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

and fearing a threat. That man was madly in love with Waḥshiyyah, though he had to forgo a soft bed, being separated from her. He thought of a mouth with teeth white like the flowers of a palm tree, a cheek that could be compared to the color of safflower. But the love of a beautiful woman is deceptive and delusive. In his passion he suffered ever-new miseries. If this woman had died while Marrār was still alive, he would have thought himself as carried upon her bier,⁵¹ particularly in old age, with his soul’s strength in decline. Perhaps, if Abū l-Qaṭirān had been able to enjoy this woman for a hundred epochs, without anxiety or being spied upon, it is possible that he would have tired of being united with her, knowing that his bond was lasting. If something had happened to her that had made her change her loyalty, he would have wished that she were cast into something other than a cradle,⁵² because a human being is miserly and easily bored; a trusty, docile she-camel⁵³ will bring him to his death. If she had lost an eye, which once was black and lustrous, he would have thought this was an unforgiveable incident, beyond expiation. But how can someone who has been careless be rebuked, or revenge taken on the neglectful? God—glorified be He—has kept this away from someone who has forgotten and does not know, or from a sleeper who feels pain when perceiving something that hurts.⁵⁴

      23.3.2

      ومن أين لذلك الشّخص الأسَديّ، ما وهبه الله للشيخ من وفاءٍ لو علم به السّموْءَل لاعترف أنه من الغادرين، أو الحارثُ بن ظالم لَشهد أنه من السّادرين! من قولهم فعل كذا وكذا سادرًا، أي لا يهتمُّ لشيء، وإنما عاشَر أبو القطران أعبُدًا في الإبل وآميا، ونظر إلى عقِبه داميا، ممَّا يطأ على هَراسٍ، ومن له في المكْلأة بالفَراس؟ وهو التَّمر الأسود، ومن أبيات المعاني:

إذا أكلوا الفَراس رأيتَ شامًا	على الأنباث منهمْ والغيوبِ
فما تنفكُّ تسمع قاصفاتٍ	كصوت الرّعد في العام الخصيبِ

      ولعلّه لو صادف غانيةً تزيد على وحشيّةَ بشِقِّ الأَبلُمة، لسَلاها غير المؤلمة، وإنَّما ديْدنُ ذلك الرّجل ونُظرائه صفةُ ناقةٍ أو رَبْع، وما شجرُه المغترَس بالنَّبْع. إذا جنى الكَمْأة بَجَح، وخال أنه قد نجح! ولو حضر أخْوِنةً حضرها الشّيخ لعاد كما قال القائل:

فلو كنتَ عُذْريَّ العلاقة لم تبِتْ

بطينًا وأنساك الهوى كثرةَ الأكلِ

      How could the loyalty of this man from the tribe of Asad be compared with the great loyalty that God has bestowed on the Sheikh? If al-Samawʾal had known of it, he would have acknowledged that he had been a traitor; if al-Ḥārith ibn Ẓālim had known of it, he would have testified that he had been insouciant (sādir). This is from the expression “he did such-and-such a thing insouciantly (sādiran),” i.e., not being concerned with anything.

      Abū l-Qaṭirān lived among camel-herding slaves, male and female; when he looked at his heels he found them bleeding from treading on thorny shrubs. Who could give him farās dates in the grazing ground?

      Farās are black dates. The following verses are quoted in works on obscure expressions:⁵⁵

      When they eat farās you see black “moles”

      produced by them on the mud from the wells and the hollows.

      Incessantly you hear rumbling claps

      like the sound of thunder in a year of abundance.

      Perhaps, if he had found a woman prettier than Waḥshiyyah by even half a stone of a doom-palm date he would have forgotten about her and she would have caused him no more pain. It was the habit of this man and people of his kind merely to describe a she-camel or a campsite. The trees he planted were no nabʿ trees. When he gathered some truffles he would exult and imagine he had an excellent result! If he sat at tables such as those that the Sheikh sits at, he would end up just as the poet says: ⁵⁶

      If you had an ʿUdhrite attachment you would not spend the night

      full-bellied: your passion would make you forget eating a lot.

      23.3.3

      وهو، قدَّر الله له ما أحبَّ، قد جالس ملوك مصر التي قال فيها فرعون: {أَلَيْسَ لِي مُلْكُ مِصْرَ وهٰذِهِ الأنهارُ تَجْرِي مِنْ تَحْتِي أَفَلا تُبْصِرُون؟} وقد أقام بالعراق زمنًا طويلا، وأدام على الأدب تعويلا، وبالعراق مملكةُ فارسَ، وهم أهل الشَّرف والظّرْف، يوفي صَرْفُهم في الأطعِمة على كلِّ صَرْف، ولا ريب أنه قد جالس بقاياهم، واختبر في المعاشَرة سجاياهم، وعاطوْه الأكؤسَ أُلاتِ التصاوير، على عاد المَرازِبة الأساوير، كما قال الحَكَميُّ:

تدور علينا الكأسُ في عَسْجديَّةٍ	حبَتْها بأنواع التصاوير فارسُ
قَرارتها كِسْرى وفي جَنَباتها	مَهًا تدَّريها بالقِسِيّ الفوارسُ

      وأبو القَطِران كان يستقي النُّطفة بخُلبة، ويجعلها في الغُمَر أو العُلبة، وإذا طعِم فمَن له باللهيدة، وإن أخصب شرع في النَّهيدة.

      The Sheikh (may God destine for him what he loves!) has sat with the kings of Egypt, about which Pharaoh says:⁵⁷ «Have I not the kingdom of Egypt and these rivers, flowing beneath me? Do you not see, then?» And he has stayed in Iraq for a long time, depending on his erudition, while Iraq was ruled by Persia.⁵⁸ They are noble and refined people. They spend on food more than one could possibly spend. There can be no doubt that he sat with the highest-ranking lords and experienced their characters in their company, while they handed him cups adorned with pictures,⁵⁹ after the custom of the Persian knightly margraves, ⁶⁰ as al-Ḥakamī says:⁶¹

      The cup⁶² went round among us, held in a golden (vessel),

      on