It is said that Ja'afar the Barmecide was one night carousing
with Al Rashid, who said, "O Ja'afar, it hath reached me that
thou hast bought such and such a slave-girl. Now I have long
sought her for she is passing fair; and my heart is taken up with
love of her, so do thou sell her to me." He replied, "I will not
sell her, O Commander of the Faithful." Quoth he, "Then give her
to me." Quoth the other, "Nor will I give her." Then Al-Rashid
exclaimed, "Be Zubaydah triply divorced an thou shall not either
sell or give her to me!" Then Ja'afar exclaimed, "Be my wife
triply divorced an I either sell or give her to thee!" After
awhile they recovered from their tipsiness and were aware of
having fallen into a grave dilemma, but knew not by what device
to extricate themselves. Then said Al-Rashid, "None can help us
in this strait but Abú Yúsuf."
FN#216 So they sent for him, and
this was in the middle of the night; and when the messenger
reached him, he arose in alarm, saying to himself, "I should not
be sent for at this tide and time, save by reason of some
question of moment to Al-Islam." So he went out in haste and
mounted his she-mule, saying to his servant, "Take the mule's
nose-bag with thee; it may be she hath not finished her feed; and
when we come to the Caliph's palace, put the bag on her, that she
may eat what is left of her fodder, during the last of the
night." And the man replied, "I hear and obey." Now when the Imam
was admitted to the presence, Al-Rashid rose to receive him and
seated him on the couch beside himself (where he was wont to seat
none save the Kazi), and said to him, "We have not sent for thee
at this untimely time and tide save to advise us upon a grave
matter, which is such and such and wherewith we know not how to
deal." And he expounded to him the case. Abu Yusuf answered, "O
Commander of the Faithful, this is the easiest of things." Then
he turned to Ja'afar and said, "O Ja'afar, sell half of her to
the Commander of the Faithful and give him the other half; so
shall ye both be quit of your oaths." The Caliph was delighted
with this and both did as he prescribed. Then said Al-Rashid,
"Bring me the girl at once,"--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of
day and ceased to say her permitted say.
When it was the Two Hundred and Ninety-seventh Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Caliph
Harun al-Rashid commanded, "Bring me the girl at once, for I long
for her exceedingly." So they brought her and the Caliph said to
Abu Yusuf, I have a mind to have her forthright, for I cannot
bear to abstain from her during the prescribed period of
purification; now how is this to be done?" Abu Yusuf replied,
"Bring me one of thine own male slaves who hath never been
manumitted." So they brought one and Abu Yusuf said, "Give me
leave to marry her to him; then let him divorce her before
consummation; and thus shall it be lawful for thee to lie with
her before purification." This second expedient pleased the
Caliph yet more than the first; he sent for the Mameluke and,
whenas he came, said to the Kazi "I authorise thee to marry her
to him." So the Imam proposed the marriage to the slave, who
accepted it, and performed the ceremony; after which he said to
the slave, "Divorce her, and thou shalt have an hundred dinars."
But he replied, "I won't do this;" and the Imam went on to
increase his offer, and the slave to refuse till he bid him a
thousand dinars. Then the man asked him, "Doth it rest with me to
divorce her, or with thee or with the Commander of the Faithful?"
He answered, "It is in thy hand." "Then by Allah," quoth the
slave, "I will never do it; no, never!" Hearing these words the
Caliph was exceeding wroth and said to the Imam, "What is to be
done, O Abu Yusuf?" Replied he, "Be not concerned, O Commander of
the Faithful; the thing is easy. Make this slave the damsel's
chattel." Quoth Al-Rashid, "I give him to her;" and the Imam said
to the girl, "Say: I accept." So she said, I accept;" whereon
quoth Abu Yusuf, "I pronounce separation from bed and board and
divorce between them, for that he hath become her property, and
so the marriage is annulled." With this, Al-Rashid rose to his
feet and exclaimed, "It is the like of thee that shall be Kazi in
my time." Then he called for sundry trays of gold and emptied
them before Abu Yusuf, to whom he said, "Hast thou wherein to put
this?" The Imam bethought him of the mule's nose-bag; so he sent
for it and, filling it with gold, took it and went home. And on
the morrow, he said to his friends, "There is no easier nor
shorter road to the goods of this world and the next, than that
of religious learning; for, see, I have gotten all this money by
answering two or three questions." So consider thou, O polite
reader,
FN#217 the pleasantness of this anecdote, for it
compriseth divers goodly features, amongst which are the
complaisance of Ja'afar to Al Rashid, and the wisdom of the
Caliph who chose such a Kazi and the excellent learning of Abu
Yusuf, may Almighty Allah have mercy on their souls one and all!
And they also tell the TALE OF THE LOVER WHO FEIGNED HIMSELF A THIEF.
