The Fourth Session

In the name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful.

The traditionist said: Muhammad ibn Khalid al-Barqi related to us, saying: Abu al-Maymun al-Hasan ibn Harun al-Samarra’i the scribe related to me, on the authority of Abu al-Tahir Sabur al-Zahid, who said: We went to the house of the Governor in the early morning to listen to what he had promised us. Among his discourse was that he said to us: "If you both choose to know from me the reason that necessitated my entry into India, the state by which I reached this station and came to govern these lands, my acquaintance with you, your knowledge of my name, where I am from, and the identity of my father: I am Ibrahim ibn Muhammad al-Tamimi al-Attar. I was born in Kufa. My father was well-known there for selling perfume.

He had a friend who was a jeweler, and he was one of the Sheikhs of this Group. He used to travel to the lands of India and China to buy jewels, perfumes, and similar goods prepared for the lands of Iraq and elsewhere. He would bring what he prepared to my father, who would sell it and collect the price, keeping it until the jeweler's arrival. When that Sheikh returned from his travels, he would stay for the duration of his visit without asking my father about anything he had sold or anything that remained. When he intended to travel again, he would request the key to the chest containing the money, open it, take what he chose, lock the chest on what remained, and hand the key back to him, asking about nothing at all. Then he would journey and remain absent for a long or short time; he departed from us and was absent for a long time—and from Allah comes safety."

The Dispraise of Women

"Then he returned from his travels, and my father rejoiced at his arrival with the utmost joy. My mother was ill and passed away on the very day he arrived. My father suffered a great deal from her death. He