THE YOUNG MAN WHO WAS DEEMED MAD.
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"He shall find in me whatever he desires, in-shäa-Allâh!"[1] replied the young man.
And when he appeared before el-Hajjâj, the latter asked him, "Hast thou read the Kurân?" "I have," he replied; "and have, moreover, committed it to memory."
"And dost thou know any poetry?" asked el-Hajjâj.
"There is not one of the poets that I have not studied," he answered.
"And art thou acquainted with the pedigrees[2] of the Arabs, and their adventures?" continued el-Hajjâj.
"Of all that, nothing is forgotten by me," the young man made answer. And he continued narrating whatever the Amîr desired, until the latter thought of
- ↑ In-shäa-Allâh—If it please God. Nothing is ever proposed to be done by a Muslim without his adding these words.
- ↑ The Arabs used to value themselves excessively on account of the nobility of their families; and so many disputes occurred upon that subject that it is no wonder if they took great pains in settling their descents. A knowledge of the genealogies and history of their tribes was one of the three sciences chiefly cultivated by them before the time of Muhammad. The others were, a knowledge of the stars sufficient to foretell the changes of weather, and the power of interpreting dreams.
