saying:—Never in my life passed I a night like that. I pondered the
young man’s case, till the world was dark and all eyes slept, when I was
aroused by the sound of a low voice, never heard I a softer or sweeter.
I raised the curtain which hung between us and saw a damsel (never
beheld I a fairer of face), by the young man’s side and they were both
weeping and complaining, one to other of the pangs of passion and desire
and of the excess of their longing for union.[133] Quoth I, “By Allah, I
wonder who may be this second one! When I entered this tent, there was
none therein save this young man.” And after reflection I added,
“Doubtless this damsel is of the daughters of the Jinn and is enamoured
of this youth; so they have secluded themselves with each other in this
solitary place.” Then I considered her closely and behold, she was a
mortal and an Arab girl, whose face, when she unveiled, shamed the
shining sun, and the tent was lit up by the light of her countenance.
When I was assured that she was his beloved, I bethought me of
lover-jealousy; so I let drop the curtain and covering my face, fell
asleep. As soon as it was dawn I arose and donning my clothes, made the
Wuzu-ablution and prayed such prayers as are obligatory and which I had
deferred. Then I said, “O brother of the Arabs, wilt thou direct me into
the right road and thus add to thy favours?” He replied, “At thy
leisure, O chief of the Arabs, the term of the guest-rite is three
days,[134] and I am not one to let thee go before that time.” So I abode
with him three days, and on the fourth day as we sat talking, I asked
him of his name and lineage. Quoth he “As for my lineage, I am of the
Banú Odhrah; my name is such an one, son of such an one and my father’s
brother is called such an one.” And behold, O Commander of the Faithful,
he was the son of my paternal uncle and of the noblest house of the Banu
Uzrah. Said I, “O my cousin, what moved thee to act on this wise,
secluding thyself in the waste and leaving thy fair estate and that of
thy father and thy slaves and handmaids?” When he heard my words, his
eyes filled with tears and he replied, “Know, O my cousin, that I fell
madly in love of the daughter of my father’s brother, fascinated by her,
distracted for her, passion-possessed as by a Jinn, wholly unable to let
her out of my sight. So I sought her in marriage of her sire, but he
refused and married her to a man of the Banu Odhrah, who went in to her
and carried her to his abiding-place this last year. When she was thus
far removed from me and I was prevented from looking on her, the fiery
pangs of passion and excess of love-longing and desire drove me to
forsake my clan[135] and friends and fortune and take up my abode in
this desert, where I have grown used to my solitude.” I asked, “Where
are their dwellings?” and he answered, “They are hard by, on the crest
of yonder hill; and every night, at the dead time, when all eyes sleep,
she stealeth secretly out of the camp, unseen of any one, and I satisfy
my desire of her converse and she of mine.[136] So I abide thus,
solacing myself with her a part of the night, till Allah work out that
which is to be wrought; either I shall compass my desire, in spite[137]
of the envious, or Allah will determine for me and He is the best of
determinators.” Now when the youth told me his case, O Commander of the
Faithful, I was concerned for him and perplexed by reason of my jealousy
for his honour; so I said to him, “O son of my uncle, wilt thou that I
point out to thee a plan and suggest to thee a project, whereby (please
Allah) thou shalt find perfect welfare and the way of right and
successful issue whereby the Almighty shall do away from thee that thou
dreadest?” He replied, “Say on, O my cousin”; and quoth I, “When it is
night and the girl cometh, set her on my she-camel which is swift of
pace, and mount thou thy steed, whilst I bestride one of these
dromedaries. So will we fare on all night and when the morrow morns, we
shall have traversed wolds and wastes, and thou wilt have attained thy
desire and won the beloved of thy heart. The Almighty’s earth is wide,
and by Allah, I will back thee with heart and wealth and sword.”——And
Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
Now when it was the Six Hundred and Ninety-first Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when Jamil advised
the elopement and night journey, promising his aid as long as he lived,
the youth accepted and said, “O cousin, wait till I take counsel with
her, for she is quick-witted and prudent and hath insight into affairs.”
So (continued Jamil) when the night darkened and the hour of her coming
arrived, and he awaiting her at the appointed tide, she delayed beyond
her usual time, and I saw him go forth the door of the tent and opening
his mouth, inhale the wafts of breeze that blew from her quarter, as if
to snuff her perfume, and he repeated these two couplets:—
Breeze of East who bringest me gentle air ✿ From the place of sojourn
where dwells my fair:
O Breeze, of the lover thou bearest sign, ✿ Canst not of her coming some
signal bear?
Then he entered the tent and sat weeping awhile; after which he said to
me, “O my cousin, some mischance must have betided the daughter of mine
uncle, or some accident must have hindered her from coming to me this
night,” presently adding, “But abide where thou art, till I bring thee
the news.” And he took sword and shield and was absent a while of the
night, after which he returned, carrying something in hand and called
aloud to me. So I hastened to him and he said, “O my cousin, knowest
thou what hath happened?” I replied, “No, by Allah!” Quoth he, “Verily,
I am distraught concerning my cousin this night; for, as she was coming
to me, a lion met her in the way and devoured her, and there remaineth
of her but what thou seest.” So saying, he threw down what he had in his
hand, and behold, it was the damsel’s turband and what was left of her
bones. Then he wept sore and casting down his bow,[138] took a bag and
went forth again saying, “Stir not hence till I return to thee, if it
please Almighty Allah.” He was absent a while and presently returned,
bearing in his hand a lion’s head, which he threw on the ground and
called for water. So I brought him water, with which he washed the
lion’s mouth and fell to kissing it and weeping; and he mourned for her
exceedingly and recited these couplets:—
Ho thou lion who broughtest thyself to woe, ✿ Thou art slain and worse
sorrows my bosom rend!
Thou hast reft me of fairest companionship, ✿ Made her home Earth’s womb
till the world shall end.
To Time, who hath wrought me such grief, I say, ✿ “Allah grant in her
stead never show a friend!”
Then said he to me, “O cousin, I conjure thee by Allah and the claims of
kindred and consanguinity[139] between us, keep thou my charge. Thou
wilt presently see me dead before thee; whereupon do thou wash me and
shroud me and these that remain of my cousin’s bones in this robe and
bury us both in one grave and write thereon these two couplets:”—
On Earth surface we lived in rare ease and joy ✿ By fellowship joined in
one house and home.
But Fate with her changes departed us, ✿ And the shroud conjoins us in
Earth’s cold womb.
Then he wept with sore weeping and, entering the tent, was absent
awhile, after which he came forth, groaning and crying out. Then he gave
one sob and departed this world. When I saw that he was indeed dead, it
was grievous to me and so sore was my sorrow for him that I had
well-nigh followed him for excess of mourning over him. Then I laid him
out and did as he had enjoined me, shrouding his cousin’s remains with
him in one robe and laying the twain in one grave. I abode by their tomb
three days, after which I departed and continued to pay frequent pious
visits[140] to the place for two years. This then is their story, O
Commander of the Faithful! Al-Rashid was pleased with Jamil’s story and
rewarded him with a robe of honour and a handsome present. And men also
tell a tale concerning
-----
Footnote 125:
Al-Mas’udi, chapt. cxix. (Fr. transl. vii., 351) mentions the Banu
Odhrah as famed for lovers and tells the pathetic tale of ’Orwah and
’Afrá.
Footnote 126:
Jamil bin Ma’amar the poet has been noticed in Vol. ii. 102; and he
has no business here as he died years before Al-Rashid was born. The
tale begins like that of Ibn Mansúr and the Lady Budúr (Night
cccxxvii.), except that Mansur does not offer his advice.
Footnote 127:
Arab “Halumma,” an interjection = bring! a congener of the Heb.
“Halúm,” the grammarians of Kufah and Bassorah are divided concerning
its origin.
Footnote 128:
Arab. “Nafs-í” which here corresponds with our canting “the flesh,”
the “Old Adam,” &c.
Footnote 129:
Arab. “Atmárí” used for travel. The Anglo-Americans are the only
people who have the common sense to travel (where they are not known)
in their “store clothes” and reserve the worst for where they are
known.
Footnote 130:
_e.g._, a branch or bough.
Footnote 131:
Arab. “Ráyah káimah,” which Lane translates a “beast standing”!
Footnote 132:
Tying up the near foreleg just above the knee; and even with this a
camel can hop over sundry miles of ground in the course of a night.
The hobbling is shown in Lane (Nights vol. ii., p. 46).
Footnote 133:
As opposed to “Severance” in the old knightly language of love, which
is now apparently lost to the world. I tried it in the Lyrics of
Camoens and found that I was speaking a forgotten tongue, which
mightily amused the common sort of critic and reviewer.
Footnote 134:
More exactly three days and eight hours, after which the guest becomes
a friend, and as in the Argentine prairies is expected to do friend’s
duty. The popular saying is, “The entertainment of a guest is three
days; the viaticum (jáizah) is a day and a night, and whatso exceedeth
this is alms.”
Footnote 135:
Arab. “’Ashírah.” Books tell us there are seven degrees of connection
among the Badawin: Sha’ab, tribe or rather race, nation (as the
Anazah) descended from a common ancestor; Kabílah the tribe proper
(whence _les Kabyles_); Fasílah (sept), Imárah, Ashirah (all a man’s
connections); Fakhiz (lit. the thigh, _i.e._, his blood relations) and
Batn (belly) his kith and kin. Practically Kabílah is the tribe,
Ashírah the clan, and Bayt the household; while Hayy may be anything
between tribe and kith and kin.
Footnote 136:
This is the true platonic love of noble Arabs, the Ishk ’uzrí, noted
in vol. ii., 104.
Footnote 137:
Arab. “’Alà raghm,” a favourite term. It occurs in theology; for
instance, when the Shi’ahs are asked the cause of such and such a
ritual distinction they will reply, “Ala raghmi ’l-Tasannun”: lit. =
to spite the Sunnis.
Footnote 138:
In the text “Al-Kaus” for which Lane and Payne substitute a shield.
The bow had not been mentioned but—_n’importe_, the Arab reader would
say. In the text it is left at home because it is a cowardly,
far-killing weapon compared with sword and lance. Hence the Spaniard
calls and justly calls the knife the “bravest of arms” as it wants a
man behind it.
Footnote 139:
Arab. “Rahim” or “Rihm” = womb, uterine relations, pity or sympathy,
which may here be meant.
Footnote 140:
Reciting Fátihahs and so forth, as I have described in the Cemetery of
Al-Medinah (ii. 300). Moslems do not pay for prayers to benefit the
dead like the majority of Christendom and, according to Calvinistic
Wahhábi-ism, their prayers and blessings are of no avail. But the
mourner’s heart loathes reason and he prays for his dead instinctively
like the so-termed “Protestant.” Amongst the latter, by the bye, I
find four great _Sommités_, (1) Paul of Tarsus who protested against
the Hebraism of Peter; (2) Mohammed who protested against the
perversions of Christianity; (3) Luther who protested against Italian
rule in Germany, and lastly (4) one (who shall be nameless) that
protests against the whole business.
THE BADAWI AND HIS WIFE.[141]
Caliph Mu’áwiyah was sitting one day in his palace[142] at Damascus, in
a room whose windows were open on all four sides, that the breeze might
enter from every quarter. Now it was a day of excessive heat, with no
breeze from the hills stirring, and the middle of the day, when the heat
was at its height, and the Caliph saw a man coming along, scorched by
the heat of the ground and limping, as he fared on barefoot. Mu’awiyah
considered him awhile and said to his courtiers, “Hath Allah (may He be
extolled and exalted!) created any miserabler than he who need must hie
abroad at such an hour and in such sultry tide as this?” Quoth one of
them, “Haply he seeketh the Commander of the Faithful;” and quoth the
Caliph, “By Allah, if he seek me, I will assuredly give to him, and if
he be wronged, I will certainly succour him. Ho, boy! Stand at the door,
and if yonder wild Arab seek to come in to me, forbid him not
therefrom.” So the page went out and presently the Arab came up to him
and he said, “What dost thou want?” Answered the other, “I want the
Commander of the Faithful,” and the page said, “Enter.” So he entered
and saluted the Caliph,——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and
ceased to say her permitted say.
Now when it was the Six Hundred and Ninety-second Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the page
allowed him to enter, the Badawi saluted the Caliph, who said to him,
“Who art thou?” Replied the Arab, “I am a man of the Banú Tamím.”[143]
“And what bringeth thee here at this season?” asked Mu’awiyah; and the
Arab answered, “I come to thee, complaining and thy protection
imploring.” “Against whom?” “Against Marwan bin al-Hakam,[144] thy
deputy,” replied he, and began reciting:—
Mu’áwiyah,[145] thou gen’rous lord, and best of men that be; ✿ And oh,
thou lord of learning, grace and fair humanity,
Thee-wards I come because my way of life is strait to me: ✿ O help! and
let me not despair thine equity to see.
Deign thou redress the wrong that dealt the tyrant whim of him ✿ Who
better had my life destroyed than made such wrong to dree.
He robbed me of my wife Su’ád and proved him worst of foes, ✿ Stealing
mine honour ’mid my folk with foul iniquity;
And went about to take my life before th’ appointed day ✿ Hath dawned
which Allah made my lot by destiny’s decree.
Now when Mu’awiyah heard him recite these verses, with the fire flashing
from his mouth, he said to him, “Welcome and fair welcome, O brother of
the Arabs! Tell me thy tale and acquaint me with thy case.” Replied the
Arab, “O Commander of the Faithful, I had a wife whom I loved passing
dear with love none came near; and she was the coolth of mine eyes and
the joy of my heart; and I had a herd of camels, whose produce enabled
me to maintain my condition; but there came upon us a bad year which
killed off hoof and horn and left me naught. When what was in my hand
failed me and wealth fell from me and I lapsed into evil case, I at once
became abject and a burden to those who erewhile wished to visit me; and
when her father knew it, he took her from me and abjured me and drove me
forth without ruth. So I repaired to thy deputy, Marwan bin al-Hakam,
and asked his aid. He summoned her sire and questioned him of my case,
when he denied any knowledge of me.” Quoth I, “Allah assain the Emir! An
it please him to send for the woman and question her of her father’s
saying, the truth will appear.” So he sent for her and brought her; but
no sooner had he set eyes on her than he fell in love with her; so,
becoming my rival, he denied me succour and was wroth with me, and sent
me to prison, where I became as I had fallen from heaven and the wind
had cast me down in a far land. Then said Marwan to her father, “Wilt
thou give her to me to wife, on a present settlement of a thousand
dinars and a contingent dowry of ten thousand dirhams,[146] and I will
engage to free her from yonder wild Arab!” Her father was seduced by the
bribe and agreed to the bargain; whereupon Marwan sent for me and
looking at me like an angry lion, said to me, “O Arab, divorce Su’ad.” I
replied, “I will not put her away; but he set on me a company of his
servants, who tortured me with all manner of tortures, till I found no
help for it but to divorce her. I did so and he sent me back to prison,
where I abode till the days of her purification were accomplished, when
he married her and let me go. So now I come hither in thee hoping and
thy succour imploring and myself on thy protection throwing.” And he
spoke these couplets:—
Within my heart is fire ✿ Whichever flameth higher;
Within my frame are pains ✿ For skill of leach too dire.
Live coals in vitals burn ✿ And sparks from coal up spire:
Tears flood mine eyes and down ✿ Coursing my cheek ne’er tire:
Only God’s aid and thine ✿ I crave for my desire!
Then he was convulsed,[147] and his teeth chattered and he fell down in
a fit, squirming like a scotched snake. When Mu’awiyah heard his story
and his verse, he said, “Marwan bin al-Hakam hath transgressed against
the laws of the Faith and hath violated the Harim of True
Believers!”——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying
her permitted say.
Now when it was the Six Hundred and Ninety-third Night,
She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the
Caliph Mu’awiyah heard the wild Arab’s words, he said, “The son of
al-Hakam hath indeed transgressed against the laws of the Faith and hath
violated the Harim of True Believers,” presently adding, “O Arab, thou
comest to me with a story, the like whereof I never heard!” Then he
called for inkcase and paper and wrote to Marwan as follows:—Verily it
hath reached me that thou transgresseth the laws of the Faith with
regard to thy lieges. Now it behoveth the Wali who governeth the folk to
keep his eyes from their lusts and stay his flesh from its delights. And
after he wrote many words, which (quoth he who told me the tale) I omit,
for brevity’s sake, and amongst them these couplets:—
Thou wast invested (woe to thee!)[148] with rule for thee unfit; ✿ Crave
thou of Allah pardon for thy foul adultery.
Th’ unhappy youth to us is come complaining ’mid his groans ✿ And asks
redress for parting-grief and saddened me through thee.
An oath have I to Allah sworn shall never be forsworn; ✿ Nay, for I’ll
do what Faith and Creed command me to decree.
An thou dare cross me in whate’er to thee I now indite ✿ I of thy flesh
assuredly will make the vulture free.
Divorce Su’ad, equip her well, and in the hottest haste ✿ With Al-Kumayt
and Zíbán’s son, hight Nasr, send to me.
Then he folded the letter and, sealing it with his seal, delivered it to
Al-Kumayt[149] and Nasr bin Zíbán (whom he was wont to employ on weighty
matters, because of their trustiness) who took the missive and carried
it to Al-Medinah, where they went in to Marwan and saluting him
delivered to him the writ and told him how the case stood. He read the
letter and fell a-weeping; but he went in to Su’ad (as ’twas not in his
power to refuse obedience to the Caliph) and, acquainting her with the
case, divorced her in the presence of Al-Kumayt and Nasr; after which he
equipped her and delivered her to them, together with a letter to the
Caliph wherein he versified as follows:—
Hurry not, Prince of Faithful Men! with best of grace thy vow ✿ I will
accomplish as ’twas vowed and with the gladdest gree.
I sinned not adulterous sin when loved her I, then how ✿ Canst charge me
with advowtrous deed or any villainy?
Soon comes to thee that splendid sun which hath no living peer ✿ On
earth, nor aught in mortal men or Jinns her like shalt see.
This he sealed with his own signet and gave to the messengers who
returned with Su’ad to Damascus and delivered to Mu’awiyah the letter,
and when he had read it he cried, “Verily, he hath obeyed handsomely,
but he exceedeth in his praise of the woman.” Then he called for her and
saw beauty such as he had never seen, for comeliness and loveliness,
stature and symmetrical grace; moreover, he talked with her and found
her fluent of speech and choice in words. Quoth he, “Bring me the Arab.”
So they fetched the man, who came, sore disordered for shifts and
changes of fortune, and Mu’awiyah said to him, “O Arab, an thou wilt
freely give her up to me, I will bestow upon thee in her stead three
slave girls, high-bosomed maids like moons, with each a thousand dinars;
and I will assign thee on the Treasury such an annual sum as shall
content thee and enrich thee.” When the Arab heard this, he groaned one
groan and swooned away, so that Mu’awiyah thought he was dead; and, as
soon as he revived, the Caliph said to him, “What aileth thee?” The Arab
answered, “With heavy heart and in sore need have I appealed to thee
from the injustice of Marwan bin al-Hakam; but to whom shall I appeal
from thine injustice?” And he versified in these couplets:—
Make me not (Allah save the Caliph!) one of the betrayed ✿ Who from the
fiery sands to fire must sue for help and aid:
Deign thou restore Su’ád to this afflicted heart distraught, ✿ Which
every morn and eve by sorest sorrow is waylaid:
Loose thou my bonds and grudge me not and give her back to me; ✿ And if
thou do so ne’er thou shalt for lack of thanks upbraid!
Then said he, “By Allah, O Commander of the Faithful, wert thou to give
me all the riches contained in the Caliphate, yet would I not take them
without Su’ad.” And he recited this couplet:—
I love Su’ád and unto all but hers my love is dead, ✿ Each morn I feel
her love to me is drink and daily bread.
Quoth the Caliph, “Thou confessest to having divorced her and Marwan
owned the like; so now we will give her free choice. An she choose other
than thee, we will marry her to him, and if she choose thee, we will
restore her to thee.” Replied the Arab, “Do so.” So Mu’awiyah said to
her, “What sayest thou, O Su’ad? Which dost thou choose; the Commander
of the Faithful, with his honour and glory and dominion and palaces and
treasures and all else thou seest at his command, or Marwan bin al-Hakam
with his violence and tyranny, or this Arab, with his hunger and
poverty?” So she improvised these couplets:—
This one, whom hunger plagues, and rags enfold, ✿ Dearer than tribe and
kith and kin I hold;
Than crownèd head, or deputy Marwán, ✿ Or all who boast of silver coins
and gold.
Then said she, “By Allah, O Commander of the Faithful, I will not
forsake him for the shifts of Fortune or the perfidies of Fate, there
being between us old companionship we may not forget, and love beyond
stay and let; and indeed ’tis but just that I bear with him in his
adversity, even as I shared with him in prosperity.” The Caliph
marvelled at her wit and love and constancy and, ordering her ten
thousand dirhams, delivered her to the Arab, who took his wife and went
away.[150] And they likewise tell a tale of
-----
Footnote 141:
Lane transfers this to vol. i. 520 (notes to chapt. vii.); and gives a
mere abstract as of that preceding.
Footnote 142:
We learn from Ibn Batutah that it stood South of the Great Mosque and
afterwards became the Coppersmiths’ Bazar. The site was known as
Al-Khazrá (the Green) and the building was destroyed by the Abbasides.
See Defrémery and Sanguinetti, i. 206.
Footnote 143:
This great tribe or rather nation has been noticed before (vol. ii.
170). The name means “Strong,” and derives from one Tamim bin Murr of
the race of Adnan, nat. circ. A.D. 121. They hold the North-Eastern
uplands of Najd, comprising the great desert Al-Dahná and extend to
Al-Bahrayn. They are split up into a multitude of clans and septs; and
they can boast of producing two famous sectarians. One was Abdullah
bin Suffár, head of the Suffriyah; and the other Abdullah bin Ibáz
(Ibadh) whence the Ibázíyah heretics of Oman who long included her
princes. Mr. Palgrave wrongly writes Abadeeyah and Biadeeyah and my
“Bayázi” was an Arab vulgarism used by the Zanzibarians. Dr. Badger
rightly prefers Ibáziyah which he writes Ibâdhiyah (Hist. of the
Imams, etc.)
Footnote 144:
Governor of Al-Medinah under Mu’awiyah and afterwards (A.H. 64–65 =
683–4) fourth Ommiade. Al-Siyúti (p. 216) will not account him amongst
the princes of the Faithful, holding him a rebel against Al-Zubayr.
Ockley makes Ibn al-Zubayr ninth and Marwán tenth Caliph.
Footnote 145:
The address, without the vocative particle, is more emphatic; and the
P.N. Mu’awiyah seems to court the omission.
Footnote 146:
This may also mean that the £500 were the woman’s “mahr” or marriage
dowry and the £250 a present to buy the father’s consent.
Footnote 147:
Quite true to nature. See an account of the quasi-epileptic fits to
which Syrians are subject and by them called Al-Wahtah in “The Inner
Life of Syria,” i. 233.
Footnote 148:
Arab “Wayha-k” here equivalent to Wayla-k. M. C. Barbier de Meynard
renders the first “mon ami” and the second “misérable.”
Footnote 149:
This is an instance when the article (Al) is correctly used with one
proper name and not with another. Al-Kumayt (P. N. of poet) lit. means
a bay horse with black points: Nasr is victory.
Footnote 150:
This anecdote, which reads like truth, is ample set off for a
cart-load of abuse of women. But even the Hindus, determined
misogynists in books, sometimes relent. Says the Katha Sarit Sagara:
“So you see, King, honourable matrons are devoted to their husbands,
and it is not the case that all women are always bad” (ii. 624). Let
me hope that after all this Mistress Su’ad did not lead her husband a
hardish life.
THE LOVERS OF BASSORAH.