A Literary History of the Arabs Part 10

Prompt to dash upon the foeman, every minute watching well-- Are his eyes in slumber lightly sealed, his heart stands sentinel.

When the first advancing troopers rise to sight, he sets his hand From the scabbard forth to draw his sharp-edged, finely-mettled brand.

When he shakes it in the breast-bone of a champion of the foe, How the grinning Fates in open glee their flas.h.i.+ng side-teeth show!

Solitude his chosen comrade, on he fares while overhead By the Mother of the mazy constellations he is led."[158]

[Sidenote: The old Arabian points of honour.]

These verses admirably describe the rudimentary Arabian virtues of courage, hardness, and strength. We must now take a wider survey of the moral ideas on which pagan society was built, and of which Pre-islamic poetry is at once the promulgation and the record. There was no written code, no legal or religious sanction--nothing, in effect, save the binding force of traditional sentiment and opinion, _i.e._, Honour.

What, then, are the salient points of honour in which Virtue (_Muruwwa_), as it was understood by the heathen Arabs, consists?

[Sidenote: Courage.]

Courage has been already mentioned. Arab courage is like that of the ancient Greeks, "dependent upon excitement and vanis.h.i.+ng quickly before depression and delay."[159] Hence the Arab hero is defiant and boastful, as he appears, _e.g._, in the _Mu'allaqa_ of 'Amr b. Kulthum. When there is little to lose by flight he will ride off unashamed; but he will fight to the death for his womenfolk, who in serious warfare often accompanied the tribe and were stationed behind the line of battle.[160]

"When I saw the hard earth hollowed By our women's flying footprints, And Lamis her face uncovered Like the full moon of the skies, Showing forth her hidden beauties-- Then the matter was grim earnest: I engaged their chief in combat, Seeing help no other wise."[161]

The tribal const.i.tution was a democracy guided by its chief men, who derived their authority from n.o.ble blood, n.o.ble character, wealth, wisdom, and experience. As a Bedouin poet has said in homely language--

"A folk that hath no chiefs must soon decay, And chiefs it hath not when the vulgar sway.

Only with poles the tent is reared at last, And poles it hath not save the pegs hold fast But when the pegs and poles are once combined, Then stands accomplished that which was designed."[162]

[Sidenote: Loyalty.]

The chiefs, however, durst not lay commands or penalties on their fellow-tribesmen. Every man ruled himself, and was free to rebuke presumption in others. "_If you are our lord_" (_i.e._, if you act discreetly as a _sayyid_ should), "_you will lord over us, but if you are a prey to pride, go and be proud!_" (_i.e._, we will have nothing to do with you).[163] Loyalty in the mouth of a pagan Arab did not mean allegiance to his superiors, but faithful devotion to his equals; and it was closely connected with the idea of kins.h.i.+p. The family and the tribe, which included strangers living in the tribe under a covenant of protection--to defend these, individually and collectively, was a sacred duty. Honour required that a man should stand by his own people through thick and thin.

"I am of Ghaziyya: if she be in error, then I will err; And if Ghaziyya be guided right, I go right with her!"

sang Durayd b. ?imma, who had followed his kin, against his better judgment, in a foray which cost the life of his brother 'Abdullah.[164]

If kinsmen seek help it should be given promptly, without respect to the merits of the case; if they do wrong it should be suffered as long as possible before resorting to violence.[165] The utilitarian view of friends.h.i.+p is often emphasised, as in these verses:--

Take for thy brother whom thou wilt in the days of peace, But know that when fighting comes thy kinsman alone is near.

Thy true friend thy kinsman is, who answers thy call for aid With good will, when deeply drenched in bloodshed are sword and spear.

Oh, never forsake thy kinsman e'en tho' he do thee wrong, For what he hath marred he mends thereafter and makes sincere."[166]

At the same time, notwithstanding their shrewd common sense, nothing is more characteristic of the Arabs--heathen and Mu?ammadan alike--than the chivalrous devotion and disinterested self-sacrifice of which they are capable on behalf of their friends. In particular, the ancient poetry affords proof that they regarded with horror any breach of the solemn covenant plighted between patron and client or host and guest.

This topic might be ill.u.s.trated by many striking examples, but one will suffice:--

[Sidenote: The story of Samaw'al b. 'Adiya.]

The Arabs say: "_Awfa mina 'l-Samaw'ali_"--"More loyal than al-Samaw'al"; or _Wafaun ka-wafa'i 'l-Samaw'ali_"--" A loyalty like that of al-Samaw'al." These proverbs refer to Samaw'al b. 'Adiya, an Arab of Jewish descent and Jew by religion, who lived in his castle, called al-Ablaq (The Piebald), at Tayma, some distance north of Medina. There he dug a well of sweet water, and would entertain the Arabs who used to alight beside it; and they supplied themselves with provisions from his castle and set up a market. It is related that the poet Imru'u 'l-Qays, while fleeing, hotly pursued by his enemies, towards Syria, took refuge with Samaw'al, and before proceeding on his way left in charge of his host five coats of mail which had been handed down as heirlooms by the princes of his family. Then he departed, and in due course arrived at Constantinople, where he besought the Byzantine emperor to help him to recover his lost kingdom. His appeal was not unsuccessful, but he died on the way home. Meanwhile his old enemy, the King of ?ira, sent an army under ?arith b. ?alim against Samaw'al, demanding that he should surrender the coats of mail. Samaw'al refused to betray the trust committed to him, and defended himself in his castle. The besiegers, however, captured his son, who had gone out to hunt. ?arith asked Samaw'al: "Dost thou know this lad?" "Yes, he is my son." "Then wilt thou deliver what is in thy possession, or shall I slay him?" Samaw'al answered: "Do with him as thou wilt. I will never break my pledge nor give up the property of my guest-friend." So ?arith smote the lad with his sword and clove him through the middle. Then he raised the siege. And Samaw'al said thereupon:--

"_I was true with the mail-coats of the Kindite,[167]

I am true though many a one is blamed for treason.

Once did 'adiya, my father, exhort me: 'O Samaw'al, ne'er destroy what I have builded.'

For me built 'adiya a strong-walled castle With a well where I draw water at pleasure; So high, the eagle slipping back is baffled.

When wrong befalls me I endure not tamely._"[168]

The Bedouin ideal of generosity and hospitality is personified in ?atim of ?ayyi', of whom many anecdotes are told. We may learn from the following one how extravagant are an Arab's notions on this subject:--

[Sidenote: ?atim of ?ayyi'.]

When ?atim's mother was pregnant she dreamed that she was asked, "Which dost thou prefer?--a generous son called ?atim, or ten like those of other folk, lions in the hour of battle, brave lads and strong of limb?" and that she answered, "?atim." Now, when ?atim grew up he was wont to take out his food, and if he found any one to share it he would eat, otherwise he threw it away. His father, seeing that he wasted his food, gave him a slave-girl and a mare with her foal and sent him to herd the camels. On reaching the pasture, ?atim began to search for his fellows, but none was in sight; then he came to the road, but found no one there. While he was thus engaged he descried a party of riders on the road and went to meet them. "O youth," said they, "hast thou aught to entertain us withal?" He answered: "Do ye ask me of entertainment when ye see the camels?" Now, these riders were 'Abid b. al-Abras and Bishr b. Abi Khazim and Nabigha al-Dhubyani, and they were on their way to King Nu'man.[169] ?atim slaughtered three camels for them, whereupon 'Abid said: "We desired no entertainment save milk, but if thou must needs charge thyself with something more, a single young she-camel would have sufficed us." ?atim replied: "That I know, but seeing different faces and diverse fas.h.i.+ons I thought ye were not of the same country, and I wished that each of you should mention what ye saw, on returning home." So they spoke verses in praise of him and celebrated his generosity, and ?atim said: "I wished to bestow a kindness upon you, but your bounty is greater than mine. I swear to G.o.d that I will hamstring every camel in the herd unless ye come forward and divide them among yourselves." The poets did as he desired, and each man received ninety-nine camels; then they proceeded on their journey to Nu'man. When ?atim's father heard of this he came to him and asked, "Where are the camels?" "O my father," replied ?atim, "by means of them I have conferred on thee everlasting fame and honour that will cleave to thee like the ring of the ringdove, and men will always bear in mind some verse of poetry in which we are praised. This is thy recompense for the camels." On hearing these words his father said, "Didst thou with my camels thus?" "Yes." "By G.o.d, I will never dwell with thee again."

So he went forth with his family, and ?atim was left alone with his slave-girl and his mare and the mare's foal.[170]

[Sidenote: ?atim's daughter before the Prophet.]

We are told that ?atim's daughter was led as a captive before the Prophet and thus addressed him: "'O Mu?ammad, my sire is dead, and he who would have come to plead for me is gone. Release me, if it seem good to thee, and do not let the Arabs rejoice at my misfortune; for I am the daughter of the chieftain of my people. My father was wont to free the captive, and protect those near and dear to him, and entertain the guest, and satisfy the hungry, and console the afflicted, and give food and greeting to all; and never did he turn away any who sought a boon. I am ?atim's daughter.' The Prophet (on whom be the blessing and peace of G.o.d) answered her: 'O maiden, the true believer is such as thou hast described. Had thy father been an Islamite, verily we should have said, "G.o.d have mercy upon him!" Let her go,' he continued, 'for her sire loved n.o.ble manners, and G.o.d loves them likewise.'"[171]

?atim was a poet of some repute.[172] The following lines are addressed to his wife, Mawiyya:--

"O daughter of 'Abdullah and Malik and him who wore The two robes of Yemen stuff--the hero that rode the roan, When thou hast prepared the meal, entreat to partake thereof A guest--I am not the man to eat, like a churl, alone--: Some traveller thro' the night, or house-neighbour; for in sooth I fear the reproachful talk of men after I am gone.

The guest's slave am I, 'tis true, as long as he bides with me, Although in my nature else no trait of the slave is shown."[173]

[Sidenote: Position of women.]

[Sidenote: Arabian heroines.]

[Sidenote: Fa?ima daughter of Khurshub.]

[Sidenote: f.u.kayha.]

Here it will be convenient to make a short digression in order that the reader may obtain, if not a complete view, at least some glimpses of the position and influence of women in Pre-islamic society. On the whole, their position was high and their influence great. They were free to choose their husbands, and could return, if ill-treated or displeased, to their own people; in some cases they even offered themselves in marriage and had the right of divorce. They were regarded not as slaves and chattels, but as equals and companions. They inspired the poet to sing and the warrior to fight. The chivalry of the Middle Ages is, perhaps, ultimately traceable to heathen Arabia. "Knight-errantry, the riding forth on horseback in search of adventures, the rescue of captive maidens, the succour rendered everywhere to women in adversity--all these were essentially Arabian ideas, as was the very name of _chivalry_, the connection of honourable conduct with the horse-rider, the man of n.o.ble blood, the cavalier."[174] But the n.o.bility of the women is not only reflected in the heroism and devotion of the men; it stands recorded in song, in legend, and in history. Fa?ima, the daughter of Khurshub, was one of three n.o.ble matrons who bore the t.i.tle _al-Munjibat_, 'the Mothers of Heroes.' She had seven sons, three of whom, viz., Rabi' and 'Umara and Anas, were called 'the Perfect'

(_al-Kamala_). One day ?amal b. Badr the Fazarite raided the Banu 'Abs, the tribe to which Fa?ima belonged, and made her his prisoner.

As he led away the camel on which she was mounted at the time, she cried: "Man, thy wits are wandering. By G.o.d, if thou take me captive, and if we leave behind us this hill which is now in front of us, surely there will never be peace between thee and the sons of Ziyad" (Ziyad was the name of her husband), "because people will say what they please, and the mere suspicion of evil is enough." "I will carry thee off," said he, "that thou mayest herd my camels." When Fa?ima knew that she was certainly his prisoner she threw herself headlong from her camel and died; so did she fear to bring dishonour on her sons.[175] Among the names which have become proverbial for loyalty we find those of two women, f.u.kayha and Umm Jamil. As to f.u.kayha, it is related that her clansmen, having been raided by the brigand Sulayk b. Sulaka, resolved to attack him; but since he was a famous runner, on the advice of one of their shaykhs they waited until he had gone down to the water and quenched his thirst, for they knew that he would then be unable to run.

Sulayk, however, seeing himself caught, made for the nearest tents and sought refuge with f.u.kayha. She threw her smock over him, and stood with drawn sword between him and his pursuers; and as they still pressed on, she tore the veil from her hair and shouted for help. Then her brothers came and defended Sulayk, so that his life was saved.[176] Had s.p.a.ce allowed, it would have been a pleasant task to make some further extracts from the long Legend of n.o.ble Women. I have ill.u.s.trated their keen sense of honour and loyalty, but I might equally well have chosen examples of gracious dignity and quick intelligence and pa.s.sionate affection. Many among them had the gift of poetry, which they bestowed especially on the dead; it is a final proof of the high character and position of women in Pre-islamic Arabia that the hero's mother and sisters were deemed most worthy to mourn and praise him. The praise of living women by their lovers necessarily takes a different tone; the physical charms of the heroine are fully described, but we seldom find any appreciation of moral beauty. One notable exception to this rule occurs at the beginning of an ode by Shanfara. The pa.s.sage defies translation. It is, to quote Sir Charles Lyall, with whose faithful and sympathetic rendering of the ancient poetry every student of Arabic literature should be acquainted, "the most lovely picture of womanhood which heathen Arabia has left us, drawn by the same hand that has given us, in the unrivalled _Lamiyah_, its highest ideal of heroic hardness and virile strength."[177]

UMAYMA.

"She charmed me, veiling bashfully her face, Keeping with quiet looks an even pace; Some lost thing seem to seek her downcast eyes: Aside she bends not--softly she replies.

Ere dawn she carries forth her meal--a gift To hungry wives in days of dearth and thrift.

No breath of blame up to her tent is borne, While many a neighbour's is the house of scorn.

Her husband fears no gossip fraught with shame, For pure and holy is Umayma's name.

Joy of his heart, to her he need not say When evening brings him home--'Where pa.s.sed the day?'

Slender and full in turn, of perfect height, A very fay were she, if beauty might Transform a child of earth into a fairy sprite!"[178]

Only in the freedom of the desert could the character thus exquisitely delineated bloom and ripen. These verses, taken by themselves, are a sufficient answer to any one who would maintain that Islam has increased the social influence of Arabian women, although in some respects it may have raised them to a higher level of civilisation.[179]

[Sidenote: Infanticide.]

There is, of course, another side to all this. In a land where might was generally right, and where

"the simple plan That he should take who has the power And he should keep who can,"

was all but universally adopted, it would have been strange if the weaker s.e.x had not often gone to the wall. The custom which prevailed in the _Jahiliyya_ of burying female infants alive, revolting as it appears to us, was due partly to the frequent famines with which Arabia is afflicted through lack of rain, and partly to a perverted sense of honour. Fathers feared lest they should have useless mouths to feed, or lest they should incur disgrace in consequence of their daughters being made prisoners of war. Hence the birth of a daughter was reckoned calamitous, as we read in the Koran: "_They attribute daughters unto G.o.d--far be it from Him!--and for themselves they desire them not. When a female child is announced to one of them, his face darkens wrathfully: he hides himself from his people because of the bad news, thinking--'Shall I keep the child to my disgrace or cover it away in the dust?'_"[180] It was said proverbially, "The despatch of daughters is a kindness" and "The burial of daughters is a n.o.ble deed."[181] Islam put an end to this barbarity, which is expressly forbidden by the Koran: "_Kill not your children in fear of impoverishment: we will provide for them and for you: verily their killing was a great sin._"[182] Perhaps the most touching lines in Arabian poetry are those in which a father struggling with poverty wishes that his daughter may die before him and thus be saved from the hard mercies of her relatives:--

THE POOR MAN'S DAUGHTER

"But for Umayma's sake I ne'er had grieved to want nor braved Night's blackest horror to bring home the morsel that she craved.