"A dancer whose figure is like a willow-branch: my soul almost
quitteth me at the sight of her movements.
No foot can remain stationary at her dancing, she is as though
the fire of my heart were beneath her feet."
Quoth Ibrahim, "As I gazed upon her, she chanced to look up and
caught sight of me whereupon her face changed and she said to her
women, 'Sing ye till I come back to you.' Then, taking up a knife
half a cubit long, she made towards me, crying, 'There is no
Majesty and there is no Might save in Allah, the Glorious, the
Great!' Now when I saw this, I well-nigh lost my wits; but, whenas
she drew near me and face met face, the knife dropped from her
hand, and she exclaimed, 'Glory to Him who changeth men's
hearts!' Then said she to me, 'O youth, be of good cheer, for
thou art safe from what thou dost fear!' Whereupon I fell to
weeping, and she to wiping away my tears with her hand and
saying, 'O youth, tell me who thou art, and what brought thee
hither.' I kissed the ground before her and seized her skirt; and
she said, 'No harm shall come to thee; for, by Allah, no male hath
ever filled mine eyes[FN#329] but thyself! Tell me, then, who
thou art.' So I recited to her my story from first to last,
whereat she marvelled and said to me, 'O my lord, I conjure thee
by Allah, tell me if thou be Ibrahim bin al-Khasib?' I replied,
'Yes!' and she threw herself upon me, saying, 'O my lord, 'twas
thou madest me averse from men; for, when I heard that there was
in the land of Egypt a youth than whom there was none more
beautiful on earth's face, I fell in love with thee by report,
and my heart became enamoured of thee, for that which reached me
of thy passing comeliness, so that I was, in respect of thee,
even as saith the poet,
'Mine ear forewent mine eye in loving him; * For ear shall love
before the eye at times.'
'So praised be Allah who hath shown thy face! But, by the
almighty, had it been other than thou, I had crucified the keeper
of the garden and the porter of the Khan and the tailor and him
who had recourse to them!' And presently she added, 'But how
shall I contrive for somewhat thou mayst eat, without the
knowledge of my women?' Quoth I, 'With me is somewhat we may eat
and drink;' and I opened the bag before her. She took a fowl and
began to morsel me and I to morsel her; which when I saw, it
seemed to me that this was a dream. Then I brought out wine and
we drank, what while the damsels sang on; nor did they leave to
do thus from morn to noon, when she rose and said, 'Go now and
get thee a boat and await me in such a place, till I come to
thee: for I have no patience left to brook severance.' I replied,
'O my lady, I have with me a ship of my own, whose crew are in my
hire, and they await me.' Rejoined she, 'This is as we would have
it,' and returning to her women,"--And Shahrazad perceived the
dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
When it was the Nine Hundred and Fifty-eighth Night,
She resumed, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the
Lady Jamilah returned to her women, she said to them, "Come, let
us go back to our palace." They replied, "Why should we return
now, seeing that we use to abide here three days?" Quoth she, "I
feel an exceeding oppression in myself, as though I were sick,
and I fear lest this increase upon me."[FN#330] So they answered,
"We hear and obey," and donning their walking-dresses went down
to the river-bank and embarked in a boat; whereupon behold, the
keeper of the garden came up to Ibrahim and said to him, knowing
not what had happened, "O Ibrahim, thou hast not had the luck to
enjoy the sight of her, and I fear lest she have seen thee, for
'tis her wont to tarry here three days." Replied Ibrahim, "She
saw me not nor I her; for she came not forth of the
pavilion."[FN#331] Rejoined the keeper, "True, O my son, for, had
she seen thee, we were both dead men: but abide with me till she
come again next week, and thou shalt see her and take thy fill of
looking at her." Replied the Prince, "O my lord, I have with me
money and fear for it: I also left men behind me and I dread lest
they take advantage of my absence."[FN#332] He retorted, "O my
son 'tis grievous to me to part with thee;" and he embraced and
farewelled him. Then Ibrahim returned to the Khan where he
lodged, and foregathering with the doorkeeper, took of him all
his property and the porter said, "Good news, Inshallah!"[FN#333]
But Ibrahim said, "I have found no way to my want, and now I am
minded to return to my people." Whereupon the porter wept; then
taking up his baggage, he carried them to the ship and abade him
adieu. Ibrahim repaired to the place which Jamilah had appointed
him and awaited her there till it grew dark, when, behold, she
came up, disguised as a bully-boy with rounded beard and waist
bound with a girdle. In one hand she held a bow and arrows and in
the other a bared blade, and she asked him, "Art thou Ibrahim,
son of al-Khasib, lord of Egypt?" "He I am," answered the Prince;
and she said, "What ne'er-do-well art thou, who comes to debauch
the daughters of Kings? Come: speak with the Sultan."[FN#334]
"Therewith" (quoth Ibrahim) "I fell down in a swoon and the
sailors died[FN#335] in their skins for fear; but, when she saw
what had betided me, she pulled off her beard and throwing down
her sword, ungirdled her waist whereupon I knew her for the Lady
Jamilah and said to her, 'By Allah, thou hast rent my heart in
sunder!'[FN#336] adding to the boatmen, 'Hasten the vessel's
speed.' So they shook out the sail and putting off, fared on with
all diligence; nor was it many days ere we made Baghdad, where
suddenly we saw a ship lying by the river-bank. When her sailors
saw us, they cried out to our crew, saying, 'Ho, such an one and
such an one, we give you joy of your safety!' Then they drave
their ship against our craft and I looked and in the other boat
beheld Abu al-Kasim al-Sandalani who when he saw us exclaimed
'This is what I sought: go ye in God's keeping; as for me, I have
a need to be satisfied!' Then he turned to me and said, 'Praised
be Allah for safety! Hast thou accomplished thine errand?' I
replied, 'Yes!' Now Abu al-Kasim had a flambeau before him; so he
brought it near our boat,[FN#337] and when Jamilah saw him, she
was troubled and her colour changed: but, when he saw her, he
said, 'Fare ye in Allah's safety. I am bound to Bassorah, on
business for the Sultan; but the gift is for him who is
present.'[FN#338] Then he brought out a box of sweetmeats,
wherein was Bhang and threw it into our boat: whereupon quoth I
to Jamilah, 'O coolth of mine eyes, eat of this.' But she wept
and said, 'O Ibrahim, wottest thou who that is?' and said I,
'Yes, 'tis such an one.' Replied she, 'He is my first cousin, son
of my father's brother[FN#339] who sought me aforetime in
marriage of my sire; but I would not accept of him. And now he is
gone to Bassorah and most like he will tell my father of us.' I
rejoined, 'O my lady he will not reach Bassorah, till we are at
Mosul.' But we knew not what lurked for us in the Secret Purpose.
"Then" (continued Ibrahim) "I ate of the sweetmeat, but hardly
had it reached my stomach when I smote the ground with my head;
and lay there till near dawn, when I sneezed and the Bhang issued
from my nostrils. With this, I opened my eyes and found myself
naked and cast out among ruins; so I buffeted my face and said in
myself, 'Doubtless this is a trick Al-Sandalani hath played me.'
But I knew not whither I should wend, for I had upon me naught
save my bag-trousers.[FN#340] However, I rose and walked on a
little, till I suddenly espied the Chief of Police coming towards
me, with a posse of men with swords and targes;[FN#341] whereat I
took fright and seeing a ruined Hammam hid myself there.
Presently, my foot stumbled upon something; so I put my hand to
it, and it became befouled with blood. I wiped my hand upon my
bag-trousers, unknowing what had befouled it, and put it out a
second time, when it fell upon a corpse whose head came up in my
hand. I threw it down, saying, 'There is no Majesty and there is
no Might in Allah, the Glorious, the Great!'; and I took refuge
in one of the corner-cabinets of the Hammam. Presently the Wali
stopped at the bath-door and said, 'Enter this place and search.'
So ten of them entered with cressets, and I of my fear retired
behind a wall and looking upon the corpse, saw it to be that of a
young lady[FN#342] with a face like the full moon; and her head
lay on one side and her body clad in costly raiment on the other.
When I saw this, my heart fluttered with affright. Then the Chief
of Police entered and said, 'Search the corners of the bath.' So
they entered the place wherein I was, and one of them seeing me,
came up hending in hand a knife half a cubit long. When he drew
near me, he cried, 'Glory be to God, the Creator of this fair
face! O youth, whence art thou?' Then he took me by the hand and
said, 'O youth, why slewest thou this woman?' Said I, 'By Allah,
I slew her not, nor wot I who slew her, and I entered not this
place but in fear of you!' And I told him my case, adding, 'Allah
upon thee, do me no wrong, for I am in concern for myself!' Then
he took me and carried me to the Wali who, seeing the marks of
blood on my hand said, 'This needeth no proof: strike off his
head!'--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying
her permitted say.
When it was the Nine Hundred and Fifty-ninth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Ibrahim
continued, 'Then they carried me before the Wali and he, seeing
the bloodstains on my hand, cried, 'This needeth no proof: strike
off his head!' Now hearing these words, I wept with sore weeping
the tears streaming from my eyes and recited these two
couplets[FN#343],
'We trod the steps that for us were writ, * And whose steps are
written he needs must tread
And whose death is decreed in one land to be * He ne'er shall
perish in other stead.'
Then I sobbed a single sob and fell a-swoon; and the headsman's
heart was moved to ruth for me and he exclaimed, 'By Allah, this
is no murtherer's face!' But the Chief said, 'Smite his neck.' So
they seated me on the rug of blood and bound my eyes; after which
the sworder drew his sword and asking leave of the Wali, was
about to strike off my head, whilst I cried out, 'Alas, my
strangerhood!' when lo and behold! I heard a noise of horse
coming up and a voice calling aloud, 'Leave him! Stay thy hand, O
Sworder!'" Now there was for this a wondrous reason and a
marvellous cause; and 'twas thus. Al-Khasib, Wazir of Egypt, had
sent his Head Chamberlain to the Caliph Harun al-Rashid with
presents and a letter, saying, "My son hath been missing this
year past, and I hear that he is in Baghdad; wherefore I crave
of the bounty of the Vicegerent of Allah that he make search for
tidings of him and do his endeavour to find him and send him back
to me with the Chamberlain." When the Caliph read the missive, he
commanded the Chief of Police to search out the truth of the
matter, and he ceased not to enquire after Ibrahim, till it was
told him that he was at Bassorah, whereupon he informed the
Caliph, who wrote a letter to the viceroy and giving it to the
Chamberlain of Egypt, bade him repair to Bassorah and take with
him a company of the Wazir's followers. So, of his eagerness to
find the son of his lord, the Chamberlain set out forthright and
happened by the way upon Ibrahim, as he stood on the rug of
blood. When the Wali saw the Chamberlain, he recognised him and
alighted to him and as he asked, "What young man is that and what
is his case?" The Chief told him how the matter was and the
Chamberlain said (and indeed he knew him not for the son of the
Sultan[FN#344]) "Verily this young man hath not the face of one
who murthereth." And he bade loose his bonds; so they loosed him
and the Chamberlain said, "Bring him to me!" and they brought
him, but the officer knew him not his beauty being all gone for
the horrors he had endured. Then the Chamberlain said to him, "O
youth, tell me thy case and how cometh this slain woman with
thee." Ibrahim looked at him and knowing him, said to him, "Woe
to thee! Dost thou not know me? Am I not Ibrahim, son of thy
lord? Haply thou art come in quest of me." With this the
Chamberlain considered him straitly and knowing him right well,
threw himself at his feet; which when the Wali saw, his colour
changed, and the Chamberlain cried to him, "Fie upon thee, O
tyrant! Was it thine intent to slay the son of my master
Al-Khasib, Wazir of Egypt?" The Chief of Police kissed his skirt,
saying "O my lord,[FN#345] how should I know him? We found him in
this plight and saw the girl lying slain by his side." Rejoined
the Chamberlain, "Out on thee! Thou art not fit for the office.
This is a lad of fifteen and he hath not slain a sparrow; so how
should he be a murtherer? Why didst thou not have patience with
him and question him of his case?" Then the Chamberlain and the
Wali cried to the men, "Make search for the young lady's
murtherer." So they re-entered the bath and finding him, brought
him to the Chief of Police, who carried him to the Caliph and
acquainted him with that which had occurred. al-Rashid bade slay
the slayer and sending for Ibrahim, smiled in his face and said
to him, "Tell me thy tale and that which hath betided thee." So
he recounted to him his story from first to last, and it was
grievous to the Caliph, who called Masrur his Sworder, and said
to him, "Go straightway and fall upon the house of Abu al-Kasim
al-Sandalani and bring me him and the young lady." The eunuch
went forth at once and breaking into the house, found Jamilah
bound with her own hair and nigh upon death; so he loosed her and
taking the painter, carried them both to the Caliph, who
marvelled at Jamilah's beauty. Then he turned to Al-Sandalani
and said, "Take him and cut off his hands, wherewith he beat this
young lady; then crucify him and deliver his monies and
possessions to Ibrahim." They did his bidding, and as they were
thus, behold, in came Abu al-Lays governor of Bassorah, the Lady
Jamilah's father, seeking aid of the Caliph against Ibrahim bin
al- Khasib Wazir of Egypt and complaining to him that the youth
had taken his daughter. Quoth Al-Rashid, "He hath been the means
of delivering her from torture and slaughter." Then he sent for
Ibrahim, and when he came, he said to Abu al-Lays, "Wilt thou not
accept of this young man, son of the Soldan of Egypt, as husband
to thy daughter? ' Replied Abu al-Lays, "I hear and I obey Allah
and thee, O Commander of the Faithful;" whereupon the Caliph
summoned the Kazi and the witnesses and married the young lady to
Ibrahim. Furthermore, he gave him all Al Sandalani's wealth and
equipped him for his return to his own country, where he abode
with Jamilah in the utmost of bliss and the most perfect of
happiness, till there came to them the Destroyer of delights and
the Sunderer of societies; and glory be to the Living who dieth
not! They also relate, O auspicious King, a tale anent