26 – Through another chain it is related: In the time of Muʿāwiyah there was a Bedouin whose wife and daughters said to him, “If only you would go to the Commander of the Believers, put your case to him and ask him for help; perhaps Allah will provide you something through him.” He replied, “I have nothing to take with me.” They therefore sold some of their jewellery and household goods, equipped him for the journey, and he set out for Muʿāwiyah. When he reached the palace—having pitched his camp on the road—he saw the crowds surrounding Muʿāwiyah and found no chance to speak. So he went round behind him, sat down behind the couch on something like two cushions, and, overcome by the fatigue of travel, began nodding until he fell asleep. The people then dispersed.
At sunset Muʿāwiyah left for the Maghrib prayer, returned and took supper, and then went out again for the ʿIshāʾ prayer while the elderly Bedouin, quite unaware, slept on until a portion of the night had passed. Muʿāwiyah came back to his quarters; the old man awoke when the chill of the night struck him, saw the lamps burning and realized that no one was in the room but himself. He rose, entered the courtyard and found the doors locked. “Innā lillāh,” he said, “I came seeking good, and now they will think I came to assassinate the Commander of the Believers.” He looked for a hiding-place until dawn, but finding none he crawled beneath Muʿāwiyah’s bed.
Not long after, Muʿāwiyah returned—an elderly man with a large belly, wrapped in a red mantle—and sat on the bed while the Bedouin, watching from below, kept saying to himself, “Now I shall be killed.” Muʿāwiyah then called, “Boy!” One of the attendants came. “Go to the daughter of Quraza and summon her,” he said. The attendant went, but she replied, “I cannot.” He returned and Muʿāwiyah sent him back, saying, “I insist.” She then came, walking ⦗29⦘ with maidservants shielding her, sat on the couch with him, and the maids withdrew. Muʿāwiyah talked with her for a while and then said, “I insist that you rise and walk.” He removed her outer garments, leaving her in a thin silk shift through which her whole body was visible, and she walked. “Come here,” he said, so she came; “Now turn away,” and she turned—while the old Bedouin looked on. She faced him again and caught the gleam of the man’s eye beneath the bed. She screamed, “I am exposed!” sat down and covered her face with her hand.
Muʿāwiyah rose and asked, “What is the matter with you, woman?” She said, “There is a man under the bed.” Muʿāwiyah reached beneath, seized a head, but felt only a few sparse hairs and could not grasp them. Realizing it was an old man, he let him go. The daughter of Quraza dressed and went back to her own quarters, while the Bedouin came out to Muʿāwiyah and said, “Commander of the Believers, may honesty benefit me with you.” “Speak,” Muʿāwiyah replied, and the man told him the whole story. Muʿāwiyah said, “No harm shall come to you,” burst into laughter and began questioning him further; whatever he asked, the Bedouin—an impressive sight—answered him.
When morning came Muʿāwiyah called for one of his eunuchs and said, “Take this man by the hand, bring him to the daughter of Quraza and say to her: ‘This is the man who was alone with you last night; for khalwa (seclusion) there is a naḥla (bridal gift), so give him his gift.’”
The eunuch brought him to her and relayed Muʿāwiyah’s words. She sent the servant girl away, detained the Bedouin and said, “Woe to you, what is your story?” He told her everything. She rewarded him, loading his mount with clothes and other goods, and said, “Once you leave here, do not stay in this land; if anyone sees you here I shall punish you.” Fearing he might remain—and every time Muʿāwiyah remembered him he would summon her and recall what had happened—she told a servant, “Go, mount him and all his goods, then prod the beast until you have taken him out of this territory.” ⦗30⦘ So the Bedouin went on his way, having obtained all he desired.