of conversation was the Barmecides, the munificence ascribed to them, the gifts and gratuities which they bestowed; those present dilated on this theme. Rising up in the middle of the assembly I said: Vizier, (13) I have composed a judgment on this subject, which I have versified as a couplet. No-one can refute that judgment, and I have versified it to facilitate its being remembered and circulated. Would the Vizier permit me to recite it? He told me to do so, adding that I had uttered many a wise word. I repeated the lines :

I regard 'Ubaidallah as freer-handed and more munificent than Fadl son of Yahya son of Khalid.

(Another time he recited this line in the following form: I regard 'Ubaidallah as more lordly and munificent than Fadl, Yahya or his grandfather;

They were munificent when fortune favoured; he when fortune was unfavourable.)

I was present in the saloon of Hasan b. 'Ali b. Zaid the Astrologer, retainer of Abu Nafi', when he was Mu'izz al-daulah's governor of Ahwaz with some of its dependencies and had the rank of one of his viziers. He had been formerly in the service of my father after quitting that of Qāsim b. Dinār, governor of Ahwaz. He served as steward in his house and on his estate, and as his deputy at the stamping office in the Mint of Suq al-Ahwaz. Presently my father got him into the service of Abu 'Abdallah Baridi, in which he rose till presently he attained the rank which I have mentioned. When I went to see him-he was at that time at the height of his glory, while I was a young lad he showed me special favour. He used to like being eulogized to his face; people therefore were loud in his praises and recounted his repairing of the religious foundations and watering places, his bringing water into the end of the Masruqan, and his just distribution of the Alms Fund. I joined in. He said to me: My lad, when the grandees of this empire relate this sort of thing about me, they

declare that the Astrologer does all this for show. I assure you that I do it for God's glory only; but if it be for show, it is still a good thing, and why should not they be similarly hypocritical? (14) Only natures have become mean, even in envy. In old times those who envied a man's wealth were anxious to make money in order to be like him; if they envied his learning, they studied in order to be his rivals; if they envied his munificence, they became lavish till it was said that they were more generous than he. (He proceeded with this enumeration.) In these days of weaklings and poor souls who have not the power to render themselves like the objects of their envy in the matter which excites it, they turn to depreciating the excellent; if he be rich, they try to impoverish him; if he be learned, they charge him with errors; if he be munificent, they assert that his liberality is business, and they prove him to be a miser. If he be a benefactor, they dub him hypocrite.

1

The following was told me by the qadi Abu'l-Hasan Mohammed b. 'Abd al-Wahid Hashimi : Hamid b. 'Abbas was, he said, of all those whom I have seen the broadest-minded, most magnificent, most munificent, most lavish and most conscientious in the matter of his liberality. Every day he would have a number of tables laid in his residence, and no-one, grandee, plebeian or attendant, down to people's slaves might leave his palace at a meal-time without eating. As many as forty tables would be laid in his palace at one time, and every one who was supplied with bread was also supplied with meat; while the rations of the former were all white bread. One day coming into his vestibule he noticed the husk of a bean. Summoning his steward he asked whether beans were eaten in his palace. The steward said that it was the doing of the porters. Have they then, he asked, no rations of meat? The steward

1 The text has "poor,"

said they had. He told the steward to ask them the reason for the presence of beans, and when he did so, their reply was: We do not enjoy eating the meat without our families, so we send it home, to eat it with them at night; at lunch time we fast and eat beans. Hamid ordered a special ration to be supplied them to be sent to their families at home, and that they should eat (15) their own ration in the vestibule. This was done; after some days however he again saw bean-husks in his vestibule, and was incensed. Being irritable and foul-mouthed he abused his steward: Did I not, he asked, double the rations, so how come these bean-husks to be about the vestibule ?-He replied: When the rations were doubled, they assigned the first each day to their families, but let the second accumulate with the butcher, so that when they were off duty and could repose in their homes in the daytime, they could take the lot from the butcher and make a feast.-He said: Let the rations be maintained as they are, and each morning before our own tables are laid let one be taken for these people at which they may have their meal. If after this I find any bean-husks in my vestibule, I shall have you and all of them scourged.-This was done, at considerable additional expense.

1

I was told by the qadi Abu'l-Hasan 'Abdallah b. Ahmad b. Harith b. 'Abbās Jauhari of Baghdad and Abu'l-Hasan Ibn Ma'mun Hāshimi, that at the time of the catastrophe which resulted in Hamid's being put to death there were found in the well of a privy belonging to him 400,000 dinars in gold, which he revealed when severely pressed. I was told by some-one else that Hamid had arranged a chamber as a privy, and ordered his steward to purchase dinars and bring them to him. Each time he got a purse he would put it under his garments and rise up ostensibly to go to the latrine. Proceeding

1 See i, 94.

to this chamber he would drop the purse into the well, but would not carry out his ostensible purpose, though letting his bedmaker suppose that he had. When he left, he would lock the room up and let no-one else enter it, as is the custom with the privies of the great which they reserve for their exclusive use. When he wished to enter it, it would be opened for him by the slave who attended to his ablutions, and who also was unacquainted with the secret. When the amount was completed, he would say that this privy was cramped and disagreeable, and had better be closed up and another substituted for it. The well would then be filled in and the supposed privy put out of use (16), while the coins remained stored in the place unknown to any one but himself. When When money was urgently demanded of him he revealed them, and when unearthed they were found to be intact. Their existence was only known through his confession.

I was informed by Abu'l-Husain Ibn 'Abbas that he had heard from a number of trustworthy clerks that they had calculated the amount to which the fine of ABU 'ABDALLAH IBN AL-JASSAS came in the days of Muqtadir, and it reached the figure of 6,000,000 dinars exclusive of his palace which was seized and of the real estate which was left him.

I heard the Emir ABU MOHAMMED JA'FAR B. WARQA B. MOHAMMED B. WARQA SHAIBANI in the year 3491 telling the following story. I passed, he said, by Ibn al-Jassas some days after he had been released and allowed after paying his fine to return to his house2; he was my friend and allied to me by marriage. I noticed him at a window of his palace on the Tigris, at a hot time of a very hot day. He was barefoot and dazed, running

1 Last heard of in 334, ii. 92. (349) began March 3, 960.

2 For his arrest see i. 35. According to the Faraj ba'd al-shiddah i. 113, he was released by the Queen-mother's intercession. The same lady allowed him to have a number of bales of coarse linen returned to him, not knowing that he had hidden therein 100,000 dinars.

from one end of the balcony to the other. I directed my barge thither, and mounted to him without asking permission. When he saw me he blushed, and ran into a saloon. I said to him: My good friend, what is the matter with you?-He proceeded to call for a basin of water, washed his face and feet, and fell down for a space like one in a fit. Then he said: Have I not a right to be distraught when I have lost so much and so much has been taken from me (enumerating vast sums which he had been compelled to surrender)? When can I hope to replace them? Why should I not be distraught with regret for them?-I said: My friend, the destination of wealth is incalculable, whereas you should know that the soul, the mind, and the body cannot be replaced; so long as these last remain safe, you still have the chief thing. Such distress as yours is only for one who fears poverty and having to solicit (17) people, or having to dispense with his customary food, drink and clothing, etc., or else a loss of dignity. Be patient then while I show you that there is no wearer of a tailasan 1 in Baghdad to-day who is wealthier than you in spite of your losses. He told me to proceed. I said: Is not this house still yours which belonged to you before your fine, and have you not reason to be proud of the furniture and fittings which it contains, even though they may not be so superb as before?--He assented-And you still possess land in Karkh to the value of 50,000 dinars? -I do. And the Houris' Palace, worth 10,000 dinars ?— Yes. And land at the Taq Gate worth 30,000 dinars ?— Yes. And your Garden called so-and-so, and your estate called so-and-so, worth so much ?—Yes.-And property in Basrah worth 100,000 dinars ?—Yes.-I proceeded to enumerate his properties and estates till I had reached the figure of 900,000 dinars. And now, I said, tell me the truth about the value of the jewels, utensils, furniture,

'This phrase seems to stand here for a distinguished but non-official personage.