٨،٢2.8.1

ومن أشباه هذا الكلام في الركاكة المفجعه * والطلاقة الموجعه * قول الآخر مواليا مؤلمـًا للأجساد * مُحْرِقًا للأكباد * وهو هذا [بسيط مع كسر عند (رحينا)]

رَقّاصُ طاحونِنا يُشْبِهْ لِخُلْخلِكْ١	وَرُحِيُّنا في الزَريبَهْ قالتِ ٱشْ حالَكْ
إِلّا وَكَلّافْ يَقولْ لي يا صَبي مَالَكْ	تَوْرُ بْنِ شَيْخِ البَلَدْ حالُهْ مِثالْ حالَكْ

١ الأصل: لخلخالَكْ.

Similar to this verse in its harrowing lameness and grievous lack of moderation are the words of another in the form of a pastoral both painful to the body and agonizing to the organ of sensation, namely:⁶¹

raqqāṣu ṭāḥūninā yushbih li-khulkhālik

wa-ruḥiyyunā fī l-zarībah qālat ish ḥālak

illā wa-kallāf yaqūl lī yā ṣabī mālak

tawru-bni shaykhi l-balad ḥāluh mithāl ḥālak

The rattle staff of our mill makes a sound like your anklets

and our handmills in the pen said, “How are you?”

When suddenly a cowman says to me, “Lad, what’s up with you?

The ox of the son of the shaykh of the village—his state is like yours!”

٢،٨،٢2.8.2

أقول هذا المواليا من بحر تحريك التنغيص * وهو على أربعة أضرب من الترقيص * مسترقص راقص مسترقص رقصَا * وتفعيله

رقاص طا	حوننا	يشبه لخل‍	‍خالك
مسترقص	راقص	مسترقص	رقصا

هذا تفعيل مبنيّ على الترقيص * مخبول بين التفاعيل بالتنقيص * طوله ما بين زوايا الأرض الأربع * وإلى انتهاء مواطن هوامّها والمرتع * وعرضه من البئر المعطّلة بلا ترديد * إلى أوائل أواخر أمكنة القصر المشيد *

I declare: this pastoral is drawn from the ocean of nerves so ruffled they set one to prancing and consists of four feet fit to force one to dancing, namely mustarqiṣun rāqiṣun mustarqiṣun raqṣā,⁶² its scansion being as follows:

raqqāṣu ṭā	ḥūninā	yushbih li-khul	khālik
mustarqiṣun	rāqiṣun	mustarqiṣun	raqṣā

This is a scansion designed to make one cavort, in its feet befuddled because cut short. Its length is from the four corners of the Earth to the last of the places animals call home or on it, grazing, roam, its breadth—I’ll say it once only—from the ruined wells to the beginnings of the ends of the tall palace⁶³ and its cells.

٣،٨،٢2.8.3

ومعناه مسلوب المعنى * معدوم المبنى * قائد قائله إلى المخازي * عائد على نفسه بالرثاء والتعازي * لأنّ قوله (رَقّاصُ طاحونِنا يُشْبِهْ لِخُلْخالِكْ) أراد به أنّ رقاص طاحونه يشبه رنّة خلخال محبوبه في السماع * وهذا من بلادته لكونه جمع في ذلك بين الخشب والفضّة وهو ممّا لا تقرّه الأسماع * لأنّ سماع رقّاص الطحون مما يُرعب القلوب * خلافًا لسماع رنّة خلخال المحبوب * فإنّ رنّة خلخال المحبوب معدومة المثال * موجودة المنال * سماعها ظريف * وأنسها لطيف *

Its meaning is stripped of any sense, devoid of any structure, liable to lead its composer into infamies and bring him only condolences and elegies, for by his words “The rattle staff of our mill makes a sound like your anklets” he means to say that the rattle staff of his mill makes a ringing sound that resembles that of his beloved’s anklets to the ear—an example of his dim-wittedness, in that, in so doing, he combines wood with silver, which is something unpleasing to hear, for the sound of a mill’s rattle staff strikes terror into the hearts of men, unlike that of the ringing of the beloved’s anklets, which is beyond compare, a familiar sound, charming to listen to, of pleasant cheer.

٤،٨،٢2.8.4

ثم ما كفى هذا القائل الخبيث الطبع * الرثيث الوضع * ذكره هذا الكلام السخيم * حتّى تخيّل في وجوده خطب جسيم * وهو ظنّه أنّ الرحي تخاطبه * كما خاطب الهوّامُ في الليل حاطبَه * فقال (وَرُحِيُّنا في الزَريبَهْ قالتِ ٱشْ حالَكْ) يعني هذا الممقوت أنّه لمّا ظهر كَلامُه الكِلام * قالت له الرحي ما حالك على سبيل الاستفهام * ثمّ لمّا علم أنّها رثت لحاله العجيب * وأمره المضحك الغريب * أتى بأداة الاستثنى * فقال وهو مطرود عن باب المقام الأسنى * (إِلّا وَكَلّافْ يَقولْ لي يا صَبي مَالَكْ تَوْرُ بْنِ شَيْخِ البَلَدْ حالُهْ مِثالْ حالَكْ) *

Next, this low-natured poet, shabby of condition, not content with the above hateful sermon, conceived in his imagination an appalling thing—that the millstones were speaking to him—as one who, while gathering fuel by night, might find himself addressed by vermin!⁶⁴ Thus he says “and our handmills in the pen said, ‘How are you?’” by which this loathsome person means that, when his wounding words were given articulation, the millstones said to him, “How are you?” by way of interrogation. Then, when he took note that they had taken pity on his extraordinary state and comically strange fate, he introduced the particle of exception⁶⁵ and said, booted, as he had been, out of sublime dignity’s doors, “When suddenly a cowman says to me, ‘Lad, what’s up with you? The ox of the son of the shaykh of the village—his state is like yours!’”

٥،٨،٢2.8.5

أقول هذا الكلام الّذي ذكره لمّا علم أنّه في تعب شديد * وأمر غير سديد * حاله من شدّة خموله ونكده * كحال ثور بن شيخ بلده * فإنّ ثور ابن شيخ البلد * دائمًا في ترادف أهوال التعب والنكد * لأنّه لا يمكنه خلاصُه من التعب ليلًا ولا نهارا * طورًا للمسلمين وتارةً للنصارى * فشبّه حاله بحاله وهذا من باب التشبيه الملفَّق * لا زال هذا القائل منجِّسًا لكلّ ماء مطلَّق * مخزولاً مطرودًا أوّلًا وآخرا * مدحورًا مذمومًا باطنًا وظاهرا *

I declare: when this cowman, whom he mentions, became aware that the other was in great dismay, his affairs in disarray—that his state as a result of his insignificance and miserable plight was like that of the ox of the son of the shaykh of the village—said ox being ever associated with the horrors of exhaustion and adversity, unable to escape hard labor, now for the Muslims, now for the Christians, both by day and by night⁶⁶—compared the state of the said ox to that at which the poet himself had arrived, such a comparison belonging to the category of the “comparison contrived.” Verily, this poet has never ceased to befoul all free-running waters, thwarted and banished at beginning and at end, esoterically and exoterically⁶⁷ cast out and condemned!⁶⁸

٦،٨،٢2.8.6

والّذي أنعم على من شاء بما شاء من الأَلاء * وأنقذ من شاء بما شاء من اللَّأْواء * أنّ قائل هذا الكلام لبليد * وأنّه بما أتى به لفي خزي أبيد * {وَٱلنَّجْمِ إِذَا هَوَىٰ} * إنّما لكلّ امرئ ما نوى *

By Him who grants gifts to whomever He wishes however He will, and rescues whomever He wishes however He wishes from hardship and ill, the sayer of these words is truly a brute and will go down forever in infamy for what he came up with—and «by the star when it plunges»,⁶⁹ “every man of what he sows will receive the fruit!”⁷⁰

“I saw my beloved with a plaited whip driving oxen”

١،٩،٢2.9.1

ومن أنظار هذا المواليا في تسلسل البلادة الوافره * والقساوة الغامره * والذوق المُقْرِف * والتوق المُجْرِف * قول الآخر مواليا أوصافه ذميمه * وأحواله غير مستقيمه * وهو هذا مواليا [بسيط]

رَأَيْتْ حَريفي بِفَرْقِلّهْ يَسوقْ تيرانْ	لُو كَرُّ أَصْفَرْ عَلى راسُهْ كَما اللَّبْسانْ
يا رَيْتَني كُنْتُ لُو حِدْوَهْ مِنَ الحِدْوَانْ	أَوْ كانَ شَلْقَ عَلى راسي مِنَ الكَتّانْ

Comparable to this pastoral in the continuum of exuberant imbecility and brutality exponential, of disgusting taste and desire torrential, are the words of another in the form of a pastoral whose attributes are reprehensible and whose actuality is unconventional, as follows:⁷¹

raʾayt ḥarīfī bi-farqillah yasūq tīrān

lū karru aṣfar ʿalā rāsuh ka-mā l-labsān

yā raytanī kuntu lū ḥidwah min al-ḥidwān

aw kāna shalqa ʿalā rāsī min al-kattān

I saw my beloved with a plaited whip driving oxen.

He has a cloth on his head yellow as mustard.

Would I were a pair of his sandals

or he a flaxen cord upon my head!

٢،٩،٢2.9.2

أقول هذا المواليا من بحر التحريف * وهو على أربعة أضرب من التخريف * مستخرف خارف مستخرف خرفا * وتفعيله كما تري

رايت حري‍١	‍في بفر	قلّه يسوق	تيران
مستخرفٌ	خارفٌ	مستخرفٌ	خرفا

هذا التفعيل مسقوط المباني * ممسوخ المعاني * كأنّه سِيقَ من المراحيض * على وجه التعاريض * وطوله من أوج الفلك الدوّار * إلى أسافل تمويه قاع البحار * وعرضه المسموم الّذي لا يزيله دِرْياق * ما بين أماكن حلب ومواطن العراق *

١ الأصل: حر.

I declare: this pastoral comes from the ocean of corruption and consists of four feet full of bunkum, namely mustakhrifun khārifun mustakhrifun kharfā.⁷² The scansion, as you can see, is:

raʾayt ḥarī	fī bi-far	qillah yasūq	tīrān
mustakhrifun	khārifun	mustakhrifun	kharfā

This scansion is, in structure, aborted, in meaning, distorted, as though flushed from the loos in the form of hints and clues. Its length is from the apogee of the celestial sphere in its revolutions to the depths of the ocean floor with its convolutions, its breadth—too envenomed to be cured by any theriac—is that between the houses of Aleppo and the dwellings of Iraq.

٣،٩،٢2.9.3

ومعناه خارج عن الإدراكات * جارح لقلوب ذوي المروءات^١ * لأنّ قوله (رَأَيْتْ حَريفي بِفَرْقِلّهْ يَسوقْ تيرانْ) يريد به التغالي في وصف محبوبه * حيث جعله سوّاقًا بفرقلّة إذ هذا غاية مأربه ومطلوبه *

١ الأصل: المرؤات.

Its meaning is beyond the power of any mind to assess, wounding to the hearts of any who manly qualities possess, for he intends, by his words “I saw my beloved with a plaited whip driving oxen,” to paint a perfect picture of his beloved by making him a drover with a braided knout, to possess such a thing being his ultimate goal and desire devout.

٤،٩،٢2.9.4

وما كفاه هذا الوصف الممسوخ * حتّى أتى بعده بتشبيه مسلوخ * في قوله (لُو كَرُّ أَصْفَرْ عَلى راسُهْ كَما اللَّبْسانْ) فشبّه ما على رأسه بأصفر اللبسان * وهذا من خسافة عقل هذا الحيوان *

Then, not content with this description distorted, he had to come up with a simile contorted, in the form of his words “He has a cloth on his head yellow as mustard” that compares what is on his head to the yellow flowers of plants of that kind, which is something in keeping with the baseness of that beast’s mind.

٥،٩،٢2.9.5

ثمّ ما كفاه ذلك * لا زال مسلسلًا في سلاسل المهالك * حتّى تمنّى أن يكون حدوة له بأن يكون برجليه * ليعود مشيه في أنواع النجاسة عليه * فقال (يا رَيْتَني كُنْتُ لُو حِدْوَهْ مِنَ الحِدْوَانْ)

Next, even that was as naught—may he remain in perdition’s chains forever caught!—and he had to express the wish that he might be one of the other’s sandals so that he could be on his two feet, and his walking through all the kinds of foulness might his credit complete, so he said, “Would I were a pair of his sandals!”

٦،٩،٢2.9.6

ثمّ استطرد بعد ذلك باب تمنٍّ بأن يكون محبوبه على رأسه * شَلْقًا من الكَتّان وهذا ممّا اختاره لنفسه * فكأنّ في رأسه ضربات مهلكة لوجوده * فأراد شدّ رأسه بهذا الشلق بين أقوامه وجنوده * فقال (أَوْ كانَ شَلْقَ عَلى راسي مِنَ الكَتّانْ) فقبّح الله ذاته المخموده * وجعل هلاكه على مشدّ به شدبة من المحموده *

Thereafter he continues in optative mode by wishing his beloved might be on top of his head in the form of a flaxen cord—a condition he chooses of his own accord, as though there were, in his head, impulses driving him to commit bloopers and he wants to tie his head with this flaxen cord in the presence of his fighting men and his troopers,⁷³ causing him to say, “or he a flaxen cord around my head.” May God then disfigure his flaccid person and bring about his end at the hands of a bailiff . . . !⁷⁴

٧،٩،٢2.9.7

والّذي أذلّ من أراده بنطقه لخسيس الكلام * وأعزّ من شاءه باستخراج خبايا عرائس النظام * إنّ هذا الشاعر لرثيث الحاله * خبيث الهاله * مسلوب الذوق على الإطلاق * مؤبَّد خزيُه إلى يوم التلاق *

By Him who has made abject whomever He wishes by allowing him to utter of words the worst and exalted whomever He wishes by allowing him to bring to light the hidden beauties of the most exquisite verse, verily this poet is shabby of state, noxious of nimbus, utterly divested of any taste, to the day he meets his Maker eternally bumptious!

“I ran into her and said, ‘My Lady, come tomorrow’”

١،١٠،٢2.10.1

ومن نظائر هذا الكلام في السليقة الشنيعه * والطبيعة المريعه *

قول الآخر مواليا مسقوطًا من المواليات * مرتبطًا بأنواع الخزي والكباوات * وهو [بسيط]

Similar to these words in their disgusting disposition and blood-curdling constitution are the words of another in the form of a pastoral unfit to be listed in such poetry’s roll call, indissolubly linked to all types of misfortune and pratfall, namely:

laqītuhā qultu sittī-bqī taʿā bukrah

dūsī qafāyah anā ḥālī ṣibiḥ shuhrah

wa-jību lik ʿaysh wa-jīb bīsāra fī nuqrah

wa-frish lakī tibn wa-ʾatghaṭṭā bi-dī l-wizrah

I ran into her and said, “My Lady, come tomorrow!

Tread on my nape—my state’s become a byword—

And I’ll bring you bread and I’ll bring you bīsār in a hole

And I’ll put down straw for you and cover myself with this towel.”

٢،١٠،٢2.10.2

أقول هذا المواليا خاتمة الطوابق من هذا الكلام الخسيس * لا يمكن الإتيان بعده بغيره لكونه أعمّ من التنجيس * فإنّه مقوَّم بما مرّ من أنواع الخبائث * وتوابع أحوال الرثائث * ومع ذلك باب الإمكان واسع * ولو فتحنا باب هذا الكلام لاتّسع جدًّا على الناظر والسامع * ولاستغرق مجلّدات عديده * في أيّام قصيرة غير مديده * لكن نخشى الإطالة المملّه * والإصالة المخلّه * ومجّ النفوس الشريفه * وعدم قبول ذوي الإدراكات اللطيفه * ولكن نحن ننسخ بعد الإتيان بمعنى هذا المواليا ما ذكرناه من اختراع الخراع * بذكر شذرة لطيفة من شعراء الإسلام وأمراء نفيس الكلام بلا نزاع * ونورد ما ورد في كلامهم من الإشارات والمباحث والألغاز * خصوصًا ما ورد في كلام أبي الطيّب المتنبّي الّذي هو لبليغ كلامهم كالطراز *

I declare: this pastoral is at the top of the pile of such verses vile—after this we can no more provide, for it is commoner than defilement, constituted from all the different kinds of filth and concomitants of shabbiness already supplied—though the doorway of possibility is broad, and were we to open the gate to the whole horde, poetry of this sort would far exceed the holding capacity of any who at it looks and any who to it his ear has lent and would fill tome upon tome on days that are short and not of great extent.⁷⁵ We fear, however, enervating expatiation and exaggeratedly exhaustive investigation, as well as disgusted dismissal by those with noble spirits blessed and rejection by those of refined understandings possessed. After explaining, however, the meaning of this pastoral, we shall abrogate the concoction of craziness⁷⁶ that we have set forth above and replace it with a discussion of a refined sampling of the poets of Islam and the princes of exquisite poetry whose mastery can be disputed by no man, providing examples of hints, wrangles, and riddles that in their verse recur, especially those that in the poetry of the paragon of eloquence among such poets, Abū l-Ṭayyib al-Mutanabbī, occur.

٣،١٠،٢2.10.3

ولنرجع لما نحن بصدده من حلّ هذا المواليا البارد الحارّ * الّذي ليس لقائله مقرّ إلّا في جهنّم وبئس القرار * فنقول أمّا بحره فمن ترسيخ التدويس * وهو على أربعة أضرب من التهويس * مستهوس هاوس مستهوس هوسا * وتفعيل مصرعه الأوّل [بسيط]

لقيتها	قلت س	‍تي ابقي تعا	بكره
مستهوسٌ	هَاوسٌ	مستهوسٌ	هوسا

هذا تفعيل مرسوخ في الوبال * ممسوخ بالنكال * وطوله من مراحيض منازل المشركين * إلى تخوم مجالس الكفرة والملحدين * وعرضه من مجاري الحوت * إلى أقصى جزيرة الهوت *

Let us now return to our immediate concern, which is to decode this pastoral both cold and hot,⁷⁷ whose composer’s sole abode is Hell—and how wretched is he of whom an abode in Hell is the lot! Thus we declare: its meter is a sort of furious tramping and consists of four feet fit to send one ramping, namely mustahwisun hāwisun mustahwisun hawsā,⁷⁸ applied as follows:

laqītuhā	qultu sit	tī-bqī taʿā	bukrah
mustahwisun	hāwisun	mustahwisun	hawsā

This scansion is mired in the consequences of the dirty deed, marred to make others take heed. Its length is from the privies of the houses of the polytheists to the borders of the salons of the infidels and atheists, its breadth from the channels of the whales to the furthest point on the Isle of Vales.⁷⁹

٤،١٠،٢2.10.4

ومعناه مغمور بالتسويف * معمور بالتزييف * لأنّ قوله (لَقِيتُهَا قُلْتُ سِتّي ٱبْقي تَعا بُكْرَهْ) يريد به حضور محبوبته إليه * وهذا من بلادته العائدة بالخمول عليه * فإنّ الشخص إذا كان عاشقًا * ولإِلْفِه مفارقًا * يتمنّى أن يسعى إليه ولو على جمرات * حتّى يبلغ منه أقصى المرادات * اللهمّ لو كان طلبه له بتقدّم وعد منه * لكان إلمامه به صادرًا عنه *

Its meaning is immersed in procrastination, imbued with falsification, for by his words, “I ran into her and said, ‘My Lady, come tomorrow,’” he means to say that his beloved should go to him, which is evidence of the dopiness by which, through his footlingness, he’s benighted, for, when someone is in love and from his beloved disunited, it is he who makes every effort to go to him, be it over burning coal, that he may obtain from him his dearest goal (unless his request of the other was based on a promise the latter had earlier made, in which case responsibility for his broaching the topic should at the other’s feet be laid).

٥،١٠،٢2.10.5

ولكن نقول هذا الشخص استحكم عليه الشيطان * وأدّى فهمه إلى كلام أوقعه في مواكب الخسران * يدلّ على ذلك قوله (دُوسي قَفايَهْ أَنا حالي صِبِحْ شُهْرَهْ) أي إنّما طلب حضورها * لأجل إظهارها عليه فجورها * بأن تشبع قفاه صكًّا فإنّ حاله حال * وربع الصبر منه خال *

In any case, it is our declaration that this person was in the clutches of Satan, who steered his thinking towards poetry that placed him in the parade of depravity, as evidenced by his words “Tread on my nape—my state’s become a byword,” meaning that his sole reason for asking her to come was that she might demonstrate she was a whore by drubbing his nape until it could take no more, for he was in a sorry state and a quarter of his patience was dissipated.

٦،١٠،٢2.10.6

ثمّ ما كفاه ما هو فيه من توزّع البال * وضعضعة الحال * حتّى اعتقد أنّها على شَفا جُرُف من الجوع * لا على ما به من الولوع * فقال (وَٱجيبُ لِكْ عَيْشْ وَٱجيبْ بِيسارَ في نُقْرَهْ) وقصد بذلك شبعها لا دفعها * ولم يقصد به ضرّها ولا نفعها *

Then, not content with what he was suffering by way of distraction and etiolation, he decided she must be on the brink of hunger’s crumbling bank rather than a party to his ardent emotion, so said “And I’ll bring you bread and I’ll bring you bīsār in a hole,”⁸⁰ his intention by so doing being that her appetite be satisfied and she not repelled and not intending thereby either to do her harm or to cause her hunger to be dispelled.⁸¹

٧،١٠،٢2.10.7

ثمّ استطرد بعد الأكل ذكر الفِراش * وإتيانه بما يسكُن فيه الفَراش * فقال (وَٱفْرِشْ لَكي تِبْنْ وَأَتْغَطّى بِدي الوِزْرَهْ) فكأنّ هذا الدجّال * الملعون بين الرجال * لم يكن عنده شيء من أنواع الفرش يفرشه لها إلّا التبن المنوط بالدواب * جعله الله في الخزي مسلسلًا من كلّ باب بلا حجاب *

Next, he goes on to mention, after eating, bed, and that he will bring her something on which the moths have fed, and says, “And I’ll put down straw for you and cover myself with this towel.” Thus, it appears that the only kind of bedding that this swindler, accursed among men, had to lay down for her was animal straw, may God have him chained, with nothing to hide his shame, to every door!

٨،١٠،٢2.10.8

{وَٱلطُّورِ‌ وَكِتَـٰبٍ مَّسْطُورٍ‌} * إنّما بما قاله لمدحور * وقد أورثني بكَلامه الكِلام * فقاتله الله أنّى يُؤْفَكْ والسلام *

«By the Mount, and by a Book inscribed,»⁸² what he says must be despised! His verses have filled my heart with gall, so may God assail him—verily he is perverted,⁸³ and that is all!

٩،١٠،٢2.10.9

فانظر يا أخي أين هذه الأذهان المخمولة المخبوله * والأفهام الّتي على ترادف أهوال الكلام مجبوله * من أذهان شعراء الإسلام الشريفه * وأفكار أمراء الكلام اللطيفه * الّذين لهم الفصاحة الفصيحه * والبلاغة البليغه * فهم رجال الارتجال إذا قالوا * وفرسان ميدان المجال إذا صالوا * كم أظهروا نفائس خبايا الكلام * كم أبهروا عرائس مزايا النظام * كم فتحت لهم الفصاحة أبوابها * كم أدارت عليهم البلاغة أكوابها * فسبحان من منّ عليهم بالعقول الزكيّه * ووهب إليهم المواهب اللَدُنيّه * {مَّا يَفْتَحِ ٱللهُ لِلنَّاسِ مِن رَّ‌حْمَةٍ فَلَا مُمْسِكَ لَهَا وَمَا يُمْسِكْ} فلا مرسَل له من بعده فلو صفت عين بصيرتك * وانجلت مرآة سريرتك * لظهر لك سرّ ما أُودِعوه من بديع الكلام من التغزّل في كلّ معشوق ورِفْدِه

Look then, my brother! What have these flaccid, disordered minds, these mental faculties that by nature chase after every wording vile, in common with the noble minds of the poets of Islam and the refined ideas of the princes of poetry, endowed as they are with eloquent chasteness of speech and effectiveness of style? They are the masters of improvisation when they recite, they the brave knights in this field when they enter the fight. How many of poetry’s hidden treasures have they brought to light! How many choice lines of verse, fresh as brides, have they uttered, causing delight! How often has chaste language opened to them its gate! How often the cups of eloquence among them circulate! Glory then to Him who granted them minds free of sin and bestowed on them gifts that mystic intuitions induce,⁸⁴ for «Whatsoever mercy God opens to men, none can withhold, and whatsoever He withholds, none after Him can loose,»⁸⁵ there being no messenger to them after him, and if the eye of your insight be but with clarity furnished, the mirror of your thoughts well burnished, the secret with which they have been entrusted—of elegantly turned verse fit any beloved to woo—and of His gifts, will be revealed, likewise, to you.