Historical Tales and Anecdotes of the Time of the Early Khalifahs/The Reign of Sulaiman-ibn-'Abd-el-Malik

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THE REIGN OF SULAIMÂN-IBN-ʾABD-EL-
MÁLIK-IBN-MARWÂN.

AMONG his other good deeds, it is related that a man came before him and cried, "O Commander of the Faithful! I adjure thee by Allâh, and the Izhân (notification)!" "As to 'I adjure thee by Allâh!'" said Sulaimân, "verily we understand that, but what dost thou mean by the Izhân (notification)?" The man replied, "These are the words of the Most High: 'The Muazh-zhin (crier) will proclaim amongst them that the curse of God is upon oppressors.'"[1] "What is thy wrong?" asked Sulaimân. The man answered, "Thy vicegerent So-and-so has taken Such-and-such a village away from me by force."

Then Sulaimân descended from his throne, and turned back the carpet, and laying his cheek upon the ground, said, "By Allâh! I will not lift up my cheek from the earth until he has been written to and ordered to restore the village." So the scribes wrote, and he remained with his cheek laid upon the ground that he might hear the words of the Lord who created him and surrounded him with good things, fearing the curse of God, and banishment from His presence.

It is said that he released from the prison of el-Hajjâj three hundred thousand souls, between men and women.[2] But he honoured the family of el-Hajjâj. And he chose for his wazîr and councillor ʾOmar, the son of his uncle ʾAbd-el-Azîz.

Ibn-Khalikân in his biography states that Sulaimân's appetite was enormous: he ate about a hundred Syrian ratls every day.[3]

Muhammad-ibn-Sirîn[4] says that Sulaimân opened his reign with well-doing, and sealed it with well-doing. He opened it well by establishing the earliest hour for prayer, and he sealed it well by appointing ʾOmar-ibn-ʾAbd-el-Azîz as his successor.

NOTE TO ABOVE.

Sulaimân-ibn-ʾAbd-el-Málik-ibn-Marwân succeeded his brother el-Walîd A.H. 96. He died at Marj-Dabek, in the district of Kinnafrîn, A.H. 99 (A.D. 718). He possessed quick parts and surprising eloquence, and endeared himself to his subjects by his mild and merciful disposition. They surnamed him Miftâh-el-Khair, The Key of Goodness, on account of his clemency and the multitude of prisoners whom he released.

  1. El-Kurân, Sûr. vii., V. 42. The Muazh-zhin, or "crier," is supposed by some to allude to the angel Isrâfil.
  2. The figures here given seem truly incredible. But it is also computed by Arabian historians, that el-Hajjâj killed a hundred and twenty thousand men, besides those who fell in war; and suffered fifty thousand men and thirty thousand women to perish in prison.
  3. I believe the Syrian ratl here mentioned was the same as the present Egyptian ratl. The latter weighs from 1 lb. 2 oz. 5¾ dwt. to about 1 lb. 2 oz. 8 dwt. Troy.
  4. Abu-Bekr-Muhammad-ibn-Sirîn was a native of el-Básrah. His father was an enfranchised slave, and he himself was one of the jurisconsults by whose opinion the people of el-Básrah were guided. He was famed for his piety, and his knowledge of the Traditions. He was born A.H. 33, and died A.H. 110 (A.D. 729).