her lord, Ali Shar, "Durst thou disobey me?: it shall be an ill-omened
night for thee! Nay, but it behoveth thee to do my bidding and I will
make thee my minion and appoint thee one of my Emirs." Asked Ali Shar,
"And in what must I do thy bidding, O King of the age?" and she
answered, "Doff thy trousers and lie down on thy face." Quoth he, "That
is a thing in my life I never did; and if thou force me thereto, verily
I will accuse thee thereof before Allah on Resurrection-day. Take
everything thou hast given me and let me go from thy city." And he wept
and lamented; but she said, "Doff thy trousers and lie down on thy
face, or I will strike off thy head." So he did as she bade him and she
mounted upon his back; and he felt what was softer than silk and
smoother than cream and said in himself, "Of a truth, this King is
nicer than all the women!" Now for a time she abode on his back, then
she turned over on the bed, and he said to himself, "Praised be Allah!
It seemeth his yard is not standing." Then said she, "O Ali, it is of
the wont of my prickle that it standeth not, except they rub it with
their hands; so, come, rub it with thy hand, till it be at stand, else
will I slay thee." So saying, she lay down on her back and taking his
hand, set it to her parts, and he found these same parts softer than
silk; white, plumply-rounded, protuberant, resembling for heat the hot
room of the bath or the heart of a lover whom love-longing hath wasted.
Quoth Ali in himself, "Verily, our King hath a coynte; this is indeed a
wonder of wonders!" And lust get hold on him and his yard rose and
stood upright to the utmost of its height; which when Zumurrud saw, she
burst out laughing and said to him, "O my lord, all this happeneth and
yet thou knowest me not!" He asked "And who art thou, O King?"; and she
answered, "I am thy slave- girl Zumurrud." Now whenas he knew this and
was certified that she was indeed his very slave-girl, Zumurrud, he
kissed her and embraced her and threw himself upon her as the lion upon
the lamb. Then he sheathed his steel rod in her scabbard and ceased not
to play the porter at her door and the preacher in her pulpit and the
priest[FN#323] at her prayer niche, whilst she with him ceased not from
inclination and prostration and rising up and sitting down,
accompanying her ejaculations of praise and of "Glory to Allah!" with
passionate movements and wrigglings and claspings of his member[FN#324]
and other amorous gestures, till the two little eunuchs heard the
noise. So they came and peeping from behind the curtains saw the King
lying on his back and upon him Ali Shar, thrusting and slashing whilst
she puffed and blew and wriggled. Quoth they, "Verily, this be no man's
wriggle: belike this King is a woman.''[FN#325] But they concealed
their affair and discovered it to none. And when the morrow came,
Zumurrud summoned all the troops and the lords of the realm and said to
them, "I am minded to journey to this man's country; so choose you a
viceroy, who shall rule over you till I return to you." And they
answered, "We hear and we obey." Then she applied herself to making
ready the wants of the way, to wit provaunt and provender, monies and
rarities for presents, camels and mules and so forth; after which she
set out from her city with Ali Shar, and they ceased not faring on,
till they arrived at his native place, where he entered his house and
gave many gifts to his friends and alms and largesse to the poor. And
Allah vouchsafed him children by her, and they both lived the gladdest
and happiest of lives, till there came to them the Destroyer of
delights and the Severer of societies and the Garnerer of graves. And
glorified be He the Eternal without cease, and praised be He in every
case! And amongst other tales they tell one of
THE LOVES OF JUBAYR BIN UMAYR AND THE LADY BUDUR.
It is related that the Commander of the Faithful, Harun al-Rashid was
uneasy[FN#326] one night and could not sleep; so that he ceased not to
toss from side to side for very restlessness, till, growing weary of
this, he called Masrur and said to him, "Ho, Masrur, find me some one
who may solace me in this my wakefulness." He answered, "O Prince of
True Believers, wilt thou walk in the palace-garden and divert thyself
with the sight of its blooms and gaze upon the stars and constellations
and note the beauty of their ordinance and the moon among them rising
in sheen over the water?" Quoth the Caliph, "O Masrur, my heart
inclineth not to aught of this." Quoth he, "O my lord, there are in thy
palace three hundred concubines, each of whom hath her separate
chamber. Do thou bid all and every retire into her own apartment and
then do thou go thy rounds and amuse thyself with gazing on them
without their knowledge." The Caliph replied, "O Masrur, the palace is
my palace and the girls are my property: furthermore my soul inclineth
not to aught of this." Then Masrur rejoined, "O my lord, summon the
doctors of law and religion and the sages of science and poets, and bid
them contend before thee in argument and disputation and recite to thee
songs and verses and tell thee tales and anecdotes." Replied the
Caliph, "My soul inclineth not to aught of this;" and Masrur rejoined,
"O my lord, bid pretty boys and the wits and the cup-companions attend
thee and solace thee with witty sallies." "O Masrur," ejaculated the
Caliph, "indeed my soul inclineth not to aught of this." "Then, O my
lord," cried Masrur, "strike off my head;"—And Shahrazad perceived the
dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
When it was the Three Hundred and Twenty-eighth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Masrur cried out
to the Caliph, "O my lord, strike off my head; haply that will dispel
thine unease and do away the restlessness that is upon thee." So
Al-Rashid laughed at his saying and said, "See which of the
boon-companions is at the door." Thereupon he went out and returning,
said, "O my lord, he who sits without is Ali bin Mansur of Damascus,
the Wag."[FN#327] "Bring him to me," quoth Harun: and Masrur went out
and returned with Ibn Mansur, who said, on entering, "Peace be with
thee, O Commander of the Faithful!" The Caliph returned his salutation
and said to him, "O Ibn Mansur, tell us some of thy stories." Said the
other, "O Commander of the Faithful, shall I tell thee what I have seen
with my eyes or what I have only heard tell?" Replied the Caliph, "If
thou have seen aught worth telling, let us hear it; for hearing is not
like seeing." Said Ibn Mansur, "O Commander of the Faithful, lend me
thine ear and thy heart;" and he answered, "O Ibn Mansur, behold, I am
listening to thee with mine ears and looking at thee with mine eyes and
attending to thee with my heart." So Ibn Mansur began: "Know then, O
Commander of the Faithful, that I receive a yearly allowance from
Mohammed bin Sulaymбn al-Hбshimi, Sultan of Bassorah; so I went to him
once upon a time, as usual, and found him ready to ride out hunting and
birding. I saluted him and he returned my salute, and said, 'O son of
Mansur, mount and come with us to the chase:' but I said, 'O my lord, I
can no longer ride; so do thou station me in the guest-house and give
thy chamberlains and lieutenants charge over me.' And he did so and
departed for his sport. His people entreated me with the utmost honour
and entertained me with the greatest hospitality; but said I to myself,
'By Allah, it is a strange thing that for so long I have been in the
habit of coming from Baghdad to Bassorah, yet know no more of this town
than from palace to garden and from garden to palace. When shall I find
an occasion like this to view the different parts and quarters of
Bassorah? I will rise forthwith and walk forth alone and divert myself
and digest what I have eaten.' Accordingly I donned my richest dress
and went out a walking about Bassorah. Now it is known to thee, O
Commander of the Faithful, that it hath seventy streets, each seventy
leagues[FN#328] long, the measure of Irak; and I lost myself in its
by-streets and thirst overcame me. Presently, as I went along, O Prince
of True Believers, behold, I came to a great door, whereon were two
rings of brass,[FN#329] with curtains of red brocade drawn before it.
And on either side of the door was a stone bench and over it was a
trellis, covered with a creeping vine that hung down and shaded the
door way. I stood still to gaze upon the place, and presently heard a
sorrowful voice, proceeding from a heart which did not rejoice, singing
melodiously and chanting these cinquains,
'My body bides the sad abode of grief and malady, * Caused by a
fawn whose land and home are in a far countrie:
O ye two Zephyrs of the wold which caused such pain in me * By
Allah, Lord of you! to him my heart's desire, go ye
And chide him so perchance ye soften him I pray.
And tell us all his words if he to hear your speech shall deign,
* And unto him the tidings bear of lovers 'twixt you twain:
And both vouchsafe to render me a service free and fain, * And
lay my case before him showing how I e'er complain:
And say, 'What ails thy bounder thrall this wise to
drive away,
Without a fault committed and without a sin to show; * Or heart
that leans to other wight or would thy love forego:
Or treason to our plighted troth or causing thee a throe?' * And
if he smile then say ye twain in accents soft and slow,
'An thou to him a meeting grant 'twould be the kindest
way!
For he is gone distraught for thee, as well indeed, he might *
His eyes are wakeful and he weeps and wails the livelong
night :'
If seem he satisfied by this why then 'tis well and right, * But
if he show an angry face and treat ye with despite,
Trick him and 'Naught we know of him!' I beg you both
to say.'
Quoth I to myself, 'Verily, if the owner of this voice be fair, she
conjoineth beauty of person and eloquence and sweetness of voice.' Then
I drew near the door, and began raising the curtain little by little,
when lo! I beheld a damsel, white as a full moon when it mooneth on its
fourteenth night, with joined eyebrows twain and languorous lids of
eyne, breasts like pomegranates twin and dainty, lips like double
carnelian, a mouth as it were the seal-of Solomon, and teeth ranged in
a line that played with the reason of proser and rhymer, even as saith
the poet,
'O pearly mouth of friend, who set those pretty pearls in line, *
And filled thee full of whitest chamomile and reddest wine?
Who lent the morning-glory in thy smile to shimmer and shine *
Who with that ruby-padlock dared thy lips to seal-and sign!
Who looks on thee at early morn with stress of joy and bliss *
Goes mad for aye, what then of him who wins a kiss of
thine?'[FN#330]
And as saith another,
'O pearl-set mouth of friend * Pity poor Ruby's cheek
Boast not o'er one who owns * Thee, union and unique.'
In brief she comprised all varieties of loveliness and was a seduction
to men and women, nor could the gazer satisfy himself with the sight of
her charms; for she was as the poet hath said of her,
'When comes she, slays she; and when back he turns, * She makes
all men regard with loving eyes:
A very sun! a very moon! but still * Prom hurt and harmful ills
her nature flies.
Opes Eden's garden when she shows herself, * And full moon see we
o'er her necklace rise.'
How as I was looking at her through an opening of the curtain, behold,
she turned; and, seeing me standing at the door, said to her handmaid,
'See who is at the door.' So the slave-girl came up to me and said, 'O
Shaykh, hast thou no shame, or do impudent airs suit hoary hairs?'
Quoth I, 'O my mistress, I confess to the hoary hairs, but as for
impudent airs, I think not to be guilty of unmannerliness.' Then the
mistress broke in, 'And what can be more unmannerly than to intrude
thyself upon a house other than thy house and gaze on a Harim other
than thy Harim?' I pleaded, 'O my lady, I have an excuse;' and when she
asked, 'And what is thine excuse?' I answered, 'I am a stranger and so
thirsty that I am well nigh dead of thirst.' She rejoined, 'We accept
thine excuse,' —And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to
say her permitted say.
When It was the Three Hundred and Twenty-ninth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the young lady
rejoined, 'We accept thine excuse,' and calling one of her slave maids,
said to her, 'O Lutf,[FN#331] give him to drink in the golden tankard.'
So she brought me a tankard of red gold, set with pearls and gems of
price, full of water mingled with virgin musk and covered with a napkin
of green silk, and I addressed myself to drink and was long about my
drinking, for I stole glances at her the while, till I could prolong my
stay no longer. Then I returned the tankard to the girl, but did not
offer to go; and she said to me, 'O Shaykh, wend thy way.' But I said,
'O my lady, I am troubled in mind.' She asked me 'for what?' and I
answered, 'For the turns of Time and the change of things.' Replied
she, 'Well mayst thou be troubled thereat for Time breedeth wonders.
But what hast thou seen of such surprises that thou shouldst muse upon
them?' Quoth I, 'I was thinking of the whilom owner of this house, for
he was my intimate in his lifetime.' Asked she, 'What was his name?';
and I answered, 'Mohammed bin Ali the Jeweller and he was a man of
great wealth. Tell me did he leave any children?' Said she, 'Yes, he
left a daughter, Budur by name, who inherited all his wealth?' Quoth I,
'Meseemeth thou art his daughter?' 'Yes,' answered she, laughing; then
added, 'O Shaykh, thou best talked long enough; now wend thy ways.'
Replied I, 'Needst must I go, but I see thy charms are changed by being
out of health; so tell me thy case; it may be Allah will give thee
comfort at my hands.' Rejoined she, 'O Shayth, if thou be a man of
discretion, I will discover to thee my secret; but first tell me who
thou art, that I may know whether thou art worthy of confidence or not;
for the poet saith,[FN#332]
'None keepeth a secret but a faithful person: with the best of
mankind remaineth concealed.
I have kept my secret in a house with a lock, whose key is lost
and whose door is sealed.'
Thereto I replied, 'O my lady, an thou wouldest know who I am, I am Ali
bin Mansъr of Damascus, the Wag, cup-companion to the Commander of the
Faithful, Harun al-Rashid.' Now when she heard my name, she came down
from her seat and saluting me, said, 'Welcome, O Ibn Mansur! Now will I
tell thee my case and entrust thee with my secret. I am a lover
separated from her beloved.' I answered, 'O my lady, thou art fair and
shouldest be on love terms with none but the fair. Whom then dost thou
love?' Quoth she, 'I love Jubayr bin Umayr al-Shaybбni, Emir of the
Banъ Shaybбn;[FN#333]' and she described to me a young man than whom
there was no prettier fellow in Bassorah. I asked, 'O my lady, have
interviews or letters passed between you?' and she answered 'Yes, but
our love was tongue-love souls, not heart and souls- love; for he kept
not his trust nor was he faithful to his troth.' Said I, 'O my lady,
and what was the cause of your separation?', and she replied, 'I was
sitting one day whilst my handmaid here combed my hair. When she had
made an end of combing it, she plaited my tresses, and my beauty and
loveliness charmed her; so she bent over me and kissed my
cheek.[FN#334] At that moment he came in unawares, and, seeing the girl
kiss my cheek, straightways turned away in anger, vowing
eternal-separation and repeating these two couplets,
'If another share in the thing I love, * I abandon my love and
live lorn of love.
My beloved is worthless if aught she will, * Save that which her
lover doth most approve.
And from the time he left me to this present hour, O Ibn Mansur, he
hath neither written to me nor answered my letters.' Quoth I, 'And what
purposes" thou to do?' Quoth she, 'I have a mind to send him a letter
by thee. If thou bring me back an answer, thou shalt have of me five
hundred gold pieces; and if not, then an hundred for thy trouble in
going and coming.' I answered, 'Do what seemeth good to thee; I hear
and I obey thee.' Whereupon she called to one of her slave-girls,
'Bring me ink case and paper,' and she wrote thereon these couplets,
'Beloved, why this strangeness, why this hate? * When shall thy
pardon reunite us two?
Why dost thou turn from me in severance? * Thy face is not the
face I am wont to know.
Yes, slanderers falsed my words, and thou to them * Inclining,
madest spite and envy grow.
An hast believed their tale, the Heavens forbid * Now thou
believe it when dost better bow!
By thy life tell what hath reached thine ear, * Thou know'st what
said they and so justice show.
An it be true I spoke the words, my words * Admit interpreting
and change allow:
Given that the words of Allah were revealed, * Folk changed the
Torah[FN#335] and still changing go:
What slanders told they of mankind before! * Jacob heard Joseph
blamed by tongue of foe.
Yea, for myself and slanderer and thee * An awful day of
reckoning there shall be.'
Then she sealed the letter and gave it to me; and I took it and carried
it to the house of Jubayr bin Umayr, whom I found absent a hunting. So
I sat down to wait for him; and behold, he returned from the chase; and
when I saw him, O Prince of True Believers, come riding up, my wit was
confounded by his beauty and grace. As soon as he sighted me sitting at
the house-door, he dismounted and coming up to me embraced me and
saluted me; and meseemed I embraced the world and all therein. Then he
carried me into his house and, seating me on his own couch, called for
food. They brought a table of Khalanj-wood of Khorasan with feet of
gold, whereon were all manners of meats, fried and roasted and the
like. So I seated myself at the table and examining it with care found
these couplets engraved upon it:"[FN#336]—And Shahrazad perceived the
dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say,
When it was the Three Hundred and Thirtieth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Ali son of
Mansur continued: "So I seated myself at the table of Jubayr bin
Umayr al-Shaybani and, examining it with care, found these
couplets engraved upon it,
'On these which once were-chicks,
Your mourning glances fix,
Late dwellers in the mansion of the cup,
Now nearly eaten up!
Let tears bedew
The memory of that stew,
Those partridges, once roast,
Now lost!
The daughters of the grouse in plaintive strain
Bemourn, and still bemourn, and mourn again!
The children of the fry,
We lately saw
Half smothered in pilau
With buttery mutton fritters smoking by!
Alas! my heart, the fish!
Who filled his dish,
With flaky form in varying colours spread
On the round pastry cake of household bread!
Heaven sent us that kabob!
For no one could
(Save heaven he should rob)
Produce a thing so excellently good,
Or give us roasted meat
With basting oil so savourily replete!
But, oh! mine appetite, alas! for thee!
Who on that furmeaty
So sharpset west a little while ago—
That furmeaty, which mashed by hands of snow,
A light reflection bore,
Of the bright bracelets that those fair hands wore;
Again remembrance glads my sense
With visions of its excellence!
Again I see the cloth unrolled
Rich worked in many a varied fold!
Be patient, oh! my soul, they say
Fortune rules all that's new and strange,
And though she pinches us to day,
To-morrow brings full rations, and a change!'[FN#337]
Then said Jubayr, 'Put forth thy hand to our food and ease our heart by
eating of our victual.' Answered I, 'By Allah, I will not eat a
mouthful, till thou grant me my desire.' He asked, 'What is thy
desire?'; so I brought out the letter and gave it to him; but, when he
had read it and mastered its contents, he tore it in pieces and
throwing it on the floor, said to me, 'O Ibn Mansur, I will grant thee
whatever thou askest save thy desire which concerneth the writer of
this letter, for I have no answer to her.' At this I rose in anger; but
he caught hold of my skirts, saying, 'O Ibn Mansur, I will tell thee
what she said to thee, albeit I was not present with you.' I asked,
'And what did she say to me?'; and he answered, 'Did not the writer of
this letter say to thee, If thou bring me back an answer, thou shalt
have of me five hundred ducats; and if not, an hundred for thy pains?'
'Yes,' replied I; and he rejoined, 'Abide with me this day and eat and
drink and enjoy thyself and make merry, and thou shalt have thy five
hundred ducats.' So I sat with him and ate and drank and made merry and
enjoyed myself and entertained him with talk deep in to the
night;[FN#338] after which I said to him, 'O my master, is there no
music in thy house.' He answered, 'Verily for many a day we have drunk
without music.' Then he called out, saying, 'Ho, Shajarat al-Durr?'
Whereupon a slave- girl answered him from her chamber and came in to
us, with a lute of Hindu make, wrapped in a silken bag. And she sat
down and, laying the lute in her lap, preluded in one and twenty modes;
then, returning to the first, she sang to a lively measure these
couplets,
'We have ne'er tasted of Love's sweets and bitter draught, * No
difference kens 'twixt presence-bliss and absence-stress;
And so, who hath declined from Love's true road, * No diference
kens 'twixt smooth and ruggedness:
I ceased not to oppose the votaries of love, * Till I had tried
its sweets and bitters not the less:
How many a night my pretty friend conversed with me * And sipped
I from his lips honey of love liesse:
Now have I drunk its cup of bitterness, until * To bondman and to
freedman I have proved me base.
How short-aged was the night together we enjoyed, * When seemed
it daybreak came on nightfall's heel to press!
But Fate had vowed to disunite us lovers twain, * And she too
well hath kept her vow, that votaress.
Fate so decreed it! None her sentence can withstand: * Where is
the wight who dares oppose his Lord's command?'
Hardly had she finished her verses, when her lord cried out with a
great cry and fell down in a fit; whereupon exclaimed the damsel, 'May
Allah not punish thee, O old man! This long time have we drunk without
music, for fear the like of this falling sickness befal our lord. But
now go thou to yonder chamber and there sleep.' So I went to the
chamber which she showed me and slept till the morning, when behold, a
page brought me a purse of five hundred dinars and said to me, 'This is
what my master promised thee; but return thou not to the damsel who
sent thee, god let it be as though neither thou nor we had ever heard
of this matter.' 'Hearkening and obedience,' answered I and taking the
purse, went my way. Still I said to myself, 'The lady must have
expected me since yesterday; and by Allah there is no help but I return
to her and tell her what passed between me and him: otherwise she will
revile me and revile all who come from my country.' So I went to her
and found her standing behind the door; and when she saw me she said,
'O Ibn Mansur, thou hast done nothing for me?' I asked, 'Who told thee
of this?'; and she answered, 'O Ibn Mansur, yet another thing hath been
revealed to me;[FN#339] and it is that, when thou handedst him the
letter, he tore it in pieces. and throwing it on the floor, said to
thee: 'O Ibn Mansur, I will grant thee whatever thou askest save thy
desire which concerneth the writer of this letter; for I have no answer
to her missive.' Then didst thou rise from beside him in anger; but he
laid hold of thy skirts, saying: 'O son of Mansur, abide with me to
day, for thou art my guest, and eat and drink and make merry; and thou
shalt have thy five hundred ducats.' So thou didst sit with him, eating
and drinking and making merry, and entertainedst him with talk deep
into the night and a slave- girl sang such an air and such verses,
whereupon he fell down in a fit.' So, O Commander of the Faithful, I
asked her 'West thou then with us?'; and she answered, 'O Ibn Mansur,
hast thou not heard the saying of the poet,
'The hearts of lovers have eyes I ken, * Which see the unseen by vulgar
men.'
However, O Ibn Mansur, the night and day shift not upon anything but
they bring to it change.'—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and
ceased to say her permitted say.
When it was the Three Hundred and Thirty-first Night,