ABSTRACT
IT is related-but Allah is all-knowing-that there was once in the city of Kaukaban in Yaman, a Badawi of the tribe of the Fadli, whose name was Abu al-Hasan. At an early age he left nomadic life and had become a polished citizen and rich merchant. He had married in his youth, but Allah had called his wife into His mercy after a year of marriage; thus it was that Abu al-Hasan’s friends were always pressing him to marry again and quoting these words of the poet:
Rise up and hear the season sing, The girls are here for marrying, And a glad wife’s an almanac Whose scented leaves point ever back And tell about the Spring.
