Al-Bidayah wa an-Nihayah - Ibn Kathir - (15/163)

Al-Bidayah wa an-NihayahIbn Kathir

so he pulled them off at once and gave them to the peasant. The man was beside himself with joy, took them away, and sold them to one of the traders (1) for a mere one-thousand dinars, having no idea of their true worth. The trader presented them to the king, who in turn returned them to his wife.

On that occasion al-Juwaynī recited:
Whoever claims the sea and the rain resemble his two hands (2)
Has in fact lavished praise upon the sea and the rain.

They also relate that, while passing through the market one day, he noticed some jujubes at a grocer’s stall. Their color pleased him and he desired them, so he ordered the chamberlain to buy a quantity for one bālis. The chamberlain purchased a quarter of a bālis’ worth.
When the fruit was set before him, it delighted him and he asked, “All of this for a single bālis?” The chamberlain replied, “And there is still this left,” pointing to the remaining money. Angered, he said, “When (3) will that man ever again find a buyer like me? Make his payment up to ten bālis.”

They said (4): A man once presented him with a glass bowl fashioned in Aleppo. Genghis Khan admired it, but one of his intimates belittled the gift, saying, “Master, it is only glass; it has no value.” He replied, “Did he not carry it from distant lands until it reached us intact? Give him two hundred bālis.”

He (5) was also told, “In this spot lies a great treasure; if you open it (6) you will obtain immense wealth.” He said, “What we already possess suffices us. Leave it for the people to open and enjoy; they are more entitled to it than we are,” and he did not touch it.

A rumor spread about a man in his dominion who claimed, “I know the location of a treasure, and I will reveal it only to the Qān.” The amirs pressed him for the information, but he refused, so they informed the Qān. He had the man rushed to him on relay horses, that is, the postal mounts. When the man stood before him, the Qān asked about the treasure. He answered, “I was only (7) saying that as a ruse so that I might behold your face.” Seeing the turn his words had taken, the Qān grew angry and said, “You have obtained what you wanted; now return to your place,” and he ordered that the man be sent back safely (8) without granting him anything. [Al-Juwaynī commented: This is remarkable.]

A person once offered him a pomegranate. He broke it open, distributed its seeds among those present, and ordered that the giver receive, according to the number of its seeds, bālis (9). He then recited:

Because of that, delegations crowd his gate
As tightly as the seeds are packed within a pomegranate.

(1) B: fabaahuma li-bad al-tujjar (and he sold them to some merchants). (2) T: nadahu (he called him). (3) T: wa qala man yajid (and he said, “Whoever finds…”). (4) B: fa walla qala (then fa walla said). (5) ʿan T waḥdahā (from T alone). (6) A, B: fa law manḥtuhu akhadh-tu minhu mālan kathīran (If I had been granted it, I would have taken a large sum of money from him), fa qala alladhī fī aydinā yakfīnā wa-daʿiyyā (he said, “What we have in our hands suffices us, so send him away.”). (7) B: anā kuntu (I was). (8) T: qad ḥaṣala laka mā qult wa-raddahu ilā mawḍiʿihi sāliman wa-lam yuʿṭihi shayʾan (What you said has been fulfilled for you; he returned it to its place intact and gave him nothing). (9) A, B: thumma amara (then [he] commanded).

فانتزعتهما فدفعتهما إِلى الفلاح فطار عقله بهما وذهب بهما فباعهما لأحد (١) التجار بألف دينار، ولم يعرف قيمتهما، فحملهما التاجر إلى الملك فردَّهما على زوجته، ثم أنشد الجويني عند ذلك: [من الطويل] ومن قال إِن البحرَ والقطرَ أشبها … يداه (٢) فقد اثنى على البحرِ والقطرِ قالوا: واجتاز يومًا في سوق فرأى عند بقال عنّابًا فأعجبه لونه ومالت نفسه إِليه فأمر الحاجب أن يشتري منه ببالس، فاشترى الحاجب بربع بالس، فلما وضعه بين يديه أعجبه وقال: هذا كله ببالس؟ قال وبقي منه هذا - وأشار إِلى ما بقي معه من المال - فغضب وقال: متى (٣) يجد من يشتري منه مثلي؟ تمموا له عشرة بوالس. قالوا (٤) : وأهدى له رجل جامَ زجاجٍ من معمول حلب، فاستحسنه جنكيز خان فَوَهَّن أمرَهُ عنده بعضُ خواصه وقال: خوند هذا زجاج لا قيمةَ له، فقال: أليس قد حمله من بلادٍ بعيدة حتى وصل إِلينا سالمًا؟ أعطوه مئتي بالس. قال (٥) : وقيل له إِنَّ في هذا المكان كنزًا عظيمًا إِن (٦) فتحته أخذت منه مالًا جزيلًا، فقال: الذي في أيدينا يكفينا، ودع هذا يفتحه الناس ويأكلونه فهم أحقُّ به منّا، ولم يتعرض له. قال: واشتهر عن رجل في بلاده يقول: أنا أعرف موضع كنز ولا أقول إِلا للقان، وألحّ عليه الأمراء أن يعلمهم فلم يفعل، فذكروا ذلك للقان فأحضره على خيل الأولاق - يعني البريد - سريعًا، فلما حضر إِلى بين يديه سأله عن الكنز فقال: إِنما (٧) كنتُ أقولُ ذلك حيلةً لأرى وجهك. فلما رأى تغيُّرَ كلامه غضب وقال له: قد حصل لك ما طلبت فارجع إِلى موضعك وأمر برده سالمًا (٨) ولم يعطه شيئًا. [قال الجويني: وهذا غريب] قال: وأهدى له إِنسان رمَّانةً فكسرها وفرَّق حبَّها على الحاضرين وأمر (٩) له بعدد حبِّها بوالس ثم أنشد [عند ذلك] [من الكامل] فلذاكَ تزدحمُ الوفودُ ببابهِ … مثلَ ازدحامِ الحَبّ في الرُّمَّانِ

(١) ب: فباعهما لبعض التجار. (٢) ط: نداه. (٣) ط: وقال من يجد. (٤) ب: فوال قال. (٥) عن ط وحدها. (٦) أ، ب: فلو منحته أخذت منه مالًا كثيرًا فقال الذي في أيدينا يكفينا ودعيا. (٧) ب: أنا كنت. (٨) ط: قد حصل لك ما قلت وردّه إِلى موضعه سالمًا ولم يعطه شيئًا. (٩) أ، ب: ثم أمر.