What 'Isa ibn Hisham Told Us. Muhammad al-Muwaylihi

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      Miṣbāḥ al-sharq 34, December 8, 1898

       3.1

      ʿĪsā ibn Hishām said: I left my companion in prison and went home. I lay awake all night, feeling restless and unable to sleep because I was so worried at the way fate had struck the Pāshā down with such a succession of blows. There he was, utterly baffled and bewildered, unaware that time had passed. He was completely unfamiliar with the present state of affairs, and had no idea that, with the passage of time since his own era and the decline of the dynasty of his time into the folds of decay, things had changed. I had intended to tell him about all this when I first met him by explaining the circumstances involved, but then fate had struck us a blow by landing us in the chain of events which had befallen us. Afterwards, I had thought for a while and decided that the best plan would be to let him remain ignorant about the way things were until his misfortunes were at an end. The fact that he had been unaware that conditions had changed would serve as a pretext in clearing him of the charge against him.

      I decided not to leave his company until I had managed to show him the things he had not seen, tell him about the things he had not heard, and explain those aspects of modern history which he did not know or might find perplexing. In that way, I would discover what his opinion was of the present in comparison with the past, and learn which of the two was of greater worth and brought more benefits, and in what ways one was superior to the other.

      Early the next day I went to the station, taking with me some suitable clothing for my companion to wear when he came out of prison. I found the policeman ready to take the Pāshā to the Register of Convictions in the Government Building. As soon as he spotted me, he started yelling at me:

       3.2

      PĀSHĀ What’s the meaning of all these misfortunes and calamities? I imagined that the sufferings I endured yesterday were the result of His Mighty Excellency’s anger at his obedient servant, that my enemies had managed to devise some kind of plot against me, or else that people who envy me had trumped up some false story. So I endured the things which necessity decreed I had to suffer and submitted myself to these indignities till such time as I would be able to present myself at the doorstep of the palace and appear before the master of all slaves. Then I would dispel all suspicions, banish any doubts, and show him that I was innocent of whatever charges slanderers and calumniators had trumped up against me. I would make clear to him how genuine was my devotion and loyalty to him. As a result he would be doubly pleased with me because of the dignified way in which I had submitted to this humiliation.

      Long was my endurance.

      I imagined I was grasping miseries hotter than coals.²⁶

      Thereafter I would make it my business to inform everyone of the penalty of death and crucifixion that I proposed to wreak on those insolent wretches and ignorant scoundrels in recompense for the way they treated me and ignored my status in society. But I heard in prison—what a dreadful thing to hear!—that dynasties have succeeded one another, conditions have changed, and that you really are living in a different time from the days of old, and in a state of anarchy in which the Donkeyman’s assertion that both he and a Pāshā are of equal standing is true. This is something that:

      Deafens the hearer, blinds the person who sees;

      we ask deliverance from the like of it.²⁷

       3.3

      Oh God, by Your pardon and forgiveness, has the last day come, is this the Day of Gathering? Have classes disappeared and dynasties disintegrated? Is the mighty man on a par with the lowly, the powerful dignitary the equal of the small, the great man the equal of the despised, the servant the equal of the master? Has the Qurayshī no longer any superiority over the Abyssinian,²⁸ and is a Turkish amir not of higher status than a mere Egyptian? This cannot be true! It is quite beyond the powers of comprehension.

      And as for you, my good fellow, I want you to know that, compared with your outrageous conduct, I consider the crime those insolent wretches have committed against me to be nothing more than a grain of mustard seed as compared with a rock, a mere drop in the ocean. You have kept me in the dark and even introduced me to a country where this is the state of affairs. So God protect me from the likes of you and all the devil’s demons.

      ʿĪSĀ «Don’t blame me for my forgetfulness, nor burden me with any difficulty in my affairs.»²⁹ When you emerged from the grave, I was so scared and bewildered that I behaved stupidly. I wasn’t able to tell you about present conditions and the way in which things have changed since your own lifetime. I hardly had an opportunity to tell you about it before the Donkeyman started bothering us, and we were beset by these misfortunes. I’ve done nothing wrong, and you should accept my excuse. Endure whatever you may encounter and put up with the situation in which you find yourself. Accept fate with a good face and don’t grieve over the past in order to atone for your present misdeeds.

      POLICEMAN (to the Pāshā) Come on, we’re going to the Register of Convictions.

      PĀSHĀ The Lord be praised! I do believe my suffering is over and my misfortunes have been driven away. I have regained my former status, and they have brought me my retinue and horse!³⁰