انكفت الفقيه بعد شهر مرض، وما صدّق (النقوق) أن الله وخّره من طريقه، فانصرفت إحدى عينيه للفقاهة، والأخرى لأرملته الماهرة بفنون الحياة، من خياطة، وزخرفة ونقش وطيب مرقد، ومرّت أيام العزاء على النقنوق ثقيلة؛ مع أنه سجّل حضوراً عاطفياً، لفت أنظار أهل القرية، يتلهلب من عند الطباخ، إلى القهوجيّة، ويقف على رأس العريفة وكل ما فنجال العريفة غلّق عبّاه، وينحني له، قائلاً؛ فنجالك يا كبيرنا.
كان ما يتروّش بالأسابيع، ولا يلام قطرة على جسده، صار ما يخرج من الطشت النحاسي؛ وأشغل زوجته، كُدّي ظهري بخيشة، وافركي كعوبي بحجر، وامرخي وجهي بالسُّذاب؛ لين يذلّي يصطفق، وأدركتْ المسكينة، أن مبالغته المباغتة في التنظف، وعنايته بغسل ثوبه كل يوم وراها سرّ؛ فتقول له؛ كيف لك، بيجي المطر، وتضيف؛ ما خبرتك تحبّ الهيالة، ولا أنته من أهلها، فيردّ عليها؛ النظافة من الإيمان، وإن كان على الماي ما يستقي لك إلا أنا وحماري، وكلما سرح وشاف شجرة عُتم؛ يفتصخ له منها عشرة مساويك، ويرصها في جيبه؛ ويسابق على المسجد، وكثيراً ما تناشب مع المذّن؛ لأنه يرفع الأذان.
لاحظ العريفة؛ أن (النقنوق) من ساعة دخوله المسيد، منكبّ على المصحف اللاطي في حُثله، يحنم بالتلاوة وينغّم، ويتمسوك، والعريفة فطن، يوم يقدمه يصلّي بهم، ويوم يقدّم المذّن، وإذا صلّى بهم الفجر، يقنت ويتباكى، فينحرق المذّن، وبعد الصلاة ينفر فيه؛ ليش تقنت، وفقيهنا الفاني الله يرحمه ما كان يقنت بنا إلا في رمضان؛ وانت اهدنا فيمن هديت؛ وانت ما خليت بيت ما نقنقت فيه وعليه؛ ولأنه ذهين؛ يكتفي بالقول؛ اشهد عليه يا كبيرنا، انحن منحن شوافع؟ والعريفة يتبسم ويقول؛ ادعوني أستجب لكم.
في عصر يوم شاتي؛ طلب من زوجته تحدّ الشفرة، وقبل المغرب نزل المراح، وانتقى أسمن الرّخال، ولمس ضرّتها كي يتأكد أنها سليمة من الدفاع، يممها للقبلة في السفل، وذبح وسلخ، وفصّلها في قشبي، وغطى على اللحم بشرشف، وامّرش بها من المسراب في الغُدرة لبيت العريفة؛ الذي كان ينتظر جحل الطبيخة يفور، ولا عبّى ولا ثبّى إلا والقشبي بلحمه وشحمه ورأس غير مشوّط بين أياديه؛ فقال لزوجته؛ اندري جحلك واغرفي الطبيخة لاهلك.
أبى يقعد النقنوق، بغى فيه العريفة، فأقسم ما يتواسى؛ إلا في وقت غير ذا الوقت؛ وأشعره أن صلاة العشاء حانت وبيغدي يوذّن؛ والعريفة عندما أدخل يده من تحت الشرشف ولمس اللحم الطري والكبدة بشحمها اتخذ قراره؛ وعندما قامت الصلاة، وتقدم المذّن للمحراب؛ شدّه العريفة من كُمّ كوته؛ وقال؛ المحراب ما هو لك؛ من اليوم حدّك؛ حيّ على الصلاة، حيّ على الفلاح، واهي كثيرة عليك؛ أدرج النقنوق المسواك على أسنانه المُفرّجة ونادى؛ استوا واعتدلوا؛ فقال المذّن بنستوي ونعتدل بالمشعاب.
طوّل العريفة، والفقيه الجديد في التسنان. خرج المذّن قبلهم، ولم يجرؤ على العودة، وسمعهم يتجادلون؛ ودّه يلتقط وش يقولون؛ فانزوى في الغدرة وراء حماطة الظُّلة عريضة الجذع، وتيقّن أن بينهم دسدسه من يوم خرجوا متلازمين بالأيادي، ورصدهم لين ضوّاهم بيت العريفة؛ وطُل يا ليل واقصر يا ليل؛ وهو داخل خارج من الشقيق إلى الرعش؛ يتبدّى ويترقّب متى يسري النقنوق، وغلبه النوم وهو منبطح في فتحة الخلف، فغطته زوجته الحانق عليه؛ بجودري؛ وهي تقول؛ مرقاد أهل الكهف يا ديكان.
سرى العريفة، والفقيه الجديد، والشاعر، على مزوح وفروح، وقرض يطقطق؛ اشتووا الكبدة، وشوّطوا رأس الرخل، وتعشوا، والشاعر يمعني للعريفة بالقصايد؛ (يا رخل ما ناشها طُرقي ولا عضّها ناب؛ هني لمن مصّ عظمتها وزمّ السبالي) ولكي لا ينساه النقنوق دقه بالقصيدة (يا راعي الغنم وين انت عنها؛ ضاعت ما ضوى منها رعيّه) فتعالت الضحكات، وزوجة العريفة تملّح اللحم وتعلّق على الحمّالة.
فزّ المذّن قرب منتصف الليل، ونادى على زوجته؛ (يا شرقه) أشمّ لي ريحة شواط؛ فقالت؛ تتحلّم، اللي يرقد ما يتعشى يشبّره شبّار الموت؛ وتلقى لحيتك قربت من جهنم؛ وتقذقذت، وأضافت؛ بقيت لك فريقه في الطاسة، تلحّسها إن كان سلمت من البساس، وفي صلاة الفجر؛ نصّب العريفة (النقوق) إماماً للقرية، فقال المذّن بينه وبين نفسه؛ ورث الفقاهة؛ ولكن وأنا ولد أُمي ما يرث أرملة الفقيه؛ لو ما يبقى من لحيتي شعرة؛ فلقيها صبح، بعدما انتهت العدّة تنقّي في ركيب الدجر، فسلّم قائلا (ولعون يا دلّة الرسلان) ردّت؛ الله يعينك يا الصديق الصدوق؛ فحط ايده مع ايدها، وانتبهت أن وده بهرجة؛ فقالت؛ هات علمك؛ فأقسم لها؛ إنه ما يشوفها إلا كما عيونه؛ فقالت؛ كمّل النِقّاي؛ واصرم لي قصبة قضب لبقرتي وروّحها لي، وما كمّل إلا مع الظهر؛ وراح والحزمة فوق رأسه؛ ورشوحه تقطر؛ ورمى بالقضب فوق العابر؛ وإذا بالفقيه الجديد معتنز جنب الزافر، ودلّة الرسلان تفوح قبالته بالزعفران.
تابع قناة عكاظ على الواتساب
The scholar withdrew after a month of illness, and (al-Nuqooq) could hardly believe that God had taken him from his path. One of his eyes turned to scholarship, while the other was for his widow, skilled in the arts of life, such as sewing, decoration, engraving, and preparing a fragrant resting place. The days of mourning for al-Nuqooq passed heavily; although he recorded an emotional presence that caught the attention of the villagers, rushing from the cook to the coffee vendor, standing at the head of the village elder, and whenever the elder closed his coffee cup, he would bow to him, saying, "Your cup, our great one."
He would not wash for weeks, and not a drop of water would touch his body; he would only wash what came from the copper basin. He occupied his wife, saying, "Knead my back with a sack, and scrub my heels with a stone, and apply wormwood to my face; let it soften and smoothen." The poor woman realized that his exaggerated insistence on cleanliness and his care to wash his clothes every day was a secret; she would say to him, "How can you, when the rain comes?" and she added, "I didn't know you loved cleanliness, nor that you were one of its people." He would reply, "Cleanliness is part of faith, and if it weren't for me and my donkey, no one would fetch water for you." Whenever he wandered and saw a tree, he would pull out ten miswaks from it and stash them in his pocket; he would hurry to the mosque, and often he would quarrel with the muezzin because he raised the call to prayer.
The elder noticed that (al-Nuqooq), from the moment he entered the mosque, was engrossed in the Quran, reciting and melodizing, and he would hold on to it. The elder was sharp; on the days he led the prayer, and on the days the muezzin led, if he prayed with them at dawn, he would supplicate and weep, which would annoy the muezzin. After the prayer, he would ask him, "Why do you supplicate?" Our deceased scholar, may God have mercy on him, only used to supplicate with us during Ramadan; and you have not left a house where I did not supplicate in it and for it; and because he was clever, he would suffice with saying, "Bear witness against him, our great one, are we not Shafi'is?" The elder would smile and say, "Call upon me, I will respond to you."
On a winter afternoon, he asked his wife to sharpen the knife, and before sunset, he went down to the pen and chose the fattest lamb, touching its mother to ensure it was safe from harm. He faced it towards the qibla, slaughtered it, skinned it, and cut it into pieces, covering the meat with a cloth, and he carried it from the trough in the yard to the elder's house, which was waiting for the pot to boil, and he did not fill or pour until the cloth was laden with its meat, fat, and an unroasted head in his hands; he said to his wife, "Go and serve your pot to your family."
Al-Nuqooq refused to sit down, as the elder insisted, and he swore he would not be comforted except at a time other than this; and he made him feel that the time for the evening prayer had come and he would call the adhan; when the elder reached in under the cloth and touched the tender meat and liver with its fat, he made his decision; and when the prayer began, and the muezzin advanced to the mihrab, the elder pulled him by the sleeve of his robe and said, "The mihrab is not for you; from today, your limit is; come to prayer, come to success, and it is too much for you." Al-Nuqooq placed the miswak on his teeth and called out, "Stand up and straighten up." The muezzin replied, "We will stand and straighten with the stick."
The elder took a long time, and the new scholar was in the mosque. The muezzin left before them, not daring to return, and he heard them arguing; he wanted to catch what they were saying; so he hid in the yard behind the wide trunk of the tree, and he was certain that there was a secret between them since the day they left holding hands, and he watched them until they illuminated the elder's house; and oh night, shorten, oh night; while he was going in and out from the brother to the trembling; he was showing himself and waiting for when al-Nuqooq would come, and sleep overcame him while he was lying in the back opening, so his angry wife covered him with a blanket, saying, "The sleep of the people of the cave, oh roosters."
The elder, the new scholar, and the poet, went on with joy and laughter, and the lamb was sizzling; they grilled the liver and roasted the lamb's head, and they had dinner, while the poet recited verses to the elder; (Oh lamb, I did not take her by my path nor did a tooth bite her; here is for the one who sucked her bone and tightened the reins) and to ensure that al-Nuqooq would not forget him, he struck him with the poem (Oh shepherd, where are you from her; she got lost, and none of her flock has returned) and laughter erupted, while the elder's wife salted the meat and commented on the carrier.
The muezzin woke up near midnight and called for his wife; (Oh Sharqa) I smell the scent of grilling; she said, "You are dreaming, whoever sleeps without dinner will be met by the death's spear; and your beard is close to hell; and she laughed, adding, "You have a team left in the bowl, lick it if it has escaped from the cats." At dawn prayer, the elder appointed (al-Nuqooq) as the imam of the village, and the muezzin thought to himself; he inherited the scholarship; but I, the son of my mother, do not inherit the widow of the scholar; if a single hair remains from my beard; he met her in the morning, after her waiting period ended, cleaning in the path of the dawn, and he greeted her saying, "And oh, the pot of the messengers." She replied, "May God help you, oh faithful friend;" he placed his hand with hers, and she noticed that he wanted to show off; she said, "Bring your knowledge;" he swore to her that he saw her only as his eyes did; she said, "Complete the cleaning; and cut me a stick for my cow and bring it to me," and he did not complete it until noon; he went with the bundle on his head; and his sweat was dripping; he threw the stick over the passerby; and there was the new scholar leaning beside the zafar, and the pot of the messengers was wafting in front of him with saffron.
He would not wash for weeks, and not a drop of water would touch his body; he would only wash what came from the copper basin. He occupied his wife, saying, "Knead my back with a sack, and scrub my heels with a stone, and apply wormwood to my face; let it soften and smoothen." The poor woman realized that his exaggerated insistence on cleanliness and his care to wash his clothes every day was a secret; she would say to him, "How can you, when the rain comes?" and she added, "I didn't know you loved cleanliness, nor that you were one of its people." He would reply, "Cleanliness is part of faith, and if it weren't for me and my donkey, no one would fetch water for you." Whenever he wandered and saw a tree, he would pull out ten miswaks from it and stash them in his pocket; he would hurry to the mosque, and often he would quarrel with the muezzin because he raised the call to prayer.
The elder noticed that (al-Nuqooq), from the moment he entered the mosque, was engrossed in the Quran, reciting and melodizing, and he would hold on to it. The elder was sharp; on the days he led the prayer, and on the days the muezzin led, if he prayed with them at dawn, he would supplicate and weep, which would annoy the muezzin. After the prayer, he would ask him, "Why do you supplicate?" Our deceased scholar, may God have mercy on him, only used to supplicate with us during Ramadan; and you have not left a house where I did not supplicate in it and for it; and because he was clever, he would suffice with saying, "Bear witness against him, our great one, are we not Shafi'is?" The elder would smile and say, "Call upon me, I will respond to you."
On a winter afternoon, he asked his wife to sharpen the knife, and before sunset, he went down to the pen and chose the fattest lamb, touching its mother to ensure it was safe from harm. He faced it towards the qibla, slaughtered it, skinned it, and cut it into pieces, covering the meat with a cloth, and he carried it from the trough in the yard to the elder's house, which was waiting for the pot to boil, and he did not fill or pour until the cloth was laden with its meat, fat, and an unroasted head in his hands; he said to his wife, "Go and serve your pot to your family."
Al-Nuqooq refused to sit down, as the elder insisted, and he swore he would not be comforted except at a time other than this; and he made him feel that the time for the evening prayer had come and he would call the adhan; when the elder reached in under the cloth and touched the tender meat and liver with its fat, he made his decision; and when the prayer began, and the muezzin advanced to the mihrab, the elder pulled him by the sleeve of his robe and said, "The mihrab is not for you; from today, your limit is; come to prayer, come to success, and it is too much for you." Al-Nuqooq placed the miswak on his teeth and called out, "Stand up and straighten up." The muezzin replied, "We will stand and straighten with the stick."
The elder took a long time, and the new scholar was in the mosque. The muezzin left before them, not daring to return, and he heard them arguing; he wanted to catch what they were saying; so he hid in the yard behind the wide trunk of the tree, and he was certain that there was a secret between them since the day they left holding hands, and he watched them until they illuminated the elder's house; and oh night, shorten, oh night; while he was going in and out from the brother to the trembling; he was showing himself and waiting for when al-Nuqooq would come, and sleep overcame him while he was lying in the back opening, so his angry wife covered him with a blanket, saying, "The sleep of the people of the cave, oh roosters."
The elder, the new scholar, and the poet, went on with joy and laughter, and the lamb was sizzling; they grilled the liver and roasted the lamb's head, and they had dinner, while the poet recited verses to the elder; (Oh lamb, I did not take her by my path nor did a tooth bite her; here is for the one who sucked her bone and tightened the reins) and to ensure that al-Nuqooq would not forget him, he struck him with the poem (Oh shepherd, where are you from her; she got lost, and none of her flock has returned) and laughter erupted, while the elder's wife salted the meat and commented on the carrier.
The muezzin woke up near midnight and called for his wife; (Oh Sharqa) I smell the scent of grilling; she said, "You are dreaming, whoever sleeps without dinner will be met by the death's spear; and your beard is close to hell; and she laughed, adding, "You have a team left in the bowl, lick it if it has escaped from the cats." At dawn prayer, the elder appointed (al-Nuqooq) as the imam of the village, and the muezzin thought to himself; he inherited the scholarship; but I, the son of my mother, do not inherit the widow of the scholar; if a single hair remains from my beard; he met her in the morning, after her waiting period ended, cleaning in the path of the dawn, and he greeted her saying, "And oh, the pot of the messengers." She replied, "May God help you, oh faithful friend;" he placed his hand with hers, and she noticed that he wanted to show off; she said, "Bring your knowledge;" he swore to her that he saw her only as his eyes did; she said, "Complete the cleaning; and cut me a stick for my cow and bring it to me," and he did not complete it until noon; he went with the bundle on his head; and his sweat was dripping; he threw the stick over the passerby; and there was the new scholar leaning beside the zafar, and the pot of the messengers was wafting in front of him with saffron.
