Between the Age of Darkness and the Break of Dawn — Page 8

Arabic text · النص

Line-by-line translation · المعاني

بَيْنَ عَصْرِ الظَّلَامِ وَمَطْلَعِ الْفَجْرِ.

Between the age of darkness and the break of dawn.

وَلَقَدْ بَلَغَ مِنْ تَهَوُّسِ بَعْضِ الْمُنْحَرِفِينَ الضَّالِّينَ مِنْهُمْ أَنَّهُ قَالَ: «كُنَّا إِذَا حَلَلْنَا بِمَكَانٍ، فَعَثَرْنَا عَلَى حَجَرٍ جَمِيلٍ فِيهِ، عَبَدْنَا ذَلِكَ الْحَجَرَ، فَإِذَا عَجَزْنَا عَنِ الظُّفَرِ بِطَلِبَتِنَا بَحَثْنَا لَنَا عَنْ رَبٍّ آخَرَ نَعْبُدُهُ!»

The obsession of some of these misguided deviants reached such a point that one of them said: 'Whenever we settled in a place and stumbled upon a beautiful stone, we would worship it. If we failed to get what we wanted, we would simply look for another god to worship!'

أَتَدْرِي مِمَّ كَانُوا يَصْنَعُونَ هَذَا الرَّبَّ؟

Do you know what they made these gods from?

نَعَمْ. كَانُوا يُنْشِئُونَهُ مِنَ الرَّمْلِ، ثُمَّ يَسْقُونَهُ لَبَنَ نَاقَةٍ دَرُورٍ مُدَّةً مِنَ الزَّمَنِ.

Yes. They would build them out of sand, then drench them in milk from a high-yielding she-camel for a time.

وَمَتَى تَمَّ لَهُمْ ذَلِكَ عَبَدُوهُ، ثُمَّ لَا يَزَالُونَ يَعْبَدُونَهُ مَا دَامُوا فِي ذَلِكَ الْمَكَانِ.

Once that was done, they would worship the figure for as long as they remained in that place.

إِذَا غَمَرَ الْإِنْسَانَ ظَلَامُ الْجَهَالَةِ، وَحُرِمَ نُورَ الْمَعْرِفَةِ، لَمْ يُسْتَغْرَبْ مِنْهُ أَنْ يَنْزِلَ إِلَى دَرْكِ الْبَهَائِمِ وَالْأَنْعَامِ، أَوْ يَكُونَ أَسْوَأَ مِنْهَا مَكَانَةً.

When a person is overwhelmed by the darkness of ignorance and denied the light of knowledge, it is no surprise that they sink to the level of beasts, or even lower.

لَقَدْ كَانَ بَعْضُ الْقَبَائِلِ يَصْنَعُونَ أَلِهَتَهُمْ مِنَ الْحَجَرِ أَوِ الْخَشَبِ، وَيُقَرِّبُونَ لَهَا الْقَرَابِينَ، وَيَتَوَجَّهُونَ إِلَيْهَا بِالدَّعَوَاتِ، لِتَكْشِفَ الْغُمَّةَ عَنْهُمْ، أَوْ تُنِيرَ لَهُمْ سَبِيلَ الْمُسْتَقْبَلِ الْغَامِضِ.

Some tribes used to fashion their gods from stone or wood, offering them sacrifices and praying to them to lift their burdens or light the way through an uncertain future.

فَإِذَا خَابَتْ آمَالُهُمْ فِي آلِهَتِهِمْ حَطَّمُوهَا - كَمَا صَنَعُوهَا - بِأَيْدِيهِمُ انْتِقَامًا مِنْهَا، وَتَأْدِيبًا لَهَا عَلَى مَا أَظْهَرَتْ مِنْ عَجْزٍ عَنْ تَحْقِيقِ آمَالِهِمْ!

If their hopes were dashed, they would smash these gods—just as they had built them—with their own hands, in revenge and as punishment for failing to deliver what they had promised!

مَا أَعْجَبَ مَا يَمُرُّ بِهِ دَارِسُ هَذَا الْعَصْرِ مِنْ غَرِيبِ الْأَوْهَامِ وَالْمُتَنَاقِضَاتِ، فَهُوَ عَصْرٌ فَيَّاضٌ بِالْمُفَارَقَاتِ وَالْأَضْدَادِ!

How striking are the strange illusions and contradictions one encounters when studying this era; it is a time overflowing with paradoxes.

وَأَيُّ شَيْءٍ أَدْعَى إِلَى الدَّهْشَةِ وَالْعَجَبِ مِنْ أَنْ يَتَمَثَّلَ الْأَعْرَابِيُّ فِي صَنَمِهِ الْقُدْرَةَ وَالْغَفْلَةَ مَعًا؟!

And what could be more astonishing than the Bedouin attributing both power and ignorance to his idol at the same time?

لَسْتُ أَفْهَمُ مَا تَعْنِيهِ يَا صَدِيقِي! فَأَوْضِحْ.

I don't understand what you mean, my friend. Please, explain.

كَانَ الْأَعْرَابِيُّ إِذَا حَزَبَهُ أَمْرٌ أَوْ دَهِمَتْهُ كَارِثَةٌ، نَذَرَ لِصَنَمِهِ نَعْجَةً مِنْ نِعَاجِهِ قُرْبَانًا لَهُ.

Whenever a Bedouin was afflicted by a problem or struck by a disaster, he would vow to offer his idol one of his ewes.

فَإِذَا زَالَ عَنْهُ الْخَطَرُ، وَأَصْبَحَ فِي مَأْمَنٍ مِنْ خَوْفِهِ، اسْتَكْثَرَ عَلَيْهِ الْوَفَاءَ بِنَذْرِهِ، فَاسْتَبْدَلَ بِالنَّعْجَةِ غَزَالًا يُقَدِّمُهُ لِصَنَمِهِ، وَهُوَ عَلَى ثِقَةٍ أَنَّ صَنَمَهُ عَاجِزٌ عَنِ التَّفْرِيقِ بَيْنَ النَّعْجَةِ وَالْغَزَالِ.

But once the danger passed and he was safe, he would begrudge the fulfillment of his vow. He would replace the ewe with a gazelle, confident that his idol was too dull to tell the difference.

عَجِيبٌ مَا تَقُولُ أَلَيْسَ الْغَزَالُ أَثْمَنَ مِنَ النَّعْجَةِ؟

That is strange. Isn't a gazelle more valuable than an ewe?

إِنَّهُ كَذَلِكَ عِنْدَنَا. أَمَّا عِنْدَ الْعَرَبِيِّ فَلَا.

To us, yes. But not to the Arab.

وَكَيْفَ ذَلِكَ؟

How so?

إِنَّ صَيْدَ الْغَزَالِ لَا يُكَلِّفُ الْعَرَبِيَّ أَيَّ عَنَاءٍ، أَمَّا النَّعْجَةُ فَلَمْ يَكُنْ حُصُولُهُ عَلَيْهَا سَهْلًا مَيْسُورًا.

Hunting a gazelle cost the Arab no effort, whereas acquiring an ewe was neither easy nor cheap.

Vocabulary · المفردات (38 verbs · 80 nouns)

• بَلَغَ — to reach
• قَالَ — to say
• حَلَّ — to settle
• عَثَرَ — to stumble upon
• عَبَدَ — to worship
• عَجَزَ — to lack ability
• بَحَثَ — to search
• دَرَى — to know
• صَنَعَ — to make
• أَنْشَأَ — to create
• سَقَى — to water
• تَمَّ — to conclude, to finish
• زَالَ — to cease
• غَمَرَ — to overwhelm
• حَرَمَ — to deprive
• اِسْتَغْرَبَ — to find strange
• نَزَلَ — to descend
• كَانَ — to be
• قَرَّبَ — to offer
• تَوَجَّهَ — to turn towards
• كَشَفَ — to reveal
• أَنَارَ — to illuminate
• خَابَ — to fail
• حَطَّمَ — to smash
• أَظْهَرَ — to show
• مَرَّ — to pass
• تَمَثَّلَ — to represent
• فَهِمَ — to understand
• عَنَى — to mean
• أَوْضَحَ — to clarify
• حَزَبَ — to afflict
• دَهَمَ — to surprise
• نَذَرَ — to vow
• أَصْبَحَ — to become
• اِسْتَكْثَرَ — to deem too much
• اِسْتَبْدَلَ — to replace
• قَدَّمَ — to present
• كَلَّفَ — to cost
• عَصْر — era
• ظَلَام — darkness
• مَطْلَع — beginning
• فَجْر — dawn
• تَهَوُّس — obsession
• بَعْض — some
• مُنْحَرِف — deviant
• ضَالّ — misguided
• مَكَان — place
• حَجَر — stone
• جَمِيل — beautiful
• ظُفَر — attainment
• طَلِبَة — request
• رَبّ — lord
• آخَر — other
• رَمْل — sand
• لَبَن — milk
• نَاقَة — she-camel
• دَرُور — milky
• مُدَّة — period
• زَمَن — time
• إِنْسَان — human
• جَهَالَة — ignorance
• نُور — light
• مَعْرِفَة — knowledge
• دَرْك — depth
• بَهِيمَة — beast
• أَنْعَام — livestock
• سُوء — bad
• مَكَانَة — status
• قَبِيلَة — tribe
• إِلَه — god
• خَشَب — wood
• قُرْبَان — offering
• دَعْوَة — supplication
• غُمَّة — distress
• سَبِيل — path
• مُسْتَقْبَل — future
• غَامِض — mysterious
• أَمَل — hope
• اِنْتِقَام — revenge
• تَأْدِيب — discipline
• عَجْز — inability
• عَجَب — wonder
• دَارِس — student
• غَرِيب — strange
• وَهْم — illusion
• مُتَنَاقِض — contradiction
• فَيَّاض — overflowing
• مُفَارَقَة — paradox
• ضِدّ — opposite
• شَيْء — thing
• دَعْوَى — claim
• دَهْشَة — amazement
• أَعْرَابِيّ — Bedouin
• صَنَم — idol
• قُدْرَة — power
• غَفْلَة — negligence
• صَدِيق — friend
• أَمْر — matter
• كَارِثَة — disaster
• نَعْجَة — ewe
• خَطَر — danger
• مَأْمَن — safety
• خَوْف — fear
• وَفَاء — fulfillment
• نَذْر — vow
• غَزَال — gazelle
• ثِقَة — confidence
• عَاجِز — incapable
• تَفْرِيق — distinction
• عَجِيب — amazing
• ثَمِين — valuable
• عَرَبِيّ — Arab
• صَيْد — hunting
• عَنَاء — trouble
• حُصُول — obtaining
• سَهْل — easy
• مَيْسُور — accessible
• أَسْوَأ — worse