The laughable stories collected by Mâr Gregory John Bar Hebræ

PROFITABLE SAYINGS OF MUHAMMEDAN KINGS. 59
And it came to pass after a few days that the king
devised means and cut
off the head of him that wished
to rebel, and he called the wise man and said unto
him, "Dost thou remember the day wherein I took
"counsel with thee?" He replied, "How can I ever
"forget the day wherein I tasted death through fear
"of thee?" And the king said to him, "What thou
"didst counsel was right, and I had intended in my
"mind to do, it, but I was afraid lest when thou hadst
"confirmed my own intention this secret would be-
"come revealed and the noble would slip out of my
"hands."
CCXXVII. To another king a certain man brought
a pair of shoes, saying, "These are the shoes of the
"Prophet;" and the king received them and he gave
him much money. And it came to pass that when
the man had gone forth he said to those who were
round about him, "I know that these shoes are not
"those of the Prophet, for the man who owned them
"was not
one of those who could have inherited them,
"and that he either bought them or that they were
"given to him as a gift. Only I was afraid lest it
"should be reported concerning me that the shoes of
"the Prophet had come to me and that I had not made
"rejoicings over them, and lest I should be judged as
"one of little faith by men."
CCXXVIII. Another king (Harun al-Rashid^ had
'
This famous man was proclaimed Khalifa at Bagdad on Friday,
the Xllth day before the end of Rebt' I. A.H. 170J he died
at Sanabadh near Tus on Saturday the IVth day of Jumada II.
A.H. 193. He reigned twenty-three years and six months, and
died aged forty-four years and four months, A.D. 808.