There can never have been a judge as sedate, composed, dignified, impassive, self-controlled or precise in his movements as a qadi we had at Basra called ‘Abd Allah ibn Sawwar.
He used to say the morning prayer at home, though he lived quite near the mosque, and then go to his court, where he would wrap his robes around him and sit down without supporting himself on anything. He sat bolt upright and stock still, neither turning round in his seat, opening his coat, crossing his legs or leaning on either arm of the chair; he was like a statue.
He would remain thus until the noon prayer compelled him to rise, then sit down again and take up the same posture until the time of the afternoon prayer; having accomplished that, he would remain motionless until sunset, when he would get up, say his prayers…return to his seat and deal with a multitude of deeds, contracts and miscellaneous documents. Then he would say his evening prayer and go home.
If the truth be told, he never once got up to go to the lavatory during the whole of his tenure of office: he did not need to, since he never felt like a drink of water or other beverage. Such was his routine all the year round, winter and summer, whether the days were long or short. He never so much as lifted his hand or inclined his head, but limited himself to moving his lips.
THE IRRITATING FLY
One day, when his assessors and the public had taken their places beside him, in front of him and in the galleries, a fly settled on his nose. It lingered there awhile, and then moved to the corner of his eye. He left it alone and endured its biting, just as he had armed himself with patience when it settled on his nose, neither twitching his nostrils, shaking his head nor waving it away with a finger.
However, since the fly was becoming really persistent, causing him acute pain and moving towards a spot where it was beyond bearing, he blinked his eyelid. The fly did not go away…he blinked harder and more rapidly. The fly went away for a moment, then settled again and became so persistent that our qadi, his patience completely at an end, was reduced to driving it away with his hand.
Everyone in court was watching this and pretending not to see it. The fly went away until he dropped his hand, then returned to the charge and compelled him to protect his face with the hem of his sleeve, not once but several times.
The qadi realised that no detail of this scene was escaping his assessors and the public. When he caught their eye, he exclaimed: “I swear the fly is more persistent than the cockroach and more presumptuous than the crow! God forgive me! How many men are infatuated with their own persons! But God acquaints them with their hidden weakness! Now I know I am but a weakling, seeing that God’s most feeble creature has vanquished and confounded me!”
Source: C. Pellat, (ed. and trans.),The Life and Works of Jahiz, pp. 154-155; Secondary Curriculum: Muslim Devotional and Ethical Literature
