and all the way down to
| the rikwah, | “any small boat” |
| the qārib, | “any small ship” |
| the ramath, | “pieces of wood fastened together on which one rides at sea” |
| the ṭawf, | “inflated water skins that are tied together to form a platform on which one rides on the water and on which loads are carried” |
| and the ʿāmah. | “tied sticks on which one rides at sea or crosses a river; also called ghāmmah” |
2.3.9
وانه بعد وصوله الى مرسى الجزيرة اعدّ له فيه مكان حسن لتطهير انفاسه به مدة اربعين يوما * اذ قد جرت العادة عندهم بان من قدم اليهم من البلاد المشرقية وقد استنشق هواها فلا بد وان يُنثره فى المرسى قبل دخوله البلد * فاقام فيها ياكل ويشرب مع اثنين من اعيان الانكليز ممن ركبوا فى السفينة * وطاب له العيش معهما لانهما قد ساحا فى بلدان كثيرة من المشرق واخذا عن اهلها الكرم *
On arriving at the island’s harbor, fine quarters were made available to him in which to “purify his breath” for a period of forty days, for it has become the custom among them to distribute around the harbor, before they enter the country, anyone who comes to them from the lands of the Levant and has inhaled their airs. He stayed there then, eating and drinking with two English notables who had been on the ship, and found life with them pleasant, for they had traveled widely in the Levant and absorbed the habit of generosity from its inhabitants.
2.3.10
ثم بعد انقضآ المدة جآ الخرجى واخذه الى منزله بالمدينة * وكان المذكور قد فقد زوجته من يوم نُوى تسفير الفارياق اليه * فلزم الحداد والتقشف * ولزمته الكابة والتاسّف * واَن لا ياكل غير لحم الخنزير اعلى الله شانك عن ذكره * وانما امر طباخه بان يتفنن فيه * فيوما كان يطبخ له راسه * ويوما رجليه * ويوما كبده * ويوما طحاله * حتى ياتى على جميع آرابه ثم يستانف من الراس * وانت خبير بان نصارى الشام يحاكون المسلمين فى كل شى ما خلا الامور الدينية * فمن ثم كان لحم الخنزير عندهم منكرا * فلما جلس الفارياق على المائدة وجآ الطباخ باِرب من هذا الحيوان الكريه ظن ان الخرجىّ يمازحه بارآته اياه شيا لم يعرفه * فامتنع ان ياكل منه طمعا فى ان ينال من غيره * واذا بالخرجى قضى فرض الغداء وشرع حالًا فى الصلوة والشكر للبارى تعالى على ما رزقه * فقال الفارياق فى نفسه قد اخطا والله صاحبى * فانه وضع الشكر فى غير موضعه اذ الثنآ على الخالق سبحانه لاجل فاحشة او اكل سحت لا يجوز * وفى اليوم الثانى جاء الطباخ بعضو آخر * فالتقمه وشكر عليه ايضا * فقال الفارياق للطباخ لمَ يشكر الله صاحبنا على اكل الخنزير * قال ولمَ لا وقد اوجب على نفسه ان يشكر له على كل حال وعلى كل شى كما ورد فى بعض كتب الدين * حتى انه كان يقضى هذا الفرض بعد ان يبيت مع زوجته * قال وهل شكر له على موتها * قال نعم فانه يعتقد انها الان فى حضن ابراهيم * قال اما انا فلو كان لى امراة لما اردت ان تكون فى حضن احد *
When the period was over, the Bag-man came and took him to his house in the city. This man had lost his wife on the very day that the Fāriyāq had made his decision to go to him and had given himself over to mourning and squalor, living in the clutches of melancholy and dolor. All he ate was pork (God elevate you above any pollution from the very notion!) and he had ordered his cook to produce it in every variety. One day the man would cook its head, another its feet, a third its liver, a fourth its spleen, and so on until he had covered all its parts; then he’d start over again with the head. You are well aware that the Christians of the Levant imitate the Muslims in all things other than those pertaining to religion, from which it follows that pork is an abomination to them. Thus, when the Fāriyāq sat down to table and the cook brought out some part of that hated animal, he thought that the Bag-man was trying to trick him by producing for him something he was unfamiliar with, and he refused to take a bite, in the hope that he would be given something else. But the Bag-man kept right on going, finished his lunch, and launched immediately into prayer and thanks to the Almighty Creator for what He had provided. To himself, the Fāriyāq said, “I swear our friend is making a mistake. His thanks are misdirected, for to give thanks to the Creator, glory be to Him, for something immoral or for eating something forbidden is not allowed.” The following day, the cook brought him another limb, and the man gobbled it up and thanked him once more. The Fāriyāq said to the cook, “Why does our friend thank God for eating pig?” and he replied, “Why not, when he has made it his duty to thank Him ‘for every condition and every thing,’ as it says in some book of religion? He even used to carry out the same rite each time
