Hassan al-Ziyadi?' 'I am he,' answered I; and they rejoined, 'Obey the summons of the Commander of the Faithful.' Then they carried me before Al-Maamun, who said to me, 'Who art thou?' Quoth I, 'An associate of the Kazi Abu Yúsuf and a doctor of the law and traditions.' Asked the Caliph, 'By what surname art thou known?'[1] and I answered, 'Abu Hassan al-Ziyadi;' whereupon quoth he, 'Expound to me thy case.' So I recounted to him my case and he wept sore and said to me, 'Out on thee! The Apostle of Allah (whom Allah bless and assain!) would not let me sleep this night, because of thee; for in early darkness[2] he appeared to me and said, 'Succour Abu Hassan al-Ziyadi.' Whereupon I awoke and, knowing thee not, went to sleep again; but he came to me a second time and said to me, 'Woe to thee! Succour Abu Hassan al-Ziyadi.' I awoke a second time, but knowing thee not I went to sleep again; and he came to me a third time and still I knew thee not and went to sleep again. Then he came to me once more and said, 'Out on thee! Succour Abu Hassan al-Ziyadi!' After that I dared not sleep any more, but watched the rest of the night and aroused my people and sent them on all sides in quest of thee.' Then he gave me one myriad of dirhams, saying, 'This is for the Khorasani,' and other ten thousand, saying, 'Spend freely of this and amend thy case therewith, and set thine affairs in order.' Moreover, he presented me with thirty thousand dirhams, saying, 'Furnish thyself with this, and when the Procession-day[3] is being kept, come thou to me, that I may invest thee with some office.' So I went forth from him with the money and returned home, where I prayed the dawn-prayer; and behold, presently came the Khorasani, so I carried him into the house and brought out to him one myriad of dirhams, saying, 'Here is thy money.' Quoth he, 'It is not my very money; how cometh this?' So I told him the whole story, and he wept and said, 'By Allah, haddest thou told me the fact at
- ↑ Arab. " Kinyah" vulg. "Kunyat" = patronymic or matronymic; a name beginning with "Abu" (father) or with "Umm" (mother). There are so few proper names in Al-Islam that such surnames, which, as will be seen, are of infinite variety, become necessary to distinguish individuals. Of these sobriquets I shall give specimens further on.
- ↑ "Whoso seeth me in his sleep, seeth me truly; for Satan cannot assume my semblance," said (or is said to have said) Mohammed. Hence the vision is true although it comes in early night and not before dawn. See Lane M. E., chaps. ix.
- ↑ Arab. "Al-Maukab ;" the day when the pilgrims march out of the city; it is a holiday for all, high and low.
