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long in his possession; and it seldom happens that a master emancipates a female slave, without marrying her to some man able to support her, or otherwise providing for her.
The Prophet strongly enjoined the duty of kindness to slaves. "Feed your memlooks," said he, "with food of that which ye eat, and clothe them with such clothing as ye wear; and command them not to do that which they are unable."[122]--These precepts are generally attended to, either entirely or in a great degree. Some other sayings of the Prophet on this subject well deserve to be mentioned; as the following:--"He who beats his slave without fault, or slaps him on the face, his atonement for this is freeing him."--"A man who behaves ill to his slave will not enter into paradise."--"Whoever is the cause of separation between mother and child, by selling or giving, God will separate him from his friends on the day of resurrection."--"When a slave wishes well to his master, and worships God well, for him are double rewards."[123]--It is related of 'Othmán, "that he twisted the ear of a memlook belonging to him, on account of disobedience, and afterwards, repenting of it, ordered him to twist his ear in like manner: but he would not. 'Othmán urged him, and the memlook advanced, and began to wring it by little and little. He said to him, 'Wring it hard; for I cannot endure the punishment of the day of judgment [on account of this act].' The memlook answered, 'O my master, the day that thou fearest, I also fear.'"--"It is related also of Zeyn-el-'Ábideen, that he had a memlook who seized a sheep, and broke its leg; and he said to him, 'Why didst thou this?' He answered, 'To provoke thee to anger.' 'And I,' said he, 'will provoke to anger him who taught thee; and he is Iblees: go, and be free, for the sake of God.'"[124]--Many similar anecdotes might be added; but the general assertions of travellers in the East are more satisfactory evidence in favour of the humane conduct of most Muslims to their slaves.
It sometimes happens, though rarely, that free girls are sold as slaves.[125] A remarkable instance is related in the "Mir-át ez-Zemán."[126]--Fáṭimeh, surnamed Ghareeb, a slave of the Khaleefeh El-Moạtaṣim, the son of Hároon, was a poetess, accomplished in singing and calligraphy, and extremely beautiful. Her mother was an orphan; and Jaạfar, the famous Wezeer of Hároon Er-Rasheed, took her as his wife; but his father, Yaḥyà, reproached him for marrying a woman whose father and mother were unknown, and he therefore removed her from his own residence to a neighbouring house, where he frequently visited her; and she bore him a daughter, the above-mentioned Ghareeb, and died. Jaạfar committed her infant to the care of a Christian woman, to nurse; and, on the overthrow of his family, this woman sold her young charge as a slave. El-Emeen, the successor of Er-Rasheed, bought her of a man named Sumbul, but never paid her price; and when he was killed, she returned to her former master; but on the arrival of El-Ma-moon at Baghdád, she was described to him, and he compelled Sumbul to sell her to him. This Sumbul loved her so passionately, that he died of grief at her loss. On the death of El-Ma-moon, his successor, El-Moạtaṣim, bought her for a hundred thousand dirhems, and emancipated her. The historian adds, that she composed several well-known airs and verses.
NOTE 14. An Arab who is married to his cousin generally calls her by this appellation rather than that of wife, as the tie of blood is, to him, in every respect, stronger than that of matrimony.