Читать книгу What 'Isa ibn Hisham Told Us - Muhammad al-Muwaylihi - Страница 22

Miṣbāḥ al-sharq 39, January 12, 1899

5.1

Our Lawyer forwarded a petition to the Committee of Surveillance and suggested that we should go to inquire about it. He told us that he would like to deal with it himself, but he was prevented from so doing by the realization that the Judge who was the subject of the complaint because of his continuous interruptions during the evidence phase might well make a determined effort to do him some harm in the future. He would be aware that the Lawyer was the one who had lodged the complaint with the Committee or been its primary instigator. Lawyers, he told us, must always avoid annoying judges and foster their goodwill.

When I urged the Pāshā to follow the Lawyer’s suggestion, he shied away, adamantly refusing to come and being persistently obstructive. This is what he kept saying:

PĀSHĀ I’ve had enough. The utter humiliation, injustice, damage, loss of honor, and lack of respect that I’ve endured as a result of the Creator’s predestined decree are more than enough. I couldn’t bear the thought of putting up with two humiliations at once: enduring oppression and submitting to injustice on the one hand, while making weak and humble complaints on the other. Just leave me alone! Don’t give these misfortunes any more encouragement; don’t serve as the key to open up any more troubles. One should complain to God alone, and through Him alone comes recompense. «Lord, I prefer prison to the thing to which they are summoning me.»³⁸ God knows, I would have sought release from my worries through suicide, were it not for the punishment of hellfire. I only wish that the prison sentence could be changed to one of death, so that I could escape from these dreadful misfortunes. Throughout my life I never heard of a prison sentence being given to any amir. In our time, it was only applied as a punishment to the plebs and lowest classes. At least amirs had this special privilege: if the question of sentence ever arose, it was execution. It would be far easier to face death rather than gloomy prisons.

5.2

ʿĪSĀ I’ve never noticed such panic and fear in a person like you, nor do I expect to encounter such cowardly resignation from you, the dauntless, courageous hero. Courage consists merely of showing endurance in the face of adversity, and confronting the circumstances in which you find yourself with a cheerful and calm equanimity.

Hearts will often panic because of something

which can be resolved like the untying of a cord.³⁹

In my opinion, you’re a man of the very soundest resolve and steadiest intellect. Intelligence involves the effective use of thought to rid oneself of misfortunes and devising a scheme to put an end to anxieties. At our disposal today we have a variety of sanctioned and prescribed courses of action. We will suffer no disgrace or harm by making use of them. You must realize that changing times and the fickle vicissitudes of life alter the basis of things and bring about modifications in the way in which one looks at them. What was considered a virtue in the past is regarded as depravity on the morrow; behavior which was regarded as a failing in past ages is now considered a virtue. In the past, nobility may indeed have derived its splendor from forceful authority and used brute strength to support itself, but today nobility in every sense demands submission to the regulations of the law. Come on then, and let’s follow this course of action! We may eventually be rid of these misfortunes and escape safe and sound from the troubles we are experiencing.

PĀSHĀ The taste of violent death would be easier for me than what you suggest. I would rather drink boiling water than suffer such humiliation.

5.3

ʿĪsā ibn Hishām said: We continued this discussion, but the various suggestions I made to change my companion’s stubbornly defiant attitude failed to achieve anything. I was on the point of giving up my attempt to carry out my intention of advising and guiding him. Just then, we heard a newspaper vendor shouting in a voice so hideous that it was even worse than a donkey braying: “Al-Muʾayyad and Al-Muqaṭṭam, Al-Ahrām and Miṣr, all four for a piaster.”

PĀSHĀ What incredible things I keep hearing! Have mosques, mountains, monuments, and countries become things one can purchase by auction in the market?

Without a doubt mankind has been disturbed;

so be serious about time, or else make sport with it.⁴⁰

ʿĪSĀ Those names aren’t monuments or countries! They’re used as titles for daily newspapers.

PĀSHĀ By newspapers do you perhaps mean the lists and daily sheets used by money changers, or are they lists of tax farms? But what’s the point of these obscure titles?

ʿĪSĀ Things are not as you think. Newspapers are sheets of paper printed daily, weekly, or monthly, in which news and stories of public interest are collected and reported, so that people can find out about public affairs. They are one of the aspects of Western civilization that we’ve imported into our own society. The purpose of issuing papers is to publish articles which give due credit for value and merit; and to rebuke depravity, to criticize bad actions and encourage good ones, to draw attention to points of imperfection, and to urge people to correct mistakes. They are meant to tell people what the government is doing on their behalf, so that it doesn’t drag them into anything against their interest, and also to let the government know about the people’s needs so that it can endeavor to satisfy them. To sum up, those who run the press occupy the position of “those who command good deeds and prohibit bad deeds” as referred to in the Islamic Shariah.

5.4

PĀSHĀ We used to hear about something of the kind in our time called “Gazette.” One of them was published in Turkish called The Daily Record of Events. Eulogies and congratulations were recorded in them, and there were notes about movements of the Viceregal entourage. But, if the status of newspapers today has been raised to the level you claim, then the most eminent scholars and important shaykhs must be involved in their production. It is an excellent means of informing people about things which will benefit them in their present life and help them in the hereafter. So let me take a look at one of them.

ʿĪSĀ Our scholars and shaykhs are of all people the least likely to follow this course and pursue the journalistic profession. They consider working in it to be heresy. They’ve dubbed it innovation (which the Shariah forbids) and interference in matters of no concern to anyone. So they ignore newspapers and often disagree as to whether or not it’s even permissible to read them. But other people have chosen it as a profession, some of them worthy, others unworthy. Some have used it as a means of earning a living by all possible means. So you’ll find them no different from tradesmen and market vendors. They are all as fraudulent, treacherous, lying, hypocritical, cunning, and crafty as one another when it comes to looting and murdering:

They have peopled the site of hypocrisy among themselves,

but the haven of loyalty lies in ruins.⁴¹

The original intentions of the press and the respect which it commanded have foundered ever since its standing fell among the élite and the benefits expected from it proved to be less than the damage it caused. Some sensible people still hope that one day the situation can be rectified and the profession elevated to the noble and worthy position it deserves. The whole question lies in the hands of readers. They must focus on what is beneficial and reject what is harmful. «Dross metal disappears as rubbish; what benefits people remains on the earth.»⁴²

5.5

I called out to the vendor and bought papers from him. I opened one of them to read some items of news to my friend. There was some news about the sentence passed on Aḥmad Sayf al-dīn, the sympathy people felt for him, and the attempts to obtain a pardon. It described the coarse clothing and poor food he was having to deal with in prison, enough to bring tears to the eyes when contemplating the fate of this young man, a scion of princes and rulers. Once I had finished reading, I turned to the Pāshā and said:

ʿĪSĀ Just observe how circumstances have made us equals. You’ve just heard about the sentence passed on Prince Aḥmad Sayf al-dīn by the court judge. Having heard that, how can you still refuse to submit to the law, conform with its regulations, and make use of its channels to get out of the situation in which you find yourself?

PĀSHĀ What’s this word “prince,” and who’s Aḥmad Sayf al-dīn?

5.6

ʿĪSĀ “Prince” is a foreign title given to heads of the Roman Empire before they had the audacity in the face of the populace to adopt the title of Emperor. Later on, it came to be used in Europe to apply to members of the royal family and to heads of petty governments. Today male and female members of the Khedive’s family call themselves by it, even though it’s not included in the list of official Ottoman titles. Aḥmad Sayf al-dīn is in fact Aḥmad ibn Ibrāhīm ibn Aḥmad ibn Ibrāhīm ibn Muḥammad ʿAlī, the latter the ancestor and founder of the present Khedive’s family. He committed a felony, was dragged before the courts, and incurred the penalty laid down by the law. The Court of First Instance sentenced him to seven years’ imprisonment. He appealed, asking the Court of Appeal judges for clemency. They reduced his sentence to five years. Then he asked the Court of Cassation for assistance, but obtained none. Efforts were made to arrange for members of the Khedive’s family to request that he be pardoned. His mother went this way and that, trying every possible means of asking for clemency, but the law applies to everyone. So how can you deem it proper to hold yourself aloof by refusing to submit a grievance petition? Now that you have heard about the history of princes, are you still too proud to pursue your case with the Committee of Surveillance and the Court of Appeal?

PĀSHĀ Lofty mountains must inevitably crumble when the whitefooted mountain goats are brought down. Graves must be split asunder and the trumpet be blown when all ideas of dignity have vanished and all values have been debased. The words of the Almighty have come true with regard to Egypt: «And We have made its highest parts into its lowest parts.»⁴³ As long as you tell me that Muḥammad ʿAlī’s descendant is in prison, is conforming with the law’s regulations, and using these avenues for submitting a petition, while his mother tries to intercede on his behalf, then I can see no disgrace in what you’re asking me to do. So take me wherever you wish. I only hope that they will accept my wish to act as ransom for the son of my masters and benefactors. Then his sentence can be added to mine.

5.7

ʿĪsā ibn Hishām said: The Pāshā accompanied me to the Ministry of Justice. He kept dragging his feet and choking back his tears. We entered the place where the Committee of Surveillance sat. They directed us to the inspectors’ room and we tried to enter, but an orderly stopped us and asked the Pāshā for his “carte.”

PĀSHĀ What does that foreign word mean?

ʿĪSĀ The “carte” is a small piece of paper on which visitors write their name. They’re supposed to show it before entering an office. The person being visited can then decide whether to receive the visitor or avoid seeing him.

PĀSHĀ In our day, channels for complaint were open to anyone who wished to use them. How can this restriction be in keeping with the equality of rights and justice in matters of law that you’ve been talking about?

ʿĪSĀ That system provides no safeguards against visits from idle callers or importunate petitioners. So this method has been evolved to give authorities enough time to perform their duties.

PĀSHĀ But isn’t the very prestige and kudos that people in authority have sufficient to prevent the kind of people you have mentioned from stopping in and bothering them?

5.8

ʿĪsā ibn Hishām said: I wrote a little slip with the Pāshā’s name on it. The orderly came back to tell us we could go in. We entered and found in front of us a young man with a premature growth of beard; signs of his youth welled up like a spring beneath it just as light swells in the midst of the moon’s halo. As we moved a little closer, I noticed that he had an account sheet in his hand which he turned over and other papers that he kept piling together and pounding. Then he put his hand to his forehead like someone trying to remember a figure which is missing from his calculations. On his right was a foreign book, on his left an Arabic book. I took a look at them: the former was by Voltaire, the French atheist philosopher; the latter by Muḥyī al-dīn Ibn ʿArabī, the monist Ṣūfī. When the Inspector asked us our business, I told him the whole story and mentioned the way the Judge had kept interrupting the testimony of the defense lawyer. I described for him the petition that we had presented. At this point the Pāshā interrupted me and spoke to the Inspector:

PĀSHĀ The worst thing at the trial, the bitterest stroke of all in the entire matter, was that the man whom you call the Attorney of the Parquet considered my rank to be sufficient cause to insult me. Never in my dreams did I imagine that the rank that I obtained by rushing without regard into perilous missions and enduring great hardships would turn out to be an unpardonable crime, something that would in his view provide a conclusive proof to support his claims, something to be used as a pretext for demanding that the sentence be more severe. Tell me, by God, since when has this noble rank of mine deserved punishment and vengeance? Furthermore, where do you belong within the various species of mankind?

5.9

ʿĪsā ibn Hishām said: At this point another visitor came in. I thanked God that his entrance had interrupted the Pāshā. But for that, he might well have said things that could not have been put right. Once the visitor had offered his greetings, he asked what news there was at the start of the day. The inspector expressed his great admiration for a speech he had been reading for amusement and handed it over to him. He had only just turned his attention to us again when a foreign inspector came to see him and showed him a drawing on a piece of paper which he claimed to have drawn during a legal discussion in which he had been involved in arguments and disputation. The young man looked at it and laughed, admiring the fine craftsmanship, then got rid of him so that he could attend to us. He addressed the Pāshā in a sympathetic tone that showed his noble background and good breeding. He finished by saying:

INSPECTOR (to the Pāshā) I’ve already studied the angles of the case in Miṣbāḥ al-sharq. The Judge may well have a good reason for interrupting the lawyer. Some of them make a habit of including the history of mankind’s creation, the formation of human society, and other similar matters, into their defense speech. Such antics lead to lengthy expositions and have no relevance whatsoever to the point of the case. Such lawyers will often insist on using such devices in the simplest and most trifling cases in order to convince their client that no word has been left unsaid in his defense, regardless of whether the case is won or lost. Thus, one finds some clients who believe that the lawyer only earns his fee by the amount said, just like an article that is costed according to its weight. One of them once refused to pay his lawyer the fees in arrears even after winning his case, claiming that he had not heard him make a long enough defense speech to deserve the fee, regardless of whether it achieved good or bad results. The judge’s time is both short and valuable, so the only thing he can do is to interrupt any lawyer who makes lengthy speeches. The judge will also interrupt the witness in order to direct his attention to the facts of the case so that he will not omit anything by getting off the point. In short, the judge in no way contravened the law in the way in which he treated you.

5.10

PĀSHĀ Now that you’ve explained away the Judge’s interruptions, I wish I knew what excuse there can be for putting me in the prisoner’s dock and making me stand for every question. I’m an old man who spent his life filling the highest positions in the Egyptian government and gave his blood freely in the service of the Khedive’s family. Why did he show no consideration for my age and no respect for my position? What law is there in the world to prevent him from doing that? Reverence for age is something inborn; respect for people of high rank is something innate. God Almighty says in the Qurʾan: «We have raised some of them above others in degrees.»⁴⁴

INSPECTOR The law stipulates that as well. It’s based on the concept of equality. In the eyes of the law, there’s no difference in either age or status. This is exactly in accordance with the commands of the noble Shariah and applies in particular to members of the Khedive’s family and people in authority when one of them commits a crime indictable under the law. So you have suffered neither ignominy nor disgrace in standing up before the Judge. You merely stood before the representative of His Excellency the Khedive who holds the highest rank of all.

PĀSHĀ If that constitutes your opinion about the Judge, then what about the member of the Parquet who saw fit to reproach me for my noble rank?

5.11

INSPECTOR I haven’t studied the files on the case and the details of the defense yet. But the part of the Attorney’s speech which has been published in Miṣbāḥ al-sharq is not intended to convey any idea of reproach because of your rank. On the contrary, its aim is to make it clear that it is not the right of people of high rank, however important they may be, to completely override the rights of the weak and use it to claim precedence over other people before the law. The scope of rank is limited purely to its possessor, without giving him any advantages over those who do not have it. Thus you have no reason to complain about the things which the Attorney said on this point. That’s the way things normally happen in this age.

PĀSHĀ Well then, if the Judge and Attorney can both be excused, what’s the point of my coming to see you and submitting a petition of complaint? Wouldn’t it be proper to summon the Judge and Attorney, reprimand them both, then examine the case, verify the falsity of the accusation, and on that basis quash the sentence in their presence?

INSPECTOR That’s not within our sphere of jurisdiction. If a court official acts contrary to the dictates of his office, the investigation of the case is in the hands of the Disciplinary Committee. A senior person has no recourse against a subordinate except through a court decision. Thus, I’m extremely sorry to say that we can’t act in your case. The decision rests with the Court of Appeal alone since it is the entity charged with annulling verdicts.

5.12

ʿĪsā ibn Hishām said: As this conversation proceeded, I was watching another young inspector at our side. His bright red tarboosh was tilted to one side. His expression showed signs of authority, and he kept raising and lowering his hand to and from his glasses. His appearance confirmed the fact that he was well organized and astute. When our conversation reached a certain point, he hailed the orderly, signs of regret and sympathy imprinted on his expression:

SECOND INSPECTOR Bring me Dalloz and Garraud.

The Pāshā turned to me and asked: Are those the names of the Judge and Attorney? Has the time come for me to get fair treatment from them both?

ʿĪSĀ They’re the titles of two books on civil jurisprudence, instead of Ibn ʿĀbidīn and Al-Hidāyah on Shariah jurisprudence.

The librarian fetched the two books, but the Inspector gave one of them back to him. “Not Baudry,” he said. “I asked for Garraud.” When they brought him that book, he began to delve into the two works for a long time. He looked despairingly at the librarian. “Get me Faustin Hélie,” he said, whereupon the librarian brought him another book. After studying this book for a while, he began to argue with his colleague in French. Eventually, when they finished, they spoke to the Pāshā:

5.13

Your only recourse in this case is the Court of Appeal. As far as the Judge and Attorney are concerned, we will make a note of it and refer it to the Board when it meets. If they find the slightest fault in their conduct, they will send out a circular to all courts ordering this practice to be discontinued in future.

With that, they both bade us farewell with reverence and respect.

As we left, the Pāshā spoke to me:

PĀSHĀ Every time I’ve set foot in one of this government’s departments, I’ve found myself faced with young people conducting its business. Have Egyptians been created afresh, or are they living in heaven where all ages are equal? My heart is almost completely exhausted from the way these worries and anxieties keep piling up against me.

I have seen sorrows obscuring sorrows

just as one line is written over another on paper.⁴⁵

5.14

ʿĪSĀ Don’t be surprised that young men are appointed to government positions; in this era the system requires it. They claim that men in middle and old age cannot bear the burdens of responsibility because they lack the necessary knowledge about modern sciences and the skills they demand.

Were God to see any good in old age,

The devout would abide near Him, old-aged for all eternity.⁴⁶

PĀSHĀ How can they possibly claim that knowledge is the sole province of the young to the exclusion of older people? I’ve only encountered genuine learning in people whose backs have been bent by old age and whose hairline has been whitened by experience. It’s only then that reason and culture shine forth in all their brilliance.

ʿĪSĀ Knowledge and learning are not the exclusive province of one age group or one period of life. Young men are often more effective in the scientific sphere and can gather more information on various subjects because of the sharp intellect and quick comprehension which is characteristic of people of their age. As a result, when they apply their energies to learning with determination, they can take in materials that are no less abundant than those possessed by men in middle and old age. Indeed their swift comprehension of things may enable them to achieve the same as older men have done after lengthier experience. You should not deny young people the knowledge they acquire nor challenge their right to assume high office.

Youth is not something to prevent one from learning;

learning may exist in both young and old.⁴⁷

5.15

PĀSHĀ So far I’ve followed your line of reasoning and taken your advice. We’ve presented our case to the Committee of Surveillance. But, as you can see, we’ve emerged without success. After going to all this trouble, we can only trust in despair. With today’s events behind us, you have no plausible reason for dragging me into making any further efforts to lodge a complaint before the judges.

ʿĪSĀ Don’t despair or lose heart. We still have the Court of Appeal before us. I’ve great faith in the fairness of its judgment. And, even supposing that our hopes were to be dashed there, the gate still remains open for us to try to obtain a pardon through the Minister of Justice.

PĀSHĀ From now on, don’t mention any ruler or minister. I’ve had enough of standing in front of these young men, however much you exaggerate and quote poetry to describe them.

5.16

ʿĪSĀ The Minister of Justice I’m describing is not at all like these young men. He prays devoutly, devotes all his attention to extra recitations and remembrances of God, and spends the night standing in prayer and the day fasting. There’s a pact of understanding between his fingers and the rosary, and a firm connection between his forehead and the prayer mat. All in all, in this modern age he reminds us more than anyone else of the old times you knew. His father was in fact one of the great men of your day, Ḥasan Pāshā al-Manāstirlī.

PĀSHĀ Al-Manāstirlī! He was my greatest friend and companion, my colleague in government service. Why didn’t you tell me about the son of this companion of mine right from the very beginning? You’d have preserved the color in my cheeks and saved me this abuse and degradation.

ʿĪSĀ I didn’t forget. It’s just that he wouldn’t have been of any help in avoiding the misfortunes in which we’ve been involved. He’ll only be useful in the final stages of the process. We can’t expect any assistance from him until after the decision of the appeal regarding the request for a pardon is published.