Tales from the Arabic — Volume 03
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Title: Tales from the Arabic — Volume 03
Translator: John Payne
Release date: March 1, 2004 [eBook #5244]
Most recently updated: June 13, 2026
Language: English
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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TALES FROM THE ARABIC — VOLUME 03 ***
TALES FROM THE ARABIC
Of the Breslau and Calcutta (1814-18) editions of
The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night
not occurring in the other printed texts of the work,
Now first done into English
By John Payne
In Three Volumes:
VOLUME THE THIRD.
1901
Delhi Edition
Contents of The Third Volume.
Breslau Text.
16. Noureddin Ali of Damascus and the Damsel Sitt El Milah
17. El Abbas and the King's Daughter of Baghdad
18. The Two Kings and the Vizier's Daughters
19. The Favourite and Her Lover
20. The Merchant of Cairo and the Favourite of the Khalif El
Mamoun El Hakim Bi Amrillah
Conclusion
Calcutta (1814-18) Text.
21. Story of Sindbad the Sailor and Hindbad the Porter
a. The Sixth Voyage of Sindbad the Sailor
b. The Seventh Voyage of Sindbad the Sailor
Note
Table of Contents of the Calcutta (1839-42) and Boulac Editions
Table of Contents of the Breslau Edition
Table of Contents of the Calcutta Edition
Alphabetical Table of the First Lines of the Verse in the "Tales
from the Arabic"
Index to the Names of the "Tales from the Arabic"
Breslau Text.
NOUREDDIN ALI OF DAMASCUS AND THE
DAMSEL SITT EL MILAH.[FN#1]
There was once, of old days and in bygone ages and times, a
merchant of the merchants of Damascus, by name Aboulhusn, who had
money and riches and slaves and slave-girls and lands and houses
and baths; but he was not blessed with a child and indeed his
years waxed great; wherefore he addressed himself to supplicate
God the Most High in private and in public and in his inclining
and his prostration and at the season of the call to prayer,
beseeching Him to vouchsafe him, before his admittance [to His
mercy], a son who should inherit his wealth and possessions; and
God answered his prayer. So his wife conceived and the days of
her pregnancy were accomplished and her months and her nights and
the pangs of her travail came upon her and she gave birth to a
male child, as he were a piece of the moon. He had not his match
for beauty and he put to shame the sun and the resplendent moon;
for he had a shining face and black eyes of Babylonian
witchery[FN#2] and aquiline nose and ruby lips; brief, he was
perfect of attributes, the loveliest of the folk of his time,
without doubt or gainsaying.
His father rejoiced in him with the utmost joy and his heart was
solaced and he was glad; and he made banquets to the folk and
clad the poor and the widows. He named the boy Sidi[FN#3]
Noureddin Ali and reared him in fondness and delight among the
slaves and servants. When he came to seven years of age, his
father put him to school, where he learned the sublime Koran and
the arts of writing and reckoning: and when he reached his tenth
year, he learned horsemanship and archery and to occupy himself
with arts and sciences of all kinds, part and parts.[FN#4] He
grew up pleasant and subtle and goodly and lovesome, ravishing
all who beheld him, and inclined to companying with brethren and
comrades and mixing with merchants and travellers. From these
latter he heard tell of that which they had seen of the marvels
of the cities in their travels and heard them say, "He who
leaveth not his native land diverteth not himself [with the sight
of the marvels of the world,] and especially of the city of
Baghdad."
So he was concerned with an exceeding concern for his lack of
travel and discovered this to his father, who said to him, "O my
son, why do I see thee chagrined?" And he answered, "I would fain
travel." Quoth Aboulhusn, "O my son, none travelleth save those
whose occasion is urgent and those who are compelled thereunto
[by need]. As for thee, O my son, thou enjoyest ample fortune; so
do thou content thyself with that which God hath given thee and
be bounteous [unto others], even as He hath been bounteous unto
thee; and afflict not thyself with the toil and hardship of
travel, for indeed it is said that travel is a piece of
torment."[FN#5] But the youth said, "Needs must I travel to
Baghdad, the abode of peace."
When his father saw the strength of his determination to travel,
he fell in with his wishes and equipped him with five thousand
dinars in cash and the like in merchandise and sent with him two
serving-men. So the youth set out, trusting in the blessing of
God the Most High, and his father went out with him, to take
leave of him, and returned [to Damascus]. As for Noureddin Ali,
he gave not over travelling days and nights till he entered the
city of Baghdad and laying up his loads in the caravanserai, made
for the bath, where he did away that which was upon him of the
dirt of the road and putting off his travelling clothes, donned a
costly suit of Yemen stuff, worth an hundred dinars. Then he put
in his sleeve[FN#6] a thousand mithcals[FN#7] of gold and sallied
forth a-walking and swaying gracefully as he went. His gait
confounded all those who beheld him, as he shamed the branches
with his shape and belittled the rose with the redness of his
cheeks and his black eyes of Babylonian witchcraft; indeed, thou
wouldst deem that whoso looked on him would surely be preserved
from calamity; [for he was] even as saith of him one of his
describers in the following verses:
Thy haters say and those who malice to thee bear A true word,
profiting its hearers everywhere;
"The glory's not in those whom raiment rich makes fair, But those
who still adorn the raiment that they wear."
So he went walking in the thoroughfares of the city and viewing
its ordinance and its markets and thoroughfares and gazing on its
folk. Presently, Abou Nuwas met him. (Now he was of those of whom
it is said, "They love the fair,"[FN#8] and indeed there is said
what is said concerning him.[FN#9] When he saw Noureddin Ali, he
stared at him in amazement and exclaimed, "Say, I take refuge
with the Lord of the Daybreak!"[FN#10] Then he accosted the young
Damascene and saluting him, said to him, "Why do I see my lord
alone and forlorn? Meseemeth thou art a stranger and knowest not
this country; so, with my lord's permission, I will put myself at
his service and acquaint him with the streets, for that I know
this city." Quoth Noureddin, "This will be of thy favour, O
uncle." Whereat Abou Nuwas rejoiced and fared on with him,
showing him the markets and thoroughfares, till they came to the
house of a slave-dealer, where he stopped and said to the youth,
"From what city art thou?" "From Damascus," answered Noureddin;
and Abou Nuwas said, "By Allah, thou art from a blessed city,
even as saith of it the poet in the following verses:
Damascus is all gardens decked for the pleasance of the eyes; For
the seeker there are black-eyed girls and boys of Paradise."
Noureddin thanked him and they entered the slave-merchant's
house. When the people of the house saw Abou Nuwas, they rose to
do him worship, for that which they knew of his station with the
Commander of the Faithful. Moreover, the slave-dealer himself
came up to them with two chairs, and they seated themselves
thereon. Then the slave-merchant went into the house and
returning with the slave-girl, as she were a willow-wand or a
bamboo-cane, clad in a vest of damask silk and tired with a black
and white turban, the ends whereof fell down over her face,
seated her on a chair of ebony; after which quoth he to those who
were present, "I will discover to you a face as it were a full
moon breaking forth from under a cloud." And they said, "Do so."
So he unveiled the damsel's face and behold, she was like the
shining sun, with comely shape and day-bright face and slender
[waist and heavy] hips; brief, she was endowed with elegance, the
description whereof existeth not, [and was] even as saith of her
the poet:
A fair one, to idolaters if she herself should show, They'd leave
their idols and her face for only Lord would know;
And if into the briny sea one day she chanced to spit, Assuredly
the salt sea's floods straight fresh and sweet would grow.
The dealer stood at her head and one of the merchants said, "I
bid a thousand dinars for her." Quoth another, "I bid eleven
hundred dinars;" [and a third, "I bid twelve hundred"]. Then said
a fourth merchant, "Be she mine for fourteen hundred dinars." And
the biddings stood still at that sum. Quoth her owner, "I will
not sell her save with her consent. If she desire to be sold, I
will sell her to whom she willeth." And the slave-dealer said to
him, "What is her name?" "Her name is Sitt el Milah,"[FN#11]
answered the other; whereupon the dealer said to her, "By thy
leave, I will sell thee to yonder merchant for this price of
fourteen hundred dinars." Quoth she, "Come hither to me." So he
came up to her and when he drew near, she gave him a kick with
her foot and cast him to the ground, saying, "I will not have
that old man." The slave-dealer arose, shaking the dust from his
clothes and head, and said, "Who biddeth more? Who is desirous
[of buying?]" Quoth one of the merchants, "I," and the dealer
said to her, "O Sitt el Milah, shall I sell thee to this
merchant?" "Come hither to me," answered she; but he said "Nay;
speak and I will hearken to thee from my place, for I will not
trust myself to thee," And she said, "I will not have him."
Then he looked at her and seeing her eyes fixed on the young
Damascene, for that in very deed he had ravished her with his
beauty and grace, went up to the latter and said to him, "O my
lord, art thou a looker-on or a buyer? Tell me." Quoth Noureddin,
"I am both looker-on and buyer. Wilt thou sell me yonder
slave-girl for sixteen hundred dinars?" And he pulled out the
purse of gold. So the dealer returned, dancing and clapping his
hands and saying, "So be it, so be it, or not [at all]!" Then he
came to the damsel and said to her, "O Sitt el Milah, shall I
sell thee to yonder young Damascene for sixteen hundred dinars?"
But she answered, "No," of shamefastness before her master and
the bystanders; whereupon the people of the bazaar and the
slave-merchant departed, and Abou Nuwas and Ali Noureddin arose
and went each his own way, whilst the damsel returned to her
master's house, full of love for the young Damascene.
When the night darkened on her, she called him to mind and her
heart clave to him and sleep visited her not; and on this wise
she abode days and nights, till she sickened and abstained from
food. So her lord went in to her and said to her, "O Sitt el
Milah, how findest thou thyself?" "O my lord," answered she, "I
am dead without recourse and I beseech thee to bring me my
shroud, so I may look on it before my death." Therewithal he went
out from her, sore concerned for her, and betook himself to a
friend of his, a draper, who had been present on the day when the
damsel was cried [for sale]. Quoth his friend to him, "Why do I
see thee troubled?" And he answered, "Sitt el Milah is at the
point of death and these three days she hath neither eaten nor
drunken. I questioned her to-day of her case and she said, 'O my
lord, buy me a shroud, so I may look on it before my death.'"
Quoth the draper, "Methinks nought ails her but that she is
enamoured of the young Damascene and I counsel thee to mention
his name to her and avouch to her that he hath foregathered with
thee on her account and is desirous of coming to thy house, so he
may hear somewhat of her singing. If she say, 'I reck not of him,
for there is that to do with me which distracteth me from the
Damascene and from other than he,' know that she saith sooth
concerning her sickness; but, if she say to thee other than this,
acquaint me therewith.'"
So the man returned to his lodging and going in to his
slave-girl, said to her, "O Sitt el Milah, I went out on thine
occasion and there met me the young man of Damascus, and he
saluted me and saluteth thee. Indeed, he seeketh to win thy
favour and would fain be a guest in our dwelling, so thou mayst
let him hear somewhat of thy singing." When she heard speak of
the young Damascene, she gave a sob, that her soul was like to
depart her body, and answered, saying, "He knoweth my plight and
is ware that these three days past I have eaten not nor drunken,
and I beseech thee, O my lord, by the Great God, to accomplish
the stranger his due and bring him to my lodging and make excuse
to him for me."
When her master heard this, his reason fled for joy and he went
to his friend the draper and said to him, "Thou wast right in the
matter of the damsel, for that she is enamoured of the young
Damascene; so how shall I do?" Quoth the other, "Go to the bazaar
and when thou seest him, salute him and say to him, 'Indeed, thy
departure the other day, without accomplishing thine occasion,
was grievous to me; so, if thou be still minded to buy the girl,
I will abate thee an hundred dinars of that which thou badest for
her, by way of hospitable entreatment of thee and making myself
agreeable to thee; for that thou art a stranger in our land.' If
he say to thee, 'I have no desire for her' and hold off from
thee, know that he will not buy; in which case, let me know, so I
may contrive thee another device; and if he say to thee other
than this, conceal not from me aught.
So the girl's owner betook himself to the bazaar, where he found
the youth seated at the upper end of the merchants' place of
session, selling and buying and taking and giving, as he were the
moon on the night of its full, and saluted him. The young man
returned his salutation and he said to him, "O my lord, be not
thou vexed at the girl's speech the other day, for her price
shall be less than that [which thou badest], to the intent that I
may propitiate thy favour. If thou desire her for nought, I will
send her to thee, or if thou wouldst have me abate thee of her
price, I will well, for I desire nought but what shall content
thee; for that thou art a stranger in our land and it behoveth us
to entreat thee hospitably and have consideration for thee." "By
Allah," answered the youth, "I will not take her from thee but at
an advance on that which I bade thee for her aforetime; so wilt
thou now sell her to me for seventeen hundred dinars?" And the
other answered," O my lord, I sell her to thee, may God bless
thee in her."
So the young man went to his lodging and fetching a purse,
returned to the girl's owner and counted out to him the price
aforesaid, whilst the draper was between them. Then said he,
"Bring her forth;" but the other answered, "She cannot come forth
at this present; but be thou my guest the rest of this day and
night, and on the morrow thou shall take thy slave-girl and go in
the protection of God." The youth fell in with him of this and he
carried him to his house, where, after a little, he let bring
meat and wine, and they [ate and] drank. Then said Noureddin to
the girl's owner, "I beseech thee bring me the damsel, for that I
bought her not but for the like of this time." So he arose and
[going in to the girl], said to her, "O Sitt el Milan, the young
man hath paid down thy price and we have bidden him hither; so he
hath come to our dwelling and we have entertained him, and he
would fain have thee be present with him."
Therewithal the damsel rose briskly and putting off her clothes,
washed and donned sumptuous apparel and perfumed herself and went
out to him, as she were a willow-wand or a bamboo-cane, followed
by a black slave girl, bearing the lute. When she came to the
young man, she saluted him and sat down by his side. Then she
took the lute from the slave-girl and tuning it, smote thereon in
four-and-twenty modes, after which she returned to the first mode
and sang the following verses:
Unto me the world's whole gladness is thy nearness and thy sight;
All incumbent thy possession and thy love a law of right.
In my tears I have a witness; when I call thee to my mind, Down
my cheeks they run like torrents, and I cannot stay their
flight.
None, by Allah, 'mongst all creatures, none I love save thee
alone! Yea, for I am grown thy bondman, by the troth betwixt
us plight.
Peace upon thee! Ah, how bitter were the severance from thee! Be
not this thy troth-plight's ending nor the last of our
delight!
Therewithal the young man was moved to delight and exclaimed, "By
Allah, thou sayest well, O Sitt el Milan! Let me hear more." Then
he handselled her with fifty dinars and they drank and the cups
went round among them; and her seller said to her, "O Sitt el
Milah, this is the season of leave-taking; so let us hear
somewhat on the subject." Accordingly she struck the lute and
avouching that which was in her heart, sang the following verses:
I am filled full of longing pain and memory and dole, That from
the wasted body's wounds distract the anguished soul.
Think not, my lords, that I forget: the case is still the same.
When such a fever fills the heart, what leach can make it
whole?
And if a creature in his tears could swim, as in a sea, I to do
this of all that breathe were surely first and sole.
O skinker of the wine of woe, turn from a love-sick maid, Who
drinks her tears still, night and morn, thy bitter-flavoured
bowl.
I had not left you, had I known that severance would prove My
death; but what is past is past, Fate stoops to no control.
As they were thus in the enjoyment of all that in most delicious
of easance and delight, and indeed the wine was sweet to them and
the talk pleasant, behold, there came a knocking at the door. So
the master of the house went out, that he might see what was to
do, and found ten men of the Khalif's eunuchs at the door. When
he saw this, he was amazed and said to them, "What is to do?"
Quoth they, "The Commander of the Faithful saluteth thee and
requireth of thee the slave-girl whom thou hast for sale and
whose name is Sitt el Milah." By Allah," answered the other, "I
have sold her." And they said, "Swear by the head of the
Commander of the Faithful that she is not in thy dwelling." He
made oath that he had sold her and that she was no longer at his
disposal; but they paid no *need to his word and forcing their
way into the house, found the damsel and the young Damascene in
the sitting-chamber. So they laid hands upon her, and the youth
said, "This is my slave-girl, whom I have bought with my money."
But they hearkened not to his speech and taking her, carried her
off to the Commander of the Faithful.
Therewithal Noureddin's life was troubled; so he arose and donned
his clothes, and his host said, "Whither away this night, O my
lord?" Quoth Noureddin, "I mean to go to my lodging, and
to-morrow I will betake myself to the palace of the Commander of
the Faithful and demand my slave-girl." "Sleep till the morning,"
said the other, "and go not forth at the like of this hour." But
he answered, "Needs must I go;" and the host said to him, "[Go]
in the safeguard of God." So Noureddin went forth, and
drunkenness had got the mastery of him, wherefore he threw
himself down on [a bench before one of] the shops. Now the watch
were at that hour making their round and they smelt the sweet
scent [of essences] and wine that exhaled from him; so they made
for it and found the youth lying on the bench, without sense or
motion. They poured water upon him, and he awoke, whereupon they
carried him to the house of the Chief of the Police and he
questioned him of his affair. "O my lord," answered Noureddin, "I
am a stranger in this town and have been with one of my friends.
So I came forth from his house and drunkenness overcame me."
The prefect bade carry him to his lodging; but one of those in
attendance upon him, by name El Muradi, said to him, "What wilt
thou do? This man is clad in rich clothes and on his finger is a
ring of gold, the beazel whereof is a ruby of great price; so we
will carry him away and slay him and take that which is upon him
of raiment [and what not else] and bring it to thee; for that
thou wilt not [often] see profit the like thereof, more by token
that this fellow is a stranger and there is none to enquire
concerning him." Quoth the prefect, "This fellow is a thief and
that which he saith is leasing." And Noureddin said, "God forbid
that I should be a thief!" But the prefect answered, "Thou
liest." So they stripped him of his clothes and taking the ring
from his finger, beat him grievously, what while he cried out for
succour, but none succoured him, and besought protection, but
none protected him. Then said he to them, "O folk, ye are quit
of[FN#12] that which ye have taken from me; but now restore me to
my lodging." But they answered, saying, "Leave this knavery, O
cheat! Thine intent is to sue us for thy clothes on the morrow."
"By Allah, the One, the Eternal," exclaimed he, "I will not sue
any for them!" But they said, "We can nowise do this." And the
prefect bade them carry him to the Tigris and there slay him and
cast him into the river.
So they dragged him away, what while he wept and spoke the words
which whoso saith shall nowise be confounded, to wit, "There is
no power and no virtue save in God the Most High, the Sublime!"
When they came to the Tigris, one of them drew the sword upon him
and El Muradi said to the swordbearer, "Smite off his head." But
one of them, Ahmed by name, said, "O folk, deal gently with this
poor wretch and slay him not unjustly and wickedly, for I stand
in fear of God the Most High, lest He burn me with his fire."
Quoth El Muradi, "A truce to this talk!" And Ahmed said, "If ye
do with him aught, I will acquaint the Commander of the
Faithful." "How, then, shall we do with him?" asked they; and he
answered, "Let us deposit him in prison and I will be answerable
to you for his provision; so shall we be quit of his blood, for
indeed he is wrongfully used." So they took him up and casting
him into the Prison of Blood,[FN#13]went away.
Meanwhile, they carried the damsel into the Commander of the
Faithful and she pleased him; so he assigned her a lodging of the
apartments of choice. She abode in the palace, eating not neither
drinking and ceasing not from weeping night nor day, till, one
night, the Khalif sent for her to his sitting-chamber and said to
her, "O Sitt el Milah, be of good heart and cheerful eye, for I
will make thy rank higher than [any of] the concubines and thou
shall see that which shall rejoice thee." She kissed the earth
and wept; whereupon the Khalif called for her lute and bade her
sing. So she improvised and sang the following verses, in
accordance with that which was in her heart:
Say, by the lightnings of thy teeth and thy soul's pure desire,
Moan'st thou as moan the doves and is thy heart for doubt on
fire?
How many a victim of the pangs of love-liking hath died! Tired is
my patience, but of blame my censors never tire.
When she had made an end of her song, she cast the lute from her
hand and wept till she swooned away, whereupon the Khalif bade
carry her to her chamber. Now he was ravished with her and loved
her with an exceeding love; so, after awhile, he again commanded
to bring her to his presence, and when she came, he bade her
sing. Accordingly, she took the lute and spoke forth that which
was in her heart and sang the following verses:
What strength have I solicitude and long desire to bear? Why art
thou purposed to depart and leave me to despair?
Why to estrangement and despite inclin'st thou with the spy? Yet
that a bough[FN#14] from side to side incline[FN#15] small
wonder 'twere.
Thou layst on me a load too great to bear, and thus thou dost But
that my burdens I may bind and so towards thee fare.
Then she cast the lute from her hand and swooned away; so she was
carried to her chamber and indeed passion waxed upon her. After a
long while, the Commander of the Faithful sent for her a third
time and bade her sing. So she took the lute and sang the
following verses:
O hills of the sands and the rugged piebald plain, Shall the
bondman of love win ever free from pain!
I wonder, shall I and the friend who's far from me Once more be
granted of Fate to meet, we twain!
Bravo for a fawn with a houri's eye of black, Like the sun or the
shining moon midst the starry train!
To lovers, "What see ye?" he saith, and to hearts of stone, "What
love ye," quoth he, "[if to love me ye disdain?"]
I supplicate Him, who parted us and doomed Our separation, that
we may meet again.
When she had made an end of her song, the Commander of the
Faithful said to her, "O damsel, thou art in love." "Yes,"
answered she. And he said, "With whom?" Quoth she, "With my lord
and my master, my love for whom is as the love of the earth for
rain, or as the love of the female for the male; and indeed the
love of him is mingled with my flesh and my blood and hath
entered into the channels of my bones. O Commander of the
Faithful, whenas I call him to mind, mine entrails are consumed,
for that I have not accomplished my desire of him, and but that I
fear to die, without seeing him, I would assuredly kill myself."
And he said, "Art thou in my presence and bespeakest me with the
like of these words? I will assuredly make thee forget thy lord."
Then he bade take her away; so she was carried to her chamber and
he sent her a black slave-girl, with a casket, wherein were three
thousand dinars and a carcanet of gold, set with pearls, great
and small, and jewels, worth other three thousand, saying to her,
"The slave-girl and that which is with her are a gift from me to
thee." When she heard this, she said, "God forbid that I should
be consoled for the love of my lord and my master, though with
the earth full of gold!" And she improvised and recited the
following verses:
I swear by his life, yea, I swear by the life of my love without
peer, To please him or save him from hurt, I'd enter the
fire without fear!
"Console thou thyself for his love," quoth they, "with another
than he;" But, "Nay, by his life," answered I, "I'll never
forget him my dear!"
A moon is my love, in a robe of loveliness proudly arrayed, And
the splendours of new-broken day from his cheeks and his
forehead shine clear.
Then the Khalif summoned her to his presence a fourth time and
said to her, "O Sitt el Milah, sing." So she improvised and sang
the following verses:
To his beloved one the lover's heart's inclined; His soul's a
captive slave, in sickness' hands confined.
"What is the taste of love?" quoth one, and I replied, "Sweet
water 'tis at first; but torment lurks behind."
Love's slave, I keep my troth with them; but, when they vowed,
Fate made itself Urcoub,[FN#16] whom never oath could bind.
What is there in the tents? Their burdens are become A lover's,
whose belov'd is in the litters' shrined.
In every halting-place like Joseph[FN#17] she appears And he in
every stead with Jacob's grief[FN#18] is pined.
When she had made an end of her song, she threw the lute from her
hand and wept till she swooned away. So they sprinkled on her
rose-water, mingled with musk, and willow-flower water; and when
she came to herself, Er Reshid said to her, "O Sitt el Milah,
this is not fair dealing in thee. We love thee and thou lovest
another." "O Commander of the Faithful," answered she, "there is
no help for it." Therewithal he was wroth with her and said, "By
the virtue of Hemzeh[FN#19] and Akil[FN#20] and Mohammed, Prince
of the Apostles, if thou name one other than I in my presence, I
will bid strike off thy head!" Then he bade return her to her
chamber, whilst she wept and recited the following verses:
If I must die, then welcome death to heal My woes; 'twere lighter
than the pangs I feel.
What if the sabre cut me limb from limb! No torment 'twere for
lovers true and leal.
Then the Khalif went in to the Lady Zubeideh, pale with anger,
and she noted this in him and said to him, "How cometh it that I
see the Commander of the Faithful changed of colour?" "O daughter
of my uncle," answered he, "I have a beautiful slave-girl, who
reciteth verses and telleth stories, and she hath taken my whole
heart; but she loveth other than I and avoucheth that she loveth
her [former] master; wherefore I have sworn a great oath that, if
she come again to my sitting-chamber and sing for other than I, I
will assuredly take a span from her highest part."[FN#21]Quoth
Zubeideh, "Let the Commander of the Faithful favour me with her
presence, so I may look on her and hear her singing." So he bade
fetch her and she came, whereupon the Lady Zubeideh withdrew
behind the curtain, whereas she saw her not, and Er Reshid said
to her, "Sing to us." So she took the lute and tuning it, sang
the following verses:
Lo, since the day I left you, O my masters, Life is not sweet, no
aye my heart is light.
Yea, in the night the thought of you still slays me; Hidden are
my traces from the wise men's sight,
All for a wild deer's love, whose looks have snared me And on
whose brows the morning glitters bright
I am become, for severance from my loved one, Like a left hand,
forsaken of the right.
Beauty on his cheek hath written, "Blest be Allah, He who created
this enchanting wight!"
Him I beseech our loves who hath dissevered, Us of his grace once
more to reunite.
When Er Reshid heard this, he waxed exceeding wroth and said,
"May God not reunite you twain in gladness!" Then he summoned the
headsman, and when he presented himself, he said to him, "Strike
off the head of this accursed slave-girl." So Mesrour took her by
the hand and [led her away; but], when she came to the door, she
turned and said to the Khalif, "O Commander of the Faithful, I
conjure thee, by thy fathers and forefathers, give ear unto that
I shall say!" Then she improvised and recited the following
verses:
O Amir of justice, be kind to thy subjects; For justice, indeed,
of thy nature's a trait.
O thou my inclining to love him that blamest, Shall lovers be
blamed for the errors of Fate?
Then spare me, by Him who vouchsafed thee the kingship; For a
gift in this world is the regal estate.
Then Mesrour carried her to the other end of the sitting-chamber
and bound her eyes and making her sit, stood awaiting a second
commandment; whereupon quoth the Lady Zubeideh, "O Commander of
the Faithful, with thy permission, wilt thou not vouchsafe this
damsel a share of thy clemency? Indeed, if thou slay her, it were
injustice." Quoth he, "What is to be done with her?" And she
said, "Forbear to slay her and send for her lord. If he be as she
describeth him in grace and goodliness, she is excused, and if he
be not on this wise, then slay her, and this shall be thy
justification against her."[FN#22]
"Be it as thou deemest," answered Er Reshid and caused return the
damsel to her chamber, saying to her, "The Lady Zubeideh saith
thus and thus." Quoth she, "God requite her for me with good!
Indeed, thou dealest equitably, O Commander of the Faithful, in
this judgment." And he answered, "Go now to thy place, and
to-morrow we will let bring thy lord." So she kissed the earth
and recited the following verses:
I am content, for him I love, to all abide; So, who will, let him
blame, and who will, let him chide.
At their appointed terms souls die; but for despair My soul is
like to die, or ere its term betide.
O thou with love of whom I'm smitten, yet content, I prithee come
to me and hasten to my side.
Then she arose and returned to her chamber.
On the morrow, the Commander of the Faithful sat [in his hall of
audience] and his Vizier Jaafer ben Yehya the Barmecide came in
to him; whereupon he called to him, saying, "I would have thee
bring me a youth who is lately come to Baghdad, hight [Sidi
Noureddin Ali] the Damascene." Quoth Jaafer, "Hearkening and
obedience," and going forth in quest of the youth, sent to the
markets and khans and caravanserais three days' space, but found
no trace of him, neither lit upon tidings of him. So on the
fourth day he presented himself before the Khalif and said to
him, "O our lord, I have sought him these three days, but have
not found him." Quoth Er Reshid, "Make ready letters to Damascus.
Belike he hath returned to his own land." So Jaafer wrote a
letter and despatched it by a dromedary-courier to the city of
Damascus; and they sought him there and found him not.
Meanwhile, news was brought that Khorassan had been
conquered;[FN#23] whereupon Er Reshid rejoiced and bade decorate
Baghdad and release all who were in the prisons, giving each of
them a dinar and a dress. So Jaafer addressed himself to the
decoration of the city and bade his brother El Fezl ride to the
prison and clothe and release the prisoners. El Fezl did his
brother's bidding and released all but the young Damascene, who
abode still in the Prison of Blood, saying, "There is no power
and no virtue save in God the Most High, the Sublime! Verily, we
are God's and to Him we return." Then said El Fezl to the gaoler,
"Is there any prisoner left in the prison?" "No," answered he,
and El Fezl was about to depart, when Noureddin called out to him
from within the prison, saying, "O my lord, tarry, for there
remaineth none in the prison other than I and indeed I am
oppressed. This is a day of clemency and there is no disputing
concerning it." El Fezl bade release him; so they set him free
and he gave him a dress and a dinar. So the young man went out,
bewildered and knowing not whither he should go, for that he had
abidden in the prison nigh a year and indeed his condition was
changed and his favour faded, and he abode walking and turning
round, lest El Muradi should come upon him and cast him into
another calamity.
When El Muradi heard of his release, he betook himself to the
chief of the police and said to him, "O our lord, we are not
assured from yonder youth, [the Damascene], for that he hath been
released from prison and we fear lest he complain of us." Quoth
the prefect, "How shall we do?" And El Muradi answered, saying,
"I will cast him into a calamity for thee." Then he ceased not to
follow the young Damascene from place to place till he came up
with him in a strait place and a by-street without an issue;
whereupon he accosted him and putting a rope about his neck,
cried out, saying, "A thief!" The folk flocked to him from all
sides and fell to beating and reviling Noureddin, whilst he cried
out for succour, but none succoured him, and El Muradi still said
to him, "But yesterday the Commander of the Faithful released
thee and to-day thou stealest!" So the hearts of the folk were
hardened against him and El Muradi carried him to the master of
police, who bade cut off his hand.
Accordingly, the hangman took him and bringing out the knife,
offered to cut off his hand, what while El Muradi said to him,
"Cut and sever the bone and sear[FN#24] it not for him, so he may
lose his blood and we be rid of him." But Ahmed, he who had
aforetime been the means of his deliverance, sprang up to him and
said, "O folk, fear God in [your dealings with] this youth, for
that I know his affair from first to last and he is void of
offence and guiltless. Moreover, he is of the folk of
condition,[FN#25] and except ye desist from him, I will go up to
the Commander of the Faithful and acquaint him with the case from
first to last and that the youth is guiltless of crime or
offence." Quoth El Muradi, "Indeed, we are not assured from his
mischief." And Ahmed answered, "Release him and commit him to me
and I will warrant you against his affair, for ye shall never see
him again after this." So they delivered Noureddin to him and he
took him from their hands and said to him, "O youth, have
compassion on thyself, for indeed thou hast fallen into the hands
of these folk twice and if they lay hold of thee a third time,
they will make an end of thee; and [in dealing thus with thee], I
aim at reward and recompense for thee[FN#26] and answered
prayer."[FN#27]
Noureddin fell to kissing his hand and calling down blessings on
him and said to him, "Know that I am a stranger in this your city
and the completion of kindness is better than the beginning
thereof; wherefore I beseech thee of thy favour that thou
complete to me thy good offices and kindness and bring me to the
gate of the city. So will thy beneficence be accomplished unto me
and may God the Most High requite thee for me with good!" ["Fear
not,"] answered Ahmed; "no harm shall betide thee. Go; I will
bear thee company till thou come to thy place of assurance." And
he left him not till he brought him to the gate of the city and
said to him, "O youth, go in the safeguard of God and return not
to the city; for, if they fall in with thee [again], they will
make an end of thee." Noureddin kissed his hand and going forth
the city, gave not over walking till he came to a mosque that
stood in one of the suburbs of Baghdad and entered therein with
the night.
Now he had with him nought wherewithal he might cover himself; so
he wrapped himself up in one of the rugs of the mosque [and abode
thus till daybreak], when the Muezzins came and finding him
sitting in that case, said to him, "O youth, what is this
plight?" Quoth he, "I cast myself on your hospitality, imploring
your protection from a company of folk who seek to kill me
unjustly and oppressively, without cause." And [one of] the
Muezzin[s] said, "Be of good heart and cheerful eye." Then he
brought him old clothes and covered him withal; moreover, he set
before him somewhat of meat and seeing upon him signs of gentle
breeding, said to him, "O my son, I grow old and desire thee of
help, [in return for which] I will do away thy necessity."
"Hearkening and obedience," answered Noureddin and abode with the
old man, who rested and took his ease, what while the youth [did
his service in the mosque], celebrating the praises of God and
calling the faithful to prayer and lighting the lamps and filling
the ewers[FN#28] and sweeping and cleaning out the place.
Meanwhile, the Lady Zubeideh, the wife of the Commander of the
Faithful, made a banquet in her palace and assembled her
slave-girls. As for Sitt el Milah, she came, weeping-eyed and
mournful-hearted, and those who were present blamed her for this,
whereupon she recited the following verses:
Ye chide at one who weepeth for troubles ever new; Needs must th'
afflicted warble the woes that make him rue.
Except I be appointed a day [to end my pain], I'll weep until
mine eyelids with blood their tears ensue.
When she had made an end of her verses, the Lady Zubeideh bade
each damsel sing a song, till the turn came round to Sitt el
Milah, whereupon she took the lute and tuning it, sang thereto
four-and-twenty songs in four-and-twenty modes; then she returned
to the first mode and sang the following verses:
Fortune its arrows all, through him I love, let fly At me and
parted me from him for whom I sigh.
Lo, in my heart the heat of every heart burns high And in mine
eyes unite the tears of every eye.
When she had made an end of her song, she wept till she made the
bystanders weep and the Lady Zubeideh condoled with her and said
to her, "God on thee, O Sitt el Milah, sing us somewhat, so we
may hearken to thee." "Hearkening and obedience," answered the
damsel and sang the following verses:
Assemble, ye people of passion, I pray; For the hour of our
torment hath sounded to-day.
The raven of parting croaks loud at our door; Alas, for our raven
cleaves fast to us aye!
For those whom we cherish are parted and gone; They have left us
in torment to pine for dismay.
So arise, by your lives I conjure you, arise And come let us fare
to our loved ones away.
Then she cast the lute from her hand and wept till she made the
Lady Zubeideh weep, and she said to her, "O Sitt el Milah,
methinks he whom thou lovest is not in this world, for that the
Commander of the Faithful hath sought him in every place, but
hath not found him." Whereupon the damsel arose and kissing the
Lady Zubeideh's hands, said to her, "O my lady, if thou wouldst
have him found, I have a request to make to thee, wherein thou
mayst accomplish my occasion with the Commander of the Faithful."
Quoth the princess, "And what is it?" "It is," answered Sitt el
Milah, "that thou get me leave to go forth by myself and go round
about in quest of him three days, for the adage saith, 'She who
mourneth for herself is not the like of her who is hired to
mourn.'[FN#29] If I find him, I will bring him before the
Commander of the Faithful, so he may do with us what he will; and
if I find him not, I shall be cut off from hope of him and that
which is with me will be assuaged." Quoth the Lady Zubeideh, "I
will not get thee leave from him but for a whole month; so be of
good heart and cheerful eye." Whereupon Sitt el Milah was glad
and rising, kissed the earth before her once more and went away
to her own place, rejoicing.
As for Zubeideh, she went in to the Khalif and talked with him
awhile; then she fell to kissing him between the eyes and on his
hand and asked him that which she had promised Sitt el Milah,
saying, "O Commander of the Faithful, I doubt me her lord is not
found in this world; but, if she go about in quest of him and
find him not, her hopes will be cut off and her mind will be set
at rest and she will sport and laugh; for that, what while she
abideth in hope, she will never cease from her frowardness." And
she gave not over cajoling him till he gave Sitt el Milah leave
to go forth and make search for her lord a month's space and
ordered her an eunuch to attend her and bade the paymaster [of
the household] give her all she needed, were it a thousand
dirhems a day or more. So the Lady Zubeideh arose and returning
to her palace, sent for Sitt el Milah and acquainted her with
that which had passed [between herself and the Khalif]; whereupon
she kissed her hand and thanked her and called down blessings on
her.
Then she took leave of the princess and veiling her face,
disguised herself; [FN#30] after which she mounted the mule and
sallying forth, went round about seeking her lord in the
thoroughfares of Baghdad three days' space, but lit on no tidings
of him; and on the fourth day, she rode forth without the city.
Now it was the noontide hour and great was the heat, and she was
aweary and thirst waxed upon her. Presently, she came to the
mosque, wherein the young Damascene had taken shelter, and
lighting down at the door, said to the old man, [the Muezzin], "O
elder, hast thou a draught of cold water? Indeed, I am overcome
with heat and thirst." Quoth he, "[Come up] with me into my
house." So he carried her up into his lodging and spreading her
[a carpet and cushions], seated her [thereon]; after which he
brought her cold water and she drank and said to the eunuch, "Go
thy ways with the mule and on the morrow come back to me here."
[So he went away] and she slept and rested herself.
When she awoke, she said to the old man, "O elder, hast thou
aught of food?" And he answered, "O my lady, I have bread and
olives." Quoth she, "That is food fit but for the like of thee.
As for me, I will have nought but roast lamb and broths and fat
rissoled fowls and stuffed ducks and all manner meats dressed
with [pounded nuts and almond-]kernels and sugar." "O my lady,"
replied the Muezzin, "I never heard of this chapter in the Koran,
nor was it revealed unto our lord Mohammed, whom God bless and
keep!"[FN#31] She laughed and said, "O elder, the matter is even
as thou sayest; but bring me inkhorn and paper." So he brought
her what she sought and she wrote a letter and gave it to him,
together with a seal-ring from her finger, saying, "Go into the
city and enquire for such an one the money-changer and give him
this my letter."
The old man betook himself to the city, as she bade him, and
enquired for the money-changer, to whom they directed him. So he
gave him the ring and the letter, which when he saw, he kissed
the letter and breaking it open, read it and apprehended its
purport. Then he repaired to the market and buying all that she
bade him, laid it in a porter's basket and bade him go with the
old man. So the latter took him and went with him to the mosque,
where he relieved him of his burden and carried the meats in to
Sitt el Milah. She seated him by her side and they ate, he and
she, of those rich meats, till they were satisfied, when the old
man rose and removed the food from before her.
She passed the night in his lodging and when she arose in the
morning, she said to him, "O elder, may I not lack thy kind
offices for the morning-meal! Go to the money-changer and fetch
me from him the like of yesterday's food." So he arose and
betaking himself to the money-changer, acquainted him with that
which she had bidden him. The money-changer brought him all that
she required and set it on the heads of porters; and the old man
took them and returned with them to Sitt el Milah. So she sat
down with him and they ate their sufficiency, after which he
removed the rest of the food. Then she took the fruits and the
flowers and setting them over against herself, wrought them into
rings and knots and letters, whilst the old man looked on at a
thing whose like he had never in his life seen and rejoiced
therein.
Then said she to him, "O elder, I would fain drink." So he arose
and brought her a gugglet of water; but she said to him, "Who
bade thee fetch that?" Quoth he, "Saidst thou not to me, 'I would
fain drink'?" And she answered, "I want not this; nay, I want
wine, the delight of the soul, so haply, O elder, I may solace
myself therewith." "God forbid," exclaimed the old man, "that
wine should be drunk in my house, and I a stranger in the land
and a Muezzin and an imam,[FN#32] who prayeth with the
true-believers, and a servant of the house of the Lord of the
Worlds! "Quoth she, "Why wilt thou forbid me to drink thereof in
thy house?" "Because," answered he, "it is unlawful." "O elder,"
rejoined she, "God hath forbidden [the eating of] blood and
carrion and hog's flesh. Tell me, are grapes and honey lawful or
unlawful?" Quoth he, "They are lawful;" and she said, "This is
the juice of grapes and the water of honey." But he answered,
"Leave this thy talk, for thou shall never drink wine in my
house." "O Sheikh," rejoined she, "folk eat and drink and enjoy
themselves and we are of the number of the folk and God is very
forgiving, clement."[FN#33] Quoth he, "This is a thing that may
not be." And she said, "Hast thou not heard what the poet saith
... ?" And she recited the following verses:
O son of Simeon, give no ear to other than my say. How bitter
from the convent 'twas to part and fare away!
Ay, and the monks, for on the Day of Palms a fawn there was Among
the servants of the church, a loveling blithe and gay.
By God, how pleasant was the night we passed, with him for third!
Muslim and Jew and Nazarene, we sported till the day.
The wine was sweet to us to drink in pleasance and repose, And in
a garden of the garths of Paradise we lay,
Whose streams beneath the myrtle's shade and cassia's welled
amain And birds made carol jubilant from every blossomed
spray.
Quoth he, what while from out his hair the morning glimmered
white, "This, this is life indeed, except, alas! it doth not
stay."
"O elder," added she, "if Muslims and Jews and Nazarenes drink
wine, who are we [that we should abstain from it]?" "By Allah, O
my lady," answered he, "spare thine endeavour, for this is a
thing to which I will not hearken." When she knew that he would
not consent to her desire, she said to him, "O elder, I am of the
slave-girls of the Commander of the Faithful and the food waxeth
on me[FN#34] and if I drink not, I shall perish,[FN#35] nor wilt
thou be assured against the issue of my affair. As for me, I am
quit of blame towards thee, for that I have made myself known to
thee and have bidden thee beware of the wrath of the Commander of
the Faithful."
When the old man heard her words and that wherewith she menaced
him, he arose and went out, perplexed and knowing not what he
should do, and there met him a Jew, who was his neighbour, and
said to him, "O Sheikh, how cometh it that I see thee strait of
breast? Moreover, I hear in thy house a noise of talk, such as I
use not to hear with thee." Quoth the Muezzin, "Yonder is a
damsel who avoucheth that she is of the slave-girls of the
Commander of the Faithful Haroun er Reshid; and she hath eaten
food and now would fain drink wine in my house, but I forbade
her. However she avoucheth that except she drink thereof, she
will perish, and indeed I am bewildered concerning my affair."
"Know, O my neighbour," answered the Jew, "that the slave-girls
of the Commander of the Faithful are used to drink wine, and
whenas they eat and drink not, they perish; and I fear lest some
mishap betide her, in which case thou wouldst not be safe from
the Khalifs wrath." "What is to be done?" asked the Sheikh; and
the Jew replied, "I have old wine that will suit her." Quoth the
old man, "[I conjure thee] by the right of neighbourship, deliver
me from this calamity and let me have that which is with thee!"
"In the name of God," answered the Jew and going to his house,
brought out a flagon of wine, with which the Sheikh returned to
Sitt el Milah. This pleased her and she said to him, "Whence
hadst thou this?" "I got it from my neighbour the Jew," answered
he. "I set out to him my case with thee and he gave me this."
Sitt el Milah filled a cup and emptied it; after which she drank
a second and a third. Then she filled the cup a fourth time and
handed it to the old man, but he would not accept it from her.
However, she conjured him, by her own head and that of the
Commander of the Faithful, that he should take it from her, till
he took the cup from her hand and kissed it and would have set it
down; but she conjured him by her life to smell it. So he smelt
it and she said to him, "How deemest thou?" "Its smell is sweet,"
replied he; and she conjured him, by the life of the Commander of
the Faithful, to taste it. So he put it to his mouth and she rose
to him and made him drink; whereupon, "O princess of the fair,"
said he, "this is none other than good." Quoth she, "So deem I.
Hath not our Lord promised us wine in Paradise?" And he answered,
"Yes. Quoth the Most High, 'And rivers of wine, a delight to the
drinkers.'[FN#36] And we will drink it in this world and the
world to come." She laughed and emptying the cup, gave him to
drink, and he said, "O princess of the fair, indeed thou art
excusable in thy love for this." Then he took from her another
and another, till he became drunken and his talk waxed great and
his prate.
The folk of the quarter heard him and assembled under the window;
and when he was ware of them, he opened the window and said to
them, "Are ye not ashamed, O pimps? Every one in his own house
doth what he will and none hindereth him; but we drink one poor
day and ye assemble and come, cuckoldy varlets that ye are!
To-day, wine, and to-morrow [another] matter; and from hour to
hour [cometh] relief." So they laughed and dispersed. Then the
girl drank till she was intoxicated, when she called to mind her
lord and wept, and the old man said to her, "What maketh thee
weep, O my lady?" "O elder," replied she, "I am a lover and
separated [from him I love]." Quoth he, "O my lady, what is this
love?" "And thou," asked she, "hast thou never been in love?" "By
Allah, O my lady," answered he, "never in all my life heard I of
this thing, nor have I ever known it! Is it of the sons of Adam
or of the Jinn?" She laughed and said, "Verily, thou art even as
those of whom the poet speaketh, when as he saith ..." And she
repeated the following verses:
How long will ye admonished be, without avail or heed? The
shepherd still his flocks forbids, and they obey his rede.
I see yon like unto mankind in favour and in form; But
oxen,[FN#37] verily, ye are in fashion and in deed.
The old man laughed at her speech and her verses pleased him.
Then said she to him, "I desire of thee a lute."[FN#38] So he
arose and brought her a piece of firewood. Quoth she, "What is
that?" And he said, "Didst thou not bid me bring thee wood?" "I
do not want this," answered she, and he rejoined, "What then is
it that is called wood, other than this?" She laughed and said,
"The lute is an instrument of music, whereunto I sing." Quoth he,
"Where is this thing found and of whom shall I get it for thee?"
And she said, "Of him who gave thee the wine." So he arose and
betaking himself to his neighbour the Jew, said to him, "Thou
favouredst us aforetime with the wine; so now complete thy
favours and look me out a thing called a lute, to wit, an
instrument for singing; for that she seeketh this of me and I
know it not" "Hearkening and obedience," replied the Jew and
going into his house, brought him a lute. [The old man took it
and carried it to Sitt el Milah,] whilst the Jew took his drink
and sat by a window adjoining the other's house, so he might hear
the singing.
The damsel rejoiced, when the old man returned to her with the
lute, and taking it from him, tuned its strings and sang the
following verses:
After your loss, nor trace of me nor vestige would remain, Did
not the hope of union some whit my strength sustain.
Ye're gone and desolated by your absence is the world: Requital,
ay, or substitute to seek for you 'twere vain.
Ye, of your strength, have burdened me, upon my weakliness, With
burdens not to be endured of mountain nor of plain.
When from your land the breeze I scent that cometh, as I were A
reveller bemused with wine, to lose my wits I'm fain.
Love no light matter is, O folk, nor are the woe and care And
blame a little thing to brook that unto it pertain.
I wander seeking East and West for you, and every time Unto a
camp I come, I'm told, "They've fared away again."
My friends have not accustomed me to rigour; for, of old, When I
forsook them, they to seek accord did not disdain.
When she had made an end of her song, she wept sore, till
presently sleep overcame her and she slept.
On the morrow, she said to the old man, "Get thee to the
money-changer and fetch me the ordinary." So he repaired to the
money-changer and delivered him the message, whereupon he made
ready meat and drink, as of his wont, [with which the old man
returned to the damsel and they ate till they had enough. When
she had eaten,] she sought of him wine and he went to the Jew and
fetched it. Then they sat down and drank; and when she grew
drunken, she took the lute and smiting it, fell a-singing and
chanted the following verses:
How long shall I thus question my heart that's drowned in woe?
I'm mute for my complaining; but tears speak, as they flow.
They have forbid their image to visit me in sleep; So even my
nightly phantom forsaketh me, heigho!
And when she had made an end of her song, she wept sore.
All this time, the young Damascene was hearkening, and whiles he
likened her voice to that of his slave-girl and whiles he put
away from him this thought, and the damsel had no whit of
knowledge of him. Then she broke out again into song and chanted
the following verses:
"Forget him," quoth my censurers, "forget him; what is he?" "If I
forget him, ne'er may God," quoth I, "remember me!"
Now God forbid a slave forget his liege lord's love! And how Of
all things in the world should I forget the love of thee?
Pardon of God for everything I crave, except thy love, For on the
day of meeting Him, that will my good deed be.
Then she drank three cups and filling the old man other three,
sang the following verses:
His love he'd have hid, but his tears denounced him to the spy,
For the heat of a red-hot coal that 'twixt his ribs did lie.
Suppose for distraction he seek in the Spring and its blooms one
day, The face of his loved one holds the only Spring for his
eye.
O blamer of me for the love of him who denieth his grace, Which
be the delightsome of things, but those which the people
deny?
A sun [is my love;] but his heat in mine entrails still rageth,
concealed; A moon, in the hearts of the folk he riseth, and
not in the sky.
When she had made an end of her song, she threw the lute from her
hand and wept, whilst the old man wept for her weeping. Then she
fell down in a swoon and presently coming to herself, filled the
cup and drinking it off, gave the old man to drink, after which
she took the lute and breaking out into song, chanted the
following verses:
Thy loss is the fairest of all my heart's woes; My case it hath
altered and banished repose.
The world is upon me all desolate grown. Alack, my long grief and
forlornness! Who knows
But the Merciful yet may incline thee to me And unite us again,
in despite of our foes!
Then she wept till her voice rose high and her lamentation was
discovered [to those without]; after which she again began to
drink and plying the old man with wine, sang the following
verses:
They have shut out thy person from my sight; They cannot shut thy
memory from my spright.
Favour or flout me, still my soul shall be Thy ransom, in
contentment or despite.
My outward of my inward testifies And this bears witness that
that tells aright.[FN#39]
When she had made an end of her song, she threw the lute from her
hand and wept and lamented. Then she slept awhile and presently
awaking, said, "O elder, hast thou what we may eat?" "O my lady,"
answered the old man, "there is the rest of the food;" but she
said, "I will not eat of a thing I have left. Go down to the
market and fetch us what we may eat." Quoth he, "Excuse me, O my
lady; I cannot stand up, for that I am overcome with wine; but
with me is the servant of the mosque, who is a sharp youth and an
intelligent. I will call him, so he may buy thee that which thou
desirest." "Whence hast thou this servant?" asked she; and he
replied, "He is of the people of Damascus." When she heard him
speak of the people of Damascus, she gave a sob, that she swooned
away; and when she came to herself, she said, "Woe's me for the
people of Damascus and for those who are therein! Call him, O
elder, that he may do our occasions."
So the old man put his head forth of the window and called the
youth, who came to him from the mosque and sought leave [to
enter]. The Muezzin bade him enter, and when he came in to the
damsel, he knew her and she knew him; whereupon he turned back in
bewilderment and would have fled; but she sprang up to him and
seized him, and they embraced and wept together, till they fell
down on the ground in a swoon. When the old man saw them in this
plight, he feared for himself and fled forth, seeing not the way
for drunkenness. His neighbour the Jew met him and said to him,
"How comes it that I see thee confounded?" "How should I not be
confounded," answered the old man, "seeing that the damsel who is
with me is fallen in love with the servant of the mosque and they
have embraced and fallen down in a swoon? Indeed, I fear lest the
Khalif come to know of this and be wroth with me; so tell me thou
what is to be done in this wherewith I am afflicted of the affair
of this damsel." Quoth the Jew, "For the nonce, take this
casting-bottle of rose-water and go forth-right and sprinkle them
therewith. If they be aswoon for this their foregathering and
embracement, they will come to themselves, and if otherwise, do
thou flee."
The old man took the casting-bottle from the Jew and going up to
Noureddin and the damsel, sprinkled their faces, whereupon they
came to themselves and fell to relating to each other that which
they had suffered, since their separation, for the anguish of
severance. Moreover, Noureddin acquainted Sitt el Milah with that
which he had endured from the folk who would have slain him and
made away with him; and she said to him, "O my lord, let us
presently give over this talk and praise God for reunion of
loves, and all this shall cease from us." Then she gave him the
cup and he said, "By Allah, I will nowise drink it, whilst I am
in this plight!" So she drank it off before him and taking the
lute, swept the strings and sang the following verses:
Thou that wast absent from my stead, yet still with me didst
bide, Thou wast removed from mine eye, yet still wast by my
side.
Thou left'st unto me, after thee, languor and carefulness; I
lived a life wherein no jot of sweetness I espied.
For thy sweet sake, as 'twere, indeed, an exile I had been, Lone
and deserted I became, lamenting, weeping-eyed.
Alack, my grief! Thou wast, indeed, grown absent from my yiew,
Yet art the apple of mine eye nor couldst from me divide.
When she had made an end of her song, she wept and Noureddin wept
also. Then she took the lute and improvised and sang the
following verses:
God knows I ne'er recalled thy memory to my thought, But still
with brimming tears straightway mine eyes were fraught;
Yea, passion raged in me and love-longing was like To slay me;
yet my heart to solace still it wrought.
Light of mine eyes, my hope, my wish, my thirsting eyes With
looking on thy face can never sate their drought.
When Noureddin heard these his slave-girl's verses, he fell
a-weeping, what while she strained him to her bosom and wiped
away his tears with her sleeve and questioned him and comforted
his mind. Then she took the lute and sweeping its strings, played
thereon, after such a wise as would move the phlegmatic to
delight, and sang the following verses:
Whenas mine eyes behold thee not, that day As of my life I do not
reckon aye;
And when I long to look upon thy face, My life is perished with
desire straightway.
On this wise they abode till the morning, tasting not the savour
of sleep; and when the day lightened, behold, the eunuch came
with the mule and said to Sitt el Milah, "The Commander of the
Faithful calleth for thee." So she arose and taking her lord by
the hand, committed him to the old man, saying, "I commend him to
thy care, under God,[FN#40] till this eunuch cometh to thee; and
indeed, O elder, I owe thee favour and largesse such as filleth
the interspace betwixt heaven and earth."
Then she mounted the mule and repairing to the palace of the
Commander of the Faithful, went in to him and kissed the earth
before him. Quoth he to her, as who should make mock of her, "I
doubt not but thou hast found thy lord." "By thy felicity and the
length of thy continuance [on life,]" answered she, "I have
indeed found him!" Now Er Reshid was leaning back; but, when he
heard this, he sat up and said to her, "By my life, [is this thou
sayest] true?" "Ay, by thy life!" answered she; and he said,
"Bring him into my presence, so I may see him." But she replied,
"O my lord, there have betided him many stresses and his charms
are changed and his favour faded; and indeed the Commander of the
Faithful vouchsafed me a month; wherefore I will tend him the
rest of the month and then bring him to do his service to the
Commander of the Faithful." Quoth Er Reshid, "True; the condition
was for a month; but tell me what hath betided him." "O my lord,"
answered she, "may God prolong thy continuance and make Paradise
thy place of returning and thy harbourage and the fire the
abiding-place of thine enemies, when he presenteth himself to pay
his respects to thee, he will expound to thee his case and will
name unto thee those who have wronged him; and indeed this is an
arrear that is due to the Commander of the Faithful, in[FN#41]
whom may God fortify the Faith and vouchsafe him the mastery over
the rebel and the froward!"
Therewithal he ordered her a handsome house and bade furnish it
with carpets and other furniture and vessels of choice and
commanded that all she needed should be given her. This was done
during the rest of the day, and when the night came, she
despatched the eunuch with the mule and a suit of clothes, to
fetch Noureddin from the Muezzin's lodging. So the young man
donned the clothes and mounting; rode to the house, where he
abode in luxury and delight a full-told month, what while she
solaced him with four things, to wit, the eating of fowls and the
drinking of wine and the lying upon brocade and the entering the
bath after copulation. Moreover, she brought him six suits of
clothes and fell to changing his apparel day by day; nor was the
appointed time accomplished ere his beauty returned to him and
his goodliness; nay, his charms waxed tenfold and he became a
ravishment to all who looked on him.
One day the Commander of the Faithful bade bring him to the
presence; so his slave-girl changed his raiment and clothing him
in sumptuous apparel, mounted him on the mule. Then he rode to
the palace and presenting himself before the Khalif, saluted him
with the goodliest of salutations and bespoke him with eloquent
and deep-thoughted speech. When Er Reshid saw him, he marvelled
at the goodliness of his favour and his eloquence and the
readiness of his speech and enquiring of him, was told that he
was Sitt el Milah's lord; whereupon quoth he, "Indeed, she is
excusable in her love for him, and if we had put her to death
unrighteously, as we were minded to do, her blood would have been
upon our heads." Then he turned to the young man and entering
into discourse with him, found him well bred, intelligent, quick
of wit and apprehension, generous, pleasant, elegant, erudite. So
he loved him with an exceeding love and questioned him of his
native city and of his father and of the manner of his journey to
Baghdad. Noureddin acquainted him with that which he would know
in the goodliest of words and with the concisest of expressions;
and the Khalif said to him, "And where hast thou been absent all
this while? Indeed, we sent after thee to Damascus and Mosul and
other the towns, but lit on no tidings of thee." "O my lord,"
answered the young man, "there betided thy slave in thy city that
which never yet betided any." And he acquainted him with his case
from first to last and told him that which had befallen him of
evil [from El Muradi and his crew].
When Er Reshid heard this, he was sore chagrined and waxed
exceeding wroth and said, "Shall this happen in a city wherein I
am?" And the Hashimi vein[FN#42] started out between his eyes.
Then he bade fetch Jaafer, and when he came before him, he
acquainted him with the matter and said to him, "Shall this come
to pass in my city and I have no news of it?" Then he bade Jaafer
fetch all whom the young Damascene had named [as having
maltreated him], and when they came, he let smite off their
heads. Moreover, he summoned him whom they called Ahmed and who
had been the means of the young man's deliverance a first time
and a second, and thanked him and showed him favour and bestowed
on him a sumptuous dress of honour and invested him with the
governance over his city.[FN#43]
Then he sent for the old man, the Muezzin, and when the messenger
came to him and told him that the Commander of the Faithful
sought him, he feared the denunciation of the damsel and
accompanied him to the palace, walking and letting wind[FN#44] as
he went, whilst all who passed him by laughed at him. When he
came into the presence of the Commander of the Faithful, he fell
a-trembling and his tongue was embarrassed, [so that he could not
speak]. The Khalif laughed at him and said to him, "O elder, thou
hast done no offence; so [why] fearest thou?" "O my lord,"
answered the old man (and indeed he was in the sorest of that
which may be of fear,) "by the virtue of thy pure forefathers,
indeed I have done nought, and do thou enquire of my conduct."
The Khalif laughed at him and ordering him a thousand dinars,
bestowed on him a sumptuous dress of honour and made him chief of
the Muezzins in his mosque.
Then he called Sitt el Milah and said to her, "The house [wherein
thou lodgest] and that which is therein Is a guerdon [from me] to
thy lord. So do thou take him and depart with him in the
safeguard of God the Most High; but absent not yourselves from
our presence." [So she went forth with Noureddin and] when she
came to the house, she found that the Commander of the Faithful
had sent them gifts galore and abundance of good things. As for
Noureddin, he sent for his father and mother and appointed him
agents and factors in the city of Damascus, to take the rent of
the houses and gardens and khans and baths; and they occupied
themselves with collecting that which accrued to him and sending
it to him every year. Meanwhile, his father and mother came to
him, with that which they had of monies and treasures and
merchandise, and foregathering with their son, saw that he was
become of the chief officers of the Commander of the Faithful and
of the number of his session-mates and entertainers, wherefore
they rejoiced in reunion with him and he also rejoiced in them.
The Khalif assigned them pensions and allowances and as for
Noureddin, his father brought him those riches and his wealth
waxed and his case was goodly, till he became the richest of the
folk of his time in Baghdad and left not the presence of the
Commander of the Faithful night or day. Moreover, he was
vouchsafed children by Sitt el Milah, and he ceased not to live
the most delightsome of lives, he and she and his father and
mother, a while of time, till Aboulhusn sickened of a sore
sickness and was admitted to the mercy of God the Most High.
After awhile, his mother died also and he carried them forth and
shrouded them and buried and made them expiations and
nativities.[FN#45] Then his children grew up and became like unto
moons, and he reared them in splendour and fondness, what while
his wealth waxed and his case flourished. He ceased not to pay
frequent visits to the Commander of the Faithful, he and his
children and his slave-girl Sitt el Milah, and they abode, he and
they, in all solace of life and prosperity till there came to
them the Destroyer of Delights and the Sunderer of Companies; and
extolled be the perfection of the Abiding One, the Eternal! This
is all that hath come down to us of their story.
EL ABBAS AND THE KING'S DAUGHTER OF
BAGHDAD.[FN#46]
There was once, of old days and in bygone ages and times, in the
city of Baghdad, the Abode of Peace, a king mighty of estate,
lord of understanding and beneficence and liberality and
generosity, and he was strong of sultanate and endowed with might
and majesty and magnificence. His name was Ins ben Cais ben
Rebiya es Sheibani,[FN#47] and when he took horse, there rode
unto him [warriors] from the farthest parts of the two
Iraks.[FN#48] God the Most High decreed that he should take to
wife a woman hight Afifeh, daughter of Ased es Sundusi, who was
endowed with beauty and grace and brightness and perfection and
justness of shape and symmetry; her face was like unto the new
moon and she had eyes as they were gazelle's eyes and an aquiline
nose like the crescent moon. She had learned horsemanship and the
use of arms and had thoroughly studied the sciences of the Arabs;
moreover, she had gotten by heart all the dragomanish[FN#49]
tongues and indeed she was a ravishment to mankind.
She abode with Ins ben Cais twelve years, during which time he
was blessed with no children by her; wherefore his breast was
straitened, by reason of the failure of lineage, and he besought
his Lord to vouchsafe him a child. Accordingly the queen
conceived, by permission of God the Most High; and when the days
of her pregnancy were accomplished, she gave birth to a
maid-child, than whom never saw eyes a goodlier, for that her
face was as it were a pure pearl or a shining lamp or a
golden[FN#50] candle or a full moon breaking forth of a cloud,
extolled be the perfection of Him who created her from vile
water[FN#51] and made her a delight to the beholders! When her
father saw her on this wise of loveliness, his reason fled for
joy, and when she grew up, he taught her the art of writing and
polite letters[FN#52] and philosophy and all manner of tongues.
So she excelled the folk of her time and overpassed her
peers;[FN#53] and the sons of the kings heard of her and all of
them desired to look upon her.
The first who sought her in marriage was King Nebhan of Mosul,
who came to her with a great company, bringing with him an
hundred she-camels laden with musk and aloes-wood and ambergris
and as many laden with camphor and jewels and other hundred laden
with silver money and yet other hundred laden with raiment of
silken and other stuffs and brocade, besides an hundred
slave-girls and an hundred magnificent horses of swift and
generous breeds, completely housed and accoutred, as they were
brides; and all this he laid before her father, demanding her of
him in marriage. Now King Ins ben Cais had bound himself by an
oath that he would not marry his daughter but to him whom she
should choose; so, when King Nebhan sought her in marriage, her
father went in to her and consulted her concerning his affair.
She consented not and he repeated to Nebhan that which she said,
whereupon he departed from him. After this came King Behram, lord
of the White Island, with riches more than the first; but she
accepted not of him and he returned, disappointed; nor did the
kings give over coming to her father, on her account, one after
other, from the farthest of the lands and the climes, each
glorying in more[FN#54] than those who forewent him; but she paid
no heed unto any of one them.
Presently, El Abbas, son of King El Aziz, lord of the land of
Yemen and Zebidoun[FN#55] and Mecca (which God increase in honour
and brightness and beauty!), heard of her; and he was of the
great ones of Mecca and the Hejaz[FN#56] and was a youth without
hair on his cheeks. So he presented himself one day in his
father's sitting-chamber,[FN#57] whereupon the folk made way for
him and the king seated him on a chair of red gold, set with
pearls and jewels. The prince sat, with his head bowed to the
ground, and spoke not to any; whereby his father knew that his
breast was straitened and bade the boon-companions and men of wit
relate marvellous histories, such as beseem the assemblies of
kings; nor was there one of them but spoke forth the goodliest of
that which was with him; but El Abbas still abode with his head
bowed down. Then the king bade his session-mates withdraw, and
when the chamber was void, he looked at his son and said to him,
"By Allah, thou rejoicest me with thy coming in to me and
chagrinest me for that thou payest no heed to any of the
session-mates nor of the boon-companions. What is the cause of
this?"
"O father mine," answered the prince, "I have heard tell that in
the land of Irak is a woman of the daughters of the kings, and
her father is called King Ins ben Cais, lord of Baghdad; she is
renowned for beauty and grace and brightness and perfection, and
indeed many folk have sought her in marriage of the kings; but
her soul consented not unto any one of them. Wherefore I am
minded to travel to her, for that my heart cleaveth unto her, and
I beseech thee suffer me to go to her." "O my son," answered his
father, "thou knowest that I have none other than thyself of
children and thou art the solace of mine eyes and the fruit of
mine entrails; nay, I cannot brook to be parted from thee an
instant and I purpose to set thee on the throne of the kingship
and marry thee to one of the daughters of the kings, who shall be
fairer than she." El Abbas gave ear to his father's word and
dared not gainsay him; so he abode with him awhile, whilst the
fire raged in his entrails.
Then the king took counsel with himself to build his son a bath
and adorn it with various paintings, so he might show it to him
and divert him with the sight thereof, to the intent that his
body might be solaced thereby and that the obsession of travel
might cease from him and he be turned from [his purpose of]
removal from his parents. So he addressed himself to the building
of the bath and assembling architects and builders and artisans
from all the towns and citadels and islands [of his dominions],
assigned them a site and marked out its boundaries. Then the
workmen occupied themselves with the making of the bath and the
setting out and adornment of its cabinets and roofs. They used
paints and precious stones of all kinds, according to the
variousness of their hues, red and green and blue and yellow and
what not else of all manner colours; and each artisan wrought at
his handicraft and each painter at his art, whilst the rest of
the folk busied themselves with transporting thither varicoloured
stones.
One day, as the [chief] painter wrought at his work, there came
in to him a poor man, who looked long upon him and observed his
handicraft; whereupon quoth the painter to him, "Knowest thou
aught of painting?" "Yes," answered the stranger; so he gave him
tools and paints and said to him, "Make us a rare piece of work."
So the stranger entered one of the chambers of the bath and drew
[on the walls thereof] a double border, which he adorned on both
sides, after a fashion than which never saw eyes a fairer.
Moreover, [amiddleward the chamber] he drew a picture to which
there lacked but the breath, and it was the portraiture of
Mariyeh, the king's daughter of Baghdad. Then, when he had made
an end of the portrait, he went his way [and told none of what he
had done], nor knew any the chambers and doors of the bath and
the adornment and ordinance thereof.
Presently, the chief workman came to the palace and sought an
audience of the king, who bade admit him. So he entered and
kissing the earth, saluted him with a salutation beseeming kings
and said, "O king of the time and lord of the age and the day,
may felicity endure unto thee and acceptance and be thy rank
exalted over all the kings both morning and evening![FN#58] The
work of the bath is accomplished, by the king's fair fortune and
the eminence of his magnanimity,[FN#59] and indeed we have done
all that behoved us and there remaineth but that which behoveth
the king." El Aziz ordered him a sumptuous dress of honour and
expended monies galore, giving unto each who had wroughten, after
the measure of his work. Then he assembled in the bath all the
grandees of his state, amirs and viziers and chamberlains and
lieutenants, and the chief officers of his realm and household,
and sending for his son El Abbas, said to him,"O my son, I have
builded thee a bath, wherein thou mayst take thy pleasance; so
enter thou therein, that thou mayst see it and divert thyself by
gazing upon it and viewing the goodliness of its ordinance and
decoration." "With all my heart," replied the prince and entered
the bath, he and the king and the folk about them, so they might
divert themselves with viewing that which the workmen's hands had
wroughten.
El Abbas went in and passed from place to place and chamber to
chamber, till he came to the chamber aforesaid and espied the
portrait of Mariyeh, whereupon he fell down in a swoon and the
workmen went to his father and said to him, "Thy son El Abbas
hath swooned away." So the king came and finding the prince cast
down, seated himself at his head and bathed his face with
rose-water. After awhile he revived and the king said to him,
"God keep thee,[FN#60] O my son! What hath befallen thee?" "O my
father," answered the prince, "I did but look on yonder picture
and it bequeathed me a thousand regrets and there befell me that
which thou seest." Therewithal the king bade fetch the [chief]
painter, and when he stood before him, he said to him, "Tell me
of yonder portrait and what girl is this of the daughters of the
kings; else will I take thy head." "By Allah, O king," answered
the painter, "I limned it not, neither know I who she is; but
there came to me a poor man and looked at me. So I said to him,
'Knowest thou the art of painting?' And he replied, 'Yes.'
Whereupon I gave him the gear and said to him, 'Make us a rare
piece of work.' So he wrought yonder portrait and went away and I
know him not neither have I ever set eyes on him save that day."
Therewithal the king bade all his officers go round about in the
thoroughfares and colleges [of the town] and bring before him all
strangers whom they found there. So they went forth and brought
him much people, amongst whom was the man who had painted the
portrait. When they came into the presence, the Sultan bade the
crier make proclamation that whoso wrought the portrait should
discover himself and have whatsoever he desired. So the poor man
came forward and kissing the earth before the king, said to him,
"O king of the age, I am he who painted yonder portrait." Quoth
El Aziz, "And knowest thou who she is?" "Yes," answered the
other; "this is the portrait of Mariyeh, daughter of the king of
Baghdad." The king ordered him a dress of honour and a slave-girl
[and he went his way]. Then said El Abbas, "O father mine, give
me leave to go to her, so I may look upon her; else shall I
depart the world, without fail." The king his father wept and
answered, saying, "O my son, I builded thee a bath, that it might
divert thee from leaving me, and behold it hath been the cause of
thy going forth; but the commandment of God is a
foreordained[FN#61] decree."[FN#62]
Then he wept again and El Abbas said to him, "Fear not for me,
for thou knowest my prowess and my puissance in returning answers
in the assemblies of the land and my good breeding[FN#63] and
skill in rhetoric; and indeed he whose father thou art and whom
thou hast reared and bred and in whom thou hast united
praiseworthy qualities, the repute whereof hath traversed the
East and the West, thou needest not fear for him, more by token
that I purpose but to seek diversion[FN#64] and return to thee,
if it be the will of God the Most High." Quoth the king, "Whom
wilt thou take with thee of attendants and [what] of good?" "O
father mine," replied El Abbas, "I have no need of horses or
camels or arms, for I purpose not battle, and I will have none go
forth with me save my servant Aamir and no more."
As he and his father were thus engaged in talk, in came his
mother and caught hold of him; and he said to her, "God on thee,
let me go my gait and strive not to turn me from my purpose, for
that needs must I go." "O my son," answered she, "if it must be
so and there is no help for it, swear to me that them wilt not be
absent from me more than a year." And he swore to her. Then he
entered his father's treasuries and took therefrom what he would
of jewels and jacinths and everything heavy of worth and light of
carriage. Moreover, he bade his servant Aamir saddle him two
horses and the like for himself, and whenas the night darkened
behind him,[FN#65] he rose from his couch and mounting his horse,
set out for Baghdad, he and Aamir, whilst the latter knew not
whither he intended.
He gave not over going and the journey was pleasant to him, till
they came to a goodly land, abounding in birds and wild beasts,
whereupon El Abbas started a gazelle and shot it with an arrow.
Then he dismounted and cutting its throat, said to his servant,
"Alight thou and skin it and carry it to the water." Aamir
answered him [with "Hearkening and obedience"] and going down to
the water, kindled a fire and roasted the gazelle's flesh. Then
they ate their fill and drank of the water, after which they
mounted again and fared on diligently, and Aamir still unknowing
whither El Abbas was minded to go. So he said to him, "O my lord,
I conjure thee by God the Great, wilt thou not tell me whither
thou intendest?" El Abbas looked at him and made answer with the
following verses:
In my soul the fire of yearning and affliction rageth aye; Lo, I
burn with love and longing; nought in answer can I say.
To Baghdad upon a matter of all moment do I fare, For the love of
one whose beauties have my reason led astray.
Under me's a slender camel, a devourer of the waste; Those who
pass a cloudlet deem it, as it flitteth o'er the way.
So, O Aamir, haste thy going, e'en as I do, so may I Heal my
sickness and the draining of the cup of love essay;
For the longing that abideth in my heart is hard to bear. Fare
with me, then, to my loved one. Answer nothing, but obey.
When Aamir heard his lord's verses, he knew that he was a slave
of love [and that she of whom he was enamoured abode] in Baghdad.
Then they fared on night and day, traversing plains and stony
wastes, till they came in sight of Baghdad and lighted down in
its suburbs[FN#66] and lay the night there. When they arose in
the morning, they removed to the bank of the Tigris and there
they encamped and sojourned three days.
As they abode thus on the fourth day, behold, a company of folk
giving their beasts the rein and crying aloud and saying, "Quick!
Quick! Haste to our rescue, O King!" Therewithal the king's
chamberlains and officers accosted them and said to them, "What
is behind you and what hath befallen you?" Quoth they, "Bring us
before the king." [So they carried them to Ins ben Cais;] and
when they saw him, they said to him, "O king, except thou succour
us, we are dead men; for that we are a folk of the Benou
Sheiban,[FN#67] who have taken up our abode in the parts of
Bassora, and Hudheifeh the Arab[FN#68] hath come down on us with
his horses and his men and hath slain our horsemen and carried
off our women and children; nor was one saved of the tribe but he
who fled; wherefore we crave help [first] by God the Most High,
then by thy life."
When the king heard their speech, he bade the crier make
proclamation in the thoroughfares of the city that the troops
should prepare [for the march] and that the horsemen should mount
and the footmen come forth; nor was it but the twinkling of the
eye ere the drums beat and the trumpets sounded; and scarce was
the forenoon of the day passed when the city was blocked with
horse and foot. So the king passed them in review and behold,
they were four-and-twenty thousand in number, horsemen and
footmen. He bade them go forth to the enemy and gave the
commandment over them to Said ibn el Wakidi, a doughty cavalier
and a valiant man of war. So the horsemen set out and fared on
along the bank of the Tigris.
El Abbas looked at them and saw the ensigns displayed and the
standards loosed and heard the drums beating; so he bade his
servant saddle him a charger and look to the girths and bring him
his harness of war. Quoth Aamir, "And indeed I saw El Abbas his
eyes flash and the hair of his hands stood on end, for that
indeed horsemanship[FN#69] abode [rooted in his heart]."So he
mounted his charger, whilst Aamir also bestrode a war-horse, and
they went forth with the troops and fared on two days. On the
third day, after the hour of the mid-afternoon prayer, they came
in sight of the enemy and the two armies met and the ranks joined
battle. The strife raged amain and sore was the smiting, whilst
the dust rose in clouds and hung vaulted [over them], so that all
eyes were blinded; and they ceased not from the battle till the
night overtook them, when the two hosts drew off from the mellay
and passed the night, perplexed concerning themselves [and the
issue of their affair].
When God caused the morning morrow, the two armies drew out in
battle array and the troops stood looking at one another. Then
came forth El Harith ibn Saad between the two lines and played
with his lance and cried out and recited the following verses:
Algates ye are our prey become; this many a day and night Right
instantly of God we've craved to be vouchsafed your sight.
So hath the Merciful towards Hudheifeh driven you, A champion
ruling over all, a lion of great might.
Is there a man of you will come, that I may heal his paint With
blows right profitful for him who's sick for lust of fight?
By Allah, come ye forth to me, for lo, I'm come to you I May he
who's wronged the victory get and God defend the right![FN#70]
Thereupon there sallied forth to him Zuheir ben Hebib, and they
wheeled about and feinted awhile, then came to dose quarters and
exchanged strokes. El Harith forewent his adversary in smiting
and stretched him weltering in his gore; whereupon Hudheifeh
cried out to him, saying, "Gifted of God art thou, O Harith! Call
another of them." So he cried out, saying, "Is there a
comer-forth [to battle?]" But they of Baghdad held back froni
him; and when it appeared to El Harith that confusion was amongst
them, he fell upon them and overthrew the first of them upon
their last and slew of them twelve men. Then the evening overtook
him and the Baghdadis addressed themselves to flight.
When the morning morrowed, they found themselves reduced to a
fourth part of their number and there was not one of them had
dismounted from his horse. So they made sure of destruction and
Hudheifeh came out between the ranks (now he was reckoned for a
thousand cavaliers) and cried out, saying, "Harkye, my masters of
Baghdad! Let none come forth to me but your Amir, so I may talk
with him and he with me; and he shall meet me in single combat
and I will meet him, and may he who is void of offence come off
safe!" Then he repeated his speech and said, "Why do I not hear
your Amir return me an answer?" But Saad, the amir of the army of
Baghdad, [replied not to him], and indeed his teeth chattered in
his head, whenas he heard him summon him to single combat.
When El Abbas heard Hudheifeh's challenge and saw Saad in this
case, he came up to the latter and said to him, "Wilt thou give
me leave to reply to him and I will stand thee in stead in the
answering of him and the going forth to battle with him and will
make myself thy sacrifice?" Saad looked at him and seeing valour
shining from between his eyes, said to him, "O youth, by the
virtue of the Chosen [Prophet,] (whom God bless and keep,) tell
me [who thou art and] whence thou comest to our succour." "This
is no place for questioning," answered the prince; and Saad said
to him, "O champion, up and at Hudheifeh! Yet, if his devil prove
too strong for thee, afflict not thyself in thy youth."[FN#71]
Quoth El Abbas, "It is of Allah that help is to be
sought,"[FN#72] and taking his arms, fortified his resolution and
went down [into the field], as he were a castle of the castles or
a piece of a mountain.
[When] Hudheifeh [saw him], he cried out to him, saying, "Haste
thee not, O youth! Who art thou of the folk?" And he answered, "I
am Saad [ibn] el Wakidi, commander of the host of King Ins, and
but that thou vauntedst thyself in challenging me, I had not come
forth to thee; for that thou art not of my peers neither art
counted equal to me in prowess and canst not avail against my
onslaught. Wherefore prepare thee for departure,[FN#73] seeing
that there abideth but a little of thy life." When Hudheifeh
heard this his speech, he threw himself backward,[FN#74] as if in
mockery of him, whereat El Abbas was wroth and called out to him,
saying, "O Hudheifeh, guard thyself against me." Then he rushed
upon him, as he were a swooper of the Jinn,[FN#75] and Hudheifeh
met him and they wheeled about a long while.
Presently, El Abbas cried out at Hudheifeh a cry that astonied
him and dealt him a blow, saying, "Take this from the hand of a
champion who feareth not the like of thee." Hudheifeh met the
stroke with his shield, thinking to ward it off from him; but the
sword shore the target in sunder and descending upon his
shoulder, came forth gleaming from the tendons of his throat and
severed his arm at the armpit; whereupon he fell down, wallowing
in his blood, and El Abbas turned upon his host; nor had the sun
departed the pavilion of the heavens ere Hudheifeh's army was in
full flight before El Abbas and the saddles were empty of men.
Quoth Saad, "By the virtue of the Chosen [Prophet], whom God
bless and keep, I saw El Abbas with the blood upon his saddle
pads, [in gouts] like camels' livers, smiting with the sword
right and left, till he scattered them abroad in every
mountain-pass and desert; and when he turned [back to the camp],
the men of Baghdad were fearful of him."
When the Baghdadis saw this succour that had betided them against
their enemies [and the victory that El Abbas had gotten them],
they turned back and gathering together the spoils [of the
defeated host], arms and treasures and horses, returned to
Baghdad, victorious, and all by the valour of El Abbas. As for
Saad, he foregathered with the prince, and they fared on in
company till they came to the place where El Abbas had taken
horse, whereupon the latter dismounted from his charger and Saad
said to him, "O youth, wherefore alightest thou in other than thy
place? Indeed, thy due is incumbent upon us and upon our Sultan;
so go thou with us to the dwellings, that we may ransom thee with
our souls." "O Amir Saad," replied El Abbas, "from this place I
took horse with thee and herein is my lodging. So, God on thee,
name me not to the king, but make as if thou hadst never seen me,
for that I am a stranger in the land."
So saying, he turned away from him and Saad fared on to the
palace, where he found all the suite in attendance on the king
and recounting to him that which had betided them with El Abbas.
Quoth the king, "Where is he?" And they answered, "He is with the
Amir Saad." [So, when the latter entered], the king [looked, but]
found none with him; and Saad, seeing that he hankered after the
youth, cried out to him, saying, "God prolong the king's days!
Indeed, he refuseth to present himself before thee, without leave
or commandment." "O Saad," asked the king, "whence cometh this
man?" And the Amir answered, "O my lord, I know not; but he is a
youth fair of favour, lovesome of aspect, accomplished in
discourse, goodly of repartee, and valour shineth from between
his eyes."
Quoth the king, "O Saad, fetch him to me, for indeed thou
describest to me a masterful man."[FN#76] And he answered,
saying, "By Allah, O my lord, hadst thou but seen our case with
Hudheifeh, what while he challenged me to the field of war and
the stead of thrusting and smiting and I held back from doing
battle with him! Then, whenas I thought to go forth to him,
behold, a cavalier gave loose to his bridle-rein and called out
to me, saying, 'O Saad, wilt thou suffer me to fill thy room in
waging war with him and I will ransom thee with myself?' And I
said, 'By Allah, O youth, whence cometh thou?' Quoth he, 'This is
no time for thy questions.'" Then he recounted to the king all
that had passed between himself and El Abbas from first to last;
whereupon quoth Ins ben Cais, "Bring him to me in haste, so we
may learn his tidings and question him of his case." "It is
well," answered Saad, and going forth of the king's presence,
repaired to his own house, where he put off his harness of war
and took rest for himself.
To return to El Abbas, when he alighted from his charger, he put
off his harness of war and rested awhile; after which he brought
out a shirt of Venetian silk and a gown of green damask and
donning them, covered himself with a turban of Damietta stuff and
girt his middle with a handkerchief. Then he went out a-walking
in the thoroughfares of Baghdad and fared on till he came to the
bazaar of the merchants. There he found a merchant, with chess
before him; so he stood watching him and presently the other
looked up at him and said to him, "O youth, what wilt thou stake
upon the game?" And he answered, "Be it thine to decide." "Then
be it a hundred dinars," said the merchant, and El Abbas
consented to him, whereupon quoth he, "O youth, produce the
money, so the game may be fairly stablished." So El Abbas brought
out a satin purse, wherein were a thousand dinars, and laid down
an hundred dinars therefrom on the edge of the carpet, whilst the
merchant did the like, and indeed his reason fled for joy, whenas
he saw the gold in El Abbas his possession.
The folk flocked about them, to divert themselves with watching
the play, and they called the bystanders to witness of the wager
and fell a-playing. El Abbas forbore the merchant, so he might
lead him on, and procrastinated with him awhile; and the merchant
won and took of him the hundred dinars. Then said the prince,
"Wilt thou play another game?" And the other answered, "O youth,
I will not play again, except it be for a thousand dinars." Quoth
the prince, "Whatsoever thou stakest, I will match thy stake with
the like thereof." So the merchant brought out a thousand dinars
and the prince covered them with other thousand. Then they fell
a-playing, but El Abbas was not long with him ere he beat him in
the square of the elephant,[FN#77] nor did he leave to do thus
till he had beaten him four times and won of him four thousand
dinars.
This was all the merchant's good; so he said, "O youth, I will
play thee another game for the shop." Now the value of the shop
was four thousand dinars; so they played and El Abbas beat him
and won his shop, with that which was therein; whereupon the
other arose, shaking his clothes, and said to him, "Up, O youth,
and take thy shop." So El Abbas arose and repairing to the shop,
took possession thereof, after which he returned to [the place
where he had left] his servant [Aamir] and found there the Amir
Saad, who was come to bid him to the presence of the king. El
Abbas consented to this and accompanied him till they came before
King Ins ben Cais, whereupon he kissed the earth and saluted him
and exceeded[FN#78] in the salutation. Quoth the king to him,
"Whence comest thou, O youth?" and he answered, "I come from
Yemen."
Then said the king, "Hast thou a need we may accomplish unto
thee? For indeed we are exceeding beholden to thee for that which
thou didst in the matter of Hudheifeh and his folk." And he let
cast over him a mantle of Egyptian satin, worth an hundred
dinars. Moreover, he bade his treasurer give him a thousand
dinars and said to him, "O youth, take this in part of that which
thou deserves! of us; and if thou prolong thy sojourn with us, we
will give thee slaves and servants." El Abbas kissed the earth
and said, "O king, may grant thee abiding prosperity, I deserve
not all this." Then he put his hand to his poke and pulling out
two caskets of gold, in each of which were rubies, whose value
none could tell, gave them to the king, saying, "O king, God
cause thy prosperity to endure, I conjure thee by that which God
hath vouchsafed thee, heal my heart by accepting these two
caskets, even as I have accepted thy present." So the king
accepted the two caskets and El Abbas took his leave and went
away to the bazaar.
When the merchants saw him, they accosted him and said, "O youth,
wilt thou not open thy shop?" As they were bespeaking him, up
came a woman, having with her a boy, bareheaded, and [stood]
looking at El Abbas, till he turned to her, when she said to him,
"O youth, I conjure thee by Allah, look at this boy and have pity
on him, for that his father hath forgotten his cap in the shop
[he lost to thee]; so if thou will well to give it to him, thy
reward be with God! For indeed the child maketh our hearts ache
with his much weeping, and God be witness for us that, were there
left us aught wherewithal to buy him a cap in its stead, we had
not sought it of thee." "O adornment of womankind," replied El
Abbas, "indeed, thou bespeakest me with thy fair speech and
supplicatest me with thy goodly words ...But bring me thy
husband." So she went and fetched the merchant, whilst the folk
assembled to see what El Abbas would do. When the man came, he
returned him the gold he had won of him, all and part, and
delivered him the keys of the shop, saying, "Requite us with thy
pious prayers."Therewithal the woman came up to him and kissed
his feet, and on like wise did the merchant her husband; and all
who were present blessed him, and there was no talk but of El
Abbas.
As for the merchant, he bought him a sheep and slaughtering it,
roasted it and dressed birds and [other] meats of various kinds
and colours and bought dessert and sweetmeats and fresh fruits.
Then he repaired to El Abbas and conjured him to accept of his
hospitality and enter his house and eat of his victual. The
prince consented to his wishes and went with him till they came
to his house, when the merchant bade him enter. So El Abbas
entered and saw a goodly house, wherein was a handsome saloon,
with a vaulted estrade. When he entered the saloon, he found that
the merchant had made ready food and dessert and perfumes, such
as overpass description; and indeed he had adorned the table with
sweet-scented flowers and sprinkled musk and rose-water upon the
food. Moreover, he had smeared the walls of the saloon with
ambergris and set [the smoke of burning] aloes-wood abroach
therein.
Presently, El Abbas looked out of the window of the saloon and
saw thereby a house of goodly ordinance, lofty of building and
abounding in chambers, with two upper stories; but therein was no
sign of inhabitants. So he said to the merchant, "Indeed, thou
exceedest in doing us honour; but, by Allah, I will not eat of
thy victual till thou tell me what is the reason of the emptiness
of yonder house." "O my lord," answered the other, "that was El
Ghitrif's house and he was admitted to the mercy of God[FN#79]
and left none other heir than myself; so it became mine, and by
Allah, if thou hast a mind to sojourn in Baghdad, do thou take up
thine abode in this house, so thou mayst be in my neighbourhood;
for that indeed my heart inclineth unto thee with love and I
would have thee never absent from my sight, so I may still have
my fill of thee and hearken to thy speech." El Abbas thanked him
and said to him, "Indeed, thou art friendly in thy speech and
exceedest [in courtesy] in thy discourse, and needs must I
sojourn in Baghdad. As for the house, if it like thee, I will
abide therein; so take of me its price."
So saying, he put his hand to his poke and bringing out therefrom
three hundred dinars, gave them to the merchant, who said in
himself, "Except I take the money, he will not abide in the
house." So he pouched the money and sold him the house, taking
the folk to witness against himself of the sale. Then he arose
and set food before El Abbas and they ate of the good things
which he had provided; after which he brought him dessert and
sweetmeats. They ate thereof till they had enough, when the
tables were removed and they washed their hands with rose-water
and willow-flower-water. Then the merchant brought El Abbas a
napkin perfumed with the fragrant smoke of aloes-wood, on which
he wiped his hand,[FN#80] and said to him, "O my lord, the house
is become thy house; so bid thy servant transport thither the
horses and arms and stuffs." El Abbas did this and the merchant
rejoiced in his neighbourhood and left him not night nor day, so
that the prince said to him, "By Allah, I distract thee from thy
livelihood." "God on thee, O my lord," replied the merchant,
"name not to me aught of this, or thou wilt break my heart, for
the best of traffic is thy company and thou art the best of
livelihood." So there befell strait friendship between them and
ceremony was laid aside from between them.
Meanwhile the king said to his vizier, "How shall we do in the
matter of yonder youth, the Yemani, on whom we thought to confer
largesse, but he hath largessed us with tenfold [our gift] and
more, and we know not if he be a sojourner with us or no?" Then
he went into the harem and gave the rubies to his wife Afifeh,
who said to him, "What is the worth of these with thee and with
[other] the kings?" And he answered, "They are not to be found
save with the greatest of kings and none may avail to price them
with money." Quoth she, "Whence gottest thou them?" So he
recounted to her the story of El Abbas from first to last, and
she said, "By Allah, the claims of honour are imperative on us
and the king hath fallen short of his due; for that we have not
seen him bid him to his assembly, nor hath he seated him on his
left hand."
[When the king heard his wife's words], it was as if he had been
asleep and awoke; so he went forth of the harem and bade
slaughter fowls and dress meats of all kinds and colours.
Moreover, he assembled all his retainers and let bring sweetmeats
and dessert and all that beseemeth unto kings' tables. Then he
adorned his palace and despatched after El Abbas a man of the
chief officers of his household, who found him coming forth of
the bath, clad in a doublet of fine goats' hair and over it a
Baghdadi scarf; his waist was girt with a Rustec[FN#81] kerchief
and on his head he wore a light turban of Damietta make.
The messenger wished him joy of the bath and exceeded in doing
him worship. Then he said to him, "The king biddeth thee in
weal."[FN#82] "Hearkening and obedience," answered El Abbas and
accompanied the messenger to the king's palace.
Now Afifeh and her daughter Mariyeh were behind the curtain,
looking at him; and when he came before the king, he saluted him
and greeted him with the greeting of kings, whilst all who were
present stared at him and at his beauty and grace and perfection.
The king seated him at the head of the table; and when Afifeh saw
him and straitly considered him, she said, "By the virtue of
Mohammed, prince of the Apostles, this youth is of the sons of
the kings and cometh not to these parts but for some high
purpose!" Then she looked at Mariyeh and saw that her face was
changed, and indeed her eyes were dead in her face and she turned
not her gaze from El Abbas a glance of the eyes, for that the
love of him had gotten hold upon her heart. When the queen saw
what had befallen her daughter, she feared for her from reproach
concerning El Abbas; so she shut the wicket of the lattice and
suffered her not to look upon him more. Now there was a pavilion
set apart for Mariyeh, and therein were privy chambers and
balconies and lattices, and she had with her a nurse, who served
her, after the fashion of kings' daughters.
When the banquet was ended and the folk had dispersed, the king
said to El Abbas, "I would fain have thee [abide] with me and I
will buy thee a house, so haply we may requite thee the high
services for which we are beholden to thee; for indeed thy due is
imperative [upon us] and thy worth is magnified in our eyes; and
indeed we have fallen short of thy due in the matter of
distance."[FN#83] When the prince heard the king's speech, he
rose and sat down[FN#84] and kissing the earth, returned thanks
for his bounty and said, "I am the king's servant, wheresoever I
may be, and under his eye." Then he recounted to him the story of
the merchant and the manner of the buying of the house, and the
king said, "Indeed, I would fain have had thee with me and in my
neighbourhood."
Then El Abbas took leave of the king and went away to his own
house. Now it befell that he passed under the palace of Mariyeh
the king's daughter, and she was sitting at a window. He chanced
to look round and his eyes met those of the princess, whereupon
his wit departed and he was like to swoon away, whilst his colour
changed and he said, "Verily, we are God's and to Him we return!"
But he feared for himself lest estrangement betide him; so he
concealed his secret and discovered not his case to any of the
creatures of God the Most High. When he reached his house, his
servant Aamir said to him, "O my lord, I seek refuge for thee
with God from change of colour! Hath there betided thee a pain
from God the Most High or hath aught of vexation befallen thee?
Verily, sickness hath an end and patience doth away vexation."
But the prince returned him no answer. Then he brought out
inkhorn [and pen] and paper and wrote the following verses:
Quoth I (and mine a body is of passion all forslain, Ay, and a
heart that's all athirst for love and longing pain
And eye that knoweth not the sweet of sleep; yet she, who caused
My dole, may Fortune's perfidies for aye from her abstain!
Yea, for the perfidies of Fate and sev'rance I'm become Even as
was Bishr[FN#85] of old time with Hind,[FN#86] a fearful
swain;
A talking-stock among the folk for ever I abide; Life and the
days pass by, yet ne'er my wishes I attain),
"Knoweth my loved one when I see her at the lattice high Shine as
the sun that flameth forth in heaven's blue demesne?"
Her eye is sharper than a sword; the soul with ecstasy It takes
and longing leaves behind, that nothing may assain.
As at the casement high she sat, her charms I might espy, For
from her cheeks the envious veil that hid them she had
ta'en.
She shot at me a shaft that reached my heart and I became The
bond- man of despair, worn out with effort all in vain.
Fawn of the palace, knowst thou not that I, to look on thee, The
world have traversed, far and wide, o'er many a hill and
plain?
Read then my writ and pity thou the blackness of my fate, Sick,
love- distraught, without a friend to whom I may complain.
Now the merchant's wife aforesaid, who was the nurse of the
king's daughter, was watching him from a window, unknown of him,
and [when she heard his verses], she knew that there hung some
rare story by him; so she went in to him and said, "Peace be on
thee, O afflicted one, who acquaintest not physician with thy
case! Verily, thou exposest thyself unto grievous peril! I
conjure thee by the virtue of Him who hath afflicted thee and
stricken thee with the constraint of love-liking, that thou
acquaint me with thine affair and discover to me the truth of thy
secret; for that indeed I have heard from thee verses that
trouble the wit and dissolve the body." So he acquainted her with
his case and enjoined her to secrecy, whereof she consented unto
him, saying, "What shall be the recompense of whoso goeth with
thy letter and bringeth thee an answer thereto?" He bowed his
head for shamefastness before her [and was silent]; and she said
to him, "Raise thy head and give me thy letter." So he gave her
the letter and she took it and carrying it to the princess, said
to her, "Read this letter and give me the answer thereto."
Now the liefest of all things to Mariyeh was the recitation of
poems and verses and linked rhymes and the twanging [of the
strings of the lute], and she was versed in all tongues; so she
took the letter and opening it, read that which was therein and
apprehended its purport. Then she cast it on the ground and said,
"O nurse, I have no answer to make to this letter." Quoth the
nurse, "Indeed, this is weakness in thee and a reproach unto
thee, for that the people of the world have heard of thee and
still praise thee for keenness of wit and apprehension; so do
thou return him an answer, such as shall delude his heart and
weary his soul." "O nurse," rejoined the princess, "who is this
that presumeth upon me with this letter? Belike he is the
stranger youth who gave my father the rubies." "It is himself,"
answered the woman, and Mariyeh said, "I will answer his letter
on such a wise that thou shalt not bring me other than it [from
him]." Quoth the nurse, "So be it." So the princess called for
inkhorn and paper and wrote the following verses:
O'erbold art thou in that to me, a stranger, thou hast sent These
verses; 'twill but add to thee unease and miscontent.
Now God forbid thou shouldst attain thy wishes! What care I If
thou have looked on me a look that caused thee languishment?
Who art thou, wretch, that thou shouldst hope to win me? With thy
rhymes What wouldst of me? Thy reason, sure, with passion is
forspent.
If to my favours thou aspire and covet me, good lack! What leach
such madness can assain or what medicament?
Leave rhyming, madman that thou art, lest, bound upon the cross,
Thou thy presumption in the stead of abjectness repent.
Deem not, O youth, that I to thee incline; indeed, no part Have I
in those who walk the ways, the children of the tent.[FN#87]
In the wide world no house thou hast, a homeless wanderer thou:
To thine own place thou shall be borne, an object for
lament.[FN#88]
Forbear thy verse-making, O thou that harbourest in the camp,
Lest to the gleemen thou become a name of wonderment.
How many a lover, who aspires to union with his love, For all his
hopes seem near, is baulked of that whereon he's bent!
Then get thee gone nor covet that which thou shall ne'er obtain;
So shall it be, although the time seem near and the event.
Thus unto thee have I set forth my case; consider well My words,
so thou mayst guided be aright by their intent.
When she had made an end of her verses, she folded the letter and
delivered it to the nurse, who took it and went with it to El
Abbas. When she gave it to him, he took it and breaking it open,
read it and apprehended its purport; and when he came to the end
of it, he swooned away. After awhile, he came to himself and
said, "Praised be God who hath caused her return an answer to my
letter! Canst thou carry her another letter, and with God the
Most High be thy requital?" Quoth she, "And what shall letters
profit thee, seeing she answereth on this wise?" But he said,
"Belike, she may yet be softened." Then he took inkhorn and paper
and wrote the following verses:
Thy letter reached me; when the words thou wrot'st therein I
read, My longing waxed and pain and woe redoubled on my
head.
Yea, wonder-words I read therein, my trouble that increased And
caused emaciation wear my body to a shred.
Would God thou knewst what I endure for love of thee and how My
vitals for thy cruelty are all forspent and dead!
Fain, fain would I forget thy love. Alack, my heart denies To be
consoled, and 'gainst thy wrath nought standeth me in stead.
An thou'dst vouchsafe to favour me,'twould lighten my despair,
Though but in dreams thine image 'twere that visited my bed.
Persist not on my weakliness with thy disdain nor be Treason and
breach of love its troth to thee attributed;
For know that hither have I fared and come to this thy land, By
hopes of union with thee and near fruition led.
How oft I've waked, whilst over me my comrades kept the watch!
How many a stony waste I've crossed, how many a desert
dread!
From mine own land, to visit thee, I came at love's command, For
all the distance did forbid,'twixt me and thee that spread.
Wherefore, by Him who letteth waste my frame, have ruth on me And
quench my yearning and the fires by passion in me fed.
In glory's raiment clad, by thee the stars of heaven are shamed
And in amaze the full moon stares to see thy goodlihead.
All charms, indeed, thou dost comprise; so who shall vie with
thee And who shall blame me if for love of such a fair I'm
sped?
When he had made an end of his verses, he folded the letter and
delivering it to the nurse, charged her keep the secret. So she
took it and carrying it to Mariyeh, gave it to her. The princess
broke it open and read it and apprehended its purport. Then said
she, "By Allah, O nurse, my heart is burdened with an exceeding
chagrin, never knew I a dourer, because of this correspondence
and of these verses." And the muse made answer to her, saying, "O
my lady, thou art in thy dwelling and thy place and thy heart is
void of care; so return him an answer and reck thou not"
Accordingly, the princess called for inkhorn and paper and wrote
the following verses:
Thou that the dupe of yearning art, how many a melting wight In
waiting for the unkept tryst doth watch the weary night!
If in night's blackness thou hast plunged into the desert's heart
And hast denied thine eyes the taste of sleep and its
delight,
If near and far thy toiling feet have trod the ways and thou
Devils and Marids hast ensued nor wouldst be led aright,
And dar'dst, O dweller in the tents, to lift thine eyes to me,
Hoping by stress to win of me the amorous delight,
Get thee to patience fair, if thou remember thee of that Whose
issues (quoth the Merciful) are ever benedight.[FN#89]
How many a king for my sweet sake with other kings hath vied,
Still craving union with me and suing for my sight!
Whenas En Nebhan strove to win my grace, himself to me With
camel- loads he did commend of musk and camphor white,
And aloes-wood, to boot, he brought and caskets full of pearls
And priceless rubies and the like of costly gems and bright;
Yea, and black slaves he proffered me and slave-girls big with
child And steeds of price, with splendid arms and trappings
rich bedight.
Raiment of silk and sendal, too, he brought to us for gift, And
me in marriage sought therewith; yet, all his pains despite,
Of me he got not what he sought and brideless did return, For
that estrangement and disdain were pleasing in my sight.
Wherefore, O stranger, dare thou not approach me with desire,
Lest ruin quick and pitiless thy hardihood requite.
When she had made an end of her verses, she folded the letter and
delivered it to the nurse, who took it and carried it to El
Abbas. He broke it open and read it and apprehended its purport;
then took inkhorn and paper and wrote the following verses:
Indeed, thou'st told the tale of kings and men of might, Each one
a lion fierce, impetuous in the fight,
Whose wits (like mine, alack!) thou stalest and whose hearts With
shafts from out thine eyes bewitching thou didst smite.
Yea, and how slaves and steeds and good and virgin girls Were
proffered thee to gift, thou hast not failed to cite,
How presents in great store thou didst refuse and eke The givers,
great and small, with flouting didst requite.
Then came I after them, desiring thee, with me No second save my
sword, my falchion keen and bright.
No slaves with me have I nor camels swift of foot, Nor
slave-girls have I brought in curtained litters dight.
Yet, an thou wilt vouchsafe thy favours unto me, My sabre thou
shalt see the foemen put to flight;
Ay, and around Baghdad the horsemen shalt behold, Like clouds
that wall the world, full many a doughty knight,
All hearkening to my word, obeying my command, In whatsoever
thing is pleasing to my sight.
If slaves thou fain wouldst have by thousands every day Or,
kneeling at thy feet, see kings of mickle might,
And horses eke wouldst have led to thee day by day And girls,
high- breasted maids, and damsels black and white,
Lo under my command the land of Yemen is And trenchant is my
sword against the foe in fight.
Whenas the couriers came with news of thee, how fair Thou wast
and sweet and how thy visage shone with light,
All, all, for thy sweet sake, I left; ay, I forsook Aziz, my
sire, and those akin to me that hight
And unto Irak fared, my way to thee to make, And crossed the
stony wastes i' the darkness of the night.
Then sent I speech to thee in verses such as burn The heart;
reproach therein was none nor yet unright;
Yet with perfidiousness (sure Fortune's self as thou Ne'er so
perfidious was) my love thou didst requite
And deemedst me a waif, a homeless good-for-nought, A
slave-begotten brat, a wanton, witless wight.
Then he folded the letter and committed it to the nurse and gave
her five hundred dinars, saying, "Accept this from me, for that
indeed thou hast wearied thyself between us." "By Allah, O my
lord," answered she, "my desire is to bring about union between
you, though I lose that which my right hand possesseth." And he
said, "May God the Most High requite thee with good!" Then she
carried the letter to Mariyeh and said to her, "Take this letter;
belike it may be the end of the correspondence." So she took it
and breaking it open, read it, and when she had made an end of
it, she turned to the nurse and said to her, "This fellow putteth
off lies upon me and avoucheth unto me that he hath cities and
horsemen and footmen at his command and submitting to his
allegiance; and he seeketh of me that which he shall not obtain;
for thou knowest, O nurse, that kings' sons have sought me in
marriage, with presents and rarities; but I have paid no heed
unto aught of this; so how shall I accept of this fellow, who is
the fool[FN#90] of his time and possesseth nought but two caskets
of rubies, which he gave to my father, and indeed he hath taken
up his abode in the house of El Ghitrif and abideth without
silver or gold? Wherefore, I conjure thee by Allah, O nurse,
return to him and cut off his hope of me."
Accordingly the nurse returned to El Abbas, without letter or
answer; and when she came in to him, he saw that she was troubled
and noted the marks of chagrin on her face; so he said to her,
"What is this plight?" Quoth she, "I cannot set out to thee that
which Mariyeh said; for indeed she charged me return to thee
without letter or answer." "O nurse of kings," rejoined El Abbas,
"I would have thee carry her this letter and return not to her
without it." Then he took inkhorn and paper and wrote the
following verses:
My secret is disclosed, the which I strove to hide; Of thee and
of thy love enough have I abyed.
My kinsmen and my friends for thee I did forsake And left them
weeping tears that poured as 'twere a tide.
Yea, to Baghdad I came, where rigour gave me chase And I was
overthrown of cruelty and pride.
Repression's draught, by cups, from the beloved's hand I've
quaffed; with colocynth for wine she hath me plied.
Oft as I strove to make her keep the troth of love, Unto
concealment's ways still would she turn aside.
My body is dissolved with sufferance in vain; Relenting, ay, and
grace I hoped should yet betide;
But rigour still hath waxed on me and changed my case And love
hath left me bound, afflicted, weeping-eyed.
How long shall I anights distracted be for love Of thee? How long
th' assaults of grief and woes abide?
Thou, thou enjoy'st repose and comfortable sleep, Nor of the
mis'ries reckst by which my heart is wried.
I watch the stars for wake and pray that the belov'd May yet to
me relent and bid my tears be dried.
The pains of long desire have wasted me away; Estrangement and
disdain my body sore have tried.
"Be thou not hard of heart," quoth I. Had ye but deigned To visit
me in dreams, I had been satisfied.
But when ye saw my writ, the standard ye o'erthrew Of faith, your
favours grudged and aught of grace denied.
Nay, though ye read therein discourse that sure should speak To
heart and soul, no word thereunto ye replied,
But deemed yourself secure from every changing chance Nor recked
the ebb and flow of Fortune's treacherous tide.
Were my affliction thine, love's anguish hadst thou dreed And in
the flaming hell of long estrangement sighed.
Yet shall thou suffer that which I from thee have borne And with
love's woes thy heart shall yet be mortified.
The bitterness of false accusing shall thou taste And eke the
thing reveal that thou art fain to hide;
Yea, he thou lov'st shall be hard-hearted, recking not Of
fortune's turns or fate's caprices, in his pride.
Wherewith farewell, quoth I, and peace be on thee aye, What while
the branches bend, what while the stars abide.
When he had made an end of his verses, he folded the letter and
gave it to the nurse, who took it and carried it to Mariyeh. When
she came into the princess's presence, she saluted her; but
Mariyeh returned not her salutation and she said, "O my lady, how
hard is thy heart that thou grudgest to return the salutation!
Take this letter, for that it is the last of that which shall
come to thee from him." Quoth Mariyeh, "Take my warning and never
again enter my palace, or it will be the cause of thy
destruction; for I am certified that thou purposest my dishonour.
So get thee gone from me." And she commanded to beat the nurse;
whereupon the latter went forth fleeing from her presence,
changed of colour and absent of wits, and gave not over going
till she came to the house of El Abbas.
When the prince saw her in this plight, he was as a sleeper
awakened and said to her, "What hath befallen thee? Set out to me
thy case." "God on thee," answered she, "nevermore send me to
Mariyeh, and do thou protect me, so may God protect thee from the
fires of hell!" Then she related to him that which had bedded her
with Mariyeh; which when he heard, there took him the
shamefastness of the generous and this was grievous unto him. The
love of Mariyeh fled forth of his heart and he said to the nurse,
"How much hadst thou of Mariyeh every month?" "Ten dinars,"
answered she, and he said, "Be not concerned." Then he put his
hand to his poke and bringing out two hundred dinars, gave them
to her and said, "Take this for a whole year's wage and turn not
again to serve any one. When the year is out, I will give thee
two years' wage, for that thou hast wearied thyself with us and
on account of the cutting off of thy dependence upon Mariyeh."
Moreover, he gave her a complete suit of clothes and raising his
head to her, said, "When thou toldest me that which Mariyeh had
done with thee, God rooted out the love of her from my heart, and
never again will she occur to my mind; so extolled be the
perfection of Him who turneth hearts and eyes! It was she who was
the cause of my coming out from Yemen, and now the time is past
for which I engaged with my people and I fear lest my father levy
his troops and come forth in quest of me, for that he hath no
child other than myself and cannot brook to be parted from me;
and on like wise is it with my mother." When the nurse heard his
words, she said to him, "O my lord, and which of the kings is thy
father?" "My father is El Aziz, lord of Yemen and Nubia and the
Islands[FN#91] of the Benou Kehtan and the Two Noble
Sanctuaries[FN#92] (God the Most High have them in His
keeping!)," answered El Abbas; "and whenas he taketh horse, there
mount with him an hundred and twenty and four thousand horsemen,
all smiters with the sword, let alone attendants and servants and
followers, all of whom give ear unto my word and obey my
commandment." "Why, then, O my lord," asked the nurse, "didst
thou conceal the secret of thy rank and lineage and passedst
thyself off for a wayfarer? Alas for our disgrace before thee by
reason of our shortcoming in rendering thee thy due! What shall
be our excuse with thee, and thou of the sons of the kings?" But
he rejoined, "By Allah, thou hast not fallen short! Nay, it is
incumbent on me to requite thee, what while I live, though I be
far distant from thee."
Then he called his servant Aamir and said to him, "Saddle the
horses." When the nurse heard his words and indeed [she saw that]
Aamir brought him the horses and they were resolved upon
departure, the tears ran down upon her cheeks and she said to
him, "By Allah, thy separation is grievous to me, O solace of the
eye!" Then said she, "Where is the goal of thine intent, so we
may know thy news and solace ourselves with thy report?" Quoth
he, "I go hence to visit Akil, the son of my father's brother,
for that he hath his sojourn in the camp of Kundeh ben Hisham,
and these twenty years have I not seen him nor he me; wherefore I
purpose to repair to him and discover his news and return hither.
Then will I go hence to Yemen, if it be the will of God the Most
High."
So saying, he took leave of the woman and her husband and set
out, intending for Akil, his father's brother's son. Now there
was between Baghdad and Akil's abiding-place forty days' journey;
so El Abbas settled himself on the back of his courser and his
servant Aamir mounted also and they fared forth on their way.
Presently, El Abbas turned right and left and recited the
following verses:
I am the champion-slayer, the warrior without peer; My foes I
slay, destroying the hosts, when I appear.
Tow'rds El Akil my journey I take; to visit him, The wastes in
praise and safety I traverse, without fear,
And all the desert spaces devour, whilst to my rede, Or if in
sport or earnest,[FN#93] still Aamir giveth ear.
Who letteth us or hind'reth our way, I spring on him, As
springeth lynx or panther upon the frighted deer;
With ruin I o'erwhelm him and abjectness and woe And cause him
quaff the goblet of death and distance drear.
Well-ground my polished sword is and thin and keen of edge And
trenchant, eke, for smiting and long my steel-barbed spear.
So fell and fierce my stroke is, if on a mountain high It lit,
though all of granite, right through its midst 'twould
shear.
Nor troops have I nor henchmen nor one to lend me aid Save God,
to whom, my Maker, my voice in praise I rear.
'Tis He who pardoneth errors alike to slave and free; On Him is
my reliance in good and evil cheer.
Then they fell to journeying night and day, and as they went,
behold, they sighted a camp of the camps of the Arabs. So El
Abbas enquired thereof and was told that it was the camp of the
Benou Zuhreh. Now there were around them sheep and cattle, such
as filled the earth, and they were enemies to El Akil, the cousin
of El Abbas, upon whom they still made raids and took his cattle;
wherefore he used to pay them tribute every year, for that he
availed not to cope with them. When El Abbas came near the camp,
he dismounted from his courser and his servant Aamir also
dismounted; and they set down the victual and ate their
sufficiency and rested awhile of the day. Then said the prince to
Aamir, "Fetch water and give the horses to drink and draw water
for us in thy water-bag, by way of provision for the road."
So Aamir took the water-skin and made for the water; but, when he
came to the well, behold, two young men with gazelles, and when
they saw him, they said to him, "Whither wilt thou, O youth, and
of which of the Arabs art thou?" "Harkye, lads," answered he,
"fill me my water-skin, for that I am a stranger man and a
wayfarer and I have a comrade who awaiteth me." Quoth they, "Thou
art no wayfarer, but a spy from El Akil's camp." Then they took
him and carried him to [their king] Zuheir ben Shebib; and when
he came before him, he said to him, "Of which of the Arabs art
thou?" Quoth Aamir, "I am a wayfarer." And Zuheir said, "Whence
comest thou and whither wilt thou?" "I am on my way to Akil,"
answered Aamir. When he named Akil, those who were present were
agitated; but Zuheir signed to them with his eyes and said to
him, "What is thine errand with Akil?" Quoth he, "We would fain
see him, my friend and I."
When Zuheir heard his words, he bade smite off his head; but his
Vizier said to him, "Slay him not, till his friend be present."
So he commanded the two slaves to fetch his friend; whereupon
they repaired to El Abbas and called to him, saying, "O youth,
answer the summons of King Zuheir." "What would the king with
me?" asked he, and they answered, "We know not." Quoth he, "Who
gave the king news of me?" "We went to draw water," answered
they, "and found a man by the water. So we questioned him of his
case, but he would not acquaint us therewith; wherefore we
carried him perforce to King Zuheir, who questioned him of his
case and he told him that he was going to Akil. Now Akil is the
king's enemy and he purposeth to betake himself to his camp and
make prize of his offspring and cut off his traces." "And what,"
asked El Abbas, "hath Akil done with King Zuheir?" And they
replied, "He engaged for himself that he would bring the king
every year a thousand dinars and a thousand she-camels, besides a
thousand head of thoroughbred horses and two hundred black slaves
and fifty slave-girls; but it hath reached the king that Akil
purposeth to give nought of this; wherefore he is minded to go to
him. So hasten thou with us, ere the king be wroth with thee and
with us."
Then said El Abbas to them, "O youths, sit by my arms and my
horse till I return." But they answered, saying, "By Allah, thou
prolongest discourse with that which beseemeth not of words! Make
haste, or we will go with thy head, for indeed the king purposeth
to slay thee and to slay thy comrade and take that which is with
you." When the prince heard this, his skin quaked and he cried
out at them with a cry that made them tremble. Then he sprang
upon his horse and settling himself in the saddle, galloped till
he came to the king's assembly, when he cried out at the top of
his voice, saying ["To horse,] cavaliers!" And levelled his spear
at the pavilion wherein was Zuheir. Now there were about him a
thousand smiters with the sword; but El Abbas fell in upon them
and dispersed them from around him, and there abode none in the
tent save Zuheir and his vizier.
Then came up El Abbas to the door of the tent, and therein were
four-and-twenty golden doves; so he took them, after he had
beaten them down with the end of his lance. Then he called out,
saying, "Harkye, Zuheir! Doth it not suffice thee that thou hast
quelled El Akil's repute, but thou art minded to quell that of
those who sojourn round about him? Knowest thou not that he is of
the lieutenants of Kundeh ben [Hisham of the Benou] Sheiban, a
man renowned for prowess? Indeed, covetise of him hath entered
into thee and jealousy of him hath gotten possession of thee.
Doth it not suffice thee that thou hast orphaned his
children[FN#94] and slain his men? By the virtue of the Chosen
Prophet, I will make thee drink the cup of death!" So saying, he
drew his sword and smiting Zuheir on his shoulder, caused the
steel issue, gleaming, from the tendons of his throat. Then he
smote the vizier and clove his head in sunder.
As he was thus, behold, Aamir called out to him and said, "O my
lord, come to my help, or I am a dead man!" So El Abbas went up
to him and found him cast down on his back and chained with four
chains to four pickets of iron. He loosed his bonds and said to
him, "Go before me, O Aamir." So he fared on before him a little,
and presently they looked, and behold, horsemen making to
Zuheir's succour, to wit, twelve thousand cavaliers, with Sehl
ben Kaab in their van, mounted upon a jet-black steed. He charged
upon Aamir, who fled from him, then upon El Abbas, who said, "O
Aamir, cleave fast to my horse and guard my back." Aamir did as
he bade him, whereupon El Abbas cried out at the folk and falling
upon them, overthrew their braves and slew of them nigh two
thousand cavaliers, whilst not one of them knew what was to do
nor with whom he fought. Then said one of them to other, "Verily,
the king is slain; so with whom do we wage war? Indeed ye flee
from him; so do ye enter under his banners, or not one of you
will be saved."
Thereupon they all dismounted and putting off that which was upon
them of harness of war, came before El Abbas and tendered him
allegiance and sued for his protection. So he held his hand from
them and bade them gather together the spoils. Then he took the
riches and the slaves and the camels, and they all became his
liege-men and his retainers, to the number (according to that
which is said) of fifty thousand horse. Moreover, the folk heard
of him and flocked to him from all sides; whereupon he divided
[the spoil amongst them] and gave gifts and abode thus three
days, and there came presents to him. Then he bade set out for
Akil's abiding-place; so they fared on six days and on the
seventh day they came in sight of the camp. El Abbas bade his man
Aamir forego him and give Akil the glad news of his cousin's
coming. So he rode on to the camp and going in to Akil, gave him
the glad news of Zuheir's slaughter and the conquest of his
tribe.
Akil rejoiced in the coming of El Abbas and the slaughter of his
enemy and all in his camp rejoiced also and cast dresses of
honour upon Aamir. Moreover, Akil bade go forth to meet El Abbas,
and commanded that none, great or small, freeman or slave, should
tarry behind. So they did his bidding and going forth all, met El
Abbas at three parasangs' distance from the camp. When they met
him, they all dismounted from their horses and Akil and he
embraced and clapped hands.[FN#95] Then they returned, rejoicing
in the coming of El Abbas and the slaughter of their enemy, to
the camp, where tents were pitched for the new-comers and carpets
spread and game killed and beasts slaughtered and royal
guest-meals spread; and on this wise they abode twenty days, in
the enjoyment of all delight and solace of life.
To return to King El Aziz. When his son El Abbas left him, he was
desolated for him with an exceeding desolation, he and his
mother; and when tidings of him tarried long and the appointed
time passed [and the prince returned not], the king caused public
proclamation to be made, commanding all his troops to make ready
to mount and go forth in quest of his son El Abbas at the end of
three days, after which time no cause of hindrance nor excuse
should be admitted unto any. So on the fourth day, the king bade
number the troops, and behold, they were four-and-twenty thousand
horse, besides servants and followers. Accordingly, they reared
the standards and the drums beat to departure and the king set
out [with his army], intending for Baghdad; nor did he cease to
fare on with all diligence, till he came within half a day's
journey of the city and bade his troops encamp in [a place there
called] the Green Meadow. So they pitched the tents there, till
the country was straitened with them, and set up for the king a
pavilion of green brocade, broidered with pearls and jewels.
When El Aziz had sat awhile, he summoned the mamelukes of his son
El Abbas, and they were five-and-twenty in number, besides half a
score slave-girls, as they were moons, five of whom the king had
brought with him and other five he had left with the prince's
mother. When the mamelukes came before him, he cast over each of
them a mantle of green brocade and bade them mount like horses of
one and the same fashion and enter Baghdad and enquire concerning
their lord El Abbas. So they entered the city and passed through
the [streets and] markets, and there abode in Baghdad nor old man
nor boy but came forth to gaze on them and divert himself with
the sight of their beauty and grace and the goodliness of their
aspect and of their clothes and horses, for that they were even
as moons. They gave not over going till they came to the royal
palace, where they halted, and the king looked at them and seeing
their beauty and the goodliness of their apparel and the
brightness of their faces, said, "Would I knew of which of the
tribes these are!" And he bade the eunuch bring him news of them.
So he went out to them and questioned them of their case,
whereupon, "Return to thy lord," answered they, "and question him
of Prince El Abbas, if he have come unto him, for that he left
his father King El Aziz a full-told year agone, and indeed
longing for him troubleth the king and he hath levied a part of
his army and his guards and is come forth in quest of his son, so
haply he may light upon tidings of him." Quoth the eunuch, "Is
there amongst you a brother of his or a son?" "Nay, by Allah!"
answered they. "But we are all his mamelukes and the boughten of
his money, and his father El Aziz hath despatched us to make
enquiry of him. So go thou to thy lord and question him of the
prince and return to us with that which he shall answer you."
"And where is King El Aziz?" asked the eunuch; and they replied,
"He is encamped in the Green Meadow."[FN#96]
The eunuch returned and told the king, who said, "Indeed, we have
been neglectful with regard to El Abbas. What shall be our excuse
with the king? By Allah, my soul misdoubted me that the youth was
of the sons of the kings!" The Lady Afifeh, his wife, saw him
lamenting for [his usage of] El Abbas and said to him, "O king,
what is it thou regrettest with this exceeding regret?" Quoth he,
"Thou knowest the stranger youth, who gave us the rubies?"
"Assuredly," answered she; and he said, "Yonder youths, who have
halted in the palace court, are his mamelukes, and his father
King El Aziz, lord of Yemen, hath pitched his camp in the Green
Meadow; for he is come with his army to seek him, and the number
of his troops is [four-and-] twenty thousand men." [Then he went
out from her], and when she heard his words, she wept sore for
him and had compassion on his case and sent after him,
counselling him to send for the mamelukes and lodge them [in the
palace] and entertain them.
The king gave ear to her counsel and despatching the eunuch for
the mamelukes, assigned them a lodging and said to them, "Have
patience, till the king give you tidings of your lord El Abbas."
When they heard his words, their eyes ran over with plenteous
tears, of their much longing for the sight of their lord. Then
the king bade the queen enter the privy chamber[FN#97] and let
down the curtain[FN#98] [before the door thereof]. So she did
this and he summoned them to his presence. When they stood before
him, they kissed the earth, to do him worship, and showed forth
their breeding[FN#99] and magnified his dignity. He bade them
sit, but they refused, till he conjured them by their lord El
Abbas. So they sat down and he caused set before them food of
various kinds and fruits and sweetmeats. Now within the Lady
Afifeh's palace was an underground way communicating with the
palace of the princess Mariyeh. So the queen sent after her and
she came to her, whereupon she made her stand behind the curtain
and gave her to know that El Abbas was the king's son of Yemen
and that these were his mamelukes. Moreover, she told her that
the prince's father had levied his troops and was come with his
army in quest of him and that he had pitched his camp in the
Green Meadow and despatched these mamelukes to make enquiry of
their lord. So Mariyeh abode looking upon them and upon their
beauty and grace and the goodliness of their apparel, till they
had eaten their fill of food and the tables were removed;
whereupon the king recounted to them the story of El Abbas and
they took leave of him and went away.
As for the princess Mariyeh, when she returned to her palace, she
bethought herself concerning the affair of El Abbas, repenting
her of that which she had done, and the love of him took root in
her heart. So, when the night darkened upon her, she dismissed
all her women and bringing out the letters, to wit, those which
El Abbas had written, fell to reading them and weeping. She gave
not over weeping her night long, and when she arose in the
morning, she called a damsel of her slave-girls, Shefikeh by
name, and said to her, "O damsel, I purpose to discover to thee
mine affair, and I charge thee keep my secret; to wit, I would
have thee betake thyself to the house of the nurse, who used to
serve me, and fetch her to me, for that I have grave occasion for
her."
Accordingly, Shefikeh went out and repairing to the nurse's
house, found her clad in apparel other[FN#100] than that which
she had been wont to wear aforetime. So she saluted her and said
to her, "Whence hadst thou this dress, than which there is no
goodlier?" "O Shefikeh," answered the nurse, "thou deemest that I
have gotten[FN#101] no good save of thy mistress; but, by Allah,
had I endeavoured for her destruction, I had done [that which was
my right], for that she did with me what thou knowest[FN#102] and
bade the eunuch beat me, without offence of me committed;
wherefore do thou tell her that he, on whose behalf I bestirred
myself with her, hath made me quit of her and her humours, for
that he hath clad me in this habit and given me two hundred and
fifty dinars and promised me the like thereof every year and
charged me serve none of the folk."
Quoth Shefikeh, "My mistress hath occasion for thee; so come thou
with me and I will engage to restore thee to thy dwelling in weal
and safety." But the nurse answered, saying, "Indeed, her palace
is become forbidden[FN#103] to me and never again will I enter
therein, for that God (extolled be His perfection and exalted be
He!) of His favour and bounty hath rendered me independent of
her." So Shefikeh returned to her mistress and acquainted her
with the nurse's words and that wherein she was of affluence;
whereupon Mariyeh confessed the unseemliness of her dealing with
her and repented, whenas repentance profited her not; and she
abode in that her case days and nights, whilst the fire of
longing flamed in her heart.
Meanwhile, El Abbas abode with his cousin Akil twenty days, after
which he made ready for the journey to Baghdad and letting bring
the booty he had gotten of King Zuheir, divided it between
himself and his cousin. Then he set out for Baghdad, and when he
came within two days' journey of the city, he called his servant
Aamir and bade him mount his charger and forego him with the
baggage-train and the cattle. So Aamir [took horse and] fared on
till he came to Baghdad, and the season of his entering was the
first of the day; nor was there little child or hoary old man in
the city but came forth to divert himself with gazing on those
flocks and herds and upon the goodliness of those slave-girls,
and their wits were amazed at what they saw. Presently the news
reached the king that the young man El Abbas, who had gone forth
from him, was come back with herds and rarities and slaves and a
mighty host and had taken up his sojourn without the city, whilst
his servant Aamir was presently come to Baghdad, so he might make
ready dwelling- places for his lord, wherein he should take up
his abode.
When the king heard these tidings of Aamir, he sent for him and
let bring him before him; and when he entered his presence, he
kissed the earth and saluted and showed forth his breeding and
greeted him with the goodliest of compliments. The king bade him
raise his head and questioned him of his lord El Abbas; whereupon
he acquainted him with his tidings and told him that which had
betided him with King Zuheir and of the army that was become at
his commandment and of the spoil that he had gotten. Moreover, he
gave him to know that El Abbas was coming on the morrow, and with
him more than fifty thousand cavaliers, obedient to his
commandment. When the king heard his speech, he bade decorate
Baghdad and commanded [the inhabitants] to equip themselves with
the richest of their apparel, in honour of the coming of El
Abbas. Moreover, he sent to give King El Aziz the glad tidings of
his son's return and acquainted him with that which he had heard
from the prince's servant.
When the news reached El Aziz, he rejoiced with an exceeding joy
in the coming of his son and straightway took horse, he and all
his army, what while the trumpets sounded and the musicians
played, that the earth quaked and Baghdad also trembled, and it
was a notable day. When Mariyeh beheld all this, she repented
with the uttermost of repentance of that which she had wroughten
against El Abbas his due and the fires still raged in her vitals.
Meanwhile, the troops[FN#104] sallied forth of Baghdad and went
out to meet those of El Abbas, who had halted in a meadow called
the Green Island. When he espied the approaching host, he knew
not what they were; so he strained his sight and seeing horsemen
coming and troops and footmen, said to those about him, "Among
yonder troops are ensigns and banners of various kinds; but, as
for the great green standard that ye see, it is the standard of
my father, the which is reserved [unto him and never displayed
save] over his head, and [by this] I know that he himself is come
out in quest of me." And he was certified of this, he and his
troops.
[So he fared on towards them] and when he drew near unto them, he
knew them and they knew him; whereupon they lighted down from
their horses and saluting him, gave him joy of his safety and the
folk flocked to him. When he came to his father, they embraced
and greeted each other a long time, whilst neither of them
availed unto speech, for the greatness of that which betided them
of joy in reunion. Then El Abbas bade the folk mount; so they
mounted and his mamelukes surrounded him and they entered Baghdad
on the most magnificent wise and in the highest worship and
glory.
The wife of the shopkeeper, to wit, the nurse, came out, with the
rest of those who came out, to divert herself with gazing upon
the show, and when she saw El Abbas and beheld his beauty and the
goodliness of his army and that which he had brought back with
him of herds and slaves and slave-girls and mamelukes, she
improvised and recited the following verses:
El Abbas from Akil his stead is come again; Prize hath he made of
steeds and many a baggage-train;
Yea, horses hath he brought, full fair of shape and hue, Whose
collars, anklet-like, ring to the bridle-rein.
Taper of hoofs and straight of stature, in the dust They prance,
as like a flood they pour across the plain;
And on their saddles perched are warriors richly clad, That with
their hands do smite on kettle-drums amain.
Couched are their limber spears, right long and lithe of point,
Keen- ground and polished sheer, amazing wit and brain.
Who dares with them to cope draws death upon himself; Yea, of the
deadly lance incontinent he's slain.
Come, then, companions mine, rejoice with me and say, "All hail
to thee, O friend, and welcome fair and fain!"
For whoso doth rejoice in meeting him shall have Largesse and
gifts galore at his dismounting gain.
When the troops entered Baghdad, each of them alighted in his
pavilion, whilst El Abbas encamped apart in a place near the
Tigris and commanded to slaughter for the troops, each day, that
which should suffice them of oxen and sheep and bake them bread
and spread the tables. So the folk ceased not to come to him and
eat of his banquet. Moreover, all the people of the country came
to him with presents and rarities and he requited them many times
the like of their gifts, so that the lands were filled with his
tidings and the report of him was bruited abroad among the folk
of the deserts and the cities.
Then, when he rode to his house that he had bought, the
shopkeeper and his wife came to him and gave him joy of his
safety; whereupon he ordered them three swift thoroughbred horses
and ten dromedaries and an hundred head of sheep and clad them
both in sumptuous dresses of honour. Then he chose out ten
slave-girls and ten black slaves and fifty horses and the like
number of she- camels and three hundred head of sheep, together
with twenty ounces of musk and as many of camphor, and sent all
this to the King of Baghdad. When this came to Ins ben Cais, his
wit fled for joy and he was perplexed wherewithal to requite him.
Moreover, El Abbas gave gifts and largesse and bestowed dresses
of honour upon great and small, each after the measure of his
station, save only Mariyeh; for unto her he sent nothing.
This was grievous to the princess and it irked her sore that he
should not remember her; so she called her slave- girl Shefikeh
and said to her, "Go to El Abbas and salute him and say to him,
'What hindereth thee from sending my lady Mariyeh her part of thy
booty?'" So Shefikeh betook herself to him and when she came to
his door, the chamberlains refused her admission, until they
should have gotten her leave and permission. When she entered, El
Abbas knew her and knew that she had somewhat of speech [with
him]; so he dismissed his mamelukes and said to her, "What is
thine errand, O handmaid of good?" "O my lord," answered she, "I
am a slave-girl of the Princess Mariyeh, who kisseth thy hands
and commendeth her salutation to thee. Indeed, she rejoiceth in
thy safety and reproacheth thee for that thou breakest her heart,
alone of all the folk, for that thy largesse embraceth great and
small, yet hast thou not remembered her with aught of thy booty.
Indeed, it is as if thou hadst hardened thy heart against her."
Quoth he, "Extolled be the perfection of him who turneth hearts!
By Allah, my vitals were consumed with the love of her
[aforetime] and of my longing after her, I came forth to her from
my native land and left my people and my home and my wealth, and
it was with her that began the hardheartedness and the cruelty.
Nevertheless, for all this, I bear her no malice and needs must I
send her somewhat whereby she may remember me; for that I abide
in her land but a few days, after which I set out for the land of
Yemen."
Then he called for a chest and bringing out thence a necklace of
Greek handiwork, worth a thousand dinars, wrapped it in a mantle
of green silk, set with pearls and jewels and inwrought with red
gold, and joined thereto two caskets of musk and ambergris.
Moreover, he put off upon the girl a mantle of Greek silk,
striped with gold, wherein were divers figures and semblants
depictured, never saw eyes its like. Therewithal the girl's wit
fled for joy and she went forth from his presence and returned to
her mistress. When she came in to her, she acquainted her with
that which she had seen of El Abbas and that which was with him
of servants and attendants and [set out to her] the loftiness of
his station and gave her that which was with her.
Mariyeh opened the mantle, and when she saw that necklace, and
indeed the place was illumined with the lustre thereof, she
looked at her slave-girl and said to her, "By Allah, O Shefikeh,
one look at him were liefer to me than all that my hand
possesseth! Would I knew what I shall do, whenas Baghdad is empty
of him and I hear no tidings of him!" Then she wept and calling
for inkhorn* and paper and pen of brass, wrote the following
verses:
Still do I yearn, whilst passion's fire flames in my liver aye;
For parting's shafts have smitten me and done my strength
away.
Oft for thy love as I would be consoled, my yearning turns
To-thee- ward still and my desires my reason still gainsay.
My transports I conceal for fear of those thereon that spy; Yet
down my cheeks the tears course still and still my case
bewray.
No rest is there for me, no life wherein I may delight, Nor
pleasant meat nor drink avails to please me, night or day.
To whom save thee shall I complain, of whom relief implore, Whose
image came to visit me, what while in dreams I lay?
Reproach me not for what I did, but be thou kind to one Who's
sick of body and whose heart is wasted all away.
The fire of love-longing I hide; severance consumeth me, A thrall
of care, for long desire to wakefulness a prey.
Midmost the watches of the night I see thee, in a dream; A lying
dream, for he I love my love doth not repay.
Would God thou knewest that for love of thee which I endure! It
hath indeed brought down on me estrangement and dismay.
Read thou my writ and apprehend its purport, for my case This is
and fate hath stricken me with sorrows past allay.
Know, then, the woes that have befall'n a lover, neither grudge
Her secret to conceal, but keep her counsel still, I pray.
Then she folded the letter and giving it to her slave-girl, bade
her carry it to El Abbas and bring back his answer thereto.
Accordingly, Shefikeh took the letter and carried it to the
prince, after the doorkeeper had sought leave of him to admit
her. When she came in to him, she found with him five damsels, as
they were moons, clad in [rich] apparel and ornaments; and when
he saw her, he said to her, "What is thine occasion, O handmaid
of good?" So she put out her hand to him with the letter, after
she had kissed it, and he bade one of his slave-girls receive it
from her. Then he took it from the girl and breaking it open,
read it and apprehended its purport; whereupon "We are God's and
to Him we return!" exclaimed he and calling for ink- horn and
paper, wrote the following verses:
I marvel for that to my love I see thee now incline, What time my
heart, indeed, is fain to turn away from thine.
Whilere, the verses that I made it was thy wont to flout, Saying,
"No passer by the way[FN#105] hath part in me or mine.
How many a king to me hath come, of troops and guards ensued, And
Bactrian camels brought with him, in many a laden line,
And dromedaries, too, of price and goodly steeds and swift Of
many a noble breed, yet found no favour in my eyne!"
Then, after them came I to thee and union did entreat And unto
thee set forth at length my case and my design;
Yea, all my passion and desire and love-longing in verse, As
pearls in goodly order strung it were, I did enshrine.
Yet thou repaidst me with constraint, rigour and perfidy, To
which no lover might himself on any wise resign.
How many a bidder unto love, a secret-craving wight, How many a
swain, complaining, saith of destiny malign,
"How many a cup with bitterness o'erflowing have I quaffed! I
make my moan of woes, whereat it boots not to repine."
Quoth thou, "The goodliest of things is patience and its use: Its
practice still mankind doth guide to all that's fair and
fine."
Wherefore fair patience look thou use, for sure 'tis
praiseworthy; Yea, and its issues evermore are blessed and
benign;
And hope thou not for aught from me, who reck not with a folk To
mix, who may with abjectness infect my royal line.
This is my saying; apprehend its purport, then, and know I may in
no wise yield consent to that thou dost opine.
Then he folded the letter and sealing it, delivered it to the
damsel, who took it and carried it to her mistress. When the
princess read the letter and apprehended its contents, she said,
"Meseemeth he recalleth to me that which I did aforetime." Then
she called for inkhorn and paper and wrote the following verses:
Me, till I stricken was therewith, to love thou didst excite, And
with estrangement now, alas! heap'st sorrows on my spright.
The sweet of slumber after thee I have forsworn; indeed The loss
of thee hath smitten me with trouble and affright.
How long shall I, in weariness, for this estrangement pine, What
while the spies of severance[FN#106] do watch me all the
night?
My royal couch have I forsworn, sequestering myself From all, and
have mine eyes forbid the taste of sleep's delight.
Thou taught'st me what I cannot bear; afflicted sore am I; Yea,
thou hast wasted me away with rigour and despite.
Yet, I conjure thee, blame me not for passion and desire, Me whom
estrangement long hath brought to sick and sorry plight.
Sore, sore doth rigour me beset, its onslaughts bring me near
Unto the straitness of the grave, ere in the shroud I'm
dight.
So be thou kind to me, for love my body wasteth sore, The thrall
of passion I'm become its fires consume me quite.
Mariyeh folded the letter and gave it to Shefikeh, bidding her
carry it to El Abbas. So she took it and going with it to his
door, would have entered; but the chamberlains and serving-men
forbade her, till they had gotten her leave from the prince. When
she went in to him, she found him sitting in the midst of the
five damsels aforesaid, whom his father had brought him. So she
gave him the letter and he took it and read it. Then he bade one
of the damsels, whose name was Khefifeh and who came from the
land of China, tune her lute and sing upon the subject of
separation. So she came forward and tuning the lute, played
thereon in four-and-twenty modes; after which she returned to the
first mode and sang the following verses:
Upon the parting day our loves from us did fare And left us to
endure estrangement and despair.
Whenas the burdens all were bounden on and shrill The
camel-leader's call rang out across the air,
Fast flowed my tears; despair gat hold upon my soul And needs
mine eyelids must the sweet of sleep forbear.
I wept, but those who spied to part us had no ruth On me nor on
the fires that in my vitals flare.
Woe's me for one who burns for love and longing pain! Alas for
the regrets my heart that rend and tear!
To whom shall I complain of what is in my soul, Now thou art gone
and I my pillow must forswear?
The flames of long desire wax on me day by day And far away are
pitched the tent-poles of my fair.
O breeze of heaven, from me a charge I prithee take And do not
thou betray the troth of my despair;
Whenas thou passest by the dwellings of my love, Greet him for me
with peace, a greeting debonair,
And scatter musk on him and ambergris, so long As time endures;
for this is all my wish and care.
When the damsel had made an end of her song, El Abbas swooned
away and they sprinkled on him rose-water, mingled with musk,
till he came to himself, when he called another damsel (now there
was on her of linen and clothes and ornaments that which
beggareth description, and she was endowed with brightness and
loveliness and symmetry and perfection, such as shamed the
crescent moon, and she was a Turkish girl from the land of the
Greeks and her name was Hafizeh) and said to her, "O Hafizeh,
close thine eyes and tune thy lute and sing to us upon the days
of separation." She answered him with "Hearkening and obedience"
and taking the lute, tuned its strings and cried out from her
head,[FN#107] in a plaintive voice, and sang the following
verses:
O friends, the tears flow ever, in mockery of my pain; My heart
is sick for sev'rance and love-longing in vain.
All wasted is my body and bowels tortured sore; Love's fire on me
still waxeth, mine eyes with tears still rain.
Whenas the fire of passion flamed in my breast, with tears, Upon
the day of wailing, to quench it I was fain.
Desire hath left me wasted, afflicted, sore afraid, For the spy
knows the secret whereof I do complain.
When I recall the season of love-delight with them, The sweet of
sleep forsakes me, my body wastes amain.
Those who our parting plotted our sev'rance still delights; The
spies, for fearful prudence, their wish of us attain.
I fear me for my body from sickness and unrest, Lest of the fear
of sev'rance it be betrayed and slain.
When Hafizeh had made an end of her song, El Abbas said to her,
"Well done! Indeed, thou quickenest hearts from sorrows." Then he
called another damsel of the daughters of the Medes, by name
Merjaneh, and said to her, "O Merjaneh, sing to me upon the days
of separation." "Hearkening and obedience," answered she and
improvising, sang the following verses:
"Fair patience practise, for thereon still followeth content." So
runs the rede 'mongst all that dwell in city or in tent.
How oft of dole have I made moan for love and longing pain, What
while my body for desire in mortal peril went!
How oft I've waked, how many a cup of sorrow have I drained,
Watching the stars of night go by, for sleepless
languishment!
It had sufficed me, had thy grace with verses come to me; My
expectation still on thee in the foredawns was bent.
Then was my heart by that which caused my agitation seared, And
from mine eyelids still the tears poured down without
relent.
Yea, nevermore I ceased from that wherewith I stricken was; My
night with wakefulness was filled, my heart with dreariment.
But now hath Allah from my heart blotted the love of thee, After
for constancy I'd grown a name of wonderment.
Hence on the morrow forth I fare and leave your land behind; So
take your leave of us nor fear mishap or ill event.
Whenas in body ye from us are far removed, would God I knew who
shall to us himself with news of you present!
And who can tell if ever house shall us together bring In union
of life serene and undisturbed content?
When Merjaneh had made an end of her song, the prince said to
her, "Well done, O damsel! Indeed, thou sayest a thing that had
occurred to my mind and my tongue was like to speak it." Then he
signed to the fourth damsel, who was a Cairene, by name Sitt el
Husn, and bade her tune her lute and sing to him upon the [same]
subject. So she tuned her lute and sang the following verses:
Fair patience use, for ease still followeth after stress And all
things have their time and ordinance no less.
Though Fortune whiles to thee belike may be unjust, Her seasons
change and man's excused if he transgress.
In her revolving scheme, to bitter sweetness still Succeeds and
things become straight, after crookedness.
Thine honour, therefore, guard and eke thy secret keep, Nor save
to one free-born and true thy case confess.
The Lord's alternatives are these, wherewith He's wont The needy
wretch to ply and those in sore duresse.
When El Abbas heard her verses, they pleased him and he said to
her, "Well done, O Sitt el Husn! Indeed, thou hast done away
trouble from my heart and [banished] the things that had occurred
to my mind." Then he heaved a sigh and signing to the fifth
damsel, who was from the land of the Persians and whose name was
Merziyeh (now she was the fairest of them all and the sweetest of
speech and she was like unto a splendid star, endowed with beauty
and loveliness and brightness and perfection and justness of
shape and symmetry and had a face like the new moon and eyes as
they were gazelle's eyes) and said to her, "O Merziyeh, come
forward and tune thy lute and sing to us on the [same] subject,
for indeed we are resolved upon departure to the land of Yemen."
Now this damsel had met many kings and had consorted with the
great; so she tuned her lute and sang the following verses:
May the place of my session ne'er lack thee I Oh, why, My heart's
love, hast thou saddened my mind and mine eye?[FN#108]
By thy ransom,[FN#109] who dwellest alone in my heart, In despair
for the loss of the loved one am I.
So, by Allah, O richest of all men in charms, Vouchsafe to a
lover, who's bankrupt well-nigh
Of patience, thy whilom endearments again, That I never to any
divulged, nor deny
The approof of my lord, so my stress and unease I may ban and
mine enemies' malice defy,
Thine approof which shall clothe me in noblest attire And my rank
in the eyes of the people raise high.
When she had made an end of her song, all who were in the
assembly wept for the daintiness of her speech and the sweetness
of her voice and El Abbas said to her, "Well done, O Merziyeh I
Indeed, thou confoundest the wits with the goodliness of thy
verses and the elegance of thy speech." All this while Shefikeh
abode gazing upon her, and when she beheld El Abbas his
slave-girls and considered the goodliness of their apparel and
the nimbleness of their wits and the elegance of their speech,
her reason was confounded. Then she sought leave of El Abbas and
returning to her mistress Mariyeh, without letter or answer,
acquainted her with his case and that wherein he was of puissance
and delight and majesty and venerance and loftiness of rank.
Moreover, she told her what she had seen of the slave-girls and
their circumstance and that which they had said and how they had
made El Abbas desireful of returning to his own country by the
recitation of verses to the sound of the strings.
When the princess heard this her slave-girl's report, she wept
and lamented and was like to depart the world. Then she clave to
her pillow and said, "O Shefikeh, I will instruct thee of
somewhat that is not hidden from God the Most High, and it is
that thou watch over me till God the Most High decree the
accomplishment of His commandment, and when my days are ended,
take thou the necklace and the mantle that El Abbas gave me and
return them to him. Indeed, I deem not he will live after me, and
if God the Most High decree against him and his days come to an
end, do thou give one charge to shroud us and bury us both in one
grave."
Then her case changed and her colour paled; and when Shefikeh saw
her mistress in this plight, she repaired to her mother and told
her that the lady Mariyeh refused meat and drink. "Since when
hath this befallen her?" asked the queen, and Shefikeh answered,
"Since yesterday;" whereat the queen was confounded and betaking
herself to her daughter, that she might enquire into her case,
found her as one dead. So she sat down at her head and Mariyeh
opened her eyes and seeing her mother sitting by her, sat up for
shamefastness before her. The queen questioned her of her case
and she said, "I entered the bath and it stupefied me and
weakened me and left an exceeding pain in my head; but I trust in
God the Most High that it will cease."
When her mother went out from her, Mariyeh fell to chiding the
damsel for that which she had done and said to her, "Verily,
death were leifer to me than this; so look thou discover not my
affair to any and I charge thee return not to the like of this
fashion." Then she swooned away and lay awhile without life, and
when she came to herself, she saw Shefikeh weeping over her;
whereupon she took the necklace from her neck and the mantle from
her body and said to the damsel, "Lay them in a napkin of damask
and carry them to El Abbas and acquaint him with that wherein I
am for the persistence of estrangement and the effects of
forbiddance." So Shefikeh took them and carried them to El Abbas,
whom she found in act to depart, for that he was about to take
horse for Yemen. She went in to him and gave him the napkin and
that which was therein, and when he opened it and saw what it
contained, to wit, the mantle and the necklace, his vexation was
excessive and his eyes were distorted, [so that the whites
thereof appeared] and his rage was manifest in them.
When Shefikeh saw that which betided him, she came forward and
said to him, "O bountiful lord, indeed my mistress returneth not
the mantle and the necklace despitefully; but she is about to
depart the world and thou hast the best right to them." "And what
is the cause of this?" asked he. Quoth Shefikeh, "Thou knowest.
By Allah, never among the Arabs nor the barbarians nor among the
sons of the kings saw I a harder of heart than thou! Is it a
light matter to thee that thou troublest Mariyeh's life and
causest her mourn for herself and depart the world on account
of[FN#110] thy youth? Indeed, thou wast the cause of her
acquaintance with thee and now she departeth the world on thine
account, she whose like God the Most High hath not created among
the daughters of the kings."
When El Abbas heard these words from the damsel, his heart irked
him for Mariyeh and her case was grievous to him; so he said to
Shefikeh, "Canst thou avail to bring me in company with her, so
haply I may discover her affair and allay that which aileth her?"
"Yes," answered the damsel, "I can do that, and thine will be the
bounty and the favour." So he arose and followed her, and she
forewent him, till they came to the palace. Then she [opened and]
locked behind them four-and-twenty doors and made them fast with
bolts; and when he came to Mariyeh, he found her as she were the
setting sun, cast down upon a rug of Taifi leather,[FN#111] among
cushions stuffed with ostrich down, and not a limb of her
quivered. When her maid saw her in this plight, she offered to
cry out; but El Abbas said to her, "Do it not, but have patience
till we discover her affair; and if God the Most High have
decreed the ending of her days, wait till thou have opened the
doors to me and I have gone forth. Then do what seemeth good to
thee."
So saying, he went up to the princess and laying his hand upon
her heart, found it fluttering like a doveling and the life yet
clinging to[FN#112] her bosom. So he laid his hand upon her
cheek, whereupon she opened her eyes and beckoning to her maid,
signed to her, as who should say, "Who is this that treadeth my
carpet and transgresseth against me?"[FN#113] "O my lady,"
answered Shefikeh, "this is Prince El Abbas, for whose sake thou
departest the world." When Mariyeh heard speak of El Abbas, she
raised her hand from under the coverlet and laying it upon his
neck, inhaled his odour awhile. Then she sat up and her colour
returned to her and they sat talking till a third part of the
night was past.
Presently, the princess turned to her maid and bade her fetch
them somewhat of food and sweetmeats and dessert and fruits. So
Shefikeh brought what she desired and they ate and drank [and
abode on this wise] without lewdness, till the night departed and
the day came. Then said El Abbas, "Indeed, the day is come. Shall
I go to my father and bid him go to thy father and seek thee of
him in marriage for me, in accordance with the Book of God the
Most High and the Institutes of His Apostle (whom may He bless
and keep!) so we may not enter into transgression?" And Mariyeh
answered, saying, "By Allah, it is well counselled of thee!" So
he went away to his lodging and nought befell between them; and
when the day lightened, she improvised and recited the following
verses:
O friends, the East wind waxes, the morning draweth near; A
plaintive voice[FN#114] bespeaks me and I rejoice to hear.
Up, to our comrade's convent, that we may visit him And drink of
wine more subtle than dust;[FN#115] our trusty fere
Hath spent thereon his substance, withouten stint; indeed, In his
own cloak he wrapped it, he tendered it so dear.[FN#116]
Whenas its jar was opened, the singers prostrate fell In worship
of its brightness, it shone so wonder-clear.
The priests from all the convent came flocking onto it: With
cries of joy and welcome their voices they did rear.
We spent the night in passing the cup, my mates and I, Till in
the Eastward heaven the day-star did appear.
No sin is there in drinking of wine, for it affords All that's
foretold[FN#117] of union and love and happy cheer.
O morn, our loves that sunder'st, a sweet and easeful life Thou
dost for me prohibit, with thy regard austere.
Be gracious, so our gladness may be fulfilled with wine And we of
our beloved have easance, without fear.
The best of all religions your love is, for in you Are love and
life made easeful, untroubled and sincere.
Meanwhile, El Abbas betook himself to his father's camp, which
was pitched in the Green Meadow, by the side of the Tigris, and
none might make his way between the tents, for the much
interlacement of the tent-ropes. When the prince reached the
first of the tents, the guards and servants came out to meet him
from all sides and escorted him till he drew near the
sitting-place of his father, who knew of his coming. So he issued
forth of his pavilion and coming to meet his son, kissed him and
made much of him. Then they returned together to the royal
pavilion and when they had seated themselves and the guards had
taken up their station in attendance on them, the king said to El
Abbas, "O my son, make ready thine affair, so we may go to our
own land, for that the folk in our absence are become as they
were sheep without a shepherd." El Abbas looked at his father and
wept till he swooned away, and when he recovered from his swoon,
he improvised and recited the following verses:
I clipped her[FN#118] in mine arms and straight grew drunken with
the scent Of a fresh branch that had been reared in
affluence and content.
'Twas not of wine that I had drunk; her mouth's sweet honeyed
dews It was intoxicated me with bliss and ravishment.
Upon the table of her cheek beauty hath writ, "Alack, Her charms!
'Twere well thou refuge sought'st with God
incontinent."[FN#119]
Since thou hast looked on her, mine eye, be easy, for by God Nor
mote nor ailment needst thou fear nor evil accident.
Beauty her appanage is grown in its entirety, And for this cause
all hearts must bow to her arbitrament.
If with her cheek and lustre thou thyself adorn,[FN#120] thou'lt
find But chrysolites and gold, with nought of baser metal
blent.
When love-longing for her sweet sake I took upon myself, The
railers flocked to me anon, on blame and chiding bent;
But on no wise was I affrayed nor turned from love of her; So let
the railer rave of her henceforth his heart's content.
By God, forgetfulness of her shall never cross my mind, What
while I wear the bonds of life nor when of death they're
rent
An if I live, in love of her I'll live, and if I die Of love and
longing for her sight, O rare! O excellent!
When El Abbas had made an end of his verses, his father said to
him, "I seek refuge for thee with God, O my son! Hast thou any
want unto which thou availest not, so I may endeavour for thee
therein and lavish my treasures in quest thereof?" "O father
mine," answered El Abbas, "I have, indeed, an urgent want, on
account whereof I came forth of my native land and left my people
and my home and exposed myself to perils and stresses and became
an exile from my country, and I trust in God that it may be
accomplished by thine august endeavour." "And what is thy want?"
asked the king. Quoth El Abbas, "I would have thee go and demand
me in marriage Mariyeh, daughter of the King of Baghdad, for that
my heart is distraught with love of her." And he recounted to his
father his story from first to last.
When the king heard this from his son, he rose to his feet and
calling for his charger of state, took horse with four-and-twenty
amirs of the chief officers of his empire. Then he betook himself
to the palace of the King of Baghdad, who, when he saw him
coming, bade his chamberlains open the doors to him and going
down himself to meet him, received him with all worship and
hospitality and entreated him with the utmost honour. Moreover,
he carried him [and his suite] into the palace and causing make
ready for them carpets and cushions, sat down upon a chair of
gold, with traverses of juniper- wood, set with pearls and
jewels. Then he bade bring sweetmeats and confections and
odoriferous flowers and commanded to slaughter four-and-twenty
head of sheep and the like of oxen and make ready geese and
fowls, stuffed and roasted, and pigeons and spread the tables;
nor was it long before the meats were set on in dishes of gold
and silver. So they ate till they had enough and when they had
eaten their fill, the tables were removed and the wine-service
set on and the cups and flagons ranged in order, whilst the
mamelukes and the fair slave- girls sat down, with girdles of
gold about their middles, inlaid with all manner pearls and
diamonds and emeralds and rubies and other jewels. Moreover, the
king bade fetch the musicians; so there presented themselves
before him a score of damsels, with lutes and psalteries and
rebecks, and smote upon instruments of music, on such wise that
they moved the assembly to delight.
Then said El Aziz to the King of Baghdad, "I would fain speak a
word to thee; but do thou not exclude from us those who are
present. If thou consent unto my wish, that which is ours shall
be thine and that which is incumbent on thee shall be incumbent
on us,[FN#121] and we will be to thee a mighty aid against all
enemies and opposites." Quoth Ins ben Cais, "Say what thou wilt,
O King, for indeed thou excellest in speech and attainest [the
mark] in that which them sayest" So El Aziz said to him," I
desire that thou give thy daughter Mariyeh in marriage to my son
El Abbas, for thou knowest that wherewithal he is gifted of
beauty and loveliness and brightness and perfection and how he
beareth himself in the frequentation of the valiant and his
constancy in the stead of smiting and thrusting." "By Allah, O
king," answered Ins ben Cais, "of my love for Mariyeh, I have
appointed her disposal to be in her own hand; wherefore,
whomsoever she chooseth of the folk, I will marry her to him."
Then he arose and going in to his daughter, found her mother with
her; so he set out to them the case and Mariyeh said, "O father
mine, my wish is subject unto[FN#122] thy commandment and my will
ensueth thy will; so whatsoever thou choosest, I am still
obedient unto thee and under thy dominion." Therewithal the King
knew that Mariyeh inclined unto El Abbas; so he returned
forthright to King El Aziz and said to him, "May God amend the
King! Verily, the occasion is accomplished and there is no
opposition unto that which thou commandest" Quoth El Aziz, "By
God's leave are occasions accomplished. How deemest thou, O King,
of fetching El Abbas and drawing up the contract of marriage
between Mariyeh and him?" And Ins ben Cais answered, saying,
"Thine be it to decide."
So El Aziz sent after his son and acquainted him with that which
had passed; whereupon El Abbas called for four-and-twenty males
and half a score horses [and as many camels] and loaded the mules
with pieces of silk and rags of leather and boxes of camphor and
musk and the camels [and horses] with chests of gold and silver.
Moreover, he took the richest of the stuffs and wrapping them in
pieces of gold-striped silk, laid them on the heads of porters,
and they fared on with the treasures till they reached the King
of Baghdad's palace, whereupon all who were present dismounted in
honour of El Abbas and escorting him to the presence of King Ins
ben Cais, displayed unto the latter all that they had with them
of things of price. The king bade carry all this into the harem
and sent for the Cadis and the witnesses, who drew up the
contract and married Mariyeh to Prince El Abbas, whereupon the
latter commanded to [slaughter] a thousand head of sheep and five
hundred buffaloes. So they made the bride-feast and bade thereto
all the tribes of the Arabs, Bedouins and townsfolk, and the
tables abode spread for the space of ten days.
Then El Abbas went in to Mariyeh in a happy and praiseworthy
hour[FN#123] and found her an unpierced pearl and a goodly filly
that had never been mounted; wherefore he rejoiced and was glad
and made merry, and care and sorrow ceased from him and his life
was pleasant and trouble departed and he abode with her in the
gladsomest of case and in the most easeful of life, till seven
days were past, when King El Aziz determined to set out and
return to his kingdom and bade his son seek leave of his
father-in-law to depart with his wife to his own country. [So El
Abbas bespoke King Ins of this] and he granted him the leave he
sought; whereupon he chose out a red camel, taller[FN#124] than
the [other] camels, and mounting Mariyeh in a litter thereon,
loaded it with apparel and ornaments.
Then they spread the ensigns and the standards, whilst the drums
beat and the trumpets sounded, and set out upon the homeward
journey. The King of Baghdad rode forth with them and brought
them three days' journey on their way, after which he took leave
of them and returned with his troops to Baghdad. As for King El
Aziz and his son, they fared on night and day and gave not over
going till there abode but three days' journey between them and
Yemen, when they despatched three men of the couriers to the
prince's mother [to acquaint her with their return], safe and
laden with spoil, bringing with them Mariyeh, the king's daughter
of Baghdad. When the queen-mother heard this, her wit fled for
joy and she adorned El Abbas his slave-girls after the goodliest
fashion. Now he had ten slave-girls, as they were moons, whereof
his father had carried five with him to Baghdad, as hath
aforetime been set out, and other five abode with his mother.
When the dromedary-posts[FN#125] came, they were certified of the
approach of El Abbas, and when the sun rose and their standards
appeared, the prince's mother came out to meet her son; nor was
there great or small, old man or infant, but went forth that day
to meet the king.
The drums of glad tidings beat and they entered in the utmost of
worship and magnificence. Moreover, the tribes heard of them and
the people of the towns and brought them the richest of presents
and the costliest of rarities and the prince's mother rejoiced
with an exceeding joy. Then they slaughtered beasts and made
mighty bride-feasts to the people and kindled fires, that it
might be visible afar to townsman [and Bedouin] that this was the
house of the guest-meal and the wedding, festival, to the intent
that, if any passed them by, [without partaking of their
hospitality], it should be of his own fault[FN#126] So the folk
came to them from all parts and quarters and on this wise they
abode days and months.
Then the prince's mother bade fetch the five slave-girls to that
assembly; whereupon they came and the ten damsels foregathered.
The queen seated five of them on her son's right hand and other
five on his left and the folk assembled about them. Then she bade
the five who had remained with her speak forth somewhat of verse,
so they might entertain therewith the assembly and that El Abbas
might rejoice therein. Now she had clad them in the richest of
raiment and adorned them with trinkets and ornaments and
wroughten work of gold and silver and collars of gold, set with
pearls and jewels. So they came forward, with harps and lutes and
psalteries and recorders and other instruments of music before
them, and one of them, a damsel who came from the land of China
and whose name was Baoutheh, advanced and tightened the strings
of her lute. Then she cried out from the top of her head[FN#127]
and improvising, sang the following verses:
Unto its pristine lustre your land returned and more, Whenas ye
came, dispelling the gloom that whiles it wore.
Our stead, that late was desert, grew green and eke our trees,
That barren were, grew loaded with ripened fruits galore.
Yea, to the earth that languished for lack of rain, the clouds
Were bounteous; so it flourished and plenteous harvests
bore;
And troubles, too, forsook us, who tears like dragons' blood, O
lordings, for your absence had wept at every pore.
Indeed, your long estrangement hath caused my bowels yearn. Would
God I were a servant in waiting at your door!
When she had made an end of her song, all who were present were
moved to delight and El Abbas rejoiced in this. Then he bade the
second damsel sing somewhat on the like subject. So she came
forward and tuning the strings of her harp, which was of balass
ruby,[FN#128] warbled a plaintive air and improvising, sang the
following verses;
The absent ones' harbinger came us unto With tidings of those
who[FN#129] had caused us to rue.
"My soul be thy ransom,"quoth I,"for thy grace! Indeed, to the
oath that thou swor'st thou wast true."
On the dear nights of union, in you was our joy, But afflicted
were we since ye bade us adieu.
You swore you'd be faithful to us and our love, And true to your
oath and your troth-plight were you;
And I to you swore that a lover I was; God forbid that with
treason mine oath I ensue!
Yea, "Welcome! Fair welcome to those who draw near!" I called out
aloud, as to meet you I flew.
The dwellings, indeed, one and all, I adorned, Bewildered and
dazed with delight at your view;
For death in your absence to us was decreed; But, when ye came
back, we were quickened anew.
When she had made an end of her verses, El Abbas bade the third
damsel, who came from Samarcand of the Persians and whose name
was Rummaneh, sing, and she answered with "Hearkening and
obedience." Then she took the psaltery and crying out from the
midst of her bead[FN#130] improvised and sang the following
verses:
My watering lips, that cull the rose of thy soft cheek, declare
My basil,[FN#131] lily mine, to be the myrtles of thy hair.
Sandhill[FN#132] and down[FN#133] betwixt there blooms a yellow
willow-flower,[FN#134] Pomegranate-blossoms[FN#135] and for
fruits pomegranates[FN#136] that doth bear.
His eyelids' sorcery from mine eyes hath banished sleep; since he
From me departed, nought see I except a drowsy fair.[FN#137]
He shot me with the shafts of looks launched from an
eyebrow's[FN#138] bow; A chamberlain[FN#139] betwixt his
eyes hath driven me to despair.
My heart belike shall his infect with softness, even as me His
body with disease infects, of its seductive air.
Yet, if with him forgotten be the troth-plight of our loves, I
have a king who of his grace will not forget me e'er.
His sides the tamarisk's slenderness deride, so lithe they are,
Whence for conceit in his own charms still drunken doth he
fare.
Whenas he runs, his feet still show like wings,[FN#140] and for
the wind When was a rider found, except King Solomon it
were?[FN#141]
Therewithal El Abbas smiled and her verses pleased him. Then he
bade the fourth damsel come forward and sing. Now she was from
the land of Morocco and her name was Belekhsha. So she came
forward and taking the lute and the psaltery, tightened the
strings thereof and smote thereon in many modes; then returned to
the first mode and improvising, sang the following verses:
When in the sitting-chamber we for merry-making sate, With thine
eyes' radiance the place thou didst illuminate
And pliedst us with cups of wine, whilst from the necklace
pearls[FN#142] A strange intoxicating bliss withal did
circulate,
Whose subtleness might well infect the understanding folk; And
secrets didst thou, in thy cheer, to us communicate.
Whenas we saw the cup, forthright we signed to past it round And
sun and moon unto our eyes shone sparkling from it straight.
The curtain of delight, perforce, we've lifted through the
friend,[FN#143] For tidings of great joy, indeed, there came
to us of late.
The camel-leader singing came with the belov'd; our wish
Accomplished was and we were quit of all the railers' prate.
When clear'd my sky was by the sweet of our foregathering And not
a helper there remained to disuniting Fate,
I shut myself up with my love; no spy betwixt us was; We feared
no enemies' despite, no envious neighbour's hate.
Life with our loves was grown serene, estrangement was at end:
Our dear ones all delight of love vouchsafed to us elate,
Saying, "Thy fill of union take; no spy is there on us, Whom we
should fear, nor yet reproach our gladness may abate."
Our loves are joined and cruelty at last is done away; Ay, and
the cup of love-delight 'twixt us doth circulate.
Upon yon be the peace of God! May all prosperity, For what's
decreed of years and lives, upon you ever wait!
When Belekhsha had made an end of her verses, all present were
moved to delight and El Abbas said to her, "Well done, O damsel!"
Then he bade the fifth damsel come forward and sing. Now she was
from the land of Syria and her name was Rihaneh; she was
surpassing of voice and when she appeared in an assembly, all
eyes were fixed upon her. So she came forward and taking the
rebeck (for that she was used to play upon [all manner]
instruments) improvised and sang the following verses:
Your coming to-me-ward, indeed, with "Welcome! fair welcome!" I
hail. Your sight to me gladness doth bring and banisheth
sorrow and bale;
For love with your presence grows sweet, untroubled and life is
serene And the star of our fortune burns bright, that clouds
in your absence did veil.
Yea, by Allah, my longing for you ne'er waneth nor passetb away;
For your like among creatures is rare and sought for in
mountain and vale.
Ask mine eyes whether slumber hath lit on their lids since the
hour of your loss Or if aye on a lover they've looked. Nay,
an ye believe not their tale,
My heart, since the leave-taking day afflicted, will tell of my
case, And my body, for love and desire grown wasted and
feeble and frail.
Could they who reproach me but see my sufferings, their hearts
would relent; They'd marvel, indeed, at my case and the loss
of my loved ones bewail.
Yea, they'd join me in pouring forth tears and help me my woes to
lament, And like unto me they'd become all wasted and
tortured and pale.
How long did the heart for thy love that languished with longing
endure A burden of passion, 'neath which e'en mountains
might totter and fail!
By Allah, what sorrows and woes to my soul for thy sake were
decreed! My heart is grown hoar, ere eld's snows have left
on my tresses their trail.
The fires in my vitals that rage if I did but discover to view,
Their ardour the world to consume, from the East to the
West, might avail.
But now unto me of my loves accomplished are joyance and cheer
And those whom I cherish my soul with the wine of
contentment regale.
Our Lord, after sev'rance, with them hath conjoined us, for he
who doth good Shall ne'er disappointed abide and kindnesses
kindness entail.
When King El Aziz heard the damsel's song, her speech and her
verses pleased him and he said to El Abbas, "O my son, verily,
these damsels are weary with long versifying, and indeed they
make us yearn after the dwellings and the homesteads with the
goodliness of their songs. Indeed, these five have adorned our
assembly with the excellence of their melodies and have done well
in that which they have said before those who are present;
wherefore we counsel thee to enfranchise them for the love of God
the Most High." Quoth El Abbas, "There is no commandment but thy
commandment;" and he enfranchised the ten damsels in the
assembly; whereupon they kissed the hands of the king and his son
and prostrated themselves in thanksgiving to God the Most High.
Then they put off that which was upon them of ornaments and
laying aside the lutes [and other] instruments of music, clave to
their houses, veiled, and went not forth.[FN#144]
As for King El Aziz, he lived after this seven years and was
admitted to the mercy of God the Most High; whereupon his son El
Abbas carried him forth to burial on such wise as beseemeth unto
kings and let make recitations and readings of the Koran, in
whole or in part, over his tomb. He kept up the mourning for his
father a full-told month, at the end of which time he sat down on
the throne of the kingship and judged and did justice and
distributed silver and gold. Moreover, he loosed all who were in
the prisons and abolished grievances and customs dues and did the
oppressed justice of the oppressor; wherefore the people prayed
for him and loved him and invoked on him endurance of glory and
kingship and length of continuance [on life] and eternity of
prosperity and happiness. Moreover, the troops submitted to him
and the hosts from all parts of the kingdom, and there came to
him presents from all the lands. The kings obeyed him and many
were his troops and his grandees, and his subjects lived with him
the most easeful and prosperous of lives.
Meanwhile, he ceased not, he and his beloved, Queen Mariyeh, in
the most delightsome of life and the pleasantest thereof, and he
was vouchsafed by her children; and indeed there befell
friendship and love between them and the longer their
companionship was prolonged, the more their love waxed, so that
they became unable to endure from each other a single hour, save
the time of his going forth to the Divan, when he would return to
her in the utterest that might be of longing. Aud on this wise
they abode in all solace and delight of life, till there came to
them the Destroyer of Delights and the Sunderer of Companies. So
extolled be the perfection of Him whose kingdom endureth for
ever, who is never heedless neither dieth nor sleepeth! This is
all that hath come down to us of their story, and so peace [be on
you!]
SHEHRZAD AND SHEHRIYAR.[FN#145]
King Shehriyar marvelled [at this story[FN#146]] and said "By
Allah, verily, injustice slayeth its folk!"[FN#147] And he was
edified by that wherewith Shehrzad bespoke him and sought help of
God the Most High. Then said he to her, "Tell me another of thy
stories, O Shehrzad; let it be a pleasant one and this shall be
the completion of the story-telling." "With all my heart,"
answered Shehrzad. "It hath reached me, O august King, that a man
once said to his fellows, 'I will set forth to you a
means[FN#148] of security[FN#149] against vexation.[FN#150] A
friend of mine once related to me and said, "We attained [whiles]
to security[FN#151] against vexation,[FN#152]and the origin of it
was other than this; to wit, it was as follows.[FN#153]
THE TWO KINGS AND THE VIZIER'S
DAUGHTERS.[FN#154]
[Aforetime] I journeyed in [many] lands and climes and towns and
visited the great cities and traversed the ways and [exposed
myself to] dangers and hardships. Towards the last of my life, I
entered a city [of the cities of China],[FN#155] wherein was a
king of the Chosroes and the Tubbas[FN#156] and the
Caesars.[FN#157] Now that city had been peopled with its
inhabitants by means of justice and equitable dealing; but its
[then] king was a tyrant, who despoiled souls and [did away]
lives; there was no wanning oneself at his fire,[FN#158] for that
indeed he oppressed the true believers and wasted the lands. Now
he had a younger brother, who was [king] in Samarcand of the
Persians, and the two kings abode a while of time, each in his
own city and place, till they yearned unto each other and the
elder king despatched his vizier in quest of his younger brother.
When the vizier came to the King of Samarcand [and acquainted him
with his errand], he submitted himself to the commandment [of his
brother and made answer] with 'Hearkening and obedience.' Then he
equipped himself and made ready for the journey and brought forth
his tents and pavilions. A while after midnight, he went in to
his wife, that he might take leave of her, and found with her a
strange man, sleeping with her in one bed. So he slew them both
and dragging them out by the feet, cast them away and set forth
incontinent on his journey. When he came to his brother's court,
the latter rejoiced in him with an exceeding joy and lodged him
in the pavilion of entertainment, [to wit, the guest-house,]
beside his own palace. Now this pavilion overlooked a garden
belonging to the elder king and there the younger brother abode
with him some days. Then he called to mind that which his wife
had done with him and remembered him of her slaughter and
bethought him how he was a king, yet was not exempt from the
vicissitudes of fortune; and this wrought upon him with an
exceeding despite, so that it caused him abstain from meat and
drink, or, if he ate anything, it profited him not.
When his brother saw him on this wise, he doubted not but that
this had betided him by reason of severance from his people and
family and said to him, 'Come, let us go forth a-hunting.' But he
refused to go with him; so the elder brother went forth to the
chase, whilst the younger abode in the pavilion aforesaid. As he
was diverting himself by look
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