dismounted, I would go to Ibn al-Qāsim, question him on what was in the books, and read to him until it was almost time to set off again. Ibn Wahb and Ashhab then said to me, “If only you would ask your companion to break his fast with us.”

So I spoke to him, but he replied, “That would weigh heavily upon me.”

I said, “Then how are the people to recognize the regard you have for me?”

He answered, “If you are resolved upon it, I will do so.”

I went back and informed the two of them. When the time for the taʿrīs (early night halt) arrived, he came with me. I found Ashhab had already spread out his leather mats and set before us an impressive array of dishes, while Ibn Wahb had prepared something more modest. When ʿAbd al-Raḥmān arrived, he greeted them, sat down, and cast his eyes over the food. He noticed a sukurruja (a small saucer)(1) containing duqqa (a ground spice blend)(2); he took it in his hand, shook the spices so that they gathered to one side, and licked a little of the salt three times—fully aware that the salt native to Egypt is wholesome. He then rose, saying, “May Allah bless you.” I was too embarrassed to rise with him.

Ashhab spoke up, greatly offended by what he had done, but Ibn Wahb said to him, “Leave him, leave him. All day long we walk and exchange legal questions, and when night falls each of us stands for his allotted portion of prayer.”

Ibn Wahb would say to his companions, “What do you make of this North-African? He poses questions by day yet does not study at night!” Ibn al-Qāsim would respond, “It is light that Allah places in the hearts.”

We later halted in a mosque in one of the towns of the Hijaz. We lay down to sleep, and Ibn al-Qāsim awoke in alarm and said to me, “Abū Saʿīd! Just now I saw as though a man entered upon us through the door of this mosque carrying a covered tray, and inside it was the head of a pig. I ask Allah that it be for good.”

We had scarcely finished speaking when a man approached with a tray covered by a cloth, in which were fresh dates from the palms of that village. He set it down before Ibn al-Qāsim and said, “Eat.”