I have heard, O auspicious King, that the Caliph Harun al-Rashid
was one night wakeful exceedingly and when he rose in the morning
restlessness gat hold of him. Wherefore all about him were
troubled for that "Folk aye follow Prince's fashion;" they
rejoice exceedingly with his joy and are sorrowful with his
sorrows albeit they know not the cause why they are so affected.
Presently the Commander of the Faithful sent for Masrúr the
Eunuch, and when he came to him cried, "Fetch me my Wazir,
Ja'afar the Barmaki, without stay or delay." Accordingly, he went
out and returned with the Minister who, finding him alone, which
was indeed rare, and seeing as he drew near that he was in a
melancholic humour, never even raising his eyes, stopped till his
lord would vouchsafe to look upon him. At last the Prince of True
Believers cast his glance upon Ja'afar, but forthright turned
away his head and sat motionless as before. The Wazir descrying
naught in the Caliph's aspect that concerned him personally,
strengthened his purpose and bespake him on this wise, "O
Commander of the Faithful, wilt thine Highness deign suffer me to
ask whence cometh this sadness?" and the Caliph answered with a
clearer brow, "Verily, O Wazir, these moods have of late become
troublesome to me, nor are they to be moved save by hearing
strange tales and verses; and, if thou come not hither on a
pressing affair, thou wilt gladden me by relating somewhat to
dispel my sadness." Replied the Wazir, "O Commander of the
Faithful, my office compelleth me to stand on thy service, and I
would fain remind thee that this is the day appointed for
informing thyself of the good governance of thy capital and its
environs, and this matter shall, Inshallah, divert thy mind and
dispel its gloom." The Caliph answered, "Thou dost well to remind
me, for that I had wholly forgotten it; so fare forth and change
thy vestments while I do the same with mine." Presently the twain
donned habits of stranger merchants and issued out by a private
postern of the palace-garden, which led them into the fields.
After they had skirted the city, they reached the Euphrates' bank
at some distance from the gate opening on that side, without
having observed aught of disorder; then they crossed the river in
the first ferry-boat they found, and, making a second round on
the further side, they passed over the bridge that joined the two
halves of Baghdad-town. At the bridge-foot they met with a blind
old man who asked alms of them; and the Caliph turned about and
crossed his palm with a diner, whereupon the beggar caught hold
of his hand, and held him fast, saying, "O beneficent man, whoso
thou ever may be, whom Allah hath inspired to bestow an alms upon
me, refuse not the favour I crave of thee, which is, to strike me
a buffet upon the ear, for that I deserve such punishment and a
greater still." After these words he quitted his hold of the
Caliph's hand that it might smite him, yet for fear lest the
stranger pass on without so doing he grasped him fast by his long
robe. And as the morn began to dawn Shahrazad held her peace till
The end of the Six Hundred and Fifth Night.
Then said she:--I have heard, O auspicious King, that the Caliph,
surprised by the blind man's words and deeds said, "I may not
grant thy request nor will I minish the merit of my charity, by
treating thee as thou wouldst have me entreat thee." Saying these
words, he strove to get away from the blind man, but he who after
his long experience expected this refusal of his benefactor, did
his utmost to keep hold of him, and cried, "O my lord, forgive my
audacity and my persistency; and I implore thee either give me a
cuff on the ear, or take back thine alms, for I may not receive
it save on that condition, without falsing a solemn oath I have
sworn before the face of Allah; and, if thou knew the reason,
thou wouldst accord with me that the penalty is light indeed."
Then the Caliph not caring to be delayed any longer, yielded to
the blind man's importunity, and gave him a slight cuff:
whereupon he loosed him forthright and thanked him and blessed
him. When the Caliph and his Wazir, had walked some way from the
blind man, the former exclaimed, "This blind beggar must
assuredly have some right good cause for behaving himself in such
manner to all who give him alms, and I would fain know it. Do
thou return to him and tell him who I am, and bid him fail not to
appear at my palace about mid-afternoon prayer time that I may
converse with him, and hear whatso he hath to say." Hereupon
Ja'afar went back and bestowed alms on the blind man giving him
another cuff on the ear and apprised him of the Caliph's command,
and returned forthright to his lord. Presently, when the twain
reached the town, they found in a square a vast crowd of folk
gazing at a handsome youth and a well shaped, who was mounted on
a mare which he rode at fullest speed round the open space,
spurring and whipping the beast so cruelly that she was covered
with sweat and blood. Seeing this the Caliph, amazed at the
youth's brutality, stopped to ask the by-standers an they knew
why he tortured and tormented the mare on such wise; but he could
learn naught save that for some while past, every day at the same
time, he had entreated her after the same fashion. Hereat as they
walked along, the Caliph bid his Wazir especially notice the
place and order the young man to come without failing on the next
day, at the hour appointed for the blind man. But ere the Caliph
reached his palace, he saw in a street, which he had not passed
through for many months, a newly built mansion, which seemed to
him the palace of some great lord of the land. He asked the
Wazir, an he knew its owner; and Ja'afar answered he did not but
would make inquiry. So he consulted a neighbour who told him that
the house owner was one Khwájah Hasan surnamed Al-Habbál from his
handicraft, rope-making; that he himself had seen the man at work
in the days of his poverty, that he knew not how Fate and Fortune
had befriended him, yet that the same Khwajah had gotten such
exceeding wealth that he had been enabled to pay honourably and
sumptuously all the expenses he had incurred when building his
palace. Then the Wazir, returned to the Caliph, and gave him a
full account of whatso he had heard, whereat cried the Prince of
True Believers, "I must see this Khwajah Hasan al-Habbal: do thou
therefore, O Wazir, go and tell him to come to my palace, at the
same hour thou hast appointed for the other twain." The Minister
did his lord's bidding and the next day, after mid-afternoon
prayers, the Caliph retired to his own apartment and Ja'afar
introduced the three persons whereof we have been speaking and
presented them to the Caliph. All prostrated themselves at his
feet and when they rose up, the Commander of the Faithful asked
his name of the blind man, who answered he was hight Baba
Abdullah. "O Servant of Allah," cried the Caliph, "thy manner of
asking alms yesterday seemed so strange to me that, had it not
been for certain considerations I should not have granted thy
petition; nay, I would have prevented thy giving further offence
to the folk. And now I have bidden thee hither that I may know
from thyself what impelled thee to swear that rash oath whereof
thou toldest me, that I may better judge whether thou have done
well or ill, and if I should suffer thee to persist in a practice
which meseemeth must set so pernicious an example. Tell me openly
how such mad thought entered into thy head, and conceal not
aught, for I will know the truth and the full truth."--And as the
morn began to dawn Shahrazad held her peace till
The end of the Six Hundred and Sixth Night.
Then said she:--I have heard, O auspicious King, that Baba
Abdullah terrified by these words, cast himself a second time at
the Caliph's feet with his face prone to the ground, and when he
rose again, said, "O Commander of the Faithful, I crave pardon of
thy Highness for my audacity, in that I dared require, and well
nigh compelled thee to do a thing which verily seemeth contrary
to sound sense. I acknowledge mine offence; but as I knew not thy
Highness at that time, I implore thy clemency, and I pray thou
wilt consider my ignorance of thine exalted degree. And now as to
the extravagance of my action, I readily admit that it must be
strange to the sons of Adam; but in the eye of Allah 'tis but a
slight penance wherewith I have charged myself for an enormous
crime of which I am guilty, and wherefor, an all the people in
the world were each and every to give me a cuff on the ear
'twould not be sufficient atonement. Thy Highness shall judge of
it thyself, when I, in telling my tale according to thy
commandment, will inform thee of what was my offence." And here
he began to relate