so, for probably the Caliph will be merciful to you. And Ja’afar
answered, Only good will come of my travel. Then he went to his
treasure-room and took out a purse containing 1,000 dinars, mounted his
horse, put on his sword, bade adieu to his father and brother and set
forth in his time and hour; then, not taking with him any servants,
either slave or boy, he hastened on his journey, travelling day and
night for twenty days until he reached the city of Aleppo without
stopping, passing by Hamah and Homs until he reached Teniyát al-Igáb and
arrived at Damascus where he entered the city and saw the Minaret of the
Bride from bottom to top covered with gilded tiles; and it surrounded
with meadows, irrigated gardens with all kinds of flowers, fields of
myrtle with mountains of violets and other beauties of the gardens. He
dwelt upon these charms while listening to the singing of the birds in
the trees; and he saw a city whose like has never been created in any
other country of the world. Turning then to the right hand and to the
left he espied a man standing near him and said to him, O my brother,
what’s the name of this city? and he answered, O my lord, this city in
ancient times was called Jullag the same that is mentioned by the poet
who says:—
I am called Jullag and my heart I attach, in me flow the waters, in and
out;
The Garden of Eden upon the earth, birth-place of the fairies:
I will never forget thy beauties, O Damascus, for none but thee will I
ever long:—
Blessed be the wonders that glitter on thy roofs (expanse).
She was also called _Sham_ (grain of beauty) because she is the Sham of
Cities and the Sham of God on earth. Ja’afar was pleased at the
explanation of the name, and dismounted with the intention of taking a
stroll through the streets, by the great houses and the domes (mosks).
Whilst thus engaged in examining the various places and their beauties,
he perceived a tent of silk brocade called Dibáj, containing carpets,
furniture, cushions, silk curtains, chairs and beds. A young man was
sitting upon a mattress, and he was like a rising moon, like the shining
orb in its fourteenth night. He was in an undress, upon his head a
kerchief and on his body a rose-coloured gaberdine; and as he sat before
him were a company and drinks worthy of Kings. Ja’afar stopped and began
to contemplate the scene, and was pleased with what he saw of the youth;
then looking further he espied a damsel like unto the sun in serene
firmament who took her lute and played on it while singing:—
Evil to whoever have their heart in possession of their lovers, for in
obtaining it they will kill it:
They have abandoned it when they have seen it amorous: when they see it
amorous they abandon it.
Nursling, they pluck it out from the very entrails: O bird, repeat
“Nursling they have plucked thee out!”
They have killed it unjustly: the loved plays the coquette with the
humble lover.
The seeker of the effects of love, love am I, brother of love, and sigh
Behold the man stricken by love, though his heart change not they bury
it (him?)
The Rawi said that Ja’afar was pleased and he rejoiced at hearing the
song and all his organs were moved at the voice of the damsel and he
said, Wallahy, it is fine. Then she began again to sing, reciting the
following verses:—
With these sentiments thou art in love, it is not wonderful that I
should love thee:
I stretch out my hand to thee asking for mercy and pity for my
humility—mayst thou be charitable;
My life has passed away soliciting thy consent, but I have not found it
in my confidence to be charitable,
And I have become a slave in consequence of her possession of love my
heart is imprisoned and my tears flow.
When the poem was finished Ja’afar gave himself up more and more to the
pleasure of hearing and looking at the damsel. The youth, who was
reclining, sat up and calling some of his boys said to them, Don’t you
see that young man standing there in front of us? They answered, Yes,
and he said, He must be a stranger for I see on him the signs of travel:
bring him to me and take care not to offend him. They answered, With joy
and gladness, and went towards Ja’afar, who, while contemplating the
damsel, perceived the boy that came and who said to him, In the name of
God, O my lord, please have the generosity to come in to our master.
Ja’afar came with the boy to the door of the tent, dismounted from his
horse and entered at the moment when the youth was rising upon his feet,
and he stretched out his two hands and saluted him as if he had always
known him, and after he had chanted the prayer to the envoy (of Allah)
he sang:—
O my visitor be welcome, thou enlivenest us and bringest us our union:
By thy face I live when it appears and I die if it disappears.
Then he said to Ja’afar, Please be seated, my dear sir; thanks be to God
for your happy arrival; and he continued his chant after another prayer
to the envoy (of God):—
If we had known of thy arrival we would have covered (thy) heart with
the black of our eyes,
And we would have spread the street with our cheeks that thy coming
might have been between our eyelids.
After that he arose, kissed the breast of Ja’afar, magnified his power
and said to him, O my Master, this day is a happy one and were it not a
fast-day I would have fasted for thee to render thanks to God. Then came
up the servants to whom he said, Bring us what is ready. They spread the
table of viands and the youth said, O my lord, the Sages say, ‘If you
are invited content yourself with what’s before you, but if you are not
invited, stay not and visit not again; if we had known that you would
arrive to-day we would have sacrificed the flesh of our bodies and our
children.’ Ja’afar said, I put out my hand and I ate until I was
satisfied, while he was presenting me with his hand the delicate morsels
and taking pleasure in entertaining me. When we had finished they
brought the ewer and basin, we washed our hands and we passed into the
drinking room where he told the damsel to sing. She took up her lute,
tuned it, and holding it against her breast she began:—
A visitor of whom the sight is venerated by all, sweeter than either
spirit or hope:
He spreads the darkness of his hair over the morning dawn and the dawn
of shame appeared not;
And when my lot would kill me I asked his protection, his arrival
revived a soul that death reclaimed:
I’ve become the slave of the Prince of the Lovers and the dominion of
love was of my making.
The Rawi says that Ja’afar was moved with exceeding joy, as was also the
youth, but he did not fail to be fearful on account of his affair with
the Caliph, so that it showed itself in his countenance, and this
anxiety was apparent to the youth who knew that he was anxious,
frightened, dreaming and uncertain. Ja’afar perceived that the youth was
ashamed to question him on his position and the cause of his condition,
but the youth said to him, O my lord, listen to what the Sages have
said:—
Worry not thyself for things that are to come, drive away your cares by
the intoxicating bowl:
See you not that hands have painted beautiful flowers on the robes of
drink?
Spoils of the vine-branch, lilies and narcissus, and the violet and the
striped flower of N’uman:
If troubles overtake you, lull them to sleep with liquors and flowers
and favourites.
Then said he to Ja’afar, Contract not thy breast, and to the damsel,
Sing; and she sang, and Ja’afar who was delighted with her songs, said
Let us not cease our enjoyment, now in conversation, now in song until
the day closes and night comes with darkness.
The youth ordered the servants to bring up the horses and they presented
to his guest a mare fit for Kings. We mounted (said Ja’afar), and,
entering Damascus, I proceeded to look at the bazars and the streets
until we came to a large square in the middle of which were two mastabas
or stone benches before a high doorway brilliantly illuminated with
divers lights, and before a portière was suspended a lamp by a golden
chain. There were lofty domes surrounded by beautiful statues, and
containing various kinds of birds and abundance of flowing water, and in
their midst was a hall with windows of silver. He opened it and found it
looking upon a garden like that of Paradise animated by the songs of the
birds and the perfumes of the flowers and the ripple of the brooks. The
house, wherein were fountains and birds warbling their songs understood
in every language, was carpeted with silken rugs and furnished with
cushions of Dibaj-brocade. It contained also in great number costly
articles of every kind, it was perfumed with the odours of flowers and
fruits and it contained every other imaginable thing, plates and dishes
of silver and gold, drinking vessels, and a censer for ambergris, powder
of aloes and every sort of dried fruits. Brief, it was a house like that
described by the poet:—
Society became perfectly brilliant in its beauty and shone in the éclat
of its magnificence.
Ja’afar said, When I sat down the youth came to me and asked, From what
country art thou? I replied, From Basora, soldier by profession,
commandant over a company of men and I used to pay a quit-rent to the
Caliph. I became afraid of him for my life and I came away fleeing with
downcast face for dread of him, and I never ceased wandering about the
country and in the deserts until Destiny has brought me to thee. The
youth said, A blessed arrival, and what may be thy name? I replied, My
name is like thine own. On hearing my words he smiled, and said,
laughing, O my Lord, Abu ’l-Hasan, carry no trouble in your heart nor
contraction of your breast; then he ordered a service and they set for
us a table with all kinds of delicacies and we ate until satisfied.
After this they took away the table and brought again the ewer and basin
and we washed our hands and then went to the drinking room where there
was a pleasaunce filled with fruits and flowers in perfection. Then he
spoke to the damsel for music and she sang, enchanting both Ja’afar and
the youth with delight at her performances, and the place itself was
agitated, and Ja’afar in the excess of his joy took off his robes and
tore them. Then the youth said to him, Wallahy, may the tearing be the
effect of the pleasure and not of sorrow and waywardness, and may God
disperse far from you the bitterness of your enemies. Then he went to a
chest (continued Ja’afar) and took out from it a complete dress, worth a
hundred dinars and putting it upon me said to the damsel, Change the
tune of thy lute. She did so, and sang the following verses:—
My jealous regard is attached to him and if he regard another I am
impatient:
I terminate my demand and my song crying, Thy friendship will last until
death in my heart.
The Rawi said: When she had finished her poetry Ja’afar threw off the
last dress and cried out, and the youth said, May God ameliorate your
life and make its beginning the end. Then he went to the chest and took
out a dress better than the first and put it upon Ja’afar, and the
damsel was silent for an hour during the conversation. The youth said,
Listen, O my lord Abu ’l-Hasan, to what people of merit have said of
this valley formerly called the Valley of Rabwat in which we now are and
spoken of in the poem, saying:—
O bounty of our Night in the valley of Rabwat where the gentle zephyr
brings in her perfumes:
It is a valley whose beauty is like that of the necklace: trees and
flowers encompass it.
Its fields are carpeted with every variety of flowers and the birds fly
around above them;
When the trees saw us seated beneath them they dropped upon us their
fruits.
We continued to exchange upon the borders of its gardens the flowing
bowls of conversation and of poesy,
The valley was bountiful and her zephyrs brought to us what the flowers
had sent to us.
So when the youth had finished his recitation he turned to the damsel
and told her to sing:—
I consume (with desire) when I hear from him a discourse whose sweetness
is a melting speech:
My heart palpitates when he sees it, it is not wonderful that the
drunken one should dance:
It has on this earth become my portion, but on this earth I have no
chance to obtain it.
O Lord! tell me the fault that I’ve committed, perhaps I may be able to
correct it.
I find in thee a heart harder than that of others and the hearts consume
my being.
Now when she had finished, Ja’afar in his joy threw off the third dress.
The youth arose, kissed him on the head, and then took out for him
another suit and put it upon him, for he was the most generous man of
his time. Then he entertained Ja’afar with the news of the day and of
the subjects and anecdotes of the great pieces of poetry and said to
him, O my lord, load not thyself with cares. The Rawi says that they
continued living in the same way for forty days and on the forty-first
Ja’afar said to the young man, Know, O my lord, that I have left my
country neither for eating nor for drinking, but to divert myself and to
see the world; but if God vouchsafe my return to my country to talk to
my people, my neighbours and friends, and they ask me where I have been
and what I have seen, I will tell them of your generosity and of the
great benefactions that you have heaped upon me in your country of
Damascus. I will say that I have sighted this and that, and thus I will
entertain them with what I have espied in Damascus and of its order. The
young man replied, Thou sayest true: and Ja’afar said, I desire to go
out and visit the city, its bazars and its streets, to which the young
man answered, With love and good will, to-morrow morning if it please
Allah. That night Ja’afar slept there and when God brought the day, he
rose, went in to the young man, wished him good morning and said to him,
O my lord, thy promise! to which he replied, With love and good will;
and, ordering a white dress for him, he handed him a purse of three
hundred dinars saying, Bestow this in charity and return quick after
thou hast made thy visit, and lastly said to his servants, Bring to your
lord a horse to ride. But Ja’afar answered, I do not wish to have one,
for a rider cannot observe the people but the people observe him. The
young man, who was named Attaf, said, O my lord, be it as thou wishest
and desirest; be not away long on my account for thine absence gives me
pain. Then he gave to Ja’afar a grain of red musk saying, Take this and
keep it in thy hand and if thou go into any place where there is a bad
odour thou wilt take a smell of the musk. Ja’afar the Barmeky (Allah be
merciful to him!) said, After that I left him and set out to walk in the
streets and quarters of Damascus and went on until I came to the Mosk of
the ’Omeyyades where I saw a fountain casting the water from its upper
part and falling like serpents in their flight. I sat down under the
pulpit; and as it was a Friday I heard the preacher and made my Friday
prayer and remained until I made the afternoon prayer when I went to
distribute the money I had, after which I recited these verses:—
I see the beauties united in the mosk of Jullag, and around her the
meaning of beauty is explained;
If people converse in the mosks tell them their entrance door is open.
Then I left the mosk and began to promenade the quarters and the streets
until I came before a splendid house, broad in its richness and strong
in its build, having a border of gold astonishing the mind by the beauty
of the work, showing curtains of silk embroidered with gold and in front
of the door were two carpeted steps. I sat down upon one of them and
began to think of myself and of the events that had happened to me and
of my ignorance of what had taken place after my departure. In the midst
of my sadness at the contemplation of my troubles (and the wind blowing
upon me) I fell asleep and I awaked not until a sprinkling of water came
down upon me. On opening my eyes I saw a young woman behind the curtain
dressed in a morning gown and a _Sa’údí_ fillet upon her forehead. Her
look and eyelids were full of art and her eyebrows were like the fronts
of the wings of light. The Rawi says she resembled a full moon. When my
eyes fell upon her (continued Ja’afar) and looked at her, that look
brought with it a thousand sighs and I arose and my disposition was
changed. The young woman cried at me and I said, I am your servant, O my
lady, and here at thy command, but said she, No labbayka and no favour
for thee! Is this house thine? Said I, No my lady, and she replied, O
dog of the streets, this house is not thine, why art thou sitting here?
When Ja’afar heard this he was greatly mortified, but he took courage
and dissimulated, answering, O my lady, I am resting here only to recite
some verses which I have composed for thee, then she asked, And what
hast thou said about me? He continued:—
She appeared in a whitish robe with eyelids and glances of wonder,
I said she came out without greeting, with her I’m content to my heart’s
content.
Blessed be He that clothed thy cheeks with roses, He can create what He
wills without hindrance.
Thy dress like thy lot is as my hand, white, and they are white upon
white upon my white.
When he had finished these verses he said, I have composed others on
thine expression, and recited the following:—
Dost thou see through her veil that face appearing how it shines, like
the moon in the horizon?
Its splendour enlightens the shade of her temples and the sun enters
into obscurity by system;
Her forehead eclipses the rose and the apple, and her look and
expression enchant the people;
It is she that if mortal should see her he’d become victim of love, of
the fires of desire.
On hearing this recitation the young lady said to Ja’afar, Miserable
fellow, what is this discourse which does not belong to the like of
thee? Get up and begone with the malediction of Allah and the protection
of Satan. Ja’afar arose, seized with a mighty rage in addition to his
love; and in this love for her he departed and returned to the house of
his friend Attaf and saluted him with a prepossessed heart. As soon as
Attaf saw him he cast himself on his breast and kissed him between the
eyes, saying to him, O my lord, thou hast made me feel desolate to-day
by thine absence. Then Attaf, looking in the face of Ja’afar and reading
in it many words, continued to him, O my lord, I find thy countenance
changed and thy mind broken. Ja’afar answered, O my lord, since I left
thee up to the present time I have been suffering with a headache and a
nervous attack for I was sleeping upon my ear. The people in the mosk
recited the afternoon prayer without my knowing it, and now I have a
mind to get an hour’s sleep, probably I shall find repose for the body,
and what I suffer will pass off. Accordingly, Attaf went into the house
and ordered cushions to be brought out and a bed to be made for him,
Ja’afar then stretched himself upon it depressed and out of spirits, and
covering himself up began to think of the young lady and of the
offensive words she gave him so contrary to usage. Also he thought of
her beauty and the elegance of her stature and perfect proportions and
of what Allah (to whom be praise!) had granted her of magnificence. He
forgot all that happened to him in other days and also his affair with
the Caliph and his people and his friends and his society. Such was the
burden of his thoughts until he was taken with monomania and his body
wasted. Hereupon Attaf sent for doctors, they surrounded him constantly,
they employed all their talents for him, but they could find no remedy.
So he remained during a certain time without anyone being able to
discover what was the matter with him. The breast of Attaf became
straitened, he renounced all diversions and pleasures, and Ja’afar
getting worse and worse, his trouble augmented. One day a new doctor
arrived, a man of experience in the art of gallantry, whose name was
Dabdihkán. When he came to Ja’afar and looked at his face and felt his
pulse and found everything in its place, no suffering, no pain, he
comprehended that he was in love, so he took a paper and wrote a
prescription and placed it beneath Ja’afar’s head. He then said, Thy
remedy is under thy head, I’ve prescribed a purge, if thou take it thou
wilt get well, for he was ashamed to tell Attaf his love-sick condition.
Presently the Doctor went away to other patients and Attaf arose and
when about entering to see Ja’afar he heard him recite the following
verses:—
A doctor came to me one day and took my hand and pulse, when I said to
him Let go my hand, the fire’s in my heart.
He said, Drink syrup of the rose and mix it well with water of the
tongue but tell it not to anyone:
I said, The syrup of the rose is quite well known to me; it is the water
of the cheek that breaks my very heart;
But can it be that I can get the water of the tongue that I may cool the
burning fire that within me dwells?
The doctor said, Thou art in love, I said Yes to him, and said he to me,
Its remedy is to have the body here.