August 31, 2022

A courtroom scene

Abu ‘Ali (al-Qali, d. 356 A.H./967 CE) said: My recitation of this poem by Jamil (ibn Ma‘mar, d. 82/701) was vetted by Ibn Durayd (d. 321/933) (meter: wāfir):

    "What you accuse me of is not a wrong,"
          I told her, "unlike the miser's way, which is collective harm.
      Let's go before two judges, one from my group and one
          from yours, impartial men and not unjust ones."
     "I want one judge," she said, "from my group only,
          lest slanderers hear our case, and embroider on it."
      We went before the judge in his curtained chamber,
          a worldly man whose eyelids sagged,
      and said, "Whatever your decision, we will accept it.
          We trust you with adjudication of our case,
      which will be binding, so judge between us
          as your temper and opinion dictate."
    "I am slain,” I told the judge, “with no recrimination.
          And wrongs unpunished will proliferate!
      Ask her when she’ll make good all that she owes me.
          Is grievance ever righted when it's unredressed?"
    "The plaintiff is a liar," she said, "and a useless person
          whose accusations go on long.
      Am I his slayer? Then where’s my weapon?
          If I attack him, what fighting strength have I?
      Nor have I despoiled his capital. The court will find
          the alleged debt is owed to me."
      Our ruling was up to the sentencer,
          whose legal views were soundly based.
     "Bring forth your witnesses," he said.
          I said, "God is our witness, the Exalted King."
     "The defendant's oath, and I will reach my verdict,"
          ordered the judge, whose every verdict was just and fair.
      She gave her oath, and said the charge against her
          carried lest weight than a date pit's husk.
      [When it was over,] I could not help asking,
         "Our case was settled in my favor, was it not?"
      Buthaynah knit her brows and said, "[You think]
          you’ve prevailed? You, who prevail in nothing you do?
      And don’t let them find you with me, lest I be
          bereft of you. A bereaved woman is no one to mess with!"

From the Dictations of Abu ‘Ali al-Qali

August 22, 2022

A disputation of frost and ice

In this book (e.g.), I have repeated what others have presented, and cited their sources. I will now tell of madmen observed by me on my travels, for due to my passion for the subject, I have often repaired to madhouses and studied people in various states of madness.

At Merv I entered a madhouse that was located in a graveyard. I heard the clamor of raised voices, then beheld an old man who was tied up next to a young man in chains. They were arguing over ice and frost, and which was better than the other. On spotting me, they said, "Here comes one to moderate between us!"

The old man said, "I speak on behalf of frost, which is superior to ice, because frost is God's doing and not His worshipers'. But [human] beings created by God are capable of creating ice."

The young man said, "Frost has a harmful dryness to it that is lacking in ice. Ice is what occurs [in water] when it turns into ice."

"You're both right," I said, for as I pondered each one, the madness of the opposing statement would catch my ear.

From Madmen Who Were Intelligent by Abu 'l-Qasim al-Nisaburi

August 17, 2022

If in Brooklyn

This is a flyer announcing a poetry reading to be held at 7:00 pm on August 20, 2022 at Unnameable Books on 615 Vanderbilt Avenue in Brooklyn, New York, featuring Edmund Berrigan, Evan Kennedy, Stefani Barber, and David Larsen. The text of the announcement is underlaid by the image of a volcanic fantasy landscape, featuring the head and shoulders of a giant looking down at the reader slash viewer from behind a cliff.
Flyer by Nicholas DeBoer