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** The Dialogue Between Al-Hajjaj and Al-Ghadban ibn Al-Qaba'thari**

**Introduction:**
One day, Al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf Al-Thaqafi questioned Al-Ghadban ibn Al-Qaba'thari on various matters to test him. The following dialogue ensued:

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### **Questions and Answers Between Al-Hajjaj and Al-Ghadban:**

1. **Al-Hajjaj's Question:** Who is the most honorable of people?  
   **Al-Ghadban's Answer:** The most knowledgeable in religion, the most truthful in oath, the most generous to Muslims, the kindest to the humbled, and the most charitable to the poor.

2. **Al-Hajjaj's Question:** Who is the most despicable of people?  
   **Al-Ghadban's Answer:** The one who gives in humiliation, the stingy towards his brothers, and the one who is inconsistent in character.

3. **Al-Hajjaj's Question:** Who is the worst of people?  
   **Al-Ghadban's Answer:** The one who is most estranged, the most persistent in foolishness, the most secluded, and the harshest in heart.

4. **Al-Hajjaj's Question:** Who is the bravest of people?  
   **Al-Ghadban's Answer:** The one who strikes with the sword, the most hospitable to guests, and the most just in dealings.

5. **Al-Hajjaj's Question:** Who is the most cowardly of people?  
   **Al-Ghadban's Answer:** The one who lags behind in battle, shrinks from confrontation, trembles when standing, loves the shade of roofs, and hates the clash of swords.

6. **Al-Hajjaj's Question:** Who is the most burdensome of people?  
   **Al-Ghadban's Answer:** The one who is skilled in blame, stingy with greetings, excessive in speech, and gluttonous in eating.

7. **Al-Hajjaj's Question:** Who is the best of people?  
   **Al-Ghadban's Answer:** The most benevolent, the most just in judgment, the most forgiving, and the most generous in spirit.

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### **Dialogue on Recognizing a Noble Man:**

- **Al-Hajjaj's Question:** How can one recognize a stranger—whether he is of noble lineage or not?  
  **Al-Ghadban's Answer:** A noble man reveals himself through his manners, intellect, character, self-respect, patience, cheerfulness, and his ability to maintain good relations with others based on his origins. A wise person who understands lineage will recognize his traits, while an ignorant fool will not. He is like a precious pearl: if it falls into the hands of someone who does not recognize its value, they will disdain it, but if the wise see it, they will recognize and honor it, for it is a precious gem to those who know its worth.

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### **Further Questions:**

1. **Al-Hajjaj's Question:** Who is the wise man, and who is the ignorant?  
   **Al-Ghadban's Answer:** The wise man is the one who does not speak foolishly, does not look with disdain, does not harbor treachery, and does not seek excuses. The ignorant is the one who babbles in speech, boasts of his food, is stingy with greetings, oversteps his bounds with his leader, and is harsh with his servants.

2. **Al-Hajjaj's Question:** Who is the prudent and clever man?  
   **Al-Ghadban's Answer:** The one who focuses on his affairs and avoids what does not concern him.

3. **Al-Hajjaj's Question:** Who is the incapable man?  
   **Al-Ghadban's Answer:** The one who is infatuated with his own opinions and constantly looks backward.

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### **Dialogue on Women:**

- **Al-Hajjaj's Question:** Do you have any knowledge about women?  
  **Al-Ghadban's Answer:** I am well-versed in their affairs. Women, as mothers of children, are like ribs: if you try to straighten them, they will break. They have a nature that can only be managed with gentleness. Whoever treats them kindly will benefit from them, and his life will be pleasant. But whoever consults them will find his life troubled, his happiness tainted, and his pleasures spoiled. The most honorable among them are the most chaste, and the most noble of their virtues is chastity. If they deviate from it, they become worse than carrion.

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### **Al-Ghadban's Mission to Ibn Al-Ash'ath:**

- **Al-Hajjaj:** O Ghadban, I am sending you as an envoy to Ibn Al-Ash'ath. What will you say to him?  
  **Al-Ghadban:** I will say what will ruin, harm, and exhaust him!  
  **Al-Hajjaj:** I doubt you will say to him what you have said, and I can almost hear your voice echoing in my palace.  
  **Al-Ghadban:** No, may Allah guide the Amir! I will restrain my tongue and act within my limits.

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### **Al-Ghadban's Meeting with Ibn Al-Ash'ath:**

- When Al-Ghadban arrived at Ibn Al-Ash'ath, Al-Hajjaj sent a spy to monitor him, as he did with all his messengers. Upon meeting Ibn Al-Ash'ath, Al-Ghadban said: "Al-Hajjaj intends to depose and remove you, so be cautious. Act before he acts against you." Ibn Al-Ash'ath took heed and then rewarded Al-Ghadban with a generous gift and fine garments, which Al-Ghadban accepted before departing.

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### **Al-Ghadban's Encounter with the Bedouin:**

- On his way back, Al-Ghadban stopped in the intense heat of the desert near Kerman and set up his tent. While he was there, a Bedouin from the Banu Bakr ibn Wa'il approached him on a camel, seeking relief from the scorching heat and thirst. The Bedouin greeted him, saying: "Peace be upon you, mercy, and blessings."  
  **Al-Ghadban:** This is a tradition that has become an obligation. Its speaker succeeds, and its neglecter fails. What do you need, O Bedouin?  
  **Bedouin:** The heat and thirst have overcome me, so I sought your tent, hoping for its blessing.  
  **Al-Ghadban:** Why didn’t you seek a larger and greater tent?  
  **Bedouin:** Which one do you mean?  
  **Al-Ghadban:** The tent of Amir Ibn Al-Ash'ath!  
  **Bedouin:** That one is inaccessible!  
  **Al-Ghadban:** This one is even more inaccessible!  
  **Bedouin:** What is your name, O servant of Allah?  
  **Al-Ghadban:** "Taker."  
  **Bedouin:** And what do you give?  
  **Al-Ghadban:** I dislike having two names!  
  **Bedouin:** By Allah, where have you come from?  
  **Al-Ghadban:** From the earth.  
  **Bedouin:** Where are you headed?  
  **Al-Ghadban:** I walk its paths.  
  The Bedouin, struggling in the heat, then asked: "Do you compose poetry?"  
  **Al-Ghadban:** Only mice compose!  
  **Bedouin:** Do you coo like a dove?  
  **Al-Ghadban:** Only doves coo!  
  **Bedouin:** O man, allow me to enter your tent!  
  **Al-Ghadban:** The space behind you is wider for you!  
  **Bedouin:** The sun has burned me!  
  **Al-Ghadban:** I have no power over it!  
  **Bedouin:** I do not seek your food or drink.  
  **Al-Ghadban:** Do not reach for what you cannot attain, even if your soul perishes!  
  The Bedouin exclaimed: "Glory to Allah!"  
  **Al-Ghadban:** Yes, before your molars appear!  
  **Bedouin:** Do you have nothing else to say?  
  **Al-Ghadban:** Yes, a club to strike your head with!  
  The Bedouin cried out: "O neighbors of Banu Ka'b!"  
  **Al-Ghadban:** What a wretched old man you are! By Allah, no one has wronged you to make you cry for help!  
  The Bedouin said: "I have never seen a man crueler than you. I came to you seeking help, and you denied me and drove me away. Why didn’t you let me into your tent and converse with me?"  
  **Al-Ghadban:** I have no need to converse with you!  
  The Bedouin said: "By Allah, what is your name, and who are you?"  
  **Al-Ghadban:** I am Al-Ghadban ibn Al-Qaba'thari.  
  The Bedouin said: "Two strange names, born of anger!"  
  **Al-Ghadban:** Lean on the door of my tent with your crooked leg!  
  The Bedouin said: "May Allah cut it off if it is not better than your ugly leg!"  
  **Al-Ghadban:** If I were a judge, I would rule in your case, for my leg is resting in the shade, while yours is standing in the scorching heat.  
  The Bedouin said: "I think your lineage is corrupt."  
  **Al-Ghadban:** I cannot fix it!  
  The Bedouin said: "May Allah not please you nor grant you life!" Then he left, saying:

  ```
  May Allah not bless a people led by you,
  I think you—by the Merciful—are a devil.
  I came to your tent seeking hospitality,
  But the old man with two horns showed only deprivation.
  ```

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### **Al-Ghadban's Return to Al-Hajjaj:**

- When Al-Ghadban returned to Al-Hajjaj, the spy informed him of what had transpired between Al-Ghadban, Ibn Al-Ash'ath, and the Bedouin. Al-Hajjaj said: "O Ghadban, how did you find the land of Kerman?"  
  **Al-Ghadban:** May Allah guide the Amir! It is a barren land, and its people are weak. If they multiply, they starve, and if they diminish, they perish.  
  **Al-Hajjaj:** Are you not the one who said to Ibn Al-Ash'ath: 'Act against Al-Hajjaj before he acts against you'? By Allah, I will imprison you, strip you of your rank, and disgrace you throughout the land.  
  **Al-Ghadban:** Grant me safety, O Amir! By Allah, what was said about you did not harm you, nor did it benefit the one to whom it was said.  
  **Al-Hajjaj:** Did I not tell you: 'I can almost hear your voice echoing in my palace'? Take him to prison!  
  Al-Ghadban was taken, shackled, and imprisoned for as long as Allah willed.

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### **Dialogue on the Construction of Al-Khadra:**

- Later, Al-Hajjaj built Al-Khadra in Wasit and was pleased with it. He asked those around him: "What do you think of this dome and its construction?"  
  They said: "O Amir, it is fortified, blessed, impenetrable, lush, and beautiful. Its flaws are few, and its virtues are many."  
  **Al-Hajjaj:** Why did you not advise me sincerely?  
  They said: "No one can describe it to you except Al-Ghadban."  
  Al-Hajjaj summoned Al-Ghadban and asked: "What do you think of this dome and its construction?"  
  **Al-Ghadban:** May Allah guide the Amir! You built it in a land that is not yours, not for you nor for your children. It will not last for you, nor will your heirs inhabit it. It will not remain for you, and you will not remain for it.  
  **Al-Hajjaj:** Al-Ghadban has spoken the truth. Return him to prison.

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### **Conclusion:**

- As Al-Ghadban was being taken back to prison, he said: "Glory to Allah, who has subjected this to us, and we could not have done it ourselves."  
  **Al-Hajjaj:** Take him down.  
  When they brought him down, Al-Ghadban said: "My Lord, place me in a blessed place, for You are the best of those who place."  
  **Al-Hajjaj:** Throw him to the ground.  
  When they threw him, Al-Ghadban said: "From it We created you, and into it We will return you, and from it We will bring you out once more."  
  **Al-Hajjaj:** Drag him.  
  As they dragged him, Al-Ghadban said: "In the name of Allah is its course and its mooring. Indeed, my Lord is Forgiving and Merciful."  
  **Al-Hajjaj:** Woe to you! Leave him, for his cunning and cleverness have overcome me.  
  Al-Hajjaj then pardoned Al-Ghadban, bestowed favors upon him, and set him free.

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**Note:** This text reflects the philosophical and political dialogues of the Umayyad era, showcasing Al-Ghadban as a wise and intelligent figure, while Al-Hajjaj is portrayed as a harsh ruler who acknowledges wisdom when he sees it.