Part 16

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 mold 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 quarreling 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 knave 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 I 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, 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 naught 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 god-fearing?" 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 denars, on condition that I take on 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 Serujis: and I delayed until the stars of the darkness glittered, and the knots of the crowd dispersed: and then I sought the Governor's courtyard; and lo! the old man guarding the youth. And I adjured him by God to say whether he was Abu 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 daybreak 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, and 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 when love blinded his eye, 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 seeks to make a prey becomes a prey himself, and meets with naught 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 piecemeal, and cared not whether he blamed or pardoned me.

THE ELEVENTH ASSEMBLY

(CALLED "OF SAWEH")[26]

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 moldering remains, I saw an assemblage over a grave that had been dug, and a corpse that was being buried. So 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 sepulchered 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 yet 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 mold 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 at the eye 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 is set toward 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 molders, 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 counseleth 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.

It 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 molder.

And afterward there is no escape from that review of souls: since Sirat 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 is he who bridleth 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 loss, 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, friends, and shown as one who 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, on 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 lo! it was our old Abu Zayd, in his very self, and in all his deceit: and I said to him,

How many, Abu 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")[27]

Al Harith, son of Hammam, related: I journeyed from Irak to the Ghutah; and then was I master of haltered steeds and envied wealth. Freedom of arm called me to diversion, fulness 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 describe 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 travelers 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 travelers were bewildered, and they assembled at the gate of Jayrun 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 demeanor was as the demeanor 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 the 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 I 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 his 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 cut 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 moldering 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 crafts of the crafty, from the treacheries of the treacherous; and deliver me, O God, from the wrongfulness of neighbors and the neighborhood 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 honor 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 the 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 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-colored dress amid casks and wine-vats; and about him were cup-bearers 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 yesterday, I said to him, Woe to thee, accursed! hast thou forgotten the day at the Jayrun? But he laughed heartily, and then indited charmingly:

I cling to journeying, I cross deserts, I loathe pride that I may cull joy:

And 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 utter its elegancies;

Nor would my craft have lured the travelers to the land of Irak, 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 well-filled 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;