in it of poetry and prose—concluded and which, to cut the story short, was a dollop of my inspired thought, I determined to add thereto this second part and unravel the meanings of the Ode, which are the point from which its formal constructions depart; so I set my lethargic brain to work, allowing my pen on the elucidation of the matters therein to go berserk and to unravel the motifs that the Ode contains, descending upon it like a downpour on Upper Egypt when it rains, with expressions whose sense wafts about like a fart, and motifs thrown together without method or art. And indeed, my brain assisted me in that for which I strove and bestirred itself with me to attain the goal at which I drove; and now’s the moment to set out in pursuit of that thing, with the help of God, the Worshipped King. I therefore declare:
(ذكر نسب الناظم وما حواه * وذكر الموضع الّذي ضمّه وآواه * وسبب سعادته وحصولها * وصفة لحيته هل كانت طويلة أو قلّ طولها * وكيف مال عليه الدهر في آخر الزمان * حتّى أنشأ هذا القصيد واشتهر عنه وبان) *
An Account of the Lineage of the Poet and Its Components, and of the Place That Took Him to Its Bosom and Gave Him Shelter from His Earliest Moments, and of the Origins of His Fortune and How It Was Brought, and of the Nature of His Beard, Whether It Was Long or Short, and of How, at the End, by Fate He Was O’erthrown, as a Result of Which He Composed This Ode for Which He Became Famous and Well Known.
His Lineage
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فنقول أمّا نسبه فعلى أقوال فمنهم من صرّح أنّه أبو شادوف بن أبو جاروف بن شقادف بن لقالق بن بحلق بن عفلق بن عفر بن دعموم بن فلحس بن خرا الحس فإذا ذقت الكلام بمعقول * عرفت انتهاء نسبه على هذا القول * وقيل أبو شادوف بن أبو جاروف بن بردع بن زوبع بن بحلق بن عفلق بن بهدل بن عوكل بن عمره بن كل خرا فانتهى نسبه على القول الأوّل لابن خرا الحس وعلى الثاني لابن كل خرا والثاني أصحّ لأنّ أكل الخرا أبلغ من لحسه
We declare: opinions differ concerning his lineage. Some state that he was Abū Shādūf son of Abū Jārūf son of Shaqādif son of Laqāliq (Storks) son of Baḥlaq (Goggle-Eye) son of ʿAflaq (Big Flabby Vagina) son of ʿAfr (Dust) son of Duʿmūm son of Falḥas1 son of Kharā Ilḥas (Lick-Shit). If you ingest these words with your rational faculty, you will realize that this is the end of his ancestry. Others, however, say he was Abū Shādūf son of Abū Jārūf son of Bardaʿ (Donkey Saddle) son of Zawbaʿ (Dust Storm) son of Baḥlaq son of ʿAflaq son of Bahdal (Disheveled) son of ʿAwkal son of ʿAmrah2 son of Kul Kharā (Eat-Shit). Thus, according to the first version, his genealogy ends with “son of Lick-Shit” and according to the second with “son of Eat-Shit”; however, the second is more correct because to eat shit is more eloquent than to lick it.
His Village
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(وأمّا قريته) ففيها خلاف قيل إنّه من تَلّ فندروك وقيل من كفر شمرطاطي وهو الصحيح لأنّ الناظم صرّح بذلك في بعض أشعاره فقال [وافر]
As for his village, it is a matter of dispute. Some say that he was from Tall Fandarūk and others from Kafr Shammirṭāṭī,3 the latter being correct, for the poet himself says so in some verses of his, to wit:
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| أَنَا يَا نَاسُ فِي قَوْلِي دَلَايِلْ | وَنَظْمِي حَقُّ مَاهُوشِي هَبَايِلْ |
| أَبُو شَادُوفْ أنَا قَالْلِي أَبُويَهْ | عَلَيْهِ وَجِدَّتِي دِيكْ أُمُّ نَايِلْ |
| بِأَنِّي قَدْ تَرَبَّيْتْ يَا جَمَاعَهْ | بِكَفْرٍ يَعْرِفُوهْ نَاسٌ أَوَايِلْ |
| يُسَمَّى كَفْرَ شَمِّرْ لِي وَطَاطِي | فَكُنْ صَاحِبْ فَهَامَهْ يَا فَسَاقِلْ |
| وَذَا قَوْلِي وَٱبُو شَادُوفِ إسْمِي | وَشِعْرِي حَقُّ مَنْ جَانِي يُسَايِلْ |
Me, good people, my words are a guide
And my verses speak true, no tomfooleries hide.
Abū Shādūf am I. My dad told me the tale,
And likewise my grandma, old Umm Nāyil,
Of how, good folk, I was raised
In a hamlet known since olden days
Called Kafr Shammir-lī wa-Ṭāṭī4—
So, Fasāqil,5 be a wise laddie!
These are my verses, Abū Shādūf’s my name,
And any who comes to inquire my verse can claim.
٢،٢،١٠
وسمعتُ شعرًا لبعض أهل الريف يدلّ أنّه من تلّ فندروك وهو هذا [وافر]
| سَمِعْنَا مِنْ قَدِيمِ وْمِنْ جَدِيدِ | كَلَامًا مَاكِنًا شِبْهَ ٱلْحَدِيدِ |
| أَبُو شَادُوفِ عَنْهُ خَبَّرُونَا | بِقَوْلٍ حَقِّ جَانَا بَٱلْوَكِيدِ |
| بِتَلِّ فَنْدَرُوكْ فِيهِ تَرَبَّى | وَعَاشْ يَا قَوْمْ وَأَنْشَأْلُو قَصِيدِ |
| وَذَا قَوْلِي وَٱنَا غِنْدَافُ إِسْمِي |
وَكَمْ مِنْ نَظْمْ
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