Part 57 (1/2)

[606] Von Kremer, _op. cit._, p. 38.

[607] _Safar-nama_, ed. by Schefer, p. 10 seq. = pp. 35-36 of the translation.

[608] _Luzumiyyat_, ii, 280. The phrase does not mean ”I am the child of my age,” but ”I live in the present,” forgetful of the past and careless what the future may bring.

[609] See Von Kremer, _op. cit._, p. 46 sqq.

[610] See the article on ?ughra'i in Ibn Khallikan, De Slane's translation, vol. i, p. 462.

[611] _Ibid._, vol. iii, p. 355.

[612] The spirit of fort.i.tude and patience (_?amasa_) is exhibited by both poets, but in a very different manner. Shanfara describes a man of heroic nature. ?ughra'i wraps himself in his virtue and moralises like a Mu?ammadan Horace. ?afadi, however, says in his commentary on ?ughra'i's ode (I translate from a MS. copy in my possession): ”It is named _Lamiyyatu 'l-'Ajam_ by way of comparing it with the _Lamiyyatu 'l-'Arab_, because it resembles the latter in its wise sentences and maxims.”

[613] _I.e._, the native of Abu?ir (Bu?ir), a village in Egypt.

[614] The _Burda_, ed. by C. A. Ralfs (Vienna, 1860), verse 140; _La Bordah traduite et commentee par Rene Ba.s.set_ (Paris, 1894), verse 151.

[615] This appears to be a reminiscence of the fact that Mu?ammad gave his own mantle as a gift to Ka'b b. Zuhayr, when that poet recited his famous ode, _Banat Su'ad_ (see p. 127 _supra_).

[616] _Maqama_ (plural, _maqamat_) is properly 'a place of standing'; hence, an a.s.sembly where people stand listening to the speaker, and in particular, an a.s.sembly for literary discussion. At an early period reports of such conversations and discussions received the name of _maqamat_ (see Brockelmann, _Gesch. der Arab. Litteratur_, vol. i, p.

94). The word in its literary sense is usually translated by 'a.s.sembly,'

or by the French '_seance_.'

[617] _The a.s.semblies of al-?ariri_, translated from the Arabic, with an introduction and notes by T. Chenery (1867), vol. i, p. 19. This excellent work contains a fund of information on diverse matters connected with Arabian history and literature. Owing to the author's death it was left unfinished, but a second volume (including _a.s.semblies_ 27-50) by F. Steinga.s.s appeared in 1898.

[618] A full account of his career will be found in the Preface to Houtsma's _Recueil de textes relatifs a l'histoire des Seldjoucides_, vol. ii. p. 11 sqq. _Cf._ Browne's _Lit. Hist. of Persia_, vol. ii, p.

360.

[619] This is a graceful, but probably insincere, tribute to the superior genius of Hamadhani.

[620] The above pa.s.sage is taken, with some modification, from the version of ?ariri published in 1850 by Theodore Preston, Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, who was afterwards Lord Almoner's Professor of Arabic (1855-1871).

[621] Moslems had long been familiar with the fables of Bidpai, which were translated from the Pehlevi into Arabic by Ibnu 'l-Muqaffa' ( _circa_ 760 A.D.).

[622] _Al-Fakhri_, ed. by Derenbourg, p. 18, l. 4 sqq.

[623] A town in Mesopotamia, not far from Edessa. It was taken by the Crusaders in 1101 A.D. (Abu 'l-Fida, ed. by Reiske, vol. iii, p. 332).

[624] The 48th _Maqama_ of the series as finally arranged.

[625] Chenery, _op. cit._, p. 23.

[626] This has been done with extraordinary skill by the German poet, Friedrich Ruckert (_Die Verwandlungen des Abu Seid von Serug_, 2nd ed.

1837), whose work, however, is not in any sense a translation.

[627] A literal translation of these verses, which occur in the sixth _a.s.sembly_, is given by Chenery, _op. cit._, p. 138.

[628] _Ibid._, p. 163.