August 7, 2011

Medieval cat poem

Abu ‘Amir al-Fadl ibn Isma‘il al-Tamimi al-Jurjani (mid-to-late 5th century A.H./11th c. CE) described his cat (meter: khafīf):

         I have a cat whose foot-pads I dye with henna
             before I put henna on my own newborns.
         Then I tie cowrie shells to her collar
             to repel the harm of evil eyes.
         Each day, before I feed my family, I see that she gets
             our choicest meats and purest waters.
         The playful thing. When she sees
             my face contorted in a frown,
         sometimes she sings, sometimes she dances,
             sparing no exertion for my diversion’s sake.
         I care nothing for the fire’s warmth when she lies with me
             in the chill of winter's longest nights.
         When I give her scratches, she gives me licks
             with a tongue toothed like the surface of a file.
         If I avoid her, she fawns on me,
             wheedling with her little high-pitched moans.
         If I give her trouble she will show me her claws,
             a sight that gives the eyes no pleasure.
         When she plays with a mouse, she is at her saltiest
             for she puts him through "humiliating punishment." *
         When he faints from terror, she busies herself
             in batting him awake with a left and a right.
         She teases him with feigned inattention, then
             swoops like a falcon when he tries to creep away.
         Just when he dares hope for peace from her,
             those hopes are dashed with a serpent’s liveliness.
         In this way do the decrees of fate ruin a man
             and finish him with a cut to the aorta,
         just when, amid the lively gathering,
             he takes the cup of destiny from a server.

*Qur'an 2:90, 3:178, 4:14 et passim.

From The Merits of the Housecat by Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti