after seeing the King’s daughter, described her beauty to the Lady
Zubaydah ending with, “Indeed, O my mistress, I fear lest the Prince of
True Believers hear of her and break the law and slay her mate and take
her to wife,” Zubaydah cried, “Woe to thee, O Tohfah, say me, doth this
damsel display such passing beauty and loveliness that the Commander of
the Faithful should, on her account, barter his soul’s good for his
worldly lust and break the Holy Law! By Allah, needs must I look on her,
and if she be not as thou sayest, I will bid strike off thy head! O
strumpet, there are in the Caliph’s Serraglio three hundred and three
score slave girls, after the number of the days of the year, yet is
there none amongst them so excellent as thou describest!” Tohfah
replied, “No, by Allah, O my lady!: nor is there her like in all
Baghdad; no, nor amongst the Arabs or the Daylamites nor hath Allah (to
whom belong Might and Majesty!) created the like of her!” Thereupon
Zubaydah called for Masrur, the eunuch, who came and kissed the ground
before her, and she said to him, “O Masrur, go to the Wazir’s house,
that with the two gates, one giving on the water and the other on the
land, and bring me the damsel who dwelleth there, also her two children
and the old woman who is with her, and haste thou and tarry not.” Said
Masrur, “I hear and I obey,” and repairing to Hasan’s house, knocked at
the door. Quoth the old woman, “Who is at the door?” and quoth he,
“Masrur, the eunuch of the Commander of the Faithful.” So she opened the
door and he entered and saluted her with the salam; whereupon she
returned his salute and asked his need; and he replied, “The Lady
Zubaydah, daughter of Al-Kasim[91] and queen-spouse of the Commander of
the Faithful Harun al-Rashid sixth[92] of the sons of Al-Abbas, paternal
uncle of the Prophet (whom Allah bless and keep!) summoneth thee to her,
thee and thy son’s wife and her children; for the women have told her
anent her and her beauty.” Rejoined the old woman, “O my lord Masrur, we
are foreigner folk and the girl’s husband (my son) who is abroad and far
from home hath strictly charged me not to go forth nor let her go forth
in his absence, neither show her to any of the creatures of Allah
Almighty; and I fear me, if aught befal her and he come back, he will
slay himself; wherefore of thy favour I beseech thee, O Masrur, require
us not of that whereof we are unable.” Masrur retorted, “O my lady, if I
knew aught to be feared for you in this, I would not require you to go;
the Lady Zubaydah desireth but to see her and then she may return. So
disobey not or thou wilt repent; and like as I take you, I will bring
you both back in safety, Inshallah!” Hasan’s mother could not gainsay
him; so she went in and making the damsel ready, brought her and her
children forth and they all followed Masrur to the palace of the
Caliphate where he carried them in and seated them on the floor before
the Lady Zubaydah. They kissed ground before her and called down
blessings upon her; and Zubaydah said to the young lady (who was
veiled), “Wilt thou not uncover thy face, that I may look on it?” So she
kissed the ground between her hands and discovered a face which put to
shame the full moon in the height of heaven. Zubaydah fixed her eyes on
her and let their glances wander over her, whilst the palace was
illumined by the light of her countenance; whereupon the Queen and the
whole company were amazed at her beauty and all who looked on her became
Jinn-mad and unable to bespeak one another. As for Zubaydah, she rose
and making the damsel stand up, strained her to her bosom and seated her
by herself on the couch. Moreover, she bade decorate the palace in her
honour and calling for a suit of the richest raiment and a necklace of
the rarest ornaments put them upon her. Then said she to her, “O liege
lady of fair ones, verily thou astoundest me and fillest mine eyes.[93]
What arts knowest thou?” She replied, “O my lady, I have a dress of
feathers, and could I but put it on before thee, thou wouldst see one of
the fairest of fashions and marvel thereat, and all who saw it would
talk of its goodliness, generation after generation.” Zubaydah asked,
“And where is this dress of thine?”; and the damsel answered, “’Tis with
my husband’s mother. Do thou seek it for me of her.” So Zubaydah said to
the old woman, “O my lady the pilgrimess, O my mother, go forth and
fetch us her feather-dress, that we may solace ourselves by looking on
what she will do, and after take it back again.” Replied the old woman,
“O my lady, this damsel is a liar. Hast thou ever seen any of womankind
with a dress of feathers? Indeed, this belongeth only to birds.” But the
damsel said to the Lady Zubaydah, “As thou livest, O my lady, she hath a
feather-dress of mine and it is in a chest, which is buried in such a
store-closet in the house.” So Zubaydah took off her neck a rivière of
jewels, worth all the treasures of Chosroe and Cæsar, and gave it to the
old woman, saying, “O my mother, I conjure thee by my life, take this
necklace and go and fetch us this dress, that we may divert ourselves
with the sight thereof, and after take it again!” But she sware to her
that she had never seen any such dress and wist not what the damsel
meant by her speech. Then the Lady Zubaydah cried out at her and taking
the key from her, called Masrur and said to him as soon as he came,
“Take this key and go to the house; then open it and enter a
store-closet there whose door is such and such and amiddlemost of it
thou wilt find a chest buried. Take it out and break it open and bring
me the feather-dress which is therein and set it before me.”——And
Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
Now when it was the Seven Hundred and Ninety-sixth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Lady Zubaydah,
having taken the key from Hasan’s mother, handed it to Masrur, saying,
“Take this key and open such a closet; then bring forth of it the chest;
break it open; bring me the feather-dress which is therein and set it
before me.” “Hearkening and obedience,” replied he and taking the key
went forth, whereupon the old woman arose and followed him, weeping-eyed
and repenting her of having given ear to the damsel and gone with her to
the bath, for her desire to go thither was but a device. So she went
with him to the house and opened the door of the closet, and he entered
and brought out the chest. Then he took therefrom the feather-dress and
wrapping it in a napkin, carried it to the Lady Zubaydah, who took it
and turned it about, marvelling at the beauty of its make; after which
she gave it to the damsel, saying, “Is this thy dress of feathers?” She
replied, “Yes, O my lady,” and at once putting forth her hand, took it
joyfully. Then she examined it and rejoiced to find it whole as it was,
not a feather gone. So she rose and came down from beside the Lady
Zubaydah and taking her sons in her bosom, wrapped herself in the
feather-dress and became a bird, by the ordinance of Allah (to whom
belong Might and Majesty!), whereat Zubaydah marvelled as did all who
were present. Then she walked with a swaying and graceful gait and
danced and sported and flapped her wings, whilst all eyes were fixed on
her and all marvelled at what she did. Then said she with fluent tongue,
“Is this goodly, O my ladies?”; and they replied, “Yes, O Princess of
the fair! All thou dost is goodly.” Said she, “And this, O my
mistresses, that I am about to do is better yet.” Then she spread her
wings and flying up with her children to the dome of the palace, perched
on the saloon-roof whilst they all looked at her, wide-eyed and said,
“By Allah, this is indeed a rare and peregrine fashion! Never saw we its
like.” Then, as she was about to take flight for her own land, she
bethought her of Hasan and said, “Hark ye, my mistresses!” and she
improvised these couplets[94]:—
O who hast quitted these abodes and faredst lief and light ✿ To other
objects of thy love with fain and fastest flight!
Deem’st thou that ’bided I with you in solace and in joy ✿ Or that my
days amid you all were clear of bane and blight?
When I was captive ta’en of Love and snarèd in his snare, ✿ He made of
Love my prison and he fared fro’ me forthright:
So when my fear was hidden, he made sure that ne’er should I ✿ Pray to
the One, th’ Omnipotent to render me my right:
He charged his mother keep the secret with all the care she could, ✿ In
closet shut and treated me with enemy’s despight:
But I o’erheard their words and held them fast in memory ✿ And hoped for
fortune fair and weal and blessings infinite:
My faring to the Hammam bath then proved to me the means ✿ Of making
minds of folk to be confounded at my sight:
Wondered the Bride of Al-Rashíd to see my brilliancy ✿ When she beheld
me right and left with all of beauty dight:
Then quoth I, “O our Caliph’s wife, I once was wont to own ✿ A dress of
feathers rich and rare that did the eyes delight:
An it were now on me thou shouldst indeed see wondrous things ✿ That
would efface all sorrows and disperse all sores of sprite:”
Then deigned our Caliph’s Bride to cry, “Where is that dress of thine?”
✿ And I replied, “In house of him kept darkling as the night.”
So down upon it pounced Masrúr and brought it unto her, ✿ And when ’twas
there each feather cast a ray of beaming light:
Therewith I took it from his hand and opened it straightway ✿ And saw
its plumèd bosom and its buttons pleased my sight:
And so I clad myself therein and took with me my babes; ✿ And spread my
wings and flew away with all my main and might;
Saying, “O husband’s mother mine tell him when cometh he ✿ An ever
wouldest meet her thou from house and home must flee.”
When she had made an end of her verses, the Lady Zubaydah said to her,
“Wilt thou not come down to us, that we may take our fill of thy beauty,
O fairest of the fair? Glory be to Him who hath given thee eloquence and
brilliance!” But she said, “Far be from me that the Past return should
see!” Then said she to the mother of the hapless, wretched Hasan, “By
Allah, O my lady, O mother of my husband, it irketh me to part from
thee; but, whenas thy son cometh to thee and upon him the nights of
severance longsome shall be and he craveth reunion and meeting to see
and whenas breezes of love and longing shake him dolefully, let him come
in the islands of Wák[95] to me.” Then she took flight with her children
and sought her own country, whilst the old woman wept and beat her face
and moaned and groaned till she swooned away. When she came to herself,
she said to the Lady Zubaydah, “O my lady, what is this thou hast done?”
And Zubaydah said to her, “O my lady the pilgrimess, I knew not that
this would happen and hadst thou told me of the case and acquainted me
with her condition, I had not gainsaid thee. Nor did I know until now
that she was of the Flying Jinn; else had I not suffered her to don the
dress nor permitted her to take her children: but now, O my lady, words
profit nothing; so do thou acquit me of offence against thee.” And the
old woman could do no otherwise than shortly answer, “Thou art
acquitted!” Then she went forth the palace of the Caliphate and returned
to her own house, where she buffeted her face till she swooned away.
When she came to herself, she pined for her daughter-in-law and her
grandchildren and for the sight of her son and versified with these
couplets:—
Your faring on the parting-day drew many a tear fro’ me, ✿ Who must your
flying from the home long mourn in misery:
And cried I for the parting pang in anguish likest fire ✿ And
tear-floods chafed mine eyelids sore that ne’er of tears were free;
“Yes, this is Severance, Ah, shall we e’er joy return of you? ✿ For your
departure hath deprived my power of privacy!”
Ah, would they had returned to me in covenant of faith ✿ An they return
perhaps restore of past these eyne may see.
Then arising she dug in the house three graves and betook herself to
them with weeping all whiles of the day and watches of the night; and
when her son’s absence was longsome upon her and grief and yearning and
unquiet waxed upon her, she recited these couplets:—
Deep in mine eyeballs ever dwells the phantom-form of thee ✿ My heart
when throbbing or at rest holds fast thy memory:
And love of thee doth never cease to course within my breast, ✿ As
course the juices in the fruits which deck the branchy tree:
And every day I see thee not my bosom straightened is ✿ And even
censurers excuse the woes in me they see:
O thou whose love hath gotten hold the foremost in the heart ✿ Of me
whose fondness is excelled by mine insanity:
Fear the Compassionate in my case and some compassion show! ✿ Love of
thee makes me taste of death in bitterest pungency.
——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her
permitted say.
Now when it was the Seven Hundred and Ninety-seventh Night,
She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Hasan’s
mother bewept through the watches of the night and the whiles of the day
her separation from her son and his wife and children. On this wise it
fared with her; but as regards Hasan, when he came to the Princesses,
they conjured him to tarry with them three months, after which long
sojourn they gave him five loads of gold and the like of silver and one
load of victual and accompanied him on his homeward way till he conjured
them to return, whereupon they farewelled him with an embrace; but the
youngest came up to him, to bid him adieu and clasping his neck wept
till she fainted. Then she recited these two couplets:—
When shall the severance-fire be quenched by union, love, with you? ✿
When shall I win my wish of you and days that were renew?
The parting-day affrighted me and wrought me dire dismay ✿ And doubleth
woe, O master mine, by the sad word “Adieu.”
Anon came forward the second Princess and embraced him and recited these
two couplets:—
Farewelling thee indeed is like to bidding life farewell ✿ And like the
loss of Zephyr[96] ’tis to lose thee far our sight:
Thine absence is a flaming fire which burneth up my heart ✿ And in thy
presence I enjoy the Gardens of Delight.[97]
Presently came forward the third and embraced him and recited these two
couplets:—
We left not taking leave of thee (when bound to other goal) ✿ From aught
of ill intention or from weariness and dole:
Thou art my soul, my very soul, the only soul of me: ✿ And how shall I
farewell myself and say, “Adieu my Soul?”[98]
After her came forward the fourth and embraced him and recited these two
couplets:—
Nought garred me weep save where and when of severance spake he ✿
Persisting in his cruel will with sore persistency:
Look at this pearl-like ornament I’ve hung upon mine ear; ✿ ’Tis of the
tears of me compact, this choicest jewelry!
In her turn came forward the fifth and embraced him and recited these
two couplets:—
Ah, fare thee not; for I’ve no force thy faring to endure, ✿ Nor e’en to
say the word farewell before my friend is sped:
Nor any patience to support the days of severance, ✿ Nor any tears on
ruined house and wasted home to shed.
Next came the sixth and embraced him and recited these two couplets:—
I cried, as the camels went off with them, ✿ And Love pained my vitals
with sorest pain:
Had I a King who would lend me rule ✿ I’d seize every ship that dares
sail the Main.
Lastly came forward the seventh and embraced him and recited these
couplets:—
When thou seest parting, be patient still, [Symbol: star] Nor let
foreign parts deal thy soul affright:
But abide, expecting a swift return, [Symbol: star] For all hearts hold
parting in sore despight.
And eke these two couplets:—
Indeed I’m heart-broken to see thee start, ✿ Nor can I farewell thee ere
thou depart;
Allah wotteth I left not to say adieu ✿ Save for fear that saying would
melt your heart.
Hasan also wept for parting from them, till he swooned, and repeated
these couplets:—
Indeed, ran my tears on the severance-day ✿ Like pearls I threaded in
necklace-way:
The cameleer drove his camels with song ✿ But I lost heart, patience and
strength and stay:
I bade them farewell and retired in grief ✿ From tryst-place and camp
where my dearlings lay:
I turned me unknowing the way nor joyed ✿ My soul, but in hopes to
return some day.
Oh listen, my friend, to the words of love ✿ God forbid thy heart forget
all I say!
O my soul when thou partest wi’ them, part too ✿ With all joys of life
nor for living pray!
Then he farewelled them and fared on diligently night and day, till he
came to Baghdad, the House of Peace and Sanctuary of the Abbaside
Caliphs unknowing what had passed during his wayfare. At once entering
his house he went in to his mother to salute her, but found her worn of
body and wasted of bones, for excess of mourning and watching, weeping
and wailing, till she was grown thin as a toothpick and could not answer
him a word. So he dismissed the dromedaries then asked her of his wife
and children and she wept till she fainted, and he seeing her in this
state searched the house for them, but found no trace of them. Then he
went to the store-closet and finding it open and the chest broken and
the feather-dress missing, knew forthright that his wife had possessed
herself thereof and flown away with her children. Then he returned to
his mother and, finding her recovered from her fit, questioned her of
his spouse and babes, whereupon she wept and said, “O my son, may Allah
amply requite thee their loss! These are their three tombs.”[99] When
Hasan heard these words of his mother, he shrieked a loud shriek and
fell down in a fainting-fit in which he lay from the first of the day
till noon-tide; whereupon anguish was added to his mother’s anguish and
she despaired of his life. However, after awhile, he came to himself and
wept and buffeted his face and rent his raiment and went about the house
clean distraught, reciting these two couplets[100]:—
Folk have made moan of passion before me, of past years, ✿ And live and
dead for absence have suffered pains and fears;
But that within my bosom I harbour, with mine eyes ✿ I’ve never seen the
like of nor heard with mine ears.
Then finishing his verses he bared his brand and coming up to his
mother, said to her, “Except thou tell me the truth of the case, I will
strike off thy head and kill myself.” She replied, “O my son, do not
such deed: put up thy sword and sit down, till I tell thee what hath
passed.” So he sheathed his scymitar and sat by her side, whilst she
recounted to him all that had happened in his absence from first to
last, adding, “O my son, but that I saw her weep in her longing for the
bath and feared that she would go and complain to thee on thy return,
and thou wouldst be wroth with me, I had never carried her thither; and
were it not that the Lady Zubaydah was wroth with me and took the key
from me by force, I had never brought out the feather-dress, though I
died for it. But thou knowest, O my son, that no hand may measure length
with that of the Caliphate. When they brought her the dress, she took it
and turned it over, fancying that somewhat might be lost thereof, but
she found it uninjured; wherefore she rejoiced and making her children
fast to her waist, donned the feather-vest, after the Lady Zubaydah had
pulled off to her all that was upon herself and clad her therein, in
honour of her and because of her beauty. No sooner had she donned the
dress than she shook and becoming a bird, promenaded about the palace,
whilst all who were present gazed at her and marvelled at her beauty and
loveliness. Then she flew up to the palace roof and perching thereon,
looked at me and said:—Whenas thy son cometh to thee and the nights of
separation upon him longsome shall be and he craveth reunion and meeting
to see and whenas the breezes of love and longing shake him dolefully
let him leave his native land and journey to the Islands of Wak and seek
me. This, then, is her story and what befel in thine absence.”——And
Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
Now when it was the Seven Hundred and Ninety-eighth Night,
She pursued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that as soon as
Hasan’s mother had made an end of her story, he gave a great cry and
fell down in a fainting fit which continued till the end of day, when he
revived and fell to buffeting his face and writhing on the floor like a
scotched snake. His mother sat weeping by his head until midnight, when
he came to himself and wept sore and recited these couplets[101]:—
Pause ye and see his sorry state since when ye fain withdrew; ✿ Haply,
when wrought your cruelty, you’ll have the grace to rue:
For an ye look on him, you’ll doubt of him by sickness-stress ✿ As
though, by Allah, he were one before ye never knew.
He dies for nothing save for love of you, and he would be ✿ Numbered
amid the dead did not he moan and groan for you.
And deem not pangs of severance sit all lightly on his soul; ✿ ’Tis
heavy load on lover-wight; ’twere lighter an ye slew.
Then having ended his verse he rose and went round about the house,
weeping and wailing, groaning and bemoaning himself, five days, during
which he tasted nor meat nor drink. His mother came to him and conjured
him, till he broke his fast, and besought him to leave weeping; but he
hearkened not to her and continued to shed tears and lament, whilst she
strove to comfort him and he heeded her not. Then he recited these
couplets[102]:—
Beareth for love a burden sore this soul of me, ✿ Could break a mortal’s
back however strong that be;
I am distraught to see my case and languor grows ✿ Making my day and
night indifferent in degree:
I own to having dreaded Death before this day: ✿ This day I hold my
death mine only remedy.
And Hasan ceased not to do thus till daybreak, when his eyes closed and
he saw in a dream his wife grief-full and repentant for that which she
had done. So he started up from sleep crying out and reciting these two
couplets:—
Their image bides with me, ne’er quits me, ne’er shall fly; ✿ but holds
within my heart most honourable stead;
But for reunion-hope, I’d see me die forthright, ✿ And but for
phantom-form of thee my sleep had fled.
And as morning morrowed he redoubled his lamentations. He abode
weeping-eyed and heavy-hearted, wakeful by night and eating little, for
a whole month at the end of which he bethought him to repair to his
sisters and take counsel with them in the matter of his wife, so haply
they might help him to regain her. Accordingly he summoned the
dromedaries and loading fifty of them with rarities of Al-Irak,
committed the house to his mother’s care and deposited all his goods in
safe keeping, except some few he left at home. Then he mounted one of
the beasts and set out on his journey single handed, intent upon
obtaining aidance from the Princesses, and he stayed not till he reached
the Palace of the Mountain of Clouds, when he went in to the damsels and
gave them the presents, in which they rejoiced. Then they wished him joy
of his safety and said to him, “O our brother, what can ail thee to come
again so soon, seeing thou wast with us but two months since?” Whereupon
he wept and improvised these couplets:—
My soul for loss of lover sped I sight; ✿ Nor life enjoying neither
life’s delight:
My case is one whose cure is all unknown; ✿ Can any cure the sick but
doctor wight?
O who hast reft my sleep-joys, leaving me ✿ To ask the breeze that blew
from that fair site,—
Blew from my lover’s land (the land that owns ✿ Those charms so sore a
grief in soul excite),
“O breeze, that visitest her land, perhaps ✿ Breathing her scent, thou
mayst revive my sprite!”
And when he ended his verse he gave a great cry and fell down in a
fainting-fit. The Princesses sat round him, weeping over him, till he
recovered and repeated these two couplets:—
Haply and happily may Fortune bend her rein ✿ Bringing my love, for
Time’s a freke of jealous strain;[103]
Fortune may prosper me, supply mine every want, ✿ And bring a blessing
where before were ban and bane.
Then he wept till he fainted again, and presently coming to himself
recited the two following couplets:—
My wish, mine illness, mine unease! by Allah, own ✿ Art thou content?
then I in love contented wone!
Dost thou forsake me thus sans crime or sin ✿ Meet me in ruth, I pray,
and be our parting gone.
Then he wept till he swooned away once more and when he revived he
repeated these couplets:—
Sleep fled me, by my side wake ever shows ✿ And hoard of tear-drops from
these eyne aye flows;
For love they weep with beads cornelian-like ✿ And growth of distance
greater dolence grows:
Lit up my longing, O my love, in me ✿ Flames burning ’neath my ribs with
fiery throes!
Remembering thee a tear I never shed ✿ But in it thunder roars and leven
glows.
Then he wept till he fainted away a fourth time, and presently
recovering, recited these couplets:—
Ah! for lowe of love and longing suffer ye as suffer we? ✿ Say, as pine
we and as yearn we for you are pining ye?
Allah do the death of Love, what a bitter draught is his! ✿ Would I wot
of Love what plans and what projects nurseth he!
Your faces radiant-fair though afar from me they shine, ✿ Are mirrored
in our eyes whatsoe’er the distance be;
My heart must ever dwell on the memories of your tribe; ✿ And the
turtledove reneweth all as oft as moaneth she:
Ho thou dove, who passest night-tide in calling on thy fere, ✿ Thou
doublest my repine, bringing grief for company;
And leavest thou mine eyelids with weeping unfulfilled ✿ For the
dearlings who departed, whom we never more may see:
I melt for the thought of you at every time and hour, ✿ And I long for
you when Night showeth cheek of blackest blee.
Now when his sister heard these words and saw his condition and how he
lay fainting on the floor, she screamed and beat her face and the other
Princesses hearing her scream came out and learning his misfortune and
the transport of love and longing and the passion and distraction that
possessed him they questioned him of his case. He wept and told them
what had befallen in his absence and how his wife had taken flight with
her children, wherefore they grieved for him and asked him what she said
at leave-taking. Answered he, “O my sisters, she said to my mother, Tell
thy son, whenas he cometh to thee and the nights of severance upon him
longsome shall be and he craveth reunion and meeting to see, and whenas
the winds of love and longing shake him dolefully, let him fare in the
Islands of Wak to me.” When they heard his words they signed one to
other with their eyes and shook their heads, and each looked at her
sister, whilst Hasan looked at them all. Then they bowed their heads
groundwards and bethought themselves awhile; after which they raised
their heads and said, “There is no Majesty and there is no Might save in
Allah, the Glorious, the Great!”; presently adding, “Put forth thy hand
to heaven and when thou reach thither, then shalt thou win to thy
wife.”——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her
permitted say.
Now when it was the Seven Hundred and Ninety-ninth Night,