The other rejoined: “I shot an arrow at a gazelle one day. The gazelle veered to the right, and the arrow followed it. Then the gazelle swerved to the left, and the arrow swerved after it. The gazelle ran on to high ground, and the arrow flew up behind it. So the gazelle came down again. And then the arrow swooped down on it and struck it.”
From Al-Mubarrad, Al-Kamil fi ʾl-Adab wa ʾl-Lugha, ed. Muhammad Abu ʾl-Fadl Ibrahim and al-Sayyid Shihata (Cairo: Dar Nahdat Misr, n.d.), vol. 2: 300.
1. Abu ʾl-ʿAmaythal was a minor poet and philologist in Baghdad in the third century A.H and early ninth century C.E.
74
The Story of Tamim al-Dari
Praise be to God, source of all gifts, and may God bless and bring peace upon our master of the gorgeous face, Muhammad. This is the story of Tamim al-Dari and what happened to him with the jinn and others:
ʿAbdullah bin ʿAbbas told us that when sitting with Amir al Muʾminin [Prince of the Faithful], ʿUmar ibn al Khattab, may God bless him, an Ansari woman came in and said: “My husband has been away for the past seven years, without any news from him. Will you allow me to get married?” “Complete the ʿudda1 for the deceased for four months and ten days,” was the amir’s answer. She then went away until the end of the ʿudda period, after which time she came back and advised the amir of what she had done. ʿUmar looked around at those in his majlis [court] and said: “Muslims, who of you is willing to marry this woman, while I bear her dowry, for an amount of one hundred dirhams from the Muslims’ treasury?” A man stood up and said: “I will marry her.” ʿUmar then married them and paid her dowry. She then took the man to her house to do what women usually do. She waited for him until he came to her after the evening prayer. She welcomed him and had intimate relations with him for an hour’s time, after which she went out to the washroom for a necessity, with the intention of coming back to him. At that moment a man, as tall as a great palm tree, interrupted her progress and said: “Peace be upon thee, So-and-so.” “Peace be upon thee,” she answered, “and may God protect me from you—who are you?” “How is it you ask God’s protection, while I am your cousin and husband?” the man asked in astonishment. “The man you are speaking of,” she said, “has been away for the last seven years, and I have no news from him.” The argument between the two was long and full, as Ibn ʿAbbas has narrated. Having heard all the argument, the Ansari man went out to them and said to his bride: “To whom are you talking?” Here Tamim answered him, “But, who are you, and what has brought you to my house?” “This is my wife,” the Ansari man said. “I was married to her by Amir al Muʾminin, ʿUmar ibn al Khattab, may God bless him.” “No, this is my wife,” Tamim immediately replied. “I was married to her by the Prophet of God, may God bless him.” As the argument between them continued, the woman said: “Let us all be separated until tomorrow morning. Then we will go to the majlis and see what will be decided for us. Both men agreed that what she said was right.
The storyteller said:
When the next morning dawned and spread its light, they came to Amir al Muʾminin, ʿUmar ibn al Khattab, and stood in front of him.
“What is the news?” the amir asked.
Tamim al-Dari answered him in protest, “How is it you marry off my wife while I am still alive?”
ʿUmar, may God bless him, said, “Have you ever seen a man who absents himself from his wife without sending her daily expenses?”
“I was not above the earth,” Tamim answered, “I was below the earth, with the jinn, and I am telling you the truth.”
While they were talking, Imam ʿAli Ibn Abi Taleb, may God bless him, came in and Amir al Muʾminin, ʿUmar ibn al Khattab, stood up and seated Imam ʿAli beside him. When Imam ʿAli saw Tamim, he recognized him and stood up to welcome him. Imam ʿAli said to Tamim, “My cousin and beloved Muhammad, may God bless him, told us that you would see amazing things no one else had ever seen. Please tell us in full about what you have seen.”
“Your wish is my command, Imam,” Tamim said. “I confide to you that one of those nights I was with my wife, doing together what men and women usually do. I said to her, ‘Fetch me some water to wash up before I go to sleep, for I have heard God’s Messenger, may God bless him, saying, “No one may sleep in his bed before washing after sex.” ’ She went off and fetched the water. As it was completely dark, I said to her, ‘Do remain with me and keep me company.’ ‘You are afraid of darkness,’ she said, ‘but not afraid of heroes in battles?’ Then she said, laughing: ‘Take him!’
“At that moment I felt a man, as tall as a high palm tree, carrying me and flying in the air; then he put me down on the fifth earth. There I saw that all its inhabitants were Magians, worshipping fire instead of the Great Lord. I stayed with them for two years, during which time I heard no one attesting that God Almighty is the only one God.
“One day I heard a great turmoil; it was the son of the king of the jinn invading the whole island. He killed a huge number of them, God only knows how many, and took seventy thousand as prisoners, including me. As they brought me to him, I said, ‘No God but He.’ When the king heard me say this, he asked me, ‘Who are you, to which nation do you belong, and who brought you to this island?’ I stood up and told him my story. He then took me with him, and I started teaching his children the Holy Quran. He took care of me himself and never left me for a moment. One day I remembered my folks and wept. ‘What makes you weep?’ he asked. ‘I have remembered my folks,’ was my answer. ‘Between you and your folks,’ he said, ‘there are mountains, sands, and wilderness inhabited by no human being.’ When I heard this I wept even more. So he said, ‘I have someone who can take you to your folks.’ Then he took me to a cave, where we saw a very ugly afreet, whose eyes were slit. The king looked at him and said, ‘What about someone who can rid you of your chains if you take him to his folks?’ ‘Your wish is my command,’ he responded. The king looked at me and said, ‘I know that if you ride him, you must say, “You who are wise, just, and generous, O lord of the great throne, keep me safe from all bad incidents, you who are capable of everything.” Then the king looked at the afreet and rid him of his chains. He immediately carried me and flew in the air, so I recited what the king had told me. At that moment I heard an angel reading verses from the Quranic chapter “Al-Saffat” [chap. 37]. A comet then burned the afreet and I fell into a green sea. Then a bird jumped on me, gave me water from its beak, saying, ‘May God bless you.’ I went up to an island, where I spent forty days. While contemplating my condition I saw an animal grazing in the middle of the island. It asked me to come near, so I did and rode it. It went to a monastery, where there was a monk. He came out to meet me and said, ‘What is your need and to which nation do you belong?’ ‘To the nation of Muhammad, may God bless him,’ I said, and narrated my story to him. ‘Good people they are,’ he said. So I talked to him and asked, ‘How long have you been in this place?’ ‘Five hundred years,’ he said. ‘I am one of the disciples of Jesus, may God bless him.’ ‘But where do you get your food and clothes from?’ I asked. ‘I eat from the valley’s fruit,’ he answered, ‘and every year an Indian ship, full of merchandise, anchors at the island. The merchant comes up carrying a woolen cloak and a headdress made of hair that he gives me as fulfillment of a vow, and goes away.’ While we were talking, a ship came near and anchored at the island, and the merchant came up carrying what has been mentioned. When he saw the monk, he knelt and kissed his hand and gave him what was with him and made to go back to the ship. The monk asked, ‘Would you please carry this man to the city of Muhammad, may God bless him, so you may be blessed?’ ‘Your wish is my command,’ he answered. The merchant then took me with him to the ship and we spent the night at the island. When the morning spread its light all around, the sails were unfolded and we set out on our voyage, having good wind for three days, until the afternoon of the fourth day, when a strong wind blew and destroyed the ship. Everybody was drowned except me. After two days I landed on an island with fruit
and rivers, where I stayed for some days. There was a kind of plant that looked like moons, with a protrusion that looked like the mouth of a sheep. I wandered and walked for two days, until I came to a town that was full of buildings and had no wall or gate, no king or vizier. There I spent one night, then walked for two more days, until I saw a cave. As I went in, I found that its floor was spread with pearls and coral. So I collected a lot of it, saying to myself, ‘The ship was destroyed for my good fortune.’ At this moment a voice said, ‘Drop what you have, or you will die.’ When I turned, I saw a young man sitting on a carpet, and I asked him, ‘Who are you?’ He said, ‘Beyond you’ll find he who will tell you about me and about others.’ So I left him and walked for two days, until I came to a great palace, with its gate open. I went in and I saw an afreet sitting on an iron chair. He asked me, ‘Are you hungry?’ ‘Yes,’ I said. So he offered me a great table of food, and I ate until I was full. The afreet then turned to me and said, ‘If you satisfy my need, I shall take you to your folks.’ ‘What is your need?’ I asked. He then took out four nuts of lead, gave me two, and said, ‘Stand up and take me out of this palace.’ We came to another palace, where there was a great lion. I approached him with the afreet, who threw one nut at him. The lion ran away from the afreet, who threw the other at the door [which broke open]. So we went in, where we saw a cot of ivory and ebony, with a bed of colored silk, on which a young man was sleeping and on whose finger was a ring of red rubies, from whose light the moon was lit. Above his head was a black snake, and beneath his feet a red snake. I marveled at what I saw, then the afreet turned to me and said, ‘Citizen of al-Madinah, if I fall dead, knock me with one nut, and I shall immediately get up alive.’ ‘Your wish is my command,’ I said. The afreet went forward to take the ring. The snake beside the young man’s head jumped and struck him, and he fell dead. So I knocked him with one of the nuts I had, and he immediately stood up and went forward to take the ring. The snake beside the young man’s feet jumped and struck him, and he fell dead. I knocked him with the second nut, and he immediately stood up alive and said, ‘Citizen of al-Madinah, that is why I made you my friend.’ Then he walked with caution and went to take the ring. He was immediately turned into a heap of ashes. I was scared and ran away and went back to the first palace. There I saw a human female slave, who said, ‘What has God done with the afreet?’ ‘He was turned into a heap of ashes,’ I said. ‘May God not pardon him nor have mercy on him,’ she said. Then I asked her, ‘Who are you, who brought you here, and who put you in this palace?’ ‘I am the daughter of the king of al-Andalus,’ she said. ‘That cursed one kidnapped me from the roof of my palace while my mother was combing my hair, and he brought me to this place, where I have no way back to my folks. I gave birth to two children by him; one died, and the other is still alive.’ When I heard this, I cried. ‘What makes you cry?’ she asked. ‘I remembered my folks,’ I said. ‘Between you and your folks,’ she said, ‘there are sands and wilderness that you have no power to pass through.’ Hearing that, I cried even more. ‘Don’t cry,’ she said. ‘I have someone who can take you to your folks.’ Then she called, emitting a very high scream. Immediately, a very ugly afreet appeared. ‘What is your need?’ he asked her. ‘I beg you, please,’ she said, ‘do take this man to his folks and country tonight.’ ‘Your wish is my command,’ he answered. Immediately I found myself carried on his shoulders and taken up into the air. When I saw the sea where I was drowned, the afreet threw me on an island, where I saw a left-eyed old man with a trunk like that of an elephant. He called me, but I did not respond and ran away and walked for two days. Then I saw a huge-looking old man, chained under a tree, with both eyes gouged out. As I looked at him, he said to me, ‘To which nation do you belong?’ ‘To the nation of Muhammad, may God bless him.’ I retorted. ‘Has Muhammad’s time come?’ he asked. ‘Yes,’ I said. ‘Come near,’ he said. So I did. Then he asked, ‘Are the people of Muhammad doing their duties?’ ‘Yes,’ I said. ‘Is the Zamzam Spring still there?’ he asked. ‘Yes,’ I said. ‘They are about to go astray, until not a drop of water will remain.’ Then he asked, ‘Have any forbidden acts and great sins been committed?’ ‘Some have,’ I said. He then became very happy and said, ‘Now my time has come.’ Then he screamed once and someone in the garb of a king came and hit him with a rod of iron. He fell heaped like an island. Then I walked for two days, until I came across a high-rising palace whose blocks were alternately of silver and of gold, with an inscription that read: ‘Whoever wishes to come in must say, “No God but He, and Muhammad is His messenger.” ’ When I said this phrase, the door opened. As I entered, I saw curtains of silk, which I lifted, and saw a river, on the bank of which was a table full of food, and I saw people leaning against their swords with blood on them, and they smelled like musk. I also saw two knights [handsome] like moons on white horses, with their heads under the seventh sky and their feet below the lowest earth. I went forward and ate and drank. So they said to me, ‘Drink, for God has protected your body from the inferno. When you reach the man with the green turban, say to him that peace be upon him.’ I walked for two days, until I saw a mosque, where an old man was sitting dressed in green from head to toe. He addressed me, saying, ‘You, who are lost from his people!’ I said, ‘Yes.’ He said, ‘You will find in front of you someone who will guide you to what is good for you.’ Then I left him and walked on and saw another mosque, where a young man was sitting with a turban on his head. I saluted him, and he responded with a salute. Then I saw a spring and a pomegranate tree, whose fruit was as big as watermelons. He said, ‘You are welcome. For years I have been waiting for you.’ Then he gave me a pomegranate, which I ate, and I drank some water, performed my ablutions, and prayed. He then said to me, ‘Look at that mountain. Behind it there are wonders no one except you has ever seen. Go to it, and tell me of whatever you see.’ ‘Your wish is my command,’ I said, and I went there and saw a land as white as shredded cotton. Curious, I proceeded and saw a bitch as big as a mule carrying her pups, which were barking in her belly. I left her and continued on and saw a woman laden with makeup. I saluted her, but she did not respond. Then I went on and saw an old man pulling water from a well and pouring it into a punctured basin from which the water went back to the well. I said to him, ‘It is better if you mend your punctured basin.’ ‘Mind your own business,’ he replied, ‘for he who does not mind his own business will hear what he dislikes.’ Therefore I left him and walked for two days, until I saw an old man who carried on his shoulder a palm tree trunk swaying right and left. I said to him, ‘Put down your load and have an hour’s rest.’ His answer was, ‘Go back to the man with the green turban and ask him about all that you have seen in the mountain and on your way. He will tell you everything.’ Hearing this, I went back to the man with the green turban and told him my story and what I had seen in the mountain and on my way. Then I said, ‘For the sake of God, sir, do tell me about all I have seen.’
So he said, ‘As for the afreet who kidnapped you from your house, his name is Maymoon, the land developer. The place where he brought you is the island of the Magians, who worship fire instead of the Great Lord. As for the one who took you from him, his name is Dahnash ibn Murqan, who disobeyed Suleiman [the Hebrew King Solomon], peace be upon him. The bird who gave you water is called Is-haq, a bird from Paradise. As for the animal on the island, that is the one that comes upon the surface of the earth at the end of time. As for the monk, he is one of the companions of Jesus, may God bless him and give him peace. The ship you embarked on belonged to the king of India, who forbade zakat, so his ship was destroyed. As for the island, it belongs to the nymphs of the sea. Had you not been of the nation of Muhammad, they would have killed you. As for the city full of buildings, it belongs to the people of Yunus [Jonah], may God bless him. The young man in the cave, sitting on the carpet, he is al-Mahdi, who will appear at the end of time. When he comes out, he will not leave a single infidel on the surface of the earth. As for the afree
t who took you out of his palace, he is ʿAflaq, the king of afreets. It is he who had kidnapped from the roof of her palace the daughter of the king of al-Andalus, who gave birth to two of his children, one of whom died and the other is still alive. As for he who carried you from where she was, his name is Sahab. The young man who was sleeping on the cot, with a ring on his finger, is Sulaiman, son of Dawood [the Hebrew King David], may God bless both of them. Had ʿAflaq taken the ring, he would have ruled with it over the king of the jinn. As for the one-eyed man with the trunk, that is the cursed Iblis [Satan], and he stays with his soldiers at the island of Bani Raht. As for the blind man chained under the tree, he is the Wicked Man, who comes out at the end of time, carrying Paradise and a fire. His fire is Paradise and his Paradise is fire. Jesus, may God bless him, will kill him in the land of Syria. As for the palace that you have entered, it is one of the palaces of Paradise. As for those leaning on their swords, with blood on them, they are the conquerors in the course of God. The two knights are Jibril [Gabriel] and Mikhaʾil [Michael], peace be upon them. The young man in the mosque, dressed in green from head to toe, that is al-Khidr, and the young man sitting with a green turban is Ilias, peace be upon him. He is one of the good people and one of God’s messengers. As for the white land, that is God Almighty’s platform, where He judges His creation on doomsday. As for the bitch whose cubs bark inside her, that is the generation of the end of time, when the young do not respect their elders, nor do they command good deeds and prohibit the forbidden. Their child curses his parents. As for the woman with the exaggerated makeup, that is al-Dunia [the world], crying with sorrow at her past life. The person playing at the well, pouring water in the punctured basin, is the man who steals and gives away alms (sadaqa), for it is Satan who takes them from him.’ I wondered at him, ‘O, Imam!’, and I said, ‘Yes. We take a meal every year on the roof of the Kaaba, and the drink that we take comes from the Zamzam Well.’ I asked him, ‘Where do you meet your brother?’ ‘On Mount ʿArafat,’ he said. ‘I take a hair from him and he takes a hair from me; I satisfy my longing for him and he satisfies his for me. God bless he who keeps close to his folks before his death.’ Then he said, ‘So you yearn to go back to your folks?’ ‘Yes,’ I said. ‘Do you know,’ he asked, ‘how many years there are between you and your folks?’ ‘Only God and His messenger know,’ I answered. So he said, ‘There are seventy-three years between you and your folks.’ When I heard what he said, I cried. So he asked, ‘What makes you cry?’ I said, ‘Who may live seventy-three years to be able to reach his folks?’ ‘Don’t worry,’ he said, ‘I shall send someone who can take you to your folks, and, God willing, you will not sleep [tonight] except in your bed.’ I became very happy. While he was talking to me a great cloud passed by and said, ‘Peace be upon you, Prophet of God.’ Al-Khidr answered. ‘Peace be upon you, too, God’s obedient servant. Where are you going to, blessed one?’ ‘To the cities, as you have commanded,’ came the reply. Behind this cloud a small, airy, bright cloud appeared, with an inscription on it: “No God but One, and Muhammad is His messenger.’ She said, ‘Peace be upon you, Prophet of God.’ And al-Khidr answered, ‘Peace be upon you, too, God’s obedient servant. Where are you going to, blessed one?’ ‘To the city of Muhammad, may God bless him, to water them with rain.’ Al-Khidr said to her, ‘Come close to me.’ So the cloud approached until she faced him and spread herself on the ground. He then said to her, ‘This is a man from the nation of Muhammad, may God bless him. He is lost, away from his folks.’ ‘Your wish is my command, sir,’ she said. ‘I shall take him back home, if God wills, and I promise that his heart shall not tremble and his body shall not be chained.’ ‘This is what I request and expect of you,’ he said to her. As he put me on the cloud, I said to him, ‘In God’s name I beg you, give me something that may remind me of you.’ ‘You are most welcome,’ he said. ‘I shall teach you something with which God will make you win the source of life. Say: “My Lord, in your name with which you have defined the sea and the earth, summoned up food, spread protection, brought about heat, and chosen Muhammad, may God bless him, as your prophet and messenger, I beg you to help me on whatever you have granted me. Render me in no need of others, except your generous face, help me obey you as long as I am alive, grant me in my lifetime goodness and in my afterlife goodness, and protect me from fiery punishment.” ’ Then I rode on the cloud, saying, ‘You, Who are capable of doing everything, Who brings back home every stranger, bring me back home.’ Suddenly the cloud threw me on top of my house. When I went down I saw a man there. That is what happened to me.”
Classical Arabic Stories Page 26
