16 – Muḥammad b. al-Ḥusayn narrated to us; Yūsuf b. al-Ḥakam al-Raqqī told me; al-Fayyāḍ b. Muḥammad al-Qurashī narrated to us, from a man of Medina, who said:

ʿAbd Allāh b. Jaʿfar set out for the pilgrimage. Somewhere along the route his baggage train had gone on ahead while he himself rode behind on a mount. He came upon a Bedouin woman sitting at the entrance of ⦗25⦘ a hair-cloth tent. He dismounted and waited for his companions. When she saw him alight she rose toward him and said, “Come this way—may Allah lodge you in the dwellings of the righteous!” Struck by the elegance of her speech, he moved over to the mouth of the tent. She threw down a leather cushion for him and he sat upon it. Then she went to a small goat she kept in the corner of the tent; before he knew it she had prepared a joint of its meat and set it before him, and he began to eat.

His companions soon arrived, and when they found him there they dismounted. She brought them what remained of the goat and they, too, ate. They produced their own provisions, but ʿAbd Allāh b. Jaʿfar said, “We shall need none of your food for the rest of the day.”

When he was ready to depart he called for his steward, the servant who oversaw his expenses, and asked, “Do you still have something of our funds?”
“Yes,” the man replied.
“How much?”
“One thousand dinars.”
“Give her five hundred dinars and keep the rest for yourself.”

The steward handed the money to the woman, but she refused to accept it. ʿAbd Allāh kept speaking to her while she said, “By Allah, I fear my husband’s reproach.” He persisted until she accepted, then bade her farewell and set off with his companions.

They had gone only a little way when a Bedouin man driving his camels came toward them. ʿAbd Allāh said, “I suspect this is the very thing we feared. Let someone go back, find out who he is, and then rejoin us.” One of his companions returned, in disguise, and halted not far from the tent. When the woman saw her husband approaching, she rose to set food before him and cried, “May my father and mother be your ransom!

I marked his bearing, and awe fell upon me;
I said, ‘The man must belong to the house of Hāshim.
If not, then to the sons of al-Murār, for they
are kings of kings, sovereigns among mighty kings.
I went to the one goat that was left of my flock
and slaughtered it, a deed done without regret.
He recompensed me with riches, though the goat’s meat
was not worth even five dirhams;
for a goat that hardly ⦗26⦘ merited five silver coins
I received five hundred dinars from Adam’s generous son.’

She produced the dinars and told him the whole story. He exclaimed, “By Allah’s life, what a sorry protector of guests you are! Have you sold your good name for these stones I see?” She answered, “By Allah, I disliked doing so, but I feared your blame.”

He retorted, “Woman, you feared blame but not disgrace? Which way did the rider go?” She pointed out the road—this being the very man ʿAbd Allāh had sent. He said, “Saddle my horse.”

She asked, “What will you do?”
“I shall overtake the party. If they hand back my favour, well and good; otherwise I will fight them.”

She pleaded, “I adjure you by Allah not to do that and distress them.” He struck her and said, “You have chosen to squander beneficence!” Then he mounted, took his spear, and rode off, while the companion of ʿAbd Allāh went alongside him saying, “I do not think you will catch them.”

“By Allah,” the Bedouin replied, “I will reach them even if they have gone to the ends of the earth.” When the companion realised he would not be dissuaded, he said, “Take it easy; overtake the party, explain your case, and see what they say.” He then rode ahead and informed ʿAbd Allāh b. Jaʿfar of all that had happened. ʿAbd Allāh remarked, “She was wary of an ill-omened fellow.”

Presently the Bedouin caught up with them, greeted them, and ʿAbd Allāh returned his greeting and praised the woman’s fine deed. The man said, “By Allah, I did not witness all of it.” He kept talking and asking until it became clear he would accept nothing but the return of the money.

When ʿAbd Allāh saw this he said, “Let us see what he wants. We do not wish anything we have given to come back to us.” The Bedouin withdrew a short distance, prayed two rakʿahs, then mounted his horse and took up his bow and arrows.

ʿAbd Allāh asked, “What were those two rakʿahs?”
“I sought guidance from my Lord in them,” he answered, “about fighting you.”
“And to what decision were you guided?”
“He directed me to sound judgment: that you take back your stones and hand over our favour.”
“We shall do so,” said ʿAbd Allāh, and he ordered that the dinars be collected. The Bedouin turned away to depart.

ʿAbd Allāh called after him, “Shall we not send you off with some food?”
“The tribe is near,” he replied. “Is there ⦗27⦘ anything else you need?”
“Yes,” said ʿAbd Allāh.
“What is it?”
“Tell the woman that you treated us ill.”

The Bedouin laughed aloud and rode away.

Later, ʿAbd Allāh b. Jaʿfar visited Yazīd b. Muʿāwiya and related to him the Bedouin’s story. Yazīd said, “I have never heard anything stranger than this.”