Brains Confounded by the Ode of Abū Shādūf Expounded. Yūsuf al-Shirbīnī

could fall that would leave nothing standing but the wall?” That pitiful man responded for his part, moaning from a grieving heart, “Is there not guidance in the Messenger’s words for those who follow his example and heed his admonition that ‘It is God’s right to raise up naught in this Abode that He does not then subject to demolition’? If your question be for good reason and cause, know that there is nothing in the vicissitudes of Fate that calls for pause. I am the master of this place and its erector, its occupant and its constructor, the owner of its shimmering suns and overwhelming sums and master of this place replete with so many a brilliant bauble and slave girl adorable—but Fate turned its back, put servants and money to the sack, and drove me to this present state, catching me unawares with concealed blows with which it lies in wait. However, your question surely is for good cause and reason raised, so inform me of what they may be and cease to be amazed!” The other then related to him his tale, with a lump in his throat and great travail, telling him, “I have brought you a gift such as any might desire, plus the price of your golden dish that I did acquire, for it was a cause of my becoming rich after poverty and of my relief from dire straits and misery.” The man then wagged his head and wailed, and moaned and railed, and he said, “You are crazy, sir, it seems to me, for such a thing can never be. A dog of ours made you a gift of a dish of gold, and I should now go back on that? Never, though I were subject to woe and misery untold! By God, I will not take from you one fingernail sliver, so return in peace to the place whence you came hither!” The man then kissed his feet and hands, and, extolling the other’s worth, set off for his native lands, and, as he left him and was bidding him good-bye, spoke this verse on which the ear must love to dwell:

      Gone are the men and the dogs together,

      So to men and dogs alike, farewell!

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10.24

      (وقد ناب مؤلّف هذا الكتاب من كيد الدهر نائب) * ورمته الليالي بسهام الهموم من قُسِيّ المصائب * فأصبح بعد الجمع وحيدا * وبعد الأنس فريدا * يسامر النجوم * ويساور الهموم * يسكُب على فراق الأحِبّة الدموع * ويرجو عَوْد الدهر وهيهات الرجوع * قال الشاعر [بسيط]

فَلَيتَ شِعري والدُّنيا مَفَرِّقةٌ	بَينَ الرِّفاقِ وأَيّامُ الوَرى دُوَلُ
هَل تَرجِعُ الدَّارُ بَعدَ البُعدِ آنِسةً	وهَل تَعودُ لَنا أَيّامُنا الأُوَلُ

      Likewise the author of this book from fortune’s plots has suffered blows, after the nights had shot him with woe’s arrows from disaster’s bows, so that he found himself, after companionship, on his own, after sweet intimacy, alone, conversing with the stars, wrestling with his cares, over the departure of his dear ones pouring his lament, and hoping—faint hope!—that Fate might yet relent. As the poet says:

      Would that I knew—for the world tears friends apart

      And the stars of men both wax and wane—

      Will the house, after parting, fill once more with cheer,

      And will those first days of ours return again?

      ٢٥،١٠

10.25

      لكن الصبر على غدوات الأيّام * من شِيَم السادة الكرام * شعر [بسيط]

اصبر فَفي الصَّبرِ فَضلٌ١ لو عَلِمتَ به	لَكُنتَ بادَرتَ شُكرًا صاحِبَ النِّعَمِ
واعلَم بأَنَّكَ إن لَم تَصطَبِرْ كَرَمًا	صَبَرتَ قهرًا على ما خُطَّ بالقَلَمِ

      ١ بي: فضلا.

      However, patience with life’s perfidies is a mark of the noble man:

      Patience! You’d rush to thank the Lord of Every Boon

      If you but knew what benefits in patience lie!

      And know that should you not endure with grace

      What by the Pen is writ, you will, perforce, comply!

      The Ode of Abū Shādūf with Commentary

      ٠،١١

11.0

      (وكلّ هذا توطئة لما نال الناظم من الهموم * وما اعتراه من منطوق حوادث دهره والمفهوم * وهو الّذي كان سببًا لإنشاء هذا القصيد * وشكواه هذا الأمر الوافر المديد * فقال) [طويل]

      All of which paves the way for the woes that on our own poet were inflicted, and the accidents of fate, both overt and covert, with which he was afflicted and which were the reason for his composing this ode, and of his complaint, profuse and extended, against all that fate on him bestowed. Thus he says:

      ص

      TEXT

      ١،١١

11.1

يَقُولُ أَبُو شَادُوفِ مِنْ عُظْمِ مَا شَكَا

مِنَ ٱلْقِلِّ جِسْمُو مَا يَضَالْ نَحِيفْ

      yaqūlu abū shādūfi³¹ min ʿuẓmi mā shakā

       mina l-qilli jismū mā yaḍāl naḥīf

      Says Abū Shādūf: from all he has suffered

      of want, his body’s ever skinny

      ش

      COMMENTARY

      ١،١،١١

11.1.1

      هذا الكلام له بحر وقدّ * وتقاطيع ومدّ * فبحره الطويل المديد * الناقص المزيد * ومن جعله من بحر الكامل * قال فيه متهابل متهابل * ومن قاسه ببحر الوافر * قال هو البحر الزاخر * ومن نسبه لبحر البسيط * قال هو من معنى الهلط والتخبيط * ومن قارنه ببحر السلسله * قال هو من معنى هلهله هلهله * ومن قارنه ببقيّة البحور * قال في تمثيله أنت حمار أو ثور * وأمّا قدّه المعهود * فعلى