Spice, spiced wine, and pure wine.

• Author: Qian, Ailin
• Position: Essay

The Arabs have coined a proverb ashar min qifa nabki ("more famous than 'Stop, let us weep!'") quoting the first two words of Imru' al-Qays's Mu'allaqa. This Mu'allaqa is known to have several versions, in which the number and order of lines are slightly different. The version used here is edited by 'Abd al-Rahman al-MustawI (2003), comprising 81 lines. It is in the second to last line that we encounter the word rahiq:

ka-anna makakiya al-jiwa'i ghudayyatan subihna sulafan min rahiqin mufalfali (1) Here is A. J. Arberry's very literal translation: (2)

In the morning the songbirds all along the broad valley quaffed the choicest of sweet wines rich with spices Imru' al-Qays ends his Mu'allaqa with the description of a sudden flood in the wadi. The next morning the poet's narrator sees bodies of drowned animals and compares them to root bulbs of wild onion (anabishu 'unsuli). The 'unsul, as Adnan Haydar puts it, is "a life-giving plant." (3) The positive role of the flood is also highlighted in the above quote. The happy warbling of songbirds resounds in the wadi as if they have just sipped early draughts of the best spiced wine (subihna sulafan min rahiqin mufalfali). As Haydar notes, "the flood has given rise to a celebration, a wedding feast, full of color and music." (4)

Rahiq is usually interpreted as "strong and pure wine," (5) as in Qur'an 83:25: yusqawna min rahiqin makhtumin ("Their thirst will be slaked with Pure Wine sealed.") (6) According to 'Abd al-Baqi's concordance, this is the only time that rahiq appears in the Holy Book. (7) It should also be noted that the next three Qur'anic verses contain a description of the seal and mixture of the wine:

khitamuhu miskun: wa-fi dhdlika fa-lyatandfasi al-mutandfisuna wa-mizajuhu min tasnimin 'aynan yashrahu biha al-muqarrabuna The seal thereof will be musk: and for this let those aspire, who have aspirations: With it will be (given) a mixture of Tasnim: A spring, from (the waters) whereof drink those nearest to Allah. (8) For Muslims, the general prohibition against drinking wine is made clear in Qur'an 5:90, where drinking khamr is labeled an abomination, part of Satan's handiwork (rijsun min 'amali al-shaytani). In Paradise, however, there are "rivers of wine, a joy to those who drink" (47:15, wa-anhdrun min khamrin ladhdhatin li-l-sharibina). Based on Sura 83, bliss (na'im) for the righteous (al-abrar) in the next world will consist of rahiq, or "the wine of utmost purity and flavour." (9)

Qur'anic commentaries provide various definitions for rahiq. (10) For Ibn Kathir, rahiq is a name for wine (min asma' al-khamr). Al-Tabari defines it as khamr sirf la ghishsh fiha ("pure and unadulterated wine"). In al-Qurtubi's Tafsir it is defined as sharab la ghishsh fihi ("pure and unadulterated drink," quoting al-Akhfash and al-Zajjaj); aqsa al-khamr wa-ajwaduha ("the furthest and most excellent wine," quoting al-Khalil); and al-khamr al-'atiqa al-bayda' al-safiya min al-ghishsh al-nayyira ("the old wine which is silvery and bright, free from impurities," quoting Muqatil). Later dictionaries such as Lisan al-'Arab or Taj al-'Arus did not differ much from these commentaries. In any case the notion of pure wine is quite clear.

At the same time, rahiq is sealed with musk, khitamuhu misk. Thus the pure wine is definitely also aromatic and sweet-smelling. Al-Tabari says that there are different opinions about the expression khitamuhu misk. Quite a few commentators (ahl al-ta'wil) argue that rahiq is actually mixed with musk (ma'na dhalika, mamzuj wa-makhlut, mizajuhu wa-khiltuhu misk "it means that it is mixed and blended, its mixture and blend are musk"). Al-Qurtubi quotes from Ibn Mas'ud that yajiduna (aqibataha ta(ma al-misk ("they will find the flavor of musk in the end"), which echoes Yusuf 'Ali's note on this aya:

Perhaps a better interpretation of the "seal" is to take it as implying the final effect of the drink: just as a seal closes a document, so the seal of the drink will be the final effect of the delicious perfume and flavour of musk, heightening the enjoyment and helping in the digestion. (11) In the next aya we are...