heart. But the young lady had not upon her clothes enough for
concealment, and here and there her body showed bare; so when she came
forth and espied the young man standing by the old woman she withdrew
into her bower and said to her mother, “Allah requite[121] thee for that
thou hast done. How can it be allowed thee by the Almighty to set me in
this state before a stranger?” “Hold thy peace,” said her parent; “man
is allowed to look, and if he have any art or part in the object looked
at ’tis well; but thereafter if he look without its being his lot, then
twere unlawful. This youth hath gazed upon thee, and if he prove to have
a portion in thee let him take it, otherwise he may wend his ways, nor
is there a flaw in aught of legal observance.” Hereat the Caliph’s heart
was cheered, for he knew that the ancient dame meant to marry the maid.
Anon quoth the old mother to the merchant, “Hast thou seen her?” and
quoth he, “Yes.” “Did she please thee?” asked the crone, and he answered
“Yea verily,” adding, “How much may be her actual marriage-settlement
and her contingent dower?” She replied, “The first shall consist of four
thousand dinars and the second shall be the same.” “This be overmuch,”
rejoined the youth, “and more than all my good; to wit, four thousand
gold pieces, the gift of which will send me forth to beg; but do thou
take of me a thousand dinars, and upon me be the arraying of the house
and the maiden’s raiment for another thousand; so will I do business and
trade with the remainder.” But the crone sware to him by Allah the
Almighty,[122] that an the four thousand failed of a single gold piece
he should never see of the damsel a single hair. He replied, “I have no
power thereto and—good day to both of you;” and he made for the door,
but the Caliph forewent him to the street and standing in a corner
suffered him to pass and gang his gait. After this Harun went back to
the old woman, and entering salam’d to her and she, returning his
salutation, asked him, “What dost thou want and what may be thy wish?”
He answered, “The young trader who went forth hence sent me to say that
he hath no intent to wed,” and she rejoined, “On this mind the man hied
away from us.” Then quoth the Caliph, “I will marry the maid, and by me
is all thou canst desire of gold and what not.” She retorted, “O
Robber,[123] all I see upon thee is not worth two hundred dirhams:
whence then canst thou procure four thousand dinars?” Quoth he, “Hast
thou grapes to sell, or wishest thou only to breed a quarrel between me
and the vineyard-keeper?”[124] and quoth she, “Doubtless I have and hold
the grapes.” “Then, I possess all thou canst desire,” said he, and said
she, “Then, we will wed thee when thou shalt have weighed out the gold.”
The Caliph cried, “I accept;” and anon entering the lodging he took seat
at the head of the chamber and in its place of honour, and said to the
house-mistress, “Go thou to Kází Such-an-one and tell him that
Al-Bundukáni requireth him.” “O Robber,” said she, “will the Kazi be
content to come at thy bidding?” The Commander of the Faithful laughed
at these words and said, “Do thou go without danger and bid him bring
his ink-case and pens and paper.” So she went off saying to herself,
“Verily, an the Judge accompany me, this my son-in-law must be a Captain
of Robbers.”[125] But when at last she arrived at the Kazi’s mansion she
saw him sitting in the middle of the room and surrounded by doctors of
divinity and a host of learned wights: so she feared to enter, and fell
to looking in through the doorway and she dreaded to fare farther and
stepped backwards; withal she kept saying, “How shall I go home without
speaking a word to the Kazi?” and the thought would hearten her heart,
so she would return to the entrance and thrust in her head and then
withdraw it. On such wise she had done many a time when the Kazi,
catching sight of her, bade one of his messengers bring her within; so
the man went to her and said, “Bespeak the Kazi!” So she went in full of
affright and salam’d to the Judge who, returning her salutation, asked
her, “What is thy want, O woman?” She answered, “There is a young man in
my house who desireth that thou come to him;” whereat he rejoined, “And
who may be this youth that I in person should hie to him; and what may
be his name?” She replied, “He pretendeth to the name of
Al-Bundukani—the Arbalestrier” (which was a by-name of the Caliph kept
concealed from the folk but well known to all officials). Hereat the
Kazi sprang to his feet without stay or delay and said to her, “O my
lady, do thou forego me,” whilst all present asked him, “O our lord,
whither away?” and he, answering them “A need hath suddenly occurred,”
went forth. Then quoth the crone in her mind, “Hapless the Kazi who is a
pleasant person, haply this son-in-law of mine hath given him to drink
of clotted gore[126] by night in some place or other and the poor man
hath yet a fear of him; otherwise what is the worth of this Robber that
the Judge should hie to his house?” When they reached the door, the Kazi
bade the ancient dame precede him;[127] so she went in and called to him
and he on entering saw the Caliph seated at the head of the chamber. He
would have kissed ground but Harun signed to him silence with a wink; so
he made his salam and sat him down saying, “’Tis well,[128] O my lord,
what may be thy want?” The Prince of True Believers replied, “I desire
thou marry me to the daughter of this ancient dame, so do thou write out
the writ.” Hereupon the Judge asked the assent of the old woman and of
her daughter; and, when they both granted it, he enquired, “What may be
the amount of the dower?” The mother replied, “Four thousand dinars of
gold and the like sum in ready coin.” “Dost thou accept?” quoth the Kazi
to the Caliph, and quoth he, “Yes.” Accordingly, the Judge wrote out the
writ upon the skirt of his Farajiyah-robe for in his agitation he had
forgotten to bring paper, and he set down the name of the Sovran and his
father and his grandfather without question for that he knew them well;
after which he enquired of the old woman her daughter’s name[129] and
that of her sire and grandsire. She wailed and cried, “Why and
wherefore?[130] Oh miserable that we are! Had her father been living how
would this Robber have availed to stand at our door, much less to marry
here? but ’twas Death that did with us this deed.” “Allah bless the
wronged,”[131] quoth the Kazi and busied himself with writing out the
writ; but whatever question he put to the crone, she wailed in reply and
buffeted her cheeks, whilst the Judge wagged his head and his heart was
like to burst and the Caliph laughed long and loud. And when the writ
was written and finished, the writer cut off from the skirt of his gown
according to the measure of the writing and gave it to Harun; then he
rose up to fare forth but he was ashamed to wear a robe in rags, so he
stripped it off and said to the old woman, “O my mother, present this to
anyone deserving it.” And so saying he left the house. Hereupon quoth
the old woman to the Caliph, “Dost thou not pay unto the Kazi his fee
for coming to thee in person and writing the writ upon his robe which he
was obliged to throw away?” “Let him go,” said the Caliph, “I will not
give him aught.” Cried she, “And why? Oh, how greedy are these robbers!
the man came to us in hopes of gain and we have stripped him instead of
robing him.” Harun laughed again, then he arose and said to her, “I now
hie me home to fetch thee the gold and the stuffs wherewith to clothe my
bride,” and the crone cried out, “O Robber, whence shalt thou find cloth
and coin? unhappy some one whom thou designest to seize and deprive of
his daily bread and reduce to poverty and penury!” The Commander of the
Faithful held his peace and went forth intending for his Palace, where
he donned the royal robes and taking seat upon his throne bade summon
marble-cutters and carpenters and plasterers and house-painters. Then,
as they came to the presence and kissed ground and blessed him and
prayed for the permanence of his empire, he had them thrown and bade
administer to them a bastinado of two hundred sticks a head.[132] And
when they prayed for mercy and said to him, “O our lord, the Commander
of the Faithful, what be our crime?” he said to the artizans, “The hall
such-and-such in the Darb-al-Záji,[133] do ye wot it well?” They
replied, “Yes,” and he resumed, “I desire that ye fare thither
forthright and ye repair the walls with marble-slabs and should
mid-afternoon come on and ye leave unfinished a place as big as a man’s
palm, I will hack off your hands and place them in lieu thereof.” “O
Prince of True Believers,” asked they, “how shall we do seeing that we
have no marble?”[134] He answered, “Take it from the government
stores[135] and collect each and every stone-cutter in Baghdad. But do
you all bear in mind that, if the household enquire who sent you, ye
must reply, Thy son-in-law; and should they demand, What is his craft,
say, We ken not; and when they require to know his name declare it to be
Al-Bundukani. And whoso of you shall speak aught beyond this him will I
crucify.” So the master-mason went forth and gathered together the
stone-cutters and took marble and ashlar from the stores and set the
material on the backs of beasts with all other needs and he repaired to
the hall,[136] and entered with his company. Hereat the old woman asked
“What is’t ye want?” “We would slab the floors and walls of this
dwelling with marble!” “And who was it sent you?” “Thy son-in-law!” “And
what may be his business?” “We know not.” “Then what is his name?”
“Al-Bundukani,” they replied. So she said to herself, “He is naught but
a Robber and Captain of thieves.” Then the masons divided and marked out
the ground, and each found that each and every had to pave and slab a
surface of a cubit or less. Such was their case; but as concerneth the
Caliph, he turned him to the chief Carpenter, and looking at him keenly
said, “Go thou likewise and assemble all thy fellows in the capital:
then do thou repair to the dwelling of Such-an-one and make the doors
and so forth, in fact everything needed of carpentry and joinery, taking
thee all the requisites from the public warehouses; nor let the
afternoon come on ere thou shalt have finished, and if all be not done I
will strike thy neck.” He also charged them even as he had charged the
marble-cutters never to divulge his dignity or even his name other than
Al-Bundukani. So the chief Carpenter went and, gathering his craftsmen,
took planks and nails and all his needs, after which they repaired to
the lodging and entered, and setting up their scaffoldings[137] fell to
work while the head man marked off a task for each hand. But the crone
was consterned and cried to the men, “And why? Who hath sent you?” “Thy
son-in-law!” “And what may be his trade?” “We know not.” “Then what may
be his name?” “Al-Bundukani.” So they pushed on their work, each urging
his fellow, whilst the old woman well-nigh waxed Jinn-mad,[138] and said
to herself, “This my son-in-law, the Robber, is naught save a viceroy of
the Jánn; and all this is of their fear, so that none dareth or deemeth
it safe to disclose the craft or even the name of him, so much do they
hold him in awe.” Lastly, the Caliph bade the plasterers and
house-painters call a meeting of their brother-craftsmen and go to the
government stores and thence take all their requirements of quicklime
and hemp[139] and so forth; and lastly, charging them as he had charged
the others who forewent them, he said, “As soon as the Izán of
mid-afternoon prayer shall be cried, if any one of you shall have left
in the lodging work unwrought, be it only the size of a man’s palm, I
will hack off his hand and set it upon the unfinished stead.”
Accordingly, they kissed ground and fared forth carrying with them all
their requirements; and, repairing to the tenement, entered therein and
slaked their lime and set up their ladders, and four or five artificers
fell to working at every wall whilst the house-painters followed them.
But when the ancient dame beheld this, her wits were wildered and she
was utterly bedazed: so said she to her daughter, “This son-in-law of
mine is none save one whose word is heard, and folk abide in awe of him;
otherwise who could work all this work in a single day whenas none other
than himself could have wrought the same within a twelvemonth? But pity
’tis he be a Robber.” Anon she went to the plasterers and said, “Who was
it sent you?” “Thy son-in-law!” “And what may be his trade?” “We know
not.” “Then what is his name?” “Al-Bundukani.” After this she passed on
to the house-painters and asked the same question and receiving the same
reply, quoth she to one of them, “I demand of thee, by God the Great, O
my son, why thou wilt not disclose to me concerning my son-in-law his
name and his craft?” Thereupon quoth the wight addressed, “No man hath
power to speak out, otherwise his life is lost;” and she repeated to
herself, “Indeed he is none but a mighty Robber, for that the Moslems
one and all dread him and his mischief.”[140] Now when mid-afternoon
came, the artizans had done the whole of their work; so they donned
their outer dresses and went forth intending for the Commander of the
Faithful, Harun the Orthodox. And when they entered all kissed ground
and said, “Under the good auspices of our lord the Prince of True
Believers we have wroughten the work of the house.” So he bestowed robes
of honour upon them and gave them gifts that contented them, after which
they fared forth about their business. Then the Caliph summoned Hammáls
or porters and set in their crates articles of furniture such as carpets
and counterpanes and sofa-cushions and hangings of arras and
prayer-rugs, besides gear of brass and all such necessaries for the
household; and to this he added two baskets containing body-raiment and
kimcob or gold cloth and stuffs inworked and studded with gems; also
jewellery and precious stones, pearls and what not: nor did he forget a
coffer containing the eight thousand pieces of gold.[141] Then he sent
them upon their errand, saying, “Take up all this and bear it to such a
house in the Darb al-Zaji and make it over to the ancient dame who
owneth the hall; and when she asketh, Who was it sent you? do ye answer,
Thy son-in-law; and should she enquire, What is his craft? respond, We
know it not; and should she demand the name, declare Al-Bundukani.”
Accordingly the porters fared forth, and reaching the tenement rapped at
the door, when the old woman came out and cried, “Who knocketh here?”
and they replied, “Open and take what we have brought of cloth and
clothes and so forth.” But when she looked upon the loads she wailed and
cried, “Indeed ye have wandered from the way: whence could all this
prosperity have befallen us? return with it to the owner thereof.” They
asked her, “Is not this hall that which was builded this day?” And when
she answered, “Yes,” quoth they, “Then ’twas hither thy son-in-law sent
us.” With these words they went in and set down whatso was with them,
but the old woman wailed and cried aloud, “’Tis not for us: ye have
wandered from your way.” “It is for you, indeed,” they rejoined, “and
thy son-in-law saith:—Adorn your dwelling and don the stuffs and dress
therewith whomso you choose: as for him, he hath much business yet will
he come to you what time the folk sleep.” “Yes, indeed,” quoth she to
herself, “Robbers never do come save by night.” And when the Hammals
went their ways the old woman fared forth to her neighbours and summoned
them to assist her in ranging the furniture and _vaiselle_;[142] so they
gathered together and entered; and, when they beheld what had befallen,
their eyes were dazed and dazzled by seeing the restoration of the hall
and by the stuffs and vases therein. So they asked her, “Whence camest
thou by all this, and who set for thee this dwelling in such condition
and at what time? Yesterday ’twas a ruin and showed neither marble nor
whitewash nor stencilling. Can it not be that we are sleeping and haply
that we see a dream-house?” She replied, “No vision is this, but
evidence of eye-sight: and what work ye behold was wrought by my
son-in-law during this one day and to-day also he sent me these stuffs
and other matters whereon ye look.” “And who may be thy son-in-law?”
asked they, “and when didst thou wed thy daughter while we wotted naught
thereof?” Answered she, “To-day all this happened;” and they rejoined,
“And what may be the bridegroom’s calling? haply he is a mighty merchant
or an Emir.” “Nor merchant nor Emir,” quoth she, “but a Robber and the
Head and Captain of Bandits!” Hereat the women were startled and cried,
“Allah upon thee, do thou charge him anent us that he plunder not aught
from our houses, seeing that we have a claim of neighbourhood and
gossipry upon you.” “Never fear,” she replied, “he is not wont to take
aught of neighbours albeit he be a Viceregent of the Jann.” So their
hearts were heartened, and they fell to ordering the furniture and
decorations; and, when they had ended the ordinance of the house, they
applied themselves to dressing the bride; and they brought her a
tirewoman and robed her in the finest robes and raiment and prepared her
and adorned her with the choicest ornaments. And while they did thus
behold, up came other porters carrying crates of meat, such as
pigeon-poults and poultry, Katás,[143] and quails,[144] lambs and
butcher’s meat, clarified butter and other cooking material, with all
manner of edibles and delicacies such as sugar and Halwá-confections and
the like thereof. The Hammals then said to the household, “Take ye this
which your son-in-law hath sent to you saying:—Do ye eat and feed your
neighbours and whomso ye please.” Quoth the old woman, “I ask you, for
Allah’s sake, to let me know what may be my son-in-law’s craft and his
name;” and quoth they, “His name is Al-Bundukani, but what his business
may be we know not;” and so saying they went their ways. Hereupon
exclaimed certain of the women who were present, “By the Apostle, he is
naught but a robber;” while others who had claims upon the old
house-mistress cried, “Be whatever may be, before the man who can do
after this fashion all the folk in Baghdad are helpless.” Presently they
served the provision and all ate their sufficiency; then they removed
the trays and set on others loaded with the confections which they also
enjoyed; and at last after dividing the orts amongst the neighbours they
reserved some of the best of meats and sweetmeats for the bridegroom’s
supper. In due time a report was bruited about the quarter that the old
woman had wedded her daughter with a robber who had enriched them with
what booty he had brought them. And these tidings spread from folk to
folk till they reached the young merchant of whom mention hath been
made, the same who had sought the maiden to wife and who had not wedded
her because refused by her mother. Also he was told that the damsel had
been married to a robber who had rebuilt the hall with marble, and the
plasterers and painters and carpenters and joiners had wrought therein
works which astounded the beholders; moreover that the bridegroom had
sent them of stuffs and jewellery a matter beyond count or compute.
Hearing this report he found the matter grievous on him and the fire of
envy flamed in his heart and he said to himself, “Naught remaineth to me
except that I wend me to the Wálí[145] and tempt him with promises and
thereby work the ruin of this robber and take the damsel to myself.”
With these words he rose up sans stay or delay and, going to the Chief
of Police related to him all that occurred and promised him a muchel of
money saying, “Whatso thou wantest can be gotten from this robber
inasmuch as he owneth good galore.” The Wali rejoiced and replied, “Be
patient until after supper-tide when the thief shall have returned home
and we will go and catch him and thou shalt carry away the young lady.”
So the trader blessed him and took himself off and waited at home until
it was supper-time and the streets were void of folk. Presently
Názúk[146] the Wali mounted horse with four hundred headsmen and smiters
of the sword, link-boys and low fellows,[147] bearing cressets and
paper-lanthorns under four head constables and rode to the house of the
old woman. Now all the gossips had departed to their abodes and were
dispersed, nor did one of them remain behind; but the household had
lighted wax candles and was expecting the bridegroom with bolted doors
when behold, the Chief of Police came up and finding all shut bade his
men knock with an easy rap. This was heard by those within the hall and
the ancient dame sprang up and went to the entrance, whence she espied
gleams of light athwart the door-chinks and when she looked out of the
window she saw the Wali and his merry men crowding the street till the
way was cut. Now the Chief had a lieutenant Shamámah[148] hight, which
was a meeting-place of ill manners and morals; for naught was dearer to
him save the straitening of a Moslem, nor was there upon his body a
single hair which affected or aided the veiling of Allah.[149] Brief he
was, even as the poet said:—
Whoreson and child of thousand pagans twain; ✿ Son of the Road to
lasting sin and bane;
The Lord of Ruth ne’er grew him e’en a hair ✿ Was not with this or that
of contact fain![150]
Now this man, who was standing beside the Chief of Police, seized the
opportunity of saying, “O Emir, what booteth our standing idle in this
stead? Better ’twere that we break down the door and rush in upon them
and snatch what we want and loot all the stuffs in the house.” Hereat
came forward another lieutenant who was called Hasan[151]—the
Handsome—for that his face was fair and his works were fairer and he was
a meeting-place of fairest deeds; and the same was wont to stand at the
Wali’s door as a symbol of ruth to mankind. So he came forward and said,
“O Emir, this were not the rede which is right and yonder man’s words
lack good counsel, seeing that none hath complained against this folk
and we know not an the accused be a thief or not: furthermore we fear
consequences for that haply this merchant speaketh with an object, they
having forbidden his marrying the girl: do not therefore cast thyself
into that shall harm thee, but rather let us enquire anent the matter
openly and publicly; and should it prove to be as reported, then the
Emir’s opinion shall prevail.” All this took place while the old woman
heard from behind the door whatso they said. Hereat she dried up with
dread and affright and going within acquainted her daughter with what
had occurred and ended with, “The Wali still is standing at the door.”
The young lady was sore terrified and said to her mother, “Do thou
bar[152] the entrance till Allah haply deign bring us comfort.” So the
old woman fared forth and bolted and barred it yet more straitly; and
when they knocked a second time she acknowledged the rap by “Who is at
the door?” and the lieutenant Shamamah replied to her and said, “O
ill-omened old woman, O accomplice of robbers, knowest thou not that he
who rappeth is the Master of Police and his young men? So open to us
forthright.” Quoth she, “We be Haríms and ne’er a man with us, therefore
we will not open to any;” and quoth he, “Open, or we will break it
down.” The old woman made no reply but returning to her daughter within
said to her, “Now look at this Robber and how from the first of this
night we have been humbled for his sake: yet had he fallen into this
trap his life had been taken, and would Heaven he may not come now and
be made prisoner by them. Ah me! Were thy father on life the Wali never
had availed to take station at our house-door or the door of any other.”
“Such be our lot,” replied the girl, and she went to the casement that
she might espy what was doing. This is how it fared with them; but as
concerneth the Caliph, when the folk had finished crowding the streets
he disguised himself and hending in hand his pellet-bow and slinging his
sword over his shoulder he went forth intending for his bride. But when
reaching the head of the street he saw lanthorns and stir of crowd[153]:
so he approached to look and he espied the Wali and his men with the
merchant standing by the Chief’s side together with the lieutenants, all
save one shouting, “Break down the door and rush in and seize the old
woman: then let us question her with torture until she confess where be
her Robber of a son-in-law.” But Hasan the fourth officer dissuaded them
saying, “O good folk, do ye fear Almighty Allah and be not over hasty,
saving that hurry is of old Harry. These be all women without a man in
the house; so startle them not; and peradventure the son-in-law ye seek
may be no thief and so we fall into an affair wherefrom we may not
escape without trouble the most troublous.” Thereupon Shamamah came up
and cried out, “O Hasan, it ill becometh thee to stand at the Wali’s
door: better ’twere for thee to sit on the witness-bench; for none
should be gate-keepers to a head policeman save they who have abandoned
good deeds and who devour ordure[154] and who ape the evil practices of
the populace.” All this and the Caliph overheard the fellow’s words and
said to himself, “’Tis well! I will indeed gladden thee, O Accurst.”
Then he turned and espied a street which was no thoroughfare, and one of
its houses at the upper end adjoined the tenement wherein was his bride;
so he went up to it and behold, its gateway showed a curtain drawn
across and a lamp hung up and an Eunuch sitting upon the door-bench. Now
this was the mansion of a certain noble who was lord over a thousand of
his peers and his name was the Emir Yúnas[155]: he was an angry man and
a violent; and on the day when he had not bastinado’d some wight he
would not break his fast and loathed his meat for the stress of his
ill-stomach. But when the Eunuch saw the Caliph he cried out at him and
sprang up to strike him exclaiming, “Woe to thee! art thou Jinn-mad?
Whither going?” But the Commander of the Faithful shouted at him saying,
“Ho! thou ill-omened slave!” and the chattel in his awe of the Caliphate
fancied that the roar was of a lion about to rend him and he ran off and
entered the presence of his owner quivering with terror. “Woe to thee!”
said his master; “what hath befallen thee?” and he, “O my lord, the
while I was sitting at the gate suddenly a man passed up the street and
entered the house-door; and, when I would have beaten him, he cried at
me with a terrible voice saying:—Ho, thou ill-omened slave! So I fled
from him in affright and came hither to thee.” Now when the Emir Yunas
heard his words, he raged with such excessive rage that his soul was
like to leave his body and he cried out saying, “Since the man addressed
thee as ‘ill-omened slave,’ and thou art my chattel, I therefore am
servile and of evil-omen. But indeed I will show him his solace!” He
then sprang to his feet and hent in hand a file-wrought mace[156]
studded with fourteen spikes, wherewith had he smitten a hill he had
shivered it; and then he went forth into the street muttering, “I
ill-omened!”[157] But the Caliph seeing him recognised him straitway and
cried, “Yunas!” whereat the Emir knew him by his voice, and casting the
mace from his hand kissed ground and said “’Tis well, O Commander of the
Faithful!” Harun replied, “Woe to thee, dog! whilst thou art the Chief
of the Emirs shall this Wali, of men the meanest, come upon thy
neighbours and oppress them and terrify them (these being women and
without a man in the house), and yet thou holdest thy peace and sittest
in ease at home nor goest out to him and ejectest him by the foulest of
ejections?” Presently the other replied, “O Prince of True Believers,
but for the dread of thee lest thou say:—This be the warder of the
watch, why hast thou exceeded with him?, I would have made for him a
night of the fulsomest, for him and for those with him. But an the
Caliph command I will forthright break them all to bits nor leave
amongst them a sound man; for what’s the worth of this Wali and all his
varlets?” “First admit us to thy mansion,” quoth the Commander of the
Faithful; so they passed in and the housemaster would have seated his
visitor for the guest-rite but he refused all offers and only said,
“Come up with us to the terrace-roof.” Accordingly they ascended and
found that between it and the dwelling of the bride was but a narrow
lane; whereupon quoth the Caliph, “O Yunas, I would find a place whence
I can look down upon these women.” “There is no other way,” quoth the
other, “save herefrom; and, if thou desire, I will fetch thee a
ladder[158] and plant it in such wise that thou canst pass across.” “Do
so,” rejoined the other, and the Emir bringing a ladder disposed it
after bridge fashion that the Caliph crossed over the lane to the house
on the other side. Then quoth he, “Go sit thee in thy stead, and when I
want thee I will call.” Yunas did as he was bidden and remained on the
watch for his lord’s summons. But the Prince of True Believers walked
over the terrace-roof with the lightest tread and not audible, lest his
footsteps frighten the inmates, till he came to the parapet[159] and
looking adown therefrom upon the hall he saw a site like the Garden of
Paradise which had been newly pranked and painted, whilst the lighted
wax-candles and candelabra showed the young lady, the bride, sitting
upon her bedstead adorned with gems and jewellery. She was like a Sun
shedding sheen in sky serene, or a full moon at the fullest seen, with
brow flower-bright and eyes black and white and beauty-spots fresh as
greenth to the sight; brief she was as one of whom the poet saith:—
She’s a wonder! her like none in universe see, ✿ For beauty and graces
and softest blee:
That fairest of blossoms she blooms on earth ✿ Than gardens the
sheeniest sheenier she:
And soft is the rose of her cheek to the touch ✿ ’Twixt apple’s and
Eglantine’s lenity,
And the forelock-falls on the brow of her ✿ Death-doom to the World and
the Faith decree;
And she shames the branchlet of Basil when ✿ She paces the Garden so
fair and free.
An water doubted her soft sweet gait ✿ She had glided with water o’er
greenery:
When she walketh the world like the Húr al-Ayn[160] ✿ By the tongue of
looks to her friends say we:—
“O Seeker, an soughtest the heart of me ✿ Heart of other thou never
hadst sought for thee:
O lover, an filled thee my love thou ne’er ✿ ’Mid lovers hadst dealt me
such tyranny.”
Praise Him who made her an idol for man ✿ And glory to Him who to her
quoth “BE!”