RECORD OF THE DREAM OF RABIA’H, THE SON OF NASSER, AND THE INTERPRETATION OF SATTIH, THE SOOTHSAYER, AND OF WASHAQ.

It is current among the people and extant in the texts of books that Rabia’h, the son of Nasser, who was one of the governors of the country of Yaman, had dreamt a fearful dream, had assembled the interpreters of his province without telling them the contents, and had asked them for the interpretation of the dream. They replied: ‘It is beyond our ability and power to interpret an unknown dream.’ Hereon Rabia’h, becom­ing incensed with wrath, exclaimed: ‘It is your duty to solve any difficulty that may occur, and if this affair remains in abeyance I shall punish you.’ One of them pointed out to him Sattih and Washaq, saying: ‘These two men are the most learned in our times.’ Accordingly, Rabia’h first addressed Sattih, who replied: ‘Thou hast seen in thy sleep a black fire; its colour was darkish, and it burnt up all the inhabitants of Yaman.’ Others relate that Sattih answered: ‘O king! thou hast seen something burnt like ashes, coming from the darkness, and all the inhabitants of the country were eating of it.’ Others, again, say that the reply of Sattih was this: ‘Thou hast seen a back coal issuing from the darkness, and fire fell from it on the province of Tahamah, i.e., Yaman, and it burnt up the skulls of all who dwelt therein.’ In short, after Sattih had told Rabia’h what the latter had seen in his dream, Rabia’h said: ‘Thou hast spoken the truth; now tell me the interpretation.’ Sattih swore that an army would come from Abyssinia, and would take possession of the country. The king, being distressed by this news, asked whether this catastrophe was to happen during or after his reign. Sattih replied: ‘Sixty years after thy decease Saif Zu Yazan will conquer Yaman.’ Rabia’h continued: ‘Will the Abyssinians retain the kingdom or not?’ Sattih continued: ‘During seventy and a few years over, the sway of Saif Zu Yazan will last, and some years after his reign the kingdom of Yaman will obey a prophet belonging to a great family.’ Rabia’h asked: ‘Of what nation will that prophet be?’ Sattih replied: ‘Of the children of Ghâleb, the son of Qahar, the son of Mâlek. The government will devolve upon him and his people till the day of the resurrection.’ As Rabia’h was a stranger to the orthodox religion and did not believe in the resurrection, he was astonished at these words, and said: ‘Perhaps there will be a resurrection?’ Sattih continued: ‘Yes; the resurrection will be a day on which all the people of former and of latter times will be assembled, and will have to give an account of their actions. The good will be, for their reward, translated to the gardens of A’den, and evildoers will, as a punishment for their crimes, be removed to the abyss of Jahannum.’* Hereon Rabia’h made Sattih swear an oath, by the redness of the twilight and by the blackness of the commencement of the night, that the existence of para­dise and of hell was real, and that what he had said was true.

After the conversation between Sattih and the king had terminated, the latter called for Washaq, who interpreted the dream in the same way as Sattih had done, and gave some explanation about the day of judgment. Thus the king, having obtained information, wept much, believed in the coming of the prophet of the latter days, and all the circum­stances of the day of requital. He sent his children to Persia with a message to one of the descendants of Sûsân, at the time King of Persia, who favourably received the new settlers and established them in a pleasant locality on the banks of the Euphrates. It is said that No’mân, the son of Munzer, was one of the descendants of Rabia’h, and in the ‘Rauzat-ul-Ahbâb’ this dream is attributed to Nassar, the son of Rabia’h.