It was nighttime or close to it when ‘Abd al-Rahman woke up from this daydream. He lit a candle and continued reading the Path to Eloquence:
From Nawf ibn al-Bakali: One night I saw the Commander of the Faithful — peace be upon him. He had left his bed and was observing the stars. “Nawf,” he said, “are you still asleep or are you watching the stars?” “I’m awake, Commander of the Faithful,” I replied, “and watching the stars.” “Nawf,” the Commander of the Faithful continued, “blessings on those ascetic folk who deny this lower world and desire the world to come! For such people the earth is a carpet, its soil is a bed, and its water is sweet perfume; for them the Qur’an is a beacon and prayer a coverlet. Just like the Messiah they cut themselves off from the world.”
‘Abd al-Rahman’s reading was interrupted by a knock on the door, followed by the sound of his servant Sha‘ban’s voice. Thinking the worst, he assumed that the sultan’s aides had come to ask him about something. He sprang up and rushed to the door, only to find a man and woman requesting to speak to him, while his servant was trying as best he could to stop them. ‘Abd al-Rahman welcomed the two visitors and invited them to take a cup of tisane with him. They both gratefully accepted, albeit with a show of reluctance. As they came in, he could not avoid noticing how tall the woman was and by comparison how short her companion.
“My apologies,” he said, “Sha‘ban was rude to you. He tries to keep some people away so as not to disturb my peace and quiet or else because he is worried that a high-ranking official might have his eye on this house. You two are obviously either married or relatives. So is there something I can do for you or some advice I can offer?”
The man was utterly astonished at ‘Abd al-Rahman’s modesty, but after a moment’s pause he plucked up the courage to speak.
“Great scholar and upright judge, I came to visit you more than two years ago to offer my condolences on the death of your family — may God keep watch over them and bring them into His paradise. Today I return to introduce myself to you and to acquaint you with my problem with this woman who, as the document will testify, is my wife. My name is Hammu al-Hihi. I am forty years old and emigrated to this country two years ago along with this wife of mine. I had married her less than a year earlier in the city of Fez, the place where she was born and raised. We have spent the intervening years in reasonably good circumstances, although we have not been earning much nor have we been blessed with children. My wife stays at home and cooks, and I never object to anything she does in the house. I try to earn a living in honest professions, of which the most significant is writing and copying. In recent months, my wife and I have started to squabble about something where only the opinion of a judicial expert such as yourself will be of any help. I would like to ask you to listen to the issue from my wife’s perspective so that you can solve the problem in accordance with the doctrine of Anas ibn Malik.”
The woman now lowered her veil as far as her mouth. ‘Abd al-Rahman stole a glance at her face and noticed what beautiful eyes and features she had.
“No,” she said in a voice that managed to blend bashfulness with a certain coquetry, “you talk first. Our Master the judge can then decide.”
“So here’s the argument we are having,” the husband went on. “My wife wants me to take her out for walks along the banks of the Nile. She would like us to walk side by side. But, my lord, I find it impossible to agree with her request. My short stature means that the whole idea is out of the question. Quite apart from the fact that religion forbids it, I can’t imagine that any faith would choose to threaten a man who refuses to walk alongside a wife who is much taller than he is. Now it’s your turn to speak.”
“My lord judge,” said the wife, “I’m getting depressed spending all my time inside the house. Going out would give me some fresh air. But, if I go out on my own, young and even middle-aged men stalk me and made lewd comments. I have to return home in order to keep my honor intact and avoid having people make insinuating remarks about the Maghribi woman who is Salih al-Tazi’s daughter. My husband and I have been living happily together, and I very much want to go on living as we have been, but on condition that he take me for walks beside the Nile.”
“I won’t go outside the house with you or accompany you on walks. If the house gets too much for you, then go up to the roof and walk around up there. A curse on these Egyptian women who flaunt themselves and take strolls along the river!”
“Every woman is accompanied by her husband, Hammu. There’s nothing wrong with that. Ask the judge. He’ll tell you that when it comes to judging men, it’s the sense of manhood that counts, not how tall they are.”
“On two occasions now, Umm al-Banin, I’ve accepted your ideas on that. I’ve accompanied you across streets and along river-banks. It’s been sheer torture, with women giggling and men giving me derisive looks. So, by the glorious career of Mawlay Idris, spare me such indignities! Why can’t you be the way you were in Fez, a gentle, compliant wife?”
“In Fez, Hammu, I had my own family and loved ones. I could ask any of my brothers to take me out for a walk in your place. But in Cairo you’re all the family I have. There’s no one else to care for me.”
She began to cry, and tears mixed with kohl fell from her eyes. Hammu hugged her bashfully and promised he would hire a servant girl to accompany and watch over her. ‘Abd al-Rahman looked at the married couple, but said nothing. He had no idea what to say, nor could he come up with an opinion based on the Maliki school’s interpretation of the problem. He did manage to recall a legal opinion that had been pronounced in Kufa during a similarly knotty issue. In that particular case, a man had told his wife that if she wore such and such a dress, he would divorce her; he went on to say that if he didn’t have sex with her in that very dress, she was divorced as well. The jurist’s solution to the problem was to say that he should put the dress on and have sex with her in it. He would not be breaking his oath, nor would she be placed in an insoluble position. An appropriate solution to the current problem, ‘Abd al-Rahman thought to himself, might well involve making an analogy with the current dilemma. Should he give an opinion suggesting that the couple go out for a walk disguised in each other’s clothing? He immediately abandoned any such idea because it seemed utterly frivolous. Just then, he heard the wife, who had by now wiped her tears away, take up the topic again.
“Tell the judge,” she said, barely suppressing a giggle, “what that other judge had to say — may his guts rot in hell! He suggested that, every time we go out together, we should swap clothes. He quoted us a verse from the Qur’an, but you said that everything he said about it was a falsehood. Recite the verse for us, Hammu — may God himself remind you of our creed.”