Leg over Leg. Ahmad Faris al-Shidyaq

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СКАЧАТЬ in that place of entertainment. As far as women are concerned we give you permission to enjoy any of them that takes your fancy and run after any of them you wish, so long as you have ready cash. It’s not right, however, for you to liken our cities, graced as they are with our presence, to some place of entertainment, especially as the payment of these fees is an ancient custom followed by our ancestors (God bless the sod!) that has been practiced for so many years and eons that it can no longer be changed. If the king commands something, that thing becomes custom and law, as witness the words of the psalmodist when he says, ‘The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord,’⁵² meaning that whenever the king thinks of something the hand of God renders his judgment infallible with regard to it. This is how the divines in our country explain this verse and the reward of any who disagrees is crucifixion.

      4.3.5

      وبعدُ فان الملك اذا اخذ فى تغيير العادات وتبديل السنن فربما افضى ذلك الى تغييره * فيكون مَثَله كالديك الذى يبحث فى الارض عن حبة قمح فيثير التراب على راسه * وصَغُر ذلك تشبيها * فالاولى اذًا اقرار كل شى فى محله * ثم لا فرق بين ان يكون قاصد بلادنا غنيا او فقيرا * صالحا بارّا او لصا فاجرا * رجلا كان او امراة * فكلهم ملتزمون بادآ الغرامة وتحمل الغبن – ولكن ياسيدى ومولاى انا امراة معسرة قد اضطررت الى المرور بمدينتك السعيدة * لان زُويجى المُسيكين كان قد قدم الى بلادكم الملكية ليدير مصلحة فقضى عليه الله تعالى بالوفاة * فتركت صِبْية لى فى البُيَيت يتضورون جوعا وجئت لارى زويجى المويت حالة كونه لا يرانى * ومع ذلك فانى اُعدّ من الحسان اللآى يحق لهنّ من امثالك العناية والالطاف * فكيف التزم بالغرامة فضلا عن نفقة السفر وفَقْد زويجى الذى كان لى سندا – ارجعى من حيث جئت فما هذا وقت الاسترحام * لان القواعد التى تقرر فى دفاتر الملوك لا تقبل التبديل ولا التحريف ولا يستثنى منها شى –

      “But to return to our argument: if the king starts changing customs and exchanging conventions, this may lead to him too being changed. His situation is comparable to that of the rooster that searches for a grain of wheat on the ground and in so doing stirs up the dust till it covers his head (though this is an unworthy comparison). Better then that everything stay as it is. And again, it makes no difference whether the one bound for our country is rich or poor, pious and righteous, a thief and a libertine, a man or a woman—all are obliged to hand over the fee and put up with the fleecing . . .” “But my lord and master, I am a woman in straitened circumstances obliged to pass through your happy city because my poor dear hubby came to your royal country to conduct some business and the Almighty determined that he should meet his end there, so I left young children I have writhing with hunger in our little cottage and came to see my poor dead hubby (since he can’t see me), not to mention that I’m considered one of those good-looking women who deserve to be looked after and well treated by those in positions such as yours. Why then should I be obliged to bear the fee, not to mention the costs of travel and the loss of my hubby, who was a support to me?” “Return, woman, to whence you came! This is no time for pleas for mercy, for the rules set down in the ledgers of kings admit of no change or modification and no exceptions can be made . . .”

      4.3.6

      وانا ايضا يامولاى رُجَيل فقيّر قد رمانى الدهر بصروفه لامر شآه الله * فوافيت بلادكم طمعا فى تحصيل وُظَيّفة تقوم باَوَدى * وما انا من ذوى التغاوى والفتن ولا من الباحثين فى سياسات الملوك وايالاتهم * فقصارى منيتى تحصيل المعيشة * على انى اعرف شيا لا يعرفه اهل بلادكم العامرة فربما كان مقامى فيها مفيدا لدولتكم السعيدة * ولو صدر الامر العالى بامتحانى واختبارى فيما ادّعيه لاكرمتم مثواى فضلا عن الرخصة لى فى الدخول بغير غرامة – ياطائف ياعسس يازِبْنية ياجلواز ياشرطيّ ياعَون ياذَبّىّ^١ يامِسحَل يافارع ياقيْلع ياتُؤرور ياثؤرور ياثؤثور ياتؤثور يااترور ياترتور اودع هذا السجن * ان هو الّا جاسوس قدم يتجسّس بلادنا * فتّشوه عسى ان تجدوا معه اوراقا تكشف لنا عن خبره –

      ١ كذا في القاموس وفي ١٨٥٥: ياذِبّىّ.

      “And I too, my master, am a poor little fellow whom fate has bombarded with its calamities for reasons known only to God and I have made my way to your country hoping to obtain some minor post that will satisfy my needs. I am no seducer or sower of dissent nor am I one who pokes his nose into the policies of kings and their governance. All that I wish for is to make a living, though I do know something that the inhabitants of your ever-prosperous land do not and my presence here may be of benefit to your happy realm. Should a sublime decree be issued that I be examined and tested as to my claims, you would provide me with a house, to say nothing of issuing the permit for me to enter without a fee . . .” “You there, policeman, watchman, guard, nabber, grunter, rozzer, runner, cop, slop, constable, catchpole, cozzpot, woodentop, nabman, beagle, derrick, nubbing-cove—put that man in prison! He’s surely a spy come to spy out our land. Search him. No doubt you’ll find papers on him that’ll tell us what he’s up to.”

      4.3.7

      وانا كذلك يامولاى وسيدى غُلَيّم مُسَيْكين قد جئت لانظر ابى اذ بلغنى انه كان قادما من سفره فدخل بلادكم فاصابه هواوها الحميد بمرض شديد منعه من الحركة * فلما علمت امى بمرضه وهى مريضة ايضا مما شملها من الحزن والكرب لطول غيابه بعثتنى اليه لعلى اخدمه وامرّضه فيطيب خاطره برويتى ويخف ما به * فان رؤية الاب ابنه حال مرضه تقوم له مقام الدوآء – ما نحن بمربّى الاولاد ولا بلادنا مكتب لهم حتى ياتوا اليها ويخرجوا منها من دون غرامة * اذهب وكن رجلا بادائها СКАЧАТЬ