wants nor word nor sign;
And, when thou dost behold her rarest grace, * The charms of
every garden canst decline.'
Q "At what time is copulation good?" "If by night, after food digested
and if by day, after the morning meal." Q "What are the most excellent
fruits?" "Pomegranate and citron." Q "Which is the most excellent of
vegetables?" "Endive.[FN#411]" Q "Which of sweet-scented flowers?"
"Rose and Violet." Q "How is the seed of man secreted?" "There is in
man a vein which feedeth all the other veins. Now water is collected
from the three hundred and sixty veins and, in the form of red blood,
entereth the left testicle, where it is decocted, by the heat of
temperament inherent in the son of Adam, into a thick, white liquid,
whose odour is as that of the palm-spathe." Q "What flying thing is it
that emitteth seed and menstruateth?" "The flitter-mouse,[FN#412] that
is the bat." Q "What is that which, when confined and shut out from the
air liveth, and when let out to smell the air dieth?" "The fish." Q
"What serpent layeth eggs?" "The Su'ban or dragon.[FN#413]" With this
the physician waxed weary with much questioning, and held his peace,
when Tawaddud said to the Caliph, "O Commander of the Faithful, 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."—And
Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted
say.
When it was the Four Hundred and Fifty-fourth Night,
She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the
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.[FN#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.'[FN#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.'[FN#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.'"[FN#417] Q "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."[FN#418] Q "Enumerate to me the mansions of the
moon?"[FN#419] "They number eight-and-twenty, to wit, Sharatαn, Butayn,
Surayα, Dabarαn, Hak'ah, Han'ah, Zirα'a, Nasrah, Tarf, Jabhah, Zubrah,
Sarfah, 'Awwα, Simαk, Ghafar, Zubαnν, Iklνl, Kalb, Shaulah, Na'am,
Baldah, Sa'ad al-Zαbih, Sa'ad al-Bul'a, Sa'ad al-Su'ϊd, Sa'ad
al-Akhbiyah, Fargh the Former and Fargh the Latter; and Rishαa. They
are disposed in the order of the letters of the Abjad-hawwaz or older
alphabet,[FN#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 Surαyα, belong to Aries,
the other two-thirds of Surαyα, 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,
'Awwα and Simαk to Virgo; Ghafar, Zubαni and one-third of Iklνl to
Libra; the other two-thirds of Iklil, Kalb and two-thirds of Shaulah to
Scorpio; the other third of Shaulah, Na'αim and Baldah to Sagittarius;
Sa'ad al-Zαbih, 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'dd, Sa'ad al-Akhbiyah
and two-thirds of Fargh the Former to Aquarius, the other third of
Fargh the Former, Fargh the Latter and Rishαa to Pisces."—And Shahrazad
perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
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' 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.[FN#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.'"[FN#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." Q "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 Tϊbah to the end of Barmahαt.[FN#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!" Q
"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 Kiyαhk;[FN#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.
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." Q "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
Barmϊdah to Misra[FN#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!" Q "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!" Q "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 Hαtϊr, but cheap in Amshνr;
honey will be dear and grapes and water-melons will rot; and Allah is
Omniscient!" Q "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!"[FN#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." Q
"And that of Jupiter?" "In the sixth heaven." Q "And that of Mars?" "In
the fifth heaven." Q "And that of the Sun?" "In the fourth heaven." Q
"And that of Venus?" "In the third heaven." Q "And that of Mercury?"
"In the second heaven." Q "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,[FN#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.'[FN#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.
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 earthly, 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[FN#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.'"[FN#430]
Q "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';[FN#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.'"[FN#432] Q "What are the five that ate and drank, yet
came not out of loins nor womb?" "Adam and Simeon[FN#433] and Salih's
she-camel[FN#434] and Ishmael's ram and the bird that Abu Bakr the
Truth-teller saw in the cave.[FN#435]" Q "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!)." Q "What
man prayed a prayer neither on earth nor in heaven?" "Solomon, when he
prayed on his carpet, borne by the wind." Q "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." Q "Tell me what
tomb went about with him that lay buried therein?" "Jonah's whale, when
it had swallowed him." Q "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;[FN#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.
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." Q "What
is that which breatheth without life?" "Quoth Almighty Allah, 'By the
morning when it breatheth!'"[FN#437] Q "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."[FN#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 Siyyαr 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." Q "What did Allah
create with the hand of omnipotence?" "The 'Arsh, throne of God or the
empyreal heaven and the tree Tϊbα[FN#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." Q "Who is thy
father in Al-Islam?" "Mohammed, whom Allah bless and preserve!" Q "Who
was the father in Al-Islam of Mohammed?" "Abraham, the Friend of God."
Q "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." Q "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,[FN#440] when he cast it on the valley-ground
and it became, by permission of Allah, a writhing serpent." Q "What is
the meaning of the word of the Lord, 'And I have other occasion for
it?'"[FN#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." Q "What woman was
born of a man alone and what man of a woman alone?" "Eve of Adam and
Jesus of Mary.[FN#442]" Q "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." Q "Which is the open door and
which the shut?" "The Traditional Ordinances are the open door, the
Koranic the shut door." Q "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."[FN#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: