And as if it was not he who had said:
Don’t you see I’m already ninety years plus ten plus seven?
And [our sheikh] asked him, “Are you Abu-Kaʿb?” And when he answered yes, [our sheikh], may God perpetuate his dignity, asked, “How were you forgiven, in spite of the fact that you lived during the time of disobedience when people had no guardian and were unguided to do good deeds?”
And [Zuhayr] answered, “I had an aversion to bad behavior, and I met a forgiving Lord. I had faith in God Almighty, and I saw in a dream a rope dangling from Heaven. Those inhabitants of earth who got hold of it were safe. And I knew it was the command of God. So I told my sons at my deathbed, ‘Should someone call you to worship God, you must obey him.’ Had I been alive at the time of Muhammad, I would have been the first believer. In my poem, at the time of al-Jahilyya and atheism, I said:
Do not hide what lurks inside your souls
For God will verily know it.
It may be postponed for a time, but is recorded
For reckoning on doomsday, and punishment may come fast and hard.”
Al-Khansaʾ and Her Brother Sakhr
(Al-Khansaʾ was the most famous woman poet in classical Arabic literature, who lived part of her life before the advent of Islam and the other part after Islam. She was famous for her elegies on her brother, Sakhr, who was killed in battle before Islam. One of the most famous was her description of him as a mountain whose top is afire. This last image has lived in Arab memory up until now and is used even in conversation.)
At the far end of heaven, [our sheikh] found a woman standing near the exit to Hell. And he said to her, “Who are you?”
“I’m al-Khansaʾ al-Salamiyya,” she answered. “I wanted to have a look at Sakhr, and I saw him tall like a mountain with fire burning around his head. He said to me, ‘What you said about me was right!’ referring to my description of him:
Sakhr is one whom guides ask for guidance
Like a mountain with fire on its peak.”
With al-Hutaiʾa
(Al-Hutaiʾa was a well-known Umayyad poet who was famous for satirical poetry even against himself, as the two lines below show.)
Our sheikh, may God make him happy on all of his paths, went on until, at the very far end of Heaven, he reached what looked like a tiny house of a female slave shepherdess. Inside was a man who did not have the bright appearance of the people of Heaven…. And he said to him, “O, slave of God, are you satisfied with the least of property?”
“By God,” the man answered, “I couldn’t obtain it except after great tumult, sweating, and distress, until Quraish mediated for me. I am al-Hutaiʾa ʾl-ʿAbsi.”
And then our sheikh asked him, “What made them mediate for you?” “It was because I spoke the truth,” the man answered.
“In what?” our sheikh asked.
“In the following lines of verse:
My lips today insisted on uttering ridicule
But I did not know whom I should satirize.
I see my face that God has created ugly
Fie, how ugly it is, and how ugly is its bearer.”
And our sheikh said, “Were you not granted forgiveness for your following verse?”
He who makes good won’t miss its good consequences
Benefaction won’t be lost between God and men.
And al-Hutaiʾa answered, “Other good people have preceded me with something similar. Moreover, I said this, but did not follow it; therefore, I was not given credit for it.”
Iblis and Bashar ibn Burd
(Bashar ibn Burd was a famous poet of Persian origins who lived in both the Umayyad and the Abbasid eras. He was blind and impudently sharp-tongued.)
Our sheikh looked and saw Iblis, may God damn him, chained with fetters and pulled by the angels of punishment. And our sheikh said, “Thank God who has taken you, O enemy of God and His holy men! Of the sons of Adam, you have ruined such a great number that only God might know.”
And Iblis asked, “Who’s this man?”
And our sheikh said, “My name is so and so. I come from Aleppo, and I was a man of letters, with good connections to kings.”
“What a bad profession!” Iblis said. “It only produces a tiny income that is not enough for a family. So many people, like you, have been ruined by it. Congratulations on being safe…. Do tell me, though, how come you were forbidden to drink wine in your worldly life, but are allowed to here, in the afterworld? And do the people of Paradise do with the everlasting boys like the people of Lot?”
Angrily, the sheikh answered, “May God curse you! Aren’t you busy with your suffering now? Haven’t you heard God say [in the Quran]:
They have in it [Paradise]
Immaculate mates, and in it they are everlasting.
“Well, Bashar ibn Burd, unlike other humans, was good to me; I owe him a favor that I owe nobody else among Adam’s children, for he said,
Iblis is better than your father, Adam
Be aware of that, you gang of evildoers.
Fire is his element, while Adam is of clay
And clay cannot be superior to fire!
“He said the truth,” commented our sheikh, “yet the man is still hated.”
No sooner did our sheikh say that, than a man among the punished lot appeared. He would close his eyes so as not to see the revenge that was applied to him, but the punishing angels would force open his eyes with a pair of tongs made of fire. It was Bashar ibn Burd, given two eyes after his blindness, so that he would be able to see his own punishment. And our sheikh, may God keep him in high status, said to him, “O, Abu-Muʿadh, you were good in that you wrote well, but bad in belief. I used to remember some of your poetry and ask God’s mercy for you, hoping that you’d repent. Your following verses are one example:
Go back to where you’ll find peace and harmony
Time has gone by and you are lonely still,
You hope for tomorrow, but tomorrow is like
An expectant woman,
No one can predict what child she’ll beget.
Translated by Bassam Abou-Ghazalah
1. Editor’s note: In my book, The Classical Arabic Story: Genres, History and Influences, ʿAbd al-Wahid Luʾluʾa wrote at length about the close similarity of the Miʿraj story and Dante’s Divina Comedia. Other literary historians think that Dante was influenced by al-Maʿarri’s Epistle of Forgiveness, an observation also alluded to by the Catholic priest and Span-ish scholar of Arabic Miguel Asin Palacios. In his book La Escatología musulmana en la Divina Comedia (Islamic Eschatology in the Divine Comedy), published in 1919, he drew parallels between the Divine Comedy and several Islamic sources he thinks greatly influenced Dante, including Kitab al-Miʿraj and al-Maʿarri’s Risalat al-Ghufran. Facing a tirade of criticism from various groups such as Italian nationalists and religious Christians, he retorted by giving quite a few Islamic sources he believed influenced Dante’s famous poem, insisting that the widely popular Islamic story of al-Miʿraj was a basic influence on the Divine Comedy. The argument continues (see Philip Kennedy, “The Muslim Sources of Dante?” in The Arab Influence in Medieval Europe, ed. Dionisius A. Agius and Richard Hitchcock [London: Ithaca Press, 1996]) and may go on until people abandon national and religious fanaticism and realize that intercultural connections and borrowings have existed throughout literary history and will continue.
2. Yathrib, now called Medina, where the Prophet was at the time of al-Aʿsha’s intended visit.
3. The Prophet’s tribe.
87
From The Adventures of Sayf Ben Dhi Yazan
* * *
AN ARAB FOLK EPIC
The folk epic of Sayf Ben Dhi Yazan, composed sometime between the thirteenth and sixteenth centuries, during the Mamluk period, is based on the story of the sixth-century Yemeni king who fought against the Ethiopian forces occupying the country. He is portrayed in the tale as a Muslim warrior of the time before the advent of Islam who fights successfully against
pagan forces, establishes the dominion of Islam, and is one of the first genuine Arab heroes. We encounter him when he has already established himself as the one destined to lead, successfully undertaken a quest to win the hand of his first love, Shama, daughter of the Ethiopian king Afrah, and foiled numerous attempts by his enemies against him. Here he has just been rescued by his half sister, ʿAqisa, a princess of the jinn, and is being flown home by her to his wife and child over a forbidden island with an enchanted royal garden. This chapter tells of his encounter on the island with his greatest love, the beautiful princess Munyat al-Nufus, and his marriage to her, before he loses her later in the tale and has to undertake a perilous journey to reclaim her:
“ʿAqisa,” King Sayf then said, “the days have passed, and patience is exhausted. I can stay no longer. Take me back now to my land, and to my wife and mother and children.”
“And how can I take you back,” she replied, “to her who every hour seeks to harm you?”
“Sister,” he said, “do me this service, for I can no longer endure to be parted from them.”
“I hear and obey,” said ʿAqisa. Then she rose and, lifting him onto her shoulders, soared up with him into the lofty heavens; and as they flew, all of a sudden there was a sweet and lovely fragrance. “ʿAqisa,” he said.
“Here I am at your service.” she replied.
“What is this fragrance?” he asked.
“Brother,” she said, “do not question me on these matters, but let me rather deliver you to your home and abode.” Then, when still he insisted, she said:
“This is the fragrance of the valley set aside for the enchanted Garden of Delights, fashioned, through their wisdom and secret sciences, by the masters of sorcery and magic. It is called now the Garden of the Wizards, and none may enter it; for the wizards have made it for the use of their daughters, as a place for their recreation, where others may not wander. Should any but the offspring of great kings enter it, the servants bear him off into the wilds and hills and destroy him, causing him to drink the cup of death.”
Now ʿAqisa uttered these words to strike fear into King Sayf Ben Dhi Yazan, so that he would enquire no further and would not ask her to descend into that garden and tarry there. But King Sayf said: “ʿAqisa, my sister, I desire to view this garden, to see what plants and trees it has, and what are their flowers and fruits and colors.”
“Brother,” she replied, “hear my words and do not, in your obstinacy, disregard my advice. You have no need of this. Follow my counsel and cease to insist, and let me rather deliver you to your land. I seek only your good, and I fear harm and evil will befall you.”
Then folly tightened its grip on the king, and he said: “I will not listen to advice in this matter, nor will I heed your counsel. I must see this garden and gaze on the beauty of the people of this time. I enjoin you by the inscription on Solomon’s ring, and by the great temple presiding over all the jinn; for should I return to my family and people and tell them I passed over the Garden of Delights, they will say: ‘Tell us what it is you saw there,’ and if I do not describe it, they will mock me. Nor would it be right to invent an account, for falsehood dishonors a man.”
“Is it for this,” she asked, “that you wish to view it?”
“Indeed, Sister,” he replied. “And so it must be.”
“I hear and obey,” she said then; and with that she bore him down to the ground, he being ready to faint from the sweet fragrance.
“Brother,” ʿAqisa said then, “permit me, in God’s name, to counsel you; for, by God, though caution has no power against destiny, I do not hold you lightly, now that God’s pledge stands between the two of us.”
“ʿAqisa,” said King Sayf Ben Dhi Yazan, “of what do you wish to warn me?”
“I must warn you,” she replied, “on two accounts. First, there is in this garden a building fashioned and made firm by the secret sciences. Should you encounter it, do not draw near or view it, for so you will find more ample fortune. And second, do not remain more than two or three hours, for should you stay longer, you will drink the cup of death. Such is my counsel to you. And do not, either, approach the trees, or seek to pick any of the fruits whose fragrance is sweet like allspice, for all this was made by sorcery and enchantment. Be doubly cautious, Brother, and do not go against my counsel, lest you destroy yourself. I myself have no power to come to your aid, for the servants would destroy me.”
“I hear and obey,” said King Sayf.
“Go then with the blessing of Almighty God,” she said, “and since neither I nor others can enter, I shall sit here awaiting you, Brother, till you have viewed the place and returned in safety. Now I have told you. Do not cause me anxiety on your account.”
Then King Sayf Ben Dhi Yazan, placing his trust in Almighty God, walked up to the gate of the garden, and he saw that it was open, and fragrances like ambergris issued from it; and when, filled with wonder, he entered, he saw channels and wheels, plants and trellises, the wheels turning of their own accord with none to attend them. The plants of the garden were two of each kind, some identical and some not, such plants as plums, and pomegranates, and apricots, and almonds, and walnuts, and hazelnuts, and peanuts, all of good variety, together with succulent apples, and figs, and firm grapes, and golden quinces, and lemons on the branch, apricots from Hama and Khorasan, narcissi and jasmines, roses and lilies, myrtle and sweet basil and anemones. He saw, too, birds on the branches praising the Sovereign Lord in all languages with their different tongues and words. The turtle dove would give praise to God, and the sparrow would answer and the lapwing lilt, and then the thrush would warble back in rhyme; all the birds giving praise to God, the All-Forgiving Sovereign, and invoking the name of He Who is One and Almighty, to Whom alone all things return. Such a garden it was as has been said:
O man of resolute will, do not be hesitant,
Arise and gaze upon the garden’s beauty.
Enter the gate and see the ripening fruits
And take enjoyment of their lovely hues,
While the soft breeze is sporting with the waters
And the linnet repeating his melodious tunes,
And branches are proud of the fruits which they bear
And the lovely forms of maidens are swaying.
Come, gaze upon the roses and the flowers,
On the jasmine and on the chrysanthemums.
Praised be my God, the Painter of all creatures;
May the Founder of the universe be exalted.
Then King Sayf Ben Dhi Yazan began to walk around that garden, looking right and left, forward and back, to see the wheels turning, and the fountains spurting, and the birds flying among the branches; and so he continued till he came to the building ʿAqisa had warned him not to approach. As he drew near to it he saw that it was a feast for the eye and a joy for he who sought delight, a thing to bewilder the minds of the knowledgeable, mounted on forty columns of silver, and between each column and its neighbor, a window of yellow brass with frames of red gold. Round about it, within the single platform of brass, half a fathom high and four cubits wide, circling it from door to door, were many cabinets for storing necessities, all in marble and upholstered with silk furnishings fashioned by magic so that no dust could settle on them, and they could be neither folded nor lifted from the floor; and there were chairs, too, inlaid with red gold and studded with gems. Forty chairs there were, each facing a cabinet beneath the platform and having behind it a sign in gold to show that each who had a chair had one of the cabinets also. The sight filled King Sayf with longing and wonder, and when he opened the door of a cabinet, lo, inside it was upholstered, and its walls lined with silk, the whole made from gold and brass. Within was a set of clothing woven from gold and silver thread, its buttons made from gemstones, such a thing as only a king and lord of castles and villages and cities might possess; and the clothing was stored within in a bundle of silk. Then King Sayf opened all the cabinets, finding each to be like the first, and he knew th
at ʿAqisa had spoken truly, that these garments belonged to the daughters of kings who came to this place borne on the shoulders of the jinn. Wishing to know whether each set of garments had its separate owner or whether all belonged to the one owning the building for the use of whoever might come there, he examined them and found that every set of seven outfits was of the same exact colors.
“To what end is this search?” the king said then. “And who can tell what such people are minded to do? The garments I have seen, but what is the aspect of those that wear them? Surely those possessing such garments are unmatched in this world. I shall not leave this place till they have come, so that I may see them with my own eyes, to know whether they are human or jinn. Yet if ʿAqisa warned me not to approach this building, it was because something here would do me injury.” With that he drew back from the building, till he reached a spot with tall and dense foliage, and there he sat watching the building.
Now as he was seated there, some birds came flying from the open country, winging their way toward that garden, and they hovered, then descended, till they alighted before him on the roof of the building, then slid down it, flocking together and using small ledges specially contrived for their descent and ascent.
“What a size these birds are,” thought King Sayf as he viewed all this. And as he still marveled at the sight, one of the birds descended to the ground and began to look right and left, forward and back. Then, raising its head, it said to its companions: “Come down now, for we are safe here. There is none from outside.” When the birds heard this, they all flew down alongside the first, as doves fly down beside doves, following it into the building. Then each bird stood before one of the chairs, undoing the buttons that were beneath their arms; the holes for these buttons were rimmed with gold thread and the buttons were of gold, spread from beneath their arms to the very tips of their wings. Then, when they had finished undoing their buttons, they took off the feather robes and set them down on the chairs, and maidens like radiant stars were revealed, like the full moon when it rises. They all acted in this fashion, save for one who flew up over the dome and alighted on the ledge, refusing to descend with the other maidens and disport herself with them. The others then took the feather robes off their bodies and each, opening one of the cabinets in the building, took a silk wrap and enveloped herself within it.
Classical Arabic Stories Page 41
