The Caliph Harun al-Rashid was one day examining the tributes of
his various provinces and viceroyalties, when he observed that
the contributions of all the countries and regions had come into
the treasury, except that of Bassorah which had not arrived that
year. So he held a Divan because of this and said, "Hither to me
with the Wazir Ja'afar;" and when they brought him into the
presence he thus bespoke him, "The tributes of all the provinces
have come into the treasury, save that of Bassorah, no part
whereof hath arrived." Ja'afar replied, "O Commander of the
Faithful, belike there hath befallen the governor of Bassorah
something that hath diverted him from sending the tribute." Quoth
the Caliph, "The time of the coming of the tribute was twenty
days ago; what then, can be his excuse for that, in this time, he
hath neither sent it nor sent to show cause for not doing so?"
And quoth the Minister, "O Commander of the Faithful, if it
please thee, we will send him a messenger. Rejoined the Caliph,
"Send him Abu Ishak al-Mausili,[FN#477] the boon companion," and
Ja'afar, "Hearkening and obedience to Allah and to thee, O Prince
of True Believers!" Then he returned to his house and summoning
Abu Ishak, wrote him a royal writ and said to him, "Go to Abdullah
bin Fazil, Viceroy of Bassorah, and see what hath diverted him
from sending the tribute. If it be ready, do thou receive it from
him in full and bring it to me in haste, for the Caliph hath
examined the tributes of the provinces and findeth that they are
all come in, except that of Bassorah: but an thou see that it is
not ready and he make an excuse to thee, bring him back with
thee, that he may report his excuse to the Caliph with his own
tongue." Answered Abu Ishak, "I hear and I obey;" and taking with
him five thousand horse of Ja'afar's host set out for Bassorah.
Now when Abdullah bin Fazil heard of his approach, he went out to
meet him with his troops, and led him into the city and carried
him to his palace, whilst the escort encamped without the city
walls, where he appointed to them all whereof they stood in need.
So Abu Ishak entered the audience-chamber and sitting down on the
throne, seated the governor beside himself, whilst the notables
sat round him, according to their several degrees. After
salutation with the salam Abdullah bin Fazil said to him "O my
lord, is there for thy coming to us any cause?;" and said Abu
Ishak, "Yes, I come to seek the tribute; for the Caliph enquireth
of it and the time of its coming is gone by." Rejoined Abdullah
bin Fazil, "O my lord, would Heaven thou hadst not wearied
thyself nor taken upon thyself the hardships of the journey! For
the tribute is ready in full tale and complete, and I purpose to
despatch it to-morrow. But, since thou art come, I will entrust
it to thee, after I have entertained thee three days; and on the
fourth day I will set the tribute between thine hands. But it
behoveth us now to offer thee a present in part requital of thy
kindness and the goodness of the Commander of the Faithful."
"There is no harm in that," said Abu Ishak. So Abdullah bin Fazil
dismissed the Divan and carrying him into a saloon that had not
its match, bade set a tray of food before him and his companions.
They ate and drank and made merry and enjoyed themselves; after
which the tray was removed and there came coffee and sherbets.
They sat conversing till a third part of the night was past, when
they spread for Abu Ishak bedding on an ivory couch inlaid with
gold glittering sheeny. So he lay down and the viceroy lay down
beside him on another couch; but wakefulness possessed Abu Ishak
and he fell to meditating on the metres of prosody and poetical
composition, for that he was one of the primest of the Caliph's
boon-companions and he had a mighty fine fore-arm[FN#478] in
producing verses and pleasant stories; nor did he leave to lie
awake improvising poetry till half the night was past. Presently,
behold, Abdullah bin Fazil arose, and girding his middle, opened
a locker,[FN#479] whence he brought out a whip; then, taking a
lighted waxen taper, he went forth by the door of the saloon.--
And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her
permitted say.
When it was the Nine Hundred and Seventy-ninth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when
Abdullah bin Fazil went forth by the door of the saloon deeming
Abu Ishak asleep, the Caliph's cup-companion, seeing this,
marvelled and said in himself, "Whither wendeth Abdullah bin
Fazil with that whip? Perhaps he is minded to punish some body.
But needs must I follow him and see what he will do this night."
So he arose and went out after him softly, very softly, that he
might not be seen and presently saw him open a closet and take
thence a tray containing four dishes of meat and bread and a
gugglet of water. Then he went on, carrying the tray and secretly
followed by Abu Ishak, till he came to another saloon and
entered, whilst the cup-companion stood behind the door and,
looking through the chink, saw a spacious saloon, furnished with
the richest furniture and having in its midst a couch of ivory
plated with gold glittering sheeny, to which two dogs were made
fast with chains of gold. Then Abdullah set down the tray in a
comer and tucking up his sleeves, loosed the first dog, which
began to struggle in his hands and put its muzzle to the floor,
as it would kiss the ground before him, whining the while in a
weak voice. Abdullah tied its paws behind its back and throwing
it on the ground, drew forth the whip and beat it with a painful
beating and a pitiless. The dog struggled, but could not get
free, and Abdullah ceased not to beat it with the same whip till
it left groaning and lay without consciousness. Then he took it
and tied it up in its place, and unbinding the second dog, did
with him as he had done with the first; after which he pulled out
a kerchief and fell to wiping away their tears and comforting
them, saying, "Bear me not malice; for by Allah, this is not of
my will, nor is it easy to me! But it may be Allah will grant you
relief from this strait and issue from your affliction." And he
prayed for the twain what while Abu Ishak the cup-companion stood
hearkening with his ears and espying with his eyes, and indeed he
marvelled at his case. Then Abdullah brought the dogs the tray of
food and fell to morselling them with his own hand, till they had
enough, when he wiped their muzzles and lifting up the gugglet,
gave them to drink; after which he took up the tray, gugglet and
candle and made for the door. But Abu Ishak forewent him and
making his way back to his couch, lay down; so that he saw him
not, neither knew that he had walked behind him and watched him.
Then the governor replaced the tray and the gugglet in the closet
and returning to the saloon, opened the locker and laid the whip
in its place; after which he doffed his clothes and lay down. But
Abu Ishak passed the rest of that night pondering this affair
neither did sleep visit him for excess of wonderment, and he
ceased not to say in himself, "I wonder what can be the meaning
of this!" Nor did he leave wondering till day break, when they
arose and prayed the dawn-prayer. Then they set the
breakfast[FN#480] before them and they ate and drank coffee,
after which they went out to the divan. Now Abu Ishak's thought
was occupied with this mystery all day long but he concealed the
matter and questioned not Abdullah thereof. Next night, he again
followed the governor and saw him do with the two dogs as on the
previous night, first beating them and then making his peace with
them and giving them to eat and to drink; and so also he did the
third night. On the fourth day he brought the tribute to Abu
Ishak who took it and departed, without opening the matter to
him. He fared on, without ceasing, till he came to Baghdad, where
he delivered the tribute to the Caliph, who questioned him of the
cause of its delay. Replied he, "O Commander of the Faithful, I
found that the governor of Bassorah had made ready the tribute
and was about to despatch it; and I delayed a day, it would have
met me on the road. But, O Prince of True Believers, I had a
wondrous adventure with Abdullah bin Fazil; never in my life saw
I its like." "And what was it, O Abu Ishak?" asked the Caliph. So
he replied, "I saw such and such;" and, brief, acquainted him
with that which the governor had done with the two dogs, adding,
"After such fashion, I saw him do three successive nights, first
beating the dogs, then making his peace with them and comforting
them and giving them to eat and drink, I watching him, and he
seeing me not." Asked the Caliph, "Didst thou question him of the
cause of this?"; and the other answered, "No, as thy head liveth,
O Commander of the Faithful." Then said Al-Rashid, "O Abu Ishak,
I command thee to return to Bassorah and bring me Abdullah bin
Fazil and the two dogs." Quoth he, "O Commander of the Faithful,
excuse me from this; for indeed Abdullah entertained me with
exceedingly hospitable entertainment and I became ware of this
case with chance undesigned and acquainted thee therewith. So how
can I go back to him and bring him to thee? Verily, if I return
to him, I shall find me no face for shame of him; wherefore
'twere meet that thou send him another than myself, with a letter
under thine own hand, and he shall bring him to thee, him and the
two dogs." But quoth the Caliph, "If I send him other than
thyself, peradventure he will deny the whole affair and say,
'I've no dogs.' But if I send thee and thou say to him, 'I saw
them with mine own eyes,' he will not be able to deny that.
Wherefore nothing will serve but that thou go and fetch him and
the two dogs; otherwise I will surely slay thee."[FN#481]--And
Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her
permitted say.
When it was the Nine Hundred and Eightieth Night,
She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the
Caliph Harun al-Rashid said to Abu Ishak, "Nothing will serve but
that thou go and fetch him and the two dogs; otherwise I will
surely slay thee." Abu Ishak replied, "Hearing and obeying, O
Commander of the Faithful: Allah is our aidance and good is the
Agent. He spake sooth who said, 'Man's wrong is from the
tongue;'[FN#482] and 'tis I who sinned against myself in telling
thee. But write me a royal rescript[FN#483] and I will go to him
and bring him back to thee." So the Caliph gave him an autograph
and he took it and repaired to Bassorah. Seeing him come in the
governor said, "Allah forfend us from the mischief of thy return,
O Abu Ishak! How cometh it I see thee return in haste?
Peradventure the tribute is deficient and the Caliph will not
accept it?" Answered Abu Ishak, "O Emir Abdullah, my return is
not on account of the deficiency of the tribute, for 'tis full
measure and the Caliph accepteth it; but I hope that thou wilt
excuse me, for that I have failed in my duty as thy guest and
indeed this lapse of mine was decreed of Allah Almighty."
Abdullah enquired, "And what may be the lapse?" and he replied,
"Know that when I was with thee, I followed thee three following
nights and saw thee rise at midnight and beat the dogs and
return; whereat I marvelled, but was ashamed to question thee
thereof. When I came back to Baghdad, I told the Caliph of thine
affair, casually and without design, whereupon he charged me to
return to thee, and here is a letter under his hand. Had I known
that the affair would lead to this, I had not told him, but
Destiny foreordained thus." And he went on to excuse himself to
him; whereupon said Abdullah, "Since thou hast told him this, I
will bear out thy report with him, lest he deem thee a liar, for
thou art my friend. Were it other than thou, I had denied the
affair and given him the lie. But now I will go with thee and
carry the two dogs with me, though this be to me ruin-rife and
the ending of my term of life." Rejoined the other, "Allah will
veil[FN#484] thee, even as thou hast veiled my face with the
Caliph!" Then Abdullah took a present beseeming the Commander of
the Faithful and mounting the dogs with him, each on a camel,
bound with chains[FN#485] of gold, journeyed with Abu Ishak to
Baghdad, where he went in to the Caliph and kissed ground before
him. He deigned bid him sit; so he sat down and brought the two
dogs before Al-Rashid, who said to him "What be these dogs, O
Emir Abdullah?" Whereupon they fell to kissing the floor between
his hands and wagging their tails and weeping, as if complaining
to him. The Caliph marvelled at this and said to the governor,
"Tell me the history of these two dogs and the reason of thy
beating them and after entreating them with honour." He replied,
"O Vicar of Allah, these be no dogs, but two young men, endowed
with beauty and seemliness, symmetry and shapeliness, and they
are my brothers and the sons of my father and mother." Asked the
Caliph, "How is it that they were men and are become dogs?"; and
he answered, "An thou give me leave, O Prince of True Believers,
I will acquaint thee with the truth of the circumstance." Said
Al-Rashid, "Tell me and 'ware of leasing, for 'tis of the fashion
of the hypocrites, and look thou tell truth, for that is the
Ark[FN#486] of safety and the mark of virtuous men." Rejoined
Abdullah, "Know then, O vice-regent of Allah, when I tell thee
the story of these dogs, they will both bear witness against me:
an I speak sooth they will certify it and if I lie they will give
me the lie." Cried the Caliph, "These are of the dogs; they
cannot speak nor answer; so how can they testify for thee or
against thee?" But Abdullah said to them, "O my brothers, if I
speak a lying word, do ye lift your heads and stare with your
eyes; but, if I say sooth hang down your heads and lower your
eyes." Then said he to the Caliph, "Know, O Commander of the
Faithful, that we are three brothers by one mother and the same
father. Our sire's name was Fazil and he was so named because his
mother bare two sons at one birth, one of whom died forthright
and the other twin remained alive, wherefore his sire named him
Fazil--the Remainder. His father brought him up and reared him
well, till he grew to manhood when he married him to our mother
and died. Our mother conceived a first time and bare this my
first brother, whom our sire named Mansúr; then she conceived
again and bare this my second brother, whom he named
Násir[FN#487]; after which she conceived a third time and bare
me, whom he named Abdullah. My father reared us all three till we
came to man's estate, when he died, leaving us a house and a shop
full of coloured stuffs of all kinds, Indian and Greek and
Khorásáni and what not, besides sixty thousand dinars. We washed
him and buried him to the ruth of his Lord, after which we built
him a splendid monument and let pray for him prayers for the
deliverance of his soul from the fire and held perlections of the
Koran and gave alms on his behalf, till the forty days[FN#488]
were past; when I called together the merchants and nobles of the
folk and made them a sumptuous entertainment. As soon as they had
eaten, I said to them, 'O merchants, verily this world is
ephemeral, but the next world is eternal, and extolled be the
perfection of Him who endureth always after His creatures have
passed away! Know ye why I have called you together this blessed
day?' And they answered, 'Extolled be Allah sole Scient of the
hidden things.[FN#489]' Quoth I, 'My father died, leaving much of
money, and I fear lest any have a claim against him for a debt or
a pledge[FN#490] or what not else, and I desire to discharge my
father's obligations towards the folk. So whoso hath any demand
on him, let him say, 'He oweth me so and so,' and I will satisfy
it to him, that I may acquit the responsibility of my
sire.[FN#491]' The merchants replied, 'O Abdullah, verily the
goods of this world stand not in stead of those of the world to
come, and we are no fraudful folk, but all of us know the lawful
from the unlawful and fear Almighty Allah and abstain from
devouring the substance of the orphan. We know that thy father
(Allah have mercy on him!) still let his money lie with the
folk,[FN#492] nor did he suffer any man's claim on him to go
unquitted, and we have ever heard him declare, 'I am fearful of
the people's substance.' He used always to say in his prayers, 'O
my God, Thou art my stay and my hope! Let me not die while in
debt.' And it was of his wont that, if he owed any one aught, he
would pay it to him, without being pressed, and if any owed him
aught he would not dun him, but would say to him, 'At thy
leisure.' If his debtor were poor, he would release him from his
liability and acquit him of responsibility; and if he were not
poor and died in his debt, he would say, 'Allah forgive him what
he owed me!' And we all testify that he owed no man aught.' Quoth
I, 'May Allah bless you!' Then I turned to these my brothers and
said, 'Our father owed no man aught and hath left us much money
and stuffs, besides the house and the shop. Now we are three and
each of us is entitled to one third part. So shall we agree to
waive division and wone copartners in our wealth and eat together
and drink together, or shall we apportion the stuffs and the
money and take each his part?' Said they, 'We will divide them
and take each his share.'" (Then Abdullah turned to the two dogs
and said to them, "Did it happen thus, O my brothers?"; and they
bowed their heads and lowered their eyes, as to say, "Yes.")
Abdullah continued "I called in a departitor from the Kazi's
court, O Prince of True Believers, and he distributed amongst us
the money and the stuffs and all our father had left, allotting
the house and shop to me in exchange for a part of the coin and
clothes to which I was entitled. We were content with this; so
the house and shop fell to my share, whilst my brothers took
their portion in money and stuffs. I opened the shop and stocking
it with my stuffs bought others with the money apportioned to me,
over and above the house and shop, till the place was full, and I
sat selling and buying. As for my brothers, they purchased stuffs
and hiring a ship, set out on a voyage to the far abodes of folk.
Quoth I, 'Allah aid them both! As for me, my livelihood is ready
to my hand and peace is priceless.' I abode thus a whole year,
during which time Allah opened the door of fortune to me and I
gained great gains, till I became possessed of the like of that
which our father had left us. One day, as I sat in my shop, with
two fur pelisses on me, one of sable and the other of
meniver,[FN#493] for it was the season of winter and the time of
the excessive cold, behold, there came up to me my two brothers,
each clad in a ragged shirt and nothing more, and their lips were
white with cold, and they were shivering. When I saw them in this
plight, it was grievous to me and I mourned for them,"--And
Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her
permitted say.
When it was the Nine Hundred and Eighty-first Night,
She pursued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Abdullah
bin Fazil continued to the Caliph, "When I saw them in this
plight, it was grievous to me and I mourned for them and my
reason fled my head. So I rose and embraced them and wept over
their condition: then I put on one of them the pelisse of sable
and on the other the fur coat of meniver and, carrying them to
the Hammam, sent thither for each of them a suit of apparel such
as befitted a merchant worth a thousand.[FN#494] When they had
washed and donned each his suit, I carried them to my house
where, seeing them well nigh famished, I set a tray of food
before them and ate with them, caressing them and comforting
them." (Then he again turned to the two dogs and said to them
"Was this so, O my brothers?"; and they bent their heads and
lowered their eyes.) So Abdullah continued "When they had eaten,
O Vicar of Allah, quoth I to them, 'What hath befallen you and
where are your goods?'; and quoth they, 'We fared up the
river,[FN#495] till we came to a city called Cufa, where we sold
for ten dinars the piece of stuff that had cost half a ducat and
that which cost us a ducat for twenty. So we profited greatly and
bought Persian stuffs at the rate of ten sequins per piece of
silk worth forty in Bassorah. Thence we removed to a city called
Al-Karkh[FN#496] where we sold and bought and made gain galore
and amassed of wealth great store.' And they went on to set forth
to me the places and the profits. So I said to them, 'Since ye
had such good luck and lot, how cometh it that I see you return
naked?' They sighed and answered, 'O our brother, some one must
have evileyed us, and in travel there is no trusting. When we had
gotten together these monies and goods, we freighted a ship
therewith and set sail, intending for Bassorah. We fared on three
days and on the fourth day we saw the sea rise and fall and roar
and foam and swell and dash, whilst the waves clashed together
with a crash, striking out sparks like fire[FN#497] in the darks.
The winds blew contrary for us and our craft struck upon the
point of a bill-projected rock, where it brake up and plunged us
into the river, and all we had with us was lost in the waters. We
abode struggling on the surface a day and a night, till Allah
sent us another ship, whose crew picked us up and we begged our
way from town to town, suffering mighty sore hardships and
selling our body-clothes piecemeal, to buy us food, till we drew
near Bassorah; nor did we make the city till we had drained the
draught of a thousand miseries. But, had we come safely off with
that which was by us, we had brought back riches that might be
evened with those of the King: but this was fore ordained to us of
Allah.' I said, 'O my brothers, let not your hearts be grieved,
for wealth is the ransom of bodies and safety is property. Since
Allah hath written you of the saved, this is the end of desire,
for want and wealth are but as it were illusions of dreams and
God-gifted is he who said,
'If a man from destruction can save his head * Let him hold his
wealth as a slice of nail.'
I continued, 'O my brothers we will suppose that our sire died
to-day and left us all this wealth that is with me, for I am
right willing to share it with you equally.' So I fetched a
departitor from the Kazi's court and brought out to him all my
money, which he distributed into three equal parts, and we each
took one. Then said I to them, 'O my brothers, Allah blesseth a
man in his daily bread, if he be in his own country: so let each
of you open him a shop and sit therein to get his living; and he
to whom aught is ordained in the Secret Purpose,[FN#498] needs
must he get it.' Accordingly, I helped each of them to open a
shop and filled it for him with goods, saying to them, 'Sell and
buy and keep your monies and spend naught thereof; for all ye
need of meat and drink and so forth I will furnish to you.' I
continued to entreat them generously, and they fell to selling
and buying by day and returning at even-tide to my house where
they lay the night; nor would I suffer them to expend aught of
their own substance. But, whenever I sat talking with them, they
would praise travel and proclaim its pleasures and vaunt the
gains they had made therein; and they ceased not to urge me to
accompany them in travelling over foreign parts." (Then he said
to the dogs, "Was this so, O my brothers?" and they again bowed
their heads and lowered their eyes in confirmation of his words.)
He continued, "On such wise, O Vicar of Allah, they continued to
urge me and tempt me to travel by vaunting the great gains and
profit to be obtained thereby till I said to them, 'Needs must I
fare with you for your sake!' Then I entered into a contract of
partnership with them and we chartered a ship and packing up all
manner of precious stuffs and merchandise of every kind,
freighted it therewith; after which we embarked in it all we
needed and, setting sail from Bassorah, launched out into the
dashing sea, swollen with clashing surge whereinto whoso entereth
is lone and lorn and whence whoso cometh forth is as a babe new-
born. We ceased not sailing on till we came to a city of the
cities, where we sold and bought and made great cheape. Thence we
went on to another place, and we ceased not to pass from land to
land and port to port, selling and buying and profiting, till we
had gotten us great wealth and much advantage. Presently, we came
to a mountain,[FN#499] where the captain cast anchor and said to
us, 'O passengers; go ye ashore; ye shall be saved from this
day,[FN#500] and make search; it may be ye shall find water.' So
all landed I amongst the crowd, and dispersed about the island in
search of water. As for me, I climbed to the top of the mountain,
and whilst I went along, lo and behold! I saw a white snake
fleeing and followed by a black dragon, foul of favour and
frightful of form, hotly pursuing her. Presently he overtook her
and clipping her, seized her by the head and wound his tail about
her tail, whereupon she cried out and I knew that he purposed to
rape her. So I was moved to ruth for her and taking up a lump of
granite,[FN#501] five pounds or more in weight, hurled it at the
dragon. It smote him on the head and crushed it, and ere I knew,
the white snake changed and became a young girl bright with
beauty and loveliness and brilliancy and perfect grace, as she
were the shining full moon, who came up to me and kissing my
hands, said to me, 'Allah veil thee with two-fold veils, one from
shame in this world and the other from the flame in the world to
come on the day of the Great Upstanding, the day when neither
wealth nor children shall avail save to him who shall come to
Allah with a sound heart!'[FN#502] And presently she continued,
'O mortal, thou hast saved my honour and I am indebted to thee
for kindness, wherefore it behoveth me to requite thee.' So
saying, she signed with her hand to the earth, which opened and
she descended thereinto: then it closed up again over her and by
this I knew that she was of the Jinn. As for the dragon, fire was
kindled in him and consumed him and he became ashes. I marvelled
at this and returned to my comrades, whom I acquainted with
whatso I had seen, and we passed the night in the island. On the
morrow the Captain weighed anchor and spread the sails and coiled
the ropes and we sailed till the shore faded from our gaze. We
fared on twenty days, without seeing or land or bird, till our
water came to an end and quoth the Rais to us, 'O folk, our fresh
water is spent.' Quoth we, 'Let us make for land; haply we shall
find water.' But he exclaimed, 'By Allah, I have lost my way and
I know not what course will bring me to the seaboard.' Thereupon
betided us sore chagrin and we wept and besought Almighty Allah
to guide us into the right course. We passed that night in the
sorriest case: but God-gifted is He who said,
'How many a night have I spent in woes * That would grizzle the
suckling-babe with fear:
But morrowed not morn ere to me there came * 'Aidance from Allah
and victory near.'[FN#503]
But when the day arose in its sheen and shone, we caught sight of
a high mountain and rejoiced therein. When we came to its skirts,
the Captain said to us, 'O folk, go ashore and seek for water.'
So we all landed and sought water but found none, whereat we were
sore afflicted because we were suffering for want of it. As for
me, I climbed up to the mountain-top and on the other side
thereof I saw a spacious circle[FN#504] distant from us an hour's
journey or more. Presently I called my companions and as soon as
they all rejoined me, said to them 'Look at yonder basin behind
this mountain; for I see therein a city high of base and a
strong-cornered place girt with sconce and rampartry, pasturage
and lea and doubtless it wanteth not water and good things. So
hie we thither and fetch drink therefrom and buy what we need of
provisions, meat and fruit, and return.' But they said, 'We fear
lest the city-folk be Kafirs ascribing to Allah partners and
enemies of The Faith and lay hand on us and take us captive or
else slay us; so should we cause the loss of our own lives,
having cast ourselves into destruction and evil emprise. Indeed,
the proud and presumptuous are never praiseworthy, for that they
ever fare in danger of calamities, even as saith of such an one a
certain poet,
'Long as earth is earth, long as sky is sky, * The o'erproud is
blamed tho' from risk he fly!'
So we will not expose ourselves to peril.' I replied, 'O folk, I
have no authority over you; so I will take my brothers and go to
yonder city.' But my brothers said to me, 'We also fear this
thing and will not go with thee.' Quoth I, 'As for me, I am
resolved to go thither, and I put my trust in Allah and accept
whatsoever He shall decree to me. Do ye therefore await me,
whilst I wend thither and return to you twain.'"--And Shahrazad
perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
When it was the Nine Hundred and Eighty-second Night,
She resumed, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Abdullah
said, "'Do ye twain await me whilst I wend thither and return to
you.'" "So I left them and walked on till I came to the gate of
the place and saw it a city of building wondrous and projection
marvellous, with boulevards high-towering and towers strong-
builded and palaces high-soaring. Its portals were of Chinese
iron, rarely gilded and graven on such wise as confounded the
wit. I entered the gateway and saw there a stone bench, whereon
sat a man bearing on his forearm a chain of brass, whereto hung
fourteen keys; so I knew him to be the porter of the city and
that it had fourteen gates. I drew near him and said to him
'Peace be with thee!'; but he returned not my salam and I saluted
him a second and a third time; but he made me no reply. Then I
laid my hand on his shoulder and said to him, 'Ho thou, why dost
thou not return my salam? Art thou asleep or deaf or other than a
Moslem, that thou refrainest from exchanging the salutation?' But
he answered me not neither stirred; so I considered him and saw
that he was stone. Quoth I, 'Verily an admirable matter! This is
a stone wroughten in the semblance of a son of Adam and wanting
in naught save speech!' Then I left him and entering the city,
beheld a man standing in the road; so I went up to him and
scrutinised him and found him stone. Presently, as I walked adown
the broad-ways, and saw that this was every where the case, I met
an old woman bearing on her head a bundle of clothes ready for
washing; so I went up to her and examining her, saw that she was
stone, and the bundle of clothes on her head was stone
also.[FN#505] Then I fared for the market, where I saw an oilman
with his scales set up and fronted by various kinds of wares such
as cheese and so forth, all of stone. Moreover, I saw all manner
of tradesmen seated in their shops and men and women and
children, some standing and some sitting; but they were all
stone; and the stuffs were like spiders' webs. I amused myself
with looking upon them, and as often as I laid hold upon a piece
of stuff, it powdered in my hands like dust dispread. Presently I
saw some chests and opening one of them, found it full of gold in
bags; so I laid hold upon the bags, but they crumbled away in my
grasp, whilst the gold abode unchanged. I carried off of it what
I could carry and said to myself, 'Were my brothers with me, they
might take of this gold their fill and possess themselves of
these hoards which have no owner.' Then I entered another shop
and found therein more than this, but could bear away no more
than I had borne. I left this market and went on to another and
thence to another and another, much enjoying the sight of all
manner of creatures of various kinds, all several stones, even to
the dogs and the cats, till I came to the goldsmiths' bazar,
where I saw men sitting in their shops, with their stock-in-trade
about them, some in their hands and others in crates of wicker-
work. When I saw this, O Commander of the Faithful, I threw down
the gold and loaded myself with goldsmiths' ware, as much as I
could carry. Then I went on to the jewel-market and saw there the
jewellers seated in their shops, each with a tray before him,
full of all sorts of precious stones, jacinths and diamonds and
emeralds and balass rubies and so forth: but all the shop-keepers
were stones; whereupon I threw away the goldsmiths' ware and
carried off as many jewels as I could carry, regretting that my
brothers were not with me, so they might take what they would of
those costly gems. Then I left the jewel-market and went on till
I came to a great door, quaintly gilded and decorated after the
fairest fashion, within which were wooden benches and in the
porch sat eunuchs, and body-guards; horsemen, and footmen and
officers of police each and every robed in the richest of
raiment; but they were all stones. I touched one of them and his
clothes crumbled away from his body like cobwebs. Then I passed
through the door and saw a palace without equal for its building
and the goodliness of the works that were therein. Here I found
an audience-chamber, full of Grandees and Wazirs and Officers and
Emirs, seated upon chairs and every one of them stone. Moreover,
I saw a throne of red gold, crusted with pearls and gems, and
seated thereon a son of Adam arrayed in the most sumptuous
raiment and bearing on his head a Chosröan[FN#506] crown,
diademed with the finest stones that shed a light like the light
of day; but, when I came up to him, I found him stone. Then I
went on to the gate of the Harim and entering, found myself in
the Queen's presence-chamber, wherein I saw a throne of red gold,
inlaid with pearls and gems, and the Queen seated thereon. On her
head she wore a crown diademed with finest jewels, and round
about her were women like moons, seated upon chairs and clad in
the most sumptuous clothing of all colours. There also the
eunuchry, with their hands upon their breasts,[FN#507] were
standing in the attitude of service, and indeed this hall
confounded the beholder's wits with what was therein of quaint
gilding and rare painting and curious carving and fine furniture.
There hung the most brilliant lustres[FN#508] of limpid crystal,
and in every globe[FN#509] of the crystal was an unique jewel,
whose price money might not fulfil. So I threw down that which
was with me, O Prince of True Believers, and fell to taking of
these jewels what I could carry, bewildered as to what I should
bear away and what I should leave; for indeed I saw the place as
it were a treasure of the treasures of the cities. Presently I
espied a wicket[FN#510] standing open and within it a staircase:
so I entered and mounting forty steps, heard a human voice
reciting the Koran in a low tone. I walked towards that sound
till I came to the main door hung with a silken curtain, laced
with wires of gold whereon were strung pearls and coral and
rubies and cut emeralds which gave forth a light like the light
of stars. The voice came from behind the curtain: so I raised it
and discovered a gilded door, whose beauty amazed the mind. I
passed through the door and found myself in a saloon as it were a
hoard upon earth's surface[FN#511] and therein a girl as she were
the sun shining fullest sheen in the zenith of a sky serene. She
was robed in the costliest of raiment and decked with ornaments
the most precious that could be and withal she was of passing
beauty and loveliness, a model of symmetry and seemliness, of
elegance and perfect grace, with waist slender and hips heavy and
dewy lips such as heal the sick and eyelids lovely in their
languor, as it were she of whom the sayer spake when he said,
'My best salam to what that robe enrobes of symmetry, * And what
that blooming garth of cheek enguards of rosy blee:
It seems as though the Pleiades depend upon her brow; * And other
lights of Night in knots upon her breast we see:
Did she but don a garment weft of Rose's softest leaf, * The leaf
of Rose would draw her blood[FN#512] when pluckt that fruit
from tree:
And did she crache in Ocean's face, next Morn would see a change
* To sweeter than the honeycomb of what was briny sea:
And did she deign her favours grant to grey-beard staff-enpropped
* He'd wake and rend the lion's limbs for might and
valiancy.'"
Then Abdullah continued, "O Prince of True Believers, as soon as
I saw that girl I fell passionately in love with her and going
straight up to her, found her seated on a high couch, reciting by
heart and in grateful memory the Book of Allah, to whom belong
honour and glory! Her voice was like the harmony of the gates of
Heaven, when Rizwan openeth them, and the words came from her
lips like a shower of gems; whilst her face was with beauty
dight, bright and blossom-white, even as saith the poet of a
similar sight,
'O thou who gladdenest man by speech and rarest quality; * Grow
longing and repine for thee and grow beyond degree!
In thee two things consume and melt the votaries of Love; * The
dulcet song of David joined with Joseph's brilliancy.'
When I heard her voice of melody reciting the sublime Koran, my
heart quoted from her killing glances, 'Peace, a word from a
compassionating Lord;'[FN#513] but I stammered[FN#514] in my
speech and could not say the salam-salutation aright, for my mind
and sight were confounded and I was become as saith the bard,
'Love-longing urged me not except to trip in speech o'er free; *
Nor, save to shed my blood I passed the campment's boundary:
I ne'er will hear a word from those who love to rail, but I *
Will testify to love of him with every word of me.'
Then I hardened myself against the horrors of repine and said to
her, 'Peace be with thee, O noble Lady, and treasured jewel!
Allah grant endurance to the foundation of thy fortune fair and
upraise the pillars of thy glory rare!' Said she, 'And on thee
from me be peace and salutation and high honour, O Abdullah, O
son of Fazil! Well come and welcome and fair welcome to thee, O
dearling mine and coolth of mine eyne!' Rejoined I, 'O my lady,
whence wottest thou my name and who art thou and what case befel
the people of this city, that they are become stones? I would
have thee tell me the truth of the matter, for indeed I am
admiring at this city and its citizens and that I have found none
alive therein save thyself. So, Allah upon thee, tell me the
cause of all this, according to the truth!' Quoth she, 'Sit, O
Abdullah, and Inshallah, I will talk with thee and acquaint thee
in full with the facts of my case and of this place and its
people; and there is no Majesty and there is no Might save in
Allah, the Glorious, the Great!' So I sat me down by her side and
she said to me, 'Know, O Abdullah, (may Allah have mercy on
thee!) that I am the daughter of the King of this city and that
it is my sire whom thou sawest seated on the high stead in the
Divan, and those who are round about him were the Lords of his
land and the Guards of his empery. He was a King of exceeding
prowess and had under his hand a thousand thousand and sixty
thousand troopers. The number of the Emirs of his Empire was
four-and-twenty thousand, all of them Governors and Dignitaries.
He was obeyed by a thousand cities, besides towns, hamlets and
villages; and sconces and citadels, and the Emirs[FN#515] of the
wild Arabs under his hand were a thousand in number, each
commanding twenty thousand horse. Moreover, he had monies and
treasures and precious stones and jewels and things of price,
such as eye never saw nor of which ear ever heard.'"--And
Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her
permitted say.
When it was the Nine Hundred and Eight-third Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the
Princess, daughter to the King of the Stone-city, thus continued,
"Verily, O Abdullah my father had monies and hoards, such as eye
never saw and of which ear never heard. He used to debel Kings
and do to death champions and braves in battle and in the field
of fight, so that the Conquerors feared him and the
Chosroës[FN#516] humbled themselves to him. For all this, he was
a miscreant in creed ascribing to Allah partnership and adoring
idols, instead of the Lord of worship; and all his troops were of
images fain in lieu of the All-knowing Sovereign. One day of the
days as he sat on the throne of his Kingship, compassed about
with the Grandees of his realm, suddenly there came in to him a
Personage, whose face illumined the whole Divan with its light.
My father looked at him and saw him clad in a garb of
green,[FN#517] tall of stature and with hands that reached
beneath his knees. He was of reverend aspect and awesome and the
light[FN#518] shone from his face. Said he to my sire, 'O rebel,
O idolater, how long wilt thou take pride in worshipping idols
and abandoning the service of the All-knowing King? Say, 'I
testify that there is no god but the God and that Mohammed is His
servant and His messenger.' And embrace Al-Islam, thou and thy
tribe; and put away from you the worship of idols, for they
neither suffice man's need nor intercede. None is worshipful save
Allah alone, who raised up the heavens without columns and spread
out the earths like carpets in mercy to His creatures.'[FN#519]
Quoth my father, 'Who art thou, O man who rejectest the worship
of idols, that thou sayst thus? Fearest thou not that the idols
will be wroth with thee?' He replied, 'The idols are stones;
their anger cannot prejudice me nor their favour profit me. So do
thou set in my presence thine idol which thou adorest and bid all
thy folk bring each his image: and when they are all present, do
ye pray them to be wroth with me and I will pray my Lord to be
wroth with them, and ye shall descry the difference between the
anger of the creature and that of the Creator. For your idols, ye
fashioned them yourselves and the Satans clad themselves
therewith as with clothing, and they it is who spake to you from
within the bellies of the images,[FN#520] for your idols are made
and the maker is my God to whom naught is impossible. An the True
appear to you, do ye follow it, and if the False appear to you do
ye leave it.' Cried they, 'Give us a proof of thy god, that we
may see it;' and quoth he, 'Give me proof of your gods.' So the
King bade every one who worshipped his lord in image-form to
bring it, and all the armies brought their idols to the Divan.
Thus fared it with them; but as for me, I was sitting behind a
curtain, whence I could look upon my father's Divan, and I had an
idol of emerald whose bigness was as the bigness of a son of
Adam. My father demanded it, so I sent it to the Divan, where
they set it down beside that of my sire, which was of jacinth,
whilst the Wazir's idol was of diamond.[FN#521] As for those of
the Grandees and Notables, some were of balass-ruby and some of
carnelian, others of coral or Comorin aloes-wood and yet others
of ebony or silver or gold; and each had his own idol, after the
measure of his competence; whilst the idols of the common
soldiers and of the people were some of granite, some of wood,
some of pottery and some of mud; and all were of various hues
yellow and red; green, black and white. Then said the Personage
to my sire, 'Pray your idol and these idols to be wroth with me.'
So they aligned the idols in a Divan,[FN#522] setting my father's
idol on a chair of gold at the upper end, with mine by its side,
and ranking the others each according to the condition of him who
owned it and worshipped it. Then my father arose and prostrating
himself to his own idol, said to it, 'O my god, thou art the
Bountiful Lord, nor is there among the idols a greater than
thyself. Thou knowest that this person cometh to me, attacking
thy divinity and making mock of thee; yea, he avoucheth that he
hath a god stronger than thou and ordereth us leave adoring thee
and adore his god. So be thou wrath with him, O my god!' And he
went on to supplicate the idol; but the idol returned him no
reply neither bespoke him with aught of speech; whereupon quoth
he, 'O my god, this is not of thy wont, for thou usedst to answer
me, when I addressed thee. How cometh it that I see thee silent
and speaking not? Art thou unheeding or asleep?[FN#523] Awake;
succour me and speak to me!' And he shook it with his hand; but
it spake not neither stirred from its stead. Thereupon quoth the
Personage, 'What aileth thine idol that it speaketh not?'; and
quoth the King, 'Methinks he is absent-minded or asleep.'
Exclaimed the other, 'O enemy of Allah, how canst thou worship a
god that speaketh not nor availeth unto aught and not worship my
God, who to prayers deigns assent and who is ever present and
never absent, neither unheeding nor sleeping, whom conjecture may
not ween, who seeth and is not seen and who over all things
terrene is omnipotent? Thy god is powerless and cannot guard
itself from harm; and indeed a stoned Satan had clothed himself
therewith as with a coat that he might debauch thee and delude
thee. But now hath its devil departed; so do thou worship Allah
and testify that there is no god but He and that none is
worshipful nor worshipworth but Himself; neither is there any
good but His good. As for this thy god, it cannot ward off hurt
from it; so how shall it ward off harm from thee? See with thine
own eyes its impotence.' So saying, he went up to the idol and
dealt it a cuff on the neck, that it fell to the ground;
whereupon the King waxed wroth and cried to the bystanders, 'This
froward atheist hath smitten my god. Slay him!' So they would
have arisen to smite him, but none of them could stir from his
place. Then he propounded to them Al-Islam; but they refused to
become Moslems and he said, 'I will show you the wroth of my
Lord.' Quoth they, 'Let us see it!' So he spread out his hands
and said, 'O my God and my Lord, Thou art my stay and my hope;
answer Thou my prayer against these lewd folk, who eat of Thy
good and worship other gods. O Thou the Truth, O Thou of All-
might, O Creator of Day and Night, I beseech Thee to turn these
people into stones, for Thou art the Puissant nor is aught
impossible to Thee, and Thou over all things are omnipotent!' And
Allah transformed the people of this city into stones; but, as
for me, when I saw the manifest proof of His deity, I submitted
myself to Him and was saved from that which befel the rest. Then
the Personage drew near me and said 'Felicity[FN#524] was fore-
ordained of Allah to thee and in this a purpose had He.' And he
went on to instruct me and I took unto him the oath and
covenant.[FN#525] I was then seven years of age and am now thirty
years old. Then said I to him, 'O my lord, all that is in the
city and all its citizens are become stones by thine effectual
prayer, and I am saved, for that I embraced Al-Islam at thy
hands. Wherefore thou art become my Shaykh; so do thou tell me
thy name and succour me with thy security and provide me with
provision whereon I may subsist.' Quoth he, 'My name is Abu al-
'Abbás al-Khizr'; and he planted me a pomegranate-tree, which
forthright grew up and foliaged, flowered and fruited, and bare
one pomegranate; whereupon quoth he, 'Eat of that wherewith Allah
the Almighty provideth thee and worship Him with the worship
which is His due.' Then he taught me the tenets of Al-Islam and
the canons of prayer and the way of worship, together with the
recital of the Koran, and I have now worshipped Allah in this
place three-and-twenty years. Each day the tree yieldeth me a
pomegranate which I eat and it sustaineth me from tide to tide;
and every Friday, Al-Khizr (on whom be peace!) cometh to me and
'tis he who acquainted me with thy name and gave me the glad
tidings of thy soon coming hither, saying to me, 'When he shall
come to thee, entreat him with honour and obey his bidding and
gainsay him not; but be thou to him wife and he shall be to thee
man, and wend with him whitherso he will.' So, when I saw thee, I
knew thee and such is the story of this city and of its people,
and the Peace!'" Then she showed me the pomegranate-tree,
whereon was one granado, which she took and eating one-half
thereof herself, gave me the other to eat, and never did I taste
aught sweeter or more savoury or more satisfying than that
pomegranate. After this, I said to her, 'Art thou content, even
as the Shaykh Al-Khizr charged thee, to be my wife and take me to
mate; and art thou ready to go with me to my own country and
abide with me in the city of Bassorah?' She replied, 'Yes,
Inshallah: an it please Almighty Allah. I hearken to thy word and
obey thy hest without gainsaying.' Then I made a binding covenant
with her and she carried me into her father's treasury, whence we
took what we could carry and going forth that city, walked on
till we came to my brothers, whom I found searching for me. They
asked, 'Where hast thou been? Indeed thou hast tarried long from
us, and our hearts were troubled for thee.' And the captain of
the ship said to me, 'O merchant Abdullah, the wind hath been
fair for us this great while, and thou hast hindered us from
setting sail.' And I answered, 'There is no harm in that:
ofttimes slow[FN#526] is sure and my absence hath wrought us
naught but advantage, for indeed, there hath betided me therein
the attainment of our hopes and God-gifted is he who said,
'I weet not, whenas to a land I fare * In quest of good, what I
shall there obtain;
Or gain I fare with sole desire to seek; * Or loss that seeketh
me when seek I gain.'
Then said I to them, 'See what hath fallen to me in this mine
absence;' and displayed to them all that was with me of treasures
and told them what I had beheld in the City of Stone, adding,
'Had ye hearkened to me and gone with me, ye had gotten of these
things great gain.'"--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and
ceased to say her permitted say.
When it was the Nine Hundred and Eighty-fourth Night,
She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that
Abdullah bin Fazil said to his shipmates and to his two brothers,
"Had ye gone with me, ye had gotten of these things great gain."
But they said, "By Allah, had we gone, we had not dared to go in
to the King of the city!" Then I said to my brothers, 'No harm
shall befal you; for that which I have will suffice us all and
this is our lot.'[FN#527] So I divided my booty into four parts
according to our number and gave one to each of my brothers and
to the Captain, taking the fourth for myself, setting aside
somewhat for the servants and sailors, who rejoiced and blessed
me: and all were content with what I gave them, save my brothers
who changed countenance and rolled their eyes. I perceived that
lust of lucre had gotten hold of them both; so I said to them, 'O
my brothers, methinketh what I have given you doth not satisfy
you; but we are brothers and there is no difference between us.
My good and yours are one and the same thing, and if I die none
will inherit of me but you.' And I went on to soothe them. Then I
bore the Princess on board the galleon and lodged her in the
cabin, where I sent her somewhat to eat and we sat talking, I and
my brothers. Said they, 'O our brother, what wilt thou do with
that damsel of surpassing beauty?' And I replied, 'I mean to
contract marriage with her, as soon as I reach Bassorah and make
a splendid wedding and go in to her there.' Exclaimed one of
them, 'O my brother, verily, this young lady excelleth in beauty
and loveliness and the love of her is fallen on my heart;
wherefore I desire that thou give her to me and I will espouse
her.' And the other cried, 'I too desire this: give her to me,
that I may espouse her.' 'O my brothers,' answered I, 'indeed she
took of me an oath and a covenant that I would marry her myself;
so, if I give her to one of you, I shall be false to my oath and
to the covenant between me and her, and haply she will be broken-
hearted, for she came not with me but on condition that I marry
her. So how can I wed her to other than myself? As for your both
loving her, I love her more than you twain, for she is my
treasure-trove, and as for my giving her to one of you, that is a
thing which may not be. But, if we reach Bassorah in safety, I
will look you out two girls of the best of the damsels of
Bassorah and demand them for you in marriage and pay the dower of
my own monies and make one wedding and we will all three go into
our brides on the same night. But leave ye this damsel, for she
is of my portion.' They held their peace, and I thought they were
content with that which I had said. Then we fared onwards for
Bassorah, and every day I sent her meat and drink; but she came
not forth of the cabin, whilst I slept between my brothers on
deck. We sailed thus forty days, till we sighted Bassorah city
and rejoiced that we were come near it. Now I trusted in my
brothers and was at my ease with them, for none knoweth the
hidden future save Allah the Most High; so I lay down to sleep
that night; but, as I abode drowned in slumber, I suddenly found
myself caught up by these my brothers, one seizing me by the legs
and the other by the arms, for they had taken counsel together to
drown me in the sea for the sake of the damsel. When I saw myself
in their hands, I said to them, 'O my brothers, why do ye this
with me?' And they replied, 'Ill-bred that thou art, wilt thou
barter our affection for a girl?; we will cast thee into the sea,
because of this.' So saying, they threw me overboard." (Here
Abdullah turned to the dogs and said to them, "Is this that I
have said true O my brothers or not?"; and they bowed their heads
and fell a-whining, as if confirming his speech; whereat the
Caliph wondered). Then Abdullah resumed, "O Commander of the
Faithful, when they threw me into the sea, I sank to the bottom;
but the water bore me up again to the surface, and before I could
think, behold a great bird, the bigness of a man, swooped down
upon me and snatching me up, flew up with me into upper air. I
fainted and when I opened my eyes, I found myself in a strong-
pillared place, a high-builded palace, adorned with magnificent
paintings and pendants of gems of all shapes and hues. Therein
were damsels standing with their hands crossed over their breasts
and, behold in their midst was a lady seated on a throne of red
gold, set with pearls and gems, and clad in apparel whereon no
mortal might open his eyes, for the lustre of the jewels
wherewith they were decked. About her waist she wore a girdle of
jewels no money could pay their worth and on her head a three-
fold tiara dazing thought and wit and dazzling heart and sight.
Then the bird which had carried me thither shook and became a
young lady bright as sun raying light. I fixed my eyes on her and
behold, it was she whom I had seen, in snake form on the mountain
and had rescued from the dragon which had wound his tail around
her. Then said to her the lady who sat upon the throne, 'Why hast
thou brought hither this mortal?'; and she replied, 'O my mother,
this is he who was the means of veiling my honour[FN#528] among
the maidens of the Jinn.' Then quoth she to me, 'Knowest thou who
I am?'; and quoth I, 'No.' Said she, 'I am she who was on such a
mountain, where the black dragon strave with me and would have
forced my honour, but thou slewest him.' And I said, 'I saw but a
white snake with the dragon.' She rejoined, "Tis I who was the
white snake; but I am the daughter of the Red King, Sovran of the
Jann and my name is Sa'ídah.[FN#529] She who sitteth there is my
mother and her name is Mubárakah, wife of the Red King. The black
dragon who attacked me and would have done away my honour was
Wazir to the Black King, Darfíl by name, and he was foul of
favour. It chanced that he saw me and fell in love with me; so he
sought me in marriage of my sire, who sent to him to say, 'Who
art thou, O scum of Wazirs, that thou shouldst wed with Kings'
daughters?' Whereupon he was wroth and sware an oath that he
would assuredly do away my honour, to spite my father. Then he
fell to tracking my steps and following me whithersoever I went,
designing to ravish me; wherefore there befel between him and my
parent mighty fierce wars and bloody jars, but my sire could not
prevail against him, for that he was fierce as fraudful and as
often as my father pressed hard upon him and seemed like to
conquer he would escape from him, till my sire was at his wits'
end. Every day I was forced to take new form and hue; for, as
often as I assumed a shape, he would assume its contrary, and to
whatsoever land I fled he would snuff my fragrance and follow me
thither, so that I suffered sore affliction of him. At last I
took the form of a snake and betook myself to the mountain where
thou sawest me; whereupon he changed himself to a dragon and
pursued me, till I fell into his hands, when he strove with me
and I struggled with him, till he wearied me and mounted me,
meaning to have his lustful will of me: but thou camest and smotest
him with the stone and slewest him. Then I returned to my own
shape and showed myself to thee, saying, 'I am indebted to thee
for a service such as is not lost save with the son of
adultery.'[FN#530] So, when I saw thy brothers do with thee this
treachery and throw thee into the sea, I hastened to thee and
saved thee from destruction, and now honour is due to thee from
my mother and my father.' Then she said to the Queen, 'O my
mother, do thou honour him as deserveth he who saved my virtue.'
So the Queen said to me, 'Welcome, O mortal! Indeed thou hast
done us a kindly deed which meriteth honour.' Presently she
ordered me a treasure-suit,[FN#531] worth a mint of money, and
store of gems and precious stones, and said, 'Take him and carry
him in to the King.' Accordingly, they carried me into the King
in his Divan, where I found him seated on his throne, with his
Marids and guards before him; and when I saw him my sight was
blent for that which was upon him of jewels; but when he saw me,
he rose to his feet and all his officers rose also, to do him
worship. Then he saluted me and welcomed me and entreated me with
the utmost honour, and gave me of that which was with him of good
things; after which he said to some of his followers, 'Take him
and carry him back to my daughter, that she may restore him to
the place whence she brought him.' So they carried me back to the
Lady Sa'idah, who took me up and flew away with me and my
treasures. On this wise fared it with me and the Princess; but as
regards the Captain of the galleon, he was aroused by the splash
of my fall, when my brothers cast me into the sea, and said,
'What is that which hath fallen overboard?' Whereupon my brothers
fell to weeping and beating of breasts and replied, 'Alas, for
our brother's loss! He thought to do his need over the ship's
side[FN#532] and fell into the water!' Then they laid their hands
on my good, but there befel dispute between them because of the
damsel, each saying, 'None shall have her but I.' And they abode
jangling and wrangling each with other and remembered not their
brother nor his drowning and their mourning for him ceased. As
they were thus, behold Sa'idah alighted with me in the midst of
the galleon,"--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased
saying her permitted say.
When it was the Nine Hundred and Eighty-fifth Night,
She pursued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Abdullah
bin Fazil continued, "As they were thus, behold, Sa'idah alighted
with me in the midst of the galleon and when my brothers saw me,
they embraced me and rejoiced in me, saying, 'O our brother, how
hast thou fared in that which befel thee? Indeed our hearts have
been occupied with thee.' Quoth Sa'idah, 'Had ye any heart-
yearnings for him or had ye loved him, ye had not cast him into
the sea; but choose ye now what death ye will die.' Then she
seized on them and would have slain them; but they cried out,
saying, 'In thy safeguard, O our brother!' Thereupon I interceded
and said to her, 'I claim of thine honour not to kill my
brothers.' Quoth she, 'There is no help but that I slay them, for
they are traitors.' But I ceased not to speak her fair and
conciliate her till she said, 'To content thee, I will not kill
them, but I will enchant them.' So saying, she brought out a cup
and filling it with sea-water, pronounced over it words that
might not be understood; then saying, 'Quit this human shape for
the shape of a dog;' she sprinkled them with the water, and
immediately they were transmewed into dogs, as thou seest them, O
Vicar of Allah." Whereupon he turned to the dogs and said to
them, "Have I spoken the truth, O my brothers?" And they bowed
their heads, as they would say, "Thou hast spoken sooth." At this
he continued, "Then she said to those who were in the galleon,
'Know ye that Abdullah bin Fazil here present is become my
brother and I shall visit him once or twice every day: so, whoso
of you crosseth him or gainsayeth his bidding or doth him hurt
with hand or tongue, I will do with him even as I have done with
these two traitors and bespell him to a dog, and he shall end his
days in that form, nor shall he find deliverance.' And they all
said to her, 'O our lady, we are his slaves and his servants
every one of us and will not disobey him in aught.' Moreover, she
said to me, 'When thou comest to Bassorah, examine all thy
property and if there lack aught thereof, tell me and I will
bring it to thee, in whose hands and in what place soever it may
be, and will change him who took it into a dog. When thou hast
magazined thy goods, clap a collar[FN#533] of wood on the neck of
each of these two traitors and tie them to the leg of a couch and
shut them up by themselves. Moreover, every night, at midnight,
do thou go down to them and beat each of them a bout till he
swoon away; and if thou suffer a single night to pass without
beating them, I will come to thee and drub thee a sound drubbing,
after which I will drub them.' And I answered, 'To hear is to
obey.' Then said she, 'Tie them up with ropes till thou come to
Bassorah.' So I tied a rope about each dog's neck and lashed them
to the mast, and she went her way. On the morrow we entered
Bassorah and the merchants came out to meet me and saluted me,
and no one of them enquired of my brothers. But they looked at
the dogs and said to me, 'Ho, such and such,[FN#534] what wilt
thou do with these two dogs thou hast brought with thee?' Quoth
I, 'I reared them on this voyage and have brought them home with
me.' And they laughed at them, knowing not that they were my
brothers. When I reached my house, I put the twain in a closet
and busied myself all that night with the unpacking and
disposition of the bales of stuffs and jewels. Moreover, the
merchants were with me being minded to offer me the salam;
wherefore I was occupied with them and forgot to beat the dogs or
chain them up. Then without doing them aught of hurt, I lay down
to sleep, but suddenly and unexpectedly there came to me the Red
King's daughter Sa'idah and said to me, 'Did I not bid thee clap
chains on their necks and give each of them a bout of beating?'
So saying, she seized me and pulling out a whip, flogged me till
I fainted away, after which she went to the place where my
brothers were and with the same scourge beat them both till they
came nigh upon death. Then said she to me, 'Beat each of them a
like bout every night, and if thou let a night pass without doing
this, I will beat thee;' and I replied, 'O my lady, to-morrow I
will put chains on their necks, and next night I will beat them
nor will I leave them one night unbeaten.' And she charged me
strictly to beat them and disappeared. When the morning morrowed
it being no light matter for me to put fetters of iron on their
necks, I went to a goldsmith and bade him make them collars and
chains of gold. He did this and I put the collars on their necks
and chained them up, as she bade me; and next night I beat them
both in mine own despite. This befel in the Caliphate of Al-
Mahdi,[FN#535] third of the sons of Al-Abbas, and I commended
myself to him by sending him presents, so he invested me with the
government and made me viceroy of Bassorah. On this wise I abode
some time and after a while I said to myself, 'Haply her wrath is
grown cool;' and left them a night unbeaten, whereupon she came
to me and beat me a bout whose burning I shall never forget long
as I live. So, from that time to this, I have never left them a
single night unbeaten during the reign of Al-Mahdi; and when he
deceased and thou camest to the succession, thou sentest to me,
confirming me in the government of Bassorah. These twelve years
past have I beaten them every night, in mine own despite, and
after I have beaten them, I excuse myself to them and comfort
them and give them to eat and drink; and they have remained shut
up, nor did any of the creatures of Allah know of them, till thou
sentest to me Abu Ishak the boon-companion, on account of the
tribute, and he discovered my secret and returning to thee,
acquainted thee therewith. Then thou sentest him back to fetch me
and them; so I answered with 'Hearkening and obedience,' and
brought them before thee, whereupon thou questionedst me and I
told thee the truth of the case; and this is my history." The
Caliph marvelled at the case of the two dogs and said to
Abdullah, "Hast thou at this present forgiven thy two brothers
the wrong they did thee, yea or nay?" He replied, "O my lord, may
Allah forgive them and acquit them of responsibility in this
world and the next! Indeed, 'tis I who stand in need of their
forgiveness, for that these twelve years past I have beaten them
a grievous bout every night!" Rejoined the Caliph, "O Abdullah,
Inshallah, I will endeavour for their release and that they may
become men again, as they were before, and I will make peace
between thee and them; so shall you live the rest of your lives
as brothers loving one another; and like as thou hast forgiven
them, so shall they forgive thee. But now take them and go down
with them to thy lodging and this night beat them not, and to-
morrow there shall be naught save weal." Quoth Abdullah, "O my
lord, as thy head liveth, if I leave them one night unbeaten,
Sa'idah will come to me and beat me, and I have no body to brook
beating." Quoth the Caliph, "Fear not, for I will give thee a
writing under my hand.[FN#536] An she come to thee, do thou give
her the paper and if, when she has read it, she spare thee, the
favour will be hers; but, if she obey not my bidding, commit thy
business to Allah and let her beat thee a bout and suppose that
thou hast forgotten to beat them for one night and that she
beateth thee because of that: and if it fall out thus and she
thwart me, as sure as I am Commander of the Faithful, I will be
even with her." Then he wrote her a letter on a piece of paper,
two fingers broad, and sealing it with his signet-ring, gave it
to Abdullah, saying, "O Abdullah, if Sa'idah come, say to her,
'The Caliph, King of mankind, hath commanded me to leave beating
them and hath written me this letter for thee; and he saluteth
thee with the salam.' Then give her the warrant and fear no
harm." After which he exacted of him an oath and a solemn pledge
that he would not beat them. So Abdullah took the dogs and
carried them to his lodging, saying to himself, "I wonder what
the Caliph will do with the daughter of the Sovran of the Jinn,
if she cross him and trounce me to-night! But I will bear with a
bout of beating for once and leave my brothers at rest this
night, though for their sake I suffer torture." Then he bethought
himself awhile, and his reason said to him, "Did not the Caliph
rely on some great support, he had never forbidden me from
beating them." So he entered his lodging and doffed the collars
from the dogs' necks, saying, "I put my trust in Allah," and fell
to comforting them and saying, "No harm shall befal you; for the
Caliph, fifth[FN#537] of the sons of Al-Abbas, hath pledged
himself for your deliverance and I have forgiven you. An it
please Allah the Most High, the time is come and ye shall be
delivered this blessed night; so rejoice ye in the prospect of
peace and gladness." When they heard these words, they fell to
whining with the whining of dogs,--And Shahrazad perceived the
dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
When it was the Nine Hundred and Eighty-sixth Night,
She resumed, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Abdullah
bin Fazil said to his brothers, "Rejoice ye in the prospect of
comfort and gladness." And when they heard his words they fell to
whining with the whining of dogs, and rubbed their jowls against
his feet, as if blessing him and humbling themselves before him.
He mourned over them and took to stroking their backs till supper
time; and when they set on the trays he bade the dogs sit. So
they sat down and ate with him from the tray, whilst his officers
stood gaping and marvelling at his eating with dogs and all said,
"Is he mad or are his wits gone wrong? How can the Viceroy of
Bassorah city, he who is greater than a Wazir, eat with dogs?
Knoweth he not that the dog is unclean?[FN#538]" And they stared
at the dogs, as they ate with him as servants eat with their
lords,[FN#539] knowing not that they were his brothers; nor did
they cease staring at them, till they had made an end of eating,
when Abdullah washed his hands and the dogs also put out their
paws and washed; whereupon all who were present began to laugh at
them and to marvel, saying, one to other, "Never in our lives saw
we dogs eat and wash their paws after eating!" Then the dogs sat
down on the divans beside Abdullah, nor dared any ask him of
this; and thus the case lasted till midnight, when he dismissed
the attendants and lay down to sleep and the dogs with him, each
on a couch; whereupon the servants said one to other, "Verily, he
hath lain down to sleep and the two dogs are lying with him."
Quoth another, "Since he hath eaten with the dogs from the same
tray, there is no harm in their sleeping with him; and this is
naught save the fashion of madmen." Moreover, they ate not
anything of the food which remained in the tray, saying, "'Tis
unclean." Such was their case; but as for Abdullah, ere he could
think, the earth clave asunder and out rose Sa'idah, who said to
him, "O Abdullah, why hast thou not beaten them this night and
why hast thou undone the collars from their necks? Hast thou
acted on this wise perversely and in mockery of my commandment?
But I will at once beat thee and spell thee into a dog like
them." He replied, "O my lady, I conjure thee by the graving upon
the seal-ring of Solomon David-son (on the twain be peace!) have
patience with me till I tell thee my cause and after do with me
what thou wilt." Quoth she, "Say on," and quoth he, "The reason
of my not punishing them is only this. The King of mankind, the
Commander of the Faithful, the Caliph Harun al-Rashid, ordered me
not to beat them this night and took of me oaths and covenants to
that effect; and he saluteth thee with the salam and hath
committed to me a mandate under his own hand, which he bade me
give thee. So I obeyed his order for to obey the Commander of the
Faithful is obligatory; and here is the mandate. Take it and read
it and after work thy will." She replied "Hither with it!" So he
gave her the letter and she opened it and read as follows, "In
the name of Allah, the Compassionating, the Compassionate! From
the King of mankind, Harun al-Rashid, to the daughter of the Red
King, Sa'idah! But, after. Verily, this man hath forgiven his
brothers and hath waived his claim against them, and we have
enjoined them to reconciliation. Now, when reconciliation ruleth,
retribution is remitted, and if you of the Jinn contradict us in
our commandments, we will contrary you in yours and traverse your
ordinances; but, an ye obey our bidding and further our orders,
we will indeed do the like with yours. Wherefore I bid thee hurt
them no hurt, and if thou believe in Allah and in His Apostle, it
behoveth thee to obey and us to command.[FN#540] So an thou spare
them, I will requite thee with that whereto my Lord shall enable
me; and the token of obedience is that thou remove thine
enchantment from these two men, so they may come before me to-
morrow, free. But an thou release them not, I will release them
in thy despite, by the aid of Almighty Allah." When she had read
the letter, she said, "O Abdullah, I will do nought till I go to
my sire and show him the mandate of the monarch of mankind and
return to thee with the answer in haste." So saying, she signed
with her hand to the earth, which clave open and she disappeared
therein, whilst Abdullah's heart was like to fly for joy and he
said, "Allah advance the Commander of the Faithful!" As for
Sa'idah, she went in to her father; and, acquainting him with
that which had passed, gave him the Caliph's letter, which he
kissed and laid on his head. Then he read it and understanding
its contents said, "O my daughter, verily, the ordinance of the
monarch of mankind obligeth us and his commandments are effectual
over us, nor can we disobey him: so go thou and release the two
men forthwith and say to them, 'Ye are freed by the intercession
of the monarch of mankind.' For, should he be wroth with us, he
would destroy us to the last of us; so do not thou impose on us
that which we are unable." Quoth she "O my father, if the monarch
of mankind were wroth with us, what could he do with us?"; and
quoth her sire, "He hath power over us for several reasons. In
the first place, he is a man and hath thus pre-eminence over
us[FN#541]; secondly he is the Vicar of Allah; and thirdly, he is
constant in praying the dawn-prayer of two bows[FN#542];
therefore were all the tribes of the Jinn assembled together
against him from the Seven Worlds they could do him no hurt. But
he, should he be wroth with us would pray the dawn-prayer of two
bows and cry out upon us one cry, when we should all present
ourselves before him obediently and be before him as sheep before
the butcher. If he would, he could command us to quit our
abiding-places for a desert country wherein we might not endure
to sojourn; and if he desired to destroy us, he would bid us
destroy ourselves, whereupon we should destroy one another.
Wherefore we may not disobey his bidding for, if we did this, he
would consume us with fire nor could we flee from before him to
any asylum. Thus is it with every True Believer who is persistent
in praying the dawn-prayer of two bows; his commandment is
effectual over us: so be not thou the means of our destruction,
because of two mortals, but go forthright and release them, ere
the anger of the Commander of the Faithful fall upon us." So she
returned to Abdullah and acquainted him with her father's words,
saying, "Kiss for us the hands of the Prince of True Believers
and seek his approval for us." Then she brought out the tasse and
filling it with water, conjured over it and uttered words which
might not be understood; after which she sprinkled the dogs with
the water saying, "Quit the form of dogs and return to the shape
of men!" Whereupon they became men as before and the spell of the
enchantment was loosed from them. Quoth they, "I testify that
there is no god but the God and I testify that Mohammed is the
Apostle of God!" Then they fell on their brother's feet and
hands, kissing them and beseeching his forgiveness: but he said,
"Do ye forgive me;" and they both repented with sincere
repentance, saying, "Verily, the damned Devil lured us and
covetise deluded us: but our Lord hath requited us after our
deserts, and forgiveness is of the signs of the noble." And they
went on to supplicate their brother and weep and profess
repentance for that which had befallen him from them[FN#543].
Then quoth he to them, "What did ye with my wife whom I brought
from the City of Stone?" Quoth they, "When Satan tempted us and
we cast thee into the sea, there arose strife between us, each
saying, I will have her to wife. Now when she heard these words
and beheld our contention, she knew that we had thrown thee into
the sea; so she came up from the cabin and said to us, 'Contend
not because of me, for I will not belong to either of you. My
husband is gone into the sea and I will follow him.' So saying,
she cast herself overboard and died." Exclaimed Abdullah, "In
very sooth she died a martyr[FN#544]! But there is no Majesty and
there is no Might save in Allah, the Glorious, the Great!" Then
he wept for her with sore weeping and said to his brothers, "It
was not well of you to do this deed and bereave me of my wife."
They answered, "Indeed, we have sinned, but our Lord hath
requited us our misdeed and this was a thing which Allah decreed
unto us, ere He created us." And he accepted their excuse; but
Sa'idah said to him, "Have they done all these things to thee and
wilt thou forgive them?" He replied, "O my sister, whoso hath
power[FN#545] and spareth, for Allah's reward he prepareth." Then
said she, "Be on thy guard against them, for they are traitors;"
and farewelled him and fared forth.--And Shahrazad perceived the
dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
When it was the Nine Hundred and Eighty-seventh Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Abdullah,
when Sa'idah warned him and blessed him and went her ways, passed
the rest of the night with his brothers and on the morrow, he
sent them to the Hammam and clad each of them, on his coming
forth, in a suit worth a hoard of money. Then he called for the
tray of food and they set it before him and he ate, he and his
brothers. When his attendants saw the twain and knew them for his
brothers they saluted them and said to him, "O our lord, Allah
give thee joy of thy reunion with thy dear brothers! Where have
they been this while?" He replied, "It was they whom ye saw in
the guise of dogs; praise be to Allah who hath delivered them
from prison and grievous torment!" Then he carried them to the
Divan of the Caliph and kissing ground before Al-Rashid wished
him continuance of honour and fortune and surcease of evil and
enmity. Quoth the Caliph, "Welcome, O Emir Abdullah! Tell me what
hath befallen thee." And quoth he, "O Commander of the Faithful
(whose power Allah increase!) when I carried my brothers home to
my lodging, my heart was at rest concerning them, because thou
hadst pledged thyself to their release and I said in myself,
'Kings fail not to attain aught for which they strain, inasmuch
as the divine favour aideth them.' So I took off the collars from
their necks, putting my trust in Allah, and ate with them from
the same tray, which when my suite saw, they made light of my wit
and said each to other, 'He is surely mad! How can the governor
of Bassorah who is greater than the Wazir, eat with dogs?' Then
they threw away what was in the tray, saying, 'We will not eat
the dogs' orts.' And they went on to befool my reason, whilst I
heard their words, but returned them no reply because of their
unknowing that the dogs were my brothers. When the hour of sleep
came, I sent them away and addressed myself to sleep; but, ere I
was ware, the earth clave in sunder and out came Sa'idah, the Red
King's daughter, enraged against me, with eyes like fire." And he
went on to relate to the Caliph all what had passed between him
and her and her father and how she had transmewed his brothers
from canine to human form, adding, "And here they are before
thee, O Commander of the Faithful!" The Caliph looked at them and
seeing two young men like moons, said, "Allah requite thee for me
with good, O Abdullah, for that thou hast acquainted me with an
advantage[FN#546] I knew not! Henceforth, Inshallah, I will never
leave to pray these two-bow orisons before the breaking of the
dawn, what while I live." Then he reproved Abdullah's brothers
for their past transgressions against him and they excused
themselves before the Caliph, who said, "Join hands[FN#547] and
forgive one another and Allah pardon what is past!" Upon which he
turned to Abdullah and said to him, "O Abdullah, make thy
brothers thine assistants and be careful of them." Then he
charged them to be obedient to their brother and bade them return
to Bassorah after he had bestowed on them abundant largesse. So
they went down from the Caliph's Divan whilst he rejoiced in this
advantage he had obtained by the action aforesaid, to wit,
persistence in praying two inclinations before dawn, and
exclaimed, "He spake truth who said, 'The misfortune of one tribe
fortuneth another tribe.'"[FN#548] On this wise befel it to them
from the Caliph; but as regards Abdullah, he left Baghdad
carrying with him his brothers in all honour and dignity and
increase of quality, and fared on till they drew near Bassorah,
when the notables and chief men of the place came out to meet
them and after decorating the city brought them thereinto with a
procession which had not its match and all the folk shouted out
blessings on Abdullah as he scattered amongst them silver and
gold. None, however, took heed to his brothers; wherefore
jealousy and envy entered their hearts, for all he entreated them
tenderly as one tenders an ophthalmic eye; but the more he
cherished them, the more they redoubled in hatred and envy of
him: and indeed it is said on the subject,
"I'd win good will of every one, but whoso envies me * Will not
be won on any wise and makes mine office hard:
How gain the gree of envious wight who coveteth my good, * When
naught will satisfy him save to see my good go marr'd?"
Then he gave each a concubine that had not her like, and eunuchs
and servants and slaves white and black, of each kind forty. He
also gave each of them fifty steeds all thoroughbreds and they
got them guards and followers; and he assigned to them revenues
and appointed them solde and stipends and made them his
assistants, saying to them, "O my brothers, I and you are equal
and there is no distinction between me and you twain,"--And
Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her
permitted say.
When it was the Nine Hundred and Eighty-eighth Night,
She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that
Abdullah assigned stipends to his brothers and made them his
assistants, saying, "O my brothers, I and you are equal and there
is no distinction between me and you twain, and after Allah and
the Caliph, the commandment is mine and yours. So rule you at
Bassorah in my absence and in my presence, and your commandments
shall be effectual; but look that ye fear Allah in your
ordinances and beware of oppression, which if it endure
depopulateth; and apply yourselves to justice, for justice, if it
be prolonged, peopleth a land. Oppress not the True Believers, or
they will curse you and ill report of you will reach the Caliph,
wherefore dishonour will betide both me and you. Go not therefore
about to violence any, but whatso ye greed for of the goods of
the folk, take it from my goods, over and above that whereof ye
have need; for 'tis not unknown to you what is handed down in the
Koran of prohibition versets on the subject of oppression and
Allah-gifted is he who said these couplets,
'Oppression ambusheth in sprite of man * Whom naught withholdeth
save the lack of might:
The sage shall ne'er apply his wits to aught * Until befitting
time direct his sight:
The tongue of wisdom woneth in the heart; * And in his mouth the
tongue of foolish wight.
Who at occasion's call lacks power to rise * Is slain by feeblest
who would glut his spite.
A man may hide his blood and breed, but aye * His deeds on
darkest hiddens cast a light.
Wights of ill strain with ancestry as vile * Have lips which
never spake one word aright:
And who committeth case to hands of fool * In folly proveth self
as fond and light;
And who his secret tells to folk at large * Shall rouse his foes
to work him worst despight.
Suffice the generous what regards his lot * Nor meddles he with
aught regards him not'"
And he went on to admonish his brothers and bid them to equity
and forbid them from tyranny, doubting not but they would love
him the better for his boon of good counsel[FN#549] and he relied
upon them and honoured them with the utmost honour; but
notwithstanding all his generosity to them, they only waxed in
envy and hatred of him, till, one day, the two being together
alone, quoth Nasir to Mansur, "O my brother, how long shall we be
mere subjects of our brother Abdullah, and he in this estate of
lordship and worship? After being a merchant, he is become an
Emir, and from being little, he is grown great: but we, we grow
not great nor is there aught of respect or degree left us; for,
behold, he laugheth at us and maketh us his assistants! What is
the meaning of this? Is it not that we are his servants and under
his subjection? But, long as he abideth in good case, our rank
will never be raised nor shall we be aught of repute; wherefore
we shall not fulfil our wish, except we slay him and win to his
wealth, nor will it be possible to get his gear save after his
death. So, when we have slain him, we shall become lords and will
take all that is in his treasuries of gems and things of price
and divide them between us. Then will we send the Caliph a
present and demand of him the government of Cufah, and thou shalt
be governor of Cufah and I of Bassorah. Thus each of us shall
have formal estate and condition, but we shall never effect this,
except we put him out of the world!" Answered Mansur, "Thou
sayest sooth, but how shall we do to kill him?" Quoth Nasir, "We
will make an entertainment in the house of one of us and invite
him thereto and serve him with the uttermost service. Then will
we sit through the night with him in talk and tell him tales and
jests and rare stories till his heart melteth with sitting up
when we will spread him a bed, that he may lie down to sleep.
When he is asleep, we will kneel upon him and throttle him and
throw him into the river; and on the morrow, we will say, 'His
sister the Jinniyah came to him, as he sat chatting with us, and
said to him, 'O thou scum of mankind, who art thou that thou
shouldst complain of me to the Commander of the Faithful? Deemest
thou that we dread him? As he is a King, so we too are Kings, and
if he mend not his manners in our regard we will do him die by
the foulest of deaths. But meantime I will slay thee, that we may
see what the hand of the Prince of True Believers availeth to
do.' So saying, she caught him up and clave the earth and
disappeared with him which when we saw, we swooned away. Then we
revived and we reck not what is become of him.' And saying this
we will send to the Caliph and tell him the case and he will
invest us with the government in his room. After awhile, we will
send him a sumptuous present and seek of him the government of
Cufah, and one of us shall abide in Bassorah and the other in
Cufah. So shall the land be pleasant to us and we will be down
upon the True Believers and win our wishes." And quoth Mansur,
"Thou counsellest well, O my brother," and they agreed upon the
murther. So Nasir made an entertainment and said to Abdullah, "O
my brother, verily I am thy brother, and I would have thee
hearten my heart thou and my brother Mansur and eat of my banquet
in my house, so I may boast of thee and that it may be said, The
Emir Abdullah hath eaten of his brother Nasir's guest meal; when
my heart will be solaced by this best of boons." Abdullah
replied, "So be it, O my brother; there is no distinction between
me and thee and thy house is my house; but since thou invitest
me, none refuseth hospitality save the churl." Then he turned to
Mansur and said to him, "Wilt thou go with me to thy brother
Nasir's house and we will eat of his feast and heal his heart?"
Replied Mansur, "As thy head liveth, O my brother, I will not go
with thee, unless thou swear to me that, after thou comest forth
of brother Nasir's house, thou wilt enter my house and eat of my
banquet! Is Nasir thy brother and am not I thy brother? So, even
as thou heartenest his heart, do thou hearten mine." Answered
Abdullah, "There is no harm in that: with love and gladly gree!
When I come out from Nasir's house, I will enter thine, for thou
art my brother even as he." So he kissed his hand and going forth
of the Divan, made ready his feast. On the morrow, Abdullah took
horse and repaired, with his brother Mansur and a company of his
officers, to Nasir's house, where they sat down, he and Mansur
and his many. Then Nasir set the trays before them and welcomed
them; so they ate and drank and sat in mirth and merriment; after
which the trays and the platters were removed and they washed
their hands. They passed the day in feasting and wine-drinking
and diversion and delight till night-fall, when they supped and
prayed the sundown prayers, and the night orisons; after which
they sat conversing and carousing, and Nasir and Mansur fell to
telling stories whilst Abdullah hearkened. Now they three were
alone in the pavilion, the rest of the company being in another
place, and they ceased not to tell quips and tales and rare
adventures and anecdotes, till Abdullah's heart was dissolved
within him for watching and sleep overcame him.--And Shahrazad
perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
When it was the Nine Hundred and Eighty-ninth Night,
She pursued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when
Abdullah was a-wearied with watching and wanted to sleep, they
also lay beside him on another couch and waited till he
wasdrowned in slumber and when they were certified thereof they
arose and knelt upon him: whereupon he awoke and seeing them
kneeling on his breast, said to them, "What is this, O my
brothers?" Cried they, "We are no brothers of thine, nor do we
know thee unmannerly that thou art! Thy death is become better
than thy life." Then they gripped him by the throat and throttled
him, till he lost his senses and abode without motion; so that
they deemed him dead. Now the pavilion wherein they were
overlooked the river; so they cast him into the water; but, when
he fell, Allah sent to his aid a dolphin[FN#550] who was
accustomed to come under that pavilion because the kitchen had a
window that gave upon the stream; and, as often as they
slaughtered any beast there, it was their wont to throw the
refuse into the river and the dolphin came and picked it up from
the surface of the water; wherefore he ever resorted to the
place. That day they had cast out much offal by reason of the
banquet; so the dolphin ate more than of wont and gained
strength. Hearing the splash of Abdullah's fall, he hastened to
the spot, where he saw a son of Adam and Allah guided him so that
he took the man on his back and crossing the current made with
him for the other bank, where he cast his burthen ashore. Now the
place where the dolphin cast up Abdullah was a well-beaten
highway, and presently up came a caravan and finding him lying on
the river bank, said, "Here is a drowned man, whom the river hath
cast up;" and the travellers gathered around to gaze at the
corpse. The Shaykh of the caravan was a man of worth, skilled in
all sciences and versed in the mystery of medicine and, withal,
sound of judgment: so he said to them, "O folk, what is the
news?" They answered, "Here is a drowned man;" whereupon he went
up to Abdullah and examining him, said to them, "O folk, there is
life yet in this young man, who is a person of condition and of
the sons of the great, bred in honour and fortune, and Inshallah
there is still hope of him." Then he took him and clothing him in
dry clothes warmed him before the fire; after which he nursed him
and tended him three days' march till he revived; but he was
passing feeble by reason of the shock, and the chief of the
caravan proceeded to medicine him with such simples as he knew,
what while they ceased not faring on till they had travelled
thirty days' journey from Bassorah and came to a city in the land
of the Persians, by name 'Aúj.[FN#551] Here they alighted at a
Khan and spread Abdullah a bed, where he lay groaning all night
and troubling the folk with his groans. And when morning morrowed
the concierge of the Khan came to the chief of the caravan and
said to him, "What is this sick man thou hast with thee? Verily,
he disturbeth us." Quoth the chief, "I found him by the way, on
the river-bank and well nigh drowned; and I have tended him, but
to no effect, for he recovereth not." Said the porter, "Show him
to the Shaykhah[FN#552] Rájihah." "Who is this Religious?" asked
the chief of the caravan, and the door-keeper answered, "There is
with us a holy woman, a clean maid and a comely, called Rajihah,
to whom they present whoso hath any ailment; and he passeth a
single night in her house and awaketh on the morrow, whole and
ailing nothing." Quoth the chief, "Direct me to her;" quoth the
porter, "Take up thy sick man." So he took up Abdullah and
the doorkeeper forewent him, till he came to a hermitage, where
he saw folk entering with many an ex voto offering and other folk
coming forth, rejoicing. The porter went in, till he came to the
curtain,[FN#553] and said, "Permission, O Shaykhah Rajihah! Take
this sick man." Said she, "Bring him within the curtain;" and the
porter said to Abdullah, "Enter." So he entered and looking upon
the holy woman, saw her to be his wife whom he had brought from
the City of Stone. And when he knew her she also knew him and
saluted him and he returned her salam. Then said he, "Who brought
thee hither?"; and she answered, "When I saw that thy brothers
had cast thee away and were contending concerning me, I threw
myself into the sea; but my Shaykh Al-Khizr Abu al-'Abbás took me
up and brought me to this hermitage, where he gave me leave to
heal the sick and bade cry in the city, 'Whoso hath any ailment,
let him repair to the Shaykhah Rajihah;' and he also said to me,
'Tarry in this hermitage till the time betide, and thy husband
shall come to thee here.' So all the sick used to flock to me and
I rubbed them and shampoo'd them and they awoke on the morrow
whole and sound; whereby the report of me became noised abroad
among the folk, and they brought me votive gifts, so that I have
with me abundant wealth. And now I live here in high honour and
worship, and all the people of these parts seek my prayers." Then
she rubbed him and by the ordinance of Allah the Most High, he
became whole. Now Al-Khizr used to come to her every Friday
night, and it chanced that the day of Abdullah's coming was a
Thursday.[FN#554] Accordingly, when the night darkened he and she
sat, after a supper of the richest meats, awaiting the coming of
Al-Khizr, who made his appearance anon and carrying them forth of
the hermitage, set them down in Abdullah's palace at Bassorah,
where he left them and went his way. As soon as it was day,
Abdullah examined the palace and knew it for his own; then,
hearing the folk clamouring without, he looked forth of the
lattice and saw his brothers crucified, each on his own cross.
Now the reason of this was as ensueth. When they had thrown him
into the Tigris, the twain arose on the morrow, weeping and
saying, "Our brother! the Jinniyah hath carried off our brother!"
Then they made ready a present and sent it to the Caliph,
acquainting him with these tidings and suing from him the
government of Bassorah. He sent for them and questioned them and
they told him the false tale we have recounted, whereupon he was
exceeding wroth.[FN#555] So that night he prayed a two-bow prayer
before daybreak, as of his wont, and called upon the tribes of
the Jinn, who came before him subject-wise, and he questioned
them of Abdullah: when they sware to him that none of them had
done him aught of hurt and said, "We know not what is become of
him." Then came Sa'idah, daughter of the Red King, and acquainted
the Caliph with the truth of Abdullah's case, and he dismissed
the Jinn. On the morrow, he subjected Nasir and Mansur to the
bastinado till they confessed, one against other: whereupon the
Caliph was enraged with them and cried, "Carry them to Bassorah
and crucify them there before Abdullah's palace." Such was their
case; but as regards Abdullah, when he saw his brothers
crucified, he commanded to bury them, then took horse and
repairing to Baghdad, acquainted the Caliph with that which his
brothers had done with him, from first to last and told him how
he had recovered his wife; whereat Al-Rashid marvelled and
summoning the Kazi and the witnesses, bade draw up the marriage-
contract between Abdullah and the damsel whom he had brought from
the City of Stone. So he went in to her and woned with her at
Bassorah till there came to them the Destroyer of delights and
the Severer of societies; and extolled be the perfection of the
Living, who dieth not! Moreover, O auspicious King, I have heard
a tale anent
End of Volume 9.
Arabian Nights, Volume 9
Footnotes
[FN#1] Arab. "Wa lá rajma ghaybin:" lit. = without stone-throwing
(conjecture) of one latent.
[FN#2] i.e. saying Bismillah, etc. See vol. v. 206.
[FN#3] Where he was to await her.
[FN#4] As a rule, amongst Moslems the rider salutes the man on
foot and the latter those who sit. The saying in the text
suggests the Christian byword anent Mohammed and the Mountain,
which is, I need hardly say, utterly unknown to Mahommedans.
[FN#5] The story-teller does not remember that "the city-folk
trust to the locking of the gates" (dccclxxxix.); and forgets to
tell us that the Princess took the keys from the Wazir whom she
had hocussed. In a carefully corrected Arabic Edition of The
Nights, a book much wanted, the texts which are now in a
mutilated state would be supplied with these details.
[FN#6] Which probably would not be the last administered to him
by the Amazonian young person, who after her mate feared to
approach the dead blackamoor must have known him to be cowardly
as Cairenes generally are. Moreover, he had no shame in his
poltroonery like the recreant Fellah-soldiers, in the wretched
Sawákin campaign against the noble Súdáni negroids, who excused
their running away by saying, "We are Egyptians" i.e. too good
men and Moslems to lose our lives as becomes you Franks and
dog-Christians. Yet under Mohammed Ali the Great, Fellah-soldiers
conquered the "colligated" Arabs (Pilgrimage iii. 48) of Al-Asir
(Ophir) at Bissel and in Wahhabi-land and put the Turks to flight
at the battle of Nazib, and the late General Jochmus assured me
that he saved his command, the Ottoman cavalry in Syria, by
always manœuvring to refuse a pitched battle. But Mohammed Ali
knew his men. He never failed to shoot a runaway, and all his
officers, even the lieutenants, were Turks or Albanians. Sa'id
Pasha was the first to appoint Fellah-officers and under their
command the Egyptian soldier, one of the best in the East, at
once became the worst. We have at last found the right way to
make them fight, by officering them with Englishmen, but we must
not neglect the shooting process whenever they dare to turn tail.
[FN#7] "Al-walhán" (as it should be printed in previous places,
instead of Al-walahán) is certainly not a P.N. in this place.
[FN#8] Arab. "Kundur," Pers. and Arab. manna, mastich,
frankincense, the latter being here meant.
[FN#9] So Emma takes the lead and hides her lover under her cloak
during their flight to the place where they intended to lie
concealed. In both cases the women are the men.
[FN#10] Or "Bartút," in which we recognise the German Berthold.
[FN#11] i.e. Head of Killaut which makes, from the Muhít , "the
name of a son of the sons of the Jinn and the Satans."
[FN#12] i.e. attacked her after a new fashion: see vol. i. 136.
[FN#13] i.e. Weevil's dung; hence Suez = Suways the little
weevil, or "little Sus" from the Maroccan town: see The Mines of
Midian p. 74 for a note on the name. Near Gibraltar is a fiumara
called Guadalajara i.e. Wady al-Khara, of dung. "Bartús" is
evidently formed "on the weight" of "Bartút;" and his metonym is
a caricature, a chaff fit for Fellahs.
[FN#14] Arab. "Al-Din al-a'raj," the perverted or falsified
Faith, Christianity having been made obsolete and abolished by
the Mission of Mohammed, even as Christianity claims to have
superseded the Mosaic and Noachian dispensations. Moslems are
perfectly logical in their deductions, but logic and truth do not
always go together.
[FN#15] The "Breaker of Wind" (faswah = a fizzle, a silent
crepitus) "son of Children's dung."
[FN#16] Arab. "Ammá laka au 'alayk" lit. = either to thee (be the
gain) or upon thee (be the loss). This truly Arabic idiom is
varied in many ways.
[FN#17] In addition to what was noted in vol. iii. 100 and viii.
51, I may observe that in the "Masnavi" the "Baghdad of
Nulliquity" is opposed to the Ubiquity of the World. The popular
derivation is Bagh (the idol-god, the slav "Bog") and dád a gift,
he gave (Persian). It is also called Al-Zaurá = a bow, from the
bend of the Tigris where it was built.
[FN#18] Arab. "Jawásís" plur. of Jásús lit. the spies.
[FN#19] The Caliph could not "see" her "sweetness of speech"; so
we must understand that he addressed her and found out that she
was fluent of tongue. But this idiomatic use of the word "see" is
also found in the languages of Southern Europe: so Camoens (Lus.
1. ii.), "Ouvi * * * vereis" lit. = "hark, you shall see" which
sounds Hibernian.
[FN#20] Here "Farz" (Koranic obligation which it is mortal sin to
gainsay) follows whereas it should precede "Sunnat" (sayings and
doings of the Apostle) simply because "Farz" jingles with "Arz"
(earth).
[FN#21] Moslems, like modern Agnostics, hold that Jesus of
Nazareth would be greatly scandalized by the claims to Godship
advanced for him by his followers.
[FN#22] Koran ix. 33: See also v. 85. In the passage above quoted
Mr. Rodwell makes the second "He" refer to the deity.
[FN#23] Koran xxvi. 88, 89. For a very indifferent version (and
abridgment) of this speech, see Saturday Review, July 9, 1881.
[FN#24] Koran iv. 140.
[FN#25] Arab. "Furát" from the Arab. "Faruta" = being sweet, as
applied to water. Al-Furátáni = the two sweet (rivers), are the
Tigris and Euphrates. The Greeks, who in etymology were satisfied
with Greek, derived the latter from {euphrainein} (to gladden,
lætificare, for which see Pliny and Strabo, although both are
correct in explaining "Tigris") and Selden remarks hereon,
"Talibus nugis nugantur Græculi." But not only the "Græculi";
e.g. Parkhurst's good old derivations from the Heb. "Farah" of
fero, fructus, Freya (the Goddess), frayer (to spawn), friand,
fry (of fish), etc., etc.
[FN#26] The great Caliph was a poet; and he spoke verses as did
all his contemporaries: his lament over his slave-girl Haylanah
(Helen) is quoted by Al-Suyuti, p. 305.
[FN#27] "The Brave of the Faith."
[FN#28] i.e., Saladin. See vol. iv. p. {271}.
[FN#29] usually called the Horns of Hattin (classically Hittin)
North of Tiberias where Saladin by good strategy and the folly of
the Franks annihilated the Latin kingdom of Jerusalem. For
details see the guide-books. In this action (June 23, 1187),
after three bishops were slain in its defence, the last fragment
of the True Cross (or rather the cross verified by Helena) fell
into Moslem hands. The Christians begged hard for it, but
Saladin, a conscientious believer, refused to return to them even
for ransom "the object of their iniquitous superstition." His
son, however, being of another turn, would have sold it to the
Franks who then lacked money to purchase. It presently
disappeared and I should not be surprised if it were still lying,
an unknown and inutile lignum in some Cairene mosque.
[FN#30] Akká (Acre) was taken by Saladin on July 29, 1187. The
Egyptian states that he was at Acre in 1184 or three years before
the affair of Hattin (Night dcccxcv.).
[FN#31] Famous Sufis and ascetics of the second and third
centuries A.H. For Bishr Barefoot, see vol. ii. p. {203}. Al-Sakati
means "the old-clothes man;" and the names of the others are all
recorded in D'Herbelot.
[FN#32] i.e., captured, forced open their gates.
[FN#33] Arab. "Al-Sáhil" i.e. the seaboard of Syria; properly
Phœnicia or the coast-lands of Southern Palestine. So the
maritime lowlands of continental Zanzibar are called in the plur.
Sawáhil = "the shores" and the people Sawáhílí = Shore-men.
[FN#34] Arab. "Al-Khizánah" both in Mac. Edit. and Breslau x.
426. Mr. Payne has translated "tents" and says, "Saladin seems to
have been encamped without Damascus and the slave-merchant had
apparently come out and pitched his tent near the camp for the
purposes of his trade." But I can find no notice of tents till a
few lines below.
[FN#35] Bahá al-Dín ibn Shaddád, then Kázi al-Askar (of the Army)
or Judge-Advocate-General under Saladin.
[FN#36] i.e. "abide with" thy second husband, the Egyptian.
[FN#37] A descendant of Háshim, the Apostle's great-grandfather
from whom the Abbasides were directly descended. The Ommiades
were less directly akin to Mohammed, being the descendants of
Hashim's brother, Abd al-Shams. The Hashimis were famed for
liberality; and the quality seems to have been inherited. The
first Háshim got his name from crumbling bread into the Saríd or
brewis of the Meccan pilgrims during "The Ignorance." He was
buried at Ghazzah (Gaza) but his tomb was soon forgotten.
[FN#38] i.e. thy lover.
[FN#39] i.e. of those destined to hell; the especial home of
Moslem suicides.
[FN#40] Arab. "Ummál" (plur. of 'Ámil) viceroys or governors of
provinces.
[FN#41] A town of Irák Arabi (Mesopotamia) between Baghdad and
Bassorah built upon the Tigris and founded by Al-Hajjaj: it is so
called because the "Middle" or half-way town between Basrah and
Kufah. To this place were applied the famous lines:--
In good sooth a right noble race are they;
Whose men "yea" can't say nor their women "nay."
[FN#42] i.e. robed as thou art.
[FN#43] i.e. his kinsfolk of the Hashimis.
[FN#44] See vol. ii. 24. {Vol2, FN#49}
[FN#45] Arab. "Sur'itu" = I was possessed of a Jinn, the common
Eastern explanation of an epileptic fit long before the days of
the Evangel. See vol. iv. 89.
[FN#46] Arab. "Zí'ah," village, feof or farm.
[FN#47] Arab. "Taríkah."
[FN#48] "Most of the great Arab musicians had their own peculiar
fashion of tuning the lute, for the purpose of extending its
register or facilitating the accompaniment of songs composed in
uncommon keys and rhythms or possibly of increasing its sonority,
and it appears to have been a common test of the skill of a great
musician, such as Ishac el-Mausili or his father Ibrahim, to
require him to accompany a difficult song on a lute purposely
untuned. As a (partial) modern instance of the practice referred
to in the text, may be cited Paganini's custom of lowering or
raising the G string of the violin in playing certain of his own
compositions. According to the Kitab el-Aghani, Ishac el-Mausili
is said to have familiarized himself, by incessant practice, with
the exact sounds produced by each division of the strings of the
four course lute of his day, under every imaginable circumstance
of tuning." It is regrettable that Mr. Payne does not give us
more of such notes.
[FN#49] See vol. vii. 363 for the use of these fumigations.
[FN#50] In the Mac. Edit. "Aylah" for Ubullah: the latter is one
of the innumerable canals, leading from Bassorah to Ubullah-town
a distance of twelve miles. Its banks are the favourite pleasure-
resort of the townsfolk, being built over with villas and
pavilions (now no more) and the orchards seem to form one great
garden, all confined by one wall. See Jaubert's translation of
Al-Idrisi, vol. i. pp. 368-69. The Aylah, a tributary of the
Tigris, waters (I have noted) the Gardens of Bassorah.
[FN#51] Music having been forbidden by Mohammed who believed with
the vulgar that the Devil has something to do with it. Even
Paganini could not escape suspicion in the nineteenth century.
[FN#52] The "Mahr," or Arab dowry consists of two parts, one paid
down on consummation and the other agreed to be paid to the wife,
contingently upon her being divorced by her husband. If she
divorce him this portion, which is generally less than the half,
cannot be claimed by her; and I have related the Persian
abomination which compels the woman to sacrifice her rights. See
vol. iii. p. 304, [FN#343].
[FN#53] i.e. the cost of her maintenance during the four months
of single blessedness which must or ought to elapse before she
can legally marry again.
[FN#54] Lane translates most incompletely, "To Him, then, be
praise, first and last!"
[FN#55] Lane omits because it is "extremely puerile" this most
characteristic tale, one of the two oldest in The Nights which Al
Mas'udi mentions as belonging to the Hazár Afsáneh (See Terminal
Essay). Von Hammer (Preface in Trébutien's translation p. xxv )
refers the fables to an Indian (Egyptian ?) origin and remarks,
"sous le rapport de leur antiquité et de la morale qu'ils
renferment, elles méritent la plus grande attention, mais d'un
autre côté elles ne sont rien moins qu'amusantes."
[FN#56] Lane (iii. 579) writes the word "Shemmas": the Bresl.
Edit. (viii. 4) "Shímás."
[FN#57] i.e. When the tale begins.
[FN#58] Arab. "Khafz al-jináh" drooping the wing as a brooding
bird. In the Koran ([vii. 88) lowering the wing" = demeaning
oneself gently.
[FN#59] The Bresl. Edit. (viii. 3) writes "Kil'ád": Trébutien
(iii. 1) "le roi Djilia."
[FN#60] As the sequel shows the better title would be, "The Cat
and the Mouse" as in the headings of the Mac. Edit. and "What
befel the Cat with the Mouse," as a punishment for tyranny. But
all three Edits. read as in the text and I have not cared to
change it. In our European adaptations the mouse becomes a rat.
[FN#61] So that I may not come to grief by thus daring to
foretell evil things.
[FN#62] Arab. "Af'á'" pl. Afá'í = {óphis}, both being derived
from O. Egypt. Hfi, a worm, snake. Af'á is applied to many
species of the larger ophidia, all supposed to be venomous, and
synonymous with "Sall" (a malignant viper) in Al-Mutalammis. See
Preston's Al-Hariri, p. 101.
[FN#63] This apparently needless cruelty of all the feline race
is a strong weapon in the hand of the Eastern "Dahrí" who holds
that the world is God and is governed by its own laws, in
opposition to the religionists believing in a Personal Deity
whom, moreover, they style the Merciful, the Compassionate, etc.
Some Christians have opined that cruelty came into the world with
"original Sin," but how do they account for the hideous waste of
life and the fearful destructiveness of the fishes which
certainly never learned anything from man? The mystery of the
cruelty of things can be explained only by a Law without a
Law-giver.
[FN#64] The three things not to be praised before death in
Southern Europe are a horse, a priest and a woman; and it has
become a popular saying that only fools prophesy before the
event.
[FN#65] 'Arab. "Sawn" =butter melted and skimmed. See vol. i.
144.
[FN#66] This is a mere rechauffé of the Barber's tale of his
Fifth Brother (vol. i. 335). In addition to the authorities there
cited I may mention the school reading-lesson in Addison's
Spectator derived from Galland's version of "Alnaschar and his
basket of Glass," the Persian version of the Hitopadesa or
"Anwár-i-Suhayli (Lights of Canopes) by Husayn Vá'iz; the Foolish
Sachali of "Indian Fairy Tales" (Miss Stokes); the allusion in
Rabelais to the fate of the "Shoemaker and his pitcher of milk"
and the "Dialogues of creatures moralised" (1516), whence
probably La Fontaine drew his fable, "La Laitière et le Pot au
lait."
[FN#67] Arab. ' 'Násik," a religious, a man of Allah from Nask,
devotion: somewhat like Sálik (Dabistan iii. 251)
[FN#68] The well-known Egyptian term for a peasant, a husbandman,
extending from the Nile to beyond Mount Atlas.
[FN#69] This is again, I note, the slang sense of "'Azím," which
in classical Arabic means simply great.
[FN#70] Arab "Adab" ; see vol. i. 132. It also implies mental
discipline, the culture which leads to excellence, good manners
and good morals; and it is sometimes synonymous with literary
skill and scholarship. "Ilm al-Adab," says Haji Khalfah (Lane's
Lex.), "is the science whereby man guards against error in the
language of the Arabs spoken or written."
[FN#71] i.e. I esteem thee as thou deservest.
[FN#72] The style is intended to be worthy of the statesman. In
my "Mission to Dahome" the reader will find many a similar scene.
[FN#73] The Bresl. Edit. (vol. viii. 22) reads "Turks" or "The
Turk" in lieu of "many peoples."
[FN#74] i.e. the parents.
[FN#75] The humour of this euphuistic Wazirial speech, purposely
made somewhat pompous, is the contrast between the unhappy
Minister's praises and the result of his prognostication. I
cannot refrain from complimenting Mr. Payne upon the admirable
way in which he has attacked and mastered all the difficulties of
its abstruser passages.
[FN#76] Arab. "Halummú" plur. of "Halumma" = draw near! The latter
form is used by some tribes for all three numbers; others affect
a dual and a plural (as in the text). Preston ( Al-Hariri, p.
210) derives it from Heb., but the geographers of Kufah and
Basrah (who were not etymologists) are divided about its origin.
He translates (p. 221) "Halumma Jarran" = being the rest of the
tale in continuation with this, i.e. in accordance with it, like
our "and so forth." And in p. 271, he makes Halumma = Hayya i.e.
hither! (to prayer, etc).
[FN#77] This is precisely the semi-fatalistic and wholly
superstitious address which would find favour with Moslems of the
present day: they still prefer "calling upon Hercules" to putting
their shoulders to the wheel. Mr. Redhouse had done good work in
his day but of late he has devoted himself, especially in the
"Mesnevi," to a rapprochement between Al-Islam and Christianity
which both would reject (see supra, vol. vii. p. 135). The
Calvinistic predestination as shown in the term "vessel of
wrath," is but a feeble reflection of Moslem fatalism. On this
subject I shall have more to say in a future volume.
[FN#78] The inhabitants of temperate climates have no idea what
ants can do in the tropics. The Kafirs of South Africa used to
stake down their prisoners (among them a poor friend of mine)
upon an ant-hill and they were eaten atom after atom in a few
hours. The death must be the slowest form of torture; but
probably the nervous system soon becomes insensible. The same has
happened to more than one hapless invalid, helplessly bedridden,
in Western Africa. I have described an invasion of ants in my
"Zanzibar," vol. ii. 169; and have suffered from such attacks in
many places between that and Dahomey.
[FN#79] Arab. "Sa'lab." See vol. iii. 132 {FN#150}, where it is a fox. I
render it jackal because that cousin of the fox figures as a
carrion-eater in Hindu folk-lore, the Hitopadesa, Panchopakhyan,
etc. This tale, I need hardly say, is a mere translation; as is
shown by the Kathá s.s. "Both jackal and fox are nicknamed Joseph
the Scribe (Tálib Yúsuf) in the same principle that lawyers are
called landsharks by sailors." (P. 65, Moorish Lotus Leaves,
etc., by George D. Cowan and R. L. N. Johnston, London, Tinsleys,
1883.)
[FN#80] Arab. "Sahm mush'ab" not "barbed" (at the wings) but with
double front, much used for birding and at one time familiar in
the West as in the East. And yet "barbed" would make the fable
read much better.
[FN#81] Arab. "la'lla," usually = haply, belike; but used here
and elsewhere = forsure, certainly.
[FN#82] Arab. "Maghrib" (or in full Maghrib al-Aksá) lit. = the
Land of the setting sun for whose relation to "Mauritania" see
vol. {vi.} 220. It is almost synonymous with "Al-Gharb" = the West whence Portugal borrowed the two Algarves, one being in Southern Europe and the other over the straits about Tangier- Ceuta;
fronting Spanish Trafalgar, i.e. Taraf al-Gharb, the edge of the
West. I have noted (Pilgrimage i. 9) the late Captain Peel's
mis-translation "Cape of Laurels" (Al-Ghár).
[FN#83] Even the poorest of Moslem wanderers tries to bear with
him a new suit of clothes for keeping the two festivals and
Friday service in the Mosque. See Pilgrimage i. 235; iii. 257,
etc.
[FN#84] Arab. "Sáyih" lit. a wanderer, subaudi for religious and
ascetic objects; and not to be confounded with the "pilgrim"
proper.
[FN#85] i.e. a Religious, a wandering beggar.
[FN#86] This was the custom of the whole Moslem world and still
is where uncorrupted by Christian uncharity and contempt for all
"men of God" save its own. But the change in such places as Egypt
is complete and irrevocable. Even in 1852 my Dervish's frock
brought me nothing but contempt in Alexandria and Cairo.
[FN#87] Arab. "Ya jáhil," lit. =O ignorant. The popular word is
Ahmak which, however, in the West means a maniac, a madman, a
Santon; "Bohlí" being= a fool.
[FN#88] The prison according to the practice of the East being in
the palace: so the Moorish 'Kasbah," which lodges the Governor
and his guard, always contains the jail.
[FN#89] Arab. "Tuwuffiya," lit.=was received (into the grace of
God), an euphemistic and more polite term than "máta"=he died.
The latter term is avoided by the Founder of Chnstianity; and our
Spiritualists now say "passed away to a higher life," a phrase
embodying a theory which, to say the least, is "not proven "
[FN#90] Arab. "Yá Abá al-Khayr"= our my good lord, sir, fellow,
etc.
[FN#91] Arab. "Háwi" from "Hayyah," a serpent. See vol. iii. 145.
Most of the Egyptian snake charmers are Gypsies, but they do not
like to be told of their origin. At Baroda in Guzerat I took
lessons in snake-catching, but found the sport too dangerous;
when the animal flees, the tail is caught by the left hand and
the right is slipped up to the neck, a delicate process, as a few
inches too far or not far enough would be followed by certain
death in catching a Cobra. At last certain of my messmates killed
one of the captives and the snake-charmer would have no more to
do with me.
[FN#92] Arab. "Sallah," also Pers., a basket of wickerwork. This
article is everywhere used for lodging snakes from Egypt to
Morocco.
[FN#93] Arab. "Mubárak." It is a favourite name for a slave in
Morocco; the slave-girl being called Mubárakah; and the proverb
being, "Blessed is the household which hath neither M'bárk nor
M'bárkah" (as they contract the words).
[FN#94] The Bresl. Edit. (viii. 48) instead of the Gate (Báb)
gives a Bádhanj=a Ventilator; for which latter rendering see vol.
i. 257. The spider's web is Koranic (lxxxi. 40) "Verily frailest
of all houses is the house of the spider."
[FN#95] Prob. from the Persian Wird=a pupil, a disciple.
[FN#96] And yet, as the next page shows the youth's education was
complete in his twelfth year. But as all three texts agree, I do
not venture upon changing the number to six or seven, the age at
which royal education outside the Harem usually begins.
[FN#97] i.e. One for each day in the Moslem year. For these
object-lessons, somewhat in Kinder-garten style, see the Book of
Sindibad or The Malice of Women (vol. vi. 126).
[FN#98] Arab. "Jahábizah" plur. of "Jahbiz"=acute, intelligent
(from the Pers. Kahbad or Kihbad?)
[FN#99] Arab. "Nimr" in the Bresl. Edit. viii. 58. The Mac. Edit.
suggests that the leopard is the lion's Wazir.
[FN#100] Arab "Kaun" lit. =Being, existence. Trébutien (iii. 20)
has it "Qu'est-ce que l' être (God), l'existence (Creation),
l'être dans l'existence (the world), et la durée de l'être dans
l'existence (the other world).
[FN#101] i.e for the purpose of requital. All the above is
orthodox Moslem doctrine, which utterly ignores the dictum "ex
nihilo nihil fit;" and which would look upon Creation by Law
(Darwinism) as opposed to Creation by miracle (e.g. the Mosaic
cosmogony) as rank blasphemy. On the other hand the Eternity of
Matter and its transcendental essence are tenets held by a host
of Gnostics, philosophers and Eastern Agnostics.
[FN#102] This is a Moslem lieu commun; usually man is likened to
one suspended in a bottomless well by a thin rope at which a
rodent is continually gnawing and who amuses himself in licking
a few drops of honey left by bees on the revetement.
[FN#103] A curious pendant to the Scriptural parable of the
Unjust Steward.
[FN#104] Arab. "Rúh" Heb. Ruach: lit. breath (spiritus) which in
the animal kingdom is the surest sign of life. See vol. v. 29.
Nothing can be more rigidly materialistic than the called Mosaic
law.
[FN#105] Arab. "Al-Amr" which may also mean the business, the
matter, the affair.
[FN#106] Arab. "Ukáb al-kásir." lit. =the breaker eagle.
[FN#107] Arab "Lijám shadíd:" the ring-bit of the Arabs is
perhaps the severest form known: it is required by the Eastern
practice of pulling up the horse when going at full speed and it
is too well known to require description. As a rule the Arab
rides with a "lady's hand" and the barbarous habit of "hanging on
by the curb" is unknown to him. I never pass by Rotten Row or see
a regiment of English Cavalry without wishing to leave riders
nothing but their snaffles.
[FN#108] We find this orderly distribution of time (which no one
adopts) in many tongues and many forms. In the Life of Sir W.
Jones (vol. i. p. 193, Poetical Works etc.) the following occurs,
"written in India on a small piece of paper";--
Sir Edward Coke
"Six hours to sleep, in law's grave study six!
Four spend in prayer,--the rest on Heaven fix!"
Rather:
"Seven hours to law, to soothing slumber seven;
Ten to the world allot, and all to Heaven!"
But this is not practical. I must prefer the Chartist
distribution:
Six hours sleep and six hours play:
Six hours work and six shillings a day.
Mr Froude (Oceana) speaks of New Zealanders having attained that
ideal of operative felicity:--
Eight to work, eight to play;
Eight to sleep and eight shillings a day.
[FN#109] Arab. "Bahímah," mostly=black cattle: see vol. iv. 54.
[FN#110] As a rule when the felidæ wag their tails, it is a sign
of coming anger, the reverse with the canidæ.
[FN#111] In India it is popularly said that the Rajah can do
anything with the Ryots provided he respects their women and
their religion--not their property.
[FN#112] Arab. "Sunan" for which see vol. v. 36, 167. Here it
is=Rasm or usage, equivalent to our precedents, and held valid,
especially when dating from olden time, in all matters which are
not expressly provided for by Koranic command. For instance a
Hindí Moslem (who doubtless borrowed the customs from Hindús)
will refuse to eat with the Kafir, and when the latter objects
that there is no such prohibition in the Koran will reply, "No:
but it is our Rasm." As a rule the Anglo-Indian is very ignorant
on this essential point.
[FN#113] Lit. "lowering the wings," see supra p. 33.
[FN#114] .i.e. friends and acquaintances.
[FN#115] Arab. "Hamídah"=praiseworthy or satisfactory.
[FN#116] Not only alluding to the sperm of man and beast, but
also to the "Neptunist" doctrine held by the ancient Greeks and
Hindus and developed in Europe during the last century.
[FN#117] Arab. "Taksím" dividing into parts, analysis.
[FN#118] this is the usual illogical contention of all religions.
It is not the question whether an Almighty Being can do a given
thing: the question is whether He has or has not done it.
[FN#119] Upon the old simile of the potter I shall have something
to say in a coming volume.
[FN#120] A fine specimen of a peculiarity in the undeveloped mind
of man, the universal confusion between things objective as a
dead body and states of things as death. We begin by giving a
name, for facility of intercourse, to phases, phenomena and
conditions of matter; and, having created the word we proceed to
supply it with a fanciful entity, e.g. "The Mind (a useful term
to express the aggregate action of the brain, nervous system
etc.) of man is immortal." The next step is personification as
Time with his forelock, Death with his skull and Night (the
absence of light) with her starry mantle. For poetry this abuse
of language is a sine qua non, but it is deadly foe to all true
philosophy.
[FN#121] Christians would naturally understand this "One Word" to
be the {lógos} of the Platonists, adopted by St. John
(comparatively a late writer) and by the Alexandrian school,
Jewish (as Philo Judæus) and Christian. But here the tale-teller
alludes to the Divine Word "Kun" (be!) whereby the worlds came
into existence.
[FN#122] Arab. "Ya bunayyí" a dim. form lit. "O my little son !"
an affectionate address frequent in Russian, whose "little
father" (under "Bog") is his Czar.
[FN#123] Thus in two texts. Mr. Payne has, "Verily God the Most
High created man after His own image, and likened him to Himself,
all of Him truth, without falsehood; then He gave him dominion
over himself and ordered him and forbade him, and it was man who
transgressed His commandment and erred in his obedience and
brought falsehood upon himself of his own will." Here he borrows
from the Bresl. Edit. viii. 84 (five first lines). But the
doctrine is rather Jewish and Christian than Moslem: Al-Mas'údi
(ii. 389) introduces a Copt in the presence of Ibn Tutún saying,
"Prince, these people (designing a Jew) pretend that Allah
Almighty created Adam (i.e. mankind) after His own image" ('Alá
Súrati-h).