Al-Fatiha

“ Moslem historians seem to delight in the obscurity which hangs over the ladys last resting-place, as if it were an honour even for the receptacle of her ashes to be concealed from the eyes of men. Some place her in the Harim, relying upon this tradition: Fatimah, feeling about to die, rose up joyfully, performed the greater ablution, dressed herself in pure garments, spread a mat upon the floor of her house near the Prophets Tomb, lay down fronting the Kiblah, placed her hand under her cheek, and said to her attendant, I am pure and in a pure dress ”

“ The aga went forth and brought in the Moroccan, the necromancer, habited in Fatimah's clothing, and when the wizard stood before the Lady Badr al-Budur, he began at first sight to bless her with a string of prayers, nor did any one of those present doubt at all but that he was the devotee herself. The Princess arose and salaamed to him, then, seating him beside her, said: "O my Lady Fatimah, 'tis my desire that thou abide with me alway, so might I be blessed through thee, and also learn of thee the paths of worship and piety and follow thine example making for salvation." ”

“ The Hamdanids were threatening from the north, the resurgent Carmathians from the east and the Fatimids from the west. The Fatimid caliphate, which arose in Tunis in 909, had for years carried on secret correspondence with Alids and other sympathizers in Egypt. The opportunity was now obvious. In 969 the Fatimid army routed the Ikhshidid forces both in Egypt and at al-Ramlah; Egypt, Palestine and central Syria were incorporated in the emer- ging Fatimid empire.
The Ikhshidid dynasty (935-969) , like its predecessor the Tulunid, had only an ephemeral existence. ”

“ In Allah alone does the success as well as the strength of the commander of the believers lie, and to do what makes him win His favor is his [the commander's] chief desire.
The Prophet had given Fâṭimah, his daughter, Fadak and bestowed it as ṣadaḳah on her. That was an evident and well-known fact on which there was no disagreement among the relatives of the Prophet, who do not cease to lay claim on what was given to Fâṭimah as ṣadaḳah and to which she is entitled. ”

“ But one thing does stand fast. Just as al-Ma’mun combined the establishment of a great university at Baghdad with a favoring of the Alids, so the Fatimids in Cairo erected a great hall of science and threw all their influence and authority into the spreading and extending of knowledge. ”

“ After the death of al-Ādid, the last Fatimite caliph in Egypt, some attempts were made to place on the throne a member of the family, and at one time there seemed a chance of the Assassins, who formed a branch of the Fatimite sect, assisting in this project. In 1174 a conspiracy for the restoration of the dynasty was organized by ʽUmarah of Yemen, a court poet, with the aid of eight officials of the government: it was discovered and those who were implicated were executed. ”

“ The perpetual virginity of Fatimah even after motherhood (Hasan and Husayn) is a point of orthodoxy in Al-Islam as Juno’s with the Romans and Umá’s with the Hindu worshippers of Shiva. During her life Mohammed would not allow Ali a second wife, and he held her one of the four perfects, the other three being Asia wife of “Pharaoh,” the Virgin Mary and Khadíjah his own wife. ”

“ Then he went into the Harim and gave the rubies to his wife Afifah, who asked him, “What is the worth of these with thee and with other of the kings?” Quoth he, “They are not to be found save with the greatest of sovrans nor can any price them with monies.” Quoth she, “Whence gottest thou them?” So he recounted to her the story of Al-Abbas from beginning to end, and she said, “By Allah, the claims of honour are imperative on us and the King hath fallen short of his devoir ”

“ That's why I do not like to be reminded of Fathouma—and Sidi Abd el-Latif."
"You know his name?"
"Assuredly."
"But"—Roger de Villemot was bewildered—"I don't understand——"
"I am a just man," the other went on, "so just. Fathouma has given me a year or two of happiness. She spread silver and gold across the dust of my declining years. Thus I am grateful to her. But she is young and eager and hot-blooded. And so she deceives me. I know it. Perhaps she knows that I know. But you, Monsieur le Marquis, why should you know?" ”

“ At that moment Fatimah came from the kitchen, which had been shut up since the day after Helena's departure for the Soudan, to say that half the cooking-tins had disappeared.
"Just what I expected! Stolen by those rascally Egyptian cooks, no doubt. Rascally Egyptians! That's what I call them. Excuse the word, my dear. I speak my mind. They'd steal the kohl from your eyes—if you had any. And these are the people who are to govern the country! But I say nothing—not I, indeed! The virtue of a woman is in holding her tongue.... Fatimah, now that you are here, you might make yourself useful. ”

“ The Fatimite caliphs had lofty and pretentious claims to the allegiance of the Moslem world. They traced their descent from Fatima, a daughter of the Prophet, whom Muhammed himself regarded as one of the four perfect women. At the age of fifteen she married Ali, of whom she was the only wife, and the partisans of Ali, as we have seen, disputed with Omar the right to the leadership of Islam upon the Prophet’s death. ”

“ If there was ever a romance in history, it is the story of the founding of the Fatimid dynasty in Egypt; if there was ever the survival of a petrifaction in history, it is the survival to the present day of the Assassins and the Druses; if there was ever the persistence of an idea, it is in the present Shi‘ite government in Persia and in the faith in that Mahdi for whom the whole world of Islam still looks to appear and bring in the reign of justice and the truth upon the earth. All these have sprung from the devotion to Ali and his children on the part of their followers twelve centuries ago. ”

“ Despite her wish to try and convert her brother, Fatimah raised objections. 'O my brother! I cannot confide it to thee, for thou art unclean. Only pure hands are allowed to touch the Book in which are inscribed the words of Allah.'
Umar rose with docility and performed his ablutions. Then did Fatimah hand over the parchment on which was written the Surah, "Ta-Ha", which begins with these words: Not to sadden thee have We sent down this Qur'an to Thee * But as a warning for him who feareth. ”

“ She seemed to him a hundred times more beautiful than any description he had heard of her in Bagdad.
In the midst of her grief Fatma retained her woman's curiosity, and on hearing the youth's voice, cast one glance at him over her father's shoulder. The first impression seemed not unfavourable. She eyed his slender form as he stood leaning on his sword, and gradually ceased her sobbing. She even raised herself and took hold of the Caliph's arm. "Father," she said, "do with me what you will; not without cause do the people call you 'The Wise One.'" ”

“ If the ’Ayn also is moved by Fathah, we obtain fa’al, meaning in colloquial Arabic “he did” (the classical or literary form would be fa’ala) . Pronouncing the first letter with Zammah (u) , the second with Kasrah (i) , i.e., fu’il, we say “it was done” (classically fu’ila) . Many more forms are derived by prefixing, inserting or subjoining certain additional letters called Hurúf al-Ziyádah (letters of increase) to the original radicals: fá’il, for instance, with an Alif of prolongation in the first syllable, means “doer;” ”

“ Fatimah answered her bell cheerfully as one who had nothing to fear, but the moment she saw the Consul-General's face, with the deep folds in his forehead and the hard and implacable lines about his mouth, she dropped on her knees before he had uttered a word.
"What is this you have been doing, woman?" he demanded, in a stern voice, whereupon Fatimah made no attempt at disguise.
"I couldn't help it, O Master," she said, breaking into tears. "I would have given him my eyes. He was the same as my own son, and I had suckled him at my breast. Can a woman deny anything to her own?" ”

“ Al-Mafâzah. I was told by certain sheikhs from al-Mafâzah, which is situated near Sîsar, that when al-Jurashi [9] ruled over al-Jabal the inhabitants of al-Mafâzah evacuated their town. Al-Jurashi had a general, Hammâm ibn-Hâniʾ al-ʿAbdi, to whom most of the people of al-Mafâzah yielded their villages and held them as tenants in order to enjoy his protection. Hammâm appropriated the villages to himself and used to pay the treasury what was due on them until he died. His sons were too weak to hold them. ”

“ Al-Rashid, hearing this, said, "This is not the man I seek." They then departed, and knocked at the door of Fudhayl. As they arrived, the latter was reciting the following verse of the Koran: "Do those who have done evil imagine that we shall set them on the same level with those who have done well?" Koran (Sura xlv., v. 20) . The Caliph had no sooner heard this verse than he said, "If it is good advice we are seeking, here is enough for us." Then they knocked at the door. "Who is there?" asked Fudhayl. "The Prince of the Faithful," Fazl answered. "What do you want?" ”

“ It may be that we have read wrongly the whole history of the Fatimid movement; that it was in reality a deeply laid and slowly ripened plan to bring the rule of the world into the control of a band of philosophers, whose task it was to be to rule the human race and gradually to educate it into self-rule; that they saw—these unknown devotees of science and truth—no other way of breaking down the barriers of Islam and setting free the spirits of men. ”

“ His first encounter with the troops of Shah Zaman was a triumph; and now, says the figurative Lal, the stars of the descendants of the Sarfraz began to shine. Fatah sought out his young brother, Dost Mohammed, gave him in charge to a trusty adherent, fixed an income for his support, and marched away to besiege Qandhar, which he took by escalade. This was the commencement of a war of succession, or rather of a series of wars, in which the two sons of Payandah played important parts. The elder met his death, the younger gained a crown. ”

“ And be it observed that Al-Islam (the faith, not the practice) popularly decided to debase the social state of womankind, exalts it by holding up to view no fewer than two examples of perfection in the Prophet�s household. Khadijah, his first wife, was a minor saint, and the Lady Fatimah is supposed to have been spiritually unspotted by sin, and materially ever a virgin, even after giving birth to Hasan and to Hosayn. [FN#23] There is no objection to intermarriage between equal clans, but the higher will not give their daughters to the lower in dignity. ”

“ What right, he thought, had this middle-aged, rather ugly Arab to the woman whom he loved?
He could not sleep that night. He could neither lie nor sit, could hardly stand still. He had only just enough resolution to resist the mad impulse to rush to Sidi Mahmoud's house, to batter in the gates, to take Fathouma by force.
Love? Yes. But also the blow to his selfishness, his conceit. She had refused him. A breach was left in his emotional defenses. He must repair it. He must bend his energies to that one task. ”

“ The Fatimite dynasty in Africa had risen to power with a rapidity astonishing even to an age accustomed to the ever-varying phenomena of Moslem revolution. Its head, Obeydallah, who traced a fictitious descent from Ali, son-in-law of the Prophet, assumed the sacred name and character of Madhi,—the inspired and holy personage whose coming had been announced by Mohammed. The cruelties perpetrated by the Fatimites upon their enemies are incredible. No torture was too severe, no persecution too sanguinary, for those who dared to resist their demands. ”

“ Then the Caliph bade bury the body and they buried it; and Ala al-Din was forgotten as though he never had been. Such was his case; but as regards Habzalam Bazazah, the Emir Khбlid's son, he ceased not to languish for love and longing till he died and they joined him to the dust. And as for the young wife Jessamine, she accomplished the months of her pregnancy and, being taken with labour-pains, gave birth to a boy-child like unto the moon. And when her fellow slave-girls said to her, "What wilt thou name him?" ”

“ They were in the country of the Amrab Arabs, and had come to an end of their peril.
"We are safe," cried Abou Fatma. "God is good. Northwards to Assouan, westwards to Wadi Halfa, we are safe!" And spreading a cloth upon the ground in front of the kneeling camels, he heaped dhurra before them. He even went so far in his gratitude as to pat one of the animals upon the neck, and it immediately turned upon him and snarled.
Trench reached out his hand to Feversham. ”

“ But he himself—and there had been many women in his life—believed implicitly that, for the first time, real love had come to him and that, in the ice-green depths of Fathouma's eyes, there lurked for him the answer to the old, eternal, tremulous mysteries, that here was a soul to surrender, and not only the body. ”

“ Abul Fettah, a son of Abu Tahir the goldsmith, and his successor as head of the Assassin Order in Syria, met with a death no less terrible than that of his namesake, the nephew of Hassan Ben Sabah. The trunk of his body was hacked into pieces at the gate looking eastward toward Irak, his legs and arms were burned, and his head was borne through Syria as a spectacle. Ismail, a brother of that astrologer who had brought the Order into friendship with Risvan, died with the others. Many Assassins were hurled into the moat from the top of the fortress. ”