or turzim to his razamah,
arzamat al-nāqah means “the she-camel lowed to her child,” while the razamah is the sound made by a child
or tatajannath at him,
tajannatha ʿalayh means “he displayed affection for him and showed him love,” as well as “he wrapped the thing up to hide it.”
or tuqarrim him or tusammit him,
taqrīm means “teaching (taʿlīm) how to eat and” tasmīt means “uttering a prayer for one who sneezes.”(1)
or tufdī him or tuṣhī him,
afdā means “to dance” one’s son and aṣhā means “to anoint him with clarified butter and put him in the sun.”
3.12.22
or tudassim his nūnah,
The nūnah is the dimple in the chin of a small child, synonym faḥṣah, and tadsīm is blackening the latter “so that the ‘eye’ may not afflict him.”
or perform bajbajah on him,
bajbajah is “something one does when speaking endearments to a child.”
or ḥawfazā,
ḥawfazā is “flinging a child onto one’s feet in order to lift him.”
or tell him, “ḥalqatan,”
They tell a child when it belches, “ḥalqatan,” meaning “May your head be shaved (ḥuliqa) time and time again (ḥalqatan baʿda ḥalqah).”
or baḥbāḥi,
baḥbāḥi is “a word that gives notice that something has run out or has ceased to exist.”
or maḥmāḥi,
maḥmāḥi is the same as baḥbāḥi; further synonyms ḥamḥāmi and hamhāmi.
or kikh kikh,
Said “on reproving a child for taking something in its hand.”
or be worried by his danaʿ,
“The child experienced danaʿ” means that “It became exhausted, then hungry, then yearned for food, then became greedy, then was brought low, and then became abject and avaricious.”
or by his qaqqah,
“The sound made by a child, or made by a child when frightened.”
or heed his baʾbaʾah or his babbah
baʾbaʾah referring to a child means “he said bābā (‘papa’)” and babbah is “onomatopoeic for the sound he makes.”
3.12.23
or his taghtaghah or his, thaghthaghah
taghtaghah is “onomatopoeic for the sound of laughter” and thaghthaghah is “a child’s biting before its central milk teeth have grown in.”
or his taʾtaʾah or his daʾdaʾah,
taʾtaʾah is onomatopoeic139 and also means “the way of walking of a child” and daʾdaʾah is “onomatopoeic for the sound of rocking a child in the crib.”
or his daʿbaʿah or his ḥatārish,
daʿbaʿah is “onomatopoeic for the sound made by a child suckling” and the ḥatārish of a child are its “movements.”
or his idrām,
The idrām of a child is “the moving of its teeth to make way for others.”
or his faṣīṣ or his intidāgh,
One says “the child faṣṣa,” verbal noun faṣīṣ, when it “cries feebly,” and that it intadagha when it “laughs to itself.”
or give a thought to his miʿqād,
The miʿqād is “a string bearing beads hung around a child’s neck.”
or his qirzaḥlah,
“beads worn by children”
or his darrājah,
The darrājah is “the carriage used by a child to take its first steps.”
or his ḥiqāb,
The ḥiqāb is “something tied around a child”s loins to repel the eye.”
or his ṣumtah?
The ṣumtah is “any food or other thing given to a child to pacify it”; synonym suktah.
3.12.24
“By the fealty I owe you and the liberties you allow me, my lord, will you not put him one day on your knee or let him ride on your back? Likewise, there would be no harm in your letting him play with the children of those who have been adorned with the honor of your service, for he is still young and knows nothing of these distinctions. And there would be no harm either in your spending that same evening among your esteemed womenfolk, along with those men of your village, and their wives, who know how to comport themselves politely in the presence of women, for I observe that the mistress is oppressed by her lonely state, which you have no books or entertainments to relieve. There can be no doubt that you would both benefit from spending some time in social intercourse with your subjects. The poor man’s brain is not so much narrower or smaller than that of the emir that it cannot hold cogent opinions that may be lacking from that of the other, even if the latter’s turban be larger and his head thicker at the back. How can you ask that the mistress and her daughters have good sense and understanding if they are to live hidden away in your ever-flourishing house? And how can you consent to their being — pardon my presumption! — ignorant and stupid?
3.12.25
“And you, my lords (rulers, shaykhs, grandees, metropolitans), try just once to bring your families and wives together with the families of your neighbors (though metropolitans have no wives because of their vows of celibacy) and to overcome the differences of sect between you, for to do so is more likely to bring you good fortune and happiness. What is the world if not women? What is the world if not children? Know, God have mercy on you, that mixing with women will not undermine the dignity of your position. Know, God guide you, that difference of views over religion does not preclude familiarity and friendship. Know, God set you to rights, that greater pleasure is to be found in your carrying your child on your back and wrapping his sweet legs around your neck than in increasing the length of your gown, widening your sleeves, and winding your turban or than in having servants standing by with their hands on their hearts. Know, God increase your understanding, that the reason the Arabs gave names to the actions of small children was that they wanted you to notice those children and pay attention to them — to the degree that they coined for their excrement two strange words that have no like in terms of structure in the entire language,140 namely ṣaṣaṣ and qaqaq. Know, God grant you success, that the mister, the monsieur, the Herr, and the signor enjoy greater peace of mind and better material conditions than you.” Know, God grant you victory, that the Fāriyāq has now returned to Beirut and that his biographer, your undeserving slave, is contemplating the composition of a maqāmah that will please bachelor and married among you alike.