What can medieval Arabic poetry teach us about friendship, ambition, anger and the dangers of speaking too quickly? A ninth-century scholar preserved dozens of verses offering advice that can still sound remarkably familiar today.
Abū Muḥammad ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muslim ibn Qutaybah (828–889), better known as Ibn Qutaybah, was one of the most prolific scholars of the ninth-century Abbasid world. A judge as well as a writer, he lived during a period of extraordinary intellectual activity, when Baghdad was one of the great centres of scholarship and book production.
In The Excellence of the Arabs, Ibn Qutaybah gathered examples of Arab knowledge on subjects ranging from horses and the stars to oratory and poetry. Poetry was more than literature: it was regarded as dīwān al-ʿArab, “the archive of the Arabs,” preserving knowledge and experience in verse. One section, appropriately titled “Wisdom Poetry,” brings together observations about friendship, human nature, anger, fortune and the conduct of life. Here are 25 of them.
Ambition, Fortune and Human Nature
1. Abū Dhuʾayb said:
Never regret a trail you blazed, the one who strikes a path first enjoys its fruit.
2. A poet said:
What one contrives against his nature, will be abandoned as character prevails.
3. Another poet said:
All return to their essence, though they may affect different traits for a time.
4. In another poet’s words:
To your own way only be true, feigning will cede to the real you.
5. ʿAdī ibn Zayd said:
The man slow to act can achieve his lot: good luck can strike where effort fails.
6. Abū Mūsā Shahawāt said:
The only fault we can see for people to find in you is that you are mortal. You’re the best of all things—if only you could live forever— though permanence is not for mankind.
Words, Anger and Self-Control
7. Imruʾ al-Qays said:
The tongue is as injurious as the hand.
8. Another verse says:
Words pierce where the needle cannot.
9. Al-Qaṭāmī said:
People pander to the successful; the loser’s mother is bereft. The deliberate often attain; the hasty often slip.
10. A poet said:
A tongue ruled by passion sets a lion loose into your house.
11. Al-Nābighah al-Jaʿdī said:
There is no good in forbearance without outbursts of indignation to keep its purity unspoiled.
12. Another poet said:
I am a man, I defend my sanctum By forbearance and by leaving wickedness to the wicked. Forbearance is a better defense than a tyrannical hand.
Friendship and Loyalty
13. A poet said:
Those who most deserve to share your happiness are those who comfort you in adversity.
14. Kuthayyir said:
Those who do not turn a blind eye to their friends, overlooking some faults, will die full of scorn. Those who pursue their companion’s every slip, will find flaws, and find themselves ever companionless.
15. Ibn al-Aʿrābī cited the following:
I overlook some faults in a friend: lest I live companionless.
16. Al-Nābighah said:
The faultless should not be your only friends. Are there any flawless men?
17. A poet said:
You love my enemy, then allege we’re friends— you’re shameless! My brother does not just show his love in plain view: in absence my brother holds true.
18. Suwayd ibn al-Ṣāmit said:
How many you call a friend! Would that you knew his words in secret—his calumnies do you ill. His words, like honey to your face, in secret slash at the throat. But the eyes reveal what he conceals, hatred veiled in a sideward glance. For as long as you pare me, feather me well! but the best comrades fletch and do not pare.
19. Al-Nuʿmān ibn Bashīr said:
I gift to those who do not ask, I deal inequity to the obdurate comrade. And when he crosses me, there’s no separating us in the fray. Don’t think your comrade is one who shares in your good fortune, your real comrade is one who shares in your loss. If a relation appeals to kinship to curry favor, yet cheats and dismisses you, he is not your kin. The kinsman is someone who is distressed by your pain, and who levels his bow at your foe.
Courage, Hardship and the Conduct of Life
20. Kaʿb ibn Zuhayr said:
Without confronting dread, desires are not achieved. A foot set in place by God cannot be moved. Shun fury, eschew sin, lest you harm the wise, or succumb to the uncouth.
21. ʿAbdah ibn al-Ṭabīb said:
Life is but scarcity, anxiety, and hope.
22. Imruʾ al-Qays said:
None boast against you like a vaunting weakling and there’s nothing worse than losing to a loser.
23. Zuhayr said:
You’re shielded from obscenity, but between you and goodness, there’s no barrier.
24. Ḥassān ibn Thābit (or his son) said:
Happy is the man who takes to bed and rises secure but for the misdeeds he inflicted upon himself.
25. Al-Farazdaq said:
The Bakr ibn Wāʾil have cut their ties with me, I never thought their love for me would cease. When slights affront me, they think little of them; one drop can cause the vessel to overflow.
Poetry as a Storehouse of Wisdom
What makes Ibn Qutaybah’s collection particularly interesting is the way he presents these verses. He was generally not interested in reproducing complete poems. Instead, he extracted individual lines or short passages for the knowledge they contained. Original readers probably recognised many of these verses from their education, even when little context was supplied.
Nor does all the wisdom Ibn Qutaybah discusses originate with Arab poets. Throughout the section, he draws comparisons with sayings attributed to Eastern sages and material from Persian and Indian traditions, before showing how Arabic poets expressed similar ideas. The result is not simply a collection of memorable quotations, but an argument about poetry itself: verses could preserve observations about people and the world and pass that accumulated knowledge from one generation to another.
The passages are from Ibn Qutaybah, The Excellence of the Arabs, edited by James E. Montgomery and Peter Webb and translated by Sarah Bowen Savant and Peter Webb (New York University Press, 2017). You can buy it on Amazon.com | Amazon.ca| Amazon.co.uk
What can medieval Arabic poetry teach us about friendship, ambition, anger and the dangers of speaking too quickly? A ninth-century scholar preserved dozens of verses offering advice that can still sound remarkably familiar today.
Abū Muḥammad ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muslim ibn Qutaybah (828–889), better known as Ibn Qutaybah, was one of the most prolific scholars of the ninth-century Abbasid world. A judge as well as a writer, he lived during a period of extraordinary intellectual activity, when Baghdad was one of the great centres of scholarship and book production.
In The Excellence of the Arabs, Ibn Qutaybah gathered examples of Arab knowledge on subjects ranging from horses and the stars to oratory and poetry. Poetry was more than literature: it was regarded as dīwān al-ʿArab, “the archive of the Arabs,” preserving knowledge and experience in verse. One section, appropriately titled “Wisdom Poetry,” brings together observations about friendship, human nature, anger, fortune and the conduct of life. Here are 25 of them.
Ambition, Fortune and Human Nature
1. Abū Dhuʾayb said:
Never regret a trail you blazed,
the one who strikes a path first enjoys its fruit.
2. A poet said:
What one contrives against his nature,
will be abandoned as character prevails.
3. Another poet said:
All return to their essence,
though they may affect different traits for a time.
4. In another poet’s words:
To your own way only be true,
feigning will cede to the real you.
5. ʿAdī ibn Zayd said:
The man slow to act can achieve his lot:
good luck can strike where effort fails.
6. Abū Mūsā Shahawāt said:
The only fault we can see
for people to find in you is that you are mortal.
You’re the best of all things—if only you could live forever—
though permanence is not for mankind.
Words, Anger and Self-Control
7. Imruʾ al-Qays said:
The tongue is as injurious as the hand.
8. Another verse says:
Words pierce where the needle cannot.
9. Al-Qaṭāmī said:
People pander to the successful;
the loser’s mother is bereft.
The deliberate often attain;
the hasty often slip.
10. A poet said:
A tongue ruled by passion sets
a lion loose into your house.
11. Al-Nābighah al-Jaʿdī said:
There is no good in forbearance
without outbursts of indignation to keep its purity unspoiled.
12. Another poet said:
I am a man, I defend my sanctum
By forbearance and by leaving wickedness to the wicked.
Forbearance is a better defense than a tyrannical hand.
Friendship and Loyalty
13. A poet said:
Those who most deserve to share your happiness
are those who comfort you in adversity.
14. Kuthayyir said:
Those who do not turn a blind eye to their friends,
overlooking some faults, will die full of scorn.
Those who pursue their companion’s every slip,
will find flaws, and find themselves ever companionless.
15. Ibn al-Aʿrābī cited the following:
I overlook some faults in a friend:
lest I live companionless.
16. Al-Nābighah said:
The faultless should not be your only friends.
Are there any flawless men?
17. A poet said:
You love my enemy, then allege we’re friends—
you’re shameless!
My brother does not just show his love in plain view:
in absence my brother holds true.
18. Suwayd ibn al-Ṣāmit said:
How many you call a friend! Would that you knew
his words in secret—his calumnies do you ill.
His words, like honey to your face,
in secret slash at the throat.
But the eyes reveal what he conceals,
hatred veiled in a sideward glance.
For as long as you pare me, feather me well!
but the best comrades fletch and do not pare.
19. Al-Nuʿmān ibn Bashīr said:
I gift to those who do not ask,
I deal inequity to the obdurate comrade.
And when he crosses me,
there’s no separating us in the fray.
Don’t think your comrade is one who shares in your good fortune,
your real comrade is one who shares in your loss.
If a relation appeals to kinship to curry favor,
yet cheats and dismisses you, he is not your kin.
The kinsman is someone who is distressed by your pain,
and who levels his bow at your foe.
Courage, Hardship and the Conduct of Life
20. Kaʿb ibn Zuhayr said:
Without confronting dread, desires are not achieved.
A foot set in place by God cannot be moved.
Shun fury, eschew sin,
lest you harm the wise, or succumb to the uncouth.
21. ʿAbdah ibn al-Ṭabīb said:
Life is but scarcity, anxiety, and hope.
22. Imruʾ al-Qays said:
None boast against you like a vaunting weakling
and there’s nothing worse than losing to a loser.
23. Zuhayr said:
You’re shielded from obscenity, but
between you and goodness, there’s no barrier.
24. Ḥassān ibn Thābit (or his son) said:
Happy is the man who takes to bed and rises secure
but for the misdeeds he inflicted upon himself.
25. Al-Farazdaq said:
The Bakr ibn Wāʾil have cut their ties with me,
I never thought their love for me would cease.
When slights affront me, they think little of them;
one drop can cause the vessel to overflow.
Poetry as a Storehouse of Wisdom
What makes Ibn Qutaybah’s collection particularly interesting is the way he presents these verses. He was generally not interested in reproducing complete poems. Instead, he extracted individual lines or short passages for the knowledge they contained. Original readers probably recognised many of these verses from their education, even when little context was supplied.
Nor does all the wisdom Ibn Qutaybah discusses originate with Arab poets. Throughout the section, he draws comparisons with sayings attributed to Eastern sages and material from Persian and Indian traditions, before showing how Arabic poets expressed similar ideas. The result is not simply a collection of memorable quotations, but an argument about poetry itself: verses could preserve observations about people and the world and pass that accumulated knowledge from one generation to another.
The passages are from Ibn Qutaybah, The Excellence of the Arabs, edited by James E. Montgomery and Peter Webb and translated by Sarah Bowen Savant and Peter Webb (New York University Press, 2017). You can buy it on Amazon.com | Amazon.ca| Amazon.co.uk
Top Image: BNF Arabe 6094 fol. 167r
Subscribe to Medievalverse
Related Posts