the case among country boys. And he would go for a month or even two without giving his face a wash, unless he should happen to get doused in urine by a calf or a cow as he was on his way to or from the fields, in which case he would rub it in with his hand, using it in place of water to wash his face. Despite this fatuous cleanliness, he never passed up an opportunity to beat up the other children, play ball around the village quarters, gambol on the dung heaps and threshing floors, play at dārah and on the drums and zummārah, making a tumult and wild sounds, and beating the hounds, and other crud and crap, to the point that he was the one among his companions who knew best how to make two days of every one and of every month two. As the Bard of the Two Villages9 put it:
١،٩،١٠
| أَبُو شَادُوفِ مِنْ يَوْمُو مُجَعْمِصْ | شَبِيهُ ٱلْجَرْوِ يِتْنَطَّطْ بِقُوَّهْ |
| وَيَسْرَحْ غَيْطْ أَبُو مَعْرَهْ يُجَمِّعْ | مِنَ ٱلجلَّه ٱلطَّرِيَّهْ فِي ٱلْقُرُوَّهْ |
| وَهُوْ عُرْيَانْ وَشَايِلْ فَوْقَ رَاسُو | وَوَجْهُو صَارْ كَمَا وَجْهِ ٱلْبَعَوَّهْ |
| وَمَا قَدْ سَالْ مِنَ ٱلجلَّه ٱلطَّريّهْ | يَسِيلُ عَلَيْهْ وَمِا عِنْدُو مُرُوَّهْ |
| وَيَقْعُدْ شَهْرَ مَا يَغْسِلْ لِوَجْهُو | وَلَا شَهْرَيْنْ وَجِسْمُو فِيهِ قُوَّهْ |
Abū Shādūf from day one’s been cocky—
Like a puppy he bounces all over
And goes to Abū Maʿrah’s field and gathers
Fresh dung on a platter.
He’ll be naked, with a load on his head,
And his face like the face of an ogre,
And the wet dung that’s gone runny
Will have run down upon him, and there’s nothing brave in his manner.
He goes for a month without washing his face,
Or for two, and his body’s still got power:
٢،٩،١٠
| يُسَرِّحْ لِلضُّحَى فِي ٱلْجُرْنِ يَكْنُسْ | وَيَطْرُدْ شِبْهَ كَلْبَتْنَا ٱمِّ صَرْوهْ |
| وَيَا زَيْنَكْ يَٱبُو شَادُوفِ لَمَّا | يَجِى ٱلْجَامُوسْ يَقَعْ فَي وَسْطِ رَبْوَهْ |
| وَيَنْزِلْ يَنْغَرِزْ فِيهَا وَرَاهُمْ | تَقُولُ ٱنْتَا كَمَا عِفْرِيتِ خَلْوَهْ |
| أَبُو شَادُوفِ مِنْ صُغْرُو مُدَلَّلْ | تَرَبَّا عِنْدَنَا كَلْبَ ٱبْنِ جَرْوَهْ |
| أَبُو شَادُوفْ عَطَاهُ اللهُ نِعْمَهْ | لَبِسْ لِبْدَهْ وَعِنْدُو ٱلْيَوْمَ فَرْوَهْ |
| وَٱبُوهُ ٱلْيَوْمَ شَيْخُ ٱلْكَفْرِ قَاعِدْ | حِدَا ٱلصَّرَّافِ رُكْبَهْ جَنْبَ حِدْوَهْ |
After sweeping the threshing floors all morning long,
He’ll still dash about like our bitch Umm Ṣarwah.
How fine you look, Abū Shādūf (when
He comes to the buffaloes and falls into ordure
And gets down and wallows there behind them).
You’d say you were the afreet of some cloister!
All his life Abū Shādūf’s been pampered:
Like a puppy dog he grew up among us and scampered.
Abū Shādūf, God grant him ease,
Put on a cap and today has a sheepskin fur.
Today his father’s shaykh of the hamlet and sits
Knee to sandal with the tax collector.
٣،٩،١٠
| يَقُولْ سِيدِي١ يَقُولْ لُهْ يَا مُعَرَّصْ | تَحُطُّ ٱلْمَالَ أَوْ أُخَلِّيكَ دَعْوَهْ |
| وَهُوْ مِنْ مِتْلْ أَبُو شَادُوفْ وَجَدُّهْ | وَٱبوهُ وْعَمَّتُو بِنْتِ ٱمِّ فَسْوَهْ |
| وَنَخْتِمْ قَوْلَنَا بِمَدِيحْ مُحَمِّدْ | رَسُول اللهِ كَمْ زَاحَ كُلَّ بَلْوَهْ |
| عَلَيْهْ٢ يَا رَبَّنَا صَلَّي وَسَلَّمْ | وَأَصْحَابُو ٱلْكِرَامْ أَهْلُ ٱلْفُتُوَّهْ |
١ بي: يا سيّدي. ٢ بي: عليهِ.
The first says, “Master!” The other, “You pimp!
Cough up the taxes or I’ll use you others to deter.”
This is from the likes of Abū Shādūf and his grandfather10
And
