The Barqaʿīd Maqāmah: The Elder’s Written Appeals

1. Preparing to leave Barqaʿīd

«أَزْمَعْتُ الشُّخُوصَ مِنْ بَرْقَعِيدَ»
I resolved to depart from Barqaʿīd.

The verb azmaʿtu expresses a firm decision, not a passing wish. The narrator, al-Ḥārith ibn Hammām, is about to leave the town. Al-shukhūṣ means departing or setting out on a journey.

2. The first flash of the feast and A change of intention

«وَقَدْ شَمَتَ بَرْقُ عِيدٍ»
Signs of the approaching feast had appeared.

The “flash of the feast” is a figurative glimpse of an approaching celebration. It sets the time and mood: townspeople are gathering while the narrator prepares to leave. The image makes a short temporal reference vivid.

«فَكَرِهْتُ الرَّحْلَةَ عَنْ تِلْكَ الْمَدِينَةِ»
I disliked leaving that town at that moment.

The narrator’s firm resolve is followed by hesitation. He wishes to witness yawm al-zīnah, the day of public festivity, before departing. The change of plan provides a believable reason for his presence at the gathering.

3. Devotion and assembly and Joining the crowd

«لَمَّا أَظَلَّ بِفَرْضِهِ وَنَفْلِهِ»
When the time came for its obligatory and voluntary devotions.

The pairing of farḍ and nafl distinguishes obligatory from additional worship. The reference establishes a congregation associated with the festive occasion, the setting in which the petitioner will appear.

«وَبَرَزْتُ مَعَ مَنْ بَرَزَ لِلتَّعْيِيدِ»
I went out with those attending the festive gathering.

Baraztu means to emerge or go out. Repeating the verb in maʿa man baraza portrays the narrator moving as part of the crowd, which will soon become the audience for an appeal for help.

4. Two verbs of assembly

«وَحِينَ التَأَمَ جَمْعُ الْمُصَلَّى وَانْتَظَمَ»
When the congregation at the prayer place assembled and formed ranks.

Iltaʾama conveys coming together, while intaẓama adds an orderly arrangement. Their pairing creates both rhythm and a precise image of a gathered congregation before the unexpected visitor appears.

5. The elderly stranger appears and The unusual bag

«طَلَعَ شَيْخٌ فِي شَمْلَتَيْنِ مَحْجُوبِ الْمُقْلَتَيْنِ»
An old man appeared in two wraps, with his eyes concealed.

Both shamlatayn (“two wraps”) and al-muqlatayn (“both eyes”) are dual forms. Clothing and concealed eyes together communicate frailty and help explain why the figure attracts the crowd’s sympathy.

«وَقَدِ اعْتَضَدَ شِبْهَ الْمِخْلَاةِ»
He had taken support from something resembling a provision-bag.

Al-mikhlāh is a bag or feed-sack. The word shibh signals resemblance, not exact identity. The small detail strengthens the impression of a poorly equipped wanderer and prepares the reader for his practiced public performance.

6. The old woman and the simile and A low greeting in rhymed prose

«وَاسْتَقَادَ الْعَجُوزَ كَالسَّعْلَاةِ»
He led along an old woman likened to a frightening legendary creature.

Al-saʿlāh belongs to the imagery of legendary frightening beings; it is a literary comparison, not a factual identification. The woman becomes important when she distributes the written slips among listeners.

«فَوَقَفَ وَقْفَةَ مَتَهَافِتٍ وَحَيَّا تَحِيَّةَ خَافِتٍ»
He stood unsteadily and offered a subdued greeting.

Mutahāfit suggests faltering weakness; khāfit describes a low voice. Their matching sounds produce rhymed prose while presenting a deliberately subdued entrance.

7. The coloured written slips and Distributing the appeals

«فَأَبْرَزَ مِنْهُ رِقَاعًا قَدْ كُتِبْنَ بِأَلْوَانٍ»
He brought out slips written in different colours.

Riqāʿ is the plural of ruqʿah, a written slip. The passive verb kutibna describes the slips as already written. The request is thus a prepared text capable of circulating through the crowd, not a spontaneous plea alone.

«فَنَاوَلَهُنَّ عَجُوزَهُ الْجَرُونَ»
He handed the slips to his elderly companion.

Nāwala means to hand something over. The man supplies the literary appeal; the woman becomes the distributor. The scene shows how textual craft and practical solicitation work together.

8. Nadā as a metaphor for generosity

«فَمَنْ آنَسَتْ نَدًى بِيَدِهِ أَلْقَتْ وَرَقَةً مِنْهُنَّ لَدَيْهِ»
Whenever she sensed generosity in someone’s hand, she placed a slip beside that person.

Nadā means generosity here, not literal moisture. Ānasat indicates perceiving a sign. She targets listeners likely to give something, adding a practical dimension to the ornate petition.

9. The narrator receives a slip

«فَأَتَاحَ لِيَ الْقَدَرُ الْمَعْتُوبُ رُقْعَةً فِيمَا مَكْتُوبٌ»
As fortune had it, one of the written slips came to me.

The narrator moves from observer to recipient. The phrase al-qadar al-maʿtūb personifies fate as something that might be blamed. The slip gives the reader access to the petition’s verses.

10. The opening cry of distress

«لَقَدْ أَصْبَحْتُ مَوْقُوذًا بِأَوْجَاعٍ وَأَوْجَالِ»
I have become battered by pains and fears.

Mawqūdh describes someone struck down or overwhelmed. Awjāʿ are pains; awjāl are fears. The paired plurals add musical balance. These are the petitioner’s claims within the tale, not independently verified biography.

11. Companionship and betrayal

«وَخَوَّانٌ مِنَ الْإِخْوَانِ قَالَ لِي لِإِقْلَالِي»
An unfaithful companion reproached me for my poverty.

Khawwān is an intensive description of betrayal, contrasting sharply with ikhwān, brothers or close companions. The nearly matching sounds intensify the irony of being let down by those expected to show loyalty.

12. Work turned to ruin

«وَإِعْمَالٌ مِنَ الْعُمَّالِ فِي تَضْيِيعِ أَعْمَالِي»
Actions by officials or workers brought my affairs to ruin.

The sequence iʿmāl, al-ʿummāl, aʿmāl repeats forms of the root ʿ-m-l (“work”). Their apparent productivity clashes with the stated outcome, the loss of his work, creating both derivational wordplay and irony.

13. The rhetorical force of fa-kam

«فَكَمْ أُصْلَى بِأَدْخَالٍ وَأَحْمَالٍ وَتَرْحَالِ»
How often I have been subjected to hurts, burdens, and exhausting travel.

Fa-kam functions as an exclamation of frequency, not an information-seeking question. Uṣlā evokes being exposed to burning intensity. The accumulation of burdens and travels conveys repeated hardship.

14. Danger and remembrance

«وَكَمْ أَخْطُرُ فِي بَالٍ وَلَا أَخْطُرُ فِي بَالِ»
How often I face danger, yet do not cross anyone’s mind.

The repeated sounds of akhṭuru and bāl turn in different semantic directions: being at risk, and being present in somebody’s thoughts. The double use makes neglect seem as painful as danger itself.

15. Children and extreme despair

«فَلَيْتَ الدَّهْرَ لَمَّا جَارَ أَطْفَا لِي أَطْفَالِي»
Would that oppressive fate had extinguished my children like lamps.

The split expression aṭfā lī / aṭfālī is acoustically close but semantically distinct. The line gives voice to extreme despair about his children. It is a dramatic utterance by the speaker, not a general ethical recommendation.

16. Household and governor and A path of humiliation

«لَمَا جَهَرْتُ آمَالِي إِلَى آلٍ وَلَا وَالِي»
Then I would not have had to voice my hopes before a household or governor.

Āl denotes a household or family; wālī a governor or office-holder. The line presents public supplication to families and authorities as a humiliating necessity imposed by misfortune.

«وَلَا جَرَرْتُ أَذْيَالِي عَلَى مَسْحَبِ إِذْلَالِي»
Nor would I have dragged my hems along a path of humiliation.

Adhyālī refers to the hems of his clothing. Dragging them over the “track of humiliation” turns bodily movement into a metaphor for wounded dignity. The imagery is emotional rather than a report of a particular route.

17. Worship and worn clothing

«فَمِحْرَابِي أَحْرَى بِي وَأَسْمَالِي أَسْمَى لِي»
My prayer-niche suits me better, and my old clothes are more honorable for me.

Miḥrābī / aḥrā bī and asmālī / asmā lī create striking sound patterns. The petitioner claims to prefer worship and worn garments over humiliating appeals, even as his actual conduct relies on public solicitation.

18. The request for a mithqāl

«فَهَلْ حُرٌّ يَرَى تَخْفِيفَ أَثْقَالِي بِمِثْقَالٍ»
Will a generous free person lighten my burden with a mithqāl?

Ḥurr literally means a free person but here appeals to nobility and generosity. Mithqāl is a weight measure; the line does not establish a universal coin value. The pairing of “burdens” and “weight” supports the plea.

19. Clothes as relief

«وَيُطْفِئُ حَرَّ تَبَلْبَالِي بِسِرْبَالٍ وَسِرْوَالِ»
And cool my burning distress with a tunic and trousers?

Sirbāl is a garment or tunic; sirwāl means trousers. Yuṭfiʾu ḥarr metaphorically treats distress as a fire to be extinguished. Clothing becomes both a practical request and an image of relief.

20. The poem’s sound pattern

The verses repeatedly move toward an -āl / -ālī sound without using one identical word. The pairs awjāʿ/awjāl, āl/wālī, asmālī/asmā lī, and sirbāl/sirwāl combine audible likeness with different meanings.

PairLiterary effect
أَوْجَاع / أَوْجَالSimilar sound, distinct meanings
مِحْرَابِي / أَحْرَى بِيSimilar sounds, different expressions
سِرْبَال / سِرْوَالClose-sounding garment names

21. Verses as a finely made garment

«فَلَمَّا اسْتَعْرَضْتُ حُلَّةَ الْأَبْيَاتِ»
When I examined the fabric of the verses.

Ḥullah is a fine outfit. Calling the verses an outfit is a metaphor for their crafted form. The narrator is struck not merely by the claimed suffering but by the intricate language in which it is presented.

22. The narrator’s new curiosity

«فَنَاجَانِي الْفِكْرُ بِأَنَّ الْوَصْلَةَ إِلَيْهِ الْعَجُوزَ»
I realized that the old woman was the route to reaching the man.

Thought is personified as a secret adviser in nājānī al-fikr. The narrator infers that the old woman can lead him to the remarkable writer. A literary curiosity becomes a motive for following the pair.

23. Collecting alms row by row and Hand after hand

«تَسْتَقْرِي الصُّفُوفَ صَفًّا صَفًّا»
She went along the rows, one after another.

The repetition ṣaffan ṣaffan depicts movement row by row. After distributing slips, she works methodically through the congregation seeking contributions. The repeated phrase visually and rhythmically conveys the routine.

«وَتَسْتَوْكِفُ الْأَكُفَّ كَفًّا كَفًّا»
She sought gifts from one hand after another.

Al-akuff means palms. Kaffan kaffan, “hand by hand,” echoes the earlier “row by row.” The verb tastawkifu conveys soliciting something from others. The verbal pattern captures the practical process of collection.

24. Poetry and practical labour

«وَمَا إِنْ يَنْتُجُ لَهَا غَنَاءٌ»
Her effort yielded no worthwhile benefit.

Ghanāʾ here denotes benefit or sufficiency. The distribution of slips is followed by persistent collection, not guaranteed success. The contrast between polished verse and the fatigue of soliciting alms is part of the maqāmah’s social observation.

25. The unrecovered slips

«وَمَالَتْ إِلَى إِرْجَاعِ الرِّقَاعِ وَأَنْسَاهَا الشَّيْطَانُ»
She meant to retrieve the slips, but forgot to do so.

The intention to reclaim the slips, followed by forgetfulness, adds a quiet comic touch. The written petition stays with recipients rather than being recycled. It also explains how the narrator retains the text whose literary skill has aroused his curiosity.