Haroun al-Rashid

“ Hence too while thousands of Europeans have cohabited for years with and have had families by “native women,” they are never loved by them:—at least I never heard of a case.
HARUN AL-RASHID AND THE THREE POETS. The Prince of True Believers, Caliph Harun al-Rashid, was exceeding restless one night; so he rose and walked about his palace, till he happened on a handmaid overcome with wine. Now he was prodigiously enamoured of this damsel; so he played with her and pulled her to him, whereupon her zone fell down and her petticoat-trousers were loosed and he besought her of amorous favour. ”

“ Therefore he unmeriteth the pain of death. Now what we had better do in this case is as follows:—Send thou for the Wali and bid him bring the youth and when he is present between thy hands, encounter him with kindness that his fear may find rest and his affright be arrested after which he shall inform thee of whatso befel him.” Cried Al-Rashid, “This is the right rede and Allah requite thee with weal, O Ja’afar. ’Tis the like of thee should be Wazir of the Councillors and Counseller of the Kings.” ”

“ Al-Rashid replied, “I swear by the rights of my forbears and ancestors even if aught mishap to us from the meanest of folk as is wont to happen or he speak words which should not be spoken, that I will neither regard them nor reply thereto, neither will I punish the aggressor, nor shall aught linger in my heart against the addresser; but need must I pass through 66the Bazar this very night.” Hereupon quoth Ja’afar to the Caliph, “O Viceregent of Allah upon earth, do thou be steadfast of purpose and rely upon Allah!” ”

“ His two immediate successors seem not to have trodden in his steps, though it is probable they did not undo what he had done; for the next caliph, Haroun al Raschid, is renowned as one of the most munificent patrons that literature ever enjoyed. He was fond of poetry and music: he is said to have constantly surrounded himself with a great number of learned men; and to him the Arabs were deeply indebted for the progress in knowledge which they were enabled to make. Every mosque in his dominions had a school attached to it by his order ”

“ Of the Khalifs of the house of Abbas, the second, third, fifth and seventh, viz., Al-Mansur (A.D. 754-775) , Al-Mahdi (A.D. 775-785) , Harun-ar-Rashid (A.D. 786-809) , and Al-Mamun (A.D. 812-833) were the most distinguished as patrons of art, science and literature. But after the translation of the 'Arabian Nights' into European languages, the name of Harun-ar-Rashid became the best known in Europe as the representative of the most brilliant period of the Eastern Khalifate, and as the great protector of Arabic literature. ”

“ When I have followed it, if Allah grant me recovery, I will give thee a slave-girl, who shall serve thee in they lifetime a service, wherewith Allah shall cut short thy term; and when thou diest and the Lord hurrieth thy soul to hell-fire, she shall blacken thy face with her skite, of her mourning for thee, and shall keen and beat her face, saying O frosty-beard, what a fool thou wast?'" [FN#143] thereupon Harun al-Rashid laughed till he fell backward, and ordered the Badawi three thousand silver pieces. ”

“ Many people consider power a blessing; I regard it as a calamity.'"
Then Fudhayl added, "O Harun, if thou wishest to escape the punishment of the Day of Judgment, regard each old man among the Moslems as thy father, the young men as thy brothers, the women as thy sisters. O Harun, I fear lest thy handsome visage be scorched by the flames of hell. Fear the Most High, and know that He will interrogate thee on the Day of Resurrection." At these words, Harun-al-Rashid wept copiously. Then Fazl said to Fudhayl, "Say no more; you have killed the Caliph with grief." ”

“ Said he, “O Prince of True Believers, dost thou desire that I relate to thee of the things which are past and gone or I recount a matter I espied with my own eyes?” Al-Rashid replied, “An thou have sighted somewhat worthy seeing relate it to us for hearing is not like beholding.” He rejoined, “O Emir al-Muuminín, whilst I tell thee this tale needs must thou lend me ear and mind;” and the Caliph [109] retorted, “Out with thy story, for here am I hearkening to thee with ears and eyes wide awake, so that my soul may understand the whole of this say.” ”

“ The scenes are laid in all the four corners of the globe, but especially in the two great centres of Muhammadan activity, Bagdad and Cairo. It is not a matter of chance that Harun al-Rashid is the Caliph to whom the legends of the 'Nights' have given a crown so very different from the one which he really wore. Though his character was often far from that which is pictured here, he was still a patron of art and of literature. His time was the heyday of Muhammadan splendor ”

“ Now there was a man of the kinsfolk of the Caliph Harun al-Rashid, by name Abd al-Malik bin Salih [260] bin Ali bin Abdallah bin al-Abbas [261] , who was great of gravity and sedateness, piety and propriety, and Al-Rashid used 160instantly to require that he should company him in converse and carouse and drink with him and had offered him to such end abounding wealth, but he never would. ”

“ Now when Al-Rashid heard the tale of Ibn Mansur there fell from him somewhat of his cark and care but he was not wholly comforted. He spent the night in this case and when it was morning he summoned the Wazir Ja’afar ibn Yahyá the Barmaki, and cried to him, “O Ja’afar!” He replied, “Here am I! Allah lengthen thy life, and make permanent thy prosperity.” ”

“ Now these were the very things which had been taken from Khalifah, like for like; so, when he heard the Caliph name them, he got into his head that it was he who had stolen his clothes from the river-bank and coming down from the top of the mound, swiftlier than the blinding leven, laid hold of the mule’s bridle, saying, “Harkye, man, bring me back my things and leave jesting and joking.” Al-Rashid replied, “By Allah, I have not seen thy clothes, nor know aught of them!” ”

“ Al-Rashid continued to converse with his Wazir while the young man did not recover from his swoon for a while of time, when another maiden of the maidens spoke out reciting these couplets,
"He adorns the branch of his tribal-tree, * Loves the fawn his song as his sight she see; And beauty shines in his every limb * While in every heart he must stablished be." ”

“ Haroun al Raschid, when afflicted like your highness, was wont to disguise himself in various ways, as a merchant, a soldier, or a sailor"——
"All that is well known to us," interposed the Caliph; "but although we are disposed to follow the example of our glorious ancestor so far as we can, without too great exertion of mind or body, yet we doubt whether just now we—— Thou knowest," he continued, interrupting himself, and in a lower tone, "that although Haroun al Raschid was certainly our forefather, yet our blood, improving by descent, is even purer and more illustrious than his. ”

“ And thereafter Khalifah continued to pay frequent visits to the Caliph Harun al-Rashid, with whom he found acceptance and who ceased not to overwhelm him with boons and bounty: and he abode in the enjoyment of the utmost honour and happiness and joy and gladness and in riches more than sufficing and in rank ever rising ”

“ Popular favor they seem never to have enjoyed. As the Umayyads grew weak, they became more stiff in their orthodoxy; but with the Abbasids, and especially with al-Mansur, thought was again free. As has been shown above, encouragement of science and research was part of the plan of that great man, and he easily saw that the intellectual hope of the future was with these theological and philosophical questioners. So their work went slowly on, with a break under Harun ar-Rashid, a magnificent but highly orthodox monarch, who understood no trifling with things of the faith. ”

“ He then kissed the hem of the Caliph's robe and kept silence; and Harun al-Rashid, perceiving that he had said all his say, exclaimed, "In very sooth thy story is exceeding strange and rare. The wrong doing of thy wife hath no excuse and thy requital is methinks in due measure and just degree, but I would ask thee one thing—How long wilt thou chastise her thus, and how long will she remain in bestial guise? 'Twere better now for thee to seek the young lady by whose magical skill thy wife was transformed and beg that she bring her back to human shape. ”

“ Nor did she cease from so doing for a length of time until suddenly she overheard folk saying, "Our Kazi hath borne a babe." And such bruit spread abroad and was reported in sundry cities, nor ceased the rumour ere it reached the ears of the Caliph Harun al-Rashid in Baghdad city. Now hearing it he marvelled and cried, "Extolled be Allah! this hap, by the Lord, never can have happened save at the hand of some woman, a wise and a clever at contrivance ”

“ This circumstance brought the whole history to the ears of Haroun Al-Raschid himself, who was immediately seized with a strong desire to play chess with the foreign prince, not doubting but that, as he had always beaten his Vizier, he would be more than a match for the new antagonist. Accordingly he sent an officer to the palace of the wood-cutter, with a message that the Commander of the Faithful desired to offer his hospitality to the son of the foreign king. ”

“ The western portion of the country formed a part of the Roman Empire; while that on the east, comprising by far the largest and most populous area, was subject to the caliphs at Baghdad. The span of this single century is sufficient to include the full splendour and the decay and incipient disruption of the caliphate. At its commencement Harun-al-Rashid (786–809) was real master of vast dominions—a personality round which the romance of the age collected to adorn the literature of all times. ”

“ And as they talked over the matter of the youth behold, he came to his senses and his slaves brought him a fresh suit and caused him don it, whereupon Al-Rashid came forward and said, "O young man, thou hast honoured us and favoured us and entreated us with such kindness as other than thyself could never do nor can any requite us with the like; withal there remaineth a somewhat in my heart"—And Shahrazad was surprised by the dawn of day and fell silent and ceased to say her permitted say. Then quoth her sister Dunyazad, "How sweet is thy story, O sister mine, and how enjoyable and delectable!" ”

“ Ar-Rashîd writes them a favorable statement. Abu-Masʿûd said, "When ar-Rashîd Hârûn became caliph and started for al-Kûfah on his way to the Pilgrimage, they brought their case before him and complained of the harsh treatment of the ʿâmils. ”

“ Now this was on Tigris-bridge, and he threw the ring into the river.272 When Al-Hadi died and Al-Rashid succeeded to the Caliphate, he went in person to that very place with a seal-ring of lead, which he cast into the stream at the same stead, and bade the divers seek it. So the duckers did his bidding and brought up the first ring, and this was counted an omen of Al-Rashid's good fortune and of the continuance of his reign.273 When Al-Rashid came to the throne, he invested Ja'afar bin Yahyà bin Khálid al- Barmaki274 with the Wazirate. ”

“ Hereupon he arose without stay or delay and fared forth until he went in to the Caliph Harun al-Rashid whom he blessed and greeted, and the King, having returned his salam, asked him, "Hast thou brought to me the required tidings, O Ja'afar?" The Wazir answered, "Yes, O my lord, the news hath become manifest and 'tis certified to me that this is a private matter; and had not the Creator favoured me by forgathering with the young lady in her substance and accidence and had I not met her at a term not appointed, I should have been done to die." ”