said that this pearl weighed three mithqals and had all the attributes of a
perfect pearl. It was spherical, pure white, exquisite and possessed lustre.
Nasr writes:
The weight of khaya dis was two and two-thirds mithqals and it had
been purchased for 70,000 dinars.
With the end of the Ummayad dynasty, 'Abd Allah bin 'AIT was appointed administrator for the sale of the assets of Marwan bin Muhammad. Someone told him that "Abdah had durryatimah and two earings
in her possession. Abd Allah sent for her and demanded these things
from her. She asked whether she would be spared the delivery of other
things if she parted with them. On "Abd Allah's reply in the affirmative,
she brought the pearl personally and handed it over to him. 'Abd Allah
then said: ''Choose some place for yourself so that I may treat you with
kindness." On 'Abdah's mention of Syria, he made arrangements for her
journey to that country.
But then he felt afraid lest Saffah should know about it and ask him
about her and her whereabouts. He despatched a slave from Kabul who
led her astray and killed her. In the Qur'an we read:
Did He not find thee yatim (destitute) and enrich (thee)? 90
The Sufis say that the Holy Prophet has been called yatim and the
objective is to compare him to durr yatim, the priceless pearl, the position of the Holy Prophet being unique among men and he being the last
Prophet.
Ibn Jassas mentions that the price of this pearl during the reign of
Muqtadar-bi-Allah was 120,000 dinars. It was said that but for the
faridah pearl, its price would have been fixed at 500,000 dinars. Buhtari
says:
Thy kind act towards me is like the brightness that puts even the sun
under eclipse. If thou honour me with one act of kindness after the
other, well would it be, for pearls look good when threaded.
It is said that the yatimah is with the Carmathians at Ahsa'.
Abu 'Abd Allah Al-Husayn bin Ahmad bin Al-Jassas was a person of
many parts. One of his chief qualities was that he was an expert on
jewels par excllence and surpassed his contemporaries in the knowledge
of jewels. He was at the same time very rich, and had the appellation of
the Qarun of the Ummah. Ibn al-Munajjim presented a qasidah to Qadi
'Ali bin 'Abd al-'Aziz in which it was said:
O Ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz, not everyone who possesses wealth is held in
veneration by the expectant ones.
Bring someone as rich as Ibn Jassas but let him be generous like Ibn
Barmak.
The Qadi took a million dinars from Ibn Jassas and had him incarcerated.
