and left us all this wealth that is with me, for I am right willing to
share it with you equally.” So I fetched a departitor from the Kazi’s
court and brought out to him all my money, which he distributed into
three equal parts, and we each took one. Then said I to them, “O my
brothers, Allah blesseth a man in his daily bread, if he be in his own
country: so let each of you open him a shop and sit therein to get his
living; and he to whom aught is ordained in the Secret Purpose,[498]
needs must he get it.” Accordingly, I helped each of them to open a shop
and filled it for him with goods, saying to them, “Sell and buy and keep
your monies and spend naught thereof; for all ye need of meat and drink
and so forth I will furnish to you.” I continued to entreat them
generously, and they fell to selling and buying by day and returning at
eventide to my house where they lay the night; nor would I suffer them
to expend aught of their own substance. But, whenever I sat talking with
them, they would praise travel and proclaim its pleasures and vaunt the
gains they had made therein; and they ceased not to urge me to accompany
them in travelling over foreign parts. (Then he said to the dogs, “Was
this so, O my brothers?” and they again bowed their heads and lowered
their eyes in confirmation of his words). He continued:—On such wise, O
Vicar of Allah, they continued to urge me and tempt me to travel by
vaunting the great gains and profit to be obtained thereby till I said
to them, “Needs must I fare with you for your sake!” Then I entered into
a contract of partnership with them and we chartered a ship and packing
up all manner of precious stuffs and merchandise of every kind,
freighted it therewith; after which we embarked in it all we needed and,
setting sail from Bassorah, launched out into the dashing sea, swollen
with clashing surge whereinto whoso entereth is lone and lorn and whence
whoso cometh forth is as a babe new-born. We ceased not sailing on till
we came to a city of the cities, where we sold and bought and made great
cheape. Thence we went on to another place, and we ceased not to pass
from land to land and port to port, selling and buying and profiting,
till we had gotten us great wealth and much advantage. Presently, we
came to a mountain,[499] where the captain cast anchor and said to us,
“O passengers, go ye ashore; ye shall be saved from this day,[500] and
make search; it may be ye shall find water.” So all landed I amongst the
crowd, and dispersed about the island in search of water. As for me, I
climbed to the top of the mountain, and whilst I went along, lo and
behold! I saw a white snake fleeing and followed by a black dragon, foul
of favour and frightful of form, hotly pursuing her. Presently he
overtook her and clipping her, seized her by the head and wound his tail
about her tail, whereupon she cried out and I knew that he purposed to
rape her. So I was moved to ruth for her and taking up a lump of
granite,[501] five pounds or more in weight, hurled it at the dragon. It
smote him on the head and crushed it, and ere I knew, the white snake
changed and became a young girl bright with beauty and loveliness and
brilliancy and perfect grace, as she were the shining full moon, who
came up to me and kissing my hands, said to me, “Allah veil thee with
twofold veils, one from shame in this world and the other from the flame
in the world to come on the day of the Great Upstanding, the day when
neither wealth nor children shall avail save to him who shall come to
Allah with a sound heart!”[502] And presently she continued, “O mortal,
thou hast saved my honour and I am indebted to thee for kindness,
wherefore it behoveth me to requite thee.” So saying, she signed with
her hand to the earth, which opened and she descended thereinto: then it
closed up again over her and by this I knew that she was of the Jinn. As
for the dragon, fire was kindled in him and consumed him and he became
ashes. I marvelled at this and returned to my comrades, whom I
acquainted with whatso I had seen, and we passed the night in the
island. On the morrow the Captain weighed anchor and spread the sails
and coiled the ropes and we sailed till the shore faded from our gaze.
We fared on twenty days, without seeing or land or bird, till our water
came to an end and quoth the Rais to us, “O folk, our fresh water is
spent.” Quoth we, “Let us make for land; haply we shall find water.” But
he exclaimed, “By Allah, I have lost my way and I know not what course
will bring me to the seaboard.” Thereupon betided us sore chagrin and we
wept and besought Almighty Allah to guide us into the right course. We
passed that night in the sorriest case: but God-gifted is he who said:—
How many a night have I spent in woes ✿ That would grizzle the
suckling-babe with fear:
But morrowed not morn ere to me there came ✿ ‘Aidance from Allah and
victory near.’[503]
But when the day arose in its sheen and shone, we caught sight of a high
mountain and rejoiced therein. When we came to its skirts, the Captain
said to us, “O folk, go ashore and seek for water.” So we all landed and
sought water but found none, whereat we were sore afflicted because we
were suffering for want of it. As for me, I climbed up to the
mountain-top and on the other side thereof I saw a spacious circle[504]
distant from us an hour’s journey or more. Presently I called my
companions and as soon as they all rejoined me, said to them “Look at
yonder basin behind this mountain; for I see therein a city high of base
and a strong-cornered place girt with sconce and rampartry, pasturage
and lea and doubtless it wanteth not water and good things. So hie we
thither and fetch drink therefrom and buy what we need of provisions,
meat and fruit, and return. But they said, “We fear lest the city-folk
be Kafirs ascribing to Allah partners and enemies of The Faith and lay
hand on us and take us captive or else slay us; so should we cause the
loss of our own lives, having cast ourselves into destruction and evil
emprise. Indeed, the proud and presumptuous are never praiseworthy, for
that they ever fare in danger of calamities, even as saith of such an
one a certain poet:—
Long as earth is earth, long as sky is sky, ✿ The o’erproud is blamed
tho’ from risk he fly!
So we will not expose ourselves to peril.” I replied, “O folk, I have no
authority over you; so I will take my brothers and go to yonder city.”
But my brothers said to me, “We also fear this thing and will not go
with thee.” Quoth I, “As for me, I am resolved to go thither, and I put
my trust in Allah and accept whatsoever He shall decree to me. Do ye
therefore await me, whilst I wend thither and return to you twain.”——And
Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
Now when it was the Nine Hundred and Eighty-second Night,
She resumed, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Abdullah said,
“Do ye twain await me whilst I wend thither and return to you.” So I
left them and walked on till I came to the gate of the place and saw it
a city of building wondrous and projection marvellous, with boulevards
high-towering and towers strong-builded and palaces high-soaring. Its
portals were of Chinese iron, rarely gilded and graven on such wise as
confounded the wit. I entered the gateway and saw there a stone bench,
whereon sat a man bearing on his fore-arm a chain of brass, whereto hung
fourteen keys; so I knew him to be the porter of the city and that it
had fourteen gates. I drew near him and said to him, “Peace be with
thee!”; but he returned not my salam and I saluted him a second and a
third time; but he made me no reply. Then I laid my hand on his shoulder
and said to him, “Ho thou, why dost thou not return my salam? Art thou
asleep or deaf or other than a Moslem, that thou refrainest from
exchanging the salutation?” But he answered me not neither stirred; so I
considered him and saw that he was stone. Quoth I, “Verily an admirable
matter! This is a stone wroughten in the semblance of a son of Adam and
wanting in naught save speech!” Then I left him and entering the city,
beheld a man standing in the road: so I went up to him and scrutinised
him and found him stone. Presently, as I walked adown the broadways, and
saw that this was every where the case, I met an old woman bearing on
her head a bundle of clothes ready for washing; so I went up to her and
examining her, saw that she was stone, and the bundle of clothes on her
head was stone also.[505] Then I fared for the market, where I saw an
oilman with his scales set up and fronted by various kinds of wares such
as cheese and so forth, all of stone. Moreover, I saw all manner of
tradesmen seated in their shops and men and women and children, some
standing and some sitting; but they were all stone; and the stuffs were
like spiders’ webs. I amused myself with looking upon them, and as often
as I laid hold upon a piece of stuff, it powdered in my hands like dust
dispread. Presently I saw some chests and opening one of them, found it
full of gold in bags; so I laid hold upon the bags, but they crumbled
away in my grasp, whilst the gold abode unchanged. I carried off of it
what I could carry and said to myself, “Were my brothers with me, they
might take of this gold their fill and possess themselves of these
hoards which have no owner.” Then I entered another shop and found
therein more than this, but could bear away no more than I had borne. I
left this market and went on to another and thence to another and
another, much enjoying the sight of all manner of creatures of various
kinds, all several stones, even to the dogs and the cats, till I came to
the goldsmiths’ bazar, where I saw men sitting in their shops, with
their stock-in-trade about them, some in their hands and others in
crates of wickerwork. When I saw this, O Commander of the Faithful, I
threw down the gold and loaded myself with goldsmiths’ ware, as much as
I could carry. Then I went on to the jewel-market and saw there the
jewellers seated in their shops, each with a tray before him, full of
all sorts of precious stones, jacinths and diamonds and emeralds and
balass rubies and so forth: but all the shop-keepers were stones;
whereupon I threw away the goldsmiths’ ware and carried off as many
jewels as I could carry, regretting that my brothers were not with me,
so they might take what they would of those costly gems. Then I left the
jewel-market and went on till I came to a great door, quaintly gilded
and decorated after the fairest fashion, within which were wooden
benches and in the porch sat eunuchs, and body-guards; horsemen, and
footmen and officers of police each and every robed in the richest of
raiment; but they were all stones. I touched one of them and his clothes
crumbled away from his body like cobwebs. Then I passed through the door
and saw a palace without equal for its building and the goodliness of
the works that were therein. Here I found an audience-chamber, full of
Grandees and Wazirs and Officers and Emirs, seated upon chairs and every
one of them stone. Moreover, I saw a throne of red gold, crusted with
pearls and gems, and seated thereon a son of Adam arrayed in the most
sumptuous raiment and bearing on his head a Chosröan[506] crown,
diademed with the finest stones that shed a light like the light of day;
but, when I came up to him, I found him stone. Then I went on to the
gate of the Harim and entering, found myself in the Queen’s
presence-chamber, wherein I saw a throne of red gold, inlaid with pearls
and gems, and the Queen seated thereon. On her head she wore a crown
diademed with finest jewels, and round about her were women like moons,
seated upon chairs and clad in the most sumptuous clothing of all
colours. There also the eunuchry, with their hands upon their
breasts,[507] were standing in the attitude of service, and indeed this
hall confounded the beholder’s wits with what was therein of quaint
gilding and rare painting and curious carving and fine furniture. There
hung the most brilliant lustres[508] of limpid crystal, and in every
globe[509] of the crystal was an unique jewel, whose price money might
not fulfil. So I threw down that which was with me, O Prince of True
Believers, and fell to taking of these jewels what I could carry,
bewildered as to what I should bear away and what I should leave; for
indeed I saw the place as it were a treasure of the treasures of the
cities. Presently I espied a wicket[510] standing open and within it a
staircase: so I entered and mounting forty steps, heard a human voice
reciting the Koran in a low tone. I walked towards that sound till I
came to the main door hung with a silken curtain, laced with wires of
gold whereon were strung pearls and coral and rubies and cut emeralds
which gave forth a light like the light of stars. The voice came from
behind the curtain: so I raised it and discovered a gilded door, whose
beauty amazed the mind. I passed through the door and found myself in a
saloon as it were a hoard upon earth’s surface[511] and therein a girl
as she were the sun shining fullest sheen in the zenith of a sky serene.
She was robed in the costliest of raiment and decked with ornaments the
most precious that could be and withal she was of passing beauty and
loveliness, a model of symmetry and seemliness, of elegance and perfect
grace, with waist slender and hips heavy and dewy lips such as heal the
sick and eyelids lovely in their langour, as it were she of whom the
sayer spake when he said:—
My best salam to what that robe enrobes of symmetry, ✿ And what that
blooming garth of cheek enguards of rosy blee:
It seems as though the Pleiades depend upon her brow; ✿ And other lights
of Night in knots upon her breast we see:
Did she but don a garment weft of Rose’s softest leaf, ✿ The leaf of
Rose would draw her blood[512] when pluckt that fruit from tree:
And did she crache in Ocean’s face, next Morn would see a change ✿ To
sweeter than the honeycomb of what was briny sea:
And did she deign her favours grant to grey-beard staff-en-propped ✿
He’d wake and rend the lion’s limbs for might and valiancy.
Then Abdullah continued:—O Prince of True Believers, as soon as I saw
that girl I fell passionately in love with her and going straight up to
her, found her seated on a high couch, reciting by heart and in grateful
memory the Book of Allah, to whom belong honour and glory! Her voice was
like the harmony of the gates of Heaven, when Rizwan openeth them, and
the words came from her lips like a shower of gems; whilst her face was
with beauty dight, bright and blossom-white, even as saith the poet of a
similar sight:—
O thou who gladdenest man by speech and rarest quality; ✿ Grow longing
and repine for thee and grow beyond degree!
In thee two things consume and melt the votaries of Love; ✿ The dulcet
song of David joined with Joseph’s brilliancy.
When I heard her voice of melody reciting the sublime Koran, my heart
quoted from her killing glances, ‘Peace, a word from a compassionating
Lord;’[513] but I stammered[514] in my speech and could not say the
salam-salutation aright, for my mind and sight were confounded and I was
become as saith the bard:—
Love-longing urged me not except to trip in speech o’er free; ✿ Nor,
save to shed my blood I passed the campment’s boundary:
I ne’er will hear a word from those who love to rail, but I ✿ Will
testify to love of him with every word of me.
Then I hardened myself against the horrors of repine and said to her,
“Peace be with thee, O noble Lady, and treasured jewel! Allah grant
endurance to the foundation of thy fortune fair and upraise the pillars
of thy glory rare!” Said she, “And on thee from me be peace and
salutation and high honour, O Abdullah, O son of Fazil! Well come and
welcome and fair welcome to thee, O dearling mine and coolth of mine
eyne!” Rejoined I, “O my lady, whence wottest thou my name and who art
thou and what case befel the people of this city, that they are become
stones? I would have thee tell me the truth of the matter, for indeed I
am admiring at this city and its citizens and that I have found none
alive therein save thyself. So, Allah upon thee, tell me the cause of
all this, according to the truth!” Quoth she, “Sit, O Abdullah, and
Inshallah, I will talk with thee and acquaint thee in full with the
facts of my case and of this place and its people; and there is no
Majesty and there is no Might save in Allah, the Glorious, the Great!”
So I sat me down by her side and she said to me, “Know, O Abdullah, (may
Allah have mercy on thee!) that I am the daughter of the King of this
city and that it is my sire whom thou sawest seated on the high stead in
the Divan, and those who are round about him were the Lords of his land
and the Guards of his empery. He was a King of exceeding prowess and had
under his hand a thousand thousand and sixty thousand troopers. The
number of the Emirs of his Empire was four-and-twenty thousand, all of
them Governors and Dignitaries. He was obeyed by a thousand cities,
besides towns, hamlets and villages; and sconces and citadels, and the
Emirs[515] of the wild Arabs under his hand were a thousand in number,
each commanding twenty thousand horse. Moreover, he had monies and
treasures and precious stones and jewels and things of price, such as
eye never saw nor of which ear ever heard.——And Shahrazad perceived the
dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
Now when it was the Nine Hundred and Eighty-third Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Princess,
daughter to the King of the Stone-city, thus continued:—Verily, O
Abdullah my father had monies and hoards, such as eye never saw and of
which ear never heard. He used to debel Kings and do to death champions
and braves in battle and in the field of fight, so that the Conquerors
feared him and the Chosroës[516] humbled themselves to him. For all
this, he was a miscreant in creed ascribing to Allah partnership and
adoring idols, instead of the Lord of worship; and all his troops were
of images fain in lieu of the All-knowing Sovereign. One day of the days
as he sat on the throne of his Kingship, compassed about with the
Grandees of his realm, suddenly there came in to him a Personage, whose
face illumined the whole Divan with its light. My father looked at him
and saw him clad in a garb of green,[517] tall of stature and with hands
that reached beneath his knees. He was of reverend aspect and awesome
and the light[518] shone from his face. Said he to my sire, “O rebel, O
idolater, how long wilt thou take pride in worshipping idols and
abandoning the service of the All-knowing King? Say:—I testify that
there is no god but _the_ God and that Mohammed is His servant and His
messenger. And embrace Al-Islam, thou and thy tribe; and put away from
you the worship of idols, for they neither suffice man’s need nor
intercede. None is worshipful save Allah alone, who raised up the
heavens without columns and spread out the earths like carpets in mercy
to His creatures.”[519] Quoth my father, “Who art thou, O man who
rejectest the worship of idols, that thou sayst thus? Fearest thou not
that the idols will be wroth with thee?” He replied, “The idols are
stones; their anger cannot prejudice me nor their favour profit me. So
do thou set in my presence thine idol which thou adorest and bid all thy
folk bring each his image: and when they are all present, do ye pray
them to be wroth with me and I will pray my Lord to be wroth with them,
and ye shall descry the difference between the anger of the creature and
that of the Creator. For your idols, ye fashioned them yourselves and
the Satans clad themselves therewith as with clothing, and they it is
who spake to you from within the bellies of the images,[520] for your
idols are made and the maker is my God to whom naught is impossible. An
the True appear to you, do ye follow it, and if the False appear to you
do ye leave it.” Cried they, “Give us a proof of thy god, that we may
see it;” and quoth he, “Give me proof of _your_ gods.” So the King bade
every one who worshipped his Lord in image-form to bring it, and all the
armies brought their idols to the Divan. Thus fared it with them; but as
for me, I was sitting behind a curtain, whence I could look upon my
father’s Divan, and I had an idol of emerald whose bigness was as the
bigness of a son of Adam. My father demanded it, so I sent it to the
Divan, where they set it down beside that of my sire, which was of
jacinth, whilst the Wazir’s idol was of diamond.[521] As for those of
the Grandees and Notables, some were of balass-ruby and some of
carnelian, others of coral or Comorin aloes-wood and yet others of ebony
or silver or gold; and each had his own idol, after the measure of his
competence; whilst the idols of the common soldiers and of the people
were some of granite, some of wood, some of pottery and some of mud; and
all were of various hues yellow and red; green, black and white. Then
said the Personage to my sire, “Pray your idol and these idols to be
wroth with me.” So they aligned the idols in a Divan,[522] setting my
father’s idol on a chair of gold at the upper end, with mine by its
side, and ranking the others each according to the condition of him who
owned it and worshipped it. Then my father arose and prostrating himself
to his own idol, said to it, “O my god, thou art the Bountiful Lord, nor
is there among the idols a greater than thyself. Thou knowest that this
person cometh to me, attacking thy divinity and making mock of thee;
yea, he avoucheth that he hath a god stronger than thou and ordereth us
leave adoring thee and adore his god. So be thou wrath with him, O my
god!” And he went on to supplicate the idol; but the idol returned him
no reply neither bespoke him with aught of speech; whereupon quoth he,
“O my god, this is not of thy wont, for thou usedst to answer me, when I
addressed thee. How cometh it that I see thee silent and speaking not?
Art thou unheeding or asleep?[523] Awake; succour me and speak to me!”
And he shook it with his hand; but it spake not neither stirred from its
stead. Thereupon quoth the Personage, “What aileth thine idol that it
speaketh not?”; and quoth the King, “Methinks he is absent-minded or
asleep.” Exclaimed the other, “O enemy of Allah, how canst thou worship
a god that speaketh not nor availeth unto aught and not worship my God,
who to prayers deigns assent and who is ever present and never absent,
neither unheeding nor sleeping, whom conjecture may not ween, who seeth
and is not seen and who over all things terrene is omnipotent? Thy god
is powerless and cannot guard itself from harm; and indeed a stoned
Satan had clothed himself therewith as with a coat that he might debauch
thee and delude thee. But now hath its devil departed; so do thou
worship Allah and testify that there is no god but He and that none is
worshipful nor worship-worth but Himself; neither is there any good but
His good. As for this thy god, it cannot ward off hurt from it; so how
shall it ward off harm from thee? See with thine own eyes its
impotence.” So saying, he went up to the idol and dealt it a cuff on the
neck, that it fell to the ground; whereupon the King waxed wroth and
cried to the bystanders, “This froward atheist hath smitten my god. Slay
him!” So they would have arisen to smite him, but none of them could
stir from his place. Then he propounded to them Al-Islam; but they
refused to become Moslems and he said, “I will show you the wroth of my
Lord.” Quoth they, “Let us see it!” So he spread out his hands and said,
“O my God and my Lord, Thou art my stay and my hope; answer Thou my
prayer against these lewd folk, who eat of Thy good and worship other
gods. O Thou the Truth, O Thou of All-might, O Creator of Day and Night,
I beseech Thee to turn these people into stones, for Thou art the
Puissant nor is aught impossible to Thee, and Thou over all things are
omnipotent!” And Allah transformed the people of this city into stones;
but, as for me, when I saw the manifest proof of His deity, I submitted
myself to Him and was saved from that which befel the rest. Then the
Personage drew near me and said “Felicity[524] was fore-ordained of
Allah to thee and in this a purpose had He.” And he went on to instruct
me and I took unto him the oath and covenant.[525] I was then seven
years of age and am now thirty years old. Then said I to him, “O my
lord, all that is in the city and all its citizens are become stones by
thine effectual prayer, and I am saved, for that I embraced Al-Islam at
thy hands. Wherefore thou art become my Shaykh; so do thou tell me thy
name and succour me with thy security and provide me with provision
whereon I may subsist.” Quoth he, “My name is Abu al-’Abbás al-Khizr”;
and he planted me a pomegranate-tree, which forthright grew up and
foliaged, flowered and fruited, and bare one pomegranate; whereupon
quoth he, “Eat of that wherewith Allah the Almighty provideth thee and
worship Him with the worship which is His due.” Then he taught me the
tenets of Al-Islam and the canons of prayer and the way of worship,
together with the recital of the Koran, and I have now worshipped Allah
in this place three-and-twenty years. Each day the tree yieldeth me a
pomegranate which I eat and it sustaineth me from tide to tide; and
every Friday, Al-Khizr (on whom be peace!) cometh to me and ’tis he who
acquainted me with thy name and gave me the glad tidings of thy soon
coming hither, saying to me, “When he shall come to thee, entreat him
with honour and obey his bidding and gainsay him not; but be thou to him
wife and he shall be to thee man, and wend with him whitherso he will.”
So, when I saw thee, I knew thee and such is the story of this city and
of its people, and the Peace!” Then she showed me the pomegranate-tree,
whereon was one granado, which she took and eating one-half thereof
herself, gave me the other to eat, and never did I taste aught sweeter
or more savoury or more satisfying than that pomegranate. After this, I
said to her, “Art thou content, even as the Shaykh Al-Khizr charged
thee, to be my wife and take me to mate; and art thou ready to go with
me to my own country and abide with me in the city of Bassorah?” She
replied, “Yes, Inshallah: an it please Almighty Allah. I hearken to thy
word and obey thy hest without gainsaying.” Then I made a binding
covenant with her and she carried me into her father’s treasury, whence
we took what we could carry and going forth that city, walked on till we
came to my brothers, whom I found searching for me. They asked, “Where
hast thou been? Indeed thou hast tarried long from us, and our hearts
were troubled for thee.” And the captain of the ship said to me, “O
merchant Abdullah, the wind hath been fair for us this great while, and
thou hast hindered us from setting sail.” And I answered, “There is no
harm in that: ofttimes slow[526] is sure and my absence hath wrought us
naught but advantage, for indeed, there hath betided me therein the
attainment of our hopes and God-gifted is he who said:—
[Illustration]
I weet not, whenas to a land I fare ✿ In quest of good, what I shall
there obtain;
Or gain I fare with sole desire to seek; ✿ Or loss that seeketh me when
seek I gain.