Meanwhile, the forty men whom the Sulṭán had sent came to the house of 'Alee Noor-ed-Deen, and broke open the doors and entered, and searched all the chambers, but without success; so they demolished the house, and returned, and acquainted the Sulṭán, who said, Search for them in every place where they may be:—and they replied, We hear and obey. The Wezeer El-Mo'een the son of Sáwee then descended to his house, after the Sulṭán had invested him with a robe of honour, and had said to him, None shall take vengeance for thee but myself. And he greeted the King with a prayer for long life, and his heart was set at ease: and the Sulṭán gave orders to proclaim throughout the city, O all ye people! our lord the Sulṭán hath commanded that whoever shall meet with 'Alee Noor-ed-Deen, and bring him to the Sulṭán, shall be invested with a robe of honour, and he will give him a thousand pieces of gold; and he who shall conceal him, or know where he is, and not give information thereof, will merit the exemplary punishment that shall befall him! So all the people began to search for him; but could not trace him.—Such was the case with these people.
Now as to 'Alee Noor-ed-Deen and his slave, they arrived in safety at Baghdád, and the master of the vessel said to them, This is Baghdád, and it is a city of security: winter with its cold hath departed from it, and the spring-quarter hath come with its roses, and its trees are in blossom, and its waters are flowing. And upon this, 'Alee Noor-ed-Deen landed with his slave-girl, and gave the master five pieces of gold. They then walked a little way, and destiny cast them among the gardens, and they came to a place which they found swept and sprinkled, with long maṣṭabahs, and pots suspended filled with water, and over it was a covering of trellis-work of canes extending along the whole length of a lane, at the upper end of which was the gate of a garden; but this was shut. And Noor-ed-Deen said to the damsel, By Allah, this is a pleasant place!—and she replied, O my master, let us sit down a while upon one of these maṣṭabahs. So they mounted and seated themselves there, and they washed their faces and hands, and enjoyed the current of the zephyr, and slept.—Glory be to Him who sleepeth not!
This garden was called the Garden of Delight, and in it was a palace called the Palace of Diversion, and it belonged to the Khaleefeh Hároon Er-Rasheed, who, when his heart was contracted, used to come to this garden, and enter the palace above mentioned, and there sit. The palace had eighty latticed windows, and eighty lamps were suspended in it, and in the midst of it was a great candlestick of gold; and when the Khaleefeh entered it, he commanded the female slaves to open the windows, and ordered Is-ḥáḳ the cup-companion to sing with them: so his heart became dilated, and his anxiety ceased. There was a superintendent to the garden, an old man, named the sheykh Ibráheem; and it happened that he went forth once to transact some business, and found there persons diverting themselves with women of suspicious character, whereupon he was violently enraged, and having waited until the Khaleefeh came thither some days after, he acquainted him with this occurrence, and the Khaleefeh said, Whomsoever thou shalt find at the gate of the garden, do with him what thou wilt. Now on this day the sheykh Ibráheem went out to transact an affair of business, and found the two sleeping at the garden-gate covered with a single izár; and he said, Do not these two persons know that the Khaleefeh hath given me permission to kill every one whom I find here? But I will only give these two a slight beating, that no one may again approach the gate of the garden. He then cut a green palm-stick, and went forth to them, and raised his hand until the whiteness of his arm-pit appeared, and was about to beat them; but he reflected in his mind, and said, O Ibráheem, how shouldst thou beat them when thou knowest not their case? They may be two strangers, or of the children of the road,[21] whom destiny hath cast here. I will therefore uncover their faces, and look at them.—So he lifted up the izár from their faces, and said, These are two handsome persons, and it is not proper that I should beat them. And he covered their faces again, and, approaching the foot of 'Alee Noor-ed-Deen, began to rub it gently;[22] whereupon Noor-ed-Deen opened his eyes, and saw that he was an old man; and he blushed, and drew in his feet, and, sitting up, took the hand of the sheykh Ibráheem and kissed it; and the sheykh said to him, O my son, whence are ye?—O my master, he answered, we are strangers.—And a tear gushed from his eye. The sheykh Ibráheem then said to him, O my son, know that the Prophet (God bless and save him!) hath enjoined generosity to the stranger. Wilt thou not arise, O my son, and enter the garden, and divert thyself in it, that thy heart may be dilated?—O my master, said Noor-ed-Deen, to whom doth this garden belong? The sheykh answered, O my son, this garden I inherited from my family. And his design in saying this was only that they might feel themselves at ease, and enter the garden. And when Noor-ed-Deen heard his words, he thanked him, and arose, together with his slave, and, the sheykh Ibráheem preceding them, they entered the garden.
The gate was arched, and over it were vines with grapes of different colours; the red, like rubies; and the black, like ebony. They entered a bower, and found within it fruits growing in clusters and singly, and the birds were warbling their various notes upon the branches: the nightingale was pouring forth its melodious sounds; and the turtle-dove filled the place with its cooing; and the blackbird, in its singing, resembled a human being; and the ring-dove, a person exhilarated by wine. The fruits upon the trees, comprising every description that was good to eat, had ripened; and there were two of each kind: there were the camphor-apricot, and the almond-apricot, and the apricot of Khurásán; the plum of a colour like the complexion of beauties; the cherry delighting the sense of every man; the red, the white, and the green fig, of the most beautiful colours; and flowers like pearls and coral; the rose, whose redness put to shame the cheeks of the lovely; the violet, like sulphur in contact with fire; the myrtle, the gilliflower, the lavender, and the anemone; and their leaves were bespangled with the tears of the clouds; the chamomile smiled, displaying its teeth, and the narcissus looked at the rose with its negroes' eyes; the citrons resembled round cups; the limes were like bullets of gold; the ground was carpeted with flowers of every colour, and the place beamed with the charms of spring; the river murmured by while the birds sang, and the wind whistled among the trees; the season was temperate, and the zephyr was languishing.
The sheykh Ibráheem conducted them into the elevated saloon,[23] and they were charmed with its beauty and the extraordinary elegances which it displayed, and seated themselves in one of the windows; and Noor-ed-Deen, reflecting upon his past entertainments, exclaimed, By Allah, this place is most delightful! It hath reminded me of past events, and quenched in me an anguish like the fire of the ghaḍà.[24]—The sheykh Ibráheem then brought to them some food, and they ate to satisfaction, and washed their hands, and Noor-ed-Deen, seating himself again in one of the windows, called to his slave, and she came to him; and they sat gazing at the trees laden with all kinds of fruits; after which, Noor-ed-Deen looked towards the sheykh, and said to him, O sheykh Ibráheem, hast thou not any beverage? For people drink after eating.—So the sheykh brought him some sweet and cold water: but Noor-ed-Deen said, This is not the beverage I desire.—Dost thou want wine? asked the sheykh.—Yes, answered Noor-ed-Deen. The sheykh exclaimed, I seek refuge with Allah from it! Verily, for thirteen years I have done nothing of that kind; for the Prophet (God bless and save him!) cursed its drinker and its presser and its carrier.—Hear from me two words, said Noor-ed-Deen. The sheykh replied, Say what thou wilt. So he said, If thou be neither the presser of the wine, nor its drinker, nor its carrier, will aught of the curse fall upon thee? The sheykh answered, No.—Then take this piece of gold, rejoined Noor-ed-Deen, and these two pieces of silver, and mount the ass, and halt at a distance from the place, and whatsoever man thou findest to buy it, call to him, and say to him, take these two pieces of silver, and with this piece of gold buy some wine, and place it upon the ass:—so, in this case, thou wilt be neither the carrier, nor the presser, nor the buyer; and nothing will befall thee of that which befalleth the rest.
The sheykh Ibráheem, after laughing at his words, replied, By Allah, I have never seen one more witty than thou, nor heard speech more sweet. And Noor-ed-Deen said to him, We have become dependant upon thee, and thou hast nothing to do but to comply with our wishes: bring us, therefore, all that we require.—O my son, said the sheykh, my buttery here is before thee (and it was the store-room furnished for the Prince of the Faithful): enter it then, and take from it what thou wilt; for it containeth more than thou desirest. So Noor-ed-Deen entered the store-room, and beheld in it vessels of gold and silver and crystal, adorned with a variety of jewels; and he took out such of them as he desired, and poured the wine into the vessels of earthenware and bottles of glass; and he and the damsel began to drink, astonished at the beauty of the things which they beheld. The sheykh Ibráheem then brought to them sweet-scented flowers, and seated himself at a distance from them; and they continued drinking, in a state of the utmost delight, until the wine took effect upon them, and their cheeks reddened, and their eyes wantoned like those of the gazelle, and their hair hung down:[25] whereupon the sheykh Ibráheem said, What aileth me that I am sitting at a distance from them? Why should I not sit by them? And when shall I be in the company of such as these two, who are like two moons?—He then advanced, and seated himself at the edge of the raised portion of the floor; and Noor-ed-Deen said to him, O my master, by my life I conjure thee to approach and join us. So he went to them; and Noor-ed-Deen filled a cup, and, looking at the sheykh, said to him, Drink, that thou mayest know how delicious is its flavour. But the sheykh Ibráheem exclaimed, I seek refuge with Allah! Verily, for thirteen years I have done nothing of that kind.—And Noor-ed-Deen, feigning to pay no attention to him, drank the cup, and threw himself upon the ground, pretending that intoxication had overcome him.