It is related that Hind, daughter of Al-Nu'man, was the fairest
woman of her day, and her beauty and loveliness were reported to
Al-Hajjaj, who sought her in marriage and lavished much treasure
on her. So he took her to wife, engaging to give her a dowry of
two hundred thousand dirhams in case of divorce, and when he went
into her, he abode with her a long time. One day after this, he
went in to her and found her looking at her face in the mirror
and saying,
"Hind is an Arab filly purest bred,
Which hath been covered by
a mongrel mule;
An colt of horse she throw by Allah! well;
If mule, it but
results from mulish rule."[FN#95]
When Al-Hajjaj heard this, he turned back and went his way,
unseen of Hind; and, being minded to put her away, he sent
Abdullah bin Tahir to her, to divorce her. So Abdullah went in to
her and said to her, "Al-Hajjaj Abu Mohammed saith to thee: 'Here
be the two hundred thousand dirhams of thy contingent dowry he
oweth thee'; and he hath deputed me to divorce thee." Replied
she, "O Ibn Tahir, I gladly agree to this; for know that I never
for one day took pleasure in him; so, if we separate, by Allah, I
shall never regret him, and these two hundred thousand dirhams I
give to thee as a reward for the glad tidings thou bringest me of
my release from yonder dog of the Thakafites."
[FN#96] After this,
the Commander of the Faithful, Abd al-Malik bin Marwan, heard of
her beauty and loveliness, her stature and symmetry, her sweet
speech and the amorous grace of her glances and sent to her, to
ask her in marriage;--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and
ceased to say her permitted say.
When it was the Six Hundred and Eighty-second Night,
She resumed, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the
Prince of True Believers, Abd al-Malik bin Marwan, hearing of the
lady's beauty and loveliness, sent to ask her in marriage; and
she wrote him in reply a letter, in which, after the
glorification of Allah and benediction of His Prophet, she said,
"But afterwards. Know, O Commander of the Faithful, that the dog
hath lapped in the vase." When the Caliph read her answer, he
laughed and wrote to her, citing his saying (whom may Allah bless
and keep!) "If a dog lap in the vessel of one of you, let him
wash seven times, once thereof with earth," and adding, "Wash the
affront from the place of use."
[FN#97] With this she could not
gainsay him; so she replied to him, saying (after praise and
blessing), "O Commander of the Faithful I will not consent save
on one condition, and if thou ask me what it is, I reply that
Al-Hajjaj lead my camel to the town where thou tarriest barefoot
and clad as he is."
[FN#98] When the Caliph read her letter, he
laughed long and loudly and sent to Al-Hajjaj, bidding him to do
as she wished. He dared not disobey the order, so he submitted to
the Caliph's commandment and sent to Hind, telling her to make
ready for the journey. So she made ready and mounted her litter,
when Al-Hajjaj with his suite came up to Hind's door and as she
mounted and her damsels and eunuchs rode around her, he
dismounted and took the halter of her camel and led it along,
barefooted, whilst she and her damsels and tirewomen laughed and
jeered at him and made mock of him. Then she said to her
tirewoman, "Draw back the curtain of the litter;" and she drew
back the curtain, till Hind was face to face with Al-Hajjaj,
whereupon she laughed at him and he improvised this couplet,
"Though now thou jeer, O Hind, how many a night
I've left thee
wakeful sighing for the light."
And she answered him with these two,
"We reck not, an our life escape from bane,
For waste of wealth
and gear that went in vain:
Money may be regained and rank re-won
When one is cured of
malady and pain."
And she ceased not to laugh at him and make sport of him, till
they drew near the city of the Caliph, when she threw down a
dinar with her own hand and said to Al-Hajjaj, "O camel-driver, I
have dropped a dirham; look for it and give it to me." So he
looked and seeing naught but the dinar, said, "This is a dinar."
She replied, "Nay, 'tis a dirham." But he said, "This is a
dinar." Then quoth she, "Praise be Allah who hath given us in
exchange for a paltry dirham a dinar! Give it us." And Al-Hajjaj
was abashed at this. Then he carried her to the palace of the
Commander of the Faithful, and she went in to him and became his
favourite.--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased
saying her permitted say.
When it was the Six Hundred and Eighty-third Night,
She pursued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that men also
tell a tale anent KHUZAYMAH BIN BISHR AND IKRIMAH AL-FAYYAZ.
