The Theocrat: A Modern Arabic Novel (Modern Arabic Literature) by Bensalem Himmich Page B

bad thing worse, are you?” said al-Hakim angrily. “God’s earth is narrow, you say?”
    “My lord,” the old man replied, “if that were not the case, then you and I would never have met on that narrow bridge.”
    Al-Hakim gave a hearty laugh and let the man go. Now he turned his attention to the two women. “So what has brought you into these cages?” he asked.
    “My lord,” replied the first woman, who was very beautiful, “you have twice denied me the man who was most beloved to me. Once your men surprised and killed him out of revenge because he was my companion in loneliness, my resort in times of oppression, and my protector against temptation. The second time was when you prevented me from visiting his grave and communing with his dead body. Since you had made it impossible for me to visit him, I placed my own body in a grave next to that of my beloved. By day I used a reed to provide myself with enough air, and at night I went in search of food. I stayed this way for several days until there came the morning when one of the men who harass women visiting cemeteries trod on my reed. I emerged half-dead from the grave, and they brought me to stand before you.”
    Al-Hakim was astonished. “Woman,” he asked, “you would do all this for the sake of a man? Who was this beloved husband of yours?”
    “He wasn’t my husband,” she replied, her eyes gleaming with defiance. “He was my brother.”
    Al-Hakim was now even more astonished. “Your brother, woman! Go now to see my sister, Sitt al-Mulk, and tell her this amazing story. Perhaps my rebellious sister will take note of this tale and see the light. And you, old woman, why is your back so withered?”
    “My lord,” the old woman replied, “even old women have been distressed by your regulation that forbids women from leaving the house or even looking out of balconies and windows. Even old women are crushed between two flames: one is you, my lord, and the other istheir own husbands who oppress them while being themselves oppressed by you. I was writing down my frustrations and anger on notes that I would place in the ladles of street vendors; all I’d get in exchange was some fruit and sweetmeats. When your decree was issued forbidding the uncovering of what was concealed, I got drunk, stole out of the house at night, and went down to the Nile where I stretched out and covered myself in a wrap. There I proceeded to drink some more and stole an occasional glance at the beauty of God’s creation in the water, the plants, and the greenery. When your men showed up and wanted to identify me by removing my wrap, I stopped them. “I am fully covered,” I told them in a threatening tone, “and you’re trying to contravene the orders of our lord the caliph by uncovering what is concealed. So they brought me here so I could tell you my story and you could decide on my fate.”
    Al-Hakim was on the point of leaving. “Here I promised to pardon anyone who was able to astonish me,” he said with a laugh. “From you and all your colleagues in this session I’ve heard more heresy and deviance than I would have imagined possible. Now I feel relaxed and forgiving, so go in peace—God forgive you!”
     
    3. A Session on Theology with the Devotees
    Al-Hakim got the notion of claiming divinity. To that end he brought in a man named al-Akhram, and attached to him a group of men whom he encouraged to engage in irreligious acts …. The story of his claim to divinity spread. This way he gathered around him a group of ignoramuses. Whenever they encountered him, they would greet him with the words: Peace be upon you, O One and Only, O bringer of both life and death.
    Ibn al-Sabi,
    Book of History—Completion of Thabit Ibn Sinan’s Book of History
    It was in the secret wing of the Dar al-Hikma that one night after a long break, al-Hakim reconvened his session on theology. This group wasmade up of major missionaries, marshals, and deputies of the community, along