Abundance from the Desert: Classical Arabic Poetry

9 The Would-Be Prophet

170 9 The Would-Be Prophet Horses, night, and the desert know me; so do swords, spears, the paper and pen. —al-Mutanabbi, No. 194 In this chapter we shall consider the last of the three great ‘Abbasid panegyrists , al-Mutanabbi (d. 965), widely thought of as the greatest Arab poet (the Mu‘allaqa of Imru’ al-Qays, as we have indicated, is generally regarded individually as the greatest Arabic poem). Before proceeding, however, we will briefly discuss the second major ‘Abbasid panegyrist, Abu Tammam’s successor, al-Buhturi (d. 897). Al-Buhturi was born in 821 at the town of Manbij in northern Syria. He emerged as a gifted poet and dedicated his early poetic efforts, as a teenager, to the praise of his tribe. Thereafter, he went off in search of patronage. He met Abu Tammam, who recommended him to various grandees. After Abu Tammam’s death ca. 846, he was granted an audience with Caliph al-Mutawakkil (r. 847–61), an opportunity that marked the beginning of a long and illustrious court career. Over the next half century, roughly, he praised six ‘Abbasid caliphs and a large number of their viziers and governors. He retired finally to his birthplace, where he had acquired substantial land, and died there. Al-Buhturi is most famous for his descriptive poetry. What follows is one of his most admired descriptions, of the Ja‘fari Lake made by al-Mutawakkil (or Abu al-Fadl Ja‘far; the former is a byname, short for “al-Mutawakkil ‘ala Allah,” “the One Who Trusts in God”) within the walls of his grand Ja‘fari Palace, a few miles north of Samarra: Whoever gazes upon the beautiful lake, with its peripheral abodes of lovely maidens, The Would-Be Prophet 171 Reckons it superior to the sea; the latter he ranks second. What has come over the Tigris lately, like the jealous one, vying now and then with the lake in beauty? Has she not seen that the guardian of Islam guards it from blame, that the builder of glory has built it? It is as if Solomon’s jinn had charge of its creation and attended to every detail.1 Were the Queen of Sheba to pass by, she would say: “It is the floor of the palace exactly.”2 Delegations of water pour into it hurriedly like horses on the loose. It is as if the white silver of ingots flows in its tributaries. When a breeze passes over it, the breeze makes ripples that reflect like chainmail. The brow of the sun, some mornings, sports with it; the welling sky, some mornings, cries on it. At night, when stars appear in the lake’s edges, you would think a firmament had been built into it. The enclosed fish do not reach its limit due to the space between this end and that. They swim in it with winged bodies like birds flapping through air. 172 Abundance from the Desert When they go down, they come to a great basin; when they go up, a vast plain. They veer often to the engraved dolphin that, by the side, flirts with the lake. The lake’s distant flower beds, looking on, dispense with the clouds— no need for those water skins. When it swells and overflows, when its wadi is full, it is like the palm of the Caliph. On the day of the lake’s naming, its standing was increased— to a point even above where it was—when it was named after him. The lake is surrounded by luxuriant gardens; at their near boundaries, you see always peacock feathers, conversing with the water. And the lake is bordered by two flat-topped hills, like Sirius and Procynon3 in early morning, each trying to rise above the other. Once the efforts of the Commander of the Faithful are manifest to describers, however, no description comes close to the achievement.4 On the subject of al-Buhturi, we might also speak of his famous poem that features a description of the Sasanian Ctesiphon ruins and the impressive battle wall painting he saw there.5 The qasida is striking not only for its vivid description , the length of which—at thirty-seven lines—does not conveniently permit a rendering here, but also for its themes and structure.6 Though presumably alBuhturi often composed, at least partially, for gain, he was clearly moved to compose this...