The Astronomer's Mistress of Samarkand | عَشِيقَةُ الفَلَكِيِّ في سَمَرْقَنْد
"Under the great observatory's dome, a renowned astronomer maps the heavens while his voluptuous assistant teaches him the constellations of the flesh."
عَشِيقَةُ الفَلَكِيِّ في سَمَرْقَنْد
The Astronomer's Mistress of Samarkand
الفَصْلُ الأَوَّل: قُبَّةُ النُّجُوم
Chapter One: The Dome of Stars
كَانَ عُمَرُ بنُ الحَسَنِ أَعْظَمَ فَلَكِيِّي سَمَرْقَنْدَ فِي عَهْدِ السُّلْطَانِ أُلُوغ بِيك. يَقْضِي لَيَالِيهِ فِي المَرْصَدِ الكَبِيرِ، يَرْسُمُ خَرَائِطَ السَّمَاءِ وَيَحْسُبُ مَدَارَاتِ الكَوَاكِب. لَكِنَّهُ كَانَ وَحِيدًا، قَلْبُهُ بَارِدٌ كَاللَّيَالِي الَّتِي يُرَاقِبُهَا.
Umar ibn al-Hasan was the greatest astronomer of Samarkand in the reign of Sultan Ulugh Beg. He spent his nights in the great observatory, mapping the heavens and calculating the orbits of planets. But he was lonely, his heart cold as the nights he watched.
أَرْسَلَ إِلَيْهِ السُّلْطَانُ مُسَاعِدَةً جَدِيدَةً: جَارِيَةً مِنْ بِلَادِ فَارِسَ تُدْعَى شَمْسُ، عَالِمَةً بِالحِسَابِ وَالهَنْدَسَة. كَانَتْ فِي الثَّلَاثِينَ مِنْ عُمْرِهَا، جَسَدُهَا مُمْتَلِئٌ كَالقَمَرِ فِي تَمَامِهِ، وَعَيْنَاهَا لَوْزِيَّتَانِ تُشْبِهَانِ نُجُومَ الجَوْزَاء.
The Sultan sent him a new assistant: a learned slave woman from Persia called Shams, versed in calculation and geometry. She was thirty years of age, her body full as the moon at its completion, her almond eyes like the stars of Gemini.
الفَصْلُ الثَّاني: خَرِيطَةُ الجَسَد
Chapter Two: A Map of the Body
"السَّمَاءُ مَمْلُوءَةٌ بِالنُّجُومِ،" قَالَ عُمَرُ لَهَا فِي أَوَّلِ لَيْلَةٍ، "لَكِنَّنِي لَمْ أَجِدْ نَجْمًا يُدْفِئُنِي."
"The sky is full of stars," Umar said to her on the first night, "but I have not found a star to warm me."
"رُبَّمَا لِأَنَّكَ تَنْظُرُ إِلَى فَوْقَ،" أَجَابَتْ شَمْسُ، "بَيْنَمَا الدِّفْءُ يَأْتِي مِنَ الأَرْض."
"Perhaps because you look upward," answered Shams, "while warmth comes from the earth."
نَظَرَ إِلَيْهَا كَأَنَّهُ يَرَاهَا لِأَوَّلِ مَرَّة. كَانَتْ تَرْتَدِي ثَوْبًا فَارِسِيًّا رَقِيقًا يُظْهِرُ انْحِنَاءَاتِ جَسَدِهَا كَمَا يُظْهِرُ الرَّسْمُ مَدَارَاتِ الكَوَاكِب. نَهْدَاهَا دَائِرَتَانِ كَامِلَتَانِ كَالبَدْرِ، وَخَصْرُهَا وَاسِعٌ كَخَطِّ الاسْتِوَاء.
He looked at her as if seeing her for the first time. She wore a thin Persian gown that revealed her body's curves as a drawing reveals planetary orbits. Her breasts were two perfect circles like full moons, her waist wide as the equator.
الفَصْلُ الثَّالِث: رَصْدُ الجَسَد
Chapter Three: Observing the Body
"عَلِّمْنِي،" قَالَتْ شَمْسُ ذَاتَ لَيْلَةٍ وَهُمَا يُرَاقِبَانِ كَوْكَبَ الزُّهَرَةِ، "كَيْفَ تَرْسُمُ خَرِيطَةَ السَّمَاء."
"Teach me," said Shams one night as they observed Venus, "how you map the heavens."
"بِالمُلَاحَظَةِ الدَّقِيقَةِ،" أَجَابَ، "وَبِلَمْسِ كُلِّ نُقْطَةٍ بِالعَيْن."
"Through precise observation," he answered, "and by touching each point with the eye."
"وَهَلْ يُمْكِنُكَ أَنْ تَرْسُمَ خَرِيطَةَ جَسَدِي بِالطَّرِيقَةِ نَفْسِهَا؟"
"Could you map my body the same way?"
أَخَذَ يَدَهَا وَأَجْلَسَهَا عَلَى المِنْضَدَةِ تَحْتَ القُبَّةِ المَفْتُوحَةِ عَلَى النُّجُوم. خَلَعَ ثَوْبَهَا بِيَدَيْنِ مُرْتَجِفَتَيْنِ، وَبَدَأَ يَرْسُمُ بِأُصْبُعِهِ خَرِيطَةً عَلَى جِلْدِهَا.
He took her hand and seated her on the table beneath the dome open to the stars. With trembling hands he removed her gown, and began to draw a map on her skin with his finger.
"هَذِهِ الشَّامَةُ هِيَ نَجْمُ القُطْبِ،" هَمَسَ وَهُوَ يُشِيرُ إِلَى نُقْطَةٍ فَوْقَ نَهْدِهَا الأَيْسَر. "وَهَذَا الخَطُّ هُوَ دَرْبُ التَّبَّانَة."
"This mole is the North Star," he whispered, pointing to a spot above her left breast. "And this line is the Milky Way."
الفَصْلُ الرَّابِع: الاقْتِرَانُ الأَعْظَم
Chapter Four: The Great Conjunction
لَيْلَةً بَعْدَ لَيْلَةٍ، عَلَّمَتْهُ شَمْسُ أَنَّ الأَجْسَادَ لَهَا مَدَارَاتُهَا الخَاصَّة. عَلَّمَتْهُ كَيْفَ يَدُورُ حَوْلَهَا كَمَا يَدُورُ القَمَرُ حَوْلَ الأَرْض، كَيْفَ يَقْتَرِبُ وَيَبْتَعِدُ، كَيْفَ يَصِلُ إِلَى نُقْطَةِ الذُّرْوَة.
Night after night, Shams taught him that bodies have their own orbits. She taught him how to revolve around her as the moon revolves around the earth, how to approach and withdraw, how to reach the zenith.
"الاقْتِرَانُ،" هَمَسَتْ وَهُوَ بَيْنَ فَخِذَيْهَا المُمْتَلِئَتَيْنِ، "هُوَ حِينَ يَلْتَقِي كَوْكَبَانِ فِي نُقْطَةٍ وَاحِدَة."
"Conjunction," she whispered as he lay between her full thighs, "is when two planets meet at a single point."
وَاقْتَرَنَا تَحْتَ سَمَاءٍ مُرَصَّعَةٍ بِالنُّجُوم، جَسَدَاهُمَا يَتَمَوَّجَانِ كَمَوْجِ الضَّوْءِ القَادِمِ مِنْ أَبْعَدِ المَجَرَّات. وَصَرَخَتْ شَمْسُ صَرْخَةً سَمِعَهَا الحُرَّاسُ فِي أَسْفَلِ البُرْج، فَظَنُّوهَا رِيحًا.
They conjoined beneath a star-studded sky, their bodies rippling like light waves from the farthest galaxies. Shams cried out with a scream the guards heard at the tower's base, thinking it the wind.
الفَصْلُ الخَامِس: النَّجْمُ الثَّابِت
Chapter Five: The Fixed Star
اكْتَشَفَ عُمَرُ نَجْمًا جَدِيدًا فِي تِلْكَ اللَّيَالِي، وَسَمَّاهُ "شَمْس" تَكْرِيمًا لِعَشِيقَتِهِ. وَأَعْتَقَهَا وَتَزَوَّجَهَا أَمَامَ السُّلْطَانِ نَفْسِهِ.
Umar discovered a new star in those nights, naming it "Shams" in honor of his beloved. He freed her and married her before the Sultan himself.
"لَقَدْ عَلَّمْتَنِي،" قَالَ لَهَا، "أَنَّ أَجْمَلَ السَّمَاوَاتِ هِيَ الَّتِي نَرَاهَا فِي عُيُونِ مَنْ نُحِبّ."
"You taught me," he said to her, "that the most beautiful heavens are those we see in the eyes of those we love."
الخَاتِمَة
Epilogue
ضَمَّ عُمَرُ بنُ الحَسَنِ اكْتِشَافَهُ إِلَى زِيجِ أُلُوغ بِيك، وَصَارَ نَجْمُ "شَمْس" أَحَدَ مَعَالِمِ السَّمَاء. وَيُقَالُ إِنَّ مَنْ يَنْظُرُ إِلَى ذَلِكَ النَّجْمِ فِي لَيْلَةِ الاقْتِرَانِ، يَجِدُ حُبَّهُ الحَقِيقِيّ.
Umar ibn al-Hasan added his discovery to Ulugh Beg's star catalog, and the star "Shams" became one of the sky's landmarks. It is said that whoever gazes upon that star on the night of conjunction finds their true love.