Abu Ahmad said: ‘Abd Allah Niftawayh said: I heard these verses from Muhammad ibn Yazid al-Mubarrad (meter: wāfir):
I dread the night when leaks flood in and dump their worries,
harrassing me until the break of day.
Unwinking nights, thanks to my house
when skies above are like a lovelorn eye.
That is, it was a house when clouds grew thick.
By the time the clouds moved on, it was a road hazard.
The hearts of all my neighbors fill with pity over me
at the appearance of the faintest cloud of rain.
The verses are by al-‘Abbas al-Mashuq, who was called "The Lovelorn" (al-mashūq) after the namesake verse:
...when skies above are like a lovelorn eye
[Abu Ahmad said:] These verses by Dik al-Jinn were recited to me by someone else (meter: sarī‘):
I've never spent a night, my brothers, and neither have you,
as bad as the one I had last night.
Every inch of my house
has a leak streaming down from above
By al-Sanawbari (meter: wāfir):
What a house I stay in! with a leak for my bunkmate,
who shows no sign of ever moving out.
When heaven weeps out of one eye,
my ceilings weep back out of one thousand
And Ibn al-Mu‘tazz said (meter: ṭawīl):
When I tell about the rain that fell I don't exaggerate,
by the Lord Who into souls art the All-Seeing!
My house's roofing sags to the earth we trample.
Its walls kneel and bow down to the ground.
And Ibn al-Rumi said (meter: ṭawīl):
Thr roof above me has me sleepless, looming over me
like a stormcloud gushing.
When its clay [takes on water and] weighs it down,
its edges creak like chirping crickets.
From A Well-Tended Treasury of Literature by Abu Ahmad al-‘Askari
