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

Basra there appeared someone who claimed that Jaʿfar81 was the son of Muḥammad—on both of whom be peace—, that he had a close connection with him, and that his spirit was in him and connected with him.

      If I were to treat this topic exhaustively it would be very lengthy. However,

      He who suffers from a chest infection must spit;

      What his chest contains must be ejected.

      In fact, if I mentioned all I know, “I would eat the rest of my meals in my prison,”82 or rather I would recite:83

      I carry a head I am tired of carrying:

      Is there no lad who’ll carry its load for me?

      And I would rest and finally recite:84

      My wounds cannot heal another’s wounds:

      he has his and I have mine.

      On Fate

      4.1

      إن شكوتُ العصر وأحكامه، وذممتُ صروفه وأيامه، شكوتُ مَن لا يُشْكي أبدًا، وذممتُ مَن لا يُرضي أحدًا، شيمتُه اصطِفاءُ اللئام، والتحامل على الكرام، وهمّته رفع الخامل الوضيع، ووضع الفاضل الرفيع إذا سمَحَ بالحِباء فأَبْشِرْ بَوشْكِ الاقتِضاء، وإذا أَعار فأحسبه قد أغار، فما بين أن يقبل عليك مستبشرًا، ويولّي عنك متجهماً مستبسرًا، إلا كلَمْح البصر واستطارة الشرر. لم يخترق ذكرُ الوفاء مَسامِعَه، ولم يَمْسس ماءُ الحياء مدامعه، ظاهره يسرّ ويؤنِس، وباطنه يسوء ويوئس، يُخيِّب ظنّ راجيه، ويُكذّب أمل عافيه، لا يسمع الشكوى ويشمتُ بالبلوى.

      If I complain of the time we live in and its decrees and blame its vicissitudes and evil days, I complain to someone who never heeds a complaint, and I blame someone who makes none content. His habit is to favor the ignoble and to maltreat the noble; he is bent on raising the lowly and obscure, and on debasing the virtuous and high-minded. If he grants a gift, look forward to being soon asked to return it! If he lends a thing (aʿāra) I think he has carried out a raid (aghāra). Between turning toward you with a cheerful face and turning away from you with a glum frown lies but the wink of an eye, the flying of a spark. His ears have never heard of fidelity to promises, his eyes have never been touched by tears of embarrassment. His appearance gives joy and delight, but his inner self causes evil and despair. He disappoints those who expect his favors, he thwarts the hopes of those asking for support. He does not listen to complaint and gloats at people’s torment.

      Ibn al-Qāriḥ’s Complaints of Old Age

      4.2

      قد ذممت شيئًا ووقعت فيه أنا، كالغريق يطلب مَعْلَقًا، والأَسير يندب مطلقًا. وأستحسن قول عليّ بن العبّاس بن جُرَيح الروميّ:

أَلا ليس شيبُك بالمنتزَعْ	فهل أَنتَ عن غيّهِ مُرْتَدِعْ؟
وهل أَنت تاركُ شكوى الزمانِ	إذا شئتَ تشكو إِلى مُستَمِعْ؟
فشَيبُ أَخي الشيبِ أُمنيَّةٌ	إذا ما تناهى إِليها هلَعْ

      For this I once cast blame, but now I do the same,85 having fallen into it like a drowning man clutching at straw, or a prisoner lamenting his freedom. I think ʿAlī ibn al-ʿAbbās ibn Jurayj ibn al-Rūmī said it well:

      Ah, the grayness of your hairs will not be snatched away:

      will you forswear the foibles of old age?

      And will you stop complaining of the times,

      complaining to a listener whenever you want?

      To live to be gray-haired is everyone’s desire,

      but having gained it, one desponds.86

      4.3

      كنت في حال الحداثة أقربُ الناس إليَّ، وأعزُّهم عليّ، وأقربُهم عندي وأجلُّهم في نفسي مرتبةً، من قال لي: نسأ الله في أَجَلِكَ، جعل الله لك أمدّ الأَعمار وأطولها. فلما بلغتُ عشر الثمانين جاء الجزعُ والهلع. فمِمَّ أرتاع وألتاع، وأخلد إلى الأطماع، وهو الذي كنت أتمنّى ويتمنّى لي أهلي؟ أمن صدوف الغواني عنّي؟ فأنا والله عنهنّ أصدفُ، وبهنّ وأدوائهنّ أعرف، إذا لست ممّن ينشد تحسُّرا عليهنّ:

للسودِ في السودِ آثارٌ تركنَ بها

لُمعًا من البيض تَثني أعينَ البيضِ

      وقول الآخر:

ولما رأيتُ النسرَ عَزَّ ابنَ دايةٍ

وعشَّش في وكريْه جاشت له نفسي

      ولا أنشد لأبي عُبادة البحتريّ:

إن أَيّامَه من البيض بيضٌ	ما رأَين المَفارِقَ السودَ سودا
وإذا المحْلُ ثارَ ثاروا غيوثًا	وإذا النقعُ ثار ثاروا أُسودا
يحسن الذكرُ عنهُمُ والأَحاديـ	ـثُ إذا حدَّثَ الحديدُ الحديدا
بلدةٌ تنبت المعالي فما يثّـ	ـغِرُ الطفلُ فيهمُ أَو يسودا

      In my youth, my closest friend and dearest fellow, the man I deemed nearest to me, and the person I held in highest esteem was anyone who would say to me, “May God postpone your term, may God extend your life and grant you the longest of lives!” But now, with my eighth decade, come dismay and despondence. But why should I feel anxiety and agony, cherish ambitions in perpetuity, when I have attained what I desired and what my family wished for me? Because pretty women shun me? But, by God, I shun them more than they shun me, and I know them and the illnesses they bring only too well, for I am not one to recite, in grief over them:

      Black