373
Hell?’ (A.) ‘They are seven in number and their names are comprised in the following verses:
Jehennem first, then Leza comes and eke Hetim as well; Then must thou count Saïr, and fifth comes Seker, sooth to tell:
Sixth comes Jehim and last of all, Hawiyeh; thus thou hast, In compass brief of doggrel rhyme, the seven rooms of Hell.’
(Q.) ‘To what does the poet refer in these verses:
A pair of ringlets long she hath, that trail for aye Behind her, as she comes and goes upon her way,
And eye that never knows the taste of sleep nor sheds A tear, for none it hath for shedding, sooth to say;
Nor wears it aught of clothes, from year to ended year; Yet in all manner wede it doth the folk array?’
(A.) ‘A needle.’ (Q.) ‘What is the length and breadth of the bridge Es Sirat?’ (A.) ‘Its length is three thousand years’ journey, a thousand in descent, a thousand level and a thousand in ascent: it is sharper than a sword and finer than a hair.’ Night cccclx.(Q.) ‘How many intercessions [with God] hath the Prophet [for each soul]?’ (A.) ‘Three.’ (Q.) ‘Was Abou Bekr the first that embraced Islam?’ (A.) ‘Yes.’ (Q.) ‘Yet Ali[1] became a Muslim before him?’ (A.) ‘All came to the Prophet, when he was a boy of seven years old, for God vouchsafed him the knowledge of the truth in his tender youth, so that he never prostrated himself to idols.’ (Q.) ‘Which is the more excellent, Ali or Abbas?’[2]
Now she knew that, in propounding this question, Ibrahim was laying a trap for her; for, if she said, ‘Ali is the more excellent,’ she would fall in disgrace with the Khalif; so she bowed her head awhile, now reddening, now paling, then said, ‘Thou askest me of two excellent men, each having [his own especial] excellence. Let us return to what we were about.’ When the Khalif heard
