Classical Arabic Stories Read online

  “I’m the owner of the necklace,” the man replied. “The one I entrusted to your keeping.”

  No sooner were the words out of his mouth than the perfume seller kicked him, then flung him out of his shop.

  “You dare,” he said, “to make a claim like that against me?”

  People gathered around the pilgrim.

  “Woe to you!” they said. “This is a good man. Couldn’t you find anyone else to make your claim against?”

  The pilgrim was confounded, yet kept returning to the man, who only went on cursing and beating him. Then someone told him:

  “You should go to ʿAdud al-Dawla. He has great skill in seeking out the truth.”

  The pilgrim wrote down his account and took it to ʿAdud al-Dawla. ʿAdud al-Dawla summoned him and inquired about his problem, and the pilgrim recounted what had happened. ʿAdud al-Dawla told him then:

  “Go tomorrow to the perfume seller and sit beside his shop; and, if he should prevent you, then sit beside the shop opposite him. Do this from morning till sunset, but do not speak to him. Repeat this for three days, and on the fourth I shall pass by where you are and stop to greet you. Do not rise for me, only return my greeting and answer exactly what I ask you. Once I have left, demand the necklace once more, then come and tell me what he says. If he should give it to you, then bring it to me.”

  [Next morning] the man went to the vendor’s shop, but was prevented from sitting there, so he sat down beside the shop opposite, for three days. On the fourth, ʿAdud al-Dawla passed with a great retinue, and, when he saw the pilgrim from Khorasan, stopped and said: “Greetings to you.”

  The pilgrim made no movement.

  “And to you,” he said.

  “Brother,” said ʿAdud al-Dawla, “you come here, and do not come to us and tell us of your needs?”

  The pilgrim made some answer, while ʿAdud al-Dawla, standing there with his soldiers around him, went on inquiring about the man, with repeated questions, while the perfume seller almost fainted from fear.

  When ʿAdud al-Dawla had left, the vendor looked toward him and said:

  “Woe to you, when did you leave that necklace in my care? What was it wrapped in? Remind me, and I might remember.”

  The pilgrim described it to him, and the vendor got up and searched, then shook a pitcher he had and the necklace fell out from it.

  “I’d forgotten,” he said. “If you hadn’t reminded me, I should never have remembered.”

  The pilgrim took the necklace. “What good is there in informing ʿAdud al-Dawla?” he wondered. Then he said to himself: “It could be he wishes to buy it.” So he went to him and told him.

  ʿAdud al-Dawla thereupon sent the necklace to the perfume seller’s shop, and had it hung around his neck. Then he had him crucified at the door of the shop and had the crier call out: “Such is the punishment of those who withhold that with which they are entrusted.” At the end of the day, the guard removed the necklace and gave it to the pilgrim, saying: “Take it and go.”

  From Ibn al-Jawzi, Al-Adhkiyaʾ (Smart People); in Qisas al-ʿArab (Stories of the Arabs), vol. 1.

  14

  The Piety of ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAziz

  After the burial of [Caliph] Sulaiman [ibn ʿAbd al-Malik], ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAziz became caliph, and riding wagons were brought in to him.

  “What are these?” he asked.

  “These,” he was told, “are riding wagons never used by anyone, kept for the caliph to be first to use, when he ascends to the caliphate.”

  He left them and went out to seek his mule, saying:

  “Muzahim, add these [riding wagons] to the treasury.”

  New canopies and pavilions were pitched for him, which no one before him had ever sat in.

  “And what are these?” he asked.

  “These,” he was told, “are canopies and pavilions never used by anyone. They are for the [new] caliph to sit in, when he ascends to the caliphate.”

  “Muzahim,” he said, “add these to the revenue of the Muslims.”

  Then he mounted his mule and went to where new carpets and mats had been laid for the new caliph. He went on shifting them with his foot till only the straw mats remained, then said:

  “Muzahim, add these to the Muslim treasury.”

  Caliph Sulaiman’s family were quick to begin pouring perfumes and creams from one [newly opened] bottle into another bottle, and to put on clothes that had never been worn, so as to make them look used—for it was the tradition that, when a caliph died, all bottles he had opened and clothes he had worn were inherited by his children, while all that had not been touched went to the next caliph.

  “All this,” ʿUmar said, “is neither mine, nor Sulaiman’s, nor yours. Muzahim, add these to the treasury of the Muslims.”

  The ministers began to plot together.

  “As for riding wagons,” they said, “and canopies and pavilions, and clothes and carpets, these are already beyond our reach. But one thing still remains, and that is the slave girls. Let us show them to him, hoping something may be gained from them. Otherwise, there is no hope of gaining anything.”

  The slave girls were brought in, their appearance that of dolls. When he saw them, he began to inquire of each where she had come from and to whom she had been sold. The slave girl would tell him where she had come from, and who now owned her, and he would order that she be returned to her country and people. So he did with all of them. When his men saw this, they were in despair, knowing he would impose justice.

  After this he spent three days quite alone, with no one permitted to enter. And all the while the Umayyad dignitaries and the noblest of the Arabs, and the army, and the leaders, all waited at his door, to see what would come from him. After three days, he sat before the people, imposed the law by justice and right, remedying all wrongs done and reviving the law of the Book [the Quran] and traditions, and behaved with [scrupulous] justice, rejecting the world and concerned only to obey God’s ordinances. And so he went on till the day he died.

  From Muhammad ibn ʿAbd al-Hakam, Sirat ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAziz (The Life of ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAziz) (Cairo: Maktabat Wahba, 1983); in Qisas al-ʿArab (Stories of the Arabs), vol. 3.

  15

  A Furthur Story of ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAziz

  Before ascending to the caliphate, ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAziz had a village in Yemen known as al-Sahla, which produced an abundant revenue from which he and his family lived.

  When he became caliph, he told his freed slave, Muzahim:

  “I have decided to return al-Sahla to the Muslim treasury.”

  “But,” Muzahim said, “do you not know how many your children are? They are such and such a number.”

  ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAziz wept, wiping away his tears with his middle finger, and said:

  “I trust in God concerning them. I trust in God concerning them.”

  Muzahim went to ʿUmar’s son, ʿAbd al-Malik.

  “Do you know,” he said, “what your father means to do? He means to return al-Sahla [to the Muslim treasury].”

  “And what did you say to him?” ʿAbd al-Malik asked.

  “I reminded him of his children,” Muzahim answered, “and he wept and wiped away his tears with his middle finger, saying: ‘I trust in God concerning them.’ ”

  “And you,” ʿAbd al-Malik said, “call yourself a promoter of religion?”

  With that he hurried to his father, telling the chamberlain to request permission to enter.

  “He’s just begun his sleep,” the chamberlain said.

  “Go,” ʿAbd al-Malik said, “and request permission for me to enter.”

  “Do you have no pity on him?” the chamberlain asked. “Through the whole night and day, he has just this one hour at noon to rest.”

  But ʿAbd al-Malik insisted.

  “Go and request permission,” he said.

  ʿUmar, hearing their exchange, said: “Let ʿAbd al-Malik enter.” And so he went in.

  �
��What have you decided?” he asked.

  “To return al-Sahla [to the Muslim treasury],” ʿUmar replied.

  “Don’t delay then,” ʿAbd al-Malik replied. “Rise now and do this thing.”

  ʿUmar raised his hands [in supplication].

  “God be praised,” he said, “for sending me progeny able to aid me in my religion. Yes, son, I shall pray the noon prayer, then mount the pulpit and announce its return openly, before the people.”

  “And how do you know,” ʿAbd al-Malik asked, “that you’ll live till noon? Or, if you live till noon, that you’ll remain steadfast in your intention?”

  At that ʿUmar rose, mounted the pulpit, and announced the return of al-Sahla to the treasury.

  From Ibn Abi ʾl-Hadeed, Sharh Nahj al-Balagha (Explicating the Method of Literary Eloquence), 4; in Qisas al-ʿArab (Stories of the Arabs), vol. 3.

  16

  The Chief of Police and Caliph al-Hadi

  ʿAbd Allah ibn Malik said:

  I was once chief of police to [Caliph] al-Mahdi. He would order me to go to the companions of his son al-Hadi and have them beaten and imprisoned, so as to protect al-Hadi from them. Al-Hadi would send asking me to treat them with mildness, but I never heeded his requests and would proceed as al-Mahdi had instructed me.

  When al-Hadi ascended to the caliphate, I was sure things would go badly with me. One day he sent for me, and I entered his presence sensing death before me. I found him sitting in his seat with the sword and the leather execution mat before him. I greeted him.

  “May God never greet you,” he replied. “Do you remember how I sent to you, asking you not to beat al-Harrani as the Prince of the Faithful had ordered you, and also that other time?” He named his companions.

  “Yes, Prince of the Faithful,” I said. “Will you permit me to speak?”

  “Very well,” he said.

  “By God,” I said, “would it please you if you were to appoint me to the post to which your father appointed me, and you gave me a command, and then, if your children sent me an order contrary to yours, I disobeyed your order and followed theirs?”

  “No,” he said.

  “I should be with you,” I said, “just as I was with your father.”

  He told me to approach, and I kissed his hand. Then he ordered that I be given precious gifts, and I returned home reflecting on what had happened.

  “It may be,” I said to myself, “that he’ll speak to his [former] companions about this. And now they’re not simply his drinking comrades but his ministers and secretaries. Who knows, they may lead him to change his mind about me and urge him to something I dread to think of.”

  Now, as I was sitting eating with my children, warming pieces of bread and putting paste on them, I heard a great commotion outside, from the hoofs of horses, as though an earthquake had broken out. “Ha!” I said. “The hour has come!” The door opened, and the servants entered with al-Hadi in their midst.

  I sprang up and kissed his hand and foot.

  “ʿAbd Allah,” he said, “after you left, I reflected on your case. You might (I felt) think that, if I sat among your old enemies that you treated so sternly, they might lead me to reconsider my good opinion of you. This might cause you great anxiety and rob you of your peace. And so I’ve come to your house, to set your mind at rest and let you know that all grudges are at an end. Here, give me something from what you were eating. By that you will know all fears and misgivings are over, protected as you are by what I’ve eaten from you, and by my visit to your house.”

  I offered him the plate with the paste and bread, and he ate. Then he said [to his men]:

  “Here, fetch in what you’ve brought for ʿAbd Allah from my court.”

  Many mules were brought in [to the yard], laden with money and foodstuffs.

  “All this,” he said, “is for you to help support you, the mules along with the rest. And now I appoint you to the same post to which my father appointed you.”

  With that he left, and I became one of his men.

  From Ibn ʿAbd Rabbihi, Al-ʿIqd al-Farid li ʾl-Malik al-Saʿid (The Unique Necklace); also Ahmad Farid al-Rifaʿi, ʿAsr al-Maʾmun (The Age of al-Maʾmun) (Cairo: Dar al-Kutub al-Misriyya, 1927), 1.107; in Qisas al-ʿArab (Stories of the Arabs), vol. 3.

  17

  At Khosrow’s Court

  Abu Sufyan traveled out [from Mecca] with the aim of making trading arrangements in Iraq. He was accompanied by a group from the Quraish. After three days, Abu Sufyan gathered them together and said:

  “We’re faced with danger on our journey, for we’re coming to [the realm of ] an invincible king, who hasn’t given us leave to enter his territory. His land is no trading place for us. But let one among you go in with the camels. If he should be harmed, we’ll say we’re innocent of his blood; and if he’s successful, he shall have half the profits.”

  “Let me go then,” Ghailan ibn Salama said. “I’m ready to try.”

  When he reached the land of Khosrow, he perfumed himself, put on two yellow robes, made himself known, then sat at Khosrow’s door till the king granted him leave to enter his court. A translator was brought, who said to him:

  “The king asks you: ‘Why did you venture to enter my country without my leave?’ ”

  “Tell him,” he said to the translator, “that I belong to none of his enemies, nor have I come as a spy for one of his adversaries. I have rather come on a mission of trade, whose goods he may enjoy. If he wishes them for himself, they shall be his; if not, and if he will agree for me to sell them to his subjects, then I will sell them thus.”

  He went on speaking, and, if ever he heard Khosrow’s voice, he knelt.

  “The king asks you,” the translator said, “ ‘Why did you kneel?’ ”

  “I heard a loud voice,” he replied, “where no voice should rise, out of deference to the king, and I knew no one would dare speak so loud except the king himself. And so I knelt to show my deep respect for him.”

  Khosrow was pleased by these words, and ordered that a pillow should be placed under Ghailan. But, when they brought it, Ghailan saw the king’s picture on it, and placed it on his head. Khosrow, supposing him to be a foolish, uncultivated man, told the translator:

  “We sent for this pillow so he could be seated on it.”

  “I know that,” Ghailan said, “but when I saw the king’s picture on it, I thought a person such as I had no right to be seated on it, for it ought to be revered. And so I placed it on my head, which is the noblest part of my body.”

  Khosrow, pleased by this, asked him:

  “Do you have any progeny?”

  “I do,” Ghailan said.

  “And which of your children,” Khosrow asked, “do you love above the others?”

  Ghailan answered:

  “The smallest till he has grown, the sick till he is cured, the absent till he returns.”

  “Zeh!” Khosrow said. “It is your good fortune that brought you in to me and showed you how to speak and behave. These are the actions and words of a wise man. Yet you are from a rough people, without wisdom. What do you eat?”

  “Wheat bread,” Ghailan replied.

  “Such a mind,” Khosrow said, “does indeed come from eating wheat bread, not from milk and dates [the major Arab Bedouin food].”

  Then Khosrow bought his goods for many times their proper price, presented him with a new suit of clothes, and sent along with him a number of Persian builders, who built him a palace in al-Taʾif [in Hijaz], the first to be built there.

  From Bulough al-Arab (Attaining the Goal), 1; also Al-ʿIqd al-Farid (The Unique Necklace), 1; in Qisas al-ʿArab (Stories of the Arabs), vol. 1.

  18

  An Arab at Khosrow’s Court

  Aman of Arabia, Hajib ibn Zirara, requested an audience with Khosrow. The chamberlain asked who he was, and he said: “A man of the Arabs.” He was permitted to enter.

  When he was standing before Khosrow, the king asked: “Who are you?”

  “I
am the chief of the Arabs,” Hajib said.

  “But did you not say before,” Khosrow asked, “that you were a man of the Arabs?”

  “Yes,” Hajib answered, “but then I was standing at the king’s door. When I entered his court, I became the chief of the Arabs.”

  Khosrow, liking the answer, said: “Zeh!” Then he ordered that Hajib’s mouth be filled with gems.

  From Ibn al-Jawzi, Akhbar al-Zurraf wa ʾl-Mutamajinin (Anecdotes of Humorists and Jesters), Damascus (from the copy in the Taimuriyya Library), A.H. 1347.

  19

  I Take Refuge in Your Justice, Prince of the Faithful

  It has been told how, one hot day, Muʿawiya ibn Abi Sufyan held his court along one of the streets of Damascus, which was open on all sides to the breezes. While he was installed on his official seat, surrounded by citizens of his kingdom, he saw a barefoot man walking hurriedly toward him. Muʿawiya pondered about him, and—the day being so hot—said to his assembly: “God never created any man I have need of on a day like this.” Then he said to one of his attendants:

  “Go to him and see what his trouble is, and what his circumstances are. By God, if he is poor, I shall make him prosperous; and if he has a complaint, I shall give him justice; and if he has been oppressed, I shall be his champion; and if he is rich, I shall make him poor.”

  The messenger went to meet the man, and, having greeted him, asked: “Where are you from?”

  “Sir,” the man answered, “I am a Bedouin from the ʿUdhra tribe, and I have come to see the Prince of the Faithful to complain of an injustice done to me by one of his viceroys.”

  “Very well,” said the messenger. And with that he conducted him to Muʿawiya. The Bedouin greeted him in a manner fitting for caliphs, then recited some lines of poetry:

  Muʿawiya, of knowledge, clemency, virtue,

  Of generosity and liberal gifts,

  I came to you when all paths were blocked,

  So do not cut off my hopes of justice