Race and Slavery in the Middle East: An Historical Enquiry by Bernard Lewis Page B

to use for good; he would not
misuse it for satire. For another, "all he has done is call me black-and he
speaks truth." Then Nusayb said, of his own color:

    But all the same:

    A black contemporary of Nusayb, similarly attacked, responded less
meekly. All that we know of al-Hayqutan is that he was a black slave, who
lived in the Umayyad period. The name denotes a kind of bird, something like
a partridge, and was presumably a slave name or nickname. No less a person
than the famous Arab poet and satirist Jarir (d. ca. 729) chose al-Hayqutan as
the butt of his wit. Jarir, we are told, encountered al-Hayqutan on a festival
day, wearing a white shirt over his black skin. This prompted the poet to
improvise a line of verse, likening him to a donkey's penis wrapped in papyrus. Al-Hayqutan responded with a long ode, beginning:

    After proclaiming the greatness and glory of the Ethiopians and taunting the
Arabians with their previous fear of Ethiopian conquest, he ends by returning
Jarir's insult in kind. Alluding to an accusation sometimes brought against the
tribe of Kulayb, to which Jarir belonged, he concluded:

    Some of these made careers as court poets. One such was a second Nusayb,
known as Nusayb al-Asghar, the Younger (d. 791). In the course of a panegyric
ode addressed to the Caliph Harun al-Rashid, he remarks of himself:

    Probably the best known of the early black poets in Arabic was Abu
Dulama (d. ca. 776), a slave who became the court poet-and jester-of the
first Abbasid caliphs. The name means, literally, "Father of Blackness." In his
verses, the acceptance of inferiority is unmistakable. To amuse his master,
Abu Dulama makes fun of his own appearance, of his aged mother, and of his
family:

    The Arab anthologists tell us something about the lives of these men.
Several anecdotes show Nusayb ibn Rabah's awareness of his color problem.
In an autobiographical fragment, he remarks that before he went on his first
journey to Egypt, he consulted his sister, a wise woman. She reminded him
that he combined the disadvantages of being black and ridiculous in men's
eyes. He then recited some of his verses, and she was persuaded that their
merits gave him some prospect of success.12
    A rather different story tells how Nusayb lunched one day with the
Umayyad Caliph `Abd al-Malik and, after obtaining the caliph's promise of
safety, said to him:
    My color is pitch-black, my hair is woolly, my appearance repulsive. I did not
attain the favor which you have vouchsafed me by the honor of my father, or
my mother, or my tribe. I attained it only by my mind and my tongue. I adjure
you by God, 0 Commander of the Faithful, do not cut me off from that by
which I have attained my position with you.13
    The point of the story is that the poet chooses an opportunity and uses his wit to
secure immunity from execution. But the passage vividly illustrates the association already accepted at this time of blackness, ugliness, and inferior station.
    The same theme occurs in stories of the black poet Da'ud ibn Salm (d. ca.
750), known as Da'ud the Black (al-Adlam) and famous for his ugliness. On
one occasion, it is said, together with an Arab called Zayd Ibn Ja'far, he was
arrested and brought before a judge in Mecca, on a charge of flaunting luxurious clothes. The two accused received very different treatment. The handsome Arab, says the chronicler, was released; the ugly black was flogged.
    The judge said: "I can stand this from Ibn Ja'far, but why should I stand it from
you'? Because of your base origin, or your ugly face'? Flog him, boy!-and he
flogged him."14

    Another story tells of a misadventure of the famous singer Said ibn Misjah
(d. ca. 705-15), considered the greatest musician of his time. Seeking a lodging in Damascus, he managed to get himself accepted by one of a group of
young men, the others being reluctant. He accompanied them to a singing
girl's house; and when lunch was served he withdrew,