El Aminson of Er Reshidonce entered the house of his uncle Ibrahim ben el Mehdi and saw there a slave-girl playing upon the lute.She was one of the fairest of women，and his heart inclined to her.Ibrahimseeing how it was with himsent the girl to himwith rich apparel and precious jewels.When he saw herhe thought that his uncle had lain with her；so he was loath to have to do with herbecause of thisand sent her back to Ibrahimaccepting the present that came with her.Ibrahim learnt the reason of this from one of El Amin's servants；so he took a shift of flowered silk and let work upon his skirtin letters of goldthe following lines：
By Him to whom all fronts do bowof that which is Beneath her skirtI swearI'm ignorant outright；Nor have I had in aught to meddle with her mouthExcept it were by way of hearing and of sight.
Then he clad her in the shift and giving her a lute sent her once more to his nephew.When she came into the latter's presenceshe kissed the earth before him and tuning the lute，sang thereto the following verses：
By returning the giftthou showest what's hid in thy breast，And thine aversion to me is made manifest.
As thou bear malice for aught that hath been，--forgive The pastfor the Khalifate's sakeand let it rest.
When she had made an end of her songEl Amin looked at her and reading that which was wrought upon her skirtcould not control himselfbut drew near unto her and kissed her and appointed her a separate lodging in his palace.Moreoverhe thanked his uncle for this and bestowed on him the government of Er Re茂.
EL FETH BEN KHACAN AND THE KHALIF EL MUTAWEKKIL.
The Khalid El Mutawekkil was once again taking medicineand folk sent him all manner of presents and rarities. Amongst othersEl Feth ben Khacan sent him a virgin slavehigh-bosomedof the fairest of women of her timeand with her a vase of crystalcontaining red wineand a goblet of red goldwhereon were graven in black the following verses：
When th'Imam's made an end of taking medicine And health and strength ensue to him thereonin fine，There's no medicament befits him but to drinkFrom out this cupa draught of this decocted wine.
And break the seal reserved to himfor thisindeed，Right salutary ishard after medicine.
Now the physician Youhenna was with the Khalifwhen the damsel entered；and when he read the above verseshe smiled and said'By AllahO Commander of the FaithfulFeth is better versed than I in the art of medicine： so let not the Commander of the Faithful gainsay his preion.'
Accordinglythe Khalif followed El Feth's preion and was made whole by the blessing of God.
THE MAN'S DISPUTE WITH THE LEARNED WOMAN OF THE RELATIVE EXCELLENCE OF THE MALE AND THE FEMALE.
（Quoth a certain man of learning）I never saw a woman sharper-wittedmore intelligentbetter furnished in learningmore excellent of faculties or more pleasant of ingredients than a female preacher of the people of Baghdadby name Sitt el Meshayikh. It chanced that she came to the city of Hemah in the year [of the Hegira] 561 and there delivered salutary exhortations to the folk from the pulpits.
Now there used to visit her house a number of students of divinity and [other] persons of learning and culturewho would argue with her upon questions of theology and discuss controversial points with her. I went to her one daywith a friend of minea man of education；and when we had taken our seatsshe set before us a dish of fruit and seated herself behind a curtain. Now she had a [young] brothera handsome youthwho stood by usto serve us.
When we had eatenwe fell to disputing upon points of divinity，and I propounded to her a theological questionbearing upon a difference between the Imams. She proceeded to speak in answerwhilst I listened；but my friend fell the while to looking upon her brother's face and considering his charms，without paying any heed to what she said. Now she was watching him from behind the curtain；sowhen she had made an end of her expositionshe turned to him and said'Meseems thou art of those that give men the preference over women！'Assuredly，'answered he. 'And why so？'asked she. 'Because，'replied he，'God hath preferred the male over the female；and I love that which excels and mislike that which is excelled.'She laughed and said'Wilt thou deal fairly with me in argumentif I argue the matter with thee？'I will，'answered he. Then said she'What is the evidence of the superiority of the male to the female？'It is of two kinds，'answered he'that which is founded on authority and that which is founded on reason.
The authoritative part derives from the Koran and the Sunneh[Traditions of the Prophet]. As for the formerquoth God the Most High'Men stand above womenin that God hath given these the preference over those；'and again'If there be not two menthen [call] one man and two women；'and againwhen treating of the law of inheritance，'[If there be brothers and sisters，] let each male have the like of the portion of two females.'Thus Godblessed and exalted be Hehath in these places preferred the male over the female and teaches that a woman is as the half of a man，for that he is worthier than she. As for the Sunnehis it not reported of the Prophet（whom God bless and preserve）that he appointed the blood-wit for a woman to be half that of a man？
As for the evidence of reasonthe male is the agent and the female the patient.'
'Thou hast said wellO my lord，'rejoined she；'butby Allah，thou hast proved my contention with thine own lips and hast advanced arguments that tell against theeand not for thee.
