"There was once a king in the land of Teberistan, by name Dadbin,
and he had two viziers, called one Zourkhan and the other Kardan.
The Vizier Zourkhan had a daughter, there was not in her time a
handsomer than she nor yet a chaster nor a more pious, for she
was a faster, a prayer and a worshipper of God the Most High, and
her name was Arwa. Now Dadbin heard tell of her charms; so his
heart clave to her and he called the vizier [her father] and said
to him, 'I desire of thee that thou marry me to thy daughter.'
Quoth Zourkhan, 'Allow me to consult her, and if she consent, I
will marry thee with her.' And the king said, 'Hasten unto this.'
So the vizier went in to his daughter and said to her, 'O my
daughter, the king seeketh thee of me and desireth to marry
thee.' 'O my father,' answered she 'I desire not a husband and if
thou wilt marry me, marry me not but with one who shall be below
me in rank and I nobler than he, so he may not turn to other than
myself nor lift his eyes upon me, and marry me not to one who is
nobler than I, lest I be with him as a slave-girl and a
serving-woman.' So the vizier returned to the king and acquainted
him with that which his daughter had said, whereat he redoubled
in desire and love-liking for her and said to her father, 'An
thou marry me not to her of good grace, I will take her by force
in thy despite.' The vizier again betook himself to his daughter
and repeated to her the king's words, but she replied, 'I desire
not a husband.' So he returned to the king and told him what she
said, and he was wroth and threatened the vizier, whereupon the
latter took his daughter and fled with her.
When this came to the king's knowledge, he despatched troops in
pursuit of Zourkhan, to stop the road upon him, whilst he himself
went out and overtaking the vizier, smote him on the head with
his mace and slew him. Then he took his daughter by force and
returning to his dwelling-place, went in to her and married her.
Arwa resigned herself with patience to that which betided her and
committed her affair to God the Most High; and indeed she was
used to serve Him day and night with a goodly service in the
house of King Dabdin her husband.
It befell one day that the king had occasion to make a journey;
so he called his Vizier Kardan and said to him, 'I have a trust
to commit to thy care, and it is yonder damsel, my wife, the
daughter of the Vizier [Zourkhan], and I desire that thou keep
her and guard her thyself, for that there is not in the world
aught dearer to me than she.' Quoth Kardan in himself, 'Of a
truth, the king honoureth me with an exceeding honour [in
entrusting me] with this damsel.' And he answered 'With all my
heart.'
When the king had departed on his journey, the vizier said in
himself, 'Needs must I look upon this damsel whom the king loveth
with all this love.' So he hid himself in a place, that he might
look upon her, and saw her overpassing description; wherefore he
was confounded at her and his wit was dazed and love got the
mastery of him, so that he said to her, saying, 'Have pity on me,
for indeed I perish for the love of thee.' She sent back to him,
saying, 'O vizier, thou art in the place of trust and confidence,
so do not thou betray thy trust, but make thine inward like unto
thine outward[FN#113] and occupy thyself with thy wife and that
which is lawful to thee. As for this, it is lust and [women are
all of] one taste.[FN#114] And if thou wilt not be forbidden from
this talk, I will make thee a byword and a reproach among the
folk.' When the vizier heard her answer, he knew that she was
chaste of soul and body; wherefore he repented with the utmost of
repentance and feared for himself from the king and said, 'Needs
must I contrive a device wherewithal I may destroy her; else
shall I be disgraced with the king.'
When the king returned from his journey, he questioned his vizier
of the affairs of his kingdom and the latter answered, 'All is
well, O king, save a vile matter, which I have discovered here
and wherewith I am ashamed to confront the king; but, if I hold
my peace thereof, I fear lest other than I discover it and I [be
deemed to] have played traitor to the king in the matter of my
[duty of] loyal warning and my trust.' Quoth Dabdin, 'Speak, for
thou art none other than a truth-teller, a trusty one, a loyal
counsellor in that which thou sayest, undistrusted in aught.' And
the vizier said, 'O king, this woman to whose love thy heart
cleaveth and of whose piety thou talkest and her fasting and
praying, I will make plain to thee that this is craft and guile.'
At this, the king was troubled and said, 'What is to do?' 'Know,'
answered the vizier, 'that some days after thy departure, one
came to me and said to me, "Come, O vizier, and look." So I went
to the door of the [queen's] sleeping-chamber and beheld her
sitting with Aboulkhair, her father's servant, whom she
favoureth, and she did with him what she did, and this is the
manner of that which I saw and heard.'
When Dabdin heard this, he burnt with rage and said to one of his
eunuchs,[FN#115] 'Go and slay her in her chamber.' But the eunuch
said to him, 'O king, may God prolong thy continuance! Indeed,
the killing of her may not be at this time; but do thou bid one
of thine eunuchs take her up on a camel and carry her to one of
the trackless deserts and cast her down there; so, if she be at
fault, God shall cause her to perish, and if she be innocent, He
will deliver her, and the king shall be free from sin against
her, for that this damsel is dear to thee and thou slewest her
father by reason of thy love for her.' Quoth the king, 'By Allah,
thou sayst sooth!' Then he bade one of his eunuchs carry her on a
camel to one of the far-off deserts and there leave her and go
away, and he forbade [him] to prolong her torment. So he took her
up and betaking himself with her to the desert, left her there
without victual or water and returned, whereupon she made for one
of the [sand-]hills and ranging stones before her [in the form of
a prayer-niche], stood praying.
Now it chanced that a camel-driver, belonging to Kisra the king,
lost certain camels and the king threatened him, if he found them
not, that he would slay him. So he set out and plunged into the
deserts till he came to the place where the damsel was and seeing
her standing praying, waited till she had made an end of her
prayer, when he went up to her and saluted her, saying, 'Who art
thou?' Quoth she, 'I am a handmaid of God.' 'What dost thou in
this desolate place?' asked he, and she said, 'I serve God the
Most High.' When he saw her beauty and grace, he said to her,
'Harkye! Do thou take me to husband and I will be tenderly
solicitous over thee and use thee with exceeding compassion and I
will further thee in obedience to God the Most High.' But she
answered, saying, 'I have no need of marriage and I desire to
abide here [alone] with my Lord and His service; but, if thou
wouldst deal compassionately with me and further me in the
obedience of God the Most High, carry me to a place where there
is water and thou wilt have done me a kindness.'
So he carried her to a place wherein was running water and
setting her down on the ground, left her and went away,
marvelling at her. After he left her, he found his camels, by her
blessing, and when he returned, King Kisra asked him, 'Hast thou
found the camels?' ['Yes,' answered he] and acquainted him with
the affair of the damsel and set out to him her beauty and grace;
whereupon the king's heart clave to her and he mounted with a few
men and betook himself to that place, where he found the damsel
and was amazed at her, for that he saw her overpassing the
description wherewith the camel-driver had described her to him.
So he accosted her and said to her, 'I am King Kisra, greatest of
the kings. Wilt thou not have me to husband?' Quoth she, 'What
wilt thou do with me, O king, and I a woman abandoned in the
desert?' And he answered, saying, 'Needs must this be, and if
thou wilt not consent to me, I will take up my sojourn here and
devote myself to God's service and thine and worship Him with
thee.'
Then he bade set up for her a tent and another for himself,
facing hers, so he might worship God with her, and fell to
sending her food; and she said in herself, 'This is a king and it
is not lawful for me that I suffer him forsake his subjects and
his kingdom for my sake. So she said to the serving-woman, who
used to bring her the food, 'Speak to the king, so he may return
to his women, for he hath no need of me and I desire to abide in
this place, so I may worship God the Most High therein.' The
slave-girl returned to the king and told him this, whereupon he
sent back to her, saying, 'I have no need of the kingship and I
also desire to abide here and worship God with thee in this
desert.' When she found this earnestness in him, she consented to
his wishes and said, 'O king, I will consent unto thee in that
which thou desirest and will be to thee a wife, but on condition
that thou bring me Dadbin the king and his Vizier Kardan and his
chamberlain[FN#116] and that they be present in thine assembly,
so I may speak a word with them in thy presence, to the intent
that thou mayest redouble in affection for me.' Quoth Kisra, 'And
what is thine occasion unto this?' So she related to him her
story from first to last, how she was the wife of Dadbin the king
and how the latter's vizier had miscalled her honour.
When King Kisra heard this, he redoubled in loveliking for her
and affection and said to her, 'Do what thou wilt.' So he let
bring a litter and carrying her therein to his dwelling-place,
married her and entreated her with the utmost honour. Then he
sent a great army to King Dadbin and fetching him and his vizier
and the chamberlain, caused bring them before him, unknowing what
he purposed with them. Moreover, he caused set up for Arwa a
pavilion in the courtyard of his palace and she entered therein
and let down the curtain before herself. When the servants had
set their seats and they had seated themselves, Arwa raised a
corner of the curtain and said, 'O Kardan, rise to thy feet, for
it befitteth not that thou sit in the like of this assembly,
before this mighty King Kisra.' When the vizier heard these
words, his heart quaked and his joints were loosened and of his
fear, he rose to his feet. Then said she to him, 'By the virtue
of Him who hath made thee stand in this place of standing [up to
judgment], and thou abject and humiliated, I conjure thee speak
the truth and say what prompted thee to lie against me and cause
me go forth from my house and from the hand of my husband and
made thee practise thus against a man,[FN#117] a true believer,
and slay him. This is no place wherein leasing availeth nor may
prevarication be therein.'
When the vizier was ware that she was Arwa and heard her speech,
he knew that it behoved him not to lie and that nought would
avail him but truth-speaking; so he bowed [his head] to the
ground and wept and said, 'Whoso doth evil, needs must he abide
it, though his day be prolonged. By Allah, I am he who hath
sinned and transgressed, and nought prompted me unto this but
fear and overmastering desire and the affliction written upon my
forehead;[FN#118] and indeed this woman is pure and chaste and
free from all fault.' When King Dadbin heard this, he buffeted
his face and said to his vizier, 'God slay thee! It is thou that
hast parted me and my wife and wronged me!' But Kisra the king
said to him, 'God shall surely slay thee, for that thou
hastenedst and lookedst not into thine affair and knewest not the
guilty from the guiltless. Hadst thou wrought deliberately, the
false had been made manifest to thee from the true; so where was
thy judgment and thy sight?"
Then said he to Arwa, "What wilt thou that I do with them?" And
she answered, saying, "Accomplish on them the ordinance of God
the Most High;[FN#119] the slayer shall be slain and the
transgressor transgressed against, even as he transgressed
against us; yea, and the well-doer, good shall be done unto him,
even as he did unto us." So she gave [her officers] commandment
concerning Dadbin and they smote him on the head with a mace and
slew him, and she said, "This is for the slaughter of my father."
Then she bade set the vizier on a beast [and carry him] to the
desert whither he had caused carry her [and leave him there
without victual or water]; and she said to him, "An thou be
guilty, thou shalt abide [the punishment of] thy guilt and perish
of hunger and thirst in the desert; but, if there be no guilt in
thee, thou shalt be delivered, even as I was delivered."
As for the eunuch, the chamberlain, who had counselled King
Dadbin [not to slay her, but] to [cause] carry her to the desert
[and there abandon her], she bestowed on him a sumptuous dress of
honour and said to him, "The like of thee it behoveth kings to
hold in favour and set in high place, for that thou spokest
loyally and well, and a man is still requited according to his
deed." And Kisra the king invested him with the governance of one
of the provinces of his empire. Know, therefore, O king,"
continued the youth, "that whoso doth good is requited therewith
and he who is guiltless of sin and reproach feareth not the issue
of his affair. And I, O king, am free from guilt, wherefore I
trust in God that He will show forth the truth and vouchsafe me
the victory over enemies and enviers."
When the king heard this, his wrath subsided and he said, "Carry
him back to the prison till the morrow, so we may look into his
affair."