Literary text: T-S NS 224.142

Description

Story in Judaeo-Arabic, partially rhymed. A first-person narrative attributed to Maḥrūz b. Nājiya al-Ruṣāfī set during the reign of the Abbasid caliph al-Wāthiq (r. 842–47). There is a parallel version attributed to Wahb b. Nājiya al-Ruṣāfī in Nūr al-Ṭarf wa-Nūr al-Ẓarf by al-Ḥuṣrī al-Qayrawānī (d. 1095) (https://shamela.ws/book/5351/42), in praise of the hospitality and culture of Bedouins. The narrator explains that he was among those accused of embezzling state funds under the reign of al-Wāthiq and was forced to flee to the wilderness. His riding animal brings him to the lands of Banū Shaybān and he enters the courtyard of a house. A woman calls out to extend hospitality, and he responds "yā sayyida, how can a frightened, pursued, terrified, persecuted person find peace... no one can rest with the government after him." She gives him advice and repeats the invitation. The Geniza fragment ends around here. In the parallel version, the woman summons the head of the household (or tribe?) Abū l-Murhaf al-Aswad b. Qanān, who extends hospitality and protection to the fugitive.