LessonsThe Dimyāṭī Maqāmah: Abū Ḥabīb’s Poetic ReplyQuiz

«وَكُلُّ مَنْ يَطْلُبُ عِنْدِي جَنًى / فَمَا لَهُ إِلَّا جَنَى غَرْسِهِ»
Anyone who seeks fruit from me receives only the fruit of what he himself planted.

Janā is fruit or a harvest; ghars is planting or the planted growth. The earlier image was measuring; now it is cultivation. Both express a connection between what is given and what is received.

This is not literally a lesson in horticulture. In the relationship the poet describes, sincerity, pretence, loyalty, and betrayal resemble seeds that yield different outcomes.

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The fruit of what one plants

The Dimyāṭī Maqāmah: Abū Ḥabīb’s Poetic Reply

«وَكُلُّ مَنْ يَطْلُبُ عِنْدِي جَنًى / فَمَا لَهُ إِلَّا جَنَى غَرْسِهِ»
Anyone who seeks fruit from me receives only the fruit of what he himself planted.

Janā is fruit or a harvest; ghars is planting or the planted growth. The earlier image was measuring; now it is cultivation. Both express a connection between what is given and what is received.

This is not literally a lesson in horticulture. In the relationship the poet describes, sincerity, pretence, loyalty, and betrayal resemble seeds that yield different outcomes.