رَأيتُ بِخَدِّهِ ماءً ونارًا
There are two types: the rural and the urban. The rural type is of thick, coarse wool, closed in front like a thawb. They make the sleeves wide, especially their poets. Indeed, they are known for the excessive width of their sleeves, for the men’s sleeves are made of cut-off sacks and are as wide as those of poets, or wider.134 As for their women, their sleeves are wide enough to accommodate a man, who can go in through one and come out by the other; thus a man may have intercourse with his wife via her sleeve without needing to raise the rest of her shift, as I myself have experienced, for I married one of these women and had intercourse with my wife via her sleeve on several occasions—so glory to Him who made them unkempt, even with regard to their sleeves and other raiment, for these are things by them desired, and consistency is required. As the proverb has it, “They saw an ape getting drunk on a dung heap and said, ‘For so pellucid a wine what better match than a youth so fine?’ And they saw a buffalo blinkered with a reed mat and said, ‘For so elegant a girl, what better match than so divine a veil?’”135 As the poet says:
I saw a leper deep down in a well
And another with vitiligo whose shit on him fell.
Said I, “Behold what your Lord hath wrought—
The like of a thing attracts its own sort!”
The urban sort is the one used by the people of the cities, especially scholars and sophisticates. It is of soft, fine wool, and they make it tight at the armpits and open in front. They call it a jubbah mufarrajah (“an open jubbah”) (with double r) because it has been opened (infarajat) at the wearer’s front and what is beneath may be seen. They add a silk or other trimming, so that the beholder is amazed by the sight and the wearer finds it a true delight—glory be to Him who has embellished such people with elegant raiment, bestowed on them every kind of pleasant form as adornment, and made their women an embellishment! As the proverb has it, “The foundation is according to the builder, and all things resemble their owner,” for men grow up according to their God-given natures to be as they ought, and the like of a thing attracts its own sort. In the same vein, I myself said:
I saw on his cheek both water and fire136
And, strewn about, those roses fair.
Said I, “Behold what my Lord hath wrought—
The like of a thing attracts its own sort!”
١٧،٢،١١
(ثمّ إنّ الناظم) لمّا علم أنّ القمل والصيبان وغيره الكائن في طوق جبّته لا يمكن حصره لكثرته أراد أن يشبِّهه بشيء يناسبه في الكثرة واللون فقال
Next, the poet, realizing that the lice, nits, and other vermin present in the yoke of his jubbah were too many to be counted, decided to liken them to something resembling them in quantity and color, so he said:
١٨،٢،١١
(شبيه النّخاله) وهي قشر البُرّ والشعير الّذي يعلو المُنْخَل عند النخل وسيأتي تعريفها واشتقاقها وهذا الشبه يعطي حكم المشبَّه به من وجهين الأوّل أنّ القمل أبيض والنخالة كذلك الثاني أنّه إذا تراكم على بعضه البعض يرى في العين كثيرًا كما ترى النخالة فكان تشبيهه بها هو المناسب وهي مشتقّة من النَخْل أو المُنْخَل قال في القاموس الأزرق والناموس الأبلق شعر [بسيط]
| اسمُ النِخالَةِ مُشتَقٌّ كَما ذكروا | من مُنْخَلٍ ونَخيلٍ ثمَّ مِنْخالِ |
ونخالة الشعير أقوى نفعًا لأنّها إذا نُقِعَت في الماء وسُخِّنَت بالنار وشربها من يشتكي وجع الصدر أبرأته بإذن الله تعالى
shabīhu l-nukhālah (“are like bran”), which is the husks of wheat and barley that come to the top of the sieve when they are bolted. More information on this, and the etymology, are to come. This simile yields the likeness of the comparator from two perspectives. The first is that lice are white, and so is bran. The second is that, when they accumulate in heaps, they appear to the eye to be a lot, just as bran does. In other words, this is an appropriate comparison. The word nukhālah is derived from nakhl (“palm trees”) or from munkhal (“sieve”). In The Blue Ocean and Piebald Canon it says:
The noun nukhālah is derived, as they recall,
From munkhal and nakhīl137 and, finally, from minkhāl.138
Barley bran is the best for one because, if it is steeped in water and heated and someone suffering from chest pains drinks it, it will cure him, if the Almighty so wills.
١٩،٢،١١
وقوله (يَجْرُفوه) أي القمل والصيبان وتوابعهما المتقدّمة
yajrufuhū (“they shovel”): that is, the lice and the nits and their aforementioned relatives.
٢٠،٢،١١
(جريف) أصله جرفا لأنّه مصدر حُذِفَتْ ألفها وزَيَّدَ فيها الياء لأجل الرويّ أو أنّها لغة ريفيّة فلا اعتراض وهو مشتقّ من الجَرْف أو المِجْرَفة أو الجَرّافة (فإن قيل) كان حقّ الناظم أن يرجّع الضمير لأقرب مذكور وهي النخالة وكان هذا هو الأنسب (قلنا) لعلّه عدل
