custom, his father passed by in all his state, surrounded by his Wazirs
and Lords of the realm and the Officers of his household, who seeing the
Caliph’s son with a gown of woollen stuff on his body and a twist of
wool on his head by way of turband, said to one another, “Verily this
youth dishonoureth the Commander of the Faithful among Kings: but, if he
reproved him, he would leave his present way of life.” The Caliph heard
these words; so quoth he to his son, “O my dear child, of a truth thou
disgracest me by thy present way of life.” The young man looked at him
and made no reply: then he beckoned to a bird perched on the battlements
of the palace, and said to it, “O thou bird, I conjure thee by Him who
created thee, alight upon my hand.” Whereupon straightway it swooped
down and perched on his finger. Then quoth he, “Return to thy place;”
and it did so. Presently he said, “Alight on the hand of the Commander
of the Faithful;” but it refused there to perch, and he cried to his
father, “It is thou that disgracest me amongst the Holy[160] Ones, by
the love of the world; and now I am resolved to part from thee, never to
return to thee, save in the world to come.” Then he went down to
Bassorah, where he took to working with those which wrought in
clay,[161] receiving, as his day’s hire, but a dirham and a dánik;[162]
and with the danik he fed himself and gave alms of the dirham. (Quoth
Abú Amir of Bassorah) There fell down a wall in my house: so I went
forth to the station of the artisans to find a man who should repair it
for me, and my eyes fell on a handsome youth of a radiant countenance.
So I saluted him and asked him, “O my friend, dost thou seek work?”
“Yes,” answered he; and I said, “Come with me and build a wall.” He
replied, “On certain conditions I will make with thee.” Quoth I “What
are they, O my friend?”; and quoth he, “My wage must be a dirham and a
danik, and again when the Mu’ezzin calleth to prayer, thou shalt let me
go pray with the congregation.” “It is well,” answered I and carried him
to my place, where he fell to work, such work as I never saw the like
of. Presently, I named to him the morning-meal; but he said, “No;” and I
knew that he was fasting.[163] When he heard the call to prayer, he said
to me, “Thou knowest the condition?” “Yes,” answered I. So he loosed his
girdle and, applying himself to the lesser ablution, made it after a
fashion than which I never saw a fairer;[164] then he went to the mosque
and prayed with the congregation and returned to his work. He did the
same upon the call to mid-afternoon prayer, and when I saw him fall to
work again thereafterward, I said to him, “O my friend, verily the hours
of labour are over; a workman’s day is but till the time of
afternoon-prayer.” But he replied, “Praise to the Lord, my service is
till the night.” And he ceased not to work till nightfall, when I gave
him two dirhams; whereupon he asked “What is this!”; and I answered, “By
Allah, this is but part of thy wage, because of thy diligence in my
service.” But he threw them back to me saying, “I will have no more than
was agreed upon between us twain.” I urged him to take them, but could
not prevail upon him; so I gave him the dirham and the danik, and he
went away. And when morning dawned, I went to the station but found him
not; so I enquired for him and was told, “He cometh thither only on
Sabbaths.” Accordingly, when Saturday came, I betook me to the market
and finding him there, said to him, “Bismillah, do me the favour to come
and work for me.” Said he, “Upon the conditions thou wottest;” and I
answered “Yes!” Then carrying him to my house I stood to watch him where
he could not see me; and he took a handful of puddled clay and laid it
on the wall, when, behold, the stones ranged themselves one upon other;
and I said, “On this wise are Allah’s holy ones.” He worked out his day
and did even more than before; and when it was night, I gave him his
hire, and he took it and walked away. Now when the third Saturday came
round, I went to the place of standing, but found him not; so I asked
after him and they told me, “He is sick and lying in the shanty of such
a woman.” Now this was an old wife, renowned for piety, who had a hovel
of reeds in the burial-ground. So I fared thither and found him
stretched on the floor which was bare, with a brick for a pillow and his
face beaming like the new moon with light. I saluted him and he returned
my salam; and I sat down at his head weeping over his fair young years
and absence from home and submission to the will of his Lord. Then said
I to him, “Hast thou any need?” “Yes,” answered he; and I said, “What is
it?” He replied, “Come hither to-morrow in the forenoon and thou wilt
find me dead. Wash me and dig my grave and tell none thereof: but shroud
me in this my gown, after thou hast unsewn it and taken out what thou
shalt find in the bosom-pocket, which keep with thee. Then, when thou
hast prayed over me and laid me in the dust, go to Baghdad and watch for
the Caliph Harun al-Rashid, till he come forth, when do thou give him
what thou shalt find in the breast of my gown and bear him my
salutation.” Then he ejaculated the profession of the Faith and
glorified his God in the most eloquent of words reciting these
couplets:—
Carry the trust of him whom death awaits ✿ To Al-Rashid, and God reward
thy care!
And say, “An exile who desired thy sight ✿ Long loving, from afar sends
greeting fair.
Nor hate nor irk (No!) him from thee withdrew, ✿ Kissing thy right to
Heaven brought him near.[165]
But what estranged his soul, O sire, from thee ✿ Is that thy worldly
joys it would not share!”
Then he betook himself to prayer, asking pardon of Allah——And Shahrazad
perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
Now when it was the Four Hundred and Second Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the youth then
betook himself to asking pardon of Allah and to invoking prayer and
praise upon the Apostle and the Lord of the Just and repeating verses of
the Koran; after which he recited these couplets:—
O sire, be not deceived by worldly joys; ✿ For life must pass, and joy
must learn to mourn;
When thou art told of folk in evil plight, ✿ Think thou must answer for
all hearts forlorn;
And when thou bear thy dead toward the tombs, ✿ Know thou wilt likewise
on that way be borne.
(Continued Abu Amir the Basri) Now when the youth had ended his charge
and his verses I left him and went home. On the morrow, I returned, at
the appointed hour, and found him indeed dead, the mercy of Allah be
upon him! So I washed him and, unsewing his gown, found in the bosom a
ruby worth thousands of gold pieces and said to myself, “By Allah, this
youth was indeed weaned from worldly things!” After I had buried him, I
made my way to Baghdad and, going to the Caliph’s palace, waited till he
came forth, when I addressed him in one of the streets and gave him the
ruby, which when he saw, he knew and fell down in a fainting-fit. His
attendants laid hands on me, but he revived and said to them, “Release
him and bring him courteously to the palace.” They did his bidding, and
when he returned, he sent for me and carrying me into his chamber said
to me, “How doth the owner of this ruby?” Quoth I, “Verily he is dead;”
and told him what had passed; whereupon he fell a-weeping and said, “The
son hath gained; but the sire hath lost.” Then he called out, saying,
“Ho, such an one!”; and behold, there came out to him a lady who, when
she saw me, would have withdrawn; but he cried to her, “Come; and mind
him not.” So she entered and saluted, and he threw her the ruby, which
when she saw and she knew, she shrieked a great shriek and fell down in
a swoon. As soon as she came to herself, she said, “O Commander of the
Faithful, what hath Allah done with my son?”; and he said to me, “Do
thou tell her his case;” (as he could not speak for weeping).
Accordingly, I repeated the story to her, and she began to shed tears
and say in a faint and failing voice, “How I have longed for thy sight,
O solace of mine eyes![166] Would I might have given thee to drink, when
thou hadst none to slake thy thirst! Would I might have cheered thee,
whenas thou foundest never a cheerer!” And she poured forth tears and
recited these couplets:—
I weep for one whose lot a lonely death befel; ✿ Without a friend to
whom he might complain and moan:
And after glory and glad union with his friends, ✿ He woke to
desolation, friendless, lorn and lone:
What Fortune hides a while she soon to men shall show; ✿ Death never
spared a man; no, not a single one:
O absent one, my Lord decreed thee strangerhood, ✿ Far from thy nearest
friends and to long exile gone:
Though Death forbid my hope of meeting here again, ✿ On Doom-day’s
morrow we shall meet again, my son![167]
Quoth I, “O Commander of the Faithful, was he indeed thy son?” Quoth he,
“Yes, and indeed, before I succeeded to this office, he was wont to
visit the learned and company with the devout; but, when I became
Caliph, he grew estranged from me and withdrew himself apart.[168] Then
said I to his mother, Verily this thy son hath cut the world and devoted
his life to Almighty Allah, and it may be that hard times shall befal
him and he be smitten with trial of evil chance; wherefore do thou give
him this ruby, which he may find useful in hour of need. So she gave it
him, conjuring him to take it, and he obeyed her bidding. Then he left
to us the things of our world and removed himself from us; nor did he
cease to be absent from us, till he went to the presence of Allah (to
whom be Honour and Glory!), pious and pure.” Then said he, “Come, show
me his grave.” So, I travelled with him to Bassorah and showed him his
son’s grave; and when he saw it, he wept and lamented, till he fell down
in a swoon; after which he recovered and asked pardon of the Lord,
saying, “We are Allah’s and unto Him we are returning!”; and invoked
blessings on the dead. Then he asked me to become his companion, but I
said to him, “O Commander of the Faithful, verily, in thy son’s case is
for me the most momentous of admonitions!” And I recited these
couplets:—
‘Tis I am the stranger, visited by none; ✿ I am the stranger though in
town my own:
‘Tis I am the stranger! lacking kith and son, ✿ And friend to whom I
mote for aidance run.
I house in mosques which are my only home; ✿ My heart there wones and
shall for ever wone:
Then laud ye Allah, Lord of Worlds, as long ✿ As soul and body dwell in
union!
And a famous tale is told of
-----
Footnote 158:
Arab. “Taríkah” = the path trodden by ascetics and mystics in order to
attain true knowledge (Ma’rifat in Pers. Dánish). These are extensive
subjects: for the present I must refer readers to the Dabistan, iii.
35 and iii. 29, 36–7.
Footnote 159:
Alluding to the Fishár or “Squeeze of the tomb.” This is the Jewish
Hibbut hak-keber which all must endure, save those who lived in the
Holy Land or died on the Sabbath-eve (Friday night). Then comes the
questioning by the Angels Munkar and Nakir (vulgarly called Nákir and
Nakír) for which see Lane (M. E. chapt. xviii.). In Egypt a “Mulakkin”
(intelligencer) is hired to prompt and instruct the dead. Moslems are
beginning to question these facts of their faith: a Persian
acquaintance of mine filled his dead father’s mouth with flour and
finding it _in loco_ on opening the grave, publicly derided the
belief. But the Mullahs had him on the hip, after the fashion of
reverends, declaring that the answers were made through the whole
body, not only by the mouth. At last the Voltairean had to quit
Shiraz.
Footnote 160:
Arab. “Walí” = a saint, Santon (Ital. form) also a slave. See in
Richardson (Dissert. iii.), an illustration of the difference between
Wali and Wáli as exemplified by the Caliph al-Kádir and Mahmúd of
Ghazni.
Footnote 161:
Arab. “Tín” = the tenacious clay puddled with chaff which serves as
mortar for walls built of Adobe or sundried brick. I made a mistake in
my Pilgrimage (i. 10) translating Ras al-Tín the old Pharos of
Alexandria, by “Headland of Figs.” It is Headland of Clay, so called
from the argile there found and which supported an old pottery.
Footnote 162:
The danik (Pers. Dang) is the sixth of a dirham. Mr. S. L. Poole (The
Acad. April 26, ‘79) prefers his uncle’s translation “a sixth” (what
of?) to Mr. Payne’s “farthing.” The latter at any rate is
intelligible.
Footnote 163:
The devotee was “Sáim al-dahr” _i.e._ he never ate nor drank from
daylight to dark throughout the year.
Footnote 164:
The ablution of a common man differs from that of an educated Moslem
as much as the eating of a clown and a gentleman. Moreover there are
important technical differences between the Wuzu of the Sunni and the
Shi’ah.
Footnote 165:
_i.e._ by honouring his father.
Footnote 166:
This young saint was as selfish and unnatural a sinner as Saint
Alexius of the Gesta Romanorum (Tale xv.), to whom my friend, the late
Thomas Wright, administered just and due punishment.
Footnote 167:
The verses are affecting enough, though by no means high poetry.
Footnote 168:
The good young man cut his father for two reasons: secular power (an
abomination to good Moslems) and defective title to the Caliphate. The
latter is a trouble to Turkey in the present day and with time will
prove worse.
THE UNWISE SCHOOLMASTER WHO FELL IN LOVE BY REPORT.
(Quoth one of the learned) I passed once by a school, wherein a
schoolmaster was teaching children; so I entered, finding him a
good-looking man and a well-dressed; when he rose to me and made me sit
with him. Then I examined him in the Koran and in syntax and prosody and
lexicography; and behold, he was perfect in all required of him, so I
said to him, “Allah strengthen thy purpose! Thou art indeed versed in
all that is requisite.” Thereafter I frequented him a while, discovering
daily some new excellence in him, and quoth I to myself, “This is indeed
a wonder in any dominie; for the wise are agreed upon a lack of wit in
children’s teachers.” Then I separated myself from him and sought him
and visited him only every few days, till coming to see him one day as
of wont, I found the school shut and made enquiry of his neighbours, who
replied, “Some one is dead in his house.” So I said in my mind, “It
behoveth me to pay him a visit of condolence,” and going to his house,
knocked at the door, when a slave-girl came out to me and asked, “What
dost thou want?” and I answered, “I want thy master.” She replied, “He
is sitting alone, mourning;” and I rejoined, “Tell him that his friend
so and so seeketh to console him.” She went in and told him; and he
said, “Admit him.” So she brought me in to him, and I found him seated
alone and his head bound with mourning fillets. So I said to him, “Allah
requite thee amply! this is a path all must perforce tread, and it
behoveth thee to take patience;” adding, “But who is dead unto thee?” He
answered, “One who was dearest of the folk to me and best beloved.”
“Perhaps thy father?” “No!” “Thy brother?” “No!” “One of thy kindred?”
“No!” Then asked I, “What relation was the dead to thee?”; and he
answered, “My lover.” Quoth I to myself “This is the first proof to
swear by of his lack of wit.” So I said to him, “Assuredly there be
others than she and fairer;” and he made answer, “I never saw her, that
I might judge whether or no there be others fairer than she.” Quoth I to
myself, “This is another proof positive.” Then I said to him, “And how
couldst thou fall in love with one thou hast never seen?” He replied
“Know that I was sitting one day at the window, when lo! there passed by
a man, singing the following distich:—
Umm Amr’,[169] thy boons Allah repay! ✿ Give back my heart be’t where it
may!”
And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted
say.
Now when it was the Four Hundred and Third Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the schoolmaster
continued, “When I heard the man humming these words as he passed along
the street, I said to myself:—Except this Umm Amru were without equal in
the world, the poets had not celebrated her in ode and canzon. So I fell
in love with her; but, two days after, the same man passed, singing the
following couplet:—
Ass and Umm Amr’ went their way; ✿ Nor she, nor ass returned for aye.
Thereupon I knew that she was dead and mourned for her. This was three
days ago, and I have been mourning ever since.” So I left him and fared
forth, having assured myself of the weakness of the gerund-grinder’s
wit. And they tell another and a similar tale of
-----
Footnote 169:
Umm Amrí (written Amrú and pronounced Amr’) a matronymic, “mother of
Amru.” This story and its terminal verse is a regular Joe Miller.
THE FOOLISH DOMINIE.[170]
Once upon a time, a schoolmaster was visited by a man of letters who
entered a school and, sitting down by the host’s side, entered into
discourse with him and found him an accomplished theologian, poet,
grammarian, philologist and poet; intelligent, well bred and pleasant
spoken; whereat he wondered, saying in himself, “It cannot be that a man
who teacheth children in a school, should have a perfect wit.” Now when
he was about to go away, the pedant said to him, “Thou art my guest
to-night;” and he consented to receive hospitality and accompanied him
to his house, where he made much of him and set food before him. They
ate and drank and sat talking, till a third part of the night was past
when the host spread his guest a bed and went up to his Harim. The
stranger lay down and addressed himself to sleep, when, behold, there
arose a great clamour in the women’s rooms. He asked what was the matter
and they said, “A terrible thing hath befallen the Shaykh and he is at
the last gasp.” Said he, “Take me up to him”; so they took him up to the
pedagogue whom he found lying insensible, with his blood streaming down.
He sprinkled water on his face and when he revived, he asked him “What
hath betided thee? When thou leftest me, thou wast in all good cheer and
whole of body;” and he answered, “O my brother, after I left thee, I sat
meditating on the creative works of Almighty Allah, and said to
myself:—In every thing the Lord hath created for man, there is an use;
for He (to Whom be glory!) made the hands to seize, the feet to walk,
the eyes to see, the ears to hear and the penis to increase and
multiply; and so on with all the members of the body, except these two
ballocks; there is no use in them. So I took a razor I had by me and cut
them off; and there befel me what thou seest.” So the guest left him and
went away, saying, “He was in the right who said:—Verily no schoolmaster
who teacheth children can have a perfect wit, though he know all the
sciences.” And they tell a pleasant tale of the
-----
Footnote 170:
Abuse and derision of schoolmaster are staple subjects in the East as
in the West, (Quem Dii oderunt pædagogum fecerunt). Anglo-Indians will
remember:
Miyán-ji ti-ti!
Bachche-kí gánd men anguli kí thi!
(Schoolmaster hum!
Who fumbled and fingered the little boy’s bum?)
ILLITERATE WHO SET UP FOR A SCHOOLMASTER.
There was once, among the menials[171] of a certain mosque, a man who
knew not how to write or even to read and who gained his bread by
gulling folk. One day, it occurred to him to open a school and teach
children; so he got together writing-tablets and written papers and hung
them up in a high place. Then he greatened his turband[172] and sat down
at the door of the school; and when the people, who passed by, saw his
huge head-gear and tablets and scrolls, they thought he must be a very
learned pedagogue; so they brought him their children; and he would say
to this, “Write,” and to that “Read”; and thus the little ones taught
one another. Now one day, as he sat as of wont, at the door of the
school, behold, up came a woman letter in hand, and he said in his mind,
“This woman doubtless seeketh me, that I may read her the missive she
hath in her hand: how shall I do with her, seeing I cannot read
writing?” And he would fain have gone down and fled from her; but,
before he could do this, she overtook him and said to him, “Whither
away?” Quoth he, “I purpose to pray the noon-prayer and return.” Quoth
she, “Noon is yet distant, so read me this letter.” He took the letter
and turning it upside down, fell to looking at it, now shaking his head
till his turband quivered, then dancing his eyebrows and anon showing
anger and concern. Now the letter came from the woman’s husband, who was
absent; and when she saw the dominie do on this wise, she said to
herself, “Doubtless my husband is dead, and this learned doctor of law
and religion is ashamed to tell me so.” So she said to him, “O my lord,
if he be dead, tell me;” but he shook his head and held his peace. Then
said she, “Shall I rend my raiment?” “Rend!” replied he. “Shall I beat
my face?” asked she; and he answered, “Beat!” So she took the letter
from his hand and returning home fell a-weeping, she and her children.
Presently, one of her neighbours heard her sobbing and asking what ailed
her, was answered, “Of a truth she hath gotten a letter, telling her
that her husband is dead.” Quoth the man, “This is a falsehood; for I
had a letter from him but yesterday, advising me that he is whole and in
good health and will be with her after ten days.” So he rose forthright
and going in to her, said, “Where is the letter which came to thee?” She
brought it to him, and he took it and read it; and lo! it ran as
follows, “After the usual salutations, I am well and in good health and
whole and will be with you all after ten days. Meanwhile, I send you a
quilt and an extinguisher.”[173] So she took the letter and, returning
with it to the schoolmaster, said to him, “What induced thee to deal
thus with me?” And she repeated to him what her neighbour had told her
of her husband’s well-being and of his having sent her a quilt and an
extinguisher. Answered he, “Thou art in the right, O good woman; for I
was, at the time”——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to
say her permitted say.
Now when it was the Four Hundred and Fourth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the pedagogue
replied, “Verily I was at that time fashed and absent-minded and, seeing
the extinguisher wrapped up in the quilt, I thought that he was dead and
they had shrouded him.” The woman, not smoking the cheat, said, “Thou
art excused,” and taking the letter, went her ways.[174] And they relate
a story of
-----
Footnote 171:
Arab. “Mujawirin” = the lower servants, sweepers etc. See Pilgrimage
ii. 161 where it is also applied to certain “settlers” at Al-Medinah.
Burckhardt (No. 480) notices another meaning “foreigners who attend
mosque-lectures” and quotes the saying, “A. pilgrimaged:” quoth B.
“yes! and for his villainies resideth (Mujáwir) at Meccah.”
Footnote 172:
The custom (growing obsolete in Egypt) is preserved in Afghanistan
where the learned wear turbans equal to the canoe-hats of the Spanish
cardinals.
Footnote 173:
Arab. “Makmarah,” a metal cover for the usual brasier or pan of
charcoal which acts fire-place. Lane (ii. 600) does not translate the
word and seems to think it means a belt or girdle, thus blunting the
point of the dominie’s excuse.
Footnote 174:
This story, a very old Joe Miller, was told to Lane as something new
and he introduced it into his Modern Egyptians, end of chapt. ii.
THE KING AND THE VIRTUOUS WIFE.
A certain King once went forth in disguise, to look into the affairs of
his lieges. Presently, he came to a great village which he entered
unattended and being athirst, stopped at the door of a house and asked
for water. There came out to him a fair woman with a gugglet, which she
gave him, and he drank. When he looked at her, he was ravished with her
and besought her favours. Now she knew him; so she led him into the
house and, making him sit down, brought out a book and said to him,
“Look therein whilst I order my affair and return to thee.” So he looked
into the book, and behold, it treated of the Divine prohibition against
advoutry and of the punishments which Allah hath prepared for those who
commit adulterous sin. When he read this, his flesh quaked and his hair
bristled and he repented to Almighty Allah: then he called the woman
and, giving her the book, went away. Now her husband was absent and when
he returned, she told him what had passed, whereat he was confounded and
said in himself, “I fear lest the King’s desire have fallen upon her.”
And he dared not have to do with her and know her carnally after this.
When some time had past, the wife told her kinsfolk of her husband’s
conduct, and they complained of him to the King, saying, “Allah advance
the King! This man hired of us a piece of land for tillage, and tilled
it awhile; then left it fallow and neither tilled it nor forsook it,
that we might let it to one who would till it. Indeed, harm is come to
the field, and we fear its corruption, for such land as that, if it be
not sown, spoileth.” Quoth the King to the man, “What hindereth thee
from sowing thy land?” Answered he, “Allah advance the King! It reached
me that the lion entered the field, wherefor I stood in awe of him and
dared not draw near it, since knowing that I cannot cope with the lion,
I stand in fear of him.” The King understood the parable and rejoined,
saying, “O man, the lion trod and trampled not thy land, and it is good
for seed; so do thou till it and Allah prosper thee in it, for the lion
hath done it no hurt.” Then he bade give the man and his wife a handsome
present and sent them away.[175] And amongst the stories is that of
-----
Footnote 175:
This tale is a mere abbreviation of “The King and his Wazir’s wife,”
in the Book of Sindibad or the Malice of Women, Night dcxxviii., which
see for annotations.
ABD AL-RAHMAN THE MAGHRIBI’S STORY OF THE RUKH.[176]
There was once a man of the people of West Africa who had journeyed far
and wide and traversed many a desert and a tide. He was once cast upon
an island, where he abode a long while and, returning thence to his
native country, brought with him the quill of a wing-feather of a young
Rukh, whilst yet in egg and unhatched; and this quill was big enough to
hold a goat-skin’s of water, for it is said that the length of the
Rukh-chick’s wing, when he cometh forth of the egg, is a thousand
fathoms. The folk marvelled at this quill, when they saw it, and the man
who was called Abd al-Rahman the Moor (and he was known, to boot, as the
Chinaman, for his long sojourn in Cathay), related to them the following
adventure, one of many of his traveller’s tales of marvel. He was on a
voyage in the China seas,——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and
ceased saying her permitted say.
Now when it was the Four Hundred and Fifth Night,