AL-ASMA’I AND THE THREE GIRLS OF BASSORAH.
The Commander of the Faithful Harun Al-Rashid was exceeding restless one night and rising from his bed, paced from chamber to chamber, but could not compose himself to sleep. As soon as it was day, he said, “Fetch me Al-Asma’i!”[[114]] So the eunuch went out and told the doorkeepers; these sent for the poet and when he came, informed the Caliph who bade admit him and said to him, “O Asma’i, I wish thee to tell me the best thou hast heard of stories of women and their verses.” Answered Al-Asma’i, “Hearkening and obedience! I have heard great store of women’s verses; but none pleased me save three sets of couplets I once heard from three girls.”——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
Now when it was the Six Hundred and Eighty-seventh Night,
She pursued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Al-Asma’i said to the Prince of True Believers, “Verily I have heard much, but nothing pleased me save three sets of couplets improvised by as many girls.” Quoth the Caliph, “Tell me of them,” and quoth he, “Know then, O Commander of the Faithful, that I once abode in Bassorah, and one day, as I was walking, the heat was sore upon me and I sought for a siesta-place but found none. However by looking right and left I came upon a porch swept and sprinkled, at the upper end whereof was a wooden bench under an open lattice-window, whence exhaled a scent of musk. I entered the porch and sitting down on the bench, would have stretcht me at full length when I heard from within a girl’s sweet voice talking and saying:—O my sisters, we are here seated to spend our day in friendly converse; so come, let us each put down an hundred dinars and recite a line of verse; and whoso extemporiseth the goodliest and sweetest line, the three hundred dinars shall be hers.” “With love and gladness,” said the others; and the eldest recited the first couplet which is this:—
Would he come to my bed during sleep ’twere delight ✿ But a visit on wake were delightsomer sight!
Quoth the second:—
Naught came to salute me in sleep save his shade ✿ But “welcome, fair welcome,” I cried to the spright!
Then said the youngest:—
My soul and my folk I engage for the youth ✿ Musk-scented I see in my bed every night!
Quoth I, “An she be fair as her verse hath grace, the thing is complete in every case.” Then I came down from my bench[[115]] and was about to go away, when behold, the door opened and out came a slave-girl, who said to me, “Sit, O Shaykh!” So I climbed up and sat down again when she gave me a scroll, wherein was written, in characters of the utmost beauty, with straight Alifs,[[116]] big-bellied Hás and rounded Waws, the following:—We would have the Shaykh (Allah lengthen his days!) to know that we are three maidens, sisters, sitting in friendly converse, who have laid down each an hundred dinars, conditioning that whoso recite the goodliest and sweetest couplet shall have the whole three hundred dinars; and we appoint thee umpire between us: so decide as thou seest best, and the Peace be on thee! Quoth I to the girl, Here to me inkcase and paper. So she went in and, returning after a little, brought me a silvered inkcase and gilded pens[[117]] with which I wrote these couplets:—
They talked of three beauties whose converse was quite ✿ Like the talk of a man with experience dight:
Three maidens who borrowed the bloom of the dawn ✿ Making hearts of their lovers in sorriest plight.
They were hidden from eyes of the prier and spy ✿ Who slept and their modesty mote not affright;
So they opened whatever lay hid in their hearts ✿ And in frolicsome fun began verse to indite.
Quoth one fair coquette with her amorous grace ✿ Whose teeth for the sweet of her speech flashèd bright:—
Would he come to my bed during sleep ’twere delight ✿ But a visit on wake were delightsomer sight!
When she ended, her verse by her smiling was gilt: ✿ Then the second ’gan singing as nightingale might:—
Naught came to salute me in sleep save his shade ✿ But welcome, fair welcome, I cried to the spright!
But the third I preferred for she said in reply, ✿ With expression most apposite, exquisite:—
My soul and my folk I engage for the youth ✿ Musk-scented I see in my bed every night!
So when I considered their words to decide, ✿ And not make me the mock of the cynical wight;
I pronounced for the youngest, declaring her verse ✿ Of all verses be that which is nearest the right.
Then I gave the scroll to the slave-girl, who went upstairs with it, and behold, I heard a noise of dancing and clapping of hands and Doomsday astir. Quoth I to myself, “’Tis no time for me to stay here.” So I came down from the platform and was about to go away, when the damsel cried out to me, “Sit down, O Asma’i!” Asked I, “Who gave thee to know that I was Al-Asma’i?” and she answered, “O Shaykh, an thy name be unknown to us, thy poetry is not!” So I sat down again and suddenly the door opened and out came the first damsel, with a dish of fruits and another of sweetmeats. I ate of both and praised their fashion and would have ganged my gait; but she cried out, “Sit down, O Asma’i!” Wherewith I raised my eyes to her and saw a rosy palm in a saffron sleeve, meseemed it was the full moon rising splendid in the cloudy East. Then she threw me a purse containing three hundred dinars and said to me, “This is mine and I give it to thee by way of douceur in requital of thy judgment.” Quoth the Caliph, “Why didst thou decide for the youngest?” and quoth Al-Asma’i, “O Commander of the Faithful, whose life Allah prolong! the eldest said:—I should delight in him, if he visited my couch in sleep. Now this is restricted and dependent upon a condition which may befal or may not befal; whilst, for the second, an image of dreams came to her in sleep, and she saluted it; but the youngest’s couplet said that she actually lay with her lover and smelt his breath sweeter than musk and she engaged her soul and her folk for him, which she had not done, were he not dearer to her than her sprite.” Said the Caliph, “Thou didst well, O Asma’i,” and gave him other three hundred ducats in payment of his story. And I have heard a tale concerning
[114]. See vol. iv., 159. The author of “Antar,” known to Englishmen by the old translation of Mr. Terrick Hamilton, secretary of Legation at Constantinople. There is an abridgement of the forty-five volumes of Al-Asma’i’s “Antar” which mostly supplies or rather supplied the “Antariyyah” or professional tale-tellers; whose theme was the heroic Mulatto lover.
[115]. The “Dakkah” or long wooden sofa, as opposed to the “mastabah” or stone bench, is often a tall platform and in mosques is a kind of ambo railed round and supported by columns. Here readers recite the Koran: Lane (M.E. chapt. iii.) sketches it in the “Interior of a Mosque.”
[116]. Alif (ا) Ha (ه) and Waw (و), the first, twenty-seventh and twenty-sixth letters of the Arabic alphabet: No. 1 is the most simple and difficult to write calligraphically.
[117]. Reeds washed with gold and used for love-letters, &c.
IBRAHIM OF MOSUL AND THE DEVIL.[[118]]
Quoth Abu Ishak Ibrahim al-Mausili:—I asked Al-Rashid once to give me a day’s leave that I might be private with the people of my household and my brethren, and he gave me leave for Saturday the Sabbath. So I went home and betook myself to making ready meat and drink and other necessaries and bade the doorkeepers shut the doors and let none come in to me. However, presently, as I sat in my sitting-chamber, with my women who were looking after my wants, behold, there appeared an old man of comely and reverend aspect,[[119]] clad in white clothes and a shirt of fine stuff with a doctor’s turband on his head and a silver-handled staff in his hand, and the house and porch were full of the perfumes wherewith he was scented. I was greatly vexed at his coming in to me and thought to turn away the doorkeepers; but he saluted me after the goodliest fashion and I returned his greeting and bade him be seated. So he sat down and began entertaining me with stories of the Arabs and their verses, till my anger left me and methought my servants had sought to pleasure me by admitting a man of such good breeding and fine culture. Then I asked him, “Art thou for meat?”; and he answered, “I have no need of it.” “And for drink?” quoth I, and quoth he, “That is as thou wilt.” So I drank off a pint of wine and poured him out the like. Then said he, “O Abu Ishak, wilt thou sing us somewhat, so we may hear of thine art that wherein thou excellest high and low?” His words angered me; but I swallowed my anger and taking the lute played and sang. “Well done, O Abu Ishak!”[[120]] said he; whereat my wrath redoubled and I said to myself, “Is it not enough that he should intrude upon me, without my leave, and importune me thus, but he must call me by name, as though he knew not the right way to address me?” Quoth he, “An thou wilt sing something more we will requite thee.” I dissembled my annoyance and took the lute and sang again, taking pains with what I sang and rising thereto altogether, in consideration of his saying, “We will requite thee.”——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
Now when it was the Six Hundred and Eighty-eighth Night,
She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the Shaykh said to Abu Ishak, “If thou wilt sing something more we will requite thee,” I dissembled my annoyance (continued Ibrahim) and, taking the lute, sang again with great attention to my singing and rising altogether thereto, in consideration of his saying, “We will requite thee.” He was delighted, and cried, “Well done, O my lord!”; presently adding, “Dost thou give me leave to sing?” “As thou wilt,” answered I, deeming him weak of wit, in that he should think to sing in my presence, after that which he had heard from me. So he took the lute and swept the strings, and by Allah, I fancied they spoke in Arabic tongue, with a sweet and liquid and murmurous voice; then he began and sang these couplets:—
I bear a hurt heart, who will sell me for this ✿ A heart whole and free from all canker and smart?
Nay, none will consent or to barter or buy ✿ Such loss, ne’er from sorrow and sickness to part:
I groan wi’ the groaning of wine-wounded men ✿ And pine for the pining ne’er freeth my heart.
And by Allah, meseemed the doors and the walls and all that was in the house answered and sang with him, for the beauty of his voice, so that I fancied my very limbs and clothes replied to him, and I abode amazed and unable to speak or move, for the trouble of my heart. Then he sang these couplets:—
Culvers of Liwa![[121]] to your nests return; ✿ Your mournful voices thrill this heart of mine.
Then back a-copse they flew, and well-nigh took ✿ My life and made me tell my secret pine.
With cooing call they one who’s gone, as though ✿ Their breasts were maddened with the rage of wine:
Ne’er did mine eyes their like for culvers see ✿ Who weep yet tear-drops never dye their eyne.
And also these couplets:—
O Zephyr of Najd, when from Najd thou blow, ✿ Thy breathings heap only new woe on woe!
The turtle bespake me in bloom of morn ✿ From the cassia-twig and the willow-bough
She moaned with the moaning of love-sick youth ✿ And exposed love-secret I ne’er would show:
They say lover wearies of love when near ✿ And is cured of love an afar he go:
I tried either cure which ne’er cured my love; ✿ But that nearness is better than farness I know:[[122]]
Yet,—the nearness of love shall no ’vantage prove ✿ An whoso thou lovest deny thee of love.
Then said he, “O Ibrahim, sing this song after me, and preserving the mode thereof in thy singing, teach it to thy slave-girls.” Quoth I, “Repeat it to me.” But he answered, “There needs no repetition; thou hast it by heart nor is there more to learn.” Then he suddenly vanished from my sight. At this I was amazed and running to my sword drew it and made for the door of the Harim, but found it closed and said to the women, “What have ye heard?” Quoth they, “We have heard the sweetest of singing and the goodliest.” Then I went forth amazed, to the house-door and, finding it locked, questioned the doorkeepers of the old man. They replied, “What old man? By Allah, no one hath gone in to thee this day!” So I returned pondering the matter, when, behold, there arose from one of the corners of the house, a Vox et præterea nihil, saying, “O Abu Ishak, no harm shall befal thee. ’Tis I, Abú Murrah,[[123]] who have been thy cup-companion this day, so fear nothing!” Then I mounted and rode to the palace, where I told Al-Rashid what had passed, and he said, “Repeat to me the airs thou heardest from him.” So I took the lute and played and sang them to him; for, behold, they were rooted in my heart. The Caliph was charmed with them and drank thereto, albeit he was no confirmed wine-bibber, saying, “Would he would some day pleasure us with his company, as he hath pleasured thee!”[[124]] Then he ordered me a present and I took it and went away. And men relate this story anent
[118]. Lane introduced this tale into vol. i., p. 223, notes on chapt. iii., apparently not knowing that it was in The Nights. He gives a mere abstract, omitting all the verse, and he borrowed it either from the Halbat Al-Kumayt (chapt. xiv.) or from Al-Mas’údí (chapt. cxi.). (See the French translation, vol. vi. p. [340]). I am at pains to understand why M. C. Barbier de Maynard writes “Réchid” with an accented vowel; although French delicacy made him render, by “fils de courtisane,” the expression in the text, “O biter of thy mother’s enlarged (or uncircumcised) clitoris” (Bazar).
[119]. In Al-Mas’údí the Devil is “a young man fair of favour and formous of figure,” which is more appropriate to a “Tempter.” He also wears light stuffs of dyed silks.
[120]. It would have been more courteous in an utter stranger to say, O my lord.
[121]. The Arab Tempe (of fiction, not of grisly fact).
[122]. These four lines are in Al-Mas’údi, chapt. cxviii. Fr. trans. vii. 313, but that author does not tell us who wrote them.
[123]. i.e. Father of Bitterness = the Devil. This legend of the Foul Fiend appearing to Ibrahim of Mosul (and also to Isam, N. dcxcv.) seems to have been accepted by contemporaries and reminds us of similar visitations in Europe—notably to Dr. Faust. One can only exclaim, “Lor, papa, what nonsense you are talking!” the words of a small girl whose father thought proper to indoctrinate her into certain Biblical stories. I once began to write a biography of the Devil; but I found that European folk-lore had made such an unmitigated fool of the grand old Typhon-Ahriman as to take away from him all human interest.
[124]. In Al-Mas’údi the Caliph exclaims, “Verily thou hast received a visit from Satan!”
THE LOVERS OF THE BANU UZRAH.[[125]]
Quoth Masrur the Eunuch:—The Caliph Harun Al-Rashid was very wakeful one night and said to me, “See which of the poets is at the door to-night.” So I went out and finding Jamíl bin Ma’amar al-Uzrí[[126]] in the antechamber, said to him, “Answer the Commander of the Faithful.” Quoth he, “I hear and I obey,” and going in with me, saluted the Caliph, who returned his greeting and bade him sit down. Then he said to him, “O Jamil, hast thou any of thy wonderful new stories to tell us?” He replied, “Yes, O Commander of the Faithful: wouldst thou fainer hear that which I have seen with mine eyes or that which I have only heard?” Quoth the Caliph, “Tell me something thou hast actually beheld.” Quoth Jamil, “’Tis well, O Prince of True Believers; incline thy heart to me and lend me thine ears.” The Caliph took a bolster of red brocade, purfled with gold and stuffed with ostrich-feathers and, laying it under his thighs, propped up both elbows thereon; then he said to Jamil, “Now[[127]] for thy tale, O Jamil!” Thereupon he begun:—Know, O Commander of the Faithful, that I was once desperately enamoured of a certain girl and used to pay her frequent visits.——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saving her permitted say.
Now when it was the Six Hundred and Eighty-ninth Night,
She pursued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the Caliph had propped his elbows upon the brocaded cushion, he said, “Out with thy tale, O Jamil!” and the poet begun:—Know, O Commander of the Faithful, I was desperately in love with a girl and used often to visit her, because she was my desire and delight of all the things of this world. After a while, her people removed with her, by reason of scarcity of pasture, and I abode some time without seeing her, till I grew restless for desire and longed for her sight and the flesh[[128]] urged me to journey to her. One night, I could hold out no longer; so I rose and saddling my she-camel, bound on my turban and donned my oldest dress.[[129]] Then I baldricked myself with my sword and slinging my spear behind me, mounted and rode forth in quest of her. I fared on fast till, one night, it was pitch dark and exceeding black, yet I persisted in the hard task of climbing down Wadys and up hills, hearing on all sides the roaring of lions and howling of wolves and the cries of the wild beasts. My reason was troubled thereat and my heart sank within me; but for all that my tongue ceased not to call on the name of Almighty Allah. As I went along thus, sleep overtook me and the camel carried me aside out of my road, till, presently, something[[130]] smote me on the head, and I woke, startled and alarmed, and found myself in a pasturage full of trees and streams and birds on the branches, warbling their various speech and notes. As the trees were tangled I alighted and, taking my camel’s halter in hand, fared on softly with her, till I got clear of the thick growth and came out into the open country, where I adjusted her saddle and mounted again, knowing not where to go nor whither the Fates should lead me; but, presently, peering afar into the desert, I espied a fire in its middle depth. So I smote my camel and made for the fire. When I drew near, I saw a tent pitched, and fronted by a spear stuck in the ground, with a pennon flying[[131]] and horses tethered and camels feeding, and said in myself, “Doubtless there hangeth some grave matter by this tent, for I see none other than it in the desert.” So I went up thereto and said, “Peace be with you, O people of the tent, and the mercy of Allah and His blessing!” Whereupon there came forth to me a young man as youths are when nineteen years old, who was like the full moon shining in the East, with valour written between his eyes, and answered, saying, “And with thee be the Peace, and Allah’s mercy and His blessing! O brother of the Arabs, methinks thou hast lost thy way?” Replied I, “Even so, direct me right, Allah have mercy on thee!” He rejoined, “O brother of the Arabs, of a truth this our land is infested with lions and the night is exceeding dark and dreary, beyond measure cold and gloomy, and I fear lest the wild beasts rend thee in pieces; wherefore do thou alight and abide with me this night in ease and comfort, and to-morrow I will put thee in the right way.” Accordingly, I dismounted and hobbled my she-camel with the end of her halter;[[132]] then I put off my heavy upper clothes and sat down. Presently the young man took a sheep and slaughtered it and kindled a brisk fire; after which he went into the tent and bringing out finely powdered salt and spices, fell to cutting off pieces of mutton and roasting them over the fire and feeding me therewith, weeping at one while and sighing at another. Then he groaned heavily and wept sore and improvised these couplets:—
There remains to him naught save a flitting breath ✿ And an eye whose babe ever wandereth.
There remains not a joint in his limbs, but what ✿ Disease firm fixt ever tortureth.
His tears are flowing, his vitals burning; ✿ Yet for all his tongue still he silenceth.
All foemen in pity beweep his woes; ✿ Ah for freke whom the foeman pitieth!
By this I knew, O Commander of the Faithful, that the youth was a distracted lover (for none knoweth passion save he who hath tasted the passion-savour), and quoth I to myself, “Shall I ask him?” But I consulted my judgment and said, “How shall I assail him with questioning, and I in his abode?” So I restrained myself and ate my sufficiency of the meat. When we had made an end of eating, the young man arose and entering the tent, brought out a handsome basin and ewer and a silken napkin, whose ends were purfled with red gold and a sprinkling-bottle full of rose-water mingled with musk. I marvelled at his dainty delicate ways and said in my mind, “Never wot I of delicacy in the desert.” Then we washed our hands and talked a while, after which he went into the tent and making a partition between himself and me with a piece of red brocade, said to me, “Enter, O Chief of the Arabs, and take thy rest; for thou hast suffered more of toil and travel than sufficeth this night and in this thy journey.” So I entered and finding a bed of green brocade, doffed my dress and passed a night such as I had never passed in my life.——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
Now when it was the Six Hundred and Ninetieth Night,
She resumed, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Jamil spoke, saying:—Never in my life passed I a night like that. I pondered the young man’s case, till the world was dark and all eyes slept, when I was aroused by the sound of a low voice, never heard I a softer or sweeter. I raised the curtain which hung between us and saw a damsel (never beheld I a fairer of face), by the young man’s side and they were both weeping and complaining, one to other of the pangs of passion and desire and of the excess of their longing for union.[[133]] Quoth I, “By Allah, I wonder who may be this second one! When I entered this tent, there was none therein save this young man.” And after reflection I added, “Doubtless this damsel is of the daughters of the Jinn and is enamoured of this youth; so they have secluded themselves with each other in this solitary place.” Then I considered her closely and behold, she was a mortal and an Arab girl, whose face, when she unveiled, shamed the shining sun, and the tent was lit up by the light of her countenance. When I was assured that she was his beloved, I bethought me of lover-jealousy; so I let drop the curtain and covering my face, fell asleep. As soon as it was dawn I arose and donning my clothes, made the Wuzu-ablution and prayed such prayers as are obligatory and which I had deferred. Then I said, “O brother of the Arabs, wilt thou direct me into the right road and thus add to thy favours?” He replied, “At thy leisure, O chief of the Arabs, the term of the guest-rite is three days,[[134]] and I am not one to let thee go before that time.” So I abode with him three days, and on the fourth day as we sat talking, I asked him of his name and lineage. Quoth he “As for my lineage, I am of the Banú Odhrah; my name is such an one, son of such an one and my father’s brother is called such an one.” And behold, O Commander of the Faithful, he was the son of my paternal uncle and of the noblest house of the Banu Uzrah. Said I, “O my cousin, what moved thee to act on this wise, secluding thyself in the waste and leaving thy fair estate and that of thy father and thy slaves and handmaids?” When he heard my words, his eyes filled with tears and he replied, “Know, O my cousin, that I fell madly in love of the daughter of my father’s brother, fascinated by her, distracted for her, passion-possessed as by a Jinn, wholly unable to let her out of my sight. So I sought her in marriage of her sire, but he refused and married her to a man of the Banu Odhrah, who went in to her and carried her to his abiding-place this last year. When she was thus far removed from me and I was prevented from looking on her, the fiery pangs of passion and excess of love-longing and desire drove me to forsake my clan[[135]] and friends and fortune and take up my abode in this desert, where I have grown used to my solitude.” I asked, “Where are their dwellings?” and he answered, “They are hard by, on the crest of yonder hill; and every night, at the dead time, when all eyes sleep, she stealeth secretly out of the camp, unseen of any one, and I satisfy my desire of her converse and she of mine.[[136]] So I abide thus, solacing myself with her a part of the night, till Allah work out that which is to be wrought; either I shall compass my desire, in spite[[137]] of the envious, or Allah will determine for me and He is the best of determinators.” Now when the youth told me his case, O Commander of the Faithful, I was concerned for him and perplexed by reason of my jealousy for his honour; so I said to him, “O son of my uncle, wilt thou that I point out to thee a plan and suggest to thee a project, whereby (please Allah) thou shalt find perfect welfare and the way of right and successful issue whereby the Almighty shall do away from thee that thou dreadest?” He replied, “Say on, O my cousin”; and quoth I, “When it is night and the girl cometh, set her on my she-camel which is swift of pace, and mount thou thy steed, whilst I bestride one of these dromedaries. So will we fare on all night and when the morrow morns, we shall have traversed wolds and wastes, and thou wilt have attained thy desire and won the beloved of thy heart. The Almighty’s earth is wide, and by Allah, I will back thee with heart and wealth and sword.”——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
Now when it was the Six Hundred and Ninety-first Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when Jamil advised the elopement and night journey, promising his aid as long as he lived, the youth accepted and said, “O cousin, wait till I take counsel with her, for she is quick-witted and prudent and hath insight into affairs.” So (continued Jamil) when the night darkened and the hour of her coming arrived, and he awaiting her at the appointed tide, she delayed beyond her usual time, and I saw him go forth the door of the tent and opening his mouth, inhale the wafts of breeze that blew from her quarter, as if to snuff her perfume, and he repeated these two couplets:—
Breeze of East who bringest me gentle air ✿ From the place of sojourn where dwells my fair:
O Breeze, of the lover thou bearest sign, ✿ Canst not of her coming some signal bear?
Then he entered the tent and sat weeping awhile; after which he said to me, “O my cousin, some mischance must have betided the daughter of mine uncle, or some accident must have hindered her from coming to me this night,” presently adding, “But abide where thou art, till I bring thee the news.” And he took sword and shield and was absent a while of the night, after which he returned, carrying something in hand and called aloud to me. So I hastened to him and he said, “O my cousin, knowest thou what hath happened?” I replied, “No, by Allah!” Quoth he, “Verily, I am distraught concerning my cousin this night; for, as she was coming to me, a lion met her in the way and devoured her, and there remaineth of her but what thou seest.” So saying, he threw down what he had in his hand, and behold, it was the damsel’s turband and what was left of her bones. Then he wept sore and casting down his bow,[[138]] took a bag and went forth again saying, “Stir not hence till I return to thee, if it please Almighty Allah.” He was absent a while and presently returned, bearing in his hand a lion’s head, which he threw on the ground and called for water. So I brought him water, with which he washed the lion’s mouth and fell to kissing it and weeping; and he mourned for her exceedingly and recited these couplets:—
Ho thou lion who broughtest thyself to woe, ✿ Thou art slain and worse sorrows my bosom rend!
Thou hast reft me of fairest companionship, ✿ Made her home Earth’s womb till the world shall end.
To Time, who hath wrought me such grief, I say, ✿ “Allah grant in her stead never show a friend!”
Then said he to me, “O cousin, I conjure thee by Allah and the claims of kindred and consanguinity[[139]] between us, keep thou my charge. Thou wilt presently see me dead before thee; whereupon do thou wash me and shroud me and these that remain of my cousin’s bones in this robe and bury us both in one grave and write thereon these two couplets:”—
On Earth surface we lived in rare ease and joy ✿ By fellowship joined in one house and home.
But Fate with her changes departed us, ✿ And the shroud conjoins us in Earth’s cold womb.
Then he wept with sore weeping and, entering the tent, was absent awhile, after which he came forth, groaning and crying out. Then he gave one sob and departed this world. When I saw that he was indeed dead, it was grievous to me and so sore was my sorrow for him that I had well-nigh followed him for excess of mourning over him. Then I laid him out and did as he had enjoined me, shrouding his cousin’s remains with him in one robe and laying the twain in one grave. I abode by their tomb three days, after which I departed and continued to pay frequent pious visits[[140]] to the place for two years. This then is their story, O Commander of the Faithful! Al-Rashid was pleased with Jamil’s story and rewarded him with a robe of honour and a handsome present. And men also tell a tale concerning
[125]. Al-Mas’udi, chapt. cxix. (Fr. transl. vii., 351) mentions the Banu Odhrah as famed for lovers and tells the pathetic tale of ’Orwah and ’Afrá.
[126]. Jamil bin Ma’amar the poet has been noticed in Vol. ii. 102; and he has no business here as he died years before Al-Rashid was born. The tale begins like that of Ibn Mansúr and the Lady Budúr (Night cccxxvii.), except that Mansur does not offer his advice.
[127]. Arab “Halumma,” an interjection = bring! a congener of the Heb. “Halúm,” the grammarians of Kufah and Bassorah are divided concerning its origin.
[128]. Arab. “Nafs-í” which here corresponds with our canting “the flesh,” the “Old Adam,” &c.
[129]. Arab. “Atmárí” used for travel. The Anglo-Americans are the only people who have the common sense to travel (where they are not known) in their “store clothes” and reserve the worst for where they are known.
[130]. e.g., a branch or bough.
[131]. Arab. “Ráyah káimah,” which Lane translates a “beast standing”!
[132]. Tying up the near foreleg just above the knee; and even with this a camel can hop over sundry miles of ground in the course of a night. The hobbling is shown in Lane (Nights vol. ii., p. 46).
[133]. As opposed to “Severance” in the old knightly language of love, which is now apparently lost to the world. I tried it in the Lyrics of Camoens and found that I was speaking a forgotten tongue, which mightily amused the common sort of critic and reviewer.
[134]. More exactly three days and eight hours, after which the guest becomes a friend, and as in the Argentine prairies is expected to do friend’s duty. The popular saying is, “The entertainment of a guest is three days; the viaticum (jáizah) is a day and a night, and whatso exceedeth this is alms.”
[135]. Arab. “’Ashírah.” Books tell us there are seven degrees of connection among the Badawin: Sha’ab, tribe or rather race, nation (as the Anazah) descended from a common ancestor; Kabílah the tribe proper (whence les Kabyles); Fasílah (sept), Imárah, Ashirah (all a man’s connections); Fakhiz (lit. the thigh, i.e., his blood relations) and Batn (belly) his kith and kin. Practically Kabílah is the tribe, Ashírah the clan, and Bayt the household; while Hayy may be anything between tribe and kith and kin.
[136]. This is the true platonic love of noble Arabs, the Ishk ’uzrí, noted in vol. ii., 104.
[137]. Arab. “’Alà raghm,” a favourite term. It occurs in theology; for instance, when the Shi’ahs are asked the cause of such and such a ritual distinction they will reply, “Ala raghmi ’l-Tasannun”: lit. = to spite the Sunnis.
[138]. In the text “Al-Kaus” for which Lane and Payne substitute a shield. The bow had not been mentioned but—n’importe, the Arab reader would say. In the text it is left at home because it is a cowardly, far-killing weapon compared with sword and lance. Hence the Spaniard calls and justly calls the knife the “bravest of arms” as it wants a man behind it.
[139]. Arab. “Rahim” or “Rihm” = womb, uterine relations, pity or sympathy, which may here be meant.
[140]. Reciting Fátihahs and so forth, as I have described in the Cemetery of Al-Medinah (ii. 300). Moslems do not pay for prayers to benefit the dead like the majority of Christendom and, according to Calvinistic Wahhábi-ism, their prayers and blessings are of no avail. But the mourner’s heart loathes reason and he prays for his dead instinctively like the so-termed “Protestant.” Amongst the latter, by the bye, I find four great Sommités, (1) Paul of Tarsus who protested against the Hebraism of Peter; (2) Mohammed who protested against the perversions of Christianity; (3) Luther who protested against Italian rule in Germany, and lastly (4) one (who shall be nameless) that protests against the whole business.
THE BADAWI AND HIS WIFE.[[141]]
Caliph Mu’áwiyah was sitting one day in his palace[[142]] at Damascus, in a room whose windows were open on all four sides, that the breeze might enter from every quarter. Now it was a day of excessive heat, with no breeze from the hills stirring, and the middle of the day, when the heat was at its height, and the Caliph saw a man coming along, scorched by the heat of the ground and limping, as he fared on barefoot. Mu’awiyah considered him awhile and said to his courtiers, “Hath Allah (may He be extolled and exalted!) created any miserabler than he who need must hie abroad at such an hour and in such sultry tide as this?” Quoth one of them, “Haply he seeketh the Commander of the Faithful;” and quoth the Caliph, “By Allah, if he seek me, I will assuredly give to him, and if he be wronged, I will certainly succour him. Ho, boy! Stand at the door, and if yonder wild Arab seek to come in to me, forbid him not therefrom.” So the page went out and presently the Arab came up to him and he said, “What dost thou want?” Answered the other, “I want the Commander of the Faithful,” and the page said, “Enter.” So he entered and saluted the Caliph,——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
Now when it was the Six Hundred and Ninety-second Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the page allowed him to enter, the Badawi saluted the Caliph, who said to him, “Who art thou?” Replied the Arab, “I am a man of the Banú Tamím.”[[143]] “And what bringeth thee here at this season?” asked Mu’awiyah; and the Arab answered, “I come to thee, complaining and thy protection imploring.” “Against whom?” “Against Marwan bin al-Hakam,[[144]] thy deputy,” replied he, and began reciting:—
Mu’áwiyah,[[145]] thou gen’rous lord, and best of men that be; ✿ And oh, thou lord of learning, grace and fair humanity,
Thee-wards I come because my way of life is strait to me: ✿ O help! and let me not despair thine equity to see.
Deign thou redress the wrong that dealt the tyrant whim of him ✿ Who better had my life destroyed than made such wrong to dree.
He robbed me of my wife Su’ád and proved him worst of foes, ✿ Stealing mine honour ’mid my folk with foul iniquity;
And went about to take my life before th’ appointed day ✿ Hath dawned which Allah made my lot by destiny’s decree.
Now when Mu’awiyah heard him recite these verses, with the fire flashing from his mouth, he said to him, “Welcome and fair welcome, O brother of the Arabs! Tell me thy tale and acquaint me with thy case.” Replied the Arab, “O Commander of the Faithful, I had a wife whom I loved passing dear with love none came near; and she was the coolth of mine eyes and the joy of my heart; and I had a herd of camels, whose produce enabled me to maintain my condition; but there came upon us a bad year which killed off hoof and horn and left me naught. When what was in my hand failed me and wealth fell from me and I lapsed into evil case, I at once became abject and a burden to those who erewhile wished to visit me; and when her father knew it, he took her from me and abjured me and drove me forth without ruth. So I repaired to thy deputy, Marwan bin al-Hakam, and asked his aid. He summoned her sire and questioned him of my case, when he denied any knowledge of me.” Quoth I, “Allah assain the Emir! An it please him to send for the woman and question her of her father’s saying, the truth will appear.” So he sent for her and brought her; but no sooner had he set eyes on her than he fell in love with her; so, becoming my rival, he denied me succour and was wroth with me, and sent me to prison, where I became as I had fallen from heaven and the wind had cast me down in a far land. Then said Marwan to her father, “Wilt thou give her to me to wife, on a present settlement of a thousand dinars and a contingent dowry of ten thousand dirhams,[[146]] and I will engage to free her from yonder wild Arab!” Her father was seduced by the bribe and agreed to the bargain; whereupon Marwan sent for me and looking at me like an angry lion, said to me, “O Arab, divorce Su’ad.” I replied, “I will not put her away; but he set on me a company of his servants, who tortured me with all manner of tortures, till I found no help for it but to divorce her. I did so and he sent me back to prison, where I abode till the days of her purification were accomplished, when he married her and let me go. So now I come hither in thee hoping and thy succour imploring and myself on thy protection throwing.” And he spoke these couplets:—
Within my heart is fire ✿ Whichever flameth higher;
Within my frame are pains ✿ For skill of leach too dire.
Live coals in vitals burn ✿ And sparks from coal up spire:
Tears flood mine eyes and down ✿ Coursing my cheek ne’er tire:
Only God’s aid and thine ✿ I crave for my desire!
Then he was convulsed,[[147]] and his teeth chattered and he fell down in a fit, squirming like a scotched snake. When Mu’awiyah heard his story and his verse, he said, “Marwan bin al-Hakam hath transgressed against the laws of the Faith and hath violated the Harim of True Believers!”——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
Now when it was the Six Hundred and Ninety-third Night,
She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the Caliph Mu’awiyah heard the wild Arab’s words, he said, “The son of al-Hakam hath indeed transgressed against the laws of the Faith and hath violated the Harim of True Believers,” presently adding, “O Arab, thou comest to me with a story, the like whereof I never heard!” Then he called for inkcase and paper and wrote to Marwan as follows:—Verily it hath reached me that thou transgresseth the laws of the Faith with regard to thy lieges. Now it behoveth the Wali who governeth the folk to keep his eyes from their lusts and stay his flesh from its delights. And after he wrote many words, which (quoth he who told me the tale) I omit, for brevity’s sake, and amongst them these couplets:—
Thou wast invested (woe to thee!)[[148]] with rule for thee unfit; ✿ Crave thou of Allah pardon for thy foul adultery.
Th’ unhappy youth to us is come complaining ’mid his groans ✿ And asks redress for parting-grief and saddened me through thee.
An oath have I to Allah sworn shall never be forsworn; ✿ Nay, for I’ll do what Faith and Creed command me to decree.
An thou dare cross me in whate’er to thee I now indite ✿ I of thy flesh assuredly will make the vulture free.
Divorce Su’ad, equip her well, and in the hottest haste ✿ With Al-Kumayt and Zíbán’s son, hight Nasr, send to me.
Then he folded the letter and, sealing it with his seal, delivered it to Al-Kumayt[[149]] and Nasr bin Zíbán (whom he was wont to employ on weighty matters, because of their trustiness) who took the missive and carried it to Al-Medinah, where they went in to Marwan and saluting him delivered to him the writ and told him how the case stood. He read the letter and fell a-weeping; but he went in to Su’ad (as ’twas not in his power to refuse obedience to the Caliph) and, acquainting her with the case, divorced her in the presence of Al-Kumayt and Nasr; after which he equipped her and delivered her to them, together with a letter to the Caliph wherein he versified as follows:—
Hurry not, Prince of Faithful Men! with best of grace thy vow ✿ I will accomplish as ’twas vowed and with the gladdest gree.
I sinned not adulterous sin when loved her I, then how ✿ Canst charge me with advowtrous deed or any villainy?
Soon comes to thee that splendid sun which hath no living peer ✿ On earth, nor aught in mortal men or Jinns her like shalt see.
This he sealed with his own signet and gave to the messengers who returned with Su’ad to Damascus and delivered to Mu’awiyah the letter, and when he had read it he cried, “Verily, he hath obeyed handsomely, but he exceedeth in his praise of the woman.” Then he called for her and saw beauty such as he had never seen, for comeliness and loveliness, stature and symmetrical grace; moreover, he talked with her and found her fluent of speech and choice in words. Quoth he, “Bring me the Arab.” So they fetched the man, who came, sore disordered for shifts and changes of fortune, and Mu’awiyah said to him, “O Arab, an thou wilt freely give her up to me, I will bestow upon thee in her stead three slave girls, high-bosomed maids like moons, with each a thousand dinars; and I will assign thee on the Treasury such an annual sum as shall content thee and enrich thee.” When the Arab heard this, he groaned one groan and swooned away, so that Mu’awiyah thought he was dead; and, as soon as he revived, the Caliph said to him, “What aileth thee?” The Arab answered, “With heavy heart and in sore need have I appealed to thee from the injustice of Marwan bin al-Hakam; but to whom shall I appeal from thine injustice?” And he versified in these couplets:—
Make me not (Allah save the Caliph!) one of the betrayed ✿ Who from the fiery sands to fire must sue for help and aid:
Deign thou restore Su’ád to this afflicted heart distraught, ✿ Which every morn and eve by sorest sorrow is waylaid:
Loose thou my bonds and grudge me not and give her back to me; ✿ And if thou do so ne’er thou shalt for lack of thanks upbraid!
Then said he, “By Allah, O Commander of the Faithful, wert thou to give me all the riches contained in the Caliphate, yet would I not take them without Su’ad.” And he recited this couplet:—
I love Su’ád and unto all but hers my love is dead, ✿ Each morn I feel her love to me is drink and daily bread.
Quoth the Caliph, “Thou confessest to having divorced her and Marwan owned the like; so now we will give her free choice. An she choose other than thee, we will marry her to him, and if she choose thee, we will restore her to thee.” Replied the Arab, “Do so.” So Mu’awiyah said to her, “What sayest thou, O Su’ad? Which dost thou choose; the Commander of the Faithful, with his honour and glory and dominion and palaces and treasures and all else thou seest at his command, or Marwan bin al-Hakam with his violence and tyranny, or this Arab, with his hunger and poverty?” So she improvised these couplets:—
This one, whom hunger plagues, and rags enfold, ✿ Dearer than tribe and kith and kin I hold;
Than crownèd head, or deputy Marwán, ✿ Or all who boast of silver coins and gold.
Then said she, “By Allah, O Commander of the Faithful, I will not forsake him for the shifts of Fortune or the perfidies of Fate, there being between us old companionship we may not forget, and love beyond stay and let; and indeed ’tis but just that I bear with him in his adversity, even as I shared with him in prosperity.” The Caliph marvelled at her wit and love and constancy and, ordering her ten thousand dirhams, delivered her to the Arab, who took his wife and went away.[[150]] And they likewise tell a tale of
[141]. Lane transfers this to vol. i. 520 (notes to chapt. vii.); and gives a mere abstract as of that preceding.
[142]. We learn from Ibn Batutah that it stood South of the Great Mosque and afterwards became the Coppersmiths’ Bazar. The site was known as Al-Khazrá (the Green) and the building was destroyed by the Abbasides. See Defrémery and Sanguinetti, i. 206.
[143]. This great tribe or rather nation has been noticed before (vol. ii. 170). The name means “Strong,” and derives from one Tamim bin Murr of the race of Adnan, nat. circ. A.D. 121. They hold the North-Eastern uplands of Najd, comprising the great desert Al-Dahná and extend to Al-Bahrayn. They are split up into a multitude of clans and septs; and they can boast of producing two famous sectarians. One was Abdullah bin Suffár, head of the Suffriyah; and the other Abdullah bin Ibáz (Ibadh) whence the Ibázíyah heretics of Oman who long included her princes. Mr. Palgrave wrongly writes Abadeeyah and Biadeeyah and my “Bayázi” was an Arab vulgarism used by the Zanzibarians. Dr. Badger rightly prefers Ibáziyah which he writes Ibâdhiyah (Hist. of the Imams, etc.)
[144]. Governor of Al-Medinah under Mu’awiyah and afterwards (A.H. 64–65 = 683–4) fourth Ommiade. Al-Siyúti (p. [216]) will not account him amongst the princes of the Faithful, holding him a rebel against Al-Zubayr. Ockley makes Ibn al-Zubayr ninth and Marwán tenth Caliph.
[145]. The address, without the vocative particle, is more emphatic; and the P.N. Mu’awiyah seems to court the omission.
[146]. This may also mean that the £500 were the woman’s “mahr” or marriage dowry and the £250 a present to buy the father’s consent.
[147]. Quite true to nature. See an account of the quasi-epileptic fits to which Syrians are subject and by them called Al-Wahtah in “The Inner Life of Syria,” i. 233.
[148]. Arab “Wayha-k” here equivalent to Wayla-k. M. C. Barbier de Meynard renders the first “mon ami” and the second “misérable.”
[149]. This is an instance when the article (Al) is correctly used with one proper name and not with another. Al-Kumayt (P. N. of poet) lit. means a bay horse with black points: Nasr is victory.
[150]. This anecdote, which reads like truth, is ample set off for a cart-load of abuse of women. But even the Hindus, determined misogynists in books, sometimes relent. Says the Katha Sarit Sagara: “So you see, King, honourable matrons are devoted to their husbands, and it is not the case that all women are always bad” (ii. 624). Let me hope that after all this Mistress Su’ad did not lead her husband a hardish life.