Selections from the Art of Party Crashing in Medieval Iraq Read online

  One of the Prophet's neighbors was a Persian, and he made stew that was the most wonderfulsmelling thing. One day he was making some food, and went over to the Prophet, who had `A'isha by his side, and beckoned for him to come eat. "Can she come with me?" asked the Prophet of God, pointing at `A'isha.

  "No," said the man.

  He pointed at `A'isha again and said, "Can she come with me?"

  "No," said the man.

  He pointed at her a third time and said, "Can she come with me?"

  The man said, "Yes," and so `A'isha went with him.'

  21

  `Ali ibn Muhammad ibn `Abd Allah ibn Bashran alMu'addal told us, Muhammad ibn `Amr al-Razzaz told us, Muhammad ibn `Abd Allah ibn Yazid told us, Wahb ibn Jarir told us, Shu'ba told us on the authority of al-A'mash on the authority of Abu Wa'il, on the authority of Abu Masud that:

  A man of Medina named Abu Shu'ayb invited the Prophet to come over and to bring five friends. The Prophet sent word back to him asking, "May I bring six?"

  The man said that he could.

  23

  Abu al-Hasan `Ali ibn Yahya ibn Ja`far al-Isbahani told us, Abu al-Qasim Sulayman ibn Ahmad ibn Ayyub al-Tabarani told us, `Amr ibn Thawb al-Judhami told us, Muhammad ibn Yusuf al-Firyabi told us, Sufyan told us on the authority of al-A'mash, on the authority of Abu Wail, on the authority of Abu Mas'ud:

  We knew a man named Abu Shu'ayb, who had a butcher-slave, and he said to this butcher, "Bring me some food because I want to invite the Prophet over."

  He invited the Prophet as the fifth of five guests, but a man followed them to the meal.

  The Prophet said to the host, "You invited me as the fifth of five, but this sixth one followed me. If you'd like, give him permission, but if not, he'll go back."

  "But I give him permission," the host said.

  25

  This story was also transmitted on the authority of al-A'mash, Abu Mu'awiya al-Darir, Abu `Awana, `Ali ibn Mushir, Yazid ibn `Ata', `Abd Allah ibn Dawud al-Harbi, `Abd Allah ibn Numayr al-Harifi, and Zuhayr ibn Mu'awiya, and they all agree on the chain of transmission as given in the account of Sufyan, which we mentioned above, except for `Abd Allah ibn Numayr, who said that it was on the authority of Abu Masud, on the authority of Abu Shu`ayb, making it one of those transmitted by Abu Shu'ayb on the authority of the Prophet.'

  26

  As for the hadith of Abu Mu'awiya Muhammad ibn Khazim, Abu Bakr Ahmad ibn `Ali ibn Muhammad al-Yazdi al-Hafiz told it to us in Naysabur, Abu `Amr Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Hamdan told us, Ibn Shirawayh told us,

  or

  Abu Bakr al-Baraqani told it to us, saying I read `Ali `Abd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn Ziyad saying, `Abd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn Shirawayh related to you, Ishaq told us, meaning Ibn Ibrahim al-Hanzili, Abu Mu'awiya told us, al-A`mash told us on the authority of Shaqiq on the authority of Masud alAnsari, who said:

  There was one of our men called Abu Shu'ayb, and he said to his slave, "Get me some food, and invite the Prophet of God to come over with whoever is with him."

  The Prophet came and so did those with him, but another man followed who had not been there when they were invited. When the Prophet reached the door, he said to the owner of the house, "A man followed us who was not there when you invited us. If you give him permission, he will come too."

  "He has permission," he said. The Prophet of God went in, and the man went in.

  28

  As for the hadith of `Ali ibn Mushir, Abu Said al-Hasan ibn Muhammad ibn `Abd Allah ibn Hasanwayh al-Katib told it to us in Isfahan, Abu Muhammad `Abd Allah ibn al-Hasan ibn Bundar alMadini told us, Abu al-Hasan `Ali ibn Muhammad ibn Said al-Thaqafi al-Kufi told us, al-Minjab ibn al-Harith told us, Ibn Mushir told us on the authority of al-Amash, on the authority of Shaqiq on the authority of Abu Masud al-Ansari:

  One of our men was called Abu Shu'ayb, and he had a butcher-slave. One day he visited the Prophet and saw hunger in his face, so he went to his slave and said, "I have perceived hunger in the face of the Prophet. Make enough food for five, as I would like to invite the Prophet as the fifth of five guests."

  He made the food, then invited the Prophet of God, but a man followed him.

  When the Prophet reached the door, he said, "A man followed us. Do you give him permission, or should he go back?"

  "No!" said the host. "Of course I give him permission, Prophet of God!"

  33

  The judge Abu `Umar al-Qasim ibn Ja'far ibn `Abd al-Wahid al-Hashimi told us in Basra, Abu `Ali Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn `Amr al-Lu'lu'i told us, Abu Dawud Sulayman ibn al-Ash'ath told us (or `Ali ibn Ahmad ibn `Umar al-Muqri' told us, Muhammad ibn `Abd Allah al-Shafi'i told us, Mu'adh ibn alMuthanna told us), and they both said,

  Musaddad told us, Durust ibn Ziyad told us on the authority of Aban ibn Tariq, Nafi' related to me in the hadith of Abu Dawud on the authority of Nafi', `Abd Allah ibn `Umar said:

  The Prophet of God said, "Whosoever receives an invitation and does not respond defies God and his messenger. Whosoever enters a feast uninvited enters a thief and leaves a looter."

  This hadith is transmitted only through Nafi' Mawla ibn `Umar Aban ibn Tariq on the authority of Aban Durust ibn Ziyad.1

  41

  Al-Hasan ibn Abu Bakr told us, Da'laj ibn Ahmad ibn Da`laj al-Mu'addal told us, Musa ibn Harun told us, Abu `Uthman, who is Said ibn `Amr, told us, Baqiya told us, Yahya ibn Khalid related to me on the authority of Ruh ibn al-Qasim on the authority of al-Maqburi on the authority of `Urwa on the authority of `A'isha, and she said:

  The messenger of God, peace and prayers upon him, said, "He who enters a party of feasters to which he wasn't invited and eats enters wickedly and eats that which is forbidden."

  45

  The judge Abu al-'Ala' Muhammad ibn `Ali ibn Ya'qub al-Wasiti told us, `Ali ibn `Amr ibn Ahmad al-Hafiz told us, Abu al-'Abbas `Abd Allah ibn Ahmad al-Dimashqi told us, Ibn Ramadan told us, I heard Muhammad ibn `Abd Allah ibn alHakam say:

  Eat Dates

  I was at al-Shafi'i's house when a man who worked for the police came in. Shafi'i had a plateful of dates in front of him.

  The policeman pulled them over and ate every last one.

  Then he said, "Hey, Shafi'i! What's your legal opinion on the unexpected guest?"

  "You should have asked that question when the dates were still here!" Shafi'i replied.'

  46

  Al-Khatib says:'

  If a man has a friend whose wife approves of him, and his integrity is not in doubt, then he is allowed to go eat with his friend uninvited, provided that the friend wishes him to, and does not find his presence distasteful, but rather hopes for it.

  47

  The origin of that is as Abu Bakr Ahmad ibn `Umar al-Dallal told us, that `Abd al-Samad ibn `Ali ibn Muhammad ibn Mukarram al-Tasti told us by dictation, Ahmad ibn `Ubayd Allah ibn Idris al-Nursi told us, `Ubayd Allah ibn Musa told us, Shaban told us on the authority of `Abd al-Malik ibn `Umayr on the authority of Abu Salama on the authority of Abu Hurayra:

  The messenger of God went outside at an hour that no one usually goes out and in which you never meet anybody, but then Abu Bakr came up to him.

  "What brings you out, Abu Bakr?" he asked him.

  "I came out to meet the messenger of God and to look into his face and greet him," he said.

  Then, right away, `Umar came along.

  "What brings you out, `Umar?" he asked.

  "I was hungry," he said.

  "I find I feel the same way," he replied. "So let's take off to Abu Haytham ibn al Tayyihan al-Ansari's house!"

  He was a man who had a lot of date palms and sheep, but who had no servant. (Then follows the rest of the hadith.)

  This hadith relates to the subject of rudeness only in connection to the issue of going to eat uninvited if you're not a true friend, since the host would be grudging in that case4

  48

  Abu al-Hasan Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Rizq al-Bazzaz told us, Abu al-Hasan al-Muzaffar ibn Yahya al-Sharabi told us, Abu al-'Abbas Ahmad ibn
Muhammad ibn `Abd Allah al-Murthadi told us on the authority of Abu Ishaq al-Talhi, Muhammad ibn Ahmad told us, Ibn Abu al-Jarud related that one of his teachers said:

  A wise man told his sons, "Avoid these eight bad habits, for those who exhibit any one of them have only themselves to blame for being despised: a talker who nobody listens to, the one who inserts himself into private matters unasked, the guest at a gathering where he isn't entitled to be, the interloper at an invitation-only party, the petitioner at the door of the stingy, the one seeking aid from his enemy, the one interfering in what does not concern him, and the one who grows foolish over a flirtation."

  51

  `Abd al-Rahman ibn `Uthman al-Dimashqi wrote to me, and `Abd al-'Aziz ibn Abu Tahir al-Sufi related to me on his authority, Abu `Ali al-Hasan ibn Habib al-Faqih told us, Abu Umayya al-Tarsusi told us,

  and al-Azhari told us, `Abd al-Rahman ibn `Umar told us that Muhammad ibn Ja`far al-Matiri told them, Muhammad ibn Ishaq Abu Bakr al-Saghani told us,

  and they both said, Waddah ibn Hassan told us, Abu Hilal al-Rasibi, on the authority of Ghalib alQattan, on the authority of Bakr ibn `Abd Allah:

  The people who most deserve to be slapped are those who come to eat without being invited, and the people who most deserve to be slapped twice are those who, when the host of the party says, "Sit here," reply, "No! I'm going to sit over there!" And the people who most deserve to be slapped three times are those who, when invited to eat, say to the owner of the house, "Call your wife in here to eat with us!"

  53

  If a guest extends his stay at his host's dwelling until he is driven out, he was party-crashing that house. Tradition has forbidden this.

  54

  Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Rizq told us, Abu `Ali Ismail ibn Muhammad al-Saffar told us,

  or

  The judge Abu Bakr Ahmad ibn al-Hasan ibn Ahmad al-Harashi told us, Abu al-'Abbas Muhammad ibn Ya'qub al-Asamm told us, and they both said, Abu Yahya Zakariyya ibn Yahya al-Marwazi told us, Sufyan told us on the authority of `Amr, he heard Nafi'a ibn Jubayr tell on the authority of Abu Shurayh al-Khaza`i that the Prophet (peace and prayers upon him) said:

  He who believes in God and the Judgment Day, let him be kind to his neighbor. He who believes in God and the Judgment Day, let him honor his guest. He who believes in God and the Judgment Day, let him speak good or keep silent.

  55

  Sufyan said, and Ibn `Ajlan added, on the authority of Said ibn Abu Said, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Abu Shurayh al-Khuza'i, on the authority of the Prophet, peace and prayers upon him:

  He who believes in God and the Judgment Day, let him honor his guest, who is allowed a day and a night. Hospitality is for three nights. The guest is not allowed to stay until he is driven out. The host need not spend money on him after that.

  Al-Saffar said, "Three nights," and he was reliable.

  56

  Abu Ya`la Ahmad ibn `Abd al-Wahid ibn Muhammad al-Wakil told us, Ismail ibn Said al-Mu'addal told us, al-Husayn ibn al-Qasim al-Kawkabi told us, and he said, Abu al-'Abbas said to us, meaning al-Mubarrad:

  A man was staying with a family, and he became a burden to them, so the host asked his wife, "How can we let him know that it's time for him to end his stay here?"

  "Let's think up a scheme," she said, "to get him moving."

  They thought of one.

  The wife asked their guest, "By the One who will surely bless your departure this morning, which of us do you think is the most unjust?"

  "By the One who will bless my staying with you for a month," said the guest, "I haven't decided yet."

  57

  Ahmad ibn `Ali ibn Muhammad al-Muhtasib told us, `Abd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Muqri' told us, Ja'far ibn Muhammad ibn al-Qasim told us, Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Tusi told us, Ibrahim ibn al-Junayd told us, al-Zubayr ibn Bakkar told us, my uncle Mus'ab related to me:

  A man from Basra visited a Medinese man who was a friend of his. The Medinese man began to get annoyed by the length of his friend's visit, so one day he said to his wife, "When tomorrow comes, I'm going to ask our guest, `How many arm's lengths can you jump?' Then I'll jump from the stoop to the gate of the house. When our guest jumps too, I'll close the gate behind him."

  The next day the host said, "How's your jumping, Mr. So-and-So?"

  "Good," the guest replied.

  The host leaped from inside his house to the outside by three arm's lengths.

  "Now you jump," he said.

  The guest leaped toward the inside of the house by two arm's lengths.

  "I jumped outside the house three arm's lengths, and you jumped inside the house only two arm's lengths," said the host.

  "Two inside is better than four out!" the guest replied.

  58

  Al-Hasan ibn Abu Bakr told us, Muhammad ibn `Abd Allah ibn Ibrahim al-Shafi'i told us, Muhammad ibn Ghalib told us, Yahya ibn Ismail al-Wasiti told us, Mu'tammar ibn Sulayman told us, Qurra related to me on the authority of Muhammad, Ibn `Umar quotes this line:

  60

  Muhammad ibn al-Hasan ibn `Ubayd Allah al-Bazzaz recited this to me about one of them:

  61

  Abu al-Fatah Mansur ibn Rabi'a ibn Ahmad alZuhri, the preacher in al-Dinawar, told us, Adam alTawil related to me:

  64

  Muhammad ibn `Ali ibn al-Hasan al Jallab recited this poem to me about a party-crasher:

  67

  I read this, written by our friend Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Zayd al-'Alawi for a litterateur:

  69

  Also `Ali ibn Abu `Ali recited this to me on the authority of his father, regarding another one of them:

  70

  Al-Husayn ibn Muhammad al-Khali' informed us, Abu al-Faraj `Ali ibn al-Husayn al-Isbahani told us, al-Mutayri told us, `Abd Allah ibn Abu Sa'd told us, Yahya ibn Khalifa al-Darimi related to us, Muhammad ibn Salama related to us, saying:

  A daughter of Musawir the bookseller died on a hot day, and his neighbors didn't come to his assistance. All except kindred avoided him until the weather cooled off.

  At last she was borne away. A crowd of his neighbors had followed, so the bookseller turned around and said,

  71

  Muhammad ibn al-Hasan ibn `Ubayd Allah alBazzaz recited this to `Ali ibn al-`Abbas ibn Jurayj al-Rumi concerning the eating habits of partycrashers:

  73

  Muhammad ibn `Ali ibn `Ubayd Allah al-Karkhi recited one of their poems to me:

  74

  Abu `Abd Allah al-Husayn ibn Muhammad ibn alQasim al-`Alawi recited to me from one of the poems of Jahza satirizing a singer:

  75

  Abu Bakr `Abd Allah ibn `Ali ibn Hamawayh alHamadhani told us, Ahmad ibn `Abd al-Rahman al-Shirazi told us, I heard Abu al-'Abbas Ahmad ibn Said ibn Madan say, I heard Abu al-Hasan Muhammad ibn Abu Khurasan say, I heard al-'Amri say, I heard:

  Al-Jahiz said,' "We knew a young man who was in love with a concubine. One day he wrote her a note saying, `Would that I could sacrifice myself for you! Send me some sweets and pastries, because I'm having some Qur'an reciters over.'

  "She sent some to him.

  "The next day he wrote her another note saying, `Would that I could sacrifice myself for you! Send me some date wine and whatever food goes well with it, because I'm having some singing slaves over.'

  "`May God preserve and extend your life,' she wrote back, `I thought that love comes from the heart, and when it grows serious spreads to the joints. But your love never left the stomach! I think you're just a party-crasher, eaten up with love!"'

  76

  Abu al-Qasim `Ubayd Allah ibn Ahmad al-Sayrafi and Abu Ya'la Ahmad ibn `Abd al-Wahid al-Wakil told us, and they said, Muhammad ibn Ja`far alTamimi told us, Abu Bakr ibn al-Anbari told us, Tha'lab told us on the authority of Abu Nasr, AlAsma'i said:

  A Bedouin Arab was listening in on a conversation, and he asked, "Who are these `party-crashing' people?"

  "They are people who come to eat without an invitation," somebody explained.
r />   "By God," he said, "those are some friendly people!"

  77

  Muhammad ibn `Ali ibn al-Hasan al Jallab related to us:

  A man said to his father who was sponging, "0 Dad, aren't you ashamed of party-crashing?"

  "What do you have against it?" he replied. "Were the children of Israel not sponging when they said, `Send us, 0 Lord, a banquet from Heaven that we may have a celebration!'?"'

  78

  Al-Husayn ibn Muhammad ibn Ja'far al-Rafiqi informed us that, `Ali ibn Muhammad ibn al-Sari told us, Ahmad ibn al-Hasan al-Muqri' told us:

  Someone told Bunan, "Someone who enters a meal uninvited enters a thief and leaves a looter!"

  "I've never eaten anything that wasn't allowed," he replied.

  "How's that?" someone asked.

  "Doesn't the host of the banquet say to the cook, `Make too much of everything. If we want to serve a hundred, make enough for a hundred and twenty, because we'll get some guests we expected and some we didn't'?

  "Well, I'm one of the ones they didn't expect!" said Bunan.2

  79

  Abu Bakr Ahmad ibn Sulayman ibn `Ali al-Muqri' told us, `Ubayd Allah ibn Muhammad al-Bazzaz told us, Ja`far ibn Muhammad ibn al-Qasim told us, Abu al-'Abbas al-Tusi told us, Muhammad ibn Said told us:

  I once said to a party-crasher, "Woe unto you! You eat what is forbidden!"

  "I've never eaten a bite that wasn't allowed," he replied.

  "How's that?" I asked.

  "Because when I go into a party, I head for the door to the women's quarters, and everyone says, `No, not there! Here! Here!' Their saying `Here!' is the invitation, so therefore I don't eat anything that isn't allowed."

  80

  Abu al-Qasim al-Azhari told me, Ahmad ibn Ibrahim told us, `Ubayd Allah ibn `Abd al-Rahman alSukkari told us, `Abd Allah ibn Abu As'ad told us, Ahmad ibn Jabir ibn Yazid related to me, Sindi ibn Sadaqa related to me, and he said: