ded them, but bestowed a
double reward on Hasan Basri, upon which as Shabi said to Ibn Sirin, "We
gave him a poor answer, and he gave us a poor reward."

Hasan Basri's adoption of the ascetic life was brought about in the
following way. When a young man he was a lapidary, and had gone to Roum
(Asia Minor) to practise his craft. He there lived on friendly terms
with the vizier of that country. One day the vizier said to him, "We are
going out of the city to a certain place; will you come with us?" Hasan
Basri assented, and went. "We came," he said afterwards, "to a plain
where there was a vast tent the ropes of which were of silk and its
stakes of gold. I saw a large number of soldiers marching round it; they
repeated some words which I could not hear, and then retired. Then came
about four hundred mullahs and learned men, who did the same. These were
followed by a similar number of old men. Then about four or five hundred
beautiful maidens, each holding in her hand a dish containing rubies,
pearls, turquoises, and other precious stones. They went in procession
round the tent in the same way. Finally the sultan and the vizier went
into the tent and came out again.

"As for me, I remained transfixed with astonishment. 'What does all this
mean?' I asked the vizier. 'The King,' he said, 'had an extremely
beautiful child of a happy disposition, who fell ill and died. His tomb
is within this tent, and they visit it once a year. First come the
soldiers, who circle round the tent and say, 'O son of the sultan, if we
could have ransomed thy life by the strokes of our swords, we would have
done it, even had it cost us our own; but God willed otherwise, and we
cannot change his decree.' Having so said, they go away. Then the
mullahs and learned men, coming in their turn, say, 'O son of the
sultan, if we could have ransomed thee by knowledge or by eloquence, we
would have done so; but all the knowledge and eloquence in the world
cannot arrest the decrees of Allah.' Then they depart. After them come
the old men, who cry, 'If we could have saved thee by groanings and
prayers, we would have done so; but our intercession is useless.'
Finally come the young maidens, who say, 'O son of the sultan, if we
could have ransomed thee at the price of beauty and wealth, we would
have done it; but the steps of fate turn aside for neither.' After them
the sultan and the vizier enter the tent. The sultan says, 'O my son, I
have done all that I cou