Wisest of madmen to Harun Rashid: Ruling is reverence and law

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OUR story dates back to the era of Harun Rashid of the Abbasid Dynasty. One day, he became despondent and was unable to enjoy his sleep for a while. He hence asked for Bahloul, who was known as “the wisest of madmen”, to be brought to him for entertainment. When Bahloul came, he noticed that the king was not feeling well. He said, “My Lord, know that the one who is far from the reign is the king, for authority is very harmful.”

The king was pleased with him, because despite what people say about Abu Wahab Bahloul bin Amr Al-Sayrafi Al-Kufi, he had a vision. It was as if he was forecasting the future, and he mixed seriousness with jesting in order to not raise concern of the Caliph.
Bahloul then asked, “Oh my lord, why don’t you allow me to rule for a month?” Harun replied, “How dare you ask for this?! However, since I am aware of your integrity, I will leave the ruling to you for one day as I am going hunting tomorrow.” Thus, Bahloul became the ruler, and Harun went hunting along with his wife Zubaida and his entourage. In the afternoon when Harun returned to his palace, he found dozens of donkeys in front of his gate. He ordered Bahloul to be brought before him and asked him about the donkeys.

Bahloul replied, “I have imposed a fine on anyone who is proven to be afraid of his wife. That is why within hours I collected such a huge number of donkeys.” Harun said, “What is this nonsense? Return the donkeys to their owners.” Bahloul replied, “Forget that, my lord. I have an important matter that concerns you. While I was walking around the city, I saw a beautiful, delicate and charming girl, and I wanted to propose to her for you, my lord.” Harun replied, “Lower your voice, you crazy person, lest Zubaida hears you.” Bahloul said, “You will then have to pay double the fine, which is two donkeys, because you are the Caliph.” At this point, the “wisest of madman” dared.

The Caliph asked: “Why did the Umayyad Dynasty fall, even though it had expanded within 93 years and became an empire?” Harun wanted to hear the answer from the madman, so he asked, “Why do you think so?” Bahboul said, “I will borrow the words of one of the Umayyad’s sons, when he was asked about the reason for the demise of their dynasty. He said, “We assigned great matters to the young, and small matters to the adults. We kept friends away due to distrust in their friendship, and brought the enemies close to avoid their enmity. But the enemies did not turn into friends, and the friends turned into enemies”.” Harun said, “Give me more of your knowledge” and Bahloul replied, “The first ruler of the Abbasid Dynasty was Abu Al-Abbas Abdullah bin Muhammad, who was of Persian origin. He worked to stabilize the rule of his state, and was called the butcher because he killed everyone who had any connection to the Umayyads.

On the other hand, the last of the Umayyad caliphs, Marwan bin Muhammad, nicknamed “The Donkey”, was unable to rule his opponents from the Umayyads, even though he was brave. That is why there were many revolts against him, but the greatest threat came to him from where he did not expect. It was from the province of Khorasan because it wanted to separate from the Umayyads, and Abu Abbas saw their weakness and disunity. Therefore, many incidents occurred between the two sides until Marwan marched to them with a large army, and the two sides met in the Battle of the Zab in the year 750 AD. Marwan was defeated and returned to the Levant. The Abbasids followed him, and he fled to Egypt. They pursued him and killed him in the village of Busir, in the last month of the same year. With his death, the Umayyad caliphate fell, because the caliph did not work to gather his family and stabilize his state. Instead of spending on his people, he worked to please the Umayyads with money, but he did not satisfy their hunger, while the state was suffering from unrest.

Each of its governors was working to turn his supporters against the other.” We benefit from the fact that choosing assistants has many advantages, and in this regard there is a lesson that must be taken into account, my lord.” As Harun was listening carefully, Bahloul said, “One day, one of the lions in the forest grew old and was no longer able to hunt. His prestige was long gone, and a jackal served as his advisor. The jackel said to the lion, “I heard that eating the heart and ears of a donkey restores strength to lions, so I will go and get one of them for you to eat and regain your strength.” Jackals are known to be elusive and treacherous, so a short time later he brought a donkey. As soon as the hungry lion saw it, it roared terrifyingly, and so he had no choice but to run away.

The jackal said, “May Allah forgive you, my lord. Why did you do that? I will bring another one for you, but you must deal with him calmly.” The jackal returned to the donkey again and said to him, “Why did you run away from the presence of my lord the lion, who wants to make you his advisor. His roar was to welcome you. Come back to him”. When the donkey returned, the plan was for the lion to leave them alone for a while so that the donkey could feel more reassured. That is why when he went, the jackal attacked the donkey and ate its ears and heart. When the lion became accustomed to it and saw what the deceitful animal had done, he left the forest, so that it would not be said that the jackal deceived its king. T

here are many lessons in life, whether they are on the lips of people, sane or crazy, or animals. There are rulers and officials who took them into account and worked on what was best for their state. That is why Harun Rashid took the lessons that Bahloul gave in order to preserve his state. He said to Bahloul, “You must not stray from my council, O Bahloul. You are the wisest of the wise, and you are not crazy.” Bahloul said, “Sir, before I go, I must conclude by saying that rule is reverence and law; declare it and impose so that your opponents will get lost and know that Allah is true.”

By Ahmed Al-Jarallah
Editor-in-Chief, the Arab Times
[email protected]

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