ADVISE ~ Wisdom: The Poem of Zuhayr

I haven't delved into classical poetry for a while now, so here's one
I liked from a while back (with some basic explanations and thoughts
of my own).
It's a small excerpt from the famous mu'allaqah poem of Zuhayr ibn Abi
Sulmah . He was apoet from the Jahili period (the era before Islam)
who had his own well-celebrated mu'allaqah. Interestingly, it is said
that he would only recite and announce his poems after one complete
year had passed in which he spent perfecting it – hence he was
nicknamed 'Sahib al-Hawliyat'
He says in his poem:
سَئِمتُ تكاليف الحياة ومَن يَعِش *** ثمانين حَولاً – لا أُبا لك – يَسْأم
I have come to hate the burdens of life, and whoever lives
For eighty years will surely come to hate and tire of them
وأعْلَمُ عِلمَ اليوم والأمسِ قبله*** ولكنني عَن عِلمِ ما في غَدٍ عَمِ
I know the reality of today and that of yesterday before it
But of the realities of tomorrow, Iam blind and ignorant
ومَن يَكُ ذَا فضْلٍ فَيَبْخَلْ بفَضْلِه *** على قَوْمِه يُسْتغنَ عَنه ويُذْمَمِ
Whoever possesses goodness butproves miserly to his people
Then they shall prove sufficient of him, and he shall be humiliated
The theme of 'Nasihah wal-Hikam' (Counsel and Wisdom) starts to take
shape here with Zuhayr telling people that fadhl (virtue, possessions,
wealth etc) is something that a person is gifted with and thus it's
not proper to be miserly with it, withhold it from society, or prevent
helping others by it etc. It's interesting he says على قومه ('to his
own people'), because the first benefactors of our gifts should be
those closest to us i.e. family, community etc. By spreading one's
talents, possessions and goodness (whether materialistic and tangible
like wealth or conceptual like uprightness), a community becomes
stronger, progresses forward and allows people to live well.
ومَنْ هابَ أَسْبابَ المَنايا يَنَلنَه*** وإنْ يَرْقَ أسبابَ السماء بِسُلَّمِ
Whoever fears the causes the death, shall only be met by them
Even if he ascends to the heavensupon a built stairway
Death is written for us all, even though the causes and ways maybe
different for us. Courage and the act of delving into the heat
ofbattles, taking up challenges and defending one's tribe have always
been seen to high calibre traits. So the more fearless a person is,
the higher of a status they occupy among their people. This is Zuhayr
effectively saying not to fear the causes of death because those who
fear a certain cause of death will no doubt be met by it. And there's
no running away from death even if you took a staircase to the
heavens. This is a true concept and belief reflected in the Qur'anic
verse:
"Wherever you may be, death shall overtake you, even if you should be
within towers of lofty construction…" [al-Nisa: 78]
ومَن يَجعَلِ المَعْروفَ فِي غَيرِ أهله *** يَكُنْ حَمْدُه ذَمَاً عَليه ويَندَمِ
And whoever pays good duty to those who do not deserve it,
Then his act of praise becomes blameworthy and he shall come to regret
Paying good duty to people and giving them credit is a standard which
we all must live by. However there are times when our act needs to be
reviewed depending on who exactly we are dealing with. Hence it's not
a proper measure of our intellect if we give pay high credit to
someone who does not deserve it in the least, rather we should just
let them be without harming them. It is only those who deserve it that
should attain our key attention, service and goodness; otherwise we'll
come to regret the fact that we perhapswasted our efforts on one
personwhen there was someone else more deserving of all that effort.
ومَن لم يَذُدْ عَن حَوضِه بِسِلاحِه*** يُهَدَّمْ ومن لا يَظلم الناس يُظلم
And whoever does not defend his water well with his weapon
Will be overpowered; and whoever does not oppress shall be oppressed
This poem was written in the Days of Jahiliyyah (Ignorance) and so you
can really see the nature and outlook of the people at that time.
There were no governing laws and no accountability except those simple
standards set out by tribal chiefs. Effectively, it was 'each man to
his own' or 'each tribe to their own' and in the poetic lines above
you can understand what Zuhayr is alluding to. He is saying that
whoever does not protect his own possessions will lose them to others;
and the scene he sets is that of a water well. Historically in the
desert and openfields, the tribes would usually settle around sources
of water and build a well which sustained them. Without this well, the
tribe will die off due to lack of water. Now what would happen if
another tribe tried to take possession of that well? Yes, you got it:
Warfare (now now, don't be surprised, leading countries doit in our
times too; but it's oil rather than water!).
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