The Epistle of Forgiveness. Abu l-'Ala al-Ma'arri

would say, “If you do this, private possessions will cease, and child will no longer be distinct from child. Thus you will become like one soul.” Al-Ḥasanī conducted a campaign against him, from Sanaa, and routed him; he then entrenched himself in a citadel in that region. Then al-Ḥasanī sent to him a physician with a poisoned lancet. He used it to let his blood and thus killed him.

      3.5.1

      والوليد بن يزيد أقام في المُلكِ سنةً وشهرين وأياماً وهو القائل:

إِذا متُّ يا أُمَّ الحُنَيْكِل فانْكِحي	ولا تأْملي بعدَ الفراقِ تلاقِيا
فإنّ الذي حُدِّثْتِه من لقائِنا	أَحاديثُ طَسْمٍ تتركُ العقْلَ واهيا

      ورمى المصحف بالنشّاب وخرقه وقال:

إذا ما جئتَ ربَّكَ يوم حشْر

فقل: يا ربّ خَرَّقَني الوليدُ

      وأنفذ إلى مكّة بَنَّاءً مَجوسيّاً ليبني له على الكعبة مَشرَبَة، فمات قبل تمام ذلك. فكان الحُجَّاجُ يقولون: لَبَّيْكَ اللهمَّ لبيك، لبيك يا قاتل الوليد بن يزيد، لبيك!

      وأحضر بُنابِجة^١ من ذهب وفيها جوهرةٌ جليلةُ القدر، على صورة رجلٍ. فسجد له وقبّله وقال: اسجُدْ له ياعِلج! قلت: ومن هذا ؟ قال: هذا ماني. شأنه كان عظيمًا، اضمَحَلَّ أمرُه لطولِ المدّة. فقلت: لا يجوز السجود إلا لله. فقال: قُم عنا.

      وكان يشرَبُ على سطحٍ وبين يديه باطية كبيرةٌ بِلَّور وفيها أقداحٌ، فقال لندمائه: أين القمر الليلة؟ فقال بعضهم: في الباطية. فقال: صدقتَ، أتيتَ على ما في نفسي، والله لأَشرَبَنَّ الهَفتَجَةَ، يعني شُرْبَ سبعة أسابيع متتابعة.

      وكان بموضع حول دمشق يُقال له البَخْراء^٢ فقال:

تَلَعَّبَ بالنبوّةِ هاشميٌّ

بلا وحْيٍ أَتاه ولا كتابِ

      فقُتِلَ بها، ورأيت رأسه في الباطية التي أراد أن يُهَفْتجَ بها.

      ١ ب٤، إف، ق: (بُنايجةً). ك: (بُنابَجَةً). د: (بِنافجةٍ).

      ٢ ب، إف، ك، ق، د: (البحرا).

      Al-Walīd ibn Yazīd reigned for one year, two months, and a few days. He is the one who said:

      When I die, mother of the little dwarf, marry

      and do not hope to meet after the separation!

      For what you have been told about our meeting

      is but “tales of Ṭasm,” which leave one’s reason feeble.37

      He once shot arrows at a copy of the Qurʾan, piercing it, and saying,

      When you come to your Lord, on Resurrection Day,

      then say: O Lord, I have been pierced by al-Walīd!

      He sent a Zoroastrian builder to Mecca, to build him a chamber to drink in on top of the Kaaba; but he died before its completion. The pilgrims would cry,38 “Here we are, O God, here we are! Here we are, O Thou who hast killed al-Walīd ibn Yazīd, here we are!”

      Once he called for a vessel(?)39 made of gold which contained a jewel of great value, in the shape of a man. He prostrated himself before it, kissed it, and said, “Prostrate yourself before it, you lout!” I said,40 “Who is this?” “Mani,” he replied, “He was once great but his cause has dwindled with the passing of time.” “One is not permitted to prostrate oneself,” I said, “before anything but God!” He replied, “Leave us!”

      Once41 he was drinking on a rooftop with a large crater made of crystal set before him, which contained several cupfuls. He said to his drinking companions, “In which sign of the zodiac is the moon tonight?” One of them said, “In the crater!” “True!” he replied, “You have said what I had in mind, too. By God, I shall drink a hebdomad!”42 i.e., drinking for seven consecutive weeks.

      Once he was in a place called al-Bakhrāʾ,43 in the environs of Damascus; then he said,

      A Hāshimite played at being a prophet,

      without a revelation that came to him, nor a book.

      He was killed in that place. I saw his head in that crater, with which he intended to “hebdomadize.”

      3.5.2

      وأبو عيسى بن الرشيد القائل:

دهَانِيَ شَهْرُ الصَوْمِ لا كان من شهْرِ	ولا صُمْتُ شهرًا بَعْدَهُ آخِرَ الدهرِ
ولو كان يُعْديني الإِمامُ بقدْرةٍ	على الشهرِ لاستعديتُ دهري على الشَهرِ

      عرض له في وقته صَرْعٌ فمات ولم يُدرِك شهرًا غيره والحمد لله.

      Abū ʿĪsā, the son of al-Rashīd, is the one who said:

      The month of fasting has come to me as a disaster; may that month cease to be!

      And may I never fast for another month!

      If the caliph were to aid me and give me power over that month

      I would appeal for aid against that month as long as I live.

      Instantly he was struck with a fit and he died before he lived to see another month, God be praised!

      3.6.1

      والجنّابيّ قتل بمكة أُلوفًا، وأخذ ستة وعشرين ألف جمل^١ خِفًّا، وضرب آلاتهم وأثقالهم بالنار، واستملك من النساء والغلمان والصبيان من ضاق بهم الفضاء كثرةً ووفوراً، وأخذ حجر الملتزَم وظنّ أنها مغناطيسُ القلوب، وأخذ الميزابَ. قال: وسمعت قائلاً يقول لغلام دُحَسْمَانَ