damsel said to the Commander of the Faithful, “Verily he hath questioned
me till he is tired out, and now I will ask him one question, which if
he answer not I will take his clothes as lawful prize,” the Caliph
cried, “Ask on.” So quoth she to the physician, “What is that thing
which resembleth the earth in roundness, whose resting-place and whose
spine are hidden from men’s eyes; little of price and estimation; narrow
of chest and shackled as to throat though it be nor runaway slave nor
pestilent thief; thrust through and through, though not in fray, and
wounded, though not in fight; time eateth its vigour and water wasteth
it away; now it is beaten without blemish, and then made to serve
without stint; united after separation; submissive, but not to him who
caresseth it; pregnant without child in belly; drooping, yet not leaning
on its side; becoming dirty yet purifying itself; cleaving to its fere,
yet changing; copulating without a yard, wrestling without arms: resting
and taking its ease; bitten, yet not crying out: now more complaisant
than a cup-companion and then more troublesome than summer-heat; leaving
its mate by night and embracing her by day and having its abode in the
corners of the mansions of the noble?” The physician was silent awhile
in perplexity and his colour changed and he bowed his head and made no
reply; whereupon she said to him, “Ho, sir doctor, speak or doff thy
dress.” At this, he rose and said, “O Commander of the Faithful, bear
witness against me that this damsel is more learned than I in medicine
and what else, and that I cannot cope with her.” And he put off his
clothes and fled forth. Quoth the Caliph to Tawaddud, “Ree us thy
riddle,” and she replied, “O Commander of the Faithful, it is the button
and the button-loop.[414]”—Then she undertook the astronomers and said,
“Let him of you who is an astronomer rise and come forward.” So the
astronomer advanced and sat down before her; and, when she saw him, she
laughed and said, “Art thou the astronomer, the mathematician, the
scribe?” “Yes,” answered he. Quoth she, “Ask of what thou wilt; success
resteth with Allah.” So he said, “Tell me of the sun and its rising and
setting?” And she replied:—Know that the sun riseth from the shadows in
the Eastern hemisphere and setteth in the shadows of the Western, and
each hemisphere compriseth one hundred and eighty degrees. Quoth Allah
Almighty, ‘I swear by the Lord of the East and of the West.’[415] And
again, ‘He it is who hath ordained the sun to shine by day, and the moon
for a light by night; and hath appointed her station that ye might know
the number of years and the computation of time.’[416] The moon is
Sultan of the night and the sun Sultan of the day, and they vie with
each other in their courses and follow without overtaking each other.
Quoth Almighty Allah, ‘It is not expedient that the sun overtake the
moon in her course; neither doth the night outstrip the day, but each of
these luminaries moveth in a peculiar orbit.’[417] (¿) “When the day
cometh, what becometh of the night; and what of the day, when the night
cometh?”—He causeth the night to enter in upon the day, and He causeth
the day to enter in upon the night.’[418] (¿) “Enumerate to me the
mansions of the moon?”[419]—They number eight-and-twenty, to wit,
Sharatán, Butayn, Surayá, Dabarán, Hak’ah, Han’ah, Zirá’a, Nasrah, Tarf,
Jabhah, Zubrah, Sarfah, ‘Awwá, Simák, Ghafar, Zubání, Iklíl, Kalb,
Shaulah, Na’am, Baldah, Sa’ad al-Zábih, Sa’ad al-Bul’a, Sa’ad al-Su’úd,
Sa’ad al-Akhbiyah, Fargh the Former and Fargh the Latter; and Risháa.
They are disposed in the order of the letters of the Abjad-hawwaz or
older alphabet,[420] according to their numerical power, and in them are
secret virtues which none knoweth save Allah (extolled and exalted be
He!) and the stablished in science. They are divided among the twelve
Signs of the Zodiac, two mansions and a third of a mansion to each Sign.
Thus Sharatan, Butayn and one-third of Suráyá, belong to Aries, the
other two-thirds of Suráyá, Dabaran and two-thirds of Hak’ah to Taurus,
the other third of Hak’ah, Han’ah and Zira’a to Gemini; Nasrah, Tarf and
a third of Jabhah to Cancer, the other two-thirds of Jabhah, Zubrah and
two-thirds of Sarfah to Leo; the other third of Sarfah, ‘Awwá and Simák
to Virgo; Ghafar, Zubáni and one-third of Iklíl to Libra; the other
two-thirds of Iklil, Kalb and two-thirds of Shaulah to Scorpio; the
other third of Shaulah, Na’áim and Baldah to Sagittarius; Sa’ad
al-Zábih, Sa’ad al-Bul’a and one-third of Sa’ad al-Su’ud to Capricorn,
the other two-thirds of Sa’ad al-Su’úd, Sa’ad al-Akhbiyah and two-thirds
of Fargh the Former to Aquarius, the other third of Fargh the Former,
Fargh the Latter and Risháa to Pisces.——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn
of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
Now when it was the Four Hundred and Fifty-fifth Night,
She said, it hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the damsel
enumerated the Mansions and distributed them into their Signs, the
astronomer said, “Thou hast replied aright; now tell me of the planets
and their natures, also of their sojourn in the Zodiacal Signs, their
aspects, auspicious and sinister, their houses, ascendants and
descendants.” She answered, “The sitting is narrow for so large a
matter, but I will say as much as I can. Now the planets number seven;
which are, the Sun, the Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn. The
Sun, hot-dry, sinister in conjunction, favourable in opposition, abideth
thirty days in each Sign. The Moon, cold-moist and favourable of aspect,
tarrieth in each Sign two days and a third of another day. Mercury is of
a mixed nature, favourable in conjunction with the favourable, and
sinister in conjunction with the sinister aspects, and abideth in each
sign seventeen days and a half day. Venus, temperate and favourable,
abideth in each sign five-and-twenty days. Mars is sinister and woneth
in each sign ten months. Jupiter is auspicious and abideth in each sign
a year. Saturn, cold-dry and sinister, tarrieth in each sign thirty
months. The house of the Sun is Leo, her ascendant is Aries, and her
descendant Aquarius. The Moon’s house is Cancer, his ascendant Taurus,
his descendant Scorpio and his sinister aspect Capricorn. Saturn’s house
is Capricorn-Aquarius, his ascendant Libra, his descendant Aries and his
sinister aspects Cancer and Leo. Jupiter’s house is Pisces-Sagittarius,
his ascendant Cancer, his descendant Capricorn and his sinister aspects
Gemini and Leo. Venus’s house is Taurus, her ascendant Pisces, her
descendant Libra, and her sinister aspects Aries and Scorpio. Mercury’s
house is Gemini-Virgo, his ascendant Virgo, his descendant Pisces, and
his sinister aspect Taurus. Mars’s house is Aries-Scorpio, his ascendant
Capricorn, his descendant Cancer and his sinister aspect Libra.” Now
when the astronomer saw her acuteness and comprehensive learning and
heard her fair answers, he bethought him for a sleight to confound her
before the Commander of the Faithful, and said to her, “O damsel, tell
me, will rain fall this month?” At this she bowed her head and pondered
so long, that the Caliph thought her at a loss for an answer and the
astronomer said to her, “Why dost thou not speak?” Quoth she, “I will
not speak except the Commander of the Faithful give me leave.” So the
Caliph laughed and said, “How so?” Cried she, “I would have thee give me
a sword, that I may strike off his head, for he is an Infidel, an
Agnostic, an Atheist.[421]” At this, loud laughed the Caliph and those
about him laughed, and she continued, “O astronomer, there are five
things that none knoweth save Allah Almighty;” and she repeated the
verset; ‘Aye! Allah!—with Him is the knowledge of the hour and He
causeth the rain to descend at His own appointed time—and He knoweth
what is in the wombs of females—but no soul knoweth what it shall have
gotten on the morrow; neither wotteth any soul in what land it shall
die: Verily Allah is knowing, informed of all.’[422] Quoth the
astronomer, “Thou hast said well, and I, by Allah, thought only to try
thee.” Rejoined she, “Know that the almanack-makers have certain signs
and tokens, referring to the planets and constellations relative to the
coming in of the year; and folk have learned something by experience.”
(¿) “What be that?”—Each day hath a planet that ruleth it: so if the
first day in the year fall on First Day (Sunday) that day is the Sun’s
and this portendeth (though Allah alone is All-knowing!) oppression of
kings and sultans and governors and much miasma and lack of rain; and
that people will be in great tumult and the grain-crop will be good,
except lentils, which will perish, and the vines will rot and flax will
be dear and wheat cheap from the beginning of Túbah to the end of
Barmahát.[423] And, in this year there will be much fighting among
kings, and there shall be great plenty of good in this year, but Allah
is All-knowing! (¿) “What if the first day fall on Second Day
(Monday)?”—That day belongeth to the Moon and portendeth righteousness
in administrators and officials; and that it will be a year of much rain
and grain-crops will be good, but linseed will decay and wheat will be
cheap in the month Kiyáhk;[424] also the plague will rage and the sheep
and goats will die, grapes will be plentiful and honey scarce and cotton
cheap; and Allah is omniscient!——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day
and ceased to say her permitted say.
Now when it was the Four Hundred and Fifty-sixth Night,
She said, it hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the damsel
ended her notice of Second Day the astronomer said to her “Now tell me
what will occur if New Year’s day fall on Third Day (Tuesday).” She
replied, That is Mars’ day and portendeth death of great men and much
destruction and deluge of blood and dearness of grain; lack of rain and
scarcity of fish, which will anon be in excess and anon fail. Lentils
and honey in this year will be cheap and linseed dear and only barley
will thrive, to the exception of all other cereals: great will be the
fighting among kings and death will be in the blood and there will be
much mortality among asses. (¿) “What if it fall on Fourth Day?”—That is
Mercury’s day and portendeth great tumult among the folk and much enmity
and, though rains be moderate, rotting of some of the green crops; also
that there will be sore mortality among cattle and young children and
much fighting by sea; that wheat will be dear from Barmúdah to
Misra[425] and other grains cheap; thunder and lightning will abound and
honey will be dear, palm-trees will thrive and bear abundantly and flax
and cotton will be plentiful, while radishes and onions will be dear;
but Allah is All-knowing! (¿) “What if it fall on Fifth Day?”—That is
Jupiter’s day and portendeth equity in Wazirs and righteousness in Kazis
and Fakirs and the Ministers of religion; and that good will be
plentiful: rains and fruit and trees and grain will abound, and flax,
cotton, honey, grapes and fish be cheap; and Allah is Omniscient! (¿)
“What if it fall on Meeting Day or Friday?”—That day appertaineth to
Venus and portendeth oppression in the chiefs of the Jinn and talk of
forgery and back-biting; there will be much dew; the autumn crops will
be good in the land and there will be cheapness in one town and not in
another: ungraciousness will be rife by land and sea; linseed will be
dear, also wheat, in Hátúr, but cheap in Amshír; honey will be dear and
grapes and water-melons will rot; and Allah is Omniscient! (¿) “What if
it fall on the Sabbath (Saturday)?”—“That is Saturn’s day and portendeth
the preferment of slaves and Greeks and those in whom there is no good,
neither in their neighbourhood; there will be great drought and dearth;
clouds will abound and death will be rife among the sons of Adam and woe
to the people of Egypt and Syria from the oppression of the Sultan and
failure of blessing upon the green crops and rotting of grain; and Allah
is All-knowing!”[426] Now with this, the astronomer hung his head very
low, and she said to him, “O astronomer, I will ask thee one question,
which if thou answer not, I will take thy clothes.” “Ask,” replied he.
Quoth she, “Where is Saturn’s dwelling-place?”; and he answered, “In the
seventh heaven.” (¿) “And that of Jupiter?”—In the sixth heaven. (¿)
“And that of Mars?”—In the fifth heaven. (¿) “And that of the Sun?”—In
the fourth heaven. (¿) “And that of Venus?”—In the third heaven. (¿)
“And that of Mercury?”—In the second heaven. (¿) “And that of the
Moon?”—In the first heaven. Quoth she, “Well answered; but I have one
more question to ask thee;” and quoth he, “Ask!” Accordingly she said,
“Now tell me concerning the stars, into how many parts are they
divided.” But he was silent and answered nothing; and she cried to him,
“Put off thy clothes.” So he doffed them and she took them; after which
the Caliph said to her, “Tell us the answer to thy question.” She
replied:—O Commander of the Faithful, the stars are divided into three
parts, whereof one-third is hung in the sky of the earth,[427] as it
were lamps, to give light to the earth, and a part is used to shoot the
demons withal, when they draw near by stealth to listen to the talk in
heaven. Quoth Allah Almighty, ‘Verily, we have dight the sky of the
earth with the adornment of the stars; and have appointed them for
projectiles against every rebellious Satan.’[428] And the third part is
hung in air to illuminate the seas and give light to what is therein.
Quoth the astronomer, “I have one more question to ask, which if she
answer, I will avow myself beaten.” “Say on,” answered she.——And
Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
Now when it was the Four Hundred and Fifty-seventh Night,
She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the
astronomer said, “Now tell me what four contraries are based upon other
four contraries?” Replied she, “The four qualities of Caloric and
Frigoric, Humidity and Siccity; for of heat Allah created fire, whose
nature is hot-dry; of dryness, earth, which is cold-dry; of cold, water,
which is cold-wet; of moisture, air, which is hot-wet. Moreover, He
created twelve Signs of the Zodiac, Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo,
Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius and Pisces; and
appointed them of the four humours; three fiery, Aries, Leo, and
Sagittarius; three earthy, Taurus, Virgo, and Capricorn; three airy,
Gemini, Libra and Aquarius; and three watery, Cancer, Scorpio and
Pisces.” Hereupon the astronomer rose, and saying, “Bear witness against
me that she is more learned than I,” away he went beaten. Then quoth the
Caliph, “Where is the philosopher[429]?”; at which one rose hastily and
came forward and said to Tawaddud, “What is Time and what be its limits,
and its days, and what things bringeth it?” Replied she, “Time is a term
applied to the hours of the night and day, which are but the measures of
the courses of the sun and moon in their several heavens, even as Allah
Almighty telleth us when he saith, ‘A sign to them also is the Night,
from which we strip off the day, and lo! they are plunged in darkness,
and the Sun runneth to her place of rest; this is the ordinance of the
Sublime, the All-knowing.’”[430] (¿) “How cometh unbelief to the son of
Adam?”—It is reported of the Apostle (whom Allah bless and preserve!)
that he said, ‘Unbelief in a man runneth as the blood runneth in his
veins, when he revileth the world and Time and night and the Hour.’ And
again, ‘Let none of you revile Time, for Time is God;’ neither revile
the world, for she saith, May Allah not aid him who revileth me! neither
revile the hour, for, ‘The Hour is surely coming, there is no doubt
thereof’;[431] neither revile the earth, for it is a portent, according
to the saying of the Most High, ‘Out of the ground have we created you,
and into the same will we cause you to return, and we will bring you
forth yet thence another time.’[432] (¿) “What are the five that ate and
drank, yet came not out of loins nor womb?”—Adam and Simeon[433] and
Salih’s she-camel[434] and Ishmael’s ram and the bird that Abu Bakr the
Truth-teller saw in the cave.[435] (¿) “Tell me of five that are in
Paradise and are neither humans, Jinns nor angels?”—Jacob’s wolf and the
Seven Sleepers’ dog and Esdras’s ass and Salih’s camel and Duldul the
mule of the Prophet (upon whom be blessings and peace!). (¿) “What man
prayed a prayer neither on earth nor in heaven?”—Solomon, when he prayed
on his carpet, borne by the wind. (¿) “Ree me this riddle:—A man once
looked at a handmaid during dawn-prayer, and she was unlawful to him;
but, at noonday she became lawful to him: by mid-afternoon, she was
again unlawful, but at sundown, she was lawful to him: at supper time
she was a third time unlawful, but by daybreak, she became once more
lawful to him.”—This was a man who looked at another’s slave-girl in the
morning, and she was then unlawful to him; but at midday he bought her,
and she became lawful to him: at mid-afternoon he freed her, and she
became unlawful to him; but at sundown he married her and she was again
lawful to him. At nightfall he divorced her and she was then a third
time unlawful to him; but, next morning at daybreak, he took her back,
and she became once more lawful to him. (¿) “Tell me what tomb went
about with him that lay buried therein?”—Jonah’s whale, when it had
swallowed him. (¿) “What spot of lowland is it, upon which the sun shone
once, but will never again shine till Judgment-Day?”—The bottom of the
Red Sea, when Moses smote it with his staff, and the sea clave asunder
in twelve places, according to the number of the tribes;[436] then
the sun shone on the bottom and will do so nevermore until
Judgment-Day.——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say
her permitted say.
Now when it was the Four Hundred and Fifty-eighth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the philosopher
then addressed the damsel saying, “What was the first skirt that trailed
over the face of the earth?” She replied, “That of Hagar, out of shame
before Sarah; and it became a custom among the Arabs.” (¿) “What is that
which breatheth without life?”—Quoth Almighty Allah, ‘By the morning
when it breatheth!’[437] (¿) “Ree me this riddle:—A number of pigeons
came to a high tree and lighted, some on the tree and others under it.
Said those on the tree to those on the ground:—If one of you come up to
us, ye will be a third part of us all in number; and if one of us
descend to you, we shall be like unto you in number. How many pigeons
were there in all?”—Twelve: seven alighted on the tree and five beneath;
and, if one go up, those above would be eight to four; and, if one go
down, both would be six and Allah is all-knowing.[438] With this the
philosopher put off his clothes and fled: whereupon the next contest
took place, for she turned to the Olema present and said, “Which of you
is the rhetorician that can discourse of all arts and sciences?” There
came forward a sage hight Ibrahim bin Siyyár and said to her, “Think me
not like the rest.” Quoth she, “It is the more assured to me that thou
wilt be beaten, for that thou art a boaster; and Allah will help me to
victory over thee, that I may strip thee of thy clothes. So, if thou
sentest one to fetch thee wherewithal to cover thyself, ‘twould be well
for thee.” Cried he, “By Allah, I will assuredly conquer thee and make
thee a byword among the peoples, generation after generation!” Rejoined
she, “Do penance in advance for thy broken oath.” Then he asked, “What
five things did Allah create before he made man?”; and she answered,
“Water and earth and light and darkness and the fruits of the earth.”
(¿) “What did Allah create with the hand of omnipotence?”—The ‘Arsh,
throne of God or the empyreal heaven and the tree Túbá[439] and Adam and
the garden of Eden; these Allah created with the hand of His
omnipotence; but to all other created things He said, “Be,”—and they
were. (¿) “Who is thy father in Al-Islam?”—Mohammed, whom Allah bless
and preserve! (¿) “Who was the father in Al-Islam of Mohammed?”—Abraham,
the Friend of God. (¿) “What is the Faith of Al-Islam?”—The professing
that there is no God but _the_ God and that Mohammed is the apostle of
God. (¿) “What is thy first and thy last?”—My first is man’s seed in the
shape of foul water and my last filthy carrion: the first of me is dust
and the last of me is dust. Quoth the poet:—
Of dust was I created, and man did I become, ✿ In question ever ready
and aye fluent in reply,
Then, I unto the dust return’d, became of it again, ✿ For that, in very
deed, of dust at first create was I.
He continued, “What thing was it, whose first state was wood and its
last life?”—Moses’ staff,[440] when he cast it on the valley-ground and
it became, by permission of Allah, a writhing serpent. (¿) “What is the
meaning of the word of the Lord, ‘And I have other occasion for
it?’”[441]—He, Moses, was wont to plant his staff in the ground, and it
would flower and fruit and shade him from the heat and from the cold.
Moreover, it would carry him when he was weary, and whilst he slept
guard his sheep from lions and wild beasts. (¿) “What woman was born of
a man alone and what man of a woman alone?”—Eve of Adam and Jesus of
Mary.[442] (¿) “Tell me of the four fires, what fire eateth and
drinketh; what fire eateth but drinketh not; what fire drinketh but
eateth not and what other neither eateth nor drinketh?”—The fire of the
world eateth but drinketh not; the fire which eateth and drinketh is
Hell-fire; the fire of the sun drinketh but eateth not, and the fire of
the moon neither eateth nor drinketh. (¿) “Which is the open door and
which the shut?”—The Traditional Ordinances are the open door, the
Koranic the shut door. (¿) “Of what doth the poet speak, when he saith:—
And dweller in the tomb whose food is at his head, ✿ When he eateth of
that meat, of words he waxeth fain:
He riseth and he walketh and he talketh without tongue; ✿ And returneth
to the tomb where his kith and kin are lain.
No living wight is he, yet in honour he abides; ✿ Nor dead yet he
deserveth that Allah him assain.”
She replied, “The reed-pen.”[443] Quoth he, “What doth the poet refer to
in these verses:—
Two vests in one; blood flowing easiest wise; ✿ Rosy red ears and mouth
wide open lies;
It hath a cock-like form, its belly pecks ✿ And, if you price it, half a
dirham buys.”
She replied, “The ink-case.” Quoth he, “And in these:—
Ho say to men of wisdom, wit and lore ✿ To sapient, reverend, clever
counsellor:
Tell me what was’t you saw that bird bring forth ✿ When wandering
Arab-land and Ajam o’er?
No flesh it beareth and it hath no blood, ✿ Nor down nor any feathers
e’er it wore.
‘Tis eaten cooked and eke ‘tis eaten cold; ✿ ‘Tis eaten buried ‘neath
the flames that roar:
It showeth two-fold colours, silver white ✿ And yellow brighter than
pure golden ore:
‘Tis not seen living or we count it dead: ✿ So ree my riddle rich in
marvel-store!”
She replied, “Thou makest longsome the questioning anent an egg worth a
mite.” “And this?:”—
I waved to and fro and he waved to and fro, ✿ With a motion so pleasant,
now fast and now slow;
And at last he sunk down on my bosom of snow; ✿ “Your lover friend?”
—“_No friend, my fan_;”[444] said she. (¿) “How many words did Allah
speak to Moses?”—It is related of the Apostle that he said, “God spoke
to Moses fifteen hundred and fifteen words.” (¿) “Tell me of fourteen
things that speak to the Lord of the Worlds?”—The seven heavens and
the seven earths, when they say, ‘We come obedient to Thy
command.’[445]——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased
saying her permitted say.
Now when it was the Four Hundred and Fifty-ninth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the damsel
made the answer, the philosopher continued, “Tell me of Adam and how he
was first created?” and she said, “Allah created Adam of clay: the clay
He made of foam and the foam of the sea, the sea of darkness, darkness
of light, light of a fish, the fish of a rock, the rock of a ruby, the
ruby of water, and the water He created by His Omnipotence according to
His saying (exalted be His name!), ‘His commandment when He willeth
aught, is but to say, BE,—and IT IS.’”[446] (¿) “What is meant by the
poet in these verses:—
And eater lacking mouth and even maw; ✿ Yet trees and beasts to it are
daily bread:
Well fed it thrives and shows a lively life, ✿ But give it water and you
do it dead?”
“This,” quoth she, “is Fire.” “And in these;” he asked:—