THE MIND OF THE VILLAGE
The state of learning in Syria and the Levant seems to have been
steadily on the decline for some centuries. At the beginning of the
nineteenth century it must have been at a very low ebb. Once flourishing
literary centers were dead to scholarly impulses. Famous institutions
and foundations for learning had vanished. The French campaign in the
Levant, the assiduity of German and French scholars, but even more
effectively of late the presence of the Western missionaries, have all
been stimulative to a renewed literary activity in the Arabic language.
One of the most noteworthy names in this nineteenth century revival is
that of the poet Yâzijy (Shaykh Nâṣîf ibn ‛Abdallâh al-Yâzijy) of the
Lebanon, who is much esteemed as a sort of modern Hariri. His “Majma‛ al
Baḥrain” (“Where the Two Seas Meet”) is a great favorite. He wrote on
literature, logic and grammar. His works are used as text-books in the
Syrian schools and his poems are available to readers. The presses of
Beirut and Cairo have put forth a large number of works within the last
century by both old and new authors. The services of the American Press
in Beirut have been of very great value and influence in the near East.
Excellent work is done also by the Jesuit and other presses in the same
city. The press is not so restricted in Egypt as in Syria; hence the
activity in journalism in the former country as compared with the
latter. The periodical press of Egypt is quite varied. Though some of
the journals there published are under the ban of the censor in the
Turkish domains, yet subscribers in Palestine receive them by the French
post. Beirut is the intellectual hub of Asiatic Turkey as it is also a
chief center of trade. American and English educational enterprises have
done much for Turkish subjects. Among the Syrians their influence has
been very conspicuous. In Palestine proper the educational missionary
work is largely in the hands of the English people and their church
societies. Wherever missionary effort has been put forth it has
stimulated local effort and lifted the educational standard. The old
system of village boys’ schools under the care of the _khaṭîb_ is about
as weak as it can be and not actually vanish. The Greek Church schools
in the Christian villages are in about the same condition. In such
places only a few leading men will ordinarily be found able to read and
write. But where missionary schools have entered the native schools have
multiplied and improved. Robinson mentions a straggling school for boys
in Râm Allâh, in 1838, where five or six boys were considered educated
when they could read the Arabic Psalter. To-day things are considerably
different, for some hundreds of the Râm Allâh children are in school,
being educated in all branches of elementary education and some of the
studies of secondary grade. The most notable difference, however,
between then and now is that there are almost as many girls as boys in
the schools of the village mentioned. Stimulated by the provision of the
American Friends for the education of girls, the native Greek Church
also has opened a school for the village girls.
We are reminded here of a story of the American scholar and missionary,
Dr. Van Dyck, who, while on his way to a village in the Lebanon, was
accosted by a Moslem, who asked after his errand. Dr. Van Dyck replied,
“I am going to the village of A—— to introduce three schools.” “Three
schools,” said the surprised questioner; “why, that is a good many for
so small a village.” “Well,” said Dr. Van Dyck, “I am to open a school,
but if I do that the Greeks will open one and the Roman Catholics
another, so that I consider that I shall really be responsible for three
schools.” At Schneller’s school for orphan children in Jerusalem are
some hundreds of boys. They are divided into _families_ of from twenty
to thirty, with a monitor or group-father over each. The forenoons are
taken up with schoolroom exercises and most of the afternoons are
devoted to learning trades. Shoemaking, carpentry, pottery, printing,
wood-carving and dairying are taught. Blind boys are taught to seat
chairs and weave straw mats. The chief hindrances in the promotion of
school enterprises in Palestine are all reducible to legal disabilities,
which are the occasion and encouragement for many other petty
annoyances. It is at times very difficult to secure valid titles to
purchased property and more difficult to accomplish safely the erection
of suitable buildings.
Of foreign tongues there are many to be heard in the country. Some
friends in Jerusalem were one day discussing the numerous tongues and
dialects used in a conversational way in and about the city. They began
to count them up and reached something over fifty. Not all of these are
heard by the country people, but many of them are heard occasionally as
pilgrims and other travelers pass. Until comparatively recently the
leading foreign tongue was French, but lately its influence has been
lessened in favor of English and German.
The language of the people is Arabic. It is a virile tongue and destined
to increase in use rather than diminish, though it may never again have
the ascendency enjoyed in the days of the caliphates. One is tempted to
say that the Syrian finds his nationality in his faith and his politics
in his church only. But it would also be true to say that, to many,
their clearest bond of national feeling is in their boasted language and
in the masters of their old literature. The Arabic classics hold an
equal sway over Christian and Moslem natives. If there is any possible
place or condition in which the bitterness of the rival faiths can be
assuaged it is in the discussion of Arabic lore. The language and its
masterpieces are the source of much intellectual and esthetic delight to
the people. In these they must find all the gratification that in
Western societies is realized in the pursuit of the liberal sciences and
arts.
[Illustration: A HOUSE-ROOFING BEE (ET TAYYIBEH)]
The country and desert folk of Palestine and Arabia are justifiable in
much of their pride in their really beautiful language. Some of the
gutturals may seem unduly harsh, and when fully pronounced the word
endings may at times seem monotonous; but rightly rolled and molded
there is nothing more beautiful and clear than a well-spoken chain of
Arabic sentences. One must prefer the country to the city speech. There
are twenty-eight distinct letters in the Arabic alphabet. The first two
letters _alif_ and _bay_ correspond to the _aleph_ and _beth_ of the
Hebrew, also to the _alpha_ and _beta_ of the Greek, from which comes
our word “alphabet.” The two letters _lam_ and _aleph_ written together
are sometimes reckoned an extra letter. Many of the other letters are
variants of each other phonetically, such as different kinds of t’s,
h’s, d’s, s’s and k’s. Dialectical variations account in part for these
numerous sounds and for others which were not given a distinguishing
sign after the alphabet stiffened into its classical form. For instance,
there is a character pronounced to-day by some _ḍha_, by others _za_.
Another is pronounced _koff_, but by others _aff_, and by the Bedawîn,
_goff_. In Egypt the sound for the fifth letter of the alphabet is hard
_g_, while in Syria it is _j_. The fourth letter _th_ tends to become a
plain _t_, as in _katîr_ for _kathîr_, or in _talât_ for _thalâth_.
There is a historical instance of such dialectical variance among
Palestine country people (Judges 12: 6) where _s_ and _sh_ in sibboleth
and shibboleth are the sounds in question. Both of these are represented
in Arabic, the language of modern Palestine, in the letters _sîn_ and
_shîn_. This instance helps to suggest how close are the tongues of
ancient and modern Palestine, Hebrew and Arabic. Aramaic was the
historical bridge between the two.[182]
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Many of the place names to-day in use are probably not Arabic at all,
though sounding very much like it, but old Aramaic or Hebrew names
adapted to Arabic-speaking mouths. One of the adaptations thus made to
render the ancient tongue palatable to the modern pronunciation is the
change of final _l_ to _n_. So Israel becomes Israin. Similarly, Gabriel
is frequently heard in Arabic as Jibran. Instead of Bethel the modern
Palestinian says Baytîn, there being in Arabic no softening of the
letters b, g, d, etc., after a vowel as in Hebrew. The Arabic language
early lent itself to the grammarians who, with great skill, wrought out
its inherent symmetry and logical possibilities. To look at the language
as they have developed it and systematized it is quite a novel
experience for one who has known only the European family of tongues.
Stress is laid upon the substantial quality of almost every word except
the mere particles, exclamations, etc. But the tendency is grammatically
to refer the words to triliteral verbs. In the arrangement of verbs in
paradigms the third person singular of the past or, rather, completed
action or state of the verb, is made prominent. Inflection is managed by
preformatives and afformatives denoting the person, number or gender;
also by infixes and significant vowels to assist in determining voices
and modes of action. The noun is similarly modified to denote gender and
number. Verbs and nouns both take pronominal suffixes. There is a
tendency to pleonasm in the use of pronouns and prepositions in
connection with such suffixes. The dual is in constant daily use in the
language.
What to us would seem like very picturesquely figurative tendencies in
common speech are the relationships introduced by the use of such words
as _ab_, father; _umm_, mother; _dhû_, master or possessor; _ibn_,
son;[183] and _bint_, daughter. This is carried to such an extent as
really to include nicknaming.
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Arabic has a large vocabulary and permits considerable further
expansion. In remoter regions the borrowed words are few, but among
those who hear other tongues they are numerous. In this respect the
tongue has had an experience not different from others. Still it retains
considerable independence, as languages go, and covers a wide empire.
Even where Arabic is not actually spoken, its influence has been
considerable. It has loaned large numbers of words and its script has
covered many other languages, as, for example, Turkish, Persian,
Hindustani, Malay, the African dialects, etc. The influence of the Ḳurân
and Islâm has been the real force in this expansion of idiom and script.
Prominence in the written language is given to the consonants. Owing to
its easily cursive form and the customary omission of vowels it can be
written with great rapidity. For these very reasons it easily
degenerates into a scrawl scarcely legible, but perhaps no worse than
English or any language carelessly written. A piece of writing is called
_basîṭ_ when the vowels are left out, and _mûshakil_ when they are
written.
The vowel signs are three, _a_, _i_, _u_, but according as these are
preceded by a heavy or light consonant, or followed by such or by one of
the semivowels, they admit of considerable modification. The vowel
sounds in Arabic, therefore, are numerous. As the consonants are
prominent in writing, so are the vowels very significant in speaking.
Especially in speaking long distances in the wild country, across
ravines from hillsides, etc., a peculiar and effective stress is placed
on the vowels.
There are dialectical variations between the common spoken language of
the peasantry and that of the city; also between both of these and what
is termed church or high language, which is really a near approach to
the classical Arabic; finally between the language of women and children
on the one hand and men on the other.
One very peculiar custom is that in the use of the personal pronouns the
order is always first, second and third. Not as with us, _you and I_,
but _I and you_, or _I and he_, would be Arabic usage.
More closely significant in a study of the Palestinian peasant are those
local turns of the language which we find in his colloquialisms,
exclamations, etc. There is also a very fruitful field in the proverbs,
songs and stories of the peasantry. A choice collection of stories as
gathered by a lifelong resident of the country, Rev. J. E. Hanauer, has
been edited by Dr. H. G. Mitchell.[184]
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The word _hôl_ is used in Râm Allâh and its environs to mean very or
very much, that is, as a colloquialism for _kathîr_. _Hôl_ means,
literally, _frightful_, so its use is equivalent to the analogous use of
_awful_ as a superlative in English. The Râm Allâh peasants would say
_Shughal hôl_, “An awful lot of work”; _tîn hôl_, “very many figs.”
The Bîreh people use _fôḳ el-fôḳ_, which means, literally, _the up of
the up_, to express _first-rate_ or _excellent_, instead of the
customary _‛âl_.
In Palestine the word _shellaby_ is very commonly used to mean
_excellent_; also to signify assent, like _all right_, instead of the
still more common _ṭayyib_, literally, _good_. Syrians in America, when
conversing in Arabic, sometimes use instead of either of the above words
the English _all right_, which they clip into _orrite_.
_Shu b‛amal fîh?_ equals “What shall I do about it?” or, literally,
“What shall I do _in_ it?”
_Yâ abayyeh_, literally an intensification of “O my father!” is used in
the face of difficulty as a sort of expression of dismay. _Yâ ibn Âdam_,
is used in expostulation, _son of Adam_, equalling _man_.
Of an exclamatory nature are the following as samples of peasant usage:
_Hayû_, “There you are,” as we might say in answer to a question as to
the whereabouts of a tool or other article. _‛Un_ is a sort of grunt to
express proof of one’s own efficiency or honesty. If you infer that a
workman is not doing his work well or skilfully, he will put in stroke
after stroke under your eye, each stroke accompanied by a self-approving
_‛Un, ‛un_, as if to say, “See that and that. Don’t I know how?” Or if
one complain to the man who is bringing a load of fire-wood that it is
filled with dirt and is not well dried (it is sold by weight), he will
throw out piece after piece of choicer wood with a grunt at each one, as
much as to say, “Look at that, and that and that!” If you wish to
convince him, you pick out piece after piece of the inferior wood and
hold it up before his very eyes with a _‛Un, ‛un_ in each case. _Eḥ_ is
a sort of aspirated _e_ which means, “Yes, that’s the way,” or better,
“That’s it, so.” For instance, if a boy or any one else is told to do a
thing and he seems to be interpreting his instructions well, the one who
is directing him will say encouragingly, _Eḥ, e[h.]_, the equivalent of
the colloquial Arabic _Ay na‛am_ (or _aywa_) _hayk_, “That’s it,” or
“That’s right,” or “Now you’ve got it.” A long-drawn _‛Um_ is used to
mean “I comprehend,” or “Is that the way of it? Yes, I see now,” after
an explanation has been given. _Uff_ is sometimes expressive of
astonishment, but often of contempt in the sense of “What a fibber you
are!” or “I can’t express my opinion of you.” _Uḥ_ is used in some such
case as this. I ask a native, “Are the apples of Zebedâny (near
Damascus) good?” He, knowing that they are famous for quality, will
preface his affirmative with a breathy _Uḥ_, as if to say “Nice? Well, I
should say!” “Of course they are,” or, “Better than they do not exist.”
Then, perhaps, he will show their size by the circumference of a circle
which he makes with all the fingers of one hand held up. _Shi_ or _Hiḥ_
is expressive of a little surprise or weak objection; or it may be
merely a gratuitous exclamation thrown in where we should expect no
expression, or might even think it saucy. It is used much like our
“Humph.” If a child is set a task or a lesson and wishes to say, “It is
very hard,” he is very apt to slat the fingers of the hand together and
exclaim, _E-e-ee_ with much the same force as _Yâ abbayeh_ above. _Thk_,
a sort of suck with the tongue and teeth means, “No.” Sometimes it is
joined with _Mâ fîsh_, “There is not,” or “I have nothing,” and the
speaker may snap his thumb under the edge of his upper teeth in
emphasis. _Thk_ is very often given with an upward toss of the chin to
mean, “No.” _Hiss_ is used by a mother or older person to hush a child.
It equals “Keep still” or “Enough of foolishness.”
In beckoning children the hand is held about as high as and near the
shoulder, the palm downwards and the fingers shutting back and forth to
the palm while “Come, come” is said. To hold all the fingers together
and the hand, palm upward, about the height of the hip, means a threat
like “You’ll see.”
Of curses[185] there is a very great variety, expressive of
animosity,[186] disgust[187] and impatience.[188] Many of the formulæ
are shortened until only the direction and object of the curse are left
in the expression. So, should you hear some one say impetuously to
another, “Your father,” “Your eyes,” “Your breast,” or “Your faith,” you
might know that a curse was intended with these as the objects. The verb
_la‛ana_, _yal‛anu_, which signifies cursing, is generally understood.
The curses are sometimes very indirectly aimed at the victim, as, for
instance, when a donkey driver cursed a stumbling donkey with _Abu
jiddak_, literally, “Cursed be the father of your grandfather.” The
curser may in this circular way of attack reach even himself without
apparently minding the implication, as when a man driving donkeys along
the road became angry at one of them and shouted, “May your owner go
into the grave.”
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Colloquialisms and stories tend to pass into proverbs. The East is very
rich in proverbial expressions, and the Arabic language has been used
for the utterance of many thousands of them. The apt introduction and
quotation of proverbs is considered an elegant accomplishment by
conversationalists. Some of the proverbs are accompanied by explanatory
stories telling how the proverb in each instance arose. Then there are
expressions that are tending to the proverbial form. Some of these
latter will be mentioned first.
Moslems are accredited with the saying that the bobbing _ḥirdhôn_
(lizard) is praying.
When three or more persons in one place are found to have the same name
the people say, “There must be a treasure about.”
Of the kind of young man slangily known among us as a _masher_ the
Palestinian says, “He has a heavy shadow.”
Of a miscellaneous pocketful of things, such as a boy might carry, they
say, _Mithl jerab il-ḳurdy_, “Like the Kurd’s pocket.” This is from the
story told of a Kurd who had lost his wallet-pocket by theft. When the
thief was found the Kurd was asked in court to describe the pocket and
its contents. He described the pocket accurately enough, but in telling
the contents he named over thing after thing until he had mentioned a
catalogue of much that the world contains.
With reference to the infection of yawning the story is told of a man
who was riding a camel in the desert. The camel yawned and then the
rider yawned. The rider said to the camel, “I took my yawn from you;
from whom did you take yours?”
In a class of native youth learning the English language one of the boys
lost his bearings and was unable to follow what the rest of the class
was saying, so he mumbled _Mithl akhras fy zeffeh_. He meant, “I am like
a dumb man at a wedding procession.” On such occasions a ready tongue is
quite necessary.
When one does a foolish or witless thing, another is apt to say
impatiently to him, _Kathîr minnâk thîrân_, that is, freely, “There are
many oxen of your kind.”
When one shows lack of grace, they quote, “The bear stood up to dance
and killed seven or eight persons.”
An ignorant or dull person is accused of not knowing his elbow from his
wrist.
A rather cynical and unsentimental way of describing the effect on a man
of the loss of his wife is that, “It is like knocking his funny-bone.”
Of course rain would never be expected in July. Such a thing would be
called _zelket fyt tammûz_, “a slip in July,” and this expression is
used proverbially to describe any prodigy or any very surprising
occurrence.
That good actions may be spoiled is expressed by the statement, “If a
cow yields a large quantity and then kicks over the milk-pan she is not
praised.”
An obstinate person is described by _râs-hu yâbis_ or _râs-hu ḳawy_,
“His head is dry or hard.”
Gift-taking, that is, bribery,[189] is described as a sickness to which
all officials are proverbially subject. Such a man is described by
_Butnhu wâsi‛a, byokul kathîr_,[190] “He has an expansive stomach, he
eats a great deal.”[191] Of an official whose power is limited they say,
“His arm is short.”[192] Orders from headquarters in Constantinople not
carried out by an under-official are said to have been “put under the
carpet.”
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“When the salt blossoms” denotes improbabilities, for which the
following is also heard, though I should not want to vouch for its
absolute impossibility, “When the goat climbs to the top of the
minaret.” I have seen goats in very unlikely places.
The following list of proverbs gives a sample of expressions in common
use among the peasantry of central Palestine.
_Abu Ḥashîsh fy ḥâlat ghalbân_: “Abu Ḥashîsh is overcome of his own
matters.” This is used when a man already crowded with duties is asked
to do something more.
_Ḥabîby bḥibhu walau kân ‛abd âswad_: “I would love my love even though
he were a black slave,” illustrating constancy.
_Lâ taḳul lil mughanny ghanny walâ lil raḳâṣ yarḳuṣ_: “Never tell a
singer to sing nor a dancer to dance,” signifying natural obstinacy.
_Tub il-jarreh ‛ala fimhâ, taṭla‛ il-bint mithl imhâ_: “Turn the jar on
its mouth, the daughter comes up like her mother.” The first part of the
saying is put in for rhythm, and the whole is one way of expressing
family resemblances.
_Labis el-‛ûd yajûd_: “Clothe a stick of wood and it will do well (or
look well).” The ‛ûd is the wooden frame on which the bridal trousseau
is rigged and carried in procession when the wedding garments are
purchased for the bride. The proverb compares the clothing with the man
who wears it and rather insinuates that clothing makes the man.
_Idhkur idh-Dhîb wahayay lahu il-ḳaḍîb_: “If you think of the wolf, get
the stick ready for him.”
_Il-harîbeh thulthay il-marâjal_: “Running away is two-thirds of
strength.” (Notice the dual, without ending _n_, in the colloquial.)
_Yâmâ kassar hâ il-jamal baṭṭîkh_: “Oh, how often the camel broke
melons.” It is said of one who, having done well, ends by spoiling all.
It is also applied to one who, in making purchases, at last buys
something quite beyond his means. Or it is used to indicate that the man
is well known as a blunderer and that no one ought to be surprised at a
fresh sample of his failing.
_Ḳallil il-ḥaky tirtâḥ wakuththirahu faḍḍâḥ_: “Diminish the talk and you
will have rest; increase it [and have] disgrace.”[193]
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_Mâl ḳalîl majmû‛a khayr min mâl kathîr mubaddad_: “A little wealth in
hand (gathered) is better than much wealth scattered abroad [_i. e._, on
loan].”
_Kul shay ‛ind il-‛aṭâr illâ min ḳûl ḥabbany_: “Everything may be found
at the spice-sellers’ except the saying ‘love me.’” This is to the
effect that real love is the one thing that cannot be purchased.[194]
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_Ish-sharaf aḥsan min khazâyn mâl_: “Nobility is better than
treasure-chests of wealth.”
_Âb iḳṭa‛ il-ḳuṭf walâ tahâb_: “In August cut the bunch [grapes] and
fear not [its being unripe].” Everything in its proper season.
_Id-dâr ḳafrat wal-mazâr ba‛îd_: “The house is empty and the visiting
place is far,” meaning we are out of whatever it is that is needed and
the place where more may be had is far off.
_Iṭlab il-jâr ḳubl id-dâr war-rafîḳ ḳubl iṭ-ṭarîḳ_: “Seek the neighbor
before the house and the company before the route.” Make sure of good
neighbors and companions, as they are more necessary to your welfare
than the mere house or road.[195]
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_Ta‛allam il-bayṭarah fy ḥamîr il-âkrâd_: “He learned to shoe horses
among the donkeys of the Kurds.” This is a contemptuous way of
indicating that one’s preparation for the trade or profession followed
was inadequate.
_‛Ala ḳadar firâshak midd rijlayk_: “According to the measure of your
bed stretch your legs.” This is quoted in favor of living within one’s
means.
_Il-ghâib jihathu ma‛hu_: “The absent one has his excuse with him.”
_Fâlij la tu‛âlij_: “Palsy, don’t doctor it.” This one has a hopeless
touch.
_Ish-shay matta zâd nuḳṣ_: “Anything carried to excess diminishes.” This
proverb advises against overdoing.
_Mâ fy kabîr illâ il-jamal_: “Nothing is large except the camel.”
Compare this with “Comparisons are odious.”
_Il-walad walad walau kân kâḍy balad_: “The boy is a boy though he be
judge of the country.”
_In kân râyḥ kaththir min il-ḳabâyḥ_: “If one be going away, increase
the mischief.” This may refer to an official who becomes reckless on the
eve of his discharge, or possibly to the people who, in view of the near
departure of their superior, take advantage of the fact to perpetrate
mischief. Compare, “When the cat’s away the mice will play.”
_Mâl il-majânîn lil-‛aḳâl_: “The wealth of the crazy is for the wise.”
_Kalb hâmil khurj mâl_: “A dog carrying a saddle-bag of wealth.” This
refers to an unworthy owner of wealth.[196]
_In râḥat ghannat wan jât ghannat_: “Whether it goes or comes I shall
sing.” The one so saying declares that he will be joyous despite
circumstances.
_Bayn hânâ wamânâ râḥat lihânâ_: “Between this and that the beard went.”
In case a man is given conflicting orders he quotes the above to the
effect that between coming and going one’s beard is in danger of flying
off. The syllable _na_ on the end of the last word is added for euphony
merely.
_Hâfitha ‛ala iṣ-ṣadîḳ walau fil-ḥarîḳ_: “Succor your friend though he
be in fire.”
_Khayr il-âmûr l-wasṭ_: “The good of things is in moderation.”[197]
_Ziyâdeh il-khayr khayr_: “Increase makes good better.”
_Iṣ-ṣubr miftâh il-faraj_: “Patience is the key of relief.”
_‛Allamnâk ish-shiḥdeh sabaḳthanâ ‛ala il-bâb_: “I taught you begging
and you got to the door before I did.” This was a beggar’s proverb
originally and illustrates the fact that the pupil may outdo his
teacher.
_Mithl azîmeh il-ḥamar lil-‛urs_: “Like the invitation of a donkey to a
wedding.” This is applicable when one who is invited as a guest is asked
to work. The donkey’s function on festive occasions is to fetch and
carry.
SONG OF THE ṢAḤJEH
Good evening, all ye who are present;
In the middle of the garden is a green bird chirping to you.
O mother of the only one, bless thee for what thou didst for him.
On his wedding day thou didst grind his flour at Zerḳâ.
Were it not for love we’d not come walking,
Nor would we tread on your ground.
Good evening, thou owner of a silver rosary!
After starting lovingly, why is there this hatred?
Good evening, O possessor of an amber rosary!
After starting lovingly, why dost thou fight?
The sand cannot be kneaded, nor thorns trodden,
Nor the secret displayed to all the people.
How many palms have we climbed without ladder,
And how many offenses of friends have we overlooked!
O sweet, O beautiful, thy letter came to us;
As we read it how our tears flowed.
O excellent, sweet, moving thy lips,
Thou hast wounded hearts; we beg thee let us come to thee.
For my friend, friendship should abide;
As for the disloyal the day of judgment shall find him.
For what reason dost thou close thine eyes without sleepiness?
Thou pleasest not me but other people.
I shall rush on you at noon, you who are in my mind;
With the sword shall I [over] throw you with high windows.
With the sword shall I charge you in the darkness of the night;
I’ll take my sword and cause the blood to flow.
O beloved, O beloved, thou whom the heart desires,
Since the day of thy departure my heart counts the nights.
Thou oughtest to be sorry for leaving us,
Thou wilt weep tears of grief when thou seest us.
I passed by their house and said not a word;
The tears of my eyes dropped before me on the stone.
The tree of love is cast out by the gate of Damascus;
I was dying and my friend came not to me.
The tree of love at the gate of Damascus is swaying;
I was dying and my friend did not come to ask.
O tree of love, at the gate of Damascus, it is green;
I was near to dying and my friend came not once.
Do not think that good style consists in ample clothes;
Good style is providing dishes for the men.
Do not think that good style consists in elegant robes;
Good style consists in large trenchers, in kindness and generosity.
O Egypt, O how far off art thou, in whom is the beloved!
If I live another year I must surely live in thee.
O sweet one, bring thy bottle and we’ll drink and fill it;
Thy people are far and thy country’s water is scarce.
What brought thee forth, O gazel, to roam?
To look on thy country, O sweet, and return.
What brought thee from thy country, single, alone?
I want to look on thy country and I want a friend.
Our dear ones, because of their ambition, they left us;
Because of scarcity of money they traded among us.
O heart, leave them, count them as dead;
I put them in my eye and they did not fit.
O seller of coffee, I want a ruṭl of thy coffee;
Yesterday afternoon I saw the woman who bought of thee.
O daughter of the Arab shaykh, O wearer of the blue mantle,
Thy father is an Arab shaykh ruling o’er the Belḳâ.
O daughter of the Arab shaykh, O wearer of the black mantle,
Thy father is an Arab shaykh ruling o’er the ‛Aujâ.
O daughter of the Arab amîr, O Turcomany,
Untie the fastenings of the shoes and walk.
O daughter of the Arab amîr, we can find no fault in thee;
Thy father is a pasha and thy uncle is an Arab shaykh.
The eyebrow of the eye deserves burning,
Of that one who winks at a low fellow.
SONG OF THE DABKEH
O man with the forelock tossing,
Thy speech is very choice.
The love of thee o’ercame me!
My strength cannot [resist].
The love of thee o’ercame me;
May the Lord of Heaven establish thee.
O graceful one, wear thy robe
With the knot turned behind.
O beautiful, O father of Shôrâ,
Thy cheeks are as crystal.
Thy love into my very heart
Dug [its way] and made a pit.
O beautiful, holder of a handkerchief,
Thy signs burned my very heart.
O beautiful, I am not thy equal;
Thy price is that of precious wood.
I’ve never seen so excellent among the Arabs,
O beautiful one of sweet manners.
Thy breast is as the tablet of the Khaṭîb;
O that fate would bestow thee on me!
Thy breast is as the tablet of the Khaṭîb;
Upon it are the letters unknown.
Thou causest me worriment and suffering,
Thou who art to me unlawful.
[Illustration:
A RÂM ALLÂH MATRON AT HER OWN DOOR
(From the collection at the Semitic Museum, Cambridge, Mass.)
]