Breslau Text.
King Shah Bekht and His Vizier Er Rehwan
(continued).
The Eighteenth Night of the Month.
When the evening evened, the king summoned the vizier and
required of him the [promised] story; so he said, "It is well.
Know, O king, that
STORY OF THE PIOUS WOMAN ACCUSED OF
LEWDNESS.
There was once a man of Nishapour,[FN#1] who had a wife of the
utmost loveliness and piety, and he was minded to set out on the
pilgrimage. So he commended his wife to the care of his brother
and besought him to aid her in her affairs and further her to her
desires till he should return, so they both abode alive and well.
Then he took ship and departed and his absence was prolonged.
Meanwhile, the brother went in to his brother's wife, at all
times and seasons, and questioned her of her circumstances and
went about her occasions; and when his visits to her were
prolonged and he heard her speech and looked upon her face, the
love of her gat hold upon his heart and he became distraught with
passion for her and his soul prompted him [to evil]. So he
besought her to lie with him, but she refused and chid him for
his foul deed, and he found him no way unto presumption;[FN#2]
wherefore he importuned her with soft speech and gentleness.
Now she was righteous in all her dealings and swerved not from
one word;[FN#3] so, when he saw that she consented not unto him,
he misdoubted that she would tell his brother, when he returned
from his journey, and said to her, 'An thou consent not to this
whereof I require thee, I will cause thee fall into suspicion and
thou wilt perish.' Quoth she, 'Be God (extolled be His perfection
and exalted be He!) [judge] betwixt me and thee, and know that,
shouldst thou tear me limb from limb, I would not consent to that
whereto thou biddest me.' His folly[FN#4] persuaded him that she
would tell her husband; so, of his exceeding despite, he betook
himself to a company of people in the mosque and told them that
he had witnessed a man commit adultery with his brother's wife.
They believed his saying and took act of his accusation and
assembled to stone her. Then they dug her a pit without the city
and seating her therein, stoned her, till they deemed her dead,
when they left her.
Presently a villager passed by [the pit and finding] her [alive,]
carried her to his house and tended her, [till she recovered].
Now, he had a son, and when the young man saw her, he loved her
and besought her of herself; but she refused and consented not to
him, whereupon he redoubled in love and longing and despite
prompted him to suborn a youth of the people of his village and
agree with him that he should come by night and take somewhat
from his father's house and that, when he was discovered, he
should say that she was of accord with him in this and avouch
that she was his mistress and had been stoned on his account in
the city. So he did this and coming by night to the villager's
house, stole therefrom goods and clothes; whereupon the old man
awoke and seizing the thief, bound him fast and beat him, to make
him confess. So he confessed against the woman that she had
prompted him to this and that he was her lover from the city. The
news was bruited abroad and the people of the city assembled to
put her to death; but the old man, with whom she was, forbade
them and said, 'I brought this woman hither, coveting the
recompense [of God,] and I know not [the truth of] that which is
said of her and will not suffer any to hurt her.' Then he gave
her a thousand dirhems, by way of alms, and put her forth of the
village. As for the thief, he was imprisoned for some days; after
which the folk interceded for him with the old man, saying, 'This
is a youth and indeed he erred;' and he released him.
Meanwhile, the woman went out at hazard and donning devotee's
apparel, fared on without ceasing, till she came to a city and
found the king's deputies dunning the towns-folk for the tribute,
out of season. Presently, she saw a man, whom they were pressing
for the tribute; so she enquired of his case and being acquainted
therewith, paid down the thousand dirhems for him and delivered
him from beating; whereupon he thanked her and those who were
present. When he was set free, he accosted her and besought her
to go with him to his dwelling. So she accompanied him thither
and supped with him and passed the night. When the night darkened
on him, his soul prompted him to evil, for that which he saw of
her beauty and loveliness, and he lusted after her and required
her [of love]; but she repelled him and bade him fear God the
Most High and reminded him of that which she had done with him of
kindness and how she had delivered him from beating and
humiliation.
However, he would not be denied, and when he saw her [constant]
refusal of herself to him, he feared lest she should tell the
folk of him. So, when he arose in the morning, he took a scroll
and wrote in it what he would of forgery and falsehood and going
up to the Sultan's palace, said, '[I have] an advisement [for the
king].' So he bade admit him and he delivered him the writ that
he had forged, saying, 'I found this letter with the woman, the
devotee, the ascetic, and indeed she is a spy, a secret informer
against the king to his enemy; and I deem the king's due more
incumbent on me than any other and his advisement the first
[duty], for that he uniteth in himself all the people, and but
for the king's presence, the subjects would perish; wherefore I
have brought [thee] warning.' The king put faith in his words and
sent with him those who should lay hands upon the woman and put
her to death; but they found her not.
As for the woman, whenas the man went out from her, she resolved
to depart; so she went forth, saying in herself, 'There is no
journeying for me in woman's attire.' Then she donned men's
apparel, such as is worn of the pious, and set out and wandered
over the earth; nor did she leave going till she entered a
certain city. Now the king of that city had an only daughter in
whom he gloried and whom he loved, and she saw the devotee and
deeming her a pilgrim youth, said to her father, 'I would fain
have this youth take up his abode with me, so I may learn of him
wisdom and renunciation and religion.' Her father rejoiced in
this and commanded the [supposed] pilgrim to take up his sojourn
with his daughter in his palace. Now they were in one place and
the king's daughter was strenuous to the utterest in continence
and chastity and nobility of mind and magnanimity and devotion to
the worship of God; but the ignorant slandered her[FN#5] and the
folk of the realm said, 'The king's daughter loveth the pilgrim
youth and he loveth her.'
Now the king was a very old man and destiny decreed the ending of
his term of life; so he died and when he was buried, the folk
assembled and many were the sayings of the people and of the
king's kinsfolk and officers, and they took counsel together to
slay the princess and the young pilgrim, saying, 'This fellow
dishonoureth us with yonder strumpet and none accepteth dishonour
but the base.' So they fell upon them and slew the princess,
without questioning her of aught; whereupon the pious woman (whom
they deemed a boy) said to them, 'Out on ye, O misbelievers I Ye
have slain the pious lady.' Quoth they, 'Lewd fellow that thou
art, dost thou bespeak us thus? Thou lovedst her and she loved
thee, and we will slay thee without mercy.' 'God forbid!'
answered she, 'Indeed, the affair is the contrary of this.' 'What
proof hast thou of that?' asked they, and she said, 'Bring me
women.' So they brought her women, and when they looked on her,
they found her a woman.
When the townsfolk saw this, they repented of that which they had
done and the affair was grievous to them; so they sought pardon
[of God] and said to her, ' By the virtue of Him whom thou
servest, do thou seek pardon for us [of God!]' Quoth she, 'As for
me, I may no longer abide with you and I am about to depart from
you.' Then they humbled themselves in supplication to her and
wept and said to her, 'We conjure thee, by the virtue of God the
Most High, that thou take upon thyself the governance of the
kingdom and of the subjects.' But she refused; whereupon they
came up to her and wept and gave not over supplicating her, till
she consented and abode in the kingship. Her first commandment
was that they should bury the princess and build over her a
dome[FN#6] and she abode in that palace, worshipping God the Most
High and ruling the people with justice, and God (extolled be His
perfection and exalted be He!) vouchsafed her, by reason of the
excellence of her piety and her patience and continence, the
acceptance of her prayers, so that she sought not aught of Him to
whom belong might and majesty, but He granted her prayer; and her
report was noised abroad in all countries.
So the folk resorted to her from all parts and she used to pray
God (to whom belong might and majesty) for the oppressed and God
granted him relief, and against his oppressor, and He broke him
in sunder. Moreover, she prayed for the sick and they were made
whole; and on this wise she abode a great space of time. As for
her husband, when he returned from the pilgrimage, his brother
and the neighbours acquainted him with his wife's affair, whereat
he was sore concerned and misdoubted of their story, for that
which he knew of her chastity and prayerfulness; and he wept for
her loss.
Meanwhile, she prayed to God the Most High that He would
establish her innocence in the eyes of her husband and the folk.
So He sent down upon her husband's brother a sore disease and
none knew a remedy for him; wherefore he said to his brother, '
In such a city is a pious woman, a recluse, and her prayers are
answered; so do thou carry me to her, that she may pray for me
and God (to whom belong might and majesty) may make me whole of
this sickness.' Accordingly, he took him up and fared on with
him, till they came to the village where dwelt the old man, who
had rescued the woman from the pit and carried her to his
dwelling and tended her there, [till she recovered].
Here they halted and took up their lodging with the old man, who
questioned the husband of his case and that of his brother and
the reason of their journey, and he said, 'I purpose to go with
my brother, this sick man, to the holy woman, her whose prayers
are answered, so she may pray for him and God may make him whole
by the blessing of her prayers.' Quoth the villager, 'By Allah,
my son is in a parlous plight for sickness and we have heard that
the holy woman prayeth for the sick and they are made whole.
Indeed, the folk counsel me to carry him to her, and behold, I
will go in company with you. And they said, 'It is well.' So they
passed the night in that intent and on the morrow they set out
for the dwelling of the holy woman, this one carrying his son and
that his brother.
Now the man who had stolen the clothes and forged a lie against
the pious woman, pretending that he was her lover, sickened of a
sore sickness, and his people took him up and set out with him to
visit the holy woman, and Destiny brought them all together by
the way. So they fared on, till they came to the city wherein the
man dwelt for whom she had paid a thousand dirhems, to deliver
him from torment, and found him about to travel to her, by reason
of a sickness that had betided him. So they all fared on
together, unknowing that the holy woman was she whom they had so
foully wronged, and ceased not going till they came to her city
and foregathered at the gates of her palace, to wit, that wherein
was the tomb of the king's daughter.
Now the folk used to go in to her and salute her and crave her
prayers; and it was her wont to pray for none till he had
confessed to her his sins, when she would seek pardon for him and
pray for him that he might be healed, and he was straightway made
whole of sickness, by permission of God the Most High. [So, when
the four sick men were brought in to her,] she knew them
forthright, though they knew her not, and said to them, ' Let
each of you confess his sins, so I may crave pardon for him and
pray for him.' And the brother said, 'As for me, I required my
brother's wife of herself and she refused; whereupon despite and
folly[FN#7] prompted me and I lied against her and accused her to
the townsfolk of adultery; so they stoned her and slew her
unjustly and unrighteously; and this is the issue of unright and
falsehood and of the slaying of the [innocent] soul, whose
slaughter God hath forbidden.'
Then said the young man, the villager's son, 'And I, O holy
woman, my father brought us a woman who had been stoned, and my
people tended her till she recovered. Now she was surpassing of
beauty; so I required her of herself; but she refused and clave
fast to God (to whom belong might and majesty), wherefore
folly[FN#8] prompted me, so that I agreed with one of the youths
that he should steal clothes and coin from my father's house.
Then I laid hands on him [and carried him] to my father and made
him confess. So he avouched that the woman was his mistress from
the city and had been stoned on his account and that she was of
accord with him concerning the theft and had opened the doors to
him, and this was a lie against her, for that she had not yielded
to me in that which I sought of her. So there befell me what ye
see of punishment." And the young man, the thief, said, 'I am he
with whom thou agreedst concerning the theft and to whom thou
openedst the door, and I am he who avouched against her falsely
and calumniously and God (extolled be His perfection and exalted
be He!) knoweth that I never did evil with her, no, nor knew her
in any wise before then.'
Then said he whom she had delivered from torture and for whom she
had paid a thousand dirhems and who had required her of herself
in his house, for that her beauty pleased him, and [when she
refused to yield to him] had forged a letter against her and
treacherously denounced her to the Sultan and requited her bounty
with ingratitude, 'I am he who wronged her and lied against her,
and this is the issue of the oppressor's affair.'
When she heard their words, in the presence of the folk, she
said, 'Praise be to God, the King who availeth unto all things,
and blessing upon His prophets and apostles!' Then quoth she [to
the assembly], ' Bear witness, O ye who are present, to these
men's speech, and know that I am that woman whom they confess
that they wronged.' And she turned to her husband's brother and
said to him, 'I am thy brother's wife and God (extolled be His
perfection and exalted be He I) delivered me from that whereinto
thou castedst me of false accusation and suspect and from the
frowardness whereof thou hast spoken, and [now] hath He shown
forth my innocence, of His bounty and generosity. Go, for thou
art absolved of the wrong thou didst me.' Then she prayed for him
and he was made whole of his sickness.
Then said she to the villager's son, 'Know that I am the woman
whom thy father delivered from harm and stress and whom there
betided from thee of false accusation and frowardness that which
thou hast named.' And she craved pardon for him and he was made
whole of his sickness. [Then said she to the thief, 'I am she
against whom thou liedst, avouching that I was thy mistress, who
had been stoned on thine account, and that I was of accord with
thee concerning the robbing of the villager's house and had
opened the doors to thee.' And she prayed for him and he was made
whole of his sickness.] Then said she to [the townsman], him of
the tribute, 'I am she who gave thee the [thousand] dirhems and
thou didst with me what thou didst.' And she craved pardon for
him and prayed for him and he was made whole; whereupon the folk
marvelled at her oppressors, who had been afflicted alike, so God
(extolled be His perfection and exalted be He!) might show forth
her innocence before witnesses.
Then she turned to the old man who had delivered her from the pit
and prayed for him and gave him presents galore and among them a
myriad of money;[FN#9] and they all departed from her, except her
husband. When she was alone with him, she made him draw near unto
her and rejoiced in his coming and gave him the choice of abiding
with her. Moreover, she assembled the people of the city and set
out to them his virtue and worth and counselled them to invest
him with the charge of their governance and besought them to make
him king over them. They fell in with her of this and he became
king and took up his abode amongst them, whilst she gave herself
up to her religious exercises and abode with her husband on such
wise as she was with him aforetime.[FN#10] Nor," added the
vizier, "is this story, O king of the time, more extraordinary or
more delightful than that of the journeyman and the girl whose
belly he slit and fled."
When King Shah Bekht heard this, he said, "Most like all they say
of the vizier is leasing and his innocence will appear, even as
that of the pious woman appeared." Then he comforted the vizier's
heart and bade him go to his house.
The Nineteenth Night of the Month.
When the evening evened, the king bade fetch the vizier and
required of him the story of the journeyman and the girl. So he
said, "Hearkening and obedience. Know, O august king, that