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What 'Isa ibn Hisham Told Us. Muhammad al-Muwaylihi
Читать онлайн.Название What 'Isa ibn Hisham Told Us
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isbn 9781479874958
Автор произведения Muhammad al-Muwaylihi
Серия Library of Arabic Literature
Издательство Ingram
Pāshā Goodness me, how amazing! If things worked in proportion, Egyptians would be in the very forefront of nations when it comes to enjoying the feeling of pleasure through contemplation of the wonders of creation and the beauties of mankind. They’ve an amiable disposition and a gentle character, and their hearts are rapidly touched and affected by emotion. God has favored them with a pleasant climate, temperate weather, clear skies, an abundance of water, and fertile soil. Their means of earning a living wage are limited to farming—ploughing, planting, and harvesting. Anyone who regards the area of Egypt as a green chrysolite amid the Sahara sands has to envy its people the fact that it’s decorated with such a jewel from nature’s necklace, and that the people can enjoy the contemplation of this wondrous spectacle that can clear the vision, gladden the heart, and nourish the spirit. In so doing, it can soothe their worries and anxieties and calm their souls. Then the soul can flit from the trammels of the lower world to a link with the rope to the upper world. There for a while they can find some respite from life’s relentless struggle and varieties of sickness and disease, escaping for a short while from sorrows and miseries in order to come “face to face with your Lord, the possessor of honor and veneration.”5
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واعلم وهذه لفظة طالما أفادني تكرارها على لسانك فاسمح لي بها مرة من لساني وما أعلمك إلا عن خبرة وتجريب – أنّ الفرق بين الإنسان والحيوان ليس هو في الخلق، ففي الخلق ما يشبهه ولا في النطق ففي الحيوان ما ينطق، ولا في ذكاء القريحة ففي الهوام والطيور ما يفوقه ذكاء ويعلوه حزمًا وتدبيرًا، ولكن ما هو يمتاز بإدراك حقيقة الوجود بالإمعان والمشاهدة، وطول الفكرة في مخلوقات الله للاهتداء إلى معرفة خالقها، وتلك هي سعادته ولذته الروحانية التي تفضله مزيتها على سائر الحيوان، وهي أشرف اللذات وأصفاها وأفضلها وأبقاها، وإنّ أقرب ما يتقرب به العبد إلى الله زلفى وأرفع ما يعبد به الصانع القديم تعالى وجهه من أنواع العبادات أن يتأمل في حسن صنعه وبدائع خلقه، ولا يقف على مقدار هذه المزية الروحانية إلا من تجرّد مثلي يومًا من عالم الأجسام والفناء إلى عالم الأرواح والبقاء، وما ينبئك مثل خبير.
ولو كانت الأمور تجري على القياس أيضًا لاشتغل المصريون بهذه المشاهدة الأدبية إن لم يكن من باب الإحساس والشعور، فمن باب تقليد الغربيين والعمل على نمطهم لما رأيته في مختلف أحوالهم من الولع بتقليد الأجنبي في شكله وزيه ومعيشته وحركته وسكونه، ولكن لعل هناك من خفي الأسباب ما حرمهم من اطراد ذلك التقليد.
You should realize—and I’ve often benefited myself from an expression that you’ve used, so please allow me to use it this once, as what I’m saying to you now is based purely on good will and experience—that the difference between humans and animals is not limited just to their nature, for some things in their nature are similar; nor to the ability to speak, as some animals can speak; nor to cleverness, since some of the earth’s vermin and birds can surpass mankind’s prudence and organizational ability in that too. No! The quality which distinguishes humanity from all other animals is its awareness of the true nature of existence through close study and its prolonged contemplation of God’s creatures so that it can be guided to a knowledge of their Creator. This is the spiritual happiness and pleasure which distinguishes mankind from other creatures. It’s the noblest, purest, the most excellent, and most lasting of all pleasures. The closest a worshiper can come to God in terms of flattery, the most sublime mode of devotion that he can show to the Creator—may His visage be exalted!—is through contemplation of the sheer beauty and wonders of His creation. Only those who one day find themselves, like me, removed from the corporeal, ephemeral world to the spiritual, eternal one can fully grasp the true value of these spiritual pleasures. Only someone who has experienced it can tell you.
Furthermore, if things worked in proportion, Egyptians would be involved with these cultural scenarios, if not for the pleasant sensations involved, then at least as a consequence of the way they imitate Western people and copy their habits in different situations—posture, clothes, way of life, gestures, and repose. But then, perhaps there’s some underlying reason that prevents them from extending their imitation into this sphere as well.
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عيسى بن هشام لم يكن هناك مانع، وإنما استحب المصريون الانكماش فسرى فيهم في كل أحوالهم المادية حتى تناول أحوالهم الأدبية، وهم على ما تراهم من تقليد الأجنبي لا يقلدونه إلا في الخفيف الساقط والدنيء السافل ممّا يكون وراءه ما يهيج أسباب الملاذ الشهوانية والبهرجة الكاذبة، والزخرفة المموهة،