and feed you.”
The man replied, “I have no courage to hunt snakes.”
The old woman said, “I shall hunt with you.” So she set off alongside him, the dog trailing behind, and together they caught as many snakes as would suffice them both. She returned, kindled a fire, and began to roast the snakes for him. The pilgrim saw no alternative but to eat—fearful that hunger and exhaustion would finish him—so he ate.
After a while he grew thirsty and asked her for water. “There is the spring,” she said. “Drink from it.” He went to the spring and found the water briny and bitter. With no other choice he drank, then came back to the old woman and said, “Old mother, I am amazed at you and at your staying in a place like this.”
She asked, “What are your lands like?”
He answered, “In our country we have spacious, roomy houses, luscious ripe fruits, sweet waters, wholesome foods, fat meats, plentiful flocks, and abundant springs.”
The old woman said, “I have heard all that. Tell me, though: are you under the hand of a ruler who wrongs you—who, when you slip, seizes your wealth, ruins your affairs, and drives you from your happiness?”
“That does happen,” he admitted.
She replied, “Then that refined food, that pleasant life, and those delectable blessings, when mixed with tyranny and injustice, turn into lethal poison; whereas our coarse fare, enjoyed with security, becomes a healing antidote. Have you not heard that after the blessing of Islam, the greatest gifts are health and safety? Safety exists only under the governance of a ruler. A ruler, therefore, must govern wisely and, together with that policy, be just, for the ruler is Allah’s vicegerent. His awe should be such that the people, even from afar, fear him at the mere sight. The ruler of our age must possess the strongest policy and the greatest awe, for the people of our time are not like those of old—ours is an age of the impudent and the foolish, of the harsh-hearted and spiteful. If the ruler among such people is weak, devoid of policy and awe, the land will surely be ruined and harm will befall both religion and worldly life.
“The proverb says: ‘The tyranny of a ruler for one hundred years is better than the people’s tyranny over one another for a single year.’ When the subjects commit injustice, Allah sets over them an unjust ruler—a conquering king—as the story relates.”
Story. On one occasion al-Hajjāj ibn Yūsuf al-Thaqafī received a written petition