Leg over Leg. Ahmad Faris al-Shidyaq

observe that they speak of a man being bāsil or mutabassil when they mean “courageous,” even though in origin they mean “of unpleasant appearance”?’⁹² I responded, ‘And they also say rāʿahu, meaning both “he delighted him” and “he scared him.”’ ‘The meaning’s the same,’ she responded. ‘It is taken from rūʿ, meaning “heart,” for the sight of beauty falls on the heart, and indeed all the other organs of the body, like a bolt from above.’ Then ‘And how did you find its shops and markets?’ she went on. ‘The shops,’ I replied, ‘were full of silk-wool, silk, and amazing trinkets.’ ‘Are the people inside them like the things inside them?’ she asked. ‘There are beautiful, white women,’ I replied. ‘I ask you about one thing and you tell me about another!’ she responded. ‘I knew you had a wandering eye, so I will never ask you again about the people, I will simply consult my own eye. This is one of your traits, you men: you see no comeliness in your own sex.’ ‘And it’s just like your trait, O women, of not seeing any beauty in your own. We go together.’ ‘How can we go together when there’s a gap between us?’ she asked. ‘All good things come to those who wait,’ I said. ‘And every good thing should make love,’⁹³ she answered. ‘I cannot accept such a “universal” statement,’⁹⁴ I replied—‘You should say “some good things,”’ to which she countered, ‘If some goes down easily, the whole will not be choked on.’ Then she said, ‘Tell me about the markets,’ to which I replied, ‘They are high-ceilinged, wide, spacious, clean, and so well-lit that it’s impossible for a man to be on his own with a woman under any circumstances. So bright are they they even light up the fog at night.’ ‘Then they belong to the category of the Harmful Public Service,’ she said. ‘Ah, if only I might have the good fortune to see the attractions of that cosmopolis just once before I die!’ ‘Don’t despair!’ I said. ‘I hope we shall all⁹⁵ be able to go there together in a while.’ ‘God grant our wish!’ she replied.”

      4.6.7

      فلما امسى المسآ وبات كل منهما ثملا بذكر لندن على ما مال اليه خاطره قامت فى الغداة تقول * قد رايت لندن فى المنام واذا برجالها اكثر من نسآئها * وطرقها واسعة كما قلت كثيرة الانوار* ولكن يمكن للرجل فيها ان ينفرد بامراة * وكانك انما تقوّلت هذا لكيلا اسيٓئ فيك الظن * ولكن ما كنت لاصدقك من بعد ان تحققت انك غير امين فى الرواية الاولى * ثم بعد محاورة طويلة باتا تلك الليلة على اسم لندن * فاصبحت تقول * قد حلمت انى اشتريت من احسن دكاكينها ثوب ديباج احمر احمر احمر * قال انك لا تزالين لاهجة بهذا اللون واهل لندن لا يحبّونه لا فى الحرير ولا فى الآدميين * قالت ما سبب ذلك * قلت لان الحمرة فى الناس تكون عن كثرة الدم * وكثرة الدم مظنة بكثرة الاكل والشرب * وهى دليل على الرُعْب والنَّهَم * وانما يحبون اليلق الامهق * وكذلك العرب يحبون هذا اللون فقد قال اعظم شعرائهم

كبكر المقاناة البياض بصفرة

غذاها نمير الحىّ غير مجلَّل

      فقالت ان كان هذا الاستكراه من طرف الرجال فهو لخشية عزة النسآ عليهم^١ باللون الاحمر الدال على القوة والنشاط والاشر والبَتَع والكَرَع * فيوهمهم ذلك عجزهم عن كفايتهن * وان يكن من النسآ وقد نطقن به فما هو الا مواربة ومغالطة * فان الانسان بالطبع يحب اللون الاحمر كما يشاهد ذلك فى الاطفال * وناهيك ان الدم الذى هو عنصر الحياة احمر * قال فقلت ولكن خلاصة الدم وصفوته هو فى ذلك اللون الذى يرغب فيه اهل لندن * قالت فهذا هو السبب اذًا * الان قد حصحص الحق وبان * اما انا فعلى مذهبى لن احول عنه * وللناس فيما يعشقون مذاهب *

      ١ ١٨٥٥: عليهن.

      Then evening came and each spent the night drunk on such thoughts of London as accorded with his personal wishes and the next morning she got out of bed and said, “I saw London in a dream, and its men outnumbered its women and its streets were wide and full, as you said, of lights (though it would be possible for a woman to be on her own in them with a man and I think you only alleged what you did so that I wouldn’t harbor any suspicions about you, and I will never believe you again if I find out for sure that you were deceitful in the first telling).” Then again, after a long discussion, they went to bed the next night with the name of London on their lips and in the morning she said, “I dreamed that I bought a dress of red red red brocade from one of its best shops.” “You’re still mad about that color,” he said, “but the people of London don’t like it, either for silk or for humans.” “Why is that?” she asked. “Because red in people comes from too much blood, and too much blood implies too much eating and drinking and is a sign of greed and gluttony. What they like is dull white, a color beloved of the Arabs too, for the greatest of their poets has said,⁹⁶

      Like the first egg of the ostrich—its white mingled with yellow—

      Nurtured on water pure, unsullied by many paddlers.”

      She said, “If we’re talking about men’s dislike of that color, it’s due to their fear that women will lord it over them in the color red, which indicates strength, energy, liveliness, headstrongness, and love of intercourse. This deludes them into thinking that they are incapable of satisfying them. If, however, it’s women’s dislike of it that we’re talking about (should they in fact ever express such an opinion), it must be simply equivocation and deception, for humans love the color red by nature, as one may observe in children; not to mention that blood, which is the essence of life, is red.” The Fāriyāq continued, “Then I said, ‘But the quintessence and best part of blood is of that color⁹⁷ that the people of London crave.’ ‘So that’s the reason!’⁹⁸ she said. ‘“Now the truth has come to light”⁹⁹ and is made plain. As far as I’m concerned, I’ll never abandon my position, and “one man’s meat is another’s poison.”’

      4.6.8

      فقلت بودى لو كنت احمر احمر احمر حتى تحبينى وان كنت احمق احمق احمق * قالت وما انتفاعك بالمحبة اذا كنت احمق* وانما يعود النفع لى فى تركك اياى مع الاحمر * قلت اتزعمين ان العلم يمنع المراة عن اجرآ ما تضمره وان