Reading and Writing on Reading and Writing: Short Poetry on Flyleaves in a Manuscript of the Metrical Grammar (DCA 00065)

The short pieces discussed in the paper were added between larger texts and on the flyleaves by the scribe himself. Thematically, the poems may be divided in two blocks: the first one contains poems on reading, studying grammar, and on the scribal activities, whereas the second one comprises poetry ascribed to Bar ʿEbrōyō on different topics. The manuscript under discussion – Bar ʿEbrōyō’s (1226–1286) Metrical Grammar (DCA 00065) – was written in 1552 by ʿAbdīšōʿ of Gāzartā, an East Syrian patriarch (1555–1570), poet and copyist. These small pieces forming short verse collections illustrate the complex processes that took place in the manuscript circulation and literary life during the Early Ottoman period. All the short poems were never published or studied before, and for that reason they are placed here in the Appendix in both Syriac original and English translation.


Introduction
In the present paper, some short verse pieces are discussed that were copied by ʿAbdīšōʿ of Gāzartā, the second patriarch (1555-1570) of the Chaldean Church and an outstanding litterateur, in the manuscript DCA 00065 also written by The poems composed by the priest Ṭalyā in the 18th century and added into the same manuscript are also discussed elsewhere.6 The present paper discusses just small poems, quatrains and slightly longer ones, copied by the poet and scribe himself -his hand can be easily recognized now -between larger texts and on the flyleaves. Thematically, this poetry are to be divided in two blocks, each of them being discussed here in the corresponding sections: the first one ("Block A") contains pieces on reading, studying grammar, and the scribal activities (see table 1 and the Appendix), while the second one ("Block B") comprises the ones on different topics ascribed in various manuscripts to Bar ʿEbrōyō (see table 2).
Block B seems to be quite logical in a manuscript of the works by this West Syrian author, even if being a later addition to it. The origin and the nature of Block A much more difficult to characterize. Since most of these poems have been unknown to the scholars, their original text is reproduced here, as well as the English translation (see Appendix below). The layout of these pieces is reproduced as arranged in the manuscript: one or two poetic lines in a row.

Block A: Poems on Reading and Scribing Books
Most of the poems of this block were copied by ʿAṭṭāyā in CCM 00024,7 who was using ʿAbdīšōʿ's CDA 00065 as a Vorlage for scribing a manuscript of the Metrical Grammar.8 Interestingly, the original layout of the pieces is entirely retained in his copy. It concerns also the titles of the poems in all cases they appear (for instance, see Appendix, no. 3, 6-10, 12). Rather important is a question, whether the main text of the manuscriptthe Metrical Grammar caused emerging such poetic additions in the manuscripts; in other words, if their appearing there is logical or occasional. As was pointed by Margherita Farina, the glosses or the scholia to the metrical text containing linguistic explanations of the treatise were first created by the author himself,9 but later on a lot of additions by scribes and users appeared, some of them on flyleaves.10 It is also worth mentioning that in the manuscript under discussion produced by ʿAbdīšōʿ of Gāzartā there are numerous notes on the flyleaves in both Syriac and Arabic with the linguistic explanations made in the copyist's hand (DCA 00065,. Thus, due to the character of the text stimulating the new commentaries of different kinds, the Metrical Grammar was accompanied by various additional texts more or less connected to it in their contents. In their contents, the poems of this block (see Appendix) can be divided into the following groups: 1) on learning grammar (and "correctness of speech") and reading books (no. 2, 3, 4-9, 12-17) that form a majority; 2) on scribal activities (no. 1, 10, 11).
There is no doubt that the topic of studying grammar and correctness of speech (obviously implied, Syriac) was very relevant in this period. After centuries in the Muslim environment, Syriac was no longer used outside the Church. Members of Christian communities spoke and wrote in the languages of the countries in which they lived: Arabic, Turkish, Persian. This situation could not help but have an impact on the level of the churchmen's knowledge of Syriac, the main language of the book. Partly for these reasons, it seems, was the active copying of the "Metrical Grammar" of the West Syriac Encyclopedist.
Some of the poems directly praise grammar and its importance (no. 2, 3, 6, 7). In one of them, it is compared to a ship in the sea of knowledge (no. 2), and in two others -to a bridge to the knowledge (no. 6, 7).11 Thus, in all these cases its significance for the correct understanding and perception of any information contained in texts is emphasized. It is worth mentioning that the word 'grammar' is spelled in the poems in two different ways: ‫ܓ̈ܪܡܛܝܩܐ‬ (no. 2, 3), and ܸ ‫ܓ̈ܪܡܛܝܩܝ‬ (no. 6, 7); both spellings of the Vorlage are retained by the copyist of CCM 00024 in the corresponding places. One of the quatrains (no. 1), which begins this whole block of poems and focuses on the activities of scribes, reminds us of the need to try ink and a writing stick, which the scribe must carry out before beginning to write:

Testing of the black ink13
Oh scribe, test the ink and the reed first, so that you may not be reproached by those who doubt your writing.14 A soul that acquires friends without a trial, wanders in delusion, and even working, gains no profits.15 It is curious that in both manuscripts, where this quatrain occurs, it is located on the front flyleaf, being adjacent to test strokes, obviously representing a sample of the pen (stylus) and ink. It is likely that such a technique prefacing the text, was common in this period among the scribes of Gāzartā and nearby towns. The scribal poetic creativity, in this case apparently ʿAbdīšōʿ of Gāzartā, constructed a poetic text appropriate for the occasion. The quatrain has a didactic character, which is usual for works of this type, a parallel is drawn between scribe practice and the ethical problem of choosing friends.
Quatrain no. 12 is an enigma that alludes to the name of ‫ܝܫܘܥ‬ (Jesus) (see Appendix). Since it still has a connection to writing and alphabet, it can be treated as referring to the same topic, namely, studying and writing. Each line mentions a numerical value of one of the four letters of this name, which are 10, 300, 6 and 70 correspondingly.
Parable Ten is given to us lordly in the Ten. Three hundred have wisely preached to us about the Three. The six has connected the sides inseparably. To the Seventy apart from the Two He delivered the Scriptures.
At the same time, in this piece, each number alludes to certain elements of events in the Holy Scripture. Thus, the first letter of the name that has the numerical value of ten, might be an allusion to the Ten Commandments. Three hundred 'preaches about the Three' , i.e. about the Trinity. The six might mean the traditional elements according to the medieval natural philosophy. 13 The same rubric is given also in Arabic. 14 Or: in the middle of your writing. 15 Or: acts inappropriately.
'Seventy apart from the two' may be a possible allusion to the seventy disciples of Christ that are often listed in the Syriac tradition as seventy-two. Quatrain no. 5 discusses the use of the correct speech and praises it in various metaphors. In fact, the poet uses the method that is well-known in Arabic and Persian poetry, and called tajnīs. The reader should distinguish and correctly interpret numerous homographs. Each line of the poem has its own chain of such words. This method borrowed from the neighboring Islamic poetic traditions is very suitable for such a poem that discusses the importance of the correct speech. Representing a rather uneasy reading, it requests the readers' education and good knowledge of the Syriac grammar.
Even more puzzling is quatrain no. 10, which seemingly has nothing to do the topic of reading and scribing. Instead, it looks like a description of different periods of life of a person: young age and old age. In fact, the second semantic layer is apparently connected with scribing activities (see Appendix, no. 10). The subject of the piece, as it turns out, is an ink-well. While being full, it can be easily used by a scribe, when the ink is nearly finished, it is very hard to extract and requests a special instrument. Such type of a verse text may be also characterized as a riddle or a parable. Here, polysemy of certain words is used as a poetic method. Thus, the word ‫ܟܐ‬ ܲ ‫ܣܘ‬ ܵ ‫ܢ‬ that has many meanings, such as a 'funnel, metal-caster, vessel for pouring oil into a lamp' could have been used here also as a producer of ‫ܣܟܐ‬ ܼ ‫ܢܘ‬ ('manuscript') of the same root, i.e. a scribe, literally "pourer [of ink]", which sounds quite unusual in the new context, connected with scribal activities. Studying this short, though extremely intriguing text-block, raises more questions that we are able to answer, both from the standpoint of methodology and history of their creation. Since the scribe obviously still owned this copy that he might have written for himself,16 he could write them not at once, but rather in different periods, about which one only may speculate. Neither is it clear whether the poems were collected by him from different places, copied from a certain Vorlage, or composed by himself, or rather these cases are somehow combined here. This problem has much more general character and concerns the numerous collections of short poems that were circulating in various types of manuscripts, often written beyond the main text scribed. First, if ʿAbdīšōʿ of Gāzartā really produced the manuscript for himself and owned it for years, there was no need for him to mention any authorship of those pieces. That definitely creates additional complexities that may be treated as a case study of autograph manuscripts. 16 See Pritula, "ʿAbdīšōʿ of Gāzartā, Patriarch of the Chaldean Church as a Scribe".
One may assume that the scribe and poet was copying and collecting any short poems that seemed to him worth doing it. Thus, five poems (nos. 5-10) were apparently composed by Khāmīs bar Qardaḥē (late 13th century). It is very likely, because they appear in the earliest manuscripts of his book: CCM 00419 dated 1395 (fol. 236r)17 and Vat. Sir. 186 datable to 16th century (fol. 219r). All the five pieces were also included into the printed edition of the poet's legacy that was published in Dahuk.18 Nevertheless, they were never studied or translated. Most interesting, even the order of these pieces is constant, they follow in succession, and it is also kept in ʿAbdīšōʿ's manuscript.
One more poem (no. 13) is ascribed Bar ʿEbrōyō at least in one early manuscript, namely Or. 298, Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, Florence (1487/8 AD),19 which means the piece was circulating before scribing CCM 00065. It was not included in the editions, and first published by in an article that discusses specifically the Florence manuscript.20 One more question, which we are presently unable to respond now is whether ʿAbdīšōʿ picked Bar ʿEbrōyō's poems in the West Syriac manuscripts to which had access,21 or these texts were already circulating the East Syriac tradition.
Most likely, the scribe, who was also a famous poet, having copied already existing poems that he liked, added some of his own works on the same themes. Thus, it is possible to speak about a combination of copying poems of predecessors and creating new ones, inspired by the reading of already existing ones. Having an extremely fluid set, such text-collections might have been in a state of permanent formation and development combined with copying. This was also caused by the way and place that they circulated, namely, beyond a codification, on flyleaves as a minor addition to the main text. That is presumably how similar short-text-collections were appearing and circulating, which is in general very characteristic the medieval book transmission.

Block B: Poems Ascribed to Bar ʿEbrōyō
One more text-block in the same manuscript (CDA 00065, fol. 142v-143v, 145v) -also written in ʿAbdīšōʿs hand -is a set of poems most of which are found in various manuscripts of Bar ʿEbrōyō's poetry collection. They were not copied by ʿAṭṭāyā in CCM 00024 that was using CDA 00065 as a Vorlage.22 This might mean either that he was not interested to copy them, or that they were added by ʿAbdīšōʿ in CDA 00065 later, after it had been used by ʿAṭṭāyā. That is quite possible, since these poems are written on flyleaves. And that would also mean that the Chaldean hierarch still owned the manuscript he had written, and therefore he had scribed it for himself. All those pieces were scribed in ʿAbdīšōʿs hand and have even no interval in between, being marked just by 22 See Pritula, "ʿAbdīšōʿ of Gāzartā, Patriarch of the Chaldean Church as a Scribe". the sign of the strophic division, and the word ‫ܐܚܪܬܐ‬ (Another one) written in the same hand in red ink in the margin. Obviously, the scribe and the owner, who copied them on the flyleaves for his personal interest, was trying to spare the space. In total, eleven poems23 out of the nineteen in this set were included into Bar ʿEbrōyō's poetry concordance by Takahashi (see table 2).24 Although not all the pieces occur in earliest manuscripts of Bar ʿEbrōyō's poetry, and included into the editions, they were obviously ascribed to him in the Syrian intellectuals of the early modernity. Anyway, they are connected together without intervals and all placed under very first rubric mentioning the ascribed author's name. Besides, they are written less cursive than the block of poems on grammar and reading. The script is very similar to the main text of the manuscriptthe pieces by Bar Bar ʿEbrōyō.
The block begins with a rubric ‫܇ܕܡܦܪܝܢܐ܇‬ (by the Maphrian; fol. 140v). The latter is clearly an epithet of Bar ʿEbrōyō, often used at least in East Syriac manuscripts,25 apparently in order to avoid a direct mention of the famous hierarch of a different confession. In CDA 00065, it is immediately followed by a series of poems with no more title that have a different number of lines (see table 2). They are included in a table below (see table 2), as belonging to the tradition reflected in the manuscripts many centuries after Bar ʿEbrōyō's death.
A poem within the block (no. 10, see table 1) has a separate rubric and is also clearly ascribed to Bar ʿEbrōyō: ‫܇ܕܡܦܪܝܢܐ܇‬ ‫̈ܪܥܘܬܐ‬ ‫ܩܘܠܣ‬ (Praise of the pastors; by the Maphrian; fol. 142v). Nevertheless, curiously enough, this piece of twelve lines in twelve-syllable meter does not occur in the earliest manuscripts of his poetry collections, but included in the edition by Dolabani.26 Thus, in manuscript tradition, it might have been circulating under Bar ʿEbrōyō's name. It is also noteworthy that the next seven poems (Table 2, no. 11-17) that follow immediately after that one are not mentioned in the concordance by Takahashi, being absent from the earliest manuscripts and this author's poetry editions. It is possible that they are later additions to the initial poem by Bar ʿEbrōyō made by various authors (   period of Syriac poetry.27 It is for sure a pure speculation, since we do not have any certain information about it. One of the poems praises the Book of rays ‫ܕܙܠ̈ܓܐ(‬ ‫,)ܟܬܒܐ‬ as the text directly says (see no. 16). This piece seems therefore to have been initially composed by someone to accompany the mentioned theological treatise by Bar ʿEbrōyō.28 Although it is scribed on the same leaves as the block of the poems ascribed to the West Syrian author, it is placed at the very bottom in a distance from other poems of this block that are scribed without any intervals. Although copied apparently in the same hand as the former, it is scribed in a more cursive script, just like the poems on grammar and reading are. That is why I have placed it that block, assuming that it was a piece composed by ʿAbdīšōʿ, who drew his inspiration from reading Bar ʿEbrōyō's work. Other possibility is that the former just copied an already existing poem he liked and found suitable to include it in the set of those poems.  The same rubric is given also in Arabic. 31 Or: in the middle of your writing. 32 Or: acts inappropriately.
Scrinium 17 (2021) 1-19 Correctness of speech replaces any shortage in the heart. And it quenches the fire in the straw, like with the waves, and also enlightens. Thus, it opens wonderful senses to the senseless ones, as it makes smart those who are foolish and distrustful. [

On the same subject
Grammar is a bridge to all knowledges, and without it, one has not crossed the river of wisdom.