84-1 - The
Caliph's Night Adventure
"One
night, the Caliph Haaroon al-Rasheed was awake the whole night so when he
rose in the morning he was very restless. So he sent for Masaroor the
eunuch and cried at him - "Fetch me my Vazeer Zaafar." Masaroor
immediately went out and returned with the Vazeer. The Vazeer found his
Lord alone and in melancholy, so he asked him - "Since when you have
been sad?" "Only recently, and this cannot be removed until you
tell me something interesting to dispel it." He replied - "This
is my duty, Inshaa Allaah. I have to remind you that this day has been
fixed for to have a good loom of your kingdom. This may divert your mind
and sooth you." The Caliph said - "It is good that you reminded
me about it, let me change my clothes and you change your own."
So
they disguised as stranger merchants and sneaked out of the palace through
their secret door in the garden. They crossed the river in the first ferry
boat they found. Then they passed over the bridge that joined the two
halves of Bagadaad city. A he foot of the bridge, they met an old blind
man who asked them to give him alms. The Caliph took out a Deenaar and
kept it on his palm. The old man held his hand fast and said - "When
you have given me this alms, please do not refuse a favor I ask from you.
That is you strike me on my ear, because I deserve such punishment."
After saying this he left his hand but lest he runs away he held his robe
tightly.
The
Caliph said - "I will not grant your request nor I will destroy my
charity by treating you like this." And he tried to move away from
him, but that man had held his robe tightly. He again said - "I
implore you to strike me on my ear or take your alms back for I may not
take it in this condition. If you knew the reason for this, you would say
that this penalty is light." Then the Caliph stroke lightly on his
ear and the man left his robe thanking him and blessing him. The Caliph
and the Vazeer then proceeded on their way.
After
walking a while, the Caliph said to his Vazeer - "This beggar must
have some right good cause for treating himself like this by all who gave
him alms. I should know about it. You go back to him and ask him to appear
at my palace so that I can hear whatever he has to say." Zaafar went
back and gave him another strike on his ear and delivered the Caliph's
message. When they came to town, they found a large crowd in its square
gazing at a handsome youth who was mounted on a mare and was whipping her
so brutally that she was covered with blood. He tried to ask the
bystanders there but they could not tell hi more than this that he daily
treated her in the same way at the same time. The Caliph asked his Vazeer
to confirm this information.
Then
the Caliph came to his palace, he saw in a street which he had not passed
through many months, a newly built mansion. He asked Zaafar if he knew the
owner of that mansion, but he said "No" and that he would
inquire about it. He asked a neighbor and was told that the mansion
belonged to Khwaajaa Hasan, surnamed al-Habbaal from his handicraft. The
Vazeer gave this information to the Caliph. The Caliph said - "I want
to see this Khwaajaa, so you go and tell him to come to my palace at the
same time you have appointed for the other two.
So the
next day, after the mid-afternoon prayers, the caliph came to his
apartment and Zaafar introduced the three persons to him. The caliph asked
the name of the blind man - he told that his name was Baabaa Abdullaa. The
Caliph said - "The way of asking alms was so strange yesterday that I
had to ask you to come here to know what compelled you to do it in that
way. Tell me openly. Baabaa Abdullaa fell on the Caliph's feet and said -
"I accept my offence. I did not know that you were the Caliph. It
might be strange in the eyes of people but it is a single penance for a
crime for which I feel guilty. And that is why I ask everybody to give me
a stroke on my ear. But I know that it is not sufficient. You can yourself
judge when I tell you my story ....
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