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54 - The
Qaazee Schooled by His Wife
There
lived a Qaazee with his wife. His wife was a charitable, virtuous,
righteous and of helping nature. At the same time she was very beautiful
also. The Qaazee thought that everybody had a wife like his, and whenever
anybody came with any complaint about his wife, he delivered his judgment that the man was a wrongdoer and the woman suffered. He did this because
he thought that every man's wife was like his. And thus he did not
know the wickedness of the women and their sorcery and cunningness by
which they work on men's mind.
He had
these ideas until one day, when suddenly a man came to him with a
complaint about his wife that he was ill-treated by her and how her
misconduct was manifested in public. When the man put up his case before
the Qaazee and made his charge, the Qaazee determined that he was wrong
and his wife was right; so the complaint went forth as the one deaf and
blind who could neither hear nor see. Moreover, the man was perplexed with
his affair as not knowing what he should do with his wife. The Qaazee had
judged his case differently that he had ill-used his wife, while it was
vice versa, he was
ill-used by his wife.
The
plaintiff was confounded at his decision and was in a process "what
to do", when he met a man on the way
unexpectedly. He asked him - "Whatever may be your case, how has it
fallen on you by this Qaazee in the matter of your wife?" The man
said - "He has given sentence, that I am at fault and she is
innocent, and I do not know what to do." The other man said -
"Go back to the Judge's (Qaazee) Harem and sit by its entrance and ask the
help from there."
The
man did as he was told, he went there and knocked, and when a maid came
out, he requested her to take him to the wife of the Judge, I just want to
speak a word with her." She went in, asked her mistress and the
mistress welcomed him from behind the doors. She asked him - "Yes,
What do you want?" He said - "O Lady, I am under your
protection, so that you can get justice from my wife. She has wronged me
and disgraced me. I came to His Honor Qaazee to complain of her
ill-conduct, still he thinks that I am at fault and have injured her while
she is innocent. I don't know what to do. People told me that you are a
justice lover, that is why I have come to you." She said - "Go,
take rest, and do not come back until he calls you back and do not
fear at all." The man blessed her and left the place thinking whether the
Qaazee's wife would help him or not.
When
the Judge had finished his work, he went to his Harem. It was the usual
custom that his wife used to meet him at the middle doorway when he came
home, but on that day she did not come to receive him. He went inside the
apartment and found her praying. He remembered the man who came to him
complaining about his wife, so he thought, "Harming or hurting does
not always come from the woman, and this liar complains about his wife
falsely", because he still thought all women were like his wife.
When
she had finished her prayers, she came and served him the food and ate the
food with him as usual. Among the dishes was a plate of two chickens, so
she said to her husband - "By Allaah, Please buy me a couple of geese
tomorrow, that I may stuff them, I desire to eat them." He said -
"Inshaa Allaah (by Allaah's wish), I will send somebody to buy two
fattest and biggest geese for you. The eunuchs will slaughter them and you
may use them as you wish."
So the
next day the Judge got two plump birds and asked the eunuchs to cut them
and the cook stuffed them with rice over and above the usual food. At this
Judge's wife rose, and according to her plan, she bought two sparrows
which a hunter had trapped and had cooked them. She placed those birds
over the rice instead of the geese Judge had sent, and waited for her
husband for supper.
When
he came, the table was laid and he uncovered the plate under which he
expected to see those geese, but he found two sparrows. He got perplexed
to see them and said to his wife - "Oh, Allaah is great, Where are
those geese?" She said - "Whatever you brought, is here before
you." "But they are sparrows." "I don't know."
The Judge got angry at this, rose and went to his wife's home and fetched
her father. Seeing her father coming, she stood up, removed the two small
birds and kept the two big birds on their place. When her father uncovered
the plate, he found the big birds instead of the small ones. So he said to
his son-in-law - "You were saying that they were the birds, but they
are the geese." At this he got displeased
and went away. The Qaazee followed him, comforted him and invited him for
food but he would not come with him.
After
that the Judge locked his door, but before he entered, his wife had
substituted the birds for the big ones. When her husband sat down for
food, and he uncovered the plate, he saw the two sparrows. He again went
mad to see them there. He went out again and met his father-in-law on the
way. He said to him - "Come and look at those geese on the
plate." "Why?" "Because they are again changed to
sparrows." So the father-in-law returned to the house and saw again
the geese on the plate, because they were again changed to the geese.
He
said - "Here are two geese, now come and decide whether they are
geese or sparrows?" He said - "Certainly they are two
geese." "Then why do you come to me to complain about my
daughter?" After this the father went away and the Judge came up to
the doorway. Meanwhile the lady again changed the geese to the birds.
After that the Qaazee sat down to eat food and found the two sparrows. At
this he rose and cried - "Come here and help me." Now when the
people came there and asked the Qaazee what was the matter.
Qaazee
said - "I bought two geese for food but I find two sparrows instead
of the geese." And as he opened the plate again he found two geese
there, as the lady had again exchanged the birds for geese." He was
confused to see this, asked the pardon from the neighbors, sent them away
and came back to eat the food. As he opened the plate again to eat the
food, he found two sparrows sitting there. So he again exclaimed -
"These are two sparrows, no doubt about it."
Now
the wife cried - "Come and please help me." So the neighbors
came running there and asked her what was the matter. She said - "I
am in a great fix. My husband, the Qaazee has gone mad, please get hold of
him and take him to the Maristaan and confine him there until he is
returned to his senses." Everybody took him and imprisoned him amongst the
maniacs. Everybody was in shock that the Qaazee had gone mad and has been
confined in a madhouse. Now
this was the cunning planning his wife had to show him that what a woman can
do.
After three days,
the Qaazee's wife went to him taking some food and
set it before him and asked him saying - "What was it you found on
the plate?" He answered - "Two sparrows." She said -
"Recover your senses and your right mind, and see here I am who has
made you mad for your confusion between the two geese and the two
sparrows. Now whenever anyone comes to you complaining about his wife, you
always think that that man is an evildoer. But this is not always so. Women
are often the worst wrongdoers and men are innocent. Now in this case,
everybody will say that Qaazee is a wrongdoer, and no one knows that it is
your wife who has wrong done to you. So you send for that man who is
innocent and ask his wife also come to you and then do justice to
him."
After
that she moved him from Maristaan, and the Qaazee did with that man as his
wife said. Even in future he did so that he decided with his mind and
logic as who
was the wrongdoer.
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