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

هي الدنيا وقد نعِموا بأُخرى وتسويفُ الظنون من السُّوافِ

      أي الهلاك. فقال: إنما كنتُ أتلاعب بذلك ولم أكن أعتقده. ولعل كثيرًا ممن شُهر بهذه الجهالات تكون طويّتُه إقامةَ الشريعة، والإرتاع برياضها المَريعة. فإن اللسان طمّاحٌ، وله بالفَنَد إسماح. وكان أبو عيسى المذكور يُستحسن شعرُه في البيتين والثلاثة، وأنشد له الصُّولي في نوادره:

لساني كَتومٌ لأسراره	ودمعي نَمومٌ بسِرّي مُذيعُ
ولولا دموعي كتمتُ الهوى	ولولا الهوى لم يكن لي دموعُ

      فإن كان فرّ من صيامِ شهر، فلعله يقع في تعذيب الدهر، و {لا يَيْأَسُ مِنْ رَوْحِ ٱللهِ إلّا ٱلْقَوْمُ ٱلْكافِرُونَ}.

      ١ في جميع الطبعات: محظرين.

      Abū ʿĪsā, the son of al-Rashīd,²²¹ is neither seeking nor sought.²²² If the reports about him are true, he set himself apart thereby from his ancestors and showed his opposition to religious people. The Lord does not care whether His servants keep the fast through fear or break it; but people have been warned(?).²²³ Sometimes an ignoramus, or someone pretending to be so, will utter a statement though in his heart he is well aware that the opposite is true. I say this in the hope that Abū ʿĪsā and his likes did not follow those who lead into error, and that, having pondered it at night, they think differently from what was said openly. Certainly, the dead taught them a lesson.

      Somebody dreamed he saw ʿAbd al-Salām ibn Raghbān, who is known as Dīk al-Jinn, looking fine. He mentioned to him the lines rhyming in -āfī, including the following:²²⁴

      This is the [real] world, though they are happy with [the thought of] another:

      to fix one’s thoughts on things to come is fell.

      (“Fell” means “deadly.”) The poet replied, “I said that only in jest; I did not really believe it.” Perhaps many of those who are notorious for saying such ignorant things upheld the shariah in their innermost thoughts, staying within its bounds and grazing in its rich pasture-grounds. For the tongue is full of avidity and will yield to error and stupidity.

      The poems consisting of two or three lines by the aforementioned Abū ʿĪsā were admired. Al-Ṣūlī, in his Anecdotes, quotes the following poem of his:²²⁵

      My tongue keeps its secrets hidden,

      but my tears betray my secret and divulge it.

      But for my tears I would have hidden my passion;

      but for my passion, I would not have shed tears.

      Even though he fled from the month-long fasting, he may perhaps [not]²²⁶ fall into everlasting torment. «Only unbelieving people despair of God’s comfort».²²⁷

      Al-Jannābī

      28.3

      وأمّا الجَنّابيّ فلو عوقب بلدٌ بمن يسكُنه، لجاز أن تؤخذ به جَنّابةُ، ولا يُقبل لها إنابة. ولكن حُكْم الكتاب المُنزل أجدرُ وأحرى: {أَلا تَزِرُ وازِرَةٌ وِزْرَ أُخْرَى}. وقد اختُلف في حديث الرُّكن معه: فزعم من يدّعي الخبرة به أنه أخذه ليعبُده ويعظّمه، لأنه بلغه أنه يد الصنَم الذي جُعل على خَلْق زُحَل. وقيل: جعله مَوْطئًا في مرتفَق، وهذا تناقضٌ في الحديث. وأيّ ذلك كان، فعليه اللعنة ما رسا ثَبير وهَمى صَبير.

      As for al-Jannābī,²²⁸ if a town were punished for its inhabitants, then it would be possible for Jannābah to be punished because of him and its repentance not be accepted. But the judgment of the revealed Book is more apt and more appropriate: «That no burdened soul shall bear the burden of another».²²⁹ There are different versions of the story about him and the cornerstone of the Kaaba. Some who claim they were well acquainted with him assert that he took it in order to worship and glorify it, because he had heard that it was the hand of the idol that was made in the likeness of Saturn.²³⁰ Others say he used it as a footstep in a privy. These stories contradict each other, but whatever was the case, a curse be upon him, for as long as Mount Thabīr stands and rain from white clouds falls.

      The Leader of the Zanj

      28.4.1

      وأما العَلَويّ البصريّ فذكر بعض الناس أنه كان قبل خروجه يذكر أنه من عبد القيس ثمَّ من أنمار. وكان اسمُه أحمد، فلمّا خرج تسمّى عَليًّا. والكذب كثير جَمّ، كأنه في النَّظر طوْد أشمّ؛ والصدْق لديه كالحَصاة، تُوطأ بأقدامِ عُصاة. وتلك الأبيات المنسوبة إليه مشهورة وهي:

أيا حِرفةَ الزَّمْنى ألمَّ بك الرَّدى	أما لي خلاصٌ منكِ والشَّمْلُ جامعُ
لئن قنِعتْ نفسي بتعليم صِبْيةٍ	يدَ الدهّر إني بالمَذَلّة قانعُ
وهل يرضَيَنْ حُرٌّ بتعليم صبْيةٍ	وقد ظُنَّ أنَّ الرزق في الأرض واسعُ

      وما أمنعُ أن يكون حَمَله حُبّ الحُطام، على أن غرِق في بحرٍ طامٍ، يسبَح فيه {ما دامَتِ السَّمٰواتُ والأرْضُ إلا ما شاءَ ربُّك إنَّ رَبَّكَ فَعَّالٌ لِما يُرِيدُ}.

      |Someone reported that before the ʿAlid from Basra²³¹ came out in rebellion he used to say he belonged to the tribe of ʿAbd al-Qays, more specifically to Anmār. His name was Aḥmad, but when he rebelled he called himself ʿAlī—there is a lot of lying!—as if he were a lofty mountain in terms of profound insight. Truth was to him like pebbles, to be trodden underfoot by the feet of rebels! The following well-known lines are attributed to him:²³²

      O trade of the chronically ill,²³³ may perdition come upon you!

      Is there no escape for me from you, not even when the assembled people gather?²³⁴

      If