RECORD OF MISCELLANEOUS AFFAIRS, AND EXPLANATION OF THE LAWS AND CUSTOMS THAT WERE INSTITUTED ON EARTH BY EBRAHIM.

It is related that towards the end of the life of Ebrahim he prayed to the Almighty to show him how He resusci­tated the dead. The divine allocution then arrived, asking him whether he believed this or not; to which he replied that he believed it, but that he wished to satisfy his heart. Thereupon he was commanded by the Eternal One to kill four birds of any species he liked, to cut them into pieces, to mix all the parts together, to divide them into four portions, to place each of them separately on the top of a mountain, and then to call them, when they would all come towards him.* Ebrahim did as he was bid, and saw all the pieces ascending into the air, and at his will they became birds by the power of God, flew to the heads which his lordship held in his hand, and united with them. When Ebrahim beheld this miracle the exclamation reached him: ‘To-morrow I shall, through the voice of Esrafil, con­voke the inhabitants of the world from the four quarters of the universe, and shall resuscitate them, as I have to-day resuscitated these four birds from the mountains;’ and ‘He is able to do what He likes.’ Some of the Sûfis, however, have explained the blessed verse that descended with reference to this miracle according to another tradition, the narrative of which, however, does not enter into the plan of this work.

It is said that one day Ebrahim went out for the purpose of looking out for a guest, because his laudable custom was not to eat without one. After searching much he found an old man, and brought him to the house. Finding, how­ever, that he was of a different religion, he sent him away without giving him anything to eat. When the poor man had gone away a reproving allocution was addressed to Ebrahim from the palace of the Bestower of grace and favour: ‘O Ebrahim, this rebellious servant was, despite his disobedience and sinfulness, never excluded during his life from the banquet of benefits; but this day, when one meal was expected of thee, thou hast driven him away from thy house hungry and disappointed.’

Distich:I nourished him for a hundred years,
And thou art tired of him in one day.

Ebrahim was so touched by this admonition that he went with great haste in pursuit of the old man, whom he found at last, and brought him back to his house with many excuses; whereon the guest asked his host why he had first repelled and then recalled him. When Ebrahim had informed the old man about the whole matter he exclaimed: ‘Praised be Allah, who blames His friend for the sake of his enemy.’ Then the idolater repudiated his superstitions, made his profession of the orthodox religion, became one of the really saved, and a true believer, as Shekh Sa’di says:

Distich:How couldst thou exclude friends,
Who regardest even enemies?

Chroniclers have recorded that the book which was revealed to Ebrahim contained morality and philosophy. One of the sayings contained in it is as follows: ‘O power­ful and arrogant king! I have not sent thee to accumulate riches, but I have sent thee to spare me the complaints of the oppressed; for I shall not reject them, even when they come from infidels.’ Therefore many philosophers have maintained it to be incumbent upon judges personally to investigate the affairs of the oppressed, on pain of incurring the highest displeasure [of God]. But as it is impossible to inquire personally into all transactions and cases, intelligent men who are endowed with good qualities and free from prohibited desires, who cannot be bribed by promises of dignity, money, or female beauty, nor biased by flattery, should be appointed to investigate and decide all cases with justice and equity. Faithful and trustworthy inquirers ought to be secretly despatched to all parts of the country for the purpose of bringing cases to the notice of their superiors, since it is quite possible that wronged and suffering poor persons may be hindered by various obstacles from putting forward their complaints; therefore many advantages are connected with the institution of informers, the details whereof would, however, only pro­long this recital.

In the same book also the following maxims are laid down, namely: A wise man ought to be in his full senses when sitting in judgment; he ought to be acquainted with his own tongue, and know how to restrain it. A wise man, while he retains the full power of his intellect, must reserve four hours for as many special purposes: one hour he must keep for his Omnipotent Nourisher, one hour he is to devote to meditation on the works of the Inscrutable Creator, one to the secret examination of his own con­science, and the fourth hour he must spend in eating and drinking licit things. He must consider his words as a species of acts, and must speak as little as he possibly can. A prudent man ought to procure three things: (1) pro­visions for the journey to the next world; (2) provisions for the present world; and (3) licit pleasures.

It has been recorded above that the first man who had gray hairs in his moustache was Ebrahim, the reason of which was that the Inscrutable Omnipotent One, having bestowed Esahâq upon him in his old age, the Kana’anites used to say that it was very strange on the part of Ebrahim and Sarah to treat a stranger as their own son, and to bring him up as such. Therefore the Inscrutable Creator made Esahâq resemble Ebrahim perfectly, in order to remove the suspicions of the people. After his moustache had grown he could not be distinguished from his father; hence the wisdom of the Almighty considered it expedient to change the hairs of Ebrahim’s noble moustache to a white hue, that the people might be enabled to distinguish the father from the son. It is related that an individual addressed the lord of prophecy [i.e. Muhammad] by the title of ‘the best of created beings,’ but he replied that this was the epithet of Ebrahim. It is related in another tradition that the words, ‘We have a better right to doubt than Ebrahim,’ have been uttered in consequence of the words of God, w. n. b. e. When Ebrahim said, ‘Lord, show me how Thou makest alive the dead,’ He said, ‘Believest thou not?’ He said, ‘Yes; but to set my heart at ease.’*