This last and crowning piece of Ḥarîri’s work is remarkable in two directions, which both bring it in close relation to the forty-eighth. In the latter the author extolled in eloquent strains the quarter of Basra, which was inhabited by him; here he out-soars the highest flights of his oratory in a magnificent encomium of his native town itself. But the present Assembly is still more admirable as a counter-part of that of the Benû Harâm with regard to the hero of the romance, who, having given there an account of an incident, which ominously inaugurated his questionable career, is now represented as redeeming, under the touch of divine grace, his life of venturesome expedients, frequently bordering on crime, by sincere repentance and transports of pure and unremitting devotion.
Al Ḥârith, son of Hammâm, related: I was one day wrapped up in sadness, whose brunt was fierce, and whose impress was visible in me, and as I had heard that resorting to the assemblies of invocation removes all veils from man’s thought, I saw for the putting out of the live coal within me, naught but making for the cathedral mosque of Basra, whose chairs were at that time well filled, whose fountains were frequented, so that the flowers of speech might be culled in its meads, and the whir of pens was to be heard in its precincts. So I sped thither without delay and without swerving to the right or left, and when I had set foot on its gravel and got sight of its uttermost end, I espied a man in out-worn tatters upon an elevated stone, round whom throngs were crowded of uncounted number, and not engaged in child’s work. Therefore I hasted in his direction and sought access to him, hoping to find with him the cure of my disease, and I ceased not shifting places, heedless of knocks and blows, until I was seated opposite to him, where I was safe of mistaking him, when, lo, it was our Shaykh the Serûji, no doubt in him, nor any disguise to conceal him. Then at his sight my grief subsided, and the hosts of my cares were scattered. But when he perceived me and glanced at the place where I was sitting, he said: “O ye people of Basra! may Allah keep and guard you, and strengthen your piety; how far spread is the fragrance of your fame, and how surpassing are the virtues that distinguish you; your country is the most eminent of countries in purity, the richest of them in natural gifts, the widest in expanse, and the most fertile in pasture-grounds; she boasts over them the correctest kiblah, the broadest stream, the greatest number of rivers and date-palms, the most exquisite beauty in detail and aggregate, being the gateway to the sacred land and fronting the door (of the Ka‘beh) and the station (of Abraham), one of the two wings of the world, and a city founded on the fear of Allah, that never was defiled by flames of the fire, whose people never circumambulated idols, and prostrated themselves on her ground to none but the Merciful; possessed of shrines much visited and of mosques thronged with worshippers, of schools far celebrated, and of tombs resorted to by pilgrims, of monuments revered and enclosed precincts. In it meet the ships and the saddle-beasts, the fish and the lizards, the camel-driver and the sailor, the hunter and the tiller, the harpooner and the lancer, the herd and the swimmer, and to it belongs the spectacle of the tide that rises and the tide that ebbs. But as for you, ye are of those whose excellencies not two contest, no enemy gainsays. Your community are the most obedient lieges to their Lord, and the most grateful for benefits bestowed on them. Your ascetic is the most devout of mankind, and the brightest light on the road of truth; your scholar the most learned of all ages, and the supreme authority for all times, and from amongst you came forth he who created and laid down the lore of grammar, and he who devised the measures of poetry, and there is no boast of man, but to you belongs the foremost hand in it, and the winning arrow; there is no glory, but ye are the most worthy of it, and the most deserving. Withal ye have Muezzins far more than the people of any town, and in worship ye observe the nicest rules, and from you pattern is taken in performing the ceremonies of ‘Arafât, and became known the morning bounty in the sacred month for when the slumbers are still and the sleeper is soundly asleep, there is heard amongst you a recitation that rouses the somnolent, and rejoices the wakeful, and the smile of morning dawns not, nor breaks forth its light in season hot or cold, but the prayer-call summons you with a murmur, like the murmur of the wind on the sea-waves. Wherefore Tradition has disclosed concerning you, and the Prophet, be peace upon him, has declared aforehand that your murmur in the mornings would be like the murmur of the bees in the deserts; honour then to you for the prediction of the chosen one, and hail to your city, though it be effaced and nought remain of it but an outline.” Then he checked his tongue and put an end to his speech, so that their eyes glanced at him, and he was suspected of falling short, nay, taunted with inability to proceed, but he sighed the sigh of him who is dragged to execution, or whom a lion’s claws have clutched, when he said: “As for you, O people of Basra, there is none among you but he is worthy of renown alike for learning and liberality; but as for me, he who knows me—well, I am such, and the worst of acquaintances is he who injures thee; but to one who knows me not, I will now disclose truly my character. It is I, who have fared in Nejd and Tihâmeh, in Yemen and Syria, in the desert and the sea, in deepest night and early morning. In Serûj I was reared, and in the saddle I got my training. Forsooth, I have entered straits, and opened roads that were closed, and witnessed frays, and soothed tempers, and curbed the restive and pressed nostrils in the dust, and melted the frozen, and softened rocks. Ask of me the East and the West, the hoofs (of camels) and (their) humps, assemblies and hosts, tribes and squadrons, and gather clear tidings of me from the reporters of traditions and the story-tellers at night-talks, from the drivers of caravans, and the sharp-sighted diviners, that ye may know how many mountain-passes I have threaded and veils I have rent, how many perils I have braved and fights I have fought, how often I have beguiled the minds of men, and devised novelties and snatched opportunities, and made lions my prey, how many a high-flown I have left prone, how many a hidden one I have brought out by my spells, how many a flint I have ground until it split, and made spring its sweet water by my wiles. But there has passed what has passed, while the bough was fresh and the temple raven-haired, and the raiment of youth yet new; whereas now the skin has withered, the straight grown crooked, the dark night waxed light, and naught remains but repentance, if it avail, and to patch up the rent that has widened. Now, I had been apprised by reports well supported, and by traditions authenticated, that on every day a glance from Allah, be He exalted, falls upon you, and whereas all men’s weapons are of iron, your weapons consist in prayers, and the profession of one God. So I repaired to you, jading my saddle-beasts, and travelling from station to station, until I stood in this place before you, though thereby no obligation be laid upon you, since I sped not hither but for my own need, and toiled not but for my own tranquillity, and I crave not your gifts, but beg for your prayers, nor ask I for your wealth, but solicit your supplication. Pray then to Allah, may He be exalted, to accord me grace for repentance and readiness for my return to Him, for He is the Most High in dignity and answers prayers, and He it is who accepts penitence from His servants and forgives transgressions.
“Allah’s forgiveness I crave for sins that, woe me! I have wantonly committed.
How oft I have plunged in seas of error, and morn and eve walked in paths of folly,
How oft I have followed passion’s promptings, been arrogant, greedy and deceitful,
How oft I have spurned the curb in rushing headlong and unchecked to fell rebellion,
How oft I have reached the bounds of trespass, and never ceased from careering onwards.
Would that I had been afore forgotten, and never gathered what, alas, I gathered,
For better far death to him who sinneth, than to pursue such a course as I sped!
But, O my Lord, grant to me forgiveness: Thy Mercy is greater than my trespass.”
Said the narrator: Forthwith the congregation commenced
to aid him with their prayer, while he turned
his face heavenward, until his eyelids brimmed with
tears and his agitation became conspicuous, when he
cried out: “Allah is greatest! the sign of acceptance
has appeared and the veil of doubt is removed. May
ye then, O folks of dear Basra, be rewarded with the
reward of Him who guides out of perplexity.” Then
there remained none among the people who rejoiced
not in his joy, doling out to him what he had ready at
hand. He accepted the bestowal of their bounty, and
began to expatiate in thanks to them, whereupon he
descended from the stone and wended towards the
river bank. But I followed in his wake, to where we
found ourselves alone and were safe of being spied and
intermeddled with. Then I said to him: “This time
thou hast done marvels, but what is thy view as to
repentance?” Said he: “I swear by Him who knows
all hidden things and forgives transgressions, my case
is indeed a miracle and the prayers of thy fellow-people
have been answered.” I replied: “Enlighten me more,
so may Allah grant thee more of welfare!” Said he:
“Truly, I had stood before them in the stead of a
doubter, a deceiver, and, lo, I have turned from them
with the heart of the contrite, the devout. Weal then
to him to whom they incline their hearts, and woe
to him on whom they call down their imprecations.”
Thereupon he bade me farewell, and went away, leaving
me in unrest, so that I ceased not tormenting my
thoughts on his account, and looking out for means of
testing the truth of what he had stated. But every
time I sniffed for tidings of him from wayfarers and
roamers in foreign lands, I was like one who talks to
dumb brutes, or hails a mute rock, until after a length
of time and reaching the pitch of anguish, I met with
some travellers returning from a journey, to whom I
said: “Is there any rare news?” Quoth they:
“Indeed, we have news rarer than the ‘Anḳâ and more
marvellous than the sight of Zarḳâ.” So I asked them
for explanation of what they had said, and that they
would mete to me what had been meted to them. Then
they told me that they had made a halt at Serûj, after
the wild asses had left it, and had seen there its
renowned Abû Zayd, who had donned the wool cloth,
and was leading the rows of the praying and had
become a famous devotee. Said I to them: “Mean ye
him of the Assemblies?” Quoth they: “Yea, him
now of all miraculous endowments.” Forthwith longing
urged me towards him, for I saw in him an opportunity
not to be lost. So I set out in all readiness and made
for him full earnestly, until I alighted at his mosque
and the place of his worship, when, lo, he had discarded
the society of his associates, and stood upright in his
prayer-niche, wearing a cloak stitched together with a
tooth-pick, and a patched wrapper. So I was struck
with awe of him, like one who has broken in upon
lions, and found him amongst those whose token is the
trace of prostration in their faces, and when he had told
his rosary, he greeted me with his forefinger without
uttering a word of talk, nor asking for tidings old or
new. Then he proceeded with his recitation from the
Koran, and left me wondering at his devotion, and
envying those whom Allah leads aright amongst his
servants, and he desisted not from adoration and
humiliation, from prostrating himself and bowing down,
from self-abasement and contrition, until he had completed
the performance of the five prayers, and to-day
had become yesterday, when he betook himself with me
to his abode, and gave me a share in his loaf and olive-