The robber answered, "Allah hath said, 'Verily we have sent devils against the infidels to torment them with torments.'"
And the cadi said, "Are you not ashamed before me, who am cadi of the Mussulmans?"
The robber answered, "Are not you, rather, ashamed before me, who am a thief of the Mussulmans?"
And the cadi said to him, "Woe to you! have you not heard the saying of the Prophet, 'Shame is a part of faith?'"
The robber replied, "Oh, marvel of marvels! Oh, cadi without knowledge and without learning! Do you not know that 'Shame is a hindrance to gaining a livelihood?' and are not you, a learned man, ashamed in the presence of one as learned as yourself? Truly the Prophet has declared, 'The learned are the heirs of the prophets, and the people of the Koran are the people of God;' and I am of the people of God, for I have read the Koran according to the seven readings and the seven editions."
Tbe cadi said, "Tell me the seven editions."
And the thief replied to him, "I will; but I will by no means forbear to take thy clothes and thy mule. The seven editions are those of Nafa', Ibn Katheer, Abu 'Omr bin el-Ala, Abu 'Amir es-Shafi, Hamzah, and Al-Kasai."[1]
And the cadi was astonished at the robber when he found him to be the most learned of his age. Then the cadi said to him, "Dost thou know all this, and yet knowest not the fear of God? You wish to despoil me of my clothes and my mule unjustly; but God has said, 'The curse of Allah is on the unjust;' do thou take heed to thy soul, lest thou be of the accursed."
The robber answered, "Allah has spoken truth; but tell me which of us is unjust, you or I?"
And the cadi said to him, "Thou art unjust in thy soul;" and he continued, "Fear God, and put away covetousness, for Allah has said, 'Oh, man, reverence thy Lord;' and again, 'Fear Allah, for Allah is with them that fear him.'"
And the thief replied, "Allah hath said truly; but in another verse He saith, 'Say, oh my servants, who have incurred guilt upon your souls, do not despair of the mercy of Allah, for He pardons all sins, because He is merciful and forgiving;' and I will not let thee go till I have taken away thy clothes and thy mule; and after that I will turn to Allah, and He will accept my repentance. Have you not heard the saying, 'It is He who receives the repentance cf his servants, and pardons their crimes?' And again the Prophet hath said, 'He who repents of his misdeeds is as one in whom is no sin;' so strip off your clothes, alight from your mule, and cut short idle words, otherwise I will kill thee, for day draws near."
And the cadi said to him, "Have you not read the saying of the Most High, 'Whosoever shall kill a Mussulman designedly, hell shall be his portion for ever, and the wrath and the curse of Allah shall be upon him, and I will punish him with a mighty punishment?'"
And the robber answered, "The words of Ailah are true; but in another verse He saith, 'He who turns from his injustice and amends,
- ↑ The seventh name is omitted in the Arabic text.
