Читать книгу One Thousand and One Nights (Complete Annotated Edition) - Richard Francis Burton - Страница 124

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She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Wazir Dandan said to Zau al-Makan, “Thus spake the second hand maid to the King who hath found mercy, Omar bin al-Nu’uman. ‘Quoth a man to Mohammed bin Abdillah, Exhort thou me!’ ‘I exhort thee,’ replied he, ‘to be a self ruler, an abstainer in this world, and in the next a greedy slave.’ ‘How so?’ asked the other and Mohammed answered, ‘The abstinent man in this world conquereth both the world that is and the world to come.’ And quoth Ghaus bin Abdillah, ‘There were two brothers among the sons of Israel, one of whom said to the other, ‘What be the most perilous1041 thing thou hast done?’ Replied the brother, ‘I once came upon a nest of young birds; so I took out one and threw it back into the nest; but among the chickens were some which drew apart from it. This is the most perilous thing I ever did; now what be the most perilous thing thou hast ever done?’ He rejoined, ‘When I arise for prayer I am fearful that it is only for the sake of the reward.’ Now their father heard these words and exclaimed, ‘O Allah, an say they sooth take them to Thyself!’ It was declared by one of the wise men, ‘Verily, these were of the most virtuous of children.’ Quoth Sa’íd bin Jubayr,1042 ‘I was once in company with Fuzalah bin ‘Ubaydand said to him, ‘Exhort thou me!, Replied he, ‘Bear in mind these two necessaries, Shun syntheism1043 and harm not any of Allah’s creatures.’ And he repeated these two couplets,

‘Be as thou wilt, for Allah still is bounteous Lord,

And care dispeller dread not therefore bane and ban

To two things only never draw thee nigh, nor give

Partner to Allah trouble to thy brother man.’

And how well saith the poet,

‘An thou of pious works a store neglect

And after death meet one who did collect,

Thou shalt repent thou diddest not as he,

Nor madest ready as he did elect.’

Then the third damsel came forward, after the second had with drawn, and said, ‘Of a truth, the chapter of piety is exceeding wide; but I will mention what occurreth to me thereof, concerning the pious of old. Quoth a certain holy man, ‘I congratulate myself in death, though I am not assured of rest therein, save that I know death interveneth between a man and his works; so I hope for the doubling of good works and the docking off of ill works.’ And Ita’a al Salami, when he had made an end of an exhortation, was wont to tremble and grieve and weep sore; and as they asked him why he did this he answered, ‘I desire to enter upon a grave matter, and it is the standing up before Almighty Allah to do in accordance with my exhortation.’ In similar guise Zayn al-Abidín,1044 son of Al–Husayn, was wont to tremble when he rose to pray. Being asked the cause of this, he replied, ‘Know ye not before whom I stand and whom I address?’ It is said that there lived near Sufyán al-Thauri1045 a blind man who, when the month of Ramazan came, went out with the folk to pray,1046 but remained silent and hung back. Said Sufyan, ‘On the Day of Resurrection he shall come with the people of the Koran and they will be distinguished by increase of honour from their fellows.’ Quoth Sufyan, ‘Were the soul established in the heart as befitteth, it would fly away for joy and pining for Paradise, and for grief and fear of hell-fire.’ It is related also of Sufyan Al–Thauri that he said, ‘To look upon the face of a tyrant is a sin.’ Then the third damsel retired and came for ward the fourth, who said, ‘Here am I to treat of sundry traditions of pious men which suggest themselves to me. It is related that Bishr Barefoot1047 said, ‘I once heard Khálid say, ‘Beware of secret polytheism.’ I asked, ‘What may secret polytheism be?’; and he answered, ‘When one of you in praying prolong his inclinations and prostrations till a cause of impurity1048 come upon him.’ And one of the sages said, ‘Doing works of weal expiateth what is ill.’ Quoth Ibrahim,1049 ‘I supplicated Bishr Barefoot to acquaint me with some theological mysteries; but he said, ‘O my son, this knowledge it behoveth us not to teach to every one; of every hundred five, even as the legal alms upon money.’ Said Ibrahim, ‘I thought his reply excellent and approved of it and while I was praying behold, Bishr was also praying: so I stood behind him1050 making the prayer bow till the Mu’ezzin called his call. Then rose a man of tattered appearance and said, O folk, beware of a truth which bringeth unweal, for there is no harm in a lie bringing weal,1051 and in time of need no choice we heed: speech booteth not in the absence of good qualities even as silence hurteth not in the presence of good. Presently I saw Bishr drop a danik,1052 so I picked it up and exchanged it for a dirham which I gave him. Quoth he, ‘I will not take it.’ Quoth I, ‘It is perfectly lawful change’; but he rejoined ‘I cannot take in exchange the riches of the present world for those of the future world.’ It is related also that Bishr Barefoot’s sister once went to Ahmad bin Hanbal”1053 — And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.