XLIV. The Maqáma of Poetry

The Maqámát of Badí‘ al-Zamán al-Hamadhání, tr. W.J. Prendergast [1915] at sacred-texts.com

XLIV. THE MAQAMA OF POETRY

‘ÍSÁ IBN HISHÁM related to us and said: I was in the region of Syria and there joined me a party of travelling companions. Now one day we were assembled together in a circle and we began to discuss poetry and to quote verses difficult in meaning, and to propound enigmas. And there stood near us a youth who listened, as though he understood, and remained silent as if he regretted doing so. So I said: 'O young man, thy standing up annoys us, therefore either sit down or go away.' He replied: 'It is impossible for me to sit down, but I will go away and return, so keep your places.' We said: 'We will do that with pleasure.' Then he withdrew his presence, but he delayed not to return immediately. And he asked: 'Where are ye with those verses and what have ye done with the puzzles? Ask me concerning them.' And we asked him not a verse but he answered, nor a meaning but he correctly explained it. Now, when we had emptied the quivers, and made an end of the stores, he turned upon us interrogatively, renewed the discussion

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and said: 'Tell me what verse is that, half of which elevates and half repels? And what verse is it the whole of which slaps? And what verse is that half of which is angry and half jests? And what verse is it the whole of which is mangy? And what verse is that the last foot of whose first half fights, and the final foot of whose second half conciliates? What verse is that whose whole is scorpions? What verse is that which is unseemly in original intent but can be made proper by punctuation. ¹ What verse is that whose tears cease not to flow? ² What verse is that all of which runs away except its foot? What verse is that whose subject is not known? ³ What verse is that which is longer than its fellow, as though it were not of its kind? ⁴

What verse is that which cannot be dissolved, and whose soil cannot be dug? What verse is that half of which is perfect and half clothes? What verse is that whose number cannot be counted? What verse is that which shows thee what pleases? What verse is that which the world cannot contain? What verse is that half of which laughs and half feels pain? What verse is that if its branch be shaken, its beauty departs? What verse is that if we collect it together, its meaning is gone? What verse is that if we set it at liberty, we cause it to go astray? What verse is that whose honey is poison? What verse is that whose praise is censure? What verse is that whose expression is sweet, but underlying it there is grief? What verse is that whose dissolving is binding up, and the whole of it is paid down? What verse is that half of which is prolongation and half rejection? What verse is that half of which is elevation and its elevation is a slap? What verse is that whose expulsion is eulogy, but whose converse is censure? What verse is that which, in a visitation, is a prayer for the time of peril? ⁵ What verse is that which the sheep eat when they please?

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What verse is that which when it hits the head, smashes the teeth? What verse is that which extends till it reaches six pounds? What verse is it that stood up, then fell down and went to sleep? What verse is it that wished to decrease, but increased? What verse is it that was about to go and then returned? What verse destroyed ‘Iráq ¹? What verse conquered Baṣra? What verse is it that melted under torture?

What verse grew old before adolescence? What verse is it that returned before the appointed time? What verse is it that alighted and then passed away? What verse is it that was tightly twisted and then became strong? What verse is that, which was adjusted till it became rectified? What verse is that which is swifter than Ṭirimmaḥ's arrow? ² What verse is it that issued from their eyes? What verse is it that contracted, and then sufficed to fill the world? What verse is it that returned and excited pain? What verse is that half of which is gold and the remainder tail? What verse is that some of which is darkness and some of which is wine? What verse is that whose subject is converted into the object, and whose understanding is made to be understood? What verse is that the whole of which is inviolate? What two verses are like a string of camels? What verse is it that descends from above? What verse is that whose prognostication is ominous? What verse is that whose end flees but whose beginning seeks? What verse is that whose beginning gives, but whose end plunders?'

Said ‘Ísá ibn Hishám: 'Thus did we hear something which we had never heard before. So we asked for the explanation, but he denied it to us, and, therefore, we considered them to be words finely hewn, but with no ideas underlying them. Then he said: 'Choose five of these problems so that I may explain them, and do ye exert yourselves a few days in finding out the rest. It may be that your vessel will sweat, and your minds be generous. Then, if ye fail, let us have a fresh reunion in order that I may explain the remainder.'

And among those we selected was the verse which is

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unseemly in original intent but can be made proper by punctuation. So we asked him concerning it, and he said: 'It is the verse of Abú Núwás:--

And we passed the night, ¹ God regarding us as the vilest company, trailing the skirts of wickedness, and no boast.'

We asked: 'And the verse whose dissolving is binding up and the whole of it is paid down?' He replied: 'It is the verse of Al ‘Aasha,--

All our dirhems are good, ² so delay us not by testing them.'

And the paraphrase of that would be to say: 'Our dirhems are good, all of them, so delay us not by testing them.' Now the metre is not destroyed by this paraphrase. We asked: 'And the verse half of which is prolongation and half rejection?' He replied: 'It is the verse of al-Bakrí, ³

A genuine dinar came to thee ⁴ short of sixty fals,
From the most generous of men, except as regards origin, development and personality.

We asked: 'And the verse that the sheep eat when they please?' He said: 'It is the verse of the poet:

"May separation be cut off! ⁵ May separation be severed!
I perceive separation ⁶ to be a great severer of friends."
We asked: 'And the verse which extends till it reaches six pounds?' He replied: 'It is the verse of Ibn al-Rúmí,
"When he gives, ⁷ he makes not his gift an obligation and he says to my soul, O soul respite me."'

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Said ‘Ísá ibn Hishám: Then we knew that the problems were not destitute of beauty. ¹ So we tried hard and we found out some, and obtained information about the others. Then I recited after him, while he was running quickly away:--

'Men differ in excellence ² and some resemble others,
But for him I should have been like Raḍwá ³ in length, depth and breadth.'

Footnotes

168:1 Proper by punctuation: Cf. Maqáma xxviii.

168:2 Whose tears cease not to flow: Cf. Maqáma xxviii.

168:3 Whose subject is not known: Cf. Maqáma xxviii.

168:4 Of its kind: Cf. Maqáma xxviii.

168:5 … A prayer for the time of peril: In cases of extreme danger in lieu of the rak’as or genuflexions, the bowing of the head is sufficient. See Minháj al-Ṭálibín, par Van Den Berg, 181-5.

169:1 Destroyed ‘Iráq, Text, p. 224, line 3 for … read ….

169:2 Ṭirimmáḥ's arrow: Ṭirimmáḥ ibn Ḥakím ibn al-Ḥakam, the name of a famous poet, a contemporary of Dhú al-Rumma (ob. 117 A.H.) I have not been able to find anything to connect the poet with archery.

170:1 And we passed the night. Metre tawíl.

170:2 All our dirhems are good: Metre, mutaqárib.

170:3 Al-Bakrí: For further specimens of this early poet's verses, see Aghání, iv, 143, 146, and 147.

170:4 A genuine dinar came to thee: Metre, mujtath.

170:5 May separation be cut off: Metre, tawíl.

170:6 … Separation: The point here is the double meaning of … 'separation' and the plural of … a date stone. I am unable to say, however, whether sheep eat these stones.

170:7 When he gives: Metre tawíl. … When he gives--The play is on … which means, 'he bestowed ', and a certain weight which is generally considered as equal to two pounds troy weight. The repetition of this word four times works out exactly six ratls or pounds.

171:1 … Not destitute of beauty. From … applied to a woman who is unadorned with a necklace, the emblem of female dignity.

171:2 Men differ in excellence: Metre, mujtath.

171:3 … Like Raḍwá: There are several mountains of this name in Arabia. The one alluded to is probably that near Madína which the Arabs quote as synonymous with something weighty and responsible. Cf. the line by Mú’arrí cited by the Commentator, Text, p. 226: 'And the weight of Raḍwá is less than that which I bear'.

SOLUTIONS BY THE COMMENTATOR:

The verse half of which elevates and half repels:

'And I have one side of my life for God which I do not waste,

'And I have another side for discussion and depravity.'

The verse half of which is angry and half jests: ‘Amr ibn Kúlthúm's lines:

'As if our swords, ours and theirs, were wooden blades in the hands of players.'

The verse whose beginning gives, but whose end plunders, ‘Amr ibn Kúlthúm's lines:--

'We entertained you and we hastened your entertainment,
A little before the morning, with the grinding of the millstone of war.'

The verse that cannot be dissolved: 'And verily He who hath raised the heavens hath built for us a house whose supports are most substantial and lofty.'

For an illustration of the meaning of … he raised, or elevated, see Qur’án, lxxix, 28.

The verse, if we set it at liberty, we cause it to go astray:

'Am I not in sorrow upon a worn-out camel,
Conducted by an experimenting guide followed by my heart?'

The verse that stood, then fell down and went to sleep:

'O ye sleepers! awake from your sleep!
I will ask you, does love kill a man?'

The verse, when its branch is shaken, its beauty departs:

'Thou hast such a form, that were it not for the hawks of thine eyes, the grey pigeon would surely sing upon it.'

The verse whose beginning seeks, but whose end flees:

'With ignorance like the ignorance of the sword, when it is drawn.
And clemency like the clemency of the sword, when it is sheathed.'

The verse that was about to go away and then returned:

'And I am not one of those happy in enjoyment among them,
But I am a mine of glittering gold,'

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The verse whose praise is blame:

'And verily my tribe, numerous though they be,
Are worthless in war, though it be an insignificant affair.' Freytag, Ḥamasa, p. 7.

The verse that contracted and then filled the world: 'It is not a hard thing for God to collect the world in a single individual '

The verse that was adjusted till it was rectified:

'Say not one piece of good news, but two--
The dignity of the host and the feast of Mehraján.

… The feast (day) of Mehraján. The autumnal equinox, the name of a festival celebrated in Persia in the month of September. For the origin of this word see Mas‘údí iii, 404. These lines were recited in praise of al-Ḥasan ibn Zaid the ruler of Ṭabarístán, died A.H. 270. (Ibn al-Athir, vii, 286.) The text is wrongly vocalized, for … Whiteness or blaze; read … dignity or puissance.

This maqáma is identical in theme with and largely a reproduction of No. xxviii.

Cf. Ḥarírí, ii, 453-70.