146 |
SPRENGER ON MOSLEM TRADITION
|
|
For this cause, though these ancient poems undoubtedly contain much that is
authentic, little reliance can be reposed on them as historical evidence.
|
The life of the poet Hammâd Râwy, as given by Sprenger, shows how
fashionable was this practice, and is also a fair illustration of the manners
of the age. Taken prisoner as a child, he regained his freedom and joined
himself to a band of robbers. Amongst their booty he one day chanced upon a
collection of poems by a Companion of Mahomet. He was charmed, committed them
to memory, abandoned robbery, and devoted himself to literature.
|
On his being asked by Walîd, the Caliph, why he was called Râwy,1
he replied, "Because I know by heart the works of all the poets thou art
acquainted with, or hast heard the names of; and those thou never heardest of
I know better than the poem thou art best acquainted with is known by thee!
Moreover, if a piece of poetry be recited, I will tell thee with certainty to
what period it belongs." "By thy father, thou art a prodigy of
learning! How many verses dost thou know by heart?" "A vast number!
For every letter of the alphabet I could recite a hundred long Casîdas (idyls)
rhyming with it. And besides poems since the rise of Islam, I know innumerable
ancient fragments belonging to the days of heathendom." The Caliph
commanded him to be presented with 100,000 dirhems.
|
"When Hishâm succeeded to the
Caliphate," says Hammâd, "I kept to my house in Cûfa, because he
had before shown enmity towards me. After a year I began to go out, and one
Friday repaired to the Mosque for prayer. At the door I was met by two
policemen with an order that the Governor desired to see me. Filled with
apprehension, I begged permission to go first to my home, and bid, my family a
last farewell: but even this was not allowed me. I went trembling to the
Governor, who showed me a despatch from the Caliph, desiring that I should be
sent forthwith to the Court at Damascus. Richly supplied, and mounted on a
swift dromedary, I reached Damascus in twelve days. Then, taken straightway to
the palace, I entered a gorgeous hall, the
|
|