It is said that El Mamoun[FN#164] came one day upon Zubeideh,
mother of El Amin,[FN#165] and saw her moving her lips and
muttering somewhat he understood not; so he said to her, "O
mother mine, dost thou imprecate [curses] upon me, for that I
slew thy son and despoiled him of his kingdom?" "Not so, by
Allah, O Commander of the Faithful!" answered she, and he said,
"What then saidst thou?" Quoth she, "Let the Commander of the
Faithful excuse me." But he was instant with her, saying, "Needs
must thou tell it." And she replied, "I said, 'God confound
importunity!'" "How so?" asked the Khalif, and she said, "I
played one day at chess with the Commander of the Faithful
[Haroun er Reshid] and he imposed on me the condition of
commandment and acceptance.[FN#166] He beat me and bade me put
off my clothes and go round about the palace, naked; so I did
this, and I incensed against him. Then we fell again to playing
and I beat him; so I bade him go to the kitchen and swive the
foulest and sorriest wench of the wenches thereof. [I went to the
kitchen] and found not a slave-girl fouler and filthier than thy
mother;[FN#167] so I bade him swive her. He did as I bade him and
she became with child by him of thee, and thus was I [by my
unlucky insistance] the cause of the slaying of my son and the
despoiling him of his kingdom." When El Mamoun heard this, he
turned away, saying, "God curse the importunate!" to wit,
himself, who had importuned her till she acquainted him with that
matter.
EN NUMAN AND THE ARAB OF THE BENOU
TAI.[FN#168]
It is said that En Numan[FN#169] had two boon-companions, one of
whom was called Ibn Saad and the other Amrou ben el Melik, and he
became one night drunken and bade bury them alive; so they buried
them. When he arose on the morrow, he enquired for them and was
acquainted with their case, whereupon he built over them a
monument and appointed to himself a day of ill-luck and a day of
good-luck. If any met him on his day of ill-omen, he slew him and
with his blood he washed the monument aforesaid, the which is a
place well known in Cufa; and if any met him on his day of grace,
he enriched him.
Now there accosted him once, on his day of ill-omen, an Arab of
the Benou Tai,[FN#170] and En Numan would have put him to death;
but the Arab said, "God quicken the king! I have two little girls
and have made none guardian over them; so, if the king see fit to
grant me leave to go to them, I will give him the covenant of
God[FN#171] that I will return to him, whenas I have appointed
them a guardian." En Numan had compassion on him and said to him,
"If a man will be surety for thee of those who are with us, [I
will let thee go], and if thou return not, I will put him to
death." Now there was with En Numan his vizier Sherik ben Amrou;
so the Tai[FN#172] looked at him and said,
Sherik ben Amrou, what device avails the hand of death to stay? O
brother of the brotherless, brother of all th' afflicted,
say.
Brother of En Numan, with thee lies an old man's anguish to
allay, A graybeard slain, may God make fair his deeds upon
the Reckoning-Day!
Quoth Sherik, "On me be his warranty, may God assain the king!"
So the Tai departed, after a term had been assigned him for
his coming.
When the appointed day arrived, En Numan sent for Sherik and said
to him, "Verily the first part of this day is past." And Sherik
answered, "The king hath no recourse against me till it be
eventide." When it evened, there appeared one afar off and En
Numan fell to looking upon him and on Sherik, and the latter said
to him, "Thou hast no right over me till yonder fellow come, for
belike he is my man." As he spoke, up came the Tai in haste and
En Numan said "By Allah, never saw I [any] more generous than you
two! I know not whether of you is the more generous, this one who
became warrant for thee in [danger of] death or thou who
returnest unto slaughter." Then said he to Sherik, "What prompted
thee to become warrant for him, knowing that it was death?" And
he said, "[I did this] lest it be said, 'Generosity hath departed
from viziers.'" Then said En Numan to the Tai, "And thou, what
prompted thee to return, knowing that therein was death and thine
own destruction?" Quoth the Arab, "[I did this] lest it be said,
'Fidelity hath departed from the folk.'" And En Numan said, "By
Allah, I will be the third of you,[FN#173] lest it be said,
'Clemency hath departed from kings.'" So he pardoned him and bade
abolish the day of ill-omen; whereupon the Arab recited the
following verses:
Full many a man incited me to infidelity, But I refused, for all
the talk wherewith they set on me.
I am a man in whom good faith's a natural attribute; The deeds of
every upright man should with his speech agree.
Quoth En Numan, "What prompted thee to keep faith, the case being
as thou sayest?" "O king," answered the Arab, "it was my
religion." And En Numan said, "What is thy religion?" "The
Christian," replied the other. Quoth the king, "Expound it unto
me." [So the Tai expounded it to him] and En Numan became a
Christian.[FN#174]