Al-Ma'muni

Al-Maʾmūnī's name indicates that he was descended from the caliph al-Maʾmūn. Though born in Baghdād, he soon moved to Rayy, where he studied with Ṣāḥib Ibn ʿAbbād; falling out with some of Ibn ʿAbbād's circle, he moved to Nīshāpūr, joining the court of Abu ’l-Ḥusayn al-ʿUtbī and his successor Abū Naṣr in Bukhārā through the patronage of Ibn Sīmjūr, a Sāmānid commander. There he met al-Tha'ālibī, who was later to write a biography and record the lion's share of al-Maʾmūnī's surviving verse. Although al-Tha'ālibī reports that al-Maʾmūnī aspired to win (or regain?) the ʿAbbāsid caliphate, this clearly never transpired, and he died of hydropsy in 383/993.

While he wrote in other forms, al-Maʾmūnī's oeuvre is most noted for its short, ekphrastic epigrams, showing Persian influence and characteristic of the Perso-Arabic literary concept of waṣf ('description') on themes such as buildings, utensils (for example, writing implements, scissors, baskets), fruits, and foods. The following, 'fī al-tannūr' ('on a baking oven') is an example (albeit attested only in one manuscript): (Here the conceit is that an unbaked piece of bread looks like the moon, and when baked it is like the sun.) Another example is this five-line verse in three-foot rajaz lines: A ruby—a necklace did not incorporate her— in a pearl in a perfectly made casket: as if, after she had become split and her fine clothes spread out, pure gold in a crucible of pure silver.

Epigram topics (according to 1983 Beirut edition) • first page — topic (Arabic) — topic (transliterated) — topic (translation) — metre — number (Bürgel translation) — topic (Bürgel) • iv 195 — المنارة — lighthouse — ṭawīl • iv 196 — الْكُرْسِيّ — al-kursī — chair — mujtathth — 1 — Auf den Thronstuhl • iv 196 — الْكُرْسِيّ — al-kursī — chair — mutaqārib — 2/3 — Auf den Thronstuhl • iv 196 — طست الشمع — ṭast al-shamʿ — candleholder — kāmil — 4 — Auf den Kerzenhalter • iv 197 — طست الشمع — ṭast al-shamʿ — candleholder — ṭawīl — 5 — Auf den Kerzenhalter • iv 197 — النَّار — al-nar — fire — sarīʿ — 23 — Auf das Feuer • iv 197 — الْحمام — al-ḥammām — bath — ṭawīl — 35 — Auf das Bad • iv 197 — السطل والكرنيب — al-saṭl wa-l-kirnīb — bucket and basin — rajaz — 6 — Auf den Schöpfeimer und das Waschbecken • iv 198 — حجر الْحمام — ḥajar al-ḥammām — stone of the bath — sarīʿ — 18 — Auf den "Badestein" • iv 198 — الليف — al-līf — palm-fibre — rajaz — 19 — Auf die Palmfasern • iv 198 — المنشفة — al-minshafa — towel — munsariḥ — 20 — Auf das Taschentuch • iv 198 — الزنبيل — al-zanbīl — palm-fibre basket — wāfir — 7 — Auf den Palmfaserkorb • iv 199 — كوز أَخْضَر محرق — kūz akhḍar muḥarraq — burnt, green jug — kāmil — 8 — Auf einen grünen gebrannten Krug • iv 199 — الشرابية — al-sharābīya — wine-jug stand (?) — sarīʿ — 9 — Auf den Weinkrugständer • iv 199 — الجليد — al-jalīd — ice — basīṭ — 39 — Auf das Eis • iv 199 — مَاء بجليد — māʾ bi-jalīd — water with ice — rajaz — 40 — Auf Wasser mit Eis • iv 199 — جلاب — kaʾs jullāb — cup of jallab — rajaz — 41 — Auf einen Becher Rosenwassers • iv 200 — جلاب — kaʾs jullāb — cup of jallab — ṭawīl — 42 — Auf einen Becher Rosenwassers • iv 200 — السكنجبين — sakanjabīn — sekanjabin — ṭawīl — 43 — Auf das Oxymel (Sauerhonig) • iv 200 — الفقاعة — al-fuqqāʿa — barley-water (foam-bubble) — munsariḥ — 44 — Auf den Gerstensaft • iv 200 — الفقاعة — al-fuqqāʿa — barley-water (foam-bubble) — rajaz — 45 — Auf den Gerstensaft • iv 201 — الأترج المربى — al-utrujj al-murabbā — citron marmalade — rajaz — 46 — Auf das Orangengelee • iv 202 — الإهليج المربي — al-ihlīlaj al-murabbā — on jellied myrobalans — sarīʿ — 47 — Auf gelierte Myrobolanen • iv 202 — الترنجبين — al-taranjubīn — manna — rajaz — 48 — Auf das Manna • iv 202 — برنية زجاج — glass globes — ṭawīl • iv 202 — برنية زجاج — glass globes — mujtathth • iv 203 — كعاب الغزال فِي برنية زجاج — kiʿāb al-ghazāl fī barniyyat zujāj — gazelle ankles in a glass jug — basīṭ — 51 — Auf die "Gazellenknõchel" in einer Glasschale • iv 203 — كعاب الغزال فِي برنية زجاج — kiʿāb al-ghazāl fī barniyyat zujāj — gazelle ankles in a glass jug — ṭawīl — 52 — Auf die "Gazellenknõchel" in einer Glasschale • iv 203 — كعاب الغزال فِي برنية زجاج — kiʿāb al-ghazāl fī barniyyat zujāj — gazelle ankles in a glass jug — ṭawīl — 53 — Auf die "Gazellenknõchel" in einer Glasschale • iv 203 — بَنَادِق القند الخزائني فِي برنية زجاج — banādiq al-qand al-khazāʾinī fī barniyyat zujāj —? in a glass jug — basīṭ — 54 — Auf Bolzen von Speicherkandis in einer Glasschale • iv 203 — أعمدة القند الخزائن — aʿmidat al-qand alkhazāʾinī — sticks of candied sugar — hazaj — 55 — Auf Stäbchen von Speicherkandis • iv 204 — اللوز الرطب — al-lawz al-raṭb — fresh almonds — ṭawīl — 56 — Auf die "feuchten" Mandeln • iv 204 — اللوز الْيَابِس — al-lawz al-yābis — dried almonds — basīṭ — 57 — Auf die trockenen Mandeln • iv 204 — الْجَوْز الرطب — al-jawz al-raṭb — fresh nuts — kāmil — 58 — Auf die "feuchten" Nüsse • iv 204 — الزَّبِيب الطَّائِفِي — al-zabīb al-ṭāʾifī — raisins of the ṭāʾifī type — munsariḥ — 59 — Auf die ṭāʾifischen Rosinen • iv 204 — [القشمش] — [al-qishmish] — currants or currant-juice — rajaz — 60. — Auf die Korinthen bzw. Korinthensaft • iv 205 — الْعنَّاب — al-ʿunnāb — jujube — mujtathth — 61 — Auf die Brustbeeren • iv 205 — الباقلاء الْأَخْضَ — al-bāqilāʾ al-akhḍar — green broad beans — rajaz — 62 — Auf die grünen Saubohnen • iv 205 — الباقلاء المنبوت — al-bāqilāʾ al-manbūt — germinating broad beans — sarīʿ — 63 — Auf die keimenden Saubohnen • iv 205 — الْبِطِّيخ — al-biṭṭīkh — melon — ṭawīl — 64 — Auf die Melone • iv 206 — الْبِطِّيخ الْهِنْدِيّ — al-biṭṭīkh al-hindī — Indian melon — ṭawīl — 65 — Auf die indische Melone • iv 206 — الكمثرى — al-kum(m)athrā — pear — wāfir — 66 — Auf die Birne • iv 206 — رمانة — rummāna — pomegranate — sarīʿ — 67 — Auf einen Granatapfel • iv 206 — [الإناء] — [al-ināʾ] — jar — kāmil — 68 — Auf ein Gefäß • iv 207 — الْملح المطيب — al-milḥ al-muṭayyab — spiced salt — sarīʿ — 69 — Auf das gewürzte Salz • iv 207 — خبز الأبازير — al-khubz al-abāzīr — spiced bread — sarīʿ — 71 — Auf das Gewürzbrot • iv 207 — الرقَاق — al-ruqāq — flatbread — sarīʿ — Auf das Fladenbrot • iv 207 — الرقَاق — al-ruqāq — flatbread — mutaqārib — 72 — Auf das Fladenbrot • iv 208 — الْجُبْن وَالزَّيْتُون — al-jubn wa-l-zaitūn — white cheese and olives — ṭawīl — 73 — Auf den Weißkäse und die Oliven • iv 208 — البوراني والبطيخ — al-būrānī wa-l-biṭṭīkh — borani and melon — ṭawīl — 74 — Auf "Būrānī" und Melonen • iv 209 — العجة — al-ʿujja — omelette — munsariḥ — 75 — Auf die Omelette • iv 209 — الجوذابة — al-jūdhāba — grain pudding baked under dripping meat — rajaz — 76 — Auf das Reisfleisch • iv 209 — الشواء السوقي — al-shiwāʾ al-sūqī — grill in the market — ṭawīl — 77 — Auf das "Basargebratene" • iv 209 — سَمَكَة مشوية — samaka mashwiyya — grilled fish — sarīʿ — 78 — Auf einen gebratenen Fisch • iv 209 — سَمَكَة مشوية — samaka mashwiyya — grilled fish — sarīʿ — 79 — Auf einen gebratenen Fisch • iv 210 — السفود — al-saffūd — skewers — ṭawīl — 80 — Auf den Bratspieß • iv 210 — الهريسة — al-harīsa — harissa — munsariḥ — 81 — Auf die Harīsa (Fleisch und Weizengrütze) • iv 210 — مَاء الْخَرْدَل — māʾ al-khardal — mustard water — khafīf — 82 — Auf den Senf • iv 210 — الْبيض المفلق — al-baiḍ al-mufallaq — broken eggs (but the correct subject is a mixed dish) — rajaz — 83 — Auf ein Mischgericht • iv 211 — الْبيض المفلق — al-baiḍ al-mufallaq — broken eggs — rajaz — 84 — Auf "gespaltene" Eier • iv 211 — أَقْرَاص السّحُور — aqrāṣ al-saḥūr — loaves at suhur — rajaz — 85 — Auf die Fladen des Fastenbrotes • iv 211 — اللوزينج الْيَابِس — a-lawzīna al-yābisj — dry nougat — ṭawīl — 86 — Auf den "trockenen" Nougat • iv 211 — اللوزينج الْفَارِسِ — a-lawzīna al-fārisī — Persian nougat — ṭawīl — 87 — Auf den persischen Nougat • iv 211 — الخبيص — al-khabīṣ — khabees — sarīʿ — 88 — Auf al-Khabiṣ (eine Dattelspeise) • iv 212 — الفالوزج الْمَعْقُود — al-fālūzaj al-maʿqūd — sweet based on flour, water and honey — sarīʿ — 89 — Auf das gelierte Fālūzaj (eine Mandelspeise) • iv 212 — مشاش الْخَلِيفَة — mushāsh al-khalīfa — the caliphate — ṭawīl — 90 — Auf das "Kalifenmark" • iv 212 — أَصَابِع زَيْنَب — aṣābiʿ Zainab — Zaynab's finger — ṭawīl — 91 — Auf die "Finger der Zainab" • iv 212 — أَصَابِع زَيْنَب — aṣābiʿ Zainab — Zaynab's finger — ṭawīl — 92 — Auf die "Finger der Zainab" • iv 212 — عدَّة من المطعومات —? —? — khafīf — 93 — Auf die Diät • iv 213 — الْمَدِينَة — al-mudya — slaughter-knife — sarīʿ — 94 — Auf das Schlachtmesser • iv 213 — مجمع الأشنان بِمَا فِيهِ من المحلب والخلال — majmaʿ al-ushnān bi-mā fīhi min al-maḥlab wa-l-klilāl — On the pot of the potash with its ingredients sour cherry and "sweet herbs" — mujtathth — 95 — Auf das Sammelgefäß der Pottasche mit ihren Ingredienzien Weichselkirsche und "süßen Kräutern". Oder: Auf das Sammelgefäß der Pottasche samt dem, was dazu gehört an [Zahnstochern aus] Weichselkirsche und Speiseresten (d. h., was zwischen den Zähnen hængenbleibt). • iv 214 — طين الْأكل — edible clay — sarīʿ • iv 214 — الْجَمْر والمدخنة — al-jamr wa-l-midkhana — embers in chimney — mutaqārib — 24 — Auf die Glut und den Rauchfang • iv 214 — جمر خبا بعد اشتعاله — jamrin khabā baʿda shtiʿālihi — embers extinguished after burning — khafīf — 25 — Auf Glut, die verlöschte, nachdem sie aufgeflammt • iv 214 — الْبرد — al-barad — hail — ṭawīl — 26 — Auf den Hagel • iv 214 — التدرج — al-tadruj — pheasant — khafīf — 97 — Auf den Fasan • iv 215 — المحبرة — al-miḥbara — inkwell — rajaz — 13 — Auf das Tintenfaß • iv 215 — المقلمة والأقلام — al-miqlama wa-l-aqlām — pens and pen-box — ṭawīl — 14 — Auf das Federkästchen und die Federn • iv 215 — السكين المذنب — al-sikkīn al-mudhannab — pen-knife — wāfir — 15 — Auf das Federmesser • iv 216 — المقط — al-miqaṭṭ — cutter — ṭawīl — 16 — Auf den "Spitzer" • iv 216 — المحراك وَهُوَ الملتاق — al-miḥrāk wa-huwa al-milyāq — poker — rajaz — 17 — Auf den "Schürer" • iv 216 — الاصطرلاب — al-asṭurlāb — astrolabe — khafīf — 27 — Auf das Astrolab • iv 216 — الاصطرلاب — al-asṭurlāb — astrolabe — sarīʿ — 28 — Auf das Astrolab • iv 216 — المقراض — al-miqrāḍ — scissors — rajaz — 10 — Auf die Schere • iv 217 — مشطي عاج وآبنوس — mushṭai ʿāj wa-ābunūs — two combs, one of ivory and one of ebony — basīṭ — 21 — Auf zwei Kämme, einen aus Elfenbein und einen aus Abenholz • iv 217 — المنقاش — al-minqāsh — chisel — sarīʿ — 22 — Auf den "Meißel" • iv 217 — الزربطانة — al-zarbaṭāna — blowpipe — ṭawīl — 29 — Auf das Blasrohr • iv 217 — القفص — al-qafaṣ — cage — hajaz — 30 — Auf den Käfig • iv 218 — قَارُورَة المَاء — qārūrat al-māʾ — flask of water — rajaz — 31 — Auf die "Wasserflasche" • iv 218 — اللبد — al-libd — wool mat — mutaqārib — 11 — Auf die Wollmatte • iv 218 — قضيب الفول — qaḍīb al-fūl — uncertain: literally 'bean-pole' — munsariḥ — 32 — (?) Wörtlich "Bohnenrohr" Epigrams included by Bürgel but not in the Beirut edition: • 12. mā amara b-kitābatihi ʿalā khiwān / Was er auf ein Tablett zu schreiben befahl • 33. fī al-turs / Auf den Schild • 34. al-manāra / Auf das Minarett • 36. mā amara bi-kitābatihi ʿalā fināʾi dār / Was er auf dem Vorhof eines Palastes als Inschrift anbringen ließ • 37. mā amara bi-kitābatihi ʿalā fināʾi dār / Was er auf dem Vorhof eines Palastes als Inschrift anbringen ließ • 49. al-ruṭab al-muʿassal fī barniyyat zujāj / Auf Datteln in Honig in einer Glasschale • 50. al-ruṭab al-muʿassal fī barniyyat zujāj / Auf Datteln in Honig in einer Glasschale • 93 al-muzawwara / Auf die Diät

Al-Maʾmūnī's style is a good example of the general tendencies of Arabic poetry of the 4th/10th centuries, which, like the New Persian poetry that was emerging at the same time, tended towards florid and sophisticated forms resembling later European mannerism; no verse was complete without incorporating some conceit (Persian nukte). Thus al-Maʾmūnī uses ostentatiously artful language and unusual words, sometimes creating a purposefully comical contrast between the banality of the content and the pathos of the expression. In Bürgel's estimation, al-Maʾmūnī's language is sometimes rather strained, as in epigram 45 (in Bürgel's numbering, on barley-water), but at other times manages to sound both natural and fresh, as in epigram 7 (on a palm-fibre basket). Though not much inclined to use hyperbole or the device of repeating the same word in different meaning, al-Maʾmūnī is fond of word-play and sound-play, making extensive use of assonance and alliteration. He often deploys antithesis, ranging from simple opposites such as standing and sitting (e.g. poems 1, 2, 3, 94), black and white (e.g. 73), or gold and silver (76, 78, 83, 84) to complex forms (and, in 11 and 18, joking pseudo-antitheses). Metaphor is central to al-Maʾmūnī's epigrams, which often have a riddlic quality: while in some poems, the subject is named explicitly at the outset, others start with the metaphor, challenging the audience to guess the subject matter before being explicit. While all his descriptions are short and pointed and characterised by fantastical metaphors, each poem almost always contains one or more lines that make a literal statement about the subject, for example that the throne has iron posts and a leather cover (epigram 1), that the bucket is made in Damascus and that its handle creaks (6), or that there are brown and white feathers in the pen box (14). Personification of inanimate objects is a key technique, sometimes achieved using the terms dhū/dhāt ('owner'), and ibn/ibna ('son/daughter'). Al-Maʾmūnī values harmonious choices of metaphors in his epigrams, for example using only tree-based metaphors in poem 4, and uses a rich array of linguistic techniques to express his comparisons: the usual particles ka kaʾanna, kaʾannamā, mithl and li; verbs from the roots sh-b-h (form IV) and ḥ-k-y (forms I and III); first-person verbs reflecting his personal perspective such as khaltu, ḥasibtu, raʾaitu, taʾammaltu; and direct "A = B" juxtaposition of his comparisons without particles. Al-Maʾmūnī's favoured form of metonymy is synecdoche, especially via adjectives, which also contributes to the riddlic character of the verse. He makes extensive use of the technique that the Persian critic of Arabic literature al-Jurjānī called tafṣīl ('going into details'), whereby a natural unity is dissolved into a fantastic multiplicity: for example, epigram 64, on the melon, says that "لَهَا حلَّة من جلّنار وسوسن * مغمَّدة بالآس غِبَّ غمام" ('she has a garment made of pomegranate flowers and lilies, covered with myrtles after rain'). Much more rarely, he uses the opposite device of presenting a multiplicity as a whole (as in epigram 73, on white cheese and olives). Like riddles, al-Maʾmūnī's epigrams frequently deploy comparison through subtraction: thus the candle-holder (epigram 4) is "وحديقةٍتهتزُّ فيها دَوْحَةٌ * لم يُنْمِها تُرَبٌ وﻻ أمطار" ('like a garden in which a large tree trembles which neither earth nor rain enabled to grow').

The main source for al-Maʾmūnī and his work is the Kitāb Yatīmat al-dahr fī mahāsin ahl al-ʿasṛ by Abū Manṣūr al-Thaʿālibī (who had met al-Maʾmūnī and had access to at least some of his verse in manuscript): • ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Muḥammad Thaʿālibī, Yatīmat al-dahr fī shuʿarāʼ ahl al-ʿaṣr (يتيمة الدهر في شعراء أهلالعصر), 4 vols (Damascus: [al-Maṭbaʿah al-Ḥifnīyah] دمشق: المطبعة الحفنية, 1302 AH [1885 CE]), vol. 1, vol. 2, vol. 3, vol. 4: iv, 84-112 [part 4, chapter 3]. • Muḥammad Muḥyī al-Dīn ‘Abd al-Ḥamīd محمد محي الدين عبدالحميد (ed.), يتيمة الدهر في في محاسن أهلالعصر, 4 vols (Cairo 1956), vol. 1, vol. 3, vol. 4, iv, 149–79. • ʻAbd al-Malik ibn Muḥammad Thaʻālibī, Yatīmat al-dahr fī maḥāsin ahl al-ʻaṣr maʻ al-tatimma wa-l-fahāris (يتيمة الدهر في شعراء أهل العصر مع التتمة والفهارس), ed. by Mufīd Muḥammad Qumayḥah, 6 vols (Bayrūt: Dār al-Kutub al-ʻIlmīyah (دار الكتب العلمية), 1983), vols 1-4 (index vol. 6). Machine-readable text. Some verses appear elsewhere, including the Nihāyat al-arab by al-Nuwayri and the Asrār al-balāgha by al-Jurjānī.