Brains Confounded by the Ode of Abū Shādūf Expounded. Yūsuf al-Shirbīnī
“Leave me!” said the man. Then the voice came to him again and said, “Go to such-and-such a place and take from there five hundred dinars!” “Has the Lord blessed them?” he asked. “No,” said the voice. “Leave me!” said the man. The voice kept coming to him again and again, until it said to him, “Go to such-and-such a place and take from there one dinar!” “Has the Lord blessed it?” he asked. “Yes,” said the voice. “Then I will take it,” said the man, and he went and he took the dinar and was blessed in it and obtained great ease and abundant riches, for if a man is content with what he has he will not suffer want, and the little he has will be blessed. As says the Righteous Saint and Initiate of the Almighty, My Master Yaḥyā al-Buhlūl,23 may the Almighty be pleased with him and benefit us and all Muslims through him, amen:
Be content with the little you have
And God will give you much!
And he says:
How many a cloud after sprinkling
Lets fall a heavy shower!
١٥،١٠
وقال الشافعيّ رضي الله عنه [متقارب مع كسر]
| وجدتُ القناعةَ كنزَ الغِنا | فصرتُ بأذيالِها ممتسكْ |
| فَلا ذا يَراني عَلى بابِهِ | ولا ذا يَراني لَه١ منهمكْ |
| أَمُرُّ عَلى النَّاس بلا درهمٍ | ولا لي مطالب كأنّي ملكْ |
١ بي (في جميع النسخ): عليه.
And al-Shāfiʿī,24 may God be pleased with him, has said:
I found acceptance of my lot a treasure house of riches,
And to its skirts began to cling.
Now no man finds me at his door
Or chasing him for anything.
I move among mankind without a single cent
And have no wants, just like a king.
١٦،١٠
حتّى مال عليه الدهر والزمان * وجَفَتْه الأهل والخلاّن * ونَفِدَ جميع ما كان معه من المال * وصار في أكبر الهمّ وأشدّ الأحوال * ولم يجد له خِلًّا ولا مساعد * ولم يبق إلّا ما خلَفه له الوالد * وأخذ مشيخة الكفر من كان له خديم * ولم ير له مساعدًا ولا حميم * كما هو عادة الدهر في رفع السافل * وخفض السادة الأماثل * فهو كالميزان في فعله * أو المُنْخَل في حاله ونقله * كما قال الشاعر هذه الأبيات [وافر]
| رَأَيتُ الدَّهرَ يَرفَعُ كُلَّ وَغْدٍ | ويَخْفِضُ كُلَّ ذي شِيَمٍ شريفَهْ |
| كَمِثْلِ البَحرِ يُغْرِقُ كُلَّ حيٍّ | ولا يَنفَكُّ يَطفو فيه١ جِيفَهْ |
| أو الميزانِ يَخْفِضُ كُلَّ وافٍ | ويَرفَعُ كُلَّ ذي زِنَةٍ خَفِيفَهْ |
١ بي: فيه كل.
Thus it was till fate and fortune against him turned, and he was by relatives and boon companions spurned, and all that he had owned was spent, and he found himself in the greatest woe and severest predicament, of all friends and helpers bereft, no wealth remaining but what his father’d left, and those who were once his servants took over the shaykhdom of the hamlet, while he could find neither helper nor friend—for such is the way of Fate: it raises up the lowly, and brings down the noble and exemplary, it being like a balance in its action, or like a sieve in its working and extraction—as the poet25 says in the following verses:
I see Fate lifts every scoundrel high
And humbles those with noble traits—
Just like the sea, which drowns all living things
While every stinking carcass to its surface levitates,
Or like the scale, which raises all that’s light
But sinks with weights.
١٧،١٠
وقال بعضهم [سريع]
| الدَّهرُ كَالمُنْخَلِ في فِعلِهِ | فَاعْجَبْ لِما يَصنَعُهُ المِنخَلْ |
| يَحطُّ لُبُّ اللُّبِّ مِن تحتِهِ | ويَرفَعُ القِشْرَةَ والفَشْوَلْ |
فحوادث الدهر تأتي على غَرَر * وتُذْهِب الشخص على خَطَر *
And another has said:
Fate’s like a sieve in how it works,
So wonder at what the sieve achieves—
The densest grains it puts below,
And on the top the husks and chaff it leaves
—for the accidents of Fate may be cause for alarm, and drive a man into the way of harm.
١٨،١٠
وقد قلت في مطلع قصيدة من هذا المعنى هذه الأبيات [بسيط]
| حَوادِثُ الدَّهرِ قَد تَأتي عَلَى خَطَرٍ | فاحذَر عَواقِبَها تَنجو مِنَ الضَّرَرِ |
| واعدُد لها مِن دُروعِ الصَّبرِ سابِغةً١ | تَقيكَ شِدَّتَها٢ إِذ تُرْمَ بالشَّرَرِ |
| ودَعْ زَمانَ الصِّبا أَغصانُه يَبِسَتْ | مِن بَعدِ نَضْرَتِها في المَغْرِس النَّضِرِ |