On the 30th Night contd ...

I said - "May Allaah show small mercy to my father for knowing such a man like you." The barber laughed and said - "I did not know that you are otherwise than a man of sense. You are talking nonsense because of your illness. God has written in His book, "Paradise is for them who restrain their anger, and who forgive men," but you are excused in every case. Your father didn't do anything without my advice. When I am ready to serve you, and not displeased with you, then why are you displeased with me?"

I said - "I just desire that you should shave my head and go from here, so that I can do my business." And I started taking off my clothes. When he saw this he also started sharpening his razor. Then he came and shaved a small portion of my head and raised his hand and prayed and said to me - "O my Lord, I don't know that you know my position in the society, because my hand alights upon the heads of kings, Ameer and Vazeers etc."

I said to him - "Leave that what does not concern you. You have troubled my mind." He said - "I can see that you are in hurry." "Yes, yes. I am." He said - "Proceed slowly because the haste is from the Devil and causes repentance and disappointment and patience is of Allaah. I do not know about your affair, I wish if you had told me about your affair for which you are in so much hurry; and may it be good, for I fear it is otherwise."

Now only three hours left in the appointed time, and he left the razor from his hand and taking his astrological instrument went again to observe the Sun. He returned after some time and said - "Only three hours remain to the hour of prayer." I said - "For the sake of Allaah, Be silent." Then he again sharpened the razor and shaved another portion of my head. He then stopped again and said - "I am anxious to know about your hurry, if you could tell me about it, it would be better for you, because your father also did not do anything without consulting me."

I knew that I could not avoid his interruption any more, and I will be late if this interruption will continue like this. If I will be late, I will not be able to meet her. So I said to him - "Be quick, because I want to go to an entertainment with my friends." When he heard the word entertainment, he said - "Yesterday I asked a party of my intimate friends to come and feast with me, but I forgot to prepare anything to eat, and now I have remembered it. You have saved me from the embarrassment." I said - "Don't be in so much anxiety, as you know that I am going today to an entertainment, so all the food and drink that is in my house is yours, if you quickly finish shaving my head."

He said - "May God compensate you with all blessings, tell me what do you have for my guests in your house." I said - "I have five dishes of meat, ten fowls and a roasted lamb." He said - "Bring them here so that I can see them." So I had to bring them in front of him. He exclaimed -"Oh how generous you are. But wine is wanting, incense and perfumes are also lacking." So I brought him them worth 50 pieces of gold. Then I said - "Take this and now you shave my whole head." He again said - "By Allaah, I will not take it until I see all inside." So I asked the boy to show him the container. At this the barber threw down his astrological instrument and sitting on the ground he threw all the incense and perfumes in the box.

He then shaved another small portion of my head, and said - "Allaah, O my son, I don't know to whom I should thank, you or your father, because my entertainment will be done entirely on your money. I have nobody among my visitors who deserves it, for my guests are bath-keeper, the wheat-seller, the bean-seller, the grocer, the dustman, the milk-seller; and each of these has a peculiar dance to perform and peculiar verses to recite; and the best of their quality is that they are like your servant.

As to the bath-keeper, if I do not go to the feast, he comes to my house; and as to the dustman, he is very witty, he often dances and says that the news about his wife is not hidden. In fact each of my friends has jests that another does not have. I cannot describe it, one can only observe. So if you choose to come to us, it will be more pleasure to both - to you and me. Enjoy with us, and then you may visit your friends to whom you wish to go, because you are still not perfectly well." I said - "If God will permit, I will come some other time." He again said - "It will be more proper, if you first come to our party and then you go to your own."

I laughed at him and asked him to do his work and then go to his people who were waiting for him. He said - "My purpose to take you there was just to introduce you to the society of these people, for certainly they all are civilized people and once you will be with them you would not like to go back to your own people." I said - "May God give you abundant joy, I will bring them here some other day." He said - "As you wish. Now wait till I take all this present with which you have honored me, to them so that they can eat and enjoy without waiting for me. Then I will return to you to go with you to your companions. There is no false formality between me and my friends which can prevent me leaving them."

I said - "You may go to yours, and leave me to go to mine." But he said - "I am not going to leave you to go alone." "But the place to which I am going will not let you enter there." He said - "Oh, I understood. So you have an appointment with a female. I fear that you are going to visit some strange woman, and your life will be lost; for in this city of Bagadaad no one can do such thing on this day. The Valee of Bagadaad is very terrible." I exclaimed - "What are you saying to me? Go away from here." And he kept a long silence at this.

The time of prayer has now arrived, he also finished shaving my head. I said - "Go with this food and drink to your friends, and I will wait for you until you return and you will accompany me." He said - "Certainly you are deceiving me and will go alone and fall into a calamity from which there is no escape for you. By Allaah, I request you, do not leave until I come back and accompany you." I replied - "Well, do not be late to come back to me." He got up, took all the food and drink I gave to him, but he did not take them to his house himself but gave them to a porter to take them to his house and hid himself in a by-street.

Contd on   12th Page