Continental Monthly - Volume 1 - Issue 3 by Various
page 90 of 313 (28%)
page 90 of 313 (28%)
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trowel. He who was with me took hold of it, saying, "By the head of the
prince of believers, Ali, shake thyself!" Therewith he shook the handle, and the minaret trembled. In turn, I placed my hand upon it, and I said to the man, "And _I_ say, by the head of Abou Bekr, successor to the Ambassador of God, shake thyself!" Therewith I shook the handle, and the minaret trembled as before. The people were very much astonished.' The amanuensis, Ibn Djozay, here interpolates the following remark: 'I have seen, in a town in the valley of Almansura, in Spain,--which may God defend!--a tower which shakes without the name of a caliph, or anybody else, being mentioned.' At the city of Idhedj, in Irak, then the capital of one of the many Mongol sultans who at that time reigned in southern Persia, Ibn Batuta gives another proof of his boldness. Calling upon the Sultan Afrasiab, who was notorious for his drunken and dissolute habits, the traveler found him seated upon a divan, with two covered vases--one of gold and one of silver--before him. A green carpet was brought and placed near him, upon which the traveler was invited to take his seat, after which the sultan asked him many questions concerning his travels. 'It seemed to me, however,' says Ibn Batuta, 'that he was quite intoxicated, for I had been previously apprized of his habit of giving himself up to drink. Finally, he said to me in Arabic, which he spoke with elegance. "Speak!" I said to him, "If thou wouldst listen to me, I would say to thee--Thou art one of the children of Sultan Ahmed, celebrated for his piety and devotion; there is no cause of reproach to thee, in thy manner of life, except _that_!" and I pointed with my finger to the two vases. These words covered him with shame, and he was silent. I wished to withdraw, but he ordered me to keep my seat, and said, "It is a mark of the Divine mercy to meet with such as thou!" Afterwards, seeing that he swayed from side to side, and desired to sleep, I left him. I had placed my sandals |
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