The Barqaʿīd Maqāmah: Abū Zayd’s Sight, the Cleansing Ruse and His Escape

1. A new scene after the invitation

«وَلَبَّى دَعْوَةَ رُغْفَانِي»
He accepted my invitation to share bread.

Having recognized Abū Zayd, al-Ḥārith offers clothing and food and takes him along. The narrator understands this as hospitality toward a familiar literary figure. The next action, however, turns the meal into the setting for another trick. Rughfān denotes loaves of bread and gives the invitation a modest, concrete character.

2. Guiding a guest with his attendant

«وَبِيَدِي زِمَامُهُ، وَظِلِّي إِمَامُهُ»
His leading rein was in my hand, and my shadow went before him.

The narrator guides Abū Zayd as if he cannot see. Zimām ordinarily denotes a leading rein, here applied figuratively to guidance. The elderly woman accompanies them as the third member; the expression “the third hearthstone” heightens the stylized count of three and should be understood in this immediate narrative setting.

3. Seating the guest and serving what is available

«وَأَحْضَرْتُ عُجَالَةَ مَكْنَتِي»
When he settled down, I brought what I could quickly provide.

The narrative moves from the journey into the household. ʿUjālah suggests something quickly furnished, while maknah concerns ability or resources. The host serves what is at hand rather than staging a lavish meal. Rhythmic prose accompanies an ordinary domestic action.

4. The guest asks who is present

«يَا حَارِثُ، أَمَعَنَا ثَالِثٌ؟»
Al-Ḥārith, is there a third person with us?

Before continuing, Abū Zayd asks who else is present. The initial a- forms a question and maʿanā means “with us.” The question matters because he is about to disclose something that he prefers not to reveal before a stranger.

5. The woman is admitted to the secret

«لَيْسَ إِلَّا الْعَجُوزُ» … «مَا دُونَهَا سِرٌّ مَحْجُوزٌ»
There is no one here but the old woman; no secret need be kept from her.

Al-Ḥārith says only the elderly woman is present; Abū Zayd responds that nothing must be concealed from her. Sirr maḥjūz is a guarded secret. The exchange shows her privileged place in his confidence, but does not by itself establish any particular family relationship.

6. The unexpected opening of his eyes

«ثُمَّ فَتَحَ كَرِيمَتَيْهِ»
Then he opened his two eyes.

The presumed blindness is now decisively challenged. Karīmatayhi is an elevated expression for his two eyes, emphasizing their preciousness. Once Abū Zayd opens them, al-Ḥārith must reconsider the dependence he had assumed while guiding the guest.

7. Two eyes compared to twin stars

«كَأَنَّهُمَا الْفَرْقَدَانِ»
As though the two were the Farqadān, a pair of stars.

The Farqadān are two stars. Kaʾanna introduces the simile and the dual pronoun refers to the eyes. The comparison makes their sudden brightness visible and reverses the earlier impression that the man could not see.

8. Relief and bewilderment together

«فَابْتَهَجْتُ بِسَلَامَةِ بَصَرِهِ، وَعَجِبْتُ مِنْ غَرَائِبِ سِيَرِهِ»
I rejoiced at his sound sight and marvelled at his strange ways.

Al-Ḥārith experiences two responses: relief that the man can see, and astonishment at the conduct that made him appear blind. Baṣar denotes sight, while siyar refers to ways or conduct. The paired emotions sharpen the scene’s reversal.

9. An urgent need to ask

«وَلَمْ يَلْقَنِي قَرَارٌ، وَلَا طَاوَعَنِي اصْطِبَارٌ»
I found no peace, and patience would not cooperate with me.

Two parallel negatives convey rising impatience. Qarār is settled calm, while iṣṭibār suggests sustained endurance. Their pairing moves the scene from surprise to a direct demand for explanation.

10. Why pretend to be blind?

«مَا دَعَاكَ إِلَى التَّعَامِي؟»
What prompted you to feign blindness?

Al-Ḥārith is not asking for a medical diagnosis; he asks why a sighted man adopted the appearance of blindness. Taʿāmī, a form-V verbal noun, expresses assuming or simulating blindness and must be distinguished from actual ʿamā.

11. The risks of distant travel

«مَعَ سَيْرِكَ فِي الْمَعَامِي، وَجَوْبِكَ الْمَوَامِي»
Even as you travel through remote wastes and cross empty expanses.

The narrator adds a practical objection: how could someone assumed to be blind negotiate distant paths? Maʿāmī suggests difficult, obscure ways and mawāmī open desert wastes. Their patterned sounds intensify the image of travel hardship.

12. A deliberate delay before answering

«فَتَظَاهَرَ بِاللُّكْنَةِ، وَتَشَاغَلَ بِاللُّهْنَةِ»
He affected a speech impediment and occupied himself with a quick morsel.

Abū Zayd delays a plain answer. Luknah denotes impaired or hesitant speech, and luhnah a small, hurried portion of food. Their sound play matches another evasive performance: he pauses through manner and appetite before revealing his explanation.

13. Time personified as blind

«وَلَمَّا تَعَامَى الدَّهْرُ وَهُوَ أَبُو الْوَرَى»
When Time itself, the father of mankind, pretended blindness.

The first verse makes Time behave like a person and calls it the father of humankind. This is personification, not a literal kinship. Abū Zayd portrays a world that has turned away from right guidance, constructing a figurative defence of his own conduct.

14. The poet mirrors the age

«تَعَامَيْتُ حَتَّى قِيلَ إِنِّي أَخُو عَمًى»
I too pretended blindness until people said I was blind.

The second verse explains the ruse: taʿāmaytu states a deliberate pretence, while “brother of blindness” intensifies the apparent identity. The speaker can defend himself elegantly in verse, but rhetorical ingenuity does not itself establish the moral correctness of the deception.

15. The father–son analogy

«وَلَا غَرْوَ أَنْ يَحْذُوَ الْفَتَى حَذْوَ وَالِدِهِ»
Why be surprised if a son follows the path of his father?

Ḥadhā ḥadhwahu means to imitate or follow someone closely. The first verse describes Time as the father; the second makes Abū Zayd the son copying it. The two lines form one extended analogy. Lā gharw means “no wonder.”

16. How the two verses work together

Verse one: Personifies Time as blind to sound conduct.
Verse two: Casts Abū Zayd’s feigned blindness as imitation of that Time.

ExpressionRole
تَعَامَىTime personified
تَعَامَيْتُThe speaker’s action
أَبُو الْوَرَى / وَالِدِهِExtended father-and-son analogy

The deepest device is the linkage of meaning across both verses: shared verbal forms construct an excuse for conduct.

17. A surprising request after the explanation

«انْهَضْ إِلَى الْمِخْدَعِ»
Get up and go to the inner room.

Immediately after his poetic defence, Abū Zayd changes the subject. Mikhdaʿ means an inner room or secluded compartment. The errand appears mundane, but it will remove the host from view. The episode again connects persuasive language with a practical manoeuvre.

18. Four promised benefits of a cleanser

«بِغَسُولٍ يَرُوقُ الطَّرْفَ، وَيُنَقِّي الْكَفَّ»
A cleansing preparation that pleases the eye and cleans the hand.

Abū Zayd describes a cleansing substance whose alleged benefits extend across several senses and parts of the body. Yarūq means to please or appear attractive; yunaqqī means to cleanse. He also speaks of softened skin and a pleasant mouth. The extravagant list matters as a comic performance, not as a verified medical claim. The same passage also claims stronger gums and stomach; these further heighten the comic exaggeration.

19. Clean container, fragrance and fine texture

«نَظِيفَ الظَّرْفِ، أَرِيجَ الْعَرْفِ، نَاعِمَ السَّحْقِ»
Its container should be clean, its scent fragrant, and its powder finely ground.

Ẓarf is a vessel, ʿarf scent, and saḥq grinding or fineness of powder. The succession of criteria is both excessive and musical: container, smell, and texture are described in an intentionally polished rhythm. Ẓarf/ʿarf produces a striking sound pairing.

20. How touch and smell are paired

«يَحْسَبُهُ اللَّامِسُ ذَرُورًا، وَيَخَالُهُ النَّاشِقُ كَافُورًا»
Someone touching it should take it for fine dust, and someone smelling it for camphor.

Lāmis is the toucher and nāshiq the person who smells. The parallel structure pairs tactile fineness with a camphor-like aroma. Dharūr refers to a very fine powder. The precise sensory details extend the errand while entertaining the listener.

21. An unusually elaborate toothpick request

«وَاقْرِنْ بِهِ خِلَالَةً نَقِيَّةَ الْأَصْلِ، مَحْبُوبَةَ الْوَصْلِ»
Bring with it a toothpick of clean origin and agreeable use.

Khilālah is a slender toothpick. Abū Zayd now demands exceptional qualities even for this small item, including purity, shape, slenderness, and flexibility. The phrase pairs matching rhymes while turning a simple request into an elaborate verbal display.

22. Contrasting images in one toothpick

«لَهَا نَحَافَةُ الصَّبِّ … وَآلَةُ الْحَرْبِ وَلدُونَةُ الْغُصْنِ الرَّطْبِ»
It should have a lover’s slenderness, a weapon’s sharpness, and a fresh branch’s flexibility.

The toothpick is likened successively to a slender lover, a sharp weapon, and a supple young branch. The extravagant mixture of romance, warfare, and nature produces humour. The literary point lies in Abū Zayd’s clever layering of comparisons, not in the practical feasibility of such a product.

23. The host acts on the request

«فَنَهَضْتُ فِيمَا أَمَرَ لِأَدْرَأَ عَنْهُ الْغَمْرَ»
I rose to do what he asked, hoping to spare him discomfort.

Al-Ḥārith acts from hospitality, not suspicion. Fa-nahaḍtu is first-person past tense, while the purposive li- in li-adraʾa indicates his intention to avert discomfort. His good-faith action supplies the opening Abū Zayd requires.

24. The trick becomes clear only afterwards

«أَنْ يَخْدَعَ بِإِدْخَالِي الْمِخْدَعَ»
That he meant to trick me by sending me into the inner room.

The narrator explicitly says he did not suspect the plan when he left. Mikhdaʿ is the inner room; yakhdaʿ means “to deceive.” Their echo creates pointed sound play. In hindsight, the improbable list of cleansing supplies was a pretext for removing the host from the room.

25. The empty room and vanished pair

«وَجَدْتُ الْجَوَّ قَدْ خَلَا، وَالشَّيْخَ وَالشَّيْخَةَ قَدْ أَجْفَلَا»
On returning I found the place empty: the old man and woman had fled.

The host returns promptly with the requested items, only to find both visitors gone. Khalā/ajfalā provides a matching rhyme for emptiness and flight. Furious, he pursues them, but they are as impossible to recover as someone plunged beneath water or lifted high into the sky. The seventh maqāmah closes on that vivid disappearance.