Ibn Sina. The Book “Mirror of the World”

Ibn Sina. Tales

 The Book “Mirror of the World”

    Whether it was so or not, in ancient times there lived a peasant in a village with his wife Setare. They had one son, a boy named Abu Ali Ibn Sina. This boy did not engage in any work, but only read and wrote. His father and mother constantly told him: “Everything has its measure – you can’t read and write so much!”. But the boy ignored this and did not lift his head from the books.
    He was not yet twenty years old when his father died. His mother began to watch over Ibn Sina and take care of him. And one day his mother said to him:
    – Oh, my son, my eyes are already seeing poorly, soon I will be blind. And I have little time left to live: two or three years will pass, and I will be gone. I really want to find you a bride and celebrate your wedding! Tell me, whom do you want as a wife? I will go and propose to her for you.
    – None of the girls I have seen and know – replied Ibn Sina – have any value in my eyes because they are all foolish. If you want me to marry, to calm your heart, – go and propose to the daughter of our sultan. I have heard that she is both beautiful and learned, and clever!
    – My son, what are you talking about? – cried Ibn Sina’s mother. – The sultan will give his daughter to someone who has a head and a hat, to someone who has property and wealth. He won’t let someone like you near her.
    – I have, – replied Ibn Sina, – more wealth than anyone else. Treasures or money can be stolen by a thief or simply come to an end, but the wealth I have cannot be touched by anyone, no force can take it from me. If I give part of my wealth to someone, it will not diminish, but will increase.
    In short, they argued for a long time, and finally Ibn Sina convinced his mother and sent her to the sultan’s palace to propose for his daughter.
    In the garden in front of the palace lay two large stone slabs. Anyone who wanted to see the sultan would come and sit on one of these slabs. One stone was meant for the poor. They would gather at the palace, sit on it, and the sultan would give them money and gifts.
    The other stone was for the nobles of the city, who would sit on it when they wanted to see the sultan or propose for his daughter.
    The old woman went and sat right on the stone for the nobles. The sultan saw this and decided that she had accidentally sat on the noble’s stone. He told a servant:
    – Go, give that old woman something and tell her not to sit on this stone again. If she needs something from me, let her sit on the stone for the poor. Doesn’t she know that this stone is for nobles and the rich, or the stone for matchmakers?
    The old woman came home and told her son everything she had seen and heard.
     Ibn Sina said:
    – Why didn’t you tell the sultan that you came not to ask for alms, but to propose for his daughter?
    – I was embarrassed, my son, – replied the old woman, – I didn’t have the courage!
    – Go back there and tell him why you came! – said Ibn Sina to his mother.
    The old woman went again and sat on the stone for the nobles and matchmakers.
    The sultan saw this, got angry, and asked the servant:
    – Didn’t you give money to the old woman yesterday and tell her not to sit on this stone?
    – How could I not say? I did, – replied the servant.
    – Then go and ask, – ordered the sultan, – what she needs and why she is sitting on this stone?
    The servant approached the old woman and conveyed to her everything the sultan had said. And the old woman replied:
    – I am not poor and did not come to ask for alms. I came to propose for the sultan’s daughter for my son!
    When the sultan heard this, he became furious and shouted:
    – Oh, Allah, what unfortunate days have come! Every passerby, every vagabond comes to propose for my daughter for some beggar and ragamuffin!
    And he ordered the servants:
    – Go and drive the old woman away from there, beat her well so that next time she doesn’t act shamelessly and doesn’t dare!
    – To beat an old weak woman is to lose your happiness, – said the sultan’s vizier. – It is better to invite her, talk to her, and set difficult conditions, as they say, throw a stone in her path that she cannot lift. That way you can refuse her.
    The sultan agreed, ordered the old woman to be brought to him, and said to her:
    – I will give my daughter only to the one who is more learned and wiser than anyone, who can sew the sky to the earth – who knows the Book “Mirror of the World”!
    The old woman returned home and told her son everything. Ibn Sina said:
    – Go, tell the sultan that in forty days I will sew the sky to the earth and bring him the book “Mirror of the World”.
    – Suppose you get the book “Mirror of the World”, sew the sky to the earth! – objected Ibn Sina’s mother. – But tell me, where will you get the money? You should have at least a few coins in your pocket to buy candies and sweets, and at the wedding, it is customary to shower the bride with money!
    – Don’t worry, mother, – replied Ibn Sina, – I will think of something!
    The next morning, Ibn Sina left the city gates and headed into the desert. He walked for several days and nights and finally reached the foot of a mountain. He already knew that at the top of this mountain sits a div

, who knows all wisdom and sciences, and he has the book “Mirror of the World”.
    Ibn Sina climbed to the top of the mountain. The div was lying under a tree at that time. He saw Ibn Sina and asked:
    – Why have you come here?
    – I am lost, – replied Ibn Sina, – dying of hunger and thirst! I saw this mountain and the trees at its top and thought: “I will go, drink some water, maybe I can find some bread, rest a little and recover myself”.
    The div believed Ibn Sina’s words and said:
    – Well, you can spend the night here today, and tomorrow you will leave!
    Ibn Sina agreed and spent the night there, at the top of the mountain. When day came, the div said to Ibn Sina:
    – During the day I always sleep here. If you want to stay here – stay, and if you want to leave – leave!
    – Today I will stay here, – said Ibn Sina, – and tomorrow I will go!
    The div immediately fell asleep. Ibn Sina entered his room, took the book “Mirror of the World” from under the div’s head, and began to read. And in this book was an abyss of knowledge and spells. He immediately memorized one of the spells, applied it, and in an instant found himself at the city gates. At that moment, the div woke up and saw that the book was gone! He looked around the steppe, but could not find Ibn Sina there either. He realized that the young man had learned one of the spells and thus reached the city, and he set off in pursuit.
    And Ibn Sina came straight home and said to his mother:
    – Get up and get to work! I will now turn into a beautiful deer, and you will take me to the sultan’s palace. When the shahzade

sees the deer, he will immediately want to buy it. You will sell me for five hundred ashrafi

, and this money will be enough to buy candies and sweets, and to shower the bride with gold at the wedding!
    Ibn Sina’s mother did everything as her son instructed: she took the deer and went to the sultan’s palace.
    And not far from the palace, the shahzade saw the deer and asked the old woman:
    – How much will you sell it for?
    – For five hundred ashrafi! – replied Ibn Sina’s mother. The shahzade immediately counted out five hundred ashrafi, bought the deer, entrusted the animal to one of his servants, and said:
    – Go and buy five man

of raisins! I have heard that deer love raisins.
    The servant went, bought raisins, the shahzade stuffed his pockets with them and began to feed the deer with handfuls…
    And now listen to what the div did. He came to the city and began to search in every corner to find Ibn Sina in any form he might take. Finally, the div went out to the street where the sultan’s palace was located and recognized Ibn Sina in the deer from a distance. And Ibn Sina turned around, saw that the div was approaching, and pretended that he wanted raisins. He nudged his nose into the shahzade’s pocket, pushed his head in there, and suddenly began to shrink until his neck, legs, body, and tail ended up in the pocket. The shahzade was bewildered, stunned with amazement, standing there unable to understand how this could have happened? And then suddenly a sparrow flew out of his pocket and soared into the sky. The div was initially also bewildered: where could Ibn Sina have flown off to and how to find him now? Then he transformed into a crow, flew into the air, perched on a tree, and began to look for where the sparrow had hidden behind the eaves of some house. And the sparrow, as soon as it saw the crow, flew to its home, hit the ground, took on human form, entered the house, took the book “Mirror of the World,” and went to the sultan’s palace. And that day was the last of the forty stipulated days. The sultan saw the book “Mirror of the World” and was astonished.
    – Where, when, and how did you get this book? – he asked Ibn Sina.
    Ibn Sina told the sultan everything.
    – Who, if not you, can I give my daughter to! – exclaimed the sultan.
    And they arranged a wedding celebration: they decorated the city for seven days, and all the people drank, ate, and rejoiced.
    Thus, the girl was given to Ibn Sina.
    And the div, who was still in the form of a crow, when he saw that Ibn Sina did not part with the book “Mirror of the World” and did not let it out of his hands, understood that he could do nothing and despaired. He remained a crow, and since then he and his children live in trees, on the roofs of houses. They all seek the book “Mirror of the World” and caw, but cannot come up with anything!
    Our tale has come to an end, and the crow’s desire has not been fulfilled.