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

وتَزولُ حتّى لا تَجولُ بِفِكرِهِ

      والشكوى على أقسام شكوى لله وهي محمودة وشكوى للمخلوق وهي مذمومة اللهمّ إلّا أن يكون في حال شكواه معتمدًا على الله تعالى متّكلًا عليه مستعينًا به في دفع ما نابه من الشدائد فلا بأس بذلك وإذا صبر واحتسب كان أولى وفرّج الله عنه قال تعالى {وَبَشِّرِ ٱلصَّابِرِينَ} وقال تعالى {فَإِنَّ مَعَ ٱلْعُسْرِ يُسْرًا} ومن كلام الأستاذ يحيى البهلول نفعنا الله تعالى بركاته [هزج]

إِذا ضاقَتْ بِكَ الأحوالْ	تَفَكَّرْ في {أَلَمْ نَشْرَحْ}
تَجِدْ يُسْرَيْنِ بينْ عُسْرَيْنْ	ولا تَحْزُنْ ولا تَفْرَحْ

      min ʿuẓmi mā shakā (“from all that he has suffered”): that is, from the thing, or indeed the things, he has to complain of. He expresses his complaint out loud in the hope that the Almighty will release him from his sufferings and restore him to his former life of ease, for when things are at their worst they are not far from getting easier, and though the gate be strait, it opens onto larger spaces. Says the poet:

      How many a night of woes like ulcers

      I have tended, till I won through to day!

      The blows of fate pass young men lightly by

      And dissipate, and in their thoughts they do not stay.

      There are different categories of complaint. There is the complaint to God, which is praiseworthy, and the complaint to one of His creation, which is blameworthy, unless the complainer place his trust entirely in the Almighty and rely on Him, seeking His help to repel whatever misfortunes may have befallen him—in which case there is no harm, though it is preferable for him to have patience and resign himself to God’s will, in which case God will grant him relief. The Almighty has said, «And give good tidings to the patient!»⁶⁷ and also, «Verily, along with hardship there shall be ease.»⁶⁸ Among the verses of Master Yaḥyā al-Buhlūl,⁶⁹ may the Almighty benefit us through him, are:

      When things get tough,

      Think on «Have we not dilated . . .?»!⁷⁰

      Remember one “hardship” between two “eases”⁷¹

      And neither mourn nor feel elated!

      ١٥،١،١١

11.1.15

      ثمّ إنّ الناظم أراد تعداد الأمور الّتي ترادفت عليه مبتدئًا بأعظمها وأهمّها فقال

      Next the poet decided to enumerate the things that had befallen him, one after another, beginning with the worst and the most important, so he says:

      ١٦،١،١١

11.1.16

      (من القلّ) بكسر القاف وسكون اللام أي إنّ أهمّ شكواي وأعظمها أوّلًا من القِلّ وهي قلّة المأكل والمشرب حُذِفَتْ تاء الكلمة لضرورة النظم وأيضًا عدم الميسرة في اللبس وشدّة التعب والنصب في كدّ المعيشة وفي الحديث كاد الفقر أن يكون كُفْرًا أي قارب أن يُوقِع في الكفر لأنّه يحمل على عدم الرضاء بالقضاء وسُخُط الرزق وذلك يجرّ إلى الكفر وفي الفقر قال ابن دقيق العيد رحمه الله [طويل]

لَعَمْري لَقَد قاسيتُ بالفَقرِ شِدَّةً	وَقَعتُ بِها في حَيْرَةٍ وشَتاتِ
فإِنْ بُحْتُ بالشَّكوى هَتَكتُ سَريرتي	وإِنْ لم أَبُحْ بالفَقرِ خِفْتُ مَماتي

      (وقيل) وُجِدَ مكتوب على تاج كِسْرى أنوشِرْوان أربع كلمات وهي العدل إن دام عمّر * والظلم إن دام دمّر * والأعمى ميّت وإن لم يُقْبَر * والفقر هو الموت الأحمر * وهذه الكلمة يعاير بها أهل الأرياف الرجل الفقير فيقولوا فلان في قِلّ وربّما زادوا كلمة أخرى فقالوا في قِلّ وعَتْرَه أي في حالة كدّ وتعب وارتكاب أمور شنيعة وأحوال مكربة وهي من ألفاظ أهل الريف قال بعض شعرائهم [هزج]

أَبُو جَامُوسْ صِبِحْ حَالُو	يُبَكِّي ٱلنَّاسْ وَهُوْ شُهْرهْ
بِيَجْرِي مَا بِيَلْقَاشِي	وَفِي قِلَّهْ وَفِي عَتْرَهْ

      min al-qilli (“of want”), with an i after the q and no vowel after the l;⁷² that is, my gravest and greatest complaint is of qill (“want”), which is a paucity (qillah) of food and drink (the ah having being dropped for the meter)⁷³ and also of inadequate clothing and of the great toil and exhaustion required by the struggle to make a living. In the Tradition it says, “Poverty may bring one to the verge of denying one’s faith,” meaning that it may come close to forcing one to deny his faith because it leads to dissatisfaction with providence and displeasure with his material state and this may drag him into denying his faith. Ibn Daqīq al-ʿĪd, God have mercy upon him, said of poverty:

      By my life, poverty has dealt me a cruel stroke,

      And reduced me with it to confusion and dismay.

      If I go public with my plaint, I violate my privacy;

      But if I don’t confess my need, I fear I’ll die!

      And it is said that four sayings were written on the crown of Chosroes Anūshirwān: “Justice If It Lasts Brings Prosperity”; “Injustice If It Lasts Brings Ruin”; “The Blind Man Is as Dead Though He Be Not Buried”; and “Poverty Is the Red Death.”⁷⁴ The people of the countryside use the word to cast aspersions on a poor man. They say that so-and-so is fī qill (“in a state of want”), and sometimes they add another word and say fī qill wa-ʿatrah, that is, in a state of struggle and exhaustion and the performance of foul deeds and awful doings. It is an expression used by the people of the countryside. One of their poets says:

      Abū