' Quoth Ahnaf, 'Part thy hair and trim thy moustache and
clip thy nails and pluck out the hair of thine armpits and shave
thy pubes and be constant in the use of the toothstick, for
therein are two-and-seventy virtues, and make the Friday
(complete) ablution as an expiation for what is between the two
Fridays.' 'What is thy counsel to thyself?' asked Muawiyeh. 'To
plant my feet firmly on the ground,' replied Ahnaf, 'to move them
with deliberation and keep watch over them with my eyes.' 'How,'
asked the Khalif, 'dost thou carry thyself, when thou goest in to
the common folk of thy tribe?' 'I lower my eyes modestly,' replied
Ahnaf, 'and salute them first, abstaining from what does not
concern me and being sparing of words.' 'And how, when thou goest
in to thine equals?' asked Muawiyeh. 'I give ear to them, when they
speak,' answered the other, 'and do not assail them, when they err.'
'And how dost thou,' said the Khalif, 'when thou goest in to thy
chiefs?' 'I salute without making any sign,' answered Ahnaf, 'and
await the response: if they bid me draw near, I do so, and if they
bid me stand aloof, I withdraw.' 'How dost thou with thy wife?'
asked the Khalif. 'Excuse me from answering this, O Commander of
the Faithful!' replied he; but Muawiyeh said, 'I conjure thee to
answer.' Then said Ahnaf, 'I entreat her kindly and show her
pleasant familiarity and am large in expenditure, for women were
created of a crooked rib.
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