26 – Yaḥyā ibn Muḥammad ibn Aʿyan Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Marwazī narrated to me; Abū Zayd al-Anṣārī related to us; ⦗31⦘ ʿAwf related from al-Ḥasan that:

A man once lost his way in the desert. Hoping to be rescued, he began to howl so that the dogs would bark, for whenever the Arabs heard a barking dog they would extend the finest hospitality. One dog answered; the man headed toward it until he reached it. The dog then trotted ahead of him and led him to the place where its owner lived. There he found an elderly Bedouin sitting in his courtyard, waiting to see what the dog might bring. When the old man saw the traveller he greeted him warmly, kindled a fire, and slaughtered an animal for him. The guest ate, then the host milked a goat for him and he drank. When the stranger had eaten his fill and quenched his thirst, drowsiness overcame him. The host fetched a cloak, spread it over him, and sat by the fire, tending it.

After a while the old man’s daughter came out, radiant as the sun. The guest lifted his head and saw her. The father said, “Go to sleep.” He replied, “Sleep will not overcome me while you remain seated.” So the old man rose and extinguished the fire. When the father had nodded off, the guest slipped over to the girl and took hold of her foot. She called, “Father!” He answered, “I am here,” got up, saw the dog lying down and the livestock undisturbed, and she said, “It was the dog.” The guest returned to his bed. The old man entered and said, “Sleep; you are safe,” and she lay down again while he resumed his sleep.

The guest thought to himself, “She was alarmed; had she understood, she would not have cried out.” He returned to her and again seized her foot. She called, “Father!” He replied, “Yes,” and she said, “The sheep.” He responded exactly as before, and so did the guest.

The guest then said to himself, “She is frightened, but by Allah I shall have her, just as I have imagined.” He approached her once more, grasped her foot, and she cried, “Father!” He answered, “Yes, my child—what is the matter?” She said, “The guest.” The old man sat up, and the guest returned to his place.

The shaykh bowed his head for a long time, then said, “My daughter, will you not praise your Lord? Your guest has passed the night fully fed, quenched, and warm, with no remaining concern but lust, while I have kept watch over you until daybreak. Now he has left, and nothing untoward has happened at all.”