Authors: Naguib Mahfouz
A woman of medium height came in, walking forward until she stood before the throne.
Osiris asked her to speak.
“A peasant from Beni Suef,” Damyana told them, “I became a widow with one young son. At that time, the chief tax collector was Usama ibn Yazid, infamous for his cruel and arbitrary behavior. Usama ordered that every priest wear an iron signet ring on his finger, with his name engraved upon it, that he would receive from the tax collector to prove he had paid his due. He threatened to amputate the hand of anyone who disobeyed this rule. He also imposed a fee of ten dinars upon anyone traveling by boat on the river. My financial circumstances compelled me to voyage by sailboat, and it happened that my son—who was carrying my ticket—bent down to drink, and a crocodile snatched him. They would not let me go, despite the word of eyewitnesses, and I was forced to sell all that I had with me.”
“The religion was Islamic, and the law was Roman,” opined Ptahhotep.
“During the age of darkness, the peasant knew only gloom, whatever the oppressor’s name, or his nationality,” fumed Abnum.
“As the people’s patience dwindled, they grouped as revolutionaries,” Damyana resumed. “The uprising lasted until the caliph in Damascus died. Then things quieted down, in hope of a new policy.”
“May the gods bless you for the first pleasing piece of news they’ve heard,” lauded Abnum.
Osiris turned to her, “Let justice be your portion in your final trial.”
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H
ORUS HERALDED
, “al-Hajj Ahmad al-Minyawi!”
A tall, strong man walked in until he stood before the throne.
Osiris bid him speak.
“Originally from the family of Mikhail al-Minyawi,” Ahmad said, “God guided me to Islam, so I converted. I learned the Arabic tongue, and memorized the Noble Qur’an. Then I became a teacher, and the Lord enabled me to go on pilgrimage. In my day, Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz was caliph, one of the Right-Guided Ones among the earliest leaders of Islam. When the Copts complained about their treatment under Usama ibn Yazid, the caliph ordered his arrest and removal. Sent in shackles to the caliph, he died on the way. Usama’s place was taken by Ayyub ibn Sharhabil, who was very pious, and who compensated the Copts for what they had suffered in persecution.”
“Why did you switch to Islam?” asked Akhenaten.
“Belief erupts in the heart without any warning,” said al-Minyawi.
“I believe you,” said Akhenaten, “and no one can believe you like an expert such as me. But didn’t my hymns have anything to do with your faith?”
“Your name was unknown till a thousand years after this man’s time,” Osiris informed Akhenaten.
“Maybe you just wanted to escape the head tax?” Khufu prodded him.
“No—there was a military commander, Hayyan ibn Shurayh, who demanded that even those who become Muslims pay the head tax. When this reached the caliph, he ordered it to be cancelled, and that Hayyan be given twenty lashes, telling him that God sent Muhammad as a guide, not as a tax collector.”
“May success go with you to your Muslim trial,” said Osiris.
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H
ORUS HAILED
, “Samaan al-Gargawi!”
A muscular man walked in, then stood before the throne.
Osiris invited him to speak.
“A blacksmith, descended from blacksmiths,” said Samaan al-Gargawi. “At the start of the caliphate of Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik, the Copts rose up in revolt, in which I took part, losing my life in one of its skirmishes. Hanzala ibn Safwan was the governor then, a thoroughly oppressive character. He wasn’t satisfied with just taxing the people—he taxed the animals as well! For this reason, he was removed when a rebellion broke out.”
“I praise you as liberator and a son of the people,” said Abnum. “But I do wonder what caused your uprising to fail?”
“The caliph’s power was overwhelming,” answered Samaan al-Gargawi. “We were a small, isolated people who had lost the martial spirit. And we lacked the participation of our brothers who had switched to Islam—which made them loyal to the caliph.”
“This invasion from within had never happened before,” replied Abnum.
“Go to your Christian trial,” Osiris said, “with our praise and blessings.”
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H
ORUS HERALDED
, “Halim al-Aswani!”
A tall, withered man walked in his winding sheet until he stood before the throne.
Osiris requested his testimony.
“I was a fruits-and-vegetables seller from a large family, half of which converted to Islam. As it happened, the leadership of the Muslims had shifted to a new family—during my time there was a caliph called Abu Jaafar al-Mansur. A series of governors came in succession, none of them lasting more than a year, sometimes less. There was no chance for anyone to think of reform. Things deteriorated to the point that the Copts revolted in Sakha. Conditions got so bad that plague and famine reigned until the people were eating both their animals and each other.”
“How did the Muslims fare in this?” the Sage Ptahhotep inquired.
“They suffered as we did,” answered al-Aswani. “They grew so extremely bitter that they accused the governor of violating the sharia, the sacred law. Regardless of our religious differences, our feelings were united, but those in power were stronger than all of us together.”
“If you had all adopted the faith of the One God, then that would have saved you,” claimed Akhenaten.
“The problem was one of bread, not of God,” Abnum corrected him.
“Perhaps you will find justice in your final trial,” Osiris consoled him.
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H
ORUS CALLED OUT
, “Sulayman Tadros!”
A thickset man of medium height came in, walking until he stood before the throne.
Osiris asked him to speak.
“A skilled engraver,” said Sulayman Tadros, “I lived through the rule of four caliphs: al-Mahdi, al-Hadi, al-Rashid, and al-Ma’mun. And tens of governors all in a row, most of them conquered by wantonness, bribery, and oppressiveness. In their day, numerous uprisings broke out, and in some of them the Copts—the native Egyptians—both Christian and Muslim, and the Arabs, would all unite against the persecution, cooperating with each other to drive it out. Finally, al-Ma’mun himself came to restore order, and justice prevailed. Conditions improved for all the people, whatever their religion.”
“Did you join any revolutions?” asked Abnum.
“No, but I lost a son in one of them,” Sulayman Tadros replied.
“Seemingly, things were moving in a new track,” said the Sage Ptahhotop.
“You truly deserve our empathy,” said Osiris. “Go to your final trial in peace.”
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H
ORUS HERALDED
, “Musa, secretary to Ahmad ibn Tulun!”
A tallish man came in and stood before the throne.
Osiris invited him to speak.
“A Christian Copt,” commenced Musa, “The Lord granted me knowledge and skill, and the viceroy, Ahmad ibn Tulun, chose me as his private secretary. He was not an Arab, but was appointed in the caliphate of al-Muatamid ibn al-Mutawakkil. Thereafter he sought to solidify his own rule of the country. It was not only as though Egypt had regained her independence, but had annexed Syria and parts of Asia Minor, as well. He resolutely strove for reform and development, while upholding piety and justice, spreading his protective umbrella over the Muslims, Christians, and Jews alike—they all extolled his praise. He would sit for two days each week with those who had been wronged, just as in the days of the Right-Guided Caliphs.
“That is why, when Ibn Tulun fell very ill, everyone came out to the top of the Muqattam Mountain. The Muslims brought their Qur’an, the Christians their Gospels, and the Jews their Torah, all praying for his recovery!”
“Did the Coptic Christians profit by working for the governor?” asked the Sage Ptahhotep.
“His choosing me proved that he believed in religious equality,” answered Musa. “So sure was I that he did believe in it, that even when I proposed Christian engineers to build his mosques and fortresses, I was looking for the right people, not playing favorites. The just ruler will extract the best from his helpers, and be an example to them.”
“And how were the relations between the sects?” asked the wise Imhotep, vizier to King Djoser.
“Very good indeed, as is only appropriate in the reign of a fair-minded ruler,” said “During Ibn Tulun’s rule, Egypt became one single people, but of three religions. And Islam began to spread more, and to gain more converts.”
Thoth, Scribe of the Gods, sought permission to pose a question—and it was granted. “Why did Ibn Tulun imprison Patriarch Michael of Alexandria?” he asked Musa.
“That was not his fault,” Musa replied, “but a plot by a malicious archbishop named Sakka, who told Ibn Tulun that the patriarch was hoarding enormous wealth, far beyond his needs. So Ibn Tulun demanded that Michael give up part of his treasure at a time when the viceroy was girding to fight off foreign armies. When the patriarch said that he did not have such sums to give, he was arrested on a charge of treason. But then Ibn Tulun’s son, Khumarawayh, succeeded him: he discovered the truth and set Michael free, and brought him back to his post with honors.
“But the heirs of Ibn Tulun were neither as strong nor as iron-willed as him. Fortune turned against their state, and Egypt again looked to the future with anxious eyes.”
“You have presented a splendid account,” Osiris told him. “May peace go with you.”
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H
ORUS HAILED
, “Ali Sundus!”
A powerfully built man of middling height walked in, halting before the throne.
Osiris asked him to speak.
“A water carrier, I lived most of my life under the Ikhshidid rulers,” Ali Sundus told the court. “Egypt had gone back to the fold of the Abbasids—and again, scores of viceroys came and went in succession, each inflicting injustices upon the Egyptians, whether Christians or Muslims. Finally, Muhammad al-Utfayh, a Mamluk descended from the kings of Farghana, took up our affairs. He made Egypt independent, and called himself ‘the Ikhshid,’ the customary title among the kings in his country. He drove away those who had designs on Egypt, and in each of his campaigns, urged the Christians to fight alongside him.
“Then power passed to his vizier, the eunuch Kafur, who called himself ‘al-Ikhshidi’ too. During his reign, Egypt possessed both the Hijaz and Syria. He purged the land of corrupt officials, and the nation flourished under his rule.”
“How could you tolerate being ruled by a castrated slave?” said Ramesses II.
“All that mattered to us as Muslims,” replied Ali Sundus, “is that he was a fair servant. A just slave is better than an oppressive prince.”
“And just how does a slave surpass a prince?” Ramesses II answered rhetorically.
“By worshiping the One God,” lectured Akhenaten. “All my life I appealed for human equality—only to be told that I was mad.”
“May peace be with you in your Islamic proceeding,” said Osiris to Ali Sundus.
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H
ORUS CALLED OUT
, “Ibn Qulaqis!”
A short, flabby man walked in and stood before the throne.
Osiris bid him address the court.
“I am Abul Fatah Nasrallah ibn Abdullah, known as Ibn Qulaqis al-Lakhmi al-Iskandari, nicknamed ‘the Mighty Judge.’ ”
“A name longer than those of most pharaohs!” gasped Osiris.
“My job was to moor the tall-masted ships at harbor, but I was also a poet. I visited the Maghreb and Sicily, praising their rulers in verse, just as I praised the Fatimids and the kings of Yemen. Egypt was my country, Islam was my homeland, and the art of praise my boon fortune. Hence my ode in panegyric to Yasir ibn Bilal, which opens thus:
Sail ever onward to your great fate / The infant crescent has grown to full moon
The water is kind to him who skims it / But evil to him who settles.
“And it is I who also said:
Gaze on the sun as over the Nile it’s sinking—
More amazing when followed by the redness of evening.”
“Tell me about the time in which you lived,” Osiris ordered him. “Poetry is judged in another venue.”
“The Ikhshidid dynasty was overturned by the Fatimids without resort to war,” Ibn Qulaqis obliged Osiris. “They founded Cairo and al-Azhar, and improved the administration—bringing prosperity along with their reign. When al-Muizz li-Din Illah arrived, he received the nation’s elite, among them Ahmad ibn Tabataba, the scientist and man of letters. He asked the new caliph, ‘From whom did his lordship descend?’
“Al-Muizz then drew his sword half-way from its scabbard. ‘This is my lineage,’ the caliph replied, distributing gold to those assembled. ‘And this is my nobility,’ he told them. To this they answered, ‘We have all heard and will obey.’ ”
“Why didn’t you make your country independent after the Ikhshidids disappeared?” asked Abnum.
“And why didn’t we split away when there was more than one Muslim caliph?” Ibn al-Qulaqis asked in return. “Independence means nothing to the Muslim—all he wants is a strong Muslim ruler who is also just. This we found under the Fatimids.”
“When they swore their allegiance through gold and the sword?”
“Can there be a state without those two things?” Ibn Qulaqis again asked. “The Fatimid age was crammed with knowledge, art, and construction, while the Christians enjoyed both trust and security. But the rule of al-Hakim bi-Amr Illah was unforgettable for its clashing contradictions. Once he would favor the Muslims and persecute the Copts, another time he would coddle the Copts while bashing the Muslims, and then he would just be horrible to them all. But their era ended in a deadly famine—their awe and glory were wiped away, as the people were struck with stunning calamities.”
“Proceed to your trial with peace,” Osiris said to Ibn Qulaqis.
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