When Khaled reached the palace he dismounted from his mare, and leading
her by the bridle entered the gateway. Here he met many persons, guards,
and slaves both black and white, and porters bearing provisions, and a
few women, all hurrying hither and thither; and many noticed him, but a
few gazed curiously into his face, and two or three grooms followed him
a little way, pointing out to each other the beauties of his mare.
'Truly,' they said, 'if we did not know the mares of the stud better
than the faces of our mothers, we should swear by Allah that this beast
had been stolen from the Sultan's stables by a thief in the night, for
she is of the best blood in Nejed.'
These being curious they saluted Khaled and asked him whence he came and
whither he was going, seeing that it is not courteous to ask a stranger
any other questions.
'I come from the Red Desert,' Khaled answered, 'and I am going into the
palace as you see.'
The grooms saw that there was a rebuke in the last part of his answer
and hung back and presently went their way.
'Are such mares bred in the Red Desert?' they exclaimed. 'The stranger
is doubtless the sheikh of some powerful tribe. But if this be true,
where are the men that came with him? And why is he dressed like a man
of the city?'
So they hastened out of the gateway to find the Bedouins who, they
supposed, must have accompanied Khaled on his journey.
But Khaled went forward and came to a great court in which were stone
seats by the walls. Here a number of people were waiting. So he sat down
upon one of the seats and his mare laid her nose upon his shoulder as
though inquiring what he would do.
'Allah knows,' Khaled said, as though answering her. So he waited
patiently.
At last a man came out into the courtyard who was richly dressed, and
whom all the people saluted as he passed. But he came straight towards
Khaled, who rose from his seat.
'Whence come you, my friend?' he inquired after they had exchanged the
salutation.
'From the Red Desert, and I desire permission to speak with the Sultan
when it shall please his majesty to see me.'
'And what do you desire of his majesty? I ask that I may inform him
beforehand. So you will have a better reception.'
'Tell the Sultan,' said Khaled, 'that a man is here who has neither
father nor mother nor any possessions beyond a swift mare, a keen sword
and a strong hand, but who is come nevertheless to ask in marriage
Zehowah, the Sultan's daughter.'
The minister smiled and gazed at Khaled in silence for a moment, but
when he had looked keenly at his face, he became grave.
'It may be,' he thought, 'that this is some great prince who comes thus
simply as in a disguise, and it were best not to anger him.'
'I will deliver your message,' he answered aloud, 'though it is a
strange one. It is customary for those who come to ask for a maiden in
marriage to bring gifts--and to receive others in return,' he added.
'I neither bring gifts nor ask any,' said Khaled. 'Allah is great and
will provide me with what I need.'
'I fear that he will not provide you with the Sultan's daughter for a
wife,' said the minister as he went away, but Khaled did not hear the
words, though he would have cared little if he had.
Now it chanced that Zehowah was sitting in a balcony surrounded with
lattice, over the courtyard, on that morning and she had seen Khaled
enter, leading his mare by the bridle. But though she watched the
stranger and his beast idly for some time she thought as little of the
one as of the other, for her heart was not turned to love, and she knew
nothing of horses. But her women thought differently and spoke loudly,
praising the beauty of both.
'There is indeed a warrior able to fight in the front of our armies,'
they said. 'Truly such a man must have been Khaled ibn Walad, the Sword
of the Lord, in the days of the Prophet--upon whom peace.'
By and by there was a cry that the Sultan was coming into the room, and
the women rose and retired. The Sultan sat down upon the carpet by his
daughter, in the balcony.
'Do you see that stranger, holding a beautiful mare by the bridle?' he
asked.
'Yes, I see him,' answered Zehowah indifferently.
'He is come to ask you in marriage.'
'Another!' she exclaimed with a careless laugh. 'If it is the will of
Allah I will marry him. If not, he will go away like the rest.'
'This man is not like the rest, my daughter. He is either a madman or
some powerful prince in disguise.'
'Or both, perhaps,' laughed Zehowah. She laughed often, for although she
was not inclined to love, she was of a gentle and merry temper.
'His message was a strange one,' said the Sultan. 'He says that he
neither brings gifts nor asks them, that he has neither father nor
mother, nor any possessions excepting a swift mare, a keen sword and a
strong hand.'
'I see the mare, the sword and the hand,' answered Zehowah. 'But the
hand is like any other hand--how can I tell whether it be strong? The
sword is in its sheath, and I cannot see its edge, and though the mare
is pretty enough, I have seen many of your own I liked as well. The
elephants of the Indian prince were more amusing, and the prince himself
was more beautiful than this stranger with his black beard and his
solemn face.'
'That is true,' said the Sultan with a sigh.
'Do you wish me to marry this man?' Zehowah asked.
'My daughter, I wish you to choose of your own free will. Nevertheless I
trust that you will choose before long, that I may see my child's
children before I die.'
For the Sultan was old and white-bearded, and was already somewhat bowed
with advancing years and with burden of many cares and the fatigues of
many wars. Yet his eye was bright and his heart fearless still, though
his judgment was often weak and vacillating.
'Do you wish me to marry this man?' Zehowah asked again. 'He will be a
strange husband, for he is a strange suitor, coming without gifts and
having neither father nor mother. But I will do as you command. If you
leave it to me I shall never marry.'
'I did not say that I desired you to take this one especially,'
protested the Sultan, 'though for the matter of gifts I care little,
since heaven has sent me wealth in abundance. But my remaining years are
few, and the years of life are like stones slipping from a mountain
which move slowly at first, and then faster until they outrun the
lightning and leap into the dark valley below. And what is required of a
husband is that he be a true believer, young and whole in every part,
and of a charitable disposition.'
'Truly,' laughed Zehowah, 'if he have no possessions, charity will avail
him little, since he has nothing to give.'
'There is other charity besides the giving of alms, my daughter, since
it is charity even to think charitably of others, as you know. But I
have not said that you should marry this man, for you are free. And
indeed I have not yet talked with him. But I have sent for him and you
shall hear him speak. See--they are just now conducting him to the hall
of audiences. But indeed I think he is no husband for you, after all.'
The Sultan rose and went to receive Khaled, and Zehowah went to the
secret window above her father's raised seat in the hall.
Khaled made the customary salutation with the greatest respect, and the
Sultan made him sit down at his right hand as though he had been a
prince, and asked him whence he had come. Then a refreshment was
brought, and Khaled ate and drank a little, after which the Sultan
inquired his business.
'I come,' said Khaled boldly, 'to ask your daughter Zehowah in marriage.
I bring no gifts, for I have none to offer, nor have I any inheritance.
My mare is my fortune, my sword is my argument and my wit is in my arm.'
'You are a strange suitor,' said the Sultan; but he kept a pleasant
countenance, since Khaled was his guest. 'You are no doubt the sheikh of
a tribe of the Red Desert, though I was not aware that any tribes dwelt
there.'
'So far as being the sheikh of my tribe,' said Khaled with a smile,
'your majesty may call me so, for my tribe consists of myself alone,
seeing that I have neither father nor mother nor any relations.'
'Truly, I have never talked with such a suitor before,' answered the
Sultan. 'At least I presume that you are a son of some prince, and that
you have chosen to disguise yourself as a rich traveller and to hide
your history under an allegory.'
The Sultan would certainly not have allowed himself to overstep the
bounds of courtesy so far, but for his astonishment at Khaled's daring
manner. He was too keen, however, not to see that this man was
something above the ordinary and that, whatever else he might be, he was
not a common impostor. Such a fellow would have found means to rob a
caravan of valuable goods, to offer as gifts, would have brought himself
a train of camels and slaves and would have given himself out as a
prince of some distant country from which it would not be possible to
obtain information.
'Istaghfir Allah! I am no prince,' Khaled answered. 'I ask for the hand
of your daughter. The will of Allah will be accomplished.'
He knew that Zehowah was watching and listening behind the lattice in
her place of concealment, for the memory of such things had not been
taken from him when he had lost the supernatural vision of the genii and
had become an ordinary man. He was determined therefore to be truthful
and to say nothing which he might afterwards be called upon to explain.
For he never doubted but that Zehowah would be his wife, since the angel
had told him that it should be so.
'And what if I refuse even to consider your proposal?' inquired the
Sultan, to see what he would say.
'If it is the will of Allah that I marry your daughter, your refusal
would be useless, but if it is not his will, your refusal would be
altogether unnecessary.'
The Sultan was much struck by this argument which showed a ready wit in
the stranger and which he could only have opposed by asserting that his
own will was superior to that of heaven itself.
'But,' said he, defending himself, 'any of the previous suitors might
have said the same.'
'Undoubtedly,' replied Khaled, unabashed. 'But they did not say it. Your
majesty will certainly now consider the matter.'
'In the meanwhile,' the Sultan answered, very graciously, 'you are my
guest, and you have come in time to take part in the third day of the
feast, to which you are welcome in the name of Allah, the merciful.'
Thereupon the Sultan rose and Khaled was conducted to the apartments set
apart for the guests. But the Sultan returned to the harem in a very
thoughtful mood, and before long he found Zehowah who had returned to
her seat in the balcony.
'This is a very strange suitor,' he said, shaking his head and looking
into his daughter's face.
'He is at least bold and outspoken,' she answered. 'He makes no secret
of his poverty nor of his wishes. Whatever he be, he is in earnest and
speaks truth. I would like well to know the only secret which he wishes
to keep--who he really is.'
'It may be,' said the Sultan thoughtfully, 'that if I threaten to cut
off his head he will tell us. But on the other hand, he is a guest.'
'He is not of those who are easily terrified, I think. Tell me, my
father, do you wish me to marry him?'
'How could you marry a man who has no family and no inheritance? Would
such a marriage befit the daughter of kings?'
'Why not?' asked Zehowah with much calmness.
The Sultan stared at her in astonishment.
'Has this stranger enchanted your imagination?' he inquired by way of
answer.
'No,' replied Zehowah scornfully. 'I have seen the noblest, the most
beautiful and the richest of the earth, ready to take me to wife, and I
have not loved. Shall I love an outcast?'
'Then how can you ask my wishes?'
'Because there are good reasons why I should marry this man.'
'Good reasons? In the name of Allah let me hear them, if there are any.'
'You are old, my father,' said Zehowah, 'and it has not pleased heaven
to send you a son, nor to leave you any living relation to sit upon the
throne when your years are accomplished. You must needs think of your
successor.'
'The better reason for choosing some powerful prince, whose territory
shall increase the kingdom he inherits from me, and whose alliance shall
strengthen the empire I leave behind me.'
'Istaghfir Allah! The worse reason. For such a prince would be attached
to his own country, and would take me thither with him and would neglect
the kingdom of Nejed, regarding it as a land of strangers whom he may
oppress with taxes to increase his own splendour. And this is not
unreasonable, since no king can wisely govern two kingdoms separated
from each other by more than three days' journey. No man can have other
than the one of two reasons for asking me in marriage. Either he has
heard of me and desires to possess me, or he wishes to increase his
dominions by the inheritance which will be mine.'
'Doubtless, this is the truth,' said the Sultan. 'But so much the more
does this stranger in all probability covet my kingdom, since he has
nothing of his own.'
'This is what I mean. For, having no other possessions to distract his
attention, he will remain always here, and will govern your kingdom for
its own advantage in order that it may profit himself.'
'This is a subtle argument, my daughter, and one requiring
consideration.'
'The more so because the man seems otherwise well fitted to be my
husband, since he is a true believer, and young, and fearless and
outspoken.'
'But if this is all,' objected the Sultan, 'there are in Nejed several
young men, sons of my chief courtiers, who possess the same
qualifications. Choose one of them.'
'On the contrary, to choose one of them would arouse the jealousy of all
the rest, with their families and slaves and freedmen, whereby the
kingdom would easily be exposed to civil war. But if I take a stranger
it is more probable that all will be for him, since you are beloved, and
there is no reason why one party should oppose him and another support
him, since none of them know anything of him.'
'But he will not be beloved by the people unless he is liberal, and he
has nothing wherewith to be generous.'
'And where are the treasures of Riad?' laughed Zehowah. 'Is it not easy
for you to go secretly to his chamber and to give him as much gold as he
needs?'
'That is also true. I see that you have set your heart upon him.'
'Not my heart, my father, but my head. For I have infinitely more head
than heart, and I see that the welfare of the kingdom will be better
secured with such a ruler, than it would have been under a foreign
prince whose right hand would be perpetually thrust out to take in Nejed
that which his left hand would throw to courtiers in his own country. Do
I speak wisdom or folly?'
'It is neither all folly nor all wisdom.'
'I have seen this man, I have heard him speak,' said Zehowah. 'He is as
well as another since I must marry sooner or later. Moreover I have
another argument.'
'What is that?'
'Either he is a man strong enough to rule me, or he is not,' Zehowah
answered with a laugh. 'If he can govern me, he can govern the kingdom
of Nejed. But if not I will govern it for him, and rule him also.'
The Sultan looked up to heaven and slightly raised his hands from his
knees.
'Allah is merciful and forgiving!' he exclaimed. 'Is this the spirit
befitting a wife?'
'Is it charity to cause happiness?'
'Undoubtedly it is charity.'
'And which is greater, the happiness of many or the happiness of one?'
'The happiness of many is greater,' answered the Sultan. 'What then?' he
asked after a time, seeing that she said nothing more.
'I have spoken,' she replied. 'It is best that I should marry him.'
Then there was silence for a long time, during which the Sultan sat
quite motionless in his place, watching his daughter, while she looked
idly through the lattice at the people who came and went in the court
below. She seemed to feel no emotion.
The Sultan did not know how to oppose Zehowah's will any more than he
could answer her arguments, although his worldly wisdom was altogether
at variance with her decision. For she was the beloved child of his old
age and he could refuse her nothing. Moreover, in what she had said,
there was much which recommended itself to his judgment, though by no
means enough to persuade him. At last he rose from the carpet and
embraced her.
'If it is your will, let it be so,' he said.
'It is the will of Allah,' answered Zehowah. 'Let it be accomplished
immediately.'
With a sigh the Sultan withdrew and sent a messenger to Khaled
requesting him to come to another and more secluded chamber, where they
could be alone and talk freely.
Khaled showed no surprise on hearing that his suit was accepted, but he
thought it fitting to express much gratitude for the favourable
decision. Then the Sultan, who did not wish to seem too readily
yielding, began to explain to Khaled Zehowah's reasons for accepting a
poor stranger, presenting them as though they were his own.
'For,' he said, 'whatever you may in reality be, you have chosen to
present yourself to us in such a manner as would not have failed to
bring about a refusal under any other circumstances. But I have
considered that as it will be your destiny, if heaven grants you life,
to rule my kingdom after me, you will in all likelihood rule it more
wisely and carefully, for having no other cares in a distant country to
distract your attention; and because you have no relations you are the
less liable to the attacks of open or secret jealousy.'
The Sultan then gave him a large sum of money in gold pieces, which
Khaled gladly accepted, since he had not even wherewithal to buy himself
a garment for the wedding feast, still less to distribute gifts to the
courtiers and to the multitude. The Sultan also presented him with a
black slave to attend to his personal wants.
Khaled then sent for merchants from the bazar, and they brought him all
manner of rich stuffs, such as he needed. There came also two tailors,
who sat down upon a matting in his apartment and immediately began to
make him clothes, while the black slave sat beside them and watched
them, lest they should steal any of the gold of the embroideries.
When it was known in the palace that the Sultan's only daughter was to
be married at once, there were great rejoicings, and many camels were
slaughtered and a great number of sheep, to supply food for so great a
feast. A number of cooks were hired also to help those who belonged to
the palace, for although the Sultan fed daily more than three hundred
persons, guests, travellers, and poor, besides all the members of the
household, yet this was as nothing compared with the multitude to be
provided for on the present occasion.
Then it was that Hadji Mohammed, the chief of the cooks, sat down upon
the floor in the midst of the main kitchen and beat his breast and wept.
For the confusion was great so that the voice of one man could not be
heard for the diabolical screaming of the many, and the cooks smote the
young lads who helped them, and these, running to escape from the blows,
fell against the porters who came in from outside bearing sacks of
sugar, and great baskets of fruit and quarters of meat and skins of
water, and bushels of meal and a hundred other things equally necessary
to the cooking; and the porters, staggering under their burdens, fell
between the legs of the mules loaded with firewood, that had been
brought to the gate, and the dumb beasts kicked violently in all
directions, while the slaves who drove them struck them with their
staves, and the mules began to run among the camels, and the camels,
being terrified, rose from the ground and began to plunge and skip like
young foals, while more porters and more mules and more slaves came on
in multitudes to the door of the kitchen. And it was very hot, for it
was noontide, and in summer, and there were flies without number, and
the dogs that had been sleeping in the shade sprang up and barked loudly
and bit whomsoever they could reach, and all the men bellowed together,
so that the confusion was extreme.
'Verily,' cried Hadji Mohammed, 'this is not a kitchen but Yemamah, and
I am not the chief of the cooks, but the chief of sinners and fuel for
hell.' So he wept bitterly and beat his breast.
But at last matters mended, for there were many who were willing to do
well, so that when the time came Hadji Mohammed was able to serve an
honourable feast to all, though the number of the guests was not less
than two thousand.
But Khaled, having visited the bath, arrayed himself magnificently and
rode upon his bay mare to the mosque, surrounded by the courtiers and
the chief officers of the state, and by a great throng of slaves from
the palace. As he rode, he scattered gold pieces among the people from
the bags which he carried, and all praised his liberality and swore by
Allah that Zehowah was taking a very goodly husband. And as none knew
whence he came, all were equally pleased, but most of all the Bedouins
from the desert, of whom there were many at that time in Riad, who had
come to keep the feast Bairam, for Khaled's own words had been repeated,
and they had heard that he came from the desert like themselves. And
when he had finished his prayers, he rode back to the palace.
When the time for the feast came the Sultan led Khaled into the great
hall and made him sit at his right hand. The Sultan himself was
magnificently dressed and covered with priceless jewels, so that he
shone like the sun among all the rest. Then he presented Khaled to the
assembly.
'This,' said he, 'is Khaled, my beloved son-in-law, the husband of my
only daughter, whom it has pleased Allah to send me, as the stay of my
old age and as the successor to my kingdom. He will be terrible in war
as Khaled ibn Walid, his namesake, the Sword of the Lord, and gentle and
just in peace as Abu Bakr of blessed memory. He is as brave as the lion,
as strong as the camel, as swift as the ostrich, as sagacious as the fox
and as generous as the pelican, who feeds her young with the blood of
her own breast. Love him therefore, as you have loved me, for he is
extremely worthy of affection, and hate his enemies and be faithful to
him in the time of danger. By the blessing of Allah he shall rear up
children to me in my old age, to be with you when he is gone.'
Thereupon Khaled turned and answered, speaking modestly but with much
dignity in his manner.
'Ye men of Nejed, this is my marriage feast and I invite you all to be
merry with me. Whether it shall please Allah to give me a long life, or
whether it shall please him to take me this night I know not. We are in
the hand of Allah. But this I do know. I will love you as my own people,
seeing that I have no people of my own. I will fight for you as a man
fights for his own soul, for his wife and for his children, and I will
divide justly the spoils in war, and give in peace whatsoever I am able,
to all those who are in need. I swear by Allah! You are all witnesses.'
The courtiers and all the guests were much pleased with this short
speech, for they saw that Khaled was a man of few words and not proud or
overbearing, and none could look into his face and doubt his promise.
For the present moment at least Zehowah's prediction had been verified,
for no one was jealous of him, and there was but one party among them
all and that was for him. So they all feasted together in harmony until
the sun was low.
In the meantime Zehowah remained in the harem, surrounded by her women,
and a separate meal was brought to them. They all sat upon the rich
carpets leaning on cushions set against the walls, and small low tables
were brought in, covered with dishes and bowls containing delicately
prepared rice and mutton in great abundance and fresh blanket bread, hot
from the stones, and olives brought from Syria. Afterwards came
sweetmeats without number, such as Hadji Mohammed knew how to prepare,
and gold and silver goblets filled with a drink made from large sweet
lemons and water, which is called 'treng.' Zehowah indeed ate sparingly,
for she was accustomed to such dainties every day, but her women were
delighted with the abundance and left nothing to be taken away.
While they were eating six of the women played upon musical instruments
by turns, while others danced slow and graceful measures, singing as
they moved, and describing the unspeakable happiness which awaited their
princess in marriage. Afterwards when the tables had been taken away and
they had washed their hands with rose water from Ajjem, Zehowah
commanded the singing and the dancing to cease, and the women brought
her one by one the dresses which she was to wear before Khaled. They
were very magnificent, for it had needed many years to prepare them, and
a great weight of gold and silver threads had been weighed out to the
tailors and embroiderers who had worked in the preparation of them ever
since Zehowah had been two years old. For the piece of material is
weighed first, and then the gold, and afterwards, when the work is
finished, the whole is weighed together, lest the tailors should steal
anything.
But Zehowah looked coldly at the garments, one after the other, as they
were brought and taken away, and the women fancied that she was to be
married to the stranger against her will, and that she remembered the
Indian prince.
'It is a pity,' one of them ventured to say, 'that the bridegroom has
not brought any elephants with him, for we would have watched them from
the balconies, since they are diverting beasts.'
'And it is a pity,' said Zehowah scornfully, 'that my husband has not a
round, soft face, like the moon in May, and the eyes of a gazelle and
the heart of a hare. Truly, such a one would have made you a good king,
seeing that he was also an unbeliever!'
'Nay,' said the woman humbly, 'Allah forbid that I should make a
comparison, or bring an ill omen on the day by speaking of that which
chanced a year ago. Truly, I only spoke of elephants, and not of men.
For, surely, we all said when we saw him in the court that he looked a
brave warrior and a goodly man.'
Then a messenger came from the Sultan saying that it was time to make
ready. So they went to another apartment, where the nuptial chamber had
been prepared. The Sultan came, then, leading Khaled, and followed by
the Kadi, and all the women veiled themselves while the latter read the
declaration of marriage. After that they all withdrew and Khaled took
his seat upon the high couch in the middle of the room. Presently all
the women returned, unveiled, with loud singing and playing of
instruments, leading Zehowah dressed in the first of the dresses which
she was to put on, and which, though it was very splendid, was of course
the least magnificent of all those which had been prepared. But Khaled
sat in his place looking on quietly, for he was acquainted with the
custom, and he cared little for the rich garments, but looked always
into Zehowah's face.