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"'den and unlawful, after he had authorised them.'-Al-Mâmûn then turned towards "us and said: Is it well ascertained that this tradition came from az-Zuhri?'— "We replied: 'It is, Commander of the faithful! a number of Traditionists have "related it, such as Mâlik (vol. II. p. 545), to whom God be gracious!'—On hearing this, he exclaimed: God forgive me! proclaim that metâ marriages are for"bidden!' and a proclamation to that effect was immediately made."-The kâdi Abû Ishâk Ismail Ibn Ishâk Ibn Ismail Ibn Hammâd Ibn Zaid Ibn Dirhim al-Azdi (18), who was a doctor of Malikite jurisprudence and an inhabitant of Basra, said, in speaking of Yahya Ibn Aktham and extolling his merit: "He one day did to Isla“mism a service the like of which no man ever rendered to it before."-Yahya's works on jurisprudence are excellent, but so voluminous that they are neglected by readers. He composed some treatises on the fondamentals of jurisprudence and published a work against the people of Irak (the Hanefites), to which he gave the title of at-Tanbih (the warning). He had frequent discussions with Dâwûd Ibn Ali (vol. I. p. 501). When he was a kâdi, a man went up to him and the following dialogue ensued: May God preserve you! how much should I eat?"-Yahya replied: " Enough to get over hunger and not enough to attain satiety."—" How long may I laugh?" -"Till your face brightens, but without raising your voice."-" How long should "I weep?” — Weeping should never fatigue you, if it be through fear of God." What actions of mine should I conceal?"-"As many as you can."—" What "are the actions which I should do openly?". "Those which may serve as examples to good and virtuous men whilst they secure you from public reprobation." - On this, the man exclaimed: " May God preserve us from words which abide "when deeds have passed away! (19)."-Yahya was the most acute of men and the most skilful in the management of affairs. I read in a miscellany that Ahmad Ibn Abi Khâlid al-Ahwal (vol. I. p. 20), al-Mâmûn's vizir, was standing, one day, in the presence of his sovereign when Yahya came forth from a closet to which he had retired and stood (also in the khalif's presence). "Come up," said al-Mâmûn. He went up and sat with him on the sofa, but at the farthest end of it.

Ahmad then said: "Commander of the faithful! the kâdi Yahya is for me a friend to whom I confide all that concerns me, but he is changed from what "he used to be for me." On this, al-Mâmûn said: "O Yahya! the ruin "of a sovereign's prosperity is caused by the misintelligence which arises be"tween his ministers. No one can equal you or Ahmad in my esteem; what

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"then is the motive of this mutual distrust?" Yahya replied: "Commander "of the faithful! I declare, by Allah! that my feelings towards Ahmad are even more friendly than what he said; but he, seeing the rank which I hold in your favour, "fears that, one day or other, I may turn against him and disserve him in your mind. I prefer telling this to you openly, so that he may be relieved from his apprehensions, and I declare that, even if he injured me to the very utmost, "I should never speak ill of him in your presence."-"Is that the fact?" said the khalif to Ahmad. He replied: "It is so." Al-Mâmûn then exclaimed: "God protect me from you both! I never met with men more shrewd and more in

telligent than you.'-No vice could be reproached to Yahya except a certain inclination which was attributed to him and of which he had the reputation (20); but God best knows how he may have been in that respect. The Khatib (vol. I. p. 75) states, in his History of Baghdad, that Ahmad Ibn Hanbal (vol. I. p. 44), being informed of the imputations cast on Yahya Ibn Aktham's character, exclaimed: Good God! "who can say such a thing?" and denied the fact in the most positive manner. It is related, moreover, that the jealousy borne to Ahmad was excessive.-He was acquainted with a great number of sciences and, when he had a conversation with any one and found him skilled in jurisprudence, he questioned him on points relative to the Traditions and, if he discovered that he knew traditions by heart, he would propose to him some grammatical difficulty; then, if he found that he was acquainted with grammar, he would question him on scholastic theology; and all that for the purpose of confounding the man and bringing him to a stand. A very intelligent native of Khorâsân, who knew by heart many Traditions, went to see him one day and was drawn by him into a discussion. When Yahya discovered that he was versed in a variety of sciences, he asked him if he knew any Tradition which had served as a fundamental principle of jurisprudence. The other replied: "I learned from Sha“rîk (vol. I. p. 622) that Abû Ishâk (vol. II. p. 392) told him that al-Hârith (21) related to him that Ali caused a pederast to be lapidated." Yahya, on hearing this, stopped short and addressed not another word to the man. The Khatib then relates that Yahya received a visit from the two sons of Masada (22), who were extremely handsome. Whe he saw them walking across the court of his house, he recited extempore these lines :

O you who have left your tents to visit me! may God grant you both long life with his

blessing! Why have you come to me when I am unable to do either the lawful deed or the deed forbidden. It saddens me to see you stand before me and to have nothing to offer you except fair words.

He then made them sit down before him and kept them in amusing chat till they went away. It is said that he was dismissed from the kâdiship on account of these verses (23). I read in a miscellany that Yahya Ibn Aktham was jesting, one day, with al-Hasan Ibn Wahb, the same person of whom we have spoken in the life of his brother Sulaimân (vol. I. p. 596), and who was then a boy. In playing with him, he tapped him on the cheek and, perceiving that he was displeased, he recited these lines:

O full moon, whose cheek I tapped and who, highly offended, turned away from me in anger! If a scratch displease you or a bite, wear always, my master! a veil (to conceal your face). Let not those locks appear as a temptation, nor let their ringlets cover your cheeks, lest you slay the wretched, or tempt the anchorites, or leave the kâdi of the Moslims in torment,

Ahmad Ibn Yunus ad-Dabbi related as follows: "The katib Ibn Zaidûn, who was an extremely handsome youth, was writing under the dictation of the kâdi Yahya Ibn "Aktham, when the latter pinched his cheek. He felt much confused, blushed and "threw the away " pen. Take up your pen,' said Yahya, 'and write down what I am going to say to you.' He then dictated to him -the above mentioned verses. The following anecdote was related by Ismail Ibn Muhammad Ibn Ismaîl as-Saffar (24): "I heard Abû 'l-Ainâ say, at one of Abû 'l-Abbâs al-Mubarrad's (vol. III. page 31) sittings (or conferences) I was at one of Abû Aâsim an"Nabîl's (25) sittings, and Abû Bakr, the son of Yahya Ibn Aktham, began to pull "about a young slave who was there. The boy cried out; Abû Aâsim asked who " was that man? and, being informed that it was Abû Bakr, the son of Yahya Ibn *** Aktham, he said: If he be guilty of theft, his father hath been also guilty of theft heretofore (26)." This anecdote is given by the Khatîb, in his History of Baghdad. The same author relates, in that work, that al-Mâmûn asked Yahya "who was the author of this verse:

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:

A kâdi who considers fornication as meriting corporal chastisement, and thinks a worse crime no harm.

Yahya replied: "Does the Commander of the faithful not know whom it is?"

"I think that tyranny will never cease as long as the nation is governed by an Abbaside.

The narrator says that al-Mâmûn was confounded, and that, after a moment's silence, he gave orders to have Ahmad Ibn Abi Noaim banished to Sind. These two verses belong to a piece which I shall give here:

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Fortune, which reduced me to silence, now permits me to speak of the afflictions which have kept me so long astounded. Cursed be Fortune for exalting some men and depressing others! May that nation never prosper, -that nation which deserves to suffer lengthened adversity and lasting perdition!-if it consent to undergo the administration of Yahya, of a man who is incapable of ruling it; a kâdi who considers fornication as meriting corporal chastiment and thinks a worse crime no harm. He would judge in favour of his smooth-faced fondling and give sentence against Jarîr and Abbâs (27). God protect us! justice hath disappeared and little honesty is to be found with mankind. Our emir takes bribes; our judge acts like the people

of Lot, and our head (the khalif) is the worst of rulers. Did religion prosper and flourish, every just measure would be taken for (the welfare of) the people; but I am sure that tyranny will never cease, as long as the nation is governed by an Abbaside.

I am inclined to think that this piece contained more verses than what are inserted here, but these are all which the Khatîb gives.-The Amâli (or dictations) drawn up by Abu Bakr Muhammad Ibn al-Kâsim al-Anbâri (vol. III. page 53) contains an anecdote which I shall now insert: "The kâdi Yahya Ibn Aktham said to a person "whom he admitted into his familiarity and with whom he was accustomed to jest: "Tell me what you heard the people say of me.'-The other replied: They say nothing of you but what is good.'-Nay', said the kâdi, 'I do not make you this question for the purpose of obtaining from you a certificate of morality.' The "man then answered: I never heard them accuse the kâdi of any thing except. "an irregular inclination.' Yahya laughed and said: I ask God's pardon for all the sins of which I am accused except that which you have mentioned (28), (for I never committed it).'"— Abû 'l-Faraj al-Ispahâni (vol. II. page 249) relates, in his Kitâb al-Aghâni, a number of similar anecdotes concerning Yahya. He says also: Al-Mâmûn, having frequently heard imputations of this "nature cast upon Yahya, resolved on putting him to the test and invited. "him to a private interview. He then said to a young mamlûk (white slave) who a Khazarian by nation and remarkably handsome: You alone shall

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was

"attend us, and, when I go out, do not leave the room.' When they met in "the sitting-room and had conversed together for some time, al-Mâmûn retired as "if on some necessary occasion and, having left the slave with Yahya, he concealed "himself in a place whence he could see what would happen. The slave, whom "he had told to jest and make sport with Yahya, did what he was ordered, and the "khalif well knew that Yahya would not dare to take liberties with the boy. Having then heard Yahya say: Were it not for you (who seduced us), we should have been true believers!' (Korân, sur. 34, verse 30), he came into the

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66 room and recited these verses :

"We hoped to see justice made manifest, but that hope was followed by disappointment. "How can the world and its inhabitants prosper, if the chief kâdi of the Moslims acts like the "' people of Lot?'

The katib Abû Hakîma Râshid Ibn Ishâk Ibn Râshid, who was the author of these verses, composed a great number of pieces on Yahya.-In the article on al-Mâmûn which al-Masûdi has given in his Muraj ad-Dahab, will be found some anecdotes concerning Yahya; we abstain from inserting them here because they are of the same kind as those just mentioned.-A story is told of Moawîa Ibn Abi Sofyân which greatly resembles the one we have just related of al-Mâmûn's asking who was the author of a certain verse and of Yahya's replying by another verse taken from the same poem. When Moawîa Ibn Abi Sofyân the Omaiyide was laid up with the malady of which he died, he suffered so greatly that his life was dispaired of, and one of Ali Ibn Abi Tâlib's sons, whose name I do not recollect, went to make him a visit. Moawîa rallied all his strength and sat up in his bed, in order to receive him and not give him the gratification of seeing how ill he was. Being too weak to hold himself up, he at length leaned back upon a pile of cushions and recited this verse:

I rally all my strength, so that those who are ready to rejoice at my sufferings may see that I am a man whom misfortune cannot overcome.

The son of Ali immediately rose from his seat and went out, reciting this line:

The

When death grasps you in its clutches, you will find all your amulets of no avail.

persons present admired greatly this repartee. The verses here mentioned

VOL. IV.

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