🌟 Paradise [6]: Mutannabi's Fishing in a Pond of Honey

Ma'ari finding it vain as compared to the Honey & Finish of Paradise.

Aqallu mā fī aqallihā samakun || yalʿabu fī birkatin mina al-ʿasali

“ Even the least among their least delights was fish,
frolicking in a pond filled with pure honey ”

[Oh Ibn Qarih!] If Allah (blessed be his name) granted one to drink from these streams (of Paradise), he would catch fishes the likes of which he had never seen. If Al-Mutanabbi had seen them he would have despised the gift which was given to him in this verse here.

As for the rivers of wine, about it frolick sea-fishes and river-fishes. And were the true believer to strech out his hand and have one of them, he would taste from its mouth liquid so delicious that if a drop from it were to be dropped in the salt and the undrinkable sea, It would turn into sweetness from surface to bottom.

{ We are done with attributes of Paradise; Wine & Honey. Next we will start meeting People of Paradise on our Journey, asking them Questions & Having Conversations with them. We’ll follow along and continue our journey as we have verse by verse. }

[To learn Arabic alongside this couplet]

🟢 Understanding The Arabic Words in Context:

The verse goes as:

أَقَلُّ ما فِى أَقَلَّها سَمَكًٌ
يَلْعَبُ فِى بِرْكَةِِ مِنَ الْعَسَلِ

Lets understand it piece-by-piece:

=> أَقَلُّ (Aqallu): "The least, the smallest" — signifies extreme minimization.

=> ما (Mā): Here used as relative pronoun — "that which" or "what."

=> فِى (Fī): "In."

=> أَقَلَّها (Aqallihā): "The least of them" — refers to something from a group of luxurious things.

=> سَمَكٌ (Samakun): "Fish" — indicates a symbol of life, movement, playfulness.

=> يَلْعَبُ (Yalʿabu): "Plays" — suggests activity, vitality.

=> فِى (Fī): "In."

=> بِرْكَةٍ (Birkatin): "A pond" — small collection of water (intensely rich here, as it's made of honey).

=> مِنَ (Mina): "From" or "of."

=> الْعَسَلِ (Al-ʿasali): "Honey" — classic Arabic symbol for luxury, blessing, and richness.

🔵 Intricacies of the Verse:

Theme:
Hyperbolic description of luxury — even the tiniest among these things (luxuries) is full of wonder and richness (sweetness and abundance symbolized by honey and fish). The rhyme here is based on -li (ـلي) ending, created by the word العسلِ. The couplet invokes the following poetical devices.

Iḥtirās¹ (احتراس / Careful speech): "Even the least part of the least among them..." suggesting excess and exaggeration even in what is least.

Tashbīh (تشبيه / Simile): The verse speaks of a comparison between a minimal pond's richness and a pond of honey.

🔘 Root Analysis and Their Classical Usages:

🟡 The Meter of Our Couplet (البحر الشعري):

This verse of Mutanabbi is in Bahr al Kamil², Though with certain key features I hope to highlight. [Each post heralds a bahr’s so I’ll be attaching an added footnote which explains whenever a bahr is encountered]

First Line:

أَقَلُّ ما فِى أَقَلَّها سَمَكٌ
Aqallu mā fī aqallihā samakun

⏑ – – | ⏑ – ⏑ – | ⏑ – | ⏑ – –

Second Line:

يَلْعَبُ فِى بِرْكَةٍ مِنَ الْعَسَلِ
Yalʿabu fī birkatin mina al-ʿasali

⏑ – – | ⏑ – ⏑ – | ⏑ – | ⏑ – –

1. Zihaf: ‘أقلّ ما’ is metrically transmuted with Ziḥāf. Compressed tafaʿīla (one syllable removed). This is a variation allowed in Al-Kamil.

2. Istitalah: In يَلْعَبُ فِي بِرْكَةٍ, the combination stretches into: ⏑ – ⏑ – ⏑ – ⏑
   That is 4 syllables per pair, slightly extending the rhythmic flow. Basically addition of an extra beat without breaking meter. This too is allowed and is amongst the beauties of bahr al kamil.

3. Izmar: min al-ʿasali originally, changed here to minal-ʿasali. Through izmar, one can add, shorten or round the syllables to have them fit into the meter. The Fi-Birkah, may also bend whilst being pronounced aloud.

🌟 Forthcoming:

As I’ve stated, we’ll now be on our journey to meet dwellers, the revelers, the carousers of Paradise as chosen by Allah Almighty.

After a description of historical characters including Ibn Duraid, Ibn Mas’adah, Yunus Ibn Habib, Muhammad Ibn Yezid, Sibawayh & more,

We’ll go through this elegy of Al’ Ashaa.

1. Iḥtirās is literary device where a clarifying or precautionary phrase is added to prevent misunderstanding of the text. (A Wazahat if you may…)
For example, if someone says something praiseworthy but quickly adds a condition to avoid exaggeration or misinterpretation. It is used in the Qura’an too when an Allah SWT describes food of the dwellers of Hell.
لَا يُسْمِنُ وَلَا يُغْنِي مِنْ جُوعٍ (Qur'an, 88:7). First, it is stated negatively: ‘it [the food] does not fatten.’ Someone may think well if it does not nourish, perhaps it satisfies the hunger atleast for what it is. The second part is clarification ‘nor does it satisfy hunger’.

2. Baḥr al-Kāmil (البحر الكامل) is one of the classical meters of Arabic poetry, known for its grandeur, musicality, and expansive rhythm.
Kamil just means "complete / the perfect". It is one of the 16 poetic meters (buḥūr) of classical Arabic prosody, devised by Farāhīdī in his Kitab al Ayn back in 8th Century. It is called "kāmil" (complete/perfect) because of its abundant syllables and rich musical flexibility, allowing a wide expressive range.

a hemistich (Misra) usually goes like this;

mutafāʿilun | mutafāʿilun | mutafāʿilun
⏑ – ⏑ – – | ⏑ – ⏑ – – | ⏑ – ⏑ – –

but because of flexibility allowed, it can undergo Zihafa (metrical mutation) and take different forms e.g mutafāʿilun → mutaʿilun (⏑ – –) based on what the poet wants. 3 feet per line makes for 6 feet in a full verse.