‘“There are any number of claims,’ the first man interrupted, ‘and all sorts of false stories extolling Malik. The truth of the matter is, however, that the prevalence of the Maliki rite in the Maghrib is entirely and exclusively due to the sultan’s authority, something that has been pointed out by the great master of that region, someone who knows the region well, namely Ibn Hazm of Cordoba — may God give us all the benefit of his learning!’
“‘What Ibn Hazm has to say is far more complicated than what you’ve just pointed out. But if it’s the truth of the matter you’re after and you already know it, then why ask?’
‘“We can indeed see that truth,’ the second interrupted, ‘and we can also see another one yet more lofty and all-encompassing. Muhammad, the Lord of Mankind, was the seal of the prophets and transcriber of faiths. Ahmad ibn Hanbal — God be pleased with him — is the one who has put all other preachers and claimants out of business. He is the seal of the schools of orthodoxy, the one who has incorporated their tenets in whole and in detail. Such is the import of the teachings of the revered and pious scholar of the faith, Imam Taqi al-Din ibn Taymiya — may God bless his spirit!’
“At this point he took a piece of paper out of his sleeve and started reading from it in a sarcastic tone. It was an extract from my Introduction to History:
The judge, Abu al-Faraj al-Isfahani, composed his Book of Songs as a collection of historical accounts of the Arabs, their poetry, the genealogies, their great battles, and their dynasties. The system of organization was based on one hundred tunes that singers had selected for Harun al-Rashid. In my view, he was completely successful in his project. By my life, it can serve as a record of the Arabs, an anthology of the very best passages culled from their poetry, history, singing, and other crafts. I know of no other work to rival it, since it represents the very acme to which the littérateur may hope to aspire.
‘“That concludes what you have to say, Professor,’ the reader continued. ‘You’re extolling to the heavens a text which is full of debauchery and fornication. Such opinions render you unworthy of the trappings of scholarship; indeed of judicial office, too. God preserve us from evil words that should be suppressed rather than recited out loud and acted on.’
“With that the two men stood up suddenly. One of them threw a piece of paper at me, but, when my students started threatening them, they rushed out. I sent the students on their way, advising them to show all necessary restraint, but not before I had promised to give them a class on The Book of Songs so that they could see for themselves what I was writing about. Then I took a look at the piece of paper. Never before in my entire life have I read the kind of abusive language that it contained; you can gauge the level of slander and sheer stupidity from the following short extract: ‘Stripped naked of all legal competence, that’s you. You lounge there in your house down by the river and spend too much time listening to songstresses and entertaining young people.”‘
That made al-Hihi cringe. He prayed earnestly to God to offer His protection against the calumnies of the rabble.
“Time has become so corrupt,” he said, “that professional character assassins and purveyors of errant falsehoods have taken control. But my master, a scholar who stands far above such mundane matters, is not someone to be bothered by the wagging of evil, contentious tongues.”
“Those tongues have managed to get me dismissed from my post as judge. Even as we speak, they’re trying to get me fired from my teaching position as well. Even so, God be praised in the face of every conceivable misfortune. The good news is that before too long I will be united with the Lord of the Universe.”
‘Abd al-Rahman took a deep breath and remained silent for a moment while he once again adopted his normal smiling visage.
“The incident I recounted to you a moment ago had the same impact on me as another incident that happened a while back with some students in Fez. Rather than write anything down, I would ask you simply to listen to the story of what happened.
“No doubt you recall, Hammu, what I wrote in the Introduction to History about people selling fancies and charms, and traders in all kinds of magic and mumbo-jumbo. I’ve always given two classes on the subject. The first has been on alchemy, where I’ve shown that it consists of a series of procedures and routines which, its practitioners claim, can turn material extracted from base metals into gold and silver. To do so, they make use of animal remains and bits of egg, blood, and hair, all in order to manufacture the necessary mixture that, when converted into a potion (at least according to their bogus claims), can turn heated silver into gold and heated brass into silver. The second class has always been devoted to treasure seekers, those stupid idiots among whom we find lots of Berber students in the Maghrib who are incapable of making a normal living.
“What happened was that these two classes provoked a strong reaction from three students, one that hit me just like an obscure syllogism or analogy that left me completely baffled. Here’s what they had to say: ‘Great Master, all matter, including precious metals, can never actually disappear, but rather, remains behind even after its owners have died. Among the Copts it is the custom to bury the dead in all their finery. Other peoples — Greeks, Persians, Byzantines, for example — have their own rituals when it comes to preserving their heritage and valuables. As a consequence, the treasures of this world still exist, but they are buried underground.’
‘“Noble teacher,’ the second of them went on, ‘since excavations conducted blind get us nowhere, we inevitably come to the conclusion that treasures have their own guardian spirits to keep watch over their secrets and the seals that keep them protected. We have to know how to communicate with such spirits through the language of magic charms — incense, drugs, incantations, and mediums — so that they will hand over the keys to those treasures or else show us how to get to the places where the riches are buried that will provide us with a life of luxury.’
‘“Authoritative teacher,’ said the third of them ‘whenever we fail to find the treasure, it does not imply that the act of searching is wrong but merely that either the charms have been wrongly read or else the guardian spirits are being recalcitrant.’
“I can clearly recall what these three students had to say (I heard later on that they were treasure seekers), but I can’t remember what I said by way of reply at the time. The next week however I received a letter, the main part of which read as follows:
From the students who are treasure seekers to the illustrious Master: You have made use of the vilest of terms to describe us — may God forgive you — not the nastiest of which is that we cannot earn a normal living. But you’re the one who has provided us with the means to deal with that very weakness, when you say: “Happiness and profit will normally come only to those who behave humbly and are prepared to flatter. “—”People involved in matters of religion — judging, giving legal opinions, teaching, leading prayers, giving sermons, announcing the call to prayer, and other functions, do not as a rule make a lot of money.”—“It is peasants who lead a humble life; it is among the Bedouin that genuine well-being is to be found. “These are just a few quotes from your writings on this topic. With them in mind, revered teacher, it is the very fact that we are unable to earn a living by normal means that forces us to concoct fantasies of wealth and chase after impossibilities, even though such activities may cause us all manner of difficulties and dire consequences.