However, Fadl bin Rabi' again took a team of divers to look for the ring.
One of the divers told Fadl bin Rabi', "Please be good enough to take
your place where the Commander of the Faithful had stood (when he
threw the ring into the river), throw an ear-ring equivalent to the size of
the ring which the Commander of the Faithful had thrown." Fadl bin
Rabi did as he was told, and the diver made a dive in the direction of
the ear-ring reaching the bed of the river. At last he recovered the ring
and Harun became the owner of the Jabal and the Isma'iH ring. Hadi
had yearned for both, but fate had willed otherwise.
Nasr has said that the stone of the ring was bahramanian saffron, and
weighed three mithqals less than one daniq. Its price was a thousand
million dinars. 52
Harun was very fond of collecting jewels. He commissioned and sent
Sabbah, the jeweller, to the Rajah of Serandib for the purchase of precious stones. The Rajah gave him a cordial welcome and took him round
the storehouse of his jewels. Sabbah examined the stones closely, turning them upside down. He could not hide his surprise at the beauty of
the stones and their symmetry, till he caught sight of the red ruby. He
had not seen its like in the royal treasuries and he was seized with
wonder. The Rajah, becoming aware of the jeweller's wonder, asked him
whether he had seen the parallel of it anywhere. To this the jeweller
replied in the negative. The Rajah thereupon asked: "Couldst thou
assess the price of this stone, as our jewellers have failed to do so"?
Sabbah rather pertly said: "Why not, Sire?" The Rajah took umbrage at
this retort and said: "I had taken thee to be a wise being, but methinks I
was mistaken, since thou hast staked a claim which none can fulfil."
Sabbah thereupon said: "It is not your wisdom, O King, that has erred,
if you wish to test the veracity of my claim, please be good enough to
collect all the jewellers you know." The Rajah did as requested. Sabbah
sent for a sheet which he spread on the floor, and asked four jewellers to
hold each of its corners, and raise it. Then he threw the ruby upwards in
the direction of the sheet with all his might. It fell upon the sheet.
Turning towards the Rajah, Sabbah said: "The price of the ring is such
that you should have the distance between myself and the destination of
the ring filled with gold." Those present applauded Sabbah's answer
which commanded respect among the people and the Rajah. The Rajah
commanded that the mouth of Sabbah be stuffed with the best jewels,
rewarded him, and fulfilled his commission.
Salami has quoted upon the authority of Lahham that Abu Bishr alSirafT was at the house of his maternal uncle in Serandib. He sent for a
red ruby stone and read a book in the light emitted by the stone. The
narrator has expressed his surprise since he had thought that this would
be impossible, as one could not see at night through the light radiated by
