The Perfumed Garden of the Shaykh Nefwazi | Page 6

your advice is good and well thought out.' And he had everything arranged accordingly.
When he saw that the perfumed vapour was dense enough to impregnate the water in the tent he sat down upon his throne and sent for the prophetess. On her arrival he gave orders to admit her into the tent; she entered and remained alone with him. He engaged her in conversation.
While Mo&cced;ilama spoke to her she lost all her presence of mind, and became embarrassed and confused.
When he saw her in that state he knew that she desired cohabitation, and he said: 'Come, rise and let me have possession of you; this place has been prepared for that purpose. If you like you may lie on your back, or you can place yourself on an fours, or kneel as in prayer, with your brow touching the ground, and your crupper in the air, forming a tripod. Whichever position you prefer, speak, and you shall be satisfied.'
The prophetess answered, 'I want it done in all ways. Let the revelation of God descend upon me, O Prophet of the Almighty.'
He at once precipitated himself upon her, and enjoyed her as he liked. She then said to him, 'When I am gone from here, ask my goum to give me to you in marriage.'
When she had left the tent and met her disciples, they said to her, 'What is the result of the conference, O prophetess of God?' and she replied, 'Mo&cced;ilama has shown me what has been revealed to him, and I found it to be the truth, so obey him.'
Then Mo&cced;ilama asked her in marriage from the goum, which was accorded to him. When the goum asked about the marriage-dowry of his future wife, he told them, 'I dispense you from saying the prayer aceur (which is said at three or four o'clock). Ever from that time the Beni-Temim do not pray at that hour; and when they are asked the reason, they answer, 'It is on account of our prophetess; she only knows the way to the truth.' And, in fact, they recognized no other prophet.
On this subject a poet has said:
For us a female prophet has arisen; Her laws we follow; for the rest of mankind The prophets that appeared were always men.
The death of Mo&cced;ilama was foretold by the prophecy of Abou Beker (to whom God be good). He was, in fact, killed by Zeid ben Khettab. Other people say it was done by Ouhcha, one of his disciples. God only knows whether it was Ouhcha. He himself says on this point, 'I have killed in my ignorance the best of men, Haman ben Abd el Mosaleb, and then I killed the worst of men, Mo&cced;ailama. I hope that God will pardon one of these actions in consideration of the other.'
The meaning of these words, 'I have killed the best of men', is that Ouhcha, before having yet known the prophet, had killed Haman (to whom God be good), and having afterwards embraced Islamism, he killed Mo&cced;ilama.
As regards Chedj?￠ el Temimia, she repented by God's grace, and took to the Islamitic faith; she married one of the Prophet's followers (God be good to her husband).
Thus finishes the story.
The man who deserves favours is, in the eyes of women, the one who is anxious to please them. He must be of good presence, excel in beauty those around him, be of good shape and well-formed proportions; true and sincere in his speech with women; he must likewise be generous and brave, not vainglorious, and pleasant in conversation. A slave to his promise, he must always keep his word, ever speak the truth, and do what he has said.
The man who boasts of his relations with women, of their acquaintance and good will to him, is a dastard. He will be spoken of in the next chapter.
There is a story that once there lived a King named Mamoum, who had a court fool of the name of Bahloul, who amused the princes and Vizirs.
One day this buffoon appeared before the King, who was amusing himself. The King bade him to sit down, and then asked him, turning away, 'Way hast thou come, O son of a bad woman?'
Bahloul answered, 'I have come to see what has come to our Lord, whom may God make victorious.'
'And what has come to thee?' replied the King, 'and how art thou getting on with thy new and with thy old wife?' For Bahloul, not content with one wife, had married a second one.
'I am not happy,' he answered, 'neither with the old one, nor with the new one: and moreover poverty overpowers me.'
The King said, 'Can you recite any verses on this subject?'
The buffoon having answered in the affirmative, Mamoum commanded him to recite those he knew, and Bahloul began