«فَالْيَوْمَ مَنْ يَعْلَقُ الرَّجَاءَ بِهِ»
Today whoever places his hopes in that skill,
«أَكْسَدُ شَيْءٍ فِي سُوقِهِ الْأَدَبُ»
Finds literature the least saleable thing in its market.
*Kasād* is stagnation or a slump. The “market of literature” means the social world of patrons and rewards rather than a literal bookshop.
Capital, precious metal, and now the marketplace form a sustained economic image. His account is an argument about the insecurity of a literary livelihood.
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The Alexandrian Maqāmah — The Husband’s Poetic Defence and the Craft of Eloquence
«فَالْيَوْمَ مَنْ يَعْلَقُ الرَّجَاءَ بِهِ»
Today whoever places his hopes in that skill,
«أَكْسَدُ شَيْءٍ فِي سُوقِهِ الْأَدَبُ»
Finds literature the least saleable thing in its market.
*Kasād* is stagnation or a slump. The “market of literature” means the social world of patrons and rewards rather than a literal bookshop.
Capital, precious metal, and now the marketplace form a sustained economic image. His account is an argument about the insecurity of a literary livelihood.