he was of great good cheer; for it is said that when Ibrahim's
neighbours heard him only sing out, 'Ho, boy, saddle the mule!' they
were filled with delight. Then, being overborne by mirth, he said to
me, 'O my lord, wilt thou give me leave to say what is come to my mind,
albeit I am not of the folk of this craft?' I answered, 'Do so; this is
of thy great courtesy and kindness.' So he took the lute and sang these
verses,
'To our beloveds we moaned our length of night; * Quoth they,
'How short the nights that us benight!'
'Tis for that sleep like hood enveils their eyes * Right soon,
but from our eyes is fair of flight:
When night-falls, dread and drear to those who love, * We mourn;
they joy to see departing light:
Had they but dree'd the weird, the bitter dole * We dree, their
beds like ours had bred them blight.'
(Quoth Ibrahim), So I said to him, 'By Allah, thou hast shown me a
kindness, O my friend, and hast done away from me the pangs of sorrow.
Let me hear more trifles of thy fashion.' So he sang these couplets,
'When man keeps honour bright without a stain, * Pair sits
whatever robe to robe he's fain!
She jeered at me because so few we are; * Quoth I:—'There's ever
dearth of noble men!'
Naught irks us we are few, while neighbour tribes * Count many;
neighbours oft are base-born strain:
We are a clan which holds not Death reproach, * Which A'mir and
Samъl[FN#151] hold illest bane:
Leads us our love of death to fated end; * They hate that ending
and delay would gain:
We to our neighbours' speech aye give the lie, * But when we
speak none dare give lie again.'
(Quoth Ibrahim), When I heard these lines, I was filled with huge
delight and marvelled with exceeding marvel. Then I slept and awoke not
till past night-fall, when I washed my face, with a mind full of the
high worth of this barber-surgeon and his passing courtesy; after which
I wakened him and, taking out a purse I had by me containing a number
of gold pieces, threw it to him, saying, 'I commend thee to Allah, for
I am about to go forth from thee, and pray thee to expend what is in
this purse on thine requirements; and thou shalt have an abounding
reward of me, when I am quit of my fear.' (Quoth Ibrahim), But he
resumed the bag to me, saying, 'O my lord, paupers like myself are of
no value in thine eyes; but how, with due respect to my own generosity,
can I take a price for the boon which fortune hath vouchsafed me of thy
favour and thy visit to my poor abode? Nay, if thou repeat thy words
and throw the purse to me again I will slay myself.' So I put in my
sleeve[FN#152] the purse whose weight was irksome to me."—And Shahrazad
perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
When it was the Two Hundred and Seventy-fourth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Ibrahim son of
Al-Mahdi continued, "So I put in my sleeve the purse whose weight was
irksome to me; and turned to depart, but when I came to the house door
he said, 'O my lord, of a truth this is a safer hiding-place for thee
than any other, and thy keep is no burden to me; so do thou abide with
me, till Allah be pleased grant thee relief.' Accordingly, I turned
back, saying, 'On condition that thou spend of the money in this
purse.' He made me think that he consented to this arrangement, and I
abode with him some days in the utmost comfort; but, perceiving that he
spent none of the contents of the purse, I revolted at the idea of
abiding at his charge and thought it shame to be a burthen on him; so I
left the house disguised in women's apparel, donning short yellow
walking- boots[FN#153] and veil. Now as soon as I found myself in the
street, I was seized with excessive fear, and going to pass the bridge
behold, I came to a place sprinkled with water,[FN#154] where a
trooper, who been in my service, looked at me and knowing me, cried
out, saying, 'This is he whom Al-Maamun wanteth.' Then he laid hold of
me but the love of sweet life lent me strength and I gave him and his
horse a push which threw them down in that slippery place, so that he
became an example to those who will take example; and the folk hastened
to him. Meanwhile, I hurried my pace over the bridge and entered a main
street, where I saw the door of a house open and a woman standing upon
the threshold. So I said to her, 'O my lady, have pity on me and save
my life; for I am a man in fear.' Quoth she, 'Enter and welcome;' and
carried me into an upper dining-room, where she spread me a bed and
brought me food, saying 'Calm thy fear, for not a soul shall know of
thee.' As she spoke lo! there came a loud knocking at the door; so she
went and opened, and suddenly, my friend, whom I had thrown down on the
bridge, appeared with his head bound up, the blood running down upon
his clothes and without his horse. She asked, 'O so and so, what
accident hath befallen thee?'; and he answered, 'I made prize of the
young man whom the Caliph seeketh and he escaped from me;' whereupon he
told her the whole story. So she brought out tinder[FN#155] and,
putting it into a piece of rag bandaged his head; after which she
spread him a bed and he lay sick. Then she came up to me and said,
'Methinks thou art the man in question?' 'Even so,' answered I, and she
said, 'Fear not: no harm shall befall thee,' and redoubled in kindness
to me. So I tarried with her three days, at the end of which time she
said to me, 'I am in fear for thee, lest yonder man happen upon thee
and betray thee to what thou dreadest; so save thyself by flight.' I
besought her to let me stay till nightfall, and she said, 'There is no
harm in that.' So, when the night came, I put on my woman's gear and
betook me to the house of a freed-woman who had once been our slave.
When she saw me she wept and made a show of affliction and praised
Almighty Allah for my safety. Then she went forth, as if she would go
to market intent on hospitable thoughts, and I fancied all was right;
but, ere long, suddenly I espied Ibrahim al-Mosili[FN#156] for the
house amongst his troopers and servants, and led by a woman on foot;
and looking narrowly at her behold, she was the freed-woman, the
mistress of the house, wherein I had taken refuge. So she delivered me
into their hands, and I saw death face to face. They carried me, in my
woman's attire, to Al-Maamun who called a general-council and had me
brought before him. When I entered I saluted him by the title of
Caliph, saying, 'Peace be on thee, O Commander of the Faithful!' and he
replied, 'Allah give thee neither peace nor long life.' I rejoined,
'According to thy good pleasure, O Commander of the Faithful!; it is
for the claimant of blood- revenge[FN#157] to decree punishment or
pardon; but mercy is nigher to piety; and Allah hath set thy pardon
above all other pardon, even as He made my sin to excel all other sin.
So, if thou punish, it is of thine equity, and if thou pardon, it is of
thy bounty.' And I repeated these couplets,
'My sin to thee is great, * But greater thy degree:
So take revenge, or else * Remit in clemency:
An I in deeds have not* Been generous, generous be!
(Quoth Ibrahim), At this Al-Maamun raised his head to me and I hastened
to add these two couplets,
'I've sinned enormous sin, * But pardon in thee lies:
If pardon thou, 'tis grace; * Justice an thou chastise!'
Then Al-Maamun bowed his head and repeated,
'I am (when friend would raise a rage that mote * Make spittle
choke me, sticking in my throat)
His pardoner, and pardon his offense, * Fearing lest I should
live a friend without.'
(Quoth Ibrahim), Now when I heard these words I scented mercy, knowing
his disposition to clemency.[FN#158] Then he turned to his son Al Abbas
and his brother Abu Ishak and all his chief officers there present and
said to them, 'What deem ye of his case?' They all counselled him to do
me dead, but they differed as to the manner of my death. Then said he
to his Wazir Ahmad bin al-Khбlid, 'And what sayest thou, O Ahmad?' He
answered, 'O Commander of the Faithful, an thou slay him, we find the
like of thee who hath slain the like of him; but an thou pardon him, we
find not the like of thee that hath pardoned the like of him.'"— And
Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted
say.
When it was the Two Hundred and Seventy-fifth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when Al Maamun,
Prince of the Faithful, heard the words of Ahmad bin al-Khбlid, he
bowed his head and began repeating,
"My tribe have slain that brother mine, Umaym, * Yet would shoot
back what shafts at them I aim:
If I deal-pardon, noble pardon 'tis; * And if I shoot, my bones
'twill only maim."[FN#159]
And he also recited,
"Be mild to brother mingling * What is wrong with what is right:
Kindness to him continue * Whether good or graceless wight:
Abstain from all reproaching, * An he joy or vex thy sprite:
Seest not that what thou lovest * And what hatest go unite?
That joys of longer life-tide * Ever fade with hair turned
white?
That thorns on branches growing * For the plucks fruit catch thy
sight?
Who never hath done evil,* Doing good for sole delight?
When tried the sons of worldli-* ness they mostly work upright."
Quoth Ibrahim, "Now when I heard these couplets, I withdrew my woman's
veil from my head and cried out, with my loudest voice, 'Allah is Most
Great! By Allah, the Commander of the Faithful pardoneth me!' Quoth he,
'No harm shall come to thee, O uncle;' and I rejoined, 'O Commander of
the Faithful, my sin is too sore for me to excuse it and thy mercy is
too much for me to speak thanks for it.' And I chanted these couplets
to a lively motive,
'Who made all graces all collected He * In Adam's loins, our
Seventh Imam, for thee,[FN#160]
Thou hast the hearts of men with reverence filled, * Enguarding
all with heart-humility
Rebelled I never by delusion whelmed * For object other than thy
clemency ;[FN#161]
And thou hast pardoned me whose like was ne'er * Pardoned before,
though no man pled my plea:
Hast pitied little ones like Katб's[FN#162] young, * And mother's
yearning heart a son to see.'
Quoth Maamun, 'I say, following our lord Joseph (on whom and on our
Prophet be blessing and peace!) let there be no reproach cast on you
this day. Allah forgiveth you; for He is the most merciful of those who
show mercy.[FN#163] Indeed I pardon thee, and restore to thee thy goods
and lands, O uncle, and no harm shall befall thee.' So I offered up
devout prayers for him and repeated these couplets,
'Thou hast restored my wealth sans greed, and ere * So didst,
thou deignиdest my blood to spare:
Then if I shed my blood and wealth, to gain * Thy grace, till
even shoon from foot I tear,
Twere but repaying what thou lentest me, * And what unloaned no
man to blame would care:
Were I ungrateful for thy lavish boons, * Baser than thou'rt
beneficent I were!'
Then Al-Maamun showed me honour and favour and said to me, 'O uncle,
Abu Ishak and Al-Abbas counselled me to put thee to death.' So I
answered, 'And they both counselled thee right, O Commander of the
Faithful, but thou hast done after thine own nature and hast put away
what I feared with what I hoped.' Rejoined Al Maamun, 'O uncle, thou
didst extinguish my rancour with the modesty of thine excuse, and I
have pardoned thee without making thee drink the bitterness of
obligation to intercessors.' Then he prostrated himself in prayer a
long while, after which he raised his head and said to me, 'O uncle,
knowest thou why I prostrated myself?' Answered I, 'Haply thou didst
this in thanksgiving to Allah, for that He hath given thee the mastery
over thine enemy.' He replied, 'Such was not my design, but rather to
thank Allah for having inspired me to pardon thee and for having
cleared my mind towards thee. Now tell me thy tale.' So I told him all
that had befallen me with the barber, the trooper and his wife and with
my freed-woman who had betrayed me. So he summoned the freed-woman, who
was in her house, expecting the reward to be sent to her, and when she
came before him he said to her, 'What moved thee to deal thus with thy
lord?' Quoth she, 'Lust of money.' Asked the Caliph 'Hast thou a child
or a husband?'; and she answered 'No;' whereupon he bade them give her
an hundred stripes with a whip and imprisoned her for life. Then he
sent for the trooper and his wife and the barber-surgeon and asked the
soldier what had moved him to do thus. 'Lust of money,' quoth he;
whereupon quoth the Caliph, 'It befitteth thee to be a
barber-cupper,'[FN#164] and committed him to one whom he charged to
place him in a barber-cupper's shop, where he might learn the craft.
But he showed honour to the trooper's wife and lodged her in his
palace, saying, 'This is a woman of sound sense and fit for matters of
moment.' Then said he to the barber-cupper, 'Verily, thou hast shown
worth and generosity which call for extraordinary honour.' So he
commanded the trooper's house and all that was therein to be given him
and bestowed on him a dress of honour and in addition fifteen thousand
dinars to be paid annually. And men tell the following tale concerning
THE CITY OF MANY COLUMNED IRAM AND ABDULLAH SON OF ABI KILABAH.[FN#165]
It is related that Abdullah bin Abi Kilбbah went forth in quest of a
she-camel which had strayed from him; and, as he was wandering in the
deserts of Al-Yaman and the district of Sabб,[FN#166] behold, he came
upon a great city girt by a vast castle around which were palaces and
pavilions that rose high into middle air. He made for the place
thinking to find there folk of whom he might ask concerning his
she-camel; but, when he reached it, he found it desolate, without a
living soul in it. So (quoth he) "I alighted and, hobbling my
dromedary,"—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say
her permitted say.
When it was the Two Hundred and Seventy-sixth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Abdullah bin Abi
Kilabah continued, "I dismounted and hobbling my dromedary, and
composing my mind, entered into the city. Now when I came to the
castle, I found it had two vast gates (never in the world was seen
their like for size height) inlaid with all manner of jewels and
jacinths, white and red, yellow and green. Beholding this I marvelled
with great marvel and thought the case mighty wondrous; then entering
the citadel in a flutter of fear and dazed with surprise and affright,
I found it long and wide, about equalling Al-Medinah[FN#167] in point
of size; and therein were lofty palaces laid out in pavilions all built
of gold and silver and inlaid with many-coloured jewels and jacinths
and chrysolites and pearls. And the door-leaves in the pavilions were
like those of the castle for beauty; and their floors were strewn with
great pearls and balls, no smaller than hazel nuts, of musk and
ambergris and saffron. Now when I came within the heart of the city and
saw therein no created beings of the Sons of Adam I was near swooning
and dying for fear. Moreover, I looked down from the great roofs of the
pavilion-chambers and their balconies and saw rivers running under
them; and in the main streets were fruit-laden trees and tall palms;
and the manner of their building was one brick of gold and one of
silver. So I said in myself, 'Doubtless this is the Paradise promised
for the world to come.' Then I loaded me with the jewels of its gravel
and the musk of its dust as much as I could carry and returned to my
own country, where I told the folk what I had seen. After a time the
news reached Mu'бwiyah, son of Abu Sufyбn, who was then Caliph in
Al-Hijaz; so he wrote to his lieutenant in San'б of Al-Yaman to send
for the teller of the story and question him of the truth of the case.
Accordingly the lieutenant summoned me and questioned me of my
adventure and of all appertaining to it; and I told him what I had
seen, whereupon he despatched me to Mu'awiyah, before whom I repeated
the story of the strange sights; but he would not credit it. So I
brought out to him some of the pearls and balls of musk and ambergris
and saffron, in which latter there was still some sweet savour; but the
pearls were grown yellow and had lost pearly colour."—And Shahrazad
perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
When it was the Two Hundred and Seventy-seventh Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Abdullah son of
Abu Kilabah continued, "But the pearls were grown yellow and had lost
pearly colour. Now Mu'awiyah wondered at this and, sending for Ka'ab
al-Ahbar[FN#168] said to him, 'O Ka'ab, I have sent for thee to
ascertain the truth of a certain matter and hope that thou wilt be able
to certify me thereof.' Asked Ka'ab, 'What is it, O Commander of the
Faithful?'; and Mu'awiyah answered, 'Wottest thou of any city founded
by man which is builded of gold and silver, the pillars whereof are of
chrysolite and rubies and its gravel pearls and balls of musk and
ambergris and saffron?' He replied, 'Yes, O Commander of the Faithful,
this is 'Iram with pillars decked and dight, the like of which was
never made in the lands,'[FN#169] and the builder was Shaddad son of Ad
the Greater.' Quoth the Caliph, 'Tell us something of its history,' and
Ka'ab said, 'Ad the Greater[FN#170] had two sons, Shadнd and Shaddбd
who, when their father died, ruled conjointly in his stead, and there
was no King of the Kings of the earth but was subject to them. After
awhile Shadid died and his brother Shaddad reigned over the earth
alone. Now he was fond of reading in antique books; and, happening upon
the description of the world to come and of Paradise, with its
pavilions and galleries and trees and fruits and so forth, his soul
moved him to build the like thereof in this world, after the fashion
aforesaid. Now under his hand were an hundred thousand Kings, each
ruling over an hundred thousand chiefs, commanding each an hundred
thousand warriors; so he called these all before him and said to them,
'I find in ancient books and annals a description of Paradise, as it is
to be in the next world, and I desire to build me its like in this
world. Go ye forth therefore to the goodliest tract on earth and the
most spacious and build me there a city of gold and silver, whose
gravel shall be chrysolite and rubies and pearls; and for support of
its vaults make pillars of jasper. Fill it with palaces, whereon ye
shall set galleries and balconies and plant its lanes and thoroughfares
with all manner trees bearing yellow-ripe fruits and make rivers to run
through it in channels of gold and silver.' Whereat said one and all,
'How are we able to do this thing thou hast commanded, and whence shall
we get the chrysolites and rubies and pearls whereof thou speakest?'
Quoth he, 'What! weet ye not that the Kings of the world are subject to
me and under my hand and that none therein dare gainsay my word?'
Answered they, 'Yes, we know that.'"—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn
of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
When it was the Two Hundred and Seventy-eighth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the lieges
answered, "Yes, we know that;" whereupon the King rejoined, "Fare ye
then to the mines of chrysolites and rubies and pearls and gold and
silver and collect their produce and gather together all of value that
is in the world and spare no pains and leave naught; and take also for
me such of these things as be in men's hands and let nothing escape
you: be diligent and beware of disobedience." And thereupon he wrote
letters to all the Kings of the world and bade them gather together
whatso of these things was in their subjects' hands, and get them to
the mines of precious stones and metals, and bring forth all that was
therein, even from the abysses of the seas. This they accomplished in
the space of 20 years, for the number of rulers then reigning over the
earth was three hundred and sixty Kings, and Shaddad presently
assembled from all lands and countries architects and engineers and men
of art and labourers and handicraftsmen, who dispersed over the world
and explored all the wastes and words and tracts and holds. At last
they came to an uninhabited spot, a vast and fair open plain clear of
sand-hills and mountains, with founts flushing and rivers rushing, and
they said, "This is the manner of place the King commanded us to seek
and ordered us to find." So they busied themselves in building the city
even as bade them Shaddad, King of the whole earth in its length and
breadth; leading the fountains in channels and laying the foundations
after the prescribed fashion. Moreover, all the Kings of earth's
several-reigns sent thither jewels and precious stones and pearls large
and small and carnelian and refined gold and virgin silver upon camels
by land, and in great ships over the waters, and there came to the
builders' hands of all these materials so great a quantity as may
neither be told nor counted nor conceived. So they laboured at the work
three hundred years; and, when they had brought it to end, they went to
King Shaddad and acquainted him therewith. Then said he, "Depart and
make thereon an impregnable castle, rising and towering high in air,
and build around it a thousand pavilions, each upon a thousand columns
of chrysolite and ruby and vaulted with gold, that in each pavilion a
Wazir may dwell." So they returned forthwith and did this in other
twenty years; after which they again presented themselves before King
Shaddad and informed him of the accomplishment of his will. Then he
commanded his Wazirs, who were a thousand in number, and his Chief
Officers and such of his troops and others as he put trust in, to
prepare for departure and removal to Many-columned Iram, in the suite
and at the stirrup of Shaddad, son of Ad, King of the World; and he
bade also such as he would of his women and his Harim and of his
handmaids and eunuchs make them ready for the journey. They spent
twenty years in preparing for departure, at the end of which time
Shaddad set out with his host.—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day
and ceased saying her permitted say.
When it was the Two Hundred and Seventy-ninth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Shaddad bin Ad
fared forth, he and his host, rejoicing in the attainment of his desire
till there remained but one day's journey between him and Iram of the
Pillars. Then Allah sent down on him and on the stubborn unbelievers
with him a mighty rushing sound from the Heavens of His power, which
destroyed them all with its vehement clamour, and neither Shaddad nor
any of his company set eyes on the city.[FN#171] Moreover, Allah
blotted out the road which led to the city, and it stands in its stead
unchanged until the Resurrection Day and the Hour of Judgement." So
Mu'awiyah wondered greatly at Ka'ab al-Ahbar's story and said to him,
"Hath any mortal ever made his way to that city?" He replied, "Yes; one
of the companions of Mohammed (on whom be blessing and peace!) reached
it, doubtless and forsure after the same fashion as this man here
seated." "And (quoth Al-Sha'abi[FN#172]) it is related, on the
authority of learned men of Himyar in Al-Yaman that Shaddad, when
destroyed with all his host by the sound, was succeeded in his Kingship
by his son Shaddad the Less, whom he left vice-regent in
Hazramaut[FN#173] and Saba, when he and his marched upon Many-columned
Iram. Now as soon as he heard of his father's death on the road, he
caused his body to be brought back from the desert to Hazramaut and
bade them hew him out a tomb in a cave, where he laid the body on a
throne of gold and threw over the corpse threescore and ten robes of
cloth of gold, purfled with precious stones. Lastly at his sire's head
he set up a tablet of gold whereon were graven these verses,
'Take warning O proud, * And in length o' life vain!
I'm Shaddбd son of Ad, * Of the forts castellain;
Lord of pillars and power,* Lord of tried might and main,
Whom all earth-sons obeyed* For my mischief and bane
And who held East and West* In mine awfullest reign.
He preached me salvation * Whom God did assain,[FN#174]
But we crossed him and asked * 'Can no refuge be ta'en?'
When a Cry on us cried * From th' horizon plain,
And we fell on the field * Like the harvested grain,
And the Fixt Day await * We, in earth's bosom lain!'"