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# 2025-07-23 - The Food of Paradise by Ibn Ajmed | |
In the school founded by the Caliph for the study of divine things | |
sat the devout Mullah Ibrahim, his hands folded in his lap, in an | |
attitude of meditation. Ibrahim taught students from all the | |
countries of Islam, but the work was thankless and ill-paid. And as | |
he sat there he thought on his state for the first time in many years. | |
"Why is it," he said to himself, "that a man so holy as I am must | |
toil so hard to instruct a pack of blockheads, when others who have | |
merited nothing through piety or attention to the Commands of Allah | |
fare sumptuously every day and neither toil nor spin? O, | |
Compassionate One, is not this thing unjust? Whereof should Thy | |
servant be burdened, like an ass in the market-place, which carries | |
two panniers both filled to the top and stumbles at every blow of the | |
driver's stick?" | |
And as he considered, Ibrahim the Wise, as men called him, brought to | |
mind that verse in the Holy Literature in which it says: "Allah will | |
not let any one starve." And taking deeper counsel with himself, he | |
said: "May it not be that those whom I have blamed for their sloth | |
and inactivity are, after all, the better Moslems, that they have | |
greater faith than I? For, perusing this passage, they may have said | |
to themselves: 'I will cast myself upon the mercy of Allah, which in | |
this text is surely extended to all men. Allah in his bounty will | |
surely feed and maintain me? Why then toil and strive as the | |
faithless do? It is those who have faith that are the elect." | |
At that moment a great pasha halted before the gates of the seminary, | |
in his piety alighting from his palanquin to give alms to a beggar, | |
as all good Moslems do. And as Ibrahim watched him through the | |
lattice, he thought: "Does not the condition of the beggar as well as | |
that of this pasha prove the justice of the text upon which I have | |
been meditating? Neither starves, but the wealthier man is assuredly | |
the more devout, for he is the giver and not the receiver, and for | |
this very purpose has been blest with the goods of this world. Why | |
do I hesitate, wretched man that I am? Shall I not, as the Book | |
ordains, cast myself on the bounty of Allah and free myself for ever | |
from the intolerable burden of instructing fools in a wisdom they can | |
never understand?" | |
So saying, Ibrahim the Sage arose from his place in the College of | |
the Caliph, and walked out of the City of Baghdad where he had dwelt | |
for many years. It was evening, and betaking himself to the banks of | |
the river, he selected a dry and shady spot beneath a spreading | |
cypress tree, and, awaiting the bounty of Allah, fell fast asleep in | |
the certainty that the Lord of all Compassion would not fail him. | |
When he awoke, it was early morning, and a divine hush lay upon | |
everything. Ibrahim lazily speculated as to the manner in which he | |
would be sustained. Would the birds of the air bring him sustenance, | |
would the fishes from the stream leap ashore, offering themselves for | |
the assuagement of his growing hunger? In what way did those who | |
merited the help of Allah first receive it, if not in some miraculous | |
manner? True, the wealthy were bequeathed riches by their parents. | |
But there must be a beginning. A pasha might sail down the river in | |
his barge and supply his wants out of golden dishes and silver cups. | |
But morning blossomed into day and day into night and still the | |
miracle remained unaccomplished. More than one pasha glided past him | |
in his gilded barge, but these made only the customary salutations | |
and gave no other sign. On the road above pilgrims and travellers | |
passed, but without taking the least notice of him. Hunger gnawed at | |
his vitals, and he thought with envy of the millet porridge with | |
goats' milk the mullahs would now be enjoying at the seminary. Still | |
was he trustful, and, as he made the customary ablutions in the | |
river, his faith had abated not one jot. | |
Again he slept, and once more day dawned in scarlet and silver | |
beauty. By this time he felt so faint as scarcely to be able to | |
stand. The hours crept slowly onward, yet no sign came that his | |
hunger was to be satisfied. | |
At last, as midday approached with its stifling heat, something | |
floating upon the surface of the water caught his eye. It seemed | |
like a mass of leaves wrapped up with fibre, and wading into the | |
river he succeeded in catching it. Back he splashed with his prize | |
to the bank, and sitting down on the sward, he opened the packet. It | |
contained a quantity of the most delicious-looking halwa, that famous | |
marzipan, of the making of which only Baghdad knows the secret, a | |
sweetmeat composed of sugar mingled with paste of almonds and attar | |
of roses and other delicate and savoury essences. | |
After gorging himself with the delightful fare, Ibrahim the Wise | |
drank deeply from the river, and lolled on the sward, sure that his | |
prayer had been answered, and that he would never have to toil more. | |
There was sufficient of the ambrosial food to serve for three meals a | |
day, and on each day after the hour of midday prayer a similar packet | |
of halwa came floating down the stream as though placed there by the | |
hands of angels. | |
"Surely," said the Mullah, "the promises of Allah are true, and the | |
man who trusts in Him will not be deceived. Truly I did well to | |
leave the seminary, where, day-in, day-out, I had perforce to cram | |
divine knowledge into the heads of idiots incapable of repeating a | |
verse correctly even at the fifteenth attempt." | |
Months passed, and Ibrahim continued to receive the food that Allah | |
had promised with unfailing regularity. Then, quite naturally, he | |
began to speculate whence it came. If he could find the spot where it | |
was deposited on the surface of the stream, surely he must witness a | |
miracle, and as he had never done so, he felt greatly desirous of | |
attaining the merit such a consummation would undoubtedly add to his | |
fame as a holy man. | |
So one morning, after eating the last of the halwa he had received on | |
the preceding day, he girded up his loins, and taking his staff, | |
began slowly to walk up-stream. "Now," said he, "if what I suppose | |
be true, I will today receive my luscious food at an earlier hour | |
than usual, as I shall be nearer the place where it is deposited on | |
the water, and indeed on each day I shall receive at an even earlier | |
hour, until at last I come to the spot where some divine seraph, sent | |
by Allah from Paradise, drops the savoury food of heaven upon the | |
stream in justification of my trust in the most Merciful." | |
For some days Ibrahim walked up-stream, keeping carefully to the bank | |
of the river and fixing his eyes on its surface in case he should | |
fail to discern the packet of halwa. But every day at an ever | |
earlier hour, it floated regularly past him, carried by the current | |
so near to the shore that he could easily wade out and secure it. At | |
nights he slept beneath a convenient tree, and as men perceived him | |
to be a mullah and a sacred man, no one thought of molesting him. | |
It was on the fourth day of his journey that he observed the river | |
had widened. In a large island in the midst of the stream rose a | |
fair castle. The island composed a princely domain of noble | |
meadow-land and rich garden, crossed and interlaced by the silver of | |
narrow streams, and was backed by the blue and jagged peaks of great | |
mountains. The castle itself was built of marble white as sculptured | |
ice, and its green and shady lawns sloped down to a silent and | |
forlorn shore of golden sand. | |
And when night descended this wondrous region was illuminated by the | |
romance of moonlight into an almost unearthly radiance, so that | |
Ibrahim in all his piety was forced to compare it with Paradise | |
itself. The white castle on its dark rocks seemed like day | |
pedestalled upon night, and from the sea-green of the shadow of | |
myrtles rose the peaks of pavilions whence came the sound of guitars | |
and lutes and voices more ravishingly sweet than Ibrahim, the son of | |
the seminary, had ever believed earth could hold. | |
And as Ibrahim gazed spellbound at the wondrous spectacle and drank | |
in the sounds of ecstasy which arose from the garden, wondering | |
whether he were not already dead and in the purlieus of Heaven, a | |
harsh voice hailed him at his very elbow, asking him what he did | |
there. He turned swiftly, to see standing beside him an ancient man | |
in the garb of a hermit, with long matted hair and tangled beard. | |
"Salaam, good father," he said, much relieved, for, like all men of | |
peace, he feared violence. "The peace of Allah, the Merciful, the | |
Compassionate, be upon you." | |
"And upon you, my son," replied the anchorite. "But what do you here | |
at this hour of the night, when all such as you should be asleep?" | |
"Like yourself, I am a holy man," replied Ibrahim, with unction, "but | |
I travel on a quest the nature of which I may not divulge to any. | |
Passing this spot, I was attracted by the unusual appearance of | |
yonder castle and its surroundings, and would learn its story, if | |
that is known to you." | |
"It is, though in part only," rejoined the hermit, "for I have dwelt | |
many years in this neighbourhood, but have little converse with men. | |
Know, then, that the place you behold is called the Silver Castle. | |
It was built by a pasha now dead, who was greatly enamoured of a | |
certain princess, whose father refused him her hand in marriage. | |
But, not to be gainsaid, so fierce and unruly a thing is love in some | |
men, he built this strength in the midst of the river as you see, and | |
placed upon it so many dark and terrible spells of magic that none | |
could cross to or from it without his sanction. Then, abducting the | |
princess, he espoused her and placed her in yonder tower. The King, | |
her father, came with an army to besiege the place, but so potent | |
were the necromancies the Pasha had surrounded it with that he was | |
compelled to raise the siege and leave his daughter in the hands of | |
his enemy." | |
"You amaze me," cried Ibrahim. "And does this princess remain here | |
still?" | |
"No, brother," replied the Hermit, "like her lord she has passed | |
away, but they have left behind them a daughter who governs the | |
castle, a lady of surpassing beauty, who spends her days in pleasure | |
and in spending the wealth her father bequeathed her. But she has | |
but one sorrow, and that is that none can dissolve the spells woven | |
by her father the Pasha, so that no one may either gain admittance to | |
the castle or leave it. Her companions are therefore either the very | |
aged or those born on the island and no other, which, for a young and | |
beautiful woman, must be wearisome. But you will pardon me, brother, | |
I am going on a pilgrimage to a certain shrine in Baghdad, where I | |
betake myself once a year to acquire merit. Meanwhile, if you choose | |
to rest, you may dwell in my humble cell yonder until I return in | |
seven days' time." | |
Ibrahim gladly accepted the Hermit's offer, and when he had gone, sat | |
down to ponder over the tale he had told him. Now, among other | |
wisdoms, he had acquired during his years of study a deep knowledge | |
of the magical art, and he bethought him that it might be given to | |
him to rid the castle and its inhabitants of the spells which held | |
them prisoner on the island. | |
But in the midst of his thoughts he fell asleep, and did not waken | |
until the sun was high in the heavens. Then he made his ablutions, | |
and betook himself to the banks of the river, where he sat and | |
watched the surface of the water for a sign of the appearance of the | |
delicious food he received daily. | |
And as he watched, he beheld a curious thing. Some three hours | |
before midday a very beautiful woman appeared on the marble | |
battlements which overhung the river. So fair was she that the | |
Mullah gasped with surprise at the radiance of her beauty, which was | |
that of the houris of Paradise. For her hair was as golden wire | |
which is drawn thin by the cunning of the goldsmith, her eyes were | |
yellow, and bright as topazes found on Mount Ararat, and the colour | |
of her cheeks was as that of the roses of Isfahan. | |
And as for the flesh of her body, it shone with the lustre of silver, | |
so brightly polished it was. | |
"Can this be the Princess?" thought Ibrahim, "or an angel from | |
heaven? Nay, surely it is she, for this woman, though beautiful | |
surpassingly, is still a mortal." | |
And as Ibrahim stood beholding her, she raised her arm and cast | |
something into the river. And when she had done so, she withdrew | |
from the battlements and disappeared like a planet behind clouds. | |
The Mullah kept his eyes fixed on that which she had cast into the | |
stream, and in a little perceived that it was the very packet of | |
leaves which he was wont to receive daily. Wading into the stream he | |
secured it, unwrapped it, and found it full of the delicious halwa, | |
as usual. | |
"Ha," said he, as he devoured the savoury sweetmeat. | |
"So now I know at last that radiant being by whose hands Allah, the | |
Just, the Merciful, has ordained I shall be fed daily. Truly, the | |
Compassionate must have put it into the heart of this divine princess | |
to cast this luscious food on the breast of the stream at the | |
self-same hour each day. | |
And shall I not seek to repay her the distinguished kindness she has | |
done me by freeing her from the spells by which she is encompassed, | |
and which keep her a prisoner, she who should be wed to a Sultan at | |
least and should reign in Baghdad itself?" | |
And with these grateful thoughts, he sat down to consider by what | |
means the spells which surrounded the castle might be broken. And, | |
casting himself into a deep trance, he walked in spirit in the Land | |
of the Jinn, where, as a holy man, he could come to no harm. And | |
coming to the house of one of the Jinn, whom he knew and whose name | |
was Adhem, he summoned him and had speech with him. | |
"Hail, holy man," said Adhem, making low obeisance. "I am your | |
servant. In what way can I serve you?" | |
Ibrahim acquainted him with the reason for his presence there, at | |
which the Jinn assumed an air of the greatest concern. | |
"What you ask is indeed hard, most wise Ibrahim," he said doubtfully. | |
"But I will take counsel of my brethren on the matter without delay, | |
and shall let you know the result of our deliberations by a speedy | |
and trusty messenger. No more can I say or do at present." | |
With this Ibrahim departed and soon after awoke from his trance. He | |
seemed only to have been an hour in the Land of the Jinn, but it must | |
have been five hours or more, for the sun was high in the heavens | |
when he fell asleep, and now moonlight was sparkling on the waters of | |
the river. And the same exquisite music he had heard before arose | |
from the gardens of the castle, as though from the lips of peris. | |
And as Ibrahim listened entranced, a shape scarcely more solid than | |
the moonlight rose slowly out of the river and stood before him in | |
the shadowy likeness of a jinn. Three times it made obeisance before | |
him, then it spoke. | |
"Most wise and holy Ibrahim," it said, "my master Adhem, a prince | |
among the people of the Jinn, has sent me to acquaint you with the | |
decision of his counsellors. They proffer you this ring set with the | |
diamond which men call adamant, and in whose shining surface if you | |
will gaze, you shall behold the nature of those spells which keep the | |
Princess and her train prisoners in yonder castle. And, having | |
discovered the nature of those spells, if you summon our people to | |
your aid in such shapes as will dissolve or break them they will come | |
in such guise as will set the Princess free." | |
With those words the Jinn vanished into the river whence he had come. | |
And, without delay, Ibrahim took the ring which the spirit had cast | |
on the grass at his feet, and peered into the shining stone it held. | |
And straightway he beheld the first spell. Close to the shore of the | |
river arose a mighty bastion as of stone, invisible to mortal eyes, | |
which surrounded the castle from shore to shore. And Ibrahim summoned | |
to him the hosts of the Jinn in the guise of sappers, with picks and | |
hammers, and on this wall they fell mightily in their myriads, so | |
that without sound or clamour of any sort, they reduced it to dust | |
ere a man could count a hundred. | |
Then Ibrahim looked once more in the surface of the diamond, and saw | |
a great web like that of a spider hanging in the air round the | |
castle. And he summoned the hosts of the Jinn in the shape of eagles, | |
which so rent at the invisible web with their strong beaks that in | |
less time than it takes to tell of it, almost, it fell in fragments | |
into the stream. | |
Once more Ibrahim gazed into the stone, and this time he saw an army | |
of viewless giants, with spear and scimitar in hand, drawn up in | |
array of war on the shores of the island. And he called the Jinn | |
people to him in the likeness of greater and more powerful giants, | |
who did battle with those on the island. Terrible was the strife, | |
and Ibrahim trembled mightily as he watched it. But soon the Jinn | |
prevailed over the giants of the island, and put them to flight. | |
The spells which had surrounded the castle were now removed, and as | |
day had dawned, Ibrahim cast about for some means of reaching the | |
castle. No sooner had he wished this than by the power of the Jinn a | |
bridge rose out of the stream by which he was enabled to cross to the | |
island. And when he had done so, he was accosted by an old man who | |
held a bared scimitar in his hand, and who asked him by what means he | |
had been enabled to reach the island, which had so long been under | |
enchantment. | |
"That I may tell only to your lady, the Princess," said Ibrahim. | |
"Admit me to her presence without delay." | |
The guard, marvelling, ushered him through the great gate of the | |
castle, and across a spacious court where fountains sang | |
mellifluously. Entering a magnificent hall, the floor of which was | |
inlaid with squares of blue and white marble and the walls with lapis | |
lazuli and other rare stones, he gave the Mullah into the keeping of | |
a eunuch, who requested the holy man to follow him. | |
Upon a dais sat the incomparable Princess whom Ibrahim had beheld on | |
the battlements, and who daily cast the packet of halwa on the waters | |
of the river. To her the Mullah made obeisance, and, kneeling before | |
her, told his tale. | |
"And what, most wise Ibrahim, do you ask in recompense of your so | |
notable offices on my behalf?" asked the Princess. "Speak, and it | |
shall be granted to you, even to the half of my inheritance." | |
"Nay, noble lady," exclaimed Ibrahim. "For have I not reason enow to | |
be grateful to your Highness for the delicious food with which you | |
have fed me daily? That halwa which you cast every morning from the | |
battlements, and which has floated down the stream I have eaten with | |
thankfulness. Surely only an angel from Paradise could have put it | |
into your heart to despatch it." | |
The Princess blushed so deeply that her heightened colour could be | |
seen even beneath her veil. | |
"Alas, good Mullah!" she cried, wringing her hands. "What is this | |
you tell me? Curses on the day on which I first cast that halwa as | |
you call it, on the waters of the river. Know, that each morning it | |
is my custom to take a bath of milk, after which I anoint and rub my | |
limbs with essence of almonds, sugar and sweet-scented cosmetics. | |
These, then, I remove from my nakedness and, wrapping them in leaves, | |
cast them into the stream." | |
"Ah, now. Princess, I see who has been blind," cried Ibrahim, with a | |
wry countenance. "Allah surely gives food to everyone; but its | |
quality and kind are dictated by what they deserve!" | |
[The function of this tale is that it will confirm the bias of those | |
who, for example, believe that humility is really living off the | |
by-products of a total system. It will also encourage those who | |
think that even those things which seem wonderful (the sweetmeat) are | |
as nothing, seen from a wider perspective. But for those who are | |
ready to understand the truth: they will find this tale valuable to | |
take them beyond such simple confirmations.] | |
Princess Illustration | |
tags: fantasy,personal anthology,short story | |
# Tags | |
fantasy | |
personal anthology | |
short story |