Arabian Wisdom Part 15

_Arab_. Never shall I greet Ma'an as an emir should be greeted!

_Ma'an_. Greeting is an ordinance among Arabs in which you are free to take what form you like.

_Arab_. An Emir who eats sweet pastry in secret, and entertains his guest with barley bread!

_Ma'an_. The food is our own: we eat what we like and give others what we like.

_Arab_. I shall leave a land in which thou dwellest, and depart, though the hand of Fortune is hard upon me.

_Ma'an_. Brother Arab, if thou stay, thou art welcome; and if thou depart, peace go with thee.

_Arab_. Son of shame, give me something for my journey, for I have decided to go.

_Ma'an_ (_to his treasurer_): Give him a thousand pieces of money.

_Arab_. n.o.ble prince, I have heard much of thy great forbearance, and came only to try thee. Thy gentleness is indeed very great, and has no like among men. I pray G.o.d that thy life may be long, and thy forbearance be ever a n.o.ble example to which men may look up!

TRUTHFULNESS TO TRUST

The following historical incident is related by Arab authors as the highest example of faithfulness to trust. Al-Samau'al (Samuel) was the emir of a Jewish tribe in Southern Arabia, shortly before the time of Mohammed. A friend of his, before setting out on a journey, left with him some very fine mailed armour. This friend was killed in a battle, and one of the kings of Syria demanded the arms. Al-Samau'al refused to give them up except to the rightful heir, and the king laid siege to him in one of his fortresses. One day his son fell into the hands of the enemy, and the king threatened to kill him if the arms were not given up. Again he refused, and from the turrets of the castle saw his son put to death. The siege was soon after raised, and the arms were delivered to the heirs of his friend.

TRUTHFULNESS TO PLEDGE

The terms of surrender at the capture of Jerusalem by Saladin, in 1187, were that the Crusaders should retire with their goods from that city to one of the garrisoned ports which were held by the Franks, on the payment of ten pieces of gold for each man. As they were filing out of the city, and handing in their ransom-money, Saladin and his generals looked on, watching the proceedings. The patriarch's turn came, and he was followed by a number of mules laden with much treasure. Saladin made no sign, but his generals said: "Sire, the conditions of surrender were for private property, not for such treasures of money, which we urgently need for carrying on the war." To this appeal he replied: "No, I have pledged my word, and for the ten pieces of gold agreed upon he shall be free."

But just as he was so strictly truthful to his word, he was equally severe in exacting the same truthfulness from his foes. Thus after the great battle of Hittin, when the Crusading army was utterly crushed, a large number of prisoners fell into his hands, including the King of Jerusalem and Count Raymond de Chatillon, Governor of Kerak, to the east of the Jordan. The count was a bad, dishonourable man, and had (not long before) shamelessly violated an armistice, and fallen on a defenceless Moslem caravan which was pa.s.sing through his province, killing the men and seizing their property. When Saladin heard of this base breach of the laws of war he was furious, and vowed that if this perfidious prince should ever fall into his power, he would kill him with his own hand; and now the count was his prisoner. The day of battle, in the month of August, had been very hot, and the Crusaders, with their heavy coats of mail, and without a drop of water to drink, had suffered terribly from thirst. The tents of Saladin were pitched near the Lake of Tiberias, and when the king and the count were brought in, the king asked for a drink of water--which Saladin at once ordered.

A large goblet of iced water was handed to him, and after quenching his thirst he pa.s.sed the cup to the count. Saladin looked on, but said nothing until the count had finished drinking, and he then said to him: "I gave no orders for drink for you; if I had, your life would have been safe by our laws of hospitality. But you are a bad, faithless man, who broke the terms of our truce, and you shall now suffer the death which you deserve," and with one stroke of his scimitar he cut off his head. He then sent for the Knights of St. John, of whom there were about a thousand prisoners, and said to them: "So far as you have been brave warriors, and cost the Moslems many a man, I have nothing to say; but you have not been fair and honourable in our wars, nor true to your engagements, and I now offer you the option of Islam or death."

To a man they all chose death in preference to adopting a faith which they hated; and so they were led to the sh.o.r.es of the lake and there beheaded.

More than seven hundred years after these tragic events, William II., the present Emperor of Germany, who is a descendant of the Crusading Princes, and a Knight of the Brandenburg branch of the order of St.

John, came to Damascus in 1898; and one of the first things he did there was to visit the tomb of Saladin, and lay on it a wreath of flowers. It was a generous and beautiful and well-deserved tribute to the memory of a truly great man, from whom the Christian nations of his times learned much of their chivalry and truthfulness to their pledged word.

A THANKFUL OLD MAN

Two old men, who had been friends in early youth, met after an interval of many years. A cordial greeting ensued, and then one of them asked the other: "How old are you now?" He said: "Thank G.o.d, I am in good health." "Are you well-off in worldly goods?" "Thank G.o.d, I am in debt to no man." "Have you any special trouble of mind?" "Thank G.o.d, I have no young children." "Have you any enemies?" "Thank G.o.d, I have no near relations."

THE THREE SORTS OF HAPPY MEN

In two verses of poetry, Al-Mutanabbi, one of the greatest Arabian poets and philosophers, reduces the number of happy men to three cla.s.ses. They have been paraphrased and put into English verse by a friend, as follows:

To three life seems a summer sky: The first who has no mind to know The heights and depths of life below, Nor ever asks the reason why.

The second he to whom life's sum Is self at ease; who never lets The past disturb with dark regrets, Nor hopes and fears from days to come.

The third who, led by fancies crude, In scorn of truth, deceived at heart, Makes fruitless dreams his better part, And hollow hopes the highest good.

CYNICAL VIEWS OF LIFE

Abu'l-Ala was another great poet-philosopher. He lost his sight from small-pox early in life, was a cynic and pessimist, and may have often been copied by Omar Khayyam. He refers to his affliction and to the fact that he lived and died an unmarried man (so as to have no children) in a well-known verse:

"Here am I--wronged by my father Who gave me birth--while I have done wrong to no one."

Some of his poetry has been put into English quatrains by Ameen F.

Rihany, in imitation of Omar Khayyam's _Rubaiyat_, and the following, from the _Quatrains of Abu'l-Ala_, are a few striking examples:

"What boots it, in my creed, that man should moan In Sorrow's Night, or sing in Pleasure's Dawn?

In vain the doves all coo on yonder branch, In vain one sings or sobs: lo! he is gone.

So solemnly the Funeral pa.s.ses by!

The march of Triumph, under this same sky.

Trails in its course--both vanish into Night: To me are one, the Sob, the Joyous Cry.

Many a grave embraces friend and foe, And grins in scorn at this most sorry show; A mult.i.tude of corses pa.s.sed therein-- Alas! Time almost reaps e'er he doth sow!

How oft around the Well my Soul would grope Athirst; but lo! my Pail was without Rope: I cried for Water, and the deep, dark Well Echoed my wailing cry, but not my hope.

The door of What-May-Be none can unlock, But we can knock and guess, and guess and knock: Night sets her glittering sail, and glides along, s.h.i.+p-like; but where, O Night-s.h.i.+p, is thy dock?

Oh, when will Fate come forth with his decree, That I might clasp the cool clay, and be free?

My Soul and Body, wedded for a while, Are sick, and would that separation be.

If miracles were wrought in bygone years, Why not to-day, why not to-day, O seers?

This Leprous Age most needs a healing hand, Oh, why not heed his cries, and dry his tears?"

MISCELLANEOUS PROVERBS

He who treats you as he treats himself does you no injustice.

He who lives on expectations dies in poverty.

Three things are no disgrace to man--to serve his guest, to serve his horse, and to serve in his own house.

Extremes are a mistake--a middle course is the best.

When the cooks are many the food is spoiled. When a s.h.i.+p has two captains it will sink.

Tie the a.s.s where his owner wants.

Be a slave to truth--the slave to truth is a freeman.

No bravery in war can withstand overwhelming numbers.