وعارضوه في جانب منها وقيل فيها كلّها ولم ينفعه إلّا مطمورة الزبل الّتي ادّخرها وهي الّتي كانت سبب سعادته بعد موت أبيه على ما قيل ثمّ صار يداري الناس ويتملّق لهم بالكلام إلى أن تناست القضيّة ودخل فصل الشتاء ففتح المطمورة ليلًا وباع الزبل وكثر عليه الرزق على هذا القول وقيل إنّه اقترض عشرين نصفًا وأخذ بهم بيضًا وطلع مصر فصادف عيد النصارى فباع البيض بزيادة عن تَمَنه فكان هذا السبب لسعادته وقد يجمع بين القولين فيقال إنّه باع الزبل وأخذ بثمنه بيضًا فكانت سعادته من مجموع الزبل وثمن البيض فلا تعارض في ذلك وكان يعطي ويتكرّم فقصدته الشعراء والأدباء من أطراف البلاد حتّى أنّه أجاز شاعرًا بخمسين بيضة وكيلة شعير وأعطى آخر مائة قرص جلّة وجاءه آخر بغِرارة فملأها زبل من أوّلها إلى آخرها ودفعها له وكان قد أقبل عليه الرزق بزيادة عن والده فكان عنده وزّتين وعشرين ديك وقَفَص فراخ جريد ونَبّوت أعوج ولِبْدة وخَلَقة زرقاء وقُفّة ملانة نخال وعشر حِزَم عروق جزر ناشف وغير ذلك ولم يزل على هذه الحالة يبارك له المولى في رزقه فإنّما الرزق من الله تعالى
At this the shaykhs and the brave lads envied him the shaykhdom of the hamlet, to which he had succeeded after his father’s death, and they incited the authorities against him, and the latter sent for him and deprived him of a part or, as some say, of all of it, and he had nothing to fall back on but the binful of droppings, which he had kept out of sight and which had been the source of his prosperity after his father’s death, or so they say. However, he set about sucking up to people and flattering them, until the matter was forgotten and the winter came and he opened the bin one night and sold the droppings and made a good living, according to this version of events. Others, however, say that he borrowed twenty silver pieces and bought eggs with them and went to Cairo, where he happened to arrive on the feast of the Christians,22 so he sold the eggs for more than they were worth, and this was the source of his prosperity. The two versions may be reconciled by saying that he sold the droppings and bought eggs with the proceeds, so that his prosperity was the sum of the price of the droppings and the price of the eggs, and from this perspective there is no contradiction. And he took to handing out money and dispensing hospitality, and poets and men of letters from the farthest hamlets sought him out. One poet he rewarded with fifty eggs and a measure of barley, and to another he gave a hundred dung cakes, and yet another brought him a sack, which he filled with droppings from top to bottom and gave him in payment. He became even richer than his father, for he had two geese, twenty roosters, a chicken hutch made out of palm ribs, a crooked staff, a felt cap, a tattered blue shift, a basket full of bran, ten bunches of dry carrots, and other stuff too, and he continued thus, with the Lord blessing his prosperity—for prosperity comes from the Almighty alone.
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(كما اتّفق أنّ بعض الصالحين كان فقيرًا جدًّا) فبينما هو نائم إذ هتف به هاتف يقول له يا فلان امض إلى محلّ كذا خذ منه ألف دينار فقال أفيهم بركة قال لا قال اذهب عنّي فأتاه ثاني مرّة وقال له اذهب إلى المحلّ الفلانيّ خذ منه خمسمائة دينار فقال أفيهم بركة قال لا قال اذهب عنّي ولم يزل يأتيه مرّة بعد أخرى حتّى قال له اذهب إلى محلّ كذا وخذ منه دينارًا واحدًا فقال أفيه بركة قال نعم فقال إذًا آخذه فذهب وأخذ الدينار وبورك له فيه وصار في نعمة زائدة وسعادة وافرة فالشخص إذا قَنِعَ شَبِعَ وبورك له في قليله قال الوليّ العارف بالله تعالى سيّدي يحيى البهلول رضي الله عنه ونفعنا به آمين [وزن غير معروف]
| واستقنع بقليلك | يأتيك الله بكثير |
وقال [وزن غير معروف]
| كم من عارض بعد رشاش | ينهلّ من المُزْن |
In illustration of which, we might mention that it happened that a certain righteous man was very poor. Once, while asleep, he heard a voice say to him of a sudden, “You! Go to such-and-such a place and take from there a thousand dinars!” “Has the Lord blessed them?” he asked. “No,” said the voice. “Leave me!” said the man. Then the voice came to him again and said, “Go to such-and-such a place and take from there five hundred dinars!” “Has the Lord blessed them?” he asked. “No,” said the voice. “Leave me!” said the man. The voice kept coming to him again and again, until it said to him, “Go to such-and-such a place and take from there one dinar!” “Has the Lord blessed it?” he asked. “Yes,” said the voice. “Then I will take it,” said the man, and he went and he took the dinar and was blessed in it and obtained great ease and abundant riches, for if a man is content with what he has he will not suffer want, and the little he has will be blessed. As says the Righteous Saint and Initiate of the Almighty, My Master Yaḥyā al-Buhlūl,23 may the Almighty be pleased with him and benefit us and all Muslims through him, amen:
Be content with the little you have
And God will give you much!
And he says:
How many a cloud after sprinkling
Lets fall a heavy shower!
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وقال الشافعيّ رضي الله عنه [متقارب مع كسر]
| وجدتُ القناعةَ كنزَ الغِنا | فصرتُ بأذيالِها ممتسكْ |
| فَلا ذا يَراني عَلى بابِهِ | ولا ذا يَراني لَه١ منهمكْ |
| أَمُرُّ عَلى النَّاس بلا درهمٍ | ولا لي مطالب كأنّي ملكْ |
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