The Tale of the Falcon*Arab. "Bazi," Pers. "Baz" (here Richardson is wrong s.v.); a term to a certain extent generic, but specially used for the noble Peregrine (F. Peregrinator) whose tiercel is the Shahin (or "Royal Bird"). It is sometimes applied to the goshawk (Astur palumbarius) whose proper title, however, is Shah-baz (King-hawk). The Peregrine extends from the Himalayas to Cape Comorin and the best come from the colder parts: in Iceland I found that the splendid white bird was sometimes trapped for sending to India. In Egypt "Bazi" is applied to the kite or buzzard and "Hidyah" (a kite) to the falcon (Burckhardt's Prov. 159, 581 and 602). Burckhardt translates "Hidayah," the Egyptian corruption, by "an ash-grey falcon of the smaller species common throughout Egypt and Syria." and the Partridge*Arab. "Hijl," the bird is not much prized in India because it feeds on the roads. For the Shinnar (caccabis) or magnificent partridge of Midian as large as a pheasant, see "Midian Revisted" ii. 18.
Once upon a time I entered a vineyard to eat of its grapes; and, whilst so doing behold, I saw a falcon stoop upon a partridge and seize him; but the partridge escaped from the seizer and, entering his nest, hid himself there. The falcon followed apace and called out to him, saying, "O imbecile, I saw thee an-hungered in the wold and took pity on thee; so I picked up for thee some grain and took hold of thee that thou mightest eat; but thou fleddest from me; and I wot not the cause of thy flight, except it were to put upon me a slight. Come out, then, and take the grain I have brought thee to eat and much good may it do thee, and with thy health agree." When the partridge heard these words, he believed and came out to him, whereupon the falcon struck his talons into him and seized him. Cried the partridge, "Is this that which thou toldest me thou hadst brought me from the wold, and whereof thou badest me eat, saying, 'Much good may it do thee, and with thy health agree?' Thou hast lied to me, and may Allah cause what thou eatest of my flesh to be a killing poison in thy maw!" So when the falcon had eaten the partridge, his feathers fell off and his strength failed and he died on the spot. "Know, then, O wolf!" (pursued the fox), "that he who diggeth for his brother a pit himself soon falleth into it, and thou first deceivedst me in mode unfit." Quoth the wolf, "Spare me this discourse nor saws and tales enforce, and remind me not of my former ill course, for sufficeth me the sorry plight I endure perforce, seeing that I am fallen into a place, in which even my foe would pity me, much more a true friend. Rather find some trick to deliver me and be thou thereby my saviour. If this cause thee trouble, remember that a true friend will undertake the sorest travail for his true friend's sake and will risk his life to deliver him from evil; and indeed it hath been said, 'A leal friend is better than a real brother.' So if thou stir thyself to save me and I be saved, I will forsure gather thee such store as shall be a provision for thee against want however sore; and truly I will teach thee rare tricks whereby to open whatso bounteous vineyards thou please and strip the fruit-laden trees." Rejoined the fox, laughing, "How excellent is what the learned say of him who aboundeth in ignorance like unto thee!" Asked the wolf, "What do the wise men say?" And the fox answered, "They have observed that the gross of body are gross of mind, far from intelligence and nigh unto ignorance. As for thy saying, O thou stupid, cunning idiot! that a true friend should undertake sore travail for his true friend's sake, it is sooth as thou sayest, but tell me, of thine ignorance and poverty of intelligence, how can I be a true friend to thee, considering thy treachery. Dost thou count me thy true friend? Nay, I am thy foe who joyeth in thy woe; and couldst thou trow it, this word were sorer to thee than slaughter by shot of shaft. As for thy promise to provide me a store against want however sore and teach me tricks, to plunder whatso bounteous vineyards I please, and spoil fruit-laden trees, how cometh it, O guileful traitor, that thou knowest not a wile to save thyself from destruction? How far art thou from profiting thyself and how far am I from accepting thy counsel! If thou have any tricks, make shift for thyself to save thee from the risk, wherefrom I pray Allah to make thine escape far distant! So look, O fool, if there be any trick with thee; and therewith save thyself from death ere thou lavish instruction upon thy neighbours. But thou art like a certain man attacked by a disease, who went to another diseased with the same disease, and said to him, 'Shall I heal thee of thy disease?' Replied the sick man, 'Why dost thou not begin by healing thyself?' So he left him and went his way. And thou, O ignorant wolf, art like this; so stay where thou art and under what hath befallen thee be of good heart!" When the wolf heard what the fox said, he knew that from him he had no hope of favour; so he wept for himself, saying, "Verily, I have been heedless of my weal; but if Allah deliver me from this ill I will assuredly repent of my arrogance towards those who are weaker than I, and will wear woollens*Arab. "Suf;" hence "Sufi,"=(etymologically) one who wears woollen garments, a devotee, a Santon; from =wise; from =pure, or from Safa=he was pure. This is not the place to enter upon such a subject as "Tasawwuf," or Sufyism; that singular reaction from arid Moslem realism and materialism, that immense development of gnostic and Neo-platonic transcendentalism which is found only germinating in the Jewish and Christian creeds. The poetry of Omar-i-Khayyam, now familiar to English readers, is a fair specimen; and the student will consult the last chapter of the Dabistan "On the religion of the Sufiahs." The first Moslem Sufi was Abu Hashim of Kufah, ob. A. H. 150=767, and the first Convent of Sufis called "Takiyah" (Pilgrimage i. 124) was founded in Egypt by Saladin the Great. and go upon the mountains, celebrating the praises of Almighty Allah and fearing His punishment. And I will withdraw from the company of other wild beasts and forsure will I feed the poor fighters for the Faith." Then he wept and wailed, till the heart of the fox softened when he heard his humble words and his professions of penitence for his past insolence and arrogance. So he took pity upon him and sprang up joyfully and, going to the brink of the breach, squatted down on his hind quarters and let his tail hang in the hole; whereupon the wolf arose and putting out his paw, pulled the fox's tail, so that he fell down in the pit with him. Then said the wolf, "O fox of little mercy, why didst thou exult in my misery, thou that wast my companion and under my dominion? Now thou art fallen into the pit with me and retribution hath soon overtaken thee. Verily, the sages have said, 'If one of you reproach his brother with sucking the dugs of a bitch, he also shall suck her.' And how well quoth the poet,
'When Fortune weighs heavy on some of us,
And makes camel kneel by some other one,*i.e. when she encamps with a favourite for the night.
Say to those who rejoice in our ills: --Awake!
The rejoicer shall suffer as we have done!'
'Make thy game by guile, for thou'rt born in a Time
Whose sons are lions in forest lain;
And turn on the leat*Arab. "Kanat", the subterranean water-course called in
Persia "Kyariz." Lane (ii. 66) translates it "brandish around the
spear (Kanat is also a cane-lance) of artifice," thus making rank
nonsense of the line. Al-Hariri uses the term in the Ass. of the
Banu Haram where "Kanat" may be a pipe or bamboo laid
underground. of thy knavery
That the mill of subsistence may grind thy grain;
And pluck the fruits or, if out of reach,
Why, cram thy maw with the grass on plain.'"
'Let thy thought be ill and none else but ill;
For suspicion is best of the worldling's skill:
Naught casteth a man into parlous place
But good opinion and (worse) good-will!'
'Be sure all are villains and so bide safe;
Who lives wide awake on few Ills shall light:
Meet thy foe with smiles and a smooth fair brow,
And in heart raise a host for the battle dight!'
'He thou trusted most is thy worst unfriend;
'Ware all and take heed with whom thou wend:
Fair opinion of Fortune is feeble sign;
So believe her ill and her Ills perpend!'"
When it was the One Hundred and Fiftieth Night, She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the wolf heard the fox's words he bit his forehand for repentance. Then he gave the fox fair words, but this availed naught and he was at his wits' end for what to do; so he said to him in soft, low accents, "Verily, you tribe of foxes are the most pleasant people in point of tongue and the subtlest in jest, and this is but a joke of thine; but all times are not good for funning and jesting." The fox replied, "O ignoramus, in good sooth jesting hath a limit which the jester must not overpass; and deem not that Allah will again give thee possession of me after having once delivered me from thy hand." Quoth the wolf, "It behoveth thee to compass my release, by reason of our brotherhood and good fellowship; and, if thou release me, I will assuredly make fair thy recompense." Quoth the fox, "Wise men say, 'Take not to brother the wicked fool, for he will disgrace thee in lieu of gracing thee; nor take to brother the liar for, if thou do good, he will conceal it; and if thou do ill he will reveal it.' And again, the sages have said, 'There is help for everything but death: all may be warded off, except Fate.' As for the reward thou declarest to be my due from thee, I compare thee herein with the serpent which fled from the charmer.*Arab. "Hawi"=a juggler who plays tricks with snakes: he is mostly a Gypsy. The "recompense" the man expects is the golden treasure which the ensorcelled snake is supposed to guard. This idea is as old as the Dragon in the Garden of the Hesperides--and older. A man saw her affrighted and said to her, 'What aileth thee, O thou serpent?' Replied she, 'I am fleeing from the snake-charmer, for he seeketh to trap me and, if thou wilt save me and hide me with thee, I will make fair thy reward and do thee all manner of kindness.' So he took her, incited thereto by lust for the recompense and eager to find favour with Heaven, and set her in his breastpocket. Now when the charmer had passed and had wended his way and the serpent had no longer any cause to fear, he said to her, 'Where is the reward thou didst promise me? Behold, I have saved thee from that thou fearedest and soughtest to fly.' Replied she, 'Tell me in what limb or in what place shall I strike thee with my fangs, for thou knowest we exceed not that recompense.' So saying, she gave him a bite whereof he died. And I liken thee, O dullard, to the serpent in her dealings with that man. Hast thou not heard what the poet saith?
'Trust not to man when thou hast raised his spleen
And wrath, nor that 'twill cool do thou misween:
Smooth feels the viper to the touch and glides
With grace, yet hides she deadliest venene.'"
"Fate the Wolf's soul snatched up from wordly stead;
Far be from bliss his soul that perished!
Abu Sirhan!*The "Father of going out (to prey) by morning"; for dawn
is called Zanab Sirhan the Persian Dum-i-gurg=wolf's tail, i.e.
the first brush of light; the Zodiacal Light shown in morning.
Sirhan is a nickname of the wolf--Gaunt Grim or Gaffer Grim, the
German Isengrin or Eisengrinus (icy grim or iron grim) whose wife
is Hersent, as Richent or Hermeline is Mrs. Fox. In French we
have lopez, luppe, leu, e.g.
Venant a la queue, leu, leu,
i.e. going in Indian file. Hence the names D'Urfe and Saint-Loup.
In Scandinavian, the elder sister of German, Ulf and in German
(where the Jews were forced to adopt the name) Wolff whence
"Guelph." He is also known to the Arabs as the "sire of a
she-lamb," the figure metonymy called "Kunyat bi 'l-Zidd" (lucus
a non lucendo), a patronymic or by-name given for opposition and
another specimen of "inverted speech." how sore thou sought'st my death;
Thou, burnt this day in fire of sorrow dread:
Thou'rt fallen into pit, where all who fall
Are blown by Death-blast down among the dead."