Tales of the Marvellous and News of the Strange (Hardcover Classics)

by Malcolm C (Tr Lyons

  As for Tuhfa, after she had stayed for a long time with the weaver, she told him that she would prefer to go home to Egypt in the hope of finding her beloved master Talha and discovering what had happened to him after she left. She went to Muhammad’s treasure chamber and was happy to find in it a large sum of money as well as jewellery. She then asked the weaver if he would do her a favour in return for fifty dinars. ‘What do you want from me?’ he asked, and she said: ‘I want you to take me to Egypt and look after me on the way.’ He agreed, and she gave him money with which to buy food for the journey and pay for places in the caravan for them both. When they got there she told him to take her to the mosque of Malik, and when he asked about this he was shown the way.

  The mosque was near the house of her master Talha, and she was distressed to see that its door was shut and it was abandoned. She paid the weaver what she had promised him, and he left for Damascus. For her part, she saw in the mosque a tailor who lived in a house next door to it, in whose hallway was the tomb of its former owner. She hired the house from the tailor and moved everything that she needed into it. Then she gave the tailor some money and said: ‘I am a stranger here on my own with no one to run errands for me. If I were to give you a dirham a day, would you find it acceptable to do this for me?’ He said: ‘Lady, even if you spent the whole time giving me orders, I would do whatever you wanted with the greatest willingness.’ She told him to buy the necessary food and drink for them both and she gave him a dirham, after which he left.

  She spent the night there and very early next morning he came back to ask how she was and whether she wanted anything done for her. She said: ‘I have decided that I want you to buy me a slave girl to keep me company and act as my servant.’ The tailor agreed and fetched her a number of girls from one of the sale rooms, of whom she picked one. The tailor bought her, and Tuhfa weighed out the money, after which she told him to buy her clothes. She treated the girl well and when she wanted something she would tell her to go to the mosque and speak to the tailor, telling him what to do.

  The tailor had a witty way of talking and whenever the girl came to him on one of her mistress’s errands he would play around with her, flirting and joking and making her laugh at his elegant insults. One day Talha passed by his father’s mosque. He dismounted and went in before invoking God’s mercy on his father and on those who were praying there. This coincided with the arrival of Tuhfa’s girl on an errand from her mistress. She went to the tailor, flirting and joking with him and laughing as he insulted her. Talha heard and disapproved of this, cutting short his prayers and turning angrily to the tailor. ‘Damn you,’ he said; ‘when you are in a house of God, you must respect it and what you are doing is not permissible in a place like this.’ The tailor did not recognize him and said: ‘Sir, this girl is a trial to me.’ Talha asked if she was his slave girl, and he replied: ‘No, by God! She belongs to a lady who has so overwhelmed me with kindness that I cannot cause her any distress or find fault with anything that her slave girl does.’ ‘Who is this lady?’ Talha asked, and the tailor told him: ‘Sir, she came from Damascus and is prosperous, high-minded and open-hearted and she says that she was brought up in this street. I have never seen anyone lovelier or more generous.’

  When Talha heard this, he wondered whether the lady could be Tuhfa. ‘Does she show herself to you?’ he asked the tailor. ‘Yes indeed,’ the man replied; ‘I run errands for her, and she provides me with my daily bread.’ ‘Describe her to me so I can have a picture of her,’ Talha told him, and he began to describe Tuhfa. Talha was convinced that this must be his slave girl, for he told himself that the description matched. ‘Is there any way for me to see her?’ he asked, and the tailor replied: ‘I think that you want to marry her and, by God, she will suit no one else.’ ‘Well, how can I see her?’ Talha repeated. ‘What would you give me to ask her in marriage for you?’ said the tailor, and Talha told him: ‘If you arrange for me to marry this woman whom you have described for me, I shall let you have a thousand dirhams from my own money.’ The tailor said: ‘Stay where you are until I come back.’

  The tailor hurried to Tuhfa, who was on friendly terms with him, and said, after greeting her: ‘Lady, I have come to you on a matter which will bring advantages to both of us.’ When she asked him what this was he said: ‘I want to arrange for you to marry a young man like the rising moon. No one has ever seen anyone more handsome and, by God, he is the only fitting husband in the world for you and for him you are the only fitting wife.’ She gave a surprised laugh, thinking that this was a joke on his part, and said: ‘I shall not disobey you, Abu’l-‘Abbas, so do what you think right.’ The tailor went joyfully to Talha and told him: ‘She said “yes” to me, so make up your mind, with God’s blessing and His help.’ Talha did not trust this but said to himself: ‘I think I know that this woman must be Tuhfa but first I have to put it to the test and clear it up. If she is, then this is the fulfilment of my hopes, but if not, I shall not spend much on her dowry and I shall part from her straight away.’

  He went off that day, having agreed with the tailor to come back next day because of their arrangement. So he went to the mosque next morning with ten of the city’s leading shaikhs, and the tailor got up to meet him, kissed his hands and welcomed the shaikhs. ‘Here I am,’ said Talha, ‘so what is your plan?’ ‘This is in God’s hands,’ the tailor replied, and when Talha asked who was to give the bride away, he said that he would do it himself. Talha pointed out that two people would have to listen and testify to the fact that she had given her approval. The tailor took two of the shaikhs who were in the mosque and brought them to the hallway of Tuhfa’s house, where he sat them down. Then he lifted the curtain and went to Tuhfa, who welcomed him after he had greeted her. She then came out to the door of her room and stood there in sight of the two shaikhs, whom she did not recognize and who were dazzled by what they could see of her beauty.

  The tailor talked to her, and amongst the things he said was a reminder that on the day before he had suggested that she should marry, putting him in charge of this so as to see that it was done with her approval. ‘What have you got to say about this?’ he asked. She smiled in surprise at his intelligence, being sure that everything he said was a joke to make her laugh. ‘Abu’l-‘Abbas,’ she told him, ‘I am content that you should be in charge. I entrust my affair to you, so do what you think right.’

  None of this was serious. She thought that she was fooling him, not knowing the real position or what he had done. For his part he told the witnesses to give their testimony about what they had heard and seen, and, while Tuhfa laughed, this is what they did. The tailor left her quickly and said to them: ‘You have seen this woman and heard what she said.’ They testified to what she had said and that she was content to put the tailor in charge of things, at which he took their hands and brought them out to Talha, to whom they repeated this. He paid out thirty dinars for a dowry and had a marriage contract drawn up with the shaikhs acting as witnesses. Talha paid the tailor what he had promised and he went to Tuhfa with both dowry and contract.

  When she saw that this was serious she told him that she had taken all of this to be a joke. ‘I never took any of this seriously,’ she told him, ‘and everything that I said to you was intended as a joke.’ ‘How can one joke about something like this?’ he exclaimed, adding: ‘You are far too important to me to allow me to play a joke on you in a matter like this. God Almighty has decreed that this is a lawful marriage.’ She felt ashamed and looked down in silence, at which he went off to Talha and said: ‘She has thought better of it, so get someone to watch the house door lest she leave.’ He posted a man there to stop anyone coming out and, when she realized that, she was filled with care and sorrow.

  Talha sent into the house all that was needed in the way of furnishings, utensils, food, drink and fruit and distressed Tuhfa by leaving word that he would come in the evening. When night fell he came in without drawing attention to himself, but she noticed and rushed
to the hall where the tomb was and sat sobbing tearfully over it. Talha asked about her and on being told that she was weeping he said: ‘Let her be.’ He then ordered food to be brought to her, but she was too distracted to eat.

  While she was in that state she heard a knock on the door and a beggar calling out to the inhabitants: ‘Give me some of what was left over from the food that God had provided for you as for three days I have tasted nothing.’ Tuhfa felt pity for him and hurried to open the door, telling him to come in. He entered the hall, and she brought him the food that Talha had sent her, at which he sat down and ate like a starving man. Talha, who had been told of this, said: ‘Let her do what she wants,’ and he ordered more food to be brought.

  On seeing the beggar’s wretched state, Tuhfa asked him where he came from. He told her: ‘I am a stranger from Syria, a Damascene.’ He was then choked by tears and he cried and sobbed aloud. ‘What makes you weep?’ Tuhfa asked, and he said: ‘Why should I not weep when the favours that God had showered on me were snatched away because of an Egyptian slave girl who had been bought for me. It was thanks to her that my house was plundered and I was driven from my own land, a poor man bereft of fortune.’ ‘Who did this to you?’ Tuhfa asked, and he said: ‘It was ‘Abd al-Malik son of Marwan, who wanted to take my slave girl from me by force, and it was he who ordered my house to be plundered with all my goods being taken with everything else I had and whatever I had acquired throughout my life. I have been reduced to poverty as you can see. I am a stranger here; there is no way in which I can restore my fortune, and I cannot go back home for fear of death.’

  When Tuhfa heard this, she was certain that the man must be her Damascene master, Muhammad son of Salih, and she now recognized him, although distress and poverty had altered his appearance. When she was sure of that she jumped up and, clutching on to him, she wept and sobbed loudly. ‘Master, by God, I find what has happened to you terrible. You may not have recognized me, but I am the Egyptian slave girl you mentioned.’ When Muhammad heard the tone of her voice, he shouted as loud as he could: ‘By God, lady, you most certainly are!’

  Talha heard their raised voices and was told by the slave girls that their mistress was clinging to the beggar, weeping and telling him that he was her master from Damascus, while he was doing the same thing, obviously believing what she said. When Talha heard this he rushed to the hall, his heart fluttering, in order to clear the matter up. His eyes rested on Tuhfa, and in his amazement he almost lost his senses and shook with excitement. Such was his joy and delight that he thought that he was seeing all this in a dream. He gave a great cry and clasped Tuhfa to him, while she, alarmed by the cry that he gave as he grasped her, turned round and when she saw his face she recognized him and fell down in a faint.

  The slave girls came up and sprinkled water on her face until she recovered. She started to sigh as she stared at Talha and said: ‘Was it you who married me and I did not know?’ ‘Yes,’ he said, ‘it is true that you didn’t know, and I for my part was not certain of it.’ Then he asked her if she knew the beggar. ‘How should I not know him,’ she answered, ‘when he is my Damascene master for whom I was bought from Fustat and it is thanks to me that he has been reduced to this state by disaster and poverty?’ On hearing this, Talha came up and embraced Muhammad as they both wept. Talha said: ‘Brother, don’t grieve for anything you have lost, for I swear by God that I shall not eat my fill on any day on which you are hungry as long as I have life in my body. So take heart and be comforted.’

  Muhammad thanked him for this and praised him, after which Talha told him that it was not by his choice or wish that ‘Abd al-Malik had taken any of his goods. ‘By Almighty God,’ he swore, ‘I was distressed by that, but it had been decreed by Fate.’ He took his hand and that of Tuhfa and led them both into the house, after which he gave Muhammad the robe that he was wearing and they sat talking. ‘You should know,’ Tuhfa said, ‘that I have never seen a more generous or noble-minded man than this master of mine, for when I told him what I felt for you and how I had advised you to sell me when we were in difficulties, he was full of regret and wanted to see you, calling God to witness that even before this he would give me back to you. I can tell you that it was only to find you that he went to Egypt, intending to take you back with him and bring you to Damascus so we could meet in his own country and his own house. As God had decreed, however, ‘Abd al-Malik had sent for him, not knowing that he left some time earlier and it was when he heard of this that he ordered his house to be plundered and his women seized. I wanted to flee but did not see how I could do it successfully, so I took some of my master’s money and climbed to the roof. From there I went down into the house of a weaver who sheltered me and kept me hidden. When the search for me had finished and I was in despair, I asked the weaver to take me to Egypt.’

  She told them her story from beginning to end, and Talha told of what had happened to him on his way and of how he had not wanted to marry anyone else except her, but the tailor’s description of her had stirred a craving, as he recognized it and hoped that this would be Tuhfa. ‘Praise be to God Who has made this come true,’ he said, ‘but you cannot marry me while you are still this man’s slave.’ ‘I have heard what you both have said,’ Muhammad told them, ‘and, by God, Talha, it was only because of you that I came here and you can see what happened to me. I gave Tuhfa to you and I shall not take back my gift, may God give you His blessing with her.’ ‘If that is so,’ Talha said, ‘God has given me huge riches and vast bounty, and I call Him to witness that I shall share this with you and I shall write to tell the Commander of the Faithful that you are not guilty of what you were accused and that you were not in Damascus at the time.’ ‘This is up to you,’ Muhammad said.

  Talha did as he had promised, and the caliph restored to Muhammad much more than he had taken from him and he arrested those who had lied about him. Muhammad went back safely to Damascus, while Talha stayed in Fustat with Tuhfa his wife, leading the pleasantest, most comfortable and prosperous of lives until death overtook them.

  This is the complete story, and we take refuge with God from any additions or subtractions. Praise be to the One God and blessings be on the best of His creation, our master Muhammad and his family.

  Tale Three

  The Story of the Six Men:

  The Hunchbacked, the One-Eyed,

  the Blind, the Crippled, the

  Man Whose Lips Had Been

  Cut Off and the Seller of Glassware.

  In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

  They say – and God knows better – that there was in the past a king who ruled every region whether on land or in the sea and who commanded the obedience of all their citizens. He was a man of intelligence and understanding, piety, modesty and chastity; he was just in the treatment of his subjects, behaving well and acting as an excellent administrator. He was very fond of stories, studying books and histories, and anyone who had something remarkable to pass on in the way of news, proverbs or tales would tell it to him.

  The gatekeepers of his city had instructions to let no one through without asking him to tell them about himself, what he wanted and from where he came. The king had agents who would let him know what they had picked up, and when strangers entered the city they would be asked for news and the details of their journey, as a result of which information would be gathered from them of other lands and rulers, which would be passed on to the king.

  This went on for some time until one day the king found himself worried although he could not think why, and when this had lasted all day until nightfall the worry increased, and he was distressed and wakeful. When this had gone on for too long, he summoned a housekeeper of his and told her to fetch him someone to entertain him with conversation to dispel his cares that night. When the woman asked where she should go, he said: ‘to the lodgings of the strangers’, and when she did as he told her she found a large group of blind men, as well as others suffering from various handicaps, t
ogether with beggars. She went up to them and asked them all who would go with her to the king to tell him the most remarkable thing that had happened to him in his life, and so enrich himself for the rest of his life.

  Before she had finished speaking she was approached by six men, one blind, another one-eyed, a third a hunchback, a fourth a paralytic, a fifth whose lips had been cut off and a sixth who was a glass worker. ‘We want to go to the king,’ they told her, ‘and each one of us has a fine and remarkable story of the misfortunes that we have suffered.’ When the housekeeper heard this and looked at them she laughed at them and said: ‘Come on, may God Almighty give you His blessing.’ They followed her and stopped when they reached the palace door, while she went to the king and told him that she had brought six people, each with a strange story to tell. The king told her to admit them so that he could look at them, and when they came in they greeted him and called down blessings on him. He laughed when he saw them and told them to tell him their stories, promising to reward anyone who had something wonderful to tell.

  He told one of them to start and asked him for his name and his occupation. ‘May God aid Your Majesty,’ the man said, ‘do you want the name that I was given at birth?’ ‘The name by which you are best known,’ the king told him, at which he said: ‘Abu’l-Ghusn.’ ‘God grant you long life, Abu’l-Ghusn,’ said the king, ‘and what is your occupation?’ Abu’l-Ghusn said that he was a weaver, and the king told him to begin his story.