The Seven Hundred and Fifth 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 goodwill!" 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 King Yusuf and Ibrahim the Cup-companion were like to rend that was upon them of raiment and they joyed with extreme joy after hearing what Surur had sung to them. Hereupon she passed her cup to her fellow, hight Zahrat al-Hayy,[289] who took it and recited as follows,
"O cup-boy, I crave thee cup-comrade to be * And hearten my heart
of its malady;
Nor pass me the bowls for I sorely dread * when drunken all
dolours of Love- lowe to dree,
To be vilely reviled in the sittings of men, * To be frowardly
treated where zephyrs play free.
God-blest is the Lute for her melodies * Which pain me with
painfullest penalty,
With the jewels of speech whose transcendent charms * Like fires
of Jahím[290] burn the vitals of me.
By Allah, show ruth, be compassionate, * For Allah deals pardon
compassionately.
Yusuf and Ibrahim, hearing her words, were gladdened with excessive gladness and cried to the ninth handmaid, "May the lord be copious to thee like the fruitful years!" Then the Cup- companion bade gift her with one thousand gold pieces as like- wise did her lord. Hereupon she passed her cup to the tenth handmaiden known as Muhjat al-Kulúb[291] who fell to improvising these couplets,
"O Blamer, who canst not my case explain; * Cease, for who blame
friends shall of blame complain;
And whoso unknoweth the workings of Love * Mankind shall reckon
him mean and vain:
Alas for Love, O ye tribe-landers, I * Am weaned that wont
nipples of union to drain.
I have learnt the whole of Love's governance * Since my baby days
amid cradles lain.
Forbear by Allah to ask of my state * How shall morn one banned
with debtor bane?
O thou jewel of speech, O thou Yúsuf, laud * To the Lord who
robed thee with charms amain!
Deign the God of 'Arsh make thy days endure * In wealth and
honour sans pause or wane;
E'en as Ishak's son[292] every gift conjoined * Amid men,
making rulers to serve him fain."
When Muhjat al-Kulub ended her song, Yusuf gifted her with a splendid robe and a thousand gold pieces as eke did Ibrahim, and presently the courtier said to the handmaiden, "Who is Ibrahim that thou shouldst sing of him in song?" She replied, "Walláhi, O my lord, he is son of Ishak, amongst the pleasant ones sans peer and a cup-companion to the Caliphs dear and the pearl concealed and the boon friend of our lord the Commander of the Faithful Al-Maamún and his familiar who to him joy and enjoyment maketh known. Ah! happy the man who can look upon him and forgather with him and company with him before his death; and verily by Allah he is the Master of the Age and the one Wonder of the World. Moreover, by the Almighty, O my lord, wert thou to see this lute fall into his hands, thou wouldst hear it converse in every language with the tongues of birds and beasts and of the sons of Adam: and well nigh would the place dance ere he had improvised a word. And he the horizons can make to joy and lovers with overlove can destroy, nor shall any after his decease such excellence of speech employ." All this, and Muhjat al-Kulub knew not who was sitting beside them as she went on to praise Ibrahim. Hereupon he took the lute from her hand and smote it till thou hadst deemed that within the instrument lurked babes of the Jinns[293] which were crying and wailing while spake the strings, and in fine King Yusuf imagined that the palace had upflown with them between heaven and earth. And the handmaidens sang to his tunes in sore astonishment; when Ibrahim designed to talk but King Yusuf cut him short and fell to saying poetry in these couplets,
"By the rights of our lord who shows ruth in extreme, * And Giver
and Guide and boon Prophet we deem,
And by Ka'abah resplendent and all its site * And by Zemzem, Safa
and the wall Hatim,
Lo! thou'rt hight Ibrahim, and suppose I say * Thee sooth, my
wits thou must surely esteem:
And thy face shows signalled with clearest eyne * Deliv'rance
followed by Yá and Mím."[294]
Now Ibrahim kept his secret and did not manifest himself to any, but presently he also improvised and spake in these words preserving the measure and rhyme,
"By him who chose Musà, the Speaker,[295] by Him * who
made[296] Háshimite orphan select and supreme!
Ibrahim am I not, but I deem this one * The Caliph who sits by
Baghdadian stream;
Of his grace the heir of all eloquent arts * And no partner hath
he in all gifts that beseem."
And when Ibrahim had finished his verses, Yusuf said to him, "By the virtue of Almighty Allah, an I guess aright and my shot[297] go not amiss, thou art Ibrahim the musician;" but the courtier retained his incognito and replied, "O my lord, Ibrahim is my familiar friend and I am a man of Al-Basrah who hath stolen from him sundry of his modes and airs for the lute and other instruments and I have the practice of improvisation." Now when Ibrahim was speaking behold, there came one of the Caliph's pages and he walked up to the head of the assembly bearing with him a letter, which he handed to his lord. But Yusuf put forth his hand and took it, and after reading the superscription he learnt that his companion was Ibrahim without doubt or mistake, so he said to him, "By Allah, O my lord, verily thou hast slighted me, for that thou hast not informed me of thyself." Quoth the other, "By Allah, I feared from thee lest I give thee excess of trouble;" and quoth Yusuf, "Do thou take to thee all these handmaids whom the Commander of the Faithful hath bid thee receive." Ibrahim replied, "Nay, I will not accept from thee the handmaidens but rather will I fend from thee the Prince of True Believers;" however, King Yusuf rejoined, "I have gifted them to the Viceregent of Allah: an thou take them not I will send them by other than thyself." Presently King Yusuf set apart for the Caliph great store of gifts, and when the handmaidens heard of that they wept with sore weeping. Ibrahim, hearing their wailing, found it hard to bear, and he also shed tears for the sobbing and crying of them; and presently he exclaimed, "Allah upon thee, O Yusuf, leave these ten handmaidens by thee and I will be thy ward with the Prince of True Believers." But Yusuf answered, "Now by the might of Him who stablished the mountains stable, unless thou bear them away with thee I will despatch them escorted by another." Hereupon Ibrahim took them and farewelled King Yusuf and fared forth and hastened his faring till the party arrived at Baghdad, the House of Peace, where he went up into the Palace of the Commander of the Faithful— 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