The Raḥbiyyah Maqāmah — An Accusation, an Unusual Oath and a Hundred-Mithqāl Offer

1. The summons to Raḥbah and the resolve to travel

«هَتَفَ بِي دَاعِي الشَّوْقِ إِلَى رَحْبَةِ مَالِكِ بْنِ طَوْقٍ»
The call of longing summoned me to Raḥbat Mālik ibn Ṭawq.

Al-Ḥārith ibn Hammām begins the tenth maqāmah with the urge to travel, rather than with the impending lawsuit. Dāʿī al-shawq gives yearning the action of a caller: personification. Raḥbah identifies the place; Mālik ibn Ṭawq is part of its historical designation, not the name of the governor who will hear the dispute.

«فَلَبَّيْتُهُ مُحْتَطِيًا شَمْلَةً، وَمُنْتَضِيًا عَزْمَةً مُشَعْلَلَةً»
I answered its call, wrapping myself in a cloak and drawing forth a blazing resolve.

Labbaytuhu means responding to a summons. Muntaḍiyan normally evokes drawing a sword; the metaphor treats determination as a drawn blade. The contrast between simple travel clothing and intense purpose supplies an energetic entrance.

2. Mooring in Raḥbah and the bathhouse encounter

«فَلَمَّا أَلْقَيْتُ بِهَا الْمَرَاسِيَ وَشَدَدْتُ أَمْرَاسِيَ»
When I dropped anchor there and fastened my mooring ropes.

Settling in the town is described as mooring a boat. Al-marāsī and amrāsī echo one another while conveying anchoring and securing. The maritime imagery shifts the narrative from movement to temporary residence.

«وَبَرَزْتُ مِنَ الْحَمَّامِ بَعْدَ سَبْتِ رَأْسِي»
I emerged from the bathhouse after grooming my hair.

The introduction moves from travel to an ordinary urban scene. Leaving the bathhouse places the narrator in the path of an unexpected encounter. Sabt raʾsī here relates to grooming the hair, not the name of the day Saturday.

3. The young man’s striking appearance

«رَأَيْتُ غُلَامًا أَفْرَعَ فِي قَالِبِ الْجَمَالِ، وَلُبِّسَ مِنَ الْحُسْنِ حُلَّةَ الْكَمَالِ»
I saw a thick-haired youth, as though cast in beauty’s mould and clothed in perfection’s robe.

Afraʿ describes abundant hair. Qālib al-jamāl makes beauty a mould; ḥullat al-kamāl makes perfection a garment. These images emphasise outward appearance, which later influences the governor’s conduct.

4. An elder’s accusation of killing

«وَقَدِ اعْتَلَقَ شَيْخٌ بِرِدْنِهِ يَدَّعِي أَنَّهُ فَتَكَ بِابْنِهِ»
An elder had seized his sleeve, claiming that he had killed the elder’s son.

Ridn refers to the sleeve or its edge. Fataka conveys a violent or sudden killing. The narrator reports an allegation; neither evidence nor a judicial finding has yet established it.

5. The denial and a quarrel scattering sparks

«وَالْغُلَامُ يُنْكِرُ عِرْفَتَهُ وَيُكْبِرُ فِرْقَتَهُ»
The youth denied knowing the elder and longed urgently to be free of him.

His response has two parts: denying acquaintance and wishing to escape the elder’s grip. ʿIrfatahu / firqatahu rhyme. Both sides make opposed claims; rhetorical elegance cannot establish which is true.

«وَالْخِصَامُ بَيْنَهُمَا مُتَطَايِرُ الشَّرَارِ»
Their quarrel seemed to be scattering sparks.

The conflict is likened to a fire throwing off sparks. The audience includes al-akhyār wa-l-ashrār, good and bad people alike. The paired opposites portray a mixed crowd; they do not supply a moral judgment about each spectator.

6. Appeal to the town governor

«إِلَى أَنْ تَرَاضَيَا بَعْدَ اشْتِطَاطِ اللَّدَدِ بِالتَّنَافُرِ إِلَى وَالِي الْبَلَدِ»
After extreme obstinacy, both agreed to take their dispute to the governor.

Ladad means fierce contentiousness; tanāfur here involves referring the quarrel to an authority for decision. Moving from public argument to adjudication does not guarantee that the official will remain impartial.

7. Foreshadowing the governor’s weakness

«وَيَغْلِبُ حُبَّ الْبَنِينَ عَلَى الْبَنَاتِ»
He was said to have certain weaknesses and an excessive preference for boys.

Al-hanāt refers to faults or lapses. This description foreshadows the governor’s compromised judgment. Legal responsibility requires attention to evidence and rights, rather than personal attraction or preference.

8. Running like al-Sulayk

«فَأَسْرَعَا إِلَى نَدْوَتِهِ كَالسُّلَيْكِ فِي عَدْوَتِهِ»
They hurried to his assembly like al-Sulayk at full speed.

Al-Sulayk alludes to a celebrated swift runner. Nadwatihi / ʿadwatihi add a sonic echo. The simile transfers the setting quickly from the street crowd to the governor’s hearing.

9. The renewed accusation and the governor’s distraction

«جَدَّدَ الشَّيْخُ دَعْوَاهُ وَاسْتَدْعَى عَدْوَاهُ»
The elder renewed his claim and sought action against his adversary.

Daʿwāhu / ʿadwāhu use patterned sound to sustain the dispute’s rhythm. The charge is now heard formally and the accused is asked to respond. Repeating an allegation does not substitute for proof.

«وَقَدْ فَتَنَهُ بِمَحَاسِنِ غُرَّتِهِ وَطَرَّ عَقْلَهُ بِتَصْنِيفِ طُرَّتِهِ»
The youth’s bright face captivated the governor, and the arrangement of his forelock unsettled his judgment.

Ghurrah evokes the face or forehead; ṭurrah is a forelock. The description is not mere portraiture: it shows an attraction beginning to interfere with the official’s capacity to evaluate the claim.

10. A forceful denial

«إِنَّهَا أَفِيكَةُ أَفَّاكٍ ... وَعَضِيهَةُ مُحْتَالٍ»
It is the fabrication of a practised liar and the slander of a schemer.

Afīkah is an invented lie, affāk a persistent fabricator, and ʿaḍīhah a baseless calumny. The youth rejects the entire allegation, yet the strength of his language alone does not prove his version.

11. Two witnesses or an oath

«إِنْ شَهِدَ لَكَ عَدْلَانِ مِنَ الْمُسْلِمِينَ وَإِلَّا فَاسْتَوْفِ مِنْهُ الْيَمِينَ»
If two upright Muslim men testify for you, present them; otherwise require his oath.

The governor points to witnesses for the claimant and an oath from the denier. ʿAdlān is dual, meaning two upright persons; yamīn means an oath. This is a procedure within the narrative, not a complete legal statement governing every homicide case.

12. The elder claims to have no witnesses

«إِنَّهُ جَدَلَهُ خَاسِيًا وَأَفَاحَ دَمَهُ خَالِيًا، فَأَنَّى لِي شَاهِدٌ وَلَمْ يَكُنْ ثَمَّ مُشَاهِدٌ»
He struck my son down in disgrace and shed his blood in solitude; how could I have a witness when no one saw it?

The elder claims the killing took place privately, making eyewitnesses unavailable. Shāhid / mushāhid and khāsiyan / khāliyan create patterned echoes. The absence of witnesses proves neither that the act happened nor who committed it.

13. The oath is offered; the governor responds

«وَلَكِنِّي تَلَقِّينِهِ الْيَمِينَ لِيَصْدُقَ أَمْ يَمِينٍ»
But I shall dictate the oath to reveal whether he is truthful or perjuring himself.

The elder is allowed to propose the oath’s wording, leading to an unusually long and elaborate formula. The governor plays on «جَدِّكَ الْمُتَهَالِكِ عَلَى ابْنِكَ الْهَالِكِ»
Your desperate anguish for your deceased son.

The words al-mutahālik / al-hālik introduce an ironic echo.

14. An oath invoking the creator of beauty

«قُلْ: وَالَّذِي زَيَّنَ الْجِبَاهَ بِالطُّرَرِ»
Say: By the One who adorned foreheads with forelocks.

The elder builds an oath around the youth’s beautiful features. Alladhī is a relative pronoun and zayyana a past-tense verb in its relative clause. The mismatch between elegant bodily imagery and a grave accusation is deliberate.

15. Eyes, brows and smiles

«وَالْعُيُونَ بِالْحَوَرِ، وَالْحَوَاجِبَ بِالْبَلَجِ، وَالْمَبَاسِمَ بِالْفَلَجِ»
And eyes with the striking contrast of their white and dark, brows with clear separation, and smiles with graceful spaces between the teeth.

Ḥawar describes contrast in the eyes, balaj openness between the brows, and falaj attractive spacing of the front teeth. The similar-sounding last two words refer to distinct features.

16. Eyelids, noses and cheeks

«وَالْجُفُونَ بِالسَّقَمِ، وَالْأُنُوفَ بِالشَّمَمِ، وَالْخُدُودَ بِاللَّهَبِ»
And eyelids with languor, noses with proud elevation, and cheeks with flame-like colour.

Saqam here denotes the poetic languor of a gaze, not a medical diagnosis. Shamam describes the form of the nose; lahab makes flushed cheeks into flames. These conventional images extend the elaborate oath.

17. A catalogue of refined features

«وَالثُّغُورَ بِالشَّنَبِ، وَالْبَنَانَ بِالتَّرَفِ، وَالْخُصُورَ بِالْهَيَفِ»
And teeth with pleasing brightness, fingertips with delicacy, and waists with slenderness.

Thughūr refers to the visible teeth or mouth; shanab is a desired quality of the teeth, banān the fingertips, and hayaf a slender waist.

TermFeatureQualityḤawarEyesColour contrastBalajBrowsOpen spaceFalajTeethGraceful spacingHayafWaistSlenderness

18. The oath denies deliberate and accidental killing

«إِنِّي مَا قَتَلْتُ ابْنَكَ سَهْوًا وَلَا عَمْدًا»
I did not kill your son, either inadvertently or intentionally.

Sahwan / ʿamdan contrast an unintended act with a deliberate one. Mā negates the past verb qataltu; both adverbial expressions specify the manner of the alleged action. The elder demands a comprehensive denial in a specially composed formula.

19. The head as a sword’s sheath

«وَلَا جَعَلْتُ هَامَتَهُ لِسَيْفِي غِمْدًا»
Nor did I make his head a sheath for my sword.

Hāmah is the head and ghimd a scabbard. A striking metaphor treats the victim’s head as something that could receive a blade. This is imagery within the elder’s demanded oath, not evidence that such an attack occurred.

20. An imprecation reversing beauty

«وَإِلَّا فَرَمَى اللَّهُ جَفْنِي بِالْعَمَشِ، وَخَدِّي بِالنَّمَشِ»
Otherwise, may God afflict my eyelid with eye trouble and my cheek with spots.

The oath becomes a self-directed imprecation. ʿAmash refers to impaired or inflamed eyes; namash to speckled facial markings. The earlier catalogue of attractive features is reversed into an extravagant catalogue of disfigurement.

21. Further threats to hair, teeth and scent

«وَطُرَّتِي بِالْجَلَحِ، وَطَلْعِي بِالْبَلَحِ، وَرَدَّنِي بِالْبَهَارِ، وَمِسْكِي بِالْبُخَارِ»
And my forelock with baldness, my fine growth with unripeness, my flower-like freshness with pallor, and my musk-like scent with vapour.

Jalaḥ is loss of hair at the temples; balaḥ unripe dates. Bahār and bukhār are used for a comic reversal of freshness and fragrance. The point is patterned wordplay rather than a literal medical description.

22. A full moon eclipsed by darkness

«وَبَدْرِي بِالْمِحَاقِ، وَقَضَى بِالِاحْتِرَاقِ، وَشُعَاعِي بِالْإِظْلَامِ»
And may my full-moon beauty wane to invisibility, be consumed, and my radiance turn to darkness.

Badr is the full moon, miḥāq its disappearance near the lunar month’s end. Shuʿāʿ / iẓlām contrast radiance and darkness. The oath increasingly becomes an exhibition of ornate expression rather than a focused judicial formula.

23. Rejecting the oath even at the cost of chains

«الِاصْطِلَاءُ بِالْبَلِيَّةِ، وَلَا الْإِيلَاءُ بِهَذِهِ الْآلِيَّةِ»
Better to endure the heat of misfortune than swear by this contrived formula.

Iṣṭilāʾ literally involves warming oneself by a fire; here it means enduring hardship. Īlāʾ is swearing an oath; āliyah an oath’s formulation. The youth rejects the elder’s invented wording, not necessarily every legitimate oath.

«وَالِانْقِيَادُ بِالْقُيُودِ، وَلَا الْحَلِفُ بِمَا لَمْ يُكَلَّفْ بِهِ أَحَدٌ»
I would submit to shackles rather than swear by something no one is required to swear by.

Inqiyād / quyūd form an audible relationship. The youth argues that the contrived oath is no ordinary required formula. Beneath the humour lies a serious question: should adjudication examine evidence or reward verbal manipulation?

24. The dispute persists; the governor’s desire grows

«وَلَمْ يَزَلِ التَّلَاحِي بَيْنَهُمَا يَسْتَعِرُ، وَمَحَجَّةُ التَّرَاضِي تَعُرُّ»
Their contention kept blazing, while the path to agreement grew obstructed.

The elder insists on his oath and the youth refuses. Yastaʿir is used for a fire flaring up. Meanwhile the governor’s attraction to the youth deepens; he begins contemplating how to free the youth from the elder’s claim and keep him for himself. This depicts compromised judgment, not a legitimate entitlement.

25. An offer of one hundred mithqāls

«أَرَى أَنْ تَقْصُرَ عَنِ الْقِيلِ وَالْقَالِ وَتَقْتَنِصَ مِنْهُ عَلَى مِائَةِ مِثْقَالٍ»
I suggest ending the argument and settling it for a hundred mithqāls.

The governor proposes money to end the case, but his motive is compromised by his desire to possess the youth. Al-qīl wa-l-qāl means empty back-and-forth speech; mithqāl is a unit of weight. The elder responds:

«مَا مِنِّي خِلَافٌ فَلَا يَكُنْ لِوَعْدِكَ إِخْلَافٌ»
I have no objection; only do not break your promise.

Khilāf / ikhlāf create a verbal echo. This is acceptance of a promise; actual payment comes later.