591 “what I owe is [written] at the top of the board and cannot be erased” (alladhī ʿalay-ya bi-aʿlā l-lawḥi mā huwa bi-l-mamḥī): perhaps meaning “the sins (of eulogizing unworthy persons) for which I must pay expiation are plain for all to see.”
592 “Sāmī of the Summits” (Sāmī al-dhurā): a reference to Ṣubḥī Bayk’s father, Sāmī Pasha; however, since sāmī means “elevated,” the phrase may also be read as “high-peaked.”
593 “a cave of strength” (kahfa ʿizzin): the image, conventional in poetry, echoes references in the Qurʾān to God’s protection of believing young men in a cave, e.g., fa-ʾwū ilā l-kahfi yanshur lakum rabbukum min raḥmatihi wa-yuhayyiʾ min amrikum mirfaqan (“Take refuge in the cave; your Lord will extend his mercy to you and will make fitting provision for you in your situation”) (Q Kahf 18:16).
594 “Halt” (qif): the poem uses the conventions of the pre-Islamic ode in opening by apostrophizing an unnamed companion, who is asked to halt his camel at the abandoned campsite, identifiable by the “orts” (al-ṭulūl) (the remains of the eating, drinking, and sleeping places) of the poet’s beloved’s clan; thereafter, the poet shifts his attention from his companion to himself, which explains the shift of subject from second to first person (“Halt… I knew… I dragged” etc.).
595 “the Crown” (al-iklīlā): defined in the Qāmūs as “a mansion of the moon — four aligned stars.”
596 “after a tear of mine had wetted it” (wa-qad ballathu minnī ʿabratun): the poet appears to picture himself peering through his tears and finding the campsite “borne upon the reins of the wind.”
597 “as dry brushwood” (ka-l-jazl): i.e., of no importance.
598 “The mending of broken hearts may be requested of any Jubārah” (jabru l-khawāṭiri min jubāratin yurtajā): i.e., anyone called Jubārah (or anyone of the Jubārah family) may be asked to mend hearts because the root consonants of his name, i.e., j-b-r, are associated with “restoring, bringing things back to normal, helping back on one’s feet, setting (broken bones).”
599 “A Poem on Gambling” (al-qaṣīdah al-qimāriyyah): the poem seemingly alludes to events referred to earlier (4.19.4). Its vocabulary and syntax are unusually difficult and the translation is in places tentative; choices made in the translation have therefore been more thoroughly endnoted here than elsewhere.
600 “It brought us… together” (jamaʿatnā): it is assumed here that the unexpressed subject of the verb is al-luʿbah (“the game”) or a similar word.
601 “‘the Ace,’ Cavell, and Farshakh” (al-Āṣ wa-Kawall (?) wa-Farshakh): āṣ presumably means “ace,” from the French, and is so used in line 4 of the poem, but here must be a nickname; Kawall is credible as the French/British surname “Cavell”; Farshakh appears to exist as a family name in Lebanon.
602 “One of us” (baʿḍunā): i.e., we were a pair, consisting of a practiced cardplayer and a greenhorn (the poet).
603 “a bit of a dog” (ibn baʿṣī): for baʿṣ the Qāmūs gives the meanings “leanness of body” and “disturbance”; however, usage on the Internet indicates that it has the same meaning as (Egyptian) colloquial baʿbaṣah “goosing.” The translation is contextual.
604 “louis d’ors” (mulūk): literally “kings” but perhaps here “coins with a king’s head on them,” i.e., “sovereigns,” or, given the French setting, as translated above.
605 “he owed” (yudīnuhā): i.e., perhaps, winning back debts he’d incurred.
606 “the pack” (al-muzawwaq): literally, “the decorated thing,” cf. al-awrāq al-muzawwaqah (“[decorated] playing cards”) above (4.19.4).
607 “his hand” (taʾlīfu): literally, “his blend, his mixture.”
608 “In part a seal ring, in part a bezel” (baʿḍuhu khātaman baʿḍuhu ka-faṣṣī): meaning perhaps “part flat but engraved (like an inscribed seal ring; i.e., etched with anger), part bulging (like a curved stone set in a ring; i.e., bulging with fury).”
609 “him” (minhu): reference apparently switches from “the wizard of the pack” to the poet’s overenthusiastic partner on his winning streak.
610 “a true friend” (khilṣī): i.e., his partner, the poet, who would need “covering for” if he is the “greenhorn” referred to at the start of the poem.
611 “stinging” (yaqruṣu): punning on the meanings “to sting” (like an insect) and hence “to speak bitingly,” and “to pinch” (with the fingers).
612 “After forty-six” (baʿda sittin wa-arbaʿīn): i.e., presumably, “after reaching the age of forty-six,” an age that, given his likely birth date of 1805 or 1806 (see Chronology, n488), accords with his stay in Paris between December 1850 and June 1853 (al-Maṭwī, Aḥmad, I:116); thus the meaning may be that the poet viewed unenthusiastically the prospect of living the rest of his life in poverty as a result of gambling.
613 “he’d not served him in writing notice of any protest” (wa-lam yublighhu ʿan bandati ḥtijājin bi-naṣṣī): the meaning of bandah is not obvious; iḥtijāj is taken here in the sense of “protest regarding nonpayment of a bill”; it is assumed that the subject of “served” is the player who failed to cover for the poet, who therefore by implication involved the pair in losses; the whole may mean that while the poet, though not a skilled player, had joined in the game, he had not expected to become liable for any debts that he and his partner might incur.
614 “All he thought about… whitewash” (fikruhu fī… bi-jiṣṣī): i.e., he was completely preoccupied with the writing of eulogies for persons of elevated station who paid him too little even to allow him to whitewash his room.
615 “gullibility… person” (rubbamā… hirṣī): i.e., perhaps the actual order of the world will be reversed one day and naïve but cautious persons, such as the poet, will in fact benefit from their virtues (but, it is implied, this is not likely to happen soon).
616 “Whenever he tried to write poetry with hairs from his mustache” (wa-bi-shaʿrin min shāribayhi idhā ḥā/wala shiʿran): the image of the poet twisting his mustache when deep in thought was used earlier in the work (see Volume Three, 3.8.5: “he set about playing with his mustache, as was his custom… until he was guided to an understanding of its meaning”). The subsequent use of the feminine pronoun apparently in reference to the hairs of the mustache (yunḥī ʿalayhā… atāhā) is problematic; perhaps the poet is evoking an unstated plural (ashʿār).
617 “soon… yellow” (ʿan qarībin… ḥurṣī): i.e., soon the white hairs in his mustache will be colored black with ink or yellow with nicotine.
618 “A partner of his” (wa-sharīkun lahu): presumably “Farshakh” (see the opening line of the poem); this and the following lines appear to picture the author’s partner calculating the pair’s winnings and losses.