Abu-l-Hasan orders that the Sheiks of the district should be taken to be impaled on the back of a mangy camel. [Page 209]
At last Abu-l-Hasan called one after another to him and questioned each in turn, asking if indeed he were the Prince of the Faithful; and in turn each showed amazement that he should put the question and assured him that indeed he was the Khalifeh of the Lord of all creatures. To the first he said, hotly, “Thou liest!” To the next: “Thou art in error!” To others: “Impossible!” and “It cannot be!” Until at last he was fairly beaten, and had to admit that he indeed was Er-Rashid himself, the Prince of the Faithful. He asked the attendants to withdraw so that he might give himself up to this new-found wonder and perplexity, and accustom himself to the strange position in which he found himself.
The morning wore on and he was aroused from his reverie by a eunuch who approached with a salutation and handed him a pair of shoes of fine spun gold set with precious stones. Abu-l-Hasan put these on. Then came female slaves with a golden basin and a silver jug and they bathed his hands. On this being done, they spread a praying carpet before him. Although he knew not well how to pray, he made many protestations to Allah, earnestly entreating that he might be convinced that this was not a dream. His prayers dispelled the doubt, but it returned when the eunuchs brought him priceless apparel in which to clothe himself, for, when he was arrayed in these magnificent garments, and sat contemplating himself, he muttered, “Surely, ’tis all a dream, and a trick of the Evil One.”
This thought was heavy upon him when a memluk entered. “O Prince of the Faithful!” he said, “the chamberlain craves speech with thee.” “Bid him enter!” replied Abu-l-Hasan, rousing himself. And presently the chamberlain was kissing the ground before him and saying, “Peace be unto thee, O Prince of the Faithful!” Then Abu-l-Hasan descended from the couch and stood before the chamberlain. “Allah! Allah!” cried that worthy servitor in astonishment. “O our Lord! forget not that all men are thy slaves and it is not fitting that the Prince of the Faithful should rise to anyone.” But Abu-l-Hasan bade him proceed with his business.
The chamberlain then informed Abu-l-Hasan that certain high officials and the chief memluks were without, awaiting his commands. “Let them enter!” said Abu-l-Hasan with growing authority. So they were summoned, and each as he advanced kissed the ground before him, saluting him as the Prince of the Faithful. Abu-l-Hasan was greatly pleased with this crowning proof of his position, and gave his commands forthwith. To the Wali he said: “Go at once to the mother of Abu-l-Hasan and give her a hundred gold pieces, with my blessing.” And he named the street where he would find her. “When you have done this,” he continued in tones of severity, “repair to the mosque and bestow upon the Imam and the four Sheiks, each a thousand lashes. Then thou shalt bind them upon camels, with their faces to the beasts’ tails, and make a public show of them in the ways of the city, proclaiming to all, ‘Behold the reward of fools who trouble their neighbours!’ When this is done thou shalt execute a sworn bond expelling them from the mosque. And see to it that thou carry this out to the very letter.”
And the Wali did as he was commanded. And Abu-l-Hasan continued issuing his commands in like fashion until the evening, when he felt weary and hungry. Dismissing the officials, he summoned a eunuch and desired food to be brought him. “It is prepared, O Prince of the Faithful!” replied the eunuch. And he led him into the banqueting chamber, where a sumptuous feast was spread. Ten slave-girls waited upon him and he ate with relish of the delicate viands they placed before him. When he had finished they led him to the drinking chamber and danced before him while he drank of the choicest and rarest wines.
“By Allah!” he said in his cups, “this is enchantment—naught but devilry, practised upon me by that guest of mine. Here, girl! why dost thou laugh?” The girl he had called came and kissed the ground before him. “O Prince of the Faithful,” she said, “here in thy palace all is thine. I laughed for very gladness to be thy slave.” And she whirled away again into the dance. Presently, however, she returned with a cup of wine and handed it to him. He drank, after which another came with another cup of wine, until the last was reached; and she, by order of the Khalifeh, had dropped a drugged lozenge into the cup. Ignorant of this, Abu-l-Hasan took it from her hand, and, saying to himself, “May Allah protect me from the Evil One!” drank the wine; and immediately on this he fell back senseless. The attendants then, in obedience to Er-Rashid’s orders, took him back to his own house and laid him on his bed, still unconscious.
When he awoke from his stupor it was dark, and he called loudly for lights; but there was no answer. Where were the slave girls? Angrily he summoned one or two by name. Then it was that his mother, hearing him calling out in this way, came to his couch and asked what ailed him. Had he gone mad? “Darest thou address the Prince of the Faithful so?” he replied. “Who art thou, miserable old woman?” “Canst thou not recognise thy mother?” “Cease, woman! I am the Prince of the Faithful, the lord of the earth and all its treasures; all people are my slaves and—” “Silence!” she broke in, “if thou valuest thy life!” And, guessing that some spell had been laid upon him, she began to mutter charms to drive away the evil spirits. Then, seeking to divert his mind, she told him the good news about the Imam and the Sheiks; how they had been punished, and how she herself had received a hundred gold pieces with the Khalifeh’s blessing. When he heard this he started up, shouting: “It was I who gave orders that these things should be done; I, the Khalifeh, the Prince of the Faithful.” And thereupon he took a stick and beat his mother till the neighbours flocked in and demanded to know the cause of the trouble. “Wretched old woman!” he was shouting; “am I not the Prince of the Faithful?”
Hearing this the neighbours said among themselves, “He is mad!” And without more ado they fell upon him, and bound him, and took him to the madhouse. There he was beaten every day and treated in such a manner that he feared indeed to lose his reason. After many days of this harsh treatment his mother came to him and asked him what he was doing in such a distressful plight if, indeed, he was the Prince of the Faithful. And he was fain to admit that he had been mistaken—nay, worse still; he had been made the sport of evil spirits and the subject of enchantment. So he repented, and prayed to Allah for forgiveness; and they released him from the madhouse.