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The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, Volume 10

R >> Richard F. Burton >> The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, Volume 10




Later Prosodists added:

2. Al-Mutadarak, twice

Fa'ilun Fa'ilun Fa'ilun Fa'ilun (ii. 5)
= - U - | - U - | - U - |


The feet and metres as given above are, however, to a certain
extent merely theoretical; in practice the former admit of
numerous licenses and the latter of variations brought about by
modification or partial suppression of the feet final in a verse.
An Arabic poem (Kasidah, or if numbering less than ten couplets,
Kat'ah) consists of Bayts or couplets, bound together by a
continuous rhyme, which connects the first two lines and is
repeated at the end of every second line throughout the poem. The
last foot of every odd line is called 'Aruz (fem. in
contradistinction of Aruz in the sense of Prosody which is
masc.), pl. A'airiz, that of every even line is called Zarb, pl.
Azrub, and the remaining feet may be termed Hashw (stuffing),
although in stricter parlance a further distinction is made
between the first foot of every odd and even line as well.

Now with regard to the Hashw on the one hand, and the 'Aruz and
Zarb on the other, the changes which the normal feet undergo are
of two kinds: Zuhaf (deviation) and 'Illah (defect). Zuhaf
applies, as a rule, occasionally and optionally to the second
letter of a Sabab in those feet which compose the Hashw or body-
part of a verse, making a long syllable short by suppressing its
quiescent final, or contracting two short quantities in a long
one, by rendering quiescent a moved letter which stands second in
a Sabab sakil. In Mustaf'ilun (ii. 6. = - - U -), for instance,
the s of the first syllable, or the f of the second, or both may
be dropped and it will become accordingly Mutaf'ilun, by
substitution Mafa'ilun (U - U -), or Musta'ilun, by substitution,
Mufta'ilun (- U U -), or Muta'ilun, by substitution Fa'ilatun (U
U U -).[FN#454] This means that wherever the foot Mustaf.'ilun
occurs in the Hashw of a poem, we can represent it by the scheme
U U U - i.e. the Epitritus tertius can, by poetical licence,
change into Diiambus, Choriambus or Paeon quartus. In Mufa'alatun
(ii. 3. = U - U U -) and Mutafa'ilun (ii. 8. = U U - U -), again,
the Sabab 'ala and mute may become khafif by suppression of their
final Harakah and thus turn into Mufa'altun, by substitution
Mafa'ilun (ii. 2. = U - - -), and Mutfa'ilun, by substitution
Mustaf'ilun (ii 6.= - - U U as above). In other words the two
feet correspond to the schemes U_U-U_ and U-U-U-, where a Spondee
can take the place of the Anapaest after or before the Iambus
respectively.

'Illah, the second way of modifying the primitive or normal feet,
applies to both Sabab and Watad, but only in the 'Aruz and Zarb
of a couplet, being at the same time constant and obligatory.
Besides the changes already mentioned, it consists in adding one
or two letters to a Sabab or Watad, or curtailing them more or
less, even to cutting them off altogether. We cannot here exhaust
this matter any more than those touched upon until now, but must
be satisfied with an example or two, to show the proceeding in
general and indicate its object.

We have seen that the metre Basit consists of the two lines:

Mustaf.'ilun Fa.'ilun Mustaf'ilun Fa'ilun
Mustaf'ilun Fa'ilun Mustaf'ilun Fa'ilun.

This complete form, however, is not in use amongst Arab poets. If
by the Zuhaf Khabn, here acting as 'Illah, the Alif in the final
Fa'ilun is suppressed, changing it into Fa'ilun (U U -), it
becomes the first 'Aruz, called makhbunah, of the Basit, the
first Zarb of which is obtained by submitting the final Fa'ilun
of the second line to the same process. A second Zarb results, if
in Fa'ilun the final n of the 'Watad 'ilun is cut off and the
preceding l made quiescent by the 'Illah Kat' thus giving Fa'il
and by substitution Fa'lun (- -). Thus the formula becomes:--

Mustaf'ilun Fa'ilun Mustaf'ilun Fa'ilun
Mustaf'ilun Fa'ilun Mustaf'ilun{Fa'ilun
{Fa'lun

As in the Hashw, i.e. the first three feet of each line, the
Khabn can likewise be applied to the medial Fa'ilun, and for
Mustaf'ilun the poetical licences, explained above, may be
introduced, this first 'Aruz or Class of the Basit with its two
Zarb or subdivisions will be represented by the scheme

U U | U | U U |
- - U - | - U - | - - U U | U U -

U U | U { U U -
- - U - | - U - { - -

that is to say in the first subdivision of this form of the Basit
both lines of each couplet end with an Anapaest and every second
line of the other subdivision terminates in a Spondee.

The Basit has four more A'ariz, three called majzuah, because
each line is shortened by a Juz or foot, one called mashturah
(halved), because the number of feet is reduced from four to two,
and we may here notice that the former kind of lessening the
number of feet is frequent with the hexametrical circles (B. C.
D.), while the latter kind can naturally only occur in those
circles whose couplet forms an octameter (A. E.). Besides being
majzuah, the second 'Aruz is sahihah (perfect) consisting of the
normal foot Mustaf'ilun. It has three Azrub: 1. Mustaf'ilan (- -
U -', with an overlong final syllable, see supra p. 238),
produced by the 'Illah Tazyil, i.e. addition of a quiescent
letter at the end (Mustaf'ilunn, by substitution Mustaf'ilan); 2.
Mustaf'ilun, like the 'Aruz; 3. Maf'ulun (- - -), produced by the
'Illah Kat' (see the preceding page; Mustaf'ilun, by dropping the
final n and making the l quiescent becomes Mustaf'il and by
substitution Maf'ulun). Hence the formula is:

Mustaf'ilun Fa'ilun Mustaf'ilun
{ Mustaf'il n
Mustaf'ilun Fa'ilun{ Mustaf'ilun
{ Maf'uulun,

which, with its allowable licenses, may be represented by the
scheme:

U U | U |
- - U - | - U - | - - U -

{ U U
U U | U { - - U -
- - U - | - U - { - - U -
{ U
{ - - -

The above will suffice to illustrate the general method of the
Prosodists, and we must refer the reader for the remaining
classes and subdivisions of the Basit as well as the other metres
to more special treatises on the subject, to which this Essay is
intended merely as an introduction, with a view to facilitate the
first steps of the student in an important, but I fear somewhat
neglected, field of Arabic learning.

If we now turn to the poetical pieces contained in The Nights, we
find that out of the fifteen metres, known to al-Khalil, or the
sixteen of later Prosodists, instances of thirteen occur in the
Mac. N. edition, but in vastly different proportions. The total
number amounts to 1,385 pieces (some, however, repeated several
times), out of which 1,128 belong to the first two circles,
leaving only 257 for the remaining three. The same
disproportionality obtains with regard to the metres of each
circle. The Mukhtalif is represented by 331 instances of Tawil
and 330 of Basit against 3 of Madid; the Mutalif by 321 instances
of Kamil against 143 of Wafir; the Mujtalab by 32 instances of
Ramal and 30 of Rajaz against 1 of Hazaj; the Mushtabih by 72
instances of Khafif and 52 of Sari' against 18 of Munsarih and 15
of Mujtass; and lastly the Muttafik by 37 instances of Mutakarib.
Neither the Mutadarak (E. 2), nor the Muzari' and Muktazib (D.
4.5) are met with.

Finally it remains for me to quote a couplet of each metre,
showing how to scan them, and what relation they bear to the
theoretical formulas exhibited on p. 242 to p. 247.

It is characteristic for the preponderance of the Tawil over all
the other metres, that the first four lines, with which my
alphabetical list begins, are written in it. One of these belongs
to a poem which has for its author Baha al-Din Zuhayr (born A.D.
1186 at Mekkah or in its vicinity, ob. 1249 at Cairo), and is to
be found in full in Professor Palmer's edition of his works, p.
164. Sir Richard Burton translates the first Bayt (vol. i. 290):

An I quit Cairo and her pleasances * Where can I hope
to find so gladsome ways?

Professor Palmer renders it:

Must I leave Egypt where such joys abound?
What place can ever charm me so again ?

In Arabic it scans:

U - U | U - - - | U - U | U - U - |
A-arhalu'en Misrin wa tibi na'imihil[FN#455]
U - U | U - - - | U - U | U - U - |
Fa-ayyu makanin ba'daha li-ya shaiku.

In referring to iii. A. I. p. 242, it will be seen that in the
Hashw Fa'ulun (U - -) has become Fa'ulu (U - U) by a Zuhaf called
Kabz (suppression of the fifth letter of a foot if it is
quiescent) and that in the 'Aruz and Zarb Mafa'ilun (U - - -) has
changed into Mafa'ilun (U - U -) by the same Zuhaf acting as
'Illah. The latter alteration shows the couplet to be of the
second Zarb of the first 'Aruz of the Tawil. If the second line
did terminate in Mafa'ilun, as in the original scheme, it would
be the first Zarb of the same 'Aruz; if it did end in Fa'ulun (U
- -) or Mafa'il (U - -) it would represent the third or fourth
subdivision of this first class respectively. The Tawil has one
other 'Aruz, Fa'ulun, with a twofold Zarb, either Fa'ulun also,
or Mafa'ilun.

The first instance of the Basit occurring in The Nights are the
lines translated vol. i. p. 25:

Containeth Time a twain of days, this of blessing, that of bane *
And holdeth Life a twain of halves, this of pleasure, that
of pain.

In Arabic (Mac. N. i. II):

- - U - | - U - | - - U - | U U - |
Al-Dahru yaumani za amnun wa za hazaru

- - U - | - U - | - - U - | U U - |
Wa'l-'Ayshu shatrani za safwun wa za kadaru.

Turning back to p. 243, where the A'ariz and Azrub of the Basit
are shown, the student will have no difficulty to recognise the
Bayt as one belonging to the first Zarb of the first 'Aruz.

As an example of the Madid we quote the original of the lines
(vol. v. 131):--

I had a heart, and with it lived my life * 'Twas seared with fire
and burnt with loving-lowe.

They read in Arabic:--

- U - - | - U - | U U - |
Kana li kalbun a'ishu bihi

- U - - | - U - | U - |
Fa'ktawa bi'l-nari wa'htarak.

If we compare this with the formula (iii. A. 2. p. 242), we find
that either line of the couplet is shortened by a foot; it is,
therefore, majzu. The first 'Aruz of this abbreviated metre is
Fa'ilatun (- U - -), and is called sahihah (perfect) because it
consists of the normal third foot. In the second 'Aruz, Fa'ilatun
loses its end syllable tun by the 'Illah Hafz (suppression of a
final Sabab khafif), and becomes Fa'ila (- U -), for which
Fa'ilun is substituted. Shortening the first syllable of Fa'ilun,
i.e. eliminating the Alif by Khabn, we obtain the third 'Aruz
Fa'ilun (U U -) as that of the present lines, which has two
Azrub: Fa'ilun, like the 'Aruz, and Fa'lun (- -), here, again by
Khabn, further reduced to Fa'al (U -).

Ishak of Mosul, who improvises the piece, calls it "so difficult
and so rare, that it went nigh to deaden the quick and to quicken
the dead"; indeed, the native poets consider the metre Madid as
the most difficult of all, and it is scarcely ever attempted by
later writers. This accounts for its rare occurrence in The
Nights, where only two more instances are to be found, Mac. N.
ii. 244 and iii.
404.


The second and third circle will best be spoken of together, as
the Wafir and Kamil have a natural affinity to the Hazaj and
Rajaz. Let us revert to the line:--

U - - - | U - - - | U - - |
Akamu 'l-wajda fi kalbi wa saru.

Translated, as it were, into the language of the Prosodists it
will be:--

Mafa'ilun[FN#456] 'Mafa'ilun Fa'ulun,

and this, standing by itself, might prima facie be taken for a
line of the Hazaj (iii. C. I), with the third Mafa'ilun shortened
by Hafz (see above) into Mafa'i for which Fa'ulun would be
substituted. We have seen (p. 247) that and how the foot
Mufa'alatun can change into Mafa'ilun, and if in any poem which
otherwise would belong to the metre Hazaj, the former measure
appears even in one foot only along with the latter, it is
considered to be the original measure, and the poem counts no
longer as Hazaj but as Wafir. In the piece now under
consideration, it is the second Bayt where the characteristic
foot of the Wafir first appears:--

U - - - | U - U U | U - - |
Naat 'anni'l-rubu'u wa sakiniha

U - U U - | U - U U - | U - - |
Wa kad ba'uda 'l-mazaru fa-la mazaru.

Anglice (vol. iii. 296):--

Far lies the camp and those who camp therein; * Far is her tent
shrine where I ne'er shall tent.

It must, however, be remarked that the Hazaj is not in use as a
hexameter, but only with an 'Aruz majzuah or shortened by one
foot. Hence it is only in the second 'Aruz of the Wafir, which is
likewise majzuah, that the ambiguity as to the real nature of the
metre can arise;[FN#457] and the isolated couplet:--

U - - - | U - - - | U - - |
Yaridu 'l-mar-u an yu'ta munahu

U - - - | U - - - | U - - |
Wa yaba 'llahu illa ma yuridu

Man wills his wish to him accorded be, * But Allah naught accords
save what he wills (vol. iv. 157),

being hexametrical, forms undoubtedly part of a poem in Wafir
although it does not contain the foot Mufa'alatun at all. Thus
the solitary instance of Hazaj in The Nights is Abu Nuwas'
abomination, beginning with:--

U - - - | U - - - |

Fa-la tas'au ila ghayri

U - - - | U - - - |
Fa-'indi ma'dinu 'l-khayri (Mac. N. ii. 377).

Steer ye your steps to none but me * Who have a mine of luxury
(vol. v. 65).

If in the second 'Aruz of the Wafir, Maf'ailun (U - - -) is
further shortened to Mafa'ilun (U - U -), the metre resembles the
second 'Aruz of Rajaz, where, as we have seen, the latter foot
can, by licence, take the place of the normal Mustaf'ilun (- - U
-).

The Kamil bears a similar relation to the Rajaz, as the Wafir
bears to the Hazaj. By way of illustration we quote from Mac. N.
ii. 8 the first two Bayts of a little poem taken from the 23rd
Assembly of Al Hariri:--

- - U - | - - U - | U U - U - |
Ya khatiba 'l-dunya 'l-daniyyati innaha

U U - U - | U U - U - | - - - |
Sharaku 'l-rada wa kararatu 'l-akdari

- - U - | - - U - | - - U - |
Darun mata ma azhakat fi yaumiha

- - U - | - - U - | - - - |
Abkat ghadan bu'dan laha min dari.

In Sir Richard Burton's translation (vol. iii. 319):--

O thou who woo'st a World unworthy, learn * 'Tis house of evils,
'tis Perdition's net:
A house where whoso laughs this day shall weep * The next; then
perish house of fume and fret.

The 'Aruz of the first couplet is Mutafa'ilun, assigning the
piece to the first or perfect (sahihah) class of the Kamil. In
the Hashw of the opening line and in that of the whole second
Bayt this normal Mutafa'ilun has, by licence, become Mustaf'ilun,
and the same change has taken place in the 'Aruz of the second
couplet; for it is a peculiarity which this metre shares with a
few others, to allow certain alterations of the kind Zuhaf in the
'Aruz and Zarb as well as in the Hashw. This class has three
subdivisions: the Zarb of the first is Mutafa'ilun, like the
'Aruz the Zarb of the second is Fa'alatun (U U - -), a
substitution for Mutafa'il which latter is obtained from
Mutafa'ilun by suppressing the final n and rendering the l
quiescent; the Zarb of the third is Fa'lun (- - -) for Mutfa,
derived from Mutafa'ilun by cutting off the Watad 'ilun and
dropping the medial a of the remaining Mutafa.

If we make the 'Ayn of the second Zarb Fa'alatun also quiescent
by the permitted Zuhaf Izmar, it changes into Fa'latun, by
substitution Maf 'ulun (- - -) which terminates the rhyming lines
of the foregoing quotation. Consequently the two couplets taken
together, belong to the second Zarb of the first 'Aruz of the
Kamil, and the metre of the poem with its licences may be
represensed by the scheme:


- | - | - |
U U - U - | U U - U - | U U - U - |

- | - | - |
U U - U - | U U - U - | U U - - |

Taken isolated, on the other hand, the second Bayt might be of
the metre Rajaz, whose first 'Aruz Mustaf'ilun has two Azrub: one
equal to the Aruz, the other Maf'ulun as above, but here
substituted for Mustaf'il after applying the 'Illah Kat' (see p
247) to Mustaf'ilun. If this were the metre of the poem
throughout the scheme with the licences peculiar to the Rajaz
would be:

U U | U U | U U |
- - U U | - - U - | - - U - |

U U | U U | U |
- - U - | - - U - | - - - |

The pith of Al-Hariri's Assembly is that the knight errant not to
say the arrant wight of the Romance, Abu Sayd of Saruj accuses
before the Wali of Baghdad his pretended pupil, in reality his
son, to have appropriated a poem of his by lopping off two feet
of every Bayt. If this is done in the quoted lines, they read:

- - U - | - - U - |
Ya khatiba 'l-dunya 'l-dandy.

U U - U | U U - U - |
Yati innaha sharaku 'l-rada

- - U - | - - U - |
Darun mata ma azhakat,

- - U - | - - U - |
Fi yaumiha abkat ghada,

with a different rhyme and of a different variation of metre. The
amputated piece belongs to the fourth Zarb of the third 'Aruz of
Kamil, and its second couplet tallies with the second subdivision
of the second class of Rajaz.

The Rajaz, an iambic metre pure and simple, is the most popular,
because the easiest, in which even the Prophet was caught napping
sometimes, at the dangerous risk of following the perilous
leadership of Imru 'l-Kays. It is the metre of improvisation, of
ditties, and of numerous didactic poems. In the latter case, when
the composition is called Urjuzah, the two lines of every Bayt
rhyme, and each Bayt has a rhyme of its own. This is the form in
which, for instance, Ibn Malik's Alfiyah is written, as well as
the remarkable grammatical work of the modern native scholar,
Nasif al-Yaziji, of which a notice will be found in Chenery's
Introduction to his Translation of Al-Hariri.

While the Hazaj and Rajaz connect the third circle with the first
and second, the Ramal forms the link between the third and fourth
Dairah. Its measure Fa'ilatun (- U - -) and the reversal of it,
Maf'ulatu (- - - U), affect the trochaic rhythm, as opposed to
the iambic of the two first-named metres. The iambic movement has
a ring of gladness about it, the trochaic a wail of sadness: the
former resembles a nimble pedestrian, striding apace with an
elastic step and a cheerful heart; the latter is like a man
toiling along on the desert path, where his foot is ever and anon
sliding back in the burning sand (Raml, whence probably the name
of the metre). Both combined in regular alternation, impart an
agitated character to the verse, admirably fit to express the
conflicting emotions of a passion stirred mind.

Examples of these more or less plaintive and pathetic metres are
numerous in the Tale of Uns al-Wujud and the Wazir's Daughter,
which, being throughout a story of love, as has been noted, vol.
v. 33, abounds in verse, and, in particular, contains ten out of
the thirty two instances of Ramal occurring in The Nights. We
quote:

Ramal, first Zarb of the first 'Aruz (Mac. N. ii. 361):

- U - - | U U - - | - U - |
Inna li 'l-bulbuli sautan fi 'l-sahar

- U - - | U U - - | - U - |
Ashghala 'l-ashika 'an husni 'l-water

The Bulbul's note, whenas dawn is nigh * Tells the lover from
strains of strings to fly (vol. v. 48).

Sari', second Zarb of the first 'Aruz (Mac. N. ii. 359):

U - U - | - - U - | - U - |
Wa fakhitin kad kala fi nauhihi

- - U - | - - U - | - U - |
Ya Daiman shukran 'ala balwati

I heard a ringdove chanting soft and plaintively, * "I thank
Thee, O Eternal for this misery" (vol. v. 47).

Khafif, full or perfect form (sahih), both in Zarb and 'Aruz
(Mac. N. ii. 356):

- U - - | U - U - | - U - - |
Ya li-man ashtaki 'l-gharama 'llazi bi

U U - - | U - U - | - U - - |
Wa shujuni wa furkati 'an habibi

O to whom now of my desire complaining sore shall I * Bewail my
parting from my fere compelled thus to fly (vol. v. 44).

Mujtass, the only 'Aruz (majzuah sahihah, i.e. shortened by one
foot and perfect) with equal Zarb (Mac. N. ii. 367):

- - U - | U U - - |
Ruddu 'alayya habibi

- - U - | - U - - |
La hajatan li bi-malin

To me restore my dear * I want not wealth untold (vol. v. 55).

As an instance of the Munsarih, I give the second occurring in
The Nights, because it affords me an opportunity to show the
student how useful a knowledge of the laws of Prosody frequently
proves for ascertaining the correct reading of a text. Mac. N. i.
33 we find the line:

- U U - | - U U - | - U U - |
Arba'atun ma 'jtama'at kattu iza.

This would be Rajaz with the licence Mufta'ilun for Mustaf'ilun.
But the following lines of the fragment evince, that the metre is
Munsarih; hence, a clerical error must lurk somewhere in the
second foot. In fact, on page 833 of the same volume, we find the
piece repeated, and here the first couplet reads

- U U - | - U - U | - U U - |
Arba'atun ma 'jtama'na kattu siwa

U - U - | - U - U | - U U - |
Ala aza mujhati wa safki dami

Four things which ne'er conjoin unless it be * To storm my vitals
and to shed my blood (vol. iii. 237).

The Mutakarib, the last of the metres employed in The Nights, has
gained a truly historical importance by the part which it plays
in Persian literature. In the form of trimetrical double-lines,
with a several rhyme for each couplet, it has become the
"Nibelungen"-stanza of the Persian epos:
Firdausi's immortal "Book of Kings" and Nizami's Iskander-namah
are written in it, not to mention a host of Masnawis in which
Sufic mysticism combats Mohammedan orthodoxy. On account of its
warlike and heroical character, therefore, I choose for an
example the knightly Jamrakan's challenge to the single fight in
which he conquers his scarcely less valiant adversary Kaurajan,
Mac. N. iii. 296:

U - - | U - U | U - - | U - - |
Ana 'l-Jamrakanu kawiyyn 'l-janani

U - - | U - U | U - - | U - - |
Jami'u 'l-fawarisi takhsha kitali.

Here the third syllable of the second foot in each line is
shortened by licence, and the final Kasrah of the first line,
standing in pause, is long, the metre being the full form of the
Mutakarib as exhibited p. 246, iii. E. 1. If we suppress the
Kasrah of al-Janani, which is also allowable in pause, and make
the second line to rhyme with the first, saying, for instance:

U - - | U - U | U - - | U -
Ana 'l-Jamrakanu kawiyyu 'l-janan

U - - | U - - | U - - | U -
La-yaksha kitali shija'u 'l-zaman,

we obtain the powerful and melodious metre in which the Shahnamah
sings of Rustam's lofty deeds, of the tender love of Rudabah and
the tragic downfall of Siyawush

Shall I confess that in writing the foregoing pages it has been
my ambition to become a conqueror, in a modest way, myself: to
conquer, I mean, the prejudice frequently entertained, and shared
even by my accomplished countryman, Rueckert, that Arabic Prosody
is a clumsy and repulsive doctrine. I have tried to show that it
springs naturally from the character of the language, and,
intimately connected, as it is, with the grammatical system of
the Arabs, it appears to me quite worthy of the acumen of a
people, to whom, amongst other things, we owe the invention of
Algebra, the stepping-stone of our whole modern system of
Mathematics I cannot refrain, therefore, from concluding with a
little anecdote anent al-Khalil, which Ibn Khallikan tells in the
following words. His son went one day into the room where his
father was, and on finding him scanning a piece of poetry by the
rules of Prosody he ran out and told the people that his father
had lost his wits. They went in immediately and related to
al-Khalil what they had heard, on which he addressed his son in
these terms:

"Had you known what I was saying, you would have excused me, and
had you known what you said, I should have blamed you But you did
not understand me, so you blamed me, and I knew that you were
ignorant, so I pardoned you."





L'Envoi.



Here end, to my sorrow, the labours of a quarter-century, and
here I must perforce say with the "poets' Poet,"

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