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

by Malcolm C (Tr Lyons

  As for the Banu Mazin, they consulted with each other about launching an attack on the Banu Malik and the Banu Rabi‘a, in the hopes of winning a victory and killing enough of them to cool their ardour. They approached the Banu Darim, who agreed to support them, and they then moved out against al-Khansa’, putting their ranks in order and seeing to their weapons. When they attacked, a cry was raised as riders mounted and charged each other. Al-Khansa’ and her husband Miqdam rode out with their men, and the furious battle that followed brought quick destruction and defeat on the Banu Mazin, the Banu Darim and Tamim at the hands of the Banu Malik and Rabi‘a, with only those mounted on swift horses managing to escape.

  Al-Khansa’ went back after having killed many men, so achieving her goal, and she recited these lines:

  Time marked me with its bites and cuts;

  The pressure of its blows has caused me pain.

  Men died together whom it had destroyed,

  And thanks to them my heart has been distressed.

  They were the chiefs and ornaments of Malik’s clan,

  A source of pride and grandeur, who shunned fear,

  Guarding their neighbours from all harm,

  As pouncing lions when it came to war,

  Striking and thrusting with their swords and spears.

  Squadrons of horsemen charged beneath the dust.

  We cut forelocks they thought could not be cut,

  Striking their heads with spears as hawks strike geese.

  We give the entertainment that is due,

  Storing up treasures of praise and renown.

  In battle we wear mail and in peace silk.

  Whoever thinks that he will pass through war

  Unscathed, displays in this his feebleness.

  She determined to launch another attack on the Banu Mazin and went out with ten thousand riders. When the Mazinis heard of this they took up a position where the road passed between two mountains and before al-Khansa’ knew it they had charged and killed a number of her men. Taghlib attacked with a shout, backed up by his men, and what followed was a great battle with furious fighting which lasted until nightfall. The champions of the Banu Mazin suffered badly and were defeated while their leaders were killed. This went on until it was dark, and they then made off with their followers to the Banu ‘Abs, Ghailan and Darim. The Banu ‘Abs told them: ‘Banu Mazin, you did not share with the Banu Murad and Shaiban [lac.] with money and men. You began the evil by killing Sakhr and by Dhu’aiba’s attempt to recover his horse after it had been sold to him. If you want us to treat you as neighbours, we will protect you from your enemies but you will have to stay with us and launch no raids.’

  The Mazinis did stay there for a long time, and the Banu ‘Abs sent the following lines to al-Khansa’:

  Khansa’ has lorded over us

  And spoken to us in a lofty tone.

  She killed the Mazinis, bleaching their leaders’ hair.

  Tell her from us that we are rich and lofty men.

  We shall protect the Mazinis from her

  To see these good men suffer no distress.

  When this message reached al-Khansa’ she said: ‘By God, I shall see to it that the ‘Absian mothers lose their sons and I shall do what I want with them until they have no defenders left.’ She collected all who were under her authority and set out to raid the Banu ‘Abs. When they heard of that ‘Amra said to them: ‘Clansmen, you know that the Banu Rabi‘a and the Banu Malik are swordsmen and fighters with a fire in their hearts that others do not have. In particular this woman has sworn that she will not remove her veil, use kohl on her eyes, wear a woman’s dress or put on ornaments of gold until she cannot see any Mazini or hear that any one of them has been left alive. She has enjoyed victory in her battles with them and destroyed many clans. Many clans chose to support the Mazinis like Shaiban, Dhubyan and Murad, but she destroyed them all. What you should do if you want to be safe is to make peace with her and send away her enemies.’ The ‘Absians said: ‘We shall give our lives in support of the Mazinis and whether in hardship or in ease we shall allow no one to take power over them.’

  They all joined together and sent to Fazara, who came with the Banu Tamim and Darim, driving their beasts with them. They met al-Khansa’ on the road between the twin mountains of al-Rahub and Wakif, and fighting broke out. Al-Khansa’ told the ‘Absians that she was not looking for vengeance upon them but upon the Banu Mazin, the killers of her brother, Sakhr. They said: ‘Have you not already avenged yourself on them, al-Khansa’, so what else do you want with them?’ She replied: ‘By God, I shall pursue them until there is no single rider of theirs left to be seen. I shall kill their men and leave their women as widows who can find no rest nor see any brothers as they caused me to lose my own brother, Sakhr.’ ‘You are far from achieving this and the process will be difficult.’

  At that Khath‘am, al-Khansa’’s brother, attacked and killed an ‘Absian leader, after which each side charged the other, and many were killed. While this was going on a dust cloud appeared, which cleared away to show ten thousand riders of the Banu Kilab led by Taghlib and his father Miqdam. Taghlib was reciting these lines:

  Does ‘Abs not know we are good thrusters with Rudaini spears,

  And in battle [lac.] we strike with our right hands.

  He and his men then charged, and the Banu ‘Abs and Mazin were driven back. Taghlib’s men caught up with them in the ravine, where there was furious fighting under the battle dust, in which many ‘Absians and Mazinis fell. Al-Khansa’ went back relieved and contented. Her opponents consulted about how to make peace, and they entrusted the negotiations to ten wise emirs.

  These men came to the camp of al-Khansa’ and called to her: ‘Al-Khansa’, you have been waging war for seven years. You have destroyed the Mazinis and their adherents and have taken many times more than your rightful vengeance. We are here to ask you to stop fighting them and to renew the ties of kinship and we would wish you to answer our request.’ She replied: ‘By God, I shall not make peace or accept this request until you bring me a thousand women who have lost their brothers as I lost Sakhr.’

  At that Tirimmah son of Salim, who wanted the war to continue, recited:

  Should ‘Abs continue, they will meet with death.

  Either they should return to noble acts

  And strive for peace before they are destroyed,

  Or they should treat their clients well,

  Protecting them in order to win fame.

  Malik son of Sakhr added these lines:

  ‘Absians, be sure it is not you we want to fight.

  Our vengeance must be upon the Mazinis, not you.

  Go back so that you may expect to find

  Your reputation lifted up on high.

  Abandon the Banu Mazin, for they

  Are nothing more than cows, food for the sword.

  The Banu ‘Abs went back to the Mazinis and told them of the women that al-Khansa’ was demanding, and they collected a thousand who had lost brothers in wars with her. When they went to her each was weeping and bewailing a dead brother, and al-Khansa’ recited these lines:

  Sakhr, my brother, never shall I forget you

  Till I am laid to rest within my tomb,

  And were it not for all these who lament

  Their brothers round me, I would kill myself.

  They do not weep for one like you, Sakhr,

  But it is by their tears I am consoled.

  She was then moved to sympathy for them and out of pity for them she granted their request for the lives of their menfolk. She had food brought for them and ate with them, and this sharing of salt served as a preparation for peace. She returned the wealth, arms, beasts and horses and whatever else she had taken from them in her raids on the Mazinis, the Banu Tamim, Shaiban, Dhubyan and ‘Ajlan, leaving the women to go off filled with happiness. This was after al-Khansa’ had consulted Taghlib, her son, her husband, Miqdam, and her father and brothers, none of whom disagreed with
her.

  For seven years after the death of Sakhr she had been killing large numbers of the Banu Mazin and their supporters. It was in the presence of the women that she agreed to peace, sparing their men, and this peaceful solution was accepted, praise God, thanks to His aid and the excellence of His design.

  This is the end of the story, and God forbid that we should add to it or subtract from it. Praise be to the One God and His blessing and peace be on the best of men, our master Muhammad, his family and his companions!

  Tale Fourteen

  The Story of Sa‘id Son of

  Hatim al-Bahili and the Marvels

  He Encountered at Sea and

  with the Monk Simeon.

  In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

  They say – and God knows better – that one night Hisham son of ‘Abd al-Malik found himself unable to sleep and he told his vizier: ‘I want you now to bring me an Arab seafarer who can tell me about the wonders and the perils of the sea. It may be that this will cure my sleeplessness.’ ‘The only man suitable for this is someone from Bahila whose name is Sa‘id son of Hatim al-Bahili, the chief of his sept and his clan,’ said the vizier. ‘He has a remarkable story to tell, and if the Commander of the Faithful wants to have him brought so as to question him about where he has gone and what he has seen on his travels, let him do that.’

  Hisham agreed, so the vizier immediately ordered Sa‘id to be fetched, and it was not long before he arrived. Hisham was seated in a palace of his by the river Barada in Damascus. He had wine in front of him, and there were girls singing to a number of instruments. Sa‘id addressed him with a greeting appropriate to a caliph, and Hisham looked up and returned the greeting before telling him to sit down.

  His seat was brought close to the caliph, and when he had taken it the caliph passed him a goblet of white crystal containing ruby red wine which he had been holding. Sa‘id refused it and said: ‘I am an old man [lac.] and I have given up wine for two reasons, firstly because of religion, and secondly because we are chiefs and leaders of the Arabs, and wine robs a man of his wits. When this happens manliness goes, and faults, flaws and blemishes appear.’

  When the caliph heard this he did not press him, realizing that here was an intelligent, excellent and religious man. He gave orders for the removal of the wine and the musical instruments from in front of him. He had formed a high impression of Sa‘id, who impressed him with feelings of both love and awe. He said: ‘Sa‘id, may God grant you good fortune thanks to your obedience to Him and protect and preserve you. We ourselves love what you love and dislike what you dislike.’ ‘May God guard and keep you, Commander of the Faithful,’ replied Sa‘id.

  Hisham then said: ‘Sa‘id, I hear that you are a seafarer and that you have seen the sea’s terrors as well as its strange marvels.’ ‘Before you hear what I have to tell you,’ Sa‘id replied, ‘I have brought you a gift, which I hope you will accept.’ Hisham said: ‘A gift from you will certainly be accepted and not rejected,’ at which Sa‘id produced a small silver box. When he opened it, he took from it a box of gold with two golden locks and from this he removed four different gemstones as large as hazelnuts, which spread radiance across the room. Hisham was amazed and told his slave girl: ‘Take this box and its contents and be careful lest it blind you.’ He then turned to Sa‘id and asked him to tell him of the wonders that he had seen.

  Sa‘id said: ‘God save our master. I was a young man in the caliphate of ‘Uthman son of ‘Affan, whose vizier was your grandfather Marwan. He had brought a number of Muslims to the province of Basra and its districts under the command of ‘Amr son of al-‘As, ordering him to put to sea and conduct a holy war against any who opposed Islam and refused to acknowledge the mission of the Prophet Muhammad, may God bless him and his family and give him peace. I was one of the men sent with him.

  ‘We went to Basra and from there to Oman on the shore of the Islamic sea. The emir then set out with his entire force, making for the cities of Hind, Sind, China and inner China. We reached a large island, which was the nearest land to us and whose inhabitants were a tall Indian race of idolaters. They came out against us fully equipped and bristling with weapons and engaged us in a furious battle. Their king came to attack us mounted on a white elephant, and with him were a number of other elephants, who were sent forwards to fight with Indian swords attached to their trunks.

  ‘They formed up by the shore, and we disembarked to meet them, confronting the elephant riders and showering them with arrows and stones. They turned back in flight, and we killed many of them, leaving only a few to take refuge in the city. We shouted: “God is greater, and there is no god but God, and Muhammad is the Prophet of God, may God bless him and his family and give them peace!”

  ‘There were four thousand of us, horse and foot, and the city was in the middle of the island, having seven solid iron gates. We laid siege to it and continued to fight for ten days, as their king watched from the wall. He then came to us and told his interpreter to ask us what we wanted by besieging them. The man said: “Arab, what is it you want from us?” and ‘Amr told him: “We want you to accept Islam and to acknowledge the One God, Who has no partner and Whose messenger is Muhammad. If you refuse we shall fight you until you pay us tribute as our inferiors.” The king agreed to pay tribute and taxes, with fighting to cease on both sides, adding that if anyone from Sind accepted Islam they would do so too and obey us unreservedly.

  ‘He asked ‘Amr to tell us to stop fighting, and when we had done this we camped by the city and they brought us out food and fodder, as all the peace terms that we had made with them had been accepted. Some of us went in to look around the place and found it a vast city with a huge church of gigantic size, which shockingly enough contained more than ten thousand idols, one next to the other. When we asked them what these were they told us: “We found that our forefathers used to worship an idol for a thousand years before throwing it into a pit and worshipping another one. It was from there that all these were collected.”

  ‘Devils used to speak using the tongues of the idols, but when we mentioned the One God and recited the Qur’an the idols fell on their faces, and the devils left them, to the amazement of the people. We were delighted and went back, leaving the idols overthrown. We then went through the city, in which we saw a great quantity of trees. There were cloves, peppers, sandalwood, myrobalan, date palms and fruits. They claimed to us that their date palms and other trees would come into fruit twice a year, while thanks to the amount of water they had we saw many water mills there.

  We stayed there for a month and then left the city on our way to Hind. The Indians had coastal fortresses as well as villages and cities each with its own ruler, no one of whom had any power or authority over any other. We went on from island to island, land to land and city to city, being received peacefully and given all that we needed as well as the tribute and taxes we wanted together with everything else that we asked for.

  ‘When we had conquered Sind we put to sea, and after some days and nights of sailing we came to a sea of red blood. We asked the sailors who were with us what this was, and they said: “This is the Sea of Blood, and all the fish and other creatures in it are red-blooded.”

  ‘After sailing off we reached another sea on our way to China and inner China. We caught sight of a ship and after we had steered towards it we came to a huge city with six gates of solid iron. It was a populous place with more fighting men than could be counted by any but God, the Great and Glorious. Their king, who was a sensible man and a wise administrator, told his people not to fight us, as we would defeat them and every other nation. “For five hundred years,” he told them, “their empire has been advancing victoriously, so make peace with them and do not resist them or they will conquer you. Wise men have said: ‘Do not oppose a prosperous state or else the world and its people will be your enemies.’ ”

  ‘The king sent our emir a gift, together with tribute and taxes, and our dealings with the
m were uniformly good. We stayed there for four months and I together with some others had begun to wander around the island when I found myself confronted by a hermitage made of iron in which was a very old monk whose eyebrows had sunk over his eyes thanks to his age. We called to him: “Monk, by the God Whom you worship, talk to us.” He leaned out towards us from his hermitage and asked us who we were and from where had we come. We told him that we were followers of Muhammad, may God bless him and his family and give them peace. “The Hashimi prophet of Quraish?” he asked. “Yes,” we said, and we then asked him: “By the God Whom you worship, who are you, what is your name and how do you know about the Prophet Muhammad?”

  ‘He said: “I am one of those who worship the One God. My name is Simeon the monk, and I was a disciple of the prophet Daniel, upon whom be peace. I served with a number of prophets and martyrs and I was a disciple of Jesus, the son of Mary, upon both of whom be peace. I stayed with him until God caused him to ascend to Himself and I called on God, the Great and Glorious by His greatest Name, to guard me so I could live to see Muhammad, God bless him and his family and give them peace. God granted my request, but when I saw the Jews and Christians quarrel and fall apart in disagreement, burning the Torah and the Evangel and removing from them the name of Muhammad, I left them and came to this hermitage, where I have stayed for five hundred years, awaiting the people of Muhammad. I give thanks to God that the breath of life has not left my body before I have seen them and come on this blessed people and their descendants, the followers of the true religion, whom God has exalted over all others.” [Qur’an 3.79]

  ‘We said: “Monk, this is a verse from the Book of God, the Great and Glorious.” “Yes, Muslims,” he replied, “and it was to be found in the Torah and the Evangel and in the pages that God revealed to the prophets in which He described Muhammad, may God bless him and his family and give him peace. He was described in all the books, but the Jews and the Christians corrupted, altered and removed what was written from its context, so the Great and Glorious God afflicted them with wars and discords, bringing ruin and destruction on them, forcing them to pay tribute as subjects.”