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Thousand Nights & One Night
ABOULHUSN
AND HIS SLAVE-GIRL TAWEDDUD
There was once in Baghdad a man of rank and rich in money and houses
and lands, who was one of the chiefs of the merchants, and God had
largely endowed him with worldly goods, but had not vouchsafed him
what he longed for of offspring; and there passed over him a long
space of time, without his being blessed with children, male or
female. His years waxed great, his bones became wasted and his back
bent, and weakness and trouble increased on him, and he feared the
loss of his wealth and possessions, seeing he had no child, whom he
might make his heir and by whom he should be remembered. So he
betook himself with supplication to God the Most High, fasting by
day and rising by night [to pray]. Moreover, he made vows to God the
Living, the Eternal, and visited the pious and was instant in
supplication to the Most Migh, till He gave ear to him and accepted
his prayer and took pity on his striving and complaining; so that,
before many days were past, he lay with one of his women and she
became with child by him the same night. She accomplished the months
of her pregnancy and casting her burden, bore a male child as he
were a piece of the moon; whereupon the merchant, in his gratitude
to God, (to whom belong might and majesty,) fulfilled his vows and
gave alms and clothed the widow and the orphan.
On the seventh night after the boy's birth, he named him Aboulhusn,
and the wet-nurses suckled him and the dry- nurses dandled him and
the slaves and servants carried him, till he grew up and throve and
learnt the sublime Koran and the ordinances of Islam and the things
of the True Faith. Moreover, he learned writing and poetry and
mathematics and archery and became the pearl of his age and the
goodliest of the folk of his time and his day, fair of face and
fluent of tongue, bearing himself with a proud and graceful port and
glorying in his symmetry and amorous grace. His cheeks were red and
his forehead white and brilliant and the tender down of the whiskers
darkened upon his face, even as saith one, describing him:
The Spring of the down on his cheeks to the eye shows clear; And how
shall the rose endure, after Spring is here?
Dost thou not see that the growth on his cheek, forsooth, A violet
is, that forth of its leaves doth peer?
He abode awhile with his father, in the best of case, and the latter
rejoiced and delighted in him, till he came to man's estate, when
the merchant one day made him sit down before him and said to him,
'O my son, the appointed term draws near; my last hour is at hand
and it remains but to meet God (to whom belong might and majesty). I
leave thee what shall suffice thee, even to thy son's son, of money
and farms and houses and gardens; wherefore, O my son, fear thou God
the Most High in [dealing with] that which I leave thee and follow
none but those who will help thee [in this].' Not long after, he
sickened and died; so his son ordered his funeral, after the
goodliest fashion, and burying him, returned to his house and sat
mourning for him [many] days and nights, till certain of his friends
came in to him and said to him, 'Whoso leaveth the like of thee
after him is not dead; indeed, what is past is past and mourning
beseemeth none but girls and cloistered women.' And they ceased not
from him, till they wrought on him to enter the bath and break off
his mourning. Then he forgot his father's injunctions, and his head
was turned by his riches; he thought fortune would still abide with
him, as it was, and that wealth would never come to an end. So he
ate and drank and made merry and took his pleasure and gave gifts of
money and raiment and was profuse with gold and gave himself up to
eating fowls and breaking the seals of wine-flasks and listening to
songs and to the laugh of the wine, as it gurgled from the flagon;
nor did he give over this way of life, till his wealth was wasted
and the case became straitened [upon him] and he bit his hands [for
repentance] and gone was all he had.
In good sooth, he had nothing left, after that which he had
squandered, but a slave-girl that his father had bequeathed to him
with the rest of his estate: her name was Taweddud and she had no
equal in beauty and grace and brightness and symmetry and all
perfection. She was past mistress in all manner of arts and
accomplishments and endowed with [many] excellences, surpassing all
the folk of her age and time. She was grown more notorious than a
way-mark, (206) for the versatility of her genius, and outdid the
fair both in theory and practice and elegant and flexile grace, more
by token that she was five feet high and in conjunction with fair
fortune, with strait arched brows, as they were the crescent moon of
Shaaban, (207) and eyes like those of gazelles, nose like the point
of the sabre and cheeks like blood-red anemones, mouth like
Solomon's seal and teeth like necklaces of pearls, navel holding an
ounce of benzoin ointment and waist more slender than his body whom
love hath wasted and whom concealment [of his passion] hath made
sick, and buttocks heavier than two hills of sand; brief, in all she
answered to the saying of him who says:
Her fair shape ravisheth, if face to face she did appear, And if she
turn, for severance from her she slayeth sheer.
Sun-like, full-moon-like, sapling-like, unto her character
Estrangement nowise appertains nor cruelty austere.
Under the bosom of her shift the garths of Eden are, and the
full-moon revolveth still upon her neck-rings' sphere.
She seemed [at once] a rising full moon and a browsing gazelle, a
girl of nine and five, (208) putting to shame the moon and the sun,
even as saith of her the eloquent and ingenious poet:
The likeness of the full-moon, faring o'er The heavens, five and
five and after four;
'Tis not my fault, if she have made of me Its likeness, when it
first in heaven doth soar.
White of skin, odoriferous of breath, it seemed as if she were [at
once] fashioned of fire and moulded of crystal; rose-red was the
cheek of her and perfect her shape and figure; even as saith of her
one, describing her:
Scented with sandal and musk, right proudly doth she go, With gold
and silver and rose and saffron-colour aglow.
A flower in a garden she is, a pearl in an ouch of gold Or an image
in chapel set for worship of high and low.
Slender and shapely she is; vivacity bids her arise, But the weight
of her hips says, "Sit, or softly and slowly go."
Whenas her favours I seek and sue for my heart's desire, "Be
gracious," her beauty says; but her coquetry answers, "No."
Glory to Him who made beauty her portion, and that Of her lover to
be the prate of the censurers, heigho!
Indeed, she captivated all who saw her, with the excellence of her
beauty and the sweetness of her smile, and transpierced them with
the arrows she launched from her eyes; and withal she was eloquent
of speech and excellently skilled in poetry.
When Aboulhusn had squandered all his wealth and there remained to
him nought but this slave-girl, when [I say] the wretchedness of his
plight became manifest to him, he abode three days without tasting
food or taking rest in sleep, and Taweddud said to him, 'O my lord,
carry me to the Khalif Haroun er Reshid, fifth of the sons of Abbas,
and seek of him ten thousand dinars to my price. If he deem me dear
at this price, say to him, "O Commander of the Faithful, my slave is
worth more than this: do but prove her, and her value will be
magnified in thine eyes, for she hath not her equal, and it were
unfit that any but thou should possess her." And beware, O my lord,
of selling me for less than the sum I have named, for it is but
little for the like of me.' (Now Aboulhusn knew not her worth nor
that she had no equal in her day.) So he carried her to the Khalif,
to whom he repeated what she had bidden him say, and the Khalif said
to her, 'What is thy name?' 'Taweddud,' answered she. 'O Taweddud,'
asked he, 'in what branches of knowledge dost thou excel?' 'O my
lord,' answered she, 'I am versed in syntax and poetry and
jurisprudence and exegesis and lexicography and music and the
knowledge of the Divine ordinances and in arithmetic and geodesy and
the fables of the ancients. I know the sublime Koran [by heart] and
have read it according to the seven and the ten and the fourteen
[modes]. I know the number of its chapters and verses and sections
and words and letters and its halves and fourths and eighths and
tenths, the number of acts of adoration, that occur in it, and what
there is in it of cancelling and cancelled; (209) also what parts of
it were revealed at Medina and what at Mecca and the manner of the
different revelations. I know the Holy Traditions, their history and
variants and the manner of their recitation and interpretation,
together with those of them whose chain of descent is unbroken and
those for which it is broken; and I have studied the exact sciences,
geometry and philosophy and medicine and logic and rhetoric and
composition; and I know many things and am passionately fond of
poetry. I can play the lute and know its gamut and notation and so
forth. If I sing and dance, I ravish, and if I adorn and perfume
myself, I slay. In fine, I have reached a pitch of perfection such
as can only be estimated by those who are stablished in knowledge.'
(210)
When the Khalif heard her words, he wondered at them and at the
eloquence of her speech, seeing the tenderness of her age, and
turning to Aboulhusn, said to him, 'I will summon those who shall
examine her in all she lays claim to; if she answer [correctly,] I
will give thee the price thou askest for her and more; and if not,
thou art fitter to [possess] her [than I].' 'With all my heart, O
Commander of the Faithful,' replied Aboulhusn. So the Khalif wrote
to the Viceroy of Bassora, to send him Ibrahim ben Siyyar the poet,
who was the first man of his day in argument and eloquence and
poetry and logic, and bade him bring with him readers of the Koran
and doctors of the law and physicians and astrologers and sages and
geometricians and philosophers; and Ibrahim was more learned than
all. In a little while they all arrived at the Khalif's palace,
knowing not what was to do, and the latter sent for them to his
sitting-chamber and bade them be seated. So they sat down and he
bade fetch the damsel Taweddud, who came and unveiling, showed
herself, as she were a sparkling star. The Khalif caused set her a
stool of gold; and she saluted and speaking with an eloquent tongue,
said, 'O Commander of the Faithful, bid the learned men present
contend with me in argument.' So he said to them, 'I desire of you
that ye dispute with this damsel on the things of her faith and make
void her argument, in all she avoucheth;' and they answered, saying,
'We hear and obey God and thee, O Commander of the Faithful.'
Thereupon Taweddud bowed her head and said, 'Which of you is the
doctor of the law, the scholar, versed in the interpretation of the
Koran and in the Traditions?' Quoth one of them, 'I am the man thou
seekest.' 'Then,' said she, 'ask me of what thou wilt.' Quoth the
doctor, 'Hast thou read the precious book of God and dost thou know
its abrogating and abrogated parts and hast thou meditated its
verses and expressions?' 'Yes,' answered she. 'Then,' said he, 'I
will proceed to question thee of the obligatory ordinances and the
immutable institutions: so tell me of these, O damsel, and who is
thy Lord, who thy prophet, and who thy brethren. Also, what is thy
[point of] fronting [in prayer], what thine exemplar, what thy path
and what thy highway?' 'Allah is my Lord,' replied she, 'and
Mohammed (whom God bless and preserve) my prophet and the
true-believers are my brethren. The Koran is my exemplar and the
Kaabeh my [point of] fronting; the practice of good is my path and
the Sunneh (211) my highway.' (Q.) 'With what do we know God the
Most High?' (A.) 'With the understanding.' (Q.) 'And what is the
understanding?' (A.) 'It is of two kinds, natural and acquired. The
first is that which God (to whom belong might and majesty) bestoweth
on whom He will of His servants; and the other is that which men
acquire by dint of study and fair knowledge.' (Q.) 'Thou hast
answered well. Where is the seat of the understanding?' (A.) 'God
casteth it in the heart, whence its lustre ascendeth to the brain
and there becometh fixed.' (Q.) 'How knowest thou the Prophet of
God?' (A.) 'By the reading of God's Holy Book and by signs and
proofs and portents and miracles.' (Q.) 'What are the obligatory
ordinances and the immutable institutions?' (A.) 'The obligatory
ordinances are five in number. (1) Testification that there is no
god but God alone, that He hath no partner in divinity and that
Mohammed is His servant and His apostle. (2) The scrupulous
performance of the enjoined prayers. (3) The payment of the
poor-rate. (4) Fasting Ramazan. (5) The performance of the
Pilgrimage to God's Holy House [at Mecca] for all to whom it is
possible. The immutable institutions are four in number; to wit,
night and day and sun and moon, the which build up life and hope,
neither knoweth any son of Adam if they will be destroyed on the Day
of Judgment.' (Q.) 'What are the obligatory rites of the Faith?'
(A.) 'Prayer, almsgiving, fasting, pilgrimage, fighting for the
Faith and abstinence from what is forbidden.' (Q.) 'Why dost thou
stand up to pray?' (A.) 'To express the devout intent of the slave
submitting himself to [or acknowledging] the Divinity.' (Q.) 'What
are the conditions precedent of standing up to pray?' (A.)
'Purification, covering the privy parts, the avoidance of soiled
clothes, standing on a clean place, fronting [the Kaabeh,] a
standing posture, the intent (212) and the magnification of
prohibition.' (213) (Q.) 'With what shouldest thou go forth thy
house to pray? (A.) 'With an intent of worship.' (214) (Q.) 'With
what intent shouldest thou enter the mosque?' (A.) 'With an intent
of service.' (215) (Q.) 'Why do we front the Kaabeh?' (A.) 'In
obedience to three Divine and one Traditional ordinance.' (Q.) 'What
is the commencement, the consecration and the dissolution [end] of
prayer?' (A.) 'Purification, the magnification of prohibition and
the salutation of the angels [concluding prayer].' (Q.) 'What of him
who neglecteth prayer?' (A.) 'It is reported, among the authentic
(Traditions of the Prophet, that he said), "He, who neglecteth
prayer wilfully and without excuse, hath no part in Islam."' (Q.)
'What is prayer?' (A.) 'Prayer is communion between the slave and
his Lord, and in it are ten virtues, to wit, (1) it illumines the
heart (2) makes the face shine (3) pleases the Merciful One (4)
angers Satan (5) conjures calamity (6) wards off the mischief of
enemies (7) multiplies mercy (8) forfends vengeance [or punishment]
(9) brings the slave nigh unto [or in favour with] his Lord and (10)
restrains from lewdness and iniquity. It is one of the written
obligatory ordinances and the pillar of the Faith.' (Q.) 'What is
the key of prayer?' (A.) 'Ablution.' (Q.) 'What is the key of
ablution?' (A.) 'Nomination.' (216) (Q.) 'That of naming God?' (A.)
'Faith.' (Q.) 'That of Faith?' (A.) 'Trust in God.' (Q.) 'That of
trust in God?' (A.) 'Hope.' (Q.) 'That of Hope?' (A.) 'Obedience.'
(Q.) 'That of obedience?' (A.) 'The confession of the unity and the
acknowledgment of the divinity of God.' (Q.) 'What are the Divine
ordinances of ablution?' (A.) 'They are six in number, according to
the canon of the Imam Es Shafi Mohammed ben Idris (of whom God
accept) to wit, (1) intent (217) to wash the face (2) washing the
face (3) washing the hands and elbows (4) wiping part of the head
(5) washing the feet and heels and (6) observing the prescribed
order of ablution, whose statutes are ten in number, to wit, (1)
nomination (2) washing the hands before putting them into the vase
(3) rinsing the mouth (4) drawing up water through the nostrils (5)
wiping the whole head (6) washing the ears within and without with
fresh water (7) separating a thick beard (8) separating the fingers
and toes (9) washing the right foot before the left and (10) doing
each of these thrice and all in unbroken succession. When the
ablution is ended, the devotee should (quoth Es Shafi (218)) say, "I
testify that there is no god but God alone, who hath no partner, and
that Mohammed is His servant and apostle. O my God, make me of those
who repent and are made clean! Glory to Thee, O my God, and in Thy
praise I testify that there is no god but Thou! I crave pardon of
Thee and repent to Thee!" For it is reported, in the Holy
Traditions, that the Prophet (whom God bless and keep) said of this
prayer, "Whoso ensueth every ablution with this prayer, the eight
gates of Paradise are open to him; he shall enter at which he
pleases."' (Q.) 'When a man purposes to make the ablution, what
betides him from the angels and the devils?' (A.) 'When a man
prepares for ablution, the angels come and stand on his right and
the devils on his left hand. If he name God, at the beginning of the
ablution, the devils flee from him and the angels hover over him
with a pavilion of light, having four ropes, to each an angel
glorifying God and craving pardon for him, so long as he remains
silent or calls upon the name of God. But if he omit to begin with
naming God (to whom belong might and majesty) neither remain silent,
the angels depart from him and the devils settle upon him and
whisper evil thoughts unto him, till he falls into doubt and comes
short in his ablution. For (quoth he on whom be blessing and
salvation) "A perfect ablution driveth away the devils and assureth
against the tyranny of the Sultan; and he who neglecteth the
ablution, if calamity befall him, let him blame none but himself."'
(Q.) 'What should a man do, when he awakes from sleep?' (A.) 'He
should wash his hands thrice, before putting them into the vessel.'
(Q.) 'What are the ordinances, Koranic and Traditional, of complete
ablution?' (219) (A.) 'The Koranic ordinances are intent and
covering the whole body with water, so that it shall come at every
part of the hair and skin. The Traditional, previous partial
ablution [as before prayer,] rubbing the body, separating the hair
and deferring in words (220) the washing of the feet till the end of
the ablution.' (Q.) 'What are the reasons [or occasions] for making
the ablution with other than water, and what are the ordinances
thereof, Koranic and Traditional?' (221) (A.) 'The reasons are seven
in number, to wit, lack of water, fear, need thereto, going astray
on a journey, sickness, having the bones [broken and] in splints and
wounds. As for its ordinances, the Koranic are four in number, to
wit, intent, dust, applying it to the face and to the hands, and the
Traditional two, to wit, nomination and preferring the right before
the left hand.' (Q.) 'What are the conditions, the essentials [or
fundamentals] and the Traditional statutes of prayer?' (A.) 'The
conditions are five in number, to wit, (1) purification of the
members (2) covering the privy parts (3) observing the proper hours,
either of certainty or to the best of one's belief, (4) fronting the
Kaabeh and (5) standing on a clean place. The essentials are twelve
in number, to wit, (1) intent (2) the magnification of prohibition
(3) standing at the proper distance one from another (4) repeating
the first chapter of the Koran and also (according to the
Shafiyites) saying, "In the name of God the Merciful, the
Compassionate!" a verse thereof (5) bowing the body and tranquillity
[or gravity] therein (6) keeping the feet and legs still and in the
same position, [whilst the rest of the body moves], and tranquillity
therein (7) prostration and tranquillity therein (8) sitting between
two prostrations and tranquillity therein (9) repeating the latter
profession of the Faith and sitting up therefor (10) invoking
benediction on the Prophet (whom God bless and preserve) (11) the
first Salutation (222) and (12) the intent of making an end of
prayer, [expressed] in words. The Traditional statutes are the call
to prayer, the repetition of the words of the latter, raising the
hands to either side of the face, whilst pronouncing the
magnification of prohibition, pronouncing the magnification before
reciting the Fatiheh [First chapter of the Koran], seeking refuge
with God, (223) saying "Amen," repeating the (obligatory) chapter
[of the Koran] after the Fatiheh, repeating the magnifications
during change of posture, saying, "May God hear him who praiseth
Him!" and "O our Lord, to Thee be the praise!" uttering aloud the
prayers in their places and in like manner, under the breath, those
so prescribed, the first testification and sitting up thereto,
blessing the Prophet therein, blessing his family in the latter
profession [or testification] and the second Salutation.' (Q.) 'On
what is the poor-rate taxable?' (A.) 'On gold and silver and camels
and oxen and sheep and wheat and barley and millet and beans and
pulse and rice and raisins and dates.' (Q.) 'What is the poor- rate
on gold ?' (A.) 'Below twenty dinars, nothing; but, on that amount
and over, half a dinar for every score.' (Q.) 'On silver?' (A.)
'Under two hundred dirhems, nothing; then, five dirhems on every two
hundred.' (Q.) 'On camels?' (A.) 'For every five, an ewe, or for
every twenty-five a pregnant camel.' (Q.) 'On sheep?' (A.) 'On forty
and over, an ewe for every forty head.' (Q.) 'What are the
ordinances of the Fast [of Ramazan]?' (A.) 'The Koranic are intent,
(224) abstinence from eating, drinking and copulation and stoppage
of vomiting. It is incumbent on all who submit to the Law, save
women in their courses and forty days after child-birth; and it
becomes obligatory on sight of the new moon or on news of its
appearance, brought by a trustworthy person and commending itself as
truth to the hearer's heart; and among its requisites is that it be
commenced by night. (225) The Traditional ordinances of fasting are,
hastening to break the fast, (226) deferring the fore-dawn meal
(227) and abstaining from speech, save for good works and for
calling on the name of God and reciting the Koran.' (Q.) 'What
things vitiate not the fast?' (A.) 'The use of unguents and
eye-powders and the dust of the road and the swallowing of one's
spittle and the emission of seed in dreams of dalliance or at the
sight of a strange woman and cupping and letting blood; none of
these things vitiates the fast.' (Q.) 'What are the prayers of the
two great [annual] Festivals?' (A.) 'Two one-bow prayers, after the
traditional ordinance, without call to prayer or the repetition
thereof by the devotee, who shall say, "Prayer is a collector of all
folk!" (228) and pronounce the magnification seven times in the
first prayer, besides the magnification of prohibition, and in the
second, five times, besides that of rising up, (according to the
canon of the Imam Es Shafi, on whom God have mercy) and make the
profession of the Faith.' (Q.) 'What are the prayers prescribed on
the occasion of an eclipse of the sun or moon?' (A.) 'Two one-bow
prayers, without call to prayer or repetition thereof by the
devotee, who shall make in each two standings up and two
inclinations and two prostrations, then sit up and testify and
salute.' (Q.) 'What is the ritual of prayer for rain?' (A.) 'Two
one-bow prayers, without call to prayer or repetition; then shall
the devotee make the profession and salute. Moreover [the Imam]
shall deliver an exhortation and (in place of the magnification, as
in the two exhortations of the two great Festivals) ask pardon of
God and reverse his mantle and pray and supplicate.' (Q.) 'What are
the additional or occasional prayers?' (A.) 'The least is a one-bow
prayer and the most eleven.' (Q.) 'What is the forenoon prayer?'
(A.) 'At least, two one-bow prayers and at most, twelve.' (Q.) 'What
is the service of seclusion?' (229) (A.) 'It is a matter of
Traditional ordinance.' (Q.) 'What are its conditions?' (A.) '(1)
Expression of intent (2) not leaving the mosque save of necessity
(3) not having to do with a woman (4) fasting and (5) abstaining
from speech.' (Q.) 'Under what conditions is pilgrimage obligatory?'
(A.) 'So a man be of full age and understanding and a true-believer
and it be possible to him; and it is obligatory [on all], once
before death.' (Q.) 'What are the Koranic statutes of the
pilgrimage?'' (A.) '(1) Assumption of the pilgrim's habit (2)
station at Arafat (3) compassing [the Kaabeh] (4) running [between
Sefa and Merweh (230)] and (5) [previous] shaving or clipping the
hair.' (Q.) 'What are the Koranic statutes of the lesser
pilgrimage?' (A.) 'Reassuming the pilgrim's habit and compassing and
running [as before].' (Q.) 'What are the Koranic ordinances of the
assumption of the pilgrim's habit?' (A.) 'Putting off sewn garments,
forswearing perfume and ceasing to shave the head or cut the nails
and avoiding the killing of game and copulation.' (Q.) 'What are the
Traditional statutes of the pilgrimage?' (A.) '(1) The crying out,
"Here I am, O our Lord!" (231) (2) the circuitings [about the
Kaabeh] of arrival [at] and departure [from Mecca] (3) the passing
the night at Muzdelifeh and Mina (232) and (4) the stone-throwing.'
(233) (Q.) 'What is the war in defence of the Faith and its
essentials?' (A.) 'Its essentials are (1) the descent of the
infidels upon us (2) the existence of the Imam (234) (3) a state of
[armed] preparation and (4) firmness in meeting the foe. Its
ordinance is incital to battle, in that the Most High hath said, "O
my Prophet, incite the faithful to battle!"' (235) (Q.) 'What are
the ordinances of buying and selling?' (A.) 'The Koranic are (1)
offer and acceptance and (2) if the thing sold be a (white) slave,
by whom one profiteth, to do one's endeavour to convert him to Islam
and (3) to abstain from usury; the Traditional, resiliation and
option before separating, after the saying of the Prophet, "The
parties to a sale shall have the option [of cancelling or altering
the terms of a bargain,] whilst they are yet unseparated."' (Q.)
'What is it forbidden to sell [or exchange] for what?' (A.) 'On this
point I mind me of an authentic tradition, reported by Nafi (236) of
the Apostle of God, that he forbade the sale of dried dates for
fresh and fresh figs for dry and jerked for fresh meat and cream for
butter; in fine, of all eatables of one and the same kind, it is
unlawful to sell some for other some.' (237) When the professor
heard her words and knew that she was keen of wit, ingenious and
learned in jurisprudence and the Traditions and the interpretation
of the Koran and what not else, he said in himself, 'Needs must I go
about with her, that I may overcome her in the assembly of the
Commander of the Faithful.' So he said to her, 'O damsel, what is
the lexicographical meaning of the word wuzou?' (238) And she
answered, 'Cleanliness and freedom from impurities.' (Q.) 'And of
prayer?' (A.) 'An invocation of good.' (Q.) 'And of ghusl?' (239)
(A.) 'Purification.' (Q.) 'And of fasting?' (A.) 'Abstention.' (Q.)
'And of zekat?' (240) (A.) 'Increase.' (Q.) 'And of pilgrimage?'
(A.) 'Visitation [or quest].' (Q.) 'And of jehad?' (241) (A.)
'[Endeavour in] repelling.' With this the doctor's arguments were
exhausted, so he rose to his feet and said, 'Bear witness against
me, O Commander of the Faithful, that this damsel is more learned
than I am in the Law. Quoth she, 'I will ask thee somewhat, which do
thou answer me speedily, an thou be indeed a learned man.' 'Say on,'
quoth he; and she said, 'What are the arrows of the Faith?' 'They
are ten in number,' answered he; 'to wit, (1) Testification, (242)
that is, religion (2) Prayer, that is, the Covenant (3) Alms, that
is, purification (4) Fasting, that is, defensive armour (5)
Pilgrimage, that is, the Law (6) Fighting for the Faith, that is, a
general duty (7) Enjoining to beneficence and (8) Forbidding from
iniquity, both of which are jealousy [for good] (9) The communion of
the faithful, that is, sociableness, and (10) Seeking knowledge,
that is, the praiseworthy way.' (Q.) 'What are the roots (243) of
Islam?' (A.) 'They are four in number, to wit, sincerity of belief,
truth of purpose, observance of the limit [prescribed by the Law]
and keeping the Covenant.' Then said she, 'I have one more question
to ask thee, which if thou answer, [it is well]; else, I will take
thy clothes.' Quoth he, 'Speak, O damsel;' and she said, 'What are
the branches (244) of Islam?' But he was silent and made no reply;
and she said, 'Put off thy clothes, and I will expound them to
thee.' Quoth the Khalif, 'Expound them, and I will make him put off
his clothes for thee.' 'They are two-and-twenty in number,' answered
she, 'to wit, (1) holding fast to the Book of God the Most High (2)
taking example by His Apostle (whom God bless and preserve) (3)
abstaining from doing evil (4) eating what is lawful and (5)
avoiding what is unlawful (6) restoring things wrongfully taken to
their owners (7) repentance (8) knowledge of the Law (9) love of
[Abraham] the Friend [of God] (10) and of the followers of the
Revelation (245) (11) belief in the Apostles (12) fear of apostacy
(13) preparation for departure (246) (14) strength of conviction
(15) clemency in time of power (16) strength in time of weakness
(17) patience under affliction (18) knowledge of God the Most High
and (19) of what His Prophet hath made known to us (20) gainsaying
Iblis the accursed (21) striving earnestly against the lusts of the
soul and gainsaying them and (22) guiltlessness of believing in any
other god but God.'
When the Commander of the Faithful heard her words, he bade the
doctor put off his clothes and hood; and he did so and went forth,
beaten and confounded, from the Khalif's presence. Thereupon arose
another man and said to her, 'O damsel, hear a few questions from
me.' 'Say on,' quoth she; and he said, 'What are the conditions of
valid [purchase by] payment in advance?' 'That the amount [of the
thing bought], the kind and the period [of delivery to the
purchaser], be [fixed or] known,' replied she. (Q.) 'What are the
Koranic canons of eating?' (A.) 'The confession [by the eater] that
God the Most High provideth him and giveth him to eat and drink and
thanksgiving to Him therefor.' (Q.) 'What is thanksgiving?' (A.)
'The use by the creature of that which God vouchsafeth to him in the
manner and to the ends for which He hath created it.' (Q.) 'What are
the Traditional canons of eating?' (A.) 'The [preliminary] naming
[of God] and washing the hands, sitting on the left buttock, eating
with three fingers and eating of that which is chewed.' (247) (Q.)
'What are the civilities of eating?' (A.) 'Taking small mouthfuls
and looking little at one's table-companion.' (Q.) 'What are the
heart's stays [or articles of faith] and their correlatives?' (A.)
'They are three in number, to wit, (1) holding fast to the Faith,
the correlative whereof is the shunning of infidelity, (2) holding
fast to the Traditional Law and its correlative, the shunning of
innovation [or heresy] and (3) holding fast to obedience and its
correlative, the shunning of disobedience.' (Q.) 'What are the
conditions of ablution?' (A.) '(1) Submission to the will of God
(248) (2) possession of discernment of good and evil [or having
attained the age of discretion] (3) purity of the water and (4)
absence of legal or material impediments.' (Q.) 'What is belief?'
(A.) 'It is divided into nine parts, to wit, (1) belief in the One
worshipped (2) belief in the condition of slavery [of the
worshipper] (3) belief in one God, to the exclusion of all others
(4) belief in the Two Handfuls (249) (5) belief in Providence (6)
belief in the Abrogating and (7) in the Abrogated (8) belief in God,
His angels and apostles and (9) in fore-ordained Fate, general and
particular, its good and ill, sweet and bitter.' (Q.) 'What three
things do away other three?' (A.) 'It is told of Sufyan eth Thauri
(250) that he said, "Three things do away other three. Making light
of the pious doth away the future life, making light of kings doth
away [this] life and making light of expenditure doth away wealth."'
(Q.) 'What are the keys of the heavens, and how many gates have
they?' (A.) 'Quoth God the Most High, "And heaven shall be opened,
and it shall be [all] doors" (251) and quoth he whom God bless and
keep, "None knoweth the number of the gates of heaven, save He who
created it, and there is no son of Adam but hath two gates allotted
to him in the skies, one whereby his subsistence cometh down and
another where-through his works [good and evil] ascend. The former
is not closed, save when his term of life comes to an end, nor the
latter, till his soul ascends [for judgment]."' (Q.) 'Tell me of a
thing and a half thing and a no-thing.' (A.) 'The thing is the
believer, the half thing the hypocrite and the no-thing the
infidel.' (Q.) 'Tell me of various kinds of hearts.' (A.) 'There is
the whole [or perfect] heart, which is that of [Abraham] the Friend
[of God], the sick heart, that of the infidel, the contrite heart,
that of the pious, fearful ones, the heart consecrated to God, that
of our Lord Mohammed (whom God bless and preserve) and the
enlightened [or enlightening] heart, that of those who follow him.
The hearts of the learned are of three kinds, to wit, those that are
in love with this world, with the next and with their Lord; and it
is said that hearts are three, the suspended, that of the infidel,
the non-existent [or lost], that of the hypocrite, and the constant
[or firm], that of the true-believer. Moreover, it is said that the
latter is of three kinds, namely, the heart dilated with light and
faith, that wounded with fear of estrangement and that which feareth
to be forsaken of God.'
Quoth the second doctor, 'Thou hast said well;' whereupon said she
to the Khalif, 'O Commander of the Faithful, he has questioned me,
till he is weary, and now I will ask him two questions. If he answer
them, it is well, and if not, I will take his clothes and he shall
depart in peace.' Quoth the doctor, 'Ask me what thou wilt,' and she
said, 'What is religion?' 'Religion,' answered he, 'is confession
(252) with the tongue and belief with the heart and doing with the
members. Quoth the Prophet, "The believer is not perfect in belief,
except five qualities be accomplished in him, namely, trust in God,
committal of his affair to Him, submission to His commandment,
acquiescence in His decrees and that he do all for His sake; so is
he of those who are acceptable to God and who give and withhold for
His sake, and he is perfect in belief."' Then said she, 'What is the
Koranic ordinance of ordinances and the ordinance which is the
preliminary of all ordinances and that of which all others stand in
need and that which comprehendeth all others, and what is the
Traditional ordinance that entereth into the Koranic, and that
whereby the latter is completed?' But he was silent and made no
reply; whereupon the Khalif bade her expound and ordered him to doff
his clothes and give them to her. 'O doctor,' said she, 'the Koranic
ordinance of ordinances is the knowledge of God the Most High; that,
which is the preliminary of all others, is the testifying that there
is no god but God and that Mohammed is His apostle; that, of which
all others have need, is ablution; that, which compriseth all
others, is that of [total] ablution from [ceremonial] defilement;
the Traditional ordinance, that enters into the Koranic, is the
separation of the fingers and the thick beard; and that, wherewith
all Koranic ordinances are completed, is circumcision.' Therewith
was manifest the insufficiency of the doctor, who rose to his feet
and said, 'I call God to witness, O Commander of the Faithful, that
this damsel is more learned than I in the Law and what pertains
thereto.' So saying, he put off his clothes and went away, defeated.
Then turned she to the rest of the learned men present and said, 'O
masters, which of you is the reader, (253) versed in the seven
readings and in syntax and lexicography?' Thereupon the professor
arose and seating himself before her, said, 'Hast thou read the Book
of God the Most High and made thyself throughly acquainted with its
verses and its various parts, abrogating and abrogated, equivocal
and unequivocal, Meccan and Medinan? Dost thou understand its
interpretation and hast thou studied it, according to the various
versions and readings?' 'Yes,' answered she; and he said, 'What,
then, is the number of its chapters, how many are Meccan and how
many Medinan? How many verses and decades (254) does it contain, how
many words and how many letters and how many acts of prostration and
how many prophets and birds are mentioned in it?' 'It contains a
hundred and fourteen chapters,' replied she, 'whereof threescore and
ten were revealed at Mecca and forty and four at Medina, six
thousand three hundred and thirty-six verses, six hundred and
twenty-one decades, seventy-nine thousand four hundred and
thirty-nine words and three hundred and twenty-three thousand and
six hundred and seventy letters; and to the reader thereof, for
every letter, accrue ten benefits. The acts of prostration it
contains are fourteen in number, and five-and-twenty prophets are
named therein, to wit, Adam, Noah, Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob,
Joseph, Elisha, Jonah, Lot, Salih, Houd, (255) Shuaib, (256) David,
Solomon, Dhoulkifl, (257) Idris, (258) Elias, Yehya, (259)
Zacharias, Job, Moses, Aaron, Jesus and Mohammed, the peace of God
and His blessing be on them all! Moreover, nine birds [or fIying
things] are mentioned in the Koran, namely, the gnat, the bee, the
fly, the ant, the hoopoe, the crow, the locust, the bustard and the
bird of Jesus (260) (on whom be peace), to wit, the bat.' (Q.)
'Which is the most excellent chapter of the Koran?' (A.) 'That of
the Cow.' (261) (Q.) 'Which is the most magnificent verse?' (A.)
'That of the Throne; (262) it has fifty words, in each fifty
blessings.' (Q.) 'What verse hath in it nine signs [or wonders]?'
(A.) 'That in which quoth God the Most High, "Verily, in the
creation of the heavens and the earth and the alternation of night
and day and the ship that runneth in the sea with what profiteth
mankind and in what God sendeth down from heaven of water and
quickeneth therewith the earth, after its dearth, and spreadeth
abroad therein all manner cattle, and the shifting of the winds and
the clouds, pressed into service betwixt heaven and earth, are signs
for folk who understand."' (263) (Q.) 'Which is the most just?' (A.)
'That in which God saith, "Verily, God commandeth to justice and
beneficence and giving to those that are near unto us and forbiddeth
from profligacy and iniquity and oppression."' (264) (Q.) 'Which is
the most yearnful?' (A.) 'That in which quoth God, "Shall every man
of them yearn to enter a garden of delight?"' (265) (Q.) 'Which is
the most hopeful?' (A.) 'That in which quoth God the Most High,
"Say, 'O ye my servants, that have transgressed against your own
souls, despair not of the mercy of God! Indeed, God forgiveth sins,
all of them, for He is the Forgiving, the Compassionate.'"' (266)
(Q.) 'By what version dost thou read?' (A.) 'By that of the people
of Paradise, to wit, the version of Nafi.' (267) (Q.) 'In which
verse doth God make prophets lie?' (A.) 'In that wherein He saith,
"They [the brothers of Joseph] brought lying blood upon his shirt."'
(268) (Q.) 'In which doth He make infidels speak the truth?' (A.)
'In that wherein He saith, "The Jews say, 'The Nazarenes are
[grounded] on nought,' and the Nazarenes say, 'The Jews are
[grounded] on nought;' and [yet] they [both] read the Scripture."
(269) And [in this] both speak the truth.' (Q.) 'In which doth God
speak in His own person [in the singular]?' (A.) 'In that in which
He saith, "Neither have I created Jinn and men, but that they should
worship."' (270) (Q.) 'In which do the angels speak?' (A.) 'In that
which saith, "We celebrate Thy praises and hallow Thee."' (271) (Q.)
'What sayst thou of the formula, "I seek refuge with God from Satan
the Stoned"?' (A.) 'It is obligatory, by commandment of God, on all
who read the Koran, as appears by His saying, "When thou readest the
Koran, seek refuge with God from Satan the Stoned."' (272) (Q.)
'What are the words and variants of the formula?' (A.) 'Some say, "I
take refuge with God the All-hearing and knowing, etc.," and others,
"With God the Strong;" but the best is that of which the noble Koran
and the Traditions speak. The Prophet was used, whenas he was about
to open the Koran, to say, "I take refuge with God from Satan the
Stoned." And quoth a Tradition, reported by Nafi on the authority of
his [adopted] father, "The apostle of God used, when he rose in the
night to pray, to say aloud, 'God is Most Great, with [all]
greatness! Praise be to God abundantly! Glory to God morning and
evening!' Then would he say, 'I seek refuge with God from Satan the
Stoned and from the instigations of the Devils and their evil
suggestions."' And it is told of Ibn Abbas (273) (of whom God
accept) that he said, "The first time Gabriel came down to the
Prophet [with a portion of the Koran,] he taught him [the formula
of] seeking refuge, saying, 'O Mohammed, say, "I seek refuge with
God the All- hearing and knowing;" then say, "In the name of God the
Compassionate, the Merciful!" And read, in the name of thy Lord who
created men from clotted blood.'"' (274) (Q.) 'What sayst thou of
the verse, "In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful"? Is
it one of the verses of the Koran?' (A.) 'Yes; it is a verse of "The
ant" (275) and occurs 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.' (Q.) 'Why is not the
formula written at the head of the chapter of Immunity?' (276) (A.)
'When this chapter was revealed for the dissolution of the alliance
between the Prophet and the idolaters, the former sent Ali ibn Abi
Talib (whose face God honour) therewith [from Medina to Mecca] at
the season of the greater pilgrimage; (277) and he read the chapter
to them, but did not read "In the name, etc."' (278) (Q.) 'What of
the excellence of the formula and the blessing that attaches to it?'
(A.) 'It is told of the Prophet that he said, "Never is 'In the
name, etc.' pronounced over aught, but there is a blessing in it;"
and it is reported, on his authority, that the Lord of Glory swore
by His glory that never should the formula be pronounced over a sick
person, but he should be healed of his sickness. Moreover, it is
said that, when God created the empyreal heaven, it was agitated
with an exceeding agitation; but He wrote on it, "In the name,
etc.," and its agitation subsided. When the formula was first
revealed to the Prophet, he said, "I am safe from three things,
earthquake and metamorphosis and drowning;" and indeed its virtues
are great and its blessings too many to enumerate. It is told of the
Prophet that he said, "There will be brought before God, 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
say, 'O my God, Thou hast not dealt justly by me!' Then shall God
(to whom belong might and majesty) say, 'How so?' and the man will
answer, saying, 'O Lord, for that Thou callest Thyself the
Compassionate, the Merciful, yet wilt Thou punish me with the fire!'
And God (extolled be His majesty) shall say, 'I did indeed name
myself the Compassionate, the Merciful. Carry My servant to
Paradise, of My mercy, for I am the most Merciful of those that have
mercy.'"' (Q.) 'What was the origin of the use of the formula?' (A.)
'When God revealed the Koran, they wrote, "In Thy name, O my God!";
when He revealed the words, "Say, pray ye to God or pray ye to the
Compassionate, what days ye pray, for to Him [belong] the most fair
names," (279) they wrote, "In the name of God, the Compassionate;"
and when He revealed the words, "Your God is one God, there is no
god but He, the Compassionate, the Merciful," (280) they wrote, "In
the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful!"' (Q.) 'Did God
reveal the Koran all at once or at intervals?' (A.) 'Gabriel the
Faithful [Spirit] (on whom be peace) descended with it from the Lord
of the Worlds upon His Prophet Mohammed, Prince of the Apostles and
seal (281) of the Prophets, by detached verses, containing
commandment and prohibition, promise and menace, anecdotes and
similitudes, as the occasion called for it, in the course of twenty
years.' (Q.) 'Which chapter was first revealed?' (A.) 'According to
Ibn Abbas, that of the Clot of Blood, (282) and according to Jabir
ben Abdallah, (283) that of the Covered [with a cloak].' (284) (Q.)
'Which verse was the last revealed?' (A.) 'That of Usury, (285) and
it is said [also], the verse, "When there cometh God's succour and
victory."' (286) (Q.) 'Tell me the names of the Companions who
collected the Koran, in the lifetime of the Apostle of God.' (A.)
'They were four in number, to wit, Ubaï ibn Kaab, Zeid ibn Thabit,
Abou Ubeideh Aamir ben Jerrah and Othman ben Affan, (287) may God
accept of them all!' (Q.) 'Who are the readers, from whom the
[accepted] reading of the Koran is taken?' (A.) 'They are four in
number, namely, Abdallah ben Mesoud, Ubaï ben Kaab, Maadh ben Jebel
(288) and Salim ben Abdallah.' (289) (Q.) 'What sayst thou of the
words of the Most High, "That which is sacrificed to stones"?' (290)
(A.) 'The stones are idols, which are set up and worshipped, instead
of God the Most High, and [from this] we seek refuge with Him.' (Q.)
'What sayst thou of the words of the Most High, "[Quoth Jesus] Thou
knowest what is in my soul, and I know not what is in Thy soul"?'
(291) (A.) 'They mean "Thou [God] knowest the truth of me and what
is in me and I [Jesus] know not what is in Thee;" and the proof of
this are his words, (292) "Thou [God] art He that knoweth the hidden
things;" and it is said, also, "Thou [God] knowest my essence, but I
[man] know not Thine essence."' (Q.) 'What sayst thou of the words
of the Most High, "O ye that believe, deny not yourselves the good
things that God hath made lawful to you!"?' (293) (A.) 'My master
(on whom God have mercy) told me that Ez Zuhak (294) said, "There
was a people of the true- believers who said, 'We will dock our
yards and don sackcloth;' whereupon this verse was revealed." But El
Cutadeh (295) says that it was revealed on account of sundry
Companions of the Apostle of God, Ali ibn Abi Talib and Othman ben
Musaab and others, who said, "We will dock ourselves and don hair
[cloth] and make us monks."' (Q.) 'What sayst thou of the words of
the Most High, "And God took Abraham to friend"?' (296) (A.) 'The
friend [of God] is the needy, the poor, and (according to another
saying) he is the lover, he who is absorbed in the love of God the
Most High and in whose exclusive devotion there is no falling away.'
When the professor saw her pass on in speech with the passing of the
clouds (297) and that she stayed not in answering, he rose to his
feet and said, 'I take God to witness, O Commander of the Faithful,
that this damsel is more learned than I in Koranic exegesis and what
pertains 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.' 'Ask on,' quoth the Khalif; and she said,
'Which verse of the Koran has in it three-and-twenty Kafs, (298)
which sixteen Mims, (299) which a hundred and forty Ains, (300) and
which section (301) lacks the formula, "To whom [God] belong might
and majesty"?' He could not answer, and she said to him, 'Put off
thy clothes.' So he doffed them, and she said, 'O Commander of the
Faithful, the verse of the sixteen Mims is in the chapter Houd and
is the saying of the Most High, "It was said, 'O Noah, go down in
peace from us, and blessing upon thee!'"; (302) 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 Ains is in the
chapter of El Aaraf, (303) "And Moses chose seventy men of his tribe
to [attend] our appointed time; (304) to each man a pair of eyes."
(305) And the set portion which lacks the formula, "To whom [God]
belong might and majesty," is that which comprises the chapters "The
Hour draweth nigh and the Moon is cloven in twain," "The
Compassionate" and "The Event."' (306) And the professor departed in
confusion.
Then came forward the skilled physician and said to her, 'We have
done with theology and come now to physiology. Tell me, therefore,
how is man made, how many veins, bones and vertebræ are there in his
body, which is the chief vein and why Adam was named Adam?' 'Adam
was called Adam,' answered she, 'because of the udmeh, to wit, the
tawny 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 soil of its
surface. His breast was made of the earth of the Kaabeh, his head of
earth from the East and his legs of earth from the West. There were
created for him seven doors [or openings] in his head, to wit, the
eyes, the ears, the nostrils and the mouth, and two passages, the
urethra and the anus. The eyes were made the seat of the sense of
sight, the ears of that of hearing, the nostrils of that of smell,
the mouth of that of taste and the tongue to speak forth what is in
the innermost heart of man. Adam was originally created of four
elements combined, water, earth, fire and air. The yellow bile is
the humour of fire, being hot and dry, the black bile that of earth,
being cold and dry, the phlegm that of water, being cold and moist,
and the blood that of air, being hot and moist. There are in man
three hundred and threescore veins, two hundred and forty bones and
three souls [or natures], the animal, the rational and the essential
or [natural], to each of which is allotted a separate function.
Moreover, God made him a heart and spleen and lungs and six guts and
a liver and two kidneys and marrow [or brain] and buttocks and bones
and skin and five senses, hearing, seeing, smell, taste and touch.
The heart He set on the left side of the breast and made the stomach
the exemplar [or governor] thereof. He appointed the lungs for a
ventilator to the heart and set the liver on the right side,
opposite thereto. Moreover, He made, besides this, the midriff and
the intestines and set up the bones of the breast and ribbed them
with the ribs.' (Q.) 'How many ventricles are there in a man's
head?' (A.) 'Three, which contain five faculties, styled the
intrinsic senses, i.e. common sense, fancy, thought, apperception
and memory.' (Q.) 'Describe to me the scheme of the bones.' (A.) 'It
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 skull and face. The skull is constructed of eight
bones, and to it are attached the teeth, two-and-thirty in number,
and the hyoïd bone, one. The trunk is divided into spinal column,
breast and basin. The spinal column is made up of four-and-twenty
bones, called vertebræ, 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 and the coccyx. The extremities are
divided into arms and legs. The arms are again divided into
shoulder, comprising shoulder-blades and collar-bone, the upper-arm,
one bone, the fore-arm, composed of two bones, the radius and the
ulna, and the hand, consisting of the wrist, the metacarpus and the
fingers. The wrist is composed of eight bones, ranked in two rows,
each comprising four bones; the metacarpus of five and the fingers,
which are five in number, of three bones each, called the phalanges,
except the thumb, which has but two. The lower extremities are
divided into thigh, one bone, leg, composed of three bones, the
tibia, the fibula and the kneepan, and the foot, divided like the
hand, with the exception of the wrist, (307) which is composed of
seven bones, ranged in two rows, two in one and five in the other.'
(Q.) 'Which is the root of the veins?' (A.) 'The aorta from which
they ramify, and they are many, none knoweth the tale of them save
He who created them; but, as I have before observed, it is said that
they are three hundred and threescore in number. Moreover, God hath
appointed the tongue to interpret [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
and the kidneys of craft; the lungs are the ventilators, the stomach
the storehouse and the heart the pillar [or mainstay] 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 of disease in the members of the body, both
internal and external?' (A.) 'A physician, who is a man of
understanding, looks into the state of the body and is guided by the
feel of the hands, 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 [whites of the] eyes,
which denotes jaundice, and bending of the back, which denotes
disease of the lungs.' (Q.) 'What are the internal symptoms of
disease?' (A.) 'The science of the diagnosis of disease by internal
symptoms is founded upon six canons, to wit, (1) the actions [of the
patient] (2) what is evacuated from his body (3) the nature and (4)
site of the pain he feels (5) swelling and (6) the effluvia given
off by his body.' (Q.) 'How cometh hurt to the head?' (A.) 'By the
introduction of food upon food, before the first be digested, and by
satiety upon satiety; this it is that wasteth peoples. He who will
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 cupping and blood-letting and 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 befits that he
appoint six for food, six for drink, and six for air. 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 God the Most High,
"Walk not boisterously [or proudly] upon the earth."' (308) (Q.)
'What are the symptoms of yellow bile and what is to be feared
there-from?' (A.) 'The symptoms are, sallow complexion and dryness
and bitter taste in the mouth, failure of the appetite, and rapid
pulse; and the patient has to fear high fever and delirium and
prickly heat and jaundice and tumour and ulceration of the bowels
and excessive thirst.' (Q.) 'What are the symptoms of black bile and
what has the patient to fear from it, if it get the mastery of the
body?' (A.) 'The symptoms are deceptive appetite and great mental
disquiet and care and anxiety; and it behoves that it be evacuated,
else it will generate melancholy 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?' (A.) '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?' (A.) 'When the sap runs in the wood and the grape
thickens in the cluster and the auspicious planets (309) are in the
ascendant, then comes in the season of the efficacy of drinking
medicine and the doing away of disease.' (Q.) 'What time is it,
when, if a man drink from a new vessel, the drink is wholesomer and
more digestible to him than at another time, and there ascends to
him a pleasant and penetrating fragrance?' (A.) 'When he waits
awhile after eating, as quoth the poet:
I rede thee drink not after food in haste, but tarry still; Else
with a halter wilt thou lead thy body into ill.
Yea, wait a little after thou hast eaten, brother mine; Then drink,
and peradventure thus shalt thou attain unto thy will.'
(Q.) 'What food is it that giveth not rise to ailments?' (A.) 'That
which is not eaten but after hunger, and when it is eaten, the ribs
are not filled with it, even as saith Galen the physician, "Whoso
will take in food, let him go slowly and he shall not go wrong." To
end with the saying of the Prophet, (whom God bless and preserve,)
"The stomach is the home of disease, and abstinence is the beginning
(310) of cure, (311) for the origin of every disease is indigestion,
that is to say, corruption of the meat in the stomach."' (Q.) 'What
sayst thou of the bath?' (A.) 'Let not the full man enter it. Quoth
the Prophet, "The bath is the delight of the house, for that it
cleanseth the body and calleth to mind the fire [of hell]."' (Q.)
'What waters (312) are best for bathing?' (A.) 'Those whose waters
are sweet and plains wide and whose air is pleasant and wholesome,
its climate [or seasons] being fair, autumn and summer and winter
and spring.' (Q.) 'What kind of food is the most excellent?' (A.)
'That which women make and which has not cost overmuch trouble and
which is readily digested. The most excellent of food is brewis,
(313) according to the saying of the Prophet, "Brewis excels other
food, even as Aaïsheh excels other women."' (Q.) 'What kind of
seasoning (314) is most excellent?' (A.) 'Flesh meat (quoth the
Prophet) is the most excellent of seasonings; for that it is the
delight of this world and the next.' (Q.) 'What kind of meat is the
most excellent?' (A.) 'Mutton; but jerked meat is to be avoided, for
there is no profit in it.' (Q.) 'What of fruits?' (A.) 'Eat them in
their prime and leave them when their season is past.' (Q.) 'What
sayst thou of drinking water?' (A.) 'Drink it not in large
quantities nor by gulps, or it will give thee the headache and cause
divers kinds of harm; neither drink it immediately after the bath
nor after copulation or eating (except it be after the lapse of
fifteen minutes for a young and forty for an old man) or waking from
sleep.' (Q.) 'What of drinking wine?' (A.) 'Doth not the prohibition
suffice thee in the Book of God the Most High, where He saith,
"Verily, wine and casting lots and idols and divining arrows are an
abomination of the fashion of the Devil: shun them, so surely shall
ye thrive.'' (315) And again, "If they ask thee of wine and casting
lots, say, 'In them are great sin and advantages to mankind, but the
sin of them is greater than the advantage.'" (316) Quoth the poet:
O wine-bibber, art not ashamed and afraid To drink of a thing that
thy Maker forbade?
Come, put the cup from thee and mell with it not, For wine and its
drinker God still doth upbraid.
And quoth another:
I drank the sweet sin till my wit went astray: 'Tis ill drinking of
that which doth reason away.
As for the useful qualities that are therein, it disperses gravel
from the kidneys and strengthens the bowels, banishes care, moves to
generosity and preserves health and digestion. It assains the body,
expels disease from the joints, purifies the frame of corrupt
humours, engenders cheerfulness and gladdens and keeps up the
natural heat. It contracts the bladder, strengthens the liver and
removes obstructions, reddens the face, clears away cobwebs from the
brain and defers gray hairs. In short, had not God (to whom belong
might and majesty) forbidden it, there were not on the face of the
earth aught fit to stand in its place. As for drawing lots, it is a
game of hazard.' (317) (Q.) 'What wine is the best?' (A.) 'That
which is pressed from white grapes and ferments fourscore days or
more: it resembleth not water and indeed there is nothing on the
surface of the earth like unto it.' (Q.) 'What of cupping?' (A.) 'It
is for him who is [over] full of blood and has no defect therein.
Whoso will be cupped, let it be at the wane of the moon, on a day
without cloud or wind or rain and 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 memory
than cupping.' (Q.) 'What is the best time for cupping?' (A.) 'One
should be cupped fasting, for this fortifies the wit and the memory.
It is reported of the Prophet that, when any one complained to him
of a pain in the head or legs, he would bid him be cupped and not
eat salt [meat] fasting, for it engendered scurvy, neither eat sour
milk immediately after [cupping].' (Q.) 'When is cupping to be
avoided?' (A.) 'On Wednesdays and Saturdays, and let him who is
cupped on these days blame none but himself. Moreover, one should
not be cupped in very hot nor in very cold weather; and the best
season for cupping is Spring.' (Q.) 'Tell me of copulation.'
At this Taweddud hung her head, for shame and confusion before the
Khalif; 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 tip of my tongue.' 'Speak, O damsel,' said the
Khalif; whereupon quoth she, 'Copulation hath in it many and
exceeding virtues and praiseworthy qualities, amongst which are,
that it lightens a body full of black bile and calms the heat of
love and engenders affection and dilates the heart and dispels
sadness; and the excess of it is more harmful in summer and autumn
than in spring and winter.' (Q.) 'What are its good effects?' (A.)
'It doth away trouble and disquiet, calms love and chagrin and is
good for ulcers in a cold and dry humour; but excess of it weakens
the sight and engenders pains in the legs and head and back: and
beware, beware of having to do with old women, for they are deadly.
Quoth the Imam Ali, (318) (whose face God honour), "Four things kill
and ruin the body: bathing on a full stomach, eating salt meat,
copulation on a plethora [of blood] and lying with an ailing woman;
for she will weaken thy strength and infect thy body 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 goods than
Caroun."' (319) (Q.) 'What is the best copulation?' (A.) 'If the
woman be young, well-shaped, fair of face, swelling- breasted and of
honourable extraction, she will add to thee strength and health of
body; and let her be even as saith the poet, describing her:
Even by thy looks, I trow, she knows what thou desir'st, By
instinct, without sign or setting forth of sense;
And when thou dost behold her all-surpassing grace, Her charms
enable thee with gardens to dispense.'
(Q.) 'At what time is copulation good?' (A.) 'If by day, after the
morning-meal, and if by night, after food digested.' (Q.) 'What are
the most excellent fruits?' (A.) 'The pomegranate and the citron.'
(Q.) 'Which is the most excellent of vegetables?' (A.) 'The endive.'
(Q.) 'Which of sweet-scented flowers?' (A.) 'The rose and the
violet.' (Q.) 'How is sperma hominis secreted?' (A.) 'There is in
man a vein that feeds all the other veins. Water [or blood] is
collected from the three hundred and threescore veins and enters, in
the form of red blood, the left testicle, where it is decocted, by
the heat of man's temperament, into a thick, white liquid, whose
odour is as that of the palm-spathe.' (Q.) 'What bird [or flying
thing] is it that emits seed and menstruates?' (A.) 'The bat, that
is, the rere-mouse.' (Q.) 'What is that which, when it is shut out
[from the air], lives, and when it smells the air, dies?' (A.) 'The
fish.' (Q.) 'What serpent lays eggs?' (A.) 'The dragon.'
With this the physician was silent, being weary with much
questioning, and Taweddud said to the Khalif, 'O Commander of the
Faithful, he hath questioned me till he is weary, and now I will ask
him one question, which if he answer not, I will take his clothes as
lawful prize.' 'Ask on,' quoth the Khalif. So she said to the
physician, 'What is that which resembles the earth in [plane]
roundness, whose resting-place and spine are hidden, little of value
and estimation, narrow-chested, its throat shackled, though it be no
thief nor runaway slave, thrust through and through, though not in
fight, and wounded, though not in battle; time eats its vigour and
water wastes it away; now it is beaten without a fault and now made
to serve without stint; united after separation, submissive, but not
to him who caresses it, pregnant (320) without a child in its belly,
drooping, yet not leaning on its side, becoming dirty yet purifying
itself, cleaving to [its mate], yet changing, copulating without a
yard, wrestling without arms, resting and taking its ease, bitten,
yet not crying out, [now] more complaisant than a boon-companion and
[anon] more troublesome than summer- heat, leaving its wife by night
and clipping her by day and having its abode in the corners of the
mansions of the noble?' The physician was silent and his colour
changed and he bowed his head awhile in perplexity and made no
reply; whereupon she said to him, 'O physician, speak or put off thy
clothes.' At this, he rose and said, 'O Commander of the Faithful,
bear witness against me that this damsel is more learned than I in
medicine and what else and that I cannot cope with her.' And he put
off his clothes and fled forth. Quoth the Khalif to Taweddud,
'Expound to us thy riddle,' and she replied, 'O Commander of the
Faithful, it is the button and the button loop.'
Then said she, 'Let him of you who is an astronomer come forward.'
So the astronomer came forward and sat down before her. When she saw
him, she laughed and said, 'Art thou the astronomer, the
mathematician, the scribe?' 'Yes,' answered he. 'Ask of what thou
wilt,' quoth she; 'success rests with God.' So he said, 'Tell me of
the sun and its rising and setting?' And she replied, 'The sun rises
in the Eastern hemisphere and sets in the Western, and each
hemisphere comprises ninescore degrees. Quoth God the Most High,
"Verily, I swear by the Lord of the places of the sunrise and of the
sunsetting." (321) And again, "He it is who appointed the sun for a
splendour and the moon for a light and ordained to her mansions,
that ye might know the number of the years and the reckoning." (322)
The moon is Sultan of the night and the sun Sultan of the day, and
they vie with one another in their courses and follow each other in
uninterrupted succession. Quoth God the Most High, "It befits not
that the sun overtake the moon nor that the night prevent the day,
but each glides in [its own] sphere."' (323) (Q.) 'When the day
cometh, what becomes of the night, and what of the day, when the
night cometh?' (A.) 'He maketh the night to enter into the day and
the day into the night.' (324) (Q.) 'Enumerate to me the mansions of
the moon.' (A.) 'They are eight-and-twenty in number, to wit,
Sheretan, Butain, Thureya, Deberan, Hecaäh, Henaäh, Dhiraa, Nethreh,
Terf, Jebheh, Zubreh, Serfeh, Awwaa, Simak and Ghefr, Zubaniya,
Iklil, Kelb, Shauleh, Naaïm, Beldeh, Saad edh Dhabih, Saad el Bulaa,
Saad el Akhbiyeh, Saad es Suwoud, Fergh the Former and Fergh the
Latter and Rishaa. They are disposed in the order of the letters of
the alphabet, according to their numerical power, and there are in
them secret virtues which none knoweth save God (glorified and
exalted be He) and those who are firmly stablished in science. They
are divided among the twelve signs of the Zodiac, in the ratio of
two mansions and a third of a mansion to each sign. Thus Sheretan,
Butain and one-third of Thureya belong to Aries, the other
two-thirds of Thureya, Deberan and two thirds of Hecaäh to Taurus,
the other third of Hecaäh, Henaäh and Dhiraa to Gemini, Nethreh,
Terf, and a third of Jebheh to Cancer, the other two-thirds of
Jebheh, Zubreh and two-thirds of Serfeh to Leo, the other third of
Serfeh, Awwaa and Simak to Virgo, Ghefr, Zubaniya and one-third of
Iklil to Libra, the other two-thirds of Iklil, Kelb and two-thirds
of Shauleh to Scorpio, the other third of Shauleh, Naaïm and Beldeh
to Sagittarius, Saad edh Dhabih, Saad el Bulaa and one-third of Saad
es Suwoud to Capricorn, the other two-thirds of Saad es Suwoud, Saad
el Akbiyeh and two-thirds of Fergh the Former to Aquarius, the other
third of Fergh the Former, Fergh the Latter and Rishaa to Pisces.'
(Q.) 'Tell me of the planets and their natures, also of their
sojourn in the signs of the Zodiac, their aspects, favourable and
sinister, their houses, ascendants and descendants.' (A.) 'The
sitting is narrow [for so comprehensive a matter], but they are
seven in number, to wit, the sun, the moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars,
Jupiter and Saturn. The sun is hot and dry, sinister in conjunction,
favourable in opposition, and abides thirty days in each sign. The
moon is cold and moist, favourable of aspect, and abides two days in
each sign and a third of another day. Mercury is of a mixed nature,
favourable [in conjunction] with the favourable and sinister [in
conjunction] with the sinister [asterisms], and abides in each sign
seventeen and a half days. Venus is temperate, favourable and abides
in each sign five-and-twenty days. Mars is sinister and abides in
each sign ten months. Jupiter is favourable and abides in each sign
a year. Saturn is cold and dry and sinister and abides in each sign
thirty months. The house of the sun is Leo, its ascendant is Aries
and its descendant Aquarius. The moon's house is Cancer, its
ascendant Taurus, its descendant Scorpio and its sinister aspect
Capricorn. Saturn's house is Capricorn and Aquarius, its ascendant
Libra, its descendant Aries and its sinister aspects Cancer and Leo.
Jupiter's house is Pisces and Sagittarius, its ascendant Cancer, its
descendant Capricorn and its sinister aspects Gemini and Leo.
Venus's house is Taurus, its ascendant Pisces, its descendant Libra
and its sinister aspects Aries and Scorpio. Mercury's house is
Gemini and Virgo, its ascendant Virgo, its descendant Pisces and its
sinister aspect Taurus. Mars's house is Aries and Scorpio, its
ascendant Capricorn, its descendant Cancer and its sinister aspect
Libra.'
When the astronomer saw her acuteness and skill and heard her fair
answers, he bethought him for a device to confound her before the
Commander of the Faithful and said to her, 'O damsel, will rain fall
this month?' At this she bowed her head and pondered so long, that
the Khalif thought her at a loss for an answer and the astronomer
said to her, 'Why dost thou not speak?' Quoth she, 'I will not speak
except the Commander of the Faithful give me leave.' The Khalif
laughed and said, 'How so?' Said she, 'I would have thee give me a
sword, that I may strike off his head, for he is an infidel.' At
this the Khalif and those about him laughed, and she said, 'O
astronomer, there are five things that none knoweth save God the
Most High;' and she repeated the following verse: 'Verily, with God
is the knowledge of the hour; He sendeth down the rain and knoweth
what is in the wombs. None knoweth what the morrow shall bring forth
for him nor in what land he shall die. Verily, God is the All-wise,
the All-knowing.' (325)
Quoth the astronomer, 'Thou hast said well, and by Allah, I thought
but to try thee.' 'Know,' rejoined she, 'that the almanack-makers
have certain signs and tokens, referring to the planets, relative to
the coming in of the year, and in which are tribulations for the
folk.' (Q.) 'What are they?' (A.) 'Each day hath a planet that rules
it. So, if the first day of the year fall on a Sunday, that day is
the sun's and this portends (though God alone is All-knowing)
oppression of kings and sultans and governors and much miasma and
lack of rain and that the folk will be in great disorder and the
grain-crop will be good, except lentils, which will perish, and the
vines will rot and flax will be dear and wheat cheap from the
beginning of Toubeh (326) to the end of Beremhat. (327) Moreover, in
this year there will be much fighting among kings, and there shall
be great plenty of good in this year.' (Q.) 'What if the first day
fall on Monday?' (A.) 'That day belongs to the moon and portends
righteousness in administrators and deputies and that it will be a
year of much rain and grain-crops will be good, but linseed will
decay and wheat will be cheap in the month Keyehk; (328) also that
plagues will be rife and that half the sheep and goats will die,
that grapes will be plentiful and honey scarce and cotton cheap.'
(Q.) 'What if it fall on Tuesday?' (A.) 'That is Mars's day and
portends death of great men and much destruction and outpouring of
blood and dearness of grain, lack of rain and scarcity of fish,
which will anon be in excess and anon fail [altogether]. In this
year, lentils and honey will be cheap and linseed dear and only
barley will thrive, to the exception of all other grain: great will
be the fighting among kings and death will be in the blood and there
will be much mortality among asses.' (Q.) 'What if it fall on
Wednesday?' (A.) 'That is Mercury's day and portends great anarchy
among the folk and much enmity and rotting of some of the green
crops and moderate rains; also that there will be great mortality
among cattle and infants and much fighting by sea, that wheat will
be dear from Burmoudeh to Misra (329) and other grains cheap:
thunder and lightning will abound and honey will be dear, palm-trees
will thrive and bear apace and flax and cotton will be plentiful,
but radishes and onions will be dear.' (Q.) 'What if it fall on
Thursday?' (A.) 'That is Jupiter's day and portends equity in
viziers and righteousness in Cadis and fakirs and the ministers of
religion and that good will be plentiful: rain and fruits and trees
and grain and fish will abound and flax, cotton, honey and grapes be
cheap.' (Q.) 'What if it fall on Friday?' (A.) 'That day belongs to
Venus and portends oppression in the chiefs of the Jinn and talk of
forgery and calumny; there will be much dew, the autumn crops will
be good in the land and there will be cheapness in one town and not
in another: lewdness will be rife by land and sea, linseed will be
dear, also wheat, in Hatour, (330) but cheap in Amshir: (331) honey
will be dear and grapes and melons will rot.' (Q.) 'What if it fall
on Saturday?' (A.) 'That is Saturn's day and portends the preferment
of slaves and Greeks and those in whom there is no good, neither in
their neighbourhood; there will be great drought and scarcity;
clouds will abound and death will be rife among mankind and woe to
the people of Egypt and Syria from the oppression of the Sultan and
failure of blessing upon the green crops and rotting of grain.'
With this, the astronomer hung his head, [being at an end of his
questions], and she said to him, 'O astronomer, I will ask thee one
question, which if thou answer not, I will take thy clothes.' 'Ask
on,' replied he. Quoth she, 'Where is Saturn's dwelling place?' And
he answered, 'In the seventh heaven.' (Q.) 'And that of Jupiter?'
(A.) 'In the sixth heaven.' (Q.) 'And that of Mars?' (A.) 'In the
fifth heaven.' (Q.) 'And that of the sun?' (A.) 'In the fourth
heaven.' (Q.) 'And that of Venus?' (A.) 'In the third heaven.' (Q.)
'And that of Mercury?' (A.) 'In the second heaven.' (Q.) 'And that
of the moon?' (A.) 'In the first heaven.' Quoth she, 'Well answered;
but I have one more question to ask thee. Into how many parts are
the stars divided?' But he was silent and answered nothing; and she
said to him, 'Put off thy clothes.' So he put them off and she took
them; after which the Khalif said to her, 'Tell us the answer to thy
question.' 'O Commander of the Faithful,' answered she, 'the stars
are divided into three parts, one whereof is hung in the sky of the
earth, (332) as it were lamps, to give light to the earth, another
suspended in the air, to give light to the seas and that which is
therein, and the third is used to transfix the demons withal, when
they draw near by stealth to [listen to the talk of the angels in]
heaven. Quoth God the Most High, "Verily, we have decked the sky of
the earth with lamps and have appointed them for projectiles against
the demons."' (333) Quoth the astronomer, 'I have one more question
to ask, which if she answer, I will avow myself beaten.' 'Say on,'
answered she. Then said he, 'What four incompatible things are based
upon other four incompatibles?' 'The four elements,' replied she;
'for of heat God created fire, which is by nature hot and dry; of
dryness, earth, which is cold and dry; of cold, water, which is cold
and moist; of moisture, air, which is hot and moist. Moreover, He
created twelve signs of the Zodiac, Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer,
Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius and
Pisces and appointed them of four [several] humours, three, Aries,
Leo and Sagittarius, fiery, Taurus, Virgo and Capricorn, earthy,
Gemini, Libra and Aquarius, airy, and Cancer, Scorpio and Pisces,
watery.' With this, the astronomer rose, and saying, 'Bear witness
against me that she is more learned than I,' went away beaten.
Then said the Khalif, 'Where is the philosopher?' whereupon one came
forward and said to Taweddud, 'What is Time?' 'Time,' answered she,
'is a name applied to the [lapse of the] hours of the day and night,
which are but the measures of the courses of the sun and moon in
their several orbits, even as God the Most High telleth us, when he
saith, "And a sign to them [is] the night, from which we strip off
the day, and behold, they are in darkness, and the sun runneth to a
fixed abode, [appointed] to it; this is the ordinance of the
Sublime, the All-knowing."' (334) (Q.) 'How comes unbelief to the
son of Adam?' (A.) 'It is reported of the Prophet that he said,
"Unbelief runs in a man, as the blood runs in the veins, when he
reviles the world and Time and night and the hour." And again, "Let
none of you revile Time, for Time is God; neither the world, for it
saith, 'May God not help him that reviles me!' neither the hour, for
'Verily, the hour cometh, without doubt;' (335) neither the earth,
for it is a portent, according to the saying of the Most High, 'From
it we created you, to it we will return you and from it we will
bring you forth yet again.'"' (336) (Q.) 'What are the five that ate
and drank, yet came not out of loins nor belly?' (A.) 'Adam and
Simeon and Salih's she-camel (337) and Ishmael's ram and the bird
that Abou Bekr the Truth-teller saw in the cave.' (338) (Q.) 'Tell
me of five that are in Paradise and are neither mortals, Jinn nor
angels?' (A.) 'Jacob's wolf and the Seven Sleepers' dog and Esdras's
ass and Salih's camel and the Prophet's mule.' (Q.) 'What man prayed
a prayer neither on earth nor in heaven?' (A.) 'Solomon [son of
David], when he prayed on his carpet, borne by the wind.' (Q.) 'A
man once looked at a handmaid in the morning, and she was unlawful
to him; but, at noonday, she became lawful to him. By mid-afternoon,
she was again unlawful, but at sundown, she was lawful to him. At
evensong, she was a third time unlawful, but by daybreak, she became
once more lawful to him.' (A.) 'This was a man who looked at
another's handmaid in the morning, and she was then unlawful to him,
but at midday he bought her, and she became lawful to him. At
mid-afternoon he enfranchised her, and she became unlawful to him,
but at sundown he married her and she was again lawful to him. At
evensong, he divorced her and she was then a third time unlawful to
him, but, next morning, at daybreak, he took her back, and she
became once more lawful to him.' (Q.) 'Tell me what tomb fared on
with him that lay buried therein?' (A.) 'The whale, when it had
swallowed Jonah.' (Q.) 'What spot of ground is it, upon which the
sun shone once, but will never again shine till the Day of
Judgment?' (A.) 'The bottom of the Red Sea, when Moses smote it with
his staff, and the sea clove asunder in twelve places, according to
the number of the tribes; then the sun shone on the bottom and will
do so never again till the Day of Judgment.' (Q.) 'What was the
first skirt that trailed upon the surface of the earth?' (A.) 'That
of Hagar, out of shame before Sarah, and it became a custom among
the Arabs.' (Q.) 'What is that which breathes without life?' (A.)
'Quoth God the Most High, "By the morning, when it breathes!"' (339)
(Q.) 'A number of pigeons came to a high tree and lighted, some on
the tree and others under it. Said those on the tree to those on the
ground, "If one of you come up to us, ye will be a third part of us
[all] in number; and if one of us descend to you, we shall be like
unto you in number." How many pigeons were there in all?' (A.)
'Twelve: seven alighted on the tree and five beneath.'
With this the philosopher put off his clothes and fled forth:
whereupon she turned to those present and said, 'Which of you is the
rhetorician that can discourse of all kinds of knowledge?' There
came forward Ibrahim ben Siyyar and said to her, 'Think me not like
the rest.' Quoth she, 'It is the more sure to me that thou wilt be
beaten, for that thou art a boaster, and God will help me against
thee, that I may strip thee of thy clothes. So, if thou sentest one
to fetch thee wherewithal to clothe thyself, it would be well for
thee.' 'By Allah,' cried he, 'I will assuredly conquer thee and make
thee a byword among the folk, generation after generation!' 'Do
penance [in advance] for thy [void] oath,' rejoined she. Then said
he, 'What five things did God create, before He made man?' And she
replied, 'Water and earth and light and darkness and the fruits [of
the earth].' (Q.) 'What did God create with the hand of
omnipotence?' (A.) 'The empyreal heaven and the tree Touba (340) and
Adam and the garden of Eden; these God created with the hand of His
omnipotence; but to all other created things He said, "Be,"--and
they were.' (Q.) 'Who is thy father in Islam?' (A.) 'Mohammed, whom
God bless and preserve!' (Q.) 'Who was the father [in Islam] of
Mohammed?' (A.) 'Abraham the Friend of God.' (Q.) 'What is the Faith
of Islam?' (A.) 'The professing that there is no god but God and
that Mohammed is the apostle of God.' (Q.) 'What is thy first and
thy last?' (A.) 'My first is troubled water (341) and my last filthy
carrion. The first of me is dust and the last dust. Quoth the poet:
Created wast thou of the dust and didst a man become, Ready in
question and reply and fluent in debate.
Then to the dust return'dst anon and didst become of it, For that,
in very deed, of dust at first thou wast create.'
(Q.) 'What thing was it, whose first [state] was wood and its last
life?' (A.) 'Moses' rod, when he cast it on the ground and it
became, by permission of God, a writhing serpent.' (342) (Q.) 'What
is the meaning of the verse in the Koran, "And I have other need [or
occasion] for it"?' (343) (A.) 'He [Moses] was wont to plant his
staff in the ground, and it would flower and fruit and shade him
from the heat and the cold. Moreover, it would carry him, when he
was weary, and guard his sheep from the wild beasts, whilst he
slept.' (Q.) 'What woman was born of a man alone and what man of a
woman alone?' (A.) 'Eve of Adam and Jesus of Mary.' (Q.) 'What fire
eats and drinks, what fire eats but drinks not, what fire drinks but
eats not and what other neither eats nor drinks?' (A.) 'Hellfire
eats and drinks, the fire of the world eats but drinks not, the fire
of the sun drinks but eats not, and that of the moon neither eats
nor drinks.' (Q.) 'Which is the open [door] and which the shut
[door]?' (A.) 'The Traditional Ordinances are the open, the Koranic
the shut [door].' (Q.) 'Of what does the poet speak, when he says:
A dweller in the sepulchre, at 's head his victual lies; Whenas he
tastes thereof, he speaks and questions and replies.
He rises up and walks and talks, yet silent is the while, And turns
anon unto the tomb wherefrom he did arise.
No living one is he, that hath a title to respect, Nor dead, that
folk should say of him, "God's mercy him comprise!"?'
(A.) 'The pen.' (Q.) 'What does the poet refer to in these verses:
Two breasts in one it hath; its blood is eath and quick of flow,
Wide-mouthed, though all the rest be black, its ears are white as
snow.
It hath an idol like a cock, that doth its belly peck, And half a
dirhem is its worth, if thou its price wouldst know?'
(A.) 'The inkhorn.' (Q.) 'And in these:
Say to men of wit and learning and to doctors everywhere, Skilled to
find the hidden meanings riddles and enigmas bear,
Come expound to me what is it that ye see a bird produce, 'Mongst
the Arabs and barbarians and wherever else ye fare;
Neither flesh nor blood, I warrant, hath the thing whereof I speak;
Neither down nor feathers, birdwise, for a garment doth it wear.
Boiled it is and likewise roasted, eaten hot and eaten cold; Yea, to
boot, and when 'tis buried in the glowing embers' flare,
Colours twain in it are noted, one as silver clear and white, And
the other lucent yellow, gold therewith may not compare.
Living can it not be reckoned, neither may we count it dead: Tell
me, then, what is this wonder, rarity of all things rare?'
(A.) 'Thou makest long the questioning of an egg worth a doit.' (Q.)
'How many words [or times] did God speak to Moses?' (A.) 'It is
related of the Prophet that he said, "God spoke to Moses fifteen
hundred and fifteen words [or times]."' (Q.) 'Tell me of fourteen
things that speak to the Lord of the Worlds?' (A.) 'The seven
heavens and the seven earths, when they say, "We come, obedient."'
(344) (Q.) 'How was Adam created?' (A.) 'God created Adam of clay:
the clay He made of foam and the foam of the sea, the sea of
darkness, darkness of light, light of a fish, the fish of a rock,
the rock of a ruby, the ruby of water, and the water He created by
the exertion of His omnipotent will, according to His saying
(exalted be His name!), "His commandment is only when He willeth
aught, that He say, 'Be,'--and it is."' (345) (Q.) 'What is meant by
the poet in the following verses:
A things sans mouth or maw that eats in wondrous wise; On trees and
beasts it feeds and all beneath the skies.
Give it to eat, it thrives and flourishes amain; But give it not to
drink of water, or it dies?'
(A.) 'Fire.' (Q.) 'And in these:
Two lovers, that are still estopped from all delight: Embracing,
each with each, they pass the livelong night.
They guarantee the folk from all calamity, And with the risen sun
they're torn apart forthright?'
(A.) 'The leaves of a gate.' (Q.) 'Tell me of the gates of Hell?'
(A.) 'They are seven in number and their names are comprised in the
following verses:
Jehennem first, then Leza comes and eke Hetim as well; Then must
thou count Saïr, and fifth comes Seker, sooth to tell:
Sixth comes Jehim and last of all, Hawiyeh; thus thou hast, In
compass brief of doggrel rhyme, the seven rooms of Hell.'
(Q.) 'To what does the poet refer in these verses:
A pair of ringlets long she hath, that trail for aye Behind her, as
she comes and goes upon her way,
And eye that never knows the taste of sleep nor sheds A tear, for
none it hath for shedding, sooth to say;
Nor wears it aught of clothes, from year to ended year; Yet in all
manner wede it doth the folk array?'
(A.) 'A needle.' (Q.) 'What is the length and breadth of the bridge
Es Sirat?' (A.) 'Its length is three thousand years' journey, a
thousand in descent, a thousand level and a thousand in ascent: it
is sharper than a sword and finer than a hair.' (Q.) 'How many
intercessions [with God] hath the Prophet [for each soul]?' (A.)
'Three.' (Q.) 'Was Abou Bekr the first that embraced Islam?' (A.)
'Yes.' (Q.) 'Yet Ali (346) became a Muslim before him?' (A.) 'All
came to the Prophet, when he was a boy of seven years old, for God
vouchsafed him the knowledge of the truth in his tender youth, so
that he never prostrated himself to idols.' (Q.) 'Which is the more
excellent, Ali or Abbas?' (347)
Now she knew that, in propounding this question, Ibrahim was laying
a trap for her; for, if she said, 'Ali is the more excellent,' she
would fall in disgrace with the Khalif; so she bowed her head
awhile, now reddening, now paling, then said, 'Thou askest me of two
excellent men, each having [his own especial] excellence. Let us
return to what we were about.' When the Khalif heard her reply, he
rose to his feet and said, 'By the Lord of the Kaabeh, thou hast
said well, O Taweddud!' Then said Ibrahim, 'What means the poet,
when he says:
Slender of skirts and slim of shape and sweet of taste it is, Most
like unto the spear, except it lacks of the spontoon.
In all the countries of the world the folk make use of it, And eaten
'tis in Ramazan, after mid-afternoon?'
She answered, 'The sugar-cane;' and he said, 'Tell me of many
things.' 'What are they?' asked she; and he said, 'What is sweeter
than honey, what is sharper than the sword, what is swifter than
poison, what is the delight of a moment and what the contentment of
three days, what is the pleasantest of days, what is the joy of a
week, what is the debt that the worst payer denieth not, what is the
prison of the tomb, what is the joy of the heart, what is the snare
of the soul, what is death in life, what is the malady that may not
be healed, what is the reproach that may not be done away, what is
the beast that harbours not in cultivated fields, but lodges in
waste places and hates mankind and hath in it somewhat of the make
of seven strong beasts?' Quoth she, 'Hear what I shall say in
answer; then put off thy clothes, that I may expound to thee.' Then
the Khalif said, 'Expound, and he shall put off his clothes.' So she
said, 'That, which is sweeter than honey, is the love of pious
children to their parents; that, which is sharper than the sword, is
the tongue; that, which is swifter than poison, is the evil eye; the
delight of a moment is coition and the contentment of three days is
the depilatory for women; the pleasantest of days is that of profit
on merchandise; the joy of a week is the bride; the debt, which the
worst payer denieth not, is death; the prison of the tomb is an ill
son; the joy of the heart is a woman obedient to her husband, (and
it is said also that, when fleshmeat descends upon the heart, it
rejoiceth therein); the snare [or vexation] of the soul is a
disobedient slave; death in life is poverty; the malady, that may
not be healed, is an ill nature and the reproach, that may not be
done away, is an ill daughter; lastly, the beast that harbours not
in cultivated fields, but lodges in waste places and hates mankind
and hath in it somewhat of the make of seven strong beasts, is the
locust, whose head is as the head of the horse, its neck as the neck
of the bull, its wings as the wings of the vulture, its feet as the
feet of the camel, its tail as the tail of the serpent, its body as
the body of the scorpion and its horns as the horns of the gazelle.'
The Khalif was astounded at her quickness and understanding and said
to Ibrahim, 'Put off thy clothes.' So he rose and said, 'I call all
who are present in this assembly to witness that she is more learned
than I and all the learned men.' And he put off his clothes and gave
them to her, saying, 'Take them and may God not bless them to thee!'
The Khalif ordered him fresh clothes and said to Taweddud, 'There is
one thing left of that for which thou didst engage, namely, chess.'
And he sent for professors of chess and draughts and backgammon. The
chess-player sat down before her, and they set the pieces, and he
moved and she moved; but, every move he made she speedily countered,
till she beat him and he found himself check-mated. Quoth he, 'I did
but lead thee on, that thou mightest think thyself skilful; but set
up again, and I will show thee.' So they placed the pieces a second
time, and he said to himself, 'Open thine eyes, or she will beat
thee.' And he fell to moving no piece, save after calculation, and
ceased not to play, till she said, 'Check-mate.' When he saw this,
he was confounded at her quickness and skill; but she laughed and
said, 'O master, I will make a wager with thee on this third game. I
will give thee the queen and the right-hand rook and the left-hand
knight; if thou beat me, take my clothes, and if I beat thee, I will
take thine.' 'I agree to this,' replied he, and they replaced the
pieces, she giving him the queen, rook and knight. Then said she,
'Move, O master.' So he moved, saying in himself, 'I cannot but win,
with such an advantage,' and made a combination; but she moved on,
little by little, till she made one of her pawns a queen and pushing
up to him pawns and other pieces, to take off his attention, set one
in his way and tempted him with it. (348) Accordingly, he took it
and she said to him, 'The measure is meted out and the equilibrium
established. Eat, O man, till thou pass repletion; nought shall be
thy ruin but greediness. Knowest thou not that I did but tempt thee,
that I might beguile thee? See: this is check-mate: put off thy
clothes.' 'Leave me my trousers,' quoth he, 'so God requite thee;'
and he swore by Allah that he would contend with none, so long as
Taweddud abode at the Court of Baghdad. Then he took off his clothes
and gave them to her and went away.
Then came the backgammon-player, and she said to him, 'If I beat
thee, what wilt thou give me?' Quoth he, 'I will give thee ten suits
of brocade of Constantinople, figured with gold, and ten suits of
velvet and a thousand dinars, and if I beat thee, I ask nothing but
that thou write me an acknowledgment thereof.' 'To it, then,'
replied she, 'and do thy best.' So they played, and he lost and went
away, jabbering in the Frank jargon and saying, 'By the bounty of
the Commander of the Faithful, there is not her like in all the
world!' Then the Khalif summoned players on instruments of music and
said to her, 'Dost thou know aught of music?' 'Yes,' answered she.
So he bade bring a peeled and polished lute, whose owner [or maker]
was ground down by exile [or estrangement from the beloved] and of
which quoth one, describing it:
God watered a land and straight a tree sprang up on its root: It
cast forth branches and throve and flourished with many a shoot.
The birds, when the wood was green, sang o'er it, and when it was
dry, Fair women sang to it in turn, for lo, 'twas a minstrel's lute!
So they brought a bag of red satin, with tassels of saffron-coloured
silk: and she opened the bag, and took out a lute, on which were
graven the following verses:
Full many a tender branch a lute for singing-girl has grown,
Wherewith at banquets to her mates she makes melodious moan.
She sings; it follows on her song, as 'twere to teach her how
Heart's troubles in clear perfect speech of music to make known.
She laid her lute in her lap and letting her breasts hang over it,
bent to it as bends a mother, suckling her child; then preluded in
twelve different modes, till the whole assembly was agitated with
delight, and sang the following verses:
Leave your estrangement, I pray, and bid your cruelty hold, For, by
your life, my heart will never for you be consoled.
Have pity on one who weeps, afflicted and ever sad, A slave of
passion, who burns for thee with longings untold.
The Khalif was ravished and exclaimed, 'May God bless thee and
receive him who taught thee (349) into His mercy!' Whereupon she
rose and kissed the earth before him. Then he sent for money and
paid her master Aboulhusn a hundred thousand dinars to her price;
after which he said to her, 'O Taweddud, ask a boon of me.' 'O
Commander of the Faithful,' replied she, 'I ask of thee that thou
restore me to my lord who sold me to thee.' 'It is well,' answered
the Khalif and restored her to her master and gave her five thousand
dinars for herself. Moreover, he appointed Aboulhusn one of his
boon-companions and assigned him a monthly stipend of a thousand
dinars so long as he should live, and he abode with the damsel
Taweddud in all delight of life.
Marvel then, O King, at the eloquence of this damsel and the
greatness of her learning and understanding and her perfect
excellence in all branches of knowledge, and consider the generosity
of the Khalif Haroun er Reshid, in that he gave her master this
money and said to her, 'Ask a boon of me;' and she besought him to
restore her to her lord. So he restored her to him and gave her five
thousand dinars for herself and made him one of his boon-companions.
Where is such generosity to be found after the Abbaside Khalifs, may
God the Most High have mercy upon them all!
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