Leg over Leg. Ahmad Faris al-Shidyaq

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СКАЧАТЬ غير ذلك من الكتب المفيدة للرجال والنسآ والاولاد ولكل صنف من الناس على حدته * حتى يعرفوا ما لهم وما عليهم من الحقوق * سوآ كانت تلك الكتب عربية او معرّبة * ولكن احذر من ان تخلط فى نقلك عن العجم الطيب بالخبيث والصحيح بالمعتل * فان المدن الغنّآ تكثر فيها الرذائل كما تكثر الفضائل *

      And when you return, by God’s grace, to your own town, exert yourself to write a book about your travels and publicize it among your countrymen so that they may benefit—but without any intention to make money from the sale of it. Would that you might partner too with some of your fellow rich in establishing a printing press on which to print further books that may be useful to men, women, and children and to each category of person so that they may learn what their rights and duties are, whether those books be written originally in Arabic or translated into it. Be careful, though, that in copying from the non-Arabs, you do not confuse the fair with the foul, the sound with the defective. Great cities are as full of vices as they are of virtues.

      4.1.5

      نعم ان من هولآ الناس لَمن يابى ان يرى احدا وهو على الطعام * واذا اضطر الى رؤيته وهو على تلك الحالة فلا يدعوه للَوْس شى مما بين يديه * لكن منهم من يدعوك الى صرحه فى الريف فتقيم فيه الاسبوع والاسبوعين وانت الآمر الناهى * وان منهم لمن يبخل عليك برد التحية * واذا دخلت دار صديق منهم وكان فى الملجس جماعة من اصدقائه لم يعرفوك من قبل فما احد منهم يتحلحل لك فى القيام ولا يعبا بك ولا يلتفت اليك * لكن منهم من اذا عرفك اهتم بامرك فى حضورك وغيابك على حد سوى * واذا ائتمنته على سرّ كتمه لك طول حياته * وان منهم لمن ينبزك بالالقاب اول ما يقع نظره على شاربيك ولحيتك او على عمامتك او يجذبك من ذيلك من ورآ * ولكن منهم من يتهافت على معرفة الغريب ويتراح الى الرفق به والاحسان اليه ويرى اجارته وحمايته فرضا عليه متحتما * وان منهم لمن يسخر منك اذا راك تلحن فى لغته * ولكن منهم من يحرص على ان يعلمك اياها مجانا اما بنفسه او بواسطة زوجته وبناته * وعلى ان يعيرك ما يفيدك من كتب وغيرها ويرشدك الى ما فيه صلاح امرك وتوفيقك *

      True, among those people there are some who will refuse to see anyone when they are at table and, if compelled to do so, will not invite him to taste any of what is before them. Others, though, will invite you to their mansions in the countryside, where you may stay for a week, or two weeks, with everyone at your beck and call. True, some will begrudge a response to your greeting, and if you enter the house of one such who is your friend and his salon is full of friends of his who do not already know you, not one of them will bestir himself to stand and greet you or pay you the slightest attention or even turn toward you. On the other hand, there are those who, once they have gotten to know you, will be as solicitous of your welfare when you are absent as they are when you are present, and if you confide a secret to them, will keep it as long as they live. True, there are those who will call you names as soon as they set eyes on your mustaches, beard, or turban and will tug on the skirt of your robe from behind, but there are also those who have a passionate desire to become acquainted with strangers, are happy to be in their company and to do good to them, and think it a duty to aid and protect them. True, there are those who will mock you when they see you making mistakes in their language, but there are also those who will be intent on teaching it to you without charge, either themselves or via their wives or daughters, and on lending you books and other things that may be of use to you and guide you to whatever may serve your interests and success.

      4.1.6

      وان منهم لمن يحسبك قد وافيت بلاده تسابقه على رزقه فيكلح فى وجهك وينظر اليك شزرا * لكن منهم من ينزلك فى بلده منزلة ضيف يجب اكرامه واحترامه والذبّ عنه بحيث لا تفصل عنه وفى قلبك ادنى اَلَم من اهله * وان منهم لمن يسخّرك ان تترجم له او تعلمه ثم لا يقول لك احسنت يامترجم او يامعلم * لكن منهم من لا يستحلّ ان يكلمك من دون ان يودّى اليك اجرة فتح فمك وضم شفتيك * وان منهم لمن اذا اضطر الى ان يدعوك الى طعامه ثم راك قد سعلت سعلة او مخطت مخطة او فنخرت فنخرة قال لزوجته اَلَا انّ ضيفنا مريض * فلا ينبغى ان تكثرى له من الطعام * فتقوم عن المائدة متضورا ويمتنّ هو عليك بين معارفه بانه صنع لك وليمة فى عام كذا وشهر كذا ويوم كذا فيجعل تلك الليلة تاريخا * لكن منهم من اذا عرف انك مقيم فى احدى قرى بلاده حيث لا بيع ولا شرآ ولا شى ينال من البقول والاثمار بعث اليك من مباقله وحدائقه ما سدّ فاك عن الشكوى * كما كان مستر دراموند يبعث الى الفارياق حين قدر الله عليه بالسكنى فى بعض تلك القرى فكانت شكواه منها تسمع مع دوى الريح *

      True, there are those who will reckon that you have turned up in their country to compete with them for their livelihoods and therefore scowl in your face and look at you askance, but there are also those who will regard you as a guest in their country to be honored, respected, and defended so that you depart without harboring the slightest hard feeling against their countrymen. True, there are those who will use you as forced labor, to translate for them or teach them, and never say, “Thank you, translator!” or “Thank you, teacher!” but there are also those who will regard it as sinful to speak to you without sending you payment for opening your mouth and closing your lips. True, there are those who, if they are compelled to invite you to eat with them and then notice you coughing, blowing your nose, or flaring your nostrils, will tell their wives, “He must be sick; you don’t have to give him a lot of food” so that you rise from the table starving while they make a great show of you among their guests, claiming that in the year so-and-so and month so-and-so, on such and such a day, they held a great banquet for you, treating that night as though it marked the start of some new historical era. On the other hand, there are also those who, on discovering that you are staying in some village in their country where there is no trade and nothing to be obtained by way of green vegetables or fruit, will send you, from their own gardens and orchards, enough to stop your mouth against any complaint. Thus it was with Mr. Drummond,¹ when the Fāriyāq found himself fated to reside in one such village and his complaints СКАЧАТЬ