Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ - Shams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi - (19/478)

Siyar Aʿlām al-NubalāʾShams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi

except a trickle of māʾ wajhī (the water of my face—my remaining honor) that I have preserved from being sold; yet where, oh where, is the purchaser? (1)

Ibn Ḥayyūs said to him, “Had you added, ‘and you are the best purchaser,’ it would have been finer.”

He then continued, “You have found favor with me, and you have virtually announced my own demise; for Syria is never devoid of a gifted poet, and you are my heir. Go, therefore, to the Banū ʿAmmār in Tripoli, for they cherish this craft.” He presented him with garments and dinars, whereupon Ibn al-Khayyāt set out for the Banū ʿAmmār. They in turn rewarded him generously, and he praised them in verse.

Al-ʿImād al-Kātib remarked, “Ibn Ḥayyūs is the more skillful craftsman, yet Ibn al-Khayyāt’s poetry has a sweetness the other lacks. Anyone who looked at Ibn al-Khayyāt would think him a camel driver or a porter, given his dress, his appearance, and his build.”

Among his poems for ʿAḍud al-Dawla Abq ibn ʿAbd al-Razzāq, the emir of Damascus, is his renowned and exquisite ode of more than seventy lines, which opens:

Take from the east wind of Najd a pledge of safety for his heart, / For its breeze would once make his very reason fly away. (2)

(1) These two verses are recorded in his Diwan, p. 278; in Ibn Khallikan’s Wafayat al-Ayan, 1 / 145; and in al-Safadi’s al-Wafi, 8 / 68. (2) Diwan, p. 170, followed by the lines: “And both of you, beware that breeze, for whenever it blows the pang of yearning grows lighter; my two friends, had you ever loved you would know where passion stands in a heart smitten by it. He remembers—and remembrance kindles desire—and the lover longs, and whoever is touched by love is stricken by it: an ardour that endures through both the despair and the hope of love, a longing that persists whether the rendez-vous is distant or near.” Al-Husam al-Hajari composed a poem in the same metre that opens: “He turned his neck, gazelle-like, away from his herd and swore she would show no mercy to her lover; a beloved who, when reproached, grows proud, while I bear the humiliation of one who confesses his fault.” Ibn Shakir al-Kutbi cites this poem in Uyun al-Tawarikh, 13 / fol. 421.

إِلاَّ صُبَابَةَ مَاءِ وَجْهٍ صُنْتُهَا ... مِنْ أَنْ تُبَاعَ وَأَيْنَ أَيْنَ المُشْتَرِي (١) ؟ فَقَالَ لَهُ ابْنُ حيوس: لَوْ قُلْتُ: وَأَنْتَ نِعْمَ المُشْتَرِي، لَكَانَ أَحْسَنَ. ثُمَّ قَالَ: كَرُمْتَ عِنْدِي، وَنعيتَ إِلَيَّ نَفْسِي، فَإِنَّ الشَّام لاَ يَخلو مِنْ شَاعِر مُجيد، فَأَنْت وَارثي، فَاقصِدْ بنِي عَمَّار بِطَرَابُلُس، فَإِنَّهُم يُحبُّوْنَ هَذَا الفنَّ، ثُمَّ وَصَلَه بِثِيَابٍ، وَدَنَانِيْر، وَمَضَى إِلَى بنِي عَمَّار، فَوصلُوْهُ، وَمدحهُم. قَالَ العمَادُ الكَاتِب: ابْنُ حيُّوس أَصْنَعُ مِنِ ابْنِ الخَيَّاط، لَكِن لِشعر ابْنِ الخَيَّاط طَلاَوَةٌ لَيْسَتْ لَهُ، وَمَنْ كَانَ يَنظر إِلَى ابْنِ الخَيَّاط، يَعتقِدُه جَمَّالاً أَوْ حَمَّالاً، لِبزَّته وَشكله وَعرضه. فَمَنْ قَوْله فِي عضد الدَّوْلَة أبق بن عَبْدِ الرَّزَّاقِ الأَمِيْر بِدِمَشْقَ قَصِيدَته المَشْهُوْرَة الفَائِقَة، وَهِيَ أَكْثَرُ مِنْ سَبْعِيْنَ بَيْتاً، أَوَّلُهَا: خُذَا مِنْ صَبَا نَجْدٍ أَمَاناً لِقَلْبِهِ ... فَقَدْ كَانَ رَيَّاهَا يَطِيْرُ بِلُبِّهِ (٢)

(١) البيتان في دوانه: ٢٧٨، ووفيات الأعيان: ١ / ١٤٥، والوافي: ٨ / ٦٨. (٢) ديوانه: ١٧٠ وبعده: وأياكما ذاك النسيم فإنه * متى هب كان الوجد أيسر خطبه خليلي لو أحببتما لعلمتما * محل الهوى من مغرم القلب صبه تذكر والذكرى تشوق وذو الهوى * يتوق ومن يعلق به الحب يصبه غرام على يأس الهوى ورجائه * وشوق على بعد المزار وقربه وللحسام الحاجري على وزنها قصيدة مطلعها: لوى جيده كالظبي عن لسربه * وأقسم منها لا يرق لصبه حبيب له عند العتاب تعزز ال * برئ ولي ذل المقر بذنبه أوردها ابن شاكر الكتبي في عيون التواريخ: ١٣ / لوحة ٤٢١.