Æabd-ul-Ḥamīd: The Poems of Æabd-ul-Ḥamīd

But, in the affairs of the world, who more dastard than thou? Thou showest no concern about religion, though it should be destroyed— Thou misguided—thou shameless—thou unworthy creature! Just as the child giveth pearls and jewels, in exchange for bread; In such wise playest thou, for the world, thy faith away. What! thou, who givest thy heart to the world, seekest grace! Thy life passeth bootlessly away, thou sifter of the wind! The foolish man yearneth after the goods of the world; And the baby capereth along, astride the cane horse. * Nothing unlawful, is a whit more pleasant than the lawful; But thy own sister and daughter are foul-nosed, † in thy sight. Thou hast not, in the least, swept it with the broom of repentance— The path of death, thou hast left, in the same thorny state as before. Since thou hast kept the field against men, good and brave, Unto the smiting-sword of Ḥamīd's intellect be all praise! XLIX. Though thou canst manage to give it good food, and fine clothes; Still, thou wilt not be able to exempt the body from the fire of hell. p. 132 Until thy body shall be decked out in the garments of piety, Plume not thyself on the mere adornment of the person. These acts, which passion, to-day, prompteth thee to commit, I perceive in them, for thee, death and destruction to-morrow. Since by death, thou becomest like unto a putrid carcass, Do not become, in life, like unto a musk-deer of Khut̤an. *

Do not become, in life, like unto a musk-deer of Khut̤an. * Fools, that they may gain the world thereby, their faith barter; But such like buying and selling as this, the wise practise not. Save thee, by whom both grave and resurrection are forgotten, Know, that every stranger seeketh his own country to reach. From the goblet which is full, no sound proceedeth ever; But thro’ deficiency and emptiness only, thy notoriety ariseth. Since here thy sitting is among the wicked, and the unworthy; Flatter not thyself, that there, thou shalt, with the just, arise. Unto thee, O Ḥamīd! the wise and the prudent will give ear; But what know the ignorant, concerning thy stringing of pearls. † L. How many lions hath fortune made a spectacle of, Into whose dens, both dogs and cats, now fearless enter! When destiny, in its own dire pitilessness, cometh, It casteth down stones, upon the furnace of glass. Destiny maketh that head a plaything for dogs, Within whose domain, the lion dared not place his foot. p. 133 In the conflict with fate, they fled far away, Whom the world feared to enter into contest with. The teeth, by which those iron-like pulse were masticated, God knoweth what acids have rendered them thus blunt. By the tears of what unfortunate, was that fire quenched, That, enwrapped in its flames, distant hills and dales? Like unto a scorpion, insignificant and contemptible dieth That man, whose envenomed sting, maketh others weep and wail.

That man, whose envenomed sting, maketh others weep and wail. The skilled in language must have arranged the rhymes of Ḥamīd; Otherwise, no one would have entered them upon any page. LI. Since thou confessest unto ignorance, it proveth thy sense is good; But when thou boastest of thy wisdom, thou art then unwise. When thy comprehension reacheth not unto thine own faults, How then knowest thou aught about the shortcomings of others? If thou hast preserved thy heart from the deceits of the flesh, Then mayest thou say unto it, verily thou art wise! Seeing that thou hast no conception of religion in thy heart, Thou, foolishly, pleasest thyself—thou art but lip-wise. But wherefore is not the thief of thine own abode seized by thee, When thou pointest out others’ stolen goods, and knowest the robber too? First repair thine own ruined and dilapidated affairs, If, in truth, thou knowest a plan for restoring them. Since, O heart-ravisher! all my wishes, thou fulfillest, How wonderfully well must thou, the heart of Ḥamīd know! p. 134 LII. Whom love may make lighter, even than a feather, Consider that person heavier than the mountain of Ḳāf. * When, with the ashes of abjectness, it shall become daubed, The mirror of their hearts, shall clear, and bright become. Though the fool may prate and vapour before the wise; The roasting grain will not, in the least, crack the pan. With eyes that see, and ears that hear, thou showest thy malice:

With eyes that see, and ears that hear, thou showest thy malice: Art thou not, unto the breath and footstep of the Messiah, blind? If a person shut not his eyes, purposely, on what is unlawful, The stranger's shoes can be easily recognised upon his feet. Since Ḥamīd stretcheth forth his hand to the chin of the beloved, O! would that the branch of the willow did apples yield! LIII. Thou shouldst not take amiss, O beloved! my gazing upon thee; For the nightingales fly and flutter, continually, about the rose. Any worthiness of association with thee, in myself, I see not; Hence have the pupils of mine eyes, from looking, wholly ceased. Those eyes of thine, at last, carried away my heart from me, Notwithstanding with endurance and patience I guarded it. Art thou aware of thy raids and onslaughts, or art thou not, Seeing that thou hast pillaged the abode of my resignation? p. 135 The stones of resentment and hatred, rain down upon my head, When I behold my rivals, around the door of thy dwelling gathered. Let Khizr * be the gate-keeper of those gates, and those walls, Whence thy coming and going—thy exit and entrance, may be. When that smile of thine, in thy chin, a well-like dimple dug, Then was it, that I perceived my own falling helpless therein. I would, at that time, have concealed this dejection of mine, Had I any idea, that from thee I should have comfort received. Throughout the whole world there is quiet and tranquillity;

Throughout the whole world there is quiet and tranquillity; But the Mughal † of sorrow for thee, hath, against Ḥamīd, risen. LIV. Whereas I discovered the science of the alchemy of love, Therefore, this earthy form of mine hath sallow become. When the fair, their spells and incantations commence, They cast burthens upon the back of forbearance and control. With prayers upon my lips, I fell in love in my heart Verily, the lion hath devoured me, whilst seated by the hearth. It heareth not the wails of the nightingale in the parterre; For this reason the mountain partridge laugheth so loudly. I have sunk down, to this degree, in the ocean of love, That I remember not whether I am of the sea, or of the land. So sore distressed am I, with dried up heart and humid eyes, That Majnūn seemed insignificant and contemptible to me. p. 136 The bitterness of separation will not pass down my throat, Notwithstanding I eat, along with it, the sugar of association. Tears too, in the time of adversity, severed themselves from me Alas, one's own, as well as strangers, are but prosperity's friends! How wonderfully gorgeous thou makest simple things, O Ḥamīd! May thy penetrating conceptions never come under the evil eye! LV. When a superior entereth into contention with an inferior, Through folly, he exchangeth a shawl for a woollen blanket. He who calleth another, the son of a dog, is, himself, a dog;

He who calleth another, the son of a dog, is, himself, a dog; For the son of a man affiliateth not another on a dog. Than this, that at a dog thou shouldst fling a stone or a clod, It is far better, that thou shouldst throw him a cake of bread. Now, out upon such like name and indication, That may set up for thee the staff of injury and ill! The acts of youth cannot be practised in old age Therefore, old woman! with gilded paper ornament not thy head. * Every proceeding harmonizeth with its own proper season— White hair suiteth not for side locks, nor for back ones either. † Plodding about in the world, is of no advantage whatever— Then what have I to do with the embraces of this old hag? p. 137 Let not the inferior sit in the dwelling of the superior! Let not wool be vended at the market price of silk! Since, unto such pure white admonitions, it giveth utterance, God forbid that the tongue of Hamīd should falter ever! LVI. Since thou art occupied in giving ear unto envy and covetousness, Tho’ thou shouldst the possessor of treasures become, a poor beggar art thou. Sovereignty and dominion shall follow thee, like a shadow, If thou art content, like the Ḥumā, upon dry bones to live. * Wherefore then, cast away life and faith, for the sake of the belly? Why, O why! dost thou, broken-down-asses, upon roses graze? Like unto dogs, that circle round about the putrid carcass, Thus thou, for protection, to worthy and unworthy payest court.

Thus thou, for protection, to worthy and unworthy payest court. Thy human nature will become that of the dog by this covetousness; Therefore, guard well thy integrity by patience, if thou art wise. Greediness and envy will bring such calamities upon thee As may never have befallen any one—so hereafter wilt thou say. Safety from Hell's burning flames, cannot be effected by this, That thou shouldst gay clothes don, eat delicacies, and extol thyself. In this world, restrain thy violent passions by devotion and piety, If thou entertain the desire of salvation, in the world to come. Since in love, thou endurest such an amount of affliction, Thou form of Ḥamīd! what a terrible calamity art thou! p. 138 LVII. God forbid that the mouths of affliction be opened on any one; For these mouths, in agony, are the very mouths of dragons! That which, very speedily, levelleth the strong fortress with the plain, Is either the evil mouths of cannon, or the mouths of enmity. Tremble at the words from a single mouth of the oppressed, Tho’ a thousand tongues may offer prayers for thy long life. When the blast of the sigh of the woe-begone reacheth them, It filleth, with ashes and dust, the mouths of flattery and deceit. Whom the inflammation of deep-drawn sighs shall strike, The mouths of that person's wounds shall never, never close. Have those folks made sweet with words those speaking mouths, Which, to charm, have the power of the mouth of the Messiah?

Which, to charm, have the power of the mouth of the Messiah? When it receiveth the blow of the injuries of the oppressed, The soundest mouth is more useless made, than a hole in a wall. O, where are those tongues, so enchanting and bewitching, Which make the mouths of denial, in confession, to assent! Now, thou hast laid the hand of silence upon thy tongue, Since thou, O mouth! didst feel the blow of the fist of reply. The morning shall not dawn upon their night of sorrow, Against whom, every morning, mouths maledictions utter. Ḥamīd hath thus torn to pieces the slanderous world, Like the hungry dogs, when they place their mouths to the game LVIII. Thou meltest me, every moment, in a hundred ways; But thou showest not, unto me, the tinge of attachment. p. 139 All unprofitably, during the reign of thy tyrannical beauty, Anchorites bring under cultivation patience and austerity. To the sight, become manifest, in every wrinkle of thy brow, The signs and portents of the torments of the judgment-day. Who, with thy sanguinary eyes, may contract acquaintance, In their families will be woe and misery for evermore. Whereas, I go about searching every portal and gateway, I seek the threshold of the door of thy dwelling to find. How shall I bring myself before the sword of thy countenance, When the mirror, itself, recoileth from the edge of it? Since, the "Night of Power" of thy curls became its portion, *

Since, the "Night of Power" of thy curls became its portion, * What night-watching is fallen to the good fortune of the comb! I, Ḥamīd, twist and twine myself about, unavailingly, Like unto a serpent on the treasure of the faces of the fair. † LIX. Although on thy sitting and rising thou mayest be hailed "Thy sacrifice;" ‡ Yet, when thou sittest at another's door, thou sprawlest on the stake. p. 140 Account not this lowliness humiliation; for it is, truly, wealth, That upon thine own mat, poor and distressed, thou reclinest. Out upon that rising, and that sitting, though it be upon a throne, That ever sitteth down in enmity, and, in animosity, ariseth! From the head of that masnad, * thou wilt contemptible arise, Shouldst thou press, like a burden, on the heads of the poor. By pity and sympathy, strive to gain the hearts of people, If, like the taper, thou wouldst sit pre-eminent, all others above. Wherefore dost thou not tremble at seeing the tears of the oppressed? Why sittest thou tranquil and undisturbed, on the face of the flood? Regard him not, who neither himself consumeth, nor bestoweth on others, That thus, like unto a serpent, upon a hidden treasure reclineth. This world is neither the abode of stability, nor of peaceful repose; Yet still, foolishly, thou standest fast at the bridge's head. The ruby of honour and fame, O Ḥamīd! thou wilt acquire, If, in meekness, with the poor and humble, thou sittest in the dust.

If, in meekness, with the poor and humble, thou sittest in the dust. LX. Like as thou art all powerful over me, so is thy guardian; For although he is the dog of thy door, he is the master of me. Though he may do me a thousand injuries, I will not return them— For thy sake, civility towards him, is expedient unto me. p. 141 Whatever wrongs thy heart desireth, heap them upon my head; Since every thing improper of thine, is meet and proper for me. Though thy coldness drew out the very breath from my body, What matter, since solicitude for thy love, is a substitute for it? At the yearnings of this maddened heart, I am confounded; For I know not, in the least, what thing it desireth from thee. Even in association, it weepeth on account of separation What wonderful dignity hath it been the heart's fortune to acquire! Now, taking thy love into account; again, considering its tyranny; At one breath the heart is impetuous, and at another it is repentant. May the Almighty keep the thoughts of thee, ever present in my breast! Then what mattereth it, whether thy face may present, or absent be? Though Ḥamīd, from the beloved, desireth the hand of society; Yet what poor beggar hath a patent of nobility acquired? 87:* A prelate, a doctor learned in the law, a venerable old man. 87:† A priest, a learned man. 88:* The term "placing the hand on the hip," is similar to one's scratching his head, or putting his finger in his mouth, when entirely at a loss what to do.

88:* The term "placing the hand on the hip," is similar to one's scratching his head, or putting his finger in his mouth, when entirely at a loss what to do. 90:* See Raḥmān, Poem XIX., first note. 90:† The chikor is the bartavelle or Greek partridge; and the redness of its legs refers to the custom amongst Muḥammadans of dyeing the hands and feet, by young people, on festive occasions; and is a symbol of joy. 90:‡ Potiphar's wife. 91:* Referring to the hateful rule of the Mughal Emperors of Hindūstān, from the days of Bābar to the foundation of the Afghān monarchy by Aḥmad Shāh, which all Afghāns cry out against. 92:* Yaman—Arabia Felix, celebrated throughout the East for its tulips and its rubies. 92:† A country of Chinese Tartary, famous for its musk, and the beauty of its women. 94:* The Persian Gulf. 95:* See note at page 48. 96:* Oriental anime, or species of amber, which has the virtue of attracting straws. 96:† This refers particularly to Afghān mothers very often becoming the innocent cause of the death of their infants, from falling asleep whilst giving suck at night, and the nipple being in the infant's mouth, the weight of the breast itself suffocates the child. 97:* Rustam—the Persian Hercules, and the hero of the celebrated epic poem of the Shāh Nāmah by Firdousī. 99:* The tulip is considered the frailest flower of the garden. 99:† Children, in Afghānistān, when they see wild geese, run after them crying out to give them a cup.

99:† Children, in Afghānistān, when they see wild geese, run after them crying out to give them a cup. 99:‡ The rose is said to be laughing when it is wet with the drops or tears of dew, which is unreasonable; for by the dew's moisture, the rose's garment, which, as a bud, was gathered together, becomes rent or full- blown. 102:* It is supposed that the complaints and the curses of the oppressed are most effective at the dawn of day. 102:† See note at page 39. 103:* See note at page 29. 104:* The Father of Rivers—the Afghān name for the Indus. 105:* See second note at page 26. 105:† See note at page 80. 107:* Anointing the eyelids with antimony on festive occasions, and also to increase their blackness. 107:† Green is the mourning colour of Muḥammadan countries. 109:* See second note at page 26. 109:† It is the custom to stick up a piece of a broken black pot in melon grounds, to avert the evil eye, in the same manner as they raise up scarecrows in England to keep the birds away. 112:* Referring to public dancing in the East, the occupation of a certain class of females, and confined to them only. 114:* The infernal tree mentioned in the Ḳur’ān, the fruit of which is supposed to be the heads of devils. 116:* The fixed, staring eye of the locust, is an emblem of immodest eyes, that never look down. 118:* They say, in the East, that pearls are formed by the oyster receiving a single drop of rain-water in its shell.

118:* They say, in the East, that pearls are formed by the oyster receiving a single drop of rain-water in its shell. 119:* Yaman—Arabia Felix, said to be famous for its rubies. 119:† See note, page 29. 122:* There is a certain fly or beetle that skims along the surface of the water, and is difficult to strike; hence the doing of any absurd or useless thing, is like attempting to strike it. 123:* The name of a tribe of Tartars, residing to the north of Bālkh, notorious robbers. 123:† From the pinnacle of heaven to the bottom of the uttermost abyss. According to Muḥammadan theories, the earth is supported by a fish. 123:‡ Jamāl Khān, of the tribe of Mohmand and clan of Khudrzī, about the year h. 1122 (a.d. 1711), during the governorship of Nāsir Khān, p. 124 Ṣūbah-dār of Kābul, was raised to the chieftainship of his clan, during which time he plundered and destroyed the village of Æsau, one of his own tribe. About this time, the marriage of Jalāl, son of Jamāl, was about to be celebrated; and the Ṣūbah-dār himself sent the sum of two thousand rupees towards its expenses. Æsau, however, bent upon taking revenge, and Jamāl's clan being weak in proportion to his own, he sent his spies to bring him intelligence when his enemy should be occupied in his son's nuptial ceremonies, to fall upon him. On the night of the marriage, therefore, he assembled his friends and clansmen, and came upon Jamal's village. Jamul, though totally unprepared for such an attack, came out to meet his enemies; but having been badly wounded, he had to seek shelter within the walls of his own dwelling. On this, Æsau set it on fire; and Jamal, with his son and family, and the parties assembled at the celebration of the wedding, to the amount of upwards of eighty men, women, and children, were consumed. According to the Poet Hallman, Gul Khān was the only friend who stood by Jamal on this occasion, and was burnt to death along with the others; thus proving his friendship by the sacrifice of his life. Æsau was of the same tribe as Ḥamīd himself; and the poem above seems to have been written in reply to one by Raḥmān, who takes the part of Jamal, by way of defending Æsau.

125:* The name of an Indian tree (Ficus Indica.) 126:* Alluding to Gul Khān and others, mentioned in preceding note. 126:† See note at page 123. 126:‡ Referring to the hollowness of the heavens, as apparent to us. 127:* Darweshes and Faḳīrs carry a bowl, in which they receive alms. 127:† See second note at page 26. 128:* What chemists term "killing mercury." 129:* The name of one of the two grand divisions of the Afghān tribes, inhabiting the tracts about Peshāwar, and to the north. 129:† Canaan. 129:‡ A plant bearing a red berry, the ranunculus or crowfoot. 129:§ The Turks or Scythians have generally fine countenances and large dark eyes, hence the Muḥammadan poets make frequent use of the word to express beautiful youth of both sexes. 129:§§ There is an insect called an ant by the Afghāns, which, on its wings appearing in the spring, comes forth and falls a prey to the birds. 129:** The name of the negro mu’aẓẓain or crier, who announced unto the people when Muḥammad prayed. 130:* See first note at page 129. 131:* Children in Afghānistān ride on a long reed for a horse, as they do in England upon a stick. 131:† That is to say, what is foreign is good. 132:* A district of Chinese Tartary, famous for its musk. 132:† The composition of poetry is termed, stringing pearls. 134:* A fabulous mountain, supposed to surround the world, and bound the horizon. 135:* See note at page 48.

135:* See note at page 48. 135:† Figuratively, a tyrant. See note at page 91. 136:* Women in Afghānistān ornament their hair by sticking patches of gilt paper in it, on festive occasions in particular, if they do not possess ornaments more substantial, in the shape of golden ducats. 136:† The hair of young females is either plaited into numerous small plaits, or divided into three large ones, one on each side of the head, and the other hanging down the back. 137:* The Humā is a fabulous bird of happy omen, peculiar to the East. It exists on dry bones; never alights; and it is supposed that every head it overshadows will, in time, wear a crown. See Attila, by the late G. P. R. James, Chap. VI. 139:* Laylatu-l-ḳadr, or shab-i-ḳadr—the night of power—is the 27th of the month Ramaẓān, and is greatly revered on many accounts, but more particularly as being the night on which the Kur’ān began to descend from heaven. On its anniversary, all orthodox Muḥammadans employ themselves throughout the night in fervent prayer, imagining that every supplication to the Omnipotent, then put up, will be favourably received. 139:† Every buried treasure is supposed to be guarded by a serpent or a dragon. 139:‡ "I am thy sacrifice"—a respectful and endearing form of answer, in use amongst the Afghāns, Persians, and others. 140:* A carpet and cushion at the upper part of a room, and accounted the seat of honour; but it generally refers to the large cushion which kings sit on as a throne.