A rich man, Abu Al-Husn, squandered all his wealth & was distraught. His only remaining female slave, Sympathy, noticed this & suggested to him to take her & offer her to the then Sultan, Haroun Al Rashid, for 10,000 gold coins. If asked about the high price, he could tell that she is learned & can be questioned on any subject.
He did so & the Sultan called all the experts in his court to question her. First the theologians questioned her about the Quran, starting with "how do you know there is God?" She replied "by reason" & proceeded to prove it. After answering all questions, she asked them about the branches of Islam, stipulating that they should give her their gown of honour if they failed. They couldn't & after answering her own question, she took their gown.
Then the physicians questioned her about anatomy & medicine. After answering all their questions, she asked them "what is sweeter than honey?" They could not answer & she answered "the love of children is sweeter than honey" & took away their gowns.
Then she was examined on Astronomy with the same result. She was asked to sing & play musical instruments, which she did entrancingly. Haroun Al Rashid was ecstatic & offered her 10,000 gold coins & asked whether she would like to stay at the palace. She called on Allah to bless the Sultan for this offer, but asked to be allowed to go back with her master. Haroun Al Rashid was delighted with her faithfulness to her master & rewarded her with an additional 5000 gold coins & sent her home, along with the gowns she had won.
This story rebuts the idea of misogyny & points out how even a female slave was honoured & respected for her learning. Also the types of questions & answers reveal the high humanism extant then.
Her treatment can be contrasted with her contemporary Hypatia, a Christian philosopher, mathematician & polymath, who was murdered by a Christian mob.
No comments:
Post a Comment