When it was the eleventh day, the viziers betook them early in
the morning to the king's gate and said to him, "O king, the folk
are assembled from the king's gate to the gibbet, so they may see
[the execution of] the king's commandment on the youth." So the
king bade fetch the prisoner and they brought him; whereupon the
viziers turned to him and said to him, "O vile of origin, doth
any hope of life remain with thee and lookest thou still for
deliverance after this day?" "O wicked viziers," answered he,
"shall a man of understanding renounce hope in God the Most High?
Indeed, howsoever a man be oppressed, there cometh to him
deliverance from the midst of stress and life from the midst of
death, [as is shown by the case of] the prisoner and how God
delivered him." "What is his story?" asked the king; and the
youth answered, saying, "O king, they tell that
STORY OF THE PRISONER AND HOW GOD GAVE
HIM RELIEF.
There was once a king of the kings, who had a high palace,
overlooking a prison of his, and he used to hear in the night one
saying, 'O Ever-present Deliverer, O Thou whose relief is nigh,
relieve Thou me!' One day the king waxed wroth and said, "Yonder
fool looketh for relief from [the consequences of] his crime.
'Then said he to his officers, 'Who is in yonder prison?' And
they answered, 'Folk upon whom blood hath been found.'[FN#139] So
the king bade bring the man in question before him and said to
him, 'O fool, little of wit, how shall thou be delivered from
this prison, seeing that thine offence is great?' Then he
committed him to a company of his guards and said to them, 'Take
this fellow and crucify him without the city.'
Now it was the night-season. So the soldiers carried him without
the city, thinking to crucify him, when, behold, there came out
upon them thieves and fell in on them with swords and [other]
weapons. Thereupon the guards left him whom they purposed to put
to death [and took to flight], whilst the man who was going to
slaughter fled forth at a venture and plunging into the desert,
knew not whither he went before he found himself in a thicket and
there came out upon him a lion of frightful aspect, which
snatched him up and set him under him. Then he went up to a tree
and tearing it up by the roots, covered the man therewith and
made off into the thicket, in quest of the lioness.
As for the man, he committed his affair to God the Most High,
relying upon Him for deliverance, and said in himself, 'What is
this affair?' Then he did away the leaves from himself and
rising, saw great plenty of men's bones there, of those whom the
lion had devoured. He looked again and saw a heap of gold lying
alongside a girdle;[FN#140] whereat he marvelled and gathering up
the gold in his skirts, went forth of the thicket and fled in
affright at hazard, turning neither to the right nor to the left,
in his fear of the lion; till he came to a village and cast
himself down, as he were dead. He lay there till the day appeared
and he was rested from his fatigue, when he arose and burying the
gold, entered the village. Thus God gave him relief and he came
by the gold."
Then said the king, "How long wilt thou beguile us with thy
prate, O youth? But now the hour of thy slaughter is come." And
he bade crucify him upon the gibbet. [So they carried him to the
place of execution] and were about to hoist him up [upon the
cross,] when, behold, the captain of the thieves, who had found
him and reared him,[FN#141] came up at that moment and asked what
was that assembly and [the cause of] the crowds gathered there.
They told him that a servant of the king had committed a great
crime and that he was about to put him to death. So the captain
of the thieves pressed forward and looking upon the prisoner,
knew him, whereupon he went up to him and embraced him and
clipped him and fell to kissing him upon his mouth. Then said he,
"This is a boy whom I found under such a mountain, wrapped in a
gown of brocade, and I reared him and he fell to stopping the way
with us. One day, we set upon a caravan, but they put us to
flight and wounded some of us and took the boy and went their
way. From that day to this I have gone round about the lands in
quest of him, but have not lighted on news of him [till now;] and
this is he."
When the king heard this, he was certified that the youth was his
very son; so he cried out at the top of his voice and casting
himself upon him, embraced him and wept and said, "Had I put thee
to death, as was my intent, I should have died of regret for
thee." Then he cut his bonds and taking his crown from his head,
set it on that of his son, whereupon the people raised cries of
joy, whilst the trumpets sounded and the drums beat and there
befell a great rejoicing. They decorated the city and it was a
glorious day; the very birds stayed their flight in the air, for
the greatness of the clamour and the noise of the crying. The
army and the folk carried the prince [to the palace] in
magnificent procession, and the news came to his mother Behrjaur,
who came forth and threw herself upon him. Moreover, the king
bade open the prison and bring forth all who were therein, and
they held high festival seven days and seven nights and rejoiced
with a mighty rejoicing; whilst terror and silence and confusion
and affright fell upon the viziers and they gave themselves up
for lost.
After this the king sat, with his son by his side and the viziers
sitting before him, and summoned his chief officers and the folk
of the city. Then the prince turned to the viziers and said to
them, "See, O wicked viziers, that which God hath done and the
speedy [coming of] relief." But they answered not a word and the
king said, "It sufficeth me that there is nothing alive but
rejoiceth with me this day, even to the birds in the sky, but ye,
your breasts are straitened. Indeed, this is the greatest of
ill-will in you to me, and had I hearkened to you, my regret had
been prolonged and I had died miserably of grief." "O my father,"
quoth the prince, "but for the fairness of thy thought and thy
judgment and thy longanimity and deliberation in affairs, there
had not bedded thee this great joyance. Hadst thou slain me in
haste, repentance would have been sore on thee and long grief,
and on this wise doth he who ensueth haste repent."
Then the king sent for the captain of the thieves and bestowed on
him a dress of honour,[FN#142] commanding that all who loved the
king should put off [their raiment and cast it] upon him.[FN#143]
So there fell dresses of honour [and other presents] on him, till
he was wearied with their much plenty, and Azadbekht invested him
with the mastership of the police of his city. Then he bade set
up other nine gibbets beside the first and said to his son, "Thou
art guiltless, and yet these wicked viziers endeavoured for thy
slaughter." "O my father," answered the prince, "I had no fault
[in their eyes] but that I was a loyal counsellor to thee and
still kept watch over thy good and withheld their hands from thy
treasuries; wherefore they were jealous and envied me and plotted
against me and sought to slay me," Quoth the king, "The time [of
retribution] is at hand, O my son; but what deemest thou we
should do with them in requital of that which they did with thee?
For that they have endeavoured for thy slaughter and exposed thee
to public ignominy and soiled my honour among the kings."
Then he turned to the viziers and said to them, "Out on ye! What
liars ye are! What excuse is left you?" "O king," answered they,
"there abideth no excuse for us and our sin hath fallen upon us
and broken us in pieces. Indeed we purposed evil to this youth
and it hath reverted upon us, and we plotted mischief against him
and it hath overtaken us; yea, we digged a pit for him and have
fallen ourselves therein." So the king bade hoist up the viziers
upon the gibbets and crucify them there, for that God is just and
ordaineth that which is right. Then Azadbekht and his wife and
son abode in joyance and contentment, till there came to them the
Destroyer of Delights and they died all; and extolled be the
perfection of the [Ever-]Living One, who dieth not, to whom be
glory and whose mercy be upon us for ever and ever! Amen.
JAAFER BEN YEHYA AND ABDULMEILIK BEN
SALIH THE ABBASIDE.[FN#144]
It is told of Jaafer ben Yehya the Barmecide that he sat down one
day to drink and being minded to be private (with his friends),
sent for his boon-companions, in whom he delighted, and charged
the chamberlain[FN#145] that he should suffer none of the
creatures of God the Most High to enter, save a man of his
boon-companions, by name Abdulmelik ben Salih,[FN#146] who was
behindhand with them. Then they donned coloured clothes,[FN#147]
for that it was their wont, whenas they sat in the wine-chamber,
to don raiment of red and yellow and green silk, and sat down to
drink, and the cups went round and the lutes pulsed.
Now there was a man of the kinsfolk of the Khalif [Haroun er
Reshid], by name Abdulmelik ben Salih ben Ali ben Abdallah ben el
Abbas,[FN#148] who was great of gravity and piety and
decorousness, and Er Reshid was used instantly to require of him
that he should keep him company in his carousals and drink with
him and had proffered him, to this end, riches galore, but he
still refused. It chanced that this Abdulmelik es Salih came to
the door of Jaafer ben Yehya, that he might bespeak him of
certain occasions of his, and the chamberlain, doubting not but
he was the Abdulmelik ben Salih aforesaid, whom Jaafer had
charged him admit and that he should suffer none but him to
enter, allowed him to go in to his master.
When Jaafer saw him, his reason was like to depart for shame and
he knew that the chamberlain had been deceived by the likeness of
the name; and Abdulmelik also perceived how the case stood and
confusion was manifest to him in Jaafer's face. So he put on a
cheerful favour and said, "No harm be upon you![FN#149] Bring us
of these dyed clothes." So they brought him a dyed gown[FN#150]
and he put it on and sat discoursing cheerily with Jaafer and
jesting with him. Then said he, "Give us to drink of your wine."
So they poured him out a pint and he said, "Be ye indulgent with
us, for we have no wont of this." Then he chatted and jested with
them till Jaafer's breast dilated and his constraint ceased from
him and his shamefastness, and he rejoiced in this with an
exceeding joy and said to Abdulmelik, "What is thine errand?"
Quoth the other, "I come (may God amend thee!) on three
occasions, whereof I would have thee bespeak the Khalif; to wit,
firstly, I have on me a debt to the amount of a thousand thousand
dirhems,[FN#151] which I would have discharged; secondly, I
desire for my son the office of governor of a province, whereby
his rank may be raised; and thirdly, I would fain have thee marry
him to a daughter of the Khalif, for that she is his cousin and
he is a match for her." And Jaafer said, "God accomplished! unto
thee these three occasions. As for the money, it shall presently
be carried to thy house; as for the government, I make thy son
viceroy of Egypt; and as for the marriage, I give him to wife
such an one, the daughter of our Lord the Commander of the
Faithful, at a dowry of such and such a sum. So depart in the
assurance of God the Most High."
So Abdulmelik went away to his house, whither he found that the
money had foregone him, and on the morrow Jaafer presented
himself before the Khalif and acquainted him with what had passed
and that he had appointed Abdulmelik's son governor of Egypt and
had promised him his daughter in marriage. Er Reshid approved of
this and confirmed the appointment and the marriage. [Then he
sent for the young man] and he went not forth of the palace of
the Khalif till he wrote him the patent [of investiture with the
government] of Egypt; and he let bring the Cadis and the
witnesses and drew up the contract of marriage.