Aḥmad, que Dios tenga misericordia de él, compró una concubina llamada Ḥusn. 63.1

Aḥmad, God have mercy on him, bought a concubine named Ḥusn. 63.1

[Abū Yūsuf ibn Bukhtān:] Cuando Aḥmad nos pidió que le comprásemos la muchacha, Fūrān y yo fuimos. Mientras nos marchábamos, Aḥmad vino tras de mí y dijo: «Asegúrate de que tenga algo de carne encima». 63.2

[Abū Yūsuf ibn Bukhtān:] When Aḥmad asked us to buy the girl for him, Fūrān and I went. As we were leaving, Aḥmad came after me and said, “Make sure she’s got some meat on her.” 63.2

[Zuhayr:] Cuando murió la madre de ʿAbd Allāh, Aḥmad compró a Ḥusn. Ella le dio a Umm ʿAlī, cuyo nombre era Zaynab. Más tarde le dio a al-Ḥasan y al-Ḥusayn, que eran gemelos, pero murieron poco después de nacer. Luego le dio a Muḥammad y a al-Ḥasan, quien vivió hasta alrededor de los cuarenta años. Después de ellos le dio a Saʿīd. 63.3

[Zuhayr:] When ʿAbd Allāh’s mother died, Aḥmad bought Ḥusn. She bore him Umm ʿAlī, whose name was Zaynab. Later she bore al-Ḥasan and al-Ḥusayn, who were twins, but they died soon after they were born. Then she bore Muḥammad and al-Ḥasan, who lived till about forty. After them she bore Saʿīd. 63.3

[Ḥusn:] Le pregunté a mi maestro si debía vender una de mis pulseras de tobillo. Me preguntó si lo decía en serio, y le respondí que sí. 63.4

[Ḥusn:] I asked my master whether I should sell one of my anklets. He asked if I really meant it, and I said I did. 63.4

“Praise God,” he said, “who led you to make this choice.” So I gave the anklet to Ṣāliḥ’s son Abū l-Ḥasan, who sold it for eight-and-a-half dinars. When I got pregnant, my master distributed the money. When I had Ḥasan, he gave a dirham to Karrāmah—an old woman who served us—and told her to go to Ibn Shujāʿ—a neighbor of ours who was a butcher—and tell him to take it and buy a head.318 He bought the head, she brought it home, and we ate it.

“Praise God,” he said, “who led you to make this choice.” So I gave the anklet to Ṣāliḥ’s son Abū l-Ḥasan, who sold it for eight-and-a-half dinars. When I got pregnant, my master distributed the money. When I had Ḥasan, he gave a dirham to Karrāmah—an old woman who served us—and told her to go to Ibn Shujāʿ—a neighbor of ours who was a butcher—and tell him to take it and buy a head.318 He bought the head, she brought it home, and we ate it.

—Ḥusn —me dijo—, lo único que me queda es este dirham, y este es el único día en que recibirás algo de mí.319

“Ḥusn,” he said to me, “all I have left is this dirham, and this is the only day you’ll get anything from me.”319

Siempre que no había dinero en la casa, mi amo estaba feliz todo el día.

Whenever there was no money in the house my master was happy all day.

Un día entró y dijo que necesitaba una sangría con ventosas, pero que no tenía dinero. Entonces fui a mi tinaja, saqué medio mann de hilo que guardaba allí y lo envié a uno de los tejedores, quien lo vendió por cuatro dirhams. Gasté medio dirham en carne, y él gastó un dirham en la sangría con ventosas. También compré un poco de perfume por otro dirham.

One day he came in and said he needed a cupping but had no money. So I went to my jar, took out half a mann320 of weaving I kept there, and sent it out to one of the weavers, who sold it for four dirhams. I spent half a dirham on meat, and he spent a dirham on the cupping. I also bought some perfume for another dirham.

Cuando mi amo salió hacia Samarra, yo tejí una pieza de tela suave y con ella confeccioné una hermosa túnica. Cuando él regresó, le presenté la túnica —esto fue después de que me habían pagado quince dirhams por ella con los ingresos del alquiler321—, pero al verla dijo: «No la quiero». «Amo», le dije, «tengo otras cosas que hice con un algodón distinto». Así que le di la túnica a Fūrān, quien la vendió por cuarenta y dos dirhams. Con ese dinero compré algodón y lo tejí para hacer una gran túnica. Cuando se lo conté a Aḥmad, me dijo: «¡No la cortes, déjala tal como está!». Al final él la usó como mortaja y lo envolvieron con ella. Yo saqué el tejido basto, y él la cortó.322

When my master went out to Samarra, I wove a length of soft cloth and used it to make a beautiful robe. When he came back I brought out the robe—this was after I’d been paid fifteen dirhams for it out of the rental income321—but when he saw it he said, “I don’t want it.” “Master,” I said, “I have other things I made from different cotton.” So I gave the robe to Fūrān, who sold it for forty-two dirhams. With that I bought some cotton and wove it into a large gown. When I told Aḥmad, he said, “Don’t cut— leave it be!” He ended up using it as his shroud and they wrapped him up in it. I took out the coarse material and he cut it.322

Una vez, cuando estaba enfermo al final, le horneé algo.

Once when he was sick at the end I baked something for him.

—¿Dónde horneaste esto? —preguntó.

“Where did you bake this?” he asked.

—En casa de ʿAbd Allāh —dije.

“At ʿAbd Allāh’s,” I said.

«Quítenlo», dijo, y se negó a comerlo.

“Take it away,” he said, and refused to eat it.

Hasta donde sabemos, Aḥmad se casó solo con dos mujeres —la madre de Ṣāliḥ y la de ʿAbd Allāh— y tuvo una única concubina, cuyos relatos hemos citado. Su nombre era Ḥusn. Sin embargo, en su obra Virtudes de Aḥmad,323 Abū l-Ḥusayn Aḥmad ibn Jaʿfar ibn al-Munādī relata que Aḥmad pidió permiso a su esposa para comprar una concubina con el fin de imitar la práctica del Profeta ﷺ. Ella le concedió su permiso, y él compró una muchacha de bajo precio a la que llamó Rayḥānah, siguiendo la sunna del Profeta ﷺ. Si esto es correcto, debió de comprar dos esclavas, una de ellas durante la vida de su esposa.

[The author:] As far as we know, Aḥmad married only two women—Ṣāliḥ’s mother and ʿAbd Allāh’s—and had only the one concubine whose reports we have cited. Her name is Ḥusn. Yet, in his Virtues of Aḥmad,323 Abū l-Ḥusayn Aḥmad ibn Jaʿfar ibn al-Munādī reports that Aḥmad asked his wife for permission to buy a concubine in order to emulate the practice of the Prophet. She gave her permission and he bought an inexpensive girl he named Rayḥānah, following the sunnah of the Prophet. If this is right, he must have bought two slaves, one during his wife’s lifetime.

¡Pero solo Dios sabe mejor!324 63.5

But God alone knows best!324 63.5