ABOULHUSN AND HIS SLAVE-GIRL TAWEDDUD.

There was once in Baghdad a man of rank and rich in money and

houses and lands, who was one of the chiefs of the merchants,

and God had largely endowed him with worldly goods, but had

not vouchsafed him what he longed for of offspring; and there

passed over him a long space of time, without his being blessed

with children, male or female. His years waxed great, his bones

became wasted and his back bent, and weakness and trouble

increased on him, and he feared the loss of his wealth and

possessions, seeing he had no child, whom he might make his

heir and by whom he should be remembered. So he betook himself

with supplication to God the Most High, fasting by day and

rising by night [to pray]. Moreover, he made vows to God the

Living, the Eternal, and visited the pious and was instant in

supplication to the Most Migh, till He gave ear to him and

accepted his prayer and took pity on his striving and complaining;

so that, before many days were past, he lay with one of his women

and she became with child by him the same night. She accomplished

the months of her pregnancy and casting her burden, bore a male

child as he were a piece of the moon; whereupon the merchant,

in his gratitude to God, (to whom belong might and majesty,)

fulfilled his vows and gave alms and clothed the widow and the

orphan.

On the seventh night after the boy's birth, he named him

Aboulhusn, and the wet-nurses suckled him and the dry-nurses

dandled him and the slaves and servants carried him, till he

grew up and throve and learnt the sublime Koran and the

ordinances of Islam and the things of the True Faith. Moreover,

he learned writing and poetry and mathematics and archery and

became the pearl of his age and the goodliest of the folk of

his time and his day, fair of face and fluent of tongue,

bearing himself with a proud and graceful port and glorying in

his symmetry and amorous grace. His cheeks were red and his

forehead white and brilliant and the tender down of the

whiskers darkened upon his face, even as saith one, describing

him:

The Spring of the down on his cheeks to the eye shows clear;

And how shall the rose endure, after Spring is here?

Dost thou not see that the growth on his cheek, forsooth, A

violet is, that forth of its leaves doth peer?

He abode awhile with his father, in the best of case, and the

latter rejoiced and delighted in him, till he came to man's

estate, when the merchant one day made him sit down before him

and said to him, 'O my son, the appointed term draws near; my

last hour is at hand and it remains but to meet God (to whom

belong might and majesty). I leave thee what shall suffice

thee, even to thy son's son, of money and farms and houses and

gardens; wherefore, O my son, fear thou God the Most High in

[dealing with] that which I leave thee and follow none but

those who will help thee [in this].' Not long after, he

sickened and died; so his son ordered his funeral, after the

goodliest fashion, and burying him, returned to his house and

sat mourning for him [many] days and nights, till certain of

his friends came in to him and said to him, 'Whoso leaveth the

like of thee after him is not dead; indeed, what is past is

past and mourning beseemeth none but girls and cloistered

women.' And they ceased not from him, till they wrought on him

to enter the bath and break off his mourning. Then he forgot

his father's injunctions, and his head was turned by his

riches; he thought fortune would still abide with him, as it

was, and that wealth would never come to an end. So he ate and

drank and made merry and took his pleasure and gave gifts of

money and raiment and was profuse with gold and gave himself up

to eating fowls and breaking the seals of wine-flasks and

listening to songs and to the laugh of the wine, as it gurgled

from the flagon; nor did he give over this way of life, till

his wealth was wasted and the case became straitened [upon him]

and he bit his hands [for repentance] and gone was all he had.

In good sooth, he had nothing left, after that which he had

squandered, but a slave-girl that his father had bequeathed to

him with the rest of his estate: her name was Taweddud and she

had no equal in beauty and grace and brightness and symmetry

and all perfection. She was past mistress in all manner of arts

and accomplishments and endowed with [many] excellences,

surpassing all the folk of her age and time. She was grown more

notorious than a way-mark,[FN#206] for the versatility of her

genius, and outdid the fair both in theory and practice and

elegant and flexile grace, more by token that she was five feet

high and in conjunction with fair fortune, with strait arched

brows, as they were the crescent moon of Shaaban,[FN#207] and

eyes like those of gazelles, nose like the point of the sabre

and cheeks like blood-red anemones, mouth like Solomon's seal

and teeth like necklaces of pearls, navel holding an ounce of

benzoin ointment and waist more slender than his body whom love

hath wasted and whom concealment [of his passion] hath made

sick, and buttocks heavier than two hills of sand; brief, in

all she answered to the saying of him who says:

Her fair shape ravisheth, if face to face she did appear, And

if she turn, for severance from her she slayeth sheer.

Sun-like, full-moon-like, sapling-like, unto her character

Estrangement nowise appertains nor cruelty austere.

Under the bosom of her shift the garths of Eden are, and the

full-moon revolveth still upon her neck-rings' sphere.

She seemed [at once] a rising full moon and a browsing gazelle,

a girl of nine and five,[FN#208] putting to shame the moon and

the sun, even as saith of her the eloquent and ingenious poet:

The likeness of the full-moon, faring o'er The heavens, five

and five and after four;

'Tis not my fault, if she have made of me Its likeness, when it

first in heaven doth soar.

White of skin, odoriferous of breath, it seemed as if she were

[at once] fashioned of fire and moulded of crystal; rose-red

was the cheek of her and perfect her shape and figure; even as

saith of her one, describing her:

Scented with sandal and musk, right proudly doth she go, With

gold and silver and rose and saffron-colour aglow.

A flower in a garden she is, a pearl in an ouch of gold Or an

image in chapel set for worship of high and low.

Slender and shapely she is; vivacity bids her arise, But the

weight of her hips says, "Sit, or softly and slowly go."

Whenas her favours I seek and sue for my heart's desire, "Be

gracious," her beauty says; but her coquetry answers,

"No."

Glory to Him who made beauty her portion, and that Of her lover

to be the prate of the censurers, heigho!

Indeed, she captivated all who saw her, with the excellence of

her beauty and the sweetness of her smile, and transpierced

them with the arrows she launched from her eyes; and withal she

was eloquent of speech and excellently skilled in poetry.

When Aboulhusn had squandered all his wealth and there remained

to him nought but this slave-girl, when [I say] the wretchedness

of his plight became manifest to him, he abode three days

without tasting food or taking rest in sleep, and Taweddud

said to him, 'O my lord, carry me to the Khalif Haroun er

Reshid, fifth of the sons of Abbas, and seek of him ten thousand

dinars to my price. If he deem me dear at this price, say to

him, "O Commander of the Faithful, my slave is worth more

than this: do but prove her, and her value will be magnified

in thine eyes, for she hath not her equal, and it were unfit

that any but thou should possess her." And beware, O my lord,

of selling me for less than the sum I have named, for it is

but little for the like of me.' (Now Aboulhusn knew not her

worth nor that she had no equal in her day.) So he carried

her to the Khalif, to whom he repeated what she had bidden

him say, and the Khalif said to her, 'What is thy name?'

'Taweddud,' answered she. 'O Taweddud,' asked he, 'in what

branches of knowledge dost thou excel?' 'O my lord,' answered

she, 'I am versed in syntax and poetry and jurisprudence and

exegesis and lexicography and music and the knowledge of the

Divine ordinances and in arithmetic and geodesy and the fables

of the ancients. I know the sublime Koran [by heart] and have

read it according to the seven and the ten and the fourteen

[modes]. I know the number of its chapters and verses and

sections and words and letters and its halves and fourths

and eighths and tenths, the number of acts of adoration,

that occur in it, and what there is in it of cancelling and

cancelled;[FN#209] also what parts of it were revealed at

Medina and what at Mecca and the manner of the different

revelations. I know the Holy Traditions, their history and

variants and the manner of their recitation and interpretation,

together with those of them whose chain of descent is unbroken

and those for which it is broken; and I have studied the exact

sciences, geometry and philosophy and medicine and logic

and rhetoric and composition; and I know many things and am

passionately fond of poetry. I can play the lute and know its

gamut and notation and so forth. If I sing and dance, I ravish,

and if I adorn and perfume myself, I slay. In fine, I have

reached a pitch of perfection such as can only be estimated by

those who are stablished in knowledge.'[FN#210]

When the Khalif heard her words, he wondered at them and at the

eloquence of her speech, seeing the tenderness of her age, and

turning to Aboulhusn, said to him, 'I will summon those who

shall examine her in all she lays claim to; if she answer

[correctly,] I will give thee the price thou askest for her and

more; and if not, thou art fitter to [possess] her [than I].'

'With all my heart, O Commander of the Faithful,' replied

Aboulhusn. So the Khalif wrote to the Viceroy of Bassora, to

send him Ibrahim ben Siyyar the poet, who was the first man of

his day in argument and eloquence and poetry and logic, and

bade him bring with him readers of the Koran and doctors of the

law and physicians and astrologers and sages and geometricians

and philosophers; and Ibrahim was more learned than all. In a

little while they all arrived at the Khalif's palace, knowing

not what was to do, and the latter sent for them to his

sitting-chamber and bade them be seated. So they sat down and

he bade fetch the damsel Taweddud, who came and unveiling,

showed herself, as she were a sparkling star. The Khalif caused

set her a stool of gold; and she saluted and speaking with an

eloquent tongue, said, 'O Commander of the Faithful, bid the

learned men present contend with me in argument.' So he said to

them, 'I desire of you that ye dispute with this damsel on the

things of her faith and make void her argument, in all she

avoucheth;' and they answered, saying, 'We hear and obey God

and thee, O Commander of the Faithful.'

Thereupon Taweddud bowed her head and said, 'Which of you is

the doctor of the law, the scholar, versed in the interpretation

of the Koran and in the Traditions?' Quoth one of them, 'I am

the man thou seekest.' 'Then,' said she, 'ask me of what thou

wilt.' Quoth the doctor, 'Hast thou read the precious book of

God and dost thou know its abrogating and abrogated parts and

hast thou meditated its verses and expressions?' 'Yes,' answered

she. 'Then,' said he, 'I will proceed to question thee of the

obligatory ordinances and the immutable institutions: so tell

me of these, O damsel, and who is thy Lord, who thy prophet,

and who thy brethren. Also, what is thy [point of] fronting

[in prayer], what thine exemplar, what thy path and what thy

highway?' 'Allah is my Lord,' replied she, 'and Mohammed (whom

God bless and preserve) my prophet and the true-believers are my

brethren. The Koran is my exemplar and the Kaabeh my [point of]

fronting; the practice of good is my path and the Sunneh[FN#211]

my highway.' (Q.) 'With what do we know God the Most High?'

(A.) 'With the understanding.' (Q.) 'And what is the understanding?'

(A.) 'It is of two kinds, natural and acquired. The first is that

which God (to whom belong might and majesty) bestoweth on whom He

will of His servants; and the other is that which men acquire

by dint of study and fair knowledge.' (Q.) 'Thou hast answered

well. Where is the seat of the understanding?' (A.) 'God casteth

it in the heart, whence its lustre ascendeth to the brain and

there becometh fixed.' (Q.) 'How knowest thou the Prophet of God?'

(A.) 'By the reading of God's Holy Book and by signs and proofs

and portents and miracles.' (Q.) 'What are the obligatory

ordinances and the immutable institutions?' (A.) 'The obligatory

ordinances are five in number. (1) Testification that there is no

god but God alone, that He hath no partner in divinity and that

Mohammed is His servant and His apostle. (2) The scrupulous

performance of the enjoined prayers. (3) The payment of the

poor-rate. (4) Fasting Ramazan. (5) The performance of the

Pilgrimage to God's Holy House [at Mecca] for all to whom it

is possible. The immutable institutions are four in number; to

wit, night and day and sun and moon, the which build up life and

hope, neither knoweth any son of Adam if they will be destroyed

on the Day of Judgment.' (Q.) 'What are the obligatory rites of

the Faith?' (A.) 'Prayer, almsgiving, fasting, pilgrimage,

fighting for the Faith and abstinence from what is forbidden.'

(Q.) 'Why dost thou stand up to pray?' (A.) 'To express the

devout intent of the slave submitting himself to [or acknowledging]

the Divinity.' (Q.) 'What are the conditions precedent of standing

up to pray?' (A.) 'Purification, covering the privy parts,

the avoidance of soiled clothes, standing on a clean place,

fronting [the Kaabeh,] a standing posture, the intent[FN#212]

and the magnification of prohibition.'[FN#213] (Q.) 'With what

shouldest thou go forth thy house to pray? (A.) 'With an intent

of worship.'[FN#214] (Q.) 'With what intent shouldest thou

enter the mosque?' (A.) 'With an intent of service.'[FN#215]

(Q.) 'Why do we front the Kaabeh?' (A.) 'In obedience to three

Divine and one Traditional ordinance.' (Q.) 'What is the

commencement, the consecration and the dissolution [end] of

prayer?' (A.) 'Purification, the magnification of prohibition

and the salutation of the angels [concluding prayer].' (Q.)

'What of him who neglecteth prayer?' (A.) 'It is reported,

among the authentic (Traditions of the Prophet, that he said),

"He, who neglecteth prayer wilfully and without excuse, hath no

part in Islam."' (Q.) 'What is prayer?' (A.) 'Prayer is

communion between the slave and his Lord, and in it are ten

virtues, to wit, (1) it illumines the heart (2) makes the face

shine (3) pleases the Merciful One (4) angers Satan (5)

conjures calamity (6) wards off the mischief of enemies (7)

multiplies mercy (8) forfends vengeance [or punishment] (9)

brings the slave nigh unto [or in favour with] his Lord and

(10) restrains from lewdness and iniquity. It is one of the

written obligatory ordinances and the pillar of the Faith.'

(Q.) 'What is the key of prayer?' (A.) 'Ablution.' (Q.) 'What

is the key of ablution?' (A.) 'Nomination.'[FN#216] (Q.) 'That

of naming God?' (A.) 'Faith.' (Q.) 'That of Faith?' (A.) 'Trust

in God.' (Q.) 'That of trust in God?' (A.) 'Hope.' (Q.) 'That

of Hope?' (A.) 'Obedience.' (Q.) 'That of obedience?' (A.) 'The

confession of the unity and the acknowledgment of the divinity

of God.' (Q.) 'What are the Divine ordinances of ablution?'

(A.) 'They are six in number, according to the canon of the

Imam Es Shafi Mohammed ben Idris (of whom God accept) to wit,

(1) intent[FN#217] to wash the face (2) washing the face (3)

washing the hands and elbows (4) wiping part of the head (5)

washing the feet and heels and (6) observing the prescribed

order of ablution, whose statutes are ten in number, to wit,

(1) nomination (2) washing the hands before putting them into

the vase (3) rinsing the mouth (4) drawing up water through the

nostrils (5) wiping the whole head (6) washing the ears within

and without with fresh water (7) separating a thick beard (8)

separating the fingers and toes (9) washing the right foot

before the left and (10) doing each of these thrice and all in

unbroken succession. When the ablution is ended, the devotee

should (quoth Es Shafi[FN#218]) say, "I testify that there is

no god but God alone, who hath no partner, and that Mohammed is

His servant and apostle. O my God, make me of those who repent

and are made clean! Glory to Thee, O my God, and in Thy praise

I testify that there is no god but Thou! I crave pardon of

Thee and repent to Thee!" For it is reported, in the Holy

Traditions, that the Prophet (whom God bless and keep) said of

this prayer, "Whoso ensueth every ablution with this prayer,

the eight gates of Paradise are open to him; he shall enter at

which he pleases."' (Q.) 'When a man purposes to make the

ablution, what betides him from the angels and the devils?'

(A.) 'When a man prepares for ablution, the angels come and

stand on his right and the devils on his left hand. If he name

God, at the beginning of the ablution, the devils flee from him

and the angels hover over him with a pavilion of light, having

four ropes, to each an angel glorifying God and craving pardon

for him, so long as he remains silent or calls upon the name of

God. But if he omit to begin with naming God (to whom belong

might and majesty) neither remain silent, the angels depart

from him and the devils settle upon him and whisper evil

thoughts unto him, till he falls into doubt and comes short in

his ablution. For (quoth he on whom be blessing and salvation)

"A perfect ablution driveth away the devils and assureth

against the tyranny of the Sultan; and he who neglecteth the

ablution, if calamity befall him, let him blame none but

himself."' (Q.) 'What should a man do, when he awakes from

sleep?' (A.) 'He should wash his hands thrice, before putting

them into the vessel.' (Q.) 'What are the ordinances, Koranic

and Traditional, of complete ablution?'[FN#219] (A.) 'The

Koranic ordinances are intent and covering the whole body with

water, so that it shall come at every part of the hair and

skin. The Traditional, previous partial ablution [as before

prayer,] rubbing the body, separating the hair and deferring in

words[FN#220] the washing of the feet till the end of the

ablution.' (Q.) 'What are the reasons [or occasions] for making

the ablution with other than water, and what are the ordinances

thereof, Koranic and Traditional?'[FN#221] (A.) 'The reasons

are seven in number, to wit, lack of water, fear, need thereto,

going astray on a journey, sickness, having the bones [broken

and] in splints and wounds. As for its ordinances, the Koranic

are four in number, to wit, intent, dust, applying it to the

face and to the hands, and the Traditional two, to wit,

nomination and preferring the right before the left hand.' (Q.)

'What are the conditions, the essentials [or fundamentals] and

the Traditional statutes of prayer?' (A.) 'The conditions are

five in number, to wit, (1) purification of the members (2)

covering the privy parts (3) observing the proper hours, either

of certainty or to the best of one's belief, (4) fronting the

Kaabeh and (5) standing on a clean place. The essentials are

twelve in number, to wit, (1) intent (2) the magnification of

prohibition (3) standing at the proper distance one from

another (4) repeating the first chapter of the Koran and also

(according to the Shafiyites) saying, "In the name of God the

Merciful, the Compassionate!" a verse thereof (5) bowing the

body and tranquillity [or gravity] therein (6) keeping the feet

and legs still and in the same position, [whilst the rest of

the body moves], and tranquillity therein (7) prostration and

tranquillity therein (8) sitting between two prostrations and

tranquillity therein (9) repeating the latter profession of

the Faith and sitting up therefor (10) invoking benediction

on the Prophet (whom God bless and preserve) (11) the first

Salutation[FN#222] and (12) the intent of making an end of

prayer, [expressed] in words. The Traditional statutes are

the call to prayer, the repetition of the words of the latter,

raising the hands to either side of the face, whilst pronouncing

the magnification of prohibition, pronouncing the magnification

before reciting the Fatiheh [First chapter of the Koran],

seeking refuge with God,[FN#223] saying "Amen," repeating

the (obligatory) chapter [of the Koran] after the Fatiheh,

repeating the magnifications during change of posture, saying,

"May God hear him who praiseth Him!" and "O our Lord, to Thee

be the praise!" uttering aloud the prayers in their places

and in like manner, under the breath, those so prescribed,

the first testification and sitting up thereto, blessing the

Prophet therein, blessing his family in the latter profession

[or testification] and the second Salutation.' (Q.) 'On what

is the poor-rate taxable?' (A.) 'On gold and silver and camels

and oxen and sheep and wheat and barley and millet and beans

and pulse and rice and raisins and dates.' (Q.) 'What is the

poor-rate on gold ?' (A.) 'Below twenty dinars, nothing; but,

on that amount and over, half a dinar for every score.'

(Q.) 'On silver?' (A.) 'Under two hundred dirhems, nothing;

then, five dirhems on every two hundred.' (Q.) 'On camels?'

(A.) 'For every five, an ewe, or for every twenty-five a

pregnant camel.' (Q.) 'On sheep?' (A.) 'On forty and over, an

ewe for every forty head.' (Q.) 'What are the ordinances of

the Fast [of Ramazan]?' (A.) 'The Koranic are intent,[FN#224]

abstinence from eating, drinking and copulation and stoppage of

vomiting. It is incumbent on all who submit to the Law, save

women in their courses and forty days after child-birth; and it

becomes obligatory on sight of the new moon or on news of its

appearance, brought by a trustworthy person and commending

itself as truth to the hearer's heart; and among its requisites

is that it be commenced by night.[FN#225] The Traditional

ordinances of fasting are, hastening to break the fast,[FN#226]

deferring the fore-dawn meal[FN#227] and abstaining from

speech, save for good works and for calling on the name of God

and reciting the Koran.' (Q.) 'What things vitiate not the

fast?' (A.) 'The use of unguents and eye-powders and the dust

of the road and the swallowing of one's spittle and the

emission of seed in dreams of dalliance or at the sight of a

strange woman and cupping and letting blood; none of these

things vitiates the fast.' (Q.) 'What are the prayers of the

two great [annual] Festivals?' (A.) 'Two one-bow prayers, after

the traditional ordinance, without call to prayer or the

repetition thereof by the devotee, who shall say, "Prayer is a

collector of all folk!"[FN#228] and pronounce the magnification

seven times in the first prayer, besides the magnification of

prohibition, and in the second, five times, besides that of

rising up, (according to the canon of the Imam Es Shafi, on

whom God have mercy) and make the profession of the Faith.'

(Q.) 'What are the prayers prescribed on the occasion of an

eclipse of the sun or moon?' (A.) 'Two one-bow prayers, without

call to prayer or repetition thereof by the devotee, who shall

make in each two standings up and two inclinations and two

prostrations, then sit up and testify and salute.' (Q.) 'What

is the ritual of prayer for rain?' (A.) 'Two one-bow prayers,

without call to prayer or repetition; then shall the devotee

make the profession and salute. Moreover [the Imam] shall

deliver an exhortation and (in place of the magnification, as

in the two exhortations of the two great Festivals) ask pardon

of God and reverse his mantle and pray and supplicate.' (Q.)

'What are the additional or occasional prayers?' (A.) 'The

least is a one-bow prayer and the most eleven.' (Q.) 'What

is the forenoon prayer?' (A.) 'At least, two one-bow prayers

and at most, twelve.' (Q.) 'What is the service of seclusion?'

[FN#229] (A.) 'It is a matter of Traditional ordinance.'

(Q.) 'What are its conditions?' (A.) '(1) Expression of intent

(2) not leaving the mosque save of necessity (3) not having

to do with a woman (4) fasting and (5) abstaining from speech.'

(Q.) 'Under what conditions is pilgrimage obligatory?' (A.)

'So a man be of full age and understanding and a true-believer

and it be possible to him; and it is obligatory [on all], once

before death.' (Q.) 'What are the Koranic statutes of the

pilgrimage?'' (A.) '(1) Assumption of the pilgrim's habit

(2) station at Arafat (3) compassing [the Kaabeh] (4) running

[between Sefa and Merweh[FN#230]] and (5) [previous] shaving

or clipping the hair.' (Q.) 'What are the Koranic statutes of

the lesser pilgrimage?' (A.) 'Reassuming the pilgrim's habit and

compassing and running [as before].' (Q.) 'What are the Koranic

ordinances of the assumption of the pilgrim's habit?' (A.)

'Putting off sewn garments, forswearing perfume and ceasing to

shave the head or cut the nails and avoiding the killing of

game and copulation.' (Q.) 'What are the Traditional statutes

of the pilgrimage?' (A.) '(1) The crying out, "Here I am, O our

Lord!"[FN#231] (2) the circuitings [about the Kaabeh] of

arrival [at] and departure [from Mecca] (3) the passing the

night at Muzdelifeh and Mina[FN#232] and (4) the stone-throwing.'

[FN#233] (Q.) 'What is the war in defence of the Faith and its

essentials?' (A.) 'Its essentials are (1) the descent of the

infidels upon us (2) the existence of the Imam[FN#234] (3) a

state of [armed] preparation and (4) firmness in meeting the

foe. Its ordinance is incital to battle, in that the Most High

hath said, "O my Prophet, incite the faithful to battle!"'

[FN#235] (Q.) 'What are the ordinances of buying and selling?'

(A.) 'The Koranic are (1) offer and acceptance and (2) if the

thing sold be a (white) slave, by whom one profiteth, to do

one's endeavour to convert him to Islam and (3) to abstain

from usury; the Traditional, resiliation and option before

separating, after the saying of the Prophet, "The parties

to a sale shall have the option [of cancelling or altering

the terms of a bargain,] whilst they are yet unseparated."'

(Q.) 'What is it forbidden to sell [or exchange] for what?'

(A.) 'On this point I mind me of an authentic tradition,

reported by Nafi[FN#236] of the Apostle of God, that he forbade

the sale of dried dates for fresh and fresh figs for dry and

jerked for fresh meat and cream for butter; in fine, of all

eatables of one and the same kind, it is unlawful to sell some

for other some.'[FN#237] When the professor heard her words

and knew that she was keen of wit, ingenious and learned in

jurisprudence and the Traditions and the interpretation of the

Koran and what not else, he said in himself, 'Needs must I go

about with her, that I may overcome her in the assembly of the

Commander of the Faithful.' So he said to her, 'O damsel, what

is the lexicographical meaning of the word wuzou?'[FN#238]

And she answered, 'Cleanliness and freedom from impurities.'

(Q.) 'And of prayer?' (A.) 'An invocation of good.' (Q.) 'And

of ghusl?'[FN#239] (A.) 'Purification.' (Q.) 'And of fasting?'

(A.) 'Abstention.' (Q.) 'And of zekat?'[FN#240] (A.) 'Increase.'

(Q.) 'And of pilgrimage?' (A.) 'Visitation [or quest].' (Q.) 'And

of jehad?'[FN#241] (A.) '[Endeavour in] repelling.' With this the

doctor's arguments were exhausted, so he rose to his feet and

said, 'Bear witness against me, O Commander of the Faithful,

that this damsel is more learned than I am in the Law. Quoth

she, 'I will ask thee somewhat, which do thou answer me

speedily, an thou be indeed a learned man.' 'Say on,' quoth he;

and she said, 'What are the arrows of the Faith?' 'They are ten

in number,' answered he; 'to wit, (1) Testification,[FN#242]

that is, religion (2) Prayer, that is, the Covenant (3) Alms,

that is, purification (4) Fasting, that is, defensive armour

(5) Pilgrimage, that is, the Law (6) Fighting for the Faith,

that is, a general duty (7) Enjoining to beneficence and (8)

Forbidding from iniquity, both of which are jealousy [for good]

(9) The communion of the faithful, that is, sociableness, and

(10) Seeking knowledge, that is, the praiseworthy way.' (Q.)

'What are the roots[FN#243] of Islam?' (A.) 'They are four

in number, to wit, sincerity of belief, truth of purpose,

observance of the limit [prescribed by the Law] and keeping the

Covenant.' Then said she, 'I have one more question to ask

thee, which if thou answer, [it is well]; else, I will take thy

clothes.' Quoth he, 'Speak, O damsel;' and she said, 'What are

the branches[FN#244] of Islam?' But he was silent and made no

reply; and she said, 'Put off thy clothes, and I will expound

them to thee.' Quoth the Khalif, 'Expound them, and I will make

him put off his clothes for thee.' 'They are two-and-twenty in

number,' answered she, 'to wit, (1) holding fast to the Book of

God the Most High (2) taking example by His Apostle (whom God

bless and preserve) (3) abstaining from doing evil (4) eating

what is lawful and (5) avoiding what is unlawful (6) restoring

things wrongfully taken to their owners (7) repentance (8)

knowledge of the Law (9) love of [Abraham] the Friend [of God]

(10) and of the followers of the Revelation[FN#245] (11) belief

in the Apostles (12) fear of apostacy (13) preparation for

departure[FN#246] (14) strength of conviction (15) clemency in

time of power (16) strength in time of weakness (17) patience

under affliction (18) knowledge of God the Most High and (19)

of what His Prophet hath made known to us (20) gainsaying Iblis

the accursed (21) striving earnestly against the lusts of the

soul and gainsaying them and (22) guiltlessness of believing in

any other god but God.'

When the Commander of the Faithful heard her words, he bade the

doctor put off his clothes and hood; and he did so and went

forth, beaten and confounded, from the Khalif's presence.

Thereupon arose another man and said to her, 'O damsel, hear a

few questions from me.' 'Say on,' quoth she; and he said, 'What

are the conditions of valid [purchase by] payment in advance?'

'That the amount [of the thing bought], the kind and the period

[of delivery to the purchaser], be [fixed or] known,' replied

she. (Q.) 'What are the Koranic canons of eating?' (A.) 'The

confession [by the eater] that God the Most High provideth him

and giveth him to eat and drink and thanksgiving to Him

therefor.' (Q.) 'What is thanksgiving?' (A.) 'The use by the

creature of that which God vouchsafeth to him in the manner and

to the ends for which He hath created it.' (Q.) 'What are the

Traditional canons of eating?' (A.) 'The [preliminary] naming

[of God] and washing the hands, sitting on the left buttock,

eating with three fingers and eating of that which is chewed.'

[FN#247] (Q.) 'What are the civilities of eating?' (A.) 'Taking

small mouthfuls and looking little at one's table-companion.'

(Q.) 'What are the heart's stays [or articles of faith] and

their correlatives?' (A.) 'They are three in number, to wit,

(1) holding fast to the Faith, the correlative whereof is the

shunning of infidelity, (2) holding fast to the Traditional Law

and its correlative, the shunning of innovation [or heresy] and

(3) holding fast to obedience and its correlative, the shunning

of disobedience.' (Q.) 'What are the conditions of ablution?'

(A.) '(1) Submission to the will of God[FN#248] (2) possession

of discernment of good and evil [or having attained the age of

discretion] (3) purity of the water and (4) absence of legal

or material impediments.' (Q.) 'What is belief?' (A.) 'It is

divided into nine parts, to wit, (1) belief in the One worshipped

(2) belief in the condition of slavery [of the worshipper]

(3) belief in one God, to the exclusion of all others (4) belief

in the Two Handfuls[FN#249] (5) belief in Providence (6) belief

in the Abrogating and (7) in the Abrogated (8) belief in God, His

angels and apostles and (9) in fore-ordained Fate, general and

particular, its good and ill, sweet and bitter.' (Q.) 'What

three things do away other three?' (A.) 'It is told of Sufyan

eth Thauri[FN#250] that he said, "Three things do away other

three. Making light of the pious doth away the future life,

making light of kings doth away [this] life and making light of

expenditure doth away wealth."' (Q.) 'What are the keys of the

heavens, and how many gates have they?' (A.) 'Quoth God the Most

High, "And heaven shall be opened, and it shall be [all] doors,"

[FN#251] and quoth he whom God bless and keep, "None knoweth the

number of the gates of heaven, save He who created it, and there

is no son of Adam but hath two gates allotted to him in the skies,

one whereby his subsistence cometh down and another where-through

his works [good and evil] ascend. The former is not closed,

save when his term of life comes to an end, nor the latter,

till his soul ascends [for judgment]."' (Q.) 'Tell me of a

thing and a half thing and a no-thing.' (A.) 'The thing is the

believer, the half thing the hypocrite and the no-thing the

infidel.' (Q.) 'Tell me of various kinds of hearts.' (A.)

'There is the whole [or perfect] heart, which is that of

[Abraham] the Friend [of God], the sick heart, that of the

infidel, the contrite heart, that of the pious, fearful ones,

the heart consecrated to God, that of our Lord Mohammed (whom

God bless and preserve) and the enlightened [or enlightening]

heart, that of those who follow him. The hearts of the learned

are of three kinds, to wit, those that are in love with this

world, with the next and with their Lord; and it is said that

hearts are three, the suspended, that of the infidel, the

non-existent [or lost], that of the hypocrite, and the constant

[or firm], that of the true-believer. Moreover, it is said that

the latter is of three kinds, namely, the heart dilated with

light and faith, that wounded with fear of estrangement and

that which feareth to be forsaken of God.'

Quoth the second doctor, 'Thou hast said well;' whereupon said

she to the Khalif, 'O Commander of the Faithful, he has

questioned me, till he is weary, and now I will ask him two

questions. If he answer them, it is well, and if not, I will

take his clothes and he shall depart in peace.' Quoth the

doctor, 'Ask me what thou wilt,' and she said, 'What is

religion?' 'Religion,' answered he, 'is confession[FN#252] with

the tongue and belief with the heart and doing with the

members. Quoth the Prophet, "The believer is not perfect in

belief, except five qualities be accomplished in him, namely,

trust in God, committal of his affair to Him, submission to His

commandment, acquiescence in His decrees and that he do all for

His sake; so is he of those who are acceptable to God and who

give and withhold for His sake, and he is perfect in belief."'

Then said she, 'What is the Koranic ordinance of ordinances

and the ordinance which is the preliminary of all ordinances

and that of which all others stand in need and that which

comprehendeth all others, and what is the Traditional ordinance

that entereth into the Koranic, and that whereby the latter is

completed?' But he was silent and made no reply; whereupon the

Khalif bade her expound and ordered him to doff his clothes and

give them to her. 'O doctor,' said she, 'the Koranic ordinance

of ordinances is the knowledge of God the Most High; that,

which is the preliminary of all others, is the testifying that

there is no god but God and that Mohammed is His apostle; that,

of which all others have need, is ablution; that, which

compriseth all others, is that of [total] ablution from

[ceremonial] defilement; the Traditional ordinance, that enters

into the Koranic, is the separation of the fingers and the

thick beard; and that, wherewith all Koranic ordinances are

completed, is circumcision.' Therewith was manifest the

insufficiency of the doctor, who rose to his feet and said, 'I

call God to witness, O Commander of the Faithful, that this

damsel is more learned than I in the Law and what pertains

thereto.' So saying, he put off his clothes and went away,

defeated.

Then turned she to the rest of the learned men present and

said, 'O masters, which of you is the reader,[FN#253] versed in

the seven readings and in syntax and lexicography?' Thereupon

the professor arose and seating himself before her, said, 'Hast

thou read the Book of God the Most High and made thyself

throughly acquainted with its verses and its various parts,

abrogating and abrogated, equivocal and unequivocal, Meccan and

Medinan? Dost thou understand its interpretation and hast thou

studied it, according to the various versions and readings?'

'Yes,' answered she; and he said, 'What, then, is the number of

its chapters, how many are Meccan and how many Medinan? How

many verses and decades[FN#254] does it contain, how many

words and how many letters and how many acts of prostration

and how many prophets and birds are mentioned in it?' 'It

contains a hundred and fourteen chapters,' replied she, 'whereof

threescore and ten were revealed at Mecca and forty and four at

Medina, six thousand three hundred and thirty-six verses, six

hundred and twenty-one decades, seventy-nine thousand four

hundred and thirty-nine words and three hundred and twenty-

three thousand and six hundred and seventy letters; and to the

reader thereof, for every letter, accrue ten benefits. The

acts of prostration it contains are fourteen in number, and

five-and-twenty prophets are named therein, to wit, Adam, Noah,

Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Elisha, Jonah, Lot,

Salih, Houd,[FN#255] Shuaib,[FN#256] David, Solomon, Dhoulkifl,

[FN#257] Idris,[FN#258] Elias, Yehya,[FN#259] Zacharias, Job,

Moses, Aaron, Jesus and Mohammed, the peace of God and His

blessing be on them all! Moreover, nine birds [or flying

things] are mentioned in the Koran, namely, the gnat, the bee,

the fly, the ant, the hoopoe, the crow, the locust, the bustard

and the bird of Jesus[FN#260] (on whom be peace), to wit, the

bat.' (Q.) 'Which is the most excellent chapter of the Koran?'

(A.) 'That of the Cow.'[FN#261] (Q.) 'Which is the most magnificent

verse?' (A.) 'That of the Throne;[FN#262] it has fifty words, in

each fifty blessings.' (Q.) 'What verse hath in it nine signs [or

wonders]?' (A.) 'That in which quoth God the Most High, "Verily,

in the creation of the heavens and the earth and the alternation

of night and day and the ship that runneth in the sea with what

profiteth mankind and in what God sendeth down from heaven of

water and quickeneth therewith the earth, after its dearth, and

spreadeth abroad therein all manner cattle, and the shifting of

the winds and the clouds, pressed into service betwixt heaven

and earth, are signs for folk who understand."'[FN#263] (Q.)

'Which is the most just?' (A.) 'That in which God saith, "Verily,

God commandeth to justice and beneficence and giving to those

that are near unto us and forbiddeth from profligacy and iniquity

and oppression."'[FN#264] (Q.) 'Which is the most yearnful?' (A.)

'That in which quoth God, "Shall every man of them yearn to

enter a garden of delight?"'[FN#265] (Q.) 'Which is the most

hopeful?' (A.) 'That in which quoth God the Most High, "Say, 'O

ye my servants, that have transgressed against your own souls,

despair not of the mercy of God! Indeed, God forgiveth sins,

all of them, for He is the Forgiving, the Compassionate.'"'

[FN#266] (Q.) 'By what version dost thou read?' (A.) 'By that of

the people of Paradise, to wit, the version of Nafi.'[FN#267]

(Q.) 'In which verse doth God make prophets lie?' (A.) 'In that

wherein He saith, "They [the brothers of Joseph] brought lying

blood upon his shirt."'[FN#268] (Q.) 'In which doth He make

infidels speak the truth?' (A.) 'In that wherein He saith, "The

Jews say, 'The Nazarenes are [grounded] on nought,' and the

Nazarenes say, 'The Jews are [grounded] on nought;' and [yet]

they [both] read the Scripture."[FN#269] And [in this] both speak

the truth.' (Q.) 'In which doth God speak in His own person [in

the singular]?' (A.) 'In that in which He saith, "Neither have I

created Jinn and men, but that they should worship."'[FN#270]

(Q.) 'In which do the angels speak?' (A.) 'In that which saith,

"We celebrate Thy praises and hallow Thee."'[FN#271] (Q.) 'What

sayst thou of the formula, "I seek refuge with God from Satan

the Stoned"?' (A.) 'It is obligatory, by commandment of God,

on all who read the Koran, as appears by His saying, "When

thou readest the Koran, seek refuge with God from Satan the

Stoned."'[FN#272] (Q.) 'What are the words and variants of

the formula?' (A.) 'Some say, "I take refuge with God the

All-hearing and knowing, etc.," and others, "With God the

Strong;" but the best is that of which the noble Koran and the

Traditions speak. The Prophet was used, whenas he was about to

open the Koran, to say, "I take refuge with God from Satan

the Stoned." And quoth a Tradition, reported by Nafi on the

authority of his [adopted] father, "The apostle of God used,

when he rose in the night to pray, to say aloud, 'God is Most

Great, with [all] greatness! Praise be to God abundantly! Glory

to God morning and evening!' Then would he say, 'I seek refuge

with God from Satan the Stoned and from the instigations of the

Devils and their evil suggestions."' And it is told of Ibn

Abbas[FN#273] (of whom God accept) that he said, "The first

time Gabriel came down to the Prophet [with a portion of the

Koran,] he taught him [the formula of] seeking refuge, saying,

'O Mohammed, say, "I seek refuge with God the All-hearing and

knowing;" then say, "In the name of God the Compassionate, the

Merciful!" And read, in the name of thy Lord who created men

from clotted blood.'"'[FN#274] (Q.) 'What sayst thou of the

verse, "In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful"?

Is it one of the verses of the Koran?' (A.) 'Yes; it is a verse

of "The ant"[FN#275] and occurs also [at the head of the first

and] between every two [following] chapters; and there is much

difference of opinion, respecting this, among the learned.'

(Q.) 'Why is not the formula written at the head of the chapter

of Immunity?'[FN#276] (A.) 'When this chapter was revealed for

the dissolution of the alliance between the Prophet and the

idolaters, the former sent Ali ibn Abi Talib (whose face God

honour) therewith [from Medina to Mecca] at the season of the

greater pilgrimage;[FN#277] and he read the chapter to them,

but did not read "In the name, etc."'[FN#278] (Q.) 'What of the

excellence of the formula and the blessing that attaches to

it?' (A.) 'It is told of the Prophet that he said, "Never is

'In the name, etc.' pronounced over aught, but there is a

blessing in it;" and it is reported, on his authority, that the

Lord of Glory swore by His glory that never should the formula

be pronounced over a sick person, but he should be healed of

his sickness. Moreover, it is said that, when God created the

empyreal heaven, it was agitated with an exceeding agitation; but

He wrote on it, "In the name, etc.," and its agitation subsided.

When the formula was first revealed to the Prophet, he said, "I

am safe from three things, earthquake and metamorphosis and

drowning;" and indeed its virtues are great and its blessings

too many to enumerate. It is told of the Prophet that he said,

"There will be brought before God, on the judgment day, a man

with whom He shall reckon and finding no good deed to his account,

shall order him to the fire; but the man will say, 'O my God,

Thou hast not dealt justly by me!' Then shall God (to whom belong

might and majesty) say, 'How so?' and the man will answer, saying,

'O Lord, for that Thou callest Thyself the Compassionate, the

Merciful, yet wilt Thou punish me with the fire!' And God

(extolled be His majesty) shall say, 'I did indeed name myself

the Compassionate, the Merciful. Carry My servant to Paradise,

of My mercy, for I am the most Merciful of those that have

mercy.'"' (Q.) 'What was the origin of the use of the formula?'

(A.) 'When God revealed the Koran, they wrote, "In Thy name, O

my God!"; when He revealed the words, "Say, pray ye to God or

pray ye to the Compassionate, what days ye pray, for to Him

[belong] the most fair names,"[FN#279] they wrote, "In the name

of God, the Compassionate;" and when He revealed the words,

"Your God is one God, there is no god but He, the Compassionate,

the Merciful,"[FN#280] they wrote, "In the name of God, the

Compassionate, the Merciful!"' (Q.) 'Did God reveal the Koran

all at once or at intervals?' (A.) 'Gabriel the Faithful

[Spirit] (on whom be peace) descended with it from the Lord of

the Worlds upon His Prophet Mohammed, Prince of the Apostles

and seal[FN#281] of the Prophets, by detached verses, containing

commandment and prohibition, promise and menace, anecdotes

and similitudes, as the occasion called for it, in the course

of twenty years.' (Q.) 'Which chapter was first revealed?'

(A.) 'According to Ibn Abbas, that of the Clot of Blood,[FN#282]

and according to Jabir ben Abdallah,[FN#283] that of the Covered

[with a cloak].'[FN#284] (Q.) 'Which verse was the last revealed?'

(A.) 'That of Usury,[FN#285] and it is said [also], the verse,

"When there cometh God's succour and victory."'[FN#286] (Q.) 'Tell

me the names of the Companions who collected the Koran, in the

lifetime of the Apostle of God.' (A.) 'They were four in number,

to wit, Ubaï ibn Kaab, Zeid ibn Thabit, Abou Ubeideh Aamir ben

Jerrah and Othman ben Affan,[FN#287] may God accept of them all!'

(Q.) 'Who are the readers, from whom the [accepted] reading of

the Koran is taken?' (A.) 'They are four in number, namely,

Abdallah ben Mesoud, Ubaï ben Kaab, Maadh ben Jebel[FN#288] and

Salim ben Abdallah.'[FN#289] (Q.) 'What sayst thou of the words

of the Most High, "That which is sacrificed to stones"?'[FN#290]

(A.) 'The stones are idols, which are set up and worshipped, instead

of God the Most High, and [from this] we seek refuge with Him.'

(Q.) 'What sayst thou of the words of the Most High, "[Quoth

Jesus] Thou knowest what is in my soul, and I know not what is

in Thy soul"?'[FN#291] (A.) 'They mean "Thou [God] knowest the

truth of me and what is in me and I [Jesus] know not what is in

Thee;" and the proof of this are his words,[FN#292] "Thou [God]

art He that knoweth the hidden things;" and it is said, also,

"Thou [God] knowest my essence, but I [man] know not Thine

essence."' (Q.) 'What sayst thou of the words of the Most High,

"O ye that believe, deny not yourselves the good things that

God hath made lawful to you!"?'[FN#293] (A.) 'My master (on

whom God have mercy) told me that Ez Zuhak[FN#294] said, "There

was a people of the true-believers who said, 'We will dock our

yards and don sackcloth;' whereupon this verse was revealed."

But El Cutadeh[FN#295] says that it was revealed on account of

sundry Companions of the Apostle of God, Ali ibn Abi Talib and

Othman ben Musaab and others, who said, "We will dock ourselves

and don hair [cloth] and make us monks."' (Q.) 'What sayst thou

of the words of the Most High, "And God took Abraham to

friend"?'[FN#296] (A.) 'The friend [of God] is the needy, the

poor, and (according to another saying) he is the lover, he who

is absorbed in the love of God the Most High and in whose

exclusive devotion there is no falling away.'

When the professor saw her pass on in speech with the passing

of the clouds[FN#297] and that she stayed not in answering, he

rose to his feet and said, 'I take God to witness, O Commander

of the Faithful, that this damsel is more learned than I in

Koranic exegesis and what pertains thereto.' Then said she, 'I

will ask thee one question, which if thou answer, it is well:

but if thou answer not, I will strip off thy clothes.' 'Ask

on,' quoth the Khalif; and she said, 'Which verse of the

Koran has in it three-and-twenty Kafs,[FN#298] which sixteen

Mims,[FN#299] which a hundred and forty Ains,[FN#300] and which

section[FN#301] lacks the formula, "To whom [God] belong might

and majesty"?' He could not answer, and she said to him, 'Put

off thy clothes.' So he doffed them, and she said, 'O Commander

of the Faithful, the verse of the sixteen Mims is in the

chapter Houd and is the saying of the Most High, "It was

said, 'O Noah, go down in peace from us, and blessing upon

thee!'"[FN#302]; that of the three-and-twenty Kafs is the verse

called of the Faith, in the chapter of the Cow; that of the

hundred and forty Ains is in the chapter of El Aaraf,[FN#303]

"And Moses chose seventy men of his tribe to [attend] our

appointed time;[FN#304] to each man a pair of eyes."[FN#305]

And the set portion which lacks the formula, "To whom [God]

belong might and majesty," is that which comprises the chapters

"The Hour draweth nigh and the Moon is cloven in twain," "The

Compassionate" and "The Event."'[FN#306] And the professor

departed in confusion.

Then came forward the skilled physician and said to her, 'We

have done with theology and come now to physiology. Tell me,

therefore, how is man made, how many veins, bones and vertebræ

are there in his body, which is the chief vein and why Adam was

named Adam?' 'Adam was called Adam,' answered she, 'because of

the udmeh, to wit, the tawny colour of his complexion and also

(it is said) because he was created of the adim of the earth,

that is to say, of the soil of its surface. His breast was made

of the earth of the Kaabeh, his head of earth from the East and

his legs of earth from the West. There were created for him

seven doors [or openings] in his head, to wit, the eyes, the

ears, the nostrils and the mouth, and two passages, the urethra

and the anus. The eyes were made the seat of the sense of

sight, the ears of that of hearing, the nostrils of that of

smell, the mouth of that of taste and the tongue to speak forth

what is in the innermost heart of man. Adam was originally

created of four elements combined, water, earth, fire and air.

The yellow bile is the humour of fire, being hot and dry, the

black bile that of earth, being cold and dry, the phlegm that

of water, being cold and moist, and the blood that of air,

being hot and moist. There are in man three hundred and

threescore veins, two hundred and forty bones and three souls

[or natures], the animal, the rational and the essential or

[natural], to each of which is allotted a separate function.

Moreover, God made him a heart and spleen and lungs and six

guts and a liver and two kidneys and marrow [or brain] and

buttocks and bones and skin and five senses, hearing, seeing,

smell, taste and touch. The heart He set on the left side of

the breast and made the stomach the exemplar [or governor]

thereof. He appointed the lungs for a ventilator to the heart

and set the liver on the right side, opposite thereto. Moreover,

He made, besides this, the midriff and the intestines and set

up the bones of the breast and ribbed them with the ribs.'

(Q.) 'How many ventricles are there in a man's head?' (A.) 'Three,

which contain five faculties, styled the intrinsic senses, i.e.

common sense, fancy, thought, apperception and memory.' (Q.)

'Describe to me the scheme of the bones.' (A.) 'It consists of

two hundred and forty bones, which are divided into three parts,

the head, the trunk and the extremities. The head is divided

into skull and face. The skull is constructed of eight bones,

and to it are attached the teeth, two-and- thirty in number,

and the hyoïd bone, one. The trunk is divided into spinal column,

breast and basin. The spinal column is made up of four-and-twenty

bones, called vertebræ, the breast of the breastbone and the ribs,

which are four-and-twenty in number, twelve on each side, and

the basin of the hips, the sacrum and the coccyx. The extremities

are divided into arms and legs. The arms are again divided into

shoulder, comprising shoulder-blades and collar-bone, the upper-

arm, one bone, the fore-arm, composed of two bones, the radius and

the ulna, and the hand, consisting of the wrist, the metacarpus

and the fingers. The wrist is composed of eight bones, ranked in

two rows, each comprising four bones; the metacarpus of five

and the fingers, which are five in number, of three bones each,

called the phalanges, except the thumb, which has but two.

The lower extremities are divided into thigh, one bone, leg,

composed of three bones, the tibia, the fibula and the kneepan,

and the foot, divided like the hand, with the exception of the

wrist,[FN#307] which is composed of seven bones, ranged in two

rows, two in one and five in the other.' (Q.) 'Which is the

root of the veins?' (A.) 'The aorta from which they ramify, and

they are many, none knoweth the tale of them save He who

created them; but, as I have before observed, it is said that

they are three hundred and threescore in number. Moreover, God

hath appointed the tongue to interpret [for the thought], the

eyes to serve as lanterns, the nostrils to smell with, and the

hands for prehensors. The liver is the seat of pity, the spleen

of laughter and the kidneys of craft; the lungs are the

ventilators, the stomach the storehouse and the heart the

pillar [or mainstay] of the body. When the heart is sound, the

whole body is sound, and when the heart is corrupt, the whole

body is corrupt.' (Q.) 'What are the outward signs and symptoms

of disease in the members of the body, both internal and

external?' (A.) 'A physician, who is a man of understanding,

looks into the state of the body and is guided by the feel of

the hands, according as they are firm [or flabby], hot or cool,

moist or dry. Internal disorders are also indicated by external

symptoms, such as yellowness of the [whites of the] eyes, which

denotes jaundice, and bending of the back, which denotes

disease of the lungs.' (Q.) 'What are the internal symptoms of

disease?' (A.) 'The science of the diagnosis of disease by

internal symptoms is founded upon six canons, to wit, (1) the

actions [of the patient] (2) what is evacuated from his body

(3) the nature and (4) site of the pain he feels (5) swelling

and (6) the effluvia given off by his body.' (Q.) 'How cometh

hurt to the head?' (A.) 'By the introduction of food upon food,

before the first be digested, and by satiety upon satiety; this

it is that wasteth peoples. He who will live long, let him be

early with the morning-meal and not late with the evening-meal;

let him be sparing of commerce with women and chary of cupping

and blood-letting and make of his belly three parts, one for

food, one for drink and the third for air; for that a man's

intestines are eighteen spans in length and it befits that he

appoint six for food, six for drink, and six for air. If he

walk, let him go gently; it will be wholesomer for him and

better for his body and more in accordance with the saying of

God the Most High, "Walk not boisterously [or proudly] upon the

earth."'[FN#308] (Q.) 'What are the symptoms of yellow bile and

what is to be feared there-from?' (A.) 'The symptoms are,

sallow complexion and dryness and bitter taste in the mouth,

failure of the appetite, and rapid pulse; and the patient has

to fear high fever and delirium and prickly heat and jaundice

and tumour and ulceration of the bowels and excessive thirst.'

(Q.) 'What are the symptoms of black bile and what has the

patient to fear from it, if it get the mastery of the body?'

(A.) 'The symptoms are deceptive appetite and great mental

disquiet and care and anxiety; and it behoves that it be

evacuated, else it will generate melancholy and leprosy and

cancer and disease of the spleen and ulceration of the bowels.'

(Q.) 'Into how many branches is the art of medicine divided?'

(A.) 'Into two: the art of diagnosing diseases and that of

restoring the diseased body to health.' (Q.) 'When is the

drinking of medicine more efficacious than otherwhen?' (A.)

'When the sap runs in the wood and the grape thickens in

the cluster and the auspicious planets[FN#309] are in the

ascendant, then comes in the season of the efficacy of drinking

medicine and the doing away of disease.' (Q.) 'What time is it,

when, if a man drink from a new vessel, the drink is wholesomer

and more digestible to him than at another time, and there

ascends to him a pleasant and penetrating fragrance?' (A.)

'When he waits awhile after eating, as quoth the poet:

I rede thee drink not after food in haste, but tarry still;

Else with a halter wilt thou lead thy body into ill.

Yea, wait a little after thou hast eaten, brother mine; Then

drink, and peradventure thus shalt thou attain unto thy

will.'

(Q.) 'What food is it that giveth not rise to ailments?' (A.)

'That which is not eaten but after hunger, and when it is

eaten, the ribs are not filled with it, even as saith Galen the

physician, "Whoso will take in food, let him go slowly and he

shall not go wrong." To end with the saying of the Prophet,

(whom God bless and preserve,) "The stomach is the home of

disease, and abstinence is the beginning[FN#310] of cure,

[FN#311] for the origin of every disease is indigestion,

that is to say, corruption of the meat in the stomach."' (Q.)

'What sayst thou of the bath?' (A.) 'Let not the full man enter

it. Quoth the Prophet, "The bath is the delight of the house,

for that it cleanseth the body and calleth to mind the fire [of

hell]."' (Q.) 'What waters[FN#312] are best for bathing?' (A.)

'Those whose waters are sweet and plains wide and whose air is

pleasant and wholesome, its climate [or seasons] being fair,

autumn and summer and winter and spring.' (Q.) 'What kind of

food is the most excellent?' (A.) 'That which women make and

which has not cost overmuch trouble and which is readily

digested. The most excellent of food is brewis,[FN#313]

according to the saying of the Prophet, "Brewis excels other

food, even as Aaïsheh excels other women."' (Q.) 'What kind of

seasoning[FN#314] is most excellent?' (A.) 'Flesh meat (quoth

the Prophet) is the most excellent of seasonings; for that it

is the delight of this world and the next.' (Q.) 'What kind of

meat is the most excellent?' (A.) 'Mutton; but jerked meat is

to be avoided, for there is no profit in it.' (Q.) 'What of

fruits?' (A.) 'Eat them in their prime and leave them when

their season is past.' (Q.) 'What sayst thou of drinking

water?' (A.) 'Drink it not in large quantities nor by gulps,

or it will give thee the headache and cause divers kinds of

harm; neither drink it immediately after the bath nor after

copulation or eating (except it be after the lapse of fifteen

minutes for a young and forty for an old man) or waking from

sleep.' (Q.) 'What of drinking wine?' (A.) 'Doth not the

prohibition suffice thee in the Book of God the Most High,

where He saith, "Verily, wine and casting lots and idols and

divining arrows are an abomination of the fashion of the Devil:

shun them, so surely shall ye thrive."[FN#315] And again, "If

they ask thee of wine and casting lots, say, 'In them are great

sin and advantages to mankind, but the sin of them is greater

than the advantage.'"[FN#316] Quoth the poet:

O wine-bibber, art not ashamed and afraid To drink of a thing

that thy Maker forbade?

Come, put the cup from thee and mell with it not, For wine and

its drinker God still doth upbraid.

And quoth another:

I drank the sweet sin till my wit went astray: 'Tis ill

drinking of that which doth reason away.

As for the useful qualities that are therein, it disperses

gravel from the kidneys and strengthens the bowels, banishes

care, moves to generosity and preserves health and digestion.

It assains the body, expels disease from the joints, purifies

the frame of corrupt humours, engenders cheerfulness and

gladdens and keeps up the natural heat. It contracts the

bladder, strengthens the liver and removes obstructions,

reddens the face, clears away cobwebs from the brain and defers

gray hairs. In short, had not God (to whom belong might and

majesty) forbidden it, there were not on the face of the earth

aught fit to stand in its place. As for drawing lots, it is a

game of hazard.'[FN#317] (Q.) 'What wine is the best?' (A.)

'That which is pressed from white grapes and ferments fourscore

days or more: it resembleth not water and indeed there is

nothing on the surface of the earth like unto it.' (Q.) 'What

of cupping?' (A.) 'It is for him who is [over] full of blood

and has no defect therein. Whoso will be cupped, let it be at

the wane of the moon, on a day without cloud or wind or rain

and the seventeenth of the month. If it fall on a Tuesday, it

will be the more efficacious, and nothing is more salutary for

the brain and eyes and for clearing the memory than cupping.'

(Q.) 'What is the best time for cupping?' (A.) 'One should be

cupped fasting, for this fortifies the wit and the memory. It

is reported of the Prophet that, when any one complained to him

of a pain in the head or legs, he would bid him be cupped and

not eat salt [meat] fasting, for it engendered scurvy, neither

eat sour milk immediately after [cupping].' (Q.) 'When is

cupping to be avoided?' (A.) 'On Wednesdays and Saturdays, and

let him who is cupped on these days blame none but himself.

Moreover, one should not be cupped in very hot nor in very cold

weather; and the best season for cupping is Spring.' (Q.) 'Tell

me of copulation.'

At this Taweddud hung her head, for shame and confusion before

the Khalif; then said, 'By Allah, O Commander of the Faithful,

it is not that I am at fault, but that I am ashamed, though,

indeed, the answer is on the tip of my tongue.' 'Speak, O

damsel,' said the Khalif; whereupon quoth she, 'Copulation hath

in it many and exceeding virtues and praiseworthy qualities,

amongst which are, that it lightens a body full of black bile

and calms the heat of love and engenders affection and dilates

the heart and dispels sadness; and the excess of it is more

harmful in summer and autumn than in spring and winter.' (Q.)

'What are its good effects?' (A.) 'It doth away trouble and

disquiet, calms love and chagrin and is good for ulcers in a

cold and dry humour; but excess of it weakens the sight and

engenders pains in the legs and head and back: and beware,

beware of having to do with old women, for they are deadly.

Quoth the Imam Ali,[FN#318] (whose face God honour), "Four

things kill and ruin the body: bathing on a full stomach,

eating salt meat, copulation on a plethora [of blood] and lying

with an ailing woman; for she will weaken thy strength and

infect thy body with sickness; and an old woman is deadly

poison." And quoth one of them, "Beware of taking an old woman

to wife, though she be richer in goods than Caroun."'[FN#319]

(Q.) 'What is the best copulation?' (A.) 'If the woman be

young, well-shaped, fair of face, swelling-breasted and of

honourable extraction, she will add to thee strength and health

of body; and let her be even as saith the poet, describing her:

Even by thy looks, I trow, she knows what thou desir'st, By

instinct, without sign or setting forth of sense;

And when thou dost behold her all-surpassing grace, Her charms

enable thee with gardens to dispense.'

(Q.) 'At what time is copulation good?' (A.) 'If by day, after

the morning-meal, and if by night, after food digested.' (Q.)

'What are the most excellent fruits?' (A.) 'The pomegranate and

the citron.' (Q.) 'Which is the most excellent of vegetables?'

(A.) 'The endive.' (Q.) 'Which of sweet-scented flowers?'

(A.) 'The rose and the violet.' (Q.) 'How is sperma hominis

secreted?' (A.) 'There is in man a vein that feeds all the

other veins. Water [or blood] is collected from the three

hundred and threescore veins and enters, in the form of red

blood, the left testicle, where it is decocted, by the heat of

man's temperament, into a thick, white liquid, whose odour is

as that of the palm-spathe.' (Q.) 'What bird [or flying thing]

is it that emits seed and menstruates?' (A.) 'The bat, that is,

the rere-mouse.' (Q.) 'What is that which, when it is shut out

[from the air], lives, and when it smells the air, dies?' (A.)

'The fish.' (Q.) 'What serpent lays eggs?' (A.) 'The dragon.'

With this the physician was silent, being weary with much

questioning, and Taweddud said to the Khalif, 'O Commander of

the Faithful, he hath questioned me till he is weary, and now I

will ask him one question, which if he answer not, I will take

his clothes as lawful prize.' 'Ask on,' quoth the Khalif. So

she said to the physician, 'What is that which resembles the

earth in [plane] roundness, whose resting-place and spine are

hidden, little of value and estimation, narrow-chested, its

throat shackled, though it be no thief nor runaway slave,

thrust through and through, though not in fight, and wounded,

though not in battle; time eats its vigour and water wastes it

away; now it is beaten without a fault and now made to serve

without stint; united after separation, submissive, but not to

him who caresses it, pregnant[FN#320] without a child in its

belly, drooping, yet not leaning on its side, becoming dirty

yet purifying itself, cleaving to [its mate], yet changing,

copulating without a yard, wrestling without arms, resting and

taking its ease, bitten, yet not crying out, [now] more

complaisant than a boon-companion and [anon] more troublesome

than summer-heat, leaving its wife by night and clipping her

by day and having its abode in the corners of the mansions of

the noble?' The physician was silent and his colour changed and

he bowed his head awhile in perplexity and made no reply;

whereupon she said to him, 'O physician, speak or put off thy

clothes.' At this, he rose and said, 'O Commander of the

Faithful, bear witness against me that this damsel is more

learned than I in medicine and what else and that I cannot cope

with her.' And he put off his clothes and fled forth. Quoth the

Khalif to Taweddud, 'Expound to us thy riddle,' and she

replied, 'O Commander of the Faithful, it is the button and the

button loop.'

Then said she, 'Let him of you who is an astronomer come

forward.' So the astronomer came forward and sat down before

her. When she saw him, she laughed and said, 'Art thou the

astronomer, the mathematician, the scribe?' 'Yes,' answered he.

'Ask of what thou wilt,' quoth she; 'success rests with God.'

So he said, 'Tell me of the sun and its rising and setting?'

And she replied, 'The sun rises in the Eastern hemisphere and

sets in the Western, and each hemisphere comprises ninescore

degrees. Quoth God the Most High, "Verily, I swear by the Lord

of the places of the sunrise and of the sunsetting."[FN#321]

And again, "He it is who appointed the sun for a splendour and

the moon for a light and ordained to her mansions, that ye

might know the number of the years and the reckoning."[FN#322]

The moon is Sultan of the night and the sun Sultan of the day,

and they vie with one another in their courses and follow each

other in uninterrupted succession. Quoth God the Most High, "It

befits not that the sun overtake the moon nor that the night

prevent the day, but each glides in [its own] sphere."'[FN#323]

(Q.) 'When the day cometh, what becomes of the night, and what

of the day, when the night cometh?' (A.) 'He maketh the night

to enter into the day and the day into the night.'[FN#324] (Q.)

'Enumerate to me the mansions of the moon.' (A.) 'They are

eight-and-twenty in number, to wit, Sheretan, Butain, Thureya,

Deberan, Hecaäh, Henaäh, Dhiraa, Nethreh, Terf, Jebheh, Zubreh,

Serfeh, Awwaa, Simak and Ghefr, Zubaniya, Iklil, Kelb, Shauleh,

Naaïm, Beldeh, Saad edh Dhabih, Saad el Bulaa, Saad el Akhbiyeh,

Saad es Suwoud, Fergh the Former and Fergh the Latter and Rishaa.

They are disposed in the order of the letters of the alphabet,

according to their numerical power, and there are in them secret

virtues which none knoweth save God (glorified and exalted be

He) and those who are firmly stablished in science. They are

divided among the twelve signs of the Zodiac, in the ratio of two

mansions and a third of a mansion to each sign. Thus Sheretan,

Butain and one-third of Thureya belong to Aries, the other two-

thirds of Thureya, Deberan and two thirds of Hecaäh to Taurus,

the other third of Hecaäh, Henaäh and Dhiraa to Gemini, Nethreh,

Terf, and a third of Jebheh to Cancer, the other two-thirds of

Jebheh, Zubreh and two-thirds of Serfeh to Leo, the other third

of Serfeh, Awwaa and Simak to Virgo, Ghefr, Zubaniya and one-third

of Iklil to Libra, the other two-thirds of Iklil, Kelb and two-

thirds of Shauleh to Scorpio, the other third of Shauleh, Naaïm

and Beldeh to Sagittarius, Saad edh Dhabih, Saad el Bulaa and

one-third of Saad es Suwoud to Capricorn, the other two-thirds

of Saad es Suwoud, Saad el Akbiyeh and two-thirds of Fergh the

Former to Aquarius, the other third of Fergh the Former, Fergh

the Latter and Rishaa to Pisces.' (Q.) 'Tell me of the planets

and their natures, also of their sojourn in the signs of the

Zodiac, their aspects, favourable and sinister, their houses,

ascendants and descendants.' (A.) 'The sitting is narrow [for

so comprehensive a matter], but they are seven in number, to

wit, the sun, the moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and

Saturn. The sun is hot and dry, sinister in conjunction,

favourable in opposition, and abides thirty days in each sign.

The moon is cold and moist, favourable of aspect, and abides

two days in each sign and a third of another day. Mercury is of

a mixed nature, favourable [in conjunction] with the favourable

and sinister [in conjunction] with the sinister [asterisms],

and abides in each sign seventeen and a half days. Venus is

temperate, favourable and abides in each sign five-and-twenty

days. Mars is sinister and abides in each sign ten months.

Jupiter is favourable and abides in each sign a year. Saturn is

cold and dry and sinister and abides in each sign thirty

months. The house of the sun is Leo, its ascendant is Aries and

its descendant Aquarius. The moon's house is Cancer, its

ascendant Taurus, its descendant Scorpio and its sinister

aspect Capricorn. Saturn's house is Capricorn and Aquarius, its

ascendant Libra, its descendant Aries and its sinister aspects

Cancer and Leo. Jupiter's house is Pisces and Sagittarius, its

ascendant Cancer, its descendant Capricorn and its sinister

aspects Gemini and Leo. Venus's house is Taurus, its ascendant

Pisces, its descendant Libra and its sinister aspects Aries and

Scorpio. Mercury's house is Gemini and Virgo, its ascendant

Virgo, its descendant Pisces and its sinister aspect Taurus.

Mars's house is Aries and Scorpio, its ascendant Capricorn, its

descendant Cancer and its sinister aspect Libra.'

When the astronomer saw her acuteness and skill and heard her

fair answers, he bethought him for a device to confound her

before the Commander of the Faithful and said to her, 'O

damsel, will rain fall this month?' At this she bowed her head

and pondered so long, that the Khalif thought her at a loss for

an answer and the astronomer said to her, 'Why dost thou not

speak?' Quoth she, 'I will not speak except the Commander of

the Faithful give me leave.' The Khalif laughed and said, 'How

so?' Said she, 'I would have thee give me a sword, that I may

strike off his head, for he is an infidel.' At this the Khalif

and those about him laughed, and she said, 'O astronomer, there

are five things that none knoweth save God the Most High;' and

she repeated the following verse: 'Verily, with God is the

knowledge of the hour; He sendeth down the rain and knoweth

what is in the wombs. None knoweth what the morrow shall bring

forth for him nor in what land he shall die. Verily, God is the

All-wise, the All-knowing.'[FN#325]

Quoth the astronomer, 'Thou hast said well, and by Allah, I

thought but to try thee.' 'Know,' rejoined she, 'that the

almanack-makers have certain signs and tokens, referring to the

planets, relative to the coming in of the year, and in which

are tribulations for the folk.' (Q.) 'What are they?' (A.)

'Each day hath a planet that rules it. So, if the first day of

the year fall on a Sunday, that day is the sun's and this

portends (though God alone is All-knowing) oppression of kings

and sultans and governors and much miasma and lack of rain and

that the folk will be in great disorder and the grain-crop will

be good, except lentils, which will perish, and the vines will

rot and flax will be dear and wheat cheap from the beginning of

Toubeh[FN#326] to the end of Beremhat.[FN#327] Moreover, in

this year there will be much fighting among kings, and there

shall be great plenty of good in this year.' (Q.) 'What if the

first day fall on Monday?' (A.) 'That day belongs to the moon

and portends righteousness in administrators and deputies and

that it will be a year of much rain and grain-crops will be

good, but linseed will decay and wheat will be cheap in the

month Keyehk;[FN#328] also that plagues will be rife and

that half the sheep and goats will die, that grapes will be

plentiful and honey scarce and cotton cheap.' (Q.) 'What if it

fall on Tuesday?' (A.) 'That is Mars's day and portends death

of great men and much destruction and outpouring of blood and

dearness of grain, lack of rain and scarcity of fish, which

will anon be in excess and anon fail [altogether]. In this

year, lentils and honey will be cheap and linseed dear and only

barley will thrive, to the exception of all other grain: great

will be the fighting among kings and death will be in the blood

and there will be much mortality among asses.' (Q.) 'What if it

fall on Wednesday?' (A.) 'That is Mercury's day and portends

great anarchy among the folk and much enmity and rotting of

some of the green crops and moderate rains; also that there

will be great mortality among cattle and infants and much

fighting by sea, that wheat will be dear from Burmoudeh to

Misra[FN#329] and other grains cheap: thunder and lightning

will abound and honey will be dear, palm-trees will thrive and

bear apace and flax and cotton will be plentiful, but radishes

and onions will be dear.' (Q.) 'What if it fall on Thursday?'

(A.) 'That is Jupiter's day and portends equity in viziers and

righteousness in Cadis and fakirs and the ministers of religion

and that good will be plentiful: rain and fruits and trees and

grain and fish will abound and flax, cotton, honey and grapes

be cheap.' (Q.) 'What if it fall on Friday?' (A.) 'That day

belongs to Venus and portends oppression in the chiefs of the

Jinn and talk of forgery and calumny; there will be much dew,

the autumn crops will be good in the land and there will be

cheapness in one town and not in another: lewdness will be

rife by land and sea, linseed will be dear, also wheat, in

Hatour,[FN#330] but cheap in Amshir:[FN#331] honey will be

dear and grapes and melons will rot.' (Q.) 'What if it fall

on Saturday?' (A.) 'That is Saturn's day and portends the

preferment of slaves and Greeks and those in whom there is no

good, neither in their neighbourhood; there will be great

drought and scarcity; clouds will abound and death will be rife

among mankind and woe to the people of Egypt and Syria from the

oppression of the Sultan and failure of blessing upon the green

crops and rotting of grain.'

With this, the astronomer hung his head, [being at an end of

his questions], and she said to him, 'O astronomer, I will ask

thee one question, which if thou answer not, I will take thy

clothes.' 'Ask on,' replied he. Quoth she, 'Where is Saturn's

dwelling place?' And he answered, 'In the seventh heaven.' (Q.)

'And that of Jupiter?' (A.) 'In the sixth heaven.' (Q.) 'And

that of Mars?' (A.) 'In the fifth heaven.' (Q.) 'And that of

the sun?' (A.) 'In the fourth heaven.' (Q.) 'And that of

Venus?' (A.) 'In the third heaven.' (Q.) 'And that of Mercury?'

(A.) 'In the second heaven.' (Q.) 'And that of the moon?' (A.)

'In the first heaven.' Quoth she, 'Well answered; but I have

one more question to ask thee. Into how many parts are the

stars divided?' But he was silent and answered nothing; and she

said to him, 'Put off thy clothes.' So he put them off and she

took them; after which the Khalif said to her, 'Tell us the

answer to thy question.' 'O Commander of the Faithful,'

answered she, 'the stars are divided into three parts, one

whereof is hung in the sky of the earth,[FN#332] as it were

lamps, to give light to the earth, another suspended in the

air, to give light to the seas and that which is therein, and

the third is used to transfix the demons withal, when they draw

near by stealth to [listen to the talk of the angels in]

heaven. Quoth God the Most High, "Verily, we have decked the

sky of the earth with lamps and have appointed them for

projectiles against the demons."'[FN#333] Quoth the astronomer,

'I have one more question to ask, which if she answer, I will

avow myself beaten.' 'Say on,' answered she. Then said he,

'What four incompatible things are based upon other four

incompatibles?' 'The four elements,' replied she; 'for of heat

God created fire, which is by nature hot and dry; of dryness,

earth, which is cold and dry; of cold, water, which is cold and

moist; of moisture, air, which is hot and moist. Moreover, He

created twelve signs of the Zodiac, Aries, Taurus, Gemini,

Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn,

Aquarius and Pisces and appointed them of four [several]

humours, three, Aries, Leo and Sagittarius, fiery, Taurus, Virgo

and Capricorn, earthy, Gemini, Libra and Aquarius, airy, and

Cancer, Scorpio and Pisces, watery.' With this, the astronomer

rose, and saying, 'Bear witness against me that she is more

learned than I,' went away beaten.

Then said the Khalif, 'Where is the philosopher?' whereupon one

came forward and said to Taweddud, 'What is Time?' 'Time,'

answered she, 'is a name applied to the [lapse of the] hours of

the day and night, which are but the measures of the courses of

the sun and moon in their several orbits, even as God the Most

High telleth us, when he saith, "And a sign to them [is] the

night, from which we strip off the day, and behold, they are in

darkness, and the sun runneth to a fixed abode, [appointed] to

it; this is the ordinance of the Sublime, the All-knowing."'

[FN#334] (Q.) 'How comes unbelief to the son of Adam?' (A.) 'It

is reported of the Prophet that he said, "Unbelief runs in a man,

as the blood runs in the veins, when he reviles the world and Time

and night and the hour." And again, "Let none of you revile Time,

for Time is God; neither the world, for it saith, 'May God not

help him that reviles me!' neither the hour, for 'Verily, the hour

cometh, without doubt;'[FN#335] neither the earth, for it is a

portent, according to the saying of the Most High, 'From it we

created you, to it we will return you and from it we will bring

you forth yet again.'"'[FN#336] (Q.) 'What are the five that ate

and drank, yet came not out of loins nor belly?' (A.) 'Adam and

Simeon and Salih's she-camel[FN#337] and Ishmael's ram and the

bird that Abou Bekr the Truth-teller saw in the cave.'[FN#338]

(Q.) 'Tell me of five that are in Paradise and are neither

mortals, Jinn nor angels?' (A.) 'Jacob's wolf and the Seven

Sleepers' dog and Esdras's ass and Salih's camel and the

Prophet's mule.' (Q.) 'What man prayed a prayer neither on

earth nor in heaven?' (A.) 'Solomon [son of David], when he

prayed on his carpet, borne by the wind.' (Q.) 'A man once

looked at a handmaid in the morning, and she was unlawful to

him; but, at noonday, she became lawful to him. By mid-afternoon,

she was again unlawful, but at sundown, she was lawful to him.

At evensong, she was a third time unlawful, but by daybreak, she

became once more lawful to him.' (A.) 'This was a man who looked

at another's handmaid in the morning, and she was then unlawful

to him, but at midday he bought her, and she became lawful to him.

At mid-afternoon he enfranchised her, and she became unlawful to

him, but at sundown he married her and she was again lawful to

him. At evensong, he divorced her and she was then a third time

unlawful to him, but, next morning, at daybreak, he took her back,

and she became once more lawful to him.' (Q.) 'Tell me what tomb

fared on with him that lay buried therein?' (A.) 'The whale,

when it had swallowed Jonah.' (Q.) 'What spot of ground is it,

upon which the sun shone once, but will never again shine till

the Day of Judgment?' (A.) 'The bottom of the Red Sea, when Moses

smote it with his staff, and the sea clove asunder in twelve

places, according to the number of the tribes; then the sun

shone on the bottom and will do so never again till the Day of

Judgment.' (Q.) 'What was the first skirt that trailed upon the

surface of the earth?' (A.) 'That of Hagar, out of shame before

Sarah, and it became a custom among the Arabs.' (Q.) 'What is

that which breathes without life?' (A.) 'Quoth God the Most

High, "By the morning, when it breathes!"'[FN#339] (Q.) 'A

number of pigeons came to a high tree and lighted, some on the

tree and others under it. Said those on the tree to those on

the ground, "If one of you come up to us, ye will be a third

part of us [all] in number; and if one of us descend to you, we

shall be like unto you in number." How many pigeons were there

in all?' (A.) 'Twelve: seven alighted on the tree and five

beneath.'

With this the philosopher put off his clothes and fled forth:

whereupon she turned to those present and said, 'Which of you

is the rhetorician that can discourse of all kinds of

knowledge?' There came forward Ibrahim ben Siyyar and said to

her, 'Think me not like the rest.' Quoth she, 'It is the more

sure to me that thou wilt be beaten, for that thou art a

boaster, and God will help me against thee, that I may strip

thee of thy clothes. So, if thou sentest one to fetch thee

wherewithal to clothe thyself, it would be well for thee.' 'By

Allah,' cried he, 'I will assuredly conquer thee and make thee

a byword among the folk, generation after generation!' 'Do

penance [in advance] for thy [void] oath,' rejoined she. Then

said he, 'What five things did God create, before He made man?'

And she replied, 'Water and earth and light and darkness and

the fruits [of the earth].' (Q.) 'What did God create with the

hand of omnipotence?' (A.) 'The empyreal heaven and the tree

Touba[FN#340] and Adam and the garden of Eden; these God

created with the hand of His omnipotence; but to all other

created things He said, "Be,"--and they were.' (Q.) 'Who is thy

father in Islam?' (A.) 'Mohammed, whom God bless and preserve!'

(Q.) 'Who was the father [in Islam] of Mohammed?' (A.) 'Abraham

the Friend of God.' (Q.) 'What is the Faith of Islam?' (A.)

'The professing that there is no god but God and that Mohammed

is the apostle of God.' (Q.) 'What is thy first and thy last?'

(A.) 'My first is troubled water[FN#341] and my last filthy

carrion. The first of me is dust and the last dust. Quoth the

poet:

Created wast thou of the dust and didst a man become, Ready in

question and reply and fluent in debate.

Then to the dust return'dst anon and didst become of it, For

that, in very deed, of dust at first thou wast create.'

(Q.) 'What thing was it, whose first [state] was wood and its

last life?' (A.) 'Moses' rod, when he cast it on the ground and

it became, by permission of God, a writhing serpent.'[FN#342]

(Q.) 'What is the meaning of the verse in the Koran, "And I

have other need [or occasion] for it"?'[FN#343] (A.) 'He

[Moses] was wont to plant his staff in the ground, and it would

flower and fruit and shade him from the heat and the cold.

Moreover, it would carry him, when he was weary, and guard his

sheep from the wild beasts, whilst he slept.' (Q.) 'What woman

was born of a man alone and what man of a woman alone?' (A.) 'Eve

of Adam and Jesus of Mary.' (Q.) 'What fire eats and drinks, what

fire eats but drinks not, what fire drinks but eats not and what

other neither eats nor drinks?' (A.) 'Hellfire eats and drinks,

the fire of the world eats but drinks not, the fire of the sun

drinks but eats not, and that of the moon neither eats nor drinks.'

(Q.) 'Which is the open [door] and which the shut [door]?' (A.)

'The Traditional Ordinances are the open, the Koranic the shut

[door].' (Q.) 'Of what does the poet speak, when he says:

A dweller in the sepulchre, at 's head his victual lies; Whenas

he tastes thereof, he speaks and questions and replies.

He rises up and walks and talks, yet silent is the while, And

turns anon unto the tomb wherefrom he did arise.

No living one is he, that hath a title to respect, Nor dead,

that folk should say of him, "God's mercy him comprise!"?'

(A.) 'The pen.' (Q.) 'What does the poet refer to in these

verses:

Two breasts in one it hath; its blood is eath and quick of

flow, Wide-mouthed, though all the rest be black, its ears

are white as snow.

It hath an idol like a cock, that doth its belly peck, And half

a dirhem is its worth, if thou its price wouldst know?'

(A.) 'The inkhorn.' (Q.) 'And in these:

Say to men of wit and learning and to doctors everywhere,

Skilled to find the hidden meanings riddles and enigmas

bear,

Come expound to me what is it that ye see a bird produce,

'Mongst the Arabs and barbarians and wherever else ye

fare;

Neither flesh nor blood, I warrant, hath the thing whereof I

speak; Neither down nor feathers, birdwise, for a garment

doth it wear.

Boiled it is and likewise roasted, eaten hot and eaten cold;

Yea, to boot, and when 'tis buried in the glowing embers'

flare,

Colours twain in it are noted, one as silver clear and white,

And the other lucent yellow, gold therewith may not

compare.

Living can it not be reckoned, neither may we count it dead:

Tell me, then, what is this wonder, rarity of all things

rare?'

(A.) 'Thou makest long the questioning of an egg worth a doit.'

(Q.) 'How many words [or times] did God speak to Moses?' (A.)

'It is related of the Prophet that he said, "God spoke to Moses

fifteen hundred and fifteen words [or times]."' (Q.) 'Tell me

of fourteen things that speak to the Lord of the Worlds?' (A.)

'The seven heavens and the seven earths, when they say, "We

come, obedient."'[FN#344] (Q.) 'How was Adam created?' (A.)

'God created Adam of clay: the clay He made of foam and the

foam of the sea, the sea of darkness, darkness of light, light

of a fish, the fish of a rock, the rock of a ruby, the ruby of

water, and the water He created by the exertion of His omnipotent

will, according to His saying (exalted be His name!), "His

commandment is only when He willeth aught, that He say, 'Be,'

--and it is."'[FN#345] (Q.) 'What is meant by the poet in the

following verses:

A things sans mouth or maw that eats in wondrous wise; On trees

and beasts it feeds and all beneath the skies.

Give it to eat, it thrives and flourishes amain; But give it

not to drink of water, or it dies?'

(A.) 'Fire.' (Q.) 'And in these:

Two lovers, that are still estopped from all delight:

Embracing, each with each, they pass the livelong night.

They guarantee the folk from all calamity, And with the risen

sun they're torn apart forthright?'

(A.) 'The leaves of a gate.' (Q.) 'Tell me of the gates of

Hell?' (A.) 'They are seven in number and their names are

comprised in the following verses:

Jehennem first, then Leza comes and eke Hetim as well; Then

must thou count Saïr, and fifth comes Seker, sooth to

tell:

Sixth comes Jehim and last of all, Hawiyeh; thus thou hast, In

compass brief of doggrel rhyme, the seven rooms of Hell.'

(Q.) 'To what does the poet refer in these verses:

A pair of ringlets long she hath, that trail for aye Behind

her, as she comes and goes upon her way,

And eye that never knows the taste of sleep nor sheds A tear,

for none it hath for shedding, sooth to say;

Nor wears it aught of clothes, from year to ended year; Yet in

all manner wede it doth the folk array?'

(A.) 'A needle.' (Q.) 'What is the length and breadth of the

bridge Es Sirat?' (A.) 'Its length is three thousand years'

journey, a thousand in descent, a thousand level and a thousand

in ascent: it is sharper than a sword and finer than a hair.'

(Q.) 'How many intercessions [with God] hath the Prophet [for

each soul]?' (A.) 'Three.' (Q.) 'Was Abou Bekr the first that

embraced Islam?' (A.) 'Yes.' (Q.) 'Yet Ali[FN#346] became a

Muslim before him?' (A.) 'All came to the Prophet, when he was

a boy of seven years old, for God vouchsafed him the knowledge

of the truth in his tender youth, so that he never prostrated

himself to idols.' (Q.) 'Which is the more excellent, Ali or

Abbas?'[FN#347]

Now she knew that, in propounding this question, Ibrahim was

laying a trap for her; for, if she said, 'Ali is the more

excellent,' she would fall in disgrace with the Khalif; so she

bowed her head awhile, now reddening, now paling, then said,

'Thou askest me of two excellent men, each having [his own

especial] excellence. Let us return to what we were about.'

When the Khalif heard her reply, he rose to his feet and said,

'By the Lord of the Kaabeh, thou hast said well, O Taweddud!'

Then said Ibrahim, 'What means the poet, when he says:

Slender of skirts and slim of shape and sweet of taste it is,

Most like unto the spear, except it lacks of the spontoon.

In all the countries of the world the folk make use of it, And

eaten 'tis in Ramazan, after mid-afternoon?'

She answered, 'The sugar-cane;' and he said, 'Tell me of many

things.' 'What are they?' asked she; and he said, 'What is

sweeter than honey, what is sharper than the sword, what is

swifter than poison, what is the delight of a moment and what

the contentment of three days, what is the pleasantest of days,

what is the joy of a week, what is the debt that the worst

payer denieth not, what is the prison of the tomb, what is the

joy of the heart, what is the snare of the soul, what is death

in life, what is the malady that may not be healed, what is the

reproach that may not be done away, what is the beast that

harbours not in cultivated fields, but lodges in waste places

and hates mankind and hath in it somewhat of the make of seven

strong beasts?' Quoth she, 'Hear what I shall say in answer;

then put off thy clothes, that I may expound to thee.' Then the

Khalif said, 'Expound, and he shall put off his clothes.' So

she said, 'That, which is sweeter than honey, is the love of

pious children to their parents; that, which is sharper than

the sword, is the tongue; that, which is swifter than poison,

is the evil eye; the delight of a moment is coition and the

contentment of three days is the depilatory for women; the

pleasantest of days is that of profit on merchandise; the joy

of a week is the bride; the debt, which the worst payer denieth

not, is death; the prison of the tomb is an ill son; the joy of

the heart is a woman obedient to her husband, (and it is said

also that, when fleshmeat descends upon the heart, it rejoiceth

therein); the snare [or vexation] of the soul is a disobedient

slave; death in life is poverty; the malady, that may not be

healed, is an ill nature and the reproach, that may not be done

away, is an ill daughter; lastly, the beast that harbours not

in cultivated fields, but lodges in waste places and hates

mankind and hath in it somewhat of the make of seven strong

beasts, is the locust, whose head is as the head of the horse,

its neck as the neck of the bull, its wings as the wings of the

vulture, its feet as the feet of the camel, its tail as the

tail of the serpent, its body as the body of the scorpion and

its horns as the horns of the gazelle.'

The Khalif was astounded at her quickness and understanding and

said to Ibrahim, 'Put off thy clothes.' So he rose and said, 'I

call all who are present in this assembly to witness that she

is more learned than I and all the learned men.' And he put off

his clothes and gave them to her, saying, 'Take them and may

God not bless them to thee!' The Khalif ordered him fresh

clothes and said to Taweddud, 'There is one thing left of

that for which thou didst engage, namely, chess.' And he

sent for professors of chess and draughts and backgammon. The

chess-player sat down before her, and they set the pieces, and

he moved and she moved; but, every move he made she speedily

countered, till she beat him and he found himself check-mated.

Quoth he, 'I did but lead thee on, that thou mightest think

thyself skilful; but set up again, and I will show thee.' So

they placed the pieces a second time, and he said to himself,

'Open thine eyes, or she will beat thee.' And he fell to moving

no piece, save after calculation, and ceased not to play, till

she said, 'Check-mate.' When he saw this, he was confounded at

her quickness and skill; but she laughed and said, 'O master,

I will make a wager with thee on this third game. I will give

thee the queen and the right-hand rook and the left-hand knight;

if thou beat me, take my clothes, and if I beat thee, I will

take thine.' 'I agree to this,' replied he, and they replaced

the pieces, she giving him the queen, rook and knight. Then

said she, 'Move, O master.' So he moved, saying in himself,

'I cannot but win, with such an advantage,' and made a combination;

but she moved on, little by little, till she made one of her pawns

a queen and pushing up to him pawns and other pieces, to take off

his attention, set one in his way and tempted him with it.[FN#348]

Accordingly, he took it and she said to him, 'The measure is meted

out and the equilibrium established. Eat, O man, till thou pass

repletion; nought shall be thy ruin but greediness. Knowest thou

not that I did but tempt thee, that I might beguile thee? See:

this is check-mate: put off thy clothes.' 'Leave me my trousers,'

quoth he, 'so God requite thee;' and he swore by Allah that he

would contend with none, so long as Taweddud abode at the Court

of Baghdad. Then he took off his clothes and gave them to her

and went away.

Then came the backgammon-player, and she said to him, 'If I

beat thee, what wilt thou give me?' Quoth he, 'I will give thee

ten suits of brocade of Constantinople, figured with gold, and

ten suits of velvet and a thousand dinars, and if I beat thee,

I ask nothing but that thou write me an acknowledgment thereof.'

'To it, then,' replied she, 'and do thy best.' So they played,

and he lost and went away, jabbering in the Frank jargon and

saying, 'By the bounty of the Commander of the Faithful, there

is not her like in all the world!' Then the Khalif summoned

players on instruments of music and said to her, 'Dost thou

know aught of music?' 'Yes,' answered she. So he bade bring

a peeled and polished lute, whose owner [or maker] was ground

down by exile [or estrangement from the beloved] and of which

quoth one, describing it:

God watered a land and straight a tree sprang up on its root:

It cast forth branches and throve and flourished with many

a shoot.

The birds, when the wood was green, sang o'er it, and when it

was dry, Fair women sang to it in turn, for lo, 'twas a

minstrel's lute!

So they brought a bag of red satin, with tassels of

saffron-coloured silk: and she opened the bag, and took out a

lute, on which were graven the following verses:

Full many a tender branch a lute for singing-girl has grown,

Wherewith at banquets to her mates she makes melodious

moan.

She sings; it follows on her song, as 'twere to teach her how

Heart's troubles in clear perfect speech of music to make

known.

She laid her lute in her lap and letting her breasts hang over

it, bent to it as bends a mother, suckling her child; then

preluded in twelve different modes, till the whole assembly was

agitated with delight, and sang the following verses:

Leave your estrangement, I pray, and bid your cruelty hold,

For, by your life, my heart will never for you be

consoled.

Have pity on one who weeps, afflicted and ever sad, A slave of

passion, who burns for thee with longings untold.

The Khalif was ravished and exclaimed, 'May God bless thee and

receive him who taught thee[FN#349] into His mercy!' Whereupon

she rose and kissed the earth before him. Then he sent for

money and paid her master Aboulhusn a hundred thousand dinars

to her price; after which he said to her, 'O Taweddud, ask a

boon of me.' 'O Commander of the Faithful,' replied she, 'I ask

of thee that thou restore me to my lord who sold me to thee.'

'It is well,' answered the Khalif and restored her to her

master and gave her five thousand dinars for herself. Moreover,

he appointed Aboulhusn one of his boon-companions and assigned

him a monthly stipend of a thousand dinars so long as he should

live, and he abode with the damsel Taweddud in all delight of

life.

Marvel then, O King, at the eloquence of this damsel and the

greatness of her learning and understanding and her perfect

excellence in all branches of knowledge, and consider the

generosity of the Khalif Haroun er Reshid, in that he gave her

master this money and said to her, 'Ask a boon of me;' and she

besought him to restore her to her lord. So he restored her to

him and gave her five thousand dinars for herself and made him

one of his boon-companions. Where is such generosity to be

found after the Abbaside Khalifs, may God the Most High have

mercy upon them all!