The Story of Majid ibn al-Ziyad
Once upon a time, there was a labourer named Majid ibn al-Ziyad who lived by the sea and who was a shipwright. His eye was keen and hand skillful, and many people went to him to see about hiring his talent.
With some fortune to his name, Majid ibn al-Ziyad decided to take a wife, and soon he married a fisherman's daughter for whom he felt deep and tender love.
Majid ibn al-Ziyad had an image of a house to live in with his family, a spacious house encircled by a shady garden, a place suited for both rest and entertainment. He selected a plot on the hill overlooking the town on the sea coast where he worked, and before long the first stones were set at the foundation.
Each day the walls rose higher, the dirt was dug and moved, and carts of miscellaneous loads were brought to the building, and Majid ibn al-Ziyad arranged all things according to his liking.
When half of the house had been finished, Majid ibn al-Ziyad learned that his wife was with child, and once he knew that, he rejoiced and blessed his lot and said, 'Praise be to Allah the Giver, for all the treasures of this life are mine!'
Months later, Majid ibn al-Ziyad's wife bore him a son, but the strain was too great for her, and she fell ill and succumbed within days. The child followed the mother not too long afterwards, and Majid ibn al-Ziyad drowned in black desperation, and his heart was torn apart, and he cried, 'There is no Might and there is no Majesty save in Allah, the Glorious, the Great! To Him we belong, and unto Him we return!'
The immense grief plagued Majid ibn al-Ziyad's soul and he could barely find it in himself to do his work. He had overlooked a few parts while building one of the ships and the faulty vessel broke and sank in a gale it should have weathered without much effort, and both the crew and the cargo perished. Tormented by guilt, Majid ibn al-Ziyad offered to pay for the loss, which claimed the entirety of his wealth and he had to sell many of his possessions. He only strove to keep his unfinished house, for the place granted him some solace, evoking the sweet memories of his wife's laughs and embraces and how she liked walking in the garden. He sat on the steps and wept and recited these verses:
Do not condemn the futile fancies that I bear –
Embers they are of my smouldering heart;
The spring of bliss to quench my thirst is no more there –
Me and my love are forever apart.
Then Majid ibn al-Ziyad walked around his house, ruminating the fate that had extinguished his hopes. "I shall not leave the house incomplete," he thought to himself. "My happiness was to dwell within these walls, and abandoning them unfinished would only bring me further sorrow."
Henceforth, Majid ibn al-Ziyad did some day's work to provide for himself and then proceeded to work on the house so it could stand one and whole.
At that time a band of thieves and robbers arrived in the coastal lands, preying on merchants and travellers. One day the bandit scouts happened upon the town on the coast, near which was Majid ibn al-Ziyad's house. The scouts returned to the bandit chief, who listened to them and said, 'We shall see what goods this town has for us, but first we ought to visit that house above it.' He then took his men and set off to the house.
Majid ibn al-Ziyad noticed the strangers (and the bandit chief had ordered most of his men to hide out of sight) and went to greet them.
'Allah bless your journey, travellers! Welcome!' he said. 'Come and rest in the shade of my house!'
'Oh, this here is your house, I hear right?' said the bandit chief. 'How odd it is that the owner of such a fine residence has to do the masonwork all by himself.'
'One's fortune is in the hands of Allah,' replied Majid ibn al-Ziyad, 'and mine has not been without trials.'
'Truly. But ease your mind now, for here is your last trial,' said the bandit chief, taking his sword in his hand. He then struck Majid ibn al-Ziyad who fell on the ground and quickly breathed his last.
'Leave him for the birds and beasts,' said the bandit chief, and his men carried Majid ibn al-Ziyad's body away from the house.
The bandits entered the house, but were angry to find it almost empty and containing nothing of value. The scouts were sent to spy on the town for the rest of the day, and when they came back at nightfall and told the bandit chief of what they had seen, he ordered to prepare for a raid tomorrow.
Their sleep, however, was disturbed by clinking sounds coming from the yard. The bandits looked outside and fright filled their souls and they screamed, for they saw Majid ibn al-Ziyad, alive, and holding a mallet and a chisel, working the stone.
The bandit chief with the sword in hand approached Majid ibn al-Ziyad and said, 'What is this trickery, you devil? None has ever lived after being cut down with my blade.'
'Not from the Accursed One I come,' said Majid ibn al-Ziyad, 'but from Allah, the Most Merciful. By His grace, I shall not part with my earthly body until my spirit's last yearning is appeased, until the last stone is set in the walls of my house.'
'You speak lies the devil would speak. Only on the Day of Judgement will the dead ones be resurrected.'
'I am not the one to question His will, but I shall obey it and praise His gift.'
'Accept what has been destined for you, then,' said the bandit chief and struck Majid ibn al-Ziyad once more, and then mutilated his body most viciously, cutting off the head and limbs, which he scattered around. Then he saw that a number of his men were running off in great fear, and he yelled at them and sent the rest to bring them back, which they did.
It so happened, that at that early hour a shepherd from the town was passing near and he saw the bandits from a distance. He hurried back to warn the townsfolk, who quickly armed themselves with spears and posted several men to keep watch.
Some time afterwards, the mounted bandits appeared on the hill and rode down the slope. They stopped and huddled a short way from the town, hesitant to attack, for they saw a group of spear-bearing people before them. The bandit chief looked at his men, some of whom were still in dismay, having witnessed Majid ibn al-Ziyad's appearance, then glanced at the numerous spears pointed at him and shook his head.
'The town has been alarmed,' he said to his men, 'and I see more than one coward among you who would find a spear in his gut if we went ahead now. We shall turn away.'
With this, he spurred his horse and all the bandits followed him, leaving the town behind.
The people of the town remained agitated for the next few days, fearing that the bandits might return, but no one ever did. In the meantime, all began to wonder about Majid ibn al-Ziyad who had yet to visit the town and some went to look for him. They searched his deserted house and nearby, but found nothing that would tell them of what had befallen him.
Majid ibn al-Ziyad would not be seen again. Some people said they had heard sounds resembling hammer strikes when passing near the house on the hill, but nobody saw a living soul emerging from the building or heading towards it. Just once, the very shepherd who brought the news of the bandits entered the house and went into every room and walked in the garden and saw that there was no more work to be done, for the walls, floors, roofs, terraces and eaves had been thoroughly finished and ornamented.
Days grew into weeks, and then the hot season came, bringing the searing sandstorms that would force a few hours of violent night beneath the glaring sun. When the first storm of the year had raged through and the townspeople came outside, they doubted their eyes, for the house of Majid ibn al-Ziyad that had been overlooking the town was not in sight. They walked to the spot where the house had been standing and saw that the ground there was untouched, as if no man had ever laboured there.
Great was the people's confusion, but then someone from the crowd said, 'O good-hearted Majid ibn al-Ziyad, all that you loved most is gone from this world! Maybe you yourself are not among the living any more, but, whether that is so or not, perchance you will reunite with what you held dear in the next life, may Allah's mercy be upon you!'
And everyone nodded in agreement and left.