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taken away by the floor sweeper." Yahya then asked where the
pouch was. Abu Ya'qub said it was in one of the bins. Yahya felt relieved and ordered the gardens searched. The servants at last found the pouch at the top of one of the bins. A pouch whose value was beyond all computation was retrieved! Yahya then addressed one of his men: "O slave! Give him 5,000 dirhams and tell such and such person to buy for Abu Ya'qub a house in our vicinity.'' Abu Ya'qub then said: "I shall certainly get these 5,000 dirhams but the house will never be bought for me." Curious about the whole incident, Yahya asked Abu Ya'qub how
he had arrived at the augury. Abu Ya'qub's reply was: "Divination and augury derive from the five senses. Being blind, I press my ears into service. When I entered your house, I wished to hear something. But I heard nothing. I was led astray and concluded that it was a lost thing. When I heard nothing from anyone, I began to search the floor. 1 found a date flower. I said to myself that the date-tree happens to be a receptacle having white, red and green things in it, and they occur layer upon layer in the receptacle. This peculiarity is also shared by jewels tied in a pouch. Then you asked me to name the person who had lifted the pouch. Just at that moment I heard a donkey bray. I said to myself, 'The donkey is hardy and powerful and no one can have access to the wealth of the kings except for the sweeper? When you asked me to specify the place where the pouch was kept hidden, I heard someone say: "Throw it in the garden." Yahya then asked him how he was able to foretell about the award. Abu Ya'qub said: "When I heard you mention a sum of 5,000 dirhams, I heard your slaves seconding you. I felt sure I would get this sum. When you mentioned the next 5,000, I heard the slaves say, "No". He took the award 5,000 dirhams and went away. Shortly afterwards the Barmecides underwent a sudden adverse turn of fortune which is now part of history. Among the ancient and moral parables is that of a man who caught a
bird in a trap. The bird asked him: "What dost thou desire from me?" The hunter said: "I shall sacrifice and eat thee." The bird said: "I would hardly suffice for thee, for I am not more than half a morsel. Wouldst thou release me if I tell thee three useful things." The hunter made the bird swear in God's Name and asked it what these three things were. The bird said, "First, do not grieve for what thou hast lost; second, do not ask for what thou cannot get; and third, do not try to verify what does not happen." The hunter said: "Verily, it is better to listen to these didactic lessons than to eat thee". The hunter released the bird which perched itself upon the opposite wall, and said, "Had thou sacrificed me and kept to thy original intent, thou wouldst have found a pearl the size |
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