ABSTRACT
It is related, O auspicious King, that there was a young bachelor in Baghdād, during the reign of the Khalīfah Hārūn al-Rashīd, who lived a most strange life and whose name was Abū al-Hasan. His neighbours never saw him invite a man two days running or, by any chance, entertain a citizen of their city. All who came to his house were strangers; and therefore the people of that quarter, who did not understand this peculiarity, called the young man Abū al-Hasan the Eccentric.
