THE PIOUS BLACK SLAVE.
"We were once afflicted with drought at Bassorah and went forth
sundry times to pray for rain, but saw no sign of our prayers
being accepted. So I went, I and 'Itaa al-Salamí and Sábit
al-Banáni and Naja al-Bakáa and Mohammed bin Wási'a and Ayyúb
al-Sukhtiyáni and Habíb al-Farsi and Hassán bin Abi Sinán and
'Otbah al-Ghulám and Sálih al-Muzani,[FN#468] till we reached the
oratory,[FN#469] when the boys came out of the schools and we
prayed for rain, but saw no sign of acceptance. So about mid-day
the people went away and I and Sabit al-Banani tarried in the
place of prayer till nightfall, when we saw a black of comely
face, slender of shank[FN#470] and big of belly, approach us,
clad in a pair of woollen drawers; if all he wore had been
priced, it would not have fetched a couple of dirhams. He brought
water and made the minor ablution, then, going up to the
prayer-niche, prayed two inclinations deftly, his standing and
bowing and prostration being exactly similar in both. Then he
raised his glance heavenwards, and said, 'O my God and my Lord
and Master, how long wilt Thou reject Thy servants in that which
offereth no hurt to Thy sovereignty? Is that which is with Thee
wasted or are the treasuries of Thy Kingdom annihilated? I
conjure Thee, by Thy love to me forthwith to pour out upon us Thy
rain-clouds of grace!' He spake and hardly had he made an end of
speaking, when the heavens clouded over and there came a rain, as
if the mouths of waterskins had been opened; and when we left the
oratory, we were knee-deep in water,"--And Shahrazad perceived
the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
When it was the Four Hundred and Sixty-eighth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that "hardly had
he spoken when the heavens clouded over and there came a rain, as
if the mouths of waterskins had been opened. And when we left the
oratory we were knee-deep in water, and we were lost in wonder at
the black. So I accosted him and said to him, 'Woe to thee, O
black, art thou not ashamed of what thou saidst?' He turned to me
and asked, 'What said I?'; and I, 'Thy saying to Allah, 'By Thy
love of me;' and what giveth thee to know that He loveth thee?'
Replied he, 'Away from me, O thou distracted by the world from
the care of thine own soul. Where was I, when He gave me strength
to profess the unity of the Godhead and vouchsafed unto me the
knowledge of Him? How deemest thou that He aided me thus except
of His love to me?' adding, 'Verily, His love to me is after the
measure of my love to Him.' Quoth I, 'Tarry awhile with me, so
may Allah have mercy on thee!' But he said, 'I am a chattel and
the Book enjoineth me to obey my lesser master.' So we followed
him afar off, till we saw him enter the house of a slave-broker.
Now the first half of the night was past and the last half was
longsome upon us, so we went away; but next morning, we repaired
to the slave-dealer and said to him, 'Hast thou a lad to sell us
for service?' He answered, 'Yes, I have an hundred lads or so and
they are all for sale.' Then he showed us slave after slave; till
he had shown us some seventy; but my friend was not amongst them,
and the dealer said, 'These are all I have.' But, as we were
going out from him we saw a ruinous hut behind his house and
going in behold, we found the black standing there. I cried,
''Tis he, by the Lord of the Ka'abah!' and turning to the dealer,
said to him, 'Sell me yonder slave.' Replied he, 'O Abu Yahya,
this is a pestilent unprofitable fellow, who hath no concern by
night but weeping and by day but repentance.' I rejoined, 'It is
for that I want him.' So the dealer called him, and he came out,
showing drowsiness. Quoth his master, 'Take him at thine own
price, so thou hold me free of all his faults.' I bought him for
twenty dinars and asked 'What is his name?' and the dealer
answered 'Maymun, the monkey;' and I took him by the hand and
went out with him, intending to go home; but he turned to me and
said, 'O my lesser lord, why and wherefore didst thou buy me? By
Allah, I am not fit for the service of God's creatures!' Replied
I, 'I bought thee that I might serve thee myself; and on my head
be it.' Asked he, 'Why so?' and I answered, 'Wast thou not in
company with us yesterday in the place of prayer?' Quoth he, 'And
didst thou hear me?'; and quoth I, 'It was I accosted thee
yesterday and spoke with thee.' Thereupon he advanced till we
came to a mosque, where he entered and prayed a two-bow prayer;
after which he said, 'O my God and my Lord and Master, the secret
that was between me and Thee Thou hast discovered unto Thy
creatures and hast brought me to shame before the worldling. How
then shall life be sweet to me, now that other than Thou hath
happened upon that which is between Thee and me? I conjure Thee
to take my soul to Thee forthright.[FN#471] So saying, he
prostrated himself, and I awaited awhile without seeing him raise
his head; so I shook him and behold, he was indeed dead, the
mercy of Almighty Allah be upon him! I laid him out stretching
his arms and legs and looked at him, and lo! he was smiling.
Moreover, whiteness had got the better of blackness on his brow,
and his face was radiant with light like a young moon. As we
wondered at his case, the door opened and a young man came in to
us and said, 'Peace be with you! May Allah make great our reward
and yours for our brother Maymun! Here is his shroud: wrap him in
it.' So saying, he gave us two robes, never had we seen the like
of them, and we shrouded him therein. And now his tomb is a place
whither men resort to pray for rain and ask their requirements of
Allah (be He extolled and exalted!); and how excellently well
saith the poet on this theme,
'The heart of Gnostic[FN#472] homed in heavenly Garth *
Heaven decks, and Allah's porters aid afford.
Lo! here they drink old wine commingled with *
Tasním,[FN#473] the wine of union with the Lord.
Safe is the secret 'twixt the Friend and them; *
Safe from all hearts but from that Heart adored.'"
And they recount another anecdote of
