The Epistle of Forgiveness. Abu l-'Ala al-Ma'arri

      رسالة ابن القارح

      The Epistle of Ibn al-Qāriḥ

      1.1

      استفتاحاً باسمِه، واستنجاحاً ببَرَكتِه. والحمدُ لله المبتدِي بالنعَم، المنفرد بالقِدَم، الذي جلّ عن شَبَه المخلوقين، وصِفات المحدَثين، وليّ الحَسَنات، المُبَرَّأ من السيّئات، العادل في أفعاله، الصادقِ في أقواله، خالق الخلق ومُبديه، ومُبقيه ما شاء ومُفنيه. وصلواتُه على محمد وأبرار عِترته وأهليه، صلاةً ترضيه، وتقرّبه وتُدنيه، وتُزلفُه وتحظيه:

      We commence in His name, seeking success through His benediction. Praise be to God, the originator of blessings, Who is alone in being pre-eternal; Who is exalted above any likeness to His creatures and above the attributes of those who have been brought into being; Who bestows benefactions but is not responsible for malefactions; Who is just in His acts and truthful in His words; the Creator and Originator of creation, who makes it last and annihilates it as He wills. His blessings be on Muḥammad and his pious family and relations, with a blessing that may gratify him, bring him nearer and closer to Him, and give him favor and good graces with Him.

      Ibn al-Qāriḥ’s Hopes for a Meeting with al-Maʿarrī1

      2.1

      كتابي – أطال الله بقاء مولاي الشيخ الجليل، ومَدَّ^١ مُدّته، وأدام كفايته وسعادته، وجعلني فداءه، وقدّمني قِبَلَه^٢ على الصحة والحقيقة، وبعد القصد والعقيدة، وليس على مجاز اللفظ ومجرى الكتابة، ولا على تنقُّص وخِلابة، وتحبُّبٍ ومسامحة، ولا كما قال بعضُهم وقد عاد صديقًا له: كيف تجدك جعلني الله فداك، وهو يقصد تحبُّبًاً، ويريد تملُّقًا، ويظنّ أنه قد أسدى جميلاً يشكره صاحبه إن نهض واستقلّ، ويكافئه عليه إن أفاق وأبلّ، عن سلامة تمامُها بحضور حضرته، وعافية نظامُها بالتشرّف بشريف عِزَّتِه، وميمون نقيبته وطلعته.

      ويعلم الله الكريم – تقدّست أسماؤه – أنّي لو حننتُ إليه – أدام الله تأييده – حنينَ الواله إلى بكرها، أو ذات الفرخ إلى وكْرها، أو الحمامة إلى إلفها، أو الغزالة إلى خِشْفِها، لكان ذلك مما تُغَيِّره الليالي والأيام، والعصور والأعوام، لكنّه حنين الظمآن إلى الماء، والخائفِ إلى الأَمن، والسليم إلى السلامة، والغريقِ إلى النجاة، والقَلِقِ إلى السكون، بل حنين نفسه النفيسة إلى الحمد والمجد، فإنّي رأيتُ نِزاعَها إليهما نِزاعَ الاستُقُصّاتِ إلى عناصرها، والأركانِ إلى جواهرها. فإن وهَبَ الله لي مَلاءً من العمر يُؤنِسُني برؤيتِه، ويُعلِقُني بحبلِ مَوَدّتِه، صِرتُ كساري الليل ألقى عصاه، وأَحْمَدَ^٣ مَسراه، وقَرَّ عَينًا ونَعِمَ بالًا، وكان كمن لم يَمسَسْه سوءٌ، ولم يَتَخَوَّنْه عَدُوٌّ، ولا نهكَه رَواحٌ ولا غُدُوّ. وعسى الله أن يَمُنَّ بذلك، بيومِه أو بثانيه، وبه الثقةُ.

      ١ ب: (ومُدّ).

      ٢ ب: (قبْلَه).

      ٣ ب: (وأُحْمِدَ).

      I am writing—may God lengthen the life of my lord the venerable Sheikh and prolong his time; may He give him lasting protection and happiness; may He make me his ransom and may He present me before him2 in truth and in reality, having been moved by good intention and firm belief, not only by way of speech and writing, without disrespect or guile, without the affectation of affection or complaisance; not as somebody said when visiting a sick friend of his: “How are you? May God make me your ransom!,” merely intending to show affection and wanting to flatter, thinking that he had done a good deed for which his friend would thank him were he to get up and recuperate, and reward him were he to regain his health and recover—I am writing in a state of well-being that would be complete with being in the Sheikh’s presence, and in a state of prosperity that would be in perfect order by being honored by his noble person, his blessed mind, and his countenance.

      God, the most Noble—His names be sanctified—knows that if I had yearned to meet him—may God always support him!—as a bereft mother camel yearns for her calf, or a bird with chicks for its nest, or a dove for its mate, or a gazelle for its fawn, it would have been one of those things changed by the course of nights and days, years and ages; rather, it is the yearning of the thirsty for water, the fearful for safety, the snake-bitten for recovery, the drowning for rescue, the perturbed for quiet of mind—nay the yearning of the Sheikh’s precious soul for God’s praise and glory; for I have seen how it is drawn toward these things as components are drawn toward their elements and basic principles toward their substances.3 If God grants me a fullness of life that enables me to delight in seeing the Sheikh and to hold fast on to the rope of his affection, then I shall be like the nocturnal traveler who lays down his staff, praises4 his nightly journey, and whose heart and mind are gladdened and delighted; he is like someone untouched by evil, not betrayed by an enemy, not worn away by setting out at night and returning in the morning. Perhaps God will grant me this, today or tomorrow—in Him is our trust.

      2.2

      وأنا أسأل الله على التَدَاني والنوى والبعاد، إمتاعَه بالفضل الذي استعلى على عاتقه وغاربه، واستولى على مَشارقه ومَغاربه، فمن مَرَّ على بحره الهيّاج، ونظر في لألاء بَدرِه الوهّاج، خليقٌ بأن يَكبُوَ قلمُه بأنامله، ويَنبُوَ طَبعُه عن رسائله، إلا أن يُلقِى إليه بالمقاليد، أو يَستَوهِبَه إقليدًا من الأقاليد، فيكون منسوبًا إليه، ومحسوبًا عليه، ونازلا في شِعبِه، وأحد أصحابه وحِزبِه، وشرارةَ ناره، وقُراضَةَ ديناره، وسَمَلَ