quests, is that Sa'd bin Abi Waqqas wrote to Caliph 'Umarbin al-Khattab:
"In the booty I have been able to get hold of a golden casket with a
golden lock on it. I have not yet opened it. A person has already fixed a
price for it. What shall I do?'' The reply from the Caliph was: "I should
think you had better sell it, as it would only be hiding some idiotic contraption of the Persians." The buyer after purchasing the casket discovered a smaller casket, which he opened. It had a small piece of paper
on which the following advice was given in words: "leaving the beard
long down the chin is far better than growing it thick round the cheeks."
The purchaser expressed the wish to cancel the contract. Sa'd bin
Abi Waqqas wrote to Caliph 'Umar, seeking his decision in the matter.
The reply he received was: "Ask him whether he would have made such
a request if he had caught hold of a treasure far beyond his expectation."
The buyer said: "If this were so, why should 1 have thought of rescinding
the contract?" Sa'd then said: 'Tf so, we are also not prepared to cancel
our contract." It is about such persons that Isma'il bin 'Ali has said:
(Like) the sides of the chests which were decorated with variegated
patterns. He who fell in love with those patterns thought the chest
would contain all kinds of jewels. But only the emergency of air
(greeted) the opener after the lock had been prised open.
The Colours of Rubies and Jewels
According to the jewellers, the best ruby after the yaqut-i-ahmar is
the mawrad al-asfar, which is followed by the ghubari (dusty or dull yellow). It is possible for different colours to concentrate in one stone,
since they (the jewellers) had found a stone that was multicoloured. It
had the red, yellow, green, and white interspersed. They knew that fire
would burn away these colours except the reddish-white. The red colour
is like the original, while the remaining colours are accidental, which
volatise upon heating. The crystal becomes pure. Al-Kindi's statement
that he had purchased some jewels from India and heated them, till their
colours evaporated attests to this.
The Yellow Kind
Of the yellow kind, the best, according to the jewellers, is that which
is bright red — approximates to the colour of the pomegranate. This is
followed by the mishmishi (crimson), utrujji (citron-like), and the tibui
(straw-coloured). The colour gradually begins to wane till the white
colour is reached. The best variety is that which weighs one mithqal and
fetches a price of 100 dinars. The prices gradually scale down till the
value of one mithqal is merely a dinar.
Al-Kindi writes: "All the varieties of karkahan are like the red rubySome of these varieties are khuluqi (aromatic), Zayti (livine), and
