'Who made all graces all collected He * In Adam's loins, our
Seventh Imam, for thee,[1]
Thou hast the hearts of men with reverence filled, * Enguarding
all with heart-humility
Rebelled I never by delusion whelmed * For object other than thy
clemency ;[2]
And thou hast pardoned me whose like was ne'er * Pardoned before,
though no man pled my plea:
Hast pitied little ones like Katá's[3] young, * And mother's
yearning heart a son to see.'
Quoth Maamun, 'I say, following our lord Joseph (on whom and on our Prophet be blessing and peace!) let there be no reproach cast on you this day. Allah forgiveth you; for He is the most merciful of those who show mercy.[4] Indeed I pardon thee, and restore to thee thy goods and lands, O uncle, and no harm shall befall thee.' So I offered up devout prayers for him and repeated these couplets,
'Thou hast restored my wealth sans greed, and ere * So didst,
thou deignèdest my blood to spare:
Then if I shed my blood and wealth, to gain * Thy grace, till
even shoon from foot I tear,
Twere but repaying what thou lentest me, * And what unloaned no
man to blame would care:
Were I ungrateful for thy lavish boons, * Baser than thou'rt
beneficent I were!'
Then Al-Maamun showed me honour and favour and said to me, '
- ↑ Adam's loins, the "Day of Alast," and the Imam (who stands before the people in prayer) have been explained. The "Seventh Imam" here is Al-Maamun, the seventh Abbaside the Ommiades being, as usual, ignored.
- ↑ He sinned only for the pleasure of being pardoned, which is poetical-and hardly practical-or probable.
- ↑ The Katá (sand-grouse) always enters into Arab poetry because it is essentially a desert bird, and here the comparison is good because it lays its eggs in the waste far from water which it must drink morning and evening. Its cry is interpreted "man sakat, salam" (silent and safe), but it does not practice that precept, for it is usually betrayed by its piping " Kata! Kata!" Hence the proverb, "More veracious than the sand-grouse," and "speak not falsely, for the Kata sayeth sooth," is Komayt's saying. It is an emblem of swiftness: when the brigand poet Shanfara boasts, "The ash-coloured Katas can drink only my leavings, after hastening all night to slake their thirst in the morning," it is a hyperbole boasting of his speed. In Sind it is called the "rock pigeon" and it is not unlike a grey partridge when on the wing.
- ↑ Joseph to his brethren, Koran, xii. 92, when he gives them his "inner garment" to throw over his father's face.
