Vol. VII, no. 1 (2003) - Mamluk Studies Review - University of Chicago

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40 GEERT JAN VAN GELDER, POETRY FOR EASY LISTENING Ludh bi-al-ghara≠mi wa-ladhdhati al-ashwa≠q| wa-ikhtar fana≠’aka f| al-jama≠li al-ba≠q| Wa-ikhla‘ sulu≠waka fa-huwa thawbun mukhlaqun wa-ilbas jad|da maka≠rimi al-akhla≠q| Wa-tawaqqa min na≠ri al-sűdu≠di bi-shurbatin min ma≠’i dam‘ika fa-huwa ni‘ma al-wa≠q| Wa-idha≠ da‘a≠ka ilá al-s˝iba≠ nafasu al-s˝aba≠ fa-ajib rasu≠la nas|mihi al-khaffa≠q| Wa-idha≠ sharibta al-s˝irfa min khamri al-hawá iyya≠ka taghfalu ‘an jama≠li al-sa≠q| Wa-ilqa al-ah˝ibbata in aradta wisa≠lahum mutaladhdhidhan bi-al-dhulli wa-al-imla≠q| A-wa-laysa min ah˝lá al-mat¸a≠mi‘i f| al-hawá ‘izzu al-h˝ab|bi wa-dhillatu al-‘ushsha≠q| 27 [Take refuge in love and the pleasure of passion and seek your extinction in beauty that lasts. Take off the old cloak, now worn out, of your solace; and get yourself dressed in a new set of virtues. Seek protection 'gainst fire of rejection by drinking the water of tears: they're the safest protection. When the zephyr invites you to amorous folly, obey then the messenger sent in its fluttering breeze. And when you have drunk the unmixed wine of passion, be careful to notice the cupbearer's beauty. And meet those you love, if you wish to be one with them, while you relish in being submissive and poor. For isn't this one of the sweetest ambitions in love: the beloved exalted, and humbled the lovers?] The poem is based on an often-expressed paradox: a lover's true happiness exists in being miserable, and it ought to be his highest ambition to be lowly and submissive. This is expressed through various instances of paronomasia: ludh/ladhdha, mukhlaq/akhla≠q, tawaqqa/wa≠q|, s˝aba≠/s˝iba≠, mutaladhdhidh/dhull, and of antithesis: fana≠’/ba≠q|, ikhla‘/ilbas, mukhlaq/jad|d, na≠r/ma≠’, ‘izz/dhillah. Combined, these two figures suggest a punning antithesis of ladhdhah "pleasure" and dhillah/dhull "submission" that here, exceptionally, goes beyond the confines 27 Khiza≠nah, 260/1:453. © 2003, 2012 Middle East Documentation Center, The University of Chicago. http://mamluk.uchicago.edu/MamlukStudiesReview_VII-1_2003.pdf
MAMLU±K STUDIES REVIEW VOL. 7, 2003 41 of a single line (see lines 1, 6 and 7) and is reinforced by the fact that the very first word, ludh (from a different root), is a palindrome of dhull. Yet, in spite of all this apparent artifice, one can understand that Ibn H˛ijjah cites it as an example of insija≠m "that stirs the passions and ardent emotions." Not all poems quoted are on love secular or mystical. The longest poem, by Ibn Nuba≠tah (686–768/1287–1366), is a muzdawijah of 158 rajaz couplets in praise of the ruler of H˛ama≠h, al-Malik al-Afd˝al. After a brief description of nature, it turns into a hunting poem, with a brief panegyric at the end. 28 The poem reads smoothly indeed, and approaches prose not only in being relatively free of obscure diction and far-fetched imagery, but also because it is basically a narrative, from the beginning of the hunt (line 23: "When the time for the shoot 29 approached, we set out . . .") until the returning, with a heavy bag (lines 137–39: "God, what a fine and blessed sight, the manner we returned from the mountain's summit, our hands filled with the spoils, thankful for the bounty bestowed upon us, thronging round the Victorious King, al-Malik al-Mans˝u≠r 30 like comets round the luminous moon"). Within a framework of verbs in perfect tense at intervals (sirna≠ . . . h˝attá nazalna≠ . . . wa-ibtadara al-qawm . . . wa-aqbalat mawa≠kibu al-t¸uyu≠r . . . sirna≠ . . ., etc.), the action and scenes are depicted in the intervals by means of circumstantial clauses, extended attributive clauses, similes (ka-annaha≠ . . .), exclamative sentences (fa-ya≠ la-ha≠ . . ., fa-h˝abbadha≠ . . ., kam . . ., wa≠han la-ha≠ . . .) and other constructions. Shooting turns to hawking and to hunting with hounds and cheetahs, and all of it underlines both the bounty and the bloodshed that is customarily ascribed to rulers in panegyric poetry. Ibn H˛ijjah, praising the poem, says that "If the Shar|f could have seen it, he would have sponged off of (tat¸affala) the breeze of its verses [i.e., plagiarized them], and he would have acknowledged that The Chanter and the Groaner does not chant and warble as sweetly." He refers to Ibn al-Habba≠r|yah (d. ca. 509/1115) and his collection of poems in rajaz meter with mostly animal fables, even though Ibn Nuba≠tah's poem is more akin to the model set by Ibn al-Mu‘tazz and Abu≠ Fira≠s. 31 Ibn H˛ijjah is enthusiastic, too, about a poem by Ibn al-Ward| (691–749/1292–1349) which is a versified deed of purchase, improvised when challenged on 14 Ramad˝a≠n of the year 715/1316. 32 It begins as follows: 28 Ibid., 267–72/1:466–72. The edition of the poem by Muh˝ammad As‘ad T˛alas in Majallat al-Majma‘ al-‘Ilm| al-‘Ira≠q| 2 (1952): 302–10 has 177 couplets. 29 With pellets, ramy al-bunduq, for shooting birds. 30 Ibn H˛ijjah explains that al-Malik al-Afd˝al's earlier name was al-Malik al-Mansű≠r. 31 See, e.g., James E. Montgomery, "Abu≠ Fira≠s's Veneric Urju≠zah Muzdawijah," Arabic and Middle Eastern Literatures 2 (1999): 61–74, esp. 69. 32 Khiza≠nah, 272–73/1:473–74. The date, as can be expected here, is given in the poem itself. © 2003, 2012 Middle East Documentation Center, The University of Chicago. http://mamluk.uchicago.edu/MamlukStudiesReview_VII-1_2003.pdf
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Page 3 and 4: MAMLU±K STUDIES REVIEW Editor BRUC
Page 5 and 6: ARTICLES CONTENTS Mamluk Literature
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Í—«cŽ ‚u t²IÐ√ UNMJ —U
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98 EVERETT K. ROWSON, AN ALEXANDRIA
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100 EVERETT K. ROWSON, AN ALEXANDRI
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112 MUHSIN JASSIM AL-MUSAWI, AL-QAL
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AMILA BUTUROVI YORK UNIVERSITY The
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LI GUO UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME The
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[Al-jamshu f| al-na≠si qabla al-n
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Her breath stinks like farting, or
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TEXTUAL NOTES MAMLU±K STUDIES REVI
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212 TH. EMIL HOMERIN, THE MYSTICAL
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236 NASSER RABBAT, LAILA ‘ALI IBR
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238 BOOK REVIEWS as elsewhere, Raba
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240 BOOK REVIEWS The present study
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242 BOOK REVIEWS castle) be continu
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244 BOOK REVIEWS especially regardi
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246 BOOK REVIEWS parts were added b
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248 BOOK REVIEWS and death were maj
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250 BOOK REVIEWS period between the
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252 BOOK REVIEWS She also points ou
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254 BOOK REVIEWS The approach the c
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256 BOOK REVIEWS reveals that a vas
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258 BOOK REVIEWS to writing the bio
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260 BOOK REVIEWS The author of the
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262 BOOK REVIEWS to high literature
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264 BOOK REVIEWS history of medieva
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266 BOOK REVIEWS that the "Sultan o
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268 BOOK REVIEWS result was that he
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270 BOOK REVIEWS ulama. The last gr
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272 BOOK REVIEWS common people, nor
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