The case of the misplaced dot

[JesusA (imported)]

There is a well-known anecdote that is often repeated in the chronicles, about Caliph Sulayman, who ordered his governor in Medina to ‘ahsi’ or calculate the number of transsexuals in the city, after he had been informed that the best singers were the transsexuals of Medina. For some reason, in the message to the governor a dot had been added to the letter ha, to become kha, readable as ‘akhsi’, meaning ‘to castrate’; as a result of this unfortunate error, nine transsexuals were castrated.”

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El-Azhari, Taef. (2019). Queens, Eunuchs and Concubines in Islamic History, 661–1257. Edinburgh: University Press, p. 71.

[jamiepan (imported)]

I could be wrong but I'm remembering that Sulayman had a sense of fair play about him; that while he was a ruthless ruler and fighter, he was demonstrably fair, in some ways.

So, I'm wondering; did those nine transsexuals that were castrated get compensated in any way? I mean... it could have turned out not so bad for them, if the ol' Caliph was feeling benevolent.

[Paolo]

Much like the old saying, "Commas save lives!"

There is even a sentence in the book "Lord of the Flies" where a comma should be, in that they are planning to eat ... Ralph! Of coures, they didn't. Spoiler alert: He lived.