طوق الحمامة في الأُلفَةِ والأُلَّاف تأليف علي بن حزم الأندلسي
The Ring of The Dove By IBN HAZAM
وبعد: عصمنا الله وإياك من الحيرة، ولا حمَّلنا ما لا طاقة لنا به، وقيَّض لنا من جميل عونه دليلًا هاديًا إلى طاعته، ووهبنا من توفيقه أدبًا صارفًا عن معاصيه، ولا وَكَلنا إلى ضعف عزائمنا، وخَوَر قُوانا، ووهاء بِنْيَتنا، وتلدُّد آرابنا، وسوء اختيارنا، وقلَّة تمييزنا، وفساد أهوائنا؛
And next-may God preserve us and you from bewilderment, and may He not burden us with more than we can bear; may He of His goodly aid decree for us a guide to lead us into obedience of His Will, and bestow on us of His assistance some means that will draw us away and turn us from all offences against His commandments! May He not hand us over to our own weak resolves and feeble powers, the frailty of our physical frame and the confusion of our opinions, our evil choice, our little discretion, the corruption of our passions!
مقدمة بِسْمِ الله الرَّحمَنِ الرَّحِيم وبه نستعين قال أبو محمد — عفا الله عنه: أفضل ما أبتدئ به حمد الله عزَّ وجلَّ بما هو أهله، ثم الصلاة على محمدٍ عبدِه ورسوله خاصةً، وعلى جميع أنبيائه عامةً،
AUTHOR’S PREFACE In the Name of God the Merciful, the Compassionate THUS spoke Abu Muhammad, God forgive him: No better beginning can there be for my book than that I should praise Almighty God as He is worthy, and pray for His blessings upon Mohammed His servant and messenger in particular, and upon all His prophets in general.
ولقد أثبت الله بيننا من ذلك ما نحن عليه حامدون وشاكرون، وكانت معانيك في كتابك زائدة على ما عهدته من سائر كتبك، ثم كشفت إليَّ بإقبالك غرضك، وأطلعتني على مذهبك، سجيةً لم تزل علينا من مشاركتك لي في حلوك ومرك، وسرك وجهرك، يحدوك الودُّ الصحيح الذي أنا لك على أضعافه، لا أبتغي جزاءً غير مقابلته بمثله.
Such is the attachment, which God has established between us, and for this we praise Him and give Him thanks. In the aforesaid letter you expressed ideas exceeding what I was accustomed to find in your other communications. Then on your arrival you revealed your intention plainly to me, and informed me of your views with that frankness which has always characterized our relations, that habit of sharing with me your every sweetness and bitterness, your every private thought and public profession. In this you were led by true affection, the which I doubly reciprocate, desiring no other recompense but to receive a like return.
وفي ذلك أقول مخاطبًا لعبيد الله بن عبد الرحمن بن المغيرة بن أمير المؤمنين الناصر — رحمه الله — في كلمة لي طويلة، وكان لي صديقًا:
It was upon this theme that I composed the following verses in a long poem addressed to ‘Ubaid Allah Ibn `Abd al-Rahman Ibn al-Mughira, great-grandson of the Caliph al-Nasir (God have mercy upon him!), who was a dear friend of mine.
أَوَدُّكَ وُدًّا لَيْسَ فِيهِ غَضَاضَةٌ *** وَبَعْضُ مَوَدَّاتِ الرِّجَالِ سَرَابُ وَأَمْحَضْتُكَ النُّصْحَ الصَّرِيحَ وَفِي الحَشَى *** لِوُدِّكَ نَقْشٌ ظَاهِرٌ وَكِتَابُ فَلَوْ كَانَ فِي رُوحِي هَوَاكَ اقْتَلَعْتُهُ *** ومُزِّق بِالكَفَّيْنِ عَنْهُ إِهَابُ وَمَا لِيَ غَيْرُ الوُدِّ مِنْكَ إِرَادَةٌ *** وَلَا فِي سِوَاهُ لِي إِلَيْكَ خِطَابُ إِذَا حُزْتهُ فَالأَرْضُ جَمْعَاءُ وَالوَرَى *** هَبَاءٌ وَسُكَّانُ البِلَادِ ذُبَاب
The passions most men boast them of Are like a desert’s noontide haze: I love thee with a constant love Unwithering through all my days. This fondness I profess for thee Is pure, and in my heart I bear True love’s inscription plain to see, And all its tale is written there. Had any passion, thine beside, At any time my soul possessed, I would have torn my worthless hide And plucked that alien from my breast. There is no other prize I seek: Thy love is my desire sincere: Only upon this theme I speak To capture thy complacent ear. This if I win, the earth’s expanse, And all mankind, are but as dust, Yea, the wide world’s inhabitants Are flies that crawl upon its crust.
فإن كتابك وردني من مدينة المريَّة إلى مسكني بحضرة شاطِبةَ تَذكُر من حسن حالك ما يسرُّني، وحَمدتُ اللهَ عز وجل عليه، واستدمتُه لك، واستزدتُه فيك، ثم لم ألبثْ أن اطلع عليَّ شخصُك، وقصدتني بنفسك، على بُعد الشُّقة، وتنائي الديار، وشَحط المزار، وطول المسافة، وغَوْل الطريق.
Your letter came down to me from the city of Almeria to my dwelling-place in the Court of Jativa, in which you gave me joyous news of your well-being: I thanked God for this, and prayed to Him that he should continue it so, and grant you increase of your prosperity. Thereafter a little while and I beheld you in person, for you yourself sought me out despite the far distance, the vast sundering of our abodes the one from the other, the remoteness of the place of visitation, the great length of the space to be traversed, and the terror of the journey;
وكلَّفتني — أعزَّك الله — أن أصنِّف لك رسالةً في صفة الحب ومعانيه، وأسبابه وأعراضه، وما يقع فيه وله على سبيل الحقيقة لا مُتزيِّدًا ولا مفننًا، لكنْ مُوردًا لما يحضُرني على وجهه وبحسب وقوعه، حيث انتهى حفظي وسَعة باعي فيما أذكره، فبدرتُ إلى مرغوبك.
You charged me -may God exalt you!- Dto compose for you an essay describing Love, wherein I should set forth its various meanings, its causes and accidents, and what happens in it and to it, after the way of truth, neither adding anything nor embroidering anything, but only setting down exactly what I have to tell according to the manner of its occurrence, and mentioning all to the full extent of my recollection and the limit of my capacity. I have accordingly hastened to fulfill your desire;
ولولا الإيجاب لك لما تكلَّفته، فهذا من الفقر، والأَوْلى بنا مع قِصر أعمارنا ألَّا نَصرفها إلا فيما نرجو به رَحْب المُنقلب وحُسن المآب غدًا.
though but for the wish to comply with your commission I would never have undertaken it at all, being too poverty-stricken to attempt so great a task. Indeed, it behoves us rather, considering the brief duration of our lives, not to expend them save upon those enterprises which we may hope will secure for us a spacious destination and. a fair homecoming upon the morrow.
وإن كان القاضي حمام بن أحمد حدَّثني عن يحيى بن مالك عن عائذ، بإسناد يرفعه إلى أبي الدرداء أنه قال: «أجمُّوا النفوس بشيء من الباطل ليكون عونًا لها على الحق.»
Yet it is true that Cadi Humam Ibn Ahmad has informed me on the authority of Yahya Ibn Malik, who had it from ` A’idh upon a chain of authority mounting to Abu ‘l-Darda’, that the latter said, “Recreate your souls with a little vanity, that it may the better aid them to hold fast to the truth.”
ومن أقوال الصالحين من السلف المرضيِّ: «مَن لم يحسن يتفتَّى لم يحسن يتقوَّى.»
A righteous and well-approved father of the faith declared, “The man who has never known how to comport himself as a cavalier will never know how to be truly god fearing.”
وفي بعض الأثر: «أريحوا النفوس؛ فإنها تصدأ كما يصدأ الحديد.»
The Prophet is reported to have said, “Rest your souls from time to time: they are apt to rust, in the same way that steel rusts.”