487
V .
Al-Asmal's Fuhülat aS-Su'ara.
By Charlei C. Torrey.
A brief treatise, purporting to contain al-A;ma'I's detailed
estimate of the pre-Mohammedan poets, has been known to exist
in a single manuscript in Damascus. The attention of occidental
scholars was first cabled to it by H. Lammens, in the Journal
Asiatique, 189i, II, p. 155. The manuscript was copied for Count 5
Landberg while he was in the East, and the copy, which is now
in the library of Yale University, as number 49 of the Landberg
Collection purchased in 1900, furnishes the text which is here
published. The original manuscript, which is said to be about
two hundred years old, contains also tbe Diwän of Mu\)ammad ibn lo
az-Zayyät (f 233), Ta'lab's Qawa'td ai-Si'r, and the Majorat ad-
Burr of 'Abd al-Wätjid ibn 'All (f 851).
The form of the ityt.iJt ».Jj^ »—lUi' is that of a loose series
of personal reminiscences. The narrator is al-A^ma'I's favorite
pupil Abü Hätim Sahl ibn Muhammad as-Sijistänl, who reports is
from his master, verbatim, whatever he had heard him say —
either of his own accord or in answer to questions, at various times
— as to the relative merits of the ancient poets. Abü llätim 's
narrative is transmitted, finally, through his own pupil, the renowned
scholar Ihn Duraid, who is thus responsible for the redaction which m
lies before us.
The whole subject of fuhüla literature has been treated so
often that there is no need of general discussion here. Nöldeke,
in his Beiträge zur Kenntniss der Poesie der alten Araber, 1 ff.,
translated and commented upon the Introdnction to a work of this ss
nature by Ibn Qutaiba ; and much that is contained in that treatise
may profitably be compared with this older compilation, unlike
as the two are. Goldziher, in his Abhandlungen zur arabisehen
Philologie I, 122—174, has given us a characteristically thorough
essay on "Alte und neue Poesie im Urteile der arabischen Kritiker", so
in which he discusses the principal criteria on which the earliest
Muhammadan critics based their estimates. Moreover, in pp. 134—
143 he deals with the term fahl in particular, and characterizes
488 Torrey, Al-Asma'Vs Fuhülat ai-Su'arä'.
at some length the work before us, the tlyiiiJt üJj_sj of al-Asma'i,
which he had been able to use while the manuscript was still in
Landberg's possession. To his treatment of the subject the reader
is accordingly referred. Again, Brockelmann in the Nöldeke-Fest-
i sehrift, 1,109—125, has published a conspectus of one of the
earliest and most important of the fuhüla books, the t!ytiJ! oLaaL
of Muljammad ibn Sallam al-JumaljI (f 231), making use of all
the surviving fragments of the work which he was able to collect.
This is a systematic treatise on the ranking of the poets, and there¬
to fore altogether different from the compilation of Abü Hätim , as
will presently appear. Finally, we are promised a complete edition
of this treatise of al-Jumahi in tbe near future, by Professor Hell
of Munich, who has found a manuscript containing it in the Khedivial Library in Cairo ; see his announcement in the ZDMG. 64, p. 659, note.
IS As has just been said, tbe remarks on the poets made by
al-Asma'i, and collected by Abu Hätim as-Sijistäni under the title
Kitäb Fuhülat aä-Su'arä', do not constitute anything like a syste¬
matic compilation. What we have is simply a catena of scattered
sayings, of very uneven value, made on many different occasions
20 and thrown together without any plan of arrangement. Some of
the judgments were given in answer to questions, while others (and
these constitute the great majority) were the merest obiter dicta.
The opinion expressed is in many cases confined to this one point
the fitness of the poet to bear the title fahl, that is, "thorough- 25 bred male" (especially male camel), or "stallion", a truly Arabian
way of picturing the embodiment of pure native blood, masculine
force, and bigh spirit. The holder of this rank must have been,
first of all, a poet of very noteworthy achievements ; thus it is said
of al-Huwaidira, for example: "If he had produced Qve qasidas
so like the one which we have, he would have been a fahl". But
he must also have been a true representative of the genuine Arab
stock at its best, embodying the qualities which were most characte¬
ristic of the free and vigorous life of tbe native clans, battling
for their precarious existence on the edge of the desert. As Gold-
35 ziher remarks (loc. cit., p. 135): "Nicht die dichterische Kraft allein
macht den Menschen dieser Benennung würdig; diese bezieht sich
vielmehr auch auf die Eigenschaften des ritterlichen Charakters".
It is easy to see why the poets of the Islamic time were not easily
given the title which seemed to belong by especial right to the
40 primitive period and the Bedawi nobility. Al-A.sma'i's estimates,
both as to the fuhüla quality and also on other matters concerning
the old poets, while always interesting are frequently not convin¬
cing. Some are evidently the fruit of long deliberation; others
are so carelessly made that we may suspect tbat al-Asma'I himself
45 would have modified or even retracted them a few days later,
when he was in another mood. One of the incidents narrated neaic
Torrey, Al-Afmal's Fuhülat ai-Su'arä'. 4^^^
tbe beginning of tbese "memoirs" is cbaracteristic and significant.
Abu Hätim had asked his master to name the foremost faJil of
all the poets, and the answer had been, Nabigba DubyänI. "But",
gays Abü Hätim, " when he saw that I was writing down what he
said, he reflected for a moment, and then proceeded: No, the first 6
of them all is Imrulqais", etc. In one place, in speaking of the
"knights" of the pre-Muhammadan time, he says that IJufaf, 'Antara,
and az-Zibriqän were the best poets of the furaän; but on another
occasion he names Duraid and ^ufaf as the best of the group.
There are several other patent examples of inconsistency. An lo
anecdote which he tells here of the poet Kutayyir really serves to
illustrate tbe ofT-hand manner in which many of his own judgments
were expressed. Some one asked of Kutayyir who was the greatest
poet, and received the answer, al-Hutai'a. The questioner then
waited for some time , until he thought it likely that the poet i5
would have forgotten tbe incident, and then asked the same question
again ; this time receiving the answer, Imrulqais. For a considerable
part of the material here collected by Abü Hätim , we cannot be
confident that it gives us what al-Asma'i himself would have written
down as his final estimate, in a serious attempt to rank the Arab *o
poets. We can hardly doubt, on the other hand, that al-Asma'i
bas been faithfully reported by his pupil ; the question of the sub¬
stantial genuineness of the compilation can hardly arise.
Tbe scientific value of the treatise, as a specimen of literary
criticism, is small. It is quite plain that the great pbilologian had «6
not made any careful study of the criteria according to which
poets were to be excluded from, or admitted to, his fahl class.
It is also evident that he had no system of successive classes, in
which he ranked those whom he would not reckon among the
fuhül. In speaking of the poets who fell below the highest rank, »o
he used a variety of complimentary terms, more or less at haphazard,
and without showing any purpose of making even a rough classi¬
fication. Goldziher, in his above-mentioned essay, seems to me to
go too far when he says (Abhandl. I, 137): "Al-Asma'i hat sogar
einen neuen Terminus festgestellt , durch welchen er , gleichsam in S5
schonender Weise, hochberühmte Dichter der öäbilijja aus der
Ordnung der eigentlichen Klassiker entfernt, ohne damit ihren Werth
völlig herabzusetzen. Er nennt diese Dichter zweiter Ordnung:
'* -'
karim, edel". Goldziher then cites the cases of Hätim (lXjlj UjI
^ Jl 1J5 and 'Urwa (J^jsUj y^U). But 40
this, I think, reads into al-Asma'i's words more than he intended.
He had no thought of a definite second class, in which the term
haram was used in tbe same way as fuhüla. It was only by
accident that he employed the adjective karim in these cases; on
another day, speaking of the same poets, he migbt have chosen 45
400 Torrey, Äl-Aamal's Fuhülat ai-^'arä\
other words. His use of the designation furaän is another illustration
of the fact that he is not concerned with the terminology of a
thoroughgoing literary classification. He speaks of these Arab
"knights" of old as we might speak of the knights of the middle
6 ages, or of the Troubadours. They were invested with an atmo¬
sphere of nobility and chivalry, and men like al-Asma'I spoke of
them with an enthusiasm which was only in part based on approval
of their poetical achievements. "Those who made predatory excur¬
sions on foot" form another class, a less distinguished group than to tbat of the "knights", numbering such men as Ta'abbata harran
and aS-§anfaiü; and here again the classification was not primarily
concerned with rank in the art of poetry. Thus it appears, for
instance, that the two classes, fahl and furaän, are not mutually
exclusive. Duraid ibn as-§imma is mentioned as belonging to both
16 groups (j^.jU«;sJt Sy^ >^.j'^)^ s*™» possibility
is implied in other passages.
It is obvious, from all this, that al-Asma'i's /uÄö^a< ai-^Sif'ara'
could not serve as the basis for subsequent systematic essays on
the rank of the poets. It was both too indefinite and too arbitrary,
fo besides seeming to put too many poets in the very foremost rank.
It was not of any great use to later writers to have this unwieldy
classification into fahl and no-fahl, where the opinions even of
those best qualified to judge differed so widely, and the line between
the two classes was often impossible to draw (as al-Asma'i himself
Sb confesses over and over again). If there was to be any ranking
at all, it must be something better than this. Of course every
scholar who undertook a thoroughgoing criticism of the Arab poets
would be influenced by these judgments, and would usually either
quote or adopt them to some extent ; in a few cases, however, tbe
so estimate was too obviously one-sided to find general approval , as
when tbe two lesser A'^äs, of Hamdän and Bähila, are classed
among the fuhül, while the great A'Sä is left out. The importance
of the compilation is simply that of the "table talk" of a noted
scholar, on a subject in which he was rightly regarded as a high
S6 authority. We may all be grateful to Abü Hätim for having
followed his master about with a note-book.
The text of the work, as we possess it in our unique manuscript, is in fairly good condition, though there are a few doubtful passages
and one or two disturbing lacunae. So far as it is possible to
40 judge from internal evidence, the gaps are not extensive. It may
be, moreover, that what we have is a somewhat abridged form of
the original compilation; though this can only be called a possi¬
bility, not really made probable by the evidence. In one passage
preserved in the Aghäni (V, 158), Ibn Duraid cites from Abü
46 Hätim , from al-Asma'i , an opinion which is given in the same
words in our i.!^*.iJ! *Jj^ Iw)Lä5', and then continues tke citation
Torrey, Al-Afmal't FuliükU ai-äu'arä'. 491
in a passage which is not found in our text of the work, though
it might perhaps have stood there originally. I print in square
brackets the portion which is wanting, in the Landberg manuscript.
yaJLm JLä ,«j1j> ji^ LiSiX^ ^JLä lX-j^^ CJ^^ O^*^ LfV^'
^y>'±J^ j»S ^ jS> S\m ^y!«X^ ^ e?^^' '
^! ^ ob ^ i\i f^]
i\ä
0 9 O - .0« •> >
^' g^.;' t.f^> ^ a-
-^y^- J lt^'^' J->^- o*^*^ -^"^
^y^^bl! v-ÄÜ» |_yJ JLä ^ v.,.»*3j j^ji >Jju^ ji^j Jo.^ ^ *JLi! 10
IjL5> jksUii. jj vjb jJii »JUij
LäjI u5ÜÖ j-*} JLä ^ Iä* JJi/« ^1 JJU jji ^yi ^J jjl,
• Li^o ^y» y L*i! j^. y # ^ Leo ^y » xiy J
[■JLis LcO ^^j. "Ibn Daraid reports from Abü 5ätira: I
asked al-Asma'i about A'Sä Hamdän , and he said : He is one of i6
the fuhül, though of Isläm, and the author of much poetry. [He
(al-Asma'I) continued : One can only wonder at Ibn Da'b when he
asserts that A'Sä Hamdän was the author of this:
Man da'ä li ghuzayyili Arbah alläh tijäratuh^).
God forbid that this sort of thing should be allowed to pass «o
as perpetrated by al-A'Sa, that he should pronounce tbe word
"Allfh" with the sukün, and put tijäratuh" in the nominative
when it should be in the accusative! Thereupon !galaf al-Atimar
said to me : Verily, Ibn Da'b must have been aspiring to the caliphate
when he imagined that this would be accepted from him, and that u
bis. place was so high that such an assertion as this could pass.
Then he added : Moreover , even the first half-verse , man da'ä U
ghuzayyiti, is not permissible; it can only be, man da'ä lighu-
zayyili, as one says, man da'ä liba'irin dällin"^)].
In the text which follows, the Landberg .manuscript is faith- so
fully reproduced, except in a very few cases where good reason
for deviation is givtn in the notes at the foot of the page. The
vowel-pointing is usually that of the ms. itself.
1) Tbat is: Wboever calls for me my little gazelle, may God make his trading profitable.
2) That is: Who summons (its owner) to a straying beast (whieh has been found); cf. Lism XVIII, 285 (above), etc.
ZeiUchrift der D. H. G. Bd. LXV. 32
492 Torrey, At-Asmal't PahSlat ai-^'wrä'.
-iJyJ VIJ^'
j: y
ly»^^' -O^ 1^' O^' ^'i^
^^ j^-^ü- ^y >>.l:s? yu ^( JLä />^j^^ cr^y
«• C • «X w &E
^r*^' a*^ '■^'^ ^ r'"'^
£ j
5 ÄJuLüt J^jOsäj «yo VVir^ w^Xt lKxc ^^^jujo^i ^üot**«
-O.J f >iv>P ""tt ■•o>
Juwä jOiL« Lo y>! ääJL-5 ÜAiS'Lii. ') tlyui yL« |_yjLAjOj|
LAiJ^it j (j^l L. Jlä J,LujJi iüuLÜt JLä J^:saij| J^| ^
LT**^' i^yl Jyi jjiv« Oe>?i
j -o.cf o£ .oiM«o>.
*)v_jLib«Jt ^yLJ' L« ^yÄÄilLJ5 ,»^1 j_yiu j^Lsj
10 Ju JLä ^ ^ j^bL^ ^! ^yTj LÜs ^-l^ ^1 Jlä
m O >^ * ■»» .»
I.lX3.| ^^ii^ Uix^Jlj »jiisii «.J ,j--kÄ!! jyol SJ^I j ^» J<
-c , .
JLä Jj^S^äJt ^y ^yLjojJI iÜbLÜ! J^ juLJ^ x^JiJoo tytölj jj^
« •> . P & -
-^jyt jJ ^1 Jujj JLä J-saäJ! ^yjL* Lo lijJä ^'Ls. ji\
Ijs^ «5Ül>u ciou^ JLi oLiil J^<:aJi ■fZytS'
15 tj-^AcUÄJl j]j! kJ^ jJai^ P ^•)^ i V L^ Ij]
JLi iuuLÜI JLä 1^ (j*LJl Jl S-=>-j «J^s ^'1^ JLä
- J * * ^
ÄjJLc ^^.^jJLaaj yt-iJU tLJLxJ! o^o! ^ oLü IlXs»-! iudc jwjüij
i - O > J ^
Jlä |«j *)L*^i uii*i>! vXä 'J>^l
P £. *
JLäs (.1 yiÄl iubLÜt j^l Lilj JwS^ «JL»} jj^x. ^1 JLä ^
P * # s *
20^1 ^yi ')u-jl[j] JIj ii*jLiU l^i ^yiij ^1 gjL>aj L«
1) Ms. 2) Ms. tlyiiJ!.
3) Ahlwardt, Divansl, 120; Agh. VIII, 69; Cheikho, Su'arä' an-Na/rä- niya I, 17, etc.
4) Ms. The verse cited in Lisän s. v. jJ and |j«*JiÄä ,
6) The text of this passage is queried by tbe copyist, and lÄS^ is inserted
here io Landberg's band. 6) So corrected in Ms.
Torrey, Al-Afma'Vs Fuhülat ai-Su'arW. 493
£ « f
(j«}! JLä xi^ LLLb ÄJül-ü) ^Jüj ^y
» - - - - o *
*)^äL«iajuo iLjaftJ! ijÄ-a:^.
yjJT LixÄ i.>|j5 v..Ä*aJ ^j »Luuj i-Lsi jübLJ! JLäj SüisLä j
(fol. 2) JLäs
,j;^L^ ^LTbli ^jJ iLaiJ! XJ jlk; 2) 5
tX^c" i>^t g** Loj^ JLä ,yu.*o^i LuJ>j> ^jL> _jjt Jlä
Jlä »ytü !^ ÜAiS'Ül j J_^t J^ ^LT JLä
s
jjjjü O'^ftft^' (Sj*^ »_y*Ä |Jia»J 3, (^>>^ J>**^
«
l^kii' JLiüj JLä Lsaä u«^! ^yi] ^yi Jo^aL JÄ, JLä ^
^y ^Li^ JLä «A* J^LT u^LfciaJ ,j«-*äJt ,jyt yti iq
Jyjj 1^' ^^5*^ ^'^ ^^=4^* ^1 p^^t J^io
J.j2 y>j ^y^ i:;^^^! ^j*^ »^xi ^^.,Ls ^_jJ tjÄ>
jj^ 'i] '"S* jÜbLüt j^,t v^^! ^yi JLi j»j
^ Lsy>LÜ lyul)
ik*^ O^s e)^'^'*^- urs'i A ^i^^ 15
iJ i>.xio! ^ Jws? ojii!! j xjLc
mj'^JO >>mC ^ >J
vjjci-o giXs". »Liyc *j LjJLJ' (.LjsUJI ^JJ^i
1) cf. tbe verse qaoted from this poet in Lisän XIII, 478.
» O '
2) Ahlw., Divans, p. 14 has I -«7- Diw. Cairo 1293 (with Comm. of
*J ö ,
Batalyüsl), p. 37 has On this verse see also Ibn as-Sikkit, p. 343.
3) Ms. Äl«.i.
4) Ahlw. p. 14; Diw. Cairo 1293, p. 38, and elsewhere.
- J - >
5) Elsewhere alwaya ^_5^.>tjj or ß ; see Krenkow, "Tufail al-Ganawl", JBA3. 1907, p. 852 (vs. 45), and the references given by him, pp. 825, 827.
32»
3 .?.
10
494 Torrey, Al-Afma'Vs Fuhülat ai-äu'arä'.
«jJjL» ^\ \jS |_yJlc »j'j»}!^ ijäj ^LsOÜ! ^JJs ö\ß
.... ^)«jiÄc «-»^ U-iij Läjt xjj^t jLüj^
vX^iJ! j»j J^s*^ iU*a3t Joo» ....
«)ty]j oy / e)ir^'
W** 4?*^ Lf*^' «Jjuuai ^j (^j.*^! lASj
J.ij' loUi *Uj Laä ^y ^ r;""*^^'
JLä ^)>s^ jitii S d^^. ^ii^l ujlj '»^ i Lt v:iJLä
y«t (^iXJ! Lä-«^ '•^j iXiLi LÄ/^. ,_5^A.ijül iLxii. JLä Lt
(fol. 3) j^Lu> jouLüi JLä ^yUt ^ i^JJ! LUj Ls^Ls-
^ ^L«ä ^jLjCI! «5üa
JÄ v^loiJb jxT^t iübUJU 8Jo.*aiiJt »j^ ci-iLT y j4i4.>o:^t JLä
f^^s^ (j-wJ jLs xjJäj ^y ^ fS^^ ^_y^'^Ls vüJlä jLy.
J>^ JLä bjis>- ^y cy^Li oJä J^ JLä »iXac ^y SUäJUs v^Uä
. . S & }
>-**-«-iLs viJä J.^sAij |j«oJ JLä li^jy .^^jü v^^Jä
^yj! tli, J.;p.4j JLä jS> J^'l lXj^ Jjuä «JLä J^' JLä
c
»^JLc ^öLL/o qjI o>ju.*« »jJL*« Lkil} ^■L5>- JLä
JLä |*Aiii-l cjuLi ^y c)'"*^
1) In tbe Ms. tbere is no sign of a gap bere, nor does any one appear to hare noticed it. It is plain tbat from speaking of Tufail's description of horses al-Asma'i then passed on to speak of bis acknowledged rival in this regard , MSbigba Ja'dT. The place where the omission occurred must be the one which I, have indicated, and it may be that the text bas suffered the loss of only a line or two.
2) The Terse appears to come from the long qaslda of this poet of which small portion! are given in Agh. IV, 130 f., Hiz. I, 513 f., and elsewhere, while 70 or 80 verses from it appear in the Jamhara, ' 145 ff. A similar verse (but
not the same) is Jamb. 147, 4. ...
3) Ms. j^jLtAi.
4) See especially Brockelmann in Nöldeke-Festschrift I, 118.
5) Landberg's copyist queries the line beginning witb this word and ending with LUj.
3 7
Torrey, AUApna'Vt Fxihulat ai-äu'arä'. 495
JLä ^ JLä ^y>J^ ^^\S> ciJLä Jl^ JLä ^LiäpLi vi:JLä J^
,j *
*)J^AJ5 ^Ls oJä lXjjj jjI xÄ-ui^ liJÜL« ^y Jui*. ^ j>
^ j_jj_j+i>!j . sJt*Afl^t JLä J.^ JLä ^LiiiJii vi^JLä J^^sväj JLä
. ) f m
^UwiJ! jjji'-^ i_r*^ "^ji*^ i^Ä^fr^W
^JUJö^l *)• • • • u-Lii! L*j »ytÄ vX«>ö! iuiüj 5
^yL3^ JLä IJ^! ^_c^tlSt ^yic ü iüyül J^t J^
- o, .
(_)S5.y: jy j JLä tXä >J!li f^ls- jj( JLä iuJLc |«Aiu uäls»
o > . -
J>J^ (»^y' JL* O^-'^Sj" *)msLs J/
O- J.
tis? ^jLJ' jJLtfiä (j»^*i> «jLXjuoä JJU JLä _jJ JLs *)äjJojjiLs «jJLä b - J
»Jjä JjU JLä ^^L^' jJ, J.;!^ ^j^^uJ JLs J^i^ oJlä 10
t - > . ,,<,,«
c5^J LixLJl
gJLo JLä «)j!jJ ^lä o«iä juJLc J^.«.ji? syui yTi, JLä ijLi'
Cl9
J>xä« ^yLs iijJä J^:s\ÄJ JLi ,_f*-yLs o«iä «J! JJü ^
F
^^tjJl ^jtkAsbSI uiJL>«5 ^jL»- JLs JwÄftj JLs
»-fcÄl (_5.ctjJt JLä lÄSi Ll«ääj bi vüJlä L«.^js! L» JLs J^aü« ^y! j.! u
^ JLä ^LJ! (fol. 4) ^1 ^yLs ^ J^tjLj^ ^JJü'Lj tyuÄ
i*Hr' ''^'^ i^j'i '^'^ *V 05"^ O^i v}>^
&- J o -
Jsi/i ^yjLtt ^*x*o ^y xJju JLs jJj JLs J^<:UJ! ^yi j^tJ^i
« ^ >
^ ää^j! JLä J-uis» ^y u^uiXs oJLs bLs? jjLÄ La*4hS» jüi\A*aä
jJ ttj^ JLä Jijs.bilj ^J>jj»l\j, viiA.lä iJJijJi^] bl} Jj-s^l
^_^:i*,t ^bi LsA.ii ^ Jy! bJ, ^^Li 1^ iUUiLiS. j I^LT jo
1) Ms. üi*ä. 2) Ms. lXjUj.
3) Apparently a leaf of one of tbe parent Mss. was misplaced, for tbis passage plainly belongs above, after tbe statement tbat al-A'sä was not a faJjl,
4) Ms. H,iAjj^Ls.
J > - )
5) Better (►*wJ> or ftM^; Nöldeke, Del. Cam*, p.. 44, Idsän s. y.
^fMS>-, etc. 6) Ms. OjtO.
406 Torrey, AUAtmal't Fuhvlat aS-Su'arW.
vüJüis tjAxi' »JäJjyit ^ßf^ J»»^ X***.! v:>-Ü^ (^'^ Jlj»
. s
li^L«! ^ iXjj! ^! gaAftJt ^y |.L»afi iuJLc j3o *)|^ xi
p
ii^JJuM ^ u^Lwt i.i5>JL}S q4 «-«^kj LcLoc f
JJai-blt Ss l-H** liyi" Us y jAt OiJj/Jt JwcL»;?
5 *)»Jik>juas ^ Läaj iX^! ^ XfLw \j>^\i
yyLl! iü.LL ^yl\3•! «)5Uö'L«o j^ oJ^t JJii ^jläl
" m ^
LojJ! *) «iJ JLä ^y> JLä ^ byijiil sL?>] LjLaj! j^Ls
jj! JLs täJumj bLs »lX*;' btj iJL*ä L^JLU JLs (Js^t
JJai-bi! u^^ol y Jyü tbL*Jt jy ^j4^ Ii] oou— A.Lä«j ^^L/ tbLjtH
10 ^ Lju«bL*.t bS, LaI^L» xaJLc os>i jLä L^ Us^i, L-«^ '»^^ ^yl
UULu Lo JLfis tbLtli ^y 3^ li\ oJ>JiJ! »)^yuj«:i| JLä
joJL, ^'L». JLs Jjai-bSI bSj i>j-! i^jyLcbL-til y. (Äfl>
j,LAci giÄ» bS« J^ ^ JLäs jb-yi ^y. y? J^! v^JLibSi
' w
v^iA^" oiä Lfc>£Üj üV-^' ^' ')'_a1Ä^ iJi;' ^ V l 'j*^
" '■"^ c5js;' i:^^ »-! JLs LsAii v^Jls
«5iX>«.s! ^ j^,^iXj^j blXJ, ^LJ' JLä ^ LsPjJyiis ^Läit
».Jib, *)>_JLibU u*LIäJ! ^ Uisi-! jo-o v-JLb. ^"Ls- y\ JLä
(fol. 6) ^ ^y>Ls ")xi>li •)[ ]
JLs Li«ij, yyCÄi! bi! »J usyü bi u^t ^! oJÜÜ
cr*^ ")c>-jiÄÄj| j^-LaJü,
1) The line of Landberg's Hs. beginning with this word is queried.
2) Dlwin, ed. Salhani, p. 17, etc.
3) Ms. ü**L*J. 4) Ms. 5) Ms. ^iUAflbLi.
6) Ms. JLsj. 7) Mi. v_JLe-!
8) Ms. ..JlfbS. 9) Thus Landberg Ms.
10) Ms. *J^Ls, corrected by Landberg's copyist.
11) Ms. OjJUj!.
10
Torreg, .MrÄrnaSV» FWfjilat ai-äu'arä'. 497
ji\ JLä Lf****^' f^j^ u-LiJI ^yL$ f^Xs- ji\ JLä iüü ^!
^ > ' So-
iJL*j ^)L*»|y> i^'y* iXs ^yLJ' Laj!^ y oju-« ^'L»-
JLä »jy;! ufcJi ^^iji- JyLj ^ybLi JL»
LsyiJ'! JLi» L^i^l Sjy?^' <J»i' i^^' (»*»
t ->Mt JLä o^ vJü! Mu^t Läju Läju L^.)L»>t oJLä ^Liaä 5
vj$Juu ^yL-«ö! »i^xJ, ^yL<9 *)v_äL> JLä v^JLcbi! yti ^Lac! L«j!
JLä ^Lki! |»j'Ls? viiJlä »jAÄ Lic v-jj^^J ^^Ljlj^t^ e^AÜ ^j
> , - *
vjl^JLs* j^LjJ! jiüui ciJLä Jus? »i! JJü ^jJo Jotj L*j! ^"L»
Jä! j! ^ JLä ^ bLs? ^^L^ iL. ,! L«M*- ^'l jJ JLä ^ ^
^yJLä Jus? JLä i^iX^! >_^j}j jjLi va«JLä ^jLaaä, y»,!^ tytÄ
-B J
Ju^ JLä |_yii>.4J! uitji> ^^Li oJL* J>j^ JLä 5ijy?- q? BtXcL*i
yciJt ,y>bL».t y, J^ÄÄi! y> JLä ^^Ijui» ^_j..i^L9 olä
J^;:*^' ty* O**^ L?>^' oi V**^ CJ* ^yu^abS! oJLwj
JLürf ^yLJ^ JLä L^ LJjJt j ^ xiLs jCaS^! j t^t
0 &- j p
^iLä ^tXj ^IjS^y^j ^j*^^^ iUAi ^! olft^ iUiL*-^ liLx^^!
- > o , - *
JJÜ fri u-^'^j* u-Lxc oH;*^' J*^'
J^ V* '^^ oj»^ *)|.jL5> j_^! yl^, J^Ui! ^^
» » * '
J^^S^Lj xÄä^! i-!y! ^^yc ^yd! JÜi^jyiaä
»)_Jl*ä-J gSL*iJ! ^ ;^!j4 iaxO-! J^Lj ti!
P P - o -
o-jt^l oAä Jj.ÄftJ! xaAj JLä i^y^i^ÄJl _jfl*j ^-yj J^«.b!Ls oJä i
1) Ms. 8ji*c (C^t. 2) Ms. »^.iix j^^l. 3) Ms. i_iüu>.
4) Very- often written |^L5>; thus e. g. ÄghSnl and Index, YSqüt (see Index), Lane, Lex. s. v. ^j*, etc.
5) See Tiqüt I, 76, where the verse (in the recension of as-SukIcarT) is given in what appears to be the more primitive form, with !jj!jH P^^e of
^^ttXj. Täqüt probably cites otber portions of the same qafida in I, 393 f., IV, 10, 47, 128, 480. So too, perhaps, the verse given in the Lisän and Lane .. v.^y:.
3 7 *
16
498 Torrey, AlnAmal'e Fuliülat ai-Sa'arS".
.£
j5> J^jAäj ,j«uJ JLs (foL 6) ^Kfä >oJls Le tjiXJ^\ (j-Li j^^r
V '^-^ ».r*- ^^Ls ^^ lXaaIs vi^iä tti^
j*^' '^y^ L?**^ '^'^ o*^ l5t*-'
. o ,o, .
«J ^siM*J^^ ÄjLuaJl iAa^ <uI i^^aj i^j^Jb ^LwJüL xib' iJouJ y^;^
5 Jj-s^l jLfci! XA^ij ^Ltil «J ^5ji*Jt iCL^r 8>>ly>3 JLä Sjti»
*J vü^aaJ! (i\#5 ^Laä
>1 O* ^*b.> "«ic
i.>^.^ oJLss L«j iii5Ulc chX^ i^Lkl^ Ms^jJl oolXä^I
O ' > ü »
SiXuaä Qjy^ JLä ^yL^' JJ JLä ^^y**:?«.^! tLaü (j«jLs vyJÖ
9
^^^c^^t *j5^Lb »j**^^ li^-ä w j-Lä KiXi^ vJ^-^vaJU
P o > * . «
iO(jiU:> xäJL^, jJoJJ ^J«^Lä ^1 j^jJly ^yL-yJt ^rsj^
or?' >-r**^ vyUä J^y Jlä ^y.L«it ^
oJä ^^Lyit ^^ JLä |_^Lkit JuJ. jLjy J'^ JLä
2kÄ*Ü5 ^yL^/it i-v« Jj^i^t JLä iüCLJl «SLILLs
> Cl- J o -
xÜ>>5 JLä ^^y-^Äi^s ,.^^1 ^ ^.jjOotAS lyl^ ^^ÄJI ^y.
O- > C*-«.
15 lyi JajLjj ^:;^rJJy«Jl ^_^L»i!! j>L5> »lw«, ^lx*^l xäly ^^1
a i OS -.o.
y-"***^' Lr*^i L55y*^' (^"^j^' l5;**^!5 yLs» vmoLj iu-».l,
yri Hl^L., ^ jL^Lj, JLä ^ ^J^l ^blt ^
ü/ibL, JL» ^j^Ax^.i c^jl Jx oi"^ a=i^'
Jy=^ i_;.!^ JLä bU? ^Lä L^ui y JJJ^ ^y
20 ^Ja*i S ^J^S viLä ^yLwjil! Jysi ^yQ jU^xSt ^y tX);L>5 JLä jüiaj^
xlffiLj ^-i^Ls ciJLs j^LoJJ! v_Jl«j jLj^ ^LuiXJl ^yn yui! »yui
b .
L^ LjÜOJI (j^J XAjy« JÜ, ^ JU y> Jys^l ^yit
8)^i:ü, bl, L^ »JÄ/ ^y> L*^ ^1 bl ^^LJ ^1
1) Ms. jO». 3) Ms. y£!f.
2) The whole poem, Jamh. 135 ff. This opening verse also cited, in somewhat varying form, in the larger native lexicons, s. v.
3 7 *
-oe
Torrey, At-AtmaV» Fuhülat ai-äu'arä'. 499
JaS^] JocU- ^lÄj S ^Li*Jf oJj, Jlä i)(fol. 7)
^1 ^;>^ o''**^ ^^"^^F^^ ' **rf'j5 JLä XAÜÄJ, -«-rftüÄj, y>jJ( «—
ycLü ^^^jU:?^ bl Syo Jlä \jfi*^ ^'•*^J *^ Ljoju uajuoj, ,«-S^JI
* j
j4t.4Jöblt vi^JU, ^'L»-^! Jlä ,»^1 LI ^fiou jOo'iXä ^y J-saiil iu—l
O-J
bf, ^r*=^ LT*' ^Lä tLiUJ! ^j JLä (_5Lyt i^yeL*Jl v_ÄAÄfiJ! 5
^^y-:Ob juJLc vJüjtSj ^ Ä;^ JÜ» ^bJI oLjj ^y «JÜL.5
o l
jfi JLä (j*Ls\*»oi| ^yLJ lXj* ^^^as^Ls viiJiä iUL^I ji\ xäaäJ^
^^^.^XfcS» L>Jy« »Jül^ iXac x>«bb *)jj'5 JLä Oy*.! y, g>**^
^_5J^J-*J! iLLc jj!, JLä ü>L*aÄJI ^JLaö y JLä ^[i' «)L2SUa9! oiä
jOJÜ, ti JLä v'/^^' i *)c)'4* eJ^^I vJyLi-. op"' i»
i^iX^bll •)|»jy> o? a*!*-^ '^o'^y ^'i*'' ^ »i*^
o - J
.iy*! ^LJ, jwlXL?. Jj»! jjui! y JLä L*A»ai ^^ä*j (^^blyo ')ijyi
t^Ljt!! jy ^J4s^ Lj| oju-w it.^ y, wiAJj j_^l jy ^»e, JLä
(^kXwbJt «^yi ^y iJLas, iü^" y Jyij, «yi^ j^l j g>*^.
p ••- >
yytij jj.jJ^ tty oLkä^t qjI, i_5iX*,bll j*?yt ^y »JLiI X«*}
o.f
JlS^ bl, JLä, «yti ^_yJ! o«iij j^bl! j (yit jüüt^,
'')y;Aä:j| JÜi oJLü ^^ JjLj tJl
vIa^äJI tJ^ L^ ^j^^ yL«Ls Lüly.! ^y. uit
jiil3l ^yJl, JLä g'«^ oAJi *')fc*y ^yl, JLä. ixjyi u^tj Jü»
^5,y tf5JU ^LJ' iXä, yi.iJt y, ity ^y ! jüuL j o 80
1) It is possible that something is missing here. 2) Ms.jj|.
3) Ms. g^AA-ai!. 4) Ms. ^.^LS^. 5) Ms. COyO (sic).
6) Ms. (*Jj**> corrected (by Landberg?) to (H_p"- Often written (>r>.j^, see however Suyütl, J^uen, I, 79, also Agh. XXI, 7.
7) Ms. ;jyj. 8) Agh. X, 91.
9) So orig. Ms., but corrected by copyist to V_Jy^. See note on tbe 10) Ms.
500 Torrey: Al.A,fma<i'* RthSlat ai-Su'arä'.
lUio qj iXjjj, JLä 5üy>, ^,^[ ,\äiA ^yL*3ül J.<>il35 JLä «JtäJl »ae
yyJS L^»«>iJäLi BiX«*aä vJÜl V^ip ^ O^ß .Jlä -JLä U^äA)
XJL^' (foL 8) iü^^ Juu ^ ^ ^yi»*obH JLä L^j o>-*j^
» 4» * > -o*
|,Lks> („JÜj, ^^Ls>I fUa»s Läyb (^^fU5 Joo». ytÄl
" - , ■ • • J
6 |^**öblt j^^^ JLä SyojJt ^^JJj-« yo JLs gj^l
vaUr.i)^t Jlä JLS ^y yy?. jy ^yyjs»! JLS
w^Äi ^bli «^LiU«.! JLä juLsT odÄi JLS SJuuaS äjI^ Äl/tj
0'>'>S'* >'
ylM ^+U/» (j»ljül yuit JLSj '^yLT JLS ^yu«»blt ,_ykiiJkA«. JU
J^ j'ß^ 1^ ßj^ »4« L^Li jy!, j_yfi!^t5
loj^ O*' M*»-^' »äJ* ^4 ^yU,
«L>L* jyi JJ' V*«Ä c?^ cy ^5^1^'
«)wÄUi J^b. jeU c^Wj Jlj» tJ^! 2;L<:} ^jTl vJLä
^ *^y;ä ^ V/* •)5^;L]1. ^ ^L^l. ^LT, JLS xa^Oh
^jL*a-«j iUjsi (yy&i>j ^^-JJ tfcjL*3 Jsy« juL«. jtÄ»^ uJUj ^y
isürfyw VÄ* '^y' LUi o't^*" ^ eJ*^
Uy ')[yvfiPj]' ^4L^ ^*^bl! Jls j>x. »).jy«. JÜ5» Aö-Ji,^
. JÜ'O^^ ,i JLäi J>\jtji Jk»->»s ^^Lä jj,^
J^! yL-*^ c>*|- yLi^ S
1) M*. 2) Mi. vJiUU. 3) Mi i^S.. 4) W.»Je>,.
6) Mi. ^ JLäj. In a nutrgfaul note Goldslher loggMti 4he reitding JLi^
initaad of JLä,. Thii change ieemi to me to necenltate reading in plaea of ^. I bav« adopted both emandations. If the reading ef the Hs. k retained, wa mnit rappoie that a paüage hat bean loit here; a inppoaition wUch may leem to be inpported by tbe absence of the name (Zubair) in what immediately
follows. 6) Something missing here?
7) This name b wanting in the Ms. , but fortunately the: followiag lines are very well known as belonging to ZuhiUr; Arnold, Mo'aU, p. 78, Ahlw. 95, Nöldeke, Die Mo'aUaqa Zuhair's, pp. 16, 80, etc.; see also my Commercial Terms in the Koran, p. 10.
8) Ms. fJiXijj), ■
Torrey, AUAfmafV» Fuliülat aS-Su'arcC. 5()1
^j yuiJI Jüä ttyciJl ^Lc g^xÄ JI« ^>ö^t JLä
«jJä vj jLas (.bL.bll ^ ^J».^ jLoj iütAjj j JCaI^UI
i-bly Ui j\y ^ Jt;! Uit i)[Jlä] ty^\ /Jsj ,J ^yu^bU
yciJ! ^yLT Ui!j o-*^! Jy.! ^lyt^t t;-!, y t^iiü L.iLi ^
^^UjäJ! »)^5'7*% ^ ^Uy JJU Lxi^! ^jt JLä,. ^yJ! ^
*^yj Lr'-y Ü? U*L{*S .'^'^ vjUi», ByuLc SJkc /i>>j
j^^i^bJ! a^J*^' J*'*' vjUi.^ iVj^J Sy« JLäj *.I*aJl ^y
äüiLju (fol. 9) y».iJ! S oJUÜ! ^! ^ i)[Jlä]
''fJ^^jj**" Vr^ syic v^j], sy^lt
jy yii'ya >^ L?«^ j^fAöblt JLä *)i.L-*iJt /j äÜLju 10
tj\ ys=U9 Ljt Lj *J JLiä fJusä- ^\ ^^j^ o*^J^
JLä j^jJt Jü» ytit
»)j>J:Säat ÄiLÜ- LiJit (»AÄ«' 8^ jJj ^"^^
^^^*«o i\ä jOb !31 ^yis»- lijj> gj^Ji ^ JLä jiLJajsOLJ lÖJ»,
Jyü JLä yui! (j*LjJ! ^! yÄo bt Lj JLä9 tkjJÜ u^UJ u
-.o e»
'')Jyw«j v_AA*J> j^j/j /V Liä
'"^ > " ' ^ ' »
JÜ ^y^! -Oyu«, ^LjjJt y, j;t y, ^j^t lyo!.^
y, tr'^V a? J^^l er* yy^' »y^^'
i^tyt LXjuaäjt y^Lsi (j-LJt ooü!, Sy--j *)[a?'] l5^'
^j^bl! Jl5 ^ x^t, ")^*AÄJt LsJ ^yt y>-^t i y^Jbi ^t, io
s
1) Hs. omits. 2) Ms. pl\ytjü^, 3) Bracketed words om. in Hs.
4) Tills saying also qaoted irom al-Asma'I in Agh. III, 188, below.
5) DIwSn, Cairo 1323, p. 21; ed. Goldziher, ZDMG. 46, 203; Agh.
II, 61; Lisän, s. v.
(zj
6) The opening line of Imrulqais' Mu'allaqa.
7) Ms.ykA«., 8) Ms. ÄaaXc. 9) Ms. om. 10) Ms. ^^^^.aaJ!.
502 Torrey, AlrAamaH'B Fuhülat ai-Su*arä\
C » w
^yJU Jjy^Ält Jüib j ^y**^^ iV*«» *i**S j*^^ {J»UJ|
UM^Ai ^jlju »Laxi! Jya! j ^J)^^ ^'^5 ;L*ajbll
LüitXs»- jj*Ic ^y i_*A>^It, ^yiiibllj (ji^SjIl (VjÄ^ ^^^.5 iuJjtji ^y
) - u
jjtil C)'"**** '^-^t A^* '^'jjJ' l-iJi^^ JLä ^yujobH
6 Jiai>.:il ^ JLä JjLc jOJÜ, ^cU y> Lo JLSs ;>,L*Jt ^y
.<,..% - -
Ojjtii! Loyj i^yujöbll Jü» k>yJ! *)lXXj i3jL^ JL» j^i^ ycä
jxi yiU ^Läy^! äy ^ JLä, ^-.iÜ- ^y yÄ! ^ ^1
O-J
Löt^l j5 ^J«wJJ JLä J^xk* (j-jLs ^L-i byy ^y «^Lo JLä, J-aL«
wJLÜ ,j<*Aij JLä o'"'^ li^- cy* Lp^y Jwc ji^J^«^
10 LljcXs» jtyo jjjl jjLaä Jio yJli', JLä iQ^Lil ^5 yLi
JLä (j«LjÜ! ^yi j^.jL«ol Jjkä JLä ^^^jt^bil LüiXs»- JLä ^'L»-
JjÄ* JLä üL^Ö Jo JLj «)J^ üJu+ä ^! bL>.j (fol. 10) yy^ij
5"^*^ *)Lä1ä-o !y;Li ^y^j! 1.5*^^1 viLS
bL>-j (>^f^\ j^Lt-otiS! oJL- ^Is» y! JÜ9 (j*,Li
15 (fif^\ Jyl Lil, LLyi lXj>!,JI j Jjü ^ e)*""**" '"^'j
yJJI JLä L»jt, iuuM ^yl y, ^LuiJJl iÜuLJt lAs»!,
^ ytiJt JL> U v>*j äO- yvjbLi t50^ wuLiil JUi, bULä
U«^, vjjjy«-« jJl^" /»-bllj jJLj iXa=>- «Jjä yO J,bl| yi.iJt, JUi
y>JbL5 ^1 üi*. yv^blS ^yl y, yciJ! JU» ^Is* yt JLs J>.I^.
10 vJjJjyJI v^aaJ" ^yi»*obU vaJü» iU*« i:;>:jbLj JLäs ^Ji jU«
.« o - ,
Lo HiAaaos j^yblo »JLs yy?" L/«'i JLä Xäy« »ytii ^Li^^l xiumö JU»
O . it »
vJül,* jJLjl! ij^ol bl JLä v-ÄJoj bll Jas LLui »jcJLc
»Jul; i\ä ^Is» yl JLä *)yii?. ^ tLp^i y Lo o-iä LLyi; ^yuu
1) tiÄy' inserted Iiere in Landberg's band. See note on tbe Translation.
2) Ms. JLä. 3) Ms. LiiLw.
4) Tbis passage is queried in the Ms. The text is corrupt, and it may be that something is missing.
Torrey, AL-AmtaH'» Fuf^ülat ai-Su'arä'. 503
J.^^ JLs ^yu^^bi! L*SAi>. |»j1j> yt JLs »yiÄ j O^ju Lit
|,y> tLlL jJyi (>3jj>-bitj JLä xIjLJ'Lil j jJ, yLo y
G ,ö J
(_^L*ö ,y*J g>j/ yi*^ Ui! jjbLs JLä JLä ^yujujblt LüJ«^
gLX*.L». ÄJ^tj V*!?»'^ J^' ,^^-»*ablt JLä jjljJoüJt, ia^Ü. jaaj JLä
JLä ')yytÄ j ^'a-**sLä ^ /'^ * "»j<y^ *Uä! j &aLc 5
|,yü iXs-l LxiJJ! j ij.*aJ JLä wu,3 iiA4.*ii- »Ä* oLjs^L*.!,
tJ^ j *)oL>! vtjP Lj! ^! bit iU^, juSl^t S ^UiJLl
L^ JLä ^yJt ^yj> JLä Jo! jJ ^yü
j - - , > o ,
•).iN*J |»li\»- jy wSy
JLä, JLä ^bU! ^_yi*L:^ y ylJI JLä ^ycMfl^! JLä lo
vmJLäs yy> yÄ y« (^yi (wi^/ jütyt ^tyU uäJj^äJ!
^ jjL^ft*« b! 0^*4— JLä |_y**.obl! JLä »y «5^*1*, »jJl»- j
(fol. 11) ^t y>.j OuS iü^jj vijJlä Jyb j-bl«J!
\J>Jls^^\ jü^i »JJI ja*J L^ uJÜLj »xJS JLäs
8)J^! vA^' ^ ^ • IS
jj^ »Jbl ij«>aJ tXjj jy ci*A^I JLä ^yujobl! LoA»-
jij^ ,j.uJ j^CJ, i^,iXj »Jbl ü.^ jOo^t ,0, JLä ^LÜi^l «^Ä/j
^^! V/^' i^^' »iX5>t, bll JLä ^ VjäJ! yi «yÄ
L^ Jy«j
J - • , - » i
j,jw^ jjL*.c ^! vL^'i »0
^! xJJl, f
1) Ms. . 2) Ms. .S-iii^ . 3) The passage cannot he right as
it stands. It is queried in tbe Ms. 4) Ms. i.>L>-!.
5) DlwBn, Tale University Library, Ms. 303, fol. 103a; Haffner, Texte zur arab. Lexikographie, 116; Lisän s. v. ii<^jJ, f-^^t V**^> &y ' y«qfit I, 852, III, 244.
6) Ms. uS^J^, 7) Ms. u^Axc. 8) Agh. IX, 81, 10.
m Torrw, Al-Äfmafi't F\ihiUat ai-Sü'arS'.
Translation.
Al-Asma'l's Banking of the Earliest Arabian Poets.
Abü Bakr Muhammad ibn al-Hasan ibn Daraid al-Azdi reports
the following from Abu Hätim Sahl ibn Muljammad ibn 'Utmän
B as-Sijzi. Said Abü ^ätim : On more than one occasion I heard
al-A;ma'i 'Abd al-Malik ibn Quraib pronounce an-Näbigha of Dubyän
superior to the other pre-Mohammedan poete. I myself also asked
him — and it was the last question that I put to him, only a
short time before his death — Who stands first among the Fufiill?
1* He replied : an-Nsbigha of Dubyän ; but added : In my opinion,
no one ever equalled the verses of Imrulqais:
Their good fortune guarded them through their kinsfolk —
It is on the less fortunate that vengeance falls!
Said Aba Hätim : When he saw that I was writing down what
16 he said , he reflected for a moment and then proceeded : No , the
first of them all in excellence is Imrulqais; his were the highest
honor and the precedence, and they all drew upon his poetry and
followed his canons; I could almost say that he gave an-Näbigha
of ßubyän his place among the fuhül. Then I asked (said Abü
M ^ätim) : What is the meaning of the term fahl ? He replied :
It means that one has a marked superiority over his fellows, like
the superiority of a thoroughbred stallion over the mere colts;
and he added: it is the same thing which is meant by the verse
pf Jarlr:
»5 The young offspring of the milch-camel, when he is fastened
with the yoke-rope,
Uan not withstand the fierce attack of the seasoned and mighty
ones
Said Abü Hätim: Some one asked him. Who of all men is
so the greatest poet? He answered, an-Näbigha. The other continued :
Do you give no one the precedence over him? He replied: No,
nor were the men of learning in poetry whom I have known
accustomed to prefer any one to him. But, I said, there has been
some difference of opinion in regard to Zuhair ibn Abfl Sulmä and
1) Of course such a slightly different use of the term as that illnstrated by the title 'Alqama al-Fahl (on its origin, see Agh. XXI, 178) would suggest
> i
itself; cf. also tbe definition given in tbe Lisän: ^.Xit AjnJüJiS <^y=^
«5ÜL\i^ L4.^Lj-ä!5 vJäJj^i!!, _jjy?- J^i/o yb-Ls» ^yl *L:SV^Lj \jAs.
«jJLc i_JL*s IjcLi ü^jLc JJ'.
2) More exactly: the ibn labün is a camel entering upon his third year;
tbe baxil (plur. Inumt) is eight or nine years old.
Torrey, At-Atmal't FuJiülat ai-Su'arä'. 605
the comparison of the two ^) .... He answered : No ; Abü 'Amr *),
when some on« asked him, in my hearing: Was an-Näbigha, or
Zohair, the greater poet? replied: Zuhair was not worthy to be
an-Näbigha's hireling. He (al-A$ma'I) added: Aus ibn Hajar was
a greater poet than Zuhair, but an-Näbigha took away from him <
sonae of his glory'). Aus composed this:
With an army for whi^h you see the field too strait,
in a poem of his; but an-Näbigha followed it with 8ome.:lines of
his own, bringing its conceit, and something besides, into a single
half-verse: (foL 2) lo
An army, for which the field becomes too strait,
Leaving the ridges behind as though they were plains*).
Abü Qätim also reported from al-A$ma'i the following: A
Sai^ of the people of Najd said that '{xif&il al-Ghanawi nsed to be
called Muhabbir^), in the pre-Islamic time, because of the beauty is
of his verse. And in my own opinion, said al-Afma'i, in some of
his poetry he surpassed Imrulqais; al-A§ma'i says it. Then he
added : And yet fufail borrowed something from Imrulqais ; more¬
over, it is said that much of the poetry of Imrulqais belonged to
certain beggars') who attached themselves to him; also, 'Amr ibn w
Qaml'a went in his company to the Byzantine court ^. Mu'äwiya
ibn Abü Sufyän used to say: Summon for me Xufail, for his verse
is more like that of the ancient poets than is the verse of Zuhair,
and he is a fahl^). Al-Asma'i proceeded: It is a wonder that
an-Näbigha never gave any description of a mare except in the S6
one verse:
With her nostrils yellow from [the blossoms of] the jarjar plant.
Indeed, an-Näbigha, Aus, and Zuhair were not wont to give fine
descriptions of horses; but Tiif^Ui on the contrary, reached the
almost bound of excellence in tbis characterization, and he was aio
fakl. Then he recited these lines of his:
1) See note on tbe text. 2) Abü 'Amr ibn al-'AlS', f 154/770.
3) Cf. Broekelmann, Nöldeke-Festtohrift, p. 117 above.
4) Tbat is, they were trampled fiat by the multitnde of the army.
5) Literally, one who adorns. Bee especially Ooldtiher's discussion of the uses of this term, .^IMancUun^m, I, 129—131.
6) "Poor devils",
7) Agh. XVI, 163, 166 above, and elsewhere.
8) The question of al-A;ma'l's dating of the poet "fufail (see Krenkow,
JRAS. 1907, pp. 815, 820) is bere settled. The original meaning of the
itatements quoted by Krenkow from Agh. XIV, 88 must have been simply this, tbat Jnfail was older than Nibigha Ja'di (with whom he is all the time being compared), and tha foremost (|HASi) of the poets of Qais 'Ailtn.
506 Torrey, At-AamaH's Ftihiiiat ai-Su'arä'.
They are compelled to have the shai-p bit of the bridle put on,
As if it were put on the trunk of a palm that is stripped of
its bark^).
(You say : I constrained him (rOwadtuhü) to this or that, meaning
the same as häwaUuhä, and one may say also aradtuhu. Here he
is describing the neck of the animal ... '.)
.... and he [i. e. an-Näbigha al-Ja'di] was most excellent in
describing horses*). Thereupon he recited:
Holding firm the sutures of the skull, or he had been ready to
neigh •).
He also excelled in that qafida of his in which he says:
Those 'generous gifts' of yours — not even two cups of milk.
Which were made gray with water, and at last turned to urine.
(Said Abü II*tim) I asked: What was his intent in that, for this
line enters into the verse of another poet*). He replied: When
Sawwär [ibn Aufä] ibn al-Hayä' al-Qu§airI said: 'We hay.e among
us him who searched for his foot*), him who made Häjib his
captive, and those who gave the milk to drink', an-Näbigha there¬
upon composed the verse: (fol. 3)
Those generous gifts of yours — not even two cups of milk.
Said al-Asma'I: If this qaslda had only been written by the
older Näbigha, it would have reached the utmost bound of merit.
I then asked him: How about al-A'Sä, the A'Sä of the Ban!
Qais ibn Ta'laba?
He replied: He is not a fahl*).
And 'Alqama ibn 'Abada?
1) See Krenkow, loc. cit., p. 870.
2) On tbe lacuna bere, see tbe note on the text.
3) It is perhaps useless to attempt to translate witbout knowing tbe con¬
text. On the ^.^ij^ of a horse, see Ibn Side's Kitäb al-MuJ^paf VI, 138,
and on l/jJ '^^j^ Jamhara, 147, lines 4f.
4) See Brockelmann, loc. cjt., p. 118, where the story of tbe verse is told, and the original author is jaid to bare been AbS ';-Salt ibn ar-Rabi'a at-Taqafl.
-5) Namely Hubis ibn Qais, whose foot was eut off in the battle of the YarmSk, while he was showing great valor; see especially BelSduri 137, where the verse is given:
. , mt- •> Ol
Lo»L=> ^S. ^\ ^5jJi Lu, »JL>, iXiU, oUc y! Lu,
The Hlyib wbo was made captive was Hiyi'' '^n ZurSra. The story of bis
capture liy Mälik ibn Salama (known as Dü 'r-Ruqaiba) is told in Agb. X, 42 f.
6)''rbis judgment is all the more remarkable in view of the higb esteem in which Abu 'Amr held al-A'lä (Agb. VIII, 78, etc.). On the probable dis¬
arrangement . of the Ms. at this point, see below.
Torrey, Ai-Afma'Vt F^thiülat ai-Su'arcP. 507
Fahl.
Al-9ärit ibn Hilliza?
Fahl.
'Amr ibn Kultüm?
No fahl. 6
Al-Musayyab ibn 'Alas?
Fahl.
How about 'Adi ibn Zaid; is he a fahl?
Neither stallion nor mare!
(Said Abü Hätim: The only reason why I asked him was lo
because I had heard Ibn Muna^ir^) say that no poet should be
ranked higher than 'Adi.)
What of Hassän ibn Täbit?
He is a fakl.
Qais ibn al-^at'™? 15
Fahl.
The two named al-MuraqqiS?
Each of the two is a fahl.
And Ibn Qaml'a?
Fahl. (This was Qamfa [ibn Darllj]«) ibn Sa'd ibn Mälik, so
and his kunya was Abü Yazld')).
And Aba Zubaid ? *)
He is no fahl, kl- ^arnmä^ ?
FaM, (And al-Asma'i added : I hare talked with a man who *b
How about Muzarrid, his brother?
He was not inferior to a§-§ammä^, yet he injured his poetry
by introducing too much satire.
Now al-Asma'i had told me, before this, that the men of Küfa so
were wont to place al-A'Sä in the very first rank of poets*); also,
galaf •) was accustomed to sa* that no poet should be ranked
above him. (Said Abü Qätim: This was because he composed
poetry in every sort of meter, and used every variety of rhyme.)
I proceeded: What of 'Urwa ibn al-Ward? ss
He answered : He was a noble poet / j*Ui), but not a fahl.
How about al-Huwaidira?
1) Muhammad ibn Mnnidir (often ManSdir), Agh. XVII, 9ff.
2) Agli. XVI, 163.
3) There was another Ibn Qaml'a of some note, namely he who killed Mos'ab ibn 'Uraair at the battle of Uhnd, mistaking bim for tbe Prophet Muhammad (Hiiü. 566 f., Agh. XIV, 19). This Qaml'a was of the Li|it tribe.,
4) Harmala ibn al-Mundir aj-Ti'l.
5) Apparently, the original context of this passage is to be found abetve, where al-A's5 was mentioned; see also the note on the text.
6) Cf. Agb. VIII, 78, where al-A'Kä is under discussion, and IJalaf al-Ahmar refoses to decide tbe question of superiority.
Zeitschrift der D. M. O. Bd. LXV. S3
had seem the grave Armenia.)
608 torrey, Al-Afma'i^ F\thülat ai-äu'arBl'.
If he had composed five qofida's like the one which we have
he would have been a fa^l.
And al-Muhalhil?
No fahl; but if he had produced other poems like that one
» of his :
0 night of ours in Jusam, turn to daylight!
he would have been the foremost fahl of them all, Besides, the
most of his poetry is merely attributed to him.
AbQ Du'äd?
10 Excellent^). (He did not say that he was a fafd.)
Ar-Rä'I?
Not a faJd.
Ibn Muqbil?
Not a fahl.
15 Said Abü Qätim: I also asked al-Asma'i which of the two
was the greater poet, ar-Rä'I pr Ibn Muqbil. He replied: How
near to each other they stand! But, I objected, tbis answer does
not satisfy us. Thereupon he said : The ver«e of tr-BaT was more
like that of the old and primitive pOets.
to Ibn Ahmar (fol. 4) al-Bähi>I?
Not a fahl; yet, though inferior to those, he stands at the
head of his own division. And (he said) in my opinion (^t ijj')
Mälik ibn Harim al-Hamdäni is of the fuhül. If Ta'laba ibn §u'air
al-Mäzini had written five poems like his qafida., he would have
16 been a fahl.
How about Ka'b ibn Ju'ail?
I think that he («öbt) is of the fuhül, bnt do not feel certain
of it.
What do you say of Jarlr and al-Farazdaq and al-A\jtal?
so These, if they belonged to the Jähillya, would have a distin¬
guished place (in this ranking); but since they belong to Isläm, I
will say nothing about them.
Said Abn ^ätim: I had often heard him prefer Jarlr to al-
Farazdaq; so I said to him, on the day when 'Isäm ibn al-Fai4
S6 came to see him : I wish to ask you about something, and if 'I§äm
had already heard it from you, I would not ask. I have heard
you prefer JaiTr to al-Parazdaq, more than once; what will you
say now about the two, and about al-A^tal? So he reflected for
a moment, and then recited a verse from his (al-Ahtal's) qafida:
40 Verily I have made the night's journey of no weakling,
On a she-camel emaciated of cheek and thin of flank.
Then he recited about ten verses more, and said : If any one tells
you that any man on earth ever produced the equal of this, either
1) gJL*a.
Torrey, AlrAmMl's FuJyukU ai-Su'arä'. 509
before al-A^tal or after him, do not believe him. Then he said:
Abü 'Amr ibn al-'Alä' also used to prefer him (to the other two);
I have heard him say: If al-Afet^l 1"»^ lived but one single day
in the Jähillya, I would not give any poet, jäktli or ialämi , the
precedence over him*). Said al-A§ma'i: I once recited to Abü 'Amr 5
ibn al-'Ala a certain poem, and he said: No one of the Islamic
poets could equal this, not even al-A^Jal.
Said Abü llätim: I also asked him about al-Aghlab, whether
he was a fahl, among tbe rajaz poets; and he said: He is not a
fahl nor even successful, and his verse wearies me. And on another lo
occasion he said to me: I only hand down from al-Aghlab two
poems and a half. I said: What do you mean by the 'half?
He replied: I know two poems of his, and I used to hand down
half of the one which rhymes in qäf — for they have lengthened
it. And he continued : His children were wont to add to his poems, «
until they spoiled them. Said AbQ ^ätim: Is^äq ibn al-'Abbäs*)
asked from him & rajaz verse of al-Aghlab, and he sought from
me 8) I loaned him he brought forth about twenty
(poems), (fol. 5) I said : Did you not declare that you knew only
two and a half? He answered me: Yes, but I have sorted those to
which I know, and so far as they are not his, they belong at least
to others who are classically valid and trustworthy. Said Abü
Hätim : No other man could recite so many rajaz verses as al-
Asma'I. I once heard a man of Najrän who had travelled about
in the regions of Khoräsän question him , saying : Such-a-one in ts
Rai told me that you could recite twelve thousand rajaz poems.
Yes he answered, there are fourteen thousand rajca poems which
I hold in my memory. I was amazed at this, but he said to me:
Most of them are short. I said : Deliver them , verse by verse,
fourteen thousand verses. But he answered : Only the poetry of so
al-Aghlab makes the task too tiresome for me. (Said ^tX&i: One
of the sons of al-Aghlab was a man who was trustworthy in the
matter of tradition and narrative, but lied about his father's poetry.)
I proceeded: What of Hätim at-Tä'I? .
Hätim, he answered, is only counted as "noble" >.^Jm) >
he did not say that he was a fahl.
And Mu'aqqir al-Bäriqi, the halif of the Bani Numair?
If he had completed five or six qasida's, he would have been
a fahl. Then he added : The two tribes least productive of poetry
seem to have been Kalb and Saibän. 40
Abü Du'aib of Hudail?
Fahl.
Sä'ida ibn Ju'ayya*)?
1) The same in Agh. VII, 172, 8. 2) The governor of Basra.
8) The text is defective here.
4) This well known poet does not receive mention in Agh., if the Index b to be trusted.
33*
510 Torrtij/, Al-Atma'i't Fuliülat ai-äu'ara'.
Fahl
Abo giräs of Hudail?
Fahl.
A'Sä of Hamdän?
6 He is one of the fuhül, though of Isläm , and the author of
much poetry*).
I asked al-Asma'I about Ka'b ibn Sa'd al-Ghanawi; and he
answered : He is not one of the fuhül , except . in his elegies ; in
that particular no other has equalled him. He added: Hie used to
10 be called "the Ka'b of the Proverbs".
I asked him also about ^ufaf ibn Nadba, and 'Antara, and
az-ZibriqSn ibn Badr ; and he replied : These are the best poets of
the fursän*); and in the same rank with them is 'Abbäs ibn Mirdäs
of Sulaim (he did not say that they were of the fuhüt), and Bi§r
16 ibn Aba ^äzim. I heard Abü 'Amr ibn al-'Alä' say : His (BiSr's)
qafida rhyming in the letter r brought him into the company of
the fuhül:
Ah, the horde has departed, without drawing near.
And thy heart, borrpwed from thee, is in their howdas.
to (Said Abü ^ätim) I proceeded : What of al-Aswad ibn Ya'fur
an-Nahsall ?
He replied: He resembles (24^) the fuhül.
Then as to 'Amr ibn §a'8 al-Asadi, what do you say regarding
him ? (fol. 6).
15 He is not a fahl, but is below that rank.
And Labid ibn Rabi'a?
No fahl. Moreover, on another occasion al-Asma'I described
Labid to me as "a good man" — as though he intended to deny
to him any high merit as a poet. And he once said to me :
so Labld's poetry is like a mantle from '{'abaristän ; meaning that it
was well woven, but without elegance.
He said also: Jaräda ibn 'Umaila al-'AnazI composed some
poems which resemble those of the fuhül, but they are short. This
verse is one of his:
S5 How wert thou led aright, when thou hadst no guide?
There are those who witness against thee what thou didst.
What of Aus ibn Ghalfa' al-Hujaiml?
If he had composed twenty qasida's, he would have joined
the fuhül; but he is cut short of it.
40 He also said to me : 'Umaira ibn f äinq al-Yarbfi'I was one of the
phiefs of the fursän; he it was who took captive Qäbüs ibn al-Mundir*).
1) See the Introduction.
2) See the Introduction, and cf. Agh. XVI, 139, where Ibn Salläm's ranking of Qnfif in the "fifth class" of the fursän is mentioned.
3) Namely, at Ti^fa. Bekrl 452, YSqüt III, 519.
3 I
Torrey, Al-Apna'VB Fulyülat ai-Su'arff. 611
I asked him about ^idas ibn Zuhair al-'Amiri, and he replied:
He is a fakl.
Ka'b ibn Zuhair ibn Abü SnlmäV
Not a fahl.
Zaid al-g'ail at-Tä'l? 6
One of the fursän.
Sulaik ibn as-Sulaka?
Not one of the fuhül, nor was he one of the fursän. He
belonged to the number of those who used to make forays, running
on their own feet and taking plunder. Another of the same sort lo
was Ibn Barräqa of Hamdän*), and still others were Häjiz*) at-
Tumäll, of the Sarwiyyün*) , and Ta'abbata §aiTan (whose name
was Täbit ibn Jäbir), and aS-Sanfarä al-Azdi, the Sarwt. Al-
Muntasir was not of their number, but al-A'lam of Hudail belonged
to them. Some of them dwelt in the Hijaz, and in the Sarät there is
were more than thirty (». e., those who used to run on their own
feet and take plunder).
He also said : If Saläma ibn Jandal had accomplished somewhat
more, he would have been a fahl. AI- Mutalammis is the chief
fahl of Rabi'a. Dui-aid ibn as-§imma is one of the fuhül among »o
the fursän. Moreover, Duraid in some of his poetry surpasses
Näbigha of Dubyan in the art; he did, indeed, oome near to van¬
quishing the DubyänI.
I said: How about A'Sa of Bähila, is he one of the fuhül?
He answered: Tes, and there is an elegy of his which has »s
not its equal in the world, namely:
There has come to me a report, at which I am not rejoiced.
From the height; a report in which there is neither lie nor
mockery.
(fol. 7) He proceeded*): Al-'Ajjäj was bom in the Jähi-. so
liya. Humaid al-Arqat used to prune and polish and purify the
rty'az poetry. I saw that he (al-Asma'i) pronounced some of Abü
n-Najm's rajaz verse good, and some of it defective, for he com¬
posed much that was bad. On one occasion he said: I am not
much impressed with a poet whose name is al-Fadl ibn Qudäma ss
(meaning Abü n-Najm).
1) Kämil 152, 19, YSqüt III, 300.
2) Cf. Agh. XII, 49 below.
3) Those whose home was in tbe SarSt, a monntainotis district of TihSma bordering on Yemen, whose inhabitants were noted for purity of speech (Yäqüt
> .
m, 66f.: otjyJt J.*! u^LiJ! *bUJ! y y\ JLs). See
just below, also Yäqüt III, 65 ff. (p. 65 Une 8, for iU*jy«jt read ^^aJ!?), Hamdäni ed. MiiUer, pp. 48 f., 67 it
4) Something missing here?
512 Torrey, Al-AsmaTt Fuhülat ai-Su'arä!.
Said Abo Hätim: I asked al-Asma'i about al-Qu^aif al-'Ämiri
— who made verses about women — and he said: His diction is
neither classically elegant nor normative*). Upon my asking him
about Ziyäd al-A'jam, he said: He is normative; no solecism has
6 been attached to him ; and his kunya was AbQ Umäma. I said :
Tell me about the slave of the Ban! 'I-Has^äs '). He replied : His
verse was classically elegant, though he was a negro. Abü Duläma
was also a slave, I think he was the adopted son of an Abyssinian.
I asked: Was his poetry classically chaste? He replied: It was
10 of good quality in this regard. Moreover, Abü 'Atä' as-Sindi was
d slave whose ear was pierced. Was he then one of the genuine
Arabs?, I queried. No, but his diction was chaste. 'Abd al-'AzTz
ibn Marwän once said to Aiman ibn ^uraim of Asad : What do
you think of my maulä"} meaning Nusaib. Aiman answered: He
IS is a better poet than any other man of his skin (for he was a
negro)*). Furthermore, 'Umar ibn Abü Rabi'a was the son of a
slave mother, yet his poetry was considered normative ; I have heard
Abü 'Amr ibn al-'Alä' cite it as proof of correct grammatical
usage, and formally declare it to be such. Also Fadäla ibn §arlk
20 of Asad, and 'Abdalläh ibn az-Zubair of the same tribe, and Ibn
ar-Ruqayyät *), these all were sons of slave parents, yet their verse
is normative. I saw, however, that he disparaged al-Uqaisir, and
did not feel inclined toward his poetry ; he said of him : He was only the "policeman" poet. Yes, I answered, it was al-UqaiSir who said:
«5 You see, he 's drinking at our own expense!
So ask the policeman. Wherefore all this wrath?*)
He was slave-born, al-Asma'I continued. Ibn Harma was botb
reliable and elegant in his compositions; Ibn Udaina was reliable,
and in the same class (iüUb) as Ibn Harma, but was inferior to
80 him in his poetry *). Mälik cited traditions on his authority , in
his jurisprudence, fufail of Kinana is also to be classed with Ibn
Harma. Yazid ibn ^abba was a maulä of the tribe TaqTf. He
composed a thousand qasida's, but the Arabs divided them up and
carried them off.
ss Al-Asma'i said, moreover: After Ru'ba and Abü Nu^aila (fol. 8)
there were no poets nlore worthy of the name than Jandal at-
fuhawl and Aba fauq and l^itäm al-Mujä§i'I (who was nicknamed
1) More exactly: to be used u proof (i^^) of correct tuage.
2) t. e. Snhaim.
S) The whole anecdote is given in Agh. I, 131.
4) i. e. 'UbaidallSb ibn Qais ar-Ruqayyit.
5) Tbe story of al-Dqaisir's adventure with the policeman is told in Agh.
X, 87 f., 91. Aceording to the latter passage, the officer of the law, who had come to arrest al-Cqaisir for drunkenness, w»s himself made tipsy by wine which the poet supplied to bim by means of a tube passed through the key¬
hole of the barricaded door. 6) Cf. Agh. IV, 113, 2f.
Torrey, Al-AsmaH's Fuhülat ai-Bu'ara'. 513
'IJitäm of the Wind"). Ibn Mnfarrigh was one of the mttwallada^)
of Basra. AI- Asma'i narrates that he heard the following from
Wahb ibn Jarlr ibn Häzim My father once said to me: I was
wont to recite three hundred qa^da's of Umayya. I asked : Where
is the collection now? He replied: Such-a-one borrowed it and fi
carried it off.
Said al-Asma'I: It used to be said that the best of all the
poets were "the Vanquished of Mu(}ar", namely Humaid, nr:Rä'I,
and Ibn Muqbil*). As for ar-Bä'I, he was vanquished by Jarlr,
and also by '^mzar, one of the Bani Bakr. Lailä of A^yal over- lo
came al-Ja'dl, and so also did Sawwär [ibn Aufä] ibn al-Hayä*).
Ibn Muqbil was beaten by an-NajäSl, one of the Bani 'l-Härit ibn
Ka'b*). As for Humaid, every out who attacked him vanquished
him. Ibn Ahmar*) (said he) did not satirise any one. Pusljum*)
was mentioned by him as a notable poet of the Jähillya, but he is
did not give his lineage. He said of an-NajäSl ibn al-Häritlya:
He v-as guilty of wine-drinking, aud 'All ibn Abü fälib punished
him by beating with a hundred stripes ; eighty for drunkenness, and
twenty for violating Ramadän (for he had found him drunk in the
sacred month). So when he had been beaten, he went away to 20
Mu'äwiya, and composed verse in praise of him, and vituperated
'All').
Said al-Asmafi: [Zuhair] became intimate with certain Jews,
and learned from them about the resurrection. Therefore he said
in his qasida: 26
Either it is postponed, put down in a book, and stored
For the Day of Account; or else 'tis hastened, and soon avenged.
Said al-Asma'i: A learned saih was asked about the poets,
and replied: In the time before Muhammad, poetry flourished first
in Rabi'a; then it went over to Tamim. I said to al-Asma'i. Why so
did he not mention Yemen? He replied: He was only speaking
of the Bani Nizär; as for these, they all learned tbe poetic art
from Imrulqais, the chief of the poets; Yemen was the home of
poetry. And he said: Are there any in the world equal to the
knights of Qais ? their poets were indeed the fursän,. Then he ss
mentioned a number, among them 'Antara, Qufäf ibn Nadba, 'Abbäs
ibn Mirdäs, and Duraid ibn as-^imma. On another occasion he
said to me : Duraid and 5uß,f were the best poets of the fursän *).
1) Arabs by adoption , not öf pure blood. Generally meaning one born of a slave motber.
2) Tbe name of NSbigba Ja'dl seems to be accidentally omitted here;
see just below.
3) Agh. IV, 131, 6 from bottom, 132f. 4) Kamä 187, 6.
5) i. e. 'Amr ibn Ahmar al-BShill, another of the poets of Mudar 6) So pointed in Ms. I bave found no otber mention of bim.
7) See tbe note on tbe text.
8) Cf. the similar estimate given above, and see tbe Introduction.
3 8 *
514 torrey, AlrAsma'Vs Fuhülat ai-Su'arä'.
I heard this from al-Asma'i: Umayya ibn Abü 's-§alt was
supreme and unapproached in poetry (fol. 9) which had for its
subject the world to come; 'Antara, where the subject was war;
and 'Umar ibn Abü Rabi'a, where the subject was women.
5 According to al-Asma'i, some one once met Kutayyir, the lover
of 'Azza (this was Kutayjdr ibn 'Abd ar- Rahmän, al-!^uzä'I, Ibn
Abü Jum'a), and said to him: 0 Abü $a^r, who was the greatest
poet? He answered: The one who Said:
I count my night ride better than a night with one free-born,
10 Slender of waist, most beautiful where stripped of clothing.
Now this was a verse of al-^ntai'a's *)• Thereupon he left him for
a while, until he thought he had forgotten the incident; then he
met him again, and said : 0 Abü $a^r, who was the greatest poet ?
He answered: The one who said:
16 Stand, let us weep at the remembrance of a beloved one and
her abode;
meaning Imrulqais, who was the first of the poets to depict weeping
over deserted dwelling-places and the journeying of the howdas.
Said al-Asma'i: The best at describing riding • camels was
so 'Uyaina ibn Mirdäs (the one who was called Ibn Faswa*)); for
description of milch-camels, the best in the qa§ida form was ar-
Rä'I, and in rajaz verse Ibn Laja' at-Taimi (whose name was 'Umar).
Said al-Asma'i: What tribe or company of men ranked highest in
the poetry it produced ? Some say , "The large-eyed ones in the
K shady palm-gardens, meaning the Ansär; others say. The blue-eyed
ones at the root of the thorn-bushes, meaning the Bani Qais ibn
Ta'laba; and he mentioned of their number al-MuraqqiS, al-A'§ä,
and al-Musayyab ihn 'Alas. Said al-Asma'i: I heard the following
from Ibn Abü 'z-Zinäd. _Hassän [ibn Täbit] heard some one recite
10 verses by 'Amr ibn al-'ħi, and said: He is no poet, but a man
of sharp wit. Said al-Asma'i: Al-A^^al was asked about the poetry
of Kutayyir, and replied: A Hijäzite, who fastens the cloak firmly*).
Al-Asma'i once said: Do you know that Lailä was a better poet
than al-^ansä'? And he said to me on another occasion: Az-
S6 Zihriqän was a poet-knight ( yLi (j-^L») who did not make a long
story; Mälik ibn Nuwaira, on the other hand, was a poet-knight
who did make a long story. No tribe in the world, he said, was
less productive of poetry, in proportion to its number, than the
Bani Saibän and Kalb. In the latter tribe there was not a single
1) The same story in different form, and on other authority, in Agh. II, 61.
See also the anecdote there, at the bottom of tbe page.
2) See especially Agh. XIX, 143.
3) What the pbrase (^ylt means here, I do not know. It evidently puzzled Landberg also; see tbe note on tbe text.
3 8 *
Torrey, AUAfmaH't Fu/iülat ai-Su'arffJ
ancient poet in the Jähihya, and yet Kalb was four times as good
as äaibän.
Said Abü Hätim : We have the following from al-Asma'i. Some
one asked of Hassan:. Whom do you call foremost in poetry? He
answered: (fol. 10) Do you mean What man? or What tribe? I 6
meant the tribe. Hudail is the foremost, he replied. (Said al-
Asma'I: There were in that tribe forty notable poets. They were
all men who ran on foot, hot one of them was a knight.) Said
Abü Pätim: I asked al-Asma'i: What one man, then, was the
foremost of the poets ? He replied : Hassän did not express his lo
opinion as to the individual, but I will give mine. The one greatest
of them all was an-Näbigha of Dubyän, when he was fifty years
of age. Nor did he compose much poetry. As for an-Näbigha
al-Ja'di, on the other hand, the flow of his poetry was stopped for
thirty years after his first productive period, and then the stream 16
flowed again. The poetry of his first period was extremely good,
but all his later productions were unoriginal (öjyMu«) and of poor
quality. (Said Abü ^ätim: He began composing poetry when he
was thirty years old; then he ceased for thirty years; then the
fiow was renewed for thirty years more.) I said to al-A§ma'I: »o
How about the poetry of al-Farazdaq? He replied: Nine tenths
of his poetry was borrowed. As for Jarlr, he composed thirty
qasida's, and I do not know that he ever plagiarized anything
except one half-verse *) According to Aba Hätim, al-Asma'i
said : I think that Jamil ibn Ma'mar was bom of a slave mother ; »6
he flourished in Qubä' until his old age.
This from al-Asma'i: Some one once said of Kutayyir that
he was a small shop selling thread and tar. Said al-Asma'i: Abü
Du'aib was an excellent authority, and many instances of exceptional
usage were based on his poetry *) He (al-Asma'i) admired »o
this jWpoem by Abü Du'aib ; No one in the world, he said, could
equal a§-§ammä^ in his poems in eäy and ßm except Abü JJn'aib,
who in his poem in jlm reached such a limit of excellence as no
other could equal; namely, in the poem containing the words:
The kneeling camel herd of Judäm. sb
Said al-Asma'i: an-Namir ibn Taulab flourished both in the
Jähillya and in Islam. He also narrated: Al-Farazdaq once said
to his wife, Nawär: How does my verse compare with that of
Jarlr? She answered: He equalled you in the sweet, and con¬
quered you in the bitter. Al-Asma'i said further : I heard Abü «
Sufyän ibn al-'Alä' say that he once asked of Ru'ba : What do you
think of th.e rtyoa-poetry of Abü 'n-Najm? (fol. 11) He replied:
1) The text seems to be defective here, and I have left a passage un¬
translated.
2) See tbe note on tbe text.
516 Torrey, AI- A f mats Fuliülat af-Su'ara'.
The curse of Allah is upon this phrase of his, because he thought
it excellent:
Praise to Allah, the bountiful giver.
Al-Asma'I said, moreover: Al-Kumait ibn Zaid was not normative
5 (iC^), because he was an Arab only by adoption; the same was
true ot a^-firimmäh. Dö 'r-Eumma was normative, for he was
a bedawi. His puetry, however, i? not like the poetry of the
true Arabs; excepting (he added) on<> poem in which he resembles
them; that one, namely, in which he says:
10 And on Abü Ghassan the door is barred.
517
Einiges über die Zahl Vierzig.
Vnn 0. Bescher.
Im 61. Bande dieser Zeitschrift wurde von Prof. Ed. König
in seinen Artikel »Die Zahl Vierzig und Verwandtes* (S. 913—917)
zum ersten Male auf die typische Bedentung der Zahl Vierzig hin¬
gewiesen. Diese sich im wesentlichen auf das Hebräische be¬
schrankenden Mitteilungen wurden in größerem Umfang wieder s
aufgenommen durch die vun Prof. W. Roscher im 27 Band der
Abhandl. der Philologisch-historischen Klasse der Kgl. Sächs. Ges.
der Wissensch, veröffentlichte 46 Seiten starke Arbeit »Die Zahl
40 im Glauben, Brauch und Schrifttum der Semiten *): Ein Beitrag
zur vergleichenden Religionswissenschaft, Folkloristik und Zahlen- lo
raystik*. Schöpft Professor Roscher — entsprechend seinem eigent¬
lichen Studiengebiet — auch teilweise aus zweiter Hand, so ist es
ihm doch gelungen, ein ziemlich reichhaltiges Material zu ver¬
öffentlichen. Speziell nun zu den dort S. 128 erwähnten Sprich¬
wörtern , Erzählungen etc. möchte ich hier einige Zusätze folgen is
lassen, die deutlich zeigen, daß wirklich der in Frage stehenden
Zahl eine typische Bedeutung zukommt, die in bestimmten Fällen
sich fest zu erhalten pflegt.
So finden wir denn bei Leonhard Bauer (Das Palästinische
Arabisch", Teil III [Chrestomathie] unter Nr. 8) eine Erzählung, «o
in der einem dicken König, der gerne abmagern wollte, nur noch
eine Lebenfrist von 40 Tagen in Aussicht gestellt wird,
eine Zeitbestimmung, die sich genau in einer räumlich doch weit
abliegenden Somalierzahlung (Reinisch, Die Somali-Sprache I. Texte.
Wien 1900 S. 185) wiederfindet. Dazu vergleiche den verwundeten sb
Emir Berber, der in 40 Tagen an seiner Wunde sterben muß:
Ahlwardt, Katalog der arabischeu Handschriften VIII, 298. Über¬
haupt wird die Zahl 40 speziell in der Fabelliteratur besonders
gern verwandt; ist sie auch nicht so häufig in Hans Stumme's
»Tunesischen Märchen und Gedichten* (Leipzig 1893) anzutreffen so
(doch z. B. S. 49 des deutschen Textes: 40 Zauberer), so kehrt
sie desto häufiger wieder in den von Socin und Stumme veröffent¬
lichten Houwäratexten : S. 108 40 gekaufte Ziegenböcke; S. 118
ebenso viel gekaufte Brote; S. 121 40 Tore mit 40 Wächtern;
1) Ferner werden in jenem Artiicel berücksichtigt die semitisch-islamischem Einflösse unterstehenden Türken, Malayen etc., jedocb nicht die Perser.
