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The Isfahan Maqamah by Badīʿ al-Zamān al-Hamadhānī695
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245 245 The Isfahan Maqāmah by Badīʿ al-Zamān al-Hamadhānī695 : ل� � ق�ا � � � م �ش�ا ���ه� ن ��ب ى � س��ي ��ع � �ان �ث ��د��ح � ب � ق � � �ر �تأ �و�� ٭ ة ��ح � م ل � ل�ك� � ��ة ��ل�� ف � � � �ق�ا�ل� � ا ع �ق � � �و� �ت� أ � ٭ ي � � �ف�ل� � ا ل� � و�ل��ح � �اه � ت �ل�ل��ح � ف � � � ٭ ّ ي � � � رل� � ا ى � ل�� �إ ري ��س��م ل �� ا م �ز � ت ��ع � أ � ن ��اه � �ف�ص� �إ ��ب �� ت � ن �ك � �� ٭ ة ��ب ���ج�ا � �إ� ل � � ا ُض �� �ر ف � � � ن � ّ ي ��ع �ت ��و�� ٭ ه�ت �ع �م �س�� ًءا�دن�� ة �ا� ل�ص� � ل��ل� � ي � � �دو� ُن �� ٭ ه�ت �ع �ق � � �و� �ت� �ام� ّ م � ُ ح � �اّ �مل�� ف � � � ٭ ة ��ح �ص�ب�� �ل�ك� � ��ة ��ل��ح �ارل� � ا ت �ن �ع � ت ��س�ا ي � � ن�ك � � �ل�� ٭ �اه � ك � �� ر �تأ � ة ��ل�� ف � � � �ق�ا�ل� � ا ت �و� �ف � � ى � ش ��� �خ � أ �و�� ٭ �اه � ك � �� رد أ � ة ��ع � ا� م�ج � � ل�� ا م � ن ��غ�ت � أ � ٭ ة ��ب ���اح � ص�� � ل�� ا ن �ي ��ب �� ن �م� ت �ل�ل��س�� ن �ف�ا� � � ٭ ف � � �و� �ق � �و�ل��ل� � ت �ل��ث �م�و�� ٭ ف � � �و� �ف�ص� � ل� � ا ل� � و�� أ � ى � ل�� �إ ت �ر�ص � �ف � � ٭ ة �ا� ل��ف�ل� � ا ء�اث �ع �و�� ى � ل��ع � ٭ ة �ا� ل�ص� � ل� � ا ت ��اك � �� بر ��ب �� ḥaddathanā ʿīsa bnu hishāmin qāl: kuntu bi-ʾiṣfahāna ʾaʿtazimu l-masīra ʾila r-rayy * fa-ḥalaltuhā ḥulūla l-fayy * ʾatawaqqaʿu l-qāfilata kulla lamḥah * wa-ʾataraqqabu r-rāḥilata kulla ṣabḥah * falamm ā ḥumma mā tawaqqaʿtuh * nūdiya liṣ-ṣalāti nidāʾan samiʿtuh * wa-taʿayyana farḍu l-ʾijābah * fa-nsalaltu min bayni ṣ-ṣaḥābah * ʾaghtanimu l-jamāʿata ʾudrikuhā * wa-ʾakhshā fawta l-qāfilati ʾatrukuhā * lākinnī staʿāntu bi-barakāti ṣ-ṣalāh * ʿalā waʿthāʾi l-falāh * fa-ṣirtu ʾilā ʾawwali ṣ-ṣufūf * wa-mathaltu lil-wuqūf... A maqāmah (literally, “place or occasion where one stands,” sometimes translated as “assembly”) is a short, usually narrative “picaresque” text in ornate rhymed prose, often with interspersed poetry, involving a fictional narrator and a fictional vagabond-like character, who reappears (in a series of individually independent maqāmahs) in various disguises, usually swindling or coaxing people (including the narrator) to part with their money. The term is also applied more loosely, for non-narrative didactic or moralistic pieces employing rhymed prose.696 ʿĪsā ibn Hishām and Abū l-Fatḥ al-Iskandarī are the two fictional personages who occur in most maqāmahs by al-Hamadhānī, as narrator and trickster-vagabond, respectively. Aḥmad ibn al-Ḥusayn al-Hamadhānī (358/968–398/1008), nicknamed Badīʿ al-Zamān (“Wonder of the Age”) is the “inventor” of the maqāmah; his fame was overshadowed by later and more artful practitioners of the form such as al-Ḥarīrī (d. 516/1122). To sepa- 246 246 246 246 Prose rate the rhyming segments full stops are used in Arabic editions; this would be confusing in my English rhymed version and they have been replaced by asterisks. ʿĪsā ibn Hishām related to us: Once I * was in Isfahan, * though going to Rayy697 * was my plan. * Therefore I only stayed * as briefly as the fleeting shade, * expecting the arrival of the caravan every second * and any morning to departure to be beckoned. * Now when the expected event was near, * the call to prayer I could hear: * it was a religious obligation, * so I slipped away from my friends to join the congregation, * and for the mosque I headed. * To miss the caravan was what I dreaded, * but it would be for the best * if by this prayer I would be blessed * so as to withstand * hardship in the desert land. * I found a place in front and there * I stood for the start of the prayer. * The imam came to the prayer niche and at this site * he started to recite * and began * with the “Opening” Sura from the Holy Qur’an * according to the manner of Ḥamzah, * lengthening each “stretching” with the “glottal stop,” i.e. the hamzah.698 * On tenterhooks I sat, in suspension * and full of apprehension * about missing the caravan and being left in this place. * But the imam followed up the “Opening” with “The Great Case,”699 * while I was being roasted upon the fire of patience, burning, * and grilled upon the coals of frustration, tossing and turning. * But I could only be silent and be brave, * or else speak up and then the grave! * For I knew that the uncouth people of that city * would not have any pity * in case of the prayer’s truncation * before the final salutation. * So under duress * I remained in this situation of stress * until the end of the sura * while my chances of catching the caravan grew ever poorer, * and I was filled with despair * of ever getting away from there. * Then the imam bent his back for the prostration * with an uncommonly humble self-abnegation * and an unusual manner of resignation. * Then, with his head and his hands raised, * he said, “May God listen to those by whom He is praised!” * Then he stood for a while, making me suppose * he had fallen into a doze. * But he came round * and bent down, hand and forehead to the ground. * I raised my head, looking for an opportunity * to slip away with impunity, * but between the rows I found no space, * so I sat down to prostrate myself in that place, * until the imam said “God is great!” for the sitting position. * And then the son-of-a-whore700 stood up for a...