The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, Volume 2

R >> Richard F. Burton >> The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, Volume 2

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"And pity one who erst in honour throve, * And now is fallen into
sore disgrace.
She weeps and bathes her cheeks with railing tears, * And asks
'What cure can meet this fatal case?'"

When she had ended her verse, she turned to the merchant and said
in an undertone, "By the Almighty, do not leave me with a tyrant
who knoweth not Allah the Most High! If I pass this night in his
place, I shall kill myself with my own hand: save me from him, so
Allah save thee from Gehenna-fire." Then quoth the merchant to
the Badawi, "O Shaykh of the Arabs, this slave is none of thine
affair; so do thou sell her to me for what thou wilt." "Take
her," quoth the Badawi, "and pay me down her price, or I will
carry her back to the camp and there set her to feed the camels
and gather their dung."[FN#254] Said the merchant, "I will give
thee fifty thousand diners for her." "Allah will open!"[FN#255]
replied the Badawi. "Seventy thousand," said the merchant.
"Allah will open!" repeated the Badawi: "this is not the capital
spent upon her, for she hath eaten with me barley bread to the
value of ninety thousand gold pieces." The merchant rejoined,
"Thou and thine and all thy tribe in the length of your lives
have not eaten a thousand ducats' worth of barley; but I will say
thee one word, wherewith if thou be not satisfied, I will set the
Viceroy of Damascus on thee and he will take her from thee by
force." The Badawi continued, "Say on!" "An hundred thousand,"
quoth the merchant. "I have sold her to thee at that price,"
answered the Badawi; "I shall be able to buy salt with her." The
merchant laughed and, going to his lodgings, brought the money
and put it into the hand of the Badawi, who took it and made off,
saying to himself, "Needs must I go to Jerusalem where, haply, I
shall happen on her brother, and I will bring him here and sell
him also." So he mounted and journeyed till he arrived at
Jerusalem, where he went to the Khan and asked for Zau al-Makan,
but could not find him. Such was the case with him; but for what
regards the merchant and Nazhat al-Zaman, when he took her he
threw some of his clothes over her and carried her to his
lodgings,--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased
saying her permitted say.

When it was the Fifty-eighth Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the
trader saved Nuzhat al-Zaman from the Badawi and bore her to his
lodgings and robed her in the richest raiment, he went down with
her to the bazar, where he bought her what ornaments she chose
and put them in a satin bag, which he set before her, saying,
"All is for thee and I ask nothing of thee in return but that,
when I lead thee to the Sultan, Viceroy of Damascus, thou
acquaint him with the price I paid for thee, albeit it was little
compared with thy value: and, if seeing thee he buy thee of me,
thou tell him how I have dealt with thee and ask of him for me a
royal patent, and a written recommendation wherewith I can repair
to his father, King Omar bin al-Nu'uman, Lord of Baghdad, to the
intent that he may forbid the tax on my stuffs or any other goods
in which I traffic." When she heard his words, she wept and
sobbed, and the merchant said to her, "O my lady, I observe that,
every time I mention Baghdad, thine eyes are tearful: is there
any one there whom thou lovest? If it be a trader or the like,
tell me; for I know all the merchants and so forth there and, if
thou wouldst send him a message, I will bear it for thee."
Replied she, "By Allah, I have no acquaintance among merchant
folk and the like! I know none there but King Omar bin Nu'uman,
Lord of Baghdad." When the merchant heard her words, he laughed
and rejoiced with exceeding joy and said in himself, "By Allah, I
have won my wish!" Then he said to her, "Hast thou been shown to
him in time past?" She answered, "No, but I was brought up with
his daughter and he holdeth me dear and I have high honour with
him; so if thou wouldst have the King grant thee thy desire, give
me ink case and paper and I will write thee a letter; and when
thou reachest the city of Baghdad, do thou deliver it into the
hand of King Omar bin al-Nu'uman and say to him, 'Thy handmaid,
Nuzhat al-Zaman, would have thee to know that the chances and
changes of the nights and days have struck her as with a hammer,
and have smitten her so that she hath been sold from place to
place, and she sendeth thee her salams.' And, if he ask further
of her, say that I am now with the Viceroy at Damascus." The
merchant wondered at her eloquence, and his affection for her
increased and he said to her I cannot but think that men have
played upon thine understanding and sold thee for money. Tell
me, dost thou know the Koran by heart?" "Yes," answered she; "and
I am also acquainted with philosophy and medicine and the
prolegomena of science and the commentaries of Galen, the
physician, on the canons of Hippocrates; and I have commented him
and I have read the Tazkirah and have commented the Burhan; and I
have studied the Simples of Ibn Baytar, and I have something to
say of the canon of Meccah, by Avicenna. I can ree riddles and
can solve ambiguities, and discourse upon geometry and am skilled
in anatomy I have read the books of the Shafi'i[FN#256] school
and the Traditions of the Prophet and syntax; and I can argue
with the Olema and discourse of all manner learning. Moreover I
am skilled in logic and rhetoric and arithmetic and the making of
talismans and almanacs, and I know thoroughly the Spiritual
Sciences[FN#257] and the times appointed for religious duties and
I understand all these branches of knowledge." Then quoth she to
the merchant, "Bring me ink case and paper, that I write thee a
letter which shall aid thee on thy journey to Baghdad and enable
thee to do without passports." Now when the merchant heard this,
he cried out "Brava! Brava![FN#258] Then O happy he in whose
palace thou shalt! Thereupon he brought her paper and ink case
and a pen of brass and bussed the earth before her face to do her
honour. She took a sheet and handled the reed and wrote
therewith these verses,

"I see all power of sleep from eyes of me hath flown; * Say, did
thy parting teach these eyne on wake to wone?
What makes thy memory light such burnings in my heart? * Hath
every lover strength such memories to own?
How sweet the big dropped cloud which rained on summer day; *
'Tis gone and ere I taste its sweets afar 'tis flown:
I pray the wind with windy breath to bring some news * From thee,
to lover wightwi' love so woe begone
Complains to thee a lover of all hope forlorn, * For parting
pangs can break not only heart but stone."

And when she had ended writing the verses she continued, "These
words are from her who saith that melancholy destroyeth her and
that watching wasteth her; in the murk of whose night is found no
light and darkness and day are the same in her sight. She
tosseth on the couch of separation and her eyes are blackened
with the pencils of sleeplessness; she watcheth the stars arise
and into the gloom she strains her eyes: verily, sadness and
leanness have consumed her strength and the setting forth of her
case would run to length. No helper hath she but tears and she
reciteth these verses,

'No ring dove moans from home on branch in morning light, * But
shakes my very frame with sorrow's killing might:
No lover sigheth for his love or gladdeth heart * To meet his
mate, but breeds in me redoubled blight
I bear my plaint to one who has no ruth for me, * Ah me, how Love
can part man's mortal frame and sprite!' "

Then her eyes welled over with tears, and she wrote also these
two couplets,

"Love smote my frame so sore on parting day, * That severance
severed sleep and eyes for aye.
I waxt so lean that I am still a man, * But for my speaking, thou
wouldst never say."

Then she shed tears and wrote at the foot of the sheet, "This
cometh from her who is far from her folk and her native land, the
sorrowful hearted woman Nuzhat al-Zaman." In fine, she folded the
sheet and gave it to the merchant, who took it and kissed it and
understood its contents and exclaimed, "Glory to Him who
fashioned thee!"--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and
ceased saying her permitted say.

When it was the Fifty-ninth Night,

She said, It reached me, O auspicious King, that Nuzhat al-Zaman
wrote the letter and gave it to the merchant; and he took it and
read it and understood the contents and exclaimed, "Glory to Him
who fashioned thee!" Then he redoubled his kindness and made
himself pleasant to her all that day, and when night came he
sallied out to the bazar and bought some food, wherewith he fed
her; after which he carried her to the Hammam and said to the
bath woman, "As soon as thou hast made an end of washing her
head, dress her and send and let me know of it." And she replied
"Hearing is obeying." Meanwhile he fetched food and fruit and wax
candles and set them on the bench in the outer room of the bath;
and when the tire woman had done washing her, she dressed her and
led her out of the bath and seated her on the bench. Then she
sent to tell the merchant, and Nuzhat al-Zaman went forth to the
outer room, where she found the tray spread with food and fruit.
So she ate and the tire woman with her, and gave the rest to the
people and keeper of the bath. Then she slept till the morning,
and the merchant lay the night in a place apart from her. When
he aroused himself from sleep he came to her and waking her,
presented her with a shift of fine stuff and a head kerchief
worth a thousand diners, a suit of Turkish embroidery and walking
boots purfled with red gold and set with pearls and gems.
Moreover, he hung in each of her ears a circlet of gold with a
fine pearl therein, worth a thousand diners, and threw round her
neck a collar of gold with bosses of garnet and a chain of amber
beads that hung down between her breasts over her navel. Now to
this chain were attached ten balls and nine crescents, and each
crescent had in its midst a bezel of ruby, and each ball a bezel
of balass: the value of the chain was three thousand diners and
each of the balls was priced at twenty thousand dirhams, so that
the dress she wore was worth in all a great sum of money. When
she had put these on, the merchant bade her adorn herself, and
she adorned herself to the utmost beauty; then she let fall her
fillet over her eyes and she fared forth with the merchant
preceding her. But when folk saw her, all wondered at her beauty
and exclaimed, "Blessed be Allah, the most excellent Creator! O
lucky the man in whose house the hall be!" And the trader ceased
not walking (and she behind him) till they entered the palace of
Sultan Sharrkan; when he sought an audience and, kissing the
earth between his hands, said, "O auspicious King, I have brought
thee a rare gift, unmatched in this time and richly gifted with
beauty and with good qualities." Quoth the King, "Let me see it."
So the merchant went out and brought her, she following him till
he made her stand before King Sharrkan. When he beheld her,
blood yearned to blood, though she had been parted from him in
childhood and though he had never seen her, having only heard a
long time after her birth that he had a sister called Nuzhat al-
Zaman and a brother Zau al-Makan, he having been jealous of them,
because of the succession. And such was the cause of his knowing
little about them. Then, having placed her before the presence,
the merchant said, "O King of the age, besides being peerless in
her time and beauty and loveliness, she is also versed in all
learning, sacred and profane, including the art of government and
the abstract sciences." Quoth the King to the trader, "Take her
price, according as thou boughtest her, and go thy ways." "I hear
and I obey," replied the merchant; "but first write me a patent,
exempting me for ever from paying tithe on my merchandise." Said
the King, "I will do this, but first tell me what price thou
paidest for her." Said the merchant, "I bought her for an hundred
thousand diners, and her clothes cost me another hundred
thousand." When the Sultan heard these words, he declared, "I
will give thee a higher price than this for her;" and, calling
his treasurer, said to him, "Pay this merchant three hundred and
twenty thousand ducats; so will he have an hundred and twenty
thousand diners profit." Thereupon the Sultan summoned the four
Kazis and paid him the money in their presence and then he said,
"I call you to witness that I free this my slave girl and purpose
to marry her." So the Kazis wrote out the deed of emancipation
and the contract of marriage, when the Sultan scattered much gold
on the heads of those present; and the pages and the eunuchs
picked up this largesse. Then, after paying him his monies,
Sharrkan bade them write for the merchant a perpetual patent,
exempting him from toll, tax or tithe upon his merchandise and
forbidding each and every in all his government to molest him,
and lastly bestowed on him a splendid dress of honour.--And
Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her
permitted say.

When it was the Sixtieth Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that King
Sharrkan bade them write for the merchant a mandate, after paying
him his monies; and they wrote a perpetual patent, exempting him
from the tithe upon his merchandise and forbidding any in his
government to molest him; and lastly bestowed upon him a splendid
dress of honour. Then all about him retired, and none remained
save the Kazis and the merchant, whereupon said he to the judges,
"I wish you to hear such discourse from this damsel as may prove
her knowledge and accomplishments in all aimed for her by this
trader, that we ascertain the truth of his assertions." They
answered, "There is no evil in that!"; and he commanded the
curtain to be let down between him and those with him and the
maiden and those with her; and the women about the damsel behind
the curtains began to wish her joy and kiss her hands and feet,
when they learned that she was become the King's wife. Then they
came round her and took off her dresses easing her of the weight
of her clothes and began to look upon her beauty and loveliness.
Presently the wives of the Emirs and Wazirs heard that King
Sharrkan had bought a hand maiden unmatched for her beauty and
learning and philosophy and account keeping, and versed in all
branches of knowledge, that he had paid for her three hundred and
twenty thousand dinars, and that he had set her free and had
written a marriage contract with her and had summoned the four
Kazis to make trial of her, how she would answer all their
questions and hold disputetion with them. So they asked leave of
their husbands and repaired to the palace wherein was Nuzhat al-
Zaman. When they came in to her, they found the eunuchs standing
before her; and, as soon as she saw the wives of the Emirs and
Wazirs and Grandees of the realm coming to call upon her, she
arose to them on her feet and met them with courtesy, her
handmaidens standing behind her, and she received them saying,
"Ye be welcome!" The while she smiled in their faces so as to win
their hearts; and she promised them all manner of good and seated
them in their proper stations, as if she had been brought up with
them; so all wondered at her beauty and loveliness and said to
one another, "This damsel is none other than a Queen, the
daughter of a King." Then they sat down, magnifying her worth and
said to her, "O our lady, this our city is illumined by thee, and
our country and abode and birth place and reign are honoured by
thy presence. The kingdom indeed is thy kingdom and the palace
is thy palace, and we all are thy handmaids; so, by Allah, do not
shut us out from thy favours and the sight of thy beauty." And
she thanked them for this. All this while the curtains were let
down between Nuzhat al-Zaman and the women with her, on the one
side, and King Sharrkan and the four Kazis and the merchant
seated by him on the other. Presently King Sharrkan called to
her and said, "O Queen, the glory of thine age, this merchant
hath described thee as being learned and accomplished; and he
claimeth that thou art skilled in all branches of knowledge, even
to astrology: so let us hear something of all this he hath
mentioned, and favour us with a short discourse on such
subjects." She replied, saying: "O King, to hear is to
obey.[FN#259] The first subjects whereof I will treat are the art
of government and the duties of Kings and what behoveth governors
of command meets according to religious law, and what is
incumbent on them in respect of satisfactory speech and manners.
Know then, O King, that all men's works tend either to religious
or to laical life, for none attaineth to religion save through
this world, because it is the best road to futurity. Now the
works of this world are not ordered save by the doings of its
people, and men's doings are divided into four divisions,
government, commerce, husbandry and craftsmanship. Now
government requireth perfect administration with just and true
judgment; for government is the pivot of the edifice of the
world, which world is the road to futurity; since Allah Almighty
hath made the world for His servants as viaticum to the traveller
for the attainment of his goal; and it befitteth each man that he
receive of it such measure as shall bring him to Allah, and that
he follow not herein his own mind and his individual lust. If
folk would take of worldly goods with justice and equity, all
cause of contention would be cut off; but they take thereof with
violence ant after their own desires, and their persistence
therein giveth rise to contentions; so they have need of the
Sultan, that he do justice between them and order their affairs;
and, if the King restrain not his folk from one another, the
strong will drive the weak to the wall. Hence Ardeshir[FN#260]
saith, 'Religion and Kingship be twins'; religion is a hidden
treasure and the King is its keeper; and the Divine Ordinances
and men's intelligence point out that it behoveth the people to
adopt a Sultan who shall withhold oppressor from oppressed and do
the weak justice against the strong and restrain the violence of
the proud and the rebels against rule. For know, O King, that
according to the measure of the Sultan's good morals, even so
will be the time; as saith the Apostle of Allah (on whom be peace
and salvation!), 'There be two classes who, if they be good, the
people will be good; and if they be bad, the people will be bad,
even the Olema and the Emirs.' And it is said by a certain sage,
'There be three kinds of Kings, the King of the Faith, the King
who protecteth things to which reverence is due, and the King of
his own lusts.' The King of the Faith obligeth his subjects to
follow their faith, and it behoveth he be the most
faithful,[FN#261] for it is by him that they take pattern in the
things of the Faith; and it becometh the folk to obey him in
whatso he commandeth according to Divine Ordinance; but he shall
hold the discontented in the same esteem as the contented,
because of submission to the decrees of Destiny. As for the King
who protecteth things to be reverenced, he upholdeth the things
of the Faith and of the World and compelleth his folk to follow
the Divine Law and to preserve the rights of humanity; and it
fitteth him to unite Pen and Sword; for whoso declineth from what
Pen hath written his feet slip and the King shall rectify his
error with the sharp Sword and dispread his justice over all
mankind. As for the King of his own lusts, he hath no religion
but the following his desire and, as he feareth not the wrath of
his Lord who set him on the throne, so his Kingdom inclineth to
deposition and the end of his pride is in the house of perdition.
And sages say, 'The King hath need of many people, but the people
have need of but one King' wherefore it beseemeth that he be well
acquainted with their natures, that he reduce their discord to
concord, that with his justice be encompass them all and with his
bounties overwhelm them all. And know, O King, that Ardeshir,
styled Jamr Shadid, or the Live Coal, third of the Kings of
Persia, conquered the whole world and divided it into four
divisions and, for this purpose, get for himself four seal rings,
one for each division. The first seal was that of the sea and
the police of prohibition and on it was written, Alterna lives.
The second was the seal of tribute and of the receipt of monies,
and on it was written, Building up. The third was the seal of
the provisioning department and on it was written, Plenty. The
fourth was the seal of the oppressed, and on it was written,
Justice. And these usages remained valid in Persia until the
revelation of Al-Islam. Chosroes also wrote his son, who was
with the army, 'Be not thou too open handed with thy troops, or
they will be too rich to need thee.'--And Shahrazad perceived the
dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.

When it was the Sixty-first night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Chosroes
wrote his son, 'Be not thou too open handed with thy troops, or
they will be too rich to need thee; nor be thou niggardly with
them, or they will murmur against thee. Give thy giving
deliberately and confer thy favours advisedly; open thy hand to
them in time of success and stint them not in time of distress.'
There is a legend that a desert Arab came once to the Caliph Al-
Mansur[FN#262] and said, 'Starve thy dog and he shall follow
thee.' When the Caliph heard his words, he was enraged with the
Arab, but Abu 'l-Abbas of Tus said to him, 'I fear that if some
other than thou should show him a scone, the dog would follow him
and leave thee alone.' Thereupon the Caliph Al-Mansur's wrath
subsided and he knew that the wild Arab had intended no offence
and ordered him a present. And know, O King, that Abd al-Malik
bin Marwan wrote to his brother Abd al-Aziz, when he despatched
him to Egypt, as follows, 'Pay heed to thy Secretaries and thy
Chamberlains, for the Secretaries will acquaint thee with estate
fished matters and the Chamberlains with matters of official
ceremony, whilst thine expenditure will make thy troops known to
thee.' Omar bin Al-Khattab[FN#263] (whom Allah accept!) when
engaging a servant was in the habit of conditioning him with four
conditions; the first that he should not ride the baggage beasts,
the second that he should not wear fine clothes, the third that
he should not eat of the spoil and the fourth that he should not
put off praying till after the proper period. It is said that
there is no wealth more profitable than understanding, and there
is no understanding like common sense and prudence, and there is
no prudence like piety; that there is no means of drawing near to
God like good morals, no measure like good breeding, no traffic
like good works and no profit like earning the Divine favour;
that there is no temperance like standing within the limits of
the law, no science like that of meditation, no worship like
obeying the Divine commends, no faith like modesty, no
calculation like self abasement and no honour like knowledge. So
guard the head and what it containeth and the belly and what it
compriseth; and think of death and doom ere it ariseth. Saith
Ali (whose face Allah honour!), 'Beware of the wickedness of
women and be on thy guard against them: consult them not in
aught;[FN#264] but grudge not complaisance to them, lest they
greed for intrigue.' And eke quoth he, 'Whoso leaveth the path of
moderation his wits become perplexed'; and there be rules for
this which we will mention, if it be Allah's will. And Omar
(whom Allah accept!) saith, 'There are three kinds of women,
firstly the true believing, Heaven fearing, love full and fruit
full, who helpeth her mate against fate, not helping fate against
her mate; secondly, she who loveth her children but no more and,
lastly, she who is a shackle Allah setteth on the neck of whom He
will.' Men be also three: the wise when he exerciseth his own
judgement; the wiser who, when befalleth somewhat whereof he
knoweth not the issue, seeketh folk of good counsel and acteth by
their advice; and the unwise irresolute ignoring the right way
nor heeding those who would guide him straight. Justice is
indispensable in all things; even slave girls have need of
justice; and men quote as an instance highway robbers who live by
violenting mankind, for did they not deal equitably among
themselves and observe justice in dividing their booty, their
order would fall to pieces.[FN#265] In short, for the rest, the
Prince of noble qualities is Beneficence cum Benevolence; and how
excellent is the saying of the poet,

By open hand and ruth the youth rose to his tribe's command; * Go
and do likewise for the same were easy task to thee.'

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