replied, “Of its middle in dwelling and of its highest in
tent-poles.”[113] Wherefore he knew that she was the daughter of the
tribal chief. “And thou,” quoth she, “of what art thou among the
guardians of the horses?”; and quoth he, “Of the highest in tree and of
the ripest in fruit.” “Allah protect thee, O Commander of the Faithful!”
said she, and kissing ground called down blessings on him. Then she went
away with the maidens of the Arabs, and the Caliph said to Ja’afar,
“There is no help for it but I take her to wife.” So Ja’afar repaired to
her father and said to him, “The Commander of the Faithful hath a mind
to thy daughter.” He replied, “With love and goodwill, she is a gift as
a handmaid to His Highness our Lord the Commander of the Faithful.” So
he equipped her and carried her to the Caliph, who took her to wife and
went in to her, and she became of the dearest of his women to him.
Furthermore, he bestowed on her father largesse such as succoured him
among Arabs, till he was transported to the mercy of Almighty Allah. The
Caliph, hearing of his death, went in to her greatly troubled; and, when
she saw him looking afflicted, she entered her chamber and doffing all
that was upon her of rich raiment, donned mourning apparel and raised
lament for her father. It was said to her, “What is the reason of
this?”; and she replied, “My father is dead.” So they repaired to the
Caliph and told him and he rose and going in to her, asked her who had
informed her of her father’s death; and she answered “It was thy face, O
Commander of the Faithful!” Said he, “How so?”; and she said, “Since I
have been with thee, I never saw thee on such wise till this time, and
there was none for whom I feared save my father, by reason of his great
age; but may thy head live, O Commander of the Faithful!” The Caliph’s
eyes filled with tears and he condoled with her; but she ceased not to
mourn for her father, till she followed him—Allah have mercy on the
twain! And a tale is also told of
-----
Footnote 113:
The tents of black wool woven by the Badawi women are generally
supported by three parallel rows of poles lengthways and crossways
(the highest line being the central) and the covering is pegged down.
Thus the outline of the roofs forms two or more hanging curves, and
these characterise the architecture of the Tartars and Chinese; they
are still preserved in the Turkish (and sometimes in the European)
“Kiosque,” and they have extended to the Brazil where the upturned
eaves, often painted vermilion below, at once attract the traveller’s
notice.
AL-ASMA’I AND THE THREE GIRLS OF BASSORAH.
The Commander of the Faithful Harun Al-Rashid was exceeding restless one
night and rising from his bed, paced from chamber to chamber, but could
not compose himself to sleep. As soon as it was day, he said, “Fetch me
Al-Asma’i!”[114] So the eunuch went out and told the doorkeepers; these
sent for the poet and when he came, informed the Caliph who bade admit
him and said to him, “O Asma’i, I wish thee to tell me the best thou
hast heard of stories of women and their verses.” Answered Al-Asma’i,
“Hearkening and obedience! I have heard great store of women’s verses;
but none pleased me save three sets of couplets I once heard from three
girls.”——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her
permitted say.
Now when it was the Six Hundred and Eighty-seventh Night,
She pursued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Al-Asma’i said
to the Prince of True Believers, “Verily I have heard much, but nothing
pleased me save three sets of couplets improvised by as many girls.”
Quoth the Caliph, “Tell me of them,” and quoth he, “Know then, O
Commander of the Faithful, that I once abode in Bassorah, and one day,
as I was walking, the heat was sore upon me and I sought for a
siesta-place but found none. However by looking right and left I came
upon a porch swept and sprinkled, at the upper end whereof was a wooden
bench under an open lattice-window, whence exhaled a scent of musk. I
entered the porch and sitting down on the bench, would have stretcht me
at full length when I heard from within a girl’s sweet voice talking and
saying:—O my sisters, we are here seated to spend our day in friendly
converse; so come, let us each put down an hundred dinars and recite a
line of verse; and whoso extemporiseth the goodliest and sweetest line,
the three hundred dinars shall be hers.” “With love and gladness,” said
the others; and the eldest recited the first couplet which is this:—
Would he come to my bed during sleep ’twere delight ✿ But a visit on
wake were delightsomer sight!
Quoth the second:—
Naught came to salute me in sleep save his shade ✿ But “welcome, fair
welcome,” I cried to the spright!
Then said the youngest:—
My soul and my folk I engage for the youth ✿ Musk-scented I see in my
bed every night!
Quoth I, “An she be fair as her verse hath grace, the thing is complete
in every case.” Then I came down from my bench[115] and was about to go
away, when behold, the door opened and out came a slave-girl, who said
to me, “Sit, O Shaykh!” So I climbed up and sat down again when she gave
me a scroll, wherein was written, in characters of the utmost beauty,
with straight Alifs,[116] big-bellied Hás and rounded Waws, the
following:—We would have the Shaykh (Allah lengthen his days!) to know
that we are three maidens, sisters, sitting in friendly converse, who
have laid down each an hundred dinars, conditioning that whoso recite
the goodliest and sweetest couplet shall have the whole three hundred
dinars; and we appoint thee umpire between us: so decide as thou seest
best, and the Peace be on thee! Quoth I to the girl, Here to me inkcase
and paper. So she went in and, returning after a little, brought me a
silvered inkcase and gilded pens[117] with which I wrote these
couplets:—
They talked of three beauties whose converse was quite ✿ Like the talk
of a man with experience dight:
Three maidens who borrowed the bloom of the dawn ✿ Making hearts of
their lovers in sorriest plight.
They were hidden from eyes of the prier and spy ✿ Who slept and their
modesty mote not affright;
So they opened whatever lay hid in their hearts ✿ And in frolicsome fun
began verse to indite.
Quoth one fair coquette with her amorous grace ✿ Whose teeth for the
sweet of her speech flashèd bright:—
Would he come to my bed during sleep ’twere delight ✿ But a visit on
wake were delightsomer sight!
When she ended, her verse by her smiling was gilt: ✿ Then the second
’gan singing as nightingale might:—
Naught came to salute me in sleep save his shade ✿ But welcome, fair
welcome, I cried to the spright!
But the third I preferred for she said in reply, ✿ With expression most
apposite, exquisite:—
My soul and my folk I engage for the youth ✿ Musk-scented I see in my
bed every night!
So when I considered their words to decide, ✿ And not make me the mock
of the cynical wight;
I pronounced for the youngest, declaring her verse ✿ Of all verses be
that which is nearest the right.
Then I gave the scroll to the slave-girl, who went upstairs with it, and
behold, I heard a noise of dancing and clapping of hands and Doomsday
astir. Quoth I to myself, “’Tis no time for me to stay here.” So I came
down from the platform and was about to go away, when the damsel cried
out to me, “Sit down, O Asma’i!” Asked I, “Who gave thee to know that I
was Al-Asma’i?” and she answered, “O Shaykh, an thy name be unknown to
us, thy poetry is not!” So I sat down again and suddenly the door opened
and out came the first damsel, with a dish of fruits and another of
sweetmeats. I ate of both and praised their fashion and would have
ganged my gait; but she cried out, “Sit down, O Asma’i!” Wherewith I
raised my eyes to her and saw a rosy palm in a saffron sleeve, meseemed
it was the full moon rising splendid in the cloudy East. Then she threw
me a purse containing three hundred dinars and said to me, “This is mine
and I give it to thee by way of douceur in requital of thy judgment.”
Quoth the Caliph, “Why didst thou decide for the youngest?” and quoth
Al-Asma’i, “O Commander of the Faithful, whose life Allah prolong! the
eldest said:—I should delight in him, if he visited my couch in sleep.
Now this is restricted and dependent upon a condition which may befal or
may not befal; whilst, for the second, an image of dreams came to her in
sleep, and she saluted it; but the youngest’s couplet said that she
actually lay with her lover and smelt his breath sweeter than musk and
she engaged her soul and her folk for him, which she had not done, were
he not dearer to her than her sprite.” Said the Caliph, “Thou didst
well, O Asma’i,” and gave him other three hundred ducats in payment of
his story. And I have heard a tale concerning
-----
Footnote 114:
See vol. iv., 159. The author of “Antar,” known to Englishmen by the
old translation of Mr. Terrick Hamilton, secretary of Legation at
Constantinople. There is an abridgement of the forty-five volumes of
Al-Asma’i’s “Antar” which mostly supplies or rather supplied the
“Antariyyah” or professional tale-tellers; whose theme was the heroic
Mulatto lover.
Footnote 115:
The “Dakkah” or long wooden sofa, as opposed to the “mastabah” or
stone bench, is often a tall platform and in mosques is a kind of ambo
railed round and supported by columns. Here readers recite the Koran:
Lane (M.E. chapt. iii.) sketches it in the “Interior of a Mosque.”
Footnote 116:
Alif (ا) Ha (ه) and Waw (و), the first, twenty-seventh and
twenty-sixth letters of the Arabic alphabet: No. 1 is the most simple
and difficult to write calligraphically.
Footnote 117:
Reeds washed with gold and used for love-letters, &c.
IBRAHIM OF MOSUL AND THE DEVIL.[118]
Quoth Abu Ishak Ibrahim al-Mausili:—I asked Al-Rashid once to give me a
day’s leave that I might be private with the people of my household and
my brethren, and he gave me leave for Saturday the Sabbath. So I went
home and betook myself to making ready meat and drink and other
necessaries and bade the doorkeepers shut the doors and let none come in
to me. However, presently, as I sat in my sitting-chamber, with my women
who were looking after my wants, behold, there appeared an old man of
comely and reverend aspect,[119] clad in white clothes and a shirt of
fine stuff with a doctor’s turband on his head and a silver-handled
staff in his hand, and the house and porch were full of the perfumes
wherewith he was scented. I was greatly vexed at his coming in to me and
thought to turn away the doorkeepers; but he saluted me after the
goodliest fashion and I returned his greeting and bade him be seated. So
he sat down and began entertaining me with stories of the Arabs and
their verses, till my anger left me and methought my servants had sought
to pleasure me by admitting a man of such good breeding and fine
culture. Then I asked him, “Art thou for meat?”; and he answered, “I
have no need of it.” “And for drink?” quoth I, and quoth he, “That is as
thou wilt.” So I drank off a pint of wine and poured him out the like.
Then said he, “O Abu Ishak, wilt thou sing us somewhat, so we may hear
of thine art that wherein thou excellest high and low?” His words
angered me; but I swallowed my anger and taking the lute played and
sang. “Well done, O Abu Ishak!”[120] said he; whereat my wrath redoubled
and I said to myself, “Is it not enough that he should intrude upon me,
without my leave, and importune me thus, but he must call me by name, as
though he knew not the right way to address me?” Quoth he, “An thou wilt
sing something more we will requite thee.” I dissembled my annoyance and
took the lute and sang again, taking pains with what I sang and rising
thereto altogether, in consideration of his saying, “We will requite
thee.”——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her
permitted say.
Now when it was the Six Hundred and Eighty-eighth Night,
She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the
Shaykh said to Abu Ishak, “If thou wilt sing something more we will
requite thee,” I dissembled my annoyance (continued Ibrahim) and, taking
the lute, sang again with great attention to my singing and rising
altogether thereto, in consideration of his saying, “We will requite
thee.” He was delighted, and cried, “Well done, O my lord!”; presently
adding, “Dost thou give me leave to sing?” “As thou wilt,” answered I,
deeming him weak of wit, in that he should think to sing in my presence,
after that which he had heard from me. So he took the lute and swept the
strings, and by Allah, I fancied they spoke in Arabic tongue, with a
sweet and liquid and murmurous voice; then he began and sang these
couplets:—
I bear a hurt heart, who will sell me for this ✿ A heart whole and free
from all canker and smart?
Nay, none will consent or to barter or buy ✿ Such loss, ne’er from
sorrow and sickness to part:
I groan wi’ the groaning of wine-wounded men ✿ And pine for the pining
ne’er freeth my heart.
And by Allah, meseemed the doors and the walls and all that was in the
house answered and sang with him, for the beauty of his voice, so that I
fancied my very limbs and clothes replied to him, and I abode amazed and
unable to speak or move, for the trouble of my heart. Then he sang these
couplets:—
Culvers of Liwa![121] to your nests return; ✿ Your mournful voices
thrill this heart of mine.
Then back a-copse they flew, and well-nigh took ✿ My life and made me
tell my secret pine.
With cooing call they one who’s gone, as though ✿ Their breasts were
maddened with the rage of wine:
Ne’er did mine eyes their like for culvers see ✿ Who weep yet tear-drops
never dye their eyne.
And also these couplets:—
O Zephyr of Najd, when from Najd thou blow, ✿ Thy breathings heap only
new woe on woe!
The turtle bespake me in bloom of morn ✿ From the cassia-twig and the
willow-bough
She moaned with the moaning of love-sick youth ✿ And exposed love-secret
I ne’er would show:
They say lover wearies of love when near ✿ And is cured of love an afar
he go:
I tried either cure which ne’er cured my love; ✿ But that nearness is
better than farness I know:[122]
Yet,—the nearness of love shall no ’vantage prove ✿ An whoso thou lovest
deny thee of love.
Then said he, “O Ibrahim, sing this song after me, and preserving the
mode thereof in thy singing, teach it to thy slave-girls.” Quoth I,
“Repeat it to me.” But he answered, “There needs no repetition; thou
hast it by heart nor is there more to learn.” Then he suddenly vanished
from my sight. At this I was amazed and running to my sword drew it and
made for the door of the Harim, but found it closed and said to the
women, “What have ye heard?” Quoth they, “We have heard the sweetest of
singing and the goodliest.” Then I went forth amazed, to the house-door
and, finding it locked, questioned the doorkeepers of the old man. They
replied, “What old man? By Allah, no one hath gone in to thee this day!”
So I returned pondering the matter, when, behold, there arose from one
of the corners of the house, a Vox et præterea nihil, saying, “O Abu
Ishak, no harm shall befal thee. ’Tis I, Abú Murrah,[123] who have been
thy cup-companion this day, so fear nothing!” Then I mounted and rode to
the palace, where I told Al-Rashid what had passed, and he said, “Repeat
to me the airs thou heardest from him.” So I took the lute and played
and sang them to him; for, behold, they were rooted in my heart. The
Caliph was charmed with them and drank thereto, albeit he was no
confirmed wine-bibber, saying, “Would he would some day pleasure us with
his company, as he hath pleasured thee!”[124] Then he ordered me a
present and I took it and went away. And men relate this story anent
-----
Footnote 118:
Lane introduced this tale into vol. i., p. 223, notes on chapt. iii.,
apparently not knowing that it was in The Nights. He gives a mere
abstract, omitting all the verse, and he borrowed it either from the
Halbat Al-Kumayt (chapt. xiv.) or from Al-Mas’údí (chapt. cxi.). (See
the French translation, vol. vi. p. 340). I am at pains to understand
why M. C. Barbier de Maynard writes “Réchid” with an accented vowel;
although French delicacy made him render, by “fils de courtisane,” the
expression in the text, “O biter of thy mother’s enlarged (or
uncircumcised) clitoris” (Bazar).
Footnote 119:
In Al-Mas’údí the Devil is “a young man fair of favour and formous of
figure,” which is more appropriate to a “Tempter.” He also wears light
stuffs of dyed silks.
Footnote 120:
It would have been more courteous in an utter stranger to say, O my
lord.
Footnote 121:
The Arab Tempe (of fiction, not of grisly fact).
Footnote 122:
These four lines are in Al-Mas’údi, chapt. cxviii. Fr. trans. vii.
313, but that author does not tell us who wrote them.
Footnote 123:
_i.e._ Father of Bitterness = the Devil. This legend of the Foul Fiend
appearing to Ibrahim of Mosul (and also to Isam, N. dcxcv.) seems to
have been accepted by contemporaries and reminds us of similar
visitations in Europe—notably to Dr. Faust. One can only exclaim,
“Lor, papa, what nonsense you are talking!” the words of a small girl
whose father thought proper to indoctrinate her into certain Biblical
stories. I once began to write a biography of the Devil; but I found
that European folk-lore had made such an unmitigated fool of the grand
old Typhon-Ahriman as to take away from him all human interest.
Footnote 124:
In Al-Mas’údi the Caliph exclaims, “Verily thou hast received a visit
from Satan!”
THE LOVERS OF THE BANU UZRAH.[125]
Quoth Masrur the Eunuch:—The Caliph Harun Al-Rashid was very wakeful one
night and said to me, “See which of the poets is at the door to-night.”
So I went out and finding Jamíl bin Ma’amar al-Uzrí[126] in the
antechamber, said to him, “Answer the Commander of the Faithful.” Quoth
he, “I hear and I obey,” and going in with me, saluted the Caliph, who
returned his greeting and bade him sit down. Then he said to him, “O
Jamil, hast thou any of thy wonderful new stories to tell us?” He
replied, “Yes, O Commander of the Faithful: wouldst thou fainer hear
that which I have seen with mine eyes or that which I have only heard?”
Quoth the Caliph, “Tell me something thou hast actually beheld.” Quoth
Jamil, “’Tis well, O Prince of True Believers; incline thy heart to me
and lend me thine ears.” The Caliph took a bolster of red brocade,
purfled with gold and stuffed with ostrich-feathers and, laying it under
his thighs, propped up both elbows thereon; then he said to Jamil,
“Now[127] for thy tale, O Jamil!” Thereupon he begun:—Know, O Commander
of the Faithful, that I was once desperately enamoured of a certain girl
and used to pay her frequent visits.——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn
of day and ceased saving her permitted say.
Now when it was the Six Hundred and Eighty-ninth Night,
She pursued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the Caliph
had propped his elbows upon the brocaded cushion, he said, “Out with thy
tale, O Jamil!” and the poet begun:—Know, O Commander of the Faithful, I
was desperately in love with a girl and used often to visit her, because
she was my desire and delight of all the things of this world. After a
while, her people removed with her, by reason of scarcity of pasture,
and I abode some time without seeing her, till I grew restless for
desire and longed for her sight and the flesh[128] urged me to journey
to her. One night, I could hold out no longer; so I rose and saddling my
she-camel, bound on my turban and donned my oldest dress.[129] Then I
baldricked myself with my sword and slinging my spear behind me, mounted
and rode forth in quest of her. I fared on fast till, one night, it was
pitch dark and exceeding black, yet I persisted in the hard task of
climbing down Wadys and up hills, hearing on all sides the roaring of
lions and howling of wolves and the cries of the wild beasts. My reason
was troubled thereat and my heart sank within me; but for all that my
tongue ceased not to call on the name of Almighty Allah. As I went along
thus, sleep overtook me and the camel carried me aside out of my road,
till, presently, something[130] smote me on the head, and I woke,
startled and alarmed, and found myself in a pasturage full of trees and
streams and birds on the branches, warbling their various speech and
notes. As the trees were tangled I alighted and, taking my camel’s
halter in hand, fared on softly with her, till I got clear of the thick
growth and came out into the open country, where I adjusted her saddle
and mounted again, knowing not where to go nor whither the Fates should
lead me; but, presently, peering afar into the desert, I espied a fire
in its middle depth. So I smote my camel and made for the fire. When I
drew near, I saw a tent pitched, and fronted by a spear stuck in the
ground, with a pennon flying[131] and horses tethered and camels
feeding, and said in myself, “Doubtless there hangeth some grave matter
by this tent, for I see none other than it in the desert.” So I went up
thereto and said, “Peace be with you, O people of the tent, and the
mercy of Allah and His blessing!” Whereupon there came forth to me a
young man as youths are when nineteen years old, who was like the full
moon shining in the East, with valour written between his eyes, and
answered, saying, “And with thee be the Peace, and Allah’s mercy and His
blessing! O brother of the Arabs, methinks thou hast lost thy way?”
Replied I, “Even so, direct me right, Allah have mercy on thee!” He
rejoined, “O brother of the Arabs, of a truth this our land is infested
with lions and the night is exceeding dark and dreary, beyond measure
cold and gloomy, and I fear lest the wild beasts rend thee in pieces;
wherefore do thou alight and abide with me this night in ease and
comfort, and to-morrow I will put thee in the right way.” Accordingly, I
dismounted and hobbled my she-camel with the end of her halter;[132]
then I put off my heavy upper clothes and sat down. Presently the young
man took a sheep and slaughtered it and kindled a brisk fire; after
which he went into the tent and bringing out finely powdered salt and
spices, fell to cutting off pieces of mutton and roasting them over the
fire and feeding me therewith, weeping at one while and sighing at
another. Then he groaned heavily and wept sore and improvised these
couplets:—
There remains to him naught save a flitting breath ✿ And an eye whose
babe ever wandereth.
There remains not a joint in his limbs, but what ✿ Disease firm fixt
ever tortureth.
His tears are flowing, his vitals burning; ✿ Yet for all his tongue
still he silenceth.
All foemen in pity beweep his woes; ✿ Ah for freke whom the foeman
pitieth!
By this I knew, O Commander of the Faithful, that the youth was a
distracted lover (for none knoweth passion save he who hath tasted the
passion-savour), and quoth I to myself, “Shall I ask him?” But I
consulted my judgment and said, “How shall I assail him with
questioning, and I in his abode?” So I restrained myself and ate my
sufficiency of the meat. When we had made an end of eating, the young
man arose and entering the tent, brought out a handsome basin and ewer
and a silken napkin, whose ends were purfled with red gold and a
sprinkling-bottle full of rose-water mingled with musk. I marvelled at
his dainty delicate ways and said in my mind, “Never wot I of delicacy
in the desert.” Then we washed our hands and talked a while, after which
he went into the tent and making a partition between himself and me with
a piece of red brocade, said to me, “Enter, O Chief of the Arabs, and
take thy rest; for thou hast suffered more of toil and travel than
sufficeth this night and in this thy journey.” So I entered and finding
a bed of green brocade, doffed my dress and passed a night such as I had
never passed in my life.——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and
ceased to say her permitted say.
Now when it was the Six Hundred and Ninetieth Night,