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

وفي الحديث عن عائشة، رحمة الله عليها: كان رسول الله، صلّى الله عليه وسلّم، يُقبِّلني شَقَّ التينة. وروى بعضهم: شقَّ التمرة. وذلك أن يأخذ الشّفة العُليا بيده والسُّفلى بيده الأخرى ويُقبِّل ما بين الشفتين.

      Nor do I doubt that if the Sheikh (may God give enjoyment to literature by granting him long life!) had been given the opportunity to have a conversation with Abū l-Aswad, in spite of his lameness, his miserliness attested in anecdotes, and his gruffness(?),⁶⁴ his affection for him would have been stronger than the affection of Mahdī for his Laylā,⁶⁵ not to mention that of Ruʾbah for his Ubaylā.⁶⁶ If he had lived at a time in which he could have attended a lecture by Abū l-Khaṭṭāb, he would have been more passionate about the latter’s weak eyesight than al-Ḥādirah about Sumayyah, or Ghaylān⁶⁷ about Mayyah, for he said:

      Two eyes: God said, “Be!” and they were,

      doing to minds what wine does too.

      And the Sheikh would have admired the gaping mouth of Abū l-Ḥasan Saʿīd ibn Masʿadah more than Kuthayyir admired ʿAzzah’s white teeth, or the ʿUdhrite poet⁶⁸ Buthaynah’s dark-red lips. Even if Abū ʿUbaydah suffered from bad breath, I am sure that the Sheikh, what with his fondness of historical reports, would have kissed him “as one splits a fig,” not feeling himself too grand for this.

      In a hadith transmitted on the authority of ʿĀʾishah (God have mercy on her) it says: “The messenger of God (God bless and preserve him) would kiss me as one splits a fig.” Someone transmits it as “as one splits a date.” It means: taking the upper lip with one hand and the lower lip with the other hand, and then kissing the space between the lips.

      23.5

      وأما مَن فقده من الأصدقاء لمّا دخل حلب، حرسها الله، فتلك عادة الزَّمن، ليس على السالم بمؤتمَن، يبدِّل من الأبيات المسكونة قبورا، ولا يُلْحِق بعثرةٍ جُبورا. وإنَّ رَمَس الهالك لبيتُ الحقّ، وإن طرق بالمُلِمّ الأشقّ. على أنه يُغني الثاويَ بعد عدمٍ، ويكفيه المئونة مع القِدَم. وإنَّ الجسد لَمِن شرٍّ خبيءٍ، يبعُد من سبْيٍ وسبيء. قال الضّبيّ:

ولقد علمتُ بأن قصْري حُفرةٌ	ما بعدها خوفٌ عليَّ ولا عَدَمْ
فأزور بيتَ الحقِّ زوْرةَ ماكث	فعَلامَ أحفِل ما تقوَّض وانهدمْ؟

      وما زالت العرب تسمّي القبر بيتا، وإن كان المنتقل إليه ميتا، قال الرّاجز:

اليوم يُبنى لدُويْدٍ بيْتُهُ	يا رُبَّ بيتِ حسبٍ بنيْتُهُ
ومِعصَمٍ ذي بُرَةٍ لويتُهُ	لو كان للدّهر بِلًى أبليْتُهُ
أو كان قِرني واحدًا كفيْتُهُ

      As for the friends that the Sheikh missed when he entered Aleppo (may God protect it!), well, this is the habit of Time, which cannot be trusted to keep matters safe and sound: it replaces inhabited houses with graves and it will not allow a slip to be mended. The tomb of a deceased person is surely the true house, though it may bring the most troublesome misfortune. However, it makes its resident free from need, after his privation,⁶⁹ and it saves him from having to procure provisions, no matter how long he has been there(?).⁷⁰ The body is concealed from evil,⁷¹ far from women or wine.⁷² The poet from the tribe of Ḍabbah⁷³ said:

      I have come to know that my end⁷⁴ will be a grave-pit,

      after which there is for me neither fear nor privation.

      I shall visit the house of truth for a permanent visit;

      why should I care for things that fall into ruin and collapse?

      The Arabs always speak of the grave as a “house,” even if he who moves into it is dead. A rajaz poet said:⁷⁵

      Today a house will be built for Duwayd.

      Many a respectable house have I built,

      Many a wrist with a bracelet have I bent.

      If Fate could be worn out, I would wear it out;

      Or if my opponent were single, I would be more than his match.

      23.6

      فأمّا الفصل الذي ذكر فيه الخليل، فقد سقط منه اسم الذي غلا فيَّ، وقرن بالنُّجوم الصَّلافيَّ، ومن كان، فغفر اللهُ جرائمه، وحفِظ له في الأبد كرائمه، فقد أخطأ على نفسه فيما زعم وعليَّ، ونسب ما لا أستوجب إليَّ. وكم أعتذر وأتنصَّل، من ذنْبٍ ليس يتحصَّل! وإنّي لأكرهُ بشهادة الله تلك الدَّعْوى المُبْطِلة، كَراهةَ المسيح مَن جعله رَبَّ العِزّة، فما ترك للفِتَن من مَهَزّة، بدليل قوله تعالى: {وَإذْ قال ٱللهُ يا عِيسَى بْنَ مَرْيَمَ أأَنْتَ قُلْتَ لِلنّاسِ ٱتّخِذُوني وأُمِّي إلٰهيْنِ مِنْ دُونِ اللهِ، قالَ سُبْحانَكَ ما يَكُونُ لِي أَنْ أَقُولَ ما لَيْسَ لِي بِحَقٍّ، إنْ كُنْتُ قُلْتُهُ فََقَدْ عَلِمْتَهُ، تَعْلَمُ ما فِي نَفْسِي وَلا أَعْلَمُ ما فِي نَفْسِكَ، إِنَّكَ أَنْتَ عَلّامُ ٱلْغُيُوبِ}.

      In the paragraph in which the Sheikh mentions al-Khalīl the name is missing of the person that extols me so excessively,⁷⁶ pairing the stars with hard stones. Whoever it was—may God forgive his misdeeds and preserve for him for ever his noble qualities!—in his assertion he erred both against me and himself. He ascribed to me things I do not deserve. How often do I have to exculpate myself and justify myself for a sin that never occurred! Truly, I loathe—God be my witness—such false claims as much as the Messiah loathed those who turned him into the Lord Omnipotent, and who thus did not omit any opportunity to stir up religious temptation.⁷⁷ The proof is in the words of God the Exalted:⁷⁸ «And when God said, “O ʿĪsā son of Maryam, did you say to the people: Take me and my mother as two gods, rather than God?” He answered, “May You be glorified!