The Caliph Al-Hakim bi Amri'llah was riding out in state procession one day when he passed along a garden in which he saw a man surrounded by slave attendants and eunuchs. He asked him for a draught of water, and the man gave him to drink, saying, "Perhaps the Commander of the Faithful will honour me by alighting in this garden of mine." So the Caliph dismounted and with his suite entered the garden. Thereupon the man brought out to them a hundred rugs, a hundred leather mats, and a hundred cushions, and set before them a hundred dishes of fruits, a hundred bowls of sweetmeats, and a hundred jars of sugared sherbets. At this the Caliph marvelled greatly and said to his host, "O man, truly your case is wondrous. Did you know of our coming and make this preparation for us?" He replied, "No, by God, O Commander of the Faithful. I knew not of your coming, and I am a merchant among your subjects. But I have a hundred concubines. So when the Commander of the Faithful honored me by alighting with me, I sent to each of them, bidding her send me her morning meal to the garden.

So they sent me each their furniture and the surplus of their meat and drink. And every day each sends me a dish of meat and another of cooling beverages, also a platter of fruits, a bowl of sweetmeats, and a jar of sherbet. This is my midday dinner, and I have added nothing to it for you." Then the Commander of the Faithful, al-Hakim bi Amri'llah, prostrated himself in thanksgiving to the Almighty (exalted and glorified be His name!) and said, "Praise be Allah, who has been so bountiful to one of our subjects that he entertains the Caliph and his host without making ready for them! Nay, he feeds them with the surplus of his day's provision!" Then he sent for all the dirhams in the treasury that had been minted that year (and they numbered three thousand seven hundred thousand). Nor did he mount until the money came, when he gave it to the merchant, saying, "Use this as your state may require, and your generosity deserves more than this." Then he took horse and rode away. And I have heard a story concerning