EthicalDative

This post is continued from here.

Several themes lace the segment. Equine imagery around insemination and baby-bearing evokes the “purity” of the tribal blood lines. The virtue of generosity is touched upon, along with an ability to exert dominance through eloquence. Finally, the speaker boasts of what would today be called a deep bench of articulate, dynamic worthies (sayyids) able to step up and assume command when a leader falls.

12 “We have remained unmixed, so are not darkened, our stock kept pure by females that carry us well, and by stallions.
13 “We have mounted the best of backs, and a going down in due time has lowered us to the best of bellies.
14 “We are like the water of rain clouds; there is no bluntness in our sword hilt, and no miser is counted among us.
15 “We dispute what people say if we want, but when we speak no one contests our words.
16 “When a sayyid of ours is gone, another one rises, ready to speak as the honorable man speaks, and keen to act.

Notes
(Unless otherwise noted, quotations are from Arberry.)
12 So are not darkened: Per Lane, the verb kadira states that the complexion of a man or the color of a horse “was, or became, of the colour termed kudraẗ(un) [i.e. dusky, dingy, or inclining to black and dust-colour].” (Notice that the bracketed expansion is Lane’s.) That carry us well: The verbal noun ḥaml(un) associated with “carry” can mean “fetus.”
13 “A reference to the loins and wombs of the ancestors of the tribe.” This curious verse seems to mingle horseback riding with coitus. (?)
14 The water of rain clouds: “A rain-cloud is a common simile for generosity.” There is no bluntness in our sword hilt: This mid-part of the verse troubles me. Arberry translates it: “in our metal is no bluntness,” acknowledging in a note the literal meaning of niṣāb as “stock” (sword hilt) or “handle” (knife handle). The hilt of a sword isn’t sharp or dull; that trait belongs to the blade. Sandwiched between the rain cloud simile and a reference to miserliness, the phrase lends no obvious support to the theme of generosity.
16 Sayyid: a man of rank and distinction; “master,” “chieftain.”

(c) 2023 JMN — EthicalDative. All rights reserved

This post is continued from here.

The segment evokes the lofty mountain refuge available to the speaker’s confederates, then exalts his tribe’s martial disposition and willingness to die in battle and avenge the fallen.

6 We have a mountain where those we shelter settle down; impregnable, it turns away the eye, tired from looking.
7 Its trunk anchors underneath the soil; a branch lifts it to the stars. It’s not got hold of; it is towering.
8 We’re a people who don’t consider killing a disgrace the way that ^Amir and Salūl have thought it.
9 Love of death advances for us our final moment; their final moment loathes it, therefore is drawn out.
10 No sayyid of ours dies a death of his nose, nor was the blood of any of us made to go for nought, like dew, where he lay dead.
11 Our souls flow out on sword-blade edge, and nowhere but on sword-blade edge do they flow out.

Notes
(Unless otherwise noted, quotations are from Arberry.)
6 tired from looking: The mountain is so lofty it defies the eye’s attempt to take it in. Arberry notes the “mountain” may be taken metaphorically, or “as referring to the mountain-fortress of al-Ablaq (al-Fard), the famous redoubt of al-Samau’al.”
8 don’t consider killing: i.e., being killed. “[^Amir and Salūl] are the names of rival tribes…”
9 love of death, etc.: “Sc. our warriors die young, those of our rivals live on into old age.”
10 dies a death of his nose: i.e., dies a natural death in which life exits with a last breath. The warrior’s life was considered to exit through his bleeding wounds, as verse 11 makes explicit. Nor was the blood, etc.: i.e., our slain have always been avenged.
11 “The commentator al-Tibrīzī explains the second half of this verse as excluding death by the dishonourable instruments of sticks and staves and the like.”

(c) 2023 JMN — EthicalDative. All rights reserved

The poem starts by positing traits that support a claim to being honorable and to merit good praise. Those traits are upstanding conduct and a capacity for resisting (enduring?) personal injury. Then, responding to provocation voiced by a woman, the speaker launches into an extended glorification of his tribe which comprises the body of the poem.

The translation here is mine. The Arabic text is from A. J. Arberry, Arabic Poetry: A Primer for Students, Cambridge University Press, 1965. There are 22 verses. I’ve chosen to share my version in piecemeal fashion. Each segment will be seen to center roughly on a theme. This first segment deals with the small numbers of the speaker’s tribe.

1 When a person’s good name hasn’t been soiled from depravity, every garment he puts on is handsome.
2 And if he hasn’t borne injustice on the soul, there’s no way for him to be praised for excellence.
3 She insulted us saying we were lacking in numbers; I said to her, “The honorable are indeed few!
4 “Not trifling are those whose vestiges are the likes of us — youth which has scaled the heights, and old men, too.
5 “Tiny numbers don’t impair us when our confederate is powerful, while the confederate of most is puny.

Notes
(Unless otherwise noted, quotations are from Arberry.)
3 She insulted us: “Presumably the taunt was shouted by a woman accompanying into battle the warriors of a rival tribe.”
5 confederate: Following guidance in Lane, referenced by Arberry, I’ve settled on “confederate” in lieu of Arberry’s “kinsman” to express jār(un). The term denotes a person — relative or neighbor — with whom there exists a covenant of mutual protection.

(c) 2023 JMN — EthicalDative. All rights reserved