The Five Hundred and Twelfth Night,
Dunyazad said to her, "Allah upon thee, O my sister, an thou be other than sleepy, finish for us thy tale that we may cut short the watching of this our latter night!" She replied, "With love and good will!" It hath reached me, O auspicious King, the director, the right-guiding, lord of the rede which is benefiting and of deeds fair-seeming and worthy celebrating, that Al-Hajjaj said, "Now do thou inform me who is the most excellent of the Arabs and the noblest and of blood the purest?"—"The Khoraysh." "And wherefore so?" "For that the Prophets from them proceeded." "And what tribe is the knightliest of the Arabs and the bravest and the firmest in fight?"—"The Banu Háshim."[60] "And wherefore so?" "For that my grandsire the Imám Alí ibn Abí Tálib is of them." "And who is the most generous of the Arabs and most steadfast in the guest-rite?"—"The Banu Tayy." "And wherefore so?" "For that Hátim of Tayy[61] was one thereof." "And who is the vilest of the Arabs and the meanest and the most miserly, in whom weal is smallest and ill is greatest?" "The Banu Thakíf."[62] "And wherefore so?" "Because thou, O Hajjaj, art of them." Thereupon the Lieutenant of Kufah raged with exceeding rage and ordered the slaughter of the youth; but the Grandees of the State rose up and prayed him for mercy, when he accepted their intercession and pardoned the offender. After which he said to him, "O young man, concerning the kid[63] that is in the firmament, tell me be it male or female?" for he was minded on this wise to cut short his words. The young Sayyid replied, "O Hajjaj, draw me aside its tail so I may inform thee thereanent."[64] "O young man, say me on what pasture best grow the horns of the camel?" "From leaves of stone." "O lack-wit! do stones bear leaves?" "O swollen of lips and little of wits and wisdom, say me do camels have horns?" "Haply thou art a lover fond, O youth?" "Yes! in love drowned." "And whom lovest thou?"—"I love my lord, of whom I hope that he will turn my annoy into joy, and who can save me this day from thee, O Hajjaj." "And dost thou know the Lord?" "Yes, I do." "And whereby hast thou known Him?" "By the book of Him which descended upon His Prophet-Apostle." "And knowest thou the Koran by heart?" "Doth the Koran fly from me that I should learn it by rote?" "Hast thou confirmed knowledge thereof?" "Verily Allah sent down a book confirmed."[65] "Hast thou perused and mastered that which is therein?" "I have." "Then, O young man, if thou have read and learned what it containeth, tell me which verset is the sublimest (1) and which verset is the most imperious (2) and which verset is hopefullest (3) and which verset is fearfullest (4) and which verset is believed by the Jew and the Nazarene (5) and in which verset Allah speaketh purely of Himself (6) and in which verset be the Angels mentioned (7) and which verset alludeth to the Prophets (8) and in which verset be mentioned the People of Paradise (9) and which verset speaketh of the Folk of the Fire (10) and which verset containeth tenfold signs (11) and which verset (12) speaketh of Iblís (whom Allah accurse!)." Then quoth the youth, "Listen to my answering, O Hajjaj, with the aid of the Beneficent King. Now the sublimest verset in the Book of Allah Almighty is the Throne verse;[66] and the most imperious is the word of Almighty Allah, 'Verily Allah ordereth justice and well-doing and bestowal of gifts upon kith and kin';[67] and the justest is the word of the Almighty, 'Whoso shall have wrought a mithkál (nay an atom) of good works shall see it again, and whoso shall have wrought a mithkál (nay an atom) of ill shall again see it';[68] and the fullest of fear is that spoken by the Almighty, 'Doth not every man of them desire that he enter into the Paradise hight Al-Na'im?'[69] and the fullest of hope is the word of the Almighty, 'Say Me, O My worshippers who have sinned against your own souls, do not despair of Allah's ruth';[70] and the verset which containeth ten signs is the word of the Lord which saith[71] 'Verily in the Creation of the Heavens and the Earth and in the shifts of Night and Day and in the ships which pass through the sea with what is useful to mankind; and in the rain which Allah sendeth down from Heaven, thereby giving to the earth life after death, and by scattering thereover all the moving creatures, and in the change of the winds, and in the clouds which are made to do service between the Heavens and the Earth are signs for those who understand'; and the verset wherein believe both Jews and Nazarenes is the word of Almighty Allah,[72] 'The Jews say the Nazarenes are on naught, and the Christians say the Jews are on naught, and both speak the sooth for they are on naught.' And the verset wherein Allah Almighty speaketh purely of Himself is that word of Almighty Allah,[73] 'And I created not Jinn-kind and mankind save to the end that they adore Me'; and the verset which was spoken of the Angels is the word of Almighty Allah which saith,[74] 'Laud to Thee! we have no knowledge save what Thou hast given us to know, and verily Thou art the Knowing, the Wise.' And the verset which speaketh of the Prophets is the word of Almighty Allah that saith[75] 'And We have already sent Apostles before thee: of some We have told thee, and of others We have told thee naught: yet no Apostle had the power to come with a sign unless by the leave of Allah. But when Allah's behest cometh, everything shall be decided with truth; and then perish they who entreated it as a vain thing'; and the verset which speaketh of the Folk of the Fire is the word of Almighty Allah which saith[76] 'O our Lord! Bring us forth from her (the Fire), and, if we return (to our sins), we shall indeed be of the evildoers'; and the verset that speaketh of the People of Paradise is the word of Almighty Allah,[77] 'And they shall say: Laud to the Lord who abated to us grief, and verily our Lord is Gracious, Grateful'; and the verset which speaketh of Iblis (whom Allah Almighty accurse!), is the word of Almighty Allah,[78] 'He said: (I swear) therefore by thy glory, that all of them will I surely lead astray.'" Hereupon Al-Hajjaj exclaimed, "Laud to the Lord and thanksgiving Who giveth wisdom unto whoso He please! Never indeed saw I a youth like this youth upon whom the Almighty hath bestowed wits and wisdom and knowledge for all the tenderness of his age. But say me, who art thou, O young man?" Quoth the youth, "I am of the folk of these things,[79] O Hajjaj." Resumed the Lieutenant, "Inform me concerning the son of Adam what injureth him and what profiteth him?" And the youth replied, "I will, O Hajjaj; do thou and these present who are longing for permanency (and none is permanent save Allah Almighty!) be early the fast to break nor be over late supper to make; and wear light body-clothes in summer and gar heavy the headgear in winter, and guard the brain with what it conserveth and the belly with what it preserveth and begin every meal with salt for it driveth away seventy and two kinds of malady: and whoso breaketh his fast each day with seven raisins red of hue"—And Shahrazad was surprised by the dawn of day and fell silent and ceased saying her permitted say. Then quoth her sister Dunyazad, "How sweet and tasteful is thy tale, O sister mine, and how enjoyable and delectable!" Quoth she, "And where is this compared with that I would relate to you on the coming night an the Sovran suffer me to survive?" Now when it was the next night and that was