professor of Koranic exegesis questioned the damsel, she continued, "As
regards the Prophets named in the Book there be five-and-twenty, to
wit, Adam, Noah,[FN#346] Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Lot,
Elisha, Jonah, Salih,[FN#347] or Heber, Hϊd,[FN#348] Shua'yb or
Jethro,[FN#349] David, Solomon, Zϊ'l-kafl or Joshua, Idrνs, Elias,
Yahyα or John the Baptist, Zacharias, Job, Moses, Aaron, Jesus and
Mohammed,[FN#350] the peace of Allah and His blessing be on them all!
Moreover, nine flying things are mentioned in the Koran, namely, the
gnat, the bee, the fly, the ant, the hoopoe, the crow, the locust, the
swallow and the bird of Jesus[FN#351] (on whom be peace!), to wit, the
bat." Q "Which is the most excellent chapter of the Koran?" "That of
The Cow.[FN#352]" Q "Which is the most magnificent verse?" "That of the
Throne; it hath fifty words, bearing in each fifty blessings." Q "What
sign or verse hath in it nine signs or wonders?" "That in which quoth
Allah Almighty, 'Verily, in the creation of the Heaven and the Earth:
and in the vicissitude of night, and day; and in the ship which saileth
through the sea laden with what is profitable for mankind; and in the
rain-water which God sendeth down from Heaven, quickening thereby the
dead ground and replenishing the same with all sorts of cattle; and in
the change of winds and in the clouds that are compelled to do service
between the Heaven and the Earth;[FN#353]—are signs to people of
understanding.'" Q "Which verse is the most just?" "That in which Allah
saith, 'Verily, Allah enjoineth justice and the doing of good, and the
giving unto kindred what shall be necessary; and He forbiddeth
wickedness and iniquity and oppression'"[FN#354] Q "Which is the most
greedy?" "That in which quoth Allah, 'Is it that every man of them
greedeth to enter the Garden of Delight?'"[FN#355] Q "Which is the most
hopeful?" "That in which quoth Almighty Allah, 'Say: O my servants who
have transgressed against your own souls, despair not of the mercy of
Allah; seeing, that Allah forgiveth all sins; aye Gracious, Merciful is
He.'"[FN#356] Q "By what school of intonation dost thou read?" "By that
of the people of Paradise, to wit, the version of Nαf'i." Q "In which
verse doth Allah make prophets lie?"[FN#357] "In that wherein He saith,
'They (the brothers of Joseph) brought his inner garment stained with
false blood.'"[FN#358] Q "In which doth He make unbelievers speak the
truth?" "In that wherein He saith, 'The Jews say, 'The Christians are
grounded on nothing,' and the Christians say, 'The Jews are grounded on
nothing'; and yet they both read the Scriptures;'[FN#359] and, so
saying, all say sooth." Q "In which doth God speak in his own person?"
"In that in which he saith, 'I have not created Genii and men for any
other end than that they should serve me.'"[FN#360] Q "In which verse
do the angels speak?" "In that which saith, 'But we celebrate Thy
praise and extol Thy holiness.'"[FN#361] Q "What sayest thou of the
formula:—I seek refuge with Allah from Satan the Stoned?" "It is
obligatory by commandment of Allah on all before reading the Koran, as
appeareth by His saying, 'When thou readest the Koran, seek refuge with
Allah from Satan the Stoned.'"[FN#362] Q "What signify the words
'seeking refuge'[FN#363] and what are the variants of the formula?"
"Some say, 'I take refuge with Allah the All-hearing and All-knowing,'
and others, 'With Allah the Strong;' but the best is that whereof the
Sublime Koran speaketh and the Traditions perpetuate. And he (whom
Allah bless and keep!) was used to ejaculate, 'I seek refuge with Allah
from Satan the Stoned.' And quoth a Tradition, reported by Naf'i on the
authority of his adopted father, 'The apostle of Allah, was wont when
he rose in the night to pray, to say aloud, 'Allaho Akbar'; God is Most
Great, with all Majesty! Praise be to Allah abundantly! Glory to Allah
morn and even be!' Then would he say, 'I seek refuge with Allah from
Satan the Stoned and from the delusions of the Devils and their evil
suggestions.' And it is told of Ibn Abbas[FN#364] (of whom Allah
accept!) that he said, 'The first time Gabriel came down to the Prophet
with revelation he taught him the 'seeking refuge,' saying, 'O
Mohammed, say, I seek refuge with Allah the All-hearing and
All-knowing;' then say, 'In the name of Allah the Compassionating, the
Compassionate!' Read, in the name of thy Lord who created;—created man
of blood-clots."[FN#365] Now when the Koranist heard her words he
marvelled at her expressions, her eloquence, her learning, her
excellence, and said, "O damsel, what sayst thou of the verse 'In the
name of Allah, the Compassionating, the Compassionate'? Is it one of
the verses of the Koran?" "Yes; it is a verset of 'The Ant'[FN#366]
occurring 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."—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased
saying her permitted say.
When it was the Four Hundred and Forty-seventh Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the damsel
had told the professor concerning the difference of opinion among the
learned touching the "Basmalah," he said, "Thou hast replied aright:
now tell me why is not the formula written at the head of the chapter
of Immunity[FN#367]?"; and she answered, "When this chapter was
revealed from on high for the dissolution of the alliance between the
Prophet and the idolaters, He (whom Allah bless and preserve!) sent
Ali[FN#368] ibn Abν Tαlib (whose face Allah honour!) therewith, and he
read the chapter to them, but did not read the Basmalah."[FN#369] Q
"What of the excellence of the formula and its blessing?" "It is told
of the Prophet that he said, 'Never is the Basmalah pronounced over
aught, but there is a blessing in it;' and it is reported, on authority
of Him (whom Allah bless and preserve!) that the Lord of Glory swore by
His glory that never should the Basmalah be pronounced over a sick
person, but he should be healed of his sickness. Moreover, it is said
that, when Allah created the empyrean, it was agitated with an
exceeding agitation; but He wrote on it, 'Bismillah' and its agitation
subsided. When the formula first descended from heaven to the Prophet,
he said, 'I am safe from three things, earthquake and metamorphosis and
drowning; and indeed its boons are great and its blessings too many to
enumerate. It is told of Allah's Apostle that he said, 'There will be
brought 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 cry, 'O my God, Thou hast not dealt justly by me!' Then shall
Allah (to whom be honour and glory!) say, 'How so?' and the man shall
answer, O Lord, for that Thou callest Thyself the Compassionating, the
Compassionate, yet wilt Thou punish me with the Fire!' And Allah
(magnified be His Majesty!) shall reply, 'I did indeed name myself the
Compassionating, the Compassionate. Carry My servant to Paradise, of My
mercy, for I am the most Merciful of the mercifuls!'" Q "What was the
origin of the use of the Basmalah?" "When Allah sent down from Heaven
the Koran, they wrote, 'In Thy name, O my God!'; when Allah revealed
the words, 'Say: Call upon Allah, or call upon the Compassionating,
what days ye pray, for hath He the most excellent names,'[FN#370] they
wrote, 'In the name of Allah, the Compassionating, the Compassionate;
and, when He revealed the words, 'Your God is one God, there is no God
but He, the Compassionating, the Compassionate,'[FN#371] they wrote,
'In the name of Allah, the Compassionating, the Compassionate!'" Now
when the Koranist heard her reply, he hung down his head and said to
himself, "This be a marvel of marvels! How hath this slave-girl
expounded the origin of the Basmalah? But, by Allah, needs must I go a
bout with her and haply defeat her." So he asked, "Did Allah reveal the
Koran all at once or at times manifold?" She answered, "Gabriel the
Faithful (on whom be peace!) descended with it from the Lord of the
Worlds upon His Prophet Mohammed, Prince of the Apostles and Seal of
the Prophets, by detached versets: bidding and forbidding, covenanting
and comminating, and containing advices and instances in the course of
twenty years as occasion called for it." Q "Which chapter was first
revealed?" "According to Ibn Abbas, that entituled 'Congealed
Blood':[FN#372] and, according to Jαbir bin Abdillah,[FN#373] that
called 'The Covered' which preceded all others.[FN#374]" Q "Which
verset was the last revealed?" "That of 'Usury',[FN#375] and it is also
said, the verse, 'When there cometh Allah's succour and
victory.'"[FN#376]—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased
to say her permitted say.
When it was the Four Hundred and Forty-eighth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the damsel
told the Koranist which was the last verse he said, "Thou hast replied
aright; now tell me the names of the Companions who collected the
Koran, in the lifetime of the Apostle of Allah." And she answered "They
were four, Ubay ibn Ka'ab, Zayd ibn Sαbit, Abϊ Obaydah 'Aamir bin
Jarrαh, and Othmαn bin Affαn[FN#377] (Allah accept of them one and
all!)" Q "Who are the readers, from whom the accepted reading of the
Koran is taken?" "They number four, Abdallah bin Mas'ϊd, Ubay bin
Ka'ab, Ma'az bin Jabal and Sαlim bin Abdillah." Q "What sayest thou of
the words of the Most High, 'That which is sacrificed to
stones'"?[FN#378] "The stones are idols, which are set up and
worshipped, instead of Allah the Most High, and from this we seek
refuge with Allah." Q "What sayest thou of the words of the Most High
'Thou knowest what is in my soul, and I know not what is in Thy
soul'"?[FN#379] "They mean, 'Thou knowest the truth of me and what is
in me, and I know not what is in Thee;' and the proof of this are His
words,[FN#380] 'Thou art He who wottest the hidden things'; and it is
said, also, 'Thou knowest my essence, but I know not Thine essence.'" Q
"What sayst thou of the words of the Most High, 'O true believers,
forbid not yourselves the good things which Allah hath allowed
you?'"[FN#381] "My Shaykh (on whom Allah have mercy!) told me that the
Companion Al-Zahhαk related: 'There was a people of the True-believers
who said, 'We will dock our members masculine and don sackcloth;'
whereupon this verse was revealed. But Al-Kutαdah declareth that it was
revealed on account of sundry Companions of the Apostle of Allah,
namely, Ali ibn Abν Tαlib and Othmαn bin Musa'ab and others, who said,
'We will geld ourselves and don hair cloth and make us monks.'" Q "What
sayest thou of the words of the Most Highest, 'And Allah took Abraham
for His friend'"?[FN#382] "The friend of Allah is the needy, the poor,
and (according to another saying) he is the lover, he who is detached
from the world in the love of Allah Almighty and in whose attachment
there is no falling away." Now when the Koranist[FN#383] saw her pass
on in speech with the passage of the clouds and that she stayed not in
reply, he rose to his feet and said, "I take Allah to witness, O
Commander of the Faithful, that this damsel is more learned than I in
Koranic exegesis and what pertaineth 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." Quoth the Commander of the
Faithful, "Ask on," and she enquired, "Which verset of the Koran hath
in it three-and-twenty Kαfs, which sixteen Mνms, which an hundred and
forty 'Ayns[FN#384] and which section[FN#385] lacketh the formula, 'To
Whom belong glory and glorification and majesty[FN#386]?'" The Koranist
could not reply, and she said to him, "Put off thy clothes." So he
doffed them, and she continued, "O Commander of the Faithful, the
verset of the sixteen Mims is in the chapter Hϊd and is the saying of
the Most High, 'It was said, O Noah, go down in peace from us, and
blessing upon thee!'[FN#387] 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 Ayns is in the chapter of Al-A'arαf,[FN#388] where
the Lord saith, 'And Moses chose seventy men of his tribe to attend our
appointed time;[FN#389] to each man a pair of eyes.'[FN#390] And the
lesson, which lacketh the formula, 'To Whom be glory and
glorification,' is that which comprises the chapters, The Hour draweth
nigh and the Moon shall be cloven in twain[FN#391]; The Compassionate
and The Event."[FN#392] Thereupon the professor departed in
confusion.—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying
her permitted say.
When it was the Four Hundred and Forty-ninth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the damsel
defeated the Koranist and took off his clothes and sent him away
confused, then came forward the skilled physician and said to her, "We
are free of theology and come now to physiology. Tell me, therefore,
how is man made; how many veins, bones and vertebrae are there in his
body; which is the first and chief vein and why Adam was named Adam?"
She replied, "Adam was called Adam, because of his udmah, that is, the
wheaten 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 surface-soil.
His breast was made of the earth of the Ka'abah, his head of earth from
the East and his legs of earth from the West. There were created for
him seven doors in his head, viz., the eyes, the ears, the nostrils and
the mouth, and two passages, before and behind. The eyes were made the
seat of the sight-sense, the ears the seat of the hearing-sense, the
nostrils the seat of the smell-sense, the mouth the seat of the
taste-sense and the tongue to utter what is in the heart of
man.[FN#393] Now Adam was made of a compound of the four elements,
which be water, earth, fire and air. The yellow bile is the humour of
fire, being hot-dry; the black bile that of earth, being cold-dry; the
phlegm that of water, being cold-moist, and the blood that of air,
being hot-moist.[FN#394] There were made in man three hundred and sixty
veins, two hundred and forty-nine bones, and three souls[FN#395] or
spirits, the animal, the rational and the natural, to each of which is
allotted its proper function. Moreover, Allah made him a heart and
spleen and lungs and six intestines and a liver and two kidneys and
buttocks and brain and bones and skin and five senses; hearing, seeing,
smell, taste, touch. The heart He set on the left side of the breast
and made the stomach the guide and governor thereof. He appointed the
lungs for a fan to the heart and stablished the liver on the right
side, opposite thereto. Moreover, He made, besides this, the diaphragm
and the viscera and set up the bones of the breast and latticed them
with the ribs." Q "How many ventricles are there in a man's head?"
"Three, which contain five faculties, styled the intrinsic senses, to
wit, common sense, imagination, the thinking faculty, perception and
memory." Q "Describe to me the configuration of the bones."—And
Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted
say.
When it was the Four Hundred and Fiftieth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the
physicist said to her, "Describe to me the configuration of the bones,"
she replied, "Man's frame 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 calvarium and face. The skull is
constructed of eight bones, and to it are attached the four osselets of
the ear. The face is furnished with an upper jaw of eleven bones and a
lower jaw of one; and to these are added the teeth two-and-thirty in
number, and the os hyoides.[FN#396] The trunk is divided into spinal
column, breast and basin. The spinal column is made up of
four-and-twenty bones, called Fikαr or vertebrζ; 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[FN#397] and os
coccygis. The extremities divided into upper and lower, arms and legs.
The arms are again divided: firstly into shoulder, comprising shoulder
blades and collar bone; secondly into the upper arm which is one bone;
thirdly into fore-arm, composed of two bones, the radius and the ulna;
and fourthly into the hand, consisting of the wrist, the metacarpus of
five and the fingers, which number five, of three bones each, called
the phalanges, except the thumb, which hath but two. The lower
extremities are divided: firstly into thigh, which is one bone;
secondly into leg, composed of three bones, the tibia, the fibula and
the patella; and thirdly into the foot, divided, like the hand, into
tarsus, metatarsus and toes; and is composed of seven bones, ranged in
two rows, two in one and five in the other; and the metatarsus is
composed of five bones and the toes number five, each of three
phalanges except the big toe which hath only two." Q "Which is the root
of the veins?" "The aorta, from which they ramify, and they are many,
none knoweth the tale of them save He who created them; but I repeat,
it is said that they number three hundred and sixty.[FN#398] Moreover,
Allah hath appointed the tongue as interpreter 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[FN#399] and the kidneys of craft; the lungs are ventilators,
the stomach the store-house, and the heart the prop and pillar 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 evidencing disease in the members of the body, both
external and internal?" "A physician, who is a man of understanding,
looketh into the state of the body and is guided by the feel of the
hands,[FN#400] 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 white of the eyes, which denoteth jaundice,
and bending of the back, which denoteth disease of the lungs." And
Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted
say.
When it was the Four Hundred and Fifty-first Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the damsel
had described to the doctor the outer signs and symptoms quoth he,
"Thou hast replied aright! now what are the internal symptoms of
disease?" "The science of the diagnosis of disease by internal symptoms
is founded upon six canons: (1) the patient's actions; (2) what is
evacuated from his body; (3) the nature of the pain; and (4) the site
thereof; (5) swelling; and (6) the effluvia given off his person." Q
"How cometh hurt to the head?" "By the ingestion of food upon food,
before the first be digested, and by fullness upon fullness; this it is
that wasteth peoples. He who would 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 such depletory measures as cupping and
blood-letting; and let him 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 befitteth that he appoint six for meat,
six for drink, and six for breath. 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 the Almighty, 'Walk not proudly on the
earth.'"[FN#401] Q "What are the symptoms of yellow bile and what is to
be feared therefrom?" "The symptoms are sallow complexion and bitter
taste in the mouth with dryness; failure of the appetite, venereal and
other, and rapid pulse; and the patient hath to fear high fever and
delirium and eruptions and jaundice and tumour and ulcers of the bowels
and excessive thirst." Q "What are the symptoms of black bile and what
hath the patient to fear from it, an it get the mastery of the body?"
"The symptoms are false appetite and great mental disquiet and cark and
care; and it behoveth that it be evacuated, else it will generate
melancholia[FN#402] 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?" "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?" "When the sap runs in the
wood and the grape thickens in the cluster and the two auspicious
planets, Jupiter and Venus, are in the ascendant; then setteth in the
proper season for drinking of drugs and doing away of disease." Q "What
time is it, when, if a man drink water from a new vessel, the drink is
sweeter and lighter or more digestible to him than at another time, and
there ascendeth to him a pleasant fragrance and a penetrating?" "When
he waiteth awhile after eating, as quoth the poet,
'Drink not upon thy food in haste but wait awhile; * Else thou
with halter shalt thy frame to sickness lead:
And patient bear a little thirst from food, then drink; * And
thus, O brother, haply thou shalt win thy need.[FN#403]'"
Q "What food is it that giveth not rise to ailments?" "That which is
not eaten but after hunger, and when it is eaten, the ribs are not
filled with it, even as saith Jαlνnϊs or Galen the physician, 'Whoso
will take in food, let him go slowly and he shall not go wrongly.' And
to conclude with His saying (on whom be blessing and peace!), 'The
stomach is the house of disease, and diet is the head of healing; for
the origin of all sickness is indigestion, that is to say, corruption
of the meat'"—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say
her permitted say.
When it was the Four Hundred and Fifty-second Night,
She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the
damsel said to the doctor, "'The stomach is the house of disease and
diet is the head of healing; for the origin of all sickness is
indigestion, that is to say, corruption of the meat in the stomach;'"
he rejoined, "Thou hast replied aright! what sayest thou of the
Hammam?" "Let not the full man enter it. Quoth the Prophet, 'The bath
is the blessing of the house, for that it cleanseth the body and
calleth to mind the Fire.'" Q "What Hammams are best for bathing in?"
"Those whose waters are sweet and whose space is ample and which are
kept well aired; their atmosphere representing the four seasons—autumn
and summer and winter and spring." Q "What kind of food is the most
profitable?" "That which women make and which hath not cost overmuch
trouble and which is readily digested. The most excellent of food is
brewis[FN#404] or bread sopped in broth; according to the saying of the
Prophet, 'Brewis excelleth other food, even as Ayishah excelleth other
women.'" Q "What kind of kitchen, or seasoning, is most profitable?"
"'Flesh meat' (quoth the Prophet) 'is the most excellent of kitchen;
for that it is the delight of this world and the next world.'" Q "What
kind of meat is the most profitable?" "Mutton; but jerked meat is to be
avoided, for there is no profit in it." Q "What of fruits?" "Eat them
in their prime and quit them when their season is past." Q "What sayest
thou of drinking water?" "Drink it not in large quantities nor swallow
it by gulps, or it will give thee head-ache and cause divers kinds of
harm; neither drink it immediately after leaving the Hammam nor after
carnal copulation or eating (except it be after the lapse of fifteen
minutes for a young man and forty for an old man), nor after waking
from sleep." Q "What of drinking fermented liquors?" "Doth not the
prohibition suffice thee in the Book of Almighty Allah, where He saith,
'Verily, wine and lots and images, and the divining arrows are an
abomination, of Satan's work; therefore avoid them, that ye may
prosper'?[FN#405] And again, 'They will ask thee concerning wine and
lots': Answer, 'In both there is great sin and also some things of use
unto men: but their sinfulness is greater than their use.'[FN#406]
Hence quoth the poet,
'O bibber of liquor, art not ashamed * To drink what Allah
forbade thee drain?
Put it far from thee and approach it not; * It holds what Allah
forbade as bane.'
And quoth another to the same purport,
'I drank the sin till my reason fled: * Ill drink that reason to loss
misled!'
As for the advantages that be therein, it disperseth stone and gravel
from the kidneys and strengtheneth the viscera and banisheth care, and
moveth to generosity and preserveth health and digestion; it conserveth
the body, expelleth disease from the joints, purifieth the frame of
corrupt humours, engendereth cheerfulness, gladdeneth the heart of man
and keepeth up the natural heat: it contracteth the bladder, enforceth
the liver and removeth obstructions, reddeneth the cheeks, cleareth
away maggots from the brain and deferreth grey hairs. In short, had not
Allah (to whom be honour and glory!) forbidden it,[FN#407] there were
not on the face of the earth aught fit to stand in its stead. As for
gambling by lots, it is a game of hazard such as diceing, not of
skill." Q "What wine is best?" "That which is pressed from white grapes
and kept eighty days or more after fermentation: it resembleth not
water and indeed there is nothing on the surface of the earth like unto
it." Q "What sayest thou of cupping?" "It is for him who is over full
of blood and who hath no defect therein; and whoso would be cupped, let
it be during the wane of the moon, on a day without cloud, wind or rain
and on 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 intellect than cupping."—And Shahrazad
perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
When it was the Four Hundred and Fifty-third Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the damsel
enumerated the benefits of cupping, quoth the doctor, "What is the best
time for cupping?" "One should be cupped 'on the spittle,' that is, in
the morning before eating, for this fortifieth the wit and the memory.
It is reported of the Prophet that, when anyone complained to him of a
pain in the head or legs, he would bid him be cupped and after cupping
not eat salt food, fasting, for it engendereth scurvy; neither eat sour
things as curded milk[FN#408] immediately after cupping." Q "When is
cupping to be avoided?" "On Sabbaths or Saturdays and Wednesdays; and
let him who is cupped on these days blame none but himself. Moreover,
one should not be cupped in very hot weather nor in very cold weather;
and the best season for cupping is springtide." Quoth the doctor, "Now
tell me of carnal copulation." Hereupon Tawaddud hung her head, for
shame and confusion before the Caliph's majesty; 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 edge of my tongue."
Said the Caliph; "Speak, O damsel," whereupon said she, "Copulation
hath in it many and exceeding virtues and praiseworthy qualities,
amongst which are, that it lighteneth a body full of black bile and
calmeth the heat of love and induceth affection and dilateth the heart
and dispelleth the sadness of solitude; and the excess of it is more
harmful in summer and autumn than in spring and winter." Q "What are
its good effects?" "It banisheth trouble and disquiet, calmeth love and
wrath and is good for ulcers, especially in a cold and dry humour; on
the other hand excess of it weakeneth the sight and engendereth pains
in the legs and head and back: and beware, beware of carnal connection
with old women, for they are deadly. Quoth the Iman Ali[FN#409] (whose
face Allah honour!), 'Four things kill and ruin the body: entering the
Hammam on a full stomach; eating salt food; copulation on a plethora of
blood and lying with an ailing woman; for she will weaken thy strength
and infect thy frame 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 hoards than Kαrϊn'"[FN#410] Q "What is the best
copulation?" "If the woman be tender of years, comely of shape, fair of
face, swelling of breast and of noble race, she will add to thee
strength and health of body; and let her be even as saith a certain
poet describing her,