Introduction

In medieval Islam, the court included, in addition to functional appointees, many people with diverse talents, from literati to astrologers, poets, singers, and jesters. From this group of people emerged -the boon companions (Arabic: نديم, nadim)– a class by themselves. They were selected from the best talents to befriend the ruler and were given a permanent position which carried great prestige and influence. Al- Jazari made a boon companion from jointed copper. He holds a goblet in his right hand and a waterlily in his left.

Al-Jazari wrote that “It was one of the customs of the kings in those days, when they were drinking, to leave some [of the wine] in the goblet and this, when it had collected, was drunk by a boon-companion designated for that duty. ” The automaton is replacing this boon-companion.

I read quite a lot of material about the boon-companion in recent weeks, some of it you will find below, but I haven’t found an explanation for why someone should drink the King’s leftovers? Tasting the wine before the king makes sense because of the fear of assassins, but why drink leftovers? An explanation will be gladly accepted.

After the king drinks, the steward takes it and pours what is left in it into the boon companion’s goblet. The automaton lifts the goblet, drinks the king’s leftovers, and nods his head several times. This happens every time wine is poured into the goblet. His left hand moves to indicate his capacity. At some point, the head of the carousel says to someone he wishes to make fun of:

“puts him on his knee, drinks and gives him drinks. He does not finish two or three goblets before [the boon companion] pours on to him all he has drunk since the beginning of the carousal, wetting his clothing. The wine flows beneath him, making him a target for laughter”

The scene is almost taken from a wild and colorful feast in One Thousand and One Nights. This is being told incidentally in an Engineering book…

How does the boon companion work?

The technical explanation, as always, is in blue, so anyone not interested in siphons and floats can skip those bits. This is a drawing from the book, and I added labels for clarity.

The automaton is in the form of a five-year-old boy; I don’t think the illustrator read the book, as the figure looks bearded and quite old. The king’s leftover wine is poured into the goblet, almost filling it, then flows through the forearm of the boon-companion into the arm tank. The tank becomes heavier, the arm pivots, and the goblet rises to the lips of the boon-companion. His head, also on an axle, which is not shown in the drawing,  is pushed back slightly by the goblet, imitating drinking. Al-Jazari installed a siphon in the tank. We came across one in the post about the Peacock basin and the magic of automatons. The siphon is a tube in an inverted ‘U’ shape, which causes a liquid to flow upward with no pump, but powered by the clever use of gravity:

Ancient Egyptian paintings indicate the use of siphons in the wine industry as early as 1500 BC. Physical evidence shows Greek engineers used siphons in Pergamon in the third century BC.

Hero of Alexandria, who I mentioned before, wrote extensively about siphons in his treatise Pneumatica, and the Banu Musa brothers, who were also discussed, invented the double-concentric siphon. So the use of the siphon by al-Jazari is not new, only an elegant solution for the boon-companion automaton. Atmospheric pressure pushes the liquid up the tube, provided the siphon is filled with water or wine in our case. In the automaton of al-Jazari, this is achieved by the pivoting of the arm. Then the wine runs from the end of the siphon into the main tank. The arm tank becomes lighter and rises while the arm and the goblet sink. The head of the boon-companion moves forward and oscillates several times. As the wine is rising in the main tank, the float rises with it, releasing rope through the two pulleys and the left hand, and the waterlily sinks. When the float has no room to rise, the waterlily touches the thigh of the boon-companion, indicating to the master of the feast that it is time for buffoonery. If the boon-companion drinks an additional glass or two, the wine will rise to the bend in the siphon and wet the poor holder.

The Boon- Companion and  the Courtyard Culture in Diyarbakir

The gap between Islamic history and culture, as I (a secular Jew, living in Tel Aviv, looking at Islam from the outside through meetings with students, colleagues, press, and television) understand them to be, and the life as shown in al-Jazari’s book, is huge. Contemporary Islam is fully committed to Sharia law (شريعة), somewhat similar to Jewish orthodoxy, far away from the feasts described in the medieval literature and poetry of the golden age of the Abbasid caliphate in Baghdad, but also of the small principality in Diyarbakir.

The importance of boon-companionship as an institution is evident from the many references by kings, court stenographers, historians, and even cookbook writers.

I will bring just three examples of this wealth of information :

1. The ‘Kitāb al-Fihrist (كتاب الفهرست) by Ibn al-Nadim, a bookseller, and a boon companion himself (note his name!), in the tenth century, Baghdad. Is an  Index of all books written in Arabic in his time. The term catalog may be misleading, the author described the lives of thousands of authors, listing all the titles of their books and evaluating their merits. He also dealt with the religions, customs of his time, and its scientific achievements. It is actually an outstanding cultural encyclopedia. It is interesting to note that a chapter is dedicated to “boon-companions, table-companions, literary men, singers, slaptakers, buffoons, and comedians.” An example from the Fihrist is Abu al-Anbas al-Saymarī.  He was a high-ranking judge and close associate of ninth-century caliphs in Baghdad.

“Although he was one of the jesters and clowns, he was also a man of letters, familiar with the stars, about which he wrote a book [actually two manuscripts remained]. I have observed that it was praised by the leading astrologers. [Caliph] al-Mutawakkil included him in the group of his court companions, giving him special attention.”

Among books that the Fihrist lists by al-Anbas are:

• Aids to Digestion and Treacles
• Refutation of Abu Mikhail al-Saydanani in Connection with Alchemy
• Interpretation of Dreams
• Rare Anecdotes about Pimps
• Superiority of the Rectum over the Mouth
• The Surnames of Animals

2. Ibn Sayyar of Baghdad wrote a tenth-century cookbook, Kitab al-Ṭabīḫ ( كتاب الطبيخ‎, meaning The Book of Dishes). This is the earliest known Arabic cookbook. It contains over 600 recipes. The final pages offer guidelines for drinking parties, especially in the king’s presence. There is a very detailed description of what is expected from the boon-companion. This is a brief excerpt from the book:

 “The nadim [ boon companion] who drinks with the king must occupy the place that has been assigned to him, without seeking to put himself in a higher or lower position, he must not lie down but rather hold himself in an upright position… he must not yawn… nor persist in an argument under the effect of  drink because whoever behaves in this way is boorish.”

 

3. Al-Mas‘udi ( ابو الحسن علي المسعودي ) was a Muslim historian and geographer. He is known for his book Meadows of Gold and Mines of Gems, a historical account in Arabic of the beginning of the world, starting with Adam and Eve and continuing through the late Abbasid Caliphate. Among others, he describes a poetic dialogue between a secretary to the caliph and a boon-companion:

“I am a help, and you are a hindrance;

I am for eagerness, and you are for jest;

I am for hard work, and you are for leisure;

I am for war, and you are for peace.”

To which the nadim retorted:

“I am for well-being, and you are for trouble;

I am for companionship, and you are for service;

when you get up I sit down;

and when you are angry I am friendly.

I am called nadim [literally ‘he who regrets’ ]

because of the chagrin felt at my departure.”