THE STORY OF THE THREE EDUCATED YOUNG MEN.

T is related that el-Hajjâj commanded the captain

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of his guard to patrol during the night, and to behead any one whom he might find abroad after supper. So one night he patrolled, and found three young men reeling about, and bearing traces of wine. And he surrounded them, and asked, "Who are ye that thus disobey the Amîr?"

Then answered the first,

His son am I to whom indebted are

All who 'midst maimed or wounded may be found
Before him low his slaves themselves abase,

He takes their means, he takes their blood.

And the captain of the guard, who had seized hold of him to kill him, said, "Perhaps he is of kin to the Commander of the Faithful.”

Then said the second young man,

I am his son whose power will never be lowered.
Is it one day lessened ?—instantly it returns.

Thou mayst see men in crowds by the glow of his fire,
And amongst them those who stand and those who sit.

And the captain of the guard, having seized him

to kill him, said, "But perhaps he may belong to the noblest among the Arabs."

Then said the third young man,

My sire rushed boldly into the ranks,

And corrected with his sword until all was in order
His feet are never parted from his stirrups,

E'en when in raging fight the horsemen flee.

Then the captain of the guard, who had laid hold of him to kill him, said, "But maybe he is of the Arab heroes." And early next morning he reported their affair to el-Hajjâj, who ordered them to be brought before him. And he discovered their condition, and lo! the first was the son of a barber,* and the second was a son of a bean-seller,† and the third was the son of a weaver.‡ And el-Hajjâj was astonished at their quickness, and said to those seated

*Even to the present day, barbers in the East practise phlebotomy by cupping, bleeding, leeching, and teeth-drawing, as did English barbers until recent years.

The bean-seller cooks his beans over an open fire in his shop. And these beans being a favourite article of food among the lower orders, he rarely wants for customers, some of whom sit round his fire and eat their beans on the spot, while others carry their purchase away with them.

‡ Any one who has seen a handloom will at once recognize the applicability of the weaver's son's enigma.

"Allâh pardon both thee and the girl!" said I. "But journey with me to my house, that I may bestow her upon thee, together with a hundred dinârs, which sum thou shalt receive every year."

But he answered, "I do not want it." And though I pressed it upon him, he would not have it. Then I said to him, "If thou refusest this, at least tell me which she is amongst the slave-girls, that while I live I may deal kindly with her for thy sake."

But he replied, "I will not name her to any one," and took leave of me and departed.

And that was the last I ever saw of him.

forgiveness when after his death he appears before Allâh. But should he die suddenly, or should he postpone asking pardon, he and the man he has wronged will at the Last Judgment be confronted, and sentence upon him will be passed according to the forgiveness or otherwise of the injured man.

THE ACCOUNT OF HOW EL-HAJJÂJ
BECAME GOVERNOR OF 'IRÂK.

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ET us now return to the account of what hap

pened in the days of 'Abd-el-Málik-ibn-Marwân. El-Hajjâj* was appointed ruler over the two sacred

* El-Hajjâj-ibn-Yûsuf of the tribe of Thakîf, and Farigha daughter of el-Hamâm, appears by all accounts to have been one of the most tyrannical and bloodthirsty monsters that ever held the lives of others in their power. Arabian historians relate that at his birth he was deformed, and that he refused to allow either his mother or any other woman to suckle him. Then the devil took upon himself the form of el-Hárith-ibn-Kaldah, a celebrated Arab physician, who died soon after the promulgation of el-Islám, and came to the parents of el-Hajjâj in their distress and perplexity, and prescribed for the child as follows: "Slay for him a black goat, and let him lick its blood. Then slay for him a black serpent, and let him lap its blood, and also anoint his face with it for three days." On the fourth day, they say the child accepted his natural food. But the consequence of this treatment was that he could not refrain from blood-shedding. He even said of himself, that his greatest enjoyment was to kill and to commit actions which no other could. He died after for fifteen days suffering agonies from an internal cancer, in A. H. 95, at the age of fifty-three or fifty-four. He was buried at el-Wâsit, a city which he had built between el-Básrah and el-Kûfah, and wherein he had died; but his tomb was afterwards levelled to

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and holy cities, Mekkah and el-Medînah; and it is said that he held in high esteem a certain man named Ibrahim-ibn-Muhammad-ibn-Talhah, by whom he was accompanied to Damascus, on his return thither to visit 'Abd-el-Málik, and of whom he said to the Amir, "I have brought thee, O Commander of the Faithful! a noble, well-born, learned, and humane man from the Hijáz, with his knowledge of the divine laws and excellence in counsel. And by Allâh! there is not his equal in the Hijáz. And upon thy head be it, O Commander of the Faithful! if thou dealest not with him according to his merit."

"Who is he? O Abu-Muhammad!" inquired 'Abdel-Málik. And when el-Hajjâj told him, “Ibrahîmibn-Muhammad-ibn-Talhah," he exclaimed, “O AbuMuhammad! of a truth thou hast recalled to our mind an imperative duty. Give him leave to enter." And when he came in, the Amîr commanded him to sit down in the most honourable place in the Council, and said to him, "Verily, el-Hajjâj has

the ground, and a current of water turned over it. One historian states that el-Hásan, el-Básry, on hearing of the death of el-Hajjâj, made a prostration in thanksgiving to God, saying, “O my God! Thou hast caused him to die; let also his example die from among us."