Historical Tales and Anecdotes of the Time of the Early Khalifahs/How Hind daughter of en-Nu'am^bi revenged herself upon el-Hajjaj
HOW HIND, DAUGHTER OF EN-NUʾAMÂN,
REVENGED HERSELF UPON EL-HAJJÂJ.
IT is said that Hind, the daughter of en-Nuʾamân,[1] was the most beautiful woman of her time; and her beauty being highly extolled before el-Hajjâj, he sought her in marriage, and laid out large sums upon her, and settled two hundred thousand dirhems upon her over and above the dowry. Then he married her, and she went down with him to el-Máárrah, her father's country.[2] And el-Hajjâj remained with her in el-Maʾárrah for a long while, and then set off with her for ʾIrâk, where she abode with him according to the will of God.
And Hind was well-educated and eloquent; and it happened that one day as el-Hajjâj was going to see her, he heard her reciting:
How can Hind, the perfect little Arabian mare,
The daughter of noble blood, have mated with a mule?
Should foal of hers prove thoroughbred—richly has Allâh endowed her,
If mulish be his nature—'tis from the mule his sire.
And when el-Hajjâj heard this, he would have nothing more to say to her, but determined to divorce her, and sent ʾAbd-Allâh-ibn-Tâhir to her with two hundred thousand dirhems (which were what he owed her) saying to him, "O ibn-Tâhir! divorce her in two words, and add nothing thereto."
So ʾAbd-Allâh-ibn-Tâhir went to her and said, "Abu-Muhammad, el-Hajjâj, says to thee—Kunti fabinti.[3] And here are the two hundred thousand dirhems which are due to thee from him." Whereupon she made answer: "Know, O ibn-Tâhir, that by Allâh! I was—(his wife) but I did not glory in it, and I am repudiated, but I do not regret it. And as for this two hundred thousand—it is thine, for bringing me the good news of my deliverance from that dog of a Thakîfy!"
And after a while, the Commander of the Faithful, ʾAbd-el-Málik-ibn-Marwân, heard of her, and her beauty was greatly praised to him. So he sent to demand her in marriage for himself. But she wrote a letter to him in reply, wherein, after compliments, she said, "Know, O Commander of the Faithful! that I have already had one dog for a husband." And when ʾAbd-el-Málik read this, he laughed at her words, and wrote to her a second time; after which it was no longer possible for her to refuse him. So she addressed another letter to him, saying—after compliments—"Know, O Commander of the Faithful! that upon one condition only will I proceed with the contract. And wert thou to ask, What is the condition? I should reply, That el-Hajjâj might lead my litter from el-Maʾârrah to the country whereinsoever thou mayst be. And that he should do this walking barefoot, but with the accoutrements which he always wore."
And when ʾAbd-el-Málik read her letter, he laughed a hearty laugh, and sent to el-Hajjâj, ordering him the same; and he, on reading the mandate of the Commander of the Faithful, accepted it, not daring to disobey, but acted according to the command, and sent to Hind warning her to equip.
So she made ready; and el-Hajjâj travelled with his cavalcade until he reached el-Maʾârrah, Hind's country. Then she mounted her litter, and her slave-girls and servants rode around her; but el-Hajjâj walked barefoot. And he journeyed thus with her, leading her camel by the bridle.
Then she took to mocking him, and laughing at him, with her nurse, el-Hîfâ. And by-and-by she said, "O my nurse! open me the curtains of the litter, that I may smell the perfume of the breeze." So the nurse opened them, and Hind and el-Hajjâj found themselves face to face. And she mocked him, but he recited, saying:
Spite of thy jeering now, O Hind! for how long a time
Have I forsaken thee, like a thrown-off garment?
But she answered, saying:
It troubled me not when bereft of high estate,
Through what I had lost of wealth and rank;
For wealth may be acquired and honour recalled,
If Allâh preserve the soul from death.
And she continued deriding and laughing, until they drew nigh unto the Khalîfah's country. And when they came near the town, she dropped some dinârs out of her hand on to the ground, and then cried, "Ho, cameleer! we have let some dirhems fall; pick them up for us." So el-Hajjâj looked on the ground, but seeing only dinârs, said, "They are dinârs." "Not so," said she; "they are dirhems." He repeated, They are dinârs." Whereupon she exclaimed, Allâh be praised! Dirhems fell from our hand, and Allâh has replaced them by dinârs!"
Then was el-Hajjâj covered with confusion, and was silent, and made no answer; but went with her into the presence of ʾAbd-el-Málik-ibn-Marwân, who married her. And according to her will, so was everything.
- ↑ There appears to be some confusion here, consequent upon the possession of the same name by two women who lived about the same time, and both of whom were celebrated for beauty of person and power of mind. Ibn-Khalikân, in his Biographical Dictionary, gives a slightly different version of the lines in the text which he attributes to Hind, daughter of en-Nuʾamân, but states that she composed them upon her husband, Abu-Zarâa, Rûh-ibn-Zinba, whom she detested. This Abu-Zarâa was the head of the tribe of Judâm, and was appointed Governor of Palestine by the Khalîfah ʾAbd-el-Málik, whose intimate and inseparable companion he became. Ibn-Khalikân says that the lines were also attributed to Humaidah, Hind's sister; and he makes no mention of Hind having been married either to el-Hajjâj or to ʾAbd-el-Málik. According to the same author, the Hind who married el-Hajjâj was daughter of el-Muhállab, who when el-Hajjâj was made ruler over ʾIrâk, Sijistan, and Khorassân, was appointed to administer the affairs of the last-mentioned province in the name of el-Hajjâj. On el-Muhállab's death-bed, he nominated his son Yezîd as his successor; but el-Hajjâj, having conceived a violent dislike to, and jealousy of, him, persuaded the Khalîfah to dismiss him. He then fell into the power of el-Hajjâj, who extorted money from him with tortures so cruel that he could not restrain his screams. His sister, Hind, who heard his cries, began to weep and lament, whereupon el-Hajjâj divorced her. Whether, however, Hind were the daughter of el-Muhállab, or of en-Nuʾamân, she must have been a woman of great spirit and determination; for she seems to have been the only person capable of coping with such a monster of cruelty as el-Hajjâj is represented to have been.
- ↑ Maʾárrat-en-Nuʾamân lay in the territory of el-ʾAwâsim, a large district in Syria, having Antioch for its capital.
- ↑ "Thou wert (ellipsis for, Thou wert my wife)—and thou hast been repudiated."