Al-Hakam ibn ‘Abdal, who lacked the use of his limbs, was friends with a blind man named Abu ‘Ulayya. One night, the two set out from their homes to the home of one of their confidants, Ibn ‘Abdal being carried, Abu ‘Ulayya being led—only to run into the security chief of Kufa, who jailed them on the spot.
They had been locked up for some time when Ibn ‘Abdal noticed Abu ‘Ulayya's cane lying next to his. At this, he burst out laughing, and came up with this poem (meter: majzū’ al-kāmil):
Locked up with Abu ‘Ulayya!
It is a marvel of the age,
one a blind man led around, the other one
a paralytic whose hands and foot are no use,
I, whose shanks disown me!
The sightless one is him right there.
Ever seen a spiny-tailed lizard of the desert
in cahoots with a fish?
My steed and Abu ‘Ulayya's
are one such fated pair.
To you who boast of magnanimity
we boast of two crutches,
two steeds that never fight
and need no costly fodder.
Suppose he and I were on fire.
Would there even be smoke?
Thse verses by Ibn ‘Abdal are also about Abu ‘Ulayya, whose name was Yahya (meter: ṭawīl):
To Yahya I said in amazement on the night that we were jailed,
in my sleep which was the sleep of a fettered prisoner:
Help me scan the stars and shepherd them,
and I will help you with long odes of exquisite weave.
Our state at present is a caution. It gives much food for thought.
The jailing of the blind and paralyzed is a shocking thing.
If he or I lose hold of our crutches, we are stuck
fallen flat on our faces, prostrate on the ground.
One crutch leads the way blindly.
The other one stands for a foot in the hand.
From the Book of Songs
