Assalamu 3alaikum,
One day Ali – may Allah be pleased him – noticed that his wife Fatimah -may Allah be pleased with her – had a Siwaak سِواك in her hand and was using it (For those of you who don't know, a Siwaak سِواك back then was their equivalent of our toothbrush nowadays. It is made from the branches of Al-'Araak tree شَجَرُ الأَراك). So he decided to flirt with her saying:
قد فُزتَ يا عودَ الأَراكِ بثغْرِها
ما خِْفتَ يا عودَ الأراكِ أراكا
ولو كُنْتَ مِنْ أَهْلِ القتالِ قتلتُكَ
ما فازَ منِّي يا سواكُ سواك
Please keep me in your du'a.
Assalamu 3alaikum,
Your brother,
Billo.
April 14, 2006 at 10:38 am |
lol…
April 14, 2006 at 5:19 pm |
Salamu’alaikum wa rahmatallah.
Please translate akhi al kareem!
wassalam
April 16, 2006 at 3:15 am |
please translate, and more info, visit our project website; miraclebrush.com
April 23, 2006 at 12:33 pm |
Assalamu 3alaikum,
The translation goes as follows (bismillaah):
"You have seized her mouth oh 'uud Al-Araak "
"Were you not afraid oh 'uud Al-Araak that I would see you?"
"If you were among those who I could fight, I would have killed you"
"No one has been able to defeat me oh Siwaak except you"
I tried to translate these lines to my Chinese roommate, and he thought I was telling him a joke! I hope I did a better job here. There is a sense of comedy, but the main reason behind these lines is that Ali – may Alla be pleased with him – wanted to flirt with his wife – may Allah be pleased with her.
The lines play upon the fact that Ali – may Allah be pleased with him – is jealous that this Siwaak has access to his wife's mouth – may Allah be pleased with her. In a sense, the Siwaak is depicted as another man, who Ali – may Allah be pleased with him – would surely kill if he could. But the fact remains that the Siwaak is only a Siwaak – you can't kill a Siwaak! So by being this jealous from the Siwaak for merely being in mouth of his wife, Ali – may Allah be pleased with both of them – is raising the status of the his wife's mouth to something very precious, very elevated, and more importantly, very beloved to him. If her mouth is that precious, how precious do you think "his wife" is to him? See where the flirting comes in?
This sort of flirtation attained by raising the status of the beloved through jealousy is not a new thing exclusive to Ali – may Allah be pleased with him. Many Arab poets did the same. I recall hearing a line in which the poet was jealous from the gentle breeze touching the skin of his beloved.
To Miraclebrush:
I don't know how this info could further your project. I had heard this story from a friend of mine, and these lines of poetry can be also found on the web in various versions, but the meaning remains the same. I haven't found the source of this story, so I can't tell you more about. So please don't quote me on this. If anybody knows the source, please tell me. Whether of not Ali – may Allah be pleased with him – actually said these lines or not, the meaning is the same. Anyway, the moral of the story is: burn your Siwaak.
(Joking miraclebrush, I guess you can't quote me now eh
)
Actually, I am amazed by how these poets could just come up with a few lines of poetry "on the go" without any preparation like that. Imagine Ali – may Allah be pleased with him – just walking in, see his wife with a Siwaak and he immediately think of these two beautiful lines of poetry to say to her. And what's even more amazing is how they revolved around a Siwaak! Can any of us do this nowadays? Do any of us bother to do this?
Let's take a lesson from this, and let each of us learn how to flirt with his wife (or future wife).
Please make du'a for me (regarding above)
Assalamu 3alaikum.
April 23, 2006 at 1:06 pm |
Grammatical note:
"Siwaak" سِواك actually refers to the "process" of brushing your teeth using the branch of the Araak tree. Grammatically, it doesn't refer to the brush itself.
"Miswaak" مِسْواك , on the other hand, refers to the brush itself. Miswaak مِسْواك has the morphological form "Mif`aal" مِفْعال. This special form is one of the forms that are used to refer to machines or tools. For example:
fataha فَتَحَ = to open; miftaah (not muftaah) مِفْتاح = key (a tool used to open something whether it be a door, gate, or to a electronic account)
Jathafa جَذَفَ = to row; mijthaaf مِجْذاف = paddle (tool used to row)
Saaka ساك = to brush, scrub and polish; Miswaak مِسْواك = old toothbrush from branch of Araak tree (tool used to scrub teeth)
[Note that the ا "'Alef" in ساك "Saaka" was turned into a و "Waaw"in مِسْواك "Miswaak"because if you didn't change it, you'd get مِسْاَاك "Masaaaak". A rule in Arabic is that you can't have two silent letters one after another (in this case we have two silent alefs), so the ا is normally turned into a و]
Ali – may Allah be pleased with him – was very knowledgable in Arabic, and knew this difference, but he bent the rule because of the necessity of the final half line in the poem where he said ما فازَ منِّي يا سواكُ سواك
The first سِواك refers to the toothbrush, and the second means = except you (it comes from "Siwaa" سِوى which means except and "ka" كَ which means you (pronoun addressing a singular male). Note that siwaak is masculine.
If he had used miswaak, the metrics of the line would have been messed up (broken) and the beauty of the line would have been gone. Just like he used "Araaki Araaka" in the first line, he should use "Siwaaku Siwaaka" in the second line. This is deviation from the rule is called "Daruurah Si`riyyah" (poetic necessity); it means you bend the rule of grammar to suit the metrics of the line of poetry. Too much of it is not good practice, but here it is justified.
However, the Arab used to refer to things through their attributes. By saying "Those who speak the Daad الناطقين بالضاد", you are refering to the Arabs. Here you see how the we can refer to the brush (Miswaak) through its ability to brush (Siwaak). This style is called "Kinaayah" كِنايَة. This is another justification for the deviation from the grammatical rule, Allah knows best.
Subhaana Allah, Arabic is such a beautiful language!
Please keep me in your du'a.
Assalamu 3alaikum.
April 24, 2006 at 4:02 pm |
That’s nice. Jazakallah Khair.. Where did you read that?
April 24, 2006 at 7:19 pm |
Assalamu 3alaikum,
The poem is on the net. Just search for "يا عود الأراك", and you'll find many Arabic forum sites which have these two lines of poetry. I couldn't find the source though
Nonetheless, I love the two lines!
As for the difference between Siwaak and Miswaak, you can find that in:
1) Hans Wehr (or any Arabic – English Dictionary)
2) The meanings of various Wazns can be found in any book of Sarf or Nahw. I used "Jaami3 Al-3uluum Al-3arabiyyah".
3) The metaphor stuff is something I remember from learning Arabic in the middle east.
I was told of the difference actually by a Sheikh during a Fiqh lecture on Wuduu', in which he was telling us how using the Siwaak, err Miswaak rather, before or during Wuduu' is a sunnah, which sadly many people have abandoned (and it is a Sunnah that needs to be revived). May Allah reward your efforts miraclebrush
Please keep me in your du'a.
Assalamu 3alaikum.
April 26, 2006 at 9:04 am |
thankyou for your beautiful explanation, and as i read more about your explanations, shows our beautiful and indepth arabic is, subhanAllah,
request for your duas too.
May 21, 2006 at 4:20 am |
JazaakAllaahu khayran akhi
Humorous read Mashaa-Allah
It always amazes me how quickly they used to compose lines of poetry.
September 27, 2006 at 2:58 pm |
jazakAllaah khayr.
lovely poetry mashaAllaah
December 3, 2006 at 8:49 am |
[...] [Acknowledgement to The Mighty Toothbrush] [...]
February 21, 2007 at 12:36 pm |
Salamu alaikum brother, i wanted ask 2 things.
Firstly, will i be able to add that story to our new website that is coming inshaAllah.
Secondly, will you be able to assist us with our project by translating any books that have information about the miswak, plus many more things about the website.
please be kind to reply via email.
Usman of MiracleBrush.com