كتاب الحيوان (Book of Animals) (850) - Page 17

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The text contains classical Arabic poetry and examples of metaphorical usages of "tasting" (dhawq), extending from food to concepts of perception and trial.

And like the vibration of a Rodini spear, the hands of merchants * Taste it, and they increased its hardness by softening it.

And Bashar ibn Harb said:

And the covenant of the singing girls is like the covenant of a smith, * A time when the wages are tasted.

"Wages" (ja'a'il) come from ju'l a fee or commission. They exceeded that to the point that Yazid ibn al-Sa'iq said to the Banu Sulaym when they did to their leader al-'Abbas what they did—they had crowned him and made him king, but when he opposed them in some matter, they leaped upon him, and the reason for that was the smallness of his kin. Yazid ibn al-Sa'iq said:

And God tasted the minds of Qays, And when He tasted their lightness, He despised them.
-> He saw them not obeying any prince, So He left them wandering in their emptiness.

He claimed that God Almighty tastes when that happens. Hayyash al-Ra'li said, informing of his small number and their large number:

And your mother hopes for twins for her husband, * And your brother's mother is barren, with a withered womb.

Yunus claimed that when Aslam ibn Zur'a recited this verse, his eyes welled with tears; Hayyash made his mother barren because she was infertile. The al-Ghanawi poet said:

And they spoke a proverb so that our mother might become * A virgin, neither aged nor a mother.

He made her, since her children were few, like the virgin who had never given birth at all. Since she was like a virgin, he called her a virgin. The Arabs have a boldness in speech, relying on the understanding of their companions. This is also another virtue. Just as they permitted themselves to say "He ate" when he only "bit," and "ate" when he only "annihilated," and "ate" when he only "disturbed," and "ate" when he only "invalidated its essence," they also permitted themselves to say "I tasted" for what is not a flavor. Then he said "I tasted" for other than food. The al-'Arji said:

And if you wish, I would forbid women other than you, * And if I wish, I will not taste cool water nor cold.

God Almighty said: "I am testing you with a river, so whoever drinks from it is not of me, and whoever does not taste it is of me" Quran 2:249—meaning he did not taste its flavor. 'Alqama ibn 'Abada said:

And I accompany youths whose food * Is the red of the water-skin and meat with seasoning original: "tashmim".

He says this is their food in war and long-distance travel, and in the summer when food and drink become scarce. War with this description is among the things to be boasted of. Therefore, the first said:

No, no, I do not commit an offense, and I do not violate, * And I do not raid the Mudar.