The Maʿarran Maqāmah — The Needle Before the Judge

1. Two litigants before a judge

«رَأَيْتُ مِنْ أَعَاجِيبِ الزَّمَانِ أَنْ تَقَدَّمَ خَصْمَانِ إِلَى قَاضِي مَعَرَّةِ النُّعْمَانِ»
I witnessed one of the marvels of the age: two disputants appeared before the judge of Maʿarrat al-Nuʿmān.

A seemingly small lawsuit becomes a contest in eloquent expression. Instead of stating the matter directly, both parties use figurative descriptions that conceal the object at the heart of their dispute.

2. Legal vocabulary of the scene

Khaṣmān is the dual of khaṣm: two opposing parties. Qāḍī is a judge; taqaddama ilā expresses approaching someone in a formal setting.

The rhetorical speeches also serve legal purposes: one party alleges harm and the other responds. The central reading task is to identify the object and the alleged damage behind their elaborate words.

3. The contrasted appearances

«أَحَدُهُمَا قَدْ ذَهَبَ مِنْهُ الْأَطْيَبَانِ، وَالْآخَرُ كَأَنَّهُ قَضِيبُ الْبَانِ»
One had lost two pleasures of life, while the other was like a slender branch of the bān tree.

Al-aṭyabān is glossed as the pleasures of eating and marital intimacy, suggesting old age. The bān branch likens the young man to a straight, slender shoot. The pairing vividly establishes contrast before either speaker argues.

4. The elder’s ceremonial opening

«أَيَّدَ اللَّهُ الْقَاضِيَ كَمَا أَيَّدَ بِهِ الْمُتَقَاضِيَ»
May God strengthen the judge, just as He has strengthened the litigant through him.

The elder opens with a formal blessing. Repeated ayy ada lends rhythm, while al-qāḍī and al-mutaqāḍī share a root. The phonetic art is inseparable from the courtroom setting.

5. A mysterious prized possession

«رَشِيقَةَ الْقَدِّ، أَسِيلَةَ الْحَدِّ»
Graceful in form, smooth and fine at the edge.

The adjectives could describe a delicate human figure, yet ḥadd also denotes a sharp edge. The speaker deliberately applies human-style praise to an implement, making its identity part of a verbal riddle.

6. The language of work and endurance

«صَبُورٌ عَلَى الْكَدِّ»
Patient through hard work.

A small tool is made to sound like a tireless servant. Kadd denotes labor and strain, while ṣabūr is an intensive form conveying persistence. Behind the personification lies the object’s repeated practical use.

7. Heat and cold in a verbal puzzle

«وَتَجِدُّ فِي تَمُّوزَ مَسَّ الْبَرْدِ»
It feels the touch of cold even in the heat of Tammūz.

Tammūz evokes the summer heat. The surprising opposition of heat and cold deepens the riddle. Its point is not a weather report but an imaginative way of describing the implement.

8. Four attributes with hidden clues

«ذَاتَ عَقْلٍ وَعِنَانٍ، وَحَدٍّ وَسِنَانٍ»
As though it possessed reason and reins, an edge and a spear-point.

Reason suggests a person, reins suggest a controlled creature, and edge and point suggest a sharp tool. Their collision of meanings hides the practical object within a series of familiar images.

9. A hand without fingers; a mouth without teeth

«وَكَفٍّ بَنَانٍ، وَفَمٍ بِلَا أَسْنَانٍ»
The image speaks of a palm and fingers, and a mouth without teeth.

The body-part vocabulary is figurative, not anatomical. Attributing human parts to an inanimate implement creates personification. Each odd detail delays recognition while adding a clue.

10. A tongue that pricks

«تَلْدَغُ بِلِسَانٍ نَضْنَاضٍ»
It stings with a darting tongue.

Taldaghu commonly describes the sting or bite of a venomous creature. Its application to a fine point is metaphorical; the “tongue” is the active, narrow part of the instrument, not a literal organ.

11. The trailing, flowing hem

«وَتَرْفُلُ فِي ذَيْلٍ فَضْفَاضٍ»
It strides as if wrapped in a long, flowing hem.

Dhayl is a trailing garment hem; faḍfāḍ suggests breadth or looseness. The exaggerated clothing image hints at a needle followed by an extended thread, turning an everyday tool into a richly dressed character.

12. Appearing in black and white

«وَتَجْلَى فِي سَوَادٍ وَبَيَاضٍ»
It appears amid blackness and whiteness.

The opposites black and white create ṭibāq, or antithesis. Threads and fabrics of different colors provide a plausible practical basis, while the phrasing elevates commonplace work into visual description.

13. Personification as the central device

«نَاصِحَةٌ خَدَّاعَةٌ، خَبَّاءَةٌ طَلَّاعَةٌ»
It is at once an adviser and a deceiver, sometimes concealed and sometimes emerging.

Alongside patience, tongue, mouth, and trailing hem, these oppositions make an inanimate tool sound like a living character. Personification gives it both admirable and contradictory human traits, delaying recognition while making the description memorable.

14. What the tool actually does

«إِذَا قَطَعَتْ وَصَلَتْ»
When it pierces or separates, it also joins.

A needle punctures cloth, yet the accompanying thread can join two edges. The contrast of qaṭaʿa and waṣala compresses a whole craft operation into two apparently opposing actions.

15. The needle–thread relationship

ImagePractical meaning
Edge / spear-pointNeedle tip
Flowing hemTrailing thread
Cut / joinPierce and stitch
StingPrick of the point

The clues identify an everyday sewing needle. The narrative question now becomes legal rather than lexical: who should bear responsibility when that needle is damaged?

16. What the elder is seeking

The elder gives a lavish description of his possession before protesting its damage. His phrasing suggests that the object may sometimes injure its user, another instance of treating a tool as a human actor. In court, such praise makes a small loss feel important.

A critical question follows: Can elegant language substitute for proof? Rhetoric may make an allegation persuasive, but the circumstances of the damage require the second party’s account.

17. The youth responds: an accident

«أَمَّا الشَّيْخُ فَأَصْدَقُ مِنَ الْقَطَا، وَأَمَّا الْإِفْضَاءُ فَفَرَطَ عَنْ خَطَأٍ»
The elder is truer than the qaṭā bird, but the damage occurred by mistake.

The young man does not simply deny the elder’s account. Instead, he distinguishes the event from the intent behind it. Admitting harm while denying deliberate wrongdoing is the core of his defense.

18. The qaṭā bird simile and two claims

«أَصْدَقُ مِنَ الْقَطَا» is a proverbial expression invoking the reliability of the qaṭā bird. It allows the youth to acknowledge the elder respectfully.

Claim 1: The implement was indeed damaged.
Claim 2: The damage was not intentional.

The claims are logically compatible. The youth’s defense rests on their distinction.

19. The object’s connection to the smith

«مُنْتَسِبًا إِلَى الْقَيْنِ، نَقِيًّا مِنَ الدَّرَنِ وَالشَّيْنِ»
Descended, as it were, from the smith, and free of dirt or defect.

Al-qayn denotes a smith. The speaker turns the needle’s manufacture into a family lineage. Daran and shayn pair physical soiling with blemish, reinforcing its former good condition.

20. Wordplay on benefit and approval

«يُفْشِي الْإِحْسَانَ، وَيُنْشِي الِاسْتِحْسَانَ»
It spreads good work and produces admiration.

Iḥsān denotes excellence or beneficence, while istiḥsān is finding something pleasing or commendable. Parallel verbs and related nouns give the claim musical coherence and present utility as aesthetic achievement.

21. A tool that serves people and expression

«وَيُغْذِي الْإِنْسَانَ، وَيَتَحَامَى اللِّسَانَ»
It brings benefit to people and, as it were, keeps away from the tongue.

The implement becomes a silent benefactor. The balanced verbs give the sentence rhythm, while the meaning praises practical usefulness rather than speech.

22. Parallel verbs and productive work

«إِنْ سَوَّدَ جَادَ، وَإِنْ وَسَمَ أَجَادَ»
When it leaves a dark mark it performs well, and when it marks it excels.

Jāda and ajāda share a lexical root but differ in form and use. Their derivational pairing adds elegance, suggesting refined workmanship rather than providing a literal catalogue of every movement of a needle.

23. Generosity, companionship, and flexibility

«يَسْخُو بِمَوْجُودِهِ، وَيَسْمُو عِنْدَ جُودِهِ»
It gives generously of what it possesses and rises in esteem through giving.

The language of generosity is applied to a practical instrument. The phrase about giving more when asked extends the image of generosity. The subsequent mention of a “companion” also fits the needle and thread, continuing the playful transformation of a tool into a social being.

24. Two advocates using the same art

ElderYoung man
Praises what has been damagedAcknowledges its former excellence
Emphasizes the seriousness of lossEmphasizes lack of intent
Personification and metaphorPersonification and derivational wordplay

Both parties impress by their eloquence, yet the legal question remains open: how should damage to the needle be established, and what compensation, if any, is due?

25. The riddle resolves; the ruling does not

The needle, thread, and accidental damage are now linked, but the embellished speeches still obscure the precise dispute. The scene displays both the appeal and the limits of eloquence.

Four distinct questions remain: What is the object? Was it damaged? Why did damage occur? Is compensation owed? The judge will press the litigants to clarify those matters.