Haroun al Rashid became Caliph in the year A.D. 786, and he ranks among
the Caliphs who have been most distinguished by eloquence, learning,
and generosity. During the whole of his reign he performed the
pilgrimage to Mecca or carried on war with the unbelievers nearly every
year. His daily prayers exceeded the number fixed by the law,[7] and he
used to perform the pilgrimage on foot, an act which no previous Caliph
had done. When he went on pilgrimage he took with him a hundred learned
men and their sons, and when he did not perform it himself he sent
three hundred substitutes, whom he appareled richly, and whose expenses
he defrayed with generosity.
His conduct generally resembled that of the Caliph Mansur, but he did
not imitate the parsimony of the latter. He always repaid services done
to him, and that without much delay. He was fond of poetry and poets,
and patronized literary and learned men. Religious controversies were
hateful to him. Eulogy he relished highly, especially eulogy by gifted
poets, whom he richly rewarded.
The historian Asmai relates the following anecdote: One day the Caliph
gave a feast in a magnificently decorated hall. During the feast he
sent for the poet Abu'l Atahiyah, and commanded him to depict in verse
the gorgeous scene.
The poet began: "Live, O Caliph, in the fulfilment of all thy desire,
in the shelter of thy lofty palace!"
"Very good!" exclaimed Rashid. "Let us hear the rest."
The poet continued: "Each morn and eve be all thy servitors swift to
execute thy behests!"
"Excellent!" said the Caliph. "Go on!"
The poet replied: "But when the death-rattle chokes thy breath thou
wilt learn, alas! that all thy delights were a shadow."
Rashid burst into tears. Fadhl, the son of Yahya (Haroun's Vizier),
seeing this, said to the poet: "The Caliph sent for you to divert him,
and you have plunged him into melancholy." "Let him be," said Rashid;
"he saw us in a state of blindness, and tried to open our eyes."
This Prince treated learned men with great regard. Abou Moawia, one
of the most learned men of his time, related that when he was sitting
one day at food with the Caliph, the latter poured water on his hands
after the meal, and said to him: "Abou Moawia, do you know who has just
washed your hands?" He answered: "No." Rashid informed him that it was
himself. Abou Moawia replied: "Prince, you doubtless act in this manner
in order to do homage to learning." "You speak truth," answered Rashid.
Ibrahim Mouseli relates the following story: "Rashid one day summoned
all his musicians. I and Meskin of Medina were among the performers.
Rashid had partaken freely of wine, and wished to hear performed an
air which had suddenly occurred to his mind. The officer stationed
before the curtain which concealed the Caliph told Ibn Jami to sing
this piece. The latter obeyed, but did not succeed in pleasing the
Caliph. Each of the singers present attempted it, but were no more
successful than Ibn Jami. Then the officer, addressing Meskin, said:
'The Commander of the Faithful orders you to sing this air if you can
do it properly.'
"Meskin commenced at once to sing, to the great surprise of the
audience, who could not understand how a musician like him had the
courage to attempt, before us, an air which none of us had been able to
render to the satisfaction of the Caliph. As soon as he had finished I
heard Rashid raise his voice and ask to hear it a second time. Meskin
recommenced with a skill and spirit which won him everybody's applause.
The Caliph congratulated and praised him to the skies; then he had the
curtain behind which he had been sitting drawn aside.
"'Prince of the believers,' then said Meskin to him, 'a strange story
attaches to this piece'; and at the invitation of the Caliph he
narrated it in these words: 'I was formerly a slave of a member of
the family of Zobeir, and carried on the trade of a tailor. My master
claimed from me a tax of two dirhems daily, after paying which I was
free to do what I liked. I was passionately fond of singing. One day a
descendant of Ali, for whom I had just completed a tunic, paid me two
dirhems for it, kept me to eat with him, and made me drink generously.
As I left him I met a negress carrying her pitcher on her shoulder, and
singing the song you have just heard. I was so delighted at it that,
forgetting everything else, I said to her: "By the Prophet, I adjure
thee to teach me that air." "By the Prophet," she answered, "I will not
teach it unless you pay me two dirhems."
"'Then, Prince of believers, I took out the two dirhems, with which I
had intended to pay my daily tax, and gave them to the negress. She,
setting her pitcher down, sat on the ground and, keeping time with her
fingers on the pitcher, sang the piece, and repeated it till it was
well impressed on my memory.
"'I then proceeded to my master. As soon as he saw me he demanded his
two dirhems, and I related my adventure to him. "Scoundrel!" he said.
"Have I not warned you that I will take no excuse, even if a farthing
is missing?" Saying this, he laid me on the ground and, with the utmost
vigor of his arm, gave me fifty strokes of a rod, and, as an additional
disgrace, caused my head and chin to be shaved. Verily, O Prince, I
passed a melancholy night. The severe punishment I had undergone made
me forget the piece I had learned, and this was the saddest of all.
In the morning, wrapping my head in a cloak, I hid my large tailor's
scissors in my sleeve, and directed my steps to the spot where I had
met the negress. I waited there in perplexity, not knowing her name nor
her abode. All at once I saw her coming; the sight of her dispersed all
my cares. I approached her, and she said to me: "By the Lord of the
Kaaba, you have forgotten the song!" "Yes, I have," I answered. I told
her how my head and chin had been shaved, and offered her a reward if
she would sing her song again. "By the Prophet," she answered, "I will
not for less than two dirhems."
"'I took out my scissors and ran and pawned them for two dirhems, which
I gave her. She put down her pitcher, and began to sing as she had
done the evening before; but as soon as she began, I said: "Give me
back the two dirhems; I don't need your song." "By Allah," she said,
"you shall not see them again; don't think it." Then she added: "I
am certain that the four dirhems you have spent will be worth to you
four thousand dinars from the hand of the Caliph." Then she resumed
her song, accompanying herself, as before, on her pitcher, and did not
cease repeating it till I had got it by heart.
"'We separated. I returned to my master, but in a state of great
apprehension. When he saw me he demanded his daily due, while I
stammered out excuses. "Beast!" he shouted, "was not yesterday's
lesson enough for you?" "I wish to speak to you frankly and without
falsehood," I answered. "Yesterday's and to-day's dirhems went in
payment for a song"; and I began to sing it to him. "What!" he
exclaimed, "you have known an air like that for two days and told me
nothing of it? May my wife be divorced if it is not true that I would
have let you go yesterday if you had sung it to me! Your head and chin
have been shaved—I can not help that—but I let you off your tax till
your hair grows again."'
"Hearing this recital, Rashid laughed heartily, and said to the
musician: 'I don't know which is better, your song or your story; I
will see in my turn that the forecast of the negress is verified.' So
Meskin went out from the Caliph's presence richer by four thousand
dinars."
_The Barmecides, Viziers of Haroun al Rashid_
On attaining the Caliphate, Rashid conferred the Viziership on Yahya,
son of Khaled, son of Barmek. Yahya had served him as secretary before
his accession to the throne, and this was the foundation of the
magnificence of the family of the Barmecides, whose commencement and
whose tragic fall we are about to narrate.
The family of the Barmecides had originally been Zoroastrians in
religion, but from the time of their embracing Islam they continued
to be good Mussulmen. They were the crown and ornament of their age.
Their generosity passed into a proverb; adherents thronged to their
court from every side, and multitudes centered their hopes on them.
Fortune showered upon them a prodigality of favors. Yahya and his sons
were like brilliant stars, vast oceans, impetuous torrents, beneficent
showers. Every kind of talent and learning was represented in their
court, and men of worth received a hearty welcome there. The world
was revived under their administration, and the empire reached its
culminating point of splendor. They were a refuge for the afflicted and
a haven for the distressed. The poet Abou-Nowas said of them:
"Since the world has lost you, O sons of Barmek, we no longer see the
ways crowded with travelers at sunrise and sunset."
We have an example of the generosity of the Barmecides in the following
story, related by Salih bin Muhran, one of the intimate attendants of
Haroun al Rashid:
"One day Haroun sent for me, and when I arrived in his presence I saw
that he was vexed and perplexed, and full of thought, and very much
enraged. When I stood still awhile he lifted up his head, and said: 'Go
this moment to Mansur Bin Ziyad, and before night thou must have from
him ten thousand thousand dirhems, and, if not, cut off his head and
bring it to me; and if thou fail in this, I swear by the soul of Mahdi
I will command thy head to be severed from thy body.' I said: 'May the
life of the Commander of the Faithful be prolonged! If he gives a part
to-day, and sends somewhat more to-morrow on the condition that he
gives me a pledge for the payment of the whole-—-' He replied: 'No! If
he does not give thee to-day ten thousand thousand dirhems in coined
money, bring me his head. What concern hast thou in this matter?' When
he said this I knew he was aiming at the life of Mansur, and I went out
from him in great perplexity and distress, saying, 'O Lord, what has
come to me? It will be needful to slay Mansur, and he is one of the
most worthy and best-known men of Bagdad, and has a numerous following.'
"At length I went to the house of Mansur, and, taking him on one side,
told him the whole story as it had happened, and what my commands were.
When he heard he wept aloud, and fell at my feet, saying: 'In truth the
Commander of the Faithful seeks my life; for his courtiers and many
others know there is no such sum in my house. Nor could I in my whole
life bring together so much; how, then, can I do it in one day? But
do thou show me one favor, for God's sake-. take me to my house, that
I may bid farewell to my children and followers and clansmen, and ask
forgiveness of my offenses from my companions and acquaintances.'
"I took him to his house, as he desired, and when his family and chief
friends heard what had happened there was an outcry among them. They
wept and bewailed so that jinns and men, and wild beasts and birds,
were sorrowful for them, and my heart burned to see them. At last he
brought out what money and valuables he had, amounting to two million
dirhems, and gave it to me, saying: 'In days past, before Haroun al
Rashid was Caliph, I often vexed Yahya the Barmecide, and during this
present reign also he suffered much annoyance and persecution from
me. But on a certain occasion he treated me with kindness, and put my
hand in his, and I knew that he had forgiven my fault, and that there
was no feeling of revenge remaining in his heart; and afterward he
did me many kindnesses with the Caliph. If thou wilt deal kindly with
me—his house is at the head of the way—take me there. It may be his
heart will be touched for me; for all the members of his house are men
of liberality, and they desire that even their enemy and ill-wisher
may take refuge with them, that they may help him in his distress and
misery.'
"I said: 'Thou speakest truly, and it will be a delight to myself to
take thee there. Come, let us go. By Allah the Most High, it must needs
be they will cause thee to rejoice.' When we arrived at the house of
Yahya, he had just finished the afternoon prayer, and was repeating
the _Tesbih_.[8] When he saw Mansur, and he had explained to him his
distress and misery, Yahya came up to me and inquired of me the state
of the case, which I revealed to him. He comforted Mansur, and bade
him keep up his heart; 'For,' said he, 'I will not be wanting in doing
all that is in my power to help thee.' At the same time he called his
treasurer, and said to him: 'Bring me all that is in the treasury.' The
treasurer brought all that he had of coined money and jewels, and the
amount was two hundred thousand dirhems.
"Then he wrote a letter to his eldest son, Fadhl, bidding him send
what money he had, for that an unfortunate man was waiting for it.
When Fadhl had read the note, he immediately sent two hundred thousand
dirhems. Then he wrote a note to Jafar, his younger son, bidding him
send immediately all the money he had. He also sent three hundred
thousand dirhems. Then he said to me: 'Take this money to the Commander
of the Faithful, and represent to him that I will send to-morrow three
million dirhems more into his treasury.' I replied: 'This is not in
my orders. To-day, by the hour of evening prayer, I must be in the
presence of the Caliph with the gold or the head.'
"When Yahya heard this he sent for his slave Otbah, and bade her go to
Fatima, the sister of the Commander of the Faithful, and to explain
the case to her. When Otbah had told Fatima how the matter stood, that
lady, who was a woman of much generosity, took off a collar set with
jewels which she had received from the Caliph, of which the value was
estimated at two hundred thousand dinars of gold, and sent it to Yahya,
asking besides a thousand pardons that she could do no more.
"When at last the ten million of dirhems was raised, Yahya delivered
it all to porters, and sent it by me to the Caliph. It was near the
setting of the sun when I brought the money to Haroun al Rashid. When
he saw me, he cried: 'Hast thou brought Mansur?' I told him all that
had passed, whereupon he bade me send the money to the treasury and go
for Yahya. When I had placed the money in the treasury, I went to Yahya
and told him that the Caliph had accepted the money, and wished to see
him. He broke out into exclamations of gladness when he heard this,
and, calling for Mansur, he said: 'Take courage, for thou art saved
from destruction. The Commander of the Faithful has just asked for me,
and I will so contrive as to render him again favorably disposed toward
thee.'
"Then Mansur's soul again returned to his body, and he thanked Yahya
fervently. When Yahya arrived in the presence of the Caliph and saw his
face averted, he was afraid; for he thought: 'Perchance he will reprove
me for my want of respect in releasing Mansur.' So, after some time, he
prayed for pardon of his offense, and conciliated the Caliph. Afterward
he said: 'Wilt thou tell me what was the crime of which Mansur was
guilty?' The Caliph replied: 'His crime was his enmity against you and
his evil-speaking concerning you. For this reason I have long wished to
strike off his head. To-day I was so incensed that I commanded either
that he should pay this money or that his head should be cut off. But
thou hast done as the generous always do.' Yahya said: 'May the life
of the Commander of the Faithful be long! For if the Commander of the
Faithful had said, "The wealth of Yahya and his sons is of my gift, and
this necklace, too, of my sister's is a gift of mine. What has any one
to do in this matter? Go and cut off Mansur's head," what could he have
done and what could I have done?'
"This speech pleased Haroun al Rashid, but he blamed Yahya because he
had asked for his sister's necklace, and sent it to the treasury to
meet the demand on Mansur. He also blamed his sister for giving away
the necklace. She replied: 'It would have been shame if I had not
answered the request of one who was in the place of a father to me.'
This reply pleased the Caliph, and he restored to Fatima the jeweled
collar, and Yahya and Mansur were again glad at heart."
_The Fall of the Barmecides_
Haroun al Rashid had such an extraordinary affection to Jafar the
Barmecide that he could not bear to be one hour apart from him. Rashid
loved his own sister Abbasah also with an extreme affection, and could
not bear to be long absent from her. She was a woman of extraordinary
beauty, and exceeded all in science and knowledge. Zobeidah, who was
the chief favorite of the Caliph, and all her dependents were opposed
to Abbasah.
One day Rashid said to Jafar: "Thou knowest how great is my affection
to thee, and also how greatly I love my sister Abbasah, and that I can
not live without the company of either of you. I have thought of an
expedient whereby you may both accompany me in the same assembly—that
a marriage take place between you. That will legalize your meeting and
authorize your beholding one another. But all this is on condition that
you never meet except I am a third in the party."
When Jafar heard this, the world on all sides grew black with darkness
to his eyes. Distressed and confounded, he fell at the feet of Rashid,
and said: "Commander of the Faithful, wilt thou slay me? From the time
of Adam to our day no servant has been admitted to such confidence as
that he should marry with the family of his lords and benefactors;
or if any one hath treacherously imagined such a thing, very shortly
he hath been reduced to nothingness, and all men have counted him
a bread-and-salt traitor. And what sin hath thy slave committed, O
Commander of the Faithful, that thou shouldest seek after his blood?
Is this the reward of all my services and devotion? And, besides, how
should I, the son of a Persian _Guebre_ (fire-worshiper), be allied to
the family of Hashem and the nephews of the Prophet—may the mercy of
God be upon him and his family!—and by what right can I aspire to such
a distinction? If my father and mother heard of this, they would mourn
for me, and my enemies would rejoice."
Some days passed, and he neither ate nor drank, but all was of no
avail. He could not oppose the decrees of heaven and the ordainment of
God by remedy or contrivance. Unable to help himself, he submitted and
consented to a marriage on the terms before mentioned. When Yahya, the
father of Jafar and Fadhl, and his other brothers heard of this, they
were full of sorrow, and looked for the reversal of their fortune and
the downfall of their power.
These forebodings were soon justified. The cruel commands of Rashid
to his favorite and his sister were disregarded, and Abbasah became a
mother. The birth of the child, concealed for a time, was revealed to
Rashid by a revengeful slave-girl whom Abbasah had struck. The Caliph
was intensely wroth, but concealed his indignation for a time, though
betraying it at unguarded moments.
Ahmed Bin Muhammad Wasil, who was one of his confidential attendants,
relates as follows: "One day I was standing before Rashid in his
private apartment when no one besides was there. Perfumes were burning,
and the place was filled with sweet odors. Haroun al Rashid lay down
to rest, and wrapped his head in the skirt of his garment to keep his
eyes cool, when Jafar the Barmecide came in and told his business to
the Caliph, receiving in return a gracious answer, and retiring. In
those days the story of Abbasah and her union with Jafar was talked of
currently among the people.
"When Jafar was gone Rashid lifted his head out of his skirt, and
from his mouth came these words: 'O God, do thou so favor Jafar the
Barmecide that he may kill me, or make me quickly powerful over him
that I may cut off his head from his body; for with anger and jealousy
against him I am near to destruction.' These words he spoke to himself,
but they reached my ears, and I trembled within and without, and I said
to myself: 'If the Commander of the Faithful knows that I have heard
this, he will not leave me alive.'
"Suddenly Haroun al Rashid lifted up his head from its covering, and
said to me: 'Hast thou heard that which I said to myself just now?'
I said: 'I have not heard it.' The Commander of the Faithful said:
'There is no one but thyself here, and so truly as the censer is in thy
hand, thou hast heard all. If thou care for thy life, keep this secret
concealed; and if not, I will strike off thy head.' I replied: 'May the
life of the Commander of the Faithful be long! I have not heard any of
these words.' And with this the Caliph was satisfied."
It was not long after this that the blow fell on the Barmecides. On
his return from one of his pilgrimages to Mecca, Rashid came by water
from Hira to Anbar, on the River Euphrates. Here he invited the three
brothers Fadhl, Jafar, and Mousa, to his presence, and, having caressed
them with extraordinary cordiality, dismissed them once more to their
quarters, with rich _khelats_, the customary robe of honor. The Caliph
withdrew to his apartments, and betook himself to his usual indulgence
in wine. In a little time he sent one of his domestics to inquire if
Jafar was employed in the same way. Finding that such was not the case,
Rashid sent his attendant again to Jafar, urging him by the life of his
master to imitate his example without further delay, for that his wine
seemed deprived of all its zest until he knew that his faithful Jafar
partook of the same enjoyment.
Jafar felt, however, unaccountably alarmed and averse to such a
gratification, and, reluctantly withdrawing to his chamber, called for
the wine. It happened that he was attended by a favorite blind minstrel
named Abou Zaccar, to whom, after a few goblets, he could not forbear
from communicating his apprehensions. The minstrel treated them as
merely imaginary, urged his master to banish them from his thoughts,
and to resume his usual cheerfulness. But Jafar declared that he found
it impossible to dispel the uneasiness which seemed to haunt him. About
the hour of evening prayer another messenger arrived from Rashid with a
present of nuts and sweetmeats for Jafar, as a relish to his wine, from
his own table.
When midnight came, Rashid called for Mesrour, his favorite domestic,
and directed him to bring Jafar and strike off his head. Mesrour
proceeded accordingly, and entering Jafar's apartment while Abou
Zaccar was singing some Arabic verses, stood suddenly at the head of
Jafar, who started involuntarily at his appearance. Mesrour told him
that he was summoned to attend the Caliph. Jafar entreated that he
might be permitted to withdraw for a moment, to speak to the women
of his family. This last indulgence was withheld, Mesrour observing
that any instructions which he had to communicate might as well be
delivered where he was. This he was accordingly obliged to do, after
which he accompanied Mesrour to his tent, on entering which the latter
immediately drew his sword. Jafar asked that the Caliph's instructions
might be explained to him, and when he heard them, cautioned Mesrour to
beware how he carried into execution an order which had evidently been
given under the influence of wine, lest, when their sovereign should
be restored to himself, it might be followed by unavailing repentance
and remorse. He further adjured Mesrour by the memory of their past
friendship that he would return to the Caliph's presence, and require
his final commands.
Mesrour yielded to these entreaties, and appeared before Rashid, whom
he found expecting his return. "Is this the head of Jafar?" demanded
the Caliph. "Jafar is at the door, my lord," replied Mesrour, with
some trepidation. "I wanted not Jafar," said the Caliph sternly;
"I wanted his head." This sealed the fate of the unhappy favorite.
Mesrour immediately withdrew, decapitated Jafar in the antechamber,
and returned with his head, which he laid at the Caliph's feet. He was
then directed by Rashid to keep that head by him till he should receive
further orders.
In the meantime he was enjoined to proceed without delay and apprehend
Yahya, his three sons, Fadhl, Muhammad, and Mousa, and his brother
Muhammad. These commands were immediately carried into execution. The
head of Jafar was dispatched the next day, to be suspended to a gibbet
on the bridge of Bagdad, after which the Caliph continued his journey
to Rakkah.
Stripped of all their wealth and honors, Yahya, his three sons, and his
brother Muhammad, languished in confinement, until the former perished
in prison. At first they were allowed some liberty, but subsequently
they experienced alternatives of rigor and relaxation, according to the
reports which reached Rashid concerning them. He then confiscated the
property of every member of the family. It is said that Mesrour was
sent by him to the prison, and that he told the jailor to bring Fadhl
before him. When he was brought out, Mesrour addressed him thus: "The
Commander of the Faithful sends me to say that he ordered thee to make
a true statement of thy property, and that thou didst pretend to do so;
but he is assured that thou hast still great wealth in reserve, and his
orders to me are that, if thou dost not inform me where the money is,
I am to give thee two hundred strokes of a whip. I should therefore
advise thee not to prefer thy riches to thyself."
On this Fadhl looked up at him and said: "By Allah, I made no false
statements; and were the choice offered to me of being sent out of the
world or of receiving a single stroke of a whip, I should prefer the
former alternative—_that_ the Commander of the Faithful well knoweth,
and thou also knowest full well that we maintained our reputation at
the expense of our wealth. How, then, could we now shield our wealth at
the expense of our bodies? If thou hast really got any orders, let them
be executed."
On this Mesrour produced some whips, which he brought with him rolled
up in a napkin, and ordered his servants to inflict on Al Fadhl two
hundred stripes. They struck him with all their force, using no
moderation in their blows, so that they nearly killed him. There was
in that place a man skilled in treating wounds, who was called in to
attend Al Fadhl. When he saw him he observed that fifty strokes had
been inflicted on him; and when the others declared that two hundred
had been given, he asserted that his back bore the traces of fifty, and
not more. He then told Al Fadhl that he must lie down on his back on a
reed-mat, so that they might tread on his breast. Al Fadhl shuddered at
the proposal, but, having at length given his consent, they placed him
on his back. The operator then trod on him, after which he took him by
the arms and dragged him along the mat, by which means a great quantity
of flesh was torn off the back. He then proceeded to dress the wounds,
and continued his services regularly, till one day, when, on examining
them, he immediately prostrated himself in thanksgiving to God. They
asked him what was the matter, and he replied that the patient was
saved, because new flesh was forming. He then said: "Did I not say that
he had received fifty strokes? Well, by Allah! one thousand strokes
could not have left worse marks; but I merely said so that he might
take courage, and thus aid my efforts to cure him."
Al Fadhl, on his recovery, borrowed ten thousand dirhems from a friend,
and sent them to the doctor, who returned them. Thinking that he had
offered too little, he borrowed ten thousand more; but the man refused
them, and said: "I can not accept a fee for curing the greatest among
the generous. Were it even twenty thousand dinars, I should refuse
them." When this was told to Al Fadhl, he declared that such an act
of generosity surpassed all that he himself had done during the whole
course of his life.
When Rashid had overthrown the family of the Barmecides, he endeavored
to obliterate even their very name. He forbade the poets to compose
elegies on their fall, and commanded that those who did so should
be punished. One day one of the soldiers of the guard, passing near
some ruined and abandoned buildings, perceived a man standing upright
with a paper in his hand. It contained a lament for the ruin of the
Barmecides, which he was reciting with tears.
The soldier arrested him, and conducted him to the palace of Rashid. He
related the whole matter to the Caliph, who caused the accused to be
brought before him. When he was convinced by the man's own confession
of the truth of the accusation, he said to him: "Did you not know that
I have forbidden the utterance of any lament for the family of the
Barmecides? Assuredly I will treat thee according to thy deserts."
"Prince," the accused answered, "if thou wilt allow, I will relate my
history. Afterward deal with me as thou pleasest."
Rashid having allowed him to speak, he went on: "I was one of the petty
officials in the court of Yahya. One day he said to me: 'I must dine at
your house.' 'My lord,' I said to him, 'I am far too mean for such an
honor, and my house is not fit to receive you.' 'No,' replied Yahya,
'I must come to you.' 'In that case,' I said, 'will you allow me some
time to make the proper arrangements and put my house in order?—and
afterward do as you like.'
"He then wished to know how much time I wanted. At first I asked for a
year. This appeared to him too much; I therefore asked for some months.
He consented, and I immediately began to prepare everything necessary
for his reception. When all the preparations were complete I sent to
inform Yahya, who said he would come on the morrow. On the next day,
accordingly, he came, with his two sons Jafar and Fadhl and a few of
his most intimate friends. Scarcely had he dismounted than he addressed
me by name, and said: 'Make haste and get me something to eat, for I
am hungry.' Fadhl told me that his father was especially fond of roast
fowl; accordingly I brought some, and when Yahya had eaten he rose and
began to walk about the house, and asked me to show him all over it.
'My lord,' I said, 'you have just been over it: there is no more.'
'Certainly there is more,' he replied.
"It was in vain that I assured him, in the name of God, that that was
all I had: he had a mason sent for, and told him to make a hole in
the wall. The mason began to do so. I said to Yahya: 'My Lord, is it
permissible to make a hole into one's neighbor's house when God has
commanded us to respect our neighbors' rights?' 'Never mind,' said
he. And when the mason had made a sufficiently wide entrance, he went
through, with his sons.
"I followed them, and we came into a delicious garden, well planted and
watered by fountains. In this garden were pavilions and halls adorned
with all kinds of marbles and tapestry; on all sides were numbers of
beautiful slaves of both sexes. Yahya then said to me: This house and
all that you see is yours.' I hastened to kiss his hands and to pray
God to bless him, and then I learned that from the very day he had told
me that he was coming to my house he had bought the ground adjacent to
it, and caused a beautiful mansion to be constructed, furnished, and
adorned, without my knowing anything of it. I saw indeed that building
was going on, but I thought it was some work being carried on by one of
my neighbors.
"Yahya then, addressing his son Jafar, said to him: 'Well, here is a
house, with attendants, but how is he to keep it up?' 'I will make over
to him such and such a farm, with its revenues,' answered Jafar, 'and
sign a contract with him to that effect.' 'Very good,' said Yahya,
turning to his other son, Fadhl; 'but till he receives those revenues,
how is he to meet current expenses?' 'I will give him ten thousand
pieces of gold,' answered Fadhl, 'and have them conveyed to his house.'
'Be quick, then,' said Yahya, 'and fulfil your promises without delay.'
This they both did, so that I found myself rich of a sudden and living
a life of ease. Thus, O Commander of the Faithful, I have never failed
on all fitting occasions to rehearse their praises and to pray for
them, in order to discharge my debt of gratitude, but never shall I be
able to do so completely. If thou choosest, slay me for doing that."
Rashid was moved at this recital, and let him go. He also gave a
general permission to the poets to bewail the tragic end of the
Barmecides. A pathetic anecdote relating to their fall is recorded by
Muhammad, son of Abdur Bahman the Hashimite.
"Having gone to visit my mother on the day of the Feast of Sacrifice,
I found her talking with an old woman of venerable appearance, but
meanly clad. My mother asked if I knew her, and I answered, 'No.' She
replied: 'It is Abbadab, the mother of Jafar Bin Yahya.' I turned
to her and saluted her with respect. After some time I said to her:
'Madam, what is the strangest thing you have seen?' 'My friend,' she
replied, 'there was once a time when this same festival saw me escorted
by four hundred slaves, and still I thought that my son was not
sufficiently grateful to me. To-day the feast has returned, and all I
wish for is two sheepskins—one to lie down on and one to cover me.'
"I gave her," adds the narrator, "five hundred dirhems, and she nearly
died of joy. She did not cease her visits till the day death separated
us."
After the destruction of this family, the affairs of Rashid fell into
irretrievable confusion. Treason, revolt, and rebellion assailed him in
different parts of the empire. He himself became a prey to disease, and
was tortured by unavailing remorse. If any one blamed the Barmecides
in his presence he would say: "Cease to blame them or fill the void."
So great was the disaffection aroused by his treatment of them that he
removed the seat of government from Bagdad to Rakkah, on the Euphrates.
Yahya, the father of Jafar and Fadhl, died in prison, A.D. 805. On his
body was found a paper containing these words: "The accuser has gone
on before to the tribunal, and the accused shall follow soon. The Cadi
will be that just Judge who never errs and who needs no witnesses."
This, being reported to Rashid, deepened his gloom, which began to
wear the appearance of madness. One morning his physician, finding
him greatly discomposed, inquired the reason. Rashid replied: "I will
describe to thee what presented itself to my imagination. Methought I
saw an arm suddenly extend itself from beneath my pillow, holding in
the palm of the hand a quantity of red earth, while a voice addressed
me in the following words: 'Haroun, behold this handful of earth; it is
that in which they are about to bury thee.' I demanded to know where I
was about to find my grave, and the voice replied: 'At Tus.' The arm
disappeared and I awoke."
Shortly after this Rashid, though suffering from the disease which was
to end his life, set out to put down a rebellion in Transoxiana. When
one of the captured rebel leaders was brought into his presence, he
ordered him to be cut to pieces limb by limb on the spot.
When the execution was over Rashid fell into a swoon, and, on
recovering himself, asked his physician if he did not recollect the
dream which had occurred to him at Rakkah, for they were now in the
neighborhood of Tus. He also desired his chamberlain Mesrour to bring
him a sample of the native earth of the country. When Mesrour returned
with his naked arm extended, Rashid immediately exclaimed: "Behold the
arm and the earth, precisely as they appeared in my dream!"
The Caliph died at midnight the following Saturday, March 23, A.D. 809.