OF THE VILENESS OF SINNING
THUS spoke the author of this book, God have mercy upon him:
Many men obey their carnal souls, and disobey their reasons; they follow after their random desires, rejecting the ordinances of religion, and scouting God's commandments. For Allah has put it into all healthy minds to be decent and self-controlled, to abstain from sin and fight against temptation; but they oppose the Lord 1 their God, and take the Devil's part, assisting him in his evil work by indulging in all deadly lusts; so they`'` commit grievous sins in their amours.
We know that Allah has implanted in every man two opposed natures. The first of these counsels only good; and incites to what is fair and seemly, so that nothing that is not pleasing to God is conceived therein: this - is reason, which is guided and led by justice. The second is opposite to the first, in that it advises solely the gratification of the lusts, and leads the way to all, that is evil and vicious: this is the soul; whose guide and mentor is carnal passion. God says, " Verily the soul commands to evil " (Koran XII 53). Elsewhere Allah refers to reason, calling it the heart, and says, " Verily therein is a reminder to every man possessing a heart or lending an ear to hear, who beareth witness (Koran L 36); He also says, " And He has made Faith a thing to be loved by you, and has made it comely in your hearts " (Koran XLIX 7); in another place He addresses " those that are possessed of minds " (Koran XXXIX 22).
These two contrary natures are the poles in a man; they are two of the body's various faculties, by means of which the body acts; they are so to speak a pair of screens, upon which fall the rays emanating from those two wonderful, lofty, sublime substances. Every body has its share in these two natures, according to the degree to which it responds to them, its receptiveness being determined by the eternal will of the One Everlasting God (Holy be His Names), at the time that He created it and gave it shape. The two natures are forever and habitually in opposition and conflict one with the other. When the reason prevails over the soul, a man will refrain, and rein his corrupt impulses; he will seek to be illumined by the light of God, and will follow after justice. But when the soul dominates the reason, his inward eye is so blinded that he cannot truly discriminate between what is seemly and what is vile; great is his confusion, and he falls into the pit of ruin and the bottomless abyss of destruction. Therefore are God's commands and prohibitions most excellent, and obedience to them man's bounden duty, upon the fulfillment of which depends his fitting reward or punishment, his well-merited recompense. The spirit unites these contrary natures, and acts as a link and meeting-point between them. To stand always within the confines of obedience is a thing outside the bounds of actuality, except it be achieved by long self-discipline, right knowledge, and penetrating decimation; and only then may it be attained if a man deliberately avoids exposing himself to seduction, and abstains from human intercourse entirely, sitting not within the tents of temptation. Without doubt perfect and absolute purity can be secured, if a man were to be castrated and thus have no desire for woman, and no organ to assist him to traffic with them. It was said of old, " He who is preserved from the evil of his clacker, his rumbler and his dangler, is saved from the evil of the whole sublunary world." The clacker is the tongue, the rumbler is the belly, an the dangler is the privy parts. On the other hand I was told by Abu Hafs the civil secretary, a descendant of Rauh Ibn Zinba' al udhami, that he asked a noted jurist, who was also an eminent Traditionist, to explain the foregoing saying to him; and he told him that the word which I have glossed as " belly " actually means "melon".
Ahmad Ibn Muhammad Ibn Ahmad informed me, transmitting from Wahb Ibn Masarra and Muhammad Ibn Abi Dulaim, from Muhammad Ibn Waddah, from Yahya Ibn Yahya, from Malik Ibn Anas, from Zaid Ibn Aslam, from 'Ata' Ibn Yasar, that the Prophet of Allah said (I extract this from a long Tradition), " He whore Allah preserves from the evil of two things shall surely enter Paradise." When asked to explain this saying, he added, " That which lies between his moustache and beard, and that which lies between his two legs." I hear many people say, " Complete subjugation of the passions is found only among men, and not among women." I never cease to wonder at this assertion. My own unwavering opinion is, that men and women are exactly equal in their inclination towards these two things. The man does not exist who, having been offered the love of a pretty woman a long time, and there being no obstacle to prevent him, will not fall into Satan's net, will not be seduced by sin, and will not be excited by desire and led astray by concupiscence. Similarly there is no woman who, if invited by a man in the selfsame circumstances, will not surrender to him in the end; it is the absolute law and inescapable decree of destiny.
I have been informed by a most truthful and trustworthy friend-I may add that he has a perfect acquaintance with jurisprudence, scholastic theology and science, and is firm in his observance of the faith-that he once loved a superior and cultured girl of dazzling beauty. " I made a proposal to her ", he told me, " and she refused in horror. I repeated my proposal, and she again declined. So matters went on for a long time, and all the while my love for her waxed stronger; but she was not one of the kind that submits to solicitations. Finally I was so carried away by my excessive passion for her, that being a blind and headstrong youth, I made a vow that if I succeeded in having my way with her, I would thereafter turn to Allah in true and -contrite penitence. As the days and nights went by, after all her stubborn refusal and aversion she at last gave in to me." I said to my friend, " O father of one who shall be unnamed, did you fulfill your engagement? " " Yes, by Allah " he replied. Thereupon I laughed, being reminded by his action of a report commonly noised among us, that in the Berber country adjacent to Andalusia fornicators repent of their sins on condition that they attain gratification of their immediate desires. Nothing is done to prevent this curious conduct; on the contrary, they disapprove strongly in that country if any man ventures to utter even one word of protest, saying, " What, would you make it impossible for a Mussulman to repent? " My friend continued, I well recall how she wept, saying, 'By Allah, you have brought me to a pass I never in my life thought to come to, nor supposed that I would concede it to any man.'"
I do not consider it utterly remote from all possibility that righteousness should exist among men, and women too: God forbid, that I should have any such thoughts! But I have observed that many men err gravely as to the true meaning of the word " righteousness ". Its correct interpretation is as follows. The " righteous " woman is one who, when duly restrained, restrains herself; when temptations are kept out of her way, she keeps herself under control. The "wicked" woman on the other hand is one who, when duly restrained, does not restrain herself, and when barred from all facilities for committing licence, nevertheless herself contrives by some ruse or other to discover the means of behaving badly. The "righteous" man is he who has no traffic with adulterers, and does not expose himself to sights exciting the passions; who does not raise his eyes to look upon ravishing shapes and forms. The "wicked" man however is he who consorts with depraved people, who allows his gaze to wander freely and stares avidly at beautiful faces, who seeks out harmful spectacles and delights in deadly privacies. The "righteous" man and the" righteous woman are like a fire that lies hidden within the ashes, and does not burn any who is within range of it unless it be stirred into flame. But "wicked" men and women are like a blazing, all-consuming conflagration. As for the abandoned woman and the adventurous man, they are surely doomed to everlasting destruction. For this reason it is forbidden to a Moslem to take delight in listening to a foreign woman sing: "the first glance is for you, the second glance is against you". T he Prophet of Allah said, " Whoever looks upon a women when he is fasting, so as to see the bulk of her bones, the same has broken the fast." The clear texts set down in Holy Writ forbidding the indulgence of passion are surely amply convincing. The wide variety of meaning attaching to this word " passion ", and the derivation assigned to it by the Arabs, prove well enough the inclination and the aspiration of the carnal soul towards these situations; and the man who holds himself back from them must needs struggle and fight against his lower self.
I will describe something to you which you ma readily enough observe with your own eyes. I have never seen the woman who, happening to be in some place where she senses that a man is looking at her or listening to her voice, does not make some wholly superfluous gesture, remote from her usual habit, or offer some entirely gratuitous remark with which she would otherwise have dispensed, in either case quite at variance with have she was talking or behaving immediately before. I have noticed-and indeed the matter is only too apparent and obvious, and there is no concealing it-that she will take great pains how she articulates her words, and will pay elaborate attention to the manner in which she varies her postures. It is the same with men, as soon as they sense the presence of ladies. As for showing off one's finery, and studying one's deportment, and engaging in pleasantries when woman is approaching a man, or a man is passing by a woman, that is more evident than the sun in heaven, and happens everywhere. Allah the Almighty says, " Say unto the believers, that they lower their eyes and conceal their private parts " (Koran XXIV 30); He also says, "And let the women not tap with their feet, that their hidden ornaments may be made known" (Koran XXIV 3I). Were it not that Allah is aware of the delicate way in which women droop their eyelids when striving to win the affection of men's hearts, and the subtle ruses they employ in contriving to attract men's desires, never would He have revealed a notion so infinitely remote and abstruse. This is the limit beyond which one may not prudently expose oneself to danger: how then shall it be with a man if he adventure further?
I tell you that I have penetrated most deeply into the secret thoughts of men and women in this matter, the fact is that I never had a very good opinion of anyone where these things are concerned; besides, I must confess that I am constitutionally a very jealous man. Abu `Umar Ahmad Ibn Muhammad Ibn Ahmad informed me, transmitting from Ahmad, from Muhammad Ibn `Ali Ibn Rafa` a from `Ali Ibn `Abd al-`Aziz, from Abu 'Ubaid al-Qasim Ibn Sallam, from his teachers, that the Prophet of Allah said, "Jealousy is a part of faith." That is why I have never ceased to pry into stories about women, and to lay bare their secrets. They have known well my discretion, and have therefore not hesitated to apprise me of their most hidden affairs. But for the fear of exposing their shames from which may God preserve me! I would have set down such marvels illustrating their lively awareness of evil, and their cunning in contriving naughtiness, as would confound the most intelligent of men. I know this well, and am perfectly informed of the true facts yet for all that Allah knows-and it is enough that He should know that I am a man of spotless innocence, pure, clean and undefiled. I swear most solemnly by Allah's name that I have never loosed my girdle to commit unlawful acts; the Lord shall not call me to account on the Day of Reckoning touching the deadly sin of fornication, not since I became a man even unto the present day. I praise God, and give Him grateful thanks for His past mercies, and I pray that He may continue so to preserve me through all the days I yet shall live.
Judge Abu 'Abd al-Rahman 'Abd Allah Ibn 'Abd al-Rahman Ibn Jahhaf al-Ma'afiri informed me-and; he is the most excellent cadi I have ever met-that b was told by Muhammad Ibn Ibrahim al-Tulaitili that the Egyptian cadi Bakr Ibn al- `Ana' interpreted Allah's words "And as for the bounty of thy Lord, proclaim" it abroad " (Koran XCIII II) as follows, reporting view held by an ancient authority: the Moslem ought to declare the personal blessings which Allah I t conferred on him in keeping him obedient to the commands of his Lord, which is indeed the greatest bounties, especially in regard to those matters the avoidance or pursuit of which is a prescription binding upon all Moslems.
Now my reason for speaking of myself as I have is that while the fires of youth were blazing within me, while the ardour of puberty and the reckless folly of early manhood possessed my soul, I was cloistered and enclosed among watchful guardians of both sexes. As soon as I became my own master and could reason for myself I had the good fortune to make friends with Abu 'Ali al-Husain Ibn `Ali al-Fasi, with whom I attended the classes of our teacher and my dear preceptor for Abu 'l-Qasim `Abd al-Rahman Ibn Abi Yalid e al-Azdi, God be well pleased with him! Abu `Ali wad most prudent, full of good works and pious learning; he was one who had reached the forefront in righteous ness, true devotion, strict abstinence from worldly things, and zealous labours for the heavenly reward. I fancy that he was naturally continent, for there had never been a woman in his life; and indeed I never saw his like altogether, whether in learning, practical charity; religious observance, or godliness of life. Allah gave me great profit of him, for he taught me to know the dire effects of evil conduct, and the beastliness of sin. He died on the Mecca pilgrimage, God rest his soul.
Once I was passing the night in the house of a female acquaintance, a lady renowned for her righteousness her charity and her prudence. With her was a young girl of her own kindred we had all been brought up together, then I had lost sight of her for many years, having left her when she reached puberty. I found that the waters of youth had flowed like a rushing exuberant river over her countenance; the fountains of grace and charm gushed over her. I was confounded and amazed. Into the firmament of her face the stars of beauty had climbed, to shine and glitter there; in her cheeks the flowers of loveliness had budded, and were now in full bloom. How she appeared before me that memorable evening, I have striven to describe in these verses.
By Allah fashioned out of light;
Her beauty was a wondrous thing
Beyond all human reckoning.
If on the Day of Judgement, when
The trumpets sound for sinful men,
I find, before the Throne of Grace,
My deeds as lovely as her face;
Of all the creatures Allah made
I shall most fully be repaid,
A double Eden to reside,
And dark-eyed virgins by my side.
She came of a family in which good looks were hereditary, and had now herself developed into a shape that beggared description; the tale of her youth loveliness ran through Cordova. I passed three successive nights under the same roof with her, and following the customs with persons who have been brought up together she was not veiled from my view. Upon my life, my heart was well-nigh ravished, the passion which I had so rigorously banished almost repossessed my bosom, the forgotten dalliance of youth was within an ace of returning to seduce me. Thereafter I forbade myself to enter that house, for I feared that my mind might be too violently excited by the admiration of such beauty. Certainly, she and all the members of the household were ladies upon whose respectability amorous ambitions might not hope to trespass; but, as I have remarked in the little poem, which follows, no man is secure from the vexations of Satan.
Passion to pursue,
And, to keep it whole,
No temptations woo.
Satan liveth yet,
He will never die,
And seduction's net
Is the human eye.
I also have these verses.
"This thing is naught
But a dark thought
To make thee stray."
"Blame me not, pray!"
I answer. "What,
Is Satan not
Alive to day?"
Allah has not set down for us the stories of Joseph the son of Jacob, and David the son of Jesse, all prophets of God, save to make us aware of our own shortcomings and the dire need we have of His protection, and to teach us how corrupt and frail is our human constitution. Those two were prophets and messengers of God, the sons of prophets and Divine messengers; they were of a household wherein prophecy and apostleship were hereditary; they were wrapped about in God's safe keeping, immersed in the ocean of His love, encompassed by His tender care, fortified by His mighty protection, so that Satan had no way of coming unto them, and no road was open for his temptations to draw nigh them. Yet for all that Joseph and David came to the pass which Allah has described for us in His revealed Koran, by reason of that natural disposition within them, that human character and original constitution which were implanted in their souls, and by no means because of any deliberate will and intent on their part to sin; for the prophets are exempt from all that is at variance with obedience to the Divine Will. What passed in them was a natural admiration for lovely forms, common to every human soul; and who among us would be so bold as to claim the mastery of his soul, or who will engage to control its wayward impulses, save with Allah's strength and power assisting him? The first blood shed upon the earth was the blood of one of Adam's sons, all on account of rivalry for the possession of women. The Messenger of Allah himself says, "Keep a distance between the breaths of men and women." There was once a Bedouin woman who became pregnant of a kinsman. She was asked, " What is this inside of you, Hind?" She answered, " The fruit of pillows much too near, and of a night too long and drear! " I have a poem on this subject.
As others, proving, like not overmuch.
Bring not the thorn bush overnear where lies
The blaze, for if thou dost, the smoke will rise!
Trust not in any man, howe'er sublime
For men are all depraved-and so is time.
Women are made as surely for the male
As man is made for women, without fail.
All things are passionate for their own kind
Suppose not any otherwise designed.
The righteous man is he who, when a fence
Rings him from wrong, shows fair obedience
The other, whom you discipline with pain,
Tries every trick to rid him of the rein.
I know a young man of the strictest morals who fell madly in love. One of his friends passed him by and, found him sitting with his beloved. He invited him to his home and the young man accepted, adding that he would be with him presently. His friend proceeded "home, and there waited for him a very long time, but he never came. Some while afterwards the two met, and the friend remonstrated with him and reproached him bitterly for breaking his promise. The young man excused himself, but concealed his real reason. I said to his friend, " I will discover a perfectly valid excuse for him from the Book of God, where it is written, We did not break our engagement with thee, of our own willing, but we were charged with heavy burdens, the'; ornament of the people.' (Koran XX go)."
All who were present burst out laughing, and I was requested to make up a poem on the subject: this is what I composed.
Is quickly healed: I blame not thee
But ah! The sword thrust passion deals
Inflicts a wound that nothing heals.
The moles adorning with such grace
The tender whiteness of his face
Are water lilies in a bower,
Hedged round with snowy gillyflower.
How often he, whom I so love
That I am lief to die thereof,
Has spoken words so glib to me,
So full of scorn and raillery!
What urgent prayers I have addressed.
To him, what fond petitions pressed,
Now peremptory, and awhile
A masterpiece of wheedling guile!
"Do not my turns and twistings, fool,
Suffice thy ardent thirst to cool,
To drive away the hot desire
That burns thy bosom like a fire? "
He speaks. "Ah, no!" I make reply
If that were practicable, why,
Neighbours to neighbours the world o'er
Would' not be foemen any more.
"But see, the armies stand and stare
Against each other; both prepare
For battle; and a mortal tide
Of ruin marks the great divide."
I have two poems, which I composed, alluding gently, no indeed, but making specific reference to a man of our circle whom we formerly all knew for an earnest student, of great zeal and piety; he passed his nights in prayer, and in all things followed in the footsteps of the ascetics and trod in the paths of the ancient Sufis, searching and labouring ever after true learning and righteousness. We always abstained from jesting and pleasantries in his presence. But the time came when he gave Satan power over his soul; he who had worn the garb of the godly suddenly kicked over the traces, putting into the Devil's hands the leading-rein of his spirit. Beelzebub duly deluded him, representing misery and perdition to him in the fairest colours; he who had so long refused yielded him his halter to drag; he who had been so stubborn gave him his forelock to pull; he jogged along amiably after him, completely submissive. After all that I have mentioned above, he became notorious for a certain foul and filthy vice. I reproached him long and rebuked him severely when, not content to hide his sin, he committed his abominations publicly. This had the effect of turning him against me; his intentions towards me became most malevolent, and he lay in wait to do me an evil turn. One of my friends aided and abetted him, speaking to him in such a way that he took him into his confidence and declared to him his hostility for me. Thus in His good time Allah revealed his secret, and it was known to all and sundry; so he fell in the estimation of all his fellows, after he had been eagerly sought by scholars and frequented by the learned; he was despised by every one of his former friends-may God deliver us from all evil, and cover us with His sure shield; may He not take away from us the blessings He has showered upon us. Woe and alas for him, who began by following the straight and narrow path, not knowing that Allah would presently abandon him, and that the Divine protection would be his no more: there is no God but Allah! How shocking and disgraceful, to be struck down thus by sudden calamity, and smitten by unforeseen disaster to belong at first to God, and finally to become a creature of Satan! Here then is one of my two effusions on his downfall.
Must be exposed to shame;
A decent covering he had,
But now has lost his name.
He used to jeer and hugely mock
At lovers; now, by God,
He has become a laughing-stock
For every stupid clod.
But stay, my friend; do not reprove
Yon swain so wan and worn,
Who thinks it piety, for love
To be a thing of scorn.
He purposed long with labour vast
For godliness to strive,
Until in goodness he surpassed
The holiest man alive.
Equipped with inkhorn, and with book
In hand, he searched around
For every cranny, every nook
Where scholars might be found.
The tawny pens forgotten quite,
Behold them now replaced
By fingers of a youth, as white
As silver cast and chased.
"Spare me they folly; do not bleat
Reproaches, critic mine;
Thou hast not seen, when lovers meet,
How fondly they entwine.
"Leave me in my dark wells to lave,
My fevered brow to cool;
Begone from me; I do not crave
For thy poor, shallow pool."
"When thou art abstinent from love,
Love will abstain from thee;
They day thou nothing hast thereof,
Thou shalt thereof be free."
"Thou canst not break the knotted noose
Of exile all too chaste,
Until thy fingers boldly loose
The band about thy waist! "
"The Sultan's power proves not so
Established in the land,
Till couriers on the highways go
Fulfilling his command."
"To take away the ingrained rust
From ingots cast of steel
No other course avails; they must
Be rubbed, until they peel."
Our aforesaid companion had acquired a perfect mastery of the variant readings of the Koran. He had digested al-Anbari's treatise " On Intoning the Scriptures ", and had made of it a fine epitome, which won the admiration of all cantors who looked into it. He was constant in the quest and registration of Traditions he applied the greater part of his splendid intellect to repeating the information he gathered from the lips of learned Traditionists, to transcribing which he devoted himself with assiduous zeal. But when he was smitten by this affliction I refer to his association with a boy he abandoned all that had been his constant care; he sold most of his books; he changed his habits completely. May Allah preserve us from a like abandonment! I composed a second poem about him as a sequel to the one I have quoted above, but decided on second thoughts not to quote it here.
Abu 'l-Husain Ahmad Ibn Yahya Ibn Ishaq al-Rawandi in his book entitled " Pronunciation and Correction " mentions that Ibrahim Ibn Saiyar al-Nazzam, the head of the Mu'tazili sect, for all his eminence in scholastic theology and his supreme mastery of the higher knowledge, in order to enjoy forbidden relations with a certain Christian boy whom he loved to madness went so far as to compose a treatise extolling the merits of the Trinity over Monotheism. Good Lord, preserve us from the machinations of Satan, and suffer, us not to be abandoned by Thy loving protection!
Sometimes it happens that the trial becomes so great, and the lusts are so voracious, that abomination seems a mere trifle, and religion proves a poor and feeble thing; in order to achieve his desires a man will then: consent to the filthiest and most outrageous acts. Such was the catastrophe which overwhelmed 'Ubaid All Ibn Yahya al-Azdi, better known as Ibn al-Jaziri. He was content to abandon his household, to suffer his harem to be violated, and to expose his family to dishonour, all for the sake of gratifying his amorous whim for a boy. Allah preserve us from such error! We pray that He may ever encompass us in His safe keeping, so that we shall leave a fair record behind us, and deserve, a wholesome reputation. That wretched man became the talk of the town; the rumour of his escapade was the amusement of all gatherings; he was pilloried in popular songs. He was what the Arabs call a daayuth or cuckold; the term is derived from tadyith, a word meaning "to facilitate"; and indeed what further is there for a man to " facilitate ", when he has become complacent to such a degree? One speaks of a camel as mudaiyath, meaning that it has been rendered completely abject. By my life, jealousy is an innate instinct even in animals; how much the more should it be in men, seeing that it has the sanction of our religious law. There can be no greater misfortune than what befell Ibn al Jaziri. I used to know him for a discreet man, until Satan seduced him: we take refuge with Allah, that He may never so abandon us. `Isa Ibn Muhammad' Ibn Muhammad al-Khaulani composed these verses on, the subject.
A net, to snare young roebucks in the same,
I see thy net is torn to pieces, and
Thou holdest but dishonour in thy hand.
I also have a poem on this theme.
With his good ladies' chastity
That he might gratify his whim;
A buck was what attracted him.
I taxed him with indecency,
And rated him for cuckoldry;
These lines he quoted in reply
To prove him impudent and sly
"I got, if I must answer true,
Exactly what I wanted to
What makes the other fellows rue so,
I was the only one to do so!"
I once heard Ibn al Jaziri praying in the Cathedral Mosque of Cordova to be delivered from God's protection, as other men will pray to be delivered from God's abandonment.
Here is another story of a similar kind. I remember that I was at a reception with some friends; the party was being given by one of our wealthiest burghers. I observed one of the guests, and a member of our host's family who was also present, behaving in a manner of which I strongly disapproved; they were ogling each other quite disgustingly, and withdrawing into privacy time and time again. The host might just as well have been absent, or asleep. I sought to attract his attention to what was going on by discreet allusions, but he, was quite unmoved. I strove to arouse him with plain and unequivocal hints, but he remained impervious to my efforts. Then I addressed myself to quoting over and over again to him a couple of ancient jingles, in the hope that he might understand what I was trying to tell him.
Who graced his evening party
Came not to hear the music
But for what should make you sick!
They got what they were after,
And you're an ass, or dafter,
You simpleton, you stupid,
You clumsy-footed Cupid!
I kept on repeating these lines to him, until at least, my host said, " You have made me tired of listening to them. Do please stop repeating them, or quo something else! " So I held my peace, not knowing whether he really did not grasp my meaning, or whether he was only pretending to be stupid. I do not remember ever going to his parties again. I composed the following little poem in his honour.
You have the least suspicious mind,
Secure, as all good Moslems ought
To be, in faith, intention, thought.
Wake from your daydreams! Don't you know
This very evening So-and-so,
A guest whom you invited in,
Committed a most grievous sin?
I think you ought to be aware
Men bend for other things than prayer,
And you have certainly taught me,
Not every one with eyes can see!
Tha'lab Ibn Musa al-Kaladhani told me the following' anecdote which he heard from Sulaiman Ibn Ahmad the poet, who added that the woman who related it to him was named Hind, and that he had seen her in the East; she had performed the pilgrimage five times and was a most pious and zealous old lady. " My dear nephew ", she told Sulaiman, "never have too good an opinion of any woman. I will tell you some about myself, which Allah knows is true. I took ship many years ago now, returning from the pilgrimage, for I had already renounced the world; with me on the same vessel were fourteen other women, all of whom had likewise been to Mecca. We were sailing through the Red Sea. Now one of the crew was a fine upstanding fellow, tall, slim, with broad shoulders and a splendid physique. On the first night out I saw him come up to one of my companions and show off his virility to her. She surrendered to his embraces on the spot. On the following nights each of the rest accepted his advances in turn, until only I was left. I said to myself, 'I will punish you for this, you scoundrel.' With that I took a razor, and grasped it firmly in my hand. He came along as usual that evening, and behaved precisely as he had done on the preceding nights. When he approached me I brandished my razor, and he was so scared that he would have run off. I felt very sorry for him then, and grasping him with my hands I said, 'You shall not go until I have had my share of you.' So ", the old lady concluded, "he got what he wanted, God forgive me!"
The poets have wonderful skill in inventing metaphorical allusions. Allow me to quote a stanza or two of mine in this vein.
Their slender arrows through the sky;
Like drawn and molten silver thread
The rains were falling overhead.
A crescent moon in blackest night
Stooped from his firmament of light;
Proclaim the lover who attained
The inconceivable he gained;
So inconceivable, that should
You ask, " What have you there? " I could
No words discover, and no wile
Devise for answer, but a smile;
A smile so joyous, it might seem
My happiness was but a dream,
My joy so overwhelming, too,
I doubted if it could be true.
This is another poem I wrote in the same mood.
The crescent moon climbed up on high,
Ere yet the sweet and clamorous chime
Of Christian bells rang through the sky.
My crescent moon was like the brow
Of some grave scholar, white as snow,
The instep delicate, I trow,
Of lovely maid its graceful bow.
And suddenly God's rainbow drew
Its arc across the heavens pale,
Apparelled in each dazzling hue
That glitters from the peacock's tail.
It seems to me indeed that the enmity which divides those who have enjoyed illicit and godless union, following upon their brief intimacy, that turning of backs upon each other so soon after they have been joined in the closest of relations, their breaking with each other, so suddenly after they have been loving, the hatred between them that succeeds their fond affection, the bitter rancour and malevolence that now dominate and overmaster their hearts-all this seems to me a terrible revelation and an urgent warning to minds that are sane, to judgments that are penetrating, to purposes that are true. How much more should we then be moved by the contemplation of that dire punishment which Allah has prepared for those who disobey Him, upon the Day of Reckoning and in the world of retribution; that dreadful unveiling before the faces of all created beings, " upon the day when every suckling mother shall forget her suckled, and every pregnant mother shall cast down the fruit of her womb, and thou shalt see all men reeling as if they were drunk, yet not drunk are they, but the chastisement of God is very terrible " (Koran XXII 2). I pray that Allah may place us among those who attain His good pleasure, and merit His compassion.
I once saw a woman who had bestowed her affections in ways not pleasing to Almighty God. I had known her before, when she was more limpid than running water, subtler than the ether, more solid than mountains, stronger than steel, more firmly compounded than colour in the object that is coloured, deeper established than accidents in their substances, more effulgent than the sun, truer than ocular vision, more glittering than the stars, sincerer than the love of the dusky sand-grouse, more amazing than fate, fairer than piety, lovelier than the countenance of Abu 'Amir, more delightful than health, sweeter than fond hope, more intimate than the soul, closer than kinship, more constant than a carving in stone. But a little while, and I saw that love changed to enmity more trenchant than death, more penetrating than a bowshot, bitterer than sickness, more desolating than the loss of Divine favours, more frightful than the descent of God's chastisement, sharper than desiccating winds, more noisome than mad rage, more calamitous than the triumph of one's enemy, more oppressive than bondage, harder than rock, more hateful than the revelation of guilty secrets, more distant than the Gemini, more difficult of access than the heights of heaven, more terrible than the aspect of disaster, more horrible than the violation of cherished habits, more shocking than sudden catastrophe, more distasteful than deadly poison an enmity the like of which is not engendered either the carrying into captivity of a mother. Such Allah's wont with all those who practice abomination, who seek after and direct their steps towards other than Him, for so He has spoken in His Holy Book: " Would that I had never taken such an one to be my friend, for he has led me astray from the Remembrance, after it had come unto me" (Koran XXV 30-31). It truly behoves every intelligent man to implore God's protection, lest passion cause him to fall into the pit of ruin.
Then there is the story of Khalaf, the freedman of the famous general Yusuf Ibn Qamqam, who participated in the revolt of Hisham Ibn Sulaiman Ibn al-Nasir. When Hisham was taken prisoner and killed, and his fellow-conspirators fled, Khalaf took to his heels with the rest and got away. On reaching Kastalat however he found himself unable to endure being parted from a slave-girl he possessed in Cordova; accordingly he returned to the capital, and was there captured by the Caliph al-Mahdi who ordered him to be crucified. I well remember seeing him hanging on the cross in the meadows fringing the Guadalquivir; he was so riddled with arrows that one would have said he was a hedgehog. Moreover Abu Bakr Muhammad, the son of Minister `Abd al-Rahman Ibn al-Laith, informed me': that the reason he fled to the Berber camp, at the time when they transferred their allegiance to Sulaiman al-Zafir, was that a slave-girl with whom he was in love l' had fallen into the possession of a man living in that province; he almost perished on the journey.
The two foregoing instances, though not strictly relevant to the present discussion, furnish striking proof of the way in which passion will lead a man into imminent and obvious disaster, recognizable as such alike by the most sensible and the most stupid of beings. How, can anyone hope to enjoy in such circumstances that Divinely accorded immunity, which surpasses the understanding of the feeble vision? Let no man say, " I was in privacy." Even if he be entirely alone, yet he is within the sight and hearing of " the Knower of all secrets" (Koran V 108), "Who knoweth the perfidious eye, and what the breasts conceal " (Koran XL 20)" I " and knoweth the secret and that which is even more hidden" (Koran XX 6), "so that there shall not be three whispering together but He is the fourth of them, nor five but He is the sixth of them, nor fewer than that nor more but that He is with them wherever they may be "(Koran LVIII 8)." He knoweth all that is in the breasts " (Koran LVII 6), " and he knoweth alike I the unseen and the visible " (Koran VI 73);" and I they conceal themselves from men, but they conceal not themselves from God, for He is with them "(Koran IV 107). Allah says," And verily We have created man, and know all that his soul whispers within him, and We are nearer to him than his jugular vein; when two meet together, one sitting on the right and the other sitting on the left, neither uttereth a word, but beside him is a watcher waiting "(Koran L 15-17).
Whoso makes light of his sins, and relying upon a postponement of God's reckoning turns away from obedience to his Lord, let him know that Beelzebub was once in Paradise with all the angels who are brought nigh to God, but on account of a single sin he committed, he richly deserved the everlasting curse and eternal chastisement; he became a devil stoned, and was far removed from the supernal habitation. Adam for a single wrongdoing was driven out of Eden into the trouble and misery of this lower world; and but that he received a message from his Lord, and turned unto, Him again, he would have been counted among the lost. Think you that the man who is deluded by Allah and His longsuffering forbearance so that he sins even more grievously against Him, imagining that he is held in higher regard by his Creator than his father Adam, whom He created with His own hands, and breathed into him of His own spirit, and commanded the angels, the noblest of all creatures in the sight of God, to bow down before him-think you that it is a more arduous task for Allah to punish him than to chastise Adam? No indeed; but the sweetness a man finds in hoping and the comfort he discovers in being borne along on the back of his own weak and feeble Judgement, these lead him on to ruin and disgrace. If, when he commits a sin, he were not checked already by the knowledge that God has forbidden it, nor held back by the thought of the severe punishment, which He will visit upon him. Yet the evil reputation his sins must bring upon him, and the great Injury his own soul suffers by reason of his committing them this is the greatest barrier and strongest restraint that a sinner might wish for, if only he saw with the eyes of truth and followed the path of guidance. How much the more should he hold back from evil-doing, seeing that Allah declares, "And they slay not the soul which God hath made sacrosanct, save for right cause, neither commit they adultery, and whoso doeth those things, the same shall incur a penalty; doubled shall be his chastisement on the Day of Resurrection, and he shall abide therein forever, cast forth and despised " (Koran XXV 68-69).
I was informed by al-Hamdani in the mosque called al-Qamari, that lies in the western quarter of Cordova, in the year 1010, he having received the same from Ibn Sibuya and Abu Ishaq al-Balkhi in Khorasan in 985, from Muhammad Ibn Yusuf, from Muhammad Ibn Ismail, from Qutaiba Ibn Sa'id, from Jarir, from al-A'mash, from Abu Wa'il, from `Amr Ibn Shurahbil, from `Abd Allah (that is to say Ibn Mas'ud), that a certain man said to the Apostle of Allah, " O Apostle of Allah, which is the greatest sin in the eyes of God ? " The Prophet replied, " That thou shouldst invoke another as equal to Allah, Who alone created thee." The man said, "And what next? " The Prophet answered, " That thou shouldst kill thy child for fear that he partake of thy food." The man persisted, "And what after that?" The Prophet said, "That thou shouldst commit adultery with thy neighbor's wife." Allah revealed in confirmation of this, "And those who call not upon any other God beside Allah, and slay not the soul which God hath made sacrosanct, save for right cause, neither commit they adultery" (Koran XXV 68-69). Allah has also declared, "And the fornicating woman, and the fornicating man-flog each one of them with a hundred stripes; ye shall not be moved with compassion for them in the religion of Allah, if ye truly believe in Allah " (Koran XXIV 2).
The same al-Hamdani informed me on the authority of Abu Ishaq al-Balkhi and Ibn Sibuya, who received it from Muhammad Ibn Yusuf, from Muhammad Ibn Ismail, from al-Laith, from 'Aqil, from Ibn Shihab al-Zuhri, from Abu Bakr Ibn `Abd al-Rahman Ibn al-Harith Ibn Hisham al-Makhzumi, Sa'id Ibn al-Musaiyib al-Makhzumi, and Abu Salama Ibn `Abd al-Rahman Ibn `Auf al-Zuhri, that the Prophet of Allah said, " No man fornicates, when he fornicates, and in doing so remains a believer." Al-Hamdani informed me by the same chain of authorities as far as Muhammad Ibn Ismail, who heard it from Yahya Ibn Bukair, from al-Laith, from 'Aqil, from Ibn Shihab, from Abu Salama and Sa'id Ibn al-Musaiyib, from Abu Huraira, that a man came to the Apostle of Allah while he was in the mosque and said to him, " O Apostle of Allah, I have 'committed adultery." The Prophet turned away from him, but the man returned to him four times; and when he had borne witness against himself four times the Prophet of Allah called to him and said, " Is there insanity in thee?" "No", the man replied. "And art thou married by the rites of Islam?" "Yes." Then the Prophet said, " Take him out and stone him." Ibn Shihab added, "I was also informed by a man who heard Jabir Ibn `Abd Allah declare, 'I was among those who stoned him. We stoned him in the Field of Prayer; when the stones struck him he fled, but we caught him in the rocky waste and stoned him there.'"
Abu Said, the freedman of Chief Chamberlain Jafar, told me in the Cathedral Mosque of Cordova that he heard Abu Bakr al-Muqri' relate, on the authority of Abu Jafar Ibn al-Nahhas, transmitting from Said Ibn Bishr, from `Umar Ibn Rafi`, from Mansur, from al-Hasan, from Hattan Ibn `Abd Allah al-Raqashi, from `Ubada Ibn al-Samit, that the Messenger of Allah said, "Hear me, and hearken to what I say! God has appointed a way of dealing with women: for the virgin who fornicates with a virgin, flogging and banishment for a year, but for a woman not virgin who fornicates with a man not virgin, a hundred stripes and stoning." How horrible is this offence, concerning which Allah has clearly declared in His revelation that the one guilty thereof shall be exposed to shame, and treated with severity and all rigour! He has made the punishment even more severe, in that the sentence of stoning shall only be carried out in the presence of the offender's kinsmen.
It is the unanimous opinion of all Moslems, which only a heretic would impugn, that the married fornicator shall be stoned until he expires. What a terrible manner of death, what a frightful penalty involving what dreadful torment, and how far removed from an easeful and swift death! Certain schools of thought among the learned, including al-Hasan Ibn Abi'l-Hasan, Ibn Rahuya, and Dawud and his followers, take the view that in addition to stoning the adulterer shall also receive a hundred lashes, supporting their opinion by reference to the text of the Koran and the firm Sunna of the Prophet's own practice; as well as the precedent established by `Ali when he stoned a married woman found in fornication after inflicting on her a hundred stripes, and said, " I whipped her in accordance with the Book of Allah, and stoned her following the Sunna of Allah's Messenger." This doctrine is binding upon the followers of al-Shafi'i, because with them any addition based upon a Tradition guaranteed by an indisputably truthful transmitter is to be accepted into the, sacred canon of the Law.
According to the consensus of the whole community I of the faithful, transmitted by universal agreement, and accompanied by the practice of every rite and the followers of every sect of Islam with the solitary exception of a small and negligible group of Kharijis, it is not lawful to shed the blood of any Moslem save for the following causes, infidelity after belief, retaliation for murder, armed insurrection against Allah and His Messenger leading to grave and continuing disorder in, the earth, and fornication after honourable wedlock. The lawful penalty sanctioned by Allah, and equivalent to the punishment prescribed for infidelity, insurrection against God, the destruction of His proof on earth, and warring against His religion, corresponds to the enormity of the crime and the frightfulness of the sin. Allah says, " If ye avoid the deadly sins which ye have been forbidden, We shall remit to you your wicked deeds." (Koran IV 35);"And those who avoid the deadly crimes and abominations, and commit only the venial sins-surely God's forgiveness is wide " (Koran LIII 33). While it is true that the learned authorities differ in their understanding of what the "deadly" sins are, they are unanimous that adultery is in the forefront of them; no difference exists between them on that score. Moreover Allah in His Book has only threatened hellfire as the punishment for seven crimes in addition to infidelity; these are the Deadly Sins, and fornication is one of them, as also the false imputation of adultery to respectable matrons; all this is supported by chapter and verse in the Book of Allah the Almighty.
We have stated above that it is not right for any child of Adam to be put to death, save for the four crimes, which we have enumerated. In the case of infidelity, if the guilty party returns to the fold of Islam, or if he enters the status of a protected person without having apostatized, his position is regarded as acceptable and f the death penalty is not enforced. With murder, if the next-of-kin is agreeable to the payment of a blood wit (according to some jurisprudents), or if he pardons the offence (according to the unanimous view of all), the k penalty of death by reprisal is no longer operative. As for "committing disorder in the earth", if the offender repents before being overpowered he is spared the penalty of execution. There are however no grounds y a whatsoever, in the view of any single authority whether he be conforming or nonconformist, for giving up the penalty of stoning when the fornicator is lawfully married, neither can any reason be found for lifting the death sentence. The frightful nature of fornication is further indicated by the following narrative which we received from judge Abu `Abd al-Rahman, transmitting from judge Abu `Isa, from `Abd Allah Ibn Yahya, from his father Yahya Ibn Yahya, from al-Laith, from al-Zuhri, from al-Qasim Ibn Muhammad Ibn Abi Bakr, from 'Ubaid Ibn 'Umair. `Umar Ibn al-Khattab (God be well pleased with him!) in his time encountered some members of the Hudhail tribe. A young girl ran out from them, and she was followed by a man who desired her for his own purposes. She threw a stone pat him, which pierced his liver. `Umar said, "This man was slain by Allah, and Allah pays no blood wit."
Allah has prescribed the necessity of four eyewitnesses to charges of adultery, whereas in all other cases two y witnesses are sufficient: this is a precautionary measure, to prevent the abomination becoming widespread among, His servants, since it is an offence so serious, so shocking sand so horrible. How indeed should it be otherwise, seeing that anyone accusing his Moslem brother or sister of adultery without having certain knowledge absolutely sure information is held guilty of a Deadly Sin meriting hellfire hereafter? Holy Writ itself lays it down that such an offender is to receive on his body, eighty lashes of the whip. Malik is of the opinion that no penalty is exacted in any other case but the imputation of adultery for an implied suggestion, as against a direct accusation. I have received by the same chain of authorities as that quoted just above, mounting to al-Laith-the narrative is of some length-he receiving", from Sa'd, from Yahya Ibn Sa'id, from Muhammad Ibn `Abd al-Rahman, from his mother `Umara bint `Abd' al-Rahman, that `Umar Ibn al-Khattab ordered the whipping of a man who said to another, " My father is not an adulterer and my mother is not an adulteress." It is the consensus of the whole community, without any divergence of opinion whatsoever so far as I am aware, that if one man says to another, " O infidel! or "O slayer of a soul made sacrosanct by Allah! " no! penalty is to be exacted from him. This again is a measure of precaution on Allah's part, in order that the heinous sin of fornication may be properly established in the case of any Moslem, man or woman, accused of it. Malik again declares that there is no penalty in Islam which is not rendered superfluous and annulled by the death sentence, with the exception of the penalty for false accusation of adultery; if a man who has earned the death penalty also has outstanding against him the penalty for this crime, that penalty is exacted before r the death sentence is carried out. Allah says, "And those who accuse respectable matrons and then bring`,' not forward eye-witnesses-lash them with eighty lashes, and do not ever accept any testimony of theirs again; for they are profligates; except those who repent" (Koran XXIV 4). Allah also says, "And those who accuse respectably married women, negligent but believers, shall be cursed in this world and the next, and shall receive a severe chastisement " (Koran XXIV 23). It is reported of the Messenger of Allah that he declared that the wrath and curse mentioned in the formula of execration (cf. Koran XXIV 7-9) involve the legal penalty.
I was informed by al-Hamdani, transmitting from Abu ' shag, from Muhammad Ibn Yusuf, from Muhammad Ibn Ismail, from `Abd al-'Aziz Ibn `Abd Allah, from Sulaiman, from Thaur Ibn Yazid, from Abu 'l-Ghaith, from Abu Huraira, that the Prophet of Allah said, '` Eschew the seven mortal sins." He was asked, "And which are they, O Messenger of Allah? " He answered "Associating other Gods with Allah, sorcery, slaying the soul which Allah has made sacrosanct save for just cause usury, embezzling the property of orphans, turning the sack on the day of battle, and libelling married women who are negligent but believers."
Adultery violates the sanctity of the harem, confuses the lawful offspring of wedlock, and separates husband and wife; which last God has declared to be a most "grievous offence, and is not lightly regarded by any man of intelligence or with the least sense of morality. Were it not for this element in man, and the fact that he is never secure from the violent impulse of his sexual instinct, Allah would not have lightened the penalty in the case of virgins, or prescribed so severe a punishment for married offenders. This is the law with us and the same prescription is to be found in all the ancient codes deriving from Divine revelation it remains in full force, and has not been abrogated, neither has it ever been abolished. Blessed be God, Who looks upon all His servants, and is not preoccupied by the mighty things in His creation, neither is His omnipotence limited by the great things in His universe, that He should be debarred from regarding the inconsiderable things therein. He is as He Himself has said, " The Living, the Self-subsistent, Whom neither slumber toucheth nor sleep " (Koran II 256) He knoweth all that goeth down into the earth, and all that cometh out of it, and what descendeth from heaven, and what mounteth up therein" (Koran XXXIV 2); "He knoweth all secrets"(Koran VI 73);" There escapeth from Him not so much as an atom's weight in the earth or in the heaven" (Koran X 62).
The gravest offence that a servant of God can commit is to violate the veil, which God extends over His servants. The sentence of beating passed by Abu Bakr al-Siddiq (God be well pleased with him!) upon the man who embraced a youth indecently, so that he died of his chastisement, and the admiration expressed by Malik (God rest his soul!) for the zeal of the prince who bead 'a youth that allowed a man to kiss him, until he died of the whipping-these two instances furnish a clear indication of the seriousness of the motives and cause leading up to this sort of action. Though we do no ourselves approve of excessive zeal in the exercise of jurisdiction, nevertheless the doctrine is held by many learned authorities, and accepted by a vast number of people. Our own view is based upon a Tradition which we received from al-Hamdani, transmitting from al-Balkhi, from al-Farabri, from al-Bukhari, from Yahya Ibn Sulaiman, from Ibn Wahb, from Amr, from Buknir, from Sulaiman Ibn Yasir, from `Abd al-Rahman Ibn Jabir, from his father, from Abu Burda al-Ansari, that the Messenger of Allah said, " No man shall be beaten-, with more than ten lashes, save in the case of a penalty sanctioned by Allah." This is the view also of Abu Jafar Muhammad Ibn `Ali al-Nasa'i al-Shafi'i, God have mercy on his soul.
As for conduct like that of the people of Lot, that is horrible and disgusting. Allah says, "Will ye commit an abomination which no living creature ever committed before you? (Koran VII 78). Allah hurled at the offenders stones of clay stamped with a mark (cf. Koran XI 84). Malik is of the opinion that both parties of this offence are to be stoned, whether they are married or not. Some of his followers cite in support of this doctrine the words of God, touching the stoning of the Sodomites, "And stones are not far away from those who commit iniquity" (Koran VI 84): accordingly the stones are near to those who commit iniquity after a like manner to-day. This is not however the place to enter into a discussion of the divergence of opinions held concerning this question. Abu Ishaq Ibrahim Ibn al-Sari informs us that Abu Bakr burnt alive a man convicted of this offence; Abu 'Ubaida Ma`mar Ibn Muthanna relates that the name of the man so burnt was Shuja' Ibn Warqa' al-Asadi; Abu Bakr burnt him alive because he allowed himself to be used in sodomy.
The intelligent man has ample diversions to escape from the commission of sins. Allah has forbidden nothing, without having provided for His servants lawful substitutes, which are seemlier and more excellent than the thing prohibited. There is no God but He!
I have composed the following lines by way of solemn counsel against the indulging of the passion.
Naught else doth half so plain appear,
For every man is born to die
As did his sires in days gone by."
Preserve thy soul from all that may
Disgrace it; passion cast away;
For passion is the fatal key
That opes the gate to misery.
Passion is easy at the start,
And sweet enjoyment doth impart;
Its end is bitter to the throat,
Its exits narrow and remote.
Life holds no pleasure known to man
But death is waiting in the van,
Though he a double measure won
Compared with Noah, Lamech's son.
Seek, not a dwelling to secure
That doth so little time endure,
And giveth warning clear and strong
That it shall pass away ere long;
Which none may leave, except he be
Possessed thereof most solidly,
And many yield, yet in their mind
Wish ardently to stay behind.
Hopes are so easy to deny
Whose paps are withered and run dry,
So difficult to quit, whose breast
Abounds with joys yet unexpressed.
That servant of the Lord, who turns
Towards the thing for which he yearns
With passion of a lover true
And reason wisely to eschew,
Of all the creatures Allah made
Is likeliest, at the Last Parade,
To win to Paradise, to own
A private and eternal throne.
And he who fullest knows and best
The proper object of his quest,
Regards as trash the treasured things
Prized jealously by worldly kings;
And he who knows the Merciful
Would ne'er contend against His rule,
Though his inheritance at birth
Were all the kingdoms of the earth.
The best of ways in life for thee
Is godly fear and piety,
And whoso prudently prefers
That road is best of wayfarers.
But he who from that pathway strays
Will be in trouble all his days;
Life holds no pleasure for the soul
Unqualified in self-control.
Blessed are they, who truly seek
With joyous hearts and spirits meek
To win that heavenly reward,
The holy presence of the Lord.
For they have lost that bitter spite
Wherein ignoble souls delight,
To gain, full measure and increase,
The Sultan's power, the beggar's peace.
They live as they desire, until
They die the manner that they will,
To reach, in their eternal home,
Green pastures they may freely roam.
They disobey the body's call,
Reject all pleasures physical,
To walk forever in the light
That rends the veil of error's night.
But that the flesh requires its poor
Replenishment, I am most sure
They would deny what needs must give
And live the life that angel's life.
Grant these, O Lord, the foremost place
And constant augment of Thy grace;
Where'er they dwell, upon them pour
Thy loving favour evermore.
And, O my soul, strive earnestly;
Allow no weariness in thee,
But gird thyself, that joy to gain
Which shall eternally remain.
When thou appraisest as is just
Thy labours in the cause of lust,
Thou knowest that it is not thus
Truth shall be realized in us
For God reveals His holy plan
Of Law before the sight of man,
More evident to watchful eyes
Than the stars' network in the skies.
My soul, while yet thou art alive,
Betimes for thy salvation strive
Be resolute to serve thy Lord
With zeal fine-tempered as a sword.
Did men reflect, as they should do,
What noble purpose to pursue
They were created, none on earth
Would pass a single thought in mirth.
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