Original content

English translation

One day Asma'i was present at Harun's table, and they mentioned paluda (a sweet dessert). Asma'i said: There are many Bedouins who have never seen paluda nor heard its name. Harun said: Bring proof of this claim you have made, otherwise it is a lie. By chance, one day Harun went out hunting, and Asma'i was with him. They saw a Bedouin arriving from the desert. Harun said to Asma'i: Bring him to me! Asma'i went to him and said: The Commander of the Faithful summons you, respond to him. He said: Do the faithful have a commander? Asma'i said: Yes. The Bedouin said: I do not believe in him. Asma'i insulted him, saying: O son of an adulteress! The Bedouin became enraged and seized Asma'i's collar and dragged him this way and that, cursing him, while Harun laughed. After that he came before Harun and said: O Commander of the Faithful! Since this man presumes so, take my due from him, for he has insulted me. Harun said: Give him two dirhams. The Bedouin said: Glory be to God! He has insulted me, and I must give him yet another two dirhams? Harun said: Yes, such is our ruling. The Bedouin turned to Asma'i and said: O son of two adulterers, get going and by the ruling of the Commander of the Faithful pay four dirhams. Harun fell over backwards with laughter, and then they took the Bedouin along. When he entered Harun's palace and beheld that grandeur and majesty and observed Harun's assembly, it appeared great in his eyes. He came forward and said: Peace be upon you, O God! Harun said: Be silent, what are you saying? He said: Peace be upon you, O Prophet of God! They said: Woe to you, what are you saying, he is the Commander of the Faithful! He said: Peace be upon you, O Commander of the Faithful. Harun said: And upon you be peace. Then they seated him and brought the table, and he ate of everything, and at the end they brought paluda. Asma'i said: I hope that he does not know what paluda is. Harun said: If that be so, I will give you a purse of gold. Then the Bedouin stretched out his hand and began eating the paluda in a manner that suggested he had never tasted it before. Harun asked him: What is this that you are eating? He said: By that God who has honored you with the caliphate, I do not know what this is, but God Most High says in the Quran: 'And fruit, and palm-trees, and pomegranates'; the date-palm grows near us, so I suppose this is a pomegranate. Asma'i said: O Commander of the Faithful, now two purses are due from you, because just as he does not know paluda, he also does not know the pomegranate. Harun ordered that Asma'i be given two purses of gold, and the Bedouin so much that he became rich. Do you know who is truly generous? He whose treasury of coins knows no restraint. Whatever befalls him, be it earnest or in jest, all of it becomes an occasion for his generosity.