Night and Horses and the Desert

by Robert Irwin

  ‘My king bestows favours bountifully; there is no poor man, but he makes him rich by his gifts.

  ‘And at no time does calamity creep stealthily over any of his subjects, but he endeavors to battle it in the open.’

  Then he conferred privately with each of them, impressing them with his amenities and tractability, and assuring them of such favours from his king as would burst their rivals’ hearts with envy. He first addressed the Syrup, who was already distressed by being bottled-up for the night, saying: ‘O, translucent swain, sweet of taste and of goodly nature! What distinguished office has the king of the refreshments assigned to you that you are so loyal to him? Is not your form more delicate than his, your countenance fairer?’ And the Syrup responded: ‘By Allah, he displays me only in a cold day on the surface of puddings, and does not care to be my fellow-condiment in any dough but the Basisa; and this is the highest honour and rank that I have attained in this service.’ Thereupon the Fat Tail resumed: I am touched with pity at the sight of your coat torn in contention between the soft, unleavened starch-paste and the leavened Basisa. Also for your mingling with the solid greases upon every table! How much pleasanter are the surroundings of King Mutton, who is endeared to all hearts! Were he to note your good qualities, he would befriend you, and raise you above those of his immediate entourage, and privilege you to communicate with him directly. Moreover, I guarantee you to become the emir of fried colocasia, sweetened rice and the chickens of the frying pan, prepared with butter and stuffed with seeds, and warrant, besides, your overtopping the legions of pancakes. You would be stationed in an elevated position on his table-cloth, towering high above the trays. Thus says the poet:

  ‘You would come to lead a life of ease on the rims of the pastries, and you would trail upon the confections the train of your silk-gown.

  ‘You would ascend lofty places; yea, with your shoes you would step upon the cheeks of the sweetmeats.’

  And the narrator continues: And the Syrup swore to join his ranks on the day of battle, while the Fat Tail reassured him in turn of his promise to assist him.

  Then the Fat Tail entered into private conference with the grand-vizier, whose name was ‘Sugar’, and heaped praises upon him, saying: ‘O, heart’s delight and of all things most resembling a lover! In what way has the king of the refreshments helped you that you became so enamoured of him?’ And the Sugar replied: ‘By Allah, I am disgusted with frequenting the sick. Indeed the king has assigned me an office with which I am displeased. Moreover, I do not convene with my peers, the seeds, except as a dressing for legumes. And the highest rank I have attained with him is that he placed me in control over the beverages; but only those stricken with fever, sore throat or indigestion taste me, with the result that I have been disgorged from many a stomach in which I had hardly settled.’ And the Fat Tail responded: ‘O, soul-food and healer of misfortune! By Allah, you deserve preference over all refreshments of the market-place, and you ought to rank higher in majesty than King Honey himself. Were you to repair to King Mutton, he would set you in control over all foods, especially over the appetizing dishes of dense consistency, such as sweetened rice, zirbaj, chicken conserved with julep, clotted lemon-sauce with its ingredients mixed in the right proportion, juice of pomegranate seeds, clarified upon sheets of Tutmaj, and fine flour gruel, and concoctions such as poppy-seeds, Lady Nuba, apricots, pistachio nuts, walnuts and hazelnuts. Then he would appoint you to be the flag-dainty of all sweets, and you would ascend the loftiest station, and gain the highest rank you might wish. You would become the topic of people’s talk and the object of their fascination.’ Having said this, the Fat Tail recited:

  ‘In how many lofty castles, whose tables abound in wonderful foods, would you take up your abode!

  ‘And over how many splendid victuals and relished dishes of the choicest viands would you preside!’

  And the narrator continues: And the Sugar smiled wonderingly and became almost intoxicated with joy. Then he swore by the brightness of his youth and by the folding of the sheaths of his canes at the melodious sound of the rollers that no one would forestall him to the royal gate of King Mutton, and that he was determined to spend the rest of his life in no other place but under the shadow of his stirrup.

  Thereupon the Fat Tail began to wheedle the rendered Fat until he secured a hold on the handle of his friendship, and said: ‘O, brother, and beloved, and nearest of all things to myself! What precious gifts has the king of the refreshments bestowed upon you all the while you have been in familiar discourse with him?’ And the rendered Fat answered: ‘Why inquire about my misery when my very existence is to be marvelled at? By Allah, I have been shut up in earthenware vessels for years until I became rancid, and hoofs have been smeared with me so I became putrid. And they made me a medicine for wounds and swellings, and the poor mended their soups with me. My anger reached its height when the king ordered me into the pans for the frying of eggs. And the highest rank he conferred upon me was that he anointed his lances with me on the day of battle, and coated with me the unleavened flat-cake whose harm exceeds its benefit. Such is surely an evil master and a miserable companion! And yet he styled me “vizier”, but no one could better inform you of my plight than I who suffer from it.’

  Upon hearing this the Fat Tail became agitated, and was on the point of melting from indignation and resentment, and exclaimed: ‘I wonder how your delicate sap could endure such harsh treatment. Alas for you! Were you to repair to King Mutton, he would put you at the head of all boiled milk preparations, such as Haytaliyya, rice cooked in milk, macaroni-stew, slices of paste dipped in milk, vermicelli-pottage and boiled eggs well compounded with milk and butter. And with you would be seasoned such noble and renowned foods as are made of dates, white flour and thin bread-sheets, also dates mixed with butter and curd, dates soaked in milk, and dried dates. And the viands of the most distant lands would serve you; yea, of all countries foods worthy of you, such as the gruel of coarse semolina, Ma’muniyya and peppered rice. And sweets would be added to you, such as the pastry made of vermicelli and the 'Ajamiyya. And you would take my place as vizier, and my armies and everyone connected with my office would obey you.’ Then the Fat Tail improvised:

  ‘And you would come to be an emir in all porringers, leading all lions of the legions of pounded grain.

  ‘And you would join the confections in a combination highly favoured by the knights.’

  And the rendered Fat, having been won over to the side of the Fat Tail, said thus: ‘I swear in the name of the good tidings that I will join your cause and plot against my king.’

  And the Fat Tail, having corrupted the highest officials of the empire of the refreshments, sent messengers to King Honey with a request to admit him, so that he might deliver the letter and set out on his return-journey.

  And the narrator continues: And the king resided in parlours, called ‘bee-hives’, whose ceilings and cells were overlaid with white and yellow wax. Surrounded by swarms of bees which guarded him from adversity, he overlooked the country from the windows of his palace, enjoying universal admiration. He then ordered into his presence the Fat Tail, who stepped forward in the midst of the royal attendants. And the king drew himself up and went forward to meet him; then gathered him to himself and greeted him and brought him near [to the throne]. Then he began to observe his features, and found him to resemble none of the officers of his kingdom. He next inquired about the welfare of King Mutton on the day he left him, and about the most signal favours he had bestowed upon him. And the Fat Tail rose to his feet at the mention of his king, and bowed to Allah with words of praise and gratitude for the gifts and benefactions which his king had conferred upon him. Then [in reply to the king’s last question] he said: ‘How can one count the waves of the sea, and how can one number the drops of the rain? However, one must curtail his speech in the presence of a king. Now, my sovereign – may God ever be gracious to him, and exalt his authority, and inspire the hearts of men to love him
– has made me governor of all his provinces and set me at the head of all his emirs and captains. I am the nearest to him in station and the most beloved of all. I make swallowing pleasant at his court, and I stamp my mark upon all kinds of foods.’ But the king of the refreshments interrupted him, saying: ‘Present the letter; “a messenger is to do no more than deliver his message”.’ At these words, the Fat Tail arose from among those who were seated, and produced the letter of King Mutton, kissing it and raising it above his head. Then he turned it over with both hands to the king, who kissed it in turn, and placed it on his eyes; then he broke its seal and passed it on to his vizier. And behold the following was its content …

  Anon., ‘King Mutton. A curious Egyptian tale of the

  Mamluk period’, trans. J. Finkel, in Zeitschrift fur

  Semitisik und verwandte Gebiete, vol. 8 (1932), pp. 1–8

  COMMENTARY

  The fat tail of the sheep was especially esteemed as a dish by the Mamluk elite.

  Essentially zirbaj is a Persian sweet-and-sour recipe, but there are many varieties of this dish.

  Ibn Zafar’s collection of animal fables, which was very loosely modelled on Kalila wa-Dimna, had more serious literary pretensions. Hujjat al-Din Muhammad IBN ZAFAR (1104-70) was born in Sicily and strictly his book should be accounted as a work of Sicilian Arab literature. Sicily had been occupied by the Arabs in the ninth century, and even after the loss of the island to the Normans in the eleventh century Muslim Arabs continued for some time to play an important role at court and in the administration. However, even in the heyday of Muslim rule in Sicily, the place seems to have been a cultural backwater and Ibn Zafar was one of the very few writers of note to have been born on the island. He was educated in Mecca and later he spent so much time in Syria that his book should be accounted as, to all intents and purposes, a work of Syrian literature.

  The title of Ibn Zafar’s book, Sulwan al-Muta' fi 'Udwan al-Atba', has been translated as ‘Resources of a Prince against the Hostility of Subjects’. Sulwan strictly means ‘seashells of a special kind such that if one drinks water from them, one is cured of lovesickness’. Like Kalila wa-Dimna, Sulwan consists of a series of moralizing, proverb-laden animal fables boxed within one another and – again like Kalila wa-Dimna – the book presents itself as a guide to good government. Ibn Zafar dedicated the first version of his book to an unnamed and possibly perfectly imaginary Syrian ruler; the second version was dedicated to a Sicilian Arab grandee. This rather pietistic treatise deals with good kingship, taking wise advice, fortitude in adversity and the benefits and limitations of friendship. Although modelled on the fable collection of Ibn al-Muqaffa, Ibn Zafar’s version is pervaded with an Islamic religiosity which one does not find in Kalila wa-Dimna. Each chapter of Sulwan begins with citations from the Qur’an, the Prophet and other pious figures. Interestingly, Ibn Zafar felt that the practice of fiction needed defence against the strictures of people who saw themselves as even more pious than he was. He invoked the precedents of the early caliphs ‘Umar and Ali who occasionally used fables to drive home their points, as well as the appearance in the Qur’an of the ant and the lapwing as creatures from whom one should take instruction. Ibn Zafar claimed that he employed animal fables to make his points in order that ‘no law shall be found to prohibit my work, nor shall the ear of any be offended by it’. Also, ‘We are more willing to listen to the language of brutes than to the quoted sayings of men of genius.’ Though fiction may have had its critics in the twelfth century, the great 'Imad al-Din Isfahani commended Ibn Zafar’s collection of fables: ‘I have read it with close attention and have found it a very useful work, combining beauty of thought with diction, and moral warning with instruction.’ However, such were the embarrassments of fiction that in the passage which follows (from the introduction to the first version) Ibn Zafar is impelled to defend the practice of writing fables:

  I therefore now prepare myself to set forth the parables of various kinds which I have succeeded in collecting, all resting on the foundation of the original narratives translated into Arabic; which parables I have sought to enliven with the charm of eloquence, and have introduced into them various philosophical sayings put into the mouths of animals. But first I must premise one consideration, in order to shield myself from the blame of the short-sighted, and also from that of men of penetration, who feign not to see. And this consideration is the same which is recorded upon good authority, by the Imam and Jurist Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Husayn al-Ajawi, who relates that the Commander of the Faithful, 'Umar ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz, having on one occasion attended the obsequies of a member of the house of Umayya when the corpse was buried, commanded those present to remain where they were, whilst he, uttering a cry, went forward into the midst of the tombs. His attendants waited for him a long time, and when he at length returned, with red eyes, and the veins of his neck all swollen, they said to him, ‘You have lingered a long time, O Commander of the Faithful! what has detained you?’ And 'Umar replied: ‘I have been among the sepulchres of those most dear to me. I saluted them; but no one returned my salutation; and when I turned my back to depart, the earth cried unto me: “ 'Umar, why dost thou not ask me what is become of the arms?” “What is become of them?” said I; and the earth replied; “The hands have been separated from the wrists, the wrists from the fore-arms, the fore-arms from the elbows, the elbows from the joints of the shoulders, the joints from the shoulder blades.” And as I turned in the act to depart, the earth called to me once more: “Why, 'Umar, dost thou not ask me about, what is become of the trunks?” “What?” replied I, and the earth resumed: “The shoulders have been parted from the ribs: and afterwards, in succession, the ribs, and the back-bone, the hipbones, the two thigh-bones, and in the lower extremities, the knees, the legs, and the feet, have been severed from one another.” I then sought to withdraw, and the voice cried to me a third time: “Attend to me, 'Umar; hast thou no shrouds that will not wear out?” “And what shrouds will not wear out?” replied I. And the earth answered, “The fear of God, and obedience to his will”’ and so on to the end of the tradition.

  The author of this book says: O reader, may God be gracious unto thee, attend to these words that 'Umar attributed to the earth, to which, as inanimate matter, it appears absurd to ascribe flowery and elegant language. 'Umar nevertheless represented the earth as repeatedly calling upon another person, questioning, relating, and admonishing; which assuredly had never really come to pass: but he used this language metaphorically, because having called to mind these philosophical admonitions he was minded to cast them in the form of a narrative, dividing them into questions and answers, attributing them to others, and putting them in the mouth of the inanimate earth, because he perceived that the hearers would thus be more forcibly driven to reflection, and more urgently moved to relate the matter to others. For if he had said, ‘Reflecting upon the state of those who are buried, I perceive that they must be reduced by the earth to such and such a condition’, his warning would not have been expressed with nearly the same vigour that is derived from the original form recorded above …

  Ibn Zafar, Solwan, or Waters of Comfort, trans. Edgerton

  from Michele Amari’s Italian (London, 1852), pp. 124–6

  COMMENTARY

  'Umar ibn ' Abd al-'Aziz was one of the Ummayad caliphs and reigned from 717 to 720. Although 'Umar when young seems to have had a taste for luxury, when he became caliph he was noted for austere piety.

  Ibn Zafar goes on to cite an instance when 'Ali, the Prophet’s cousin and son-in-law, used a fable concerning three bulls and a lion to make a political point. Thus comfortably supported by pious precedent, Ibn Zafar concludes that ‘the examples here alleged give abundant evidence of the lawfulness of the species of fiction which I have undertaken to relate’.

  Ibn Zafar also wrote Inba Nujaba’ al-Abna’, a treatise on the intriguing subject of the characteristics of children of the famous.

  Thanks to the abundance of madrasas (t
eaching colleges) and khanqas (Sufi hospices or colleges), Egypt and Syria under the Ayyubids and Mamluks offered good prospects for intellectual employment and lured scholars and authors from all over the Islamic world. 'Ala al-Din ibn 'Ali al-GHUZULI (d. 1412) was of Berber origin and came from North Africa, but settled in Damascus. His Matali’ al-Budur fi Manazil al-Surur (‘Risings of the Full Moons in the Mansions of Pleasure’) is a belles-lettres compilation on the pleasures of life, including houses, gardens, hammams, palaces, birds, parties, lamps, chess, wine, cup companions, story-telling, slave-girls, sex, the pleasures of talking with viziers and reading chancery documents. Ghuzuli drew heavily on earlier adab compilations and his work is a late testimony to the enduring appeal of the culture of the nadim and the zarif. The following old Bedouin romance is found in several other belles-lettres anthologies.

  Numayr, of the tribe Hilal, narrates the following: There was a certain youth of the Bani Hilal whose name was Bishr ibn 'Abdallah, but who was commonly known as el-Ashtar. Among all the chieftains of the tribe, he was the handsomest face and the most liberal hand. He fell desperately in love with a girl of his people named Jayda’, who was pre-eminent in her beauty and her accomplishments; then after the fact of their attachment became generally known, the affair grew to be a cause of strife between their two families, until blood was shed; whereupon the two clans separated, and settled at a long distance apart from each other.