"There was once a merchant named Abou Temam, and he was a man of
understanding and good breeding, quick-witted and truthful in all
his affairs, and he had wealth galore. Now there was in his land
an unjust king and a jealous, and Abou Temam feared for his
wealth from this king and said, 'I will remove hence to another
place where I shall not be in fear.' So he made for the city of
Ilan Shah and built himself a palace therein and transporting his
wealth thither, took up his abode there. Presently, the news of
him reached King Ilan Shah; so he sent to bid him to his presence
and said to him, 'We know of thy coming to us and thine entry
under our allegiance, and indeed we have heard of thine
excellence and wit and generosity; so welcome to thee and fair
welcome! The land is thy land and at thy commandment, and
whatsoever occasion thou hast unto us, it is [already]
accomplished unto thee; and it behoveth that thou be near our
person and of our assembly.' Abou Temam prostrated himself to the
king and said to him, 'O king, I will serve thee with my wealth
and my life, but do thou excuse me from nearness unto thee, for
that, [if I took service about thy person], I should not be safe
from enemies and enviers.' Then he addressed himself to serve the
king with presents and largesses, and the king saw him to be
intelligent, well-bred and of good counsel; so he committed to
him the ordinance of his affairs and in his hand was the power to
bind and loose.
Now Ilan Shah had three viziers, in whose hands the affairs [of
the kingdom] were [aforetime] and they had been used to leave not
the king night nor day; but they became shut out from him by
reason of Abou Temam and the king was occupied with him to their
exclusion. So they took counsel together upon the matter and
said, 'What counsel ye we should do, seeing that the king is
occupied from us with yonder man, and indeed he honoureth him
more than us? But now come, let us cast about for a device,
whereby we may remove him from the king.' So each of them spoke
forth that which was in his mind, and one of them said, 'The king
of the Turks hath a daughter, whose like there is not in the
world, and whatsoever messenger goeth to demand her in marriage,
her father slayeth him. Now our king hath no knowledge of this;
so, come, let us foregather with him and bring up the talk of
her. When his heart is taken with her, we will counsel him to
despatch Abou Temam to seek her hand in marriage; whereupon her
father will slay him and we shall be quit of him, for we have had
enough of his affair."
Accordingly, they all went in to the king one day (and Abou Temam
was present among them,) and mentioned the affair of the damsel,
the king's daughter of the Turks, and enlarged upon her charms,
till the king's heart was taken with her and he said to them, 'We
will send one to demand her in marriage for us; but who shall be
our messenger?' Quoth the viziers, 'There is none for this
business but Abou Temam, by reason of his wit and good breeding;'
and the king said, 'Indeed, even as ye say, none is fitting for
this affair but he.' Then he turned to Abou Temam and said to
him, 'Wilt thou not go with my message and seek me [in marriage]
the king's daughter of the Turks?' and he answered, 'Hearkening
and obedience, O king.'
So they made ready his affair and the king conferred on him a
dress of honour, and he took with him a present and a letter
under the king's hand and setting out, fared on till he came to
the [capital] city of Turkestan. When the king of the Turks knew
of his coming, he despatched his officers to receive him and
entreated him with honour and lodged him as befitted his rank.
Then he entertained him three days, after which he summoned him
to his presence and Abou Temam went in to him and prostrating
himself before him, as beseemeth unto kings, laid the present
before him and gave him the letter.
The king read the letter and said to Abou Temam, "We will do what
behoveth in the matter; but, O Abou Temam, needs must thou see my
daughter and she thee, and needs must thou hear her speech and
she thine.' So saying, he sent him to the lodging of the
princess, who had had notice of this; so that they had adorned
her sitting-chamber with the costliest that might be of utensils
of gold and silver and the like, and she seated herself on a
throne of gold, clad in the most sumptuous of royal robes and
ornaments. When Abou Temam entered, he bethought himself and
said, 'The wise say, he who restraineth his sight shall suffer no
evil and he who guardeth his tongue shall hear nought of foul,
and he who keepeth watch over his hand, it shall be prolonged and
not curtailed.'[FN#121] So he entered and seating himself on the
ground, [cast down his eyes and] covered his hands and feet with
his dress.[FN#122] Quoth the king's daughter to him, 'Lift thy
head, O Abou Temam, and look on me and speak with me.' But he
spoke not neither raised his head, and she continued, 'They sent
thee but that thou mightest look on me and speak with me, and
behold, thou speakest not at all. Take of these pearls that be
around thee and of these jewels and gold and silver. But he put
not forth his hand unto aught, and when she saw that he paid no
heed to anything, she was angry and said, 'They have sent me a
messenger, blind, dumb and deaf.'
Then she sent to acquaint her father with this; whereupon the
king called Abou Temam to him and said to him, 'Thou camest not
but to see my daughter. Why, then, hast thou not looked upon
her?' Quoth Abou Temam, 'I saw everything.' And the king said,
'Why didst thou not take somewhat of that which thou sawest of
jewels and the like? For they were set for thee.' But he
answered, 'It behoveth me not to put out my hand to aught that is
not mine.' When the king heard his speech, he gave him a
sumptuous dress of honour and loved him exceedingly and said to
him, 'Come, look at this pit.' So Abou Temam went up [to the
mouth of the pit] and looked, and behold, it was full of heads of
men; and the king said to him, 'These are the heads of
ambassadors, whom I slew, for that I saw them without loyalty to
their masters, and I was used, whenas I saw an ambassador without
breeding, [FN#123] to say, "He who sent him is less of breeding
than he, for that the messenger is the tongue of him who sendeth
him and his breeding is of his master's breeding; and whoso is on
this wise, it befitteth not that he be akin to me."[FN#124] So,
because of this, I used to put the messengers to death; but, as
for thee, thou hast overcome us and won my daughter, of the
excellence of thy breeding; so be of good heart, for she is thy
master's.' Then he sent him back to king Ilan Shah with presents
and rarities and a letter, saying, 'This that I have done is in
honour of thee and of thine ambassador.'
When Abou Temam returned with [news of] the accomplishment of his
errand and brought the presents and the letter, King Ilan Shah
rejoiced in this and redoubled in showing him honour and made
much of him. Some days thereafterward, the king of Turkestan sent
his daughter and she went in to King Ilan Shah, who rejoiced in
her with an exceeding joy and Abou Temam's worth was exalted in
his sight. When the viziers saw this, they redoubled in envy and
despite and said, 'An we contrive us not a device to rid us of
this man, we shall perish of rage.' So they bethought them [and
agreed upon] a device they should practise.
Then they betook themselves to two boys affected to the [special]
service of the king, who slept not but on their knee,[FN#125] and
they lay at his head, for that they were his pages of the
chamber, and gave them each a thousand dinars of gold, saying,
'We desire of you that ye do somewhat for us and take this gold
as a provision against your occasion.' Quoth the boys, 'What is
it ye would have us do?' And the viziers answered, 'This Abou
Temam hath marred our affairs for us, and if his case abide on
this wise, he will estrange us all from the king's favour; and
what we desire of you is that, when ye are alone with the king
and he leaneth back, as he were asleep, one of you say to his
fellow, "Verily, the king hath taken Abou Temam into his especial
favour and hath advanced him to high rank with him, yet is he a
transgressor against the king's honour and an accursed one." Then
let the other of you ask, "And what is his transgression?" And
the first make answer, "He outrageth the king's honour and saith,
'The King of Turkestan was used, whenas one went to him to seek
his daughter in marriage, to slay him; but me he spared, for that
she took a liking to me, and by reason of this he sent her
hither, because she loved me.'" Then let his fellow say, "Knowest
thou this for truth?" And the other reply, "By Allah, this is
well known unto all the folk, but, of their fear of the king,
they dare not bespeak him thereof; and as often as the king is
absent a-hunting or on a journey, Abou Temam comes to her and is
private with her."' And the boys answered, 'We will say this.'
Accordingly, one night, when they were alone with the king and he
leant back, as he were asleep, they said these words and the king
heard it all and was like to die of rage and said in himself,
'These are young boys, not come to years of discretion, and have
no intrigue with any; and except they had heard these words from
some one, they had not spoken with each other thereof.' When it
was morning, wrath overmastered him, so that he stayed not
neither deliberated, but summoned Abou Temam and taking him
apart, said to him, 'Whoso guardeth not his lord's
honour,[FN#126] what behoveth unto him?' Quoth Abou Temam, 'It
behoveth that his lord guard not his honour.' 'And whoso entereth
the king's house and playeth the traitor with him,' continued the
king, 'what behoveth unto him?' And Abou Temam answered, 'He
shall not be left on life.' Whereupon the king spat in his face
and said to him, 'Both these things hast thou done.' Then he drew
his dagger on him in haste and smiting him in the belly, slit it
and he died forthright; whereupon the king dragged him to a well
that was in his palace and cast him therein.
After he had slain him, he fell into repentance and mourning and
chagrin waxed upon him, and none, who questioned him, would he
acquaint with the cause thereof, nor, of his love for his wife,
did he tell her of this, and whenas she asked him of [the cause
of] his grief, he answered her not. When the viziers knew of Abou
Temam's death, they rejoiced with an exceeding joy and knew that
the king's grief arose from regret for him. As for Ilan Shah, he
used, after this, to betake himself by night to the
sleeping-chamber of the two boys and spy upon them, so he might
hear what they said concerning his wife. As he stood one night
privily at the door of their chamber, he saw them spread out the
gold before them and play with it and heard one of them say, 'Out
on us! What doth this gold profit us? For that we cannot buy
aught therewith neither spend it upon ourselves. Nay, but we have
sinned against Abou Temam and done him to death unjustly.' And
the other answered, 'Had we known that the king would presently
kill him, we had not done what we did.'
When the king heard this, he could not contain himself, but
rushed in upon them and said to them, 'Out on you! What did ye?
Tell me.' And they said, 'Pardon, O king.' Quoth he, 'An ye would
have pardon from God and me, it behoveth you to tell me the
truth, for nothing shall save you from me but truth-speaking.' So
they prostrated themselves before him and said, 'By Allah, O
king, the viziers gave us this gold and taught us to lie against
Abou Teman, so thou mightest put him to death, and what we said
was their words.' When the king heard this, he plucked at his
beard, till he was like to tear it up by the roots and bit upon
his fingers, till he well-nigh sundered them in twain, for
repentance and sorrow that he had wrought hastily and had not
delayed with Abou Temam, so he might look into his affair.
Then he sent for the viziers and said to them, 'O wicked viziers,
ye thought that God was heedless of your deed, but your
wickedness shall revert upon you. Know ye not that whoso diggeth
a pit for his brother shall fall into it? Take from me the
punishment of this world and to-morrow ye shall get the
punishment of the world to come and requital from God.' Then he
bade put them to death; so [the headsman] smote off their heads
before the king, and he went in to his wife and acquainted her
with that wherein he had transgressed against Abou Temam;
whereupon she grieved for him with an exceeding grief and the
king and the people of his household left not weeping and
repenting all their lives. Moreover, they brought Abou Temam
forth of the well and the king built him a dome[FN#127] in his
palace and buried him therein.
See, then, O august king," continued the youth, "what envy doth
and injustice and how God caused the viziers' malice revert upon
their own necks; and I trust in God that He will succour me
against all who envy me my favour with the king and show forth
the truth unto him. Indeed, I fear not for my life from death;
only I fear lest the king repent of my slaughter, for that I am
guiltless of offence, and if I knew that I were guilty of aught,
my tongue would be mute."
When the king heard this, he bowed [his head] in perplexity and
confusion and said, "Carry him back to the prison till the
morrow, so we may look into his affair."