The Garden of the Believers: Saracen Playground

[kFoyauextlH]

Once upon a time, there was a Garden, the conditions of which were such that any who entered it, found comfort enough and time enough to relax, ponder, and discuss.

Th​​​is Garden was at the center of some buildings, a place for prayer, an inn for food and lodgings, a library, and a hospital.

One could easily access any of these whenever they wished or felt the need.

The Garden was where people sat and walked and enjoyed the company of one another, and allowed themselves to think, or questioned those deemed wise who were visiting the Garden.

This Garden was in a Metropolis in the Ancient World, at the Center of the known World in some senses, both in time and space, meaning that the library contained a culmination of information from around the world, and the visitors were also from around the world and all directions.

Having arrived after a long journey, people would find lodgings at the inn, and perhaps spy out the window of their room this beautiful garden where discussion and jovial greeting and laughter could be heard in only the most pleasing fashions.

Come, ​​​Come, the invitation was to all, to hear and speak and hear and wonder.

Some said the truth was in the Garden, and so you may see for yourself, spying there a conversation.

(use this thread to create dialogue occurring in the garden expounding the heights of wisdom, create the characters accordinglybas well if possible)
[hr]
Overhearing a discussion in the garden:

You are but slaves.

Slaves? We are free men, from noble families, we have wealth, resources, we can do as we please.

Can you do all this without Wealth?

If I had no Wealth, I would be free from it.

Are you then currently dependent on it?

I need it not, I can hunt for my food.

With your bare hands?

Why not? Yea, even my bare hands.

Are you dependent on these? Would you be able to do it without them?

They depend on me! I control them!

Can you make them do things if they are not present? Or it possible to lose their functioning?

If I lose them, then I can still hunt with my teeth!

By what means?

By means of my teeth! What do you mean?

Well, could you achieve this handless hunting by teeth without a body or a life?

No, I would need a body and a life.

So you are dependent on a body and a life in order to do things?

Yes, of course.

Would you say then that youvare a slave to your body? A slave to your life?

No, certainly not, I control my body, and I control my life.

By what means?

My mind! I use my thoughts to make my body move, to support and continue my life.

How do you do this?

I do what I think!

How is it you arrive at what you think, and this do?

Well, I look around, and I listen, and then thoughts occur to me, and I consider them carefully, then I decide upon a plan and pursue as I am able.

Not as you are not able?

Of course not! How could I do what I can not do?

Couldn't the free?

That is absurd, none can do what they can not do!

So they are all slaves?

No, a slave is different from a master.

What is a master?

A master is one that provides and controls and restricts, a slave is one that is restricted and follows what the master tells it if it seeks to live!

How many masters do you have?

None! I follow no one!

What of your Mind?

What of it?

Are you not dependent upon it?

I am, but it is mine, it is me.

How so?

I am the one using it, it is my property.

The thoughts as well?

Yes.

Why?

What do you mean why?

You said that you look around and see things, so are depending on your eyes and sights to see, you hear things, so depending on your ears and things to hear, you also can not see what is not there for you to see, or hear what is not there for you to hear, then thoughts occur to you, thoughts which come from your mind but which you did not select for yourself or choose, correct? Nor could you do any of this without a mind, a mind without sense of sight and sense of hearing or a body, or a life. All slaves.

Yes, my slaves.

Do you control what you see? Do you control what you hear? Do you control what occurs to you in your thoughts initially?

No.

T​hen can you do and hear, and see, whatever you wish?

No.

Are you instead of a master, a slave to all these things?

No. I'll tell you why, because if I sit still, let all of that come in, I can then decide.

What can you decide?

What I decide. Anything! Based on the information available to me.

So not anything really, just some things.

Well yes.

Can you decide two things?

Yes?

At the same time?

Sure, I suppose.

Can you at the very same time perform or act on two things at the same time?

Yes.

Yes and No?

What?

Can you decide to pick up an object, and decide not to pick up an object, pick up an object, and not pick up the very same object?

No.

So you can't even do some things, you can only do one thing.

I can do many things!

Like what?

Well, I can pick up an object, and I can put down the same object.

Can you put down the object before you have picked it up ever?

No.

So you are dependent upon picking up a thing before you can put it down, dependent on order and chronology, on time, change, and progress, on ability, on body.

Yes, but I am the master of all these things!

How so?

I decide when I pick up a thing.

Do you? Could you pick it up at any other time?

Certainly!

Even if you have picked it up at a certain time? You could, without letting go, pick it up at another time?

No.

So what can you do? Hunt by your teeth?

Yes, I believe so.

Without a skull or muscles?

No.

Can you even hunt with your teeth?

I could try.

You haven't even tested this?

Of course not! I have wealth and resources.

So can afford to guess?

I'm certain I could manage, no matter what the case.

How are you certain?

My life has shown me that I always figure a way out.

Your slave, life, has given you confidence? Your slave, mind has given you possibilities and assumptions? Do you also select what you can remember?

Yes.

How would you know?

What do you mean?

How would you know if you have thoroughly forgotten something or what memories you have available to you, from which you derive your confidence?

​​I would sense it, something missing.

What do you rely on in order to sense this, and how is it that you trust it has not forgotten and can thus itself be trusted, did you also select for this to be forgotten or was that imposed upon you?

I did not choose to forget, and I can't remember what I can't remember, and sense I have forgotten based on what my mind senses.

Who then chose that you forget? What caused the selection, if it was not you, what imposed upon you?

I don't know, things just happen.

Things just happen, like the things you see, and that you can see at all, the things you hear, and that you can hear at all, that things occur to your mind, that you have wealth, that you can decide and do one thing and not another, and all this. What you forget is also not within your control or knowledge, nor can you summon it or bring it back, just like anything taken away from you. What then are you the master of?

My self.

What is that?

It is what I own, what I can control.

What is your slave?

Yes.

So your Self is a slave.

No, no.

What is it a master of?

I can do things!

Like what?

I have spent my money and resources, I have used my body, I have thought and acted, seen and heard.

Did you provide all these things? Did you use them only in one way at a time?

I used them only one way at a time, but as I chose to!

So you could've not chosen as well.

Yes.

How?

Simply by not doing.

How can you not do what you did do?

I can't, but I can not do it before I have done it.

Can you not do it? What can you do? Really?

There are many things I can do, at a given time, which I can choose to do or not do. Right now for example, I can sit or stand.

You are sitting, so you can neither sit, nor can you stand while you are sitting.

So?

So what kind of master can not sit nor stand whenever they wish?

I sit when I want to, and I stand when I want to.

Not at once though.

I don't want to sit and stand at once!

Why not? Is it because you can't?

No. It is because it is foolish.

Why is it foolish?

It is an absurdity, it can't be done, and it need not be done.

What does need to be done? What decides what needs to be done and what is foolish and does not need to be done?

Many things need to be done, and what decides them is me!

Were you the one who decided all the things that need to be done or could be done?

No.

Who then?

I don't know, it was already present.

What is done is what needs to be done?

No, there are many things which are done which did not need to be done.

Like what?

Like wars and petty conflicts, murders, crimes, none of that was necessary.

Was it necessary to constrain and punish such who do those things?

Yes.

Why?

If left unpunished and free to do as they please, the whole world would be in ruins.

So you can't let injustice prevail, but are forced to fight and contain it?

Yes.

Who forces this neccessity? The criminals?

In a sense.

So the criminals are your masters? Forcing you to take actions which they make necessary?

No.

Are you controlling the criminals, so are responsible for this too and are the greatest of the criminal masterminds?

No. I do not control them.

Who controls them?

They control themselves.

​​​​The same way that you do?

Yes.

So they see what they don't choose, hear what they don't choose, depend upon their bodies and have only what occurs to their minds, and can only do one thing at a time and can not also not do what they do or did?

Yes.

What is the difference between you and them?

I choose to do good, they choose to do evil.

Are you capable of doing evil?

Yes.

How do you know?

The option to do evil is present to my senses, but I choose not to do it.

How do you choose not to do it and why?

I think about the consequences, the consequences seem bad, so I don't do it.

What if the consequences seemed good?

Then it wouldn't be a bad thing, but a good thing, and I would choose it.

Did you choose how it seemed to you?

What do you mean?

Did you have a choice between a thing seeming good to you or bad to you or did this feeling or sense just occur to you and was not really selected by you?

​​I choose how I feel about things.

Do you choose to feel pain?

No.

If one were to inflict upon you pain or remove something from you, would your feeling pain or anxiety regarding it be deliberate and also necessary?

No.

​​​​​​Also, can what is necessary, ever be deliberate? Doesn't the necessary mean required and thus not chosen deliberately?

What is necessary, is what is required, and what is deliberate, is chosen.

What are the things you can choose, if you can't choose what you see, hear, feel, think, and thus do or did or not do and can or can't undo?

I know I am free. I know I am free because I feel it.

How does it feel to be free?

[kFoyauextlH]

"
Vocals by Youssef Nassa, oud by Mohab Attalah, ney by Anas Aharoud. The music, in Maqam Nahawand, is entirely derived from traditional recitation of the poem available on the Internet, and owes much to versions such as this one:


This is a piece of modern Arabic music set to a pre-Islamic poem by Abd Yaghouth al-Harthi, a warrior poet of the Arabian peninsula. Legend recounts that he wrote this poem after his capture by the enemy Banu Tamim tribe, who refused to let him ransom himself and tied his tongue for fear that he would verbally mock them. He asked them to untie his tongue so that he could lament his fate and condemn his companions for abandoning him.

When he realized that they were going to kill him, he asked them to give him wine to drink and then kill him. He recited this poem while he was a captive, feeling humiliated after having been the leader and knight of his people, waiting for death at any moment. The poem gives us a fascinating insight into the mentalities and culture of pre-Islamic societies.

Lyrics in Arabic:
ألا لا تلوماني كفى اللَّومَ ما بيا
وما لكما في اللَّوم خيرٌ ولا لِيا

ألم تعلما أنَّ الملامةَ نفعُها
قليلٌ، وما لومي أخي مِن شِماليا

فيا راكبًا إمَّا عرضتَ فبلِّغنْ
نَدامايَ من نَجْرانَ أنْ لا تلاقِيا

أبا كربٍ والأيهمَينِ كليهِما
وقَيْسًا بأعلى حضرموتَ اليَمانيا

جزى اللهُ قومي بالكُلابِ ملامةً
صريحَهمُ والآخرين المَواليا

ولو شئتُ نجَّتني مِن الخيل نَهْدَةٌ
ترى خلفَها الحُوَّ الجيادَ تَواليا

ولكنني أحمي ذِمارَ أبيكُمُ
وكانَ الرماحُ يختَطِفْنَ المُحاميا

أقول وقد شَدُّوا لساني بنِسعةٍ
أمعشرَ تَيْمٍ أطلِقوا عن لِسانيا


أمعشر تَيمٍ قد ملكتمْ فأسجِحوا
فإنَّ أخاكم لم يكن مِن بَوائيا

فإن تقتُلوني تقتُلوا بيَ سيدًا
وإن تُطْلِقوني تَحْربُوني بماليا

أحقًّا عبادَ اللهِ أنْ لستُ سامعًا
نشيدَ الرِّعاءِ المُعْزِبينَ المَتاليا

وتضحكُ منِّي شيخةٌ عبشميَّةٌ
كأنْ لم تَرَى قلبي أسيرًا يَمانيا

وظلَّ نِساء الحيِّ حوليَ رُكَّدًا
يُراوِدْنَ منِّي ما تُريد نِسائيا

وقد عَلمَتْ عرسي مُلَيْكَةُ أنني
أنا الليثُ مَعْدُوًّا عليَّ وَعاديا

وقد كنتُ نَحَّار الجَزور ومُعمِل ال
مَطِيِّ، وأمضي حيثُ لا حيَّ ماضيا

وأنحَرُ للشَّرب الكرام مَطِيَّتي
وأصدعُ بين القَينَتَيْنِ رِدائيا


وكنتُ إذا ما الخيلُ شَمَّصها القنا
لَبيقًا بتصريف القناةِ بَنَانيا

وعاديةٍ سومَ الجراد وزعتُها
بكفِّي، وقد أنْحَوا إليَّ العَواليا

كأنِّيَ لم أركب جوادًا ولم أقلْ
لخيليَ: كرِّي، نفِّسي عن رجاليا

ولم أسبأ الزَّقَّ الرَّويَّ، ولم أقل
لأيسارِ صدق: أعظِموا ضوءَ ناريا

English translation:
Do not blame me, enough blame is upon me.
There is no good in your blame, nor in mine.

Did you not know that blame is of little use
and that my brother from the north does not blame me?

O rider, if you have seen them, then inform
my relatives in Najran that they will not meet

Abu Karb and Al-Aiham, both of them
And Qais, the highest of Hadramaut, Yemen

May God reward my people with dogs for their blame
Their outspoken ones and the others who are loyal

If I wanted, a horse could save me
You see behind it the horses running one after another

But I protect your father's honor
And the spears were snatching the defender

I say, and they tied my tongue with a rope
O people of Taym, release my tongue

O people of Taym, you have conquered, so be generous
For your brother was not one of the Bawaya

If you kill me, you kill a master
And if you release me, you wage war against me with money

Truly, servants of God, I do not hear
The song of the lonely shepherds, the Mataliya

And an Abshamite woman laughs at me
As if she did not see my heart captive to Yemen

And the women of the neighborhood remained around me, lingering
Seeking from me what women desire

And my bride, Mulika, knew that I
I am the lion, fierce and fierce

And I was the butcher of the islands and the maker of
the whip, and I go where no one has gone before

And I slaughter my whip for the noble drinkers
And I crack between the two whips, ready

And when the horses smelled the water
I would quickly drain the canal

And I would distribute the locusts
with my hand, and they would bow down to me

As if I had not ridden a horse and had not said
to my horse: Run, breathe freely for my men

And I did not drink from the watering trough, and I did not say
to the left wing: Magnify the light of my fire.

Please note that the translation was automated so if any actual Arab speakers can offer a better translation, it would be much appreciated.
"



"
Music by Farya Faraji, vocals by Ibrahim Charaf, lyrics by Antarah ibn Shaddad. Please keep in mind that this isn’t reconstructed Arabic music from the period, it’s modern Arabic music with an ancient theme.

It was about time I tried my hand at the vast, diverse repertoire of the Arab world, and I wanted to start with no other than Arabia proper where it all started, going back to the roots from before Islam arose. This composition is inspired by the Khaliji (broadly meaning of the Gulf) styles of music—those of the Arabs living on the eastern coast of the Persian gulf, where their music is broadly the same as that of southern Iranians living near the gulf. The Iranian style is called Bandari, a style I’m a little familiar with, but is mostly alien to me as I’m Mazandarani from the North, where our music has more affinities with the music of the Caucasus.

This style called Khaliji by the Arabs is often in triple metre, with a percussive pattern that is highly syncopated as heard here. The primary instrument used is different forms bagpipes, such as the habban in the Arabian peninsula or the ney anban in Iran. I used a mijwiz, which is a bagless, similar reed instrument that produces the same general sound as them. I also used an oud, the main instrument used across the Arabian peninsula.

The poem is written by Antarah ibn Shaddad himself. Antarah was a pre-Islamic era Arabian man of partial Ethiopian descent on his mother’s side, for which he was called the Crow after his dark complexion. Hailing from the central region of Najd, and initially a slave, he was freed after defending his master from an attack, and would go on to become a swashbuckling, knight like figure, riding his horse across the dunes of Arabia before the ascent of Islam a few decades after his death.

He was also a renowned poet, and his poetry survives to this day as one of the most well known examples of Arabic poetry from before the consolidation of Islam.

Lyrics in Arabic:
حَكِّم سُيوفَكَ في رِقابِ العُذَّلِ
وَإِذا نَزَلتَ بِدارِ ذُلٍّ فَاِرحَلِ
وَإِذا بُليتَ بِظالِمٍ كُن ظالِم
وَإِذا لَقيتَ ذَوي الجَهالَةِ فَاِجهَلي

English translation:
Let your sword rule over your enemies’ necks,
And if you enter a disgraced land, leave it,
And if you meet tyrants, be a tyrant to them,
And if you meet insolents, be insolent to them
"

"
@guydelusignan9561
2 years ago
Funb fact: my daughter likes ur music too. She is 5 years old and if she wanna listen to "pirate music" at home:D, i know i have to start some of ur powerfull songs (or shantys if she wants to watch a video with ships^^). Her actually favorite is "Manzikert". UIn our car, she means "Die toten hosen" (german punk rock band)
"





"
Music & vocals by Farya Faraji, lyrics by Kormákr Ǫgmundarson. Many thanks to my friends Delphine and Étienne for lending their IKEA-level Nordic looks to this video. This is another attempt at conveying a historically plausible rendition of what Scandinavian music of the Viking Age would have possible sounded like.

Whilst the Norse (more specifically the Vikings) are more popular than ever in pop culture, and Norse-themed music is everywhere, almost all of that music is creative in nature and doesn't seek to be historically accurate--the current audience is therefore inundated with tons of examples of very enjoyable music that is more modern and fantastical in nature than historically accurate. I wanted to add my humble contribution to the Norse-music landscape by providing a more historically informed example of what the actual music of the Norse may have sounded like, rather than music that evokes our modern pop culture idea of the Vikings like with the excellent Wardruna or Heilung bands.

The guiding principles are that the song is in a diatonic mode, given diatonicism's high statistical distribution over Europe in that era, monophonic, therefore without any harmony, and uses the instruments of the era: the lyre, pan flute, bone flute, and simple drums, as well as the sound of a bowed lyra, an instrument which I believe was, with a high degree of likelihood, imported into Scandinavia by the end of the Viking Age. I made sure that the melody always accents the first syllable of a word to reflect Old Norse prosody. For more info on the subject, watch this informational video dedicated to the subject:

The pronunciation is reconstructed Old Norse, and I based it on the reading provided by Dr. Jackson Crawford in this video: Please note that this means it will sound unlike most readings of the poem which use modern Icelandic pronunciation. It’s a common convention to use the latter since it’s phonology changed the least from Old Norse, however it isn’t the same.

The poem is found in both the Gunlaug saga, as well as Kormákr Ögmundarson's sagas. In the story, he recounts him falling in love with the beautiful Steingerðr who loves him back, but is married with another man. The poem recounts the instant they both fell in love, and the knowledge of the impeding doom that this spells for them in the future. The poem was written in Iceland in the 900's.

The clip was filmed in Banff National Park, in Canada. I actually filmed it almost a year ago, but massive editing delays meant I couldn't finish the clip until after winter, and it just felt weird to release such a winter-themed clip at spring's door, so I just waited and thought I'd open this year's winter season with this clip.

Lyrics in Old Norse:
Brámáni skein brúna
Brims und ljósum himni
Hristar hǫrvi glæstrar
Haukfránn á mik lauka;
En sá geisli sýslir
Síðan gullmens Fríðar
Hvarmatungls ok hringa
Hlínar óþurft mína

English translation (Jackson Crawford’s):
The linen decorated woman’s hawk fierce eyes shone beneath her fair forehead upon me.

But the shining light from that woman’s eyes is preparing ruin for me, and no less for her.
"