In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

٢١٧ 217 Notes 1 At the beginning of Ibn al-Qāriḥ’s letter, after the doxology. 2 i.e., an aversion to hypocrisy. 3 For the story of the cup, see Firdawsī’s Shāhnāma (Abolqasem Ferdowsi, Shahnameh: The Persian Book of Kings, trans. by Dick Davies, 812–13). An Arabic version that may have been known to al-Maʿarrī is found in al-Thaʿālibī, Ghurar akhbār mulūk al-Furs wa-siyarihim, 691–94. 4 The precise meaning of the word al-mughammas (nomen loci of ghammasa, “to plunge into water”) is unclear here. Bint al-Shāṭiʾ (who reads it as the active participle, al-mughammis) suggests “filth,” because a location with this name near Mecca was used to relieve oneself (see Yāqūt, Muʿjam al-buldān, s.v.). If correct, such a reference would be somewhat odd, coming from the mouth of a pre-Islamic Iranian courtier. It is supported, however, by the expression used in al-Thaʿālibī’s text (see preceding note) describing Shīrin as “a green plant of a dung-heap” (khaḍrāʾ dimnah, a well-known phrase for a beautiful woman of ill repute, see, e.g., al-Maydānī, Majmaʿ al-amthāl, 1:64–65: iyyākum wa-khaḍrāʾ al-diman). Nicholson translates “who will enter Hellfire ” (JRAS 1902, 88); one could connect it with ghamūs (Ibn Manẓūr, Lisān al-ʿArab: “false oath” because “it plunges the swearer into sin and then into the Fire”). The verb walaja, used by al-Maʿarrī, fits this interpretation (cf. walaja l-nār, “entering Hell-fire,” see A.J. Wensinck et al., Concordance et indices de la Tradition Musulmane, s.v. W-L-J). 5 To entice her lover. 6 Taking musīrīn to be derived from asāra, “to set in motion”; one would have expected a direct object. 7 Asad (which means “lion”) was the name of several tribes; the one mentioned here is not the most famous of them, but a division of the south Arabian tribe of Shanūʾah. In this passage several of the many Arabic words for “lion” are used. 8 See al-Mubarrad, Kāmil, 1:163. 9 The poet is the pre-Islamic Khuwaylid ibn Murrah, known as Abū Khirāsh, see Dīwān al-Hudhaliyyīn, 1233 (in Lisān al-ʿArab (N-J-B), the poet is called ʿUrwah ibn Murrah). 10 The meaning of laḥiqtu bi-l-hidr/hadr is not wholly clear; it could also be connected with hadara “to be shed without retaliation (blood), be unavenged.” ٢١٨ 218 Notes 11 The following makes it clear that he refers to Ibn al-Qāriḥ’s words jaʿalanī fidāʾahū (Volume One, IQ §2.1). 12 This ending marks the genitive of an indefinite noun. In such expressions one would expect an accusative (fidāʾan); a genitive not dependent on a preceding noun or preposition is odd. 13 Anonymously in Lisān al-ʿArab (F-D-Y, which has fidāʾan, with an accusative; and H-W-L). 14 The forms tubālah and tuhālah are somewhat irregular; see Lisān al-ʿArab (H-W-L). The latter is found in Bint al-Shāṭiʾ’s and other editions and also in Ibn Manẓūr, Lisān al-ʿArab, s.v. H-W-L, but under the root F-D-Y one finds tahālah. 15 Tentative translation; murāfiʿ has been connected with rafʿ, “nominative,” but the form is unusual. 16 The verse is discussed in, e.g., al-Baghdādī, Khizānat al-adab, 6:181–82, where also some explanations are offered for the reading fidāʾin. 17 See Ibn al-Qāriḥ’s letter, in Volume One, IQ §2.1. 18 Or perhaps “for three or four days” (the word layālī , “nights” being understood). 19 Arabic Nūḥ. For this belief, often mentioned, see, e.g., Lisān al-ʿArab (H-D-L). 20 The passage is somewhat obscure. The author seems to say: a gazelle doe may be yearning for leaves of the arāk tree but does not tell the rider to give her some. 21 The context seems to require the addition of “being bereaved”. 22 A verse by Kuthayyir. Kuthayyir, Dīwān, 279. 23 Quoted in dictionaries (Ibn Durayd, Jamharah, 526, 1049; Ibn Manẓūr, Lisān al-ʿArab, Ḥ-Y-R) as being recited (perhaps composed) by...

Share