80 – The judge Abū al-Qāsim informed us; Abū ʿAlī narrated to us; ʿAbdullāh narrated to us; my father—may Allah have mercy on him—and al-ʿAbbās ibn Hishām related to me, from Hishām ibn Muḥammad; Abū Naṣr Mālik ibn Naṣr al-Dalānī narrated to me, saying:

“I heard al-Aʿshā of Hamdhān, the poet, relate: I heard one of our tribesmen say that Mālik ibn Khuzaym al-Hamdhānī, the poet, set out in the pre-Islamic days with a number of his people, heading for the ʿUkāẓ fair. On the road they hunted a gazelle while suffering intense thirst. They reached a place called Ujayrah, and—driven by thirst—they opened a vein in the gazelle and drank its blood; when the blood was exhausted, they slaughtered it. They then scattered to gather firewood while Mālik lay down in the tent. A black snake came crawling until it entered Mālik’s shade. The men returned and said, ‘Mālik, the snake is beside you—kill it!’ Mālik awoke and said, ‘I adjure you, leave it alone.’ So they left it, and the black one slipped away.

Mālik thereupon composed the following verses (meter: al-Wāfir):

Khuzaym charged me to safeguard my neighbor’s pride;
I shield him though he lacks the power to shield himself.
I ward off tyranny and drive harm from him;
I shelter him when the spoils of life are withheld.
My life be ransom—step back, all of you, from him;
for some need the serpent has claimed my protection.
Do not incur the blood of one who seeks refuge,
for Ujayrah and its ridges would be liable for it.
What you behold of me is but a hidden affair,
whose inner face is veiled from your eyes.

They journeyed on, worn down by thirst, when suddenly a caller cried out to them, saying (meter: al-Basīṭ):

People! No water lies before you
until you drive your mounts a whole day’s toil;
⦗77⦘
then veer a little north—the water is near,
a gushing spring whose draught dispels fatigue.
When you pass your night beside it,
water the beasts and from it fill your skins.

“So they turned northward and came upon a flowing spring. They drank, watered their camels, and carried away enough to satisfy their thirst. They reached the market of ʿUkāẓ and, on their return, passed once more by the spring’s site but found nothing. Then a voice called out:

O Mālik, on my behalf may Allah reward you well;
this is my farewell to you and my greeting.
Never disdain to show kindness to anyone,
for one deprived of kindness is truly deprived.
I am the snake you saved from distress;
I thank you—gratitude is portioned out.
Whoever does good will never lose its fruit
as long as he lives, and ingratitude after grace is blameworthy.”