United States or Madagascar ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
So the fisherman went to the treasurer and, taking his eight thousand dirhams, put them in a sack he had with him. Then, throwing it over his shoulder, he was going away, when he dropped a dirham; so he laid the bag off his back and stooped down to pick it up.
But she wept with so sore a weeping that after coming down upon her with blows, I took her and carried her to Damascus city where a merchant saw her with me and, being astounded at her beauty and marvelling at her accomplishments, wished to buy her of me and kept on bidding me more and more for her, till at last I sold her to him for an hundred thousand dirhams.
Now when Mercury Ali heard this, he caught hold of the man's gaberdine and drawing on him a poignard of price, such an one as that whereof the poet speaketh in these two couplets, cried to him, "O Shaykh, speak reasonably to me! Thy water- skin is worth if dear three dirhams, and the gugglets I emptied on the ground held a pint or so of water."
And when I stood in the presence, he said, 'Woe to thee, O Ishak, where hast thou been? So I acquainted him with the story and he said, 'Bring me that man at once. Thereupon I told him where he lived and he sent and fetched him and questioned him of the case; when he repeated the story and the Caliph said to him, 'Thou art a man of right generous mind, and it is only fitting that thou be aided in thy generosity. Then he ordered him an hundred thousand dirhams and said to me, 'O Ishak, bring the damsel before me. So I brought her to him, and she sang and delighted him; and being greatly gladdened by her he said to me, 'I appoint her turn of service every Thursday, when she must come and sing to me from behind the curtain. And he ordered her fifty thousand dirhams, so by Allah, I profited both myself and others by my ride."
The man replied, "The money gift were more acceptable to me than aught else," whereupon Abdullah ordered him two hundred thousand dirhams and ten Arab horses, five with housings of silk and other five with richly ornamented saddles, used in state processions; besides twenty chests of clothes and ten mounted white slaves and a proportionate quantity of jewels of price.
Here I sold some of the diamonds which I had by me for gold dinars and silver dirhams and bartered others for the produce of the country; and, loading them upon beasts of burden, fared on with the merchants from valley to valley and town to town, buying and selling and viewing foreign countries and the works and creatures of Allah, till we came to Bassorah-city, where we abode a few days, after which I continued my journey to Baghdad.
When I saw him I rose to him and invoking blessings on him asked, O my lord, wilt thou not take thy monies?" Again he rode away and I said to myself, "By Allah, when he comes next time needs must I make him my guest; for I have traded with his dirhams and have gotten large gains thereby."
Save thy dirhams and deem them the sovereignest salve for the wounds of the world. And here again I have heard that one of the poets said: When fails my wealth no friend will deign befriend: * When wealth abounds all friends their friendship tender: How many friends lent aid my wealth to spend; * But friends to lack of wealth no friendship render.
When they had been three days at sea, the Shaykh said to his company, 'Stay the vessel! They asked, 'What dost thou want? and he answered, 'Know that I have forgotten the commission wherewith Abu Mohammed Lazybones charged me; so let us turn back that we may lay out his money on somewhat whereby he may profit. They cried, 'We conjure thee, by Allah Almighty turn not back with us; for we have traversed a long distance and a sore, and while so doing we have endured sad hardship and many terrors. Quoth he, 'There is no help for it but we return; and they said, 'Take from us double the profit of the five dirhams, and turn us not back. He agreed to this and they collected for him an ample sum of money.
Word Of The Day