AL-HAJJAJ AND THE PIOUS MAN.
Al-Hajjaj bin Yusuf al-Sakafi had been long in pursuit of a
certain man of the notables, and when at last he was brought
before him, he said, "O enemy of Allah, He hath delivered thee
over to me;" and cried, "Hale him to prison and lay him by the
heels in heavy fetters and build a closet over him, that he may
not come forth of it nor any go into him." So they bore him to
jail and summoned the blacksmith with the irons; and every time
the smith gave a stroke with his hammer, the prisoner raised his
eyes to heaven and said, "Is not the whole Creation and the
Empire thereof His?"[FN#480] Then the gaolers built the
cage[FN#481] over him and left him therein, lorn and lone,
whereupon longing and consternation entered into him and the
tongue of his case recited in extempore verse,
"O, Wish of wistful men, for Thee I yearn; * My heart seeks grace
of one no heart shall spurn.
Unhidden from thy sight is this my case; * And for one glance of
thee I pine and burn.
They jailed and tortured me with sorest pains: * Alas for lone
one can no aid discern!
But, albe lone, I find Thy name befriends * And cheers, though
sleep to eyes shall ne'er return:
An thou accept of me, I care for naught; * And only Thou what's
in my heart canst learn!"
Now when night fell dark, the gaoler left his watchmen to guard
him and went to his house; and on the morrow, when he came to the
prison, he found the fetters lying on the ground and the prisoner
gone; whereat he was affrighted and made sure of death. So he
returned to his place and bade his family farewell, after which
he took in his sleeve his shroud and the sweet herbs for his
corpse, and went in to Al-Hajjaj. And as he stood before the
presence, the Governor smelt the perfumes and asked, "What is
that?" when the gaoler answered, "O my lord, it is I who have
brought it." "And what moved thee to that?" enquired the
Governor; whereupon he told him his case,--And Shahrazad
perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
When it was the Four Hundred and Seventy-first Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the
gaoler told his case to Al-Hajjaj, the Governor cried, "Woe to
thee! Didst thou hear him say aught?" Answered the gaoler, "Yes!
whilst the blacksmith was hammering his irons, he ceased not to
look up heavenwards and say, 'Is not the whole Creation and the
Empire thereof His?'" Rejoined Al-Hajjaj, "Dost thou not know
that He, on whom he called in thy presence, delivered him in
thine absence?" And the tongue of the case recited on this theme,
"O Lord, how many a grief from me hast driven * Nor can I sit or
stand without Thy hold:
How many many things I cannot count, * Thou sav'st from many many
and manifold!"
And they also tell a tale of
