Leg over Leg. Ahmad Faris al-Shidyaq

eleven o’clock, or about an hour before noon, and we set off together for the park known as the Royal Park and while we were walking there, looking at the towering trees and ornamental flowers, I suddenly caught sight of the girl I’d spent the night with walking with a man who was paying court to her and when she saw me, she smiled and said hello, and her greeting didn’t seem to upset the man, for he doffed his hat to me, and I was very much surprised at his lack of jealousy, as, had the girl been mine, I’d have hidden her from the light,” then it all amounts to nothing but what’s called in chaste Arabic hadhar (“prating”), hurāʾ (“prattling”), haft (“nonsense”), harj (“confusion”), halj (“making incredible claims”), saqaṭ (“false reporting”), haysh (“talking too much”), watagh (“mindless verbiage”), khaṭal (“excessive nonsense”), ikhlāʾ (“vacancy”), lakhā (“much ado about nothing”), ṭafānīn (“idle talk”), hadhayān (“senseless jabber”), thartharah (“chattering”), farfarah (“chittering”), ḥadhramah (“loquacity”), habramah (“garrulousness”), hathramah (“garrulity”), khazrabah (“rambling”), khaṭlabah (“ranting”), ghaydharah (“raving”), shamrajah (“blathering”), nafrajah (“blethering”), hamrajah (“blabbering”), thaghthaghah (“gabbling”), faqfaqah (“burbling”), laqlaqah (“clattering”), waqwaqah (“barking”), and hatmanah (“bombast”)—and in the ordinary speech of the common people, since it’s of no use to anyone, fashār (“bragging”) and ʿalk (“yakkety-yak”).

      4.1.13

      بخلاف ما اذا قلت لهم ان الغيسانى من الرجال هناك اذا حضر مجلسا فيه نسآ لا يغمز احداهن بعينه ولا يتبظرم ولا يبتهر(١)(١) تبظرم اذا كان احمق وعليه خاتم فيتكلم ويشير به فى وجوه الناس وابتهر ادعى كذبا وقال فجرت ولم يفجر * * ولا يقول لها انه يزور النسآ المحصنات بعلم بعولتهن وبغير علمهم وياكل عندهن ويشرب * ثم يخلو بهن فى مضاجعهن ويرجع الى منزله مسرورا * وكاىٍّ من مرة وضع يده فى جيبه فوجد فيه كيسا ملان من الدنانير او كاغد حوالة على بعض الصيارفة * وانه اذا مرّ فى الاسواق تتهافت على رويته البنات من الرواشن والشبابيك والكُوَى والسِهآء والاَجْلآ * فمنهن من تشير اليه بيدها او براسها * ومنهن من تهجله بعينها ثم تضع يدها على قلبها * ومنهن من ترميه بوردة * واخرى بباقة من المنثور او برقعة فيها شعر * او انه يقول بحضرتهن قد انحلّت تكّتى او حكّنى رفغى لكون حشو سراويلى غليظا * او يحك استه او يرطل عياره * او يتمطى ويتمتّى ويتمطّط ويتمدّد ويتمطّل ويتمتأ ويتمتّت ويتمأّى ويتنَطّط ويتمعط ويتمغط ويتبسط ويتبأّط * بل انما يكلمهن متادبا محتشما غاضّ الطرف خافض الصوت * ويسال كبيرتهن عما طالعت يومها ذاك من الاخبار والحكايات والنوادر الادبية * وانه شرع فى تاليف كتاب مفيد يشتمل على ذكر اثار الاقدمين واخبارهم * ثم يلقى على صغيرتهن احجية ادبية ليلهيها بها وبمثل ذلك يدخل مكرما ويخرج محمودا *

      It would be different were you to tell them that if a handsome young man there attends a gathering where there are women, he doesn’t wink at one of them or flash his costly ring about foolishly in her face as he talks or make false boast of his conquests.(1)(1) One says of a man that he tabaẓrama [“flashed his ring about foolishly”] “if he is stupid and is wearing a signet ring and he talks and waves it about in people’s faces” and that he ibtahara [“made false boast of his conquests”] if he “makes false claims and says ‘I committed adultery’ when he did not.” He doesn’t tell her that he visits women of unblemished reputation with and without the permission of their husbands and eats and drinks in their homes, then stays alone with them in their bedchambers and returns home in good cheer, and that many a time he has put his hand into his pocket and found there a purse full of gold coins or a draft drawn on a moneylender, or that when he walks through the markets, the girls crowd the casements, windows, apertures, peepholes, and skylights to catch sight of him, some making signs to him with their hands or their heads, others making sheep’s eyes and putting their hands on their hearts, one throwing him a flower and another a posy of stocks or a scrap of paper bearing a verse. He doesn’t say in their presence “My drawstring came undone” or “I’ve got jock itch because my package is so big” or scratch his anus or weigh his “yardarm” in his hand, or stretch, loll, sprawl, extend his body, lie at full length, elongate himself, protract himself, lounge, drape himself, lie flat on his face, extend his arms to their full length, spread himself out, or flop vacantly around. On the contrary, he speaks to them politely and respectfully, averting his gaze and lowering his voice, and he asks the eldest among them what news, stories, and edifying anecdotes have come her way that day, or he mentions that he has commenced that very day the composition of a beneficial book that will make comprehensive mention of the antiquities left by the ancients and their histories, and then puts some literary puzzle to the youngest of them to keep her entertained. Such things ensure that he is honored on his arrival and praised on his departure.

      4.1.14

      وبخلاف ما اذا قلت لهم ايضا ان التاجر المثرى هناك لا يتختم بخواتم الماس والزمرّذ * ولا يتحلى بسلاسل الذهب * ولا يقتنى النادر من الاثاث والماعون والفرش * بل انما ينفق امواله فى سبيل البر واغاثة الملهوفين وامداد الارامل واليتامى * وفى انشآ المدارس والمستشفيات * وفى تصليح الطرق وتحسين المدينة وازالة الاوساخ والعفونات منها * وفى ان يربى ولده بالادب والعلم والفضائل * فترى منهم من سنّه اثنتا عشرة سنة يكلّمك بما يكلّمك به من سنّه منا اثنتا عشرة سنة بعد العشرين * وبخلاف ما اذا تفضلت بذكره فقلت ان لكل انسان عندهم ممن لا يعدّ من الاغنيآ والفقرآ خزانة كتب نفيسة فى كل فن وعلم * وما من بيت الا وفيه اضبارة من صحف * وان الرجل منهم اخبر بالبلاد الاجنبية من اهلها * وان اكثر فلاحيهم يقراون