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Title: The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night — Volume 02 (of
10)

Translator: Sir Richard Francis Burton

Release date: April 17, 2016 [eBook #51775]
Most recently updated: May 21, 2025

Language: English

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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BOOK OF
THE THOUSAND NIGHTS AND A NIGHT — VOLUME 02 (OF 10) ***

"TO THE PURE ALL THINGS ARE PURE."

(Puris omnia pura)

—Arab Proverb.

"Niuna corrotta mente intese mai sanamente parole."

—"Decameron"—conclusion.
"Erubuit, posuitque meum Lucretia librum
Sed coram Bruto. Brute! recede, leget."

—Martial.
"Mieulx est de ris que de larmes escripre,
Pour ce que rire est le propre des hommes."

—Rabelais.
"The pleasure we derive from perusing the Thousand-and-One Stories
makes us regret that we possess only a comparatively small part of these
truly enchanting fictions."
—Crichton's "History of Arabia."

PLAIN AND LITERAL TRANSLATION OF THE ARABIAN
NIGHTS ENTERTAINMENTS. NOW ENTITULED

THE BOOK OF THE
Thousand Nights and a Night

WITH INTRODUCTION EXPLANATORY NOTES
ON THE MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF
MOSLEM MEN AND A TERMINAL ESSAY
UPON THE HISTORY OF T H E N I G H T S

VOLUME II.

BY
RICHARD F. BURTON

PRINTED BY THE BURTON CLUB FOR PRIVATE SUBSCRIBERS
ONLY

Shammar Edition

Limited to one thousand numbered sets, of which this is

Number 547

Printed in U. S. A.

To JOHN PAYNE, Esq.

ETC. ETC. ETC.

My dear Sir,

Allow me, thus publicly to express my admiration of your magnum opus,
"The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night;" and to offer you my
cordial thanks for honouring me with the dedication of that scholar-like and
admirable version.
Ever yours sincerely,

RICHARD F. BURTON.

Queen's College, Oxford
August 1, 1885.

CONTENTS OF THE SECOND VOLUME.

PAGE

7. NUR AL-DIN ALI AND THE DAMSEL ANIS AL-JALIS. 1
(Lane, Chapt. VI. Story of Noor ed-Deen and Enees el-Jelees:
vol. I. p. 436.)

8. TALE OF GHANIM BIN AYYUB, THE DISTRAUGHT, THE 45
THRALL O' LOVE
(Lane, Chapt. VII. Story of Ghanim the Son of Eiyoob, the
Distracted Slave of Love: p. 487.)

a. Tale of the First Eunuch, Bukhayt 49

b. Tale of the Second Eunuch, Kafur 51
(Story of the Slave Kafoor: p. 491.)

9. TALE OF KING OMAR BIN AL-NU'UMAN AND HIS 77
SONS SHARRKAN AND ZAU AL-MAKAN

a. Tale of Taj al-Muluk and the Princess Dunya 283
(Lane, Chapt. VIII. Story of Taj el-Mulook and the Lady Dunya:
p. 523.)

aa. Tale of Aziz and Azizah 298

(Lane, Chapt. VIII. Story of Azeez and Azeezah: p. 535.)

NUR AL-DIN ALI AND THE DAMSEL ANIS
AL-JALIS

Quoth Shahrazad[1]:—It hath reached me, O auspicious King of intelligence
penetrating, that there was, amongst the Kings of Bassorah,[2] a King who
loved the poor and needy and cherished his lieges, and gave of his wealth to
all who believed in Mohammed (whom Allah bless and assain!), and he was
even as one of the poets described him:—
A King who when hosts of the foe invade, ✿ Receives them with lance-lunge and sabre-sway;
Writes his name on bosoms in thin red lines, ✿ And scatters the horsemen in wild dismay.[3]

His name was King Mohammed bin Sulayman al-Zayni, and he had two
Wazirs, one called Al-Mu'in, son of Sawi and the other Al-Fazl son of
Khákán. Now Al-Fazl was the most generous of the people of his age,
upright of life, so that all hearts united in loving him and the wise flocked to
him for counsel; whilst the subjects used to pray for his long life, because
he was a compendium of the best qualities, encouraging the good and lief,
and preventing evil and mischief. But the Wazir Mu'in bin Sawi on the
contrary hated folk[4] and loved not the good and was a mere compound of
ill; even as was said of him:—
Hold to nobles, sons of nobles! 'tis ever Nature's test ✿ That nobles born of nobles shall excel in
noble deed:
And shun the mean of soul, meanly bred, for 'tis the law, ✿ Mean deeds come of men who are mean
of blood and breed.

And as much as the people loved and fondly loved Al-Fazl bin Khakan, so
they hated and thoroughly hated the mean and miserly Mu'in bin Sawi. It
befel one day by the decree of the Decreer, that King Mohammed bin
Sulayman al-Zayni, being seated on his throne with his officers of state
about him, summoned his Wazir Al-Fazl and said to him, "I wish to have a

slave-girl of passing beauty, perfect in loveliness, exquisite in symmetry
and endowed with all praiseworthy gifts." Said the courtiers, "Such a girl is
not to be bought for less than ten thousand gold pieces:" whereupon the
Sultan called out to his treasurer and said, "Carry ten thousand dinars to the
house of Al-Fazl bin Khakan." The treasurer did the King's bidding; and the
Minister went away, after receiving the royal charge to repair to the slave-
bazar every day, and entrust to brokers the matter aforesaid. Moreover the
King issued orders that girls worth above a thousand gold pieces should not
be bought or sold without being first displayed to the Wazir. Accordingly no
broker purchased a slave-girl ere she had been paraded before the minister;
but none pleased him, till one day a dealer came to the house and found him
taking horse and intending for the palace. So he caught hold of his stirrup
saying:—
O thou, who givest to royal state sweet savour, ✿ Thou'rt a Wazir shalt never fail of favour!
Dead Bounty thou hast raised to life for men; ✿ Ne'er fail of Allah's grace such high endeavour!

Then quoth he, "O my lord, that surpassing object for whom the gracious
mandate was issued is at last found;[5]" and quoth the Wazir, "Here with her
to me!" So he went away and returned after a little, bringing a damsel in
richest raiment robed, a maid spear-straight of stature and five feet tall;
budding of bosom with eyes large and black as by Kohl traced, and dewy
lips sweeter than syrup or the sherbet one sips, a virginette smooth cheeked
and shapely faced, whose slender waist with massive hips was engraced; a
form more pleasing than branchlet waving upon the topmost trees, and a
voice softer and gentler than the morning breeze, even as saith one of those
who have described her:—
Strange is the charm which dights her brows like Luna's disk that shine; ✿ O sweeter taste than
sweetest Robb[6] or raisins of the vine.
A throne th' Empyrean keeps for her in high and glorious state, ✿ For wit and wisdom, wandlike
form and graceful bending line:
She in the Heaven of her face[7] the seven-fold stars displays, ✿ That guard her cheeks as satellites
against the spy's design:
If man should cast a furtive glance or steal far look at her, ✿ His heart is burnt by devil-bolts shot by
those piercing eyne.

When the Wazir saw her she made him marvel with excess of admiration,
so he turned, perfectly pleased, to the broker and asked, "What is the price
of this girl?"; whereto he answered, "Her market-value stands at ten

thousand dinars, but her owner swears that this sum will not cover the cost
of the chickens she hath eaten, the wine she hath drunken and the dresses of
honour bestowed upon her instructor: for she hath learned calligraphy and
syntax and etymology; the commentaries of the Koran; the principles of law
and religion; the canons of medicine, and the calendar and the art of playing
on musical instruments."[8] Said the Wazir, "Bring me her master." So the
broker brought him at once and, behold, he was a Persian of whom there
was left only what the days had left; for he was as a vulture bald and scald
and a wall trembling to its fall. Time had buffetted him with sore smart, yet
was he not willing this world to depart; even as said the poet:—
Time hath shattered all my frame, ✿ Oh! how time hath shattered me.
Time with lordly might can tame ✿ Manly strength and vigour free.
Time was in my youth, that none ✿ Sped their way more fleet and fast:
Time is and my strength is gone, ✿ Youth is sped, and speed is past.[9]

The Wazir asked him, "Art thou content to sell this slave-girl to the Sultan
for ten thousand dinars?"; and the Persian answered, "By Allah, if I offered
her to the King for naught, it were but my devoir,"[10] So the Minister bade
bring the monies and saw them weighed out to the Persian, who stood up
before him and said, "By the leave of our lord the Wazir, I have somewhat
to say;" and the Wazir replied, "Out with all thou hast!" "It is my opinion,"
continued the slave-dealer, "that thou shouldst not carry the maid to the
King this day; for she is newly off a journey; the change of air[11] hath
affected her and the toils of trouble have fretted her. But keep her quiet in
thy palace some ten days, that she may recover her looks and become again
as she was. Then send her to the Hammam and clothe her in the richest of
clothes and go up with her to the Sultan: this will be more to thy profit."
The Wazir pondered the Persian's words and approved of their wisdom; so
he carried her to his palace, where he appointed her private rooms, and
allowed her every day whatever she wanted of meat and drink and so forth.
And on this wise she abode a while. Now the Wazir Al-Fazl had a son like
the full moon when sheeniest dight, with face radiant in light, cheeks ruddy
bright, and a mole like a dot of ambergris on a downy site; as said of him
the poet and said full right:—

A moon which blights you[12] if you dare behold; ✿ A branch which folds you in its waving fold:
Locks of the Zanj[13] and golden glint of hair; ✿ Sweet gait and form a spear to have and hold:
Ah! hard of heart with softest slenderest waist, ✿ That evil to this weal why not remould?[14]
Were thy form's softness placed in thy heart, ✿ Ne'er would thy lover find thee harsh and cold:
Oh thou accuser! be my love's excuser, ✿ Nor chide if love-pangs deal me woes untold!
I bear no blame; 'tis all my heart and eyne; ✿ So leave thy blaming, let me yearn and pine.

Now the handsome youth knew not the affair of the damsel; and his father
had enjoined her closely, saying, "Know, O my daughter, that I have bought
thee as a bedfellow for our King, Mohammed bin Sulayman al-Zayni; and I
have a son who is a Satan for girls and leaves no maid in the neighbourhood
without taking her maidenhead; so be on thy guard against him and beware
of letting him see thy face or hear thy voice." "Hearkening and obedience,"
said the girl; and he left her and fared forth. Some days after this it
happened by decree of Destiny, that the damsel repaired to the baths in the
house, where some of the slave women bathed her; after which she arrayed
herself in sumptuous raiment; and her beauty and loveliness were thereby
redoubled. Then she went in to the Wazir's wife and kissed her hand; and
the dame said to her, "Naiman! May it benefit thee,[15] O Anis al-Jalis![16]
Are not our baths handsome?" "O my mistress," she replied, "I lacked
naught there save thy gracious presence." Thereupon the lady said to her
slave-women, "Come with us to the Hammam, for it is some days since we
went there:" they answered, "To hear is to obey!" and rose and all
accompanied her. Now she had set two little slave-girls to keep the door of
the private chamber wherein was Anis al-Jalis and had said to them, "Suffer
none go in to the damsel." Presently, as the beautiful maiden sat resting in
her rooms, suddenly came in the Wazir's son whose name was Nur al-Din
Ali,[17] and asked after his mother and her women, to which the two little
slave-girls replied, "They are in the Hammam." But the damsel, Anis al-
Jalis, had heard from within Nur al-Din Ali's voice and had said to herself,
"O would Heaven I saw what like is this youth against whom the Wazir
warned me, saying that he hath not left a virgin in the neighbourhood
without taking her virginity: by Allah, I do long to have sight of him!" So
she sprang to her feet with the freshness of the bath on her and, stepping to
the door, looked at Nur al-Din Ali and saw a youth like the moon in its full
and the sight bequeathed her a thousand sighs. The young man also glanced
at her and the look made him heir to a thousand thoughts of care; and each
fell into Love's ready snare. Then he stepped up to the two little slave-girls

and cried aloud at them; whereupon both fled before him and stood afar off
to see what he would do. And behold, he walked to the door of the damsel's
chamber and, opening it, went in and asked her "Art thou she my father
bought for me?" and she answered "Yes." Thereupon the youth, who was
warm with wine, came up to her and embraced her; then he took her legs
and passed them round his waist and she wound her arms about his neck,
and met him with kisses and murmurs of pleasure and amorous toyings.
Next he sucked her tongue and she sucked his and, lastly, he loosed the
strings of her petticoat-trousers and abated her maidenhead. When the two
little slave-girls saw their young master get in unto the damsel, Anis al-
Jalis, they cried out and shrieked; so as soon as the youth had had his
wicked will of her, he rose and fled forth fearing the consequences of his ill-
doing. When the Wazir's wife heard the slave-girls' cries, she sprang up and
came out of the baths with the perspiration pouring from her face, saying,
"What is this unseemly clamour in the house[18]?" Then she came up to the
two little slave-girls and asked them saying, "Fie upon you! what is the
matter?"; and both answered, "Verily our lord Nur al-Din came in and beat
us, so we fled; then he went up to Anis al-Jalis and threw his arms round her
and we know not what he did after that; but when we cried out to thee he
ran away." Upon this the lady went to Anis al-Jalis and said to her, "What
tidings?" "O my lady," she answered, "as I was sitting here lo! a handsome
young man came in and said to me:—Art thou she my father bought for
me?; and I answered Yes; for, by Allah, O mistress mine, I believed that his
words were true; and he instantly came in and embraced me." "Did he
nought else with thee but this?" quoth the lady, and quoth she, "Indeed he
did! But he did it only three times." "He did not leave thee without
dishonouring thee!" cried the Wazir's wife and fell to weeping and
buffetting her face, she and the girl and all the handmaidens, fearing lest
Nur al-Din's father should kill him.[19] Whilst they were thus, in came the
Wazir and asked what was the matter, and his wife said to him, "Swear that
whatso I tell thee thou wilt attend to it." "I will," answered he. So she
related to him what his son had done, whereat he was much concerned and
rent his raiment and smote his face till his nose bled, and plucked out his
beard by the handful. "Do not kill thyself," said his wife, "I will give thee
ten thousand dinars, her price, of my own money." But he raised his head
and cried; "Out upon thee! I have no need of her purchase-money: my fear
is lest life as well as money go." "O my lord, and how is that?" "Wottest

thou not that yonder standeth our enemy Al-Mu'in bin Sawi who, as soon as
he shall hear of this matter, will go up to the Sultan?"——And Shahrazad
perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.

Now when it was the Thirty-fifth Night,

She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Wazir said to
his wife, "Wottest thou not that yonder standeth our enemy Al-Mu'in bin
Sawi who, as soon as he hears of this matter will go up to the Sultan and
say to him:—Thy Wazir who, thou wilt have it loveth thee, took from thee
ten thousand ducats and bought therewith a slave-girl whose like none ever
beheld; but when he saw her, she pleased him and he said to his son:—Take
her: thou art worthier of her than the Sultan. So he took her and did away
with her virginity and she is now in his house. The King will say:—Thou
liest! to which he will reply:—With thy leave I will fall upon him unawares
and bring her to thee. The King will give him warranty for this and he will
come down upon the house and will take the girl and present her to the
Sultan, who will question her and she will not be able to deny the past.
Then mine enemy will say:—O my lord, thou wottest that I give thee the
best of counsel; but I have not found favour in thine eyes. Thereupon the
Sultan will make an example of me, and I shall be a gazing-stock to all the
people and my life will be lost." Quoth his wife, "Let none know of this
thing which hath happened privily, and commit thy case to Allah and trust
in Him to save thee from such strait; for He who knoweth the future shall
provide for the future." With this she brought the Wazir a cup of wine and
his heart was quieted, and he ceased to feel wrath and fear. Thus far
concerning him; but as regards his son Nur al-Din Ali, fearing the
consequence of his misdeed he abode his day long in the flower-garden and
came back only at night to his mother's apartment where he slept; and,
rising before dawn, returned to the gardens. He ceased not to do thus for
two whole months without showing his face to his parent, till at last his
mother said to his father, "O my lord, shall we lose our boy as well as the
girl? If matters continue long in this way he will flee from us." "And what
to do?" asked he; and she answered, "Do thou watch this night; and, when
he cometh, seize on him and frighten him: I will rescue him from thee and
do thou make peace with him and give him the damsel to wife, for she
loveth him as he loveth her. And I will pay thee her price." So the Minister
sat up that night and, when his son came, he seized him and throwing him
down knelt on his breast and showed as though he would cut his throat; but
his mother ran to the youth's succour and asked her husband, "What
wouldest thou do with him?" He answered her, "I will split his weasand."

Said the son to the father, "Is my death, then, so light a matter to thee?"; and
his father's eyes welled with tears, for natural affection moved him, and he
rejoined, "O my son, how light was to thee the loss of my good and my
life!" Quoth Nur al-Din, "Hear, O my father, what the poet hath said:—
Forgive me! thee-ward sinned I, but the wise ✿ Ne'er to the sinner shall deny his grace:
Thyfoe may pardon sue when lieth he ✿ In lowest, and thou holdest highest place!"

Thereupon the Wazir rose from off his son's breast saying, "I forgive thee!";
for his heart yearned to him; and the youth kissed the hand of his sire who
said, "O my son, were I sure that thou wouldest deal justly by Anis al-Jalis,
I would give her to thee." "O my father, what justice am I to do to her?" "I
enjoin thee, O my son, not to take another wife or concubine to share with
her, nor sell her." "O my father! I swear to thee that verily I will not do her
injustice in either way." Having sworn to that effect Nur al-Din went in to
the damsel and abode with her a whole year, whilst Allah Almighty caused
the King to forget the matter of the maiden; and Al-Mu'in, though the affair
came to his ears, dared not divulge it by reason of the high favour in which
his rival stood with the Sultan. At the end of the year Al-Fazl went one day
to the public baths; and, as he came out whilst he was still sweating, the air
struck him[20] and he caught a cold which turned to a fever; then he took to
his bed. His malady gained ground and restlessness was longsome upon
him and weakness bound him like a chain; so he called out, "Hither with
my son;" and when Nur al-Din Ali came he said to him, "O my son, know
that man's lot and means are distributed and decreed; and the end of days by
all must be dree'd; and that every soul drain the cup of death is nature's
need." Then he repeated these lines:—
I die my death, but He alone is great who dieth not! ✿ And well I wot, soon shall I die, for death was
made my lot:
A King there's not that dies and holds his kingdom in his hand, ✿ For Sovranty the Kingdom is of
Him who dieth not.

Then he continued, "O my son, I have no charge to leave thee save that thou
fear Allah and look to the issues of thine acts and bear in mind my
injunctions anent Anis al-Jalis." "O my father!" said Nur al-Din, "who is
like unto thee? Indeed thou art famed for well doing and preachers offer
prayers for thee in their pulpits!" Quoth Al-Fazl, "O my son, I hope that
Allah Almighty may grant me acceptance!" Then he pronounced the Two

Testimonies,[21] or Professions of the Faith, and was recorded among the
blessed. The palace was filled with crying and lamentation and the news of
his death reached the King, and the city-people wept, even those at their
prayers and women at household cares and the schoolchildren shed tears for
Bin-Khakan. Then his son Nur al-Din Ali arose and made ready his funeral,
and the Emirs and Wazirs and high Officers of State and city-notables were
present, amongst them the Wazir al-Mu'in bin Sawi. And as the bier went
forth from the house some one in the crowd of mourners began to chant
these lines:—
On the fifth day I quitted all my friends for evermore, ✿ And they laid me out and washed me on a
slab without my door:[22]
They stripped me of the clothes I was ever wont to wear, ✿ And they clothed me in the clothes which
till then I never wore.
On four men's necks they bore me and carried me from home ✿ To chapel; and some prayed for him
on neck they bore:
They prayed for me a prayer that no prostration knows;[23] ✿ They prayed for me who praised me
and were my friends of yore;
And they laid me in a house with a ceiling vaulted o'er, ✿ And Time shall be no more ere it ope to me
its door.

When they had shovelled in the dust over him and the crowd had dispersed,
Nur al-Din returned home and he lamented with sobs and tears; and the
tongue of the case repeated these couplets:—
On the fifth day at even-tide they went away from me: ✿ I farewelled them as faring they made
farewell my lot:
But my spirit as they went, with them went and so I cried, ✿ "Ah return ye!" but replied she, "Alas!
return is not
To a framework lere and lorn that lacketh blood and life, ✿ A frame whereof remaineth naught but
bones that rattle and rot:
Mine eyes are blind and cannot see quencht by the flowing tear! ✿ Mine ears are dull and lost to
sense: they have no power to hear!"

He abode a long time sorrowing for his father till, one day, as he was sitting
at home, there came a knocking at the door; so he rose in haste and opening
let in a man, one of his father's intimates and who had been the Wazir's
boon-companion. The visitor kissed Nur al-Din's hand and said to him, "O
my lord, he who hath left the like of thee is not dead; and this way went
also the Chief of the Ancients and the Moderns.[24] O my lord Ali, be
comforted and leave sorrowing." Thereupon Nur al-Din rose and going to
the guest-saloon transported thither all he needed. Then he assembled his

companions and took his handmaid again; and, collecting round him ten of
the sons of the merchants, began to eat meat and drink wine, giving
entertainment after entertainment and lavishing his presents and his favours.
One day his Steward came to him and said, "O my lord Nur al-Din, hast
thou not heard the saying, Whoso spendeth and reckoneth not, to poverty
wendeth and recketh not?" And he repeated what the poet wrote:—
I look to my money and keep it with care, ✿ For right well I wot 'tis my buckler and brand:
Did I lavish my dirhams on hostilest foes,[25] ✿ I should truck my good luck by mine ill luck
trepanned:
So I'll eat it and drink it and joy in my wealth; ✿ And no spending my pennies on others I'll stand:
I will keep my purse close 'gainst whoever he be; ✿ And a niggard in grain a true friend ne'er I fand:
Far better deny him than come to say:—Lend, ✿ And five-fold the loan shall return to thy hand!
And he turns face aside and he sidles away, ✿ While I stand like a dog disappointed, unmanned.
Oh, the sorry lot his who hath yellow-boys none, ✿ Though his genius and virtues shine bright as the
sun!

"O my master," continued the Steward, "this lavish outlay and these
magnificent gifts waste away wealth." When Nur al-Din Ali heard these
words he looked at his servant and cried, "Of all thou hast spoken I will not
heed one single word, for I have heard the saying of the poet who saith;—
An my palm be full of wealth and my wealth I ne'er bestow, ✿ A palsy take my hand and my foot
ne'er rise again!
Show me niggard who by niggardise e'er rose to high degree, ✿ Or the generous in gifts generosity
hath slain."

And he pursued, "Know, O Steward, it is my desire that so long as thou hast
money enough for my breakfast, thou trouble me not with taking thought
about my supper." Thereupon the Steward asked, "Must it be so?"; and he
answered, "It must." So the honest man went his way and Nur al-Din Ali
devoted himself to extravagance; and, if any of his cup-companions
chanced to say, "This is a pretty thing;" he would reply, "'Tis a gift to thee!";
or if another said, "O my lord, such a house is handsome;" he would
answer, "Take it: it is thine!" After this reckless fashion he continued to live
for a whole year, giving his friends a banquet in the morning and a banquet
in the evening and a banquet at midnight, till one day, as the company was
sitting together, the damsel Anis al-Jalis repeated these lines:
Thou deemedst well of Time when days went well, ✿ And fearedst not what ills might deal thee Fate:
Thy nights so fair and restful cozened thee, ✿ For peaceful nights bring woes of heavy weight.

When she had ended her verse behold, somebody knocked at the door. So
Nur al-Din rose to open it and one of his boon-companions followed him
without being perceived. At the door he found his Steward and asked him,
"What is the matter?"; and he answered, "O my lord, what I dreaded for
thee hath come to pass!" "How so?" "Know that there remains not a
dirham's worth, less or more in my hands. Here are my Daftars and account
books showing both income and outlay and the registers of thine original
property." When Nur al-Din heard these words he bowed his head and said,
"There is no Majesty and there is no Might save in Allah!" When the man
who had followed him privily to spy on him heard the Steward's words, he
returned to his friends and warned them saying, "Look ye well to what ye
do: Nur al-Din is penniless;" and, as the young host came back to his
guests, vexation showed itself in his face. Thereupon one of the intimates
rose; and, looking at the entertainer, said to him, "O my lord, may be thou
wilt give me leave to retire?" "And why so early retirement this day?";
asked he and the other answered him, "My wife is in child-birth and I may
not be absent from her: indeed I must return and see how she does." So he
gave him leave, whereupon another rose and said, "O my lord Nur al-Din, I
wish now to go to my brother's for he circumciseth his son to day."[26] In
short each and every asked permission to retire on some pretence or other,
till all the ten were gone leaving Nur al-Din alone. Then he called his slave-
girl and said to her, "O Anis al-Jalis, hast thou seen what case is mine?" And
he related to her what the Steward had told him. Then quoth she, "O my
lord, for many nights I had it in my mind to speak with thee of this matter,
but I heard thee repeating:—
When the World heaps favours on thee, pass on ✿ Thy favours to friends ere her hand she stay:
Largesse never let her when fain she comes, ✿ Nor niggardise kept her from turning away!"

"When I heard these verses I held my peace and cared not to exchange a
word with thee." "O Anis al-Jalis," said Nur al-Din, "thou knowest that I
have not wasted my wealth save on my friends, especially these ten who
have now left me a pauper, and I think they will not abandon and desert me
without relief." "By Allah," replied she, "they will not profit thee with aught
of aid." Said he, "I will rise at once and go to them and knock at their doors;
it may be I shall get from them somewhat wherewith I may trade and leave
pastime and pleasuring." So he rose without stay or delay, and repaired to a
street wherein all his ten friends lived. He went up to the nearest door and

knocked; whereupon a handmaid came out and asked him, "Who art thou?";
and he answered, "Tell thy master that Nur al-Din Ali standeth at the door
and saith to him:—Thy slave kisseth thy hand and awaiteth thy bounty."
The girl went in and told her master, who cried at her, "Go back and say:—
My master is not at home." So she returned to Nur al-Din, and said to him,
"O my lord, my master is out." Thereupon he turned away and said to
himself, "If this one be a whoreson knave and deny himself, another may
not prove himself such knave and whoreson." Then he went up to the next
door and sent in a like message to the house-master, who denied himself as
the first had done, whereupon he began repeating:—
He is gone who when to his gate thou go'st, ✿ Fed thy famisht maw with his boiled and roast.

When he had ended his verse he said, "By Allah, there is no help but that I
make trial of them all: perchance there be one amongst them who will stand
me in the stead of all the rest." So he went the round of the ten, but not one
of them would open his door to him or show himself or even break a bit of
bread before him; whereupon he recited:—
Like a tree is he who in wealth doth wone, ✿ And while fruits he the folk to his fruit shall run:
But when bared the tree of what fruit it bare, ✿ They leave it to suffer from dust and sun.
Perdition to all of this age! I find ✿ Ten rogues for every righteous one.

Then he returned to his slave-girl and his grief had grown more grievous
and she said to him, "O my lord, did I not tell thee, none would profit thee
with aught of aid?" And he replied, "By Allah, not one of them would show
me his face or know me!" "O my lord," quoth she, "sell some of the
moveables and household stuff, such as pots and pans, little by little; and
expend the proceeds until Allah Almighty shall provide." So he sold all of
that was in the house till nothing remained when he turned to Anis al-Jalis
and asked her "What shall we do now?"; and she answered, "O my lord, it is
my advice that thou rise forthwith and take me down to the bazar and sell
me. Thou knowest that thy father bought me for ten thousand dinars: haply
Allah may open thee a way to get the same price, and if it be His will to
bring us once more together, we shall meet again." "O Anis al-Jalis," cried
he, "by Allah it is no light matter for me to be parted from thee for a single
hour!" "By Allah, O my lord," she replied, nor is it easy to me either, but
Need hath its own law, as the poet said:—

Need drives a man into devious roads, ✿ And pathways doubtful of trend and scope:
No man to a rope[27] will entrust his weight, ✿ Save for cause that calleth for case of rope.

Thereupon he rose to his feet and took her,[28] whilst the tears rolled down
his cheek like rain; and he recited with the tongue of the case these lines:—
Stay! grant one parting look before we part, ✿ Nerving my heart this severance to sustain:
But, an this parting deal thee pain and bane, ✿ Leave me to die of love and spare thee pain!

Then he went down with her to the bazar and delivered her to the broker
and said to him, "O Hájj Hasan,[29] I pray thee note the value of her thou
hast to cry for sale." "O my lord Nur al-Din," quoth the broker, "the
fundamentals are remembered;"[30] adding, "Is not this the Anis al-Jalis
whom thy father bought of me for ten thousand dinars?" "Yes," said Nur al-
Din. Thereupon the broker went round to the merchants, but found that all
had not yet assembled. So he waited till the rest had arrived and the market
was crowded with slave-girls of all nations, Turks, Franks and Circassians;
Abyssinians, Nubians and Takrúrís;[31] Tartars, Georgians and others; when
he came forward and standing cried aloud, "O merchants! O men of money!
every round thing is not a walnut and every long thing a banana is not; all
reds are not meat nor all whites fat, nor is every brown thing a date![32] O
merchants, I have here this union-pearl that hath no price: at what sum shall
I cry her?" "Cry her at four thousand five hundred dinars," quoth one of the
traders. The broker opened the door of sale at the sum named and, as he was
yet calling, lo! the Wazir Al-Mu'in bin Sawi passed through the bazar and,
seeing Nur al-Din Ali waiting at one side, said to himself, "Why is Khakan's
son[33] standing about here? Hath this gallows-bird aught remaining
wherewith to buy slave-girls?" Then he looked round and, seeing the broker
calling out in the market with all the merchants around him, said to himself,
"I am sure that he is penniless and hath brought hither the damsel Anis al-
Jalis for sale;" adding, "O how cooling and grateful is this to my heart!"
Then he called the crier, who came up and kissed the ground before him;
and he said to him, "I want this slave-girl whom thou art calling for sale."
The broker dared not cross him, so he answered, "O my lord, Bismillah! in
Allah's name so be it;" and led forward the damsel and showed her to him.
She pleased him much whereat he asked, "O Hasan, what is bidden for this
girl?" and tie answered, "Four thousand five hundred dinars to open the
door of sale." Quoth Al-Mu'in, "Four thousand five hundred is my bid."

When the merchants heard this, they held back and dared not bid another
dirham, wotting what they did of the Wazir's tyranny, violence and
treachery. So Al-Mu'in looked at the broker and said to him, "Why stand
still? Go and offer four thousand dinars for me and the five hundred shall be
for thyself." Thereupon the broker went to Nur al-Din and said, "O my lord,
thy slave is going for nothing!" "And how so?" asked he. The broker
answered, "We had opened the biddings for her at four thousand five
hundred dinars; when that tyrant, Al-Mu'in bin Sawi, passed through the
bazar and, as he saw the damsel she pleased him, so he cried to me:—Call
me the buyer at four thousand dinars and thou shalt have five hundred for
thyself. I doubt not but that he knoweth that the damsel is thine, and if he
would pay thee down her price at once it were well; but I know his injustice
and violence; he will give thee a written order upon some of his agents and
will send after thee to say to them:—Pay him nothing. So as often as thou
shalt go in quest of the coin they will say:—We'll pay thee presently! and
they will put thee off day after day, and thou art proud of spirit; till at last,
when they are wearied with thine importunity, they will say:—Show us the
cheque. Then, as soon as they have got hold of it they will tear it up and so
thou wilt lose the girl's price." When Nur al-Din heard this he looked at the
broker and asked him, "How shall this matter be managed?"; and he
answered, "I will give thee a counsel which, if thou follow, it shall bring
thee complete satisfaction." "And what is that?" quoth Nur al-Din. Quoth
the broker, "Come thou to me anon when I am standing in the middle of the
market and, taking the girl from my hand, give her a sound cuffing and say
to her:—Thou baggage, I have kept my vow and brought thee down to the
slave-market, because I swore an oath that I would carry thee from home to
the bazar, and make brokers cry thee for sale. If thou do this, perhaps the
device will impose upon the Wazir and the people, and they will believe
that thou broughtest her not to the bazar but for the quittance of thine oath."
He replied, "Such were the best way." Then the broker left him and,
returning into the midst of the market, took the damsel by the hand, and
signed to the Wazir and said, "O my lord, here is her owner." With this up
came Nur al-Din Ali and, snatching the girl from the broker's hand, cuffed
her soundly and said to her, "Shame on thee, O thou baggage! I have
brought thee to the bazar for quittance of mine oath; now get thee home and
thwart me no more as is thy wont. Woe to thee! do I need thy price, that I
should sell thee? The furniture of my house would fetch thy value many

times over!" When Al-Mu'in saw this he said to Nur al-Din, "Out on thee!
Hast thou anything left for selling or buying?" And he would have laid
violent hands upon him, but the merchants interposed (for they all loved
Nur al-Din), and the young man said to them, "Here am I in your hands and
ye all know his tyranny." "By Allah," cried the Wazir, "but for you I had
slain him!" Then all signed with significant eyes to Nur al-Din as much as
to say, "Take thy wreak of him; not one of us will come between thee and
him." Thereupon Nur al-Din, who was stout of heart as he was stalwart of
limb, went up to the Wazir and, dragging him over the pommel of his
saddle, threw him to the ground. Now there was in that place a puddling-pit
for brick-clay,[34] into the midst of which he fell, and Nur al-Din kept
pummelling and fisti-cuffing him, and one of the blows fell full on his teeth,
and his beard was dyed with his blood. Also there were with the minister
ten armed slaves who, seeing their master entreated after this fashion, laid
hand on sword-hilt and would have bared blades and fallen on Nur al-Din to
cut him down; but the merchants and bystanders said to them, "This is a
Wazir and that is the son of a Wazir; haply they will make friends some
time or other, in which case you will forfeit the favour of both. Or
perchance a blow may befal your lord, and you will all die the vilest of
deaths; so it were better for you not to interfere." Accordingly they held
aloof and, when Nur al-Din had made an end of thrashing the Wazir, he
took his handmaid and fared homewards. Al-Mu'in also went his ways at
once, with his raiment dyed of three colours, black with mud, red with
blood and ash coloured with brick-clay. When he saw himself in this state,
he bound a bit of matting[35] round his neck and, taking in hand two bundles
of coarse Halfah-grass,[36] went up to the palace and standing under the
Sultan's windows cried aloud, "O King of the age, I am a wronged man! I
am foully wronged!" So they brought him before the King who looked at
him; and behold, it was the chief Minister; whereupon he said, "O Wazir
who did this deed by thee?" Al-Mu'in wept and sobbed and repeated these
lines:—
Shall the World oppress me when thou art in't? ✿ In the lion's presence shall wolves devour?
Shall the dry all drink of thy tanks and I ✿ Under rain-cloud thirst for the cooling shower?

"O my lord," cried he, "the like will befal every one who loveth and serveth
thee well." "Be quick with thee," quoth the Sultan, "and tell me how this
came to pass and who did this deed by one whose honour is part of my

honour." Quoth the Wazir, "Know, O my lord, that I went out this day to the
slave-market to buy me a cookmaid, when I saw there a damsel, never in
my life long saw I a fairer; and I designed to buy her for our lord the Sultan;
so I asked the broker of her and of her owner, and he answered, "She
belongeth to Ali son of Al-Fazl bin Khakan. Some time ago our lord the
Sultan gave his father ten thousand dinars wherewith to buy him a
handsome slave-girl, and he bought this maiden who pleased him; so he
grudged her to our lord the Sultan and gave her to his own son. When the
father died, the son sold all he had of houses and gardens and household
gear, and squandered the price till he was penniless. Then he brought the
girl to the market that he might sell her, and he handed her over to the
broker to cry and the merchants bid higher and higher on her, until her price
reached four thousand dinars; whereupon quoth I to myself:—I will buy this
damsel for our lord the Sultan, whose money was paid for her. So I said to
Nur al-Din:—O my son, sell her to me for four thousand dinars. When he
heard my words he looked at me and cried:—O ill-omened oldster, I will
sell her to a Jew or to a Nazarene, but I will not sell her to thee! I do not buy
her for myself, said I, I buy her for our lord and benefactor the Sultan.
Hearing my words he was filled with rage; and, dragging me off my horse
(and I a very old man), beat me unmercifully with his fists and buffeted me
with his palms till he left me as thou seest, and all this hath befallen me
only because I thought to buy this damsel for thee!" Then the Wazir threw
himself on the ground and lay there weeping and shivering. When the
Sultan saw his condition and heard his story, the vein of rage started out
between his eyes[37] and he turned to his body-guard who stood before him,
forty white slaves, smiters with the sword, and said to them, "Go down
forthright to the house built by the son of Khakan and sack it and raze it and
bring to me his son Nur al-Din with the damsel; and drag them both on their
faces with their arms pinioned behind them." They replied, "To hear is to
obey;" and, arming themselves, they set out for the house of Nur al-Din Ali.
Now about the Sultan was a Chamberlain, Alam[38] al-Din Sanjar hight, who
had aforetime been Mameluke to Al-Fazl; but he had risen in the world and
the Sultan had advanced him to be one of his Chamberlains. When he heard
the King's command and saw the enemies make them ready to slay his old
master's son, it was grievous to him: so he went out from before the Sultan
and, mounting his beast, rode to Nur al-Din's house and knocked at the
door. Nur al-Din came out and knowing him would have saluted him: but

he said, "O my master this is no time for greeting or treating. Listen to what
the poet said:—
Fly, fly with thy life if by ill overtaken!
Let thy house speak thy death by its builder forsaken!
For a land else than this land thou may'st reach, my brother,
But thy life tho'lt ne'er find in this world another.[39]

"O Alam al-Din what cheer?" asked Nur al-Din, and he answered, "Rise
quickly and fly for thy life, thou and the damsel; for Al-Mu'in hath set a
snare for you both; and, if you fall into his hands, he will slay you. The
Sultan hath despatched forty sworders against you and I counsel you to flee
ere harm can hurt you." Then Sanjar put his hand to his purse and finding
there forty gold pieces took them and gave them to Nur al-Din, saying, "O
my lord receive these and journey with them. Had I more I would give them
to thee, but this is not the time to take exception." Thereupon Nur al-Din
went in to the damsel and told her what had happened, at which she wrung
her hands. Then they fared forth at once from the city, and Allah spread
over them His veil of protection, so that they reached the river-bank where
they found a vessel ready for sea. Her skipper was standing amidships and
crying, "Whoso hath aught to do, whether in the way of provisioning or
taking leave of his people; or whoso hath forgotten any needful thing, let
him do it at once and return, for we are about to sail"; and all of them
saying, "There is naught left to be done by us, O captain!", he cried to his
crew, "Hallo there! cast off the cable and pull up the mooring-pole!"[40]
Quoth Nur al-Din, "Whither bound, O captain?" and quoth he, "To the
House of Peace, Baghdad,"——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day
and ceased to say her permitted say.

Now when it was the Thirty-sixth Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the skipper
answered, "To the House of Peace, Baghdad," Nur al-Din Ali and the
damsel went on board, and they launched the craft and shook out the sails,
and the ship sped forth as though she were a bird on wing; even as said one
of them and said right well:—

Watch some tall ship, she'll joy the sight of thee, ✿ The breeze outstripping in her haste to flee;
As when a bird, with widely-spreading wings, ✿ Leaveth the sky to settle on the sea.

So the vessel sailed on her fastest and the wind to her was fairest. Thus far
concerning them; but as regards the Mamelukes, they went to Nur al-Din's
mansion and, breaking open the doors, entered and searched the whole
place, but could find no trace of him and the damsel; so they demolished the
house and, returning to the Sultan, reported their proceedings; whereupon
quoth he, "Make search for them both, wherever they may be;" and they
answered, "Hearing is obeying." The Wazir Al-Mu'in had also gone home
after the Sultan had bestowed upon him a robe of honour, and had set his
heart at rest by saying, "None shall take blood-wreak for thee save I;" and
he had blessed the King and prayed for his long life and prosperity. Then
the Sultan bade proclaim about the city, "Oyez, O ye lieges one and all! It is
the will of our lord the Sultan that whoso happeneth on Nur al-Din Ali son
of Al-Fazl bin Khakan, and bringeth him to the Sultan, shall receive a robe
of honour and one thousand gold pieces; and he who hideth him or knoweth
his abiding place and informeth not, deserveth whatsoever pains and
penalties shall befal him." So all began to search for Nur al-Din Ali, but
they could find neither trace nor tidings of him. Meanwhile he and his
handmaid sailed on with the wind right aft, till they arrived in safety at
Baghdad, and the captain said to them, "This is Baghdad and 'tis the city
where security is to be had: Winter with his frosts hath turned away and
Prime hath come his roses to display; and the flowers are a-glowing and the
trees are blowing and the streams are flowing." So Nur al-Din landed, he
and his handmaid and, giving the captain five dinars, walked on a little way
till the decrees of Destiny brought them among the gardens, and they came
to a place swept and sprinkled, with benches along the walls and hanging
jars filled with water.[41] Overhead was a trellis of reed-work and canes
shading the whole length of the avenue, and at the upper end was a garden
gate, but this was locked. "By Allah," quoth Nur al-Din to the damsel, "right
pleasant is this place!"; and she replied, "O my lord sit with me a while on
this bench and let us take our ease." So they mounted and sat them down on
the bench, after which they washed their faces and hands; and the breeze
blew cool on them and they fell asleep and glory be to Him who never
sleepeth! Now this garden was named the Garden of Gladness[42] and
therein stood a belvedere hight the Palace of Pleasure and the Pavilion of

Pictures, the whole belonging to the Caliph Harun al-Rashid who was wont,
when his breast was straitened with care, to frequent garden and palace and
there to sit. The palace had eighty latticed windows and fourscore lamps
hanging round a great candelabrum of gold furnished with wax-candles;
and, when the Caliph used to enter, he would order the handmaids to throw
open the lattices and light up the rooms; and he would bid Ishak bin
Ibrahim the cup-companion and the slave-girls to sing till his breast was
broadened and his ailments were allayed. Now the keeper of the garden,
Shaykh Ibrahim, was a very old man, and he had found from time to time,
when he went out on any business, people pleasuring about the garden gate
with their bona robas; at which he was angered with exceeding anger.[43] But
he took patience till one day when the Caliph came to his garden; and he
complained of this to Harun al-Rashid who said, "Whomsoever thou
surprisest about the door of the garden, deal with him as thou wilt." Now on
this day the Gardener chanced to be abroad on some occasion and returning
found these two sleeping at the gate covered with a single mantilla;
whereupon said he, "By Allah, good! These twain know not that the Caliph
hath given me leave to slay anyone I may catch at the door; but I will give
this couple a shrewd whipping, that none may come near the gate in future."
So he cut a green palm-frond[44] and went up to them and, raising his arm till
the white of his arm-pit appeared, was about to strike them, when he
bethought himself and said, "O Ibrahim, wilt thou beat them unknowing
their case? Haply they are strangers or of the Sons of the Road,[45] and the
decrees of Destiny have thrown them here. I will uncover their faces and
look at them." So he lifted up the mantilla from their heads and said, "They
are a handsome couple; it were not fitting that I should beat them." Then he
covered their faces again and, going to Nur al-Din's feet, began to rub and
shampoo them,[46] whereupon the youth opened his eyes and, seeing an old
man of grave and reverend aspect rubbing his feet, he was ashamed and
drawing them in, sat up. Then he took Shaykh Ibrahim"s hand and kissed it.
Quoth the old man, "O my son, whence art thou?"; and quoth he, "O my
lord, we two are strangers," and the tears started from his eyes. "O my son,"
said Shaykh Ibrahim, "know that the Prophet (whom Allah bless and
preserve!) hath enjoined honour to the stranger;" and added, "Wilt not thou
arise, O my son, and pass into the garden and solace thy self by looking at it
and gladden thy heart?" "O my lord," said Nur al-Din, "to whom doth this
garden belong?;" and the other replied, "O my son, I have inherited it from

my folk." Now his object in saying this was to set them at their ease and
induce them to enter the garden. So Nur al-Din thanked him and rose, he
and the damsel, and followed him into the garden: and lo! it was a garden,
and what a garden! The gate was arched like a great hall and over walls and
roof ramped vines with grapes of many colours; the red like rubies and the
black like ebonies; and beyond it lay a bower of trelliced boughs growing
fruits single and composite, and small birds on branches sang with
melodious recite, and the thousand-noted nightingale shrilled with her
varied shright; the turtle with her cooing filled the site; the blackbird
whistled like human wight[47] and the ring-dove moaned like a drinker in
grievous plight. The trees grew in perfection all edible growths and fruited
all manner fruits which in pairs were bipartite; with the camphor-apricot,
the almond-apricot and the apricot "Khorasani" hight; the plum, like the
face of beauty, smooth and bright; the cherry that makes teeth shine clear by
her sleight, and the fig of three colours, green, purple and white. There also
blossomed the violet as it were sulphur on fire by night; the orange with
buds like pink coral and marguerite; the rose whose redness gars the
loveliest cheeks blush with despight; and myrtle and gilliflower and
lavender with the blood-red anemone from Nu'uman hight. The leaves were
all gemmed with tears the clouds had dight; the chamomile smiled showing
teeth that bite, and Narcissus with his negro[48] eyes fixed on Rose his sight;
the citrons shone with fruits embowled and the lemons like balls of gold;
earth was carpeted with flowers tinctured infinite; for Spring was come
brightening the place with joy and delight; and the streams ran ringing, to
the birds' gay singing, while the rustling breeze upspringing attempered the
air to temperance exquisite. Shaykh Ibrahim carried them up into the
pavilion, and they gazed on its beauty, and on the lamps aforementioned in
the latticed windows; and Nur al-Din, remembering his entertainments of
time past, cried, "By Allah, this is a pleasant place; it hath quenched in me
anguish which burned as a fire of Ghazá-wood.[49]" Then they sat down and
Shaykh Ibrahim set food before them; and they ate till they were satisfied
and washed their hands: after which Nur al-Din went up to one of the
latticed windows, and, calling to his handmaid fell to gazing on the trees
laden with all manner fruits. Presently he turned to the Gardener and said to
him, "O Shaykh Ibrahim hast thou no drink here, for folk are wont to drink
after eating?" The Shaykh brought him sweet water, cool and pleasant, but
he said, "This is not the kind of drink I wanted." "Perchance thou wishest

for wine?" "Indeed I do, O Shaykh!" "I seek refuge from it with Allah: it is
thirteen years since I did this thing, for the Prophet (Abhak[50]) cursed its
drinker, presser, seller and carrier!" "Hear two words of me." "Say on." "If
yon cursed ass[51] which standeth there be cursed, will aught of his curse
alight upon thee?" "By no means!" "Then take this dinar and these two
dirhams and mount yonder ass and, halting afar from the wine-shop, call the
first man thou seest buying liquor and say to him:—Take these two dirhams
for thyself, and with this dinar buy me some wine and set it on the ass. So
shalt thou be neither the presser, nor the buyer, nor the carrier; and no part
of the curse will fall upon thee." At this Shaykh Ibrahim laughed and said,
"By Allah, O my son, I never saw one wilier of wit than thou art, nor heard
aught sweeter than thy speech." So he did as he was bidden by Nur al-Din
who thanked him and said, "We two are now dependent on thee, and it is
only meet that thou comply with our wishes; so bring us here what we
require." "O my son," replied he, "this is my buttery before thee" (and it
was the store-room provided for the Commander of the Faithful); "so go in,
and take whatso thou wilt, for there is over and above what thou wantest."
Nur al-Din then entered the pantry and found therein vessels of gold and
silver and crystal set with all kinds of gems, and was amazed and delighted
with what he saw. Then he took out what he needed and set it on and poured
the wine into flagons and glass ewers, whilst Shaykh Ibrahim brought them
fruit and flowers and aromatic herbs. Then the old man withdrew and sat
down at a distance from them, whilst they drank and made merry, till the
wine got the better of them, so that their cheeks reddened and their eyes
wantoned like the gazelle's; and their locks became dishevelled and their
brightness became yet more beautiful. Then said Shaykh Ibrahim to
himself, "What aileth me to sit apart from them? Why should I not sit with
them? When shall I ever find myself in company with the like of these two
that favour two moons?" So he stepped forward and sat down on the edge
of the daïs, and Nur al-Din said to him, "O my lord, my life on thee, come
nearer to us!" He came and sat by them, when Nur al-Din filled a cup and
looked towards the Shaykh and said to him, "Drink, that thou mayest try the
taste of it!" I take refuge from it with Allah!" replied he; "for thirteen years I
have not done a thing of the kind." Nur al-Din feigned to forget he was
there and, drinking off the cup, threw himself on the ground as if the drink
had overcome him; whereupon Anis al-Jalis glanced at him and said, "O
Shaykh Ibrahim see how this husband of mine treateth me;" and he

answered, "O my lady, what aileth him?" "This is how he always serveth
me," cried she, "he drinketh awhile, then falleth asleep and leaveth me
alone with none to bear me company over my cup nor any to whom I may
sing when the bowl goeth round." Quoth the Shaykh (and his mien
unstiffened for that his soul inclined towards her), "By Allah, this is not
well!" Then she crowned a cup and looking towards him said, "By my life
thou must take and drink it, and not refuse to heal my sick heart!" So he put
forth his hand and took it and drank it off and she filled a second and set it
on the chandelier and said, "O master mine, there is still this one left for
thee." "By Allah, I cannot drink it;" cried he, "what I have already drunk is
enough for me;" but she rejoined, "By Allah, there is no help for it." So he
took the cup and drank; and she filled him a third which he took and was
about to drink when behold, Nur al-Din rolled round and sat upright——
And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted
say.

Now when it was the Thirty-seventh Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Nur al-Din sat upright
and said, "Ho, Shaykh Ibrahim, what is this? Did I not adjure thee a while
ago and thou refusedst, saying:—What, I! 'tis thirteen years ago since I have
done such a thing!" "By Allah," quoth the Shaykh (and indeed he was
abashed), "no sin of mine this, she forced me to do it." Nur al-Din laughed
and they sat down again to wine and wassail, but the damsel turned to her
master and said in a whisper, "O my lord, drink and do not press him, that I
may show thee some sport with him." Then she began to fill her master's
cup and he hers and so they did time after time, till at last Shaykh Ibrahim
looked at them and said, "What fashion of good fellowship is this? Allah
curse the glutton who keepeth the cup to himself! Why dost thou not give
me to drink, O my brother? What manners are these, O blessed one?" At
this the two laughed until they fell on their backs; then they drank and gave
him to drink and ceased not their carousal till a third part of the night was
past. Then said the damsel, "O Shaykh Ibrahim, with thy leave I will get up
and light one of these candles." "Do so," he replied, "but light no more than
one." So she sprang to her feet and, beginning with one candle, lighted all
the eighty and sat down again. Presently Nur al-Din said, "O Shaykh

Ibrahim, in what favour am I with thee? May I not light one of these
lamps?" "Light one," replied he, "and bother me no more in thy turn!" So he
rose and lighted one lamp after another, till he had lighted the whole eighty
and the palace seemed to dance with brilliancy. Quoth the Shaykh (and
indeed intoxication had overcome him), "Ye two are bolder than I am."
Then he rose to his feet and opened all the lattices and sat down again; and
they fell to carousing and reciting verses till the place rang with their noisy
mirth. Now Allah, the Decreer who decreeth all things and who for every
effect appointeth a cause, had so disposed that the Caliph was at that
moment sitting in the light of the moon at one of the windows of his palace
overlooking the Tigris. He saw the blaze of the lamps and wax candles
reflected in the river and, lifting his eyes, perceived that it came from the
Garden Palace which was all ablaze with brilliancy. So he cried, "Here to
me with Ja'afar the Barmaki!"; and the last word was hardly spoken ere the
Wazir was present before the Commander of the Faithful, who cried at him,
"O dog of a Minister, hast thou taken from me this city of Baghdad without
saying aught to me?" "What words are these words?" asked Ja'afar; and the
Caliph answered, "If Baghdad city were not taken from me, the Palace of
Pictures would not be illuminated with lamps and candles, nor would its
windows be thrown open. Woe to thee! who durst do a deed like this except
the Caliphate had been taken from me?" Quoth Ja'afar (and indeed his side-
muscles trembled as he spoke), "Who told thee that the Palace of Pictures
was illuminated and the windows thrown open?" Come hither and see,"
replied the Caliph. Then Ja'afar came close to the Caliph and, looking
towards the garden, saw the palace blazing with illumination that rayed
through the gloom of the night; and, thinking that this might have been
permitted by the keeper for some reason of his own, he wished to make an
excuse for him; so quoth he, "O Commander of the Faithful, Shaykh
Ibrahim said to me last week:—O my lord Ja'afar, I much wish to
circumcise my sons during the life of the Commander of the Faithful and
thy life. I asked:—What dost thou want?; and he answered:—Get me leave
from the Caliph to hold the festival in the Garden Palace. So said I to him:
—Go circumcise them and I will see the Caliph and tell him. Thereupon he
went away and I forgot to let thee know." "O Ja'afar," said the Caliph, "thou
hast committed two offences against me; first in that thou didst not report to
me, secondly, thou didst not give him what he sought; for he came and told
thee this only as excuse to ask for some small matter of money, to help him

with the outlay; and thou gavest him nothing nor toldest me." "O
Commander of the Faithful," said Ja'afar, "I forgot." "Now by the rights of
my forefathers and the tombs of my forbears," quoth the Caliph, "I will not
pass the rest of this night save in company with him; for truly he is a pious
man who frequenteth the Elders of the Faith and the Fakirs and other
religious mendicants and entertaineth them; doubtless they are now
assembled together and it may be that the prayer of one of them will work
us weal both in this world and in the next. Besides, my presence may profit
and at any rate be pleasing to Shaykh Ibrahim." "O Commander of the
Faithful," quoth Ja'afar, "the greater part of the night is passed, and at this
time they will be breaking up." Quoth the Caliph, "It matters not: I needs
must go to them." So Ja'afar held his peace, being bewildered and knowing
not what to do. Then the Caliph rose to his feet and, taking with him Ja'afar
and Masrur the eunuch sworder, the three disguised themselves in
merchants' gear and leaving the City-palace, kept threading the streets till
they reached the garden. The Caliph went up to the gate and finding it wide
open, was surprised and said, "See, O Ja'afar, how Shaykh Ibrahim hath left
the gate open at this hour contrary to his custom!" They went in and walked
on till they came under the pavilion, when the Caliph said, "O Ja'afar, I wish
to look in upon them unawares before I show myself, that I may see what
they are about and get sight of the elders; for hitherto I have heard no sound
from them, nor even a Fakir calling upon the name of Allah.[52]" Then he
looked about and, seeing a tall walnut-tree, said to Ja'afar, "I will climb this
tree, for its branches are near the lattices and so look in upon them."
Thereupon he mounted the tree and ceased not climbing from branch to
branch, till he reached a bough which was right opposite one of the
windows, and here he took seat and looked inside the palace. He saw a
damsel and a youth as they were two moons (glory be to Him who created
them and fashioned them!), and by them Shaykh Ibrahim seated cup in hand
and saying, "O Princess of fair ones, drinking without music is nothing
worth; indeed I have heard a poet say:—
Round with big and little, the bowl and cup, ✿ Take either that moon[53] in his sheen hath crowned:
Nor drink without music, for oft I've seen, ✿ The horse drink best to the whistle's sound!

When the Caliph saw this, the vein of wrath started up between his eyes and
he came down and said to the Wazir, "O Ja'afar, never beheld I yet men of
piety in such case; so do thou mount this tree and look upon them, lest the

blessings of the blest be lost to thee." Ja'afar, hearing the words of the
Commander of the Faithful and being confounded by them, climbed to the
tree-top and looking in, saw Nur al-Din and the damsel, and Shaykh
Ibrahim holding in his hand a brimming bowl. At this sight he made sure of
death and, descending, stood before the Commander of the Faithful, who
said to him, "O Ja'afar, praise be to Allah who hath made us of those that
observe external ordinances of Holy Law and hath averted from us the sin
of disguising ourselves after the manner of hypocrites!"[54] But Ja'afar could
not speak a word for excess of confusion; so the Caliph looked at him and
said, "I wonder how they came hither, and who admitted them into my
pavilion! But aught like the beauty of this youth and this damsel my eyes
never yet saw!" "Thou sayest sooth, O our Lord the Sultan!" replied Ja'afar
(and he hoped to propitiate the Caliph Harun al-Rashid). Then quoth the
Caliph, "O Ja'afar, let us both mount the branch opposite the window, that
we may amuse ourselves with looking at them." So the two climbed the tree
and, peering in, heard Shaykh Ibrahim say, "O my lady, I have cast away all
gravity mine by the drinking of wine, but 'tis not sweet save with the soft
sounds of the lute-strings it combine." "By Allah," replied Anis al-Jalis, "O
Shaykh Ibrahim, an we had but some instrument of music our joyance were
complete." Hearing this he rose to his feet and the Caliph said to Ja'afar, "I
wonder what he is about to do!" and Ja'afar answered, "I know not." The
Shaykh disappeared and presently reappeared bringing a lute; and the
Caliph took note of it and knew it for that of Abu Ishak the Cup-companion.
[55]
"By Allah," said the Caliph, "if this damsel sing ill I will crucify all of
you; but if she sing well I will forgive them and only gibbet thee." "O Allah
cause her to sing vilely!" quoth Ja'afar. Asked the Caliph, "Why so?"; and
he answered, "If thou crucify us all together, we shall keep one another
company." The Caliph laughed at his speech. Presently the damsel took the
lute and, after looking at it and tuning it, she played a measure which made
all hearts yearn to her; then she sang these lines:—
O ye that can aid me, a wretched lover, ✿ Whom longing burns nor can rest restore me!
Though all you have done I have well deserved, ✿ I take refuge with you, so exult not o'er me:
True, I am weak and low and vile, ✿ But I'll bear your will and whatso you bore me:
My death at your hands what brings it of glory? ✿ I fear but your sin which of life forlore me!

Quoth the Caliph, "By Allah, good! O Ja'afar, never in my life have I heard
a voice so enchanting as this." "Then haply the Caliph's wrath hath passed

away," said Ja'afar, and he replied, "Yes, 'tis gone." Thereupon they
descended from the tree, and the Caliph said to Ja'afar, "I wish to go in and
sit with them and hear the damsel sing before me." "O Commander of the
Faithful," replied Ja'afar, "if thou go in to them they will be terribly
troubled, and Shaykh Ibrahim will assuredly die of fright." But the Caliph
answered, "O Ja'afar, thou must teach me some device wherewith to delude
them and whereby I can foregather with them without their knowing me."
So they walked towards the Tigris pondering the matter, and presently came
upon a fisherman who stood fishing under the pavilion windows. Now
some time before this, the Caliph (being in the pavilion) had called to
Shaykh Ibrahim and asked him, "What noise is this I hear under the
windows?" and he had answered, "It is voices of fisher folk catching fish:"
so quoth the Caliph, "Go down and forbid them this place;" and he forbade
them accordingly. However that night a fisherman named Karim, happening
to pass by and seeing the garden gate open, said to himself, "This is a time
of negligence; and I will take advantage of it to do a bit of fishing." So he
took his net and cast it, but he had hardly done so when behold, the Caliph
came up single-handed and, standing hard by, knew him and called aloud to
him, "Ho, Karim!" The fisherman, hearing himself named, turned round,
and seeing the Caliph, trembled and his side-muscles quivered, as he cried,
"By Allah, O Commander of the Faithful, I did it not in mockery of the
mandate; but poverty and a large family drove me to what thou seest!"
Quoth the Caliph, "Make a cast in my name." At this the fisherman was
glad and going to the bank threw his net, then waiting till it had spread out
at full stretch and settled down, hauled it up and found in it various kinds of
fish. The Caliph was pleased and said, "O Karim, doff thy habit." So he put
off a gaberdine of coarse woollen stuff patched in an hundred places
whereon the lice were rampant, and a turband which had never been
untwisted for three years but to which he had sewn every rag he came upon.
The Caliph also pulled off his person two vests of Alexandrian and Ba'lbak
silk, a loose inner robe and a long-sleeved outer coat, and said to the
fisherman, "Take them and put them on," while he assumed the foul
gaberdine and filthy turband and drew a corner of the head-cloth as a
mouth-veil[56] before his face. Then said he to the fisherman, "Get thee
about thy business!"; and the man kissed the Caliph's feet and thanked him
and improvised the following couplets:—

Thou hast granted more favours than ever I craved; ✿ Thou hast satisfied needs which my heart
enslaved:
I will thank thee and thank whileas life shall last, ✿ And my bones will praise thee in grave
engraved!

Hardly had the fisherman ended his verse, when the lice began to crawl
over the Caliph's skin, and he fell to catching them on his neck with his
right and left and throwing them from him, while he cried, "O fisherman,
woe to thee! what be this abundance of lice on thy gaberdine." "O my lord,"
replied he, "they may annoy thee just at first, but before a week is past thou
wilt not feel them nor think of them." The Caliph laughed and said to him,
"Out on thee! Shall I leave this gaberdine of thine so long on my body?"
Quoth the fisherman, "I would say a word to thee but I am ashamed in
presence of the Caliph!"; and quoth he, "Say what thou hast to say." "It
passed through my thought, O Commander of the Faithful," said the
fisherman, "that, since thou wishest to learn fishing so thou mayest have in
hand an honest trade whereby to gain thy livelihood, this my gaberdine
besitteth thee right well."[57] The Commander of the Faithful laughed at this
speech, and the fisherman went his way. Then the Caliph took up the basket
of fish and, strewing a little green grass over it, carried it to Ja'afar and
stood before him. Ja'afar thinking him to be Karim the fisherman feared for
him and said, "O Karim, what brought thee hither? Flee for thy life, for the
Caliph is in the garden to-night and, if he see thee, thy neck is gone." At this
the Caliph laughed and Ja'afar recognized him and asked, "Can it be thou,
our lord the Sultan?"; and he answered, "Yes, O Ja'afar, and thou art my
Wazir and I and thou came hither together; yet thou knowest me not; so
how should Shaykh Ibrahim know me, and he drunk? Stay here, till I come
back to thee." "To hear is to obey," said Ja'afar. Then the Caliph went up to
the door of the pavilion and knocked a gentle knock, whereupon said Nur
al-Din, "O Shaykh Ibrahim, some one taps at the door." "Who goes there?"
cried the Shaykh and the Caliph replied, "It is I, O Shaykh Ibrahim!" "Who
art thou," quoth he, and quoth the other, "I am Karim the fisherman: I hear
thou hast a feast, so I have brought thee some fish, and of a truth 'tis good
fish." When Nur al-Din heard the mention of fish, he was glad, he and the
damsel, and they both said to the Shaykh, "O our lord, open the door and let
him bring us his fish." So Shaykh Ibrahim opened and the Caliph came in
(and he in fisherman guise), and began by saluting them. Said Shaykh
Ibrahim, "Welcome to the blackguard, the robber, the dicer! Let us see thy

fish." So the Caliph showed them his catch and behold, the fishes were still
alive and jumping, whereupon the damsel exclaimed, "By Allah! O my lord,
these are indeed fine fish: would they were fried!" and Shaykh Ibrahim
rejoined, "By Allah, O my lady, thou art right." Then said he to the Caliph,
"O fisherman, why didst thou not bring us the fish ready fried? Up now and
cook them and bring them back to us." "On my head be thy commands!"
said the Caliph, "I will fry thee a dish and bring it." Said they, "Look sharp."
Thereupon he went out and ran till he came up to Ja'afar when he called to
him, "Hallo, Ja'afar!"; and he replied, "Here am I, O Commander of the
Faithful, is all well?" "They want the fish fried," said the Caliph, and Ja'afar
answered, "O Commander of the Faithful, give it to me and I'll fry it for
them." "By the tombs of my forbears," quoth the Caliph, "none shall fry it
but I, with mine own hand!" So he went to the gardener's hut, where he
searched and found all that he required, even to salt and saffron and wild
marjoram and else besides. Then he turned to the brasier and, setting on the
frying-pan, fried a right good fry. When it was done, he laid it on a banana-
leaf, and gathering from the garden wind-fallen fruits, limes and lemons,
carried the fish to the pavilion and set the dish before them. So the youth
and the damsel and Shaykh Ibrahim came forward and ate; after which they
washed their hands and Nur al-Din said to the Caliph, "By Allah, O
fisherman, thou hast done us a right good deed this night." Then he put
hand in pouch and, taking out three of the dinars which Sanjar had given
him, said, "O fisherman, excuse me. By Allah had I known thee before that
which hath lately befallen me, I had done away the bitterness of poverty
from thy heart; but take thou this as the best I can do for thee." Then he
threw the gold pieces to the Caliph, who took them and kissed them and put
them in pouch. Now his sole object in doing all this was to hear the damsel
sing; so he said to Nur al-Din, "Thou hast rewarded me most liberally, but I
beg of thy boundless bounty that thou let this damsel sing an air, that I may
hear her."[58] So Nur al-Din said, "O Anis al-Jalis!" and she answered "Yes!"
and he continued, "By my life, sing us something for the sake of this
fisherman who wisheth so much to hear thee." Thereupon she took the lute
and struck the strings, after she had screwed them tight and tuned them, and
sang these improvised verses:—
The fawn of a maid hent her lute in hand ✿ And her music made us right mettlesome:
For her song gave hearing to ears stone-deaf, ✿ While Brava! Brava! exclaimed the dumb.

Then she played again and played so ravishingly, that she charmed their
wits and burst out improvising and singing these couplets:—
You have honoured us visiting this our land, ✿ And your splendour illumined the glooms that blent:
So 'tis due that for you I perfume my place ✿ With rose-water, musk and the camphor-scent!

Hereupon the Caliph was agitated, and emotion so overpowered him that he
could not command himself for excess of pleasure, and he exclaimed, "By
Allah, good! by Allah, good! by Allah, good!"[59] Asked Nur al-Din, "O
fisherman, doth this damsel please thee?" and the Caliph answered, "Ay, by
Allah!" Whereupon said Nur al-Din, "She is a gift to thee, a gift of the
generous who repenteth him not of his givings and who will never revoke
his gift!" Then he sprang to his feet and, taking a loose robe, threw it over
the fisherman and bade him receive the damsel and be gone. But she looked
at him and said, "O my lord, art thou faring forth without farewell? If it
must be so, at least stay till I bid thee good-bye and make known my case."
And she began versifying in these verses:—
When love and longing and regret are mine, ✿ Must not this body show of ills a sign?
My love! say not, "Thou soon shalt be consoled"; ✿ When state speaks state none shall allay my
pine.
If living man could swim upon his tears, ✿ I first should float on waters of these eyne:
O thou, who in my heart infusedst thy love, ✿ As water mingles in the cup with wine,
This was the fear I feared, this parting blow. ✿ O thou whose love my heart-core ne'er shall tyne!
O Bin Khákán! my sought, my hope, my will, ✿ O thou whose love this breast made wholly thine!
Against thy lord the King thou sinn'dst for me, ✿ And winnedst exile in lands peregrine:
Allah ne'er make my lord repent my loss ✿ To cream[60] o' men thou gavest me, one right digne.

When she had ended her verses, Nur al-Din answered her with these lines:
—
She bade me farewell on our parting day, ✿ And she wept in the fire of our bane and pains:
"What wilt thou do when fro' thee I'm gone?" ✿ Quoth I, "say this to whom life remains!"

When the Caliph heard her saying in her verse:—
To Karim, the cream of men thou gavest me;

his inclination for her redoubled and it seemed a hard matter and a grievous
to part them; so quoth he to the youth, "O my lord, truly the damsel said in
her verses that thou didst transgress against her master and him who owned
her; so tell me, against whom didst thou transgress and who is it hath a

claim on thee?" "By Allah, O fisherman," replied Nur al-Din, "there befel
me and this damsel a wondrous tale and a marvellous matter: an 'twere
graven with needle-gravers on the eye-corners it would be a warner to
whoso would be warned." Cried the Caliph, "Wilt thou not tell me thy story
and acquaint me with thy case? Haply it may bring thee relief, for Allah's
aid is ever nearhand." "O fisherman," said Nur al-Din, "wilt thou hear our
history in verse or in prose?" "Prose is a wordy thing, but verses," rejoined
the Caliph, "are pearls on string." Then Nur al-Din bowed his head, and
made these couplets:—
O my friend! reft of rest no repose I command, ✿ And my grief is redoubled in this far land:
Erst I had a father, a kinder ne'er was; ✿ But he died and to Death paid the deodand:
When he went from me, every matter went wrong ✿ Till my heart was nighbroken, my nature
unmanned:
He bought me a handmaid, a sweeting who shamed ✿ A wand of the willow by Zephyr befanned:
I lavisht upon her mine heritage, ✿ And spent like a nobleman puissant and grand:
Then to sell her compelled, my sorrow increased; ✿ The parting was sore but I mote not gainstand:
Now as soon as the crier had called her, there bid ✿ A wicked old fellow, a fiery brand:
So I raged with a rage that I could not restrain, ✿ And snatched her from out of his hireling's hand;
When the angry curmudgeon made ready for blows, ✿ And the fire of a fight kindled he and his
band,
I smote him in fury with right and with left, ✿ And his hide, till well satisfied, curried and tanned:
Then in fear I fled forth and lay hid in my house, ✿ To escape from the snares which my foeman had
spanned:
So the King of the country proclaimed my arrest; ✿ When access to me a good Chamberlain fand:
And warned me to flee from the city afar, ✿ Disappear, disappoint what my enemies planned:
Then we fled from our home 'neath the wing of the night, ✿ And sought us a refuge by Baghdad
strand:
Of my riches I've nothing on thee to bestow, ✿ O Fisher, except the fair gift thou hast scanned:
The loved of my soul, and when I from her part, ✿ Know for sure that I give thee the blood of my
heart.[61]

When he had ended his verse, the Caliph said to him, "O my lord Nur al-
Din, explain to me thy case more fully." So he told him the whole story
from beginning to end, and the Caliph said to him, "Whither dost thou now
intend?" "Allah's world is wide," replied he. Quoth the Caliph, "I will write
thee a letter to carry to the Sultan Mohammed bin Sulayman al-Zayni,
which when he readeth, he will not hurt nor harm thee in aught."—And
Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.

Now when it was the Thirty-eighth Night,

She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the Caliph
said to Nur al-Din Ali, "I will write thee a letter to carry to the Sultan
Mohammed bin Sulayman al-Zayni, which when he readeth, he will not
hurt nor harm thee in aught," Nur al-Din asked "What! is there in the world
a fisherman who writeth to Kings? Such a thing can never be!"; and the
Caliph answered, "Thou sayest sooth, but I will tell thee the reason. Know
that I and he learnt in the same school under one schoolmaster, and that I
was his monitor. Since that time Fortune befriended him and he is become a
Sultan, while Allah hath abased me and made me a fisherman; yet I never
send to him to ask aught but he doeth my desire; nay, though I should ask of
him a thousand favours every day, he would comply." When Nur al-Din
heard this he said, "Good! write that I may see." So the Caliph took ink-case
and reed-pen and wrote as follows,—"In the name of Allah, the
Compassionating, the Compassionate! But after.[62] This letter is written by
Harun al-Rashid, son of Al-Mahdi, to his highness Mohammed bin
Sulayman al-Zayni, whom I have encompassed about with my favour and
made my viceroy in certain of my dominions. The bearer of these presents
is Nur al-Din Ali, son of Fazl bin Khakan the Wazir. As soon as they come
to thy hand divest thyself forthright of the kingly dignity and invest him
therewith; so oppose not my commandment and peace be with thee." He
gave the letter to Nur al-Din, who took it and kissed it, then put it in his
turband and set out at once on his journey. So far concerning him; but as
regards the Caliph, Shaykh Ibrahim stared at him (and he still in fisher
garb) and said, "O vilest of fishermen, thou hast brought us a couple of fish
worth a score of half-dirhams,[63] and hast gotten three dinars for them; and
thinkest thou to take the damsel to boot?" When the Caliph heard this, he
cried out at him, and signed to Masrur who discovered himself and rushed
in upon him. Now Ja'afar had sent one of the gardener-lads to the
doorkeeper of the palace to fetch a suit of royal raiment for the Prince of the
Faithful; so the man went and, returning with the suit, kissed the ground
before the Caliph and gave it him. Then he threw off the clothes he had
on[64] and donned kingly apparel. Shaykh Ibrahim was still sitting upon his
chair and the Caliph tarried to behold what would come next. But seeing the
Fisherman become the Caliph, Shaykh Ibrahim was utterly confounded and
he could do nothing but bite his finger-ends[65] and say, "Would I knew
whether am I asleep or am I awake!" At last the Caliph looked at him and
cried, "O Shaykh Ibrahim, what state is this in which I see thee?"

Thereupon he recovered from his drunkenness and, throwing himself upon
the ground, repeated these verses:—
Pardon the sinful ways I did pursue; ✿ Ruth from his lord to every slave is due:
Confession pays the fine that sin demands; ✿ Where, then, is that which grace and mercy sue?[66]

The Caliph forgave him and bade carry the damsel to the city-palace, where
he set apart for her an apartment and appointed slaves to serve her, saying to
her, "Know that we have sent thy lord to be Sultan in Bassorah and,
Almighty Allah willing, we will dispatch him the dress of investiture and
thee with it." Meanwhile, Nur al-Din Ali ceased not travelling till he
reached Bassorah, where he repaired to the Sultan's palace and he shouted a
loud shout.[67] The Sultan heard him and sent for him; and when he came
into his presence, he kissed the ground between his hands and, producing
the letter, presented it to him. Seeing the superscription in the writing of the
Commander of the Faithful, the Sultan rose to his feet and kissed it three
times; and after reading it said, "I hear and I obey Allah Almighty and the
Commander of the Faithful!" Then he summoned the four Kazis[68] and the
Emirs and was about to divest himself of the rule royal, when behold, in
came Al-Mu'in bin Sawi. The Sultan gave him the Caliph's letter and he
read it, then tore it to pieces and putting it into his mouth, chewed it[69] and
spat it out. "Woe to thee," quoth the Sultan (and indeed he was sore
angered); "what induced thee to do this deed?" "Now by thy life! O our lord
the Sultan," replied Mu'in, "this man hath never foregathered with the
Caliph nor with his Wazir; but he is a gallows-bird, a limb of Satan, a knave
who, having come upon a written paper in the Caliph's hand, some idle
scroll, hath made it serve his own end. The Caliph would surely not send
him to take the Sultanate from thee without the imperial autograph[70] and
the diploma of investiture, and he certainly would have despatched with
him a Chamberlain or a Minister. But he hath come alone and he never
came from the Caliph, no, never! never! never!" "What is to be done?"
asked the Sultan, and the Minister answered, "Leave him to me and I will
take him and keep him away from thee, and send him in charge of a
Chamberlain to Baghdad-city. Then, if what he says be sooth, they will
bring us back autograph and investiture; and if not, I will take my due out
of this debtor." When the Sultan heard the Minister's words he said, "Hence
with thee and him too." Al-Mu'in took trust of him from the King and,
carrying him to his own house, cried out to his pages who laid him flat and

beat him till he fainted. Then he let put upon his feet heavy shackles and
carried him to the jail, where he called the jailor, one Kutayt,[71] who came
and kissed the ground before him. Quoth the Wazir, "O Kutayt, I wish thee
to take this fellow and throw him into one of the underground cells[72] in the
prison and torture him night and day." "To hear is to obey," replied the jailor
and, taking Nur al-Din into the prison, locked the door upon him. Then he
gave orders to sweep a bench behind the door and, spreading on it a sitting-
rug and a leather-cloth, seated Nur al-Din thereon and loosed his shackles
and entreated him kindly. The Wazir sent every day enjoining the jailor to
beat him, but he abstained from this, and so continued to do for forty days.
On the forty-first day there came a present from the Caliph; which when the
Sultan saw, it pleased him and he consulted his Ministers on the matter,
when one of them said, "Perchance this present was for the new Sultan."
Cried Al-Mu'in, "We should have done well had we put him to death at his
first coming;" and the Sultan cried "By Allah, thou hast reminded me of
him! Go down to the prison and fetch him, and I will strike off his head."
"To hear is to obey," replied Al-Mu'in: then he stood up and said, "I will
make proclamation in the city:—Whoso would solace himself with seeing
the beheading of Nur al-Din bin al-Fazl bin Khakan, let him repair to the
palace! So follower and followed, great and small will flock to the
spectacle, and I shall heal my heart and harm my foe." "Do as thou wilt,"
said the Sultan. The Wazir went off (and he was glad and gay), and ordered
the Chief of Police to make the aforementioned proclamation. When the
people heard the crier, they all sorrowed and wept, even the little ones at
school and the traders in their shops; and some strove to get places for
seeing the sight, whilst others went to the prison with the object of escorting
him thence. Presently, the Wazir came with ten Mamelukes to the jail and
Kutayt the jailor asked him, "Whom seekest thou, O our lord the Wazir?";
whereto he answered, "Bring me out that gallows-bird." But the jailor said,
"He is in the sorriest of plights for the much beating I have given him."
Then he went into the prison and found Nur al-Din repeating these verses:
—

Who shall support me in calamities, ✿ When fail all cures and greater cares arise?
Exile hath worn my heart, my vitals torn; ✿ The World to foes hath turned my firm allies.
O folk, will not one friend amidst you all ✿ Wail o'er my woes, and cry to hear my cries?
Death and its agonies seem light to me, ✿ Since life has lost all joys and jollities:
O Lord of Mustafá,[73] that Science-sea ✿ Sole Intercessor, Guide all-ware, all-wise!
I pray thee free me and my fault forego, ✿ And from me drive mine evil and my woe.

The jailor stripped off his clean clothes and, dressing him in two filthy
vests, carried him to the Wazir. Nur al-Din looked at him and saw it was his
foe that sought to compass his death; so he wept and said, "Art thou, then,
so secure against the World? Hast thou not heard the saying of the poet:—
Kisras and Cæsars in a bygone day ✿ Stored wealth; where is it, and ah! where are they?"

"O Wazir," he continued, "know that Allah (be He extolled and exalted!)
will do whatso He will!" "O Ali," replied he, "thinkest thou to frighten me
with such talk? I mean this very day to smite thy neck despite the noses of
the Bassorah folk and I care not; let the days do as they please; nor will I
turn me to thy counsel but rather to what the poet saith:—
Leave thou the days to breed their ban and bate, ✿ And make thee strong t' upbear the weight of Fate.

And also how excellently saith another:—
Whoso shall see the death-day of his foe, ✿ One day surviving, wins his bestest wish."

Then he ordered his attendants to mount Nur al-Din upon the bare back of a
mule; and they said to the youth (for truly it was irksome to them), "Let us
stone him and cut him down though our lives go for it." But Nur al-Din said
to them, "Do not so: have ye not heard the saying of the poet?—
Needs must I bear the term by Fate decreed, ✿ And when that day be dead needs must I die:
If lions dragged me to their forest-lair, ✿ Safe should I live till draw my death-day nigh."

Then they proceeded to proclaim before Nur al-Din, "This is the least of the
retribution for him who imposeth upon Kings with forgeries." And they
ceased not parading him round about Bassorah, till they made him stand
beneath the palace-windows and set him upon the leather of blood,[74] and
the sworder came up to him and said, "O my lord, I am but a slave
commanded in this matter: an thou have any desire, tell it me that I may
fulfil it, for now there remaineth of thy life only so much as may be till the

Sultan shall put his face out of the lattice." Thereupon Nur al-Din looked to
the right and to the left, and before him and behind him and began
improvising:—
The sword, the sworder and the blood-skin waiting me I sight, ✿ And cry, Alack, mine evil fate! ah,
my calamity!
How is't I see no loving friend with eye of sense or soul? ✿ What! no one here? I cry to all: will none
reply to me?
The time is past that formed my life, my death term draweth nigh, ✿ Will no man win the grace of
God showing me clemency;
And look with pity on my state, and clear my dark despair, ✿ E'en with a draught of water dealt to
cool death's agony?

The people fell to weeping over him; and the headsman rose and brought
him a draught of water; but the Wazir sprang up from his place and smote
the gugglet with his hand and broke it: then he cried out at the executioner
and bade him strike off Nur al-Din's head. So he bound the eyes of the
doomed man and folk clamoured at the Wazir and loud wailings were heard
and much questioning of man and man. At this moment behold, rose a
dense dust-cloud filling sky and wold; and when the Sultan, who was sitting
in the palace, descried this, he said to his suite, "Go and see what yon cloud
bringeth:" Replied Al-Mu'in, "Not till we have smitten this fellow's neck;"
but the Sultan said, "Wait ye till we see what this meaneth." Now the dust-
cloud was the dust of Ja'afar the Barmecide, Wazir to the Caliph, and his
host; and the cause of his coming was as follows. The Caliph passed thirty
days without calling to mind the matter of Nur al-Din Ali,[75] and none
reminded him of it, till one night, as he passed by the chamber of Anis al-
Jalis, he heard her weeping and singing with a soft sweet voice these lines
of the poet:—
In thought I see thy form when farthest far or nearest near; ✿ And on my tongue there dwells a name
which man shall ne'er unhear.

Then her weeping redoubled; when lo! the Caliph opened the door and,
entering the chamber, found Anis al-Jalis in tears. When she saw him she
fell to the ground and kissing his feet three times repeated these lines:—
O fertile root and noble growth of trunk; ✿ Ripe-fruitful branch of never sullied race;
I mind thee of what pact thy bounty made; ✿ Far be't from thee thou should'st forget my case!

Quoth the Caliph, "Who art thou?" and she replied, "I am she whom Ali bin
Khakan gave thee in gift, and I wish the fulfilment of thy promise to send
me to him with the robe of honour; for I have now been thirty days without
tasting the food of sleep." Thereupon the Caliph sent for Ja'afar and said to
him, "O Ja'afar, 'tis thirty days since we have had news of Nur al-Din bin
Khakan, and I cannot but suppose that the Sultan hath slain him; but, by the
life of my head and by the sepulchres of my forefathers, if aught of foul
play hath befallen him, I will surely make an end of him who was the cause
of it, though he be the dearest of all men to myself! So I desire that thou set
out for Bassorah within this hour and bring me tidings of my cousin, King
Mohammed bin Sulayman al-Zayni, and how he hath dealt with Nur al-Din
Ali bin Khakan;" adding, "If thou tarry longer on the road than shall suffice
for the journey, I will strike off thy head. Furthermore, do thou tell the son
of my uncle the whole story of Nur al-Din, and how I sent him with my
written orders; and if thou find, O my cousin,[76] that the King hath done
otherwise than as I commanded, bring him and the Wazir Al-Mu'in bin Sawi
to us in whatsoever guise thou shalt find them."[77] "Hearing and
obedience," replied Ja'afar and, making ready on the instant, he set out for
Bassorah where the news of his coming had foregone him and had reached
to the ears of King Mohammed. When Ja'afar arrived and saw the crushing
and crowding of the lieges, he asked, "What means all this gathering?" so
they told him what was doing in the matter of Nur al-Din; whereupon he
hastened to go to the Sultan and saluting him, acquainted him with the
cause why he came and the Caliph's resolve, in case of any foul play having
befallen the youth, to put to death whoso should have brought it about.
Then he took into custody the King and the Wazir and laid them in ward
and, giving order for the release of Nur al-Din Ali, enthroned him as Sultan
in the stead of Mohammed bin Sulayman. After this Ja'afar abode three days
in Bassorah, the usual guest-time, and on the morning of the fourth day, Nur
al-Din Ali turned to him and said, "I long for the sight of the Commander of
the Faithful." Then said Ja'afar to Mohammed bin Sulayman, "Make ready
to travel, for we will say the dawn-prayer and mount Baghdad-wards;" and
he replied, "To hear is to obey." Then they prayed and they took horse and
set out, all of them, carrying with them the Wazir, Al-Mu'in bin Sawi, who
began to repent him of what he had done. Nur al-Din rode by Ja'afar's side
and they stinted not faring on till they arrived at Baghdad, the House of
Peace, and going in to the Caliph told him how they had found Nur al-Din

nigh upon death. Thereupon the Caliph said to the youth, "Take this sword
and smite with it the neck of thine enemy." So he took the sword from his
hand and stepped up to Al-Mu'in who looked at him and said, "I did
according to my mother's milk, do thou according to thine."[78] Upon this
Nur al-Din cast the sword from his hand and said to the Caliph, "O
Commander of the Faithful, he hath beguiled me with his words;" and he
repeated this couplet:—
By craft and sleight I snared him when he came; ✿ A few fair words aye trap the noble-game!

"Leave him then," cried the Caliph and, turning to Masrur said, "Rise thou
and smite his neck." So Masrur drew his sword and struck off his head.
Then quoth the Caliph to Nur al-Din Ali, "Ask a boon of me." "O my lord,"
answered he, "I have no need of the Kingship of Bassorah; my sole desire is
to be honoured by serving thee and by seeing thy countenance." "With love
and gladness," said the Caliph. Then he sent for the damsel, Anis al-Jalis,
and bestowed plentiful favours upon them both and gave them one of his
palaces in Baghdad, and assigned stipends and allowances, and made Nur
al-Din Ali bin Fazl bin Khakan, one of his cup-companions; and he abode
with the Commander of the Faithful enjoying the pleasantest of lives till
death overtook him. "Yet (continued Shahrazad) is not his story in any wise
more wondrous than the history of the merchant and his children." The
King asked "And what was that?" and Shahrazad began to relate the

1. Supplementary to note 2, p. 2, and note 2, p. 14, vol. i., I may add that
"Shahrazad," in the Shams al-Loghat, is the P.N. of a King. L.
Langlès (Les Voyages de Sindibâd Le Marin et La Ruse des Femmes,
first appended to Savary's Grammar and reprinted 12mo. pp. 161 +
113, Imprimerie Royale, Paris, M.D.CCC.XIV) explains it by Le
cyprès, la beauté de la ville; and he is followed by (A. de Biberstein)
Kazimirski (Enis el-Djelis, Paris, Barrois, 1847). Ouseley (Orient.
Collect.) makes Shahrzád=town-born; and others an Arabisation of
Chehr-ázád (free of face, ingenuous of countenance) the petit nom of
Queen Humay, for whom see the terminal Essay. The name of the
sister, whom the Fihrist converts into a Kahramánah, or nurse,
vulgarly written Dínár-zád, would=child of gold pieces, freed by gold
pieces, or one who has no need of gold pieces: Dinzád=child of faith

and Daynázád, proposed by Langlès, "free from debt(!)" I have
adopted Macnaghten's Dunyazad. "Shahryar," which Scott hideously
writes "Shier-ear," is translated by the Shams, King of the world,
absolute monarch and the court of Anushirwan while the Burhán-i-
Káti'a renders it a King of Kings, and P.N. of a town. Shahr-báz is
also the P.N. of a town in Samarcand.

2. Arab. "Malik," here used as in our story-books: "Pompey was a wise
and powerful King" says the Gesta Romanorum. This King is, as will
appear, a Regent or Governor under Harun al-Rashid. In the next tale
he is Viceroy of Damascus, where he is also called "Sultan."

3. The Bul. Edit. gives the lines as follows:—
The lance was his pen, and the hearts of his foes ✿ His paper, and dipped he in blood for ink;
Hence our sires entitled the spear Khattíyah, ✿ Meaning that withal man shall write, I think.

The pun is in "Khattíyah" which may mean a writer (feminine) and
also a spear, from Khatt-Hajar, a tract in the province Al-Bahrayn
(Persian Gulf), and Oman, where the best Indian bamboos were
landed and fashioned into lances. Imr al-Kays (Mu'allakah v. 4.) sings
of "our dark spears firmly wrought of Khattiyan cane;" Al-Busírí of
"the brown lances of Khatt;" also see Lebid v. 50 and Hamásah pp.
26, 231: Antar notes the "Spears of Khatt" and "Rudaynian lances."
Rudaynah is said to have been the wife of one Samhár, the Ferrara of
lances; others make her the wife of Al-Ka'azab and hold Samhár to be
a town in Abyssinia where the best weapons were manufactured. The
pen is the Calamus or Kalam (reed cut for pen) of which the finest
and hardest are brought from Java: they require the least nibbing. The
rhetorical figure in the text is called Husn al-Ta'alíl, our ætiology; and
is as admirable to the Arabs as it appears silly to us.

4. "He loves folk" is high praise, meaning something more than
benevolence and beneficence. Like charity it covers a host of sins.

5. The sentence is euphuistic.

6. Arab. "Rubb"=syrup a word Europeanised by the "Rob Laffecteur."

7. The Septentriones or four oxen and their wain.

8. The list fatally reminds us of "astronomy and the use of the globes" ...
"Shakespeare and the musical glasses."

9. The octave occurs in Night xv. I quote Torrens (p. 360) by way of
variety.

10. A courteous formula of closing with the offer.

11. To express our "change of climate" Easterns say, "change of water
and air," water coming first.

12. "The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night" (Psalm
cxxi. 6). Easterns still believe in the blighting effect of the moon's
rays, which the Northerners of Europe, who view it under different
conditions, are pleased to deny. I have seen a hale and hearty Arab,
after sitting an hour in the moonlight, look like a man fresh from a
sick bed; and I knew an Englishman in India whose face was
temporarily paralysed by sleeping with it exposed to the moon.

13. The negroids and negroes of Zanzibar.

14. i.e. Why not make thy heart as soft as thy sides! The converse of this
was reported at Paris during the Empire, when a man had by mistake
pinched a very high personage: "Ah, Madame! if your heart be as
hard as (what he had pinched) I am a lost man."

15. "Na'íman" is said to one after bathing or head-shaving: the proper
reply, for in the East every sign of ceremony has its countersign, is
"Allah benefit thee!" (Pilgrimage i. II, iii. 285; Lane M. E. chapt. viii.;
Caussin de Perceval's Arabic Grammar, etc., etc.). I have given a
specimen (Pilgrimage i., 122) not only of sign and countersign, but
also of the rhyming repartee which rakes love. Hanien! (pleasant to
thee! said when a man drinks). Allah pleasure thee (Allah yuhanník
which Arnauts and other ruffians perverted to Allah yaník, Allah
copulate with thee); thou drinkest for ten!—I am the cock and thou
art the hen! (i.e. a passive catamite)—Nay, I am the thick one (the

penis which gives pleasure) and thou art the thin! And so forth with
most unpleasant pleasantries.

16. In the old version she is called "The Fair Persian," probably from the
owner: her name means "The Cheerer of the Companion."

17. Pronounce "Nooraddeen." I give the name as written in Arabic.

18. Amongst Moslems, I have said, it is held highly disgraceful when the
sound of women's cries can be heard by outsiders.

19. In a case like this, the father would be justified by Rasm (or usage)
not by Koranic law, in playing Brutus with his son. The same would
be the case in a detected intrigue with a paternal concubine and, in
very strict houses, with a slave-girl.

20. Orientals fear the "Zug" or draught as much as Germans; and with
even a better reason. Draughts are most dangerous in hot climates.

21. The Unity of the Godhead and the Apostleship of Mohammed.

22. This would be done only in the case of the very poor.

23. Prayers over the dead are not universal in Al-Islam; but when they are
recited they lack the "sijdah" or prostration.

24. Or, "Of the first and the last," i.e. Mohammed, who claimed (and
claimed justly) to be the "Seal" or head and end of all Prophets and
Prophecy. For note that whether the Arab be held inspired or a mere
impostor, no man making the same pretension has moved the world
since him. Mr. J. Smith the Mormon (to mention one in a myriad)
made a bold attempt and failed.

25. i.e. flatterers.

26. In one matter Moslems contrast strongly with Christians, by most
scrupulously following the example of their law-giver: hence they are
the model Conservatives. But (European) Christendom is here, as in
other things, curiously contradictory: for instance, it still keeps a

"Feast of the Circumcision," and practically holds circumcision in
horror. Eastern Christians, however, have not wholly abolished it, and
the Abyssinians, who find it a useful hygienic precaution, still
practise it. For ulcers, syphilis and other venereals which are readily
cured in Egypt become dangerous in the Highlands of Ethiopia.

27. Arab. "Sabab," the orig. and material sense of the word; hence "a
cause," etc.

28. Thus he broke his promise to his father, and it is insinuated that
retribution came upon him.

29. "O Pilgrim" (Ya Hájj) is a polite address even to those who have not
pilgrimaged. The feminine "Hájjah" (in Egypt pronounced "Hággeh")
is similarly used.

30. Arab. usúl=roots, i.e. I have not forgotten my business.

31. Moslems from Central and Western North Africa. (Pilgrimage i. 261;
iii. 7, etc.); the "Jabarti" is the Moslem Abyssinian.

32. This is a favourite bit of chaff and is to be lengthened out almost
indefinitely e.g. every brown thing is not civet nor every shining
thing a diamond; every black thing is not charcoal nor every white
chalk; every red thing is not a ruby nor every yellow a topaz; every
long-necked thing is not a camel, etc., etc., etc.

33. He gives him the name of his grandfather; a familiar usage.

34. Arab. "Ma'janah," a place for making unbaked bricks (Tob=Span.
Adobe) with chaff and bruised or charred straw. The use of this article
in rainless lands dates from ages immemorial, and formed the outer
walls of the Egyptian temple.

35. Arab. "Barsh," a bit of round matting used by the poor as a seat. The
Wazir thus showed that he had been degraded to the condition of a
mat-maker.

36. The growth (a Poa of two species) which named Wady Halfá (vulg.
"Halfah"), of which the home public has of late heard perhaps a trifle
too much. Burckhardt (Prov. 226) renders it "dry reeds"—incorrectly
enough.

37. This "Háshimi" vein, as they call it, was an abnormal development
between the eyes of the house of Abbas, inherited from the great
grandfather of the Prophet; and the latter had it remarkably large,
swelling in anger and battle-rage. The text, however, may read "The
sweat of wrath," etc.

38. Torrens and Payne prefer "Ilm"=knowledge. Lane has more correctly
"Alam"=a sign, a flag.

39. The lines were in Night xi: I have quoted Torrens (p. 379) for a
change.

40. Still customary in Tigris-Euphrates land, where sea-craft has not
changed since the days of Xisisthrus-Noah, and long before.

41. To cool the contents.

42. Hence the Khedivial Palace near Cairo "Kasr al-Nuzhah;" literally "of
Delights;" one of those flimsy new-Cairo buildings which contrast so
marvellously with the architecture of ancient and even of mediæval
Egypt, and which are covering the land with modern ruins. Compare
Mohammed Ali's mosque in the citadel with the older Sultan Hasan.
A popular tale is told that, when the conquering Turk, Yáwúz Sultan
Selim, first visited Cairo, they led him to Mosque Al-Ghúri. "This is a
splendid Ká'ah (saloon)!" quoth he. When he entered Sultan Hasan,
he exclaimed, "This is a citadel!"; but after inspecting the Mosque Al-
Mu'ayyad he cried, "'Tis a veritable place of prayer, a fit stead for the
Faithful to adore the Eternal!"

43. Arab. gardeners are very touchy on this point. A friend of mine was
on a similar occasion addressed, in true Egyptian lingo, by an old
Adam-son, "Ya ibn al-Kalb! beta'mil ay?" (O dog-son, what art thou
up to?).

44. "The green palm-stick is of the trees of Paradise;" say the Arabs in
Solomonic style but not Solomonic words: so our "Spare the rod,"
etc.

45. Wayfarers, travellers who have a claim on the kindness of those at
home: hence Abd al-Rahman al-Burai sings in his famous Ode:—
He hath claim on the dwellers in the places of their birth,
Whoso wandereth the world, for he lacketh him a home.

It is given in my "First Footsteps in East Africa" (pp. 53-55).

46. The good old man treated the youth like a tired child.

47. In Moslem writings the dove and turtle-dove are mostly feminine,
whereas the female bird is always mute and only the male sings to
summon or to amuse his mate.

48. An unsavoury comparison of the classical Narcissus with the yellow
white of a nigger's eyes.

49. A tree whose coals burn with fierce heat: Al-Hariri (Vth Séance). This
Artemisia is like the tamarisk but a smaller growth and is held to be a
characteristic of the Arabian Desert. A Badawi always hails with
pleasure the first sight of the Ghazá, after he has sojourned for time
away from his wilds. Mr. Palgrave (i. 38) describes the "Ghadá" as an
Euphorbia with a woody stem often 5-6 feet high and slender flexible
green twigs (?), "forming a feathery tuft, not ungraceful to the eye,
while it affords some shelter to the traveller, and food to his camels."

50. Arab. Sal'am=S(alla) A(llah) a(layhi) wa S(allam); A(llah) b(less)
h(im) a(nd) k(eep)=Allah keep him and assain!

51. The ass is held to be ill-omened. I have noticed the braying
elsewhere. According to Mandeville the Devil did not enter the Ark
with the Ass, but he left it when Noah said "Benedicite." In his day
(A.D. 1322) and in that of Benjamin of Tudela, people had seen and
touched the ship on Ararat, the Judi (Gordiæi) mountains; and this
dates from Berosus (S.C. 250) who, of course, refers to the Ark of

Xisisthrus. See Josephus Ant. i. 3, 6; and Rodwell (Koran, pp. 65,
530).

52. As would happen at a "Zikr," rogation or litany. Those who wish to
see how much can be made of the subject will read "Pearls of the
Faith, or Islam's Rosary, being the ninety-nine beautiful names of
Allah" (Asmá-el-Husna) etc. by Edwin Arnold: London. Trübner,
1883.

53. i.e. the Sáki, cup-boy or cup-bearer. "Moon-faced," as I have shown
elsewhere, is no compliment in English, but it is in Persian and
Arabic.

54. He means we are "Záhirí," plain honest Moslems, not "Bátiní"
gnostics (ergò reprobates) and so forth, who disregard all appearances
and external ordinances. This suggests his opinion of Shaykh Ibrahim
and possibly refers to Ja'afar's suspected heresy.

55. This worthy will be noticed in a subsequent page.

56. Arab. "Lisám," the end of the "Kúfiyah," or head-kerchief passed
over the face under the eyes and made fast on the other side. This
mouth-veil serves as a mask (eyes not being recognisable) and
defends from heat, cold and thirst. I also believe that hooding the
eyes with this article, Badawi-fashion, produces a sensation of
coolness, at any rate a marked difference of apparent temperature;
somewhat like a pair of dark spectacles or looking at the sea from a
sandy shore. Pilgrimage i., 210 and 346. The woman's "Lisám" (chin-
veil) or Yashmak is noticed in i., 337.

57. Most characteristic is this familiarity between the greatest man then
in the world and his pauper subject. The fisherman alludes to a
practise of Al-Islam, instituted by Caliph Omar, that all rulers should
work at some handicraft in order to spare the public treasure. Hence
Sultan Mu'ayyad of Cairo was a calligrapher who sold his
handwriting, and his example was followed by the Turkish Sultans
Mahmúd, Abd al-Majíd and Abd al-Aziz. German royalties prefer
carpentering and Louis XVI. watch-making.

58. There would be nothing singular in this request. The democracy of
despotism levels all men outside the pale of politics and religion.

59. "Wa'lláhi tayyib!" an exclamation characteristic of the Egyptian
Moslem.

60. The pretended fisherman's name Karím=the Generous.

61. Such an act of generosity would appear to Europeans well-nigh
insanity, but it is quite in Arab manners. Witness the oft-quoted tale
of Hátim and his horse. As a rule the Arab is the reverse of generous,
contrasting badly, in this point, with his cousin the Jew: hence his
ideal of generosity is of the very highest. "The generous (i.e. liberal)
is Allah's friend, aye, though he be a sinner; and the miser is Allah's
foe, aye, though he be a saint!" Indian Moslems call a skin-flint
Makhi-chús=fly-sucker (Pilgrimage i. 242).

62. Arab. Ammá ba'ad (or Wa ba'ad), an initiatory formula attributed to
Koss ibn Sa'idat al-Iyadi, bishop of Najrán (the town in Al-Yaman
which D'Herbelot calls Negiran and a famous preacher in
Mohammed's day) hence "more eloquent than Koss" (Maydáni, Arab.
Prov., 189). He was the first who addressed letters with the incept,
"from A. to B."; and the first who preached from a pulpit and who
leant on a sword or a staff when discoursing. Many Moslems date
Ammá ba'ad from the Prophet David, relying upon a passage of the
Koran (xxxviii. 19).

63. Arab. "Nusf"=half (a dirham): vulgarly pronounced "nuss," and
synonymous with the Egypt. "Faddah" (=silver), the Greek Asper,
and the Turkish "paráh." It is the smallest Egyptian coin, made of
very base metal and, there being forty to the piastre, it is worth nearly
a quarter of a farthing.

64. The too literal Torrens and Lane make the Caliph give the gardener-
lad the clothes in which he was then clad, forgetting, like the author
or copier, that he wore the fishermen's lousy suit.

65. In sign of confusion, disappointment and so forth: not "biting his
nails," which is European and utterly un-Asiatic.

66. See lines like these in Night xiii. (i. 136); the sentiment is trite.

67. The Arab will still stand under his ruler's palace and shout aloud to
attract his attention. Sayyid Sa'id known as the "Imán of Muskat"
used to encourage the patriarchal practice. Mohammed repeatedly
protested against such unceremonious conduct (Koran xciv. 11, etc.).
The "three times of privacy" (Koran cv. 57) are before the dawn
prayer, during the Siesta (noon) and after the even-prayer.

68. The Judges of the four orthodox schools.

69. That none might see it or find it ever after.

70. Arab. "Khatt Sharif"=a royal autographical letter: the term is still
preserved in Turkey, but Europeans will write "Hatt."

71. Meaning "Little tom-cat"; a dim. of "Kitt" vulg. Kutt or Gutt.

72. Arab. "Matmúrah"—the Algerine "Matamor"—a "silo," made
familiar to England by the invention of "Ensilage."

73. The older "Mustapha"=Mohammed. This Intercession-doctrine is
fiercely disputed. Pilgrimage ii. 77. The Apostle of Al-Islam seems to
have been unable to make up his mind upon the subject: and modern
opinion amongst Moslems is apparently borrowed from the
Christians.

74. Lane (i. 486) curiously says, "The place of the stagnation of blood:"
yet he had translated the word aright in the Introduction (i. 41). I have
noticed that the Nat'a is made like the "Sufrah," of well-tanned
leather, with rings in the periphery, so that a thong passed through
turns it into a bag. The Sufrah used for provisions is usually yellow,
with a black border and small pouches for knives or spoons
(Pilgrimage i. 111).

75. This improbable detail shows the Caliph's greatness.

76. "Cousin" is here a term of familiarity, our "coz."

77. i.e. without allowing them a moment's delay to change clothes.

78. i.e. according to my nature, birth, blood, de race.

TALE OF GHANIM BIN AYYUB[79], THE
DISTRAUGHT,
THE THRALL O' LOVE.

It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that in times of yore and in years
and ages long gone before, there lived in Damascus a merchant among the
merchants, a wealthy man who had a son like the moon on the night of his
fullness[80] and withal sweet of speech, who was named Ghanim bin 'Ayyúb
surnamed the Distraught, the Thrall o' Love. He had also a daughter, own
sister to Ghanim, who was called Fitnah, a damsel unique in beauty and
loveliness. Their father died and left them abundant wealth,—And
Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.

Now when it was the Thirty-ninth Night,

She said, it hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the merchant left his
two children abundant wealth and amongst other things an hundred loads[81]
of silks and brocades, musk-pods and mother o' pearl; and there was written
on every bale, "This is of the packages intended for Baghdad," it having
been his purpose to make the journey thither, when Almighty Allah took
him to Himself, which was in the time of the Caliph Harun al-Rashid. After
a while his son took the loads and, bidding farewell to his mother and
kindred and townsfolk, went forth with a company of merchants, putting his
trust in Allah Almighty, who decreed him safety, so that he arrived without
let or stay at Baghdad. There he hired for himself a fair dwelling house
which he furnished with carpets and cushions, curtains and hangings; and
therein stored his bales and stabled his mules and camels, after which he
abode a while resting. Presently the merchants and notables of Baghdad

came and saluted him, after which he took a bundle containing ten pieces of
costly stuffs, with the prices written on them, and carried it to the
merchants' bazar, where they welcomed and saluted him and showed him
all honour; and, making him dismount from his beast, seated him in the
shop of the Syndic of the market, to whom he delivered the package. He
opened it and drawing out the pieces of stuff, sold them for him at a profit
of two dinars on every dinar of prime cost. At this Ghanim rejoiced and
kept selling his silks and stuffs one after another, and ceased not to do on
this wise for a full year. On the first day of the following year he went, as
was his wont, to the Exchange which was in the bazar, but found the gate
shut; and enquiring the reason was told, "One of the merchants is dead and
all the others have gone to follow his bier,[82] and why shouldst thou not win
the meed of good deeds by walking with them?"[83] He replied "Yes," and
asked for the quarter where the funeral was taking place, and one directed
him thereto. So he purified himself by the Wuzu-ablution[84] and repaired
with the other merchants to the oratory, where they prayed over the dead,
then walked before the bier to the burial-place, and Ghanim, who was a
bashful man, followed them being ashamed to leave them. They presently
issued from the city, and passed through the tombs until they reached the
grave where they found that the deceased's kith and kin had pitched a tent
over the tomb and had brought thither lamps and wax-candles. So they
buried the body and sat down while the readers read out and recited the
Koran over the grave; and Ghanim sat with them, being overcome with
bashfulness and saying to himself "I cannot well go away till they do." They
tarried listening to the Koranic perlection till nightfall, when the servants
set supper and sweetmeats[85] before them and they ate till they were
satisfied; then they washed their hands and again took their places. But
Ghanim's mind was preoccupied with his house and goods, being in fear of
robbers, and he said to himself, "I am a stranger here and supposed to have
money: if I pass the night abroad the thieves will steal my money-bags and
my bales to boot." So when he could no longer control his fear he arose and
left the assembly, having first asked leave to go about some urgent business;
and following the signs of the road he soon came to the city-gate. But it was
midnight and he found the doors locked and saw none going or coming nor
heard aught but the hounds baying and the wolves howling. At this he
exclaimed, "There is no Majesty and there is no Might save in Allah! I was
in fear for my property and came back on its account, but now I find the

gate shut and I am in mortal fear for my life!" Then he turned back and,
looking out for a place where he could sleep till morning, presently found a
Santon's tomb, a square of four walls with a date-tree in the central court
and a granite gateway. The door was wide open; so he entered and would
fain have slept, but sleep came not to him; and terror and a sense of
desolation oppressed him, for that he was alone amidst the tombs. So he
rose to his feet and, opening the door, looked out and lo! he was ware of a
light afar off in the direction of the city-gate; then walking a little way
towards it, he saw that it was on the road whereby he had reached the tomb.
This made him fear for his life, so he hastily shut the door and climbed to
the top of the date-tree where he hid himself in the heart of the fronds. The
light came nearer and nearer till it was close to the tomb; then it stopped
and he saw three slaves, two bearing a chest and one with a lanthorn, an
adze and a basket containing some mortar. When they reached the tomb,
one of those who were carrying the case said, "What aileth thee O Sawab?";
and said the other, "What is the matter O Kafur?"[86] Quoth he, "Were we
not here at supper-tide and did we not leave the door open?" "Yes," replied
the other, "that is true." "See," said Kafur, "now it is shut and barred." "How
weak are your wits!" cried the third who bore the adze and his name was
Bukhayt,[87] "know ye not that the owners of the gardens use to come out
from Baghdad and tend them and, when evening closes upon them, they
enter this place and shut the door, for fear lest the wicked blackmen, like
ourselves, should catch them and roast 'em and eat 'em."[88] "Thou sayest
sooth," said the two others, "but by Allah, however that may be, none
amongst us is weaker of wits than thou." "If ye do not believe me," said
Bukhayt, "let us enter the tomb and I will rouse the rat for you; for I doubt
not but that, when he saw the light and us making for the place, he ran up
the date-tree and hid there for fear of us." When Ghanim heard this, he said
in himself, "O curstest of slaves! May Allah not have thee in His holy
keeping for this thy craft and keenness of wit! There is no Majesty and there
is no Might save in Allah, the Glorious, the Great! How shall I win free of
these blackamoors?" Then said the two who bore the box to him of the
adze, "Swarm up the wall and open the gate for us, O Bukhayt, for we are
tired of carrying the chest on our necks; and when thou hast opened the gate
thou shalt have one of those we catch inside, a fine fat rat which we will fry
for thee after such excellent fashion that not a speck of his fat shall be lost."
But Bukhayt answered, "I am afraid of somewhat which my weak wits have

suggested to me: we should do better to throw the chest over the gateway;
for it is our treasure." "If we throw it 'twill break," replied they; and he said,
"I fear lest there be robbers within who murder folk and plunder their
goods, for evening is their time of entering such places and dividing their
spoil." "O thou weak o' wits," said both the bearers of the box, "how could
they ever get in here!"[89] Then they set down the chest and climbing over
the wall dropped inside and opened the gate, whilst the third slave (he that
was called Bukhayt) stood by them holding the adze, the lanthorn and the
hand-basket containing the mortar. After this they locked the gate and sat
down; and presently one of them said, "O my brethren, we are wearied with
walking and with lifting up and setting down the chest, and with unlocking
and locking the gate; and now 'tis midnight, and we have no breath left to
open, a tomb and bury the box: so let us rest here two or three hours, then
rise and do the job. Meanwhile each of us shall tell how he came to be
castrated and all that befel him from first to last, the better to pass away our
time while we take our rest." Thereupon the first, he of the lanthorn and
whose name was Bukhayt, said, "I'll tell you my tale." "Say on," replied
they; so he began as follows the

TALE OF THE FIRST EUNUCH BUKHAYT.

Know, O my brothers, that when I was a little one, some five years old, I
was taken home from my native country by a slave-driver who sold me to a
certain Apparitor.[90] My purchaser had a daughter three years old, with
whom I was brought up, and they used to make mock of me, letting me play
with her and dance for her[91] and sing to her, till I reached the age of twelve
and she that of ten; and even then they did not forbid me seeing her. One
day I went in to her and found her sitting in an inner room, and she looked
as if she had just come out of the bath which was in the house; for she was
scented with essences and reek of aromatic woods, and her face shone like
the circle of the moon on the fourteenth night. She began to sport with me,
and I with her. Now I had just reached the age of puberty; so my prickle
stood at point, as it were a huge key. Then she threw me on my back and,
mounting astraddle on my breast, fell a-wriggling and a-bucking upon me
till she had uncovered my yard. When she saw it standing with head erect,
she hent it in hand and began rubbing it upon the lips of her little slit[92]
outside her petticoat-trousers. Thereat hot lust stirred in me and I threw my
arms round her, while she wound hers about my neck and hugged me to her
with all her might, till, before I knew what I did, my pizzle split up her
trousers and entered her slit and did away her maidenhead. When I saw this,
I ran off and took refuge with one of my comrades. Presently her mother
came in to her; and, seeing her in this case, fainted clean away. However
she managed the matter advisedly and hid it from the girl's father out of
good will to me; nor did they cease to call to me and coax me, till they took
me from where I was. After two months had passed by, her mother married
her to a young man, a barber who used to shave her papa, and portioned and
fitted her out of her own monies; whilst the father knew nothing of what
had passed. On the night of consummation they cut the throat of a pigeon-
poult and sprinkled the blood on her shift.[93] After a while they seized me
unawares and gelded me; and, when they brought her to her bridegroom,
they made me her Agha,[94] her eunuch, to walk before her wheresoever she
went, whether to the bath or to her father's house. I abode with her a long
time enjoying her beauty and loveliness by way of kissing and clipping and
coupling with her,[95] till she died, and her husband and mother and father

died also; when they seized me for the Royal Treasury as being the property
of an intestate, and I found my way hither, where I became your comrade.
This, then, O my brethren, is the cause of my cullions being cut off; and
peace be with you! He ceased and his fellow began in these words the

TALE OF THE SECOND EUNUCH, KAFUR.
Know, O my brothers that, when beginning service as a boy of eight, I used
to tell the slave-dealers regularly and exactly one lie every year, so that they
fell out with one another, till at last my master lost patience with me and,
carrying me down to the market, ordered the brokers to cry, "Who will buy
this slave, knowing his blemish and making allowance for it?" He did so
and they asked him, "Pray, what may be his blemish?" and he answered,
"He telleth me one single lie every year." Now a man that was a merchant
came up and said to the broker, "How much do they allow for him with his
blemish?" "They allow six hundred dirhams," he replied; and said the other,
"Thou shalt have twenty dirhams for thyself." So he arranged between him
and the slave-dealer who took the coin from him and the broker carried me
to the merchant's house and departed, after receiving his brokerage. The
trader clothed me with suitable dress, and I stayed in his service the rest of
my twelvemonth, until the new year began happily. It was a blessed season,
plenteous in the produce of the earth, and the merchants used to feast every
day at the house of some one among them, till it was my master's turn to
entertain them in a flower-garden without the city. So he and the other
merchants went to the garden, taking with them all that they required of
provaunt and else beside, and sat eating and carousing and drinking till mid-
day, when my master, having need of some matter from his home, said to
me, "O slave, mount the she-mule and hie thee to the house and bring from
thy mistress such and such a thing and return quickly." I obeyed his bidding
and started for the house but, as I drew near it, I began to cry out and shed
tears, whereupon all the people of the quarter collected, great and small;
and my master's wife and daughters, hearing the noise I was making,
opened the door and asked me what was the matter. Said I, "My master was
sitting with his friends beneath an old wall, and it fell on one and all of
them; and when I saw what had happened to them, I mounted the mule and
came hither in haste to tell you." When my master's daughters and wife
heard this, they screamed and rent their raiment and beat their faces, whilst
the neighbours came around them. Then the wife overturned the furniture of
the house, one thing upon another, and tore down the shelves and broke the
windows and the lattices and smeared the walls with mud and indigo,

saying to me, "Woe to thee, O Kafur! come help me to tear down these
cupboards and break up these vessels and this chinaware,[96] and the rest of
it." So I went to her and aided her to smash all the shelves in the house with
whatever stood upon them, after which I went round about the terrace-roofs
and every part of the place, spoiling all I could and leaving no china in the
house unbroken till I had laid waste the whole, crying out the while "Well-
away! my master!" Then my mistress fared forth bare-faced wearing a
head-kerchief and naught else, and her daughters and the children sallied
out with her, and said to me, "O Kafur, go thou before us and show us the
place where thy master lieth dead, that we may take him from under the
fallen wall and lay him on a bier and bear him to the house and give him a
fine funeral." So I went forth before them crying out, "Alack, my master!";
and they after me with faces and heads bare and all shrieking, "Alas! Alas
for the man!" Now there remained none in the quarter, neither man nor
woman, nor epicene, nor youth nor maid, nor child nor old trot, but went
with us smiting their faces and weeping bitterly, and I led them leisurely
through the whole city. The folk asked them what was the matter,
whereupon they told them what they had heard from me, and all exclaimed,
"There is no Majesty and there is no Might save in Allah!" Then said one of
them, "He was a personage of consequence; so let us go to the Governor
and tell him what hath befallen him." When they told the Governor,——
And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted
say.

Now when it was the Fortieth Night,[97]

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when they told the
Governor, he rose and mounted and, taking with him labourers, with spades
and baskets, went on my track, with many people behind him; and I ran on
before them, howling and casting dust on my head and beating my face,
followed by my mistress and her children keening for the dead. But I got
ahead of them and entered the garden before them, and when my master
saw me in this state, I smiting my face and saying, "Well-away! my mistress
Alas! Alas! Alas! who is left to take pity on me, now that my mistress is
gone? Would I had been a sacrifice for her!", he stood aghast and his colour
waxed yellow and he said to me, "What aileth thee O Kafur! What is the

matter?" "O my lord," I replied, "when thou sentest me to the house, I found
that the saloon-wall had given way and had fallen like a layer upon my
mistress and her children!" "And did not thy mistress escape?" "No, by
Allah, O my master; not one of them was saved; the first to die was my
mistress, thine elder daughter!" "And did not my younger daughter
escape?"; "No, she did not!" "And what became of the mare-mule I use to
ride, is she safe?" "No, by Allah, O my master, the house-walls and the
stable-walls buried every living thing that was within doors, even to the
sheep and geese and poultry, so that they all became a heap of flesh and the
dogs and cats are eating them and not one of them is left alive." "And hath
not thy master, my elder son, escaped?" "No, by Allah! not one of them was
saved, and now there is naught left of house or household, nor even a sign
of them: and, as for the sheep and geese and hens, the cats and dogs have
devoured them." When my master heard this the light became night before
his sight; his wits were dazed and he so lost command of his senses that he
could not stand firm on his feet: he was as one struck with a sudden palsy
and his back was like to break. Then he rent his raiment and plucked out his
beard and, casting his turband from off his head, buffetted his face till the
blood ran down and he cried aloud, "Alas, my children! Alas, my wife!
Alas, my calamity! To whom ever befel that which hath befallen me?" The
merchants, his friends, also cried aloud at his crying and wept for his
weeping and tore their clothes, being moved to pity of his case; and so my
master went out of the garden, smiting his face with such violence that from
excess of pain he staggered like one drunken with wine. As he and the
merchants came forth from the garden-gate, behold, they saw a great cloud
of dust and heard a loud noise of crying and lamentation; so they looked
and lo! it was the Governor with his attendants and the townsfolk, a world
of people, who had come out to look on, and my master's family following
them, all screaming and crying aloud and weeping exceeding sore weeping.
The first to address my owner were his wife and children; and when he saw
them he was confounded and laughed[98] and said to them, "How is it with
all of you and what befel you in the house and what hath come to pass to
you?" When they saw him they exclaimed, "Praise be to Allah for thy
preservation!" and threw themselves upon him and his children hung about
him crying, "Alack, our father! Thanks to Allah for thy safety, O our
father!" And his wife said to him, "Art thou indeed well? Laud to Allah who
hath shown us thy face in safety!" And indeed she was confounded and her

reason fled when she saw him, and she asked, "O, my lord, how didst thou
escape, thou and thy friends the merchants?"; and he answered her, "And
how fared it with thee in the house?" Quoth they, "We were all well, whole
and healthy, nor hath aught of evil befallen us in the house, save that thy
slave Kafur came to us, bareheaded with torn garments and howling:—
Alas, the master! Alas the master! So we asked him:—What tidings, O
Kafur? and he answered:—A wall of the garden hath fallen on my master
and his friends the merchants, and they are all crushed and dead!" "By
Allah," said my master, "he came to me but now howling:—Alas, my
mistress! Alas, the children of the mistress!, and said:—My mistress and her
children are all dead, every one of them!" Then he looked round and seeing
me with my turband rent in rags round my neck, howling and weeping with
exceeding weeping and throwing dust upon my head, he cried out at me. So
I came to him and he said, "Woe to thee, O ill-omened slave! O whoreson
knave! O thou damned breed! What mischief thou hast wrought? By Allah!
I will flog thy skin from thy flesh and cut thy flesh from thy bones!" I
rejoined, "By Allah, thou canst do nothing of the kind with me, O my lord,
for thou boughtest me with my blemish; and there are honest men to bear
witness against thee that thou didst so accepting the condition, and that thou
knewest of my fault which is to tell one lie every year. Now this is only a
half-lie, but by the end of the year I will tell the other half, then will the lie
stand whole and complete." "O dog, son of a dog!", cried my master, "O
most accursed of slaves, is this all of it but a half-lie? Verily if it be a half-
lie 'tis a whole calamity! Get thee from me, thou art free in the face of
Allah!" "By Allah," rejoined I, "if thou free me, I will not free thee till my
year is completed and I have told thee the half-lie which is left. When this is
done, go down with me to the slave-market and sell me as thou boughtest
me to whoso will buy me with my blemish; but thou shalt not manumit me,
for I have no handicraft whereby to gain my living;[99] and this my demand
is a matter of law which the doctors have laid down in the Chapter of
Emancipation."[100] While we were at these words, up came the crowd of
people, and the neighbours of the quarter, men, women and children,
together with the Governor and his suite offering condolence. So my master
and the other merchants went up to him and informed him of the adventure,
and how this was but a half-lie, at which all wondered, deeming it a whole
lie and a big one. And they cursed me and reviled me, while I stood
laughing and grinning at them, till at last I asked, "How shall my master

slay me when he bought me with this my blemish?" Then my master
returned home and found his house in ruins, and it was I who had laid waste
the greater part of it,[101] having broken things which were worth much
money, as also had done his wife, who said to him, "'Twas Kafur who broke
the vessels and chinaware." Thereupon his rage redoubled and he struck
hand upon hand exclaiming, "By Allah! in my life never saw I a whoreson
like this slave; and he saith this is but a half-lie! How, then, if he had told
me a whole lie? He would ruin a city, aye or even two." Then in his fury he
went to the Governor, and they gave me a neat thing in the bastinado-line
and made me eat stick till I was lost to the world and a fainting-fit came on
me; and, whilst I was yet senseless, they brought the barber who docked me
and gelded me[102] and cauterised the wound. When I revived I found myself
a clean eunuch with nothing left, and my master said to me, "Even as thou
hast burned my heart for the things I held dearest, so have I burnt thy heart
for that of thy members whereby thou settest most store!" Then he took me
and sold me at a profit, for that I was become an eunuch. And I ceased not
bringing trouble upon all, wherever I was sold, and was shifted from lord to
lord and from notable to notable, being sold and being bought, till I entered
the palace of the Commander of the Faithful. But now my spirit is broken
and my tricks are gone from me, so—alas!—are my ballocks. When the two
slaves heard his history, they laughed at him and chaffed him and said,
"Truly thou art skite[103] and skite-son! Thou liedest an odious lie." Then
quoth they to the third slave, "Tell us thy tale." "O sons of my uncle," quoth
he, "all that ye have said is idle: I will tell you the cause of my losing my
testicles, and indeed I deserved to lose even more, for I futtered both my
mistress and my master's eldest son and heir: but my story is a long one and
this is not the time to tell it; for the dawn, O my cousins, draweth near and
if morning come upon us with this chest still unburied, we shall get into
sore disgrace and our lives will pay for it. So up with you and open the door
and, when we get back to the palace, I will tell you my story and the cause
of my losing my precious stones." Then he swarmed up and dropped down
from the wall inside and opened the door, so they entered and, setting down
the lantern, dug between four tombs a hole as long as the chest and of the
same breadth. Kafur plied the spade and Sawab removed the earth by
baskets-full till they reached the depth of the stature of a man;[104] when they
laid the chest in the hole and threw back the earth over it: then they went
forth and shutting the door disappeared from Ghanim's eyes. When all was

quiet and he felt sure that he was left alone in the place, his thought was
busied about what the chest contained and he said to himself, "Would that I
knew the contents of that box!" However, he waited till day broke, when
morning shone and showed her sheen: whereupon he came down from the
date-tree and scooped away the earth with his hands, till the box was laid
bare and disengaged from the ground. Then he took a large stone and
hammered at the lock till he broke it and, opening the lid, beheld a young
lady, a model of beauty and loveliness, clad in the richest of garments and
jewels of gold and such necklaces of precious stones that, were the Sultan's
country evened with them, it would not pay their price. She had been
drugged with Bhang, but her bosom, rising and falling, showed that her
breath had not departed. When Ghanim saw her, he knew that some one had
played her false and hocussed her; so he pulled her out of the chest and laid
her on the ground with her face upwards. As soon as she smelt the breeze
and the air entered her nostrils, mouth and lungs, she sneezed and choked
and coughed; when there fell from out her throat a pill of Cretan Bhang, had
an elephant smelt it he would have slept from night to night. Then she
opened her eyes and glancing around said, in sweet voice and gracious
words, "Woe to thee O wind! there is naught in thee to satisfy the thirsty,
nor aught to gratify one whose thirst is satisfied! Where is Zahr al-Bostan?"
But no one answered her, so she turned her and cried out, "Ho Sabíhah!
Shajarat al-Durr! Núr al-Hudá! Najmat al-Subh! be ye awake? Shahwah,
Nuzhah, Halwá, Zarífah, out on you, speak![105]" But no one answered; so
she looked all around and said, "Woe's me! have they entombed me in the
tombs? O Thou who knowest what man's thought enwombs and who givest
compensation on the Day of Doom, who can have brought me from amid
hanging screens and curtains veiling the Harím-rooms and set me down
between four tombs?" All this while Ghanim was standing by: then he said
to her, "O my lady, here are neither screened rooms nor palace-Haríms nor
yet tombs; only the slave henceforth devoted to thy love, Ghanim bin
Ayyub, sent to thee by the Omniscient One above, that all thy troubles He
may remove and win for thee every wish that doth behove!" Then he held
his peace. She was reassured by his words and cried, "I testify that there is
no god but the God, and I testify that Mohammed is the Apostle of God!";
then she turned to Ghanim and, placing her hands before her face, said to
him in the sweetest speech, "O blessed youth, who brought me hither? See,
I am now come to myself." "O my lady," he replied, "three slave-eunuchs

came here bearing this chest;" and related to her the whole of what had
befallen him, and how evening having closed upon him had proved the
cause of her preservation, otherwise she had died smothered.[106] Then he
asked her who she was and what was her story, and she answered, "O youth,
thanks be to Allah who hath cast me into the hands of the like of thee! But
now rise and put me back into the box; then fare forth upon the road and
hire the first camel-driver or muleteer thou findest to carry it to thy house.
When I am there, all will be well and I will tell thee my tale and acquaint
thee with my adventures, and great shall be thy gain by means of me." At
this he rejoiced and went outside the tomb. The day was now dazzling
bright and the firmament shone with light and the folk had begun to
circulate; so he hired a man with a mule and, bringing him to the tomb,
lifted the chest wherein he had put the damsel and set it on the mule. Her
love now engrossed his heart and he fared homeward with her rejoicing, for
that she was a girl worth ten thousand gold pieces and her raiment and
ornaments would fetch a mint of money. As soon as he arrived at his house
he carried in the chest and opening it——And Shahrazad perceived the
dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.

Now when it was the Forty-first Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when Ghanim son of
Ayyub arrived with the chest at his house, he opened it and took out the
young lady, who looked about her and, seeing that the place was handsome,
spread with carpets and dight with cheerful colours and other deckings; and
noting the stuffs up-piled and packed bales and other else than that, knew
that he was a substantial merchant and a man of much money. Thereupon
she uncovered her face and looked at him, and lo! he was a fair youth; so
when she saw him she loved him and said, "O my lord, bring us something
to eat." "On my head and mine eyes!" replied he; and, going down to the
bazar, bought a roasted lamb and a dish of sweetmeats and with these dry
fruits and wax-candles, besides wine and whatsoever was required of
drinking materials, not forgetting perfumes. With all this gear he returned to
the house; and when the damsel saw him she laughed and kissed him and
clasped his neck. Then she began caressing him, which made his love wax
hotter till it got the mastery of his heart. They ate and drank and each had

conceived the fondest affection; for indeed the two were one in age and one
in loveliness; and when night came on Ghanim bin Ayyub, the Distraught,
the Thrall of Love, rose and lit the wax candles and lamps till the place
blazed with light;[107] after which he produced the wine-service and spread
the table. Then both sat down again, he and she, and he kept filling and
giving her to drink, and she kept filling and giving him to drink, and they
played and toyed and laughed and recited verses; whilst their joy increased
and they clove in closer love each to each (glory be to the Uniter of
Hearts!). They ceased not to carouse after this fashion till near upon dawn
when drowsiness overcame them and they slept where they were, apart each
from other, till the morning.[108] Then Ghanim arose and going to the
market, bought all they required of meat and vegetables and wine and what
not, and brought them to the house; whereupon both sat down to eat and ate
their sufficiency, when he set on wine. They drank and each played with
each, till their cheeks flushed red and their eyes took a darker hue and
Ghanim's soul longed to kiss the girl and to lie with her and he said, "O my
lady, grant me one kiss of that dear mouth: perchance 'twill quench the fire
of my heart." "O Ghanim," replied she, "wait till I am drunk and dead to the
world; then steal a kiss of me, secretly and on such wise that I may not
know thou hast kissed me." Then she rose and taking off her upper dress sat
in a thin shift of fine linen and a silken head-kerchief.[109] At this passion
inflamed Ghanim and he said to her, "O my lady, wilt thou not vouchsafe
me what I asked of thee?" "By Allah," she replied, "that may not be thine,
for there is written upon my trouser-string[110] a hard word!" Thereupon
Ghanim's heart sank and desire grew on him as its object offered
difficulties; and he improvised these verses:—
I asked the author of mine ills ✿ To heal the wound with one sweet kiss:
No! No! she cried,[111] for ever no! ✿ But I, soft whispering, urged yes:
Quoth she, Then take it by my leave, ✿ When smiles shall pardon thine amiss:
By force, cried I? Nay, she replied ✿ With love and gladness eke I wis.
Now ask me not what next occurred ✿ Seek grace of God and whist of this!
Deem what thou wilt of us, for love ✿ By calumnies the sweeter is:
Nor after this care I one jot ✿ Whether my foe be known or not.

Then his affection increased and love-fires rose hotter in his heart, while
she refused herself to him saying, "Thou canst not possess me." They
ceased not to make love and enjoy their wine and wassail, whilst Ghanim
was drowned in the sea of love and longing; but she redoubled in coyness

and cruelty till the night brought on the darkness and let fall on them the
skirts of sleep. Thereupon Ghanim rose and lit the lamps and wax-candles,
and refreshed the room and removed the table; then he took her feet and
kissed them and, finding them like fresh cream, pressed his face[112] on them
and said to her, "O my lady, take pity on one thy love hath ta'en and thine
eyes hath slain; for indeed I were heart-whole but for thy bane!" And he
wept somewhat. "O my lord, and light of my eyes," quoth she, "by Allah, I
love thee in very sooth and I trust to thy truth, but I know that I may not be
thine." "And what is the obstacle?" asked he; when she answered, "To-night
I will tell thee my tale, that thou mayst accept my excuse." Then she threw
herself upon him and winding her arms like a necklace about his neck,
kissed him and caressed him and promised him her favours; and they
ceased not playing and laughing till love gat the firmest hold upon both
their hearts. And so it continued a whole month, both passing the night on a
single carpet-bed, but whenever he would enjoy her, she put him off; whilst
mutual love increased upon them and each could hardly abstain from other.
One night, as he lay by her side, and both were warm with wine, Ghanim
passed his hand over her breasts and stroked them; then he slipped it down
to her waist as far as her navel. She awoke and, sitting up, put her hand to
her trousers and finding them fast tied, once more fell asleep. Presently, he
again felt her and sliding his hand down to her trouser-string, began pulling
at it, whereupon she awoke and sat upright. Ghanim also sat up by her side
and she asked him, "What dost thou want?" "I want to lie with thee," he
answered, "and that we may deal openly and frankly with each other."
Quoth she, "I must now declare to thee my case, that thou mayst know my
quality; then will my secret be disclosed to thee and my excuse become
manifest to thee." Quoth he, "So be it!" Thereat she opened the skirt of her
shift and, taking up her trouser-string, said to him, "O my lord, read what is
worked on the flat of this string:" so he took it in hand, and saw these words
broidered on it in gold, "I AM THINE, AND THOU ART MINE, O
COUSIN OF THE APOSTLE!"[113] When he read this, he withdrew his
hand and said to her, "Tell me who thou art!" "So be it," answered she;
"know that I am one of the concubines of the Commander of the Faithful,
and my name is Kut al-Kulub—the Food of Hearts. I was brought up in his
palace and, when I grew to woman's estate, he looked on me and, noting
what share of beauty and loveliness the Creator had given me, loved me
with exceeding love, and assigned me a separate apartment, and gave me

ten slave-girls to wait on me and all these ornaments thou seest me wearing.
On a certain day he set out for one of his provinces, and the Lady Zubaydah
came to one of the slave-girls in my service and said to her:—I have
something to require of thee. What is it, O my lady? asked she and the
Caliph's wife answered:—When thy mistress Kut al-Kulub is asleep, put
this piece of Bhang into her nostrils or drop it into her drink, and thou shalt
have of me as much money as will satisfy thee. With love and gladness;
replied the girl and took the Bhang from her, being a glad woman because
of the money and because aforetime she had been one of Zubaydah's slaves.
So she put the Bhang in my drink, and when it was night I drank, and the
drug had no sooner settled in my stomach than I fell to the ground, my head
touching my feet, and knew naught of my life but that I was in another
world. When her device succeeded, she bade put me in this chest, and
secretly brought in the slaves and the doorkeepers and bribed them; and, on
the night when thou wast perched upon the date-tree, she sent the blacks to
do with me as thou sawest. So my delivery was at thy hands, and thou
broughtest me to this house and hast entreated me honourably and with thy
kindest. This is my story, and I wot not what is become of the Caliph during
my absence. Know then my condition and divulge not my case." When
Ghanim heard her words and knew that she was a concubine of the Caliph,
he drew back, for awe of the Caliphate beset him, and sat apart from her in
one of the corners of the place, blaming himself and brooding over his affair
and patiencing his heart bewildered for love of one he could not possess.
Then he wept for excess of longing, and plained him of Fortune and her
injuries, and the world and its enmities (and praise be to Him who causeth
generous hearts to be troubled with love and the beloved, and who
endoweth not the minds of the mean and miserly with so much of it as
eveneth a grain-weight!). So he began repeating:—
The lover's heart for his beloved must meet ✿ Sad pain, and from her charms bear sore defeat:
What is Loves taste? They asked and answered I, ✿ Sweet is the taste but ah! 'tis bitter-sweet.

Thereupon Kut al-Kulub arose and took him to her bosom and kissed him;
for the love of him was firm fixed in her heart, so that she disclosed to him
her secret and all the affection she felt; and, throwing her arms round
Ghanim's neck like a collar of pearls, kissed him again and yet again. But
he held off from her in awe of the Caliph. Then they talked together a long
while (and indeed both were drowned in the sea of their mutual love); and,

as the day broke, Ghanim rose and donned his clothes and going to the
bazar, as was his wont, took what the occasion required and returned home.
He found her weeping; but when she saw him she checked herself and,
smiling through her tears, said, "Thou hast desolated me, O beloved of my
heart. By Allah, this hour of absence hath been to me like a year![114] I have
explained to thee my condition in the excess of my eager love for thee; so
come now near me, and forget the past and have thy will of me." But he
interrupted her crying, "I seek refuge with Allah! This thing may never be.
How shall the dog sit in the lion's stead? What is the lord's is unlawful to
the slave!" So he withdrew from her, and sat down on a corner of the mat.
Her passion for him increased with his forbearance; so she seated herself by
his side and caroused and played with him, till the two were flushed with
wine, and she was mad for her own dishonour. Then she sang these verses:
—

The lover's heart is like to break in twain: ✿ Till when these coy denials ah! till when?
O thou who fliest me sans fault of mine, ✿ Gazelles are wont at times prove tame to men:
Absence, aversion, distance and disdain, ✿ How shall young lover all these ills sustain?

Thereupon Ghanim wept and she wept at his weeping, and they ceased not
drinking till nightfall, when he rose and spread two beds, each in its place.
"For whom is this second bed?" asked she, and he answered her, "One is for
me and the other is for thee: from this night forth we must not sleep save
thus, for that which is the lord's is unlawful to the thrall." "O my master!"
cried she, "let us have done with this, for all things come to pass by Fate
and Fortune." But he refused, and the fire was lighted in her heart and, as
her longing waxed fiercer, she clung to him and cried, "By Allah, we will
not sleep save side by side!" "Allah forefend!" he replied and prevailed
against her and lay apart till the morning, when love and longing redoubled
on her and distraction and eager thirst of passion. They abode after this
fashion three full-told months, which were long and longsome indeed, and
every time she made advances to him, he would refuse himself and say,
"Whatever belongeth to the master is unlawful to the man." Now when time
waxed tiresome and tedious to her and anguish and distress grew on her, she
burst out from her oppressed heart with these verses:—
How long, rare beauty! wilt do wrong to me? ✿ Who was it bade thee not belong to me?
With outer charms thou weddest inner grace ✿ Comprising every point of piquancy:
Passion thou hast infused in every heart, ✿ From eyelids driven sleep by deputy:
Erst was (I wot) the spray made thin of leaf ✿ O Cassia-spray! Unlief thy sin I see:[115]
The hart erst hunted I: how is't I spy ✿ The hunter hunted (fair my hart!) by thee?
Wondrouser still I tell thee aye that I ✿ Am trapped while never up to trap thou be!
Ne'er grant my prayer! For if I grudge thyself ✿ To thee, I grudge my me more jealously;
And cry so long as life belong to me, ✿ Rare beauty how, how long this wrong to me?

They abode in this state a long time, and fear kept Ghanim aloof from her.
So far concerning these two; but as regards the Lady Zubaydah, when, in
the Caliph's absence she had done this deed by Kut al-Kulub she became
perplexed, saying to herself, "What shall I tell my cousin when he comes
back and asks for her? What possible answer can I make to him?" Then she
called an old woman, who was about her and discovered her secret to her
saying, "How shall I act seeing that Kut al-Kulub died by such untimely
death?" "O my lady," quoth the old crone, "the time of the Caliph's return is
near; so do thou send for a carpenter and bid him make thee a figure of
wood in the form of a corpse. We will dig a grave for it midmost the palace
and there bury it: then do thou build an oratory over it and set therein
lighted candles and lamps, and order each and every in the palace to be clad
in black.[116] Furthermore command thy handmaids and eunuchs as soon as

they know of the Caliph's returning from his journey, to spread straw over
the vestibule-floors and, when the Commander of the Faithful enters and
asks what is the matter, let them say:—Kut al-Kulub is dead, and may Allah
abundantly compensate thee for the loss of her![117]; and, for the high esteem
in which she was held of our mistress, she hath buried her in her own
palace. When he hears this he will weep and it shall be grievous to him;
then will he cause perlections of the Koran to be made for her and he will
watch by night at her tomb. Should he say to himself:—Verily Zubaydah,
the daughter of my uncle, hath compassed in her jealousy the death of Kut
al-Kulub; or, if love-longing overcome him and he bid her be taken out of
her tomb, fear thou not; for when they dig down and come to the image in
human shape he will see it shrouded in costly grave-clothes; and, if he wish
to take off the winding-sheet that he may look upon her, do thou forbid him
or let some other forbid him, saying:—The sight of her nakedness is
unlawful. The fear of the world to come will restrain him and he will
believe that she is dead and will restore the figure to its place and thank thee
for thy doings; and thus thou shalt escape, please Almighty Allah, from this
slough of despond." When the Lady Zubaydah heard her words, she
commended the counsel and gave her a dress of honour and a large sum of
money, ordering her to do all she had said. So the old woman set about the
business forthright and bade the carpenter make her the aforesaid image;
and, as soon as it was finished, she brought it to the lady Zubaydah, who
shrouded it and buried it and built a sepulchre over it, wherein they lighted
candles and lamps, and laid down carpets about the tomb. Moreover she put
on black and she spread abroad in the Harim that Kut al-Kulub was dead.
After a time the Caliph returned from his journey and went up to the palace,
thinking only of Kut al-Kulub. He saw all the pages and eunuchs and
handmaids habited in black, at which his heart fluttered with extreme fear;
and, when he went in to the Lady Zubaydah, he found her also garbed in
black. So he asked the cause of this and they gave him tidings of the death
of Kut al-Kulub, whereon he fell a-swooning. As soon as he came to
himself, he asked for her tomb, and the Lady Zubaydah said to him, "Know,
O Prince of the Faithful, that for especial honour I have buried her in my
own palace." Then he repaired in his travelling-garb[118] to the tomb that he
might wail over her, and found the carpets spread and the candles and lamps
lighted. When he saw this, he thanked Zubaydah for her good deed and
abode perplexed, halting between belief and unbelief till at last suspicion

overcame him and he gave order to open the grave and take out the body.
When he saw the shroud and would have removed it to look upon her, the
fear of Allah Almighty restrained him, and the old woman (taking
advantage of the delay) said, "Restore her to her place." Then he sent at
once for Fakirs and Koran-readers, and caused perlections to be made over
her tomb and sat by the side of the grave, weeping till he fainted; and he
continued to frequent the tomb and sit there for a whole month,——And
Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.

Now when it was the Forty-second Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Caliph ceased not
to frequent the tomb for the period of a whole month, at the end of which
time it so happened one day that he entered the Serraglio, after dismissing
the Emirs and Wazirs, and lay down and slept awhile; and there sat at his
head a slave-girl fanning him, and at his feet a second rubbing and
shampooing them. Presently he awoke and, opening his eyes, shut them
again and heard the handmaid at his head saying to her who was at his feet,
"A nice business this, O Khayzarán!" and the other answered her "Well, O
Kazíb al-Bán?"[119] "Verily" said the first, "our lord knoweth naught of what
hath happened and sitteth waking and watching by a tomb wherein is only a
log of wood carved by the carpenter's art." "And Kut al-Kulub," quoth the
other, "what hath befallen her?" She replied, "Know that the Lady
Zubaydah sent a pellet of Bhang by one of the slave-women who was
bribed to drug her; and when sleep overpowered her she let put her in a
chest, and ordered Sawab and Kafur and Bukhayt to throw her amongst the
tombs." "What dost thou say, O Kazíb al-Bán;" asked Khayzarán, "is not the
lady Kut al-Kulub dead?" "Nay, by Allah!" she answered "and long may her
youth be saved from death! but I have heard the Lady Zubaydah say that
she is in the house of a young merchant named Ghanim bin Ayyub of
Damascus, hight the Distraught, the Thrall o' Love; and she hath been with
him these four months, whilst our lord is weeping and watching by night at
a tomb wherein is no corpse." They kept on talking this sort of talk, and the
Caliph gave ear to their words; and, by the time they had ceased speaking,
he knew right well that the tomb was a feint and a fraud, and that Kut al-
Kulub had been in Ghanim's house for four months. Whereupon he was

angered with exceeding anger and rising up, he summoned the Emirs of his
state; and his Wazir Ja'afar the Barmaki came also and kissed the ground
between his hands. The Caliph said to him in fury; "Go down, O Ja'afar,
with a party of armed men and ask for the house of Ghanim son of Ayyub:
fall upon it and spoil it and bring him to me with my slave-girl, Kut al-
Kulub, for there is no help but that I punish him!" "To hear is to obey," said
Ja'afar; and setting out with the Governor and the guards and a world of
people, repaired to Ghanim's house. Now about that time the youth
happened to have brought back a pot of dressed meat and was about to put
forth his hand to eat of it, he and Kut al-Kulub, when the lady, happening to
look out saw calamity surrounding the house on every side; for the Wazir
and the Governor, the night-guard and the Mamelukes with swords drawn
had girt it as the white of the eye girdeth the black. At this she knew that
tidings of her had reached the Caliph, her lord; and she made sure of ruin,
and her colour paled and her fair features changed and her favour faded.
Then she turned to Ghanim and said to him, "O my love? fly for thy life!"
"What shall I do," asked he, "and whither shall I go, seeing that my money
and means of maintenance are all in this house?"; and she answered, "Delay
not lest thou be slain and lose life as well as wealth." "O my loved one and
light of mine eyes!" he cried, "How shall I do to get away when they have
surrounded the house?" Quoth she, "Fear not;" and, stripping off his fine
clothes, dressed him in ragged old garments, after which she took the pot
and, putting in it bits of broken bread and a saucer of meat,[120] placed the
whole in a basket and setting it upon his head said, "Go out in this guise and
fear not for me who wotteth right well what thing is in my hand for the
Caliph."[121] So he went out amongst them, bearing the basket with its
contents, and the Protector vouchsafed him His protection and he escaped
the snares and perils that beset him, by the blessing of his good conscience
and pure conduct. Meanwhile Ja'afar dismounted and entering the house,
saw Kut al-Kulub who had dressed and decked herself in splendid raiments
and ornaments and filled a chest with gold and jewellery and precious
stones and rarities and what else was light to bear and of value rare. When
she saw Ja'afar come in, she rose and, kissing the ground before him, said,
"O my lord, the Reed hath written of old the rede which Allah decreed!"[122]
"By Allah, O my lady," answered Ja'afar, "he gave me an order to seize
Ghanim son of Ayyub;" and she rejoined, "O my lord, he made ready his
goods and set out therewith for Damascus and I know nothing more of him;

but I desire thee take charge of this chest and deliver it to me in the Harim
of the Prince of the Faithful." "Hearing and obedience," said Ja'afar, and
bade his men bear it away to the head-quarters of the Caliphate together
with Kut al-Kulub, commanding them to entreat her with honour as one in
high esteem. They did his bidding after they had wrecked and plundered
Ghanim's house. Then Ja'afar went in to the Caliph and told him all that had
happened, and he ordered Kut al-Kulub to be lodged in a dark chamber and
appointed an old woman to serve her, feeling convinced that Ghanim had
debauched her and slept with her. Then he wrote a mandate to the Emir
Mohammed bin Sulayman al-Zayni, his viceroy in Damascus, to this effect:
—"The instant thou shalt receive this our letter, seize upon Ghanim bin
Ayyub and send him to us." When the missive came to the viceroy, he
kissed it and laid it on his head; then he let proclaim in the bazars, "Whoso
is desirous to plunder, away with him to the house of Ghanim son of
Ayyub."[123] So they flocked thither, when they found that Ghanim's mother
and sister had built him a tomb[124] in the midst of the house and sat by it
weeping for him; whereupon they seized the two without telling them the
cause and, after spoiling the house, carried them before the viceroy. He
questioned them concerning Ghanim and both replied, "For a year or more
we have had no news of him." So they restored them to their place. Thus far
concerning them; but as regards Ghanim, when he saw his wealth spoiled
and his ruin utterest he wept over himself till his heart well-nigh brake.
Then he fared on at random till the last of the day, and hunger grew hard on
him and walking wearied him. So coming to a village he entered a
mosque[125] where he sat down upon a mat and propped his back against the
wall; but presently he sank to the ground in his extremity of famine and
fatigue. There he lay till dawn, his heart fluttering for want of food; and,
owing to his sweating, the lice[126] coursed over his skin; his breath waxed
fetid and his whole condition was changed. When the villagers came to pray
the dawn-prayer, they found him prostrate, ailing, hunger-lean, yet showing
evident signs of former affluence. As soon as prayers were over, they drew
near him; and, understanding that he was starved with hunger and cold, they
gave him an old robe with ragged sleeves and said to him, "O stranger,
whence art thou and what sickness is upon thee?" He opened his eyes and
wept but returned no answer; whereupon one of them, who saw that he was
starving, brought him a saucer of honey and two barley scones. He ate a
little and they sat with him till sun-rise, when they went to their work. He

abode with them in this state for a month, whilst sickness and weakliness
grew upon him; and they wept for him and, pitying his condition, took
counsel with one another upon his case and agreed to forward him to the
hospital in Baghdad.[127] Meanwhile behold, two beggar-women, who were
none other than Ghanim's mother and sister,[128] came into the mosque and,
when he saw them, he gave them the bread that was at his head; and they
slept by his side that night but he knew them not. Next day the villagers
brought a camel and said to the cameleer, "Set this sick man on thy beast
and carry him to Baghdad and put him down at the Spital-door; so haply he
may be medicined and be healed and thou shalt have thy hire."[129] "To hear
is to comply," said the man. So they brought Ghanim, who was asleep, out
of the mosque and set him, mat and all, on the camel; and his mother and
sister came out among the crowd to gaze upon him, but they knew him not.
However, after looking at him and considering him carefully they said, "Of
a truth he favours our Ghanim, poor boy!; can this sick man be he?"
Presently, he woke and finding himself bound with ropes on a camel's back,
he began to weep and complain,[130] and the village-people saw his mother
and sister weeping over him, albeit they knew him not. Then they fared
forth for Baghdad, but the camel-man forewent them and, setting Ghanim
down at the Spital-gate, went away with his beast. The sick man lay there
till dawn and, when the folk began to go about the streets, they saw him and
stood gazing on him, for he had become as thin as a toothpick, till the
Syndic of the bazar came up and drove them away from him, saying, "I will
gain Paradise through this poor creature; for if they take him into the
Hospital, they will kill him in a single day."[131] Then he made his young
men carry him to his house, where they spread him a new bed with a new
pillow,[132] and he said to his wife, "Tend him carefully;" and she replied,
"Good! on my head be it!" Thereupon she tucked up her sleeves and
warming some water, washed his hands, feet and body; after which she
clothed him in a robe belonging to one of her slave-girls and made him
drink a cup of wine and sprinkled rose-water over him. So he revived and
complained, and the thought of his beloved Kut al-Kulub made his grief
redouble. Thus far concerning him; but as regards Kut al-Kulub, when the
Caliph was angered against her,——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of
day and ceased to say her permitted say.

Now when it was the Forty-third Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the Caliph was
angered against Kut al-Kulub, he ordered her to a dark chamber where she
abode eighty days, at the end of which the Caliph, happening to pass on a
certain day the place where she was, heard her repeating poetry, and after
she ceased reciting her verse, saying, "O my darling, O my Ghanim! how
great is thy goodness and how chaste is thy nature! thou didst well by one
who did ill by thee and thou guardedst his honour who garred thine become
dishonour, and his Harim thou didst protect who to enslave thee and thine
did elect! But thou shalt surely stand, thou and the Commander of the
Faithful, before the Just Judge, and thou shalt be justified of him on the Day
when the Lord (to whom be honour and glory!) shall be Kazi and the
Angels of Heaven shall be witnesses!" When the Caliph heard her
complaint, he knew that she had been wronged and, returning to the palace,
sent Masrur the Eunuch for her. She came before him with bowed head and
eyes tearful and heart sorrowful; and he said to her, "O Kut al-Kulub, I find
thou accusest me of tyranny and oppression, and thou avouchest that I have
done ill by one who did well by me. Who is this who hath guarded my
honour while I garred his become dishonour? Who protected my Harim and
whose Harim I wrecked?" "He is Ghanim son of Ayyub," replied she, "for
he never approached me in wantonness or with lewd intent, I swear by thy
munificence, O Commander of the Faithful!" Then said the Caliph, "There
is no Majesty and there is no Might save in Allah! Ask what thou wilt of
me, O Kut al-Kulub." "O Prince of the Faithful!", answered she, "I require
of thee only my beloved Ghanim son of Ayyub." He did as she desired,
whereupon she said, "O Lord of the Moslems, if I bring him to thy
presence, wilt thou bestow me on him?"; and he replied, "If he come into
my presence, I will give thee to him as the gift of the generous who
revoketh not his largesse." "O Prince of True Believers," quoth she, "suffer
me to go and seek him; haply Allah may unite me with him:" and quoth he,
"Do even as thou wilt." So she rejoiced and, taking with her a thousand
dinars in gold, went out and visited the elders of the various faiths and gave
alms in Ghanim's name.[133] Next day she walked to the merchants' bazar
and disclosed her object to the Syndic and gave him money, saying,
"Bestow this in charity to the stranger!" On the following Friday she fared
to the bazar (with other thousand dinars) and, entering the goldsmiths' and

jewellers' market-street, called the Chief and presented to him a thousand
dinars with these words, "Bestow this in charity to the stranger!" The Chief
looked at her (and he was the Syndic who had taken in Ghanim) and said,
"O my lady, wilt thou come to my house and look upon a youth, a stranger I
have there and see how goodly and graceful he is?" Now the stranger was
Ghanim, son of Ayyub, but the Chief had no knowledge of him and thought
him to be some wandering pauper, some debtor whose wealth had been
taken from him, or some lover parted from his beloved. When she heard his
words her heart fluttered[134] and her vitals yearned, and she said to him,
"Send with me one who shall guide me to thy house." So he sent a little lad
who brought her to the house wherein was the head man's stranger-guest
and she thanked him for this. When she reached the house, she went in and
saluted the Syndic's wife, who rose and kissed the ground between her
hands, for she knew her. Then quoth Kut al-Kulub, "Where is the sick man
who is with thee?" She wept and replied, "Here is he, O my lady; by Allah,
he is come of good folk and he beareth the signs of gentle breeding: you see
him lying on yonder bed." So she turned and looked at him: and she saw
something like him, but he was worn and wasted till he had become lean as
a toothpick, so his identity was doubtful to her and she could not be certain
that it was he. Yet pity for him possessed her and she wept saying, "Verily
the stranger is unhappy, even though he be a prince in his own land!"; and
his case was grievous to her and her heart ached for him, yet she knew him
not to be Ghanim. Then she furnished him with wine and medicines and she
sat awhile by his head, after which she mounted and returned to her palace
and continued to visit every bazar in quest of her lover. Meanwhile
Ghanim's mother and sister Fitnah arrived at Baghdad and met the Syndic,
who carried them to Kut al-Kulub and said to her, "O Princess of beneficent
ladies, there came to our city this day a woman and her daughter, who are
fair of favour and signs of good breeding and dignity are apparent in them,
though they be dressed in hair-cloth and have each one a wallet hanging to
her neck; and their eyes are tearful and their hearts are sorrowful. So I have
brought them to thee that thou mayst give them refuge, and rescue them
from beggary, for they are not of asker-folk and, if it please Allah, we shall
enter Paradise through them." "By Allah, O my master," cried she, "thou
makest me long to see them! Where are they?", adding, "Here with them to
me!" So he bade the eunuch bring them in; and, when she looked on them
and saw that they were both of distinguished beauty, she wept for them and

said, "By Allah, these are people of condition and show plain signs of
former opulence." "O my lady," said the Syndic's wife, "we love the poor
and the destitute, more especially as reward in Heaven will recompense our
love; and, as for these persons, haply the oppressor hath dealt hardly with
them and hath plundered their property and harried their houses." Then
Ghanim's mother and sister wept with sore weeping, remembering their
former prosperity and contrasting it with their present poverty and
miserable condition; and their thoughts dwelt upon son and brother, whilst
Kut al-Kulub wept for their weeping; and they said, "We beseech Allah to
reunite us with him whom we desire, and he is none other but my son
named Ghanim bin Ayyub!" When Kut al-Kulub heard this, she knew them
to be the mother and sister of her lover and wept till a swoon came over her.
When she revived she turned to them and said, "Have no fear and sorrow
not, for this day is the first of your prosperity and the last of your
adversity!" ——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased
saying her permitted say.

Now when it was the Forty-fourth Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when Kut al-Kulub
had consoled them she bade the Syndic lead them to his house and let his
wife carry them to the Hamman and dress them in handsome clothes and
take care of them and honour them with all honour; and she gave him a
sufficient sum of money. Next day, she mounted and, riding to his house,
went in to his wife who rose up and kissed her hands and thanked her for
her kindness. There she saw Ghanim's mother and sister whom the Syndic's
wife had taken to the Hammam and clothed afresh, so that the traces of their
former condition became manifest upon them. She sat talking with them
awhile, after which she asked the wife about the sick youth who was in her
house and she replied, "He is in the same state." Then said Kut al-Kulub,
"Come, let us go and visit him." So she arose, she and the Chief's wife and
Ghanim's mother and sister, and went in to the room where he lay and sat
down near him. Presently Ghanim bin Ayyub, the Distraught, the Thrall o'
Love, heard them mention the name of Kut al-Kulub; whereupon life
returned to him, emaciated and withered as he was, and he raised his head
from the pillow and cried aloud, "O Kut al-Kulub!" She looked at him and

made certain it was he and shrieked rather than said, "Yes, O my beloved!"
"Draw near to me;" said he, and she replied, "Surely thou art Ghanim bin
Ayyub?"; and he rejoined "I am indeed!" Hereupon a swoon came upon her;
and, as soon as Ghanim's mother and his sister Fitnah heard these words,
both cried out "O our joy!" and fainted clean away. When they all
recovered, Kut al-Kulub exclaimed, "Praise be to Allah who hath brought
us together again and who hath reunited thee with thy mother and thy
sister!" And she related to him all that had befallen her with the Caliph and
said, "I have made known the truth to the Commander of the Faithful, who
believed my words and was pleased with thee; and now he desireth to see
thee," adding, "He hath given me to thee." Thereat he rejoiced with extreme
joy, when she said, "Quit not this place till I come back" and, rising
forthwith, betook herself to her palace. There she opened the chest which
she had brought from Ghanim's house and, taking out some of the dinars,
gave them to the Syndic saying, "Buy with this money for each of them
four complete suits of the finest stuffs and twenty kerchiefs, and else beside
of whatsoever they require;" after which she carried all three to the baths
and had them washed and bathed and made ready for them consommés, and
galangale-water and cider against their coming out. When they left the
Hammam, they put on the new clothes, and she abode with them three days
feeding them with chicken meats and bouillis, and making them drink
sherbet of sugar candy. After three days their spirits returned; and she
carried them again to the baths, and when they came out and had changed
their raiment, she led them back to the Syndic's house and left them there,
whilst she returned to the palace and craved permission to see the Caliph.
When he ordered her to come in, she entered and, kissing the ground
between his hands, told him the whole story and how her lord, Ghanim bin
Ayyub, yclept the Distraught, the Thrall o' Love, and his mother and sister
were now in Baghdad. When the Caliph heard this, he turned to the eunuchs
and said, "Here with Ghanim to me." So Ja'afar went to fetch him; but Kut
al-Kulub forewent him and told Ghanim, "The Caliph hath sent to fetch
thee before him," and charged him to show readiness of tongue and
firmness of heart and sweetness of speech. Then she robed him in a
sumptuous dress and gave him dinars in plenty, saying, "Be lavish of
largesse to the Caliph's household as thou goest in to him." Presently
Ja'afar, mounted on his Nubian mule, came to fetch him; and Ghanim
advanced to welcome the Wazir and, wishing him long life, kissed the

ground before him. Now the star of his good fortune had risen and shone
brightly; and Ja'afar took him; and they ceased not faring together, he and
the Minister, till they went in to the Commander of the Faithful. When he
stood in the presence, he looked at the Wazirs and Emirs and Chamberlains,
and Viceroys and Grandees and Captains, and then at the Caliph. Hereupon
he sweetened his speech and his eloquence and, bowing his head to the
ground, broke out in these extempore couplets:—
May that Monarch's life span a mighty span, ✿ Whose lavish of largesse all lieges scan:
None other but he shall be Kaysar hight, ✿ Lord of lordly hall and of haught Divan:
Kings lay their gems on his threshold-dust ✿ As they bow and salam to the mighty man;
And his glances foil them and all recoil, ✿ Bowing beards aground and with faces wan:
Yet they gain the profit of royal grace, ✿ The rank and station of high soldan.
Earth's plain is scant for thy world of men, ✿ Camp there in Kaywán's[135] Empyrean!
May the King of Kings ever hold thee dear; ✿ Be counsel thine and right steadfast plan,
Till thy justice spread o'er the wide-spread earth ✿ And the near and the far be of equal worth.

When he ended his improvisation the Caliph was pleased by it and
marvelled at the eloquence of his tongue and the sweetness of his speech,
——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her
permitted say.

Now when it was the Forty-fifth Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Caliph, after
marvelling at his eloquence of tongue and sweetness of speech, said to him,
"Draw near to me." So he drew near and quoth the King, "Tell me thy tale
and declare to me thy case." So Ghanim sat down and related to him what
had befallen him in Baghdad, of his sleeping in the tomb and of his opening
the chest after the three slaves had departed, and informed him, in short, of
everything that had happened to him from commencement to conclusion—
none of which we will repeat for interest fails in twice told tales. The Caliph
was convinced that he was a true man; so he invested him with a dress of
honour, and placed him near himself in token of favour, and said to him,
"Acquit me of the responsibility I have incurred."[136] And Ghanim so did,
saying, "O our lord the Sultan, of a truth thy slave and all things his two
hands own are his master's." The Caliph was pleased at this and gave orders
to set apart a palace for him and assigned to him pay and allowances,

rations and donations, which amounted to something immense. So he
removed thither with sister and mother; after which the Caliph, hearing that
his sister Fitnah was in beauty a very "fitnah,"[137] a mere seduction,
demanded her in marriage of Ghanim who replied, "She is thy handmaid as
I am thy slave." The Caliph thanked him and gave him an hundred thousand
dinars, then summoned the witnesses and the Kazi, and on one and the same
day they wrote out the two contracts of marriage between the Caliph and
Fitnah and between Ghanim bin Ayyub and Kut al-Kulub; and the two
marriages were consummated on one and the same night. When it was
morning, the Caliph gave orders to record the history of what had befallen
Ghanim from first to last and to deposit it in the royal muniment-rooms,
that those who came after him might read it and marvel at the dealings of
Destiny and put their trust in Him who created the night and the day. Yet, O
auspicious King, this story to which thou hast deigned give ear is on no
wise more wondrous than the

79. Our "Job." The English translators of the Bible, who borrowed
Luther's system of transliteration (of A.D. 1522), transferred into
English the German "j" which has the sound of "i" or "y"; intending
us to pronounce Yacob (or Yakob), Yericho, Yimnites, Yob (or Hiob)
and Yudah. Tyndall who copied Luther (A.D. 1525-26), preserved the
true sound by writing Iacob, Ben Iamin and Iudas. But his successors
unfortunately returned to the German; the initial I having from the
xiii. century been ornamentally lengthened and bent leftwards
became a consonant; the public adopted the vernacular sound of "j"
(dg) and hence our language and our literature are disgraced by such
barbarisms as "Jehovah" and "Jesus"—Dgehovah and Dgeesus for
Yehovah and Yesus. Future generations of school-teachers may
remedy the evil; meanwhile we are doomed for the rest of our days to
hear
Gee-rusalem! Gee-rusalem! etc.

Nor is there one word to be said in favour of the corruption except
that, like the Protestant mispronunciation of Latin and the Erasmian
ill-articulation of Greek, it has become "English," and has lent its
little aid in dividing the Britons from the rest of the civilised world.

80. The moon, I repeat, is masculine in the so-called "Semitic" tongues.

81. i.e. camel-loads about lbs. 300; and for long journeys lbs. 250.

82. Arab. "Janázah," so called only when carrying a corpse; else Na'ash,
Sarír or Tábút: Irán being the large hearse on which chiefs are borne.
It is made of plank or stick-work; but there are several varieties
(Lane, M. E. chapt. xxviii).

83. It is meritorious to accompany the funeral cortège of a Moslem even
for a few paces.

84. Otherwise he could not have joined in the prayers.

85. Arab. "Halwá" made of sugar, cream, almonds, etc. That of Maskat is
famous throughout the East.

86. i.e. "Camphor" to a negro as we say "Snowball," by the figure
antiphrase.

87. "Little Good Luck," a dim. form of "bakht"=luck, a Persian word
naturalized in Egypt.

88. There are, as I have shown, not a few cannibal tribes in Central Africa
and these at times find their way into the slave market.

89. i.e. After we bar the door.

90. Arab. "Jáwísh" from Turk. Cháwúsh, Chiaoosh, a sergeant,
poursuivant, royal messenger. I would suggest that this is the word
"Shálish" or "Jálish" in Al-Siyúti's History of the Caliphs (p. 501)
translated by Carlyle "milites," by Schultens "Sagittarius" and by
Jarett "picked troops."

91. This familiarity with blackamoor slave-boys is common in Egypt and
often ends as in the story: Egyptian blood is sufficiently mixed with
negro to breed inclination for miscegenation. But here the girl was
wickedly neglected by her mother at such an age as ten.

92. Arab. "Farj"; hence a facetious designation of the other sex is
"Zawi'l-furuj" (grammatically Zawátu'l-furúj)=habentes rimam, slit
ones.

93. This ancient and venerable practice of inspecting the marriage-sheet
is still religiously preserved in most parts of the East; and in old-
fashioned Moslem families it is publicly exposed in the Harem to
prove that the "domestic calamity" (the daughter) went to her
husband a clean maid. Also the general idea is that no blood will
impose upon the experts, or jury of matrons, except that of a pigeon-
poult which exactly resembles hymeneal blood—when not subjected
to the microscope. This belief is universal in Southern Europe and I
have heard of it in England. Further details will be given in Night
ccxi.

94. "Agha" Turk.=sir, gentleman, is, I have said, politely addressed to a
eunuch.

95. As Bukhayt tells us he lost only his testes, consequently his erectio et
distensio penis was as that of a boy before puberty and it would last
as long as his heart and circulation kept sound. Hence the eunuch
who preserves his penis is much prized in the Zenanah where some
women prefer him to the entire man, on account of his long
performance of the deed of kind. Of this more in a future page.

96. It is or rather was the custom in Egypt and Syria to range long rows
of fine China bowls along the shelves running round the rooms at the
height of six or seven feet, and they formed a magnificent cornice. I
bought many of them at Damascus till the people, learning their
value, asked prohibitive prices.

97. The tale is interesting as well as amusing, excellently describing the
extravagances still practised in middle-class Moslem families on the
death of the pater familias. I must again note that Arab women are
much more unwilling to expose the back of the head covered by the
"Tarhah" (head-veil) than the face, which is hidden by the "Burka" or
nose-bag.

98. The usual hysterical laughter of this nervous race.

99. Here the slave refuses to be set free and starve. For a master so to do
without ample reason is held disgraceful. I well remember the
weeping and wailing throughout Sind when an order from Sir Charles
Napier set free the negroes whom British philanthropy thus doomed
to endure if not to die of hunger.

100. Manumission, which is founded upon Roman law, is an extensive
subject discussed in the Hidáyah and other canonical works. The
slave here lays down the law incorrectly, but his claim shows his truly
"nigger" impudence.

101. This is quite true to nature. The most remarkable thing in the wild
central African is his enormous development of "destructiveness." At
Zanzibar I never saw a slave break a glass or plate without a grin or a
chuckle of satisfaction.

102. Arab. "Khassá-ni"; Khusyatáni (vulg.) being the testicles, also called
"bayzatán" (the two eggs) a double entendre which has given rise to
many tales. For instance in the witty Persian book "Dozd o Kazi"
(The Thief and the Judge) a footpad strips the man of learning and
offers to return his clothes if he can ask him a puzzle in law or
religion. The Kazi (in folk-lore mostly a fool) fails, and his wife bids
him ask the man to supper for a trial of wits on the same condition.
She begins with compliments and ends by producing five eggs which
she would have him distribute equally amongst the three; and, when
he is perplexed, she gives one to each of the men taking three for
herself. Whereupon the "Dozd" wends his way, having lost his booty
as his extreme stupidity deserved. In the text the eunuch, Kafur, is
made a "Sandali" or smooth-shaven, so that he was of no use to
women.

103. Arab. "Khara," the lowest possible word: Yá Khara! is the
commonest of insults, used also by modest women. I have heard one
say it to her son.

104. Arab. "Kámah," a measure of length, a fathom, also called "Bá'a."
Both are omitted in that sadly superficial book, Lane's Modern
Egyptians, App. B.

105. Names of her slave-girls which mean (in order), Garden-bloom,
Dawn (or Beautiful), Tree o' Pearl (P. N. of Saladin's wife), Light of
(right) Direction, Star o' the Morn, Lewdness (=Shahwah, I suppose
this is a chaff), Delight, Sweetmeat and Miss Pretty.

106. This mode of disposing of a rival was very common in Harems. But it
had its difficulties and on the whole the river was (and is) preferred.

107. An Eastern dislikes nothing more than drinking in a dim dingy place:
the brightest lights seem to add to his "drinkitite."

108. He did not sleep with her because he suspected some palace-mystery
which suggested prudence, she also had her reasons.

109. This is called in Egypt "Aslah" (Lane M. E. chapt. i.).

110. It would be a broad ribbon-like band upon which the letters could be
worked.

111. In the Arab. "he cried." These "Yes, Yes! and No! No!" trifles are very
common amongst the Arabs.

112. Arab. "Maragha" lit. rubbed his face on them like a fawning dog.
Ghanim is another "softy" lover, a favourite character in Arab tales;
and by way of contrast, the girl is masterful enough.

113. Because the Abbaside Caliphs descend from Al-Abbas paternal uncle
of Mohammed. The text means more explicitly, "O descendant of the
Prophet's uncle!"

114. The most terrible part of a belle passion in the East is that the beloved
will not allow her lover leave of absence for an hour.

115. It is hard to preserve these wretched puns. In the original we have "O
spray" (or branch) of capparis-shrub (aráki) which has been thinned

of leaf and fruit (tujna, i.e., whose fruit, the hymen, has been plucked
before and not by me) I see thee (aráka) against me sinning (tajní).

116. Apparently the writer forgets that the Abbaside banners and dress
were black, originally a badge of mourning for the Imám Ibrahim bin
Mohammed put to death by the Ommiade Caliph Al-Marwán. The
modern Egyptian mourning, like the old Persian, is indigo-blue of the
darkest; but, as before noted, the custom is by no means universal.

117. Koran, chapt. iv. In the East as elsewhere the Devil quotes Scripture.

118. A servant returning from a journey shows his master due honour by
appearing before him in travelling suit and uncleaned.

119. The first name means "Rattan"; the second "Willow-wand," from the
"Bán" or "Khiláf" the Egyptian willow (Salix Ægyptiaca Linn.)
vulgarly called "Safsáf." Forskal holds the "Bán" to be a different
variety.

120. Arab. "Ta'ám," which has many meanings: in mod. parlance it would
signify millet, holcus-seed.

121. i.e. "I well know how to deal with him."

122. The Pen (title of the Koranic chapt. lxviii.) and the Preserved Tablet
(before explained).

123. These plunderings were sanctioned by custom. But a few years ago,
when the Turkish soldiers mutinied about arrears of pay (often
delayed for years) the governing Páshá would set fire to the town and
allow the men to loot what they pleased during a stated time. Rochet
(soi-disant D'Héricourt) amusingly describes this manœuvre of the
Turkish Governor of Al-Hodaydah in the last generation (Pilgrimage
iii. 381).

124. Another cenotaph whose use was to enable women to indulge in their
pet pastime of weeping and wailing in company.

125. The lodging of pauper travellers, as the chapel in Iceland is of the
wealthy. I have often taken benefit of the mosque, but as a rule it is
unpleasant, the matting being not only torn but over-populous.
Juvenal seems to allude to the Jewish Synagogue similarly used:—"in
quâ te quæro proseuchâ"? (iii. 296) and in Acts iii. we find the lame,
blind and impotent in the Temple-porch.

126. This foul sort of vermin is supposed to be bred by perspiration. It is
an epoch in the civilised traveller's life when he catches his first
louse.

127. The Moslem peasant is a kind-hearted man and will make many
sacrifices for a sick stranger even of another creed. It is a manner of
"pundonor" with the village.

128. Such treatment of innocent women was only too common under the
Caliphate and in contemporary Europe.

129. This may also mean, "And Heaven will reward thee;" but camel-men
do not usually accept any drafts upon futurity.

130. He felt that he was being treated like a corpse.

131. This hatred of the Hospital extends throughout Southern Europe,
even in places where it is not justified.

132. The importance of the pillow (wisádah or makhaddah) to the sick
man is often recognised in The Nights. "He took to his pillow"
is=took to his bed.

133. i.e. in order that the reverend men, who do not render such suit and
service gratis, might pray for him.

134. The reader will notice in The Nights the frequent mention of these
physical prognostications, with which mesmerists are familiar.

135. The Pers. name of the planet Saturn in the Seventh Heaven. Arab.
"Zuhal"; the Kiun or Chiun of Amos vi. 26.

136. i.e. "Pardon me if I injured thee"—a popular phrase.

137. A "seduction," a charmer. The double-entendre has before been
noticed.

TALE OF KING OMAR BIN AL-NU'UMAN
AND HIS SONS
SHARRKAN AND ZAU AL-MAKAN,

AND WHAT BEFEL THEM OF THINGS SELD-
SEEN AND PEREGRINE.[138]

The King asked her, "And what was their story?" and she answered:—It
hath reached me, O auspicious King, that there was in the City of Safety,
Baghdad, before the Caliphate of Abd al-Malik bin Marwán,[139] a King,
Omar bin al-Nu'uman hight, who was of the mighty giants and had
subjected the Chosroes of Persia and the Kaysars of Eastern Rome; for none
could warm himself at his fire;[140] nor could any avail to meet him in the
field of foray and fray; and, when he was an-angered, there came forth from
his nostrils sparks of flame. He had made himself King over all quarters,
and Allah had subjected to him all His creatures; his word went forth to all
great cities and his hosts had harried the farthest lands. East and West had
come under his command with whatsoever regions lay interspersed between
them, Hind and Sind and Sin,[141] the Holy Land, Al-Hijaz, the rich
mountains of Al-Yaman and the archipelagos of India and China. Moreover,
he reigned supreme over the north country and Diyár Bakr, or
Mesopotamia, and over Sudán, the Eastern Negro-land and the Islands of
the Ocean, and all the far famed rivers of the earth, Sayhún and Jayhún,[142]
Nile and Euphrates. He sent envoys and ambassadors to capitals the most
remote, to provide him with true report; and they would bring back tidings
of justice and peace, with assurance of loyalty and obedience and of prayers
in the pulpits for King Omar bin al-Nu'uman; for he was, O Ruler of the

Age, a right noble King; and there came to him presents of rarities and toll
and tribute from all lands of his governing. This mighty monarch had a son
yclept Sharrkan,[143] who was likest of all men to his father and who proved
himself one of the prodigies of his time for subduing the brave and bringing
his contemporaries to bane and ban. For this his father loved him with love
so great none could be greater, and made him heir to the kingdom after
himself. This Prince grew up till he reached man's estate and was twenty
years old, and Allah subjected His servants to him, by reason of his great
might and prowess in battle. Now his father, King Omar, had four wives
legally married, but Allah had vouchsafed him no son by them, save
Sharrkan, whom he had begotten upon one of them, and the rest were
barren. Moreover he had three hundred and sixty concubines, after the
number of days in the Coptic year, who were of all nations; and he had
furnished for each and every a private chamber within his own palace. For
he had built twelve pavilions, after the number of the months, each
containing thirty private chambers, which thus numbered three hundred and
three score, wherein he lodged his handmaids: and he appointed according
to law for each one her night, when he lay with her and came not again to
her for a full year;[144] and on this wise he abode for a length of time.
Meanwhile his son Sharrkan was making himself renowned in all quarters
of the world and his father was proud of him and his might waxed and grew
mightier; so that he passed all bounds and bore himself masterfully and
took by storm castles and cities. Presently, by decree of the Decreer, a
handmaid among the handmaids of Omar bin Nu'uman became pregnant;
and, her pregnancy being announced to the Harim, the King was informed
thereof; whereupon he rejoiced with exceeding joy and said, "Haply 'twill
be a son, and so all my offspring will be males!" Then he documented the
date of her conception and entreated her with all manner of kindness. But
when the tidings came to Sharrkan, he was troubled and the matter seemed
to him a sore one and a grievous; and he said, "Verily one cometh who shall
dispute with me the sovereignty:" so quoth he to himself, "If this concubine
bear a male child I will kill it:" but he kept that intention hidden in his heart.
Such was the case with Sharrkan; but what happened in the matter of the
damsel was as follows. She was a Roumiyah, a Greek girl, by name Sofiyah
or Sophia,[145] whom the King of Roum and Lord of Cæsarea had sent to
King Omar as a present, together with great store of gifts and of rarities: she
was the fairest of favour and loveliest of all his handmaids and the most

regardful of her honour; and she was gifted with a wit as penetrating as her
presence was fascinating. Now she had served the King on the night of his
sleeping with her, saying to him, "O King! I desire of the God of the
Heavens that he bless thee this night with a male child by me, so I may
bring him up with the best of rearing, and enable him to reach man's estate
perfect in intelligence, good manners and prudent bearing"[146]—a speech
which much pleased the King. During her pregnancy she was instant in
prayer, fervently supplicating the Lord to bless her with a goodly male child
and make his birth easy to her; and Allah heard her petition so that after her
months were accomplished she sat safely upon the birth-stool.[147] Now the
King had deputed a eunuch to let him know if the child she should bring
forth were male or female; and in like way his son Sharrkan had sent one to
bring him tidings of the same. In due time Sophia was delivered of a child,
which the midwives examined and found to be a girl with a face sheenier
than the moon. So they announced this to all present in the room,
whereupon the King's messenger carried the news to him; and Sharrkan's
eunuch did the like with his master, who rejoiced with exceeding joy. But,
after the two had departed, quoth Sophia to the midwives, "Wait with me
awhile, for I feel as if there were still somewhat in my womb." Then she
cried out and the pains of child-bed again took her; and Allah made it easy
to her and she gave birth to a second child. The wise women looked at it
and found it a boy like the full moon, with forehead flower-white, and
cheek ruddy-bright with rosy light; whereupon the mother rejoiced, as did
the eunuchs and attendants and all the company; and Sophia was delivered
of the after-birth whilst all in the palace sent forth the trill of joy.[148] The
rest of the concubines heard it and envied her lot; and the tidings reached
Omar son of Al-Nu'uman, who was glad and rejoiced at the excellent news.
Then he rose and went to her and kissed her head, after which he looked at
the boy; and, bending over him, kissed him, whilst the damsels struck the
tabors and played on instruments of music; and the King gave order that the
boy should be named Zau al-Makan and his sister Nuzhat al-Zaman.[149]
They answered "Hearing and obedience," and did his bidding; so he
appointed wet nurses and dry nurses and eunuchs and attendants to serve
them; and assigned them rations of sugar and diet-drinks and unguents and
else beside, beyond the power of tongue to rehearse. Moreover the people
of Baghdad, hearing that Allah had blessed their King with issue, decorated
the city and made proclamation of the glad tidings with drum and tom-tom;

and the Emirs and Wazirs and high dignitaries came to the palace and
wished King Omar bin al-Nu'uman joy of his son, Zau al-Makan, and of his
daughter Nuzhat al-Zaman, wherefor he thanked them and bestowed on
them dresses of honour and further favoured them with gifts, and dealt
largesse to all, gentle and simple, who were present. After this fashion he
did for four days full told, and he lavished upon Sophia raiment and
ornaments and great store of wealth; and, every few days he would send a
messenger to ask after her and the new-borns. And when four years had
gone by, he provided her with the wherewithal to rear the two children
carefully and educate them with the best of instructions. All this while his
son Sharrkan knew not that a male child had been born to his father, Omar
son of Al-Nu'uman, having news only that he had been blessed with the
birth of Nuzhat al-Zaman; and they hid the intelligence from him, until days
and years had sped by, whilst he was busied in battling with the brave and
fighting single-handed against the knights. One day, as King Omar was
sitting in his palace, his Chamberlains came in to him and, kissing the
ground before him, said, "O King there be come Ambassadors from the
King of Roum, Lord of Constantinople the Great, and they desire admission
to thee and submission to thy decree: if the King command us to introduce
them we will so do; and, if not, there is no disputing his behest." He bade
them enter and, when they came in, he turned to them and, courteously
receiving them, asked them of their case, and what was the cause of their
coming. They kissed the ground before him and said, "O King glorious and
strong! O lord of the arm that is long! know that he who despatched us to
thee is King Afridun,[150] Lord of Ionia-land[151] and of the Nazarene armies,
the sovereign who is firmly established in the empery of Constantinople, to
acquaint thee that he is now waging fierce war and fell with a tyrant and a
rebel, the Prince of Cæsarea; and the cause of this war is as follows. One of
the Kings of the Arabs in past time, during certain of his conquests, chanced
upon a hoard of the time of Alexander,[152] whence he removed wealth past
compute; and, amongst other things, three round jewels, big as ostrich eggs,
from a mine of pure white gems whose like was never seen by man. Upon
each were graven characts in Ionian characters, and they have many virtues
and properties, amongst the rest that if one of these jewels be hung round
the neck of a newborn child, no evil shall befal him and he shall neither
wail, nor shall fever ail him as long as the jewel remain without fail.[153]
When the Arab King laid hands upon them and learned their secrets, he sent

to King Afridun presents of certain rarities and amongst them the three
jewels afore mentioned; and he equipped for the mission two ships, one
bearing the treasure and the other men of might to guard it from any who
might offer hindrance on the high seas, albeit well assured that none would
dare waylay his vessels, for that he was King of the Arabs, and more by
token that their course lay over waters subject to the King of Constantinople
and they were bound to his port; nor were there on the shores of that sea
any save the subjects of the Great King, Afridun. The two ships set out and
voyaged till they drew near our city, when there sallied out on them certain
corsairs from that country and amongst them troops from the Prince of
Cæsarea, who took all the treasures and rarities in the ships, together with
the three jewels, and slew the crews. When our King heard of this, he sent
an army against them, but they routed it; then he marched a second and a
stronger but they put this also to flight, whereupon the King waxed wroth
and swore that he would not go forth[154] against them save in his own
person at the head of his whole army; nor would he turn back from them till
he had left Cæsarea of Armenia[155] in ruins and had laid waste all the lands
and cities over which her Prince held sway. So he sent us to the Lord of the
age and the time, Sultan Omar bin al-Nu'uman, King of Baghdad and of
Khorasan, desiring that he aid us with an army, so may honour and glory
accrue to him; and he hath also forwarded by us somewhat of various kinds
of presents, and of the King's grace he beggeth their acceptance and the
friendly boon of furtherance." Then the Ambassadors kissed the ground
before him——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say
her permitted say.

Now when it was the Forty-sixth Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that, after the
Ambassadors and retinue from the Constantinopolitan King had kissed the
ground before Omar and had delivered their embassage, they brought out
the presents, which were fifty damsels of the choicest from Græcia-land,
and fifth Mamelukes in tunics of brocade, belted with girdles of gold and
silver, each wearing in his ears hoops of gold with pendants of fine pearls
costing a thousand ducats every one. The girls were adorned in like fashion
and were clad in stuffs worth a treasury of money. When the King saw

them, he rejoiced in them and accepted them; then he bade the Ambassadors
be honourably entreated and, summoning his Wazirs, took counsel with
them of what he should do. Herewith rose up among them a Wazir, an
ancient man, Dandán[156] hight, who kissed the ground before Omar and
said, "O King, there is nothing better to do in this matter than equip an army
valiant and victorious, and set over it thy son Sharrkan with us as his
lieutenants; and this rede commendeth itself to me on two counts: first,
because the King of Roum hath invoked thine assistance and hath sent thee
gifts which thou hast accepted; and, secondly, because while no enemy
dareth attack our country, thine army may go forth safely and, should it
succour the King of Græcia-land and defeat his foe, the glory will be thine.
Moreover, the news of it will be noised abroad in all cities and countries;
and especially, when the tidings shall reach the Islands of the Ocean and the
Kings of Mauritania shall hear it, they will send thee offerings of rarities
and pay thee tribute of money." The King, pleased by the Wazir's words and
approving his rede, gave him a dress of honour and said to him, "Of the like
of thee should Kings ask counsel, and it seemeth fit that thou shouldst
conduct the van of our army and our son Sharrkan command the main
battle." Then he sent for his son who came and kissed ground before him
and sat down; and he expounded to him the matter, telling him what the
Ambassadors and the Wazir Dandan had said, and he charged him to take
arms and equip himself for the campaign, enjoining him not to gainsay
Dandan in aught he should do. Moreover, he ordered him to pick out of his
army ten thousand horsemen, armed cap-à-pie and inured to onset and
stress of war. Accordingly, Sharrkan arose on the instant, and chose out a
myriad of horsemen, after which he entered his palace and mustered his
host and distributed largesse to them, saying, "Ye have delay of three days."
They kissed the earth before him in obedience to his commands and began
at once to lay in munitions, and provide provisions for the occasion; whilst
Sharrkan repaired to the armouries and took therefrom whatsoever he
required of arms and armour, and thence to the stable where he chose horses
of choice blood and others. When the appointed three days were ended, the
army drew out to the suburbs of Baghdad city;[157] and King Omar came
forth to take leave of his son who kissed the ground before him and
received from the King seven parcels of money.[158] Then he turned to
Dandan and commended to his care the army of his son; and the Wazir
kissed the ground before him and answered, "I hear and I obey;" and lastly

he charged Sharrkan that he should consult the Wazir on all occasions,
which he promised to do. After this, the King returned to his city and
Sharrkan ordered the officers to muster their troops in battle-array. So they
mustered them and their number was ten thousand horsemen, besides
footmen and camp-followers. Then they loaded their baggage on their
beasts and the war-drums beat and the trumpets blared and the bannerols
and standards were unfurled, whilst Sharrkan mounted horse, with the
Wazir Dandan by his side, and the colours fluttering over their heads. So the
host fared forth and stinted not faring, with the Ambassadors preceding
them, till day departed and night drew nigh, when they alighted and
encamped for the night. And as soon as Allah caused the morn to morrow,
they mounted and hied on, guided by the Ambassadors, for a space of
twenty days; and by the night of the twenty-first they came to a fine and
spacious Wady well grown with trees and shrubbery. Here Sharrkan ordered
them to alight and commanded a three days' halt, so they dismounted and
pitched their tents, spreading their camp over the right and the left slopes of
the extensive valley, whilst the Wazir Dandan and the Ambassadors of King
Afridun pitched in the sole of the Wady.[159] As for Sharrkan, he tarried
behind them for awhile till all had dismounted and had dispersed
themselves over the valley-sides; he then slacked the reins of his steed,
being minded to explore the Wady and to mount guard in his own person,
because of his father's charge and owing to the fact that they were on the
frontier of Græcia-land and in the enemy's country. So he rode out alone
after ordering his armed slaves and his body-guard to camp near the Wazir
Dandan, and he fared on along the side of the valley till a fourth part of the
night was passed, when he felt tired and drowsiness overcame him, so that
he could no longer urge horse with heel. Now he was accustomed to take
rest on horseback; so when slumber overpowered him, he slept and the
steed ceased not going on with him till half the night was spent and entered
one of the thickets[160] which was dense with growth; but Sharrkan awoke
not until his horse stumbled over wooded ground. Then he started from
sleep and found himself among the trees; and the moon arose and shone
brightly over the two horizons, Eastern and Western. He was startled when
he found himself alone in this place and said the say which ne'er yet shamed
its sayer, "There is no Majesty and there is no Might save in Allah, the
Glorious, the Great!" But as he rode on, in fear of wild beasts, behold, the
moon spread her glad light over a meadow as if 'twere of the meads of

Paradise; and he heard pleasant voices and a loud noise of talk and laughter
captivating the senses of men. So King Sharrkan alighted and, tying his
steed to one of the trees, went over a little way till he came upon a stream
and heard a woman talking in Arabic and saying, "Now by the truth of the
Messiah, this is not well of you! but whoso utters a word, I will throw her
and truss her up with her own girdle[161]!" He kept walking in the direction
of the sound and when he reached the further side he looked and behold, a
stream was gushing and flowing, and antelopes at large were frisking and
roving, and wild cattle amid the pasture moving, and birds expressed joy
and gladness in their divers tongues, and that place was purfled with all
manner flowers and green herbs, even as a poet described it in these
couplets:—
Most beautiful is earth in budding bloom, ✿ When lucid waters course through plain and wood:
No work but His th' All-great, th' All-glorious, ✿ Giver of all gifts, Giver of all good!

And as Sharrkan considered the place, he saw in it a Christian Monastery
within whose enceinte a castle towered high in air catching the light of the
moon.[162] Through the midst of the convent passed a stream, the water
flowing amongst its gardens; and upon the bank sat the woman whose voice
he had heard, while before her stood ten handmaids like moons and wearing
various sorts of raiment and ornaments that dazed and dazzled the beholder,
high-bosomed virgins, as saith of them the poet in these couplets:—
The mead is bright with what is on't ✿ Of merry maidens debonnair:
Double its beauty and its grace ✿ Those trooping damsels slender-fair:
Virgins of graceful swimming gait ✿ Ready with eye and lip to ensnare;
And like the tendril'd vine they loose ✿ The rich profusion of their hair:
Shooting their shafts and arrows from ✿ Beautiful eyes beyond compare;
Overpowering and transpiercing ✿ Every froward adversaire.

Sharrkan gazed upon the ten girls and saw in their midst a lady like the
moon at fullest, with ringleted hair and forehead sheeny-white, and eyes
wondrous wide and black and bright, and temple-locks like the scorpion's
tail; and she was perfect in essence and attributes, as the poet said of her in
these couplets:—

She beamed on my sight with a wondrous glance, ✿ And her straight slender stature enshamed the
lance:
She burst on my sight with cheeks rosy-red, ✿ Where all manner of beauties have habitance:
And the locks on her forehead were lowering as night ✿ Whence issues a dawn-tide of happiest
chance.

Then Sharrkan heard her say to the handmaids, "Come ye on, that I may
wrestle with you and gravel you, ere the moon set and the dawn break!" So
each came up to her in turn and she grounded them forthright, and pinioned
them with their girdles, and ceased not wrestling and pitching them until
she had overthrown one and all. Then there turned to her an old woman
who was before her, and the beldam said as in wrath, "O strumpet, dost thou
glory in grounding these girls? Behold I am an old woman, yet have I
thrown them forty times! So what hast thou to boast of? But if thou have the
strength to wrestle with me, stand up that I may grip thee and set thy head
between thy heels!" The young lady smiled at her words, but she was filled
with inward wrath, and she jumped up and asked, "O my lady Zát al-
Dawáhí,[163] by the truth of the Messiah, wilt thou wrestle with me in very
deed, or dost thou jest with me?"; and she answered, "Yea,"——And
Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.

Now when it was the Forty-seventh Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the young lady
asked Zat al-Dawahi, "By the truth of the Messiah, wilt wrestle with me or
dost jest?", and she answered, "Yea, I will wrestle with thee in very deed"
(Sharrkan looking on the while), the damsel cried, "Rise up for the fall an
thou have spunk so to do." When the old woman heard this, she raged with
exceeding rage, and her body-hair stood on end like the bristles of a fretful
hedgehog.[164] Then she sprang to her feet, whilst the damsel stood up to her,
and said, "Now by the truth of the Messiah, I will not wrestle with thee
unless I be naked, Mistress whore!"[165] So she loosed her petticoat-trousers
and, putting her hand under her clothes, tore them off her body; then twisted
up a silken kerchief into cord-shape, girt it round her middle and became as
she were a scald-head Ifritah or a spotted snake. With this she inclined
towards the damsel and said, "Do thou as I have done." All this time,
Sharrkan was gazing at the twain, and laughing at the beldam's loathly

semblance. So the damsel leisurely rose and, taking a sash of Yamani stuff,
passed it twice round her waist, then she tucked up her trousers and
displayed two calves of alabaster carrying a mound of crystal, smooth and
rounded, and a stomach which exhaled musk from its dimples, as it were a
bed of Nu'uman's anemones; and breasts like double pomegranates. Then
the old woman leant towards her, and the two laid hold either of each, while
Sharrkan raised his head Heavenwards and prayed Allah that the belle
might beat the beldam. Presently the young woman gat beneath the old
woman; and, gripping her waist-cloth with the left and circling her neck
with the right hand, hoisted her off the ground with both; whereupon the old
woman strove to free herself and, in so doing fell on her back arsiversy,
with her legs high in air and her hairy bush between them showed manifest
in the moonshine; furthermore she let fly two great farts[166] one of which
blew up the dust from the earth's face and the other steamed up to the gate
of Heaven. Sharrkan laughed till he fell back upon the ground. Then he
arose and, baring his brand looked right and left, but he saw no one save the
old woman sprawling on her back, and said to himself, "He lied not who
named thee Lady of Calamities! Verily thou knewest her prowess by her
performance upon the others." So he drew near them to hear what should
pass between them. Then the young lady went up to the old one and,
throwing a wrapper of thin silk upon her nakedness, helped her to don her
clothes and made excuses saying, "O my lady Zat al-Dawahi, I intended
only to throw thee and not all this, but thou triedst to twist out of my hands;
so laud to Allah for safety!" She returned her no answer, but rose in her
shame and walked away till out of sight, leaving the handmaids prostrate
and pinioned, with the fair damsel standing amongst them. Quoth Sharrkan
to himself, "Every luck hath its cause. Sleep did not fall upon me nor the
war-horse bear me hither save for my good fortune; for doubtless this maid
and what is with her shall become booty to me." So he made towards his
steed and mounted and heeled[167] him on, when he sped as the shaft speeds
from the bow, and in his hand he still hent his brand bare of sheath, which
he brandished shouting the while his war-cry, "Allah is All-mighty[168]!"
When the damsel saw him she sprang to her feet and, taking firm stand on
the bank of the stream, whose breadth was six ells, the normal cubits, made
one bound and landed clear on the farther side,[169] where she turned and
cried out with a loud voice, "Who art thou, O thou fellow, that breakest in
upon our privacy and pastime, and that too hanger in hand as if charging a

host? Whence camest thou and whither art thou going? Speak sooth, for
truth will stand thee in good stead, and lie not, for lies come of villein-
breed. Doubtless thou hast wandered this night from thy way, that thou
chancedst upon this place whence escape were the greatest of mercies; for
thou art now in an open plain and, did we shout but a single shout, would
come to our rescue four thousand knights.[170] So tell me what thou wantest;
and if thou wouldst only have us set thee on the right road, we will do so."
When Sharrkan heard her words he replied, "I am a stranger of the
Moslems, who fared forth this night single-handed, seeking for spoil; nor
could this moonlight show me a fairer booty than these ten maidens; so I
shall seize them and rejoin my comrades with them." Quoth she, "I would
have thee know that as for the booty thou hast not come at it; and, as for the
handmaids, by Allah, they shall never be thy spoil. Have I not told thee that
to lie is villein-vile?" Quoth he, "The wise man is he who taketh warning by
others." Thereupon quoth she, "By the truth of the Messiah, did I not fear
that thy death would be on my hands, I would shout a shout should fill the
mead for thee with war steeds and with men of might, but I take pity upon
the stranger. So, if thou seek booty, I require of thee that thou alight from
thy steed and swear to me, by thy faith, that thou wilt not advance against
me aught like arms in hand, and we will wrestle, I and thou. If thou throw
me, set me on thy steed and take all of us to thy booty; but if I throw thee,
thou shalt become under my command. Swear this to me, for I fear thy
treachery: indeed it hath become a common saw, Where Perfidy is innate
there Trust is a weakly mate. Now an thou wilt swear I will return and draw
near to thee and tackle thee." Answered Sharrkan (and indeed he lusted to
seize her and said in his soul, "Truly she knoweth not that I am a champion
of champions"); "Swear me by what oath thou wilt and by what thou
deemest most binding, and I will not approach thee with aught till thou hast
made thy preparation and sayest:—Draw near that I wrestle with thee. If
thou throw me, I have money wherewithal to ransom myself; and if I throw
thee, 'twill be booty and booty enough for me!" Rejoined the damsel, "I am
content herewith!" and Sharrkan was astounded at her words and said, "And
by the truth of the Apostle (whom Allah bless and keep!) I too am content
on the other part!" Then said she, "Swear to me by Him who sprite in body
dight and dealt laws to rule mankind aright, that thou wilt not offer me
aught of violence save by way of wrestling; else mayst thou die without the
pale of Al-Islam." Sharrkan replied, "By Allah! were a Kazi to swear me,

even though he were a Kazi of the Kazis,[171] he would not impose upon me
such an oath as this!" Then he sware to her by all she named and tied his
steed to a tree; but he was drowned in the sea of thought, saying in himself,
"Praise be to Him who fashioned her from dirty water!"[172] Then he girt
himself and made ready for wrestling, and said to her, "Cross the stream to
me;" but she replied, "It is not for me to come over to thee: if thou wilt, pass
thou over here to me." "I cannot do that," quoth he, and quoth she, "O boy, I
will come across to thee." So she tucked up her skirts and, leaping, landed
on the other side of the stream by his side; whereupon he drew near to her
and bent him forwards and clapped palms.[173] But he was confounded by
her beauty and loveliness; for he saw a shape which the Hand of Power had
tanned with the dye-leaves of the Jánn, which had been fostered by the
Hand of Beneficence and fanned by the Zephyrs of fair fortune and whose
birth a propitious ascendant had greeted. Then she called out to him, "O
Moslem, come on and let us wrestle ere the break of morning," and tucked
up her sleeves from a fore-arm like fresh curd, which illumined the whole
place with its whiteness; and Sharrkan was dazzled by it. Then he bent
forwards and clapped his palms by way of challenge, she doing the like, and
caught hold of her, and the two grappled and gripped and interlocked hands
and arms. Presently he shifted his hands to her slender waist, when his
finger tips sank into the soft folds of her middle, breeding languishment,
and he fell a trembling like the Persian reed in the roaring gale. So she lifted
him up and, throwing him to the ground, sat upon his breast with hips and
hinder cheeks like mounds of sand, for his soul had lost mastery over his
senses. Then she asked him, "O Moslem! the slaying of Nazarenes is lawful
to you folk; what then hast thou to say about being slain thyself?"; and he
answered, "O my lady, thy speech as regards slaying me is not other than
unlawful; for our prophet Mohammed (whom Allah bless and preserve!)
prohibited the slaying of women and children, old men and monks!" "As it
was thus revealed to your Prophet," she replied, "it behoveth us to render
the equivalent of his mercy; so rise. I give thee thy life, for generosity is
never lost upon the generous." Then she got off his breast and he rose and
stood shaking the dust from his head against the owners of the curved rib,
even women; and she said to him, "Be not ashamed; but verily one who
entereth the land of Roum in quest of booty, and cometh to assist Kings
against Kings, how happeneth it that he hath not strength enough to defend
himself from one made out of the curved rib?" "'Twas not for lack of

strength in me," he answered; "nor didst thou throw me by thy force; it was
thy loveliness overthrew me; so if thou wilt grant me another bout, it will be
of thy courtesy." She laughed and said, "I grant thee thy request: but these
handmaids have long been pinioned and their arms and sides are weary, and
it were only right I should loose them, for haply this next wrestling bout
will be long." Then she went to the slave-girls and, unbinding them, said to
them in the tongue of Greece, "Get ye to some safe place, till I foil this
Moslem's lust and longing for you." So they went away, whilst Sharrkan
kept gazing at them and they kept turning to look at the two. Then each
approached the adversary and he set his breast against hers, but when he felt
waist touch waist, his strength failed him; and she, waxing ware of this,
lifted him with her hands swiftlier than the blinding leven-flash, and threw
him to the ground. He fell on his back,[174] and then she said to him, "Rise: I
give thee thy life a second time. I spared thee in the first count because of
thy Prophet, for that he made unlawful the slaying of women; and I do so
on the second count because of thy weakliness and the greenness of thine
years and thy strangerhood; but I charge thee, if there be in the Moslem
army sent by Omar bin al-Nu'uman to succour the King of Constantinople,
a stronger than thou, send him hither and tell him of me: for in wrestling
there are shifts and trips, catches and holds, such as the feint or falsing and
the snap or first grip, the hug, the feet-catch, the thigh-bite,[175] the jostle and
the leg-lock." "By Allah, O my lady," quoth Sharrkan (and indeed he was
highly incensed against her), "had I been Master al-Safdí, Master
Mohammed Kimál or Ibn al-Saddí,[176] as they were in their prime, I had
kept no note of these shifts thou mentionest; for O my mistress, by Allah,
thou hast not grassed me by thy strength, but by the blandishments of thy
back-parts; for we men of Mesopotamia so love a full-formed thigh that nor
sense was left me nor foresight. But now, an thou wish, thou shalt try a third
fall with me while my wits are about me, and this last match is allowed me
by the laws of the game which sayeth the best of three: moreover I have
regained my presence of mind." When she heard his words she said to him,
"Hast thou not had a belly-full of this wrestling, O vanquished one?
However come on, an thou wilt; but know that this must be the last round."
Then she bent forward and challenged him and Sharrkan did likewise,
setting to it in real earnest and being right cautious about the throw: so the
two strove awhile and the damsel found in him a strength such as she had
not observed before and said to him, "O Moslem, thou art now on thy

mettle." "Yes," he replied, "thou knowest that there remaineth to me but this
one round, after which each of us will wend a different way." She laughed
and he laughed too;[177] then she overreached at his thigh and caught firm
hold of it unawares, which made him greet the ground and fall full on his
back. She laughed at him and said, "Art thou an eater of bran? Thou art like
a Badawi's bonnet which falleth off with every touch or else the Father of
Winds[178] that droppeth before a puff of air. Fie upon thee, O thou poor
thing!" adding, "Get thee back to the Moslem army and send us other than
thyself, for thou failest of thews; and proclaim for us, among the Arabs and
Persians, the Turks and Daylamites,[179] whoso hath might in him, let him
come to us." Then she made a spring and landed on the other side of the
stream and said to Sharrkan, laughing, "Parting with thee is right grievous
to me, O my lord; but get thee to thy mates before dawn, lest the Knights
come upon thee and pick thee up on their lance-points. Thou hast no
strength to defend thee against a woman, so how couldst thou hold thine
own amongst men of might and Knights?" Sharrkan was confounded and
called to her (as she turned from him making towards the convent), "O my
lady, wilt thou go away and leave the miserable stranger, the broken hearted
slave of love?" So she turned to him laughing and said, "What is thy want? I
will grant thee thy prayer." "Have I set foot in thy country and tasted the
sweetness of thy courtesy," replied he, "and shall I return without eating of
thy victual and tasting thy hospitality; I who have become one of thy
servitors!" "None baulk kindliness save the base," she rejoined, "honour us
in Allah's name, on my head and eyes be it! Mount thy steed and ride along
the brink of the stream over against me, for now thou art my guest." At this
Sharrkan was glad and, hastening back to his horse, mounted and walked
him abreast of her, and she kept faring on till they came to a drawbridge[180]
built of beams of the white poplar, hung by pullies and steel-chains and
made fast with hooks and padlocks. When Sharrkan looked, he saw
awaiting her upon the bridge the same ten handmaids whom she had thrown
in the wrestling-bouts; and, as she came up to them, she said to one in the
Greek tongue, "Arise and take the reins of his horse and conduct him across
into the convent." So she went up to Sharrkan and led him over, much
puzzled and perturbed with what he saw, and saying to himself, "O would
that the Wazir Dandan were here with me that his eyes might look upon
these fairest of favours." Then he turned to the young lady and said to her,
"O marvel of loveliness, now I have two claims upon thee; first the claim of

good-fellowship, and secondly for that thou hast carried me to thy home
and offered me thy hospitality. I am now under thy commandance and thy
guidance; so do me one last favour by accompanying me to the lands of Al-
Islam; where thou shalt look upon many a lion-hearted warrior and thou
shalt learn who I am." When she heard this she was angered and said to
him, "By the truth of the Messiah, thou hast proved thyself with me a man
of keen wit; but now I see what mischief there is in thy heart, and how thou
canst permit thyself a speech which proveth thy traitorous intent. How
should I do as thou sayest, when I wot that if I came to that King of yours,
Omar bin al-Nu'uman, I should never get free from him? For truly he hath
not the like of me or behind his city walls or within his palace-halls, Lord of
Baghdad and of Khorasan though he be, who hath built for himself twelve
pavilions, in number as the months of the year, and in each a concubine
after the number of the days; and if I come to him he would not prove shy
of me, for your folk believe I am lawful to have and to hold as is said in
your writ:—Or those women whom your right hand shall possess as slaves.
[181]
So how canst thou speak thus to me? As for thy saying:—Thou shalt
look upon the braves of the Moslems, by the truth of the Messiah, thou
sayest that which is not true, for I saw your army when it reached our land,
these two days ago; and I did not see that your ordinance was the ordinance
of Kings, but I beheld only a rabble of tribesmen gathered together. And as
to thy words:—Thou shalt know who I am, I did not do thee kindness
because of thy dignity but out of pride in myself; and the like of thee should
not talk thus to the like of me, even wert thou Sharrkan, Omar bin al-
Nu'uman's son, the prowest name in these days!" "Knowest thou Sharrkan?"
asked he; and she answered "Yes! and I know of his coming with an army
numbering ten thousand horsemen; also that he was sent by his sire with
this force to gain prevalence for the King of Constantinople." "O my lady,"
said Sharrkan, "I adjure thee by thy religion, tell me the cause of all this,
that sooth may appear to me clear of untruth, and with whom the fault lies."
"Now by the virtue of thy faith," she replied, "did I not fear lest the news of
me be bruited abroad that I am of the daughters of Roum, I would adventure
myself and sally forth single-handed against the ten thousand horsemen and
slay their leader, the Wazir Dandan and vanquish their champion Sharrkan.
[182]
Nor would aught of shame accrue to me thereby, for I have read books
and studied the rules of good breeding in the language of the Arabs. But I
have no need to vaunt my own prowess to thee, more by token as thou hast

proved in thy proper person my skill and strength in wrestling; and thou
hast learnt my superiority over other women. Nor, indeed, had Sharrkan
himself been here this night and it were said to him:—Clear this stream,
could he have done it; and I only long and lust that the Messiah would
throw him into my hands in this very convent, that I might go forth to him
in the habit of a man and drag him from his saddle-seat and make him my
captive and lay him in bilboes."——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of
day and ceased to say her permitted say.

Now when it was the Forty-eighth Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the Nazarene
damsel said to Sharrkan (and he listening impatiently enow), "Verily if

Sharrkan fell into my hands, I would go forth to him in the habit of a man
and drag him from his saddle-seat and make him my captive and lay him in
bilboes," pride and passion and knightly jealousy took possession of him
and he desired to discover and declare himself and to lay on load; but her
loveliness restrained him and he began repeating:—
An faulty of one fault the Beauty prove, ✿ Her charms a thousand advocates shall move.

So she went up and Sharrkan after her; and, when he saw the maiden's back
and hinder cheeks that clashed against each other, like rollers in the rolling
sea, he extemporised these couplets:—
For her sins is a pleader that brow, ✿ And all hearts its fair pleading must trow:
When I saw it I cried, "To-night ✿ The moon at its fullest doth show;
Tho' Balkís' own Ifrit[183] try a bout, ✿ Spite his force she would deal him a throw.

The two fared on till they reached a gate over which rose a marble archway.
This she opened and ushered Sharrkan into a long vestibule, vaulted with
ten connected arches, from each of which hung a crystal lamp glistening
like a spark of fire. The handmaids met her at the further end bearing wax
candles of goodly perfume, and wearing on their heads golden fillets
crusted with all manner bezel-gems,[184] and went on before her (Sharrkan
still following), till they reached the inner convent. There the Moslem saw
couches and sofas ranged all around, one opposite the other and all
overhung with curtains flowered in gold. The monastery floor was paved
with every kind of vari-coloured marbles and mosaic-work, and in the midst
stood a basin that held four-and-twenty jetting fountains of gold, whence
the water ran like molten silver; whilst at the upper end stood a throne
spread with silks fit only for Kings. Then said the damsel, "Ascend, O my
lord, this throne." So he went up to it and sat down and she withdrew to
remain absent for some time. Sharrkan asked of her from one of the
servants who answered him, "She hath gone to her dormitory; but we will
serve thee even as she ordered." So they set before him viands of rare
varieties, and he ate his sufficiency, when they brought him a basin of gold
and an ewer of silver, and he washed his hands. Then his thoughts reverted
to his army, knowing not what had befallen it in his absence and calling to
mind also how he had forgotton his father's injunctions: so he was troubled
about his case, repenting of what he had done till the dawn broke and the

day appeared; when he lamented and sighed and became drowned in the sea
of sadness and repeated:—
I am not lost to prudence, but indeed ✿ Here I'm bewildered, what shall be my rede?
Would any aid me in mine ails of love, ✿ By my own might and sleight would I be free'd:
But ah! my heart is lost and passion-shent: ✿ To none save Allah can I trust my need!

When he ended his verse behold, there came up to him a rare show and a
fair, more than twenty maidens like crescents encompassing the young lady,
who shone in their midst as the full moon among the constellations
guarding and girding her. She was clad in brocades befitting Kings; her
breasts were like twin pomegranates, a woven zone set with all kinds of
jewels tightly clasped her waist which expanded below into jutting hips;
and her hinder cheeks stood out as a mound of crystal[185] supporting a
silvern shaft. When Sharrkan looked at her his wits went nigh to fly away
from him with delight; and he forgot army and Wazir as he gazed on her fair
head decked and dight with a net-work of pearls set off by divers sorts of
gems. Handmaids on her right and handmaids on her left bore her train, as
she paced with dainty graceful gait in all the pride of seemlihead. He sprang
to his feet seeing such beauty and loveliness, and cried aloud, "Beware and
beware of that zone rarely fair!" and broke out into these couplets:—
With heavy back-parts, high breasts delicate, ✿ And lissome form that sways with swimming gait,
She deftly hides love-longing in her breast; ✿ But I may never hide its ban and bate:
While hosts of followers her steps precede,[186] ✿ Like pearls now necklaced and now separate.

She gazed upon him for a long time and considered him till she was assured
of him, when she came up to him and said, "In very sooth the place is
honoured and illumined by thee, O Sharrkan! How sped thy night, O hero,
after we went away and left thee?"; adding, "Verily lying is a vile thing and
a shameful, especially in great Kings! and thou art Crown-Prince Sharrkan,
son and heir of King Omar bin al-Nu'uman; so henceforth make no secret of
thy rank and condition, nor let me hear aught from thee but the truth; for
leasing bequeatheth hate and despite. And as thou art pierced by the shaft of
Fate, be resignation thine and abide content to wait." When he heard her
words he saw that artifice availed him naught and he acknowledged the
truth, saying, "I am Sharrkan, bin Omar bin al-Nu'uman, whom fortune hath
afflicted, and cast into this place; so whatso thou willest, do it in my case!"
She hung her head groundwards a long while, then turned to him and said,

"Be of good cheer and let thine eyes be cool and clear;[187] for thou art the
guest of my hospitality, and bread-and-salt hath made a tie between me and
thee; wherefore thou art in my ward and under my safeguard. Have no fear
for, by the truth of the Messiah, if all on earth sought to do thee hurt they
should not come at thee, till life had left my body for thy sake: indeed thou
art now under the charge of the Messiah and of me." Hereat she sat her
down by his side and fell to playing with him, till his alarm subsided and he
knew that had she desired to slay him, she would have done so during the
past night. Presently she bespoke in the Grecian tongue one of her slave-
girls, who went away and soon came back bringing a beaker and a tray of
food; but Sharrkan abstained from eating and said to himself, "Haply she
hath put somewhat in this meat." She knew what was in his thought; so she
turned to him and said, "By the truth of the Messiah, the case is not on such
wise, nor is there aught in this meat of what thou suspectest! Had my mind
been set on slaying thee, I had slain thee ere now." Then she walked up to
the tray and ate of every dish a mouthful; whereupon Sharrkan came
forward and ate too. She was pleased at this and both ate till they were
satisfied. They washed their hands and after that she rose and ordered a
handmaid to bring perfumes and herbs of sweet savour, wines of all colours
and kinds and a wine-service with vessels of gold, silver and crystal. She
filled a first goblet and drank it off before offering it to him, even as she had
done with the food: then she downed a second and handed it to him. He
drank and she said to him, "O Moslem, see how thou art here in all solace
and delight of life!" And she ceased not to drink and ply him with drink, till
he took leave of his wits,——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day,
and ceased saying her permitted say.

Now when it was the Forty-ninth Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the damsel ceased not
to drink and ply Sharrkan with drink till he took leave of his wits, for the
wine and the intoxication of love he bore her. Presently she said to the
slave-girl, "O Marjánah[188]! bring us some instruments of music!" "To hear
is to obey," said the handmaid and going out, returned in the twinkling of an
eye with a Damascus lute,[189] a Persian harp, a Tartar pipe, and an Egyptian
dulcimer. The young lady took the lute and, after tuning each several string,

began in gentle undersong to sing, softer, than zephyr's wing and sweeter
than Tasmin[190]-spring, with heart safe and secure from everything the
couplets following:—
Allah assain those eyne! What streams of blood they shed! ✿ How many an arrowy glance those lids
of thine have sped.
I love all lovers who to lovers show them dure; ✿ Twere wrong to rue the love in wrong-head born
and bred:
Haply fall hapless eye for thee no sleeping kens! ✿ Heaven help the hapless heart by force of thee
misled!
Thou doomest me to death who art my king, and I ✿ Ransom with life the deemster who would
doom me dead.

Thereupon each and every of the maidens rose up and taking an instrument,
played and recited couplets in the Roumi tongue; then their mistress sang
also and seeing Sharrkan in ecstasies asked him, "O Moslem, dost thou
understand what I say?"; and he answered, "Nay, my ecstasy cometh from
the beauty of thy finger-tips." She laughed and continued, "If I sing to thee
in Arabic what wouldst thou do?" "I should no longer," quoth he, "be master
of my senses." Then she took an instrument and, changing the measure,
began singing these verses:—
The smack of parting's myrrh to me, ✿ How, then, bear patience' aloë?
I'm girt by ills in trinity ✿ Severance, distance, cruelty!
My freedom stole that fairest she, ✿ And parting irks me bitterly.

When she ended her verse, she looked at Sharrkan and found him lost to
existence, and he lay for a while stretched at full length and prone among
the maidens.[191] Then he revived and, remembering the songs, again
inclined to mirth and merriment; and the twain returned to their wine and
wassail, and continued their playing and toying, their pastime and pleasure
till day ceased illuminating and night drooped her wing. Then the damsel
went off to her dormitory and when Sharrkan asked after her they answered,
"She is gone to her sleeping-chamber," whereto he rejoined, "Under Allah's
ward and His good guard!" As soon as it was morning, a handmaid came to
him and said to him, "My mistress biddeth thee to her." So he rose and
followed her and, as he drew near her lodging, the damsels welcomed him
with smitten tabrets and songs of greeting, and led him through a great door
of ivory studded with pearls and jewels. Thence they passed with him into a
tall and spacious hall, at the upper end of which was a wide daïs carpeted
with all kinds of silks, and round it open lattices commanding a view of

trees and streams. About the saloon were figures carved in human form, and
fashioned on such wise that the air passed through them and set in motion
musical instruments within, so that the beholder would fancy they spoke.[192]
Here sat the young lady, looking at the figures; but when she saw Sharrkan,
she sprang to her feet and, taking him by the hand, made him sit down by
her side, and asked him how he had passed the night. He blessed her and the
two sat talking awhile till she asked him, "Knowest thou aught touching
lovers and slaves of love?"; and he answered "Yes! I wot somewhat in verse
on that matter." "Let me hear it," quoth she, so he began quoting:—
Pleasure and health, good cheer, good appetite ✿ To Azzah, freest with our name and fame!
By Allah! would I near her off she flies ✿ At tangent, granting less the more I claim:
I dote on Azzah, but when clear I off ✿ My rivals, clears me too that dearest dame;
Like wandering wight that chose for shade a cloud ✿ Which, ere siesta done, thin air became.

When she heard this she said, "Verily Al-Kuthayyir[193] was conspicuous for
sweet speech and chaste, and he was superlative in his praise of Azzah
when he sang (and she began to recite):—
"Did Azzah deal behest to Sun o' noon, ✿ The judge had 'judged her beauty's bestest boon;
And girls who come to me and carp at her, ✿ God make their rosy cheeks her sandal-shoon!"

"And indeed," quoth she, "'twas said that Azzah boasted exceeding beauty
and loveliness." Then she asked Sharrkan saying, "O Prince, dost thou
know aught of Jamíl's[194] verses to Buthaynah? if so repeat to us somewhat
of them;" and he answered, "Yes, I know them better than any;" whereupon
he began repeating these couplets:—
"Jamíl, in Holy war go fight!" to me they say: ✿ What war save fight for fair ones would I e'er essay?
To me their every word and work are mere delight, ✿ And martyrs clepe I all they slay in fight and
fray:
An ask I, "O Buthaynah! what's this love, I pray, ✿ Which eats my heart? quoth she "'Twill stay for
ever and aye!"
And when I cry, "Of wits return some small display ✿ For daily use," quoth she, "Far, far 'tis fled
away!"
Thou seekst my death; naught else thy will can satisfy ✿ While I no goal espy save thee and thee
alway.

"Thou hast spoken right well," said she, "O King's son, and Jamíl also
spoke excellently well. But what would Buthaynah have done with him that
he saith in his hemistich:—

Thou seekst my death; naught else thy will can satisfy?"

"O my lady," quoth Sharrkan, "she willed to do him what thou willest to do
with me, and even that will not satisfy thee." She laughed at his opportune
reply and they ceased not carousing till Day put out her light and Night
came in darkness dight. Then she rose and went to her dormitory and slept,
while Sharrkan slept in his place till morning dawned. As soon as he awoke,
the handmaids came to him with tabrets and other instruments of mirth and
merriment, as wont; and, kissing the ground between his hands, said to him,
"Bismillah!—in Allah's name—be so kind as to come[195]: our mistress
biddeth thee to her presence!" So he rose and accompanied the slave-girls
who surrounded him, playing on tabrets and other instruments of music, till
they passed from that saloon into another and a yet more spacious hall,
decorated with pictured likenesses and figures of birds and beasts, passing
all description. Sharrkan marvelled at the art and artifice of the place and
began reciting:—
He pluckt fruits of her necklace in rivalry, ✿ And her breast-pearls that bedded in gold-mine lie.
Pure water on silvern bars is her brow, ✿ And her cheeks show roses with rubies vie:
Meseems in her eyne that the violet's hue ✿ Lies purpling set in the Ithmid's[196] dye.

When the lady saw Sharrkan, she stood up to him in honour and, taking his
hand, seated him by her side and asked, "O son of King Omar bin al-
Nu'uman, hast thou any cunning in the game of chess?" "Yes," he answered,
"but do not thou with me as said the poet:—
I speak and longing love upties me and unties me; ✿ Till with her honey-dew of inner lip she plies
me:
I brought the chess-board and my liefest lover plays me ✿ With white and black,[197] but black-cum-
white ne'er satisfies me:
'Twas as if King for Castle I were fain to place me ✿ Till wilful loss of game atwixt two queens
surprise me:
And if I seek to read intent in eyes that eye me ✿ Oh man! that glance askance with hint of wish
defies me."

Then she brought the chess-board and played with him; but Sharrkan,
instead of looking at her moves, kept gazing at her fair mouth, and putting
knight in place of elephant and elephant[198] in stead of knight. She laughed
and said to him, "If thy play be after this fashion, thou knowest naught of
the game." "This is only our first," replied he, "judge not by this bout."
When she beat him he replaced the pieces in position and played again with

her; but she beat him a second time, a third, a fourth and a fifth. So she
turned to him and said, "Thou art beaten in everything;" and he replied, "O
my lady, how should one playing with the like of thee avoid being beaten?"
Then she bade bring food, and they ate and washed their hands; after which
the wine was set before them and they drank. Presently, she took the
dulcimer, for her hand was cunning in smiting it, and she began repeating to
an accompaniment these couplets:—
Twixt the close-tied and open-wide no medium Fortune knoweth; ✿ Now ebb and flow then flow and
ebb this wise her likeness showeth:
Then drink her wine the syne she's thine and smiling thou dost find her; ✿ Anon she'll fall and fare
away when all thy good forth goeth.

They ceased not to carouse till nightfall and this day was pleasanter even
than the first. When darkness set in, the lady betook her to her dormitory,
leaving him alone with the handmaids; so he threw himself on the ground
and slept till dawn, when the damsels came to him with tambourines and
other instruments according to custom. Seeing them he roused him hastily
and sat up; and they carried him to their mistress, who came to meet him
and, taking him by the hand, seated him by her side. Then she asked him
how he had passed his night, whereat he prayed that her life be prolonged;
and she took the lute and sang to it these verses which she improvised:—
Ne'er incline thee to part ✿ Which embitters the heart;
E'en the sun when he sets ✿ Shall in pallor depart.

While they were solacing themselves after this fashion, behold, there arose
a great and sudden clamour, and a confused crowd of knights and men
rushed in, holding drawn swords that glittered and gleamed in their hands,
and cried aloud in the Grecian tongue, "Thou hast fallen into our hands, O
Sharrkan, so make thee sure of death!" When he heard this, he said to
himself, "By Allah, she hath entrapped me and held me in play, till her men
should come. These are the Knights with whom she threatened me; but 'tis I
who have thrown myself into this strait." Then he turned towards the young
lady to reproach her, but saw that she had changed colour and her face was
pale; and she sprang to her feet and asked the crowd, "Who are ye?" "O
most gracious Princess and peerless union-pearl," answered the leading
Knight, "dost thou weet who is yon man by thy side?" "Not I," she replied,
"who may he be?" Quoth the Patrician, "This is of towns the highwayman!

This is he who rideth in the horseman's van! This is Sharrkan, son of King
Omar bin al-Nu'uman! This is he that forceth fortalice and penetrateth every
impregnable place! The news of him reached King Hardub, thy father, by
report of the ancient dame Zat al-Dawahi; and thy sire, our sovereign, hath
made sure that thou hast rendered good service to the army of the Greeks by
taking captive this ominous lion." When she heard this, she looked at the
Knight and asked him, "What be thy name?" and he answered, "I am
Masurah, son of thy slave Mausúrah bin Káshardah, Knight of Knights."
"And how?" quoth she, "durst thou enter my presence without leave?"
Quoth he, "O my lady, when I came to the gate, none forbade me, neither
chamberlain nor porter, but all the doorkeepers rose and forewent us as of
wont; although, when others come, they leave them standing at the gate
while they ask permission to admit them. But this is not a time for long
talking, when the King is expecting our return with this Prince, the
scorpion-sting[199] of the Islamitic host, that he may kill him and drive back
his men whither they came, without the bane of battling with them." "These
words be ill words," rejoined the Princess, "and Dame Zat al-Dawahi lied,
avouching an idle thing and a vain, whereof she weeteth not the truth; for
by the virtue of the Messiah, this man who is with me is not Sharrkan, nor
is he a captive, but a stranger who came to us seeking our hospitality, and I
made him my guest. So even were we assured that this be Sharrkan and
were it proved to us that it is he beyond a doubt, I say it would ill befit mine
honour that I should deliver into your hands one who hath entered under my
protection. So make me not a traitor to my guest and a disgrace among men;
but return to the King, my father, and kiss the ground before him, and
inform him that the case is contrariwise to the report of the Lady Zat al-
Dawahi." "O Abrizah," replied Masurah, the Knight, "I cannot return to the
King's majesty without his debtor and enemy." Quoth she (and indeed she
had waxed very wroth), "Out on thee! Return to him with my answer, and
no blame shall befal thee!" Quoth Masurah, "I will not return without him."
Thereupon her colour changed and she exclaimed, "Exceed not in talk and
vain words; for verily this man had not come in to us, were he not assured
that he could of himself and single-handed make head against an hundred
riders; and if I said to him:—Thou art Sharrkan, son of King Omar bin al-
Nu'uman, he would answer, Yes. But 'tis not of your competence to let or
hinder him; for if you so do, he will not turn back from you till he hath slain
all that are in this place. Behold, here he is by my side, and I will bring him

before you sword and targe in hand." "Albeit I were safe from thy wrath,"
answered Masurah the Knight, "I am not safe from that of thy father, and
when I see him, I shall sign to the Knights to take him captive, and we will
carry him to the King bound and in abject sort." When she heard this, she
said, "The matter shall not pass thus, for 'twould be blazoning mere folly.
This man is but one and ye are an hundred Knights: so if you would attack
him come out against him, one after one, that it may appear to the King
which is the valiant amongst you."——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn
of day and ceased to say her permitted say.

Now when it was the Fiftieth Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Princess Abrizah said
to the Knight, "This man is but one, and ye are an hundred: so if ye would
attack him, come out against him, one after one, that it may appear to the
King which is the valiant." Quoth Masurah, the Knight, "By the truth of the
Messiah, thou sayest sooth, and none but I shall sally out against him first."
Quoth she, "Wait till I go to him and acquaint him with the case and hear
what answer he will make. If he consent, 'tis well; but if he refuse, ye shall
on no wise come to him, for I and my handmaids and whosoever is in the
convent will be his ransom." So she went to Sharrkan and told him the
news, whereat he smiled and knew that she had not informed any of the
Emirs; but that tidings of him had been bruited and blazed abroad, till the
report reached the King, against her wish and intent. So he again began
reproaching himself and said, "How came I to adventure and play with my
life by coming to the country of the Greeks?" But hearing the young lady's
proposal he said to her, "Indeed their onset, one after one, would be
overburdensome to them. Will they not come out against me, ten by ten?"
"That would be villeiny," said she; "Let one have at one." When he heard
this, he sprang to his feet and made for them with his sword and battle-gear;
and Masurah, the Knight, also sprang up and bore down upon him.
Sharrkan met him like a lion and delivered a shoulder cut[200] which clove
him to the middle, and the blade came out gleaming and glittering from his
back and bowels. When the lady beheld that swashing blow, Sharrkan's
might was magnified in her sight and she knew that when she overthrew
him in the wrestle it was not by her strength but by her beauty and

loveliness. So she turned to the Knights and said, "Take wreak for your
chief!" Thereupon out came the slain man's brother, a fierce and furious
Knight, and rushed upon Sharrkan, who delayed not, but smote him also
with the shoulder-cut and the sword came out glittering from his vitals.
Then cried the Princess, "O ye servants of the Messiah, avenge your
comrade!" So they ceased not charging down upon him, one after one; and
Sharrkan also ceased not playing upon them with the blade, till he had slain
fifty knights, the lady looking on the while. And Allah cast a panic into the
hearts of the survivors, so that they held back and dared not meet him in the
duello, but fell upon him in a body; and he laid on load with heart firmer
than a rock, and smote them and trod them down like straw under the
threshing-sled,[201] till he had driven sense and soul out of them. Then the
Princess called aloud to her damsels, saying, "Who is left in the convent?";
and they replied, "None but the gate-keepers;" whereupon she went up to
Sharrkan and took him to her bosom, he doing the same, and they returned
to the palace, after he had made an end of the melée. Now there remained a
few of the Knights hiding from him in the cells of the monastery, and when
the Princess saw this she rose from Sharrkan's side and left him for a while,
but presently came back clad in closely-meshed coat of ring-mail and
holding in her hand a fine Indian scymitar. And she said, "Now by the truth
of the Messiah, I will not be a niggard of myself for my guest; nor will I
abandon him though for this I abide a reproach and a byword in the land of
the Greeks." Then she took reckoning of the dead and found that he had
slain fourscore of the Knights, and other twenty had taken to flight.[202]
When she saw what work he had made with them she said to him, "Allah
bless thee, O Sharrkan! The Cavaliers may well glory in the like of thee."
Then he rose and wiping his blade clean of the blood of the slain began
reciting these couplets:—
How oft in the mellay I've cleft the array, ✿ And given their bravest to lions a prey:
Ask of me and of them when I proved me prow ✿ O'er creation, on days of the foray and fray:
When I left in the onslaught their lions to lie ✿ On the sands of the lowlands[203] in fieriest day.

When he ended his verse, the Princess came up to him with smiles and
kissed his hand; then she doffed her hauberk and he said to her, "O lady
mine, wherefore didst thou don that coat of mail and bare thy brand?" "To
guard thee against these caitiffs,"[204] she replied. Then she summoned the
gate-keepers and asked them, "How came ye to admit the King's Knights

into my dwelling without leave of me?"; and they answered, "O Princess, it
is not our custom to ask leave of thee for the King's messengers, and
especially for the chief of his Knights." Quoth she, "I think ye were minded
only to disgrace me and murder my guest;" and bade Sharrkan smite their
necks. He did so and she cried to the rest of her servants, "Of a truth, they
deserved even more than that!" Then turning to Sharrkan, she said to him,
"Now that there hath become manifest to thee what was concealed, thou
shalt be made acquainted with my history. Know, then, that I am the
daughter of King Hardub of Roum; my name is Abrizah and the ancient
dame, yclept Zat al-Dawahi, is my grandmother by the sword side. She it
certainly is who told my father of thee, and as surely she will compass a
sleight to slay me, more by token as thou hast slain my father's chivalry and
it is noised abroad that I have separated myself from the Nazarenes and
have become no better than I should be with the Moslems. Wherefore it
were wiser that I leave this dwelling while Zat al-Dawahi is on my track;
but I require of thee the like kindness and courtesy I have shown thee, for
enmity will presently befal between me and my father on thine account. So
do not thou neglect to do aught that I shall say to thee, remembering all this
betided me not save by reason of thee." Hearing her words, Sharrkan joyed
greatly; his breast broadened and his wits flew from him for delight, and he
said, "By Allah, none shall come at thee, while life is in my bosom! But
hast thou patience to bear parting from thy parents and thy people?" "Even
so," she answered; and Sharrkan swore to her and the two plighted their
troth. Then said she, "Now is my heart at ease; but there remaineth one
other condition for thee." "What is it?" asked he and she answered, "It is
that thou return with thy host to thine own country." Quoth he, "O lady
mine, my father, King Omar bin al-Nu'uman, sent me to wage war upon thy
sire, on account of the treasure he plundered from the King of
Constantinople, and amongst the rest three great jewels, noted givers of
good fortune." Quoth she, "Cheer thy heart and clear thine eyes: I will tell
thee the whole of the tale and the cause of our feud with the King of
Constantinople. Know that we have a yearly festival, hight the Convent-
Feast, whereat Kings from all quarters and the noblest women are wont to
congregate; thither also come merchants and traders with their wives and
families, and the visitors abide there seven days. I was wont to be one of
them; but, when there befel enmity between us, my father forbade me to be
present at the festival for the space of seven years. One year, it chanced that

amongst the daughters of the great who resorted to the patron, as was their
custom, came a daughter of the King of Constantinople, a beautiful girl
called Sophia. They tarried at the monastery six days and on the seventh the
folk went their ways;[205] but Sophia said, I will not return to Constantinople
save by water. So they equipped for her a ship in which she embarked with
her suite; and making sail they put out to sea; but as they were voyaging
behold, a contrary wind caught them and drove the vessel from her course
till, as Fate and Fortune would have it, she fell in with a Nazarene craft
from the Camphor Island[206] carrying a crew of five hundred armed Franks,
who had been cruising about a long time. When they sighted the sails of the
ship, wherein Sophia and her women were, they gave chase in all haste and
in less than an hour they came up with her, when they laid the grappling-
irons aboard her and captured her. Then taking her in tow they made all sail
for their own island and were but a little distant from it when the wind
veered round and, splitting their sails, drove them on to a shoal which lies
off our coast. Thereupon we sallied forth and, looking on them as spoil
driven to us by Fate,[207] boarded and took them; and, slaying the men, made
prize of the wreck, wherein we found the treasures and rarities in question
and forty maidens, amongst whom was the King's daughter, Sophia. After
the capture we carried the Princess and her women to my father, not
knowing her to be a daughter of King Afridun of Constantinople; and he
chose out for himself ten including her; and divided the rest among his
dependants. Presently he set apart five damsels, amongst whom was the
King's daughter, and sent them to thy father, King Omar bin al-Nu'uman,
together with other gifts, such as broadcloth[208] and woollen stuffs and
Grecian silks. Thy father accepted them and chose out from amongst the
five girls Sophia, daughter of King Afridun; nor did we hear more of her till
the beginning of this year, when her father wrote to my father in words
unfitting for me to repeat, rebuking him with menaces and saying to him:—
Two years ago, you plundered a ship of ours which had been seized by a
band of Frankish pirates in which was my daughter Sophia, attended by her
maidens numbering some threescore. Yet ye informed me not thereof by
messenger or otherwise; nor could I make the matter public, lest reproach
befal me amongst the Kings, by reason of my daughter's honour. So I
concealed my case till this year, when I wrote to certain Frankish corsairs
and sought news of my daughter from the Kings of the Isles. They replied:
—By Allah we carried her not forth of thy realm; but we have heard that

King Hardub rescued her from certain pirates. And they told me the whole
tale. Then he added in the writing which he writ to my father:—Except you
wish to be at feud with me and design to disgrace me and dishonour my
daughter, you will, the instant my letter reacheth you, send my daughter
back to me. But if you slight my letter and disobey my commandment, I
will assuredly make you full return for your foul dealing and the baseness
of your practices.[209] When my father read this letter and understood the
contents,[210] it vexed him and he regretted not having known that Sophia,
King Afridun's daughter, was among the captured damsels, that he might
have sent her back to her sire; and he was perplexed about the case because,
after so long a time, he could not send to King Omar bin al-Nu'uman and
demand her back from him, especially as he had lately heard that Heaven
had granted him boon of babe by this Sophia. So when we pondered that
truth, we knew that this letter was none other than a grievous calamity; and
my father found nothing for it but to write an answer to King Afridun,
making his excuses and swearing to him by strong oaths that he knew not
his daughter to be among the bevy of damsels in the ship and setting forth
how he had sent her to King Omar bin al-Nu'uman, who had gotten the
blessing of issue by her. When my father's reply reached King Afridun he
rose up and sat down,[211] and roared and foamed at the mouth crying:—
What! shall he take captive my daughter and even her with slave-girls and
pass her on from hand to hand sending her for a gift to Kings, and they lie
with her without marriage-contract? By the Messiah and the true Faith, said
he, I will not desist till I have taken my blood-vengeance for this and have
wiped out my shame; and indeed I will do a deed which the chroniclers
shall chronicle after me! So he bided his time till he devised a device and
laid notable toils and snares, when he sent an embassy to thy father, King
Omar, to tell him that which thou hast heard: accordingly thy father
equipped thee and an army with thee and sent thee to King Afridun, whose
object is to seize thee and thine army to boot. As for the three jewels
whereof he told thy father when asking his aid, there was not one soothfast
word in that matter, for they were with Sophia, his daughter; and my father
took them from her, when he got possession of her and of her maidens, and
gave them to me in free gift, and they are now with me. So go thou to thy
host and turn them back ere they be led deep into, and shut in by, the land of
the Franks and the country of the Greeks; for as soon as you have come far
enough into their interior, they will stop the roads upon you and there will

be no escape for you till the Day of retribution and retaliation. I know that
thy troops are still halting where thou leftest them, because thou didst order
a three days' rest; withal they have missed thee all this time and they wot
not what to do." When Sharrkan heard her words, he was absent awhile in
thought; then he kissed Princess Abrizah's hand and said, "Praise be to
Allah who hath bestowed thee on me and appointed thee to be the cause of
my salvation and the salvation of whoso is with me! But 'tis grievous to me
to part from thee and I know not what will become of thee after my
departure." "Go now to thine army," she replied, "and turn them back, while
ye are yet near your own country. If the envoys be still with them, lay hands
on them and keep them, that the case may be made manifest to you; and,
after three days, I will be with you all and we will enter Baghdad together."
As he turned to depart she said, "Forget not the compact which is between
me and thee;" then she rose to bid[212] him farewell and embrace him and
quench the fire of desire, so she took leave of him and, throwing her arms
round his neck, wept with exceeding weeping, and repeated these verses:—
I bade adieu, my right hand wiped my tears away, ✿ The while my left hand held her in a close
embrace:
"Fearest thou naught," quoth she, "of shame?" I answered "Nay, ✿ The lover's parting day is lover's
worst disgrace."

Then Sharrkan left her and walked down from the convent. They brought
his steed, so he mounted and rode down-stream to the drawbridge which he
crossed and presently threaded the woodland paths and passed into the open
meadow. As soon as he was clear of the trees he was aware of horsemen
which made him stand on the alert, and he bared his brand and rode
cautiously; but as they drew near and exchanged curious looks he
recognized them and behold, it was the Wazir Dandan and two of his Emirs.
When they saw him and knew him, they dismounted and saluting him,
asked the reason of his absence; whereupon he told them all that had passed
between him and Princess Abrizah from first to last. The Wazir returned
thanks to Almighty Allah for his safety and said,[213] "Let us at once leave
these lands; for the envoys who came with us are gone to inform the King
of our approach, and haply he will hasten to fall on us and take us
prisoners." So Sharrkan cried to his men to saddle and mount, which they
did and, setting out at once, they stinted not faring till they reached the sole
of the valley wherein the host lay. The Ambassadors meanwhile had
reported Sharrkan's approach to their King, who forthright equipped a host

to lay hold of him and those with him. But Sharrkan, escorted by the Wazir
Dandan and the two Emirs, had no sooner sighted the army, than he raised
the cry "March! March!" They took horse on the instant and fared through
the first day and second and third day, nor did they cease faring for five
days; at the end of which time they alighted in a well-wooded valley, where
they rested awhile. Then they again set out and stayed not riding for five
and twenty days which placed them on the frontiers of their own country.
Here, deeming themselves safe, they halted to rest; and the country people
came out to them with guest-gifts for the men and provender and forage for
the beasts. They tarried there two days after which, as all would be making
for their homes, Sharrkan put the Wazir Dandan in command, bidding him
lead the host back to Baghdad. But he himself remained behind with an
hundred riders, till the rest of the army had made one day's march: then he
called "To horse!" and mounted with his hundred men. They rode on two
parasangs'[214] space till they arrived at a gorge between two mountains and
lo! there arose before them a dark cloud of sand and dust. So they checked
their steeds awhile till the dust opened and lifted, discovering beneath it an
hundred cavaliers, lion-faced and in mail-coats cased. As soon as they drew
within earshot of Sharrkan and his meiny they cried out to them, saying,
"By the virtue of John and Mary, we have won to our wish! We have been
following you by forced marches, night and day, till we forewent you to this
place. So dismount and lay down your arms and yield yourselves, that we
may grant you your lives." When Sharrkan heard this, his eyes stood out
from his head and his cheeks flushed red and he said "How is it, O
Nazarene dogs, ye dare enter our country and overmarch our land? And
doth not this suffice you, but ye must adventure your selves and address us
in such unseemly speech? Do you think to escape out of our hands and
return to your country?" Then he shouted to his hundred horsemen, "Up and
at these hounds, for they even you in number!" So saying, he bared his
sabre and bore down on them, he and his, but the Franks met them with
hearts firmer than rocks, and wight clashed against wight, and knight
dashed upon knight, and hot waxed the fight, and sore was the affright, and
nor parley nor cries of quarter helped their plight; and they stinted not to
charge and to smite, right hand meeting right, nor to hack and hew with
blades bright-white, till day turned to night and gloom oppressed the sight.
Then they drew apart and Sharrkan mustered his men and found none
wounded save four only, who showed hurts but not death-hurts. Said he to

them, "By Allah, my life long have I waded in the clashing sea of fight and
I have met many a gallant sprite, but none so unfrightened of the sword that
smites and the shock of men that affrights like these valiant Knights!"
"Know, O King," said they, "that there is among them a Frankish cavalier
who is their leader and, indeed, he is a man of valour and fatal is his spear-
thrust: but, by Allah, he spares us great and small; for whoso falls into his
hands he lets him go and forbears to slay him. By Allah, had he willed he
had killed us all." Sharrkan was astounded when he heard what the Knight
had done and such high report of him, so he said, "When the morn shall
morrow, we will draw out and defy them, for we are an hundred to their
hundred; and we will seek aid against them from the Lord of the Heavens."
So they rested that night in such intent; whilst the Franks gathered round
their Captain and said, "Verily this day we did not win our will of these;"
and he replied, "At early dawn when the morrow shall morn, we will draw
out and challenge them, one after one." They also rested in that mind, and
both camps kept guard until Almighty Allah sent the light of day-dawn.
Thereupon King Sharrkan and his hundred riders took horse and rode forth
to the plain, where they found the Franks ranged in line of battle; and
Sharrkan said to his followers, "Our foes have determined like ourselves to
do their devoir; so up and at them and lay on load." Then came forth an
Herald of the Franks and cried out, saying, "Let there be no general
engagement betwixt us this day, save by the duello, a champion of yours
against a champion of ours." Whereupon one of Sharrkan's riders dashed
out from the ranks and drave between the two lines crying, "Ho! who is for
smiting? Let no dastard engage me this day nor nidering!" Hardly had he
made an end of his vaunt, when there sallied forth to him a Frankish
cavalier, armed cap-à-pie and clad in a surcoat of gold stuff, riding on a
grey-white steed,[215] and he had no hair on his cheeks. He urged his charger
on to the midst of the battle-plain and the two fell to derring-do of cut and
thrust, but it was not long before the Frank foined the Moslem with the
lance-point; and, toppling him from his steed, took him prisoner and led
him off crestfallen. His folk rejoiced in their comrade and, forbidding him
to go out again to the field, sent forth another, to whom sallied out another
Moslem, brother to the captive, and offered him battle. The two fell to,
either against other, and fought for a little while, till the Frank bore down
upon the Moslem and, falsing him with a feint, tumbled him by a thrust of
the lance-heel from his destrier and took him prisoner. After this fashion the

Moslems ceased not dashing forwards, one after one, and the Franks to
unhorse them and take them captive, till day departed and the night with
darkness upstarted. Now they had captured of the Moslems twenty
cavaliers, and when Sharrkan saw this, it was grievous to him and he
mustered his men and said to them, "What is this thing that hath befallen
us? To-morrow, I myself will go forth to the field and offer singular combat
to their chief and learn what is the cause of his entering our land and warn
him against doing battle with our band. If he persist, we will punish him
with death, and if he prove peaceable we will make peace with him." They
nighted on this wise till Allah Almighty caused the morn to dawn, when
mounted the twain and drew up for battle fain; and Sharrkan was going
forth to the plain, but behold, more than one half of the Franks dismounted
and remained on foot before one of them who was mounted, till they
reached the midst of the battle-plain. Sharrkan looked at that horseman and
lo! he was their chief. He was clad in a surcoat of blue satin and a close-
ringed mail shirt; his face was as the moon when it rises and no hair was
upon his cheeks. He hent in hand an Indian scymitar and he rode a sable
steed with a white blaze on brow, like a dirham; and he smote the horse
with heel till he stood almost in the midst of the field when, signing to the
Moslems, he cried out in fluent Arab speech, "Ho, Sharrkan! Ho, son of
Omar bin al-Nu'uman! Ho, thou who forcest fortalice and overthrowest
cities and countries! up and out to battle-bout, and blade single-handed
wield with one who halves with thee the field! Thou art Prince of thy people
and I am Prince of mine; and whoso overcometh his adversary, him let the
other's men obey and come under his sway." Hardly had he ended his
speech, when out came Sharrkan with a heart full of fury, and urging his
steed into the midst of the field, closed like a raging lion with the Frank
who encountered him with wariness and steadfastness and met him with the
meeting of warriors. Then they fell to foining and hewing, and they stinted
not of onset and offset, and give and take, as they were two mountains
clashing together or two seas together dashing; nor did they cease fighting
until day darkened and night starkened. Then they drew apart and each
returned to his own party; but as soon as Sharrkan foregathered with his
comrades, he said, "Never looked I on the like of this cavalier: he hath one
quality I have not yet seen in any and this it is that, when his foemen
uncovereth a place for the death-blow, he reverseth his weapon and smiteth
with the lance-heel! In very deed I know not what will be the issue 'twixt

him and me; but 'tis my wish that we had in our host his like and the like of
his men." Then he went to his rest for the night and, when morning dawned,
the Frank came forth and rode down to the mid-field, where Sharrkan met
him; and they fell to fighting and to wheeling, left and right; and necks were
stretched out to see the sight, nor did they stint from strife and sword-play
and lunge of lance with main and might, till the day turned to night and
darkness overwhelmed the light. Then the twain drew asunder and returned
each to his own camp, where both related to their comrades what had
befallen them in the duello; and at last the Frank said to his men, "To-
morrow shall decide the matter!" So they both passed that night restfully till
dawn; and, as soon as it was day, they mounted and each bore down on
other and ceased not to fight till half the day was done. Then the Frank
bethought him of a ruse; first urging his steed with heel and then checking
him with the rein, so that he stumbled and fell with his rider; thereupon
Sharrkan threw himself on the foe, and would have smitten him with the
sword fearing lest the strife be prolonged, when the Frank cried out to him,
"O Sharrkan, champions are not wont to do thus! This is the act of a man
accustomed to be beaten by a woman."[216] When Sharrkan heard this, he
raised his eyes to the Frank's face and gazing steadfastly at him, recognized
in him Princess Abrizah with whom that pleasant adventure had befallen
him in the convent; whereupon he cast brand from hand and, kissing the
earth before her, asked her, "What moved thee to a deed like this?"; and she
answered, "I desired to prove thy prowess afield and test thy doughtiness in
tilting and jousting. These that are with me are my handmaids, and they are
all clean maids; yet they have vanquished thy horsemen in fair press and
stress of plain; and had not my steed stumbled with me, thou shouldst have
seen my might and prowess in combat." Sharrkan smiled at her speech and
said, "Praise be to Allah for safety and for my reunion with thee, O Queen
of the age." Then she cried out to her damsels to loose the twenty captives
of Sharrkan's troop and dismount. They did as she bade and came and
kissed the earth before her and Sharrkan who said to them, "It is the like of
you that Kings keep in store for the need-hour." Then he signed to his
comrades to salute the Princess; so all alighted and kissed the earth before
her, for they knew the story. After this, the whole two hundred took horse,
and fared on night and day for six days' space, till they drew near to
Baghdad, when they halted and Sharrkan bade Abrizah and her handmaids

doff the Frankish garb that was on them——And Shahrazad perceived the
dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.

Now when it was the Fifty-first Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Sharrkan bade
Princess Abrizah and her damsels doff the garb that was on them and don
the garments of daughters of Greece; and thus did they. Then he despatched
a company of his companions to Baghdad to acquaint his father Omar bin
al-Nu'uman, with his arrival and report that he was accompanied by
Princess Abrizah, daughter of King Hardub, Lord of Græcia-land. They
halted forthright in the place they had reached, and Sharrkan also halted and
all nighted there; and when Almighty Allah made morning dawn, Sharrkan
and his company and Abrizah and her company took horse and fared on
towards the city; when lo! on the way they met the Wazir Dandan, who had
come out amongst a thousand horse, to honour Abrizah and Sharrkan, by
especial commandment of King Omar Son of Al-Nu'uman. When the two
drew near, they turned towards them and kissed ground before them; then
they mounted again and escorted them into the city and went up with them
to the palace. Sharrkan walked in to his father, who rose and embraced him
and questioned him of his case. So he told him all that Abrizah had told
him, and what had passed between them and said, "She hath parted from
her sire and departed from her reign and hath chosen to take part with us
and to make her abode with us; and indeed (he said to his father) the King
of Constantinople hath plotted to do us a mischief, because of his daughter
Sophia, for that the King of Greece had made known to him her story and
the cause of her being given to thee; and he (the Grecian King) not knowing
her to be daughter of King Afridun, Lord of Constantinople; and, had he
known that, he would not have bestowed her upon thee, but he would have
restored her to her parent. And of a verity (he continued) we were saved
from these perils only by the Lady Abrizah, and never saw we a more
valiant than she." And he went on to tell his father all that had passed from
first to last of the wrestling and the single-fighting. When King Omar heard
the story of Sharrkan, Abrizah was exalted in his eyes, and he longed to see
her and question her. Thereupon Sharrkan went out to her and said, "The
King calleth for thee;" she replied, "I hear and I obey;" and he took her and

brought her in to his father, who was seated on his throne and who, having
dismissed his high officers, was attended only by his eunuchs. The Princess
entered and kissing the ground between his hands, saluted him in choice
terms. He was amazed at her eloquent speech and thanked her for her
dealing with his son Sharrkan and bade her be seated. So she sat down and
unveiled her face;[217] and, when the King saw her beauty, his reason fled his
head and he made her draw near and showed her favour, appointing her an
especial palace for herself and her damsels, and assigning them solde and
allowances. Then began he to ask her of the three jewels aforesaid, and she
answered, "Here be they with me, O King of the age!" So saying, she rose
and going to her lodging, unpacked her baggage and from it brought out a
box and from the box a casket of gold. She opened the casket and taking out
those three jewels, kissed them and gave them to the King. Then she went
away bearing his heart with her. After her going the King sent for his son
Sharrkan and gave him one jewel of the three, and when he enquired of the
other two replied, "O my son! I mean to give one to thy brother Zau al-
Makan, and the other to thy sister Nuzhat al-Zaman." But when Sharrkan
heard that he had a brother (for to that time he knew only of his sister) he
turned to his sire and said to him, "O King, hast thou a son other than
myself?" He answered, "Yes, and he is now six years old;" adding that his
name was Zau al-Makan and that he and Nuzhat al-Zaman were twins, born
at a birth. This news was grievous to Sharrkan, but he kept his secret and
said, "The blessing of Allah Most High be upon them!"; and he cast the
jewel from his hand and shook the dust off his clothes. Quoth the King,
"How do I see thee change thy manner when hearing of this, considering
that after me thou becomest heir of the kingdom. Of a truth the troops have
sworn to thee and the Emirs and Grandees have taken the oath of succession
to thee; and this one of the three jewels is thine." Sharrkan bowed his head
to the ground and was ashamed to bandy words with his parent so he
accepted the jewel and went away, knowing not what to do for exceeding
wrath, and stayed not walking till he had entered Abrizah's palace. As he
approached she stood up to meet him and thanked him for what he had done
and prayed for blessings on him and his sire. Then she sat down and seated
him by her side; but when he had taken his place she saw rage in his face
and questioned him, whereupon he told her that Allah had blessed his father
with two children by Sophia, a boy and a girl, and that he had named the
boy Zau al-Makan and the girl Nuzhat al-Zaman; adding, "He hath kept the

other two jewels for them and hath given me one of thine, so I left it behind;
I knew naught of Zau al-Makan's birth till this day, and the twain are now
six years old. So when I learnt this, wrath possessed me; and I tell thee the
reason of my rage and hide nothing from thee. But now I fear lest my father
take thee to wife, for he loveth thee and I saw in him signs of desire for
thee: so what wilt thou say, if he wish this?" Quoth she, "Know, O
Sharrkan, that thy father hath no dominion over me, nor can he have me
without my consent; and if he prevail over me by force, I will take my own
life. As for the three jewels, it was not my intent that he should give any of
them to either of his children and I had no thought but that he would lay
them up in his treasury with his things of price; but now I desire of thy
favour that thou make me a present of the jewel which he gave thee, if thou
have accepted it." "Hearkening and obedience," replied Sharrkan, and gave
it to her. Then said she, "Fear nothing," and talked with him awhile and
continued, "I fear lest my father hear that I am with you and sit not patiently
under my loss, but do his endeavours to find me; and to that end he may
ally himself with King Afridun, on account of his daughter Sophia, and both
come on thee with armies and so there befal great turmoil." When Sharrkan
heard these words, he said to her, "O my lady, if it please thee to sojourn
with us, take no thought of them; though there gather together against us all
that be on land and on sea." "'Tis well," rejoined she; "if ye entreat me fair, I
will tarry with you, and if ye deal evilly by me, I will depart from you."
Then she bade her slave-maidens bring food; so they set the tables, and
Sharrkan ate a little and went away to his own house, disturbed and
perturbed. Such was his case; but regarding the affairs of his father, Omar
bin al-Nu'uman, after dismissing his son Sharrkan he arose and, taking the
other two jewels, betook himself to the Lady Sophia, who stood up when
she saw him and remained standing till he was seated. Presently, his two
children, Zau al-Makan and Nuzhat al-Zaman, came to him and he kissed
them and hung a jewel round each one's neck, at which they rejoiced and
kissed his hands. Then went they to their mother, who joyed in their joy and
wished the King long life; so he asked her, "Why hast thou not informed me
all this time that thou art the daughter of King Afridun, Lord of
Constantinople, that I might have honoured thee still more and enlarged
thee in dignity and raised thy rank?" "O King," answered Sophia, "and what
could I desire greater or higher than this my standing with thee,
overwhelmed as I am with thy favours and thy benefits? And, furthermore,

Allah hath blessed me with two children by thee, a son and a daughter." Her
reply pleased the King and after leaving her, he set apart for her and her
children a wondrous fine palace. Moreover, he appointed for them eunuchs
and attendants and doctors of law and doctors of philosophy and astrologers
and physicians and surgeons to do them service; and in every way he
redoubled his favour and entreated them with the best of treatment. And
presently he returned to the palace of his dominion and to his Court where
he distributed justice among the lieges. So far concerning him and Sophia
and her children; but in the matter of Abrizah the King was greatly occupied
with love of her and burnt with desire of her night and day; and every night,
he would go in to her and converse with her and pay his court to her, but
she gave him no answer, only saying, "O King of the age! I have no desire
for men at this present." When he saw her withdraw from him, his passion
waxed hotter and his longing and pining increased until, when weary of
this, he summoned his Wazir Dandan and, opening his very heart to him,
told him of his love for Princess Abrizah, daughter of Hardub, and informed
him how she refused to yield to his wishes and how desire for her was
doing him to die, for that he could get no grace of her. The Wazir, hearing
these words, said to the King, "As soon as it is dark night, take thou a piece
of Bhang the measure of a miskal, about an ounce, and go in to her and
drink somewhat of wine with her. When the hour of ending the carousal
shall draw near, fill her a last cup and dropping therein the Bhang, give it to
her to drink, and she will not reach her sleeping-chamber ere the drug take
effect on her. Then do thou go in to her and take thy will of her; and such is
my advice."[218] "Thy rede is aright," quoth the King, and seeking his
treasury, he took thence a piece of concentrated Bhang, if an elephant smelt
it he would sleep from year to year. This he put in his bosom-pocket and
waited till some little of the night went by, when he betook himself to the
palace of Princess Abrizah, who seeing him stood up to receive him; but he
bade her sit down. So she sat down, and he sat by her, and he began to talk
with her of wine and wassail, whereupon she furnished the carousing-
table[219] and placed it before him. Then she set on the drinking vessels and
lighted the candles and ordered to bring dried fruits and sweetmeats and all
that pertaineth to drinking. So they fell to tippling and the King ceased not
to pledge her till drunkenness crept into her head; and seeing this he took
out the bit of Bhang from his pocket and, holding it between his fingers,
filled a cup with his own hand and drank it off. Then filling a second he

said, "To thy companionship!"; and dropped the drug into her cup, she
knowing naught of it. She took it and drank it off; then she rose and went to
her sleeping-chamber. He waited for less than an hour till he was assured
that the dose had taken effect on her and had robbed her of her senses, when
he went in to her and found her thrown on her back: and she had doffed her
petticoat-trousers and the air raised the skirt of her shift and discovered
what was between her thighs. When the King saw the state of things and
found a lighted candle at her head and another at her feet, shining upon
what her thighs enshrined he took leave of his five senses for lust and Satan
seduced him and he could not master himself, but put off his trousers and
fell upon her and abated her maidenhead. Then he rose off her and went to
one of her women, by name Marjánah, and said, "Go in to thy lady and
speak with her." So she went in to her mistress and found her lying on her
back insensible, with the blood running down to the calves of her legs,
whereupon she took a kerchief and wiped away the blood and lay by her
that night. As soon as Almighty Allah brought the dawn, the handmaid
Marjanah washed her mistress's hands and feet and brought rose-water and
bathed her face and mouth with it, whereupon she sneezed and yawned and
cast up from her inside that bit of Bhang like a bolus.[220] Then she revived
and washed her hands and mouth and said to Marjanah, "Tell me what hath
befallen me." So she told her what had passed and how she had found her,
lying on her back, with the blood running down, wherefore she knew that
King Omar bin al-Nu'uman had lain with her and had undone her and taken
his will of her. At this she grieved with exceeding grief and retired into
privacy, saying to her damsels, "Deny me to whoso would come in to me
and say to him that I am ill, till I see what Allah will do with me." Presently
the news of her sickness came to the King; so he sent her sherbets and sugar
electuaries. Some months she thus passed in solitude, during which time the
King's flame cooled and his desire for her was quenched, so that he
abstained from her. Now she had conceived by him, and when the months
of child-breeding had gone by, her pregnancy appeared and her belly
swelled, and the world was straitened upon her, so she said to her handmaid
Marjanah, "Know that it is not the folk who have wronged me, but I who
sinned against my own self[221] in that I left my father and mother and
country. Indeed, I abhor life, for my spirit is broken and neither courage nor
strength is left me. I used, when I mounted my steed, to have the mastery of
him, but now I am unable to ride. If I be brought to bed among them I shall

be dishonoured before my hand-women and every one in the palace will
know that he hath taken my maidenhead in the way of shame; and if I return
to my father, with what face shall I meet him or with what face shall I have
recourse to him? How well quoth the poet:—
Say, what shall solace one who hath nor home nor stable stead ✿ Nor cup-companion, nor a cup, nor
place to house his head?"

Marjanah answered her, "It is thine to command; I will obey;" and Abrizah
said, "I desire at once to leave this place secretly, so that none shall know of
me but thou; and return to my father and my mother, for when flesh
stinketh, there is naught for it but its own folk and Allah shall do with me
e'en as He will." "O Princess," Marjanah replied, "what thou wouldest do is
well." Then she made matters ready and kept her secret and waited for some
days till the King went out to chase and hunt, and his son Sharrkan betook
himself to certain of the fortresses to sojourn there awhile. Then said she to
Marjanah, "I wish to set out this night, but how shall I do against my
destiny? For already I feel the pangs of labour and child-birth, and if I abide
other four or five days, I shall be brought to bed here, and I shall be unable
to travel to my country. But this is what was written on my forehead." Then
she considered awhile, and said to Marjanah, "Look us out a man who will
go with us and serve us by the way, for I have no strength to bear arms."
"By Allah, O my lady," replied Marjanah, "I know none but a black slave
called Al-Ghazban,[222] who is one of the slaves of King Omar bin al-
Nu'uman; he is a valiant wight, and he keepeth guard at our palace gate.
The King appointed him to attend us, and indeed we have overwhelmed
him with our favours; so, look ye, I will go out and speak with him of this
matter, and promise him some monies and tell him that, if he have a mind to
tarry with us, I will marry him to whom he will. He told me before to-day
that he had been a highwayman; so if he consent to us we shall win our
wish and reach to our own land." She rejoined, "Call him, that I may talk
with him;" whereupon Marjanah fared forth and said to the slave, "O
Ghazban, Allah prosper thee, so thou fall in with what my lady saith to
thee!" Then she took him by the hand and brought him to the Princess,
whose hands he kissed, but as she beheld him, her heart took fright at him.
"However," she said to herself, "of a truth, Need giveth the law;" and she
approached to speak with him, yet her heart started away from him.
Presently she said, "O Ghazban, say me, wilt thou help me against the

perfidies of Fortune and conceal my secret if I discover it to thee?" When
the slave saw her, his heart was taken by storm and he fell in love with her
forthright and could not but reply, "O my mistress, whatsoever thou biddest
me do, I will not depart therefrom." Quoth she, "I would have thee take me
at this hour and take this my handmaid and saddle us two camels and two of
the King's horses and set on each horse a saddle-bag of goods and
somewhat of provaunt, and go with us to our own country; where, if thou
desire to abide with us, I will marry thee to her thou shalt choose of my
handmaidens; or, if thou prefer return to thine own land, we will marry thee
and give thee whatso thou desirest after thou hast taken of money what shall
satisfy thee." When Al-Ghazban heard this, he rejoiced with great joy and
replied, "O my lady, I will serve both of you with mine eyes and will go at
once and saddle the horses." Then he went away gladsome and saying to
himself, "I shall get my will of them; and if they will not yield to me, I will
kill them both and take their riches." But he kept this his intent to himself,
and presently returned with two camels and three head of horses, one of
which he rode, and Princess Abrizah made Marjanah mount the second, she
mounting the third, albeit she was in labour-pains and possessed not her
soul for anguish. And the slave ceased not travelling with them night and
day through the passes of the mountains, till there remained but a single
march between them and their own country; when the travail pangs came
upon Abrizah and she could no longer resist; so she said to Al-Ghazban,
"Set me down, for the pains of labour are upon me;" and cried to Marjanah,
"Do thou alight and sit by me and deliver me" Then Marjanah dismounted
from her horse, and Al-Ghazban did in like sort, and they made fast the
bridles and helped the Princess to dismount, for she was aswoon from
excess of anguish. When Al-Ghazban saw her on the ground, Satan entered
into him and he drew his falchion and brandishing it in her face, said, "O
my lady, vouchsafe me thy favours." Hearing these words she turned to him
and said, "It remaineth for me only that I yield me to negro slaves, after
having refused Kings and Braves!"——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn
of day and ceased to say her permitted say.

Now when it was the Fifty-second Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Princess Abrizah said
to the black slave Al-Ghazban, "It remaineth for me only that I yield me to
negro slaves, after having refused Kings and Braves!" And she was wroth
with him and cried, "Woe to thee! what words are these thou sayest? Out on
thee, and talk not thus in my presence and know that I will never consent to
what thou sayest, though I drink the cup of death. Wait till I have cast my
burden and am delivered of the after-birth, and then, if thou be able thereto,
do with me as thou wilt; but, an thou leave not lewd talk at this time,
assuredly I will slay myself with my own hand and quit the world and be at
peace from all this." And she began reciting extempore[223]:—
O spare me, thou Ghazban, indeed enow for me ✿ Are heavy strokes of time, mischance and misery!
Whoredom my Lord forfends to all humanity; ✿ Quoth He, "Who breaks my bidding Hell for home
shall see!"
And if thou leave not suing me to whoredom's way ✿ Against th' Almighty's choicest gift, my
chastity,
Upon my tribesmen I with might and main will call ✿ And gather all, however far or near they be;
And with Yamáni blade were I in pieces hewn, ✿ Ne'er shall he sight my face who makes for
villeiny,
The face of free-born come of noble folk and brave; ✿ What then can be to me the seed of whoreson
slave?

When Ghazban heard these lines he was wroth exceedingly; his eyes
reddened with blood and his face became a dusty-grey[224]; his nostrils
swelled, his lips protruded and the repulsiveness of his aspect redoubled.
And he repeated these couplets:—

Ho thou, Abrizah, mercy! leave me not for I ✿ Of thy love and Yamáni[225] glance the victim lie
My heart is cut to pieces by thy cruelty, ✿ My body wasted and my patience done to die:
From glances ravishing all hearts with witchery ✿ Reason far flies, the while desire to thee draws
nigh;
Though at thy call should armies fill the face of earth ✿ E'en now I'd win my wish and worlds in
arms defy!

When Abrizah heard these words, she wept with sore weeping and said to
him, "Woe to thee, O Ghazban! How dareth the like of thee to address me
such demand, O base-born and obscene-bred? Dost thou deem all folk are
alike?" When the vile slave heard this from her, he waxt more enraged and
his eyes grew redder: and he came up to her and smiting her with the sword
on her neck wounded her to the death. Then he drove her horse before him
with the treasure and made off with himself to the mountains. Such was the
case with Al-Ghazban; but as regards Abrizah, she gave birth to a son, like
the moon, and Marjanah took the babe and did him the necessary offices
and laid him by his mother's side; and lo and behold! the child fastened to
its mother's breast and she dying.[226] When Marjanah saw this, she cried out
with a grievous cry and rent her raiment and cast dust on her head and
buffeted her cheeks till blood flowed, saying, "Alas, my mistress! Alas, the
pity of it! Thou art dead by the hand of a worthless black slave, after all thy
knightly prowess!" And she ceased not weeping when suddenly a great
cloud of dust arose and walled the horizon[227]; but, after awhile, it lifted and
discovered a numerous conquering host. Now this was the army of King
Hardub, Princess Abrizah's father, and the cause of his coming was that
when he heard of his daughter and her handmaids having fled to Baghdad,
and that they were with King Omar bin al-Nu'uman, he had come forth,
leading those with him, to seek tidings of her from travellers who might
have seen her with the King. When he had gone a single day's march from
his capital, he espied three horsemen afar off and made towards them,
intending to ask whence they came and seek news of his daughter. Now
these three whom he saw at a distance were his daughter and Marjanah and
the slave Al-Ghazban; and he made for them to push enquiry. Seeing this
the villain blackamoor feared for himself; so he killed Abrizah and fled for
his life. When they came up, King Hardub saw his daughter lying dead and
Marjanah weeping over her, and he threw himself from his steed and fell
fainting to the ground. All the riders of his company, the Emirs and Wazirs,
took foot and forthright pitched their tents on the mountain and set up for

the King a great pavilion, domed and circular, without which stood the
grandees of the realm. When Marjanah saw her master, she at once
recognized him and her tears redoubled; and, when he came to himself, he
questioned her and she told him all that had passed and said, "Of a truth he
that hath slain thy daughter is a black slave belonging to King Omar bin al-
Nu'uman, and she informed him how Sharrkan's father had dealt with the
Princess." When King Hardub heard this, the world grew black in his sight
and he wept with sore weeping. Then he called for a litter and, therein
laying his dead daughter, returned to Cæsarea and carried her into the
palace, where he went in to his mother, Zat al-Dawahi, and said to that Lady
of Calamities, "Shall the Moslems deal thus with my girl? Verily King
Omar bin al-Nu'uman despoiled her of her honour by force, and after this,
one of his black slaves slew her. By the truth of the Messiah, I will
assuredly take blood-revenge for my daughter and clear away from mine
honour the stain of shame; else will I kill myself with mine own hand!" And
he wept passing sore. Quoth his mother, "None other than Marjanah killed
thy daughter, for she hated her in secret;" and she continued to her son,
"Fret not for taking the blood-wit of thy daughter, for, by the truth of the
Messiah, I will not turn back from King Omar bin al-Nu'uman till I have
slain him and his sons; and of a very truth I will do with him a deed,
passing the power of Sage and Knight, whereof the chroniclers shall tell
chronicles in all countries and in every place: but needs must thou do my
bidding in all I shall direct, for whoso be firmly set on the object of his
desire shall surely compass his desire." "By the virtue of the Messiah,"
replied he, "I will not cross thee in aught thou shalt say." Then quoth she,
"Bring me a number of handmaids, high-bosomed virgins, and summon the
wise men of the age and let them teach them philosophy and the rules of
behaviour before Kings, and the art of conversation and making verses; and
let them talk with them of all manner science and edifying knowledge. And
the sages must be Moslems, that they may teach them the language and
traditions of the Arabs, together with the history of the Caliphs and the
ancient annals of the Kings of Al-Islam; and if we persevere in this for four
years' space, we shall gain our case. So possess thy soul in patience and
wait; for one of the Arabs saith:—If we take man-bote after years forty the
time were short to ye. When we have taught the girls these things, we shall
be able to work our will with our foe, for he doteth on women and he hath
three hundred and sixty concubines, whereto are now added an hundred of

the flowers of thy handmaidens who were with thy daughter, she that hath
found mercy.[228] As soon as I have made an end of their education, as
described to thee, I will take them and set out with them in person." When
King Hardub heard his mother's words, he rejoiced and arose and kissed her
head; and at once despatched messengers and couriers to lands sundry and
manifold to fetch him Moslem sages. They obeyed his commands and fared
to far countries and thence brought him the sages and the doctors he sought.
When these came into presence, he honoured them with notable honours
and bestowed dresses on them and appointed to them stipends and
allowances and promised them much money whenas they should have
taught the damsels. Then he committed the handmaidens to their hands——
And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted
say.

Now when it was the Fifty-third Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the sages and
the doctors stood in presence of King Hardub, he honoured them with
notable honours and committed the handmaidens to their hands, enjoining
that these be instructed in all manner of knowledge, philosophy and polite
accomplishments; and they set themselves to do his bidding. Such was the
case with King Hardub; but as for King Omar bin al-Nu'uman, when he
returned from coursing and hunting and entered his palace, he sought
Princess Abrizah but found her not, nor any one knew of her nor could any
give him news of her. This was grievous to him and he said, "How could the
lady leave the palace unknown of any? Had my kingdom been at stake in
this case, it were in perilous condition there being none to govern it! I will
never again go to sport and hunt till I have stationed at the gates those who
shall keep good guard over them!" And he was sore vexed and his breast
was straitened for the loss of Princess Abrizah. Hereupon behold, his son
Sharrkan returned from his journey; and the father told him what had
happened, and informed him how the lady had fled, whilst he was chasing
and hunting, whereat he grieved with exceeding grief. Then King Omar
took to visiting his children every day and making much of them and
brought them learned men and doctors to teach them, appointing for them
stipends. When Sharrkan saw this, he raged with exceeding rage and envied

thereupon his brother and sister till the signs of chagrin appeared in his face
and he ceased not to languish by reason of this matter: so one day his father
said to him, "Why do I see thee grown weak in body and yellow of face?"
"O my father," replied Sharrkan, "every time I see thee fondle my brother
and sister and make much of them, jealousy seizeth on me, and I fear lest it
grow on me till I slay them and thou slay me in return. And this is the
reason of my weakness of body and change of complexion. But now I crave
of thy favour that thou give me one of thy castles outlying the rest, that I
may abide there the remnant of my life, for as the sayer of bywords saith:—
Absence from my friend is better and fitter for me; and, Whatso eye doth
not perceive, that garreth not heart to grieve." And he bowed his head
towards the ground. When King Omar bin al-Nu'uman heard his words and
knew the cause of his ailment and of his being broken down, he soothed his
heart and said to him, "O my son, I grant thee this and I have not in my
reign a greater than the Castle of Damascus, and the government of it is
thine from this time." Thereupon he forthright summoned his secretaries of
state and bade them write Sharrkan's patent of investiture to the viceroyalty
of Damascus of Syria. And when they had written it, he equipped him and
sent with him the Wazir Dandan, and invested him with the rule and
government and gave him instructions as to policy and regulations; and
took leave of him, and the grandees and officers of state did likewise, and
he set out with his host. When he arrived at Damascus, the townspeople
beat the drums and blew the trumpets and decorated the city and came out
to meet him in great state; whilst all the notables and grandees paced in
procession, and those who stood to the right of the throne walked on his
right flank, and the others to the left. Thus far concerning Sharrkan; but as
regards his father, Omar bin al-Nu'uman, soon after the departure of his son,
the children's tutors and governors presented themselves before him and
said to him, "O our lord, thy children have now learnt knowledge and they
are completely versed in the rules of manners and the etiquette of
ceremony." The King rejoiced thereat with exceeding joy and conferred
bountiful largesse upon the learned men, seeing Zau al-Makan grown up
and flourishing and skilled in horsemanship. This Prince had reached the
age of fourteen and he occupied himself with piety and prayers, loving the
poor, the Olema and the Koran-students, so that all the people of Baghdad
loved him, men and women. One day, the procession of the Mahmil[229] of
Irák passed round Baghdad before its departure for the pilgrimage to

Meccah and visitation of the tomb of the Prophet (whom Allah bless and
preserve!). When Zau al-Makan saw the Mahmil procession he was seized
with longing desire to become a pilgrim,[230] so he went in to his sire and
said, "I come to ask thy leave to make the pilgrimage." But his father
forbade him saying, "Wait till next year and I will go and thou too." When
the Prince saw that the matter was postponed, he betook himself to his sister
Nuzhat al-Zaman, whom he found standing at prayer. As soon as she had
ended her devotions he said to her, "I am dying with desire of pilgrimage to
the Holy House of Allah at Meccah and to visit the tomb of the Prophet,
upon whom be peace! I asked my father's leave, but he forbade me that, so I
mean to take privily somewhat of money and set out on the pilgrimage
without his knowledge." "Allah upon thee," exclaimed she, "take me with
thee and deprive me not of visitation to the tomb of the Prophet, whom
Allah bless and keep!" And he answered, "As soon as it is dark night, do
thou come forth from this place, without telling any." Accordingly, when it
was the middle of the night she arose and took somewhat of money and
donned a man's habit; and she ceased not walking to the palace-gate, where
she found Zau al-Makan with camels ready for marching. So he mounted
and mounted her; and the two fared on till they were in the midst of the
Iraki[231] pilgrim-party, and they ceased not marching and Allah wrote safety
for them, till they entered Meccah the Holy and stood upon Arafat and
performed the pilgrimage-rites. Then they made a visitation to the tomb of
the Prophet (whom Allah bless and assain!) and thought to return with the
pilgrims to their native land. But Zau al-Makan said to his sister, "O my
sister, it is in my mind to visit the Holy House,[232] Jerusalem, and Abraham
the Friend of Allah[233] (on whom be peace!)." "I also desire so to do,"
replied she. So they agreed upon this and he fared forth and took passage
for himself and her and they made ready and set out in the ship with a
company of Jerusalem palmers. That very night the sister fell sick of an
aguish chill, and was grievously ill, but presently recovered, after which the
brother also sickened. She tended him during his malady and they ceased
not wayfaring till they arrived at Jerusalem, but the fever increased on him
and he grew weaker and weaker. They alighted at a Khan and there hired a
lodging; but Zau al-Makan's sickness ceased not to increase on him, till he
was wasted with leanness and became delirious. At this, his sister was
greatly afflicted and exclaimed, "There is no Majesty and there is no Might
save in Allah, the Glorious, the Great! This is the decree of Allah!" They

sojourned in that place awhile, his weakness ever increasing and she
attending him and buying necessaries for him and for herself, till all the
money she had was expended and she became so poor that she had not so
much as a dirham left. Then she sent a servant of the Khan to the bazar with
some of her clothes, and he sold them and she spent the price upon her
brother; then sold she something more and she ceased not selling all she
had, piece by piece, till nothing was left but an old rug. Whereupon she
wept and exclaimed, "Verily is Allah the Orderer of the past and the future!"
Presently her brother said to her, "O my sister, I feel recovery drawing near
and my heart longeth for a little roast meat." "By Allah! O my brother,"
replied she, "I have no face to beg; but to-morrow I will enter some rich
man's house and serve him and earn somewhat for our living." Then she
bethought herself awhile and said, "Of a truth 'tis hard for me to leave thee
and thou in this state, but I must despite myself!" He rejoined, "Allah
forbid! Thou wilt be put to shame; but there is no Majesty and there is no
Might save in Allah!" And he wept and she wept too. Then she said, "O my
brother, we are strangers who have dwelt here a full year, but none hath yet
knocked at our door. Shall we then die of hunger? I know no resource but
that I go out and do service and earn somewhat to keep us alive, till thou
recover from thy sickness, when we will travel back to our native land."
She sat weeping awhile and he wept too, propped upon his elbow. Then
Nuzhat al-Zaman arose and, veiling her head with a bit of camlet,[234] which
had been of the cameleer's clothes and which the owner had forgotten and
left with them; she kissed the head of her brother and embraced him and
went forth from him, weeping and knowing not whither she should wend.
And she stinted not going and her brother Zau al-Makan awaiting her return
till the supper-time; but she came not, and he watched for her till the
morning morrowed but still she returned not; and this endured till two days
went by. He was greatly troubled thereat and his heart fluttered for her, and
hunger was sore upon him. At last he left the chamber and, calling the
servant of the caravanserai, said, "I wish thee to bear me to the bazar." So
he carried him to the market-street and laid him down there; and the people
of Jerusalem gathered round him and were moved to tears seeing his
condition. He signed to them begging for somewhat to eat; so they brought
him some money from certain of the merchants who were in the bazar, and
bought food and fed him therewith; after which they carried him to a shop,
where they spread him a mat of palm-leaves and set an ewer of water at his

head. When night fell, all the folk went away, sore concerned for him and,
in the middle of the night, he called to mind his sister and his sickness
redoubled on him, so that he abstained from eating and drinking and
became insensible to the world around him. Then the bazar-people arose
and took for him from the merchants thirty-seven dirhams, and hiring a
camel, said to the driver, "Carry this sick man to Damascus and leave him
in the hospital; haply he may be cured and recover health." "On my head be
it!" replied the camel-man; but he said to himself, "How shall I take this
sick man to Damascus, and he nigh upon death?" So he carried him away to
a place and hid with him till the night, when he threw him down on the ash-
heap near the fire-hole of a Hammam and went his way. When morning
dawned the Stoker[235] of the bath came to his work and, finding Zau al-
Makan cast on his back, exclaimed, "Why did they not throw their dead
body any where but here?" So saying, he gave him a kick and he moved;
whereupon quoth the Fireman, "Some one of you who hath eaten a bit of
Hashish and hath thrown himself down in whatso place it be!" Then he
looked at his face and saw his hairless cheeks and his grace and comeliness;
so he took pity on him and knew that he was sick and a stranger in the land.
And he cried, "There is no Majesty and there is no Might save in Allah!
verily, I have sinned against this youth, for indeed the Prophet (whom Allah
bless and keep!) enjoineth honour to the stranger, more especially when the
stranger is sick." Then he carried him home and went in with him to his
wife and bade her tend him. So she spread him a sleeping-rug and set a
cushion under his head, then warmed water for him and washed therewith
his hands and feet and face. Meanwhile, the Stoker went to the market and
bought some rose-water and sugar, and sprinkled Zau al-Makan's face with
the water and gave him to drink of the sherbet. Then he fetched a clean shirt
and put it on him. With this, Zau al-Makan sniffed the zephyr of health and
recovery returned to him; and he sat up and leant against the pillow. Hereat
the Fireman rejoiced and exclaimed, "Praise be to Allah for the welfare of
this youth! O Allah, I beseech Thee by Thy knowledge of hidden things,
that Thou make the salvation of this youth to be at my hands!"——And
Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.

Now when it was the Fifty-fourth Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Fireman
exclaimed, "O Allah, I beseech Thee of Thy knowledge of hidden things,
that thou make this young man's life the work of my hands!" And he ceased
not to nurse him for three days, giving him to drink of sherbet of sugar and
willow-flower water and rose-water; and doing him all manner of service
and kindness, till health began to return to his body and Zau al-Makan
opened his eyes. Presently came in the Fireman and, seeing him sitting up
and showing signs of amendment, said to him, "What is now thy state, O
my son?" "Praise be to Allah," replied Zau al-Makan, "I am well and like to
recover, if such be the will of Allah Almighty at this time." The Stoker
praised the Lord of All for this and, wending fast to the market, bought ten
chickens, which he carried to his wife and said, "Kill two of these for him
every day, one at dawn of day and the other at fall of day." So she rose up
and killed a fowl and brought it to him boiled, and fed him with the flesh
and made him drink its broth. When he had done eating, she fetched hot
water and he washed his hands and lay back upon the pillow, whereupon
she covered him up with the coverlet, and he slept till the time of the mid-
afternoon prayer. Then she arose and killed another fowl and boiled it; after
which she cut it up and, bringing it to Zau al-Makan, said, "Eat, O my son!"
While he was eating; behold, her husband entered and seeing her feeding
him, sat down at his head and said to him, "How is it with thee now, O my
son?" "Thanks be to Allah for recovery!" he replied: "may the Almighty
requite thee thy kindness to me." At this the Fireman rejoiced and going
out, bought sherbet of violets and rose-water and made him drink it. Now
the Stoker used to work at the Hammam all day for a wage of five dirhams,
whereof he spent every day, for Zau al-Makan, one dirham upon sugar and
sherbet of rose-water and willow-flower water,[236] and another dirham for
fowls; and he ceased not to entreat him thus kindly during a whole month,
till the traces of illness ceased from him and he was once more sound and
whole. Thereupon the Fireman and his wife rejoiced and asked him, "O my
son, wilt thou go with me to the bath?"; whereto he answered, "Yes!" So the
Stoker went to the bazar and fetched a donkey-boy, and he mounted Zau al-
Makan on the ass and supported him in the saddle till they came to the bath.
Then he made him sit down and seated the donkey-boy in the furnace-room
and went forth to the market and bought lote-leaves and lupin-flour,[237] with
which he returned to the bath and said to Zau al-Makan, "O my master, in
Allah's name, walk in and I will wash thy body." So they entered the inner

room of the bath, and the Fireman took to rubbing Zau al-Makan's legs and
began to wash his body with the leaves and meal, when there came to them
a bathman, whom the bath-keeper had sent to Zau al-Makan; and he, seeing
the Stoker washing and rubbing him, said, "This is doing injury to the
keeper's rights." Replied the Fireman, "The master overwhelmeth us with
his favours!" Then the bathman proceeded to shave Zau al-Makan's head,
after which he and the Stoker washed themselves and returned to the house,
where he clad Zau al-Makan in a shirt of fine stuff and a robe of his own;
and gave him a handsome turband and girdle and a light kerchief which he
wound about his neck. Meanwhile the Fireman's wife had killed and cooked
two chickens; so, as soon as Zau al-Makan entered and seated himself on
the carpet, the husband arose and, dissolving sugar in willow-flower water,
made him drink of it. Then he brought the food-tray and, cutting up the
chickens, fed him with the flesh and gave him the broth to drink till he was
satisfied; when he washed his hands and praised Allah for recovery, and
said to the Fireman, "Thou art he whom the Almighty vouchsafed to me and
made the cause of my cure!" "Leave this talk," replied the other, "and tell us
the cause of thy coming to this city and whence thou art. Thy face showeth
signs of gentle breeding." "Tell me first how thou camest to fall in with
me," said Zau al-Makan; "and after I will tell thee my story." Rejoined the
Fireman, "As for that, I found thee lying on the rubbish-heap by the door of
the fire-house, as I went to my work near the morning, and knew not who
had thrown thee there. So I carried thee home with me; and this is all my
tale." Quoth Zau al-Makan, "Glory to Him who quickeneth the bones,
though they be rotten! Indeed, O my brother, thou hast not done good save
to one worthy of it, and thou shalt presently gather its fruitage." And he
added, "But where am I now?" "Thou art in the city of Jerusalem," replied
the Stoker; whereupon Zau al-Makan called to mind his strangerhood and
remembered his separation from his sister and wept. Then he discovered his
secret to the Fireman and told him his story and began repeating:

In love they bore me further than my force would go, ✿ And for them made me suffer resurrection-
throe:
Oh, have compassion, cruel! on this soul of mine ✿ Which, since ye fared, is pitied by each envious
foe;
Nor grudge the tender mercy of one passing glance ✿ My case to lighten, easing this excess of woe:
Quoth I "Heart, bear this loss in patience!" Patience cried ✿ "Take heed! no patience in such plight
I'm wont to show."

Then he redoubled his weeping, and the Fireman said to him, "Weep not,
but rather praise Allah for safety and recovery." Asked Zau al-Makan, "How
far is it hence to Damascus?" Answered the other, "Six days' journey." Then
quoth Zau al-Makan, "Wilt thou send me thither?" "O my lord," quoth the
Stoker, "how can I allow thee to go alone, and thou a youth and a stranger
to boot? If thou would journey to Damascus, I am one who will go with
thee; and if my wife will listen to and obey me and accompany me, I will
take up my abode there; for it is no light matter to part with thee." Then said
he to his wife, "Wilt thou travel with me to Damascus of Syria or wilt thou
abide here, whilst I lead this my lord thither and return to thee? For he is
bent upon going to Damascus of Syria and, by Allah, it is hard to me to part
with him, and I fear for him from highway-men." Replied she, "I will go
with you both;" and he rejoined, "Praised be Allah for accord, and we have
said the last word!" Then he rose and selling all his own goods and his
wife's gear——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased
saying her permitted say.

Now when it was the Five-and-Fiftieth Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Fireman and his
wife agreed with Zau al-Makan to travel with him Damascus-wards. Then
the Stoker sold his goods and his wife's gear and bought a camel and hired
an ass for Zau al-Makan; and they set out, and ceased not wayfaring for six
days till they reached Damascus. And they arrived there towards eventide;
when the Fireman went forth and, as was his wont, bought some meat and
drink. They had dwelt but five days in Damascus, when his wife sickened
and, after a short illness, was translated to the mercy of Almighty Allah. Her
death was a heavy matter to Zau al-Makan, for he was grown used to her as
she had tended him assiduously; and the Fireman grieved for her with
excessive grief. Presently the Prince turned to the Stoker and finding him

mourning, said to him, "Grieve not, for at this gate we must all go in."
Replied he, "Allah make weal thy lot, O my son! Surely He will
compensate us with His favours and cause our mourning to cease. What
sayst thou, O my son, about our walking abroad to view Damascus and
cheer thy spirits?" Replied Zau al-Makan, "Thy will is mine." So the
Fireman arose and placed his hand in that of Zau al-Makan and the two
walked on till they came to the stables of the Viceroy of Damascus, where
they found camels laden with chests and carpets and brocaded stuffs, and
horses ready saddled and Bactrian dromedaries, while Mamelukes and
negro slaves and folk in a hubbub were running to and fro. Quoth Zau al-
Makan, "I wonder to whom belong all these chattels and camels and stuffs!"
So he asked one of the eunuchs, "Whither this dispatching?" and he
answered, "These are presents sent by the Emir of Damascus to King Omar
bin al-Nu'uman, with the tribute of Syria." Now when Zau al-Makan heard
his father's name, his eyes brimmed over with tears, and he began repeating:
—
Oh ye gone from the gaze of these lidded eyne, ✿ Ye whose sight in my spirit shall ever dwell!
Your charms are gone, but this heart of me ✿ Hath no sweet, and no pleasures its sour dispel;
If Allah's grace make us meet again, ✿ In long-drawn love-tale my love I'll tell.

And when he had ended his verse, he wept and the Fireman said to him, "O
my son, we hardly believed that thy health had returned;[238] so take heart
and do not weep, for I fear a relapse for thee." And he ceased not
comforting and cheering him, whilst Zau al-Makan sighed and moaned over
his strangerhood and separation from his sister and his family; and tears
streamed from his eyes and he recited these couplets:—
Get thee provaunt in this world ere thou wend upon thy way; ✿ And know how surely Death
descends thy life-lot to waylay:
All thy worldly goods are pride and the painfullest repine; ✿ All thy worldly life is vexing of thy soul
in vain display:
Say is not worldly wone like a wanderer's place of rest, ✿ Where at night he "nakhs[239]" his camels
and moves off at dawn of day?

And he continued to weep and wail over his separation; whilst the Fireman
also bewept the loss of his wife, yet ceased not to comfort Zau al-Makan till
morning dawned. When the sun rose, he said to him, "Meseemeth thou
yearnest for thy native land?" "Yes," replied Zau al-Makan, "and I can no
longer tarry here; so I will commend thee to Allah's care and set out with

these folk and journey with them, little by little, till I come to my
motherland." Said the Stoker, "And I with thee; for of a truth I cannot bear
to part with thee. I have done thee kindly service and I mean to complete it
by tending thee on thy travel." At this, Zau al-Makan rejoiced and said,
"Allah abundantly requite thee for me!" and was pleased with the idea of
their travelling together. The Fireman at once went forth and bought another
ass, selling the camel; and laid in his provaunt and said to Zau al-Makan,
"This is for thee to ride by the way; and, when thou art weary of riding,
thou canst dismount and walk." Said Zau al-Makan, "May Allah bless thee
and aid me to requite thee! for verily thou hast dealt with me more lovingly
than one with his brother." Then he waited till it was dark night, when he
laid the provisions and baggage on that ass and set forth upon their journey.
This much befel Zau al-Makan and the Fireman; but as regards what
happened to his sister Nuzhat al-Zaman, when she left her brother in the
Khan where they abode and, wrapped in the old camlet, went out to seek
service with some one, that she might earn wherewithal to buy him the roast
meat he longed for, she fared on, weeping and knowing not whither to go,
whilst her mind was occupied with thoughts of her brother and of her
family and her native land. So she implored Allah Almighty to do away
with these calamities from them and began versifying:—
Dark falls the night and Passion comes sore pains to gar me dree, ✿ And pine upstirs those ceaseless
pangs which work my tormentry,
And cease not separation-flames my vitals to consume, ✿ And drives me on destruction-way this
sorrow's ecstacy;
And longing breeds me restlessness; desire for ever fires, ✿ And tears to all proclaim what I would
keep in secrecy:
No cunning shift is known to me a meeting to secure, ✿ That I may quit this sickly state, may cure
my malady:
The love which blazeth in my heart is fed with fancy-fuel, ✿ The lover from its hell of fire must bear
Hell's agony![240]
O thou who blamest me for all befel me, 'tis enough, ✿ Patient I bear whatever wrote the Reed of
Doom for me:
By Love I swear I'll never be consoled, no, never more; ✿ I swear the oath of Love's own slaves who
know no perjury:
O Night, to chroniclers of Love the news of me declare; ✿ That sleep hath fed mine eyelids of thy
knowledge witness bear!

Then she walked on, weeping and turning right and left as she went, when
behold, there espied her an old Badawi[241] who had come into the town
from the desert with wild Arabs other five. The old man took note of her

and saw that she was lovely, but she had nothing on her head save a piece of
camlet, and, marvelling at her beauty, he said to himself, "This charmer
dazzleth men's wits but she is in squalid condition, and whether she be of
the people of this city or she be a stranger, I needs must have her." So he
followed her, little by little, till he met her face to face and stopped the way
before her in a narrow lane, and called out to her, asking her case, and said,
"Tell me, O my little daughter! art thou a free-woman or a slave?" When
she heard this, she said to him, "By thy life, do not add to my sorrows!"
Quoth he, "Allah hath blessed me with six daughters, of whom five died
and only one is left me, the youngest of all; and I came to ask thee if thou
be of the folk of this city or a stranger; that I might take thee and carry thee
to her, to bear her company so as to divert her from pining for her sisters. If
thou have no kith and kin, I will make thee as one of them and thou and she
shall be as my two children." Nuzhat al-Zaman bowed her head in
bashfulness when she heard what he said and communed with herself,
"Haply I may trust myself to this old man." Then she said to him, "O
nuncle, I am a maiden of the Arabs and a stranger and I have a sick brother;
but I will go with thee to thy daughter on one condition, which is, that I
may spend only the day with her and at night may return to my brother. If
thou strike this bargain I will fare with thee, for I am a stranger and I was
high in honour among my tribe, and I awoke one morning to find myself
vile and abject. I came with my brother from the land of Al-Hijaz and I fear
lest he know not where I am." When the Badawi heard this, he said to
himself, "By Allah, I have got my desire!" Then he turned to her and
replied, "There shall none be dearer to me than thou; I wish thee only to
bear my daughter company by day and thou shalt go to thy brother at
earliest nightfall. Or, if thou wilt, bring him over to dwell with us." And the
Badawi ceased not to console her heart and coax her, till she trusted in him
and agreed to serve him. Then he walked on before her and, when she
followed him, he winked to his men to go in advance and harness the
dromedaries and load them with their packs and place upon them water and
provisions, ready for setting out as soon as he should come up with the
camels. Now this Badawi was a base-born churl, a highway thief and a
traitor to the friend he held most lief, a rogue in grain, past master of plots
and chicane. He had no daughter and no son and was only passing through
the town when, by the decree of the Decreer, he fell in with this unhappy
one. And he ceased not to hold her in converse on the highway till they

came without the city of Jerusalem and, when outside, he joined his
companions and found they had made ready the dromedaries. So the
Badawi mounted a camel, having seated Nuzhat al-Zaman behind him and
they rode on all night. Then she knew that the Badawi's proposal was a
snare and that he had tricked her; and she continued weeping and crying out
the whole night long, while they journeyed on making for the mountains, in
fear any should see them. Now when it was near dawn, they dismounted
from their dromedaries and the Badawi came up to Nuzhat al-Zaman and
said to her, "O city-strumpet, what is this weeping? By Allah, an thou hold
not thy peace, I will beat thee to death, O thou town-filth!" When she heard
this she loathed life and longed for death; so she turned to him and said, "O
accursed old man, O gray-beard of hell, how have I trusted thee and thou
hast played me false, and now thou wouldst torture me?" When he heard
her reply he cried out, "O lazy baggage, dost thou dare to bandy words with
me?" And he stood up to her and beat her with a whip, saying, "An thou
hold not thy peace, I will kill thee!" So she was silent awhile, then she
called to mind her brother and the happy estate she had been in and she
shed tears secretly. Next day, she turned to the Badawi and said to him,
"How couldst thou play me this trick and lure me into these bald and stony
mountains, and what is thy design with me?" When he heard her words he
hardened his heart and said to her, "O lazy baggage of ill-omen and
insolent! wilt thou bandy words with me?" and he took the whip and came
down with it on her back till she felt faint. Then she bowed down over his
feet and kissed[242] them; and he left beating her and began reviling her and
said, "By the rights of my bonnet,[243] if I see or hear thee weeping, I will cut
out thy tongue and stuff it up thy coynte, O thou city-filth!" So she was
silent and made him no reply, for the beating pained her; but sat down with
her arms round her knees and, bowing her head upon her collar, began to
look into her case and her abasement after her lot of high honour; and the
beating she had endured; and she called to mind her brother and his
sickness and forlorn condition, and how they were both strangers in a far
country, which drave her tears down her cheeks and she wept silently and
began repeating:—

Time hath for his wont to upraise and debase, ✿ Nor is lasting condition for human race:
In this world each thing hath appointed turn; ✿ Nor may man transgress his determined place:
How long these perils and woes? Ah woe ✿ For a life, all woeful in parlous case!
Allah bless not the days which have laid me low ✿ I' the world, with disgrace after so much grace!
My wish is baffled, my hopes cast down, ✿ And distance forbids me to greet his face:
O thou who passeth that dear one's door, ✿ Say for me, these tears shall flow evermore!

When she had finished her verses, the Badawi came up to her and, taking
compassion on her, bespoke her kindly and wiped away her tears. Then he
gave her a barley-scone and said, "I love not one who answereth at times
when I am in wrath: so henceforth give me no more of these impertinent
words and I will sell thee to a good man like myself, who will do well with
thee, even as I have done." "Yes; whatso thou doest is right," answered she;
and when the night was longsome upon her and hunger burnt her, she ate
very little of that barley bread. In the middle of the night the Badawi gave
orders for departure——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and
ceased saying her permitted say.

Now when it was the Six-and-Fiftieth Night.

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the Badawi
gave the barley scone to Nuzhat al-Zaman and promised he would sell her
to a good man like himself, she replied, "Whatso thou doest is right!" and,
about midnight, when hunger burned her,[244] she ate a very little of that
barley-bread and the Badawi ordered his party to set out; so they loaded
their loads and he mounted a camel setting Nuzhat al-Zaman behind him.
Then they journeyed and ceased not journeying for three days, till they
entered the city of Damascus and alighted at the Sultan's Khan, hard by the
Viceroy's Gate. Now she had lost her colour by grief and the fatigue of such
travelling, and she ceased not to weep over her misfortunes. So the Badawi
came up to her and said, "O thou city-filth, by the right of my bonnet, if
thou leave not this weeping, I will sell thee to none but a Jew!" Then he
arose and took her by the hand and carried her to a chamber, and walked off
to the bazar, and he went round to the merchants who dealt in slave-girls,
and began to parley with them, saying, "I have brought a slave-girl whose
brother fell ill, and I sent him to my people about Jerusalem, that they might
tend him till he is cured. As for her I want to sell her, but after the dog her

brother fell sick, the separation from him was grievous to her, and since
then she doth nothing but weep, and now I wish that whoso is minded to
buy her of me speak softly to her and say:—Thy brother is with me in
Jerusalem ill; and I will be easy with him about her price." Then one of the
merchants came up to him and asked, "How old is she?" He answered "She
is a virgin, just come to marriageable age, and she is endowed with sense
and breeding and wit and beauty and loveliness. But from the day I sent her
brother to Jerusalem, her heart hath been yearning for him, so that her
beauty is fallen away and her value lessened." Now when the merchant
heard this, he set forth with the Badawi and said, "O Shaykh[245] of the
Arabs, I will go with thee and buy of thee this girl whom thou praisest so
highly for wit and manners and beauty and loveliness; and I will pay thee
her price but it must be upon conditions which if thou accept, I will give
thee ready money, and if thou accept not I will return her to thee." Quoth
the Badawi, "An thou wilt, take her up to the Sultan Sharrkan, son of Omar
bin al-Nu'uman lord of Baghdad and of the land of Khorasan, and condition
me any conditions thou likest, for when thou hast brought her before King
Sharrkan, haply she will please him, and he will pay thee her price and a
good profit for thyself to boot." Rejoined the merchant, "It happens that I
have just now something to ask from him, and it is this that he write me an
order upon the office, exempting me from custom-dues and also that he
write me a letter of recommendation to his father, King Omar bin al-
Nu'uman. So if he take the girl, I will weigh[246] thee out her price at once."
"I agree with thee to this condition," answered the Badawi. So they returned
together to the place where Nuzhat al-Zaman was and the wild Arab stood
at the chamber door and called out, saying, "O Nájiyah[247]!" which was the
name wherewith he had named her. When she heard him, she wept and
made no answer. Then he turned to the merchant and said to him, "There
she sitteth; go to her and look at her and speak to her kindly as I enjoined
thee." So the trader went up to her in courteous wise and saw that she was
wondrous beautiful and loveable, especially as she knew the Arabic tongue;
and he said to the Badawi, "If she be even as thou saidest, I shall get of the
Sultan what I will for her." Then he bespake her, "Peace be on thee, my
little maid! How art thou?" She turned to him and replied, "This also was
registered in the Book of Destiny." Then she looked at him and, seeing him
to be a man of respectable semblance with a handsome face, she said to
herself, "I believe this one cometh to buy me;" and she continued, "If I hold

aloof from him, I shall abide with my tyrant and he will do me to death with
beating. In any case, this person is handsome of face and maketh me hope
for better treatment from him than from my brute of a Badawi. May be he
cometh only to hear me talk; so I will give him a fair answer." All this while
her eyes were fixed on the ground; then she raised them to him and said in a
sweet voice, "And upon thee be peace, O my lord, and Allah's mercy and
His benediction![248] This is what is commanded of the Prophet, whom Allah
bless and preserve! As for thine enquiry how I am, if thou wouldst know my
case, it is such as thou wouldst not wish but to thy foe." And she held her
peace. When the merchant heard what she said, his fancy took wings for
delight in her and, turning to the Badawi, he asked him, "What is her price,
for indeed she is noble?" Thereupon the Badawi waxed angry and
answered, "Thou wilt turn me the girl's head with this talk! Why dost thou
say that she is noble,[249] while she is of the scum of slave-girls and of the
refuse of folk? I will not sell her to thee!" When the merchant heard this, he
knew the man to be weak of wits and said to him, "Calm thyself, for I will
buy her of thee with these blemishes thou mentionest." "And how much
wilt thou give me for her?" enquired the Badawi. Replied the merchant,
"Name thy price for her: none should name the son save his sire." Rejoined
the Badawi, "None shall name it but thou thyself." Quoth the merchant to
himself, "This wildling is a rudesby and a maggotty head. By Allah, I
cannot tell her price, for she hath won my heart with her fair speech and
good looks; and, if she can read and write, it will be complete fair luck to
her and to her purchaser. But this Badawi does not know her worth." Then
he turned and said to him, "O Shaykh of the Arabs, I will give thee in ready
money, clear of the tax and the Sultan's dues, two hundred gold pieces."
Now when the Badawi heard this, he flew into a violent rage and cried at
the merchant, saying, "Get up and go thy ways! By Allah, wert thou to offer
me two hundred dinars for the bit of camlet she weareth, I would not sell it
to thee. And now I will not sell her, but will keep her by me, to pasture the
camels and grind my grist." And he cried out to her, saying, "Come here,
thou stinkard! I will not sell thee." Then he turned to the merchant and said
to him, "I used to think thee a man of judgment; but, by the right of my
bonnet, if thou begone not from me, I will let thee hear what shall not
please thee!" Quoth the merchant to himself, "Of a truth this Badawi is mad
and knoweth not her value, and I will say no more to him about her price at
the present time; for by Allah, were he a man of sense, he would not say:—

By the rights of my bonnet! By the Almighty, she is worth the kingdom of
the Chosroes and I have not her price by me, but if he ask even more, I will
give him what he will, though it be all my goods." Then he turned and said
to him, "O Shaykh of the Arabs, take patience and calm thyself and tell me
what clothes she hath with thee?" Cried the Badawi, "And what hath the
baggage to do with clothes? By Allah, this camlet in which she is wrapped
is ample for her." "With thy leave," said the merchant, "I will unveil her
face and examine her even as folk examine slave-girls whom they think of
buying."[250] Replied the other, "Up and do what thou wilt and Allah keep
thy youth! Examine her outside and inside and, if thou wilt, strip off her
clothes and look at her when she is naked." Quoth the trader, "Allah
forfend! I will look at naught save her face."[251] Then he went up to her and
was put to shame by her beauty and loveliness,——And Shahrazad
perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.

Now when it was the Fifty-seventh Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the merchant went up
to Nuzhat al-Zaman and was put to shame by her beauty and loveliness, so
he sat by her side and asked her, "O my mistress, what is thy name?" She
answered, "Dost thou ask what is my name this day or what it was before
this day?" Thereupon the merchant enquired, "Hast thou then two names: to
day's and yesterday's?" "Yes," replied she, "my name in the past was Nuzhat
al-Zaman, the Delight of the Age; but my name at this present is Ghussat[252]
al-Zaman, the Despight of the Age." When the merchant heard this his eyes
brimmed over with tears and quoth he to her, "Hast thou not a sick
brother?" "Ay by Allah, O my lord, I have," quoth she, "but fortune hath
parted me and him and he lieth sick in Jerusalem." The merchants head was
confounded at the sweetness of her speech and he said to himself, "Verily,
the Badawi spake the truth of her." Then she called to mind her brother and
his sickness and his strangerhood and her separation from him in his hour of
weakness and her not knowing what had befallen him; and she thought of
all that had happened to her with the Badawi and of her severance from her
mother and father and native land; and the tears coursed down her cheeks
and fast as they started they dropped; and she began reciting:—

Allah, where'er thou be, His aid impart ✿ To thee, who distant dwellest in my heart!
Allah be near thee how so far thou fare; ✿ Ward off all shifts of Time, all dangers thwart!
Mine eyes are desolate for thy vanisht sight, ✿ And start my tears—ah me, how fast they start!
Would Heaven I kenned what quarter or what land ✿ Homes thee, and in what house and tribe thou
art;
An fount of life thou drain in greenth of rose, ✿ While drink I tear-drops for my sole desart?
An thou 'joy slumber in those hours, when I ✿ Feel 'twixt my side and couch coals' burning smart?
All things were easy save to part from thee, ✿ For my sad heart this grief is hard to dree.

When the merchant heard her verses, he wept and put out his hand to wipe
away the tears from her cheeks; but she let down her veil over her face,
saying, "Heaven forbid, O my lord!"[253] Then the Badawi, who was sitting
at a little distance watching them, saw her cover her face from the merchant
while about to wipe the tears from her cheeks; and he concluded that she
would have hindered him from handling her: so he rose and running to her,
dealt her, with a camel's halter he had in his hand, such a blow on the
shoulders that she fell to the ground on her face. Her eyebrow struck a stone
which cut it open, and the blood streamed down her cheeks; whereupon she
screamed a loud scream and felt faint and wept bitterly. The merchant was
moved to tears for her and said in himself, "There is no help for it but that I
buy this damsel, though at her weight in gold, and free her from this tyrant."
And he began to revile the Badawi whilst Nuzhat al-Zaman lay insensible.
When she came to herself, she wiped away the tears and blood from her
face; and she bound up her head: then, raising her glance to heaven, she
besought her Lord with a sorrowful heart and began repeating:—
And pity one who erst in honour throve, ✿ And now is fallen into sore disgrace.
She weeps and bathes her cheeks with railing tears, ✿ And asks "What cure can meet this fatal case?"

When she had ended her verse, she turned to the merchant and said in an
undertone, "By the Almighty, do not leave me with a tyrant who knoweth
not Allah the Most High! If I pass this night in his place, I shall kill myself
with my own hand: save me from him, so Allah save thee from Gehenna-
fire." Then quoth the merchant to the Badawi, "O Shaykh of the Arabs, this
slave is none of thine affair; so do thou sell her to me for what thou wilt."
"Take her," quoth the Badawi, "and pay me down her price, or I will carry
her back to the camp and there set her to feed the camels and gather their
dung."[254] Said the merchant, "I will give thee fifty thousand dinars for her."
"Allah will open!"[255] replied the Badawi. "Seventy thousand," said the
merchant. "Allah will open!" repeated the Badawi: "this is not the capital

spent upon her, for she hath eaten with me barley-bread to the value of
ninety thousand gold pieces." The merchant rejoined, "Thou and thine and
all thy tribe in the length of your lives have not eaten a thousand ducats'
worth of barley; but I will say thee one word, wherewith if thou be not
satisfied, I will set the Viceroy of Damascus on thee and he will take her
from thee by force." The Badawi continued, "Say on!" "An hundred
thousand," quoth the merchant. "I have sold her to thee at that price,"
answered the Badawi; "I shall be able to buy salt with her." The merchant
laughed and, going to his lodgings, brought the money and put it into the
hand of the Badawi, who took it and made off, saying to himself, "Needs
must I go to Jerusalem where, haply, I shall happen on her brother, and I
will bring him here and sell him also." So he mounted and journeyed till he
arrived at Jerusalem, where he went to the Khan and asked for Zau al-
Makan, but could not find him. Such was the case with him; but for what
regards the merchant and Nuzhat al-Zaman, when he took her he threw
some of his clothes over her and carried her to his lodgings——And
Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.

Now when it was the Eight-and-Fiftieth Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the trader saved
Nuzhat al-Zaman from the Badawi and bore her to his lodgings and robed
her in the richest raiment, he went down with her to the bazar, where he
bought her what ornaments she chose and put them in a satin bag, which he
set before her, saying, "All is for thee and I ask nothing of thee in return but
that, when I lead thee to the Sultan, Viceroy of Damascus, thou acquaint
him with the price I paid for thee, albeit it was little compared with thy
value: and, if seeing thee he buy thee of me, thou tell him how I have dealt
with thee and ask of him for me a royal patent, and a written
recommendation wherewith I can repair to his father, King Omar bin al-
Nu'uman, Lord of Baghdad, to the intent that he may forbid the tax on my
stuffs or any other goods in which I traffic." When she heard his words, she
wept and sobbed, and the merchant said to her, "O my lady, I observe that,
every time I mention Baghdad, thine eyes are tearful: is there any one there
whom thou lovest? If it be a trader or the like, tell me; for I know all the
merchants and so forth there and, if thou wouldst send him a message, I will

bear it for thee." Replied she, "By Allah, I have no acquaintance among
merchant-folk and the like! I know none there but King Omar bin Nu'uman,
Lord of Baghdad." When the merchant heard her words, he laughed and
rejoiced with exceeding joy and said in himself, "By Allah, I have won my
wish!" Then he said to her, "Hast thou been shown to him in time past?"
She answered, "No, but I was brought up with his daughter and he holdeth
me dear and I have high honour with him; so if thou wouldst have the King
grant thee thy desire, give me ink-case and paper and I will write thee a
letter; and when thou reachest the city of Baghdad, do thou deliver it into
the hand of King Omar bin al-Nu'uman and say to him:—Thy handmaid,
Nuzhat al-Zaman, would have thee to know that the chances and changes of
the nights and days have struck her as with a hammer, and have smitten her
so that she hath been sold from place to place; and she sendeth thee her
salams. And, if he ask further of her, say that I am now with the Viceroy at
Damascus." The merchant wondered at her eloquence, and his affection for
her increased and he said to her, "I cannot but think that men have played
upon thine understanding and sold thee for money. Tell me, dost thou know
the Koran by heart?" "Yes," answered she; "and I am also acquainted with
philosophy and medicine and the prolegomena of science and the
commentaries of Galen, the physician, on the canons of Hippocrates; and I
have commented him and I have read the Tazkirah and have commented the
Burhán; and I have studied the Simples of Ibn Baytár, and I have something
to say of the canon of Meccah, by Avicenna. I can ree riddles and can solve
ambiguities, and discourse upon geometry and am skilled in anatomy. I
have read the books of the Sháfi'í[256] school and the Traditions of the
Prophet and syntax; and I can argue with the Olema and discourse of all
manner learning. Moreover I am skilled in logic and rhetoric and arithmetic
and the making of talismans and almanacs, and I know thoroughly the
Spiritual Sciences[257] and the times appointed for religious duties and I
understand all these branches of knowledge." Then quoth she to the
merchant, "Bring me ink-case and paper, that I write thee a letter which
shall aid thee on thy journey to Baghdad and enable thee to do without
passports." Now when the merchant heard this, he cried out, "Brava! Brava!
[258]
Then O happy he in whose palace thou shalt be!" Thereupon he brought
her paper and ink-case and a pen of brass and bussed the earth before her
face to do her honour. She took a sheet and handled the reed and wrote
therewith these verses:—

I see all power of sleep from eyes of me hath flown; ✿ Say, did thy parting teach these eyne on wake
to wone?
What makes thy memory light such burnings in my heart? ✿ Hath every lover strength such
memories to own?
How sweet the big-dropped cloud which rained on summer-day; ✿ 'Tis gone: and ere I taste its
sweets afar 'tis flown:
I pray the wind with windy breath to bring some news ✿ From thee, to lover-wight wi' love so woe-
begone:
Complains to thee a lover of all hope forlorn, ✿ For parting-pangs can break not only heart but stone.

And when she had ended writing the verses she continued, "These words
are from her who saith that melancholy destroyeth her and that watching
wasteth her; in the murk of whose night is found no light and darkness and
day are the same in her sight. She tosseth on the couch of separation and her
eyes are blackened with the pencils of sleeplessness; she watcheth the stars
arise and into the gloom she strains her eyes: verily, sadness and leanness
have consumed her strength and the setting forth of her case would run to
length. No helper hath she but tears and she reciteth these verses:—
No ring-dove moans from home on branch in morning light, ✿ But shakes my very frame with
sorrow's killing might:
No lover sigheth for his love or gladdeth heart ✿ To meet his mate, but breeds in me redoubled blight
I bear my plaint to one who has no ruth for me; ✿ Ah me, how Love can part man's mortal frame and
sprite!"

Then her eyes welled over with tears, and she wrote also these two
couplets:—
"Love smote my frame so sore on parting day, ✿ That severance severed sleep and eyes for aye
I waxt so lean that I am still a man, ✿ But for my speaking, thou wouldst never say."

Then she shed tears and wrote at the foot of the sheet, "This cometh from
her who is far from her folk and her native land, the sorrowful-hearted
woman Nuzhat al-Zaman." In fine, she folded the sheet and gave it to the
merchant, who took it and kissed it and understood its contents and
exclaimed, "Glory to Him who fashioned thee!"——And Shahrazad
perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.

Now when it was the Nine-and-Fiftieth Night,

She said, It reached me, O auspicious King, that Nuzhat al-Zaman wrote the
letter and gave it to the merchant; and he took it and read it and understood
the contents and exclaimed, "Glory to Him who fashioned thee!" Then he
redoubled his kindness and made himself pleasant to her all that day; and
when night came, he sallied out to the bazar and bought some food,
wherewith he fed her; after which he carried her to the Hammam and said
to the bath-woman, "As soon as thou hast made an end of washing her head,
dress her and send and let me know of it." And she replied "Hearing is
obeying." Meanwhile he fetched food and fruit and wax-candles and set
them on the bench in the outer room of the bath; and when the tire-woman
had done washing her, she dressed her and led her out of the bath and seated
her on the bench. Then she sent to tell the merchant, and Nuzhat al-Zaman
went forth to the outer room, where she found the tray spread with food and
fruit. So she ate and the tire-woman with her, and gave the rest to the people
and keeper of the bath. Then she slept till the morning, and the merchant lay
the night in a place apart from her. When he aroused himself from sleep he
came to her and waking her, presented her with a shift of fine stuff and a
head-kerchief worth a thousand dinars, a suit of Turkish embroidery and
walking boots purfled with red gold and set with pearls and gems.
Moreover, he hung in each of her ears a circlet of gold with a fine pearl
therein, worth a thousand dinars, and threw round her neck a collar of gold
with bosses of garnet and a chain of amber beads that hung down between
her breasts over her navel. Now to this chain were attached ten balls and
nine crescents, and each crescent had in its midst a bezel of ruby, and each
ball a bezel of balass: the value of the chain was three thousand dinars and
each of the balls was priced at twenty thousand dirhams, so that the dress
she wore was worth in all a great sum of money. When she had put these
on, the merchant bade her adorn herself, and she adorned herself to the
utmost beauty; then she let fall her fillet over her eyes and she fared forth
with the merchant preceding her. But when folk saw her, all wondered at
her beauty and exclaimed, "Blessed be Allah, the most excellent Creator! O
lucky the man in whose house she shall be!" And the trader ceased not
walking (and she behind him) till they entered the palace of Sultan
Sharrkan; when he sought an audience and, kissing the earth between his
hands, said, "O auspicious King, I have brought thee a rare gift, unmatched
in this time and richly gifted with beauty and with good qualities." Quoth
the King, "Let me see it." So the merchant went out and brought her, she

following him till he made her stand before King Sharrkan. When he beheld
her, blood yearned to blood, though she had been parted from him in
childhood and though he had never seen her, having only heard a long time
after her birth that he had a sister called Nuzhat al-Zaman and a brother Zau
al-Makan, he having been jealous of them, because of the succession. And
such was the cause of his knowing little about them. Then, having placed
her before the presence, the merchant said, "O King of the age, besides
being peerless in her time for beauty and loveliness, she is also versed in all
learning, sacred and profane, including the art of government and the
abstract sciences." Quoth the King to the trader, "Take her price, according
as thou boughtest her, and go thy ways." "I hear and I obey," replied the
merchant; "but first write me a patent, exempting me for ever from paying
tithe on my merchandise." Said the King, "I will do this, but first tell me
what price thou paidest for her." Said the merchant, "I bought her for an
hundred thousand dinars, and her clothes cost me another hundred
thousand." When the Sultan heard these words, he declared, "I will give
thee a higher price than this for her;" and, calling his treasurer, said to him,
"Pay this merchant three hundred and twenty thousand ducats; so will he
have an hundred and twenty thousand dinars profit." Thereupon the Sultan
summoned the four Kazis and paid him the money in their presence and
then he said, "I call you to witness that I free this my slave-girl and purpose
to marry her." So the Kazis wrote out the deed of emancipation and the
contract of marriage, when the Sultan scattered much gold on the heads of
those present; and the pages and the eunuchs picked up this largesse. Then,
after paying him his monies, Sharrkan bade them write for the merchant a
perpetual patent, exempting him from toll, tax or tithe upon his merchandise
and forbidding each and every in all his government to molest him, and
lastly bestowed on him a splendid dress of honour.——And Shahrazad
perceived the dawn of day, and ceased saying her permitted say.

Now when it was the full Sixtieth Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that King Sharrkan bade
them write for the merchant a mandate, after paying him his monies; and
they wrote a perpetual patent, exempting him from the tithe upon his
merchandise and forbidding any in his government to molest him; and lastly

bestowed upon him a splendid dress of honour. Then all about him retired,
and none remained save the Kazis and the merchant, whereupon said he to
the judges, "I wish you to hear such discourse from this damsel as may
prove her knowledge and accomplishments in all claimed for her by this
trader, that we ascertain the truth of his assertions." They answered, "There
is no evil in that!"; and he commanded the curtain to be let down between
him and those with him and the maiden and those with her; and the women
about the damsel behind the curtains began to wish her joy and kiss her
hands and feet, when they learned that she was become the King's wife.
Then they came round her and took off her dresses easing her of the weight
of her clothes and began to look upon her beauty and loveliness. Presently
the wives of the Emirs and Wazirs heard that King Sharrkan had bought a
handmaiden unmatched for her beauty and learning and philosophy and
account-keeping, and versed in all branches of knowledge, that he had paid
for her three hundred and twenty thousand dinars, and that he had set her
free and had written a marriage-contract with her and had summoned the
four Kazis to make trial of her, how she would answer all their questions
and hold disputation with them. So they asked leave of their husbands and
repaired to the palace wherein was Nuzhat al-Zaman. When they came in to
her, they found the eunuchs standing before her; and, as soon as she saw the
wives of the Emirs and Wazirs and Grandees of the realm coming to call
upon her, she arose to them on her feet and met them with courtesy, her
handmaidens standing behind her, and she received them saying, "Ye be
welcome!" The while she smiled in their faces so as to win their hearts; and
she promised them all manner of good and seated them in their proper
stations, as if she had been brought up with them; so all wondered at her
beauty and loveliness and said to one another, "This damsel is none other
than a Queen, the daughter of a King." Then they sat down, magnifying her
worth and said to her, "O our lady, this our city is illumined by thee, and our
country and abode and birthplace and reign are honoured by thy presence.
The kingdom indeed is thy kingdom and the palace is thy palace, and we all
are thy handmaids; so, by Allah, do not shut us out from thy favours and
from the sight of thy beauty." And she thanked them for this. All this while
the curtains were let down between Nuzhat al-Zaman and the women with
her, on the one side, and King Sharrkan and the four Kazis and the
merchant seated by him on the other. Presently King Sharrkan called to her
and said, "O Queen, the glory of thine age, this merchant hath described

thee as being learned and accomplished; and he claimeth that thou art
skilled in all branches of knowledge, even to astrology: so let us hear
something of all this he hath mentioned, and favour us with a short
discourse on such subjects." She replied, saying:—"O King, to hear is to
obey.[259] The first subjects whereof I will treat are the art of government and
the duties of Kings and what behoveth governors of commandments
according to religious law, and what is incumbent on them in respect of
satisfactory speech and manners. Know then, O King, that all men's works
tend either to religious or to laical life, for none attaineth to religion save
through this world, because it is the best road to futurity. Now the works of
this world are not ordered save by the doings of its people, and men's
doings are divided into four divisions, government, commerce, husbandry
and craftmanship. Now government requireth perfect administration with
just and true judgment; for government is the pivot of the edifice of the
world, which world is the road to futurity; since Allah Almighty hath made
the world for His servants as viaticum to the traveller for the attainment of
his goal; and it befitteth each man that he receive of it such measure as shall
bring him to Allah, and that he follow not herein his own mind and his
individual lust. If folk would take of worldly goods with justice and equity,
all cause of contention would be cut off; but they take thereof with violence
and after their own desires, and their persistence therein giveth rise to
contentions; so they have need of the Sultan, that he do justice between
them and order their affairs; and, if the King restrain not his folk from one
another, the strong will drive the weak to the wall. Hence Ardeshir[260] saith,
Religion and Kingship be twins; religion is a hidden treasure and the King
is its keeper; and the Divine Ordinances and men's intelligence point out
that it behoveth the people to adopt a Sultan who shall withhold oppressor
from oppressed and do the weak justice against the strong and restrain the
violence of the proud and the rebels against rule. For know, O King, that
according to the measure of the Sultan's good morals, even so will be the
time; as saith the Apostle of Allah (on whom be peace and salvation!),
There be two classes who, if they be good, the people will be good; and if
they be bad, the people will be bad, even the Olema and the Emirs. And it is
said by a certain sage:—There be three kinds of Kings, the King of the
Faith, the King who protecteth things to which reverence is due, and the
King of his own lusts. The King of the Faith obligeth his subjects to follow
their faith, and it behoveth he be the most faithful,[261] for it is by him that

they take pattern in the things of the Faith; and it becometh the folk to obey
him in whatso he commandeth according to Divine Ordinance; but he shall
hold the discontented in the same esteem as the contented, because of
submission to the decrees of Destiny. As for the King who protecteth things
to be reverenced, he upholdeth the things of the Faith and of the World and
compelleth his folk to follow the Divine Law and to preserve the rights of
humanity; and it fitteth him to unite Pen and Sword; for whoso declineth
from what Pen hath written, his feet slip and the King shall rectify his error
with the sharp Sword and dispread his justice over all mankind. As for the
King of his own lusts, he hath no religion but the following his desire and,
as he feareth not the wrath of his Lord who set him on the throne, so his
Kingdom inclineth to deposition and the end of his pride is in the house of
perdition. And sages say, The King hath need of many people, but the
people have need of but one King; wherefore it beseemeth that he be well
acquainted with their natures, that he reduce their discord to concord, that
with his justice he encompass them all and with his bounties overwhelm
them all. And know, O King, that Ardeshir, styled Jamr Shadíd, or the Live
Coal, third of the Kings of Persia, conquered the whole world and divided it
into four divisions and, for this purpose, gat for himself four seal-rings, one
for each division. The first seal was that of the sea and the police of
prohibition and on it was written, Alternatives. The second was the seal of
tribute and of the receipt of monies, and on it was written, Building up. The
third was the seal of the provisioning department and on it was written,
Plenty. The fourth was the seal of the oppressed, and on it was written,
Justice. And these usages remained valid in Persia until the revelation of Al-
Islam. Chosroes also wrote his son, who was with the army:—Be not thou
too open-handed with thy troops, or they will be too rich to need thee."——
And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted
say.

Now when it was the Sixty-first Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Chosroes wrote his
son:—Be not thou too open-handed with thy troops, or they will be too rich
to need thee; nor be thou niggardly with them, or they will murmur against
thee. Give thy giving deliberately and confer thy favours advisedly; open

thy hand to them in time of success and stint them not in time of distress.
There is a legend that a desert Arab came once to the Caliph Al-Mansúr[262]
and said, Starve thy dog and he shall follow thee. When the Caliph heard
his words, he was enraged with the Arab, but Abu 'l-Abbás of Tús said to
him, I fear that if some other than thou should show him a scone, the dog
would follow him and leave thee alone. Thereupon the Caliph Al-Mansúr's
wrath subsided and he knew that the wild Arab had intended no offence and
ordered him a present. And know, O King, that Abd al-Malik bin Marwán
wrote to his brother Abd al-Aziz, when he despatched him to Egypt, as
follows:—Pay heed to thy Secretaries and thy Chamberlains, for the
Secretaries will acquaint thee with established matters and the
Chamberlains with matters of official ceremony, whilst thine expenditure
will make thy troops known to thee. Omar bin Al-Khattab[263] (whom Allah
accept!) when engaging a servant was in the habit of conditioning him with
four conditions; the first that he should not ride the baggage-beasts, the
second that he should not wear fine clothes, the third that he should not eat
of the spoil and the fourth that he should not put off praying till after the
proper period. It is said that there is no wealth more profitable than
understanding, and there is no understanding like common sense and
prudence, and there is no prudence like piety; that there is no means of
drawing near to God like good morals, no measure like good breeding, no
traffic like good works and no profit like earning the Divine favour; that
there is no temperance like standing within the limits of the law, no science
like that of meditation, no worship like obeying the Divine commands, no
faith like modesty, no calculation like self-abasement and no honour like
knowledge. So guard the head and what it containeth and the belly and what
it compriseth; and think of death and doom ere it ariseth. Saith Ali (whose
face Allah honour!), Beware of the wickedness of women and be on thy
guard against them: consult them not in aught;[264] but grudge not
complaisance to them, lest they greed for intrigue. And eke quoth he, whoso
leaveth the path of moderation his wits become perplexed; and there be
rules for this which we will mention, if it be Allah's will. And Omar (whom
Allah accept!) saith, there are three kinds of women, firstly the true-
believing, Heaven-fearing, love-full and fruit-full, who helpeth her mate
against fate, not helping fate against her mate; secondly, she who loveth her
children but no more and, lastly, she who is a shackle Allah setteth on the
neck of whom He will. Men be also three: the wise when he exerciseth his

own judgement; the wiser who, when befalleth somewhat whereof he
knoweth not the issue, seeketh folk of good counsel and acteth by their
advice; and the unwise-irresolute ignoring the right way nor heeding those
who would guide him straight. Justice is indispensable in all things; even
slave-girls have need of justice; and men quote as an instance highway
robbers who live by violenting mankind, for did they not deal equitably
among themselves and observe justice in dividing their booty, their order
would fall to pieces.[265] In short, for the rest, the Prince of noble qualities is
Beneficence-cum-Benevolence; and how excellent is the saying of the poet:
—
By open hand and ruth the youth rose to his tribe's command; ✿ Go and do likewise for the same
were easy task to thee.

And quoth another:—
In ruth and mildness surety lies and mercy wins respect; ✿ And Truth is best asylum for the man of
soothfast soul:
Whoso for wealth of gold would win and wear the world's good word, ✿ On glory's course must ever
be the first to gain the goal.

And Nuzhat al-Zaman discoursed upon the policy of Kings till the
bystanders said, "Never have we seen one reason of rule and government
like this damsel! Haply she will let us hear some discourse upon subject
other than this." When she heard their words and understood them she said,
"As for the chapter of good breeding, it is wide of comprehension, being a
compend of things perfect. Now it so happened that one day there came to
the Caliph Mu'áwiyah[266] one of his companions, who mentioned the people
of Irak and the goodness of their wit; and the Caliph's wife Maysun, mother
of Yezid, heard his words. So, when he was gone, she said to the Caliph:—
O Prince of the Faithful, I would thou let some of the people of Irak come
in and talk to thee, that I may hear their discourse. Therewith Mu'awiyah
said to his attendants, See who is at the door? And they answered, The Banu
Tamím. Let them come in, said he. So they came in and with them Al-
Ahnaf son of Kays.[267] Then quoth Mu'awiyah:—Enter, O Abu Bahr, and
drew a curtain between himself and Maysun, that she might hear what they
said without being seen herself; then he said to Al-Ahnaf:—O Son of the
Sea, draw near and tell me what counsel thou hast for me. Quoth Al-Ahnaf,
Part thy hair and trim thy moustachio and pare thy nails and pluck thine

armpits and shave thy pubes[268] and ever use the toothstick because therein
be two-and-seventy virtues, and make the Ghusl or complete ablution on
Friday, as an expiation for all between the Fridays."——And Shahrazad
perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.

Now when it was the Sixty-second Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Ahnaf bin Kays
replied to Al-Mu'awiyah's[269] question, "And ever use the toothstick,
because therein be two-and-seventy virtues and make the complete Friday
ablution as an expiation for all between the two Fridays." Quoth
Mu'awiyah, "What is thy counsel to thyself?" "To set my feet firmly on the
ground, to move them deliberately and watch over them with mine eyes!"
"How dost thou order thyself when thou goest in to one not of the nobles of
thy tribe?" "I lower mine eyes modestly and I salute first; I avoid what
concerneth me not and I spare my words!" "And how when thou goest in to
thine equals?" "I give ear to them when they speak and I do not assail them
when they err!" "When thou goest in to thy chiefs?" "I salute without
making any sign and await the reply: if they bid me draw near, I draw near;
and if they draw off from me I withdraw!" "How dost thou with thy wife?"
Quoth Ahnaf, "Excuse me from answering this, O Commander of the
Faithful!"; but Mu'awiyah cried, "I conjure thee inform me." He said, "I
entreat her kindly and show her familiarity and am large in expenditure, for
woman was created of a crooked rib."[270] "And how dost thou when thou
hast a mind to lie with her?" "I bid her perfume herself and kiss her till she
is moved to desire; then, should it be as thou knowest,[271] I throw her on her
back. If the seed abide in her womb I say:—O Allah make it blessed and let
it not be a wastrel, but fashion it into the best of fashions![272] Then I rise
from her to ablution and first I pour water over my hands and then over my
body and lastly, I praise Allah for the joy He hath given me." Said
Mu'awiyah, "Thou hast answered right well and now tell me what be thy
requirements?" Said Ahnaf, "I would have thee rule thy subjects in the fear
of Allah and do even-handed justice between them." Thereupon Ahnaf rose
to his feet and left the Caliph's presence, and when he had gone Maysun
said, "Were there but this man in Irak, he would suffice to it." Then
continued Nuzhat al-Zaman, "And all this is a section of the chapter of

good-breeding, and know O King, that Mu'aykib was intendant of the
public treasury during the Caliphate of Omar bin al-Khattáb,"——And
Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.

Now when it was the Sixty-third Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Nuzhat al-Zaman
continued, "Know, O King, that Mu'aykib was intendant of the public
treasury during the Caliphate of Omar bin Al-Khattab; and it so befel him
that he saw Omar's son and gave him a dirham out of the treasury.
Thereupon, quoth Mu'aykib, I returned to my own house, and while I was
sitting there behold, a messenger came to me from Omar and I was afraid
and went to him, and when I came into his presence, in his hand was the
dirham I had given his son. He said to me, Woe to thee, Mu'aykib! I have
found somewhat concerning thy soul. I asked, And what is that?; and he
answered, It is that thou hast shown thyself a foe to the followers of
Mohammed (on whom be peace and salvation!) in the matter of this dirham,
and thou wilt have to account for it on Resurrection Day.[273] And Omar also
wrote a letter to Abú Músá al-Ashári[274] as follows:—When these presents
reach thee, give the people what is theirs and remit to me the rest. And he
did so. Now when Othmán succeeded to the Caliphate, he wrote a like letter
to Abu Musa, who did his bidding and sent him the tribute accordingly, and
with it came Ziyád.[275] And when Ziyad laid the tribute before Othman, the
Caliph's son came in and took a dirham, whereupon Ziyad shed tears.
Othman asked Why weepest thou?; and Ziyad answered, I once brought
Omar bin Al-Khattab the like of this and his son took a dirham, whereupon
Omar bade snatch it from his hand. Now thy son hath taken of the tribute,
yet I have seen none say aught to him or snatch the money from him. Then
Othman[276] cried, And where wilt thou find the like of Omar? Again Zayd
bin Aslam relates of his father that he said:—I went out one night with
Omar till we approached a blazing fire. Quoth Omar, O Aslam, I think these
must be travellers who are suffering from the cold. Come, let us join them.
So we walked on till we came to them and behold! we found a woman who
had lighted a fire under a cauldron and by her side were two children, both
a-wailing. Said Omar, Peace be with you, O folk of light (for it was
repugnant to him to say 'folk of fire'),[277] what aileth you? Said she, The

cold and the night trouble us. He asked, What aileth these little people that
they weep?; and she answered, They are hungry. He enquired, And what is
in this cauldron?; and she replied, It is what I quiet them withal, and Allah
will question Omar bin Al-Khattab of them, on the Day of Doom. He said,
And what should Omar know of their case? Why then, rejoined she, should
he manage people's affairs and yet be unmindful of them? Thereupon Omar
turned to me (continued Aslam) and cried, Come with us! So we set off
running till we reached the pay-department of his treasury, where he took
out a sack containing flour and a pot holding fat and said to me, Load these
on my back! Quoth I, O Commander of the Faithful, I will carry them for
thee. He rejoined, Wilt thou bear my load for me on the Day of
Resurrection? So I put the things on his back, and we set off, running, till
we threw down the sack hard by her. Then he took out some of the flour and
put it in the cauldron; and, saying to the woman, Leave it to me, he began
blowing the fire under the cauldron. Now he was a long-bearded man[278]
and I saw the smoke issuing from between the hairs of his beard till the
flour was cooked, when he took some of the fat and threw it in and said to
the woman, Feed them while I cool it for them. So they fell to eating till
they had eaten their fill, and he left the rest with her. Then he turned to me
and said, O Aslam, I see it was indeed hunger made them weep; and I am
glad I did not go away ere I found out the cause of the light I saw."——And
Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.

Now when it was the Sixty-fourth Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Nuzhat al-Zaman
continued, "It is related that Omar passed by a flock of sheep, kept by a
Mameluke, and asked him to sell him a sheep. He answered, They are not
mine. Thou art the man I sought, said Omar, and bought him and freed him;
whereupon the slave exclaimed, O Allah, as thou hast bestowed on me the
lesser emancipation; so vouchsafe me the greater![279] It is also said that
Omar bin Al-Khattab was wont to give his servants sweet milk and himself
eat coarse fare, and to clothe them softly and himself wear rough garments.
He rendered unto all men their due, and exceeded in his giving to them. He
once gave a man four thousand dirhams and added thereto a thousand,
wherefore it was said to him, Why dost thou not increase to thy son as thou

increasest to this man? He answered, This man's father stood firm at the
battle-day of Ohod.[280] Al-Hasan relates that Omar once came back from
foray with much money, and that Hafsah[281] approached him and said, O
Commander of the Faithful, the due of kinship! O Hafsah! replied he, verily
Allah hath enjoined us to satisfy the dues of kinship, but not with the
monies of the True Believers. Indeed, thou pleasest thy family, but thou
angerest thy father. And she went away trailing her skirts.[282] The son of
Omar said, I implored the Lord to show me my father one year after his
death, till at last I saw him wiping the sweat from his brow and asked him,
How is it with thee, O my father? He answered, But for my Lord's mercy
thy father surely had perished." Then said Nuzhat al-Zaman, "Hear, O
auspicious King, the second division of the first chapter of the instances of
the followers of the Apostle and other holy men. Saith Al-Hasan al-Basrí,
[283]
Not a soul of the sons of Adam goeth forth of the world without
regretting three things, failure to enjoy what he hath amassed, failure to
compass what he hoped, failure to provide himself with sufficient viaticum
for that whereto he goeth.[284] It was said to Sufyan,[285] Can a man be a
religious and yet possess wealth? He replied, Yes, so he be patient when
grieved and be thankful when he hath received. Abdullah bin Shaddád,
being about to die, sent for his son Mohammed and admonished him,
saying, O my son, I see the Summoner of Death summoning me, and so I
charge thee to fear Allah both in public and private, to praise Allah and to
be soothfast in thy speech, for such praise bringeth increase of prosperity,
and piety in itself is the best of provision for the next world; even as saith
one of the poets:—
I see not happiness lies in gathering gold; ✿ The man most pious is man happiest:
In truth the fear of God is best of stores, ✿ And God shall make the pious choicely blest."

Then quoth Nuzhat al-Zaman, "Let the King also give ear to these notes
from the second section of the first chapter." He asked her what be they?;
and she answered, "When Omar bin Abd al-Aziz[286] succeeded to the
Caliphate, he went to his household and laying hands on all that was in their
hold, put it into the public treasury. So the Banu Umayyah flew for aid to
his father's sister, Fátimah, daughter of Marwán, and she sent to him saying,
I must needs speak to thee. So she came to him by night and, when he had
made her alight from her beast and sit down, he said to her, O aunt, it is for
thee to speak first, since thou hast something to ask: tell me then what thou

wouldst with me. Replied she, O Commander of the Faithful, it is thine to
speak first, for thy judgment perceiveth that which is hidden from the
intelligence of others. Then said Omar, Of a verity Allah Almighty sent
Mohammed as a blessing to some and a bane to others; and He elected for
him those with him, and commissioned him as His Apostle and took him to
Himself,"——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying
her permitted say.

Now when it was the Sixty-fifth Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Nuzhat al-Zaman
continued thus, "Said Omar, Verily Allah commissioned as His Apostle
Mohammed (upon whom be the benediction of Allah and His salvation!),
for a blessing to some and a bane to others; and He elected for him those
with him and took him to Himself, leaving the people a stream whereof
they might drink. After him Abu Bakr[287] the Truth-teller became Caliph
and he left the river as it was, doing what was pleasing to Allah. Then arose
Omar and worked a work and strove in holy war and strife whereof none
might do the like. But when Othman arose to power he diverted a streamlet
from the stream, and Mu'awiyah in his turn diverted from it several
streamlets; and without ceasing in like manner, Yezid and the Banu Marwán
such as Abd al-Malik and Walíd and Sulaymán[288] drew away water from
the stream, and the main course dried up, till rule devolved upon me, and
now I am minded to restore the stream to its normal condition. When
Fatimah heard this, she said, I came wishing only to speak and confer with
thee, but if this be thy word, I have nothing to say to thee. Then she
returned to the Ommiades and said to them, Now take ye the consequences
of your act when ye allied yourselves by marriage with Omar bin Al-
Khattab[289]." And it is also said that when Omar was about to die, he
gathered his children round him, and Maslamah[290] bin Abd al-Malik said to
him, O Prince of the Faithful, how wilt thou leave thy children paupers and
thou their protector? None can hinder thee in thy lifetime from giving them
what will suffice them out of the treasury; and this indeed were better than
leaving the good work to him who shall rule after thee. Omar looked at him
with a look of wrath and wonder and presently replied, O Maslamah, I have
defended them from this sin all the days of my life, and shall I make them

miserable after my death? Of a truth my sons are like other men, either
obedient to Almighty Allah who will prosper them, or disobedient and I will
not help them in their disobedience. Know, O Maslamah, that I was present,
even as thou, when such an one of the sons of Marwán was buried, and I
fell asleep by him and saw him in a dream given over to one of the
punishments of Allah, to whom belong Honour and Glory! This terrified me
and made me tremble, and I vowed to Allah, that if ever I came to power, I
would not do such deeds as the dead man had done. I have striven to fulfil
this vow all the length of my life and I hope to die in the mercy of my Lord.
Quoth Maslamah:—A certain man died and I was present at his burial, and
when all was over I fell asleep and I saw him as a sleeper seeth a dream,
walking in a garden of flowing waters clad in white clothes. He came up to
me and said: O Maslamah, it is for the like of this that rulers should rule.
Many are the instances of this kind, and quoth one of the men of authority, I
used to milk the ewes in the Caliphate of Omar bin Abd al-Aziz, and one
day I met a shepherd, among whose sheep I saw a wolf or wolves. I thought
them to be dogs, for I had never before seen wolves; so I asked, What dost
thou with these dogs? They are not dogs, but wolves, answered the
shepherd. Quoth I, Can wolves be with sheep and not hurt them? Quoth he,
When the head is whole, the body is whole.[291] Omar bin Abd al-Aziz once
preached from a pulpit of clay and, after praising and glorifying Allah
Almighty, said three words as follows, O folk, make clean your inmost
hearts, that your outward lives may be clean to your brethren, and abstain
ye from the things of the world. Know that between us and Adam there is
no one man alive among the dead. Dead are Abd al-Malik and those who
forewent him, and Omar also shall die and those who forewent him. Asked
Maslamah, O Commander of the Faithful, an we set a pillow behind thee,
wilt thou lean on it a little while? But Omar answered, I fear lest it be a
fault about my neck on Resurrection Day. Then he gasped with the death
rattle and fell back in a faint; whereupon Fatimah cried out, saying, Ho,
Maryam! Ho, Muzáhim![292] Ho, such an one! Look to this man! And she
began to pour water on him weeping, till he revived from his swoon; and,
seeing her in tears said to her, What causeth thee to weep, O Fatimah? She
replied, O Commander of the Faithful, I saw thee lying prostrate before us
and thought of thy prostration in death before Almighty Allah, of thy
departure from the world and of thy separation from us. This is what made
me weep. Answered he, Enough, O Fatimah, for indeed thou exceedest.

Then he would have risen, but fell down and Fatimah strained him to her
and said, "Thou art to me as my father and my mother, O Commander of
the Faithful! We cannot speak to thee, all of us." Then quoth Nuzhat al-
Zaman to her brother Sharrkan and the four Kazis, "Here endeth the second
section of the first chapter."——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day
and ceased to say her permitted say.

Now when it was the Sixty-sixth Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Nuzhat al-Zaman said
to her brother Sharrkan and the four Kazis, "Here endeth the second section
of the first chapter. And it so happened that Omar bin Abd al-Aziz wrote to
the people of the festival at Meccah as follows:—I call Allah to witness, in
the Holy Month, in the Holy City and on the day of the Greater Pilgrimage,
[293]
that I am innocent of your oppression and of his wrongs that doth wrong
you, in that I have neither commanded this nor purposed it, neither hath any
report of aught thereof hitherto reached me, nor have I compassed any
knowledge thereof; and I trust that a cause for pardon will be found in that
none hath authority from me to oppress any man, for I shall assuredly be
questioned concerning every one opprest. And if any of my officers swerve
from the right and act otherwise than the Holy Book and the Traditions of
the Apostle do authorise, obey him not so that he may return to the way of
righteousness. He said also (Allah accept of him!), I do not wish to be
relieved from death, because it is the supreme thing for which the True
Believer is rewarded. Quoth one of authority, I went to the Prince of the
Faithful, Omar bin Abd al-Aziz, who was then Caliph, and saw before him
twelve dirhams, which he ordered for deposit in the public treasury. So I
said to him, O Commander of the Faithful, thou impoverishest thy children
and reducest them to beggary having nothing whereon to live. An thou
wouldst appoint somewhat by will to them and to those who are poor of the
people of thy house, it were well. Draw near to me, answered he: so I drew
near to him and he said, Now as for thy saying, Thou beggarest thy
children; provide for them and for the poor of thy household, it is without
reason; for Allah of a truth will replace me to my children and to the poor of
my house, and He will be their guardian. Verily, they are like other men; he
who feareth Allah, right soon will Allah provide for him a happy issue, and

he that is addicted to sins, I will not uphold him in his sin against Allah.
Then he summoned his sons who numbered twelve, and when he beheld
them his eyes dropped tears and presently he said to them, Your Father is
between two things; either ye will be well to do, and your parent will enter
the fire, or ye will be poor and your parent will enter Paradise; and your
father's entry into Paradise is liefer to him than that ye should be well to do.
[294]
So arise and go, Allah be your helper, for to Him I commit your affair!
Khálid bin Safwán[295] said, Yúsuf bin Omar[296] accompanied me to Hishám
bin Abd al-Malik,[297] and as I met him he was coming forth with his
kinsmen and attendants. He alighted and a tent was pitched for him. When
the people had taken their seats, I came up to the side of the carpet whereon
he sat reclining and looked at him; and, waiting till my eyes met his eyes,
bespoke him thus, May Allah fulfil His bounty to thee, O Commander of
the Faithful, I have an admonition for thee, which hath come down to us
from the history of the Kings preceding thee! At this, he sat up whenas he
had been reclining and said to me, Bring what thou hast, O son of Safwan!
Quoth I, O Commander of the Faithful, one of the Kings before thee went
forth in a time before this thy time, to this very country and said to his
companions, Saw ye ever any state like mine and say me, hath such case
been given to any man even as it hath been given unto me? Now there was
with him a man of those who survive to bear testimony to Truth; upholders
of the Right and wayfarers in its highway, and he said to him, O King, thou
askest of a grave matter. Wilt thou give me leave to answer? Yes, replied the
King, and the other said, Dost thou judge thy present state to be short-
lasting or everlasting? It is temporary, replied the King. How then, rejoined
the man, do I see thee exulting in that which thou wilt enjoy but a little
while and whereof thou wilt be questioned for a long while, and for the
rendering an account whereof thou shalt be as a pledge which is pawned?
Quoth the King, Whither shall I flee and what must I seek for me? That
thou abide in thy kingship, replied the other, or else robe thee in rags[298] and
apply thyself to obey Almighty Allah thy Lord until thine appointed hour. I
will come to thee again at daybreak. Khalid bin Safwan further relates that
the man knocked at the door at dawn and behold, the King had put off his
crown and resolved to become an anchorite, for the stress of his
exhortation. When Hishám bin Abd al-Malik heard this, he wept till his
beard was wet; and, bidding his rich apparel be put off, shut himself up in
his palace. Then the grandees and dependants came to Khalid and said,

What is this thou hast done with the Commander of the Faithful? Thou hast
troubled his pleasure and disturbed his life!" Then quoth Nuzhat al-Zaman,
addressing herself to Sharrkan, "How many instances of admonition are
there not in this chapter! Of a truth I cannot report all appertaining to this
head in a single sitting"——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and
ceased to say her permitted say.

Now when it was the Sixty-seventh Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Nuzhat al-Zaman
continued, speaking to Sharrkan, "Know, O King, that in this chapter be so
many instances of admonition that of a truth I cannot report all appertaining
to this head in a single sitting but, with length of days, O King of the age,
all will be well." Then said the Kazis, "O King, of a truth this damsel is the
wonder of the world, and of our age the unique pearl! Never heard we her
like in the length of time or in the length of our lives." And they called
down blessings on the King and went away. Then Sharrkan turned to his
attendants and said, "Begin ye to prepare the marriage festival and make
ready food of all kinds." So they forthright did his bidding as regards the
viands, and he commanded the wives of the Emirs and Wazirs and Grandees
depart not until the time of the wedding-banquet and of the unveiling of the
bride. Hardly came the period of afternoon-prayer when the tables were
spread with whatso heart can desire or eye can delight in of roast meats and
geese and fowls; and the subjects ate till they were satisfied. Moreover,
Sharrkan had sent for all the singing-women of Damascus and they were
present, together with every slave-girl of the King and of the notables who
knew how to sing. And they went up to the palace in one body. When the
evening came and darkness starkened they lighted candles, right and left,
from the gate of the citadel to that of the palace; and the Emirs and Wazirs
and Grandees marched past before King Sharrkan, whilst the singers and
the tire-women took the damsel to dress and adorn her, but found she
needed no adornment. Meantime King Sharrkan went to the Hammam and
coming out, sat down on his seat of estate, whilst they paraded the bride
before him in seven different dresses: after which they eased her of the
weight of her raiment and ornaments and gave such injunctions as are
enjoined upon virgins on their wedding-nights. Then Sharrkan went in unto

her and took her maidenhead;[299] and she at once conceived by him and,
when she announced it, he rejoiced with exceeding joy and commanded the
savants to record the date of her conception. On the morrow he went forth
and seated himself on his throne, and the high officers came in to him and
gave him joy. Then he called his private secretary and bade him write a
letter to his father, King Omar bin al-Nu'uman, saying that he had bought
him a damsel, who excels in learning and good breeding and who is
mistress of all kinds of knowledge. Moreover he wrote, "There is no help
but that I send her to Baghdad to visit my brother Zau al-Makan and my
sister Nuzhat al-Zaman. I have set her free and married her and she hath
conceived by me." And he went on to praise her wit and salute his brother
and sister together with the Wazir Dandan and all the Emirs. Then he sealed
the letter and despatched it to his father by a post-courier who was absent a
whole month, after which time he returned with the answer and presented it
in the presence. Sharrkan took it and read as follows, "After the usual
Bismillah, this is from the afflicted distracted man, from him who hath lost
his children and home by bane and ban, King Omar bin al-Nu'uman, to his
son Sharrkan. Know that, since thy departure from me, the place is become
contracted upon me, so that no longer I have power of patience nor can I
keep my secret: and the cause thereof is as follows. It chanced that when I
went forth to hunt and course Zau al-Makan sought my leave to fare Hijaz-
wards, but I, fearing for him the shifts of fortune, forbade him therefrom
until the next year or the year after. My absence while sporting and hunting
endured for a whole month"——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day
and ceased saying her permitted say.

Now when it was the Sixty-eighth Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that King Omar bin al-
Nu'uman wrote in his letter, "My absence while sporting and hunting
endured for a whole month, and when I returned I found that thy brother
and sister had taken somewhat of money and had set out with the pilgrim-
caravan for pilgrimage by stealth. When I knew this, the wide world
narrowed on me, O my son! but I awaited the return of the caravan, hoping
that haply they would come back with it. Accordingly, when the palmers
appeared I asked concerning the twain, but they could give me no news of

them; so I donned mourning for them, being heavy at heart, and in sleep I
have no part and I am drowned in the tears of my eyes." Then he wrote in
verse:—
That pair in image quits me not one single hour, ✿ Whom in my heart's most honourable place I
keep:
Sans hope of their return I would not live one hour, ✿ Without my dreams of them I ne'er would
stretch me in sleep.

The letter went on, "And after the usual salutations to thee and thine, I
command thee neglect no manner of seeking news of them, for indeed this
is a shame to us." When Sharrkan read the letter, he felt grief for his father
and joy for the loss of his brother and sister. Then he took the missive and
went in with it to Nuzhat al-Zaman who knew not that he was her brother,
nor he that she was his sister, albeit he often visited her both by night and
by day, till the months were accomplished and she sat down on the stool of
delivery. Allah made the child-birth easy to her and she bare a daughter,
whereupon she sent for Sharrkan and seeing him she said to him, "This is
thy daughter: name her as thou wilt." Quoth he, "It is usual to name children
on the seventh day after birth."[300] Then he bent over the child to kiss it and
he saw, hung about its neck, a jewel, which he knew at once for one of
those which Princess Abrizah had brought from the land of the Greeks.
Now when he saw the jewel hanging from his babe's neck he recognised it
right well, his senses fled and wrath seized on him; his eyes rolled in rage
and he looked at Nuzhat al-Zaman and said to her, "Whence hadst thou this
jewel, O slave girl?" When she heard this from Sharrkan she replied, "I am
thy lady, and the lady of all in thy palace! Art thou not ashamed to say to
me, Slave-girl? I am a Queen, daughter of King Omar bin al-Nu'uman."
Hearing this, he was seized with trembling and hung his head earthwards,
——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her
permitted say.

Now when it was the Sixty-ninth Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious king, that when Sharrkan heard
these words, his heart fluttered and his colour waxed yellow and he was
seized with trembling and he hung his head earthwards, for he knew that

she was his sister by the same father. Then he lost his senses; and, when he
revived, he abode in amazement, but did not discover his identity to her and
asked, "O my lady, say, art thou in sooth the daughter of King Omar bin al-
Nu'uman?" "Yes," answered she; and he continued, "Tell me the cause of
thy leaving thy sire and of thy being sold for a slave." So she related to him
all that had befallen her from beginning to end, how she had left her brother
sick in the Sanctified City, Jerusalem, and how the Badawi had kidnapped
her and had sold her to the trader. When Sharrkan heard this, he was
certified of her being his sister on the sword-side and said to himself, "How
can I have my sister to wife? By Allah, needs must I marry her to one of my
chamberlains; and, if the thing get wind, I will declare that I divorced her
before consummation and married her to my Chief Chamberlain." Then he
raised his head and sighing said, "O Nuzhat al-Zaman, thou art my very
sister and I cry:—I take refuge with Allah from this sin whereinto we have
fallen, for I am Sharrkan, son of Omar bin al-Nu'uman." She looked at him
and knew he spoke the truth; and, becoming as one demented, she wept and
buffetted her face, exclaiming, "There is no Majesty and there is no Might
save in Allah! Verily have we fallen into mortal sin![301] What shall I do and
what shall I say to my father and my mother when they ask me, Whence
hadst thou thy daughter?" Quoth Sharrkan, "It were meetest that I marry
thee to my Chamberlain and let thee bring up my daughter in his house, that
none may know thou be my sister. This hath befallen us from Almighty
Allah for a purpose of his own, and nothing shall cover us but thy marriage
with this Chamberlain, ere any know." Then he fell to comforting her and
kissing her head and she asked him, "What wilt thou call the girl?" "Call her
Kuzia-Fakan,"[302] answered he. Then he gave the mother in marriage to the
Chief Chamberlain, and transferred her to his house with the child, which
they reared on the laps of the slave-girls, and fed with milk and dosed with
powders. Now all this occurred whilst the brother, Zau al-Makan, still
tarried with the Fireman at Damascus. One day there came to King
Sharrkan a courier from his father, with a letter which he took and read and
found therein, "After the Bismillah know, O beloved King, that I am
afflicted with sore affliction for the loss of my children: sleep ever faileth
me and wakefulness ever assaileth me. I send thee this letter that, as soon as
thou receivest it, thou make ready the monies and the tribute, and send them
to us, together with the damsel whom thou hast bought and taken to wife;
for I long to see her and hear her discourse; more especially because there

hath come to us from Roum-land an old woman of saintly bearing and with
her be five damsels, high-bosomed virgins, endowed with knowledge and
good-breeding and all arts and sciences befitting mortals to know; and
indeed tongue faileth me to describe this old woman and these who with her
wend; for of a truth they are compendiums of perfections in learning and
accomplishments. As soon as I saw them I loved them, and I wished to have
them in my palace and in the compass of my hand; for none of the Kings
owneth the like of them; so I asked the old woman their price and she
answered:—I will not sell them but for the tribute of Damascus. And I, by
Allah, did not hold this price exorbitant, indeed it is but little, for each one
of them is worth the whole valuation. So I agreed to that and took them into
my palace, and they remain in my possession. Wherefore do thou forward
the tribute to us that the woman may return to her own country; and send to
us the damsel to the end that she may dispute with them before the doctors;
and, if she prevail over them, I will return her to thee accompanied by the
tribute of Baghdad."——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and
ceased to say her permitted say.

Now when it was the full Seventieth Night,

She said, it hath reached me, O auspicious King, that King Omar son of Al-
Nu'uman said in his letter, "And send to us the damsel to the end that she
may dispute with them before the doctors; and, if she prevail over them, I
will return her to thee accompanied with the tribute of Baghdad." As soon
as Sharrkan knew the contents, he went in to his brother-in-law and said to
him, "Bring the damsel to whom I married thee;" and when she came he
showed her the letter and said, "O my sister! what answer wouldst thou
advise me make to this letter?" Replied she, "Seek advice from thyself!"
and presently added (for she yearned after her people and her native land),
"Send me together with my husband the Chamberlain, to Baghdad, that I
may tell my father my tale and let him know whatso befel me with the
Badawi who sold me to the merchant, and that I also inform him how thou
boughtest me of the trader and gavest me in marriage to the Chamberlain,
after setting me free." "Be it so," replied Sharrkan. Then Sharrkan took his
daughter, Kuzia Fakan, and committed her to the charge of the wet-nurses
and the eunuchs, and he made ready the tribute in haste, bidding the

Chamberlain travel with the Princess and the treasure to Baghdad. He also
furnished him two travelling litters; one for himself and the other for his
wife. And the Chamberlain replied, "To hear is to obey." Moreover
Sharrkan collected camels and mules and wrote a letter to his father and
committed it to the Chamberlain; then he bade farewell to his sister, after he
had taken the jewel from her and hung it round his daughter's neck by a
chain of pure gold; and she and her husband set out for Baghdad the same
night. Now it so happened that Zau al-Makan and his friend the Fireman
had come forth from the hut in which they were, to see the spectacle, and
they beheld camels and Bukhti[303] dromedaries and bât-mules and torches
and lanterns alight; and Zau al-Makan enquired about the loads and their
owner and was told that it was the tribute of Damascus going to King Omar
bin al-Nu'uman, Lord of the City of Baghdad. He then asked, "Who be the
leader of the caravan?" and they answered, "The Head Chamberlain who
hath married the damsel so famous for learning and science." Thereupon
Zau al-Makan wept with bitter weeping and was minded of his mother and
his father and his sister and his native land, and he said to the Stoker, "I will
join this caravan and, little by little, will journey homewards." Quoth the
Fireman, "I would not suffer thee to travel single-handed from the Holy
City to Damascus, then how shall I be sure of thy safety when thou farest
for Baghdad? But I will go with thee and care for thee till thou effectest
thine object." "With joy and good will," answered Zau al-Makan. Then the
Fireman gat him ready for the journey and hired an ass and threw saddle-
bags over it and put therein something of provaunt; and, when all was
prepared, he awaited the passage of the caravan. And presently the
Chamberlain came by on a dromedary and his footmen about him. Then
Zau al-Makan mounted the ass and said to his companion, "Do thou mount
with me." But he replied, "Not so: I will be thy servant." Quoth Zau al-
Makan, "There is no help for it but thou ride awhile." "'Tis well," quoth the
Stoker; "I will ride when I grow tired." Then said Zau al-Makan, "O my
brother, soon shalt thou see how I will deal with thee, when I come to my
own folk." So they fared on till the sun rose and, when it was the hour of
the noonday sleep[304] the Chamberlain called a halt and they alighted and
reposed and watered their camels. Then he gave the signal for departure
and, after five days, they came to the city of Hamah,[305] where they set
down and made a three day's halt;——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn
of day and ceased saying her permitted say.

Now when it was the Seventy-first Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that they halted in the city
of Hamah three days; they then fared forwards and ceased not travelling till
they reached another city. Here also they halted three days and thence they
travelled till they entered the province Diyár Bakr. Here blew on them the
breezes of Baghdad, and Zau al-Makan bethought him of his father and
mother and native land, and how he was returning to his sire without his
sister: so he wept and sighed and complained, and his regrets grew on him,
and he began improvising these couplets:—
Sweetheart! How long must I await by so long-suffering tried? ✿ Nor cometh messenger to tell me
where thou dost abide:
Ah me! in very sooth our meeting-time was short enow: ✿ Would Heaven shorter prove to me the
present parting-tide!
Now hend my hand and ope my robe and thou within shall sight ✿ How wasted are the limbs of me
and yet the waste I hide:
When say they "Comfort take for loss of love" I but reply ✿ "By Allah, till the Day of Doom no
comfort shall betide!"

Thereupon said to him the Fireman, "Leave this weeping and wailing, for
we are near the Chamberlain's tent." Quoth Zau al-Makan, "Needs must I
recite somewhat of verse; haply it may quench the fire of my heart." "Allah
upon thee," cried the other, "cease this lamentation till thou come to thine
own country; then do what thou wilt, and I will be with thee wherever thou
art." Replied Zau al-Makan, "By Allah! I cannot forbear from this!" Then he
turned his face towards Baghdad and the moon was shining brightly and
shedding her light on the place, and Nuzhat al-Zaman could not sleep that
night, but was restless and called to mind her brother and wept. And while
she was in tears, she heard Zau al-Makan weeping and improvising the
following distichs:—

"Al-Yaman's[306] leven-gleam I see, ✿ And sore despair despaireth me
For friend who erst abode wi' me ✿ Crowning my cup with gladdest gree;
It minds me o' one who jilted me ✿ To mourn my bitter liberty.
Say sooth, thou fair sheet-lightning! shall ✿ We meet once more in joy and glee?
O blamer! spare to me thy blame ✿ My Lord hath sent this dule to dree,
Of friend who left me, fain to flee; ✿ Of Time that breeds calamity:
All bliss hath fled the heart of me ✿ Since Fortune proved mine enemy.
He[307] brimmed a bowl of merest pine, ✿ And made me drain the dregs, did he:
I see me, sweetheart, dead and gone ✿ Ere I again shall gaze on thee.
Time! prithee bring our childhood back, ✿ Restore our happy infancy,
When joy and safety 'joyed we ✿ From shafts that now they shoot at me!
Who aids the hapless stranger-wight, ✿ That nights in fright and misery,
That wastes his days in lonely grief, ✿ For "Time's Delight"[308] no more must be?
Doomed us despite our will to bear ✿ The hands of base-borns cark and care.

When he ended his verse he cried out and fell down in a fainting-fit. This is
how it fared with him; but as regards Nuzhat al-Zaman, when she heard that
voice in the night, her heart was at rest and she rose and in her joy she
called the Chief Eunuch, who said to her, "What is thy will?" Quoth she,
"Arise and bring me him who recited verses but now." Replied he, "Of a
truth I did not hear him"——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and
ceased to say her permitted say.

Now when it was the Seventy-second Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when Nuzhat al-
Zaman heard her brother reciting, she called the Chief Eunuch and said to
him, "Go, fetch me the man who is repeating this poetry!" Replied he, "Of a
truth I heard him not and I wot him not and folks are all sleeping." But she
said, "Whomsoever thou seest awake, he is the reciter." So he went, yet
found none on wake save the Stoker; for Zau al-Makan was still insensible,
and when his companion saw the Eunuch standing by his head he was
afraid of him. Then said the Eunuch, "Art thou he who repeated poetry but
now and my lady heard him?" The Stoker fancied that the dame was wroth
with the reciter; and, being afraid, he replied, "By Allah, 'twas not I!"
Rejoined the Eunuch, "Who then was the reciter?: point him out to me.
Thou must know who it was, seeing that thou art awake." The Fireman
feared for Zau al-Makan and said in himself, "Haply the Eunuch will do
him some hurt"; so he answered, "By Allah, I know not who it was." Said

the Eunuch, "By Allah, thou liest, for there is none on wake here but thou!
So needs must thou know him." "By Allah," replied the Fireman, "I tell thee
the truth!: some passer-by, some wayfarer must have recited the verses and
disturbed me and kept me awake; Allah requite him!" Quoth the Eunuch, "If
thou happen upon him, point him out to me and I will lay hands on him and
bring him to the door of our lady's litter;[309] or do thou take him with thine
own hand." Said the Fireman, "Go thou back and I will bring him to thee."
So the Eunuch left him and went his ways; and, going in to his mistress,
told her all this and said to her, "None knoweth who it was; it must have
been some passer-by, some wayfarer." And she was silent. Meanwhile, Zau
al-Makan came to himself and saw that the moon had reached the middle
Heavens; the breath of the dawn-breeze[310] breathed upon him and his heart
was moved to longing and sadness; so he cleared his throat and was about
to recite verses, when the Fireman asked him, "What wilt thou do?"
Answered Zau al-Makan, "I have a mind to repeat somewhat of poetry, that
I may quench therewith the fire of my heart." Quoth the other, "Thou
knowest not what befel me whilst thou wast a-faint, and how I escaped
death only by beguiling the Eunuch." "Tell me what happened," quoth Zau
al-Makan. Replied the Stoker, "Whilst thou wast aswoon there came up to
me but now an Eunuch, with a long staff of almond-tree wood in his hand,
who took to looking in all the people's faces, as they lay asleep, and asked
me who it was recited the verses, finding none awake but myself. I told him
in reply it was some passer-by, some wayfarer; so he went away and Allah
delivered me from him; else had he killed me. But first he said to me:—If
thou hear him again, bring him to us." When Zau al-Makan heard this he
wept and said, "Who is it would forbid me to recite? I will surely recite,
befal me what may; for I am near mine own land and care for none."
Rejoined the Fireman, "Thy design is naught save to lose thy life;" and Zau
al-Makan retorted, "Needs must I recite verses." "Verily," said the Stoker,
"Needs must there be a parting between me and thee in this place, albeit I
had intended not to leave thee, till I had brought thee to thy native city and
reunited thee with thy mother and father. Thou hast now tarried with me a
year and a half and I have never harmed thee in aught. What ails thee, then,
that thou must needs recite verses, seeing that we are tired out with walking
and watching and all the folk are asleep, for they require sleep to rest them
of their fatigue?" But Zau al-Makan answered, "I will not be turned away

from my purpose."[311] Then grief moved him and he threw off concealment
and began repeating these couplets:—
Stand thou by the homes and hail the lords of the ruined stead; ✿ Cry thou for an answer, belike
reply to thee shall be sped:
If the night and absence irk thy spirit kindle a torch ✿ Wi' repine; and illuminate the gloom with a
gleaming gleed:
If the snake of the sand-dunes hiss, I shall marvel not at all! ✿ Let him bite so I bite those beauteous
lips of the luscious red:
O Eden, my soul hath fled in despite of the maid I love: ✿ Had I lost hope of Heaven my heart in
despair were dead.

And he also improvised the two following distichs:
We were and were the days enthralled to all our wills, ✿ Dwelling in union sweet and homed in
fairest site:
Who shall restore the home of the beloved, where showed ✿ Light of the Place for aye conjoined
with Time's Delight?[312]

And as he ceased his verses, he shrieked three shrieks and fell senseless to
the ground and the Fireman rose and covered him. When Nuzhat al-Zaman
heard the first improvisation, she called to mind her father and her mother
and her brother and their whilom home; then she wept and cried at the
Eunuch and said to him, "Woe to thee! He who recited the first time hath
recited a second time and I heard him hard by. By Allah, an thou fetch him
not to me, I will assuredly rouse the Chamberlain on thee, and he shall beat
thee and cast thee out. But take these hundred dinars and give them to the
singer and bring him to me gently, and do him no hurt. If he refuse, hand to
him this purse of a thousand dinars, then leave him and return to me and tell
me, after thou hast informed thyself of his place and his calling and what
countryman he is. Return quickly and linger not."——And Shahrazad
perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.

Now when it was the Seventy-third Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Nuzhat al-Zaman sent
the Eunuch to make enquiries concerning the singer and said, "Beware how
thou come back to me and report, I could not find him." So the Eunuch
went out and laid about the people and trod in their tents, but found none
awake, all being asleep for weariness, till he came to the Stoker and saw

him sitting up, with his head uncovered. So he drew near and seizing him
by the hand, said to him, "It was thou didst recite the verses!" The Fireman
was afeard for his life and replied, "No, by Allah, O chief of the people, it
was not I!" But the Eunuch said, "I will not leave thee till thou show me
who it was that recited the verses, for I dread returning to my lady without
him." Now when the Fireman heard these words he feared for Zau al-
Makan and wept with exceeding weeping and said to the Eunuch, "By
Allah, it was not I, and I know him not. I only heard some passer-by, some
wayfarer, recite verses: so do not thou commit sin on me, for I am a stranger
and come from the Holy City of Jerusalem; and Abraham, the friend of
Allah, be with you all." "Rise up and fare with me," rejoined the Eunuch,
"and tell my lady this with thine own mouth, for I have seen none awake
save thyself." Quoth the Stoker, "Hast thou not come and seen me sitting in
the place where I now am, and dost thou not know my station? Thou
wottest none can stir from his place, except the watchmen seize him. So go
thou to thy station and if thou again meet any one after this hour reciting
aught of poetry, whether he be near or far, it will be I or some one I know,
and thou shalt not learn of him but by me." Then he kissed the Eunuch's
head and spake him fair till he went away; but the Castrato fetched a round
and, returning secretly, came and stood behind the Fireman, fearing to go
back to his mistress without tidings. As soon as he was gone, the Stoker
arose and aroused Zau al-Makan and said to him, "Come, sit up, that I may
tell thee what hath happened." So Zau al-Makan sat up, and his companion
told him what had passed, and he answered, "Let me alone; I will take no
heed of this and I care for none, for I am near mine own country."[313] Quoth
the Stoker, "Why wilt thou obey thy flesh and the devil? If thou fear no one,
I fear for thee and for my life, so Allah upon thee! recite nothing more of
verses till thou come to thine own land. Indeed, I had not deemed thee so
ill-conditioned. Dost thou not know that this lady is the wife of the
Chamberlain and is minded to chastise thee for disturbing her? Belike, she
is ill or restless for fatigue of the journey and the distance of the place from
her home, and this is the second time she hath sent the Eunuch to look for
thee." However Zau al-Makan paid no heed to the Fireman's words but
cried out a third time and began versifying with these couplets:—

I fly the carper's injury, ✿ Whose carping sorely vexeth me:
He chides and taunts me, wotting not ✿ He burns me but more grievously.
The blamer cries "He is consoled!" ✿ I say, "My own dear land[314] to see:"
They ask, "Why be that land so dear?" ✿ I say "It taught me in love to be:"
They ask, "What raised its dignity?" ✿ I say, "What made my ignomy:"
Whate'er the bitter cup I drain, ✿ Far be fro' me that land to flee:
Nor will I bow to those who blame, ✿ And for such love would deal me shame.

Hardly had he made an end of his verses and come to a conclusion, when
the Eunuch (who had heard him from his hiding-place at his head) came up
to him; whereupon the Fireman fled and stood afar off to see what passed
between them. Then said the Eunuch to Zau al-Makan, "Peace be with thee,
O my lord!" "And on thee be peace," replied Zau al-Makan, "and the mercy
of Allah and His blessings!" "O my lord," continued the Eunuch——And
Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.

Now when it was the Seventy-fourth Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Eunuch said to
Zau al-Makan, "O my lord, I have sought thee these several times this night,
for my mistress biddeth thee to her." Quoth Zau al-Makan, "And who be
this bitch that seeketh for me? Allah curse her and curse her husband with
her!"[315] And he began to revile the Eunuch, who could make him no
answer, because his mistress had charged him to do Zau al-Makan no hurt,
nor bring him save of his own especial free will; and, if he would not
accompany him, to give him the thousand dinars. So the Castrato began to
speak him fair and say to him, "O my lord, take this purse and go with me.
We will do thee no unright, O my son, nor wrong thee in aught; but our
object is that thou bend thy gracious steps with me to my mistress, to
receive her answer and return in weal and safety: and thou shalt have a
handsome present as one who bringeth good news." When Zau al-Makan
heard this, he arose and went with the Eunuch and walked among the
sleeping folk, stepping over them; whilst the Fireman followed after them
from afar, and kept his eye upon him and said to himself, "Alas the pity of
his youth! To-morrow they will hang him." And he ceased not following
them till he approached their station,[316] without any observing him. Then
he stood still and said, "How base it will be of him, if he say it was I who

bade him recite the verses!" This was the case of the Stoker; but as regards
what befel Zau al-Makan, he ceased not walking with the Eunuch till he
reached his station and the Castrato went in to Nuzhat al-Zaman and said,
"O my lady, I have brought thee him whom thou soughtest, and he is a
youth, fair of face and bearing the marks of wealth and gentle breeding."
When she heard this, her heart fluttered and she cried, "Let him recite some
verses, that I may hear him nearhand, and after ask him his name and his
condition and his native land." Then the Eunuch went out to Zau al-Makan
and said to him, "Recite what verses thou knowest, for my lady is here hard
by, listening to thee, and after I will ask thee of thy name and thy native
country and thy condition." Replied he, "With love and gladness but, an
thou ask my name, it is erased and my trace is unplaced and my body
awaste. I have a story, the beginning of which is not known nor can the end
of it be shown, and behold, I am even as one who hath exceeded in wine-
drinking and who hath not spared himself; one who is afflicted with
distempers and who wandereth from his right mind, being perplexed about
his case and drowned in the sea of thought." When Nuzhat al-Zaman heard
this, she broke out into excessive weeping and sobbing, and said to the
Eunuch, "Ask him if he have parted from one he loveth even as his mother
or father." The Castrato asked as she bade him, and Zau al-Makan replied,
"Yes, I have parted from every one I loved: but the dearest of all to me was
my sister, from whom Fate hath separated me." When Nuzhat al-Zaman
heard this, she exclaimed, "Allah Almighty reunite him with what he
loveth!"——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying
her permitted say.

Now when it was the Seventy-fifth Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when Nuzhat al-
Zaman heard his words she said, "Allah reunite him with what he loveth!"
Then quoth she to the Eunuch, "Tell him to let me hear somewhat anent his
separation from his countrymen and his country." The Eunuch did so, and
Zau al-Makan sighed heavily and began repeating these couplets[317]:—

Is not her love a pledge by all mankind confest? ✿ The house that hometh Hinda be for ever blest!
Her love all levels; man can reck of naught beside; ✿ Naught or before or after can for man have
zest.
'Tis though the vale is paved with musk and ambergris ✿ That day when Hinda's footstep on its face
is prest:
Hail to the beauty of our camp, the pride of folk, ✿ The dearling who enslaves all hearts by her
behest:
Allah on "Time's Delight" send large-dropped clouds that teem ✿ With genial rain but bear no
thunder in their breast.

And also these:—
I vow to Allah if at home I sight ✿ My sister Nuzhat al-Zamáni hight,
I'll pass the days in joyance and delight ✿ Mid bashful minions, maidens soft and white:
To sound of harps in various modes they smite ✿ Draining the bowl, while eyes rain lively light
'Neath half-closed lids, a-sipping lips red-bright ✿ By stream-bank flowing through my garden-site.

When he had finished his verse, Nuzhat al-Zaman lifted up a skirt of the
litter-curtain and looked at him. As soon as her eyes fell on his face, she
knew him for certain and cried out, "O my brother! O Zau al-Makan!" He
also looked at her and knew her and cried out, "O my sister! O Nuzhat al-
Zaman!" Then she threw herself upon him and he gathered her to his bosom
and the twain fell down in a fainting fit. When the Eunuch saw this case, he
wondered at them and throwing over them somewhat to cover them, waited
till they should recover. After a while they came to themselves, and Nuzhat
al-Zaman rejoiced with exceeding joy: oppression and depression left her
and gladness took the mastery of her, and she repeated these verses:—
Time sware my life should fare in woeful waste; ✿ Forsworn art Time, expiate thy sin in haste![318]
Comes weal and comes a welcome friend to aid; ✿ To him who brings good news, rise, gird thy
waist:
I spurnèd old-world tales of Eden-bliss; ✿ Till came I Kausar[319] on those lips to taste.

When Zau al-Makan heard this, he pressed his sister to his breast; tears
streamed from his eyes for excess of joy and he repeated these couplets[320]:
—
Long I lamented that we fell apart, ✿ While tears repentant railèd from these eyne;
And sware, if Time unite us twain once more, ✿ "Severance" shall never sound from tongue of mine:
Joy hath so overwhelmed me that excess ✿ Of pleasure from mine eyes draws gouts of brine:
Tears, O mine eyes, have now become your wont ✿ Ye weep for pleasure and you weep for pine!

They sat awhile at the litter-door till she said to him, "Come with me into
the litter and tell me all that hath befallen thee, and I will tell thee what
happened to me." So they entered and Zau al-Makan said, "Do thou begin
thy tale." Accordingly she told him all that had come to her since their
separation at the Khan and what had happened to her with the Badawi; how
the merchant had bought her of him and had taken her to her brother
Sharrkan and had sold her to him; how he had freed her at the time of
buying; how he had made a marriage-contract with her and had gone in to
her and how the King, their sire, had sent and asked for her from Sharrkan.
Then quoth she, "Praised be Allah who hath vouchsafed thee to me and
ordained that, even as we left our father together, so together shall we return
to him!" And she added, "Of a truth my brother Sharrkan gave me in
marriage to this Chamberlain that he might carry me to my father. And this
is what befel me from first to last; so now tell me how it hath fared with
thee since I left thee." Thereupon he told her all that had happened to him
from beginning to end; and how Allah vouchsafed to send the Fireman to
him, and how he had journeyed with him and spent his money on him and
had served him night and day. She praised the Stoker for this and Zau al-
Makan added, "Of a truth, O my sister, this Fireman hath dealt with me in
such benevolent wise as would not lover with lass nor sire with son, for that
he fasted and gave me to eat, and he walked whilst he made me ride; and I
owe my life to him." Said she, "Allah willing, we will requite him for all
this, according to our power." Then she called the Eunuch, who came and
kissed Zau al-Makan's hand, and she said, "Take thy reward for glad
tidings, O face of good omen! It was thy hand reunited me with my brother;
so the purse I gave thee and all in it are thine. But now go to thy master and
bring him quickly to me." The Castrato rejoiced and, going in to the
Chamberlain, summoned him to his mistress. Accordingly, he came in to his
wife and finding Zau al-Makan with her, asked who he was. So she told him
all that had befallen them both, first and last, and added, "Know, O
Chamberlain, that thou hast married no slave-girl; far from it, thou hast
taken to wife the daughter of King Omar bin al-Nu'uman for I am Nuzhat
al-Zaman, and this is my brother, Zau al-Makan." When the Chamberlain
heard the story he knew it to be sooth, and its manifest truth appeared to
him and he was certified that he was become King Omar bin al-Nu'uman's
son-in-law, so he said to himself, "'Twill be my fate to be made viceroy of
some province."[321] Then he went up to Zau al-Makan and gave him joy of

his safety and reunion with his sister, and bade his servants forthwith make
him ready a tent and one of the best of his own horses to ride. Thereupon
said Nuzhat al-Zaman, "We are now near our country and I would be left
alone with my brother, that we may enjoy each other's company and take
our fill of it ere we reach Baghdad; for we have been parted a long, long
time." "Be it as thou biddest," replied the Chamberlain, and, going forth
from them, sent them wax-candles and various kinds of sweetmeats,
together with three suits of the costliest for Zau al-Makan. Then he returned
to the litter and related the good he had done and Nuzhat al-Zaman said to
him, "Bid the Eunuch bring me the Fireman and give him a horse to ride
and ration him with a tray of food morning and evening, and let him be
forbidden to leave us." The Chamberlain called the Castrato and charged
him to do accordingly; so he replied, "I hear and I obey;" and he took his
pages with him and went out in search of the Stoker till he found him in the
rear of the caravan, girthing his ass and preparing for flight. The tears were
running adown his cheeks, out of fear for his life and grief for his separation
from Zau al-Makan; and he was saying to himself, "Indeed, I warned him
for the love of Allah, but he would not listen to me; Oh would I knew what
is become of him!" Ere he had done speaking the Eunuch was standing by
his head whilst the pages surrounded him. The Fireman turned and seeing
the Eunuch and the pages gathered around him became yellow with fear
——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her
permitted say.

Now when it was the Seventy-sixth Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the Stoker
girthed his ass for flight and bespake himself, saying, "Oh would I knew
what is become of him!"; ere he had done speaking the Castrato was
standing by his head and his side-muscles quivered for fear and he lifted up
his voice and cried, "Verily he knoweth not the value of the good offices I
have done him! I believe he hath denounced me to the Eunuch (hence these
pages get about me) and he hath made me an accomplice in his crime."
Then the effeminated one cried at him, saying, "Who was it recited the
verses? O liar! why didst thou say:—I never repeated these couplets, nor do
I know who repeated them; when it was thy companion? But now I will not

leave thee between this place and Baghdad, and what betideth thy comrade
shall betide thee." Quoth the Fireman, "What I feared hath befallen me."
And he repeated this couplet:—
'Twas as I feared the coming ills discerning: ✿ But unto Allah we are all returning.

Then the Eunuch cried upon the pages, saying, "Take him off the ass." So
they carried him along with the caravan, surrounded by the pages, as the
white contains the black of the eye; and the Castrato said to them, "If a hair
of him be lost, you will be lost with it." And he bade them privily treat him
with honour and not humiliate him. But when the Stoker saw himself beset
by the pages, he despaired of his life and turning to the Eunuch, said to him,
"O Chief, I am neither this youth's brother nor am I akin to him, nor is he
sib to me; but I was a Fireman in a Hammam and found him cast out, in his
sickness, on the dung-heap." Then the caravan fared on and the Stoker wept
and imagined in himself a thousand things, whilst the Eunuch walked by his
side and told him nothing, but said to him, "Thou disturbedst our mistress
by reciting verses, thou and this youth: but fear nothing for thyself;" and
kept laughing at him the while to himself. Whenever the caravan halted,
they served him with food, and he and the Castrato ate from one dish.[322]
Then the Eunuch bade his lads bring a gugglet of sugared sherbet and, after
drinking himself, gave it to the Fireman, who drank; but all the while his
tears never dried, out of fear for his life and grief for his separation from
Zau al-Makan and for what had befallen them in their strangerhood. So they
both travelled on with the caravan, whilst the Chamberlain now rode by the
door of his wife's litter, in attendance on Zau al-Makan and his sister, and
now gave an eye to the Fireman; and Nuzhat al-Zaman and her brother
occupied themselves with converse and mutual condolence; and they ceased
not after this fashion till they came within three days' journey from
Baghdad. Here they alighted at eventide and rested till the morning
morrowed; and as they awoke and they were about to load the beasts,
behold, there appeared afar off a great cloud of dust that darkened the
firmament till it became black as gloomiest night.[323] Thereupon the
Chamberlain cried out to them, "Stay, and your loading delay!"; then,
mounting with his Mamelukes, rode forward in the direction of the dust-
cloud. When they drew near, suddenly appeared under it a numerous
conquering host like the full-tide sea, with flags and standards, drums and
kettledrums, horsemen and footmen. The Chamberlain marvelled at this;

and when the troops saw him, there detached itself from amongst them a
plump of five hundred cavaliers, who fell upon him and his suite and
surrounded them, five for one; whereupon said he to them, "What is the
matter and what are these troops, that ye do this with us?" Asked they,
"Who art thou; and whence comest thou, and whither art thou bound?" and
he answered, "I am the Chamberlain of the Emir of Damascus, King
Sharrkan, son of Omar bin al-Nu'uman, Lord of Baghdad and of the land of
Khorasan, and I bring tribute and presents from him to his father in
Baghdad." When the horsemen heard his words they let their head-kerchiefs
fall over their faces and wept, saying, "In very sooth King Omar is dead and
he died not but of poison. So fare ye forwards; no harm shall befal you till
you join his Grand Wazir, Dandan." Now when the Chamberlain heard this,
he wept sore and exclaimed, "Oh for our disappointment in this our
journey!" Then he and all his suite wept till they had come up with the host
and sought access to the Wazir Dandan, who granted an interview and
called a halt and, causing his pavilion to be pitched, sat down on a couch
therein and commanded to admit the Chamberlain. Then he bade him be
seated and questioned him; and he replied that he was Chamberlain to the
Emir of Damascus and was bound to King Omar with presents and the
tribute of Syria. The Wazir, hearing the mention of King Omar's name, wept
and said, "King Omar is dead by poison, and upon his dying the folk fell
out amongst themselves as to who should succeed him, until they were like
to slay one another on this account; but the notables and grandees and the
four Kazis interposed and all the people agreed to refer the matter to the
decision of the four judges and that none should gainsay them. So it was
agreed that we go to Damascus and fetch thence the King's son, Sharrkan,
and make him Sultan over his father's realm. And amongst them were some
who would have chosen the cadet, Zau al-Makan, for, quoth they, his name
be Light of the Place, and he hath a sister Nuzhat al-Zaman hight, the
Delight of the Time; but they set out five years ago for Al-Hijaz and none
wotteth what is become of them." When the Chamberlain heard this, he
knew that his wife had told him the truth of her adventures; and he grieved
with sore grief for the death of King Omar, albeit he joyed with exceeding
joy, especially at the arrival of Zau al-Makan, for that he would now
become Sultan of Baghdad in his father's stead.——And Shahrazad
perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.

Now when it was the Seventy-seventh Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when Sharrkan's
Chamberlain heard of the death of King Omar bin al-Nu'uman he mourned,
but he rejoiced because of his wife and her brother Zau al-Makan who
would become Sultan of Baghdad in his father's stead. So he turned to the
Wazir Dandan and said to him, "Verily your tale is a wonder of wonders!
Know, O Chief Wazir, that here, where you have encountered me, Allah
hath given you rest from fatigue and bringeth you your desire after the
easiest of fashions, for that His Almighty Will restoreth to you Zau al-
Makan and his sister Nuzhat al-Zaman; whereby we will settle the matter as
we easily can." When the Minister heard these words he rejoiced with great
joy and said, "O Chamberlain, tell me the tale of the twain and what befel
them and the cause of their long absence." So he repeated to him the whole
story and told him that Nuzhat al-Zaman was his wife and related to him the
adventures of Zau al-Makan from first to last. As soon as he had ended his
tale, the Wazir sent for the Emirs and Wazirs and Chief Officers and
acquainted them with the matter; whereat they rejoiced with great joy and
wondered at the happy chance. Then they gathered in a body and went in to
the Chamberlain and did their service to him, kissing the ground between
his hands; and the Wazir Dandan also rose and went out to meet him and
stood before him in honour. After this, the Chamberlain held on that day a
Divan-council; and he and the Wazir sat upon a throne, whilst all the Emirs
and Grandees and Officers of State took their places before them, according
to their several ranks.[324] Then they melted sugar in rose-water and drank,
after which the Emirs sat down to hold council and permitted the rest of the
host to mount and ride forward leisurely, till they should make an end of
their debate and overtake them. So the officers kissed the ground between
their hands and mounting, rode onwards, preceded by the standards of war.
When the grandees had finished their conference, they took horse and
rejoined the host; and the Chamberlain approached the Wazir Dandan and
said, "I deem it well to ride on before you, and precede you, that I may get
ready a place for the Sultan and notify him of your coming and of your
choosing him as Sultan over the head of his brother Sharrkan." "Aright thou
reckest," answered the Wazir. Then the Chamberlain rose up in haste and
Dandan also stood up to do him honour and brought him presents, which he
conjured him to accept. In similar guise did all the Emirs and Grandees and

Officers of State, bringing him gifts and calling down blessings on him and
saying to him, "Haply thou wilt mention our case to Sultan Zau al-Makan
and speak to him to continue us in our dignities."[325] The Chamberlain
promised all they required and bade his pages be ready to march,
whereupon the Wazir Dandan sent with him tents and bade the tent-pitchers
set them up at a day's journey from the city. And they did his bidding. Then
the Chamberlain mounted and rode forward, full of joy and saying to
himself, "How blessed is this journey!"; and indeed his wife was exalted in
his eyes, she and her brother Zau al-Makan. They made all haste over their
wayfare, till they reached a place distant a day's journey from Baghdad,
where the Chamberlain called a halt for rest, and bade his men alight and
make ready a sitting place for the Sultan Zau al-Makan, son of King Omar
bin al-Nu'uman, while he rode forward with his Mamelukes and, alighting
at a distance from Nuzhat al-Zaman's litter, commanded the eunuchs to ask
leave of admission to the presence. They did so and she gave permission;
whereupon he went in to her and conversed with her and her brother; and
told them of the death of their father; and of Zau al-Makan, how the heads
of the people had made him King over them in the stead of his sire; and he
gave them joy of the kingdom. They both wept for their father and asked
the manner of his being killed; but the Chamberlain answered, "The news
rests with the Wazir Dandan who will be here to-morrow leading all the
host; and it only remaineth for thee, O King, to do what they counsel, since
they have unanimously chosen thee Sultan; for if thou do not this, they will
choose some one else and thou canst not be sure of thy life with another
Sultan. Haply he will kill thee, or discord may befal between you twain and
the kingdom pass out of the hands of both." Zau al-Makan bowed his head
awhile and then said, "I accept this position;" for indeed there was no
refusing; and he was certified that the Chamberlain had counselled him well
and wisely and set him on the right way. Then he added, "O my uncle, how
shall I do with my brother Sharrkan?" "O my son," replied the Chamberlain,
"thy brother will be Sultan of Damascus and thou Sultan of Baghdad; so
take heart of grace and get ready thy case." Zau al-Makan accepted this and
the Chamberlain presented him with a suit of royal raiment and a dagger[326]
of state, which the Wazir Dandan had brought with him; then leaving him
he bade the tent-pitchers choose a spot of rising ground and set up thereon a
spacious pavilion, wherein the Sultan might sit to receive the Emirs and
Grandees. Moreover he ordered the kitcheners to cook rich viands and serve

them and he commanded the water-carriers to dispose the water-troughs.
They did as he bade them and presently arose a cloud of dust from the
ground and spread till it walled the horizon round. After awhile, the dust
dispersed and there appeared under it the army of Baghdad and Khorasan, a
conquering host like the full-tide sea.——And Shahrazad perceived the
dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.

Now when it was the Seventy-eighth Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the Chamberlain
bade the tent-pitchers set up a pavilion spacious enough to receive the
subjects flocking to their Sultan, they planted a splendid Sháhmiyánah[327]
befitting Kings. And as they ended their labours behold, a dust cloud spired
aloft and the breeze made it lift and beneath it showed a conquering host;
and presently it appeared that this was the army of Baghdad and Khorasan
preceded by the Wazir Dandan. And in it all rejoiced at the accession of the
"Light of the Place." Now Zau al-Makan had donned robes of royal estate
and girt himself with the sword of state: so the Chamberlain brought him a
steed and he mounted, surrounded by the Mamelukes and all the company
from the tents on foot, to do him service, and he rode on until he came to
the great pavilion, where he sat down and he laid the royal dagger across his
thighs, whilst the Chamberlain stood in attendance on him and his armed
slaves stationed themselves under the entrance-awning of the Sháhmiyánah,
with drawn swords in their hands. Presently, up came the troops and the
host and craved admission; so the Chamberlain went in to Zau al-Makan
and asked his leave, whereupon he bade admit them, ten by ten. The
Chamberlain acquainted them with the King's commands, to which they
replied, "We hear and we obey;" and all drew up before the pavilion-
entrance. Then he took ten of them and carried them through the vestibule
into the presence of Sultan Zau al-Makan, whom when they saw, they were
awed; but he received them with most gracious kindness and promised them
all good. So they gave him joy of his safe return and invoked Allah's
blessings upon him, after which they took the oath of fealty never to
gainsay him in aught and they kissed ground before him and withdrew.
Then other ten entered and he entreated them as he had entreated the others;
and they ceased not to enter, ten by ten, till none was left but the Wazir

Dandan. Lastly the Minister went in and kissed the ground before Zau al-
Makan, who rose to meet him, saying, "Welcome, O Wazir and sire sans
peer! Verily, thine acts are those of a counsellor right dear, and judgement
and foreseeing clear are in the hands of the Subtle of Lere." Then bade he
the Chamberlain forthwith go out and cause the tables to be spread and
order all the troops thereto. So they came and ate and drank. Moreover the
Sultan commanded his Wazir Dandan call a ten days' halt of the army, that
he might be private with him and learn from him how and wherefore his
father had been slain. The Wazir obeyed the commands of the Sultan with
submission and wished him eternity of glory and said, "This needs must
be!" He then repaired to the heart of the encampment and ordered the host
to halt ten days. They did as he bade them and, moreover, he gave them
leave to divert themselves and ordered that none of the lords in waiting
should attend upon the King for service during the space of three days.
Then the Wazir went to the Sultan and reported all to him, and Zau al-
Makan waited until nightfall, when he went in to his sister Nuzhat al-Zaman
and asked her, "Dost thou know the cause of my father's murder or not?" "I
have no knowledge of the cause," she answered, and drew a silken curtain
before herself, whilst Zau al-Makan seated himself without the curtain and
commanded the Wazir to the presence and, when he came, said to him, "I
desire thou relate to me in detail the cause of the killing of my sire, King
Omar bin al-Nu'uman!" Know then, O King, replied Dandan, that King
Omar bin al-Nu'uman, when he returned to Baghdad from his chasing and
hunting and entered the city, enquired for thee and thy sister, but could not
find you and knew that you twain had gone on the Pilgrimage; whereat he
was greatly grieved and much angered, and his breast was straitened and he
abode thus half a year, seeking news of you from all who came and went,
but none could give him any tidings. Now while we were in attendance
upon him one day, after a whole year had sped since ye were lost to his
sight, lo! there came to us an ancient dame with signs of being a devotee,
accompanied by five damsels, high-bosomed virgins like moons, endowed
with such beauty and loveliness as tongue faileth to describe; and, to crown
their perfections of comeliness, they could read the Koran and were versed
in various kinds of learning and in the histories of bygone peoples. Then
that old woman sought audience of the King, and he bade admit her;
whereupon she entered the presence and kissed the ground between his
hands. I was then sitting by his side and he, seeing in her the signs of

asceticism and devoutness, made her draw near and take seat hard by him.
And when she had sat down she addressed him and said, "Know, O King,
that with me are five damsels, whose like no King among the Kings
possesseth; for they are endowed with wit and beauty and loveliness and
perfection. They read the Koran and the Traditions and are skilled in all
manner of learning and in the history of bygone races. They stand here
between thy hands to do thee service, O King of the Age, and it is by trial
that folk are prized or despised." Thy father, who hath found mercy;[328]
looked at the damsels and their favour pleased him; so he said to them, "Let
each and every of you make me hear something of what she knoweth anent
the history of the folk of yore and of peoples long gone before!"——And
Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.

Now when it was the Seventy-ninth Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Wazir Dandan said
unto King Zau al-Makan:—Thy father, who hath found mercy, glanced at
the damsels and their favour pleased him and he said to them, "Let each and
every of you make me hear something of what she knoweth anent the
history of the folk of yore and of peoples long gone before!" Thereupon one
of them came forward and, kissing the ground before him, spake as follows.
[329]
"Know, O King, that it behoveth one of good-breeding to eschew
impertinence and adorn himself with excellencies, and observe the Divine
injunctions and avoid mortal sins; and to this he should apply himself with
the assiduity of one who, if he stray therefrom, falleth into perdition; for the
foundation of good breeding is virtuous behaviour. And know that the chief
cause and reason of man's existence is the endeavour after life everlasting,
and the right way thereto is the service of Allah. Wherefore it behoveth thee
to deal beneficently with the people: and swerve not from this canon, for
the mightier men are in dignity, the more their need of prudence and
foresight; and indeed Monarchs need this more than the many, for the
general cast themselves into affairs, without taking thought to the issue
thereof. Be thou prodigal of thy life and thy good in the way of Allah, and
know that, if an enemy dispute with thee, thou mayst dispute with him and
refute him with proofs and be proof against him; but as for thy friend, there
is none can judge between thee and him save righteousness and fair-dealing.
Choose, therefore, thy friend for thyself, after thou hast proved him. If he be
of the brotherhood of futurity,[330] let him be zealous in observing the
externals of the Holy Law and versed in its inner meaning, as far as may be;
and if he be of the brotherhood of the world, let him be free-born, sincere,
neither a fool nor a perverse, for the fool man is such that even his parents
might well flee from him, and a liar cannot be a true friend. Indeed the
word, Siddík[331] ('friend') deriveth from Sidk ('truth') that welleth up from
the bottom of the heart; and how can this be the case, when falsehood is
manifest upon the tongue? And know, that the observance of the Law
profiteth him who practiseth it: so love thy brother, if he be of this quality
and do not cast him off, even if thou see in him that which irketh thee, for a
friend is not like a wife, whom one can divorce and re-marry: nay, his heart

is like glass: once broken, it may not be mended. And Allah bless him who
saith:—
Ware how thou hurtest man with hurt of heart; ✿ 'Tis hard to win thee back the heart offended:
For hearts indeed, whence love is alien made, ✿ Like broken-glass may nevermore be mended."

The maiden continued and concluded with pointing out to us what sages
say, "The best of brethren is he who is the most constant in good counsel;
the best of action is that which is fairest in its consequence, and the best of
praise is not that which is in the mouths of men. It is also said:—It behoveth
not the servant to neglect thanking Allah especially for two favours, health
and reason. Again it is said:—Whoso honoureth himself, his lust is a light
matter to him, and he who maketh much of his small troubles, Allah
affiicteth him with the greater; he who obeyeth his own inclination
neglecteth his duties and he who listeneth to the slanderer loseth the true
friend. He who thinketh well of thee, do thou fulfill his thought of thee. He
who exceedeth in contention sinneth, and he who against unright standeth
not on ward, is not safe from the sword. Now will I tell thee somewhat of
the duties of Kazis and judges. Know, O King, that no judgement serveth
the cause of justice save it be given after proof positive, and it behoveth the
judge to treat all people on the same level, to the intent that the great may
not hunger for oppression nor the small despair of justice. Furthermore he
should extract proof from the complainant and impose an oath upon the
defendant; and mediation is admissible between Moslems, except it be a
compromise sanctioning the unlawful or forbidding the lawful.[332] If thou
shalt have done aught during the day, of which thy reason is doubtful but
thy good intention is proved, thou (O Kazi) shouldst revert to the right, for
to do justice is a religious obligation and to return to that which is right is
better than persistence in wrong. Then (O judge) thou shouldest study
precedents and the law of the case and do equal justice between the suitors,
withal fixing thine eyes upon the truth and committing thine affair to Allah
(be He extolled and exalted!). And require thou proof of the complainant,
and if he adduce evidence let him have due benefit of it; and if not, put the
defendant to his oath; for this is the ordinance of Allah. Receive thou the
testimony of competent Moslem witnesses, one against other, for Almighty
Allah hath commanded judges to judge by externals, He Himself taking
charge of the inner and secret things. It behoveth the judge also to avoid
giving judgement, whilst suffering from stress of pain or hunger,[333] and

that in his decisions between folk he seek the face of Allah Almighty, for he
whose intent is pure and who is at peace with himself, Allah shall guarantee
him against what is between him and the people. Quoth al-Zuhri[334]:—
There are three things for which, if they be found in a Kazi, he should be
deposed; namely, if he honour the base, if he love praise and if he fear
dismissal. And Omar bin Abd al-Aziz once deposed a Kazi, who asked him,
Why hast thou dismissed me? It hath reached me, answered Omar, that thy
converse is greater than thy condition. It is said also that Iskandar[335] said to
his Kazi:—I have invested thee with this function and committed to thee in
it my soul and mine honour and my manliness; so do thou guard it with thy
sense and thine understanding. To his Cook he said, Thou art the Sultan of
my body; so look thou tender it as thine own self. To his Secretary he said,
Thou art the controller of my wit: so do thou watch over me in what thou
writest for me and from me." Thereupon the first damsel backed out from
the presence and a second damsel came forward.——And Shahrazad
perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.

Now when it was the full Eightieth Night,

She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Wazir
Dandan said to Zau al-Makan:—Thereupon the first damsel backed out
from the presence and a second damsel came forward and, kissing the
ground seven times before the King thy father, spake as follows, "The sage
Lukmán[336] said to his son, There be three who are known only in three
several cases; the merciful man is unknown save in time of wrath, the brave
only in battle, and thy friend in time of need. It is said that the oppressor
shall be deprest though by people praised, and that the opprest is at rest
though by people blamed. Quoth Allah Almighty,[337] Assuredly deem not
that those who rejoice in what they have done, and who love to be praised
for what they have not done, shall escape reckoning of punishment: indeed
there is reserved for them a grievous penalty. And he said[338] (on whom be
salvation and salutation!):—Works are according to intention and to each
man is attributed that which he intendeth. He said also:—In the body is a
part which being sound the rest is sound, and which being unsound the
whole is unsound. And this is the heart. Now this heart is the most
marvellous of what is in man, since it is that which ordereth his whole

affair: If covetise stir in it, desire destroyeth him; and if affliction master it,
anguish slayeth him; if anger rage in it, danger is hard upon him; if it be
blest with contentment, he is safe from discontent; if fear surprise it, he is
full of mourning; and if calamity overtake it, affliction betideth him. If a
man gain the use of wealth, peradventure he is diverted thereby from the
remembrance of his Lord; if poverty choke him, his heart is distracted by
woe, or if disquietude waste his heart, weakness causeth him to fall. Thus,
in any case, nothing profiteth him but that he be mindful of Allah and
occupy himself with gaining his livelihood in this world and securing his
place in the next. It was asked of a certain sage, Who is the most ill-
conditioned of men?; and he answered, The man whose lusts master his
manhood and whose mind soareth over high, so that his knowledge
dispreadeth and his excuse diminisheth; and how excellently saith the poet:
—
Freest am I of all mankind fro' meddling wight ✿ Who, seeing others err, self-error ne'er can sight:
Riches and talents are but loans to creature lent; ✿ Each wears the cloak of that he bears in breast and
sprite:
If by mistaken door attempt on aught thou make, ✿ Thou shalt go wrong; and if the door be right, go
right!"

Continued the maiden, "As for anecdotes of devotees, quoth Hishám bin
Bashar:—I asked Omar bin Ubayd, What is true piety?; and he answered,
The Apostle of Allah (to whom be salutation and salvation!) hath explained
it when he sayeth, The pious is he who forgetteth not the grave nor calamity
and who preferreth that which endureth to that which passeth away; who
counteth not the morrow as of his days but reckoneth himself among the
dead. And it is related that Abu Zarr[339] used to say, Want is dearer to me
than wealth, and unheal is dearer to me than health. Quoth one of the
listeners, May Allah have mercy on Abu Zarr! For my part, I say, Whoso
putteth his trust in the goodness of the election of Almighty Allah should be
content with that condition which Allah hath chosen for him. Quoth one of
the Companions of the Prophet, Ibn Abi Aufa[340] once prayed with us the
dawn-prayer. When he had done, he recited, O Thou Enwrapped![341] till he
came to where Allah saith, When there shall be a trumping on the trumpet,
and fell down dead. It is said that Sabit al-Banáni wept till he well-nigh lost
his eyes. They brought him a man to medicine him who said to him, I will
cure thee, provided thou obey my bidding. Asked Sabit, In what matter?
Quoth the leach, In that thou leave weeping! What is the worth of mine

eyes?, rejoined Sabit, if they do not weep? Quoth a man to Mohammed bin
Abdillah, Exhort thou me!"——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day
and ceased to say her permitted say.

Now when it was the Eighty-first Night,

She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Wazir
Dandan said to Zau al-Makan:—Thus spake the second handmaid to the
King who hath found mercy, Omar bin al-Nu'uman. "Quoth a man to
Mohammed bin Abdillah, Exhort thou me! I exhort thee, replied he, to be a
self-ruler, an abstainer in this world, and in the next a greedy slave. How
so? asked the other and Mohammed answered, The abstinent man in this
world conquereth both the world that is and the world to come. And quoth
Ghaus bin Abdillah, There were two brothers among the sons of Israel, one
of whom said to the other, What be the most perilous[342] thing thou hast
done? Replied the brother, I once came upon a nest of young birds; so I
took out one and threw it back into the nest; but among the chickens were
some which drew apart from it. This is the most perilous thing I ever did;
now what be the most perilous thing thou hast ever done? He rejoined,
When I arise for prayer I am fearful that it is only for the sake of the
reward. Now their father heard these words and exclaimed, O Allah, an say
they sooth take them to Thyself! It was declared by one of the wise men,
Verily, these were of the most virtuous of children. Quoth Sa'id bin Jubayr,
[343]
I was once in company with Fuzalah bin 'Ubayd and said to him, Exhort
thou me! Replied he, Bear in mind these two necessaries, Shun
syntheism[344] and harm not any of Allah's creatures. And he repeated these
two couplets:—
Be as thou wilt, for Allah still is bounteous Lord, ✿ And care-dispeller; dread not therefore bane and
ban
To two things only never draw thee nigh, nor give ✿ Partner to Allah, trouble to thy brother-man."

And how well saith the poet:—
An thou of pious works a store neglect ✿ And after death meet one who did collect,
Thou shalt repent thou diddest not as he, ✿ Nor madest ready as he did elect."

Then the third damsel came forward, after the second had withdrawn, and
said, "Of a truth, the chapter of piety is exceeding wide; but I will mention
what occurreth to me thereof, concerning the pious of old. Quoth a certain
holy man, I congratulate myself in death, though I am not assured of rest
therein, save that I know death interveneth between a man and his works; so
I hope for the doubling of good works and the docking off of ill works. And
Itá'a al-Salamí, when he had made an end of an exhortation, was wont to
tremble and grieve and weep sore; and as they asked him why he did this he
answered, I desire to enter upon a grave matter, and it is the standing up
before Almighty Allah to do in accordance with my exhortation. In similar
guise Zayn al-Abidín,[345] son of Al-Husayn, was wont to tremble when he
rose to pray. Being asked the cause of this, he replied, Know ye not before
whom I stand and whom I address? It is said that there lived near Sufyán al-
Thauri[346] a blind man who, when the month of Ramazán came, went out
with the folk to pray,[347] but remained silent and hung back. Said Sufyan,
On the Day of Resurrection he shall come with the people of the Koran and
they will be distinguished by increase of honour from their fellows. Quoth
Sufyan, Were the soul established in the heart as befitteth, it would fly away
for joy and pining for Paradise, and for grief and fear of hell-fire. It is
related also of Sufyan al-Thauri that he said, To look upon the face of a
tyrant is a sin." Then the third damsel retired and came forward the fourth,
who said, "Here am I to treat of sundry traditions of pious men which
suggest themselves to me. It is related that Bishr Barefoot[348] said, I once
heard Khálid say, Beware of secret polytheism. I asked, What may secret
polytheism be?; and he answered, When one of you in praying prolong his
inclinations and prostrations till a cause of impurity[349] come upon him.
And one of the sages said, Doing works of weal expiateth what is ill. Quoth
Ibrahim,[350] I supplicated Bishr Barefoot to acquaint me with some
theological mysteries; but he said, O my son, this knowledge it behoveth us
not to teach to every one; of every hundred five, even as the legal alms
upon money. Said Ibrahim, I thought his reply excellent and approved of it
and while I was praying behold, Bishr was also praying: so I stood behind
him[351] making the prayer-bow till the Mu'ezzin called his call. Then rose a
man of tattered appearance and said, O folk, beware of a truth which
bringeth unweal, for there is no harm in a lie bringing weal,[352] and in time
of need no choice we heed: speech booteth not in the absence of good
qualities even as silence hurteth not in the presence of good. Presently I saw

Bishr drop a danik,[353] so I picked it up and exchanged it for a dirham which
I gave him. Quoth he, I will not take it. Quoth I, It is perfectly lawful
change; but he rejoined I cannot take in exchange the riches of the present
world for those of the future world. It is related also that Bishr Barefoot's
sister once went to Ahmad bin Hanbal"[354]——And Shahrazad perceived
the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.

Now when it was the Eighty-second Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Wazir Dandan
continued to bespeak Zau al-Makan on this wise:—And quoth the maiden
to thy father, "Bishr Barefoot's sister once went to Ahmad bin Hanbal and
said to him, O Imam of the Faith, we are a family that spin thread by night
and work for our living by day; and oftentimes the cressets of the watch of
Baghdad pass by and we on the roof spinning by their light. Is this
forbidden to us? Asked Ahmad:—Who art thou? I am the sister of Bishr
Barefoot, answered she. Rejoined the Imam, O household of Bishr, I shall
never cease to drink full draughts of piety from your hearts. Quoth one of
the sages, When Allah willeth well to His servant He openeth upon him the
gate of action. Malik bin Dinár,[355] when he passed through the bazar and
saw aught he desired, was wont to say:—O soul, take patience, for I will not
accord to thee what thou desirest. He said also (Allah accept him!), The
salvation of the soul lies in resistance to it and its damnation in submission
to it. Quoth Mansúr bin Ammár,[356] I made a pilgrimage and was faring
Meccahwards by way of Cufa, and the night was overcast, when I heard a
voice crying out from the deeps of the darkness saying, O Allah, I swear by
Thy Greatness and Thy Glory, I meant not through my disobedience to
transgress against Thee; for indeed I am not ignorant of Thee; but my fault
is one Thou didst foreordain to me from eternity without beginning;[357] so
do Thou pardon my transgression, for indeed I disobeyed Thee of my
ignorance! When he had made an end of his prayer he recited aloud the
verse, O true believers, save your souls and those of your families from the
fire whose fuel is men and stones.[358] Then I heard a fall, but not knowing
what it was I passed on. When the morning morrowed, as we went our way,
behold, we fell in with a funeral-train, followed by an old woman whose
strength had left her. I asked her of the dead, and she answered:—This is

the funeral of a man who passed by us yesterday whilst my son was
standing at prayer and after his prayers he recited a verse from the Book of
Allah Almighty when the man's gall-bladder burst and he fell dead."
Therewith the fourth damsel retired and the fifth came forward and said, "I
here will also repeat what occurreth to me regarding the acts of devotees in
olden time. Maslamah bin Dinár used to say:—By making sound the secret
thoughts, sins great and small are covered; and, when the servant of Allah is
resolved to leave sinning, victory cometh to him. Also quoth he, Every
worldly good which doth not draw one nearer to Allah is a calamity, for a
little of this world distracteth from a mickle of the world to come and a
mickle of the present maketh thee forget the whole of the future. It was
asked of Abú Házim,[359] Who is the most prosperous of men?; and he
answered, Whoso spendeth his life in submission to Allah. The other
enquired, And who is the most foolish of mankind? Whoso selleth his future
for the worldly goods of others, replied Abu Házim. It is reported of
Moses[360] (on whom be peace!) that when he came to the waters of Midian
he exclaimed:—O Lord, verily I stand in need of the good which thou shalt
send down to me.[361] And he asked of his Lord and not of his folk. There
came two damsels and he drew water for them both and allowed not the
shepherds to draw first. When the twain returned, they informed their father
Shu'ayb (on whom be peace!) who said, Haply, he is hungry, adding to one
of them, Go back to him and bid him hither. Now when she came to Moses,
she veiled her face and said, My father biddeth thee to him that he may pay
thee thy wage for having drawn water for us. Moses was averse to this and
was not willing to follow her. Now she was a woman large in the back
parts, and the wind blowing upon her garment[362] discovered the hinder
cheeks to Moses; which when Moses saw, he lowered his eyes and said to
her, Get thee behind while I walk in front. So she followed him till he
entered the house of Shu'ayb where supper was ready,"——And Shahrazad
perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.

Now when it was the Eighty-third Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Wazir Dandan
continued to Zau al-Makan:—Now, quoth the fifth damsel to thy sire,
"When Moses (on whom be peace!) entered the home of Shu'ayb where

supper was ready, Shu'ayb said to him, O Moses, I desire to pay thee thy
wage for having drawn water for these two. But Moses answered, I am of a
household which selleth nothing of the fashion of the next world[363] for
what is on earth of gold and silver." Then quoth Shu'ayb, O youth!
nevertheless thou art my guest, and it is my wont and that of my forbears to
honour the guest by setting food before him. So Moses sat down and ate.
Then Shu'ayb hired Moses for eight pilgrimages, that is to say, eight years,
and made his wage marriage with one of his two daughters, and Moses'
service to him was to stand for her dowry. As saith the Holy Writ of him:—
Verily I will give thee one of these my two daughters in marriage, on
condition that thou serve me for hire eight pilgrimages: and if thou fulfil ten
years, it is in thine own breast; for I seek not to impose a hardship on thee.
[364]
A certain man once said to one of his friends whom he had not met for
many days:—Thou hast made me desolate, for that I have not seen thee this
long while. Quoth the other, I have been distracted from thee by Ibn Shiháb:
dost thou know him? Quoth his friend, Yes, he hath been my neighbour
these thirty years, but I have never spoken to him. He replied, Verily thou
forgettest Allah in forgetting thy neighbour! If thou lovedst Allah thou
wouldst love thy neighbour. Knowest thou not that a neighbour hath a claim
upon his neighbour,[365] even as the right of kith and kin? Said Huzayfah,
"We entered Meccah with Ibráhím bin Adham, and Shakik al-Balkhí was
also making a pilgrimage that year. Now we met whilst circumambulating
the Ka'abah and Ibrahim said to Shakik, What is your fashion in your
country? Replied Shakik, When we are blest with our daily bread we eat,
and when we hunger we take patience. This wise, said Ibrahim, do the dogs
of Balkh; but we, when blest with plenty, do honour to Allah and when an-
hungered we thank Him. And Shakik seated himself before Ibrahim and
said to him, Thou art my master. Also said Mohammed bin Imrán, A man
once asked of Hátim the Deaf[366] What maketh thee to trust in Allah? Two
things, answered he, I know that none save myself shall eat my daily bread,
so my heart is at rest as to that; and I know that I was not created without
the knowledge of Allah, and am abashed before Him." Then the fifth
damsel retired and the ancient dame came forward and, kissing the ground
before thy father nine times, said, "Thou hast heard, O King, what these all
have spoken on the subject of piety; and I will follow their example in
relating what hath reached me of the famous men of past times. It is said
that the Imam al-Sháfi'í departed the night into three portions, the first for

study, the second for sleep and the third for prayer. The Imam Abú
Hanífah[367] was wont also to pass half the night in prayer. One day a man
pointed him out to another, as he walked by and remarked, Yonder man
watcheth the whole night. When he heard this Abu Hanifah said, I was
abashed before Allah to hear myself praised for what was not in me; so after
this he used to watch the whole night. And one of the Sages hath said:—
Who seeketh for pearl in the Deep dives deep; ✿ Who on high would hie robs his night of sleep.

Al-Rabí a relates that Al-Shafi'i used to recite the whole Koran seventy
times during the month of Ramazán, and that in his daily prayers. Quoth Al-
Shafi'i (Allah accept him!), During ten years I never ate my fill of barley-
bread, for fullness hardeneth the heart and deadeneth the wit and induceth
sleep and enfeebleth one from standing up to pray.[368] It is reported of
Abdullah bin Mohammed al-Sakrá that he said, I was once talking with
Omar and he observed to me, Never saw I a more God-fearing or eloquent
man than Mohammed bin Idris al-Sháfi'í. It so happened I went out one day
with Al-Háris bin Labíb al-Saffár, who was a disciple of Al-Muzani[369] and
had a fine voice and he read the saying of the Almighty:—This shall be a
day whereon they shall not speak to any purpose, nor shall they be
permitted to excuse themselves.[370] I saw Al-Shafi'i's colour change; his
skin shuddered with horripilation, he was violently moved and he fell down
in a fainting fit. When he revived he said, I take refuge with Allah from the
stead of the liars and the lot of the negligent! O Allah, before whom the
hearts of the wise abase themselves, O Allah, of Thy beneficence accord to
me the remission of my sins, adorn me with the curtain of Thy protection
and pardon me my shortcomings, by the magnanimity of Thy Being! Then I
rose and went away. Quoth one of the pious, When I entered Baghdad, Al-
Shafi'i was there. So I sat down on the river-bank to make the ablution
before prayer; and behold, there passed me one who said, O youth, make
thy Wuzu-ablution well and Allah will make it well for thee in this world
and in the next. I turned and lo! there was a man behind whom came a
company of people. So I hastened to finish my ablution and followed him.
Presently, he turned and asked me, Say, dost thou want aught? Yes,
answered I; I desire that thou teach me somewhat of that which Allah
Almighty hath taught thee. He said, Know then that whoso believeth in
Allah shall be saved, and whoso jealously loveth his faith shall be delivered
from destruction, and whoso practiseth abstinence in this world, his eyes

shall be solaced on the morrow of death. Shall I tell thee any more? I
replied, Assuredly; and he continued, Be thou of the world that is, heedless;
and of the world to come, greediest. Be truthful in all thy dealings, and thou
shalt be saved with the Salvationists. Then he went on and I asked about
him and was told that he was the Imam Al-Shafi'i. Al-Shafi'i was wont to
remark, I love to see folk profit by this learning of mine, on condition that
nothing of it be attributed to me."——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn
of day and ceased saying her permitted say.

Now when it was the Eighty-fourth Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Wazir Dandan
continued to Zau al-Makan:—The old woman bespake thy sire, saying,
"The Imam Al-Shafi'i was wont to remark, I love to see folk profit by this
learning of mine on condition that nothing of it be attributed to me. He also
said:—I never disputed with any one, but I would that Almighty Allah
should give him the knowledge of the Truth and aid him to dispread it: nor
did I ever dispute with anyone at all but for the showing forth of the Truth,
and I reck not whether Allah manifest it by my tongue or by His. He said
also (whom Allah accept!), if thou fear to grow conceited of thy lore, then
bethink thee Whose grace thou seekest and for what good thou yearnest and
what punishment thou dreadest. It was told to Abu Hanífah that the
Commander of the Faithful, Abú Ja'afar al-Mansúr, had appointed him Kazi
and ordered him a salary of ten thousand dirhams; but he would not accept
of this; and, when the day came on which the money was to be paid him, he
prayed the dawn-prayer, then covered his head with his robe and spoke not.
When the Caliph's messenger came with the money, he went in to the Imam
and accosted him, but he would not speak to him. So the messenger said,
Verily this money is lawfully thine. I know that it is lawfully mine, replied
he: but I abhor that the love of tyrants get a hold upon my heart.[371] Asked
the other, If thou go in to them canst thou not guard thyself from loving
them. Answered Abu Hanifah, Can I look to enter the sea without my
clothes being wet? Another of Al-Shafi'i's sayings (Allah accept him!) is:—
Oh soul of me, an thou accept my rede, ✿ Thou shalt be wealthy and of grace entire:
Cast off ambitious hopes and vain desires; ✿ How many a death was done by vain desire!"

Among the sayings of Sufyán al-Thaurí, with which he admonished Ali bin
al-Hasan al-Salamí was, Be thou a man of truth and 'ware lies and treachery
and hypocrisy and pride. Be not indebted save to Him who is merciful to
His debtors; and let thine associate be one who shall dissociate thee from
the world. Be ever mindful of death and be constant in craving pardon of
Allah and in beseeching of Allah peace for what remaineth of thy life.
Counsel every True Believer, when he asketh thee concerning the things of
his faith; and beware of betraying a Believer, for whoso betrayeth a
Believer, betrayeth Allah and His Apostle. Avoid dissensions and litigation;
and leave that which causeth doubt in thee for things which breed no doubt:
[372]
so shalt thou be at peace. Enjoin beneficence and forbid malevolence:
so shalt thou be loved of Allah. Adorn thine inner man and Allah shall adorn
thine outer man. Accept the excuse of him who excuseth self to thee and
hate not any one of the Moslems. Draw near unto those who withdraw from
thee and excuse those that misuse thee: so shalt thou be the friend of the
Prophets. Let thine affairs, both public and private, be in Allah's charge, and
fear Him with the fear of one who knoweth he is dead and who fareth
towards Resurrection and Judgement-stead between the hands of the Lord
of Dread; and remember that to one of two houses thou art sped, either for
Heavens eterne or to the Hell fires that burn." Thereupon the old woman sat
down beside the damsels. Now when thy father, who hath found mercy,
heard their discourse, he knew that they were the most accomplished of the
people of their time; and, seeing their beauty and loveliness and the extent
of their wisdom and lore, he showed them all favour. Moreover, he turned
to the ancient dame and treated her with honour, and set apart for her and
her damsels the palace which had lodged Princess Abrizah, daughter of the
King of Greece, to which he bade carry all the luxuries they needed. They
abode with him ten days and the old woman abode with them; and,
whenever the King visited them, he found her absorbed in prayer, watching
by night and fasting by day; whereby love of her took hold upon his heart
and he said to me, "O Wazir, verily this old woman is of the pious, and awe
of her is strong in my heart." Now on the eleventh day, the King visited her,
that he might pay her the price of the damsels; but she said to him, "O King,
know that the price of these maidens surpasseth the competence of men;
indeed I seek not for them either gold or silver or jewels, be it little or
much." Now when thy father heard these words he wondered and asked her,
"O my lady and what is their price?"; whereto she answered, "I will not sell

them to thee save on condition that thou fast, watching by night a whole
month, and abstaining by day, all for the love of Allah Almighty; and, if
thou do this, they are thy property to use in thy palace as thou please. So the
King wondered at the perfection of her rectitude and piety and abnegation;
she was magnified in his eyes and he said, "Allah make this pious woman
to profit us!" Then he agreed with her to fast for a month as she had
stipulated, and she said to him, "I will help thee with the prayers I pray for
thee and now bring me a gugglet of water." They brought one and she took
it and recited over it and muttered spells, and sat for an hour speaking in
speech no one understood or knew aught thereof. Lastly she covered it with
a cloth and, sealing it with her signet-ring, gave it to thy sire, saying, "When
thou hast fasted the first ten days, break thy fast on the eleventh night with
what is in this gugglet, for it will root out the love of the world from thy
heart and fill it with light and faith. As for me to-morrow I will go forth to
my brethren, the Invisible[373] Controuls, for I yearn after them, and I will
return to thee when the first ten days are past." Thy father took the gugglet
and arose and set it apart in a closet of his palace, then locked the door and
put the key in his pocket. Next day the King fasted and the old woman went
her ways. And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her
permitted say.

Now when it was the Eighty-fifth Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Wazir Dandan
thus continued to Zau al-Makan:—Now when came the day for the Sultan's
fast, the old woman went her ways. And after he had accomplished the ten
days thereof, on the eleventh he opened the gugglet and drank what was
therein and found it cordial to his stomach. Within the second ten days of
the month the old woman returned, bringing sweetmeats wrapped in a green
leaf, like no leaf of known tree. She went in to thy sire and saluted him;
and, when he saw her, he rose to her saying, "Welcome, O pious lady!" "O
King," quoth she, "the Invisible Controuls salute thee, for I told them of
thee, and they rejoiced in thee and have sent thee their Halwá,[374] which is
of the sweetmeats of the other world. Do thou break thy fast on it at the end
of the day." The King rejoiced at this with great joy, and exclaimed,
"Praised be Allah, who hath given me brethren of the Invisible World!"

Thereupon he thanked the ancient dame and kissed her hands; and he
honoured her and the damsels with exceeding honour. She went forth for
the twenty days of thy father's fast, at the end of which time she came to
him and said, "Know, O King, that I told the Invisible Controuls of the love
which is between me and thee, and informed them how I had left the
maidens with thee, and they were glad that the damsels should belong to a
King like thee; for they were wont, when they saw them, to be strenuous in
offering on their behalf prayers and petitions ever granted. So I would fain
carry them to the Invisible Controuls that they may benefit by the breath of
their favour, and peradventure, they shall not return to thee without some
treasure of the treasures of the earth, that thou, after completing thy fast,
mayst occupy thyself with their raiment and help thyself by the money they
shall bring thee, to the extent of thy desires." When thy sire heard her
words, he thanked her for them and said, "Except that I fear to cross thee, I
would not accept the treasure or aught else; but when wilt thou set out with
them?" Replied she, "On the seven-and-twentieth night; and I will bring
them back to thee at the head of the month, by which time thou wilt have
accomplished thy fast and they will have had their courses and be free from
impurity; and they shall become thine and be at thy disposal. By Allah, each
damsel of them is worth many times thy kingdom!" He said, "I know it, O
pious lady!" Then quoth the old woman, "There is no help but that thou
send with them someone in thy palace who is dear to thee, that she may find
solace and seek a blessing of the Invisible Controuls." Quoth he, "I have a
Greek slave called Sophia, by whom I have been blessed with two children,
a girl and a boy; but they were lost years ago. Take her with thee that she
may get the blessing."——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and
ceased to say her permitted say.

Now when it was the Eighty-sixth Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Wazir Dandan
continued to Zau al-Makan:—Quoth thy sire to the ancient woman when
she demanded the handmaids of him, "I have a Greek slave called Sophia,
by whom I have been blest with two children, a girl and a boy, but they
were lost years ago; so take her with thee, haply she may get the
benediction and, belike, the Invisible Controuls will sue Allah for her that

her two children may be restored to her." "Thou hast said well," replied she;
"for that indeed was her grievousest want." Thy sire gave not over finishing
his fast till the old woman said to him, "O my son, I am going to the
Invisible Controuls; so bring me Sophia." Accordingly, he summoned her
and she came forthright, and he delivered her to the old woman who mixed
her up with the other damsels. Then she went in to her chamber and
bringing out a sealed cup, presented it to the Sultan saying, "On the thirtieth
day, do thou repair to the Hammam and when thou comest out, enter one of
the closets in thy palace and drink what is in this cup. Then sleep, and thou
shalt attain what thou seekest, and peace be with thee!" Thereat the King
was glad and thanked her and kissed her hands. Quoth she, "I commend
thee to Allah's care;" whereat quoth he, "And when shall I see thee again, O
pious lady? In very sooth I love not to part with thee." Then she called
down blessings on him and departed with the five damsels and the Queen;
whilst the King fasted after her departure other three days, till the month
ended, when he arose and went to the Hammam and coming out, shut
himself up in a closet of his palace, commanding that none should go in to
him. There, after making fast the door, he drank what was in the cup and lay
down to sleep; and we sat awaiting him till the end of the day, but he did
not come out and we said, "Perchance he is tired with the bath and with
watching by night and fasting by day; wherefore he sleepeth." So we waited
till next day; but still he did not come forth. Then we stood at the closet-
door and cried aloud so haply he might awake and ask what was the matter.
But nothing came of that; so at last we lifted up the door;[375] and, going in,
found him dead, with his flesh torn into strips and bits and his bones
broken.[376] When we saw him in this condition it was grievous to us, and we
took up the cup and found within its cover a piece of paper whereon was
inscribed, "Whoso doeth evil leaveth no regrets, and this be the reward of
him who playeth traitor with the daughters of Kings and who debaucheth
them; and we make known to all who fall upon this scroll that Sharrkan,
when he came to our country, seduced our Queen Abrizah; nor did that
suffice him but he must needs take her from us and bring her to you. Then
he[377] sent her away in company of a black slave who slew her, and we
found her lying dead on the desert sward and thrown out to wild beasts.
This be no kingly deed, and he who did this is requited with naught but
what he merited. So do ye suspect none of having killed him, for no one
slew him but the cunning witch, whose name is Zat al-Dawahi. And behold,

I have taken the King's wife, Sophia, and have carried her to her father,
Afridun King of Constantinople. Moreover, there is no help for it but that
we wage war upon you and kill you and take your country from you, and ye
shall be cut off even to the last man, nor shall a living soul be spared by
Death nor one who bloweth fire with his breath, save he who Cross and
Belt[378] worshippeth." When we read this paper, we knew that the ancient
woman had beguiled us and carried out her plot against us: whereupon we
cried aloud and buffeted our faces and wept sore when weeping availed us
naught. And the troops fell out as to whom they should make Sultan; some
would have thee, and others would have thy brother Sharrkan; and we
ceased not to dispute about this for the space of a month, at the end of
which certain of us drew together and agreed to repair to thy brother
Sharrkan: so we set out and journeyed on till we fell in with thee. And such
is the manner of the death of Sultan Omar bin al-Nu'uman! Now when the
Wazir Dandan had made an end of his story, Zau al-Makan and his sister,
Nuzhat al-Zaman, wept; and the Chamberlain, who wept also, said to Zau
al-Makan, "O King, weeping will avail thee naught; nor shall aught profit
thee but that thou harden thy heart and strengthen thy stress and stablish thy
sovranty; for verily whoso leaveth the like of thee is not dead." Thereupon
Zau al-Makan gave over his weeping and caused his throne to be set up
without the pavilion, and then commanded the army to pass in review-order
before him. And the Chamberlain sat by his side and all the armour-
bearers[379] behind him, whilst the Wazir Dandan and the rest of the Emirs
and Grandees stood each in his dividual stead. Then quoth King Zau al-
Makan to the Minister Dandan, "Inform me concerning my sire's treasures;"
and he replied, "I hear and I obey;" and gave him to know of the late King's
hoards and monies, and what was in the treasury of amassed wealth and
jewels, and acquainted him with other precious things. So Zau al-Makan
opened his hand to the army, and gave a sumptuous robe of honour to the
Wazir Dandan, saying, "Thou continuest in office." Whereupon Dandan
kissed the ground before him and wished him long life. Then he bestowed
dresses on the Emirs, after which he said to the Chamberlain, "Bring out
before me the tribute of Damascus that is with thee." So he was shown the
chests of money and rarities and jewels, when he took them and parted
them all amongst the troops,——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day
and ceased saying her permitted say.

Now when it was the Eighty-seventh Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Zau al-Makan ordered
the Chamberlain to bring out before him what he had brought of the tribute

of Damascus; and, when he was shown the chests of money and rarities and
jewels, he took them and parted them all amongst the troops, till nothing
was left. And the Emirs kissed the ground before him and wished him long
life, saying, "Never saw we a King, who gave the like of these gifts." Then
all went away to their tents and when it was morning he gave orders for
marching. So they marched for three days, till, on the fourth day, they drew
near to Baghdad. When they entered the city, they found it decorated, and
Zau al-Makan, the Sultan, went up to his father's palace and sat down on the
throne, whilst the Emirs of the army and the Wazir Dandan and the
Chamberlain of Damascus stood between his hands. Then he bade his
private secretary write a writ to his brother Sharrkan, acquainting him with
all that had passed, from first to last, and he concluded, "As soon as thou
hast read this letter, make ready thine affair and join us with thine army, that
we may turn to Holy War upon the Infidels and take man-bote for our father
and wipe out the stain upon our honour." Then he folded the letter and
sealed it with his seal-ring and said to the Minister Dandan, "None shall
carry this letter but thou; and it behoveth thee speak my brother fair and say
to him:—If thou have a mind to thy father's kingdom, it is thine, and thy
brother shall be Viceroy for thee in Damascus; for to this effect am I
instructed by him." So the Wazir went down from before him and made
ready for his march. Then Zau al-Makan bade set apart a magnificent house
for the Fireman and furnished it with the best of furniture and long is the
tale of that Fireman.[380] Presently Zau al-Makan went out chasing and
hunting and, as he was returning to Baghdad, one of the Emirs presented
him with blood-horses and with beauteous handmaids whose description the
tongue evades. One of the damsels pleased him: so he went in unto her and
knew her that night, and she conceived by him forthright. After a while, the
Wazir Dandan returned from his journey, bringing him news of his brother
Sharrkan and that he was then on his way to him, and said, "It were fitting
thou go forth to meet him." Zau al-Makan replied, "I hear and I consent;"
and, riding forth with his Grandees a day's journey from Baghdad, he
pitched his pavilions there awaiting his brother. Next morning appeared
King Sharrkan amid the army of Syria, a horseman of might, a lion fierce in
fight, a prow and doughty knight. As the squadrons drew nigh and the dust-
clouds came hard by and the troops rode up with banners on high, Zau al-
Makan and those with him pushed forward to meet Sharrkan and his men;
and when Zau al-Makan saw his brother, he desired to dismount, but

Sharrkan conjured him not to do on this wise, and himself footed it, and
walked a few paces towards him.[381] As soon as he reached Zau al-Makan,
the new Sultan threw himself upon him, and Sharrkan embraced him and
wept with great weeping and the twain condoled with each other. Then they
mounted and rode onward, they and their troops, till they reached Baghdad,
where they alighted and went up to the royal palace and there they passed
that night, and when next morning came, Zau al-Makan went forth and bade
summon the troops from all parts, and proclaimed a Holy War and a Razzia.
[382]
They then awaited the coming of the levies from each quarter of the
kingdom, and every one who came they entreated with honour and
promised him all manner of good; till in so doing a full month had sped,
and the fighting men flocked to them in a continuous body. Then Sharrkan
said to Zau al-Makan, "O my brother, tell me thy history." So he told him
all that had befallen him from first to last, including the benevolent dealing
of the Fireman with him. Asked Sharrkan, "Hast thou requited his
kindness?"; and he answered, "O my brother! I have not rewarded him as
yet, but Inshallah! I will recompense him whenas I return from this raid."—
And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted
say.

Now when it was the Eighty-eighth Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Sharrkan asked his
brother Zau al-Makan, "Hast thou requited the Fireman for his kindness?";
and he answered, "O my brother, I have not rewarded him as yet, but
Inshallah! I will recompense him whenas I return from this raid and find
time so to do." Therewith Sharrkan was certified that his sister, Nuzhat al-
Zaman, had told him the whole truth; but he concealed what had passed
between them and offered his salutation to her by her husband the
Chamberlain. She sent him back her greeting, calling down blessings on
him and enquiring after her daughter Kuzia-Fakan, to which he replied that
the maiden was well and in the best of health and safety. Whereupon she
praised Almighty Allah and gave him thanks. Then Sharrkan went to his
brother to take counsel with him for departure; and Zau al-Makan said, "O
my brother, as soon as the army is complete and the Arabs have come in
from all parts, we will march forth." So he bade make ready the

commissariat and prepare munitions of war and went in to his wife, who
was now five months gone with child; and he put under her astrologers and
mathematicians, to whom he appointed stipends and allowances. Then he
set out three months after the arrival of the army of Syria, and as soon as the
Arabs were come in and the troops were assembled from all directions; and,
as he fared forth, he was followed by the warriors and the united host. Now
the name of the General of the Daylam army was Rustam and that of the
General of the army of the Turks[383] Bahram. And Zau al-Makan marched
in mid-host and on his right was his brother Sharrkan, and on his left the
Chamberlain his brother-in-law. So the squadrons broke up and pushed
forward and the battalions and companies filed past in battle-array, till the
whole army was in motion. They ceased not to fare on for the space of a
month, and each body dismounted at its own ground and there rested every
week three days (for the host was great); and they advanced in this order till
they came to the country of the Greeks. Then the people of the villages and
hamlets and the poorer sort took fright at them and fled to Constantinople.
But when King Afridun heard the tidings he arose and betook himself to Zat
al-Dawahi, the same who had contrived the stratagem, and had travelled to
Baghdad and had slain King Omar bin al-Nu'uman; and who, after carrying
off her slaves and Queen Sophia, had returned with them all to her native
land. Now when she had been restored to her son, the King of Greece, and
felt herself safe, she said to King Hardub, "Cool thine eyes; for I have
avenged by blood the shame of thy daughter Abrizah, and have killed Omar
bin al-Nu'uman and have brought back Sophia. So now let us go to the King
of Constantinople and carry to him his daughter and acquaint him with what
hath happened, that all of us be on guard and prepare our forces; and I will
fare with thee to King Afridun, Lord of Constantinople, for I opine that the
Moslems will not await our attack." Said Hardub, "Tarry thou till they draw
near our country, that we may make us ready meantime and assemble our
power." Accordingly they took to levying their forces and preparing for war,
and, when the news of the Moslems' advance reached them, they were
prepared for defence; and Zat al-Dawahi had preceded them. Now when she
and her son arrived at Constantinople, the King of Kings, Afridun, hearing
of the approach of Hardub, King of the Greeks, came forth to meet him and
asked how it was with him and the cause of his visit. So Hardub acquainted
him with the cunning doings of his mother, Zat al-Dawahi, how she had
slain the Moslem King and recovered from him Queen Sophia, and had

said, "The Moslems have assembled their forces and are on their way to
attack us, wherefore it behoveth that we two join hands in single band and
meet them." Now King Afridun rejoiced in the return of his daughter and
the killing of King Omar bin al-Nu'uman; and he sent to all countries
seeking succour and acquainting the folk with the cause of slaying the
Moslem King. So the Nazarene troops flocked to him and three months
were not past ere the army of the Greeks was complete, besides which there
joined themselves to him Franks from all their lands, French, Germans[384]
and Ragusans,[385] with men of Zara,[386] Venetians, Genoese, and all the
hosts of the Yellow Faces[387]; and, when the gathering was at its full, earth
was straitened on them by reason of their multitude. Then Afridun, the
Great King, ordered a march; so they set out and ceased not to defile
through the city for ten days. They fared on till they reached the Wady hight
Al Nu'uman, a broad-sided vale hard by the Salt Sea, where they halted
three days; and on the fourth they were about to set out again, when news
came that the army of Al-Islam on them prest, and the defenders of the faith
of Mohammed, of Men the Best. So they halted in it other three days, and
on the eighth they espied a dust-cloud which towered till it walled the
whole land; nor was an hour of the day past ere that dust began to drift and
was torn to shreds in the lift, and pierced through its shades the starry
radiance of lance and the white leven of blades. Presently there appeared
beneath it the banners Islamitan and the ensigns Mahometan; the horsemen
urged forward, like the letting loose of seas that surged, clad in mail, as they
were mackerel-back clouds which the moon enveil; whereupon the two
hosts clashed, like two torrents on each other dashed. Eyes fell upon eyes;
and the first to seek combat singular was the Wazir Dandan, he and the
army of Syria, numbering thirty thousand bridles, and with him were the
General of the Turks, and the General of Daylam, Rustam and Bahram,
amid twenty thousand horse, behind whom came the men from the shores
of the Salt Sea, clad in iron mail, as they were full moons that past through
a night o'ercast. Then the Nazarene host called out on Jesus and Mary, and
the defiled[388] Cross and they heaped themselves upon the Wazir Dandan
and those with him of the Syrian host. Now all this was in pursuance of a
stratagem devised by that ancient woman Zat al-Dawahi; for, before his
departure, King Afridun had gone in to her and asked her, "How shall I do
and what plan shall I pursue?; it is thou hast caused this great distress to
us;" and she had answered, "O great King and mighty Cohen![389] I will

teach thee a trick would baffle Iblis himself, though he summon to his
assistance all his grisly hosts."——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of
day and ceased to say her permitted say.

Now when it was the Eighty-ninth Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, all this was a stratagem of
the ancient woman, for that the King before his departure had gone to her
and asked, "How shall I do and what plan shall I pursue? it is thou hast
caused this great distress to us!" And she had answered, "O great King and
mighty Cohen, I will teach thee a trick would baffle the Devil himself
though he summon to his assistance all his grisly hosts. It is that thou send
fifty thousand men going down in ships, and sailing over the sea to the
Mountain of Smoke; and there let them land and stir not till the standards of
Al-Islam come upon thee, when do thou up and at them. Then bid the troops
from the seaward sally out upon the Moslems and take them in rear, whilst
we confront them from the landward. So not one of them shall escape, and
our sorrows shall cease and peace abide with us." Now the counsel of this
ancient woman commended itself to King Afridun, and he replied, "Right is
the recking thou reckest, O Princess of wits and recourse of Kings and
Cohens warring for their blood-wit!" So when the army of Al-Islam came
upon them in that valley, before they knew of it the flames began to burn up
the tents and the swords in men's bodies to make rents. Then hurried up the
army of Baghdad and Khorasan who numbered one hundred and twenty
thousand horse, with Zau al-Makan in the front of war. When the host of the
Infidels that lay by the sea saw them, they sallied out against them and
followed in their tracks; and when Zau al-Makan espied this he cried out to
his men, "Turn back to the Infidels, O People of the Chosen Apostle, and
slay those who deny and hate the authority of the Compassionating, the
Compassionate!" So they turned and fought with the Christians. Then
Sharrkan marched up with another corps of the Moslem host, some hundred
thousand men, whilst the Infidels numbered nigh upon a thousand and six
hundred thousand men. When the Moslems were united, their hearts were
strengthened and they cried out, saying, "Verily Allah hath promised us
victory, and to the Infidels hath assigned defeat." And they clashed together
with sword and spear. Now Sharrkan tare through rank and row and raged

among the masses of the foe, fighting so fierce a fight as to make children
grey grow; nor did he cease tourneying among the infidel horde and
working havoc among them with the keen-edged sword, shouting "Allaho
Akbar!"—Allah is Most Great—till he drove back the host to the coast.
Then failed the force of the foe and Allah gave victory to the faith of Al-
Islam, and folk fought folk, drunken without strong drink, till they slew of
the Infidels in this affair forty and five thousand, while of the Moslems but
three thousand and five hundred fell. Moreover, the Lion of the Faith, King
Sharrkan, and his brother, Zau al-Makan, slept not that night, but occupied
themselves with congratulating their braves and with looking to the
wounded and with assuring the army of victory and salvation and promise
of reward in the world to come. Thus far concerning the Moslem; but as
regards King Afridun, Lord of Constantinople and Sovran of Roum, and Zat
al-Dawahi, they assembled the Emirs of the host and said to them, "Verily,
we had worked our will and solaced our hearts, but our over-confidence in
our numbers, and that only, defeated us." Then quoth to them the ancient
one, the Lady of Calamities, "In very sooth nought shall profit you, except
ye draw you nigh unto the Messiah and put your trust in the True Belief;
for, by the virtue of the Messiah, the whole strength of the Moslem host
lieth in that Satan, King Sharrkan." "To-morrow," said King Afridun, "I
have resolved to draw up in battle array and to send out against them that
redoubtable cavalier, Luka bin Shȧmlút; for if King Sharrkan come forth as
a champion to fight single-handed, our man will slay him and will slay the
other Moslem Knights, till not one is left. And I purpose this night to sacre
you all with the Holy Incense." When the Emirs heard these words they
kissed the ground before him. Now the incense which he designated was the
excrement of the Chief Patriarch, the denier, the defiler of the Truth, and
they sought for it with such instance, and they so highly valued it that the
high priests of the Greeks used to send it to all the countries of the
Christians in silken wraps after mixing it with musk and ambergris. Hearing
of it Kings would pay a thousand gold pieces for every dram and they sent
for and sought it to fumigate brides withal; and the Chief Priests and the
great Kings were wont to use a little of it as collyrium for the eyes and as a
remedy in sickness and colic; and the Patriarchs used to mix their own
skite[390] with it, for that the skite of the Chief Patriarch could not suffice for
ten countries.[391] So, as soon as dawn was seen and the morning shone with
its shine and sheen, the horsemen ran to their spears full keen, and King

Afridun——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying
her permitted say.

Now when it was the Full Ninetieth Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, as soon as dawn was seen
and the morning shone with its shine and sheen, the horsemen ran to their
spears full keen and King Afridun summoned his chief Knights and Nobles
and invested them with dresses of honour; and, drawing the sign of the
cross on their brows, incensed them with the incense which as aforesaid
was the skite of the Chief Patriarch, the Cohen, the Heresiarch. This
incensing done, he called for Luka bin Shamlut, surnamed the Sword of the
Messiah; and, after fumigating him and rubbing his palate with the Holy
Merde, caused him to snuff it and smeared his cheeks and anointed his
moustaches with the rest. Now there was no stouter champion in the land of
Roum than this accursed Luka, nor any better at bending of bow or sway of
sword or lunge with lance on the day of devoir; but he was foul of favour,
for his face was as the face of an ass, his shape that of an ape and his look
as the look of a malignant snake: his presence was grievouser than parting
from the beloved make; and blacker than night was his blackness and more
fetid than the lion was his breath for foulness; more crooked than a bow
was his crookedness and grimmer than the leopard was his ugliness, and he
was branded with the mark of the Infidels on face.[392] After this he came up
to King Afridun and kissed his feet and stood before him; and the King said
to him, "I desire thou go out against Sharrkan, King of Damascus, son of
Omar bin al-Nu'uman, and deliver us from this affliction." Quoth Luka,
"Hearkening and obedience;" and the King made the sign of the cross on his
forehead and felt assured of help from Heaven being near hand. Then Luka
went out from the presence and the accursed one mounted a sorrel horse; he
was clad in a red robe and a hauberk of gold set with jewels, and he bore a
trident spear, as he were Iblis the damned on the day of drewing out his
hosts war to darraign. Then he rode forward, he and his horde of Infidels,
even as though they were driving to the Fire, preceded by a herald, crying
aloud in the Arabic tongue and saying, "Ho, sect of Mohammed (upon
whom be salutation and salvation!), let none of you come out but your
champion Sharrkan, the Sword of Al-Islam, Lord of Damascus in

Shám[393]!" Nor had he made an end of speaking, when arose a tumult in the
plain; all the people heard the strain and the whole moving bodies of the
armies twain called to mind the Day of Complain. Then the cowards
trembled and all necks turned towards the sound, and lo! it was King
Sharrkan, son of King Omar bin al-Nu'uman. For when his brother, Zau al-
Makan, saw that accursed one push out on the plain, and heard the
pursuivant, he turned to Sharrkan and said to him, "Of a surety they seek for
thee." Said he, "Should it so be, 'twere most pleasing to me." So when they
made sure of the matter and heard the herald crying in the plain, "Let none
of you come out against me save Sharrkan," they knew this cursed Luka to
be champion of the land of Roum who had sworn to sweep the earth clean
of Moslems. Now he was one of the greatest of villains, a wretch who
caused hearts to pain; and the Daylamites, Turks and Kurds dreaded his
might and main. Presently Sharrkan drave at him like a lion angry-grim,
mounted on a courser like a wild gazelle flying snell and slim; and coming
nigh to him made the spear he hent to shake as it were a darting snake, and
recited these couplets:—
I have a sorrel steed, whose pride is fain to bear the rein, ✿ Shall give thee what thou likest not and
make thee feel his main:
I have a handy limber spear full bright and keen of point, ✿ Upon whose shaft the dam of Death her
throny seat hath ta'en:
I have a trenchant glaive of Hind; and, when I bare its face ✿ Of scabbard-veil, from out its brow the
rays of leven rain.

Luka understood not the sense of his speech nor did he apprehend the
vehemence of the verse: but he smote his forehead with his hand, in honour
of the Cross drawn thereon and kissed it; then he couched his throw-spear
and ran at Sharrkan. But first he tossed the javelin with one hand in air to
such height that it was lost to the spectators' sight; and, catching it with the
other hand as do the jugglers, hurled it at Sharrkan. It flew from his grasp
like a shooting star and folk clamoured and feared for Sharrkan; but, as the
spear flew near him, he put out his hand and caught it in full flight to the
amazement of all who saw the sight. Then he shook it with the hand that
took it till it was well-nigh broken, and hurled it so high into the welkin that
it disappeared from view. As it descended, he caught it again with the other
hand, in less than the twinkling of an eye, and cried out from his heart-core,
saying, "By the truth of Him who created the seven-fold skies, I will
assuredly make this cursed wight a byword for mankind to despise!" Then

threw he the throw-spear at Luka, who thought to do as Sharrkan had done
and put forth his hand to bend it in mid-flight; but Sharrkan prevented him,
and sped at him a second throw-spear which smote him and the point fell on
his forehead, in the very centre of the sign of the Cross, and Allah hurried
his soul to the Fire and Dwelling-place dire.[394] But when the Infidels saw
Luka bin Shamlut fall slain, they buffeted their faces and they cried, "Alas!"
and "Woe worth the day!" and called for aid upon the Abbots of the
monasteries——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to
say her permitted say.

Now when it was the Ninety-first Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the Infidels saw
Luka bin Shamlut fall slain, they buffeted their faces and cried, "Alas!" and
"Woe worth the day!" and called upon the Abbots of the monasteries and
cried, "Where be the crosses?" So the Religious offered up prayers and the
Christians all drew together against Sharrkan; and, brandishing their
scymitars and lances, rushed forward to the attack. Then army met army
and breasts fell under hoof, whilst spear and sword ruled the day and fore-
arms and wrists grew weak and the coursers seemed created without legs;
[395]
nor did the herald of war cease calling to fight, till arms were aweary
and day took flight and night came on with darkness dight. So the two hosts
drew apart, whilst every brave staggered like a drunken knave, for that with
so much cut and thrust they strave; and the place was choked with the slain;
fell were the wounds and the hurt knew not by whom they fell. Then
Sharrkan joined his brother, Zau al-Makan, and the Chamberlain and the
Wazir Dandan, and said to them, "Verily Allah hath opened a door for the
Infidels to fall, praised be the Lord of the Worlds one and all!" Replied Zau
al-Makan, "Let us never cease to praise Allah, for that He hath dispelled
trouble from the Arab and the Ajam. Indeed the folk, generation after
generation, shall tell of thy derring-do against the accursed Luka, the
falsifier of the Evangel;[396] of thy catching the throw spear in mid-flight,
and how the enemy of Allah among men thou didst smite; and thy fame
shall endure until the end of time." Then said Sharrkan, "Harkye, O grand
Chamberlain and doughty Capitayne!" and he answered, "Adsum!"[397]
Quoth Sharrkan, "Take with thee the Wazir Dandan and twenty thousand