The Alchemist's Beloved of Cordoba | مَعْشُوقَةُ الكِيمِيَائِيِّ في قُرْطُبَة
"A Jewish alchemist seeking the philosopher's stone discovers that the true transformation lies not in metal, but in the embrace of his Moorish assistant."
مَعْشُوقَةُ الكِيمِيَائِيِّ في قُرْطُبَة
The Alchemist's Beloved of Cordoba
الفَصْلُ الأَوَّل: البَحْثُ عَنِ الذَّهَب
Chapter One: The Search for Gold
كَانَ شَمْوَائِيلُ بنُ يَهُوذَا أَشْهَرَ كِيمِيَائِيٍّ يَهُودِيٍّ فِي قُرْطُبَةَ. قَضَى ثَلَاثِينَ سَنَةً يَبْحَثُ عَنِ الإِكْسِيرِ الأَعْظَم: الحَجَرِ الَّذِي يُحَوِّلُ الرَّصَاصَ إِلَى ذَهَب. فَشِلَ فِي كُلِّ تَجْرِبَة، لَكِنَّهُ لَمْ يَيْأَس.
Shamu'il ibn Yahuda was the most famous Jewish alchemist in Cordoba. He spent thirty years searching for the Great Elixir: the stone that turns lead to gold. He failed in every experiment, but never despaired.
كَانَ فِي السِّتِّينَ مِنْ عُمْرِهِ، وَحِيدًا لَمْ يَتَزَوَّجْ قَطّ. كَانَ يَقُولُ إِنَّ العِلْمَ زَوْجَتُهُ وَالمَعْمَلَ بَيْتُه. لَكِنَّ قَلْبَهُ كَانَ فَارِغًا كَالقَوَارِيرِ الَّتِي يُجَرِّبُ فِيهَا.
He was sixty years old, alone and never married. He said science was his wife and the laboratory his home. But his heart was empty as the vials he experimented with.
الفَصْلُ الثَّاني: المُسَاعِدَةُ الجَدِيدَة
Chapter Two: The New Assistant
أَرْسَلَتْ لَهُ الطَّائِفَةُ اليَهُودِيَّةُ مُسَاعِدَةً جَدِيدَة: امْرَأَةً مُسْلِمَةً تُدْعَى هَاجَرَ، أَرْمَلَةً فِي الخَامِسَةِ وَالأَرْبَعِين. كَانَتْ عَالِمَةً بِالكِيمِيَاءِ عَلَّمَهَا أَبُوهَا، لَكِنَّ لَا أَحَدَ يُوَظِّفُ امْرَأَة.
The Jewish community sent him a new assistant: a Muslim woman called Hajar, a widow of forty-five. She was versed in alchemy taught by her father, but no one would hire a woman.
كَانَتْ هَاجَرُ سَمْرَاءَ كَالقَهْوَة، جَسَدُهَا مُمْتَلِئٌ وَنَاضِج، وَعَيْنَاهَا ذَكِيَّتَانِ كَالنَّار. أَوَّلُ مَا قَالَتْهُ لَهُ: "طَرِيقَتُكَ فِي تَسْخِينِ الكِبْرِيتِ خَاطِئَة."
Hajar was brown as coffee, her body full and ripe, her eyes intelligent as fire. The first thing she said to him: "Your method of heating sulfur is wrong."
الفَصْلُ الثَّالِث: التَّفَاعُل
Chapter Three: The Reaction
عَمِلَا مَعًا أَشْهُرًا. كَانَتْ هَاجَرُ تُصَحِّحُ أَخْطَاءَهُ، وَيَتَعَلَّمُ مِنْهَا بِتَوَاضُع. وَكَانَ يُلَاحِظُ أَشْيَاءَ لَمْ يُلَاحِظْهَا مِنْ قَبْل: كَيْفَ يَتَمَوَّجُ جَسَدُهَا حِينَ تَمْزُجُ المَوَادّ، كَيْفَ تَفُوحُ رَائِحَةُ المِسْكِ مِنْ شَعْرِهَا.
They worked together for months. Hajar corrected his errors, and he learned from her with humility. He noticed things he had not noticed before: how her body rippled when she mixed substances, how musk wafted from her hair.
"أَنْتِ تَعْرِفِينَ أَكْثَرَ مِنِّي،" اعْتَرَفَ ذَاتَ لَيْلَة.
"You know more than I," he admitted one night.
"أَعْرِفُ أَشْيَاءَ مُخْتَلِفَة،" قَالَتْ. "وَأَعْرِفُ شَيْئًا لَا تَعْرِفُهُ: الإِكْسِيرُ الَّذِي تَبْحَثُ عَنْهُ لَيْسَ فِي القَوَارِير."
"I know different things," she said. "And I know something you do not: the elixir you seek is not in the vials."
"أَيْنَ هُوَ؟"
"Where is it?"
وَضَعَتْ يَدَهُ عَلَى صَدْرِهَا. "هُنَا. التَّحَوُّلُ الحَقِيقِيُّ هُوَ تَحَوُّلُ القَلْب."
She placed his hand on her chest. "Here. The true transformation is the heart's transformation."
الفَصْلُ الرَّابِع: المَزْجُ الكَبِير
Chapter Four: The Great Mixture
فِي تِلْكَ اللَّيْلَةِ، عَلَّمَتْهُ هَاجَرُ كِيمِيَاءً لَمْ يَقْرَأْهَا فِي كِتَاب. خَلَعَتْ ثِيَابَهَا وَظَهَرَ جَسَدُهَا كَتِمْثَالٍ مِنْ بُرُونْز. "أَنَا الكِبْرِيتُ،" هَمَسَتْ، "وَأَنْتَ الزِّئْبَق. لِنَرَ مَا يَنْتُجُ مِنِ اتِّحَادِنَا."
That night, Hajar taught him alchemy he had not read in books. She removed her clothes and her body appeared like a bronze statue. "I am the sulfur," she whispered, "and you are the mercury. Let us see what our union produces."
ضَاجَعَهَا عَلَى طَاوِلَةِ المَعْمَلِ، بَيْنَ القَوَارِيرِ وَالأَنَابِيب. كَانَ جَسَدُهَا سَاخِنًا كَالأَتُون، وَرَطْبًا كَالنَّدَى الصَّبَاحِيّ. وَشَعَرَ شَمْوَائِيلُ أَنَّ شَيْئًا يَتَحَوَّلُ فِي دَاخِلِهِ: رَصَاصُ وَحْدَتِهِ يَصِيرُ ذَهَبَ حُبّ.
He took her on the laboratory table, among the vials and tubes. Her body was hot as a furnace, moist as morning dew. Shamu'il felt something transform within him: the lead of his loneliness becoming gold of love.
"هَذَا هُوَ الإِكْسِير،" قَالَ وَهُوَ يَلْهَث.
"This is the elixir," he said, panting.
"هَذَا هُوَ الحُبّ،" صَحَّحَتْهُ.
"This is love," she corrected him.
الفَصْلُ الخَامِس: الذَّهَبُ الحَقِيقِيّ
Chapter Five: The True Gold
تَزَوَّجَ شَمْوَائِيلُ هَاجَرَ، رَغْمَ اخْتِلَافِ دِينَيْهِمَا. كَانَتْ قُرْطُبَةُ آنَذَاكَ مَدِينَةَ التَّسَامُح. وَأَعْلَنَ أَنَّهُ وَجَدَ الإِكْسِيرَ الأَعْظَم، لَكِنَّهُ لَنْ يَكْشِفَ عَنْه.
Shamu'il married Hajar, despite their different faiths. Cordoba then was a city of tolerance. He announced he had found the Great Elixir, but would not reveal it.
"مَا هُوَ السِّرّ؟" سَأَلَهُ تَلَامِيذُه.
"What is the secret?" his students asked.
"أَنْ تَجِدَ مَنْ يُحَوِّلُكَ،" أَجَاب. "فَالذَّهَبُ الحَقِيقِيُّ لَيْسَ مَعْدِنًا، بَلْ هُوَ القَلْبُ الَّذِي يَمْتَلِئُ بِالحُبّ."
"To find someone who transforms you," he answered. "For true gold is not a metal, but the heart filled with love."
الخَاتِمَة
Epilogue
عَاشَ شَمْوَائِيلُ وَهَاجَرُ عَشْرَ سَنَوَاتٍ أُخْرَى، أَسْعَدَ سَنَوَاتِ حَيَاتِهِمَا. وَيُقَالُ إِنَّهُمَا وَجَدَا فِعْلًا طَرِيقَةً لِتَحْوِيلِ الرَّصَاصِ إِلَى ذَهَب، لَكِنَّهُمَا لَمْ يَسْتَعْمِلَاهَا قَطّ. فَقَدْ كَانَا قَدْ وَجَدَا مَا هُوَ أَثْمَن.
Shamu'il and Hajar lived ten more years, the happiest years of their lives. It is said they actually found a way to turn lead to gold, but never used it. For they had found something more precious.