by Abu Muhammad al-Qasim ibn Ali al-Hariri of Basra

The Maqamat of al-Hariri (d. 1122 CE) are the supreme achievement of Arabic literary prose — fifty assemblies of rhymed prose (saj') and verse, recounting the picaresque adventures of Abu Zayd al-Saruji, a brilliant vagabond and orator who cons his audiences with his eloquence across the cities of the medieval Islamic world.

Abu Muhammad al-Qasim ibn Ali al-Hariri of Basra composed the Maqamat in response to a patron's commission, modelling them on the earlier Maqamat of Badi' al-Zaman al-Hamadhani (d. 1008 CE) but surpassing them in linguistic virtuosity and scope. The narrator, al-Harith ibn Hammam, encounters Abu Zayd in city after city — preacher, beggar, litigant, mourner, poet — always in a new disguise, always wielding language as both art and weapon.

This edition presents the first twenty-six assemblies in the translation of Thomas Chenery (1867), and the remaining twenty-four in the translation of F. Steingass (1898), both published under the auspices of the Royal Asiatic Society. The source text was digitised from archive.org.

The Preface of al-Hariri

IN THE NAME OF GOD THE MERCIFUL, MOST MERCIFUL.

Sar the Excellent, the Incomparable, Abi Mohammed
al Kasim ibn ‘Ali ibn Mohammed ibn ‘Othman Al Hariri
of Bagrah (God cool his resting-place).

O God, we praise thee for what perspicuity thou hast
taught, and what enunciation thou hast inspired; as we
praise thee for what bounty thou hast enlarged, what
mercy thou hast diffused :—And we take refuge with
thee from the vehemence of fluency and the immoderation of talkativeness, as we take refuge with thee from
the vice of inarticulateness and the shame of hesitation.
And by thee we seek te be kept from temptation through
the flattery of the praiser and the connivance of the
favourer, as we seek to be kept from exposure to the
defaming of the slanderer and the betrayal of the informer.—And we.ask pardon of thee if our desires carry
us. into the region of ambiguities, as we ask pardon if
our steps advance. to the domain of errors.—And we ask
of thee succour which shall lead us aright, and a
heart turning with justice, and a tongue adored with
truth, and a speech strengthened. with demonstration,
and accuracy that shall keep us from ‘mistake, and resoIntion that shall conquer caprice, and pereeption by

which we may estimate duly:—And that thou wilt help
us by thy guidance to conceive, and enable us by thy assistance to express ;—That thou wilt guard us from error
in narration, and turn us from unseemliness in jesting ;—
That we may be secure from slanders of the tongue;
that we may be free from the ill of tinselled speech ;—
That we walk not in the road of sin, nor stand in the
place of repentance :—That we be not pursued by suit or
censure, nor need to flee from hastiness to excuse—O
God, fulfil to us this wish; give us to attain to this
desire: put us not forth of thy large shadow, make.us
not a morsel for the devourer—For now we stretch
forth to thee the hand of entreaty; we are thorough
in humiliation to thee and abasement.—And we call
down thy abundant grace and thy bounty that. is.over
all, with humbleness of seeking and with the venture
of hope.—Also approaching thee through the merits of
Mohammed, Lord of men, the Intercessor whose intercession shall be received at the congregation of judg-
ment.—By whom thou hast set the seal to the prophets,
and whose degree thou hast exalted to the highest
heaven :—-Whom thou hast deseribed in thy clear-speaking Book, and hast said (and thou art the most truthful
of sayers): “It is the word of a noble envoy, of him
who is mighty in the presence of the Lord of the throne,
having authority, obeyed, yea, faithful.”—O God, send
thy blessing on him and his House who guide aright,
and his companions who built up the faith; and make
us followers of his guidance and theirs, and profit us all
by the loving! of him and them: for thou art Almighty,
and one meet to. answer prayer.

«And now: Ina meeting devoted to that learning

whose breeze has stilled in this age, whose lights are
nigh gone out—There ran a mention of the Assemblies
which had been invented by Badi az Zeman, the sage
of Hamadan (God shew him mercy);—In which he had
referred the composition to Abi’l Fath of Alexandria and
the relation to ‘isa, son of Hishim.—And both these
are persons obscure, not known; vague, not to be recognized.—Then suggested to me one whose suggestion
is as a decree, and obedience to whom is as a prize,—That
I should compose Assemblies, following in them the
method of Badi* (although the lame steed attains not to
outrun like the stout one).—Then I reminded him of
what is said concerning him who joins even two words,
or strings together one or two verses:—And deprecated
this position in which the understanding is bewildered,
and the fancy misses aim, and the depth of the intelligence is probed, and a man’s real value is made mani-
fest:—And in which one is forced to be as a wood-gatherer
by night, or as he who musters footmen and horsemen
together :—Considering, too, that the voluble man is
seldom secure or pardoned if he trips——But when he
consented not to forbearance, and freed me not from his
demand, I assented to his invitation with the assenting
of the obedient, and displayed in according with him
all my endeavour;—“And composed, in spite of what I
suffered from frozen genius, and dimmed intelligence,
and failing judgment, and afflicting cares,—Fifty Assemplies, comprising what is serious in language and lively,
what is delicate in expression and dignified; the brilliancies of eloquence and its pearls, the beauties of
scholarship and its rarities :—Besides _ what I have
adorned them with of verses of the Koran and goodly

metonymies, and studded them with of Arab proverbs,
and scholarly elegancies, and grammatical riddles, and
decisions dependent on the meaning of words, and original
addresses, and ornate orations, and tear-moving exhortations, and amusing jests:—All of which I have indited
as by the tongue of Abi Zayd of Serij, while I have
attributed the relating of them to Al Harith son of
Hammam, of Basra.—And whenever I change the pasture
Ihave no purpose but to inspirit the reader, and to

increase the number of those who shall seek my book.—.

And of the poetry of others I have introduced nothing
but two single verses, on which I have based the fabric
of the Assembly of Holwan; and two others, in a
couplet, which I have inserted at the conclusion of the
Assembly of Kerej.—And, as for the rest, my own mind
is the father of its virginity, the author of its sweet
and its bitter—Yet I acknowledge withal that Badi*
(God shew him mercy) is a mighty passer of goals, a
worker of wonders ;—And that he who assays after him
to the composition of an Assembly, even though he be
gifted with the eloquence of Kodameb,—Does but scoop
up of his overflow, and travels that path only by his
gnidance.—And excellently said one :-—

Tf before. it mourned, I had mourned my Jove for Su'da, then
should I have healed my soul, nor had afterwards to repent.

But it moured: before me, and its mourning excited mine, and I
said, “The superiority is to the one that is first.”

Now I hope I shall not be, in.respect of the playful
style that I display, and the.source that I repair to, like
the beast that scratched: up its death with its hoof, or he
who cut off his nose with his own hand ;—So as to be
jomed to those who are “most of all losers in their

works, whose course on earth has been in vain, while
they count that they have done fair deeds.”-——Since I
know that although he who is intelligent and liberal
will connive at me, and he who is friendly and partial
may defend me,—I can hardly escape from the simpleton
who is ignorant, or the spiteful man who feigns ignorance;—Who will detract from me on account of this com-
position, and will give out that it is among the things
forbidden of the law.—But yet, whoever scans matters
with the eye of intelligence, and makes good his insight
into principles—Will rank these Assemblies in the order
of useful writings, and class them with the fables that
relate to brutes and lifeless objects. —Now none was ever
heard of whose hearing shrank from such tales, or who
held as sinful those who related them at ordinary times.—
Moreover, since deeds depend on intentions, and in these
lies the effectiveness of religious obligations—What
fault is there in one who composes stories for instruction
not for display, and whose purpose in them is the education and not the fablings ?—Nay, is he not in the posi-
tion of one who assents to doctrine, and “ guides to the
right path ?”

Yet am I content if I may carry my caprice, and then be quit
of it, without any debt against me or to me.

And of God I seek to be helped in what I purpose,
and to be kept from that which makes defective, and to
be led to that which leads aright.—For there is.no
refuge but to Him, and no seeking of succour but in
Him, and no prospering but from Him, and no sanctuary
but He.—On Him I rely, and to Him I have recourse.

The First Assembly, Called “of Sana.”

In this Assembly Al Harith arrives in the town of San‘a in
Yemen, in great poverty; and, while seeking relief, encounters a
crowd, which is gathered about a preacher. The discourse is a stern
warning against self-indulgence, and an exhortation to repentance.
Harith, wishing to learn who the preacher is, follows him to a cave,
and there finds him enjoying himself with good food, and even with
wine. , He begins to rebuke him, but the preacher, throwing off disguise, extemporizes some lines, confessing that his. preaching was
only a device to obtain charity. Harith asks the attendant the name
of the preacher, and is told that he is Abii Zayd, of Seraj. This Assembly is placed first because in it Harith is represented as un-
acquainted with Abi Zayd, though the first Assembly composed by
Hariri is said to be that called Al Hardmiyeh, which is placed fortyeighth in the collection.

Al Harith, son of Hammam, related :—When I
mounted the hump of exile, and misery removed me
from my fellows, the shocks of the time cast me to
San‘a of Yemen.—And I entered it with wallets empty,
manifest in my need ; I had not a meal; I found not in
my sack a mouthful.—Then began I to traverse its ways
like one crazed, and to roam in its depths as roams
the thirsting bird—And wherever ranged my glances,
wherever ran my goings at morn or even,—I sought
some generous man before whom I might fray the tissue
of my countenance, to whom I might be open concerning
my need ;—-Or one well bred, whose aspect might dispel
my pain, whose aneedote. might relieve my thirsting —
Until the close of. my circuit ‘brought me, and the overture of courtesy guided me,. to a wide place of concourse,
in which was a throng and a. wailing. —Then I entered
the thicket of the crowd to explore what was drawing
forth tears—And I saw im the middle of the ring a

person slender of make ;—Upon him was the equipment
of pilgrimage, and he had the voice of lamentation.—
And he was studding cadences with the jewels of
his wording, and striking hearings with the reproofs
of his admonition—And now the medley of the crowds
had surrounded him, as the halo surrounds the moon, or
the shell the fruit.—So I crept towards him, that I
might catch of his profitable sayings, and gather up of
his gems.—And I heard him say, as he coursed along
in his career, and the throat of his improvisation made
utterance :—

O thou reckless in petilaniae, trailing the garment of
vanity! O thou headstrong in follies, turning aside to
idle tales !—How long wilt thou persevere in thine
error, and eat sweetly of the pasture of thy wrong ?—
How far wilt thou be extreme in thy pride, and not
abstain from thy wantonness ?—Thou provokest by thy
rebellion the Master of thy forelock ; in the foulness of
thy behaving thou’ goest boldly against the. Knower of
thy secret.—Thou hidest thyself from thy neighbour,
but thou art in the sight of thy Watcher ; thou concealest from thy slave, but no hidden thing is hidden from

thy Rwler.—Thinkest thou that thy state will profit thee
when thy departure draweth near? or that thy wealth

will deliver thee when thy deeds destroy thee? or that
thy repentance will suffice for thee when thy foot slippeth? or that thy kindred will lean to thee_ in the
day that thy judgment place gathereth thee ?1-How
is-it thou hast not walked in the high-road of guidanee,
and hastened the treatment: of thy disease, and blunted
the edge of thine iniquity, and restrained thyself—thy
‘chief enemy? Is not death thy doom? What then

is thy preparation? Is not grey hair thy warning?
What then is thy excuse? And in the grave’s niche
thy sleeping place? What dost thou say? And to
God thy going? and who shall be thy defender ?—Oft
hath the time awakened thee, but thou hast set thyself
to slumber; and admonition hath drawn thee, but thou
hast strained against it; and warnings have been manifest to thee, but thou hast made thyself blind; and
truth hath been established to thee, but thou hast disputed it; and death hath bid thee remember, but thou
hast sought to forget; and it hath been in thy power
to impart of good, but thou hast not imparted—Thou
preferrest money which thon mayest hoard before piety
which thou mayest keep in mind: thou choosest a castle
thou mayest rear rather than bounty thou mayest confer.—Thon inelinest from the guide from whom thou
mightest get guidance, to the pelf thou mayest gain as a
gift; thou lettest the love of the raiment thou covetest
overcome the recompence thou mightest earn—The
rubies of gifts cling to thy heart more than the seasons
of prayer; and the heightening of dowries is preferred
with thee to continuance in almsgivings.—The dishes
of many meats are more desired of thee than the leaves
of doctrines: the jesting of comrades is more cheerfal to
thee than the reading of the Koran—Thou commandest
to righteousness, but yiolatest its sanctuary : thou forbiddest from ‘deceit, but refrainest not thyself: thou
turnest men from oppression, and then thou drawest near
to it; thou fearest mankind, but God is more worthy
that thou shouldest fear him. Then he recited—
‘Woe to him who seeks the world, and turns to it his careering :

i And recovers not from his greediness for it, and the excess of his
love. cena

scarce

FIRST ASSEMBLY. din

Oh, if he were wise, but a drop of what he seeks would content
him.

Then he laid his dust, and let his spittle subside ; and
put his bottle on his arm, and his staff under his armpit—And when the company gazed on his uprising,
and saw that he equipped himself to move away from the
midst—Each of them put his hand into his bosom, and
filled for him a bucket from his stream :—And said,
“Use this for thy spending, or divide it among thy
friends.” —And he received it with half-closed eyes, and
turned away from them, giving thanks ;—And began to
take leave of whoever would escort him, that his road
might be hidden from them; and to dismiss whoever
would follow him, that his dwellmg might be unknown.—Said Al Harith, son of Hamman: Now I
went. after him, concealing from him my person; and
followed on his track from where he could not see me;—
Until he came to a cave, and slipped into it suddenly.
So I waited for him till he put off his sandals and
washed his feet, and then I ran in upon him;—And
found him sitting opposite an attendant, at some white
bread and a roast kid, and over against them was a
jar of date wine.—And I said to him, “Sirrah, was
that. thy story, and is this thy reality ?’—But he puffed
the puff of heat and went near-to burst with rage; and
ceased not to stare at me till I thought he would leap
upon me.—But when his fire was allayed, and his flame
hid itself, he reeited :—

"I don the black #obe to seek my meal, and I fix my hook in the ;

hardest prey :
And of my preaching I thake a noose, and steal with it against the

-ghaser and the chased.

Fortune has forced me to make way even to the lion of the thicket
by the subtlety of my beguiling.

Yet do I not fear its change, nor does my loin quiver at it:

Nor does a covetous mind lead me to water at. any well that will
soil my honour.

Now if Fortune were just in its decree it would not empower the
worthless with authority.

Then he said to me, “Come and eat; or, if thou wilt,
rise and tell.”—But I turned to his attendant, and said,
“T conjure thee, by Him through whom harm is deprecated, that thou tell me who is this.”—He said, “ This is
Abi Zayd, of Serij, the Light of Foreigners, the Crown
of the Learned.”—Then I turned back to whence I came,
and was extreme in wonder at what I saw.

The Second Assembly, Called “of Holwan.”

“OF HOLWAN.”

In this Assembly the author displays more than his usual rhetorical subtlety, and while there is none more admired by those whose
taste has been formed on Eastern models, there is none which
appears more extravagant to the European student. Alliterations,
verbal caprices, far-fetched expressions, and the puerile conceits
which were usual among poets of the age, so abound, that we may
almost imagine the author to be desirous of satirizing what he professes to imitate. The subject is as follows :—Harith in his passion
for the society of literary persons makes his way to Holwan, a town
in Irak, on the mountains east of Bagdad, and a resort of the higher
classes from the heat of the capital. Here he meets with Abi Zayd,
who is pursuing his calling of improvisatore and mendicant under
various disguises, and enjoys for a long time his company and literary guidance, Aba Zayd, however, disappears, and Harith returns
to his native place, Basra, where after a time he again meets Abt
Zayd in the public Hbrary, among a crowd of dilettanti who are
discussing the beauties of the popular poets. The admiration of
one is especially excited by a line in which the teoth of a lady are
compared to pearla-and-hailstones, and the white petals of a flower ;

and Abdi Zayd instantly produces a number of comparisons in the
same style, which give him ‘a. high place in the esteem of those
present, when they are assured ihat he is really the author of them.

They reward him, and the Assembly concludes by his. reciting to
Harith, who had recognised him, some Hines on the fickleness of
fortune.

Al Harith, son of Hammim, related: Ever since my
amulets were doffed and my turbans were donned, I was
eager to visit learning’s seat and to jade to it the camels
of seeking.—That through it I might cleave to what
would be my ornament among men, my rain-cloud in
thirst.—And through the excess of my longing to kindle
at it, and my desire to robe myself in its raiment;—I
discussed with every one, great and small, and sought
my draught both of the rain-flood and the dew, and
solaced myself with hope and desire—Now when I descended at Holwan, and had already tried the brethren,
and tested their values, and proved what was worthless
or fine ;—I found there Abi Zayd of Serdj, shifting
among the varieties of pedigree, beating about in various
courses of gain-getting ;—For at one time he claimed to
be of the race of Sas4n, and at another he made himself
kin to the princes of Ghassén ; and now he gallied forth
in the vesture of poets; and anon he put on the pride of
nobles.—And yet with all this diversifying of his. condition, and this display of contradiction,—He is adorned
with grace and information, and courtesy and knowledge,
and astonishing eloquence, and obedient improvisation,
and. excelling accomplishments, and a foot that mounts
the hills of the sciences.—Now, through his goodly. attainments he is associated with in spite of his fants; and

through the largeness of his information there is a fond: ness for the sight of him; and through the blandishment
of his fair-speaking men are loath to oppose him; and
ough the sweetness of his address he is helped fo his

desire—Then I clung to his skirts for the sake of his
peculiar accomplishments, and valued highly his affection by reason of his precious qualities.

With him I wiped away my cares, and beheld my fortune displayed to me, open of face, gleaming with light.

I looked upon his nearness to me as kinship, his abiding as
wealth, his aspect as a full draught, his life as rain.

Thus we remained a long season; he produced for me
daily some pleasantness, and drove some doubt from my
heart,—Until the hand of want mixed for him the cup
of parting, and the lack of a meal urged him to abandon
Trak ;—-And the failures of supply cast him into desert
regions, and the waving of the banner of distress ranged
him in the line of travellers;—And he sharpened for
departure the edge of determination, and journeyed
away, drawing my heart with his leading cord.

After he was gone none pleased me who. kept by me, none filled
me with affection by urging me to intimacy.

Since he strayed away none has appeared to me his like in exeellence; no friend bas gotten the equal of his qualities.

So he was hidden from me.a season: I knew not his
lair; I found. none to tell of him;—But when I had
_ rehumed from my wandering to the place where my

branch had sprouted,—I was once present in the town
_ Wibrary, which is the council-hall of scholars, the meeting place of residents and strangers: —Then there entered

one with # thick beard and a squalid aspect,—And he
saluted those who sat, and took seat in the last rows of
the peoplée.—Then began: he to produce what was in his
wallet, and. to astonish those present. by. the. sagacity of
his judgment.—And he said to the man who was next
him, “ What is the book into which thou lookest?”—-He
_ aaid, “The pooms. of A deh 5 him of whose ex-

cellence men bear witness.”—-He said, “In what thou
hast seen hast thou hit on any fine thing which thon
admirest ?”—He said, “Yes; the line

As though she smiled from strung pearls or hailstones, or camomile flowers.
For it is original in the use of similitude which it eontains.”"—-He said to him, “Here is a wonder! here isa
lack of taste,—Sir, thou hast taken for fat what is only
swollen, thou hast blown on that which is no fuel:—
Where art thou in comparison with the rare verse which
unites the similitudes of the teeth ?

My life a ransom for those tecth whose beauty charms, and which
a purity adorns sufficing thee for all other.

She. parts her lips from fresh pearls, and from hail-stones, and
from camomile flowers, and from the palm shoot, and from bubbles.

Then each one approved. the couplet and admired
it, and bade him repeat it and dictate it——And he was
asked, ‘‘ Whose is this verse, and is its author living
or dead ?’—He said, “ By Allah, Right is most worthy
to be followed, and truth is most fitting to be listened
to:—Know, friends, that it is his who talks with you today.”-—Said Al Harith: Now it was as though the
eompany doubted of his fathering, and were unwilling to
give credit to his claim.—And he perceived what, had
fallen into.their thoughts, and was aware of their inward
unbelief ;—And was afraid that blame might chance to
him, or it-fame reach him;—So he quoted from the
Koran, ‘Some suspicions are a sin.”—Then he said, “ 0
ye.reciters of verse, physicians of sickly phrase !—Truly
‘fhe. purity of the gem is shown by the testing, and
the hand of truth rends the cloak of doubt.—Now it was
said aforetime that by trial is a man, honoured’ or contemned—So come! I now expose my hidden store to
the proving, I offer my saddle-bag for comparison.” —
Then hastened one who was there and said: “I know a
verse such that there is no weaving on its beam, such
that no genius can supply one after its image—Now, if

‘ thou wish to draw our hearts to thee, compose after this
style :—

She rained pearls from the daffodil, and watered the rose, and bit
upon the ‘unnib with hailstone.

And it was but the glance of an eye, or less, before he
recited rarely :—

Tasked her when she met me to put off her crimson veil, and to
endow my hearing with the sweetest of tidings : ;

And she removed the ruddy light which covered the brightness
of her moon, and she dropped pearls from a perfumed ring.

Then all present were astonished at his readiness, and
acknowledged his honesty —And when he perceived that
they approved his diction, and were hastening into the
path of honouring him,—He looked down the twinkling
of an eye; then he said, ‘‘ Here are two other verses for
you ;” and recited :—

She came on the day when departure afflicted, in black robes,
biting her fingers like one regretful, confounded :

And night lowered on her morn, and a branch supported them
both, and she bit into crystal with pearls.

Then did the company set high his value, and deem
that his steady rain was a plenteous one ;—And they
made pleasant their converse with him, and gave him
goodly. clothing —Said the teller of this story: Now
when I saw the blazing of his firebrand, and-the gleam
of his unveiled brightness, I fixed a long look to’ guess
at him, and made my eye to stray over his countenance.
And lo! he was our Shaykh of Serij; but now his

dark night was moon-lit.—Then I congratulated myself
on his coming thither, and hastened to kiss his hand :—
And said to him, “ What has changed thy appearance,
so that I could not recognise thee? what has made thy
beard gray, so that I knew not thy countenance ?”—
And he indited and said :-—

The stroke of calamities makes us hoary, and fortune to men is a
changer.

If it yields to-day to any, to-morrow it overcomes him.

Trust not the gleam of its lightning, for it is a deceitful gleam,

But be patient if it hounds calamities against thee, and drives them

For there is no disgrace on the pure gold when it is turned about
in the fire.

Then he rose and departed from his place, and carried
away our hearts with him.

The Third Assembly, Called “of Kaylah.”

“OF KAYLAH.”

Harith is in a circle of scholars, when a lame man. makes his
appearance, and after saluting them describes his former. affluence
and present -penury in a very poetical and figurative style. Warith
perceiving his genius, and pitying his distress, offers him a denar, on
condition that he will improvise some lines.in praise of it. This the
lame man at once does, and on Harith offering him another denar on

condition of his blaming it, he recites. another composition in dis-/
praise of money. “Hérith then recognizes in the lame man Abt)
Zayd, and rebukes him for his imposture. Abt Zayd defends hinself in some new verses. The opening address of Abi Zayd is in
imitation of a style said to be common among the Arabs of the desert.

Al Harith, son of Hammam, related: I was set with
some comrades in a company wherein he that made
appeal was never bootless, and the rubbing of the fireshafis never. failed, and the flame of contention never.

SPRAY STN STON

blazed.—And while we were catching from each other
the cues of recitations, and betaking ourselves to novelties of anecdote,—Behold there stood by us one on

“whom was a worn garment, and in whose walk was a

limp. —And he said, O ye best of treasures, joys of your
kindred: Health to you this morning; may ye enjoy
your morning draught.—Look on one who was erewhile
master of guest-room and largess, wealth and bounty,
land and villages, dishes and feasting.—But the frowning
of calamities ceased not from him, and the warrings of
sorrows, and the fire-flakes of the malice of the envious,
and the succession of dark befallings,—Until the court
was empty, and the yard was bare, and the fountain
sank, and the dwelling was desolate, and the hall was
void, and the chamber stone-strewed.—And fortune
shifted so that the household wailed; and the stalls
were vacant, so that the rival had compassion; and the
cattle and the goods they perished, so that the envious
and malignant pitied.—And to such a pass did we come,
through assailing fortune and prostrating need,—That
we were shod with soreness, and fed on choking, and
filled our bellies with ache, and wrapped our entrails.
upon hunger, and anointed our eyes with watching, and —
made pits our home, and deemed thorns a smooth bed,
and came to forget our saddles, and thought destroying
deSth:to be sweet,-and the ordained day to be. tardy.—
And now is there anyone generous to heal, bountiful
to bestow ?—For by Him who made me to spring from
Kaylah, surely Iam now a brother of penury, I have
not a nights’ vietual; -

Said Al Harith, ae animal Now I pitied: his

5 ‘distresses, and inclined to the eliciting of his thymes.—

So I drew forth for him a denar, and said to him, to
prove him, “If thou praise it in verse it is thine, full
surely.”—And he betook himself to recite on the spot,
borrowing nothing :—

How noble is that yellow one, whose yellowness is pure,

Which. traverses the regions, and whose journeying is afar.

Told abroad are its fame and repute:

Tis lines are set as the secret sign of wealth ;

Its march is coupled with the suecess of endeavours;

Its bright look is loved by mankind ;

As though its ore had been molten of their hearts.

By its aid whoever has gotten it in his purse assails boldly,

Though kindred be perished, or tardy to help.

Oh charming are its purity and brightness;

Charming are its sufficiency and help,

How many a ruler is there whose rule has been perfected by it!

How many a sumptuous one is there whose grief, but for it, would
be endless !

How many a host of cares has one charge of it put to flight!

How many a full moon has a sum of it brought down!

How many a one burning with rage, whose coal is flaming,

Has it been secretly whispered to, and then his anger has softened.

How many a prisoner, whom his kin had yielded,

Has it delivered, so that his gladness has been unmingled,

Now by the Truth of the Lord whose creation brought it forth,

Were it not for His fear, I should say its power is supreme.

Then he stretched forth his: hand after his recitation,
and said, ‘The: honourable man performs what. he
promises, and the rain-cloud pours if it has thundered.”
—So I threw him the denar, and said, ‘Take it; no
grudging goes with it.”—And he put it in his mouth
and said, “God bless it.”—Then he girt up his skirts
for departure, after that he had paid his thanks.—But
there. arose in me, through his pleasantry, a giddiness of
desire which made me ready to ineur indebtedness.—So
I bated another denar, and said, “‘ Does it suit:thee to

blame this, and then gather it?’—And he recited impromptu, and sang with speed :—

' Ruin on it for a deceiver and insincere,
"The yellow one with two faces like a hypocrite!
Jt shows forth with two qualities to the eye of him that looks on it,
The adornment of the loved one, the colour of the lover.
Affection for it, think they who judge truly,
Tempts men to commit that which shall anger their Maker.
But for it no thief’s right hand were cut off;
Nor ‘would tyranny be displayed by the impious ;
Nor would the niggard shrink from the night-farer ;
Nor would the delayed claimant mourn the delay of him that withholds ;
Nor would men call to God from the envious who casts at them.
Moreover, the worst quality that it possesses
Is that it helps thee not in straits,
Save by fleeing from thee like a runaway slave.
‘Well done he who casts it away from a hill-top,
And who, when it whispers to him with the whispering of.a lover,
Says to it in the words of the truth-speaking, the veracious,

“Thave no mind for intimacy with thee,—begone!

Then, said I to him, “ How abundant is thy shower !”
He said, “ Agreement. binds .strongest.”—8o I tossed
lim the second denar and said, “Consecrate them both
‘with the Twice-read Chapter.”—He cast it into his mouth

and joined it-with its twin,—And turned away blessing
ao g's walk, praising the assembly and its bounty.
| Harith, son of Hammam: Now my heart

a was Aba Zayd, and mar his going

with two winds, the tempest and the breese.”—I said,
“And how hast thou pretended lameness? the like of
thee plays not buffoon.”’—Then his cheerfulness, which
had shone forth, waned; but he recited as he moved
away i—

T. have feigned to be lame, not from love of lameness, but that
I may knock at the gate of relief.

For my cord is thrown on my neck, and I go as one who ranges
freely.

Now if men blame mo I say, “Excuse me: sure there is no guilt
on the lame.”

The Fourth Assembly, Called “of Damietta.”

“OF DAMIETTA.”

Harith is journeying in a caravan to Damietta, and during one of
the night-halis he hears two men conversing on duty towards a
neighbour. The younger being asked for his opinion replies in
a spirit. of charity and generosity, upon which the other rebukes
him, and sets forth the fitting conduct of aman to his neighbour |
in: accordance with the teachings of selfishness and worldly wisdom. '
These addresses, especially that of the elder man, are expressed in a
highly rhetorical diction, which captivates the literary Harith, and
the next morning he looks for them, and discovers them to be Abi
Zaydand bis son. He invites them to his own quarters, introduces

therm to: his friends, and procures for them valuable presents. .Aba }

Zayd then aske permission to go to a neighbouring village and take
a bath; promising to return speedily. They consent, and he goes off

‘with his som, After waiting the greater part of the day. they find

that. he has deceived them, and prepare to continue their journey ; i
Harith, when making‘ready his camel, finds some lines written on the”
paddle, which allude to a precept in the Koran in favour of separating after a meal... The plays on words in this Assembly are exceed-
ingly ingenious and elaborate, and the opening description has much
poetical beauty.

Al Harith, son of Hammam, related: I journeyed to
Damietia in a year of much coming and going,And in

those days was I glanced after for my affluence, desired
in friendship :—I trained the bordered robes of wealth
and looked upon the features of joy.—And I was travelling with companions who had broken the staff of dissen-
sion, who were suckled on the milk-flows of concord,—So
that they showed like the teeth of a comb in uniformity,
and like one soul in agreement of desires;—But we
coursed on withal apace, and not one of us but had
saddled a fleet she-camel;—And if we alighted at a
station or went aside to a spring, we snatched the halt
and lengthened not the staying.

Now it happened that we were urging our camels on a
night youthful in prime, raven-locked of complexion ;—
And we journeyed until the night-scason had put off its
prime, and the morning had wiped away the dye of
the dark ;—But when we wearied of the march and
inclined to drowsiness, we came upon a ground with
dew-moistened hillocks, and a faint east breeze :—And
we chose if as a resting-place for the white camels, an
abode for the night-halt.-Now when the caravan had
descended there, and the groan and the roar of the beasts
were still,—I heard a loud-voiced man say to his talkfellow in the camp, ‘“ What is the rule of thy conduct
with thy people and neighbours ?”’—The other answered,
Tam duteous to my neighbour though he wrong me;
and give my fellowship even to the violent; and hear
with a partner though he disorder my affairs; and
love my friend even though he drench me with a tepid
draught; and prefer my well-wisher above my brother ;
and fulfil to my comrade even though he requite me not
with a tenth; and think little of much if it be for my
suest ; and whelm my. companion with my kindness;

foerceinincnenncere

and put my talk-fellow in the place of my prince; and
hold my intimate to be as my chief; and commit my
gifts to my acquaintance; and confer my comforts on
my associate; and soften my speech to him that hates
me; and continue to ask after him that disregards me;
and am pleased with but the crumbs of my due; and am
content with but the least portion of my reward; and
complain not of wrong even when I am wronged; and
revenge not, even though a viper sting me.

Then said his companion to him, Alas! my boy, only
he who clings should be clung to; only he who is
valuable should be prized.—As for me I give only to
him who will requite; I distinguish not the insolent by
my regard; nor will I be of pure affection to one who
refuses me fair-dealing ; nor treat as a brother one who
would undo. my tethering rope; nor aid one who would
baulk my hopes; nor care for one who would cut. my
cords; nor be courteous to him who ignores my value ;
nor give my leading rope to one who breaks my covenant ;
nor be free of my love to my adversaries ; nor lay aside
my menace to the hostile; nor plant my benefits on the
land. of my enemies; nor be willing to impart to him
who ‘rejoices at my ills; nor show my regard to him
who will exult at. my death ; nor favour with my gifts
any but my friends; nor call to the curing of my sickness any but those who love me; nor confer my friend-
ship on him who will not stop my breach; nor make my
purpose sincere to him who wishes my decease; nor be
earnest in prayer for him who will not fill my wallet;
nor pour out my praise on him who. empties my jar.—
For who has adjudged that I should be lavish and thou
shouldest hoard, that I should be soft and thou rough, that

T should melt and thou freeze, that I should blaze and thou
smoulder ?—No, by Allah, but let us balance in speech
a8 coin, and match in deed as sandals —That each to
each we may be safe from fraud and free from hatred.—
For else, why should I give thee full water and thou
stint me? why should I bear with thee and thou contemm me? why should I gain for thee and thou wound
me? why should I advance to thee and thou repel me?
For how should fair-dealing be attracted by injury? how
can the sun rise clear with cloud ?—And when did love
follow docilely after wrong? and what man of honour
consents to a state of abasement ?-—For excellently said
thy father :-—

Whoso attaches his affection to me, I repay him as one who
builds on his foundation :

And I mete to friend as he metes to me; according to the fullness
of his meting or its defect,

I make him not a loser! for the worst of men is he whose to-day
falls short of his yesterday.

Whoever seeks fruit of me gets only the fruit of his own planting.
“ Iseek not to defraud, but I will not come off with the bargain of
one who is weak in his reason:

T hold not truth binding on me towards a man who holds it not
binding. on himself.

There may be some one insincere in love who fancies that I
ana true in my friendship for him, while he is false ;

And knows not.in his ignorance that I pay my creditor his debt
after its kind.

Sunder, with the sundering of hate, from one who would make thee
a fool, and hold him as one entombed in his grave.

And towards him in whose intercourse there is aught doubtful
put on the garb of one who shrinks from his intimacy.

And hope not for affection from any who sees that thou art in
waut of bis money.

Said Al arith, son-of Hammam: Now, when I had
gathered what passed between them, I longed to know
them in person.—And when the sun shone. forth, and

robed the sky with light, I went forth before the camels
had risen, and with an earliness beyond the earliness
of the crow,—And began to follow the direction of
that night-voice, and to examine the faces with a searching glance :—Until I caught sight of Abi Zayd and his
son talking together, and upon them were two worn
mantles.—Then I knew that they were my two talkers
of the night, the authors of my recitation—So I approached them as one enamoured of their refinement,
pitying their shabbiness ;—And offered them a removal
to my lodging, and the disposal of my much and my
little ;—And began to tell abroad their worth among the
travellers, and to shake for them the fruited branches ;—
Until they were whelmed with gifts, and taken as
friends—Now we .were in a night-camp, whence we
could discern the build of the villages, and spy the fires
of hospitality.—And when Abi Zayd saw that his purse
was full, ard his distress removed, he said to me, “ Truly
my body is dirty, and my filth has caked :—Wilt thou
permit me to go to a village, and bathe, and fulfil this
urgent need ?”—I said, “If thou wilt; but quick !
return !’—He said, “Thou shalt find me appear again
to thee, quicker than the glancing of thine eye.”’—Then
he coursed away, as courses the good steed in the training-ground, and said to his son, “‘ Haste ! haste !”—And
we imagined not that he was deceiving, or secking to
escape.—So we stayed and watched for him as men
watch for the new moons of feasts, and made search
for him by spies and scouts —Until the sunlight was
weak with age, and the wasted bank of the day had
nigh crumbled in.—Then, when the term of waiting had
been prolonged, and the sun showed in faded: garb—

I said to my companions, “We have gone to the
extreme in. delay, and have been long in the setting
forth ;—So that we have lost time, and it is plain that
the man was lying—Now, therefore, prepare for the
journey, and turn not aside to the greenness of dung
heaps.”—Then I rose to equip my camel and lade for the
departure ; and found that Aba Zayd had written on the
pack saddle :-—

Oh thou, who wast to me an arm and a helper, above all
mankind !

Reckon not that I have left thee through impatience or ingratitude :

For since I was born I have been of those who “ when they have
eaten separate,

Said Al Harith: “Then I made the company read the
words of the Koran that were on the pack saddle, so that .
he who’ had blamed him might excuse him.—And they
admired his witticism, but commended themselves from
his mischief—Then we set forth, nor could we learn
whose company he had gotten in our place.

The Fifth Assembly, Called “of Kufa.”

The following Assombly, remarkable for the poetical beauty of its
language, and the delicacy of its versification, describes an adventure
in which Aba Zayd obtains.a'sum of money from a company of
generous scholars. . Hirith is engaged with some friends in a night
conversation at Kufa, one of the chief seats of Arabian learning,
when a stranger knocks at the door, and addresses the inmiates in
verses describing his want and weariness, his excellent. disposition,
and his gratitude for the favours he may receive. Struck with
his poetical powers the company admit him, and give him a supper.
The lamp being brought, Harith discovers that the guest is Abd
Zayd, and informs the company of his. merits. They:then ask him
for a story, and be relates that he had that evening met with a long

ii th mR i

lost son, whom he would be glad to take charge of, did not his
poverty hinder him. As he had taken care to mention in the
narrative that he was of the royal race of Ghassin, the company are
moved by his misfortunes, and at once raise a large sum of money-to
enable him to support his boy. Abi Zayd delights them with
his conversation, but as soon as daylight appears he calls away
Hirith, to assist him in cashing the cheques or orders which he had
received. The simple Hirith, who had been delighted with the
verses which the father had put into the mouth of his son, desires to
see so eloquent a youth; upon which Abi Zayd laughs heartily,
tells his friend, in some exquisite verses, that such a desire is the
following of a mirage, that he, Abii Zayd, had neither wife nor son,
and that the story was only a trick to obtain money. He then
departs, leaving Harith mortified at the adventure.

Al Harith, son of Hammam, related: Iwas conversing at Kufa, in a night whose complexion was of a two-
fold hue, whose moon was as an amulet of silver-—With
companions who had been nourished on the milk of
eloquence, who might draw the train of oblivion over
Sahbin.—Each was a man to remember from, and not to
guard against; each was one whom his friend would
incline to, and not avoid—And the night talk fascinated
us until the moon had set, and the watching overcame
us.—Now when night's unmingled. dark had spread
its awning, and there was nought but nodding among
us-—We heard from the gate the faint sound of a wayfarer, rousing the dogs; then followed the knock of.
one bidding to open.—We said, “Who is it that comes
in the dark night?” Then the traveller answered :—

O people of the mansion, be ye guarded from ill!

Meet not harm as long as ye live!

_ Lo! the night which glooms has driven
, To your abode one dishevelled, dust laden,

• A brother of journeying, that has been lengthened, extended,

: ‘Till he has become bent and yellow fed
Like the new moon of the horizon when it smiles.

And now he approaches your court-yard, begging boldly,

And repairs to you before all people else,

To seek from you food and a lodging.

Ye have in him a guest contented, ingenuous,

One pleased with all, whether sweet or bitter,

One who will withdraw from you, publishing your bounty.

Said Al Hérith, son of Hammém: Now when we were
caught by the sweetness of his utterance, and knew
what was behind his lightning,—We hastened to open
the gate, and met him with weleome;—And said to the
boy “Quick, quick! bring what is ready !’””—Then said
our guest, ‘‘ Now, by Him who has set me down at your
abode, I will not roll my tongue over your food,—Unless
ye pledge me that ye will not make me a burden, that ye
will not, for my sake, task yourselves with a meal—For
sometimes a morsel aches the eater, and forbids him
his repasts.—And the worst of guests is he who imposes
trouble and annoys his host,—And especially with a
harm that affects the body and tends to sickness.—For,
by that proverb, which is widely current, ‘The best
suppers are those that are clearly seen,’-—Is only meant
that supper-time should be hastened, and eating by
night, which dims the sight, avoided.—Unless, by Allah,
the fire of hunger kindle and stand in the way of sleep.”
—Said Al Harith: Now it was as though he had got
sight of our desire, and so had shot with the bow of our
conviction—Accordingly we gratified him by agreeing
to the condition, and commended him for his easy
temper.—And when the boy brought what was to be
had, and lighted the candle in the midst of us, I looked
close at him, and Jo ! it was Abt Zayd.—8o I said to my
company, “Joy to you of the guest who has come! Nay,
but the spoil is:lightly won !—For if the moon of Sirius

has gone down, truly the moon of poetry has risen:—
Or if the full moon of the Lion has waned, the full moon
of eloquence shines forth.”—Then ran through them the
wine-glow of joy, and sleep flew away from their eyecorners.—And they refused the rest which they had
purposed, and returned to the spreading out of pleasantry, after they had folded it—But Abi Zayd kept
intent upon plying his hands; however, when what was
before him might be removed—I said to him, “ Present
us with one of the rare stories from thy night talkings,
or some wonder from among the wonders of thy journeys.”—He said, “ Of wonders I have met with such as
no seers have seen, no tellers have told.—But among the
most wondrous was that which I beheld to-night, a little
before my visit to you and my coming to your gate.”—
Then we bade him tell us of this new thing which he
had seen in the field of his night-faring—He said,
Truly the hurlings of exile have thrown me to this
lend:—And I was in hunger and distress, with a scrip
like the heart of the mother of Moses.—Now, as soon as
the dark had settled, I arose, in spite of all my footsore-’
ness, to seek a host .or to ‘gain a loaf.—Then the driver
hunger, and Fate, which is bye-named the Father of
Wonders, urged me on, till I stood at the door of a
house, and spoke, improvising :-—

Hail people of this dwelling,

May ye live in the ease of a plenteous life!

What have ye for a-son of the road, one crushed to the sand,

Worn with journeys, stumbling in the night-dark night,

Aching in entrails, which inclose nought but hunger ?

For two days he has not tasted the savour of a meal’:

In your land there is no refuge for him.

And already the van of. the drooping darkness has gloomed ;
And through bewilderment he is in restlessness...

Now in this abode is there any one, sweet of spring,
Who will say to me, “ Throw away thy staff and enter :
Rejoice in a cheerful welcome and a ready meal ?”
Then came forth to me a lad in a tunic, and answered :-—
Now by the sanctity of the Shaykh who ordained hospitality,
And founded the House of Pilgrimage in the Mother of cities,
We have nought for the night-farer when he visits us
But. conversation and a lodging in our hall.
For how should he entertain whom hinders from sleepfulness
Hunger which peels his bones when it assails him?
Now what thinkest thou of my tale? what thinkest thou?

I said, “ What shall I do with an empty house, and a
host the ally of penury ?—But tell me, youth, what is
thy name, for thy understanding has charmed me.”—He
said, “ My name is Zayd, and my birth-place Fayd: and
I came to this city yesterday with my mother’s kindred
of the Bent ‘Abs.”’—I said to him, “Show me further,
so mayest thou live and be raised when thou fallest !”—
He said, ‘My mother Barrah. told me (and she is like
her name, ‘ pious’) that she married in the year of the
foray on Mawdn a man of the nobles of Serdj and

“G@hassin;—But when he was aware of her pregnancy

(for he was-a crafty bird, it is said) he made off from her
by stealth, and away he has stayed,—Nor is it known
whether he is alive and to be looked for, or whether he
has. been laid in the lonely tomb.”—Said Abi Zayd,
“Now I knew by sure signs that he was my child; but
the emptiness of my hand turned me from making
known to him,—So I parted from him with ‘heart -
erushed and tears unsealed.—And now, ye men of understanding, have ye heard aught more wondxous than
this wonder ?” We said, “No, by Him who has knowledge of the Book.”—He said, ‘ Record it among the

eee ee a a

wonders of chance; bid it abide for ever in the hearts
of scrolls; for nothing like it has been told abroad in
the world.”—-Then we bade bring the ink-flask, and its
snake-like reeds, and we wrote the story elegantly as he
worded it ;—-After which we sought to draw from him
his wish about receiving his boy.—He said, “If my
purse were heavy, then to take charge of my son would
be light.”—We said, “If a nisdd of money would suffice
thee, we will collect it for thee at once.”—He said,
“And how should a niséb not content me? would any
but a madman despise such a sum ?”—Said the narrator,
Then each of us undertook a share of it, and wrote for
him an order for it.—Whereupon he gave thanks for the
kindness, and exhausted the plenteousness of praise;
until we thought his speech long, or our merit little.—
And then ‘he spread out such a bright mantle of talk as
might shame the stuffs of Yemen,—Until the dawn appeared and the light-bearing morn went forth.—So we
spent a night of which the mixed hues had departed,
until its hind-locks grew gray in the dawn ;—And whose
lucky stars were sovereign until its branch budded into
light.—But when the limb of the sun peeped forth, he
leaped up as leaps the gazelle,—And said, “Rise up,
that we may take hold: on the gifts and draw payment
of the cheques:—For the clefts of my heart are widening through yearning after my child.’’—-So I went with
him, hand in hand, to make easy his success.—But as
soon as he had secured. the coin in his purge the marks
of his joy flashed forth,—And he said, “Be thou .rewarded for the steps of thy feet! be God my substitute
towards thee!”—T said, ‘I wish to follow thee that I
may behold thy noble child, and speak with him’ that he

may answer eloquently.”—Then looked he at me as looks
the deceiver on the deceived, and laughed till his eyeballs gushed with tears; and he recited :-—

O thou who didst fancy the mirage to be water when I quoted
to thee what I quoted !

I thought not that my guile would be hidden, or that it would be
doubtful what I meant.

By Allah, I have no Barrah for a spouse; I have no son from
whom to take a bye-name.

Nothing is mine but divers kinds of magic, in which I am original
and copy no one:

They are such as Al Asma‘t tells not of in what he has told; such
as Al Komayt never wove.

These I use when I will to reach whatever my hand would pluck :

And were I to abandon them, changed would be my state, nor
should I gain what I now gain.

So allow my excuse; nay, pardon me, if I have done wrong or
orime.

Then he took leave of me and passed away, and
set coals of the ghkada in my breast.

The Sixth Assembly, Called “of Mera-ghah,” or “the Diversified.”

GHAH,” OR “THE DIVERSIFIED.”

This Assembly is the first of a remarkable series of compositions,
which, though they may be set down by Europeans as merely examples of laborious trifling, are highly esteemed by the Orientals as
works of ingenuity and scholarship, and have found in every succeeding age numerous imitators. The incident is that Hérith,
being onee on # visit to Meraghah, in Azerbijan, the north-west
province ‘of the present Persian monarchy, found a number. of
literary men lamenting the decline of learning, and depreciating
all contemporary authors in comparison with their predecessors,
Sitting in a humble place in the outskirts of the company was an
elderly man, who showed by his glances and scornful gestures that
he did not value highly the opinions of these critics. When they
paused in their fault-finding he took up the conversation, and declared
that one person, at least, of the present age was capable of rivalling

any who had gone before in scholarship and the arts of composition.
He is asked who is this genius, and answers that it is himself, The
company are sceptical, but as the stranger persists in asserting his
great ability, they determine to test him, and one of them proposes
to him a most difficult task. He tells the company that he is a professional writer attached to the Governor, who though a man of
generosity, had declared that he would help him no further, till he
had composed an address in which the alternate words should
consist entirely of pointed and unpointed letters; that is, that
the first, third, fifth words, and so forth, should consist of letters
without a point, while the second, fourth, sixth, and so forth,
should have only pointed letters. He adds that he had been striving
a whole year to produce such a composition, or to find some one who
could produce it. The stranger, on hearing this, accepts the task
with alacrity, and instantly dictates an address in praise of the
Governor, fulfilling the conditions that had been inaposed. The
company are delighted, and inquire his family and abode: he answers in some plaintive verses that he is of the tribe of Ghassan,
and the city of Sertj. His fame having reached the Governor, he
is offered the place of a public writer, but declines it. H&rith, who
had discovered that he was Abi Zayd, asks him the reason of this
unwillingness to accept office. Aba Zayd again replies in verse,
and tolls | his friend that a life of freedom and poverty is better oe
dependence on the great.

Al Harith, son of Hammam, related : I was present in
the Court of Supervision at Meréghah when the talk
ran of éloquence.—Then agreed all who were there of
the knights of the pen, and the lords of genius ;—That
there remained no one who. could select his diction, or
use himself freely in it as he willed :-And that since the
men of old were gone, there was none now left who could
originate a brilliant method, or open a virgin style.—
And that even one marvellous among the writers of this
age, and holding in his grasp the cords of eloquence,
is but a dependent on the ancients, even though he
possess the fluency of Sahban Wa’il_—Now there was in
the assembly an elderly man, sitting on the outskirts, in

the places of the attendants:—And as often as the company overran in their career, ‘and scattered fruit, good
and bad, from their store,—The side-glance of his eye
and the up-turning of his nose showed that he was
one silent to spring, one crouching who would extend
his stride:—That he was a twanger of the bow who
shapes his arrows, one who sits in wait desiring the —
conflict.—But when the quivers were empty, and quiet
returned ; when the storms had fallen, and the disputer
was stayed,—He turned to the company and said, Ye
have uttered a grievous thing, ye have wandered much
from the way:—For ye have magnified mouldering
bones, ye have been excessive in your leaning to those
who are gone; ye have contemned your generation,
among whom ye were born, and with whom your
friendships are established—Have ye forgotten, ye skilfal in testing, ye sages of loosing and binding,—How
much new springs have given forth ; how the colt has
surpassed the full-grown steed ;—In refined expressions,
and delightful metaphors, and ornate addresses, and
admired cadences?—And, if any one. here will look
diligently, is there in the ancients aught but ideas whose
paths are worn, whose ranges are restricted ; which have
been handed down from them through the priority of
their birth, not from any superiority in him who draws
first at the well over him who comes after ?—-Now truly
know I one who when he. composes colours richly ; and
when he expresses, embellishes ; and when he is lengthy,
finds golden: thoughts; and when he is brief, bafiles
his imitator ; and when he improvises, astonishes; and
when he creates, cuts {he envious.

Then said to him the President of the Court, the Eye

of those Eyes: “ Who is it that strikes on this rock, that
is the hero of these qualities ?’—He said, “It is the
adversary of this thy skirmish, the partner of thy disputation: Now, if thou wilt, rein a good steed, call forth
one who will answer, so shalt thou see a wonder.’—He
said to him, “Stranger, the chough in our land is
not taken for an eagle, and with us it is easy to. discern
between silver and shingle.—Rare is he who exposes
himself to the conflict, and then escapes the mortal
hurt; or who stirs up the dust of trial, and then catches
not the mote of contempt.—So offer not thy honour
to shame, turn not from the counsel of the counsellor.” —
He answered, ‘‘ Hach man knows best the mark of his
arrow, and be sure the night shall disclose its morn.”—

Then whispered the company as to how his well should
be fathomed, and his proving undertaken.—Said one of
them, “Leave him to my share, that I may pelt him
with the stone of my story; for it is the tightest of
knots, the touch-stone of testing.”—Then they invested
him with the command in this business as: the Rebels
invested. Abi Na‘dmeh.—Whereupon he turned to the
elder and said, Know that I am attached to this
Governor and maintain my condition by ornamental eloquence—-Now, in my: country, I could rely for the
straightening of my crookedness on the sufficiency of my
means, coupled with the smallness of my family.—But
when my back was weighted, and my thin rain failed,
T repaired to him from my home with hope, and besought
him to restore my comeliness and my competence.—And
he looked pleasantly on my coming, and was gracious,
and served me morn and even.—But when I sought permission from him to depart to my abode, .on the. shoulder

of cheerfulness,—He said, “I have determined that I will
not provide thee with supplies, I will bring together for
thee no scattered means ;—Unless, before thy departure,
thou compose an address, setting in it an exposition
of thy state ;—Such, that the letters of one of every two
words shall all have dots, while the letters of the other
shall not be pointed at all.”—And now have I waited for
my eloquence a twelvemonth, but it has returned me not
a word; and I have roused my wit for a year, but only
my sluggishness has increased—And I have sought
aid among the gathering of the scribes, but each of them
has frowned and drawn back.—Now, if thou hast disclosed thy character with accuracy, Come with a sign if
thou be of the truthful.

Then answered the elder, ‘“‘ Thon hast put a good steed
to. the pace; thou hast sought water at a full stream ;
thou ‘hast given the bow to him who fashioned it; thou
hast lodged in the house him who built it.’—And
he thought a while till he had let his flow of wit
collect, his milch camel fill her udder:—And then he
said :. Wool thy ink-flask, and take thy implements and
write :—

Generosity (may God establish the host of thy successes), adorns; but meanness (may fortune cast down
the eye-lid: of thy enviers), dishonours; the noble rewards, but the base disappoints; the princely entertains,
but the niggard frights away; the liberal nourishes, but
the chutl pains; giving relieves, but deferring torments ;
blessing protects, and praise purifies; the honourable repays, for repudiation abases; the rejection of him who
should be respected is error; a denial to the sons of hope
is outrage; and none is miserly but the fool, and none is

foolish but the miser ; and none hoards but the wretched ;
for the pious clenches not his palms.

But thy promise ceases not to fulfil; thy sentiments
cease not to relieve; nor thy clemency to indulge; nor
thy new moon to illumine; nor thy bounty to enrich ;
nor thy enemies to praise thee; nor thy blade to destroy ;
nor thy princeship to build up; nor thy suitor to gain;
nor thy praiser to win ; nor thy kindness to suecour; nor
thy heaven to rain; nor thy milk-flow to abound; nor
thy refusal to be rare.—Now he who hopes in thee is an
old man like a shadow, one to whom nothing remains.—
He seeks thee with a persuasion whose eagerness leaps
onward; he praises thee in choice phrases, which merit
their dowries.—His demand is a light one, his claims are
clear; his praise is striven for, his blame is shunned.—
And behind him is a household whom misery has
touched, whom wrong has stripped, whom squalor
involves.—And he is ever in tears that come at call, and
trouble that. melts him, and care that is as a guest,
and growing sadness :—On account of hope that has. disappointed him, and loss that has made him hoary, and
the enemy that has fixed tooth in him, and the quiet that
is gone-—And yet his love has not swerved, that there
should be anger at him ; nor is his wood rotten, that he
should be lopped away; nor has his breast spit foulness
that he should be shaken off; nor has his intercourse
been froward that he should be hated.—Now thy honour
admits not the rejection of his claim, so whiten his hope
by the lightening of his distress: then will he publish
thy praise throughout the world—So mayest thou live to
avert misfortune, and to bestow wealth; to heal: grief
and. to. care for the aged:—Attended by affluence and

fresh joyousness ; as long as the hall of the rich is
visited, or the delusion of the selfish is feared. And so
Peace,

Now when he had ceased from the dictation of his
address, and showed forth his prowess in the strife of
eloquence—The company gratified him both by word and
deed, and made large to him their courtesy and their
bounty.—Then was he asked from what tribe was his
origin, and in what valley was his lair; and he answered :

Ghassan is my noble kindred, and Serfj my ancient land:

There my home was like the sun in splendour and mighty rank ;

And my dwelling was as Paradise in sweetness and pleasantness
and worth.

Oh, excellent were the life I led there and the plenteous delights,

In the day that I drew my broidered robe in its meadow, sharp of
purpose.

T walked proudly in the mantle of youth and looked upon goodly
pleasures ;

Fearing not the visitations of time and its evil haps.

Now if grief could kill, surely I should perish from my abiding
griefs ;

Or if past life could be redeemed my good heart’s blood should
redeem, it,

For death is better for a man than to live the life of a beast,

When the ring of subjection leads him to mighty trouble and
outrage,’

And he sees lions whom the paws of assailing hyeenas seize.

But the fault is in the time: but for its ill luck character would
not miss its place :

If the time were upright, then would the conditions of men be
upright in it.

After this his story reached the Governor, who filled
his mouth with pearls,—And bade him join himself to his
followers, and preside over his court of public writing —
But the gifts sufficed him, and unwillingness restrained
him from office.—Said the narrator: Now I had recognized the wood of his tree before the ripening of his fruit :

—And I had nigh roused the people to the loftiness of his
worth before that his full moon shone forth—But he
hinted to me by a twinkle of his eyelid that I should not
bare his sword from its sheath—And when he was going
forth, full of purse, and parting from us, having gotten
victory,—I escorted him, performing the duty of respect,
and chiding him for his refusal of office-—But he turned
away with a smile and recited with a chant:

Sure to traverse the lands in poverty is dearer to me than rank :

For in rulers there is caprice and fault-finding, Oh what faultfinding !

There is none of them who completes his good work, or who builds
up where has laid foundation.

So let not the glare of the mirage beguile thee ; undertake not
that which is doubtful :

For how many a dreamer has his dream made joyful; but fear has
come upon him when he waked.

The Seventh Assembly, Called “of Barkaid.”

“OF BARKAID.”

This Assembly is well known to students, having been published
with a translation and valuable notes by De Sacy in his Chrestomathic
Arabe. Harith is at Barka'td, a place which is described as the chief
town of the Diy4r Rabi‘ah, at the distance of seventeen parasangs from
Mowsil. The feast at the end of Ramadin is approaching, and being
desirous of joining in this solemnity he goes to the public prayer in
his best attire. When the congregation has formed itself into rows,
after the manner of Moslem worship, he espies an old man with his
eyes closed accompanied by an old woman. ‘The man takes out of a
bag a number of papers curiously written or iluminated in variously
coloured inks; and the old woman, going through the rows, presents.
them to those whom she guesses from their appearance to be charitably
disposed. One of them falls to the lot of Harith, who finds on it
some strange verses full of alliterations and plays on words. He
keeps it, and when the old woman, being disappointed in her appeal,
retums to reclaim it, he offers her a dirhem on the condition. that

she will tell him the name of the author. She informs him that the
old man had composed the verses, and that he was a native of Serij.
Harith then guesses that he must be Abfi Zayd, and is much concerned to find that he has become blind. When the prayer is over
he goes up to him and discovers that he is indeed Abi Zayd, whereupon he presents him with a garment and invites him to his house.
No sooner are they in private than Abi Zayd opens his eyes, which
are perfectly sound, and Harith discovers that his pretended blindness was a trick to excite pity. Abi Zayd makes a good meal, and
after he has had enough sends Harith to the closet to fetch alkali to
wash his hands:after eating, and a toothpick. When the host returns
the old man and his companion are gone; Abt Zayd having as usual
made his escape, to avoid a lecture on his hypocrisy and the solicitation of his friend that he would abandon his vagrant life.

Al Harith, son of Hammam, related: I had determined
on journeying from Barka‘id; but now I noted the signs
of the coming feast,—And I disliked to set forth from the
city until I had witnessed there the day of adornment.—
So when it came on with its rites, bounden or of free will,
and brought up its horsemen and footmen,—I followed the
tradition in new apparel, and went forth with the people
to. keep festival—-_Now when the congregation of the
ptayer court was gathered and ranged, and the crowding
took men’s breath,—There appeared an old man in a pair
of cloaks, and his eyes were closed :—And he bore on his
arm what-was like a horse-bag, and had for a guide an old
woman like.a goblin—Then he stopped, as stops one tottering to sink, and greeted with the greeting of him whose
voice is feeble-——And when he had made an end of his
salutation he circled his five fingers in his wallet,—And
brought forth scraps of paper that had been written on
with colours of dyes in the season of leisure,—-And gave
them to his old beldame, bidding her to detect each simple
one.-So whenever she perceived of any that his hand was
moist in bounty, she cast one-of the papers before him.

—Said Al Harith: Now cursed fate allotted to me a
scrap whereon was written :—

Sure I have become crushed with pains and fears ;

Tried by the proud one, the crafty, the assailer,

By the traitor among my brethren, who hates me for my need,

By jading from those who work to undo my toils.

How oft do I burn through spites and penury and wandering;

How oft do I tramp in shabby garb, thought of by none.

Oh, would that fortune when it wronged me had slain my babes!

For were not my cubs torments to me and ills,

I would not have addressed my hopes to kin or lord:

Nor would I draw my skirts along the track of abasement.

For my garret would be more seemly for me, and my rags more
honourable.

Now is there a generous man who will see that the lightening of
my loads must be by a denar;

Or will quench the heat of my anxiety by a shirt and trousers.

Said Al Harith, son of Hammam: Now when I had
looked on the garb of the verses, I longed for a knowledge of him who wove it, the broiderer of its pattern.—
And my thought whispered to me that the way to him
was through the old woman, and advised me thatia fee
to an informer is lawful—So I watched her, and she was
wending through the rows, row by row, begging a dole
of the hands,’ hand by hand.—But not at all-did the
trouble prosper her; no purse shed aught upon her palm.
—Wherefore when her soliciting was baffled, and her circuit wearied her,--She commended herself to God with the
“ Return,” and addressed herself to collect the scraps of
paper.—But the Devil made her forget the scrap. that I
held, and she turned not aside tomy spot :—But went back
to the old man weeping at the denial, complaining of the
oppression of the time.—And he said, “In God’s hands
Tam, to God I commit my case; there is no strength or
power but by God,” then he recited :—

There remains not any pure, not any sincere; not a spring,

not a helper:
But of basenesses there is one level; not any is trusty, not any

of worth.

Then said he to her, “Cheer thy soul and promise it
good; collect the papers and count them.”—She said,
“Truly I counted them when I asked them back, and I
found that one of them the hand of loss had seized.”—
He said, ‘Perdition on thee, Wretch ; shall we be
hindered, alas, both of the prey and the net,' both of
the brand and the wick? surely this is a new handful to
the load.’—Then did the old woman hasten back, retracing her path to seek her scroll; and when she drew
near to me I put with the paper a dirhem and a mite:
—And ‘said to her, “If thou hast a fondness for the
polished, the engraved (and I pointed to the dirhem)
shew me the secret, the obscure ;—But if thou willest
not to explain, take then the mite and begone.”—Then
she inclined to the getting of that whole full moon,
the. bright-faced, the large—So she said, “Quit, contention and ask what thou wilt.”’—Whereupon I asked
her of the old man and his country, of the poem, and
of him who wove its mantle. —She said, “Truly, the old
man is of the people of Serfj, and he it was who
broidered that woven poem.”-—-Then she snatched the
dirhem with the snatch: of a hawk, and shot away as
shoots: the darting arrow.—But it troubled my heart. that
perchance it was Abi. Zayd who was indicated, and my
grief kindled at his mishap with his eyes—And I should
have preferred to have gone suddenly on him and talked
to him, that I might test the quality of my discernment
upon him.—But I was unable to come to him save by
treading on the necks of the congregation, a thing forbidden in the law :—And, moreover, I was unwilling that
people should be annoyed by me, or that blame should
arrive to me.—So I cleaved to my place, but made his
form the fetter of my sight, until the sermon was ended,
and to leap to him was lawful.—Then I went briskly
to him and examined him in spite of the closing of his
eyelids.—And, lo! my shrewdness was as the shrewdness
of Ibn ‘Abbas, and my discernment as the discernment of
Tyds.—So at once I made myself known, and presented
him with one of my tunics, and bade him to my bread.—
And he was joyful at my bounty and recognition, and
acceded to the call to my loaves ;—And he set forth,
and my hand was his leading cord, my shadow his
conductor ;—And the old woman was the third prop of
the pot; yes, by the Watcher from whom no secret
is hidden !—Now, when he had taken seat in my nest,
and I had set before him what hasty meal was in my
power, he said, ‘“‘ Harith, is there with us a third ?”—
I said, “There is none but the old woman.’’-—He said,
“From her- no secret is. withheld.”—Then he opened
his eyes and stared round with the twin balls, and, lo!
the two lights of his face kindled like the Farkad4n.—
And I was joyful at the safety of his sight, but marvelled at the strangeness of his ways.—Nor did quiet
possess me, nor did patience fit with me, until I asked
him, “What led thee to feign blindness; thou, with
thy journeying in desolate places, and thy traversing
of. wildernesses, and thy pushing into far lands? ”—But
he made show as if his mouth were full, and kept as
though busied with his meal :—Until when he had fulfilled his need, he sharpened his look upon me and
recited :

Since Time (and he is the father of mankind) makes himself
blind to the right in his purposes and aims,

I too have assumed blindness, so as to be called a brother of
it ;—-what. wonder that one should match himself with his father!

Then said he to me, Rise, and go to the closet, and
fetch me alkali that may clear the eye, and clean the
hand, and soften the skin, and perfume the breath, and
brace the gums, and strengthen the stomach :—And let
it be clean of box, fragrant of odour, new of pounding,
delicate of powdering ;—So that one touching it shall
count it to be eye paint, and one smelling it shall fancy
it to be camphor.—And join with it a toothpick choice
in material, delightful in use, goodly in shape, that
invites to the repast :—And let it have the slimness of a
lover, and the polish of a sword, and the sharpness of
the lance of war, and the pliancy of a green bough.—
Said Al Harith: Then I rose to do what he bade that
I might rid him of the trace of his food:—And thought
not that he purposed to deceive by sending me into the
closet ; nor suspected that he was mocking of his messenger when he called for the alkali and toothpick.—But
when J returned with what was asked for, in less than the
drawing of a breath, I found that the hall was empty,
and that the old man and woman. had sped away.—Then
was I extreme in anger at his deceit, and I pressed on
his track in search. of him ;—But he was as one who
is sunk in the sea, or has been borne aloft to the clouds
of heaven...

The Eighth Assembly, Called “of Ma‘arrah.”

“OF MA‘ARRAH.”

This Assembly, like several others that will be met with in
the course of the work, is so essentially Arabic as almost to forbid
intelligible translation. Two suitors, an old man and a youth,
appear before the Kadi of Ma‘arrah. The former narrates to the
Kadi that he had possessed a beautiful and attractive, yet obedient
and active, slave girl; that the youth had borrowed her, treated her
roughly, and then returned her in an infirm state. The youth
admits the charge, but declares that he had offered sufficient compensation ; and then complains that the old man detained as a
pledge a male slave of his, who was of good origin and qualities,
and highly serviceable to his master. The Kadi perceives from the
style of these addresses that the language is enigmatical, and bids the
litigants speak plainly. The youth then improvises some verses
to explain that by a slave girl the old man meant a needle which
the youth had borrowed, and the eye of which he had broken by
accident as he was drawing the thread through it; the male slave
which the old man detained was a pencil or stylus for the application of kof/, the dark pigment with which Orientals anoint the
eyelid to heighten by conirast the lustre of the eye. The old man
in his turn admits the truth of this, but pleads in mournful verse
his poverty and his inability to bear the loss even of a needle. ‘The
Kadi, touched with pity, bestows a trifle on both, and they depart
joyously. But almost immediately he suspects that he has been
deceived, and sends an attendant after them to bring them back.
When they are again in the court, the Kadi charges them with deceit.
The boy is abashed, but the old man steps forward boldly and confesses that he is the noted impostor of Serdj, and that the boy is his
son; that they never had either needle or kohl pencil, but. had
devised the story to excite pity. The Kadi, charmed with their
literary skill, pardons their offence and dismisses them with 4
caution. The chief feature in the composition is the enigmatical
description of the needle and pencil, which depends on the double
meanings of the words and phrases contained in it. Some of these
are so subile that even the native commentators are undecided about
them; and we may assume that the double-entente of passages like
this, and the similar address in the Thirteenth Assembly, was among
the lessons which Hariri is said to have taught to ‘his pupils. The
commentators, who. are often profuse of interpretation where there

ig no difficulty, are somewhat brief when they have to deal with
these dark compositions. Even the loquacious Sherishi, who sometimes gives whole pages of anecdote and poetical quotation to
illustvate a single word, passes over in silence phrases where there
evidently lurks a second and hidden sense. The present translation is, it is hoped, an adequate interpretation of the author's

meaning.

Al Hérith, son of Hammam, related: Among the
wonders of time, I saw that two suitors came before
the Kadi of Ma‘arrat an No‘mén:—From the one of them
the two excellencies of life had departed, while the other
was as a bough of the ben tree.—And the old man said:
God strengthen the judge, as by him He strengthens
whoever seeks judgment.—Behold I had a slave girl,
elegant of shape, smooth of cheek, patient to labour ;—
At one time she ambled like a good steed, at another
she slept quietly in her bed: even in July thou wouldst
feel her touch to be cool—She had understanding and
discretion, sharpness and wit, a hand with fingers, but a
mouth without teeth:.yet did she pique as with tongue
of snake, and saunter in training robe; and she was
displayed in blackness and whiteness ; and she drank,
but not from cisterns—She was now truth-telling now
beguiling ; now hiding, now peeping forth; yet fitted for
employment, obedient in poverty and in wealth: if thou
didst spurn she showed affection, but if thou didst put
her from thee, she remained quietly apart.—Generally
would she serve thee, and be courteous to thee, though
sometimes she might be froward.to thee and pain thee,
and trouble thee.'—Now this youth asked her service of

? The meaning of this passage, when applied to a needle, is as follows:—I had a needle, straight of shape and smooth of side,

lasting for work ; that sometimes moved quickly in the sewer’s
hands, and sometimes rested in the needle-box; it was sometimes

me for a purpose of his own, and I made her his servant,
without reward ;—On the condition that he should enjoy
the use of her, but not burden her with more than she
could bear.—But he forced on her too hard a work, and
exacted of her long labour ;—Then returned her to me
broken in health, offering a compensation which I accept
not.

Then said the youth: Sure the old man is more truthful than the Kata: but as for my hurting her it fell out
by mistake—And now have I pledged to him in payment of his damage, a slave’ of mine, of equal birth

filed in July, it had strength to hold with its rein of thread, it had
sharpness and point: it hemmed the garment by the aid of the
sewer’s fingers; it had a mouth (eye) without teeth; it sometimes
pricked with its point, as it was driven through the cloth; it carried
a long thread after it; it had sometimes a black and sometimes
a white thread ; it was bedewed only with the sweat of the sewer’s
hand; it sewed the cloth or lined it; it now hid itself behind the
cloth, and now appeared again; it was adapted for use; it went
easily into any orifice, small or large; if thou didst rend anything
it joined it, but if thou didst lay it aside in the needle-box, it remained where it was put; mostly did it serve thee and adorn thee
by its work, but sometimes it would prick thee, and pain thee and
trouble thee.

' The meaning of this passage, when applied to a kohl pencil, is as
follows: I bad a kohl pencil, the same at both ends, tracing its
origin to the cutler, free from rust and defect; often brought near
the apple of the eye; it conferred beauty and produced admiration ;
it fed the pupil of the eye with ointment, but went not near the
tongue; when it was blackened with the ointment ii was liberal of
it, when it marked the eye it beautified it; when it was supplied with
ointment it supplied the eye with it, and when more was required it
added more. Itremained not always in its case, and seldom anointed
except two eyes at atime ; it gave plentifully of the koh] that-was on
it, and was lifted up to the eye for the purpose; it was constantly
attached to the kohl case, although the two might be of a different
material (that is, the pencil might be of gold and the case of glass or
silver) ; though it was used for adorning it was not of a soft substance
but of metal.

as regards either kin, tracing his lineage to Al Kayn, free
from stain and disgrace, whose place was the apple of his
master’s eye.—He shewed forth kindness, and called up
admiration ; he nourished mankind, and set guard on his
tongue.—If he was placed in power he was generous, if
he marked aught for his own he was noble with it; if he
was supplied he gave of his supply, and when he was
asked for more he added.—He stayed not in the house,
and rarely visited his wives, save two by two—He was
generous with his possession, he was lofty in his bounty ;
he kept with his spouse although she was not of his own
clay; and there was pleasure in his comeliness, although
he was not desired for his effeminacy.

Then said to them the Kadi, “Now either explain or
depart.” ‘Then pressed forward the lad, and said:

He lent me a needle to darn my rags, which use has worn and
blackened ;

And its eye broke in my hand by chance, as I drew the thread
through it.

But the old man would not forgive me the paying for it when he
saw that it was spoiled ;

But said, ‘Give me @ needle like it, or a price, after thou hast
mended it.”

And he keeps my kohl pencil by him as a pledge: oh, the shame
that he has gotten by so doing:

For my eye is dry through giving him this pledge; my hand fails
to ransom its anointer.

Now by this statement fathom the depth of my misery and pity
one unused to bear it.

Then turned the Kadi to the old man, and said,
“Come, speak without glozing,” and he said—

I swear by the holy place of sacrifice, and the devout whom the
slope of Mina brings together ;

If the time had been my helper, thou wouldst not have seen me
taking in pledge the pencil which he has pledged to me.

Nor would I bring myself to seek a substitute for a needle that he
had spoiled, no nor the price of it.

But the bow of calamities shoots at me with deadly arrows from
here and there:

And to know my condition is to know his; misery, and distress,
and exile, and sickness.

Fortune has put us on a level: Iam his like in misery, and he is
as T,

He cannot ransom his pencil now that it lies pledged in my hand :

And, through the narrowness of my own means, it is not within
my bounds to forgive him his offending.

Now this is my tale and his: so look upon us, and judge between
us, and pity us.

Now when the Kadi had learnt their stories, and. was
aware of their penury and their distinction,—He took
out for them a denar from under his prayer cushion, and
said, “‘ With this end and decide your contention.”—But
the old man caught it before the youth, and claimed the
whole of it in earnest, not in jest;—Saying to the youth,
“Half is mine as my share of the bounty, and thy share
is mine, in payment for my needle :—Nor do I swerve
from justice, so come and take thy pencil.”—Now there
fell on the youth, at the words of the old man, a sadness
at which the heart of the Kadi grew sullen, stirring its
sorrow for the lost denar.—Yet did he cheer the concern
of the youth and his anguish by a few dirhems which he
doled to him.—Then he said to the two, ‘‘ Avoid transactions, and put away disputes, and come not before me
with wranglings, for I have no purse of fine-money for
you.”—-And they rose to go out from him, rejoicing at
his gift, fluent in his praise-—But as for the Kadi, his
ill-humour subsided not after his stone had dripped ; his
sad look-cleared not away after his rock had oozed—But
when he recovered from his fit he turned to his attendants,—And said, “My perception is imbued. with the

thought, and my guess announces to me, that these
are practisers of craft, not suitors in a claim :—But what
is the way to fathom them, and to draw forth their
secret ?’—Then said to him the Knowing One of his
assemblage, the Light of his following :—“‘ Surely the discovery of what they hide must be through themselves.”—
So he bade an attendant follow them and bring them
back; and when they stood before him he said to them,
“Tell me traly your camel’s age: so shall ye be secure
from the consequence of your deceit.””—Then did the lad
shrink back and ask for pardon; but the old man stepped
forward and said :

I am the Ser(ji and this is my son ; and the cub at, the proving is
like the lion.

Now never has his hand nor mine done wrong in matter of needle
or pencil :

But only fortune, the harming, the hostile, has brought us to this,
that we came forth to beg

Of each one whose palm. is moist, whose spring is sweet; of each
whose palm is close, whose hand is fettered ;

By every art, and with every aim: by earnest, if it prosper, and
if not, by jest.

That we may draw forth a drop for our thirsty lot, and consume
our life in. wretched victual.

And afterward Death is on the watch for us: if he fall not on us
to-day he will fall to-morrow. .

Then said the Kadi to him, “Ob rare! how admirable
are the breathings of thy mouth; well done! should I
say of thee, were it not for the guile that is in thee.—
Now know that I am of those that warn thee, and will
beware of thee.—So act not again deceitfully with judges,
but fear the might of those who bear rule—For not
every minister will excuse, and not at every season will
speech be listened to.”—Then the old man promised. to
follow his counsel, and to abstain from disguising his

ae tea 3 Fein,

NINTH ASSEMBLY. oi

character.—And he departed from the Kadi’s presence,
while the guile beamed from his forehead—Said Al
Harith, son of Hammam: Now I never saw aught more
wonderful than these things in the changes of my journeys, nor read aught like them in the records of books.

The Ninth Assembly, Called “of Alexandria.”

“OF ALEXANDRIA.”

This is one of the two Assemblies of Hariri which have been
translated and annotated by De Sacy in his Chrestomathy. Harith
in his wanderings comes to Alexandria, and, in accordance with his
custom, makes the acquaintance of the Kadi, who, as appears in the
sequel, is a good-natured and benevolent man. One evening, in
winter, the Kadi is distributing the public alms, when an ill-looking
old man is brought in by a young and handsome woman who accuses him of having married her on false pretences. She declares
that he had deceived her father by giving out that he had an excellent trade as a pearl-merchant; that he had been incautiously
accepted, and that now, when it was too late, she had discovered
that he had no business at all. Moreover, he had taken all her
dress and furniture, piece by piece, and sold it to. keep himself in
idleness, leaving her and her child io starve. The Kadi is indignant,
and threatens to send the husband to prison, unless he can clear
himself of the charge. The defendant is in no way disconcerted,
but at once improvises some elegant verses, in which he admits his
poverty, and that he had sold his wife’s effects, but denies that he
had deceived her in calling himself a “ pearl-stringer,” for the pearls
which he meant were the pearls of thought, by stringing which into
elegant poems he had been accustomed to make a large income from
the liberality of the rich and noble. Now, however, times were
changed; war and trouble had come upon the earth, and a race
of niggards had succeeded the generous patrons of the old days.
The Kadi accepts the excuse, bids the woman submit herself to her
husband, and gives them some of the alms money; on receiving
which the old man triumphantly carries off his wife. Hirith had
discovered that it was Aba Zayd, but was afraid to tell the. Kadi,
because in that case he might have declined to relieve such an im-

postor. But when he is gone, Harith cannot forbear suggesting that
he should be followed:and some news of him brought back. A
messenger is sent and returns quickly to say that he found Abt Zayd
dancing and singing in joy at his success. The Kadi treats the
affair as a good jest ; and declares that if he had known who he was
he would have been still more liberal. This is the first appearance
of Abt Zayd’s young wife, who in the fortieth Assembly is made
to rival ber husband in wit, learning, and volubility.

Al Harith, son of Hammam, related: The liveliness of
youth and the desire of gain sped me on until I had traversed all that is between Farghénah and Ghanah.—And
I dived into depths to gather fruits, and plunged into
perils to reach my needs.—Now I had caught from the
lips of the learned, and understood from the commandments of the wise—That it behoves the well-bred, the
sagacious, when he enters a strange city, to conciliate its
Kadi and possess himself of his favour :—That his back
may be strengthened in litigation, that he may be secure
in a strange land from the wrong of the powerful.—So I
took this doctrine as my guide and made it the leadingcord to my advantages.—And I entered not a city, I
went not into a lair, but I mingled myself with its judge
as water is mingled with wine, and strengthened myself
by his patronage as bodies are strengthened. by souls.—
Now while I was in presence of the judge of Alexandria
one cold evening, and he had brought out the almsmoney to divide it among the needy,—Behold there
entered an ill-looking old man whom a young matron
dragged along.—And she said: God strengthen, the Kadi
and through him make concord to be lasting:—Know
that I am a woman of stock the most noble, of root the
most pure, of mother’s and father’s kin the most. henourable:—My character is moderation, my disposition is

contentment ; my nature is to be a goodly help-meet; between me and my neighbours is a wide difference.—Now
whenever there wooed me any who had built up honour
or were lords of wealth—-My father silenced and. chid
them and misliked their suit and their gift:—Making
plea that he had covenanted with God Most High that
he would not ally himself save with the master of a
handicraft.—Then did Providence destine for my calamity and pain that this deceiver should present himself
in my father’s hall ;—And swear among his people that
he fulfilled his condition :—Asserting that long time he
had strung pearl to pearl and sold them for great price,
—Then was my father deceived by the gilding of his
falsehood, and married me to him before proving his
condition.— And when he had drawn me forth from my
covert, and carried me away from my people, and removed me to his habitation, and brought me under his
bond,—I found him slothful, a sluggard; I discovered
him to be-a lie-a-bed, a slumberer.—Now I had come to
him with apparel and goodly show, with farniture and
affluence.—But. he ceased not to sell it in a losing
market and to squander the. price in greedy feeding,—
Until he had altogether destroyed whatever was mine,
and spent my property on his need—So when he had
made to me to forget the taste of rest and left my house
cleaner than my hand’s palm ;—I said to him, ‘‘ Sir, know
that there is no concealment after distress, no perfume
after the wedding.—Rise up then to gain something by
thy trade, to gather the fruit of thy. skill."—But he declared that his trade had been struck with slackness
through the violence that was abroad in the earth.—
Also I bave a boy by him, thin asa toothpick: neither

of us gets a fill by him, and through hunger our weeping
to him ceases not.—So I have brought him to thee and
set him before thee, that thou mayest test the substance
of his assertion, and decide between us as God shall
show thee.

Then turned the Kadi to him and said: “ Thou hast
heard thy wife’s story ; now testify of thyself: else will
I discover thy deceit and bid thy imprisonment.”—But
he looked down as looks the serpent; then girt up his
garment for a long strife, and said:

Hear my story, for it is a wonder; there is laughter in its tale,
and there is wailing.

I am 4 man on whose qualities there is no blame, neither is there
suspicion on his glory.

Serj is my home where I was born, and my stock is Ghassin
when I trace my lineage :

And study is my business ; to dive deep in learning is my pursuit ;
and, oh! how excellent a seeking.

And my capital is the magic of speech, out of which are moulded
both verse and. prose.

T dive into the deep of eloquence, and from it I choose the pearls
and. select them :

I cull of speech the ripe fruit and the new; while another gathers
but fixing of the wood:

I take the phrase of silver, and when I have moulded it men say
that. it is gold.

Now formerly I drew forth wealth by the learning I had gotten ;
I milked by it:

And my foot’s sole in its dignity mounted to ranges above which
were no higher steps.

Oft were the presents brought in pomp to my dwelling, but I
accepted not everyone who gave.

But to-day learning is the chattel of slackest sale in the market of
him on whom hope depends.

The honour of its sons is not respected; neither are relationship
and alliance with them regarded.

It is ag though they weré corpses in their courtyards, from whose
stench men withdraw and turn aside.

Now my heart is confounded through my itial by the times ;—
strange is their changing.

The stretch of my arm is straitened through the straitness of my
hand’s means ; cares and grief assail me.

And my fortune, the blameworthy, has led me to the paths of that
which honour deems base.

For I sold until there remained to me not a mat nor household
goods to which I might turn.

So I indebted myself until I had burdened my neck by the carrying of a debt such that ruin had been lighter.

Then five days I wrapped my entrails upon hunger; but when
the hunger scorched me,

I could seo no goods except her outfit, in the selling of which I
might go about and bestir myself.

So I went about with it; but my soul was loathing, and my eye
tearful, and my heart saddened.

But when I made free with it, I passed not the bound of her consent, that her wrath should rise against me.

And if what angers her be her fancying that it was my fingers that
should make gain by stringing ;

Or that when I purposed to woo her I tinseled my speech that
my need might prosper :

I swear by Him to whose Ka'beh the companies journey when the
fleet camels speed them onward,

That deceit towards chaste ladies is not of my nature, nor are
glozing and lying my badge.

Since I was reared nought has atiached to my hand save the
swiftly-moving reeds and the books :

For it is my wit that strings necklaces, not my hand; what is
strung is my poetry and not chaplets.

And this is the craft. I meant as that by which I gathered and
gained.

So give ear to my explaining, as thou hast given ear to her; and
show respect to neither, but judge'as is due.

Now when he had completed the structure. of his
story and perfected his recitation, the Kadi turned to
the young woman, being heart struck at the verses :—
And said, Know that it is settled among all judges
and those who bear authority—That the race of the
generous is perished, and that the times incline to the

niggardly.—Now I imagine that thy husband is truthful
in his speech, free from blame.—For lo! he has acknowledged the debt to thee, and spoken the clear truth; he
has given proof that he can string verses, and it is plain
that he is bared to the bone—Now to vex him who
shows excuse is baseness, to imprison the destitute is
a sin: to conceal poverty is self-denial, to await relief
with patience is devotion—So return to thy chamber
and pardon the master of thy virginity:—Refrain from
thy sharpness of tongue and submit to the will of thy
Lord.—Then in the almsgiving he assigned them a
portion, and of the dirhems he gave them a pinch; and
said to them, “Beguile yourselves with this drop,
moisten, yourselves with this driblet:—And endure
against the fraud and the trouble of the time, for ‘it
may be that God will bring victory or some ordinance
from himself” ?’—Then they arose to go, and on the old
man was the joy of one loosed from the bond, and the
exulting of one who is in affiuence after need.

Said the narrator: Now I knew that he was Abi
Zayd in the hour that his sun peeped forth and his
spouse reviled him:—And I went near to declare his
versatility and the fruiting of his divers branchesBut
then I was afraid that the Kadi would hit on his falsehood and the lackering of his tongue, and not see
fit, when he knew him, to train him to his bounty.—
So TI forebore from speech with the forbearing of one
who doubts, and I folded up mention of him as: the
roll is folded over the writing:—Save that when he
had departed and had come whither he was to come,—
I said, “If there were one who would set out-on his
track, he might bring us the kernel of his story, and

what tissues he is spreading forth_Then the Kadi sent
one of his trusty ones after him and bade him to spy
out of his tidings.—But he delayed not to return bounding in, and to come back loudly laughing.—Said the
Kadi to him, “ Well, Abi Maryam !—He said, “I have
seen a wonder; I have heard what gives me a thrill.” —
Said the Kadi to him, “ What hast thou seen, and what
is it thou hast learnt ?’—He said, “Since the old man
went forth he has not ceased to clap with his hands and
to caper with his feet and to sing with the full of his
cheeks :

I was near falling into trouble through an impudent jade ;

And should have gone to prison but for the Kadi of Alexandria.”

Then the Kadi laughed till his hat fell off, and his
composure was lost:—But when he returned to gravity
and had followed excess by prayer for pardon,—He said,
“O God, by the sanctity of thy most honoured servants,
forbid that I should imprison men of letters.”—-Then said
he to that trusty one, “‘ Hither with him!” and he set
forth earnest in the search; but returned after a while,
telling that the man was gone.—Then said the Kadi,
“Know that if he had been here he should have had
no cause to fear,—For I would have imparted to him
as he deserves; I would have shown him that. the latter
state is better for him than the former.”—Said Al Harith,
son of Hammam, Now, when I saw the leaning of
the Kadi towards him, and that yet the fruit of the
Kadi’s notice was lost to him,—There came on me the
repentance of Al Farazdak when he put away Nawéar,
or of Al Kosai when the daylight appeared.

The Tenth Assembly, Called “of Rahbah.”

“OF RAHBAH.”

In this Assembly Abt Zayd is found making gain by his usual
questionable arts. At Rahbah, on the Euphrates, Harith beholds a
crowd following an elderly man who is dragging along a handsome youth. ‘The former accuses the boy of having killed his son,
and it is agreed to go before the Governor. The purpose of the
elder, who proves in the end to be Abt Zayd, is simply to induce the
Governor to buy off so handsome a youth from punishment, with the
view of taking him into his own household. When they are in
court the old man makes his charge, and as he has no witnesses
the boy is allowed to clear himself by an oath. But the old man
dictates an cath in which he enumerates all the beauties of the boy,
and invokes destruction on them if truth be not spoken. The boy
refuses to swear by such an oath ; and the Governor, who desires to
take him out of the power of the old man, then makes up a purse to
satisfy the prosecutor. A hundred denars are promised ; but as the
whole cannot he collected at once the old man says that he will not give
up the boy, but will watch him all night. The Governor consents, and
soon the two are left together in the courtyard. Harith then accosts
Abt Zayd, and asks who is the boy, Aba Zayd replies, that he is
his son, and his assistant in his tricks; and that they intend to
make their escape early in the morning, and leave the Governor to
his disappointment. This they do, and before setting forth Abi
Zayd delivers to Harith a sealed paper to be presented to the outwitted magistrate. Harith, dreading to present it, opens it and finds
it to contain a copy of satirical verses on the Governor. He tears
the paper to pieces, regardless of his promise to his friend. This
Assembly is exceedingly ‘elaborate in its diction, and the terms of
the oath dictated by Abii Zayd have much poetical beauty. It has
been imitated with great felicity by Rickert, whose version has
almost the spirit of the original.

Al Harith, son of Hammam, related :—The summoning of desire called me to Rahbah, the city. of Malik,
son of Towk,—And I obeyed it, mounted on a fleet
camel, and unsheathing an active purpose-—Now when
I had cast my anchors there, and fastened my ropes,

and had gone forth from the bath after shaving my
head,—I saw a boy cast in the mould of comeliness, and
clothed by beauty in the garb of perfection ;—-And an
old man was holding on to his sleeve, asserting that he
had slain his son;—But the boy denied knowledge
of him and was horror-struck at his suspicion ;—And
the contention between them scattered its sparks, and
the crowding upon them was made up of good and
bad.—Now after their quarrelling had been excessive,
they agreed to refer to the Governor of the town ;—
So they hastened to his court with the speed of Sulayk
in his career ;—And when they were there the old man
renewed his charge and claimed help.—So the Governor
made the boy speak, for the boy had already fascinated
him by the graces of his bright brow, and cloven his
understanding by the disposition of his forelocks,—And
the boy said, “It is the lie of a great liar against one
who is no blood-shedder, and the slander of a knaye
against one who is not an assassin—Then said the
Governor to the old man, If two just Moslems testify
for thee, well; if not, demand of him the oath.”—Said
the old man, “Surely he struck him down remote
from. men, and shed his blood when alone;—And how
can IT have a witness, when on the spot there was no
beholder ?—But empower me to. dictate an oath that it
may appear to thee whether he speaks true or lies.”—
He said to him, “Thou hast authority for that; thou
with thy vehement grief for thy slain son.”—Then said
the old man to the boy: Say, I swear by Him who hath
adorned foreheads with forelocks, and eyes with their
black and white, and eyebrows with separation, and
smiling teeth with regularity, and eyelids with languor,

160 TENTH. ASSEMBLY.

and noses with straightness, and cheeks with flame, and
mouths with purity, and fingers with softness, and waists
with slenderness, that I have not killed thy son by
negligence, nor of wilfulness, nor made his head a
sheath to my sword;—If it be otherwise, may God
strike my eyelid with soreness, and my cheek with
freckles, and my forelocks with dropping, and my palm
shoot with greenness, and my rose with the ox-eye,
and my musk with a foul steam, and my full moon
with waning, and my silver with tarnishing, and my
rays with the dark.

Then said the boy, “The scorching of affliction be
my lot rather than to take’such an oath! let me yield
to vengeance rather than swear as no one has ever
sworn !”—But the old man would nought but make
him swallow the oath which he had framed for him,
and the draughts which he had bittered——And the
dispute ceased not to blaze between them, and the road
of. concord to be rugged—Now the boy, while thus
resisting, captivated the Governor by his motions, and
made him covet that he should belong to him; until
love subdued his heart and fixed in his breast ;—And
the passion which enslaved ‘him, and the desire which
he had imagined tempted him to liberate the boy and
then get possession of him, to free him from the noose
of the old man, and then catch him himself—So he
said to the old man, “Hast thou a mind for that which
is more seemly in the stronger and nearer to godfearing ?”—He said, “Whither art thou. pointing that
I should follow and not delay?”—He said, “I think
it well that thou cease from altercation and be content
with a hundred denazs,—On condition that I take on

TENTH ASSEMBLY. 16]

myself part of it, and collect the rest as may be.”—Said
the old man, “I refuse not; but let there be no failure
to thy promise.”—-Then the Governor paid him down
twenty and assigned among his attendants the making
up of fifty—But the robe of evening grew dim, and
from this cause the rain of collection was cut short.
—Then he said, ‘Take what is ready and leave disputing; and on me be it to-morrow to accomplish that the
rest be doled to thee and reach thee.”—Said the old
man, “I will do this on the condition that I keep close
to him to-night, that the pupil of my eye guard him,—
Until when on the dawning of the morn he has made
up what remains of the sum of reconciliation,—Shell
may get clear of chick, and he may go guiltless as the
wolf went guiltless of the blood of the son of Jacob.”
Then said to him the Governor, “I think that thou
dost not impose what is immoderate or ask what is
excessive.” ;
Said Al Harith, son of Hammam: Now: when I
perceived that the pleadings of the old man were as. the
pleadings of Ibn Surayj, I knew him to be the Glory
of the Serfijis:—And I delayed until the stars of the
darkness glittered,. and the knots of the crowd dispersed :—And then I sought the Governor's court-yard ;
and lo! the old man guarding the youth—And I
adjured him by God to say whether he was Abi Zayd:
he said, “ Yes, by Him who hath permitted the chase.”—
I said, “‘ Who is this boy, after whom the understanding
darts ?’—He said, “ In kin he is my chick, and in making
gain my springe.”—I said, “Wilt thou not be satisfied
with the graces of his make, and spare. the Governor
temptation by his forelock.”—He said, “‘ Were it not that

his forehead put forth its ringlets, I should not have
snatched the fifty.”—Then he said, “Pass the night
near me that we may quench the fire of grief, and
give enjoyment its turn after separation.—For I have
resolved to slip away at dawn, and to burn the Governor's
heart with the flame of regret.”—Said Al Harith, Then
I spent the night with him in conversation more
pleasant than a garden of flowers, or a woodland of
trees :—Until when the Wolf’s Tail lighted the horizon,
and the brightening of the day-break came on in its time,
—He mounted the back of the highway, and left the
Governor to taste burning torment.—And he committed
to me, in the hour of his departure a. paper firmly
closed,—aAnd said, “Hand it to the Governor when he
has been bereft. of composure, when he has convinced
himself of our flight.”—But I broke the seal as one who
would free himself from a letter of Mutelemmis, and
behold there was written in it:

Tell the Governor whom I have left, after my departure, repenting,
grieving, biting his hands,

That the old man has stolen his money and the young one
his heart ; and he is scorched in the flame of a double regret.

He was generous with his coin (yee) when love blinded his eye

(usa), and he has ended with losing either ....

Calm thy grief, O afflicted, for it profits not. to seek the traces
after the substance is gone.

But if what has befallen thee is terrible to thee as the ill-fate of
Al Hosayn is terrible to the Moslems ;

Yet hast thou gotten in exchange for it understanding and caution ; and the wise man, the prudent, wishes for these.

So henceforth resist desires, and know that the chasing of gazelles
is not easy ;

No, nor does every bird enter the springe, even though it be surrounded by silver.

And how many a one who dete to make a prey becomes a prey
himself, and meets with nought but the shoes of Honayn!

Now consider well, and forecast not every thundercloud : many
a thundercloud may have in it the bolts of death:

And cast down thine eye, that thou mayest rest from a passion
by which thou wouldest clothe thyself with the garment of infamy
and disgrace.

For the trouble of man is the following of the soul’s desire; and
the seed of desire is the longing look of the eye.

Said the narrator,—But I tore the paper piece-meal,
and cared not whether he blamed or pardoned me.

The Eleventh Assembly, Called “of Saweh.”

“OF SAWEH.”

This and the following Assembly are. justly reckoned among the
master-pieces of the author. To pass suddenly from the most solemn
subjects to pleasantry, to place in the mouth of a clever impostor
the most serious warnings that can be addressed to mankind may be
morally objectionable ; but in the Moslem world, where religion
is mixed up with all the concerns of life, and pious discourse. and
phrases abound, it excites little repugnance. The. design’ of ‘the
author in the present composition was to produce.an elaborate sermon
in rhymed prose and in verse, and his genius takes a higher flight
than usual. The incident on which the Assembly is founded is
simple. Harith, in a fit of religious zeal, betakes himself to the
public burial ground of the city of Siweh, for the purpose of contemplation. He finds a funeral in progress, and when it is over, an old
man, with his-face muffled in a cloak, takes his stand on a hillock,
and pours forth a discourse on the certainty of death and judgment ;
rebuking his hearers for their worldly selfishness, and warning them
that wealth and power are of little avail against the general leveller.
He then rises into. poetry and declaims a piece which is one of the
noblest. productions of Arabic literature. In lofty morality, in religious fervour, in beauty of language, in power and grace of metre, this
magnificent hymn is unsurpassed. From this, and other similar
compositions of Hartri, a better idea of what is noblest and purest
in Islam will be gained, than from all the works of the most
orthodox doctors. Hirith, like the others who are present, is much
affected ; but he is indignant when he finds that the preacher is receiving abundant alms, and that beyond a doubt he is Abi Zayd.
He taxes him with his hypocrisy, and receives an impudent reply.
They then separate angrily. In this Assembly a view of moral
duties and future judgment is exhibited which differs little from
that of Christians. The enlightened and polished man of letters
of the fifth century was not likely to teach the coarse doctrines of a
sensual paradise, to be secured by hard fighting, which roused the
ignorant warriors of Arabia in the first days of Islam. In all
the work of Hariri, there is not a trace of this theology, which the
West erroneously attributes to every Moslem. Self-denial and benevolence are with him the duties of every man; and by them each
may hope to obtain everlasting happiness, but on the nature of both
future rewards and punishments he is discreetly silent.

Al Harith, son of Hammam, related: I was aware of
hardness of heart while I sojourned at Saweh—So I
betook myself to the Tradition handed down, that its cure
is by visiting the tombs——And when I had reached
the mansion of the dead, the storehouse of mouldering
remains, I saw an assemblage over a grave that had
been dug, and a corpse that was being buried —S8o I
drew aside to them, meditating on the end of man,
and calling to mind those of my people who were gone.—
And when they had sepulchred the dead, and the crying
of Alas! was over, an old man stood forth on high,
from a hillock, leaning on a staff— And he had veiled
his face with his cloak, and disguised his form for craftiness.—And he said: Let those who work, work for an
end like this—-Now take thought, O ye negligent,
and gird yourselves, ye slothful, and look well, ye
observers.—How is it with you that the burying of your
fellows grieves you not, and that the pouring in of the
mould frightens you not; that ye heed not the visitations of misfortune; that ye prepare not for the going
down to your graves; that ye are not moved to tears
ot the ave that weeps; that ye take not warning at the

death-message when it is heard; that ye are not
affrighted when an intimate is lost; that ye are not
saddened when the mourning assembly is gathered ?—
One of you follows home the dead man’s bier, but
his heart ig set towards his house ;—And he is present
at the burying of his kinsman, but his thought is of
securing his portion.—He leaves his loved friend with
the worms, then retires alone with his pipes and lutes.—
Ye have sorrowed over your riches, if but a grain were
notched away, yet have ye been forgetful of the cutting
off of your friends:—And ye have been cast down at the
befalling of adversity, but have made little of the perishing of your kindred—Ye have laughed at a funeral
as ye laughed not in the hour of dancing; ye have
walked wantonly behind biers, as ye walked not in
the day that ye grasped gifts——Ye have turned from the
recital of the mourning women to the preparing of
banquets ; and from the anguish of the bereaved to
daintiness in feastings.—Ye care not for him who movlders, and ye move not the thought of death in your
mind.—So that it is as if ye were joined to Death by
clientship, or had gotten security from Time, or were
confident of your own safety, or had made sure of a peace
with the Destroyer of delights —No! it is an ill thing
that ye imagine.—Again, no! surely ye shall learn.
Then he recited: .

O thou who claimest. understanding ; how long, O brother of delusion, wilt thou marshal sin and blame, and err exceeding error ?

Is not the shame plain to thee? doth not hoariness warn. thee?
(and in its counsel there is no doubtfulness) ; nor hath thy hearing become deaf.

Is not Death calling thee? doth he not make thee hear his voice?

dost thou not fear thy passing away, so as to be wary and anxious ?
How long wilt thou be ‘bewildered in carelessness, and walk

proudly in vanity, and go eagerly to diversion, as if death were not
for all?

Till when will last thy swerving, and thy delaying to mend habits
that unite in thee vices whose every sort shall be collected in thee?

If thou anger thy Master thou art not disquieted at it; but if thy
scheme be bootless thou burnest with vexation,

If the graving of the yellow one gleam to thee thou art joyful;
but if the bier pass by thee thou feignest grief, and there is no grief.

Thou resistest him who counselleth righteousness ; thou art hard
in understanding ; thou swervest aside: but thou followest the guiding of him who deceiveth, who lieth, who defameth.

Thou walkest in the desire of thy soul; thou schemest after
money; but thou forgettest the darkness of the grave, and rememberest not what is there.

But if true happiness had looked upon thee, thy own look would
not have led thee amiss; nor wouldest thou be saddened when the
preaching wipeth away griefs.

Thou shalt weep blood, not: tears, when thou perceivest that no
company can protect thee in the Court of Assembling ; no kinsman
of mother or father.

Tt is as though I could see thee when thou goest down to the
vault and divest deep; when thy kinsmen have committed thee to a
place narrower than a needle’s eye.

There is the body stretched out that the worms may devour it,
until the coffin-wood is bored through and the bones moulder.

And afterward there is no escape from that review of souls: since
Sirdt is prepared; its bridge is stretched over the fire to every one
‘who cometh thither.

And how many a guide shall go astray! and how many a great
one shall be vile! and how many a learned one shall slip and say
“The business surpasseth.”

Therefore hasten, O simple one, to that by which the bitter is
made sweet; for thy life is now near to decay and thou hast not
withdrawn thyself from blame.

And rely not on fortune though it be soft, though it be gay: for
so wilt thou be found like one deceived by a viper that. spitteth
‘venom.

And lower thyself from thy loftiness; for death is meeting thee
and reaching at thy collar; and he is one who shrinketh not back
when he hath purposed.

And avoid proud turning away of the cheek if fortune have prospered thee: bridle thy speech if it would run astray ; for how happy
ia he wha hridleth it!

And relieve the brother of sorrow, and believe him when he
speaketh; and mend thy ragged conduct; for he hath prospered
who mendeth it.

And plume him whose plumage hath fallen in calamity great or
small ; and sorrow not at the Joss, and be not covetous in amassing.

And resist thy base nature, and accustom thy hand to liberality,
and listen not to blame for it, and keep thy hand from hoarding.

And make provision of good for thy soul, and leave that which
will bring on ill, and prepare the ship for thy journey, and dread the
deep of the sea.

Thus have I given my precepts, friend, and shown as one whe
showeth clearly : and happy the man who walketh by my doctrines
and maketh them his example.

Then he drew back his sleeve from an arm strong of
sinew, ou which he had fastened the splints of deceit not
of fracture ;—Presenting himself to beg in the garb of
impudence :—And by it he beguiled those people until
his sleeve was brimmed and full ;—Then he came down
from the hillock merry at the gift——Said the narrator:
But I pulled him from behind by the hem of his cloak ;
and he turned to me submissively, and faced me, saluting me:—And Io! it was. our old Abfi. Zayd, in his
very self, and in all his deceit: and I said to him,

How many, Abi Zayd, will be the varieties of thy cunning to
drive the prey to thy net? and wilt thou not care who censures?

And he ‘answered without shame and without hesitation :

Look well, and leave thy blaming; for, tell me, hast thou ever
known a time when a man would not win of the world when the
game was in his hands.

Then I said to him: Away with thee, Old Shaykh of
Hell, laden with infamy !—¥For there is nothing like
thee for the fairness of thy seeming and the foulness of
thy purpose; except silvered dung or a whited sewer.—
Then we parted ; and I went away to the right, and he

went away to the left; and I set myself to the quarter of
the south, and he set himself to the quarter of the north.

The Twelfth Assembly, Called “of Damascus.”

“QF DAMASCUS.”

Harith, being in affluence, crosses from Irak to Damascus to enjoy
the luxury of that city, After he has had his fill of pleasure he
bethinks himself of returning homeward, and joins a caravan that is
about to cross the Semaweh, the desert which lies between Syria and
the Euphrates. The travellers are ready to depart, but are delayed
by their inability to find an escort, which they think indispensable
for their protection against robbers. While they are consulting they
axe watched by a dervish, who at last announces to them that he has
the means of keeping them safe from harm; and, on their inquiring
forther, tells them that his safeguard is a magic form of words
revealed to him in a dream. They are at first incredulous, but at
length consent to; take him with them, and to use. his incantation.
Ho then repeats it, and it proves to be a prayer full of assonances
and rhymes, beseeching the general protection of the Almighty.
They all learn it by heart and then set forth, repeating it twice o
day on their journey. As they are not molested on the road they
judge the charm to have been successful ; and when they come in
sight of ‘Anah, the first town. on the other side of the desert, they
reward him richly with what he likes best, gold and jewels. When
he has taken all he can get, he makes his escape, and the next thing
they hear of him is that he is drinking in the taverns of ‘Anah, a
city celebrated for its wine. Harith, shocked at this enormity in a
pious dervish, determines to seek him out, and soon finds him revelling amid wine and music in the guest.chamber of a wine-shop. He
taxes him ‘with his wickedness, and then the old man improvises a
Bacchanalian chant, which is one of the finest pieces in Hariri’s
work, In form this poem resembles that which is introduced into the
last Assembly, though the metre is more light and lively, as Hariri,
no doubt, desired to display his genius by the contrast. Harith,
charmed with the verses, asks who the old man. is; and from. his
answer discovers that he is Abi Zayd. He makes an ineffectual
attempt to reclaim him, and then quits the wine-shop; répentant at
having set foot in such a place. This Assembly is one of the most

admired. productions of the author, who has lavished on it all the
resources of his marvellous rhetoric. It has been imitated with
great skill by Riickert; who, however, wanders very far from the
original.

Al Harith, son of Hammam, related :—I journeyed
from Irak to the Ghitah; and then was I master of
haltered steeds and envied wealth.—Freedom of arm
called me to diversion, fullness of store led me to pride.
—And when I had reached the place after toil of soul,
after making lean my camel,—-I found it such as tongues
deseribe it; and in it was whatever souls long for or
eyes delight in—So I thanked the bounty of travel and
ran a heat with pleasure :—And began there to break
the seals of desires and gather the clusters of delights.—
Until some travellers were making ready for the journey
to Irak, and I had so recovered from my drowning, that
regret visited me in calling to mind my home and longing after my fold—Then I struck the tents of exile and
saddled the steeds of return—And when the company
had equipped themselves and agreement was. completed,
we shrank from setting forth without taking with us a
guard.—And we sought one from every tribe and used a
thousand devices to obtain him.— But to find him in
the clans failed, so that we thought he was not among
the living.—And for the want of such a one the resolves
of the travellers were bewildered, and they assembled at
the gate of Jayrin to take counsel—And they ceased
not tying and untying, and plaiting and twining, until
suggestion was exhausted and the hoper despaired.—
But opposite them was a person whose demeanour was
as the demeanour of. the youthful, and his garb as the
garb of monks, and in his hand was the rosary of women,
and in his eyes the mark of giddiness from watchings.—

And he had fastened his gaze on the assemblage and
sharpened his ear to steal a hearing. —And when it was
tho time of their turning homeward and their secret
was manifest to him,—He said to them, “O people, let
your care relieve itself, let your mind be tranquil ; for
T will guard you with that which shall put off your fear
and show itself in accord with you.”—Said the narrator :
Then we asked him to show us concerning his safe conduct, and promised him a higher wage for it than for an
embassy.—And he declared it to be some words which
he had been taught in a dream, whereby to guard himself from the malice of mankind.—Then began one to
steal a look at another, and to move his eyes between
glances sideward and downward.—So that it was plain
to him that we thought meanly of his story, and conceived
it to be futile-—Whereupon he said, How is it that ye take
my earnest for jest, and treat my gold as dross ?—Now,
by Allah, oft have I gone through fearful tracts and
entered among deadly dangers :—And with this I have
needed not the companying of a guard or to take with
me a quiver—Besides, I will remove what gives you
doubt, I will draw away the distrust that has come on
you,—In that I will consent with you in the desert and
accompany you on the Semaweh.—Then, if my promise
has spoken you true, do ye renew my weal and prosper
my fortune :—But if my mouth has lied to you, then
rend my skin and pour out my blood.

Said Al Harith, son of Hammam: Then we were inspired to believe bis vision and take as true what he
had related ;—So we ceased from disputing with him
and cast lots for carrying him.—And at his word we eut
the loops of hindrance, and. put away fear of harm or

stay ;—And when the pack saddles were fastened on
and the setting forth was near, we sought to learn
from him the magic words that we might make them a
lasting safeguard.—He said: Let each of you repeat the
Mother of the Koran as often as day or night comes on;
—Then let him say with lowly tongue and humble voice,
—O God! O thou who givest life to the mouldering
dead ! O thou who avertest harms! O thou who guardest
from terrors! O thou generous in rewarding! O thou
the refuge of suppliants! O thou the Lord of pardon and
protection! Send thy blessing on Mohammed, the Seal
of thy prophets, the Bringer of thy messages, and on
the Lights of his kindred, the Keys of his victory ;—
And give me refuge, O God, from the mischiefs of devils
and the assaults of princes; from the vexing of the
wrongers, and from suffering through the tyrannous;
from the enmity of transgressors, and from the transgression of enemies; from the conquest of conquerors,
from the spoiling of spoilers, from the erafis of the
crafty, from the treacheries of the treacherous ;—And
deliver me, .O God, from the wrongfulness of neighbours
and the neighbourhood of the wrongful ;—And keep
from me the hands of the harmful; bring me forth from
the darkness of the oppressors ; place me by thy mercy
among thy servants who do aright.—O God, keep me in
my own land and in my journeying, in my exile and my
coming homeward, in my foraging and my return from
it, in my trafficking and my success from it, in my:
adventuring and my withdrawing from it—And guard
me in myself and my property, in my honour and my
goods, in my family and my means, in my household
and my dwelling, in my strength and my fortune, in

my riches and my death.—Bring not on me reverse ;
make not the invader lord over me, but give me from
thyself helping power.—O God, watch over me with thy
eye and thy aid, distinguish me by thy safeguard and
thy bounty, befriend me with thy election and thy good,
and consign me not to the keeping of any but thee—
But grant to me health that weareth not away, and
allot to me comfort that perisheth not; and free me from
the terrors of misfortune, and shelter me with the coverings of thy boons; make not the talons of enemies to
prevail against me, for thou art He that heareth prayer.
Then he looked down, and he turned not a glance, he
answered not a word:—-So that.we said, “A fear has
confounded him or a stupor struck him dumb.”—Then he
raised his head and drew his breath, and said, I swear
by the heaven with its constellations, and the earth with
its plains, and the pouring flood, and the blazing sun,
and the sounding sea, and the wind and the dust-storm,—
That this is the most sure of charms, one that will best
suffice you for. the wearers of the helmet—He who
repeats it at the smiling of the dawn has no alarm of
danger to ihe red of eve ;—-And he who whispers it to the
vanguard of the dark is safe the night long from plunder.
Said the narrator: So we learned it till we knew it
thoroughly, and rehearsed it together that we might not
forget. it—Then we set forth, urging the beasts by
prayers, not by the song of drivers; and guarding the
loads by words, not by warriors—And our companion
frequented us evening and morning, but required not
of us our promises :—Till when we spied the house-tops
of “Anah, he said to us, “ Now, your help, your help!”—
Then we set before him the exposed and the hidden, and

Evionieonetig

showed him the corded and the sealed.—And said to him,
“ Decide as thou wilt, for thou wilt find among us none
but will consent.”—But nothing enlivened him but. the
light, the adorning ; nothing was comely in his eye but .
the coin——So of those he loaded on his burden, and
rose up with enough to repair his poverty.—Then he
dodged us as dodges the cut-purse, and slipped away from
us as slips quicksilver—And his departure saddened us,
his shooting away astonished us :—And we ceased not to
seek him in every assembly, and to ask news of -him
from each that might mislead or guide.—Until it was
said, “Since he entered ‘Anah he has not quitted the
tavern.”—Then the foulness of this report set me on to
test it, and to walk in a path to which I belonged not.—
So I went by night to the wine-hall in disguised habit ;
and there was the old man in a gay-coloured dress
amid easks and wine vats;—And about him were cupbearers surpassing in beauty, and lights that glittered,
and the myrtle and. the jasmine, and the pipe and the
lute—And at one time he bade broach the wine casks,
and at another.he called the lutes to give utterance ; and
now he inhaled the perfumes, and now he courted the
gazelles—But when I had thus stumbled on his hypocrisy, and the differing of his to-day from his yester-
day ;—I said to him, Woe to thee, accursed ! hast
thou forgotten the day at the Jayrin?—But he laughed
heartily, and then indited charmingly :

I cling to journeying, I cross deserts, I loathe pride that I may cull
aa or I plunge into floods,.and tame steeds that I may draw the
trains of pleasure and delight,

And I throw away staidness, and sell my land, for the sipping of
wine, for the quaffing of cups.

And were it not for longing after the drinking of wine my mouth
would not uiter its elegancies ;

Nor would my craft have lured the travellers to the land of Trak,
through my carrying of rosaries.

Now be not angry, nor cry aloud, nor chide, for my excuse is
plain:

And wonder not at an old man who settles himself in a wellfilled house by a wine cask that is brimming.

For truly wine strengthens the bones and heals sickness and
drives away grief.

And the purest of joy is when the grave man throws off the veils

of shame and flings them aside :

And the sweetest of passion is when the love-crazed ceases from
the concealing of his love, and shows it openly.

Then avow thy love and cool thy heart: or else the fire-staff
of thy grief will rub a spark on it;

And heal thy wounds, and draw out thy cares by the daughter of
the vine, her the desired:

And assign to thy evening draught a cup-bearer who will stir the

torment of desire when she gazes ;
And a singer who will raise such a voice that the mountains

of iron shall thrill at it when she chants.

And rebel against the adviser who will not permit thee to approach
a beauty when she consents.
. And range in thy cunning even to perverseness; and care not
what is said of thee, and catch what suits thee :

And leave thy father if he refuse thee, and spread thy nets and

hunt who comes by thee.
But be sincere with thy friend, and avoid the niggardly, and

bestow kindness, and be constant in gifts ;

And take refuge in repentance before thy departure; for whoso
knocks at the door of the Mercifal causes it to open.

Then I said to him, “O rare thy recitation, but fie on
thy misconduct !—Now, by Allah, tell me from what
thicket is thy root, for thy puzzle vexes me.”—-He said
T love not to disclose myself; yet I will intimate it:

T am the novelty of the time, the wonder of nations ;
I am the wily one, who plays his wiles among Arabs and

foreigners ;
But not the less a brother of need, whom fortune vexes and

‘wrongs,

TWELFTH ASSEMBLY. Lia

And the father of children who lie out like meat on the tray:

Now the brother of want, who has a household, is not blamed if
he be wily.

Said the narrator: Then I knew that it was Abd
Zayd, the man of ill-fame and disgrace, he that blackens
the face of his hoariness—-And the greatness of his
contumacy offended me, and the foulness of the path
of his resorting:—So I said to him with the tongue
of indignation and the confidence of acquaintance: “Is
it not time, old man, that thou withdraw from debauchery?’—But he was angry, and growled, and his coun-
tenance changed, and he thought a while:—And then
he said, “Tt is a night for merriment, not for rebuke,
an occasion for drinking wine, not for contention ; so
leave speaking thy thought until we meet to-morrow.”
—Then I left him, through fear of his drunken humour, not through dependence on his promise ;—And
I passed my night clothed in the mourning of repentance, at having advanced the steps of my foot to
the daughter of the vine, not of grace-—And I made
a vow to God Almighty: that I would never again
enter the tavern of a liquor-seller, even that I
might be endowed with the dominion of Bagdad ;—And
that I would not look upon the vats of wine, even that
the season of youth might be restored to me.—Then we
saddled the white camels in the last darkness of night,
and left together those two old ones, Abi Zayd and Tolis.

The Thirteenth Assembly, Called “of Bagdad.”

“OF BAGDAD.”

This Assembly is remarkable for an enigmatical address, which
is difficult to be understood, even by one acquainted with the
original. Harith is conversing with some poets, when an old
woman, followed by some lean and feeble children, makes her
appearance. She at once begins to solicit alms, and sets forth her
former prosperity and her present distress in a composition the
peculiarity of which is that she introduces into it the names of parts
of the human body, each of which is to be taken, and is intelligible
only when taken, in another sense. Thus the word Po which
means eye-ball, means also he who looks upon one with respect, and
must be understood in this second sense ; the word W.>> has the
meanings of eye-brow and attendant, the latter of which must be
understood. The passage, though not much in accordance with
European tastes, belongs to an order of composition which the Arabs,
seduced by the extraordinary richness of their language, have much
affected. The close of the address introduces, in an equally artificial
manner, the names of colours. The old woman afterwards recites
some charming verses, and obtains alms from the people. She is
followed by Hirith, who discovers her to be Abi Zayd, the impostor, who, when alone, is heard to improvise some verses on his
own cleverness.

Al Harith, son of Hammam, related: I was in company, on the banks of the Zowra, with some Shaykhs of
the poets——They were such that no rival would keep
up. even with their dust, no disputant would run with
them in the. training-ground.—And we flowed in a
discourse that shamed the flowers, until we had halved
the day.—Now, when the yield of our thoughts was
failing, and our souls were desiring after their nests,—
We caught sight of an old woman, who approached from
afar, and trotted the trot of a good steed.—And she was
leading behind her some children, thinner than spindles,

weaker than the young of doves.—And when she saw us,
she failed not to make towards us;—And when she stood
before us, she said: God save the faces present, though
they are not of my acquaintance!—Know, O ye who
are the refuge of the hoping, the stay of the widowed,
that I am of the Princes of the tribes, the ladies that
are kept jealously :—My people and my husband were
wont to settle on the Breast, and to journey at the
Heart, to burden the Back, to advance the Hand;
but when Fortune destroyed the Axms, and pained
the Liver by means of the Limbs; and turned about
till Back was Belly; then the Eye-ball grew dim, and
the Eye-brow restless, and the Eye went forth, and the
Palm was lost, and the Fore-arm grew dry, and the
Right hand broke, and the Elbows departed, and there
remained to us neither Front tooth nor Eye tooth—
Now, since the Green life has become Dust-coloured, and
the Yellow loved one has been Tarnished, my White day
is made Black, and my Black temple is made White, so
that. the Blue-eyed enemy has pitied me, and now
welcome the Red death! And there follow me those

! The explanation of this speech is as follows :—

My people and my husband were wont to sit in the first place in
the assembly ; to march at the centre, or head quarters of the army ;
they mounted their friends on the backs of their camels; they conferred favours: but when Fortune destroyed those who helped
them, and afflicted them by taking away their children and servants,
who laboured for them, and brought them gain; and when their
state was completely overthrown; then, whoever looked to them
with respect withdrew; and their attendants were insolent; and
their coin left them; and their quiet was lost; and their fire-staff
gave no spark; their power was broken; their comforts and conveniences were scattered ; there remained not a-camel, young or aged.

Now, since the life of plenty has become barren, and the loved gold
coin has turned aside from me, my happy day has been saddened,

of whom ye see that their look is a sufficient examining,
that their yellowness is their interpreter :—The furthest
desire of each: is a mess, the extreme of his wish is a
mantle——Now I had sworn that I would not give my
cheek to shame, except before the generous, even though
I should die of misery.—But the soul that dwells in me
has whispered me that succour will be found with you,
and the discerning of my heart has announced to me that
ye are the fountains of gifts—Now may God brighten
him who will make my vow sinless, and verify my observing ;—And who will look on me with an eye into
which parsimony sets a mote, while bounty plucks it
out.

Said Al Harith, son of Hammam: Now we were
astonished at the excellence of her signifying and at
the beauties of her metaphor.—So we said to her, “Thy
prose has enchanted us, but how is thy versifying ?’—
She said, ‘“‘ Without a boast, it would make a rock to
gush forth."—We said, ‘If thou wilt place us among
thy Reciters, we will not be niggardly in imparting to
thee.”—She said, “I will first show you my worn out
garment, and then give you to recite my poems.”—Then
she put forth the sleeve of a well worn smock, and unveiled the look of a crafty old woman, and indited:

I complain to God, with the complaining of the sick, against
the trouble of the unjust, ihe hateful time.

O friends, I am of people who prospered long time, while the
eyelid of fortune was cast down before them :

Their glory there was none to forbid, and their fame was spread
abroad among men.

and the black hair of my temples has been whitened, so that the
blue-eyed Greek, my enemy, has pitied me, and now welcome death
in war.

When foraging failed in the ashy year they were a goodly
meadow :

Their fires were kindled to the travellers, and they fed the guest
with fresh meat:

Their neighbour passed not his night in hunger, nor through fear
did he say, “Choking hinders me.”

But the changes of destruction have made their seas of bounty to
sink away from them, which T thought not would ever sink :

And put away from among them, into the bowels of the. earth,
those that were lions of guarding, healers of the sick.

That on which I carry is now my back, after being my beast, and
my home is in the hollow, after being on the height.

My little ones fail not to mourn their misery, ‘is which there is
some flash every day.

When the pious man prays to his Lord by night, they also call
Him with gushing tears.

O Thou who feedest the young raven in the nest, and settest the
bone which is broken, and again broken ;

Appoint to us, O God, one whose honour is pure and washed from
the filth of blame ;

Who will quench for us the fire of hunger, though only with a
mess of the sour milk or the butter milk.

Now is there any who will remove what is come upon us, and
make prize of thanks long and large ?

For, by Him to whom the forelocks shall bow down in the day
when the faces of the assemblage shall be black and white,

Were it not for these, my cheek would not expose itself, nor would
T assay to the stringing of verse.

Said the narrator: Now, by Allah, she cleft our hearts
in pieces with her verses, and called forth the gifts of our
bosoms :—So that he gave her alms whose habit was to
beg alms himself, and he was brisk to bestow on her who
we thought would not be so.—And when her bosom ‘was
filled full with gold, and each of us had shown bounty to
her,—She retreated, the little ones following her, and
her mouth was wide with thanks.—But after she was
gone, the company were all a-stretch to fathom her, that
they might prove where their bounty had fallen—And I

went surety to them for eliciting the hinted secret, and

rose up and followed the track of the old woman.—Until
she came to a street choked with people, exceeding in its
erowd.—Then she plunged into the throng, and slipped
away from the simple children.—And she turned aside,
with unconcern of mind, to a ruined mosque, and threw
away her cloak, and drew off her veil.—But I spied
at her through. a chink of the door, and watched what
strange thing she would bring to pass—And when
the gear of modesty fell off, I saw the face of Abi Zayd
dawn out—And I thought within myself that I would
rush upon him and rebuke him for the course he was
running.—But he threw himself back with the gesture
of the contumacious, and raised the shrill note of singers,
and broke forth, inditing thus :—

Ob! would I kmew whether the time had gotten a knowledge

of my power :

Whether it had learnt or learnt not the real truth how deep I
go in deceiving :

How many of its sons I have won of by my wile and my fraud :

How oft I have sallied forth upon them in my known form and
in disguise ; :

To catch one set by preaching, and others by poetry ;

To excite one mind by vinegar, and another by wine ;

Being at one time Sakhr, at another time the sister of Sakhr.

Now if I had followed the frequented path all the length of
may life,

My. five and my portion would have failed, my need and my
loss would have lasted.

So say to him who blames, “ This is my excuse—take it.”

Said Al Harith, son of Hammém: Now when the
clearness of his case appeared to me, and the marvel
of his wickedness, and the excuse which he had tinseled
in his verses,—I knew that his devil was a rebellious
one, who would not listen to rebuke, and would do
nought but what he willed—So I turned my reins to my

companions, and published to them what my eye-witnessing had established—Then they were sullen at the
loss of their presents, and yowed one to another to
deny old women.

The Fourteenth Assembly, Called “of Mecca.”

“OF MECCA.”

This Assembly has little that is remarkable. arith is on the
pilgrimage to Mecca, and, after having fulfilled the usual rites, he
and his friends are diverting themselves with conversation, in a tent,
during the heat of the day. An old man and a boy make their
appearance, and when they are asked what they want, the old man
utters a complimentary speech, soliciting relief for himself and his
son. They promise it, and he then recites some verses, lamenting
that his camel had broken down,and that he should have to return
from the pilgrimage on foot. They promise him a camel, and desire
to know what is his son’s request. The. boy recites some verses.
asking for various kinds of food in use among the ancient Arabs.
Both receive what they desire from the company, and Harith
then asks whence they come. The old man, who is Abi Zayd,
begins to tell them in verse of Serdj, and its destruction; but his
tears hinder him from proceeding, and he departs abruptly. In this
Assembly Aba Zayd and his son are not represented as practising
any kind of knavery; and it may be assumed that they were really
in want of a beast and food. This trait is in keeping with the
thirty-first Assembly, which introduces Abt Zayd, on the pilgrimage
preaching to the assembled people. On that occasion he would not
ask or even take alms, having made a vow of self-denial. In the
present Assembly, though less strict, he will not commit an unworthy action in a sacred place. The lingering religious sentiment
and sense of honour in Abi Zayd’s character are always well
observed by the author.

Al Harith, son of Hammam, related: I rose up from
the City of Peace for the pilgrimage of Islam :—And
when, by the help of God, I had fulfilled my squalor
and. permitted myself perfumes and indulgence, there

came upon the encampment of the Khayf the blaze of
summer ;—And I made a shelter perforce of what might
ward off the mid-day heat—Now when I was under a
leather tent with a company of the polite; and the
farnace of the gravel was now hot, and the noon blinded
the eye of the chameleon ;—Lo! there broke in upon
us a tottering old man, whom followed a youth in agile
prime.—And the old man greeted with the greeting of
the well-bred, the intelligent, and answered with the
answering of a kinsman, not a stranger.—Then he
pleased us by what he scattered from his chaplet, and
we wondered at his unreserve before we had emboldened
him.—And we said to him, “ What art thou? and how
hast thou made way in, and-not asked leave ?”—He said,
“As for me, I am a suppliant, a seeker of help; the
secret of my misery is not hidden, and a look at me is
my sufficient intercessor:—And as for my intrusion, to
which suspicion clings, why, it is not wonderful, seeing
there can be no veil over the generous.” —Then we asked
him how he found his way to us, and by what he got
direction. towards us.—He said, “Truly generosity has
a fragrance whose breathings steal forth, whose odours
guide to its meadow ;—And I was led by the exhaling
of your perfume to the brightening of your bounty ;—
And the fragrant waving of your myrtle told.me gladdeningly that the return from your presence would be
happy.”—Then we asked him concerning his want, that
we might undertake to aid him.—He said, “I have a
need and. my boy a request.”—We said, “ Hither wish
shall be fulfilled, and each of you shall surely be contented :—But the elder, the elder:” He said, “Certainly ;
by Him who has spread out the seven earths.”-—Then he

leaped up to speak like the camel loosed from the footrope, and recited ;

Tam a man whose beast has fallen with soreness of foot and
weariness ;

My distance is a far one, my pace is unequal to it:

With me is not as much as a mustard seed of the stamped gold :

My contriving is closed up, my bewilderment plays with me.

Jf I set out on foot, I fear destructive haps;

And if I lag behind the company my way is straitened.

My sighing is on the heights, my tear is on the slopes.

But ye are the foraging ground of him that hopes, the target
of seeking ;

Your grist pours down as pour not down the clouds:

Your neighbour dwells in sanctuary, but your wealth is open
to spoiling :

The terror-stricken does net take shelter with you, and then fear
the tooth of calamities ;

Nor does he that hopes seek the milk-flow of your gifts, and then
fail to be gifted.

So now be ye moved by my story, and prosper my retiring from
you;

For if ye had made trial of my life, in its meat and its drink,

Surely such distress as mine would pain you, distress that gives
me up to sorrows.

And if ye were to learn my distinction, and my pedigree, and
my path,

And what my knowledge embraces of choice studies,

No doubt would occur to you but that my breeding is my malady.

Now, would that I had not sucked at the breast of scholarship!

For its ill-luck has fallen on me; and in this thing was my father
unduteous to me.

Then we said to him: “As for thee, thy verses have
now disclosed thy poverty, and the perishing of thy shecamel ;—So we will mount thee on that which will bring
thee to thy city ; and, now, what is the need of thy son?”
-—He said to him, “Rise, my boy, as thy father rose,
and speak what is in thy mind; may thy mouth not be
harmed !"—Then he rose up as rises the hero to the sallying forth, and unsheathed a tongue like a cutting blade,
and recited :

O ye Lords, whose dwellings are built up on high places !

Who, when danger befalls, take stand to ward off stratagem ;

To whom is easy the bestowing of stored up treasures ;

I desire of you a piece of roast, and a loaf, and a pudding:

But if that be too dear, then let it be cracknels, in which shall be
hidden some roast lamb;

Or if there be neither this nor that, then my fill of tharid:

But if these deny themselves altogether, then mere dates with
their sauce. :

Bring forth what is easy for you, even though it be but shreddings
of dried meat;

And make it ready quickly, for my soul is longing for what is
ready.

For there is no doing without provision for my far journey ;

And ye are the best of kindred to be called on in necessity ;

Your hands every day are full of new bounties ;

Your palms bestow all useful gifts.

Now my wish will limit iiself within the folds of that which ye
shall give.

Through me may reward be gotten; and estimable is the consequence of relieving my sorrow ;

And mine are young offsprings of the wit which put to shame
every poem.

Said Al Harith, son of Hammim: Now when we saw
that the cub wag like the lion, we mounted the father
and provisioned the son ;—And they requited the kindness with thanks, which they spread out as robes, and
they paid for it its due-—And when they were intent on
departure, and had fastened for the journey the waistfolds of the skirt,—I said to the old man, “‘ Has our pro-
mise been like the promise of ‘Orkdb, or. does there remain a need in the mind of Jacob ?’—He said, “ God
forbid ! surely not: nay, your kindness has been mighty
and manifest.”—I said to him, “Reward us as we have
rewarded thee, profit us. as we have profited thee l—

Where is thy cot ? for perplexity has possessed us concerning thee.”—Then he sighed with the sighing of one
who calls to mind his home, and recited, while sobbing
hindered his tongue:

Serdj is my dwelling ; but how to make way to it!

For enemies have encamped in it, and marred it.

Now by the House to which I have journeyed to lay down my
sins in it,

Nought has pleased my eye since I have left the bounds of Serdj.

Then his eyes were drowned with tears, and his tearfounts permitted their flowing :—And he was unwilling
to let them drop, but he could not restrain them.—So he
cut short his sweet reciting, and was brief in his farewell
and withdrew.

The Fifteenth Assembly, Called “the Legal.”

“THE LEGAL.”

This long and elaborate composition has a very slight foundation.
The author, desirous to amuse his readers with a very ordinary
legal puzzle, imagines a long adventure to introduce it. WHirith is
passing a sleepless night, and strongly desires a companion to converse with, when a wanderer knocks at the door. He opens, and
when the light is brought he discovers the visitor to be Abi Zayd.
Rejoicing at so pleasant an encounter he offers him food, but finds
that Abi Zayd will eat nothing. He is offended; but Abi Zayd
proceeds to explain his want of appetite by relating the adventures
of the day. He had been as usual in destitution, and his hunger
had been further excited by the sight of the dates and milk that
were exposed in the market. At last, when almost exhausted, he had
seen'a man weeping. He had inquired the cause and found that the
stranger was deploring the decay of learning, inasmuch as no one
was able to solve for him a puzzle which had come into his -possession. This was to explain how a man, dying childless, could leave
a brother perfectly competent to inherit, and yet that his property
should go to his wife’s brother. Abt Zayd at once perceives the

answer, but demands a supper before revealing it. The stranger
takes him home and treats him to dates and cream, which he eats
greedily, and then explains that the deceased man in the puzzle had
had a son by a former wife, who had married the mother of his, the
father’s, second wife and then died, leaving a son who would be
the brother of the second wife, and the grandson of the deceased
whose property was in question. This child would therefore inherit in
preference to the deceased’s brother. Abi Zayd relates that when
he had given the stranger the solution of the puzzle, he had been
turned out in the rain, and had wandered from house to house
seeking shelter, until chance had taken him to Harith. They spend
the night in conversation, and Harith parts with him in the morning
with regret. Sherishi, in his commentary, remarks with justice on
the inordinate Jength of this Assembly, and gives one by Al
Hamadani, of only a few lines, as a contrast to it, observing that
if Hariri’s had been shorter and Badi‘ az Zemin’s longer, both
would have been better. “Abi Mohammed,” he says, ‘‘is so long
as.to weary the hearer.”

Al Harith, son of Hammam, related: I was wakeful
in a certain night, that was black of robe, lowering a
massive cloud, beyond the wakefulness of the lover
who is driven from the door, who is tried by the aversion
of mistresses—And thoughts ceased not to rouse my
sadness, and make my imagination roam among fantasies.
—Until I formed a wish, through the unease of what

• I suffered, that I might be granted a talk-fellow from
  among the estimable, who should shorten the tedium
  of my night-dark night—Now my wish was not ended,
  and. I had not closed my eye, when a knocker knocked
  at the door, one with an humble voice——And I said within
  myself, ‘‘Perchance the plant of wishing has now borne
  fruit, and the night of luck is moonlit.”—And I rose'up
  to him in haste, and said, ““ Who is it that now walks by
  night ?’—He said, “A stranger, whom the. night has
  veiled in darkness, whom the rain-flood has eaught ;—And
  he desires a sheltering, nothing else ; and when it dawns

he will advance his journey.”—Said Al Harith: Now
when his rays indicated his sun, and his title disclosed
the secret of his page,—I knew that night-talking with .
him would be a prize, and watching with him a pleasure.
—So I opened the door with smiling, and said, “‘ Enter
ye into them with peace.”—And there entered a person
whose lance time had bent, and the rain had wet through
his mantle—And he greeted with a glib tongue, and
a sweet eloquence.—Then he thanked me for responding
to his voice, and excused himself for night-walking out
of seasou.—But I put near to him the kindled lantern,
and contemplated him as one that examines money.—
And I found that he was our Shaykh Aba Zayd, without
question, without the guess of doubt.—So I received him
as one who had possessed me of my utmost desire, and
transported me from the vexing of sorrow to the quiet of
joy.—Then he took to complaining of weariness, and I
took to How ? and Where ?—He said, ‘“‘ Let me swallow
down my spittle, for my road has wearied me.”—And
I thought that he had hunger in his belly, and was sluggish from this cause-—So I set before him what is set
before the guest who comes sudden in the dark night.—
But he shrank as shrinks the abashed, and declined
as declines: the overeaten.—And I was evil in thought
at his. refraining, and the change of his nature angered
me :—Until I was near to be rough to him in speech, and
to sting him with the venom of blame——Then he
discerned from the glances of my eye what pervaded
my mind:— And he said, “O weak of. confidence in
them that love thee! turn from that which thou makest
to stir thy heart and listen to me, O thou base-born !’—I
said, “Go on, brother of empty talk.”—Then he said,

Know that I passed yesternight an ally of want, a
communer with fantasy—And when the night had fulfilled its vow, and the morn had sunk its stars, I went
forth at the time of sunrise to one of the markets,—To
assay against any prey that might pass by, any generous
man who might show bounty.—And I caught sight of
dates whose ordering in rows was made comely, whose
place of summering had been favourable.—And they united
in proof of their goodness the purity of choice wine, and
the ruddiness of cornelian.—And opposite them was milk
that showed forth like the yellow goid, and disclosed
a saffron hue,—-Which praised him who cooked it with
the tongue of its perfection, and justified the judgment of
the buyer, even though he had paid down his heart’s
core for it-—Then appetite bound me with its cords,
and thirst brought me under its dominion—And I
remained more bewildered than a lizard, more distracted
than a lover;—Having no means to bring me to the
reaching of my wish, and the delight of swallowing.—
And now my foot obeyed me not for departure through
the ardour of my inflaming.—But greediness and its
violence chid me on, and hunger and its heat, to forage
every land, to be content with a driblet from my watering.—And I ceased not all the length of that day to let
down my bucket into rivers ;—But it came not back even
with a wetting, and drew not up a quenching for my
thirst ;—Until the sun bent to the setting, and my soul
was weak with weariness——Then at eve I went homeward with burning stomach: I returned irresolute, ad-
vaneing one foot, drawing back the other.—And while I
thus sped or stayed, while my breeze thus rose or fell,
behold, there met me a Shaykh, who was lamenting with

Baswermedeetenscion |

the lamentation of the bereaved, and his eyes were flowing.—Then not even the Wolf’s Disease that I was under,
and the emptiness that melted me, engaged me from the
attempt to become intimate with him, and from the desire
after deceiving him.—So I said to him, “O stranger, in
thy weeping there is surely a secret, and behind thy
passion an ill:—So shew me thy disorder and take me
among thy counsellors:—For thou wilt find in me a
physician to cure or a helper to impart.”’—Then he said,
“ By Allah! my lamenting is not after livelihood that is
gone, or fortune that is insolent ;—But for the perishing
of science and its blotting out, for the going down of
its moons and its suns.”—I said, ‘‘ And what mishap has
appeared? what question is obscure? so as to excite in
thee grief for the loss of those who are gone.””—Then he
drew forth a scrap of paper from his sleeve, and swore
by his father and mother,—That he had already laid
it before the chiefs of the schools, but they could not
distinguish its worn-out way-marks,—And had bidden
the doctors of the ink-flasks to speak on it, but they
were dumb beyond the dumbness of the tenants of the
tombs.—I said to him, “Let me see it; for perhaps I
shall suffice for it”’—He said, “‘Thou art not extreme
in thy request, and oft a shot is without a shooter.”—
Then he handed it to me, and lo! there was written
on it:

Ho the leamed, the lawyer, who surpassest in acuteness, and there
is none like thee!

Give me a decision on a case which every judge shuns, at which
every lawyer is bewildered :

Aman died, leaving « brother, both by father and mother, who
was a Moslem, free, pious ;

And the deceased had a wife who had, O Doctor, a brother, really
her own, without equivocation ;

She got her legal share, and her brother took what was left of the
inheritance instead of the deceased’s brother.

Now relieve us by thy answer to what we ask; this is an ordinance
of law, no fault can be found in it.

Now when I had read the verses on the paper and perceived, their secret, I said to him, “ Thon hast fallen on
one who is knowing in it, thou hast alighted near one who
is at home in it:—But yet I am burning in the entrails
and have need of a supper; ‘so grant me to sojourn with
thee, then listen to my decision.”—He said, “Thou art
just in thy stipulating and hast shrunk from excess ;-—
So go with me to my dwelling, that thou mayest get what
thou desirest and come off as is fitting.”’— Said Aba
Zayd: Then I accompanied him to his habitation as God
hath commanded.—And he brought me into a house nar- ©
rower than the ark of Moses, weaker than a spider’s web.
—But not the less did he mend the straitness of his
dwelling by the largeness of his bestowal:—For he
gaye me my choice of the entertainment and of all the
delicacies that are bought.—And I said, “I wish for the
proud rider on the desired steed, and for the wholesome
companion with the hurtful one that is companied with.”
—So he thought a long time, and then he said, “Perchance
thou meanest the daughter of the palm-tree with the
first milk that follows the kid.”—-I said to him, “Just
these two I meant, and for their sake I trouble myself.”
—And he rose cheerful, then sat down angry: and
said, “God prosper thee! Know that truth is nobility,
but lying a pest ;—Nor let hunger, which is the garment of the. prophets and the ornament of the saints,
carry thee to join thyself to him who lies, or to put on
the nature of him who swerves from faith-keeping.—For

vam Sainte Sit amcene tie iy, nate resmment penne

Bigeteeoren< neers

the free-born woman hungers, but will not eat by her
breasts; and she holds back from baseness even though
urged to it by need.—Besides, I am no simpleton for
thee, nor one to wink at a dupe’s bargain ;—So come! I
warn thee before the veil be rent, and the feud established between us;—And neglect not attention to my
warning, and beware false speaking with me, beware !”
—I said to him, “ Now, by Him who has forbidden the
eating of. usury, but allowed the eating of milk, I
have not spoken with falsehood, I have not shown thee
deceitfully.—Thou shalt prove the truth of the business,
and approve the giving of the milk and dates”’—Then
he was cheerful with the cheerfulness of one who is
dealt with truly, and went off hastening to the market.
——And nothing could be speedier than his return, bending under them ; and his face was frowning, and he set
them before me as one who would upbraid me ;—And
said, ‘Press host on host; so enjoy the delight of life.”
—Said Abdi Zayd, Then I bared a giution’s arm, and
charged as charges the voracious elephant:—But he,
he glanced’ at me as glances. the spiteful, and in his rage
he would that I had choked.—Now when I had gulped
down either kind, and left them a trace after the substance, ‘Iwas speechless through perplexity at the
coming on of night-time, and through thinking on the
answer to the verses.—And he delayed not to rise and
set before me the ink-flask and pens.—And he said,
“Thou hast filled thy wallet, now dictate the answer.—
Otherwise, prepare, if thou shirk, to own the debt. for
what thou hast eaten.”—I said to him, There is nothing
but earnest with me, so write (and the prospering be
from God):

Say to him who riddles questions that I am the discloser of their
secret which he hides.

Know that the deceased, in whose case the law preferred the
brother of his spouse to the son of his father,

Was a man who, of his free consent, gave his son in mazriage to
his own mother-in-law ; nothing strange in it.

Then the son died, but she was already pregnant by him, and
gave birth to a son like him;

And he was the son’s son without dispute, and brother of the |
grandfather’s spouse without equivocation.

But the son of the true-born son is nearer to the grandfather, and
takes precedence in the inheritance over the brother ;

And therefore, when he died, the eighth of the inheritance was
adjudged to the wife for her to take possession ;

And the grandson, who was xeally her brother by her mother,
took the rest;

And the full brother was left out of the inheritance, and we say
thou hast only to bewail him.

This is my decision which every judge who judges will pattern
by, every lawyer.

Said Abi Zayd: Now when he had understood the
answer and verified its correctness, he said to me,
“Remember thy family and the night, so gather up thy
skirt and be beforehand with the rain-flood.”—I said,
‘Tam in the house of exile, and in sheltering me lies the
best of offering,—Especially as the van of the darkness
has now drooped, and the thunder is lauding: God in the
cloud.”—He said, “Be off (may God keep thee) whither
thou wilt; but desire not to pass the night here.’—I
said, ‘Why is that, seeing the emptiness of thy habitation ?’’—He_ said, ‘Because I looked. well how thou
didst swallow what was before thee, until thou. didst
leave and let alone nothing ;—-And I saw that thou dost
not look to thy well-being, nor take care for the keeping
of thy health.—Now, he that exceeds in what thou hast
exceeded, and fills his belly as thou hast filled it, escapes

not a weakening surfeit or a killing cholera—So, by
Allah, leave me alone and go forth from me while thou
art still kept from harm;—For by Him who gives life
and death there is no lodging for thee in my honse,”—
Now, when I had heard his oath, and made proving
of him, I went forth from his house perforce, and with a
victualling of sadness:-—-And the sky rained upon me,
and the darkness made me to stumble, and the dogs
barked after me, and the doors repulsed me,—Until the
kindness of fate sent me to thee, and thanks to its
white hand.

Then I said to him, ‘Charming is this ordained
meeting with thee to my glad heart.”—And he began
to be diverse in his stories, and to mix the laughable
with the mournful; until the first of the morning
dawned, and the caller of “Blessing” made his ery.—.
Whereupon he made ready to respond to the caller, and
then turned to bid me farewell.—But I checked him from
departure and said, ‘Hospitality is three days,”—But
he adjured God, and restricted himself by a vow; then
he sought the outlet, and indited as he lingered :

Visit him thou lovest in each month only a day,and exceed not
that upon him ;

For the beholding of the new moon is but one day in the month,
and afterward eyes look not on it.

Said Al Harith, son of Hammam: Then I took leave
of him with a heart bleeding of its wound, and wished
that my night had been tardy of its morn.

The Sixteenth Assembly, Called “of the West.”

“OF THE WEST.”

The purpose of this Assembly is to exhibit Aba Zayd in the performance of an extraordinary feat of scholarship, the recitation of some
Hines of poetry, each of which may be read forwards or backwards
without change of sense. Harith meets with four scholars in a
mosque and takes seat with them. The conversation falls upon sentences which preserve their identity when reversed ; and some one pro-
poses that they should try their powers of composing them. This is
agreed to, and the first man produces a sentence of three words, the
next a sentence of four, the next a sentence of five, the next a
sentence of six. It then comes to the turn of Hirith to compose a
sentence of seven words, which shall be the same whether read
forwards or backwards, This he is unable to do; but an old man
who had joined them not only performs the feat, but actually
improvises five lmes of poetry, each of which has the same extraordinary property. Of course this is Abi Zayd, and when Harith
discovers him, he introduces him to his friends, who invite him to
spend the night with them in conversation. He pleads that his
hungry children are expecting him ; but assures them that if they
will let him go and give them a meal he will return forthwith.
They accede to this, and send a servant with him to carry his wallet.
After some time the servant comes back alone, and relates that Abt
Zayd had refused to return, and had dismissed him with some
moral verses.

Al Harith, son of Hammam, related: I was present
at the prayer of sunset in one of the mosques of the
‘West :—And when I had performed it with completeness
and joined. to it what. was optional, my eye fell on a
company who had set themselves down aside and had
drawn apart, friends pure in friendship ;—And they were
taking from each other the cup, of talk and rubbing the

fire-staves of discussion.—And I desired to converse with
' them for the sake of some maxim that might be acquired,
or of scholarship that might be. gotten in increase ;—So

T advanced to them as one who would play Tofayl upon
them,—And said to them, “Will ye receive a comer
who seeks to gather of night-talkings, and seeks not the
newly-gathered of fruits; and who desires the beauties
of dialogue, not the choice of the young camel’s hump?”
—Then they loosed their loops.to me, and said,
“Welcome, Weleome!”—-And I had not sat longer than
the flash of the blinding lightning or the sip of the
timid bird, when there came upon us a wanderer; on
his shoulder was a wallet ;—And he greeted us with the
two words, and he greeted the mosque with the two salutations ;—And he said, “O ye men of understanding and
choice excellence !—Know ye not that the most precious
of offerings is the relieving of sorrows, and the firmest
cord of salvation is the imparting to those who have
need ?—-Now, by Him who hath set me down in your
precinct, and destined to me the asking alms of you,
truly I am the stray of a distant abode, the messenger

of lank-bellied children ;—And is there in the company

any that will cool down. for us. the heat of hunger? ”’—
Then they said to him, “O stranger, thon hast come
after the even-tide, and there remained over only the
leavings of our supper.—But if thou art content with

” these thou wilt find among us none to forbid thee.”—He

said, “Surely the brother of afflictions, he is content
with the scraps of tables and the shakings of provision
bags.”"—Then each of them bade his servant to victual
him with what he had—And the kindness pleased him
and he thanked for it, and took seat and watched what
was brought bim.-And we, we returned to mooting the
beauties of scholarship and its choice points, and drawing
forth its rill from its founts,—Until we engaged in the

subject of language which does not become absurd by
being reversed, as the phrase (wif S. (the pourer out
of the cup).—Then we challenged each other that we
should make our thoughts yield an offspring in it,
that we should originate virgin phrases in it,—On the
condition that he who began should string three beads
on his necklace, and that the additions should advance
by degrees after him;—So that the man on his right
should place four in his series, and his neighbour of the
left should place seven perforce.

Said the narrator: And we were ranged to the number of the hand’s fingers, and we were set together with
the union of the men of the Cave——Then to the greatness of my vexation, hastened he on my right, and
said: be I A (Blame him who wearies of thee).—And
the one on his right said: 20, =| +e) 3, (Make great
thy hope of the recompense of thy Lord).—Said he who
was next: ren Bild oe wm (He who completes the kindness which he renders, gains increase.)—Said the last:
(Silence every one who blabs to
thee, and thou wilt be wise, )—Then the turn came to me,
and to string a seven-beaded thread was incumbent on
me.—And my thought ceased not to mould and break, to
be fertile and barren; and all the while I seek food and
find none to feed me ;—Until my breeze fell, and my
submission was manifest.—And I said to my companions
“if the Serdji were present here, he would heal this
cureless malady.”-—They said, “ If this came before Iyds
he would certainly stop in despair.”—Then began we to
be profuse in declaring that it was hard, and that its
door was shut.—But that visitor who had come upon us
glanced at us with the glance of the. contemptuous ; and

he was joining pearls together, and we knew it not.—
And when he had noticed our ignominy, and the drying
up of our pool, he said “O people! truly a great
trouble is it to make the barren bring forth, or to get 2
cure by the sick; and ‘there is One learned above all
the learned.’””—-Then he turned to me and said, I will
take thy place, and free thee from what has fallen on
thee :—-Now if thou desire to speak in prose, and yet not
to trip, say, addressing him who blames avarice, and is
large in his reproach, Joy HSCs, 9 161 Jey Jt a’, (Take
refuge with every trusty patron, ‘who, ‘when he has collected and possesses, gives freely).—But if thou prefer to
versify, say to him whom thou esteemest :

Bestow on the needy when he comes to thee, and show regard
even when a man injures thee.

Have dealings with him that is noble, but put afar from thee the
base.

Withdraw from the side of the unjust, the mischievous, when
he sits by thee.

When contention rouses itself put it off from thee, and cast, it
away when it confirms itself.

Be still, and thou shalt grow strong; for it may be that time that
was perverse to thee shall aid thee.

Said Al Harith: Now when he had bewitched us
with his verses, and fatigued us by the remoteness of
his goals—We praised him until he begged to be spared,
and we gave to him until he said it was enough——Then
he gathered up his garment, and loaded on his wallet,
and rose.to go, reciting:

Excellent. are this company, who are true of speech, princes in
bounty.

They surpass mankind in far-famed virtues, they surpass them
in their gifts.

T have talked with them, and found that Sahbin in their presence
would. ba as Bakil :

And I alighted among them begging, and met with a rain that
poured.
T swear that if the generous are a shower they are a flood.

Then he stepped two lances’ space, but returned commending himself to God from death,—And said, “O
strength of him that is without kindred, treasure of him
that is reft of wealth!—The glooming has now set in,
and the face of the highway is veiled ;—And between
me and my house is the dark night and a razed out
path.—And have ye a lantern that will secure me from
stumbling, and make plain the tracks ?’—Said Al
Tarith : And when there was brought what was sought
for, and the light of the brand disclosed men’s faces,—I
saw that he who hunted us was our Abi Zayd; and -
I said to my friends, “ This is he of whom I indicated
that when he speaks he hits the point, and when he
is asked for rain he pours”’— And they stretched
towards him their necks, and they made the blacks
of their eyes surround him.—And they begged him that
he would pass his night in talk with them, on the condition that they should mend his poverty.—He said, “ My
desire is yours! Welcome to you since ye have welcomed !|—Nevertheless when I came to you my children
were writhing with hunger, and calling to me for a
quick return—And if they find me tardy, distraction
will possess them, and my life will be no more serene.—
Now suffer me to go that I may fill their emptiness, and
relieve their choke; then return to you straightway,
prepared for night-talking till the dawn.”’—So we said
to one of the lads, “Follow him to his people, that he
may be the quicker to come again.”——And the boy set out
with him, carrying his wallet under his arm, hastening

his return :—But he delayed a delay exceeding bounds ;
then the lad came back alone.—We said to him, ‘‘ What
story hast thou of the knave ?”—He said: He took me
along wearying ways and branching paths, until we
came to a ruined hut—Then he said, ‘Here is my
station, the nest of my chicks.”—-And he bade open to
him the door, and he pulled away from me his wallet,
and said, “ By my life! thou hast lightened a load off
me, and deserved fair treatment from me.—Now here is
a counsel for thee which is among the most precious of
counsels, the seed-plots of advantages ;” then he recited:

‘When thou hast got the plucking of the palm, defer it not to the
coming year :

And if thou lightest on a treading-floor, fill thy crop with
the ears that are there ;

And stay not when thou hast picked them up, lest thou stick in
the net of the snarer ;

And go not far in when thou swimmest, for safety is on the bank.

Accosi with “Give now,” and answer with “Bye and bye;” and
sell what is postponed from thee for what comes at once.

And exceed not upon a friend in thy visiting, for no one was ever
‘wearied of save the clinging ‘puest.

Then he said, “ Treasure these lines in thy heart, and
follow them in thy conduct.—And now hasten to thy
fellows in the keeping of thy Lord;—And when thou
hast reached them, bring them my greeting, and rehearse to them my commandment.—And say to them
from me that full sure night-watching spent in tales
is among the greatest of harms; and that I fail not
to care for myself, nor will bring dryness into my head
by vigils.”"—Said the narrator: Now when the argument
of his poem had put us in view of his cunning and
fraud, we upbraided each other for leaving him, and for
deceiving ourselves with his lie—Then. we separated
with frowning faces and a losing bargain.

200 SEVENTEENTH. ASSEMBLY.

The Seventeenth Assembly, Called “the Reversed.”

“THE REVERSED.”

This Assembly closely resembles the last; the difference between
them being that, whereas the feat accomplished in the last consisted
in producing sentences or lines of poetry, the letters of which
should be the same whether read forward or backward, the peculiarity of the present composition is that the words themselves being
reversed produce a perfect sense. The Assembly, in other respects,
shows no feature that requires notice.

Al Harith, son of Hammim, related: In one of the
places whither my journeying cast me, to whose fairness
my eye was lifted up, I beheld some youths, on whom
was the mark of understanding, and the beauty of the
stars of the dark.—And they were in a debate that was
strong of blast, and a contention that exceeded in its
heat.—Then was I roused to make towards them by the
love of disputation, and by deeming the fruits of discussion to be sweet—And when I had joined myself
to their company, and strung myself'on their thread,
they said, “‘ Art thou, one who will prove himself in the
strife and cast in his bucket among the buckets ?”—I
said, “Nay, I am. but of the lookers on at. war, not of
the sons of the stab and the stroke.”—Then they broke
off fromm arguing with me, and gave themselves to putting forth riddles—And there was in the midst of their
ring, and in the circlet of their company, an old man
whom cares had made lean, whom the hot wind had
scorched ;—So that he had come to be thinner than
a reed, dryer than the shears.—And yet was he uttering
wonders whenever he answered, and eausing Sahbin

to be forgotten as often as he expounded.—And I
admired the judgment he was gifted with, and his surpassing that assemblage——And he ceased not to make
clear every puzzle, and to lay low all he aimed at,
until the quivers were empty, and the asking and the
answering were exhausted.—Now when he saw that the
company had consumed their store, and were forced to
fasting, he hinted at a colloquy, and asked leave for
an argument.—They said, “‘ Excellent, but who will. be
our surety for it?’—He said, “Do ye know a composition whose earth is its heaven, and whose morn is its
even; which is woven on two beams, and shows with
two colours, and prays towards two points, and goes
forth with two faces ?—If it rises out from its east excellent is its splendour, and if it mounts from its west, then
Oh its marvel !”
te Said Al Harith: Then it was as though*the company
y were struck with speechlessness, or the word “ Silence”
were incumbent upon them.—And no man said word,
and the tongue of none uttered aught;—But when he
saw them dumb as cattle, and speechless as statues, he
said to them, “‘I have now conceded to you the term of
grace, and made slack to you the tether of delay:—And
here is the camp of gathering, the station of decision.—
Now if your minds yield freely I will praise, but if your _
fire-staves be barren I will rub the spark,”—They said ||
to him, “By Allah, there is no swimming for us in |
the deep of this sea, no wandering on its shore ; se
give rest to our thoughts from travail, and make grateful
thy gift. by readiness——And take us as brethren who
will leap when thou leapest, and will recompense when |
thou: seekest recompensing.’—And he looked down a

space; then he said, I hear you and obey.—Take now
this dictation from me and hand it down of me:

Man is the creature of kindness; and the perfecting
of a benefit is the deed of the liberal ; and the disposition of the generous is a treasure of praise; and the
gain of thanks is a gathering of happiness; and the
index of generosity is the light of cheerfulness; and
the practice of courtesy leads of needs to affection ;
and the bond of friendship demands sincere counsel ;
and truth of narrative is the ornament of the tongue ;
and eloquence in speech is witchcraft to hearts; and the
net of desire is the bane of souls; and impatience of
disposition is a dishonour to mortals; and evil desire
consists not with self-restraint; and the clinging to
prudence is the leading-cord of safety; and to seek
oceasions for blaming is the worst of faults; and the
dwelling upén failings overthrows friendships; and
sincerity of purpose is the cream of a gift; and ungrudgingness in conferring is the price due to. asking ;
and the undertaking of labours lays the way for recompence; and faith in God’s protection makes it easy
to bestow; and the excellence of the prince is largeness of breast; and the ornament of rulers is hatred
of defamers; and the reward of praiseworthy deeds is
a bestowing of gifts; and the dowry of conciliation
is the obtaining of requests; and the cause of error is
extravagance of aim; and to overstep. bounds blunts
vigour; and transgression’ of politeness nullifies services ; and the forgetting of rights provokes resistance ;
and to shun doubtful deeds raises men’s rank; and
elevation of dignities is by rushing into dangers; and
the exalting of positions is by the favour-of Providence ;

and loftiness in actions is through the limiting of desires ;
and the lengthening of thought makes precision of
judgment; and the crown of princeliness is the refinement of courtliness; and by contentiousness is lost what
is sought for; and in perils is shown the difference
among men; and in the superiority of plans lies the
distinction of men’s values; and by the exaggeration of
the envoy policy is weakened ; and through laxness of
powers do terrors appear; and by the task of patience
is the fruit ef victory ; and the merit to be praiseworthy
is in proportion to diligence; and to repay regard is
necessary to consideration ; and affection in servants is
shown in visiting their masters; and the adornment of
manliness is the guarding of trusts; and the proving
of brethren is in their lightening one’s griefs; and.
the repulse of enemies is by defence on the part of
friends; and the testing of the intelligent is by associating them with the ignorant; and the looking to
consequences gives security from fatalities; and the
keeping from baseness spreads reputation; and the vice
of boorishness consists not with excellence; and the
essence of the noble is the guarding of secrets.

Then he said: These are two hundred words com- .
prising culture and admonition —If one move them in |
this direction, there is no debate, no contention ; but
if one desire the reversing of their mould, and. the
turning of them backwards, let him say, “ Secrets
are trusted to the noble; and the nature of excellence
consists not with boorishness; and foulness of reputation spreads disgrace ;”—And so on this track let him
trail them and not fear error in them, until there shall .
come the close of their couplets and the last of their

pearls, namely, “and to perfect kindness is a good deed
of man.”

Said the narrator: Now when -he had uttered his
unique address, and his elegancy that was perfect of
meaning, we knew how much composition may be
diverse in merit, and that excellence is in the hand of
God; He gives it to whom he will.—Then clung each
of us to his skirt, each cut off for him a portion from
what he possessed—But he declined to receive mine,
and said, “I do not take forfeit of my pupils.”—I said,
“Be Abi Zayd, even with all this embrowning of thy
figure and this failure of the water of thy cheek.”-—He
said, “IT am he, even with all my leanness and withering, and the squalor of my drought.”—Then I took to
chiding him for this gadding east and west.—But he
declared the Power of God and our return to Him ;
then he indited with an aching heart:

Time hath drawn his sword upon me to fright me, and hath
sharpened his blade ;

And hath stolen away from mine eyelid its slumber, like an
adversary; and hath made its tear flow down;

And caused me to-roam the world; to go about its east, to traverse
its west:

And day after day there is for me in each valley but a single
rising and setting.

And so the exile’s figure is changed and his destination is afar.

Then he went: away trailing his gait and swinging his
arms ;-—-And we wete divided between turning to gaze
on: him.and hastening after him.—Then we delayed not
to loose our loops, and we went asunder like the bands
of Saba.

The following is Abi Zayd’s composition read backwards: Secrets are trusted to. the noble; and the

nature of excellence consists not with boorishness; and
foulness of reputation spreads disgrace ; and the guarding against fatalities secures from ill consequences; and
the discerning of the foolish is by associating them with
the intelligent; and the proving of friends is in the
repelling of enemies; and the driving away of sorrows
is by the cheering of brethren; and the proof of religious beliefs is in the observance of virtue; and the
grace of subjects is the visiting their masters; and
sincerity of regard consists in the repaying of consideration; and the necessity of exertion is in proportion to
reputation; and the meriting of success is the fruit of
patience ; and in the duress of terrors is strength shown ;
and. by looseness of policy the envoy is weakened ; and
through increase of rank do purposes differ ; and according to the eminence of men is the magnitude of their
perils; and in poverty contention is useless; and with ,
courtliness comes the refinement of rule; and the first
thing in knowledge is clearness of thought; and to
defer ‘men’s hopes is a failure in duties ; and loftiness of
authority is by the favour of Providence; and exaltation
in dignities is by rushing into dangers; and the raising
of rank raises distrusis; and the shunning of contumacy produces regard: for rights; and forgetfulness of
services destroys courtesy ; and to overstep bounds blunts
vigour ; and to go-beyond the mark is an excess of error; _
and the obtaining of requests is by the interceding of

conciliation ;.and the dowry of givers is the spreading

of their pmiceworiiy deeds ; and the reward of administrators is the hatred of milena and the ornament of ‘the |
prince is largeness of breast ; and the virtue of bestowing |
brings with it God’s protection ; and faith in recompense

makes labours easy; and the hatefulness of begging is
the price paid for conferring; and ungrudgingness in a
gift is the cream of intention ; and sincerity in affection
makes nought of failings; and the dwelling upon men’s
vices is the worst of faults; and the seeking after safety
is the leading-cord of prudence; and the clinging to selfrestraint keeps from desire; and evil of disposition is
the dishonour of mortals; and the weariness of souls is
the bane of love; and the witchoraft of speech is a net
to hearts; and the eloquence of the tongue is the
grace of narrative; and truthfulness of advice demands
friendship; and the bond of affection leads of needs to
courtesy; and the habit of cheerfulness is an earnest of
nobility ; and the index of happiness is the gathering of
thanks; and a gain of praise is the treasure of the
generous; and the nature of the liberal is the doing of
goodness; and the perfecting of kindness is a good
deed of man.

The Eighteenth Assembly, Called “of Sinjar.”

“OF SINJAR”

In this Assembly Abt. Zayd is represented as gaining a splendid
present by the narrative of an alleged misfortune.’ We are left in
doubt whether his story-be true or only one of his usual artifices to obtain the bounty of his friends, In a journey from Damascus to Bagdad,
the caravan, in which are Harith and Abi Zayd, halts at Sinjar, a
city of the Diyar Rabi‘ah, which lies on the northern route. between
Syria and Irak. There a merchant was giving a wedding feast, to
which, according to the hospitable custom of the Hast, all classes
were invited. After the more substantial viands have beer consumed,
@ glass vase of sweetmeats is produced, at the sight of which Abt
Zayd starts up and. quits the circle of guests. On being asked the
reason of this conduct he declares that he is hound by an. oath not

ee ee

to remain in the vicinity of anything that is transparent and beérays
what is inside it. The company unwillingly send away the sweetmeats, and Abi Zayd then tells his story, which is that, being
possessed of a beautiful aid accomplished slave girl, he had revealed
the secret to a false friend, who had betrayed it to the Governor.
This officer being desirous to obtain such a paragon as a present to
his Prince, had taken the girl from him by force; on which Abi
Zayd had vowed that he would never remain in company with any
thing that could not keep a secret: and as glass has this defect he
must decline to sit opposite to a glass vase. The host respects this
somewhat fanciful scruple, and in the end orders sweetmeats to be
brought in silver vases, and presents Abi Zayd, not only with the
contents of the vessels, but the vessels themselves. Though the
conceit on which this composition is founded is puerile enough, the
Assembly is one of the most poetical in Hariri’s work, and a choice
specimen of his rich and elaborate diction. Whatever merits it
may possess are, however, diminished by the circumstance that it is
a close imitation, and in parts almost a literal copy, of one by Al
Hamadini.

Al Harith, son of Hammam, related: I was once on
the return. journey from Damascus, on my way to the
City of Peace,—With travellers of the Bend Nomayr, a
company of wealth and worth—And with us was Abi
Zayd, of Serij, he that is an enchainment to the hasty,
and a beguiling to the bereaved, the wonder of the time,
the pointed at with the finger for his eloquence.—Now
our halting at Sinjar fell on a time when one of the merchants there was making a marriage feast:—And he
bade to his banquet the whole commonalty, both of
settled land and of desert; so that his bidding extended
to the caravan, and he comprised in it both the important
and those of no account.—Now when we had responded
to his bidder, and arrived at his hall, he set before us
viands of one hand and two, whatever is sweet in the
mouth or fair to the eye——And after this he brought
forth a vase, which was as though it had been congealed

of air, or condensed of sunbeam motes, or moulded of the
light of the open plain, or peeled from the white pearl:
—And it had been furnished with assortments of comfits,
and affused with a pervading perfume, and there had
been poured into it a draught from Tesnim, and it
disclosed a fair aspect, and the fragrance of a gentle
breeze.—Now when our appetites were kindled at its
presence, and our palates were eager for the trial of
it; and it was imminent that the squadrons should be
sent forth against its train, and that we should ery at
the spoiling of it, Revenge !—Lo Abi Zayd sprang up
like a madman, and sundered from it as far as the lizard
is sundered from the fish—Then we sought of him that
he should return, and not be as was Kodar among
Thamid.—But he said, “By Him who raises the dead
from their sepulchres, I will not return except the vase
be taken away.—So we found no. escape from humouring
him, and acquitting him of his vow.—And we bade
carry it away, and our minds were carried after it. and
our. tears flowed concerning it—-And when he had
returned to his seat, and was free from guilt, we asked
‘ him: wherefore he rose, and for what reason he bade take
away the vase.—He said, ‘Because that glass is a betrayer; and for years I have had an oath that the same
place should not hold me and one who betrays.”—We
said to him, “ What is the cause of thy strict oath and
thy binding vow ?’—He said: I had a neighbour whose
tongue cajoled, while his heart was a scorpion ; whose
speech was a honeycomb to refresh, while his’ hidden
thought. was a concentred: venom :—And: through his
_ living near me I. was: led-to converse with him, and
by his false smiling I was deluded into consorting with

him :—And the fairness of his seeming infatuated me to
companying with him, and the guile of his character
drew me on to intimacy with him.—And I associated
with him in the thought that he would be to me as
a most close neighbour; but it was made manifest that
he was a swooping eagle :—And I was familiar with him
in the belief that he was a familiar friend, but he showed
that he was a treacherous serpent.—And I ate my salt
with him, and knew not that at the testing he would be
of those whose loss is rejoiced at:—And I drank my
wine with him, and understood not that on trial he
would be of those whose departure is a delight.

Now in my house was a maiden to whom no rival could
be found in perfection—If she unveiled, the two lights
of heaven were shamed, and each heart was burned with
the fires of love.-—If she smiled, she made the beads of
silver to be despised, and pearls would be sold for what is
worthless.—If she gazed, she roused love-fancies; she
realized the witchcraft of Babylon.—If she spoke, she enchained the heart of the wise, and called down the wild
goats from the crags.—If she read the Koran, she
would heal the heart-sick, she would give life to one
buried alive; so that thou wouldest think her gifted
with the pipes of David.—If she sang, Ma‘bad would
become as a slave to her, and to Isaac it would be
said, ‘Away! begone!”—If she piped, Zoném would
appear an impostor beside her; although he was a leader
in his generation, one confident in his charming.—
If she danced, she dislodged the turbans from. men’s
heads; she would make thee forget the dance of the
bubbles in the eups.—And possessed of her I despised
the red camels; and with the enjoyment of her I

adorned the neck of my prosperity—And I veiled her

face from the sun and moon; I excluded the mention of her

from the paths of my night-talk;—Yet withal was I

fearful lest a breeze by night might bear her fragrance,

or a Satih divine of her, or the flashing lightning betray

her,—And it came to pass, through the decay of my

minished fortune, and the malignness of my unlucky

star, that the heat of wine caused me to describe her

to my blabbing neighbour.—Then understanding returned after the arrow had been shot, and I felt trouble

and yexation, knowing that the thing was lost which

was committed to such a sieve-—But yet I stipulated
with him to keep close what I had uttered, and to guard
my secret even though I should anger him.—And he.
declared that he treasured secrets as the miser treasures

the denar; and that he would not rend veils of confidence even were he exposed to be cast into fire.

But not more than a day or two had passed when it
occurred to the ruler of that town, and its Governor
having’ authority,—That he would repair to the court
of his Prince to make a new display of his horsemen,
and pray @ rain from the cloud of his bounty ;—And he
wished ‘for a present to take with him, such as. should
accord with the Prince’s desire; that he might offer it in
the course of his interview—Whereon he began to. be
liberal in rewards to his ‘scouts, and to heighten the
inducements to whogo should possess him of his wish.—
Then stooped that. treacherous neighbour his flight to. the
largess, and, putting on the breast-plate of infamy, rebelled against the blame of the blamer.—And he came to
the Governor, stretching ‘his ears, ‘and published what I
had told him as:a seeret.—And I had no alarm till his deigi : E 5 si cpienipbaen 2 intensities wench nDNA mt A A I
Sa RR rr Seen ema ere aE i x

pendants rushed in to me and his servants swarmed upon
me, urging me to prefer him with my peerless pearl,
on the condition that I should dictate to him her price.
—Then sorrow overwhelmed me as the sea overwhelmed
Pharaoh and his host.—And I ceased not to defend
her, but defence availed not; and to intercede with
him, but intercession profited not.—And as often as he
saw in me an increase of evasion and the desire of
escape, he shouted, he burned with rage, he gnashed
upon me with his teeth —But yet my soul consented not
to part from its full moon, nor that I should tear the
heart from my breast.—But when threatening turned to
assault, and invective to beating, the fear of death led
me to barter the black of my eye for the yellow of
coin; but the informer gained nought but guilt and
ignominy.—And since then I have had a vow to God
Most High that I would never again keep in presence of
a betrayer.—Now glass is distinguished by this base
quality; nay, its name has been made a proverb for
treachery ;—So that the tenour of my oath extends
to it, and that is the reason that my hand stretches
not forth to it.

Now, since I have explained, blame me not that ye have been
hindered in the. vintage of the cates ;

For my excuse in what I have done is plain; and I will repair
the rent I have made by my resources, old or new ;

So that the pleasantry that I will supply you with shall be more
delicious than sweetmeats in the judgment of all the intelligent.

Said Al Harith, son of Hammam: Then we accepted
his excusing, and kissed his cheek,—And said to him,
“Long since treachery vexed the Best of Mankind, so
that. there was declared concerning the woman that
carried firewood that which’ was declared.”—After this

7 a re TRE

we asked him of the behaviour of this tell-tale neighbour, this unregardful intimate.—After he had feathered
against him the arrow of delation, and cut the cord of
observance,—He said, He took to submission and humiljation, and to interceding with me by people of degree.
—But I had straitly charged myself that my familiarity
should not seek a return to him until my yesterday
should return to me.—And he gained nothing from me
but refusal and persistence in aversion; yet was he not
disheartened by repulse, nor shamed from his impudence
of face; but persevered in overtures and was urgent in
requests ;—And nought freed me from his annoying and
made hopeless to him the gaining of his desire, save some
verses in which breathed the vengeful breast and the
wounded spirit.—And these proved a driving forth to his
devil, an imprisoning of him in his dwelling—And on
their publication he made an irrevocable divorce with
joy, and cried, Alas! Perdition !—-And despaired of the
resurrection of my buried friendship as the infidels
despair of the tenants of the tombs.—Then we conjured
him to recite them, and give us to smell their fragrance.
—He said, “ Be it so: man is made up of impatience.”
—So he recited, and no bashfulness hindered him, no
timidity restrained him:

There was a companion to whom I gave the pure milk of my
love’s truth when I fancied him true and a friend ;

But to whom I showed the estrangement of him that hates when
I found him to be foul as the matter of a sore or as tepid water. -

I fancied him, before he was tried, a familiar and dutiful; but he
has shown himself a churl, one to be censured :

I chose him as. one to converse with me, but my heart is now
wounded by his wronging ;

Lthonght him to be a helper and compassionate, but I. have discovered him to-be an accursed one, a devil to be driven away with

T looked upon him as one devoted to me, but my testing of him
has disclosed him as a fiend perverse and vile ;

And I judged that he would blow a gentle breeze, but he would
blow nought but a simoom.

From his serpent-bite which baffled the enchanter I lay wounded:
but he had no hurt from me.

On the morning of our separation his condition was erect, but my
body was sick ;

He was not pleasant and abundant to me; nay, by -his evildoing he was terrible to me, and an adversary.

I said, when T had made trial of him, “ Would that he existed not,
that he had not been a companion to me.”

By his betrayal he made hateful the morning to my heart, since
the morning is found to be a betrayer;

And he has brought me to the love of the night, since the black of
darkness is a watcher that conceals;

And enough of guilt and blame has the informer in his work. even
though he speak the trath.

Said Al Harith: Now when the master of the house
heard his verse and his cadence, and admired his
encomium and his satire,—He set him on the couch of
his respect, and gave him the first place on his cushion of
honour ;—Then he: bade bring ten dishes of silver, on
which were sweetmeats of candy and honey,—And said
to him,“ The people of the Fire are not as the people of
the Garden ; nor is it lawful that the innocent should be
made as the suspected.—Now these vessels take rank
among the sinless in the keeping of secrets; so show,
them not aversion, nor count Had with ‘Ad.”—Then he
bade his servant carry them to his lodging that he might
do with them as he would.—And Abi Zayd turned to
us and said, “Recite the Chapter of Victory, and be
gladsome at the healing of your wound ;—For now God
hath repaired your bereavement and permitted your
meal, and gathered you together to sweetmeats; and
it may. be that ye mislike a thing, and yet it is your

good.”—And when he was thinking of departure he
inclined to beg the dishes as a present,—And said to the
entertainer, “Truly it is among the marks of good
breeding that he who gives aught should give the vessel
that holds it.’—Said the host, “Both of them and the
boy; so speak no more, but rise in peace.”—And he
leaped up to the reply, and thanked the host as the
meadow thanks the rain-cloud—Then did Abi Zayd
lead us to his tent and give us to dispose of his sweetmeats, and began to pass round the dishes, and to divide
their contents among the company ;—And he said: I
know not whether I should complain of that betrayer or
thank him; whether I should forget his act or remember
it—¥For though he was aggressive in his wrong. and
tinseled his treacherous tale, yet. from his cloud did
this. plenteous rain pour down, and from his sword did
this spoil come in to me.—And now it is moving in my
mind that I should return to my cubs, and be content
with what has come thus easily, and not weary myself
nor my camels.—So J will take leave of you as one that
is regardful, and commend you to the Best of Guardians.
—Then he mounted his beast to return on his track, to
bend his course to his people-—And when his strong
zamel coursed along and his sociableness quitted us,
he left us as.an assembly whose president is gone, or
a night whose moon has set.

The Nineteenth Assembly, Called “of Nasibin.” ‘

“OF NASIBIN.” ‘

; In this composition Hariri displays hie knowledge of the Tofayli
jargon. Among the fancies of his age it was the custom to give to

eestor dni eM eo

various kinds of food names compounded with wl and Al such as are
attached to a great number of animals and inanimate cbjects. As the
Avabs of the desert called a bird Ailes Pan and a she-hysena_; wiles els
and as the milky way was called Leal al so the Euphuists of
the polished cities of Irak called a dish of rice by one kinyeh, or
bye-name, and a dish of meat by another. To know these seems to
have been considered a mark of good brecding; and the learned
author did not think them unworthy of a place in his work, as one
of the characteristics of the Arabic language. In the same spirit he
introduces into the 30th Assembly a number of the cant terms used
by the beggars of the time, or as they were called “ihe people of
Sdsin.” The story of the Assembly is of the usual simplicity. Abi
Zayd is pursuing his ordinary course of life at Nasibin, in the Diyar
Rabitah, when he is taken with a serious illness. His friends, hearing of it, hasten to his honse in alarm, but are informed that he is
better and will receive them. They find him prostrate, but as
talkative as ever; and after he has entertained them with his conversation for some time he tells his son, in the enigmatical language
of Tofayl, to bring a repast for them. They partake of it, and leave
him rejoicing in his recovery, and grateful for his hospitality.

Al Harith, son of Hamm4m, related: Irak was barren
in a certain year through the failure of the stars that
bring the rain-cloud;—And the travellers told of the
tract of Nasibin, and the comfort of its wealthy people.
—Then I mounted a camel of Mahrah, and fixed a lance
of Samhar,—And journeyed, land sending me on to land,
and hill drawing me up from dale, until I reached it,
worn man on worn beast—Now when I had halted in
its fertile dwelling-place, and won a portion in its
pasture, I purposed that I would lay down my neck
in it, and take its people for my neighbours,—Until the
dried year should revive, and the spring-rain visit the
land of my family.—Now, by Allah, my eye-ball had
not tasted of its sleep, my night had not travailed of its
day, ere I found Abi Zayd, the Serfji, roaming the
quarters of Nasibin, now stumbling with the crazed,

now winning with the fortunate—And from his mouth
was he scattering pearls, and he milked the milk-flow
with both his hands-—Then I found that my campaign
had now gathered a booty, and my single lot had become
two-fold ;—And I ceased not to follow his shadow whereever he sped, and to glean his utterance as often as he
spoke,—Until there came on him a sickness whose term
was prolonged, whose sharp knives bared his bone; so
that it went near to fob him of the robe of life, to give
up to Abi Yahya.—Then did I feel through the loss of
his presence and the interruption of his teaching, as
he feels that is put far from his desire, or the suckling at
the weaning.— After this it. was rumoured that his
pledge was already forfeit, that the talon of death was
fixed in him.—And his comrades were disturbed at the
rumouring ef the rumourers, and they swarmed to his
courtyard, hurrying in:

Bewildered, their grief making them to reel, as if they had been
sucking the old wine ;

They poured forth their tears, and they rent their bosoms, and
they beat their cheeks, and they wounded their heads ;

And they had been willing that fate had made a peace with him,
and had seized their possessions and themselves.

Said the narrator: Now I was of those who joined to
his comrades and hastened to his gate—-And when we
had arrived: at: his court-yard and assayed to scent, the
news of him, his hoy came forth to us, his lips parted
with a smile-—And we inquired concerning the Shaykh
as regarded his complaints, and the truth of the strength
of his disorders—He said, “He was lately in the grasp
of ihe sickness and the wearing of the fever; until the
lingering disease wasted him, and the killing disease
exhausted him.—But afterward God was gracious in

Sg, agi Saat an st age te 2

strengthening his last gasp, and he recovered from his
trance.—So return on your paths and put off your disquietude ;—For he is now one to go out and in, and to
pledge you in wine.”—Then we made much of his glad
news, and urged that we might see him ; and he entered
announcing us, then came out permitting us:—And we
found Aba Zayd a prostrate, but his tongue going freely.
—Then we took seat about his bed, gazing on his lineamenis.—And he turned his eye round the assemblage ;
then said, Look on this, the offspring of the moment :

God has saved me, thanks be to Him, from a sickness that went
near to blot me out;

And has granted me recovery ; though it must needs be that death
will one day waste me.

Death forgets me not; yet he gives me a delay before the end of
my feeding.

If it be decreed, then will no friend avail, nay, not even the
guarded domain of Kolayb, to guard me from him.

Nor care I if his day be near, or if death be put off for a season.

For what boast is there in life, in which I behold afflictions, nay,
they wear me out?

Said Al Harith: Then we saluted him with wishes
for the lengthening of his term and the withdrawal of his
fear ;—And invited each other to rise through fear of
annoying him.—But he said, “Nay, but stay with me
during the light of to-day that by your pleasantry ye
may heal my sadness ;—For your conversation is the food
of my soul, the magnet of my friendliness.”—Then we

aimed at contenting him and guarded from disobeying

him; and turned to discourse, gathering its cream,
throwing away its froth ;—Until the time of the daysleep came on and the tongues were weary with talking.

—And it was a day hot with a fervent heat, ripening the |

orchard.—So he said, “ Surely drowsiness is now bending

down your necks and seeking your eye-corners; and
he is a strenuous adversary, a suitor not to be repulsed.
—So make alliance with him by a day-sleep, and pattern
in this by the Traditions handed down.”—Said the nartrator: Then we followed what he said, and we slept and
he slept ; and God smote upon the ears, and poured out
‘slumber on the eyelids,—Until we passed from the
domain of Being, and by sleep were hindered from
prayer.—And we waked not until the heat was now
abated and the day was old—Whereupon we washed
hand and foot for the two mute prayers, and performed
what loosed us of our debt.—Then we stirred for departure to the place of our camel-saddles.—But Abt
Zayd turned to his cub, who was after his likeness and
make, and said: I fancy that the Father of Indwelling
has now lighted a coal in their stomachs ;—So call for
the Father of Assembling, for he is glad news for every
hungry one :—And follow with the Father of Pleasantness, him who is patient at every wrong ;—Then re-
inforce by the Father of Lovingness, the loved of every
one that is wise; him that is turned about between
burning and torment ;—And on! with the Father of
Acuteness, for excellent is he as a companion;—And
ho! with the Father of Help, for.there is no attendant
like him ;—-And if thou bring on the Father of Comeliness, how comely will he make his comeliness ;—And
haste with the Mother of Hospitality, her who may
remind thee of Chosroes ;—And forget not the Mother of
Strengthening, for how many are those who tell of her;
—And call to the Mother of Joyfulness; then assault
her, it is no crime;—And end with the Father of
Dignity, the consoler of every sorrowful one ;—And if

thou join with him the Father of Loftiness thou will blot
out thy name from among the niggardly.—And beware of
summoning the Two Rumourers before the rising of the
camels of departure.—And when the company have
ceased from their hand-washing, and have handled the
Father of Softness,—Then carry round to them the
Father of Generosity, for he is the sign of the generous.

Said Al Harith: Then his son understood the delicacies of his hinting by the subtlety of his discernment.
—And he went round among us with viands and perfume; until the sun gave notice of the setting—Now
when we had resolved on departure, we said to him,
“Seest thou not this marvellous day, how its mom
showed gloomy, but its even is brilliant?”—And he
prostrated himself long in prayer; then raised his head
and said:

Despair not in calamities of a gladdening that shall wipe away
thy sorrows ;

For how many a simoom blows, then turns to a gentle breeze and
is changed !

How many .a hateful cloud arises, then passes away and. pours
not forth!

And the smoke of the wood, fear is conceived of it, yet no blaze
appears from it ;

And oft. sorrow rises, and straighiway sets again.

So be patient when fear assails, for time is the father of wonders ;

And hope from the peace of God blessings not to be reckoned.

Said Al H4rith: Then we noted down his excellent
verses and kept giving thanks to God Most High: and
we took leave of him, glad at his recovery, overwhelmed
by his bounty.

The Twentieth Assembly, Called “of Mayyafarikin.”

“OF MAYYAFARIKIN.”
In this Assembly Abi Zayd laments the decay of his strength,

and his advancing age, under the semblance of a mighty and valiant
hero, to provide a shroud for whom he asks the bounty of the

company,

Al Harith, son of Hammam, related: I was making
towards Mayyafarikin with a company of the well suited,
men who disputed not in familiar talk, who knew not
the taste of dissembled hatred—And with them I was
as one who quits not his abode, who travels not from his
friend and neighbour ;—And when we had brought to
their knees the camels of journeying, and had passed
from. our. saddles to our nests, we commanded each
other to bear in mind companionship, and we forbade
separation in a strange land.—And we took a chamber
that we might frequent it at the two ends of day and
present each other with the choice of the news.—Now
while we were there on a certain day, and had strung
ourselves on the thread of union,—Lo! there stood by
us one with a bold tongue and a loud voice ;—And he
greeted with the greeting of a wizard who blows on
knots; of one who hunts all, from the lion to the sheep.
—Then he said :

Habeo, amici, miram narrationem, & qui exemplum sibi sumat
auditor peritus et intelligens.

Vidi in flore ztatis mex juvenem fortissimum, cui gladii erat acies
penetrantis :

In certamen. irruit perinde ac si certus eset aliqud audendi, et
non pertimuit. :

His precliis usque eo. angustias dilatavit. ut id quod obstructum
fuerat: pateret. :

Ubi provocavit adversarios nunquam rediit & pugne contentione
sine spiculo sanguine imbuto:

Nee unquam instituit arcem oppugnare arduam, occlusam, formidabilem, timendam,

Quin clamatum sit, chm id instituisset : Victoria 4 coelo et preesidium appropinquat.

Preterea, quot noctes egit vestibus adolescentiz tectus nitidis ;

Molles puelle et dabant ei et receperunt ab eo oscula; et ille
ubique gratus fuit et jucundus.

Sed tempus non desiit fortitudinem illius et vires eripere ;

Donec anni ita eum afflixerint ut ab illo conjunctissimi amici decederent,

Debilis foit magus, nec morbum ejus sanare potuit, et tumultuatus
fuit medicus :

Ita ut discesserit 4 candidis puellis, et discesserint ab eo, postea
quam et ab eis responsum accepisset, eisque respondisset.

Evasitque incurvus forma, nam quicunque vivit miseriis senectutis
est obnoxius.

Ecce illum hodié veste funebri involutum! Et quis mortui peregrini curat reliquias.’

Then he broke openly into wailing, and wept with the
weeping of the lover over his beloved.—And when. his
tear was stanched and his passion cooled, he said, O ye,
who are as.a pasture to the forage-scouts, an example to
the generous ; by Allah, I have not spoken with falsehood, I have not told you save from behoiding.—Now if
there were a thong to my staff, or a thin shower to my
cloud, I would myself have done that to which I call
you; I would not stand as one who directs to it—But
how can there be flying without a wing, or is it a crime
on. one that he is poor?

Said the narrator: Then began the company to consult of what they should advise, and to whisper of what -
they should do;—And he suspected that they were in |
purpose to dismiss him with refusal, or to importune him |

1 'The above translation is that of Sir William Jones, with some
slight alterations.

222, TWENTIETH ASSEMBLY.

for proof—And it escaped him to say, O mirages of
the plain, white shingle of the hollow! What is this
taking of thought which shame revolts at?—It is as
though ye were tasked with a heavy labour, not with a
rag; or had been asked the gift of a province, not of
a mantle; or had been urged to the clothing of the
Ka‘beh, not to the shrouding of a corpse.—Fie on him
whose rock is not moist, whose gravel oozes not!

Now when the company had perceived his glibness
and the saltness of his savour, each one made him whole
by a gift, and bore with his light rain through fear of
his flood.—Said Al Harith, son of Hamm4m: Now this
beggar was standing behind me, hidden by my back
from my eye —But when the company had contented
him by their out-pouring, and it was incumbent on me
to take example by them, I drew the ring from my
little finger and turned to him my gaze,—And lo! he
was our Shaykh, the Serdji, without deception, without
dispute—Then I was sure it was a lying tale he had
lied, and a net that he had laidi—But not the less
did I fold his cloth over its rent and keep his splayness
of tooth from inspection,—And threw him the ring,
and -said, ‘Use it for the cost of the mourning assembly.”-——He said, “Well done! how burns thy flame !
how noble is thy deed!”—Then he went off, running
straight forward and trotting his trot as. of old.—But
I longed. for a knowledge of his dead man, and to
examine his pretence to pious duty;—So I struck my
leg and kindled the ardour of my running, until I
reached him a bow-shot off, and beheld ‘him clearly
in an empty place.—Then I caught. him by the joining
of his sleeves and stopped him from the career of his

race-course,—And said to him, “By Allah, thou hast
no refuge from me, and no escape, until thou show me thy
shrouded corpse.—Whereupon he pointed to himself;
and I said, “ God fight against thee; how playful art thou
in craft, how wily after the grist!’’—Then I returned
to my companions as returns the scout who lies not
to his people, who embellishes not his speechAnd I
told them what I had seen; I disguised not, nor did
I dissemble—-And they burst into laughter at the
matter, and cursed that dead man.

The Twenty-first Assembly, Called “of Rayy.”

“OF RAYY.”

Al Harith, being at Rayy, in Persia, finds the people flocking
to hear a preacher of great eloquence and sanctity, and following
them to the place of assembling, listens to a discourse from an
aged man in ecclesiastical. costume. When the sermon is over, a
suppliant, who cannot prevail on the Governor to listen to his
complaint against an official who had wronged him, calls upon
the preacher to aid him by his admonitions, on which the preacher
at oncé indites another discourse in reproof of the Governor. The
latter is moved to repentance, hastens to do justice, rewards the
preacher, and solicits acquaintance with him. The preacher, who
is. no other than Aba Zayd, goes off rejoicing in the success
of his day’s work, having: previously given Harith some moral
counsel.

Al Harith, son. of. Hammam, related: Ever since I
perfected my forethought ‘and knew right from wrong,
I gave care to incline to admonishings and eschew
angering words,—That I.might be adorned with graces
of disposition, and be free from what brands with
shamelessness ;—And I ceased not to keep. myself to
this. discipline, and to allay by it the coals of wrath,

until habituation in it became nature, and application
to it a desire willingly obeyed.—Now when I descended at Rayy (and I had now loosed the loops of
error, and knew good from evil), I saw there one
morning crowd on the track of crowd ;—And they
were spreading with the spread of locusts, and running
with the running of steeds,—And describing one to
another a preacher to whom they were fending, and
they set Ibn Sam‘in below him.—Then it hindered
me not from hearkening to the preachings, and making
trial of the preacher, that I must endure the clamorous
and bear the pushing;—So I followed as follow. the
obedient, and slipped into the thread of the throng,—
Until we came to a meeting-place, which had united
the ruler and the ruled, and gathered the eminent and
the obscure;—And in the midst of its halo, and among
its full moons, was an old man, bowed and with a
breast-hunch, and he wore the cap and the cloak ;—
And he was breaking forth into a sermon to heal breasts
and to soften rocks; and I heard him say, and men’s
minds were charmed by it:

Son of man, how thou cleavest to that which deceives
thee, and clingest to that which harms thee!—How
thou art given to that which seduces thee; how thou
art. gladdened at him who flatters thee !—Thou art
troubled about that which wearies thee, but art. careless
of that which concerns thee—Thou drawest wide the
bow of thy transgression’; thou robest thyself with
covetousness. which will destroy thee !—Thou art not
content with what is enough; thou abstainest not from
the forbidden !—Thou hearkenest. not to admonishings ;
thou art not deterred by threatening !—It is thy habit

to veer with desires; thou stumblest with the stumbling
of the purblind beast!—It is thy care to labour in
making gain, and to gather an inheritance for thine heirs !
—It pleases thee to increase what belongs to thee, but
thou rememberest not what is before thee |—Thou art
ever intent on thy two caves; thou carest not whether
the account shall be in thy favour or against thee !—
Dost thou think that thou shalt be left at large, or
that thou shalt not be reckoned with to-morrow ?—Or
dost thou count that Death will take bribes; that he
will distinguish between the lion and the fawn ?—No,
by Allah, nor wealth nor children shall ward off death;
and nought profits the people of the tombs save the
accepted work.—Then blessing to him who hears and
retains and makes good what he claims; and withholds his soul from desire, and knows that he who
turns from evil is a gainer;—And that man shall have
nought save his own work; and that this work surely
it shall be shown.—Then. he recited as one who is
fearful, but with a high-pitched voice:

By thy. life! mansions and wealth will not avail when the rich
man dwells in the ground and abides in it ;

So be liberal with thy wealth in things pleasing to God, content
with what thou gainest of His hire and reward ;

And anticipate by it the change of Time, for he seizes with his
crooked talon and ‘his tooth ;

And trust not, treacherous fortune and ‘its deceit, for how many a
lowly one has it marred, how many a noble!

But resist the desire of the soul, which no erring one ever obeyed
but he fell from his high places.

And keep to the fear of God, and the dread of Him, that thou
mayest escape from his punishment which is to be feared.

Neglect not to call to mind thy sin, but weep for it with tears
that shall be like the rain-flood at its pouring ;

And figure to thy mind Death and his stroke, and the terror of
his meeting, and the taste of his wormwood cup !

For the end of the dwelling of the living is a pit, to which he
shall descend, brought down from his towers.

Then well-done! the servant whom the evil of his deed grieves,
and who shows amendment before the shutting of his gate.

Said Al Harith: Then the assembly remained amid
tears that they shed, and repentance that they showed ;
until the sun declined, and the day's duties pressed
upon us.—Now when the voices were low, and silence
had gathered, and the tears and the preachings had gone
to rest,—One crying for help cried to the Prince who
was present, and began to wail to him of his tyrannous
agent.—But the Prince leaned to the adversary,
and was careless of discovering his wrong-—And when
the suppliant despaired of redress from him, he called up
the preacher to admonish him ;—Who rose as rises the
prompt, and recited, referring to the Prince:

Wonderful! a man hoping to attain to rule; and then when
he attains to his desire he wrongs ;

He weaves warp and woof in tyrannies; now lapping at their
well, now bidding others to lap.

Nor cares he, when he is following his desires in them, whether he
maintains his religion or destroys it:

Oh woe to him! if he knew well that there is no state bnt
changes, surely he would not transgress;

Or if he saw clearly what is the repentance of him who inclines
his hearing to the lie of informers, he would not incline it.

But obey thou. him in whose hand is the leading-cord; cast down
thine eye if he neglect observance or speak vainly :

And graze'on bitter pasture when he calls thee to the grazing on
it, and water at the salt well when he forbids thee the sweet.

And bear his injury even though its touch afflicts thee, and pours
out the flow of thy tears, nay exhausts it;

-For fortune shall give thee the laugh of him when it departs-from
him, and kindles for thé ambush against him the fire of war.

And it shall bring down on him exultation, when he appears
vacant.of his office, emptied of it;

And thou shalt be pitifal to him-when his cheek lies soiled on. the
dast of shame,

This is his fate: and then surely be shall one day siand in the
place where even the master of eloquence shall be found a lisper:

And he shall be gathered to judgment viler than the toad-stool of
the plain; he shall be reckoned with for his shortcoming and
excess :

And he shall be chastised for that which he has committed,
and for him whom he has chosen; he shall be demanded of for what
he sipped and what he supped.

And he shall be reckoned exactly with concerning small things,
as he was wont to do with mankind, but more thoroughly.

So that he shall bite his hand at his governing, and wish that he
had not sought from it what he sought.

Then he said: O thou who art belted with authority,
and trained to rule!—Put away wantonness at thy
dominion, and vain trusting in thy might :—For dominion is a breeze that changes and power is a lightning
that deceives.—And truly the happiest of rulers is he
whose people are happy in him, and the most wretched
in both worlds is he whose ruling is ill—-Then be thou
not as one who neglects the life to come and disregards
it, who loves the fleeting life and seeks it, who wrongs
the people and afflicts them, and who, when he bears rule,
walks in the earth to do violence in it.—For, by Allah,
the Judge shall not be unregarding; thou ‘shalt not be
left at large, O man: but the balance shalt be set for
thee, and as thou rewardest thou shalt be rewarded.—
Said Al Harith: Then the Governor was sullen at what
he heard, and his colour changed and changed :—And he
began to groan concerning his rule, and to follow sigh
with sigh.—Then he attended to the complainer, and rid |
him of his: complaint, and to him that was complained
of, and rebuked him.—And he was courteous to the
preacher, and gave him gifts, and urged him to visit him.
—And the wronged man departed victorious, and the
wronger checked.—Then the preacher went forth swaggering among his comrades, glorying in the success of
his bargain, —But I followed him up, and stepped
crouching, and showed him a sharp glance-—And when
he discerned what I hid from him, and was aware
of the turning of my face to him, he said, “The better
of two guides is he who leads aright.”-Then he came
near. me, and recited :

Tam he whom thou knowest, Hirith,

The talker with kings, the wit, the intimate.

I charm as charm not the triple-twisted strings,
At times a brother of earnest, at times a jester.
Events have not changed me since I met thee,
Nor has vexing calamity peeled my branch ;
Nor has any splitting edge cloven my tooth ;
But my claw is fixed in every prey:

On each herd that roams my wolf is ravaging ;
So that it is as theugh I were the heir of all mankind,
Their Shem, their Ham, and their Japhet.

Said Al Harith, son of Hammam: Then I said, “ By
Allah, now thou art surely Abi Zayd; yet thou hast
been godly beyond ‘Amr Ibn ‘Obayd.’—-Then he was
cheerful with the cheerfulness of the hospitable when he
is visited, and said: Listen, my brother:

Keep to truth, although it scorch thee with the fire of threatening :

And seek to please God; for the most foolish of mankind is hs
‘who angers the master and pleases the slave.

Then he took leave of his fellows and departed,
trailing his sleeves—And we searched for him afterwards in Rayy, and sought to get news of him by the
rolls of folding. But there was none of us who knew of
his abode, or could learn what locust had gone off with
him.

Rl gy aia ck ae i ert in

The Twenty-second Assembly, Called “of the Euphrates.”

“OF THE EUPHRATES.”

Al Harith, accompanied by some official writers, is in a boat
on the Euphrates; the party being engaged in an inspection of
the land for the purpose of fixing the taxation. They meet with
a person in shabby garb, whom they treat with much lack of
courtesy; until the conversation falling on the comparative merits
of secretaries and accountants, the stranger, who is Abi Zayd,
shows his eloquence by a rhetorical address on the subject. They
then seek to conciliate him; but he quits them in anger, after reciting some verses on the folly and injustice of judging by
appearances. This difficult Assembly exhibits a species of composition much in favour among the Arabs, in which the poet or orator
first praises and then blames, or first exalts the one of two rivals
and then the other. Compare the Third Assembly, in which a gold
denar is thus treated; and the addresses of Sheddad and Sahil ibn
Harin, on gold and glass, Ar. Prov. IL. p. 780. The speech of
Aba Zayd on the two orders of scribes is, throughout, an elaborate
display of paronomasia.

Al Térith, son of Hammam, related: I betook myself, during a time of quiet, to the water-lands of the
Euphrates ;—And there I met with scribes, more excellent than the sons of Al Furat, more pleasant. in
manners than the sweet waters—And I joined myself
to them for their culture, not for their gold, and I companied with them for their scholarship, not for their ban-
quets.—And among them I sat with equals of Al Ka‘ka’,
son of Showr, and with them I attained to plenty after
want.—Until they made me sharer in food and dwelling,
and set me above themselves, as the finger-top is above
the finger :—And they took me as the son of their intimacy in time of office and of leisure, and the treasurer
of their secret in earnest and jest—Now it happened on

a certain time that they were called to visit in their

order the corn lands of the villages:—Then they chose
of the lofty-sailed boats one black, of unmixed hue :—
Thou wouldst think it immovable, yet it fleeted as fleet
the clouds and glided on the deep as a serpent. —Then
they called me to consenting, and invited me to companying.—And when we had mounted our sable beast,
and set ourselves in our cushion-saddle that moved
on the water,—We found there an old man, on’ whom
was a thread-bare coat and a worn turban.—Then the
company loathed his presence, and found fault with
whoever had brought him; and would have purposed to
put him forth of the ship, but that their calmness returned to them.—And when he spied that we deemed
his shadow to be heavy, and his shower cold, he assayed
to converse, but was silenced, and he praised God after
sneezing, but no one blessed him.—Then was he speechless, looking at the pass he had reached, and waiting for
the help which comes to the wronged.—And we, we
roamed through the bye-paths of the serious and the
gay;—Until there occurred a mention of the two kinds
of official writing, and their excellence, and a distinguishing of the more excellent—And one said that the
scribes of Composition were the noblest of scribes, while
another leaned to the preferring of Accountants :—And
the arguing grew sharp, and the dispute. grew long.—
Vntil, when there remained no. longer an arena for the
contention, or a field for the debate,—Said the old man:
My friends, ye have made much clamour, and adduced
the true and the mistaken.—But the clear decision rests
with me, so. be content with my coin, and consult no one
after me.—Know that the art of Composition is the more
lofty, though the art of Account may be the more useful.

—The pen of correspondence is a choice orator, but the
pen of account-keeping picks up phrases carelessly :—
And the fablings of eloquence are copied to be studied,
but the ledgers of accounts are soon blotted out and
razed.—And the Composer is the Johayneh for information, and the post-bag of secrets, and the confidant of
the mighty, and great among guests.—And his pen
is the tongue of sovereignty, and the knight of the
skirmish; a Lokman of wisdom, and’the interpreter of
purpose: it carries glad news, and it warns, it is the
intercessor and the envoy.—By it fortresses are won, and
foes are vanquished, and the rebel is made obedient, and
the distant is brought near ;—And its master is free
from suits, secure from the malice of accusers, praised
in the assemblies, not exposed to the drawing up of
registers.

Now when, in his judgment, he had arrived at this
point, he saw from the glances of the company that
he had sowed love and hatred, that he had pleased a part
and angered a part.—So he followed up his discourse by
saying: Not but that the art of Account is based on
verification, and the art of Composing is founded on
fabrication.—For the pen of the Accountant holds firm,
but the pen of the Composer stumbles:—And between
taking tribute by the impost on transactions and the
reading of the leaves of volumes, is a difference to which
comparison cannot apply, into which doubt cannot enter:
—For tribute fills purses, but reading empties the head ;
and the tax of the memorandum-book enriches the overseer, but the interpretation of rolls wearies the eye.—
And then also the Acconntants are the guardians of
wealth, the bearers of burdens, the truthful relators, the

trustworthy enyoys, the guides in doing justice and
obtaining it, the sufficing witnesses in breach of contract.
—<And of their number is the Minister of Finance, who
is the Hand of the Prince, the Pivot of the Council, the
Balance of business, the overseer of the agents.—To
him is the reference in peace and war; on him is the
management in revenue and expenditure; by him hang
evil and advantage; in his hand is the rein of giving
and denying.—And were it not for the pen of Accountants the fruit of earning would perish, and fraud
would endure to the Day of Judgment; the order of
transactions would be loosened; the wound of wrongs
would be unavenged; the neck of just-dealing would
be. fettered; the sword of wrong-dealing would be
drawn.—Moreover, the pen of composition fables, but
the pen of accounting interprets; the Accountant is a
close serutinizer; the Composer is an Abdi Barakish ;
——Yet each, when he rises high, has his venom until
he be met and charmed; and in. what each produces
there is vexing until he be visited and bribed: save
those that believe and work righteousness—and how
few are they!

Said Al Harith, son of Hammim: Now when he
had thus supplied our hearings with what was pure
and good, we asked him of his lineage; but he was
suspicious, and shrank from telling it; and if he had
found a place of escaping he would have. escaped.—
Then from his secrecy was I in sorrow; but after a
time I recollected him,—And I said, “Now by Him
who controls the rolling heaven and the voyaging ships,
surely I catch the breeze of Abi Zayd, though once
I knew him lord of comeliness and vigour.’—And he

smiled, laughing at my speech, and said, “I am he,
though with a change in state and strength.”—Whereupon I said to my companions, “This is he, after
whose fashioning none can fashion, whose sprite is not
to be vied with.”—-Then they courted his friendship,
and offered him wealth; but he declined from intimacy,
and leaned not to the gift— And he said, “Since ye
have hurt my honour on account of my worn garment,

.,and cast a shadow on my soul for the threadbareness of
my coat,—I will look upon you only with. a heated
eye; ye shall have from me only a ship's companionship.—Then he recited :

Hear, my brother, commandment from a counsellor who mingles
not the purity of his counsel with deceit:

Hasten not with a decisive judgment in the praise of him whom
thou hast not tried, nor in the rebuke of him ;

But stay thy judgment on him until thou hast had a view of his
two characters in his two conditions of content and anger ;

And until his deceiving flash be distinguished from his truthful
one by those who-watch it, and his flood from his light rain ;

And then if thou perceive what dishonours him, hide it generously ;. but if. thou see what becomes him, publish it :

And whoso. deserves to be exalted, exalt him; and whoso
deserves abasement, abase him to the sewer.

Know that the pure gold in the vein of the earth is hidden until
it is brought out by the digging:

And the worth of the denar, its secret appears by scratching it,
and not from the beauty of the. graving.

It is folly that thou shouldst magnify the ignorant by reason of
the brightness of his dress or the splendour of his adorning ;

Or that thou. shouldst: make little of the man who is refined in
soul on account of the threadbareness of his garb, or the shabbiness

« of his furniture.

For how many an owner of two torn mantles is reverenced for
his worth, and he that is striped in his garments hag ill-fame
through his baseness.

For when a man approaches not to infamy, then are his rags.only
the steps’ to his throne.

Tt hurts not the sword that its sheath be worn, nor the hawk that
its nest be mean.

Then he delayed not to bid the sailors stop, and he
ascended from the boat and made off——But each of us
repented in that he had been incautious towards him,
and drooped his eyelid over his mote,—And we vowed
that we would never slight a man for the raggedness
of his garment; that we would not despise the sword
while hidden in the sheath.

The Twenty-third Assembly, Called “of the Precinct.”

“OF THE PRECINCT.”

In this Assembly Abi Zayd is represented as showing his skill in
artificial composition. He carries his son before the Governor or
criminal judge of Bagdad, and accuses him of theft, in having stolen
two-thirds of a copy of verses. The boy had, he said, taken twothirds of each of several verses, and thus made a poem of his own.
The Governor asks how this can be, and bids him repeat both poems,
when it appears that Abi Zayd had constructed a poem with a
double rhyme, one rhyme at the end of the verse, and one at the end
of the fourth foot, so that by striking off the last. two feet of each
verse a new poem could be formed. The boy, however, declares
that he bad not taken his father’s verses, and that the coincidence
was merely fortuitous. The Governor then, to test this, bids them
repeat alternate verses on a subject which he should give them; if
the boy could extemporize as well as his father, it would be evident
that his defence was a just one. This serves to introduce a most
elaborate set of verses, full of paronomasia on the subject of a cruel
and disdainful beauty. The Governor then bids them be reconciled;
and. on the old man pleading poverty as a reason for refusing to
support his son, the Governor relieves their necessities. He soon discovers that he has been duped, and binds Hiarith, who, as usual, had
witnessed the incident, to profound secrecy.

_Al Harith, son of Hammam, related:—My wonted
home was irksome to me in the prime of my time,

hse stb Stee ee

through a dreaded calamity, through a fear that came
upon me :—AndI poured out the cup of drowsiness, and
put to their pace the camels of the night-march.—And I
traversed in my journey rough places which no steps had
smoothed, to which the Kata would not find its way ;—
Until I came to the domain of the Khalifate, and the
sanctuary which guards from fear—Then I put off
the sense of dread and its conception, and robed myself
in the raiment of security and its vest;—And limited
my care to the culling of delight, and the looking upon
pleasure.—Now I went forth one day to the Precinct
to exercise my good steed, and to circle my eye among
its beauties—And behold! horsemen who followed each
other, and men on foot who swarmed :—And eke an old
man long of tongue but short of cloak, who held by the
collar a lad fresh in youth but worn of tunic—So I
spurred on the track of the spectators until we arrived
at the gate of the Prefecture-—And there was the
Master of Protection sitting squarely on his cushion,
awing by his deportment.—Then said the old man to
him: “God magnify the Governor, and set his foot on
high !—Know that I bred this youth from a weanling,
and brought him up from an orphan; and then failed not
in instructing him.—But when he now was shrewd and
strong, he bared and brandished the sword of enmity.—
Though I imagined not that he would be perverse to me,
and insolent, since by me was he watered and made
fruitful.”—Said the lad to him: ‘On what offence
of mine hast thou hit, “that thou publishest this foul
thing of me ?—-For, by Allah, I have not covered the face
of thy kindness ; I have not rent the veil of thy secret ;
I have not broken the staff of thy estate; I have not

disregarded the rehearsing of thanks to thee.”—Then
said to him the old man, “ Woe to thee, what guilt
is fouler than thine, what vice more base than thy vice ?
—For thou hast claimed my magic and appropriated it ;
thou hast arrogated my poetry and stolen it—-Now
among poets the stealing of poetry is more shameful
than the stealing of the white and yellow; and their
jealousy over the daughters of their wits is as their
jealousy over virgin daughters.”

Said the Governor to the old man, “ When he stole,
did he flay, or transform, or copy ?’—Said he, “ Now by
Him who made poetry the register of the Arabs and
the interpreter of scholarship, he did nought less than
dock the completeness of its exposition, and make foray
on two thirds of its flock.” Said the Governor, “ Recite the verses altogether, that it may appear what he
took from the sum of them.”—Then he recited :

O thou who courtest the base world, know that it is a net of
destruction, a pool of impurities ;

A habitation which, when it makes thee laugh to-day, makes thee
weep to-morrow: away with such a habitation!

‘When its clouds overshadow no thirst is refreshed by them ; for
they are a dry cloud that deceives.

Its forays cease not, nor is its prisoner ransomed: even by the
mightiest of stakes.

Towards how many a one made wanton by false confidence in it,
vatil be has shown himself contumacious, one overstepping his
power,

Has it turned the back of the shield, and mate its blades to lap of
his blood, and leaped io the taking of revenge!

So keep guard on thy life, lest it pass away lost in the world,
left astray without any protection.

And cut the bonds of thy love for the world and thy secking
of it; so shalt thou find right guidance and comfort of the inner

And when it makes a truce from its stratagem, be thou on thy

watch against the warring of enemies, and the assault of the
treacherous :

And know that its calamities come suddenly, even though the goal
be far, and the journeys of the fates be tardy.

Then said the Governor: “And now what did this
lad ?’—-Said the old man, “ Of his meanness in recompensing he made an attack on my six-feet verses, and
cut off two feet, and diminished from their measures two
measures, so that the loss in them is a double loss.’’-—
Said the Governor, “‘Shew what he took and whence he
ceut.”—He said, “ Let thy hearing feed of me; give thy
heart to understand me;—That thou mayest perceive
well how he drew the sword upon me; that thou mayest
estimate the greatness of his transgression towards me.”
Then he recited, and his sighs ascended:

O thou who courtest the base world, know that it is a net of
destruction ;

A habitation which, when it makes thee laugh to-day, makes thee
weep to-morrow;

When its clouds overshadow no thirst is refreshed by them.

Tis forays cease not, nor is its prisoner ransomed.

Towards how many a one made wanton by false confidence in it,

• until he has shown himself contumacious,

Has it turned the back of the shield, and made its blades to lap of
his: blood !

So keep guard on thy life lest it pass away, lost in the world, left
astray ;

rer cut the bonds of thy love for the world, and thy seeking of
it, so shalt thou find right guidance.

And when it makes a truce from its stratagem, be thou on thy
watch against the warring of enemies :

And know that its calamities come suddenly even though the goal
be far.

Then turned the Governor to the boy and said, “ Perdition on thee for a rebellious disciple and a thieving
pupil! °—But the lad said, ‘May I remain aloof from
scholarship and its sons! may I be joined to whoever

is adverse to it, and breaks down its edifices! if ever
his verses came to my knowledge before I connected
my own chaplet,—For it is only that our thoughts
have chanced to draw at the same source as the hoof
oft falls on the hoof-print.”

Said Al Harith: Now it was as though the Governor
allowed the truth of his assertion and repented of the
hastiness of his blaming.—And he kept thinking on
what means would disclose to him the truth, and how
he might distinguish the genius from the fool ;—And
he saw no way but to set them to a contest, and to
bind them together with the cord of rivalry.—So he
said to them, “If ye wish for the exposure of him
that lacks, and for the manifesting of the true from
the false, do ye now alternate in versifying and contend, wheel in the race of verse-completing and run
together :—That through clear proof he who perishes
may perish, he who lives may live.”—They said to
him with one tongue and an agreeing answer, “We
are content with thy testing, so give us thy command.”
—He said, “Of all the kinds of eloquence I am fondest
of tejnis, atid I look upon it as the chief of them.—
So string now ten verses, weaving them with its colouring, broidering them with its ornament ;—And put in
them the tale of my condition in respect to a mistress
of mine, who is rare of form, dark red of lip, graceful
in undulation, but full of pride and fault-finding, given
to feign forgetfulness of agreement, and to prolong
denial, and to break promise, while I am as her slave.”
—Then started forth the old man as the winning steed,
while the youth followed him like the second in the
course.— And they raced together verse by verse. in

this order, until the series of verses was perfected and

made up:

Old Man. There is a ruddy-lipped one who has compassed my
enslaving by the delicacy of her utterance, and left me the companion of sleeplessness through her perfidy.

Youth. She has assayed to slay me by her aversion: truly I
am in her bond, since she has gotten my heart altogether.

Old Man. I give faith to her falsehood for fear of her turning
from me; I am content to listen to her folly through dread that
she should fly me.

Youth. I deem her tormenting to be sweet; and aa often as she
renews my torment the love of being kindly to. her is renewed
in me.

Old Man. She is forgetful of duty, and to forget is a fault; she
angers my heart—the heart which guards her secret.

Youth. What is.most wonderful in her is the glorying of her
vanity; yet do I make too much of her for me to speak to her
of her pride.

Old Man. From me she has praise sweet of fragrance; but my
lot from her is a folding up of love after its out-spreading.

Youth. Oh! if she were just she would not be fault-finding; but
she wrongs me ; another, and not IJ, gathers the dew of her mouth.

Old Man, Were it not for her graceful motion I would turn my
rein in haste to another, the light of whose full moon I. might
look upon.

. Youth. But-votwithstanding the discordance between her and me,
T hold the bitter as sweet through my docility to her command.

Now when in alternation they had recited these
verses to the Governor, he was. amazed at the wit of
two so justly balanced,—And said, “I testify before
God that ye are the Farkadan of heaven, and like a pair
of fire-staves in their case.—Now surely this youth,
he spends of what' God has given him; through his
own wealth he is independent of atiothan 65) old man,
repent of thy suspicion of him, and turn again ‘to
honouring him.”—Said the old man, “Far be it that
may love should return to him, or my confidence cleave
to him ;—For I have proved his ingratitude for kindness; I have been tried by him with shameful revolt.”
—But the lad interrupted him and said, “O friend,
know that contention is ill luck, and spite meanness ;
to hold suspicion as trath is a sin; to vex the innocent
is a wrong.—And granted that I have committed an
offence and wrought a crime, rememberest thou not
what thou didst thyself recite to me in the season of
thy familiarity ? ;

Pardon thy brother when he mingles his right aiming with error ;

And shrink from rebuking him if he swerve or decline ;

Keep to thy kind dealing towards him whether he thank the
kindness or slight it:

Be thou obedient when he revolts; be thou lowly when he magnifies himself; draw near to him when he goes from thee:

Keep faith with him even though he fail'in what thou and he
have stipulated ;

And know that if thou seck a perfect man thou desirest beyond
bounds.

Who is there who has never done ill? Who is there whose deed
is always fair ?

Dost thou not see the loved and the hated linked together in one
class,

As the thorn comes forth on the branches with the fruit that is
gathered.

And the delight of long life, lo! there mingles with it the trouble
of hoariness.

If thou examine well the sons of the time thou wilt find the most
of them but refuse.

Then began the old man to dart his tongue as darts
the serpent, and to gaze with the gazing of the towering
hawk.—And he said, “By Him who hath adorned the
heaven with its fires, and sent down the water from, the
clouds, truly my declining from. reconciliation.is but
from fear-of ignominy.—For this lad was accustomed
that I should victual him, and have regard to his affairs,
—And erewhile fortune poured plenteously, and T was
not a niggard.—But as for now, the time is frowning,

plaka, amen meri a. emer.

the contents of life are misery: so that this my garb is
a loan, and my house not a mouse approaches it.”’—
Then the heart of the Governor grew tender at their
speech, and he was pitiful to them because of the
changes of their nights.—And he inclined to distinguish
them by his help, and he bade the lookers-on to withdraw.—Said the narrator: Now I had been gazing at
the face of the old man, that perchance I might get
a knowledge of him when I should spy his features.—
But the crowding would not discover him, nor open
to me that I might approach him.—But when the rows
were broken, and the bystanders sped off, I marked
him, and behold he was Abi Zayd, and the lad was
his lad, and I knew then his purpose in what he had
done.—And I was near swooping down ou him, to make
myself known to him, but he threw me off with a glance
of his eye, and stopped me witha sign of his hand.—So
I kept my place, and delayed my departing: and the
Governor said, “What is thy wish, and wherefore is thy
staying ?”’—Quickly the old man took him up, and said,
‘He is my friend, the owner of my clothes.”—Then the
Governor was. pleased to be friendly with me, and permitted me to take seat.—And he made largess to them
of two robes of honour and presented them with a sum
in coin.—And stipulated with them that they should
live together in kindness until the coming on of the Day
of Fear.—Then they rose up from his hall, lifting their
yoices in thanks for his benefits—But I followed them
that I might know their abode, that I might supply
myself of their talk.—And when we had traversed the
domain of the Governor, and had come to the empty
plain, one of his guards overtook me, recalling me to his

court.—So I said to Abi Zayd, “I think he does not
send for me save that-he may question me: now what
shall I say, and in what valley shall I roam with bim ?”
—He said, ‘ Shew him the folly of his heart, and how I
have played with his understanding, that he may know
that his breeze has met with a whirlwind, that his
streamlet has encountered the deep.”’—I said, “I fear
that his anger will be kindled, and so his blaze scorch
thee; or that his.caprice will quicken, and so his violence come upon thee.”-—He said, “I am now setting
off for Roha, and how should Sohayl and Soha meet
together ?” .

Now when I was in presence of the Governor, whose
hall was by this time empty, and whose austerity had
cleared away, he took to describing Abi Zayd and his
worth, and blaming his evil fortune.—Then. he said, “IT
conjure thee by God, art thou not he who lent him the
suit?” (dast)—I said, “No, by Him who. has set thee on
that cushion, (dast) I am not the owner of the suit,
(dast) but. thou art he against. whom the game (dast) has
gone.”—Then his eye-balls went askance, and his cheeks
reddened.—And he said, “By Allah, it never baffled
me yet to expose a suspicious: person, or to discover a
knave—But I never heard of a Shaykh who cheated
after he. donned the saintly cloak; yet, as for this one,
he ‘has deceived to the last—Now how call you that
monkey.”—I said, “Abt Zayd.” He said,“ Abi Kayd
is more fitting for him than Abi Zayd: and dost thou
know where ‘the villain is. strolling to ?”—I said, “He
dreaded thee on account of having overstepped. his
bound, and he journeyed away from Bagdad at once.”—
He said, “May God not shorten his journey, or keep

him where he sojourns: for I never dealt with aught
sharper than his cunning, or tasted aught more bitter
than his fraud:—And were it not for the sacredness
of his scholarship, I would urge on in search of him,
until he came in sight for me to fall foul of him.—
And now do I loathe that what he has done should be
spread abroad in the City of Peace; so should I be dishonoured among men, and my dignity come to nought be-
fore the Imam, and I be made a laughing-stock to gentle
and mean.”’—Then he stipulated with me that I should
not speak of what Abi Zayd had done as long as I
remained a sojourner in this city Said Al Harith, son
of Hammam, And I stipulated with him as one who does
not equivocate, and I kept faith with him as Samuel
kept it.

The Twenty-fourth Assembly, Called “of the Portion.”

“OF THE PORTION.”

This Assembly contains the “grammatical riddles” of which the
author speaks in his preface. Abt Zayd, falling into the company
of some refined persons who are amusing thernselves in the suburbs
of Bagdad, is at first despised by them for the shabbiness of his garb.
But the recitation of a singer causes the conversation to turn upon the
famous and never-ending controversy concerning the use of the raf*
and the nagb, or, in European terminology, the nominative and accusative case, in certain Arabic. phrases. The company plunge into
the dispute with all the ardour which never failed’ to be kindled by
grammatical. disquisitions'; and when they can come to no agreement, Abii Zayd interposes, and gives his opinion. As they do not
accept it readily, and attempt to. argue with hima, he at once reduces
them to submission by proposing twelve enigmas, involving abstruse
and technical points of Arabic grammar. ‘No one can solve them ;
and'Abi Zayd refuses to gratify their curiosity by giving an explanation until each one of them has made him a present. Then he
leaves them, refusing to drink with them on the ground that in his

244 IWENTY. FOURTH ASSEMBLY.

declining age he had made # vow against wine. The answers are
briefly given in an appendix from the pen of Hariri himself.

Al Harith, son of Hamman, related: I was in company
in the portion of Ar Rabi, in the season of spring, with
youths whose faces were brighter than its lights, whose
dispositions were more goodly than its flowers, whose
utterances were more delicate than the air of its dawns.
—And through them I looked upon what would shame
the flowering spring and suffice for the sounds of lutes.—-
And we had taken oath together for the guarding of
affection and the forbidding of self-seeking ; and that
no one of us should hold aloof in enjoyment, or keep
to himself even the smallest pleasure——-Now we had
agreed together on a day whose mist bad risen, whose
beauty was growing, whose light cloud bade to the
morning draught,—That we would amuse ourselves by
going forth to one of the meadows, to pasture our eyes
on the shining plots, and polish our minds by a forecasting of the rains ;—So we sallied forth, and we were
as the months in number, and as the two boon-companions of Jathimeh in affection,—To a garden which
had. assumed its gilding and adorned itself, whose
flowers were ‘various in. their kinds and hues;—And
with us.were the headstrong ruddy wine, and cupbearers
like suns; and the singer who charms the hearer and
delights him, who feasts each hearing with what. it
covets —Now. when we had fully taken seat, and the
cups were circling tous, there intruded on us a sharp
fellow, on -him was an old coat:—And we frowned
on him. as frown the soft damsels on the gray-heads,
and we felt that the purity. of our day was now troubled.
—But he greeted with the greeting of the intelligent;

and taking seat he opened perfume-vials of prose and
verse;—But we shrank from his expansion, and hastened
to roll up what he spread out; until chanted our rare
singer, our charming modulator:

How long, Su‘ad, wilt thou not join my cord, nor pity me for
what I meet with? ‘

I have been patient with thee until my patience is overcomte, until
my spirit has almost reached my throat.

But come! I am resolved to do myself right, drinking thereby to
my mistress as she drinks to me;

For if union (ley) please her—then union (a 4) ; but if rupture
—then rupture like a very divorce.

Said Al Harith: Then we asked the player on the
double-twisted strings why he nasbed the first J, and
raf‘ed the second.—And he swore by the tomb of his
parents that he had spoken as Stbawayh preferred.—
But the opinions of the company were divided as to
the admissibility of the zasb and raf‘—And a section
said, “The raf‘ of both, that is correct ;” and a part
said, “ Nothing is lawful but the state of nasd ;”’ while to
the rest the answer was impracticable, and the clamouring kindled among them.—But. that intruder showed the
smtilingness of one who knows a matter, though he
spoke not a single word.—However, when the cries
were still, and the seolded and the scolder were silent,
he said, “O people, I will announce to you its interpretation, I will distinguish the sound phrase from
the sick.—Verily the raf‘ and the nasb of. each Je,
are lawful, and an interchange of the inflection between them;—And that is according to what is left
understood, and to the virtual signification which is
elided. in this pnzzle.”—Then was the company reckless in hastening to dispute with him, and in gliding

into contention with him.—But he said:. Well, since
ye call to me to “Come down,” and ye gird yourselves
for the war:

What is the word which, as ye will, is a particle that
is loved, or the name of that which contains the slender
milch-camel ?

And what is the noun which alternates between a
singular that binds, and a plural that clings?

And what is the » which, when it attaches itself,
takes away heaviness and loosens the bound?

And where does the |. enter and depose the regent
without courtesy ?

And what is that which is always manséd as a term of
circumstance, while only a particle makes it makhfid?

And what is the annexed noun which lacks one of the
handles of annexion, and whose power varies between
evening and morning ?

And what is the regent whose last joins his first, and
whose reverse effects what he effects?

And what is the regent whose deputy is more spacious
than he in abode, and greater in craft, and more frequent in mention of God Most High?

And in what place do males put on the veils of
women, and the ladies of the aleoves go forth with the
turbans of men ?

And where is the keeping of ranks necessary to the
struck and the striker ?

And what is the noun which gives no sense except by
the addition to it of two words, or the shortening of it
to two letters; and in the first case there is adhesion,
and in the second compulsion ?

And what is the epithet which, when it is followed

remenemienn <p cervemnerenenerns Se inte oe

by ., he to whom it is applied lessens in men’s eyes,
and is set low in reputation, and is reckoned among the
simpletons, and exposes himself to dishonour ?

Now these are twelve questions to match your number, to balance your disputatiousness; if ye add, I add;
if ye return, I return.

Said the teller of this story: Now from these his
riddles, which terrified as they poured, there came on
our thoughts bewilderment and barrenness.—And when
it baffled us to swim in his sea, and our talismans had
yielded to his enchantment,—We changed from weariness in looking at him to the seeking of instruction from
him, and from the wrong of being annoyed by him
to the desire of learning of him.—But he said, “ Now
by Him who has sent down grammar into speech to be
as salt in food, and has veiled its risings from the perceptions of the vulgar,—I will not give you a wish,
I will not heal for you a pain, unless every hand endow
me, and each of you distinguish me by a gift.”—Then remained not one in the company but was obedient to his
command, and cast to him the hidden treasure of his
sleeve.—And when he had got it under his wallet-string
he kindled the flame of his genius.—And then did he
disclose of the secrets.of his riddles and of the wonders
of his puzzling, that wherewith he cleared away the
rust from our understandings, that whose rising he
manifested by the light of proof—And we were astonished when we understood, and we wondered when we
were answered, and we repented over what had escaped
from us.—And we began to excuse ourselves with the
excusing of the sagacious; and we offered to him the
quaffing of the wine-cup.—But he said, “‘Need is not

courtesy; and as for drinking, there remains in it no
sweetness for me.”—-Then he turned up his face morosely, and plucked away his side scornfully, and recited :

Gray hair forbids me that wherein are my joys; how then should
I bring together the wine and my hands’ palms?

Is the morning draught of the old wine lawful, now that the
hoariness of my head lights up my morning ?

I swear that wine shall never again blend with me as long as my
breath cleaves to my body, and my words to my speech;

That my hand shall not deck itself with the cups of must; that I
will not turn round my lot among the goblets ;

That I will not set my thought to the mixed drink ; that I will
not go joyfully to the wine ;

That I will not gather myself to the wine cooled of the north
wind; that I will choose no companion, save the sober.

Hoariness blots out my merriment when he writes upon my head ;
hated ‘be he for a blotting scribe!

He shines forth to blame my turning the reins to pleasure; away
with him for one who shines forth but to blame!

Now were I wanton while my temple is hoary, then would my
lamp be put out among the lamps of Ghassan,

A people whose disposition is the honouring of their guests ; and
gray hair is a guest to whom honour is due, my friend.

Said Al Harith: Then he slipped away as slips the
serpent, and sped with the speeding of the cloud—And
I knew. then that he was the light of Serdj; the full
moon of scholarship that passes throngh the signs of
heayen.—And our end was grief at his departure and
separation after he was gone.

Explanation of the Arabic subtleties and grammatical
riddles which are contained in this Assembly.
os for the Exst part of the last verse of the song, namely—
epi & All Lo, (|) Ge union please her, then: union), it is like

= 4 oo »
the phrase 423 125 oI) pe? Tat | alae spot 3) (Man is
rewarded according to his work; if good, good, if evil, evil.) Now

Stbawayh introduced this question into his Book, and allowed
four modes of inflecting it. The first and best is that you should
nasb the first i and raf* the second, xasb the first > and raf* the
second. ‘Then would the virtual meaning be, “If his work be good
then his reward is good; and if his work be evil, then his reward
is evil;” for the first is nasbed through being the predicate of
oS and the second is raf‘ed through being the predicate of an
elided inchoative. And in this mode, wl and its noun are elided,
because the conditional particle ,.,{ Gf) points to their virtual presence; and the inchoative is also elided, because the —5, which is the
answer to the condition, points to it; and that is by reason that an
inchoative commonly follows 3. The second mode is that you should
nasb both ; and then the virtual meaning of the sentence is, “ If his
wish be good, then he is rewarded good; and if his wish he evil,
then he is rewarded evil.” Here the first is nasbed, because it is the
predicate of ws and the second is nagbed as the object of the verb’s
action. Tho third mode is that you should raf” both; then the
virtual sense of the sentence is, “If there be good in his work,
then his reward is good; and the first + is raf‘ ed because it is the
noun. of ws, and the second is raf‘ed because it is the predicate of
an elided inchoative; as was shown in the exposition of the first
mode. . And it may be that the first po is raf ed through being the
agent of his; and that the us which receives a virtual power here,
is the complete attributive verb, with the meaning ‘‘exists,” or
“ ocours ;” which would need no predicate, as in the phrase of God
Most High, “If he be one in difficulty.” Then the virtual meaning in the example would be, “If good be, then the reward is
good :” that is, “If good exists, then the reward is good.” The
fourth. and weakest mode is that you should raj the first on the
principle explained in the third case, and nasb the second on that
which was mentioned in the second case. Then the virtual meaning
will be, “If there be good in his work, then he is rewarded good.’»
According to this interpretation, and by the use of the virtually
understood words which are here elided, runs the inflection of the
verse sung in the Assembly. And among expressions of the same
kind is the sentence, “The man was killed by what he killed with ;
if a sword, a sword; if a knife, a knife.”

Now as to the word which is a particle that is loved, or the name
of that which contains the slender milch camel; itis». If you
use it to admit the truth of what is told you, or to promise in
answer to a request, then it is a particle : but if you mean by it
“ camels,” then it is a noun : and sx) is masculine and feminine, and
is a general name for camels, and for all cattle (in which last definition camels are comprised.) And among camels is comprised the
i> ; which means a slender she-camel. She is called W3,>,
from being likened to the w,> (edge) of a sword. But it is also
said that the word means a stout she-camel; through the likening
of her to the W3,> (ridge) of a mountain.

As for the noun which alternates between a singular that binds
and a plural that clings, it is \U oh pe (trowsers or drawers). Some
say that this is a singular form, and that its plural is culy,| a; and
according to this opinion, it is a singular; and from its being
gathered round the waist, he gives it the epithet of “binding.”
Others say, ‘Nay, it is a plural, and its singular form is dls gees”
and, according to this opinion, it is ‘a plural; and the meaning
of the expression “clings ” is, that it is not fully declined. Now, the
reason that this kind of plural is not fully declined (and it consists of every plural whose third letter is an elif followed by a
strengthened letter, or by two letters, or by three letters, the middle
one of which: is. quiescent), is on account of its heaviness, and its
divergence from the other plurals, inasmuch as there is no form like
it among the singular nouns. And in this riddle he gives the
epithet “clinging” to that which is not fully declined.

As for the », which, when it attaches itself, takes away heaviness,
and loosens the bound; it is the s which is affixed to the. form
of plural above mentioned ; as in 4 iylwe (bankers), Ui. (polishers) ;
for this form of plural becomes fully declined when the » is affixed
to it; becausé the x changes it to the form.of singular nouns like
Gali, and hS and it is thus lightened, and, becomes declinable.
And in this riddle he gives to that which is not fully declined
the epithet of “bound,” as in the former he gave it the epithet
of “ clinging.”

As for the (jw, which deposes the regent without courtesy, it
is that which is prefixed to the future verb, and divides it from ,yi,

which, before the prefixion, was one of the instruments of wasbing.

The verb is then raf ed, and the |,,! is changed from being a nagber to

the verb, to being the lightened oe used in the place of the heavy.

Thus, in the sentence of God, Praise be to Him, we wv! ws

sty" phew (He knows that there shall be sick among you), the
virtual reading is Su 451 ale.

Now as to that which is nasbed, as a term of circumstance, while
only a particle Ahafds it, it is aus, which is never jerred in choice
speech, except by wr for the vulgar expression, »yu.c re) webs,
is.a mistake,

As to the annexed noun, which is deprived of one of the handles of
annexion, and whose power varies between evening and morning;
it is wil. For this is one of the nouns which necessarily require
annexion, and whatever noun follows it is jerred by it, except
Sad ; for the Arabs make this manshb atter ws, through the frequency with which they use it in discourse: they also nunnale
it, that it may fully appear that it is manga, and that it is not one of
the class of jerred nouns which are not fully declinable. Among
some of the grammarians, oe has the same meaning as Xxc ; but the
correct view is that there is a delicate difference between them ;

‘namely that the meaning of sas applies to whatever is in your

possession or power, whether it be near to you or at a distance,
while ot applies only to what is in your. presence and close to you.

And as for the regent, whose last joins his first, and whose
reverse effects what he effects ; it is l, the reverse of which is Ws;
and. both are among the particles of calling ; and. the effect of
both upon the noun of the person called to is the same, although
\y circulates more in discourse, and is of more frequent usage. Some,
however, prefer that a person who is near should be called to with
us! only, ‘as he is called to with Aamzeh.

As for the regent whose deputy is more spacious than he in abode,
and greater in craft, and more frequent in mention of God Most
High, it is the Co of swearing, This W» is. the original particle
of swearing; as is shown by its being used when the verb of
swearing is expressed, as when you say ab pod (I swear. by God) ;
and by its being prefixed also to the pronoun; as when you
say ei J OS), (By Thee, I will do it). Afterwards the y. was

substituted for it in the oath, because they are both labial letters,
and also on account of the relationship of their meanings; since the
4 fives the sense of union, and the that of adhesion, and the two
meanings approach each other. Then the s, which was substituted for
the , became more common in speech, and was more largely
applied in forms of swearing; and for this reason he riddles that
it is more frequent in mention of God Most High. Also the
4 is larger in dwelling than the », because the C is prefixed only
to the noun, and effects nothing but the jerr ; while the , is prefixed
to the noun, and the verb, and the particle, and sometimes it
jerre with the oath, and sometimes by understanding Wy, and it is
also ranked with the nasbers of the verb, and with the instruments of
conjunction, and for this reason he describes it by spaciousness of
abode, and greatness of cunning,

And as for the place where males put on the veils of women, and
the ladies of the alcoves go forth with the turbans of men ; it is the
first degree of the numeral, when in the state of annexion; namely,
the numerals between three and ten, for they have 3 in the masculine,
and are without it in the feminine, as in the phrase of Him Most
High, Vepuo pl! Kila J a male \p x (He compelled it
upon them seven nights and eight days consecutively); while everywhere else the 3 is one of the distinctives of the feminine. You
see how the rule of masculine and feminine is reversed in this case ;
so that each turns to a form that is not its own, and goes forth
in the garb of the other.

As to:the place where the keeping of ranks is necessary to the
struck and the striker; it is when there is ambiguity between
the agent and the patient, through the sign of inflection failing to be
openly expressed in both or one of them. This takes place when
they are both makgir, like joy or | uc ; or belong to the nouns
of indication, like Z\3 and ‘4. In such cases it is necessary, for
the avoiding of ambiguity, that each of the two nouns should be
kept in its proper order; so that the agent may be known by
its coming first, and the patient by: its following after.

As for the noun which gives no sense except by the addition to it
of two words, or the shortening of it to two letters, it is La-« (whatever). About this word there are two opinions: ‘one that it is. com-

ee a ee

pounded of 4» which means “stop,” and of Le; the second, and the
correet one, is that the root of the word is lw, to which another
\e was added augmentively, as it is to wh so that the utterance
became le le: But the succession of two words with the same utterance became troublesome to people, and they substituted » for the first
elif, so that the two became ues. This word is one of the
instruments of condition and compensation, and when you utter it
the sentence is not completed, and the meaning is not seized,
except by the addition of two words after it, as, “ Whatever you
do I will do,” so that it necessarily “adheres” to a verb. But
if you shorten it to the two letters 4v, meaning “ stop,” then the
meaning is intelligible, and in that case you “compel” him you are
addressing to stop.

And as for the epithet which, when it is followed by ,.,, he to whom
it is applied lessens in men’s eyes, and is set low, and is reckoned
among the simpletons, and exposes himself to dishonour; it is
Wig (a guest), which, when ., is added to it, changes to riod,
which means one who intrusively follows the guest, and who
is set down as base coin when he is tested.

The Twenty-fifth Assembly, Called “of Kerej.”

“OF KEREJ.”

There is nothing remarkable in this Assembly. Harith, being in
the town of Kerej, during a severe winter, sees one day an old man
naked and. shivering, who crouches on the ground. He is surrounded by a crowd, and recites to them some verses on his un-
happy state.’ The wealthy, who are standing around, pity him, and
give him their furs and cloaks; and among them H4rith parts with
a useful garment. In his speech theold man had. used the phrase
“the Kéjs of winter ;” and Harith, when he discovers that he is Abi
Zayd, follows him, requesting. to know its meaning. Abii Zayd
reminds him of'a verse of Ibn Sukkereh, in which seven things—all
beginning with the letter Kéf—are spoken of as necessary in order
that a winter may-be passed in comfort.

Al Harith, son of Hammam, related: I was wintering
at Kerej, by reason of a debt that I was demanding, and

a needful business I was performing.—And I experienced
of its fierce winter and its scorching cold, that which
acquainted me with sorest torment, and kept me ever
seeking warmth.—So that I quitted not my lair, and the
kindling-place of my fire, except-through some necessity
that I was urged to, or that I might give attendance
at the congregation—Now on a day whose sky was
frowning, whose mist was darkling, I was forced to sally
from my shelter, through a business that troubled me:
—When lo! an old man, bare of skin, showing his
nakedness ; and be was turbaned with a kerchief, and
breeched with a napkin—And around him was a crowd,
dense in its throngings; and he was reciting, and heeded
nought :

O people, nothing can announce to you my poverty

More truly than this, my nakedness in the season of cold.

So from my outward misery, judge ye

The inward of my condition, and what is hidden of my state.

And beware a change in the truce of fortune :

For know that once I was illustrious in rank,

Thad command of plenty, and of a blade that severed ;

My yellow coins served my friends, my lances destroyed my foes ;

My bumped camels mourned the morning that I made the feast.

But afterward the time bared the swords of perfidy,

And spread forth the squadrons of dark afflictions,

‘And ceased not. to tear and wear me;

Until my habitation was razed, and my milk-flow decayed,

And my price and my song went down among men,

And I became the lean boast of poverty and need,

Naked of back, stripped of my covering,

As though I were'a spindle in nakedness.

No warming is mine in Sinn and Sinnabar,

Save to stand in the sun, or get a heat at the coals.

ies is there any who ia a deep sea of bounty, lord of an ample
robe,
Who will cloak me either with embroidered garment. or ragged

coat,
Seeking the face of God, and not my thanks?

TWENTY-FIFTH ASSEUBLY. 285

Then he said: O ye lords of wealth who trail in
furred robes, he that is endowed with good let him
expend; he that is able to bestow, let him bestow.—For
the world is treacherous and fortune trips; ability is the
visit of a vision, and opportunity a summer cloud.—For,
by Allah, oft have I met winter with its Aéfs, and
prepared its necessaries before its coming :—But to-day,
Sirs, my arm is my pillow, my skin is my garment, the
hollow of my hand is my dish.—So let him that is
wise consider my estate, and be beforehand with the
changing of the nights.—For the happy man is he who
takes warning by his fellow, and makes preparation
for his journey.

Thereupon it. was said to him, ‘“‘ Thou hast displayed
to us thy scholarship, now disclose to us thy pedigree.”—He said, “A curse on him who boasts of mould-
ering bones! there is no glory but in piety and choice
scholarship.” Then he recited :—

By thy life, man is but. the son of his own. day, according as
that day displays itself; he is not the:son of his yesterday.

There is no boast in rotten bones; there is only the glory of him
who seeks glory through himself.

Then he sat down, bowed together, and shrank shivering.—-And said, “OQ God, thou who whelmest with thy
bounty, and hast bidden us to ask of thee, send thy
blessing on Mohammed and his House, and help me
against the cold and its terrors;—And appoint to me
some generous man who prefers others even from ‘his
straitness, who shares even though it be but a scrap.”
Said the narrator: Now when he had thus.disclosed'a
soul ike ‘Isim’s, and elegancies like Asma‘t’s, the
glances of my eye began to test him, and the darts of

my side-looks to strike on him, until I perceived well
that he was Abii Zayd, and that his going naked was but
a noose for the prey—But he saw secretly that my
recognition had overtaken him, and he mistrusted that it
would expose him.—So he said, “I swear by the shade
of night and the moon, by the stars and the new moonlight, that none shall cloak me save one whose disposi-
tion is. goodly, whose face is imbued with the dew of benevolence.”—Then I understood what he meant, although
the company knew not his meaning.—And I was grieved
at the shivering that he suffered, and at the bristling
of his skin——So I took hold on a fur coat that was
my plumage by day and my bed by night; and I
stripped it off me, and said “ Receive it from me.”—And
he failed not to draw it on while my eye still looked
at it—Then he recited :

Well done he who has clothed me with a fur coat, which shall be
my protection from shivering! ;

He has clothed me with it, preserving my heart’s blood; may he
be preserved from the harm of men and Jinn!

To-day he shall deck himself with my praise; to-morrow he shall
be'decked with the silk of Paradise.

Said Al Harith: Now when he had fascinated. the
hearts of the company by his diversity in excellence,—
They cast to him of the lined furs and the parti-coloured
coats, so many that their. weight oppressed him,.and
searce could he lift them.—And he departed glad of
countenance in his joy, invoking a rain on Kerej.—
But I followed. him to a point where his mistrust disappeared, and the heaven showed clear; and I said
to him, “A sharp cold was that which froze thea!
But go not naked again.”’—He said, “Fie on thee!
swiftness to blame belongs not to the just; haste not

in censuring, for it is a wrong; prosecute not that of
which thou hast no knowledge,—For by Him who has
given the light of hoariness, and made sweet the tomb
of Taybeh, had I not stripped myself I should have
gone home in failure, and in emptiness of wardrobe.”
—Then was he restive to take flight, and veiled himself
in frowning, and said, “‘ Knowest thou not that my
nature is to pass from prey to prey, and to turn from
‘Amr to Zayd?—Yet I see thou now checkest me and
resistest me; thou makest me to lose double of what
thou didst profit me—Then spare me (God save thee), from
thy vain talk; shut on me the door of thy earnest and
jest.” —But I pulled him with the pulling of playfulness, and held him fast to joke with him,—And said
to him, “ By Allah, had I not concealed thee and
covered thy imposture, thou wouldst not have gotten
a gift; thou wouldst not have come off more coated
than an onion.—So now recompense me for my goodness, and for the covering that I gave thee, and put
over thee, either by being kind enough to restore my
fur, or by making known to me the Kafs of winter.”
—Then he looked at me with the look of one who
wonders, and frowned with the frowning of the angry,
—aAnd said, “As for restoring the fur it is a thing
as impossible as the restoring of yesterday that is
past, or the dead man who is gone;—But as for the
Kafs of winter, glory to God who rusted thy mind
and rent the bottle of thy storing,—Since thou hast
let thyself forget what I recited to thee at Deskereh
of the lines of Ibn Sukkereh:

Winter comes and its needs to me are seven, when the rain
confines me from business ;

A home, a purse, a stove, a cup of wine. after the roast meat,
and a pleasant wife, and clothing.

Then he said, “Sure an answer that heals is better
than a cloak that warms; so be content with what
thou hast learnt and depart.’—So I parted from him ;
and now my fur coat was gone to my sorrow, and I
was in a state of shivering all the winter.

The Twenty-sixth Assembly, Called “the Spotted.”

“THE SPOTTED.”

This Assembly presents another of those exercises of ingenuity
in which the’ author delights. Al Harith, being in the town or
district of Ahw4z ina state.of great poverty, determines to seek his
fortune. elsewhere. On the road he comes upon a tent whose
wealthy owner, attended by his slaves, is reposing during a halt.
The stranger invites him to rest himself, and Al Hirith soon discovers that he is Abi Zayd. He inquires the cause of this sudden
prosperity, and is informed that it was produced by the improvisation of an elegant address or composition, the merits of which a
great personage had thus munificently rewarded. Al Harith, with
his usual literary curiosity, desires to hear it; but Abi. Zayd will
consent only on condition that his friend shall first accompany him
to Sts, the ancient Susa, which is distant a day’s journey from
Abwiz. Al Harith consents, and Abi Zayd detains him in the city
for a month on various pretences. At last, when Al Harith will no
longer stay, the adventurer tells how he had been oppressed, with
debt, and. been. delivered from it, and loaded with presents, by the
Governor of Tis, in Khorasan, in reward for an eulogistie composition, in which the alternate letters were pointed and unpointed,
He asks Al Hirith whether he would prefer a sum of money or a
copy of this “ spotted” composition. His friend chooses the latter,
and Aba Zayd dictates it, not failing to accompany it with a present
to relieve his. necessities.

Al. Harith, son of Hammam, related: I. descended at
the two markets of Ahwaz, clothed in the garb of need.
And I delayed. there a space enduring adversity,

passing sombre days,—Until I looked upon the lengthening of my stay as if it were one of the hurts of
vengeance,—And I viewed the city with the eye of him
that hates, and I parted from it as one parts from the
mouldering camp-ruin.—And I set forth from its streamlet, girded up of skirt, spurring to the abundant waters ;
—Until when I had journeyed from it two stations, and
was distant the march of two nights, there came to my
sight a pitched tent and a kindled fire-—Then I said, “1
will go to them ; perchance I may quench thirst or find
guidance at the fire.’—And when I had arrived at the
shadow of the tent I saw some fair boy-servants, and
furniture which thou wouldest gaze at, and an old man;
on him was noble apparel, and by him was newly
plucked fruit,—And I greeted him and then went. aside
from him.—But he laughed to me and made kindly
his answer towards me, and said, “ Wilt thou not take
seat by one whose fruit is choice, whose pleasantry
charms ?”—-Then I took my seat, to get the prize of
conversing with him, net to swallow.down what was
before ‘him.—-And' as. soon as he unveiled his aecomplishments and bared his teeth, I knew that he was
Abi Zayd. by the beauty of his choice sayings, and the
ugliness of those. yellow teeth—-And we knew each
other then, and two joys compassed me in that hour.—
Nor could I learn by which I.was purer in rejoicing
and more perfect of delight ;—Whether it was at his
dawning forth from the darkness of his journeys, or at
the plenty of his dwelling after its dearth—Then my
soul yearned that I should break the seal of his secret
and enter-into the cause of his prosperity.—So. I said
to him, “ Whence is thy returning, and whither is thy

going onward, and how have. thy wardrobes been filled?”
—He said, “As for my coming it is from Tis; and as
for my destination, it is Sis; and as for the wealth
which I have reached, it is from an Address which I
improvised.”—-Then I begged him that he would lay
before me his secret, and rehearse his Address to me.—
He said, “The war of Al Basis was a less thing than
what thou desirest, unless, indeed, thou wilt accompany
me to Sas.”

So I followed him thither perforce, and I attached
myself to him there a month—And he, he watered
me to the full with the cups of beguiling and made
me to bear the bridle of expectation ;—Until when
my. breast was straitened and my patience overcome,
I said to him, ‘There remains to thee no pretext, nor
to me aught that can divert me—To-morrow I shall
take omen of the raven of separation, and saddle
away from thee with the shoes of Honayn.”—He said,
“God forbid that I should break promise with thee
or thwart thee! I have not deferred to relate to. thee
save that I might make thee stay—But since thou hast
doubted concerning my promise, and the suspicion of
ill treatment urges thee to depart from me,—Listen to
the story of my lengthened journey, and add it to the

• Tales of Pleasure after Pain.”—I said, “Go on, how
  long is thy tether! how varions are thy wiles !”—He
  said: Know that the frowning time cast me to Tis,
  and then was I poor and laden; I had not the sprout or
  the split of a date-stone—So the bareness of my hands
  made me resort to. haltering myself with debt;—And
  T took credit by evil chance from one who was hard
  of nature:—For I fancied it would be easy to find

TWENTY-SIXTH ASSEMBLY. zZol

a market for my poetry, and I enlarged in spending ;—And recovered not until that debt burdened me,
whose due attached to me, whose claimant beset me,—
Then was I bewildered at my state, and showed my
creditor my difficulty ;—But he believed not my poverty
and drew not off from worrying me;—Nay, he was
instant in demanding and obstinate in carrying me to
the Kadi;—And as often as I humbled myself to him
in speech, and besought of him the grace of the generous,—And would dispose him to show merey to me
by lenity, or to wait for me till eompetence,—He said,
“Set not thy desire on being waited for while thou
holdest fast the bright gold;—For, by thy existencc.
thou seest not the paths of deliverance ere thou show
me the meltings of the pure ore.”—And when I saw
the sharpening of his contention, and that there was
no refuge to me from his hand, I made a quarrel: with
him, and then I assaulted him,—That he might carry
me up to the Governor having authority over offences,
not to the Judge of civil wrongs.—And this was by reason
of what had reached me of the eminence of the Governor
and his virtue, and the severity of the Kadi and his
meanness.—Now when we were present at the gate of
the ruler of ‘Tis, I perceived that I should have nor
hurt nor barm.—So I called for ink-flask and paper,
and composed for him a Spotted Address, and this it it :

The qualities of our Lord are loved, and at his courtyard there is abiding ;—And nearness to him is as gifts,
and farness from him as destruction ;—And his friendship is as pedigree, and his estrangement as calamity ;—
His sword’s edge is sharp, and the stars of his virtue
gleam.—His continence adorns, and the rectitude of

his road is plain —His understanding turns and tries,
and his fame goes east and west.

The ruler, the intelligent ; surpassing, excelling ; understanding,
ingenious; impatient of baseness, loathing it ;

Replacing, consuming; distinguished, incomparable ; illustrious,
virtuous; quick-witted, fastidious ;

Marvellous when he discourses; able when the stir of ill befals,
and the dreaded calamity grows mighty.

The chaplets of his honour are self-strung, and the
rain-storm of his largess showers ;—The gift of his hand
flows freely, while avarice from his heart sinks away.—
The teat of his liberality is milked, and the gold of his
chests is spotled—He whom his band gathers to itself
prospers and overcomes ; the merchant of his gate makes
gain by beguiling him.—He refrains from wronging the
innocent, and is free from the foulness of the transgressor.
—He unites his gentleness with dignity, and turns aside
from the path of the niggardly.—He is not given to leap
at the opportunity of evil, but abstains with the abstaining of the righteous.

And therefore is he loved, and his continence merits the infatuation
he inspires, since its pure essence beguiles all.

His qualities are bright, and gleam ; and his arrow is an arrow
which overcomes when thou shootest against it.

He is gentle, he is cheerful ; one who makes good when his friend
slips, nor is there any doubt of his desert.

Not miserly, nay, but bountiful; open when he is solicited; one
who. goes forth, his gate keeps him not close.

When want bites; he breaks the edge of its biting by his succour,
and its tooth falls out.

And. it is fitting that whoever is wise and understanding, whoever is near and far, should submit himself
to the hero of the time, the restorer of the palsied.—For
since he sucked the breast of. bis fostering, he has been
distinguished by the abundance of. his shower.—He

posuchliaiy 0

raises the fallen, and comforts him; if he helps he
gladdens; if he contends in honour, he routs his adversary, and returns with a clear right.—He prepares
fatigue for him who shall rule after him ; he is lauded
as often as men move him to kindness, or prove him
in deed; he crowns his virtues with the love of his
suppliants.

May he never become void of gladness, may the shadow of his
prosperity be lengthened.

For he is virtuous in the sight of whoever contemplates the
shining of his stars.

He adorns the graces of his culture by clothing himself with the
fear of his Lord.

And may there prosper my Lord his gain of honours,
firmly rooted and large, and his excelling in benefits that
are perfect, that publish themselves:—And may the
helping of his servant with a portion from his abundance
accord with the pious offerings of His Honour :—For his
servant is a child of the noble, though a wanderer from
dear‘h; one wounded by calamities that have scarred
him, who strings chaplets that voyage afar—When. he
surges to. the harangue there is found none to speak like
him; for Koss would then be as Bakil.—For when he
embelishes thou wouldst say, ‘Garments of Yemen have
been embroidered,” thou wouldst think that a garden
had sprouted—This is so, and then also his draught
is but s draining, and his food is borrowed ; his dawn is
the glomming, and his cloak is worn out.—And now does
he quake at the raging of a tyrannous creditor, who
harasses him because of a debt that. attaches to him.—
But if ny Lord will mercifully avert him from me. by
the gifts of his hand, he will belt himself with glory
that surpasses, and come off with the reward of loosing

me from the chain.—May the qualities of his disposition
never fail to ‘aid whoever watches the promise of his
lightning-cloud—By the grace of the Lord, who is
without beginning, who liveth now, and is without end.

Said Abi Zayd: Now when the Governor had discerned the pearls of my Address, and caught a glance
of the secret committed to it,—He made sign at onee for
the paying of my debt, and decided what was between
my adversary and myself—Then he appropriated me for
his ostentation, and distinguished me by his preference.
—And I remained a few years prospering in guestship
with him, and pasturing in the oasis of his bounty,—
Until, when his gifts had overwhelmed me, and his gold
had lengthened my skirt, I contrived to depart. in the
fair condition that thou seest.

Said Al Harith: Then I said to him, “Thanks to
Him who destined to thee the meeting with the kind
one, the noble, and delivered thee by him from the
pressure of thy creditor.”——He said, “ Praise to God for
happiness of fortune and freedom from the contentious
adversary.”—Then he said, “ Which is more pleasing to
thee, that I should share with thee of the gift, or present thee with the Spotted Address ?”—I said, “ The
dictation of the Address will be more pleasing t me.”
He said, “And that too, by thy Truth, is the lighter
upon’ me: for truly the gift of that which goc in at
the ears is easier than the gift of that which comes
out of the sleeves.”--But then it was as if he scomed the
meanness, and. grew ashamed, for he gave me the Address and a present together.—Thus I gained fom him
two lots, and parted from him with two booties, and

returned to my home, cool of eye, through havirg gotten
hath. tha’ Address and the rnin.

Preface to Vol. II — F.F. Arbuthnot

To Thomas Chenery, M.A. — Born 1828; Died 1884.

We know not what happens to us spiritually after death, and can only repeat in the words of the Koran, "We belong to God, and unto Him we shall surely return." Still, if there be such a thing as continuation, should you (wherever you may be) happen to learn that your great work here has been completed — indeed, the fact will not, I trust, displease you.

Admiringly yours,
F.F. Arbuthnot.

The great work of Hariri consists of fifty Maqamat, or Assemblies. Of these the late Mr. Thomas Chenery translated and published the first twenty-six, with copious and valuable notes, in 1867. He had fully intended to complete the translation of the remaining twenty-four, and also to prepare an Index to the two volumes. But called away to the editorship of the Times in 1877, his hopes and expectations were never fulfilled, and he died in 1881, leaving his task unfinished.

In 1888 the Oriental Translation Fund, which had existed from 1828 to 1878, was revived under the same name, but as a new series. Among the works that came under the consideration of the committee appointed by the Council of the Royal Asiatic Society, the translation and annotation of the remaining twenty-four Assemblies of Hariri, proposed by Dr. F. Steingass, held an important place, and was accepted.

By the courtesy of the executors of the late Mr. Chenery, two hundred and fifty unbound copies of his work were obtained and purchased, and during these negotiations, with zeal and ability Dr. F. Steingass translated the remaining twenty-four Assemblies, and explained them with important and valuable notes. To the above a complete descriptive index has been added, and these two volumes, bound with the covers of the Oriental Translation Fund New Series, form the issue for 1898 in continuation of the works which have been annually published by the Fund.

Mr. Chenery's introduction to the first volume (extending from pages 1 to 102) contains such a complete survey of the whole work that it is hardly necessary to add to it. But the contents of the second volume continue to show the wonderful subtleties, pliabilities, fertilities, boundless resources and extraordinary richness of the Arabic language. A careful perusal of the two volumes will fully bear out the generally-expressed opinion that, next to the Koran, the Assemblies of Hariri are the most celebrated production of Arabic literature.

Throughout these Assemblies, as Chenery says in his notes at page 273, "Not only are verses of the Koran freely introduced, but the whole language is tinged with allusions to it, which are almost imperceptible to the European, but which are readily caught by a Moslem who knows the sacred work by heart." In the same way there are many and constant allusions to Arab proverbs, which form a very valuable and instructive addition to the work. Every mention of them, and every allusion to the Koran, have been carefully noted in the index, and, though the references are numerous, it will enable the student or the enthusiast to go through the details of them without any difficulty. This also applies to other subjects, such as Traditions, Legends, Arab manners and customs, etc.

Dr. Steingass has completed his portion of the work under great physical difficulties. For some part of the time he was actually blind, and even after his recovery was obliged to be extremely cautious so as not to overstrain his eyesight. His Student's Edition of the Arabic text of the Assemblies of Hariri was published by Sampson Low, Marston and Co. in 1897, while his translation of the last twenty-four Assemblies follows in 1898.

One word about the transliteration from the Arabic of the second volume, regarding which Dr. Steingass was much concerned. Since 1867 considerable progress has been made in this subject, and he was naturally anxious that the names of the people and the places as spelt by Mr. Chenery should be spelt in the style now generally in use. Consequently there was some difference between the transliteration of Mr. Chenery and Dr. Steingass, and it was necessary to decide how this matter should be dealt with.

For the sake of uniformity, it seemed both advisable and desirable that the names of people, places and things should be spelt in the second volume as in the first, and I insisted, much against Dr. Steingass's wish, that this should be done. In this, then, the transliteration of the two volumes will be found to agree, and as regards the rest, Dr. Steingass has had a free hand. The difference between the spelling of the two translators will be found in Appendix B at the end of the second volume.

Although thirty years have elapsed since Mr. Chenery published his valuable translation of the first twenty-six Assemblies of Hariri, it is a matter of congratulation that the whole work has now been completed and indexed, and that it has been done into English and in England.

F.F. Arbuthnot
99, Albemarle Street, London, W.

The Twenty-seventh Assembly, Called “of the Tent-dwellers.”

“OF THE TENT-DWELLERS.”

In this Assembly, which Hariri himself marks out as of some
importance from a philological point of view by attaching to ita
short commentary of his own, Al Harith records another of his early
reminiscences. In his youth he cherished a strong desire to mingle
with Arabs of the desert, in order to make himself familiar with
their monners and idioms. After having acquired, by strenuous
exertion, a live-stock of camels and sheep, he settles amongst a
Bedouin tribe of genuine descent, who willingly accord him their
protection. One nights valuable milch camel wont astray, and he
sets out on horseback in search of her. During the night and the
ensuing forenoon his efforts to find her are unavailing, and when
mid-day grows high [approaches] with its oppressive heat, he feels
compelled to seek shelter and rest under a shady tree. Scarcely has
he done so, when he perceives a solitary wanderer nearing his
resting-place, With mingled feelings of annoyance at the intrusion
of a stranger, and of hope that he might hear through him news of
his strayed camel, he awaits his coming, On his closer approach,
however, he recognises in him Abt Zayd, whose welcome companionship makes him almost oblivious of his loss. In reply to his
affectionate inquiries, Abt Zayd improvises some beautiful vorsas,
in which he describes in racy language his Bohemian way of living,
which renders him independent of favours that would have to be
courted by selfab ement, more hateful to him than death itself,
After having questioned on his part Al Harith as to the re on of
his presence in this lonely spot, and being told about the lost be t,
and the hitherto fruitless search for her, he begs leave to take his

VOL, IL. 1

noon-day sleep, and is soon deeply drowned in it. Al Harith tries
to keep awake, but the lull in their conversation makes him succumb
to his drowsiness, and when he rouses himself at night-fall he finds
to his dismay that Abd Zayd is gone together with the horse. In
sore distress he awaits the morning, when he sees a rider on a camel
travelling in the desert, to whom he waves his garment, to attract
his attention, but the signal remains unheeded, and he has to run
after the man, intending to ask him for a lift, however grudgingly it
might be granted. Having reached him, he perceives on closer
scrutiny that the man is seated on the lost camel. He drags him
down from her back, and a violent altercation takes place, in the
midst of which Abi Zayd again appears on the scene, and his
coming, after yesterday’s experience, at first fills Al Harith with
misgivings as to his further intentions. Abi Zayd, however, at
once sets his mind at rest, and addressing his antagonist in stern
and threatening terms, soon puts him to flight. Then, guessing at
the struggle between resentment and gratitude in Al Harith’s breast,
he recites some pithy lines, in which he advises him to make the
best of a losing bargain and to forbear both thanks and rebuke. So
they separate as fairly good frends, and Al H&nth returns home,
having recovered his camel, but lost his horse.

Al Hérith, son of Hamm4m, related: In the prime
of my life that has fleeted, I had a leaning towards
intercourse with the people of the hair-tents, so that I
might take after their high-mettled spirits and their
Arab tongues. So I bestirred myself with the alertness
of one not lacking in industry, and began to roam
through low-lands and high-lands, until I had got
together a string of those that groan [ie., camels],
along with a flock of those that bleat [7.e., sheep]. Then
L betook myself to some Arabs, [fit to be] lieutenants
of kings, song of speech [saws]. They gave me a home
with them in safest vicinity, and turned [blunted] from
me the edge of any [hostile] tooth. No care alighted
upon me while I was with them, no arrow struck [the
smoothness] of my rock, until one night, bright with

full-moon-sheen, there strayed from me a she-camel
profuse of milk-flow. Then my heart suffered me not
to forbear the quest of her, and to throw her halter
upon her hump [allowing her to wander at will]. So
I sprang upon a swift-paced steed, planting a trembling
lance between thigh and stirrup, and fared forth all the
night, scouring the desert, and exploring every copse
und treeless place, until the morning dawn unfurled its
ensigns, when the crier calls to prayer and to salvation.
Then I alighted from my beast for the acquittance of
the written ordinance, after which I bestrode him again,
trying his mettle to the utmost. While I was coursing
along, I saw no trace but I tracked it, no ridge but I
mounted it, no valley but I fared across it, no rider but
I questioned him ; but withal my toil was hootless, and
its gang to the watering-place found no [way of] return,
until the heat waxed blinding, and the seorching noonday sun would have distracted Ghaylin from his
[beloved] Mayyah.

Now the day was longer than the shadow of the
spear, and hotter than the tears of the bereft mother,
and I made sure that, unless I sought shelter from
the glow, and rested myself with slumber, excessive
weariness would throw me prostrate with sickness—nay,
Sha‘db [the severer] would cling to me. Hence I bent
my way towards a Sarhah tree, abounding in branches,
with boughs thickly leaved, that I might sleep my
noon-tide, till to the brink of sun-down ; but by Allah,
scarcely had my breath fetched air and my horse rested,
when I beheld one coming from the left, in the garb of
a wayfarer, who resorted to my place of resort, maki g
straight for the spot I had chosen, Then I grudged

his wending whither I had wended, and took refuge
with Allsh from the annoy of any sudden intruder.
But then, again, I hoped that he might chance to be a
bringer of news, or approve himself a guide [to my lost
one]. And when he came nigh my tree, and had all
but reached my biding-place, I found it was our learned
friend [Shaykh] of Serdj, wearing his wallet by way of
belt, and his travelling gear under his arm. Then he
accosted me with friendliness, and made me forget my
loss, and I inquired of him, whence he hailed just then
and how he fared within and without. Forthwith,
without a word of demur, he recited on the spur of the
moment :

“Say to him, who would look into the inward state of my affair,
thou shalt meet at my hands with all honour and regard.

T am roving from land to land, a night-traveller from one trackless
desert to the other.

The chase yields me food, the sandal is my riding-beast, all my
equipment the wallet and the ferruled staff.

If I chance to alight in city, my abode is the garret of the
hostelry, and my boon-companion a scroll.

There 1s nothing mine, that I miss when it is gone, or fret about
when the vicissitudes [wiles] of time rob me thereof ;

Save that I pass my night free from concern, and my mind has
severed partnership with sorrow.

Isleep at night the fill of my eyelids and my heart is cool of
burning grief and anxiety ;

Ireck not from what cup I sip, and sip again, or what is the
sweetness that comes from the bitter-sweet ;

No, not I, though I allow me not abasement to become an easy
toad to bounties ;

For if an object of desire dons the raiment of shame, out on hi
who courts a gift,

And whenever a wretch inclines to baseness, my nature shrinks
from his fashion and inclining.

Death for , no base deed, mount the bier liefer, than embark
in villainy.” ‘

Then he raised his glance to me, and said: “For
some purpose did Kosayr cut off his nose.” So I told
him the tale of my strayed camel, and what I had
endured this day and the by-gone night ; and he said :
“Leave concerning thyself about things departed, or
pining for that which has perished ; regret not what is
gone, though it were a river of gold; nor incline to
him who veers from thee, and kindles the fire of thy
anguish, though he were the son of thy loins, or the
own brother of thy soul.” Then he added: “ Hast
thou a mind to a noon-day nap, and to abstain from
talk? For forsooth our bodies are [as it were] jaded
camels for fatigue, and the heat is all aglow ; whereas
there is nothing to furbish up the mind, and to enliven
the languid, like sleep at noon while the blaze is fiercest,
especially [most so] in the two months, when the skin
of the camel shrivels through excessive thirst.” [
replied: “As thou wilt, I have no wish to thwart
thee.” Thereupon he made the ground his bed, and
fell a-dozing, nay, soon he gave evidence that he was
fast asleep. But I sat leaning on my elbow, to keep
watch, and not to succumb to slumber; however,
drowsiness overpowered me, after our tongues were
bridled, and I recovered not myself, until night had
crept in, and the stars began to twinkle, when, lo, there
was no friend of Serfj, and, alas, no saddle-beast, so
that I passed a night such as Nabighah sings of, pregnant with the grief of Jacob, while I was battling
against my sullenness, and vying with the stars in
wakefulness. Now I bethought me that I had henceforth to fare on foot, now in what wise I should retrac
my homeward way ; until, at the smile of morn, there

appeared to me on the horizon a rider, ambling over
the plain with the stride of the ostrich. So I signalled
to him with my garment, hoping that he would turn in
my direction. He, however, heeded not my signal, nor
took he compassion on my anxiety, trotting on at his
leisure and smiting my entrails with the arrow of his
contempt. Then I hastened in his track, to ask him
for a mount behind him, though I should have to put
up with his superciliousness. But when I reached him,
by dint of hard running, and cast my eye on him with
a sweeping glance, I found that my camel was his
riding-beast, and what I had lost he had picked up.
Then I belied me not in dragging him from her hunch,
and tussling with him for the end of her halter, calling
out: “I am her master ; it is I from whom she has
strayed ; to me belongs her colt and her milk! So be
not like Ash‘ab in greediness, and give no trouble, lest
thou see trouble!” But he took to abusing and shouting, and he waxed impudent, and would not be
abashed ; and while he assaulted and relented in turns,
now acting the lion, now cowering, behold, there came
upon us Aba Zayd, clad in the leopard’s skin, rushing
along with the rush of the furious torrent. Then I
feared, that his feat of to-day might be like his performance of yesterday, that [the brightness of] his full
moon would equal [that of] his sun, after which I would
join the two tan-gatherers, never to be seen again, and
become @ [mere] tale after the substance, So I saw no
help but to remind him of former bonds, nd yesterday’s misdeed, and conjured him by Allah, [asking] if
‘he came to make good my wrong, or to encompass my
utter ruin. He however said: “God forfend that I

should despatch one whom I have wounded, or follow
up the Simoom of my day with a deadly night-blast.
Rather have I come to find out the truth of thy state,
and to be’a right hand to thy left.” Thereupon my
anxiety was allayed, and my suspiciousness subsided.
T made him aware of my milch camel, and of the cloak
of insolence that my mate had assumed, when he
glanced at him as the lion of the thicket glances at his
prey. Then he pointed his lance against him, swearing
by Him who kindles the morning, that if he made not
away with the swiftness of the fly, and contented himself with escape as the best part of his booty, he would
pierce his neck-vein with the spear, and make his
offspring and friends mourn for him. Forthwith the
fellow let go the halter of the camel, and ran apace,
taking to his heels in hottest haste. Abi Zayd said to
me: “Seize her and mount her hump, for of the two
boons, booty and witness for the faith, she is one, and
one woe is easier to bear than two.”

Said Al Harith, son of Hammam: Then I was at a
loss, whether to rebuke Abi Zayd, or thank him, and
how to balance the benefit received from him, against
the damage endured. But it was as if someone had
whispered to him the secret of my breast, or he had
divined what stirred in my heart, for he accosted me
with open brow, and indited with a glib tongue :

“© brother mine who bears up with my injury better than my
brethren and own kinsfolk,

If my yesterday has harmed thee, my to-day has brought thee joy.

So forgive that for the sake of this, and spare me both thanks and

blame.”
Then he added: ‘I am hasty and thou art sluggish,

how then should we agree?’ Wherewith he turned
away to cleave the ground, urging his steed to career,
aye, what a career! But I tarried not to take seat on
my beast, and return to my homestead, and after hap
and mishap reached my tent-village.

The Twenty-eighth Assembly, Called “of Samarcand.”

“OF SAMARCAND.”

On one of his mercantile journeys Harith arrives at Samarcand
early on a Friday morning, and after having refreshed himself in a
public bath and performed the ceremonial ablutions incumbent on
the day, he hurries to the chief mosque, to be one of the foremost
a ongst the worshippers. Here he listens attentively to 2 moat
impressive sermon on the instability of human destinies, and on the
certainty and terrors of death. This address strikes him not only
by the forcibleness of its diction, but by the peculiarity, that all the
words employed in it consist of letters without diacritical points,—a
peculiarity to which he alludes by calling it “a spotless bride.” He,
therefore, looks closer at the preacher, and soon recognises in him
Abt Zayd. After the divine service is over, he accosts him, and, as
usual, the meeting between them is most affectionate on both sides.
Abt Zayd invites Harith to acco pany him to his dwelling, and at
nightfall shocks his guest by producing decanters filled with wine.
Rebuke and remonstrances are airily met with some verses, spiced
with Abt Zayd’s reckless philosophy. Relaxing from his habitual
susterity, Harith for once does at Rome as the Romans do, and
pledged to secrecy under the influence of the cup, he even countenances his abandoned friend before the outside world during his stay
in the city.

Al Harith, son of Hammam, related: In one of my
journeys I chose sugar-candy for 2 merchandise, making
with the same for Samarcand, and in those days I w 8
upright of build, brimful of sprightliness, taking sight
from the bow of enjoyment at the target of pleasures,
and seeking in the sap of my youth help against the

glamours of the water-semblance [mirage]. Now I
reached her on a Friday morn, after I had endured
hardship, and I bestirred myself without tarrying, until
a nightstead was got, and when I had carried there my
sugar-candy, and was entitled to say “at home with
me,” I wended forthwith towards « bath, when I put
from me the weariness of travel, and took to the washing
of the congregation-day conformably to tradition, Then
I hastened with the bearing of the humble to the
cathedral mosque, so as to join those who near the
prayer-leader, and offer [as it were] the fattened camel,
and happily I was foremost in the race, and elected the
central pluce for hearing the sermon. Meanwhile people
ceased not to enter in troops into the faith of Allah, and
to arrive singly and in pairs, until, when the mosque
was crowded with its assembly, and a person had
waxed equal with his shadow, the preacher sallied forth,
swaggering in the wake of his acolyths, and straightway mounted the steps of the pulpit of the [divine]
call, until he stood at its summit, when he gave blessing
with a wave of his right hand, sitting down thereafter
until the ritual of the cry to prayer was completed.
Then he roge and spoke: “Praise be to Allah, the
exalted of names, the praised for His bounties, the
abundant in gifts, the called upon for the rescinding of
calamity ;—king of the nations, restorer of rotten bones,
honourer of the folks of forbearance and generosity,
destroyer of ‘Ad and Trem ;—whose cognizance comes
up with every secret, whose compassion encompasses
every obdurate in sin, whose munificence comprises all
the world, whose power breaks down every revolter.—
I praise Him with the praise of one who proclaims

[God’s] unity and professes Islam, I pray to Him with
the prayer of the hopeful, the trusting, for He is the
God, there is no God but He, the unique, the one, the
just, the eternal, there is none begotten to Him, and no
begetter, no companion with Him and no helpmate.—
He sent forth Mohammed to spread about Islim, to
consolidate religion, to confirm the guidance of the
apostles, to straighten the black-hued and the red.—
He united womb-connections, he taught the fundsamentals of truth, he set a stamp on the lawful and the
forbidden, he regulated [laid down the rules for] the
doffing and the donning of the pilgrim-cloak.—May
Allah exalt his place, and perfect the blessing ond
benediction upon him, may He have compassion on his
race, the worthy, and on his progeny, the uterine, as
long as the pile-cloud pours, as long as the dove coos,
as long as the cattle graze, as long as the sword
assaults.—Work ye, may Allah have mercy upon you,
the work of the pious, exert yourselves towards your
return [on the resurrection day] with the exertion of
the sound, curb your lusts with the curbing of enemies,
make ready for your departure with the readiness of the
blissful—Put ye on the robes of abstinence, and put
away the ailings of greed, make straight the crookedness of your dealings, and resist the whisperings of
hope.—Portray ye to your imaginings the vicissitudes
of circumstances, and the alighting of terrors, and the
attacks of sickness, and the cutting off from pelf and
kin :—Bethink ye yourselves of death, and the agony of
its throwing-place, of the tomb and the awfulness of
that which is sighted there, of the grave-niche nd the
loneliness of the one deposed in it, of the angel nd the

TWENTY-EIGHTH ASSEMBLY. li

frightfulness of his questioning and of his advent.—
Look ye at fortune and the baseness of its onslaught,
and the evil of its deceit and cunning :—How many
road-marks has it effaced, how many viands embittered!
how many a host has it scattered, how many an
honoured king has it overthrown.—Its striving is to
strike deaf the ears, to make flow the tear-founts, to
baile desires, to destroy the songster and the listener
to the song. Its decree is the same for kings and
subjects, for the lord and the henchman, for the envied
and the envier, for serpents and for lions.—It enriches
not, but to turn away, and reverse hopes ; it bestows
not, but to outrage and cut into the limbs ; it gladdens
not, but to sadden, and revile, and injure ; it grants no
health, but to engender disease and frighten friends.—-
Fear ye Allah! fear ye Allah! May Allah keep yout
How long this persistency in levity, this perseverance
in thoughtlessness, this stubbornness in sin, this loading
yourselves with crime, this rejection of the word of the
wise, this rebellion against the God of heaven ?—Is not
senility your harvest, and the clod your couch? Is
not death your capturer, and [the bridge] Sir&t your
path? Is not the hour [of resurrection] your tryst,
and the plain [or hell] your goal? Are not the terrors
of doomsday laid in ambush for you? Is not the
abode of tranagressors Al-Hutamah,, the firmly [safely]
locked ?—Their warder MAlik, their comeliness raven
blackness, their food poison, their breathing-air the
scorching blast!—No wealth prospers them, no offspring ; no numbers protect them, and no equipments.
—But lo, Allah has mercy upon the man who rules his
p ssion, and who treads the paths of His guid nee ;

who makes firm his obedience towards his Lord, and
strives for the restfulness of his place of refuge ; who
works while life lasts obedient, and fortune at truce
with him, and health perfect and welfare at hand ;—
Lest he be overtaken by the frustration of his wish, by
the faltering of speech, by the alighting of afflictions, by
the fulfilment of fate, by the blunting of senses, by the
remedy of the sepulchres. Alack on them for a misery
whose woefulness is assured, whose term is infinite!
He who is remedied thereby is wretched, his distractedness has none to allay it, his regret none to pity it;
there is no one to ward off that which befalls him.
May then Allah inspire you with the praiseworthiest of
inspirations! May He robe you with the robe of
glory !_ May He cause you to alight in the abode of
peace 1 Of Him I ask mercy upon you and on the
people of the religion of Islam, for He is the most
forgiving of the generous, the saviour, and peace be
with you.”——Said Al Hérith, son of Hammam : Now,
when I saw that the sermon was a choice thing without
a flaw, and a bride without a spot, the wonderment at
its admirable strain urged me on to look at the preacher's
face, and I began to scan it narrowly, and to Jet my
glance range over him carefully, when it became clear
to me by the truth of tokens, that it was our Shaykh,
the author of the Assemblies.—There was, however, no
help from keeping silent for the time being ; so I withheld until he had left off praying, and “the dispersing
on the earth” had come. Then I turned towards him,
and hastened to meet him, and when he spied me he
quickened his pace, and was profuse in doing me
honour, bidding me to accompany him to his abode and

making mea confidant of the particulars of his intimate
affairs.—Now, when the wing of darkness had spread,
and the time for sleep had come, he brought forth wineflasks secured with plug, whereupon I said to him:
“Dost thou quaff it before sleep, and thou the prayerleader of the people?” But he replied: “ Hush! I
by day am preacher, but by night make merry.”—
Said I: “By Allah, I know not whether to wonder
more at thy unconcernedness as to thy kinsfolk and
thy birthplace, or at thy preacher-office with thy foul
habits, and the rotation of thy winecup.” —Thereupon
he turned his face in disgust from me, and presently he
said :—Listen to me :

“Weep not for o friend that is distant, nor for an abode, but
turn thyself about with fortune as it turns about.

Reckon thou all mankind thy dwelling-place, and fancy all the
earth thy home.

Forbear with the ways of him with whom thou dealest, and
humour him, for it is the wise that humours.

Miss thou no chance of enjoyment, for thou knowest not if
thou live a day, or if an age.

Know thou that death is going round, and the moon-haloes
circle above all created beings,

Swearing that they will not cease chasing them, as long as morn
and even turn and re-turn.

How then mayest thou hope to escape from a net, from which
neither Kisrd escaped, nor Dara.”

Said he [the narrator]: And when the cups went
between us from hand to hand, and the vital spirits
waxed gleeful, he dragged from me the oath that allows
no exception, that I would screen his repute [secret].
So I complied with his wish, and kept faith with him,
and ranked him before the great in the rank of Al
Fuzail, and let down the skirt over the turpitudes of

the night ; and this continued to be his wont and my
wont, until the time for my return came, when I took
leave from him, while he persisted in hypocrisy and in
secretly quaffing old wine.

The Twenty-ninth Assembly, Called “of Wasit.”

“OF WASIT.”

In a Kh&n or inn at Wasit, frequented by many travellers, Al
Hamnth overhears his neighbour in the adjoining room tell his son
to go to the market with one person, and come back with another,
both of whom he describes in enigmatical and fanciful language,
His curiosity being roused, he watches the lad’s exit, and finding
that he starts unaccompanied, he feels still more mystified, and,
therefore, follows him to the market, where he sees him give in
change a loaf against a flint-stone for stuking fire, Then the solution of the riddle dawns upon him, and at the same time he is
convinced that the originator of this witticism could be none other
but Abi Zayd. Hastening back, he finds his surmise confirmed, for
the Serfyi was sitting in the courtyard of the hostelry, and after a
cordial greeting the two friends were soon deeply engaged in
familiar conversation. In response to Abt Zayd’s inquiries, Hérith
tells him that reverses of fortune and the machinations of enemies
have forced him to leave his home almost destitute. To help him
out of his difficulties, the former proposes to bring about a matrimonial alliance between him and some wealthy people alighted in
the Khan, whom he avers to be high-principled, and who would be
contented with a dowry of 500 dirhems, a sum which the Prophet
used to settle upon his wives and to fix for his daughters as a
marriage portion. He promises to undertake the conduct of the
transaction, and to crown proceedings by pronouncing at the
wedding an address, such as had never been heard before. More
eager to listen to this wonderful specimen of oratory, than to set
iis eyes on the prospective bride, HArith lends himself to the
scheme, and Abii Zayd quickly pushes the preli inaries to a satisfactory conclusion, offering himeelf as security for the 500 dirhems,
after which he prepares some sweet-meats for the wedding entertainent, At nightfall he assembles all the inhabitants of the Khan
in his room, and after having busied himself with the pretence of

some astronomical calculations, which brings the guests to the verge
of sleep, he delivers at the instigation of the impatient Hfrith the
promised speech, in which he displays the marvellous resources of
his rhetorical skill, by repeating the principal heads of the sermon
in the preceding Assembly in varied diction and under fresh :mages,
while he moreover surpasses its grammatical artifice by excluding
this time even the occasionally dotted Ha of the feminine termination from it. Then he performs the marriage ceremonies, which he
concludes with the usual wish for prosperity and male offspring to
the newly marred couple, and produces his sweet-meats, urging
Harith to hand them round, instead of joming in ther consumption,
as he had been about to do. Scarcely have the company tasted of
the dishes, when they fall senseless to the ground. Hairith, terrified,
at first thinks that they have been poisoned, but Abi Zayd reassuringly informs him that he has only drugged them. Then he
coolly begins to collect the contents of all the rooms, and carefully
selects everything most valuable, to carry off with him. Harith is
amazed at this wild freak and frightened at its consequences, but
the Serdji tells him, as far as he himself is concerned, that he and
his ill-gotten afiluence would soon be at a safe distance, and as for
his perplexed friend, he had only to feed on the remainder of the
dishes and to allow himself to be stripped, when he would not be
held responsible for an outrage of which he himself was a victim ;
or else to join in the flight, offering even to find a new bride for
him to wed. In spite of his indignation, Harith banteringly replies,
that he had enough with the first one, and would leave someone
else welcome to the second; but when Abd Zayd blandly steps
forward, to enfold him in a parting embrace, he draws back in disgust. Then Abd Zayd breaks forth in one of his exquisite pieces of
poetry, in which he tries to justify this and many more similar
enormities committed previously by the wickedness of the injared
people, winding up with a sincere touch of remorse at his own sinfulness, which makes him burst out in tears and earnest supplication
for forgiveness. Hérith softens towards him, and hoping that he
may finally meet with the divine pardon, which is held out to the
repentant transgressor, he sees him depart with his son; then
collecting his own scanty belongings he continues his journey in the
direction of Tib, a town midway between Wasit and the swamps of
the Batithah,

Al Harith, son of Hammam related: The decree of
waning fortune drove me to the country of WAsit, and I

repaired thither without knowing one there who would
house me, or owning therein a lodging. Now when I
alighted there with the alighting of the fish on the dry
land, or of the white hair in the black locks, evil hap
and receding luck guided me to a Khan frequented by a
jumble from every land, and a medley of travellers,
which, on account of the cleanliness of the place, and
the civility of its inhabitants, enticed the stranger to
make himself at home therein, and made him forget the
air of his native country. So I secluded myself in one
of its chambers, not paying an excess of rent. Then it
was not but the a-twinkling of the eye, or the time to
scribble a letter, that I heard my next-door neighbour
say to his fellow-dweller in the room—‘ Rise, my dear
son, may thy luck not set, nor thy adversary keep on
foot, take with thee the one of full-moon face and of
pearly hue, of pure root and tormented body, who was
pinched and stretched, imprisoned and released, made
to drink and weaned, and pushed into the fire, after he
had been slapped. Then career to the market the
career of the longing swain, and bring back instead of
it the pregnant that impregnates, the spoiler who
enriches, the saddener who gladdens, the possessor of
a puff that sets on fire, and of a germ that breaks forth
in light, of an emission [utterance] that satisfies, and of
a gift that profits, who, when he is struck, thunders and
lightens, and reveals himself in flames, and who eprtters
on tinder-rags.” Then, as soon as the throat-bag of the
roaring camel had subsided, and nothing was left but
the going of him who was to go, there sallied forth a
youth with a graceful swagger, and no mate with him.
So I saw that it was a tight knot to make game of

understandings and to render one eager to enter into
the idle fancies [absurdities]. I therefore set out in the
track of the youth, to find out the meaning of the
speech. Then he ceased not bustling himself with the
busile of sprites, and searching amongst the rows of
market shops, until he came at last to a store of flintstones, and gave their seller a loaf [or cake], receiving
from him a fine flint in return. Then I wondered at
the sagacity of the sender and the sent one, and I knew
that it was of Serfji growth, and I tarried not in
' hastening back to the Kh&n, giving myself the rein, to
test the truth of my surmise and whether my arrow had
hit the mark in its divining. And, for sooth, I proved
an expert in sharpness of sagacity, for Abi Zayd was
sitting in the courtyard of the Khan. Then we congratulated each other on the meeting, and mutually
paid the dues of the welcoming of friends. Whereupon
he said; “What is it that befell thee, so that thou
didst quit thy place ?’—-Said I: “‘ Fortune broke and
oppression was rife."—He replied: “By Him who
sends down the rain from the clouds, and makes come
forth the fruit from its sheath, times are foul and
iniquity [wrong] prevails on all sides, and the helper is
not to be found, but Allah is the One besought for help.
How then gottest thou away and which of the twain
was thy state when thou wentest off ?’—Said I: “I
made night my shirt and set out early in it, a starveling.”-Then he pricked holes in the ground with his
stick, and bethought him how to find a loan or procure
a gift forme. Presently he stirred with the stirring of
one to whom a prey comes near, or an opportunity
presents itself, and said: “It just occurred to my
VOL. IL 2

heart that thou mightest ally thyself with one who
heals thy wound and feathers thy wing.’—Said I:
“ How then am I to make union between the neck-ring
and an empty purse, and who is it that will have
Zull, son of Zull [Nobody, son of Nobody] ?”—Then
he said: “Itis I, who shall drop hints of thee and for
thee, and be proxy in and on thy behalf, besides that
the people profess to set the broken bone, and to
ransom the prisoner, and to hold in honour their kith
and kin, and to consult the adviser; save that, if
Ibrahim, son of Adham, proposed to them, or Jebeleh,
son of Ayham, they would not give in marriage unless
for five hundred dirhems, in accordance with that which
the Prophet, may Allah bless and hallow him, settled
on his wives, or stipulated for the dowries of his
daughters, with the proviso, that no portion should be
claimed from thee, if thou wert driven to seek refuge in
divorcement. Then I will deliver at the place of thy
betrothal and at the gathering of thy wedding-guests an
address such as has not opened an obstructed ear, and
has not been pronounced the like of it in any assembly.”
—Said Al Harith, son of Hammim: Now he roused
my spirits more by the description of the address to be
indited, than of the bride to be displayed, so that T
said to him: “TI entrust thee with the affair, so manage
it with the management of him who is sharp-witted in
the interest of him he loves.” Forthwith he rose, trotting away briskly, then returned beaming, and said:
“ Rejoice at the tidings of fortune, and the milking of
an abundant flow. I have already been charged with
fixing the contract, and stood security for the money,
so the thing is all but settled. Thereupon he took to

pledging all the people of the Khin [to be present at
the appointed time], and to preparing sweet-meats for
the table. Then when night had extended her tentropes, and every owner of a door had closed his door, he
called out to the assembly: “Halloo! be present
instantly,” and none of them lagged to obey his voice,
and to enter his room. Now, when they stood in rows
before him, and the witness and witnessed upon were
gathered, he busied himself in raising the astrolabe and
lowering it, and in consulting the almanack and laying
it aside, until the people became drowsy, and sleep drew
nigh. Said I to him: “Ho, Sirrah, put the axe to
the block, and free the people from sleepiness.” Then
he cast a glance at the stars, and breaking loose from
the tie of silence, he swore by [mount] Tir, and the
written book, that the secret of this hidden matter
should be unravelled and its memory spread forth
unto the day of resurrection. Whereupon he sat in a
kneeling position, and invited the ears to feed on his
address, saying : “ Praise be to Allah the king glorified
with praise, the beloved Lord, the fashioner of every
born one, the refuge of every outcast, the spreader of
earth’s couch, the fastener of the mountains, the sender
of rains, the smoother of difficulties, who knows all
secrets and penetrates them, who overthrows kings and
destroys them, who makes follow each other the ages in
their turns, who initiates affairs and“ brings them to an
issue.—His bounty is universal and perfect, His raincloud pours and showers, He answers request and hope,
He makes it easy for the distressed and widowed.—I
praise Him with the praise that endureth through ail
times, I proclaim His unity, as Abraham, the sorrowful,

proclaimed it, for He is God, there is no God to the
nations besides Him, there is none who inclines to that
which would counterbalance or equal Him.—He sent
Mohammed, a standard to Islim, an Imam to rulers, a
fortifier of the lowly, an abolisher of the rights of Wadd
and Suwa, for he made known and taught, he restrained
and established, he rooted firmly the principles of taith
and propagated them, he confirmed promises and
uttered threats—May Allah never cease to bestow
honour on him, and bring his spirit to the abode of
peace, may he have compassion on his race and honse,
the noble, as long as a mirage glitters, as a young of
the ostrich runs, as a new moon rises, as a shout that
greets the same is heard—Work ye, may Allah keep
you, the best of works, and tread the paths of lawfulness, throw ye off the forbidden, and abandon it, and
listen to the command of Allah, and obey it ; unite ye
the blood-relations and revere them, and resist the lusts
and repel them; ally ye yourselves to people of
righteousness and piety ; and cut yourselves off from
the band of wantonness and greed.—Now the seeker of
your alliance is the purest of freemen as to birth, and
the noblest of them as to lordliness, the sweetest as for
a watering-place, and the soundest as for keeping his
word.—-Behold he has come to you and alighted in your
sanctuary to wed your bride, the honoured, and to settle
a dowry upon hér as the Prophet settled upon Umm
Salamah ;—and he is the worthiest of sons-in-law to
whom children have been trusted and who was m de
possessed of what he desired,—he who gives to him in
marriage is not hasty nor errs he, the one who enters
with bim in relationship is neither foiled nor soiled.—I

ask from Allah for you to approve of his connection,
and to prosper him lastingly, and may He inspire each
one to seek improvement of his state and to make
ready for his return, To Him be eternal praise, and
glory to his Apostle Mohammed.” Now when he had
ended his address, marvellous of disposition, void of
punctuation, he concluded the marriage contract at the
settlement of the five hundred, after which he said to
me: “For ease and sons!”—Then he brought forth
the sweet-meats which he had prepared and set going
a feast to be remembered for aye. I advanced [stepped
up] to them as the company advanced [stepped up] and
was nigh to stretch out my hand towards them, but he
scared me from eating and urged me to hand them
round, when, lo, by Allah it was not in quicker time
than the eyelids meet, that the people fell prone upon
their chins. Then when I saw them like the roots of a
falling date-tree, or like those thrown by the daughter
of the wine-cask, I knew for sooth that it was an unexampled mischief, and the mother of precedents. So
T said to him: “O thou arch-fiend of thy own soul,
and. vile slave of thy coin, hast thou prepared for the
people sweets, ora bane?”—Said he: “I have not gone
beyond a mess of banj in trays of the Khalanj tree.”—
Then I said: ‘‘ I swear by Him who makes the stars rise
in brightness and guides by them all wayfarers, thou
hast done a hateful thing and secured thee a record
amongst shameful deeds,” Thereupon I was bewildered at thought of what would come of his affair,
and with fear of infection from his scab, so that my
soul fluttered within me distractedly, and my sidemuscles quivered with fright. Then, when he saw the

extent of my fear and the excessiveness of my anxiety,
he said: “What is this burning thought and this
white-hot fear? If thy concern at my offence is for the
sake of me, know that I am now well off and gone,
freeing this spot from my presence, and leaving it void
of me, and how many like it have I quitted to remain
deserted. But ifit is with » view to thyself, and from
apprehension of thy imprisonment, then partake of’ the
remainder of the mess, and be contented to be without
thy shirt, so as to be safe against the redresser and the
seeker of redress, that thy stay after me may he
tranquil. But if not, the flight! the flight ! before
thou be captured and dragged away.” YForthwith he
proceeded to clear out whatever there was in the rooms
of money-sacks and chests, and began to appropriate
the selected part of everything stored, and the choicest
of everything measured and weighed, so that he left
that which his net spared, like a bone voided of its
marrow. Then after he had bagged that which he had
chosen, and tied it in bundles, and had tucked up his
sleeves and girded himself, he accosted me as accosts
one who has donned impudence, and arrayed himself
with the garb of sincere friendship, saying: “ Hast
thou a mind to accompany me to the Batilah, so that I
may wed thee to another fair one?”—Then I made oath
to him by Him who had created him to be blessed
wherever he might find himself, and not of those who
commit felony in a Khan, that I had it not in me to
marry two freeborn and to cohabit with twain rival
wives, moreover said I to him in the language of one
who humours his humour, and measures to him with
his own bushel : “ The first suffices me for a boast, so

TIVENTY-NINTH ASSEMBLY 23

seek another one for the other.”——-Then he smiled at my
speech and stepped forward to embrace me, but I turned
from him my cheek and showed him my repugnance.
So when he saw my shrinking back, and my aversion
became manifest to him, he indited :

“OQ thou, who turnest away from me, for it is time’s nature to be
fraught with turns,

And rebukest me for my foul treatment of those whom I had for
neighbours, with the rebuke of the harsh :

Thou comprehendest me not in what I have done, but as for
them, I know them full well :

Heretofore I sought their hospitality, and I saw them unheedful
of their guests.

I probed them, and when I tested them I found the to be base
coin.

Amongst them is none but who strikes terror wher he can, or else
is terror-stricken.

None sincere in friendship, none trustworthy, none benevolent,
none kindly disposed.

So I sprang upon them the spring of the tearing wolf upon the
sheep,

And left them prostrate, as if they had been made to drink the
eup of death,

And my hand possessed itself of what they had hoarded, for they
were the abhorrence of men’s nostrils.

Then I wended my way with booty sweet of cullings and reapings.

For sooth, often times I left behind me one wounded of entraile,
who slunk after me when I had gone.

And despoiled the owners of state-chairs and carpets and curtains.

How much have I obtained by my cunning that was not obtained
by the sword,

And stood my ground in terrors, such that lions would shrink from
facing.

How often have I shed blood, and slain whawares and desecrated
the sanctuary of the high-minded ;

How many a pernicious course have I taken into sin, how many a
headlong rush,

But withal I have laid in a goodly opinion with regard to my
Lord, the Co passionate.”

Said the narrator: Now when he had reached this

couplet, he was excessive in weeping and persistent in
asking for forgiveness, until he propitiated the inclination of my heart that had turned from him, and I
hoped for him that which is hoped for the guilty who
confesses to his guilt. Thereupon he let subside his
flowing tears, and putting his wallet under his arm-pit,
he made off, saying to his son: “ Carry the rest, and
Allah be the protector.” Said the reporter of this tale :
So when I saw the snake and the little snake slip away,
and the cure terminate in the cautery, I knew that my
tarrying in the Khan would drag me into ignominy.
I, therefore, collected my few chattels, and gathered my
skirt for departure, passing my night in faring towards
Tib, and relying on Allah against [the mischief of] the
preacher.

The Thirtieth Assembly, Called “of Sur.”

SOR.”

The only reason for calling this Asse bly after the city of Sir
(Tyre) seems to be that the Rawi, who perhaps in this case ay be
identified with Harim himself, wished to pay her a tribute of gratefal remembrance for a period of exceptional prosperity, which he
had passed there. The real scene of action is Cairo, whithor he had
journeyed from the former place under the impulse of sudden
fancy, and where he was indulging in a somewhat dissipated and
indolent life of pleasure. While riding one day about the town, he
encountered a gaily arrayed troop of horsemen, who, as he certained by inquiry, were on their road to witness a wedding-fe t,
Hoping to eet with an enjoyable pastime, he follows them to a
distant ansion, which, although grand of appearance, is adorned
in an odd manner with ragged clothes, and baskets such as
beggars use for carrying the produce of their rounds, He asks an
aged porter for the na e of the owner of the building, and is informed that it has no p ticular m ter, but is the gathering-
place of atrolling people of every description, and on entering, he
finds, that however poor and squalid the asse bled ay be indi.

vidually, as a congregation or guild they know how to fare lnxuriously when the occasion de ands it. Presently the bridegroom
appears in all his pomp, and a herald proclaims that the old and
revered chief of the begging fraternity himself is about to solemnize
the forthcoming marriage ceremony. The announced exalted
personage steps forward and is respectfully greeted, and delivers a
discourse, in which his earnest and impressive remarks on the duties
of the rich towards the poor, and on the divine purpose in founding
the institution of matrimony, form an amusing contrast to his
description, at once high-tlown and hu orous, of the couple to be
united in wedlock. After the ceremony is finished, the company,
repair, under his lead, to a richly dressed table, and Harith is on the
point of departing, when the old an calls to him reprovingly and
bids him to stay. He swears that he would not do so, unless the
other told him who he was, and is answered in some touching
verses, in which the speaker exalts in glowing colours the beauties
of his native town Serj, and bitterly bewails his expulsion from it
by ruthless enemies. Harith now easily recognises Abii Zayd in
apite of his disguise, and the change which old age has wrought in
him, and passes the remainder of the day, as well as his evenings
during his sojourn in Cairo, in his instructive and delightiul company.

Al Hf&reth son of Hammam related : I fared from
the city of Manstir [Bagdad] to the town Str [Tyre],
and when I had become there the possessor of high
rank and of affluence, and powerful to raise and to
abase, I longed for Misr [Egypt and Cairo] with the
longing of the sick for the physicians, and the generous
for the bestowing of bounties. So I left behind me the
attachments of stay, and shook off the impediments of
travel, and, bestriding [a steed like] Ibnu’n-Na‘fmeh,
T hastened towards her with the swiftness of the ostrich.
Now when I had entered her, after sustaining hardships
and being on the point of destruction, I was delighted
thereat with the delight of one intoxicated by drinking
morning draughts, and one dazzled by the break
of morning brightness. And when I was one day

loitering about, beneath me a steed of stately pace, I

beheld on short-haired nags, a troop of men like the lamps
of night. So I inquired for the sake of procuring me a
pleasure-trip, about the troop and their destination, when
I was told that the people were witnesses and their yoal
a wedding to be witnessed. Then the sprightliness of
youth urged me to fare along with the foragers, so as to
obtain a share in the sweets of the bridal scatterings and
get some of the delicacies of the festive board. Tresently
we came, after enduring fatigue, to a mansion high of
structure, wide of area, which testified to the builder's
wealth and exalted station. When we alighted from
horse-back and put forward our steps to enter it, I saw
its vestibules adorned with tattered garments, and garlanded [coronated] with begging-baskets hung round,
and there was an aged man sitting on a cloth of piled
staff, upon a handsome bench. Now the title-page of
the book, and the sight of this strange furniture, made
one doubtful, and the evil angury of these ill-omened
objects induced me to accost that man on the seat, and
T adjured him by the dispenser of destinies to let me
know who was the lord of this mansion. Said he:
“Tt has no distinct owner and no manifest master, it is
but the inn of the importune beggars and low artisans,
and the den of ballad-singers and rehearsers of the
traditions.” Then I said within myself: “For Allah's
sake, out upon a fool’s errand, and the failure of my
pasture,” and I inténded to return at once, but then I
considered my sudden departure and my going back
without the others to be churlish. So I entered the
house reluctantly, as one drinking choking draughts
[lit. drinking draughts that make one choke], or as the
sparrow enters the cage. Then, lo! there were in it

richly adorned state-chairs, and spread carpets, and
cushions laid in rows, and arrayed curtains. Presently
stepped forth the bridegroom, swaggering in his burdah
[mantle of striped stuff], and strutting like a lion in the
midst of his attendants, and when he had sat down as
though he were the son of [4’u’s-sama’, there cried out
a crier on the side of his relatives: “ By the reverence
due to Sisin, grand-master of masters and pattern of .
sturdy beggars, none ties this knot on this day white of
forehead and extremities, but he who has roved and
roamed, who has been young and waxed old in
adversity.” Then the company [kith] on the bride’s
side were well pleased with that which yonder people
{the bridegroom’s relations} had proclaimed with
regard to the bringing in their presence the one
indicated. Forthwith sallied forth an old man whose
stature the days and nights had bent, whose Thaghim!?
tree the morns and eves had decked with blossoms. Then
the congregation rejoiced at his approach and hastened
forward to welcome him, and when he had sat down on
his carpet, and the turmoil of voices had subsided, he
advanced to his cushion, and stroked his beard with
his hand, whereupon he spoke: ‘Praise be to Allah,
the foremost in munificence, the ever new in bestowing
bounties, to whom we are brought near by supplication,
on whom we are made to rely for the accomplishment
of hopes, who has ordained the legal alms from every
property, and sternly forbidden the refusal of supplicants, who has impressed on man to relieve the dis-
treased, and commanded to feed him that begs and him

1 Thaghim is the name of a white blossoming tree frequently
used in Arabic poetry as an emblem of hoary old age.

that refuses to beg; who has described His servants in
His book, the manifest, when He spoke, and He is the
most truthful of speakers: ‘Those who know well that
the supplicant and the destitute have a claim on their
riches.’—I praise Him for that which He has dispensed
of wholesome food, and I take refuge with Him from
hearing a prayer void of intention. And I testify there
is no God but God, the One, without a partner to Him
for a god, who requites the alms-giving men and
women, who withdraws His blessing from usury, and
rewards alms with lavish interest. Furthermore I
attest, that Mohammed is His sincere servant, and His
honoured Apostle. ‘He sent him that he might efface
the darkness by the light, and secure to the poor a
share from the rich, and he compassioned, may God
bless and hallow him, with the destitute, and lowered
his wing to the lowly ; he made obligatory the claims
on the possessions of the wealthy, and made clear what
is the due to those who have little on the part of those
who have much.—May Allah bless him with a blessing
that obtains for him proximity [to God’s throne], as
well as the elected of the stone-bench [certain Companions of the Prophet]|—But now, Allah, be He
exalted, has made matrimony a law so that you may be
chaste, and instituted propagation so that you may
multiply, for He said so that you may know: ‘O ye
men, we have creatéd you from a male and female, and
made you clans and tribes, so that you may recognise
each other.’——-Now this is Ab0'd-darréj Wallaj [ingoer], son of Kharrdj [out-goer], lord of the impudent
face, and manifest mendacity, of yelping and shouting,
of importunity and persistency in begging ;—who

woos the shrew of her people, fit mate of her husband,
Qanbas [spit-fire], daughter of Abfi ‘Anbas [frowning
lion], for the sake of that which reached him of her
being clad with pertinacity, and her excessiveness in
stooping to beggary, and her quickness in grasping
livelihood, and her rising after a fall, along with her
combativeness. And he has lavished upon her for a
dowry a wallet and a ferruled stick, together with a
kerchief and a pitcher. So marry him as one like him
is to be married, and join your rope with his rope, and
if you fear poverty or want [through increase of family],
Allah will give you a sufficiency out of His bounty.
Thus I say my say, craving forgiveness from Allah, the
Mighty, for me and you, and praying that He may
multiply your offspring in the beggar-dens, and guard
all of you from dangers.”’—Then, when the Shaykh had
ended his discourse, and pressed upon the bride's
relatives her contract, there fell of scatterings a shower,
that exceeded the limits of abundance, and would have
made the miser to excel in liberality. Thereupon the
Shaykh rose, trailing his skirts and preceding his
rabble.—Said Al Harith, son of Hammim: Then I
followed him, so that I might see the array of the
people, and complete the enjoyment of the day. Forthwith he turned with them to a table that its dressers
had adorned, and whose every side equalled the other
in beauty. And when each one had sented himself in
his proper place and begun to cull freely in his garden,
I slipped out of the row, and fled from the throng.
But then it happened that a turn of the Shaykh’s face
fell in my direction, and that a glance from his eye
caught me unawares, when he said : “‘ Whither, O thou

curmudgeon ? Dost thou not affect the company of
him who is generous ?’—Said I: “By Him, who
created the heavens one above another, and permeated
them with light, I will not taste a morsel, nor turn in
my mouth a bit, unless thou tell me where is the
sprawling-place of thy youth, and whence thy breeze is
blowing.” Then he fetched a deep sigh, and shed tears
in torrents, until he had exhausted their flow, and bid
the company to be silent, when he said to me: “ Lend
me thy hearing :

“My birth-place was Serdj, and there I heaved lustily my billows,
A city where all is found, and gotten readily and im abundance.
Her waters spring from Salsabtl, her fields are pleasure-meads,
Her sons and her palaces, stars they are and sidereal mansions.
Hail her breeze of fragrancy, her aspect lovely to behold !

And the flowers of her hills, when the snows have melted away.
Who sees her says the haven of earthly Eden is Serj.

. To him who leaves her sighs are meted and smothered weeping,
Such as I have met, since the Barbarians drove me thence,
Tears that pour and bitter anguish, that, scarcely calmed, will

tage afresh,

Day-long grief whose engrossing cares distract the mind,
How many struggles for hopefulness, short of step, frustrated !

Would that my fatal day had come, when I was fated to depart
from her.”

When he had indicated his native town, and I had
understood that which he had recited, I knew for o
certainty that he was our most learned Abi Zayd,
although old age had now shackled him. So I sallied
forth to put my hand in his, and I reckoned it a booty
to eat with him from his platters. And I continued
the time of my stay in Cairo to resort nightly to his
guest-fire, and to fill both my shells with the pearls
of his utterances, until the raven of separation croaked
between us, and I parted with him os the lid would
part with the eye.

The Thirty-first Assembly, Called “of Ramlah.”

“OF RAMLAH.”

The subject of this Assembly has so aptly and succinctly been
stated by Mr. Chenery m the summary of the 24 Assemblies not
translated by him, that any attempt to improve on him would be
presumption. We therefore reproduce here the passage referring
to 1t from his Introduction, p. 76 of Vol. I. The Thirty-first
Assembly, he says, is a composition of exquisite beauty. Harith
makes the pilgrimage to Mecca, and there finds Abi Zayd, who
addresses the worshippers first in the usual rhymed prose, and then
in verse, on the duties of true religion. The Hajj, he tells them,
does not consist in hastenimg on camels to the holy city, or wearying
the body, or parting from home and children, but in adding to
these performances abstinence from sin, purity of intention, and the
practice of virtue, for “washing in fonts cleanses not from immersion in sins, the baring of the body compensates not for the
laymg up of guilt, nor will the donning of the pilgrim’s garb avail
him who clothes himself with the forbidden.” The verses which
follow are inspired by the loftiest morality. When he has concluded, Harith approaches him, but Aba Zayd declares that he has
a vow not to associate with anyone during his pilgrimage, nor to
make gain, nor to recite his pedigree, nor to ask alms. As the
pilgrims pass by on their journey he again addresses them in edifying
verge,

Al Harith, son of Hammam, related: In the prime of
my youth and the freshness of vigorous life, I hated
making my den in the thickets [towns], and loved
slipping out of the scabbard, from my ken, that travel
fills the provision bags and produces gain, while cleaving
to one’s country hamstrings [houghs] the intellect and
lowers the Stay-at-home. So I shbok the [divining-]
arrows of seeking advice and rubbed the fire-sticks of
choosing the best, whereupon I made up my mind
firmer than rocks, and started towards the shores of
Sham [Syria] for the purpose of trading. Now when’
I had tented at Ramlah, and thrown down the staff of

travel, I found there montures being made ready for
night-faring, and saddles being strapped for [travelling
to] the mother of Cities [Mecca]. Then the gale of
longing blew strongly within me, and a craving for
the holy house seized on me passionately, so that I
haltered my camel, and flung from me my engagements
and ties,

And said to him who blamed me, ‘Cut it short, for fain choose
I the ‘stand’ [magdm, the standing-place of Abraham] before the
tay.

And spend, what I have gathered, on the gathering-ground
[Muzdalifeh], forgetting for the sacred stone the metal cursed.”

Then I strung myself together with a travellingcompany like the stars of heaven, who in their faring
sped with the torrent’s rush, and coursed in quest of
their good with the course of the race-horse. So,
between night-journeying and journeying by day,
between trotting and ambling, we abated not, until the
legs of our beasts had done us rare service, in bringing
us to Juhfah [the station where the pilgrims from
Syria assembled, before setting out for the general
meeting-place, Muzdalifeh, next to Mecca], Then we
alighted therein, making ready for donning the pilgrim’s
cloak, and wishing each other joy in having attained
to our desire, But no sooner had we made kneel our
beasts in the place, and laid down the saddle-bags, when
there came in sight of us from amongst the mountains
a person, exposed [bare] of skin, and who cried out:
“0 ye people of this concourse, hither with you to th +
which rescues on the day of the mutual call [tanddf].”
Then the pilgrims hastened towards him, and gathered
and surrounded him and waxed silent, and when he

saw their propping up to him, and their eagerness to
feed on his discourse, he ascended one of the mounds,
then he hawked, opening up his speech, and said:
“O ye company of pilgrims, flocking together from the
mountain-paths, do you comprehend what you are
about to face and whom you go to meet? Or do you
know whom you approach, and what you are undertaking boldly? Do you imagine that Hajj is (means)
the choosing of saddle-beasts and the traversing of
stations, the taking seat in litters, and the loading of
beasts of burden? Or do you opine that piety is the
tucking up of sleeves, and the emaciating of bodies,
the separation from children and the getting far from
your native places? Ay no, by Allah, but it is the
shunning of transgressions before preparing the beast,
the sincerity of purpose in making for yonder building,
and the purity of submissiveness along with the fervour
of devotion, the mending of dealings, before working
the doughty camels. By Him who prescribed the rites
for the devout, and guides astraight the wanderer in
the raven-black night, the washing with bucketfuls
cleanseth not from being immersed in [the mire of]
sin, and the stripping of bodies counterbalances not
for being loaden with crime, nor makes the donning of
the pilgrim’s cloak amends for being wrapped up in the
forbidden. The being plaided with the Iz&r profits
not, when one is burdened with iniquities, nor avails
the seeking of approach [to God] by getting one’s head
shaved when one busies himself in shaving mankind.
Obsequiousness in clipping the hair (after completion of
the pilgrimage) rubs not off the dirt of persistency in
shoricomings. None prospers [by visiting mount]
VoL, 1, 3

‘Arafat, but he who is endowed with wisdom, nor is
any blessed [hallowed] by Al Khayf, who is addicted
to injustice. None witnesses the standing place [of
Abraham], but he who stands upright, and he rejoices
not in the acceptance of his pilgrimage who swerves
from the right path. So have Allah mercy upon the
man who is sincere [pure], before his running to
[mount] Saf, and treads the road of the divine
pleasure, before his repairing to the tanks (of the well
Zamzamj; who puts off his dissimulation before
doffing his garments, and excels in his beneficence,
before his rushing down from ‘Arafit.” Then he raised
his shrill note with a voice to make hear the deaf, and
wellnigh shaking the mountain-peaks, and indited :

“The Hajj is not thy travelling by day and night, and thy eelecting
camels and camel-littere,

The Hajj is that thou repair to the holy house for the sake of
Hajj, not that thou accomplish thy wants thereby.

That thou bestride the back of righteousness, taking the check of
lust for guide, and truth for high-road.

That thou bestow what has been given thee while in thy power,
to him who im his need tenders his hand towards thy gift.

A pilgrimage with all this fraught is perfect, but if the Hajj is
void thereof it proves abortive,

For a losing-bargain of dissemblers it suffices that they plant and
Teap not, havmg met with toil and exile,

And that they go without reward or praise, giving their fame &
bait to hi who censures and lampoons.

Seek then, dear brother, in what sacrifice thou mayest offer up,
the face of God, the guardian, going in and ont.

For lo, no hidden deed shall remain hidden from the Compassionate, whether the eervant be sincere or shamming,

And steal a march on death by good deeds sent afore: death’s’
sudden summons, when it comes, is not put off;

And use humility in frame of mind, such as the nights can, in
their turns, not alter, though a crown they gave thee.

And watch not every cloud whose lightning flasheth, though it
appear to pour a rain of copious shower.

Not every caller merits to be heard, how many a whisperer
shouted fatal news,

And none is wise but he who contents him with a morsel, that
makes life's days to folden by degrees ;

For every mickle comes to be a mite, and meek grows every
stiffnecked, rage he as he may !”

Said the narrator: Now, when he had fructified the
barrenness of our understandings with the witchcraft
of his say, I sniffed the breeze of Abfi Zayd, and delight
made me incline to him with what a thrill of affection.
But I kept still until he had completed the expounding
of his wisdom, and came down from his hillock, when
I slipped towards him, so that I might scan the traits
of his countenance, and descry the nature of his
accomplishments. And lo, it was the stray for whom
I had searched, and the threader of the pearl-strings
that be had displayed. Then I clung to him with the
clinging of the Lam to the Alif, and ranked him as
recovery is ranked with the sick, and I asked him to
join me, but he refused, or to poise me [on my camel],
but he declined, saying: “I have made oath in this
my pilgrimage, that I would neither ride together nor
alternately with any one, neither make gain nor boast
of pedigree, neither seek profit, nor companionship, nor
else accommodate myself to him who dissembles.”
Then he went in haste, and left me wailing, while [
ceased not to shelter him in my sight (hoping for his
return), nay, would have loved him to walk on the
pupil of my eye, until he had climbed up one of the
mountains, and stood watching the pilgrims, and when
jhe witnessed the riders faring onward over the sand-bills,
he made hand fall upon hand, and broke forth inditing :

“ Ho who visits on the back of beasts is not like him who runs on
foot,

No, nor is the servant who obeys like him who riots amongst
servants. ;

How, O people, should the toil be like, of hum who builds and
who pulls down #

Sinners soon will have to call the mourning-women of repentance,

While the seeker of approach to God says, ‘“ Hail to him who has
done service.” ;

Send then forward, I beseech thee, soul, deeds of acceptance with
the Lord of old,

Scorn the tinsel of this earthly life, for its existence 1s but naught,

And remind thee of the throw of death, when unawares his stroke
befalls,

And bewail thy work of shame, forth shedding tears of blood
for it,

Curing it with sore repentance, before the hide all through is
rotten.

May then be, that Allah guard thee, against the fire that blazes
fiercely,

On the day when sin is cancelled no more, tardy repentance vain.”

Then he sheathed the blade of his tongue, and went
on his way. But I ceased not, in every water-station
that we came to, and every night-camp where we
pillowed, to search for him, but failed, and to ask
people to help me seeking him, but they found him not,
until I fancied that the Jinn had snatched him up or
the earth had cut him off. And never in my peregrinations suffered I o grief like this, nor was I in any
travel tried with its like of sorrow.

The Thirty-second Assembly, Called “of Taybeh.”

“OF TAYBEH.”

This is one of the most elaborate and important, as well as of the
longest and most difficult of the Assemblies. Harith has completed
the ceremonies of the Pilgrimage to Mecca, and intends to follow it
up by the visitation of Mohammed’s tomb at Taybeb, one of the
names given to Medina. On his road he meets in the ho estead of
one of the intermediate Arab tribes Abfi Zayd, who this time has
assumed the character of 2 mufti or jurisconsult and adept in the
sacred and secular law of Islim. A large gathering of people has
collected around him, whose spokesman proposes to him a hundred
questions on various canonical and legal points, as the religious
obligations of ceremonial ablution, prayer, fast, almsgiving, pilgrimage, on buying and selling, the duties of magistrates towards
orphans or weak-minded persons, on principles of moral conduct,
and so on—questions which are caleulated to exhibit Abi Zayd at
the same time as learned in the law and in the rarest idioms of the
Arabic tongue. For his answers, while startling the ordinary hearer
by being the opposite of what would be expected, prove perfectly
correct, 1f the leading word be taken in a certain more recondite
sense. For instance the question is: “May a woman be rebuked
tor bemg bashful ?” to which Abt Zayd, no doubt to Mrs. Grundy’s
horror, replies ‘To be sure,” because he gives to the verbal noun
khajal, in everyday parlance “ being ashamed or bashful,” the rarer
meaning of “being overbearing when in possession of riches,” in
support of which Hariri quotes @ remarkable saying of Mohammed,
recorded in the Traditions, As Chenery (vol. i, p. 78) appositely
observes, similar puzzles were not unknown in Europe, as the
question: “Num peccatum est occidere patrem suum,” where not
“one's own father,” but “the father of swine,” is meant. Harin
has not given the interpretation of the ambiguous terms as an
rategral part of the text, but inserted it in parenthesis after each
question, and with the help of these explanations, which, in case of
need, we have supplemented with a few additional remarks, the
reader will find no difficulty in following the general drift of the
Assembly. If some of the questions appear childish, he must
remember that Hariri, while satisfying to the fullest extent the taste
of his countrymen for the discussion of grammatical, rhetorical, and
religious points of controversy, raises himself with a fine touch of
irony above it, where such discussions degenerate into mere quibbles.

But for the most part, we feel confident the reader will be amused
and interested, and as a study on the synonyms and idioms of the
Arabic Language the Assembly is invaluable.

Al Harith, son of Hammim, related: At one time
when I had completed the rites of the Hajj and absolved
the duties of [the shout] Jaddaika, and the outpour of
the blood of the sacrifice, I resolved to make for Taybeh,
with a travelling company of the Benft Shaibah, to
visit the tomb of the Prophet, the Elected, and to disengage myself from the tribe of those “who perform
the Hajj and neglect him (Mohammed).” Now it was
rumoured that the roads were unsafe and the Arabs of
the two sanctuaries at war. So I was bewildered
between fear that made me lag, and longing that stirred
me on, until submissiveness was infused into my heart,
and the predominance of [my desire for] the visiting of
him upon whom be peace. Therefore, after having
chosen my beast, and made ready my travelling-gear, I
journeyed along with my companions without inclining
to any halt, or remiseness in faring on day and night,
till we came to the Benfi Harb, who had just returned
from the war. Then we made up our minds to pass the
length of the day in the encampment of the people, and
while we were selecting a place for making kneel down
our camels, and spying for the watering-pond, and
cool drink, lo, we saw them running as if they were
flocking to some idol. So their swarming roused our
suspicions, and we asked what was the matter with
them. Then we were told that a leorned legist of the
Arabs was present in their assembly, and that this was
the reason of their turmoil. Said I to my company :
“ Halloo! let us witness the gathering of the clan, so

as to learn clearly to distinguish the right from the
wrong.” Thereupon they said: “Troly, what thou
proposest is worth hearing, and thon hast given good
advice without stint.” Accordingly we rose to follow
our guide and repair to the assembly, until, when we
came near it, and stretched our necks to see the legist
to whom they had crowded, I found him to be Aba
Zayd, the father of lies and tricks, and of mischief and
choice rhymes, He had donned the turban in the
orthodox fashion and gathered his garment in proper
style, and was sitting crosswise, while the great ones
of the clan surrounded him, and their medley enwrapped him from all sides, Presently he said to
them : “ Put questions to me on the points of intricacy,
and let me explain to you all difficulties, for by Him
who created the heavens, and taught Adam the names
(of all things], I am the legist of the Arabs of the
Arabians, and the most learned of those that live under
the star-pocked sky.” Then there stalked up to him a
man glib of tongue, stout of heart, saying: “ Know,
that I have had converse with the legists of the world
to the effect that I have selected from them a hundred
decisions, and if thou be of those who loathe the
daughters of others (meaning lies, untruth, falsehood),
and desire from us sound food, then listen and answer,
so that thou mayest get thee thy due. He replied:
“God is greatest (Allah akbar), the truth will become
evident, and the hidden be disclosed, so say what thou
art bidden.” He said: ‘‘ What sayest thou with regard
to him, who has made an ablution (wus#), and atterwards touched the backside of his shoe ?” He replied :
“ His ablution is invalidated by his doing so” (na'l,

shoe, and also “ wife”). He said: “‘ And when he bas
made an ablution, and afterwards the cold has thrown
him on his side?” He replied: “ Then let him renew
his ablution” (al-bard, cold, and also “ sleep”). He
said : “ May one who makes an ablution rub with his
hands his testicles ?” He replied: “ He is invited to
do so, but it is not made obligatory on him” (wnga?,
the two testicles, and also “both ears”). He said:
“Ts it allowed to make ablution with that which the
serpent emits ?” He replied: “ And is there anything
cleaner than it for the Arabs?” (su‘bdn, a large
serpent, and also pl. of sa’b, “ water-course in a valley,
river”). He said: “Is the water [fetched by the
hands of] a blind man lawful?” He replied : “ Yea,
and let that of the seeing man be avoided” (gar, the
word translated with blind man, in whose case the
water fetched by him would not be lawful for ablution,
because he cannot know whether it is pure or not,
means also “river-side,” against the water of which
there is no objection. On the other hand al-baytr, the
seeing man, means also “dog,” and in their case the
reverse would hold good: the water fetched by the
former is chosen with discernment, and therefore not to
be avoided, while “the water of the dog” would be the
height of abomination). He said: “Is washing (ghusl)
incumbent upon him who has lost sperm?” He replied:
“Nay, even if he does so a second time” (amnd, he lost
or emitted sperm, and also “he went to Mind,” the
sacred valley near Mecca). He said: “Is it then
incumbent on one polluted by seminal loss to wash his
fur-coat?” He replied: “To be sure, and also his
needle” (al-farwah, far-coat, means also “skin of the

head,” and al-iirah, needle, has moreover the signification “bone of the elbow”). He said: “Is circum-
ambulation in the spring permitted?” He replied :
“This is abominated on account of the execrable
occurrence ” (tutarowuf, circumambulation, means also
“easing nature,” and ar-rabi‘, spring, early vegetation,
signifies also ‘“streamlet,” the defilement of which
would be a hideous crime). ‘ He said: “Is the washing
of his book incumbent on him?’ He replied: “ Yea,
and also of his lip” (as-sakifah, book, and also “lines
of the face”): He said: “ How is it then, if he fils
to wash his hatchet ?” He replied: “It is as though
he neglected to wash his head” (al-fi’s, hatchet, and
also “ bone of the occiput”). He said: “Is it allowed
to wash in a wallet?” He replied: ‘It is like washing
in wells” (jirdd, a leather bag, and also “ the inside of
a well”). Ile said: “And what sayest thou with
regard to one who has used sand for his ablution, and
afterwards sees gardens?” He replied: “ His rubbing
with sand is void, and he has to make his ablution
afresh ” (rz, pl. of rauzah, garden, and also “a small
quantity of water remaining in a cistern”). He said :
‘Ts it allowed that a man should make his prostration
upon ordure ?” He replied: “ Yea, and let him avoid
the dirty one” (‘azirah, human excrement, and also “a
courtyard”). He said: “Is it then permitted to make
prostration upon [the wood of] a Khilif [-tree] ?” He
replied: ‘‘ Nay, nor cither on the edges of his
garments” (khildj, the safsaf or poplar-tree, on which
prostration is not forbidden, and also “ sleeve,” on
which 2 man is not allowed to make his prostration, as
little as on his airdj, in the sense of edges of » garment

in the text, while if the word is taken in the meaning
of “extremities of the body, hands, and feet,” the
prostration upon them is in accordance with the
tradition : “I was commanded to prostrate myself on
seven bones,” namely, the two feet, the two knees,
the two fore-arms, and the forehead), He said:
“What then if he make prostration on his left ?” {Je
replied : “ There is no harm in his doing so” (shin,
the left side, and also pl. of shimlah, “cloak enveloping
the whole body”). He said: “Is it then allowed to
make prostration on trotters ?” He replied: “ Yea,
with exception of the fore-arms ” (al-kurd‘, here translated with trotters, means that part in cattle which
corresponds to the pastern of a horse, which as part of
a dead animal would be considered unclean, but at the
same time the word means “a projecting piece of stony
ground or rock,” on which prostration might take
place, unless it serves to ease the fore-arms). Ife said:
“Ts it allowed that one should pray upon a dog’s
head ?” He replied: “ Yea, as well as upon all other
high places” (rds al-kalb, dog’s head, is apart from its
literal meaning the name of a well-known mountaincliff), He said: “Ts it lawful for a student to carry
copies of the Koran ?” He replied: “Nay, nor to
carry them in wrappers” (cdris, a student, and also “a
menstruous woman”). He said: “ And what sayeat
thou with regard to him who prays while the hair of
his pubes appears?” He replied: “His pr yer is
lawful” (al-‘anah, hair round the pudenda, and also
“herd of asses,” in connection with which latter
meaning the word bérizah would have to be translated.
in its literal meaning of coming out or sallying forth).

He said : “ How then if he has said prayer while [the
obligation of] a fast was on him ?” He replied: “ He
must reiterate it, and if he has prayed a hundred days”
{saum, fasting, and also “excrement dropped by an
ostrich”). He said: “ But if he has carried a puppy
while praying ?” He replied: “It is as if he had
carried beans” (jirw, the young of a dog, and also
small cucumbers, pomegranates, or similar fruit).
He said: “Is the prayer of one who carries a hernia
with him sound?’ He replied: “ Nay, and if he had
been praying on [the holy] mount Marwah” (garwah, a
rupture, and also “the vessel from which a dog
drinks”). He said : “ How then if on the garment of
one praying any bodily excretion has fallen?” He
replied : “ His prayer takes effect, and no doubt” (najw
is a general term for anything coming out of the belly,
and therefore considered ceremonially impure, but it
means also “a pouring cloud,” the drops of which
fallen on a man would not invalidate his prayer). He
said: “Is it allowed that one covered with a woman's
veil should lead a man in prayer?” He replied:
“Yea, and also one in armour may lead him” (mugunna*,
one who wears the female veil mignd‘, implying that
women are unfit to be Iméms, and also “covered with
ahelmet”). He said: “ But what if one has led them
in whose hand there is an object of a pious donation ?”
He replied: “ They will have to begin afresh, and if
they were a thousand” (wag/, any object consecrated
to pious purposes, and also “a bracelet of ivory or
tortoise-shell,” in the latter sense indicating that a
wearer of such, i.¢., 2 woman, is excluded from the
Imfmship). He said: “ What then if one has led

them whose thigh is visible?” He replied: “His
prayer and theirs is efficacious” (fakhizwhu bidiyuh [a
man] whose thigh is bare, and also “whose tribal
division or kindred are desert Arabs.” Hariri remarks
that some Lexicographers prefer in the latter meaning
the reading fakhz, instead of fakhiz, for the sake of distinction). He said: “ But if the hornless bullock has
led them?” He replied: “Say thy prayer, and no woe
betide thee” (as-saur al-ajamm, a bullock without horns,
and also “a lord or prince without spear”). He
said: “Can the prayer of the witness be curtailed or
shortened?” He replied: “Nay, by the Invisible,
the All-seeing” (salét-ash-shdhid, the prayer of the
witness, here meaning especially the blood-witness or
martyr in religious warfare, and also ‘the prayer of
sunset,” so called because it coincides with the rising of
the stars, to which the name shdhid is given). He
said: “Is it allowed for the excused to break fast
in the month of Ramadan?” He replied: “It is not
permitted except to little children” (ma‘sir, or
mu‘azgar, excused, and also “ circumcised”). He said:
“Ts it then open to one who brings home his bride to
eat therein ?” He replied: “ Yea, to the fill of his
mouth” (al-mu‘arris, one bringing home a bride, and
also “a traveller who takes a short rest at the end of
night and presently continues his journey”). He said:
“ But what if therein the naked break their fast ?” He
replied: “ The authorities gainsay them not” (al-‘urdt,
pl. of ‘dri, the naked, and also irr. pl. of mudrrawin,
“seized by an ague,” ‘urawd’). He said: “ And if the
faster eat on entering the morning ?” He replied:
“This is the more circumspect and safer for him”

THIRTY-SECOND .1SSEMBLY, 45

{usbad, he has entered on the morning, and also “he
has lighted a lamp, aisbdh”). He said : “ What then
if he venture on eating at night?” He replied: “ Let
him be prepared to receive judgment” (lail-an, adverbial
accusative, at night, and also ace. of Jail, meaning
according to Ibn Dorayd “the young of a bustard,” and
according to others “that of the partridge or the crane”).
He said: “And how when he eats before the fair one
has withdrawn from sight ?” He replied: “ Judgment,
by Allah [The punishment of the law], is due on him”
(al-Luiz?, woman, wife, and also “ sun”), He said:
“But if the faster provokes vomiting (by taking an
emetic) ?” He replied: “He has broken his fast, by
Him who has made the chase lawful” (al-kaid, violent
anger, and also “vomiting,” to produce which the
breaking of the fast is pennitted, while the provoking
of anger has nothing to do with it), He said: “Is it
open to him to break the fast if the cook clings to him ?”
He replied: “ Yea, but not the cook who dresses the
foul in the kitchen” (t4ikh, cook, and also “a hot
fever”). He said: “What then if a woman have
laughed during her fast?” He replied: “The fasting
of that day is invalidated for her” (ahihvt, she laughed,
and also “she became menstruous,” os in Koran,
xi. 74: “and she became menstruous and we announced Isaac to her”). He said: “But if small-
pox appears on her fellow-wife ?’ He replied : “ Let
her break the fast, if she has made known her ailment”
(zarrah, @ fellow or rival wife, whose sickness would
not dispense the former from fasting, and also “ the root
of the thumb or of the teat,” which is understood in
Abt Zayd’s answer), He said: “What is due in

legal alms (zakdé) for 2 hundred lamps ?” He replied :
“Two full-grown mature she-camels, O my friend”
(misb&h, a lamp, and also a she-camel that rises at daybreak from her resting-place, to go to the pasturing
ground). He replied: “ But if one owns ten daggers?”
He replied: “Let him bring out two sheep without
grumbling ” (thandjir, pl. of khanjar, a dagger, or long
knife, and also of khanjar, or khanjir, “a camel rich in
milk”). He said: “ But if he give over to the slanderer
(informer) the best of his kindred ?” He replied: “Ay,
happy tidings to him on the day of resurrection”
(namimah, the foremost of one’s relations, and also “the
choicest part of one’s property”; sd‘i, an informer, or
slanderer, and also “the collector of the zakdt”). He
said: “Is it that the bearers of sins [burdens] deserve
a share in the legal alms?” He replied: “ Yea, if
they be engaged in warfare for the faith” (ausdr, pl. of
wizr, sins, burdens, and also “arms, weapons”). Ie
said: “Is it allowed to the Hajj (pilgrim) to perform
the ‘umrah (ceremonies of the lesser pilgrimage) ?” He
replied: “ Nay, nor that he put on a veil” (ya‘tamir,
he performs the ‘wmrah, and also “he puts on the
‘imarah,” a kind of head-gear or turban). He said: “ Is
it then open to him to kill a brave one?” He replied :
“Yea, as he may kill a wild beast” (shuyjd‘, a valiant
man, and algo ‘‘a kind of serpent”). He said: “ But
what about him who has killed a female flutist in the
Harem ?” He replied: “On him is due the sacrifice of
some head of cattle” (zammdrah, a female player on the
mizmér, flute, or pipe, and also an ostrich, whose cry is
called zimmdr ; haram, the herem, and algo “ the sacred
precinct of Mecca”). He said: ‘But when he hag

|ZTHIRTY-SECOND ASSEMBLY. 47

thrown [his lance] at the leg of a free man and
killed him ?” He replied: “ Let him bring out a sheep
in compensation for it” (sdg, a leg, hurr, a free-man ;
sdqu hurrin, “ the male of the turtle-dove ”). He said:
“How then if he has killed the mother of ‘Auf after
donning the pilgrim-cloak ?” He replied: “ Let him
give in alms a small quantity of food” (umm ‘Auf, name
of a woman by her son, and also‘‘a locust”). He said:
“Is it incumbent upon the H&jj to be provided with
a boat ?” He replied: ‘ Yea, so that he may lead them
to the watering-places” (gérib, a kind of boat, and also
“a seeker of water at night-time”). He said: “ And
what sayest thou about the lawless after the Sabbath P”
He replied: “ He has done what is lawful at that time”
(hardm, unlawful, opp. to haldl, lawful, and also “one
who dons the pilgrim-cloak, a pilgrim”; sab, Sabbath,
and also “shaving of the head”; hall, “he bas doffed
the cloak,” which, of course, is a lawful action after the
pilgrimage is completed). He said: “ But what sayest
thou with regard to the sale of a bay ?” He replied:
“Tt is unlawful, as the sale of a dead body” (humait, a
bay horse, and also ‘‘red wine”). He said: “Is it
allowed to sell [barter] vinegar for the flesh of the
camel ?” He said: “Not either for the flesh of sheep”
(khall, vinegar, and also a camel two years old, or the
young of a pregnant camel, the sale of a living animal
for flesh, whether of the same kind or any other being
unlawful). He said: “Is the sale of a present lawful ?”
He said: “ Nay, nor that of wine” (hadiyyah, a present,
and also an animal being led to the Ka‘beh for sacrifice ;
sabiyyah, a female slave taken from the infidels, and also
“wine”). He said: “ What sayest thou with regard

to the sale of a cornelian stone (or of the hair of a newborn)?” He said: “It is forbidden, in truth” (‘agigah,
a single cornelian stone ; the first wool of an animal,
or the hair of a new-born child ; but also “an animal
sacrificed for a child on the seventh day after its birth”).
He said: “Is the sale of (meaning on the part of) a
erier to a herd’s man allowed?” He replied: “ Nay,
nor to a collector of the zakat” (dd‘t, one who calls, or
makes proclamation, and also “the remainder of milk
in the udder,” which it is as unlawful to sell as the
foetus of an animal in the womb). He said: “ May
a hawk be sold for dates?” He replied: ‘‘ Nay, by the
Lord of creation and command” (sagar, a hawk, and
also “ date-sugar”). He said: “May a Moslem buy the
plunder [taken] from Moslem women?” He replied:
“Yea, and it may be inherited from him, when he has
died” (salad, plunder, booty, and also the bark of a
tree, and “leaf or blade of the plant sumdm”). He
said: “ But is it allowed that the intercessor be sold ?”
He replied: “ What is there to hinder it ?” (shdji‘, an
intercessor, and also “‘a sheep which one buys to skin
it”). He said; “May a pitcher be sold to the Bent
Asfar ?” He replied: “It is abominated as the selling
of a helmet [to them]” (cbrig, a pitcher, and also a
furbished and well-tempered sword; Beni Asfar are
the Greeks, to whom, as enemies of Islam, it would be
unlawful to sell weapons of attack or defence). He
said : “Is it lawful for a man to sell the colt of his camel
born in summer ?” He replied: “Nay, but he may sell
his friend” (saif?, a camel colt born in summer, and
also “a son begotten in old age,” to which latter
meaning Abi Zayd’s answer refers ; sa/t, a milch camel

yielding a copious flow, and also “‘a sincere friend,” the
meaning which would suggest itself most readily to the
ordinary hearer). He said: “ But if one has bought a
slave and a wound appears on his mother?” He said:
“There is no sin in returning him” (wmm, mother, and
also “ the pia mater of the brain”). He said: “ Holds
the right of pre-emption good for the co-partner in a
field ?” He replied : “ Nay, nor for the co-partner in a
[yellow] she-camel” (sakrd@’, a field, and also “an ass
whose white is mingled with grey ; sajrd, a yellow shecamel, a word which, however, would more readily
suggest the word “‘bile”). He said: “Is it lawful that
the water of the well and of an open place should be
heated ?” He replied: “If they are in deserts, then
certainly not” (yuhmd, it is being heated, and also “it
is prohibited from general use”; £hald, an open place,
here taken in construction with md’, water, and also
“fodder, both green and dry”). He said: “ What
sayest thou with regard to the dead body of an infidel
(as an article of food) ?” He replied : “ It is lawful for
the dweller in a place and the traveller” (Adjir, an
infidel, and also “the sea”; maitah, dead body, and
also “fish floating on the water”). He said: “Is it
allowed to offer as a forenoon sacrifice squinting men ?”
He replied: “ This is worthier of acceptance” (al-hdl,
pl. of akwal, squint-eyed, and also of Ad’, ‘a sheep that
has not conceived”). He said: “May then a divorced
woman be sacrificed in the forenoon?” He replied:
“Yea, and the nightfarer may be treated thereto hospitably” (at-tdlig, divorced woman, and also “a she-camel
allowed to pasture freely”). He said: “How then if

one slaughters before the appearance of the gazelle ?”
VoL. It. 4

He replied: “It is a sheep whose flesh may be sold
(not a sacrifice) undoubtedly” (al-ghazdlah, gazelle, and
also a name for the rising sun, corresponding to
al-jaunah, which is a name of the sun when setting, as
in the words of the poet: tabddara 'l-jaunatu an taghiba,
the sun was setting quickly). He said: “Is it lawful
to make gain by beating wool (or hammering metals)?”
He said: “ This is like gambling with dice, there is no
difference” (targ, beating, hammering, and also “the
throwing of pebbles for the purpose of vaticination ”).
He said: “ May one standing say saldm ‘alek to one
sitting?’ He replied: “It is forbidden between
strangers ” (al-gd‘id, one who sits, and also ‘‘a woman
who has ceased being menstruous or copulating.” He
said: “‘ May a sensible man sleep under a fool?” He said :
“How lovely it is to do so in the Bagi‘” (ragi', a fool,
and also “the sky”; al-bagi‘, the cemetery of Medina).
He said: “Is a Zimmi forbidden to Kill an old
woman?” He replied: “It is not allowed to oppose
him with regard to wine” (al-‘ajéz, an old woman,
and also “old wine,” which to kill means to mix it
with water [see the Assembly of Tiflis]). He said:
“Ts it allowed that a man should remove [secede]
from his father’s premises?” He replied: “It is
not allowed either to one obscure or to a noble of
birth” (‘imdrah, building, edifice, and also “ tribe”),
He said : “ What sayest thou with regard to becoming
a Jew?” He replied: “This is the key to an ascetic
life” (tahawwud, turning a Jew, and also “turning to
God in repentance,” according to the words of the
Koran, “ behold we have returned to thee ”), He said:
“What sayest thou with regard to patience in misfortune >” He replied: “What a great sin it is!”
(sabr, patience, and also “ tying, fastening, keeping one
imprisoned until death ensues "; baliyyah, calamity,
misfortune, and also ‘a camel tied to the tomb of her
master,” and neither watered nor fed until she dies, on
which the deceased man was by the Arabs of the
ignorance supposed to ride to his doom). He said:
“Ts it lawful to beat the ambassador?” He replied :
‘Yea, and also to load therewith the seeker of counsel "
(saftr, envoy, ambassador, and also “ leaves falling from
a tree”; mustashir, one who asks advice from another,
and also “a fat camel,” or “a camel which knows the
pregnant from one that has not conceived”), He said:
“May a man beat his father ?” He replied: “ The
dutiful does so and refuseth not” (‘azcar, he chastised,
beat violently, and also “he helped, strengthened,
honoured,” as in Koran, xlviii. 9, “and may assist him
and honour him”). He said: ‘“ What sayest thou with
regard to him who has impoverished his brother?” He
replied : “ Well done of him, how brotherly he has
acted towards him” (a/gar, he impoverished, and also
“he lent a camel to ride upon her back”). He said :
“ But what if he strips his child of its clothing ?” He
replied : “On what a handsome thing he has resolved!”
(ardhu, he stripped him, and also “he gave him the
fruit of a date-tree for a year”). He said: “ What
then if he bakes his slave on the fire?” He replied :
“ There is no sin on him, nor any blame” (al-mamldk,
a white slave, and also “‘a dough kneaded repeatedly
until it has become consistent”). He said: “Is it
allowed for a woman to cut her husband ?” (in the
Arabic idiom meaning to be undutiful to him). He

replied : “ Nobody forbids her doing so” (da‘l, a husband,
and also “a date-tree,” in which sense ‘“‘cutting” may
be taken literally, or in the meaning of “gathering its
fruit”). He said: “May then a woman be upbraided
for being bashful?” He replied: “Most certainly”
(thajal, being bashful, blushing, and also “ being overbearing in possession of riches,” according to the saying
of Mohammed to the women : “When ye are hungry
ye fawn, and when ye have your fill ye become overbearing”), He said: “ What sayest thou with regard
to him who has shaved [planed] the tamarisk of his
brother ?” He replied : “ He has sinned even if he has
given permission to him” (nakata aglat-hu, he shaved
his tamarisk, and also “ he backbited him and detracted
from his honour”). He said: “Is it allowed to the
magistrate to appoint a curator for one possessed of a
bullock ?” He replied: “ Yea, to be safe from’ the
mischief of violence” (sawr, a bullock, and also “ madness”). He said: “ But is it open to him to strike on
the hand of an orphan ?” He replied: “ Yea, until he
is of age” (zaraba ‘ald yadi-hi, besides having the literal
meaning given above, is an idiom for: “ he appointed a
curator for him”). He said: “Is it then allowed to
him to take for the same (an orphan) suburban place?”
He replied: “Nay, even if he consents to it” (rabz,
buildings outside the walls of a city, and also “a wife”).
He said: “But when may he (the magistrate) sell the
body of an idiot?” He replied: “‘ Whenever he sees
that it pleases him” (badan, body, and also “‘a short
armour”). He said: “Is it then allowed that he buy
for him jakes?” He replied: “Yea, if they be not
haunted” (Aashsh, a privy, and also “a palm-plantation”). He said: “Is it allowed that the magistrate
be an oppressor?” He replied: “Yea, if he be
knowing” (zdlim, one who oppresses, and also “ one
who drinks milk before it curdles”). He said: “Is
one fit to become a Kadi who has no perspicacity ?”
He replied: “ Yea, if his conduct be fair” (basirah,
sharpsightedness, sagacity, and also “a shield”). He
said: ‘‘ But if he is bare of intellect ?” He replied:
‘This is an indication [the title-page] of excellence”
Cagl, intellect, wisdom, and also “embroidered silk
stuff”). He said: “ But if he have the pride of a
tyrant?” He replied: “ There is nothing to be said
against or to make much of” (zahw, pride, and also “a
date which begins to colour”; jabhdr, a tyrant. a shedder
of blood, and also “a high palm-tree whose fruit is out
of the reach of the hand,” opposed to gé'id). He said :

• Tsit allowed that the witness be a suspected character ?”
  He replied : “ Yea, if he be a sensible man” (murtb,
  suspected, exposed to doubt, and also ‘“‘one who has
  plenty of curdled milk”). He said: “ But when it has
  transpired that he has committed sodomy?” He
  replied : “He is like one who has tailored” (Jf, he
  committed the sin of the people of Lot, and also “he
  coated a well with clay”). He said: “ And if it comes
  out that he has been winnowing ?” He replied: “ Let
  his evidence be refused, and not accepted ” (gharbal, he
  sifted corn, and also “ he killed,” as the poet says in the
  metre rejez: “Thou wilt see the kings slain around
  him.” The word has also an obscene meaning). He
  said: “ But if it has become manifest that he is a liar?”
  He replied : “That is for him a quality which adorns
  him” (man, yamin, he lied, and also, with aor. yamén,

“he provided for ‘his family”). He said: “ What is
incumbent upon aservant of God ?” He replied: “ Let
him make oath by the God of creation” (‘Abid al-hagq,
a servant of God, and also “one who gainsays the true
belief,” as some commentators explain the word in
Koran, xliii, 81). He said: “ And what sayest thou
with regard to him who has deliberately gouged the eye
of a nightingale?” ‘Let his eye be gouged, to make
the speech short” (bulbul, a nightingale, and also “a
spare man”), He said: “But if he has wounded the
Kata (bird) of 2 woman and death ensued ?” He said:
“Soul for soul, if it has gone” (gafa’, sandgrouse, and
also “what lies between the hip-bones”). He said :
“But if a pregnant woman has dropped her fetus in
consequence of his blow?” He replied: “Let him
atone for his sin by the manumission of a slave”
(hashish, grass, green herbs, etc., and also “a fetus
dropped in abortion”). He said: “ What is due in law
to one who keeps himself secluded ?” He replied: “‘ To
have his extremities cut off for the sake of determent”

• (mukhtafi, one who sticks to a place without leaving °
  it, and also “a spoiler of tombs, a stripper of graveclothes”). He said: “ What then is to be done to him
  who has stolen the snakes of the house?” He replied :
  “Let his right hand be cut off, if they are worth the
  fourth part of a denar” (asdwid, pl. of aswad, snakes,
  and also “household utensils, as a washing-tub, kettle,
  dish,” etc). He said: “But if he have stolen a great
  worth [value] of gold ?” He replied: “There is no
  amputation as though he had committed a violent
  robbery” (gamin, what is precious, valuable, and also
  “the eighth part,” as nagif is used for nig/, half, sadis

for suds, sixth part, etc. ; under gol is in this case to
be understood a gold coin). He said: “ What then if
theft is brought home to a woman?” He replied:
“There is no guilt upon her, and she has nothing to
fear” (saraq, theft, and also “ white silk”). He said:
“Ts a marriage contract valid, which is not witnessed
by starlings ?” He replied: “Nay, by the Creator,
the Maker” (gawdr?, pl. of gériyah, a bird of the
starling kind, from which the Arabs take a lucky
augury, especially with regard to rain, and also “ witnesses,” because they follow up matters, from gard, he
followed up). ‘He said: “What sayest thou with
regard to a bride who has passed the first night of a
month, and then has been returned early in the morning
to her previous state?” He replied: “Half of the
dowry is due to her, and the days of probation for
divorce (iddah) are not incumbent on her” (lailah
hurrah, the first night of a month, and also “a wedding
night in which no consummation has taken place”).
Then the asker of the questions said to him: “ Allah
has blessed thee with the fulness of a sea that he who
draw» from it lessens it not, and of a man of learning to
whose praise the praiser reaches not.” Thereupon he
looked down with the downward look of the abashed,
and stopped silent with the silence of the tongue-tied.
Said to him Abi Zayd: “Go on, Sirrah, how long
then [wilt thou tarry], how long?” He replied:
“ There remains no missile in my quiver, and after the
breaking forth of thy morn there is no scope left for
debate: by Allah then, the son of what country art
thou, and how beautiful was that which thou hast

expounded.” Forthwith he indited with a glib tongue
and a powerful voice :

In the world I am a pattern, point of sight [Kiblah] for folk of
wisdon,
Save that all my days I pass in tardy rest and early outset,
And the stranger, though in Eden he alight, is like one homeless.”

Then he said: “O Allah, as Thou hast made us of the
number of those who are guided so that they may guide
others, make us also of the number of those who follow
the right way and spend.” Thereupon the people
brought him a drove of camels together with a singing
girl, and begged him to visit them while after while.
Then he rose to go, making them longing for his return,
and carrying off the slave-girl and the drove. Said
Al Harith, son of Hammém: Thereupon I accosted
Him, and said: “I know thee a rogue, since when then
hast thou become a legist ?” He kept twisting about a
little while and then he indited, saying :

“T alter my coat to the whims of each moment and mix with its
changes of welfare and ill-fare,

And pledge my companion in converse with all that may flatter
his humour to please my companion,

With tellers of tales circulating narrations, with drinkers of wine
circulatang the goblets,

Now making the tears by my sermon to pour down, now cheering
the hearts by my jocular sallies,

And feasting the ears, if but op’ning my mouth, by spell of my
speech that will meeken the restive,

And if Ia mmded my hand makes the pen drop a shower of
pearls to adorn many volumes.

How many a subtlety dim as Soha that came to be bright as a
sun by my clearing,

How many my sayings that captivate hearts, and leave in the
hearer a yearning behind them,

And virgin Kastdebs indited by me, that met with applause
loud expressed and endaring.

Yet plotting of fortune has singled me out, a plotting surpassing
that Tir'aun’s ‘gainst Moses,

And kindles against me a war day by day, I tread through its
blaze on a furnace, a furnace !

And strikes me with ills, such as melt a man’s vigour, and blanch
people’s heads with the whiteness of hoar-frost.

And brings to me near but the alien, the hateful, while banishing
from me the nearest, the dearest !

And were it not but for the vileness of fortune my lot in the
world were not vile, by its fell feud.”

Then I said to him: “Soothe thy sorrows and blame
not fortune, but be thankful to Him who has turned
thee from the way of Iblis to the way of Idris” (AshShafi). He replied: ‘ Leave off idle talk, and tear no
veils, but rise with us to make for the Masjid of
Yathrib (Medina), haply we may cleanse away by the
visitation the filth of our sins.” So T said: “ Far be it
that I fare with thee, before I learn thy explanation.”
He replied : “ By Allah, thou hast imposed duties upon
me, and when thou hast asked, thou hast asked but a
small matter; listen then to what remedies the mind,
and removes ambiguity.” Then after he had made
clear to me the enigmatical and lifted from me my
perplexity, we tightened our saddles, and I fared on,
and he fared on, while he ceased not from his nightly
talk as long as the journey lasted, on such topics that
made me forget hardship and I would have liked with
him “the distance to be long” (allusion to Koran,
ix. 42, “ but the distance seemed long to them,” referring
_to those who were called upon to join in the expedition
to Tabak), until when we had reached the city of the
Prophet, and obtained our desire from the visitation, he
set out Syriawards, and I towards ‘Irak, he veered to
the West, and I to the East.

The Thirty-third Assembly, Called “of Tiflis.”

“QF TIFLIS.”

In this Assembly Aba Zayd presents himself in the guise of a
mendicant, afflicted with » paralytical contortion of the face, before
a congregation in Tiflis, whom Hérith had joined in the performance
of the appointed prayers, and he obtams by an eloquent appeal to their
commiseration, in rhymed prose and verse, a liberal supply of alms
from the captivated audience. Hamth follows him, when he departs
with his prey, and after having reached a secluded spot, Abt Zayd
laughingly throws off his palsy and reveals his identity, anticipating
the rebukes of his indignant friend with his usual frank avowal,
that his necessity makes for him the law, if lawful means will not
provide for his necessity. Yielding to the spell of his fascinating
personality, Harith accompanies him in his travels during two years,
after the lapse of which he regrets that circumstances enforced their
separation,

I had covenanted with Allah, be He exalted, since I
was of the age of about a score, that I would not delay
prayer as far as it was in my power, so that with my
roaming in deserts, and in spite of the sport of leisurehours, I kept the stated times of prayer and guarded
myself from the sin of letting them slip by, and when
" J joined in a journey, and alighted in any place, I
welcomed the summoner to it, and took pattern from
him, who observed it religiously. Now it happened at
a time when I had come to Tiflis, that I prayed
together with a number of poorly-off people, and when
we had finished prayer, and were about to go, there
sallied forth an old man, with a face plainly contorted
by palsy, worn of garments and strength, who said:
“T conjure him, who has been made of the clay of
liberality, and suckled of the milk of good fellowship,
that he but spare me a moment's hurrying, and listen

to a few words from me, whereafter the choice belongs
to him, and it rests with his hand to spend or refuse.”
Then the people fastened their hoops to him [locked
their knees together to him], and sat still like the
hillocks. Now when he perceived how nicely they kept
silent and how considerate they showed themselves in
their demeanour [deportment] he said: “O ye, endowed
with eyes clear of sight, and visions bright of perception, does not eye-witnessing dispense with hearsay ?
and does not the smoke tell of the fire? Hoariness is
apparent, and weakness oppressive, and disease manifest,
and the inward state thus laid bare. Yet erewhile I
was one of those who possess and bestow, who exercise
authority and rule, who grant help and gifts, who
assist and assault. But calamities ceased not to subvert,
nor vicissitudes to take away scrap by scrap, till the
nest was despoiled and the palm empty, privation
became my raiment and bitterness my life-stay, my
little ones whined from hunger and craved for the
sucking of a date-stone. Yet withal I came not to
stand in this place of ignominy and to disclose to you
things [to be] hidden, but after I had suffered and was
palsy-stricken, and had waxed grey from all I met with,
and, oh! would that I had not been spared!” Then he
sighed the sigh of the sorrowful, and indited with a
feeble voice :

“T ery to the Compassionate, be praise to Him, for fortune’s fickleness and hostile rancour

And for calamities that have shattered my rock, and overthrown
my frame and its foundations,

Have broken down my ste , and woe to him, whose boughs
adversities pull down and break.

My dwelling they have wasted even as to banish from the wasted
spot the rats the selves;

They left me bewildered and dazed, to bear the brunt of poverty
and all its pangs,

Whule heretofore I was a lord of wealth, who trailed his sleeves
along 1n luxury,

Whose leaves the supplicants beat freely down, whose hospitable
fires night-farers praised ;

But who is now, as though the world, that casts the evil eye on
him, had never smiled on him,

From whom he turns who was his visitor, and whom he scorns to
know who sought his gift.

So if a good man mourns the evil plight he aees an old man in,
betrayed by fortune,

Then Jet him ease the sorrow that afflicts him, and mend the state
that puts him thus to shame.”

Said the narrator: Now the company inclined to
ascertain his condition, so as to find out what he might
have concealed, and to sift the truth of his affair. So
they said to him: “We know by this time the excellence of thy degree, and the abundance of thy rain-
cloud, but make now known to us the tree of thy
branch, and withdraw the veil from thy descent.” Then
he showed himself averse with the reluctancy of one
whom misfortunes have befallen or to whom the tidings
of daughters [born to him] have been brought, and
he indited with emphatic utterance, although in a low
voice:

“By thy life, I assure thee, not showeth the branch by the zest of
its fruit from what root it has sprung,

So eat what is sweet, when it cometh to hand, and ask not the
honey where swarmeth the bee!

And learn to discern, when thou pressest thy grapes, the must of
thy press from the acid it yields,

That by testing thou value the costly and cheap, to buy and to
sell all things by their likes ;

For blame would accrue to the witty, the wise, if error of
judgment were fastened on hi .”

Then the people were roused by his sagacity and
subtleness, and beguiled by the beauty of his delivery,
along with his disease, so that they collected for him
the hidden treasures of their belts and whatever was
secreted in their breast-pockets, saying to him: “ Thou
hast drifted to a shallow well and repaired to an empty
hive; so take this trifle [pittance] and reckon it neither
a miss nor a hit.” Then he made much of their little,
and accompanied its acceptance with thanks, whereupon
he turned away, dragging half his body, and made off,
stumbling on his road. Said the narrator of this tale:
Now the fancy struck me, that he had disguised his
appearance, and shammed in his gait, so I rose to
thread his path and to track his traces, while he glanced
at me askance and gave me a wide berth, until, when
the road was clear and identification [the disclosure of
the truth] became possible, he looked at me with the
look of him who is friendly and glad of the meeting,
and shows his true colours, after he had dissembled,
saying to me: “TI imagine thou art a brother of peregrination, and looking out for companionship. Wouldst
thou then fain have a mate who is kind to thee and
helps thee, and is indulgent with thee and shares in
thy expenses?” Said I to him: “If such a mate came
forward, providence, indeed, would favour me.” He
replied: “Thou hast found, so rejoice, and hast encountered the generous, so cleave to him.” Then he
had a long laugh, and stood before me, a sound man,
when lo! it was our Shaykh of Serdj, with no ailment
in his body, and nothing doubtful in his outward
tokens. Then I rejoiced at meeting with him, and at
the feignedness of his palsy, and bethought me of

rebuking him for the evilness of his ways, but he opened
his mouth and indited before I could chide him:

“TJ show me in rags, so that people may say, a wretch that forbears with the hardships of times.

I feign to the world to be palsied of face, for often my heart thus
obtaineth its wish ;

Ay, but for my raggedness find I compassion, and but for the
palsy I meet with my wants.”

Thereupon he said: “No pasture is left me in these
parts, nor anything to be hoped for from their people,
and if thou wilt be my mate, on our way with us, on
our way!” So we fared forth from the place, we twain
by ourselves, and I kept company with him for full
two years, nay, I would fain have associated with him
while my life lasts, but time, the disperser, forbade me.

The Thirty-fourth Assembly, Called “of Zabid.”

“OF ZABID.”

In this Assembly Abt Zayd appears in the character of a slavemerchant. Harith, while travelling nm Yemen, had lost by death in
the city of Zabid a faithful servant, whom he found it difficult to
replace. After having commissioned in vain the merchants of the
town, to find him a substitute, he repairs himself to the market,
where a man, muffled up in a Lis&m or face-veil offers to him for sale
a youth, whose good qualities he praises in some spirited verses.
Hérith is struck by the boy’s beauty, which ominously reminds him
of Joseph, whose comeliness had made the Egyptian ladies compare
him to an angel. He asks the boy for his name, but receives no
answer, and only after he has shown his vexation at this, the youth,
Jess in obedience to his intended purchaser’s wish, than to impart to
him a derisive warnmg, emphatically says. “I am Joseph, I am
Joseph,” implying thereby that his case is identical with that of the
patriarch, and that he, as free-born, could as little be sold lawfully
as Joseph was by his brothers. The hint, however, is lost on
Harith, who eagerly concludes the bargain, but, after the merchant
is gone, soon finds out his mistake. Tor the boy, now openly
claiming his freedom, appeals to the Kadi of the place, who confirms his statement, by mentioning, that only the day before his
father had given in court a declaration to that effect. On further
inquuy, Harith learns with dismay that the father’s name is Abi
Zayd, and he forswears all future intercourse with the wily Shaykh,
until this one meets him in a narrow road, end again charms him
into more friendly feelings, although this last experience of the
other’s unscrupulous proceedings still rankles in his mind.

Al Harith, son of Hammam, related : When I crossed
the deserts as far as Zabid, I had with me a slave,
whom I had reared up to his full age, and trained until
he had perfected his right conduct, and he was fully
familiar with my ways, and knew how to draw forth
my goodwill, so as not to over-step my intentions, nor
to be remiss in [carrying out] my wishes. Therefore
needs his good services had won him my heart, and I
singled him out [as my companion] in my stay and
travel, But pernicious fate made away with him when
we had reached Zabid, and when “the sole of his foot was
turned up,” and his voice had waxed still, I was a year
without relishing my food, or looking ont for another
servant, until the various inconveniences of solitary life,
and the troubles of getting up and sitting down drove
me to take the bead, instead of the pearl, and to hunt
for one who might be a stopgap for my needs. So I
repaired to the slave-sellers in the market of Zabid,
when I said : “I want a lad who gives satisfaction when
he is probed [tried] and who is approved when he is
tested, and let him be one of those whom the intelligent
have brought out, and poverty alone has thrown into
the market.” Then every one of them bestirred himself
for the object of my search, and bustled about and
exerted himself to encompass it speedily. Thereupon
the new moons completed their round, and turned in

their increase and wane, but there came to pass [the
fulfilment of] none of their promises, and no thundercloud yielded rain in response thereto. Now when I
saw that the slave-merchants had either forgotten or
pretended to forget, I knew that not everyone who
undertakes a work carries it through, and that naught
will scratch my skin as well as my own nail, so I
abandoned the way of commissioning and sallied forth
to the market with the yellow and the white ones, and
had the slave-boys led past me, inquiring for the prices,
when, lo! there accosted me a man who had the faceveil drawn over his nostrils, and who held a boy by his
fore-arm, saying :

‘eWho buys from me a lad who proves deft at his work, and is in
make and manners surpassingly fair ?

Equal to any task thou mayest lay upon him, who speeds thee
when he speaks, and spoken to attends ;

Who if thou stumble says to thee: ‘Rise to thy feet,’ and if thou
bid him: ‘Enter the fire,’ he enters is.

Who when thon wilt, if but a day, associates thee, and is contented
but with a scrap, if such thy wish.

Although he have his wits collected, when he talks, he neither
tells a lie nor claims more than his due.

He yields not to the call of any wish of his, nor lets a secret,
trusted with him, get out of keep.

And oftentimes he makes one wonder at his skill, excelling both
in prose and verse-stringing alike,

And were it not, by God, for life’s straitening stress, and little
ones that sadly want clothing and food :

I would not sell him for the realms that Kisra rules.”

Now when I looked at his straight build and his
exquisite beauty, I fancied him one of the youths of the
garden of delight (Paradise), and quoth: “ This is not
a man, but for sooth an honoured angel.” Then I
wished him to enounce his name, not from a desire to

know it, but to see whether his elocution matched his
comeliness and how his utterance responded to the
fairness of his countenance. But he spoke not either
sweet or bitter, and uttered not a sound of the son of
slave-woman or a woman of free birth. So I turned
aside from him and said: “ Out upon thy impediment
and be gone!” Then he burst out in laughter and
shook with it, whereupon he nodded his head to me,
and indited :

Q thou, whose wrath is kindled if I withhold my name, not thus
a man, who in his dealings shows him fair!

But if thou be not pleased unless it be revealed, then listen:
Joseph Iam, a Joseph, hear!

Now have I lifted to thee the veil and if thy wits are sharp, thou
knowest, but I fancy thou knowest not.”
Then he allayed my anger by his poetry, and captivated
my heart by his sorcery, so that I was too bewildered
to perceive the truth, and made oblivious of the story of
Joseph the faithful, and I concerned myself only with
asking his master’s charge for him, and inquiring after
the amount of his price, so that I might pay it in full.
Now I thought he would look askance at me and
demand from me a high sum, but he did not soar
whither I had soared, nor held he on to that to which
I held on, nay, on the contrary he said: “Here is the
boy ! if the price is low, and his keep but slight, his
master thinks himself blessed in him and loves him all
the better for it, and I wish above all to make thee fond
of the lad by lightening to thee the price for him ; so
weigh out two hundred dirhems if thou wilt, and be
thankful to me as long as thou livest.” So I paid him
the amount at once, as the lawful price is paid in a
cheap bargain, and it occurred not to my mind, that

VOL. I. 5

everyone who sells cheap, makes one pay dear. Now
when the transaction was concluded, and separation was
impending, both eyes of the lad brimmed over with
tears, though they were not the bloody tears of grief ;
then he stepped up to his master, and said :

« Allah confound thee! is it right to sell one such as me to fill
the hungry bellies,

And 1s it walking in the path of justice, to make me bear what
cannot be endured 4

To try me sore with terror after terror, though one like me, if
tried, cannot be inghtened ?

Yet hast thou probed me and experienced from me good counsels,
tnalloyed with any falsehood.

How often hast thou set me as a net for game, and I brought
home prey captured in my snares ;

And hast imposed on me tasks difficult that were obeyed, though
T might have refused them.

How many a battle that I had to fight in, how many a booty, and
T had no share.

And never, all my days, did I a sin, which, if thou break’st with
me, could be revealed [unveiled],

Nor couldst thou stumble on a fault of mine, praise be to God, to
hide it, or proclaim it.

How canst thou cast me off then so light-heartedly, as skilful
‘women cast away their shreds ?

And why allows thy soul thee to enslave me, and offer me for sale
as goods are sold ?

Wouldst thou not shield my honour, as I shield thy own concerns
the day when parting’grieves us,

And say to him who bartered for me; ‘This is Sakabi, neither
to buy nor borrow ’!

Now, I am not, for sooth, below that horse, but far above thy
nature 1s their nature

And boldly sing I out: trading on me, my worth was lost to
them, and what a worth !”

When the old man had understood his couplets and
taken in [the meaning of] his ditty, he fetched a deep
sigh and wept so as to make weep the far away, and
said to me: “T hold this lad in the place of my son, and

distinguish him not from the lobes of my liver, and
were it not for the emptiness of my abode and the
extinction of my lamp, he would not go out of my nest
till he escorted my bier. Now thou hast seen what has
come to him of the pangs of separation, and the believer
is kind and gentle. So wouldst thou have a mind, for
the soothing of his heart, and the removal of his grief,
to stipulate with me for the cancelling of his sale,
whenever I asked for it, and not to find me importune
if I should press for the same, for it is amongst the
choice traditions transmitted by the trustworthy, that
“he who grants redemption to one repenting of his
bargain, Allah remits to him his transgressions.’” Said
Al Harith, son of Hammém : Thereupon I made to him
a promise, prompted by shame, but within my heart I
thought otherwise. Then he bade the hoy to approach
him, and kissed him between both his eyes, inditing,
while the tears were coursing from his lids :

‘Bear patiently, my soul may be thy ransom, what thou hast
met of sorrow and of anguish,

May not for long the time of parting last, nor flag the beasts that
bring us to reunion ;

Through aid of God, the Mighty, the Creator.”

Then he said to him : “I commend thee to the keeping
of one who is a good master,” and tucked up his skirt
and turned away. But the lad remained sobbing and
wailing until the other might have gone the length of a
mile, and when he had recovered himself and stopped
the flow of his tears, he said: “ Dost thou know for
what I have wailed and what has been my object
therein ?’ I said: “It is, I trow, the separation from
thy master which has made thee weep.” Said he:

“Thou art in one valley, and I am in another, and
what a distance there is between a wisher and his
wish.” Then he indited :

“By Allah, weeping was I not for friend departed, nor eke tor
Joss of any pleasure or delight,

But tears were flowing from my eyelids for fool, whose eyes,
though opened wide, led into pitfalls him,

So that he came to grief and was sadly disgraced, and lost his
white engraven onea, his lustrous coin.

Woe thee, have not those subtle words warned thee enough, that
I was free, and hence not lawful was my sale?

For clear as daylight should it be what Joseph meant.”

Now I looked at his speech as a thing seen in the
mirror of one who jests, or the exhibition of one
indulging in pleasantry, but he waxed obstinate
[restive] with the obstinacy [restiveness] of one who
claims a right, and protested not to be tainted with the
clay of servile condition ; so we jostled about in an
altercation which terminated in fisticuffs and led to an
appeal to the judge. When we had explained the case
to the Kadi, and read to him our Sura, he said:
“Indeed, he who has warned has excused himself,
he who has put one on his guard is like one who has
given information, he who has made one see the state
of affairs, has done no damage. Now what you both
have said in explanation, demonstrates that this lad
has tried to rouse thee, but thou wouldst not be awaked,
and has advised thee, but thou wouldst not understand ;
therefore veil the ailment of thy stupidity and hide it,
and blame thyself, but blame not him ; beware to lay
hold on him, and to wish to make him thy slave, for he
is free of body, and not subject to be exposed for sale.
Jt was only yesterday that his father brought him into

my presence, a little while before sunset, declaring him
to be his branch that he had grown, and that he had
no heir but him.” Then I said to the Kadi: “And
knowest thou his father? may Allah put him to shame!”
He replied : “ How should Abd Zayd be unknown for
whose wound there is no retaliation, and of whom
every Kadi has stories to tell and proclamation to
make.” Then I gnashed my teeth in anger and said,
“There is no power and no strength, but in Allah, the
Exalted, the Great,” becoming wide awake, but when
the time had slipped, and making sure that his face-veil
was a net of his cunning, and the crowning couplet of
his poem. So my mishap made me cast down my
looks, and I swore that I would never again deal with
the bearer of a face-veil as long as I lived, bewailing all
the while my losing bargain, and the shame to which I
should be put amongst my comrades. Then the Kadi
said to me, when he saw my distress and became clearly
‘aware of the brunt of my burning grief: “ Ay such a
one, thy loss has given thee a lesson, and he who has
roused [awakened] thy wits, has not done thee an
injury ; take then warning by thy adventure and conceal
from thy friends what has befallen thee; remember
always what has occurred to thee, so as to keep in mind
the admonition which thy money has administered thee
and mould thyself after the disposition of one who has
been tried and shown patience and who has profited by
the examples set before him.” Said Al Harith, son of
Hammam: Thereupon I took leave from him, donning
the raiment of shame and sorrow and trailing my skirt
of defrauded folly, and 1 purposed to show Aba Zayd
my aversion by shunning him, and to cut him for the

remainder of my life, deliberately keeping aloof from
his abode, and avoiding to see him, until he came upon
me in a narrow path, and welcomed me with the
welcome of an affectionate friend, though all I did was
to frown at him and keep silent. Then he said : ** What
ails thee that thou turnest up thy nose at thy mate ?”
Answered I: “Hast thou forgotten that thou hast
plotted against me, and cheated me, and done the thing
which thou hast done ?” Then he puffed his cheek and
cracked it at me in derision, after which he indited
appeasingly :

“OQ thou who show’st estrangement and curl’st up thy brow in
savage scowl,

And featherest the shafts of blame that hit as hard, nay, harder,
than arrows sharp

And sayest who sells a free-born an, as a nigger is sold or a
dusky nag,

Cut short thy say, and know I am not the first therein as thou
seem’st to think :

Heretofore the tribes sold Joseph, though they were what people
know they were.

So it is ; and by the holy house that m Tihimeh is visited

And those who circumambulate it, emaciated, with ashen locks,

Not had I stood in this place of shame, I swear it, if I owned a
coin.

So excuse thy brother, and bother not with the blame of one who
ignores the facts.”

Thereupon he said: “My excuse is plain and thy
dirhems are gone. But if thy shrinking from me and
thy aversion towards me arises from the excess of thy
tender concern for the remainder of thy pelf, I am not
of those who sting twice and make one tread upon two
cinders, and if thou art cross and givest way to thy
stinginess, in order to escape the bait that hangs in my
nets, the mourning-women will weep over thy wits.”

Said Al Harith, son of Hammam: So he deluded me
by his deceitful utterance and his powerful sorcery into
turning his friend and becoming attached to him again,
flinging the remembrance of his exploit behind me,
though it was an abominable thing.

The Thirty-fifth Assembly, Called “of Shiraz.”

“OF SHIRAZ.”

This composition is in the style of the eighth and the earlier part
of the twenty-ninth Assembly. Abt Zayd describes, in 2 company
of distinguished men of literary tastes in Shiraz, where Harith has
met them, a wine-cask metaphorically under the simile of a maiden,
for whom, as he tells the people, he desires to purchase wedding
attire. They give him money, and it turns out that by the wedding
attire is meant a flagon and a cup, which were necessary to wed
as it were the wine-cask to the drmker. The allegory may have
been suggested by the circumstance that the scene of the event is
Shiraz, a city celebrated for its wine, or rather for the manufacture
of a peculiar kind of wine-flagons, which on account of their exquisite
workmanship are used in preference to others for presenting in the’
wines of superior quality.

Al Harith, son of Hammam, narrated : In my roamings I met in Shiraz with an Assembly, who invited the
passer-by to stay, even if he should be in haste, and [
was unable to tear myself away from them, and my foot
would not move to step past them, for I inclined to
them, so that 1 might test their intrinsic worth and see
how their fruit would be from their blossom. Now
they proved to be select people, and he who inclined to
them was profited, and while we were engaged in talk
pleasanter than the songs of birds and more delightful
than the milk of grapes, there entered our midst a man
in two tattered pieces of clothing who had wellnigh

reached the two terms of life. He greeted us with

glib tongue, and expressed himself in the delivery of
the eloquent ; then he sat down as one joining in the
assembly, with his hands round his knees, and said :
*Q Allah, let us be of the rightly guided.” Now the
people made little of him, on account of his ragged
attire, forgetting that they would have to reckon with
the two things smallest in him (his tongue and heart),
and they began to bandy between them the chapter of
rhetoric, counting its alots as common wood, but he
vouchsafed not a word, nor declared himself by any
sign until he had probed their intellectual powers, and
knew who of them made rise the scale and who weighed
it down. But when he had brought to light their
buried treasures and exhausted their quivers, he said:
“Q ye people, if you had known that behind the plug
there is pure wine you would not have slighted a bearer
of tattered garments, but asked what parts he possesses.”
Then he let flow of the springs of learning, and of
choice sayings that whereby he drew forth marvels of
wonderment and which was worthy to be written in
fluid gold ; and when he had captivated all their senses,
and made every heart turn to him, he stirred fortaking
his departure, and made ready to go. But the company
clung to him and barred the course of his progress,
saying: “We have just seen the sign of thy arrow,
now make known to us the shell of thy egg and its
yolk.” Then he was silent with the silence of one
choked by tears, whereupon he wailed so that he was
pitied by all. Said the narrator : Now when I saw the
mixture and tinge of Abii Zayd, and his wonted ways
and manners of proceeding, I looked hard at the old

an, with all his defacement of countenance and ful‘THIRTY-FIFTH ASSEMBLY 73

someness, and lo! it was he himself. But I concealed
his secret, as an internal disease is concealed, and
veiled his cunning scheme, although he did not think
so, until when he ceased wailing, he blinked at me with
an eye full of laughter, whereupon he began to indite
with the tongue of one who shams tearfulness:

“T crave Allah’s forgiveness, humbling myself, for all the sins
whose heavy load burdens me.

O folks, how many olden maids kept at home, though in assemblies
were their virtues praised about

Have I cut down not fearing from any heir that might revenge
them on me or claim a fine.

And when the sin thereof was laid at my door, I boldly cleared
myself and said: fate it was.

And never stopped my soul its headlong career in cutting damsels
down, and kept going stray,

Till hoariness shone on the crown of my head and checked me
from performing such evil deeds.

So since my temples have turned grey never shed I any more a
maiden’s blood, old or young,

But now I rear, in spite of what may be seen of my condition and
of my slacking trade,

A lass who for a long time has stayed at home, sheltered and
veiled carefully from air itself.

And she in spite of being thus kept recluse, has wooers for her
comeliness and pleasingness.

But for her outfit, at the least, I can’t do without a hundred,
though I try as I may,

While in my hand there is not one silver coin, the ground is empty
and the sky yields no rain.

Now is one here to help me that I may wed her amidst the
singing-girls’ cheering strain,

Then let him wash my grief with its proper soap and cleanse my
heart from sorrows that worry me,

That he ay cull my praises, whose fragrancy will only cease to
breathe when man prays in vain.”

Said the narrator: Then there was none left in the
company but his palm opened to him and his kindness
reached him, and when his wish had proved successful

and his hundred’ was completed, he praised them as
beseems the upright, and tucked up his skirt for
departure. But I followed him, wishing to learn who
was the foster-daughter of his chamber and whom he
had cut down in his early life, and it was as if the
swiftness of my rising had made him aware of my
intention, for he approached me and said: ‘“ Hearken
to me, i

*¢Ontting down’ means with one hke me ‘thinning the wine’
not, O friend, with the lance or sword killing a man.

And the maid, kept at home with me, means the daughter of the
grape-tree, not virgin of high descent [extraction].

And to wed her to cup and flask was the errand, which thou
saw’st me mtent upon when I joined you.

Understand then what I have said, and decide on kind forbearance, if so thy will, or rebuking.”

Then he said: “I am quarrelsome and thou art fainthearted, so there is a wide gulf between us.” There-
upon he bade me farewell, and went away, making me
send after him more than one glance of loving affection.

The Thirty-sixth Assembly, Called “of Maltiyah.”

“OF MALTIYAH.”

In this Assembly Abii Zayd proposes twenty riddles or conundrums of a particular kind, and all of the same form, which consists
in finding a word resembling a given short sentence in such a
manner, that its component parts are synonymous with the members
of the phrase in question. The introduction to the Assembly itself
adduces ag an instance the query, what is hke an-naum fat, Sleep
has departed, to which the answer would be al-kardmdi, pl. of
kardmak in the sense of “wonder,” “ iracle,” because the initial
part of the word, al-kard, eans “slumber,” and the final syllable,
mdt, signifies “is dead.” The English reader of this translation will
not be worse off than Abii Zayd’s Arabic audience, for the author
gives no solution in the body of the Assembly, leaving ita discovery
to the ingenuity of the listener, but if his curiosity and interest

are roused by the quaini form of the questions and the lively style
in which they are introduced, he will find at the cost of small
trouble amusement as well as linguistic instruction in the short
commentary, which Hariri himself has attached to this composition,

Al Harith, son of Hammam, related: I made my
camel of foreign travel kneel down at Maltiyah, and
my pouch was at that time well filled with coin. So I
made it my wont, when I had deposed there my staff,
to frequent the places of entertainment and to hunt
after rare pleasures, so that nothing escaped me worthy
to be seen or heard, and no play-ground or resort of
enjoyment was left unvisited by me, until, when I had
no further business there, and no desire for longer
stay, I resolved to expend my remaining gold in buying
travelling gear. Now when I had completed my preparations, and was ready for departure, or all but ready,
T saw a group of nine people, who had purchased some
wine, wherewith they had ascended a hillock, and their
winning manners captivated men’s eyes, while their
pleasantry was sweet-spoken, Therefore I wended
towards them from a wish to join in their conversation,
not in their drinking-bout, and from eagerness to mix
with them, not to taste the contents of their tumblers.
Now when I had become the tenth in their string, and
a companion in their forenoon meeting, I found them
to be a medley assemblage thrown together from the
deserts, though the woof of literary culture united
them as with the union of relationship, and matched
them in their ranks, so that they shone like the
luminaries of the Twins, and appeared as a community
whose members are of one kindred. So I rejoiced at
having been guided to them, and praised the lucky star

that had made me light upon them, beginning to shake
my arrow together with their arrows, and to solace
myself with the perfume of their refinement, not with
that of their wine, until the branch-roads of discussion
led us to the proposing of riddles, as if thou sayst,
intending thereby al-kardmat, what is like “ al-naum
fot” (sleep has departed), which may be expressed by
“ ql-karaé mt” (slumber is dead), whereupon we began
to display both Sohd (the smallest star in the Bear)
and the moon, and to cull both the thorn and the
fruit, and while we were spreading out the fresh and
the old, and drawing from [fishing out of] the pot the
fat and the lean, an old man intruded upon us, whose
bloom of complexion and beauty of form had gone,
while knowledge and experience remained with him.
Then he stood as one who listens and observes, picking
up what we were scattering, until the purses were
empty and it became obvious that no more was to be
hoped for. Now when he saw the flagging of their
powers [faculties], and that both he who drew water
from the top of the well, and he who drew it from the
bottom, were equally baffled, he gathered his skirts
together, and turned his back on us, saying: “Not
everything black is a date, nor is everything ruddy
wine.” Then we clung to him as the chameleon clings
to the trees, and blocked his progress as with bars,
saying to him: “The cure of a rent is to stitch it, and
if not, then retaliation! retaliation! So hope not to
wound while thou art safe, and to make bleed the gash
while thou goest scot-free.” Then he turned his bridle,
sitting down in his place for a good stay, and said:
“Since you have challenged me to discussion, I shall

give the judgment of Solomon in the matter of the
sown field. Know, ye owners of literary accomplishments and golden coloured wine, that the proposing of
riddles is for the purpose of testing the quickness of
wit and bringing out its hidden treasures, under the
condition, that they are founded on a real resemblance
and contain meaning words, and some scholarly nicety.
For if they are of a style different from this they are
refuse [worthless], and not to be put into the casket [as
something worthy to be preserved], and I noticed that
your definitions kept not within these limits, and distinguished not between the acceptable and the objection-
able.” We said to him: “Thou art right, and hast
spoken the truth. But measure out to us somewhat
from thy select store, and pour upon us from thy main
sea” [ocean]. Said he: “I will do so in a manner
that those who failed may not doubt, nor look at me
with suspicion.” Then he turned to the foremost of the
people, and said:

1 O thou who excels in sharpness, who strikes the fire-sticks of
Wnt is it that likens saying: ‘hunger is cheered by provisions’?

Then he smiled to the second, and indited:

2. “0 an of surpassing honour, unsullied by any baseness,

What is if one in riddlng would say. ‘a back looked kance
at , id ”
Then he glanced at the third, saying:

3. “O thou, the children of whose thought resemble coin of ready
   course,

What is like saying to a man thou pliest with riddles; ‘he met
a gift’?

Then he stretched his neck towards the fourth, and

said:

4. “O thou who solvest what is intricate of riddles and enigmas,
   Reveal to me that which resembles to ‘take a thousand gold

coins’ 7”

Then he cast his eye upon the fifth, and said:

5. “O such an one of shrewdest wit, endowed with brightest
   sagacity,

What resembles ‘he neglects adornment’? If rightly guided,
be quick and tell.”

Then he turned in the direction of the sixth, and said:
6. “O thou from whose capacity a rival’s steps stop short by far,
What is lke thy saying to him who joins with thee in riddles:

‘Hold in! hold in?'?”

Then he winked his eyebrows towards the seventh, and

said:

7. *O thou who own’st intellect of brilliancy, in subtleness high
   of rank amongst thy friends,

Explain, and, mind, tell aright in doing so, what saying is similar
to ‘brother fled?”

Then he bade the eighth to listen, and indited:

8 “QO thou whose gardens of excellence are fresh with flowers in
bright array,

What is like telling the sharp of wit in solving riddles ‘he chose
not silver’ 4”

Then he cast a glance upon the ninth, and said:

9. “O thou to whom they point for a mind of ready wit and for
   eloquence,

Expound to us, what is like the speech of the riddler: ‘tread
upon the crowd’ ?”
Said the narrator: Now when he came at last to me, he
patted me on the shoulder saying :

10. “OQ thou possessed of subtleties to baffle sore and floor
    opponents,

Thou inakest clear, so tell us what is like my saying. “be still,
my uncle’?”

Then he said: “I have watered you’and allowed you
time, and if you want me to let you have another
draught, [ let you have it.” So the brunt [heat] of
thirst drove us to ask for a second drink. Whereupon
he said: “I am not like one who from selfishness stints
his boon-companions, nor of those whose fat remains
in their own dish.” Then he returned to the first, and
said ;

11. “O thou whose sharpness unfolds a riddle [unties a ticklish

knot], however tight,
Tf one propose as a riddle, ‘take this,’ say true what is like it.”

Then he bent his neck towards the second, and said :

12. “O thou whose eloquence appears clear from his skill in
    explanation,

What is as if people would say: ‘an onager has been decked
out’ 9”
Then he blinked towards the third, and said :

13, “O thou who in sagacity and sharpness art like Asmat,

What is like saying by way of riddle: ‘spend lavishly, thou conquerest then ’ 7”

Then he looked sharp at the fourth, and indited :

14 “O thou who if knotty questions arise enlightens their
darkness,

‘What is it that likens saying: ‘sniff in the perfume of grape
wine’ 4”

Then he ogled the fifth, and said:

15. “O thou whose intellect lets him not give way to anxious
    thoughts and doubt,

What resembles saying to a man expert in riddles: ‘shield the
ruined ' 4”
Then he stepped in front of the sixth, and indited :

16. “O thou endowed with sagacity in which thy perfect worth
    appears,

The saying, ‘he travelled awhile at night,’ say what a thing is
like to it.”

Then he turned “his glance towards the seventh, and
said :

17. ©O thou whose wit, brisk of market, gives thee adornment
    and honour,

Say, for thou art able to tell us, what word is hke ‘love a
coward ’ ”
Then he looked in the direction of the eighth, and
said :

18. “O thou who in fame hast reached a height surpassing every
    height by far,

What resembles, tell us, saying: ‘give a crook [crutch] deprived
of the handle-part’ ?”
Then he smiled to the ninth, and said :

19, “Othou who hold’st undoubtedly fine judgment and elocution,
What is like saying to the skilled in solving nddles: ‘I own the
bullock * 9”
Then he clutched my sleeve, and said :

20. “O thou who hast penetrating sharpness of wit in solving
    intricate question, bright as a star,

What is resembling the saying: ‘whiz of a muzzle’? Explain so
that thy expounding renders it clear.”

Said Al Harith, son of Hamm&m: Now when he had
delighted us with what we had heard, and challenged
us to disclose its meaning, we answered : “ We are not
of the horses of this racecourse, and our hands are not
equal to untying these knots ; so if thou wilt explain,
thou conferrest a favour, and if thou wilt keep it
hidden, thou inflictest grief.” Then he consulted his
mind for and against and shook both his arrows (of
consent or refusal), until he was pleased to vouchsafe
the bounty, coming forward to the company, and
saying : “O ye people of eloquence and distinction, I
will forthwith make known to you that which you
know not, and thought not you would ever know, so

fasten upon it your vessels and freshén therewith the
assemblies.” Then he began an explanation which
furbished the intellects, and withal emptied the sleeves
(breast pockets), until the understandings became
brighter than the sun, and the pockets as if yesterday
they had not been rich. Now when he bethought himself of departure, he was asked about his abode. Then
he sighed as sigheth the bereft mother, and said :

“Each mountain-path is path for me, and umple is my dwelling

there,
Save that for Sertj town my heart is crazed with longing, mad

with love.
She is my virgin land from whence my erewhile youthful breeze

has sprung,
And for her mead so rich of growth above all meads I fondly

yearn. .
Afar from her no sweet is sweet to e, delightful no delight.”

Concluded the narrator his tale: Thereupon I said to
my companions, “ This is Aba Zayd, the Serfji, whose
riddles are the least of his elegancies,” and I began to
desery to them the beauty of his diction, and the
obedience of speech to his will, Then I turned round,
and lo! he had leaped up, and was gone with what he
had gained. So we wondered at his performance, when
he had fallen in our midst, and knew not whither he
had wended and swerved.

EXPLANATION OF THE RIDDLES.

1. Hunger is cheered by provisions (j0 umidd brzdd) resembles
   tawdmtr, pl. of zdmur, books, rolls, scrolls (= tawd, hunger, + mir,
   pass. of mdr, has been provided for).

2. A back (which 1s) looked askance at (gahr asdbathu ‘amn) resembles
   maza'in, pl. of mag'’dn, pierced with a lance (= mafd, back, + ‘tn,
   pass. of ‘dn, is struck by the evil eye).

3. He met a goft (sddaf jd'izah) resembles al-fasilah, fe . of al-fasil,
   what separates two things (= a/f4, he found, + silah, a gift),

VOL. IL 6

4, Take a thousand gold coins (tandwal alf dindr) resembles hddiyah,
fem. of Addt, one who guides aright (= 4, take, + diyah, fine for
bloodshed which amounts to 1,000 dinérs).

5, He neglects adornment (ahmal hilyah) resembles al-ghdshyah, a
saddle-cloth (= alghd, he disregarded, + shiyah, finery).

6 Hold m! hold mn! (ukfuf, ulfuf) resembles mahinah, a desert
(= mah, stop, repeated for the sake of emphasis).

. Brother fied (ash-shagtg aflat) resembles akhtdr, pl. of khatar,
dangers (= akh, brother, + tdr, he flew, took to flight).

8. He chose not silver (md akhtér fizeah (resembles abdrigah, pl. of
   tbrig, pitchers (= abd, he refused, + r1gah, e silver coin).

9. Tread upon a crowd (das yamd'ah) resembles tdfyah, fem of
   aft, what floats on the water (= id, for ta’, imp. of wata’, tread
   under foot, trample upon, + fiyah, tor fi'ah, a troup of men).

10. Be still my uncle (khalt uskut) resembles khdhsah, fem. of
    khdliz, pure, sincere (=khdi, apocopated vocative of khdlt, my
    maternal uncle, + sah, hush ‘).

ll. Take thes (khus tilk) resembles hditk, this woman (= Ad, take,
as in the 4th riddle, + ik, fem. of 2dé, thus).

12. An onager has been decked out (himér wahsh z2in) resembles
    Sarasin, pl. of firzdn, Queens in chess (= fird, wild ass, + 2in, pass.
    of zdn, he was adorned),

13. Spend lavishly, thou conquerest then (mfag tagma’) resembles
    muntugim, one who avenges himself (= mun, imp of mdn, spend
    on provisions, + tagum, aor. of wagam, thou subduest).

14, Snoff in the perfume of grape-wine (istanshi rth muddmah) rese bles rahrdh, vast, wide, ample (= rah, imp. of réh, smell, + rah,
one of the names of wine).

15, Shield the ruined (ghatti halkd) resembles sunbdr, an isolated
palm-tree, a word also of various meanings (= sum, imp. of sdn,
shelter, protect, preserve, + dir, pl. of dd’ur, doomed to destruction).

16. He travelled a while at night (sar bil-lasl muddah) resembles
    sarahin, pl. of sirhdn, wolves (= sard, he fared at night, + hin, ti e).

17. Love a coward (ohbab fardgah) rese bles migid’, a sling (= mig,
    imp. of wamiy, be m love with, + 1, ti id, pusillanimous).

18. Give a crock deprived of the handle-part (a'ts ibrtg yalip bighaw
    “urwah) resembles uskéb, flowing, shed (= us, imp. of ds, bestow,

• kdb, a mug without handle).

19. I own the bullock (as-saur milkt) resembles al-ladlt, pl. of u’lu’,
    the pearls (= al-la’d, the wild ox, + 12, to me, mine).

20. Whiz of a muzzle (safir jakfalah) resembles mukdshafah, uncovering, disclosing (= mukd, a whistling sound, produced by blowmg
    into one’s band, + shafah, lip).

The Thirty-seventh Assembly, Called “of Sa‘dah.”

“QF SA‘DAH.”

In Satdah, one of the chief towns of Yemen, Al Harith has contracted an intimacy with the Kadi of the place, whom he occasion-
ally assists in the decision of law cases, One day an old man
presents himself before them, complaining bitterly of the untractableness and disobedience of his son. The youth retorts, that his
father urges him to beg, although he had formerly strongly impressed
him with the ignommy of the practice, in support of which he
quotes some verses that his father had taught him on the subject.
The latter rejoins that necessity knows no law, and recites on his
part some lines of the boy’s composition, to the effect, that rather
than meekly to submit to poverty a needy man should appeal to the
liberality of the wealthy. Thus placed on the horns of a dilemma,
the youth sullenly disclaims the use of any such appeal, when
munificence is no longer to be found in the world. This stings the
Kadi, who belongs to the tribe of Temim, renowned for their
generous disposition, into bestowing a bounty on them, and they
Jeave the court together, the father well pleased with his booty, the
son simulating earnest remorsefulness, Harith, whose instinct had
told him that the apparent excessive decrepitude of the old man is
only a blind, follows and overtakes them, and a cordial recognition
takes place between him and Abi Zayd, who, however, soon
manages to give him the slip, so as to escape all further inquiries,

Al Harith, son of Hammam, related : I had travelled
up to Sa‘dah, at a time when I was straight of stature
like a spear-shaft and of vigour that outstripped the
daughters of Sa'dah (the young of the onager or ostrich).
Now when I had seen its freshness and fed [my looks]
on her meads, I inquired from the most knowing of its
informants, whom of lordly persons and mines of
excellence it contained, so that I might take him for
a beacon-light (ember) in times of darkness, and my
tower of strength in days of oppression, Then there
was pointed out to me a Kadi, wide of range [in
generosity], easy in his circumstances, a Temimi in

descent and disposition. So I ceased not seeking
approach to him by respectful attendance, at the same
time making myself valuable to him by being chary in
visiting, until I became the echo of his voice, and the
Salm4n of his household, and while gathering his honey
and inhaling the fragrance of his bay-tree, I used to
witness the contentions of litigant parties and to mediate
between the unoffending of them and the offender.
Now when the Kadi was sitting to give judgment on
a day of flocking together and crowding, lo! there
entered an old man, in plumage worse for the wear,
of shaky appearance, who looked at the throng with
the sharp look of the money-sifter. Then he stated
that he had an unmanageable adversary, and it was
not but as the scintillating of a spark or the intimation
of a beckoning finger, that a lad was put in presence
[bold] as though he were a lion. Said the old man:
“May Allah help the Kadi, and preserve him from
[ever becoming guilty of] connivance! behold this my
son, like a bad reed-pen or a rusty sword, ignores the
predicaments of equity, and suckles the teats of contravention [contradiction, opposition, gainsaying], When
I advanced, he drew back, when I spoke plain, he
shuffled in his speech, when I kindled a fire, he put it
out, and when I roasted, he scattered ashes, although I
had reared him since he first crawled until he was a
youth; and was to bim the kindest of trainers and
educators.” Then the Kadi made much of [put great
stress upon] his complaint, and those around him were
amazed at it [as at a case of grave concern]. Thereupon
he said: “I protest that disobedience in children is’
one bereavement of twain, and that many an instance

of infertility keeps the eye cooler.” Said the boy whom
this speech had incensed: “By Him who has set up
judges for the sake of justice, and possessed them of
the reins of preferment and discrimination, forsooth, he
never prayed, but I said Amen, and he never made a
claim, but I maintained its truth, he never said
‘ labbaika,’ but I donned the pilgrim’s cloak, and he
never struck fire, but I gave sparks, in spite of his
being like one who craves for the eggs of the cockhawk, and wants the camels to fly.” Then the Kadi
said to him: “ Wherewith then used he to vex thee
and to try thy obedience?” He said: “Ever since
his substance has gone, and he has been visited with
penury, he urges me to roll about my tongue in
begging, and to ask rain from the clouds of bounty,
so that his draught, which was dried up, might flow
afresh in abundance, and what was broken in his
fortunes might be set again. Yet when he had first
taken me into schooling, and tanght me culture of
mind, he imbued my heart with the notion, that
inordinate desire is a thing to be blamed, and covetous_ ness worthy of rebuke, that greed breeds indigestion,
and begging is a reproach. Then he inditéd to me,
straight from the parting of his lips, with all the polish
of his verse :

“« Content thyself with scanty means, giving thanks therefor, like
one who recks the little mighty much.

Shun greediness, that never fails lowering the worth of any wight
who may take to it.

Fend thy fair fame and shield it with jealous care, as with a
frown the lion would fend his mane.

Bear thou with patience, and forbear, poverty, aa lords of holy
purpose bore patiently ;

Spill not the water of thy face even if he whom thou beg’st from
spends on thee gifts galore.

For free 18 he, who ifa ote hurts his eye conceals the mote from
even his pupils twain,

And if his whilom gold-stuff has gone to rags sees not his way by
begging to fret his cheeks.’”
Then the old man contracted his brows and scowled at
his son, and rushed upon him and growled, saying:
“Hush! © thou disobedient one, O thou who art
choking and stifling me! Woe betide thee, wilt thou
teach thy mother how to copulate, and thy nurse how
to give thee suck? forsooth, the scorpion has rubbed
himself against the snake, and the weanlings have
coursed along with the stallions.” Then it was as if he
repented of what had escaped his mouth, and affection
led him to conciliate the boy, for he looked at him with
the eye of the fondly disposed, and lowered to him the
wing of the kindly, saying: “Alas! dear son, those
who are bidden to be contented, and chidden from
self-abasement are the owners of merchandise, and the
workers for gain through handicraft, but as for those
who are possessed of needs, an exception is made in
their behalf with regard to matters prohibited. And
granted thou wast ignorant of this interpretation, and
it has not reached thee what has been said [on this
point], wast not thou he who opposed his father in what
he said, not revering him: