Historical Tales and Anecdotes of the Time of the Early Khalifahs/The Dispute concerning the Superiority of the Kuraish and the Yemenites
THE DISPUTE CONCERNING THE SUPERIORITY OF THE KURAISH AND THE YÉMENITES.
IT is related that Muʾâwiyah was one day seated amid his companions, when lo! two caravans from the desert approached. And he said to some of those who were with him, "Observe these people, and bring me word concerning them." So they went, and returned and said, "O Commander of the Faithful! one caravan comes from el-Yémen, and the other from Kuraish." Then he said, "Go again to them, and bid the Kuraish that they come to us. But as for those of el-Yémen, let them remain in their place unless we desire their admittance."
And when the Kuraish entered, Muʾâwiyah saluted them, and went near and asked them, "Do ye know, O people of Kuraish! why I left the people of el-Yémen behind, and caused you to draw near?"
They made answer, "No, by Allâh! O Commander of the Faithful!"
He said, "Because they never cease from vainglorious boasting over us, in matters wherein they are incompetent. And to-morrow when they come in, and take their places in the assembly, I desire to rise amongst them as a devotee, and propose to them questions whereby I shall lessen their self-esteem, and lower their dignity. Therefore when they come in and take their seats in the assembly, and ask questions about anything, let no one but me answer them."
Now the chief of the party from el-Yémen was a man called et-Tarammâh-ibn-el-Hákam, el Bâhily. And he went to his friends and said to them, "Do ye know, O people of el-Yémen! why the son of Hind[1] has left you outside, and has ordered the Kuraish into his presence?"
And when they replied that they did not, he continued: "In order that to-morrow morning he may rise amongst you as a devotee, and propose to you certain questions whereby he may lessen your self-esteem and lower your dignity. Therefore when you enter his presence, and take your places in the assembly, if he ask you concerning anything, let no one reply to him excepting me."
And when the morrow came, and they had been admitted into Muʾâwiyah's presence, and had taken their places, he rose from his seat, and standing erect, cried, "O ye people! who spoke Arabic before the Arabs; and to whom was the Arabic language revealed?"
Then et-Tarammâh rose, and answered, "To us, O Muʾâwiyah!" not adding, "O Commander of the Faithful!"
"How is that?" asked Muʾâwiyah.
"Because," replied et-Tarammâh, "when the Arabs came down to Bâbel, and all mankind spake the Hebrew language, the Most High inspired the tongue of Yaʾarab-ibn-Kahtân, el Bâhily, with Arabic. And he was our ancestor, and spoke Arabic; and his descendants after him handed it down from one to another until this our day. And we, O Muʾâwiyah! are Arabs by lineage, whilst you are Arabs by education only."[2]
And this silenced Muʾâwiyah for a time; but in a little while he raised his head, and cried, "O ye people! which tribe among the Arabs first professed el-Islám; and by whom is witness thereof borne?"
Et-Tarammâh answered, "We, O Muʾâwiyah!"
"How so?" asked the latter.
"Because," replied et-Tarammâh, "God sent Muhammad, and you accused him of falsehood, and pronounced him a fool, and deemed him mad. But we received him and succoured him. And God has revealed—those who received and succoured, they, they are the true believers.[3] And the Prophet was merciful to us in consequence, and overlooked our evil deeds. And why did you not the same, but did, on the contrary, oppose the Apostle of God?"
And Muʾâwiyah reflected upon this question; but after a time, raising his head, he asked, "O ye men! who among the Arabs has the most eloquent tongue, and who has borne witness thereof?"
Et-Tarammâh answered, "We, O Muʾâwiyah!"
"How is that?" asked the latter.
"Because," replied et-Tarammâh, "Imruʾl-Kîs, son of Hájar-el-Kándy, was of us. He says in one of his poems:
In years of scarcity
They feed mankind at times
From platters large as cisterns
And cauldrons immovably fixed.
And verily he quoted from the Kurân before it was revealed, And the Prophet of God himself witnesses the same concerning him."
And for the third time Muʾâwiyah was silenced. But once more he asked, "O ye men! who is greatest in courage and renown among the Arabs, and who bears witness thereof?"
Et-Tarammâh made answer, "We, O Muâwiyah!"
"And how so?" he asked.
"Because ʾAmr-ibn-Maʾady-Kárib, ez-Zabîdy,[4] was of us," replied et-Tarammâh. "He was a warrior in the times of paganism, and a warrior in the times of el-Islám, of which the Prophet is his witness."
"And where wert thou?" asked Muʾâwiyah, "for verily he was brought bound in iron."
"Who brought him?" asked et-Tarammâh.
And when Muʾâwiyah replied, "ʾAly," he continued: "By Allâh! hadst thou known his power, of a truth thou wouldst have submitted the Khalîfate to him, and not have sought it for thyself." Whereupon Muʾâwiyah exclaimed, "Dost thou argue with me, thou old woman of el-Yémen?"
"Yes," replied he, "I do argue with thee, thou old woman of Múdhar! Because the old woman of el-Yémen was Balkîs,[5] who believed in God, and married His Prophet Sulaimân, the son of David—Peace be upon them both! But the old woman of Múdhar was thy ancestress, of whom God said concerning her—'and his wife is a Hamâlat-el-Hátab; round her neck is a fibre rope.'[6]
The historian adds: "And Muʾâwiyah pondered over this, and then, raising his head, said, 'May Allâh recompense thee with friends, and increase thy wisdom, and have mercy upon thy forefathers!' And he bestowed gifts upon him, and treated him kindly."
- ↑ Hind, the mother of Muʾâwiyah, was an Amazon notorious for the cruel and revolting indignities which she practised upon the corpse of Hámzah, the Prophet's uncle, at the battle of Ohod, where she headed a band of women, who like herself took part in the combat.
- ↑ The Arabians are distinguished by their own writers into two classes, viz.,, the old lost Arabians, and the present inhabitants of Arabia. The former were very numerous, and divided into several tribes which are now all destroyed, or else lost and swallowed up among the other tribes; nor are any certain memoirs or records extant concerning them, though the memory of some very remarkable events, and the catastrophe of some tribes, have been preserved by tradition, and since confirmed by the authority of the Kurân. The present Arabians, according to their own historians, are sprung from two stocks, Kahtân the same with Joctan the son of Eber (see Genesis x. 25), and ʾAdnân, descended in a direct line from Ismael the son of Abraham and Hagar. The posterity of the former they call el- ʾAráb el-ʾAribah, i. e., the genuine or pure Arabs; and that of the latter el-ʾAráb-el-Mustʾârabah, i. e., naturalized Arabs. (Some writers, though this is contrary to the general opinion of Oriental historians, make Kahtân also a descendant of Ismael, and call his posterity Mutʾaráb, which signifies insititious or grafted Arabs, though in a nearer degree than Mustʾaráb.) The posterity of Ismael have no claim to be admitted as pure Arabs, their ancestor being by origin and language a Hebrew, but making an alliance with the Jorhamites by marriage. The descents between Ismael and ʾAdnân being uncertain, the Arabs seldom trace their genealogies higher than ʾAdnân, whom they acknowledge as father of their tribes, the descents from him downwards being pretty certain and uncontroverted. Between Adnân and Fehr, who went among the Arabs by the surname of Kuraish, and from whom the whole tribe of Kuraish deduced their name, were ten generations. The Arabs suppose Fehr to have been denominated Kuraish from his undaunted bravery and resolution: he may be considered as the root of the politest and most celebrated tribe of the Arabs. Kozaïy, his descendant in the sixth generation, wrested the guardianship of the Kaʾabah out of the hands of the Benu-Khuzâʾah, and with the custody of that building assumed the title of King. Kozaïy's grandson, Hâshim, raised the glory of his people to the highest pitch, and his memory is held in such veneration by the Muslims, that from him the kindred of the Prophet amongst them are called Hâshimites, and he who presides over Mekkah and el-Medînah, who must always be of the race of Muhammad, has the title of el Imâm el Hâshim, i. e., The prince or chief of the Hâshimites, even to this day. Muhammad was the great-grandson of Hâshim, and when he became famous, the Kuraish, who were at first his most violent opponents, added pride in his renown to their former arrogance of birth and culture. The Arabians were for some centuries under the government of the descendants of Kahtân (the progenitor of the ʾAráb-el-ʾAribah). Yaʾarab (see text), one of his sons, founding the kingdom of el-Yémen, and Jorham, another son (with a descendant of whom Ismael intermarried), founding the kingdom of el-Hijâz.
- ↑ Kurân, Sur. 8, v. 75, alluding to the persecution undergone by the Prophet and his followers in the early days of Muhammadism at the hands of the Kuraish, and his reception by the inhabitants of Yathreb, afterwards called el-Medînah. (See Note *, p. 13.)
- ↑ See Prefatory Note, p. 40.
- ↑ Said to be the same as the Queen of Sheba, of our Scripture. See sequel to this tale.
- ↑ Hamâlat-el-Hátab—Bearer of wood. A surname given by Muhammad to Umm-Jamîl, the sister of Abu-Sufyân, and wife of Abu-Láhab, the Prophet's uncle and bitter enemy. The 111th chapter of the Kurân is as follows:
Intitled Abu-Láhab—Revealed at el-Mekkah.
In the name of the most merciful God.The hands of Abu-Láhab shall perish, and he shall perish. His riches shall not profit him, neither that which he hath gained. He shall go down to be burned into flaming fire: and his wife also, bearing wood,[sub 1] having on her neck a cord of twisted fibres of a palm-tree.
- ↑ For fuel in hell; because she fomented the hatred which her husband bore to Muhammad; or, bearing a bundle of thorns and brambles, because she carried such and strewed them by night in the Prophet's way.—Sale's Kurân.