A man brought his wife a fish one Friday and bidding her cook
it against the end of the congregational prayers, went out to
his business. Meanwhile, there came in her friend,[FN#123] who
bade her to a wedding at his house; so she agreed and laying
the fish in a jar of water, went off with him and was absent a
whole week, whilst her husband sought her from house to house
and enquired after her; but none could give him any news of
her.
On the following Friday, she came home, [and he fell to chiding
and reproaching her;] but she brought out to him the fish alive
from the jar and assembled the folk against him. He told them
his case; but they credited him not and said, 'It cannot be
that the fish should have remained alive all this while.' So
they caused adjudge him mad and imprisoned him and laughed at
him, whereupon he wept sore and recited the following verses:
A hag, that holds high rank, indeed, in lewdness! In her face
Are witnesses that testify to filth and wantonness.
When she's unclean, she bawds; and when she's clean, she plays
the whore: So, all her time, she's either bawd or else
adulteress.
THE DEVOUT WOMAN AND THE TWO WICKED
ELDERS.[FN#124]
There was once, of old time, a virtuous woman among the children
of Israel, who was pious and devout and used every day to go out
to the place of prayer, first entering a garden, which adjoined
thereto, and there making the ablution. Now there were in this
garden two old men, its keepers, who fell in love with her
and sought her favours; but she refused, whereupon said they,
'Except thou yield thyself to us, we will bear witness against
thee of fornication.' Quoth she, 'God will preserve me from your
wickedness!' Then they opened the garden-gate and cried out, and
the folk came to them from all sides, saying, 'What ails you?'
Quoth they, 'We found this damsel in company with a youth, who
was doing lewdness with her; but he escaped from our hands.'
Now it was the use of the people of those days to expose an
adulteress to public ignominy for three days and after stone
her. So they pilloried her three days, whilst the two old men
came up to her daily and laying their hands on her head, said,
'Praised be God who hath sent down His vengeance on thee!'
On the fourth day, they carried her away, to stone her; but a
lad of twelve years old, by name Daniel, followed them to the
place of execution and said to them, 'Hasten not to stone her,
till I judge between them.' So they set him a chair and he sat
down and caused bring the old men before him separately. (Now
he was the first that separated witnesses.) Then said he to the
first, 'What sawest thou?' So he repeated to him his story, and
Daniel said, 'In what part of the garden did this befall?' 'On
the eastern side,' replied the elder, 'under a pear-tree.' Then
he called the other old man and asked him the same question;
and he replied, 'On the western side of the garden, under an
apple-tree.' Meanwhile the damsel stood by, with her hands and
eyes uplift to heaven, imploring God for deliverance. Then God
the Most High sent down His vengeful thunder upon the two old
men and consumed them and made manifest the innocence of the
damsel.
This was the first of the miracles of the Prophet Daniel, on
whom and on the Prophet be blessing and peace!
JAAFER THE BARMECIDE AND THE OLD
BEDOUIN.
The Khalif Haroun er Reshid went out one day, with Abou Yousuf
the minion and Jaafer the Barmecide and Abou Nuwas, into the
desert, where they fell in with an old man, leant upon his ass.
The Khalif bade Jaafer ask him whence he came; so he said to
him, 'Whence comest thou?' 'From Bassora,' answered the
Bedouin. 'And whither goest thou?' asked Jaafer. 'To Baghdad,'
said the other. 'And what wilt thou do there?' asked Jaafer. 'I
go to seek medicine for my eye,' replied the old man. Quoth the
Khalif, 'O Jaafer, make us sport with him.' 'If I jest with
him,' answered Jaafer, 'I shall hear what I shall not like.'
But Er Reshid rejoined, 'I charge thee, on my authority, jest
with him.'
So Jaafer said to the Bedouin, 'If I prescribe thee a remedy
that shall profit thee, what wilt thou give me in return?'
Quoth the other, 'God the Most High will requite thee for me
with better than I can give thee.' 'Harkye, then,' said Jaafer,
'and I will give thee a prescription, which I have given to
none but thee.' 'What is that?' asked the Bedouin; and Jaafer
answered, 'Take three ounces of wind-wafts and the like of
sunbeams and moonshine and lamp-light; mix them together and
let them lie in the wind three months. Then bray them three
months in a mortar without a bottom and laying them in a cleft
platter, set it in the wind other three months; after which use
three drachms every night in thy sleep, and (God willing) thou
shalt be cured.'
When the Bedouin heard this, he stretched himself out on the
ass's back and letting fly a terrible great crack of wind, said
to Jaafer, 'Take this, in payment of thy prescription. When I
have followed it, if God grant me recovery, I will give thee a
slave-girl, who shall serve thee in thy lifetime a service,
wherewith God shall cut short thy term; and when thou diest and
God hurries thy soul to the fire, she shall blacken thy face
with her ordure, of her mourning for thee, and lament and
buffet her face, saying, "O frosty-beard, what a ninny thou
wast!"'[FN#125] The Khalif laughed till he fell backward, and
ordered the Bedouin three thousand dirhems.
THE KHALIF OMAR BEN KHETTAB AND THE
YOUNG BEDOUIN.
The sheriff[FN#126] Hussein ben Reyyan relates that the Khalif
Omar ben Khettab was sitting one day, attended by his chief
counsellors, judging the folk and doing justice between his
subjects, when there came up to him two handsome young men,
haling by the collar a third youth, perfectly handsome and
well dressed, whom they set before him. Omar looked at him and
bade them loose him; then, calling him near to himself, said
to them, 'What is your case with him?' 'O Commander of the
Faithful,' answered they, 'we are two brothers by one mother
and known as followers of the truth. We had a father, a very
old man of good counsel, held in honour of the tribes, pure of
basenesses and renowned for virtues, who reared us tenderly,
whilst we were little, and loaded us with favours, when we
grew up; in fine, a man abounding in noble and illustrious
qualities, worthy of the poet's words:
"Is Abou es Sekr of Sheiban[FN#127]?" they questioned of me;
and "No," I answered, "my life upon it! But Sheiban's of
him, I trow.
How many a father hath ris'n in repute by a noble son, As
Adnan,[FN#128] by God's Apostle, to fame and glory did
grow!"
He went forth this day to his garden, to take his pleasure
amongst its trees and pluck the ripe fruits, when this young
man slew him and swerved from the road of righteousness;
wherefore we demand of thee the retribution of his crime and
call upon thee to pass judgment upon him, according to the
commandment of God.'
The Khalif cast a terrible look at the accused youth and said
to him, 'Thou hearest the complaint of these young men; what
hast thou to say in reply?' Now he was stout of heart and ready
of speech, having doffed the wede of faint-heartedness and put
off the apparel of affright; so he smiled and after paying the
usual ceremonial compliment to the Khalif, in the most eloquent
and elegant words, said, 'O Commander of the Faithful, I have
given ear to their complaint, and they have said sooth in that
which they avouch, so far as they have set out what befell; and
the commandment of God is a decreed decree.[FN#129] But I will
state my case before thee, and thine be it to decide thereon.
Know then, O Commander of the Faithful, that I am a very Arab
of the Arabs, the noblest of those that are beneath the skies.
I grew up in the dwellings of the desert, till evil and hostile
times fell upon my tribe, when I came to the utterward of this
town, with my children and good and household. As I went along
one of the paths between the gardens, with my she-camels, high
in esteem with me and precious to me, and midst them a stallion
of noble race and goodly shape, a plenteous getter, by whom the
females bore abundantly and who walked among them, as he were a
crowned king,--behold, one of the she-camels broke away and
running to the garden of these young men's father, began to
crop the branches that showed above the wall. I ran to her, to
drive her away, when there appeared, at a breach of the wall,
an old man, whose eyes sparkled with anger, holding a stone in
his right hand and swaying to and fro, like a lion preparing
for a spring. He cast the stone at my stallion, and it struck
him in a vital part and killed him. When I saw the stallion
drop dead beside me, live coals of anger were kindled in my
heart; so I took up the stone and throwing it at the old man,
it was the cause of his end: thus his own wrongful act returned
against him and the man was slain of that wherewith he slew.
When the stone struck him, he cried out with a terrible great
cry, and I hastened from the spot; but these young men hurried
after me and laying hands on me, carried me before thee.'
Quoth Omar, (may God the Most High accept of him), 'Thou hast
confessed thy crime and acquittal is impossible; for [the law
of] retaliation is imperative and there is no time of escape.'
[FN#130] 'I hear and obey the judgment of the Imam,' answered
the Bedouin, 'and am content to submit me to the requirement
of the law of Islam; but I have a young brother, whose old
father, before his death, appointed to him great store of
wealth and much gold and committed his affair to me, saying,
"I give this into thy hand for thy brother; keep it for him
with thy might." So I took the money and buried it; nor doth
any know of it but I. Now, if thou adjudge me to die forthright,
the money will be lost and thou wilt be the cause of its loss;
wherefore the little one will sue thee for his due on the day
when God shall judge His creatures. But, if thou wilt grant
me three days' delay, I will appoint one to undertake the boy's
affair, in my stead, and return to answer my debt; and I have
one who will be my surety for this my word.'
The Khalif bowed his head awhile, then raised it and looking
round upon those present, said, 'Who will be surety to me for
his return?' The Bedouin looked at the faces of those who were
in company and pointing to Abou Dherr,[FN#131] said, 'This man
will answer for me and be my surety.' 'O Abou Dherr,' said Omar,
'dost thou hear what this youth says and wilt thou be surety
to me for his return?' 'Yes, O Commander of the Faithful,'
answered Abou Dherr, 'I will be surety for him three days.'
So the Khalif accepted his guarantee and let the young man go.
Now, at the appointed time, when the days of grace were nearly
or quite at end and still the Bedouin came not, the Khalif sat
in his council, with the Companions[FN#132] surrounding him,
like the stars about the moon, Abou Dherr and the plaintiffs
being also present; and the latter said, 'O Abou Dherr, where
is the defendant and how shall he return, having once escaped?
But we will not stir hence, till thou bring him to us, that we
may take our wreak of him.' 'As the All-Wise King liveth,'
replied Abou Dherr, 'if the days of grace expire and the young
man return not, I will fulfil my warranty and surrender myself
to the Imam.' 'By Allah,' rejoined Omar, 'if the young man
tarry, I will assuredly execute on Abou Dherr that which is
prescribed by the law of Islam!' Thereupon the eyes of the
bystanders ran over with tears; those who looked on raised
groans, and great was the clamour. Then the chiefs of the
Companions were instant with the plaintiffs to accept the
bloodwit and win the thanks of the folk, but they refused and
would nothing but the talion. However, as the folk were swaying
to and fro and clamorously bemoaning Abou Dherr, up came the
young Bedouin, with face beaded with sweat and shining like the
new moon, and standing before the Imam, saluted him right
fairly and said to him, 'I have given the boy in charge to his
mother's brothers and have made them acquainted with all that
pertains to his affairs and let them into the secret of his
good; after which I braved the heats of midday and am come to
redeem the promise of a free-born man.'
The folk marvelled at his good faith and loyalty and his
intrepid offering himself to death; and one said to him, 'How
noble a youth art thou and how loyal to thy promise and thy
duty!' 'Are ye not certified,' rejoined he, 'that when death
presenteth itself none can escape from it? And indeed I have
kept faith, that it be not said, "Loyalty is gone from among
men."' 'By Allah, O Commander of the Faithful,' said Abou
Dherr, 'I became warrant for this young man, without knowing to
what tribe he belonged, nor had I seen him before that day; but
when he turned away from all else who were present and singled
me out, saying, "This man will answer for me and be my surety,"
I thought ill to refuse him, and humanity forbade to baulk his
expectation, there being no harm in compliance with his desire,
that it be not said, "Benevolence is gone from among men."'
Then said the two young men, 'O Commander of the Faithful, we
forgive this youth our father's blood,--seeing that [by his
noble behaviour] he hath changed desolation into cheer,--that
it be not said, "Humanity is gone from among men."'
The Khalif rejoiced in the acquittance of the young Bedouin and
his truth and good faith; moreover, he extolled the humanity of
Abou Dherr, over all his companions, and approved the benevolent
resolve of the two young men, giving them grateful praise and
applying to their case the saying of the poet:
He who doth good among the folk shall be repaid again; For
works of Good are never lost betwixten God and men.
Then he offered to pay them, from the Treasury, the bloodwit
for their father; but they refused, saying, 'We forgave him but
of our desire unto God the Bountiful, the Exalted; and he who
is thus minded followeth not his benefits with reproach neither
mischief.'
THE KHALIF EL MAMOUN AND THE PYRAMIDS OF
EGYPT.
It is told that the Khalif El Mamoun, son of Haroun er Reshid,
when he entered the [God-]guarded city of Cairo, was minded to
pull down the Pyramids, that he might take what was therein;
but, when he went about to do this, he could not avail thereto,
for all his endeavour. He expended great sums of money in the
attempt, but only succeeded in opening up a small gallery in
one of them, wherein he found treasure, to the exact amount of
the money he had spent in the works, neither more nor less; at
which he marvelled and taking what he found there, desisted
from his intent.
Now the Pyramids are three in number, and they are one of the
wonders of the world; nor is there on the face of the earth
their like for height and fashion and skilful ordinance; for
they are builded of immense rocks, and they who built them
proceeded by piercing one block of stone and setting therein
upright rods of iron; after which they pierced a second block
of stone and lowered it upon the first. Then they poured melted
lead upon the joints and set the blocks in geometrical order,
till the building was complete. The height of each pyramid was
a hundred cubits, of the measure of the time, and it was four-
square, each side three hundred cubits long, at the bottom, and
sloping upward thence to a point. The ancients say that, in the
western Pyramid, are thirty chambers of vari-coloured granite,
full of precious stones and treasures galore and rare images
and utensils and costly arms, which latter are anointed with
magical unguents, so that they may not rust till the day of
Resurrection. Therein, also, are vessels of glass, that will
bend and not break, containing various kinds of compound drugs
and medicinal waters. In the second Pyramid are the records of
the priests, written on tablets of granite,--to each priest his
tablet, on which are set out the wonders of his craft and his
achievements; and on the walls are figures like idols, working
with their hands at all manner crafts and seated on thrones. To
each pyramid there is a guardian, that keeps watch over it and
guards it, to all eternity, against the ravages of time and the
vicissitudes of events; and indeed the marvels of these
pyramids astound all who have eyes and wit. Many are the poems
that describe them, thou shalt profit no great matter thereby,
and among the rest, quoth one of them:
The high resolves of kings, if they would have them to abide In
memory, after them, are in the tongues of monuments.
Dost thou not see the Pyramids? They, of a truth, endure And
change not for the shifts of time or chances of events.
And again:
Consider but the Pyramids and lend an ear to all They tell of
bygone times and that which did of yore befall.
Could they but speak, assuredly they would to us relate What
time and fate have done with first and last and great and
small.
And again:
I prithee, tell me, friend of mine, stands there beneath the
sky A building with the Pyramids of Egypt that can vie
In skilful ordinance? Behold, Time's self's afraid of them,
Though of all else upon the earth 'tis dreaded, low and
high.
My sight no longer rests upon their wondrous ordinance, Yet are
they present evermore unto my spirit's eye.
And again:
Where's he the Pyramids who built? What was his tribe, His time
and what the place where he was stricken dead?
The monuments survive their lords awhile; then death O'ertaketh
them and they fall prostrate in their stead.
THE THIEF TURNED MERCHANT AND THE OTHER
THIEF.
There was once a thief who repented to God the Most High and
making good his repentance, opened himself a shop for the sale
of stuffs, where he continued to trade awhile. One day, he
locked his shop and went home; and in the night there came to
the bazaar a cunning thief, disguised in the habit of the
merchant, and pulling out keys from his sleeve, said to the
watchman of the market, 'Light me this candle.' So the watchman
took the candle and went to get a light, whilst the thief
opened the shop and lit another candle he had with him. When
the watchman came back, he found him seated in the shop,
looking over the account-books and reckoning with his fingers;
nor did he leave to do thus till point of day, when he said to
the man, 'Fetch me a camel-driver and his camel, to carry some
goods for me.' So the man fetched him a camel, and the thief
took four bales of stuffs and gave them to the camel-driver,
who loaded them on his beast. Then he gave the watchman two
dirhems and went away after the camel-driver, the watchman the
while believing him to be the owner of the shop.
Next morning, the merchant came and the watchman greeted
him with blessings, because of the two dirhems, much to the
surprise of the former, who knew not what he meant. When he
opened his shop, he saw the droppings of the wax and the
account-book lying on the floor, and looking round, found
four bales of stuffs missing. So he asked the watchman what
had happened and he told him what had passed in the night,
whereupon the merchant bade him fetch the camel-driver and said
to the latter, 'Whither didst thou carry the stuffs?' 'To such
a wharf,' answered the driver; 'and I stowed them on board such
a vessel.' 'Come with me thither,' said the merchant. So the
camel-driver carried him to the wharf and showed him the barque
and her owner. Quoth the merchant to the latter, 'Whither didst
thou carry the merchant and the stuff?' 'To such a place,'
answered the master, 'where he fetched a camel-driver and
setting the bales on the camel, went I know not whither.'
'Fetch me the camel-driver,' said the merchant; so he fetched
him and the merchant said to him, 'Whither didst thou carry the
bales of stuffs from the ship?' 'To such a khan,' answered he.
'Come thither with me and show it to me,' said the merchant.
So the camel-driver went with him to a khan at a distance from
the shore, where he had set down the stuffs, and showed him the
mock merchant's magazine, which he opened and found therein his
four bales untouched and unopened. The thief had laid his
mantle over them; so the merchant took the bales and the cloak
and delivered them to the camel-driver, who laid them on his
camel; after which the merchant locked the magazine and went
away with the camel-driver. On the way, he met the thief, who
followed him, till he had shipped the bales, when he said to
him, 'O my brother (God have thee in His keeping!), thou hast
recovered thy goods, and nought of them is lost; so give me
back my cloak.' The merchant laughed and giving him back his
cloak, let him go unhindered.